About this detail of the Tiger
The 9 Tigers that were sent to s.Pz.Abt. 502 in 1942 are now commonly called "Initial Tigers". Here is a simple timeline of the acquisition and loss of these Tigers. The information comes from secondary sources; the books are mostly in agreement, though some disparities exist in the reported dates.
The books give the turret call-numbers of some Tigers. I have here deduced some of the chassis numbers from data in the books.
20/Aug/42 : 4 Tigers have been delivered to the unit in Germany. The tanks' chassis numbers are #250002 - #250005 [3] .
29/Aug/42 : The unit, with 4 Tigers, arrives in Mga by train [1] .
16/Sep/42 : The Tigers go into action for the first time, with no losses [1] .
22/Sep/42 : The second action is near Tortolowo. 3 Tigers are damaged. One (#250005) is hit in the engine compartment, burns out [1] and must be left on no-man's-land [2] .
27/Sep/42 : 3 more Tigers have recently arrived [1] .
30/Sep/42 : The Tigers are moved to Tossno [2] .
26/Oct/42 : 2 more Tigers arrive at Gory [2] .
25/Nov/42 : The Tiger in no-man's-land is blown up [2] .
13/Jan/43 : The Tigers are committed to counterattack a Soviet offensive.
17/Jan/43 : 2 damaged Tigers, #250003 and #250006 [1] , are blown up [2] although they might have been recovered and repaired.
18/Jan/43 : Tiger #250010 has been destroyed by the enemy; its ammunition exploded after a hit [1] . 2 Tigers have been captured, "121" (#250004) and "100" (#250009) [2] .
24/Jan/43 to 27/Jan/43 : Tiger "111" (#250002) is stuck in a stream for 3 days [2] , as seen here.
31/Jan/43 : 1 Tiger is destroyed in action [1] .
5/Feb/43 : 3 new Tigers arrive. They are not "initial" Tigers.
6/Feb/43 : 2 of the Tigers begin an action near Sinjavino [2] .
11/Feb/43 : 3 of the Tigers begin an action near Mischkino [2] .
19/Feb/43 : 2 Tigers are recovered from holes in the ground [2] .
20/Feb/43 : 4 more Tigers arrive. From this time on, "initial" Tigers are in the minority and cannot be traced in the records.
There is a list of the first 6 Tiger losses in Doyle and Jentz [1] , that gives both their chassis numbers and the causes of their loss. I deduced the tanks' identities from the data as follows:
Soviet photos, including these, show two Tigers captured intact; numbers "100" and "121". The list mentions only two Tigers that did not suffer severe visible damage; therefore they are these two. Tiger "100" was stalled by "a driver's mistake" [2] and is therefore #250009, the tank "stuck in a bog". "121" is therefore #250004 which broke down.
The tank that burnt out on 22 September must have been one of the original 4. There is only one Tiger in the list that's described as burning without exploding [1] . The first combat loss is therefore #250005. We don't know its turret number.
Of the original 4 Tigers, only one survives past 18 January. Assuming that the surviving Tigers were not renumbered in the week after the battle, this must be Tiger "111".
[1] "Tiger I & II; combat tactics", Tom Jentz, Schiffer Military publications