The awe inspiring Tiger tank...Hitler’s super weapon of the WW2 battlefield. So superior to all other tanks of the enemy that the Battle of Kursk was delayed to allow the Tiger 1 to spearhead the attack that would drive the Russians back and bring victory back to the Germans on the eastern front…or so they hoped. “The Last Citadel” by David L Robbins is a fictional novel based on this premise and this is my review.

The Last Citadel by David L Robbins, is a fictional book based on historical events surrounding the epic tank battle at Kursk Russia in 1943 during WW2.  The German forces were bogged down by the Russian winter, the Russian victory at Stalingrad and then the subsequent spring rain and mud.  In the summer of 1943 the Germans had amassed a huge force to attack Russia and regain lost ground.  This would lead to the largest tank battle in history and also lends a dynamic backdrop to this book.

There are 4 main characters that drive this story.  The first is a Spanish officer Captain Luis Ruiz de Vega serving with the SS Liebstandarte Panzer Division.  He was wounded in the Battle of Leningrad and is but a shell of his former greatness. The next 3 are all from the same Russian Cossack family. Dimitri Berko, a private driving the T-34 in the Soviet 3rd Mechanized Division.  He is commanded by Sergeant Valentin Berko, Dimitri’s son, and Katya Berkovna, Dimitri’s daughter, a night bomber with the famous all-female bomber squadrons of the Red Air Force, so-called the Night Witches by the Germans that they bomb.  The 3 main story lines follow de Vega being assigned to escort the new super panzer of the German Army, the Tiger 1 Panzerkampfwagen VI, via train to the front and assure that the Tigers are delivered intact.  He then starts itching for action to command one of the Tigers at the Battle of Kursk.  He soon realizes how the Tiger is most effective in battle.  With Demitri and son Valentin in the same T-34 there is much of the father/son tension along with the tank battles that ensue.

The author keeps all entities separate into what seems like 3 different stories revolving around the build up to the tank battle at Kursk.  Each character has there own well detailed back stories that are fleshed out through memories, flashbacks and boastful story telling during the breaks in the battles.  The best aspect of this book is the historical accuracy and detail of the Tiger tank and the Battle of Kursk.  This book was very close to being non-fiction in the level of detail, but also very engrossing character development.  After reading about David L Robbins amount of research that was conducted, I knew just how realistic this book was.  He had spent 3 weeks on the battlefields of Kursk in the middle of summer getting a feel for the heat and sun of the Russian steppes.  He also trained in how to derail a train using explosives as the Partisan Russian fighters attempted in stopping the shipment of the Tiger tanks in the story.  Time was also spent in pouring over accounts from German and Russian tankers’ first hand battle accounts.  “Hands on” equipment training was given to him ranging from small arms to the tanks at the Aberdeen Ordinance Museum in Maryland and being driven around in a restored Russian T-34 in Virginia.

David L Robbins certainly did his homework for this book and you will feel it when you read it.  This is a must read for any Tiger 1 fan and any WW2 fan in general.

Achtung Bill

During WW2 the German Army (Heer) had revolutionized the use of armored warfare by using their “panzers” to concentrate a large number of units to strike a spearhead through the enemy’s defensive lines. Much of armored combat tactics, prior to the invasion of Poland in 1939, had used the tanks sparingly spread out across wide lines making them ineffective. With the added use of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) to attack ground based targets and support the German panzers, the “Blitzkrieg” (Lightning War) was conceived. Now having said all that about the “Blitzkrieg”, the panzers were of course used in a defensive manner. As the war turned in favor of the Allies, the Germans started defending the territory they had gained, then subsequently lost and eventually had to defend the “Fatherland” of Germany itself.  So, I beg the question…what was the single most valuable panzer tank used by the Germans during World War 2? We all know of the terrifying Tiger 1 and the Panther, but what of the Panzer I, II, III or IV? Let’s start with the Pzkpfw VI…the “Tiger”.

