Tank Chats #97 | Panzer II | The Tank Museum

Here David Willey discusses the Panzer II, a German tank which was instrumental in the early days of the Second World War, especially during the Blitzkrieg. SUBSCRIBE to The Tank Museum KZbin channel: ► / @thetankmuseum
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[@Ealdorman_of_Mercia]

I have no idea why I love these German Wehrmacht tanks so much.. I could watch documentaries about them for hours..

[@jonathanhinchliffe672]

Protect david fletcher from coronavirus at all costs

[@keeperofthecheese]

"Here we have a mark 1 Corona Virus, it was a small virus, which caused a lot damage, but a lot of people thought it was RABBISH"

[@richieb7692]

Seal him in a tank, and feed him by sending food down the barrel

[@owensteam]

His moustache will not allow some crap virus through

[@delvescoa]

Rinse his moustaches with alcohol and chlorine evary day

[@jonathanhinchliffe672]

@Körnel &Co. I know

[@kyle857]

Possibly the worlds most adorable armor.

[@eidechsentyp1236]

While Panzer I is also cute! ; )

[@homelessEh]

ah hem hem.. Excuse me. but Amx Elc has yet to surface. until then "possibly" is the key word. also is not that the luchs your thinking of?

[@forestalfrank1074]

May I introduce you to the Wiesel? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiesel_AWC

[@juanzulu1318]

Ever seen polish tanquettes? Now that is cuteness😂

[@michaelstark8720]

@@juanzulu1318 Polish tankettes looks like turtles 😂 But I like 7TP tank

[@ronrobertson59]

The German Army was basically a horse drawn Army specially with artillery and supplies in 1940 and beyond.

[@panzerfaulst12345]

Thank you Tank Museum! Such a wonderful relief from current events as I sip my coffee and ready for work at my clinic. I can't thank you enough for this professional, FREE, and informative content. I So look forward to visiting your institution one day. Stay safe and healthy!

[@papaaaaaaa2625]

Thank YOU for your work in a Hospital. I Hope you're doing fine!

[@ronanhodgson3997]

I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must be for NHS staff at the moment, you guys are the real heroes.

[@Br1cht]

@@ronanhodgson3997 Yeah... Dancing on TikTock must be hard.

[@kw9849]

This has always been one of my favourite tanks. There's just something about it I like, even though I can't put my finger on what it is.

[@noodlebob5302]

I feel you

[@chriszelez7970]

@@noodlebob5302 Not mine, Panzer IV is my favorite.

[@trappenweisseguy27]

It’s nicely proportioned with a futuristic looking turret. The suspension is a bit ugly though.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

It's a kawaii little tank

[@BattleAxe1345]

Probably the simplicity of it and its size.

[@assessor1276]

The Panzer II, while small and lightly armoured, had a key advantage in that its automotive systems were simple, tough and reliable so the chassis was a valid basis for a lot of other uses after its usefulness as a fighting tank ended.

[@andrebartels1690]

As Lindybeige pointed out in one of his videos: When you have the initiative, you can choose the range and speed of engagement. A swiss army knife can be superior to a machine gun, if used in the right range and speed. Thank you, for pointing out that the German military were well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their tanks, and were taking intelligent measures to take the best advantages of their material. These tactical details are seldomly told and are very welcome to me.

[@georgejones8481]

MP40>Pen knife

[@lemons1559]

@@georgejones8481 if I'm in your face a pen knife might be more effective since my body is blocking your gun. Not a very common occurence but it probably happened once or twice.

[@eidechsentyp1236]

Me: Would be nice of the Tank Museum would do something on German early war ta- The Tank Museum: Panzer II! Me: Blitzkrieg time! P. S.: Could you talk about the 35t and the 38t next? Or maybe the Panzer IV? More love for early to mid war tanks! P.P.S.: Very good work!

[@Masada1911]

They only really have the IV left in the panzer series I think

[@apocalypticsurvivor1881]

@@Masada1911 and of course the Luchs

[@olivierr.5752]

For videos about the Pz IV, go to the Chieftain channel. He has 3 videos dedicated to the Pz IV.

