Hitler's Elite Tank Units: The Waffen-SS | Greatest Tank Battles | Timeline

In 1944, the Allies landed on the northern coast of France. How did the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade fight their way inland past a ruthless German defence?
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[@von-Adler]

I know of a man whose Grandfather drove a tiger at Kursk. His tank was knocked out and two crew of SS Totenkopf rapidly shed their tunics before capture and many years in Russia. Many years later still thin as a rake his relatives brought him to Bovington tank museum. When they heard he was a Tiger driver they opened up theirs and this 90 year old spent 15 minutes or so climbing in or out the various hatches

[@nathanbrown8883]

very cool. One of my good friends was in the Brandenburger/ Skorzeny Kommando that dressed up as an America GI during the battle of the bulge. My other friend was an officer in the 5th SS division "wiking" and talked freely of fighting the Russians while in group south.

[@garyhill2740]

@@nathanbrown8883 That must've been fascinating. Would have been something to hear first hand. And to be able to ask questions.

[@daveybyrden3936]

Totenkopf are recorded as losing 4 Tigers during the two months of the Kursk operation.

[@paulmorley3032]

I love Bovington Tank Museum, I did my basic training at Bovington. I also recently purchased a newly released English translated Tiger Fibel, being one of the first 3000 to do so my name is in the aknowledgments. the Tiger tank is my fave tank of all time

[@stevendenny7260]

@@paulmorley3032, last week I watched a documentary on Michael Wittman. Regardless of the politics, Germany had some seriously talented officers.

[@tomcrutcher3045]

At times, the sound production of this video is a real mess.

[@bobwild9995]

It's like watching a video game........not for me.

[@wyldeyouth]

It's KZbin that messed it up. This is made for tv

[@LS-rw9yp]

Nope, clean your ears!

[@davidhuckeby1127]

@@wyldeyouth I remember years ago trying to watch this series on TV. Same mess - couldn't hear what was being said because of the background noise. There were ads every five minutes, and when the program did restart, they repeated a lot of what had had already been shown. I haven't watched TV at all in over ten years and these History Channel shows were one of the reasons - to much investment of time for too little return.

[@vnovoi]

I agree... the sound effects track is too high and overpowers the voiceover. It's frustrating because the information is very well explained. And the animations are really good too for a documentary. I believe there is software that can process out (up to a certain level) the effects and the voice, and then it can be re-leveled correctly.

[@51515123]

Sgts Cestano and Groff have probably been and seen so much death and carnage in a few years. You can see it in their eyes. Id like to say a special thank you to these men. You were truly heroes and survivors.

[@stephenschenider4007]

A shame Germany lost.

[@mohammedisaa9952]

They didnt loose, they came second....

[@asheylarry8213]

@@mohammedisaa9952 If you ain't first your last.

[@jeffersondavis2530]

@@asheylarry8213 The Germans ran just ran out of ammo killing the enemy.

[@asheylarry8213]

@@jeffersondavis2530 They lost lol

[@daveanderson3805]

A very good video One complain though the background music was too loud Otherwise good

[@Gucci_Membrane]

@@hoyt5805 I did ur mom

[@warrenreid6109]

I'm sorry. What did you say? I couldn't hear you over the background music.

[@Abdu619]

I agree

[@changguerreroabogados248]

I agree

[@Hexxedtone]

Awe he'll yea just blast that background music

[@floridasoldat]

Bit of info- when you hear about Sherman guns penetrating the frontal armor of Tigers, it’s the new Shermans with the 76mm guns delivered in early 1944 that could do that. Not all Shermans had those guns- all the older ones had 75mm guns which could not penetrate Tigers’ frontal armor.

[@pantherace1000]

The number of Tigers encountered by US Army forces in North Western Europe was very low. Zaloga was able to find five encounters where units equipped with Tigers were in the same location as US Armor in or around the same date in North Western Europe. Of these five encounters US Armor came out on top three of the five times (to be fair though one of the encounters was a platoon of Tigers being loaded on to flat cars when a platoon of M18s came across them....so not much of a fight).

[@zillsburyy1]

a sherman could knock out a panther. a tiger, not so much

[@alt7488]

tiger 2's where often mistaken for the panthers as they looked very similar, especially from a distance

[@lolofblitz6468]

@Tommy Sands panther got better armor than tiger where did you got that information you idiot

[@alt7488]

@Damo the firefly was a British only tank, the yanks deemed the 75 and 76 mm guns as adequate and viewed the 6 pounder as to big and bulky for the Sherman turret

[@SirPaulus1]

24:02 This Tiger does not have the original 88mm gun. Its barrel was damaged, it was cut off and replaced with the 75mm barrel from damaged Panther tank. That's why it's so disproportionately short and narrow and doesn't look like 88mm.

[@entertainme7523]

Based

[@davidpennington5607]

I had grand fathers who fought on both sides, German side Engineers, Allied side Air borne, both survived and both hated war, but mostly authorities

[@brett76544]

I can remember talking to my moms uncle (grandfather was too old for WWII) and he captured his cousin. Then I got to talk to his cousin and his father (both in WWII) when I was stationed over there twice in the 1990's. My first father in law ( he was rather old when he remarried) was Gestapo and after she died, my second wife had two grandfathers in the SS and her grandmother still had awards from Himmler over the fire place. All of them are gone now, still seeing all the photos taken in Nuremburg after the war was interesting. None of them I have seen outside the photo albums and my stepson has those now.

[@r.m.5548]

That's great and all but the damage your grandparents did was already done. It doesn't matter how they feel about it after, they still contributed to war and death willingly. Disgusting.

[@requettie]

@@r.m.5548 Incredibly insensitive for you to say that. Shameful.

[@r.m.5548]

@@requettie let's go Brandon!

[@DogeickBateman]

@@r.m.5548 Okay boomer.

