Tiger 131: A Twist in the Tale | The Tank Museum

[@joebudde3302]

Kate Adie may not be a tank historian but she is a journalist with a tremendous amount of experience delivering reports via media, I applaud her skill and excellent presentation in this new research.

[@kraxus03]

How is it they toss around titles for running around a track but this young lady, who spent so much time in war zones that her appearance jokingly became a precursor to "Invasion", gets nothing.

[@davidjarkeld2333]

Kraxus - you think CBE and DL are "nothing"?

[@DarknessInferno15]

@@kraxus03 She's neither young, not under appreciated. She's over 70, and was awarded an OBE and CBE.

[@joebudde3302]

@@kraxus03 I'm a bit confused, how is she considered jokingly, I say this because you replied under my comment, I thought she was a great narrator.

[@spentacle]

It was the media who made it a joke that if Kate appeared, there would be action .@@joebudde3302

[@Cheezymuffin.]

Now this is the stuff the history channel SHOULD be showing!

[@Biker_Gremling]

Next on History Channel: The secret Alien Hitler advisor.

[@Biker_Gremling]

@Captainconkerboy1 But, but, Pawn Stars is good tho, totally not staged.

[@captaintyrrell6428]

Premièring on History / National Geographic Channel: 'Hitlers Secret Nazi Hunt for the Lost Evil Alien Jesus Treasure Code' Written and narrated by Moishe Jehuda Produced by Subvetec Global inc

[@thetankmuseum]

glad to hear you enjoyed this video

[@Dawe360]

Not even called the History Channel anymore. Just History.

[@donaldhill3823]

I can remember when I was a little kid, having a match box sized toy Tiger tank with 131 on it. Thought it was just a random number.

[@rolfnilsen6385]

1 - Company 3 - Platoon 1 - Team The number identifies the tank within the structure of their unit. Number 1 is also mostly assigned to the platoon commander. The callsigns on the radio nets are the same as the number on the turret. On the company net you would call 3-1 to reach the tank, while the brigade would call 1-3-1. Within the platoon net you would just call -1. For some strange reason the brigade would want to talk with the gunner on 131, they would call for 131-2, with the commander being 131-1, driver 131-3 and driver 131-4. With the Tiger having 5 crew members, this would be a little bit different but the structure would have been the same. So definately not a random number :-)

[@thecivilisationworld43]

Rolf Nilsen r

[@Werrf1]

@@rolfnilsen6385 Thanks for the breakdown, makes a lot of sense.

[@jbuckley2546]

@@rolfnilsen6385 Had no idea, thanks very much for the explanation.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

@@rolfnilsen6385 Thank you. Learn something new every day.

[@jamesmcgrath1952]

I'm a Vet and one thing I've noticed. You can have multiple soldiers in the same battle who when asked later to describe the battle will give you multiple different stories.

[@AnthonyTolhurst-dw1nc]

Just like it witnesses, ask any policeman

[@SueBobChicVid]

Some of these vehicles have a more interesting history than my whole family. Love this stuff - the details!

[@borabingol6797]

LMAO... Still laughing while commenting :)

[@seumasnatuaighe]

Glad you had Kate Adie on to narrate this most interesting detective story. She did sterling work as a reporter and showed bravery and strength of character on several occasions on the front line. Well done, The Tank Museum.

[@thetankmuseum]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@oceanhome2023]

She adds a welcome addition to the Historians able to tell a good story that makes you not only watch it to the end but to save to your favorites to re-watch and share with friends. She is a rare find for a woman to be interested in Tanks and that you don’t have to have greasy hands and smashed knuckles to enjoy and understand these things . She is one of us who Hate war but love to study it !

[@leg3ND451]

As hard as I try, I can't imagine crawling on my hands and knees, lugging a PIAT launcher, toward anything as scary as a Tiger 1. He might've bounced it, but he still earns a consolation prize for 'Huge Iron Balls'.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Great balls of steel?

[@matthayward7889]

Mike Gerringer titanium plated tungsten balls!

[@jammer3618]

An honest comment by Mr Gerringer. Thank you

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

ALL PIAT operators were heroes. The PIAT launcher weighed more than 10 kilos, and had only a weak propellant charge, which meant that it had extremely short range for an Anti-Tank weapon - 60 or 80 meters. And the shell, with it's awkward contact fuse on a stem, required a straight-on hit, to be effective(the one fired at Tiger 131 glanced off and was ineffective.)

