Seen here is a column of later model Pz.Kpfw.IVs with intact Schü rzen inside a town during operations in Italy in-mid 1944.
By June 1944 the German army was fighting a war on three fronts: France, Russia and Italy. In Italy in August the Allies had advanced beyond Rome, captured Florence, and were closing in on the Gothic Line, which was the last major defensive line between Pisa and the Apennines between Florence and Bologna to the Adriatic coast.
To reinforce the defensive lines across Italy there were a number heavy Tiger tank battalions supporting the Panzerwaffe. The 504th had been completely rebuilt with a full complement of 45 Tigers in March. It was originally earmarked for the Eastern Front, but due to Allied success in Italy the battalion was transferred to Italy in early June 1944. Soon it was embroiled in action trying, in vain, to stem the Allied drive north. Within weeks the battalion lost half its Tigers, and with only twelve replacements it fought on, being supported by a number of Pz.Kpfw.IVs, anti-tank guns, tankdestroyers and assault guns such as the Hetzer, Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger. In fact tank-destroyers and assault guns outnumbered the tanks, which was confirmation of the Panzerwaffe in its defensive role.
Another heavy Tiger tank battalion to see extensive defensive action in Italy was the 508th. In January 1944 it had been ordered to take up a defensive disposition around Anzio, and was later outfitted with Panthers and Ferdinands. In May and June it received twenty-seven replacement Tigers and saw action in August around Pisa. In early September 1 Kompanie moved across to Savignano in eastern Italy; on the drive eleven Tigers were lost to mechanical problems. The 2 Kompanie reported it had no tanks left and was ordered to pull out of line and was sent back to Paderborn in Germany. As for the 3 Kompanie, it advanced from Bologna and moved via Imola, Faenza, and Forli to Cesena, where it was put into line to oppose the northward drive of British forces on the Adriatic Front.
By 1 October only fifteen tigers were operational: ten in 1st Kompanie, two in the 2nd, three in the 3rd. Later in the month, the Allies pushed German lines up to northern Italy, but the 508th fought on. First Kompanie saw some success during defensive fighting in Faenza and south of Solarolo, but through January and early February 1945 the tanks were mostly used in a defensive artillery role. Then, with losses mounting the battalion gave its last remaining Tigers to the 504th and returned to Germany to be fitted out with the Tiger II.
Meanwhile on the Western Front the Allies had advanced through France and now threatened Holland and Belgium. The British planned on a combined air and land attack to liberate the Dutch cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, and then advance into Germany. However, unbeknown to the Allies, there were two powerful Panzer divisions recuperating, 9th SS Panzer Division ‘Hohenstaufen’ and 10th SS Panzer Division ‘Frundsberg’, behind the lines.
When the Allied assault was finally launched on 17 September 1944, Operation Market Garden, they were immediately met by strong German resistance and soon ran into difficulty. There followed a series of heavy battles in the city of Arnhem. Both sides became exhausted, but it was the Germans who received the first major reinforcements. Schwere Panzer Abteilung 506, which comprised of a number of Tiger tanks, was quickly moved in as a blocking unit to support units of the Frundsberg division. German armour however turned out to be inferior to the British, and the assault units were ordered to withdraw on the night of 25/26 September. British units had been battered nonetheless, and the depleted forces withdrew across the Lower Rhine at Oosterbeek and retreated south.
The battle of Arnhem was a military failure for the Allies. Although the Germans had been severely weakened by months of fighting in France, the blow they had inflicted on their foe in Holland was greater.
For the next several weeks German forces on the Western Front continued to recuperate and refit with additional armour and troops scraped from Eastern Front. For some time German planners had been gathering their troops for what was to be Germany’s final attempt to regain the military initiative in the west, a bold offensive in Belgium codenamed Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhein).
A large number of divisions were assigned to the Ardennes, including heavy Tiger tank battalions. For the attack ninety Tiger IIs were mobilised with Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 501 which was attached to the 1SS Panzer-Division. The lead section of the 501 was commanded by the veteran armour ace Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper. Schwere Panzer Abteilung 506 had forty-seven Tiger IIs and was attached to the 6th Panzer Army and reinforced by Schwere Panzer Abteilung 301 in the 9th Panzer Division. Main armoured vehicles used in the 1SS Panzer-Division included the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H, Pz.Kpfw.V Ausf.G Panthers, Pz.Kpfw.VI Tigers, Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.B King Tigers, Bison Ausf.M Sd.Kfz.138/1 150mm sIG 33/2 howitzer carrier (rear mounted) and Wirbelwinds.
