I tried to increase this image but bad luck : no number on the turret side.
Damned germans, they drove without registration number ! Morever it's a no parking zone
So long
Wittmann's Tiger at Villers-Bocage
Moderator: sniper1shot
-
Dackel Staffel
- Associate
- Posts: 710
- Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 3:04 pm
-
michael kenny
- Associate
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2002 5:09 am
- Location: Northern England
-
JohnWilliam88
- Supporter
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Mon May 26, 2003 5:19 am
- Location: Australia
-
michael kenny
- Associate
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2002 5:09 am
- Location: Northern England
The number of the Tiger is only important to sad people like us so any after action reports would not be too concerned about getting it right.
At the risk of sounding concieted there is no point 'speculating' about the Tiger's number because it is virtualy certain it was #212.
Whilst there is the remote chance it might not be #212 it certainly was not #200 (which did not exist in SS 101), #205, #222 #231or #232.
At the risk of sounding concieted there is no point 'speculating' about the Tiger's number because it is virtualy certain it was #212.
Whilst there is the remote chance it might not be #212 it certainly was not #200 (which did not exist in SS 101), #205, #222 #231or #232.
-
Roger Griffiths
- Associate
- Posts: 925
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 9:24 am
- Location: UK
Michael,
I'm probably responsible for the poor quality pic. of 212. It's from the Morny shots and is in background moving left to right.
I can send straight scan of pic. pre Great Fire of Koblenz, and if your photoshop skills are better than mine, which is guaranteed, you might be able to make more of it.
Roger
I'm probably responsible for the poor quality pic. of 212. It's from the Morny shots and is in background moving left to right.
I can send straight scan of pic. pre Great Fire of Koblenz, and if your photoshop skills are better than mine, which is guaranteed, you might be able to make more of it.
Roger
-
JohnWilliam88
- Supporter
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Mon May 26, 2003 5:19 am
- Location: Australia
Re Firefly
"It was still only a Sherman." That is only significant re the armour. The 17 pounder gun was quite effective - and when it got APDS it was marginally more effective than Tiger's 88mm (or Panther's 75). The Ammo makes a big difference - plus 17 pounder in normandy was still working out bugs - but as one Brit tanker put it, "Very good kit."
Of the million and one accounts I've read of Wittman's death in action the most compelling to me is that he was caught with three other Tigers in a crossfire and knocked out by Fireflys while attacking a grouping of shermans to his front. A side shot would surely do the job.
Bob Tout claims about 17 of 'em in the area where Wittman got it.
It would seem the German policy of immediate counterattack played him false on this ocassion and put him right in their sights.
Apparently it was a different tiger that took the rocket behind the turret.
I'm willing to bet that I get contradicted on this post Wittman remains a remarkable figure and I confess my own interest in the matter goes way back. I have yet to see a conclusive account so I'll stick with this one until I hear a better.
cheers
Reb
"It was still only a Sherman." That is only significant re the armour. The 17 pounder gun was quite effective - and when it got APDS it was marginally more effective than Tiger's 88mm (or Panther's 75). The Ammo makes a big difference - plus 17 pounder in normandy was still working out bugs - but as one Brit tanker put it, "Very good kit."
Of the million and one accounts I've read of Wittman's death in action the most compelling to me is that he was caught with three other Tigers in a crossfire and knocked out by Fireflys while attacking a grouping of shermans to his front. A side shot would surely do the job.
Bob Tout claims about 17 of 'em in the area where Wittman got it.
It would seem the German policy of immediate counterattack played him false on this ocassion and put him right in their sights.
Apparently it was a different tiger that took the rocket behind the turret.
I'm willing to bet that I get contradicted on this post
Wittman remains a remarkable figure and I confess my own interest in the matter goes way back. I have yet to see a conclusive account so I'll stick with this one until I hear a better.cheers
Reb
-
Roger Griffiths
- Associate
- Posts: 925
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 9:24 am
- Location: UK
Hi Reb, good stuff. The only thing is we were talking about turret number at Villers.
As you mention 007, there still seems to be controversy. The farmer walked round it, shortly afterwards, and could find no penetration holes. Apparently, there was a hole in the engine decking. If it was a rocket firing Typhoon, there would have been lots of small craters around and remnants of the rockets, but there were'nt. I don't know how a flat trajectory tank round got there, but I think the Firefly option is the perceived wisdom. Personally, I have no idea and rely on wiser counsel.
