Tiger Battalion 507 Book.

[EAO]

Hello all,

Just got done reading Tiger Battalion 507, edited by Helmut Schneider https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Battalion- ... 216&sr=8-1.

The book was released in 2016 in Germany, and translated into English in 2020. Helmut Schneider was a member of the Battalion himself; and it is composed of Veteran's diaries, personal memories, and Wehrmacht bulletins, mostly collected between 1982 to 1990. Some of the writing jumps around a bit, going back and forth between different members of the unit. Some of it is also a bit mundane; however, there are some really interesting parts too. In one section not only does a Tiger 1 end up backing over a group of German soldiers taking cover from incoming fire but one also runs over and crushes the CO's Kubelwagen (I can see Jimster's eyes welling up with tears at the mere thought of it!). I also found it interesting that when a track pin, or track link was damaged and couldn't be removed by hand, they would use hand grenades to do the job! By placing up to 7 hand grenades on top of the offending area, then covering them with a spare track link or packed earth, they would detonate them to blow the track apart! This didn't always work out as planned however.

The really great part of the book was the pictures. Over 200 of them, many privately held and never before released. The majority of these are of Tiger 1's on the Eastern Front. An interesting mix of mid and late Tiger's, interesting turret numbering system with the first digit being larger than than the following two, and interesting placement of additional track links as added armor. Instead of mounting these on the glacis plate, there are two sets draped outboard of the hull mg and driver's position on the raised part of the upper hull. There is even a shot of a spare carrier for a star antenna. Also, many shots of Tigers undergoing maintenance in the field. There is also a nice shot with a Bergetiger towing 2 Tiger 1's (or 2 panzers towing 1?). The last part of the book deals with the 507th being refitted with King Tiger's and fighting on the Western Front. There are quite a few photos of knocked out K.T.'s taken by U.S. photo teams. Some I've seen and some were new to me.

At any rate, a good read with the pictures worth the admission alone.
Regards,
Eric.

[Jimster]

I’ve got to read that for sure! Great review.
Speaking of accidental wartime deaths, Otto Carius mentioned that while forming up his Tigers in a column, his loader, for some reason, loaded his coax mg and when he slammed the receiver top shut it discharged due to a worn part and and some men were killed who were standing on the Tiger in front of them. Absolutely horrible stuff.

[43rdRecceReg]

Thanks, Eric that's a quite a fulsome review, spiced up with some interesting factoids, and a couple of timely jests (Jimster's eyes brimming with the tale of the of the crushed Kubelwagen for example ).
It will go on my 'to read' list. Trouble is, the list stretches to the heavens- almost like like the escalator in Powell and Pressburger's absolutely masterful 'A matter of Life and Death' (1946, with David Niven as the near-death Lancaster Pilot)

[EAO]

43rdRecceReg,

I hope I didn't spoil it for you by giving away too much info! You may now feel like you already have read it! My Wife always scolds me for spoiling the plots of movies that she and her friends haven't seen yet.

I had to look that movie up on IMDb. I hadn't heard of it before now. Looks great, a true all star cast. The older I get, the more respect and appreciation I have for these older films.

I hear you about the long list of "must read" books. The only good thing about this rotten virus is that I've read at least twice as many books as I normally get the chance to.

Regards,
Eric.