@@ICECAPPEDSKY Such as taking an 88 to the gun shield of my M24 and only having the loader die in what I must assume was the sheer impact alone forcing his head to slam against the inside of the tank, because nothing else happened.
Considering the positions of the fuel tank and of the engine, I think that the more appropriate phrase should be "Oh bugger, THE COMMANDER IS ON FIRE!!!"
Yeah, and I got a bit concerned that the filler cap had no kind of splash guard what so ever when it's sitting so that any splash would soak the TCs back rest, or the TC himself if occupying his seat, which in turn, is located just beside the commonly HOT engine...
It was problem of all tankettes . Imagine Italian L3 with flame thrower . Fuel tank for engine is also located inside , behind vehicle is towed a trailer-tanker with flammable liquid , and supply hose going from trailer , by commanders seat to flame thrower .
I heard Germans called them "armored cockroaches". They were highly mobile and hard to hit. The version armed with 20 mm gun was pretty effective when ambushing German panzers in 1939. In Poland this baby tank is a national treasure
Actually, despite “cockroach” often being used as an insult, they are extremely nimble and adaptable. Little buggers can live almost anywhere almost indefinitely. I’d say being called an “armored cockroach” is both an insult and a sign of “stop moving so I can shoot you!”
My father, as a second lieutenant of the Polish army, was commanding a reconnaissance platoon of the three TKS tankettes during the Battle at Bzura in September 1939. In the course of one of his recon raids he encountered a German pioneer company (combat engineers) resting near the road: the TKSs' machine guns quickly annihilated the surprised German soldiers and their equipment. Germans returned some fire but their 7.92 mm Mauser ammo couldn't penetrate the TKS's armour (my father reported he heard the German bullets hitting his tank and making hissing sound: perhaps Germans used some sort of incendiary ammunition). When the battle was over my father's driver got out of the hatch; unfortunately, one last German NCO with a death wish was hiding in a tall grass nearby and fired his Parabellum (Luger) pistol killing the driver. This German NCO got finished with a burst from a TKS machine gun and my father picked up a still warm Luger pistol - a war trophy with a sad story behind. Eventually, my father's unit run out of fuel and the TKS tankettes had to be sabotaged and abandoned.
@@SuperGeronimo999 I bet they don't have it. It was either taken by germans when his unit surrendered and got disarmed or used by the polish underground forces.
I vote for Renault UE, it's another Carden-Loyd derivative, but that one is so low that the crews' heads are located in armored domes on top of the tank...
@@grumpystranger6377 i too vote for it, i had the occasion to sit in one, it's really small, i'm a little under 1.8m (5'10) tall and it was a tad too small the AMX ELC could be a good candidate too, and this one is a full tank CV33/L3/35 are also nice and smol
My grandfather served as the driver/mechanic in one of those in September '39. Still have pictures of him standing next to one. During the fighting his vehicle was damaged and him and the commander stepped out to assess the damage. Their position was shelled and they both sustained severe injuries. Soon after a German detachment marched by and shot the commander, leaving my grandfather thinking he was already dead. Eventually my grandfather was picked up by German medics and ended up in a hospital in Lodz. Thanks Chieftain for showcasing the TKS.
@Love Flowers Co ten debilny komentarz wnosi do dyskusji? Chłopak opisał ciekawą historię (szkoda, że nie rozwinął jej bardziej), a Ty tutaj jakieś bzdetne, denne śmieszki dajesz.
@Love Flowers Interpunkcja się kłania, ogólny chaos wypowiedzi i jej poziom mówią o Twojej osobie wszystko. Dziękuje, dobranoc. Idź spać dziecko :] Wierz sobie w co chcesz, ale zacznij trochę myśleć zanim coś napiszesz. Jak na razie jest to poziom głębokiego dna.
@@leoymalne7052 У него была дырявая комбашенка, но там надо было очень точно попасть. КВ-2 убивался намного проще - в погон башни. Американские тяжи до самых топов ковырялись в жопу корпуса.
I’m this less than half percent and I’ll have You know, that “significant emotional event” and “omg, the tank is on fire” are slowly breaking into the consciousness of Polish military geeks. And there are ALOT of them. Enough said, that my grandfather, who had his small workshop in a shed, had a workbench made out of Koenigs Tiger side armor plate (the numbers where still there), so the history is very much alive here :)
That workbench sounds like an absolute steal of a trophy XD At my first job, I got the honour to get to know a retired technician who was a Polish veteran of the attempted liberation of Warsaw as the Soviets betrayed the Polish people yet again by letting them wear down the nazi garrison in suicidal heroics before indiscriminately invading the remains once the Polish militias had been crushed and a large amount of civilians massacred, leaving the nazis significantly weaker in supplies and manpower. He told stories of how they had built baricades with narrow firing slits underneath, as well as fortifying basements from which they shot the nazis in their feet and lower legs to minimize the risk of return fire. After the war, he had joined the Polish merchant fleet as 1st helmsman, and how his ship at least once was used to export AKMs to Vietnam via Kambodia during the Vietnam war XD Only he and the captain knew about that part of their cargo.
@@SonsOfLorgar Still parroting the fascist nonsense? Soviets betrayed no one, every single polish commander both in the west and in warsaw was agaiinst the uprising, save for a bunch of mid level far right lunatics who lied nazis are fleeing and soviet tanks are already in the warsaw and uprising needs to start NOW, without plans or weapons (because funnily enough, leaders were so against it they moved most of guns resistance had OUT of warsaw to hide them from germans). Sadly, said imbecile lunatics managed to convince a few units to start a fight and the rest joined unsure if they missed orders (they didn't) turning the whole farce into massacre. In fact, soviets did more than anyone expected, seeing no one told them about uprising (because polish leaders had no plans to start it), they had no ammunition and fuel left, and yet, some units still crossed the river swimming (because said far right lunatics were fighting for empty prestige targets, not for anything useful militarily like a bridge that would allow soviets to help) and were massacred along with rebels. So can this neonazi IPN BS and read actual book about the uprising, literally every single person in the city hated said lunatic scum a week in...
Your country seems to be laden with such historical trophies and the military history fanbase seems delectable ( i wish i had the same in my country) but i suppose that came at an enormous historical payment through years of oppression.
Germans actually had some fear of these things - they called them "cockroaches" - they were small and very, very maneuverable - if you ever see one move its amazing this is a vehicle firmly based in 1920s/ 1930s tech. The 20mm version armed with semi automatic heavy rifle could kill any German tank and lead to first allied panzer ace + one dead German prince. If Poland had 100s of these 20mm armed versions it may not have changed the outcome of September campaign but for sure would lead to even bigger German panzer losses - they already started French campaign with less tanks then Polish.
@Jordon Carlson the 20 mm gun used by the Poles is rated to penetrate up to 25 mm of armor depending on the range. The Pz II has around 15 mm of armor. It is more than capable of knocking out early German and Czech tanks that were used during the September campaign.
@Jordon Carlson How can 7.9 mm bullet en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wz._35_anti-tank_rifle#Panzerb%C3%BCchse_35(p) could kill at distance 300m even panzer IV during september 1939 campaign. Here you have your answer 4:36min th-cam.com/video/BOFDHX22nh4/w-d-xo.html it work in same way. Actually Polish Army was not as bad as it is known in the West. Poles directed one quarter from money budget straight into Army. Polish Air Force was first in the world that have only metal planes on duty of course Me109 outclassed polish planes, but Germany bougt all theirs few hundret Me109 in years 1936-1939 as a matter a fact only Hurricans and Spitfires and some american planes were capable to fight against Me109 in 1939. It was very gigantic pace to produce few hundret newest fastest planes in time of three years. Same story with tanks TKS or TP7 those wasn`t bad tanks at all. They could fight as equal with all German panzers but... Polish main command sucked same with western allies main command. There were not even main battle plans to fight aginst Germans becose Germans took Czechoslowakia. Polish generals were dumb as f...k. Polish way of command wasn`t flexible, there were lack of radios and what is worse there were even deserions among GENERALS!!! When in same time twice large Wehrmaht could copy to every situation and were flexible. Those UR rifle for example could kill crew but tank wasn`t damage so bad. So most tanks after repairs and with new crew were back in fight. What is also important that rifle was secret so despite fact Polish soldiers were trained in using it they didnt knew that killed panzer could move despite fact that crew was killed. So some of soldiers throw it as useless.