Roger
As you mention 007, there still seems to be controversy. The farmer walked round it, shortly afterwards, and could find no penetration holes. Apparently, there was a hole in the engine decking. If it was a rocket firing Typhoon, there would have been lots of small craters around and remnants of the rockets, but there were'nt. I don't know how a flat trajectory tank round got there, but I think the Firefly option is the perceived wisdom. Personally, I have no idea and rely on wiser counsel.
Roger
-
michael kenny
- Associate
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2002 5:09 am
- Location: Northern England
Roger I think you will find that the 'farmer' (Serge) walked round it after the war and a spent rocket was found in the field. However the death of Wittmann and the destruction of the other Tigers was witnessed by other members of the Unit. Why there is any mystery about it beats me. The only puzzle is why people bring it up as a puzzle!
If you have a pic of 212 that would be great. It is in the Morgny sequence and it has #211 in front, travelling from right to left, followed by #212 with #214 behind them but it (#214) is going from left to right.
Restayn's T1 OTWF page 97 has the photo as does the French version of Agte's Wittmann book (page 225)
If you have a pic of 212 that would be great. It is in the Morgny sequence and it has #211 in front, travelling from right to left, followed by #212 with #214 behind them but it (#214) is going from left to right.
Restayn's T1 OTWF page 97 has the photo as does the French version of Agte's Wittmann book (page 225)
-
Paul Hanson
- Contributor
- Posts: 235
- Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 3:33 pm
Here's an old post from M-L
Re: Wittmann's demise - the facts...
Posted By: James Blackwell
Date: Thursday-May-3-2001 at 3:10 a.m.
In Response To: Re: Wittman lost two Tigers. (James Boschma)
This is a perennial favourite which comes up every few months with all sorts of wild theories assigned mostly from long out of date info. We covered this pretty thoroughly on ML back in June/July last year and went about as far as is possible with the available material.
For the record - he did one run only into VB on June 13, on his own, and that was it! No multiple trips, no Bobby Woll as his gunner, no second tank
KO'd on a return trip etc. After his Tiger was immobilised he and the crew had a 15km walk to Pz.Lehr's HQ at Orbois-Sermentot where he relayed the events and helped co-ordinate the counter-attack back into V-B from the HQ (this was led by Hpstf. Rolf Mobius with Tigers of 1.Kp and supporting Pz.IVs of Pz.Rgt.130).
But back to his death on Aug. 8 1944 (which was nearly 2 months after his famous action at Villers-Bocage), there have been/are a lot of conflicting and spurious accounts regarding it - from surrounded by Canadian 4th Arm.Div. Shermans, to Polish 1st Arm Div. Shermans, artillery or naval strike, Typhoon hit etc., etc.
But contrary to the oft quoted and quite popular Typhoon strike, and the blasted by 5 Shermans theory (espoused in the dated "Panzers in Normandy T&N"), the latest and ONLY one that can be substantiated with facts from both sides, is that as far as it can be proved with current info he WAS taken out with a single shot to his engine deck/fuel tank by a British Sherman Firefly belonging to Sgt. Gordon (gunner; Trooper Joe Ekins), from 3.Plt., A.Sqn., 33.Arm. Bgd., 1.Northamptonshire Yeomanry, which was sitting in an elevated tree line nearly a kilometre away.
From British and German eyewitness reports, NO mention whatsoever is made of a Typhoon or any low level RAF sorties during this action, only preliminary heavy carpet bombing in the morning. While two unexploded Typhoon warheads were indeed found in the same field as the KO'd Tigers nearly a year later by French farmer m.Varin, any number of reasons can be found for this, from a well meaning sortie on presumed still live tanks to deliberate practice shots on KO'd hulks.
Wittmann and the other Tigers with him were apparently caught almost totally unawares. While they were naturally slightly suspicious of the copse away to their right they didn't fully realize that the British had taken up a flanking position in the elevated orchard so close by, thinking the Poles ahead were their only concern.
This Firefly was hidden in the tree line with a troop of standard 75mm Shermans to Wittmann's starboard side, N.East of Gaumesnil on point 112 (some 30m higher than the field) as he moved north in Tiger "007" (ex Heinz Von Westernhagen's, whom he had succeeded as Bttn.CO on July 10 when the former suffered complications to an earlier head wound, hence allowing Wittmann to inherit his command Tiger).
