I am looking for information about the story of one or two KingTiger, from schwere pz abt 503 in France in 1944.
They’re 1 or 2 or maybe 3 (???) Tiger II Henschel from 503 who were not destroyed during the Battle of Normandy, cos they’ve been seen in Mantes combats, facing US troops.
I will depict a diorama in which the following marvel kit will be the center piece :
This Tiger II (coded 300) on the boxart is depicted in the Mantes area…
How did he get there ? Retreating from Normandy on tracks ? What’s its story ? Was he the sole Henschel from 503 nearby ? In case no, what were the turret codes of the others ? Is the 300 depicted on Dragons boxart the Kurt Knispel’s Tiger II ?
Were these tigers destroyed at Mantes ? What combats did they partake ?
Many precise questions… Answers will be a great help in my diorama build and the background story in its build up.
From 22nd of August 1944 to 30th of August 1944 all of 3rd company s.Pz.Abt 503 is involved in fighting against the american bridgehead at Mantes. My books disagree a bit about exact dates and exact number of tanks available.
But what is certain is that at this time 3rd. company had 12 Tiger II’s with the so-called Porsche turret and 2 with the production turret, the 2 tanks with production turrets were turret numbers 300 and 314.
The book “The combat history of schwere panzerabteilung 503” has 5 pages about the actions around Mantes, a book that is very recommendable.
All Tigers from 3rd company were lost in the fighting around Mantes, except for the 2 they never brought with them because they suffered mechanical break downs.
3rd company arrived at Mantes from the training camp at Mailly Le Camp where they had been refitted after their heavy losses in Normandy.
3rd company recieved 5 Tiger II with Porsche turrets on 31st of July 1944 and 1 with production turret, they recieved a further 7 woth Porsche turrets on 2nd of August 1944 and 1 more with production turret on the same day.
The company is transported by train to Paris where they are offloaded and move through the streets of Paris on their way towards Mantes and the front.
Tank number 300 was the tank of Lt. Richard Freiherr Von Rosen.
There are many pictures of number 300 being painted at Mailly Le Camp, you can find them in books like “VK 45.02 to Tiger II” by Thomas L. Jentz or “Tigers in combat vol 1” by Wolfgang Schneider, or maybe someone will scan them and upload them. I only have this picture of 300 in my online album.
Great photo TMN…particularly fascinating is the camo patterns shown as applied to the gun-cleaning rods and tow ropes in place on the hull but not necessarily to the shovel. Very interesting. [:D]
At the time of their deployment against the American bridgehead over the Seine at Mantes on August 20th, 1944, the 3rd Co, sPzAbt. 503 was under the command of Hauptmann Scherf. It was not until Sept. 30 that Leutnant von Rosen offically took over command of the company.
The 3/503rd was placed under the command of Gruppe Schwerin at Magney en Vexin, under operational control of the 18th Luftwaffenfelddivision. On the 22nd of August, 5 Tiger IIs of 3rd Co. attacked the 314th InfantryRegiment at Fontenay, reaching the high ground at “Bois des Blanc Soliels”, where they KOed one Tank destroyer, then pulled back after heavy artillery fire drove them from their positions. Tiger 300 was disabled at the outskirts of Oinville with damage to the running gear on August 26th. The left-hand final drive seized and broke the track. There is conflicting information as to whether it was scuttled later that day with two demolition charges due to lack of recovery vehicles and approaching American tanks, or that it was actually recovered as stated in a photo caption on page 276 of The Combat History of sPzAbt. 503.
Paraphrased from The Combat History of sPzAbt. 503, pages 246-249.
I plan a diorama in which I will depict the 300 in the outskirsts of Oinville, on august 26th. I knew it broke its left track there, and I managed to find two pics of it on the net.
But what I learn from your writing is that “On the 22nd of August, 5 Tiger IIs of 3rd Co. attacked the 314th InfantryRegiment at Fontenay, reaching the high ground at “Bois des Blanc Soliels”, where they KOed one Tank destroyer, then pulled back after heavy artillery fire drove them from their positions”.
I wonder whether the 300 KT took part to the action ?
The events of the 22nd of August are rather sketchy at best. It appears that Tigers 300 and 301, (HQ tanks) remained behind and did not participate in the attack on the evening of the 22nd. There is no further mention of Tiger 300’s actions at Mantes / Fontenay.
