More americans became aces while flying the p47 than any other fighter during ww2. Developed in 1940, the previous m2a1 was a medium tank with a 37mm gun, but the fighting in poland and france showed that this weapon would be too weak for modern purposes. Panzer ace tank ace is a contemporary term used in englishspeaking popular culture to. This article lists 890 updated as of october 2017 of these aces. The m3 was a replacement for the m2, and was massproduced, forming the core of the us light tanks during ww2. Eyewitness accounts german war, ww2, world war ii, soldier stories, waffen ss, last panther, dday, panzer, hitler book 1 world war 2. Among the most widely recognized tank crew and tank platoon commander was the american ace of aces, lafayette g.
Hartmann crashlanded his damaged fighter on 14 separate occasions, though. What was stronger in wwii, the king tiger tank or the js ii. In world war ii the proper name would be german reich if you want to be so historically accurate. This tank greatly contributed to the victory achieved by the red army. It is relatively certain that 2,500 german fighter pilots attained ace status, having achieved at least 5 aerial victories. Flying american combat aircraft of world war ii, vol. However, they were developed too late to change the course of the war. In continuous development and operational service from the time of the sinojapanese war in 1940 to the end of the pacific war in 1945, it is held in almost mythical awe, similar to britains legendary fighter aircraft. Jan, 2006 its ironic that the far more formidable on paper tiger ii or king tiger tank never achieved such feats as the original tiger did in the hands of german panzer aces tiger iis were often bested without fanfare by savvy t3485 commanders on the eastern front, for example side shots, point blank range. Weve taken into account not just kills, but also time in service, difficulty of flying conditions and the nature of their missions. On february 16, 1916 the first tank division, known as a tank detachment was formed in england. Air force combat units of world war ii department of defense. This aces list of world war ii is incompleted, because in red army almost werent statistics about personal victories of a tankers. Meeting this goal, however, required production simultaneous with operational testing and development.
Minitanks is a rich in tradition military series which was launched by the model railway manufacturer roco in 1960. May 07, 2014 good documentary focusing on stugs and other assault guns tank destroyers jagdpanzer, jagdpanther, nashorns, elefants, jagdtigers and the wonderful little hetzer etc. Soviet aces, american p39s, and the air war against germany modern war studies paperback loza, dmitriy, gebhardt, james f. Those who possessed the best maneuvering traits, spatial awareness and marksmanship define history as the greatest aerial aces. Nazi germany tanks and armored vehicles tank encyclopedia.
Pool killed over german soldiers and took 250 as war prisoners. Armor was reinforced, but the armament did not evolve. Zaloga and came across to in us tank aces section of the book, it is claimed there lafayette poole was credited 258 german vehicles, of which onethird may have been armoured vehicles of various types. The first american armored warfare school, located in pennsylvania, was established by another officer whose experiences would heavily influence the outcome of wwii. Here element of surprise can count more than the tank itself. Personnel specifications for a tank corp, us certainly, but unknown year. Pool was born on july 23,1919, on a farm in odem, texas. In many cases i had to use a fragmental sources for this aces rating, so some scores may be actually bigger. The stackpole military history book series by multiple authors includes books panzer wedge. In some cases, there simply arent any conflicts going on through which the gear can demonstrate its worth the b36 peacemaker comes to mind. And that even though he only was the fourth most accomplished tank ace how could that be.
Tank aces of wwii offtopic world of tanks official forum. Panzer i, panzer ii, tiger, panther, stug iii, jagdpanther, marder, jagdtiger, panzer iv, panzer 35t. The 761st black panther tank battalion became the first african american armored unit to enter combat during world war ii. The british and american militaries did not recognise the concept of tank ace, though many commanders and. Lafayette green pool july 23, 1919 may 30, 1991 was an american tankcrew and tankplatoon commander in world war ii and is widely recognized as the us tank ace of aces, credited with 12 confirmed tank. The list is sorted by the number of armoured vehicles destroyed. The tank destroyers were intended to counter german panzer assaults. Based on the m3a3 with a modified hull and new cadillac engine and transmission.
Ace of aces is a title accorded to the top active ace within a branch of service in a nations military in time of war. Panzer aces is an englishlanguage book series by the german author franz kurowski. German tank commander captain michael wittmann bundesarchiv, bild. Stackpole military history series german tank commanders in combat in wwii franz kurowski panzer aces iii. Dung tran sometimes, a good weapon system never gets a chance to shine.
