The small plate on the front shows where this tank was built. This Panther was one of a group of tanks that were built under British supervision after the German factory in Hannover had been taken over by the Allies. Production of the Panther was slow and there were never enough of them to make a serious difference to the fighting in Russia, Italy or North West Europe. Its 75mm gun was a vast improvement on the Russian equivalent.
Wide tracks spread the Panther’s weight when travelling over soft ground. The Panther’s suspension system was more complicated than that of the Russian T-34, involving torsion bars and 18 overlapping road wheels on each side. The Panther was larger and of much better quality than the T- 34. Hitler ordered that the T-34 be copied and the result was the Panther, which saw action for the first time at Kursk in 1943. When the Germans invaded Russia in June 1941, they were surprised by the quantity and quality of Soviet armour. The Panther is often believed to be the best German tank of the Second World War.
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