Tiger I in Ardennes

[AlanG]

Trying to do a bit of research on the Ardennes offensive (Battle of the Bulge). I can find loads of information about King Tigers and Panthers taking part. But nothing about Tiger I's. Bob has helped me out (funny old thing..... not Bob.... i meant about the info) regarding STuGs.

Any information about if there were Tiger I's there and if so, what units, tank production model and if possible. What tank numbers.

 

[Steven000]

(Removed, can't find a source to verify my comment)

 

[Steven000]

I did found this for what it's worth,

(By Ron Klages on Feldgrau.net)

"There were only 2 units with Tiger Is in the area of the Ardennes but only one of them saw action in the battles.

On 18 December 1944 schwere Panzerkompanie "Hummel" was assigned to schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506 as it's 4.Kompanie. At this point it had 8 Tiger Is while the balance of 506 had 47 Tiger IIs. These Tiger Is did fight in the battles in the Ardennes and on 17 January 1945 1 of the Tiger Is that had been damaged in battle was destroyed by the crew since it could not be recovered prior to the withdrawal. "Hummel" stayed with 506 until 16 February 1945 when they left with 5 Tiger Is to operate as an independent unit the remainder of the war.

schwere Panzer-Abteilung (Tiger/Fkl) 301 with 29 Tiger Is received word on 15 December 1944 that they were to be attached to the 9. Panzer-Division. They assembled in Niederaussem to entrain for transport which was scheduled to begin on 20 December 1944. On 22 December 1944 members of the unit Stab went into the Eifel to establish contact with the HQ of the 9. PD, which was scheduled to relieve the 2. PD fighting near Celles. However, before the rail transport of the Tigers could happen, all of the rail lines had been destroyed so on 25 December 1944 301 was released from it's attachment to the 9.PD. The Tigers were unloaded and 301 moved to Nörvenich where it became an Army Group reserve of the LXXXI. Armee-Korps. During the first half of 1945 301 carried out repairs and maintenance to their equipment as well as personnel reorganization. Hence they never took action in the Ardennes actions. In fact they did not enter action untill 20 January 1945 at Waldfeucht aganist the British in the Rhineland operations. At this point they had 27 Tiger Is. It appears the reduction of 2 was the result of 2 Tiger Is being sent to Maintenance in early January 1945. When they went in combat in the second half of January 1945 they had 52 BIVs on their roster. However it appears that the demo tanks were never used again although there were orders for them to be used to destroy bridges over the Ruhr River on 10 April 1945. This order was recinded so the demo tanks were sent back to the supply unit"

 

[Mini Me]

There were no Tiger I tanks in The Kamphgruppe led by Peiper......I have all three volumes written by Haaslers,Vosters and Weber entitled "Duel in the Mist" There is no mention of Tiger l tanks in their drive into the Ardennes. I know that there were other elements involved but I do not have knowledge of their
Equipment rosters. Sorry I can't be of more help. OOOPs..... Just found 506 equipment roster......according to Schneider's Tigers in Combat vol. 1, as of Dec. 13, 1944 the 506 had 6 Tiger 1s and 41 Tiger lls, so this confirms what Steven posted previously. Rick H.

 

[AlanG]

Cheers guys. Would they be a mid or late production tank?

 

[Mini Me]

Late most likely as last iteration of Tiger 1 was sometime in June 1944. HTH Rick H.

 

[AlanG]

Cheers Rick. Late version it is then

 

[Mini Me]

Working on one myself......Rick H.

 

[JR]

Alan .Found this yesterday and thought I had posted, after reading Ricks post I'm a bit unsure now.
Found this on Amazon, Steven is quite correct .
Tigers in the Ardennes: The 501st Heavy SS Tank Battalion in the Battle of the Bulge Hardcover – Illustrated, 15 Jan. 2015
by G Walden (Author)
At £23. 38 might be a bit more than you want to pay .
Must be more information out there on the web as it was an important battle .

 

[AlanG]

John. It's all about the Tiger II (King Tiger)

 

[JR]

John. It's all about the Tiger II (King Tiger)

Sorry Alan, you mean there's more than one type !!--------------

 

[Graeme C.]

In Panzerwrecks 16 Bulge, there are some pictures of Tiger 1's, according to the captions, the only unit to use them in the Battle of the Bulge was 4th company 506 heavy tank battalion. One Tiger looks like a mid production (on pages 2 & 3) with no apparent Zimmerit, the other (on pages 38 & 39) looks like an early model, with drum type cupola, but with steel wheels as fitted to late model Tiger 1.

 

[adt70hk]

Alan

Really not an expert but I have something that might help if I can find it....

Andrew

 

[Jakko]

Sorry Alan, you mean there's more than one type !!--------------

It wasn’t bad enough yet so they decided to try again.

 

[adt70hk]

Morning Alan

Found what I was looking for. I know you're already going ahead with the build but thought it might be useful background info.

Back in my teens and early 20s I did a lot of board wargaming. One of, if not, the biggest player in the field was an American company called Avalon Hill and so I bought a lot their games - and still have them.

One of their more famous titles is called Panzer Leader - a platoon level game set in NWE 44-45 and recreating some of the more famous skirmishes and battles of the time - including the Ardennes offensive.

Two of the Ardennes scenarios list Tiger Is in the German ORBAT. One involves Kamphgruppe Peiper. Another involves a scenario involving the 12 SS Pz Division and 276 Volkgrenadier Division. Images of the ORBATs are below and at the end of each top row you'll see Tiger Is listed.

Hope that helps and good luck with the build.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[AlanG]

All information is greatly appreciated and received Andrew. The Tiger I build is down the line after the King Tiger and Panther G, so i have loads of time to decide on the unit(s) and actual tank to buy.

 

[minitnkr]

German tank production used a process whereby "last in first out" was the norm. This is why you can find late suspension & early turrets and early suspension & late turrets. They use up the good stuff first for refit & initial construction. PaulE

 

[BattleshipBob]

They also had tanks etc returned from the front, they were repaired and then refitted with the latest improvements. Nightmare to work out age, Ausf etc!

 

[Mini Me]

It actually makes for some very interesting "Sub" variants for us modelers to sink our teeth into and also some very sticky stuff for the "Rivet Counters" to argue about Rick H.

 

[Jakko]

On the positive side, it’s hard to get your model really wrong, given that system of production and repair