Another part of the mystery is.. why the Turret was dislodged from the hull before it exploded??
Eye witnesses, who were at the battle, claim the Turret was dislodged forward, to the right with the gun hanging down.
If the Turret was hit by armour piercing shells, would this cause the Turret to move out of it's ring on the hull top?
Would you fire High Explosive shells at a Tiger, in the distance?
So, what caused the Turret to be displaced?
Fascinating thread. Thanks.
Perhaps the Tiger was later attacked by Typhoon's . Its a possibility. Its well known the pilots were quite trigger happy at the time, and would fire at anything, and there are accounts of many " Friendly Fire " incidents also.by Panzerheld
This may explain why the collector on the documentary with Norm Christie has Typhoon rocket relics, he claims were found near the Tiger
I don't think "Tiffy" was to blame my friend, the Turret was dislodged during the battle and nobody saw a Typhoon flying about.
Also, only one Rocket was found, I don't think they could fire individual Rockets (?), more like the whole lot (8) in one go.
Could the shot to the rear left of the engine compartment have hit the Panzer with such force, it actually moved the Turret out of it's housing?
Yes, but I'm not sure whether this tactic was used at Cintheux. Certainly the 7th Armoured Division, realizing that 75mm shells were virtually useless against Tigers, developed in the field the technique of 'peppering' an enemy tank with 75s which at the very least would cause the tank commander to 'button up' and have to rely on the limited vision from inside the tank. Destruction of the tank would be left to a 17-pounder and there was always the possibility of a lucky hit damaging a track or jmming a turret.
In the 70's, I was allways in Normandy, in Falaise.
During two years I looked for this Tiger and asked to the farmers.
They had no information except for the tracks ! They were in the farms(all the tacks they found).
At the end of the 60's they had one idea : to sell all the tracks to the scrap dealer in Caen(north of the city).
With the money, it was possible to send their children to the mountain.
It's my souvenir....
The best Militaria forum in France is here : http://deutsch-militaria.forumactif.us/
While on the subject of Wittmann and DVDs, members may like to know that historian Daniel Taylor's DVD ' Villers-Bocage : The Truth Behind The Myth' is still available from the man himself at ; -
Villers-Bocage the truth behind the myth DVD
It's a well-made little history lesson featuring many veteran & local witness interviews ; sadly many of whom have passed away since it was made in 2006.
I remember another odd thing about the Wittmann story, was that his gunner Baltasar Woll wasn't with him when he was killed 8th August '44. These were due to serious head injuries caused from the heavy air bombardments after D-Day.
When I read the book "Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte", there's a picture of "Woll" in British captivity.
They Camp was Darmstadt, Germany.
He doesn't have a bandage on his head
I e-mailed the books publishers to show this fact and never got a reply.
I asked family members to look at pictures of "Woll" and then showed them this picture of him.
They all agreed it was him. It's a nice clear picture as well.
The picture is titled "Bobby Warmbrunn", so I believe they got their "Bobby's" wrong..
The picture was taken after the wars end.
Last edited by The Devil's Bank; 07-26-2017 at 03:45 PM.
I took Dan's advice and ordered the DVD from Australia via e-bay ( I couldn't seem to find one anywhere else ). It arrived safely and I've just spent an enjoyable hour watching the Wittmann part.
It's certainly a 'cut above' most of these sorts of 'tonight we reveal for the first time..' () programmes - excellent talking heads, informed battlefield walking, fascinating relics and even the CGI is well done.
Recommended !
I watched the the TV Programme when it was first shown, and it shows a really good view of what actually happened.
But again, the Turret didn't land behind the hull..
Also, Wittmann didn't like being in a "Befehlswagen" (Command Tank)
Because of the extra Radios, it carried less shells than a normal Tiger..
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