Jagdtiger: Victim of U.S. Air Power

(Source: pics_of_warfare @ Instagram)

     On October 14, 1944, both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) launched Operation Hurricane against German targets. The intent of the operation was to show the Germans that both British and American bomber forces could exert their dominance at will in German airspace. In addition, the intended targets were designed to pummel German communication lines, demoralize the German populace, further inhibit German industry, and attempt to impart the futility of continued resistance. The bombing was mainly done by the RAF, flying 2,589 sorties in twenty-four hours, with some crews flying both daylight and nighttime missions. 10,210 tons of bombs were dropped on several targets in addition to incendiary munitions to cause as much destruction as possible. For the USAAF's part, the VIII Bomber Command (8th. Air Force) worked in conjunction with RAF Pathfinder squadrons to attack German military infrastructure in several cities.

     This brings us to October 16, 1944. On this date, the Nibelungenwerk was struck by Allied bombers. The facility, located in St. Valentin, Austria, was not only the largest tank producer for the German military, it also had the most modern assembly equipment and processes of any other manufacturer. The factory officially opened in 1942 and commenced to producing Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tanks and later, added assembly tasks for Tiger I heavy tanks. The PzKpfw IV and Tiger I tanks were not the only armored vehicles produced and assembled at the Nibelungenwerk through the years and by September 1944, the Jagdtiger commenced to being produced at the factory. This, then, is the subject of the photograph.

     Exactly who struck the Nibelungenwerk on October 16 isn't given in most sources on the Jagdtiger, only that 143 tons of bombs struck the factory, causing an obvious disruption in production. This shouldn't be too surprising as the aerial campaign against German military industry isn't the subject of those books. Still, we can hazard a guess that the most likely candidates were USAAF bombardment groups under the 15th. Air Force that were conducting bombing raids in Austria at the time. For example, on that date, squadrons from the 451st. and 461st. Bombardment Group hit the Hermann Göring benzol (meaning, benzene) fuel additive plant in Linz, Austria which was only some 18 miles from St. Valentin. On the same date, squadrons of the 484th. Bombardment Group targeted munition works in Linz. All three of these groups belonged to the 49th. Bombardment Wing. With the 15th. Air Force having operations in the vicinity of the Nibelungenwerk on October 16, 1944, it is almost certain that one of the twenty-one bombardment groups under the 15th. Air Force was assigned to strike the plant that day.

     The effects of the bombardment were not as damaging as they could have been for one reason or another. For example, the bombs from the 484th. dropped long and to the left of the munition targets, causing little damage to the target itself while cloud cover affected the effectiveness of the bombing against the benzol plant. The bombing of the Nibelungenwerk facility caused a shutdown of production while the damage was cleaned up and repaired and reduced the output by some 55% for the month which, as a consequence, delayed the completion of Jagdtiger vehicles destined for the German military (namely schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653; 653rd. Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion). The incomplete Jagdtiger in the photograph shows the damage wrought on the chassis by the bombing, to include part of the building on the rear of it. It is said that the factory workers were rather surprised at the extent of the damage to the vehicle. Since the chassis had not yet been put onto the production line, repair was considered impractical and so it was simply scrapped. Because of this, the chassis in the photograph was never assigned a production number. The wheeled device next to the Jagdtiger is a electric arc welder. Another well-known photograph of this same Jagdtiger shows workers with shovels having cleaned up the debris into piles on the factory floor.

Sources:

Davis, Richard G. Bombing the European Axis Powers (Montgomery: Air University Press, 2006)

Devey, Andrew Jagdtiger, Volume 2: Operational History (Atglen: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1999)

Spielberger, Walter J., Doyle, Hilary L., and Jentz, Thomas L. Heavy Jagdpanzer (Atglen: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2007)

Jagdtiger Chassis No. 305054: Final Fate Unknown

(Source: Panzertruppen via Flickr)

     Sitting on the assembly line at the Nibelungenwerk located near St. Valentin, Austria, is the fifty-fourth Jagdtiger, chassis 305054. Chalked on the side of the Jagdtiger is the date January 16, 1945. This could be the expected completion date and so this photograph could be dated to early January 1945 or November or December 1944 given the extent of the assembly.

