jBrereton Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Originally posted by Philippe: This was posted by Christian Ankerstjerne in a discussion board at missing-lynx.com. quote Pz.Kpfw. I Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper Pz.Kpfw. II Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper 100 Pz.Kpfw. III Zugführerwagen Pz.Kpfw. IV Begleitswagen Pz.Kpfw. Panther Pz.Kpfw. Tiger Ausf. E Pz.Kpfw. Tiger Ausf. B unquote While I'm still chuckling over the names of the Panzer I and II, I have no idea how seriously to take this list. I wonder to what extent these words represent actually linguistic usage. They look a bit like official names rather than colloquial ones. Any comments? The names of the Pz. I & II in this context are because of the ban on tank research under the Treaty of Versailles, hence the Germans called them (essentially) agricultural heavy tractors. For the Pz. III, it's called a platoon command vehicle - from the times when a tank platoon was mixed - one slightly heavier Pz. III to go along with the Pz. IIs in the platoon. The Pz. IV is named as a support vehicle owing to its stint with the short 75mm gun to better fight against infantry than the 50mm guns on the Pz IIIs, before this was largely taken over by the Pz. IIIN, which was the support vehicle assigned to heavy tank platoons, to combat pesky threats that were a bit of a waste for 88mm rounds. The Pz. V (Panther) is simply listed as a Panther, so there you go. The Pz. VI, Tiger, is listed "twice" for the different versions. The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E was the operating official name for the Tiger tank. The second listing as a Tiger (Ausf. is for the 'Königstiger' (Bengal Tiger, for some reason generally translated as 'King Tiger'), or "King Tiger", "Tiger II", or "Royal Tiger", depending on your own country's expression for the tank. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jBrereton Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Originally posted by BeauCoupDinkyDau: Or how the "DD" Sherman was designated such to hide what it really was as well. Duplex Drive seems pretty... self-explanitory to me, to be honest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoat Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Originally posted by jBrereton: The second listing as a Tiger (Ausf. is for the 'Königstiger' (Bengal Tiger, for some reason generally translated as 'King Tiger'Maybe because that's what it means in German? I guess it is possible that Germans would call Bengal tigers "koenigs tigers," but "King Tiger" is the literal translation. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeauCoupDinkyDau Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Originally posted by jBrereton: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BeauCoupDinkyDau: Or how the "DD" Sherman was designated such to hide what it really was as well. Duplex Drive seems pretty... self-explanitory to me, to be honest. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 I suspect that by the time the Germans ever heard of the DD Sherman it was pretty obvious what it did. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Sink. And pretty good at it it was too. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 If referring to PzKpfw IV as '4', would it just have been Vier or some diminutive form? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sequoia Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Originally posted by stoat: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by jBrereton: The second listing as a Tiger (Ausf. is for the 'Königstiger' (Bengal Tiger, for some reason generally translated as 'King Tiger'Maybe because that's what it means in German? I guess it is possible that Germans would call Bengal tigers "koenigs tigers," but "King Tiger" is the literal translation. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Yes, same animal, the biggest of the tigers. And you can say "Bengaltiger" or in German as well. But it doesn't have quite the same ring to it. "King Tiger" is quite understandable. "Royal Tiger", another common translation of Königstiger, is a bit further down the road isn't it? Cheers D 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSX Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Originally posted by Andreas: Sink. And pretty good at it it was too. All the best Andreas Only if launched stupidly too far from the beach by commanders who didnt have a clue. On the Brit beaches though it was used to good effect. As usual a weapon is only as good as the guys who know how to employ it effectively. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jBrereton Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Originally posted by Sergei: If referring to PzKpfw IV as '4', would it just have been Vier or some diminutive form? Vier, then a pattern type, although I doubt the man in the tank really cared what version it was, or named it as such. But the official system would be : PzKpfw IV, Ausf. F2 for example. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 Originally posted by GSX: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Andreas: Sink. And pretty good at it it was too. All the best Andreas Only if launched stupidly too far from the beach by commanders who didnt have a clue. On the Brit beaches though it was used to good effect. As usual a weapon is only as good as the guys who know how to employ it effectively. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-E Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Not sure why, but my very old tagline somehow seems appropriate to this thread... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamo Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Just got done reading through Von Dinklevitz's definative and exhaustive study "End Connectors, Tow Hooks & Sponson Boxes of the Third Reich" (Stinkgarter Press, 1971) and on pg. 371 there is a footnote refering to a "Panzerkampfwagon IV Ausf Q Rucksatz 11/werknummer 11721R Type VII/c (improvisiert)" and that it was "commonly refered to by those who crewed them as 'Zuckermehlkloß des tödlichen Liebefilmkanisters'". I am not sure if this pertains to this particular subvarient, or to all PzkfIV's...Just thought I'd throw this into the mix... Zamo (back from the dead) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Originally posted by Andreas: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GSX: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Andreas: Sink. And pretty good at it it was too. All the best Andreas Only if launched stupidly too far from the beach by commanders who didnt have a clue. On the Brit beaches though it was used to good effect. As usual a weapon is only as good as the guys who know how to employ it effectively. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 In an interview on the Panzers episode of Modern Marvels on the History Channel (U.S.), I heard something under the VO when a native German speaker who'd been a driver/mechanic in Panzers during the War called the Panther the "Panzer funf." This strongly suggests the Panzer IV would've been similarly referred to, as in "Panzer vier." Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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