[@james.black981]

Ditto for 35T/38T videos. Love all of these interwar tanks. It's like a mad scientists laboratory, all slightly different from each other until they figure out what works.

[@deeznoots6241]

35t and 38t were not German tanks, they were Czechoslovak tanks pressed into German service, thats why they have the ‘t’ it stands for Tschechoslowakei which is German for Czechoslovakia

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

PzKW V: "Panther", PzKW VI:"Tiger", PzKW II: "HausKat"

[@ws2228]

👍 took me a second.

[@Nick-rs5if]

Had me laughing. Nice!

[@W0DAN88]

Hauskatze

[@s.marcus3669]

Very apropos!

[@jerry2357]

What’s the Panzer I then? Neither Maus nor Ratte works ;-)

[@PatGilliland]

Been working from home for a week and starting to get a little stir crazy when along comes 20+ minutes of Tank Chat. Thank You!

[@threadworm437]

My favorite tank along with the Panzer IV, I heard that during the battle of France, when the Panzer II fought against the Char B1 tanks, some of the Char crews would abandon their tank because of how scared and deafened they got from the 20mm shells constantly slamming their armor

[@russellborn515]

Indeed, I'd imagine a semi-auto 20mm with an 8-round magazine could make one hell of a racket.

[@sirboomsalot4902]

Eure: You challenge me mere mortal?

[@TheGameCamer360]

They abandoned their tanks because they where French mate.

[@DaveNukem]

​@@TheGameCamer360 Char B1 had its flaws such as very high fuel consumption it was a tank developed in the 20s right after ww1 meant for trench warfare

[@simonfrederiksen104]

@@TheGameCamer360 They abandoned their tanks because they were French made. There, fixed it for you.

[@ordinosaurs]

15:00 "...which causes for the French army, and certainly the British as well, those problems..." Brits, masters of understatement since Azincourt. Love from France ;-)

[@pugnate666]

I love the Pz. II! Thank you so much for the great video! Just two things: - MAN is not spoken as one word, it's an acronym (for Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg) - and ausf. is short for "Ausführung", which means model/implementation (if anyone is interested) Thanks for getting us trough the pandemic with great content :)

[@Warentester]

M.A.N. is an acronym, not an abbreviation.

[@pugnate666]

@@Warentester thx

[@Cheezymuffin.]

People often laugh at light tanks. Those people should play men of war assault squad 2. I dread the appearance of a panzer 2 or 1, because by the time I spot them, they often have wiped out the squad trying to hold them back, and are now destroying trucks and other squad. And I know it will take time to bring a AT gun to that location, even a AT rifleman might get shot while trying to fire on the tank. Light tanks, and even tankettes are very dangerous to infantry without heavier weapons.

[@Maus5000]

The people laughing at light tanks are often themselves very funny. To a person who says the PzKpfw II's armament is "puny" I ask: "would you feel comfortable standing in front of a live one, then?"

[@badcornflakes6374]

It's almost a feeling of helplessness like being strafed by a IL-2 Sturmovic is probably a tanks worst nightmare.

[@swunt10]

that's why even the modern german army uses the Wiesel 1 (200 mm and TOW) and Wiesel 2 (transport)

[@Notmyname1593]

A light tank is all you need if the opposition has no heavy weapons.

[@TheChuckfuc]

the panzer 1 and 2 were good tanks for there time. even on the eastern front they did there job well. they just eventually became outclassed. like all ww2 tanks. still a good looking tank.

[@mavvh1054]

I like World War 2 tanks because of the variety of designs but also because you can see how each nation develop their tanks over the time of the war. They look different but you can see the similarities in their designs overtime.

[@marcgallegos]

Wish they would show the inside as well, otherwise perfect.

[@_tertle3892]

b12 o but they try and paint they actually

[@dillonpierce7599]

They could always a do a little camera shot inside depending on how tight it is in certain vehicles.

