Okay, I realize this is a contentious issue, but I believe I’ve found a photo of field-applied Zimmerit. NOT a photo of it being applied in the field, but one that looks fairly obvious.
So here goes, and let’s all have a look and draw our own conclusions, yes? Unless, of course, we decide it’s inconclusive.
slightly different light:
caption:
These are found in Panzer IV: The Panzerkampfwagen IV Medium Tank, 1939-1945 by Kevin Hjermstad (Squadron/Signal Publications). Here’s the link to it on Amazon:
I always thought Zimmerit was a Model brand…but after reading an article in FSM about “How to Apply Zimmerit on a Tiger” I came to the conclusion that Zimmerit is that sort of texture on the tanks armor.
LOL - That’s right, Ben1227. Zimmerit is the paste used by the Germans during WWII. They applied it to the vertical surfaces of many of their tanks, in order to prevent the possible use of magnetic mines by enemy troops.
The question here has been, whether it was ever applied in the field, or only in the factory. We’ve been kinda looking for photographic evidence of field-applied Zimmerit, especially pics of it actually being trowelled on in the field.
Very interesting jthurston! Thanks for post that pic.
Zimmerit is a non-magnetic material that the germans applied to their armored vehicles. It has the texture that it has so as to create distance between a magnetic mine or other magnetic explosive device which prevents it from “sticking” to the metal. The texture allows more distance with less material.
What about those early Panther D’s that have that nasty-looking rough zimmerit; there’s not even a pattern in it–surely that wouldn’t have been done at a factory?
If the picture depicts a Sikh or Gorkha soldier it is probably from Northern Africa where the use of mud for camoflage was common.
North Africa combat conditions don’t really call for Zimmerit so my 2 cents are;
Mud
Hmm…Doesn’t look like concrete to me, but it is certainly possible.
Also, I’m not thinkin’ mud, because of the way in which it has broken off from the turret schurzen - too sharp to be mud.
Probably not the same thing as the stuff that got gooped on in the factory, but I think we’ve got some kind of secondary external covering here. Something obviously applied in the field, or at least under field conditions. Just my thinkin.
Not so fast? I only through in my 2 cents [2c] m8 and no, I was not reading the text so I could not say that I deliberatly turned down the authors depiction.
Since I still think its mud, I will dig deeper though [:P]
I did not misstype, I wanted to type Gorkha, they take their name from an Indian guru by the name of Gorakshanath.
Agree with you Brews.
And when it comes to the tree, well that is not a tree but an Olive bush that only grows in Tunisia.
–if it is an H model Mk IV it couldn’t have been in Africa; H models never made it there
–the early H models had the bolted on armor that the pic shows; they were introduced mid-late 1943
–Sihk/Indian soldiers fought heavily in Italy; the Italian Campaign was during the time period of mid '43 to the end of the war; zimmed tanks were common in Italy
–transition period to zimm was late summer 1943 (roughly August)
–something rather substantial is stuck to the tank, even to the bolt heads on the front armor…it looks to have been applied deliberately…pattern does not match known factory patterns of zimmerit…seems to have had a thick viscocity: look at how it is stuck to the tranny cooling hatches which are open…look at the way it has flaked off, not crumbled like mud…cement is much more of a slurry; hard to keep it on vertical surfaces w/o formers…
