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Behind the church of Wibrin (in Belgium) you can find a M4-latemodel Sherman. This tank was saved by the inhabitants of the village in 1950 from scrap metal dealers who had already started dismantling. Only the front end is left, but this way you can see the armor tickness. Next thing to notice is the exploded gun barrel.
The tank, named Ginsling, was lost during a fierce battle round the town on 14 Jan 1945 and now stands as a memorial to the soldiers, resistance fighters and civilian casualties of WW2.
"...Together with five other Sherman tanks and mounted infantry they ran into a pair of Panthers and a Sturmgeschütz of the 116th Panzer-Division ‘Windhund’. The Panthers and StuG had taken up a blocking position near the road leading through the town. According to Max-Diether von Elterlein’s diary (PzRgt 16), the Panthers knocked out four of the Shermans while his StuG III Ausf. G with number ‘706’, knocks out the last two of the American tanks .
It remains unclear whether Wibrin’s Sherman was shot by the StuG or one of the Panthers. Hans Herbst of PzGrenRgt. 60 remembers the latter happened. He elaborates what he had seen through his binoculars: the first shot bouncing off the Sherman’s frontal armour, and the second hit the bolts on the differential cover. As the Sherman began to turn his turret, it was fatally hit and the tank began to burn.
The story that is often repeated that the gun barrel was destroyed in battle is untrue. After the war a live shell was discovered by Belgian deminers, still in the barrel. The shell was discarded by blowing it up in-situ..."
So, post WW2, when scrap merchants began dismantling German tanks around the area this tank was cut up too by accident . The scrappers were stopped after interference of the mayor’s son. In 2011 its rust was treated and painted whilst a new raised plinth was built.
If you understand French, this will be interesting for you.
The tank, named Ginsling, was lost during a fierce battle round the town on 14 Jan 1945 and now stands as a memorial to the soldiers, resistance fighters and civilian casualties of WW2.
"...Together with five other Sherman tanks and mounted infantry they ran into a pair of Panthers and a Sturmgeschütz of the 116th Panzer-Division ‘Windhund’. The Panthers and StuG had taken up a blocking position near the road leading through the town. According to Max-Diether von Elterlein’s diary (PzRgt 16), the Panthers knocked out four of the Shermans while his StuG III Ausf. G with number ‘706’, knocks out the last two of the American tanks .
It remains unclear whether Wibrin’s Sherman was shot by the StuG or one of the Panthers. Hans Herbst of PzGrenRgt. 60 remembers the latter happened. He elaborates what he had seen through his binoculars: the first shot bouncing off the Sherman’s frontal armour, and the second hit the bolts on the differential cover. As the Sherman began to turn his turret, it was fatally hit and the tank began to burn.
The story that is often repeated that the gun barrel was destroyed in battle is untrue. After the war a live shell was discovered by Belgian deminers, still in the barrel. The shell was discarded by blowing it up in-situ..."
So, post WW2, when scrap merchants began dismantling German tanks around the area this tank was cut up too by accident . The scrappers were stopped after interference of the mayor’s son. In 2011 its rust was treated and painted whilst a new raised plinth was built.
If you understand French, this will be interesting for you.
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