M4a3e2 jumbo from the 33rd battalion, 3rd us armored division, houffalize, belgium, january 1945. The first official recorded history of asian americans fighting on behalf of the u. Does anybody know who the top allied tank ace of wwii was. Ww2 german tank type and size comparison 3d youtube. Document resume world war ii informational fact sheets eric. Dec 02, 2010 list of german tank in world war ii 1. The following article on ww2 tanks is an excerpt from barrett tillman dday encyclopedia. Even so the big difference in a tank battle is made by the crew and the tactics involved. An investigation into who killed the nazis most decorated and infamous panzer ace michael wittmann at the battle of normandy.
It traces the lineage of each army air corps and u. One on one, the tiger 2 would have more chance to be victorious. Wwi aces and airplanes new weapons of the great war. American air forces first entered the war in europe and africa in the summer of 1942. Victory in the ground war of world war 2 could be decided through various means but it was the tank that ultimately took center stage. Bose also wrote, prior to his passing, a 3 volume memoir of his service with the german forces in world war ii. During world war ii, the allies used the m4 sherman medium tank more than any other tank. Things have become so distributed between the equipment to put any image on clothing and the availability to produce and deliver it that its possible to do oneoff tshirts for not much more than making a lot it might even become cheaper when unsold merch comes in but im too lazy to do the math, all i know is unsold inventory is a pita. Over 3000 british tanks were lost in northern europe and hundreds of canadian and french tanks were lost after the d day invasions until ve day. Irzyk in response to critics about the performance of american tanks in combat during wwii. It was not designed for combat, but rather as a training vehicle to familiarize tank crews with germanys modern battle concepts, and to prepare the nations industry for the upcoming war effort. Rating is available when the video has been rented. American tanks and tank destroyers of wwii world war 2. Flag images indicative of country of origin and not necessarily.
Aug 09, 2015 english wikipedia does not even have an own list for tank aces, but one for german ww2 tank aces 2 michael wittmann. As we all noticed the stories of german tank aces became widely known to the public. The american tank ace that killed 12 tank and 258 armoured. German mechanized infantrymen in world war ii the stackpole military history series. German tanks and tank destroyers in ww2 world war photos. Free ly available and operated by the higher intellect project. Flying american combat aircraft of world war ii for europe forging the thunderbolt for the homeland. The german 3rd panzer division and barbarossas failure at the gates of moscow, gi ingenuity. T34 manual russian language t26 manual big pdf file french armor. My uncle, james ellison, knew carl tooey spaatz during ww i and other ww i pilots who survived as well as several who died.
Technical manual tm 9726 light tank m3 stuart opertaing and. If one of those categories shows two numbers separated with a hyphen the exact number is not known. Tank aces of wwii historical discussion war thunder. Chrysler corporation became the principal producer of the tank. German tank commanders of wwii stackpole military history series. Tiger i information center pictures, history and technical data on all variations of the famous german tiger i tank of world war ii. They took a hiding position and shot at the approaching german tanks and then immediately moved away before the. Im presuming it to be russian as western tanks tended to cut to pieces when facing panthers or tigers. American sherman ace tank creighton abrams 50 tank and enemy vehicles destroyed. American wwi pilots united states army air service.
Between 1939 and 1945, 88,140 tanks and 18,620 other armored vehicles were built, almost twice the number. A really smart and properly executed salute is known as a george patton. Fighter aces in world war ii had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors. For most of the war, american armored doctrine at least nominally was focused on infantry support, leaving the job of countering enemy armor to fast, hardhitting tank destroyers. Armored warfare was a salient feature of the second world war. Join britannicas publishing partner program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work. Third armored division in world war ii, was also an early supporter, and one of the first american tank officers to fight in september, 1918. The average american tank gunner can lay on a german tank, is able. The following section provides individual pages for each unit and provides a short history along with everything we have on the unit, to this point. Panzer ace tank ace is a contemporary term used in englishspeaking popular culture to describe highly decorated german tank panzer commanders and crews during world war ii. Pdf the german aces speak download full pdf book download. Id like to get information about them in the form of something like short.