[@gopalshekar986]

Excellent video, wow 👏👏 18:09 terrific to hear from the war veteran - "there may be a lot of talent involved, but it is 50% luck ". What humility 👌 Greetings from India

[@789french5]

The only good part about this era of WW2 documentary is the amount of actual veterans talking about their experiences. All the rest is pretty bad, they don't discuss anything regarding logistics, overall doctrine and combined warfare, they over hype German Tigers and their fighting disposition.

[@entertainme7523]

Good morning sir

[@gar50172]

It’s actually quite impressive holding off so many armies for multiple years

[@jerryjeromehawkins1712]

Agree. Prewar Germany was roughly the size of the state of Montana... going up against the world's largest countries.

[@entertainme7523]

The longer the war = the more money is made for all the manufacturing firms and the millionaires that own them Keep that in mind 😉

[@syncmonism]

Wars on that large of a scale tend to take a long time, regardless of how poorly one side performs vs. the other.

[@wolflarsen1900]

​@@syncmonism not in the slightest. and thas why for example the biggest army in the world, the french army, lost and totally collapsed in a few single weeks. if you consider that as tending to last long with a stunningly poor performance, how much time did you expect for all of that countries, 10 hours?

[@the.parks.of.no.return]

They would massacre whole villages.

[@sontungle2641]

SS-Oberscharfuhrer Enrst Barkmann and SS-Untersturfuhrer Fritz Langanke are the two tank aces with 19 and 82 tank kills on each of them.

[@2sqnbandit379]

My grandad was in the Waffen SS panzer division. Nibelungen 38th division. Fought on the eastern front. He conquered the crimea in a month, his tanks rolled into Paris in a fortnight with lightning speed. Incredible man & soldier. My family tried to hide his history in shame but I’m proud of him. I don’t give a toss what people say. It takes balls to be a soldier and he was a part of an elite unit.

[@daviddalton9214]

Rolled out of Paris even faster, right.

[@2sqnbandit379]

@@daviddalton9214 Haben Sie die Gesellschaft, die Sie wollen, mit Frauen, die sich als Männer verkleiden, Homosexuellen, die Kinder adoptieren, und unkontrollierbarer islamischer Einwanderung, westlichen Frauen vergewaltigen und von Ihrer linken Regierung übersehen werden? War die Niederlage des Deutschen Kaiserreichs wirklich etwas zu feiern?

[@opoxious1592]

@@daviddalton9214 No. They stayed in France in over more than 4 years

[@daveybyrden3936]

@@daviddalton9214 What are you talking about?

[@luxboss2388]

Hey your grandad fought for his country nothing wrong with that

[@MrDlt123]

"A German Tiger was better than 10 Shermans, but [the Americans] always had 11" - German Tiger Ace

[@solthegamer3769]

Aces who notoriously lied about their kill counts

[@fabolousnature3873]

@@solthegamer3769 i know us and Russian never accept their fate always tried to claim their legacy

[@solthegamer3769]

@@fabolousnature3873 The Russians didn't accept their fate of what? Getting genocided by the Nazis?

[@stevelee6283]

Easy to build Sherman and easy to train tank crew

[@2serveand2protect]

I love how those myths still persist - even over such an amount of time like the one that passed since the 2ndWW ! :D ...then you go and actually LOOK INTO official statistics and datas about "stricken Shermans" & yadda!-yadda" - and it turns out that in a "Sherman" - even if struck by a shell - you had an 82-85% of survival chance. :D You look on the German tanks and they vary enormously. If you were bunched up in a coffin like the "Hetzer" those chances dropped to less than 15%. In a "Tiger" those odds were about 65-70% of survival (for the Tiger "A"). In a russki T-34 they were less than 30%! XD :D PS. PLUS - you needed to be a "gymnast" to be able to get out of a T-34. :)

[@numerian4516]

I try to read several comments before watching these vids. You learn so much from individuals that a documentary can’t/doesn’t tell you.

[@HiTechOilCo]

With these videos, many of the comments are from armchair General kids who play online tank video games and think they know it all.

[@numerian4516]

@@HiTechOilCo True, many but not all. Just have to have more common sense than the chair to weed through them.

[@luiscalcano4359]

Actually, the Battle Of The Battle was over in about month a half . Lots of casualties. My grandpa was in that battle , got wounded; he was on the USA s 82nd Airborne!

[@reginaldmcnab3265]

The German soldier was resolute! Regardless of the numerical advantage of the enemy! Duty and discipline was at his core

[@jeffersondavis2530]

So true ! And I have heard German soldiers say the same of the Russians .

[@Boomhauersdad]

It’s called brainwash

[@stevefowler2112]

By 1944 on the western front, it was no longer even a fair fight...The allies had total air supremacy and movement by any German units (armored or not) meant near instant death from the sky. The Germans couldn't move their forces around on the battle field to react to the Allied movements. the war was already a fait accompli at that point.

[@markbantz9699]

Who wants a fair fight! It was the Nazis!

