video of actual ww ii tank battle near the cathedral in cologne, germany

Once there he’d stop, fire into the German’s side, then back out. He’d edge the Pershing into the intersection, flanking the Panther to the left. Being stationary, it would have the tactical advantage, but at least its gun was trained elsewhere.Įarley told Bates to set up his camera. It had moved up into the corner of the cathedral plaza, covering a junction where it could control approaches from three streets. Minutes later, the two crouched in the Mezzanine of the German Labor Front building, studying the Panther. It was Bates, loaded down with film reels and lenses - and he wanted to come along. He dismounted to scout ahead, only to find a guy with a camera beside him. Well, Earley wasn’t going in blind - that was for sure.

Now, they were about to take that new, unfamiliar tank and try to flank a Panther as it lay in ambush. Earley and his crew had been among those chosen and re-trained. The experimental Pershing, by contrast, boasted a lower profile, 105mm of frontal armor, and a massive 90 mm gun.įrustrated, Eisenhower authorised “Zebra Mission,” an unusual combat test that sent 20 Pershings to the ETO (European Theater of Operations), dividing them among veteran crews in the 3 rd and 9 th Armored Divisions. But by 1944, it was clear German tanks outclassed the fast but lightly-armored Sherman. Army needed a heavy tank - or could make do with Shermans and tank destroyers. The Pershing was controversial, the subject of a three-year bureaucratic feud over whether the U.S. It was, after all, what Earley’s tank had been built to do - for he commanded a T26E3 Pershing, the Army’s experimental answer to German heavy armor. Earley and his crew were to advance and destroy it. A radioed order came in - there was a Panther guarding the cathedral plaza. Robert Earley and his crew heard an explosion and saw smoke drifting over the rooftops. He’d been there to see the Sherman commander die because the media jeeps were riding up front with the spearhead. Rising over the city were the undamaged spires of Cologne Cathedral, that formed an exotic, almost romantic backdrop to the fighting.Įvery cameraman wanted to be the first to capture images of American troops occupying the Cathedral, and the light German resistance had made Bates reckless. Visibility was good and the terrain aesthetically interesting. Troops of the 3 rd Armored Division and 104 th Infantry were fighting street-by-street in the bombed ruins of the old city. Cologne provided exciting conditions for a combat photographer.

Video of actual ww ii tank battle near the cathedral in cologne, germany