Tiger 131

[grimmy]

131 was photographed with crew clearly visible .

Was that before or after the tank was disabled? I'm no expert on these matters but would it not be unusual if the latter?

[nomis]

Ade. Unit diary presumably at Bundesarchive and Bovington would be able to find out had the recorded info been available.

Grimmy. Photos obviously from before 131 knocked out as either , 1]official view is the crew legged it and no-one knows who they were or what happened to them, or 2]your version today of the crew being killed during the battle once the turret had been disabled.

Faces are clearly visible and i would have thought that some time since WW2 someone would recognise them. Were they the crew, in part or whole, at the time it was knocked out.

I am waiting on a reply from Bovington to the version of killing of the crew inside the tank, as i have not heard that one before and i wonder if they have, and how it relates to the officially recorded events.

SF.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi SF, thanks for the reply.

The only other way would be to approach things from the German angle, but I fear we are too late on this? Going through any possible Veterans group would have been an option years ago. But many groups have now been disbanded.

Cheers, Ade.

[Paul D]

Posting on one of the German based Panzer forums might also reveal some info unknown to us ?

[grimmy]

I obviously can only repeat what Dad told me - though I should add that he had no prior knowledge that Tiger 131 was at Bovington when he did so. I will ask him if he can remember any more and if he knows where 'his' story came from.

[nomis]

grimmy, your fathers experience relates to another 131, or at least another Tiger, as the Bovvy Tiger is very well documented which eliminates it from the senario you suggest.

Let me know when you learn some more detail from your father.

Anyone with info on the Bovvy 131 crew, i would be greatful. How/where do i contact the Battalion for archival material.

Regards, SF.

[grimmy]

grimmy, your fathers experience relates to another 131, or at least another Tiger, as the Bovvy Tiger is very well documented which eliminates it from the senario you suggest.

Well, that is certainly one explanation, though rather a coincidence that there were two King Tigers, both captured intact in North Africa, both with jammed turrets.

Dad can't add any more details except that he thought it strange that a crew in a tank with no turret traverse didn't drive away. The Longcross Tiger was only there for about a week in (probably) 1946. This begs the question - what happened to it? It was certainly in running order and, by the time the fltters had done with it, had a fully-working turret.

[nomis]

Hi Grimmy,

It was a Tiger 1, and i believe the Americans catured a second one from Tunisia . Certainly they took one back to the states.

There was other damage externally and who are we to speculate what/why a crew might feel a life preserving need to leg-it.

I always believed the Tiger crews were well trained, well committed soldiers who would only leave there vehicle under the severest of conditions. Not knowing the battle, i would'nt like to speculate on the particular conditions, but the condition of 131 and its subsequent treatment is well recorded and ,as you know, it lives and runs in the UK.

I am still at a loss though, as to why no-one has been able to identify its crew . It was photographed [ prior to capture ] and it is difficult to understand why someone was'nt able to recognise/identify them, even if records don't exist, photos do survive even today. This is a historically important vehicle and information about the crew is therefore a part of that. Someone would have known them. They had family.

Not wanting to sidestep from my original question, but it does make me wonder if there is another reason why the question 'hits a brick wall' and seems unanswerable.

Anyway, to repeat the question. Wanting any info on the crew of 131 [ Tiger 1 ].

Regards, SF.

[buellmeister]

I had the chance to see this tank up close and personal last Oct...

[nomis]

Thats grand.............but can you answer my question in any way ?

SF.