"Fake Tank" picture or ... ???

[Matthieu]

Hi chaps,

This picture came from a small photo / document group of a KC recipient I recently purchased.
"Ignoring" the soldier in the front holding the furry animal ( ), its what's behind him what intrigues me.

Seems to be a truck with a wooden frame built around it, giving it the appearance of a tank .
I've heard ( or read ) somewhere that the Germans made these in large quantities, especially to fool the enemy ... true or not ?

Nevertheless, a strange looking picture, hoping some of you can bring clarity to it .

Thanks,
Mathijs

[pinkepank]

maybe a training aid as its a t-34 (russian tank) eg where to hit it with panzerfaust cool picture though

[Matthieu]

Wow, that is quick reply .... thanks for the explanation ... that would make sense.

FYI, the gentleman in the picture is Michael Hamburger ...

More pix on him here : http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=639908

Grtz
Mathijs

[12thPanzer]

That is a cool pic. They talk about the wooden T34's in the book "Panzerattrappen" a bit. I think I still have the book...somewhere. Pinkepank is correct, they were used for training.

this one being inspected by some curious GIs

[MarcRikmenspoel]

I agree, it is for training. They used real, captured tanks or mock-ups such as this, to enable men to crawl up to the tank. This way they learned the blind spots and vulnerable angles, from which it could be stalked. Not only for Panzerfauste, earlier in the war, it was for placing mines, hand grenades, and hollow charges actually on the vehicle. This was tough to do in combat, but was perhaps a bit easier after practicing the technique in training.