Dark History – Destroyed WW2 Tanks Gallery – 20 Images

Thousands of military servicemen on all sides of World War Two lost their lives when the enemy took out their armored vehicles (tanks, half tracks, troop carriers, self propelled guns, etc).

Below are images of mostly destroyed tanks but will include other types of mobile armored vehicles as well.

In the case of a tank being knocked by enemy fire, the crew may or may not have survived the initial impact of the explosive projectile that took out their tank.

If an enemy shell hit the turret, the commander might have been killed along with his gunner. If a shell hit the front of the tank then the driver and/or the front machine gunner were likely to be killed.

If a tank’s payload of ammunition didn’t explode and incinerate the crew on the spot, then any survivors would scramble to get out of the tank.

Some exited their tank with their hair, uniforms, boots, etc. on fire and often burned to death on the ground as the tank beside them burned.

Others, who were wounded or unscathed, would escape the tank only to be shot dead by small arms fire from enemy infantry or machine gun fire from the enemy tank/s.

Some tank crewmen referred to tanks as ‘rolling steel coffins’ or just ‘steel coffins’. Others called them a ‘coffin for five’ or a ‘coffin for six’, etc.

Tanks had to deal with mines, bazookas, panzerfausts, accidents, enemy aircraft, artillery/mortar fire and breakdowns – sometimes in addition to being shot at by an enemy tank/s.