• The Tiger made a psychological impact on the morale of the enemy due to its long range deadly 88mm gun and the heavy frontal armor (120mm), which made it seem indestructible. The Tiger was too massive at 56 tons and no sloping armor like the Panther tank which allowed the weight to be much lower. Only about 1350 produced, but started in 1942 and the majority late in the war… too late and too expensive.
• The Panther was considered the greatest tank the Germans had by many historians, but the initial action was mired by mechanical breakdowns and fires. After those bugs were worked out the Panther went on to have about 6,557 tanks produced. The Panther had better frontal armor than the Tiger, due to the sloping, and was faster and handled bad terrain better as it was much lighter at 44 tons.  The Panther had its debut at the Battle of Kursk in 1943 starting with 84 working Panthers. Within two days, the number of operational Panthers had dropped to 40 due to breakdowns and enemy action. From then on the Panther was always outnumbered and never had the chance to really make a significant impact.
• The Panzer IV production was just under the III’s with 13,522, it was the only tank to be manufactured during the entirety of the war. The Panzerkampfwagen IV started off with a 50mm gun, then had to match the Soviet threat from the T-34’s and KV-1’s that were being seen in 1941 for the first on the Eastern front and had to upgrade to the 75mm gun. The Panzerkampfwagen IV was and all around “workhorse” for the Germans and was in many of the major skirmishes in all theaters of operations.

• The Pzkpfw III’s had 16,409 produced but were medium tanks that kept getting firepower upgrades to keep up with the Soviet tanks like the T-34.The I and II’s had a significant impact in the early stages, but were quickly over-matched by the T-34’s.

My vote would go to the Pzkpfw IV for the most important tank to the Germans in World War 2. The Panzerkampfwagen IV was much like the Allies’ Sherman or the T-34 tanks, where huge numbers overwhelmed the high quality, low quantity German panzers.  The Panzer IV was improved with each version, except near the end of the war, where resources were limiting performance enhancements. Had the Germans “cranked” out more of the IV’s, they would have had more spare parts, lower costs, higher rate of production and just more tanks to wage war.

Armorama.com the coolest website dedicated to armor, military and diorama scale modeling building on the internet.  I had to wait to get advertising space on their website, but now I am in.  I can now market to scale model builders that have a passion for tanks, armor and diorama’s as their hobby.  I am one of these guys having built many armor kits over my lifetime.  I have always wanted to display my love for WW2 armor with t shirts and couldn’t find anything that I really liked, so I started making them myself and Achtung T Shirt was born.  Please go to Armorama.com and check it out.

Bill

ACHTUNG T SHIRT'S ADVERTISEMENT ON ARMORAMA.COM

The M4A1 assault rifle is the subject of Achtung T Shirt’s newest t shirt design.  I figured that we have the “AK47 PREFERRED WEAPON OF YOUR ENEMY” tee, that is very popular, and we should have the preferred weapon of the United States military the M4A1 as a design.  The design is much the same as the AK47 design, but the fonts are different.  For now we just offer it in black, but will soon add other color t shirts as we do with our German Panzer Tanks, German Luftwaffe and Pro Gun T Shirt categories in our stores.    We will be doing a version of the “RATED E FOR EVERYONE” with the M4A1 and maybe do a “StG44 PREFERRED WEAPON OF THE WEHRMACHT”.

M4A1 PREFERRED WEAPON OF OUR MILITARY FUNNY GUN TEE SHIRT by ACHTUNG T SHIRT

Achtung T Shirt has another new tee to be had.  This time instead of  “Celebrate Diversity” in guns or in panzer tanks…it’s in Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft and fantasy role playing games.  This new tee that I designed is based on the other “Celebrate Diversity” tee’s that we offer, but it shows a variety of characters from the RPG world’s in our favorite online RPG or MMO.  The typical Mage,  Hunter,  Warrior,  Troll,  Paladin, Rogue, Priest, Druid, Dwarf Fighter, Elf Archer, etc.  This t shirt should fill the void for all my RPG/MMO gaming t shirt customers that felt left out in the “celebration”.  I have been playing D&D since the early 80’s and started into the MMORPG’s back in 1999 when Everquest first came out.  My older son was 5 years old and he also started many characters.  We eventually moved on to World of Warcraft around 2004 and we have been leveling and raiding ever since.  I love getting to Northrend, I think this is the best continent by far.  I got spoiled recently when I started and leveled a Death Knight then I started a Mage…which is taking forever to level.  So anyway here is a pic of our new t shirt design:

Celebrate Diversity Dungeons and Dragons RPG MMORPG Black Tee shirt

We have another version of the “Achtung Tiger” t shirt that we have just offered on our website Achtung T Shirt….also available from our ebay store.  This t shirt shows the Tiger 1 coming out of the t shirt and has more dramatic fonts saying “Achtung Tiger!”  The Tiger tank is by far the most popular WW2 German Panzer that was produced.  I personally love this tee for the fact that it is more of an action tee with the fonts being more military and it reminds me of the title fonts from the “Rat Patrol” tv show.  The design itself as a whole is very big and dominates the t shirt…this tee will definitely get noticed!

As always here’s some pics:

Achtung Tiger WW2 German Panzer Tank Tee Shirt Black

Achtung Tiger WW2 German Panzer Tank Tee Shirt RED

Achtung Tiger WW2 German Panzer Tank Tee Shirt Black pic

More info on the Tiger 1:
More information on the Tiger 1:

The German heavy panzer used in WW2 was the PzKpfw VI.  The first official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausfhrung H but the panzer was re-designated as Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E in March 1943. The tank also had the ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 181.

The Panzerkampfwagen VI was in use from late 1942 until the German collapse in 1945. It was given its “Tiger” nickname by Ferdinand Porsche (the Roman numeral was added after the Tiger II was manufactured). The design served as the basis for other armored vehicles, the Sturmtiger heavy self-propelled gun and the Bergetiger armored recovery vehicle.  Tigers were capable of killing the American M4 Sherman tank or British Churchill tank IV at ranges exceeding 2,000 m. In contrast, the Soviet T-34 utilizing with the 76.2 mm gun could not penetrate the Panzerkampfwagen VI frontally at any range, but could attain a side penetration at just about 500 m firing the BR-350P APCR ammunition. The T34-85 tank 85 mm gun could penetrate the Tiger from the side at about range 1,000 m. The IS-2’s 122 mm gun could destroy the PzKpfw VI at ranges beyond 1,000 m.  From a 30 degree angle of attack the M4 Sherman tank’s 75 mm gun could not penetrate the Tiger tank frontally at any range, and needed to be within 100 m to achieve a side penetration against the 80mm upper hull superstructure. The British 17-pounder as used on the Sherman Firefly, firing its normal APCBC ammunition, could penetrate frontally out to over 1,000 m. The US 76 mm gun, if firing the APCBC M62 ammunition, could penetrate the Tiger frontally out to just over 500 m, and could be at ranges in excess of 1,000 m to achieve penetration against the upper hull superstructure. Using HVAP ammunition, which was in constant sparse supply and primarily issued to tank destroyers, frontal penetrations were possible out to just over 1,500 m. It is worth mentioning that many of the penetration capabilities at longer ranges had little relevance compared to combat engagements of the actual war, especially that which was fought in Western Europe, where battles seldom happened outside of one kilometer due to scattering and chance for human mistake, which is amplified greatly as range increases regardless of the ability of any cannon. For example, while a 17pdr could penetrate the front armor of a Tiger tank at one kilometer in tests, during actual combat, a 17pdr gunner would probably never find himself in a position to actually attempt such a feat.

As range gets smaller in combat, all guns can penetrate additional armor (with the exception of HEAT ammunition, which was rare in World War 2). The great penetrating power of the Tiger tank’s 88mm gun meant that it could destroy many of its opponents at ranges at which they could not respond. In open terrain, this was a major tactical advantage. Opposing tanks were often forced to make a flanking attack in order to knock out a Tiger.

