The Cologne Tank Duel

It is March 6, 1945 in the German city of Cologne. Operation Lumberjack is underway. It is a great push to gain a foothold along the entire west bank of the Rhine. The war is reaching its inevitable conclusion, but many Germans are still fighting. The two towers of Cologne Cathedral rise defiantly over the city devastated by Allied air missions. Far below, from the heights, is a menacing beast waiting in the shadows. Hidden in a tunnel near the train station is a Panther

tank

lurking. The 3rd Armored Division, Easy Company, has had a hard job getting here. The

tank

s and infantrymen known as “Doughs” have gone from street to street.

American tanks are mainly Shermans. American armor has underperformed German armor. German tankers joked: "One German tank is better than ten American tanks... But the Americans always have eleven." Although they had superior numbers, this mismatch in technology was taking a toll on the morale of the Sherman tank crews. The American answer is the Pershing T26E3 tank. It is still very new and somewhat secret, very few have been made, but today one is operational in the center of Cologne. It is a generational leap in technology with a massive 90mm cannon, an automatic transmission and twice the effective armor of a Sherman.

Two Shermans walk cautiously down a narrow street called Komödienstrasse, on their way to Cathedral Square. The street is blocked by fallen debris from a collapsed building and leader Sherman stops. With the second next to him. In the turret of the lead tank is Second Lieutenant Karl Kellner of Wisconsin. He can't find a path through the rubble and radios for a dozer tank to clear the way. Back in the shadows, inside the Panther, the gunner has a clear shot. Vision is everything... 70% of the time, whoever shot first survived and today the stalking Panther has his eyes on his prey.

There is a green streak from a German tracer and the projectile hits the gun shield of Kellner's Sherman. A deep metallic noise echoed through the streets but the helmet remained intact. But then a second shot from the Panther hits the Sherman overlapping the first hit... and the tank is destroyed. The second Sherman realizes the danger and reverses, but the Panther already has its second victim in its sights. Releasing another shell, the Panther hits the tank's track, leaving the Sherman veering to the left and screeching its tracks. Desperately trying to avoid a fatal shot, Sherman manages to limp behind a building and the crew evacuates.

Kellner manages to get out of the tank by grabbing his rifle, but lost a leg. A doctor and the surviving team carry him to safety, but it is too late and Kellner becomes another casualty in the final chapters of the war. The Panther commander, Oberleutnant Willhelm Bartelborth, stands tall in the turret. Having dispatched the two tanks, he emerges from his ambush position and advances toward Kellner's smoking Sherman. The Panther, standing at an intersection, sits and waits for the next step in this deadly battle on the streets of Cologne. Approaching down a street parallel to the battle is Eagle 7, a Pershing.

There is a scream outside and the tank commander, Bob Earley, opens the hatch. On the street, combat cameraman Jim Bates tells Early that there is a “monstrous tank guarding the Cathedral” and that it can be seen around the corner. Jumping Early goes with Bates to take a look. Taking shelter in a building, they see the monstrous Panther sitting at the intersection, his gun still pointed towards Komödienstrasse, towards the Shermans. With his gun pointed in that direction, Earley realizes they can go up the parallel street and attack her from the side. He returns to Eagle 7 to tell the crew the plan.

The key to this is his gunner, Clarence Smoyer. Clarence has proven to be an excellent gunner, and on the new Pershing, his skill has saved his crew many times in their advance through Germany. Bob Earley's confidence in Clarence's ability meant that he never had to wait for an order, but rather he was authorized to shoot whenever he thought he should. Back on the Panther, Bartelborth had an uncomfortable feeling of premonition. He surmised that the Americans might be coming from a different direction... And he ordered his gunner to turn the turret to the right to face the currently empty street...

Unaware of this development, Eagle 7 advanced to Eliminate the monstrous tank. Clarence lowered the 15.5-foot-long cannon and also rotated it to the right, ready to fire as soon as they left the buildings. "Shoot wherever you want," Earley told Clarence... "He's just sitting there like he owns the place." A 24-pound T33 armor-piercing round was already loaded and the loader, John DeRiggi, had another ready for a second quick shot. “Woody” McVey, the driver, gave the Eagle 7 more gas and it accelerated. The weapon nearly grazed the buildings as the crew held their breath. Clarence looked through the viewfinder waiting for the row of buildings to end. "Don't miss," he thought to himself...

As the Pershing emerged from the intersection right in the path of the Panther's gun, the crew gasped in terror and a panicked McVey hit the accelerator as the Eagle 7 came into view. view of the Panther. The only thing the crew could see was the black barrel of a German gun pointed directly at them. Back inside the Panther, waiting for a Sherman to emerge, Bartelborth saw a tank launch into the intersection from the shadows. Green and heavily armored, it was not the American tank he expected. Realizing it wasn't a Sherman in an instant, he yelled at his gunner: “Stop!

He is one of us! Clarence pointed out. He knew he had to hit the first shot and he fired. And the T33 projectile was directed with an orange tracer towards the Panther. Hitting through the side armor, it destroyed the engine compartment. Clarence's view was obscured by kicked up dust and he wasn't sure if he was right. Behind the cloud of dust, the Panther's hatches opened and the surviving crew, including Bartelborth, escaped. Clarence fired a second time and hit the turret. "Hit!" cried Earley. With the gun still pointed at them, Clarence fired a third time. A fire broke out on the Panther while ammunition was running out.

Realizing their job was done, they sat back, stunned and relieved, the crew of Eagle 7 counting their blessings. “That was close,” Clarence said. A few days after the battle, when some German children with their mother asked Clarence for sweets, he explained that he didn't have any... and the military police nearby reported the Hero of the Battle of Cologne to fraternize. .. Earley received the Bronze Star, but Clarence was never awarded for his actions, possibly due to the fraternization charge... That was until Adam Makos wrote the excellent book Spearhead chronicling Clarence's tank battles throughout war. In 2019, thanks in part to Adam's perseverance, 96-year-old Clarence Smoyer finally received his Bronze Star in recognition of his action in Cologne.

Clarence now lives in Pennsylvania. We very much hope you like this movie. Most viewers are not subscribers yet. So if you like this movie, please support us by hitting subscribe. Thank you.