     No. 54 is mostly finished except that the torsion bar suspension has yet to be fully installed. The holes for the suspension were drilled into the lower hull on the completed chassis, prior to the fitting of other components such as the gun, engine, and drive train. The torsion bars (drehstäbe) have been fitted and attached to them are the suspension arms (schwingarme). Each torsion bar had a plastic seal where it entered the hull (schwingarmsiegel). The suspension consisted of two shock absorbers (schwingungsdaempher), one per side, connected to the forward and rearward suspension arms, the apparatus for the shock absorbers on the interior of the hull. The first and last torsion bars were built stronger than the others but all had the same ends to which the sheet steel roadwheels were affixed. Each roadwheel consisted of two discs with two rubber rings between them and each was placed on a hub on the suspension arm. It was doctrine that if a roadwheel was damaged and had to be replaced, the hub had to remain on the suspension arm. Work on No. 54 was finished sometime in January 1945, being completed along with nine other Jagdtigers; chassis 305052, 305053, 305055, 305056, 305057, 305058, 305059, 305060, and 305061. All ten of these Jagdtigers were earmarked for assignment to a new unit, schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512 (s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512; 512th. Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion). Documents show that all of the Jagdtigers were released for shipment on January 30, 1945.

     s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512 began to build up starting late in January 1945 with the intent to field three companies of ten Jagdtigers with the headquarters having three Jagdtigers for a total strength of 33 machines. The bulk of the personnel for the unit came from the remains of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 424 while the staff was filled out with men from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 511. Replacement personnel were to come from Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilung 500 as needed. In command of s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512 was Hauptmann Walter Scherf with 1. Kompanie being commanded by Oberleutnant Albert Ernst and 2. Kompanie was commanded by one of the most successful German tank commanders of World War Two, Oberleutnant Otto Carius. Ernst cut his teeth as a panzerjäger officer while serving with s.Pz.Jag.Abt.519 which operated Nashorn and later Jagdpanther tank destroyers. Carius had been the commander of 2. Kompanie, schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 that operated Tiger I tanks. Carius had been severely wounded on July 24, 1944 while serving with s.Pz.Abt.502 and after a very long convalescence, was transferred to s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512. As a side note, while he recovered from his injuries, what remained of his old unit was redesignated s.Pz.Abt.511 on January 5, 1945. The final company, 3. Kompanie, was commanded by Oberleutnant Schrader.

     No. 54 was included in a shipment of five Jagdtigers (chassis 305050 through 305054) from Nibelungenwerk to Döllersheim on February 2, 1945. This was the location of Carius' unit where they would commence training with the Jagdtiger in addition to using the gunnery ranges located at the facility. Upon the arrival of the Jagdtigers, training began at once, to include range firing. However, this quickly came to a halt when, on February 16, 1945, s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512 was notified by the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH; High Command of the German Army) of severe manufacturing defects in the Henschel L801 steering unit housing. All Jagdtigers that had yet to be shipped out were to have the steering units replaced before being dispatched to units and all Jagdtigers that were already in the hands of troops had to be returned to Nibelungenwerk for the repairs to be done. It is here that Jagdtiger No. 54 appears to disappear from the combat record of s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512.

     Mainly, this is because it is not known what tactical number was assigned to Jagdtiger No. 54. Upon the order to return the Jagdtigers to Nibelungenwerk, the chassis numbers for the vehicles were lined through on issue reports. It can be surmised that they did arrive back at Nibelungenwerk and reports from February discuss the timeframe to effect repairs. It would take approximately five days for factory workers to replace the steering units on all eleven vehicles originally earmarked for s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512, including No. 54. However, priority was given to those Jagdtigers already on the assembly line. Also, the factory had to set up another line to receive the returned Jagdtigers parallel to the main assembly line in order to effectively make the steering unit changes. From March 3, 1945 to March 26, 1945, s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512 received a total of 27 Jagdtigers, and we can hazard a guess that No. 54 was included in that number. Due to the mixture of chassis numbers because of the recall, it is not known on what date No. 54 shipped from Nibelungenwerk and to what company it was assigned. Initial shipments were given priority to 2. Kompanie followed by 1. Kompanie and then 3. Kompanie. It should be noted that in a listing of chassis numbers and assigned units given in Janusz Ledwoch's “Jagdpanther Jagdtiger” (Wydawnictwo Militaria No.207), he does not give a unit assignment to No. 54.

