In my humble opinion, The Pacific portrays the sheer terror of war like no other film I've ever seen. Two scenes that spring to mind are the recreation of the Battle of Alligator Creek on Guadalcanal, and the brutal beach landing at Peleliu. Both of those demonstrate the amount of sheer determination and will that the average foot soldier needed to survive and prevail. In many ways, The Pacific surpasses Band Of Brothers in its graphic realism. I've watched the entire series multiple times and it still gives me chills to think about what it was like to defend a fighting hole in total darkness from a full frontal assault or to run across an open area while being shelled and shot at.
I appreciate how dark they went with The Pacific, in particular by covering a lot of mental health issues associated with war. It was uncomfortable and not as "watchworthy" maybe as Band of Brothers because of this but it was an important aspect the war deserving coverage.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq after researching as much as I have in regards to my grandfather Sgt. Leonard James McNeill and the things he went through. I am convinced many of the social ills we saw through the 60s 70s and today are directly related to the unresolved grief issues from The war in the pacific
I love the attention to detail that WW2 movies adopted in the 90s. I grew up on a diet of 60s and 70s movies where they really didn't try. Slap a cross on a Pershing and it's a Tiger.
@@Chiller01 I dunno, I'm imagining a tiger tank on the top of Christ the Redeemer's head (cuz his arms make a.... anyway) and I think that's a pretty amusing visual
It's not they didn't try; it's that the internet didn't exist, no one knew how to get their hands on an actual WW2 vehicle and lovable-lunatics who get their jollies on reconstructing rotting, decrepit war vehicles weren't really a thing.
To be fair, its not like studios had any CHOICE in the matter. There were, for all intents and purposes, NO german tanks to be had, to make a movie that involved german tanks. You only had 2 options. Create your own tank by modifying what vehicles you could get. Or use existing tanks and decorate them however you can. Even today, I think the only real authentic WW2 german tanks to make an on-screen appearance is Tiger 131, and maybe a Panzer 3? Not counting the couple low budget, I think European movies from the 50's? That I heard used some still functioning tanks.
Regarding the amtrac, in reality the one Eugene Sledge was in did not have a tailgate. As he wrote in his book: "My knees got weak when I saw that it wasn't the newer model with the tailgate ramp for troop exit in which we had practiced. This meant that once on the beach, we'd have to jump over the high sides, exposed much more to enemy fire."
In "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa" Sledge wrote that he climbed into his Amtrak over the side, indicating that he was in an LVT II, so the scene with the ramp seems to be creative licence.
Yeah he says feeling afraid upon seeing he was in a II, as they had trained for peleliu on ramped versions and he felt (rightly so) they were much safer to disembark from
The Australians in the South Pacific used British Matilda IIs as their main armour against the Japanese, right to the very end of the war in the Pacific. Though these tanks were outdated by this point, especially in European theater, their design made them suitable for thick jungle fighting of the South Pacific. Matilda's had thick armour, thick enough to protect against most Japanese anti-tank weapons. And though their main armaments were the early war standard of a 40 mm 2pdr anti-tank gun, it was enough against lightly armoured Japanese tanks, though some were fitted with 3 inch howitzers for better ability to eliminate enemy positions.
I think a lot of it was because of the Japanese tank design. They never had to fight tanks while conquering China so tanks just had to deal with infantry so a light tank was all that was required, a Panzer I or II equivalent. Machine guns, a light cannon and enough armour to stop a .50 calibre. So we never really needed bigger tanks to kill the Japanese ones, given a good shot a Boys .55 AT rifle would stop a Japanese light tank. There's also the weight question. Australia tested both the Sherman and the Churchill for use by the Army and the Churchill especially didn't do well in the jungle. There's this Australian Army evaluation film of the testing of the tanks. th-cam.com/video/HseO2f0WGDg/w-d-xo.html
People disagree with me on this but remember that the Japanese island campaigns were a secondary front for Japan. China was always the intended target and the bulk of the grade A forces were either in China or on the mainland Asia fighting the British. The island garrisons didn't really need tanks which is why a lot of encounter by the US and ANZAC units tend go against more outdated Japanese tanks. Hence by the basic version of the Sherman was deemed good enough.
@@Seriona1 Deeply disagree with this, although you acknowledge that China and Asian resources was the main focus, the quality of the Japanese Army was equally high on the Pacific flank.
Most of the Sherman DDs did make it ashore on D-day, and made a valuable contribution. The problem at Omaha Beach was the weather conditions there and the fact that the Shermans for that beach were deployed too far out to sea. Most there sank.
Well, there were a number of Shermans that also went ashore via LCTs. This was done as a hedge in case the DDs did not make it in. To your point, many of the DDs headed for Omaha sank in the rough surf. The tanks delivered via landing craft were fitted with wading equipment. I would surmise that you are aware of this, but thought I'd mention it. Also noteworthy, is that at least one of the DD tank battalions got word of the foundering DD Shermans from their sister battalion, so they took their DDs in close to shore for delivery. As you'd expect, those DDs fared much better. And again, if memory serves, that battalion that took their tanks right up to the shore did, in fact, launch a couple DDs that promptly sank shortly after entering the water. They stopped launching after those initial disastrous launches. The battalion that lost most of their tanks had them sink some time after launching. And to my recollection, the two or three DDs of that battalion that did actually make it to the beach were crewed by guys who had sailing/boating experience. They knew how to deal with the high waves and the effects that those waves and the winds were having on their tanks turned boats. Years ago, I did a lot of research on the tanks that landed on Omaha. I discovered that It's also been incorrectly documented in some books about D-Day that most of the DD crews drowned. Actually, most of them were rescued by returning LCVPs and other small ships such as sub chasers. If memory serves, some thirty or so crew did indeed drown. I did all this research about ten years ago, so I may have some details wrong here. Either that, or new information about the landings and the DDs may have since been unearthed.
@@lonzo61 thanks for taken the time to research cause when he mentioned SPR i was like ohh great that misinformation scam, yes lets reinforce how bullshit that movie is and lie to the public, point being D-Day is better to learn through research as the real thing is so much more interesting then a bull but with great acting and nice moments hollywood film. : )
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Now all we need is an Italian / North African campaign mini series, that is this well produced! I believe they could knock out both theaters in one series, accurately, with the 1st Infantry "Big Red One". Would be epic if they put as much time, effort, accuracy & production value into it just like Band of Brothers & The Pacific. ( Generation Kill is another great series along the lines of these two as well )
My local library has a book featuring interviews with Iowa WWII veterans and one of them was a Marine tanker who fought in a Stuart tank. According to this tanker the Marines really liked them and recounted clearing bunkers on Iwo Jima. I guess he saw what happened to the Japanese officer trying to surrender in his kimono while gripping a samurai sword. It wasn't very nice.
We still have rusting LVTs on the side of the road at Peleliu. I used to pass them everyday when I lived there. The roads also still have track marks in them but I don't know if it was from the war or the Navy's heavy construction equipment.
My grandfather was a WWII Marine and an LVT driver. He was everywhere, but if you asked him, he denied it. He was at Tarawa, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima, and had three vehicles knocked up from under him during his time in the Pacific. He was pulled out of the infantry when the discovered he was a heavy machinery operator (bulldozers, etc.) and they put him in tracks. I have a couple of pictures he had of training they did down my Camp Pendleton. I think he must have felt a lot of survivors guilt and must have seen a lot of men he put ashore die. Thank you, Grandpa! Semper Fi.
My dad was a WW2 Marine, 43 when I was born. he landed from an LVT on Okinawa in 45. Lost him to covid last year 😑 I met Eugene Sledge at a marine Corp function with my dad. Both were in China same division,1st Tientsin
@@Theo2lag B8 (Who names a tank 'Bait'?) at 04:59 is definitely a Sherman. You really can't disguise the front of a Lee to look like a Sherman or change the very distinctive turret. Why you would use an M3 Lee of which only 6,000 were built to portray an M4 Sherman of which 50,000 were built, hundreds still run and some were still in active service when the series was made is beyond me.
@@DomWeasel I reafirm it, it is a replica (a well done one for sure, but you can see some odd stuff on it, like the turret or the welding mark), not an actual Sherman (source : surviving panzer website, M3 Lee page). Why using a replica ? Because the serie was shot in Philippines, where there no working sherman... As Australia is close, and there's plenty of M3 left there, I guess it was cheaper to make a replica using the M3 chassis and then import the replica in Philippines than import an actual working Sherman from the US or from anywhere else, as the surviving working Sherman are concentrated mainly in US or Europe.
The main reason LVTs were not a common thing at D-day were due to production cost and the speed of being able to embark troops. The LVTs are slower compared to the LCVP and LCA boats. Plus they take longer to produce. Another thing to keep in mind was that the LVTs had a strength of being able to support infantry against a lightly armed opponent. Which the Germans at the west wall weren’t. Plus the allies knew of all the obstacles on the beaches which would in turn make the LVTs effectiveness terrible.
