Recovery Day ETO (id:#67124)

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Ponyri Station, Russia 1943-07-08 (52 others)

Overview:

Operation CITADEL saw the debut of the Panzerjager Tiger, or Ferdinand, a huge tank destroyer built on an early Tiger prototype chassis, with armor thick enough to render any Soviet field gun of the time powerless. The tracks and suspension system of these beasts were true Achilles' heels, however, as they were minimally protected from direct fire, and many were immobilized trying to advance through the endless minefields encountered on the first few days of the assault. Once immobilized, the tank destroyers of schwere PanzerjagerAbteilungen 653 and 654 proved incredibly vulnerable once the Soviets realized they had no machine gun armament to protect against a close assault. The Ferdinand crews' stopgap measure was to place an MG34 directly into the breech of the 88mm gun and fire through the barrel at enemy infantry. On 8 July, Generaloberst Walter Model ordered a temporary halt to the offensive to allow his men some time to recover and repair all Ferdinands within reach.

Defender: German (Grenadier-Regiment 508 and schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654 with Panzer-Division 18)  

Errata (source)