crew

Inside the Tiger

Crew Pre-war tanks tended to have two-man turrets with the commander and gunner often loading and manning machine guns, their multiple tasks having a detrimental effect on efficiency.The Tiger followed the standard German practice from the Panzer III onwards of having a three-man turret which enabled each man to concentrate on his most important task.The commander directed the task and found targets, the gunner located the targets in his sight and engaged them, the loader making sure that the correct ammunition armour-piercing or high-explosive was loaded for each specific target.At its best a well-drilled Tiger crew made the Tiger an even more formidable fighting machine.
	Commander The most important member of the crew who directed the vehicle in action also served as the primary means of locating targets.Seated at the left rear of the turret the commander had a rotating cupola equipped with vision blocks giving limited all-around vision even when the tank was fully 'buttoned up'.
	Radio Operator Seated in the right front of the Tigers hull the radio operator also manned the machine gun mounted in the front plate of the hull.This was primarily used as an anti-infantry weapon.
	Driver Seated next to the radio operator in the left front of the hull the driver was tasked with driving the heavy vehicle as smoothly as possible and was often the oldest most mature member of the crew.
	Gunner Sitting in the left of the turret immediately in front of and below the commander the gunner controlled turret traverse and used a Turmzielfernrohr 9B or 9C sight to acquire targets.
	Loader Located in the right of the turret the loader was responsible for choosing and loading the type of ammunition specified by the gunner.