ww2steel Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Hi, (posting this in all the CM1 forums) I am trying to find information about the established commands used by the German armor crews, especially in WW2. I would like them in English or German (or both!). My books love to talk about the tanks, love to talk about what happened, but never really give what was vocalized inside the tank. Also, (being a pilot) I am aware that even what is published as standard callouts often gets modified, if even slightly, by the crew using it. This is the stuff I am really interested in! I certainly appreciate any help! Mike 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 ww2steel, How's your German? From the Tiger Fibel. Action sequence for each crew member http://www.esatclear.ie/~godot/83.jpg Target location system http://www.esatclear.ie/~godot/84.jpg http://www.esatclear.ie/~godot/85.jpg Tiger 1 vulnerability diagrams vs T-34/76 http://www.esatclear.ie/~godot/86.jpg http://www.esatclear.ie/~godot/87.jpg This should help. Has an entire chapter on tank gunnery and gunnery training. http://www.amazon.com/Panzertaktik-German-Small-Unit-Armor-Tactics/dp/0921991525 May I also recommend the various books of Paul Carrell (Paul Karl Schmidt)? He had phenomenal access to troops in the field while doing his PK (Propaganda Korps) press job. Gives you a real in the turret/casemate view of things, to include combat engagements. Suggest you also read some of the serious German tactical Panzer combat memoirs, such as Carius's TIGERS IN THE MUD. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Please don't cross-post the same message in multiple forums. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2steel Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 Sorry Red, I know some people only sit in one or two forums and it's a wealth of knowledge I might be missing. I am usually only in CMBB. Won't do it again. Thanks for the info JK! I just went back through Panther Fibel, but my German is slow. These links will be helpful! Mike 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 ww2steel, Glad to help! Am presently running down some stuff in an unlikely source: Historical Vignettes: Infantry in Action, SH-7-42, February 1992, United States Army Infantry School. Basically a collection of photocopied excerpts from a bunch of sources, some of it covers the German series on lessons learned in the East. There, we find the stories of a StuG hotshot named Naumann at Demyansk, racking up kill after kill with a 75 L/24 StuG III, and I'm pretty sure I saw Wittmann in there earlier, in the same sort of StuG and taking out T-34s by aiming at and hitting the turret ring. Some good inside the AFV in battle stuff there, but this may take a bit. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 ww2steel, Here's a very groggy thread which will reward close reading regarding gunnery methods, hit probabilities with various optics, expected dispersion and more. Kurowski's PANZER ACES and Jentz's PANZER TACTICS are both mentioned regarding gunnery procedure. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=43487&highlight=wittmann+stug+iii The Infantry in Action book has Naumann in combat, but I can't find Wittmann. I have found a CMBB post where I mention what he did, but not a proper reference. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 ww2steel, Here's another detailed discussion of the tank battle in terms of the realities for those involved in the East. A summary of the Wittmann Hill 65.5 battle appears on page 3. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=41405&highlight=wittmann+stug+iii Wittmann in combat, from which you should be able to infer all sorts of useful insights. http://anonymous-generaltopics.blogspot.com/2008/01/michael-wittmann-tiger-legend.html Wittmann's last radio messages in Normandy discussed here, together with his demise. Obviously, the traffic would've been in German and read something like "Marsch! Achtung! Achtung! Pak recht!" followed by whatever the reverse command is in German. Perceived target height as a major aiming issue http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=44604&highlight=wittmann+stug+iii Just remembered an excellent source: Heckmann's ROMMEL'S WAR IN AFRICA, which has some incredible (can't believe they survived to write it!) first person Panzer crew experiences, such as having a shot penetrate the turret wall, halfway, into the ammo bin. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2steel Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 Wow, thanks for all the info! (kind of glad I cross posted!) I'm way tired, I'll get some sleep and then work some more on those armor penetration graphs. Mike 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 ww2steel, You're welcome! I recommend you get a German-English Science Dictionary. I have the McGraw-Hill DeVries Third Edition with Supplement of New Terms from 1959, and it's a big help. Here's an updated 1966 version; twice as thick as mine and top rated! http://www.amazon.com/German-English-Technical-Engineering-Dictionary-Louis/dp/0070166315 Also, somewhere around here I have a TM of English-German/German-English military terms. This is a WW II version of same. http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/balt/12249.shtml Reprinted period German Military Dictionary http://www.amazon.com/German-Military-Dictionary-War-Department/dp/0935856064 Glossary of WW II German military terms http://www.feldgrau.com/glossary.html Here's an online heavy duty technical resource, but it's not cheap. http://www.ets.ru/pg/e/dict/en_de_technical.htm Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 ww2steel, Did we manage to solve your problem? Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.