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00:00I
00:30Although it seems commonplace in the armies of today, the tank is a surprisingly new invention.
00:48They first saw action less than a century ago during the First World War.
01:00But it was in the maelstrom of World War II that this devastating invention was to find its destiny, as the biggest tank battles of history raged.
01:14Tanks came of age in the Second World War. They also developed quicker and changed more in a short six-year period than at any time before or since.
01:24The catalyst was the demands of a technological war.
01:33Like Darwin's theory of evolution gone mad, World War II accelerated the pace of design.
01:40Fast responses to a constantly changing situation were urgently needed, and new designs had to be engineered, tested, and built in an incredibly short timescale.
01:51The average car takes ten years to design, develop, and manufacture.
01:57In World War II, new designs were being produced in as many months.
02:02The great leap in tank design was even more astonishing, given the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles imposed on the defeated Germans by the Allies after World War I.
02:12It was designed to prevent Germany developing a tank capability.
02:18In 1936, only three years before the outbreak of World War II, Germany was heavily reliant on the small and ineffective Panzer I.
02:37It was little bigger than a modern family saloon car, but in 1939, 1,200 were in front-line service, and they formed the bulk of Germany's tank forces.
02:48The Panzer I is really hardly worth considering as a fighting tank.
02:54It was designed originally for training.
02:55It just had a couple of machine guns in its turret, and apart from reconnaissance, you wouldn't dare send it out against other tanks.
03:02The majority of them were therefore converted to the sort of command tank role.
03:06And the purpose of a command tank is really just to provide transport for a battalion commander in the field.
03:12In other words, he can go out with his troops in their tanks, he can keep contact with them on the radio,
03:17but he's in a vehicle that will match theirs across country and gives him roughly the same sort of protection.
03:23The thing's fitted with a machine gun if he really gets into a sticky situation.
03:26But he's not meant to be fighting.
03:27He's meant to be keeping an eye on the situation and an ear and commanding his troops in action.
03:32In the space of three short years, German tank technology would progress from the lightweight and inefficient Panzer I
03:42to the mighty Panzer VI, the Tiger, the most complete fighting vehicle of the war.
03:49As an example of evolution, the transformation from the Panzer I to this made the animal kingdom look positively static.
03:56Adolf Hitler was the man who provided the impetus to develop the tanks of Germany's Wehrmacht.
04:05Hitler was a gambler, and he gambled upon bluffing his enemies into believing his tank forces were far stronger than they actually were.
04:13When Hitler precipitated the Second World War with his invasion of Poland in 1939,
04:22his tank forces were questionable at best,
04:25but the gamble succeeded by the application of a new tactical doctrine.
04:31Blitzkrieg.
04:33Championed by General Heinz Guderian.
04:36Against Poland, the German command discovered a number of things which were very important.
04:40A, they didn't have the right kind of tanks.
04:43Mark 1s and Mark 2s were undergunned,
04:46and the second thing they discovered was you can let the tanks run as fast as you like.
04:51I think 7 Panzer Division covered about 140 miles in a week,
04:56but it runs out of fuel, so what are you going to do about that?
04:58And also tanks need maintenance.
05:02The other thing they discovered was that their artillery,
05:05the artillery support was horse-drawn.
05:07Well, obviously, the rate of advance between a horse and a tank is rather different.
05:11The other thing they discovered was that their motorized division was really much, much too cumbersome.
05:16So the Germans learned a great deal from Poland,
05:19and the final lesson they learned was this,
05:21do not use tanks in a city.
05:22At the end of the 19th century, when he proposed his theory of evolution,
05:28Charles Darwin noted that there were many branches which led to unsuccessful species,
05:33and hence to extinction.
05:35Of course, Darwin was talking about animals,
05:37but tanks, it would seem, followed exactly the same rules.
05:41In 1939, it was understood that tanks in the coming war
05:46would need to be able to deal with two kinds of different situations.
05:51The first was tank versus tank actions.
06:04Tanks are designed to survive explosions,
06:07even very close or directly upon the vehicle.
06:09Faced with the armor of a tank,
06:13explosive power alone is of little value.
06:16To destroy a tank,
06:18it is necessary to fire a shell fast enough
06:20to penetrate the hull and kill the men inside.
06:26Provided the target was close enough,
06:28the armor of most tanks of 1939 and 1940 vintage
06:32could be penetrated by relatively small caliber anti-tank weapons,
06:36such as the 50mm gun which equipped these Panzer IIIs.
06:40But armor-piercing weapons were only useful in combat against other tanks.
06:48In action against inventory in buildings and artillery targets,
06:52tanks needed to fire a high-explosive round
06:55to kill the unprotected men and disable the guns.
06:58The velocity, the speed of the shell, was relatively unimportant.
07:05But the bigger the shell, the bigger the explosion.
07:08So large caliber guns were preferable.
07:11In this rare piece of footage,
07:14we can see how slowly high-explosive shells actually traveled.
07:19In slow motion, we can clearly see the shell
07:21leaving this German self-propelled gun
07:23as it flies towards its target.
07:26The explosion is no less impressive
07:28for the slow speed of the projectile.
07:30To achieve this destructive power
07:34and a tank-killing capability,
07:37a balanced tank force needed a mix
07:39of both anti-tank and high-explosive capability.
07:42In the opposing armies of 1939,
07:45two different solutions were found.
07:52The Germans developed two separate types of tanks,
07:56each specialized for a particular job.
07:58The first were the tank killers,
08:01equipped with a high-velocity anti-tank gun
08:03with a longer barrel of smaller caliber.
08:07Most of the Panzer 3s of 1939
08:09were mainly equipped with this gun,
08:12designed to deal with enemy tanks.
08:15All of the heavier Panzer 4s
08:17and even some Panzer 3s
08:19were designed as infantry support tanks.
08:22They were equipped with a short-barreled gun
08:23of higher caliber,
08:25ideal for firing high explosives.
08:28The Panzer 4,
08:30when it first arrived in North Africa,
08:32and the Panzer 3 latterly,
08:33had a short 75-millimeter gun in the turret.
08:36This gun was designed to fire high explosive
08:38and it therefore served in what's known
08:40as the close support role.
