StuG in the Acropolis Athens

Sturmgeschütz III StuG 40 moving in the streets of Athens, Greece, against the backdrop of the famous Acropolis hill, and the Parthenon temple that stands above it. This photo was taken in 1943 - when Greece was still occupied by the German troops - and was first published in the SIGNAL magazine in the early 1944 issue. However, this one StuG did not belong to the Sturmartillerie unit of the Heer (Army) or Waffen-SS, but belonged to the Luftwaffe (Air Force), precisely V.Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung / Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment / Panzer-Division "Hermann Göring". In 1943, this Luftwaffe's sole armored unit was operating in the Mediterranean region, primarily in North Africa, Sicily and mainland Italy.

Source :
https://sturgeonshouse.ipbhost.com/topic/11-stug-iii-thread-and-also-other-german-vehicles-i-guess/page/4/

Bio of StuG Ace Erich Geppert (1912-1966)

Erich Geppert

Date of Birth: 31.12.1912 - Berlin, Brandenburg (German Empire)
Date of Death: 08.02.1966 - Neudorf, Schleswig-Holstein (West Germany)

Promotions:
00.00.194_ Hauptmann

Career:
00.00.194_ Führer 3.Batterie / Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 209

Awards and Decorations:
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.19__ Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen
00.00.19__ Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht IV.Klasse (4 Jahre)
00.00.19__ Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber
00.00.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)
14.04.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberleutnant der Reserve and Führer 3.Batterie / Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 209. Awarded for his actions in early 1943, a time in which his Abteilung in conjunction with the 19. Panzer-Division was involved in heavy combat to slow down the enemy forces advancing through the approximately 350 km frontline gap between Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad. Among such achievements included the following incidents: 1) Assisting the escape of the encircled 298. Infanterie-Division during the middle of January. 2) The attack on Nowopskoff. Here Geppert’s Batterie, together with the 7./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 73, captured the important bridge over the Aire on the 20.01.1943. By this the road the enemy was using to advance westwards was blocked. 3) Liberating encircled elements of the 19. Panzer-Division with his Batterie in the Nowo Krassnjenka - Shilowka area. Geppert’s Sturmgeschütze opened up escape routes for their encircled brethren on two separate occasions in the same night, first at Kremenaja and later at Rubeschnaja. By this the bulk of the Panzergrenadier-Regiment 73, the Panzerpionier-Bataillon 19 and various supply troops were saved from destruction.


Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/07/album-foto-berwarna-perwira-dan.html
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/43636/Geppert-Erich.htm

Bio of StuG Ace August Primozic

Hugo Primozic (16 February 1914 – 18 March 1996) began his career in the Sturmartillerie at the end of June 1942 as a Zugführer (platoon leader) in the newly-formed Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 667. This battalion was deployed as part of Heeresgruppe Mitte, and like other assault gun units, was used primarily for supporting infantry attacks in important sectors as well as providing invaluable anti-tank support in defense. It was in this latter role that the Battalion would excel in, and it would need this skill, as it was soon moved to the German Rzhev salient.

This bulge in the front, which was the closest German frontline to Moscow, had been attacked continuously during the course of 1942 and consequently the assault guns of StuG Battalion 667 were badly needed. And it was here that Primozic would begin to make a name for himself, destroying many Russian tanks.

On 15 September 1942 the Russians launched a heavy tank and infantry assault in the area of the battalion. Hugo Primozic and two other assault guns drove forward to engage the attacking enemy. The battle was fierce, with Primozic and his two wingmen repositioning constantly to avoid being destroyed themselves. However the Russian attack was defeated, and Primozic’s StuG alone destroyed 24 tanks on that day. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 19 September 1942 for this action, as a Wachtmeister and Zugführer in II.Zug / 2.Batterie / Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 667.

The Russian attacks would not stop here. Their greatest assault yet on the Rzhev salient began on 24 November, Operation Mars. Once again the German assault gun battalions were employed to break up the Russian armoured attacks. And Primozic once again played a key part in the defense, destroying seven tanks in a single day and raising his total to 60 tanks destroyed by the end of December. On 25 January 1943 he received the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz in recognition of his achievements, as the first NCO in the Wehrmacht to be so decorated! And his entire crew was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold.

