Tiger-Gruppe Fehrmann

[McCoy]

Thought that I'd post more information on this Tiger-Gruppe that's been discussed in the Tiger I thread.

Tiger F02, an early model Tiger I commanded by Unteroffizier Franzen was in action against the British 11th Armored Division, 3 RTR and 4 KSLI near Essel in April 1945.
The last known position of ‘F02’ (Commander Uffz Frieling) was in the Ostenholzer Moor/Heide Kröppke area. This unit was Tiger-Gruppe Fehrmann, which consisted of 5 Panthers and 6 Tiger I’s under the command of Oberleutnant Fehrmann. These vehicles had come from a school and the unit fought April 6-13, 1945 in the Ruhr Pocket. The unit was drawn from rebuilt hybrid Tigers from the Lehr school at Fallingbostel and they were Dunkelgrau in color. The 5 Panthers of KG Schulze/Aufstellungstab Lehrtruppe operating with the Tigergruppe of Lt. Fehrmann's 6 hybrid Tiger I’s were also supposedly IR-equipped but no known pictures show this fitted.

The unit was commanded by Major Paul Schulze and lost in a daylight attack on the eastern outskirts of the town of Bückeburg, near Bad Eilsen - about 65km northeast of the Paderborn training grounds. They were trapped between lead elements of the 5th Armored Division and US 8th Corps of the Ninth Army on April 8-11, 1945. The first Tiger however, was lost on April 5, 1945 with gearbox problems near Rethem. The group moved to the woods near Wiedensahl on the 8th and launched an attack against the British bridgehead on the Weser near Wietersheim and lost 4 of the 5 Panthers in the process with only Schulze's vehicle remaining by noon (call sign red stylized "S").

Along with Fehrmann's 5 remaining Tigers, he repeated the attack but met elements of the British 6th Airborne Division dug into roadside trenches. A PIAT shell hit the turret of Fehrmann's ‘F01’ and damaged the traversing gear while 2 other Tigers moved up to flank it, allowing ‘F01’ to retreat to a nearby hill. The 5 Tigers later returned to Frille with around 30 POWs.

Tiger ‘F01’ returned to Fallingbostel for repairs, while the remaining 4 Tigers and Schulze's Panther again clashed with lead elements of US 5th Armored Division near Bückeburg on the 11th losing 2 Tigers, Schulze's Panther and 2 halftracks in the process. Schulze escaped and jumped into one of the 2 surviving Tigers but Fehrmann was captured. Soon after, another Tiger (Fwb. Bellof's) was KO'd.

"Schulze's Tiger" now the last remaining (apart from "F01" back at Fallingbostel), was still behind US lines now retreating to Achum and became engaged in another firefight with more US 5th Armored Division armor, KOing 3 tanks and an A/C (armored carrier) though sustaining numerous hits and in the process slightly wounding the gunner. Finding a map in a US tanker truck, he set out for German lines breaking a US roadblock and KOing more US armor while releasing 200 German POWs, some of whom joined him in US trucks in an effort to get back. However, he ran out of fuel near Bad-Nennoff, where he set a charge, and destroyed the Tiger.

Franzen's ‘F01’ which had earlier returned to Fallingbostel with the damaged turret gear was ready to go again on April 12 and cobbled into the hastily formed "Kampfgruppe Grossan" along with a couple of other Tigers. It advanced toward the British near the Essel Forest after crossing the Drebber stream, encountering 3 Comets of 1st Troop, A Squadron, 3rd Battalion and 3 RTR/11th Armored Division in a firefight destroying 1 of them and an armored car. Both sides withdrew for the night but the next morning the Tiger took out an APC and drew a barrage of fire, so it snuck into the woods. Creeping back on to the road again to feel out the British tanks, ‘F01’ received a hit in the left rear side from about 100 yards by the Comet of Sergeant Harding of C Squadron who had moved into flanking position in the trees and was later to receive the Military Medal for this action. Comets of 3RTR carried the number '52' and the 'Charging Bull' emblem. The Bull meant 11th Armoured Division and '52' meant the 2nd Regiment in the Brigade, in this case 3RTR. As the Tiger began to cook off, the crew all managed to bail out safely, though each with minor burns, and made their way back to Fallingbostel.

All 6 Tiger I’s in Tiger-Gruppe Fehrmann were basically rebuilt Earlies with steel wheels some with zimmerit and 5 Panthers supposedly equipped with IR in Kampf Gruppe Schulze. All production steel wheel Tigers had zimmerit. There were no examples to show otherwise, however 'technically' there were some hybrid steel wheelers with early production hulls/turrets that had no zimmerit which were rebuilt examples and in no way were representative of the production batch.

