Oct, 2024.
Panzer helfen Dir! is from my original manual collection.
Tank helps you, help him too! This message of the Panzer helfen Dir! of Merkblatt 18b/38 brochure published in 15 Sep, 1944 with the subtitle What the panzergrenadier must know about the armoured fighting vehicles.
Panzer helfen Dir!
(thumbnail images)
Page 1
Die Infanterie ist die Königin der Waffen, Panzer sind die eiserne Faust des Heeres. Ohne Panzerwaffe sind Entscheidungen im modernen Krieg nicht mehr denkbar.
歩兵は兵器の女王であり、戦車は軍隊の鉄拳である。現代の戦争における決断は、もはや装甲兵器なしには考えられない。
About Otto Carius and Tiger I.
I investigated the Tiger I from the page 40 of Panzer helfen Dir! with the footage from the German Newsreel; Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 726, dated August 3, 1944 *1.
From 10 minutes and 30 seconds in the newsreel, there is a scene showing a tactical meeting between Otto Carius and his tank crew, and then I found a scene that a Tiger I and the infantrymen surrounding the tank which is very similar to the Tiger I of Panzer helfen Dir!.
In addition, by comparing with two images from Tiger I turret number 217, which Otto Carius was boarding, and the Tiger I of Panzer helfen Dir!, we can see that there are multiple similar points of them.
By the way, it is said that the image of Tiger I 217 was taken in January 1944. I believe that the tank commander who was in this tank was not Otto Carius himself, because Carius was in the early type until his Tiger I was destroyed in the summer of 1944.
Above: Tiger I No. 217
Below: Tiger I Panzer helfen Dir!
Based on the above, I believe that there is a high possibility that this Panzer helfen Dir!'s Tiger I is Otto Carius' Tiger I 217.
Regarding the location and date, an article in the May 2018 issue of Ground Power Magazine states that the photo in this Panzer helfen Dir! was taken in Biržai, Lithuania, on August 8, 1944. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this fact with any sources.
*1: Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 726; https://archive.org/details/1944-08-03-Die-Deutsche-Wochenschau-726
Image from my friend.
From left to right,
Gefreiter Wagner (Ladeschütze)
Gefreiter Lönneker (Funker)
Unknown
Leutnant Otto Carius
Feldwebel Kerscher (Commander Tiger 213)
Unteroffizier Kramer (Richtschütze)
Acknowledgements:
The research on Tiger I would not have been possible without the help of the administrator of Tiger I.info.
Reference information: https://tiger1.info/models/products-page/TAM35202