Aspects of the event
Description
On 18th January 1943, Operation Eilbote was launched. Kampfgruppe Weber, with 4 Tigers from 1 company s.Pz.Abt.501, fought their way over Djebel Solbia. The battle group followed the road because the hilly terrain was unpassable for their Panzers. This road led them for 4km through French bunkers and minefields. Three more Tigers were committed at 11:00.
During the whole of this operation, six Tigers were damaged by mines, one of them being damaged twice. A Tiger had to drop out of the operation after the first day because a mine damaged its "idler wheel" and no spares were available. The lack of spare parts was then addressed by taking parts from this Tiger, though it must have been repaired after "Eilbote".
On day two, a second Tiger broke its gearbox trying to heave itself out of a stream bed. Once again the lack of spares meant that the tank could not be repaired until the fighting in that sector had ended; then a substitute gearbox was taken from the first broken Tiger.
This set of photos shows two Tigers parked and undergoing maintenance at a junction near the starting point of Operation "Eilbote". They are almost certainly the first two broken Tigers.
This terrain model shows the location; the junction with the road to the Kébir Dam.
Location
in Google MyMaps
Photos
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