’F01’ of Tigergruppe "Fehrmann" initially belonging to KG "Schulze" (then KG "Grossan") and KO'd by a British Comet on 13th of April 1945 is an Early/late cross. Its one of the handful of rebuilt/cobbled together Tigers from the Truppeschule near Paderborn at war's end. It wears zimmerit on the hull and turret and has late wheels and tracks.

Tiger ‘F13’ was painted overall dark panzer grey and the numbers were hand painted red with a white outline. This tank had the old dish type road wheels. Tiger ‘F13’ had zimmerit on the hull and turret.

These are the only 2 early Tiger I's in existance with zimmerit as evidenced in photos.

All steelwheel Tigers had factory zimmerit and most mid (cupola) Tigers had zimmerit. There was about a month when mids did not get zimmerit. These only went to a couple of units (506). There are even a few earlies seen with zim (502). These undoubtly had been returned to the factory for a major rebuild, as zimmerit application was a major undertaking. I've never seen anything that points to "field" application. The hybrid/wierd late war Tigers could have a variety of features and combinations. But this is a very select group. So check your references carefully.

References:

"Tigers in Combat 2" pp. 404-408

"Tiger Tanks" by Michael Green

AFV News issue Jan-April '91 (Vol.26/1) by Giuseppe Finizio pp.2-5.

Guiseppe Finizio’s self-published book entitled "Krieg in der Heimat" distributed by Ulrich Saft. In it was a chapter entitled "The Story of Tiger F02".

[LAH 1 SS]

nice one mccoy i had some action reports on this unit i will try to find them to add to this i love this sort of stuff

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by LAH 1 SS

nice one mccoy i had some action reports on this unit i will try to find them to add to this i love this sort of stuff

Bravo! Encore!

[cyberia]

Keep 'em coming!!!

[Pirate-Drakk]

Here's the link to the first page in Tiger Thread with pictures of the tanks and more info!
Tiger I-One Tough Cat

[LAH 1 SS]

this was taken from the misssing-lynx website 54 forum hope it helps so appropriate reference and recognition goes to the source regards LAH it also has some previous info as already stated before


They were indeed drawn from rebuilt "hybrid" Tigers from the Lehr school at Fallingbostel and according to a RAF vet Fred Hawkins' first hand accounts they were in grey (though no offence to Fred, from past experience its always wise to be a little cautious of vet's accounts no matter how well meaning due to the mists of time clouding recollections slightly - though in this case it could very well be on the money).

David E. Brown is the guru on all things Fehrmann/Schulze so I'm sure can expand on all this or staighten anything out I've missed as he knew Mr. Hawkins personally and owns his photos showing "F13" and Schulze's Panther which are in fact already posted here on ML at:

Missing Links Think Tank The End of Kampfgruppe Schulze Images

Anyhow - heres my longwinded spin on it from Feb:

The 5 Panthers of KG Schulze/Aufstellungstab Lehrtruppe operating with the Tigergruppe of Lt. Fehrmann's 6 hybrid Tiger Is, were also supposedly IR-equipped but no known pics show it fitted to be sure.

They were commanded by Major Paul Schulze and lost in a daylight attack around the eastern outskirts of the town of Bückeburg,
near Bad Eilsen - about 65km northeast of Paderborn training grounds. |They were zapped between the 8th and 11th of April '45 by lead elements of the 5.Arm.Div., US 8th Corps of the Ninth Army.

The first Tiger however was lost on April 5 1945 with gearbox problems near Rethem. The group moved to woods near Wiedensahl on the 8th and launched an attack against the British bridgehead on the Weser near Wietersheim but lost 4 of the 5 Panthers in the process with only Schulze's own vehicle remaining by noon (callsign red "S")

Along with Fehrmann's 5 remaining Tigers he repeated the attack but they were met by elements of the British 6.Airborne Div. now dug into roadside trenches. A PIAT shell hit the turret of Fehrmann's "F01" and damaged the traversing gear and while 2 other Tigers moved up to flank it, it retreated to a nearby hill. The 5 Tigers then returned to Frille with around 30 POWs.

Tiger "F01" returned to Fallingbostel for repairs, while the remaining 4 Tigers and Schulze's Panther agin clashed with lead elements of US 5.Arm.Div. near Bückeburg on the 11th losing 2 Tigers, Schulze's Panther and 2 halftracks in the process. Schulze escaped and jumped into one of the 2 surviving Tigers but Fehrmann was captured. Soon after, another Tiger (Fwb. Bellof's) was KO'd too.

