About this Tiger unit
s.Pz.Abt.504 was set up with 2 companies at the end of 1942. The 2. company had 9 Tigers with supporting Pz.3. These Tigers were delivered in February 1943 and therefore were of the "early" type. The 2. company was sent to Paceco in Sicily in anticipation of Allied landings, arriving on 8 March 1943. While there, the company was expanded with 8 more Tigers. Six of these arrived in June and had spare tracks on their turrets.
The battalion went into action on 11 July near Gela where the Allies were landing on the beaches. They spent the next month fighting without much success in eastern Sicily, retreating to the north and eventually evacuating their last remaining Tiger to the mainland.