Catch that Tiger

[John Clarke]

Catch that Tiger (2012) ISBN 978-1-78219-432-3.

I not sure if this book has been reviewed on the forum, I did a search and found nothing.

It may have slipped under the radar, it appears to be a factual novel depicting the capture of Tiger 131 based on memoirs of Major A D Lidderdale.

It explains the mystery of the capture and the secrecy behind the capture. Keeping the actual details "mum" for over 60 years just to spare some sort of pride. Well you can't have the REME up staging the solders on the front line.

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Some names have been apparently changed, one of the villains being named Major Hans Kruger. (Die Hard?). Strangely the name changing towards the end of the book a long with a mistaken identity.

Without too many spoilers there's a femme fatale in North Africa, a meeting with Ian Fleming (James Bond) and Desmond Morton (Operation Mincemeat).

Did 131 actually take pot shots at a German submarine from the deck of a transport ship? The book says it did, if not it's still a good yarn.

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[Stephen White]

John, I won't go into detail here but there has been a lot of controversy over this book, which is better located in the fiction section of a well known bookshop. There is a very useful Anglo-Saxon word which adequately describes the factual accuracy of the content........... which begins with B and ends in T.

[Donald Suttie]

The Host at a recent Tankfest said to avoid the book at all costs

[Stephen White]

To quote the Tank Museum:

"The account given in Botham and Montague's work fails to correspond with the evidence held at The Tank Museum, which includes the testimony of the book’s lead protagonist, Major Douglas Lidderdale.

The letters that Doug Lidderdale wrote before his death in 1999 make it clear that whilst he was heavily involved in the story of Tiger 131, he wasn’t there when it was captured.

In contrast, Botham and Montague put him central to the action. They claim that Lidderdale kept a secret wartime diary, which reveals that the capture of Tiger 131 was the result of a top-secret mission given to him by Winston Churchill in person. They describe a “close hand shoot-out” in which Lidderdale and his men overpower the crew of Tiger 131 in order to secure its capture. This is despite the fact that the war diary of the German unit that Tiger 131 belonged to states "Crew members of Tiger 131 panic and abandon the tank after two harmless hits from a Churchill". "

In a further quotation from "Tank Times", the Museum says:

'This book has put us in a difficult position because some of those who have read it have come away with the false impression that we support or endorse the work. Our judgement on it is based on the evidence we hold which we feel speaks for itself, We aren't opposed to new theories that challenge our understanding of our artefacts but we do expect them to be rigorously backed with evidence''.

So, as I said earlier, B******T

[John Clarke]

Stephen, I fear you've let the Cat out of the bag .
I did say a factual Novel, There are a lot of facts (photo's too) put in a novel way.
Liddledale was present around the time of capture, unless he's been photoshopped in, so who's to say what is true.

You could speculate, if or why the Germans simply "ran away" when they had a perfectly good running tank, that could have got them out of trouble under cover, quickly by simply leaving the battle field under its own power.
I realizes not everyone can be John Rambo and being hit at least twice may put the Willy's up most, especially if your main armament is put out of action. But being out in the open with your back to the enemy possibly carrying wounded?
There are stories that the driver of 131 may have been injured during the attack. But there's usually someone else in the crew capable of driving the thing.
I have read books where German tank crew squeeze injured crew members in their "good" tank fighting compartment, evacuated from damaged tanks to save their buddies. it was made clear, that being out in the open was not an ideal position to be in.

I would guess the story has been woven to appeal to a possible movie maker, it could be entertaining film. "A good yarn" I said, maybe 131 could get another movie deal. Though as I recall people like to slag off the movie industry when it comes to tanks on film.
I found Fury very entertaining, Though fail to understand the ending why Norman survived. I suppose no one likes an unhappy ending, me included.

Major Lidderdale was, so the book said, made a full Colonel after returning from Africa with 131 by Churchill.
Maybe he did something else heroic that warranted the award.

He was told to, "Tippy toe away from the truth" if anyone asked.

Since the Cats out of the bag, Colonel Liddledale was reduced in rank to Lieutenant Colonel at the end of the war, it could be he "tippy toed" too much and may have been better off blowing his own bugle if.....if the yarn were true.