Following this he was promoted to Leutnant and, as was often the case among distinguished soldiers, was reassigned to a training unit where he spent the remainder of the war. In the course of his career he was credited with destroying 68 tanks, and all within a time span of just five months!

Source :
https://www.bonanza.com/items/like/473581935/Hugo-Primozic-Oakleaf-winner-signed-photo-Superb-1st-NCO-to-win-the-KC-
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2499334.m570.l1313&_nkw=hugo+primozic&_sacat=36048
http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/search/?q=primozic&type=forums_topic&item=6937

Soviet POWs Guarded by German StuGs

Column of Red Army Prisoners in Ukraine are waiting for the transportation to the camp, 1943. Note the colour differences in the Soviet soldiers' coats and the German StuG (Sturmgeschütz) III assault guns, including three-colour camo in the back. It is estimated that at least 3.3 million Soviet POWs died in Nazi custody, out of 5.7 million. This figure represents a total of 57% of all Soviet POWs and may be contrasted with 8,300 out of 231,000 British and U.S. prisoners, or 3.6%. About 5% of the Soviet prisoners who died were Jews.[5] The most deaths took place between June 1941 and January 1942, when the Germans killed an estimated 2.8 million Soviet POWs primarily through deliberate starvation,[6] exposure, and summary execution. A million at most had been released, most of whom were so-called ‘volunteers’ (Hilfswillige) for (often compulsory) auxiliary service in the Wehrmacht, 500,000 had fled or were liberated, the remaining 3.3 million had perished as POWs. Photo by Schlosser.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_mistreatment_of_Soviet_prisoners_of_war
http://www.ww2incolor.com/soviet-union/postug.html

German Assault Team in Stalingrad Tractor Factory

A German assault team from 113. Infanterie-Division, supported by StuG III Ausf.F from Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 244, pause before another attack close to the remains of the “Dzershinzky” Tractor Factory (Stalingradski traktorni zavod im. F.E. Dzerzhinskogo) in Stalingrad, 15 October 1942. One of the most significant spots of the Battle of Stalingrad was at the tractor factory, which before the siege was responsible for about 50 per cent of the T-34 tanks that went in to the front lines. In an assault beginning on October 14th, five German divisions - over 90,000 men, 2,000 guns and mortars, 300 tanks, and waves of Stuka's forged a path just over two miles wide to the main source of Russian resistance in the city; at the Tractor Plant and Barrikady factory. The assault began with a one and a half hour air and artillery bombardment that crushed everything within 100 meters of the frontlines. In spite of the sheer scale of the assault it actually resembled more of a technical tour de force then it did a crude battering ram. For instance, the Germans had prepared thoroughly, including carefully mapping Russian command posts by intercepting radio signals and then targeting each one for destruction. Thus, the Germans quickly decapitated the defenders, burying entire Russian command posts under a fury of bombs and shells. In spite of a brave and spirited resistance on the part of the Russians, actually driving off the first wave and shocking the attackers who otherwise had thought nothing could have survived the bombardment, the Germans regrouped and pushed through. The picture was taken by Hans Eckle.

Source :
https://www.akg-images.fr/Package/2UMEBMK21HSI#/SearchResult&ALID=2UMEBMK21HSI&VBID=2UMES6CVHOMBH&POPUPPN=1&POPUPIID=2UMDHUW6JN0H
http://www.globeatwar.com/article/october-1942-stalingrad
http://ww2today.com/15th-october-1942-the-unrelenting-battle-for-stalingrad-continues

The German Gunners Load Ammunition in the ACS StuG III

The Heeres-Sturmartillerie crew Replenished their 75mm shells ammunition to their Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) from a parked Sd.Kfz. 252 leichte Gepanzerte Munitionskraftwagen. Presumably Italian Front in 1943. The Sd. Kfz. 252 was based on the Sd.Kfz. 250 half-track and used the same chassis. Initially built by the Demag and Wegmann firms from June through to December 1940, production shifted to Deutsche Werke from January to September 1941. 413 vehicles were manufactured, all of which were issued as ammunition resupply vehicles to Sturmartillerie batteries and saw operation on both European fronts. This picture itself gives a good comparison between the dull grey paint as used on many German AFV's, and the field-grey uniforms which had a tinge of green

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._252
http://histomil.com/viewtopic.php?f=338&p=100353