Many who are fond of the history of World War II are familiar with the name of Michael Wittmann - one of the best German tank aces. He can be compared with such famous air aces as Rudel or Pokryshkin, but unlike them, he fought on the ground. By June 14, 1944, Wittmann had 138 destroyed tanks and 132 guns, most of which were on the Eastern Front, but the battle that wrote Wittmann in history took place on June 13 in Normandy near the town of Villers-Bocage.
Michael Wittmann
Wittmann was born on April 22, 1914 in Bavaria. From 1934 he served in the Wehrmacht, from 1936 in the SS troops. Took part in the most successful blitzkrieg operations against Poland, France and Greece. During the invasion of the USSR, he commanded a platoon of assault guns, from 1943 he received a platoon of Tigers under his command. On the Tigris, Wittmann took part in the Battle of the Kursk Bulge. It was with the help of the Tiger tank that Wittmann and his crew managed to achieve such significant victories.
From the spring of 1944, Wittmann served in Normandy, under his command was the 2nd company of the 101st heavy tank battalion as part of the 1st tank division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". It was with this company that Wittmann fought his most famous battle, defeating the intelligence of the 7th British Armored Division, nicknamed "Desert Rats" for its successes in Africa, near the town of Villers-Bocage. In this battle, not only Wittmann's skill was most clearly manifested, but also the superiority of the German Tiger tank over the armored vehicles of the Allies. During the fleeting battle, which took less than half an hour, Wittmann's tank destroyed 11 Allied tanks, 13 armored personnel carriers and 2 anti-tank guns. Largely thanks to the decisive actions of Michael Wittmann, the British breakthrough in the direction of Villers-Bocage was eliminated.
Michael Wittmann on his tank
Michael Wittmann was killed in action on August 8, 1944. His tank was hit from the air by a missile fired by the Royal Air Force Hawker "Typhoon" Mk.1B attack aircraft. The rocket hit the rear of the hull, pierced the left radiator grille and exploded. The explosion of the rocket provoked an explosion in the engine compartment and detonation of ammunition, an explosion from the Tiger tore off the tower, the entire crew of the tank was killed. At the time of his death, Wittmann was a knight's cross with oak leaves and swords. To emphasize the honor of the award, it is worth noting that only 160 people were awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.
Tank Tiger
In total, 1354 Tiger tanks were produced in Germany during the war years. Without a doubt, it was one of the best heavy tanks of the Second World War. Its layout provided very comfortable working conditions for the crew, primarily in battle, and made it possible to conveniently place all the internal units. Maintenance of the transmission could be carried out from inside the tank. Along with this, its serious repair required the dismantling of the tower.
The transmission and controls of the tank are worth mentioning separately. Nothing even close from the point of view of the convenience of the driver at that time simply did not exist, the only exception is the "King Tiger", which had a similar transmission. Due to the use of an automatic hydraulic servo drive to control a tank weighing 56 tons, it was not required to exert any strong physical efforts. Gears could be switched literally with two fingers. Turning the tank was carried out by slightly turning the steering wheel. Controlling the tiger was so simple and convenient that any crew member who did not have special skills could handle it, which was especially important in combat conditions.
There is no need to talk in detail about the armament of this tank. The high performance of its 88mm KwK 36 cannon is well known. It can only be emphasized that the quality of the sights used fully corresponded to the remarkable characteristics of the gun itself. Zeiss optics allowed German tankers to achieve hits on targets at distances of up to 4 km. The characteristics of the 88-mm gun - armor penetration, rate of fire, dimensions and weight - indicate that in 1942 the Germans made the absolutely right choice, providing their heavy tank with superiority in terms of armament for the future.
At the same time, at short ranges of combat, the Tiger was deprived of its advantages in armor protection and weapons. He could not maneuver intensively. Here its main drawback was affected - the excessively large mass, which was associated with the irrational arrangement of the armor plates of the hull, as well as the use of a chassis using a staggered arrangement of rollers.
