Tiger II, Power on the Prowl

[cyberia]

No information provided on this Tiger II and its Waffen SS crew
My guess is some sort of awards presentation, date and location unknown

[LAH 1 SS]

Originally Posted by cyberia

No information provided on this Tiger II and its Waffen SS crew
My guess is some sort of awards presentation, date and location unknown

the tiger 2 is a tiger of sSSpzabt 103(503) the crew is unknown however they are recieving the iron cross 1 and 2 class from sturmbannfurher herzig (2nd person in the photo from the right) shortly after the Arnswalde operation which occurred in february 45 from the 3rd through to the 17th

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by LAH 1 SS

the tiger 2 is a tiger of sSSpzabt 103(503) the crew is unknown however they are recieving the iron cross 1 and 2 class from sturmbannfurher herzig (2nd person in the photo from the right) shortly after the Arnswalde operation which occurred in february 45 from the 3rd through to the 17th

LAH, you never cease to amaze me.

Outstanding follow up!

[LAH 1 SS]

thanks cyberia mate only to happy to help

[Horch]

Originally Posted by cyberia

No information provided on this Tiger II and its Waffen SS crew
My guess is some sort of awards presentation, date and location unknown

They sure had a lotta kill rings!

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by Horch

They sure had a lotta kill rings!

At least two dozen that I can see and the muzzle brake isn't even in the picture!!!

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by cyberia

LAH, you never cease to amaze me.

Outstanding follow up!

I've learned that when it comes to Germany's "big cats" he's tough to beat.

[Randy]

Hey, LAH, was it standard practice to carry barrel rings over to the crew's next ride? (Assuming the crew had the clout to stay together.) I know Whittman carried rings across different vehicles (at least once).

[LAH 1 SS]

i think alot had to do with the crew as an example wittmann and his crew only really had the kill rings visisble on one of there tiger so4 the rest of there tigers never had them now that could be becuase of a couple of things. one being that once crews gained notority they had the ability to jump from vehicle to vehicle becuase they were considered the elite crews like wittmann did hence why it was so hard to find out what vehicle wittmann was in in villers bocage the second point being that kill rings stand out like a sore thumb through binoculars so a veheicle with a lot of kill rings is of course going to get a lot of attention from enemy gunners this was also thought the same by the german high command who passsed an order forbidding the practice of kill ring marking on vehicles operated by experienced crews. as usual this order was somtimes ignored and the practice continued through out the war and was usually at the discretion of the units. the practise was not often seen on tanks but alot of guns and spg continued the practice

[Pirate-Drakk]

If you look at the propensity of photos on this site, kill rings in large numbers, or at all are actually somewhat rare. I don't think that's because all the tanks and crew are new to battle.

I have read that with USA aircraft in WWII the pilots almost never flew with kill markings on their planes. It was for propaganda photos only.

As LAH 1 SS pointed out, advertising your prowess just makes you a target. Plus pilots, like tank commanders and crews moved around from tank to tank as units got damaged, destroyed, repaired and replaced by new tank/plane types.

Since propaganda photos are most prominent to the public, we associate that with, "normal". Cyberia's Ost Front photo collection is more representative of the real war then the regular press then or now.