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For educational purposes
"GERMAN HEAVY TANKS"
Outnumbered, outgunned and beleaguered on all sides, the German tank forces of the Second World War fought valiantly to the very last.
Always too few in numbers, even the superior technology of the Tiger and Panther tanks proved insufficient to defeat the hordes of Shermans and T-34Os, which swamped the Panzer Corps by 1945.
Featuring rare archive footage, stunning 3-D computer graphics and rare film of the last surviving Tigers, this is a privileged glimpse into the world of Hitler's tank armies.
"GERMAN HEAVY TANKS"
Outnumbered, outgunned and beleaguered on all sides, the German tank forces of the Second World War fought valiantly to the very last.
Always too few in numbers, even the superior technology of the Tiger and Panther tanks proved insufficient to defeat the hordes of Shermans and T-34Os, which swamped the Panzer Corps by 1945.
Featuring rare archive footage, stunning 3-D computer graphics and rare film of the last surviving Tigers, this is a privileged glimpse into the world of Hitler's tank armies.
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LearningTranscript
00:03The armored might of Hitler's Wehrmacht will be forever associated with its most famous
00:08tank, the Panzerkampfwagen VI, better known to a fearful world as the Tiger.
00:26More than half a century later, the still hulks of these metal masters silently mark time
00:32in the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England.
01:07But it is not too difficult to roll back the years and conjure up the image of this terrible
01:12instrument of destruction in its prime.
01:16Like its namesake, the Tiger was a rare beast, and in its field it was every bit as deadly,
01:22a hunter and killer of unmatched ferocity.
01:53KONIEC.
01:54KONIEC.
02:20The Great War
02:23In the war of 1914 to 1918, the victorious Allies imposed a series of draconian restrictions on the vanquished foe,
02:31designed to prevent Germany from developing armed forces worthy of the name.
02:37One of the chief restrictions was to prevent Germany from developing or acquiring any form of battle tank.
02:46Initially, the treaty worked.
02:48In 1935, only four years before the outbreak of World War II, Germany still didn't possess a tank force.
02:59In the space of ten short years, German tank technology would progress from the lightweight and inefficient Panzer I to
03:07the Panzer VI, and onto the development of the Maus, the prototype Panzer VII, which would have been the largest
03:14and heaviest armored tank in the history of warfare.
03:39The Evil Sorcerer
03:42The one who conjured up this energy for the mercurial transformation of the German tank arm, from a weak force
03:47of lightly armed, two-man machines, to the menacing Panzer divisions equipped with the King Tiger, was the same man
03:55who also was to plunge the world into total war.
03:58He was Adolf Hitler.
04:03It was Hitler who provided the impetus to develop the tanks of Germany's Wehrmacht.
04:08To huge popular acclaim in Germany, in 1935, he cast aside the terms of Versailles and began to re-equip
04:16the country.
04:17In defiance of the Allies, Hitler began the development of both a tank force and also a viable air force.
04:31His stance was totally uncompromising and overtly expansionist.
04:37In doing so, he took an enormous risk.
04:41In order to enforce the Versailles Treaty, Britain and France would have been well within their rights to take military
04:48action against Hitler.
04:49In 1935, Germany would have been in no state to resist.
04:55But Hitler was a gambler, and he gambled upon bluffing his enemies into believing his forces were far stronger than
05:01they actually were.
05:03By doing so, he bought time, while his generals desperately built up the real strength of his armies, ready for
05:10the day when war would come again.
05:19To continue the deception, a number of tricks were perfected.
05:23To impress foreign dignitaries, the tanks leading the parade would be driven round by a secret route to join the
05:30end of the colony and come round again, thus doubling the numbers.
05:48Hitler was successful in bluffing his enemies, but he also bluffed his friends.
05:53He had promised the generals that a major war in Europe would not come until 1942 at the earliest.
05:59In fact, Hitler actually precipitated the Second World War with his invasion of Poland in 1939,
06:06three years before the complete armament of the forces destined for the fight were due to be available.
06:31Despite their reservations, the German generals were able to provide a quick and complete victory for Hitler with the successful
06:38invasion of Poland in September 1939.
06:43In addition to Hitler's armies, the Poles were simultaneously attacked by Stalin's Red Army, so the contest was short and
06:51conclusive, but it was still a victory.
