Town Of Cromwell Income Expense Report: Fill & Download for Free

Hmmmm The "short version" is that the American infantry tended to name ANY large German tank as a Tiger (when you are infantry and have to stop tanks with infantry like the Ardennes, then this is more reasonable to see might happen). Because the "fear of Tiger" crept into every corner, this has equally been reflected in the press and historical reports as Well as the true, real actions against the Tiger 1 at the time, such as Michael Wittman whose Tiger 1 crew destroyed 20 Cromwell allied tanks at Villers Bocage in Normandie in 1944.Accounts differ as to what happened next. Historians record that, following the destruction of the OP tanks, Wittmann dueled briefly without success with a Sherman Firefly before withdrawing.The Tiger is then reported to have continued eastwards to the outskirts of the town before being disabled by an anti-tank gun.However, Wittmann's own account contradicts this; he states that his tank was disabled by an anti-tank gun in the town centre.In less than fifteen minutes, thirteen or fourteen tanks, two anti-tank guns, and thirteen to fifteen transport vehicles had been destroyed by the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101, the vast majority attributed to Wittmann. He played no further role in the Battle of Villers-Bocage.For his actions during the battle, Wittmann was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer, and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.The German propaganda machine swiftly credited Wittmann, by then a household name in Germany, with all the British tanks destroyed at Villers-Bocage. In deftness to the gentleman who said in a comment, “Wittmann did not destroy the twenty Cromwell tanks”, this is not proven either way except by the German propaganda at the time, which claims rather “more”..Extinction and Death of Nazi tank Ace Michael Wittmann.DeathPhotograph of the wrecked Tiger 007, taken by French civilian Serge Varin in 1945, still in the field near Gaumesnil where it had been stopped a year before.Clearly showing what happens to a Tiger tank if the ammunition on board is ignited by a hit and catches fire. No one had a hope of escaping from the resulting explosion. The explosive force has blown the gun turret of Wittman's Tiger clear off and into the field quite some distance away from where is the rest of the wrecked Tiger Tank.On 8 August 1944, Anglo-Canadian forces launched Operation Totalize. Under the cover of darkness, British and Canadian tanks and soldiers seized the tactically important high ground near the town of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil. Here they paused, awaiting an aerial bombardment that would signal the next phase of the attack. Unaware of the reason the Allied forces had halted, Kurt Meyer, of the SS Hitlerjugend Division, ordered elements of his command to counterattack and recapture the high ground.Wittmann led a group of seven Tiger tanks, from the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101, supported by additional tanks and infantry. His group of Tigers, crossing open terrain towards the high ground, was ambushed by tanks from A Squadron 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, A Squadron Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, and B Squadron 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps.During the ambush, anti-tank shells – fired from either the British or Canadian tanks – penetrated the upper hull of Wittmann's tank, igniting the ammunition. The resulting fire engulfed the tank and blew off the turret.The crew of the destroyed tank were buried in an unmarked grave. In 1983, the German war graves commission located the burial site. Wittmann and his crew were reinterred together at the La Cambe German war cemetery in France.Capture of First ever German Tiger Tank to fall into Allied hands for Inspection.Tiger 131, 6 May 1943. Note the damaged loader's hatchThe damage that immobilized the turret on Tiger 131.Knowing that the Allies were preparing a major push toward Tunis, the Germans launched a spoiling attack on the night of 20/21 April 1943.Four points were attacked simultaneously, including a pass on the north side of a hill called Djebel Djaffa.Two Tigers and several other tanks advanced through this pass before dawn, and were gradually driven back during the day. Tiger 131 was hit by three shots from 6-pounders from British Churchill tanks of A Squadron, 4 Troop of the 48th Royal Tank Regiment. A solid shot hit the Tiger's gun barrel and ricocheted into its turret ring, jamming its traverse, wounding the driver and front gunner and destroying the radio. A second shot hit the turret lifting lug, disabling the gun's elevation device. A third shot hit the loader's hatch, deflecting fragments