Panzers - German Armoured Units in Normandy on D-Day

[@jimwatts914]

Howdy folks. Stunning presentation of data on the German armor in Normandy. backed up by years of rigorous research. Niels is the best. Full of info learned muchly.

[@billmorgan6110]

Hello: I am presently (70) years old and my father [deceased] was a German sniper (18 years old) on the Russian front. Many years ago both my father and I watched the movie "Cross of Iron (1977)" at the movie theater. My father stated the the Russian front line German Barracks were exactly like this. Also many years ago with my father, introduced me to a British individual that was in a 'British Tank' that landed on D-Day. Only after about a few days, he became a German prisoner and spent the rest of WW-II in prisons camps in Austria. From his descriptions, I am assuming he was involved with Bourguébus Ridge Battle. Either the the [7th British Armored Division] or the [11th British Armored Division] or the [Guards British Armored Division]. He had stated that the tank he was in, was following many other 'British Tanks' in front of him. All of the 'British Tanks' drove into a large grassy valley field with trees and bushes on "both sides". He had stated that many 'British Tanks' were blowing up all around him. He had just escaped through the bottom hatch of his tank, when his tank turret blew off.

[@WW2TV]

Amazing story Bill, thanks for sharing

[@adoramus]

Most competent guest. Thank you.

[@provjaro]

Brilliant video, very understandable when there was so much confusion on German armour. As a modeller of WW2 vehicles you kind of are expected to know what's and X,Y,Z simply because we are enthusiasts of the period. As a regular infantry man in WW2 a tanks, a tanks, a tank. PzIVH/J really does look like a tiger, as the Schirtzen give the exact same shape and has a heavy punch.

[@Ccccccccccsssssssssss]

Great video, love hearing from someone with such deep knowledge. Thank you!

[@stevej8005]

Fantastic in depth presentation by Niels and has been well worth a second viewing - thank you Niels and Paul!

[@georgecooksey8216]

Outstanding presentation and discussion. Niels was great. Thank you gentlemen.

[@dave3156]

Wow!! I think Niels may know more about German Panzer units than the Germans did!! What a fantastic amount of research went into this. Very impressive. Thanks Paul and Niels. Great program thx!!!!

[@michaelfleming6420]

Great Info

[@HG_NL]

The depth of what Niels is telling is really great. I'm proud of my fellow countryman Niels :)

[@bamaretiredgruntscottb.6533]

This was a very, very good presentation. I had never heard so much about the 21st Panzer in this kind of depth before. Fascinating stuff.

[@WW2TV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@williammorris584]

Nice to get to see the KStN for various units.

[@morningstar9233]

I'd have said thank you sooner, but first i had to pick my jaw up off the floor! Wow!

[@cheesenoodles8316]

That was detailed, documented and brilliant.

[@Piper44LMF]

Paul you are my number 1 You Tube source for info besides Military History and Drachinifel's! This episode in particular was of great interest to me that starts tying all the info I have read over the years.

[@adamwarne1807]

Niels' knowledge is just incredible and I need to read a lot more or his work as I reassess what I thought I knew. Superb presentation again!

[@standyl2268]

This is the second time I've viewed this program, and it's even more absorbing and compelling the second time around. The depth of research and level of relevant, fresh detail is arresting. Can't wait until Mr. Henkemans' book comes out!

[@johnfriscia1565]

Niels is AMAZING! As always!!!! He should have a PHD in Panzer!!!! Outstanding documentation, interpretation and instruction .

[@benevolentnick1]

Ummh ummmhhh ummh bloody ummm difficult ummm to listen to.

[@aps125]

3rd Canadian Infantry became a legend when fought against 12 SS HJ around Caen. The division with attached 2nd Canadian Armoured Bde, was at full TOE strength with approx 20K personnel on D Day landing.

[@jamieblair6511]

My Father 15 th Scottish Division /2nd Glasgow highlanders fought alongside his Canadien brothers.For six weeks he had to command his company (all his officers were killed by a mortar strike in their first day of combat.23 June.His new officer eventually arrived courtesy of the Canloan scheme. A life long friendship was formed in the heat of battle.🇨🇦🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@lllordllloyd]

That was much too short :) I love Neils's philosophies and frustrations. Great work. I know it is a bit esoteric, but we need much more analysis of Bluecoat. Many interesting units engaged on both sides.

[@MegaBloggs1]

very interesting -particularly the use of converted French tank chassis

[@orionroberts7971]

Great job guys very interesting

[@lewistrott417]

This channel is my favorite non-Gettysburg channel (I'm a Licensed Guide there, so that has to be number 1) and the depth of the subject matter constantly presented is amazing. This episode is really a great example of that. Keep up the really professional, outanding work!

[@WW2TV]

Wow, thanks!

