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Fkl Tiger Soldbuch

Peter U

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After the campaign against Poland the German army started to experiment with radio controlled vehicles that could be used to clear minefields or to destroy bunkers, the vehicles that delivered the explosive charge were the Borgward Sd.Kfz301, a light tracked ammo carrier, the control vehicles were adapted Stug III's or Pzkw III's.
These remote control vehicles were used with some success on the Eastern front and after the battle of Kursk the unit commander made a request that his unit would be equipped with the new Tiger tanks, their thicker armour and higher profile made operating the demolition vehicles safer and easier.
It is in this period that the "Funklenk Panzer" companies were equipped and trained on the Tiger tanks that Heinrich Kiesenkamp joined them.
Heinrich K. (°1924) was an electrician from Essen, he started his military career in December 1942, he got his basic training in a motorcycle unit but after finishing his training he didn't join a motorcycle unit but went to another training facility: Pz Vers u Ers Abt 300 (Fkl), the armies experimental tank unit for remote controlled vehicles.
Eventually he ended up with Pz Kp (Fkl) 316, this unit was initially equipped with Tiger I's, they were replaced by Stug III's until the new Tiger II's, King Tigers could be delivered.
In April 1944 while they were in France and attached to the Panzer Lehr Division they received five Tiger II's with Porsche turrets (the interior of the turret was adapted to fit the extra radio sets it needed to control the Borgward).
Their Tiger II's turned out to be very unreliable and when the allies landed in Normandy and the Panzer Lehr was ordered to the front, they left their King Tigers behind in Chateaudun (they remained their and were eventually destroyed) and went to war in their Stug's as an ordinary Stug unit, no remote control actions were done.
They were heavily engaged in Villers-Bocage, it is here that Heinrich K was WIA.
After he was discharged from the hospital he once again joined the experimental tank outfit.
In January 1945 he was assigned to the first company of schwere Pz Abt (Tiger/Fkl) 301, a unit like the name already suggests equipped with Tiger I's and attached to the 9 Pz Div.
When the Ardennes offensive started the heavy Tiger I's were still being maintained and the crews trained, also transporting them to the front was an impossible task eventually they were engaged against the British in Waldfeucht on the German Dutch border on January 20 1944.
It was in this battle that he was WIA for the second time, he entered the hospital with burns, he was lucky that he managed to escape his burning tank.
On February 2 1945 he was discharged from hospital and sent back to his unit and I suppose he ended the war as an allied POW.
 

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The engagement of the Tigers in Waldfeucht has been documented:

At Roermond two rivers join, these are the Maas and the Roer. In 1945 this was the tip of an area called the Roer Triangle. The two rivers formed the left and right sides of the triangle. On the 14th of January the British launched operation Blackcock to clear this area on the Holland-German border, by the time the operation was completed some two weeks later, it would have seen some truly fierce fighting.
At around 0300, on the 21st of January 1945, the 5th battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borders moved out. Their objective was the German town of Waldfeucht. This was winter in central Europe so it was bitterly cold, with three inches of snow on the ground. The 5th KOSB had a company of men leading the way, while the rest of the force moved either in Kangaroo's or carriers. There were some Sherman's from the 13/18th Hussars along for the operation as well. The lead company found a few mines, which it removed, however little other resistance was encountered. Soon the force had seized the town. The town was deserted, with no German forces in place. The population would emerge from their cellars briefly and kept asking about what time it was, or were glancing nervously at time pieces. From this behaviour the British concluded that a German attack was imminent, and they thought first light was the most likely time for this. In a rush the battalion began to get ready for action. Two six pounders were brought forward to cover the north and west sides of the town. After they had been unlimbered and roughly sited work began to dig the guns in. This was severely hampered by the frozen ground. No real progress had been made on these fighting pits when the first rays of sunlight appeared at dawn, filtering through the mist.
The spreading light revealed several large box shapes lurching through the mist, towards the town. It was a full-blown German counter attack, fifteen assault guns lead by two Tigers from Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 301, with infantry from either the 175 or 183rd infantry.
The British asked for their Sherman's to engage the Tigers, whom were sitting targets out in the open. The British tanks refused to show themselves, knowing what the outcome would be. The two 6-pounders, still exposed in the open began to fire. A blazing firefight soon ensued, slowly one by one the crews of the guns were killed or wounded. At one gun Private Archibald Moore, who was acting as a loader, stepped forward and took over when the gun commander was wounded. With small arms rounds sparkling off the gun shield Pvt Moore directed his gun to fire at one of the Tigers.
The anti-tank battery's commanding officer, Captain Robert Hunter took control of the other gun. Cpt Hunter's first shot stopped the Tiger by wrecking its tracks. He continued to pour fire into the tank until it burned.
By now the Germans were about 100 yards away from the two 6-pounders pouring small arms fire and grenades at them. Cpt Hunter was wounded by this storm of fire. By now there were only five men serving both guns, one of which was the wounded Cpt Hunter. Together both guns turned their attention on the last remaining Tiger and began to fire as fast as they could. Soon it began to burn.
Pvt Moore then grabbed a Bren gun from beside a dead soldier and opened fire upon the nearby infantry and the fleeing Tiger crew.

