These interviews were conducted in 2007 as part of the TV Series, Battlefield Mysteries, for History Channel in Canada. We were very lucky to be able to interview the most important men involved in this famous, maybe legendary, and very brief encounter, that took place on August 8, 1944 during Operation Totalize. The exchange lasted 10-15 minutes after which the Allied Regiments moved on, to fight heavier battles. Maybe the fight lasted just a few minutes but the battlefield was littered with the wreckage of 5 German Tiger tanks, including the Tiger 007, the tank of the highest scoring SS Panzer Ace, Michael Wittmann. Wittmann was a legend to the Germans and his loss was devastating to the moral of the men. But the Allies had never heard of him, until 1983, when his remains were recovered from a lost grave in Normandy. With this find Wittmann’s demise could be analyzed. Who killed Michael Wittmann? We had to recreate a 15 minute battle that had taken place 63 years earlier!
Eyewitnesses to History
Many of our documentaries have interviews. Here's an excerpt from Striking Back that includes an interview with Jim Moffet.
Among others, Striking Back includes an interview with Al Sirois, an SOE Wireless operator.
His unit made up the eastern flank of what would be the trap that crushed Wittmann's Tigers.
He was there for the fight, and overheard much of the battle on his radio.
Paivio was the last surviving Canadian veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion.
On August 8, 1944, under incredible pressure, he destroyed 3 Tigers.
This interview was done in 2008 in anticipation of a TV Show Evaders & Escape Lines. Jim gave us a one piece interview, literally; one question and off he went.