"TIGER COUNTRY"

Evening Star, Issue 25461, 17 April 1945, Page 7

"TIGER COUNTRY"

TANK GRAVEYARD IN ITALY NEW ZEALANDERS IN BATTLE (N.Z.E.F. Official'War Correspondent.) April 13. "When you get past here you are in the Tiger country," they told me at Twenty-sixth Battalion Headquarters this morning. It was no exaggeration. By dusty roadsides around this town lie tile hulks of 70-ton giants and selfpropelled guns which, like their crews, have fought their last fight for the Fuhrer. r In the Twenty-sixth Battalion's area alone the enemy lost three Tiger tanks, two self-propelled guns, and a field-piece in the course of a few hours yesterday.

Approaching the township the A and B companies of the Twenty-sixth, closely supported by Shermans, crossed the line of retreat of a squadron of Tigers. The infantry cornered one as it endeavoured to sneak away, and from a distance of a few yards Sergeant B. Granger and Corporal Dick Campbell fired Piat mortars into its side. The Piat did not penetrate, but the concussion of the projectile striking the armour-belt broadside on must have shaken the crew. They baled out almost immediately and' endeavoured to escape. After a scuffle, in which Private Fred Pratt took a prominent .part, the Germans were rounded up. Shermans of a squadron of the Twentieth Regiment accounted for two more Tigers in short order. One blew up when it was hit in the tail by a Sherman commanded by Sergeant Don Dowrick, of Hastings. Another of our tanks, commanded by Sergeant W. Armstrong, Opotiki, was sitting near a house when suddenly a Tiger loomed up scarcely more than 50yds away. A Sherman gunner plastered the enemy with everything he had. Shells gouged the giant's armour at its thickest point at the base of the gun mounting and about the front of the turret, but they did not penetrate. The Tiger did not have a chance to get its deadly 88 into action. Stunned by blast and the concussion of the shells striking home, the crew tumbled out. They were taken prisoner. Some of these Tigers were apparently assisting to evacuate troops from the area, as one at least carried a number of passengers. Two self-propelled guns and an antitank 75-millimetre gun were overrun in similar fashion.

In the . meantime fighter-bombers and artillery have continued to engage remnants of enemy armour. This goes on to-day as the last survivors of the Tiger formation seek to escape over the Sillaro River not far away. As I write, the Shermans which fought these actions are stalking another group of Tigers. Competing with them are fighter-bombers of the desert air force and little artilleryspotting planes. Though each of the three battalions can now claim a Tiger, the infantry are quite satisfied with this arrangement.