[@stevefowler2112]

@@markbantz9699 most of the German people were not Nazis nor was most of the army. i still think we fought the wrong people

[@seanohare5488]

True

[@maxcristi6493]

@@stevefowler2112 As someone from europe that knows from other people how harsh communism was I completely agree that you fought the wrong people ,some of your generals said that too ,Patton as an example

[@noahhess4955]

Love this! But I wish the talking was a bit louder

[@dianearon1258]

I wish the background music was louder , I can still hear the people talking

[@falconward6757]

I don't like or watch this channel but I was driven to watch this one episode because of how important this battle was to my life. My father, an American infantryman in the Battle of the Bulge, was struck in the head by a fragment from one of these German tank shells that hit near him. His helmet saved his life, but the injury put him in the hospital with a severe concussion and kept him off the front lines for the rest of the battle and the war. Of course, I wouldn't be here if that tank shell had killed my dad or if he wasn't knocked out of action, kept fighting on the front lines and became one of the 19,000 American fatalities in that bloodbath. However, that trauma changed his life, and as a result, the life of his wife and his 7 kids. Although it wasn't recognized as a mental illness at the time, my father suffered from PTSD for the rest of his life, and we suffered through our childhoods as a result. Examples of how that trauma consumed him: the only movies he ever watched on TV or took us to see were WWII movies, the great majority in the European theater of the war; he collected so many WWII books, he ended up with the largest collection in the whole state - even more than any library; he brought back a complete German infantry uniform and an SS officer uniform and always wore one of them to costume parties. That last one in particular really freaked us out because we had seen so many films about the horrors of the Nazi's, especially the SS! Seeing your father, 6 foot 6 inches tall, 240 pounds of muscle, in one of those black SS uniforms, including the SS hat and boots, is a memory that doesn't fade away with time - terrifying! My poor mother had to accompany him to those parties. I have watched a few vids and films about the Battle of the Bulge to help me try to understand my father and the attitudes and behaviors he passed down to me and my siblings. [This channel is on my blacklist because I am very irritated by how they backtrack and repeat so much after each point where they had a commercial break. This and other things feel like they add unnecessary length to their shows to fill the time slot - these could be well done in just 30 min. In addition, they rely too much on animation and not enough on historical footage.]

[@fh.7287]

I honestly can still feel the trauma, the unsettled effects in you till today. I wish i could heal the deep scar. But just remember, you're not alone !

[@urdude67]

I thank you for your post. I think you have processed your Dad’s history very well and you are healthy. The SS especially the waffen arm, fascinate because they were so intense and well armed. And perhaps unique in being ideological as well as professional military force. Many people separate them from the ones running camps and policing society.

[@shawnydAB]

@@urdude67 77⁷

[@scottf5791]

Wow that’s a very a insightful account of you father and the lasting affects the war had not only on him but the rest of your family. Thank you for sharing.

[@thehabit635]

Cool story. Nobody cares

[@infectious420]

This was your best episode ever of Greatest Tank Battles. Thank you.

[@Stobus44]

11:09 not only the Iron Cross but just as the hero Kreßmann he was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.

[@Karan1901]

Huge respect for the known & unknown fallen or survived soldiers!! thank you love from india ♥️

[@CS-ir9mo]

Thank you to everyone that shared there stories for this.

[@ronemtae3468]

Here’s a small fact it always seems to get lost it’s the reason the allies were able to push back the offensive made by Germany After tremendous success in the number of battles in the Pacific theater the new weapon was brought to Germany Early on the morning of December 16, 1944, the commander of the U.S. 406th Artillery Group, Colonel George Axelson, had a difficult decision to make. The Germans had just launched the offensive that would become known as the Battle of the Bulge, and one of their first targets was the 38th Cavalry Squadron, dug in around Monschau, Germany. The lightly armed cavalry troopers needed help, and the commander quickly called for artillery support from the 406th. Axelson had just the thing: a new, secret artillery shell that had just been issued. The problem was that Allied commander Dwight Eisenhower had not yet given permission to use the weapon. Axelson decided that the emergency trumped the restrictions and ordered his gunners to use the new shell. Minutes later, rounds equipped with a new radio proximity fuse started exploding right over the heads of the attacking Germans. The attack collapsed.

[@Mr.Deleterious]

That's a large fact. A very large fact.

[@jamesgoldring1052]

@@Mr.Deleterious truly a lightbulb moment for the germans

[@michaeltelson9798]

Charles McDonald mentioned that it was first used at the battle of the Three villages east of St. Vith. He led an infantry company there (see his book “Company Commander “) his later book “A Time for Trumpets “ is considered the definitive book on the Battle of the Bulge. He stayed in service and retired as a US Army historian.

[@dutchhoke6555]

US Artillary seldom gets a comprehensive treatment, like other technologies do. 101st had managed for a change, to bring their divisional artillary along to Bastogne. Well sited and augmented by stray batteries, tanks, TDs, and a MLR of elite paratroopers, a maelstrom would be provided for attackers entering the town from any direction. Ike's doubletiming 2 AB divs to battle by every truck in ETO is in itself legendary. Combined arms, artillary included, stopped Germans at Noville long enough to deploy effectively at Bastogne.

[@Todd3246]

I always thought that apart from running out of ammo and fuel, it was when the weather cleared and the fighters and bombers launched that sounded the death knells of the advance.

[@serdarmehter8663]

King tiger is such a handsome tank.

[@raywhitehead730]

At the time of this battle, the Allies already had just about 3 million men in theatre..not counting the Russians.. No wonder the Allies thought the Germans were finished... The main Allied problem was getting supplies fast enough to the front..the surrender was just about 5 months away

[@usgonzalez2005]

Are you not counting the Russians to make the Germans look bad or something lol? The Russians lost atleast 14 million men dead

[@ricksturdevant2901]

It is a shame the people that made this video didn't think ( in several places on this video ) to keep the battle noises as background when the veterans are recounting their experiences. Video is well made EXCEPT you would think the veterans comments would take absolute presidence in volume over the silly and tooooooo loud battle noises

[@myguitarjoe]

I do agree.

[@harleyblue999]

Bloody marvellous such brave men,I have had a wonderful life these last 75 years thanks to all that gave so much for me to have a life.

[@baystgrp]

Pronunciation hint: the W in “Waffen SS” is prounounced as V. So “Vaffen SS” is correct. Great video. Thanks.