Wittmann's was thought to be the second last vehicle in the advance, through an open field parallel to the N158, toward the 1.Polish Arm.Div. reported to be ahead at Aignan de Cramesnil.
He did so along with 8 other Tigers, 5 of which were initially KO'd and 1 abandonned in this unexpected ambush, with the last KO'd a little later (source: "TIC 2"; p.259 text, p.290 pic., + Agte; pp.423-433 text {p.425 in particular}, p.477 pic, + pp.182-183 "Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now {very dated and still claiming 5 Shermans and only 4 Tigers}, + p.46-53 "After the Battle" mag no. 48 - "Michael Wittmann's Last Battle" - which even has transcripts of British I/C and radio traffic describing the incidents as they happened with times).
The only minor glitch is that the British claim less kills than Tigers found, but in the heat of battle no one would really be keeping meticulous score.
The Agte book describes the action concisely even down to recollections from Hans Höflinger who witnessed the subsequent explosion from the hit as the fuel tanks went up that initially lifted and displaced the turret onto the hull top, and began a fire, before ammo cooking off sent it skyward to its final resting place upside down behind the vehicle. The penetration and following 2 explosions instantly killed the crew (Agte p.425 & 429). The vehicle was possibly still moving when hit and the explosions have broken both tracks while it continued rolling off them till slewing to a halt.
The Germans for a long time refused to "officially" believe he had been killed and listed him as "MIA" for morale purposes though most officers in s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 knew his fate. His roadside grave, were he was buried shortly afterwards by local civilians in a communal pit, was found in 1983 based on research being done for "Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now". The research led to the German War Graves Commission searching the area with metal detectors, finding the bodies and relocating his and his crew's remains to La Cambe War Cemetery where they lie today.
Why the 'Typhoon' or 'surrounded by Shermans' (Polish or Canadian) myths still persist when so much evidence now 'proves' it was a lone Firefly, is a real mystery? The Germans apparently began it as a propaganda exercise (after first listing him as MIA for a very long time), so as to refuse admitting to the troops and public that the famed and 'invincible' Tiger Ace was beaten by another tank, and made his end sound more martyr-like by implying him going down to the dreaded 'Jabo'.
Apart from everything else stacked against it, the Typhoon account suffers even further, if not fatally, due to no sorties being recorded as having flown against that area on that day from all accounts.
The only reported damage to "007" is reported a year later by a French farmer M.Serge Varin of a gaping hole in engine deck, which could only be the result of the 17pdr APDS shell hitting it from an elevated position (consistent with the slightly plunging fire that would have resulted from the said Firefly c.800 metres away in the orchard and some 20-30m higher than the field Wittmann was crossing).
A Typhoon strike to the engine deck with its 60lb HE warhead, apart from statistically proven to be an extremely lucky shot in test conditions letalone in battle (only a 1 in 200 or 0.5% hit rate was recorded in Normandy), would have most likely decimated the entire rear end of the Tiger and it goes without saying totally obliterated the sheet metal turret bin, yet miraculously it is seen perfectly intact even after the turret has been flipped off and landed behind the hull upside down, which is a major strike against it for starters.
As for the Poles and Canadians, while both very close by, they were simply beaten to it by Captain, later Lord, Boardman's (the Squadron's 2IC), ambush from the treeline.
On pp.425-430 of Agte's book the story is presented fairly conclusively. Wittmann at first wasn't going to go along on the attack but at the last minute changed his mind as he felt the platoon leader Heurich was too inexperienced - this being only his first action. Apparently Wittmann was uneasy about the probe, but put this aside out of a sense of duty to do the right thing and keep an eye on Heurich.
Advancing in the group of 7 other Tigers with Wittmann (8 total), was Heurich, Dollinger, Blase (314), Iriohn, Kisters (312?), Rolf Von Westernhagen (334?) and Hans Höflinger (who was in the other command Tiger possibly 008, or 009 - though 009 should have been Dollinger's so not sure of his mount on this attack.). Tiger 314 - Blase's, is mentioned as the only other KO'd Tiger apart from 007 that can be ID'd from the pics.