On the east side, at the same time, another Tiger had launched an attack with supporting infantry. Here there were no plucky 6-pounders to stop the beast. Four Sherman's were destroyed trying to stop it, which might account for the reluctance of the tank commanders to engage the pair of Tigers. Bitter fighting ensued as the Germans reached the outskirts of the town and began to push through.
The Tiger as it ground down the street blasting into buildings at point blank range ran into two men, a platoon commander named Gideon Scott and his PIAT gunner Pvt Kirkpatrick. The first round failed to detonate and bounced off the Tiger’s armour. Scott began to re-load the PIAT. Another round was fired at the Tiger but missed. The shots had alerted the Tiger crew to the danger, and a hail of gunfire was directed towards the British defenders position. Scott was wounded in the hand.

Scott was born with deformities in both hands. These had nearly prevented him from enlisting in 1939, until he had challenged the recruiters to allow him to fire a rifle, which they were concerned he would have been unable to handle. Scott had shot in competitions for his college at Bisley and was quite a proficient shot. Having proven himself able to shoot he was enlisted.

As they re-loaded for a third shot, Scott saw a wounded soldier lying directly in the path of the giant Tiger, and who would soon be crushed by the 70 tons of tank. Scott leapt up from his position and raced out into the street, despite having already gained the Tiger’s complete attention and his position being the focus of its full firepower. He reached the wounded soldier, and with the ground shaking from the Tiger’s roar he dragged the wounded man into cover with bullets whistling about him.

The Tiger led the advance through the town with infantry storming into its wake. It approached the building chosen as the HQ, Cpt Ravenscroft and his batman begun to lob grenades out of the windows onto the Germans below, until they were captured.
By now it was late afternoon. The Germans had reached the town square, which had become no-man’s land between the two forces. The Tiger claimed a Sherman, four more were knocked out by Panzerfausts in the fighting around the square. The situation was looking bleak, with the Germans now in control of 75% of the town. However, 4th KOSB had arrived and were pushing into the Germans flank. This began to relive the pressure on the 5th KOSB. It still took until midnight to fully evict the Germans. The final Tiger was found stuck in an arch over the road and was destroyed in place.

The battle had raged for eighteen hours. Cpt Hunter was awarded a Military Cross, he remained in the reserves after the war finishing with the rank of Colonel. After the war he ran a company that was the first to produce muesli in the UK. He died in March 2016. Pvt Moore was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal and survived the war.
Scott was awarded a Military Cross, and survived the war dying in 1999. When his children asked him what he had done to win the award Scott replied 'it was for once being first in the queue for the Naafi!'

http://overlord-wot.blogspot.com/2019_01_06_archive.html
 

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Images of the Tiger II's that were destoryed in Chateaudun.
 

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Really interesting history. These are alway very neat. Can you interpret the weapons section for me on the book? It looks like he was issued a rifle at one point, I assume a K89k rifle and two different pistols under the pistole section, one appearing to be a P08. In another section I see a P-38.

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Really interesting history. These are alway very neat. Can you interpret the weapons section for me on the book? It looks like he was issued a rifle at one point, I assume a K89k rifle and two different pistols under the pistole section, one appearing to be a P08. In another section I see a P-38.

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He had a rifle (K98k) and a MG cleaning kit until he became part of an AFV crew, then he returned his rifle and cleaning kit and was issued a pistol, first a 08 in February 1944 and in March 1945 after he recuperated from his burns a P38.
 
Another damn well done presentation Peter, fascinating stuff....

Thanks as always for posting!
 
..they were engaged against the British in Waldfeucht on the German Dutch border on January 20 1944.
It was in this battle that he was WIA for the second time, he entered the hospital with burns, he was lucky that he managed to escape his burning tank.
On February 2 1945 he was discharged from hospital and sent back to his unit and I suppose he ended the war as an allied POW.

Yes, I see he enters the military hospital in Wuppertal on 22 January and is discharged on 1 February. It appears he's issued the P.38 in late March?? the 28th maybe?
 
I can't thank you enough, Peter, for such neat information and presentation! I cannot wait for the next one.

Tom

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Fantastic! Thanks for sharing with us and providing all of the context. The Porsche turrets are certainly distinctive.
 
From hearing my dads stories from the war, I have always had a thirst for into about Tiger tanks and after action reports of Tiger battles. This one was an exceptional read. Thanks for your passion for uncovering history and breathing so much life into a mere document.
 
Outstanding Peter, as usual. We could pic sticky all of these, but essentially your Documents forum is a big giant pic sticky ;) Thanks for posting this, great stuff. Your SB threads are some of my favorite here :happy0180:
 

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