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Commander's shield
The Tiger 1's large-caliber gun posed a minor hazard to the tank commander. When a spent case was ejected from the breech, there could be a little propellant material remaining in it. As this burnt away, it could momentarily blast hot gas and smoke towards the commander.
Early in the production run, steps were taken to address this problem. A metal shield was installed in all new turrets from #179, and was added as a retrofit to many existing Tigers [2] .
The shield was fitted to vehicle #250122 which is in Bovington Museum. Here is a photograph of it. Unfortunately it has been bent out of shape, probably by the British who studied the captured vehicle. It is sheet metal with two supporting ribs bolted to it; here, they are broken loose. The black paint is original.
This is my diagram of the shield, as seen from the commander's side. I have never seen any German diagrams of this item, and I know only a single photograph showing its original state in the Bovington tank. It was difficult to measure because of how it was bent. Only my best measurements are shown in the diagrams.
This view from below shows how the shield fits between the commander's seat and the gun. The shield has a slight bulge at the rear. The British army diagram of the tank [3] shows this very accurately.
The roof beam had a large hole in this area (to avoid the cupola bolts). In order to cover the hole, the designers spot-welded a rectangle of sheet metal on the other side. This photo shows it, and also one of the bolts for the main shield.
This view from in front shows the roof beams, the large shield to the right, and the small rectangle at the top left. Notice that the shield is folded at the top so that it falls in the gap between the commander's seat and the gun.
This view from the loader's side shows how the shield relates to the commander's seat. Notice that the shield effectively protects him from the gun. Unfortunately it also isolates him from the other crew members. When the turret was redesigned, this metal shield was therefore deleted and replaced with a cloth curtain. You can see the hangars for the curtain in photos of the Saumur vehicle, elsewhere on this site.
Sources
[1] Survey of vehicle 250122, Bovington, by David Byrden
[2] DW to Tiger 1
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Copyright © David Byrden 1998-2007 except where indicated.
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