![]() The next day, they moved together with elements of 10th Panzer Division on the road to Massicault, attacking towards Majaz al Bab, gaining 13 km (8.1 mi) and destroying 14 M3 Stuart tanks. Reinforcements of one Tiger and one Panzer III arrived on 9 December, which along with repairs of battle damage, gave an inventory of seven Tiger Is and five Panzer IIIs. Of 182 tanks present, the Allies lost 134. The next day, with Junkers Ju 87 Stuka aircraft support, Kampfgruppe Lueder took Tebourba but was then disbanded, all of its Tigers being out of action. On 3 December, the single operational Tiger I was reinforced by three newly arrived Tigers, which, with infantry support, surrounded Tebourba. On 2 December, KG Lueder, with one Tiger and five Panzer IIIs, attacked Tebourba, stopping an Allied advance and knocking out six tanks and four anti-tank guns for the loss of three Panzer IIIs. They were involved in fighting just over a week later during the Axis counterattack on 1 December, destroying nine US and two British tanks on the first day while relieving German forces. These first elements of the battalion, along with four Panzer IIIs, were organized with other units into Kampfgruppe Lueder. Initially only three Tiger Is of the 501st landed at Tunis on 23 November 1942. ![]() Operations North Africa Operations in Tunisia,įollowing the Allied landing in French North Africa the battalion, with its 16 Panzer IIIs, arrived in Tunisia between November 1942 and January 1943. Each company commander would have an additional Tiger, and battalion command would have another two, for a total of 20 Tigers and 16 Panzer III. German heavy tank battalions were initially planned to be composed of two companies, each with four platoons of two Tigers and two Panzer IIIs. Initially, the battalion consisted of 20 Tiger I and 25 Panzer III. ![]() The 501st was promised to the Afrika Korps for use in North Africa, and was prepared for tropical operations. In late August, the first Tiger began to arrive, delivery priority having been given to the formation of the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion. ![]() They were combined into the 501st heavy tank battalion on in Erfurt, commanded by Major Hans-Georg Lueder. The first heavy armor units in the German Army were the 501st and 502nd heavy tank companies, founded 16 February 1942. ![]()
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