08:41That means the tank stays close to the infantry
08:43and uses the gun
08:45to deal with the kind of opposition
08:46they've got to face,
08:47machine gun positions,
08:48block houses and light artillery.
08:50It is not really to be judged
08:52as an anti-tank weapon
08:53in the same way
08:55as, say, the British two-pounder
08:56or the American 75.
08:58However, it had an anti-tank round
09:00which was immensely effective.
09:02But it's a question really
09:03of the use a tank is meant to be put to.
09:06And this tank was designed specifically
09:08to deal with those targets
09:10that the high-velocity anti-tank gun
09:12can't cope with.
09:13In contrast to the Germans
09:16who had two types of tanks,
09:18one solution tried by the armies
09:20of both France, America and Russia
09:22was to house two types of gun
09:24in the same tank.
09:26This produced the massive multi-turreted tanks
09:29like the Char B and the Le Grand tank.
09:32The dual turret idea was a failure,
09:35an evolutionary blind alley
09:36which was cruelly exposed on the battlefield.
09:39The two turrets made the tank difficult to operate.
09:43It was impossible to coordinate the guns
09:45and the sheer size of the machines
09:47presented a huge target
09:49that was difficult to miss.
09:51With the figure of her commander
09:53perched some 15 feet above the ground,
09:56it is easy to see why this Le Grant
09:58could not be successfully hidden
10:00on the battlefield.
10:02The main gun on the General Grant
10:03is a 75mm weapon
10:05which not only fires solid armour-piercing shot
10:08but can also fire high-explosive rounds.
10:10And this was the answer
10:11to Rommel's tactics of mixing tanks and anti-tank guns.
10:14You've got solid shot
10:15for dealing with the enemy tanks
10:17and you can fire high-explosive rounds
10:18and lob them near to the enemy anti-tank gun
10:21which would disable the crew
10:22or put them off their stroke for a while.
10:24The disadvantage on this particular tank design
10:27is that the main gun is down here in the hull.
10:29You can see there's a conventional anti-tank gun in it
10:32but this is the gun that does the business
10:34and having it low down in the hull
10:35is a handicap
10:36when we come to talk about the hull-down position.
10:39In other words, you're using ground
10:41to hide the body of the tank
10:42and just fighting the gun looking over the ridge.
10:45It is quite clear from the height of this tank
10:47and the position of this gun
10:48that there'll be a lot of tanks sticking up in the air
10:50when it's trying to hide behind a ridge
10:52and shell an enemy position.
10:53So, from a pure design point of view
10:56this is not the best place to put a tank's gun.
11:01Compare the large and ungainly ground
11:04with the sleek form of this late-war German tank killer
11:07and the advantages soon become apparent.
11:10A low silhouette which presented a squat target
11:13was difficult to hit
11:14and sloping armour deflected shots away from the vehicle.
11:17As the war progressed
11:21the same course was ultimately adopted by all sides
11:25which was to combine both an anti-tank capability
11:27and an infantry support role in one vehicle
11:30by mounting the largest possible high-velocity gun.
11:34The larger calibre effectively gave it
11:37a good high-explosive firing capability
11:39as well as a deadly killing power against other tanks.
11:43In the Polish campaign of September 1939
11:49the German generals would have loved
11:51to have such excellent tanks.
11:54Nonetheless, they were still able to provide
11:56a quick and complete victory for Hitler
11:58despite extreme reservations
12:00about the suitability of the available tank designs
12:03and the limitations of the new tactics.
12:07Guderian was prepared to stick his neck out
12:10for the tank and the blitzkrieg
12:11against very considerable opposition
12:13and it's very important to realise
12:15that the tank wasn't readily adopted
12:17the idea of the blitzkrieg
12:19wasn't taken to the bosom of the German high command
12:22quite the contrary
12:23and therefore Guderian really had to push it very hard indeed
12:26and became, of course, in the course of the Second World War
12:29if you like, the master of the German tank arm
12:34and saw it through its early trials
12:36and into most of its major successes
12:39and its decline as well.
12:43Despite the concerns of the generals
12:45Hitler had triumphed in Poland.
12:48Now his gambling instincts ran unchecked.
12:55Hitler turned his attentions to the invasion of France
12:58and his generals grew nervous.
13:01They knew that this time
13:02there would surely be no repeat of the easy victory won in Poland.
13:08Hitler's combination of political brinkmanship
13:11and calculated gambles
13:13had disguised the fact that the German army at this time
13:16could deploy only 2,000 tanks.
13:19The British and French
13:20could count on 4,500.
13:26Not only were their numbers inferior
13:28but many of the tanks deployed by the Germans
13:31were of limited fighting value.
13:34As we have seen
13:35one of the main offenders in this respect
13:37was the tiny Panzer 1 light tank.
13:41Seen here in Bovington
13:43this machine still bears the evidence
13:45of the shells fired through the hull
13:47which disabled it.
13:48The ease with which the thin armour
13:50of the Panzer 1 could be penetrated
13:52had been cruelly exposed in Poland
13:54but some 520 machines
13:57still had to be engaged
13:59for the coming invasion of France.
14:01There was simply no alternative.
14:06Of far greater military value
14:08was the Panzer 4
14:09then one of the best tanks in the world.
14:15But in 1940
14:16only 200 of these machines were available
14:19which meant that the best
14:21and most heavily armoured tank
14:23available to the Wehrmacht
14:24accounted for less than 10%
14:26of the tank force.
14:29It was an oversight
14:31which could potentially
14:32have been disastrous
14:33as throughout its long career
14:35the Panzer 4
14:36was to prove a remarkably
14:38versatile design.
14:41There were those who say
14:42that if the Germans
14:43had stuck to the Panzer 4
14:45and built large numbers of them
14:47they'd done a lot better
14:48than messing about with tanks
14:49like the Tigers and Panthers.
14:51The reason is that
14:52this was a superb
14:53all-round design.
14:54It was in service
14:55when the war broke out
14:56it was still
14:57an effective front-line tank
14:58at the end.
14:59And the reason is
15:01that the Germans built
15:02expandability into the design.
15:05Its armour thickness
15:05increases two or three times
15:07over the wartime period
15:08and that does not affect
15:10the tank's performance at all
15:11although it's getting heavier.
