*FLAMETHROWER TANK! YES!* The Real Tank Genius Of WW2 - Percy "Hobo" Hobart: The Fat Electrician

[@PAT8888-is2pd]

As a veteran, I can tell you that it comes back to a desire to serve your country. Not about who you work with or for.

[@captin3149]

Came here to say that, should have known someone beat me to it

[@britblue]

In addition to us Brits (unintentionally) giving the Germans the blueprint for Blitzkrieg warfare - we also gave the Japanese the idea for Pearl Harbour when the Royal Navy launched an aerial attack (of Swordfish torpedo bombers) that pretty much destroyed the Italian navy at Taranto!

[@nicksykes4575]

Hi Lauren, a lot of the Crocodile crews used to give the Germans a chance to surrender, by first using an unlit stream of fuel, if they still weren't convinced, the second shot would be a little hotter. Other Fat Electrician British based vids, "The RAFs Legless Anti-Hero", "Wrecking and Trolling the Germans With a Wooden Plane". Also a short one about the Nepalese Gurkhas who have been fighting in the British Army for 200 years. Their official motto is "It's Better To Die Than Be A Coward", and as the Fat Electrician said "and they mean it!"

[@leojamesclune1730]

Plus suddenly getting doused in fuel and staring down the barrel of a flamethrower tends to put things into perspective

[@ianjardine7324]

All good videos but I wish people wouldn't glorify tin legs most of his legend is based on his own propaganda in reality he was an arrogant nasty petty little tyrant who often got others killed trying to live up to his own inflated opinion of his greatness. When the Germans locked him up in colditz they saved a lot of British lives. The real hero is the poor bloody private who had to act as his personal servant enduring his horrific personality and unreasonable demands until the end of the war without chucking the ungrateful asshole out of a window.

[@samuel10125]

Wasn't there something about the Germans executing captured Crocodile crews?

[@ianjardine7324]

@@samuel10125 I believe that one was a myth both sides made extensive use of man portable flame throwers. It was only long after the war that the long term psychological damage of both survivors and users became clear which prompted it to be ruled a war crime to use such weapons. Seeing such horrific deaths was simply too much for even veteran soldiers causing mass PTSD and many many self deletions. For decades after. In fact many flame thrower troops refused to fight with it again after the first time which is why they were so few and why they were largely retired very quickly.

[@nicksykes4575]

@@samuel10125 I have heard that, not sure if it's true, or if it was, how common it was.

[@davidkintzer1604]

The US learned, because they also used modified Sherman flame throwing tanks in the pacific theater. Essentially Britain's manufacturing deficit was eliminated because we wanted the cool toys too! From what i read the Japanese were terrified of those too.

[@InstrucTube]

I mean, who wouldn't be? It's an armored vehicle full of angry soldiers that can shoot literal hellfire at you. If you aren't wearing your brown pants, you're gonna have a bad time.

[@Th3Shyguy]

and the USN made their napalm even worse by mixing in black pitch to produce more smoke. Stuff was nasty

[@FluffyBunnyFeet]

The only instinct we can't override is fleeing from flames. THAT is why people jump out of buildings no matter the height. Not because they think they have a chance.

[@leojamesclune1730]

He talks mainly about US men and missions, some were Allies that were particularly badass or cool (Hobart, the Mosquito, the Polish ammo *bear*er, the legless ace), or Germany when dunking on them (U boat 1206 and sinking themselves via toilet)

[@Darmoth85]

There is an old maxim that goes something like "the side with the fanciest uniforms loses."

[@TheRagratus]

The German uniforms were designed by Hugo Boss. So...... that tracks lol.

[@mr.thanonchai8559]

​@@TheRagratus Do people still believe this myth?

[@jordanclark4635]

@@mr.thanonchai8559iirc he’s right They were *designed* by Hugo boss They were not made by them however

[@mr.thanonchai8559]

@@jordanclark4635 No, he didn't... They're design by Karl Diebitsch and Walter Heck Yes, Hugo Boss was in Nazi party too but he only manufactured those uniforms, NOT design them

[@jordanclark4635]

@@mr.thanonchai8559 ahhh, ok I remembered it the wrong way around

[@PeterOConnell-pq6io]

Echoing previous comments: UK forces were sufficiently on the same mental wavelenght with their German enemies for German troops understand the significance of getting hosed down with un-lit napalm prior to actually getting incinerated for real. US forces in the Pacific had no such repore with an implacable Japanese enemy unwilling to surrender under any circumstances. It result was as inevitable as it was horrible.

