It’s the 24th of April 1943 under the scorching Tunisian sun.
Explosions rock the earth as the men of the 2nd Battalion of Sherwood Foresters take cover in their meager trenches.
Among the allies is Sergeant John Oscroft.
He has the dubious honor of holding a PIAT anti tank weapon.
Leaving his job in a hosiery factory and signing up at the beginning of the war, Oscroft has seen many battles.
He steals himself now as he knows his time will come in this one…
The Germans have them under fire and just 300 yards away a Panzer squadron in a hull down position fires upon the allied positions.
At the head of the Panzer squadron is a fearsome beast.
Even its name is whispered by the Allies.
"It’s a Tiger."
Armed with a powerful 88mm gun and incredible armor these are the flagships of the German War Machine.
They inflict dread in even the best of tankers, let alone a battalion of infantry with just PIATs at their disposal.
In a rush a few men run for an abandoned Pak 97/38
searching the position that once belonged to the enemy for ammunition and turning the weapon around.
Tiger crews are under strict instructions not to let their tank fall into enemy hands.
Even going so far as to equip the crews with charges to destroy the tank before capture.
So for the allies taking one out is a colossal undertaking.
Let alone capturing a Tiger with its fangs and claws intact.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the hill a charge of German soldiers appears from behind the Panzers,
attacking the allied positions with the cover from the war machines.
But despite the incredible danger the men of the Foresters crawl out of their trenches and unleash hell upon the advancing enemy,
cutting through the German ranks with their rifles and LMGs.
The Panzers fire back with their cannons and machine guns, inflicting terrible casualties on the defenders.
But the German attackers are suffering far worse and their charge falters, being forced to retreat.
"Get back!"
But it's not over yet, the Panzers keep up the suppressive fire, pinning the Foresters in place.
The Foresters have the PAK, but firing down the hill doesn’t even cross their minds; they would get blown up the second they expose it.
Meanwhile, the Germans launch a second infantry charge.
But no amount of explosions weakens the resolve of the British soldiers.
They open fire on the advancing forces, relocating swiftly to evade the fury of the Panzers.
They expertly negotiate the storm of lead and for a second time the German attack comes to a grinding halt.
Aboard the lead Tiger the commander is growing impatient.
He’s in disbelief as the second wave withers before his eyes.
Full of resolve he orders his Panzers to cover him, he’ll show these allies what German steel is capable of.
“I'm moving forward.”
The beast roars as it pounces from its cover and charges up the slope, the side of its turret is marked with the designation “131”.
Atop the hills the Sherwood Foresters are shocked at the sight of the attacking Tiger.
“Tiger!”
The men right in the path of the beast retreat for cover while the machine gun nests unleash all they have.
Their bullets ping off the German armor doing little more than annoying the crew inside.
In the distance a group of Churchill tanks spots the advancing wonder-weapon emerging from cover.
“Tiger!”
Inside the Churchill a gunner quickly takes aim and fires.
A shell flies across the battlefield.
The shell falls short.
It hits an allied universal carrier and the explosion rises into the air.
The Tiger commander scans the terrain.
“Oh my God, there’s so many of them! Panzer! 500 meters!”
The German commander goes white.
He knows that the only real threat to them is the British tanks.
He decides instantly to abandon the attack on the infantry and jump back into cover.
He pulls back and rotates the turret towards the threat.
He realigns the tank to get the heaviest frontal armor facing the British tanks.
The Churchills take careful aim.
It’s incredibly difficult to get a hit at this range.
But the gunner steadies himself, and fires…
It looks to be on target.. Almost.
A smoke mortar pings off 131.
Back on the hill, Sergeant Oscroft clutches his PIAT anti-tank weapon while taking cover with the soldiers.
They see the Tiger retreating behind the hill and the men spot the opportunity.
“Go for it, John!”
1 man against a colossal metal beast.
Gritting his teeth Oscroft bravely charges into action, PIAT in hand.
He crawls over the hilltop and finds the Tiger maneuvering for another attack.
Oscroft is unmoved by the sight of the massive tank before him, his mind is laser focused on this task.
His heartbeat races as he crawls closer to the steel monster, but he doesn’t get there in time.
The Tiger peeks back over the ridge, aiming straight at the Churchills.
It fires with an earth shaking boom, propelling an 88mm shell across the sky.
Their aim is lethal, it slams into one of the Churchills, punching straight through the armor and taking it out in a ball of flame.
The Churchills fire back in response, hitting the German tank multiple times with their 57 mm guns,
but round after round bounces uselessly off its thick armor as it retreats behind cover.
Oscroft is shaken to his core by the muzzle blast, his ears are ringing.
It’s just one man against the giant.
But he pushes on.
He takes aim and pulls the trigger.
The shoulder-fired mortar goes off with a bang.
The warhead arches towards the enemy.
It’s a hit!
Oscroft looks on in hope that turns to horror as he sees the warhead bounces off the Tiger’s turret , leaving it intact.
The Tiger stops.
Slowly the turret rotates around until Oscroft is staring into the mouth of the beast.
Shaking himself he rushes to hide amidst the hill’s rocks and tall grass and to his massive relief, the German crew never sees him.
The Tiger repositions and peeks back up the hill intent on cutting down the Churchills one by one.
But this time the Sherwood Foresters are ready.
The Pak 97/38 opens fire alongside the Churchills, throwing a rain of shells at the big cat.
One shell impacts the Tiger left of the mantlet failing to pierce the highly angled side armor.
but shredding the mantlet trunnion along the way.
The shock rips through the gun’s elevation mechanism losing valuable fractions of a second
and letting the Churchills enact their revenge.
A 57mm shell zips right under the barrel and glances against its thicker base,
deflecting the shell’s path towards the lower mantlet.
The impact jams the turret rotation and fires spall into the cabin, striking the gunner, driver, and radio.
The shocked commander orders:
“Bail out!”
The loader and commander swing open their hatches and rush to escape, dragging the wounded alongside them.
They barely make it out before another Churchill shell punches straight through the loader’s open hatch.
The Germans make it, but in their haste they forget to set the charges to destroy the Tiger.
The Sherwood Foresters successfully return to their positions and hold the hill with the abandoned Tiger just 5 feet away.
Out of options the remaining German Panzers retreat, leaving the precious Tiger in the hands of the allies, largely intact.
Tiger 131 would be recovered days later as the front line moved away from the area.
The state of the Tiger was incredible;
running gear was intact, the gun was virtually intact and capable of firing, and the interior damage was minimal.
“ Well, looks like she is still got it, boys! ”
The Tiger was shown off in the recently liberated city of Tunis where Winston Churchill and King George VI,
flew in for a chance to see the German monster in person.
Oscroft after the war went back to working in the hosiery factory.
Today Tiger 131 resides in The Tank Museum in Bovington, UK.
They’ve done an incredible job of restoring the vehicle and keeping it in perfect working order,
while still keeping some of the scars of her dramatic final battle.
Tiger 131 became something of a film star, appearing as a nemesis to Brad Pitt’s tank crew in the motion picture “Fury”.
Apologies. Bradd Pitt. This looks nothing like you.
“Best job I ever had”.
Today Tiger 131 is the only working original Tiger 1 in the world.
It’s brought out twice a year during Tiger Day, an event that draws crowds from around the world.
You can purchase tickets for Tiger Day at tankmuseum.org.
We would like to give massive thanks to The Tank Museum for their help with our research.
Any errors are entirely our own.
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