Michael Wittmann’s Early Life
Michael Wittmann was born on April 22, 1914, in a village of
Vogelthal, near Dietfurt in Bavaria’s Upper Palatinate. Wittmann was a country
boy living a healthy outdoor life. When Michael Wittmann finished High
School, he worked on his family’s farm with his parents Ursula and Johan
Wittmann.
At age of 19, Michael Wittmann was drafted into the German Army
in 1934, and at the age of 23 he eagerly volunteers for Hitler’s personal
bodyguard “The Leibstandartte SS Adolf Hitler”.
Michael Wittmann embraces absolute loyalty to Adolf Hitler and to the
Jewels. On September 1, 1939, Hitler invades Poland. For Michael Wittmann and
his young partners, the parades are over and the fighting begins.
Michael Wittmann’s First Action
Because of his excellence as a driver, Wittmann was given in
a command of a reconnaissance vehicle. In the early summer of 1941, the Nazis were
the masters of Europe but for Adolf Hitler, the real price lies on the east, The
Soviet Empire. Vast spaces for the master race to conquer and colonize.
June 22nd
1941 Hitler invades the Soviet Union codenamed “Operation Barbarossa”. 3 million German soldiers lead by 46 hundred
tanks plunge into the Soviet Union. Against the Germans, the Soviets had
mobilized 2.9 million men and 20 thousand tanks. Despite their superior numbers,
they are quickly overwhelmed by the speed and skill of the German panzers.
Michael Wittmann’s reconnaissance unit races over the Soviets frontier with the
Leibstandartte part of the leading armored force.
Wittmann and the Leibstandartte are now part of the notorious
Waffen SS. 3 weeks after the invasion the Leibstandartte is closing in on the
Ukrainian capital Kiev. At the forefront is reconnaissance sergeant Michael
Wittmann.
StuG Battle against the Soviet T 34s
July 12th, 1941 the panzers advance to the hilly
wooded country. As they neared the city of Zhitomir, the soviets counter-attack. Dozens of soviet t 34s bear down on the Leibstandartte. The T 34 has
been a shock for the Germans.
The T 34/76 is heavily armored with sloping sides to deflect
shells. Armed with the powerful 76.2mm gun, it is better than any Germans can
fear.
Wittmann was ordered to reconnoiter the enemy forces with
their Sturmgeshutz III or StuG III. Wittmann drove his StuG to High ground to locate the soviets; he spotted 2 groups of soviet tanks, 6 coming from the northeast and another 12 from the east.
That meant 18 T 34s against Wittmann’s single assault gun. He
ordered his driver to get his StuG out of the high ground. He was ordered not
to engage the T 34s as the heavier t 34 could outgun his StuG.
Built on a chassis of the Panzer III, the StuG is a turretless assault gun. This means that the driver has to swing around its whole body
to aim its high-velocity 75mm cannon.
But Wittmann disobeys his orders
and attacks the T 34s. Wittmann positions his tank and his only hope is to set
up an ambush. As the first t 34 search over the hill, Wittmann immediately
destroys the t 34 it was a direct hit. Another t 34 search over the hill, but
again it went up in flames. The 3rd t 34 manages to get a shot on
Wittmann. The t 34’s gun is inaccurate, and the t 34 who shot Wittmann didn’t
hit him. Suddenly, more and more t 34s surged over the hill it was no match
they were too many.
Wittmann ordered his driver to
drive away and he uses his tank’s low profile to hide it in a small wood. But
facing to many t 34s there was no way for him to hide, he swings up his StuG to
bring its gun to bear. He fired and got the t 34’s turret blown off, as Wittmann
escapes he spots a T 34 at the side of his tank and getting ready to fire. He
swings the tank quickly and fire, the tracks were hit and the t 34 goes around
in a circle. At his 12oclock direction he spots 3 t 34s, he acts quickly and
immediately destroys the 2 of them. Only 1 of the soviet t 34s had escaped.
6 of the formidable t 34s have been
destroyed in just a few minutes. Wittmann and his crew stopped the Soviet
armored attack. For his action, Michael Wittmann was awarded the Iron cross 2nd
class. Impressed by his exploits Wittmann’s commander sends him back to Germany
to train to become an officer of the SS, Wittmann’s carrier is on a rise.
The Eastern Front
Autumn 1942, Bad Tolz Germany.
Michael Wittmann begins his training in Heinrich Himmler’s Waffen-SS School.
Its aim is to form a new SS military elite, the future leaders of Hitler’s Nazi
Empire. Wittmann graduates as an SS second Lieutenant, and he was soon training
on Germany’s newest tank the “Tiger 1”. Hitler’s answer to the Soviet t 34, it
is the most formidable tank in the world.