15:12And the gun
15:13although it doesn't increase
15:14in calibre
15:15certainly increases in size
15:17from a short-barrelled 75
15:18to this long 75
15:20which enabled it
15:21to keep pace
15:22with developments
15:23on the other side.
15:25In other words
15:25we would come up with tanks
15:27like the Cromwell
15:28and the Sherman
15:29by upgunning the Panzer 4
15:31the Germans kept pace with us
15:33and in some ways
15:33were that bit ahead of us.
15:35And it probably would have
15:36suited them better
15:36to have large numbers
15:38of these things in the field
15:39than mess about
15:40with the heavy tanks
15:41which for all their other virtues
15:42were considerable liability
15:44on the maintenance front.
15:48Taken together
15:49with the Mark 3 and 4
15:50the German tank force
15:52on the eve
15:53of the decisive battle
15:54in France
15:54deployed 500 Panzer 1s
15:571,000 Panzer 2s
15:59350 Panzer 3s
16:02200 Panzer 4s
16:04and 400 of the
16:05Czech manufactured
16:06Panzer 38Ts.
16:08This very high proportion
16:15of light tanks
16:16would have proved
16:17hopelessly inadequate
16:18later in the war
16:19but in 1940
16:20evolutionary forces
16:22had not yet begun to work
16:24and the light tanks
16:25were still capable
16:26of doing the job
16:27but only just.
16:29But as the history books testify
16:31Hitler was to triumph
16:33as completely in France
16:35as he had done in Poland.
16:36He did so for two reasons.
16:41Firstly
16:41there were the poor
16:42French and British
16:43tank tactics.
16:45Although some pioneering work
16:46had been done in Britain
16:47it was the Germans
16:49who had developed
16:49blitzkrieg
16:50to its fullest extent
16:51with the help
16:52of their future adversary
16:54the Russians.
16:56As the Germans
16:56began to be very well aware
16:59it was the Red Army
17:00under Tukachevsky
17:01under Chalebsky
17:02and others
17:02who were developing
17:03the theory
17:04of what is called
17:04deep battle.
17:05In other words
17:07operations for deep penetration
17:08using a combination
17:10of tank troops
17:11and airborne troops
17:12and if you like
17:13motorized infantry.
17:16So I think it's
17:17a little unfair
17:18to ascribe all of this
17:20to Little Hart
17:21and to Fuller.
17:21It was in many respects
17:23the practical experience
17:25which the Germans
17:26acquired in Russia
17:28which I would regard
17:29as being perhaps
17:30the most decisive
17:30and even more important
17:32Russians at the same time
17:33were working out
17:34very very complex
17:36theoretical backgrounds
17:37to this.
17:38So there was a coincidence
17:39if you like
17:40of the German interest
17:41and commitment
17:42and Soviet practice.
17:45One other significant factor
17:47which led to the German
17:48victory in 1940
17:49was that the superior
17:51French tanks
17:52were distributed
17:53in small contingents
17:54throughout the army.
17:55The German tanks
17:59on the other hand
18:00were concentrated together
18:02in the new
18:02panzer divisions
18:03superbly led
18:05by able commanders.
18:07The combination
18:08of efficient battlefield
18:09tactics
18:10and inspired leadership
18:12made the difference
18:13for Hitler
18:13but it served
18:15to disguise
18:15the many weaknesses
18:16which existed
18:17in the tank designs
18:18themselves.
18:23By the time
18:24these flaws
18:25were discovered
18:25mercifully
18:26for the rest
18:27of humanity
18:28it would be too late.
18:31The German army
18:31in 3940
18:33was not particularly
18:34more mechanized
18:35than say
18:36the French army
18:37but they made
18:38great use of
18:39being able to
18:39concentrate their forces.
18:41Much of the logistics
18:43was horse drawn.
18:44They could range
18:44far and wide
18:45but whenever they had
18:46to move their bases
18:47forward
18:47much of their supplies
18:49including the fuel
18:50had to come in
18:50by horse.
18:52The result is
18:52that the pace
18:54of their ability
18:54to move their operations
18:55eastward
18:56was much diminished.
18:58During 1941
19:00the real weaknesses
19:01of the German tank
19:02designs
19:03were still not discovered.
19:05Several false conclusions
19:06were drawn
19:07from the conquest
19:08of the Balkans
19:08and Greece.
19:10These easy victories
19:12supported the continued
19:13German belief
19:14that their tanks
19:15were the best
19:15in the world.
19:16Although the design work
19:18that was to lead
19:19to the Tiger
19:19had begun
19:20there was little
19:21real urgency.
19:24Up to the summer
19:25of 1941
19:26Germany's main adversary
19:28had been Britain
19:29and British tank design
19:31lagged behind Germany's.
19:33In the North African campaign
19:34the poor performance
19:36of the British
19:36Crusader tanks
19:37only gave fresh support
19:39to the German view
19:40that the Panzer 3 and 4s
19:42were at least equal
19:43to anything
19:44the Allies
19:44could throw at them.
19:46The Crusader
19:47was particularly
19:47badly designed
19:49and it was plagued
19:50by a host
19:51of mechanical failures.
19:53Eventually
19:53the British army
19:55lost faith
19:55in their own tanks
19:56altogether
19:57and in 1943
19:59when the victorious
20:00British and American
20:01forces
20:02embarked from Africa
20:03for the invasion
20:04of Italy
20:04all of the British
20:06tanks were left behind.
20:07The Crusader
20:09is arguably
20:10one of the worst
20:11tanks Britain
20:11ever produced.
20:13It was a cruiser tank
20:14that means
20:14it was designed
20:15to travel fast
20:16and relied on its speed
20:17far rather than
20:18its armour thickness
20:19for protection.
20:20The drawback was
20:21it was also
20:21chronically unreliable
20:23and breakdowns
20:24became almost endemic.
20:26I am quite convinced
20:27that one of the reasons
20:28the British army
20:29only took American tanks
20:31to Italy
20:32in 1943
20:33was that the standard
20:35of reliability
20:35of the British machines
20:37they used in the desert
20:38particularly
20:38as personified
20:39by the Crusader
20:40had really actually
20:41put them off
20:42and therefore
20:43tanks like the Grant
20:45that we've seen
20:45and the Sherman
20:46which followed it
20:47were reliable
20:49and therefore
20:50far more acceptable
20:51to British troops.
