The following WWII report on German destruction of tanks appeared in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 27, June 17, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

GERMAN DESTRUCTION OF OWN TANKS Toward the end of last year, one German tank regiment commander in the Middle East found that he was losing far too many tanks--and these not all through British action. Some were being prematurely or unnecessarily destroyed by their crews. In an effort to stop this he issued the following order: "Tanks may be blown up only in the following circumstances: (a) the tank cannot be moved, and (b) the enemy is attacking, and (c) the tank has defended itself to the last round. "The person responsible for giving the order to blow up the tank must send in a report to regimental headquarters, giving the circumstances."

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