1943 battle of Kursk
Walter hardy had taken out three Russian T34 tanks and was moving on his fourth when his tiger was hit !
His his entire crew dead he spent the next eight months recovering in a hospital just outside Berlin
March 1944
Walter Hardy was discharged from hospital and ordered to report to the OKW reserve panzer division south of Caen which he was not happy with for two reasons one he wanted to get back to the Russian front and two it hurt his pride at being placed in a reserve squadron !
On arriving at OKW south he was given a new crew but they seemed like children to him , the other thing he realised was he never had a tank ! For weeks he badgered command about getting a tank and was told he would get one as soon as one was available !
During this time he was woken by a small boy rummaging through his gear the boy was no older than ten and needed a bath desperately! But instead of handing him over to the chain dogs he took pity on the young waif and gave him some chocolate and a hot coffee. Over the next few days the boy seemed to be hanging around and it wasn't too long before he realised he had adopted this little urchin
In April the command got so fed up with Hardys demands they finally gave in and issued a tank to him and his crew
He looked at the tank he was assigned to him and could not believe his eyes at the site of the hunk of mettle before him ! He looked at this old battered Panzer IV AUSF D in horror and new that it was due to his constant demands that command had taught him a lesson
This was not the end of his pride being dragged through the mud as as soon as the rest of his unit saw this banged up old relic the taunting started a particular taunt was to the short gun this was not a good sign he new most of his unit had not seen action and those that did had not been in action since 1940 in France but how could he prove his worth with no battle to prove it in ? In the end he hit on the idea of a football match in which if he won then the taunting would stop a Marder crew accepted and the rules were one player from each tank and a neutral to be goalie ! View attachment 80986
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Walter hardy had taken out three Russian T34 tanks and was moving on his fourth when his tiger was hit !
His his entire crew dead he spent the next eight months recovering in a hospital just outside Berlin
March 1944
Walter Hardy was discharged from hospital and ordered to report to the OKW reserve panzer division south of Caen which he was not happy with for two reasons one he wanted to get back to the Russian front and two it hurt his pride at being placed in a reserve squadron !
On arriving at OKW south he was given a new crew but they seemed like children to him , the other thing he realised was he never had a tank ! For weeks he badgered command about getting a tank and was told he would get one as soon as one was available !
During this time he was woken by a small boy rummaging through his gear the boy was no older than ten and needed a bath desperately! But instead of handing him over to the chain dogs he took pity on the young waif and gave him some chocolate and a hot coffee. Over the next few days the boy seemed to be hanging around and it wasn't too long before he realised he had adopted this little urchin
In April the command got so fed up with Hardys demands they finally gave in and issued a tank to him and his crew
He looked at the tank he was assigned to him and could not believe his eyes at the site of the hunk of mettle before him ! He looked at this old battered Panzer IV AUSF D in horror and new that it was due to his constant demands that command had taught him a lesson
This was not the end of his pride being dragged through the mud as as soon as the rest of his unit saw this banged up old relic the taunting started a particular taunt was to the short gun this was not a good sign he new most of his unit had not seen action and those that did had not been in action since 1940 in France but how could he prove his worth with no battle to prove it in ? In the end he hit on the idea of a football match in which if he won then the taunting would stop a Marder crew accepted and the rules were one player from each tank and a neutral to be goalie ! View attachment 80986
View attachment 80987
View attachment 80988
View attachment 80989
View attachment 80990
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View attachment 81006
View attachment 81007
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