Here I've read it again...It seems author Christopher Wilbeck describes in his book "Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II" how Michael Wittmann's last stand was against 900 enemy tanks (according to a reader review).
"...Continuing the story, Wilbeck describes how Wittman was later killed in another attack on the Caen-Falaise road in which he unknowingly charged into battle against some 900 Allied tanks with only some 50 on his side (only 8 of which were Tiger tanks). Wittmann's Tiger was most likely flanked by a Sherman Firefly which fired the fatal round."
Has someone read this book? What is your opinion?
Last edited by M.H. on Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
17 SS Panzer Grenadier wrote:900?!
Not even Operation Goodwood used that many tanks!
It did! If you count all the tanks used by both sides during Goodwood and the area around the offensive it should total 1500.
The Totalize figures of 900:50 is counting every tank AVAILABLE to the Allies against the lowest number of tanks USED by the Germans. It was more than 50 Grerman tanks anyway and the SP total is not included.
It is now generally accepted that Wittmann's Tiger was destroyed by a rocket fired from the air, probably from an RAF Typhoon. The rocket penetrated the rear engine deck causing an explosion which killed the crew instantly.
"...Continuing the story, Wilbeck describes how Wittman was later killed in another attack on the Caen-Falaise road in which he unknowingly charged into battle against some 900 Allied tanks with only some 50 on his side (only 8 of which were Tiger tanks). Wittmann's Tiger was most likely flanked by a Sherman Firefly which fired the fatal round."
Right, Caen-Falaise road. 900 tanks could easily be on or around that road with just a fraction facing Wittmann. Totalize had an entire armored corp on its way to Falaise. It seems more on the part of the author to publicize the event by making it seem like a suicidal last stand.
"...Continuing the story, Wilbeck describes how Wittman was later killed in another attack on the Caen-Falaise road in which he unknowingly charged into battle against some 900 Allied tanks with only some 50 on his side (only 8 of which were Tiger tanks). Wittmann's Tiger was most likely flanked by a Sherman Firefly which fired the fatal round."
Right, Caen-Falaise road. 900 tanks could easily be on or around that road with just a fraction facing Wittmann. Totalize had an entire armored corp on its way to Falaise. It seems more on the part of the author to publicize the event by making it seem like a suicidal last stand.
It does sound heroic but is a bit overdramatic. Its so out of context that it is almost like stating that 7 PzD charged forward against the combined BEF and French army in 1940 on its own or that, for instance 11 PzD, did so against the bulk of the Russian army in july 1943.
There was quite a bit more going on at and around the said time and place.
Salzburg wrote:It is now generally accepted that Wittmann's Tiger was destroyed by a rocket fired from the air, probably from an RAF Typhoon. The rocket penetrated the rear engine deck causing an explosion which killed the crew instantly.
Generally accepted by whom, precisely?
Could you cite some of those accounts so we could educate ourselves?
PaulJ wrote:
Could you cite some of those accounts so we could educate ourselves?
I suspect a trap is being laid!
"These thoughts have been rekindled in my mind by my recent completion of the new book No Holding Back on Operation TOTALIZE, by Brian Reid, a generally outstanding book I highly recommend"
A link to his thesis, which the book is just an improved version of. Good book; but reading the thesis will help you decide if you want the book or not.
There seems to be a widespread tendency to overstatement by commentators on the W-SS. The list of such exaggerations is almost as endless as the gullibility of some readers is bottomless! It is only a few days since I was addressing the last one on Feldgrau to the effect that French W-SS men knocked out a "high proportion" of the Soviet tanks lost during the Soviet Berlin offensive. A look at the statistics in that case shows that the claims made on behalf of the French W-SS amount to under 3% of total Soviet armour losses. The actual losses they inflicted are likely to be even lower.
The silly thing is, the performance of the Waffen-SS is often quite good enough not to require any exaggeration.
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