APPENDIX C
4. (s) Kompanie
During the fighting between February and March 1943, 4(s) Kompanie lost three Tigers. All three were recovered and sent to Dnepropetrovsk for major long-term repairs and returned to service on 10 May 1943. The first Tiger, commanded by SS-UntersturmführerRinner, broke through the ice on a frozen river near Pereschtschepino on 22 February 1943 and was recovered on 27 February. Two Tigers were lost on 8 March 1943: SS-Untersturmführer Kohler’s, which sank in the river, and SS-Untersturmführer Rathsack’s, which bogged down in the river embankment; the tanks were eventually recovered in April 1943.
9. Kompanie
7 July 1943 One Tiger (SS-Oberscharführer Muller) destroyed after being hit by Russian artillery fire east of the main road between Belgorod and Kursk near the Village of Smorordino.
31 July 1943 Two Tigers (SS-Oberscharführer Lampert, SS-Unterscharführer Bieber) knocked out by Russian antitank gunfire near Hill 213.9. Both blown up on 7 August 1943 by a demolition team.
12 August 1943 One Tiger (SS-Unterscharführer Fein) knocked out near Kosliki by Russian antitank gunfire.
30 August 1943 One Tiger (SS-Unterscharführer Privatski) is destroyed by a direct hit from Russian artillery near Kolontajew.
12 December 1943 Seven Tigers returned to Germany for factory maintenance.
16 January 1944 Four Tigers (SS-Untersturmführer Neff, SS-Unterscharführer Pavlu, and SS-Unterscharführer Heurich) knocked out by U.S. Lend-Lease antitank guns (probably 90mm) in Russian service during an attack from the direction of Petrowka in the open terrain. The Tigers were attacking toward Hill 215.6 just north of Owskanikowka.
23 March 1944 One Tiger being transported by rail back to Germany from Odessa for factory maintenance is captured along with two other Tigers from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 in the rail station of Kopychinsty.
26 March 1944 One Tiger (SS-Oberscharführer Tonges) captured intact by the 81st Guards Rifle Regiment just north of Balta during a local counterattack. The Tiger had to be abandoned by the crew.
27 March 1944 One Tiger (SS-Untersturmführer Neff) attached to Kampfgruppe Pitschellis is knocked out by Russian antitank gunfire just of south of Balta.
30 March 1944 One Tiger (SS-Oberscharführer Weitner) is abandoned by the crew after running out of fuel on the southern edge of Balta. The Tiger is later found intact by the Russian 73rd Rifle Regiment.
2 April 1944 Seven Tigers blown up at the rail station of Rozdil’na (Rasdelnaja) on the orders of SS-Untersturmführer Neff. The rail transport carrying these tanks had come to a halt in Rozdil’na along with thirty other rail transports. A Wehrmacht officer of the General Staff approached Neff next to the main station building and ordered him to blow up his Tigers since the Russians were not far away and further travel in the direction of Tiraspol was now considered very difficult. The Tigers are blown up, and Neff and the remaining crews gather their belongings and begin a fifty-kilometer march in the direction of Tiraspol. One other transport that had departed Rozdil’na earlier reached Tiraspol carrying one Tiger, one Panzer-Beobachters-Wagen III, and one Befehlswagen Panzer III. Rozdil’na is captured by the Red Army on 4 April 1944.
11 June 1944 Six Tigers delivered on 7 June 1944. Two are collected by soldiers from 9. Kompanie. On 11 June 1944, Heeres-Gruppe Süd orders Totenkopf to hand them over to III/Panzer-Regiment Großdeutschland. Totenkopf reports that a collection team fromIII/Panzer-Regiment Großdeutschland had taken over the two Tigers on 11 June 1944 and that they had been loaded on the same day.
17 July 1944 One Tiger (SS-Untersturmführer Wenzel) is hit multiple times by Russian antitank gunfire, immobilizing the tank in Adamowicze. Russian troops rush forward and drag the crew out of the tank. Four members of the crew are executed; the radio operator (Rudolf) is taken prisoner. The Tiger remains in Adamowicze for three days. On 20 July 1944, German forces stage a local counterattack and retake the stricken Tiger; per orders, it is soaked in petrol inside and out and set on fire. Radio operator Rudolf is not seen again until the 1968 company veterans meeting in Fallingbostal.
19 August 1944 Three Tigers (SS-Untersturmführer Weitner, SS-Unterscharführer Sandler, and SS-Untersturmführer Neff) are knocked out or immobilized by JS-2 heavy tanks from the 62nd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment during the fighting 1.5 kilometers southeast of Krusze. One Tiger is hit on the left side of the hull, and another round hits the turret at a range of 1,000 meters. Another Tiger is hit twice; both rounds hit the front of the hull. The third Tiger is immobilized and abandoned by the crew. The two Tigersknocked out by JS-2 tank fire are given trophy numbers 123 and 124. All three losses are recorded on the same day by A.O.K. 9.
26 August 1944 One Tiger (SS-Oberscharführer Kronmuller) is knocked out by Russian antitank gunfire near Klembow, eight kilometers east of Radzymin. This loss is recorded by A.O.K. 9 on 30 August.
13 September 1944 One Tiger (SS-Unterscharführer Probst) is destroyed by a direct hit from Russian artillery fire near Hill 104, one kilometer west of Slupno.
16 September 1944 One Tiger (SS-Untersturmführer Neff) is hit and knocked out by Russian artillery fire near Hill 103, two kilometers west of Rembelszczyzna, while in support of III/SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 6 Eicke and 2./SS-Panzer-Jäger-Abteilung 3.
6 January 1945 A Tiger is knocked out by Russian antitank fire in the open terrain just west of Hill 289, next to the Szomor and Zsambek road at a range of fifty meters. Another (SS-Obersturmführer Wenke) receives multiple hits to the front and turret sides. Another advances past the two stricken Tigers and provides covering fire. Tiger 901 (Wenke) is recovered and sent to Vienna for long-term repairs. This Tiger is captured on 9 April 1945 while still at the arsenal. SS-Unterscharführer Privatski’s Tiger is knocked out by Russian anti-tank gun fire just to the north of the Many-Zsambek road junction, the Tiger took several direct hits to the right side of the hull and chassis and at least one hit to the front of the Tiger.
24 January 1945 One Tiger (SS-Unterscharführer Becker) is knocked out 1.5 kilometer west of Pettend. It is struck by an 85mm round on the front bow plate; another 85mm round hits the right side track. The crew is forced to bail out. The Russians give thisTiger trophy number 60 and examined it on 11 February 1945.
26 January 1945 One Tiger (SS-Hauptscharführer Berger) is knocked out on the northern edge of Baracska by a direct hit from a 76mm antitank round, which hits the left side of the turret and causes damage to the engine deck; one other round hits the front bow plate but does not penetrate the interior. The Tiger is examined on 23 February 1945 by Russian forces and given trophy number 135.
16 March 1945 Two Tigers (SS-Untersturmführer Neff, SS-Oberscharführer Bernhardt) are knocked out by multiple hits from SU-76 self-propelled guns from the 1523rd Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment next to Felso Puszta, which is about 1.5 kilometers northeast of Magyaralmas. Both had been posted there on security duty on the 6 March 1945.
17 March 1945 One Tiger (SS-Hauptsturmführer Ther) becomes bogged down in a field 1,000 meters northeast of Magyaralmas, and about 200 meters from Felso Puszta, Ther sends the radio operator back to Magyaralmas to find a Berge-Panther to aid in the recovery of the sunken Tiger. During the attempted recovery, Ther is forced to abandon the tank as the attacking Russian infantry close in. Ther made it back to Magyaralmas, found another Tiger, and ordered the commander to destroy the immobilized Tiger. One round is fired into the rear of the stuck tank, but much to the surprise of all, the round bounces off the rear. Ther reported the event to SS-Sturmbannführer Berlin, regimental commander. Ther recalled that Berlin’s reaction was not positive. The three Tigers found near Magyaralmas were given trophy numbers 205, 208, and 308a.
30 March 1945 One Tiger (SS-Unterscharführer Sperner) destroyed during the withdrawal from Pereszteg on a back road leading to Nagycenk by SU-100 self-propelled guns from the 912th Self Propelled Artillery Regiment. The Tiger is hit several times, causing it to burst into flames.
1 April 1945 One Tiger (SS-Unterscharführer Privatski) is abandoned in Ofenbach on the road leading to Lanzenkirchen after sustaining mechanical damage. The crew is forced to make an escape across the fields in the direction of Frohsdorf as Russian forces suddenly appear in Ofenbach, catching the Germans by surprise. The crew’s personal effects are left inside the tank. Later, local children empty the Tiger of about twenty-five 88mm shells and attempt to set fire to the ammunition in the hope they would go off—nothing happened, but the local children did find severalPanzerfaust, which they started firing in the woods, causing Russians to return and investigate. During the recovery of this tank for scrap, the Russians towed it through Lanzenkirchen, where a local resident was knocked down and killed after losing a leg.
9 April 1945 One Tiger captured at the Vienna arsenal while still undergoing long-term repair. (See entry for 6 January 1945.)
8 May 1945 Three Tigers (SS-Oberscharführer Tassler, SS-Oberscharführer Wimmer, and SS-Oberscharführer Tonges) abandoned: one on the road from Stixendorf to Wienzierl am Walde next to a road side shrine just outside Wienzierl am Walde, the other two (plus an SPW) in the center of Wienzierl am Walde. The Germans had attempted to blow up the SPW, which caught fire. During this attempt, Wimmer’s driver, Helmut Brieger, was seriously wounded and rushed to the hospital in Melk after Ludwig Buss and Horst Bottcher pulled Brieger from the danger zone. The local fire brigade had to be called out as the SPW (which was blown up next to the parish vicar’s house) was by now a raging fire. The remaining crews travel in the direction of Friestadt. After the war, the locals recounted that the Russians had huge problems trying to tow the two Tigers in the center of Wienzierl am Walde. One was abandoned next to the local church on a narrow side road, blocking road traffic for some time.
8 May 1945 One Tiger II with Porsche turret (SS-Unterscharführer van Kerkhom) abandoned on the southern side of the Frachten Bahnhof Krems. Van Kerkhom and his crew left the tank and walked back into Krems and spent the night before being captured the next morning by the Russians. In July of the same year, a Russian cutting crew began work on scrapping the tank. As they began doing so, one of the Russians cut through the fuel tank with his cutting torch, not realizing that tank still had fuel in it. He blew himself up along with two others.