20:53Despite the limitations
20:55of machines
20:56like the Crusader
20:57in North Africa
20:58the signs were there
20:59of the dangerous flaws
21:01in Germany's tank capability.
21:03In the relative
21:04backwater of the
21:05Desert War
21:06even the unspectacular
21:08British Matilda tank
21:09was considered
21:10a success
21:11against the Italian forces
21:12and frequently held
21:14its own
21:14against the Germans.
21:16The gun on the Matilda
21:18which is typical
21:18of most tanks
21:19of this period
21:20is the two-pounder
21:21a 40mm weapon
21:23but it only fired
21:24solid shot
21:25in other words
21:25it was only any use
21:26firing against enemy tanks.
21:28This was fine
21:29under those circumstances
21:30but once the Germans
21:31came to the desert
21:32and started mixing
21:34tanks and anti-tank guns
21:35in the attack
21:36you needed a dual-purpose gun
21:38something that not only
21:39fired solid shot
21:40to take out enemy tanks
21:41but could also fire
21:42high explosive shells
21:43and that sort of advantage
21:45comes in at last
21:47when we get the American tanks over
21:48notably the General Grant.
21:50Once again
21:51superior German battlefield tactics
21:54were overcoming
21:55the limitations
21:55of her armoured forces
21:57but these successes
21:58also reinforced
22:00a leisurely attitude
22:01towards the development
22:02of new types.
22:04In 1941
22:05the evolution
22:06of German tank design
22:08was proceeding
22:08much too slowly
22:09and it was to have
22:11deadly consequences
22:12from which Germany
22:13would never recover.
22:16The shock
22:16was to be delivered
22:17in Russia.
22:23When Hitler
22:24ordered the conquest
22:25of Russia
22:26in the summer
22:26of 1941
22:27confidence among
22:29the panzer force
22:30was at an all-time high.
22:32The desert war
22:32was progressing well
22:33and the German tactics
22:35of mixing tank
22:36and anti-tank forces
22:37together
22:37concealed the deficiencies
22:39in tank design
22:40from the Germans
22:41themselves.
22:43Despite the
22:44understandable cockiness
22:45of the German
22:46high command
22:46a few lessons
22:48from earlier campaigns
22:49had been absorbed
22:50and the make-up
22:51of the tank force
22:52which shook Stalin
22:53to the core
22:54had a much higher
22:55proportion of the
22:56heavier Mark 3
22:57and 4 tanks
22:58instead of the
22:59lightweight
23:00Panzer 1 and 2s.
23:02This trend
23:03illustrated the steadily
23:04increasing reliance
23:06on heavier armour
23:07which was to continue
23:08throughout the war.
23:11It was just as well
23:12because the Wehrmacht
23:13was about to meet
23:15with a very nasty surprise.
23:17After a few weeks
23:19of the campaign
23:20in which the German armour
23:21had faced only
23:22obsolete Russian tanks
23:24such as the lumbering
23:25T-28
23:26and the outdated
23:27BT-7
23:28the German forces
23:30suddenly encountered
23:31two of the new
23:32Russian tanks
23:33which were to change
23:34the course of the war.
23:39The first
23:40was the heavy
23:40KV-1
23:41a 46 ton monster
23:43with superior
23:44heavy armour
23:45and a vicious
23:4676 millimetre gun
23:47capable of destroying
23:49any German tank
23:50from most ranges
23:51on the battlefield.
23:53In 1941
23:54it was a deadly
23:55adversary.
23:58The Soviet KV-1
23:59is a fine example
24:00of a tank made
24:01for specific conditions.
24:03Broad tracks
24:04for dealing with mud
24:05and snow
24:05and a diesel engine
24:06for operating
24:07in the coldest
24:08possible weather.
24:10In 1941
24:10when it first appeared
24:12it was a superb design
24:13and absolutely dominated
24:14the battlefield
24:15but by the time
24:16Kursk came
24:17it was beginning
24:18to get outclassed.
24:20The Tigers
24:20and the Panthers
24:21with their thicker armour
24:22and enormous guns
24:23could take it out
24:24at ranges beyond
24:25which it simply
24:25couldn't fight back.
24:27The other
24:28unpleasant surprise
24:29for Germans
24:30was the arrival
24:31of the T-34
24:32a medium tank
24:34far better armed
24:35and equipped
24:36than the German
24:36Mark IV.
24:38It was also
24:38better equipped
24:39to deal with
24:39the extreme
24:40Russian weather conditions.
24:41Its wide tracks
24:43made it equally
24:44at home
24:44in the dry
24:45in mud
24:46or in snow.
24:48In addition
24:48the sloping armour
24:49presented an angled
24:51front to German fire
24:52designed to cause
24:53shells to glance
24:54off the armour.
24:57The T-34
24:58was to become
24:59the real nemesis
25:00of the German army.
25:02It was built
25:02for mass assembly
25:03and the crude
25:04welding lines
25:05can be clearly seen.
25:07It was no beauty
25:08but it was tough
25:09and it possessed
25:10a superb
25:11inbuilt ability
25:12to be upgraded.
25:15The T-34
25:16was probably
25:17one of the finest
25:17tank designs
25:18of the Second World War.
25:19You have for a start
25:20one of the first tanks
25:21to be fitted
25:22with sloped armour
25:23which in defensive
25:24terms is excellent.
25:26But the great thing
25:26about T-34
25:27was the way
25:28it was capable
25:29of improvement
25:29and I cannot illustrate
25:30it any better
25:31than by the guns here.
25:33When the T-34
25:34first appeared
25:35in service
25:35it was fitted
25:36with a 76mm gun
25:37and had a two-man crew
25:39in the turret.
25:40By 1944
25:41they had not only
25:43upgunned it
25:44to take an 85mm weapon
25:45they'd increased
25:47the turret size
25:48to enable it
25:49to take three men
25:50and that makes it
25:51a far more efficient
25:52tank on the battlefield.
25:53Nobody else
25:54achieved that
25:55throughout the war
25:56and that alone
25:57would single
25:58the T-34 out
25:59as one of the most
26:00outstanding tanks
26:00of all time.