A frontal armor that’s up to 100mm
thick or 3.9 inches it’s almost impenetrable to allied guns, but what made this
tank so feared is that it is armed with the powerful 88mm gun that can cut
through a T 34 with distances up to 2km
Operation Citadel
In February 1943, Wittmann was called back to the Russian
front as part of the new Leibstandartte’s new Tiger Company. But by the summer
the tide of battle is turned against Germany. Soviet forces surge west,
creating a huge bulge protruding into the German lines near the Russian city of
Kursk.
Desperate to regain
the initiative, Adolf Hitler plans a counter-offensive operation citadel. It
will be a two-pronged attack from north and south to chop off the bulge leaving
half a million soviet men cut off and trapped.
For the citadel offensive, the Germans had amassed 780.000 men
and 2500 tanks. To meet the Germans the soviets mobilizes almost 2 million men and lead by 5.000 tanks. The Leibstandartte will be at the front of the southern
attack, with them with the spearhead will be Michael Wittmann now commanding a
platoon of 5 Tiger tanks.
Battle of Kursk
On July 5th, 1943 the order came on to the tank
radios “Panzers Forward”. While advancing they were meet by a storm of fire,
they were dug in T 34. Because the T 34 is inferior to the German Tigers, they
had to use defensive tactics like digging in and hide the tanks hull.
But the Tigers 88mm gun was able to cut through the soviet
defenses, while the T 34’s shell bounced off harmlessly from the Tigers. As the
first line was cleared they push towards the objectives, but suddenly more and
more T 34s appear on the hill. These were all fresh targets for Wittmann’s
gunner.
Wittmann ordered his driver to stop to make a good shot. As
the t 34s were in close range of the Tiger, Wittmann ordered his driver to
spring into action, firing as it turns smashing 1 T 34 after another.
Battle of Prokhorovka
On July 12th 1943 the Germans set off to assault
the final soviet defenses before Kursk. Wittmann’s commander was wounded and
Wittmann must take over command of the Leibstandartte’s Tiger Company. Unknown to the Germans, the soviets are
planning a last-ditch counter-attack. The Russians send 500 tanks to attack the
German right flank. But the Waffen-SS tanks turn east.
These huge tank forces are about to collide in a small town
of Prokhorovka. In far distances, it seems like a dust cloud is rising but there
were T 34 tanks, they were not on a defensive they were attacking. The Tigers
can destroy the T 34 up to 2km, but they have to wait until the t 34s came
within range.
After a few moments when the T 34s came back in sight the
Germans fired. Because the T 34 had a
weaker gun they had to come up in range of the Tigers to get any effects of
their shells, they had to keep coming straight to the tigers and face their
barrage. The Tiger guns fired angrily because they’re too many, they couldn’t
all be stopped.
The T 34 slams into the SS formation. Again at close ranges, the Tigers are vulnerable to enemy tanks. Wittmann’s gunner fires again and
again while moving at its highest speed. What also made Michael Wittmann famous
is that his ability to fire on the move. The soviets take staggering losses,
but they succeed in stopping the German's advance.
Fighting in Rear Guard Actions
The German army is in full retreat. The Russians had pushed
them 500km from Kursk back into Ukraine. Michael Wittmann and his tiger
unit are fighting in a desperate rearguard action. December 6th,
1943. Wittmann and his unit now designated as the 101st SS heavy
panzer battalion are poised to attack a soviet supply convoy near the town of
Brusilov. But between the convoy and his Tiger are batteries of Russian
anti-tank gun. The 76mm divisional gun is a
tank killer. It can penetrate the Tiger’s side armor and wreck its tracks.
To kill these anti-tank batteries
Wittmann’s plan is to play a dangerous game, using his Tiger and himself as
bait. Wittmann’s tiger droves on to the hill, he was tempting the Russians to
fire. The Russians took the bait and now revealing their own location. Under
relentless fire, Wittmann immediately moves his tiger off the hill, and he and
his unit race to the Russian anti-tank guns charging straight at them before
the Russians turn their guns at them and ramming the anti-tank guns.
Wittmann’s tactic had worked, but
his Tiger hits reveal just how dangerous his game can be. They counted a total
of 28 hits from the tiger some are small and some are large enough to put one's
fist into.
With the anti-tank batteries eliminated, Michael Wittmann races to
the Supply road. And he spots a convoy. Though he’s heavily outnumbered, he
decides to attack on his own. He immediately destroys the first tank as well as
the rear tank, leaving the middle of the convoy trap on his mercy. He positions
his tank on the side of the road and smashing the t 34s that come on its sight
into junk. It caused mass confusion of the Soviet tankers. Over the next few
weeks, he goes on a rampage knocking out 61 enemy tanks. His total kills soon
reach 117; he paints the number of kills on his tank barrel. Read more.
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