SS-Unterscharführer Kurt Klüber and His Tiger I, Normandy 1944

September 9, 2025 - Reading time: 5 minutes

Tiger I No.232 of SS-Unterscharführer Kurt Klüber, 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion, Normandy, July 1944.

This rare wartime photograph shows a German Tiger I heavy tank, tactical number 232, of the 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion (schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101). The vehicle was under the command of SS-Unterscharführer Kurt Klüber, who served in the same company as the famous tank ace Michael Wittmann. The photo was taken in Normandy, France, July 1944, during the intense fighting following the Allied D-Day landings.

The 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion was one of the elite armored units of the Waffen-SS, equipped with Tiger I tanks. These formidable machines, with their 88 mm KwK 36 guns and thick armor, posed a serious challenge to Allied tanks and were feared on both the Western and Eastern fronts.

Serving in Wittmann’s company, Klüber was part of a cadre of skilled Tiger commanders who carried out numerous defensive operations against the Allied advance through the bocage country of Normandy. By this time, the battalion was heavily engaged in battles around Caen and later in the sector of Falaise, where many of its tanks, including several from Wittmann’s unit, were ultimately destroyed.

The presence of Kurt Klüber’s Tiger No.232 offers a glimpse into the individual crews who, alongside Wittmann, formed the core of the 101st SS Tiger force in Normandy. While Wittmann became the most well-known German tank commander of the war, men like Klüber shared the same risks and hardships in the fierce tank battles of summer 1944.

Technical photo data:
📝 Source of information: German wartime records, Normandy Tiger battalion archives
📍 Location: Normandy, France
📅 Date: July 1944
📷 Photographer: German war correspondent (unknown)