[@Myomer104]

A great depiction of the contrast in the difficulty in the taking of the beaches comes from "The Longest Day," a movie from, IIRC, the 60s showing all aspects of D-Day. On Omaha Beach, the soldiers are fighting for their lives, while one of the British beaches is shown to have been taken so easily that a British officer is taking his dogs for a walk.

[@andreykardashov6343]

9:23 more likely the reason Hobo's invention of the blitzkrieg tactic was swept under the rug is because the British Empire was thoroughly miffed when an idea their High Command ridiculed and ignored ended up costing them half of Europe when it was "acquired" by the other guys.😅😂

[@peterbrazier7107]

Up until WW 1, the Officers of the British Army were the Upper Class, they were the only ones who could buy their Commision's, pay their Mess Bills, have their Uniforms made, and have their own Horses, yes more than one. Operation Barbarossa, the German High Command didn't have any cold weather gear made for their troops because they thought they would be able to over run the Untermensch before winter. The Shermans were later given Flame Throwers.

[@gryphonosiris2577]

Rommel told the commanders of the Atlantic wall to "Plant mines like they were grass". So they planted so many Teller mines (anti-vehicle) and S-mines (bouncing Bettys) that the allies had to spend years afterwards demining the beaches.

[@noodles7157]

Fun fact, the Desert Rats make an appearance in the Amazon Prime show "Rogue Heroes", about the formation of the SAS, where men were drawn from the 7th armored division and the LRDG(Long Range Desert Group) to form the new regiment.

[@babalonkie]

Hey... there is nothing wrong with a cup of tea whilst rocking sideburns... Ask Calverine.

[@gregmiller-qq5on]

If you liked Hobie's flame tanks look up the US Marine's Satan tanks they used in the Pacific. They took M3 Suart light and M4 Sherman medium tanks, removed the cannons and replaced them with high pressure flame throwers! Alot of film of them being used on Saipan and Okinawa.

[@dillonpierce7869]

Lauren do the Butch O'Hare video. 👀 Other fella just did Richard bong might be worth seeing another one of the badass pilots on our side during WW2. And yes the Germans forgot winter gear on their initial invasion of Russia cuz Hitler thought they'd be finished by end of summer. Little did they expect the tenacity they found. 😵‍💫

[@TheRagratus]

The Blitzkreig didnt happen until 1939 in Poland. Hobart got sent to Egypt in 1930. The "Brass" didn't know it actually worked yet. BUT the very first place the Brits fought back was in Egypt of all places in the battle of North Africa. Where Montgomery (read Hobart) won a decisive battle at El Alamain.

[@Green-ader]

The Americans have their own flame thrower tanks called the flamethrower Shermans, or the Sherman crocodile

[@simonwebster1370]

The Military Cross, think of your Silver Star. The MC is second only to the Victoria Cross, your Medal of Honour

[@RaderizDorret]

The trend for military officers to demand their enlisted ranks just shut up and follow orders is a long one and is the rule among most militaries. Even today, NATO allies like France, Germany, and so on have a default of "if your officer is killed, dig in and await further orders". In the US, we teach our guys like Hobart did to his guys: "here's what you're doing, here's why you're doing it". This is also why our allies suddenly get TERRIFIED if an American officer is killed because the American enlisted men are going to decide "Cowabunga It Is" and the enemy is going to learn very quickly that "It's not a war crime the first time". The reason for the more restrictive structures is that those other militaries have a VERY long history of filling their ranks with conscripts (aka, draftees) who are only expected to be around for 1 or 2 years tops. The US, on the other hand, grew out of a mostly militia mindset where you could get called up to fight when needed (the militia was defined as "every able-bodied man aged 18-40), but you had a day job and were expected to roll in with other militia members and get shit done. Outside of major wars, the US has almost always been a fully volunteer force and our doctrine is shaped accordingly.

