The area around Leningrad is one of the most geographically diverse in the world, situated in the southern sub zone of the taiga – a snow covered forest found in the cold subarctic. The subarctic is an area of the Northern Hemisphere that lies just south of the Arctic Circle where forests occupy about 40% of the territory, and swamps a further 10%. There are cliffs in the Gulf of Vyborg and to the north of Lake Ladoga, huge swampy areas to the south, marshy valleys with granite boulders on the Karelian Isthmus, canyons and waterfalls, plains and hills to the south of Neva. By any military measure, the region was not conducive to mobile military operations much less ideal “tank country,” yet it nevertheless served as the backdrop for the first actions of the Tiger I heavy tank — an ill-suited baptism of fire its designers, the architects of the Blitzkrieg and troops picked to employ it would just as soon prefer to forget.
Schwere Panzerabteilung 502 took the Tiger I into combat for the first time south of Lake Ladoga near Leningrad on September 16th, 1942. On September 22nd, after crossing a causeway, one Tiger became bogged down in the mud, thereby living up to its iconic unit heraldry of an elephant blindly on the march. After several unsuccessful attempts to recover it, the vehicle had to be abandoned, fierce enemy fire deterring the crew from reaching the vehicle. To prevent its capture, a decision was eventually made to destroy the vehicle, which was carried out on September 25th. All in all, a rather ignominious start for what was hoped to be a miracle weapon.
On that same day several new Tigers as well as Panzer IIIs arrived at the front, thereby bringing the unit up to its full armored complement. On January 14th, 1943, Soviet troops disabled and captured one of the battalion’s Tiger tanks near Leningrad during Operation Spark. A second vehicle was captured several days later. Both Tigers were quickly brought to the Kubinka experimental armor facility where they were thoroughly analyzed for strengths and weaknesses. Efforts were then made to develop and organize strategies to counter the tank.
A handful of additional Tiger Is were issued to the unit in February 1943, replacing several vehicles lost in combat. On April 1st, 1943, a second and third company were formed. Thirty one Tigers were shipped to the unit in mid to late May 1943, which brought the battalion up to full strength. In June 1943, due to a change in the organization of heavy tank battalions, the 1st company was completely outfitted with Tiger Is, rather than a mix of Tigers and Panzer IIIs.
The battalion participated in engagements on the Eastern Front during 1943 and 1944. The unit operated around Lake Ladoga from July to September 1943 and Newel, near Belarus during November and December 1943 covering the retreat of German forces from the Leningrad area. The 502nd held Narva, Estonia from February to April 1944. The 502nd fought in Pleskau in April and May 1944, then around Dunaburg, Latvia in July.
The battalion only received a few Tiger IIs. The last 13 Tiger IIs built were picked up directly at the factory by crews of the 3rd Company of the 510th and the 3rd company of the 502nd on March 31st, 1945.The 502nd received the lion’s share of the final batch produced – eight vehicles it then took into combat on April 1st, 1945. In hindsight, schwere Panzerabteilung 502 was both one of the first and, as it turns out, one of the very last heavy tank battalions formed during the second world war to take the Tigerwaffe into battle.
Forces of Valor’s German Initial Production Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank – “100”, schwere Panzerabteilung 502, Leningrad, Russia, February 1943, is expected to rumble into battle this September, terrain and overwhelming numbers of enemy forces permitting.