Panzer IV Wrecks

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Here are some photos of wrecked Panzer IVs, potential diorama subjects.  All of these were cited as being victims of the fighting at El Guettar, but it soon became clear that was not accurate.

These three Pz.Kpfw. IVs were knocked out near Lanuvio, Italy in May, 1944 (some sources say June).
A view of the front of the lead tank. These are Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf. H from II./Pz.Rgt.26.
Another view showing the tactical number 825.
The second tank 813.
A war correspondent examines a knocked-out Panzer IV, this one actually is from the battle of El Guettar. Note the number “8” on the turret with “71” below it.
A G.I. poses for the photographer next to another Panzer IV, this one appears to have the number “27” below the “8”.
A third Panzer IV, this one does not have a number below the “8”.
This Panzer IV lies abandoned in the Golan Heights, a victim of the Six Day War in 1967.
A second view of the same tank. These were operated by Syria, who came by them by way of France. They were not recovered after the war, and may still remain there.

Published by Jeff Groves

Scale Modeling and Military History

Published

16 thoughts on “Panzer IV Wrecks”

  1. Some good pictures, Jeff! 🙂 That first tank is interesting – it appears to have the single piece commander’s hatch cover (usual on an Ausf H) but also appears to have applique armour on the driver’s plate (I’ve never seen that on an Ausf H before). Wonder if it’s a rebuild of an older vehicle?

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    1. There is a lot of confusion about that series of photos, I found two different locations, two photographers, and three dates. The identification I cited is from Kagero TopColors 32 (which also has decals if anyone wants to model that tank). The decals contain the number “85384” which they show to the right of the hull MG. Does that help ID the variant?

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      1. In quite a few cases, the destroyed tanks, as we see them in photos, have achieved a good deal of their state by being blown with charges by engineers in order to render them useless for further use in case they were recaptured, etc. Oftentimes, a tank gets knocked out, but it’s not blown apart like many we see.
        Certainly not always, but sometimes.

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  3. Pingback: Panzer IV Wrecks – Lest We Forget

  4. Tank Encyclopaedia has a photo of the tank with the number 85384 on its driver plate (https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/panzer_iv_ausf_h). Another site I found also listed chassis numbers and the same number is one that was allocated to Ausf H production. Of the photos I’ve looked at, so far this is the only one I’ve seen with bolted armour on the driver’s plate. So it’s maybe not a “standard” vehicle but also maybe not particularly remarkable!

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  5. Oh! Be still my6 beating heart! My favorite German tank and one of my favorite theaters. 🙂
    I just recently bought a series of books on German armor in Italy and Sicily, great stuff.
    Thanks for these Jeff.

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    1. I see what you’re seeing. I looked at several versions of the photo, if you zoom out on some it looks like there is the top of a “2”, if you zoom in it looks like variation of the camo. Definitely not as distinct as the other two.

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