Text taken from a V Kontakte post on the page of GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR
September 1942 was a good deal earlier for the Tiger I tank in WWII on the Eastern Front than I had read before. Paul Carrell (Nom du pen of German SS major Schmidt) had said as much in his seminal book "Scorched Earth."
[VK] "Tiger" tanks took part in combat for the first time. After arriving at the Mga station (southeast of Leningrad), the tanks were immediately transferred to the front line. At 10:00 the platoon arrived in the forest, at the battalion's location.
Around 11:00, the order was given to prepare for the move. The battalion commander, Major Richard Märker, was the first to go in his command Tiger. Soon, with the support of the infantry, the tanks reached the forward positions and began shelling the defending Soviet troops. In a short time, they managed to push the Russians back and go on the offensive. Unfortunately for the Germans, the swampy ground hampered the maneuvers of the heavy Tigers. Taking advantage of this, the Soviet troops opened aimed fire on the huge targets.
The first battle was unsuccessful for the Tigers - one was hit (the engine was damaged by a shell hit), three other vehicles managed to reach the Soviet positions damaged, eventually got stuck in the swampy terrain and stopped. Then the Germans were able to evacuate three tanks.
At night, all three tanks were successfully towed to repair shops, and each Tiger had to be pulled through a swamp with the help of three 18-ton tractors (probably FAMO SdKfz9). The fourth was stripped of its equipment and blown up (at the end of November 1942). The tank was knocked out with a 122mm hull gun A-19 model 1931. This time, the Germans managed to keep their tank a secret.
The tragic beginning of the Tigers' combat career is largely due to Adolf Hitler personally, who, without listening to any objections, rushed the introduction of new equipment into service. As a result, the Tigers were used not only at the wrong time, but also absolutely senselessly - in small groups, in terrain absolutely unfavorable for their weight. In his memoirs, Guderian writes with bitterness and irritation that Hitler was simply eager to test the new "miracle weapon" as soon as possible.
As a result, at the end of 1942, the powerful Tigers were assigned a completely secondary task: as part of the 502nd heavy tank battalion, to launch a small attack on a difficult section of swampy terrain near Leningrad. The tank's next combat use would not be until January 1943.
AKA a fire brigade.