Generaloberst Model and Befehlstiger I

This is a frame from a very brief newsreel clip. To identify it, we firstly note the use of the Roman numeral "I" on the tank's turret. Only a few Tiger Abteilungs marked their Command Tigers in this way. Then, the high-contrast paint scheme suggests that it's s.Pz.Abt.505. We have many photos of their "Early" Command Tigers, and this one has the same flat mantlet as their Tiger "I". But the tank is whitewashed in the other photos, so we cannot compare their paint.

The records imply that the battalion, already assembled on the Ostfront, received that Tiger on 20 June 1943. They already had an old Command Tiger numbered "I" but it was, according to photos, renumbered at about this time. We can explain the renumbering if we assume the battalion commander, Major Sauvant, claimed this new Tiger. It probably had the new HL230 engine.

Finally, we note that the man at the right resembles Generaloberst Model. He visited the 505 battalion on 25 June. The crewman in black closely resembles Major Sauvant.