- Chapter 23 -
A Tiger rolls through a Sicilian town in July 1943. These machines had been destined to serve with the Afrika Korps but arrived too late to take part in the campaign. All but one of the 17 Tigers deployed in Sicily were lost in action.
In total 17 Tiger I tanks from schwere Panzer Abteilung 504 (s.Pz.Abt. 504) fought in Sicily in 1943 against the Allied invasion forces. All but one were lost in combat in the period from July 11th to August 10th 1943 when the German forces were finally forced to withdraw.
When the first elements of s.Pz.Abt. 504 with 20 Tiger I were sent to North Africa, the 2nd Kompanie remained behind in Sicily with nine Tiger I tanks. As a result of the surrender of German forces in North Africa, the nine Tigers of s.Pz.Abt. 504 were never actually shipped to Tunisia, but stayed behind on Sicily where they were soon called into action to repel the Allied assault which took place in July 1943. Prior to the Allied invasion eight additional Tiger I were shipped to the unit arriving early in the summer. By the time of the Allied invasion of Sicily, s.Pz.Abt. 504 with 17 Tiger I was attached to the Panzer Division Hermann Göring.
During the ill fated attack on the Allied beachhead near Gela, s.Pz.Abt. 504 was heavily engaged and lost ten Tigers in just two days of fierce fighting between 11th July and 12th July. Further Tigers were lost in action or abandoned during July and August as German forces slowly retreated across the island. In August, the unit’s last surviving Tiger I bearing the tactical number 222 from managed to escape from the wreckage and was ferried across the Straits of Messina to Italy.
This page from the driver’s section in Tigerfibel emphasizes the need for team work.
The following Contemporary View No.22 is an article on German tank trends, Panzer tactics, and how to fight the German heavy tanks from the October 1944 issue of the Intelligence Bulletin. The article includes suggestions from the Soviet Artillery Journal on combating the Tiger tank.
THE CONTEMPORARY VIEW NO. 22
GERMAN TANK TRENDS
Just what can be expected from German tanks in the near future? Which models are most likely to be employed extensively? Are present models undergoing much alteration?
A brief summary of the German tank situation at the moment should serve to answer these and other pertinent questions.
There is good reason to believe that the German tanks which will be encountered most frequently in the near future will be the Pz. Kpfw. V (Panther), the Pz. Kpfw. VI (Tiger), and the Pz. Kpfw. IV. However, the Germans have a new 88mm (3.46-inch) tank gun, the Kw. K. 43, which is capable of an armour-piercing performance greatly superior to that of the 88mm Kw. K. 36. According to reliable information, the Kw. K. 43 is superseding the Kw. K. 36 as the main armament of the Tiger. A new heavy tank, which has been encountered on a small scale in northwestern France, also is armed with the Kw. K. 43. This new tank looks like a scaled-up Panther, with the wide Tiger tracks. (Further information regarding this tank will appear in an early issue of the Intelligence Bulletin.)
During recent months both the Tiger and the Panther have been fitted with a slightly more powerful 690-horsepower engine in place of the 642-horsepower model. The principal benefit from this slight increase will be a better margin of power and improved engine life. The maximum speed will be increased by no more than 2 or 3 miles per hour.
Face-hardened armour, which was not used on the early Tiger tanks, has reappeared in certain plate of at least one Panther. On other Panthers which have been encountered, only machine-quality armour is used. There is no reason to believe that face-hardening would substantially improve the armour’s resistance to penetration by the capped projectiles now in use against it.
Officers plan the next move during a field conference in Normandy, June 1944.
It would not have been surprising if the Pz. Kpfw. IV had slowly disappeared from the picture as increased quantities of Panther tanks became available, but actually there was a sharp rise in the rate of production of Pz. Kpfw. IV’s during 1943. Moreover, the, front armour of the Pz. Kpfw. IV has been reinforced from 50mm (1.97 inches) to 80mm (3.15 inches) by the bolting of additional armour to the nose and front vertical plates. And the 75mm (2.95-inch) tank gun, Kw. K. 40, has been lengthened by about 14 3/4 inches.
All these developments seem to indicate that the Pz. Kpfw. IV probably will be kept in service for many months. Recent organization evidence reflects this, certainly. In the autumn of 1943, evidence regarding provisional organization for the German tank regiment in the armoured division indicated that the aim was a ratio of approximately four Panther tanks for each Pz. Kpfw. IV. Now, however, the standard tank regiment has these two types in approximately equal numbers.
The possibility that Tiger production may have been discontinued has been considered. Although discontinuing the Tiger would relieve the pressure on German industry, it is believed that a sufficient number of these tanks to meet the needs of units equipped with them still is being produced.
Tiger tanks constitute an integral part of division tank regiments only in SS armoured divisions. However, armoured divisions of an army may receive an allotment of Tigers for special operations.
Early in 1944 a number of Pz. Kpfw. III’s converted into flame-throwing tanks appeared in Italy. Nevertheless, it is believed that production of this tank ceased some time ago. Some of the firms which in the past produced Pz. Kpfw. III’s now are making assault guns; others are believed to be turning out Panthers. It is extremely unlikely that production of Pz. Kpfw. III’s as fighting tanks will ever be resumed, no matter how serious the German tank situation may become.
In an effort to combat attacks by tank hunters, the Germans have fitted the Tiger with S-mine dischargers, which are fired electrically from the interior of the tank. These dischargers are mounted on the turret, and are designed to project a shrapnel antipersonnel mine which bursts in the air a few yards away from the tank. Thus far these dischargers have been noted only on the Tiger, but the Germans quite possibly may decide to use them on still other tanks.
The Germans take additional precautions, as well. For protection against hollow-charge projectiles and the Soviet antitank rifle’s armour-piercing bullet with a tungsten carbide core, they fit a skirting of mild steel plates, about 1/4- inch thick, on the sides of the hull. In the case of the Pz. Kpfw. IV, the skirting is suitably spaced from the sides and also from the rear of the turret. Finally, the skirting plates, as well as the hulls and turrets of the tanks themselves, are, coated with a sufficient thickness of non-magnetic plaster to prevent magnetic demolition charges from adhering to the metal underneath.
Despite the recent introduction of the new heavy tank which resembles the Panther and mounts a Kw. K. 43, it is believed that circumstances will force the Germans to concentrate on the manufacture and improvement of current types, particularly the Pz. Kpfw. IV and the familiar version of the Panther.
Evidence suggests that a modified Pz. Kpfw. II will shortly appear as a reconnaissance vehicle. Official German documents sometimes refer to it as an armoured car and sometimes as a tank.
