WW2 German Panzer ace Michael Wittman's gravestone reportedly STOLEN

[CougarKing]

For those unaware, this German Tiger tank ace fought against Canadian Firefly/Sherman tanks in one of his last battles, if I can recall correctly.

Daily Mail

Gravestone of one of Nazi Germany's most famous S.S. panzer commanders who died in the battle for Normandy is stolen from cemetery in France
Michael Wittmann was one of the most feared Nazi tank commanders
He received a Knight's Cross for gallantry from Adolf Hitler before he died
Wittmann is credited with destroying 270 tanks and anti-tank guns
He was finally killed during the Battle for Normandy and buried in France

The gravestone of one of Nazi Germany's most famous S.S. panzer commanders from WW2 has been stolen from a cemetery in France where he fell in the battle for Normandy. Police believe neo-Nazi fanatics are behind the theft of the stone marking the resting place of Michael Wittmann in the town of La Cambe.

Wittmann rose to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer - captain - and received the Knight's Cross for gallantry from Hitler. He was credited with the destruction of 138 tanks and 132 anti-tank guns, along with an unknown number of other armoured vehicles, making him one of Germany's top scoring panzer aces.

Wittmann is most famous for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armoured Division, during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. While in command of a single Tiger tank on 13 June 1944 he destroyed 14 Brititsh tanks and 15 personnel carriers along with two anti-tank guns within of 15 minutes (2).

It is widely believed Trooper Joe Ekins, the gunner in a Sherman Firefly tank of the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, fired the round that destroyed his tank and killed Wittmann and his crew, on August 8 1944 (1).

Because of his gallantry Wittman's grave attracted visitors from all over the world. The stone was reported missing on Tuesday. La Cambe's mayor Bernard Lenice said: 'The tombstone will be replaced. Even if it was a German officer, we must respect the dead.'

The bodies of around 21,000 German soldiers are buried in La Cambe alone.

 

[larry Strong]

For the longest time his death was attributed to the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. Norm Christie did a documentary on his death and shows how the Sherbrooke Fusilliers were responsible for his death.


Cheers
Larry

 

[mariomike]

For the longest time his death was attributed to the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. Norm Christie did a documentary on his death and shows how the Sherbrooke Fusilliers were responsible for his death.

Who killed the Black Baron 
http://army.ca/forums/threads/94197.0

 

[daviddoranlovesh]

Yeah saw the documentary.he was killed at Cintheaux,just north of Falaise.he was THE all time top scoring tank commander and started out in Sturmgeschutze.he and gunner Balthasar  Woll were an amazing team and its said that Michael had a sixth sense around the sitting of enemy anti tank guns.I think Bobby Woll survived the war.

 

[Old Sweat]

I did a considerable amount of research into the question of who actually killed him. It was my conclusion, published as a 21-page annex to my No Holding Back: Operation Totalize, Normandy, August 1944 that a Sherman of A Squadron of the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment firing from a concealed position behind the walls of a chateau near Gaumesnil knocked out his Tiger, killing Wittmann and his crew.

Before his death the Nazi propaganda machine milked him for every bit of publicity it could. For example his total of kills was inflated by crediting AFVs knocked out at Villers Bocage by other Tigers in his company to him. Unfortunately his tactical ability did not match his reputation, and he blundered into the ambush which cost the lives of him and four other Tigers (out of seven engaged) as well as a good number of the crews.

I am surprised that his stone was not stolen before this occasion. His fans are generally blind to his failures and faults.

 

[vonGarvin]

Read about Otto Carius instead.  IMHO, his history is all the more impressive.  Specifically the battles that he and his wingman Albert Kerscher conducted on the eastern front.

 

[larry Strong]

Yeah saw the documentary.he was killed at Cintheaux,just north of Falaise.he was THE all time top scoring tank commander and started out in Sturmgeschutze.he and gunner Balthasar  Woll were an amazing team and its said that Michael had a sixth sense around the sitting of enemy anti tank guns.I think Bobby Woll survived the war.

Not quite, close however:

Kurt Knispel - 168 (126 as gunner)
Otto Carius - 150+
Johannes Bölter - 139–144
Michael Wittmann - 138

Please note, the list is sorted by the number of enemy tanks destroyed, and does not include A/T guns, military equipment, lighter vehicles and field works to which every tank commander was responsible for as well. I.e. Wittmann is credited with 138 tanks and 132 antitank guns.

