On 21 December 1942 the six months of harsh training finally paid off, as Wittmann was posted to the Heavy Panzer Replacement and Training Battalion 500 (Pz. Ers- und Ausb. Abt. 500) in Paderborn with the new commissioned rank of SS-Untersturmführer (2nd Lieutenant). From here he was sent to Ploermel in Northern France, where he was assigned to training with one of the most formidable weapons in Germany's armoury - the Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. H/E (Pz. Kpfw. VI, Sd. Kfz. 181)

Wittmann's Tiger S04, December 1943. Not the base dark yellow colour painted over with winter camouflage whitewash. The markings on the 88mm gun signify the 88 victims that Wittmann had claimed up to the time of his being awarded the Knight's Cross in January 1944.