     On April 15, 1945, 2. Kompanie destroyed its last six remaining Jagdtigers near Ergste, 1. Kompanie surrendered in Iserlohn on April 16, 1945 with three operational Jagdtigers, while 3. Kompanie ended the war with no Jagdtigers operational (two had been in transit to them but never arrived). The few documented Jagdtigers of s.Pz.Jag.Abt.512 include 305058 (tactical number X7) which was part of 1. Kompanie and commanded by Leutnant Sepp Tarlach. It was abandoned on April 1, 1945 in Obernephen. Another was 305068 and belonged to 3. Kompanie and was scuttled on April 2, 1945 in Paderborn. A third was 305004 and was captured at Sennelager, likely used as a training vehicle. 305057 (tactical number X5) belonged to Leutnant Kubelka of 1. Kompanie and was blown up on April 11, 1945 near Hagen. Finally, the last known chassis number was 305074 and the Jagdtiger suffered a broken track near Offensen. It belonged to 3. Kompanie and was blown up.

Jagdtiger "234": Scuttled in Zeiskam

GIs pose with the remains of "234" (Author's Collection)

      Leutnant Kasper Geoggler commanded three Jagdtigers from 3rd. Kompanie, Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 653 (3/s.Pz.Jg.Abt.653). Geoggler’s mount was “331” while “323” and “234” made up the remainder of the unit. The kampfgruppe was situated outside Neustadt and on March 22, 1945, the unit engaged an armored column from the U.S. 3rd. Army. As was a common tactic, the Jagdtigers shot up the lead and rear tanks, sandwiching the remainder of the tanks between the wrecks. In the chaos, the Jagdtigers picked off the U.S. tanks with relative ease. In all, Geoggler’s three Jagdtigers claimed a total of 25 tanks destroyed, including M4 Shermans and M10 Wolverine tank destroyers. “331” and “323” suffered a total of 10 hits from U.S. tank rounds but not a one penetrated the thick armor of the Jagdtigers. 

     Geoggler withdrew the kampfgruppe into Neustadt proper. There, “323” broke down while attempting to get into a firing position within a garden. “331” was situated along Landauer Strasse, across from the immobilized “323,” which gave it a dominating field of fire along the road. In time, “331” was down to its last round and so Geoggler ordered the recoil cylinders drained and had the final round fired. This jammed the gun in full recoil, rendering it useless to the Americans. The crews boarded their SdKfz 251 half-tracks and along with Jagdtiger “234”, abandoned Neustadt and made for Zeiskam. 

     There, “234” went into action at a railway crossing until a shot penetrated the right front fender and broke the track. With no chance to repair the track or recover “234”, it was abandoned and blown up by its crew. The photograph shows “234” following the U.S. Army entry into Zeiskam. The internal fire caused the suspension to drop which is why the Jagdtiger appears to be “sitting” so low. Curious GIs, such as these men, spent many a moment clambering up onto “234” and taking photographs with it.

The British FV4401 Contentious: An Ambitious Airmobile Tank

     One of the more interesting post-World War Two tank designs was the British FV4401 Contentious. The intent of the FV4401 was to provide a light (up to 20-tons), easily transportable armored fighting vehicle (AFV) that could be air dropped and provide armored support for airborne and rapid deployment forces. There were two designs put forward under the FV4401 designation. The first was a one man, thinly armored vehicle fitted with two 120mm L6 WOMBAT recoilless rifles, the latter being used due to their light weight. Each L6 was equipped with a autoloader fed from a seven-round rotary magazine. This first design was more of a tank destroyer, akin to the Japanese Type 60 tank destroyer developed from 1956 to 1960. The second design is the focus here. 

