![]() Being stationary, it would have the tactical advantage, but at least its gun was trained elsewhere.Įarly 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, Early 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. Early and his crew had been among those chosen and re-trained. The experimental Pershing, by contrast, boasted a lower profile, 105mm of frontal armour, and a massive 90mm gun.įrustrated, Eisenhower authorised “Zebra Mission,” an unusual combat test that sent 20 Pershings to the ETO, dividing them between veteran crews in the 3 rd and 9 th Armored Divisions. But by 1944, it was clear German tanks outclassed the fast but lightly-armoured Sherman. The Pershing was controversial, the subject of a three-year bureaucratic feud over whether the US Army needed a heavy tank-or could make do with Shermans and tank destroyers. It was, after all, what Early’s tank had been built to do-for he commanded a T26E3 Pershing, the Army’s experimental answer to German heavy armour. Early and his crew were to advance and destroy it. A radioed order came in-there was a Panther guarding the cathedral plaza. Robert Early 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. ![]() Though Bates didn’t know it then, the Sherman’s destruction would set off a chain of events leading to the most celebrated armoured duel of WWII-a duel that would become famous precisely because he was there to capture it.Ĭologne provided exciting conditions for a combat photographer. That would not be all he filmed that day. Jim Bates of the US Army Signal Corps captured them on film. Wisps of smoke coil out of the traumatized stump. Crewmen from an accompanying M4 run to assist him. The commander hops onto the back of the tank. The gunner tumbles out of a hatch and falls to the street headfirst. They stagger and stumble like concussed boxers, bleeding and rattled, not caring how they fall. It’s not a pretty thing, men bailing out of a stricken tank. The commander’s hatch opens, venting smoke. Special thanks to Robert Rath (author) and Karl Brezdin (illustrator) from Extra Credits who prepared a short story on the most remarkable event during this battle: the tank duel between a Panther and a Pershing.Ĭologne, Germany They don’t see the Panther until it’s too late.Ī shot punches through the Sherman’s gun shield. Today, we would like to present to you a piece of history: the Battle of Cologne.
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