LVTs were used in Holland in late 1944 early 1945 when the Germans flooded the area. So they did see some limited action there. You're correct though about the feasibility of using them for the Normandy landings.
@@Blitz9H Yes, plus they were used over the Rhine river and Schelt region. Another strength of the LVT were that they could crawl over Coral and other small underwater obstacles. Which were not much of an issue at D-day. The main issue there were mines and tank obstacles which is why the US made the underwater demolition teams, (Todays SEALs) which would clear those obstacles. Another thing to keep in mind with the LCA and LCVP is that they were meant to be used once for that landing. While the LVT were a vehicle that were supposed to be used for multiple landings, which happened in the island hopping campaigns in the Pacific. And a thing I forgot to mention was the plans for D-day were drawn in about 1943. So they based their landing crafts of the British LCA boats and at that time they needed every available LVTs in the pacific for its strengths in that Theater. Higgins made the LCVP which were similar to the LCA and could mass produce those boats in a very short amount of time. Since there were a shortage of landing crafts in 1943. Come 1944 the US had spare LVTs but the plan were to use the LCA and LCVP boat so they kept those instead of the LVT at that point as well. It is as much of a planning thing and a strategic thing.
You can still see the civilness in war in Band of Brothers, in The Pacific it’s really just pure savagery. The scene that Snuff threw rocks into a dead Japanese soldier’s opened skull filled with blood and mud water gave me the most chills from any war movies. It really gave me a feeling that I just don’t know how to describe.
I also assumed that the "over the side" LVT dismount was to mimic the actual dismount from an LVT-2. The ramped LVTs didn't get into heavy use until later in the Pacific campaign. By the way there are excellent LVT scenes in "The Sand Of Iwo Jima" showing them at Tarawa (the actual first use of the LVT in the initial assault) and at Iwo Jima. "Sands Of Iwo Jima" also shows Marines getting support from flamethrower Shermans, both in newsreel film and by actual USMC M4A3, CWS POAH5 flametanks (a very late WW2 version that also served in Korea). The older movie "Battle Cry" also shows LVTs and features the LVT(A)4 supporting the freshly landed Marines. By the way, "Battle Cry" also used USMC M4A3 tanks for Japanese armor. Some good LVT landing scenes are also seen in "The Halls Of Montezuma" along with USMC M4A3 75mm medium tanks.
Parts of the series were filmed in Australia. My friend helped build those Ha-Go tanks. They're powered by Ford V8s taken from cars and the tracks were made from links cast from a single genuine link. This "master" link was slightly imperfect and when they laid out the first run, it was curved. The turrets are made from light sheet metal and the guns are attached to broom handles inside.
I’ve been to Peleliu and found about 10-12 vehicles still sitting there, including a super rare Ha Go tank and an open hatch Sherman with live rounds inside. I also found a Sherman that was on its side after running over a mine
LVT-4's were also used in the Battle of the Scheldt (the forgotten battle), October 1944, Netherlands. There was lots of mud and flooded terrain there, so they were quite useful.
In Eugene Sledge's (wonderful) book, With The Old Breed, he states that it was an amtrak (LVT) that came and took out that bunker on Peleliu , but in The Pacific, they used a Sherman M4 tank. Maybe they didn't have an LVT with a functioning 75mm howitzer on it available, at the time they were shooting that scene? They had them on the beach landing scene, though. Who knows? But then, when taking the airfield, Shermans DID take out those Japanese Type 95 light tanks. So that part was accurate. Love your channel! :-)
One of the guys that provided/rented these vehicles is David Wang, he’s about 50 years old and lives in Southern California and has been renting vehicles to studios since around 1993. I’m in the military vehicle hobby where we buy and restore vintage military vehicles and David was always at our monthly and annual gatherings looking for things to buy or rent for a specific production. I sold a 1984 Air Force panel van to him in 1999 that was later used in a lot of movies and another vehicle I owned was in “We were Soldiers”. Often people like David would ask to rent our vehicles for around $150 a day and the owner can drive it for $50-$75 a day or they’ll hire someone to drive it for them. They sometimes offer a “blow up clause” to destroy the vehicle and the price includes the average replacement cost and the owner maintains ownership,of the remains. Most of us wouldn’t dare do that but some more common vehicles we would. David provided all the vehicles for the Pearl Harbor movie in 2000 and he bought a Jeep trailer from a friend for $700, shipped it to Hawaii for the filming and got paid over $1,600 profit for the effort and he just gave the trailer back for free to my friend when he was done. The alligator landing craft you see here was bought by David around 1999, I remember seeing it in his field up in “Canyon Country” outside LA where he lives. Tracked vehicles requires A LOT of infrastructure and maintenance that just can’t be done in a typical neighborhood. If anyone is interested in buying any type of military vehicle, don’t go on eBay, that’s where people go to make a huge profit. Look on Steelsoldiers.com or G503.com. HMMWV’s go for around $7,500 these days from the auction company and that’s in turn key condition, the site to buy them on is govplanet.com or iron planet.com. What most people do is buy 3 of them, pick out the best of the 3 then sell the other 2 at a profit so the profit pays for all 3 so basically they get a free HMMWV. Parts are easy to buy for nearly every military vehicle and it’s the HMMWV that has the highest prices. Since 93 I’ve owned and restored 31 to date and they’re simple to bring back to factory new condition in your garage. WWII Jeeps are pretty expensive if it’s restored, upwards of $30,000 sometimes. But, there’s a few other Jeep options you may not know about and they’re a lot cheaper. And despite what you’re told, you can drive a surplus HMMWV on public roads and most insurance carriers will insure it and at dirt cheap prices since it’s a historic vehicle. Hope this helps someone who’s always dreamed of owning one of these, good luck out there.
About fifteen years ago there was a man at our church that was in the 1st Marine Division. He was reluctant to talk about his experiences but when I told him about my dad being in the 3rd Division in the South Pacific he agreed to talk. Turns out he was a crew member of the Third Armored Amphibian Tractor Division and was on both Peleliu and Okinawa. He told me that at Peleliu they sent maybe thirty vehicles in before the assault and that only a couple made to the shore. His vehicle made it but was disabled and had to be abandoned. There's a book that was written called "Before the First Wave" by Larry L. Woodard. Great book, very interesting and detailed. I didn't realize they sent the lightly armored vehicles into shore before they sent the troops. Thanks, and great video.
I recall my dad saying they didn't have very much armor (he fought on Guadacanal, Bougainville, and Guam), and he tried to avoid being around it. His words were to the affect "they (the armor) always drew too much fire".l
Just seeing this AUGUST 14th 2021. THIS WAS A VERY WELL DONE VIDEO / DOCUMENTARY… I build plastic models… so the history of these vehicles was helpful… Can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched THE PACIFIC… thanks for putting these together. CHRIS
Awesome video Johnny! I highly recommend "Marine Corps Tank Battles of the Pacific" in your reading too. It goes into depth about a lot of stuff that isn't well known. The Japanese tanks did not have the firepower or numbers to fight the M4, but the Japanese army had a good 47mm dual-purpose gun that could kill M4s from side shots. I know your video argues M4s were not as important because of the mismatch with Japanese armor, but one of the main driving reasons for flamethrower-armed tanks (like the early "stick-an-M2-in-the-hull-gunner-spot kits) and I imagine, many flamethrower armed Amtraks was that the 37mm gun was not regarded as a very effective weapon against complex reinforced bunkers and similar positions. There's accounts in that book of situations where individual M4 tanks had to fire their entire complement of 75mm shells to knock out a single position in some cases, and then the Marine tankers cramming 75mm pack howitzer ammo into their M4s when they ran out of proper 75mm cannon shells. M3/M5 light tanks were simply not effective against bunkers and dugouts with their cannon armament and ended up used as flamethrower carriers. Not to detract from your video. The Pacific is underrated!
Just a small clarifying point, a great deal of The Pacific was filmed in Australia. The scene with the ‘Ansett Airlines’ DC-3, VH-ABR shows that preserved aircraft in a livery it never wore in service. That particular aircraft was bought by Australian National Airways before WW2, and was in service throughout the war. Having said that, this video is really well done, informative, and very valuable for those of us who enjoy military history. Thank you.
At the Wisconsin Dells, they have tour rides that you can go on, where you ride on a Duck (DUKW), similar to the boat/road vehicles that were used in WWII.
The Stuart tanks had openings in the road wheels; the Japanese would shove bamboo poles through these holes causing the tank to stop. When the crew opened up to see what happened, they would be attacked. Allies began to weld plates over these holes to eliminate that weakness.
@@gary19222 Maybe it was just a big damned chunk of wood then Gary. I don’t have time to look it up again. Do a search. Look for welded tank wheels on Stuarts and why.
