Tiger Tiger...?

Both cats were designed for the open expanses of the Eastern Front: The idea was to open fire at long range (up to a maximum of 3000m with combined company fire, up to 900m with individual fire) to compensate for quantitative inferiority.
The low turret traverse speed was tolerated in order to ensure the necessary precision in target acquisition at such distances.
Close combat in heavily intersected or built-up terrain was intended to be the domain of StuG, Mk IV and Mk III N
In reality, however, Panthers and Tigers were also forced to operate in such areas where they could not exploit their range advantage,

From today's perspective, the originally envisaged VK 30.01(D) project would probably have been more successful (And would also have been far more in line with the wishes of the Panzertruppe at the front.)

 

Intriguing. Should have been schnapps.

 

I will admit, I am one of the people who gripe about the amount of attention paid to German tanks (online and off).

 

And "Hugs" for a Panther... bizarrely...

Bake Off winner making tracks for Dorset - The Tank Museum

Somehow it lacks context but it is also hard to understand.

The conversation that goes "but these things killed people" seems to be absent, along with the "let them eat cakes".

 

The Tiger cult is a bit weird, but probably not that much weirder than Spitfire/Lancaster fetishism.

There is an odd dual process going on nowadays where professional historians are debunking myths at the margins, while the mythologising of the Second World War in the popular consciousness is only accelerating. I think in the distant future WW2 will become like the Illiad or something, an almost wholly mythological story loosely based on real but distant events. The Hitlerrad or something.

 

An almost wholly mythological story loosely based on real but distant events... ;-)



"That's our Hitler!"

 

I am about to teach a class on the American Dust Bowl, the 1930s drought on the Great Plains. Something very much like what you describe is happening to that subject right now. Historians, scientists, and economists are finding new information and developing new and more complex interpretations while at the same time popular interest in the subject has created a tidal wave of graphic novels, musical albums, fiction for both kids and adults, and so on. There is even, God help us, a Dust Bowl Brewing Company.

 

I recently saw this in the 16th February 1945 - "The War Illustrated"...



The "Tiger" obsession surely fails - at all sorts of hurdles, I wonder if there were ever calls to name it, or one of it's ilk the "Hitler tank" ;-) mind you, Hitler...

Cat Haters: Famous People in History Who Disliked Cats

Why Are So Many Iconic Tanks Named After Cats?

Given that... "The Nazi propaganda machine played a role in glorifying the Tiger and Panther. With instantly recognizable and easy-to-pronounce names, the German public had no trouble idolizing the two tanks alongside the decorated aces who commanded them."

...It's a pity people still fall for it.

"Stop that Tank"

 

Substitute Mosquito for Spitfire in that statement and it describes me. Great plane but give it a rest.

I like all WWII planes but I'd rather see a Hurricane than a Spitfire and I'd rather see a P-40 than a P-51.

 

This feels edifying though ;-)



Whereas...



...shows plenty of things getting hammered by persons appearing to be far more parts of some people grinding machine, rather than "everyday people" assembling some giant "model" airplanes for a greater good...

And, more specifically, Tigers...

 

The absolute worst people in the world are the ones who talk about "Tiger" instead of "the Tiger", as though it was an actual person.

But this is all synecdoche, isn't it? They are the parts that represent the whole for people with only a casual interest in WW2. Like the Tyrannosaurus Rex represents the category of "all predatory dinosaurs" and the Brontosaurus represents "all herbivorous dinosaurs". So the Spitfire is "all Allied fighters" or even "all Allied aircraft", and the Tiger is "all German tanks" or even "all tanks". Adolf Hitler is "all bad people" and Churchill is "all good people" (although of course there is a dedicated attempt going on to change the latter perception).

 

Think that peak in the 2000's must be from "Fury".

 

Re.

Fascinating, some recent context...

https://twitter.com/TankMuseum/status/1620847084306825223?t=C6wZARnEHRf9iLn6jcsHTQ&s=19



... so this one, definitely not in the "correct" markings... ;-)

Panther - The Tank Museum

A bit like the post-war Volkswagen Beetle... perhaps a Panther "Herbie" can be hugged

Herbie - Wikipedia