PanzerDB is an attempt to create a searchable index of published military equipment photos from World War II. The idea being that if you are interested in a particular type of equipment or equipment from a particular unit, you'll be able to determine what books have photos of your subject.

In addition to the book database, PanzerDB includes a Museum Photo Reference Gallery containing images from Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Patton Museum. I hope to expand this collection as I visit other institutions. If you have material you would like to contribute, feel free to contact me

PanzerDB is not a database of images. Because of copyright issues, PanzerDB only links equipment to published photos. If this site becomes popular enough and copyright holders give permission, small low res scans might be incorporated into the database. This would require an enormous effort and the cooperation of many publishers so don't hold your breath.

Eventual Goals: Since adding the complete catalog of all published photos is something I couldn't accomplish in my lifetime, the ultimate plan is to have users contribute new content to the database. This poses some interesting problems regarding information accuracy and reliability not to mention plain old human error. I have many ideas on how to tackle these problems but the primary goal is to create something that is reasonably useful - find those photos of that peice of equipment you're interested in. Once these initial goals have been reached, I'll concentrate on some of the more tricky issues.

Finally I should mention that this project is being completed in my spare time of which I never have enough. It is presented in an incomplete state because I feel that it still has some use - even if only marginal. It also gives me the opportunity to present the idea to you. Please contact me to offer your thoughts about this site.

Below is a list of my goals and loose indications of their completion.

Design and develop a database for the books/photos/equipment Complete - mostly...
Develop the tools for adding stuff to the database Complete - but full of bugs...
Develop the public face for PanzerDB If you're reading this... you're seeing the beginings of this
Add intial content from my book collection What does "initial" mean? See Book List for whats been added so far.
Open the site for limited public search for testing Beta version open but don't expect things to remain the same...
Design the forums for discussing photo correctness Not Started - not even thought about
User accounts so virtual libraries can be created and searched. Not Started - probably the next task once I get enough "initial content"
Design the public tools for adding content Not Started - not even thought about