[@chipbrenner9981]

Great show. I really learned a lot and I am looking forward to Niels's books.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

For what's its worth: My now passed friend, Mr George Frith, was Ox & Bucks/ driver,/Staff HQs, Air Landing Brigade. Arrived in Normandy in the afternoon of 6644. He said they were stuck hard at Ranville with 12SSHJ, hold up in the woods to the east. Boys de Ranville (?). They held up the Allies progress, sniping as they tried to eat, ablutions etc. Eventually they managed to shift the Germans, finding one sniper tied in place to a tree, also an abandoned german command van, from which he grabbed an iron cross. George's lit then advanced up to Trouville etc. I hadn't realised 12SS were so widely spread all across, back of the landing beaches.

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for sharing

[@suzyqualcast6269]

@@WW2TV Thank you.

[@billd.iniowa2263]

Highly technical info. I learned a bit about the Marders today, thanx.

[@gameram6382]

Love this show 👏👏👏👏👏

[@mikesmeets4418]

Enjoyed it! Thanks Niels and Paul.

[@dermotrooney9584]

Nice action. Thanks very much. ✌

[@silentotto5099]

Hans von Luck wrote about ersatz assault guns his division had built from French vehicles in his memoir. It's interesting to see a picture of some of them.

[@WW2TV]

Yep Marders were incredibly common in Normandy

[@kevincarrucan5328]

Great video, high quality research well presented. Are there any plans to follow up on this?

[@WW2TV]

Eventually, it will all depend on the publication date of the first volume of his book

[@defendingnormandy8109]

I'm already preparing for several new presentations (Germans in Normandy before D-Day, German infantry divisions in Normandy, general book presentation). 2024 looks like it's going to get busy.

[@CFarnwide]

I can honestly say that WW2TV is all I’ve watched on KZbin for a few weeks now. Well, not all… I did take a break to catch Drachinifels latest episodes. 😎

[@WW2TV]

Thank you very much

[@19chinaman62]

Enjoyed it very much !! very interesting from A to Z. Thanks a lot...subscribed instantly :O)

[@twstf8905]

Ah, the joys of a good PowerPoint slide show presentation on KZbin lol well done! 👍🤣

[@jonrettich4579]

Didn’t most armored units in WWII on any side tried to retain any functional vehicle from any side especially combat? And to avoid losing them to their higher up TO&E expert’s not report them? I greatly appreciate your range of subject matter, presenters and information. I had not realized that you also present these live, a true labor of love. Thank you so much

[@stevebarnes4531]

Niels, regarding Maultiers in 21st Pz Div, isn't that an SP rocket launcher unit shown at the far left of the arty regt? Excellent research by the way.

[@defendingnormandy8109]

It's a Reihenwerfer symbol (multiple mortars launchers). They're are however issues with the documents and how these vehicles were distribute in reality.

[@arkadiy9321]

This is an amazing presentation- Niels hits on every single pain point of low-level research for WW2 events: look at the reports from both sides, don’t trust theoretical OOB (Germans will move things around just to throw you off :) or TOE, look for true losses on the side that suffered them (especially when it comes to disabling tanks) and finally, not every shell fired at US troops was an 88mm. I’ve seen respectable authors making strange statements in their books that could be traced to misinterpretation of a map or a going by a someone’s personal memoirs. Those things would be almost impossible to catch though, unless you happened to spend tons of time digging for the info on that particular topic. In the context of the book it’s just a paragraph that’s inaccurate and makes no difference to vast majority of readers. there are cases of course when no original documents are left (esp. on German side), and we have no choice but to go with one-sided account.

[@nickjackson6905]

What a fantastic video. learned so much and it is hard to find books etc in regards t the German side. What are the titles of this mans books please.

[@nielshenkemans]

Hello Nick, the series is called 'Defending Normandy' and is published by Panzerwrecks. Volume I will be out later this year

[@nickjackson6905]

@@nielshenkemans Thankyou i look forward to reading it

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Possibly try After The Battle Series.... 'Panzers In Normandy - Then And Now', by Jean Paul Pallud/Eric Lefevre. Tis informative.

[@nickjackson6905]

@@suzyqualcast6269 thank you suzy

[@craigplatel813]

Any one seen NiklaS Zetterlings book Normandy 1944. It details every German unit that fought in Normandy through August/September. Details their organization, equipment and losses for the entire period.

[@WW2TV]

It's not a bad book, but the forthcoming book by Niels will offer a more accurate and complete history

[@craigplatel813]

Thanks for the reply. Didn't really expect one from an episode that was put out 10 months ago. Zetterling suitably impressed me with his 2019 revised edition, so I'm looking forward to being blown away by what Niels will publish. Unfortunately it will probably have to go to the bottom of a large stack of books I'm working through.

[@WW2TV]

@@craigplatel813 I try to reply to all comments. I've seen Niels' book and it will be an outstanding addition to our understanding of Normandy

[@gameram6382]

Been to the channel islands, the defence they had was incredible

[@errantknight-f2z]

Another great video with good solid information! This is a superb channel! I also liked Neils’ observation that if you [truly] know about something, you have a responsibility to talk about it!

[@WW2TV]

Great point and I hope you will stick with us on WW2TV

[@williamkolina3988]

Niels is correct.proper infantry division would have been more useful.the bocage took a lot of the tiger and panthers big gun advantage.everything seemed to be close in fighting.a natural place for panzerfaust and panzerschrek.

