The Panzerkampfwagen V Sd.Kfz 171 “Panther” tank Ausf. D or in English “Mark D” was the first “Panther” tank to enter service in the German Army in Januari 1943. The tank did not have a machine gun mounted in a ball turret like the later Panther types, but was operated from a vertical slot in the hull, called “the letter box” by Allied forces. The MG slot on this Ausf. D is welded shut, you can still see it left of the commemorative plaque on the front glacis. The tank also had a machine gun in the turret. The second Panther version was released in August 1943 and, confusingly, was named Ausf. A or “Mark A”. From March 1944 the upgraded Panther Ausf. G was the third and last type to leave the production line.
The Panther of Breda
The tank in the pictures can be found in the Dutch city of Breda and is the only known complete surviving Panther Ausf. D. It was a gift from the 1st Polish Armoured Division, who liberated Breda in 1944. In 1945 the Panther tank was captured in Germany by the same division under command of the Polish General Major Stanislaw Maczek and brought back to Breda.
It was restored in 2004–2005 for static display by Kevin Wheatcroft in exchange for its inner parts.
Underneath here are the pictures we took back in 2010.
Visit
You can visit this tank on the corner of the Paul Windhausenweg 9, 4818 TA Breda, Netherlands.
the panther d dose have mg in the hull its behind the vertical rectangle mg port that is welded shut