[@cr0vv575]

Hab ich noch nie gehört wie kommst du darauf mann spricht doch ein W aus

[@mark3427]

. . The only reason it's pronounced as a V is because the German accent struggles to pronounce the letter W . . . It is Waffen

[@cr0vv575]

@@mark3427 I don't know a single german that can't pronounce a W the way it's supposed to

[@mark3427]

@@cr0vv575 I live and work in Germany . . They also struggle with the 'th' sound . . As the pronounce it using the letter z . . This sounds like zis. . . The sounds like zee . . What sounds like Vot

[@cr0vv575]

@@mark3427 well maybe some can't pronounce the "th" in english that is Waffen is a german word and no one here would pronounce the 'W' like a 'V'. I am german l, was born in germany and spent my entire life up until now in germany

[@treebirds536]

Hi ! Thank you very much for your video illustrating the model of heavy artillery ! Amazing but scary !

[@phillipsmith4501]

It is really good to have these personal testimonies for the benefit of future generations how brave and fearless to come up against those King tigers like they did such a incredible generation .

[@cwcsquared]

The advantage of the 88 was the fact it could destroy other tanks at stand off ranges. Out of range of opponents weapons.

[@brandonfrancois9352]

Dudes leg at @10:14 is absolutely mangaled you can see the moment he looks down and realizes its basically gone. insane.

[@jamesberlo4298]

He was a captain, He died Shortly after, the Germans stopped Shooting so He could get Medical Aid but he didn't Survive,

[@brandonfrancois9352]

@@jamesberlo4298 where did you find that out?

[@JB-nf2rc]

Fun fact, the Sherman's crew had a 97% survival rate during the war because ease of escape.

[@2sqnbandit379]

Tommie cookers for our Tigers.

[@Nonamearisto]

@@2sqnbandit379 The Tiger was a heavy tank, the Sherman was medium. Apples and oranges. A fair comparison would be between the Tiger or even the King Tiger versus the Pershing.

[@2sqnbandit379]

@@Nonamearisto Even those were no match for the Tiger. However the Americans could mass produce them. I think we only built 800 Tigers & only 400 Tiger 2. America & England built thousands

[@Nonamearisto]

@@2sqnbandit379 The Pershing could take a Tiger or King Tiger on one to one.

[@2sqnbandit379]

@@Nonamearisto even from the front?

[@makara80]

Fun if otherwise worthless fact: the zeltbahn-wearing Waffen SS panzer grenadier depicted in the thumbnail has been ‘borrowed’ from the 1990 book ‘Waffen SS Uniforms in Colour Photographs’ by Andrew Steven and Peter Amodio. The book is a showcase of modern reenactors bedecked in authentic SS militaria…. Well now you know. ;)

[@mikkel066h]

The Battle of the Bulge was as devastating on German ground equipment as their operation Bodenplatte was to their Airforce. It were pretty much sending large amount of equipment down the drain, while the goal of those operations would've never been a reality even if they achieved their goals in those operations. It was simply so late in the war the allies would never surrender and they had a massive surplus of equipment to replace their losses, while Germany couldn't. The only difference it would make in the end of the day was how much the Soviets were to get of Europe after the war.

[@mellzym8598]

Thank you

[@joethekinghawk7514]

So true. All those young men died for nothing on the German side.

[@jan22150]

@@joethekinghawk7514 remember they were defending their homeland in the end. Their moral was different when they defended their homeland.

[@badmonkey2222]

@@jan22150 they were cowards who could not think for themselves, if they wouldn't have followed their megalomaniac leader illegally invading every country and their brother murdering millions of innocent civilians they wouldn't have had to defend their Homeland.

[@jorgemaiz7624]

@@nicks2581 The Germans had 64 divisions in the West (not counting Norway) in April 1944. Half were static "fortress" divisions that were immobile with little combat value. 10 were Panzer and PG divisions. The addition of 30 proper divisions on the Eastern front is insufficient to force the Soviets to make peace. It would have been enough to prevent a collapse of the front from Operation Bagration and to hold their positions elsewhere. The only way the Germans could have won a decent peace was to defeat the D-Day invasion to free them of the threat of a major attack in the West for probably two years. In that time they could shuttled most of their forces East and fought to a stalemate at best. More than anything this should illustrate how futile the German war effort was after 1943. Nothing short of rolling a perfect six would have given Germany even a honorable peace based on status quo antebellum. They were simply too short of oil, men and material to win.

[@coolbreeze2.0-mortemadfasc13]

10:15 he's missing half his leg.

[@wilsonhuber]

nothing wrong with your eyesight!

[@floriangeyer3454]

the scene is from the battle for Cologne. The Sherman was knocked out by a Panther near the cathrdral. The Panther was destroyed by a Pershing a couple of minutes later. The wounded tanker died later. The battle is well documented.

[@floriangeyer3454]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXnWZoV_bt-Un7M

[@kevinbabu8919]

@@floriangeyer3454 That Pershing was Eagle 7 and it's gunner was Clarence Smoyer.

[@floriangeyer3454]

@@kevinbabu8919 somewhere I found the name of the KIA wirh the leg torn off, but can`t remember where. The battle for Cologne is well dicumented

[@johnlansing2902]

Having known veterans who fought in European theater of operations they told me that it was a very tough war but after the Malmedy massacre it was a crusade and damn personal .

[@sozialistischespatientenko3797]

For many German veterans it was damn personal before. Imagine family members being killed by Allied bombing, your house in ruins. You don't need any pep talk to be motivated to fight to the very end.

[@evanbenge3201]

Would like to join the 🪖 🎖 if i was born before ww2

[@dirtyd2316]

@@sozialistischespatientenko3797 To be fair they should have been mad to their leader for getting them into a war over a lie.

[@DogeickBateman]

@Last chance Cowboy Everything else following that damn sure was.

[@DogeickBateman]

@Last chance Cowboy Unprovoked. Don't you start pulling that "last defenders of Evropa" larp cringe.

