Pz. V Panther in non-German service?

[oragus]

Anyone have any reference photos of the Pz. V Panther in non-German service? Looking for additional schemes for my Panther icons. I know of at least France, possibly others that used the Panther after WWII. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

[Marek_Tucan]

Czechoslovakia, AFAIK, didn't get so many working Panthers, though there was a substantial number of damaged/immobile, generally not worth repairing with new T-34/85's and quite lot of Hetzers and PzKpfw IV's. For some time it was considered to mount Panther turrets on new objects of border fortifications, built in the line of pre-WWII, to bolster their AT defenses, but that project went dead due to high costs. Dunno what happened with the tanks after that, prolly scrap metal yard.

[Marek_Tucan]

OK, checked and found my memory to be faulty...

Panthers were being slowly rebuilt and put into service, however the target goal of ´40 was not reached due to beginning of local manufacture of T-34/85. Panthers were then put into reserve; in 1958 there were still Panther-based vehicles listed, 7 ARV's and 15 tractors (all without turrets).
Ics in first post of this thread (http://forum.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/t/40205) .

[oragus]

Well, thank you Marek.

Can you read those forums? I can't unfortunately. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif. Those Czech ones with the crosses on the turret, those from a movie or those actual Czech markings? They look like they are a "Soviet green" color or a greyish color? If not, do you know what the base color was? But need more than just "green". Many different colors of green...lol

Thanks for the help, keep it coming if you have more. For example, the Bulgarian ones are interesting, they look to have a large white star on the turret. Don't know what color the base coat of the vehicle is though.

[Marek_Tucan]

oragus said:
Can you read those forums?



Of course, that's how I was able to find it anyway http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



Those Czech ones with the crosses on the turret, those from a movie or those actual Czech markings?




Movie "Tank Brigade".



They look like they are a "Soviet green" color or a greyish color? If not, do you know what the base color was? But need more than just "green". Many different colors of green...lol



Dunno for sure but would hazard a guess at Soviet green. Tanks for the movie were taken from the reserve Panthers and to my knowledge only the marking was repainted so SovGreen would fit it IMHO.

By the way it seems the Panther's designation in Czechoslovakian service was T-42/75N (or T-42/75(N)); PzKpfw IV was T-40/75N without known distinguishing between variants (we possessed at one time or another many, from F1 to J, with J being the most frequent).



For example, the Bulgarian ones are interesting, they look to have a large white star on the turret. Don't know what color the base coat of the vehicle is though.


Hard to tell, the whole mess is quite ... well... messy, so far haven't found info on Panther in Bulgary, ie when did they enter service, when did they quit etc... The same for Romania.
For the wartime ones, I dare guess mix of SovGreen and original German paint, as (from what I've found there) they were handed over to Bulgarians by USSR...
OK, found a bit more, Bulgary received just 15 Panthers before the end of the war, after war (not sure when exactly) they were used (unclear if whole tanks or just turrets) as pillboxes on the border with Greece, they should still be there but hard to access.

Btw on second page of the discussion there's Panther from Saumur.

[oragus]

Again, thank you Marek. GREATLY appreciated.

Well, if the Czech's Panthers by your HO are SovGreen, then I have the perfect color for it. Now only thing I need would be markings, if there were any visible ones that is. For example, large numbers on the turret sides, large symbol on the hulls, etc, etc.

I am not too worried about actual service dates, those are for the OOB guys. I am just trying to supply them with accurate vehicles to represent their units. Which in turn educates those that don't know what they were supposed to look it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif. Improves the community...that's what its all about.

Saumur had Panthers? That tan with the blue shields are their markings?

[Pierre]

Achtungpanzer.com has some infos on the bulgarian Panthers
Link:
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/articles/bulpanth.htm

And I've found this link:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=92376
with a pic from the french Panthers from the 503ème RCC.
On this pic it seems to me that the gun and the gun mantlet have been repainted in olive drab. But without a colour picture...it's just a speculation.




Regards,