Tiger I - Captured by Russians

On the morning of 18 January 1943, the spearheads of the Soviet 67th Army (Leningrad Front) and 2nd Shock Army (Volkhov Front) linked up near Workers’ Settlement No. 1, re- opening a land corridor to Leningrad. This Soviet success also trapped about 8,000 German troops from Kampfgruppe Huhner, including a group of Tiger tanks from 1 ./s.Pz.Abt. 502. The German troops immediately began fighting their way south trying to escape the encirclement and most succeed in reaching German lines, but four Tigers were lost to enemy action. Just south of Workers’ Settlement No. 5, Tiger 100 accidentally drove off the trail and became mired in a peat bog. The German tankers hurriedly tried to prepare the tank for demolition but before they could accomplish this, pursuing Soviet infantry arrived in force and drove them off. Soviet troops quickly mounted onto Tiger 100 and began to throw out the demolition charges. The Germans mounted a counterattack to try and reach the immobilized Tiger but were driven back with heavy losses, including several PzKpfw III medium tanks knocked out by Soviet anti-tank guns. Seizing the moment, local Soviet commanders quickly ordered five light T-60 tanks from the 61 st Tank Brigade to the site. The Soviet tankers managed to attach tow cables from all five T-60s to the Tiger and, since it had been left in neutral, they were able to get it rolling. Finally, the Soviets succeeded in dragging Tiger 100 far enough out of the bog that it was practical for a KV-1 tank to tow it back to their own lines. This was the first intact Tiger captured on the Eastern Front and the Soviet technical evaluation helped to spur the development of the IS series of heavy tanks.