     Work commenced on the two-man FV4401 (sometimes called the Contentious II) in the mid-1950s and the design had a number of novel features. For armament, the Ordnance QF 20-pounder (84mm) gun was initially selected as, at the time, it was a excellent gun and was also used in the British Centurion main battle tank (MBT). Rather than put the gun in a true turret from the outset, the gun was fitted into the hull of the prototype in a very limited traverse mounting. This kept the height of the FV4401 low and also saved weight. The gun was provided with an autoloader which could effectively fire twelve rounds per minute. To elevate and depress the gun, the FV4401 was fitted with suspension that could be raised and lowered and to provide additional traverse, the tank was turned in place. To speed aiming, the gun had an optical light pulse sight which was tied into a servo that allowed for automatic adjustment of the gun and monitored the alignment of the gun as a whole. This was akin to an early implementation of a Movement Reporting System (MRS). Both the commander and the gunner had complete driving and gunnery controls. For armor protection, the front glacis was to feature horizontal rows of metal ridges. The purpose was to break up incoming projectiles before they struck the armor proper. Behind this was a four foot empty space that was filled with diesel fuel. When full, the fuel provided the equivalent of twenty-four inches of armor and behind that was a 40mm thick back plate which separated the fuel compartment from the crew compartment. Components for the initial prototype, namely the lower chassis, were taken from a British FV4101 Charioteer medium tank, the road wheels from the FV300 series (a project for lightweight armored fighting vehicles), and for an engine, a Rolls-Royce B Range diesel engine was used. This engine series, topping out at 187 horsepower for the B81 model (as used in the FV430 AFV series), wasn't to be the final engine fit as the Contentious II was to use an engine developing between 300 to 500 horsepower. The FV4401 was envisioned that at the sacrifice of added weight, a turret could be fitted as well as be fully Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) sealed. The proposed turret was to be low in profile so as not to add significant height to the Contentious II.

     Sometime in the late 1950s, the FV4401 Contentious II prototype was completed. It was far more of a test vehicle for the adjustable suspension, gun mounting, and fire controls as the prototype was unarmored and the fuel tanks were situated outside the tank, secured to the track guards. The armor concept had been tested and showed that ignition of the diesel fuel following penetration did not occur. If a fire was started, the crew compartment offered some protection and it was planned to house the fuel within the space in armored tanks which would be able to contain any explosion. The explosion risk came more from the tank being penetrated when the fuel level was low and fumes were more in abundance within. To minimize fuel loss, the fuel in the front part of the hull were to be inside compartmentalized tanks. This novel armor, however, was not fitted to the prototype but would have had the Contentious II program continued and more refined prototypes produced. The 20-pounder gun was sighted to 2,000 yards and at that range, the Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition could penetrate 290mm of rolled homogeneous armor and at 1,000 yards, it could punch through 330mm of armor. This was more than enough to deal with two of the most common Soviet tanks, the T-54 and T-55. Ranging was accomplished by a pulse radar (seen here on the bracket above the gun). Despite the good performance of the 20-pounder gun, work was done on up-gunning the Contentious II with either a 120mm gun, a 155mm gun, or even a larger caliber gun.

     As for being air dropped, tests were done using steel constructed replicas in the general shape of the turreted Contentious II design starting in November 1956. They were deployed from a Blackburn Beverley heavy transport, the replicas fitted directly with skids and air bags as a form of impact cushioning. However, these tests were not overly successful, the steel showing significant damage from the landing forces despite the parachute braking and air bags. At least one of the damaged replicas ended up as a range target after impacting the ground, the test personnel seeing no worthwhile reason to recover it.

     The FV4401 Contentious II prototype was also tested at Lulworth Range in Dorset, England, against a 6X6 vehicle, the TV1000 Rhino, which was envisioned in a similar role as the FV4401 but using wheels. The TV1000 had stability problems, the rubber on the wheels wore out at an alarming rate, and the TV1000 used skid steering, much like a tank does, and thus offered little over the FV4401 which was deemed superior. 

     Despite the novel features and relative success during testing, the FV4401 was not put into production nor were further prototypes completed (some sources say at least two more were built) in the FV4401's final form. Had the FV4401 entered service, it would have given British airborne forces a significantly more advanced weapon in comparison to the U.S. M56 Scorpion which entered service in 1957 and would have also been superior to the Soviet ASU-57 airborne assault gun that began service in 1951.