On p.425 Agte states:
"Hans Höflinger now describes the subsequent course of the attack from his experience: 'Then we drove off, Michel (sic) right of the road and I left, four others with Michel and the brother of Heinz Von Westernhagen with me. Approximately 800 meters to Michel's right there was a small wood which struck us as suspicious and which was to prove fateful to us. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the wood under observation on account of our mission. We drove about one to one-and-a half kilometres, and then I received another radio message from Michel which only confirmed my suspicions about the wood. We began taking heavy fire from anti-tank guns and once again Michel called, but didn't complete the message. When I looked out to the left I saw that Michel's tank wasn't moving. I called him by radio but received no answer. Then my tank received a frightful blow and I had to order my crew to get out as it had already begun to burn fiercely. My crew and I dashed toward the rear and got through. I stopped to look around and to my dismay discovered that five of our tanks had been knocked out. The turret of Michel's tank was displaced to the right and tilted down somewhat. None of his crew had got out. I climbed into Von Westernhagen's tank and, together with Heurich, whose Tiger was undamaged, tried to get to Michel's tank. We could not get through. Dr. Rabe also tried it, but in vain...I can state the exact time of the incident; it was 1255 hours, near the Falaise-Caen road in the vicinity of Cintheaux."
Agte then follows up on p.425 with the British account of the incident:
"...At 1240 hours Captain Boardman gave Sergeant Gordon's tank the order to fire. The Tigers were seven-hundred meters distant. The Firefly's gunner was Trooper Joe Ekins, who hit the rearmost Tiger of the three Tigers in his sight with two shots. The Tigers had failed to spot the well-camouflaged Shermans, and it was only after the first shots had been fired and a Tiger knocked out that Wittmann transmitted the message referred to by SS-Hauptscharführer Höflinger: 'Move! Attention! Attention! Anti-tank guns to the right! - Back up!...'."
On p.425 "Höflinger described how, after it was hit, the turret of Wittmann's Tiger was displaced to the right and tilted forward. That was its condition immediately after the tank was knocked out. Furthermore it is absolutely certain that the turret was blown off shortly afterward by the force of the exploding ammunition - possibly accelerated by burning fuel in the fighting compartment - and thrown several meters away from the tank. This is confirmed by the only existing photo of 007, taken by a French civilian soon after the engagement. The Tiger therefore began to burn immediately after it was hit, which by then caused the ammunition in the turret to explode. Only the tremendous force produced by the exploding armour-piercing and high-explosive shells could have torn the turret, which weighed tonnes, from the hull and then tossed it meters through air. The crew must have been killed or incapacitated when the tank was hit. The subsequent explosion then extinguished any doubts as to the fate of the five men inside 007."
Hans Dollinger the battalion signals officer, and SS-Sturmmann Alfred Bahlo his Radio Op, also recount their experiences as the lead vehicle in the attack along a similar vein to Höflinger...and say on p.429 as they make their way back from their burning Tiger with the fatally wounded Obschf. Schott "...On the way we passed the knocked out panzer of Hauptsturmführer Wittmann; the turret was blown off."
Dr. Rabe also witnessed the hit and described it in a letter to Wittmann's wife to tell her the real story: "When the attack got rolling, I drove forward several hundred meters and covered the last stretch on foot. There was quite a lot of heavy anti-tank and artillery fire. I wanted to get to Michel's (sic) tank. When I got to within about 250 to 300 meters I saw flames suddenly shoot from the tank and the turret fly off and fall to the ground. The tank then burned out completely. I still tried to reach it, but I couldn't cross the open field as the Tommy fired at solitary me with their anti-tank guns. It is unlikely Michel got out before the hit, as I would have seen him. None of the remaining crew members came back either."
Agte sums up with the following:
After evaluating all available documents on the German and English sides and interviewing the handful of survivors of this action..., one can only assume that the tank that was hit at 1247 hours, was 007. SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr.Rabe's account and the English war diary both mention that this was the only Tiger that blew up after being hit. The eight minute time discrepancy compared to that given in Höflinger's account is of little significance as the source of the error appears to be completely genuine and time discrepancies can never be ruled out. As well, Höflinger's account was written several weeks after the events in question; it is also thoroughly possible that the error in time might lie in he English war diary."
I believe this was Sgt. Gordon's last action as he was wounded in return fire when one of three rounds from another Tiger struck his half opened hatch which slammed it shut striking him on the head - he climbed out dazed and was then further wounded.
