After heavy losses in Ukraine, the battalion was withdrawn to Vienna to refit. Starting on 2 January 1944 until April, the tank destroyers received upgrades—the most visible external ones being 1) the addition of Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste, 2) an upgraded commander's cupola, 3) re-designed armored engine grates and 4) an MG34 station to the right front of the hull. The 1st Company was issued the first 11 completed vehicles and was sent south to Italy where it fought at the Battle of Anzio in February 1944. The 2nd and 3rd companies were equipped with 30 new vehicles in April and sent to the Eastern Front, where they were attached to the XXIV Panzer Corps. On 1 May 1944, the German Army High Command, Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) issued an order to formally change the panzerjäger's name from "Ferdinand" to "Elefant". This order forbade future use of Ferdinand and even directed units in the field to edit their records. This is contrary to popular belief that the name change was linked to the January–April mechanical upgrades to the Ferdinand panzerjäger; the name change was purely administrative in nature.