     Today, the prototype shown in the photograph at Kirkcudbright Training Area survives to this day, able to be seen at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England. Unlike the photograph, the FV4401 at Bovington is armed with a Royal Ordnance L7 105mm gun which was added for display purposes.

Jagdtiger "102": Demolition Outside Rittershoffen

     By 1900 hours on March 16, 1945, the 3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne (3rd. Algerian Infantry Division; 3e DIA) had wrested control of the towns of Oberhoffen and Schirrhein from the Germans and solidified their positions. In the vicinity was Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 (Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion 653; s.Pz.Jg.Ab.653) who was preparing to evacuate damaged Jagdtigers by trains out of Soultz with their destination being the repair works in Bellheim. All three of the battalion's companies, 1./653, 2./653, and 3./653, were converging at Soultz with the hopes that the two trains positioned at Soultz could be loaded up and then dispatched under the cover of darkness. As work got underway with loading the Jagdtigers onto the rail cars, it was decided that a kampfgruppe (battle group) remain behind to provide a covering force to ensure the trains departed for Bellheim without incident. Put in charge of the kampfgruppe was Oberleutnant Werner Haberland, the commander of 1./653. The unit was made up of the remaining Jagdtigers from 1./653 and 2./653, seven Jagdtigers in all, plus those of 3./653 which was at its full strength of nine Jagdtigers. The kampfgruppe moved out and took up a position in the forest near Biblisheim and it did not have to wait very long before elements of the U.S. 36th. Infantry Division ran into the Jagdtigers during their push towards Gunstett. Haberland's Jagdtigers were able to punish the advancing U.S. troops enough to stall their advance. During the night, the 257th. Volksgrenadier Division launched an attack against the 3e DIA but failed to beat the Algerian troops. However, the trains departed from Soultz unimpaired and so their job done, Haberland had the kampfgruppe withdraw towards Wissembourg.

     Along the way, Jagdtiger “102” broke down near the town of Rittershoffen. It was decided that “102” could not be repaired nor taken with the kampfgruppe and so demolition charges were set and the Jagdtiger was blown up. The detonation blew a portion of the roof off the vehicle as well as blasted the gun mantlet clean off. The photograph here, though, depicts the remains of “102” after the end of the war. It was in the process of being scrapped in situ and one can see the Maybach HL 230 P30 engine has been completely removed along with the tracks, much of the rear hull and superstructure has been cut away along with a portion of the 128mm PaK 44 L/55 gun. The photograph does show the large breech block to good effect. Of note, some publications caption the post-WW2 photographs of “102” as evidence of the destruction caused by the demolition charges but this would be incorrect.

     As for s.Pz.Jg.Ab.653, by mid-March 1945, the unit's commander, Major Rudolph Grillinberger, issued a report to the Oberkommando des Heeres (Army High Command) which stated he had eighteen operational Jagdtigers with sixteen total needing repair, all of which had been dispatched by rail to Bellheim. Thus, the war was not yet over for s.Pz.Jg.Ab.653.

The British FV4004 Conway: Not Good Enough

     When Soviet IS-3 heavy tanks belonging to the 71st. Guards Heavy Tank Regiment appeared before Western eyes on September 7, 1945, rolling down the Charlottenburger Straße in Berlin to celebrate the Allied victory over Germany, it would send a ripple of panic through the U.S. and Britain. With its pointed and well sloped front hull boasting 200mm thick armor and its low, rounded turret fitted with the heavy hitting 122mm D-25 gun, the “Shchuka” (“Pike” as the Soviets nicknamed the IS-3) became the boogieman that haunted the dreams of tank designers and tank crews. The IS-3 was the catalyst for two heavy tanks designed to beat it. The first was the U.S. M103 heavy tank which entered service in 1957 and the second was the British FV214 Conqueror which saw service starting in 1955. For the British, the delays in getting the FV214 into operational service saw the experimentation with heavy guns on existing tank chassis in order to put something into the field that both had the range and the hitting power to defeat the IS-3. One of these designs was the FV4004 Conway.

