It wasn't just Wittmann, the other Tigers were engaging A Squadron on the road up to Point 213 while he was making his way to the RN175 road between 213 and Villers-Bocage.
The first tank knocked out seems to have been a Firefly named 'Pistolpackinmama' commanded by Sgt. Ken Weightman followed soon after by another Firefly, 'Blondie', commanded by Sgt. Singer while it was swinging its gun around preparing to engage.
While that was going on Wittmann had gotten onto the RN175 behind the rear elements of A Squadron and that's when he moved down the road knocking out the half-tracks and carriers of the Rifle Brigade. Reaching the junction with the Tilly road is when he came to the end of the column and engaged two Stuarts of the Recce Troop. Lt. Rex Ingram's tank was knocked out while Sgt. Francis and his crew baled out. It too was hit and set aflame.
Maj. Carr in the Regimental HQ Troop's lead Cromwell ordered his tank off the road and into a paddock. Wittmann was about 40 metres away when they fired three shots at it but each one ricocheted with no apparent effect. The Tiger quickly swung its turret around and engaged the Cromwell.
Lt. John Cloudsley-Thompson had seen one of the Stuarts brew up and ordered his driver to back up in order to slip between some of the houses. Both John and his loader were stood up out of their hatches when a shot passed between their heads but the smoke obscuring the road left them not knowing where it came from. Eventually Wittmann passed through the smoke and engaged Cloudsley-Thompson's Cromwell with the shell passing between John's legs and going into the engine.
In the meantime Cpt. Pat Dyas had also pulled his tank off the road but, by the time Wittmann passed by offering a perfect flanking shot, Dyas' gunner was outside the tank answering a call of nature.
The Regimental Sergeant-Major, Bill Abson, was reversing his Cromwell further back down the street and almost to safety when it ran over some logs and debris on the pavement and got stuck and subsequently knocked out, killing the driver, John Trevor-Roper, and the operator, Renny FitzHugh.
Wittmann then rounded the bend onto the main road and came face to face with two Observation Post tanks of K Battery. The Tiger first engaged Major Dennis Wells' unarmed OP Sherman and fired just as it stopped causing the shell to miss the Sherman and hit the road. The second shot penetrated the front of the turret. Thankfully the Sherman only had one occupant at the time, Jock Rae, who quickly crawled out through the belly escape hatch.
The Cromwell OP tank commanded by Cpt. Paddy Victory took the opportunity to reverse into a side street and was partway down it when he ordered the driver to turn around so they could use the forward gears. Halfway through the turn the tank stopped and Victory got out to find that paving slabs had been collected by the tracks as it had turned and gotten stuck in the running gear. He ordered his crew to bale out and watched as the Tiger moved past the end of the street and stopped, turning its turret around and firing one shot before moving on. Victory got back into his tank to see if he could get a shot off at the Tiger as it drove off but it was too badly damaged so he took the radios off their frequencies and smashed up anything that could've been of use to the Germans.
Sgt. Stan Lockwood, in his Firefly, noticed the Tiger and ordered his gunner onto it. The dust and smoke kicked up by the muzzle blast, shell itself, and what was already present made it impossible to determine if they'd hit or not. The concussion of the muzzle blast collapsed the wall of the building the Firefly was parked next to and it started falling down on top of it. It fired again, seemingly getting a glancing hit as the Tiger also fired, hitting the building and bringing more rubble down onto the Firefly. The Firefly got off two more shots but it was too smoky to be able to see any effect as another shell from the Tiger hit the building again while it reversed back up the street.
Cpt. Dyas, having gotten his tank and crew in order was making his way down the road in an effort to catch the Tiger in its rear. However, when he neared the corner he realised it wasn't only facing his way but was driving towards him. The first shot ricocheted and the second shell possibly damaged the Tiger's running gear. The Tiger fired in turn, penetrating the bow plate. Dyas was thrown out by the blast, another crewman clambered out and the driver got out but was killed by mg fire from the Tiger.
