The Panzer Podcast

On today's rather short episode I have an announcement to make about the upcoming 78th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion along with a little story and catch-up time on how the Podcast is coming along in regards to the upcoming Sherman series!

Au Revoir!

John Burgess

[email protected]

Sources Include: 

SHD, 11 P 236

Luc Braueur, Tanks of the Resistance – The amazing adventure of an armored FFI squadron on the Saint-Nazaire Pocket , author-publisher

On the twelfth episode of The Panzer Podcast, and the FINALE episode of the Panther series we are going to wrap up the whole burrito and finish off the Panther series. We'll get some insight into what the Allies, the Soviets, and (obviously?) the Germans thought of the Panther at the war's conclusion. After that, I get a little mushy and thank all of you wonderful folks for tuning in and going on this journey with me-- really-- thanks a million! 

Enjoy!

John Burgess

[email protected]

Additional sources for this episode:

“Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 47, June 1, 1944” by US Army et all, “Operation Barbarossa: The Complete Organizational and Statistical Analysis, and Military Simulation Vol. 1” by Nigel Askey, “The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives Vol. 1-3”, by Tenney Davis, “Tank Power of the USSR: The First Full Encyclopedia” by Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin, “Pantera, PzKpfw V” by Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin, “Panther: external appearance and design changes.” By MacDougall and Block, “Die Fertigung von Kettenfahrzeugen bei der Firma MNH in Hannover von 1939-1945“ by F. Köhler, and “British Panthers” in Vol. 62 of “Wheels and tracks”, by David Fletcher.

Postponement announcement: 

Hey everyone,

This is just an announcement that work has been kicking my ass and I did not have enough time to properly finish this week's episode. So, I am asking that you all give me just another week to finish the episode in the right way, meaning: it will be good! Thanks, and stay tuned we've got some merch coming along with the finale to the Panther Series.

Cheers,

John Burgess

[email protected]

On the Eleventh, and penultimate episode of The Panzer Podcast's Panther series we are going to get into, and finish off the fantasy models of the Panther tank. This will include the Panther Ausführung F along with the Panzerbeobachtungswagen 'Panther' and the 88mm Panther F proposal. We run down the equipment list included with all Panther kits as well tie up some loose ends and do a small bit of housekeeping.

Enjoy!

John Burgess

[email protected]

Additional Sources Include: "Panzer Tracts 11-1" by Thomas Jentz, and David Doyle.

On the tenth episode of The Panzer Podcast we are going to pick up right where we left off and go straight into the Battle for Normandy and Unternehmen Lüttich, the Falaise Gap and then turn our sights Eastward as we examine how the Panther Ausf. G fared on the Ostfront. We will be putting the final touches on the Panther Ausf. G, and with it essentially the Panther tank as a whole. We have another episode or two left, but this is the final combat episode of the Panther Ausf. G– so, sit back, relax, and…

Enjoy!

John Burgess

[email protected]

Additional Sources Include:“D-Day to Berlin” by Andrew Williams, “The Struggle for Europe” by Chester Wilmot and Christopher McDevitt, “The Falaise Gap Battles: Normandy 1944” by Simon Forty, “The Falaise Pocket” by Major Braden DeLauder, “The Papers of General Omar N. Bradley” by Omar Bradley, “Ultra in the West, the Normandy Campaign 1944-45” by Ralph Bennett, “A General’s Life” by Omar Bradley and Clay Blair, “Overlord D-Day and the Battle for Normandy” by Max Hastings, “A Soldier’s Story” by Omar Bradley,  “Victory in World War II” by Nigel Cawthorne, “Breakout and Pursuit” by Blumenson, “The Battle of the Generals” by Blumenson

On the ninth episode of The Panzer Podcast we will essentially continue right where we left off last episode: we’ll dive into the reorganization efforts of 1944 to the Panzerwaffe, delve into the wide world of 1940’s style infrared optics, have a look at night fighting, and finally we’ll look underneath the hood of how effective close air support was on the Western Front along with what was going on during the Battle for Normandy.

Enjoy!

John Burgess

[email protected]

Additional Sources Include: “Panther in Detail” by Feist and Culver, “Panzerkrieg: Vol 1” by Jason Mark, “The Last Battle: Battle of Berlin” by Cornelius Ryan, “Tomb of the Panzerwaffe” by Aleksei Isaev, “Firebirds: Flying the Typhoon in Action” by Charles Demoulin, “Decision in Normandy” by Carlo D’Este, “Airpower myths and facts” by Phillip Meilinger, Col. (ret.), “Air Power at the Battlefront” by Ian Gooderson, “Strike from the Sky” by Richard Hallion, “Das Reich” by Max Hastings, “The Fighter-Bomber in the Normandy Campaign” by Christopher Evans, “Panther Tanks: German Army and Waffen-SS Normandy Campaign” by Dennis Oliver, “SS-Hitlerjugend, the history of the 12th SS division” by Rupert Butler, “The Falaise Gap Battles: Normandy 1944” by Simon Forty, “The Falaise Pocket” by Major Braden DeLauder, “Panther im Einsatz 1943-45” by Horst Scheibert.

