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Panzers in Normandy


Rick W

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With a good picture of the front of a Tiger of 1st Kompanie of sSSPzAbt (Heavy Independent SS Panzer Battalion) 101 of LSSAH, showing the crossed keys in shield with oak leaves I have discussed in another thread. How spooky is that?

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Another "interestingly." In the picture I mentioned above ("Tiger "211", the 1st Section Commander's tank, Ustuf. Georg Hantusch seated on the right in overcoat of the 2nd Company commanded by Wittmann."), the LSSAH badge is clearly on the same side as the hull MG, whereas in my colleague's Big Book of Pictures of Tanks there is another contemporary picture of a Tiger in sSSPzAbt 101 with the exact same LSSAH badge on the driver's side.

 

Which proves to me that you can never state as fact that this marking must go on that side or whatever.

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With a good picture of the front of a Tiger of 1st Kompanie of sSSPzAbt (Heavy Independent SS Panzer Battalion) 101 of LSSAH, showing the crossed keys in shield with oak leaves I have discussed in another thread. How spooky is that?

 

Even more curious. Numerous sSSPzAbt 101 Tigers are shown, all bearing the crossed keys in a shield above oak leaves indicating that the "independent" battalion (an organic battalion would be styled "Battalion" in German exactly as in English and French: an independent battalion was styled "Abteilung") was attached to LSSAH (1 SS Panzer Division).

 

It was "permanently" attached to LSSAH - so not particularly independent. What made it different was that organic tank battalions did not get Tigers. They got Mark 4s, or Panthers in elite units like the Waffen SS. The Tigers went to independent heavy battalions, e.g Schwere SS Panzerabteilung (sSSPzAbt) 101 (originally numbered 501 when formed in 1943 IIRC). So the elite Divisions (SS and rarely elite Wehrmacht formations like Grossdeutschland) had an extra, heavy, tank battalion.

 

Anyway back to the point ("Not before time." Ed).

 

The tank pics show the crossed keys. But check out the chart at the very bottom. One of the links shows the divisional symbols of the participating Waffen SS divisions. And the one for LSSAH shows only the single key.

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With a good picture of the front of a Tiger of 1st Kompanie of sSSPzAbt (Heavy Independent SS Panzer Battalion) 101 of LSSAH, showing the crossed keys in shield with oak leaves I have discussed in another thread. How spooky is that?

 

In British use the keys are part of the Archbisiop of York's regalia, The Keys of St Peter (IF there are no horses and MV's in heaven, I AIN'T going!) Anyone know why the German's used them, is there an historic link? Or just the ego of the commander?

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I am sure there will be a historic link somewhere. Bear with me (what an amazing choice of words - I had planned to discuss 3 Panzerdivision whose emblem was the Berlin Bear): I am about to demonstrate how something we automatically associate can have entirely different connotations elsewhere.

 

Weekend before last I heard a snippet of long-forgotten music on Heartbeat which prompted me to go and download it ("Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire - who is actually very Christian despite what this protest song might suggest).

 

The chorus is easy enough, but in these internet-pervading days and really struggling to work out the verses, I went a-Goggling.

 

The last verse tells us (it was written in 1965) to,

 

"Think of all the hate there is in Red China

"Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama"

 

wtf?

 

So I then Googled Selma, Alabama to find it was related to the Civil Rights marches, also of 1965 where the Americans had their own Bloody Sunday.

 

Isn't Google great?

Edited by AlienFTM
Typo taking ten years off the song's age
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