tankers came face-to-face with a Tiger, including once when a group of the fearsome tanks was lamely strapped to a railway flatcar and destroyed without much effort. “The fact of the matter is American soldiers hardly ever met a Tiger,” says Zaloga, “They tended to identify any German tank they met as a Tiger simply on the basis of reputation alone.” His own research reveals just three incidents during 19 when U.S. And since fewer than 1,400 of the behemoths were built, many destined for the Eastern Front, it was also an extremely rare sight in western Europe. While it cut an impressive silhouette on the battlefield - weighing in at 55 tons thanks to massive 100 mm-thick frontal armour (twice that of a Sherman) and a huge 88 mm gun - it was also difficult to transport, greedy on gas and difficult to maneuver in close combat. “It was a big, clumsy tank,” says Zaloga dismissively of the feared Tiger. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Rather, the winning tank is the one that has another hundred just like it right behind. With rare exceptions, it’s not the better tank that wins. Like location in the real estate market, the top three secrets to winning tank battles are quantity, quantity, quantity. Despite the compelling image of an impregnable tank crawling across the battlefield with enemy shells bouncing off like pebbles, the actual record of tank combat from the Second World War reveals size and excellence in tank design often has little to do with success. Yet as with most of what Hollywood peddles, the Tiger’s reputation may be in need of a rewrite. “The Tiger has become part of public consciousness.” Notable for its authentic tank scenes, Fury features the first movie appearance of the only Tiger still in working condition, on loan from the Bovington Tank Museum in England. Zaloga, author of dozens of books on tank combat and strategy. “The experience of GIs in Europe has created this mythology of the invincible Tiger tank,” observes Steven J.
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