NORMANDY TIGER HUNT

Description

A flight of P 51 Mustangs of the 339th FG, under the command of their leading Ace, Francis R. Gerard has started a series of strafing attacks on King Tigers. In the foreground a Königstiger of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion is moving at full speed in an attempt to flee the P 51’s and to elude the threat of P 47 Thunderbolt fighter bombers, which the Mustangs would have called in as a special anti-tank force.

THE SIGNATURES

Signed by four P-51 pilots and three members of the German King Tiger tank corps

Major General FRANCIS R GERARD
Leading ace of the 339th FG. 8 victories. 91 missions. Military decorations include: D.S.M., Silver Star, D.S.A., D.FC., Air Medal with 11 OLCs, Presidential Unit Citation, and USAF Outstanding Unit Award.

Colonel REX L. POUTRE
339th FG. 3 confirmed victories in a single engagement. Decorations include: Legion of Merit, D.F.C. with 2 OLCs, Air Medal with 47 OLCs, Bronze Star with 1 OLC, Army Commendation Medal, Croix de Guerre avec Palm.

First Lieutenant ROBERT V. BLIZZARD
339th FG. 56 missions. Six aircraft destroyed on the ground, one Me262 probable (air). Military decorations include: European Theatre Medal, 3 Battle Stars, Air Medal with 2 Silver and 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters.

Colonel LAWRENCE J. POWELL Jr.
339th FG. Captured in Holland after chrash landing his P-51 in Germany two days earlier following a dogfight with German fighters. Five enemy aircraft destroyed. Decorations include: D.F.C., Air Medal with 15 clusters.

Sergeant DR. FRANZ-WILHELM LOCHMANN
Served as tank radio operator and machine gunner in l./503rd Heavy Tank Btn. until the end of WWII (platoon leader tank and company commander tank). 95 tank battles. Decorations include: EK I and II, Tank Battle Badge.

Lieutenant Colonel ALFRED RUBBEL
Combat experience from 1941 through 1945 in the northern and center sections of the Eastern Front. Decorations include: EK I and II, Tank Battle Badge (III). 79 combat operations, 57 enemy tanks destroyed. Wounded in combat.

Colonel GÜNTER PIEPGRAS
Heavy Tank Btn. 503 at the Eastern Front. Company leader during the tank battles in Russia, Normandy, Tunisia, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Decorations include: EK I and 11, Wounded in Combat Award in Gold, and Tank Battle Badge.