[@antifacisme]

May I recommend “the chieftain” YT channel. He’s an enthusiastic guy that knows a lot and he shows the tanks from the inside.

[@nick0875]

There is Inside the Hatch with the Chieftain for that.

[@antifacisme]

Nick 087 my point exactly.

[@dylanmilne6683]

What a great and comprehensive tank chat.

[@ErwinPommel]

That’s how David Willey rolls. I much prefer his longer talks.

[@russwoodward8251]

An incredible design achievement for the 1930s. Thanks for the research and very fine presentation by David Willey.

[@stutzada]

Very good video! I'm glad this got added to the chats

[@VosperCDN]

Love seeing these show up on my notifications, thank you. Watching these are like the old history channels that used to actually do history.

[@anumeon]

This was just what i needed today.. A nice long tankchat to go with my evening coffee. Stay safe everyone

[@user-bd3gt9jt1x]

Best tank channel in KZbin IMHO!!

[@tando6266]

This is by far the most well done presentation yet. Its so wonderful you are keeping the lessons from the past alive through rivet counting. Thanks for it lads.

[@Jayneflakes]

Another great film, thank you.

[@inquisitorsquish5422]

I love this in world of tanks, your crew is alway's saying things like "we didn't penetrate their armour" ; "it didn't go through"; "we didn't even scratch them"

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

It was ridiculously over powered in the early game.

[@KMac329]

Excellent presentation. The Pz. Kw II was always a mystery to me--until now. Thank you for your illuminating presentation Mr. Willey.

[@uha6477]

Willey's tank chats are about the best lectures on YT. It's always fascinating to learn about them and their development in such detail. This is a great subject. I was first interested in it after making the Matchbox kit as a kid many moons ago. It's always been really interesting to think how this was the most numerous German tank in 1940, and what it was up against. I didn't know the kept it in production for so long though. That was a genuine surprise.

[@RaduB.]

To my eyes an excellent design. It served its purpose more than enough! Thank you!

[@Demospammer9987]

I've been looking forward to this one! Awesome video

[@intertr0ns]

Enjoying a nice cup of tea while watching my favourite KZbin channel.

[@1987phillybilly]

Thank you much Tank Museum! I loved both the Pzr1 and Pzr2 vidoes, I knew very little about the production aspect and this was great!

[@evoSieg]

Love the bit on the end there, tapping around the armor. lol

[@42cerberus]

Fascinating video as ever. Learned a lot from this.

[@kairos1091]

I'm very excited for a tank chat on the Ausf. L 'Luchs'. Tied as one of my all time favorite vehicles next to the Sd.kfz. 234/2 Puma.

[@thorinth3079]

These videos are great to listen to whilst being stuck at home.

[@wastelander89]

I truly appreciate and thank you guys for the time and effort to teach history on ww2 I love learning and love history about items like tanks ships and weapons. It's so interesting to learn about .thanks

[@tekis0]

Excellent little series! I can't wait for the Luchs episode; I love that model.

[@elgato9445]

Excellent tank chat. Thank you!

[@pauldodson2018]

Dear Tank Museum, I LOVE this history. Beautiful. Thank you.-Paul

[@pyrtwistPyrtwistWorldInMotion]

Excellent Tank Chat! Great explanation of what most considered a training tank.

[@lukavmineav3489]

I love these videos, its a great bit of perspective for a person who only knows tanks from books and video games!!!

[@mihaelvulchev7003]

Thank you for the great video . Can wait to see a episode for Luch ( Lynx ) .

[@SirGiulio90]

As usual awesome video, can't wait for the Luchs video !

[@TheSpritz0]

THIS is the video I was waiting for!!!!!!!!!

[@bulletsalad3927]

love the Tank Museum guys they are the best

[@dickyboyjr]

Great chat, very well presented.

[@richpurslow3283]

Always had a soft spot for this tank, as is mentioned it did alot of the leg work that the bigger vehicles get credit for early on. Great vehicle and i wait for the Luchs video when done. Cheers.

