Aspects of the event
Description
The "Das Reich" division lost their first Tiger on 11 February 1943. It was number "831" and it was damaged by a mine in Kharkiv.
According to the book "Tigers in Combat 2", part of the Tiger company (probably 2 Tigers) was fighting in Kharkiv on the 11th, while seven more of their Tigers were being unloaded from trains and having ice cleats fitted. It's not clear whether Tiger "831" was one of the new arrivals.
We know that much from the written source, which is perhaps unreliable. Photographs of the wrecked Tiger add more detail. It was driving along Akademika Pavlova St. (вулиця Академіка Павлова), the main route to the northeast from the city, when it was immobilised. The next day, the Germans quit the city. Tiger "831" had to be left behind, one of the first Tigers to fall into enemy hands.
German forces retook Kharkiv in March. Presumably the photographs of Tiger "831" were taken after that time. They show us that the wreck was left on the street and gradually stripped of useful parts.
This location was deduced from photographs of the wreck. They show a two-lane tree-lined boulevard, with two industrial chimneys in the distance. This 1941 reconnaissance photo shows two chimneys and their angles relative to Akademika Pavlova St., matching the photos.
Kharkiv has other boulevards and chimneys, but upon close examination, it's only here that we find the same array of houses and fences that we can see in the ground-level photographs.
Location
Tiger 831 is abandoned in Kharkiv in Google MyMaps
Photos
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