Guest machineman Posted January 17, 2001 Share Posted January 17, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Phil/1: Don't Know if this is true or not but I read somewhere (can't remember where) that one Jagdtiger sat on a hill was responsable for knocking out an entire regiment of allied tanks in the Ardennes in 1944. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That rung a bell. Here, from George Forty's 'German Tanks of WWII', a story from George himself: Jagdtiger (SdKfz 186) As a very young officer, newly commissioned in the summer of 1948, I remember vividly being taken to visit the battlefields in the Ardennes area and coming across what seemed to be an entire regiment of Sherman tanks which had been completely annihilated. There were Shermans lying in heaps everywhere one looked, turrets blown off, hulls ripped apart, most had clearly been brewed up - not for nothing was Sherman known as the 'Tommy Cooker'. They had been advancing with the grain of the country and had clearly been taken by surprise from a flank. The follow-up echelon had then turned right-handed towards their tormentor, but had found little cover along their new line of advance. The author of all this carnage was one single Jagdtiger, whose immense bulk still occupied a perfect fire position in a farmyard at the top of a commanding hill feature. The Jagdtiger itself had been burnt out either by air attack, or perhaps by its own crew when they ran out of ammunition. The memory of the scene has remained with me for nearly 40 years, a perfect example of a tank destroyer doing its deadly work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolfLord Posted January 17, 2001 Share Posted January 17, 2001 Jeezus...that post perfectly conjures vivid images of the tank hunter in my mind. The JagdTiger remains my fav. AFV of the war. I'd love to have one to just drive around town in...unloaded of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil/1 Posted January 17, 2001 Share Posted January 17, 2001 How many tanks were in a regiment? I worked out 768 for a normal Us reg off Western Front (the game), but it seems quite alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted January 17, 2001 Share Posted January 17, 2001 The term "Regiment" means different things to different people. In the US it means a grouping of Battalions. In the UK and countries with British links, an Infantry Regiment is also made up of Bns (eg 2nd Bn, The Parrachute Regiment "2 Parra") whereas armoured unit Regiments are made up of Squadrons which are Company equivalents. So 1RTR (1st Royal Tank Regiment) is roughly the same size as 2Parra (both commanded by a LTCOL), even though 2 Parra is only one Bn of the Parra Regt. So depending on the author's nationality / background this could make a major difference to the numbers involved. I can't remember the exact figures but given the JagdTigers first line ammo load, I suspect it would have been a US Bn that was destroyed (unless the Germans had a major cache of 128mm rounds near the vehicle). hope that's not too confusing. ------------------ Regards, Mark:-{) Getting in line for a Mercury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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