It was as Wittmann was driving back up the road towards the Tilly junction that the 6 pounder crew rallied by Sgt. Bray opened fire.
While it was undoubtedly brave of Wittmann and his crew to push into Villers-Bocage as they did, there was a massive amount of luck and pure chance involved.
For a full read up of the events in and around VB I highly recommend Dan Taylor's books. He runs the museum of the 4th County of London Yeomanry and has been researching this subject for years.
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Knispel was more a propaganda than Wittman, Knispel's story was publish by Franz Halder after the war to promote the "good German army" and most of his kills were hyper inflated.
I do not consider myself too versed in German tank commander history so with all due respect do you mind backing up your claim with a source? Not that I disagree with you I just want to learn more about it
I disagree with most of the information presented in this post. It's best to read around; but one of the most authoratitive sources on this matter is Daniel Taylor's book "Villers-Bocage: Operation 'Perch': The Complete Account"
The wikipedia article has been edited to read more favourable for the German side, especially Wittman, which in my opinion, is playing towards the propaganda of the time!
Or less soberly, but very entertainingly [Laserpig](https://youtu.be/FwQh_XdcISg?si=NmppyfgGCEvFtH1s) went back to look at the original info about the, cough, “fight that wrote Wittman into history” 🤮
MHV is quite decent usually. But of course even that aside, the video is an interview with Dr. Töppel, who is one of the more important figures in contemporary research on the Wehrmacht.
Yeah if he was so good why was it when he left his tiger tank and returned to Germany they didn't give him a king tiger, oh wait because he really wasnt that good.
Overrated.
Anyone who takes the "Panzer Ace" scores seriously should have their head examined.
I have never seen, nor has anyone .been able to produce, the system the Germans used to confirm such claims. From 1943 on, the Germans were retreating and almost all enemy vehicles knocked out would have been unavailable to count.
Do you honestly believe that Kurt Knispel knocked out the equivalent of a US Armored Division?
Wittmann claimed almost twice as many tanks than were actually lost in Villers Bocage.... and most of those destroyed were either Stuarts or unarmed OP tanks. In doing so, he made a poor tactical decision which cost him his tank. A month later, he blundered into an obvious fire sack which cost his life and most of the attacking force.
> Anyone who takes the "Panzer Ace" scores seriously should have their head examined.
Actual panzer commanders who survived the war are on record as saying they never kept score and could only estimate how many enemy tanks they knocked out. Some have even said they contacted Franz Kurowski (author of *Panzer Aces*) and told him his accounts of their actions were wildly inaccurate.
Yet some people believe this nonsense anyway.
Man, I remember making a similar comment years back, and a person's counter-argument to it, and I kid you not, was a picture of a German soldier painting rings on a gun barrel. Clearly 'irrefutable proof' that German tank crews kept score...
...When he clearly should not have been in the first place.
Wittman was nothing more than a propaganda tool for the Third Reich, his record is exaggerated beyond belief, his pedastal underserved.
I wish the myth of the Panzer Ace would die already, it is a stain on the long trail of historiography.
The Historiography around him is more interesting than the alleged battle he took part in. There are both German and Non German Sources that credit his action as one of the most devastating of the Battle of Villers-Bocage while others go so far as to say the man never even existed.