Central to this was the focus of the american military industrial complex on the manufacture of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. He decided to abandon his burning panther and along with his crew he quickly put out the fire. More than 200 profiles regarding schemes used by german armoured vehicles from september 1944 to april 1945. The story of one of the most successful and decorated tank commanders of all time contains maps, official documents, newspaper clippings, and orders of battle german panzer ace michael wittmann was by far the most famous tank commander on any side in world war ii, destroying 8 enemy tanks and 2 anti tank guns with his tiger. Using the same basic tanks as the us army, notably the m3 and m5a1 light tanks and the m4 sherman medium tank, the marines made both technical and tactical innovations to make them more effective in the fight against the japanese. Tank destroyer units were broken into three groups, brigades, groups and battalions. Ww2 german tank type and size comparison 3d types panzerartillerie selfpropelled artillery flakpanzer selfpropelled antiaircraft gun sturmpanzer. Right, but ussr was an official name for russia at that time. World war ii militaria literature, released kurowskis panzer aces in the u.
While not prevalent in world war ii within the wehrmacht, it was common in the waffenss to reward its most successful personnel, as the ss organisation was. There are a total of 68 ww2 german tanks 1939 1945 in the military factory. Knispel total tank kills were confirmed at 168, with some unconfirmed estimates stating that total could actually be closer to 195 kills. Improvisation, technology and winning world war ii stackpole military history series, australian commandos. Leading the 37th tank battalion from the front, abrams and the crew of his own m4 sherman tank, thunderbolt, are estimated to have destroyed about 50 german armored fighting vehicles. Im interested in tank aces from wwii, axis or allied. Michael wittmann the waffen ss tiger commanders of the. The highest scoring tank ace of wwii was germanys kurt knispel.
Over 6000 american tanks were lost in the european theater of operation. Aug 15, 2014 in the summer of 1942, malta, a small island just 80 kilometres south of sicily in the mediterranean sea, was the most bombed place on earth. M4a3e276 jumbo from the 37th tank battalion, 4th armored division, alez, germany, march 1945. Panzer i, the first of these germanbuilt tanks was the panzer i. World war 2 went on to set the new standard in combat tank design, resulting in the main battle tank seen at wars end in 1945. American tanks in world war ii were generally inferior to their german counterparts. The following list contains the german panzer aces of world war ii. This list of 73 aces includes those that scored at least 1 kill in ww2 but ended their careers with 15 or more kills overall. Discussion in western europe 1943 1945 started by keith a. And my speciality, the wehrmacht and ground warfare is just lost. Knispel is considered by some as the greatest tank ace in history. Then, as the usaaf participated in the november invasion of northwest africa, more americans became aces. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article requires login.
German mechanized infantrymen in world war ii the stackpole military history series kurowski, franz on. On the return leg herky encounters a dornier do217, shoots it down, and raises his days total to 6 kills. You will find all the necessary information required to paint all your modeling projects involving german armor in wwii. I have no idea of who were the best tank aces in the war.
German tank commanders of world war ii franz kurowski. The us built more than 49,000 sherman tanks during world war ii. The october battle for ei alamein produced the first american ace in the war against the european axis, lyman middleditch of the 57th fighter group. Franz kurowski served as a reporter in the german army. World war ii saw the emergence of tank aces who became famous for their incredible milestones at the war front. The combat system evolved much from its infancy witnessed during world war 1 1914. Top 5 weird ww2 german prototypes that actually flew duration. Pool was typical of some of the fine tankers produced by the u. A collection of over 750,000 text files and documents on a variety of subjects. His awards included the iron cross, panzer badge and german. After that engagement his panther ended up in the workshop for repairs. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order 1toz. During world war ii, the us marine corps formed six tank battalions that battled through the harsh conditions of the pacific theatre. Achtung panzer you can find more detailed information and photos here.
Flying american combat aircraft of world war ii for europe forging the thunderbolt for the homeland fortress france the german defeat in the east, 194445 german order of battle, vol. Kurt knispel is considered to be the worlds greatest tank ace. Almost all aspects of their achivements were discussed, theres a lot of webpages and articles about them on the net. Aviation artwork, books on aviation, signatures of aces, books on pinup,pinup calendars, art and aviation artists that i have for sale. German tank aces of world war ii weapons and warfare. Highest scoring tank ace of wwii kurt knispel armed. M4a3e2 jumbo cobra king with the first in bastogne inscription, probably the most famous jumbo of the entire 4th armored division.
