A CAPTURED TIGER
It seems like it’s about time for a #TankTwitter thread, so today we will talk about the first, largely intact, Tiger I captured by the Allies.
The Tiger I was a heavy tank that provided Hitler’s army with the first armored fighting vehicle to feature a mounted 88mm gun. It was big and scary, and it was expensive, both to build and to maintain, which is partly why only a little over 1300 were built.
For comparison, in the nearly 4 years the US was actively involved in WWII, the United States built over 49,200 Sherman tanks.
The Tiger tank was developed in 1938-1941, beginning before the war started and finally reaching production-ready for 1942. The Afrika Korps gave the Tiger I its first “field test” at Djedeida, about 13 miles west of Tunis, late in 1942.
The @TankMuseum currently has the only functioning Tiger I in the world, the Tiger 131. This tank was completed in February 1943, just over 80 years ago, and it was shipped to Tunisia sometime between 12 March and 16 April 1943.
The Tunisia Campaign was proving to be a significant challenge for the Axis forces. Once in North Africa, the Tiger 131 was attached to a platoon where it would almost immediately be thrown into combat.
On 20-21 April, the Axis forces in North Africa launched a spoiling attack as the Allied forces prepared for a major push to Tunis. The Axis forces simultaneously attacked four points including the northside of a hill known as Djebel Djaffa.
Two Tiger tanks, along with several other Axis tanks, had advanced through the pass north of Djebel Djaffa and the Allies drove this armored force back during the day on the 21st. One of those Tiger tanks was hit several times by 6-pdr. Rounds from Churchill Tanks like this one.
For most of the last 80 years, it was believed that this is where the Tiger 131 was captured, but just a few years ago it was discovered that the Tiger 131 was actually knocked out at Point 174 on 24 April 1943, “when German tanks counterattacked the 2nd Sherwood Foresters.”
It is likely the Tiger’s crew had been wounded in the fighting. “With the turret jammed and the driver probably concussed, the crew decided to abandon the tank but were possibly killed as they made off leaving it largely intact.”
The @TankMuseum has “an account from a previously unknown eye-witness who recalled his discomfort at being perilously close to the tank moments before it was disabled by a lucky shot.” @RoyalArmdCorps @BritishArmy
That “lucky shot had wedged itself in the turret mechanism so it couldn’t turn and the crew had bailed out and ran. Such was the importance of the capture that Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI flew to North Africa to be pictured with it.”
“After the tank was taken to the UK, LT Peter Gudgin was charged with writing a detailed report about it. Gudgin had been fighting Tigers with 48 Royal Tank Regiment in Tunisia at a place called Djebel Djaffa on 21 April 1943 and after being hit by one was invalided home.” @I_W_M
“He mistakenly believed that the Tiger tank was the same one that had destroyed his Churchill tank and that his comrades had subsequently stopped it with the lucky shot. And that has always been the official story.”
“However, new research shows that Tiger 131 was actually disabled 15 miles away from Djebel Djaffa at a place called Gueriat el Atach, known as Point 174, during an attack there by 2nd Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters, on 24 April 1943.” @TankMuseum
This realization was the result of research conducted by Dale Oscroft whose father had been fighting at Point 174.
“Dale’s father John, who died in 1982, had told him about his battalion’s first set-piece attack in Tunisia when they took on the legendary tanks and captured one intact with a jammed turret.”
After a visit to the @TankMuseum, Dale began researching when he noticed the similarities between the Tiger 131 and the story his father had told him.
“After ejecting the Germans, the Foresters – including my father – dug in and prepared for the counter attack which, when it materialized, comprised a number of Tiger tanks.”
“Having the dubious honor of carrying a PIAT anti-tank weapon, my father was ordered to creep forward and engage the nearest Tiger.”
(picture to show the PIAT, February 1943)
“After getting as close as he dared, he took aim and fired only to see the bomb strike a glancing blow on the turret and bounce off. At this point he saw the turret begin to traverse in his direction and decided to get his head down.”
“Fortunately for him, the tank was then hit by what my father was later told was an old French ’75’, which the Foresters had taken from the Germans.”
“Much to his relief, the tank crew bailed out and made off. A later inspection showed the Tiger to have sustained a lucky hit on the turret ring.”
Dale said, “My father speculated that the crew must have thought that the Foresters had done something more potent than they actually did.”
While his research did lead to the correction that The Foresters were the ones who had captured the Tiger 131, it also showed that The Foresters were not the ones who dealt the lucky shot to the tank.
The Tiger 131 was disabled by a round from a Churchill tank, likely supporting The Foresters from a distance.
This was a tremendous opportunity to investigate and research the heavy tank. Tiger 131 was repaired using parts harvested from other Tiger tanks. It was finally sent from Tunis to the UK in October 1943 and initially put on display as a war trophy to help boost morale.
The Tiger was then transferred to the School of Tank Technology where it could be tested and evaluated.
Now the only operational Tiger left in the world, you may have seen Tiger 131 “in action” in the move Fury which was the first time a real Tiger tank was used in a movie since 1946. @DavidAyerMovies @TankMuseum
Tiger 131 – A Twist in the Tale
tankmuseum.org/article/a_twis…
Bovington Tank Museum Accession Number 2351
web.archive.org/web/2000091611…
US Army in World War II
Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West
history.army.mil/html/books/006…
Tiger 131: The Mysterious British Reports
militaryhistoryonline.com/WWII/Tiger131
The Capture of Tiger 131: History Reassessed
keymilitary.com/article/captur…
If you are just tuning in or you miss any of the threads, you can find them all saved on this website along with links to other content from this year’s Why We Fight ~ 1943 series and the previous series content
motheroftanks.com/why-we-fight-1…
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