The following link is to the report of the death of Trooper Joe Ekins of the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry. On 8 August 1944 Trooper Ekins was the gunner in the Sherman Firefly of 3 Troop, A Squadron of his regiment which destroyed three Tiger tanks in a matter of a few minutes.
http://mallinsonblog.dailymail.co.uk/2012/02/forget-sir-fred-goodwin-and-his-unadorned-name-ponder-on-the-exploits-and-death-of-trooper-joe-ekins.html
The story claims that one of the Tigers was commanded by Michael Wittmann, one of the top Panzer aces of the war. The facts of the matter are not as clear as the story makes them out to be, but there is no doubt Ekins played a major part in turning back a counterattack by seven Tigers of 101 SS Hy Tk Bn. In all five of the seven Tigers were destroyed that day and we will probably bicker over which ones fell to whom for years. As Joe Ekins maintained, and he rarely if ever claimed he got Wittmann, the important thing was that the German thrust was defeated, not who killed a Nazi officer that day.
RIP, Soldier. It is troops like you from Hastings to Helmand who typify the British Army.
http://mallinsonblog.dailymail.co.uk/2012/02/forget-sir-fred-goodwin-and-his-unadorned-name-ponder-on-the-exploits-and-death-of-trooper-joe-ekins.html
The story claims that one of the Tigers was commanded by Michael Wittmann, one of the top Panzer aces of the war. The facts of the matter are not as clear as the story makes them out to be, but there is no doubt Ekins played a major part in turning back a counterattack by seven Tigers of 101 SS Hy Tk Bn. In all five of the seven Tigers were destroyed that day and we will probably bicker over which ones fell to whom for years. As Joe Ekins maintained, and he rarely if ever claimed he got Wittmann, the important thing was that the German thrust was defeated, not who killed a Nazi officer that day.
RIP, Soldier. It is troops like you from Hastings to Helmand who typify the British Army.
