"PROST", BETWEEN BATTLES ON BERGEPANTHER

The first tanks in the German army appeared at the end of World War I - these were the A7V machines. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the German armed forces were forbidden to develop armored weapons, but the German side did not honor these restrictions and secretly developed armored weapons. However, after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, this development became fully official, and in 1935 the 1st Armored Division was formed. In the period 1935-1939, further divisions were formed, and their main equipment was the Pz.Kpfw cars: I, II, III and IV. A single armored division at that time was composed of a tank brigade divided into two armored regiments, a motorized infantry brigade and support units, among others: reconnaissance, artillery, anti-aircraft and sappers. It consisted of about 300 tanks in full time. It is also worth adding that the German armored forces (German: Panzerwaffe) were trained and prepared to implement the doctrine of lightning war, and not - as in many armies of the time - to support infantry activities. Therefore, emphasis was put in training "pancerniaków" on the interchangeability of functions, independence in decision-making by officers and non-commissioned officers and the best technical mastery of the tanks owned. All this resulted in great successes of German armored weapons in Poland in 1939, but especially in Western Europe in 1940. Also in the course of the fighting in North Africa - especially in the period 1941-1942 - the German armored forces turned out to be a very difficult opponent. Before the invasion of the USSR, the number of German armored divisions almost doubled, but the number of tanks in these units decreased to about 150-200 vehicles. Also in the course of the fighting on the Eastern Front - especially in 1941-1942 - the German armored forces were superior in training and organization to their Soviet opponent. However, contact with such vehicles as the T-34 or KW-1 forced the introduction of the Pz.Kpfw V and VI tanks to the line in 1942 and 1943. Growing losses on the Eastern Front, as well as lost battles - at Stalingrad or Kursk - made the German Panzerwaffe weaken. Its structure included heavy tank battalions (with 3 tank companies), and in 1943, armored grenadier divisions were established. There was also an increasingly clear advantage of the Soviet side, and from 1944 - the need to simultaneously fight the Soviet troops in the east and the Allies in the west. It is also assumed that it was then (in the years 1944-1945) that the training of the German armored forces was weaker than in the previous period and did not constitute such a significant advantage on the German side than before. The last large-scale operations of the German Panzerwaffe were the offensives in the Ardennes (1944-1945) and in Hungary (1945).The Bergepanzer Panther or Bergepanther (Sd.Kfz 179) was a German technical support and evacuation tank from the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1944, and serial production started in the same year, leading to the creation of about 300 vehicles of this type. The vehicle was powered by an engine Maybach HL230 P30 with 700 hp. The tank was armed with a single 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun and - in some examples - a 20 mm cannon. Due to the introduction of the Pz.Kpfw V and Pz.Kpfw VI vehicles to the line, the Wehrmacht command faced the problem of evacuating damaged vehicles of this type from the battlefield. For a relatively long time, this problem was solved by sending to such vehicles lighter technical support vehicles (eg Sd.Kfz 7 or 9), but 2-3 vehicles per one tank. In 1944, however, it was decided to create an evacuation vehicle based on the chassis of the Pz.Kpfw V tank in A and G versions. The reconstruction consisted in removing the turret and replacing it with a crane. A much more durable drive train was also installed. Some cars of this type were also equipped with a winch with a lifting capacity of up to 40 tons. For the production of carts Bergepanther was responsible for the MAN, Henschel, Daimler-Benz and Demag plants.