503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion The 503rd Army Heavy Panzer Battalion ( ) was a German heavy Panzer " Abteilung " ( a battalion - sized unit ) equipped with Tiger I tanks and Panzer III s . In 1944 , it was re - equipped with the new Tiger II . The 503rd saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts during the Second World War . As with other German Heavy Panzer Detachment s , it was normally not assigned to a single corps , but shuffled around according to war circumstances . Later the " Panzerabteilung " became part of the newly formed " Panzerkorps " Feldherrnhalle " " as the " Feldherrnhalle Heavy Tank Battalion ( " Schwere Panzerabteilung Feldherrnhalle " ) . History . Formation . The unit was created on May 4 , 1942 , in Neuruppin . After releasing all Panzer IIIs , the unit consisted of 45 Tiger I s on May 10 , 1943 . The 503rd was the second Tiger detachment promised to " Generalfeldmarschall " Erwin Rommel for service in North Africa . The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion was already in action in Tunisia . The detachment was to be formed of Porsche - manufactured Tigers , but the cancellation of Porsche ' s " Tiger ( P ) " meant that the deployment was delayed . Instead , the unit was equipped with Henschel Tigers . As it was then too late for the 503rd to assist in North Africa , the unit was instead deployed to " Generalfeldmarschall " Erich von Manstein ' s Army Group Don . Don River - Kharkov . When the Abteilung was sent east , it comprised 20 Tiger and 31 Panzer III Ausf . N . In the aftermath of the Battle of Stalingrad , the entire German front was pushed west . The abteilung took defensive positions immediately after their arrival at the front on January 1 , 1943 . The 503rd , along with several divisions of the 4th Panzer Army , was tasked with securing the withdrawal of Heeresgruppe A . The unit first saw action on January 4 , around Stawropol , when a Soviet attack was repelled , and claimed their first 18 kills . Some days later , the unit conducted a counter - attack against Soviet lines . The heavily defended Soviet positions around Wesselyj repelled all attacks and the attack was canceled . The next days brought a fighting withdrawal to Rostov . Here the 2 / s . Pz . Abt . 502 was attached to s . Pz . Abt . 503 and became eventually the 3rd company . On February 11 , 1943 , the 503rd was transferred to Kharkov and fought to halt the Soviet advance after the collapse of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad . The 503rd distinguished itself in the Third Battle of Kharkov , taking part in the destruction of Mobile Group Popov , the main Soviet attacking force . Operation Citadel . The 503rd then took part in Operation Citadel , an offensive operation meant to destroy the Kursk salient . Four days before the start of " Zitadelle , " the abteilung reported that 42 of their 45 Tiger tanks were operational . The abteilung was split up and one company was attached to each Panzer division of the III Panzer corps ( Army detachment Kempf ) . Hptm . Graf Kageneck protested against this split , but was overruled . The first company came under the command of 6th Panzer division , the second under the command of 19th Panzer division and the third was attached to the 7th Panzer division . The I / s . H . Pz . Abt 503 was part of a Kampfgruppe of 6th Panzer division , which established a bridgehead over the Donec at 11 July . The Tigers of the 503rd performed well in the offensive , losing three Tigers during Zitadelle and five more during the subsequent withdrawal . From July 5 to August 17 , the unit claimed the destruction of 385 tanks , 4 assault guns and 265 anti - tank guns . Panzer Regiment " Bäke " . In January , the abteilung , together with the II . Abt / Panzerregiment 23 and some infantry units , formed Panzer - Regiment " Bäke " under " Oberst " Dr . Franz Bäke . Over the following weeks , Panzer Regiment Bäke saw heavy fighting . After fighting in the area of Uman , the regiment was part of the relief force , which tried to break through to encircled forces in the Korsun Pocket . For this battle , the unit had 34 tanks operational . The unit performed well , despite suffering from bad weather . During the relief attempt the regiment was credited with 267 tanks destroyed for five combat losses . The Abteilung lost seven Tigers in total , but only one was destroyed by the enemy , while others were abandoned after the tanks were immobilized by muddy terrain . One Tiger was accidentally destroyed by a Panther of the 1st LSSAH . The reasons for this friendly fire incident are unknown . From January 24 to February 21 , 1944 , the regiment claimed about 500 soviet tanks and assault guns destroyed for only nine combat losses . The Abteilung was then trapped in Hube ' s Pocket , where all but seven of their remaining Tigers were lost . In late April 1944 , the regiment was dissolved and the 503rd was sent West for rest and refitting . During this period , the detachment received twelve new Tiger II s . Normandy . With the Invasion of Normandy on June 6 , 1944 , the 503rd was transferred to the command of Panzergruppe West . The first company was equipped with 12 Tiger II tanks . It was the first Pz . Komp to be equipped entirely with the Tiger II . The detachment