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Both SS Nordland and SS Wiking had Tiger II's. 5 SS pzgdr Wiking had some from 509 and 11 pzgdr Nordland had at least 16 from 503. These were both elite units crewed by ideological fanatics who the Nazis considered to top tier in their racial scheme. The Nordland tanks fought IS-2's in Feb 45 at Arnswalde in Pomerania.
OoOO! Cool info, did not know that. I'd love to see a report of that fight. Two monsters face to face!
Also the lack of the of the commanders hatch (blown off) and closed driver and radio operator hatches along with the obvious fire damage indicate the cremated remains of the crew are still inside.
Also the lack of the of the commanders hatch (blown off) and closed driver and radio operator hatches along with the obvious fire damage indicate the cremated remains of the crew are still inside.
After much digging, the general consensus is that the pic is of a Tiger II fresh from the Henschel factory being used by either the 511, or 513 heavy panzer battalions near Kassel against the US 3rd Army. The color was apparently colorized after the war and that is not a Finnish marking.
How did you find that out? That's an impressive piece of digging!
I was using search terms like Finnish volunteers Tiger II and reverse swastika and came across a modeling forum with the picture and a long discussion on the camo scheme and talk about how it was colorized post war. In this discussion they mentioned Kassel so that gave me some new search terms including octopus camoflauge which lead me to Axis History Forum and the book Tigers in Combat by Wolfgang Schneifer which has uncolorized versions of the tank and attributes the tank to 3 company, heavy panzer battalion 510. The book claims it was abandoned by its crew.
I find it very interesting that the 502 tanks still had their transportation tracks installed and, apparently, never had a chance to have their "battle" tracks installed; I'm assuming this is a testament to the fact that they were rushed into battle more or less straight off of the factory floor?
"There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge
The Official History of the US Army states that the 4th Armored Division knocked out many Tiger tanks that were being unloaded from flatbeds at a train station near Kassel.
All those who are merciful with the cruel will come to be cruel to the merciful.
-Talmud Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16.
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