06:54The next campaign would be much more of a gamble.
06:59Hitler turned his gaze to the invasion of France, and his generals grew nervous.
07:05They knew that this time there would surely be no repeat of the victory won in Poland.
07:15Hitler's combination of political brinkmanship and calculated gambles had disguised the fact that the German army at this time could
07:22deploy only 2,000 tanks.
07:24The Allies could count on 4,500.
07:30The popular view of the Wehrmacht of 1939 is an armoured juggernaut, but in fact, most of its armies still
07:38marched on foot.
07:38In 1939, German cavalry regiments were still deployed and played an active role in the field.
07:46The bulk of the army's transport was not even motorised, it was still horse-drawn.
07:53Not surprisingly, news crews chose to focus on the new and glamorous armoured formations with their high propaganda value.
08:04Archived footage of horse-drawn artillery and the long lines of men slogging along on foot is much rarer.
08:10But these were the men who formed the bulk of the German army, and they still marched to battle as
08:16their grandfathers had done.
08:20If the Wehrmacht hoped to defeat the French and British, they would have to defeat 4,000 French and 500
08:26British tanks.
08:28Not only were their numbers inferior, but many of the tanks deployed by the Germans were of limited fighting value.
08:41The main offender in this respect was the tiny Panzer I light tank.
08:50The Panzer I tank seen here in Bovington was small and lightly armoured.
08:56This particular machine is a turretless command version.
09:00These frontline fighting machines only carried two men, and were very lightly armed and equipped with just two machine guns.
09:08Even though the shortcomings of the Panzer I had been cruelly exposed in Poland, some 520 machines still had to
09:15be engaged for the coming invasion of France.
09:18There was no alternative.
09:25The other mainstay of the Panzer Force in 1940 was Panzer II, a slight improvement on the flimsy Panzer I,
09:32but not much.
09:33It was a three-man machine, and had the added benefit of a 38mm gun.
09:40Despite its lack of armour, and seriously limited firepower, it provided some 40% of the total Wehrmacht tank strength
09:47in 1940.
09:49Hundreds of these machines were deployed for the assault on France.
10:01Of far greater military value was the Panzer III, then one of the best tanks in the world.
10:10By the standards of the later war years, it had a comparatively weak main gun, but in 1940 it was
10:17more than adequate.
10:18The main problem with the Panzer III was the fact that it was only available in very small numbers.
10:24Only 349 were available for the French campaign.
10:29In even shorter supply was the excellent Panzer IV.
10:33in German posterior
11:06In 1940, only 200 of these machines were available, which meant that the best and most heavily
11:13armoured tank available to the Wehrmacht accounted for less than 10% of the tank force.
11:25The bulk of the remaining machines were the Czech-made Panzer 38T, of which some 400 were
11:31deployed. The Panzer 38 was to provide a reliable and efficient tank for the early stage of the war.
11:42Taken together with the Mark III and IV, the breakdown of forces meant Hitler's army
11:47deployed a total of 1,500 light tanks and 900 medium and heavy, far too high a proportion
11:54of light tanks for the liking of the German general staff.
11:58The questionable force was to meet and defeat some 4,500 Allied tanks, including the excellent
12:06Char B and the sturdy British Matilda. Seen here at Bovington, both of these tanks were
12:12the equal of anything the Germans possessed.
12:23But as the history books testify, Hitler was to triumph as completely in France as he had
12:29done in Poland. He did so for two reasons.
12:35Firstly, there were the poor French and British tactics.
12:39The French tanks in particular were distributed in small contingents throughout the army, while
12:44the German tanks were concentrated in the new Panzer divisions, superbly led by able commanders.
12:51It was these new Panzer divisions which really gave the edge to the Wehrmacht. The Germans concentrated
12:58all of their tanks into the hard-hitting Panzer divisions, which were the only divisions
13:02in the whole army to be equipped with tanks. The Panzer divisions themselves could be grouped
13:08together to form Panzer Corps, which could achieve a massive local superiority at the point
13:14of decision on the battlefield.
13:20The local superiority allowed the attacking German armoured divisions to punch through
13:25the defensive line on a very narrow frontage, and then stream forward to take objectives deep
13:31in the rear, leaving support infantry to mop up. The tanks and motorised infantry would
13:37be supported by a devastating aerial bombardment by Stuka dive bombers, the division's own mobile
13:43artillery.
