The accepted version of the engagement that resulted in his death is that he was killed by British Firefly, i know the official German version of that time was that a Typhoon strike killed him instead, in order to safeguard his overblown reputation, but the argument remains alive among many (especially Wehraboos) to this day with the following aspect :
There are reportedly 2 holes in the tank, which means a Typhoon strike is more likely
Fireflies at the time were equipped with APCBC which can't penetrate Tigers except at close range, contrary to the claimed 800m kill
There were Typhoon CAS missions in the area, these reports supposedly prove them http://imgur.com/rTbYTwZ&JQcImtf
So i'd like to know which one is true, with source links if possible.
The account in Schneider's Tigers in Normandy makes no mention of a Typhoon attack on Wittmann's Tiger at all. I tend to agree with his evaluation, and this is why:
Air attack tends to be a way to scatter tanks in formation rather than destroy them. Hitting a specific target from the air is a difficult proposition and air attacks are usually directed against entire columns, rather than single targets. In this case, the group consisted of three Tigers, a difficult target, especially when using rockets, which are much less accurate than cannons.
The air attack records say that tanks were attacked in a quarry. If you look at an image of Tiger #007, it's destroyed in an open field.
The shots were fired from 800 yards, not 800 meters, at the side of the tank. That is 731 meters. In Soviet Trials, the 75 mm gun of the Sherman proved very capable in penetrating the side of a Tiger tank at 600 meters, a penetration at 700 meters is certainly possible. British trials of the 17-pdr using APCBC ammunition (Armour Branch Report on Firing Trial against German Tiger Pz.Kw.VI.) established that the round can be expected to penetrate the side of a Tiger (82 mm thick) at an angle of 45 degrees from 900 yards, with a critical range of 1000 yards. Any tank involved in the battle was capable of punching a hole in the Tiger.
Schneider writes that Ekins fired twice at the first tank he shot, and the second. All Tigers were fired upon by 75 mm Shermans. Two holes in any of the Tigers is a very likely outcome.