into the turret. The German crew bailed out, taking their wounded with them and leaving the knocked-out but still driveable and largely intact tank behind.The tank was secured by the British as they captured Djebel Djaffa hill.Tiger 131 was the first intact Tiger tank captured by British forces.A 2012 article in the Daily Mail followed by a book by Noel Botham and Bruce Montague entitled Catch that Tiger claimed that Major Douglas Lidderdale, the engineering officer who oversaw the return of Tiger 131 to England, was responsible for the capture of Tiger 131 as the leader of a secret mission appointed by Winston Churchill to obtain a Tiger for Allied intelligence.Though the account has been considered plausible (if only in light of Churchill's reputation for being 'hands on' in his dealings with military affairs during wartime) it has been rejected by The Tank Museum as inaccurate. The story as told in the book contradicts Lidderdale's own letters and papers written in the years before his death, in which he stated that he was not personally present when the Tiger was captured.Right, ok, having read ALL that, now I am really going to “bugger it up” all over for you again about this story, by saying something from my own historical repertoire about this particular Tiger Tank. It is my hearing back in around 1974, from a veteran of the Eighth Army “Les hayes” who was a old friend of the family of my English stepfather, that there indeed was a secret British Military Mission to capture the then-new Tiger Tank first being deployed in North Afrika by the German Afrika Korps Army. Mr Hayes told us, that he was out there at the time in that battle, and said to us clearly that British Army Intelligence had specifically been ordered to go and get one of those “things and capture it intact.He clearly told us that they were EXPECTING TWO TIGERS to arrive in a specific place, to go “there” and capture one or the two of them if possible. There was a clear and specific order given to engage the Tiger with the specific intent to capture it intact in as undamaged an order as was possible.Given the state of the Tiger and the performance of the British equipment “solid shot” at the time, (work out what fired the shot yourselves please), this job was a “tall order” requiring highly bloody very good “shots” to bring the job off successfully. believe me, these shots aimed at the tank were “Pre Informed” efforts, not mere jolly old “luck”. The result of a specific instruction BEFOREHAND from someone who had penetrated the Germans establishment, and who KNEW. Les hayes sadly passed away in Shepton mallet some years ago, but he clearly told us that the Tiger Tank capture DID come from a special allied British Military “Mission” and was a secret affair at the time.Mr Hayes also served in Israel after the war.And of course, all this was jolly well half a century before the mentioned book…..But “as you like”.Recently a researcher, based on photographic and documentary evidence, has found that Tiger 131 was 15 miles away from Djebel Djaffa at Gueriat el Atach ("Point 174") during an attack on 2nd Bn The Sherwood Foresters on 24 April 1943. The Tiger was struck by a Churchill of either 142 Regiment RAC or 48 RTR which were supporting the Foresters and abandoned. This suggests that the Tiger at Djebel Djaffa on 21 April was not 131.Crew compartmentThe internal layout was typical of German tanks. Forward was an open crew compartment, with the driver and radio-operator seated at the front on either side of the gearbox. Behind them, the turret floor was surrounded by panels forming a continuous level surface. This helped the loader to retrieve the ammunition, which was mostly stowed above the tracks. Three men were seated in the turret; the loader to the right of the gun facing to the rear, the gunner to the left of the gun, and the commander behind him. There was also a folding seat on the right for the loader. The turret had a full circular floor and 157 cm headroom. Early versions of the Tiger I's turret included two pistol ports however one these was replaced with a loader escape hatch and the other deleted from later designs.Post-war testing by the Allies found the tank to be uncomfortable and spartan. This was in contrast to German crews who found them to be spacious and comfortable.Cost to Produce the Tiger Tank.The main problem with the Tiger was that its production required considerable resources in terms of manpower and material, which led to it being expensive: the Tiger I cost over twice as much as a Panzer IV and four times as much as a Stug Assault gun on a panzer 1v chassis.Given that despite warnings from rather nasty encounters on the Russian front, where battlefield engineers reports showed the panzer 1v tank to be obsolete and highly vulnerable to more modern