@Jordon Carlson These are early WWII tanks. Protection is weak especially on the sides. TKS can get close due to its size. From 100m penetration is 20mm at 60 degrees. Orlik has confirmed (pictures) kill of Panzer IV.
@Jordon Carlson most German tanks in 1939 were panzer I(just two machineguns as armament) and Panzer II(20mm automatic cannon) tanks, both of which had pathetic levels of armour, and their best tanks were early models of Panzer III’s which also had mediocre armour until later revisions. For example in the Spanish civil war Russian T-26 tanks often dominated the Panzer II tanks in tank duels.
8:12 - "Spare radiator cap"... Someone did a splendid job on that toolbox. This spare part is ESSENTIAL in every FIAT-engine-powered vehicle. Don't ask me why, I know from painful experience it is.
@@gmaacentralfounder well, in the end, owning the same age and price range fiat works out cheaper and more reliable for me. And there is less annoying fanboys.
I understand the Pole's had twenty four TKS's armed with a twenty mm semi auto gun. The first tank ace in WW2 was Polish using a 20mm armed TKS! He survived the war, Edmund Roman Orlik !
@@olekzajac5948 We have a weapon that's called Ma Deuce. It was important to me to remember the action of a warrior. People remember the nazis, they don't seem to remember the Russians. The Poles have saved Europe more than once.
There was in fact a TKS -D. Tank destroyer wit 37mm Bofors AT cannon. You could take the gun out and make a regular one with the cart you towed as a trolley.😉
Wow,once you got a driver who knows how to drive it it really moves. And the driver even got a Polish tanker’s beret (black,obviously). I am impressed.
Ya, we've outfitted our force with them. They're not bad really, not as outright durable as a CVic, but they do seem reliable enough and their performance easily outstrips the old sedans
Chieftain, With the T.C. so close to the disturber and spark-lug wires, there is another problem. Back in the day the wires were braided cotton even when new did not hold all the electric current in place. In short the T.C. could get s charge from time to time even on a good day. Great video by the way !
@@LIETUVIS10STUDIO1 : Better armoured, yes (slightly) - but a lot taller, and a lot slower, neither desirable qualities in a tank as they make it much easier for enemy anti-tank gunners to hit you. Even the standard German 3.7 cm Pak 36 'door knocker' anti-tank gun would go through an FT-17's armour quite easily at 500 meters range. (In 1940, most French tankers bailed out of their old FT-17s rather than fight in them - very wise!)
The designer of the the Carden Loyd tankette once remarked about the Polish TKS as "the best derivative of my design ever", which is quite some high praise.
Chieftan, you actually have some viewers from Poland not just because you made the TKS video. I'm impressed you have one in driving condition in the US. Thank You and please continue delivering high quality content with humor!
Your channel is an absolutely unique chance to see the inside and ergonomics of tanks. Obviously after having seen a number of episodes about average or large size tanks, one starts to wonder how did the crew fight in something that is seems pretty obviously problematic without even opening the hatch. Thank you very much for this ep.
TKS got potential. Compact and agile, not an easy target. With a decent anti armour cannon it could have been an effective tank stalker during defensive.
i nearly cried laughing from the "oh bugger the tank is on fire" test, both with the chieftain and then the "modern malnurished polish tanker" starts at 26:20
That gun is clearly for winning races. It does not matter if others are driving Italian garage princess' as bullets are faster than fastest car and supercars aren't known from armor protection.
Can't wait for the TKRS or the TK GT then! They better include V12 engines for those, although then the engine would take up the entire crew compartment 😅
Thank you from Poland! You are a very brave man! :D I saw one in a Museum in Warsaw, they told me there, it was an refurbished original (so based on a original chassis and some parts and then reconstructed with new spare parts).
@TheScout115 It was the Museum of Polish War Technology. They have a TKS-B and TK-3: muzeumptw.pl/aktualnosci/wojna-1939-zrobilismy-co-do-nas-nalezalo/ (sorry, page only in English)
Tankettes have always been a personal favorite. The Everyman armored fighting vehicle. Would love to have a few in my garage. More Tankette videos please Chieftain!
Wealthy people in Mexico are so used to the constant risk of kidnapping that putting armour on their cars have become common. If the neigbourhood get rough enough a private tankette make become useful....
I love reading about what the Germans did with the military equipment of the nations they conquered in WW2. The Polish TKS tanks were used as internal security vehicles and then given as aid to the Independent State Of Croatia. Also while on about Polish gear, the Poles syandard calibre was 8mm Mauser, their Mauser Wz/27 rifles were used by Luftwaffe ground crews, their 8mm Wz/28 Autorifles/LMG's (8mm FN BAR) were used by anti-partisan troops and Polish AT rifles (which used a unique calibre) were used by the SS until i think 43' then they were given as aid to the Italians. When Southern Italy betrayed the Germans, many were again captured by the Germans, some were used by internal security troops, some were used by the Croats and most went to the RSI (Italian Social Republic) fun beutewaffen facts for everyone! :D
Not to mention the Radom 9x19mm automatic pistol, developed and used by the Polish armed forces. This was such a good and well regarded weapon that the Germans not only used every captured example they could get their hands on, but kept them in production in occupied Poland right up to the end.
@@nonamesplease6288 Ian has a video about this pistol on forgotten weapons. He also talks about how the Polish factory workers supplied guns to their resistance. Until they German found out.
Irony is that the TKS probably did more for Poland in defeat than in the Battle of Poland. Germans were loath to discard such well-made and reliable vehicles, but their value as security vehicles was really not worth the thousands of liters of precious fuel they ended up putting in them. Sort of poetic justice in a way, the Nazis starving their own tanks so they could keep impractical Polish tankettes running around mostly to intimidate Poles.
I'm Polish but I live in Canada throwing your statistics off. After watching your first video long time ago, I was confused what your accent may be. I asked my Scottish mother in law and after the first sentence she told me you were Irish. Later on you confirmed it yourself. Cheers mate and than you for all the videos.
A little extra regarding Hotchkiss MG wz.25 - one of the main reasons why Browning M1917 was copied as wz.30 was due to French doing really shoddy work making barrels for wz.25 - when defects were revealed in testing, contract was cancelled and guns were pulled out and used in armoured cars (which also were not the greatest), TK and TKS tankettes due to space restrictions (which was not a problem for 7TP to use modified wz.30, possibly also due to less and less wz. 25 guns in stocks) and to make wz.25 usefull despite their somewhat limited barrel life
@@Chironex_Fleckeri If you mean guys who while being outnumbered 4:1 were saying: "Yup, we have an advantage.", than yes. But that was 17th century, when Poland-Lithuania was at its peak.
@@Chironex_Fleckeri Polish army at the time had around dozen of cavalry brigades, which were more like mounted infantry units, they did a few charges in September 1939 though. They were being reorganized/exchanged into motorized units, only one was fully operational when the war started, another was being formed, and managed to finish training and take part in battle too
"I hear a tank!" "What? here? Impossible, there is no opening large enough for one." "I can hear it! Look, here it comes!" *TKS trundles from a side alley to the left of where they are looking. "Oh."
Cool double clutching from the driver! And cool reconstruction uniforms, and disembarking - I had a flashback to old footage of Russian tankers training with Renault FT tanks that I watched ages ago.
it was proper tanker had (helmet) used by polish tankers. In fact it was copy of french tan crew hat based on "Adrian" (WW1). French tankers did use same ones en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_helmet
Finally, TKS discussed by Chieftain. 2020 is not all that bad after all. This little tankette is so small that assembling a 1/35 scale kit was quite challenging.
A little clarification for the conincal bolts: The cone shape adds more rigidity and helps prevent deformation when the bolt is hit by a bullet by deflecting it. A square/hex bolt with a flat top is prone to having its sides deformed when shot on the flat top. These don't have the flat top
Taking into account that the TKS was probably the first enemy armoured vehicle that the Germans met, there should be no surprise that the people wanted to see one. 🙂 Thank you! That was very informative!
Not this one. He was in TKS armed with NKM wz. 38FK. Obviously. Not that it matters, though - obviously 7.92mm would not be enough in 1939. But people keep forgetting that most common Nazi German tank in 1939 was Pzkpfw I, which was basically used for same purpose and was mostly armed similarly... So no surprise there.
His TKS has being equipped with not a standard Polish made 7.92 mm Ckm wz.25 (Hotchkiss) HMG, but with the Polish made anti-tank Nkm wz.38 FK - 20 mm heavy machine gun, which was effectively penetrating any armour of any German military vehicle in September of 1939 !!!!
