Whilst annoying Drew in TNA yesterday, I came across the intelligence report for the 1st army royal artillery regarding the presence of a new german tank in north africa after the battles around Tebourba. This is the Intelligence summary sheet that was sent out to different units so that the tank could be identified. Mods please feel free to insert this into any relevant tiger thread...
Nice. Was there a date on the sheet Phaethon? (Or can anyone make one out?) The Armour thicknesses seem about right, so presumably after an example was examined. Had a shufti in David Fletcher's 'Tiger, a British View' just to remind myself of the very first British report of a Tiger. As far as he could confirm, it was in a coded telegram from Oct '42: Secret Cipher Telegram 1/65667 of 29 October from Middle East has reported the identification from a captured German document? Equivalent to British A.C.Is of the following AFVs not hitherto identified. A new type known as K.PFW.VI. This confirms that as expected, a new tank, heavier than III or IV is being built, the absence of any reference to PZ.KPWF V suggests that this nomenclature was probably applied to the heavy type first reported in 1937/38, later seen in Norway and in German propaganda papers, and since discarded. We have asked both Middle East and the mission in Moscow to take urgent steps to obtain precise information on the characteristics of the PZ.KPFW.VI. M.I.10 3 Nov 1942 EXTN 230 SGD. Shallard Major For Lt.Col: GS
Its not a specific appendix, so its not got a specific date attached. However it appears numerically with other files for november/early december 1942. The details at the bottom suggest that the dimensions are taken from a knocked out version that had recieved a number of hits from a 6 pndr, I'd suggest that it was damaged in the area of medjez/Tebourba from the RA diary it came from.
Hi., The first Tiger knocked out in World War II was by 6 pdrs of the Royal Artillery, January 20th 1943. I do not have a transcript of the item you posted but suspect it is not dissimilar to the one published by the US Army, see: http://northirishhorse.net/documents/Tigers/US-TigerReport-1.html A second US report was published in May, 1943. http://northirishhorse.net/documents/Tigers/US-TigerReport-2.html The first Tiger to be knocked out by a tank was by a Churchill of the North Irish Horse during the battlle for Hunt's Gap. 25th Tank Brigade issued this report: http://northirishhorse.net/documents/25thTB-Tiger.html Cheers, Gerry
Should relate to this thread? Very interesting Drew, thank you for the re-direction. Both the US army's report and the paper's article have a different date - the former (published at the time) and Schwere Panzerabteilung 501 records show it to be January 20th. Cheers, Gerry
I think that this site devoted to the Tiger tank is a good source of information. States the first Tigers saw action around Leningrad in August 1942 and by the end of the year were deployed in Russia, North Africa and Italy. Tiger I Information Center - Tiger history Regards Tom
Gerry - I have been thinking for many years now that the first Tiger to be knocked out by a Tank was by a Churchill of 4th Troop - "B" Squadron - 48th RTR of 21st Tank bde ....? Subsequently taken over by the NIH and sent to the Uk and sat in the Horse Guards Parade ground and finally has now been restored and is a centrepiece of the display at Bovington...or have I been reading too much revisionist history...? Cheers
I've used the expression 'Just. Another. Tank.' quite often recently. It really can trigger people. Quite odd.