up-gunned Russian tank types, the Germans HAD to just “carry on” using the now rather cheaper, but equally rather inferior Panzer1v tank type. Germany was running out of raw materials for tank building, and the Tiger tank design just cost far too much money and manpower and resources to build.Know your Enemy.Cutaway diagram showing Tiger Tank.Know your Enemy. Outside Diagram of German Tiger Tank.Tiger 1 with 88mm gun in North Afrikan camouflage desert sand colour.Note the spare track piece is fitted onto the lower front of the hull armour plate. American and British tank crews did this to help improve the weakness of their relatively poor armour plate protection. Some Shermans even fitted sandbags onto their tank hulls !! When you see the sight of this Tiger above, it is clear why they did.With a devastating 88 mm gun, a choice of armour piercing or high explosive rounds, and a very fast electric turret traverse (faster than the Cromwell or the Sherman) it is true the Tiger 1 was an awesome opponent and enemy, there is no point trying to deny that. However, the Tiger was really an "open country tank" and could destroy approaching allied armoured formations at a long distance away from a hull-down position say on a ridge.However, it was less suited to towns and villages or the very small roads of France or other European countries. Another nuisance was the need to fit the Tiger 1 with transportation "tracks" to fit it onto the railway flat cars.(flat cars often French resistance fighters had a tendency to blow up with a parachuted explosive from the SOE from England), thus crippeling fast Tiger tank transport movements.No tank is invulnerable to strikes from the air, and there is a very well known wartime photograph I believe taken in France near the Caen sector, showing a Tiger 1 blown right apart, with its heavy turret literally turned upside down as it exploded and fell back down, rather like one of Doctor Who's famous exploding Daleks.Strikes with rockets from the air or from Allied ground Thunderbolt, Typhoon, attack or Russian ground attack Sturmovik (Jabos type) aircraft could wreck and stop the TIger.A small potential weak point, the drivers' periscope visor on the Tiger 1 frontal armoured plate.The ordinary allied Sherman, in theory, COULD destroy the Tiger 1 IF it could "close" up near enough, and put a round through the side or into the weaker point which was between the two exhaust of the rear engine decking, but in practice, this was unlikely except by achieving a total surprise. Sherman rounds had a nasty habit of bouncing off the Tiger hull....and if that was your first shot, then you have now alerted the enemy tank to your presence and position and it is time to go rather quickly and change your position fast to try again....before....hmmm I wouldn't look any more if I were you.....North Afrikan rivals. Foreground the German Tiger 1 tank that was captured there. Background, another view of the British Matilda infantry tank.A Sherman hit just immediately brews up because (as General Geoge Patton tried to warn the Ministry) the fuel lines of the Shermans were unprotected and caused horrifying terrible mortal fires that literally burned the poor devils Inside them alive....Reports from soldiers speak of the terrifying shouts an screams coming from both allied tanks or German ones because of things such as this. Typically the Germans might have ten seconds to climb out before their ammunition went up....it depended on the type of tank and what hit you and where....and sheer bloody luck.PIAT Rockets might penetrate through the slightly weaker side armour above the wheels and between the upper hull, any attempt to shoot at the Tiger requiring the soldier with the rockets to get alongside the Tiger close enough to punch a hole through the tracked sides above the wheels. But if supported by German infantry, again a highly dangerous manoeuvre but not impossible.Aim for the gap between the road wheels and the upper top side of the Tiger 1 hull, the armour was reportedly a little thinner at the sides…..The Sherman "Firefly" armed also with a heavier than normal 76.2 mm gun (built for the allied armies after General Bernard Law Mongomery "received complaints" during the North Afrikan campaign, about the inability of certain army types of equipment to effectively stop the enemy) , was an effective ante Tiger 1 weapon, but was available in short numbers, and frequently if "Tiger" was encountered ahead, the allied formation being attacked had to radio for a Sherman Firefly to "come up" from the rear area to shoot out the TIger tank. (and hope enemy spotters did not warn the TIger or did not see or hear it coming and allowed the Tiger to shoot first!!!) ....Tiger crews were warned to identify and shoot the Sherman Firefly tank first of all. The Sherman