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Michael Wittmann
22 April 1914 - 8 August 1944
Michael Wittmann sitting on the gun barrel of a Tiger Tank
Nickname	The Black Baron[1]
Place of birth	Vogelthal
Place of death	Between the towns of Cintheaux and St. Aignan de Cramesnil near the farm of Gaumesnil
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS
Years of service	1934-1944
Rank	Hauptsturmführer
Unit	Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101
Awards	Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Michael Wittmann (April 22, 1914 - August 8, 1944) was a German SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) during World War II. Wittman's crews (chiefly gunner Balthasar "Bobby" Woll, also a Knight's Cross holder) are known to have destroyed at least 138 tanks and 141 artillery pieces, along with an unknown number of other armoured vehicles. Together with Johannes Bölter, Otto Carius and Kurt Knispel (the top scoring German panzer ace of the war with 168 confirmed tank kills) he is considered to be one of the greatest tank commanders in history.

He is famous for his June 13, 1944, ambush of elements of the British 7th Armoured Division's 22nd Armoured Brigade at the Battle of Villers-Bocage in a Tiger tank.

The circumstances behind Wittmann’s death has presented some debate and discussion over the years but it is generally accepted that Trooper Joe Ekins in a Sherman Firefly commanded by Sergeant Gordon of the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry was his killer^{[2] [3][4][5]} although in recent years The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment have been put forth to be the actual killers of Michael Wittmann^[6][7].

Michael Wittmann was born on April 22, 1914 in village Vogelthal in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. He was a second son of local farmer Johann Wittmann and his wife Ursula. In February 1934, Michael joined Volunteer Labor Service, the FAD (what later became the RAD) and on October 30, 1934 also the German Army. He was assigned to the 19. Infantry Regiment based at Freising by Munich, eventually reaching the rank of Gefreiter. In October 1936 the 22-year old Wittmann joined Allgemeine-SS. On April 5, 1937 was assigned to the premier regiment, later division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler and was given the rank SS-Mann. A year later he participated in the invasion of Austria and the Sudetenland with the armoured car platoon.

His first taste of active combat came in the Polish Campaign and later during the operations in France as a commander of the new self-propelled assault guns, the Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. A. The Greek campaign - Operation 'Marita' - was launched on April 6, 1941. Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), distinguished itself for the first time in the capture of the Greek capital, and formed the spearhead alongside the 9th Panzer division, which punched through the Greek countryside. After only 3 weeks of campaigning, Nazi Germany added the Balkans to its ever growing list of possessions. Wittmann and his unit were sent to Czechoslovakia for a refit. The rest would not last long, however, as Wittmann's unit was soon dispatched to the Eastern Front to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union. He initially served as a crew commander of the StuG III assault gun and it was using this weapon that Wittmann was to become an expert in the art of armoured warfare. He was assigned for both officer and tank training in the winter of 1942-43.

Returning to the Eastern Front as a newly commissioned officer, Wittmann was reassigned to a tank unit with the rank of SS-Untersturmführer, where he commanded a Panzer III tank. By 1943 he had graduated to the Tiger and by the time of the Battle of Kursk (Operation Citadel) he was commander of his own platoon. The year 1943 would provide Wittmann and his crew (including Woll, his gunner) with many successes, and in January 1944 he was awarded the Knight's Cross for his continued excellence in the field. At this time he had destroyed 88 enemy tanks, and a significant number of other armoured vehicles. Wittmann left the Leibstandarte, as the Tiger company of the division was used as the nucleus of a new SS-heavy tank battalion, Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101. This new formation was part of the I SS-Panzerkorps, but wasn't permanently attached to any division or regiment.

By the time of his posting to France in the late spring of 1944 following the Allied D-Day invasion, Wittmann held the oakleaves to the Knight's Cross as well as the rank of SS-Obersturmführer. Perhaps his most famous exploit during the Normandy campaign was at the Battle of Villers-Bocage on June 13, 1944, where Wittmann's tank fought nearly single-handedly against a much larger enemy force, inflicting heavy losses on the British and bringing the advance of the entire 7th Armoured Division to a standstill. For his part in this famous action Wittmann was awarded the swords to the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, and was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer.

The only photograph taken of the wrecked Tiger 007, taken by the French civilian Mr Serge Varin in 1945, still in the field near Gaumesnil where it had been stopped a year before.

Michael Wittmann was killed on August 8th, 1944 when taking part in a counterattack to retake Hill 122, near the town of St. Aignan de Cramesnil, which had been captured a few hours previously by Anglo-Canadian forces during Operation Totalise^[8][9].