[@alganhar1]

@@DavidSmith-ss1cg If you look at the German systems, the range on those were actually about the same as the PIAT, its range was comparable, and often greater than the systems most commonly used by the Germans. Sure, the PIAT had disadvantages, it was, as you said, heavy, and to reload it you had to compress the spring, which was not an easy job, especially if prone, and a recoil that has been described as various versions of horrible, however, it also had some advantages. The propellant charge was only part of the launch system, the other part was the aforementioned spring so it had little to no back blast, which made it VERY difficult for the enemy tank crew to spot where the PIAT operator was, it was also relatively quiet in comparison to a bazooka or a panzerfaust. It could, unlike those two, be used in confined positions due to the lack of back blast without cooking the rest of the occupants. It really was not a bad system, it had no real future though, as technology got better systems like RPG only got better, but the spigot mortar style system of the PIAT could never really be developed beyond a certain point.

[@dylanmilne6683]

The balls of these lads fighting tiger tanks in the open desert with only infantry weapons

[@knutdergroe9757]

Everyone forgets, England could have lost the war at this point. Fear of lose...... Discipline, courage, honor, are all shown here.

[@HiTechOilCo]

What other choice would they have?

[@andrewmagdaleno5417]

Yea and imagine if you were the first squad in the attack! U have to push the objective and draw all the fire on our selves! The size of balls those guys had was astronomical!

[@evilfingers4302]

Tigers weren't the only tanks the British and Commonwealth Troops faced in the open terrain of the North African Desert.

[@evilpixie96]

@@knutdergroe9757 the UK or Britain mate not England

[@Peter-lm3ic]

I well remember in the early 1950's visiting the Senelager Camp, Germany tank dump of German tanks and was quite amazed at the size of some of the tanks and width of tracks. They seemed enormous compared with ours. At that time we had Comets, Cromwells and Centurians. As an infantryman at the time we were involved with all but to see a Comet and Cromwell at speed on a German road was something to behold!

[@redknight1322]

This is how history works! As new information is discovered the historical event is placed into a more accurate context. This takes nothing away from the participants, it simply illustrates the need for historians to corroborate their memories in order to tell the most accurate history of the events being discussed. This is a fantastic addition to the already legendary story of Tiger 131. Well done to all involved! Well done indeed!

[@joelwebster8227]

Kate Adie + tankmuseum = brilliant. Best video you have ever made. More, please.

[@ftffighter]

I agree that it is brilliant, however, nothing beats the 'stash of David Fletcher. He stars in the best videos they make...

[@thetankmuseum]

Hi Joel, glad you enjoyed this! If you haven't already, please consider supporting us on Patreon www.patreon.com/tankmuseum and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks again

[@fnglert]

Striking, what a massive beast Tiger 131 really is.

[@SMGJohn]

Tiger was a good tank, until it met the IS-2, then it was just in pieces.

[@curious5661]

@@SMGJohn IS-2 wasnt that good.

[@SMGJohn]

@@curious5661 Reality shows a different story tankarchives.blogspot.com/2013/03/is-2-vs-german-big-cats.html?m=1

[@joshjwillway1545]

@@SMGJohn it's unreliable though

[@prestonwhite4129]

I think the tiger and is2 were both equally unreliable, but each had their advantages. A German crew would most likely have more training/ experience, and so would be able to perform advanced tactics. A Russian crew may not be as skilled, but their armor was slightly more protective and hits were more survivable.

[@RavenousMedicine]

The men that abandoned Tiger 131 were not shot or else the Tank Museum had interviewed imposters. Like he says though, an old soldier's memory is not always something that can be taken at face value and in the heat of battle I'm sure he could have mistaken that they had been shot. Thank you for this! I was fortunate enough to take a ride in 131and it remains one of the coolest experiences I've had.

[@wyattwesterfield4553]

Tiger 131 is a thing of beauty to see in real life, but it is a great honor to see it on the move.

[@MatSpeedle]

An amazing story of Men cut from a differnet cloth! My grandad would have been in the area during this time as well, I only wish he was still here to ask about it.

[@Nick-rs5if]

War is hell, though the stories told must always be remembered. This is a motto I've had since I was a kid, thanks to The Tank Museum for sharing this story!

[@jakedee4117]

It's true that with the fog of war and the chaos, fear and many years old soldier's memories can't always be taken at face value, but what men they were ! Look at Peter Gudgin @1:39 What a chin on that man !

[@charris5700]

Alpha Jawline on that man. 💪

[@jakedee4117]

I say old chap, I don't ALWAYS capture Jerry Tanks, but when I do they're bally Tigers ! @@charris5700

[@georgetinker9086]

I really like the way that the tank museum acknowledges and accepts new or different information and then amends its own written history to reflect this.

[@ultralowfat]

Probably the Best Video The Tank Museum has produced.

