German Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics 1941/1942
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- This video takes a look at German Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics in 1941/1942 on the Eastern Front. The video is almost exclusively based on primary sources. It covers the use of various close-range weapons like geballte Ladungen, Mines, Molotov-Cocktails and other measures against tanks like the T-34, KV-1 and KV-2. Additionally, a lot of original German names are used and translated.
Military History Visualized provides a series of short narrative and visual presentations like documentaries based on academic literature or sometimes primary sources. Videos are intended as introduction to military history, but also contain a lot of details for history buffs. Since the aim is to keep the episodes short and comprehensive some details are often cut.
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2:00 Holy shit, no wonder everybody was afraid of the ogre named, Shrek. He's the literal embodiment of the German term for terror!!!! Thank you for enlightening me.
Also, 8:33 What does Super Mario Ostfront mean?
@@anonymousshawn9996 I also think that way... Btw the "Super Mario Ostfront" cuz "Jump" isn't Mario Bros jumping...
You are doing amazing work. Please keep at it.
one thing to note from an american tank hunters handbook it that, supposedly, you could place locallly sourced pots and pans on a road, and take with all its hatches closed cant properly tell if they are mines or just pots and pans. as such, a tank crewman must get out to check, and that tank crewman can be shot. this would, in theory, allow a tank hunter crew down on its supplies to destroy a tank, but would also allow the rear line catering team to deal with a tank
@Gideon Maxwell fuck off spambot
the bunker doesn't move unless you have had too much vodka. that was funny
so thats every russian soldier then
I believe too much vodka make them hit the fast moving infantry by accident instead. Theirs too.
The more the gunner is drunk, the more accurate will be the shot. Now load AP shell and give the gunner some more vodka!
"Super Mario Ostfront"
Mario Malkav O M G... no way Russian tank driver would be alloewed to drink vodka...
"We have a smoke grenade, some twine, a dumbbell and a hatchet"
*a germAn in 1941*
"I have an idea"
thewiezman what I discovered and what suprised me studying history of WWII closer that for example German Wehrmacht was much less motorized than even now people think in common believe and the frontline was often held by infantry with very few artillery
I had heard this idea from a German AT soldier when using the puny 37mm PAK gun: first you wait for the T34 or the KV1 to get REALLY close; second hit the driver's hatch with an HE shell-the explosion won' t penetrate the armor, but it often would cause the hatch to fly open; NOW the fun part: with the hatch now open, fire another HE round into the tank's interior, where it would detonate, taking out the crew....all I can say is 'ballsy'.
In WW2 MacGyver was a german, obviously.
Maciej Niedzielski their logistic chain was almost entirely dependend on carriages drawn by horses.
Now imagine they actually had all that equipment popculture paints them having.
im not sure if this is a military channel or is it secretly trying to teach me german
lightning strikes twice ;)
u will have to try harder my friend my willingness to learn anything other than the queen's english is niedrig
Wieso niedrig ? Deutsch ist ziemlich einfach.
Weil ich eine verstopfte Europäische Union hasse Brit
also i cant pronounce that
"No anti tank guns, no flak, Just a bunch of soldiers fighting against T34s, Kv1s, and Kv2s in close quarters with mines, smoke grenades, molotov cocktails, axes, and hand grenades."........ "axes"......"AXES"
> is german soldier on Eastern front 1941
>sees t34
>grabs trust hand axe and prepares for assult
>rushes t34
>hits t34 with axe
>goodhit.jpeg
> t34 explodes
That's why it's called Axis! :p [citation needed]
I tapped out when I saw the green text arrows no thanks
anon nazi soldier attacks a T34
@@wayfarinstranger9962 no one cares
-"We are going to Moscow..."
-"You may have my Flak"
-"You may have my Pak"
-"You may have my Axe !"
I love how the term Panzershrek being used later as the name of an anti tank weapon is easily one of the best historical "call an ambulance, but not for me"s of all time
I remember solders from Vukovar (Former Yugoslavia) who fought modern tanks in 1991. They said that in town and villages tanks without heavy infantry support are as good as dead. They would allegedly often throw blankets soaked in gasoline on the tanks. Crew would think that the tank is burning, and would try to escape, only to get gunned down. Point is that sometimes you don't even have to destroy the tank, just make the crew think it's time to bail out.
