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Can anybody help me identify this King Tiger?


clifforddward
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clifforddward

I am hoping someone here may be able to answer a long time question I've been pondering...related to a story from my Dad from his service during the Ardennes.

 

Charles H. Ward was a Staff Sargent with the 84th Division, 333rd Infantry, Company L. His encounter with a Tiger tank during the Ardennes Offensive was a family favorite as I was growing up...the attached audio is from a recording he made at 65 years of age. I've always wondered with the limited number of Tiger tanks that participated in the battle if it would be possible to identify the likely German group the tank was from...perhaps someone on this forum has a history cross reference that would identify where the 84th division was during the battle and what German tank group with Tiger tanks would have likely have been operating in the area?

 

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

 

Best Regards,

Cliff

 

Cliff Ward

Cary, North Carolina

tank story.wmv

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Just being nit picky but while the literal translation of Königstiger is King Tiger, it is better translated as Royal Tiger.

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Actually, "Königstiger" is the German name for a Bengal Tiger, So maybe we should really be calling them "Bengal Tigers". :^)

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Actually, "Königstiger" is the German name for a Bengal Tiger, So maybe we should really be calling them "Bengal Tigers". :^)

You're right, I completely jacked up what I was trying to say because I was was rushed . It should have read: "while they are often call King Tigers by American sources, the literal translation of Königstiger is Royal Tiger, but it is better translated as Bengal Tiger."

 

good luck with finding the unit!

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manayunkman

You might ask that question on WAF.

 

Several years ago I had a soldiers blurry snap shot photo of a Tiger II abandoned on the side of the road.

 

I posted the snap shot in the Panzer section, the tank, its location and unit were all Id'd.

 

There are guys who know where all these rare tanks were.

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clifforddward

Listening back through Dad's war story tape I determined that the tank story comes from the days after Company L helped re-take the town of Verdenne in the wee hours of Christmas day 1944....it was while he was in his foxhole on the far side of the town that the tank was encountered. I've found a couple of references that mention the German 116th Panzer division may have been involved in the Verdenne area...but question is did they have any Tiger 2 tanks operating in that area?

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The German word for King is König, the translation for Royal Tiger is königlicher Tiger. Bengal is a place name so the translation for Bengal tiger would be bengalischer Tiger.

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You had the Army's Heavy Tank Battalion 506, but they were in the 6th SS Panzer Army, ditto the SS Heavy Tank Battalion 501.

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I can provide the divisions your father encountered for during any day of the Bulge... obviously narrowing from there is gets difficult.

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Your father's 84th Division was located 20 miles north of Aachen on December 15, 1944 opposite the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich as part of the 6th SS Panzer Army commanded by Brigadier General Heinz Lammerding.

 

By December 18, 1944, the 9th Panzer Division was also in the mix. On December 20th, the 84th Division was moved 80 miles southwest directly in the path of the bulge approximately 25 miles northwest of Bastogne.

 

By December 24, 1944, the 84th Division were still holding their position at the tip of the bulge against the 9th and 11th Panzer Divisions. By December 28th, the 84th was opposite the 116th and 9th Panzer Divisions.

 

Your father's division never gave an inch between December 21st and the end of the Battle of the Bulge.

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Just read your followup post... On December 25, 1944, the 84th Division was in direct battle with the 116th Panzer Division 25 miles northwest of Bastogne which was under siege.

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

The German word for King is König, the translation for Royal Tiger is königlicher Tiger. Bengal is a place name so the translation for Bengal tiger would be bengalischer Tiger.

König is king, Konigs is Royal. In German the Bengal Tiger is called the Royal Tiger, not the Bengal Tiger.

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König is king, Konigs is Royal. In German the Bengal Tiger is called the Royal Tiger, not the Bengal Tiger.

King of the Tigers.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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