[@ftffighter]

David Fletcher always wins that one sir...but this is one of the best for sure and Kate was brilliant!

[@thetankmuseum]

@@ftffighter Really glad you liked this one. If you haven't already, you may wish to consider supporting us on Patreon www.patreon.com/tankmuseum for additional Tank related goodies.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

Kate Adie + Tiger 131 + Tank Museum video = Total brilliance ! 😊

[@thetankmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed hearing from Kate Adie. As well as being a renowned war correspondent, she is also a Trustee of The Tank Museum and we were very grateful to have her support for this project.

[@DarknessInferno15]

Very interesting and well put together, thank you for making this.

[@thetankmuseum]

It's good to hear you liked it! You may want to take at our Tiger 131 Tank Chat kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip27q3drrtp9gbM and if you haven't already, you may wish to support us on Patreon www.patreon.com/tankmuseum

[@Squeesher]

Very interesting info, a well put together presentation, and very eloquently presented. Great piece!

[@kevinr.landmesser2082]

Fascinating! Great job putting the pieces together and telling the story in such an excellent way!!!!

[@artinyyk]

Kate Adie has a fantastic voice. I could probably listen to her talk about tanks all day.

[@willmarcheselli1986]

“A lucky shot?! Noo, that was a calculated shot that came in from miles away.” -Squire

[@Bobbymaccys]

Tacticalsquad 5 ah fellow man of culture yeeeeeeess

[@endlesnights3817]

From "Many Miles Away" perhaps?

[@KaiservonKrieger]

@@endlesnights3817 You fool! It is his Majesty, Lord Squire who quote'th such word!

[@jimleonardson4268]

…and the crew surrendered to join the Coldstream Guards.

[@willmarcheselli1986]

Jim Leonardson To get some proper training

[@PeterNissen878112]

A tale well told and I hope we get to see and hear more narration by Kate Adie. Superbly done!

[@cobalt_blue9713]

I love videos like this that show the side of history that I find most interesting.

[@thetankmuseum]

Thanks Christopher! It's great to hear you enjoyed it.

[@gibraltersteamboatco888]

Thank to everyone at The Tank Museum for maintaining all of the pieces in their collection so that the rest of us can enjoy them.

[@JackFlemingFan1]

Thank you for posting this excellent video of the history of Tiger 131!

[@thetankmuseum]

glad you enjoyed it Jack

[@thetankmuseum]

If you enjoyed this one, you may like our Tiger 131 Tank Chat kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip27q3drrtp9gbM

[@chrisdarcy8998]

Great story. History is so interesting and important. My Father served with the Royal Artillery in the 4th Indian Division in North Africa, East Africa and Italy, and others but I don't recall tales of him getting as far west at Tunisia but I do recall mention of Libya. I recall many interesting stories of his time there and really wish I had had a recorder to capture those tales, some were quite gruesome and I could tell those memories of lost comrades ran deep. I do recall many instances when a documentary based on those theaters of war, where he would comment that, a point was incorrect, or, "no, that's not what happened," etc., thus, I'm not at all surprised that the history here has been challenged and certainly appears to be different to what is in the history books. Great work Mr. Oscroft and The Tank Museum, keep it up!!

[@dunkace]

This was a lovely wee documentary. Brilliantly presented.

[@ATINKERER]

What an amazing story! It's amazing that this man was able to put together the memories of a war story his father told him with the history of a tank he came across in a museum, and then uncover the truth about it through his intensive research. He opened the eyes of future generations to a piece of history they can touch and experience for themselves.

[@peterscott3055]

And here's me thinking Oddball bought it from the Germans at the end of Kelly's Hero's.

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

At first I believed it was an actual Tiger, found somewhere. It looked the part. But the one in the film looks fine, and convincing.

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

But the fighterplane, a Harward, like a poodel, trying to look like a doberman

[@charlesreed924]

@@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188 mo

[@gazof-the-north1980]

Was funny when Oddball hit the Tiger with Paint!

[@dawoudabdulaziz9920]

What an excellent narration. Really enjoyed watching this. I would like to request more Kate Adie please.

[@Dennis-vh8tz]

It seems plausible (if unproven) that both stories are essentially correct: Tiger 131 could have been at Djebel Djaffa on 1943-04-21 and knocked out Lt. Peter Gudgin's Churchill, then (like 48 RTR) been 10 miles North at point 174 three days later when Tiger 131 was disabled and captured by the Sherwood Foresters.