On the eighth episode of The Panzer Podcast we'll be diving into the Panther Ausführung G-- the final and most produced Panther tank during the war-- we'll have a chance to explore the who, what, why, and when of the last variation as well as it's not-so-humble beginnings as the Panther II. Which yes, we will side quest our way through the Panther II into the Panther G, while also touching on the effects of the Holocaust and Nazi Forced labor within the armaments industry and how that directly affected the Panther program, especially so late in the war. We also get a chance to discuss the Kazakh Dandelion and other various rubber pursuits. Buckle up, this episode is a long one!

Enjoy!

-John Burgess

[email protected]

So, my sources list was beginning to get too long, so instead I've decided to start including any new sources that I have added because of the episode. I include a whole lot of sources in each episode because within each episode I am pulling my notes from all of the books that I've read to get this series underway. So if you would like to check the full source list, you can go back to each episode description to see where I've left off. Going back to episode 007, all of my sources there is the complete list so far. I am now going to add the additional books I've used in this episode, and will continue to, going forward, always add new additional sources to each episode if they have not been listed previously.

Additional Sources Include:

"The I.Abteilung/Panzer-Regiment 4 in Italy 1944-1945" by Martin Block and John Nelson, “A World History of Rubber: Empire, Industry and the Everyday” by Stephen Harp, “The Devil’s Milk: A Social History of Rubber” by John Tully, “The Battle for Rubber in the Second World War” by William Clarence-Smith, “Forced Laborers in the Third Reich” by Ulrich Herbert, "Less than Slaves: Jewish Forced Labor" by Benjamin Ferencz, "Arbeitslager Zement" by Florian Freund, "Industry and Ideology: IG Farben in the Nazi Era" by Peter Hayes, "Vernichtung durch Arbeit" by Hermann Kaienburg, and "German Military Transport of World War Two", by John Milsom.

On the seventh episode of The Panzer Podcast we are finally getting around to the second iteration of the Panther tank, the Ausführung A-- which was the second most prolific of the three variations, and will take us well into 1944. We will drill down the details of makes the Ausf. A an Ausf. A, as well as describe the differences between the Ausf. D and Ausf. A. Moving on, we will pick up our combat narrative on the Eastern Front and get a chance to visit with the Allied invasion of mainland Italy and just how the new Panther got along driving through the hills of Central Italy. 

Enjoy!

-John Burgess

[email protected]

Sources include: "Panther, Germany's Quest for Combat Dominance" by Michael and Gladys Green, "Panther and it's Variants" by Walter Spielberger, "Repairing the Panzers, Vol. 1 & 2" by Lukas Friedli, "Elements of Armament Engineering, Part Two" by Billingsly et al, "Ordinance in the Eastern Front" a discussion, led by John W. Schaefer, "Militarfahrzeuge, German Softskinned Vehicles of WW2, Vol. 10" by Walter Spielberger & Uwe Feist, "Sd,KFZ 8 & Sd.KFZ. 9, Schwerer Zugkraftwage (12t & 18t)" by Alan Ranger, "German Heavy Half-Tracked Prime Movers" by Reinhard Frank, "Panzer Tracts No. 5-1" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle, "Panzer Tracts No. 5-2"Panzer Tracts No. 5-4" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle, "Panzer Tracts No. 16" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle, "Panzer Tracts No. 16-1" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle & Lukas Friedli, "Historical Study: German Tank Maintenance in World War II" by Dept. of the Army, June 1954, "Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of all Small Arms, Artillery, and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945" by Terry Gander & Peter CHamberlain, "Designing the T-34: Genesis of the Revolutionary Soviet Tank" by Peter Samsonov, "Panther" by Thomas Anderson, "German Artillery of World War Two" by Ian Hogg, "Halftracked Vehicles of the German Army 1909-1945" by Walter Spielberger, "Panther Tank: Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (SdKfz 171): Enthusiasts' Manual" by Mark Healy, "German Medium Half-Tracked Prime Movers" by Reinhard Frank, "Armored Vehicles of the German Army 1905-1945" by Walter Spielberger, "Panzertruppen: The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1933-1942 Vol. 1" by Thomas Jentz, "Panzertruppen: The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1943-1945 Vol. 2" by Thomas Jentz, "Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank" by R.P. Hunnicutt, "Panzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics in World War II" by Wolfgang Schneider, "Testing and Fielding of the Panther Tank and Lessons for Force XXI" by John Womack, "World War II Ballistics: Armor and Gunnery by Lorrin Rexford Bird & Robert Livingston, "Panther vs. Sherman" by Steven Zaloga, and "A Survey of Tank Warfare in Europe from D-Day to 12 August 1944" by HG Gee of the Army Operational Research Group, “Battle of Kursk” by Glantz and House, “Kursk: The Greatest Battle on the Eastern Front 1943” by Clark, “Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East” by Ziemke, “Stärkeberechnung der Panz.Div.44.” by Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, 1944., “Allgemeine Heeresmitteilungen: Elfter Jahrgang 1944” by Oberkommando des Heeres (B.Arch RH 1/167), “Leicghte Panzer-Aufklärungskompanie” by Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen.