By arranging armor plates with rational slopes, the designers of the Panther were able to achieve security parameters almost similar to the heavier Tiger, while significantly reducing the mass of the tank (by almost 13 tons). The undercarriage with the use of a staggered arrangement of rollers had a number of significant advantages - smooth running, less wear of rubber tires. But at the same time it was very difficult to operate and manufacture, and also had a lot of weight. The mass of the Tiger rollers was 7 tons, while that of the Soviet heavy tank IS-2, this figure was 3.5 tons.
Fight at Villers-Bocage
A week after the Allied landing in France, the company under the command of Wittmann was stationed at Hill 213 near the town of Villers-Bocage. After the march from the city of Beauvais, under continuous raids by allied aviation, Wittmann's 2nd company suffered losses and included 6 tigers. From 12 to 13 June, the company prepared for battle. The entire 101 heavy battalion was tasked to prevent the British from breaking through to the flank and rear of the Training Panzer Division, and also to keep the road to Caen under control.
At about 8 am on June 13, Wittmann noticed a convoy of British armored vehicles moving along the road near Villers-Bocage, about 150-200 meters from his positions. Wittmann did not have all the combat information; he only outlined the situation in this sector of the front. As bewitched, he watched the convoy of Cromwells and Shermans, escorted by Bren Carrier's armored personnel carriers towards Caen. Before Wittmann was the vanguard of the famous British Desert Rats division. Wittmann contacted the battalion headquarters by radio, reported the situation and requested reinforcements. At the same time, he did not passively observe what was happening and decided to attack the column alone. He understood that under normal conditions he would not have a single chance. By all the laws of war, with a simple balance of forces, his attack looked like a sophisticated method of suicide.
After the fight, Wittmann said: “The decision to attack was very difficult. Never before have I been so impressed with the power of the opponents as when I watched a column of armored vehicles marching towards Caen. And yet I made the decision to attack."
One of the Cromwells destroyed at Villers-Bocage
Wittmann started his disguised Tiger, number 205, but the latter had engine problems. Then he quickly got into car number 212, gave the order to the rest of the company's tanks to hold positions, and he himself moved towards the column. Having approached her by 100 meters, he opened fire and with the first two shots destroyed Sherman and Cromwell, who were walking in the head of the column, then he set fire to the tank in its tail, thereby preventing the rest from retreating. After that, he transferred fire to the armored personnel carriers located in the center. Wittmann destroyed everything that appeared in his field of vision. Attacking stationary targets, he sent projectile after projectile at tanks and armored personnel carriers almost point-blank, from the shortest distances, and in the end rammed in the side of the Cromwell tank, which was blocking his entry into the city.
Wittmann sent his tank to the center of Villers-Bocage, where he destroyed 3 more tanks of the headquarters group of the 4th regiment of the 22nd armored battalion, one tank of this group survived, as the driver took him from the street to the garden in time. The tank was not able to open fire, the gunner was out of the car at that time. The commander of one of the Shermans, 30-year-old Stan Lockwood, having heard the shooting in the city, moved to meet the battle. At 200 meters in front of him, he found Wittmann's Tiger, which stood side by side and fired rapidly along one of the streets. Lockwood's gunner managed to fire four rounds at the Tiger. One of them tore the track of the tank. The return fire of the Germans was not long in coming, with their shots the Tiger crew brought down half of the building on Sherman, plunging the battlefield into clouds of dust. Wittmann continued to fire from the immobilized tank, destroying everything that appeared in his line of sight. In the end, he destroyed the 4th Cromwell of the 4th Regiment's headquarters group. Having picked up the gunner, he decided to attack the Tiger from behind, but in the end he was knocked out. After a while, Wittmann and his crew had to leave the wrecked car and leave the city on foot. Wittmann believed that he would come back and take his tank.
And so it turned out in the end. By evening, the Germans completely occupied Villers-Bocage. On the outskirts of the city and on its streets, the British lost 25 tanks, 14 half-track M9A1 armored personnel carriers and 14 Bren Carrier armored personnel carriers, as well as hundreds of soldiers. The German 101st heavy tank battalion lost 6 precious Tigris tanks during the capture of the town, but at the same time it frightened the British so much that many weeks later they were very careful and almost did not attack the city.
