The battalion was created on July 19, 1943, as a part of the
I SS Panzer Corps, by forming two new heavy tank companies consisting of
Tiger I tanks and incorporating the 13th (Heavy) Company of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment. It was attached to
1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte and sent to Italy on August 23, 1943, where it stayed until mid-October. The 1st and 2nd company were then sent to the
Eastern Front while the rest of the unit stayed in the
West. With the anticipated Allied invasion of
Western Europe approaching, elements of the battalion in the East were ordered to the West in April 1944. On June 1, 1944, the battalion was located near
Beauvais, north-west of
Paris. Of its 45 Tigers, 37 were operational and eight more were under repair. With the
D-Day landings on June 6, it was ordered to
Normandy where it arrived on June 12 and 13. Fighting its first battle on 13 June, Kompanie 2, led by
Michael Wittmann inflicted severe damage on the British in Villers-Bocage, resulting in the ending of
Operation Perch. The battalion lost 15 of its 45 Tigers by July 5, including in the
Battle of Villers-Bocage. At this time the unit's surplus crews began outfitting with the new Tiger II tanks. By August 7 the division left in Normandy had 25 Tigers of which 21 were operational. On August 8, 1944, three of its seven Tigers, committed to a counter-attack near
Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, were destroyed by British
Sherman Fireflies, and two more were destroyed by the
27th Canadian Armoured Regiment, killing
Michael Wittmann. The battalion lost virtually all its remaining Tigers in the
Falaise pocket and the subsequent German retreat from France. On September 9, the remains of the unit were ordered to rest and refit with the new Tiger IIs. With this change on September 22, 1944, it was redesignated the
501st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion. On March 15, 1945, it reported a strength of 32 tanks, of which eight were operational. Four days later,
Heinrich Kling was appointed as commander of the unit. == Commanders ==