[@Flyguy779]

i thought the same thing. after all it's a tank. it can move. I keep wondering why they don't consider that possibility... it seems a pretty naturel assumption to me

[@Flyguy779]

also given the very limited and slow production of Tigers, hom many Tigers are there possibly going to be in a radius of 10 miles?(of cours his churchill could have been knocked out by a 88Flak 38 or Pak 43 (idk if they had the pak yet tbh) but we don't know that)

[@Panzermeister36]

That's what they were implying at the end of the video.

[@watspoon1837]

I mean the tank regiment of tiger 131, 504th Schwere Heerespanzerabteilung, and the tanks that lead the attack on Djebel Djaffa were the same batallion, although that doesnt mean they were the same tanks

[@barneystorer1092]

Hmm seams plausable

[@Boric78]

Amazing - a brilliant piece of historical detective work. All the better for high lighting the ballsy action of group of Midland boys facing down a Tiger Tank attack with nothing but a few feet of dirt and a Piat gun (and a captured French 75 of course). An almost forgotten action of no real "consequence" to the official war records, yet contains real bravery. Hats off this chap for his work in putting this together and even more so to his Father, a humble Hero.

[@razor1uk610]

A captured captured shhad been short 75, that retrofitted into a German mount - complete with twin skin crew splinter shield.

[@superbibibobo]

A fine piece of journalism.

[@JensAndree]

Thank you for preserving history and to always keep searching for more information, even if it means rewriting history a couple times... Great presentation by Kate Adie as well!

[@fko1]

The Tiger, my all time favorite tank

[@brandoncallahan9289]

While a cool tank, I'd say the Panther is my favorite tank, even though it had a smaller gun and less armor, it had the advantage of being a good bit faster, and angled armor of course.

[@chrisb1978]

Great story, I'm loving all the different angles you're taking on this channel. Was watching the Leopard in the workshop yesterday, now I'm getting some great war history, and personal stories.

[@ricecheese]

Wow amazing, hats off to the infantries who fights a tiger in close range

[@moisesezequielgutierrez]

Those guys have more balls than i have.

[@Filmpilot]

Having recently been accepted as a Fellow in the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, (and needing to attended the new Fellows reception), I absolutely must come by and see this marvel of history which has been preserved to document history. I am looking forward to the opportunity!

[@TomCro2022]

Very nice video ....... Best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe easter 2019.

[@thetankmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it! Feel free to have a look at our Tiger 131 Tank Chat kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip27q3drrtp9gbM and if you haven't already, you may wish to support us on Patreon www.patreon.com/tankmuseum

[@keithfoster8257]

I have this tank in the video game you mentioned, its like owning a piece of history.

[@stevek5060]

Watching the Chieftain going over old records, you can be sure that tankers and pilots will claim anything that was destroyed was done by them, by orders of magnitude. The irony is that most tanks are not destroyed by other tanks. Infantry, artillery and anti-tank guns accounted for the majority of them.

[@Alopex1]

Actually, if referring to Tigers and Panthers, my money's on mechanical breakdown, not enemy fire...

[@xxxnamkhaxxx]

That's what I call performing a Monty!

[@SonsOfLorgar]

@@Alopex1 or enemy fire knocking a faulty part inside loose enough to break

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

You've forgotten anti-tank mines, which were a major cause of tank kills.

[@Wanderer628]

'you can be sure that tanks and pilots will claim anything that was destroyed was done by them, by orders of magnitude. ' lol, why do you think that German pilots and tank crews usually top the charts for most kills by several times the runner up? The Nazis were reportedly very fond of inflating kill scores to make their military look more deadly.

[@charlesflint9048]

It is good to have such an eminent news journalist ( or should I say foreign correspondent) as Kate Adie giving the narrative for this story. This stuff is serious viewing.

[@ThePerfectRed]

By the way, that anti-tank gun is sort of interesting in itself. It is a 7.5 cm Pak 97/38, which is a combination of a German carriage, a French 75mm gun and a Swiss muzzle break.

[@jmtubbs1639]

Subtitle for Sutton-in-Ashfield came out as Sunny Nashville - love it!

[@darinmoore265]

The movie Fury was horribly inaccurate in so many ways, but the 131 was cool.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Oh look, it's a damn tank pedant. I mock you guys in one of my own comments.

[@talltale9760]

Fuzzy Dunlop hm?

[@LordInter]

Yeah, you're in a Tiger with a 1km range so you charge the puny Sherman's....... At the end none of those SS guys had Panzerfaust no? lmfao

[@willmarcheselli1986]

@@LordInter Tbh they had two 76's in the platoon and could just of easily have taken out the tiger, infact Fury fails to penetrate the tigers front plate before the tiger begins it's unrealistic ricochets on Fury. The Shermans didn't need to advance, nor go round the back of the tiger either ad testing showed the american 76mm M1 could take a tiger out frontally at 1000m.