The group of 7 Tiger tanks from the 3rd Company and the HQ Company, s.SS-Pz. Abt. 101 (along with some Panzer IV and Stug IV) were ambushed by A Squadron 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 33rd Armoured Brigade, A Squadron The Sherbrooke Fuisilier Regiment, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade and B Squadron The 144 Royal Armoured Corps, 33rd Armoured Brigade ^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]}

The killing shots have long been credited to have came from a Sherman Firefly of ‘3 Troop’, A Squadron 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry (commander - Sergeant Gordon; gunner - Trooper Joe Ekins), who were positioned in a wood called Delle de la Roque on the advancing Tigers right flank ^[16] at approximately 12:47^[17]

It appears the shells penetrated the upper hull of the tank and ignited the Tigers own ammunition causing a fire which engulfed the tank and then blew the turret off^[18].

For such a junior officer his death has caused quite a bit of speculation. At the time of his death the majority of allied soldiers had never heard of Wittmann ^[19], in 1985 Les Taylor a former member of the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry stated in the article on Michael Wittmanns last battle in issue 48 of the After the Battle Magazine stated they were the ones who killed Wittmann^[20], following which, nearly every allied formation in the area and some who were not made claims to being his killer.

These formations were the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, the 1st Polish Armoured Division and the 144 Royal Armoured Corps. These claims have all since been refuted; the 1st Polish and the 4th Canadian Armoured Divisions had not at the time of the German counterattack reached the area around Hill 122. The 144 Royal Armoured Corps was positioned around Hill 122 and did claim one Tiger destroyed during this counterattack (they originally claimed two Tigers destroyed however there commanding officer changed this to one Tiger and one Panzer IV) but were based too far back to be within effective killing range of where Wittmann’s tank was^[21].

The Squadrons from the 1st Northamptonshire Regiment each had a distinctive naming pattern. The tanks from A Squadron were named after Soviet towns, B Squadron after American states and C Squadron after villages in Northamptonshire. Sergeant Gordon’s tank was named 'Velikye Luki' which may be the source for the story that tanks from the 1st Polish Armoured Division killed Wittmann. ^[22].

There has previously been some speculation (especially on the internet) that a high-explosive ("Rocket Projectile 3" (60lb Rocket)) from a R.A.F. Hawker Typhoon dealt the fatal blow to Wittmann's Tiger. The myth started off by German propaganda stating Wittmann had fallen in combat to the dreaded fighter bombers which was further enhanced when French civilian Mr Serge Varin took the only surviving photograph of the destroyed Tiger and stated that in his opinion the tank must have been destroyed by aerial rocket fire as he had found a unexploded rocket nearby and could not see any other penetration holes other then the one on the upper hull.

Reid completely discredited the Typhoon theory by close examination of the 2nd Tactical Air Force logs^{[23] [24] [25][26]} concluding:

"...no tanks were claimed destroyed or damaged in the forward areas by immediate support aircraft"^[27]

and

"...the only tanks claimed were by Typhoons on armed reconnaissance missions in areas away from the actual battle. Therefore Wittmann and his crew almost assuredly did not fall victim to an attack from the air."^[28]

Finally, Reid quoted Kurt Meyer, the divisional commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend who had ordered the s.SS-Pz Abt. 101 to counterattack.

"…made a point of remarking on the Allies' failure to use their tactical fighters on the morning of 8 August." ^[29]

Eyewitnesses made up of the German tank commanders, Höflinger and Hans Dollinger, other members of the Tiger tank crews such as Alfred Bahlo and other members of the s.SS-Pz Abt. 101 who were on the scene such as Doctor Rabe along with allied tankers such as Captain Boardman, Sergeant Gordon and Trooper Ekins have all stated in interviews (as well as other media such as letters) that the Tiger tanks came under tank attack only and do not mention any air attacks during this battle ^{[30] [31] [32][33][34]}.

One will also note that the thin metal bin at the back of the Tigers turret is still intact, if a high explosive rocket had struck the tank, this thin metal bucket surely would not have stayed in such perfect condition, which also lends more credit to the fact that this theory is incorrect.

Some have also described the hole in the upper hull of the tank as an exit hole and some accounts state that the engine was intact and not damaged from any high explosive.

