Two things can be read from this excerpt that the German high command was well aware that units over-claimed kills, and that the claims did not take into account that some of the destroyed tanks could be salvaged and repaired. To account for counting errors and double counting, and for repairable tanks, the losses were reduced by 20 percent and 15 percent from 1 December 1942 to 30 June 1943, and by a total of 50 percent from 1 July 1943.īecause the troops have identified a large number of repaired tanks, it is necessary to apply the 50 percent reduction retroactively for the losses since December 1942 to June 1943, thus reducing the losses for this period.Īs the Red Army had intensified their salvaging of tanks it is still subject to further study whether the 50 percent reductions is sufficient. In a 1944 German High Command report on estimated Soviet tank and assault gun production and losses the following excerpt details how the German High Command attempted to adjust troop claims to achieve a statistically usable number. That the numbers for tanks and self-propelled guns is approximately the same for all three theaters makes it reasonable to conclude that the numbers can be applied to the Western Front in general as well as the Eastern Front.Ĭause of British tank losses during the Second World War. As can be seen, tanks and self-propelled guns accounted for less than half of total British losses. This is evident from the fact that the usage of high-explosive tank gun ammunition exceeded that of anti-tank ammunition and that the destruction of anti-tank guns receiving as much emphasis in German unit reports as the destruction of tanks.Īfter the war, the British Army made a comprehensive investigation of the cause of their tank losses, the result of which are shown in the table below. Actual tank combat focused on breaking through the lines of the opposing forces using superiority of force while anti-tank gun and tank destroyer units destroyed the tanks of the opponent. While this is easier to quantify, and no doubt sells more books, it does not reflect the usual conditions under which tanks were destroyed. Three 3,7 cm Pak anti-tank guns on the Eastern Front, each with seven kill rings.ĭetailed descriptions of battles during the Second World War will often focus on tanks fighting other tanks.
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When compared to the Allied losses in the same theater it is furthermore assumed that if the Allied losses approximately match the German tank units' claims, this is verification that the claims are accurate.Īs will be demonstrated below, the reality was that the German units' claims were greatly exaggerated, and that the majority of Allied losses were not from German tanks or even armored vehicles in general.
These high kill numbers are based on the claims of the German tank units, which are often accepted as accurate without criticism. This is especially true for the lists of German tank aces and the independent Tiger battalions. On Internet discussion forums as well as in some books, there is a tendency to attribute very high number of kills to German tank units, as well as very high "kill ratios".
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