When would you think the last World War II German Panzer IVs saw combat? The Battle of Berlin in 1945?
Try the Golan Heights in 1967:
Syria had sourced leftover Panzer IV from all over Europe (along with a handful of Sturmgeschütz III assault guns and Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyers), which they deployed to the Golan Heights. Ironically, some of the tanks they faced were uparmed “Super Sherman” M4 tanks, some with 105mm guns. But the Israelis were also using British Centurion tanks (also with 105mm guns), which handily outclassed the German tanks, and the better trained and equipped Israeli forces routed the Syrians from the Golan Heights as part of the Six Day War. At least 10 of the 25 operational Panzer IVs were knocked out by the Israelis. “Not one Israeli tank was knocked out by a German Panzer.”
Some Super Shermans were pressed into service in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and some even found their way to Israeli-supported factions in the Lebanese Civil War that stretched into the early 1980s.
Believe it or not, Paraguay was still using not only Sherman tanks, but M3 Stuart light tanks in 2016.
Tags: Arab-Israeli Wars, Israel, Military, Sherman tank, Six Day War, Stuart M3 light tank, Syria, tanks, video