![]() The first Tiger tanks arrived in November 1942. Ī Tiger tank with staff car and officers in Tunisia, Jan. A rare color newsreel of the opening stage of the Battle of Tebourba can be viewed on YouTube at. Kenneth Anderson had lost 55 tanks, hundreds of vehicles, and more than 1,000 troops captured, with the Tigers knocking out most of the Allied tanks. When the battle ended in a German victory on Dec. 1, 1942, participating in the Battle of Tebourba. Hans-Georg Lueder), initially three Tigers and four Panzer IIIs, later three more Tigers, went into action on Dec. Kampfgruppe Lueder (named after its leader Maj. 501( Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 501) began arriving in Tunis in late November 1942. The results were not only heavy, unnecessary casualties, but also the loss of secrecy and of the element of surprise for future operations.” In his book Panzer Leader, Guderian wrote, “ ordered that the Tigers be committed in a quite secondary operation, in a limited attack carried out in terrain that was utterly unsuitable. To Guderian’s disgust, the Tigers first saw action in the siege of Leningrad. Initially three Tigers and four Panzer IIIs, later three more Tigers, went into action on Dec. If we are unable to defeat the enemy armor the breakthrough has as good as failed.” The Tiger was the ultimate expression of that tank versus tank doctrine. Overlooked or ignored was the other side of the coin of German blitzkrieg tank doctrine expressed in Guderian’s 1937 book Achtung–Panzer!, “The tank’s most dangerous enemy is another tank. Accordingly, the American role of tanks was not to fight other tanks, but to smash through enemy lines and raise hell in their rear, the traditional role of cavalry. Heinz Guderian and others as well as the Wehrmacht’s blitzkrieg battlefield successes, American armor advocates took away only that part of German tank doctrine that suited them: mass, speed, and maneuver. As such, though Army armor advocates studied writings by armored warfare philosopher Gen. ![]() Herr (whose office was not disbanded until 1942). Army was a latecomer to tank warfare, not fielding a mechanized armor corps until 1940, and was prejudicially influenced by horse cavalry advocates led by Chief of Cavalry Maj. ![]() Despite a World War I flirtation with (other countries’) tanks, in practical terms the U.S. The reasons for that boiled down to differences in tank doctrine and philosophy based on tradition, prejudice, and circumstance. There was one very good reason for that fear: they didn’t have a weapon powerful enough to stop it. ![]() The swampy forested terrain was not conducive to effective armor attacks. The Tiger was first deployed to Leningrad despite opposition from Gen. A Tiger tank at the front near Leningrad, circa 1943. ![]()
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