One very minor inaccuracy with the Type 95 tanks portrayed during the Peleliu episode is that none of them had bamboo support rails. When the counter attack across the airfield happened, many Japanese infantry were clinging to the sides of these tanks using specialized bamboo support rails/platforms.
My absolute favorite tank vs. tank scene is from the movie "Fury" when an M4A3 Easy 8 Sherman tank duels with a Pzkw VI Ausf. I Tiger I (131). The scene was shot in England using the only remaining original Tiger I in the world and an original Sherman, both from the Bovington Tank Museum. Outstanding authenticity.
Even if the tactics are not perfect in that scene its a true pleasure to see the tanks. I got to visit both the 131 and "Fury" at Bovington camp in 2016.
You did a wonderful job in explaining the different variants and reasons in use. That said I wish you would have spent a little time on the color schemes for the American armor. I'm a 15mm, 20mm, and 28mm gamer, painter, scratch builder, etc. and all my troop transport vehicles for Marines and Army are Navy grey. Now I'm realizing the vehicles used in the Pacific could have been anything from the bright olive, to the three-color camo scheme. A little time on this subjects could help me in having accurate vehicle colors for my board games. Thanks again and very well done.
One of the Ha-Go tanks used in the making of the Pacific movie is on display at the American Military Museum in Anaheim, Ca. I was there less then a month ago and made a video of that and the other tanks and vehicles that were there. There were also many of the LVT’s used in WW2 there as well. It is on TH-cam under Walking Tour of the Anaheim Military Museum.
On D Day because they knew the seas were rough that morning of June 6th ALL the DD tanks got the order to launch from the LST's at 3,000 yards and NOT 6,000 yards like first planed for. For some reason the DD tanks going to Omaha beach never got given this new order. On the other beaches more DD tanks came ashore with a lot less problems and went into battle on the beaches and also traveled in land to fight. Thank you for the video and thumbs up.
Interesting comment you made about Shermans fitted with flamethrowers being called Ronson or Zippo tanks. In the European WWII theater, Sherman's were supposed to catch fire quickly and easily according to "common knowledge" after WWII and were called "Ronson's" because of this. Ronson lighters did exist at that time, but the slogan "lights every time" used in the advertisement of Ronson lighters was in use after WWII and does therefore not apply to Shermans during the European campaign of WWII. Apparently, the early Sherman tanks were prone to fires due to fuel storage issues, but these issues were addressed early on. As Nicolas Moran (AKA The Chieftain) pointed out in one of his lectures on WWII tank tactics, firing at your opponent's tank after it was already out of action was common practice in those days on both sides to try and set it afire. Simply because a burned-out tank wreck was useless to the enemy, whereas an incapacitated tank could be retrieved, repaired, and put into action again. It seems likely to me that the fact that Shermans with flamethrowers in the Pacific theater were called Zippo or Ronson tanks ( appropriately named IMO) and that this practice somehow permeated into the history telling of the European theatre of WWII.
"Ronson flamethowers" were the actual type of flamethrower used in the pacific mounted on numerous vehicles. There were even Ronson LVTs. There seems to be a great deal of confusion over this name. I know there are reported instances that these tanks were called specifically Ronson and Zippo tanks for their flamethower modification but that always seems to be drowned out in the dominant "lights everytime" theme.
Watching the combat footage from actual landing, I will always remember the officer yelling at the combat photographer "get up, and move over there!" I always wonder what happened to him.
The problem with Omaha Beach was that there is an off shore current that flows along the coast that was hitting these vehicles from the side. There were two Battalions of DD Tanks. The 2nd battalion's LCM's recognized that the sea state was to strong - and took their tanks on into the beach. To their horror they saw the 1st Battalion launch. The only tanks from the 1st Battalion to make it ashore were those where the tank commanders had small boat experience - and knew to partially head into the current. Tanks played a very big part in tanking Japanese bunkers out. At Tarawa they had a real problem getting the tanks ashore without them sinking into shell holes in the coral reef. Marines would walk ahead of the ones that made it guiding them around the shell holes. Once the few that got ashore made it- they played a substantial role in clearing out Japanese bunkers. The Marines had LVT's at Tarawa but not enough of them and those that they had got shot up. Lesson Learned though - and this never happened again. The Navy was willing to give the Army LVT's for Normandy - but - the Army said that there was no Coral Reef - so they didn't need them. The Navy was OK with that as they would just use them in the Pacific. They did have some as shown but not enough to equip the landing forces. They were also used in Crossing the Rhine. .
There was a variation of the chi-to known as the chi-ri which was lengthened and to compensate for it's length it was given 8 road wheel from the first drawings it was intended to have the same turret as the chi-to.
always so informative, and I love the trivia(from a movie buff), that both band of brothers and the pacific provided a platform for future movie stars, especially when you think you had Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello acting together and would work together again in the Queen movie...
This is gotta be one of my favorite WWII movies ever made, right behind Band of Brothers. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg did such an amazing job with these mini series
If you would like to see these LVT's and variants of the M4 Tank, you can. At Camp Pendelton Marine Corps Base 21 area, there is a museum. My Father helped put it together before he retired in 1986. You'll have to make contact first to get permission to enter the base.
Little correction - the scene where they stop the tank to load the wounded wasn't actually in Sledge's memoir, but in fact it was in Robert Leckie's 'Helmet for my pillow'.
My problem wth Fury was not the tank battle, I quite enjoyed it, it was the infantry skirmish at the end it is hard to believe a unit of that size didn't have a couple of panzerfausts and just stand off an immobile tank and plug holes through it
Tank battles are dogsh*t It is like Hollywood love to use the German tank is superior nonsense and keep pushing the Sherman is a deathtrap myth Same people who praise Russian's tank as "old but reliable" Boggle the mind
My grief with Fury's ending infantry battle was the tactics. The Americans had weapons (particularly the main gun and .50 cal) that greatly out-ranged the German weapons, including the panzerfausts. The Germans were marching down a road in column of threes (or fours) and would have been toast to the tank's cannon and machine guns if the battle opened up several hundred yards distant. Letting the Germans approach to point blank range was dramatic, but stupid and unrealistic.
Great video. My understanding was that the Sherman was referred to as a Ronson in terms of how it quickly lit up on fire when hit by, say, another tank round from a German panzer.
Some scenes were filmed in Australia where they had no access to Sherman's so they resorted to using old m3 lee chassis which had been stripped of their armour after ww2 when they were used in Australia as agricultural tractors ,so as these were available and had the same sherman running gear,replica hulls and turrets were made to make them look like Sherman's.,the filming in usa used real shermans...the replica ha go tanks were specially made for the movie in australia,powered by ford v8 engines,one was later offered for sale on the milweb site in 2015 at $38,000 australian dollars.
Sherman DD were incredibly successful. The only reason the US ones were unsuccessful is because the Americans refused to listen to the British advice (who designed the tank) and launched them far too early meaning they flooded in the rough seas or were ran over by ships.
My Marine Corps League Detachment #903. Here in Roundup, Mt. Is named after Walt Phister who served with 5th Amtracs on Iwo Jima. Walt also donated his Type 97 Sniper Arisaka souvenir rifle.
truly an underrated series. Hardly anyone knows this series, but people really should watch it. I (in my opinion) liked it more than Band of Brothers :)
@@BipoIarbear The Netherlands. Friends of mine only know Band of Brothers, but have never heard of The Pacific. I think it might have to do with the fact that Band of Brothers also has a few episodes located in my country. People love to see their own country featured in a series / movie, so that's why it gets more famous. But it's sad how the Pacific is not known around here, again, in my opinion, The Pacific is better than BoB
@@runertje5505 I love them both, yep I get ya now, uk here so prob 2nd to usa to viewing targets, pacific made me feel more, was far more tragic with the people who died in the show, loved that vera an leckie story line, but band of brothers doc roe gripped me, and the marines that got to go home an we saw the pain 😫
Many people didn't realize they were tank battle, let alone tank in Pacific campaign. Their achievements being overshadowed by Infantry but if the infantry took fire on Japanese Strong point, there were nothing like the capability, armor and firepower like a tank to help eliminate enemy position. There's no way to carry a large caliber gun around the battlefield except the tank. Their role in Pacific is pretty much infantry support and yes, the Sherman is pretty much found itself at the right war against an enemy that suitable for it role. Often for joke, people call the Sherman tank, the "Tiger tank" of the Pacific because even Type 95 Ha-go or Medium Shin Hi To is outclassed by the Sherman, the Sherman could easily knockout this tank with single shot
Ducks where used in the battle of both wars Pacific and in Europe as well and they were not enough for them to be used for filming of the Pacific and they were used for the band of Brothers i can always still respect their decision on them
The big reason the Amtracs were not used for D-Day is a little simpler. While they would have been nice to have at Normandy, they were mission critical vehicles in the Pacific. The “gators” were a very new, very experimental vehicle full of problems. But they could do something nothing else could. They could climb over the shallow coral reef’s encircling many Pacific Islands. The invasion of Tarawa had almost failed due to landing craft getting stuck 1000 yards out on the reefs. Subjecting the marines to withering fire. So the entire production run of AMTRACS was tasked to the Pacific. The European coast was broad sandy beaches and clear unobstructed water up to the shoreline. And the big thing everyone misses about D-Day. The US had a second invasion underway at the same time. On the other side of the world. Saipan. While the troops landed a week after d-day, they put to sea over a week earlier. And Saipan and the Marianas needed the gators. I think a very small number of test and training vehicles from the US ended up carried along and used as VIP transport at Normandy. Fewer than 6 in theater.
