With exclusive access toprivate diariesand dozens of photographs, this
is theincredible story of one of the most dangerous and thrilling secret
missions of World War II
Unleashed by Hitler in 1942, the German Tiger tank was by far the most
powerful tank ever built at the time the 60-ton monster could destroy
any Allied tank from more than a mile away. Desperate to discover the
secret technology used inits manufacture, Winston Churchill chose a
brilliant young army engineer, Major Doug Lidderdale, as his special
agent. In a late-night briefing in the subterranean war rooms under
Whitehall he ordered him "Go catch me a tiger."Doug did not hesitate,
and by February 1943 was facing Rommel's desert army. After several
unsuccessful and hair-raising efforts to bag a Tiger on the battlefields
of Tunisia, Doug and his team put their lives on the line in a
terrifying, close-range shoot-out with the five-man crew of a Tiger,
capturing the tank intact. The morale boost to the Allies was such that
both Churchill and King George VI flew to Tunis to examine the Tiger
firsthand. But the Germans were not finished with Doug constant attacks
by the Luftwaffe and U-boats pursuedhim and his men on every step of the
journey back to England. But eventually, by October 1943, the Tiger was
gifted to Churchill, who had it placed on London's Horse Guards Parade.
Lidderdale went on to use some of the Tiger technology to develop war
machines for the D-day landings and was promoted to Colonel. Tiger 131
is now kept at Bovington Tank Museum and is the only working Tiger in
the world. The full extent of Doug's adventures in North Africa only
came to light after his son, Dave Travis, revealed the existence of his
father's diaries."