The 653 and 654 Panzerjäger battalions also saw action in the Ardennes and were equipped with the Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B. The composition of this heavy battalion comprised a battalion of halftracks, plus a Wirbelwind battery, a supply company, 2 Kompanie (614 Jagdpanzer Kompanie) with three platoons of Jagdpanzer VI (Elefants), while the 3 Kompanie had three platoons of four Jagdtiger each.
In the first twenty-four hours of the offensive the Germans used every means at their disposal to annihilate all enemy resistance. But the Allies soon recovered from the initial surprise. Resistance stiffened day by day and by late December the Americans began stemming the German drive. Lack of fuel and constant congestions on the narrow roads brought many German units to a standstill. The fuel shortages were so bad that on 23 December Peiper’s Kampfgruppe destroyed their vehicles, and his remaining 1,000 men set out on foot for the German lines.
By mid-January 1945 the 506th had lost forty-four of its twenty-seven Tiger IIs, and by 17 January they had to destroy fourteen Tiger IIs and one Tiger I that could not be repaired.
On the Eastern Front, great efforts were being made to hold onto Hungary and to relieve Budapest. Elsewhere the Panzerwaffe continued to commit everything to the fight against the Soviets, but they possessed too many tanks, anti-tank guns and aircraft for the panzers which remained incapable of causing any serious losses or delay to the advance. The Russians continued pushing forward while German forces retreated through Poland to East Prussia. Along the Baltic coast too Soviet forces advanced crushing all that remained of the once mighty Army Group North.
In early 1945 few reinforcements were reaching the front lines, and understrength Panzer divisions were combined ad hoc to form new units with a handful of tanks and Panzergrenadiers. Among these ad hoc units were the Pz.Abt.500 ‘Paderborn’, named after the training grounds from which its vehicles had come; it had seventeen Tigers and was put into line in Russia on 21 October 1944. At the end of January 1945 the ‘Ersatz Brigade’ Großdeutschland fought with two Tigers. On 23 February 1945, Panzer Abteilung ‘Kummersdorf’ received the last 5 Tiger Is and joined an ad hoc unit known as Panzer Division ‘Müncheberg’. Apart from its Tigers, ‘Kummersdorf ’ possessed two Pz.Kpfw.IVs, one Pz.Kpfw.III, one Nashorn, two captured M4 Shermans, four Sd.Kfz.233 and 231 other vehicles including one Elefant, Jagdtigers, and an Italian P-40 tank, and a number of Sd.Kfz.251 halftracks.
Seen here is a column of later model Pz.Kpfw.IVs with intact Schü rzen inside a town during operations in Italy in-mid 1944.
A Tiger I has lost its track. To reinforce the defensive lines across Italy there were several heavy Tiger tank battalions supporting the Panzerwaffe. One was Schwere Panzer Abteilung 504 which had been completely rebuilt with a full complement of forty-five Tigers in March 1944.
A Tiger I with infantry hitching a lift advancing along a road bound for the front. By August 1944 the Allies had advanced beyond Rome, captured Florence, and were closing in on the Gothic Line, the last major defensive line between Pisa, the Apennines, Bologna and the Adriatic coast.
Movement through Italy was often hard for the Tiger tank battalions and resistance strong. In this photograph a crew from Schwere Panzer Abteilung 508 are preparing to fit a track onto their vehicle concealed in the undergrowth. The shells have been removed for safety and ease.
A Tiger has halted on the main road to Rome. This tank belongs to Schwere Panzer Abteilung 508. On 1 August 1944 only fourteen Tigers were operational out of the twenty-eight available in the battalion. The 508th reached the vicinity of Pisa on 14 August.
Two photographs showing a maintenance crew repairing the damaged track of a Tiger during operations in Italy in 1944. Up to late 1944 maintenance companies were able to recover and repair up to a staggering 75 per cent of tanks damaged in combat or broken down due to defect or mechanical problems. Most damage to tanks was by anti-tank rifles or mines to the tracks or drive wheels. Tigers often had large power jacks as part of their standard equipment which made it possible to repair tracks in the field. Lost drive wheels or return rollers were a bigger issue.
Two photographs showing Tigers from Schwere Panzer Abteilung 508 driving through Rome in May 1944. The battalion was equipped with Pz.Kpfw.IIIs and fought a vicious withdrawal through Rome while being attached to various German infantry units. After Rome fell on 4 June, the battalion began a general withdrawal north, and was used to prevent the Germany army in Italy being cut off. During the withdrawal thirteen Tigers were destroyed and abandoned by their crews because of mechanical failures. When the battalion reached Poggibonsi it was equipped with new Tigers, bringing its combat strength to thirty-seven. It fought in Italy until the end of the war.
