In June 1944, a single German Tiger tank spent 15 minutes tearing through a British column in the French town of Villers-Bocage, leaving dozens of vehicles burning. This episode examines the man in the commander's seat, Michael Wittmann, and separates the soldier from the propaganda machine that turned him into a legend. We trace his path from a Bavarian village to the Waffen-SS, his first day at Kursk with eight Soviet tanks claimed, a collision with a burning T-34, and a tally that reached 117 by early 1944.

The conversation asks whether the Tiger's 100mm frontal armor and 88mm gun amounted to a cheat code on the open Eastern Front, then follows his unit to the hedgerows of Normandy, where half the company broke down before reaching the battle. We examine why military analysts today criticize the solo charge at Villers-Bocage as reckless  ...