Michael Wittman

[hunterkiller]

You could be right about the rocket strike in the engine because in a similar debate I started tonight in the pub,a couple of people said that a rocket firing typhoon got him.But isn`t it interesting that the Baron Von Richtofen died with many people claiming it and the same with Wittman. It just goes to show the respect the Allies gave them!

[971wright]

Hi Saw a programe on the history channel that said Baron Von Richtofen was shot down with ground fire, not by another aircraft ,they went into alot of detail about the fact he landed his plane and died at the controls ,the wounds he had were from the side not the rear as you would expect if shot down by another aircraft.Has for Wittman I think the truth will never be known for sure, form the few photos of his Tiger its hard to tell if it was hit from the air or ground, the only thing is for sure whatever hit it set the ammo off that was on board cause the massive damage .

regards pete

[Rivetcounter]

Firstly it's highly unlikely that a rocket hit the Tiger in the engine as has been claimed the initial explosion would have destroyed the turret stowage bin and if you look at the pictures it clearly hasn't be caught in a blast from the engine, rockets where incredibly inaccurate if one did hit the Tiger it would have been a very lucky shot and would have caused far more destruction

[STEINER]

I have respect for Wittmann as a highly skilled Tank commander, however, I have none for his alleged stead fast allegiance to the Nationalist Socialist party, their ideology and all they stood for.   

Is Mutley laughing because 007 was a Firefly Kill.

[JTS]

Hi

  I found this in Tankzone http://www.tankzone.co.uk/pages/gallery_6.htm I thought it maybe of interest


                                                                                                                                          Jim

[tankmad]

It was tiger 205 that broke down and he pulled rank and used 222 at villers bocage seaminly
Stevie

[wibblywobbly]

That will teach him to go abroad without full European RAC cover, £90 and he would have got all the way to Cherbourg! 

[tiger205]

It was tiger 205 that broke down and he pulled rank and used 222 at villers bocage seaminly
Stevie

that sounds about right, lol

(Tony's 205 seemed to spend more time off the road than on it for various reasons - obviously living up to its namesake then  )

[daviddunlop]

There was a documentary on the History Channel here in Canada a few months back about the death of Wittman, done as a post-event forensic analysis which sided very strongly with the 1st Northants Yeomanry and the Sherbrookes being the prime opponents in Wittman's last action.

The Yeomanry were concealed in a large orchard on one side of a very wide field, and the Sherbrookes had apparently set up in the yard of a large chateau on the opposite side of the field. They had used their Shermans to bash several holes in the chateau wall and then backed into the yard to cover the field. Both allied units confirmed observing four Tiger I's crossing the field. Three were in formation about one third of the way across from the British position and the fourth (Wittman) was following some distance behind close to the Canadian side. The British records confirmed they took out all three Tigers on their side of the field and the show logged the ranges as between 600 and 1,000 meters. Wittman's tank would have been over 1,800 meters from the Yeomanry. The Sherbrookes observed the three Tigers being engaged and hit by the British unit, but were not aware of Wittman's Tiger until it came into view, passing one of their tanks behind one of the holes they had punched in the wall. They only had time to get off one shot and felt it had hit the Tiger in the left rear section of the engine compartment. The range for that shot was only about 400 meters. They observed the Tiger stopping immediately with some black smoke coming from the engine compartment. A few seconds later, the entire tank erupted in a huge explosion.

This would seem to rule out a direct hit on an ammunition rack, but given these Tigers were going into action just a short time earlier, they very likely carried full fuel and ammunition supplies. They would also have been carrying their standard demolition charges for scuttling the tank if it had to be abandonned. It is more likely, given the noted delay from being hit, to exploding, Wittman's Tiger probably took a fatal hit to a full fuel tank, the tank quickly filled with fuel vapour which then ignited, setting everything else off. Wittman and his crew were probably just beginning to sort out what had happened when everything went up.

By the way, I think the documentary mentioned that it was just one tank of the 1st Northants Yeomanry that took out all three of the other Tigers, which was pretty impressive crew teamwork and gunnery on their part.

Regards,


David


PS: Just as an addendum, all rounds fired by the British and Canadians in this encounter were solid shot AP.