I have been an armor buff all my life (46 yrs old). During that time I have studied the subject extensively. I build museum quality models so therefore I have to study every nut and bolt on a vehicle I model. I probably own 200+ books on Tanks.
I have never seen a single photo nor have I ever read a single reference to Tiger Tanks towing fuel trailers. The only real use of Tanks with fuel trailers was very early in the War. These were mostly used in the invasion of France and to some extent the invasion of Russia. Fuel trailers were mostly used by Panzer IV-C's with very limited use by Panzer IV-D's. By the time the IV-D was out in significant numbers the practice had been mostly abandoned. I have seen a few Panzer III-E's with fuel trailers. These photos's are extremely rare. There was also some limited use of Fuel Trailers by the Africa Corps but this too was very limited, and very early.
Fuel trailers were phased out and Wehrmacht went to welding on racks to hold countless "jerry" cans. Many Panzer III-F's, G's and H's were covered in "jerry" can racks. As well as countless Panzer IV-E's and F1's, also many StugIII-F's and G's were buried in fuel cans and drums.
By the time this pilot was attacking German armored formations on the move, fuel shortages were the order of the day. Most tankers were hard pressed to have fuel in their internal tanks, much less have fuel trailers or lots of "Jerry" cans stowed on board. At this point of the War there may have been some tank, somewhere, towing a trailer, but this practice was far from wide spread.
Due to the fear that Allied soldiers had of Tigers Tanks, many many times Panzer IV's were reported to be Tigers. In fact the British did not allow the phrase "Tiger Tank" to be used on the radio due to the panic those words caused. Tigers were being seen everywhere by everybody. I have watched this film very carefully he does appear to strafe a Tiger II. If you watch carefully, you will see that what is burning is on a different stretch of the road from where the King Tiger was moving.
"Bullets bouncing off the road and hitting the underbelly of a Tiger tank?" This could be possible but not probable. If you take a moment to look at a Tiger Tank or Tiger II you see that the "road" wheels are interlocked (overlap). This leaves very little room for bullets to pass through and strike the road surface. In fact from the side I would say it's close to impossible. If you look carefully at a Panzer IV you will see there is lots of room between the "road" wheels for bullets to bounce up so it may be be possible to impact the bottom of a Panzer IV using this method. From the data I have read on .50 cal ability to penetrate Armor plate. A .50cal round would not be able to penetrate a Tigers bottom armor under ideal circumstances, much less after bouncing off the pavement.
Also I have seen countless photos of wrecked Tiger tanks and I have never seen a photo of one that was disabled from underneath by anything except a mine....or a demolotion charge.
Helm ...out
