The history of the Panther
begins on January 12, 1944, when the Soviet army launched a great offensive
from the Baranów-Sandomierz bridgehead. The forests near Morawica were the stationing
place of the units of the 16th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht commanded by Dietrich von
Muller. In the forest between Łabędziów and Radomice, from December 1944, the 2nd Armored
Regiment (Panzer Regiment 2) was stationed, to which the panther serial number belonged.
In the evening of January 13, due to
the lack of contact with the headquarters, being
aware of the progressing outflanking of the regiment by Soviet armored units
fearing the possibility of cutting off the retreat route, a decision was made to
withdraw to the west. The only chance to get out of the encirclement was a night
retreat and breaking through to the bridge over the Czarna Nida in Morawica
Vehicles that failed to reach the bridge in Morawica were surrounded on the eastern side of
the Nida River and tried to retreat to t
he west by fording the Czarna Nida River. However, not
everyone succeeded. Many vehicles got stuck in the river after the ice broke under them.
In 1988, a reconnaissance of wrecks in the river was carried out and 4 tanks were
found, initially identified as Stugas, at the turn of June/July 1990, there
is an attempt to extract the Pantera, which is interrupted by the Police.
then, in November 1990, the panther is extracted. The army arrives on the spot and, as part of
military exercises, helps
to extract the wreckage of the tank by lending armored tractors.
When the panther was on the shore, it turns out that the containers are full of tools,
there is a wedged shell in the cannon, and the hull is also filled with shells. The blown-up
turret elements have been carefully collected Then the Tank went to the training ground of
the military unit where it was demined. Here begins a long history of illegally
exporting a Panther to the USA... The tank goes to England between 1991
and 20
02, from where it is sent to the USA and arrives there in July 2002. It goes
to Jacqua Littlefield's collection, where it is renovated and rebuilt. After several years
of renovation, the tank drives on its own. But this is not the end of the story,
in 2008 the Panthera case goes to the prosecutor's office in Kielce, which
transferred the case to the police Then, the verification proceedings were initiated
and in December 2013 there was a breakthrough, an application for international legal
aid was made.
The application was submitted to the United States Department of Justice, a month later a set of
documents was received (including a tank sale contract, which shows that the subject of the
sale is a dismantled tank. The sales contract dates from January 2001 and is worth USD 1
million, the contract includes Fahrgestell number, hull number and bonds.
The case is still pending...
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