The Tiger ll's first experience of combat was with the s.H.Pz.Abt. 503 (503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion) 1st Company, during the Battle of Normandy. The King Tigers of the '503 were up against Canadian forces during 'Operation Atlantic', which ran in conjunction with the British 'Operation Goodwood' of July 18th 1944. This sequence of well known photos shows an abandoned Tiger II (Porsche turret) of s.H.Pz. Abt. 503 and the Bergepanther that was towing it, after having broken down on the N816 Trun road (D916 today) near Vimoutiers. In the two very similar images it is being passed by a column of Canadian vehicles that includes a Universal Carrier, Staghound armoured car, Jeeps, trucks and a military motorcycle, possibly a Triumph 3HW. The tank is zimmerited and would have been painted in the standard three-colour camouflage of Dark-Yellow, Olive-Green and Red-Brown. The ladder on the side that distinguishes this particular vehicle might have been used for observation or simply for the crew to climb their Tiger's imposing hull in order to get aboard. The scene is ideal for dioramas as all the vehicles are available in 1:35 kit-form and any combination could be used to recreate the Canadian column and abandoned German AFVs.
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