flying 262s again...

[Narukami]

Who was the U.S.A. military who said something like:
'Well, it takes us five Shermans to knock-out a Tiger, but we can afford for that and Germans cannot!'? 8)

Aitor

I have read that too, but for the life of me I can not now find the exact reference source.

However...

In the book Patton's Tank Drive D-Day To Victory (Michael Green, c1995 Motorbooks, ISBN: 0-7603-0163-8 ) there are numerous quotes from after action reports comparing the Sherman (and other US military vehicles) to the tanks fielded by the Germans.

Sherman Tank Commander Frederick Wilson, "I have been taught that our tanks have much more maneuverability than the German tanks. It has been proven to me just a few days ago that it isn't so. The German Mark V (Panther) which is much heavier than our Mr (Sherman) beats ours around a large sized field; it makes sharp swerves or reverses of direction in a shorter space than ours can possibly do. German tanks have wider tracks and do not become bogged down as easily as ours do in muddy terrain." page93.

Corporal Arthur Deludea, " I have seen enemy heavy tanks hit as high as fifteen times without phasing them. I am not going to try to compare the German tank with our Sherman mounted 75mm gun. They are just all around better weapons of war." page86

This book is full of such comments.

Of course the Panther design is a direct descendant of the T34 and owes much to the great Russian tank. In fact the German tank corps wanted an exact copy of the T34 (with better German optics) that could be produced quickly, at low cost, and in numbers equal to Soviet production. What they got was the Panther, a superior weapon that was expensive in both time and money to make and to maintain in the field.

Have to run off to an appointment, but I will keep looking for that reference.

Narukami