Just say this video a year after its release. Of note, the Sherman tanks were actually Canadian Grizzly tanks as the track and mech give it away. Kudo's for the producers for using the right era tank. The other picture I noticed was at the 7:01 minute mark, there is a picture of the Churchill tanks of the Calgary tanks prior to landings of Dieppe. No, 13 tank shown did not make it ashore and was disabled prior to leaving the landing barge. HBO did an outstanding job in this mini series, I have watched it several times. HBO please make more.
Minor correction. The narration refers to Eugene Sledge's book "With the Old Breed" as a novel. It is a memoir, and (at least attempts to be) nonfiction. Sorry to be nitpicky; this was an interesting video. :)
The Sherman Duplex Drive had its place, (provided it wasn't launched too far out to sea, as in the case of Omaha beach), but so did the _other_ vehicles the Brits had developed: road laying tanks, mine and barbed wire clearing tanks, obstacle crossing tanks tanks with colossal petard mortars for clearing beach exitsthat were blocked with concrete. The U.S. Command, in its infinite wisdom, decided that these vehicles were unnecessary for American troops. As a result, U.S. Infantrymen had to deal with all these issues on foot. Given the experiences the Marine Corps and Army had been through in the Pacific campaign, this seems either short sighted, if not actually obtuse.
Excellent commentary and facts, sir. Congratulations. These small Japanese tanks were hard to maneuver and were obsolete by the time the Marines invaded Guadalcanal. It was in part due to the Japanese Army leadership who saw little need for improvement after their victories in Asia and SW Pacific. Also, the Japanese 37mm anti-tank gun was an effective weapon against the Shermans with a high rate of fjre. (While my Dad was an US Army sergeant in G-2, his youngest brother - my uncle and an American citizen as well - was conscripted by the Japanese Army out of Hiroshima. He was KIA as a Master Sergeant in charge of 37mm anti-tank guns on Leyte.) I also believe the Shermans were called Ronsons out in Europe because sadly for their crews, they would burn when hit. Keep on posting, sir.
The Amtrak was called the buffalo by the British and used by them and the Canadians in Holland in the shelt, sorry cant spell lol The first ones had the fixed front, later they had a ramp
thanks for this information, one of my favorite japanese tanks is the light tank type 95 hago, i believed it had a 37 mm main gun . the tank because of its small size was aplied in jungle misions and was orinaly build to ingage infantry and calvary
That’s why more M3/M5 Stuart’s were in the pacific. Because they sucked against German armor, but were a fair match against Japanese. And they were faster
I really liked the Pacific, but the episodes about John Basilone were very sad since he was killed on Iwo Jima. Other episodes, you know that the main protagonist survives the war, but not those with John Basilone. Seeing him with his new wife before Iwo Jima were especially sad.
Just to clarify: Basilone, nor any other member of the military that received the Medal Of Honor, did not "win" the medal as it is not a prize to be bestowed. They are all recipients that were awarded the honor. The majority of the MOH recipients received the Medal posthumously. They werent trying to win the glory. Common mistake, even by noteworthy people, to describe a Medal Of Honor recipient.
At least part of the reason the Japanese tanks had such thin armor, and fared as poorly they did, comes down to logistics, as it usually does. Japanese sealift capability was considerably sup-par, both in terms of quantity and capacity, which necessitated lighter armor and armament for their tanks. Meanwhile, America was cranking out something like 9 or 10 Liberty Ships A WEEK! Including variants specifically designed to transport tanks (larger hold openings, stronger cranes to pick up the big buggers). That's a no-win scenario. On top of that, I don't think the Japanese even had a dedicated infantry anti-armor weapon. The Americans had the bazooka, the British had the PIAT, the Germans had the panzershrek and panzerfaust. For the life of me, I can't even recall that the Japanese had rifle grenades. You can have the best equipment in the world, but if you can't get it to the fight, you might
I didn't really undestand this when I saw it first. Then I read the book based on the TV series. Then I watched it again. Then I knew that it is a classic war story.
it should be noted that the sherman DDs failures at normandy can be attributed to the americans not being properly instructed how to use them, and their being dropped off further out from the beach than what they were designed for, so we don't really know how effective they'd have been there. despite this. I'm pretty sure sherman DDs were a valuable tool for crossing rivers like the rhine later on in the western theatre, but i can't remember the source on the river bit, so take it with a pinch of salt. edit: someone else commented that the DDs were effective at the other landing sites at normandy, with only the omaha ones failing catastrophically.
Good video! Though a little mistake is that you called the Sherman a “Ronson”. That nickname is a myth as Ronson lighters didn’t come around until the 1950s
Ronson was the name of a flamethrower installed in some versions of Shermans and other armored vehicles during the war. It seems the nickname was used for this reason but in isolated cases.
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In my humble opinion, The Pacific portrays the sheer terror of war like no other film I've ever seen. Two scenes that spring to mind are the recreation of the Battle of Alligator Creek on Guadalcanal, and the brutal beach landing at Peleliu. Both of those demonstrate the amount of sheer determination and will that the average foot soldier needed to survive and prevail. In many ways, The Pacific surpasses Band Of Brothers in its graphic realism. I've watched the entire series multiple times and it still gives me chills to think about what it was like to defend a fighting hole in total darkness from a full frontal assault or to run across an open area while being shelled and shot at.
I appreciate how dark they went with The Pacific, in particular by covering a lot of mental health issues associated with war. It was uncomfortable and not as "watchworthy" maybe as Band of Brothers because of this but it was an important aspect the war deserving coverage.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq after researching as much as I have in regards to my grandfather Sgt. Leonard James McNeill and the things he went through. I am convinced many of the social ills we saw through the 60s 70s and today are directly related to the unresolved grief issues from The war in the pacific
Watch the 1930 movie all quite on the western front. Not the 2022 or 1971 version
@@michaelkrehl4246an you expand on the social ills of the 60s-70s? I’m not quite old enough to understand fully.
@@Khan-1738 he probably thinking about the anti war - hippy movement at those time
If so, i disagree
I love the attention to detail that WW2 movies adopted in the 90s. I grew up on a diet of 60s and 70s movies where they really didn't try. Slap a cross on a Pershing and it's a Tiger.
Slap a cross on a Pershing and it's a Tiger, slap a tiger on a cross and it's perishing.
@@warpartyattheoutpost4987 Slap a tiger on a cross and it’s animal cruelty.
@@Chiller01 I dunno, I'm imagining a tiger tank on the top of Christ the Redeemer's head (cuz his arms make a.... anyway) and I think that's a pretty amusing visual
It's not they didn't try; it's that the internet didn't exist, no one knew how to get their hands on an actual WW2 vehicle and lovable-lunatics who get their jollies on reconstructing rotting, decrepit war vehicles weren't really a thing.
To be fair, its not like studios had any CHOICE in the matter. There were, for all intents and purposes, NO german tanks to be had, to make a movie that involved german tanks. You only had 2 options. Create your own tank by modifying what vehicles you could get. Or use existing tanks and decorate them however you can. Even today, I think the only real authentic WW2 german tanks to make an on-screen appearance is Tiger 131, and maybe a Panzer 3? Not counting the couple low budget, I think European movies from the 50's? That I heard used some still functioning tanks.
Regarding the amtrac, in reality the one Eugene Sledge was in did not have a tailgate. As he wrote in his book: "My knees got weak when I saw that it wasn't the newer model with the tailgate ramp for troop exit in which we had practiced. This meant that once on the beach, we'd have to jump over the high sides, exposed much more to enemy fire."
That last part was promptly demonstrated by the first poor soul that attempted to climb out
In "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa" Sledge wrote that he climbed into his Amtrak over the side, indicating that he was in an LVT II, so the scene with the ramp seems to be creative licence.
Thank you for adding this!
Yeah he says feeling afraid upon seeing he was in a II, as they had trained for peleliu on ramped versions and he felt (rightly so) they were much safer to disembark from
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq can you make „ czterej pancerni i pies” tv serie armored vehicles review?
