101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion
Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101, meaning Heavy SS-Tank Battalion 101, commonly abbreviated as s.SS-Pz. Abt. 101 was one of Waffen-SS's elite armored units, acting as a fire brigade and a crack assault unit on all fronts. With the introduction of new Tiger II - Royal Tiger tanks in late 1944, it was redesignated Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 501.
It was created on July 19, 1943 as a part of the I. SS-Panzerkorps, by forming two new heavy tank companies consisting of Tiger I tanks and incorporating the 13.Kompanie of SS-Panzer-Regiment 1. Attached to SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" it was sent to Italy on August 23, 1943 where it stayed until mid-October. The 1st and 2nd company were then sent to East while the rest of the unit stayed behind in the West.
s.SS-Pz. Abt. 101 in Normandy
With the anticipated Allied invasion of Western Europe approaching, elements of the battalion in the East were ordered to West in April 1944. On June 1, 1944, the battalion was located near Beauvais, north-west of Paris, of its 45 Tigers, 37 were operational and eight more in repair. With D-Day landings on June 6 it was ordered to Normandy where it arrived despite heavy aerial bombardment on June 12. After weeks of heavy fighting, most famously at the Battle of Villers-Bocage, by July 5 the battalion lost 15 of its 45 Tigers.
At this time units surplus crews were pulled back from the front and started being outfitted with the new Tiger II tanks. By August 7 the remainder of the division left in Normandy counted 25 Tigers of which 21 were still operational. The battalion lost virtually all its remaining Tigers during the heavy fighting at the Falaise pocket and subsequent massive German retreat from France.
On September 9, the remains of the unit were ordered to rest and completely refit with the new Tiger II's, with this change on September 22, 1944, it was redesignated Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 501.