Sturmpanzer IV Brummbär (2nd. Kompanie, Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219)

Sometime in the middle of August 1944, the men of Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 237 left their Sturmgeschütz III Ausf G assault guns behind and entrained for the city of Möckern, located in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. At this time, Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 237 was stricken from the rolls and became Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219. Organized as a battalion, the men moved to the Döllersheim training grounds in Austria in September 1944. Döllersheim and several small communities and villages around it all had their citizens (2,000 in all) expelled from their homes following the Anschluss in 1938 and the land was converted into a training facility. It was the home of the 392. (Kroatische) Infanterie-Division and played host to numerous units who used the grounds for training, especially as the winters were harsh in the area, making for a better simulation of combat in Russia. While there, the battalion was billeted in Feldlager Zwettl and was soon joined by the supply company from Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 216. Soon, the new unit received its first allotment of Sturmpanzer IV, nicknamed by the Germans who crewed it as the “Stupa” and by Allied intelligence as the Brummbär (“Grouch”).

 

The idea of the Brummbär was to provide direct fire high-explosive munitions onto fortified enemy positions, especially in urban battlegrounds. This wasn't something altogether new to the Germans and there had been vehicles with a similar role before, such as the Sturmgeschütz (StuG), Sturmhaubitze 42 (StuH42), and more directly akin to the Brummbär, the Sturminfantriegeschütz 33B. The Brummbär utilized the chassis of the Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tank, modified by Krupp. Set atop the chassis was a superstructure designed by Altmärkische Kettenwerk GmbH, better known as Alkett. The design of the Brummbär was approved on October 20, 1942 but production did not begin until April 1943 at the Deutsche Eisenwerke in Duisberg. The main gun of the Brummbär consisted of the 15cm (150mm) StuH43 L/12 howitzer fitted into a ball mounting at the front of the superstructure which provided the gun with 10 degrees of traverse to the left and right, gun depression of -7 degrees, and a maximum elevation of 20 degrees. The ammunition consisted of a 84lb. high-explosive shell and a 18lb. powder charge and so at a total round weight of 102lbs, feeding rounds into the gun made for grueling work for the loader. A total of four versions of the Brummbär were produced, each making modifications to the vehicle. The Brummbärs in the photograph depicts the fourth, and last, make and there are two characteristics which make the identification easy. The first is the 7.92mm MG 34 machine-gun in a ball mount on the superstructure front. The previous three Brummbär versions did not have this which left the Brummbär unable to defend itself from close assaults by infantry and complaints by “Stupa” crews saw the machine-gun added to the vehicle. The Brummbär did carry a MG 34 in a anti-aircraft mount on the roof of the vehicle. While it was able to be used to defend against infantry, it exposed the crewman to return fire and thus wasn't as suited to defense as the superstructure mounted machine-gun where the crewman benefited from the armor protection. The second major characteristic was the revised superstructure which lacked the angular design of the previous makes and was, more or less, box shaped. Other changes included using the chassis of the PzKpfw IV Ausf J (earlier Brummbär used Ausf G, E, and F), improved crew ventilation, improved optics, and the usage of steel roadwheels. The latter change was to conserve rubber and the Brummbär in the photograph is equipped with four steel roadwheels in the front with the more standard rubber roadwheels behind them. Likewise, the Brummbär in the background has the same roadwheel configuration. The Brummbär, given its task of close support, was well armored to protect the five man crew. The superstructure front featured 100mm of armor at a 40 degree slope with the front hull being 80mm of protection at a 12 degree slope. In the photograph, Brummbär crews often secured extra track links to the front of the hull as additional armor. The side armor of the superstructure was only 50mm at a 15 degree slope with the hull being even less at 30mm with no slope. To boost the level of protection, the Brummbär were typically fitted with schürzen, or skirts. The rail seen in the photograph along the vehicle's side was where the thin armored schürzen panels would be fitted. The purpose of the schürzen was to deform incoming armor-piercing rounds before they struck the tank, thus lessening the chance of penetration. Schürzen were effective against the Soviet 14.5mm anti-tank rifle ammunition as well as the 45mm anti-tank gun round, the British 6-pdr. armor piercing round, and the U.S. 37mm armor piercing round. Schürzen also had some effect on HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) munitions as it forced them to detonate prior to their optimal detonation distance, thus lessening their impact. The rail is a later war model, denoted by the triangle-shaped protrusions that helped the schürzen stay in place.