[@pashapasovski5860]

Anti tank guns were used much more than Sherman tanks, against Tigers or any other German tank! There were maybe 3 tank on tank battles on the Western front!

[@Enterprise6126]

And when a tiger did run into a sherman it was always 5 because that is the size of an amarican tank platoon at the time and the smallest group of amarican tanks you would find so 5 Sherman's to destroy a tiger is false that is just tge number the us had in a platoon and that was the smallest group you would find unless a platoon was damaged

[@antcaruso3465]

Ah yes...classic from the History Channel about 20 years ago

[@Big-Reds]

Right?! So true!! Nothing but swamp people and pawn shops! Wtf

[@evanbenge3201]

This was also ahc

[@johnmn3500]

What you don't like swamp people or hoarding wars??

[@Big-Reds]

@@johnmn3500To be honest, no, I don't like those shows, I've watched them but I'll turn it off...

[@catman8670]

Unless I had the very best tank equipped with the largest most devastating guns, I’d rather be an infantry soldier

[@w.p8960]

Per Bill Mauldin. A WWII 2 Army cartoonist. A movin foxhole attracts the eye.

[@joethekinghawk7514]

I agree, I wouldn't want to be cooked in those iron coffins.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

Bad news, you're going in a death trap of a German tank. No, the armor did NOT increase your odds of survival.

[@krisfrederick5001]

"Tommy Cookers." WHAT? Good thing I already know what happens. 🔇

[@mark3427]

The Sherman was also called the Ronson after the cigarette lighter. . . . Because it lights first time, every time.

[@dillonmcconnell2592]

@@mark3427 the Sherman also wiped out the t 34 and went on to fight modern Russian tanks up till the 80s.

[@stephenobrien5909]

The main killer of tanks were anti tank guns, followed by hand held infantry weapons such as the PIAT, Panzerfuast and US Bazooka.

[@stevemazz3121]

Just a little info about the Tiger II...Looking at the blueprints of the Tiger II we see the front armor is sloped at 30 degrees, the upper section being 150mm the lower section being 100mm while the underside for a third of the way back is 40mm then reduced to 25mm to the back armor running up at 30 degrees and 80mm thick. The front section of the turret was 185mm... I don't see exact side armor measurements but they appear to be 80mm with 40mm decks.

[@stevemazz3121]

Lucky for the allies only 489 of the Tiger II tanks were completed or put into service from 1942-1945.

[@Senaleb]

The tigers and kings were able to be killed by bouncing rounds off the ground. Since the undercarriage of the tank was thin.

[@CYMotorsport]

7:10 that is not why the Americans were surprised. I’m surprised this was even left in. Why disparage the 12th army group when every scholar on the matter and even some surviving still attest to the intelligence failure and a total surprise the Germans had on allied forces. It was not lack of battle grit. Proof of that was documented a bit more south at Bastogne and Elsenborn Ridge where army group b was beaten back.

[@unwnme]

The Germans most often oversmarting Allies during WW2 hurts the Allied frail hearts still. I'm not denying who lost this war.

[@SP-qo3pd]

You can't argue with these types my friend. They were taught a false brand of history by the self hating bleeding heart scholars that can never give credit to anyone or thing outside of their narrow opinions.

[@CYMotorsport]

@@unwnme I think this is objectively true. But this is in line with my objection if you read closely again. Being surprised is one thing. But they were competent in battle hence their victory on the nearby ridge. There was a wel documented gap in intelligence where allied command dropped the ball on assessing the German artillery and offensive power

[@dflatt1783]

@@unwnme Right, like how they really 'oversmarted' the allies in Normandy, Africa, and at Stalingrad. Real strategic masterminding going on 😅🤣😂

[@dmctztv3842]

@@dflatt1783 they were fighting multiples ennemis with much larger populations and armies.

[@orderoftheredstarofbethlehem]

Music is waaaay too loud

[@100cele]

Great contribution, but your sound is more vicious than a 88.

[@gusgone4527]

A tactical masterstroke identifying the enemies weak spot. Building up a force in secret and launching an attack with full element of surprise advantage. Brave and bold. However, it was a strategic disaster.

[@herrcobblermachen]

Dunno about masterstroke- ambitious and well planned though. Ultimately it bled new resources away from real trouble spots and i doubt had it reached it's objective that it would have bought a few more months at best; and that i suppose highlights the dire situation so late in the war.

[@Snookynibbles]

It was & remains standard battlefield tactics to capitalize on targeting the flanks & rear of the enemy’s armor. And aircraft target and antitank guided munitions often target the thinly armored top of the turret.

[@MauriatOttolink]

Gus Gone Would love to know how it was a strategic it was. I paused viewing and maybe the answer is further into the video?

[@gusgone4527]

@@MauriatOttolink I think you are asking why it was a strategic disaster. Answer It rocked the advance of the allies in the west temporarily but as others have said. It used up strategic resources that could have been better used in other ways. Bolstering an organised retreat, buying time for Me262 production and other weapons systems so easily overlooked due to the end of the war. Eventually forcing a peace treaty and preserving Germany.

[@MauriatOttolink]

@@gusgone4527 Ah... Thanks for the rapid reply, Gus. I wasn't really asking WHY it was a strategic disaster, more WHAT the disaster was but you have answered it fully. I must admit that I thought that you were referring to a strategic mistake by the Allies. Incredible video! Many thanks.

[@slaggerthord31]

The audio is a bit off, I often can't hear a thing with all the explosions and music

[@HistorySkills]

Interesting. Need to learn more about this.

[@davidbraxton1725]

This is outstanding history. Thank you

[@panzerfast5000]

They call it "Tiger Terror" Most historians agree Allied reporting of tiger tanks on the Western Front far exceeds the number of German Tigers actually on the Western Front.

