One of the 39 Elefants lost was captured in almost perfect condition by the Soviets. The vehicle showed only minor damages (the frontal parts of mudguards are shot off, for example). Note the camouflage pattern that was not typical of these self-propelled guns. The inscription on the superstructure reads:
“Self propelled German gun ‘Ferdinand’ taken into captivity, together with the crew, by soldiers of 129th Orel Division”.
The division, commanded by Col. I.V. Panchjuk, took part in the capture of Orel city (with 4 other divisions and 3 tank units), and it was honored with the name of the city. For many years it was thought that most of the Elefants were lost because they had no machine guns, but this is not true. Many of them were lost due to damage or a lack of fuel, not because of deadly shooting from enemy guns or infantry. The Elefant was an offensive weapon, so during retreating combat it had less chance of fighting successfully (especially in cities!), and many of them had to be abandoned on battlefields with only minor damage, like the one seen here.