"if fighting is sure to result in victory then you must fight! *StuG* Tzu said that" -tf2 soldier I had to do it🤣🤣🤣 Also "My emotions get out of control. When I'm about to lose it, I calm down by crying for a while. You referred to *StuG* Tzu, right? I know him to. Long ago, I journeyed to China. All war is deception. To fight is to delude. Anger your enemies to lure them to mistakes. That's what you're planning, right? I won't fall for it." -ACDC 1939
@trainbomb You do know that that term was barely used, just as Aryan. "Aryan" got so annoying to the Nazi party that they banned it from newspapers in the 30s. The Soldiers weren't seen as cannon fodder, they were seen as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good.
@trainbomb Let's ask the 3.5 million Indians who died in the Bengal famine in 1943. Oops, that was an administrative error. Why was a British administrative error able to kill 3.5 million Indians? Because England ran the country. How could that happen - oops, we just accidently conquered it. And used it to raise opium we forcibly sold to China killing millions. What happened to the food in Bengal? It helped cushion food rationing in England. So starving conquered areas starved so that the "owning" country has less discomfort? Maybe ask the Poles and Dutch about that. That's different. They're Europeans and those savage Nazis did it. What about the Irish potato famine while grain and meat was exported for profit to England while the Irish starved? Oh, but that's different (and that pesky Charles Dickens just had to write that story...) Why were British appointed and controlled beauracrats in charge in India? (an excuse often blamed for the Bengal famine). Well, the British EMPIRE needed time and just had to imprison Gandhi during WW2, he was such a threat. You know, like militarized US police being trained to deal with the "threat of passive resistance." If you're in charge and millions die (or tens of thousands based on mortality tracking in Iraq after US conquest) - you broke it, you own it. Need I continue with the Belgian Congo, which pre-WW1 rivals anything the Nazis would do, the "Dutch East Indies" and the very nasty counterinsurgency they ran after WW2, and let's not forget the French in Indo-China. Nope, nothing wrong with those Imperial ambitions. They weren't as bad as the Nazis, which is like saying I'm not that bad, I just simply am a mass murderer, I didn't torture anybody - and anyone people dying in my arsons probably mostly died of smoke inhalation so they didn't suffer too much....
@trainbomb No. Do you really compare deliberately shipping food out of a subsidence economy during a crop failure as anything other than deliberately starving literally "women and children?" There is manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, manslaughter with a callous disregard for human life, and first degree murder. I think the Callous disregard for human life fits quite nicely. Does it meet the bar of Nazi atrocities. No, and that's a straw man. It's also a pretty low bar - see, we weren't as bad as the Nazis. The British Empire killed many more people than the Nazis, they just took a few centuries. BTW, how about British, Colonial, and then US bounties on Native Americans. They paid differential rates for braves (men of fighting age) vs. Women and childre. How pray tell is that better than the Nazis. Hint, Google is your friend: www.google.com/search?q=british+bounties%2Fon+native+american&oq=british+bounties%2Fon+nativ&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33l2.12425j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#sbfbu=1&pi=british%20bounties/on%20native%20american
Mom: what are you doing on that computer all day. me: im in school mom, im learning. dad, ww2 veteran: what are you learning son me: wehrmacht operational manuals.
As a former U.S. Army tank and cavalry expert, a tank company commander, and a writer of some armor/cavalry manuals and training programs, I thought some of the readers might be interested in what bracket shooting is. I believe the bracketing method refers to a three round shot group. That is what we used when in a degraded mode, as well as the British, and others used. This was also a fairly standard mode before the days of ballistic computers. Armor piercing rounds have a flat trajectory contrasted to HE rounds, WP, etc. Because of this, one can be relatively assured of a hit with the three round shot group, or bracket, assuming you have a reasonably good idea of the range. For example (zum beispiel. My German is a little rusty so I apologize for any spelling errors), if you think an enemy tank is 800 meters away, you would fire your first round with 800 meters as the range (using either your reticle or the ballistic computer). After firing you would add 200 meters and fire, then drop 400 meters and fire. Naturally, if you could confirm a first or second round hit AND the destruction or incapacitation then you may not fire the subsequent rounds. One of the great examples of this was in the 1965 Indian-Pakistan war where the Indians had the Chieftan (Mark 7s) and the Pakistani Army had the newer, and supposedly superior M-48 Patton tanks. The Pattons were more complex. Even when the Indians had limited visibility due to dust and other factors, they could still take out the Pattons using the bracket or three round shot group method. This gave them several decisive victories when the more complex Pattons couldn't fully use their range finders and the crews weren't trained in degraded mode gunnery.
Hi, thank you for the information, I have a question if you don't mind answering it. Is the added/subtracted distance (200m) - (400m) constant regardless of the initial distance, or is there an equation which is used to calculate the grouping?
@@xsqio Good question. I believe it is constant. It is considered a battle sight method so there are no calculations. At the same time, each commander can make adjustments based upon the situation.
@@PanzerDave Thanks once again! It popped into my mind since at close range, I would think, the adjustment would be lower since say at 300 metres the 200m adjustment would be excessive, again hypothetically. Of course I don't recon that at 300m aiming would require so much guesswork :)
@@xsqio Indeed! In the operations order, a commander will often make adjustments for such variations, and an expected engagement at 300 meters is a very close range. If conditions were such I would absolutely make such an adjustment. In the case of the Indian Pakistan battle I mentioned, the range wasn't a primary limitation, but rather visibility. It was difficult to get a sighting due to elephant grass as I recall. They could see the tank but had difficulty sighting on it, so the three round bracket proved deadly. Another example of a conditions based change occurred in Europe during WWII where some units had the round in the tube, thus the first round fired, be WP or White Phosphorus. The theory was that the tank would see the enemy and react very quickly, likely missing, but nonetheless providing a general location of where the enemy was. This gave the other vehicles an opportunity to effectively engage the enemy. There was also a chance the WP round would obscure the enemy's vision.
@@PanzerDave The white phosphorous tactic is quite interesting; still, thank god it's outlawed (at least I think). Seeing as we are now conversing, another question about range finding / arms cooperation comes to mind. (Excuse my lack or imprecision of terminology btw) Did mechanized artillery, like the Priest, use the grouping method or is it strictly restricted to direct fire weapons? Also, as an alternative did they still use the Creeping Barrage tactic?
I would argue that "Der Russe ist in den meisten Fällen unterlegen." (under #5) would be better translated as "In most cases the Russian will be at a disadvantage.", as this part is imho referring to the aforementioned areas of [fighting] spirit and ability of the crew as well as capability of the weapons system.
When I was a child starting to learn about WWII with my father, he used to mention this word all the time: "because Stug this", Stug did like that". I thought with myself, what an odd word is this! Let me add this thing to my internet and artistic name. Some time later I realised what the StuG was in reality and it was love at first sight. If we could call StuGs for an animal like the Tiger, Panther, Bison, Elefant and such, I think the StuG would be definely a Racoon.
Nein, APBT American Pit Bull Terrier. I know should be a Kat. But, Pit Bulls are a general use dogs(that happens to be a good fighter). Also like kats Pit Bulls are soul lone(loners auf American English, work alone) dogs.
Weasel is Wiesel, Marten is Marder.. I would say Caracal. Buz according to the "Eberkopf" gun mantlet, it would be near to call it, razorback or boar, wild hog (Keiler is the equivalent of a wikd hog, sooo in normandy maybe the hedge hog)
Maybe because it's an anoying little bastard (I love it) that disables in germany pretty often all sorts of vehicles, also today.. For an infantry support vehicle quite fitting, it's a small Hunter but quite effective when you hunt your prey the right way.
The Finnish army received from Germany their first Stug's around summer 1943 right before the second clash with Russia. They had a rate of 10 Russian tank destroyed for every lost Stug. Here comes the link th-cam.com/video/Yss-Ett7vp0/w-d-xo.html Read his comments for the video!
Greets from Finland. My grandfather was at Jüterborg, Germany in 1943 training and living the StuG life. When he got back in Finland, he fought in the lines of armoured division.
“You fool, the Assault III was a wonderful tank, it was able to repel the fierce Russian attacks!” This is actually inaccurate as the wiki at least identifies the reference as to the Winter War but the Finns had no StuGs in the winter war But I mean, she ain’t lyin
Let's be fair though , even in combat the loader of a Stug has less work to do than say the loader of PZ IV . So the Stug Loader has some time to spare for admin tasks.
I always understood that the Assault Guns were manned by volunteers. Something to do with it being the only way for an artilleryman to earn The Knight's Cross. So technically you DO choose the StuG life.
Maybe its because the thought of a self propelled gun was appealing to German artillery crews used to just how fast the Allies could move. I sure as hell would have volunteered for Stug duty if given half the chance. Better than being stuck behind a largely immobile .88 field gun.
@@chaowingchinghongfingshong3109 @ 8:23 it is specifically mentioned bread, and if you look at how the bread is shaped it can, be confused with the shape of a shell in the heat of battle. (Which has probably happened since they are mentioning it.)
@@FastmineNOR I think it may have more to do with bread crumbs everywhere and general combat readiness. Also bread does noes come with propellant, last I checked, so accidentally firing it would be impossible.
Tank gunnery hasn't changed since then. American gunners say, "On the way!" so the crew can brace themselves before he fires and the M-60 rocks back on its tracks. Before laser range-finders and thermal sleeves on the gun barrels, first round usually missed because the tank commander misjudged the range. PanzerDave mentions bracketing, which I wasn't taught in the early 1980's. We were taught to aim for lower-front armor. If the target was closer than judged, the flat flight-path of the shell would still hit the turret ("Target!"). If farther away, it would ricochet and kick up dirt ("Short line!" = short, but on-line with the target). The worse was a shot that went too high, because those are very hard to track and adjust fire ("Over line!"). Or you might command, "Left, add 200!" But the gunner's job was to spot the shell on his reticle, and then place that part of the reticle on the target. If he could do that, we always got a second-round hit within five seconds. Russian auto-loaders drop the breech and every shot is a first shot. NOT a good idea.
Lets say a stug got hit and burning fuel leaks in the hull, so the ammo is"on fire", more the area of the ammo storage. It wouldn't explode immediately, but in a few seconds... Bail out.. The other scenario is clear, direkt hit, into the ammo, you wouldn't even recognize and maybe have the luck of a short painles death. "Wenn wir schon gehen, dann aber mit einem Knall" The other way would be the one in fury, Volkssturm kid vs. Rookie Sherman commander (screams burning in agony).
An excellent video and demonstrated one of the the reasons why the Stug school successfully turned out very good Stug crews. After all they claimed having knocked out 20.000 Russian tanks between 1943 and 1944. No other tanks or weapons can claim such a high figure...
This is what you do best, in my opinion. A really informative video, correctly sighted on the audience, with the shells of information being bracketed until the viewer understands.
I had a short conversation with a Stug commander when I was in college. He was the husband of a friend of my moms. As an Austrian College student he had been drafted and assigned to a Stug in what he described as a field testing battalion. (This unit took upgrades and/or changes being made to Stug's and testing them in combat. He described going to the 105mm gun and also how his unit was one of the first to test, what seemed to me, to be a HEAT round.
Bracketing method is how you usually would sight artillery fire. You shoot one shot, see where it lands relative to the target, then adjust range up or down, depending on where it lands. Once you have the target "bracketed", that is, you have rounds landing both in front of and behind the target, you correct back(and forth) with half the correction with every shot until you score a hit. For example: The commander judges the target to be 2500m away, and the first round lands behind the target. He then instructs the gunner to correct to 2000m, and the second round lands in front of the target. He would then correct back up to 2250m, and after that correct to 2125m or 2375m depending on where the round lands.
And from the Ausf. C or D, they were equipped with artillery scissor binoculars that helped the commander find the range faster. This meant that, although StuGs and Panzers had a relatively similar chance at a first-shot hit, the StuGs would have a better chance at hitting with follow-up shots compared to regular Panzers.
@@pnutz_2 " it's a side effect when the person who has to shoot is also the person that has to watch their back" You can't watch your back in a early T34.
@@dse763 you can, but you have to open the hatch. good thing the enemy tanks are are in front of you and don't have any small armament like a machine gun on them hey
In another video the children were taught how to kill a Tiger Tank on their way to school. I am not sure that the children can use this video to kill a Stug... Perhaps another video, for the children.
Clearly the tiger appears on the way to school as it too must get an education. If it appears outside the school it should be directed to return to class. Appearances outside school hours should be reported to the proper authorities. Tigers are not allowed to play outside without prior permission.
I really liked the reporting part of the training manual. I wonder though, how different was the German high command view of these reports vs the American view. It seems to me that American officers discounted reports that they didn't agree with. There are several famous stories were front line troops made a report of troops/tanks in our front and the American officers discounted it. PS love your new panzer shirts. Kinda ironic.
Did they realy said "stiften gehen" This is such a serious document on how to operate a StuG but then there is this one line that completly breaks the tone!
Fire the first shot and if you don't hit it make a slight adjustment onto the target, DO NOT bracket. You can put twice the rounds on target in half of the time using this method. Bracketting is a waste of time.
Adopting the Stug life is, in fact, more of an act of submission, like falling in love and going from there. No one can force you into falling in love. The Stug life will supply all your earthly needs, whether you ask for such supply or not, as will the right lover !
@@VRichardsn until the sherman start doing rounds around you. in coh2 however stugs are the bane of all allied TDs, they fire fast, accurate and turn faster than most tank turrets so it's near impossible to flank a stug with a single tank.
@@LucasCunhaRocha _until the sherman start doing rounds around you_ It is all about being clever. Sherman cannot out-turn a StuG IV on all surfaces. Plus, if you keep your distance and don't rush in (which you shouldn't anyway) the StuG will be perfectly safe. _in coh2 however stugs are the bane of all allied TDs, they fire fast, accurate and turn faster than most tank turrets so it's near impossible to flank a stug with a single tank_ You don't need to flank it most of the time. The armor is lackluster, it has few hitpoints, doesn't have camouflage or an impressive reload and the rotation speed is really bad, inferior to all medium tanks and several heavy tanks.
If you could give a cat name to the StuG what would it be? I think Jaguar for the almost pun of with Jagd, fitting its transition from a role of an assault gun to that closer to a tank destroyer. The Sturm Jaguar? or Jaguar Geschütz? Who am I kidding StuG is the best name.
The Sturmgeschutz was never considered a Jagdpanzer/Panzerjaeger, even though it eventually came to take that role. Therefore, it would not receive a "big cat" name. That was only for larger tanks and the vehicles based off of them. StuG should have insect nicknames, hypothetically... Now, names like "Hetzer" for the Jagdpanzer 38t and "Puma" for the Sd.kfz. 234 are not historically accurate; "Puma" was actually used for night-vision-equipped Panther tanks (a puma is a big cat, after all), and Hetzer is thought to have been for the E-25. Regardless, "Hetzer" is not a "big cat" name. Neither is Grille, Hummel, Wespe, etc., as those are not large tanks but rather specialty artillery vehicles, and as such they have "insect" names. As StuG III were part of the artillery branch, an insect name would be more fitting it seems. Tank destroyers often got "large mammal" names like Elefant or Nashorn...though there are exceptions when based on "big cat" chassis like Jagdpanther.
I am aware of this, was just trying to have a little bit of fun. Even with it being used in both the roles of tank and tank destroyer. Though all jagdPanzer Units also wore Artillery styled uniforms to my understanding? Regardless you're inherently wrong about cat names being only reversed for bigger tanks as the Luchs was used for the Panzer II Ausf. L, along with the name Leopard schwer being used for the VK 1602 during it's development.
Marder was already being used by all Marder variants. Though we could pair off the name and go with "Frettchen" and then give the name "Jaguar" to the JagdPanzer IV.
id imagine this leaflet would end up in the bin immediately since some of those instructions are just, not in the reality of the war they are fighting, also the date pretty much corralates with the starting of stugs getting used as actual tanks, not tank hunters, which they were obviously not suited for
8:17 It's funny because the writer of that leaflet was probably thinking: "We were the most powerful land army in Europe, but one that's made up of farmers and teenagers. Best tell them not to mix ammo with bread."
I think you made a translation error at 02:32. The German sentence: "Der Russe ist in den meisten Fällen unterlegen" can be translated to "The russian ist defeated in most cases." But in this context I think what is meant is: "The russian is inferior in most cases." This refers to the quality and combat capabilities of the equipment. After all they are talking about the trust into the capabilities of the STUG here. The author is trying to say that the russian tanks are inferior to the STUG not that the russian will lose.
another premium quality video, awesome work. you mentioned about the aiming being different from the book in combat, i recall hearing from several places, probably on youtube, that Michael Wittman had such a close working relationship with his gunner that they barely had to speak to each other and the gunner operated largely independently. Do you have any insight on that?
I can't comment on how it worked with afv crews,but if you spend enough time working in a team environment you can soon predict what your colleagues need and how you work into that. Coming from a construction background, I can bend down to make some alteration and when I look up one of my guys is prepping the materials I need,all without a word being spoken.
As a new replacement heading to the eastern front I was supposed to report to a supply battalion. Because of high casualty rates in a stug unit I was redirected to them. They were still taking the guy I was replacing out of the stug. The stug life chose me
A very good video to make is German tank crew fire commands. What the tank commander, loader and gunner says when they spot an enemy tank and want to engage it.
Hi MHV. The Swedish "Stridsvagn S" was the Stug perfected. Relativly cheap to produce and though never saw actual combat. A serious tankbuster. Thanks for a great show. Cheers!
Urban Wikström was the Stridsvagn S one of the swedish models wich were not capable of turning the gun at all other by turning the entire cassie? I LOVE swedish tanks. I find it quite sad that they decided to sipmly modify the Leopard 2A5 for their latest MBT
Given the statistical likelihood of being right handed I question the decision of the multiple vehicles of the Wehrmacht positioning the loader in the right side of the vehicle and thus mandating left handed ramming of the ammunition. One would think that switching the commander and gunner to the right would make for much more efficient operation of the main armament.
I've heard that this makes aligning the gun sight much easier/cheaper. This would put the gun and sights on the gunner's dominant side, while also allowing the sights to be straight with the gun tube. Where in tanks with the gunner on the right side of the turret, the gun sight would need to be offset and accounted for in long range firing. Edit: I've only heard this a couple times and can't remember where. So there's a chance I'm completely wrong.
@@Tzarkaan as a life long laborer, here's a tid bit for y'all: it takes more strength to lift or support an object than to maneuver it. So, right hand and arm takes the initial weight, left supports, right hand guides the shell, left arm rams it home.
Any chance you can do a video about the bombing of Darwin Australia by the Japanese in ww2? Alot of people dont know that Australia was bombed by the same fleet that bombed Pearl Harbour. Even alot of aussies dont know about it.
Very good video. Much appreciated. One question tho: At 10:43 it is stated "the driver should drive next to the road to spare the running gear." Wouldnt driving off the road be harder on the running gear? I mean, that's what roads are for, to smooth out the ride.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.82[1/2] แก๊ง 3 สาวเพื่อนซี้บุก CAMPปลิ้นครั้งนี้ห้ามเสียอาการ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_6WUjXHe1TM/mqdefault.jpg)
I am amused by the icon for “knowledge about tanks”
Really cool token of appreciation :)
was going to comment the same thing lol
Omygoditsthechieftain
AHHHHHHH HE DID IT
*ALL HAIL THE CHIEFTAIN*
I did not choose the StuG life.
The StuG life chose me.
Knowledge about tanks symbol 👌
FYI - got unsubscribed from your channel - I’ve heard about it - but this is 1st time it has happened to me
The phrasing of the manual sounds like it was taken from "StuG" Tzu's Art of War.
Should i get a samick sage? x)
"if fighting is sure to result in victory then you must fight! *StuG* Tzu said that"
-tf2 soldier
I had to do it🤣🤣🤣
Also
"My emotions get out of control. When I'm about to lose it, I calm down by crying for a while. You referred to *StuG* Tzu, right? I know him to. Long ago, I journeyed to China. All war is deception. To fight is to delude. Anger your enemies to lure them to mistakes. That's what you're planning, right? I won't fall for it."
-ACDC 1939
"Stug's Art of War"
@@shanedoesyoutube8001 of course there's a tf2 reference and a jojo reference in the same comment
@@jefflei215 yeeeeeeeees XD
I didn't choose the stug life, I was conscripted by the Wehrmacht
Interesting enough, the StuG III crews until the end of the war were usually volunteers.
Meep meep
StuGrunner? =)
@@jantjarks7946 yes and the earth is flat, its fun making stuff up :)
@@nwerner3654 at least we agree it's flat.
StuG School - When the State itself teached you how to be a gangsta
@trainbomb nice one!
@trainbomb
You do know that that term was barely used, just as Aryan. "Aryan" got so annoying to the Nazi party that they banned it from newspapers in the 30s. The Soldiers weren't seen as cannon fodder, they were seen as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good.
Future Atlanteans... Some of them anyway.
@trainbomb Let's ask the 3.5 million Indians who died in the Bengal famine in 1943. Oops, that was an administrative error. Why was a British administrative error able to kill 3.5 million Indians? Because England ran the country. How could that happen - oops, we just accidently conquered it. And used it to raise opium we forcibly sold to China killing millions.
What happened to the food in Bengal? It helped cushion food rationing in England. So starving conquered areas starved so that the "owning" country has less discomfort? Maybe ask the Poles and Dutch about that. That's different. They're Europeans and those savage Nazis did it. What about the Irish potato famine while grain and meat was exported for profit to England while the Irish starved? Oh, but that's different (and that pesky Charles Dickens just had to write that story...)
Why were British appointed and controlled beauracrats in charge in India? (an excuse often blamed for the Bengal famine). Well, the British EMPIRE needed time and just had to imprison Gandhi during WW2, he was such a threat. You know, like militarized US police being trained to deal with the "threat of passive resistance." If you're in charge and millions die (or tens of thousands based on mortality tracking in Iraq after US conquest) - you broke it, you own it. Need I continue with the Belgian Congo, which pre-WW1 rivals anything the Nazis would do, the "Dutch East Indies" and the very nasty counterinsurgency they ran after WW2, and let's not forget the French in Indo-China.
Nope, nothing wrong with those Imperial ambitions. They weren't as bad as the Nazis, which is like saying I'm not that bad, I just simply am a mass murderer, I didn't torture anybody - and anyone people dying in my arsons probably mostly died of smoke inhalation so they didn't suffer too much....
@trainbomb No. Do you really compare deliberately shipping food out of a subsidence economy during a crop failure as anything other than deliberately starving literally "women and children?" There is manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, manslaughter with a callous disregard for human life, and first degree murder.
I think the Callous disregard for human life fits quite nicely. Does it meet the bar of Nazi atrocities. No, and that's a straw man. It's also a pretty low bar - see, we weren't as bad as the Nazis. The British Empire killed many more people than the Nazis, they just took a few centuries. BTW, how about British, Colonial, and then US bounties on Native Americans. They paid differential rates for braves (men of fighting age) vs. Women and childre. How pray tell is that better than the Nazis. Hint, Google is your friend: www.google.com/search?q=british+bounties%2Fon+native+american&oq=british+bounties%2Fon+nativ&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33l2.12425j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#sbfbu=1&pi=british%20bounties/on%20native%20american
The virgin Panzer II vs. the Chad Stug III
@mdx yeah that thing looks like Hill Billy family fucked themselves silly and that was the outcome lol
@@shanebeckett3557 lol
@@shanebeckett3557 no, that Title is more fitting to M3 Lee.
Now that thing is as hideous as a Hillbilly family's incest child.
@@hanselsihotang The Lee doesn't get enough love.
@@hanselsihotang makes sense, it’s named after a southern general
The saying goes, "I didn't choose the StuG life, I was drafted into the Wehrmacht." Disappointed! All jokes aside, another good video as always.
"i wanted a tiger but i was underqualified/half jewish"
Mom: what are you doing on that computer all day.
me: im in school mom, im learning.
dad, ww2 veteran: what are you learning son
me: wehrmacht operational manuals.
If your dad is a ww2 vet, wouldn't that make you like 40=50 years old? And yet, you're still living at home on the computer all day??
@@Panzermeister36 woooosh
@@Panzermeister36 the joke went over your head faster than an 88mm anti tank shell
@@POTATOEH81 I don't know which one I like most... The video, the original comment, or your reply. In any case , you got me laughing. Thanks
@@POTATOEH81 a PTRD 14.5 round is about 100 meters per second faster. using a projectile made with Stalinium, panzer 3s and 4s needed extra armor.
10:44 "Additionally you should not turn into depressions"
Me, thinking about my life: "So I'm not fit for the Stug Life..."
As a former U.S. Army tank and cavalry expert, a tank company commander, and a writer of some armor/cavalry manuals and training programs, I thought some of the readers might be interested in what bracket shooting is. I believe the bracketing method refers to a three round shot group. That is what we used when in a degraded mode, as well as the British, and others used. This was also a fairly standard mode before the days of ballistic computers.
Armor piercing rounds have a flat trajectory contrasted to HE rounds, WP, etc. Because of this, one can be relatively assured of a hit with the three round shot group, or bracket, assuming you have a reasonably good idea of the range. For example (zum beispiel. My German is a little rusty so I apologize for any spelling errors), if you think an enemy tank is 800 meters away, you would fire your first round with 800 meters as the range (using either your reticle or the ballistic computer). After firing you would add 200 meters and fire, then drop 400 meters and fire. Naturally, if you could confirm a first or second round hit AND the destruction or incapacitation then you may not fire the subsequent rounds.
One of the great examples of this was in the 1965 Indian-Pakistan war where the Indians had the Chieftan (Mark 7s) and the Pakistani Army had the newer, and supposedly superior M-48 Patton tanks. The Pattons were more complex. Even when the Indians had limited visibility due to dust and other factors, they could still take out the Pattons using the bracket or three round shot group method. This gave them several decisive victories when the more complex Pattons couldn't fully use their range finders and the crews weren't trained in degraded mode gunnery.
Hi, thank you for the information, I have a question if you don't mind answering it. Is the added/subtracted distance (200m) - (400m) constant regardless of the initial distance, or is there an equation which is used to calculate the grouping?
@@xsqio Good question. I believe it is constant. It is considered a battle sight method so there are no calculations. At the same time, each commander can make adjustments based upon the situation.
@@PanzerDave Thanks once again! It popped into my mind since at close range, I would think, the adjustment would be lower since say at 300 metres the 200m adjustment would be excessive, again hypothetically. Of course I don't recon that at 300m aiming would require so much guesswork :)
@@xsqio Indeed! In the operations order, a commander will often make adjustments for such variations, and an expected engagement at 300 meters is a very close range. If conditions were such I would absolutely make such an adjustment.
In the case of the Indian Pakistan battle I mentioned, the range wasn't a primary limitation, but rather visibility. It was difficult to get a sighting due to elephant grass as I recall. They could see the tank but had difficulty sighting on it, so the three round bracket proved deadly.
Another example of a conditions based change occurred in Europe during WWII where some units had the round in the tube, thus the first round fired, be WP or White Phosphorus. The theory was that the tank would see the enemy and react very quickly, likely missing, but nonetheless providing a general location of where the enemy was. This gave the other vehicles an opportunity to effectively engage the enemy. There was also a chance the WP round would obscure the enemy's vision.
@@PanzerDave The white phosphorous tactic is quite interesting; still, thank god it's outlawed (at least I think). Seeing as we are now conversing, another question about range finding / arms cooperation comes to mind. (Excuse my lack or imprecision of terminology btw) Did mechanized artillery, like the Priest, use the grouping method or is it strictly restricted to direct fire weapons? Also, as an alternative did they still use the Creeping Barrage tactic?
I would argue that "Der Russe ist in den meisten Fällen unterlegen." (under #5) would be better translated as "In most cases the Russian will be at a disadvantage.", as this part is imho referring to the aforementioned areas of [fighting] spirit and ability of the crew as well as capability of the weapons system.
yeah, good point.
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualizedbetter would be: " inferior" than "disadvantage"
Who shoots first? Han(s) :-)
You know that the stowage bin is full of contraband when the order to load is given and the loader replies "gun is bready to fire!"
when you raid france and your stug comes back home full of baguettes.
when you are under fire and want to load the gun, but accidentally shove a bread loaf in the barrel ._.
Or a bottle of nice cognac. Ouch!
The gun cognac fire yet. Donut shot yet. A side if fries with that?
I like the icon for "Knowledge about Tanks" :)
I came here to make the same observation.
It's him! The Irish guy, err, Jim Joyce or something.
Came here to say that. Let's hope that Chieftan's Stetson is the new "tank intel" logo haha.
At what time in the vid was that statement?
@@build2270 0:55 with the fancy hat
When I was a child starting to learn about WWII with my father, he used to mention this word all the time: "because Stug this", Stug did like that". I thought with myself, what an odd word is this! Let me add this thing to my internet and artistic name.
Some time later I realised what the StuG was in reality and it was love at first sight.
If we could call StuGs for an animal like the Tiger, Panther, Bison, Elefant and such, I think the StuG would be definely a Racoon.
Nein,
APBT American Pit Bull Terrier.
I know should be a Kat.
But, Pit Bulls are a general use dogs(that happens to be a good fighter). Also like kats Pit Bulls are soul lone(loners auf American English, work alone) dogs.
Badger
Weasel is Wiesel, Marten is Marder..
I would say Caracal.
Buz according to the "Eberkopf" gun mantlet, it would be near to call it, razorback or boar, wild hog (Keiler is the equivalent of a wikd hog, sooo in normandy maybe the hedge hog)
@@d.f.9140 why did they call the Marders Marder, by the way?
Maybe because it's an anoying little bastard (I love it) that disables in germany pretty often all sorts of vehicles, also today.. For an infantry support vehicle quite fitting, it's a small Hunter but quite effective when you hunt your prey the right way.
Loving that chieftain Icon for knowledge about tanks
Knowledge, sure. But conclusions? Always carry a mountain of salt.
Are you the real Winston, or that TH-cam guy?
0:57 Timestamp for chieftain "knowledge of tank" icon
Hello Winston
Meep meep
The Finnish army received from Germany their first Stug's around summer 1943 right before the second clash with Russia. They had a rate of 10 Russian tank destroyed for every lost Stug. Here comes the link
th-cam.com/video/Yss-Ett7vp0/w-d-xo.html
Read his comments for the video!
Greets from Finland. My grandfather was at Jüterborg, Germany in 1943 training and living the StuG life. When he got back in Finland, he fought in the lines of armoured division.
“APOLOGIZE TO THE FINNISH!”
😂
"we're very sorry!"
“You fool, the Assault III was a wonderful tank, it was able to repel the fierce Russian attacks!”
This is actually inaccurate as the wiki at least identifies the reference as to the Winter War but the Finns had no StuGs in the winter war
But I mean, she ain’t lyin
@@looinrims the fins used stugs in the continuation war
@@clone3632 yes, but the wiki for GuP says she’s referencing the Winter War, which is false
Commander to Loader: “Ramirez, do everything!”
Activated Complex While we go and have a Snack at Burgertown!
"Just muddle through as infantry..."
Poor Bloody Infantry gets no love from even the Heer training establishment.
When the pamphlet they give you starts warning you about Russian mud, you might be in for a bad time.
"Melden macht frei und belastet den Vorgesetzten."
English?
Passing a message gives the burden of it to the receiver(and sets you free). Ich hoffe dass hilfts...
So they pretty much gave the loader all work the commander didn't want to do.
Let's be fair though , even in combat the loader of a Stug has less work to do than say the loader of PZ IV . So the Stug Loader has some time to spare for admin tasks.
I always understood that the Assault Guns were manned by volunteers. Something to do with it being the only way for an artilleryman to earn The Knight's Cross. So technically you DO choose the StuG life.
Maybe its because the thought of a self propelled gun was appealing to German artillery crews used to just how fast the Allies could move. I sure as hell would have volunteered for Stug duty if given half the chance. Better than being stuck behind a largely immobile .88 field gun.
Did someone say "StuG III"? :D
Good video, thanks! (Liked the "I just followed orders joke", also :D)
Yeah, that was sublime and genius.
Commander: T-34 sighted, load the Pz.Gr 39 Hanz!
Loader: *Loads shell*
Gunner: Ready!
Commander: Fire!
Enemy tank: *Bread splatters on hull*
Would u explain the joke pls?
@@chaowingchinghongfingshong3109 @ 8:23 it is specifically mentioned bread, and if you look at how the bread is shaped it can, be confused with the shape of a shell in the heat of battle. (Which has probably happened since they are mentioning it.)
@@FastmineNOR
I think it may have more to do with bread crumbs everywhere and general combat readiness.
Also bread does noes come with propellant, last I checked, so accidentally firing it would be impossible.
@@MrHodoAstartes yes that is the part where the bread goes r/woosh over your head
Best bang for the buck in tank destroyers in WW2!
Sd.Kfz. 138/2 is also up there.
Tank gunnery hasn't changed since then. American gunners say, "On the way!" so the crew can brace themselves before he fires and the M-60 rocks back on its tracks. Before laser range-finders and thermal sleeves on the gun barrels, first round usually missed because the tank commander misjudged the range. PanzerDave mentions bracketing, which I wasn't taught in the early 1980's. We were taught to aim for lower-front armor. If the target was closer than judged, the flat flight-path of the shell would still hit the turret ("Target!"). If farther away, it would ricochet and kick up dirt ("Short line!" = short, but on-line with the target). The worse was a shot that went too high, because those are very hard to track and adjust fire ("Over line!"). Or you might command, "Left, add 200!" But the gunner's job was to spot the shell on his reticle, and then place that part of the reticle on the target. If he could do that, we always got a second-round hit within five seconds. Russian auto-loaders drop the breech and every shot is a first shot. NOT a good idea.
"When the cartridges areon fire..."
Yeah umm, how often do you even have time to observe that?
I mean you will sure feel it or smell it
it might save someone from having a dumbo moment and looking for the fire extinguisher when they should be trying not avoid an early cremation
"Oh, bugger..."
Lets say a stug got hit and burning fuel leaks in the hull, so the ammo is"on fire", more the area of the ammo storage.
It wouldn't explode immediately, but in a few seconds... Bail out..
The other scenario is clear, direkt hit, into the ammo, you wouldn't even recognize and maybe have the luck of a short painles death.
"Wenn wir schon gehen, dann aber mit einem Knall"
The other way would be the one in fury, Volkssturm kid vs. Rookie Sherman commander (screams burning in agony).
@@americanmade6996 the tank is on fore
An excellent video and demonstrated one of the the reasons why the Stug school successfully turned out very good Stug crews. After all they claimed having knocked out 20.000 Russian tanks between 1943 and 1944. No other tanks or weapons can claim such a high figure...
Finnish movie "Tali-Ihantala" had some good Stug action. Thanks for the video MHV.
Ihan paras :)
Mun pitää nähä tää kuva.
Lol "except for the "i just follow the orders one"". Wow. XD
This is what you do best, in my opinion. A really informative video, correctly sighted on the audience, with the shells of information being bracketed until the viewer understands.
I had a short conversation with a Stug commander when I was in college. He was the husband of a friend of my moms. As an Austrian College student he had been drafted and assigned to a Stug in what he described as a field testing battalion. (This unit took upgrades and/or changes being made to Stug's and testing them in combat. He described going to the 105mm gun and also how his unit was one of the first to test, what seemed to me, to be a HEAT round.
I just watch these videos to hear him say 'StuG' over and over.
Bracketing method is how you usually would sight artillery fire. You shoot one shot, see where it lands relative to the target, then adjust range up or down, depending on where it lands. Once you have the target "bracketed", that is, you have rounds landing both in front of and behind the target, you correct back(and forth) with half the correction with every shot until you score a hit.
For example: The commander judges the target to be 2500m away, and the first round lands behind the target. He then instructs the gunner to correct to 2000m, and the second round lands in front of the target. He would then correct back up to 2250m, and after that correct to 2125m or 2375m depending on where the round lands.
This is a direct application of Bolzano's theorem lol
And this method is still used today in battle tanks when the laser range finder poops itself...ex aussie Leopard crewman..
STuG's where orginal part of the Artillery arm.
So using a artillery term makes sense....
And from the Ausf. C or D, they were equipped with artillery scissor binoculars that helped the commander find the range faster. This meant that, although StuGs and Panzers had a relatively similar chance at a first-shot hit, the StuGs would have a better chance at hitting with follow-up shots compared to regular Panzers.
"the russian tank generally sees less well"
Russian scientist : "NO NEED SPOTTING COMRADE, ZUST RUSS B ! "
it's a side effect when the person who has to shoot is also the person that has to watch their back and the person who has to use the radio
@@pnutz_2 " it's a side effect when the person who has to shoot is also the person that has to watch their back"
You can't watch your back in a early T34.
@@dse763 you can, but you have to open the hatch. good thing the enemy tanks are are in front of you and don't have any small armament like a machine gun on them hey
In another video the children were taught how to kill a Tiger Tank on their way to school.
I am not sure that the children can use this video to kill a Stug... Perhaps another video, for the children.
Seems a bit limited to me, what if they're not on their way to school when the Tiger appears? :D
Clearly the tiger appears on the way to school as it too must get an education. If it appears outside the school it should be directed to return to class. Appearances outside school hours should be reported to the proper authorities. Tigers are not allowed to play outside without prior permission.
Merch idea for you : a moral patch with a picture of a StuG and the words StuG Life
I really liked the reporting part of the training manual. I wonder though, how different was the German high command view of these reports vs the American view. It seems to me that American officers discounted reports that they didn't agree with. There are several famous stories were front line troops made a report of troops/tanks in our front and the American officers discounted it.
PS love your new panzer shirts. Kinda ironic.
Why polish flag speaks to me
Because its preparing the tankers
Hail to the King baby!
To hell with Thuglife, Stuglife is the way forward now!
2:35 the Russian tank is inferior in most case.
Last time I was this early the Wehrmacht still designed sensible Panzer
Immediately upon hearing "who shoots first" I ran to the comment section... But you joked about it first. What a cold-blooded fun guy you are.
Fun guy Really? He Makes unfunny jokes
Did they realy said "stiften gehen"
This is such a serious document on how to operate a StuG but then there is this one line that completly breaks the tone!
A less serious tone when talking about imminent death is probably something you'd expect to see in a training manual.
there is some really good general leadership advice in that pamphlet.
In particular I like the part of "Get the fuck out of the tank, the ammo is on fire!"
Aka - Operation GTFO is a go!
I love how u said no excuses besides “I was filling orders.” That is awesome
I laughed when I read „stiften gehen“. It is such a beautiful old phrase I haven’t read/heard in a while.
The everpress campaign is over, yet, you can check my regular merchandise here: teespring.com/stores/military-history-visualized
This has got to be one of the best videos I've ever seen!
Fire the first shot and if you don't hit it make a slight adjustment onto the target, DO NOT bracket. You can put twice the rounds on target in half of the time using this method. Bracketting is a waste of time.
GREATEST VIDEO EVER!
Great stuff and nice details. I found the graphic at 0:53 particularly amusing.
1:35 What is a beaten zone?
Adopting the Stug life is, in fact, more of an act of submission, like falling in love and going from there. No one can force you into falling in love. The Stug life will supply all your earthly needs, whether you ask for such supply or not, as will the right lover !
0:57 Timestamp for chieftain "Knowledge about Tanks" icon
Company of Heroes 1 was my Primary school for WW2 German warfare .
And thanks to you, i hope mastering the Stug panzer in Men of War Assault Squad 2
Incidentally, the StuG IV in Company of Heroes was an amazing and underappareciated unit. Great armor and very cost effective.
@@VRichardsn until the sherman start doing rounds around you. in coh2 however stugs are the bane of all allied TDs, they fire fast, accurate and turn faster than most tank turrets so it's near impossible to flank a stug with a single tank.
@@LucasCunhaRocha _until the sherman start doing rounds around you_
It is all about being clever. Sherman cannot out-turn a StuG IV on all surfaces. Plus, if you keep your distance and don't rush in (which you shouldn't anyway) the StuG will be perfectly safe.
_in coh2 however stugs are the bane of all allied TDs, they fire fast, accurate and turn faster than most tank turrets so it's near impossible to flank a stug with a single tank_
You don't need to flank it most of the time. The armor is lackluster, it has few hitpoints, doesn't have camouflage or an impressive reload and the rotation speed is really bad, inferior to all medium tanks and several heavy tanks.
If you could give a cat name to the StuG what would it be? I think Jaguar for the almost pun of with Jagd, fitting its transition from a role of an assault gun to that closer to a tank destroyer.
The Sturm Jaguar? or Jaguar Geschütz? Who am I kidding StuG is the best name.
The Sturmgeschutz was never considered a Jagdpanzer/Panzerjaeger, even though it eventually came to take that role. Therefore, it would not receive a "big cat" name. That was only for larger tanks and the vehicles based off of them. StuG should have insect nicknames, hypothetically...
Now, names like "Hetzer" for the Jagdpanzer 38t and "Puma" for the Sd.kfz. 234 are not historically accurate; "Puma" was actually used for night-vision-equipped Panther tanks (a puma is a big cat, after all), and Hetzer is thought to have been for the E-25. Regardless, "Hetzer" is not a "big cat" name.
Neither is Grille, Hummel, Wespe, etc., as those are not large tanks but rather specialty artillery vehicles, and as such they have "insect" names. As StuG III were part of the artillery branch, an insect name would be more fitting it seems.
Tank destroyers often got "large mammal" names like Elefant or Nashorn...though there are exceptions when based on "big cat" chassis like Jagdpanther.
I am aware of this, was just trying to have a little bit of fun. Even with it being used in both the roles of tank and tank destroyer. Though all jagdPanzer Units also wore Artillery styled uniforms to my understanding? Regardless you're inherently wrong about cat names being only reversed for bigger tanks as the Luchs was used for the Panzer II Ausf. L, along with the name Leopard schwer being used for the VK 1602 during it's development.
Why not name your cat StuG? Though its more a dogs name...
@@Panzermeister36 Now let's be honest, it would just be called Marder.
Marder was already being used by all Marder variants.
Though we could pair off the name and go with "Frettchen" and then give the name "Jaguar" to the JagdPanzer IV.
Actually the stug from the beginning was from polish museum in Kłanino. You can see it on Tank Hunter yt profile. He's it's owner
Stug life best life.
Unless you are staring down more t-34 was than you have shells
@@jamesricker3997 Thats why you have a battery of stugs :)
Sadly "Ausbooten - stiften gehn" is almost untranslatable. Maybe "bail out and beat it!"
Abandon ship - get lost :D
When you get drafted and stuck in a Stug because German industry can't produce enough Panthers, that is how the Stug life chooses you.
Could you do a video on Japanese Anti tank tactics during WW2?
"Fix bayonets!"
1) attach at mine to a stick 2) wait on the side of the road in a ditch
Pray to the kami
Know I’m late to the ballgame, but I recently got a Stug Life T shirt. It’s so gangstar!
Wartime Reports & First-Hand Experience Ferdinand Tank
#1 mount white flag #2 drive to British lines and surrender because a madman commands you
Everybody gangsta til the loader finds the bread.
bro the following orders comment was out of pocket! lol 10/10
No more excuses (except for the "I just follow orders" one.)
That was really very good material! Thank you!
"Run Away!" ~ King Arthur
Monte Python.....
😎😁😉
#Stuglife !!!!!!!
id imagine this leaflet would end up in the bin immediately since some of those instructions are just, not in the reality of the war they are fighting, also the date pretty much corralates with the starting of stugs getting used as actual tanks, not tank hunters, which they were obviously not suited for
Course title: StuG 102 "What is the StuG Life?"
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Pzkw 101 "Introduction to Panzerwaffe Operations"
Required Textbook: "Merkblatt," Sturmgeschütz Schule Lehrstab, 1943
Professor: Military History Visualized
TA: Chieftain
i just let my 3 friends watch this video, then, we can go to area 51 with STUG IV, to support allies hokage infanty
"Chose the Stug Life" that is HILARIOUS - can't believe i never thought of that, well done
8:17 It's funny because the writer of that leaflet was probably thinking: "We were the most powerful land army in Europe, but one that's made up of farmers and teenagers. Best tell them not to mix ammo with bread."
Don't tell me there were tankers who had to be specifically instructed to bail out when the ammunition is on fire
stug School. A Stug for Americans schools...
Oh my God, oh my God the Stug is on fire(S) !!!
I think you made a translation error at 02:32. The German sentence: "Der Russe ist in den meisten Fällen unterlegen" can be translated to "The russian ist defeated in most cases." But in this context I think what is meant is: "The russian is inferior in most cases." This refers to the quality and combat capabilities of the equipment. After all they are talking about the trust into the capabilities of the STUG here. The author is trying to say that the russian tanks are inferior to the STUG not that the russian will lose.
korrekt.
another premium quality video, awesome work.
you mentioned about the aiming being different from the book in combat, i recall hearing from several places, probably on youtube, that Michael Wittman had such a close working relationship with his gunner that they barely had to speak to each other and the gunner operated largely independently. Do you have any insight on that?
I can't comment on how it worked with afv crews,but if you spend enough time working in a team environment you can soon predict what your colleagues need and how you work into that.
Coming from a construction background, I can bend down to make some alteration and when I look up one of my guys is prepping the materials I need,all without a word being spoken.
As a new replacement heading to the eastern front I was supposed to report to a supply battalion. Because of high casualty rates in a stug unit I was redirected to them. They were still taking the guy I was replacing out of the stug. The stug life chose me
Was this leaflet textual, or was it a Tigerfibel-style comic?
Text
(i have to learn german and go to this school)
Hey i think i met you at militracks, but i had no time to say a goodday
I saw you recording the panther ausf G
This is quite useful for when I crew a StuG with friends in Darkest Hour (Cool mod for Red Orchestra for those interested ;)
Excellent video dude. My job is to write these types of crew manuals...you have made it easier, so I'm taking the night off to get laid. Thanks!
A very good video to make is German tank crew fire commands. What the tank commander, loader and gunner says when they spot an enemy tank and want to engage it.
Hi MHV.
The Swedish "Stridsvagn S" was the Stug perfected.
Relativly cheap to produce and though never saw actual combat.
A serious tankbuster.
Thanks for a great show.
Cheers!
Urban Wikström was the Stridsvagn S one of the swedish models wich were not capable of turning the gun at all other by turning the entire cassie?
I LOVE swedish tanks. I find it quite sad that they decided to sipmly modify the Leopard 2A5 for their latest MBT
Ausbooten - stiften gehen! guter spruch^^
R O T E F R O N T
StuG life after watching Girls Und Panzer when it first got aired back then..
Why does all this sound so much like The Uplifting Primer?
Given the statistical likelihood of being right handed I question the decision of the multiple vehicles of the Wehrmacht positioning the loader in the right side of the vehicle and thus mandating left handed ramming of the ammunition. One would think that switching the commander and gunner to the right would make for much more efficient operation of the main armament.
I've heard that this makes aligning the gun sight much easier/cheaper. This would put the gun and sights on the gunner's dominant side, while also allowing the sights to be straight with the gun tube. Where in tanks with the gunner on the right side of the turret, the gun sight would need to be offset and accounted for in long range firing.
Edit: I've only heard this a couple times and can't remember where. So there's a chance I'm completely wrong.
@@Tzarkaan as a life long laborer, here's a tid bit for y'all: it takes more strength to lift or support an object than to maneuver it. So, right hand and arm takes the initial weight, left supports, right hand guides the shell, left arm rams it home.
Gulf Relay That's a really good point.
*Replacing the Hull Machine Gun weak point with an SMG*
Better than nothing I guess.
"ausbooten - stiften gehen!" XD
Any chance you can do a video about the bombing of Darwin Australia by the Japanese in ww2? Alot of people dont know that Australia was bombed by the same fleet that bombed Pearl Harbour. Even alot of aussies dont know about it.
Very good video. Much appreciated. One question tho: At 10:43 it is stated "the driver should drive next to the road to spare the running gear." Wouldnt driving off the road be harder on the running gear? I mean, that's what roads are for, to smooth out the ride.
Hard road surfaces being hard on tracks. Und the damage to the road being very bad.....
Tulpe 2 an Bienenkorb. Die Grenadiere haben den Ortseingang erreicht und kämpfen die PaK nieder....Wir ziehen jetzt nach........:)