On 17 November 1944, during Operation Queen, the US 2nd Armored Division ran into one of the heaviest German armored counterattacks of the autumn campaign. At Puffendorf, just inside Germany, Kampfgruppe Bockhoff of the 9th Panzer Division, reinforced by King Tigers of Heavy Panzer Battalion 506, struck American Shermans caught in open, waterlogged fields.

The Shermans could not maneuver in the mud, and their guns struggled against the frontal armor of the Panthers and Tiger IIs. By mid-morning, the Americans had lost 19 tanks and were forced back into the ruined village to fight from behind stone buildings.

Then the M36 Jacksons of the 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion arrived. Armed with the 90mm gun, the most powerful anti-tank weapon in the US arsenal at the time, the Jacksons changed the balance of the fight. Supported by artillery that hammered the German grenadiers, the American tank destroyers forced Kampfgruppe Bockhoff to pull back, and the momentum at Puffendorf shifted to the 2nd Armored Division.

In this video, we break down how the battle unfolded, why the Sherman failed in the opening hours, what made the M36 different, and how the German heavy armor was finally stopped.

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