[@swunt10]

6:35 most modern military procurement agencies should listen to this very carefully.

[@alexfleischmann1668]

Vielen Dank!

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you .

[@terrystephens1102]

Thanks for another excellent presentation. 😃👌👏👏👏

[@donjorge8329]

Very interesting vid! Thanks a lot!!!

[@thebirminghamtrainspotter8657]

It's a good scout tank they look cool in yellow

[@_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._-]

Otherwise known as Dunkelgelb :)

[@thebirminghamtrainspotter8657]

@@_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._- yeah used by rommel in the Africa Korps

[@Grace17893]

Love it thanks man

[@colinwilson5635]

Superb presentation!

[@MrJohndoakes]

The nice thing about the Panzer Is and IIs is that the hulls and suspensions could handle being converted into self-propelled howitzers, munitions vehicles, and unit command tanks.

[@JamesThomas-pj2lx]

The hp to weight on these never ceases to amaze me.

[@joeevans2365]

Looking forward to the Luchs David, another great review.

[@azareelserrano4602]

Love these videos 👌

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

Nice to hear about early war vehicles.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

Love the Panzer II as much as the I, it led to the III which led to my favorite ever, the Panzer IV. They really could have stopped at the IV. I’ll allow some V’s, a Panther here or there is ok. But wait, the VI is a beautiful Tiger of a beast too. Ok. 80% IV’s, 12% V’s and 8% VI’s. All for me. I’ll take y’all for rides.

[@EconomicsMate1]

Anyone else sad that Tank Fest might very well be cancelled this year? What a shame. I saved up for me, my clan mates and my family to all go to tank fest this year, and now because of this virus, its not going to be happening. Shame.

[@ShiftJay08]

Its OK spend the money on some premium War Thunder tanks instead

[@fortress2270]

SpeedCafeGarage Yeah, but, it’s safer this way. They don’t want the virus to spread and make people sick

[@Vespuchian]

Not to worry, put the money aside and you'll be good to go for next year!

[@Studi851]

I don‘t think that they will cancel it without creating an alternative date ... for example they postponed Tiger Day XIII from April to August ... and I will be able to use my April ticket in August then

[@Splodge542]

Just go as WW2 tommies with your gas masks on.

[@johnellis9352]

Thank you so much for this🙏☺️🇺🇸♥️

[@johnellis9352]

Brilliant just brilliant

[@hhale]

It's interesting that they went agile, light, and fast with this tank, had great success with it, but then fell into increasingly heavy, slower tanks as the war progressed, the ultimate antithesis of this tank being the Maus. One wonders if the Germans had concentrated on faster (what clearly worked) rather than heavier if there would have been a different outcome to the war.

[@Salesman9001]

Main reason was that engines of the time sucked, you need battle tank to be able to survive some time in a battle and to do that you need adequate armour which would need better engine to keep the speed but engine technology couldn't keep up with increasing weight. Things like M18 did well with light armour as they were not expected to support infantry or form tip of the spearhead in assault. So you either had tank that dies to light AT gun but is fast or you build a slower tank that forces your foe to invest into heavier AT guns. Pz2 was good enough for France and early early eastern front, after that only use for tanks like that were specialist roles (recon, SPAA, SPG, etc). "different outcome to the war" Maybe sticking to light tanks would have allowed Soviets to liberate Paris in mid '45 after steamrolling German panzer corps with little difficulty

[@hhale]

@@Salesman9001 Well clearly not light tanks, but faster tanks. The post-war German Leopard for example. Excellent gun, fast, armor third on the list. Also keep in mind that the Americans seemed to get along ok without a true heavy tank. They made sure they had AFVs (the M18 for example) that had guns that could punch through the German heavies, and in a pinch could use speed and maneuver to get out of the way and hit the flanks or supporting artillery and aircraft could finish the job. By 1944, the Americans and British were using the blitzkrieg tactics that the Germans had used so successfully in 1940-41 and then largely abandoned.

