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When tanks first arrived on the battlefield in World
War I they were huge lumbering slow-moving machine gun platforms.
By World War II tanks had evolved into highly mobile highly armored gun platforms.
Men like Creighton Abrams and George Patton became icons for the U.S Army tank Corps as they blazed
across Europe, but the British had a few tank heroes of their own and a few also became legends.
Who was Joseph Ekins? What made him a stand out in the British Royal Army Armored Corps?
How did he manage to be so successful and also survive his many encounters? Hello I'm Colin
Heaton former soldier, Marine Corps scout sniper, history professor, historian and book author, and
we will answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History [Music]
joseph William Ekins was born on 15 July 1923 in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.
He joined the British Army and volunteered for the tank corps. Ekins' tank was a Sherman Firefly
which was widely used by the United Kingdom and some armored formations of other Allies during the
war. It was based upon the mass-produced American M4 Sherman which mounted the 75 millimeter cannon.
the nickname Firefly was adopted due to the bright muzzle flash of the main gun. Like all Sherman
variants it carried a crew of four; the commander, gunner, loader who was also the radio operator
and the driver. But the Firefly version of which around 2,200 were built out of 49,234 Shermans in
total was redesigned specifically for British use. This version was fitted with a more powerful three
inch or 76.2 millimeter caliber which the British called the 17-pounder anti-tank gun as its main
weapon. It had longer range, a longer gun barrel and could penetrate the flank armor of any German tank
including Panthers and Tigers, whereas the American 75 millimeter cannon was problematic and only a
hit in the rear engine compartment could guarantee a kill. Ekins gained national recognition as a
deadly tank gunner, especially in France, in which he destroyed four tanks in a day including three
Tiger I's, one of which was commanded by the Black Baron himself, SS Captain Michael Wittmann.
Allied tankers feared encountering the Panther or Tiger unless they had superior
numbers. In fact when engaging Tigers, the standing operation procedure was to use
no less than three and preferably four Shermans while engaging a single Tiger.
The four to one odds made sense as it was expected that three Shermans would be lost to kill one
Tiger due to the heavy frontal armor and a deadly 88 millimeter cannon that could outrange and
penetrate enemy armor more effectively. The British and Canadians were well aware that Whitman had
already personally destroyed 14 of their tanks 15 personal carriers and two anti-tank guns within
15 minutes for the loss of his own tank on 13 June 1944. That news was disseminated by Nazi propaganda
which the British knew all about and this added to Wittmann's reputation as he now had 130 tank
kills. some say 135 and the Knights crossed with Oak Leaves and Swords. What soon developed
was a duel between the two deadliest tanks on the Western Front; this event occurred during
the British and Canadian Operation Totalize when his unit the first Northamptonshire Yeomanry and
elements of the 51st Highland Infantry Division reached the French Village of Saint Aignan de Cramesnil during
the early morning of 8 August 1944. While B Squadron stayed around the village on watch,
A and C Squadrons moved further into Delle de la Roque wood. German tanks had been seen by aerial
reconnaissance and reported by infantry. All the Shermans were ordered to wait. From their positions
they overlooked a large open section of ground and were able to watch if any German tanks advanced
up Route Nationale 158 from the town of Cintheaux. Ekins the gunner of Sergeant Gordon's Sherman
Firefly had yet to fire his new gun in action. In fact most of the four-man crew were new to combat.
They watched and waited. Under orders from Sepp Dietrich, Wittmann led his group of seven Tigers
from Heavy SS Battalion 101 attached to the 1st Waffen SS Panzer Division supported by additional
tanks and infantry, the Tigers left the cover of a hedge near Cintheaux at 12 30 hours in two prongs;
one in the middle of the field with the other including Wittmann moving slower on the right flank.
The British 75 millimeter armed tanks engaged the lead Tiger hitting it in the transmission, bogeys
or track, and it started going in circles trying to withdraw. Wittmann's group of Tigers crossed open
terrain towards the high ground. They were rolling into an ambush set by Allied tanks on both flanks.
On orders from the troop commander they held their fire until the German tanks were well
within killing range. When the Tiger tanks became less than 1,000 yards in range the order
was given to fire, which continued as the Tigers rolled to within 500 yards. What followed was an
almost 12-minute battle that saw Ekins destroying three of the tigers with deadly accuracy. Joe
Ekins then fired and hit the second Tiger on the right side and knocked it out. As the crew escaped
and brought out their wounded they watched another Tiger north of them go up in flames. A short time
later the main German counter-attack was made in the direction of C Squadron. A squadron moved
over to support them and in the resulting combat Ekins then destroyed a Panzer IV before his own
tank was hit by a Tiger and set a fire, forcing the crew to bail out. In 1985 in the issue of "After
the Battle" magazine. Les Taylor a wartime member of the 1st Northamponshire Yeomanry claimed
that Ekins was responsible for the destruction of Wittmann's tank. Veteran and historian Ken Tout,
a member of the same unit also published a similar account crediting Ekins. Historians have supported
this position and it is widely accepted to be the true version of events. According to
Hart, Ekins's Unit was positioned in a wood on the right flank of the advancing Tiger tanks.
At approximately 12:47 they engaged them halting the attack and killing Wittmann. After the battle
Ekins was reassigned to another tank within the squadron as a radio operator and remained
in this position for the rest of the war. In 1985 British survivors Rad Walters Joe Ekins and Ken
Tout gave their collections and reminiscences and compared those to the German accounts and
pieced the final battle together. There is no doubt that Ekins's four kills included Michael Wittmann.
After the war Ekins returned to Rushton Northamptonshire and went back, home married
and had two children. He took a job in the shoe Factories near his home becoming a manager in
one of the hometown factories. He retired 34 years later. Ekins died on 1 February 2012 at the age
of 88, a real hero and not even known to his neighbors and even some of his closest friends.
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