Hello my dear friends, today we will
read the memoirs of Gerhard Bicks, Oberfeldwebel and platoon commander of
the 1st Battalion, 35th Panzer Regiment, 4th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht.
He will tell his remarkable story of a fiery battle against Soviet
tanks at the very end of the war. Now let's get started.
We were very disappointed when, instead of the promised and familiar to us Panther
tanks, we were given only Jagdpanthers, which, in the mess of the last few days, were never
assigned to any of the self-propelled artillery battalions. But eventually we had to become
acquainted with these vehicles more closely. They had no rotating turret, so that we had to
aim the gun crudely by moving the whole vehicle, and we had to sit practically outside.
Nevertheless, on the other hand, this colossus of low-quality steel had a superb
88-millimeter gun with great penetrating power, a truly fantastic range and accuracy of
fire; so that, being acquainted with all the advantages of the Jagdpanthers, we got used
to them very soon, and it was not long until we had an opportunity to test them in operation.
It was the end of February 1945. I along with three Jagdpanthers was supposed to cover the
withdrawal of the grenadiers to a new rear line of defense. Only the earth embankments
covered with fresh snow were visible against the dark sky - these were abandoned German
positions. I and my tank destroyer were on the outskirts of a nearby small area, hidden
by a dung heap so that it was possible to observe the surroundings. The flat turret of our
vehicle was just slightly visible from behind it. There was a tank destroyer of Oberfeldwebel
Dehm and another Jagdpanther behind me. They were short of ammunition. But without
ammunition they were nothing but an unnecessary burden to me. So, I
ordered them to pull back a bit. When the mist dispersed slowly, we could clearly
see two Soviet tanks on the hill in front of us, and they were slowly approaching us. When they
approached at a distance of about 1200 meters, we could determine that they were neither
T-34s nor KV-1s, but rather American tanks. I knew by experience that it would not be
difficult to hit them from this distance - we managed to burn them both, and the Ivans
never attempted to come back here again. The village was guarded by a group of tank
crews who were left without their vehicles, so I could not expect any sudden attacks either
on the right or on the left. It was very good, because the observation view from
a tank is very poor and usually you can't see anything around you
- you can't have eyes on all sides. About half an hour after this duel I heard
again the noise of tank engines from somewhere on the right and in front, at a distance of a
kilometer. And soon I noticed two Soviet tanks, which tried to bypass the village from
behind. My 88-millimeter gun at this distance was so accurate that there could not
be a failure - soon both tanks were in flames. It became obvious that the enemy was trying
to search for a weak place for a breakthrough, so I had to observe the whole section
of the front, particularly since I was alone in this whole section. Both of the
other Jagdpanthers were pulled to the rear according to my order, as they had
almost no ammunition. My gunner reported that we had still 5 high-explosive
and 20 armor-piercing shells left. Somewhere nearby there must have been
Lieutenant Tautorus, my company commander, with his Panther tanks. I reported by radio
my position and the lack of ammunition, and in return I was ordered to hold out as long
as I could, as I could not count on the infantry. Meanwhile, in order to keep up, the supporting
infantry had to come up, all the more so because I could no longer observe what was going on to
my right and left. And it was just at this time that the Soviets succeeded in approaching
us in three lines before anyone noticed. By the time I could see the front line, it
also became clear to me that they had easily positioned two anti-tank guns in front of me.
Did they intend to grab me by the throat? Well, I ordered to load the cannon with high-explosive
shells, gave information to the gunner and - bang!! Chunks of wood and rags flew
into the air! These guys tricked us - they put up mock-ups of guns to provoke our fire.
It was a smart move! And we fell for the trick, like idiots, but I wouldn't be fooled a second
time. I felt regret for the wasted shell. I, quiet as a mouse, moved my tank a bit backward,
so that we couldn't be seen from the front. Only when I stuck my head out of the turret, I
managed to take a look from behind the cover. I could not believe my eyes: a long tank column
was moving right towards us, with the lead tank already 1200 meters away from us. The supply
vehicles followed the tanks closely behind. It was before I had already noticed a few solid
points in the area, where it was possible to take a sufficient distance away from the enemy.