13:48This was the essence of the new German concept of Blitzkrieg, the Lightning War.
14:05It was this combination of efficient battlefield tactics and inspired leadership which made the
14:11difference for Hitler. It also prevailed in the conquest of the Balkans and Greece in 1941.
14:18But from these new victories, several false conclusions were drawn.
14:24The chief of these was the German belief that their tanks were the best in the world. Consequently,
14:30there was no urgent need for the development of new, heavier types of tanks. This arrogant
14:36attitude was to lead to a shock from which Germany would never recover. That shock was to be
14:42delivered in Russia.
14:54When Hitler ordered the conquest of Russia in the summer of 1941, confidence among the
15:00panzer force was at an all-time high.
15:11The initial assault on the Soviet Union proceeded according to plan, and the mighty German army swept
15:17all before them. As always, the panzer divisions were well to the fore.
15:25Despite the understandable cockiness of the German high command, some of the lessons from earlier
15:31campaigns had been absorbed, and the make-up of the tank force, which shook Stalin to the
15:35core, had a much higher proportion of Mark III and Mark IV and Panzer 38T tanks. This trend illustrated
15:44the steadily increasing reliance on heavier armour, which was to continue throughout the war.
15:50Despite being outnumbered by a factor of four to one, the German tanks at first swept all before
15:56them. Initially, the tanks met only older and obsolete Russian armour, which the Panzer III's
16:02and Panzer IV's had a little trouble dealing with. It was just as well, because the Wehrmacht
16:08was about to meet with a very nasty surprise.
16:21After a few weeks of the campaign, the German forces suddenly encountered two of the new Russian
16:26tanks, which were to change the course of the war.
16:45The first was the T-34. Far better armed and equipped than the German Mark IV, and also better
16:54equipped to deal with the extreme Russian weather conditions. Its wide tracks made it equally
17:00at home in the dry, mud and snow. In addition, the sloping armour presented an angled front
17:06to German fire, designed to cause shells to glance off the armour. The T-34 was to become the
17:13real nemesis of the German army.
17:21It was built for mass assembly, and the crude welding lines can be clearly seen. It was no
17:27beauty, but it was tough. Ultimately, some 90,000 would be built.
17:54Although the Germans would devise better tanks, they could never hope to compete in terms
17:58of the sheer numbers of T-34s which were produced. It was by no means the best tank to emerge
18:04from World War II, but it was more than adequate for the task, and the huge numbers manufactured
18:10would ultimately tip the balance of the whole war.
18:20The other new Russian tank which the Germans now encountered was the heavy KV-1, a 46-ton with
18:28superior heavy armour and a vicious 76mm gun, capable of destroying any German tank from most
18:34rangers on the battlefield.
18:59It was now almost too late that the German High Command began to urgently request new
19:05tanks with superior armour and more effective guns. A new, heavy tank was needed urgently,
19:12but it wouldn't be available for at least a year.
19:19To compound matters, mistaken assessments based on experience in France had led to even the
19:25heaviest German tank being equipped with the short-barrelled 75mm gun seen here at Bovington.
19:32These short-barrelled weapons made the tanks easy to manoeuvre, but deprived the gun of the missile velocity
19:39and penetrating power which a larger barrel produced.
19:48While Germany scrambled to produce the new heavy tanks, the Mark IVs were urgently re-equipped
19:54with long-barrelled 75mm guns and given extra welded skirts as protection against the new Russian weapons.
20:03Measures like these helped to keep up the momentum of the German advance in 1942.
20:09But the panzer divisions were increasingly hard-pressed by the increasing numbers of T-34s and KV-1s.
20:19Only the deadly 88mm anti-tank gun was really equal to the task of destroying the hordes of T-34s.
20:28What the Germans needed was a tank big enough to house such a gun.
20:36The experience of tank ace Hermann Bix was typical of the desperate straits German tank commanders found themselves in from
20:451942.
20:47Bix saw a dozen of his shells bounce off this KV-1 even at the closest ranges.
20:54Eventually, he managed to silence the steel monster as it swung its turret to take aim against him
20:59by the expedient of a well-aimed shot deliberately fired through the barrel of his opponent's gun.
