Vimoutiers Tiger tank

The Vimoutiers Tiger tank (char Tigre de Vimoutiers) is a World War II German Tiger tank on outside display on the outskirts of Vimoutiers in the French departement of Orne, in Normandy. The tank is located on the way out of Vimoutiers heading towards Gacé on Route Départemental D979.

History
The tank, a Tiger I (Sd.Kfz. 181 Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E (late version), serial no. '251 113 AMP' on the turret (AMP refers to the manufacturer Dortmund-Hoerder Huttenverein). The chassis number is currently unknown ), numbered 231 (according to the information board next to the tank) belonged to the 2nd Company of the 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion (there is some debate surrounding exactly which unit this tank was attached to, some sources refer to 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion).

On August 21, 1944, along with several other tanks (Panthers, Panzer III & IVs and other Tigers) plus assorted vehicles, it was heading out of the Falaise pocket to a fuel dump at the Chateau de l'Horloge in Ticheville during the last days of the Battle of Normandy. It is thought the tank ran out of fuel on RN 179 between Lisieux and Alençon just before entering Vimoutiers. The tank’s crew abandoned the tank after setting two explosive charges (which immobilized the turret and damaged the engine decking).

Sometime later, advancing units of 2nd Canadian Division (the Black Watch) bulldozed the tank off the road and down an embankment.

Post-war
After World War II, Normandy was littered with discarded military hardware. Local scrap dealers purchased this hardware off the land owner and would then scrap the vehicles. The Tiger was sold to a scrap dealer called Morat who removed easily accessible parts of the tank such as the gear box, hatches, smaller fittings, exhaust cowlings etc. Souvenir hunters over time also removed other items off the tank.

However, for the next 30 years the majority of the tank remained rusting in a ditch. After Morat’s death, ownership passed to another scrap dealer in Caen, but when they attempted to start scrapping the tank, the local people of Vimoutiers decided to purchase the tank as a historical monument for 6,000 Francs.

The tank featured prominently in the May (Issue 8) magazine of After the Battle in 1975.

In October 1975, the Tiger was then removed from the side of the road by Alain Roudeix. The turret was lifted off the reduce weight and the chassis then pulled out of the ditch by a bulldozer. The turret was replaced and the tank was placed on a concrete plinth close to where it was originally abandoned in 1944. Partially restored, the Tiger is now displayed on the outskirts of the city. It was classified as a French Monument historique in December 1975.

The Vimoutiers Tiger is one of only six Tiger I tanks remaining. France and Russia both have two, a working Tiger is at the Tank Museum, Bovington in the UK and one can be found in the US.

Preservation attempts
Weather and time has caused damage to the Tiger tank. The tank's current paint scheme was applied by a local volunteer and does not closely match the green, dark yellow and red that Tiger tanks had during the Normandy campaign.

As of 2013, the mayor of Vimoutiers began to seek funding for a restoration project. But due to the high cost, the decision on whether to carry out this restoration is being debated by the city council.