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq th-cam.com/video/vKRRppY-TCc/w-d-xo.html
@Tylon Holmes COD WAW Mission 2 Little Resistance
The Australians in the South Pacific used British Matilda IIs as their main armour against the Japanese, right to the very end of the war in the Pacific. Though these tanks were outdated by this point, especially in European theater, their design made them suitable for thick jungle fighting of the South Pacific. Matilda's had thick armour, thick enough to protect against most Japanese anti-tank weapons. And though their main armaments were the early war standard of a 40 mm 2pdr anti-tank gun, it was enough against lightly armoured Japanese tanks, though some were fitted with 3 inch howitzers for better ability to eliminate enemy positions.
Thank you for adding this. Aussie's deserve their own Pacific series.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq We also used Honey / Stuarts and the Brits used M3 Grants in Burma,
I think a lot of it was because of the Japanese tank design. They never had to fight tanks while conquering China so tanks just had to deal with infantry so a light tank was all that was required, a Panzer I or II equivalent. Machine guns, a light cannon and enough armour to stop a .50 calibre. So we never really needed bigger tanks to kill the Japanese ones, given a good shot a Boys .55 AT rifle would stop a Japanese light tank.
There's also the weight question. Australia tested both the Sherman and the Churchill for use by the Army and the Churchill especially didn't do well in the jungle. There's this Australian Army evaluation film of the testing of the tanks. th-cam.com/video/HseO2f0WGDg/w-d-xo.html
People disagree with me on this but remember that the Japanese island campaigns were a secondary front for Japan. China was always the intended target and the bulk of the grade A forces were either in China or on the mainland Asia fighting the British. The island garrisons didn't really need tanks which is why a lot of encounter by the US and ANZAC units tend go against more outdated Japanese tanks. Hence by the basic version of the Sherman was deemed good enough.
@@Seriona1 Deeply disagree with this, although you acknowledge that China and Asian resources was the main focus, the quality of the Japanese Army was equally high on the Pacific flank.
Most of the Sherman DDs did make it ashore on D-day, and made a valuable contribution. The problem at Omaha Beach was the weather conditions there and the fact that the Shermans for that beach were deployed too far out to sea. Most there sank.
Well, there were a number of Shermans that also went ashore via LCTs. This was done as a hedge in case the DDs did not make it in. To your point, many of the DDs headed for Omaha sank in the rough surf. The tanks delivered via landing craft were fitted with wading equipment. I would surmise that you are aware of this, but thought I'd mention it.
Also noteworthy, is that at least one of the DD tank battalions got word of the foundering DD Shermans from their sister battalion, so they took their DDs in close to shore for delivery. As you'd expect, those DDs fared much better. And again, if memory serves, that battalion that took their tanks right up to the shore did, in fact, launch a couple DDs that promptly sank shortly after entering the water. They stopped launching after those initial disastrous launches. The battalion that lost most of their tanks had them sink some time after launching. And to my recollection, the two or three DDs of that battalion that did actually make it to the beach were crewed by guys who had sailing/boating experience. They knew how to deal with the high waves and the effects that those waves and the winds were having on their tanks turned boats.
Years ago, I did a lot of research on the tanks that landed on Omaha. I discovered that It's also been incorrectly documented in some books about D-Day that most of the DD crews drowned. Actually, most of them were rescued by returning LCVPs and other small ships such as sub chasers. If memory serves, some thirty or so crew did indeed drown.
I did all this research about ten years ago, so I may have some details wrong here. Either that, or new information about the landings and the DDs may have since been unearthed.
@@lonzo61 thanks for taken the time to research cause when he mentioned SPR i was like ohh great that misinformation scam, yes lets reinforce how bullshit that movie is and lie to the public, point being D-Day is better to learn through research as the real thing is so much more interesting then a bull but with great acting and nice moments hollywood film. : )
That was only in one sector of Omaha. Many other tanks in other sectors successfully made it ashore.
@@UNDERGROUNDSOUNDSMI Right.
@@michaelomalley1856 brutal ignorant comment
Nice vid Johnny. My favorite WW2 series, appreciated it even more now
Mine too! Well The Pacific and Band of Brothers of course. Glad you liked the video :)
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Now all we need is an Italian / North African campaign mini series, that is this well produced! I believe they could knock out both theaters in one series, accurately, with the 1st Infantry "Big Red One". Would be epic if they put as much time, effort, accuracy & production value into it just like Band of Brothers & The Pacific. ( Generation Kill is another great series along the lines of these two as well )
@Bruce Washington Really ? That's gonna be epic ! I hope they do something other than the "Memphis Belle". Something not as well known
My local library has a book featuring interviews with Iowa WWII veterans and one of them was a Marine tanker who fought in a Stuart tank. According to this tanker the Marines really liked them and recounted clearing bunkers on Iwo Jima. I guess he saw what happened to the Japanese officer trying to surrender in his kimono while gripping a samurai sword. It wasn't very nice.
What happened?
@@ScottyShaw basically, the camera man finished filming and said, "Okay boys, let him have it!" And a handful of Marines and a tank lit the guy up.
Which officer was that? Is it a famous photo or something?
@@themagnanimous1246 it's combat footage, I'd seen it years ago in a few different documentaries as a kid.
One minor correction. The DC-3 wasn't imported for the series. Its based in Melbourne where much of the series non beach scenes were filmed.
I got to see one of those LVTS in person and they are huge
I’ve seen one too and yes they are massive
We still have rusting LVTs on the side of the road at Peleliu. I used to pass them everyday when I lived there. The roads also still have track marks in them but I don't know if it was from the war or the Navy's heavy construction equipment.
My grandfather was a WWII Marine and an LVT driver. He was everywhere, but if you asked him, he denied it. He was at Tarawa, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima, and had three vehicles knocked up from under him during his time in the Pacific. He was pulled out of the infantry when the discovered he was a heavy machinery operator (bulldozers, etc.) and they put him in tracks. I have a couple of pictures he had of training they did down my Camp Pendleton. I think he must have felt a lot of survivors guilt and must have seen a lot of men he put ashore die. Thank you, Grandpa! Semper Fi.
as a filipino i personally like the pacific more than BoB because it hits closer to home, even though they didn’t have any scenes in the Philippines.
Pity They just cant replicate on film the 100% humidity and late afternoon rain dumping and steam that wears you down while still in combat
Philippines mentioned 🇵🇭
My dad was a WW2 Marine, 43 when I was born. he landed from an LVT on Okinawa in 45. Lost him to covid last year 😑 I met Eugene Sledge at a marine Corp function with my dad. Both were in China same division,1st Tientsin
Sorry for your loss 🙏
The tracks make the Sherman look like the Canadian grizzly version
In fact, these are M3 Lee, mock up as Sherman
Those are wwii Sherman metal tracks used in all theaters. Accurate actually. Yes, they do look somewhat like grizzly tracks.
@@scograham I mean the actual tank is a M3A5 Lee based replica.
@@Theo2lag
B8 (Who names a tank 'Bait'?) at 04:59 is definitely a Sherman. You really can't disguise the front of a Lee to look like a Sherman or change the very distinctive turret.
Why you would use an M3 Lee of which only 6,000 were built to portray an M4 Sherman of which 50,000 were built, hundreds still run and some were still in active service when the series was made is beyond me.
@@DomWeasel I reafirm it, it is a replica (a well done one for sure, but you can see some odd stuff on it, like the turret or the welding mark), not an actual Sherman (source : surviving panzer website, M3 Lee page).
Why using a replica ? Because the serie was shot in Philippines, where there no working sherman... As Australia is close, and there's plenty of M3 left there, I guess it was cheaper to make a replica using the M3 chassis and then import the replica in Philippines than import an actual working Sherman from the US or from anywhere else, as the surviving working Sherman are concentrated mainly in US or Europe.
The main reason LVTs were not a common thing at D-day were due to production cost and the speed of being able to embark troops. The LVTs are slower compared to the LCVP and LCA boats. Plus they take longer to produce.
Another thing to keep in mind was that the LVTs had a strength of being able to support infantry against a lightly armed opponent. Which the Germans at the west wall weren’t. Plus the allies knew of all the obstacles on the beaches which would in turn make the LVTs effectiveness terrible.
LVTs were used in Holland in late 1944 early 1945 when the Germans flooded the area. So they did see some limited action there. You're correct though about the feasibility of using them for the Normandy landings.
@@Blitz9H Yes, plus they were used over the Rhine river and Schelt region. Another strength of the LVT were that they could crawl over Coral and other small underwater obstacles. Which were not much of an issue at D-day. The main issue there were mines and tank obstacles which is why the US made the underwater demolition teams, (Todays SEALs) which would clear those obstacles.
Another thing to keep in mind with the LCA and LCVP is that they were meant to be used once for that landing. While the LVT were a vehicle that were supposed to be used for multiple landings, which happened in the island hopping campaigns in the Pacific.