[@Salesman9001]

​@@hhale Are you really bringing up a 1965 tank that has 3 decades worth of material science behind its performance? Pz2 is closer to A7V by a decade than it's to Leopard 1, only similarity amongst them are tracks. M18 had literally the same gun & ammo as M4 and it was not especially good at fighting Tigers that were rare on western front. Only HVAP ammo was any good against Panthers or Tigers and it was rare, with regular AP you had to get close. If you had used M18 like M4 was used it would have gained reputation as Tommy Coffin very quickly, it wouldn't affect how the war went as US production could keep up with losses and had manpower to spare. Now if US had used M4 in the same role as M18 it would have had the same performance and faced the same difficulties M18 had. What do you mean Germans abandoning Blitzkrieg tactics? There's more to it than taking land, they kept executing those tactics right until surrender for good effect on both allies and soviets.

[@meatshield7206]

Salesman9001 while many Shermans were equipped with a 76mm gun, their main weapon was a 75mm. The M18 standard gun was the 76mm, so, yes the Shermans could’ve been equipped with the same gun, but were not always.

[@cleanerben9636]

They didn't have time to come up with compromising designs. They went with cheap and light to rapidly equip and train the panzer arm and to utilise a war of maneuver. While the tactics were solid, they quickly realised the tanks they had were actually outclassed. Even the Polish tankettes, when properly used, could penetrate a Pz. II. Of course, they already knew this, which is why they were already building the Pz. III and Pz. IV, but then they were flawed designs too, and the engines were already getting weak with the IV and that still didn't have enough protection. Then they encounter the T34 and KV1, and realise they are actually far behind in the protection department, and they cannot hope to match soviet production now, so they panic build the panther to compensate, but now the engines and the drive trains and the transmissions haven't had the proper development and are still too weak, and then they just lose the plot completely.

[@regu6582]

Can't afford a payment ATM, so commenting for the algorithm. I do enjoy your work, it helps me and I assume others understand the development of Armoured Warfare. Keep up the astounding in depth work you do.

[@james.black981]

Guys, lovethe little quirky ending. Any chance of an April fool's bloopers video. Keep the good work coming.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

21:37 Tank ASMR, something I didn't know was possible

[@wierdalien1]

@Jimmy De'Souza surely like everything else, ASMR is what ever causes you to feel that?

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@Jimmy De'Souza idk where you got that idea from but it isn't true, the word ASMR was coined by Jennifer Allen to describe the tingly feeling you can sometimes get from sounds etc no specifics about it. It is not a medical term at all and it was never thought of as an indication of any condition, this is really highlighted by the name Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, Meridian was used by Allen because she thought it was another word for Orgasm, which it isn't. Stop gate keeping ASMR, it does not make you special and the reason it seems like more people experience it now than before is the simple fact more people discovered it's existence on the internet, why would someone watch two hours of someone tapping a jug if they did not get the tingly feeling. Can some be a bit of a stretch of the definition yes but what hasn't.

[@wierdalien1]

@Jimmy De'Souza ok but pretty sure that Ive read papers that show that everyone can have it

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@@wierdalien1 yeah it's not uncommon and certainly never thought of as an indication of health problems.

[@wierdalien1]

@@Alex-cw3rz jennefier allen is exactly the name id expect of the person who coined ASMR.

[@beerenmusli8220]

Awesome Video!!!!

[@daveybyrden3936]

The internal photo at 11:04 is interesting. The trigger for firing the MG is built into the handle of the traverse wheel, out of sight at the lower right. You can see the mechanical linkage from there to the gun.

[@LIETUVIS10STUDIO1]

Interesting Tank Chat. It is fascinating which lessons did and didn't the Germans focused on after the Battle of France. Rather than focusing on just how effective speed was, and focusing on increasing motorization of their forces, they focus on the encounters with the heavy French tanks.

[@remc70]

One of the things on the Master Milo show from the Nederland's, is the disassembling, repairing and repainting of an Iraq type Chinese type 69 tank. What I try to do is to visualize the manufacturing of a tank, and its mind blogging the amount of different parts that goes into building a tank.

