The Elefant (Elephant) stemmed from the Porsche design for the PzKpfw VI Tiger. Henschel was awarded the contract for the new tank, but it was decided to use the Porsche design as a tank destroyer. Hitler demanded that the new vehicle be ready for the 1943 offensive on the Russian front, so development was rather hurried. As a result, many broke down to their first action at the Battle of Kursk, and the lack of proper armor and ponderous mobility made them easy targets for Soviet gunners in the battle. In addition, the lack of machine guns meant that there was no defense against Soviet troops disabling them with explosive charges in close-quarter combat. The survivors were withdrawn to Italy, where unreliability and lack of spares ensured their continued ineffectiveness.

This particular 1:35 scale replica of an Elefant heavy tank destroyer was attached to 1./schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, then serving in Italy during 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 10-inches
Width: 4-inches
Height: 4-inches

Release Date: March 2007

Historical Account: "Dark, Brooding Angels" - Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, the Italian government had surrendered, but the German Army continued to fight. The Allied armies succeeded in conquering the southern part of Italy, and the Germans retreated to a prepared defensive position called the Winter Line. About 15 German divisions were employed in the defense.

The Winter Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt. It ran across Italy from just north of where the Garigliano River flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, through the Apennine Mountains to the mouth of the Sangro River on the Adriatic Sea in the east. The center of the line, where it crossed the main route north (Highway 6), was based on the mountain Monte Cassino and the old abbey that sat atop it. The line was fortified with gun pits, concrete bunkers, turreted machine-gun emplacements, barbed-wire and minefields. It was the strongest of the German defensive lines south of Rome. The western part of the line, centered around Monte Cassino, was called the Gustav Line, and was protected by the Bernhardt Line a few miles to the south.

When the Germans fell back, the Allies' immediate objective became the liberation of Rome. The most obvious approach to Rome was the Liri Valley (just north of Monte Cassino), and the Winter Line would prevent the Allies advancing there. Although the German forces were commanded by Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, the defense of the line itself was commanded by General Heinrich von Vietinghoff of the German Tenth Army.