Sergeant Nicholas Mashlonik watched closely as the Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw) VI Tiger heavy tank rampaged through the village of Elsdorf in the Rhineland-Westphalia region of Germany on February 27, 1945. The 57-ton steel monster sported a long 88mm cannon that extended from a massive turret atop the blocky, angular mass of its hull.
The Tiger I was a fearsome opponent for any Allied tank crew in World War II. Mashlonik’s job that day was to knock it out. Had he been commanding the M4 Sherman medium tank that day, the task would have seemed almost impossible without support or reinforcement, but now the odds would be evened because of the new tank he would be taking into battle against the Germans. His crew awaited him in T-26E3, designated No. 40, a new American heavy tank that weighed 46 tons and boasted a 90mm cannon.
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Damn Kenny this was awesome!!
ReplyDeleteMy father toured Europe with the 5th Armor Division after his landing 9 June. If he had not been killed in 1969 I’m sure he and I would be swilling beer and exchanging our war stories. I was branched and trained Armor, I went the light Cavalry track, so I never fought the tank.
Thanks again Mr. Lane, I love you brother.
Cavguy
I recently had the opportunity to drive a WW2 Sherman that made the landing at Normandy. It was put out of commission shortly thereafter by 3 hits in the turret from Panzerfausts. It's been resorted but the 3 holes are still there. To be able to drive a piece of history like this was nothing short of remarkable.
ReplyDeleteAn American tanker said of his first encounter with a Panzer IV in North Africa: We shot it and it stopped. We thought we had knocked it out. As soon as we moved, it fired at us, but missed. After that, we shot them until they stopped and then we shot them until they burned. The film of the Pershing-Tiger fight is an amazing view of tank-on-tank reality.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that story was from the LIBTURD yahoo's BUT. I LOVED the story. Concord NC IS town I graduated high school
ReplyDeleteYahoo actually has some pretty damned good history stories, believe it or not.
DeleteFor whatever it's worth, the T26 was the prototype of the M26 Pershing which spawned the Patton series of tanks (M46 thru M60). Totally unrelated to the Sherman except for a few small interchangeable parts &, I think, the powerplant.
ReplyDeleteThe picture is from a well documented (there's even movie film) tank battle in Cologne in front of the cathedral & shows a Panther medium tank, not a Tiger heavy tank.
Yeah, I just watched it on YouTube. It shows on film each detail of the above linked article, including the civilian car getting fired upon and the American tanker bailing with half his leg missing.
DeleteMark Felton has a great Youtube channel. His story of an M8 Greyhound Scout Car vs a Tiger Tank.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/jx8InfzkHYI
My old man drove a Sherman for the 3rd.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather drove a Sherman. 66th black panthers.
ReplyDelete