Tiger 122 on fire

During Operation Eilbote, Tiger 122 was damaged by artillery and leaked fuel internally. The crew tried to drive it away. They should have climbed on the rear deck and used a square Allen key to open the drain in the floor, shown in this photo;

but if they did, the drain was not large enough for the flood of fuel coming from the breached fuel cell. The tank caught fire, and according to the German after-action report (NARA document 8710710); "...the fuel vapor exploded and the tank's insides burnt out completely despite all attemps to douse it with prepared fire extinguishers."

A member of the battalion took this photo of the burning tank, and later wrote; "Ein schaurig schöner Anblick. Der Tiger des Lt. Vermehrens brennt nachths infolge Feindbeschädigung ab"