From post-war interviews Tom Boardman and Joe Ekins recount they obviously had no idea that it was Wittmann and Tigers from s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 they had just encountered. Lord Boardman later stated "Had I known who was commanding those Tiger tanks, and his record, I should have been even more concerned than I was - if possible. It was bad enough to know that we only had four tanks in the Squadron with guns capable of penetrating a Tiger's armour and that I had only one of those in my section of the battlefield." (p.50 "ATB" Mag No.48)
Anyone even remotely interested in Wittmann and/or LAH in general should dig deep if at all possible and get a copy of Agte's huge album as it really is the bible on all things 1.SS.Pz.Div., or pick up the recently released After the Battle title on "Villers-Bocage: Through the Lens" by Danny Taylor which minutely details his earlier exploits against 7.Arm.Div.
But bottom line all available evidence points to a Firefly hit and at this point in time there is simply no known documented proof for any of the other theories whatsoever. If anyone feels they can "prove" or tender any hard evidence to support the alternate theories please lets see it now.
Anyway apologies for the excessive length, but hope this is of some help and interest in finally put this to one to sleep.
HTH
PH
Re: Wittmann's demise - the facts...
Posted By: James Blackwell
Date: Thursday-May-3-2001 at 3:10 a.m.
In Response To: Re: Wittman lost two Tigers. (James Boschma)
This is a perennial favourite which comes up every few months with all sorts of wild theories assigned mostly from long out of date info. We covered this pretty thoroughly on ML back in June/July last year and went about as far as is possible with the available material.
For the record - he did one run only into VB on June 13, on his own, and that was it! No multiple trips, no Bobby Woll as his gunner, no second tank
KO'd on a return trip etc. After his Tiger was immobilised he and the crew had a 15km walk to Pz.Lehr's HQ at Orbois-Sermentot where he relayed the events and helped co-ordinate the counter-attack back into V-B from the HQ (this was led by Hpstf. Rolf Mobius with Tigers of 1.Kp and supporting Pz.IVs of Pz.Rgt.130).
But back to his death on Aug. 8 1944 (which was nearly 2 months after his famous action at Villers-Bocage), there have been/are a lot of conflicting and spurious accounts regarding it - from surrounded by Canadian 4th Arm.Div. Shermans, to Polish 1st Arm Div. Shermans, artillery or naval strike, Typhoon hit etc., etc.
But contrary to the oft quoted and quite popular Typhoon strike, and the blasted by 5 Shermans theory (espoused in the dated "Panzers in Normandy T&N"), the latest and ONLY one that can be substantiated with facts from both sides, is that as far as it can be proved with current info he WAS taken out with a single shot to his engine deck/fuel tank by a British Sherman Firefly belonging to Sgt. Gordon (gunner; Trooper Joe Ekins), from 3.Plt., A.Sqn., 33.Arm. Bgd., 1.Northamptonshire Yeomanry, which was sitting in an elevated tree line nearly a kilometre away.
From British and German eyewitness reports, NO mention whatsoever is made of a Typhoon or any low level RAF sorties during this action, only preliminary heavy carpet bombing in the morning. While two unexploded Typhoon warheads were indeed found in the same field as the KO'd Tigers nearly a year later by French farmer m.Varin, any number of reasons can be found for this, from a well meaning sortie on presumed still live tanks to deliberate practice shots on KO'd hulks.
Wittmann and the other Tigers with him were apparently caught almost totally unawares. While they were naturally slightly suspicious of the copse away to their right they didn't fully realize that the British had taken up a flanking position in the elevated orchard so close by, thinking the Poles ahead were their only concern.
This Firefly was hidden in the tree line with a troop of standard 75mm Shermans to Wittmann's starboard side, N.East of Gaumesnil on point 112 (some 30m higher than the field) as he moved north in Tiger "007" (ex Heinz Von Westernhagen's, whom he had succeeded as Bttn.CO on July 10 when the former suffered complications to an earlier head wound, hence allowing Wittmann to inherit his command Tiger).
Wittmann's was thought to be the second last vehicle in the advance, through an open field parallel to the N158, toward the 1.Polish Arm.Div. reported to be ahead at Aignan de Cramesnil.
He did so along with 8 other Tigers, 5 of which were initially KO'd and 1 abandonned in this unexpected ambush, with the last KO'd a little later (source: "TIC 2"; p.259 text, p.290 pic., + Agte; pp.423-433 text {p.425 in particular}, p.477 pic, + pp.182-183 "Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now {very dated and still claiming 5 Shermans and only 4 Tigers}, + p.46-53 "After the Battle" mag no. 48 - "Michael Wittmann's Last Battle" - which even has transcripts of British I/C and radio traffic describing the incidents as they happened with times).
The only minor glitch is that the British claim less kills than Tigers found, but in the heat of battle no one would really be keeping meticulous score.
