Michael Wittman

[dread]

what happened to Wittmann's first gunner from the Eastern Front, Balthasar (Bobby) Woll? I have been under the impression for years that he later got his own tank to command. Does anyone know what happened to him?

Thanks,
Jeremiah

"At the time, Bobby Woll (holder of Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class and Knight's Cross) received a command of a Tiger and took part in the Normandy battles, where he was wounded (during an air attack) and remained in a hospital until March of 1945. He returned to active service and took part in the final battles on the Western Front. Woll survived the war and became an electrician. He died in 1996."

i should say that i cut "n" paste this from
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gen3.htm

hope this helps

[behblc]

Woll.

I recall reading somewhere that Bobby Woll shunned publicity and said little about his experiences.
Whilst these are men we read about they as surivors , I often wonder how they percieve we who are intersted in WW2 and related issues ?

[Lloyd I.]

Wittman and his crew were killed when the shell they fired towards the Firefly's in the treeline exploded as it had been defective/spiked from the munition plant it was recieved from. All damage to 007 was caused internally and did not come from external sources. I discount the farmers opinion on what destroyed the Tiger based on his looking at the wreckage. I agree the damage could have come from the inside out.

Seriously, while the above sounds ludricous given all the debate it is an angle not looked at. I recall reading in Agte's Peiper about a tank commander, priming a grenade which went off instantly killing him in the turret before he had the chance to throw it. It had been spiked from the munitions factory. It is no secret it was done and that defective ammo of all calibres and type was a problem.

Many reports state that his tank simply rolled to a stop, suffered a primary internal explosion which displaced the turret, then secondary explosions blew the turret completely off.

It is a theory that has never been explored and just as the others is debateable and impossible to prove.

[GeeRam]

Sorry to resurect an old post as first post but, this weekend's Daily Mail carried an interview with the gunner of the Firefly, Joe Ekins, who is still alive and now 82 years old.
He was a guest of the Bovington Tank Museum for their open day at the weekend.

I've scanned and pdf'd the article in two parts, with the hope of being able to attach them to the thread, but I don't seem to be able to do that....

I can email them if anyone wants to read the interview. He essentially re-states the version as described in earlier posts and contained in the Northants Yeomany war diaries.

I have to say I was taken aback at turning the page of the newspaper and seeing a large photo of Michael Wittmann in front of me....
Although I found the article to have a little too much of the usual typical journalistic jingoisim in it.

[Mark McShane]

Gee,

Someone has already posted the link to the daily mail article somewhere on the forum already (or was it another forum, I'm confused now!).

Mark

[PanzerJohn]

Here's a pic of Joe Ekins I took when I met him at the VE Day show in London last year. A really nice bloke, I should imagine the complete antithesis of Wittman.

[tinus]

Wittman and his crew were killed when the shell they fired towards the Firefly's in the treeline exploded as it had been defective/spiked from the munition plant it was recieved from. All damage to 007 was caused internally and did not come from external sources. I discount the farmers opinion on what destroyed the Tiger based on his looking at the wreckage. I agree the damage could have come from the inside out.

Seriously, while the above sounds ludricous given all the debate it is an angle not looked at. I recall reading in Agte's Peiper about a tank commander, priming a grenade which went off instantly killing him in the turret before he had the chance to throw it. It had been spiked from the munitions factory. It is no secret it was done and that defective ammo of all calibres and type was a problem.

Many reports state that his tank simply rolled to a stop, suffered a primary internal explosion which displaced the turret, then secondary explosions blew the turret completely off.

It is a theory that has never been explored and just as the others is debateable and impossible to prove.

Sorry to dig up this old thread but....what if an eyewitness says wittman was killed by a typhoon rocket? What if this eyewitness turned out to be one of the
K******246;nigstiger commanders who saw service in the Ardennes that is still alive?
You see?

[behblc]

LloydI

Wittman and his crew were killed when the shell they fired towards the Firefly's in the treeline exploded as it had been defective/spiked from the munition plant it was recieved from.

Unlikely I think.

[J.von Canon]

Who killed who?

This "who killed who" discussion reminds me of "who actually got Richthoffen?"

[Steve Flanagan]

Wittman on video

Im watching Battle stations on the HINT cable channel and it just showed a short closeup of Wittman from the turret perspective, Episode Tiger Attack made in 2001 first time Ive seen him on video, but Knights cross with oak leaves visible its on right now, dont know when it will be repeated. History International channel

[werner p.]

His formal document resides in the collection of Wolfe&Hardin.

[tinus]

Well, I know a former Hauptscharführer of the LSSAH pnzreg., and he says he saw Wittman got killed by a typhoon rocket!
He still lives somewhere and doesn't want to be recognized unfortunately. He's got amazing story's about siberia, massacre at malmedy (how it really went).
But his story wouldn't make that difference in the debate, would it?

[behblc]

Tinus , why not add it to the debate - I don't see it making any contribution sitting on the side lines.

[tinus]

Yes I know, but there would still be foks who say that he might made up the story. Like earlier said, it has become a kind of "who killed who"-story. This veteran says that, and the other says the opposite.

I will ask him to tell the whole story because I didn't get the whole one. It might take a while before I get it though.
He also said that he trained the german soldiers who would later infiltrate the american lines in us-uniforms (about a group of 20). It might not sound credibility because I cannot give you enough details but I'll work on that!

[michael kenny]

Yes I know, but there would still be foks who say that he might made up the story. Like earlier said, it has become a kind of "who killed who"-story. This veteran says that, and the other says the opposite.

The handicap he has is that several comrades who went into action with Wittmann on 8/8/44 actualy saw his Tiger being hit and its subsequent explosion. Their accounts are all collected together in Agte's book on Wittmann. If anyone suggests that they saw a Typhoon hit Wittmann then they should be aware that all the other eye witnesses missed it!
There never was any mystery about where and how Wittmann was killed. Until fairly recently no one on the Allied side even knew he was in the Tigers destroyed near Cintheaux. All the confusion was caused by some authors failing to accept than ordinary allied tankers could kill a Tiger let alone an ace like Wittmann. Check all the Typhoon/10 Shermans/accidental explosion stories and you will see they have not a single fact to back them up. They are all supposition and have helped cloud the issue and obscure the hard facts.
Wittmann was killed when his Tiger was penetrated by Allied tank gunfire on 8/8/44. There is some doubt as to which unit fired the shot that got Wittmann but there is no doubt that they did get him. No Typhoons and no accident. Just a man who took a risk and paid the price for his mistake.