LAH Panther R02 in Normandy '44

[West-Front]

Sure is, have to watch the Deutsche Wochenschau to see the recent events .

Actually found some great US newsreel segments of Pieper at Dachau for the Malmedy trial, will post them over on internet section so as not to highjack your thread

[Tychsen]

Another view of this
Panther from Georges Bernage's new Heimdal title "The Panzers And The Battle For Normandy" (2009) 29 Eruos.
A really excellent book.




The length of the Panthers "75" is well illustrated , Allied tankers said the "gun seemed to go on for ever".

[SchnellMeyer]

Any idea guys if this Panther was knocked out in the Normandy campaign ????????? At present I am trying to see if any of the crew are still alive .

[Stu21]

I don't believe this Panther belongs to the LAH. I will explain why. According to "Germany's Panther Tank" by Thomas Jentz, the I Abteilung SS Pz Rgt 1 received 96 Panthers in Nov 43. This was the standard amount for an Abteilung in a type 43 Panzer Division. A Meldung for the LAH dated 1.10.43 state that 60 were operational and 11 others could be ready within 3 weeks. The Regimental Stab had Panzer IV's, Peipers being 055. On 1.6 44 the LAH had 42 Pz IV's & 38 Pz V's operational.Again only the I Abt was equipped with Panthers. One of Peiper's crewman, Fritz Kosmehl states that Peipers tank was 001 and was a Panzer IV ( see page 366,370& 374 of P.Agte's book on Peiper). After Peiper left the Regiment in August 44 his crew joined Stuf Kuhlmann's Panther, which Kosmehl states was not easy as he had not served on a Panther before. The Rgt Stab were equipped with Panthers in Nov 44 and Peipers Tank was 001 in the Ardennes Offensive although he spent most of the time in Diefenthals Sdkfz 251. His Panther in the final battles in 45 was also 001, confirmed by his radio op and Rolf Reiser. I questioned P.Agte on the subject,who had asked surviving members of the Rgt Pz Stab about the photo of R02, no-one recognized any of the crew or the Panther. There are also photo's showing Panther's of the LAH driving through Paris, one clearly show a crewman with the LAH armband, However P.Agte states that when moving to Normandy the I Abt detrained North of Paris, only s SS PzAbt101 moved through Paris on June 7 (Page 357) There is no mention of the LAH using the R prefix on it's tanks, so this vehicle's origin may remain a mystery. Maybe it belonged to a Veteran of the LAH who had transferred to another Division. If anyone has any other info i'd be more than interested.

[SchnellMeyer]

Oh dear have I opened a can of worms ? Most interesting post my friend , so it looks like I am back to square one . Could it be a L.A.H. vet in the 12 SS Div ? Any info would be great .

[Tychsen]

This sure beats the average subject of zelts , smocks and socks .

[Franz repper]

This sure beats the average subject of zelts , smocks and socks .

Don´t forget the Dot 44 !
I am following this one with intrest

[Tychsen]

Franz R.
Don´t forget the Dot 44 !
I am following this one with intrest

yes ...a very good year for dot....or the "Reproduction Waffen SS Blanket" , one of this years best sellers and "must have items".