@@PineCone227_ Absolutely and that seems to be lost on the story as it gets told more and more. With something like the gun mounted on this little guy in the video, I don't think he completes the same feat. People really don't understand what a 20MM was capable of doing to armor, and when you mount it on a mobile little machine like the TKS it becomes that much more deadly because it takes it from a 20mm Anti-Aircraft Rifle to a 20mm Anti-Tank..minitank. Not to mention the limited loadout they were capable of using, being limited to High Explosive, High Explosive Incendiary, and High Explosive Incendiary Tracer rounds. There was no form of AP or APCR rounds made for the 20mm at that time so he was likely carrying a combination of HE, HEI, and HEIT rounds, all of which would be a lot less effective than something like a more modern AP/APIT/APCR round made later down the line for the 20mm's used as Anti-Aircraft weaponry both on planes, as well as, United States and British Naval Ships. That was simply a case of Orlik being one bad bad man and knowing how and where to position himself to use the Panzer IV's armor against itself.
When I was about 7 or 8, there was an old disused horizontal freezer on my grandparent's farm. I used to sit in it and pretend it was a TKS because it was boxy and looked about the same size, I always wondered what rare machines like this looked like from the crew's point of view. I'm glad that almost 20 years on my curiosity has been answered!
This gave me good memories, reminds me of the times I used a plow for a tractor (not while it was attached) as a random ww1 plane at my grandpa's. It even looked like it had weird machin gun mount.
I actually saw this thing in person at an event in Hagerstown, Maryland, it's a milsurp flea market and I also met one of the guys who was in this video. Thing was a really cool thing to see, it's amazing how small it is in person, especially compared to a Sherman.
chieftain: this tool right here is my favorite, we'll come back to it later me: it's for track tensioning, isn't it later: remember I said it is my favorite tool on the vehicle? it's used for track tensioning classic
So one in two-hundred people watching this channel are Poles. Considering that one in two-hundred people in the world as a whole are Polish, this means Chieftain is more popular than not with the Poland people!
There are a fair number of Poles and people of Polish ancestry living in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc. So his Polish audience may be larger than he realizes.
This little thing had some serious potential when armed with a 20 mm gun. It was then capable of destroying enemy tanks, and there are accounts of such actions. Less than 30 received such upgrade before the start of the war though, so the impact on the campaign was limited. With its small size the tankette could maneuver quickly and squeeze into hideouts making it difficult to spot and aim at. At the same time it was more nimble and faster than a proper tank of the time.
But that thing had almost no armour. Why not just use the Anti Tank Rifle than put such a Gun on a Tank. After all you can hide a Soldier with such a Gun better than a Tank.
@@maxpayne7459 Yeah, but try to move that shit when under fire. It weighted around 60 kg. Also, this was the plan from the beginning, it was designed as weapon for tanks (especially *TK's* as seeing how the tanks were developing meant it would be too obsolete (there were experiments with mounting 37 mm gun on them, named *TK-D* , but it was cancelled in favor *7-TP* with it.).) and planes (it was a HMG). For infantry there was *kb ppanc wz. 35* which was almost as good while weighting just over 10 kg and being much easier to produce.
@@Vyury the enemy would just fire with Tanks back. Only 1 Hit would be enough to kill the Tank or kill at least 1 Crewmate. It would have been easy to just build more anti Tank rifles than build these Things. Considering that the Germans had more Tanks, better designed and have Air Support, the Tank would just make a bigger Target than a Person
@@maxpayne7459 An mg position is a 2 man affair anyway, and in one of these the crew was much more mobile and protected from small arms and artillery shrapnel pretty well all things considered. A 20mm autocannon is way too bulky to be an infantry weapon.
@@maxpayne7459 The Polish anti-tank rifle wz.35 came in at about 10 kg, plus the ammo. The rifle was about 180cm long. That's a lot of gear to carry around. On top of that the rifle was most effective at about 100 meters or less. It's going to take some nerve to get within 100 meters to a tank, especially if that tank is driving straight at you.
'You will get burned if you get thrown up against the completely exposed engine, which I would argue to be a flaw.' Yes, that does strike me as quite the flaw!
Yes. Polish forces used modded Adrian M15. It was quite literally a process of taking M15 - often damaged -and lopping off bits that weren't needed. It looks similar to M1919 variant, but it isn't. More importantly, it was not a mass production, but rather individual soldiers did it themselves, so there will a huge diversity, if we're talking about original Polish equipment. This one looks like a modern replica, available online.
@@gmaacentralfounder not a damaged helmet, just mod for armour use, the French tank helmet of WWI was exactly the same, after their first ride in gear the tankers decided to lop off the visor and add a leather strip to the front, in French service the upgraded model would remain mostly the same with the addition of some padding and a new strap that could accommodate earphones (if you were lucky enough to crew a tank equipped with radio)
Problem with 20 mm gun variant of this tank (tankette) is that there simply wasn't enough guns available at the given time. The plan was to convert all reconnaissance tankettes into Anti-tank role, but since there wasn't enough guns to convert all, plan "B" was to convert 1/3 of the existing tankettes so they were working in platoons of 3 tanks, one being Anti-tank, and the others were equipped wither with 7,9 mm machine-gun. This was supposed to be only a "stop-gap" (kinda like M3 Lee was a stop gap till M4 Sherman arrived), as there were better tanks in production - 7TP, based on 6 - tone Vickers tank, and later on 10TP (kinda cruiser-like, fast tank) that as far as I can tell was only in a prototype stage.
Technically, by the time the tankettes started getting rearmed, the 7tp had been considered obsolete and a new tank to replace it was being trialed- the aforementioned 'cruiser'-style family of vehicles beginning with the abandoned 10tp prototype.
My friend has a little Italian Tankette. It's pretty neat and nifty to zoom around on his property in. It works great because there's a lot of Forest on his property and you can get into some tight spaces with it.
If you would deploy these things as pillboxes that could move from defensive position to defensive position it would not be completely useless in battle I assume.
YES!!!!! Just FYI, I'm Polish, but live in the US. So even though your traffic may not come from Poland, you may have a lot more Polish viewers than you think.
I am in love with this vehicle. Thanks for making this video. The history of Polish campagin and weapons is a very interesting and a bit forgotten topic. Still it was one of bigger operations of WW2. I would say, one of the most important. In popular opinion it was perfect example of blitzkrieg and massacre of Polish army. In fact there were alot of bright examples of Polish bravery and competence. F. Ex. The battle at Bzura was the first was the first major offensive operation against germans and only one on such scale until soviet offensives. It somehow showed the way to counter blitzkrieg. What failed the most was the High Command and the strategy of "Border Battle" wchich led to collapse of front. Also there was no idea how to use Aircraft and Tanks effectively. Some high army generals unluckilly also showed lack of competence, for example Stefan Dąb-Biernacki, commander of Prusy army, probably the strongest army. In a crucial moment he abandoned his army, leaving it without commander what decided about its fate in Radom encirclement. On the other hand gen Kutrzeba or gen Szylling did a great job commanding armies Poznań and Kraków. There were a lot of great officers commanding divisions, brigades, or operational groups (something like corps). Unlickilly higher ranks were given by political reasons, wchich led to disaster... If used effectively Polish army was a serious threat to Germans. Hitler knew it and thats why he organised such strong forces to destroy it. If only help had came from the west the war would probably end by 1940 or even earlier.
The other point worth mentioning is that the campaign didn't end when the German's said it did. The 'official' version from the Germans was Poland was completely overrun in a few weeks and nothing else to see here. Truth is they were still fighting a few weeks later. The little bit about having to fight the Soviets at the same time also gets talked down in the face of the 'masterful' German invasion. Germans made a lot of mistakes in this campaign and were forced to spend most of the winter reforming to take advantage of the lessons learned. Don't forget that the 3 'Light' Divisions were completely reorganised into Pz.Divisions because operationally they just didn't work as advertised.
