About this detail of the Tiger
The British technical report on the Tiger [1] lists a 'projectile ejector' carried in the turret. The German term for it is given as 'Entlader'. There is no further explanation in the book.
A photograph in the report shows a dark-coloured hollow cylinder stowed on the inside bottom of the turret wall. It is labelled 'Entlader'. As far as I can tell from the photograph, it has a diameter of about 88mm and a length of about 180mm. The diagram above was scaled from the photograph.
It is held in a metal loop, screwed to a support that is welded to the wall. The loop survives in the Bovington vehicle; the internal diameter is 90mm [2] .
The Tiger's ammunition is of course 88mm in diameter. This suggests that the 'projectile ejector' was pushed into the back of the breech to grasp and remove projectiles that did not fire. After a misfire, the shell casing (containing the propellant) would be pulled out by the breech mechanism in the normal way; presumably, the loader would handle it very carefully! If the projectile became detached, it would remain in the breech. Hence the need for a tool. Since the breech must be kept clear of paint shavings, we can assume this tool was unpainted.
The stowage in the Tiger's turret was rearranged several times. There are very few photographs of interiors and we may never know the full story. Three different positions for this tool have been seen, and are shown in the following diagrams.
Position #1 is seen in tanks '712' [3] and '833' of S. Pz. Abt. 501 [4] . The tool is exactly on the rear center line of the turret. It is possible that this applies to all Tigers without an escape hatch. The holder has a small tab to support the base of the tool.
The tank's stowage was redesigned in December 1942 [7] , possibly at the same time that the escape hatch was added. The Bovington vehicle was produced a few months later, with the tool stowed in Position #2 [2] . It is beside the loader's seat, just forward of the hatch. There is no support for the bottom of the tool; the holder is placed low enough that it sits on the turret ring.
Position #3 is drawn in the Turret Manual [5] for a turret with the 40mm roof. But it is possible that this change was made when the turret was redesigned with a new cupola. The tool is now even further forward, and instead of being attached directly to the wall, it is part of a framework that holds many items. Once again, there is a tab to support the base of the tool.
In the final Tigers, as seen in the 'Saumur' vehicle [6] , stowage was removed from the turret walls and replaced by open containers on the turret ring. I don't know when this change happened, nor where the tool was placed in these vehicles.
[2] Survey of Tiger 250122, at Bovington museum, by David Byrden
[3] Survey of Tiger 250031, by Stephan Vogt
[6] Survey of vehicle 251114, at Saumur, by Jean-Charles Breucque
[7] DW to Tiger 1