NEW research has uncovered a fascinating new chapter in the story of the world's most famous tank. 

Housed at the Dorset Tank Museum, the story of Tiger 131, has been enriched as new research reveals exactly how the tank was captured. 

In the original account, Lt Peter Gudgen identified the German tank for one he had disabled with a lucky shot in 1943, but mistook the location for Djebel Djaffa, Tunisia. 

However, new research carried out by Dale Oscroft, son of a soldier of the 2nd Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters, shows that Tiger 131 was actually hit 15 miles away in Gueriat el Atach, known as Point 174. 

Dale’s father John, who died in 1982, told him about his battalion’s first attack in Tunisia when they took on the legendary Tiger tanks. 

Dale said: “Dad said very little about the war, but he did tell me about the Tiger tank and how it came to be captured. 

In 2012, Dale visited the museum and on seeing similarities between the official story and his father’s version, he began his research and managed to prove Tiger 131 was the one his father was fighting. 

Dale used satellite images and wartime accounts to prove the Tiger was captured at Point 174 and has now been able to give his father's astonishing eyewitness account. 

He said while the Foresters were waiting for a German counter attack, his father, who was carrying a PIAT anti-tank weapon, was ordered to engage the nearest Tiger. 

Dale added: “After getting as close as he dared he took aim and fired, only to see the bomb strike a glancing blow on the turret and bounce off. 

The turret then turned towards John. 

“At this juncture the tank was fired on by an old French ‘75’ which the Foresters had taken from the Germans, as well as Churchill tanks which were behind him. 

“Much to his relief the tank crew bailed out and made off. An inspection showed the tiger to have sustained a lucky hit on the turret ring," he said. 

John, from Mansfield, joined the Foresters at the outbreak of war from his job making hosiery. 

He fought in North Africa, the Italian landings and Palestine before being demobbed in 1946. 

David Willey, Curator of The Tank Museum, said: “History is re-interpreted by each generation. Here we see a case of the evidence always being there, but until Dale came to question the accepted orthodoxy - no one had looked at this evidence in a new way. 

“Backed by the magic of technology a new story can now be written about the capture of Tiger 131." 

Tiger 131, the only working example in the world, is currently part of a world-first exhibition, the Tiger Collection, which showcases the entire Tiger family side-by-side. 

Tiger 131 can be seen in action at Tiger Day on September 16. For more information visit www.tankmuseum.org/whats-on/events/bovevt53768