"Desperate" measures of the fascists: cannon pillboxes and buried tanks
"Desperate" measures of the fascists: cannon pillboxes and buried tanks

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When the Red Army was on the doorstep of the Nazi lair, the Nazis took many "desperate" measures. However, not without myths. There is an opinion that in the last months of the war the Germans could no longer repair their tanks, as before, and therefore began to simply bury them in the ground along the tower, turning the tank into a firing point. It's time to find out if it really was like that.

This is not a buried tank at all
This is not a buried tank at all

So, the Germans really installed towers from heavy tanks on pillboxes. True, this measure will be extremely difficult to start desperate. Moreover, the Germans did this not at all because they could not repair their tanks. The first such long-term firing points began to appear in 1943, long before the victorious march of the Red Army. Even then, the Wehrmacht began to think about the need to organize a serious defense. The use of tank towers would greatly simplify and speed up the creation of fortifications. In addition, the Panther's gun system had high combat characteristics.

This is how it was arranged
This is how it was arranged

It should be noted that quite often to create tank pillboxes, turrets from damaged tanks were actually used, which were easier to dispose of and replace with new ones than to repair. Needless to say, the Nazis didn't just put the tower on the ground. Its frontal part was reinforced with an additional 40-mm armor plate. And yet, most of the towers on the bunker were specially produced for this at the factory and delivered to the front by trains. In these, the commander's cupola in the design was initially replaced by a conventional hatch.

The idea of long-term strengthening was not bad
The idea of long-term strengthening was not bad

The Dortmund Hoerder Huttenverein plant was engaged in the production of tank turrets for long-term firing points. By February 1944, the company had produced 112 sets for the installation of the "Panther Ostwallturm" firing point. Another plant, Ruhrstahl, also produced towers for creating defensive fortifications. By August 1944, he had produced 155 kits. The Demag-Falkansee enterprise also took part in the project, whose engineers assembled the towers into a one-piece structure. By May 1944, they had built 98 fortifications.

Extremely unpleasant fortification
Extremely unpleasant fortification

The Germans came up with two ways to install Panther towers as fortifications. The first is Pantherturm I (Stahluntersatz), when the tank turret was placed on a box welded from armor plates. The second - Pantherturm III (Betonsockel), when the tower was placed on a reinforced concrete pillbox. The fortifications consisted of combat and living quarters. For the calculation, there were three beds, as well as a stove-stove. There was also an electric generator in the fortification. The door to the fortification was located below ground level. The two types of pillboxes differed only in the method of installing the tower, as well as in the size of the available rooms under it.

Most of these fortifications were on the Atlantic rampart
Most of these fortifications were on the Atlantic rampart

Thus, the Germans never buried the Panther in the ground. The myth was largely due to the fact that most Soviet soldiers did not encounter the fortifications of the Panther Ostwallturm until the storming of Berlin. A significant part of such fortifications was located on the second front, where the Allies fought.

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