Panther Rescued...From Pensioner's Cellar!

How the hell did he get it in there?
"Police in northern Germany have seized a World War Two tank which was being kept in a pensioner's cellar.
The Panther tank was removed from the 78-year-old's house in the town of Heikendorf, along with a variety of other military equipment, including a torpedo and an anti-aircraft gun, Der Tagesspiel website reports. It wasn't an easy job to get it all out - the army had to be called in with modern-day tanks to haul the Panther from its cellar. It took about 20 soldiers almost nine hours to extract the tank - which was without its tracks - and push it onto a low-loader, the report says. As the surreal scene unfolded, local residents gathered at the end of the driveway to watch."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-33381772

 

I don't know what I want more his collection...or the house he lives in.

 

Found this site which has information about the Panther and additional photos.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1435865072/Panther+tank+found+in+a+cellar+in+Germany

 

I straightaway wondered if it was the 'Scrapyard Panther' which was featured years ago in After The Battle, and soon after being found in the UK was apparently sold to a private collector in Germany.......

 

Looks in immaculate condition, apart from the lack of tracks.

How did he get it into his cellar?!?

 

There is more to this than meets the eye.
The machine, as Martin alludes to, is neither secret, nor discovered, nor anything.
Games being played here. I am quite certain more will become apparent over the next few days.

 

This is the Flick Panther, so the track are there somewhere.

 

It is part of a wider investigation into stolen Nazi Artworks being sold on the black market. Lots of arrests and a lot of stuff recovered. This is not a simple case of incorrect paperwork. Think large bronze horses.

 

Well, if nothing else it prompted me to dig out my copy of After The Battle #20 ( was it really 1977 ?? ). I still look at the photos and daydream - it's one of my favourite 'relic discovery' stories........

 

A truly fine example. If it is legitimately his then he should get to keep it, if not I hope a set of tracts can be found and it finds a good museum to display it. still, regardless what a find, I have to agree this is not the entire story..

 

It appears that the weapons were fully working though the paperwork says they had been made inoperable. It looks serious for him.

 

What is your source on this?

 

The torpedo is what I'd worry about if it wasn't demilled. A tank without treads in a basement isn't much of a threat.

 

Yeah...there is something fishy. Someone has an axe to grind.

 

#11
Could you post some of those pics, Mr Martin?
1977 was a good year, for me anyhoo.

 

See:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548534
Post #6

 

IMO such large and impossible to hide weapons are no real threat to anybody, but what the letter of German laws has to say to that may be quite different, I doubt very much the legislators had something like a panther or a 88 in mind when they wrote them.