That's due to the fact we invented it en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Tank_Periscope_MK.IV Funny how some stuff is obvious after the fact (not the first time. Such is the nature of inventions)
There were two (prototype) TKS-D vehicles, basically a tank destroyer variant of the TKS (37mm Bofors AT gun on a modified, open-top TKS chassis). Used in combat by the 10th Cavalry Brigade (Motorized). Now that would have enough punch to make short work of any German armored vehicle of that era. But even the basic TKS wasn't, in my opinion, bad for what it was: basically an armored scout car on tracks - because that was exactly its role and assignment. Though obviously hindered by the lack of radio and better vision equipment (then again, being developed in early 30s, it wasn't surprising). As for the Germans... they nicknamed the TKS "the armored cockroach" - supposedly reflecting how nasty, fast and difficult to get rid of it was. Keep in mind: this thing could drive well over 30km/h off-road, armored well-enough to shrug machinegun fire, and was smaller than a standing man. Even a basic HMG one was enough to give trouble to anything not being a proper amrored vehicle itself...
A random Polish fan of Nicholas Moran work: "Nah, you have to be kidding me Sir. I was NOT expecting this at all. Its the TKS!😆 MG version! Polish Freakin Carden Loyd in a tankette hull! How awesome! I saw it in Poznan once. Now they got 2 of them there. Thank you Sir. 😀 Stay safe and Greetings from Krakow, Poland. ps. You will make the PT-91 Twardy, and I will be ready to say: "I lived a good life. Good and fun one."
If he fits, he sits. The Chieftain is a cat with a particularly expensive taste in cardboard boxes :D
The Chieftain is liquid.
I've seen him in French tanks with less room (Renault R35).
More like metal bawkses
A stubborn Irish cat. 😂
@@Legitpenguins99 He missed the perfect opportunity to order the driver to get him closer to the enemy so he could hit them with his sword....
When a Shovel on the front gives you +100% armour
Imagine playing Warthunder or WoT and the shovel deflects an AP shell.
@@Dead25m weirder things have happened in warthunder 🤣
And a 20% buff on picking up potatos
@@Dead25m well of course, the round is ap not sp (shovel piercing)
@@ICECAPPEDSKY Such as taking an 88 to the gun shield of my M24 and only having the loader die in what I must assume was the sheer impact alone forcing his head to slam against the inside of the tank, because nothing else happened.
Considering the positions of the fuel tank and of the engine, I think that the more appropriate phrase should be
"Oh bugger, THE COMMANDER IS ON FIRE!!!"
Yeah, and I got a bit concerned that the filler cap had no kind of splash guard what so ever when it's sitting so that any splash would soak the TCs back rest, or the TC himself if occupying his seat, which in turn, is located just beside the commonly HOT engine...
Hello from Estonia.
yeah i wouldn't want to be in that thing if the engine was hit.
It was problem of all tankettes . Imagine Italian L3 with flame thrower . Fuel tank for engine is also located inside , behind vehicle is towed a trailer-tanker with flammable liquid , and supply hose going from trailer , by commanders seat to flame thrower .
If the commander is a heretic, that is totally justified! Poland is catholic
I heard Germans called them "armored cockroaches". They were highly mobile and hard to hit. The version armed with 20 mm gun was pretty effective when ambushing German panzers in 1939. In Poland this baby tank is a national treasure
I I said it once I said it again Tiny But Mighty
That's the mother of Hetzer idea.
Actually, despite “cockroach” often being used as an insult, they are extremely nimble and adaptable. Little buggers can live almost anywhere almost indefinitely. I’d say being called an “armored cockroach” is both an insult and a sign of “stop moving so I can shoot you!”
The new robots are of similar size. History has come full circle again.
@@vthegoose And when You do hit them, it takes a considerable amount of force to make it permament.
Hey man, I got you really small tank.
TKS man.
HA HAH HAHA HAH HAH HA HAH HA HA HA HA HA oh that is so good man really perfect joke
love your animations!
@@er3433 wait is he youtober
Tanks man
Good one!
14:40 "Climbing in?" "Stepping in?" I think the correct term here is "putting it on"....
Fun view as always, Chieftain. Thanks for the entertainment.
Nice one !
Yes you put it on, just like a Spitfire.
must like the mercury capsule
@@dariuszrutkowski420 Też mi to przyszło do głowy
But he was cozy I'm there!
Air filter: your uniform. Carburetor: the driver. Engine temp sensor: the TC.
Early models the driver sips gass from a canteen and spits it directly into the air intake as a carb.
@@marktaraski277 somebody say shiny and chrome?
Seeing other people getting out after saying his trademark phrase was actually quite hilarious. Great idea!
Search the Aquino video where the Chieftain a full crew of volunteers popping out various vehicles when he yelled "the tank is on fire"
They were super quick getting out, very impressive!
While the Chieftain doesn't get out of the TKS - he takes it off. ;)
@TheScout115 You did an excellent job! Quite well done!
Honestly though, the correct phrase for the TKS is "Oh bugger, the TC's on fire." That 3 inches of air isn't going to stop much spraying flaming oil.
I'd like to see a whole crews worth get out of every tank he dose the test on
My father, as a second lieutenant of the Polish army, was commanding a reconnaissance platoon of the three TKS tankettes during the Battle at Bzura in September 1939. In the course of one of his recon raids he encountered a German pioneer company (combat engineers) resting near the road: the TKSs' machine guns quickly annihilated the surprised German soldiers and their equipment. Germans returned some fire but their 7.92 mm Mauser ammo couldn't penetrate the TKS's armour (my father reported he heard the German bullets hitting his tank and making hissing sound: perhaps Germans used some sort of incendiary ammunition). When the battle was over my father's driver got out of the hatch; unfortunately, one last German NCO with a death wish was hiding in a tall grass nearby and fired his Parabellum (Luger) pistol killing the driver. This German NCO got finished with a burst from a TKS machine gun and my father picked up a still warm Luger pistol - a war trophy with a sad story behind. Eventually, my father's unit run out of fuel and the TKS tankettes had to be sabotaged and abandoned.
Great story, as a German, do you still have that Luger pistol?
Are You 80 or something? Coś mi tu nie pasuje.
@@Maza945 Wtf? He doesn't need to be 80 to have a father who fought in 1939.
@@SuperGeronimo999 I bet they don't have it. It was either taken by germans when his unit surrendered and got disarmed or used by the polish underground forces.
@@GinsengStrip-wt8bl comunist govenrment hated people having any firearms, so either he hid it very well or it was consiscated after the war...
15:45 That was the The Gundlach Periscope invention by Polish engineer Rudolf Gundlach.
thats right , i was about to say that, thanks man :-))
That shovel actually gives significant additional level of protection.
yep, additonal 10% of armor ;D
Only for the TC. Add another pointed the other way for the driver.
I knew I would find this comment.
Sharpened entrenching tools were used in hand to hand combat. :D
early spaced armour ;D
Chieftain: fits inside TKS
Me: We need to find a smaller tank
I vote for Renault UE, it's another Carden-Loyd derivative, but that one is so low that the crews' heads are located in armored domes on top of the tank...
I think the L3/33 is even smaller...
@@grumpystranger6377 i too vote for it, i had the occasion to sit in one, it's really small, i'm a little under 1.8m (5'10) tall and it was a tad too small
the AMX ELC could be a good candidate too, and this one is a full tank
CV33/L3/35 are also nice and smol
I seen a filmclip of someone funriding on top of a german goliath demolition drone. Is that small enough? 😉🙂
Wiesel -airborne- *armored* weapons carrier?
My grandfather served as the driver/mechanic in one of those in September '39. Still have pictures of him standing next to one. During the fighting his vehicle was damaged and him and the commander stepped out to assess the damage. Their position was shelled and they both sustained severe injuries. Soon after a German detachment marched by and shot the commander, leaving my grandfather thinking he was already dead. Eventually my grandfather was picked up by German medics and ended up in a hospital in Lodz. Thanks Chieftain for showcasing the TKS.
Interesting story
@Love Flowers w 39 xd
@Love Flowers Co ten debilny komentarz wnosi do dyskusji? Chłopak opisał ciekawą historię (szkoda, że nie rozwinął jej bardziej), a Ty tutaj jakieś bzdetne, denne śmieszki dajesz.
@Love Flowers Interpunkcja się kłania, ogólny chaos wypowiedzi i jej poziom mówią o Twojej osobie wszystko. Dziękuje, dobranoc. Idź spać dziecko :]
Wierz sobie w co chcesz, ale zacznij trochę myśleć zanim coś napiszesz. Jak na razie jest to poziom głębokiego dna.
@Love Flowers A wy spierdlaliscie w 45 z Prus wschodnich
It is on my favorite WOT medal from old times when LTs stopped at tier 5 and had to fight tier 9s. Still temember killing KV-3 on Pz.38na.