"Schulze's Tiger" - now the last remaining (apart from "F01" back at Fallingbostel), was still behind US lines now retreated to Achum and became engaged in another firefight with more US 5.Arm. Div. armour, KO'ing 3 tanks and an A/C, though sustaining numerous hits in the process with the gunner slightly wounded too. Finding a map in a US tanker truck he set out for German lines breaking a US roadblock and KO'ing more US armour while releasing 200 German POWs, some of whom joined him in US trucks in an effort to get back. But he ran out of fuel near Bad-Nennoff and set a charge and destroyed the Tiger.

Franzen's "F01" which had earlier returned to Fallingbostel with the damaged turret gear was ready to go again on April 12 and cobbled into the hastily formed "Kampfgruppe Grossan" along with a couple of other Tigers. It advanced toward the British near the Essel Forest after crossing the Drebber stream, encountering 3 Comets of 1.Troop, A Sqn, 3.Bttn.,3.RTR/11.Arm.Div. in a firefight destroying 1 of them and an armoured car. Both sides withdrew for the night but the next morning the Tiger took out an APC before having an arty barrage called in on it, so it snuck into the woods. Creeping back on to the road again to feel out the British tanks, "F01" was hit in the left rear side from about 100 yards by the Comet of Sgt. Harding of C Sqn. who had moved into a flanking position in the trees and was later to receive the Military Medal for this action. As the Tiger began to cook off, the crew all managed to bail out safely, though each with minor burns, and made their way back to Fallingbostel.

While I'm at it, a bit more re the Tigers to complete the picture:

All up there were 6 Tiger Is in TG Fehrmann, basically rebuilt zimmeritted Earlies with steel wheels ("TIC 2" p.404 and "GP"25 p.120), and 5 Panthers equipped with IR in KG Schulze (GP/AFVN).

The numbers of the Tigers were:

F01, F02*, F03, F04, F05, F13 (according to "TIC 2"), or...

F01, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15 (according to "GP"25 and "AFV News 26/1")

So far only shots of "F01", "F13" and an un-ID'd one have be found as far as I know.

"F01" appears to have Zimmerit on its turret only ("TIC 2" p.406). Apart from this and the road wheels being replaced with steels and the idlers replaced with the later smaller type, its for all intents and purposes an Early ("GP" 025 p.122).

"F13" has fine zimmerit on the turret and a heavier style on the hull for a change.

*Re "F02" - Be v.careful!!
In "Tigers in Combat 2" the Fehrmann section goes on about Tiger "F02" and even provides a picture on page 406, where he calls out the bottom shot as "F02"...but, look closely - I think Schneider's got it wrong here...This tank is in fact "F01"! Look at the top photo on 407 which is obviously the same vehicle and its clearly got "F01" on the turret! Also go to p.52 of Green's book for a side view - check the picture of "F01" in the bottom corner and compare details you will see that "F01" is actually the same tank in "TIC2" on p.406 wrongly labelled as "F02" ...So sadly really not 100% sure of "F02" even existing at all if this is the only proof...My money is therefore on the second list of numbers for their Tigers not "TIC2"s...

Sadly the call-sign system used on the Panthers is unknown as only "Red S" appears to have been photographed.

As for paint schemes, it is hard to tell from the b&w pics but Schulze's Panther G "8" or "8R" appears to be in heavy 3 colour or possibly ambush, while shots of "F01" and "F13" are probably Pz. Grey (or maybe even Olive Green, but tough to tell especially as its so dusty).

There was a letter to the editor was in the April 1986 issue of Military Modelling from David E. Brown (now of Experten Decal fame), re two shots from his collection that were taken of "F13" (and a Panther G "8"/"8R" (now known to be Red S")amongst others, by a RAF veteran Mr.Fred Hawkins in July 1946. In it, Fred's clear recollection is that the vehicle's most striking feature was its colour - "overall dark panzer grey" with a handpainted red and white outline callsign.

The 3 best references are:

"Tigers in Combat 2" has a section at the back on pp. 404-408

"Tiger Tanks" by Michael Green does also on pp.50-52 (Note "F01" is also seen on pp.21, 24 as well as 52!).

Plus an old AFV News issue Jan-April '91 (Vol.26/1) by Giuseppe Finizio pp.2-5 (Though his account is the best to date, it is sadly based on info, photos and research that he receieved from David Brown to whom he sadly gives no credit)

Anyway hope all this is of some use or interest...

jb