|
IPTC: Caption
|
T26A3 (later M26) Pershing of E Company, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, attached to 1st Army, 12th Army Group, commanded by Sergeant Robert Early, approaches Koln Domplatz (Cologne Cathedral Square) on Gladbacherstrasse (where Gladbacherstrasse becomes Christophstrasse, as it crosses Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring). This view is a still from a combat camera film. The tank appears to have a bullet or shell hole in the left track guard. Publicly ridiculed for the lack of a suitable American tank that could stand up to German armor, the United States Army's Ordinance Department initiated the "Zebra" Mission, which would analyze American tank performance in the European Theatre of Operations and field combat test the T26E3 Pershing, which was armed with a 90mm (3.54 inch) gun. In the States, many supporters of the M4 Sherman refused to accept that it was deficient against German tanks; because of political pressure, constricted supply lines, and the fast-moving battlefield preventing crew training, only twenty Pershings were made available through Antwerp in January 1945. These tanks equipped the 3rd and 9th Armored Divisions of the 1st Army, who issued them one to each of ten companies. Early and his crew were combat veterans selected for the "Zebra" Mission. On March 2, 1945, the 1st Army began to attack Cologne, and by March 6, 3rd Armored had secured most of Cologne except the city center. After engaging a civilian automobile and killing the woman inside (extreme left), the 32nd Armored Regiment, moving down the Marzellenstrasse, identified what looked like a knocked-out Panther Panzerkampfwagen Ausf A on the Domplatz with its main gun depressed and the engine off. As two M4 Shermans approached, the Panther opened fire, knocking out both tanks and killing Second Lieutenant Karl E. Kellner, Private First Class Julian Patrick and Technician 5th Grade Curtis Speer. Kellner's leg was traumatically amputated by the Panther's shell, and he was able to crawl out on the
|
IPTC: Copyright Notice
|
Caption ©2007 MFA Productions LLC
Image in the Public Domain
|
