| Original caption: “German soldiers captured by a GI and a tank with its cannon in a German village. The German soldiers surrender with their hands in the air to the American soldier.” Some reports claim the photographer was killed in action taking this photo; others report that this is not the case. The tank is an M4A3(76)W Sherman. It is covered in “chicken wire” to provide retention for foliage that would help conceal the tank as camouflage. On March 26, 1945, A United States Army reconnaissance aircraft drew fire from Schillerstraße, southern Erbach, Germany, from a Nazi German soldier, probably a die-hard Hitlerjugend retreating from the American advance, according to residents. The plane, a small single-engine Piper cub, reversed course, flew over the town, and called for air support. Bombs fell heaviest on the Langgaße (today named Jahnstraße). The Protestant community center, which housed a military hospital, collapsed in the hail of bombs; almost 2 dozen women and men were killed. The United States 66 Armored Infantry Battalion, 12th Armored Division, 3rd Army, entered Erbach shortly after the bombing. This was 1 of the segregated African American units, with White officers and Black enlisted men. Much of Erbach was destroyed as the advancing troops encountered resistance from stubborn Nazi German combat units. several prominent properties, such as the Gasthof Adler and the Lindenau with the nearby cattle farm complex, shown in this photo, were shot up or burned down. In neighboring Michelstadt, Nazi Burgomeister Doctor Anton Leber (1885 – 1978) ensured a surrender without fighting. He protected his village from damage like that suffered by Erbach. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0867.jpg |
| Image Size | 289.16 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1595 x 1185 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 29, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Erbach |
| State or Province | Hesse |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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