Destroyed Tiger I heavy tank from the Nazi Panzerwaffe of the Third Reich in the Battle of Kursk during Second World War in the East.
Soviet tank commander, Lieutenant B.V. Smelov shows a hole in the armor of the German tank Tiger I, which was destroyed by the crew of B. Smelov to Lieutenant Viktor Lihnyakevich (destroyed in the last fight two German tanks). Holes in the armor of the destroyed Tiger I heavy tank belongs to the armor-piercing shell of the 76-mm Soviet tank guns.
This famous photograph, which was often used by the Soviets for propaganda purposes, showing that the latest and strongest in a while German PzKpfw VI Tiger I heavy tank can be destroyed, and with the help of the T-34 medium tanks. The actual circumstances in which the photograph is taken is unknown: according to the accuracy of results for the shells of various calibers, the tank could be fired in the battle, and after the fight (to study artillery) and at the site.
Information about the second tankers:
Viktor Leonidovich Lihnyakevich, born in 1918. Before the war he lived in Kiev.
A member of the Bolshevik Party. Senior lieutenant. The commander of the tank battalion of the 108 Armored Brigade of the 9th Tank Division of the 1st Belorussian Front. Killed in action February 18, 1945. He was buried on the territory of East Germany.
Location: USSR
Time taken: 23 July 1943
Author: Natalia Bode