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| As an NCO Michael Wittmann had commanded armored cars and assault guns in Poland, France and Greece serving with the Leibstandarte-SS as it evolved from Hilter's bodyguard to a fully-fledged armored division.Sent to the SS-Junkerschule at Bad Tolz in Bavaria, he returned to the division as a officer in 1943.There he was made a section commander in the Tiger equipped schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung or heavy SS Panzer Battalion 13.He quickly turned his regular crew-Woll , Berger , Kirschner and Pollmann-into a lethal team , knocking out 30 Soviet tanks , 28 anti-tank guns and two artillery batteries during the Battle of Kursk.By 9 January 1944 when he was awarded the Knight's Cross Wittmann's score stood at 66 tanks and as if to celebrate the award of the decoration he shot up 19 T-34's and three heavy assault guns.On the 20th he was promoted to SS-Obersturmfuhrer and ten days later added the Oakleaves to his Knight's Cross.By the time he was transferred to France Wittmann's score stood at 117 tanks and assault guns. |
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Three tank officers in front of their Tiger I in Charkow Russia in the fall of 1943. Officers from left to right are SS-Unterstrumführer (Lieutenant) Wenndorff , SS-Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) W.Schütz and SS-Unterstrumführer M.Wittmann. Note ten victory rings on barrel of the 88mm gun. |
| On the morning of the 13th of June 1944 Michael Wittmann took four Tigers from sSSPzAbt 101,(the heavy tank unit of the 1st SS Panzer corps)and,with a solitary Panzer IV flanked a column of the British 7th Armoured Division moving out of the Villers-Bocage,near Hill 213 on the road towards Caen.Wittmann brought his own tank forward and in one astonishing feat destroyed 25 British tanks,14 half tracks and 14 Bren gun carriers.Wittmann then entered the town where his tank knocked out three Cromwell cruiser tanks-a fourth escaped by reversing out of sight into a side road.He continued down the hill through the town but when he rounded a corner was confronted by a squadron of Cromwells with at least one Sherman Firefly armed with the powerful 17-pounder gun.Wittmann's Tiger took a hit from the Sherman and was forced to move back through the town.Here he met the surviving Cromwell from the earlier encounter,which managed to land two hits before it was destroyed. In subsequent close-range fighting in the town Wittmann's Tiger had a track blown off and he was obliged to bail out.Nine days later he was awarded Swords to his Knight's Cross. Michael Wittmenn died in action south of Caen on the 8th of August 1944.Initially the kill was thought to have been made by five Shermans and Sherman Firefly tanks which surrounded the lone Tiger,and Wittmann's scalp was claimed by Polish,Canadian and British armored troops.However,the best evidence indicates that the tank was destroyed by rocket-firing Typhoon ground-attack fighters.In less then two years commanding a Tiger Wittmann's score reached 138 tanks and assault guns and 132 anti-tank guns,making him the top tank ace of WWII,and possibly of all time. |
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One of the Germans Armys most Successful tank commanders : Hauptsturmführer Michel Wittmann and his crew standing in front of their Tiger I Tank showing the 88 kill-marks on the gun barrel . All made on the Eastern Front. Wittmann who was 24 years had a very young crew. (Left to Right) : Richtschütze 19 years : Funker 18 years : Ladeschütze 17 years and driver 19 years |
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Born: 22 April 1914 in Vogelthal/Oberplatz. Died: Killed in action on August 8, 1944, around Cintheaux Gaumesnil near Caen, France. Buried:De La Cambe, France - German Military Cemetery. |