[@LordInter]

@@willmarcheselli1986 this is a good point

[@cjans2681]

Been playing this tank in a game, not knowing until watching this, my old regiment knocked it out. Small world. Very proud of you boys.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Meow?

[@Dreachon]

Nya?

[@ValentineC137]

OwO Miwitawy Hwistowy Wisuawized

[@warmowed]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@alinalexandru2466]

Well hello there, MHV, kinda expected you to be in the comments to be honest.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Guten Tag, Herr Doctor Professor Military History Visualized, what a surprise to see you "catting around" the Tank Museum's comments section. I wonder if you think that the crew of Tiger 131 was unimpressed with the 6-pounder hits from the Churchill tanks - at only 57mm, those shells may have reminded the Tiger crew of the 37mm guns(the "door-knockers") that the Panzerwaffe faced in 1940 in France. And then, the hit - from a German 75mm, a famously vigourous round - convinced them to bail out of their disabled Pzkw VI, whose electrical system was temporarily disabled. However it happened, this tank is now at the Bovington Tank Museum, and you may have been allowed to climb on it, and maybe to get inside. This vehicle, and it is surprisingly heavy, is an example of the German military technology of the Nazi era at it's most considerable height. This metal beast is an example of why the whole world had to gang up on the Germans to defeat them. I'm subscribed to your channel for a few years, now. So now the world knows the whole story of the capture of Tiger 131. It has taken a long time, but this epochal event is now entirely understood, like the deaths of the Red Baron, or Michael Wittmann. Good Fortune attend you, and keep up the good work, with your KZbin empire(!).

[@borabingol6797]

That was a huge story. It may seem only a detail, but the heroism and sacrife of forgotten ones are revealed along with the historical accuracy.

[@andya696]

Fantastic stuff. Great job!

[@neilwilson5785]

Great video, which has added to my knowledge of this incident. Good to see Kate Adie back in the battle!

[@jammer3618]

Great comment at the end. This tank was a killing machine plain and simple. Ive been to the museum several times. As a veteran, albeit not of ww2, I find the "fanboy" response to these machines disturbing. It seems forgotten at times that men of all legions fought and died in these tanks.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Working as a civilian for the Dutch MOD, I suspected that military men were keen to go to war. But time and again, they told me that they were the last ones to warmonger as they knew exactly how terrible war is. That is food for thought. Any comment with the words "glory" "national pride" and the like are from people who simply are ignorant.

[@sam8404]

You're making it sound like tanks have a mind of their own and killed people. It's a machine, and just like any other machine there's absolutely nothing wrong with being a "fanboy" of it.

[@jammer3618]

@@sam8404 Clearly you dont have a clue about war and death in war. I wont waste time trying to convince you otherwise. You seem to be the essence of a "fanboy".

[@sam8404]

@@jammer3618 calm down you manchild, get off your high horse. Guns/tanks don't kill people, people kill people.

[@TorianTammas]

@@sam8404 I noticed that one loses any sense of objectivity as a fan and idolizes the object of affection. A typical example is that the idolized object can do no wrong.

[@zacshirley6917]

I have always had an interest in tiger 131 such a great piece of kit

[@1337fraggzb00N]

This is an amazing story. Greetings from Germany 🙂

[@robertharper3754]

I LOVE these videos!!!! Thank you so much for sharing these parts of history!!! Thank you for keeping this part of history alive!!!!

[@mycroft1905]

Most interesting video; thanks for posting. 5:20 "... what my father was later told was a French 75..." Newspaper pic shows 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 at 7:32 (I think). The '97' in '97/38 standing for 1897, the year the design was first manufactured in France. So thrice captured; fascinating detail.

[@f12mnb]

This is great. It also reminds everyone that when looking at history - try to go to original documents and sources whenever possible.

[@saslovskykoslov]

I do like how Kate Adie explained the story in this video, she did a great job on doing this. I especially enjoyed building the tank from Cobi. that you could bring a smaller model of the actual tank home with you. it's great to hear new evidence of this well-known tank. just wish the kubinka tank museum that houses the only karl gerat heavy mortar would do something like this. dose anyone agree with me on that?

[@gilanbarona9814]

This is a similar story to that of who actually shot down the Red Baron in WW1. Regardless, every warrior who has ever fought honourably in any war deserves our respect. Thank you, Tank Museum, for being part of the effort to honour them.

