GD's Tiger's

[UnterOffizier]

This is my first post and I am expecting delivery of my first tank in a few hours.

Finding the correct turret numbers on Wehrmacht tanks can be confusing and contradictory. My first tank should here in a few hours. I intend to paint the Tiger tank (3818-1) dark yellow as one of the 15 Grossdeutschland (GD) tanks at Kursk. All were assigned to the 13th Kompanie of Panzer Regiment GD or "13.Pz.Kp./Panzer Regiment Großdeutschland." For the company commander Hauptmann Wallroth his tank would be marked "S01." S is for "Schwere" which means heavy. O designates that he is the company commander. "1" is for the tank number within the "Zug" or platoon in this cause the Stabs Zug (Command Platoon.) The 2nd tank of the 3rd Zug would be "S32."

The GD tigers at Kursk seemed to have arrived in the Desert Yellow with the tropical filters. It appears that they were still one color (no green or red overspray camo.) at Kursk. I have read conflicting information about the divisional and tactical markings of these tanks. One source says that the markings were never applied before Kursk and the photos seem to confirm that.

Any thoughts?

[DavidN]

Here is what I found in my Tiger book....

[761st]

Congrats and welcome to the world of rc tanks and a rabbit hole. Hahahaha! The Tiger is a great one to start with. It was my first and a favorite. A lot of info out there. Hope this helps.

https://tiger1.info/index.html

Keep us posted.

[SoCalBobS]

UO; I'd be careful of anything in books or presented online that isn't supported by actual photos or documents of the time. Apparently some sources, like websites, rely on each other for details and end up perpetuating errors. I like that you're using photos!

But then, it's your tank and you can finish it however you'd like. A Panzer III that has a "Star Wars R2D2" scheme shows up at local meets at times!

[UnterOffizier]

I am pretty confident of my research. I started it back in 1976, lol, back when I was twelve. I am very much looking forward to painting and weathering this Tiger. I was just wondering if anyone could help with the research on GD's 13th Kompanie tank lead by Hauptmann Wallroth at Kursk.

[UnterOffizier]

This is GD Tiger number S01 (Panzer and Kompanie commander: Hauptmann Wallroth) of 13.Pz.Kp./Panzer-Regiment GD. (I need to make a crows foot antenna.) This is one of the seven Tigers GD received in time for the battles around Kharkov in March and April 1943 - during the time of this picture. The first seven survived and another eight Tiger tanks joined just in time for Kursk. The kompanie strength was 15 Tigers. Instead of being organized as a Heavy Tank Battalion such as 502, GD's 13th kompanie was the only GD unit with Tigers at Kursk.

It appears that none of the 15 Tigers were camouflaged at Kursk. Either they were too busy, it was a security concern or for some other reason they remained in Dark Yellow.

[KAdams]

I’ve found this site has a wealth of info on the Tiger I:

http://www.alanhamby.com/tiger.html

[761st]

KAdams - Great site! Thanks!

[UnterOffizier]

KAdams awesome website!! The cutaways are amazing. I learned a couple of new things. I saw where Hauptmann Wallroth's GD's 13. Kompanie had the highest unit kill ratio at 16:1. Kill/Loss 100/6. But - 13. Kompanie did not have anyone on the Tiger Ace's list for highest number of kills. Which makes sense because it is only a kompanie sized unit (instead of a battalion) AND the unit only existed for a couple of months before reorganization. Kursk was lethal, but a target rich environment. Another piece of the puzzle. Thank you.