Firefly was a tank used by the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth and Allied armoured formations in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman, but fitted with the powerful 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre British 17-pounderanti-tank gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British tank designs came into service, the Sherman Firefly became the most common vehicle mounting the 17-pounder in the war.Though the British expected to have their own new tank models developed soon, the previously rejected idea of mounting the 17-pounder in the existing Sherman was eventually accepted, despite initial government resistance. This proved fortunate, as both the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger and Cruiser Mk VIII Cromwell tank designs experienced difficulties and delays.After the difficult problem of getting such a large gun to fit in the Sherman's turret was solved, the Firefly was put into production in early 1944, in time to equip Field Marshal Montgomery's 21st Army Group for the Normandy landings. It soon became highly valued, as its gun could almost always penetrate the armour of the Panther and Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy.I appreciate not everyone who reads this article has been accepting of the data given on the FIREFLY tank, so I have decided to edit the article and have now included the information above about it. (I got fed up having to re-charge the size of the 76.2mm gun, from the edits of 74, 77 mm etc).In recognition of this, German tank and anti-tank gun crews were instructed to attack Fireflies first.Because the Firefly had a visibly longer barrel, crews tried to camouflage it so the tank would look like a normal 75 mm-gun Sherman from a distance. Between 2,100 and 2,200 were manufactured before production wound down in 1945.“Close in with your Sherman tank, get near to the tiger, and try to shoot a round through the periscope….” HmmmmBelow. Battle damage to the driver's periscope view panel of a Afrika Korps PKZKPFW IV Periscope positions were one of the “weak spot” but it required a Miracle shot at very close range…such shots were not to be looked for….. This Panzer IV was captured intact in North Afrika by the British.The Russian strategy was to "canalise" the enemy advance, and then, trapping the infantry and supporting Tanks, in tight Streets, where there was slow and limited manoeuvrability, Russian soldiers would then leap out and throw petrol bombs, Molatoff cocktails, onto the rear engine decking, and start fires which would in a few minutes spread to ignite the interior Tiger petrol lines with horrifying conséquences for the ill-starred Tiger crews. Tiger design did try to preclude such things, but in practice, fire is fire and petrol, well, it just seeps in everyplace....and a short time later the ammunition goes up....The Tiger 1 heavy tank Gun mantle was extremely thick and solid armour plate, as the picture clearly reveals. Try to aim in the gap between the massive turret and the hull driver position.This does not mean, however, the Tiger Tank or its armour was unbeatable in battle.Soviet Russian tankists inspect a fatal penetration by an armour piercing tank round into the fighting compartment of a German Tiger Tank. Tigers did not have the battle all their own way.Below shows the actual Tiger Tank mantle armour thicknesses. Date 1944.There is a rather good action scene in the famous Movie about the Sherman tank recently made, where a TIger 1 is encountered and takes out everybody but ONE Sherman before it is destroyed by the sole surviving Sherman. The scene evokes something of what it was like to have to fight a Tiger from a Sherman, in open country where the Tiger was "King".However, a good anti-tank gun crew could destroy a Tiger Tank.Gun and armour performanceGerman soldiers inspect a non-penetrating hit to the Tiger's armour. Note the shape and depth of the hole made by the projectile, which has failed to penetrate into the fighting compartment.A report prepared by the Waffenamt-Prüfwesen 1 gave the calculated probability of perforation at range, on which various adversaries would be defeated reliably at a side angle of 30 degrees to the incoming round.The Wa Pruef report estimated that the Tiger's 88 mm gun would be capable of penetrating the differential case of an American M4 Sherman from 2,100 m (1.3 mi) and the turret front from 1,800 m (1.1 mi), but the Tiger's 88 mm gun would not penetrate the upper glacis plate at any range. The M4 Sherman's 75 mm gun would not penetrate the Tiger frontally at any range, and needed to be within 100 m to achieve a side penetration against the 80 mm upper hull superstructure. The Sherman's upgraded 76 mm gun might penetrate the Tiger's driver's front plate from 600 