Reddit reviews A View from the Turret : A History of the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in the Second World War

The tank was struck twice by a towed Flak or Pak gun as it approached the crossing on the Aller River in Germany. The first shot pictured here went straight through the turret, with the flat sides "only" 38mm thick offering relatively little resistance to such a formidable projectile, to the detriment of the turret crew - the commander and loader were killed instantly, while the gunner survived with a fractured skull and shrapnel wounds. The course of the projectile is noted in this diagram.

The driver and hull gunner made it out fast enough to avoid being killed by the second shot which which hit the hull gun mounting at around 45 degrees, tearing it off completely and penetrating the 64mm thick front plate to enter the hull to then ricochet around the hull.

Edit: This tank is apparently referred to in a 3rd RTR memoir:

>"On 11 April 3 RTR moved on from Schwarmstedt with my squadron in the lead. My leading troop commander was 2 Lt John Pearson who had only recently joined the battalion, aged 19 and with little battle experience. He had a very experienced troop sergeant, Sergeant Cranston, and another fairly new subaltern, Jeff Lomas, acting as his troop corporal. This was fairly common practice in RTR and was done specifically for young officers to gain battle experience. Our approach to the River Aller was via the village of Essel and I gave instructions to Pearson to keep a sharp lookout for possible panzerfaust men. In the event he reported only seeing a few dead germans and he moved on rapidly towards the river. It was difficult tank country, a straight road leading across the river, the ground on either side of the road very marshy, making it impossible to deploy off the road.

>I had moved my HQ tanks fairly close to Pearson's troop and, taking cover in a small stand of trees by the roadside, took stock of the position. Through my a i thought I could see enemy movement in the woods across the river and accordingly warned Pearson to watch out and be prepared to engage anything that moved. "Wilco out" was his response and he moved on towards the bridge. When about 100 yds short of it, he could see that it was blown, he duly reported that fact to me and that he thought the river was about 40 yds wide at that point.

>I was somewhat concerned about the movement on the other side of the river as I knew 1st Commando Brigade had made an assault crossing over the river the night before and we were not quite sure of their whereabouts. I was in the process of reporting to the CO that the bridge over the river was blown when suddenly - Crash! Bang! - Pearson's and Cranston's tanks erupted into flames and I could see one or two crew members out but obviously wounded. Lt Lomas in the third tank managed to get off the road, took cover in some bushes, and proceeded to engage the anti-tank gun which had knocked out Pearson and Cranston. Although his tank was hit twice he courageously carried on with the engagement and, eventually, with a direct hit on the enemy gun, knocked it out. In the meantime I moved up close to the burning tanks and got out to go to the aid of the wounded crew.

>John Pearson and two of his crew, Shipley and Wyatt, his operator, were lying in the long grass beside the road, all badly burned about the hands and face. Trooper Rowe, another member of his crew, had also managed to get clear and was not badly hurt. The driver, Manning, was killed instantly. Sergeant Cranston and LCpl Turnbull in the other tank were killed instantly, with the remainder of the crew managing to get out with only minor wounds.

>Source: A View from the Turret, Maj Bill Close MC