Hauptmann der Reserve Walter Scherf, the commander of 3.Kompanie / schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503, in his Tiger tank in Normandy, 1944. He received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes in 23 February 1944 as Oberleutnant der Reserve. From the Panzer I to the Panzer VI, Walter Scherf was able to marry these battle talents to a capacity for the larger strategic factors involved in command of the Panzertruppe's armored fighting force. Few men in the history of the Panzertruppe have been able to make the transition from the Panzer I, Panzer II, Panzer III, Panzer IV, Panzer V, Panzer VI, in each of one of these tanks, to successful high command in a capacity to probe deeper and see further than his contemporaries and ability to give effect to this insight in a practical way. His experience in armored combat was probably longer and more diverse than any other. From 1939-1945, he met and battled practically every type of allied armor. Walter Scherf emerged as a truly outstanding individual, where his skill, initiative, and flexibility were paramount. He took his responsibilities right to the heart into the very vortex of armored combat and sustained his seriously energetic approach to every situation. Hauptmann Walter Scherf latter in the war became the Commanding officer of the newly created Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 512, equipped with the Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer, which this unit included top quality personnel and stellar individuals such as Hauptmann Albert Ernst, an experienced Panzerjager, who was nicknamed "The Tiger of Vitebsk" for destroying 54 T-34's with his Nashorn tank destroyer in Russia. And Oberleutnant Otto Carius, who had been already decorated with the Oak leaves while with 2./Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502. The tanks themselves were just assemblies of steel plates, engines, tracks and guns, but it was the crews who manned them who produced the successes and the legends.
Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/166157897827/hauptmann-walter-scherf-the-commander-of-the
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58574
