Tiger I

Only late, and as results on the battlefields of Russia in 1941 were to prove, too late,
was the construction of heavy tanks advocated. This resulted in a too-quick decision with the
resulting disadvantages, anf inally too meager production. And training suffered too.

The Tiger I, shown here, first saw service at the end of August 1942 (Unit 502) near
Leningrad, in December of 1942 (Unit 501) in Tunis, North Africa, and January 1943 (Unit
503) near Rostov on the Don. Its first major action came in July of 1943 in Operation
“Citadel” (Kursk), in which 146 Tiger I tanks took part. After that it saw service on all fronts,
though in small numbers.

The crew were not always made up of old experienced tank soldiers. Often they were
young retrainees from other service arms and young replacements. The training center was the
barracks of Panzer Regiment 11 in Paderborn, along with the nearby Senne training camp.
There are scarcely any members of Tiger units who did not get to know this area. The units
were numbered 501 to 510. They were independent units that were put into action by the high
command at vital points. In addition, the three SS Panzer corps gained Tiger units, and the
Grossdeutschland volunteer division of the army was given a Tiger company, which was later
enlarged into a unit. Unit 502 was later renumbered 511, 503 joined the Feldherrnhalle.
Panzer Division and 509 went to the Fuhrer Escort Division.

Passchendaele

The Third Battle of Ypres, often known today as Passchendaele, the evocative name of
the British were fighting to capture, and a battle which almost had the same disastrous
consequences for the morale of the British Army as the Nivelle Offensive had done for the
French.

Bringing Gough’s Fifth Army up to the front at Ypres menat that a delay of almost
seven weeks occured before the offensive could begin, giving the Germans, who had been
alerted to the likelihood of a British attack by the Battle of Messines, plenty of the time to
reinforce their defences and bring up reserves. As there was not enough time to dig mines, a
huge artillery bombardament was undertaken for two weeks before the infantry attack began,
confirming to the Germans that it was coming, so that, when it began on 31 July, they were
prepared for it, employing their “elastic defence” to good effect. As the German
counterattacks began in the afternoon, taking back the territory they had lost in the morning,
heavy rain began to fall. It was a sign of what was to come, that August being the wettest in
living memory, causing the lowlying ground to become waterlogged because the extensive
drainage systems in the region had been destroyed by artillery shells. The battlefield became a
nightmarish landscape of mud and water-filled shell holes, ensuring that any attempts to
attack quickly bogged down and use of tank became impossible. Extensive networks of
duckboards were laid down across the mud to allow for movement to and from the front, but
it was slow and laborious and, should anybody be unfortunate enough to slip and fall off the
duckboards, they were in serious danger of disappearing without trace in the mud.