TigerI

Gruppe Fehrmann
Kampfgruppe Schulze and Oberleutnant Fehrmann formed a division of six Tiger I and five Panther tanks with the intention of going into the Ruhr area. The Tiger tanks were commanded by Oberleutnant Ferhmann and were designated with 'F' to denote their 'Gruppe' commander hence F01, F02, F03 and up to F13.

On the 6 th April 1945, the group reached the river Aller near Rethem when one Tiger was lost due to a mechanical failure. The fallowing day, the company reached Nienburg and a Grenadier Division was attached to them. On the 9th April, the Panthers entered the town of Wiethesheim where they engaged in a fierce battle with the allies. Out of the 5 Panthers, only one returned along with the commander.

During the counter-attack, Tiger F02 got a PIAT hit on the right side of the turret and another that damaged the gun mantlet. Two other Tigers continued the thrust where they eventually captured 30 British paratroopers. Fehrmann's Tiger F02 returned to Fallingbostel where a replacement mantlet was fitted.

11th April 1945 saw the remaining tanks entering enemy controlled territory to Buckeburg. Along the way, two Tigers got stuck in the mud and when a Panther tried to recover them, it too got stuck. With no other way to recover them, the tanks were destroyed and their crews eventually captured by the allies and Fehrmann along with them.

On the same day, two other Tigers were involved in a tank battle with US tanks, F13 (commanded by Feldwebel Bellof) was destroyed along with her crew. F05, commanded by Kampfgruppe Schulze destroyed 3 Shermans and a scout car then retreated to Wendthagen .
**The image is of F01**

Bearing the turret number "F01" having previously been part of Gruppe Fehrmann, Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E commanded by Unteroffizier Erich Franzen was left operating virtually alone near the Essel Forest in Germany during the dying days of the Second World War. This tank was a bit of a hybrid, cobbled together from various generations of the model reflecting the desperate situation of the Axis forces. On the morning of April 12th 1945, it encountered a formation including three British Comet tanks from A Squadron of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Royal Tank Regiment.
During the initial firefight at a range of 600 yards, the Tiger was fired upon by the lead tank without effect. Returning fire, the Tiger landed three shots on another Comet, destroying it along with another vehicle before retiring back into the cover of the forest for the night.
The following morning Franzen once again approached the British formation and destroyed another vehicle before being forced to retire when an artillery barrage was called on his position. Using the dense forest as cover, Comets of C Squadron managed to flank the Tiger and approach to within 100 yards.
Franzen spotted the approaching tanks and was attempting to traverse the turret to face them but it was too late, Sergeant Harding in the lead Comet fired a single shot which punched through the Tiger's side armor, setting it on fire. Franzen and his crew were able to bail out and travel on foot back to Fallingbostel where they were based.
In spite of the 82mm thickness of the armor at the point it was struck, it was no match for the 17 pounder shell from the Comet, especially at such close range.

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