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don't think so, the front drive (both sprockets & the curved front drive housing) is down where its supposed to be on both sides. Granted, there are idlers on both sides up higher than an ordinary track frame but are they mounted there or just get pushed up ,out of position, seems weird that both sides would have idlers pushed up to an almost same position... an explosion that would do that would surely distort that tank more than it is. The catastrophic separation theory doesn't explain the amount of track showing on the close side... from the photo angle I would say that, on the close side there is at least 1.5 times the length of track required for a conventional track frame. It looks to me like there are two, solid purpose-built supports, one on each side in the interior that is holding it up.
 
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fingers284 said:
don't think so, the front drive (both sprockets & the curved front drive housing) is down where its supposed to be on both sides. Granted, there are idlers on both sides up higher than an ordinary track frame but are they mounted there or just get pushed up ,out of position, seems weird that both sides would have idlers pushed up to an almost same position... an explosion that would do that would surely distort that tank more than it is. The catastrophic separation theory doesn't explain the amount of track showing on the close side... from the photo angle I would say that, on the close side there is at least 1.5 times the length of track required for a conventional track frame. It looks to me like there are two, solid purpose-built supports, one on each side in the interior that is holding it up.
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Nope, nope, nope. The front right drive (left side) is under and behind the right idler. This is a destroyed tank. See post 9702 for a better angle and description
 
shredder said:
I wonder if any of the crew survived?

Given the extensive damage, somehow I doubt it.
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Distruction displayed here is usually followed by a "cook off" that usually kills the crew if the initial explosion hasn't.

Michael Wittmans 007 Tiger 1 after the engine compartment was hit by a Tempests Missile.

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Ganderite said:
I thought Whitman was hit broadside by a Firefly.
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Well that is open for debate. Some say the Firefly and some say an airplane.

This is contradicted by Allied records and the fact that, Contemporaneous Nazi propaganda reports contended that Allied aircraft struck Witmann's tank, stating that he had fallen in combat to the "dreaded fighter-bombers". In a post-war account, the French civilian Serge Varin, who took the only known photograph of the destroyed tank, claimed that he found an unexploded rocket nearby, and that that he saw no other penetration holes in the tank.
 
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Sqr said:
Well that is open for debate. Some say the Firefly and some say an airplane.

This is contradicted by Allied records and the fact that, Contemporaneous Nazi propaganda reports contended that Allied aircraft struck Witmann's tank, stating that he had fallen in combat to the "dreaded fighter-bombers". In a post-war account, the French civilian Serge Varin, who took the only known photograph of the destroyed tank, claimed that he found an unexploded rocket nearby, and that that he saw no other penetration holes in the tank.
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I believe the Firefly is an aircraft, carried rockets but not missiles.
 
"Who killed Whittman" is World War Two's "Who Killed Richthofen".

By the way, there's a very good case for Australian ground fire having done Manfred. But to soften the blow, here's a nice pic of Brown:

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There's been an awful lot written about who killed Wittman. The best bets are either a Firefly shot from the 1st Northampshire Yeomanry or the Sherbrooke Fusiliers. Radley-Walters was a sqn comd in the Sherbrookes who participated in the action at Cintheaux during Op Totalize. In later years he said that he had never heard of Wittman, but the important thing was that somebody had gotten him.

Wittman has achieved cult status and his grave has become a shrine with lots of visitors. When I was in Normandy last year I visited the Cdn War Cemetery at Cintheaux and had no wish to visit Wittman's grave.
 
purple said:
There's been an awful lot written about who killed Wittman. The best bets are either a Firefly shot from the 1st Northampshire Yeomanry or the Sherbrooke Fusiliers. Radley-Walters was a sqn comd in the Sherbrookes who participated in the action at Cintheaux during Op Totalize. In later years he said that he had never heard of Wittman, but the important thing was that somebody had gotten him.

Wittman has achieved cult status and his grave has become a shrine with lots of visitors. When I was in Normandy last year I visited the Cdn War Cemetery at Cintheaux and had no wish to visit Wittman's grave.
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Any allied commander or any army commander in theater who is worth anything knew who Michael Whitman was because his 135 kill is what made him a cult following. Regardless of his affiliation his military exploits stood him above many and should be regarded in the same breath as Rommel or Patton.

In one engagement In less than fifteen minutes, thirteen-fourteen tanks, two anti-tank guns, and thirteen-fifteen transport vehicles had been destroyed by the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101, the vast majority attributed to Wittmann. Some historians and authors of the late twentieth-century found Wittmann's actions at Villers-Bocage impressive, describing his attack as "one of the most amazing engagements in the history of armoured warfare", "one of the most devastating single-handed actions of the war", and "one of the most devastating ambushes in British military history" -- Wiki
 
Wittman was a low ranking officer and was very effective at his job. He would not have been known to very many outside the German forces at the time. I think S.V. Radley-Walters, who was in the thick of things in Europe and survived 3 Sherman KO's as well as knocking out 18 German tanks to become the leading Canadian tank killer, said it best. Radley-Walters went on to have a very successful career and helped to train many young soldiers in our post-war Army, self included, while Wittman went on to fertilize the soil of France. That's the fortunes of war.

I visited the ground where all of the major Canadian tank battles were fought in Normandy and saw some of the cemeteries, incl the ones near Villiers Bocage, which Wittman helped to fill. He's no hero to me and it was a good thing that he was killed before he could do any more damage. I avoided going anywhere near his grave.
 
purple said:
Wittman was a low ranking officer and was very effective at his job. He would not have been known to very many outside the German forces at the time. I think S.V. Radley-Walters, who was in the thick of things in Europe and survived 3 Sherman KO's as well as knocking out 18 German tanks to become the leading Canadian tank killer, said it best. Radley-Walters went on to have a very successful career and helped to train many young soldiers in our post-war Army, self included, while Wittman went on to fertilize the soil of France. That's the fortunes of war.

I visited the ground where all of the major Canadian tank battles were fought in Normandy and saw some of the cemeteries, incl the ones near Villiers Bocage, which Wittman helped to fill. He's no hero to me and it was a good thing that he was killed before he could do any more damage. I avoided going anywhere near his grave.
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As I said anybody in the know knew who he was and maybe the lowly front line soldier was kept in the dark. The Allies worked to psychologically hide and control the "Tiger Terror" and maybe avoided talking about Panzer Aces, particularly Mike.

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