The Pershing and the Panther
By: Dp Smith
Tags: History, World War II, Tank, Germany, Military History

The Pershing and the Panther

Smokey Davis (left) and John DeRiggi (right) inspect the knocked out Panther along with an unidentified third soldier (center). Note the shell hole directly below Davis on the hull, this was the Pershing’s first hit. Photograph by James L Bates. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District, 161–3314. Taken March 1945.

On March 6, 1945, Sergeant Bob Earley’s tank was idling at an intersection in Cologne, Germany. Ahead of him was the Cologne Cathedral — the great prize of one of the last German cities still standing in World War II. The commander of a T26E3 Pershing named Eagle 7, Earley did not know that he and the other four members of his crew were on the verge of being immortalized in history. Huddled below him in the driver’s hatch was Woody McVeigh.

Next to McVeigh in the hull was radio operator Homer “Smokey” Davis wearing his trademark knit tankers hood. Up in the turret with Earley was loader John “Johnny Boy” DeRiggi and the 21-year-old gunner, Clarence Smoyer. DeRiggi was to the left of Earley standing out of his own hatch. Earlier in the war, DeRiggi had traded for a French tanker's helmet and it made him an instantly recognizable figure. The crew had been fighting together since September of 1944.

The vehicle they called home was the United States (US) Army’s newest tank. After years of complaints from American tankers about the M4 Sherman’s deficiencies as a fighting vehicle, the US Army finally had a tool that could match the Germans. Sergeant Earley was one of the lucky few. His Pershing was one of 20 that had been shipped to Europe for combat trials. The price he and his crew paid for having the best gear was that they were expected to lead his unit into the heart of Cologne. But a regrettable confrontation at an intersection blocks away from the Cathedral had halted the column. Earley could only look on as a trio of medics desperately attempted to save a pair of German civilians who had been caught in a crossfire between Eagle 7 and a German Panzer IV.

Eagle 7 (left) and a Sherman of Easy Company watch over a trio of medics tending to Kathi Esser (6 March 1945). She would die of her wounds shortly after the photo was taken. From anicursor.com by the US Army Signal Corps (Public Domain).

With the Pershing stalled, the main effort fell to the Shermans of Fox Company on a parallel street. Leading this column was Karl Kellner and his crew. A resident of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the bespectacled Kellner had recently received a field promotion to Second Lieutenant. However, Kellner was not new to the battlefield. He had already been wounded twice and awarded the Silver Star for valor in Normandy. He was well prepared to lead his platoon to the Cathedral. But he was not alone.

Along with the accompanying infantry was a group of reporters and photographers. They were holding close to the front lines, eager to catch stories about the fall of Cologne. Among them was Jim Bates, a resident of Colorado Springs and cameraman for the Alexander Film Company before the war. Bates was about to capture the first — and possibly most famous — tank duel ever caught on film.

Ahead of Kellner was the Komodienstrasse. Running East to West, this street ran directly between the Cathedral’s Square and the train station next to it. As he began his move down the street, Kellner was unaware that a German Panther was lying in ambush near the train station. The crew of Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Bartelborth’s Panther was prepared to fight to the end. The Hohenzollernbrucke Bridge was destroyed behind them. Its premature demolition had left them with their backs to the Rhine and a grim sense of determination. They had the perfect vehicle for a fight. The Panther outclassed the Sherman in virtually every category. Along with its feline cousin the Tiger, Panthers had been terrorizing Allied tank crews since Normandy.

A column of Shermans approach the Cathedral. Given their location, it is possible they are an element of either Kellner’s Fox Company or Earley’s Easy Company (March 1945). From 3AD.com by the US Army Signal Corps (Public Domain).

Kellner’s movement was initially uneventful. However, just past the intersection of Komodienstrasse and Andreaskloster, on the East side of the Dominican Church of St. Andrews, was a pile of rubble the Shermans could not clear or bypass. They had to wait for a dozer. With the Shermans canalized on a narrow street, Bartelborth sprung his trap. Two of the Panther’s 75mm shells tore into the turret of Kellner’s Sherman in quick succession. A third smashed the tracks of the Sherman behind Kellner as it tried to back into cover.

The first shells immediately killed Kellner’s gunner and driver while taking his left leg. The cameras were rolling as Kellner rolled off the back of his Sherman, the stump of his left leg clearly seen smoking. A journalist, some tankers, and a medic rushed to Kellner’s aid. But it was no use. He would die two hours later in a shell crater, aged 26. Of his five-man crew, only Kellner’s loader and bow gunner would survive.

Down the road, the squeal of tracks could be heard as the Panther crept forward from its position.