Knocked-Out Panther Tank with German Warning Placard — Belarus, July 1944

June 18, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

A knocked-out Panther Ausf. A tank destroyed during Operation Bagration. A German transport warning placard remains legible on the hull.

Belarus, July 1944.
Another victim of Operation Bagration — a German Panther tank, blown apart and abandoned in the golden fields of Belarus. Flames may have long since died down, but the steel hulk still tells its story.

This particular Panther — most likely an Ausf. A variant — has several identifying features:
✚ The distinctive commander’s cupola,
✚ Periscopic driver’s sights mounted to the sides,
✚ The early-style “drum” gun mantlet,
✚ A single headlamp on the glacis plate.

But what draws the eye is the oddly intact transport placard still bolted to the side of the hull — a relic of the machine's journey to the front:

Achtung! Ladung überschreitet Lichtraumprofil. Vorsicht bei der Fahrt!
(Warning! Load exceeds clearance profile. Use caution while transporting!)

Below that, the numbers “5,00–6,00” likely refer to the load width in meters, warning of oversized cargo dimensions — standard procedure for tracked vehicles shipped by rail. The Germans, meticulous as always, made sure the rules were followed… right up until the Red Army made those trains run in reverse.

This tank, part of the Panzer-Divisions thrown into Belarus, faced devastating Soviet combined-arms tactics. Operation Bagration wasn’t just a breakthrough — it was a complete collapse. By the end of July 1944, Army Group Centre was annihilated, with over 300,000 German casualties and hundreds of tanks — like this one — left smoldering in fields, forests, and crossroads.

Now the only thing oversized is the beating the Wehrmacht received.

📷 Technical photo data:
📸 Photographer: Mikhail Savin
📅 Date: July 1944
📍 Location: Belarus, USSR