And a thing I forgot to mention was the plans for D-day were drawn in about 1943. So they based their landing crafts of the British LCA boats and at that time they needed every available LVTs in the pacific for its strengths in that Theater. Higgins made the LCVP which were similar to the LCA and could mass produce those boats in a very short amount of time. Since there were a shortage of landing crafts in 1943.
Come 1944 the US had spare LVTs but the plan were to use the LCA and LCVP boat so they kept those instead of the LVT at that point as well. It is as much of a planning thing and a strategic thing.
You can still see the civilness in war in Band of Brothers, in The Pacific it’s really just pure savagery. The scene that Snuff threw rocks into a dead Japanese soldier’s opened skull filled with blood and mud water gave me the most chills from any war movies. It really gave me a feeling that I just don’t know how to describe.
It seemed to some like it was made up for viewer effect, but hat scene was direct from Sledge's memoir (but iirc it wasn't Snafu that did it).
The germans had nothing on japanese brutality
I also assumed that the "over the side" LVT dismount was to mimic the actual dismount from an LVT-2. The ramped LVTs didn't get into heavy use until later in the Pacific campaign. By the way there are excellent LVT scenes in "The Sand Of Iwo Jima" showing them at Tarawa (the actual first use of the LVT in the initial assault) and at Iwo Jima. "Sands Of Iwo Jima" also shows Marines getting support from flamethrower Shermans, both in newsreel film and by actual USMC M4A3, CWS POAH5 flametanks (a very late WW2 version that also served in Korea). The older movie "Battle Cry" also shows LVTs and features the LVT(A)4 supporting the freshly landed Marines. By the way, "Battle Cry" also used USMC M4A3 tanks for Japanese armor. Some good LVT landing scenes are also seen in "The Halls Of Montezuma" along with USMC M4A3 75mm medium tanks.
Marines using M4A3? IIRC all they had was M4A2 diesels both to ease logistics with the navy and because the A1s and A3 were all for the army.
Parts of the series were filmed in Australia. My friend helped build those Ha-Go tanks. They're powered by Ford V8s taken from cars and the tracks were made from links cast from a single genuine link. This "master" link was slightly imperfect and when they laid out the first run, it was curved.
The turrets are made from light sheet metal and the guns are attached to broom handles inside.
I’ve been to Peleliu and found about 10-12 vehicles still sitting there, including a super rare Ha Go tank and an open hatch Sherman with live rounds inside. I also found a Sherman that was on its side after running over a mine
Great commentary. You answered several questions that I've had about the depictions in the series. Well done.
Thank you sir! Happy to help
LVT-4's were also used in the Battle of the Scheldt (the forgotten battle), October 1944, Netherlands. There was lots of mud and flooded terrain there, so they were quite useful.
In Eugene Sledge's (wonderful) book, With The Old Breed, he states that it was an amtrak (LVT) that came and took out that bunker on Peleliu , but in The Pacific, they used a Sherman M4 tank. Maybe they didn't have an LVT with a functioning 75mm howitzer on it available, at the time they were shooting that scene? They had them on the beach landing scene, though. Who knows?
But then, when taking the airfield, Shermans DID take out those Japanese Type 95 light tanks. So that part was accurate. Love your channel! :-)
One of the guys that provided/rented these vehicles is David Wang, he’s about 50 years old and lives in Southern California and has been renting vehicles to studios since around 1993. I’m in the military vehicle hobby where we buy and restore vintage military vehicles and David was always at our monthly and annual gatherings looking for things to buy or rent for a specific production. I sold a 1984 Air Force panel van to him in 1999 that was later used in a lot of movies and another vehicle I owned was in “We were Soldiers”. Often people like David would ask to rent our vehicles for around $150 a day and the owner can drive it for $50-$75 a day or they’ll hire someone to drive it for them. They sometimes offer a “blow up clause” to destroy the vehicle and the price includes the average replacement cost and the owner maintains ownership,of the remains. Most of us wouldn’t dare do that but some more common vehicles we would. David provided all the vehicles for the Pearl Harbor movie in 2000 and he bought a Jeep trailer from a friend for $700, shipped it to Hawaii for the filming and got paid over $1,600 profit for the effort and he just gave the trailer back for free to my friend when he was done. The alligator landing craft you see here was bought by David around 1999, I remember seeing it in his field up in “Canyon Country” outside LA where he lives. Tracked vehicles requires A LOT of infrastructure and maintenance that just can’t be done in a typical neighborhood. If anyone is interested in buying any type of military vehicle, don’t go on eBay, that’s where people go to make a huge profit. Look on Steelsoldiers.com or G503.com. HMMWV’s go for around $7,500 these days from the auction company and that’s in turn key condition, the site to buy them on is govplanet.com or iron planet.com. What most people do is buy 3 of them, pick out the best of the 3 then sell the other 2 at a profit so the profit pays for all 3 so basically they get a free HMMWV. Parts are easy to buy for nearly every military vehicle and it’s the HMMWV that has the highest prices. Since 93 I’ve owned and restored 31 to date and they’re simple to bring back to factory new condition in your garage. WWII Jeeps are pretty expensive if it’s restored, upwards of $30,000 sometimes. But, there’s a few other Jeep options you may not know about and they’re a lot cheaper. And despite what you’re told, you can drive a surplus HMMWV on public roads and most insurance carriers will insure it and at dirt cheap prices since it’s a historic vehicle.
Hope this helps someone who’s always dreamed of owning one of these, good luck out there.
About fifteen years ago there was a man at our church that was in the 1st Marine Division. He was reluctant to talk about his experiences but when I told him about my dad being in the 3rd Division in the South Pacific he agreed to talk. Turns out he was a crew member of the Third Armored Amphibian Tractor Division and was on both Peleliu and Okinawa. He told me that at Peleliu they sent maybe thirty vehicles in before the assault and that only a couple made to the shore. His vehicle made it but was disabled and had to be abandoned. There's a book that was written called "Before the First Wave" by Larry L. Woodard. Great book, very interesting and detailed. I didn't realize they sent the lightly armored vehicles into shore before they sent the troops. Thanks, and great video.
I recall my dad saying they didn't have very much armor (he fought on Guadacanal, Bougainville, and Guam), and he tried to avoid being around it. His words were to the affect "they (the armor) always drew too much fire".l
Just seeing this AUGUST 14th 2021.
THIS WAS A VERY WELL DONE VIDEO / DOCUMENTARY…
I build plastic models… so the history of these vehicles was helpful…
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched
THE PACIFIC…
thanks for putting these together. CHRIS
Glad you enjoyed it! It's one of the best miniseries out there.
Awesome video Johnny! I highly recommend "Marine Corps Tank Battles of the Pacific" in your reading too. It goes into depth about a lot of stuff that isn't well known. The Japanese tanks did not have the firepower or numbers to fight the M4, but the Japanese army had a good 47mm dual-purpose gun that could kill M4s from side shots. I know your video argues M4s were not as important because of the mismatch with Japanese armor, but one of the main driving reasons for flamethrower-armed tanks (like the early "stick-an-M2-in-the-hull-gunner-spot kits) and I imagine, many flamethrower armed Amtraks was that the 37mm gun was not regarded as a very effective weapon against complex reinforced bunkers and similar positions. There's accounts in that book of situations where individual M4 tanks had to fire their entire complement of 75mm shells to knock out a single position in some cases, and then the Marine tankers cramming 75mm pack howitzer ammo into their M4s when they ran out of proper 75mm cannon shells. M3/M5 light tanks were simply not effective against bunkers and dugouts with their cannon armament and ended up used as flamethrower carriers.
Not to detract from your video. The Pacific is underrated!
2:09 why they dont exit using the ramp? CUS GOING ON THE SIDE IS WAY COOLER just like D-Day
Lol
Just a small clarifying point, a great deal of The Pacific was filmed in Australia. The scene with the ‘Ansett Airlines’ DC-3, VH-ABR shows that preserved aircraft in a livery it never wore in service. That particular aircraft was bought by Australian National Airways before WW2, and was in service throughout the war. Having said that, this video is really well done, informative, and very valuable for those of us who enjoy military history. Thank you.
Alternative title:why this series is soo expensive
Спасибо за пояснение))
At the Wisconsin Dells, they have tour rides that you can go on, where you ride on a Duck (DUKW), similar to the boat/road vehicles that were used in WWII.
The Stuart tanks had openings in the road wheels; the Japanese would shove bamboo poles through these holes causing the tank to stop. When the crew opened up to see what happened, they would be attacked.
Allies began to weld plates over these holes to eliminate that weakness.
Not true at all. Watch the Chieftan's episode on the Stewart tank
A piece of bamboo stopping an 800 hp engine??!!
@@gary19222 Jammed the wheels. So the GIs welded the holes on the wheels. That’s what a Veteran told me.
@@gary19222 Maybe it was just a big damned chunk of wood then Gary. I don’t have time to look it up again. Do a search. Look for welded tank wheels on Stuarts and why.
