On the third episode of The Panzer Podcast we will discuss in detail the final preparations and modifications made just prior to sending the new Panzerkampfwagen V 'Panther' Ausf. D, Sd.Kfz. 171 to the Eastern Front. Once there, we will get into the details of Operation Citadel and just how well or, not so well, the new Panther tanks would do against a determined defense. We detail the actions of July 5 - July 20 1943 for Panzer-Regiment 39 "von Lauchert" and within, the two Panzer-Abteilungen 51 & 52 (Panther Abteilungen). Further details include the Kriegsstärtkenachweisung (K.St.N. [TO&E]) of the new Panther units as well as plenty of contemporary, and first-hand accounts of how the battle went for these particular units at Kursk and the surrounding areas.
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.