The Tiger 1 was first used in action in September 1942 near Leningrad. Under pressure from Hitler, the panzer was put into action months earlier than planned and many early models proved to be mechanically fragile. In its first action on 23 September 1942, many of the first Tiger tanks broke down. Others were taken out by dug-in Red Army anti-tank guns. One panzer was captured largely intact, which gave the Red Army a chance to study the tank and prepare a response.

In the Tiger tank’s beginning actions in North Africa, the panzer was able to master Allied tanks in the open terrain. Notwithstanding, mechanical failures meant that there were rarely more than a few in action. In a replay of the Leningrad experience, at least one Tiger tank was knocked out by towed British six-pounder antitank guns.

The panzer’s extreme weight limited the bridges it could cross and made drive-throughs of buildings, which may have had basements, hazardous. Another weakness was the slow traverse of the hydraulically-operated turret. The turret could as well be passed over manually, but this choice was seldom used.

Early Tiger tanks had a top speed of about 45 km/h over optimal terrain. This was not recommended for normal operation, and was discouraged in training. Crews were told to not exceed 2600RPM due to reliability problems of the early Maybach engines at their maximum 3000RPM output. To combat this, the Tiger’s top speed was reduced to about 38km/h through the installation of an engine governor, capping the RPM of the Maybach HL 230 to 2600rpm (HL 210s were used on early models). Despite being slower than medium tanks of the time, which averaged a top speed of about 45 km/h, the Tiger still had a very respectable speed for a tank of its size and weight, being nearly twice as heavy as a Sherman tank or Russian T-34 tank. The Tiger tank had reliability problems throughout its service life; Tiger tank units frequently entered combat understrength due to breakdowns. It was rare for any Tiger tank unit to complete a road march without losing vehicles due to breakdown. The tank also had poor radius of action (distance a combat vehicle can travel and return, in normal battle conditions, without refueling). Due to its very wide tracks, the Tiger had a lower ground pressure bearing than many smaller tanks, the most notable exception being the Russian T-34 tank.

The Tiger tank’s armor and firepower, however, were feared by all its opponents. In tactical defense, its bad mobility was less of an issue. Whereas Panthers were the more serious threat to Allied tanks, Tigers had a bigger psychological effect on opposing crews, causing a “Tiger phobia”. Allied tankers would sometimes evade rather than confront a Tiger, even a tank that only looked like one, such as the Panzer IV with turret skirts applied. In the Normandy campaign, it could take four to five Shermans to knock out a single Tiger tank by maneuvering to its weaker flank or rear armour; the Russian T-34s fared similarly against the German panzers, as had the German Panzer III earlier against the Red Army heavy tanks. An accepted Allied tactic was to engage the Tiger tank en masse, one attracting the attention of the Tiger crew while the others attacked the sides or rear of the vehicle. Since the ammunition and fuel were stored in the sponsons, a side penetration often resulted in a kill. This was a risky tactic, and often resulted in the loss of several Allied vehicles. It took a great deal of tactical skill to eliminate a Panzerkampfwagen VI.

Panzerkampfwagen VI tanks were usually employed in separate heavy panzer battalions (schwere-Panzer-Abteilung) under army command. These battalions would be deployed to critical sectors, either for breakthrough operations or, more typically, counterattacks. A few favored divisions, such as the Grossdeutschland or some of the low-numbered Waffen-SS divisions had a small amount of Tiger tanks. The Tiger tank was originally designed to be offensive breakthrough weapon but by the time they came into action, the military situation had changed dramatically, and their main use was on the defensive as mobile artillery. Unfortunately this also meant rushing the Tigers constantly from location to location causing excessive mechanical breakdowns. As a result there are almost no instances where a Tiger Battalion went into combat at anything close to full strength. Furthermore, against the Soviet and Western Allied production numbers, even a 10:1 kill ratio would not have been sufficient for the Tiger tanks. Some Tiger tank units did exceed the 10:1 kill ratio, including 13. Kompanie/Panzer-Regiment Grossdeutschland (16.67:1), schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 103 (12.82:1) and schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 (13.08to1). These numbers must be set against the opportunity cost of building the expensive Tiger tank. Every Tiger tank built cost as much as four Sturmgeschutz III assault guns.