The Agte book describes the action concisely even down to recollections from Hans Höflinger who witnessed the subsequent explosion from the hit as the fuel tanks went up that initially lifted and displaced the turret onto the hull top, and began a fire, before ammo cooking off sent it skyward to its final resting place upside down behind the vehicle. The penetration and following 2 explosions instantly killed the crew (Agte p.425 & 429). The vehicle was possibly still moving when hit and the explosions have broken both tracks while it continued rolling off them till slewing to a halt.
The Germans for a long time refused to "officially" believe he had been killed and listed him as "MIA" for morale purposes though most officers in s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 knew his fate. His roadside grave, were he was buried shortly afterwards by local civilians in a communal pit, was found in 1983 based on research being done for "Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now". The research led to the German War Graves Commission searching the area with metal detectors, finding the bodies and relocating his and his crew's remains to La Cambe War Cemetery where they lie today.
Why the 'Typhoon' or 'surrounded by Shermans' (Polish or Canadian) myths still persist when so much evidence now 'proves' it was a lone Firefly, is a real mystery? The Germans apparently began it as a propaganda exercise (after first listing him as MIA for a very long time), so as to refuse admitting to the troops and public that the famed and 'invincible' Tiger Ace was beaten by another tank, and made his end sound more martyr-like by implying him going down to the dreaded 'Jabo'.
Apart from everything else stacked against it, the Typhoon account suffers even further, if not fatally, due to no sorties being recorded as having flown against that area on that day from all accounts.
The only reported damage to "007" is reported a year later by a French farmer M.Serge Varin of a gaping hole in engine deck, which could only be the result of the 17pdr APDS shell hitting it from an elevated position (consistent with the slightly plunging fire that would have resulted from the said Firefly c.800 metres away in the orchard and some 20-30m higher than the field Wittmann was crossing).
A Typhoon strike to the engine deck with its 60lb HE warhead, apart from statistically proven to be an extremely lucky shot in test conditions letalone in battle (only a 1 in 200 or 0.5% hit rate was recorded in Normandy), would have most likely decimated the entire rear end of the Tiger and it goes without saying totally obliterated the sheet metal turret bin, yet miraculously it is seen perfectly intact even after the turret has been flipped off and landed behind the hull upside down, which is a major strike against it for starters.
As for the Poles and Canadians, while both very close by, they were simply beaten to it by Captain, later Lord, Boardman's (the Squadron's 2IC), ambush from the treeline.
On pp.425-430 of Agte's book the story is presented fairly conclusively. Wittmann at first wasn't going to go along on the attack but at the last minute changed his mind as he felt the platoon leader Heurich was too inexperienced - this being only his first action. Apparently Wittmann was uneasy about the probe, but put this aside out of a sense of duty to do the right thing and keep an eye on Heurich.
Advancing in the group of 7 other Tigers with Wittmann (8 total), was Heurich, Dollinger, Blase (314), Iriohn, Kisters (312?), Rolf Von Westernhagen (334?) and Hans Höflinger (who was in the other command Tiger possibly 008, or 009 - though 009 should have been Dollinger's so not sure of his mount on this attack.). Tiger 314 - Blase's, is mentioned as the only other KO'd Tiger apart from 007 that can be ID'd from the pics.
On p.425 Agte states:
"Hans Höflinger now describes the subsequent course of the attack from his experience: 'Then we drove off, Michel (sic) right of the road and I left, four others with Michel and the brother of Heinz Von Westernhagen with me. Approximately 800 meters to Michel's right there was a small wood which struck us as suspicious and which was to prove fateful to us. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the wood under observation on account of our mission. We drove about one to one-and-a half kilometres, and then I received another radio message from Michel which only confirmed my suspicions about the wood. We began taking heavy fire from anti-tank guns and once again Michel called, but didn't complete the message. When I looked out to the left I saw that Michel's tank wasn't moving. I called him by radio but received no answer. Then my tank received a frightful blow and I had to order my crew to get out as it had already begun to burn fiercely. My crew and I dashed toward the rear and got through. I stopped to look around and to my dismay discovered that five of our tanks had been knocked out. The turret of Michel's tank was displaced to the right and tilted down somewhat. None of his crew had got out. I climbed into Von Westernhagen's tank and, together with Heurich, whose Tiger was undamaged, tried to get to Michel's tank. We could not get through. Dr. Rabe also tried it, but in vain...I can state the exact time of the incident; it was 1255 hours, near the Falaise-Caen road in the vicinity of Cintheaux."
