Wittman tactics

[BulgarianSoldier]

Is there any tank army that study Wittman's tactics ?

[lancesergeant]

I would have thought the British Army would have studied his tactics especially as it applied to them at Villiers Bocage and Falaise. Those that served with him commented that he had almost a sixth sense where ambushes would be, and best placement for his tank - this no doubt would have been honed on the Eastern Front. There is an interesting site on Wittman at http://www.panzerace.net

[von Poop]

There is a DVD out there on Wittman called 'Tiger Ace'. The blurb says some of the analysis is by Simon Trew who is (was?) head of war studies at Sandhurst. This would imply that Wittmans actions are covered at least at some level by modern Military training establishments.
I would have thought he'd crop up more in regards to lessons learnt in poor defence and perhaps Crew leadership rather than in sensible modern tactics?

[BulgarianSoldier]

I think Wittman must be record as one of the best tankers of all times.He use great strategy and tactics.He also show that he want to win at all cost he was ready to capture Bocage just with his tiger.

[Kiwiwriter]

Originally Posted by BulgarianSoldier

Is there any tank army that study Wittman's tactics ?

Read "Six Armies in Normandy" by John Keegan. He talks about how British and American officers went to Normandy regularly with German veterans to discuss how the Germans held off the Allied might in that June and July, training for the war they never had to fight against the Soviets for control of Europe.

[lancesergeant]

A contributing factor in no small way to the Allied losses in Normandy, with tanks made to go down narrow tracks and unable to give support to others in their troop by nature of the terrain. In hindsight, how come planners were not aware of the bocage with the roads appreciable lower than the surrounding fields- a plus to the defenders meaning tanks could be put out of action blocking up country lanes and the like and blocking the advance.

Did the planners not have prior knowledge of the ground of the lay out of the Normandy system of farming or lay of the land. Surely resistance operatives or similar could have provided photographs of these obstacles. Was it an oversight - or -was it known about and nothing could be done in the time available, so work it out as they went along.

[lancesergeant]

Originally Posted by Von Poop

There is a DVD out there on Wittman called 'Tiger Ace'. The blurb says some of the analysis is by Simon Trew who is (was?) head of war studies at Sandhurst. This would imply that Wittmans actions are covered at least at some level by modern Military training establishments.
I would have thought he'd crop up more in regards to lessons learnt in poor defence and perhaps Crew leadership rather than in sensible modern tactics?

I would have to agree on a couple of points. In the discovery documentaries about Wittman it mentions the tanks were in a line in the town of Villiers Bocage. Wittman proceeded to shoot up the line leaving them in flames (or to that effect!) I think they were London or Westminster Yeomanry, they were definitely Yeomanry of some discription. All lined up none of the tanks would be unable to return fire and in effect trapped. Effectively sitting ducks. The confined area of towns are virtual graveyards for tanks - due in part obviously to restricted mobility and vulnerability to hidden close or other wise anti - tank weapons.

[BulgarianSoldier]

I have read so much exactly about this moment in Bocage.Around Bocage was flying really much US and Brithish planes.But Wittman hide his tank in a farm house.The Bocage was really hard place for any tank every wer you can expect soldiers with bazuka.The Tanks was place in strategy position betwen two houses or inside of the houses.But as i say in my post Wittman was the best tank comander in the history of tank.Of course Patton was good too but he have a lot of tanks Wittman was just with a few Tigers who was destoryed in the Battle and only his tank was staing in the battle.But Wittman was planing to take Bocage just with his Tiger.I read a lot about this storys because i really like tanks

[redcoat]

While Wittmann is the most famous German tank ace of WW2 he wasn't the most successful.
Here's a list of the most successful aces according to official Nazi sources in WW2 .
1.Kurt Knispel –168 Kills (sPzAbt. 503)
2.Otto Carius – 150+ Kills (sPzAbt. 502)
3.Johannes (Hans) Bolter-- 139 Kills (possibly 144) (sPzAbt. 502)
4.Michael Wittman – 138 Kills (sS.S.PzAbt. 101 Liebstandarte)


Here's a post by James Blackwell a noted expert on Tigers in Normandy on how Wittmann met his death at the hands of a single Sherman Firefly

"There are a lot of conflicting and spurious accounts re Wittmann's death on Aug. 8 1944 - (just under 2 months after his famous action at Villers-Bocage) - from surrounded by 5 Canadian Shermans, to Polish Shermans, artillery/naval strike, Typhoon hit etc., etc.