fought well in combat against Allied tank forces during the battles around Caen . On the launch of Operation Goodwood , the 3rd company , which was based in Cagny , was caught in the preliminary bombing raids and completely wiped out , with bomb impacts powerful enough to turn even a 68 - ton Tiger completely upside down . Only one Tiger was operational at the end of the day . During the first day of " Goodwood , " the unit reported the loss of 13 tanks . On July 18 , a remarkable incident took place when a M4 Sherman tank under the command of the Irish Lieutenant Gorman rammed a Tiger II of the I / s . H . Pz . Abt 503 and disabled it . On the next day the two remaining companies were in defensive positions around Cagny and helped to halt a British advance . The " Wehrmachtsbericht " reported 40 enemy tanks destroyed , many of them by the 503rd . At the end of July , the 3rd company received new Tiger II tanks . Heavy aerial attacks destroy most of the equipment of the Tiger II company . Only 2 Tiger IIs were brought back to Germany , the tanks with turret number ' 314 ' / annelise and ' 323 ' . The 503rd , along with the Panzer - Lehr - Division ' s 316th Funklenk Panzer Company , were the only formations in Normandy to operate Tiger IIs . The 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion got Tiger II tanks in late August but they saw no action . The severely depleted 503rd managed to escape the horrors of the Falaise Pocket and was engaged in a fighting withdrawal to the German border . In late August the detachment was pulled from the line for a complete refit with Tiger IIs . Hungary . In September 1944 , the refitted 503rd was sent to Hungary to bolster the forces of " Armeegruppe Fretter - Pico " , defending the approaches to Budapest . Arriving in early October , the 3 . / sPzAbt 503 under Leutnant Freiherr von Rosen , provided support for Otto Skorzeny ' s " Operation Panzerfaust " , the coup which replaced the Hungarian leader , Admiral Miklós Horthy , and resulted in the Hungarians remaining as Germany ' s allies until the end of the War . Six King Tigers of the 3rd Company helped take the Buda Castle . Immediately following the success of " Panzerfaust " , the company was returned to the detachment . The 503rd now played a major role in the Battle of Debrecen . The detachment formed the vanguard of the 23rd Panzer Division ' s drive to sever Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliyev ' s lines of communication , thus allowing the encirclement and eventual destruction of the Soviet force . During this period of action , the 503rd claimed 1 , 500 vehicles and 120 anti - tank guns destroyed . In early - November , a powerful Soviet offensive pushed the Axis forces back towards Budapest . The 503rd was regularly acting in co - operation with the 60th Panzergrenadier Division " Feldherrnhalle " , providing a mobile reserve for the Armeegruppe , now commanded by " General der Panzertruppen " Hermann Balck and so renamed " Armeegruppe Balck " . By mid - December , the Germans had been pushed back to Budapest , and the Soviets were probing the outskirts of the city . The 503rd , along with the " Feldherrnhalle " , having lost many of its Tigers to combat and to mechanical issues , was engaged in fighting off Soviet attacks on Budapest ' s government district . On December 21 , the 503rd , having lost virtually all of its armour , was renamed to schwere - Panzer - Abteilung " Feldherrnhalle " ( abbreviated sPzAbt " FHH " ) and officially attached to the 60th Panzergrenadier Division " Feldherrnhalle " . On 31 December , the Soviets completed the encirclement of Budapest and the siege of the city began . During the Battle of Budapest , the majority of the " FHH " along with roughly 70 , 000 German and Hungarian troops of the IX SS Mountain Corps were trapped . The remnants of the detachment saw heavy fighting during the final Soviet assaults to annihilate the trapped forces . The 503rd took part in several failed attempts to relieve Budapest , codenamed Operation Konrad . Record . The 503rd and the later " Feldherrnhalle " heavy tank battalions are credited with the destruction of around 1 , 700 enemy tanks . The battalion lost 252 Tiger I , Tiger II and also some Panzer III . Of these , 123 ( 49 % ) were destroyed by their crews and 113 ( 45 % ) were destroyed by the enemy . The battalion had more tanks put out of action outside combat than to enemy action . This was a common occurrence in German tank units as a result of the poor reliability of Tiger tanks and the fuel supply problems often suffered by the German army . The 503rd maintained a kill ratio of 15 : 1 for combat losses , which was above average for German heavy tank battalions and the second highest for combat losses . The number of tanks claimed as destroyed by the 503rd will exceed the number which were actually destroyed , as a knocked out tank may be repaired , and two tanks firing on the same target may both claim the " kill , " resulting in that target being counted twice , and some claims have simply been exaggerated . However , there are several examples where claims were found to be entirely accurate when enemy losses were counted , as when German troops held an area after a battle and were able to prevent Soviet forces from recovering their lost vehicles .