I've done some research and I've found new deatails about the engagement near Jort.
The real cause for which the Germans retreated weren't the anti-infantry shells at all. I've checked in a whole plenty of books. The conclusion is simple: they had been outflanked! What is more: by 12 M10s from the anti-tank detatchment that was supporting 10th Mounted Rifles. 1st squadron of Cromwell tanks passed Jort and was trying to cross the river south of the town. Another tank squadron (the 3rd) backed by a company of motorized infantry (from 10th Dragoons Regiment) was fighting German infantry in Jort.
Here is a map:
There were three Tiger tanks in the little forest west of Jort. As I wrote before one was captured (214). two other withdrew passing by Polish 2nd squadron. Cromwells were shooting at them but without any result. They joined the other 4 tanks positioned along the road from Le Brueil to Jort.
I used to think that those Tigers left the forest becouse of the attack of a platoon of Polish Comwells (Liutenant Swiercz's platoon; as I wrote before that attack was a total coincidence). Then the entire German detatchment withdrew scared by the anti-infantry shells. This is not true.
Shortly after Polish units entered Jort (1st squadron of 10th Mounted Rifles) two German tanks tried to counterattack. They were advancing along the route from Le Brueil to Jort (more less). They ran across 12 Polish M10s which were positioned west of Jort in order to protect the flank of the 1st squadron. Both tanks were knocked out (there are direct coordinates in the divisional report; I marked the wrecks with two green dots).
The operational report written by General Maczek says that both tanks were Panthers (it's weird as the captured Tiger number 214 is counted as a Panther).
More sensible are the infomation that can be found in 10th Mounted Rifles' war diary. It says that one tank was a Panther and the other one was a Tiger. Colonel Wysocki in his book about the Polish division also mentions this particular incident and confirms that those were a Panther and a Tiger and both were destroyed by the tank destroyers.
So I think that it should be safe to assume that those tanks were really a Panther and a Tiger. But why are the 2 Tigers mentioned as "Mk Vs" in the operational report? My explanation is that General Maczek once again was very afraid of showing off. He didn't check the information personally so he preffered to write that the tanks were "Mk Vs".
Perhaps you might be curious why I'm so sure that Panthers paticipated in that engagements (after all even an original report is onlu a piece of paper and paper can stan anything...).
Here is what I've found in a book about the 10th Mounted Rifles.
I think it's the Panther mentioned in the Polish reports. The picture was among those illustrating the first week of fighting. The engagement near Jort was the only fight of the 10th Mounted Rifles in which a Panther was claimed. There where two other occasions when the Regiment clashed with Panthers but no German tanks were knocked out. So I've got two good reasons to believe that this one is the Panther that I'm looking for.
What is more tha camouflage is very similar to the one used by 12th SS Panthers. The number is the same (red or black and white). Moreover the 3rd comapny of the 12th SS Panzerregiment was in action north of Falaise in those days.
The fact that there were some 12th SS' Panthers indeed provides us very interesting information about that German hotchpotch tank unit.
It must have consisted of at least some part of Hitlerjugend's Panther battalion and some leftovers of 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion.
But Gutowski mentions 4 Tigers whereas there were only 2 Tigers in the 101st battalion at that time (could be even one!). I think that there also were 1st and 3rd Companies of 102nd SS Heavy Tank Battalion!
Kurt Meyer wrote that 102nd battalion was put under command of 85 ID and positioned around Potigny (I mean 1st and 3rd Comapny; the 2nd Company was cooperating with the 271st ID). I Fey's "Armor battles of the Waffen SS" is quite a long quotation from 102nd battalion's war diary. It says that during the fighting on 14th August the Tigers were cooperating with Hitlerjugend's Panthers near hill 184. Personally I believe that the 2 remaining tanks of 101st battalion were also with them. Hubert Meyer says that two Tigers (note the number!) were supporting 85 ID near Montboint on that day. One was knocked out. Quite possible that Helmut Wendorff was in that tank.
I believe that those three units mentioned above created one hotchpotch tank company which was facing the Poles on 15th August.
Now about Helmut Wendorff. Wolfgang Schneider says that Wendorff's tank was knocked out southwest of Maizieres. It was set on fire. Probably it was the Tiger from Montboint. It couldn't be the tank captured by the Poles as 214 was nearly intact (let alone the contradictory locations and date). This means that Wendorff wasn't using his tank on 14th August.
I think that the Tiger in a forest might be the Wendorff's tank. There are some forests between Maizieres and Monboint; there are also some country lanes running through them. Moreover that Tiger was surprised. According to Schneider so was the Wendorff's Tiger (by two Shermans). Furthermore it was on fire just like Wendorff's Tiger. Two hatches are open. For whole I know only two members of Wendorff's crew managed to bail out. Among the was the driver. The driver's hatch is open. What is more Epaney where the Czechs were stationed is some 5 kilometres south of the woods between Montboint and Maizieres...
I don't like the photo so I wouldn't regret if that one was the Tiger knocked out near Montboint
I think this one may be the Tiger knocked out by the Polish tank destroyers:
Now some funny stuff.
Yann was speaking here about Unterscharfuhrer Sowa as the man who probably had commanded the knocked out Tiger 214.
I've laerned that during a clash with the grenadiers of 85th ID northwest of Jort the commander of 3rd platoon of the 3rd squadron (10th Mounetd Rifles), First Liutenant Sowa was slightly wounded... (brothers? call the Hollywood producers!
).