21:06Men like Bix were part of a new breed of German tank commanders,
21:10who achieved incredible victories against superior forces now armed with better equipment.
21:19Rudolf von Ribbentrop, son of Germany's foreign minister,
21:23was another celebrated tank commander during this difficult time.
21:27Due to the efforts of Bix, von Ribbentrop and others, the German momentum continued.
21:37It took them to the gates of Leningrad in the north, into the Caucasus in the south,
21:42and to the very gates of the infamous city of Stalingrad.
21:46But by October 1942, they could advance no further.
22:02Lines of supply were desperately overextended,
22:05and the tanks were worn out by the thousands of miles they had travelled,
22:09and the climatic conditions which turned from dust to mud to snow,
22:13taking their toll on the engines.
22:15They were never given adequate time for repair and maintenance.
22:20Despite their robust appearance, tanks are quite delicate machines,
22:25which are not designed to travel long distances on their tracks.
22:28They need very frequent repairs and constant attention.
22:36By 1942, crucial shortages of spare parts had developed.
22:41For example, the lack of air filters to extract the summer dust from the air sucked into engines
22:46led to worn-out pistons and massive extra oil consumption,
22:50which in turn placed a strain on fuel supplies.
22:57German lines of supply stretched 2,000 miles all the way back to Berlin,
23:02and every single item of spares had to be carried to the front,
23:06across Russia's limited rail network, exposed to the privations of partisans.
23:17All the time, the Red Army's armada of T-34s was growing ominously.
23:21New Russian tank armies were coming into being,
23:25and in November 1942, the storm broke.
23:34The new Russian offensive swept behind the German lines in the south,
23:38and surrounded and destroyed the 6th Army at Stalingrad.
23:42The sheer number of Russian tanks staggered the Germans,
23:46who desperately needed an answer.
23:56In the winter of 1942, the answer to their prayers was finally ready for delivery.
24:14The Panzerkampfwagen VI, or the Tiger, had been developed in 1940 and 1941.
24:21Too late to benefit from all of the lessons of the Russian war.
24:24So it had the uncompromisingly flat armour at the front,
24:28which didn't deflect shots away from the vehicle.
24:32But it was so very heavily armoured, that it wasn't a major problem.
24:36In fact, the Tiger was almost impervious to most Russian guns,
24:40at all but the closest ranges, and it carried the deadly 88mm gun,
24:45then the best weapon on the battlefield.
24:49The gunner of the Tiger lined his target up on the middle triangle of his gunsight,
24:54as the motorised turret effortlessly swung the gun into position.
24:59The maker's manual proclaimed that the 88mm gun was 100% accurate at ranges of up to 1,000 metres.
25:09On the battlefield, the Tiger soon proved its deadly efficiency.
25:14But there were never enough machines to equip all of the panzer divisions,
25:18so the Tigers were organised into special heavy tank battalions,
25:22called Schwer Abdullans,
25:24which could be rushed from place to place on the hard pressed front,
25:27wherever they were most desperately needed.
25:31Each battalion of heavy tanks consisted of 17 machines organised into a command troop of three tanks,
25:38a company troop of two tanks,
25:40and three Zug, or sections, of four tanks each.
25:47The highly efficient Nazi propaganda trumpeted the arrival of the Tiger,
25:51and for once, the results justified the return.
26:10The training manual which dealt with the Tiger was very specific on the subject of how they were to be
26:15employed in battle.
26:18The terrific firepower, strong armour, high cross-country ability, and high overrunning power
26:24are the characteristics of the heavy Panzerkampfwagen in the Tiger Company.
26:29They enable the company to attack in the first wave against strong defences,
26:35to destroy heavy enemy tanks and other armoured targets already at long ranges,
26:40to decisively defeat the enemy defences,
26:43to break through positions reinforced by defensive works.
26:55As a rule, the Tigers were to be employed in separate heavy Panzer battalions,
27:00in order to quickly break enemy resistance,
27:03and penetrate defences by means of their concentrated fire superiority,
27:07and strong armour protection.
27:11There were two main offensive formations.
27:14The Kyle formation for attacking on a narrow front,
27:19and the Bright Kyle for attacking on a broad front.
27:25The main targets for the Tiger were listed in order of priority.