о ! живой краб ) иди делай обзоры )
Pz. 38na is my favorite tank man!
так ты убил кв 3 на панзер38
@@leoymalne7052 У него была дырявая комбашенка, но там надо было очень точно попасть. КВ-2 убивался намного проще - в погон башни. Американские тяжи до самых топов ковырялись в жопу корпуса.
@@ThorneyedWT Так точно!
"TK stands for... who?"
"Brzęczyszczykiewicz, Grzegorz"
"Maul halten!"
poviat wenkowode
@@_pachecoo09_ Chrząszczyrzewoszyce powiat Łękołody
@@tomaszskowronski1406 *HELTH*
Aaaaaaa
To nie śmieszne
"Single shaft in between the legs"
Inner 13yr old awakens
"The shaft goes outwards, with a couple of lubrication points."
@@SinisterGerbils lol
any ladies here ?
@@jarekw1224 Haha no
The deep states siren call
I’m this less than half percent and I’ll have You know, that “significant emotional event” and “omg, the tank is on fire” are slowly breaking into the consciousness of Polish military geeks. And there are ALOT of them. Enough said, that my grandfather, who had his small workshop in a shed, had a workbench made out of Koenigs Tiger side armor plate (the numbers where still there), so the history is very much alive here :)
That workbench sounds like an absolute steal of a trophy XD
At my first job, I got the honour to get to know a retired technician who was a Polish veteran of the attempted liberation of Warsaw as the Soviets betrayed the Polish people yet again by letting them wear down the nazi garrison in suicidal heroics before indiscriminately invading the remains once the Polish militias had been crushed and a large amount of civilians massacred, leaving the nazis significantly weaker in supplies and manpower.
He told stories of how they had built baricades with narrow firing slits underneath, as well as fortifying basements from which they shot the nazis in their feet and lower legs to minimize the risk of return fire.
After the war, he had joined the Polish merchant fleet as 1st helmsman, and how his ship at least once was used to export AKMs to Vietnam via Kambodia during the Vietnam war XD
Only he and the captain knew about that part of their cargo.
@@SonsOfLorgar Still parroting the fascist nonsense? Soviets betrayed no one, every single polish commander both in the west and in warsaw was agaiinst the uprising, save for a bunch of mid level far right lunatics who lied nazis are fleeing and soviet tanks are already in the warsaw and uprising needs to start NOW, without plans or weapons (because funnily enough, leaders were so against it they moved most of guns resistance had OUT of warsaw to hide them from germans). Sadly, said imbecile lunatics managed to convince a few units to start a fight and the rest joined unsure if they missed orders (they didn't) turning the whole farce into massacre. In fact, soviets did more than anyone expected, seeing no one told them about uprising (because polish leaders had no plans to start it), they had no ammunition and fuel left, and yet, some units still crossed the river swimming (because said far right lunatics were fighting for empty prestige targets, not for anything useful militarily like a bridge that would allow soviets to help) and were massacred along with rebels. So can this neonazi IPN BS and read actual book about the uprising, literally every single person in the city hated said lunatic scum a week in...
I propose making a work bench out of heavy plate steel . . but amour plate is beyond my wildest desire
Count me in that as well! :D
Your country seems to be laden with such historical trophies and the military history fanbase seems delectable ( i wish i had the same in my country) but i suppose that came at an enormous historical payment through years of oppression.
31:53 Just seeing his head poking out of this adorably small tank is hilarious.
or the fact the tank is so small you could probebly hide it behind a micro car or inside one.
start jogging beside me you fools were going to bully Russia!
This tankee is so cute!😁
It's certainly small enough to make the "Drive me closer! I want to hit it with my sword!" outburst a little less ridiculous.
@@Zack_Wester Fit a shopping cart handle to the rear... and potentially use it.
Germans actually had some fear of these things - they called them "cockroaches" - they were small and very, very maneuverable - if you ever see one move its amazing this is a vehicle firmly based in 1920s/ 1930s tech. The 20mm version armed with semi automatic heavy rifle could kill any German tank and lead to first allied panzer ace + one dead German prince. If Poland had 100s of these 20mm armed versions it may not have changed the outcome of September campaign but for sure would lead to even bigger German panzer losses - they already started French campaign with less tanks then Polish.
@Jordon Carlson the 20 mm gun used by the Poles is rated to penetrate up to 25 mm of armor depending on the range. The Pz II has around 15 mm of armor. It is more than capable of knocking out early German and Czech tanks that were used during the September campaign.
@Jordon Carlson How can 7.9 mm bullet en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wz._35_anti-tank_rifle#Panzerb%C3%BCchse_35(p) could kill at distance 300m even panzer IV during september 1939 campaign. Here you have your answer 4:36min th-cam.com/video/BOFDHX22nh4/w-d-xo.html it work in same way. Actually Polish Army was not as bad as it is known in the West. Poles directed one quarter from money budget straight into Army. Polish Air Force was first in the world that have only metal planes on duty of course Me109 outclassed polish planes, but Germany bougt all theirs few hundret Me109 in years 1936-1939 as a matter a fact only Hurricans and Spitfires and some american planes were capable to fight against Me109 in 1939. It was very gigantic pace to produce few hundret newest fastest planes in time of three years. Same story with tanks TKS or TP7 those wasn`t bad tanks at all. They could fight as equal with all German panzers but... Polish main command sucked same with western allies main command. There were not even main battle plans to fight aginst Germans becose Germans took Czechoslowakia. Polish generals were dumb as f...k. Polish way of command wasn`t flexible, there were lack of radios and what is worse there were even deserions among GENERALS!!! When in same time twice large Wehrmaht could copy to every situation and were flexible. Those UR rifle for example could kill crew but tank wasn`t damage so bad. So most tanks after repairs and with new crew were back in fight. What is also important that rifle was secret so despite fact Polish soldiers were trained in using it they didnt knew that killed panzer could move despite fact that crew was killed. So some of soldiers throw it as useless.
@Jordon Carlson These are early WWII tanks. Protection is weak especially on the sides. TKS can get close due to its size. From 100m penetration is 20mm at 60 degrees. Orlik has confirmed (pictures) kill of Panzer IV.
@Jordon Carlson most German tanks in 1939 were panzer I(just two machineguns as armament) and Panzer II(20mm automatic cannon) tanks, both of which had pathetic levels of armour, and their best tanks were early models of Panzer III’s which also had mediocre armour until later revisions. For example in the Spanish civil war Russian T-26 tanks often dominated the Panzer II tanks in tank duels.
Germany: No worry, we have the WEASEL tank now!.
I expected at least nine clowns to follow you out of the vehicle.
8:12 - "Spare radiator cap"... Someone did a splendid job on that toolbox. This spare part is ESSENTIAL in every FIAT-engine-powered vehicle. Don't ask me why, I know from painful experience it is.
In my experience, vw need a spare engine oil cap.
@@dominikbevcic9868 Now that you mention it... not just a VW. Air-cooled FIATs loved to "spit them out" when overheated, too.
@@gmaacentralfounder well, in the end, owning the same age and price range fiat works out cheaper and more reliable for me. And there is less annoying fanboys.
@TheScout115 Ah... That explains THAT.
If it was British up until the 80's /90's, a spare radiator thermostat was essential.
I understand the Pole's had twenty four TKS's armed with a twenty mm semi auto gun. The first tank ace in WW2 was Polish using a 20mm armed TKS! He survived the war, Edmund Roman Orlik !
th-cam.com/video/k96j-VDLlAA/w-d-xo.html
*full auto - it was an autocannon (wz. 38FK), except we called it a machine gun: najcięższy karabin maszynowy - heaviest machine gun.
@@olekzajac5948 We have a weapon that's called Ma Deuce. It was important to me to remember the action of a warrior. People remember the nazis, they don't seem to remember the Russians. The Poles have saved Europe more than once.
World of Tank Blitz has an Orlik Medal, mind you.
@@ironseabeelost1140 from it's own existence maybe
especially the shot when its driving out looks like an oversized scale model. With a Chieftain figure on top
Like a 1/8th scale StuG
I thought building a 1/72 Hetzer was bad enough, I can't imagine building the tracks and running gear on this.🤣
There was in fact a TKS -D. Tank destroyer wit 37mm Bofors AT cannon. You could take the gun out and make a regular one with the cart you towed as a trolley.😉
Like those Girls und Panzer scale models with figurines but irl
I'm a simple Polish guy I see video about TKS I click like.
