Michael Wittman

I ? fought in France, Greece, Russia, and again in France during the defense of Normandy, when his Tiger tank - already displaying 100 kill rings on the barrel - knocked out another 21 British tanks in a single action. He was the most successful tank commander in World War 11. Michael W i tt man n by Dr. Greg Jones I saw him for the jirst time in the park at Baron in Normandy. He ran through the rain with hunched shoulders and hands in his pockets because it was cool and perhaps he was cold. Two hours of sleep on a field bed somewhere were not sufficient to remove the shadows of exhaustion and of difficult battle from his face. He stood before us of middle height, his hair pale blond, a face in which modesty, calm and selj-assurance could be read! This is how a German war correspondent described his first meeting, in 1944, with the most successful tank commander of World War 11, Waffen-SS Hauptsturmfuhrer (Captain) Michael Wittmann. Shortly before the interview had taken place, Wittmann’s Tiger tank had destroyed almost an entire British annored brigade in one of the most spectacular feats of combat arms of World War 11. However, 1944 marked .the tenth year of Michael Wittmann’s military career and his recent success in Normandy had been preceded by other remarkable accomplishments. Michael Wittmann was born the son of farm folk in Vogelthal, in the Oberpfalz region of Germany, on April 22, 1914. After completing his secondary school finals, he remained on the farm, working with his father until 1934. Then, at the age of twenty, he volunteered for the German Labor Service - a year before the six-month stint of labor was declared mandatory? After his duty obligation expired, he went into the Reichswehr as a member of the 10th Battalion of Infantry Regiment 19 at Freising, where he rose to the rank of corporal? Farmers’ sons were a group whose recruitment into the SS was actively encouraged by Heinrich Himmler, who was notorious for his quaint, rustic ideas4 - and Wittmann, after his release from Army service, applied to join the SS in SS-Sturm 1/92 at In-golstadt on 1 November 1936. After only five months with the Allgemeine SS, Wittmann came into the 17th Company of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler - Hitler’s personal “Guard ~ ARMOR - JUly-AUgUSt 7992 33 his Tiger tank, in Belgium during the spring of 1944. Regiment” - on April 5, 1937. Although the Leibstandarte was tkhni-cally a component of the SS. “The men who had joined it had done so for the purpose of leading lives as soldiers, albeit soldiers who were attracted by the unique status conferred by membership in that company. Exhortations of devotion to Hitler, which had to be rather abstract to an SS unit in Munich. could be taken literally in the Leibstandarte. Efforts at ideological indoctrination were often self-defeating in the context of the Leibstandarte’s ‘raison d etre’.’” Indeed, Wittmann was never a member of the National Socialist Workers party (Nazi): which was not uncommon in the Leibstandarte? Between the time of Wittmann’s entry into the Leibstandarte and the start of World War II, the Leibstandarte settled into an “essentially passive routine.”’ The 17th Company, to which Wittmann belonged, would alternate between tours of watch at the Reich Chancel-lory in Berlin and Hitler’s Ober- &berg retreat, although the Leibstandarte as a whole found permanent residence at the Lichterfelde complex outside of Berlin. By the time war broke out in September of 1939, Wittmann had attained the NCO rank of unterschar-fuhrer (sergeant) in the infantry branch. “Although he knew his infantry weapons ‘in his sleep,’ it was love at first sight between him and the panzer~.~ Following the fall of France in 1940, the Leibstandarte received its first allotment of Sturmgeschutz - turretless assadt guns - with Wittmann gaining his first experience as “Geschutzfuhrer” during the German invasion of Greece. Shortly after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in the p d a w n hours of June 22,1941, Wittmann earned his fvst decorations, winning an Iron Cross 2nd Class on July 12, 1941, and the Iron Cross 1st Class on September 8)’ In Russia, as a member of the Leibstandarte’s Third Sturmgeschutz Batterie, Wittmann &e under the tutelage of Sturmbannfuhrer (Colonel) Max Wunsche, Hitler’s former adjutant.” An early indication of Wittmann’s skill as an individual vehicle commander came when he repelled the assault of 18 Soviet tanks by knocking out eight of them.12 A former member of the Sturmgeschutz battery recalls, “Although our company commander h m back then was fond of saying that we had ‘many Wittmanns’ in the detachment, the fact that he, the company commander, recommended him for Officer’s Candidate School (Junkemhule) was special recognition for Michael Wittmann. He stood out from the 0th- m.*913 In June 1942, Wittmann was assigned to the SS Officer’s Training School at Bad Tolz, eventually attaining his officer’s commission with the rank of “untersturmfuhrer” (first lieutenant) on December 12, 1942.14 “Seine Wunsche ist immer noch, ein-mal einen schwerin Panzer zu fuhren” - his wish was always the same - he wanted to command a Tiger tank,’5 the new “superweapon” of the war, and with the Leibstandarte having been granted its own company of Tiger tanks in November of 1942,16 Wittmann’s wish was granted. He first climbed into a Tiger tank as an officer with the Tiger Replacement Battalion (Schwere Panzer Ersatz Abteilung) of the Leibstandarte and was issued a booklet called the “Tigerfibel” or ‘Tiger ptimer.”17 The primer stated the duties of each member of a Tiger crew - commander, gunner, loader, driver and radio operator. For the commander, it detailed sequences of command as well as reminding him, “Your quick thinking, your certain commands, brings the tank to life.” Your rapid directions in selecting the warhead (armor piercing, high explosive, etc.) has a decisive effect. YOU hold all the trump cards in your hand.”*’ But Wittmann brought to Tiger tank command something that the Tigdibel, with all its pithy sayings, could not. He‘ possessed a very instinkt” - that would make him the great tank killer of World War II.19 By March 1943, he saw combat ir, the turret of a Tiger tank as part of the Gennan operation to close the 300-kilometer gap that resulted from the defeat at Stalingrad. The goal was to capture the city of Kharkov. The Heavy Tank Company of the LeibsQndarte reached the western fringes of the city on March 8. Wittmann, however, was not “in on” the successful capture of the city - attrition had deprived the Leibstandarte of all battleworthy Tigers, leaving its divisional commander some 14 lesser tanks with which to take the city?’ Ironically, the fmt Germans into Kharkov’s “Red Square” turned out to be from the Leibstandarte’s Third Sturmgeschutz Battery, Wittmann’s old outfit!*’ The capture of Kharkov, in turn, left a tempting bulge of men and materiel centered on the Ukrainian city of Kursk, and on July 5, 1943, the Tiger company was subordinated to the Leibstandlute’s Second Panzergrenadier Regiment during its northward drive toward Kursk.” Michael Wittman’s Tiger knocked out eight Soviet tanks and seven antitank guns

(PAK)

on the first day of what was to real hunting instinct - “Jaeger- 34 ARMOR - July-AUgust 1992 evolve into the largest tank battle of World War 11. Wittmann was fond of telling his fellow tank commanders that he felt more accomplishment in knocking out an antitank gun than in knocking out an enemy tank, “the antitank gun is harder to spot than the tank; it’s able to get off more rounds before n can find it.”23 There was ample opportunity to test his theory at Kursk. where his Tiger crawled through miles of antitank gun fronts and hull-down Soviet tanks. Michael Wittmann and his crew lasted through five days of fiery combat, due in part to the superior firepower and protection given them by their Tiger tank. Many other Tiger crews, though, met their end at Kursk - Wittmann, it seems, had on his side, besides bravery, “the luck that often accompanies the man who masters his craft.” Emerging from the turret of his tank - his face smeared with perspiration and blackened with gunpowder soot - Wittmann had the satisfaction of knowing that his Tiger had destroyed in its wake 28 tanks and 36 of the antitank guns he so hated.w In spite of individual local successes such as Wittmann’s, the great German offensive at Kursk failed, and the Leibstmdarte was shipped off to Italy for a respite from the fighting, its heavy equipment remaining behind in Russiaz Upon its return to Russia in November of 1943, it was forced to adopt a new role - that of grisly rearguard on a front experiencing “catastrophic deterioration.”26 Wittmann, along with the rest of the heavy company, became part of a force intent on the capture of BNSS~~OV, a city deep within a salient jutting out from Kiev. On November 13th, his Tiger tank was involved in what was described as “feverish” action, knocking out ten Russian T-34s and five PAK by noon and another ten tanks and seven PAK by e~ening?~ There were targets aplenty. Despite an impressive tally of destroyed enemy tanks, 56 from July 1943 to 7 January 1944?8 it took a breakthrough by Soviet armor and Wittmann’s success in dealing with it to finally earn him recommendation for Germany’s highest military award, the “Ritterkreuz” or “Knight’s Cross.”29 Wittmann’s Tiger destroyed three T-34s and one assault gun on the 8th and another six on the 9th, while the platoon under his command halted the breakthrough?’ There was, however, little time to savor the Knight’s Cross recommendation. By J & m y 13, he had destroyed his 88th enemy tank?1 stopping yet another Soviet deep penetration, but this time he did not come away unscathed - he suffered broken teeth on the inside edge of his tank’s turret?’ The dental prosthesis that replaced those lost teeth was instrumental in identifying Michael Wittmann’s remains some forty years later.33 At ceremonies held on a snowy overcast day on January 14,1944, the Knight’s Cross was presented to Michael Wittmann by his division commander, Theodore Wisch, along with the hearty congratulations of the Panzer Regiment Commander, Jochen Peiper. Displayed prominently in all photos taken of the occasion is his Tiger tank, its gun barrel painted with alternating black and white rings to indicate his 88 kills. Also receiving the Knight’s Cross that day was his trusty gunner, Baltasar Woll, in recognition of the important role he played in Wittmann’s success.34 The more Soviet tanks that poured into the domain of Wittmann’s Tiger, the higher his victory total went. And Soviet armor continued to pour in. By the end of January, Wittmann had destroyed over 100 enemy tanks during his time on the Eastern 60nt.3~ On January 30, he received the following telegram: In gratitude for your heroic action in the battle for the future of our people, I award you the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross as the 380th soldier of the German Armed Forces?6 - Adolf Hitler The press release that accompanied the announcement of the Oak Leaves attributed Wittmann’s “magnificent performance” to his “aggressively offensive stance and praiseworthy shooting abilities.”37 On February 17, after assuming temporary command of the entire heavy tank company?8 Wittmann’s Tigers slogged through the mud of southern Russia to aid in cracking the Soviet ring around Tscherkassy and help free some 35,000 trapped men, while accounting for an additional nine tanks of the Soviet 5th Guards Tank C0rps.3~ While the Leibstandarte refitted in Belgium after almost five months of continuous combat in Russia, Wittmann, accompanied by Woll, received an audience with Hitler at Fuhrer Headquarters, where he formally received his Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross.4 Also present were Wittmann’s former commander with the assault gun unit, Max Wunsche, along with the commander of the newly-fmed Heavy SS Tank Detachment 101, with which Wittmann would serve as company commander. Come June 6, 1944, the SS 101 found itself far away from the beaches of Normandy in the Beauvais area of northern France. It finally reached the battle zone on the night of June 12/13?’ The day of the 13th. “A” and “B” Squadrons of the British 22nd Armor Brigade were surreptitiously advancing towards the city of Caen in hopes of “tuning” the left flank of the German Panzer Lehr Division?’ Wittmann intercepted the column at the town of Villers-Bocage, knocking out four Cromwell tanks of the trailing “B” Squadron in the town proper. Changing direction, he turned his attention to “A” Squadron, which he caught unawares on narrow roadway bordered on each side by “bocage” embankment. Methodically, he put a stranglehold on the long column, first by setting ablaze its lead vehicle, a halftrack, to block escape from the front, and then by stationing his Tiger near the back of the column to prevent escape from the rear. Witbnann then patiently shot up the column, ARMOR - July-August 1992 35 fmt the tanks, Gromwells, and Fmflys, then halftracks, then 10mesP3 By destroying the column, he not only secured the flank of Panzer Lehr - but also, “by his immediate decision, carried out with the greatest valor, averted a critical danger to the whole of the I. SS Panzer Korps, as at that time, the Korps had no other reserves Wittmann received his “Swords to the Oak Leaves” to the Knight’s Cross from Sepp Dietrich, commander of the SS Panzer Korps, and in an effort to recognize and publicize Wittmann ’ s achievements, a correspondent from Das Schwarze-korps - the newspaper of S leader Jochen Peiper congratulates Wittmann and his crew at - - themWaffen ss - went to in-Wimnann’s Knighrs Cross ceremony, January 1944. terview Wittmann: Just hours before, Wittmann had destroyed 21 British tanks, and the most unusual thing to observe about him was that curious after-@ect of great exertion, which had left not only a physical effect upon him, but also upon his heart and soul. He knows completely what he has accomplished. he knows the value of his success. Yet anyone who talks to him as a “hero” will experience that Michael Wittmann looks at him quiet and convinced with some degree of confusion and then with - rejection. He doesn’t like the dramatic, the “big words” and the fus people muke about him. He doesn’t know what to do with such people and he will walk away! It will be unforgettable for mc to have heard him relate how he stood alone with his single tank in the cover of the forest and had the marvelous view of a passing British tank regiment. When he spoke his words they were carefully weighed and it appeared he was very anxious not to commit any mistake, but to describe an event with the greatest degree of truth or factuality as possible. Vehicle behind vehicle, sixty enemy tanks in rapid movement along a road barely twenty meters away. There stood Michael Wittmann. Great odds had not intimidated him before, but this was suicide. Who had ever attacked a whole regiment before? Should he attack? I couldn’t do anything else, Withnann said in a very unheroic way, very simple ... Wittmann didn’t have to stop and think out what to do. He had a ‘sixth sense’ in assessing a situation, which gave a unique gijit to his method of fighting. But he also knows what his success had cost him in terms of spiritual strength and the totality of the situation, which placed him under the shadow of death and in the midst of great efforts. All this changes people, creates diflerent standards. Too much hinges on thisper-formance for one to act like a hero out of a storybook. The mood which enclosed the combat sphere of the Tiger tank with a commander like Wittmann aboard included cold bloodedness and presence of mind, complete mastery of all means of war. His marvelous victories are not the victory of the “heroic,” but of the “human.” With him, and all others on whom the battle hinges, were not made by nature without nerves or feelings. They are not “Sq3ennen.” They are human beings. with wishes, longings, hopes and thoroughly bourgeois love for their wives and children?s Almost half a century later, Herbert Reinecker, the SS war correspondent who conducted the interview, recalled: “Physically, Wittmann did not fit the description one usually visualizes for that of a “hero.” He appeared pale and to be slight of build. He had a serious demeanor, and there was little euphoria after his great victory. I found him to be very modest and quite unpretentious; in fact, I developed a strong feeling of sympathy for him. I sensed he was prepared for sacrifice, even self-sacrifice if necessary, and to me, he gave a whole new meaning to the word “hero.& On August 7, 1944, Field Marshal Montgomery made another attempt to link up with American forces at Falaise by advancing southward along the Caen-Falaise Road. Standing in the way of an estimated 600 Allied tanks was an armored battle group of 60 German tanks, including Wittmann and 10 Tigers from his Company Two. The Allied advance was preceded by massive bombing raidsp7 and Wittmann, who had no intention of sitting back and being caught in a saturation bombing. Meanwhile, he more effectively with the masses of Allied armor directly ahead of him. He led a column of four Tigers north along the Caen-Falaise Road and past the hamlet of Gaumesnil. When Wittmann and his crew failed to return from their mission, search parties went out to attempt to search was seeking open country to deal 36 ARMOR - JUly-AUgUSt 1992 the wreckage of three Tigers that had been reported destroyed east of Gaumesnil. The close presence of enemy troops prevented the search, and Michael Wittmann was officially listed as “missing in action” as of August 8. Thirty-nine years later, an unmarked field grave was discovered near the site of the wrecked Tigers. After uniform remnants and dental records had helped to identify positively the remains as those of Wittmann and his crew, the remains were reinterred at the German Military Cemetery at La Cambe with full military honors?’ Over the years, as in the case of Baron Von Richtofen, various national armies - including the British, the Poles, the Canadians - all claimed credit for ending Wittmann’s life. Was his death the result of carpet bombing, or enemy tank fire, or perhaps a rocket fired from a fighter bomber? B a l W Woll, his former gunner, was severely wounded in Normandy in an air raid, but did survive the war?’ The announcement of the discovery of Wittmann’s remains at Gaumesnil prompted an inquisitive veteran of the British 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, whose “ A Squadron had occupied an orchard just east of Gaumesnil on August 8, 1944, to examine War Diary Records stored at the Office of Public Records. There, he discovered entries for that August 8th which claimed the destruction of three Tiger Tanks by a single Yeomanry “Firefly” Sherman. The action had occurred in a field situated between Gaumesnil and the orchard. With the help of former officers and men from “A“ Squadron, the veteran, Mr. Les Taylor, reconstructed the happening from that fateful day: “A” Squadron was concealed in the orchard at the time Wittmann’s squad began to file forward in a northwesterly direction. The squadron leader called forward the only vehicle he had that could pose a serious threat to a Tiger Tank - the “Firefly” Sherman with its potent, high-velocity 17-pdr. At a distance of 800 meters, and exhibiting marksmanship that Wittmann and WoU would have been proud of, the “Firefly” gunner shot up three of the Tigers, including Wittmann’s. So ended the career of Germany’s greatest tank hero.” Shortly after the end of World War 11, a senior commander of the Waffen-SS laconically commented that Adolf Hitler had “simply let his best soldiers just dash into the fire.”52 One need look no further than the career of Michael Wittmann to appreciate the sad reality of that statement. Notes ‘Das Schwarzkorps, August 3. 1944, 31. Folge, 10. Berlin, Jahrgang. zSdoenbaum. David. Hitler’s Social Revolution. (New Yo&. 1966). p. 83-84. 3Berlin Document Center, SS Biographical Records. “Lebenslauf.” Wittmann File. ‘Quame. BN-. Hitler’s Samurai: The Waffen-SS In Action, (Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1983). ’James Weingarner. “Sepp Dietrich, Heinrich Himmler, and the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” “Central Europeen History,” September 1968. qVittmann Fie. BDC service RCCO~~. 7Weingartner. Hitler’s Guard, (Southern ‘/bid. ’Das Schwarzkorps, August 3. 1944. 31. ‘Owittmann Fie BDC. senice ~ m d . ‘I Personal correspondence. Max Wwche to Schwrzkorps. August 3. 1944. 31. “Pmonal correspondence, Hans Siegel to au- ‘%ttmann File. BDC Service Record. ”Das Schwarzkorps, August 3. 1944. 31. Fol e 10. Berlin. Jahrgang. “Aufstellung Ewer =were . Panzer Kompanie FVR Das Panacr Regiment Der Lpsah.” SS-Fuhretbaupamt Org. TGB. 7829/42 geh. Illinois University Press. 1%8). Folge. 10. Bedin. Jahrgang. author, 27 Jun 87. Fol e 10. Berlin. Jahrgang. thor, 23 Feb 92. ’7Wittmann Fie BDC, Service Record. ‘%gerfibel D/656/27 Hemusgegeben AM. August 1, 1943, vom Generalinspekter der ”Personal correspondence. Hans Siegel to au- 201bid.. 23 Feb 92. 2‘Ia Tagesmeldung. March 11. 1943 T- %e Leibstandae (Vol 111). Rudolf Lehman =Das Schworzkorps. August 3. 1944. 31. Panzettruppen. thor, 6 Dec 88. 35411 18l3752293. Quaid in Hitler’s Guard. Munin Verlag, Osnabruck. Folge 10. Berlin, Jahrgang. ARMOR - JUly-AUguSt 1992 a/bid. %ehman, The Lcibstandarte, Obekanmando %eingartner. Hitler’s Guard. %ittmann Fie. BDC vorscfilag ~ i t t e l l ~ e u z =/bid. 291bid. m/bid. 3’Wittmann File. BDC Vorschlag Eichenlaub 32Lehman, Die Leibstadarte, VoL III. 33Personal correspondence. German War Graves Service to author 12 Jun 90. %iUi Fey, Panzerkampf, Munin Verlag Os-nabruck. 3sWittmann File, BDC Preas Release Announcing A w d of Oak Leaves to Knight’s Cross to Michael Wittmann. 36wittmann File, BDC. Telegram Adolf Hitler to Michael Wittmann. des Heer la 36659 geh. of 29.7. 1943. Von Eiseren Kreuz. Ritterkreuz Von Eiscren Kreuz. ”see 35. %hnan, Die Leibskandclrtr, p. 448. 39Willi Fey. Panzerkampf. p. 80. @/bid. 41Eri~ Lefevrc, Panzers In Normandy, Then and Now. (After the Battle Press. London. 1983). p. 168. 42Weingaltner, Hitlers’ Guard, p. 97. 43Various sources. Short History of Seventh &FY. PanzerkampJ p. 146. “Das Schwarzkorps. lac. cit. &Der Freiwillige,” Munin Osnabrudr Sep tember 1991, p. 9. Interview with Herbett Reinecker. Armored Division. “~eingartner. p. 110. 48wittmann Fie. BDC Service Record. 49Personal correspondence. &man War Graves Commission to author, 6 Dec 90. 50Personal correspondence. Jost Schneider to author, 12 Aug 87. ’‘Taylor. Les. “Michael Wittmm’s Last Battle.” “Afer the Bank” Magazine, and personal correspondence, Les Taylor to author, 6 Sep 91. s2Spee.r, Albert. Spandau: The Secret Diaries, (Maanillan & Son, 1976). p. 18. Sepp Dietrid as quoted by Speer. Dr. Gregory T. Jones, born in 1954, practices dentistry in Granite City, 111. He has pub lished articles in’ The lPMS C?uarter/y, Fine Scale Modeler, and Military History Magazine. The author thanks Dr. Jim Weingart-ner and Mr. Bob Edwards, Captain, US. Army (Retired) for their tireless assistance in translation, and Jess Lukens for the use of photos from his great collection. 37