27:29Firstly, armoured targets and bunker embrasures, which were to be attacked using armour-piercing shells.
27:37And secondly, prepared defences, anti-tank guns, artillery positions, and massed infantry targets,
27:44which were to be attacked with high-explosive shells.
27:52The manual pointed out that the unmistakable noise of the Tiger's engine travelled long distances, especially at night.
28:04Care needed to be taken, therefore, with the wind direction and the location of assembly areas,
28:09which, in order to preserve the element of surprise, were to be as far distant from the front as possible.
28:18All German teachings stressed that the most important task of the Tiger companies was the engagement of enemy tanks,
28:25as the excellent combination of the 88mm gun and strong armour, matched by reasonably high manoeuvrability,
28:32made the Tiger the strongest combat weapon available to the Wehrmacht.
28:38The Tiger was, therefore, a powerful and decisive point weapon.
28:43Its strength was best utilised in concentrated and ruthlessly conducted attacks.
28:50Spreading the tanks too thinly reduced the striking power of the group.
28:55On the rare occasions when the Tiger was to be used in defensive operation,
28:59positions were always prepared to maximise its effectiveness.
29:04In combat, the Tigers were to be sent into action at the crisis points of the battle, where their presence
29:10would be decisive.
29:11All other weapons were merely there to support the heavy tanks and the tasks allocated to them.
29:18From experience of combat, the tactics which proved most successful were to engage the enemy with fire from lighter tanks,
29:26while the Tigers launched a flank or surprise attack, using their superiority and firepower against the enemy tanks' weakest points.
29:40During battles in built-up areas, it was stressed that the Tiger was not to be sent into house-to
29:45-house fighting,
29:46because of its vulnerability to infantry at close quarters.
29:50There was also the protruding gun, which could cause the tank to get stuck in narrow streets.
29:56The tactics worked.
29:59Although only 80 Tigers had been delivered by the end of January 1943,
30:03already they were credited with over 400 kills.
30:07The Allies grew nervous, but so far no Tiger had been captured.
30:24That situation was to change early in 1943,
30:28when British forces fighting in Tunisia knocked out and captured this machine,
30:32which is now housed in the Tank Museum at Blovington.
30:46In 1943, this object of fascination was studied by no less than Winston Churchill and King George VI.
31:05The Tank was the subject of an urgent British Army study,
31:09which produced some remarkably thorough conclusions.
31:13Every inch of the Tiger was studied,
31:15and a very concerned study team presented these extracts.
31:21The Tank provides a very stable gun platform for either head-on or broadside stationary firing.
31:28During the firing trials, a target was engaged at 1,100 yards.
31:33Correction was given to the gunner for the first round,
31:35after which he fired a further five rounds and secured five consecutive hits.
31:40The gun appeared to be remarkably consistent.
31:46The highest timed rate of fire during these limited trials was four rounds in just 39 seconds.
31:54This tank has a higher rate of fire than our own heavy gun tanks.
31:59Five rounds were also fired at a target moving at 15 miles an hour, range 1,500 yards.
32:05Three hits were scored.
32:07A target at one mile distance was engaged, and a hit was obtained with the fourth round.
32:14The study revealed that the design had been well thought out,
32:17and embodied a number of distinctly original features,
32:21especially the heavy armament and armor, turret and hull construction.
32:25It was noted that the Panzerkampfwagen VI, with its heavy armor, dual purpose armament and fighting ability,
32:32was basically an excellent tank, and constituted a considerable advance on any allied tank.
32:43The study revealed its only real weakness was the limits imposed on mobility due to its weight, width and limited
32:49range of action,
32:50and concluded that the Tiger all round presented a very formidable fighting machine which could not be underrated.
33:02There was more bad news for the Allies.
33:05In tandem with the Tiger, the German armaments industry had also been developing a new medium tank to match the
33:12T-34.
33:29Although they would not admit it, many of the features of the new Panzerkampfwagen V, or Panther, were copied directly
33:36from the T-34.
33:38The Panther had the same sloping armor, wide tracks, and even a similar 75mm gun.
33:45Once the Panther had overcome its initial teething problems, it would prove itself the best medium tank of the war.
33:58It was a far better vehicle than the T-34, but again the problem of short supply remained.
