The German tank problem

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

The following link amply details the business of replenishing combat regiments with Shermans http://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewconte...00&context=cmh.

The author, Arthur Gullachsen is a member of MLU. Here is a link to the web page describing his article "No Shortage of Tanks!: The Canadian Army’s System for the Recovery, Repair and Replacement of A and B Vehicles and Major Weapons Systems".

Mr. Gullachsen also wrote Destroying the Panthers: The Effect of Allied Combat Action on I./SS Panzer Regiment 12 in Normandy, 1944. This article argues Allied combat action was responsible for a large percentage of Panthers that were out of action. And like you noted Terry, also the inferior resources of the German tank replacement and repair program were no match for superior Canadian Army practices during 1944.

What also interesting to look at is the cost of manufacturing tanks. Many years ago, I made a web page listing Sherman's 1945 prices, averaging $50,767 across all variants. Recently I came across a chart detailing the WW2 German tank cost: a King Tiger was the equivalent of $320,000, while the most numerous German AFV, the StuG III, cost $33,000.

The Panzer IV was $46,000, which is similar in price and performance to the Sherman tank. So one could argue each combatant got the same "bang for the buck"!

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Source: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww...onigstiger.php