One very minor inaccuracy with the Type 95 tanks portrayed during the Peleliu episode is that none of them had bamboo support rails. When the counter attack across the airfield happened, many Japanese infantry were clinging to the sides of these tanks using specialized bamboo support rails/platforms.
This is Tesco, U.K during lockdown last summer😂
My absolute favorite tank vs. tank scene is from the movie "Fury" when an M4A3 Easy 8 Sherman tank duels with a Pzkw VI Ausf. I Tiger I (131). The scene was shot in England using the only remaining original Tiger I in the world and an original Sherman, both from the Bovington Tank Museum. Outstanding authenticity.
Even if the tactics are not perfect in that scene its a true pleasure to see the tanks. I got to visit both the 131 and "Fury" at Bovington camp in 2016.
Awesome video Johnny. I always wondered why they didn't use LVT's in the European theater. Keep up the good work mate.
remember that armored vehicles are great mobile cover and firepower but they're also (sometimes quite literally) the biggest target on the battlefield
You did a wonderful job in explaining the different variants and reasons in use. That said I wish you would have spent a little time on the color schemes for the American armor. I'm a 15mm, 20mm, and 28mm gamer, painter, scratch builder, etc. and all my troop transport vehicles for Marines and Army are Navy grey. Now I'm realizing the vehicles used in the Pacific could have been anything from the bright olive, to the three-color camo scheme. A little time on this subjects could help me in having accurate vehicle colors for my board games. Thanks again and very well done.
One of the Ha-Go tanks used in the making of the Pacific movie is on display at the American Military Museum in Anaheim, Ca. I was there less then a month ago and made a video of that and the other tanks and vehicles that were there. There were also many of the LVT’s used in WW2 there as well. It is on TH-cam under Walking Tour of the Anaheim Military Museum.
I've seen it in person, its a very nice replica
On D Day because they knew the seas were rough that morning of June 6th ALL the DD tanks got the order to launch from the LST's at 3,000 yards and NOT 6,000 yards like first planed for. For some reason the DD tanks going to Omaha beach never got given this new order. On the other beaches more DD tanks came ashore with a lot less problems and went into battle on the beaches and also traveled in land to fight. Thank you for the video and thumbs up.
Interesting comment you made about Shermans fitted with flamethrowers being called Ronson or Zippo tanks. In the European WWII theater, Sherman's were supposed to catch fire quickly and easily according to "common knowledge" after WWII and were called "Ronson's" because of this. Ronson lighters did exist at that time, but the slogan "lights every time" used in the advertisement of Ronson lighters was in use after WWII and does therefore not apply to Shermans during the European campaign of WWII. Apparently, the early Sherman tanks were prone to fires due to fuel storage issues, but these issues were addressed early on. As Nicolas Moran (AKA The Chieftain) pointed out in one of his lectures on WWII tank tactics, firing at your opponent's tank after it was already out of action was common practice in those days on both sides to try and set it afire. Simply because a burned-out tank wreck was useless to the enemy, whereas an incapacitated tank could be retrieved, repaired, and put into action again.
It seems likely to me that the fact that Shermans with flamethrowers in the Pacific theater were called Zippo or Ronson tanks ( appropriately named IMO) and that this practice somehow permeated into the history telling of the European theatre of WWII.
"Ronson flamethowers" were the actual type of flamethrower used in the pacific mounted on numerous vehicles. There were even Ronson LVTs. There seems to be a great deal of confusion over this name. I know there are reported instances that these tanks were called specifically Ronson and Zippo tanks for their flamethower modification but that always seems to be drowned out in the dominant "lights everytime" theme.
Watching the combat footage from actual landing, I will always remember the officer yelling at the combat photographer "get up, and move over there!" I always wonder what happened to him.
The problem with Omaha Beach was that there is an off shore current that flows along the coast that was hitting these vehicles from the side. There were two Battalions of DD Tanks. The 2nd battalion's LCM's recognized that the sea state was to strong - and took their tanks on into the beach. To their horror they saw the 1st Battalion launch. The only tanks from the 1st Battalion to make it ashore were those where the tank commanders had small boat experience - and knew to partially head into the current.
Tanks played a very big part in tanking Japanese bunkers out. At Tarawa they had a real problem getting the tanks ashore without them sinking into shell holes in the coral reef. Marines would walk ahead of the ones that made it guiding them around the shell holes. Once the few that got ashore made it- they played a substantial role in clearing out Japanese bunkers.
The Marines had LVT's at Tarawa but not enough of them and those that they had got shot up. Lesson Learned though - and this never happened again.
The Navy was willing to give the Army LVT's for Normandy - but - the Army said that there was no Coral Reef - so they didn't need them. The Navy was OK with that as they would just use them in the Pacific.
They did have some as shown but not enough to equip the landing forces.
They were also used in Crossing the Rhine.
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There was a variation of the chi-to known as the chi-ri which was lengthened and to compensate for it's length it was given 8 road wheel from the first drawings it was intended to have the same turret as the chi-to.
always so informative, and I love the trivia(from a movie buff), that both band of brothers and the pacific provided a platform for future movie stars, especially when you think you had Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello acting together and would work together again in the Queen movie...
Thank you, sir. Just the right amount of technical detail, at least for a non-technical person like me.
Looking forward to viewing your other work.
This is gotta be one of my favorite WWII movies ever made, right behind Band of Brothers. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg did such an amazing job with these mini series
If you would like to see these LVT's and variants of the M4 Tank, you can. At Camp Pendelton Marine Corps Base 21 area, there is a museum. My Father helped put it together before he retired in 1986. You'll have to make contact first to get permission to enter the base.
Little correction - the scene where they stop the tank to load the wounded wasn't actually in Sledge's memoir, but in fact it was in Robert Leckie's 'Helmet for my pillow'.
What tank? That's an amtrac
That is serious attention to detail that they included a USMC specific Sherman with 47 degree glacis.
I like how the movie shows the Ha-Go's ability to wiggle the gun a bit left and right without the need to rotate the entire turret.
My problem wth Fury was not the tank battle, I quite enjoyed it, it was the infantry skirmish at the end it is hard to believe a unit of that size didn't have a couple of panzerfausts and just stand off an immobile tank and plug holes through it
Funny thing is the movie actually points out that the Germans were equipped with several panzerfausts!
Tank battles are dogsh*t
It is like Hollywood love to use the German tank is superior nonsense and keep pushing the Sherman is a deathtrap myth
Same people who praise Russian's tank as "old but reliable"
Boggle the mind
My grief with Fury's ending infantry battle was the tactics. The Americans had weapons (particularly the main gun and .50 cal) that greatly out-ranged the German weapons, including the panzerfausts. The Germans were marching down a road in column of threes (or fours) and would have been toast to the tank's cannon and machine guns if the battle opened up several hundred yards distant. Letting the Germans approach to point blank range was dramatic, but stupid and unrealistic.
We had those Clark tugs when I worked for 2 different major airlines in Minneapolis up until 2020 !
Great video. My understanding was that the Sherman was referred to as a Ronson in terms of how it quickly lit up on fire when hit by, say, another tank round from a German panzer.
Some scenes were filmed in Australia where they had no access to Sherman's so they resorted to using old m3 lee chassis which had been stripped of their armour after ww2 when they were used in Australia as agricultural tractors ,so as these were available and had the same sherman running gear,replica hulls and turrets were made to make them look like Sherman's.,the filming in usa used real shermans...the replica ha go tanks were specially made for the movie in australia,powered by ford v8 engines,one was later offered for sale on the milweb site in 2015 at $38,000 australian dollars.
Please note: Eugene Sledge's With the Old Breed is a memoir and not a work of fiction.
Yes my use of the word novel was just me misspeaking which hopefully was obvious to most viewers.
Sherman DD were incredibly successful. The only reason the US ones were unsuccessful is because the Americans refused to listen to the British advice (who designed the tank) and launched them far too early meaning they flooded in the rough seas or were ran over by ships.
I loved The Pacific. Thanks for covering the tanks and if it was accurate or not!
I later filmed SUV TV ads at the location. I’m amazed at the makeover the production people did..
200 million dollars ?!?!? Wow ! Every dollar is well spent
My Marine Corps League Detachment #903. Here in Roundup, Mt. Is named after Walt Phister who served with 5th Amtracs on Iwo Jima. Walt also donated his Type 97 Sniper Arisaka souvenir rifle.
truly an underrated series. Hardly anyone knows this series, but people really should watch it. I (in my opinion) liked it more than Band of Brothers :)
Where are u for this to be hardly known?
@@BipoIarbear The Netherlands. Friends of mine only know Band of Brothers, but have never heard of The Pacific.
I think it might have to do with the fact that Band of Brothers also has a few episodes located in my country. People love to see their own country featured in a series / movie, so that's why it gets more famous.
