The remains of a Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf B, better known as the Tiger II or Königstiger, pictured after the war, sitting in a collection yard of German armored vehicles in the Czechoslovakian town of Znojmo (Znaim in German). The town is a little over seven miles from the Austrian border town of Mitterretzbach. The scrappers have already begun their work, having removed the 8.8cm KwK 43 L/71 gun from the turret along with the hull mounted Maschinengewehr 34 machine-gun. The tank has been “short tracked”, a term for when the tracks are shortened and fitted around the road wheels, bypassing the drive sprocket(s). This allows the tank to be towed or moved more easily as the tracks can run freely along the road wheels. Since Znojmo was a collection point, this suggests that the drive sprockets were removed from the tank where it was originally to enable it to be towed or transported to Znojmo for scrapping.
The tank belonged to Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 509 (s.Pz.Abt.509; 509th. Heavy Tank Battalion) and how it ended up in Czechoslovakia comes from the final days of the unit's existence. At this time, the unit was commanded by Hauptmann d.R. Dr. Johannes König and on April 22, 1945, s.Pz.Abt.509 was attached to the 101. Jäger-Division. From April 23 to May 5, 1945, the battalion was deployed in covering positions in the vicinity of Großharras, Austria, a town that was a mere 3 miles or so south of the Czech border. It is unknown what, if any, action the battalion saw while in their defensive positions. A strength report, dated May 1, 1945, listed thirteen Tiger II tanks as operational.
On May 6, 1945, s.Pz.Abt.509 was ordered to cross the border and make for Znojmo, traveling the 20 or so miles to the town from Großharras. The unit arrived the same day, taking up positions in the southern portion of the town. However, their stay was very short as the next day, May 7, the unit was ordered to withdraw and move to the west of the Czech town of Kaplice (Kaplitz in German). This saw s.Pz.Abt.509 cross back into Austria then enter Czechoslovakia again (likely near the Austrian city of Gmünd) and make for positions near the Vltava River (Moldau River in German). This nearly 90 mile movement punished the Tiger II tanks and the battalion lost nine tanks to breakdowns along the route. With no ability to repair them, each was blown up as best possible by their crews. Thus, this is likely the reason the Tiger II in the photograph is missing the front drive components because if the engine or transmission was broken down, the sprockets likely would not turn, requiring their removal and the short tracking of the tank to move it.
On May 8, the remaining tanks of s.Pz.Abt.509 launched their last counterattack against Allied forces that had been on the unit's heels. The attack commenced at 8:00pm that night and though no Tiger II tanks were lost in action, the end game was at hand. At 11:00pm, the last of the unit's tanks were scuttled. The remaining men of the battalion surrendered south of Kaplice to U.S. Army troops.
All told, from the unit's formation in September 1943 to their surrender, s.Pz.Abt.509 destroyed over 500 armored vehicles, mostly tanks. The unit's tank ace was Oberfeldwebel Erich Litzke, Zugführer (platoon leader) in 2./s.Pz.Abt.509 (2nd. Company) who, along with his crew, knocked out some 76 tanks (though the exact number isn't known). For this achievement, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) on October 20, 1944.
Sources:
Schneider, Wolfgang Tigers in Combat I (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2000)
