88mm Flak Gun and Panther Tank found in villa.
 

That's in a cellar in a villa, in Germany. More here;


Second World War tank and anti-aircraft gun found hidden in basement of villa in Germany - Telegraph


88's got a few rings round the barrel. The Panther looks superb. Nazi weaponry looks so brilliant and so advanced for its time-way ahead of Britain.. wonder what else is still out there.

The Panther was built by the British after war for evaluation purposes. In 1977 it was discovered in a scrap yard in West Ewell Surrey. It was bought by Herr Flick (yes really) and shipped to Germany for restoration.

Give the old fella his tank back ffs.

The 88mm was not only an anti-aircraft weapon but allegedly the best ant-tank gun as well

More pictures

Kellerfund in Heikendorf: Weltkriegspanzer und Flakgeschütz - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama

Meanwhile, in the US of A ... Video: World's largest private tank fleet up for auction - Telegraph

I remember reading a magazine about it, they had a huge pile of scrap that they processed, new scrap permanently topping the pile up, eventually the yard was to be closed and the scrap pile was being run down and when they got to the bottom everyone was stunned to see the panther sitting there with its barrel sawn off and lying besides it.

Had this been an aeroplane and the facts in the Telegraph wrong then there would be a few outraged comments. All I will say here is that this is a late model Panther Ausf G and much later than the 1943 date for the tank quoted in the article. (Count the wheel rivets man!)

Regarding the famed 88mm gun in the anti-tank role I was once assured by a colonel in the Royal Artillery that the British 3.7" would have been superior in the same role but the military mind at the time would not develop a suitable projectile for ground targets as the nomenclature was Gun, Anti-Aircraft!

Great tank and gun in their day with well trained crews. Would not have liked to come up against either in a Sherman - would have been the worst of days - ex Tankie and ex 2nd Lt Rupert.


Regards
Mr Mac

88mm Flak Gun and Panther Tank found in villa.
 

...........

Agree with the above. Give the poor man his stuff back and leave him alone. Busybodies and snitchers helping to grease the wheels of the nanny state. :ugh: :mad:

Quote: The mayor of Heikendorf, Alexander Orth, who was present at the tank's remove, said the discovery came as no surprise, telling the newspaper that the owner "was chugging around in that thing during the snow catastrophe in 1978".

After the war the UK army took over the panzer tank factory and I believe using some of the original German labour plus all the parts which were lying around built I believe 17 tanks.

Some of these were shipped to the UK and they were extensively tested by the RME.

The big problem they encountered was in the drive line which left much be be desired. The post war Leopard seemed to address the faults which is why so many are still in service.

Regards

Col

Can't read the full article but I can't see why they couldn't just disable the weaponry & leave him alone with his collection. I'm assuming there's a specific law against it for them to act but still, there's ways & means to keep everyone happy.

Our tanks may have been "behind" but we outproduced Germany by about 18 to 1. Quantity, as Mr Stalin said, has a quality of its own.

And, yes, please give the man his tank back.

I remember during the Cold War being told that although the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact forces had the quantity of equipment, it couldn't compete with the quality of equipment in the West. I occasionally threw into the discussion that this flew in the face of the experience of WW2.......

My vote goes to the 17pdr. My father was a radio operator/gunner in a Sherman Firefly and he killed 2 Panthers and Tiger plus Mk3 and Mk4. The boxheads were good but they were scared of the 17pdr. I believe one got Wittman.

Navaleye - concur....especially when used with APDS ammunition. The Panther is usually quoted as the best medium tank of WW2, but I would put the British late war Comet well up there as one of the best.

The Krauts never quite got it right. The Panzer I, II, III and IV, the Panther and the Tiger/King Tiger were all 'good', but they all had deficiencies. The Panzers and Panthers had too narrow a track to match it with the T-34 in Russian winter conditions, the Tiger/King Tiger had the venerable '88 gun but was too heavy and slow.

Probably a good thing tbh.

p.s concur. Give the man his tank back.

Can anyone explain the device at the end of the gun barrel on the Panther ?


I've seen this on several tanks and have always been puzzled as to it's function and purpose ?