Panzerkampfwagen IV-Medium Tank

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by Hagen

Hi Cyberia

We have this photo here, this is Oberscharfuhrer Terdenges #635 this is the one captured by the British around Caen. Although I've since found out that this photo was taken during exercises while still in Belgium.

Sorry Hagen, getting tough to keep track of them all.

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by Hagen

Captured or post war photo of a "Late J" model with three return rollers, the two vertical exhausts seem to be missing.

I looking at that photo and thinking location area looked familiar...



I went over to the Panther thread and pulled the above photo. The same location!

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by cyberia

I looking at that photo and thinking location area looked familiar...



I went over to the Panther thread and pulled the above photo. The same location!

Excellent work Cyberia!

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Sorry Hagen, getting tough to keep track of them all.

I know what you mean, I've gone through a couple of these threads from beginning to end at times.

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Thanks. The muzzle bag was something Pirate taught me. If the caption says battle and the bag is on, the caption is wrong.

Thanks for the cudos Cyberia.


Obviously no sane tank crew would go into battle without readying their weapons by removing the muzzle bags.

There are other good indications of tanks "NOT" near the front. Any time the tank crew is riding outside the tank they are not in any position to do battle. Likewise, even if you see hatches that are open the tanks is probably not under threat of eminent attack. If the hatches are all open but no crew is evident, it can indicate the tank was abandoned in a hurry. If the bow mount MGs are missing the tank has probably been captured and/or abandoned. If their are troops riding on a tank, it is probably moving up to the front but it is not in battle. As soon as the bullets start flying, sitting on a tank is a dangerous proposition as it will be a prime target of the enemy.

Sometimes you will see a man cowering behind the turret or troops on the ground hiding behind the tank. That is a good indication of battle action although in some cases it will be in training. Ariel recognition flags generally aren't used unless the tanks are far out in front of the main battle line as is often seen on the Ostfront.

A lot of this is just common sense in determining cause/effect of the why's of a photo. After staring at enough tank pics you start to see patterns!

[cyberia]

Great pointers Pirate. As I have learned, read the photo, before trusting the information provided.

[Hagen]

Panzer IV turret profiles, as you can see if you just go by the turret it can be difficult to tell one from the other, at least with the F,G,H and J. Muzzle brakes can help with ID along with cupola styles, but as McCoy pointed out, even these (cupolas) could be swapped around. One difference between the F2 and the G, H, and J is the deletion of the vision port on the turret side.

[cyberia]

Nice reference sheet Hagen!!

[cyberia]

Here ya go Hagen, the only info provided was the date January, 1944

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Here ya go Hagen, the only info provided was the date January, 1944

Well the date and the vast expanse tell us it's the eastern front, it's a new H model and you can tell not just by the completely intact shurzen side skirts but also it has a "cast" rear idler wheel as compared to the welded spoked version that was used until this time period. This cast version was carried over to the J models. I see nothing that can tell me what division it belongs to however. Nice picture.