Tak jest. Nasze TKS-y odwaliły sporo roboty.
Wow,once you got a driver who knows how to drive it it really moves. And the driver even got a Polish tanker’s beret (black,obviously). I am impressed.
2.2 tons. It’s like the smart car of AFVs
To put that into perspective, it weighs about the same as a 2020 Ford Explorer.
@@Ray-tg1sj : Which doesn't have any armour plate - you wouldn't want to get shot at in one of those!
@@timonsolus Isn't the Explorer your Run of the mill police vehicle nowadays? Like the replacement for the crown Vic?
Ya, we've outfitted our force with them. They're not bad really, not as outright durable as a CVic, but they do seem reliable enough and their performance easily outstrips the old sedans
@@timonsolus Both dont have protection. But shrapnels hurt only in Explorer.
Chieftain, With the T.C. so close to the disturber and spark-lug wires, there is another problem. Back in the day the wires were braided cotton even when new did not hold all the electric current in place. In short the T.C. could get s charge from time to time even on a good day. Great video by the way !
"It's not a disadvantage, it's just a way of making sure the TC is awake." ahem...
Oh wow that's scary.
Anyhow with the TKS, I can't help but wonder if even a FT-17 wasn't better.
I am more terrified that the driver is sitting on the coolant tank.
@@LIETUVIS10STUDIO1 : Better armoured, yes (slightly) - but a lot taller, and a lot slower, neither desirable qualities in a tank as they make it much easier for enemy anti-tank gunners to hit you.
Even the standard German 3.7 cm Pak 36 'door knocker' anti-tank gun would go through an FT-17's armour quite easily at 500 meters range.
(In 1940, most French tankers bailed out of their old FT-17s rather than fight in them - very wise!)
That is intentional. It's the Polish equivalent of amphetamine used in "Panzerschokolade".
The designer of the the Carden Loyd tankette once remarked about the Polish TKS as "the best derivative of my design ever", which is quite some high praise.
That kid is just having way too much fun driving that lawn mower around the yard lol!
I'm jealous 😁
That final drive-by at the end... If that is not the cutest tank ever!
I was going to buy a Polaris RZR as a weekend toy. Now I’m thinking buying a Polish TKS instead. Imagine making a Costco run in one of these!
Totally called it that the little wrench would be for track tension.
What a cool vehicle!
... or a wind up key.
@@beskydyk yes! 😂
SO CUTE!😊
knew it the moment he said it was his favorite tool. i will never understand tankers and track tensioning.
Mark Felton made a video called "The Prince and the Pole" about the TKS in action during the battle for Poland. Maybe that's why so many requests.
Yes, this was the first thing I thought when seeing this video now.
Probably. This was quite an adequate machine though, considering that Edmund Orlik managed to kill 13 German tanks with it
@@SparrowNoblePoland he used version with 20mm nkm wz. 38FK
@@konradadamczyk5755 even so the TKS routinely punched above its weight class in the September Campaign
I love this little thing. It's so cool and it's small enough that I can imagine actually fitting one on my garage.
Chieftan, you actually have some viewers from Poland not just because you made the TKS video. I'm impressed you have one in driving condition in the US. Thank You and please continue delivering high quality content with humor!
Your channel is an absolutely unique chance to see the inside and ergonomics of tanks. Obviously after having seen a number of episodes about average or large size tanks, one starts to wonder how did the crew fight in something that is seems pretty obviously problematic without even opening the hatch.
Thank you very much for this ep.
Nice one ! Believe it or not, this was the very first article of tank encyclopedia, on 10/12/2011. Always had a soft spot for this little bugger...
"Thank you, go away."
He has leared to be more polite on that part :)
Great job Sir...Cheers from Warsaw...
P.S. Just finished model with 20mm gun in 1/35, looks like 1/72 standing next to Pz. IV or M3 Lee ;)
I have it in 1/35 too, and it’s good that it’s printed on the box-because when you’ve put it together it’s so tiny that it’s hard to believe! 😀
Awesome! I hope that we'll see an episode on 7TP one day too ^^
TKS got potential. Compact and agile, not an easy target. With a decent anti armour cannon it could have been an effective tank stalker during defensive.
My info is hazy, but first German tank-losses to enemy fire in WW2 came from TKS armed with 20mm gun.
Original TKS you can find in Poznań museum. It was found in Norway brought to Poland and restored.
Yes - it was a wreck, now it is in running condition :-)
i nearly cried laughing from the "oh bugger the tank is on fire" test, both with the chieftain and then the "modern malnurished polish tanker"
starts at 26:20
What was that like 5 seconds?
I shitted laughing so hard my spleen exploded
Starting at 32:54
A mid engined small nimble tank. Just like real super cars!
TKS the S stands for sportster!
Pity the war started before we could see the TKSS
@@Saberjet1950 or the TKS 4x4 Cosworth, built specifically for rallying
That gun is clearly for winning races. It does not matter if others are driving Italian garage princess' as bullets are faster than fastest car and supercars aren't known from armor protection.
If you see one being driven you realize that the super car reference is not misplaced.
Can't wait for the TKRS or the TK GT then!
They better include V12 engines for those, although then the engine would take up the entire crew compartment 😅
“thank you, go away”
i wish I had that much swagger
27:32 that is THE most war thunder tank crew driver ive ever seen
Thank you from Poland! You are a very brave man! :D
I saw one in a Museum in Warsaw, they told me there, it was an refurbished original (so based on a original chassis and some parts and then reconstructed with new spare parts).
@TheScout115 It was the Museum of Polish War Technology. They have a TKS-B and TK-3: muzeumptw.pl/aktualnosci/wojna-1939-zrobilismy-co-do-nas-nalezalo/ (sorry, page only in English)
Tankettes have always been a personal favorite. The Everyman armored fighting vehicle. Would love to have a few in my garage. More Tankette videos please Chieftain!
Wealthy people in Mexico are so used to the constant risk of kidnapping that putting armour on their cars have become common. If the neigbourhood get rough enough a private tankette make become useful....
I love reading about what the Germans did with the military equipment of the nations they conquered in WW2. The Polish TKS tanks were used as internal security vehicles and then given as aid to the Independent State Of Croatia. Also while on about Polish gear, the Poles syandard calibre was 8mm Mauser, their Mauser Wz/27 rifles were used by Luftwaffe ground crews, their 8mm Wz/28 Autorifles/LMG's (8mm FN BAR) were used by anti-partisan troops and Polish AT rifles (which used a unique calibre) were used by the SS until i think 43' then they were given as aid to the Italians. When Southern Italy betrayed the Germans, many were again captured by the Germans, some were used by internal security troops, some were used by the Croats and most went to the RSI (Italian Social Republic) fun beutewaffen facts for everyone! :D
"'When Southern Italy betrayed the Germans..." you say that like it was a bad thing?
@@stamfordly6463 wasn't it? Greetings from Germany. 😁🇩🇪
Not to mention the Radom 9x19mm automatic pistol, developed and used by the Polish armed forces. This was such a good and well regarded weapon that the Germans not only used every captured example they could get their hands on, but kept them in production in occupied Poland right up to the end.
@@nonamesplease6288 Ian has a video about this pistol on forgotten weapons. He also talks about how the Polish factory workers supplied guns to their resistance. Until they German found out.
Irony is that the TKS probably did more for Poland in defeat than in the Battle of Poland. Germans were loath to discard such well-made and reliable vehicles, but their value as security vehicles was really not worth the thousands of liters of precious fuel they ended up putting in them. Sort of poetic justice in a way, the Nazis starving their own tanks so they could keep impractical Polish tankettes running around mostly to intimidate Poles.
I'm Polish but I live in Canada throwing your statistics off. After watching your first video long time ago, I was confused what your accent may be. I asked my Scottish mother in law and after the first sentence she told me you were Irish. Later on you confirmed it yourself. Cheers mate and than you for all the videos.
This little bugger of a vehicle is so cool looking! I'm so happy for this Chieftain's hatch ep!
A little extra regarding Hotchkiss MG wz.25 - one of the main reasons why Browning M1917 was copied as wz.30 was due to French doing really shoddy work making barrels for wz.25 - when defects were revealed in testing, contract was cancelled and guns were pulled out and used in armoured cars (which also were not the greatest), TK and TKS tankettes due to space restrictions (which was not a problem for 7TP to use modified wz.30, possibly also due to less and less wz. 25 guns in stocks) and to make wz.25 usefull despite their somewhat limited barrel life
I totally read this in the Chieftain's voice. Nice job.
