LAH Tiger, Where and when

[areilley]

[SIZE="5"]Hi , I will post a photo that I just[ bought. It shows a Tiger ! marked with the LAH shield, painted in white wash and numbered 422.. From the look at some of the photos in the group, I had guessed that the time period must have been in the retreat just before Charkov. However I thought any Tiger at this time would have been in the 13th Co. and so marked. I think that a Tiger from the fourth company would have to be !01st SS S, panzer bat, ( or 501 st) sometime after Normandy. The background seems to be winter in Russia. Can any one help me out with a likely date and location? /SIZE]

Thanks

[LAH501]

Hi there, I believe that is an LAH Tiger from the Kharkov period. LAH Tigers weren’t renumbered with the 13 number prefix until Kursk. Over the years I got letters and autographs from SS Tiger crew member Werner Wendt. His first tiger was 411 in Kharkov, 1311 at Kursk. He was the gunner for Waldemar Schultz in 411. Surprisingly, Frank Staudegger was in a LAH Panzer 3 at Kharkov, but a Tiger commander in LAH at Kursk. Staudegger’s sigs are tough to find, I got 3 of them in 1998, from a group of photos of ss kc winners in Minnesota from a Dutch collector dated 1987! I was new to collecting and didn’t know who staudegger was until I researched his name. Thanks to other collectors, I got a lot of addresses of WSS TIGER guys and wrote them non-stop in German for quite some time. While some didn’t respond, the ones that did really amazed me with their answers to my questions. What a hobby! John

[areilley]

Thank you

Thank you John, I didn't know that Tigers had regular company numbers before the 13th company. The other photos in the group led me to believe that they were from early 1943 Russia,( background, heavy snow, and winter clothing) but before Charkov, I learn something new every day!

[markus]

Another hint at "Kharkov" is the White(/grey) reversible coverall worn by the commander and the "snoopy" winter cap. Reminds me of Panzermeyer's outfit those cold weeks in February and March 1943.

I only own one handwritten letter and envelope from Staudegger sent to Michael Wittmann. In it he apologizes to Wittmann for leaving the company without further notice and flying to Berlin together with Sepp Dietrich in order to receive his Knight's Cross. Later on he went on a few days R&R visiting his brother (if I don't recall incorrectly now).

Staudegger is really rare and tough to get, wartime, but also post-war since he was a very private person I have heard.

Cheers,
Markus

[areilley]

LAH Tiger

Hi Marcus, As I am going thru the photos I have found two with the gray "Gharkoy" parkas. I haven't been able to find unit markings on the vehicles, but I do have one license plate. I wish that I could remember what forum had plate numbers by units.
I am guessing that it is around February 1943

[S Ballantyne]

Tiger 422

Hi Alan,

Great photo to get!

Tiger 422 was part of the 9 Tigers used by the 4th Kompanie, SS-Panzer Regiment 1, LSSAH. They were organised into two Züge (platoons) each of four Tigers and four Panzer III Ausf M's, with a further Tiger as the Kompanie commander's vehicle (405) and at least three Panzer III M's in the Kompanie Trupp.

This photo is from Feb to early March, as this particular vehicle was abandoned by the crew on the 5th March 1943, after an internal fire in the engine compartment which left it unusable.

Cheers
Steve

[areilley]

LAH Tiger

Hi Steve, This confirms my guess, Thank you very much! I still have about 15 more photos to go through, so I hope to identify the panzer grenadier unit. It looks like most of the men are wearing IAB in bronze.

Thanks, Alan