Michael Wittmann: Legend and reality. Villers Bocage, Joe Ekin, Sherbrooke Fusiliers.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2024
- In these videos we will visit D-day sites as if I was guiding you.
Michael Wittmann was a great tank ace, with over 100 tank kills. Credited with having knocked out a whole column of British tanks at Villers Bocage with one Tiger. What's the reality?
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Michael Wittman - Villers Bocage - Gaumesnil
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It is a shame that the Canadians have not received credit and all of the kudos that went along with it
The Diary of Jake Wardrop is a very interesting read and sheds light on Villers Bocage.
Thanks for giving credit to the Canadians for Wittman. 3 tigers knocked out by one British tank is no small feat either!
The available evidence points to the Sherbrooke fusiliers.
@@WalkingDday I'm sure you've seen this already, but this is a great in depth investigation on it: th-cam.com/video/hn-t2JjHny0/w-d-xo.html
Very informative thank you. I live in Litteau so am able to visit many of the places you feature
Thanks for watching. It’s great to walk these battle sites.
Very interesting. I've been to VB and surrounding areas and tried to follow the events of the battles around there with a book of the events. I wish I'd had my ipad and this video. Really enjoyed it - many thanks.
Thanks for the appreciation.
My father was a gunner with the Sherbrooke Fusiliers that day...he never mentioned firing on a Tiger but did spot them in the area
My great grand uncle is Michael Wittmann! I'm a 38 year old American that loves world ww2 stuff and just learned of it 2weeks ago! I share the same name actually
The Sherwoods did knock out 2 Tigers in that engagement, but not Wittmann's
@paulbantick8266
The Sherbrookes definitely got Wittmann. His Tiger 007 was the closest to them.
Ekins got the three Tigers closest to him. 312, 314 and 009.
People tend to forget one thing about this battle it was the US first and second infantry divisions that opened up this hole in the line but then general Montgomery intervened and wanted to use his own troops.. but Montgomery did not take the opportunity to find out that the Americans had already had plans to exploit this hole in the German lines. Same as doing the Battle of the bulge when general Montgomery intervened and pulled out the US 82nd airborne division which led to most of the personnel of Piper's armor unit being able to escape..... In Montgomery always uses the excuse that he wanted to draw all of the heavy SS armored divisions against the British and Canadian armor on the Eastern flank... Then how does he explained the US 30th infantry division standing up against the SS armored divisions later on in the battle for Normandy without the intervention of the British ground forces? Even later on in this great series that you have on the Battle of Normandy you tell the story of the lieutenant on top of the high hills with only his radio in contact with the US corps artillery that defeated the SS armored divisions. Many people tend to forget that general Montgomery came from the Yonkers land owner class of British society n he had absolutely no problem in sacrificing colonial troops to get his own way... Have you ever really wondered why Australia pulled out their ground forces from under Montgomery's command??? And why the free French armored units would not fight under Montgomery's command inside of France? General Sir Harold Alexander would have been a much better choice to command the land forces in northern Europe.
At Virginia military institute class of 1968 we were talking three times that general Montgomery took direct intervention over American forces in the European campaign had ended very badly for the British troops. This is the first of them the US first and second infantry division is the one that opened up the line and they were waiting for an armored unit to join them and they were going to seal off that area so the Germans could not move any more troops West. General Montgomery intervene and made the Americans pull back to allow the British armor to excellent what the Americans have done in the German line. And we know how that ended. The second time general Montgomery directly intervened over American troops was the closing of the Gap that allowed so many Germans to escape out of France. General Patton forces had allegedly cross this imaginary line separating British and American troops. It was time for attention was to drive north and hook up with the Canadian polish divisions that were fighting moving south but general Montgomery ordered him back over in his alleged territory. Which led to a large number of German soldiers and equipment being able to escape out of the Argentin pocket. The third time doing the Battle of the bulge general Montgomery intervened and pulled out the US 82nd airborne division which had Piper spearhead surrounded which allowed Piper to escape with his men on foot back to German lines. Any is ironic that the commanding general of the US 17th airborne division resigned his position rather than have his airborne division under Montgomery's control prior to crossing the Rhine River. Ironically he had been an executive officer with the 82nd airborne division from the start of the war.
If general Montgomery was in charge of the land forces. And as I understand the way it was set up all of the other branches were assigned to the land Force Commander as support. Part of the combined air/ land forces that Montgomery put together in the North African campaign. So how could Mallory's Royal Air Force refuse to carry the airborne troops saying it was too dangerous for his pilot,s??? There was probably many cases for the Canadian Commander should have refused the use of their ground forces due to the planning of the battles. I wonder strictly out of curiosity, was there ever a former inquiry made by Montgomery's headquarters to find out why there was not new flank security or reconnaissance ahead of the units and off to the sides in order to prevent ambushes of this type? It seems like maybe this was covered up and there was never a report sent to higher headquarters that would have wound up on general Eisenhower's desk. Case in point. When task force wellborn was ambushed by the king tigers because they did not have any flank security out and lost a lot of tanks and armored vehicles and led to the death of general Rose. General woods who took over for general Rose after his untimely death conducted a thorough investigation and did relieved to lieutenant colonels of command and sent them back to the states. The lieutenant colonel.s subsequently resigned their commissions to avoid Field grades court-martial procedures against them at fort Lee va. Another case in point when the British first met the new hunting panther tank n got shot up very bad during one of their officers order groups, due to the lack of flank and reconnaissance ahead of the main body of tanks.. and that was covered up to avoid a public relations disaster with the people back in London by Montgomery's command. This was a disaster from the beginning when you had the famous seventh armored division of North Africa Fame and Sicily Italy wind up in a very bad position that could have simply been avoided by having reconnaissance units out that could have located the tigers parked on the side of the road.
It's easy to forget the Germans had a lot of practice fighting in Russia. A formidable enemy.
That is very true..but remember the frame 7th armored division also had a lot of combat experience from North Africa Sicily n the Italian campaign.
Was there ever an official investigation conducted by Montgomery's headquarters to find out exactly who was responsible and to take corrective action? I know the senior engineering officer of the 58 highland division was relieved from command when it was determined that he did not have the minefield mapped and held up the advancement for the conquest of cann. There was American generals and other field-grade officers relieved from command and sent back home for a whole lot less.
i don't know of one.
Out of curiosity. When I saw Michael Whitman's grave back in the mid-90s he had a very ornate tombstone with an engraving of him sitting up on the top of a tank whatever happened to that monument?
@@kerrydennison7947 are you sure that was at la Cambe cemetery. I’ve been guiding since 1982 and I never saw anything like that. I don’t see it being allowed. All graves have the slabs of the same false stone with the name, rank and birth and death dates.
@@WalkingDdayif you had a direct email I could send a picture to I have a picture of the stone that was beside the German iron cross that shows his grave along with his crew. I was told that his wife asked the cemetery to remove it to there office because people kept trying to steal it.
@@kerrydennison7947 Hi. I'd be interested in seeing it. My mail is webmaster (at) cpmac.com
Monty is very underrated
He was, but he had the problem of a big ego like other generals. When things didn’t go as planned, instead of admitting it, he said that that was what he intended. Didn’t always wash.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 the cope required to call Monty underrated
I like your videos. We will be in Normandy in a couple of weeks. We are going to the German Cemetery and we know where Michael Whittmans grave is. I cant find any information on where Bernhard Frerkings grave is. I know he is buried at the German Cemetery also, but I cant find the Plot, row or grave numbers. Can you help me with this? If you know?
Just off the top of my head, B7 R3 G87 Frerking . No it’s one I have noted.
Some other interesting ones. B25 r4 g 121 Adolph Diekmann ouradour . Decapitated by a Sherman shell.
B35 g 100 Otto Keller killed at pdh 25 april second bombing raid that destroyed a gun causing them to be moved.
The graves are numbered by block. Not easy to count.
B35 g99 Adam Herzberg died after bombing pdh 25 april.
@@WalkingDday Awesome! Thank you. I'm watching your Juno Beach video now.
Frerking in Block 7. So, as soon as we walk in the main entrance, Block 7 is on the far left. Whittman is on the opposite side in Block 47. That sound correct?
If that had been an American tank crew the tank commander with a simply drop down in the gunners seat and lit up that tiger, even today all American armored vehicle Crews must be familiar with the jobs of every other member of the team. Guess the cast class system of the British army officers does not allow them to soil their hands with enlisted man's dutys.. seems like a shortcoming in the training.
Here we go.
I wonder why they British did not have any flank security or any reconnaissance units out they could have easily found these tigers and avoided all this bloodshed same thing happened with the third guards armor brigade Captain Willie Whitelaw they were assembling to have an orders conference and got hit by artillery and then the hunting panther tanks total like a perimeter and reconnaissance. And the story of Captain Diaz Spoting Whitman's tiger going down the road n his Gunner had went to take care of personal business, if this had been an American crews tank, the captain would have simply drop down into the gunners seat and took over the gunner duties and fired on the side of the tiger, I am quite sure that all British tank crewmen were trained to do other people's duties within the tank same as the American Crews were. So his story is a little suspect of being believable, myself personally from serving 6 years in the United States army armour Corps. We were trained and actually executed the duties of everyone within the tank from the driver on through the tank commanders duty's...
Sadly the same thing happened with third armored division task force wellborn they decided to go into the attack without any flank security and the King tiger shot them up very bad probably the last major engagement between American tanks and German tanks on the Western front
Flank recon was impossible. You couldn't move on the flanks because there were hedges every fifty to a hundred yards.
And just to add: What absolute rubbish. Wittmann's Tiger did not have it's turret blow into the air and land some metres behind. The turret toppled off to the right of the hull. Close scrutiny of an August 9th 1944 aerial, reconnaissance picture shows this. The hulk had been moved forward some time after the battle to remove some of its track links, thus the position of the turret when Serge Varin took the famous pictures in the summer of 1945.
The Documentary is both inaccurate and misleading. As is Norm Christie's film on the same subject.
The Sherbrooke Fusiliers were at the Chateau and farm complex of Gaumesnil, where they took up position behind a South facing and South-East facing, 12ft, (3.5m) boundary wall (which they knocked through with their Shermans in order to be able to observe and fire the tank's guns. The wall facing South, with visible repair marks, is still there) facing the Tiger's advance, not pointing east over the N158 towards, the Northamptonshire Yeomanry position who were pointing to the west. Anyway, there was an embankment and a hedgerow lining the N158 with an enclosure, a wall, a pear orchard and a building on the other side of the road which protected Wittmann's left flank on his advance North and to the East of the N158 and totally blocked any action coming from the Sherbrooke's position.
What unfolded was this. At the Northamptonshire Yeomanry's position, Ekins' Firefly advanced out of an apple orchard at 750 to 950 yards from Wittmann's four Tigers' and fired at the rearmost Tiger (314) which he hit but did not see it burn so he fired a second time, hit the Tiger again and it started to burn. The Firefly then reversed back into the orchard where it started to take fire from Wittmann's tank. A near miss caused the commanders hatch to fall and injure the commander so he was quickly replaced by a Sergeant who advanced the Firefly again. Ekins fired one shot at the Tiger (007) that was firing at them. He hit that Tiger and it 'blew up' so he didn't need to fire a second shot. The firefly repeated the retiring into and out of, the orchard and lined up on a third Tiger (008?) that was "milling about" Ekins fired at and hit the Tiger but like the first of his victims, it did not start to burn so he fired a second round which did cause the Tiger to burn.
The Sherbrookes did knock out two Tigers that day, Hofflinger's (A crucial eyewitness) that was further South and on the N158, Knocked out by Radley-Walters' 'who was the Commander' tanks. And a Tiger (312) that was farthest north, by two of their Fireflys that were about 500 to 800 yards to the North of the Sherbrookes main position.
Interesting comments. I wonder how you can be so sure of events in an action surrounded by so much fog.
@@WalkingDday I have the words of Hofflinger, Tout, Ekins, Radley-Waters, and regimental diaries. Infact, there is more knowledge of the action than one thinks. There is also the testimony of Serg Varin who discovered the wrecks a year later. Also, we have the 9th of August Recce photo which shows all the area. I have a 1947 aerial survey photo of the same area which shows in more detail, the positions and especially the the not insignificant, buildings, orchard, banked hedgerow and wall directly opposite Gaumesnil and the N158, directly and right up against, the road which would have greatly protected Wittmann's Tigers' left flank . As an aside, I have a 1978 survey picture too, which shows the changes of the area, and of course, Google Maps. I have a pre-war Photo of Gaumesnil's Chateau and wooded area surrounding it.
I have read Reid's book 'No Holding Back' where this 'scenario' comes from, and to be honest, his account is full of holes. From where Wittmann was, his positioning of Ekins (as far away as possible, and right in a corner). Oh! Even if Ekin had engaged Wittmann at over 1,000 yards, (which he didn't) the APCBC was fully capable of defeating a Tiger, especially it's 80mm side armour. I believe that Reid (and others) also mentions the so-called 'fact' that the 17pdr was inaccurate over 500 yards, which was blatantly not true (unless Ekins was firing APDS, which he was not). Many Firefly crews engaged and destroyed tanks at well over 1,000 yards. Even Ekins, with his last shot in anger, destroyed a MkIV at 1,200 yards. There was another in his regiment who destroyed a MkIV at 1,500 yards.
Have you seen a good clear example of the 1944 aerial photo? I suggest you do (spot the Spitfire) and study the photo carefully. Oh! You will see no holes in the N158 facing wall other than the access and egress gaps for the drive to the Chateau and farmers house. If you look at the South facing 'dogleg' wall facing South and South-East, you will see clearly where the Sherbrookes took up position by the spoil where the wall was knocked through. Radley Walters, when he paid a visit a few years before he died, said "My wall is still there" That wall is the South-facing portion that still remained. Something that Norm Christie for example, does not make clear.
Serg Varin (in the summer of 1945) was cycling on the N158 when he needed a pee. So he got off his bicycle, on the side of the road, pushed his way through the hedgerow in order to be out of sight and relieved himself. that's when he saw the wreck of Tiger 314 ( he said that he wouldn't have seen it had he not needed to take a pee as it could not be seen from the road due to the hedgerow).
Varin had a camera with him so walked up to 314 to take pictures and have a look at it. He then noticed to his left, out of the corner of his eye, Wittmann's 007 with its turret laying on its roof, about 10 metres to the rear-right of the hull. So! just a year later, at least one very good first-hand account of just how hard it was to see anything beyond the N158 due to the famous and notorious Normandy Hedgerow, was told.
To have the position of Radley-Walters' tanks lined up facing the way you 'and others' have shown would have been silly in the extreme. Radley-Walters was a very able and competent commander.
@@fallschirmjager0000 The mistake came through quoting 'mainly' from memory of what I found in my research. So thanks for the nudge. PS. I have edited the post.
@@fallschirmjager0000 I'll see what I can do.
@@fallschirmjager0000 I tried to upload pictures with an explanation, several times. Even though they uploaded, I posted them, I checked that the pictures were OK and pressed reply and the post went through. On closing the thread and reopening it again, the post had disappeared?. I will try again but from my other computer...
I want my 24 minutes back. That was utter shit.
Can you expand on that?.
@WalkingDday English please.
@michaels5582
It was perfect English, troll.
@lyndoncmp5751 not the first time he wrote it, douchebag.