Corgi CC60113 British Churchill Mk.IV Tank ‘To Catch a Tiger’

After Operation Torch, the German Afrika Korps faced pressure from both the British Eighth Army advancing from El Alamein and Allied forces pushing east from Algeria. In response, Hitler rushed reinforcements through Tunis, including around 20 new Tiger I tanks. Although vastly superior to Allied armor in North Africa, there were too few Tigers to change the course of the campaign.

The 48th Royal Tank Regiment was among the first Allied units to encounter the Tigers, whose 88mm guns proved deadly to Churchill tanks. Allied commanders were eager to capture one, and soon had their chance when troops of the 2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters disabled a Tiger at Guriat el Atach. After repelling repeated counterattacks, they secured the first intact Tiger tank captured by the British.

Meanwhile, after months of training in Suffolk and Scotland, the 48th RTR prepared for deployment. In March 1943 they sailed from Glasgow to Algeria, heading for the fighting in Tunisia. Confident in their Churchills, that confidence was shaken during final preparations near Ghardimaou, where the wrecks of destroyed tanks offered a grim preview of the battles to come.