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

Most "Tigers" were Pz IVs or something else. Tiger's reputation was so effective that many times allied attack were halted when they tought there is a Tiger, even when there were none. Germany made only 1400 Tigers and one estimation was that any given time Germany had max. 400 working Tigers.

[@azazelzel6954]

The British Sherman Firefly Varriant fitted with a more powerful 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre British 17-pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon could stop a Tigar or Panzer IV, but only 600 Shermans (as far as I know) were converted.

[@jasonbowen7508]

Yes but you had to get quite close even with the Firefly. Whereas a Tiger could still knock you out from about a mile haha.

[@TheDillberto]

This is an amazing video representation of these events

[@jasondrew5768]

1st! Great historical tank video!

[@Oooo-bi7bi]

Another great show from a quality channel.

[@michaeltelson9798]

A fact that few realize that at Bastogne, the 101st was basically a short corps (4 regiment ms instead of the usual 3)as it absorbed much of the Corps artillery units based around Bastogne and parts of two Armored Divisions, and group SNAFU (remnants of retreating units). Up north the 82nd Airborne brought along their secret weapon. Panzer Fausts. They have captured and used them since Sicily. This video emphasizes the Tiger II more than it was worth. It broke down easily, and more kept in reserve. Peiper missed a lightly defended fuel depot that was guarded by a company of Belgium Foresters who put up a barrier of burning barrels of fuel. At La Gleize one factor that the video doesn’t talk Stu’s that the 82nd Airborne found a M12 SPG sitting in a depot, ready to use. They moved it to a heights and started shelling Peiper’s positions with 155mm artillery shells directly fired. With little or no fuel and diminished ammunition Peiper abandoned his vehicles and retreated on foot into the night.

[@AkshatSingh0501]

5:27 I was Scared Seeing that German SS war veteran still wearing that Iron Cross Medal.

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

Seems to be a denazified version, without the swastika.

[@briantayler1230]

In 1944 a tiger tank costs 800,000 marks ($300,000 US). which is about $4.4 million US today or about the cost of a Leopard 2 or Abrams. It had to be abandoned for the need of 200 marks of fuel.

[@thenevadadesertrat2713]

At that point in the war fuel could not be had at any price. Your comment does not make sense. The Germans had a couple of fuel synthesizer factories that used the "Fischer-Tropsch" method to make synthetic fuel. That's about it.

[@briantayler1230]

@@thenevadadesertrat2713 Had the Germans been able to make enough fuel then they may have avoided abandoning their 800,000 mark tanks for the want of a low-value product, fuel. They could have withdrawn their valuable tanks rather than setting them on fire and walking back to the Seigfried Line.

[@inhocsignovinces1419]

The OKW knew the war was over well before this particular battle.

[@Haxer19]

@@briantayler1230 They did have fuel but because allied forces controlled air german maintenance troops could not bring it for the tanks. Leon degrelle said that in hes book and he said if they just could get that fuel they would have win the battle.

[@thenevadadesertrat2713]

I would submit to you that during that war the price of a tank was totally irrelevant. It was pretty well known that whoever would lose would also lose its money. In other words, the Nazis did not care about the price, neither did the U.S. Or any other of the combatants. It was winning that counted.

[@Rabmac1UK]

Nice Video, Well Done. That said, like in American TV, to many repeats of scenes previously in the earlier parts of the video. Thanks for publishing

[@Senaleb]

The US was so strong because of 1 simple thing. The 1/2 ton truck. We produced thousands and thousands of them. They could carry AT guns, Food, Fuel and ammo quickly to the front. The germans were using horses still. We gave thousands to the Soviet army and that allowed them to keep following the german retreat all the way back to Berlin.

[@brucecamparmament3728]

By this time, the Germans had plenty of 3 tonn trucks, so idk.

[@lukeh2440]

1/2 tonne truck? That’s the weight of a jeep

[@judgedredd8876]

Americans had the 2.5 ton GMC 6x6 trucks mass produced whereas in the German truck design philosophy even a 4x4 was oddly a novelty.

[@andrewgavin5191]

Unfortunately I couldn't listen. Background way too loud.

[@alexdelarge209]

V. interesting & informative, but it would be better to match the war footage ('King' Tiger II's) with the animation (Tiger I's). The halftrack/AT use & explanation is superb.

[@ronaldregan1941]

German efficiency was far more than average. I don’t know why narrator doesn’t mention proportion and losses .Americans lost more people 90000 than Germans 65000

[@redaug4212]

Are you talking about losses in the Ardennes? 65000 is the low estimate for German losses. Realistically their casualties were closer to 100,000. The 12th SS division alone lost 9,800 men.

[@kristov29]

Ignoring the horrible audio mix, the first hand accounts from both sides, as well as the CG recreations of actual events, made this well worth watching.

[@bunk1860]

Underneath all the music and sound effects there is actually a documentary video.

[@brandonshofner5806]

Loved the music! It was so great that I didn't mind not being able to hear the talking. It probably wasn't that important anyhow.

[@Baltha1710]

One can visit that King Tiger tank in La Gleize (Stoumont - Belgium). It is really impressive...

[@davidcollins2648]

There is also a Tiger I at Aberdeen proving grounds in Maryland, USA.

[@ConvairDart106]

If you would remove all the replays, you have 18 minutes of content. Until I develop dementia, I don't need a channel that repeats itself over and over.

[@TDL-xg5nn]

The 21st Panzer division attacked the British on D-Day trying to break through to the beaches and 14 Panthers were knocked out by Sherman Fireflys ending the threat. So not all tank battles were one sided for the Germans.

[@pantherace1000]

If you look at after action reports from the period that is mostly the case.

