Historical photograph from the summer of 1941 showing a German medical transport vehicle of the 562nd Evacuation Squad peppered with shrapnel in Tarnopol.
German Ambulance Damaged by Shrapnel Burst in Tarnopol (Summer 1941)
This striking and unusual archival photograph from the summer of 1941 captures a German military ambulance assigned to the 562nd Evacuation Squad (Krankentransport-Abteilung 562) following a close-range shrapnel airburst near Tarnopol (now Ternopil, Ukraine).
The rear doors and medical Red Cross insignia of the vehicle—tentatively identified as a Phänomen Granit 25 light utility truck adapted for medical transport—are densely pockmarked by hundreds of small penetrations, bearing silent testimony to the violent nature of frontline artillery exchanges during the opening weeks of Operation Barbarossa.
Vehicle Identification and Frontline Realities
Analyzing soft-skin transport vehicles from the early stages of the Soviet-German war reveals specific operational nuances:
- The Phänomen Granit Series: Widely utilized across Wehrmacht medical and administrative units, these trucks provided standardized transport before the large-scale introduction of the Einheits-PKW and L 1500 series.
- Shrapnel and Fragment Hazards: Medical transports operating close to the combat lines were frequently caught in artillery crossfire, where air-burst shrapnel shells designed to neutralize infantry proved devastating to thin sheet-metal vehicle bodies and canvas covers.
- Logistical Conditions: The presence of anti-skid chains on tires during summer operations underscores the notorious condition of unpaved roads in the western borderlands, which turned into thick mud pits following heavy seasonal rains.
📍 Location: Tarnopol (Ternopil), Ukrainian SSR, USSR
📅 Date: Summer 1941
📷 Photographer: Unknown (Frontline Archive)
📰 Primary Source: Early War Eastern Front Medical Corps Collection
Recommended reading:
- Wehrmacht Medical Transport in 1941: Phänomen Granit and Opel ambulances on the Eastern Front
- The Battle of Tarnopol (July 1941): Frontline logistics and artillery duels
- Vehicle Markings of the Wehrmacht Medical Corps: Krankentransport-Abteilungen units