But contrary to the oft quoted Typhoon strike, the latest and the ONLY one that can seemingly be substantiated with facts is, that he WAS taken out with 2 shots to his right rear flank by a single Sherman Firefly belonging to Sgt. Gordon (gunner; Trooper Joe Ekins), from 3.Plt., A.Sqn., 33.Arm. Bgd., 1.Northamptonshire Yeomanry. He and the other Tigers with him were caught totally unawares, not realizing the British had taken up a flanking position so close by, thinking the Poles ahead were their only concern.

This Firefly was hidden in a tree line with a troop of standard 75mm Shermans to Wittmann's starboard side, N.East of Gaumesnil as he moved north in command Tiger "007" (ex Heinz Von Westerhagen's, whom he had succeeded as Bttn.CO on July 10 when the former suffered complications to an earlier head wound, hence allowing Wittmann to inherit his Tiger).

Wittmann's was the last vehicle in the advance, through an open field parallel to the N158, toward the 1.Polish Arm.Div. reported to be ahead at Aignan de Cramesnil.

He did so along with 6 other Tigers, 5 of which were initially KO'd and 1 abandonned in this unexpected ambush, with the last KO'd a little later (source: "TIC 2"; p.259 text, p.290 pic., + Agte; pp.423-433 text {p.425 in particular}, p.477 pic, + pp.182-183 "Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now {a little dated and still claiming 5 Shermans and only 4 Tigers}, + p.46-53 "After the Battle" mag no. 48 - "Michael Wittmann's Last Battle" - which even has transcripts of British I/C and radio traffic describing the incidents).

The only minor glitch is that the British claim less kills than Tigers found, but in the heat of battle no one would really be keeping meticulous score).

The Agte book describes the action concisely even down to recollections from Hans Höflinger who witnessed the hits into the side wall around the fuel tank area that initially lifted and displaced the turret onto the hull top, and began a fire, before ammo cooking off sent it skyward to its final resting place behind the vehicle. The penetrations and subsequent explosions instantly killed the crew (Agte p.425 & 429). The vehicle was obviously still moving when hit and the explosions have broken both tracks while it continued rolling off them till slewing to a halt some 20 metres further on.

The Germans for a long time refused to believe he had been killed and listed him as "MIA" for morale purposes though most officers in s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 knew he had been killed. His roadside grave, where he was buried by local civilians in a communal pit, was found in 1983 based on research being done for "Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now". The research by the author led to the German War Graves Commission searching the area with metal detectors, finding the bodies and relocating his and his crew's remains to La Cambe War Cemetary where they still lie today.

Why the 'Typhoon' or 'surrounded by Shermans' (Polish or canadian) myths still persist when so much evidence now 'proves' it was a lone Firefly, is a real mystery? The Germans apparently began it as a propaganda exercise (after first listing him as MIA for a very long time), so as to
refuse admitting to the troops and public that the famed 'invincible' Tiger Ace was beaten by another tank, and made his end sound more martyr-like by implying him going down to the dreaded 'Jabo'.

Apart from everything else stacked against it, the Typhoon account suffers even further, if not fatally, due to no sorties being recorded as having flown in that area on that day from all accounts.

The engine deck damage reported by a French farmer, of questionable reliabilty anyway, could easily, and most likely, have resulted from the fuel tanks going up and the subsequent ammo explosions following the 17pdr penetration.

As for the Poles and Canadians, while both very close by, they were beaten to it by (the Squadron's 2IC), Captain (later Lord) Boardman's ambush from the treeline.

On pp.425-430 of Agte's book the story is presented fairly conclusively. Wittmann at first wasn't going to go along on the attack but at the last minute changed his mind as he felt the platoon leader Heurich was too inexperienced - this being only his first action. Apparently Wittmann was uneasy about the probe, but put this aside out of a sense of duty to to do the right thing and keep an eye on Heurich.

Advancing in the group of 6 other Tigers with Wittmann (ie. 7 total*), was Dollinger, Blase (314), Iriohn, Kisters (312?), Rolf Von Westernhagen (334?) and Hans Höflinger (who was in the other command Tiger possibly 008, or 009 - though 009 should have been Dollinger's so not sure of his mount on this attack.).