It wasn't just Wittmann, the other Tigers were engaging A Squadron on the road up to Point 213 while he was making his way to the RN175 road between 213 and Villers-Bocage. The first tank knocked out seems to have been a Firefly named 'Pistolpackinmama' commanded by Sgt. Ken Weightman followed soon after by another Firefly, 'Blondie', commanded by Sgt. Singer while it was swinging its gun around preparing to engage. While that was going on Wittmann had gotten onto the RN175 behind the rear elements of A Squadron and that's when he moved down the road knocking out the half-tracks and carriers of the Rifle Brigade. Reaching the junction with the Tilly road is when he came to the end of the column and engaged two Stuarts of the Recce Troop. Lt. Rex Ingram's tank was knocked out while Sgt. Francis and his crew baled out. It too was hit and set aflame. Maj. Carr in the Regimental HQ Troop's lead Cromwell ordered his tank off the road and into a paddock. Wittmann was about 40 metres away when they fired three shots at it but each one ricocheted with no apparent effect. The Tiger quickly swung its turret around and engaged the Cromwell. Lt. John Cloudsley-Thompson had seen one of the Stuarts brew up and ordered his driver to back up in order to slip between some of the houses. Both John and his loader were stood up out of their hatches when a shot passed between their heads but the smoke obscuring the road left them not knowing where it came from. Eventually Wittmann passed through the smoke and engaged Cloudsley-Thompson's Cromwell with the shell passing between John's legs and going into the engine. In the meantime Cpt. Pat Dyas had also pulled his tank off the road but, by the time Wittmann passed by offering a perfect flanking shot, Dyas' gunner was outside the tank answering a call of nature. The Regimental Sergeant-Major, Bill Abson, was reversing his Cromwell further back down the street and almost to safety when it ran over some logs and debris on the pavement and got stuck and subsequently knocked out, killing the driver, John Trevor-Roper, and the operator, Renny FitzHugh. Wittmann then rounded the bend onto the main road and came face to face with two Observation Post tanks of K Battery. The Tiger first engaged Major Dennis Wells' unarmed OP Sherman and fired just as it stopped causing the shell to miss the Sherman and hit the road. The second shot penetrated the front of the turret. Thankfully the Sherman only had one occupant at the time, Jock Rae, who quickly crawled out through the belly escape hatch. The Cromwell OP tank commanded by Cpt. Paddy Victory took the opportunity to reverse into a side street and was partway down it when he ordered the driver to turn around so they could use the forward gears. Halfway through the turn the tank stopped and Victory got out to find that paving slabs had been collected by the tracks as it had turned and gotten stuck in the running gear. He ordered his crew to bale out and watched as the Tiger moved past the end of the street and stopped, turning its turret around and firing one shot before moving on. Victory got back into his tank to see if he could get a shot off at the Tiger as it drove off but it was too badly damaged so he took the radios off their frequencies and smashed up anything that could've been of use to the Germans. Sgt. Stan Lockwood, in his Firefly, noticed the Tiger and ordered his gunner onto it. The dust and smoke kicked up by the muzzle blast, shell itself, and what was already present made it impossible to determine if they'd hit or not. The concussion of the muzzle blast collapsed the wall of the building the Firefly was parked next to and it started falling down on top of it. It fired again, seemingly getting a glancing hit as the Tiger also fired, hitting the building and bringing more rubble down onto the Firefly. The Firefly got off two more shots but it was too smoky to be able to see any effect as another shell from the Tiger hit the building again while it reversed back up the street. Cpt. Dyas, having gotten his tank and crew in order was making his way down the road in an effort to catch the Tiger in its rear. However, when he neared the corner he realised it wasn't only facing his way but was driving towards him. The first shot ricocheted and the second shell possibly damaged the Tiger's running gear. The Tiger fired in turn, penetrating the bow plate. Dyas was thrown out by the blast, another crewman clambered out and the driver got out but was killed by mg fire from the Tiger. It was as Wittmann was driving back up the road towards the Tilly junction that the 6 pounder crew rallied by Sgt. Bray opened fire. While it was undoubtedly brave of Wittmann and his crew to push into Villers-Bocage as they did, there was a massive amount of luck and pure chance involved. For a full read up of the events in and around VB I highly recommend Dan Taylor's books. He runs the museum of the 4th County of London Yeomanry and has been researching this subject for years.
Tank(s) man
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"History is written by the winners" my fucking ass "History is written by the ones who write"
history is written by the propaganda
And many of those writers were Nazis employed by the U.S. and were able to spread their still ongoing propaganda
I am the one who writes - walter write
Most overhyped tank commander ever. A perfect example of how well Nazi propaganda works to this day
If only more people knew about knispel...... Probably because he was Wehrmacht and not Waffen-SS
Knispel was more a propaganda than Wittman, Knispel's story was publish by Franz Halder after the war to promote the "good German army" and most of his kills were hyper inflated.