An abandoned Tiger can be seen among some olive trees in Italy in 1944. The vehicle has a full application of Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste. Track links have also been bolted onto the turret sides for additional armoured protection.
Fallschirmjäger troops hitch a lift aboard a Tiger tank as German forces withdraw through a forest during the Ardennes offensive on the Western Front. By this time production of the Tiger I had been terminated in favour of the superior Tiger II or ‘King Tiger’. However, numbers of the new machines were simply not enough to avert the catastrophes unfolding on both fronts.
During the initial stages of the Ardennes offensive and a Tiger II rolls along a road followed by two motorcyclists armed with the MP40 machine pistol. Moving in the opposite direction is a column of American troops captured during the initial stages of the Ardennes offensive.
An interesting photograph showing a 3.7cm flak gun mounted on a vehicle overlooking a road. By this period of the war Tiger tanks were being hastily thrown together into various ad hoc units named after their commanders. They consisted of a motley assortment of weapons and armoured vehicles.
Panzergrenadiers on the march supported by a halftrack. Panzergrenadiers were frequently seen in the thick of battle moving alongside armoured vehicles and providing the latter with valuable support.
Parked in a field this Panzerwerfer is being prepared for a fire mission. This version was designated as the Sd.Kfz.4/1 and consisted of an armoured Maultier body with a ten-shot fifteen Nebelwerfer 42 rocket launcher mounted on the roof. This vehicle was known by the Germans as the Maultier or ‘Mule’ and was often seen supporting heavy tank battalions during the latter part of the war.
Various armoured vehicles including two Pz.Kpfw.IVs and halftracks supporting an advance through a wooded area in Belgium in late 1944. Halftracks were the best way of getting to the battlefield, or away from it.
Two photographs taken in the Hungarian capital Budapest showing Tiger IIs from Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503. By mid-December German forces had been pushed back to Budapest with this battalion fighting to relieve the city in Operation Konrad. On 4 January 1945 Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503 was renamed Schwere Panzer Abteilung ‘Feldherrnhalle’, after its commander. In spite of fighting with distinction against superior Russian forces the relief operation of the capital failed and the battalion withdrew.
A Tiger I from Schwere Panzer-Kompanie ‘Hummel’ near Geilenkirchen on 16 October 1944. This unit was formed on 20 September 1944 by Schwere Panzer Ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung 500 and was transported west equipped with fourteen Tigers for defensive actions in Holland. On 8 December 1944 the battalion was renamed Schwere Panzer Abteilung 506.
Infantry hitching a lift aboard a halftrack during operations on the Eastern Front in early 1945.
A Schwimmwagen Type 166 amphibious car of a Tiger tank battalion staff travelling through a forest. The metal commander pennant for a Panzer division commander can be seen on the right mud guard.
The crew of a Tiger II can be seen with their tank during a halt in their advance during winter operations on the Eastern front in early 1945. This Tiger belongs to Schwere Panzer Abteilung 509. The battalion fought hard in Hungary, and on 18 January 1945 was embroiled in Operation Konrad III where it was tasked with the relief of Budapest. During the operation the 509th lost forty of its forty-five Tiger IIs, with ten being total losses. Remnants of the battalion were then transferred to III Korps to support Operation Frühlingserwachen in March 1945. From there it retreated to Vienna where it fought a defensive action.
A crew pose for the camera standing next to their Tiger II during a pause in defensive actions in early spring 1945. They belong to Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503.
Two photographs showing captured Tiger IIs abandoned on the Eastern Front in 1945. Due to mechanical breakdowns and lack of fuel, crews often abandoned the tanks, sometimes not even having time to destroy them.
An interesting photograph showing a captured Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf.B in a field in 1945. This monster mounted a 12.8cm PaK 44 L/55 gun on Tiger II chassis and could out-range and defeat any Allied or Soviet tank. Although 150 of these vehicles were ordered for front-line duties only around eighty were produced. They were too heavy and suffered mechanical problems and did nothing to change the course of the war.
What appears to be a Polish soldier examining a knocked-out Tiger I in 1945. It has clearly been hit at the side, as twisted skirting is evident from the shell’s impact.
Two photographs of the same captured Jagdtiger. One shows the vehicle on a Gotha 80-tonne trailer being prepared to be taken to England for inspection. Although the firepower of the Jagdtiger was lethal, its mobility was restricted mainly due to fuel shortages and mechanical breakdowns. They were also very slow moving and a relatively easy target for Allied fighter-bombers.
A knocked-out Tiger I near Berlin in April 1945. This tank probably belonged to Abteilung 503 which fought in the area.