Would anyone know what was the average height of German panzer crew? I've known that Soviet tank crew tended to be of short stature but never German.

I came across a photo in Concord's Soldat: The German Soldier on the Eastern Front 1943-44 that shows a squad of panzer crew who've lost their tanks in battle being employed as infantry. As you can see from the attached, the former crew appear to look like middle schoolers compared to the officer & NCO beside them.

It's just the camera angle. The Officers are closer to the camera and was standing on higher ground. Because if you take a look at the NCO, he looks like a giant compared to the officer, and it's because he's closer to the camera.

Sorry, but I can't buy that explanation when the officer addressing them is less than 1m to their front & the NCO who is on "higher" ground is no more than 2m away. And what about the "giant" in the distance who's walking towards the staff car? Not to mention anything about the packs & bedrolls they are carrying in relation to photos you see of regular infantry loaded down with their gear.

These ex-panzer crew shown in the photo are definitely short - there's no doubt about it!

There's no height restrictions in the Panzerwaffe as far as I know, so I'm guessing that the panzer crews' height comes in a wide range.

And camera angles can be really deceiving. Here's proof.


That is the same picture, but I copy/pasted the panzer crew member in the foreground and the NCO and put them right next to the Officer. Notice how large they are, compared to the officer.

And look at that "giant" guy that was walking towards the car...take a look at his height if you copy/paste him next to the panzer crews...Mein Gott, he's a tiny little thing.


*Edit* And in regards to the other pic, those German soldiers were carrying, from what I can see were breadbags, canteen, rolled zeltbahn, gas mask canister, and ammo pouches, while those panzer crews seems to be carrying bigger duffel-type bags. I can see some A-pack frames too, if I'm not mistaken.

The short looking panzer men in your photo actually look like young boys to me.. Photo is too small to clearly make them out though.

Judging from the size of many WWII German hats and uniforms (real ones, not fake crap) that me and my friend (who has been a LONG time collector) have seen, most of that generation of Germans were small in stature. My friend is 6' 4" and the only German he can think of from that time who's uniform he might have been able to wear is that of Otto Skorzeny (I believe he was 6' 4" also).

It's probably a combination of all mentioned... they look young, the formation is angled away from the photographer, and you also can't see their feet because they are standing on ground lower than the officer, who is also closer to the camera [just like the old fisherman's trick = hold the fish in an outstretched arm putting it closer to the camera to make it look bigger]. Could be 12th SS, Hitlerjungend.

Have to agree - camera trick, not intentional though.

The unit being 'inspected' is clearly lower down, in the road cut. The two 'officers/staffers' that appear to be inspecting, are on the turf closer to the camera, at least a foot higher. And the guy headed toward the vehicle, *shrug*

Now, given that space WAS limited inside armored vehicles, crew may have been picked because of shorter stature. You don't pick a guy thats pushing the upper height/weight limits for armor, unless he's a wizard at armor, and can fit without problems. Then again, a large ~good~ gunner could be used in the artillery, mechanic in the motor pool, etc., follow me?

Now, as a counter-argument, remember late in the war, they were recruiting younger and younger... so the unit seen ~could~ be younger, and on average, shorter. The posted image isn't at a great resolution to judge, and I couldn't read the text with it to get an idea as to when it was taken.

Just my two pennies.

Heck, in those days everybody was "short"! Dig these Stalingrad Infantrymen....

Seriously...late in the war German kids were issued cut-down "adult" uniforms. The only way to tell their approximate age is by looking at the relative size of their weapons, etc.

5'7 i would guess from living here there pretty short people lol

Read Otto Carius book, Tigers in the Mud. He writes about the men who crewed panzers, the uncomfortable gritty deadly life fighting one and about his own very small physical stature and how in basic training he was always given the MG 42 to carry, because he was the smallest guy in his unit. The WWII panzer crews were smaller in stature to better fit the vehicles they operated: "Otto had been drafted twice before, but sent home as "Not fit for service at present underweight!". But in May 1940, Otto was finally drafted into the 104th Infantry Replacement Battalion. Following training, he volunteered for the Panzer Corps, (in his book Carius suggests his CO pushed him in that direction, because he was really to small for the Infantry): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Carius