501st Schwere Panzer Ableitung
Tiger Battalions

501st sPzAbt. was established in May 1942 and was designated for Rommel's DAK then advancing into Egypt. It was, however, not until November 1942 before the Battalion was fully equipped and tropical modifications were completed. By this time, the Battalion was sent to Tunisia with 2 companies arriving from November 23 to early December. the 3rd Company remained in Sicily as a reserve. The Battalion fought various battles in Tunisia until the capitulation in May 1943 by which time all tanks had been lost or scuttled.
The Battalion was reformed in September 1943 and was in action near Vitebsk, Belarus (USSR) by December 1943. The 501st continued to fight in Belarus throughout the spring and summer of 1944 but by 4 July 1944, had been decimated by the Soviet Bagration Offensive.
In August 1944, the Battalion refitted with Tiger II's and fought on the Vistula/Oder (Poland and Germany) front. Nearly wiped out again at Lisow, the survivors regrouped at Paderborn, Germany and fought in the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket, eventually surrendering to the British.