[@mikkel066h]

Yea we like to cover the cases where it was a pretty even fight or when the "Bad guys" could win. Even though if you look through history German tank losses on the Western front were higher then any other theater compared to their K/D ratio. Which came from the allied air superiority, reliability, quantity, speed and survivability(Sherman by 1944 was the most survivable tank) of their tanks. If we look at figures the allies on the western front might have higher losses when it comes to tanks. But we have to look at the reasons behind those numbers. Germany would go over and beyond to recover damaged tanks and try get them into actions again, while the allies would just put the crew in new vehicles and send damaged vehicles to get scrapped for spare parts or to the dump since they had a massive surplus of tanks that needed to be crewed. Plus the Panzer IV(J variant) was outdated by 1944 from the simplifications it received to cut down production cost. It was the Cat tanks that were on the battlefield better compared to most allied. But if you can't fuel those heavy tanks and get them to the frontline it don't matter how good they are. And the Tiger I armor was not as great in 1944 as it was earlier in the war. And that comes from the allies having lot's of weapons that could reliably deal with it (Sherman 76, Sherman firefly, M10, M18, M36 and 76mm antitank gun and planes equipped with rockets). By 1944 German armor was not as much of a deal for the allies we make it out to be.

[@briantayler1230]

The crew of the Firefly was on a par in terms of the gun and faster than the Panther but with the armor, there was no competition. One hit from the Panther and that Firefly would be killed just the same as any other Sherman. It took a lot of guts to be in any model of Sherman or a British tank in1944.

[@AussieDisciple]

yeh.... the so-called 'Allies' were intercepting all German comms' with their ULTRA decryption machines; if not for that: it would'v been a much longer and bloodier battle.....

[@mikkel066h]

@@briantayler1230 I mean Sherman crews had the highest survival rate when the A2 and A3 variant got put into service.

[@Mr.Deleterious]

They were only elite until they ran into Wardaddy. AKA Lafayette G. Pool who in only 81 days of action killed 1,000 German Soldiers, 258 total armored vehicles, 12 tanks and took 250 as POW's. All done with an inferior tank. If this man had a Tiger II Tank his kill numbers would've been off the charts.

[@raywhitehead730]

Even if the Germans had gotten all the way to Antwerp, they would have been surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Allied troops, and with absolutely no reserves... It was doomed to failure.

[@moss8448]

that's what Patton wanted was let 'em go then cut 'em off at the base and trap 'em all.

[@muhammadsani129]

I disagree they would have cut off the allies fuel supply

[@raywhitehead730]

@@muhammadsani129 most fuel was coming up from france, at least for the American s, that trucking effort was called the Red Ball express

[@muhammadsani129]

@@raywhitehead730 Yes but Antwerp was a strategically important place and even if the Germans didn't win the war capturing it would have adversely affected the allies and obviously prolonged the war.

[@raywhitehead730]

@@muhammadsani129 a bump in the road.

[@TheRomankopler]

music and sound effects are far to loud

[@akashsavangade518]

So much respect for fallen soldiers and war veterans.And also respect and ❤️ for the handsome boy Tiger tank

[@tmyap122]

👨🏼‍✈️i like wen da veterans themselves recount their experience..🇺🇸 RESPECT & salute to all allied veterans👨🏼‍✈️

[@deneshbhaskar3944]

Sherman was the tommy cooker

[@i.lostblur]

is it just me or is the audio volume balance is leaving some to be desired in this one?

[@ranjithtp6204]

1:07 to 1:11 i counted 7 rounds bouncing off from the tiger tank Imagine how terrorised these soldier were who were fighting such deadly tanks which just deflected every shots it took 😥

[@badmonkey2222]

"Terrorized"

[@spannaspinna]

Bet brad pit was saying god dammit a lot

[@ranjithtp6204]

@@spannaspinna yes in Fury 😂

[@brandonfrancois9352]

that was a computer simulation but still

[@jameshuff8763]

I would love to sit down with that veteran and buy him a beer and listen to all the stories

[@ThePupasmurfy]

My gramp was in the 52nd Anti Tank Division. A true hero.

[@guymorris6596]

Thank you to your grandfather for his service.

[@krisray779]

Thanks!

[@joeyjojojr.shabadoo915]

It's so sad that because of most political climates, that many actual Heroic and gentlemen soldiers on the German side are overlooked, simply because of the SS. The Wehrmacht was not the SS. Germany, although stained by history, still has a generation of legitimate service members who's bravery can never fully be celebrated or acknowledged. People fighting in defense of their homes are not evil. Expansion ? well, obviously that's another story.....but let's not confuse Expansion with re-consolidation. Germany were unjustly punished for WWI.

[@seanohare5488]

Come expansion another story more like clear cut brutal invasions Poland western europe yugoslavia greece with tens of thousands of civilians killed and millions displaced and imprisoned

[@sp7873]

That doesnt change the fact that the german regime was highly criminal! From a german

[@MardukeTheRaven]

Short story about Panthers and Tigers: "HANS ZE TRANSMISSION BROKE" *dies surrounded by army of Shermans* . . . . . . . . . Spoiler: Shermans and Tigers rarely even fought.

[@thecooky4944]

I had friends in that battle Woody and his men were sent to to the yard then after seeing much heavy fighting it was supposed to be an easy post it was definitely unexpected, another friend was in a bazooka squad he received a commendation thank God they both made it home too many men didn't

[@4Kandlez]

How old are you? This was 77 years ago, if you and your friends were 20 years old at the time that would make you 97

[@entertainme7523]

we don't believe you

[@ronalddunne3413]

@@entertainme7523 "We" don't care if you believe it or not.

[@ronalddunne3413]

@@4Kandlez Consider the possibility that his friends and acquaintances who fought in that war were years older than he... I got to know quite a few guys older than myself- German and American, who fought in the war and lived to tell their stories. Just sayin.

