36th Engineers and giant German tank

[Mike Hinkle]

I have found a picture of a rare German heavy tank in the photo gallery of Charles Johnston:

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/imagevue/?p=gallery#/WWII%20Engineers/36th%20Engineers/Charles%20Johnston%2036th%20Engineer/FB%20Unknown%20soliders%20and%20tank.jpg

 

This vehicle is said to be the most powerful AFV of WWII. But most of them were destroyed by their crews after a mechanical failure. 80tns were too much in 1945.

 

There is little information about these vehicles, specially in the last days of the war. The picture seens to be taken in postwar. I would like to ask in the Forum if anyone could identify the place/area. In the chaos of the last days of the war 10 of these tanks were lost without a trace, until now. This is a "lost link" that could help to find the other missing tanks. This finding will not change the history of the war, but I will have a very happy day.

 

Any help is welcomed!

 

As a curiosity, you have another two pictures of another tank of this type destroyed in Soultz sous Foret, Alsace.

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/imagevue/?p=gallery#/WWII%20Engineers/36th%20Engineers/Harold%20Bare%2036th%20Engineer/Wrecked%20German%20128%20mm%20SP%20-%20JagdTiger%20-%20at%20Soultz%20Alsace%20France%20-%20March%201945%201.JPG

 

Best regards,

Javier Tomé

[Jean Jacobson]

Thank you so much for sharing the site and photos with us. They are amazing!

 

Do you know anything about Charles Johnston and who prepared this wonderful site with the Gallery of photos?

 

Jean

[Christoph]

Jean,

Did you know that Otto Carius to whom you have written a few weeks ago commanded the 2nd company of "schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 512",i.e about 1/4 of all Jagdtigers? And that the Bovington tank Museum in England where you can see 1 one of the 3 still existing Jagdtigers is heated with a underfloor heating of "my" Company (no, do'nt own it ).

 

On the photo I can't see enough landscape to recognize anything:-

 

Christoph

[Walt's Daughter]

Jean, he is referring to our WWII Engineer Gallery. I'm the one who owns it. LOL!

 

Javier, let me look at the said photos, and get back with you. Don't know if I can help, but will do what I can. Welcome to the forum.

[Walt's Daughter]

The one photo was taken by my friend Harold Bare, but I don't know how sharp his memory is anymore. He's been suffering from Alzheimers the last few years. He let me copy his photos years ago.

 

The other photo is from Charles Johnston's collection, but he is deceased. His daughter simply copied and mailed those to me, so no other info is known, except for whatever info was written on the back of the images.

[JTM]

Hi,

Thank you for your answers!

 

If any one is interested, in the following link there are pictures of the wreck place of the Harold Bare Jagdtiger:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/571595/thread/1206431344/last-1206462039/Jagdtiger+234+of+s.Pz.Jg.Abt.+653+-+location+of+loss+identified

 

Not enough landscape on the Charles Johnston´s pic, but by the uniform it seems that was taken after the war. Maybe in the Fürstenfeldbruck/Landsberg area....

 

Regards,

[Jean Jacobson]

Marion, that is incredible that you have all of these photos! What an amazing amount of work you have done to preserve and share history!!! You can never be Thanked enough!!!

 

And Christoph, no, I had no idea that was the tank associated with Otto Carius. I wonder if Otto is still alive - but you have not heard anything, I assume. I should write his Pharmacy again. And underfloor heating?

 

Gad, those tanks are intimidating!

 

Jean

[JTM]

just found the follwoing on the page

 

http://www.tiger-apotheke.de/impressum/

 

"Wir bitten um Ihr Verständnis, dass aufgrund des fortgeschrittenen Alters und des Gesundheitszustandes von Herrn Otto Carius, keine Anfragen zu seinen Weltkriegserlebnissen oder Autogrammwünsche per Email beantwortet werden können! Bitte nutzen Sie die Kontaktadresse ausschließlich für Anfragen, die den Apothekenbetrieb betreffen. Vielen Dank!"

 

translated:

"We ask for your understanding that due to the advanced age and health condition of Mr. Otto Carius, no inquiries about his war experiences or autograph requests can be answered by email! Please use the contact can only answer questions regarding the operation of pharmacies. Thank you!"

[Jean Jacobson]

Wow, JTM, Thank you for the update.

 

The gentleman at the Pharmacy was so kind in his response to me. He must have gotten an overwhelming number of requests.

 

If Christoph had not told me about Otto and the Pharmacy, I would never have known that Otto was still alive. I wonder what his medical diagnosis is and his age.

 

I forget the number of WW2 Vets they say are dying each day - and the number that remain - and then the number that are in good health.

 

How I would love to locate the Germans that worked at the Lazarett at Siegburg - or their families that might have stories.

 

One day I want to read more about those German tanks - they look amazing.

 

Jean

[Keith]

The tank was located on railroad line at Soultz area, France. My father took several photos (right, left and front sides of this tank)

dated March 1945. I will have to check regimental history in an effort to narrow down a specific date.

 

The response with "Harold Bare jagdtiger tank" 1945 location cross referenced to present day location is the same tank and location in my father's photos.

 

Initial order of 150 tanks; only 40 to 70 were produced and estimated that only half saw combat.

The limited number and tremendous size have added to their lasting impression on the battlefield and later.

 

According to my research:

I believe the British Army Tank Museum has one of only 2 tanks built of a jagdtiger with a Porsche-designed suspension system. This type of suspension could not support the vehicle's 70 ton weight. German army decided to tick with the standard Henschel-designed suspension system as fitted to the Tiger II

 

The U.S. Army Ordance Museum has a jagdtiger (delivered in 1945). First prototype showed up in April, 1944. It was originally developed as an antiaircraft gun. It has a gasoline engine that could produce 600 to 700 horsepower....extremely underpowered. Top speed of only 9 miles per hour.

128-mm gun and a four or six man crew, carried 38 main gun rounds, 2,925 rounds of 7.92 -mm ammunition for its two machine guns. The armor-piercing rounds fired by the jagdtiger weighed 62.4 punds each....I'll save the other details...