Agte then follows up on p.425 with the British account of the incident:
"...At 1240 hours Captain Boardman gave Sergeant Gordon's tank the order to fire. The Tigers were seven-hundred meters distant. The Firefly's gunner was Trooper Joe Ekins, who hit the rearmost Tiger of the three Tigers in his sight with two shots. The Tigers had failed to spot the well-camouflaged Shermans, and it was only after the first shots had been fired and a Tiger knocked out that Wittmann transmitted the message referred to by SS-Hauptscharführer Höflinger: 'Move! Attention! Attention! Anti-tank guns to the right! - Back up!...'."
On p.425 "Höflinger described how, after it was hit, the turret of Wittmann's Tiger was displaced to the right and tilted forward. That was its condition immediately after the tank was knocked out. Furthermore it is absolutely certain that the turret was blown off shortly afterward by the force of the exploding ammunition - possibly accelerated by burning fuel in the fighting compartment - and thrown several meters away from the tank. This is confirmed by the only existing photo of 007, taken by a French civilian soon after the engagement. The Tiger therefore began to burn immediately after it was hit, which by then caused the ammunition in the turret to explode. Only the tremendous force produced by the exploding armour-piercing and high-explosive shells could have torn the turret, which weighed tonnes, from the hull and then tossed it meters through air. The crew must have been killed or incapacitated when the tank was hit. The subsequent explosion then extinguished any doubts as to the fate of the five men inside 007."
Hans Dollinger the battalion signals officer, and SS-Sturmmann Alfred Bahlo his Radio Op, also recount their experiences as the lead vehicle in the attack along a similar vein to Höflinger...and say on p.429 as they make their way back from their burning Tiger with the fatally wounded Obschf. Schott "...On the way we passed the knocked out panzer of Hauptsturmführer Wittmann; the turret was blown off."
Dr. Rabe also witnessed the hit and described it in a letter to Wittmann's wife to tell her the real story: "When the attack got rolling, I drove forward several hundred meters and covered the last stretch on foot. There was quite a lot of heavy anti-tank and artillery fire. I wanted to get to Michel's (sic) tank. When I got to within about 250 to 300 meters I saw flames suddenly shoot from the tank and the turret fly off and fall to the ground. The tank then burned out completely. I still tried to reach it, but I couldn't cross the open field as the Tommy fired at solitary me with their anti-tank guns. It is unlikely Michel got out before the hit, as I would have seen him. None of the remaining crew members came back either."
Agte sums up with the following:
After evaluating all available documents on the German and English sides and interviewing the handful of survivors of this action..., one can only assume that the tank that was hit at 1247 hours, was 007. SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr.Rabe's account and the English war diary both mention that this was the only Tiger that blew up after being hit. The eight minute time discrepancy compared to that given in Höflinger's account is of little significance as the source of the error appears to be completely genuine and time discrepancies can never be ruled out. As well, Höflinger's account was written several weeks after the events in question; it is also thoroughly possible that the error in time might lie in he English war diary."
I believe this was Sgt. Gordon's last action as he was wounded in return fire when one of three rounds from another Tiger struck his half opened hatch which slammed it shut striking him on the head - he climbed out dazed and was then further wounded.
From post-war interviews Tom Boardman and Joe Ekins recount they obviously had no idea that it was Wittmann and Tigers from s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 they had just encountered. Lord Boardman later stated "Had I known who was commanding those Tiger tanks, and his record, I should have been even more concerned than I was - if possible. It was bad enough to know that we only had four tanks in the Squadron with guns capable of penetrating a Tiger's armour and that I had only one of those in my section of the battlefield." (p.50 "ATB" Mag No.48)
Anyone even remotely interested in Wittmann and/or LAH in general should dig deep if at all possible and get a copy of Agte's huge album as it really is the bible on all things 1.SS.Pz.Div., or pick up the recently released After the Battle title on "Villers-Bocage: Through the Lens" by Danny Taylor which minutely details his earlier exploits against 7.Arm.Div.
But bottom line all available evidence points to a Firefly hit and at this point in time there is simply no known documented proof for any of the other theories whatsoever. If anyone feels they can "prove" or tender any hard evidence to support the alternate theories please lets see it now.
Anyway apologies for the excessive length, but hope this is of some help and interest in finally put this to one to sleep.
HTH
PH