I heard that the terms "Tiger," "Panther," etc. were names the Allies, especially the British, gave to German tanks to be able to talk about the different German tanks in easy to use language. Then I came across this in Wikipedia.
"Tiger I heavy tank originally received the designation of Panzerkampfwagen VI H (8.8 cm) Ausf H1 - Sd.Kfz.182, but then in March 1943, was redesignated to Panzerkampfwagen Tiger (8.8 cm L/56) Ausf E - Sd.Kfz.181. It was commonly referred to as Tiger, Tiger I and PzKpfw VI. Officially there was only type of Tiger tank produced, but during the duration of production improvements were carried on." Wikipedia
Did the Germans use the names Tiger, Panther, etc? If not, how did they differentiate their tanks when they were giving verbal orders? Surely, there was some kind of shorthand designation they prefered over the mouthful "Panzerkampfwagen VI H (8.8 cm) Ausf H1 - Sd.Kfz.182" when a commander wanted to tell his tank drivers which tanks to use in an operation. For example, if he wanted to deploy the PzKpfw IV's rather than the PzKpfw VI's for an operation, how would he have referrred to them in giving quick verbal orders? Thanks for any insight you can give me.