I’m a pole and this makes me proud
I think it was ahead of its time in terms of use case. Nowadays there's a lot more interest in small AFVs. Poles were really into their cavalry, yeah?
@@Chironex_Fleckeri If you mean guys who while being outnumbered 4:1 were saying: "Yup, we have an advantage.", than yes. But that was 17th century, when Poland-Lithuania was at its peak.
@@Chironex_Fleckeri Polish army at the time had around dozen of cavalry brigades, which were more like mounted infantry units, they did a few charges in September 1939 though. They were being reorganized/exchanged into motorized units, only one was fully operational when the war started, another was being formed, and managed to finish training and take part in battle too
There are many reasons to be proud of Poland. Personally I think this hot box is not one of them.
Chad Florida is a strange nick for a pole btw.
@@sebastianriemer1777 it’s poking fun of americants
"I hear a tank!"
"What? here? Impossible, there is no opening large enough for one."
"I can hear it! Look, here it comes!"
*TKS trundles from a side alley to the left of where they are looking.
"Oh."
Cool double clutching from the driver! And cool reconstruction uniforms, and disembarking - I had a flashback to old footage of Russian tankers training with Renault FT tanks that I watched ages ago.
That was outstanding. Perhaps one of your most fun videos. Thank you Chieftain.
I'am from Poland, and I did not request TKS ;)
When you star driving around, you lack two thngs: cavalery hat and saber in hand :D
...and some theatrical wings!
* "Driver, bring us closer, so I can hit them with my sword!" intensifies *
Offers about as much protection as a horse . . why not
it was proper tanker had (helmet) used by polish tankers. In fact it was copy of french tan crew hat based on "Adrian" (WW1). French tankers did use same ones en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_helmet
It's like watching Chris Farley put on that jacket in Tommy Boy.
"big guy... in a little tank..."
Now I'm expecting Cheftain to split the entire tank in half.
Finally, TKS discussed by Chieftain. 2020 is not all that bad after all. This little tankette is so small that assembling a 1/35 scale kit was quite challenging.
IKR xD It smaller than most cars xD
6:43 i like how there’s a live round still sitting in there 😂
A little clarification for the conincal bolts: The cone shape adds more rigidity and helps prevent deformation when the bolt is hit by a bullet by deflecting it. A square/hex bolt with a flat top is prone to having its sides deformed when shot on the flat top. These don't have the flat top
It's official: the Chieftain has approved the TKS.
Sarge: "You see these tow hooks? They look like tusks. Now what kind of animal has tusks?"
Grif: "A walrus."
I don't know, I think it looks like some kind of cat. ;)
Quit making it weird, Donut.
Sarge: "Didnt I tell you you to stop making up animals?"
Me a Pole: A suprise to be sure but a welcome one.
New favorite video. Seeing the Chieftain's head poking out of the little TKS hatch as it zoomed around had me dying with laughter.
My first thought on the video starting "Hey that's a really nice riveted shovel." Good shovels are highly important to tankers.
"my first tankette" perfect for your pre-teen coming of age story...
Your mind works in strange ways. I like that.
"Pa! I´m going to date. Can I borrow TKS?"
Taking into account that the TKS was probably the first enemy armoured vehicle that the Germans met, there should be no surprise that the people wanted to see one. 🙂
Thank you! That was very informative!
Trivia:Edmung Orlik was driving in this one and was one of first tank aces of 2nd world war, 13 kills in september
Not this one. He was in TKS armed with NKM wz. 38FK. Obviously. Not that it matters, though - obviously 7.92mm would not be enough in 1939. But people keep forgetting that most common Nazi German tank in 1939 was Pzkpfw I, which was basically used for same purpose and was mostly armed similarly... So no surprise there.
His TKS has being equipped with not a standard Polish made 7.92 mm Ckm wz.25 (Hotchkiss) HMG, but with the Polish made anti-tank Nkm wz.38 FK - 20 mm heavy machine gun, which was effectively penetrating any armour of any German military vehicle in September of 1939 !!!!
He started with machinegun, then got upgrade when those were modernized
@@wojszach4443 “The stock grind is terrible, but once you unlock the top gun it starts to shine.” 😀
@@foowashere ye, once he aced his tankette he did ace in 2 weeks, i think he even killed someone important
Great job Chief. Makes me want to play the TKS now.
Alternate title: "When Riding Lawnmowers Go To War"
To be honest many interwar armored vehicles were like that.
That Lawnmowers in good hands was enough at that moment . Edward Orlik in this tank destroyed Panzer IV in 1939 and 9 others thanks in TKS .
@@velox81 To be clear, it was a TKS with a 20mm cannon mounted instead of the machinegun
@@PineCone227_ Absolutely and that seems to be lost on the story as it gets told more and more. With something like the gun mounted on this little guy in the video, I don't think he completes the same feat. People really don't understand what a 20MM was capable of doing to armor, and when you mount it on a mobile little machine like the TKS it becomes that much more deadly because it takes it from a 20mm Anti-Aircraft Rifle to a 20mm Anti-Tank..minitank. Not to mention the limited loadout they were capable of using, being limited to High Explosive, High Explosive Incendiary, and High Explosive Incendiary Tracer rounds. There was no form of AP or APCR rounds made for the 20mm at that time so he was likely carrying a combination of HE, HEI, and HEIT rounds, all of which would be a lot less effective than something like a more modern AP/APIT/APCR round made later down the line for the 20mm's used as Anti-Aircraft weaponry both on planes, as well as, United States and British Naval Ships. That was simply a case of Orlik being one bad bad man and knowing how and where to position himself to use the Panzer IV's armor against itself.
"It's really not that bad!" Says the disembodied surprised voice!
When I was about 7 or 8, there was an old disused horizontal freezer on my grandparent's farm. I used to sit in it and pretend it was a TKS because it was boxy and looked about the same size, I always wondered what rare machines like this looked like from the crew's point of view. I'm glad that almost 20 years on my curiosity has been answered!
This gave me good memories, reminds me of the times I used a plow for a tractor (not while it was attached) as a random ww1 plane at my grandpa's. It even looked like it had weird machin gun mount.
My
I sat in a big box one corner flattened against the ground one corner pojnting up and one to each side (wings) and I had a SPACESHIP.
@14:40 "Chieftain climbs into a TKS". I think more accurately is "Chieftain puts on a TKS".
I actually saw this thing in person at an event in Hagerstown, Maryland, it's a milsurp flea market and I also met one of the guys who was in this video. Thing was a really cool thing to see, it's amazing how small it is in person, especially compared to a Sherman.
chieftain: this tool right here is my favorite, we'll come back to it later
me: it's for track tensioning, isn't it
later: remember I said it is my favorite tool on the vehicle? it's used for track tensioning
classic
"According to TH-cam Statistics only..."
No, don't say it!
"Half of 1% of my viewers are in Poland"
So one in two-hundred people watching this channel are Poles. Considering that one in two-hundred people in the world as a whole are Polish, this means Chieftain is more popular than not with the Poland people!
Im from Poland 😉😋
@@genericpersonx333 I dont know if that statement is 100% correct
There are a fair number of Poles and people of Polish ancestry living in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc. So his Polish audience may be larger than he realizes.
@@RasEli03 it's technically correct, the best kind of correct.
This little thing had some serious potential when armed with a 20 mm gun. It was then capable of destroying enemy tanks, and there are accounts of such actions. Less than 30 received such upgrade before the start of the war though, so the impact on the campaign was limited. With its small size the tankette could maneuver quickly and squeeze into hideouts making it difficult to spot and aim at. At the same time it was more nimble and faster than a proper tank of the time.
But that thing had almost no armour. Why not just use the Anti Tank Rifle than put such a Gun on a Tank. After all you can hide a Soldier with such a Gun better than a Tank.
@@maxpayne7459 Yeah, but try to move that shit when under fire. It weighted around 60 kg. Also, this was the plan from the beginning, it was designed as weapon for tanks (especially *TK's* as seeing how the tanks were developing meant it would be too obsolete (there were experiments with mounting 37 mm gun on them, named *TK-D* , but it was cancelled in favor *7-TP* with it.).) and planes (it was a HMG). For infantry there was *kb ppanc wz. 35* which was almost as good while weighting just over 10 kg and being much easier to produce.