[@ThereWillBeCake]

Watching this while making a Tamiya model. Thank you :)

[@wkc-hd9cf]

I love playing this variant in the C and F and DAK models in War Thunder gaming

[@sandzibar]

looking forward to the luchs episode!

[@MaxSluiman]

Very good video!

[@rfletch62]

Always liked that tank. Liked the P-39 Airacobra as well. Just backing the underdogs, I guess.

[@Daniel-S1]

Thanks.

[@alexwenzel6932]

Love these tank chats. Can you guys do an updated more detailed chat on the German Panther ?

[@miscellaneousetc.4280]

Why do people come here and give a thumbs down??? If you love tanks you would never do that .

[@Mattamaza]

3 man crew and 1 of them is a dedicated radio operator. Pretty much sums up the mid 30 German emphasis on battlefield communication and coordination.

[@dougjb7848]

He was loader and radio operator. The radio in the III and IV was operated by the crewman at front-right, and he also operated the MG and helped the driver navigate.

[@Mattamaza]

@@dougjb7848 how was he a loader if he wasn't in the turret?

[@dougjb7848]

@Matt Claridge Ask David. He clearly stated the positions of the three crew members around 11:00. I believe the loader / operator handed magazines, which were stowed in the hull, up to the commander.

[@gusgone4527]

It just looks right. I imagine the panzer troops were very impressed back then.

[@AFV85]

The capola and the hatch is practically the same as on a leopard today on this panzer 2! Just notice that the way it opens is the same as the bergepanzer 2 I was in !

[@richardcharay7788]

Enjoyed

[@williamlydon2554]

Just in time to build my Panzer II model.

[@cliverockability3829]

A good looking vehicle I always thought. I have built a large number of the old Tamiya 1/35 F model. Don't know why, its just fun to make and customise!

[@6077157707]

yes, please do the luchs

[@timbo66]

I`m a little drunk, but I`ve had this lovely image of the Tank Museum saying ` David, we`re filming inside this tank...He`s in, weld it shut, keep him safe, fed and watered!`

[@MilHistoria]

A video on a Panzer 3 would be really cool.

[@michaelmulligan0]

Modern defence procurement could learn a lot from this

[@Paveway-chan]

It’s so very ironic that the Panzer V fell victim to the exact circumstances that are to be prevented per the document that Willie reads at around 07:00, that outlines how the Panzer II will retain qualitative superiority

[@knoll9812]

Early German tank development was by military professionals. Later ones compromised by non professionals. Note the panther would not have all the reliability problems if made to original 35 tonne spec

[@BorisKid]

those things actually hurt so many people

[@owensthilaire8189]

Bovington is a fantastic place. My Tiger tank golf shirt is a prized possession.

[@thomassk7161]

The only sad thing about all these good presentation is that the tank museum is unable to use the metric system. Even when presenting these German tanks mileage is in mph. I'm sure the Germans never used those measurement system. Please think about it. We are great lot of people in the world which use the metric system. Otherwise I love all what you guys do.. Thank you very much

[@mcsmash4905]

i remember back in the day when i played call of duty 2 , this tank fired single shots that made explosions as big as a house lol , didnt have an auto cannon , and the game treated it like it was some heavy tank

[@wombatski1000]

One of my faves. Such a smart/pretty looking tank. I know that is a strange thing to say about a tank but...

[@laszlokaestner5766]

An excellent example of using your advantages while minimising your disadvantages. The Panzer II lacked armour but had speed. As a result the Germans had little choice but to go for mobile warfare, they couldn't afford to be bogged down as then the main cohort of their armoured strength (Panzer II) would be rendered obsolete - picked off at distance by anti-tank guns. So speed it was and the legend of "Blitzkrieg" was born.

[@RouGeZH]

It's the other way around. The Panzer II was designed for mobile warfare in the first place.

[@puma2334]

Cool!

[@sethorly]

Super commentary.