[@belyiah]

damn kate, you have that smoothing voice that feels like knife pulled from its holster, calm but clearly lets you know that if you dont pay attention, you gonna get cut. love the video =)

[@SheriffofYouTube]

14:00 nobody runs off a battlefield. kids... SAY NO TO WAR look at all that scrap metal GREAT VIDEO amazing museum

[@daveybyrden3936]

At 00:10, the narrator says: "it was the first Tiger to be captured intact." In fact the Russians already had two Tigers captured intact, three months beforehand. They were numbered 100 and 121. Subsequently the Russians used 121 for firing tests, and displayed 100 in Moscow.

[@heldk7357]

Don't rain on the Brit bias its all they got :)

[@aidanmatthews1175]

She said it was the first tiger captured by the western allies intact

[@vasopel]

@@aidanmatthews1175 yes she said that at 1:12

[@dyu8184]

@@heldk7357 Well I guess saying "Western Allies" doesn't meant anything. Apparently the Soviet Union is part of the West in your bias.

[@daveybyrden3936]

@@dyu8184 When I wrote "00:10", I was referring to the point 00 minutes and 10 seconds into the video.

[@Spartan902]

They really are a behemoth! Still my favorite tank of all time. Being a commander of a Tiger 1 in WW2 would of made you feel like a god. This tank lives on in my garage in WOT-B. It's amazing what our memories can do when we believe something to be real. Can I please come and work on the tanks!

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Seriously though, this account shows the importance of oral history. Much of the history we take stock in is written accounts - written accounts are seldom seriously challenged by anything other than subsequent written accounts. I'm glad things are changing but I do wish it would've happened ten to twenty years earlier as we've lost a lot of the veterans of the Second World War.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

@Gus Goose I don't mean to put you out, but I don't think that's applicable in this case, since both 'won' - if anything this is more of a 'those who wish to write the history books write the history books'. Additionally, I find the saying itself to be flawed - it'd be much more accurate to say that 'the survivors write the history books' because in two prominent examples - the American Civil War and the Second World War - the official historiography was written heavily by the losers. The American Civil War was eventually rewritten within the American popular memory in the early 20th century by the history movement known as 'Lost-Cause revisionism' in which the children of Confederate veterans largely wrote their parent's stories in an attempt to reframe the confederate cause as heroic and just, if doomed - it's only very recently that this has lost favor with the everyday American in the popular historiography. Additionally, the West's narrative of the Second World War - particularly as it pertains to the war in the East - was heavily influenced by German generals such as Manstein and Halder. Manstein wrote an influential memoir while awaiting trial (I believe he was executed if I'm not mistaken) and his was part of a whole genre of 'nazi memoirs' which fascinated the Western public - almost morbidly so - this is the same sort of fascination which had people campaigning for Speer's early release. Halder actually became the US Army's official historian of the conflict. Since the Iron Curtain had descended, there was little counter-claims and criticism coming from the Soviet Union and so the German accounts (until the renaissance in the early 1990's with the Russian archives opening to Western historians) held a virtual monopoly on the history of the Eastern Front - in fact we call it 'The Eastern Front' mostly because that's what the Germans called it. The Ostfront. These are examples of the 'losers' writing the histories so I've had a hard time reconciling the saying with reality.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

This likewise extends to the Mediterranean theater - in the dealings of the Italians and the Germans, the West almost completely came to rely on the German side of things and almost unconsciously disregarded the Italians - for quite a few reasons I wont digress into - this led to the conception of the Italians - well, as we regard the Italians in the war as the Germans used them as scapegoats for their own failures. Blaming things on them which, when put up to scrutiny, appear much more nuanced. One example would be that the Italian snafu in Greece holding back the Germans, and thus it is their fault that Barbarossa failed since they could not complete the offensive before winter. This view neglects to mention that the weather itself - the Rasputitsa - held back the Germans to a considerable degree. Much more-so than the Italian misadventure in Greece. This also ignores that being able to capture Moscow may have been a false victory that would not have led to Soviet capitulation (interestingly, the 'if we only captured Moscow!' view is another trumpeted by the German Generals when even Hitler knew the real prize was the oil held in the South) and it also ignores that part of the blame for the poor timing of the Italian campaign was the fault of the Germans themselves, as they neglected to communicate effectively with the Italians and both sides were generally mistrustful of the other. In this instance, it was not only that the 'Losers' wrote the history, it's that their views were accepted even over other 'winners' in this case Italy. In fact, the junior European allies of the Axis were almost universally disregarded until recently. Simply because nobody outside of the region seemed to care much to challenge the traditional German view.

[@inisipisTV]

@Gus Goose “History is written by the victors” is a lazy argument that is usually deployed in the absence of historical evidence to defend claims about the past.

