TheAxisCampaign

The incredibly rare German Panther tank ‘Ersatz M10’ disguised to resemble a U.S. M10 tank destroyer. This tank was used by troops from Panzer Brigade 150 under Otto Skorzeny’s command in an attempt to capture Malmedy using captured American vehicles. However, heavy defensive fire forced the Germans to retreat. Only five were ever made.

This post is non-political.

The fly-covered body of a dead German Wehrmacht soldier lying on the ground next to a sign for Lessay. Official caption: "Young member of German Wehrmacht stopped a Yank bullet in battle for Lessay - 7-28-1944. US Army photo 181-10” Lessay, France. 28 July 1944

An M4A3 Sherman takes a penetration from a long 8.8cm AP round through the rear. The Allied crew’s casualties are unknown.

⛑️ German medics or Sanitäter care for wounded British prisoners after being taken to the rear for treatment at a German field hospital. Libya, Bardia, North Africa 1941.

🌲Captured Sherman Firefly, a Beutepanzer, pressed into German service during the bocage fighting. Normandie Bocage, July 1944.

A disabled Elefant broken down and abandoned by its crew. Probably due to engine and mechanical failures. Italy, 1944.

In the first weeks of Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, the German army was advancing rapidly, especially on the southern flank. The 9th Panzer Division, under General Ewald von Kleist’s 1st Panzer Group, was attacking deep into Ukraine as part of Army Group South. At the end of July and beginning of August, the division was engaged in fierce fighting around the Uman region. During this period, Soviet resistance was hardening and German armored units were beginning to suffer casualties. On August 2, 1941, a Panzer III tank (Pz.Kpfw. III) from the 9th Panzer Division was likely hit by artillery fire, anti-tank fire, or an airstrike and was left immobilized. The tank’s crew was killed. At that time, during the early stages of the campaign which were still considered “successful,” it had become a tradition for German armored units to bury their fallen comrades right next to their vehicles whenever possible. This way, they both protected their vehicles and paid their final respects to the dead soldiers. The three wooden crosses you see in the photo mark these three tankers. The date August 2, 1941 is clearly legible on the crosses. The graves are carefully arranged: bordered with stones, decorated with flowers and plants, and a Stahlhelm (German steel helmet) placed in the center. Each cross bears an Iron Cross motif; this was the standard marking indicating that the soldier had been killed in combat. This photograph captures the cruel contradiction of war with striking clarity: behind it, the shattered, burned, and riddled wreckage of a Panzer III, and right in front of it, the carefully prepared graves of his comrades… It sums up that brief period when the air of victory still lingered, but casualties were also starting to mount.

German soldiers on leave from the frontline, wash clothes in the Berezina River, as Panzer III Ausf. G tank crosses a bridge. Soviet Union, South of Minsk, 1942.

@almoni33 His belt buckle was probably the standard German Wehrmacht belt buckle reading ‘Gott Mitt Uns’ or ‘ God is with us’ …

@TheAxisCampaign Почему он не застрелился ? Мерзкий нацист пошел в плен добровольно ... А на его пряжке написана глупость

A young German Waffen SS-Sturmmann of the 12th SS ‘Hitlerjugend’ Otto Funk, captured by US soldiers during the Normandy campaign. Normandy, July, 1944.

A young German paratrooper of 4th Fallschirmjäger-Division with his Maschinengewehr 42, watches the skies for Allied aircraft during the Allied landings of Anzio. Anzio, Italy, 22nd January 1944.

A German Wehrmacht soldier with a captured stockpile of 14.5mm PTRD-41 anti-tank rifles. Soviet Union, Summer, 1943.

A Tiger I hull showing resistance to Allied gunnery practice in firing trials by the Allies in the North African Western Desert. North Africa, August 1942.

Members of the 6.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade or 6th SS Mountain Division Nord capture a white washed T-34 76mm. Estonia, 1944.

Panzer III tanks and Sd.Kfz. 250 half-tracks during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa in the Summer of 1941.

@theragingtanker Oops…

Two German MG 34 gunners hold a defensive position near a railway line near at Kiev, 1941. The battle of Kiev ended late September that year, over 600,000 Red Army soldiers were captured. This encirclement is considered the largest encirclement in the history of warfare.

🪖German Fallschirmjäger hitch a ride on a Tiger II during the opening stages of the Ardennes Offensive. One on the rear appears to be handing a motorcyclist a cigarette.

@VoytasLicho We are to respect the dead. They paid their deeds and fought for their land. They fought for what they believed were right. Or They could be conscripted men, which were forced to fight and had no choice.

@TheAxisCampaign And what? Are we supposed to sympathize with them?

Two young German soldiers, one injured, the other dead. As the Allies advanced into Germany, the Allied soldiers were constantly surprised at the extreme youth of the German forces. Rhine Crossing, 24-31 March 1945.

A group of Slovenian partisan resistance fighters are lined up and chained together after being captured by German forces in Celje, Slovenia. The fate of these men remain unknown… Celje, Slovenia, November 1942.