Totally rare armour piercing projectile 8.8cm, KwK36, L/56 fired by German Tiger tank recovered from site of destroyed tank, recovered near Elsdorf south of Dusseldorf in the Ruhr Pocket April 1945

This is a totally rare find from the battlefield a armour piercing projectile 8.8cm, KwK36, L/56 which was fired by German Tiger 1 tank which is complete but missing its ballistic cap. The projectile is in nice condition with no base plug or markings on the bottom but is still has some original black paintwork remains it still has its steel colour driving band in place the outer case is only lightly pitted with no holes but does have a little bit of damage with some impact marks. The projectile is completely empty and inert it has been well cleaned and overall perfect condition for display and very rare one for any collection. The projectile was recovered from the site of a destroyed German Tiger 1 tank of Schwere panzer Abteilung 301 of the 9th Panzer Division, 5th Panzer Army. From the site of a destroyed Tiger tank, recovered near Elsdorf south of Dusseldorf in the Ruhr Pocket April 1945. The projectile comes with 2xA5 laminated information cards.

The 5. Panzerarmee was formed on 8 December 1942 in North Africa through the restructuring of the LXXXX Armee Korps. It surrendered in Tunisia on 9 May 1943. The 5. Panzerarmee was reformed on 5 August 1944 by the redesignation of Panzergruppe West. It fought in Normandy and narrowly escaped being destroyed in the Falaise Pocket. In September 1944, the 5. Panzerarmee launched an unsuccessful counterattack against the U.S. Third Army in Lorraine before withdrawing to the German border. The 9th Division was then partly reformed with schwere panzer abteilung 301 getting new tiger 1 tanks the Army then took part in the failed Ardennes offensive in December 1944 and later fought at the Remagen bridgehead before being destroyed in the Ruhr Pocket on 17 April 1945.