On 7 July 1943, a single Tiger tank commanded by SS-Oberscharfuhrer Franz Staudegger from the 2nd Platoon of 13th Panzer Company of 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler battled a group of about 50 Soviet T-34 tanks around Psyolknee (the southern sector of the German salient in the Battle of Kursk). Staudegger used all his ammunition in destroying 22 Soviet tanks, while the rest retreated. For this, Staudegger was awarded the Knight’s Cross.

On 8 August 1944, a lone Tiger commanded by SS-Unterscharfuhrer Willi Fey from the 1st Company of sSSPzAbt 102, engaged a British tank column, knocking out some 14 out of 15 Sherman tanks, followed by one more later in the day using his final two rounds of ammunition. sSSPzAbt 102 lost all of its Tiger tanks during fighting in Normandy, but reported 227 Allied tanks killed in six weeks.

The Tiger tank is particularly affiliated with SS Haupsturmfurher Michael Wittmann of schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101. battled his way by, commanding assorted vehicles and then finally a Tiger I. In the Battle of Villers-Bocage, he destroyed over two dozen Allied vehicles including several tanks; and single-handedly defied the advance of the entire 7th Armored Division until his panzer was destroyed and deserted.

More than 10 Tiger tank commanders had over 100 vehicle kills on their account, including: Kurt Knispel with 168 destroyed, Otto Carius with 150+ kills, Johannes Boumllter with 139+ kills, and Michael Wittmann with 138 kills.

Well the “I BELIEVE” bigfoot t shirts have been very popular.  So much so that Dan sent me this pic of him and his crew wearing their “I BELIEVE” tee’s.

3 "BELIEVERS" IN THE SASQUATCH BIGFOOT T SHIRT "I BELIEVE" FROM ACHTUNG T SHIRT.COM

Thanks for the photo Dan…just some more happy customers that “Believe” in Achtung T Shirt.

Bill

Well we are considering putting our Panzer and Tiger Tank designs on “sport” gray t shirts.  What do you think?  Would you like to see your favorite Tiger 1 or Panther tank designs on the “sport” gray tee’s.  As far as that goes we can include all the German WW2 Luftwaffe and Funny Gun t shirts that we offer on the gray tees as well.  I have done the Panther Tank design on the “sport” gray and the “charcoal” gray to see which looks better.  I like them both, but I think people are so used to the “sport” gray tees that it is a no brainer to include this color.  Here’s some pic’s:

WW2 German Panther Tank T Shirt on Sport Gray Tee 2

WW2 German Panther Tank T Shirt on Charcoal Gray Tee 2

Achtung Bill

Achtung T Shirt.com has more t shirts to choose from.  We have and will continue to increase our selection of WW2 Panzer Tank T Shirts and Pro Gun T Shirts.  We have some new designs and we have increased to variety of colors for our existing designs.  We have made the first Russian WW2 tank t shirt based on the T-34 tank.  The T-34 was the reason for many of the improvements in German panzer tanks.  The Panther tank and Tiger tank came about as a result of the improved performance in tank warfare for the Russians due to the T-34.  Here is a first draft of the T-34 design:

T-34 WW2 RUSSIAN RED ARMY TANK WH on RD TEE SHIRT

T-34 WW2 RUSSIAN RED ARMY TANK WH on GN TEE SHIRT

T-34 WW2 RUSSIAN RED ARMY TANK WH on BK TEE SHIRT

I decided to make a variation of the “Achtung Tiger” t shirt and do an “Achtung Panther” t shirt.  Both are in black and military green (olive drab).

I used the same font as the “Achtung Tiger” tee and I really like it.  As always you can visit my ebay store or my online store.