[@patrickholt2270]

The popular theory on the British left in the 1940s was that Britain performs poorly in the first two years of a major war, until the weirdos and aristocratic dead wood who comprise the officer corps get killed and fired for failure enough for the conscripted talent to rise through the ranks and do things more rationally. Long service professionals generally being weirdos compared with the civilian population, especially in terms of class background, but also in the nature of professional armies and how they warp humans and in the nature of the weird kinds of politics and mentality who choose that as a career in peacetime. They did keep giving him command of tank forces during the 1930s, even if his fellow officers kept trying to sabotage him. His talent was being recognised and he was getting to develop the training and tactics and stuff, so it hadn't been all bad for him. The thing with the DD tanks was that the crews weren't given enough training in how to be sailors. They were given a landmark on the horizon to steer towards, but because of wind blowing sideways there was a relatively heavy swell, which sailors would know meant they had to allow the tank to drift with the current a certain amount to avoid getting swamped, rather than fighting against the swell to try to keep a straight line to their landmark on the shore. There are still rotting tanks under the waves, or there were according the last archaeology show I watched about it.

[@PopeMetallicus]

For reference Lauren, 200 million mines is more than the population of the United States in that same year

[@gk5891]

You still can't start a construction project there without going through mine detection procedures first.

[@Yoda98292]

I feel like you and Kit need to tag team some of The Fat Electricians videos, maybe a couple of his short early ones 🤔 😂

[@TheRagratus]

"This is what I want you to do and here is why" always works better than "Because I told you so."

[@lizwiz2779]

ME TOO....I've wanted to fire a FLAME THROWER for 5 DECADES EH!🍁🍁🍁🍁

[@iKvetch558]

I hope you do not mind if I copy/paste my comment from Kit's reaction to this one from a few months ago... Fat Electrician is very fun and entertaining, and most of the time he is also informative and gets the facts rights...but not always. In this one he talks about Omaha Beach and says some things that are not correct, but he is not a historian so it is not a huge deal...I only comment to correct the record and let folks know about some historical mythology. It is not true that no armor got to shore on Omaha Beach, and in reality over half the tanks that were sent there on D-Day got to shore. Of course, Spielberg got it wrong too, so Fat Electrician is in good company...and I hear he is studying to get a degree in history, so he will only get better. There were 2 tank battalions sent to Omaha Beach, and between them they had 112 Sherman tanks...plus some number of light tanks. Of the 112 Shermans around 64 were the duplex drive "swimming" models, and about 30 of those were launched in seas that were too heavy and they sank as Fat Electrician talked about...but the other 30 swimming tanks did not try to swim, they just came in on the tank landing ships with the other Shermans and the light tanks. The armor that sank did cause problems because the tanks were delayed getting to the beach, but the biggest issue on Omaha almost surely was not the tanks, it was the incredibly poor targeting and accuracy of the huge aerial bombardment jest before the landings that pretty much missed all the targets. Also, not all of the Funnies that get credited to Hobart were actually conceived or designed by him. For instance, the Sherman "Crab" flail tank was adapted from earlier flail tank designs that somebody else came up with...the bridge-laying tank and the tank that carried the fascine to cross trenches had both been used before and were not really Hobart's ideas...and near as I can tell, Hobart had nothing to do with the Duplex Drive Sherman design or construction.

[@eddhardy1054]

I'm not sure if the term 'Hobart's Funnies' was actually ment as an insult. I don't think the FE understands British culture too well.

[@FGYT1]

If you want to see another similer story from the British side Fat electrician also covered Douglas Bader au Royal Airforce Fighter pilot who lost both legs and still flew

[@peterhall8572]

You need to understand the mindset of people from before your generation. Your country was always under threat, which means You were under threat. You sleep at night because Rough Men stand ready to visit Violence on those who would harm You

[@douglascampbell9809]

The US flamethrower tank was based on a Sherman tank. We did have them and they were used heavily in the Pacific.

[@GuardianWolf85]

You should check out his The Thing video. Would fit right in with these tanks.

[@PaulGAckerman]

He looked old when he was 57 because, like Indiana Jones saod, it's not the years, it's the miles.

[@jylfarm1964]

In WWII, the US was pretty late to the game. Canada and most of Britain allies have entered the war at least 2 years before the American.

