No answer!
"Have you any idea of the proportion of knocked out German tanks which were actually repaired & returned to operation? "
It is impossible to know how much tanks were repaired or refurbished, as it could be done at different levels, from front line (repairing a track) to rear factories.
What is sure is:
- a tank left behind and not recovered was lost, and this is the main cause for losses. For example, the number of avalaible tanks in PzDiv during Normandy campaign remains "almost stable" during first phase, and decreased quickly after "Cobra" operation, when damaged tanks had to be left behind.
This eventually shows that repair units did miracles "in the field".
- Any KO tank can virtually been repaired, though maybe in the factory, except when armour is too much damaged (torn or cracked). It means that a tank could be repaired by changing 99% of its parts.
Question is: what serial number giving to a tank where engine, gearbox, suspension and wheels are new, turret is coming form another one
?
- At the end of the war, all German tanks and aircrafts repaired in factories were considered as new units and added to the total number produced. This is partly why the total number of tanks made during the last years of the war given in many figures is so high.
"Have you any idea of the proportion of knocked out German tanks which were actually repaired & returned to operation? "
It is impossible to know how much tanks were repaired or refurbished, as it could be done at different levels, from front line (repairing a track) to rear factories.
What is sure is:
- a tank left behind and not recovered was lost, and this is the main cause for losses. For example, the number of avalaible tanks in PzDiv during Normandy campaign remains "almost stable" during first phase, and decreased quickly after "Cobra" operation, when damaged tanks had to be left behind.
This eventually shows that repair units did miracles "in the field".
- Any KO tank can virtually been repaired, though maybe in the factory, except when armour is too much damaged (torn or cracked). It means that a tank could be repaired by changing 99% of its parts.
Question is: what serial number giving to a tank where engine, gearbox, suspension and wheels are new, turret is coming form another one
?- At the end of the war, all German tanks and aircrafts repaired in factories were considered as new units and added to the total number produced. This is partly why the total number of tanks made during the last years of the war given in many figures is so high.
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