[@mohammedisaa9952]

@the cooky Yes yes.... i remember saying to the keiser, who was called atilla the hun, that one day he would be replace by an austrian corporal, and i knew this because i knew the astrologist i was going to get adolf to use.... I will just keep writing some more guff to get attention and get ready for the questions people will ask me as they are asking you, what we must say is that we knew jules vern who lent us his time machine, and thats how i met king henry the 8th, actually braught him back and introduced him to churchill, who thaught they both wore the same sized clothes........... winston asked henry if he knew his tailor.... Do you think "cooky" that people will believe me like you think people believe you.....? Do you need medication, as your 90 and im 147 or just over i think?..... Damm i keep forgetting the time machine story.... cooky.... come and help an old mate out b4 the masses start geering me, and it will be the villages with their burning sticks again as i try to run into the windmill again............. help me master..... cooky victor, mary shellies girlfriend..... the meds are failing................ the fire, the fire. 🔥

[@Ealdorman_of_Mercia]

The sound needs to be adjusted on this video.. at times the background music, theme and noises are far louder than the narrator.. You can barely hear him..

[@bill_nye_the_russianspy_9642]

Kind of disappointed that I thought I would be watching something new then this "greatest tank battles" episode starts to play. I'll keep sticking with Mark Felton videos.

[@stormdesigner9137]

Background music is much louder than speech, I found that quite annoying. How can someone not be aware of that while putting that video online.

[@thenevadadesertrat2713]

By '44 the Germans ran out of tungsten. The older tanks had superior steel, the later models had inferior steel. Normally German steel was almost impenetrable with normal size guns. It made the Tigers so dangerous. The Allies did not have that problem.

[@followthegrow108]

Tungsten was not used. It's too brittle and shatters when hit.

[@jimmylight4866]

It is Molybdenum they ran out of, their source had been Turkey. Without that you got brittle steel. Your welcome. Tungsten was used in their best anti-tank rounds.

[@thenevadadesertrat2713]

@@followthegrow108 I stand corrected. It was molybdenum. Sorry.

[@corentinnaisse5350]

@@thenevadadesertrat2713 They also ran out of tungsten which is used in high performance armor piercing rounds of tank guns so it made their weapons slightly less powerfull.

[@fredmdbud]

It certainly didn't help that the Germans did not implement mass-production methods - their tanks were being built like Rolls Royces (individually hand-finished), while the Americans were pumping theirs out like cans. Quantity has a quality all its own.

[@efs83dws]

The initial assertion in this presentation was that German equipment was superior to American equipment in every respect. In addition, the German soldier was superior to the Americans. Yet the Americans win all the battles even though the American guns can not hurt the Germans. Amazing!

[@Morrigi192]

@Luthor Pendrake The fact of the matter is that most armored vehicles the US ran into weren't Panthers and Tigers, they were StuGs, Panzer IVs, and lighter vehicles like half-tracks. There are reasons why US commanders weren't particularly interested in deploying Shermans with 76mm guns in the Normandy invasion - they just weren't running into enough targets that the 75mm couldn't handle.

[@maconescotland8996]

Allied air power was decisive in the Battle of the Bulge, along with the heroic defence of Bastogne.

[@humanchannel7825]

@Luthor Pendrake not always

[@siliconvalleyengineer5875]

Its called mass production of inferior tanks that overwhelmed a far superior Tiger and Leopard Tanks. Stalin said it himself "quantity has a quality all its own".

[@maconescotland8996]

@@siliconvalleyengineer5875 No Leopards served in WW2 - Panther. There was a Leopard project on the drawing board I believe, however it was cancelled.

[@benleong1809]

So many lives are sacrificed.... and history seem to repeat itself again and again...each time with much more devastating fire power. Civilizations comes and go ..... said the sage ," it is by the mind , the world is build ,"'...war and peace is no exception. 🙏🙏🙏....may peacefulness prevails . .

[@anandnairkollam]

By 1944, the Germans were a shadow of their full potential. The west fought easier battles compared to the Eastern front but marketed and glorified them to be the greatest battles.

[@maconescotland8996]

The British and Canadians encountered some of the best units in the German forces in Normandy.

[@jamesberlo4298]

Ya but the Allies Deaths and Injured , Maimed / Casualties went up rapidly , it like tripled for the Americans.

[@seanohare5488]

Disagree there was no easy Battle on the western front plus don't forget how much the Americans supplied Russia then weapons better food clothing etc

[@dsrsp]

Infantry SS was nothing special, but SS Panzer divisions were something else.

[@towgod7985]

Sound track is too loud. Cannot hear the narrator.

[@am4793]

As I approach forty, my Battle of the Bulge is more regular now. 😊

[@jwhite146]

wrong Tiger tanks should be Tiger2

[@richardwyse7817]

time has softened hearts ....this gent proudly wearing his Iron cross, 5:29

[@someguy9293]

This is good. Talking about the battle it self insead of Talking about the 101st Airborn Division in the town of Bastion.

[@solidfuel0]

Why would they stay inside the sherman tank if they see the tiger aiming at them

[@Slavaltube]

The sound balance is off. Music and explosions overpower the voice a lot of the time

[@wingedbull1257]

RIP My Brothers, if it wasn't for your sacrifice of your live's which could be never paid Europe would been a Nightmare.

[@inhocsignovinces1419]

Europe, after World War II, became a nightmare. Both… yes BOTH world wars (I and II) should have NEVER happened. Period. Brothers fighting brothers all because our country leaders were turned greedy and murderous by “money lenders”. Best take to educating yourself as to what has been happening to our Western nations since 1896 Anno Domini.

[@kronniichiwa9909]

Really? Look at Europe now

[@trenaceandblackmetal5621]

Kool aid. Enjoy your freedumb

[@mystikast]

Yeah, because europe is in great shape right now! Good thing germany didnt win!!

[@mudkipsarelife4885]

People out here be fetishizing a brutal totalitarian state that'll gas anyone they deem inferior 💀