So, I could have taken such a risk and shot at the leading tank with an armor-piercing
shell when it approached about 800 meters. I have no idea how, but my gunner sent
the first shell not at the enemy tank, but at a huge tree that was by the side of
the road. The trunk shattered into pieces, and the mighty crown collapsed on
the leading tank. The tank moved, because the tree branches
abruptly blocked its view, and the next minute it turned to a deep roadside
ditch, where it stopped and stood motionless. The next tank followed the
first. It stopped at once, but they didn't notice me. The whole column
turned its turrets to the right and started to fire at the infantry positions seen in
the distance, by that time long abandoned. Here it was our turn. It was easy, because
the turrets of all the tanks were turned to us sideways. All that we needed
to do now was to take aim carefully, because we had few shells. Even if one enemy
tank would survive, we could be in trouble. Therefore, at first, I ordered to aim
at the tank in the middle of the column, the tank caught fire after the first shot.
The next one was the tank trailing the column. BANG! And there it burned too. Then we started
methodically shooting down the whole column, one tank after another, all
of them were easy targets. During ten minutes we almost totally destroyed
the column of 11 Soviet tanks. The survivors in panic attempted to reverse, but
just got trapped in a roadside ditch, where the flames and thick smoke from the
burning tanks on the road enveloped them. I gave the order to open fire on the trucks.
But then the gunner reported that only two shells were left. All machine-gun belts had also
been shot completely. It was the moment to get away from the battlefield, because even the
best tank is useless iron without ammunition. We slowly pulled back. The ground was soft, almost like a swamp. It was impossible to
reverse here. We could only cautiously move back meter by meter to keep an eye on the
Russians, who were slowly returning to life. The engine of the tank destroyer was roaring
loudly with exertion. A few more meters, and we reached the solid ground. But
each time the driver pushed forward; the tracks began to slip. And then I was
struck with horror: at a distance of only 300 meters from us on the outskirts of the
village there was a Soviet tank. It managed to sneak unnoticed to us between the houses,
where certainly there were no German tanks. As it must have happened, it noticed us.
I was frozen with a shock, unable to move, and watched it slowly turning its turret
toward us. We, unfortunately, were unable to do the same on our tank destroyer,
because our turret could not rotate. Then the Soviet tank froze on the spot.
Anyone would have known without a doubt that a shot was going to follow now.
"No!" I shouted out almost by instinct, and immediately hollered to the crew, "Push back
and to the left! Stop! On the spot to the right!" But our tracks got stuck in the deep mud
and hardly controlled. I was nervous, and my nervousness was reflected to the crew.
The loader, who was the first to detect danger, reminded: "There are only two armor-piercing
shells left!". My heart started beating. I was even kind of surprised by this. Only the driver
immediately figured out what had happened, because he followed my orders exactly and
brought the tank into the firing position. I had to acknowledge, unwillingly,
that there was nothing we could do, as this piece of metal in a mud puddle
almost disobeyed the controls. Meanwhile, the cannon of the Soviet tank was already
aimed directly at us. But is it true, or was it just my imagination? It might
be aiming a bit higher than it should! A shiver ran through my body. All of a sudden,
we got an unexpected advantage. I watched every movement of the Russian, paying attention to
every detail. And then the enemy made a fatal mistake. The driver, not wanting to waste
time, decided to move the vehicle closer, because its back part had sunk too far down.
This maneuver caused its back part to sink down even more, because the ground beneath
them was just as boggy as it was beneath us. Seconds before I was ready to surrender.
"Well, Herman, you can say your prayers. It's over for us now!" But now I suddenly
saw a window of opportunity for us. Just keep steady! - I commanded myself. Slowly
I reversed the vehicle. We were now also ready to fire. The cannon was aimed right in
the direction of the Soviet tank. The gunner aimed carefully. Our enemy was bogged down in
the mud, its back part went deeper and deeper down. I could plainly see how he was trying by
all tricks to lower the cannon, but in vain. Suddenly I saw the hatch opened, and a Russian
tanker showed up. What was this? Was it another trick or did the crew try to surrender? We were
used to everything. But no, I mustn't take any chances! We fired our second-to-last
shell straight into the tank's track, just in case. The crew jumped out - first one,
second, third, fourth. Everything's all right! The last shell was fired straight into the
Soviet tank, and it immediately caught fire. After that, we pulled back;
In the fourth year of the war, a tank without ammunition is worth nothing. Yeah, you just need some luck in war.
And also, you must keep your eyes open, and it's good to have your own Jagdpanther
and, of course, a skilled crew! That is all for today! If you enjoyed
this video, please like it and support the channel by subscribing. Goodbye
everyone, and see you all again!