[@geraldjohnson4013]

@@fuzzydunlop7928 the lost cause narrative of the Civil War is nauseating especially since I have ancestors from both of my parents sides who were escaped slaves who fought for the Union. One of them was killed during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. World War II has so many variables it's uncanny. Folks are still finding out about stuff that happened during the war. My father told me about what went on during his WWII service. He was a tanker with the 761st Tank Battalion. They too went up against Tiger Tanks. I remember my father telling me that he saw a Tiger Tank blow up two Sherman Tanks with one blast. And like other tankers he said hitting it was like throwing oranges at it unless the Sherman went for the engine in the back.

[@gunner678]

Fascinating......history is amazing, a true detective story. This is normal with regimental historical records.Thousands of stories exist, that lay unread unless someone picks up the accounts and reads them. There are so many stories, so many heroes, here is one!

[@full_metal2452]

Their large repair kit must have been on cool down 😉

[@st4r658]

*WE DIDINT EVEN SCRATCH EM*

[@alluraambrose2978]

I can really appreciate these calm and collected British documentaries, so refreshing.

[@requen]

A great addition to the story details! Although it raises another question, what happened to the tiger 1 captured at Djebel Djaffa? or was there no evidence beyond the war diary that one was captured?

[@jasonirwin4631]

There was probably a mistake on exactly what was captured. Possibly a panzer 3 or 4 misidentified as a tiger.

[@razor1uk610]

@@jasonirwin4631 Or the for that weeks mini-campaign of battles, Djebel was the nearest main location compared to Hill 174, and so someone remembering where they was specifically looking at a non-wartime map years later after the maelstrom of combat, would more likely spot Djebel from their memories - IMHO.

[@daveybyrden3936]

That's a really important question. At the moment, it looks like the Djebel Jaffa Tiger is "712" which is in the USA. But we have inconclusive evidence.

[@geraldjohnson4013]

@@jasonirwin4631 the Panzer IV and Tiger I have uncannily similar silhouettes especially since the former was eventually fitted with a longer 75mm gun.

[@darrenchard2221]

Amazing how after all this time new information has the potential to change what was fact, well done everyone involved in piecing it all together.

[@HRHtheDude]

Kate Adie now? Tanks going up in the world!

[@thetankmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thetankmuseum]

You may also like our Tank Chat on Tiger 131 kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip27q3drrtp9gbM

[@HRHtheDude]

@@thetankmuseum I think I have seen them all a couple of times :) Keep them coming and I'll keep watching! Cheers!

[@simonwhite8474]

Please never stop researching. The stories are the best thing about the tank museum.

[@thetankmuseum]

Thanks Simon, really nice to hear you're enjoying what we do. If you haven't already, you can support us on Patreon www.patreon.com/tankmuseum Thanks again

[@WednesdayAddamsMW]

0:29 I actually have Tiger 131. My collection wasn't complete until I got it.

[@paganarh]

love the closing speech, cheers!

[@gfodale]

To the tank museum video editors. You put noise (some low music) in the intro and outro sequence, which makes the persons who are talking difficult to impossible to understand. Especially when some of our ears don't work so well due to rifles, aircraft, etc. Please correct this practice.

[@mcfontaine]

What a fantastic piece of research. Well done and thank you.

[@CloneDAnon]

The very FIRST Tiger tank of WW2 was captured in January of 1943 near Leningrad almost half a year earlier.

[@alexalexin9491]

those nazi sympathizers don't know sh*t about history.

[@brandoncallahan9289]

Not quite sure how that makes them Nazi sympathizers. If anything, it would make them allied/Democratic sympathizers for saying Western allied captured it instead of the Communists.

[@thatrabidpotato8800]

Well good thing they specify this one was the first capped by the Western Allies.

[@davieturner339]

Fantastic video, great to see Kate Adie presenting as well, lovely surprise. While the original story may have been in error, it takes nothing away from the experiences of anyone involved. Too quality work.

[@thetankmuseum]

Thanks Davie, we always like to hear that our audience is enjoying our content. Have you watched our Tiger 131 Tank Chat? kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip27q3drrtp9gbM and if you haven't already, you may wish to support us on Patreon www.patreon.com/tankmuseum

[@misterthegeoff9767]

Holy Crap they sent Kate Adie to Bovington. I hope everyone there is OK, usually places Kate Adie visits end up on fire or riddled with bullet holes.

[@andrewfischer8564]

as an american i never heard of her. in looking her up i can see she is a woman of great character

[@lorrinbarth1969]

So true and so funny!

[@hicknopunk]

The 131 was already fired at....does that count?