That flaming blanket over the tank thing is more a myth than it is a real thing and it originates from WWII with partisans dropping flaming blankets over panzers. No, the tank crew wouldn't think the tank is burning.
_Sky_ I've read something similar about the Greco-Italian war,soldiers would throw blankets at a tankkete's tracks to immobilise them.
Same in 1956 in Budapest. Although they were ultimately defeated, civilian rebels managed to destroy an impressive number of Soviet tanks in the narrow city streets.
@@barcased maybe not but they wont be able to see and if you cant see you cant shoot, or drive, which means they are basically sitting in a metal coffin..
@@mtnbound2764 You can still back up or just continue driving down the road using your memory. Also, tanks have a large number of different optics, and the other crew can just guide the driver. Oh, and the blankets burn fast.
The German army even made a film to teach these techniques, and the US army simply dubbed the film in English and used it for training their own troops in the early Cold War period. The American title is Men Against Tanks. Some clips can be found on CZcams. We were still using the film in the Canadian army in the 1980's.
I heard that in the US they sometimes still use WWII german sniper training videos.
Give linkkkkkkkkk!
Darren Simonelli do you have the link to that movies ?
I have not been able to find the US Army version, which was dubbed and edited. The original title is Männer gegen Panzer (Men against tanks) run time approx 27 minutes. There are several version available on CZcams. Links disappear, but the title can always be searched.
Falkenauge yes and officers in u.s. army infantry used wehrmacht and ss small squad infantry tactics still. I would know i was told this by an infantry officer when in the army.
According to the totally historically correct™ movie "fury" the standard german anti-tank tactic was to run straight towards the tank's machine gun fire :^)
xD
Fury was such a propaganda piece
@@douglasparkinson4123 man his comment is 2 years old
@@MrGOLDENCUPCAKE1 my comment was one month old.
@@douglasparkinson4123 You're both Cringe, but you especially lol
"But Hans for what can we use the Axe"
"Hold my Schnaps ,Fritz"
"Wait… Fritz, did zat bunker just move?"
"Nein, and hans, I'm keeping ze schnapps"
Serious balls on the guy with the axe. Reminds me of that one Soviet tank that was disabled by an angry Finn with a crowbar in the Winter War.
(My 3 years old reply...)
Reminds me of an angry Soviet chef that captured a German tank and its crew intact with an axe and revolver.
@@artificialintelligence8328 my 4 year old reply
Reminds me of mad jack churchhill
Hancked open a tank with an umbrella and revolver
Ancestor of the Gordon Freeman
@@niviera7807 ,,Hey guys, Desinc here" *starts flying with supersonic speed*
I guess if you knock out all the view ports and the gun sight, the tank is effectively blind and useless.
Those German troops at the end of Fury obviously didn't read this manual.
not sure about Those [who played as] german troops ,but I'm sure as hell that both writer and director didn't read it !
oh gawd, please don´t remind me.
Those were supposed to be like actual competent SS-troopers.
At that point in the war, any SS-man not overweight or underage would be a crack veteran.
Also how goddamn long it took them to get into cover.
Plus they even fucking had Panzerfausts.
Even Kelly's heroes has battles that make more sense, and that was a comedy!
neither did those German troops even use the Panzerfausts that half of them were carrying, once they openend fire on ?Fury it seemed like they forgot they even had them.
My problem with the scene was how come nobody tried to drop a grenade into one of the hatches
Super Mariö Ostfront 10/10 would by
"Vodka will restore mobility to the festungstruppen!" -Rommel (while recovering in Normandy)
I recommend a Combat Studies Institute manual titled 'Standing Fast: German Defensive Doctrine on the Russian Front during WWII" written by then Major Timothy Wray. Printed in 1986 it's a wealth of information on how the Germans dealt with the severe manpower/materiel shortages and vast distances on a tactical level, much of it improvised.
Having virtually no heavy AT weapons the Germans main aim was destroying Russian infantry first which when separated left tanks fairly reasonable to handle via these 'tank destroyer' teams.
thank you!
Kein Problem! Keep up the great work!
Another good resource is 'Small Unit Actions During the German Campaign in Russia,' Department of the Army pamphlet NO. 20-269, July 1953
@@JayM409 Thanks! I find it interesting that the US Army wisely documented and learned everything it could from the combat experiences of the German Army on the Eastern Front. Many former German field marshals and generals were sought by NATO during the Cold War and acted as advisers and consultants because of their firsthand combat experience dealing with the Soviets.
Interesting, funny how the Germans forgot about all these tactics then they were fighting an immobilized tank in 1945...
Jesper O answer is Russians learnt quickly...
And thy where meant to be elite SS troops 😎
@@Lowlander-ci7is The SS were not elite troops, they were political fanatical troops, just like the Italian blackshirts or the Soviet NKVD units.
hahahahahahahaha lets be honest, good movie, but full of bullshit.
The German soldier at that time in history was the best you could be up against, well trained, all round, the ussr had unlimited manpower, wave after wave, over time it would wear you out, dont forget 27 million died in the ussr, the male population haven't recovered to this day, what ever anyone may say, THAY DEFEATED HITLERS WAR MACHINE THE USSR.
The axe is badass!
It's a step up from the birch log that Finns had to use. :)
+Jim Steele Can you imagine how horrifying it is to realize there's some lunatic climbing on your tank and he seems determined to stop you with axe and grenade?
I wonder if that was George Lucas' inspiration for Luke Skywalker destroying an AT-AT in Empire Strikes Back with his lightsaber and a space grenade.
Obummer
Jerry Can with a grenade attached to it haha
+Jim Steele Closer you are to danger, the further you are from harm!
0:50 is why these videos are so good.
Now say it 3x, fast.....
Also shows how important infantry is to protect tanks from other infantry.
Well, yes, and vice versa - infantry fire to protect the anti-tank teams. It´s interesting to note that these anti-tank teams were not actual units, but simply men from the platoon who have been designated to the task in case the enemy tanks get close.
Russian infantry are famous for riding their tanks into battle...certainly gave them mutual protection plus mobility! Dangerous as hell but looks really cool....
@@hjorturerlendand interesting that they were so organized, to the degree that they were, though not surprising for Germans......
Oftentimes Soviet tanks would simply stop in order to wait for their infantry to catch up. The Germans would then pick them off. A leftover from WW1 was how in German defense doctrine tanks were viewed as minor threats without supporting infantry which artillery could deal with. (Hence the lack of heavy AT weapons.) Many times the Germans would simply let Soviet tanks run right by them after taking out their supporting infantry. As the combat studies manual eloquently stated these isolated tanks would then be allowed to flounder about like lumbering mechanical beasts and treated more as a nuisance than real threat.
"Comrade, I see german squad approaching."
"What about it, just point stronk gun at them."
"But Comrade ..."
"What?!"
"They have ... axes!"
We scrwed
*_Aw Blyati_*
Now I really wish the directors of Fury read this stuff. That final scene presented so much opportunity.
That usage of the axe though
That would take balls....
Wow, you did not promise too much when you said this was about short range weapons. Hacking open the engine cover with an ax while the tank is moving around will require some balls of steel.
Well . there is the whole late war magnetic HEAT mine , run up to the tank and attach it. In 1944
Wow, and I thought the Romanian team that got a pak 36 within 10 meters of a T-34 had balls (they didn't trust it to penetrate at longer ranges)
@@alex_zetsu even at 10m it wasn't sure thing
@2:50
Literally means what?
[Looks up 'Nebel']
Oh. OH, OH FOG, OH ok. That makes much more sense.
4:00 I thought he said 'fork handles'. There was also a cherry can there somewhere.
Could have sworn he said "Fart Candles" which makes a hilarious kind of sense.
ItsStevieBoy sounds like a bad porn version of The A-Team
Interestingly I had no problems since I was listening and well... obviously knew the context he was talking about. the images also help make it obvious lol. Also I didn't find the way he said it all that off. But I can see how one can be mistaken.
@@neurofiedyamato8763 yeah We are as mindful...
I can just imagine a badass jumping on a T-34, smashing open the ventilation with and axe and tossing a grenade in. Awesome
Some kids from the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division actually did suicide attacks on tanks. They would lie down and wait for the tank to move over them, detonating a grenade or a mine under it. That is a whole another level.
TENNOHEIKABANZAI
@@jirkazalabak1514 That's some fucked up shit... couldn't even imagine watching someone do that let alone doing that. That's a whole new level of brain washed.
@@redchickenproduction
You're gonna have fun seeing all the suicide weapons and tactics the Japanese devised as their conventional weapons grew obsolete and their industry could not churn out necessary upgrades.
Artificial Intelligence lol nah homie even Japanese suicide attacks are nothing compared to The Islamic State Caliphate (ISIS) Martyrdom Operations/Suicide attacks.. The ISIS military command are professional military generals and officers who were apart of the saddam husseins military and political Inner circle but unlike Saddams military - they now use Suicide tactics as a fundamental element of their strategy and they’ve become so incredibly successful at it - it would be chilling for anyone not used to it or not sympathetic to them to watch..
the hundreds of ISIS official military footage they release regularly and in particular when they’re fighting defensively in a city or village against overwhelming odds and they use suicide attacks in such strategic and organized well thought out ways... they use consistent but relatively few suicide bombers throughout entire battle whenever they see vulnerabilities amidst their regular fighting however when they strategically use waves of suicide bombers is when it becomes clear how much of a nightmare miserable hell on earth it is for anyone to fight ISIS. They first realize their enemy is planning to retake a city from the,, so they clear out first half of the city in order to make themselves seem more defenseless and that they abandoned the town for the forward surveillance teams to see and report back, them their enemies begin to move towards the city without harassment since ISIS want them to come in and are just strengthening their defenses, tunnels, etc etc.. As the enemies finally begin to reach the city, isis tells the civilians to leave bc of the fighting, civilians leave and are stopped by the soldiers, searched, etc and sometimes will be given food and water and etc by the soldiers - putting strain on their supplies and keeping them both extremely scared of ISIS ambush and attacks but also trying to avoid making the city civilians even more loyal and pro isis than they already are and then when civilians are leaving and being searched by the front of the army force In the city,
ISIS send a wave of suicide bombers around to attack the supplies, support, etc, while also sending small units of suicide attackers (not bombers) to just endlessly harass them while in the city they use suicide bombers to attack the soldiers.. You can watch these videos. And they are so capable and sophisticated that they are FOR SURE going to regroup, resupply and return to retake as much of their lost territory and hunt down any civilians and police who helped their enemies lol. Anyways if u want links lemme know
I heard of a dirty trick with AT-mines:
Dig a hole in a dirt road, place a mine upside down in the hole, a second one right side up on top of it and arm the pressure fuse.
Then place a 2X4 (German: Dachlatte) upright on the fuse und close the hole. Make sure the 2x4 sticks only a few centimeters out of the road. Thus the trap is all but invisible. Even dismounted infantry walking down the road ahead of vehicles can easily miss it. If a tank or other vehicle hits the 2x4, it detonates the mines, and blows a crater into the road. The viehicle falls into the crater, damaging its suspension and structure and injuring the crew.
Hm... why not just shallowly bury a mine and let it do its work the way it was designed? I promise you, it will do more damage this way than being buried deeper than necessary.
Bird_Dog Or, you know, bury a 150mm HE shell or two next to a normal AT mine and you just killed everything
because this way, it is harder to detect with a magnet detector and it will leave a roadblock in form of the crater behind...
Also, some modern MBTs are known to have survived a mine detonating under the track without even throwing said track. So, in this case, the deeply burried mine would actualy do more damage.
Bird_Dog you seriously underestimated the power of an 150ish HE round.....
Graff Zitel
I actualy answerd to Apocalyptic Knights.
Also, the M197 155mm artillery shell contains about 5.7kg of explosive filler. Some AT-Blastmines like the Panzermine 60 contain similar amounts or even more.
I love the subtle but obvious humor and the amount of it that you added to this video. It does not take away from the educational aspect one bit, but rather keeps one engaged. You sir, are a great teacher.
0:50 Had a sudden urge to invade Poland
@Hugo Holesch the quip is kind of dumb, i agree, but man I laughed so hard when Woody said that in the movie. It was just so unexpected :D
The smokegrenade-bola to wrap around an enemy gun barrel sounds like straight up cartoon logic. Amazing stuff
This is one of your best made videos and also a very interesting one; thanks for having made it!
Havent even watched the video and already: "Yay, a video! And about WW2" Like and start watching
Bunkers start moving with enough vodka? I always adored your sense of humor! ^_^
Suddenly there are two bunkers!
germanic people have a great sense of humour unless ur the enemy
Na, even then we have. We simply find it amusing to blow the enemy up. I know, I know...not that amusing for the enemy, but still...
REgamesplayer I was looking for this comment. Loved it. :D
Again another nicely explained video on a really interesting subject! Gute Arbeit Kamerad!
When you say fog it sounds like "fuck".
ah well the fuck of war mechanic :D
Thank you,sir. Your videos are PURE GENIUS. Please keep up the great work.
amazing videos. thank you very much, as i'm citing your videos as a source for an essay in my class. the jokes during the video also crack me up, keep up the good work.
In the duration of viewing, view count went from 888 to 1904!! That's called a quick-acting loyal fanbase.
3:09 "sürprise" thats the most germanic english word i ever heard
You are doing an amazing work on your video's, as an historia student it's very helpfull! Thanks for it and keep up your great work
Really enjoyed this video. Keep making more.
Had to double-check "nebel" with google translate, was disappointed to discover I'd misheard and Germany did not in fact have fuck-teams.
Did the same thing here.
same here
Oh no.Hadedas have finally reached CZcams. We are doomed.
+goodsous dat necro tho...
We are on your lawns, your roofs, your devices, we are legion. :)
I really liked this one. Not only did you pick an interesting topic, but I think there were some subtle stylistic things, like presenting passages in the original German that gives an authenticity and educational experience that is unmatched on CZcams.
Maybe it's just because I'm moving to Germany and I'm in the middle of learning the language, but I think even in another circumstance, I really would have appreciated this episode in particular.
Learning the language? Which one, Arabic, Urdu or Afghani?
You do amazing work.
Fantastic content dude
The "hans in the box" as the surprise symbol have me a chuckle.
gutes video mal wieder
Danke für deine Videos; freu mich jedes Mal wieder, wenn ich eins im Feed sehe. Weiter so. :)
Fantastic video mate. Really enjoyed it. keep it up!
Awesome video,Keep it up!
"Jump on to the tank"
"Super Mariö Ostfront"
Lmao
Edit: there are multiple other references and jokes
Great video series. Thanks so much!
Good informational channel - subscribed
Interesting video. I remember owning an old Dutch army infantry primer from the 70's where many of these techniques were outlined as well: mineplanks, smoke grenades with counterweights and molotov cocktails. Thankfully that book also had a basic introduction to the Carl Gustaf M2, so they at least had a few more options than the Germans in '41
6:10 "After all the KV-2 was build as a bunker buster, and those usually don't move unless you had a bit too much vodka" lol
As always great video!
Thanks for the video!
Oh Jesus....a KV2 at close range....
Every Cromwell driver's dream.
Unless of course the gun is pointing the Cromwell's way...
Connor Quarmby maybe that's why it is so ugly. whenever you aim at the tank your eyes burn up
Connor Quarmby nuke tank
Well, the historical KV2 shouldn't fire the gun if the turret was turned completely to the left or right because it was at risk to simply fall on the side or rock so hard the crew could be injured. And in reality the german tanks moved too fast for the KV2 crew to aquire the target properly. For infantry, most KV2 drove into battle with an bunker buster armor piercing shell loaded...and you couldn't simply switch the shell inside the barrel.
If you are referring to the WoT/WT KV2...yeah, holy fuck KV2 at close range!
Hjalfnar Feuerwolf yeah I was talking about dat dank meme bruh, I'm curious if you ever seen Girls Und Panzer.
If oh haven't you should watch it and also don't think about it, Churchill's can go about 75MPH because logic oh and so can the Matilda,
The KV2 can go underwater apparently and have no problems at all,
The Hetzer isn't crushed by A FUCKING MAUS.
just accept it if you do ok? It's all you can do, just accept the "Anime logic" I have, and it's all awesome XD
And what about magnetic mines? They often figures in german chronicles.
Don´t think they were issued yet.
well, it wasn't mentioned in the instructions, I assume it was not
(widely) available yet and according to Wikipedia it was first used in
1942. I think that guide was written in 1941 early 1942.
I read another contemporary (the same?) German infantry anti-tank manual. A minor difference was that they included the use of single, "plankless", mines attached to two ropes and operated by two soldiers in seperate camouflaged foxholes, essentially Tellermine tug-of-war... They also had a rope attached to the detonator, so they could manually detonate it under the centre of the tank. Oh, and the exploding jerrycan wasn´t included, tho they did advocate dousing tank in gazoline and then lighting it up... Something about these tactics just puts a smile on my face :D
Excellent presentation [as usual]. The scope of this brand of operation staggers the imagination.
Very informative. Thanks for all your hard work and research. You just got a new subscriber.
5:51 "weapon effect very low"
* logs into war thunder arcade tank battles *
* gets one shotted by KV-2 everytime *
I feel like that was mostly propaganda because what else are you gonna tell them, "go take on that incredibly dangerous and destructive tank with an axe", no one would do it, so of course you lie and say "its all bark and no bite, really, heres an axe, go kill it"
the same thing american instructors told their soldiers about the mg42. they quickly learned they were lied to i guess.
It's probably not a very good weapon against infantry at close range. I'm guessing a low top speed, slow rate of fire, limited ammunition and slow rate of turret traverse.
@@jrd33 Seriously, I don't see how people think it's a threat at close range. You could probably be standing directly in front of it and it would still be stuck shooting its machine gun over your head because of how high off the ground it is.
meanwhile in all my play as KV2
*my shoots miss like the 80% of all time and die during the huge reload time*
You were scared of the tank then the tank was scared of you
One of the best videos recently :)
Excellent subtle Scorpions reference, sir. I can hear the whistling in my head now.
"Bunkers don't usually move, unless you got a bit too much vodka."
I fucking love you man xD
Edit: Super Mariö Ostfront was even better ;D
Great video. I would like to point out that while early German infantry divisions did not have AT guns that were capable of easily penetrating Soviet heavy armor, they did have a few infantry guns (howitzer) that could knock out a tank. For example, in a division history of the 44th Infantry Division, there is a photo of a KV that was knocked out by a 15cm infantry gun. I've read other accounts from of divisions with similar results.
interesting, but yeah, since the Soviets used also the 152mm to kill Tigers etc. the "schwere Infanteriegeschütz" (sIG) should be able to do that too. Funnily enough, that is the first time I see that mentioned. Remember reading something about artillery used, but the IG would actually make more sense, due to their close-support role, whereas artillery "should stay back".
and thank you!
great research, thanks for the good work! cheers from Brazil
Richtig tolles Video weiter so 👍
i didn't expect much from this video but it ended up being extremely interesting. those are some clever ideas.
presumably this would've only worked in rougher terrain or urban areas. because how does infantry get close enough to a tank with 1 kilometer effective range on its main gun, and probably supported by enemy infantry.
I guess you could use night cover but the real problem is the infantry support.
you didn't cover the antibaguette-mine, that one was used by the german soldiers as a counter to the B1
For those who don't know, it a freshly baked baguette (taken from the ovens of a Baguettewerfer) that is tossed somewhere near a B1. The crew smells the fresh baguette and climbs out of the tank, at which point the security team takes them out.
also the smoke team would often use baguette flavoured smoke to maximize their changes of winning
Didn't the Germans also draw up plans to deal with French superheavy tanks by having the smoke teams deploy smoked salmon, as baguettes would have been insufficient against tanks that came with their own baguette ovens?
@@Oliolli3 The French superheavy tanks weren't of any threat, because they were nothing more than propaganda. Any historian worth their salt could tell you that all of rural France couldn't produce the wheat necessary for it's very borsche-intensive engine, not to mention it's ridiculous weight of 69 Baguette-tonnes. All in all, the Char 2Croissant was of no real threat to the Germans.
Awesome as always
well done mate! Sehr unterhaltsam :3
Destroying tanks the manly way!
The finns had some experience with this as well, if I recall correctly.
Are there any records indicating how often the Germans actually used these close in anti-tank teams and how successful they were? Because, to me, this looks like a great way to get yourself killed, while I can see this working against a lone tank that's all by itself there's no way that these tactics could work a group of tanks together or even a lone tank supported by infantry. If they did ever use these crazy tactics successfully I wonder how many Iron or Knight's Crosses were issued to these units, I could easily seeing someone using the axe tactic and living to tell about it getting a Knight's Cross for his heroics.
Similar tactics worked great in Finland... Some guys got both 5 and 6 tank kills a day in certain times of the winter war.
How often with the Germans... Who can tell, the first year in Russia, they didn't really have anti-tank guns (besides the 88) for the infantry (the 37 mm didn't cut it, and the 50 mm, turned out to not be powerful enough against the KV tanks and the T-34).
But it would almost certainly not be common, I imagine.
Riceball01. some of these tactics seem to be ideal for surprise attacks on a convoy moving cross country. they could be seen from a distance their path safely predicted and the team likely out of sight during the engagement.
it offers the benefit of imobilizing all or part of a convoy and in terms of losses a two man team with light cheap equipment isnt a terrible loss compared to a tank and its crew even if the kill rate is just 1 to 1, if said teams manage to kill multiple tanks and crews before dying them selves it is on a tactical level a success.
harsh sure, but no more so than storming a beach and counting your 6000 dead men as acceptable losses.
I also doubt they chose to use these tactics in open fields when they are the sole targets for the tanks and their infantry, in an active battle a few 2 man teams scuttling about in the chaos may do well enough but ultimately I see this being used against convoys and in urban settings almost exclusively.
true, but on the flip side... these teams usually are accompanying the regular infantry which would engage the infantries covering the tank and in some cases (particularly urban warfare) close quarter fight is both more viable and in the early war... it was basically pretty much all they had (this is before german copied bazooka and mass produced panzerfaust and panzershreck to give infantries a capable close range mobile anti tank weapon)
given the right circumstances, it seems possible that they can do a number to a tank that wasn't expecting threat against it in the absence of big guns.
and if the tanks were designed with means to accommodate close quarter protection against infantry (pistol port, grenade launcher like on some german tanks, or rear machine gun on some soviet tanks), then these squads on both sides must have had some effect....
enough to justify the presence of those features above.
Riceball01 in the finno-russian war the finns used similar tactics against russian tanks because they had'nt any on there own. but the looses for a anti-tank troop were probably very high. so it works when you are quick on foot and very brave.
They actually had an award specifically for this activity (destruction of tanks by non-anti tank units)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Destruction_Badge
0:52
thanks that clears up a lot
I'm a huge WWII Wehrmacht buff, and love these videos of yours regarding Wehrmacht infantry tactics. I'd become a patreon if I was employed
Looked up translation of Nebeltrupp (translation: "fog team" as stated in the video)...I thought I heard something different lol.
Great video, I must say :D me and my fellow soldiers love your videos! Keep up the great work!
edit: In der Bundeswehr heißt's ja Panzervernichtungstrupp, ich wusst nicht das es früher anders hieß.
danke! Jo, die Namen ändern sich zum Teil doch stark, der Mörser hieß auch noch Granatwerfer(34). Aber die Sache mit "Panzerschreck" hat mich am meisten erstaunt, fand den Namen für die Waffe auch immer etwas "counter-intuitive".
Allerdings, das alte "Panzerschreck" im sinne von "Schreck durch Panzer" kannte ich aber vorher nicht. Naja, man war ja damals genauso kreativ wie heute :D
Ich hass diese ganzen leute die um irgendwas betteln, aber wenn du mal Zeit und Lust hast, kannst du etwas zum Thema Artillerie-Feuerleitung in der Wehrmacht oder auch anderen Armeen machen? Ich werd das wahrscheinlich bei uns auch mal machen, nach den Offizierlehrgängen, bin deshalb sehr interessiert :D
hast ne Buchempfehlung dazu, weil zur Artillerie hab ich bisher nur gute Englische Literatur gefunden. Hab nur bzgl. 1. WK ein Buch zu deutscher Artillerie bzw. zu Bruckmüller oder Bruchmüller oder so gefunden: Steel Wind.
Da muss ich mal schauen, zu Hause in meinem Regal steht was, hab aber den Namen nicht parat und bin gerade in München an der Uni :D
Na gut, Bruchmüller ist so ne Sache, aber eigentlich auch sehr interessant :D Der hatte seinen Spitznamen auch verdient.
von Moltke Erinnerung
This channel has grown so much!
I love how for a moment it sounded like you were telling us a dirty little secret when you mentioned the Jerry Can+Grenade combo.
"It was used as a bunker buster, which usually doesn't move unless you had too much vodka" " super mariö Ostfront" 😂😂😂😂those kind of things combined with your hilarious icons kill me every time
that's not funny. this is kind of stupid.
Please do a video about tank destroyers of other countries except Germany,their use,their designs and did they make a difference for other countries.
Congratulations on 200,000 subs!
Very informative! Vielen danke!
There’s only one way to kill a tank.
Bayonet charge.
Best Anti-Tank tactic! Throw a blanket over the turret!
the old colleagues at my working place who all where in the DDR Army told me storys about practicing exactly that, jumping on driving tanks and covering them with there rain ponchos.
I've read some American field manuals that describe very similar close combat methods against tanks, with the grenade-and-jerrycan replaced by the "Eagle Cocktail"; jellied gasoline in a container with a thermite grenade. The thermite burns through the steel and the gasoline runs inside.
this was a great video!
How often do you think these tactics were employed on the front? I imagine most Russian tanks had infantry support, and to climb on top of a tank when there are people shooting at you sounds rather folly.
EpicTubah In the first year of the war the soviet army fights with poor tactics, like mass infanty attacks or uncovered tank assaults. But they learned the combined weapon tactic very quickly and . Fortunatley for the germans at the bginning of operation barbarossa, because the main anti tank gun 3,7cm PaK 36 (Panzeranklopfgerät = tank knocking device) was uneffectiv against KV's and T34.
EpicTubah the anti-tank team would probably also not be the only Germans around. The infantry might be supressed with MG or mortar fire.
Anti-tank defense while a massed attack on a german position was underway was also probably more spontaneous than this, organized teams were probably used to take care of stragglers or isolated an immobilized tanks.
Thanks for the insights.
PaK stands for Panzerabwehrkanone (Anti-tank cannon) though.
GhostRider659 exactly - i' m interested in wwii and i always thought (perhaps not right ?) that it was question of individual skills of few soldiers in platoon to try a stop a tank if they didn' t have antitank gun rather then organized separately units ? ...
EpicTubah good point, i thought same with that "axe idea"
How about german and soviet anti tank rifle team?
those were used especially at the beginning, when they had no other ranged weapons. The russians used them in particular long after the Germans basically gave up on the tank rifles. The Russians as a rule aimed at the weak spots, of course, viewing slits, ventilation and at the guns.
The Steel will and courage of these men to develop these tactics (out of necessity of course..) thank you for documenting this.
Interesting video.
What tools and sources you are using is also very interesting.
Never saw that kind of pages before.
Super Mario: Ostfront Edition.
11 1941 Soviet Tankmen dislike this video
I don’t know why I enjoy these types of videos
Man, I am not a professional academic historian, i am a coffee grower, whose hobby is military history, your page is great, many thanks.
@ 00:21 Axes HAHAHAHA! Anti-tank axes. Actually if you consider making anti-tank obstacles and funnels then yeah. Axes. I'm willing to hear more. Still the idea of a viking Thorkin jumping onto of a tank and wailing away with an axe is just a lovely comic book scene. Given how some computer games only model hit points not armor vs penetration there are sims where that is possible.
When are you guys getting rid of Merkill?
My favourite channel
very interesting, thanks