Locating tanks in high-level vertical air imagery is by no means a straightforward task. As I have stated elsewhere, we lack the clarity and resolution available to PIs in 1944 and objects as small as tanks can therefore be very difficult to spot. Fortunately, the location of the disabled Son Panzer III is recorded in at least two other sources, which help to establish its location in the air photos. The first is the recollection of the commander of 101st Airborne Division's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Colonel Robert Sink. After the Battle's Operation Market Garden Then and Now (Vol 1, p. 107) elaborates:
Just east of the DZ, across the main road, at a cluster of farms named Wolfswinkel, was stationed a detachment of II Abteilung of Fallschirmjager-Ersatz-und-Ausbildungs-Regiment 'Hermann Goring' with a few Mark III and IV tanks, which could have seriously opposed the light-armed paratroops. Colonel Bob Sink, the 506th commander, had spotted them from his plane as he came in, and now sent out a patrol to investigate. Before it got there, American P-51 fighter-bombers swooped down and knocked out three of the tanks as they tried to flee to the north.
The second is another ground photograph. Soon after the start of Operation Market Garden, 101st Airborne Division began constructing a temporary military cemetery in the same area, north-east of Wolfswinkel, near the end of a tree-lined lane named Waterhoef. Several photographs of the cemetery survive and are easily accessible, but one, taken by the US Army Signals Corps soon after construction of the cemetery started, clearly shows the Panzer III in the background. As the general layout of the cemetery is well known, the location of the tank in the air imagery was not difficult to establish. It was also partly 'framed' by trees growing along the River Dommel and by houses visible in the background, along a road named Vresselseweg.
This photograph was taken on the first day of Operation Market Garden, 17 September 1944, and shows part of the 101st Airborne Division glider landing zone several hours after the landings. The key road north, known as Hell's Highway, is just visible.
The glider landing zone can still just be seen in this second photograph from the same 17 September run, but far more of Hell's Highway is visible along with the farm buildings at Wolfswinkel. Smoke is rising from the buildings and an object that may be one of the knocked-out tanks is visible at the very top, but (if it is a tank) it is not the Panzer III shown in the ground imagery.
This photograph was taken on 19 September 1944. By that time, the Allies had constructed a Bailey bridge to cross the Wilhelmina Canal at Son, and traffic was moving north towards Nijmegen. Several vehicles are visible in the Wolfswinkel area between the farm and Hell's Highway, but none of these were present in the 17 September imagery. The events recalled by Colonel Sink are faithfully recorded by tank tracks visible to the north of the hamlet which lead to the lane named Waterhoef. At least one tank reached Waterhoef after crossing the fields. The temporary cemetery was constructed to the east of the lane.
Another enlargement of the same 19 September photograph showing the objects that are just visible at the top of the 17 September image. These may be destroyed German vehicles, and the pock-marked ground nearby suggests possible air-to-ground strafing.
This is the second ground-level photograph of the Panzer III, which appeared some years ago on a website that has since been taken down. It originates with the US Army Signals Corps. These were the first grave plots to be dug; the cemetery was subsequently enlarged. In the background are the houses on Vresselseweg. The trees follow the course of the River Dommel. The Panzer III, arrowed, was identified in the original photo caption.
This low-level air photograph of the cemetery was taken after it was enlarged. The red spot marks the approximate location from which the previous photo was taken. The course of Waterhoef is also clear. But this image also shows that Waterhoef crossed a deep-banked stream which ran into the River Dommel. Google Earth reveals that this stream no longer exists. It was presumably drained and filled in at some stage in the post-war period.
This photograph, from 19 September, brings together the elements contained in the previous images. It shows the lane, Waterhoef, the stream, the cemetery, the River Dommel, the houses along Vresselseweg and, finally, the disabled Panzer III. It stood only yards from the river.
A reasonable hypothesis as to the Panzer III's fate would be that two tanks crossed the field beyond Wolfswinkel and at least one reached Waterhoef. The crew, unfamiliar with the area, then followed the lane, believing it to be an escape route. In fact, they were driving into a lethal cul-de-sac. Having crossed the stream at the end of Waterhoef, they were confronted by the Dommel. Seeking a way out, they turned south towards the intersection of the stream and the river. At this point, there would probably have been a bridge that was strong enough for farm vehicles but not a 25-ton tank. So they turned around with the intention of heading north. It was at this point that they came under attack from the air.
The Panzer III's location immediately next to the Dommel is difficult to make out in this photograph because the camera angle is so low. The near bank of the river is nothing more than a faint line; the far bank is hard to see because the vegetation on both banks is identical - at least in a black and white image. Again the houses in the background help to frame this location:
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