 

Returning to Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219, the conversion from the Sturmgeschütz to the Brummbär was not an easy affair for the crews, compounded by a lack of instructional material for the StuH43 gun. Also, the tactical deployment of the Brummbär differed from that used in the Sturmgeschütz which meant the men had to essentially start from scratch in terms of effectively using the Brummbär. After weeks of training, orders arrived for 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 (1st. Kompanie) to make ready for combat as part of Unternehmen Panzerfaust (Operation Panzerfaust) which was the German intervention in Hungary to depose Admiral Miklós Horthy, Hungary's regent, who was secretly negotiating with the Soviets to surrender the country. 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 arrived in Budapest on October 19, 1944 after encountering numerous delays due to Allied air attacks and railway but the unit was too late to take part in the relatively bloodless ouster of Horthy and the installment of pro-Fascit Ferenc Szálasi as the leader of Hungary. The company literally did not detrain and instead, 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 moved to Žilina, Slovakia where it met up with the rest of the unit and commenced training. It was planned to conduct a joint exercise with SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger which was operating in the area though this never came about, sparing Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 from wargaming with one of the most notorious and barbarous units of World War Two. On December 6, 1944, Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 was dispatched towards Budapest, Hungary where elements from the Soviet 2nd. Ukrainian Front commanded by Army General Rodion Malinovsky where already in the process of encircling German and Romanian forces in the Budapest area. Between December 12, 1944 through February 13, 1945 when the Soviets completed the encirclement and eliminated those Axis forces caught within, Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 engaged in several combat actions but did so with less and less Brummbär as loses to enemy action and mechanical breakdowns took their toll. By January 11, 1945, both 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 and 3./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 (3rd. Kompanie) had no vehicles left. 2./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 (2nd. Kompanie) continued to see combat as the company continued to withdraw in the face of the Soviet military might when, on April 12, 1945, what remained arrived in Frauenberg, Germany. There, 3./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 was requipped with factory fresh Brummbär while 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 ended up being filled out with PzKpfw 747(r) medium tanks (German designation for captured Soviet T-34s) and PzKpfw M4 748(a) medium tanks (German designation for captured M4 “Sherman” tanks). By April 22, 1945, 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 was relieved of its recently issued armor and it, along with 2./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219, were sent to be trained as infantry with an emphasis on anti-tank tactics under a new unit name, Panzer-Jagdbrigade 123 while 3./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 was absorbed into a panzer regiment. On April 25, 1945, Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 officially ceased to exist.

 

The Brummbär (tactical number 222) in the foreground belonged to 2./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219, 2./Zug (platoon), and was the second Brummbär in the platoon. 2./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 was commanded by Oberleutnant Rolf Meißner The Brummbär in the background (tactical number 110) was from 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219, 1.Zug, and was the platoon commander's vehicle (Leutnant Hugo Block). Overall, 1./Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 was commanded by Hauptmann Ludwig Bertram. In the photographs I've seen of these two vehicles, where exactly they were located isn't stated outside of being somewhere in Hungary. It could be the town of Kápolnásnyék, Hungary where some of Sturmpanzer-Abteilung 219 Brummbär vehicles were reported as lost but not destroyed. In both Brummbär, the differentials have been removed and the engine decks are open on both vehicles. Differential failure was a constant worry as the weight of the Brummbär superstructure was much more than the PzKpfw IV chassis was reliably designed to carry. Thus, it appears that both machines were stripped of needed parts in order to keep the other Brummbär running as logistical resupply was a daily problem for the unit. As a note, the two bumps on the superstructure side are the armored plugs for the pistol ports. The plugs were connected to a chain from inside the vehicle and could be pushed out and the crew could use their small arms to defend the vehicle.

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