On p.425 Agte states:

"Hans Höflinger now describes the subsequent course of the attack from his experience: 'Then we drove off, Michel (sic) right of the road and I left, four others with Michel and the brother of Heinz Von Westernhagen with me. Approximately 800 meters to Michel's right there was a small wood which struck us as suspicious and which was to prove fateful to us. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the wood under observation on account of our mission. We drove about one to one-and-a half kilometres, and then I received another radio message from Michel which only confirmed my suspicions about the wood. We began taking heavy fire from anti-tank guns and once again Michel called, but didn't complete the message. When I looked out to the left I saw that Michel's tank wasn't moving. I called him by radio but received no answer. Then my tank received a frightful blow and I had to order my crew to get out as it had already begun to burn fiercely. My crew and I dashed toward the rear and got through. I stopped to look around and to my dismay discovered that five of our tanks had been knocked out. The turret of Michel's tank was displaced to the right and tilted down somewhat. None of his crew had got out. I climbed into Von Westernhagen's tank and, together with Heurich, whose Tiger was undamaged, tried to get to Michel's tank. We could not get through. Dr. Rabe also tried it, but in vain...I can state the exact time of the incident; it was 1255 hours, near the Falaise-Caen road in the vicinity of Cintheaux."

Agte then follows up on p.425 with the British account of the incident:

"...At 1240 hours Captain Boardman gave Sergeant Gordon's tank the order to fire. The Tigers were seven-hundred meters distant. The Firefly's gunner was Trooper Joe Ekins, who hit the

rearmost Tiger of the three Tigers in his sight with two shots. The Tigers had failed to spot the well-camouflaged Shermans, and it was only after the first shots had been fired and a Tiger knocked out that Wittmann transmitted the message referred to by SS-Hauptscharfuhrer Höflinger: 'Move! Attention! Attention! Anti-tank guns to the right! - Back up!...'."

On p.425 "Höflinger described how, after it was hit, the turret of Wittmann's Tiger was displaced to the right and tilted forward. That was its condition immediately after the tank was knocked out. Furthermore it is absolutely certain that the turret was blown off shortly afterward by the force of the exploding ammunition - possibly accelerated by burning fuel in the fighting compartment - and thrown several meters away from the tank. This is confirmed by the only existing photo of 007, taken by a French civilian soon after the engagement. The Tiger therefore began to burn immediately after it was hit, which by then caused the ammunition in the turret to explode. Only the tremendous force produced by the exploding armour-piercing and high-explosive shells could have torn the turret, which weighed tonnes, from the hull and then tossed it meters through air. The crew must have been killed or incapacitated when the tank was hit. The subsequent explosion then extinguished any doubts as to the fate of the five men inside 007."

Hans Dollinger the battalion signals officer, and SS-Sturmmann Alfred Bahlo his Radio Op, also recount their experiences as the lead vehicle in the attack along a similar vein to Höflinger...and say on p.429 as they make their way back from their burning Tiger with the fatally wounded Obschf. Schott "...On the way we passed the knocked out panzer of Hauptsturmführer Wittmann; the turret was blown off."

Dr. Rabe also witnessed the hit and described it in a letter to Wittmann's wife to tell her the real story: "When the attack got rolling, I drove forward several hundred meters and covered the last stretch on foot. There was quite a lot of heavy anti-tank and artillery fire. I wanted to get to Michel's (sic) tank. When I got to within about 250 to 300 meters I saw flames suddenly shoot from the tank and the turret fly off and fall to the ground. The tank then burned out completely. I still tried to reach it, but I couldn't cross the open field as the Tommy fired at solitary me with their anti-tank guns. It is unlikely Michel got out before the hit, as I would have seen him. None of the remaining crew members came back either."

Agte sums up with the following:

After evaluating all available documents on the German and English sides and interviewing the handful of survivors of this action..., one can only assume that the tank that was hit at 1247 hours, was 007. SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr.Rabe's account and the English war diary both mention that this was the only Tiger that blew up after being hit. The eight minute time discrepancy compared to that given in Höflinger's account is of little significance as the source of the error appears to be completely genuine and time discrepancies"__________________
If in doubt........Panic!!!!!!!

[von Poop]

Excellent account. Nice to see the Typhoon theory put to bed properly.

And on Tank Aces; We all know about Wittman, Carius and the like but have most probably never heard of Staff Sergeant Lafayette G. Pool.
Look him up, 258(?) vehicles destroyed but barely a mention in History even though (or perhaps because) he was on the right side.