German tanks towing ????

[Spartan tracks]

I'm sure someone can answer this, German tanks had a towing hook of sorts were they ever seen towing artillery guns possibly up to the front or out of ditches etc etc.

Kind regards Andy

[doc larsson]

yes but frowned upon

[wibblywobbly]

I know that Tiger commanders were under orders not to tow other tanks, although there are pics of them doing so. I am guessing that this was because of potential damage to engines and transmission.

[capt midnight]

I came across a picture of a Panzer IV towing a field gun of some sort, not sure which gun and I can't remember where I saw it. It looked to be on a paved road. Seems like it would play hell with whatever was being towed if it was cross country.

Bill

[Dragon245]

Most power trains on later german tanks were at the limit of there power so not a good idea to tow

[jarndice]

There are a number of photographs of different German Armoured Tracked vehicles towing whole lines of wheeled trucks through the Mud and Snow of the Eastern Front,
As to the towing of Tigers,
There was a strict order that no Tiger 1 should be placed under tow from only one Tiger 1 Tank,
The commander of the towing Tank would expect to find himself in front of his C O soon after if it were discovered to have happened,
SOP ( Standard operating Procedure) for towing Tiger 1s was to use a minimum of three (3) Famo Half tracks, Which was a good idea EXCEPT finding one (1) Famo leave alone three (3)when you needed one was as likely as discovering a three week pass when you got to your bivvie that night.
Shaun.

[HERMAN BIX]

There is a picture about that shows a Jagdtiger towing a King Tiger..................I imagine the outcome of that caper was not good for the JT commander
Will see if I can find it.

[Spartan tracks]

I was just thinking if German tanks were ever seen to be towing a Pak 38 or similar ? Not so much towing another tank

Kind regards Andy

[971wright]

Hi In Russia they towed a sled full of troops when advancing , bit like the Russians had tank riders .Sherman 105 mm used to tow an ammo trailer. Because they were used as mobile artillery .

regards pete

[Marc780]

On a battlefield, everything that could be done during the battle was done. Since it's the literal life or death situation times a thousand whoever was in charge at the situation would use everything they had and nobody worried much about tomorrow. But in the war literature towing was done all the time by the panzers.

To name just one example, In the Forgotten soldier, the author was passenger in an opel truck on the ostfront. Their convoy was mired in some very nasty mud so the opel was taken under tow by a tank the author identifies as a pzkfw IV. So yeah it was done pretty routinely. .. considering the tank crews knew their tank was likely to get blown out from under them at literally any time (the russian t-34s, for instance, had a lifetime measured in a few weeks at the longest, and were basically considered disposable by their commanders), nobody usually got too obsessed with whether they were wearing out their tanks or not.