jazzeum
Four Star General
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
- Messages
- 38,771
Andy posted this on the other forum and thought it might be of interest here.
***
Re a few questions about “Michael Wittman”.
1. Prior to the battle of Villers-Bocage Wittman was in the Command Tank of the 2nd Kompanie of SS-Panzer Abteilung 101 – Vehicle No. 205.
2. On the evening immediately before the battle a small advance party of 2. Kompanie reached the Villers-Bocage area. Only 6 of the Kompanie’s Tigers were available : Numbers 221, 234, 222, 223, 233 and 211. Wittman’s own tank 205 had broken down “en route” with transmission problems and he was a travelling passenger in one of the 6 Tigers.
3. On the morning of the attack Wittman commandeered one of the 6 Tigers (number unknown) to begin the battle. Almost immediately that vehicle had engine problems. Wittman transferred to Untersharfuhrer Sowa’s Tiger (222) and fought the Battle in it until it was disabled later in the day.
4. The Death of Michael Wittman
There are 4 different versions of the tank ace’s death:
a) Wittman’s Tiger was destroyed by rockets from an RAF Typhoon attack.
b) His Tiger was hit by a 5.5 inch round from British artillery.
c) His Tiger was surrounded by a Canadian Armoured unit and destroyed.
d) Wittman’s Tiger (007) was one of 3 Tigers ambushed by a Sherman troop with a Sherman Firefly attached belonging to “A” Squadron of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. The action took place on August 8, 1944. After being hit several times Wittman’s Tiger suffered an internal explosion blowing off the turret.
Recent excavations and investigations in both France and UK seem to confirm this last version.
5. K&C’s Wittman’s
As some of you may know in the past we have produced a version of Wittman’s #205 (WS15) and the tank he was killed in “Wittman’s Last Tiger” #007 (WS43). We did indeed plan on doing #222 but because of other commitments as well as the recent release of the “Winter Tiger” K&C has postponed that model till later.
However for Wittman fans the K&C Collector’s Club is releasing a very special “portrait” figure of Michael Wittman this coming December.
6. Finally, the “Winter Tiger” definitely does not include Wittman because
a) It’s a 2nd SS “Das Reich” Division Tiger – Wittman was 1st SS Division “Leibstandarte AH”.
b) Many tank commanders “affected” the “tilted” cap look just like US Army Air Corps officers with their crushed “50 mission hats”.
Hope all this helps…
Andy C. Neilson
***
Re a few questions about “Michael Wittman”.
1. Prior to the battle of Villers-Bocage Wittman was in the Command Tank of the 2nd Kompanie of SS-Panzer Abteilung 101 – Vehicle No. 205.
2. On the evening immediately before the battle a small advance party of 2. Kompanie reached the Villers-Bocage area. Only 6 of the Kompanie’s Tigers were available : Numbers 221, 234, 222, 223, 233 and 211. Wittman’s own tank 205 had broken down “en route” with transmission problems and he was a travelling passenger in one of the 6 Tigers.
3. On the morning of the attack Wittman commandeered one of the 6 Tigers (number unknown) to begin the battle. Almost immediately that vehicle had engine problems. Wittman transferred to Untersharfuhrer Sowa’s Tiger (222) and fought the Battle in it until it was disabled later in the day.
4. The Death of Michael Wittman
There are 4 different versions of the tank ace’s death:
a) Wittman’s Tiger was destroyed by rockets from an RAF Typhoon attack.
b) His Tiger was hit by a 5.5 inch round from British artillery.
c) His Tiger was surrounded by a Canadian Armoured unit and destroyed.
d) Wittman’s Tiger (007) was one of 3 Tigers ambushed by a Sherman troop with a Sherman Firefly attached belonging to “A” Squadron of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. The action took place on August 8, 1944. After being hit several times Wittman’s Tiger suffered an internal explosion blowing off the turret.
Recent excavations and investigations in both France and UK seem to confirm this last version.
5. K&C’s Wittman’s
As some of you may know in the past we have produced a version of Wittman’s #205 (WS15) and the tank he was killed in “Wittman’s Last Tiger” #007 (WS43). We did indeed plan on doing #222 but because of other commitments as well as the recent release of the “Winter Tiger” K&C has postponed that model till later.
However for Wittman fans the K&C Collector’s Club is releasing a very special “portrait” figure of Michael Wittman this coming December.
6. Finally, the “Winter Tiger” definitely does not include Wittman because
a) It’s a 2nd SS “Das Reich” Division Tiger – Wittman was 1st SS Division “Leibstandarte AH”.
b) Many tank commanders “affected” the “tilted” cap look just like US Army Air Corps officers with their crushed “50 mission hats”.
Hope all this helps…
Andy C. Neilson