The best american tank of world war ii rarely saw combat. Developed by the rock island arsenal, the medium m3 tank was the first effective american tank of the war. Actionpacked stories of legendary tank soldiers in combat youarethere approach lets readers relive the experiences of german panzer crews first time in english with the same drama and attention to detail that made panzer aces 9780811731737 and panzer aces ii 9780811731751 such thrilling reads, franz kurowski tells the stories of more german armored officers during world war ii. Here are some minibios of the american wwi pilots, sent in by their descendants.
For example if soviet union was fighting germans for almost 4 years, surerly the could have at least one tankkiller. I doubt there will ever be a definitive list of british tank aces, as has been stated the method of keeping score was very unofficial, but individuals do stand out and deserve mention alongside the more well publicised tankies of other nations. Battlefield mysteries ep 1 panzer ace michael wittmann. Documentaries always focus on him, and you will always find him somehow. Creighton abrams, american, world war ii im supposed to be the best tank commander in the army, patton once said, but i have one peerabe abrams.
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. It was pivotal in all offensives, still sporting decent speed and protection, along with an upgraded. P51, also called mustang, a singleseat, singleengine. This is in line with my earlier question on the greatest tiger i tank that ever fought in the war. The german war hero had 168 confirmed and 195 unconfirmed kills in world war ii. Minutes later he engages a macchi 202 in a lowlevel fight and bags kill number 5. Sep 07, 2016 the germans used the first jet fighters in world war ii, among them the messerschmitt me262. Tanks in world war 2 reference site with pictures for ww ii tank information. Us marine corps tanks of world war ii osprey publishing. German tank commanders of wwii stackpole military history series paperback august 20, 2004. Nov 29, 2015 7 of the greatest flying aces throughout history. During world war ii the concept received little attention. Furthermore, he destroyed 12 tanks, 258 armored vehicles, and selfpropelled guns.
Additional gift options are available when buying one ebook at a time. German tanks, tank destroyers and assault guns in world war ii. Lafayette green pool july 23, 1919 may 30, 1991 was an american tankcrew and tankplatoon commander in world war ii and is widely recognized as the us tank ace of aces, credited with 12 confirmed tank kills and 258 total armoured vehicle and selfpropelled gun kills, over 1,000 german soldiers killed, and 250 more taken as prisoners of. Fedorowicz publishing, a canadian publisher of militaria literature, it was licensed in 2002 by the firm to american publishers ballantine books and stackpole books.
A list of free books in pdf for wwi wwii tank enthusiasts. One of the first british aces, lanoe george hawker, may have shot down over fifty aircraft, but in those early days, the british kept no records of aircraft destroyed. The us today would shudder at the prospect of just engaging the russians alone in all out conventional war. German empire was also a name of the country during world war i. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. In the first world war, aerial combat was all new, too new for clear rules to have been established. The strategic importance of the alliedcontrolled island was magnified after the north african front opened in 1940, providing the allies with an excellent staging platform from which to attack naval, land, and air targets in the central mediterranean. This is a list of fighter aces in world war ii from germany.
List of world war ii panzer aces from germany military. Dragon models, in 2007, released a 5th scale plastic model kit, and a 172nd scale fully assembled diecast model of boses stug and a. After that ernst barkmanns tank was hit by an anti tank gun which caused fire. Lafayette green pool july 23, 1919 may 30, 1991 was an american tankcrew and tankplatoon commander in world war ii and is widely recognized as the us tank ace of aces, credited. To make the title tank aces of ww2 and not german tank aces justified, here the highest scoring allied ace. In a manner reminiscent of the m3 medium tank in wwii, chrysler began building a new plant in newark, new jersey, to build the m48 while it. Irzyk explains performance of american tanks in world war ii. The t3485, a 1943 version of the legendary t34, the most produced and widely used tank of wwii. M2 a4, m3 leegrant, m3 stuart light tank, m4 sherman, m8 greyhound, m10 wolverine, m18 hellcat, m24 chaffee, m26 pershing, m36 jackson. Lafayette green pool july 23, 1919 may 30, 1991 was an american tankcrew and tankplatoon commander in world war ii and is widely recognized as the us tank ace. M 10 wolverine, td tank destroyer wwii american tanks the m10 was a u.
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