     The chassis to be used was that of the Centurion Mk.3 main battle tank and outside of the turret, the remainder of the Conway was exactly the same as the Centurion. The weapon to be used was the L1 120mm rifled gun and because the breech of the L1 was so massive, a completely new turret had to be built as the standard Centurion turret could not mount it. The turret itself was tall, a necessity to fit both the breech and allow the gun crew to operate, and was not thickly armored. By consequence, the turret, while larger and with a heavy gun, did not impose much of weight increase and so the mobility of the Conway remained good with a top speed of 21.5mph as provided by its Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The ammunition for the L1 usually consisted of Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) and High-Explosive Squash-Head (HESH). The ammunition was in two parts, the projectile and the brass propellant case. For the APDS round, the projectile was 21.4lbs. while the case was 60.9lbs. The HESH ammunition was 35.3lbs. and 41.5lbs. respectively. Because of the size of the complete rounds, the ammunition the Conway could carry was very limited. The APDS round could penetrate 390mm of flat steel armor at 1,000 yards or up to 120mm of armor at a 55 degree slope. The HESH round, on the other hand, could cause spalling on armor up to 120mm thick at a 60 degree slope at any range and this made it effective in long range tank duels in which the HESH round would not be as vulnerable to the sloping of the IS-3's armor.

     A single prototype of the Conway was completed in either 1949 or 1950 and was tested. However, by 1951, it was decided to discontinue work on the Conway. It isn't known the exact reasons as to why but it could be speculated that the limited ammunition capacity and the high profile of the Conway were not conductive to a tank destroyer. Another concern was that the APDS round could not reliably knock out the IS-3 at range leaving only the HESH ammunition which, while more capable at longer ranges, also did not guaranty target destruction. This is evidenced by the FV4005 “Centaur” project which essentially took up where the Conway left off, the new design meant to utilize the even larger L4 183mm gun which was thought to be the “one shot, one kill” weapon the British needed.

     Today, the Conway survives and is on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England. Following the cancellation of the Conway in 1951, only the turret remained so the Conway at the museum is the original turret and gun but on a different Centurion Mk.3 chassis.

 

Jagdtiger "131": Signpost in Schwetzingen

One of the many photographs of Jagdtiger "131". Author's Collection.

     On March 26, 1945, U.S. forces crossed the Rhine River at Germersheim, 24 miles from Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 653's (s.Pz.Jg.Abt.653) encampment where mechanics worked to repair and refit the unit’s Jagdtigers. On March 30, U.S. Army Air Force fighters and bombers subjected the town of Schwetzingen to an aerial bombardment in preparation for an attack by U.S. infantry and armor. Once the bombardment lifted, troops commenced to advancing into the town. s.Pz.Jg.Abt.653 was ordered to deploy Jagdtigers to assist in the defense and dispatched three Jagdtigers for the effort. Unfortunately, disaster was waiting. The gruppe (group) was led by Leutnant Knippenberg in Jagdtiger “115” and as he attempted to maneuver his vehicle into a firing position, it became bogged down in a field. Unable to extract it, Knippenberg had his crew blow “115” up. 

     “131” entered Schwetzingen and was moving down Heidelberg Road when from a side street (Mannheim Road), a U.S. M4 Sherman spotted the Jagdtiger and fired, hitting the left side of “131” and jamming the track. This caused the Jagdtiger to suddenly veer into what was left of the corner home of the Krebs family. The M4 quickly fired again, striking the Jagdtiger in the weaker side armor (which was 80mm compared to 150mm to 250mm at the front) just above the track. One crewman was killed immediately after the second hit with another severely wounded then “131” began to burn. The surviving crew abandoned the Jagdtiger but the wounded soldier would later die of his injuries. 

     The third Jagdtiger retreated from Schwetzingen, headed towards the town of Eppelheim along the E5 Autobahn. While at speed, the Jagdtiger threw a track (meaning, it came off the running gear). With the rapid advance of the U.S. troops, there was no time to either put the track back on or attempt to move the Jagdtiger into some sort of firing position so it was blown up by the crew.

     The burned out “131” would become the subject of many photographs as well as becoming a sign post to direct U.S. troops. The hole created by the second round from the Sherman can be seen in the fender to the right of the soldier getting his picture taken.