But it's sad how the Pacific is not known around here, again, in my opinion, The Pacific is better than BoB
@@runertje5505 I love them both, yep I get ya now, uk here so prob 2nd to usa to viewing targets, pacific made me feel more, was far more tragic with the people who died in the show, loved that vera an leckie story line, but band of brothers doc roe gripped me, and the marines that got to go home an we saw the pain 😫
Many people didn't realize they were tank battle, let alone tank in Pacific campaign. Their achievements being overshadowed by Infantry but if the infantry took fire on Japanese Strong point, there were nothing like the capability, armor and firepower like a tank to help eliminate enemy position. There's no way to carry a large caliber gun around the battlefield except the tank. Their role in Pacific is pretty much infantry support and yes, the Sherman is pretty much found itself at the right war against an enemy that suitable for it role. Often for joke, people call the Sherman tank, the "Tiger tank" of the Pacific because even Type 95 Ha-go or Medium Shin Hi To is outclassed by the Sherman, the Sherman could easily knockout this tank with single shot
There needs to be more ww2 media on the pacific or Asian theatres. The Normandy campaign and Eastern front has been done to death.
Ducks where used in the battle of both wars Pacific and in Europe as well and they were not enough for them to be used for filming of the Pacific and they were used for the band of Brothers i can always still respect their decision on them
Great insight on that little airport tug! I'm a sucker for that attention to detail.
The big reason the Amtracs were not used for D-Day is a little simpler. While they would have been nice to have at Normandy, they were mission critical vehicles in the Pacific. The “gators” were a very new, very experimental vehicle full of problems. But they could do something nothing else could. They could climb over the shallow coral reef’s encircling many Pacific Islands. The invasion of Tarawa had almost failed due to landing craft getting stuck 1000 yards out on the reefs. Subjecting the marines to withering fire. So the entire production run of AMTRACS was tasked to the Pacific. The European coast was broad sandy beaches and clear unobstructed water up to the shoreline. And the big thing everyone misses about D-Day. The US had a second invasion underway at the same time. On the other side of the world. Saipan. While the troops landed a week after d-day, they put to sea over a week earlier. And Saipan and the Marianas needed the gators. I think a very small number of test and training vehicles from the US ended up carried along and used as VIP transport at Normandy. Fewer than 6 in theater.
Just say this video a year after its release. Of note, the Sherman tanks were actually Canadian Grizzly tanks as the track and mech give it away. Kudo's for the producers for using the right era tank. The other picture I noticed was at the 7:01 minute mark, there is a picture of the Churchill tanks of the Calgary tanks prior to landings of Dieppe. No, 13 tank shown did not make it ashore and was disabled prior to leaving the landing barge. HBO did an outstanding job in this mini series, I have watched it several times. HBO please make more.
Never knew about the budget of this series until today. Well worth inmo
Thanks Johnny
Well done, as usual. Thank you Johnny!
Wow I had no idea The Pacific had the highest budget of miniseries'
They really spent their money well I'd say.
Minor correction. The narration refers to Eugene Sledge's book "With the Old Breed" as a novel. It is a memoir, and (at least attempts to be) nonfiction. Sorry to be nitpicky; this was an interesting video. :)
Thanks man. Yes just misspoke 🙂🙏
The Sherman Duplex Drive had its place, (provided it wasn't launched too far out to sea, as in the case of Omaha beach), but so did the _other_ vehicles the Brits had developed: road laying tanks, mine and barbed wire clearing tanks, obstacle crossing tanks tanks with colossal petard mortars for clearing beach exitsthat were blocked with concrete.
The U.S. Command, in its infinite wisdom, decided that these vehicles were unnecessary for American troops. As a result, U.S. Infantrymen had to deal with all these issues on foot.
Given the experiences the Marine Corps and Army had been through in the Pacific campaign, this seems either short sighted, if not actually obtuse.
3:21 though some troops claims that LST stands for Large, Slow Target.
Excellent commentary and facts, sir. Congratulations. These small Japanese tanks were hard to maneuver and were obsolete by the time the Marines invaded Guadalcanal. It was in part due to the Japanese Army leadership who saw little need for improvement after their victories in Asia and SW Pacific. Also, the Japanese 37mm anti-tank gun was an effective weapon against the Shermans with a high rate of fjre. (While my Dad was an US Army sergeant in G-2, his youngest brother - my uncle and an American citizen as well - was conscripted by the Japanese Army out of Hiroshima. He was KIA as a Master Sergeant in charge of 37mm anti-tank guns on Leyte.) I also believe the Shermans were called Ronsons out in Europe because sadly for their crews, they would burn when hit. Keep on posting, sir.
Thanks as always brother. Also thanks for sharing and adding to the topic it's helpful for me when making new videos.
The Ronson statement is a myth, based on a post-war commercial. Shermans actually had a very survivability rate even when knocked out.
Good friend of mine worked on that movie as deisel mechanic/driver said it was the best job he has ever done
Very well made video. Easy to follow and understand.
The Amtrak was called the buffalo by the British and used by them and the Canadians in Holland
in the shelt, sorry cant spell lol
The first ones had the fixed front, later they had a ramp
In the book it was actually one of the 75 mm Howitzer equipped Landing tractors that knocked out the bunker on Negasebus.
dont know why the Marines shot at the Japanese tanks ...... harsh words would do the job their armor was so thin
lol
@A Fels woosh
thanks for this information, one of my favorite japanese tanks is the light tank type 95 hago, i believed it had a 37 mm main gun . the tank because of its small size was aplied in jungle misions and was orinaly build to ingage infantry and calvary
That’s why more M3/M5 Stuart’s were in the pacific. Because they sucked against German armor, but were a fair match against Japanese. And they were faster
Great video! I love this show and how it portrays combat, it's a very intense experience.
I loved the gory body parts, and mutilated heads, etc. You get short glimpse of some of this during the Peleliu landing scene.
you are smart and kept it simple
I quite often stretch it a little and say more then I can proove.
You never mentioned the halftrack that shows up a couple of times
Ive always wondered the reality of the vehicles in The Pacific and whether or not they were real or fake. Thank you for this
I really liked the Pacific, but the episodes about John Basilone were very sad since he was killed on Iwo Jima. Other episodes, you know that the main protagonist survives the war, but not those with John Basilone. Seeing him with his new wife before Iwo Jima were especially sad.
Just to clarify: Basilone, nor any other member of the military that received the Medal Of Honor, did not "win" the medal as it is not a prize to be bestowed. They are all recipients that were awarded the honor. The majority of the MOH recipients received the Medal posthumously. They werent trying to win the glory. Common mistake, even by noteworthy people, to describe a Medal Of Honor recipient.
At least part of the reason the Japanese tanks had such thin armor, and fared as poorly they did, comes down to logistics, as it usually does.
Japanese sealift capability was considerably sup-par, both in terms of quantity and capacity, which necessitated lighter armor and armament for their tanks.
Meanwhile, America was cranking out something like 9 or 10 Liberty Ships A WEEK! Including variants specifically designed to transport tanks (larger hold openings, stronger cranes to pick up the big buggers). That's a no-win scenario.
On top of that, I don't think the Japanese even had a dedicated infantry anti-armor weapon. The Americans had the bazooka, the British had the PIAT, the Germans had the panzershrek and panzerfaust. For the life of me, I can't even recall that the Japanese had rifle grenades.
You can have the best equipment in the world, but if you can't get it to the fight, you might
I didn't really undestand this when I saw it first.
Then I read the book based on the TV series.
Then I watched it again.
Then I knew that it is a classic war story.
When they filmed the Iwo scenes in "Flags of our fathers," in Iceland, they used most of the runable 'Amtracks' available at the time
Excellent and educational content as always.
You did a great job at explaining
Some thought Tropical fighting is easy than in any place but the jungle is the most difficult arena to fight.
3:05 I think this looks place looks very familiar from Call of Duty...
it should be noted that the sherman DDs failures at normandy can be attributed to the americans not being properly instructed how to use them, and their being dropped off further out from the beach than what they were designed for, so we don't really know how effective they'd have been there. despite this. I'm pretty sure sherman DDs were a valuable tool for crossing rivers like the rhine later on in the western theatre, but i can't remember the source on the river bit, so take it with a pinch of salt.
edit: someone else commented that the DDs were effective at the other landing sites at normandy, with only the omaha ones failing catastrophically.
Tank Battle in the Pacific mainly happened in the Philippines Campaign both in 1942 & 1945.
Johnny Johnson
26K subscribers I really like the historically accurate look of these replica versions of the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tanks.
Good video! Though a little mistake is that you called the Sherman a “Ronson”. That nickname is a myth as Ronson lighters didn’t come around until the 1950s
Ronson was the name of a flamethrower installed in some versions of Shermans and other armored vehicles during the war. It seems the nickname was used for this reason but in isolated cases.