26:03Although the Germans
26:05would devise
26:05better tanks
26:06they could never
26:07hope to compete
26:08in terms of
26:09the sheer numbers
26:10of T-34s.
26:16The T-34
26:18was the most
26:18prolific tank
26:19of the Second World War
26:21and when you consider
26:21that the Soviets
26:22achieved that
26:23and moved
26:24their tank
26:25producing facilities
26:26right across the country
26:27under German pressure
26:28it really is remarkable.
26:31Just inspect
26:32the tank closely
26:32and you'll see
26:33how crude it is.
26:35The workmanship
26:35would make
26:36the average British
26:36or American
26:37factory worker
26:38weep
26:38but that doesn't
26:40worry the Russians
26:40at all.
26:41They are out
26:41to produce
26:42as many crude,
26:44hard, tough
26:44fighting tanks
26:45as possible
26:46and in the T-34
26:47they achieved it.
26:48No doubt about that
26:49at all.
26:50It was by no means
26:51the best tank
26:52to emerge
26:52from World War II
26:53but it was more
26:54than adequate
26:55for the task
26:56and the huge numbers
26:57manufactured
26:58would ultimately
26:58tip the balance
26:59of the whole war.
27:02It was now
27:03almost too late
27:04that the German
27:05high command
27:05began to urgently
27:06request new tanks
27:07with superior armor
27:09and more effective guns
27:10to combat the KV-1
27:12and T-34.
27:15A new heavy tank
27:17was needed urgently
27:18but it wouldn't be available
27:19for at least a year.
27:22To compound matters
27:24mistaken assessments
27:25based on experience
27:26in France
27:27had led to even
27:28the heaviest German tank
27:29the Mark IV
27:30being equipped
27:31with short-barreled
27:3275mm guns.
27:35While Germany
27:36scrambled to produce
27:37their new heavy tanks
27:38the Mark IVs
27:40were urgently re-equipped
27:41with long-barreled
27:4275mm guns.
27:44Extra-welded steel skirts
27:46were also added
27:47as a defense
27:48against the new
27:49Russian hollow-charge weapons.
27:52Measures like these
27:53helped to keep up
27:54the momentum
27:55of the German advance
27:56in 1942
27:57but the panzer divisions
27:59were increasingly
27:59hard-pressed
28:00by the growing numbers
28:02of T-34s
28:03and KV-1s.
28:05What the Russians
28:06had tried to do
28:07was to bring in
28:08two new tanks
28:09the T-34
28:10which actually was
28:11the tank
28:12which had been tested
28:13in 1939
28:13and the rather heavier tank
28:15the Klimvoroshilov
28:16but it only produced
28:17about a thousand of each
28:20so therefore
28:20these T-34s
28:22were distributed
28:23in very small packets
28:25and remember
28:26the battlefront
28:27is about 2,000 miles long
28:29so what do you do
28:29with a thousand tanks?
28:31On the other hand
28:32it did come as
28:33an enormous shock
28:33the first time
28:34that the Germans
28:35encountered the T-34
28:36because the T-34s
28:37armour, mobility, speed
28:39and gun power
28:40was something
28:40they simply hadn't suspected
28:41and Guderian
28:43as you will remember
28:44actually
28:44in November 1941
28:46ran into a T-34 ambush
28:48and was completely destroyed
28:50the German units.
28:52It was then actually
28:52that the Germans
28:53began to realise
28:54they were up against
28:54something which
28:55they had not realised.
28:56in the German ranks
28:59it was felt
28:59that the deadly
29:0088mm anti-tank gun
29:02was the ideal weapon
29:04for the task
29:04of destroying
29:05the hauls
29:06of T-34s
29:07but the 88
29:08was originally designed
29:10as an anti-aircraft gun
29:11it was very large
29:13and not designed
29:14to be carried
29:14in the turret
29:15of a tank.
29:15what the Germans
29:19now needed
29:20was a tank
29:20big enough
29:21to house
29:22such a gun
29:22and well armoured
29:23enough
29:24to withstand
29:24the punishment
29:25which it would receive
29:26on the battlefield
29:27it would take time
29:29it would take time
29:30to develop
29:30such a machine
29:31and in 1941
29:33one stopgap measure
29:35was to increase
29:36the production
29:36of assault guns
29:37or turretless tanks
29:39this is a machine
29:41called a Sturmgeschutz
29:42it's basically
29:43a Panzer III chassis
29:44with the gun
29:45fitted into a superstructure
29:47rather than the turret
29:48there's two big advantages
29:49one it's quicker
29:50and cheaper to produce
29:51and secondly
29:51you can actually fit
29:52a far larger gun
29:54than you'd be able
29:54to fit into a turret
29:56on the same hull
29:57the disadvantage
29:58of course
29:59is that the thing
29:59cannot deal
30:00in open battle
30:01with its enemies
30:02like a tank can
30:02it can't swing
30:03a turret round
30:04to fire
30:04it's got to swing
30:05the whole vehicle round
30:06in 1941
30:08the puny 50mm gun
30:10was still the standard
30:12anti-tank armament
30:13for German tanks
30:14the experience
30:15of tank ace
30:16Hermann Bix
30:17was typical
30:18of the desperate
30:19straits
30:19many German tank
30:20commanders
30:21now found themselves in
30:22Bix saw a dozen
30:24of his shells
30:25bounce off this KV-1
30:26even at the closest ranges
30:28eventually
30:29he managed to silence
30:31the steel monster
30:32as it swung its turret
30:33to take aim against him
30:34by the expedient
30:35of a well-aimed shot
30:37deliberately fired
30:38through the barrel
30:39of his opponent's gun
30:40men like Bix
30:44were part of a new breed
30:46of German tank commanders
30:47who achieved incredible victories
30:49against superior
30:50Russian forces
30:51but these superior forces
30:53were now also armed
30:55with better equipment
30:56and a deadly race
30:57would develop
30:58between the Russian capacity
30:59to manufacture more tanks
31:00against the Germans
31:02ability to engineer
31:03better tanks
31:04although the German engineers
31:09would prove themselves winners
31:10they were let down
31:11by their manufacturing capacity
31:13the German war effort
31:15was being run inefficiently
31:16and by 1942
31:18Germany was being targeted
31:20by wave after wave
31:22of allied bombers
31:23which were reducing
