German Tiger tank is a genuine star in Pitt’s ‘Fury’

"Fury," with Brad Pitt in the leading role as an American tank commander during the waning days of World War II, may or not be a critical or box office hit, but it’s distinctive in at least one regard: It’s the first, and very likely the last, film to feature the only remaining fully functional German Tiger tank: Tiger 131.

The story of Tiger 131, from its origins in Germany to the deserts of North Africa and finally to England where it sits on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington, spans 70 years. It was the subject of the 2013 book "Catch That Tiger," by Noel Botham and Bruce Montague, which tells the intriguing tale of a daring raid by British soldiers to capture an intact Panzer VI, otherwise known as a Tiger tank, from Gen. Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps in early 1943.

According to the book, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent army engineer Maj. Doug Lidderdale to Tunisia to bring the tank back to England in order to gain an understanding of the state-of-the art technology behind the fearsome 60-ton monster.

At the time, the massive Tigers could destroy any Allied fighting vehicle from great distances. Many Tiger companies destroyed 10 to 15 Allied tanks for every Tiger lost on the battlefields of Russia, North Africa and Western Europe.

However, according to the Tank Museum, the version of events depicted in "Catch That Tiger" does not correspond with the accepted facts of how Tiger 131 was captured. The Tank Museum maintains that Lidderdale had nothing to do with it and that the individuals responsible for actually disabling the tank were in fact members of the 48th Royal Tank Regiment.

One of these "tankers," Lt. Peter Gudgin, was wounded when a Tiger destroyed his tank. On examining the burned-out wreckage the next day, Gudgin remarked how the Tiger’s shell "passed through the front plate, through the fighting compartment and into the engine, setting it ablaze."

Gudgin also observed that the German Tiger, numbered 131 on its turret, that had destroyed his vehicle was sitting quietly with none of its crew in sight. Gudgin studied the Tiger carefully and saw that it had been hit many times by British tanks. One shell had hit the bottom of the enormous 88-mm cannon and lodged itself in the turret ring, effectively jamming the turret and preventing the Tiger from continuing the fight. Other strikes had damaged the tank’s radio and open loader’s hatch, which may have injured some of the crew.

Gudgin believed the crew had escaped and made its way back to the German line.

Regardless of the exact circumstances of the tank’s capture, the rest of the story is rather straightforward. After the war it was handed over to the Tank Museum at Bovington. In 1990 a major restoration project began, and in 2003, Tiger 131 emerged from the museum workshop in almost mint condition, becoming the world’s only fully functional Tiger tank.

Ten years later "Fury" director David Ayer reportedly asked the Tank Museum for help in making the movie’s equipment and action sequences as authentic as possible.

"The Tiger was restored so that the public could fully appreciate what a truly fearsome machine it would have been during battle," said curator David Willey, "and now for the first time countless numbers of people will have the opportunity to see a genuine Tiger in a contemporary war film."