Appendix 3
In General
In general, it is not difficult to determine what formations the vehicles belonged to when looking at photographs, since the turrets had differing styles of markings and the color camouflage schemes were different. There were also considerable differences in the types of vehicles that were issued to each of the formations. It is considerably more difficult, however, to determine formations when the vehicles have been badly damaged or have burned out.
Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503
Of note within this battalion is the fact that its 1st Company was issued differing versions of the Tiger: twelve Tiger II’s and two Tiger I’s. All of the Tiger II’s had the so-called Porsche turret. This was the only battalion unit to have Tiger II’s employed in Normandy. All of the remaining Tigers were late versions with steel roadwheels and reinforced turret roofs.
The numbering employed black numerals bordered in white. They were on both sides of the turret and on the turret rear as well. The numbers used were the standard German practice of three digits: Company — Platoon — Individual tank within the platoon. The two tanks in the company headquarters section had the company number, followed by a zero and then the number of the tank within the section, with a zero usually indicating the company commander’s vehicle, e.g., 300 = The Tiger of the 3rd Company commander. The three tanks assigned to the battalion headquarters had Roman numerals: I, II and III.
The Tiger II’s of the reconstituted 3rd Company, which was employed against the American bridgehead at Mantes, had the normal 300-series of numbers.
Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101
This battalion had a number of different identifiers with regard to the coloring of the tactical numbers as well as other markings. In addition, a portion of the Tiger I’s still had the older-style running gear with the rubber-rimmed roadwheels, because the battalion had taken deliveries of ten tanks each in October 1943 and January 1944. All of the 3rd Company (fourteen tanks) had that version of the Tiger, while the 1st Company had four. Only the 2nd Company was completely equipped with steel-rimmed roadwheels.
The color of the turret numbers differed from company to company and at battalion headquarters. The 1st Company had olive-colored numerals, bordered in white; the 2nd, red with white; the 3rd, blue with yellow; and the battalion headquarters, pure white. The numbers were painted on the turret sides and rear.
All of the tanks had the corps tactical insignia on the front slope: two crossed skeleton keys above two oak leaves. Within the tanks of the 1st and 3rd Companies and the battalion headquarters section, the corps insignia was on the left side of the vehicle; the 2nd Company sported its insignia on the righthand side. In addition, the 1st Company placed the tactical insignia for tanks on the opposite of the corps insignia. Underneath it was a small “s”, which stood for schwer (heavy). These insignia were either painted directly on the Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating or in a small field that was left free for that purpose.
Another peculiarity was, in part, the numbering system. The tanks of the company command sections all end with a 5, e.g., 105. The battalion’s tanks were numbered 009, 008 and 007.
The reconstituted 1st Company, which was issued in its entirety with Tiger II’s with standard-production turrets, had yellow turret numbers, which were painted under the Balkenkreuz (German cross) on the turret sides.
Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 102
All of the Tigers of this battalion had steel roadwheels and, for the most part, normal numbering. The exceptions, once again, were the command and control tanks. The company command tanks had “4’s”, e.g., 141 and 142 in the 1st Company (analogous in the other two companies). The battalion command tanks were numbered 001, 002 and 003. The numerals were painted in outline form in white. On the stowage boxes on the back of the turrets, the numerals were in black with white borders. A peculiarity was a pink lightning rune (Blitzrune), which was painted on the left front hull and the left rear of the vehicles.
Schwere Panzer-Kompanie 316 (Fkl)
This company had five Tiger II’s with the Porsche turret and three older-version Tiger I’s. The tanks had large white numerals painted on the front part of either side of the turrets. The numbers of several of the Tiger II’s have been verified: 02, 10 and 13.