Tigers in Combat, Vol. 1

382 Pages·2004·119.92 MB·English

by  Wolfgang Schneider

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