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PzKpfw VIb Königstiger aka KingTiger used by Americans


Richard
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Garandomatic

Those Ohio boys are resourceful, is all!

 

As I recall, the French under LeClerc had a Tiger that they proudly used against it's former owners for several months at the end, and the 83rd US Infantry also had one for a while. The 83rd, was called the "RagTag Circus" because they used so much captured and hastily repainted transport to keep moving fast, including several firetrucks and even, for a while a ME 109 that they painted "83rd Inf Div" on the underside in big letters and used as a Div hack (and souvenir). Some Piper Cub pilot bravely learned how to fly it.

At the end of the war German equipment, including aircraft and planes, were painted over with stars during testing, and France used Panthers and Mk IV, as well as StuG II's for several years in it's newly reconstituted postwar army. They had French former Army factories that had been used to rebuild German tanks, and lots of former Slave labor that had been building them in Germany. The British and Americans let them collect up parts and plans from the factories in the occupied zones, as well as tooling and machines, and take it back to France. With all the damaged and captured Tanks in France, Holland, Belgium, the French had battalions of Panthers and Mk IV's and StuG II's. Eventually the Panthers wore out and broke down (Slave labor intentionally made parts to fail) and the Mk IV's and Stug's were sold to Syria and others.

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I have to agree with Jeeper... alot of this German stuff was star marked and used by Skorzeny's unit. I think there is only one picture I've seen where US troops were actually using a piece of german equipment and that was a Hanomag SdKfz 251 halftrack...

 

Wayne

 

Here's another...captured Jan/Feb 45. Photo is late war.

post-622-1278046304.jpg

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EasyRed1944

The king tiger tank on the 1st picture, is pictured in a book about the Battle of the Bulges.

 

" Just hours before Hitler unleashed his armoured divisions, the 129th Ordnance Battalion was pictured bringing a capturized Panzer VI King Tiger back to their HQ. Little did they know that two Panzer armies armed with monsters such as these were gathering opposite First Army's front. "

 

111-SC-197752

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You wouldn’t see much use of German vehicles on the front lines. That neat MP/Kettenkrad photo that DAT posted is a good example. I’d think you’d generally only find captured vehicles being used well into the rear areas. All too often, you only see an outline in the field. You’d get lit up like a Christmas tree if you drive around with something like that right on the front line.

Neat use of a Kubel by Yank Magazine in Paris:

KubleWarCo.jpg

I’ve tried in vain to track down the full markings and how long it was used. I’ve even toyed around with getting one of the Kubel reproductions that KoobelKar makes and painting exactly like the one in this photo for re-enactments.

I also know Ernie Pyle was actually given a Kubel at one point early in the war but I can’t recall what unit gave it to him. It’s a shame he wasn’t allowed to ship it back to the states!

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In George Koskimaki's "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne" he cites a number of instantances of U.S. usage of German weapons,including armor.I'd have to check other sources for earlier instances.

Sparrow

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You wouldn’t see much use of German vehicles on the front lines. That neat MP/Kettenkrad photo that DAT posted is a good example. I’d think you’d generally only find captured vehicles being used well into the rear areas. All too often, you only see an outline in the field. You’d get lit up like a Christmas tree if you drive around with something like that right on the front line.

Neat use of a Kubel by Yank Magazine in Paris:

KubleWarCo.jpg

I’ve tried in vain to track down the full markings and how long it was used. I’ve even toyed around with getting one of the Kubel reproductions that KoobelKar makes and painting exactly like the one in this photo for re-enactments.

I also know Ernie Pyle was actually given a Kubel at one point early in the war but I can’t recall what unit gave it to him. It’s a shame he wasn’t allowed to ship it back to the states!

 

The kubel in post #27 was used by a medic in the 244th Engr Cbt Bn; among others, the battalion built bridges across the Rhine and the Elbe. I'd say that was the front.

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This is a pretty interesting thread. I found this photo when I was randomly surfing the Life Photo Archive. The caption didn't say much but it looks like North Africa to me.

 

post-2843-1279054903.jpg

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  • 8 years later...
Simon Lerenfort

This is indeed an interesting topic, but let's take Jeremiah's suggestion and stick to the US angle.

 

There must be something that is very powerful psychologically when one captures an enemy's armored vehicle. We have all read accounts by US soldiers who were, justifiably, very concerned about German armor. The early stages of the Battle of the Bulge provide many examples of this. However, to not only defeat that powerful weapon but to take it and turn it on its former owners must have been a very satisfying experience. I am sure that there must also have been a legitimate fear of fratricide when friendlies were using captured enemy equipment.

 

Here is a pic that looks like it could be from the Battle of the Bulge judging by the snowy conditions, but I do not have any details on it. This is, I believe, a Sturmgeschutz III assault gun which, evidently, has been captured and put to good use by these GIs. They had it long enough to get that star painted on the front.

 

Regards,

Charlie Flick

 

 

attachicon.gifAssault_...Captured.jpg

 

In the interest of accuracy, this is the Otto Skorzeny Panzer Brigade 150 Stug III that was disabled/abandoned near Géromont, not far from the infamous Baugnez crossroads. The extra armour being added in a poor attempt to disguise it as American assault gun, maybe a Priest. Skorzeny himself commented that it was unlikely to fool many GI's.

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