Comet Tank vs Tiger Tank: The Essel Bridgehead | April 1945

um on the night the 23rd and 24th of march 1945 the british second army crossed the river rhine in germany [Music] by the 25th a firm bridgehead had been secured into which additional troops and equipment were pouring into to begin the breakout into the north of the country among them was the 11th armored division which had moved up from its rest area in belgium and was assembled in the rhine bridgehead by the 29th of march that same day the 11th farmhood commenced as part in the breakout but soon found that it wasn't to be the swift advance most had anticipated as the divisional history records by midday on the 30th it was clear that our advance in germany would be no procession and that however irresistibly we might speed forward we should usually have to clear up as we went the delay imposed upon us by the indifferent quality of the roads and the number of obstacles made local recovery and defense feasible for the enemy while the impossibility of maneuver by tanks off those roads put a most effective check on armoured action despite these difficulties the 11th farmhood had by the 10th of april 1945 advanced 240 kilometers into northern germany and was standing on the banks of the river allah near the town of ezell that night the first commander brigade which was temporarily attached to the division conducted an assault crossing of the river and established a small bridge head on the other side to reinforce the commandos the 4th battalion the king's shropshire light infantry referred across to allah in the evening of the 11th of april followed the next morning by the arrival of a squadron of the third royal tank regiment the arrival of these two units enabled the british to begin expanding the bridgehead with the commandos striking west towards hayden's store whilst the shropshires and a squadron advance to the north the shropshire's battalion history notes at 300 hours on the 12th of april orders were received to clear the high wooded ground to the right of the main road in order to expand the bridge head a d companies with a platoon of sea went into action at 1400 hours supporting the infantry were their comet tanks a number one troop a squadron the third royal tank regiment which is under the command of lieutenant john langdon number one troop were required to clear the center line with two companies of infantry that go in being very slow as there are thick woods on either side of the road we the tanks remained on the road while the infantry worked through the woods by the late afternoon after overcoming german resistance the objectives had been secured and the british troops were consolidating their gains when suddenly at 1700 a german tiger tank callsign f01 began to roll down the road directly towards the british positions lieutenant john langdon recalls i had given orders for a brew which the crew started to get ready while i remained in the turret i then heard the terrifying sound of an ap shot which whistled past me i shouted to the crew who scrambled back into the tank and my consternation saw through my binoculars an enemy tank slowly moving through the trees immediately lieutenant langdon's comet returned far with an armor piercing round which proved ineffective in piercing the tiger's frontal armor lieutenant langdon continues i saw its gun an 88 millimeter slightly traversing towards us i gave trooper charlton my driver the order to reverse the tank we had encountered was a tiger head-on as it was to us we could not hope to knock it out we were out gunned and if i wanted to save my tank and crew this was the only thing to be done as the lieutenant's tank reversed into the woods the tiger engaged and destroyed an armored car belonging to the shropshires before turning onto one of the other comets which is likewise attempting to back itself up into the woods however before it could do so the tiger fired a shot striking the british tank in the side prompting the crew to bail out and get to safety moments after a further two shots finished off the comet following this the german tank withdrew disappeared into the fog of war with lieutenant langdon remarking i got on the air made my report and had the dubious pleasure of hearing someone back at regimental headquarters saying that reports of tigers had come in before were generally unfounded i told him quickly what i thought of this and rang off seeing that tiger coming down the road was the worst moment i'd ever experienced the next morning on the 13th the bulk of a squadron the third royal tank bridgeman was ordered to assist the fourth king shropshire light infantry in breaking through the woods and it was as they were preparing to resume their advance at 0-7-30 their tiger f-01 reappeared on the road although engaged by men of the 4th battalion the tiger knocked out two six-pounder anti-tank guns and a nearby vehicle prior to withdrawing a little up the road as it became the focus of british artillery meanwhile news had reached the headquarters of the third royal tank regiment about the enemy tank and subsequently orders are issued for sea squadron who would cross the river allah that morning to move around and attempt to break through on the right flank setting off at around zero nine thirty sea squadron passed through the positions of the first battalion the cheshire regiment near enghausen and headed north into the woods at the head of the column was a comet tank commanded by sergeant hardin who led the squadron through the woods and onto a dirt track they ran westwards to the main road advancing cautiously along this track sergeant harding was on high alert for any german troops went directly to his front about 100 meters away the sergeant got ozon tiger f01 which was in a static position on the main road looking down towards a squadron in the fourth shropshires coming to a sudden halt the comet tank filing arm appears around into the exposed left hand side of the tiger which began slowly traversing its turret towards sergeant harding's tank as it was doing so a second ap round was loaded into the brew to the comet's 77 millimeter main gun and fired at the tiger resulting in a fire breaking out inside f01 and effectively knocking out the tank from inside his turret sergeant harding observed the tigers crew of five a couple of whom had suffered minor burns from the fire scrambling out and running to safety before he informed squadron headquarters that the tiger had been dealt with the war diary for the third royal tank regiment records at 10 30 c-squadron brew up one tiger three other tanks reported on center line hawker typhoon fighter bombers requested typhoons claimed to have knocked out two 88 millimeters and one half track advance continues but country very wooded on either side of center line and visibility very poor due to burning of undergrowth considerable number of enemy infantry in this area by the evening of the 13th of april 1945 the fourth battalion the king's shropshire light infantry with support from the third royal tank regimen had advanced through and cleared the woods up to its northern limits for the men of the 11th farmer division many of whom have passed the wreck of tiger f01 it served as a reminder that although victory in europe was imminent there still remain tough fights ahead in the coming days and weeks against an enemy who is fighting to defend every inch of their homeland [Music] [Music] [Music] you

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Keywords: British, Military, History, Education, Army, Air Force, Navy, Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Liveth For Evermore, LFE, Special Forces, Comet v Tiger, Tiger tank, Comet tank, 11th Armoured Division, Second Army, 3 Royal Tank Regiment, British tanks, Royal Tank Regiment, Germany, Rhine, Tank duel, tank battle, Comet vs Tiger Tank Duel: The Essel Bridgehead | April 1945, Tiger F01, Commando, 4 King's Shropshire Light Infantry, KSLI, Mark Felton, April 1945, May 1945, River Aller, Rhine crossing

Id: tRxU0B8cybY

Length: 9min 5sec (545 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 04 2021