On the sixth episode of The Panzer Podcast, we are going to do something quite different-- and hopefully enjoyable-- a holiday episode! No, I won't be reading the "Night Before Panzermas", though I do have a short story I wish to share with you all. It is titled "What We Wanted to Do", by Ron Carlson. 

I also have some announcements at the end of episode today, and the episode is a short one-- I didn't want to get too long-winded this week.

We'll be back in two weeks with the next episode in our Panther series, so please bear with me and we'll be back on track in no time!

In the meantime, enjoy this short story!

-John Burgess

[email protected]

Sources Include: "What We Wanted to Do", by Ron Carlson. That's it, no 2,000 word reading list today! Just the one source.

On the fifth episode of The Panzer Podcast, we will be discussing the Sd.Kfz. 9 "Famo" Heavy Prime Mover, along with the Bergepanther (Recovery Panther), and of course the Sd. Ah. family of tank towing trailers. Finally I want to touch on another specialty variant of the Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther", the Pantherbefehlswagen (Panther Command Tank) and many other tidbits and anecdotes to round out the story of these special, purpose-built vehicles in support of the Panther tank.

Enjoy!

-John Burgess

[email protected]

Sources include: "Panther, Germany's Quest for Combat Dominance" by Michael and Gladys Green, "Panther and it's Variants" by Walter Spielberger, "Repairing the Panzers, Vol. 1 & 2" by Lukas Friedli, "Elements of Armament Engineering, Part Two" by Billingsly et al, "Ordinance in the Eastern Front" a discussion, led by John W. Schaefer, "Militarfahrzeuge, German Softskinned Vehicles of WW2, Vol. 10" by Walter Spielberger & Uwe Feist, "Sd,KFZ 8 & Sd.KFZ. 9, Schwerer Zugkraftwage (12t & 18t)" by Alan Ranger, "German Heavy Half-Tracked Prime Movers" by Reinhard Frank, "Panzer Tracts No. 5-1" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle, "Panzer Tracts No. 5-2"Panzer Tracts No. 5-4" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle, "Panzer Tracts No. 16" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle, "Panzer Tracts No. 16-1" by Thomas Jentz & Hilary Doyle & Lukas Friedli, "Historical Study: German Tank Maintenance in World War II" by Dept. of the Army, June 1954, "Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of all Small Arms, Artillery, and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945" by Terry Gander & Peter CHamberlain, "Designing the T-34: Genesis of the Revolutionary Soviet Tank" by Peter Samsonov, "Panther" by Thomas Anderson, "German Artillery of World War Two" by Ian Hogg, "Halftracked Vehicles of the German Army 1909-1945" by Walter Spielberger, "Panther Tank: Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (SdKfz 171): Enthusiasts' Manual" by Mark Healy, "German Medium Half-Tracked Prime Movers" by Reinhard Frank, "Armored Vehicles of the German Army 1905-1945" by Walter Spielberger, "Panzertruppen: The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1933-1942 Vol. 1" by Thomas Jentz, "Panzertruppen: The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1943-1945 Vol. 2" by Thomas Jentz, "Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank" by R.P. Hunnicutt, "Panzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics in World War II" by Wolfgang Schneider, "Testing and Fielding of the Panther Tank and Lessons for Force XXI" by John Womack, "World War II Ballistics: Armor and Gunnery by Lorrin Rexford Bird & Robert Livingston, "Panther vs. Sherman" by Steven Zaloga, and "A Survey of Tank Warfare in Europe from D-Day to 12 August 1944" by HG Gee of the Army Operational Research Group, “Battle of Kursk” by Glantz and House, “Kursk: The Greatest Battle on the Eastern Front 1943” by Clark, “Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East” by Ziemke, “Stärkeberechnung der Panz.Div.44.” by Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, 1944., “Allgemeine Heeresmitteilungen: Elfter Jahrgang 1944” by Oberkommando des Heeres (B.Arch RH 1/167), “Leicghte Panzer-Aufklärungskompanie” by Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen.