The Cologne Tank Duel

It’s March the 6th, 1945 in the German city of Cologne. Operation Lumberjack is underway. It’s a big push to put a foothold up and down the West bank of the Rhein. The war is reaching its inevitable conclusion but many Germans are still fighting on.

Rising high over the city that has been devastated by allied air missions, standing defiantly are the two towers of Cologne Cathedral. Far below from the lofty heights sits a menacing beast waiting in the shadows. Hidden in a tunnel near the train station is a Panther Tank lying in ambush.

The 3rd Armored division, Easy company, have had a tough job to make it this far. The tanks and infantrymen known as “Doughs”, have been going from street to street. The American tanks are mainly Shermans. American armor has been underperforming against the German armor. The German tankers joked:

“One German tank is better than ten American tanks… But the Americans always have eleven”. While having superior numbers this mismatch in technology was denting the morale of the Sherman tank crews. The US answer is the T26E3 Pershing tank. Still very new and somewhat under wraps, very few have been made

But one is operational in the center of Cologne today. It’s a generation leap ahead in technology with a huge 90mm cannon, an automatic transmission and twice the effective armor of a Sherman. Two Shermans are tentatively heading down a narrow street called Komödienstrasse, on their way to Cathedral Square.

The street is blocked with fallen rubble from a collapsed building and the lead Sherman comes to a halt. With the second coming alongside. The 2nd Lieutenant Karl Kellner from Wisconsin is in the turret of the lead tank. He’s unable to find a way through the rubble

And gets on the radio to call for a dozer tank to clear the path. Back in the shadows, within the Panther the gunner has a clear shot. Vision is everything… 70% of the time whoever fired first survived and today the lurking Panther has eyes on its prey.

There’s a green streak of a German tracer and the shell slams into the gun shield of Kellner’s Sherman. A deep clang that reverberates around the streets but the hull remained intact. But then a second shot from the Panther hits the Sherman overlapping with the first hit… and the tank is destroyed.

The second Sherman realizing the danger, slams into reverse, but the Panther has already got its second victim in its sights. Releasing another shell the Panther hits the tank track, leaving the Sherman veering off to the left and grinding tracks. Desperately trying to avoid a deadly shot,

The Sherman manages to limp behind a building and the crew evacuate. Kellner manages to get out of the tank grabbing his rifle, but he’s lost a leg. A medic and the surviving crew carry him to safety, but it’s too late and Kellner becomes another casualty on the closing chapters of the war.

The Panther commander, Oberleutnant Willhelm Bartelborth is standing tall in the turret. Having dispatched the two tanks, it emerges from its ambush position and trundles towards Kellner’s smoking Sherman. Taking position in an intersection, the Panther now sits and waits for the next move in this deadly battle on Cologne streets.

Approaching in a street parallel to the battle is Eagle 7, a Pershing. There’s a shout outside and the tank commander, Bob Earley opens the hatch. On the street combat cameraman Jim Bates tells Early that there is a “monster of a tank guarding the Cathedral” and it can be seen around the corner.

Jumping out Early goes with Bates to have a look. Taking cover in a building they see the monstrous Panther sitting at the intersection, its gun still facing down Komödienstrasse towards the Shermans. With its gun in that direction Earley realizes they can head up the parallel street and attack it from the side.

He heads back to Eagle 7 to tell the crew the plan. Key to this is his gunner, Clarence Smoyer. Clarence has proven himself to be an excellent gunner and in the brand new Pershing, his skill has saved his crew many times in the push across Germany. Bob Earley’s trust in Clarence’s ability

Meant that he never had to wait for a command but he was authorized to take a shot whenever he thought he should. Back in the Panther, an uneasy feeling of premonition came over Bartelborth. He guessed the Americans may come from a different direction…

And directed his gunner to turn the turret to the right to face the currently empty street… Unaware of this development, Eagle 7 trundled forward to take out the monster tank. Clarence lowered the 15.5 foot long barrel and turned it too the right ready to take the shot

As soon as they cleared the buildings. “Shoot wherever you want”, Earley told Clarence… “He’s just sitting there like he owns the place.” Already loaded was a 24 pound T33 armor piercing shell and the loader, John DeRiggi had another at the ready for a fast second shot.

“Woody” McVey, the driver, gave Eagle 7 more gas and it picked up speed. The gun almost scraped the buildings as the crew held their breath. Clarence looked through the scope waiting for the row of buildings to end. “Don’t miss”, he thought to himself… As the Pershing emerged from the intersection

Right into the path of the Panther’s gun, the crew gasped in terror and McVey in a panic hit the gas as Eagle 7 came into full view of the Panther. All the crew could see was the black barrel of a German gun pointing right at them.

Back inside the Panther, waiting for a Sherman to emerge, Bartelborth saw a tank dive into the intersection from the shadows. Green, and heavily armored it wasn’t the American tank he was expecting. Realizing it wasn’t a Sherman in an instant he screamed to his gunner, “Halt! It’s one of ours!” Clarence took aim.

He knew he had to land the first shot, and fired. And the T33 shell zipped with an orange tracer towards the Panther. Slamming through the side armor it took out the engine bay. Clarence’s view was obscured by the dust kicked up and he wasn’t sure if he’d even made a hit.

Behind the cloud of dust, the hatches on the Panther were thrown open and the surviving crew including Bartelborth escaped. Clarence took his second shot hitting the turret. “Hit!” cried Earley. With the gun still pointing at them Clarence took a third shot. A fire broke out in the Panther as the ammunition cooked off.

Realizing their job was done they sat back, stunned and relieved, the crew of Eagle 7 counted their blessings. “That was close”, said Clarence. A few days after the battle when some German children with their mother asked Clarence for sweets, he was explaining he had none… and the Hero of the battle of Cologne

Was reported for fraternization by the military police standing nearby… Earley received the bronze star, but Clarence was never awarded for his actions, possibly due to the fraternization charge… That was until Adam Makos wrote the excellent book Spearhead which chronicles Clarence’s tank battles throughout the war.

In 2019 in part due to the perseverance of Adam, Clarence Smoyer aged 96 finally received his bronze star in recognition of his action in Cologne. Clarence now lives in Pennsylvania. We hope very much that he likes this film. Most viewers aren’t yet subscribers. So if you like this film

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