As of now, no coherent story is told about the roots and the actual usage of the Jagdpanzer 38(t)'s nickname "Hetzer" (commonly translated as "baiter" or "chaser"). The main source for modern usage of the term is a memorandum of Heinz Guderian to Hitler, where he claimed that this nickname was spontaneously coined by German soldiers. In the lack of any other evidence available at the time, several sources on the topic declared Guderian's claim to be wrong. An example is Canadian officer and military book author Harold A. Skaarup, who claims in his book Ironsides: Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicle Museums and Monuments: "The name Hetzer was at the time not commonly used for this vehicle. It was the designation for a related prototype, the E-10. The Škoda factory for a very short period confused the two names in its documentation and the very first unit equipped with the vehicle thus for a few weeks applied the incorrect name until matters were cleared. However, there exists a memorandum from Heinz Guderian to Hitler claiming that an unofficial name, Hetzer, had spontaneously been coined by the troops. Post-war historians basing themselves on this statement made the name popular in their works, the vehicle was never named as such in official documents." So Skaarup offers another explanation for the root of the name. At first sight, this is not too plausible, as the E-series was a late-war suggestion to replace the existing German tanks, including the Jagdpanzer 38(t). However, the chronology may work out. Development of the Jagdpanzer 38(t) started in 1943, but it needed its time, and the Hetzer first saw service in July 1944. The E-series was first proposed in April 1943 already (according to the book "World War 2 In Review: German Fighting Vehicles, No. 2"). Still, that Skaarup's explanation may be accurate does not necessarily mean that it is accurate. I failed to find other sources to back up his claim - anybody in here know others? Anyway, the tank encyclopedia (Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer) displays an actual wartime usage example, proving that the name WAS in active usage, albeit infrequently:
That Pz.Abt.17 was certainly a mixed bag! Anyone know what a Flak-Pz V was? Besides a typo? I know there were proposals for AA vehicles on Pz V chassis, but not aware of anything that could have been issued to operational units.
Well, I suspect that was SS-Panzer-Abteilung 17. and it was late-war so yes, a very mixed bag. Note that of its 17 vehicles only 3 were actually listed as operational and present. Another 8 were in route (auf Marsch), while 3 were in short-term and 3 in long-term repair. There was no Flakpanzer V, except the wooden mock-up of the 3,7 cm FlaK-Zwilling, Gerät 554, AKA COELIAN. BTW, while the English translation of Hetzer is frequently given as "baiter" or "chaser", it actually refers to verbal baiting or agitation...a better translation would be Heckler.
Of course, this is not in question. The brand new Czech TNH series was captured by the Germans and introduced as Panzer 38(t). The modified chassis of the 38(t) was used for the late-war Jagdpanzer 38(t).