[@langrichar]

KATE WAS SHOT IN THE ELBOW ON TIANANMEN SQUARE DURING THE 1989 MASSACRE , A 30 YEAR 'D' NOTICE (PRESS GAGGING ORDER) WAS PUT ON IT . (FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND A FREE PRESS BRITISH STYLE) , THE ESCAPING CREW HAD PULLED A WOMAN INTO THE VEHICLE WHO PROMPTLY DIED AS A LARGE PART OF SKULL WAS MISSING WITH BRAIN EXPOSED . READ HER BOOK 'A KINDNESS OF STRANGERS' . IT'S ALL IN THERE , A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READ . BY THE WAY , TIANANMEN MEANS 'GATEWAY TO HEAVEN' , OH THE IRONY .

[@danguaradianjudges6431]

Fab video, awesome details thanks all and keep up the good work. Looking forward to Tankfest this year 😍

[@thetankmuseum]

Thanks Dan, it's good to hear that you enjoyed this one. Have you seen our Tank Chat on Tiger 131? kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip27q3drrtp9gbM

[@JohnMorley1]

The Churchill was a good tank. Imagine bailing out with only minor injuries after being hit with an 88.

[@kevkfz5226]

Fantastic, full length to doc pls. Very lucky to have this content for free.

[@Shrike200]

"At the end, we should always remember it was a killing machine...." *insert "You're goddamn right!" Breaking Bad meme*

[@Beartracks777]

My Grandfather was in france in WW2. My Dad was Vietnam Vet . 1966-67. With the 11th Armored Cavalry. Excellent story.

[@classicforreal]

"You can even play it in a video game" you mean when Wargaming got really late to Tankfest, got really lazy, copy-pasta'd the Heavy Tank No. 6 folder but changed it to tan, then in classic Wargaming fashion called it a day?

[@Daniel-S1]

Thanks + I remember seeing Kate Adie in London at the victory flypast in London (somewhere near Mansion House tube station?).

[@user-jv8yu7ld7b]

Where can I get a hold of that book from Haines formatted in the car repair format for the Tiger tank I've absolutely got to acquire one this is the dream of my life I really want to get that book anyone that knows how and where I can get my hands on one and how much it'll cost me please reply

[@thetankmuseum]

Hi Jeff, is this the one you were after? tankmuseumshop.org/collections/haynes-tank-owners-workshop-manuals/products/haynes-tiger-tank-owners-workshop-manual

[@stewartellinson8846]

Excellent research, fascinating story, excellent film, - well done tank museum, yet again.

[@Caratacus1]

OMG it's Kate Adie

[@HiTechOilCo]

"OMG"? Only Monday golfing? Oh my girlfriend? Ostrich meat grilling? What is this code?

[@MrToxicSkittle]

Excellent detective work by Mr. Oscroft. It is always important to be open and objective when new information arises, so that it can assessed and pieced together with other information, for us to have the best possible insight into how the events transpired. Excited that this information was not lost with the passing of his father. Had it not been for him telling the story to his son, we might never have known about the actual capture location of 131. Thank you for all of your recent videos as well. Keep up the good work with your videos during these trying times, they are given an excellent insight into the museum and the history of the tank.

[@donjonson1748]

Unbelievable, there's a little breakdown in the desert. When you start getting the breakdown service, the British picks the vehicle. Damn car thieves. Bring it back! Or we throw you out of the EU.

[@LordInter]

Yhe UK couldn't get kicked out it has a veto and controls too much of it (oh the irony) lol

[@MothaLuva]

Lord Inter Who cares about your veto. Start driving on the correct sides of roads. And stop digging tunnels from your Island.

[@MothaLuva]

Don Jonson Probably working too much with the Polish 😂

[@Tanquista120]

Could watch hours and hours of your videos and it woulnt be enough, What a story!

[@supertorte1410]

maybe their are more information about the tank in german documents

[@Pau_Pau9]

Wow, great comment from Dale at the end!

[@g-man6343]

A shame that the working Panther won't be at Tiger day 11.

[@boxhawk5070]

What a fantastic way to bring history alive!

[@Marcus-eb2vn]

The most beautiful tank to ever exist.

[@chadjustice8560]

It's a box with a gun

[@soupdiver6855]

One Inactive Boi no all German tanks

[@snonsig2688]

@@chadjustice8560 exactly

[@mladtheimpaler]

It's pretty ugly on the inside though

[@tisFrancesfault]

@@mladtheimpaler Every tank is ugly on the inside.

[@Bajicoy]

Thanks for the great presentation of the story!

[@thetankmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed!