Commissar Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 Was this little character used beyond the Kursk battle? If so, until when? Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 Here is a clear picture of the critter - http://www.panzer-vi.fsnet.co.uk/east29.html It is always seen on Tiger Is only, because it was a unit symbol of the schwere Panzer company of 2 Panzer regiment, 2SS. Not of the whole division nor of all of its armor - just the Tigers. Later on, the SS Panzer divisions lost their organic Tigers; they were moved up to the corps level, organizationally speaking, as independent Tiger battalions. That changeover happened before the King Tiger came out. This page explains the origin and use (see the caption of the second picture - brief but to the point) - http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/tiger1_in_action_2.htm It was originally a unit symbol of a transport company in Kharkov, adopted by this one Tiger company. [ 08-19-2001: Message edited by: JasonC ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine59 Posted August 20, 2001 Share Posted August 20, 2001 One source, "Tigers in Combat II" states the symbol was in use from Kursk until the end of 1943. That was what I suspected after I read your post but before I had a chance to look it up. The main reason it was dropped after that is I suspect, related to Jason's comments about the removal of the SS Tiger companies as organic parts of the SS Panzer Divisions and the creation of Schwere Panzer Abteilungen. So I would guess it would be safe to assume it was seen in the late summer and fall battles on the East Front in 1943, but not present when Das Reich was in the west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar Posted August 20, 2001 Author Share Posted August 20, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by highlife: One source, "Tigers in Combat II" states the symbol was in use from Kursk until the end of 1943. That was what I suspected after I read your post but before I had a chance to look it up. The main reason it was dropped after that is I suspect, related to Jason's comments about the removal of the SS Tiger companies as organic parts of the SS Panzer Divisions and the creation of Schwere Panzer Abteilungen. So I would guess it would be safe to assume it was seen in the late summer and fall battles on the East Front in 1943, but not present when Das Reich was in the west.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Crap. I wanted to make a late model Tiger 1 E model with the gnome but that would be utterly inaccurate. I'll either have to switch to the early model Tiger or model something else like GrossDeutschland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine59 Posted August 20, 2001 Share Posted August 20, 2001 A little more research shows a photo captioned as being just after the final action of the DR Tiger Co in very late 1943 and the gnome is clearly visible but definately the early model Tiger I. Unlike the SS tigers, the GD Tiger Co stayed as part of GD for the duration so that is a possibility for a mod too. Of interest, the late 1943 photos I refer to also have the Kursk DR division tactical symbol "Doppelrune" as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar Posted August 20, 2001 Author Share Posted August 20, 2001 Actually, why did the GD get to keep their organic Tiger company while the SS Panzer divisions didn't? Not to say GD didn't deserve them. I would figure that Hitler would have wanted his favored SS panzer divisions to keep their organic Tigers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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