Hey dude!
That's funny, I always thought that the Typhoon and "surrounded and cornered by shermans" stories were the old stories and the new evidence was that a Firefly got him. Hmmmm...confusing, eh?
I still can not understand the thing with Villers-Bocage. How can everyone mix that one up?
It goes like this:
Wittmann attacks the British column in the morning. He splits the column, then moves down the column, destroying vehicles as he goes. Wittmann enters Villers-Bocage with only HIS Tiger, ALONE, no other Tigers, no PzKpfw IV's but, just himself. The other four Tigers of his 2nd Company remain near Hill 213 and destroy the rest of the British column.
After engaging and destroying a few more British tanks and vehicles in Villers-Bocage, Wittmann's Tiger is disabled by an Anti-Tank gun. Wittmann and crew abandon the Tiger and escape on foot. They make their way to Panzer Lehr HQ and brief everyone on the situation.
A force of 15 PzKpfwIV from Panzer Lehr and 9 Tigers from the 1st Company attack Villers-Bocage later in the afternoon. Wittmann was NOT involved in this attack. It was just the 1st Company and some PzKpfw IV's of Panzer Lehr. NO Wittmann, No second attack by him on Villers-Bocage. 5 Tigers and 2 PzKpfw IV were lost in this assault on Villers-Bocage. But, the British later on withdrew from Villers-Bocage.
The mistake so many accounts give is involving Wittmann in the second attack, saying he made multiple trips and mixing up the sequence of events. The above is the proper sequence.
Cheers,
Wolfkin
