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Dirk

IIRC the Pz.Kpfw III was the first with the '2-3' crewing stations.

2 in front - driver , co-driver/radio operator
3 in turret - gunner , loader and TC.

bsmart

Actually I saw on the Military Channel the other day that the British Mk II Medium of the late 20s was a 5 man crew. I'm not usre but I suspect it was a similar arrangement

panamadan · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 29, 2006 Posts: 174

- Garry_Redmon

Yes, it is an ausf F version that has had upgraded features added at some point to ausf J specifications, notably the 50mm KwK L/60 main gun and the turret schurzen. It has the old style drive sprocket on the left side with the 40mm spacers to accept the later, wider 400mm track and the later style drive sprocket on the right side. It also has a hole all the way through the gun mantlet and turret front.

I have been told that the Panzer III was found in a repair depot in Germany during or right after the war and then shipped to the Armor Center at Ft. Knox where it became part of the Patton Museum collection.

Garry, Thanks for the answer. Do you think that it was a training tank? Dan

Garry_Redmon

It could possibly have been used for training, but there is no evidence I know of to support that theory. The fact that it was cobbled together makes it unique. I haven't seen any photographic evidence of another early Pz III so modified.

Maybe it was the sole test vehicle for experimentally fitting the 50mm L60, turret schurzen, new drive sprocket and converting older drive sprockets to accept the wider track. Or maybe it was a last ditch effort to stem the Allied advance. Who knows? I'll ask around and see if I can find out some more.

panamadan · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 29, 2006 Posts: 174

Garry, Thanks for your time-I would imagine it might be a training tank, but they were scraping the bottom of the barrel at that time and it might have ended up as a front line tank. Dan

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