Michael Wittmann

Michael Wittmann (22 April 19148 August 1944) was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War.

Michael Wittmann was born in the village of Vogelthal, near Dietfurt in Bavaria's Upper Palatinate, on 22 April 1914.

Wittmann was awarded the Oak Leaves on 30 January for the destruction of 117 tanks, making him the 380th member of the German armed forces to receive it.

He enlisted in the German Army (Heer) in 1934 after the Nazi seizure of power.

Due to the Anglo-American advance south from Gold and Omaha Beaches, the German 352nd Infantry Division began to buckle.

As the division withdrew south, it opened a 12 km (a 7.5-mile) gap in the front line near Caumont-l'Éventé.

Wittmann joined the Schutzstaffel (SS) in October 1936 and was assigned to the regiment, later division, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) on 5 April 1937.

A year later, he participated in the annexation of Austria, the occupation of Sudetenland, and joined the Nazi Party.

Wittmann's unit was transferred to the Eastern Front in the spring of 1941 for Operation Barbarossa, the planned invasion of the Soviet Union.

He was assigned to SS Panzer Regiment 1, a tank unit, where he commanded a StuG III assault gun/tank destroyer as well as a Panzer III medium tank.

By 1943, he commanded a Tiger I tank, and had become a platoon leader in the heavy company by the time Operation Citadel and the Battle of Kursk took place.

Attached to the LSSAH, Wittmann's platoon of four Tigers reinforced the division's reconnaissance battalion to screen the division's left flank.

On their first day in battle at Kursk, Wittmann and his crew scored eight tanks and seven anti-tank guns destroyed.

At one point, his tank survived a collision with a burning T-34.

In November 1943, Wittmann, still serving in Leibstandarte’s heavy company, was involved in armored counterattacks against the Russians around Zhitomir.

On their first day in action against the Soviets, Wittman’s crew destroyed ten T-34s and five anti-tank guns.

He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armored Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944.

While in command of a Tiger I tank, Wittmann allegedly destroyed up to 14 tanks, 15 personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns within 15 minutes before the loss of his own tank.

The news was disseminated by Nazi propaganda and added to Wittmann's reputation.

Wittmann became a cult figure after the war thanks to his accomplishments as a "panzer ace" (a highly decorated tank commander), part of the portrayal of the Waffen-SS in popular culture.

Historians have mixed opinions about his tactical performance in battle.

Some praised his actions at Villers-Bocage, while many others found his abilities lacking, and the praise for his tank kills overstated.

Although the number is disputed, he is credited with destroying 135 to 138 enemy tanks.

“By early January 1944 his combined total of destroyed tanks would rise to sixty-six.”

On 14 January 1944, Wittmann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

The presentation was made by his divisional commander, SS-Oberführer Theodor Wisch, who nominated him for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

He received the award from Adolf Hitler, who presented it to him at the Wolf's Lair, his headquarters in Rastenburg, on 2 February 1944.

In April 1944, the LSSAH's Tiger Company was transferred to SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 101.

This battalion was assigned to the I SS Panzer Corps as a corps asset, and was never permanently attached to any division or regiment.

Wittmann was appointed commander of the battalion's second company, and held the rank of SS-Obersturmführer.

On 7 June, the day after the Allied Invasion of Normandy began, the battalion was ordered to move from Beauvais to Normandy.

The move, covering 165 km (105 miles), took five days to complete.

Sepp Dietrich, commander of 1st SS Panzer Corps, ordered Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101, his only reserve, to position itself behind the Panzer Lehr Division and SS Division Hitlerjugend.

From this position, the battalion could protect the developing open left flank.

Anticipating the importance the British would assign to the high ground near Villers-Bocage, Wittmann's company was positioned near the town.

It arrived late on 12 June.

Nominally composed of 12 tanks, his company was 50 per cent understrength due to losses and mechanical failures.

The next morning, lead elements of the British 7th Armoured Division entered Villers-Bocage.

Their objective was to exploit the gap in the front line, seize Villers-Bocage, and capture the nearby ridge (Point 213) in an attempt to force a German withdrawal.

Wittman had not expected them to arrive so soon and had no time to assemble his company.