lördag 14 juli 2007

Panzers from Pz.Abt.40.(z.b.V.)!


Photographs of panzers from Pz.Abt.40 (z.b.V.) are quite few and far between. Especially ones from the 1. Kompanie. The first company in Pz.Abt.40(z.b.V.) only had Pz.Kpfw I and Pz.Kpfw II (as well as a couple of Kleiner Befehlswagen Panzers) at their disposal. I have come across a handfull of identified panzers from the 1. Kompanie in books and on the internet before, but I was still delighted to find these a couple of days ago:


Pz.Kpfw I from the 1.Kompanie. The small "v" visible on the frontal armor stands för "Volkheim", one of the commanding officers of the unit when they served in Denmark and Norway. The photo was found, and can be viewed in better resolution here:

http://www.panzernet.net/panzernet/stranky/galerie/tanky/pz1/galeriepzkpfwI5.htm

1.Kompanie Pz.Kpfw II being unloaded. Quite possibly in Oslo where the unit arrived on the 24th of April 1940. Once again the small "v" and the numeral "1" are visible on the frontal armor. Source picture: http://www.panzernet.net/panzernet/stranky/galerie/tanky/pz2/galeriepzkpfwII3.htm

The first company supposedly had some 13 Pz.Kpfw I, 7 Pz.Kpfw II and one Kleiner Panzer Befehlswagen I when they arrived in Oslo between the 20th and 24th of April. Different sources differ on the exact date of arrival, although the daily reports for Heereslage Nord pinpoints the 1./Pz.Abt.40(z.b.V.) advancing (as a part of Kampfgruppe Fischer) towards Tynset on the 23rd of April.

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