[@ghengriff3600]

British genius Allen Turing, “The Imitation Game”, broke the German Enigma code that was unbreakable (lol), and got crap from the higher ups in the government. And there’s Frank Whittle who invented the jet engine during the beginning of WW II. The British government took it away from him claiming it was needed for the war effort. After the war, the plans for the engine were leaked and Frank ended up with £ 1 million on an invention that was worth Billions. Please honor the grunts willing to die for our country as well as feed the world. The Berlin Airlift ???

[@Jiffedup]

The fact that your take a drink comment about the fat electrician commentt was accenented by you picking up a busch beer was great as that's his preferred beer when he goes on the unsubbed podcast.

[@davidkintzer1604]

The fact you are drinking busch light while watching any TFE video completes the vibe lol

[@backtoback6213]

Woohoo our boy "Hobo" got his reaction 🍷🗿 Edit: Busch peach is amazingly delicious 😊

[@Cu-sith7]

24:59 if your part German that explains it.

[@coreygilkes8732]

In response to why he keeps working for the military it's cause he believes in what they do not the individuals who do it

[@eddhardy1054]

The Fat Electrician has some fascinating stories to tell...unfortunately he tends to throw in quite a bit of bullsh*t too (for instance dragoons hadn't been mounted infantry that rode to a battle then dismounted to fight for about 200 years by the time WW2 started).

[@brettwillard8892]

as someone who served, its the love of your country that you put up with stupidity in the chain of command.

[@gregmiller-qq5on]

Hobart believed in doing his part to defend his country in spite of his peers. Much like 'Jake Mcnasty' obstacles that were put in his way just to get to go into combat with the Germans. Even now our military higher Archey is very clique ridden. Like the Air Force's commanders in the Pentagon (the so called 'Fighter Mafia') has been trying to kill the A10 attack aircraft from since before it was even made. They keep saying that a fancy mach 2 fighter can do just as good of a job as a plane designed for close support. Just not sexy enough.

[@captin3149]

It wasn't that the Germans' uniforms were all style and no substance, but they attacked Russia in Summer, expecting a quick victory, and when the Russians held them back for so long and winter set in, the Germans didn't have enough winter uniforms and equipment available.

[@anthonycornell8547]

She has pretty eyes ..

[@hhound4283]

The Germans had fancy looking winter clothing for the troops, just didn't get it issued before winter hit and their supply lines failed. Flamethrowers? I can see Laurens security files having an asterisk indicating a proclivity towards incendiary devices.

[@AmericansLearn]

probably, lol

[@dave_h_8742]

The Fat Electrician video about Mad jack Churchill.

[@urizen7613]

And Carton de Wiart!

[@lorewyn3386]

With an amazing stash like that you would of thought we would know more about him. Man might not have cared for red tape and postering but damn could he cut up

[@Pterodactylus548]

There's a

[@tonypate9174]

Lauren is at the time for ...SENSHA-DO...stage ....Is/Will she now or ever Tubes of You Hole of Rabbit .....QUEEN OF QUALITY SEASON ....or view from afar...10 COMMANDERS ARE 10 COLRS....new world non "U" edition ?

[@tonypate9174]

Me bad ,,,10 Colors ..tat tingers old age fart etc ...Pick as see tit Moving on ..up that hill.

[@ianjardine7324]

They didn't care if he had a mistress it was that he stole another officers wife. Love the guy he was a hero and a genius but even if her first husband was a complete dick that's still not acceptable. How can you trust a man in battle of you can't trust him not to steal your wife.

[@Tony2438]

mechanised infantry this is what they do this total bull who has no clue about military tactics

[@BikersDoItSittingDown]

Did you ever read a history book? The Americans did very poorly against the British red coats. It was the French army who won the American revolution for you! Most of the battles the Americans won were against the Hanovarian regiments. If Bunker Hill was a victory, then the NAZIs were the victors at Omaha Beach. Rather than being humourous, your sarcasm just reveals your ignorance.

[@Wolfbroa]

Ironic.

[@benmelich8220]

Your talking makes the videos more than twice as long.

[@One_Stone61]

hmmm wierdly the point of a REACTION VIDEO. crazy right?

[@user-ht8bs1pj6d]

You interrupt to much

[@CovBloke1310]

Laurens thoughts and interjections enhance THE FAT ELECTRICANS videos. Don't stop, keep rocking kid.