The Tank Museum has translated and republished the 1943 Tigerfibel, used to train Tiger tank crews, following on from the launch of the bestselling Panther-Fibel.
Curator David Willey said, “The Tigerfibel was originally produced for the young conscripts who would have been operating the Tiger tank in World War Two.
“This engaging historical document takes the complexities of operating the Tiger tank and boils them down into an easy to read and engaging handbook.
This self-published title has been expertly translated to a new English language edition, retaining the rhyming verses and intended ‘wit’ of the authors.
“Young tank crews had little time to digest the thick, heavy-going technical manuals provided, so to overcome this, they sought to draw the interest of the troops with these light-hearted, well-illustrated and visually attractive handbooks.”
The new edition will be based on a high-definition copy of the original document, housed in The Tank Museum Archive, with illustrations and the English text carefully set over the German.
“The document tells us a great deal about the reality of operating the vehicle itself, but also about the soldiers it was intended for.” added David.