m, the nose from 400 m and the turret front from 700 m.The M3 90 mm cannon used as a towed anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun, and later mounted in the M36 tank destroyer and finally, the late-war M26 Pershing, American heavy tank, could penetrate the Tiger's front plate at a range of 1,000 m using standard ammunition, and from beyond 2,000 m when using HVAP.Soviet ground trial testing conducted in May 1943 determined that the 8.8 cm KwK 36 gun could pierce the T-34-76 frontal beam nose of 140 mm thickness from 1500 m, and the front hull from 1500 m. A hit to the driver's hatch would force it to collapse inward and break apart.According to the WaPrüf, the German battlefield inspectors unit, the Soviet T-34-85's upper glacis and turret front armour would be defeated between 100 and 1,400 m (0.062 and 0.870 mi), while the T-34's 85 mm gun would penetrate the front of a Tiger between 200 and 500 m (0.12 and 0.31 mi).The 120 mm hull armour of the Soviet IS-2 model 1943 would be defeated between 100 and 300 m (0.062 and 0.186 mi) at the driver's front plate and nose.The IS-2's 122 mm gun could penetrate the Tiger's front armour from between 500 and 1,500 m (0.31 and 0.93 mi).However, according to Steven Zaloga, the IS-2 and Tiger I could each knock the other out in normal combat distances below 1,000 m.At longer ranges, the performance of each respective tank against each other was dependent on the crew and the combat situation.The British Churchill IV would become vulnerable to the Tiger at between 1,100 and 1,700 m (0.68 and 1.06 mi), its strongest point being the nose and its weakest the turret. According to an STT document dated April 1944, it was estimated that the British 17-pounder, as used on the Sherman Firefly, firing its normal APCBC ammunition, would penetrate the turret front and driver's visor plate of the Tiger out to 1,900 yards (1,700 m).When engaging targets, Tiger crews were encouraged to angle the hull position 45 degrees to the Mahlzeit Stellung of 10 ½ or 1 ½ o'clock. This would maximize the effective front hull armour to 180mm and side hull to 140mm, making the Tiger impervious to any Allied gun up to 152 mm.Unlike the lighter Panzer IV and Panther tanks, the Tiger's thick side armour gave a degree of confidence of immunity from flank attacks. The tank was also immune to Soviet anti-tank rifle fire to the sides and rear. Its large calibre 8.8 cm provided superior fragmentation and high explosive content over the 7.5 cm KwK 42 gun. Therefore, comparing the Tiger with the Panther, for supporting the infantry and destroying fortifications, the Tiger offered superior firepower. It was also key to dealing with towed anti-tank guns, according to German tank commander Otto Carius:The destruction of an antitank gun was often accepted as nothing special by lay people and soldiers from other branches. Only the destruction of other tanks counted as a success. On the other hand, antitank guns counted twice as much to the experienced tanker. They were much more dangerous to us. The antitank cannon waited in ambush, well camouflaged, and magnificently set up in the terrain. Because of that, it was very difficult to identify. It was also very difficult to hit because of its low height. Usually, we didn't make out the antitank guns until they had fired the first shot. We were often hit right away, if the antitank crew was on top of things because we had run into a wall of antitank guns. It was then advisable to keep as cool as possible and take care of the enemy before the second aimed shot was fired.—German panzer Tiger tank crew member Otto Carius (translated by Robert J Edwards), Tigers in the MudGerman World War 2 Tiger Tank Technical DataTypeHeavy tankPlace of originGermanyService historyIn service1942–45WarsWorld War IIProduction historyDesignerErwin AdersHenschel & SonDesigned1938–41ManufacturerHenschelUnit cost250,800 RMProduced1942–44No.built1,347Specifications (RfRuK VK 4501H Ausf.E, Blatt: G-330)Mass54 tonnes (60 short tons)57 tonnes (63 short tons) (Ausf. E)(Combat weight)Length6.316 m (20 ft 8.7 in)8.45 m (27 ft 9 in) gun forwardWidth3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)Height3.0 m (9 ft 10 in)Crew5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, assistant driver)Armour25–120 mm (0.98–4.72 in)Mainarmament1× 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/5692 AP and HE roundsSecondaryarmament2× 7.92 mm MG 344,500 rounds4,800 rounds (Ausf. E)EngineMaybach HL230 P45 V-12700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)Below. A Tiger tank Maybach tank Engine.Power/weight13 PS (9.5 kW) / tonneSuspensionTorsion barGround clearance0.47 m (1 ft 7 in)OperationalrangeRoad: 195 km (121 mi)Cross country: 110 km (68 mi)SpeedMaximum, road: 45.4 km/h (28.2 mph)Sustained, road: 40 km/h (25 mph)Cross country: 20–25 km/h (12–16 mph)The Tiger had a hydraulic drive, and an electrically operated gun turret traverse with electric primers for the gun also, making turret traverse much faster than Sherman tanks.German Tank Crew working on the engine through the hatch on the rear hull roofThe rear of the tank held an engine compartment flanked by two separate rear compartments each containing a fuel tank and radiator. The Germans had not developed an adequate diesel engine, so petrol (gasoline) powerplant had to be used instead. The original engine utilised was a 21.35-litre (1303 http://cu.in.) 12-cylinder Maybach HL 210 P45 developing 485 kW (650 hp) at 3,000 rpm. Although a good engine, it was underpowered for the vehicle. From the 251st Tiger onwards, it was replaced by the upgraded HL 230 P45, a 23.095 litre (1409 http://cu.in.) engine developing 521 kW (700 hp) at 3,000 rpm.The main difference between these engines was that the original Maybach HL 210 used an aluminium engine block while the Maybach HL 230 used a cast-iron engine block. The cast-iron block allowed for larger cylinders (and thus, greater displacement) which increased the power output to 521 kW (700 hp). The engine was in V-form, with two cylinder banks set at 60 degrees. An inertia starter was mounted on its right side, driven via chain gears through a port in the rear wall. The engine could be lifted out through a hatch on the rear hull roof. In comparison to other V12 and various vee-form gasoline engines used for tanks, the eventual HL 230 engine was nearly four litres smaller in displacement than the Allied British Rolls-Royce Meteor V12 AFV powerplant, itself adapted from the RR Merlin but de-rated to 448 kW (600 hp) power output; and the American Ford-designed precursor V12 to its Ford GAA V-8 AFV engine of 18 litre displacement, which in its original V12 form would have had the same 27 litre displacement as the Meteor.The engine drove the front sprockets through a drivetrain connecting to a transmission in the front portion of the lower hull; the front sprockets had to be mounted relatively low as a result. The Krupp-designed 11-tonne turret had a hydraulic motor whose pump was powered by mechanical drive from the engine. A full rotation took about a minute.Another new feature was the Maybach-Olvar hydraulically controlled semi-automatic pre-selector gearbox. The extreme weight of the tank also required a new steering system. Germany's Argus Motoren, where Hermann Klaue had invented a ring brake in 1940, supplied them for the Arado Ar 9 and also supplied the 55 cm disc.Klaue acknowledged in the patent application that he had merely improved on existing technology, that can be traced back to British designs dating to 1904. It is unclear whether Klaue's patent ring brake was utilised in the Tiger brake design.The Tiger 1 early version was captured intact in North Afrika where its deployment was ill-advised due to the sand and the heavyweight. I have photographs of it taken from a visit to the Royal Armoured Corps Museum in Bovington (they have a working Tiger 1).Not overrated, the Tiger, a real "killer tank" if you were in most allied armoured vehicles of the time, but certainly "over reported" in the Western European sector by terrified "poor bloody infantry" who always get the "shit jobs".The Tiger Tank armour Mantlet was up to 128 mm of thickness.The Tiger I's armour was up to 120 mm on the turret gun front alone.The Tiger I had frontal hull armour 100 mm (3.9 in) thick, frontal turret armour of 100 mm (3.9 in) and a 120 mm (4.7 in) thick, as is clearly shown in my own photograph of the gun mantlet.The Tiger had 60 mm (2.4 in) thick hull side plates and 80 mm armour on the side superstructure/sponsons, while turret sides and rear were 80 mm. The top and bottom armour were 25 mm (1 in) thick; from March 1944, the turret roof was thickened to 40 mm (1.6 in).Armour plates were mostly flat, with interlocking construction. The armour joints were of high quality, being stepped and welded rather than riveted and were made of maraging steel construction.Tigers also had grenade launchers to deal with infantry they saw hiding nearby with rocket PIAT or Bazooka launchers, as well as the forward firing machine gun in the front hull.Over reported definitely, as the thing approached, you could hear the grinding, crashing, the clinking and screeching of tracks and of course explosions of rounds fired from its gun, to lie prone with a small PIAT (projectile infantry antitank) or a Bazooka, knowing you have to fire at exactly the right time to stand ANY hope of crippeling a TIger, or get strafed by the front machine gun of the Tiger, or fire too late and the same result, was a sickening human prospect for anybody, Tigers WERE NOT everywhere, But RIGHTLY feared, Reasonably so.