Uffz. Boehm						Eastern Front, 19 July 1943


Fieldpost Nr. 25056 F

Dear General Hartmann! I have taken the freedom to give you a short report about the use of our Ferdinands. On our first day of battle casemates, infantry, artillery and anti tank defences were attacked with great succes. Our guns have been in a barrage for three ours and they have proven their protection against artillery fire! On the evening of the first day some tanks were destroyed, while the others fled. The crews of the artillery and anti tank guns fled for our guns, after repeated fire. In the first combat 120 tanks were destroyed by our Abteilung, as well as many artillery batteries, anti tank guns and casemates. In the first days our losses numbered 60 v.H., most of them due to mines, the area was extensively mined and the mine dogs were insufficient. Unfortunately, we also drove into a minefield of our own forces. We had to work really hard, but succeeded in the end of the day. Inspector-general Guderial was with us too. The Russians have many more weapons nowadays, and the quality of the weapons has improved considerable! He has got artillery as never before, they even shoot on single soldiers! There are also many AT-guns and the performance of these AT-guns is very good (with one Ferd. I counted 55 shots before the gun's end). In the first operation we had 6 total losses, one of them was, while in our rest positions, by chance hit in open driver doors. 1 dead, 3 wounded, the vehicle burnt. One vehicle burnt (cause unknown, probably a leaking exhaust pipe). One vehicle burnt (generator), as it had to drive through a bog. 3 pieces had to be blown up when the enemy counterattacked, as they could not be moved due to mine damage. One had bad luck, it stood on the railroad dike when a Pz.Kpfw.III on the other side got a direct hit and was smashed onto the Ferdinand. The gun was destroyed, as well as the aiming device and the welds of the superstructure. In the other Abteilung the roof was hit through by a heavy grenade.
In the second operation in the defence east of O... we had beter results with only two total losses (one destroyed by ourselves). One gun shot 22 tanks in a short time, the general number of enemy tanks destroyed is rather high and the Ferdinands were a substantial part in the defence, as they have been before in the breakthrough. One gun destroyed 7 out of 9 attacking American tanks. The gun is very good, every tank, including KW II and the American one, is tanken out with one or two shots. But with HE grenades often the loading system jams (the shells get stuck), which often has been very painful. One barrel was shot at and damaged, two were damaged already, they have been exchanged with barrels from damaged vehicles. Parts have been taken from damaged vehicles, as they have all been brought back by us. A protection plate is mounted over the weld, as I have proposed already, as the Russians use Phosforous grenades.
The Ferdinand has proven itself, here it has been decisive and nowadays one can not counter the enemy masses of tanks without a weapon like this. Sturmgeschütze are insufficient. The electrical traction has proven itself to the full, the drivers and crews have been surprised in a positive way. There are few damages to engine and electrical installation. The engine has too little power for the mass of the vehicle, the tracks are a bit small. If the vehicle is improved after these experiences, it would be >>fine< One Ferdinand's superstructure was - accidentaly - shot through by a Pz.Kpfw.IV, gun fire or an AT-gun destroyed a return roller. A body was shot through in the lower part by a T34 at 400 m (7 T34s encircled the Ferd.), but the shell fell into it without causing any damage. A Ferdinand, standing at an outpost at night, was made immobile and blind by infantry weapons and finally fell into a ditch. A machine gun for such cases fails. The side windows are too small, one cannot see the corn.
It is a big mistake that the enemy guns and tanks are left standing in the field, instead of being recovered or destroyed by a special recovery or destruction group. When for instance 45 tanks are standing in no man's land in the evening, 20 or so will be missing the next morning, as, at night, they have been recovered by the Russians with their tractors. The tanks that were shot last summer fell back into Russian hands in the winter! In a few weeks probably 50 of them are operational again and we wonder how they get that many tanks, as that costs labour and blood. In our first operation for instance, damaged Russian tanks were left standing, as well as their guns and AT-pieces, partly intact and with ammunition, the mines were stored. The front had to be taken back and everything fell back into Russian hands. Here the story was the same, the American tanks were all left standing in the field. We should try to recover these items as war materials (as we have troubles in obtaining these materials), thousands of tons could be brought in this way, and the enemy is denied the chance of replacing his losses with repaired vehicles. There are scrapyards already, but these can be used more extensively, empty train waggons often are standing at stations for long times, they can be loaded in the meantime. I have heard that our Abteilung's damaged Ferdinands should have been recovered. They came a bit late and they are too few, we need more of them, I hope the new type will be ready for production soon. I have not succeeded in finding a place.
I am doing well and I hope that Herr General is fine again.

Uffz. Boehm.

If you're interested in more info or photos, please read the following mentioned books.

Literature:
- Schwere Jagdpanzer, Spielberger, Doyle, Jentz, 1996, Motorbuch