I have heard from a number of sources (including the manual for the tank simulator computer game “Steel Beasts”, which is quite a serious + accurate sim, developed by armour experts) that the Panther tank was used by both French and West German forces for some time after WW2, in the late 40s and 50s (with various modifications such as a replacement gun).
However I’ve never seen a model of a post-war Panther, or for that matter a picture of a real one - which seems very odd given the general level of interest in German armour.
Yes That’ s true ! French troups use then first for training and after in units until the biguning of 1950. Some panther’s barrels were fittend on AMX13.
I heard a story years ago from a Vietnam helo pilot about a pair of Panthers that were dug into a hilltop and used by the French as fixed positions in the late 1940s near Dien Bien Phu. He swore up and down they were Panthers, even went so far as to describe the G model mantlet to prevent the shots from angling down into the top of the hull. He said when he saw them in the late 60s they were pretty well rusted out. He passed away a number of years ago, so I have nothing to substantiate the story other than his word.
Don’t forget other panzers were used post war. The mark 4 was used by the Isralies and Arabs I think. Strange I don’t recall anyone using Tiger 1’s after the war. I think it would be better than the Mark 4.
Spain and Finland too [:)]
…also as a side note I think the movie Patton was filmed in Spain because of the amount of German WW2 stuff that the Spanish Army possessed. [:)]
FYI I found this in about 7 seconds via Google…
Test run of tanks, T-IV
The German PzKpfw IV was designed for providing heavier anti-soft targets fire while accompanying the Panzerdivionen. Panzer IV Ausf A, B and C were used in Poland and then in France campaign with 278 tanks. In 1940 new Ausf. D make its appearance on the French battlefield. New Ausf. E and F-1 came out taking heavier armor protection and raising weight to 22 tons. For operation Barbarossa 580 Panzer IV were at disposal and 964 in 1942: too few because it was becaming clear that only this tank could stand against the soviet T-34s and KVs. A powerful and robust fighting machine, the PzKpfw IV was supplied to various allies of Germany, and remained in service with the Spanish and Finnish armies for some time after the end of the war.
I’ve heard stories (but have never seen any documentation) that Syria employed a few score PzKpfw IV in the 1967 War against Israel. Not surprisingly, they were outclassed by the considerably more advanced Israeli tanks, and ended up being abandoned by their crews before seeing much action.
Does anyone know if there’s any truth to this tale, or is it just another legend?
I read somewhere on the internet while looking up Tiger info that russia had many Tigers after the war - mainly used for research and training. It also mentioned something about them being for sale at some point in time as well. All that was left though was the hull and turret (it had been gutted out)
I have a hazy memory of an article in some news mag like Time from the 60’s about a panther chassis that had a crane mounted in place of the turret. It was in civilian not military use.