[@EdAtoZ]

WW@TV, talking that happen around time index 26 minutes I am surprised the Pac-38 50mm is not listed, since they were withdrawn from Eastern front it would have been easy to give them to the western wall and they do work against USA an UK armorer at ranges close to medium.

[@ComedySceenwriter]

There were some operational on D Day. From what I heard from a German source was they seemed to place them in vulnerable positions, like right on the beach, and would have been lucky to survive long enough to fire a shot. I think they put one veteran soldier with new, barely trained recruits.

[@nielshenkemans]

@EdAtoZ, the overview shows the weapons the Germans themselves considered capable of dealing with the modern Allied armor. They did not consider the Pak38 to fit that category. Several dozen were still on the books by D-Day, mainly divided over a number of infantry divisions. 5cm guns on the Atlantikwall were mainly repurposed tank guns.

[@Eazy-Efan007]

did the fcm36 conversion also saw combat?

[@WW2TV]

I don't know personally, hopefully someone will see this and answer

[@Eazy-Efan007]

@@WW2TV thanks i gues i will have to wait and see

[@defendingnormandy8109]

IIRC there was one used in a barricade in Paris by resistance fighters, but where they got it from and if it was operational is unknown. I'm not ruling out the option FCMs were stripped in favourite of Hotchkiss based conversions and disappeared that way

[@Eazy-Efan007]

@@defendingnormandy8109 thx for info

[@YOUPIMatin123]

I see that the Army Group Left Eyebrow and Army group Right Eyebrow are keeping the front unified

[@louisburke8927]

Am I the only who notices the fact that the P IV clearly has sloped armor. Not really topical, but I was reminded by the talk of armor. "T-34 had sloped armor! Wow!" Seems like all tanks had some from of sloping including the German tanks.

[@kerrydennison7947]

If I remember correctly they first u.s. contact with the tiger was by an anti-aircraft units use it half tracks at a railroad Depot two tigers were on d flatbeds to be moved back to Germany for serious repair apparently the German tank crews were still on board the train and they attempted to use the tigers guns to fight back until they got hoes down by the quad 50s on the anti-aircraft half tracks,

[@kentpool7414]

Paul. where can I get a cap like that?

[@WW2TV]

I get mine in a shop in Bayeux

[@kentpool7414]

@@WW2TV Awesome cap.

[@morganhale3434]

This is excellent! Look, if a 2-ton truck comes barreling at you at full speed, are you going to take the time to figure out the make, model, and year of construction before getting out of the way, or are you going to tell people a death machine tried to run me over today? The number of companies in the Wehrmacht armed with Tiger tanks were very small, the number of companies armed with PzKfw Mk-V's are much more numerous and Panthers were huge tanks in comparison to what the Allies had, and it was a medium MBT. The number of companies armed with PzKfw Mk-IV's were even much more numerous and it was an excellent tank! You with a PIAT or Bazooka facing an armored beast is still impressive if your against a StuG-III, Jagdpanzer IV, or a King Tiger Tank. A kubelwagen could just as easily have run over your great uncle in the summer of 1944 in Normandy and the result would've been just the same as if a PzKfw Mk-VI had done it.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Didn't Panthers move up with Das Reich to Normandy, there to anticipatedly join with northern theatre Tigers....??

[@morganhale3434]

@@suzyqualcast6269 The PzKfw Mk-V's or Panthers were the main battle tank of almost all the Wehrmacht and SS Panzer divisions in Normandy in 1944. Almost all of the Tiger tanks in 1944 in the West were in independent Heavy Panzer Companies. Some Panzer divisions like Panzer Lehr and others had PzKfw Mk-VI battalions, but you can count them on one hand and still have a digit free.

[@gmdyt1]

Yes the information is out there, but it took you three years to write the book. It is more correct to say that the information is not out there in accessible form (ie books)

[@WW2TV]

Jeez, what a petty comment. Not only is that data not in books, but it's also often buried in German archives. Why not just be grateful that we will all get to reap the rewards of Niels' research?

[@KeithRanker]

I wonder why the Germans didn't abandon the Channel Islands to use those troops in France.

[@KeithRanker]

Imagine how many more troops the Germans would have had available in 1944 if Hitler had evacuated German troops from Tunis in 1943 instead of moving a large number of troops there. He should have not helped Mussolini in the Balkans.

[@KeithRanker]

I think the Germans wasted a lot of strength in the Kursk battle.

[@richardgalindo7564]

Fingers ridged at attention indicate raw recruits.

[@williamkolina3988]

Where can I find german unit symbols.i am used to nato symbols

[@nielshenkemans]

William, try here for 1944: archive.org/details/GermanMilitarySymbols1944

[@nielshenkemans]

and 1943: archive.org/details/GermanMilitarySymbols1943

[@williamkolina3988]

@@nielshenkemans thank you niels.brilliant presentation

[@Hew.Jarsol]

🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧

[@WW2TV]

?

[@mikesmeets4418]

Enjoyed it! Thanks Niels and Paul.