Thread: Tiger 1 in Kursk

The Tiger illustrated here belongs to the 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division 'Das Reich'. The fourteen Tigers a available to the division for 'Citadel' formed the 8th company of the Panzer Regiment and could be identified by the 'white gnome' on the turret next to the vehicle code 'S13'. The 'S' designated a heavy panzer and the '13' placed it as the third vehicle of four in the first platoon. The special Kursk sign employed by 'Das Reich' of a horizontal bar with two vertical bars above is carried on the left glacis. The tanks of the 19th Panzer Division carried the same marking but in black - an attempt to confuse Soviet intelligence as to unit identity.

Unfortunatley Hitler rushed the Tiger into the battle of Kursk to early and they along with the Panthers suffered from a high percentage of mechanical failure seriously reducing thier potential impact on the battle