The Eastern Front
When the Soviet tankers saw the Tiger they were shocked, the
T 34s cannot penetrate the Tiger's armor even at close ranges and they were
quickly destroyed by the Tigers on far distances. The Germans were maybe
outnumbered but the appearance of the Tiger is enough to counter their
threat. But by the summer the tide of
war was turned against Germany, the Germans were desperate to regain the
initiative Hitler ordered an immediate counter-offensive.
Their plan will be a two-pronged attack from North to South
to chop off the bulge, the Tigers were waiting for their order to begin the
offensive, and before they launch the attack Adolf Hitler writes a message to
the Panzer crews. Michael Wittmann’s commander reads out Adolf Hitler message
to the crews “Soldiers today use it out on a great offensive whose result cam
decisively affect the outcome of the war, my soldiers now finally you have
better tanks than the enemy the German homeland looks to you with art and
confidence”. The Tiger crews were confident enough to counter their fear, some
Tiger commanders were the most feared tank commander of WW2 like Michael
Wittmann, Otto Carious, Franz Staudegger, and more.
The Western Front
On June 6 1944 the allies land on the German lands in the
beaches of Normandy, the Tiger 1s are deployed to send the Americans back to
the sea. Germany’s armies were beginning to fall, the Tigers immediately set
off to attack and drive the Americans back, but some of the Tiger company like
Michael Wittmann’s tiger company would take 5 harrowing days from Germany to
the Normandy landings because it was 200km far and their forces were being
destroyed one by one by American airmen.
When the Germans arrived at the little town of Villers Bocage
they ambushed the British 7th armored division, which made it very
historical is that only one Tiger 1 set off to attack the entire British and
Canadian battalion into junk his name is Michael Wittmann. Despite the Tiger
aces success they were quickly overwhelmed by the British new tank the Sherman
Firefly that killed Wittmann.
On both fronts, the German Panzers were beginning to fall back
and their defenses were quickly destroyed, the Tigers were bombed one by one
and destroyed by American tank destroyers. The Tiger 1s had failed to complete
their objectives.
The Closing Days Of The German Army
When the battle reached the German homeland, the Tiger 1s, and 2s
were desperately fighting in their defensive position. But it was no use the
Eastern Front had also reached Germany and the German Panzer companies struggle
to overcome the never-ending wave of tanks and infantry.
The 2 fronts were never afraid of the Tiger tanks since they
had a tank that can counter them, but still, the Tigers were able to knock them
first. It improved the Tiger 1’s reputation, even other tank companies were
avoiding to encounter one Tiger because even one Tiger can decimate a lot of
forces.
What Is The Tiger 1 Known For?
The Tiger 1 earned the reputation as a machine feared by the
allies combining lethal firepower and an excellent armor, it brings terror on to
the allied tankers as their deadly 88mm can destroy any known allied tanks.
There are numerous stories about the Tiger 1 in ww2 like Otto
Cariuos’s gunner that shot down a Soviet plane using the Tiger’s 88mm, well you
can’t actually build a tank that is completely invulnerable to enemy tanks, all
German manufactured tanks never earned a reputation like the Tiger 1 did. It
was only until the arrival of the Tiger 2 King Tiger or Konigstiger in German
that they thought the Tiger 2 was even better than the Tiger 1 because they
only manufactured 1.300 tanks in favor of the Tiger 2, but the King Tiger came
into service too late for the war.
During the closing days of the war, the German Panzers fight
desperately and bravely still hoping to win the war, the Tiger 1, Tiger 2,
Panther, Sturmtiger, Panzer VI, Panzer III Panzer II, and even the tanks that
are in the museum and were put into service.
There were stories about the Ht no. VI or the Jap Tiger (JapaneseTiger).
Some said that Germany delivered 1 Tiger to japan on a cargo
submarine, but eventually it was sunk by American destroyers while crossing The Pacific Ocean. When the end of ww2 some Tigers was scraped. Only 7 Tigers
survived in museum pieces, the last and only running Tiger 1 in the world was the
Tiger 131.
The Tiger 131 was the first-ever captured tiger in Tunisia,
it was then handed over to the tank museum. They put the tiger in the Bovington
Tank Museum where Tiger 131 was under restoration work. In December 2003 Tiger
131 came back to the museum with a working engine making it the only running
tiger in the world.
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