Michael Wittmann
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| Michael Wittmann | |
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| 22 April 1914 - 8 August 1944 | |
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| Place of birth | Vogelthal |
| Place of death | Cintheaux |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Years of service | 1934-1944 |
| Rank | Hauptsturmführer |
| Unit | Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler |
| Awards | Ritterkreuz des Eisernes Kreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern |
Michael Wittmann (April 22, 1914 - August 8, 1944) was a SS-Hauptsturmführer (SS-Captain) in Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101 during World War II, and one of the most successful tank commanders in history. He is famous for his June 13, 1944, ambush of elements of the British 7th Armoured Division at the Battle of Villers-Bocage in a Tiger tank. The number of enemy vehicle kills achieved by crews under Wittmann's command has never been surpassed. 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. The circumstances leading to Wittman's death have also presented a mystery to historians, who have been unable to form a clear consensus on the matter.
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[edit] Early Life and Career
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 SS-VT, later Waffen-SS, division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler and was given the rank SS-Mann. Year later he participated in the invasion of Austria and the Sudetenland with the armored car platoon.
[edit] WWII Career
His first taste of active combat came in Polish Campaign and later during the operations in France as a commander with the new self-propelled assault guns, 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 officer training as well as training in tanks 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 Balthasar "Bobby" 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.
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, and was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer.
[edit] Death
Wittmann was killed in action less than two months after Villers-Bocage, on August 8. During the Allies' Operation Totalise, his tank was destroyed near the town of Cintheaux. While the manner of his death is clear - his tank was hit by two shots to the right rear hull which caused an explosion large enough to throw the turret from the vehicle - the weapon responsible is not.
From Michael Wittmann And The Tiger Commanders Of The Leibstandarte Vol. 2 by Patrick Agte
On p.425 Agte states:
"Hans Höflinger now describes the subsequent course of the attack from his experience: 'Then we drove off, Michel (sic) right of the road and I left, four others with Michel and the brother of Heinz Von Westernhagen with me. Approximately 800 meters to Michel's right there was a small wood which struck us as suspicious and which was to prove fateful to us. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the wood under observation on account of our mission. We drove about one to one-and-a half kilometres, and then I received another radio message from Michel which only confirmed my suspicions about the wood. We began taking heavy fire from anti-tank guns and once again Michel called, but didn't complete the message. When I looked out to the left I saw that Michel's tank wasn't moving. I called him by radio but received no answer. Then my tank received a frightful blow and I had to order my crew to get out as it had already begun to burn fiercely. My crew and I dashed toward the rear and got through. I stopped to look around and to my dismay discovered that five of our tanks had been knocked out. The turret of Michel's tank was displaced to the right and tilted down somewhat. None of his crew had got out. I climbed into Von Westernhagen's tank and, together with Heurich, whose Tiger was undamaged, tried to get to Michel's tank. We could not get through. Dr. Rabe also tried it, but in vain...I can state the exact time of the incident; it was 1255 hours, near the Falaise-Caen road in the vicinity of Cintheaux."
"...At 1240 hours Captain Boardman gave Sergeant Gordon's tank the order to fire. The Tigers were seven-hundred meters distant. The Firefly's gunner was Trooper Joe Ekins, who hit the
rearmost Tiger of the three Tigers in his sight with two shots. The Tigers had failed to spot the well-camouflaged Shermans, and it was only after the first shots had been fired and a Tiger knocked out that Wittmann transmitted the message referred to by SS-Hauptscharfuhrer Höflinger: 'Move! Attention! Attention! Anti-tank guns to the right! - Back up!...'."
On p.425 "Höflinger described how, after it was hit, the turret of Wittmann's Tiger was displaced to the right and tilted forward. That was its condition immediately after the tank was knocked out. Furthermore it is absolutely certain that the turret was blown off shortly afterward by the force of the exploding ammunition - possibly accelerated by burning fuel in the fighting compartment - and thrown several meters away from the tank. This is confirmed by the only existing photo of 007, taken by a French civilian soon after the engagement. The Tiger therefore began to burn immediately after it was hit, which by then caused the ammunition in the turret to explode. Only the tremendous force produced by the exploding armour-piercing and high-explosive shells could have torn the turret, which weighed tonnes, from the hull and then tossed it meters through air. The crew must have been killed or incapacitated when the tank was hit. The subsequent explosion then extinguished any doubts as to the fate of the five men inside 007."
Hans Dollinger the battalion signals officer, and SS-Sturmmann Alfred Bahlo his Radio Op, also recount their experiences as the lead vehicle in the attack along a similar vein to Höflinger...and say on p.429 as they make their way back from their burning Tiger with the fatally wounded Obschf. Schott "...On the way we passed the knocked out panzer of Hauptsturmführer Wittmann; the turret was blown off."
Dr. Rabe also witnessed the hit and described it in a letter to Wittmann's wife to tell her the real story: "When the attack got rolling, I drove forward several hundred meters and covered the last stretch on foot. There was quite a lot of heavy anti-tank and artillery fire. I wanted to get to Michel's (sic) tank. When I got to within about 250 to 300 meters I saw flames suddenly shoot from the tank and the turret fly off and fall to the ground. The tank then burned out completely. I still tried to reach it, but I couldn't cross the open field as the Tommy fired at solitary me with their anti-tank guns. It is unlikely Michel got out before the hit, as I would have seen him. None of the remaining crew members came back either."
Agte sums up with the following:
After evaluating all available documents on the German and English sides and interviewing the handful of survivors of this action..., one can only assume that the tank that was hit at 1247 hours, was 007. SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr.Rabe's account and the English war diary both mention that this was the only Tiger that blew up after being hit. The eight minute time discrepancy compared to that given in Höflinger's account is of little significance as the source of the error appears to be completely genuine".
He is buried in the graveyard of "La Cambe" in France.
[edit] Personal Life
On March 01, 1944 Wittmann married Hildegard Burmester in the town of Lüneberg.
[edit] Summary of SS career
[edit] Dates of rank
- 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
[edit] Notable decorations
- 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)
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Agte, Patrick. Michael Wittman and the Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte. JJ Fedorowicz (April, 1996). ISBN 0-921991-30-4
- Reid, Brian. No Holding Back. Robin Brass Studio (December 2004) ISBN 1-896941-40-0
- Simpson, Gary L. Tiger Ace: The Life Story of Panzer Commander Michael Wittman. Schiffer Military History (1994) ISBN 0-88740-526-6