The remains of Kurt Knispel were recently found in a grave the Czech Republic. Last year IIRC.


Cheers
Larry

 

[daviddoranlovesh]

Wow! Back to the library for me so...tell me Larry,I know Otto Carius was Wehrmacht and Wittmann was Leibstandarte.... What units were the other two in?

 

[vonGarvin]

Wow! Back to the library for me so...tell me Larry,I know Otto Carius was Wehrmacht and Wittmann was Leibstandarte.... What units were the other two in?

Kerscher was also Wehrmacht.  Carius was recruited by the Waffen-SS, but he refused.  He only passed away a few months ago.

 

[daviddoranlovesh]

Amazing up to date knowledge on this forum...I never used it before,I was provoked by the post about the gravestone.I read Otto  Carius biography (stacpoole printing I think) some years ago....methinks its time for a slower reread....thanks lads.

 

[larry Strong]

Wow! Back to the library for me so...tell me Larry,I know Otto Carius was Wehrmacht and Wittmann was Leibstandarte.... What units were the other two in?

All three above Wittmann were from Schwere Panzerabtielug 502


Cheers
Larry

 

[vonGarvin]

Knispel ended up with the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion, and became a legend at Kursk.

Wittman's resume pales in comparison to these men, IMHO.

 

[Old Sweat]

As far as I can determine Wittmann only fought in two battles in Normandy, although he might also have been in Operation Goodwood. In the first battle at Villers Bocage he knocked out 11 or so tanks - a Cromwell in A Sqn, some Stuarts in Recce Tp, the four RHQ tanks and the two wooden-gun arty tanks of the BC and a FOO. His Tiger was then knocked out by a 6-per but was later recovered. It was the first Tiger knocked out in Normandy.

His only other engagement was the one in which he was killed on 8 August.

 

[exspy]

Currently, there is a very virulent and agitated discussion ongoing with regard to who fired the fatal shot that destroyed Wittman's tank on the Armchair General forum.  There's been a lot of criticism of this Reid guy for "getting everything wrong."  I've put forward a few arguments in favour of Reid's argument, and have been supported by a couple of other posters.  The naysayer, a Brit, won't be moved that it was Ekins of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry firing at extreme range who made the fatal shot.

FYI.

Cheers,
Dan.

 

[Old Sweat]

Thanks Dan. An interesting aspect is that the Brits who were there - both Joe Ekins and Lord Tom Boardman, who was the squadron 2ic and observed the engagement - maintain until the day they died that there were only three Tigers and nobody else was visible. However, both German records and careful examination of air photographs show the wreckage of five Tigers.

Some others claim that Ekins really got four Tigers (these people ignore the fifth Tiger) but somehow this was not reported on the net and therefore it was not logged. See the preceding paragraph.

In all of this, the important thing is that the German counter-attack, of which the Tiger operation was only a part failed, thanks principally to the guts and ability of the 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry. This doomed the German defence along the Caen-Falise road and led to the closure of the Falaise Gap and the destruction of a large part of the German forces in Normandy.

 

[CougarKing]

Carius was recruited by the Waffen-SS, but he refused.

When the Luftwaffe created its "Herman Goring Panzer division" , being the only Air Force in history to have a full-fledged armoured division, didn't they try to recruit some Panzer aces from the Wehrmacht and the SS?

 

[Rifleman62]

https://twitter.com/DownedWarbirds?t=1&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjc18y&refsrc=email&iid=9b9fb6eab23249c9b76234a03071f23f&uid=423547279&nid=244+285868055

Don't know if photo one is authentic or if Old Sweat has seen it.


Photo caption 1. Pictured is Tank Ace Michael Wittmann’s Tiger “007” (of which he was killed in on 8 August 1944) after being knocked out. It is still unsure who fired the shot that destroyed his Tiger

                    2. Wittmann

 

[Old Sweat]

Thanks. I have seen it. A French civilian took the picture some time after the engagement. Note that the hull has been moved, possibly by Canadian RCEME who salvaged the tracks to be welded on the hulls and turrets of Shermans. as "buckshee" armour.