31:24her war industries
31:25to rubble
31:26while Stalin
31:27had wisely moved
31:28his factories
31:29back into the interior
31:30of Russia
31:31out of harm's way
31:32they had managed to move out
31:34considerable elements
31:35of tank factories
31:37and aircraft factories
31:39for example
31:41the Harkov tractor works
31:42which produced tanks
31:43they managed to get that out
31:45the workers in that factory
31:46walked along the railway line
31:48under German gunfire
31:49to get in the trains
31:50to be moved out
31:50they got the equipment out
31:52and they took the workers out
31:53it was the largest
31:55industrial migration
31:56in the history of the world
31:58well over
31:59I think it's about
32:001,900 plants
32:01were moved eastwards
32:03during 1942
32:05the Red Army's armada
32:07of T-34s
32:08was growing ominously
32:09new Russian tank armies
32:11were coming into being
32:12and in the wake
32:14of the terrible
32:14defeated Stalingrad
32:16the German soldiers
32:17prayed for an answer
32:18in the winter of 1942
32:22the answer to their prayers
32:24was finally ready
32:25for delivery
32:25it was the Panzerkampfwagen 6
32:28the Tiger
32:29well the Tiger 1
32:35has got to be seen
32:36as a quantum leap
32:38in the progress
32:39of tank design
32:40it appeared in 1942
32:41and in one swoop
32:43it doubled in armour thickness
32:45doubled in weight
32:46and doubled in gun power
32:48the might of any tank
32:50on the battlefield
32:50it was really
32:51a terrific leap forward
32:53in tank design
32:54of course in doing this
32:56the Germans paid
32:57a tremendous price
32:58the tank is so heavy
33:00that it made it difficult
33:01to control
33:02you've got an engine
33:03which really isn't
33:04100% powerful enough
33:05for the kind of weight
33:06it was pushing about
33:07and they had a lot
33:09of technical problems
33:10just keeping it
33:10on the battlefield
33:11so for all their advances
33:13and their immense power
33:14the Tiger was a terrific
33:15liability to its crew
33:16the Tiger tank had been developed
33:19in 1940 and 1941
33:21too late to benefit
33:23from all of the lessons
33:24from the Russian war
33:25so it had the uncompromisingly
33:27flat armour at the front
33:28which didn't deflect shots
33:30away from the vehicle
33:31sloping armour
33:35like the T-34
33:36would have been preferable
33:38but the Tiger was so
33:39very heavily armoured
33:40that even this problem
33:42was overcome
33:42in fact
33:44the Tiger was almost
33:45impervious to most
33:46Russian guns
33:47at all but the closest ranges
33:49and it carried the deadly
33:5088mm gun
33:52then the best weapon
33:53on the battlefield
33:54inside his heavily armoured turret
33:59the gunner of the Tiger
34:00lined his target up
34:01on the middle triangle
34:03of his gun sight
34:03as the motorised turret
34:05effortlessly swung
34:06the gun into position
34:07the maker's manual
34:10proclaimed
34:11that the 88mm gun
34:12was 100% accurate
34:14at ranges of up to
34:161000 metres
34:17on the battlefield
34:20the Tiger soon proved
34:22its deadly efficiency
34:23but there were never
34:25enough machines
34:25to equip all
34:26of the panzer divisions
34:27so the Tigers
34:29were organised
34:30into special
34:30heavy tank battalions
34:32called
34:33Schwer Abteilungs
34:34which could be rushed
34:35from place to place
34:36on the hard pressed front
34:37wherever they were
34:39most desperately needed
34:40the highly efficient
34:43Nazi propaganda
34:44trumpeted the arrival
34:45of the Tiger
34:46and for once
34:47the results
34:48justified the rhetoric
34:50although only 80 Tigers
34:53had been delivered
34:54by the end of January
34:551943
34:56already they were credited
34:58with over 400 kills
34:59in the spring of that year
35:01the Germans extended
35:03their use to North Africa
35:04and the Western Allies
35:06grew nervous
35:07in the space of just
35:09two short years
35:11it seemed the Germans
35:12had evolved the ultimate
35:13battlefield weapon
35:14to compound matters
35:16no Tiger
35:17had yet been captured
35:19that situation
35:22was to change early
35:23in 1943
35:24when British forces
35:26fighting in Tunisia
35:27knocked out and captured
35:28this machine
35:29which is currently
35:30undergoing restoration
35:31in the tank museum
35:32at Bovington
35:33the particular history
35:36of this one
35:37is that it was issued
35:38to the 501st Heavy Tank
35:39Battalion of the German Army
35:40and shipped to Tunisia
35:42early in 1943
35:43it came up against
35:4648th Roll Tank Regiment
35:47during the fighting
35:48in Tunisia
35:49and 48th Roll Tanks
35:50were then in Churchill's
35:52armed with a 57mm gun
35:54which is against an 88
35:55on this thing
35:55but some fluke shot
35:57from one of the Churchill tanks
35:59actually struck the Tiger
36:00underneath its gun barrel
36:02embedded itself
36:03in the turret ring
36:04caused the crew to panic
36:06leap out
36:08and abandon the tank
36:08now that really is exceptional
36:10those tanks were so powerful
36:12they could have dealt
36:13with Churchill's
36:13without any problem at all
36:16way out of the range
36:17that the Churchills
36:17could fight back
36:18the shot from the Churchill tank
36:24strikes the Tiger
36:25just underneath its gun barrel
36:27little gouge there
36:28another one in the
36:29base of the mantlet
36:31and then the shot
36:32buries itself
36:32in the turret ring
36:34of the Tiger
36:34and it jams it
36:35and that is enough
36:37to shake the confidence
36:38of the crew
36:38despite the thickness
36:39of armour
36:40despite the size
36:41of the gun
36:41they are actually
36:42nervous about being hit
36:45by another tank
36:45and they abandon it
36:46and that way
36:47this perfect example
36:49of one of the strongest
36:50tanks of the Second World War
36:51falls into British hands
36:52in 1943
36:55this object of fascination
36:57was studied by no less
36:58than Winston Churchill
36:59and King George VI
37:01the tank was the subject
37:03of an urgent British army study