Achtung Panther Panzer Tank Black T Shirt WW2 German

Achtung Panther Panzer Tank Green T Shirt WW2 German

Here’s some info on the World War 2 German Panther tank…Panzerkampfwagen V:

was a tank fielded by Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and IV, though it served along with them as well as the heavier Tiger tanks until the end of the war. The Panther’s excellent combination of firepower, mobility, and protection served as a benchmark for other nations’ late war and immediate post-war tank designs and it is frequently regarded as one of the best tank designs of World War II.

Until 1944, it was designated as the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther and had the ordnance inventory designation of Sd.Kfz. 171. On 27, February 1944, Hitler ordered that the Roman numeral V be deleted from the designation.

The Panther was a direct response to the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. First encountered on 23 June, 1941, the T-34 outclassed the existing Panzer III and IV. At the insistence of General Heinz Guderian, a special Panzerkommision was dispatched to the Eastern Front to assess the Russian tanks. Among the features of the Soviet tank considered most significant were the sloping armor, which gave much improved shot deflection and also increased the effective armor thickness against penetration, the wide track, which improved mobility over soft ground, and the 76.2 mm gun, which had good armor penetration and fired an effective high-explosive round. Daimler-Benz (DB) and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG (MAN) were given the task of designing a new thirty to thirty-five-ton tank, designated VK30.02, by April 1942 .

The  design was a direct homage to the T-34. It resembled the T-34 hull and turret form. DB’s design used a leaf spring suspension whereas the T-34 originally used coil springs. The DB turret was smaller than that of the MAN design and had a smaller turret ring which was the result of the narrower hull required by the leaf spring suspension. The main advantages of the leaf springs over a torsion bar suspension were a lower hull silhouette and a simpler shock dampening design. Like the T34, the DB design had a rear drive sprocket. Unlike the T-34, the DB design had a three-man turret crew: commander, gunner, and loader. But as the planned L/70 75mm gun was much longer and heavier than the T-34’s, mounting it in the Daimler-Benz turret was difficult. Plans to reduce the turret crew to two men to stem this problem were eventually dropped.

The MAN design embodied more conventional German ideals with the transmission and drive sprocket in the front and a turret placed centrally on the hull. It had a petrol engine and eight torsion-bar suspension axles per side. Because of the torsion bar suspension, the MAN Panther was higher and had a wider hull than the DB design. The slightly earlier, Henschel designed Tiger I heavy tank’s use of a “slack track” Christie style pattern of large road wheels with no return rollers for the upper run of track, and with the main road wheels being overlapping and interleaved in layout, were design concepts broadly repeated with the MAN design for the Panther.

The two designs were reviewed over a period from January 1942 through March 1942. Reichminister Todt, and later, his replacement Albert Speer, both recommended the DB design to Hitler because of its several advantages over the initial MAN design. However, at the final submission, MAN improved their design, having learned from the DB proposal, and a review by a special commission appointed by Hitler in May 1942 ended up selecting the MAN design. He then approved this decision after reviewing it overnight. One of the principal reasons given for this decision was that the MAN design used an existing turret designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig while the DB design would have required a brand new turret to be designed and produced, substantially delaying the commencement of production.

The MAN design also had better ability to handle water hazards, easier gun maintenance and higher mobility due to better suspension, wider tracks, and a larger fuel tank.  A mild steel prototype was produced by September 1942 and, after testing at , was accepted. It was put into immediate production. The start of production was delayed, however, mainly because there were too few specialized machine tools needed for the machining of the hull. Finished tanks were produced in December and suffered from reliability problems as a result of this production haste. The demand for this tank was so high that the manufacturing was soon expanded beyond MAN to include Daimler-Benz, Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover (MNH) and Henschel and Sohn in Kassel.

The initial production target was 250 tanks per month at MAN. This was increased to 600 per month in January 1943. Despite determined efforts, this figure was never reached due to disruption by Allied bombing, manufacturing bottlenecks, and other difficulties. Production in 1943 averaged 148 per month. In 1944, it averaged 315 a month (3,777 having been built that year), peaking with 380 in July and ending around the end of March 1945, with at least 6,000 built in total.