MICHAEL WITTMANN: The greatest Panzer Ace of all the nations and all the wars was SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Michael Wittmann. Commander 2/ Kompanie Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 101 “Leibstandarte”. With 138 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns destroyed (117 Russian tanks destroyed in just 7 months of fighting!). The power of Michael Wittmann and his Tiger tank was demonstrated in the Normandy campaign on June 13 1944, in which he drove his single Tiger at an entire British armored column battalion head on, firing on the move, and destroying every single vehicle in his sight, for a total of 25 armored fighting vehicles destroyed for a single day’s work, in the single most bravest engagement in the entire whole Normandy campaign. One man with one tank, to be able to destroy and disable an entire British tank column battalion is truly a remarkable record and astonishing achievement in the history of armored warfare. An incredible triumph of the will accomplishment and an exercise in self indulgence and authority, a true show of force. The superb Tiger tank was a fit weapon for an armored warrior of Wittmann’s caliber, and he made total good use of it. In the process with this tank he began his spectacular rise to his place among the immortals of the Panzertruppe. Perhaps the ultimate single greatest achievement in his personal employment of field of tactics that few men in military history in any country, to have the vision, insight, and force of personality to take on an entire battalion of enemy tanks single-handed and defeating them. A man who lived on at any price, a man who marches to the rhythms and laws of God and the universe. Michael Wittmann was such a man. Michael Wittmann would probably have to rank as the outstanding personality and soaring status as hero in the Second World War, and the posthumous fame he still enjoys. Michael Wittmann was therefore an exceedingly well-balanced man, who approached and confronted every obstacle with zeal and zest. He is one of the surpassing figures of the Panzertruppe, and history will mark him large as an officer and man. He was also an outstanding soldier and was by every measure one of the most able commanders produced in his generation. Of the many great men Germany had at its disposal of great ability and brilliance, Michael Wittmann clearly was the greatest tank commander of his time and of all time. The mercurial Michael Wittmann became one of his country’s eternal heroes. The passage of over half a century since his death has subtracted nothing from the fame and glory that he won in the Normandy campaign with his Tiger, on the contrary, he is more famous than ever. His historical status has become such, that no feature dealing with Germany’s Tiger tank of the Second World War can omit him and be complete. For Michael Wittmann at the command of a Tiger tank it was always victory, triumph followed triumph, kill followed kill. Michael Wittmann’s tank kills proved to be one of the most remarkable in the history of armored combat. Michael Wittmann’s gunner, Balthasar Woll, was without doubt, the most successful tank gunner of the war. With an incredible shooting eye, he was able in the twinkling of an eye, and while moving, to determine the exact moment at which to fire and the precise point at which to aim, to make a lethal rendezous between his armor-piercing shells and the enemy tank, also moving in any direction. No one who saw him shoot and fire in the Tiger tank will ever forget his deadly millimeter precision. Wittmann and Woll’s portfolio of talents also included eagle eyesight, fearlessness, and an aggressive spirit in the battlefield that frequently unnerved his foes. Both Michael Wittmann and Balthasar Woll knew their jobs from A to Z, and exemplify the high quality of manhood which was a primary element in the success of the Tiger tank. In combat it was as though the aiming and the firing of Wittmann’s 88mm gun was under the control of a supernatural force. The precision with which he sent shells smashing into his target from almost incredible angles was only exceeded by the damage his pinpoint hits inflicted. In tackling enemy armored formations on the battlefields Wittmann was completely fearless. His technique to hurl himself on the enemy so that the fury of his assault would cause confusion and uncertainty among his foes with multiple tank-kills with his combat tactics, despite the allied superiority. He became something of a status symbol among all armored fighting men, that added new laurels to Germany’s military tradition. Numerical superiority of his foes never impressed Wittmann, he had been familiar with allied numerical superiority. Wittmann knew that it is not the number of tanks that decides the outcome, but the better man. Wittmann’s major role on Germany’s armored fortunes makes him an absorbing subject for study by armored historians and who has earned his place as one of the immortal Panzer Aces of all the tank aces of World War II. He will go down in history as the premier tank ace of the Second World War, all embodied in one man: Michael Wittmann. A man born to achievement, such was the sheer polarizing force of the legend of Michael Wittmann, These qualities are a balancing force to the tigerish energy he brought to both combat and command in his Tiger tank. Michael Wittmann rose to any allied challenge with tigerish determination. The Tiger arm with its force would not have been the same without him. He was the embodiment and expression of its spirit. And he enjoys a permanent historical association with Germany’s Tiger tank legend. As much as the Tiger created the legend of Michael Wittmann, it was Michael Wittmann who created the legend of the Tiger. Michael Wittmann, the man, thus walks into history, along with the warrior, that few tank aces under any flag are likely to outshine him in the annals of armored combat.