37:05every inch of the Tiger
37:07was inspected
37:08and a very concerned
37:10study team presented
37:11their findings
37:12it was noted
37:15that the Tiger
37:16with its heavy armour
37:17dual purpose armament
37:18and first class
37:19fighting ability
37:20was basically
37:21an excellent tank
37:22and constituted
37:24a considerable advance
37:25on any allied tank
37:26the study revealed
37:30its only real weaknesses
37:31were the limits imposed
37:33on mobility
37:33due to its weight
37:34width
37:35and limited range
37:36of action
37:36but the study concluded
37:38that overall
37:39the Tiger
37:40presented a very formidable
37:41fighting machine
37:42which could not
37:43be underrated
37:44there was more
37:46bad news
37:47for the Allies
37:48in tandem with the Tiger
37:50the German armaments industry
37:52had also been developing
37:53a new medium tank
37:55to match the T-34
37:56it would be ready
37:58in 1943
37:59although they would not
38:02admit it
38:02many of the features
38:03of the new
38:04Panzerkampfwagen V
38:05or Panther
38:06were copied directly
38:08from the T-34
38:09the Panther
38:11had the same sloping armour
38:12wide tracks
38:13and a similar
38:1475mm gun
38:16developed with
38:18breakneck speed
38:19and rushed into production
38:20the Panther
38:21made its debut
38:22at the Battle of Kursk
38:23before they were
38:24really proven
38:25engine and transmission
38:28problems abounded
38:29engine fires
38:30were commonplace
38:31dozens broke down
38:33and some vehicles
38:34went into their first action
38:35pouring fire
38:36from the exhaust pipes
38:38not surprisingly
38:40the Panther
38:41was a disappointment
38:42at Kursk
38:42but once it had
38:44overcome
38:44its initial
38:45teething problems
38:46the Panther
38:47would prove itself
38:47the best
38:48medium tank
38:49of the war
38:49indeed
38:51it was a far
38:51better vehicle
38:52than the T-34
38:53but again
38:54the problem
38:55of short supply
38:56remained
38:56it was never
38:58to be available
38:59in the quantities
39:00which the war
39:00in the east
39:01demanded
39:01although
39:036,000
39:04would be built
39:04that was never
39:05enough
39:06as the numbers
39:07destroyed
39:08always kept pace
39:09with supply
39:09the advent
39:13of the Panther
39:13and the Tiger
39:14represented almost
39:15the end
39:16of the evolutionary
39:17trail in World War II
39:18German tank sizes
39:20had steadily increased
39:22from the 6 ton
39:23Panzer I
39:24through the 22 ton
39:25Panzer III
39:26and now
39:27onto the 62 ton
39:29Tiger
39:29it would reach a peak
39:31with the 70 ton
39:33Tiger B
39:33or King Tiger
39:35the weight
39:36and superior armor
39:38certainly made
39:38the difference
39:39but quality
39:40had been achieved
39:41at the expense
39:41of quantity
39:42and it was quantity
39:44which Germany
39:45needed
39:45it has been estimated
39:48that from May 1944
39:49until the end
39:50of the war
39:51on any given day
39:52on average
39:53only 400 tanks
39:55were available
39:55for action
39:56in the entire
39:57German army
39:58the Allies
40:01could call
40:02on some
40:0220,000
40:03with this
40:06tremendous
40:06disparity
40:07in numbers
40:07it has been estimated
40:09that in the east
40:10the German tank divisions
40:11would have to have destroyed
40:1210 Russian tanks
40:13for every one
40:14of their own
40:15which was lost
40:16in fact
40:26by the end
40:27of the war
40:27it is estimated
40:28that five Russian tanks
40:30were destroyed
40:30for every German tank
40:31but it was never enough
40:33to affect the huge
40:34numerical superiority
40:35enjoyed by the Allies
40:37even on the Western Front
40:42four Allied tanks
40:43were being destroyed
40:44for every German
40:46machine lost
40:46for the Western Allies
40:51the solution
40:52was very much
40:52the same
40:53as the Russians
40:53it was to abandon
40:55the search
40:56for radical advances
40:57take a simple
40:58workable design
40:59and manufacture it
41:01in vast quantities
41:02while the Russians
41:05had the T-34
41:06the Allied option
41:07was the Sherman
41:09this was the main
41:12battle tank
41:13of the Western Allies
41:14it had numerous
41:16flaws
41:16chief among them
41:18its very high profile
41:19which made an easy
41:20target
41:20but it was available
41:22in huge numbers
41:24so many
41:27Shermans
41:27were manufactured
41:28that they were even
41:29shipped to the east
41:30to help the Russian
41:31war effort
41:31the Russian response
41:33was politely muted
41:34as the Sherman
41:35never matched
41:36the standards
41:37of the T-34
41:38even when it was
41:41upgraded to include
41:42a high velocity
41:4385mm weapon
41:44the tank was really
41:46no match
41:46for the Tiger
41:47as further proof
41:51of the Sherman's
41:51weakness
41:52it is interesting
41:53to note
41:53that only a small
41:54proportion of German
41:55tanks were actually
41:56destroyed by the Sherman
41:58the vast majority
41:59either fell victim
42:01to Allied fighter bombers
42:02or had to be abandoned
42:03and destroyed
42:04by their crews
42:05when they experienced
42:06mechanical difficulties
42:07or more frequently
42:08ran out of fuel
42:10from 1944
42:13the Allied bombing campaigns
42:15were really beginning
42:16to bite
42:16and the shortage
42:17of fuel
42:18and spare parts
42:19was killing
42:20the Panzer formations
42:21as effectively
42:22as the Allied armies
42:23one thing
42:26the Panzer divisions
42:27did have on their side
42:28was experience
42:29and before they were
42:31swept away
42:31the small groups
42:33of Tigers
42:33performed heroically
42:35one man
42:37will always be associated
42:38with the Tiger
42:39he was Michael Wittmann
42:41of the 1st SS Panzer Division
42:43Wittmann was responsible
42:45for a huge number
42:46of Allied tank kills
42:47by June 1944
42:51Wittmann and his Tiger
42:52had been responsible
42:54for more than
42:54130 Russian tanks
42:56when he was transferred
42:57to the Western Front
42:59despite the skills
43:02of men like these
43:03the Tigers
