Summer in 1944 in France.
The allies are on the offensive
to try and break through the German defences
south of Caen.
A group of British tanks
sit under cover in an orchard
when over the rise
3 Tiger tanks appear.
Their Maybach engines roaring
and the screech of their tracks
can be heard in the distance.
Back in the orchard inside one of the tanks,
a Sherman Firefly,
sits Joe Ekins in the gunner position.
What happens next
will be analysed for years to come.
The tank commander orders the Sherman
to come out of cover
and a nervous Joe is ordered to fire
two rounds at the rear Tiger.
This is only the second time Joe has fired this gun
and the first time in a combat situation.
The impact of Joe’s shots on this day
will be felt
all the way to Berlin.
Joe Ekins was working in a shoe factory at the age of 17
when he volunteered to join
the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
after hearing what was happening in Europe
at the start of the war.
He felt he had a moral obligation
to play a part in the struggle
to defeat the Germans and their ideology.
Ekins was assigned as a gunner
in a Sherman Firefly in “A” Squadron.
Fireflies were Sherman tanks
adapted by the British
to have the powerful 17 pounder anti-tank gun fitted.
The tank became known as the firefly
because of the bright flash it gave off from the muzzle.
It was a hastily put together solution
in order to resolve the problem
of the highly effective German armor.
Winston Churchill gave the project the highest priority.
The Firefly could penetrate 233mm of armor
at 1000m distance.
On the downside,
the recoil and the dust thrown up
when it was fired
was incredible.
It would jar the crew
and if fired at night
the extremely bright flash would cause night blindness
if the crew didn’t shut their eyes
at the moment of firing.
In Joe’s squadron
there were only 3 Fireflies
and the rest of the squadron
were regular Sherman's.
All the tanks were named after Russian towns
in honor of the Soviet allies.
Joe’s Tank was called
Velikiye Luki
after a Russian town
where a fierce battle had been fought.
The Fireflies had only been ready six weeks
before the squadron was deployed
and Joe had only one session
on the firing range in his tank.
During the later stages of operation Overlord
on August 8th, 1944,
Joe’s squadron was ordered to the south of Caen.
The squadron were dispersed in a defensive position
which left Joe undercover of the orchard
with two regular Shermans.
When three Tigers appeared in the distance,
only Joe's tank was able to reach them.
Thanks to the Tank Museum,
we have permission to use this recording
they made of Joe in April 2009
where we hear him describe the battle
in his own words.
At this point
Joe's tank was hit in the turret...
But the tank was still operational.
In just 12 minutes
Joe had taken out 3 Tigers.
Unbeknownst to Joe,
inside one of the tanks destroyed that day
had been the Black Baron.
Michael Wittman.
Wittman was a household name in Germany
and a cult figure as a Panzer Ace.
He was one of the most successful tank commanders ever
and was credited with destroying an incredible 138 tanks.
After this incident
and despite his expert shooting
Joe was assigned to be a radio operator for the rest of the war.
He was baffled as to why he was put in this role.
In 1945
Joe left the Army due to illness.
He went back to the shoe factory
and married Gwen,
his sweetheart in 1946.
They had children
and he rose to be a manager at several shoe factories.
Due to the importance and notoriety of Witmann,
after the war there were several claims
as to who had destroyed the Black Baron’s tank…
The 4th Canadian Armoured Division,
later the 1st Polish Armoured Division made a claim
and 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps
also claimed credit.
The RAF claimed a rocket fired from a Hawker Typhoon
from Second Tactical Air Force
hit Wittmann’s tank.
But 8 years after the battle
Joe Ekins was told by historians
that it was most likely
that he had taken down the Black Baron
in the second of the 3 tanks he had shot.
His comrades convinced him
that he should come forward
and speak about the battle,
particularly as others were claiming
that they had brought down the Black Baron.
Eventually Joe conceded
and spoke to the Tank Museum and the press
about his part.
Even then,
Joe was characteristically modest
about the whole thing
saying,
"In a battlefield
I don’t think anyone can really be a 100 percent certain
what happened
but most historians now seem pretty sure it was me.”
In 1988 he retired.
He held a black belt in Judo
and was given the Queens Jubilee medal
for services to sport.
On a visit to The Tank Museum in 2000
Joe was given the opportunity
to fire the gun of a Challenger 2 –
the tank the British Army uses today.
Not surprisingly
the then 78-year-old hit the target first time
and became the oldest gunner of a Challenger 2.
There is only one working Tiger 1
left in the world today
and you can go and visit it
at the Tank Museum in Bovington –
and see it in action on Tiger Day.
You can find out more about the tank museum
and support the great work they do
by visiting patreon.com/tankmuseum.