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turret, I was looking into the
Panther's gun tube; so instead of stopping to fire, our driver drove into the middle of the intersection so we wouldn't be a sitting target. As we were moving, I fired once. Then we stopped and I fired two more shells to make sure they wouldn't fire at our side. All three of our shells penetrated, one under the gun shield and two on the side. The two side hits went completely through and out the other side.
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were supporting infantry and came up on the same street as the
Panther. They ended up stopping just before the Cathedral because of rubble in the street and did not see the enemy Panther. The lead Sherman was knocked out, killing three of the five crew members. Eagle 7 was in the next street over and
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We were told to just move into the intersection far enough to fire into the side of the enemy tank, which had its gun facing up the other street . However, as we entered the intersection, our driver had his periscope turned toward the
Panther and saw their gun turning to meet us. When I turned our
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The crew of Eagle 7 had been serving together since
September 1944. They were then transferred from their original M4 Sherman tank to the new M26 Pershing which they nicknamed Eagle 7. Eagle 7 was one of the 20 M26 Pershing tanks that had been shipped to Europe for combat trials before the
268:. Clarence Smoyer, the last surviving member of the crew received his award in person while Bob Earley, John DeRiggi, William McVey and Homer Davis received their bronze stars
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Four out of the original five of the
Panther's crew were able to successfully bail out of their tank before it was destroyed, including Bartelborth. The action was recorded by
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400:"Pershing Gunner Clarence Smoyer, Was Awarded a Bronze Star, 74 years After Famous 'Cologne Tank Duel' | War History Online"
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was called over to engage the
Panther tank. What happened next was described by Eagle 7's gunner Corporal Clarence Smoyer:
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456:"WWII 'Hero of Cologne' finally receives Bronze Star nearly 75 years after legendary showdown with Nazi tank"
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419:"World War II 'Hero of Cologne,' 95, receives Bronze Star for destroying Nazi tank in firefight"
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Nearly 75 years later on 18 September 2019, the crewmembers of Eagle 7 received the
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On 6 March 1945, just after the 3rd
Armored Division had entered the city of
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near the end of World War II, notable for a tank battle in front of the
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437:"After Nearly 75 Years, 'Eagle 7' Tankers Pinned With Bronze Stars"
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5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/bow gunner)
340:"Dierk's page Special 2 —Tank duel blow-by-blow"
361:U.S. 3rd Armored Division in Cologne, World War II
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238:was lying in wait for enemy tanks. Two
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454:Britzky, Haley (September 19, 2019).
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417:Leon, Melissa (September 19, 2019).
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99:9 ft 1.5 in (2.781 m)
230:, a famous tank duel took place. A
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485:Western Allied invasion of Germany
91:11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
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398:Harvey, Ian (November 29, 2020).
193:tank used by the American Army's
172:450–500 hp (340–370 kW)
315:Smith, D. P. (January 5, 2024).
180:11.9 hp (8.9 kW)/tonne
380:from the original on 2021-12-12
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254:United States Army Signal Corps
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374:"Battle for Cologne—Tank Duel"
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317:"The Pershing and the Panther"
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256:cameraman Sergeant Jim Bates.
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201:and the belated award of the
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359:M26 vs. Panther at Cologne
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297:Homer Davis (Bow gunner)
291:Clarence Smoyer (Gunner)
376:. YouTube. 1945-03-06.
329:Hunnicutt 1996, p. 38.
294:William McVey (Driver)
285:Bob Earley (Commander)
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288:John DeRiggi (Loader)
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195:3rd Armored Division
216:Battle of the Bulge
460:Task & Purpose
274:Battle of Cologne
236:Cologne Cathedral
199:Cologne Cathedral
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344:. Retrieved
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280:Crew members
270:posthumously
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232:Panther tank
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191:M26 Pershing
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177:Power/weight
156:(550 rounds)
151:1× .50 cal.
125:90 mm Gun M3
76:World War II
62:Used by
35:M26 Pershing
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16:M26 Pershing
266:Bronze Star
240:M4 Shermans
203:Bronze Star
153:M2 Browning
474:Categories
384:2010-03-18
346:2014-12-30
302:References
143:2× .30-06
134:Secondary
128:70 rounds
57:1944–1945
423:Fox News
378:Archived
168:Ford GAF
136:armament
120:armament
228:Cologne
222:Service
209:Genesis
189:was an
187:Eagle 7
24:Eagle 7
260:Awards
164:Engine
96:Height
88:Width
118:Main
104:Crew
72:Wars
31:Type
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