Monday 1 May 2017

Anti-Tiger Manual

I posted a brief manual on dealing with Tiger tanks in my post on anti-tank manuals, but here is an extended version.


"The most vulnerable and easily damaged places of a German T-VI tank and methods of combat against it."

The left side of this sheet of the pamphlet is from the back of the book, where the methods of knocking out the tank are illustrated. "Hit the wheels with an anti-tank grenade, and the tank will stop!"



"The most vulnerable and easily damaged places of a German T-VI tank

All means used to destroy enemy tanks: cannons, anti-tank rifles, high caliber machineguns, anti-tank grenades, and bottles with incendiary fluid can be used against the new T-VI tank.

1. Tank running gear

The front drive sprocket, rear idler, road wheels, and tracks are the most important parts of a tank that enable it to move and are vulnerable to a shell of any caliber. The most vulnerable part of the tank is the drive sprocket.

Open fire with armour piercing or high explosive shells, aim at the drive sprocket, rear idler wheel, or the track. The tank will stop.

Destroy the road wheels with an HE shell, anti-tank grenade, or an anti-tank mine.

You can make a mobile anti-tank mine. Attach 3-4 mines to a board, tie a rope to both ends of the board, place the board in the direction where tanks can go, hide it, then hide yourself. When the tank approaches, pull the board with mines underneath the track in one or the other direction. The explosion will destroy the track and road wheels and bend the floor plate.

Strike the running gear with anti-tank grenades and mines, and the tank will stop." 


"2. Upper and lower side armour of the tank

The lower sides of the tank are partially covered by road wheels. 

Fuel tanks full of gasoline are placed on the right and the left side of the tank, around the location of the rear idler wheel. The engine is placed between the two fuel tanks.

Open fire with 76, 57, and 45 mm guns at the lower side plate with armour piercing or subcaliber ammunition. If you hit the fuel tanks, the tank will catch fire.

Ammunition is located along the sides of the tank, behind the upper side armour.

Open fire with subcaliber shells from 76, 57, and 45 mm guns at the ammunition racks. The tank will catch fire and explode.

3. Rear armour

The engine, fuel tanks, and radiators are located behind the rear armour.

Open fire with subcaliber shells from 76, 57, and 45 mm guns at the rear armour. If the shell hits the engine or fuel tanks, the tank will stop and catch fire.

4. Observation devices

The turret has two openings for firing personal weapons, two vision slits, and the commander's cupola also has five slits. Two observation devices, the driver's and the gunner's, are located on the roof of the front of the tank. A movable driver's vision slit is located in front of the driver.

Open fire from all weapons at observation slits, observation devices, and openings. If you mass your fire against these targets, you will hit the crew.

5. The turret and cupola

The commander's cupola is one of the most important and vulnerable targets.

Open fire with high explosive and armour piercing shells of all calibers and you will disable the cupola. Throw grenades and bottles of incendiary fluid at a damaged cupola. Destroy the crew and light up the tank.

The turret holds the tank commander, turret commander, gunner, and all artillery mechanisms.

Open fire with subcaliber shells from 76, 57, and 45 mm guns at a range of 500 meters or less and you will destroy the crew and the mechanisms.

6. Gun and machineguns

The turret contains a cannon and a coaxial machinegun. There is also a machinegun in a ball mount installed in the front plate for the radio operator. The tank's armament is the main target of artillerymen, anti-tank gunners, and snipers.

Open fire from all weapons at the tank's armament. The tank will cease its fire. Open fire with your anti-tank rifle at the radio operator's machinegun ball mount: you will kill the radio operator and disable the machinegun.


7. Air intakes and tank floor

The air intakes are positioned on top of the hull, behind the turret. In front of the tank, the air intake is between the driver and radio operator's hatches.

Throw bottles of incendiary fluid and anti-tank grenades at the air intakes, you will damage the ventilators and ignite the tank.

An anti-tank mine that explodes underneath the tank will disable it.

8. Under-turret gap

There is a 10 mm gap between the roof of the hull and the bottom of the turret.

Open fire with high caliber machineguns and cannons of all calibers. The turret will jam and the tank will be unable to fire. If you hit the base of the turret with a high explosive shell, you will break through the hull roof and disable the tank."

Then there is a diagram that you've probably seen before, summarizing everything else in the pamphlet.


Location of the ammunition racks and fuel tanks in the Tiger and a diagram were to fire at the suspension. 

A repeat of the previous page and instructions to throw incendiary bottles or anti-tank grenades on the engine deck.

2 comments:

  1. "Open wife with armour piercing or high explosive shells"

    You might whish to replace "wife" by "fire" in the article.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like to open my wife ......

    ReplyDelete