(Above) Tiger 131 is examined by troops hours after it was captured in Tunisia in 1943
The Tank Museum in Dorset has launched a £40,000 public appeal to keep a gun-toting 57-ton German tank which was considered one of the most formidable armoured vehicles in World War Two on the road.
The notorious Tiger Tank, 131, was captured by Allied troops in an explosive battle in Tunisia in 1943, having been struck by a six-pound shot after knocking out two British Churchill tanks.
Produced in 1942 to meet the German Wehrmacht’s vision of a panzer towering enough to provide a psychological edge over Allied crews, the Tiger was one of only 1,354 units made, seeing action in Russia, Tunisia, Sicily and North-West Europe.
It boasted a lethal 88mm gun of deadly accuracy and sheet armour thick enough to deflect most Allied anti-tank weaponry at anything less than the closest range, but was hampered by its vast weight and girth during campaigns in bad conditions.
The engine had “a nasty habit of catching fire”, according to its technical description, and the gearbox was liable to failure when subjected to stress.
The Museum’s Tiger represented a major trophy for Western forces, who gained vital intelligence from inspecting the abandoned vehicle. King George VI and Winston Churchill both visited the tank in Tunis, and it was displayed on Horse Guards Parade in November 1944 before heading to its current Bovington home in a “somewhat sorry state”.
via Tank Museum in £40,000 public appeal to save WWII Tiger Tank | Culture24.
