I am currently reading SPEARHEAD, about a tank crew in WW2 in the 3rd Army
One of the pivotal engagements in it is Cologne and the new Pershing 'hunting' a Panther tank, which had just destroyed a Sherman.
Great book, IM learning more and more about WW2 and loving it.
And there was a part where they discussed this videographer who was filming everything and even told the Pershing crew where the Panther. I decided to look up the video.
A) it's WW2 quality
B) It's WW2, so it gets quite shaky during the blasts to hit the Panther
C) It's still super awesome
D) I watched while IM in this coffee shop, I have no idea if there is any audio, sorry.
Quick story with it - the Panther had the drop on the Americans, but Bates was already several stories up in the building to video when he saw the Germans turning their turret towards the intersection the Pershing was heading to. He had no course of action to help his buddies.
Since they, the Americans, knew where the Panther was, they already had their turret turned that way too, as they sped ahead towards the intersection.
When the Pershing got to the intersection everyone froze for a second - they were looking down the barrel of a Panther and knew they were done. But the Panther hesitated...for he, the commander, had not seen a Pershing before, this was one of the few which had made it to Europe and was very new, he assumed it was a German tank. He told his crew to hold fire, that it was a friendly. And that's when Clarence, the man at the trigger, pressed the little red button to fire off the first, of three, armor piercing rounds.
Once the first fired, the dust was brutal. The muzzle blast turned up so much dust and debris that he couldnt see if he hit or not, but it saw a slight silhouette and fired a second time. This time his commander (Earley?) said, "HIT!"
Then he pumped one more into the Panther, causing flames to erupt high out of the turret and ensuring that they had destroyed this huge beast.
One of the pivotal engagements in it is Cologne and the new Pershing 'hunting' a Panther tank, which had just destroyed a Sherman.
Great book, IM learning more and more about WW2 and loving it.
And there was a part where they discussed this videographer who was filming everything and even told the Pershing crew where the Panther. I decided to look up the video.
A) it's WW2 quality
B) It's WW2, so it gets quite shaky during the blasts to hit the Panther
C) It's still super awesome
D) I watched while IM in this coffee shop, I have no idea if there is any audio, sorry.
Quick story with it - the Panther had the drop on the Americans, but Bates was already several stories up in the building to video when he saw the Germans turning their turret towards the intersection the Pershing was heading to. He had no course of action to help his buddies.
Since they, the Americans, knew where the Panther was, they already had their turret turned that way too, as they sped ahead towards the intersection.
When the Pershing got to the intersection everyone froze for a second - they were looking down the barrel of a Panther and knew they were done. But the Panther hesitated...for he, the commander, had not seen a Pershing before, this was one of the few which had made it to Europe and was very new, he assumed it was a German tank. He told his crew to hold fire, that it was a friendly. And that's when Clarence, the man at the trigger, pressed the little red button to fire off the first, of three, armor piercing rounds.
Once the first fired, the dust was brutal. The muzzle blast turned up so much dust and debris that he couldnt see if he hit or not, but it saw a slight silhouette and fired a second time. This time his commander (Earley?) said, "HIT!"
Then he pumped one more into the Panther, causing flames to erupt high out of the turret and ensuring that they had destroyed this huge beast.