A German tank commander who holdup one armour division

[King Tiger]

Michael Wittmann was the most successful and famous tank commander of World War II.
During his many campaigns both on the Eastern front and in the West, Wittmann was to make a name for himself with his exceptional skill and bravery, and was highly respected both by friend and foe alike.

On 13th June 1944, he single handle hold up the attack of an entire British 7th Armour Division at Villers-Bocage, France.

Total victories in whole of World War II (kills):
- 141 tanks,
- 132 antitank guns

 

[Carllim]

Recommend book "Steel Inferno: 1st SS Panzer Corps in Normandy" for those who have no clue wat King Tiger was talking about.

 

[giddygoat]

for those of you interested check out http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gen3.htm

The Germans may be the "bad guys" then but they were a truly formidable force. Very professional and advanced. Cool equipments too
Hats off to the Allied troops who bravely fought against them. It's not easy hunting Tigers when you're driving a "Ronson Lighter". To actually succeed as they did was a truly remarkable achievement.

 

[sulhan]

I used to have a tamiya scale model of this Tiger with wired remote control. Ireally liked the Tiger and also recently got to watch one of my favorite movie called...Battle of the Bulge.....

The Movie..


Rgds,
Sulhan

 

[agape01]

Imagine if the Iraqis had a Michael Wittmann. Imagine what kind of bad days would come onto those damn yankees and brits.

I know. I am only being synical.

 

[AReality]

Imagine if the Iraqis had a Michael Wittmann. Imagine what kind of bad days would come onto those damn yankees and brits.

I know. I am only being synical.

They still haven't found the nukes yet...

 

[giddygoat]

They still haven't found the nukes yet...

Well, maybe if they start looking in their own backyards..........
Amazing how childish it is. You have a whole bag of sweets and you start crying to mummy cos the other guy has one sweet :dunno:

 

[foxtwo]

i think we're drifting off-thread here guys.

 

[jeff49er]

The Tiger in its hey day was deadly. Many a foe feared the 88mm gun.

In the latter stages of WW 2 US has the Sherman to counteract ag the Tiger.

Today Germany has the Leopard and due to the current ties there is no opportunity for the Leopard to fight ag the US Abrams M1. So we will never know the full capabilities of the Leopard

 

[Carllim]

for those of you interested check out http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gen3.htm

The Germans may be the "bad guys" then but they were a truly formidable force. Very professional and advanced. Cool equipments too
Hats off to the Allied troops who bravely fought against them. It's not easy hunting Tigers when you're driving a "Ronson Lighter". To actually succeed as they did was a truly remarkable achievement.

Yup. King Tigers, Tigers, Panthers, JadgeTigers, JadgePanthers, Nashorns, JP Elefants, Marders, StuGs, SturmTigers, Hummels, Wespes, Nebelwerfers, 88s, Panzerfausts, Panzerschrecks just to name some.

 

[Carllim]

I thought it's the British version of the Sherman that could take on the Tiger head on? I was referring to the Firefly VC with the 17-pounder AT gun. :dunno:

 

[ST1100]

Eh, i'm curious (but not curious enough to go read history books) - how did that guy single-handedly hold up an entire division? (Just a short para will do. )

 

[Amfibius]

From the book "Panzerkrieg" by Peter McCarthy (Robinson Press 2002) pp212-3:

"The four tigers of SS-Obersturmfuhrer Michael Wittmann's company drove toward Villers Bocage and from the commanding position of Hill 213 Wittman spotted the British vehicles incompetently lined up nose to tail in the village. As a leading tank ace, Wittmann knew a golden opportunity when he saw one and wasted no time in seizing it.

"Approaching the column stealthily in his Tiger, Wittman pressed on unobserved past the stationary lead vehicles and then shot up three out of four Cromwells before proceeding into the village's main street. Several British shots bounced harmlessly off the Tiger's frontal armous. Wittman was satisfied with his recce and reversed, only to have his tank shot in the back twice by the leading Cromwell. Again the shells failed to penetrate and Wittmann quickly dispatched the British tank with an 88 shot.

"The Tiger then engaged the forward elements of the column which were parked so close together that their main guns couldn't be used. His first shot was put into the only tank that posed a threat to the Tiger, the Firefly - a Sherman up-gunned with a high velocity 17-pounder (76mm) gun. Wittman then casually drove the length of the convoy shooting up each vehicle in turn and in five minutes destroyed no less than 25 tracked vehicles before withdrawing back to Hill 213.

"Intense fighting conitnued around the village all day. At one stage Wittmann had to abandon his disabled Tiger and walk cross-country until he found a Panzer Lehr position. There he was given 15 Panzer IV's and returned to recapture the village in association with units from the 2nd Panzer Division. For the loss of just 3 Tigers, the Panzers destroyed 25 Cromwell and Firefly tanks, 14 half-tracks and 14 Bren-gun carriers at Villers Bocage that day and stopped the advance of the 7th Armoured Division in its tracks."

 

[bigfatfish]

this whole army thing is really IN huh!

soon I think we can have a sub group discussion about NS and military!.

 

[Jay]

I used to have a tamiya scale model of this Tiger with wired remote control. Ireally liked the Tiger and also recently got to watch one of my favorite movie called...Battle of the Bulge.....

The Movie..


Rgds,
Sulhan

Hey Sulhan, didn't know you're into this. Is the model 1/16 or 1/24 scale? I have this model in 1/24 and the Leopard II in 1/16.

This guy was brillant and that accounted for his scores.

 

[Jay]

I used to have a tamiya scale model of this Tiger with wired remote control. Ireally liked the Tiger and also recently got to watch one of my favorite movie called...Battle of the Bulge.....

The Movie..


Rgds,
Sulhan

In the movie, they used the American M26 Pershing as the Tiger. Watch Saving Private Ryan .. they used the real stuff!

 

[imaginary_number]

Reminds me of Zhang Fei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where he scared off the entire Cao army at Chang Ban Bridge.

 

[rueyloon]

I watched a show on discovery not too long ago that compared the Tiger Vs the Shermans, in many ways, the tiger is superior, having bigger guns and heavier armour, the only way for the Shermans to have a chance it so sneak behind the tiger and shoot at it's engine.

the only reason the sherman won the war was due to it's sheer numbers and also it "mass producability". It shared parts with some commom automobiles and was produced using some mass production techniques, hence parts were readily available when the shermans were damaged.

on the other hand, the tiger wasn't built in that way and hence when it is damaged it was hard to repair, and the show also mentioned that the tiger have a less reliable engine....... also also a slower turning turret.

interesting show, in the end they asked veretans from both sides, US and also the germans which tank would they prefer if they can choose, everyone of them choosed the tiger.

 

[jeff49er]

The Tiger has its day in WW2.

The turrent may be slower due to the 88mm gun and the Sherman used a smaller calibre gun.

Just like the jet fighter planes made by the German in 1944/45, the ball bearing factories, railway lines, other factories were so heavily bombed by the Allies that the German could not sustain production of these magnificent war machines.

The US on the other hand could produce the Shermans, Mustangs, aircraft carriers..etc without any enemy interference.

Now comes to shooting, if there is any chance to shoot these vintage war maches, I would jump on it

 

[Tetrode]

In the movie, they used the American M26 Pershing as the Tiger. Watch Saving Private Ryan .. they used the real stuff!

In the "Making of Band of Bros", Alan Tomkins (Sr Art Director/Vehicles) explained that the Tiger tank in "Saving Pte Ryan" was actually a dressed up T-34 Soviet tank and not the real thing.

They even cut up and modified several British APCs to look like panzerkamfwagen IIIs.