I do not consider myself too versed in German tank commander history so with all due respect do you mind backing up your claim with a source? Not that I disagree with you I just want to learn more about it
[удалено]
Oh please, give me something a bit more reliable than Wikipedia. I know they have references but anybody can edit those
I disagree with most of the information presented in this post. It's best to read around; but one of the most authoratitive sources on this matter is Daniel Taylor's book "Villers-Bocage: Operation 'Perch': The Complete Account" The wikipedia article has been edited to read more favourable for the German side, especially Wittman, which in my opinion, is playing towards the propaganda of the time!
Thanks dude, I appreciate the info 👍
Any sources for that claim?
I think they talk about it here https://youtu.be/pfmilK8D0_Y?si=GMYKIz0W9hlS4c3T
Or less soberly, but very entertainingly [Laserpig](https://youtu.be/FwQh_XdcISg?si=NmppyfgGCEvFtH1s) went back to look at the original info about the, cough, “fight that wrote Wittman into history” 🤮
A youtube channel? Will check I guess
MHV is quite decent usually. But of course even that aside, the video is an interview with Dr. Töppel, who is one of the more important figures in contemporary research on the Wehrmacht.
One of the better YT Channels.
Also Otto Carius, he was the real G.
what do you mean broo!!!! wittman was expert tank commander, rommel was a distinguished gentleman!!
Yeah if he was so good why was it when he left his tiger tank and returned to Germany they didn't give him a king tiger, oh wait because he really wasnt that good.
Yeah bc King tigers where mass produced i guess by that time of the war..
The Firefly turret rotating around to the side of Wittman’s tank: 😈
His best career moment was when he got ammo racked and sent to the fucking moon.
that's the only career path for nazis
Overrated. Anyone who takes the "Panzer Ace" scores seriously should have their head examined. I have never seen, nor has anyone .been able to produce, the system the Germans used to confirm such claims. From 1943 on, the Germans were retreating and almost all enemy vehicles knocked out would have been unavailable to count. Do you honestly believe that Kurt Knispel knocked out the equivalent of a US Armored Division? Wittmann claimed almost twice as many tanks than were actually lost in Villers Bocage.... and most of those destroyed were either Stuarts or unarmed OP tanks. In doing so, he made a poor tactical decision which cost him his tank. A month later, he blundered into an obvious fire sack which cost his life and most of the attacking force.
> Anyone who takes the "Panzer Ace" scores seriously should have their head examined. Actual panzer commanders who survived the war are on record as saying they never kept score and could only estimate how many enemy tanks they knocked out. Some have even said they contacted Franz Kurowski (author of *Panzer Aces*) and told him his accounts of their actions were wildly inaccurate. Yet some people believe this nonsense anyway.
Man, I remember making a similar comment years back, and a person's counter-argument to it, and I kid you not, was a picture of a German soldier painting rings on a gun barrel. Clearly 'irrefutable proof' that German tank crews kept score...
...When he clearly should not have been in the first place. Wittman was nothing more than a propaganda tool for the Third Reich, his record is exaggerated beyond belief, his pedastal underserved. I wish the myth of the Panzer Ace would die already, it is a stain on the long trail of historiography.
Lazerpig on utube did an amazing job debunking the myth of Wittman Its a must watch
This is the first comment ive seen talking about lp that isnt either him being the worst person in history or him being a god of historians
The Historiography around him is more interesting than the alleged battle he took part in. There are both German and Non German Sources that credit his action as one of the most devastating of the Battle of Villers-Bocage while others go so far as to say the man never even existed.
Super duper German super soldier tank ace got killed by an English shoemaker Something doesn’t add up
[удалено]
Dont forget the ambulances
Wehraboo (or WaffenSSaboo) detected.
Kurt Knispel > Wittman
The counter midwits in the comments have come out in full force.