With the 2nd Tactical Air Force ruled out, some on the internet have now stated that the American 8th Air Force must have been Wittmann's killer due to them being over the area around the same time. However they were taking part in a pre planned strike against villages and other German strong points to support Operation Totalise. There is also no evidence to suggest there P-51 fighter escort were armed with any 60lb Rocket's (or any other air to ground rockets) nor engaged the Tigers.

In Brian Reid’s “No Holding Back” he devotes an entire appendix ^[35] to the subject of Wittmann’s demise, providing a topographical map ^[36] of the engagement, diagrams of the tank ^[37] and the location of the shell strike ^[38] and is based on extensive review of Allied and German records ^{[39] [40] [41][42][43]}(the book is on the subject of Operation Totalise).

He concludes, that one of the tanks from the remains of Major Sidney Radley-Walters, A Squadron, Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade were most likely the killer due to their proximity to Wittmann's tank and there account that they were engaging the advancing Tigers . The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment was made up of several Sherman III and 2 Sherman VC all of which were positioned in the chateau grounds at Gaumesnil (about 2000 meters south of Hill 122) firing through holes in the properties wall they had made and were about parallel with the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry tanks in Delle de la Roque about 1500 meters to their east. While the Yeomanry were around 1000 metres away from the position of Wittmann's tank, the Canadian tanks were only around 500 meters away ^[44]

With the only recorded hole being on the left side of the hull, the regiments proximity to Wittmann's tank and no other evidence to suggest it was not anything other then tank on tank combat Reid has stated in all likelihood Major Sidney Radley-Walters men were Wittmann's killers.

Photograph taken of Michael Wittmann and his crews grave in the La Cambe German war cemetery

The German war graves commission, either with help of veterans from the s.SS-Pz Abt. 101 or from the author of “Panzers in Normandy – Then and Now”, located Wittmann and his crew's unmarked grave in 1983, they were then interned together at the German war cemetery of La Cambe in France ^[45].

On March 1, 1944, Wittmann married Hildegard Burmester in the town of Lüneburg.

• SS-Mann: April 01, 1937
• SS-Sturmmann: November 11, 1937
• SS-Unterscharführer: April 20, 1939
• SS-Oberscharführer: November 09, 1941
• SS-Untersturmführer: December 21, 1942
• SS-Obersturmführer: January 30, 1944
• SS-Hauptsturmführer: June 21, 1944

• Iron Cross Second (1941) and First (1941) Classes
• SS-Honour Ring
• Knight's Cross (1944)
• Oak Leaves (1944)
• Swords (1944)
• Wound Badge in Black (1941)
• Panzer Badge in Silver (1941)
• Eastern Front Medal (1942)
• Sudetenland Medal (1938)
• Anschluss Medal (1938)
• Royal Bulgarian Soldiers Cross of the Order of Bravery 2nd Class (1941)
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtsbericht

• After the Battle Magazine, Issue 48 (contains the first article dealing with Wittmann's death)
• Agte, Patrick . Michael Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII: Volume. 1. Stackpole Military History (Oct 2006). ISBN 0-811733-34-3
• Agte, Patrick . Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII: v. 2 (Stackpole Military History): Volume. 2 Stackpole Books (Oct 2006) 0-811733-35-1
• Hart, Stephen A. Sherman Firefly vs Tiger: Normandy 1944. Osprey Publishing (2007) ISBN: 9781846031502
• Jones, Greg. Panzerheld
• Lefevre, Eric (Author), R. Cooke (translator)Panzers in Normandy: Then and Now. After the Battle (Oct 1983) 0-900913-29-0
• Neville. First Northamptonshire Yeomanry
• Reid, Brian. No Holding Back: Operation Totalize, Normandy, August 1944 Robin Brass Studio (April 2005) 1-896941-40-0
• Schneider, Wolfgang . Tigers in Combat: Volume. 2 (Stackpole Military History) (15 April 2005) 0-811732-03-7
• Simpson, Gary L. Tiger Ace: The Life Story of Panzer Commander Michael Wittman. Schiffer Military History (1994) ISBN 0-88740-526-6
• Taylor. Michael Wittmann's Last Battles
• Tout, Ken. A Fine Night for Tanks: The Road to Falaise Sutton Publishing Ltd; New Ed edition (16 Dec 2002) 0-750931-89-2
• Tout, Ken. By Tank - D to VE Days Robert Hale Ltd (29 April 2007) 0-709081-48-0

• Michael Wittmann, panzer ace
• Achtung Panzer!
• Wittmann and other Tiger aces
• Battle of Villers-Bocage newsreel film