34:10It was never to be available in the quantities which the war in the East demanded.
34:15Although 6,000 would be built, that was never enough, as the numbers destroyed always kept pace with supply.
34:23It has been estimated that from May 1944 until the end of the war, on any given day an average
34:30of only 400 tanks were available for action in the entire German army.
34:41With this tremendous disparity in numbers, it has been estimated that the German tank divisions would have had to destroy
34:48ten Russian tanks for every one of their own which was lost.
34:52In fact, by the end of the war, it is estimated that four Russian tanks were destroyed for every German
34:58tank.
34:58And indeed, the figure was more like ten in the case of the Tiger.
35:27Even on the Western Front, where the Allied tanks enjoyed a similar advantage to the Russia of the a better,
35:32three Allied tanks were being destroyed for every German machine lost.
35:38It is interesting to note that only a small proportion of Tiger tanks
35:43were actually destroyed by Allied tanks.
35:45The vast majority either fell victim to Allied fighter bombers
35:48or had to be abandoned and destroyed by their crews
35:51when they experienced mechanical difficulties
35:54or, more frequently, ran out of fuel.
36:01From 1944, the Allied bomber campaigns were really beginning to bite,
36:06and the shortage of fuel was killing the panzer formations
36:08as effectively as the Allied armies.
36:30Before they were swept away, the small groups of Tigers performed heroically.
36:36One man will always be associated with the Tiger.
36:39He was Michael Wittmann of the 1st SS Panzer Division.
36:47Wittmann was responsible for a huge number of Allied tank kills.
36:51By June 1944, Wittmann and his Tiger had been responsible for more than 130 Russian tanks
36:57when they were transferred to the Western Front.
37:00It was there that one of the most famous tank actions of the war took place.
37:08On June 13th, 1944, Michael Wittmann encountered the leading elements
37:13of the British 7th Armoured Division.
37:16With the practical eye of an experienced veteran,
37:20Wittmann noted that the column was locked into a single road.
37:23He therefore destroyed the last vehicle in the column,
37:27just as quickly, the first, effectively trapping the entire column.
37:33Slamming his vehicle into action, Wittmann methodically moved down the line,
37:38destroying 17 tanks and 8 other vehicles.
37:41All of this destruction was achieved by one Tiger, handled with deadly efficiency.
37:49Despite actions like these, the Tigers were still being destroyed as fast as they were delivered,
37:54and Wittmann himself fell in action in August 1944, his machine totally destroyed.
38:01Such losses were simply unsustainable.
38:04By 1944, despite the pressures of the Allied bombing raids,
38:09some 20,000 German armoured fighting vehicles were manufactured.
38:13But battlefield losses were running at some 23,000 machines.
38:18So the number of tanks available at the front line actually fell during 1944,
38:23to a point where the bulk of Germany's armoured force had been severely ground down by the early months of
38:291945.
38:32During 1944, on average there were never more than 70 Tigers available for action at any given time on the
38:39whole of the Russian Front.
38:41The remaining machines were either under short or long-term repair.
38:46It was this tiny force which forged a legend.
38:50On the Western Front, a similar situation prevailed.
38:54Average battle readiness was only 65 machines on any given day.
39:13In August 1944, three quarters of the Western Tiger Tank Force was either damaged or destroyed.
39:21Most of that destruction took place here, at Falaise.
39:36The bulk of the German armour was trapped and surrounded by superior forces in these streets.
39:42Juno wins.
39:55J.
39:55Himselfuits
39:55J Damit
39:55J.
40:11PLANéš¾
40:12The Allies by now enjoyed total air supremacy, and the Allied Air Force had a field day destroying the retreating
40:18German columns.
40:41A daring thrust by the 2nd Panzer Division broke the encirclement and relieved the pressure.
40:47But the bridges were down, and the retreating panzers could not withdraw over the Seine.
40:52Most had to be abandoned or blown up.
40:57By August 1944, not one single Tiger was left operational in France.
41:05The high rate of attrition on their armoured force caused the Germans to cast around desperately for a solution.
41:15One successful expedient was to dispose with the turret of the tanks, to produce turretless vehicles with less flexibility, but
41:23with the same firepower.
41:25They were also easier and quicker to manufacture.
41:28Three could be made for every two tanks.
41:38These tank killers were known by the German name, Jadpanther.
41:44By this stage of the war, German armour was fighting almost exclusively defensive battles, for which the Jadpanzers were perfectly
41:52suited.
41:53They could lie in wait, firing from fixed positions.
41:58The Jadpanther shown here is from the Imperial War Museum.
42:02It has had the side removed, to permit the public to view the inside, but the sense of military efficiency
42:08still remains.
42:35Another vehicle which was ideally suited to the defensive war.
42:39The Jadpanther was the last Panzer to see active service, the moving fortress, which was the upgraded Tiger B, or
42:46King Tiger.
42:48It carried the huge 88mm high-velocity gun, which was deadly at almost any range on the battlefield.
42:54But only 470 of these machines were ever manufactured, never enough to seriously affect the tidal wave of armour now
43:03encroaching Germany on every side.
43:05But the Tiger, and Tiger B, still made a large impact in the closing months of the war.
43:12So much so, that General Eisenhower requested a special study of the Tiger in action.
43:18Drawn exclusively from eyewitnesses, it made for depressing reading for the Allies, as this selection of quotes confirms.
43:27It is my opinion that the Tiger enemy tank is far superior in manoeuvrability to our own Sherman tanks.
43:34The higher muzzle velocity of the German tanks enables them to far outrange our Shermans.
43:40I have seen them knock our tanks out at ranges up to 1000 yards, and know of no incident where
43:46a Sherman tank has knocked out a Panther or a Tiger tank at more than 300 yards range.
43:58It is my opinion that the vast majority of Panther and Tiger tanks knocked out have been destroyed by air
44:04support, abandoned, or as a direct result of air attack.
44:08On the other hand, 85% of the tanks we have lost have been due to enemy tanks and anti
44:14-tank guns.
44:18Seldom have I seen a shot ricochet from a Sherman tank.
44:21However, often our armor-piercing shells have glanced harmlessly off the Tiger's front slope and turrets.
44:30The heavy armor plate of the Panther and the Tiger enables them to turn our shot, but our armor is
44:37easily pierced by their more powerful guns.
44:42Our tank guns, both 75mm and 76mm, haven't the penetrating power that the German tanks have.
44:50At El Boeuf, during August 1944, our armor-piercing shells bounced off a Tiger at point-blank range while we
44:57were on a roadblock.
45:01One day, a Tiger Royal tank got within 150 yards of my tank and knocked me out.
45:06Five of our tanks opened up on him from ranges of 200 to 600 yards and got five or six
45:12hits on the front of the Tiger.
45:14They all just glanced off, and the Tiger backed off and got away.
45:22I saw four Tigers, 1,800 yards away and fired upon them.
45:25I hit them in their right side about 15 times with armor-piercing ammunition, but saw all of them hit
45:31and bounce off.
45:34We were ordered to engage a column of six Tigers.
45:37Each time one of the armor-piercing shells hit the tanks, you could see them ricocheting two and three hundred
45:43feet into the air.
45:45The Russians were less gloomy.
45:48They seemed to have had better success, even against the Tiger II, as this report declares.
45:55The Germans have built up great hopes by the production of their new heavy Tiger B panzer, which they believe
46:02to be invulnerable.
46:04When our anti-tank units open fire, the King Tigers deploy, turn their front to face the enemy, and open
46:11fire for short forts.
46:13But the Tiger B has many vulnerable points, and many negative characteristics, that increase its vulnerability.
46:21As we have seen from combat experience, it has been destroyed by the T-34.
46:30The Tiger B was the largest practical tank to see action in the panzer division.
46:36Already, its huge size was giving enormous difficulty in negotiating narrow roads and moving across bridges, few of which could
46:44carry its huge weight.
46:47It also needed huge stocks of the vital fuel supplies, which Germany could no longer provide.
46:57In 1945, when the war ended, Germany was developing the super-heavy Panzer VII, a huge metal monster, massively armoured
47:07and sporting a huge main gun.
47:16It was never to see action, and only four prototypes were built.
47:20But it seemed that the crazed minds of the Third Reich would never give up the quest to be the
47:25best and the biggest, whatever the cost.
47:30But as the humble T-34 had proved, it's not just size that matters.
48:08You've made it easy to say.
48:09You
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