WOLFGANG SCHNEIDER TIGERS IN COMBAT II o 11557 03203 1 TIGERS IN COMBAT II STACKPOLE BOOKS Copyright© 1998byJ.J.FedorowiczPublishing,Inc. Publishedin2005by STACKPOLEBOOKS 5067RitterRoad Mechanicsburg,PA17055 www.stackpolebooks.com Allrightsreserved, includingtherighttoreproduce thisbookorportionsthereofinanyform orby any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storageand retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfrom the publisher.Allinquiriesshould beaddressedtoJ.J.FedorowiczPublishing,Inc., 104BrowningBoulevard,Winnipeg,MB,R3KOL7, Canada. wwwJjfpub.mb.ca Printedin theUnitedStatesofAmerica 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FIRSTEDITION LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-PublicationData Schneider,Wolfgang, Oberleutnant. TigersincombatII/WolfgangSchneider.-1sted. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences. ISBN0-8117-3203-7 1. Tiger (Tank) 2. WorldWar, 1939-1945-Tankwarfare. 3. Germany-Armed Forces-Armored troops. I.Title. UG446.5.S32835 2004 940.54'1343---dc22 2004018902 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ix Publishers'Acknowledgements ........................................xii Editors'Notes xiii TIGERSINDETAIL .........................•.........•..•.•..........•. 1 o \ Photo Coverage 11 WEHRMACHT 13./PANZER-REGIMENT"GROBDEUTSCHLAND" ...••.. 19 it •••••••••••••••••• CombatDiary 19 Photo Coverage 24 UnitOrganizational Diagrams 37 III./PANZER-REGIMENT"GROBDEUTSCHLAND" .••.•......•••...•..•.••.. 39 CombatDiary 39 Photo Coverage 48 Inventoryand Losses Charts 64 UnitOrganizational Diagrams 66 SCHWEREPANZER-KOMPANIE"HUMMEL" ...................•....•...... 69 CombatDiary 69 Photo Coverage 71 SCHWEREPANZER-KOMPANIE"MEYER" ........•...............•.......• 75 CombatDiary 75 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Photo Coverage 77 v vi TIGERSINCOMBATII WAFFEN-SS 13./SS-PANZER-REGIMENT 1 83 CombatDiary 83 Photo Coverage 95 o•• Inventoryand Losses Charts 110 UnitOrganizationalDiagrams 112 8./SS-PANZER-REGIMENT2 115 CombatDiary 115 Photo Coverage 124 o•••••• Inventoryand Losses Charts 150 UnitOrganizational Diagrams 151 9./SS-PANZER-REGIMENT3 155 CombatDiary 155 Photo Coverage 172 Inventoryand Losses Charts 198 UnitOrganizationalDiagrams 200 SCHWERESS-PANZER-ABTEILUNG SCHWERESS-PANZER-ABTEILUNG 101 (501) 203 CombatDiary 203 Photo Coverage 221 Inventoryand Losses Charts 255 UnitOrganizationalDiagrams ~ 258 SCHWERESS-PANZER-ABTEILUNG 102 (502) 263 0•••••••••• CombatDiary 263 Photo Coverage 276 Inventoryand Losses Charts 290 UnitOrganizationalDiagrams 292 SCHWERESS-PANZER-ABTEILUNG 103 (503) 295 CombatDiary 295 Photo Coverage 305 Inventoryand Losses Charts 323 UnitOrganizationalDiagrams 325 SCHWERESS-PANZER-ABTEILUNG 104 327 Remarks 327 TableofContents vii FORMATIONSWITHINDIVIDUALLYATfACHED TIGERS 329 Tigers oftheArmorSchoolatBergen 329 Panzer-Division "Clausewitz" 330 Tiger-Gruppe Fehrmann " 330 Fallschirm-Panzer-Korps "Hermann Goring" 335 Panzer-Kompanie Kummersdorf ' 335 Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Kurmark" 335 Panzer-AbteilungKummersdorf/Miincheberg 336 Panzerkampfgruppe Nord 338 Panzer-Kompanie Paderborn 338 Panzergruppe Paderborn 338 Panzer-Kompanie Panther 339 Tigers in the Panzer-Lehr-Division 339 Panzer-Lehr-AbteilungPutlos 340 Tigers in the Fortress ofPosen 340 Tigers in Slovakia 341 VEHICLESISSUED TO UNITS 343 TIGERI 343 TIGERII 348 Bibliography 351 AbouttheAuthor 354 Colordrawings andmapsappearatbackofbook. PREFACE Thisvolume marks the completionofmytreatmentofthe combathistoryofthe unitsand formations equipped with the Tiger tank. The first volume, originally published byJ.J. FedorowiczPublishing, Inc.,wassoonsoldout, a~dthe responsewas reallyoverwhelming. There were a large number ofletters and telephone calls-back then e-mails were still somewhatofa novelty-andall ofthemwere positiveandencouragingwith regard to both the contentand theformat ofthe book. Some of these contacts provided me ",rith more information, others invited further inquiries. Hitherto unknown details concerningaspects ofthe combat operations roused special interest as well as the marking and coloring of the vehicles. As each edition is repri.nted, I hope to be able to update the information containedin each one. This second volume presents the remaining Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS formations and units equippedwith the Tiger tank. The mostfamous ofthesewere the Tigercompa nies in the German Army's Panzer-Grenadier-Division "GroBdeutschland" and the first three divisions oftheWaffen-SS thatwereformed: SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Leibstan darte SSAdolfHitler," SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division"DasReich" andSS-Panzer-Grenadier Division "Totenkopf." In allfour instancesofthe aforementioned divisions, the companies were laterexpanded to battalions,with several ofthem ultimatelybeingdetached to form separate battalionswith habitual relationships to a corps. In addition, several other units are mentioned-and certainly not all ofthem-that were equipped with a few Tigers for a short time. That generally happened in the final weeks ofthewar, and thusinformationis ratherscarce. From the adhocformations where information exists, there are virtually no photographs available, which is understandable with regard to the circumstances prevailingatthe time. ix