43:04were still being destroyed
43:05as fast as they
43:06were being delivered
43:07and Wittmann himself
43:08fell in action
43:09in August 1944
43:11his machine
43:12totally destroyed
43:14such losses
43:15were simply
43:16unsustainable
43:17in 1944
43:21despite the pressures
43:22of the Allied bombing raids
43:23some 20,000
43:25German armored
43:26fighting vehicles
43:26were manufactured
43:27but battlefield losses
43:29were running
43:30at some 23,000 machines
43:32so the number
43:33of German tanks
43:34available in 1944
43:35at the front line
43:37actually fell
43:38during 1944
43:42on average
43:43there were never
43:44more than 70 Tigers
43:45available for action
43:46at any given time
43:47on the whole
43:48of the Russian front
43:49the remaining machines
43:51were either
43:51under short
43:52or long term repair
43:53it was this
43:55tiny force
43:56which forged a legend
43:58on the Western Front
44:01the Allies by now
44:03enjoyed total
44:04air supremacy
44:04and the Allied Air Force
44:06was able to rove at will
44:07destroying German aircraft
44:09on the ground
44:10the high rate
44:12of attrition
44:13on their armored force
44:14caused the Germans
44:15to cast around
44:16desperately for a solution
44:17one successful expedient
44:21was to dispose
44:22with the turret
44:23of the new Panther tanks
44:24to produce
44:25turretless vehicles
44:26with less flexibility
44:27but with heavier firepower
44:29they were also easier
44:31and quicker to manufacture
44:33three could be made
44:34for every two tanks
44:35these tank killers
44:39were known
44:39by the German name
44:40Jagdpanther
44:41by this stage of the war
44:44German armor
44:45was fighting
44:45almost exclusively
44:47defensive battles
44:48for which the Jagdpanthers
44:49were perfectly suited
44:51they could lie in wait
44:52firing from fixed positions
44:55the Jagdpanther shown here
44:59is from the Imperial War Museum
45:00it has had the side removed
45:02to permit the public
45:03to view the inside
45:04but the sense of military efficiency
45:06still remains
45:07it too bears the scars
45:10of the armor-piercing shells
45:11which disabled it
45:13in 1945
45:14as with the turretless tanks
45:18there was also a steady increase
45:20in size and armament
45:21in the tank hunters
45:22which evolved
45:23from the simple
45:24Marder 1
45:25based on the Panzer 1
45:26to the ultimate
45:27tank-killing machine
45:28the Jagd Tiger
45:30based on the upgraded
45:32Tiger 2
45:33massive armor
45:36and a superb
45:37high caliber gun
45:38made these machines deadly
45:40but once again
45:42the design and engineering effort
45:44took valuable resources
45:45away from producing
45:46simpler designs
45:47in the volume
45:48that Germans needed
45:49the last Panzer
45:53to see active service
45:54was the moving fortress
45:55which was the upgraded
45:57Tiger B
45:58or King Tiger
45:59it carried the huge
46:0288mm high-velocity gun
46:04but only 470
46:07of these machines
46:07were ever manufactured
46:09never enough
46:10to seriously affect
46:11the tidal wave of armor
46:12now encroaching Germany
46:14on every side
46:15but the Tiger
46:17and Tiger B
46:18still made a large impact
46:20in the closing months
46:21of the war
46:22now the Tiger 2
46:25is a remarkable tank
46:26by any standards
46:27a bigger and more powerful gun
46:29than the Tiger 1
46:30and the armor
46:32is thicker
46:32and sloped
46:33giving it a tremendous advantage
46:35and when you think
46:36this tank came into service
46:37in 1944
46:38it really looks
46:40almost good enough
46:41to use today
46:41it's a considerable tribute
46:43to the German designers
46:44the trouble is
46:45it's getting near
46:46the limit of weight
46:47that the engine
46:48and transmission can stand
46:50and of course
46:50producing a tank like this
46:52under wartime conditions
46:53is a tremendous strain
46:55especially when the industry
46:56is being heavily bombed
46:57therefore
46:58although you could say
46:59that in terms of gun power
47:00and armor
47:01it way outclasses tanks
47:02such as the T-34
47:03it was never available
47:05in enough numbers
47:06and it certainly
47:07wasn't easy
47:08to ship around the country
47:09in a hurry
47:10to get to trouble spots
47:11and in that sense
47:12has to be regarded
47:13as a failure
47:14in terms of tank design
47:15the Tiger B
47:18was the largest
47:19practical tank
47:20to see action
47:21in the panzer divisions
47:22already
47:23its huge size
47:24was giving enormous
47:25difficulty
47:26in negotiating narrow roads
47:27and moving across bridges
47:29few of which
47:30could carry
47:31its huge weight
47:32it also needed
47:33huge stocks
47:34of the vital fuel supplies
47:35which Germany
47:36could no longer provide
47:38but in 1945
47:40when the war ended
47:42Germany was developing
47:43the super heavy
47:44panzer 7
47:45a huge metal monster
47:47massively armored
47:49and sporting
47:49a huge main gun
47:51in an untypically
47:53humorous moment
47:54this machine
47:55designed to lead
47:56the Nazi war machine
47:57was given the
47:58jokey nickname
47:59the mouse
48:00the mouse
48:02was never
48:03to see action
48:04and only four prototypes
48:06were built
48:06but it seemed
48:08that the crazed minds
48:09of the Third Reich
48:10would never give up
48:11the quest
48:12to be the best
48:12and the biggest
48:13whatever the cost
48:15but as the humble
48:17T-34 had proved
48:19in evolution
48:20sometimes quantity
48:22matters
48:22as much as quality
48:24and the louder
48:27to be the best
48:28the way
48:29to the third
48:30is that the
48:31most pointless
48:32and the most
48:33the most
48:35of the West
48:35is that the
48:37the first
48:38is the
48:39the other
48:39and the first
48:40the most
48:41one
48:42where
48:43the worst
48:44is
48:45is
48:45the
48:46the
48:47the
48:47one
48:48the
48:48one
48:49is
48:50the
48:51the
48:52the
48:52and
48:52the
48:53the
48:54You
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48:03
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