@@Vyury the enemy would just fire with Tanks back. Only 1 Hit would be enough to kill the Tank or kill at least 1 Crewmate. It would have been easy to just build more anti Tank rifles than build these Things. Considering that the Germans had more Tanks, better designed and have Air Support, the Tank would just make a bigger Target than a Person
@@maxpayne7459 An mg position is a 2 man affair anyway, and in one of these the crew was much more mobile and protected from small arms and artillery shrapnel pretty well all things considered. A 20mm autocannon is way too bulky to be an infantry weapon.
@@maxpayne7459 The Polish anti-tank rifle wz.35 came in at about 10 kg, plus the ammo. The rifle was about 180cm long. That's a lot of gear to carry around. On top of that the rifle was most effective at about 100 meters or less. It's going to take some nerve to get within 100 meters to a tank, especially if that tank is driving straight at you.
"oh bugger! The tank has rolled over ...and is on fire."
22:53
Drain port?
I wonder if that comes with a funnel for less messy combat tinkles XD
'You will get burned if you get thrown up against the completely exposed engine, which I would argue to be a flaw.' Yes, that does strike me as quite the flaw!
The helmet looks like a modified French Adrian helmet. Is that the case?
Yes. Infantry used newer model, but that tank helmet get to Poland with Renault FT tanks.
Yes. Polish forces used modded Adrian M15. It was quite literally a process of taking M15 - often damaged -and lopping off bits that weren't needed. It looks similar to M1919 variant, but it isn't. More importantly, it was not a mass production, but rather individual soldiers did it themselves, so there will a huge diversity, if we're talking about original Polish equipment. This one looks like a modern replica, available online.
Maybe cuz it is one.
@@gmaacentralfounder not a damaged helmet, just mod for armour use, the French tank helmet of WWI was exactly the same, after their first ride in gear the tankers decided to lop off the visor and add a leather strip to the front, in French service the upgraded model would remain mostly the same with the addition of some padding and a new strap that could accommodate earphones (if you were lucky enough to crew a tank equipped with radio)
Problem with 20 mm gun variant of this tank (tankette) is that there simply wasn't enough guns available at the given time. The plan was to convert all reconnaissance tankettes into Anti-tank role, but since there wasn't enough guns to convert all, plan "B" was to convert 1/3 of the existing tankettes so they were working in platoons of 3 tanks, one being Anti-tank, and the others were equipped wither with 7,9 mm machine-gun. This was supposed to be only a "stop-gap" (kinda like M3 Lee was a stop gap till M4 Sherman arrived), as there were better tanks in production - 7TP, based on 6 - tone Vickers tank, and later on 10TP (kinda cruiser-like, fast tank) that as far as I can tell was only in a prototype stage.
Technically, by the time the tankettes started getting rearmed, the 7tp had been considered obsolete and a new tank to replace it was being trialed- the aforementioned 'cruiser'-style family of vehicles beginning with the abandoned 10tp prototype.
My friend has a little Italian Tankette. It's pretty neat and nifty to zoom around on his property in. It works great because there's a lot of Forest on his property and you can get into some tight spaces with it.
If you would deploy these things as pillboxes that could move from defensive position to defensive position it would not be completely useless in battle I assume.
YES!!!!! Just FYI, I'm Polish, but live in the US. So even though your traffic may not come from Poland, you may have a lot more Polish viewers than you think.
The shovel head actually doubles the effective armor thickness.
And significantly increases offensive capabilities too!
The term you are looking for is "spaced armor!" ^-^
Very advanced tank
Thx, a good one!
@@Classic_Frog and excellent bounce joke too!
I am in love with this vehicle. Thanks for making this video. The history of Polish campagin and weapons is a very interesting and a bit forgotten topic. Still it was one of bigger operations of WW2. I would say, one of the most important. In popular opinion it was perfect example of blitzkrieg and massacre of Polish army. In fact there were alot of bright examples of Polish bravery and competence. F. Ex. The battle at Bzura was the first was the first major offensive operation against germans and only one on such scale until soviet offensives. It somehow showed the way to counter blitzkrieg. What failed the most was the High Command and the strategy of "Border Battle" wchich led to collapse of front. Also there was no idea how to use Aircraft and Tanks effectively. Some high army generals unluckilly also showed lack of competence, for example Stefan Dąb-Biernacki, commander of Prusy army, probably the strongest army. In a crucial moment he abandoned his army, leaving it without commander what decided about its fate in Radom encirclement. On the other hand gen Kutrzeba or gen Szylling did a great job commanding armies Poznań and Kraków. There were a lot of great officers commanding divisions, brigades, or operational groups (something like corps). Unlickilly higher ranks were given by political reasons, wchich led to disaster... If used effectively Polish army was a serious threat to Germans. Hitler knew it and thats why he organised such strong forces to destroy it. If only help had came from the west the war would probably end by 1940 or even earlier.
The other point worth mentioning is that the campaign didn't end when the German's said it did. The 'official' version from the Germans was Poland was completely overrun in a few weeks and nothing else to see here. Truth is they were still fighting a few weeks later.
The little bit about having to fight the Soviets at the same time also gets talked down in the face of the 'masterful' German invasion.
Germans made a lot of mistakes in this campaign and were forced to spend most of the winter reforming to take advantage of the lessons learned. Don't forget that the 3 'Light' Divisions were completely reorganised into Pz.Divisions because operationally they just didn't work as advertised.
That would be perfect to do weekend coffee runs in.
Those reenactment costumes are slick!
" ...and it comfortably sleeps two...small people......."
Being Polish but living in Australia, I really appreciate this vid Chieftain!
Amazing how there is a fully rotatable gunners periscope on the TKS.
Meanwhile even the Tiger 2 still did not have a gunners periscope.
That's due to the fact we invented it en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Tank_Periscope_MK.IV Funny how some stuff is obvious after the fact (not the first time. Such is the nature of inventions)
@@dariuszrutkowski420 wow that is amazing! I didnt know that.
@@jakobc.2558 Actually, same periscope - curiously - fits slot on early T-55s ;) for some unfanthomable (wink wink) reason :P
I didn't know I wanted to know so much about this tankette.
Thank you for making this.
1:53 Its either one adorable little tanker or one colossal Chieftain. either way its great
Lets be honest. Who dont want to hug this cute little deadly thing?
Whermacht: " It's tiny! It's like a toy! It'll never last against us! "
Add 1 X 20mm and 2 X Polish soldiers...
Whermacht: " It's SCARY!! "
There were two (prototype) TKS-D vehicles, basically a tank destroyer variant of the TKS (37mm Bofors AT gun on a modified, open-top TKS chassis). Used in combat by the 10th Cavalry Brigade (Motorized). Now that would have enough punch to make short work of any German armored vehicle of that era.
But even the basic TKS wasn't, in my opinion, bad for what it was: basically an armored scout car on tracks - because that was exactly its role and assignment. Though obviously hindered by the lack of radio and better vision equipment (then again, being developed in early 30s, it wasn't surprising).
As for the Germans... they nicknamed the TKS "the armored cockroach" - supposedly reflecting how nasty, fast and difficult to get rid of it was. Keep in mind: this thing could drive well over 30km/h off-road, armored well-enough to shrug machinegun fire, and was smaller than a standing man. Even a basic HMG one was enough to give trouble to anything not being a proper amrored vehicle itself...
I mean the Wehrmachts most common tanks in the invasion of Poland were the Panzer I and Panzer II, which aren’t really much better
not scary at all for Lieutenant Gruber for sure
@@deeznoots6241 Says the casual internet moron, who knows jackshit about the polish campaign...
@@deeznoots6241 compared to Panzer I and II is the Polish 7TP and not the reconnaissance TKS
" Move OUT! " Chieftain... You Forgot your Saber to launch the assault!!!! ;}
And an American Half-track & Jeep at the side... awesome.
Thank you so much for doing this. TKS is a fave of mine. Really appreciated the in depth look at a little known vehicle.
This is just what I need for the neighbors!
A random Polish fan of Nicholas Moran work: "Nah, you have to be kidding me Sir. I was NOT expecting this at all. Its the TKS!😆 MG version! Polish Freakin Carden Loyd in a tankette hull! How awesome! I saw it in Poznan once. Now they got 2 of them there. Thank you Sir. 😀
Stay safe and
Greetings from Krakow, Poland.
ps. You will make the PT-91 Twardy, and I will be ready to say:
"I lived a good life. Good and fun one."