How America Finally Beat Hitler's Tanks - The Battle of Arracourt
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- When the German Atlantic Wall was breached after the invasion of Normandy in June of 1944, the Wehrmacht knew that it was a matter of time before they had to withdraw from France.
Underpowered and ill-trained German ghost divisions fought desperately against overwhelming odds, as American forces were eager to take the fight into the heart of Berlin.
As a counter-offensive to recapture the Allied-occupied Lorraine region in north-eastern France, German forces clashed with American troops in the Battle of Arracourt during September of 1944.
The battle confronted two World War I veterans who specialized in tank warfare. US Colonel Bruce Clarke and his 4th Armored Division faced the relentless 5th Panzer Army of General Hasso von Manteuffel.
Although the German general knew that Hitler's idea of a renovated offensive was unsupportable by then, he opted to fight bravely by surprising the Americans with an unexpected armored attack. The encounter became the most significant armored confrontation between US and German forces up to that point in the war.
Having initially undervalued their opponent, the Americans were obliged to reorganize and use creative strategic tactics if they wanted to outmaneuver the feared Nazi Panzers...
- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
My great uncle died in a tank battle leading up to the (battle of the bulge) . He was the loader in the top of the turret in the tank he was in . A German tank hit the top of his tank & blew the top clean off cutting my great uncle in half , he was 21 years old at the time . My grand father was notified of his death & was not to far from were it happened so after all was said & done my grand father walked to the site to find his brothers tank & he found it , all of the body’s were already taken away . My grand father told my dad that story , & he told me along time ago . Really sad .
My father was wounded during the Battle of The Bulge. He was with the 101st. Bayonetted by a German soldier. Returned to his division when the 101st were in Germany. One of three stories my father told me.
Robert, it's men like your great uncle that have given us the freedom we enjoy today. May he rest in peace. Take care. Aloha
my condolences to your family, my dad was in that battle he didn't like talking about his time in the war, or in the time he was in, I had to pull it out of him he passed in 2002 at the age of 80, yes he has PTSD. I'm sure he lost a few friends during that time as well.
@@mattdarchuck4057 I'd be interested to hear about his other 2 stories? Also I am wondering where exactly he was positioned during the bulge offensive and if he was with the men who were with Richard (Dick)Winters and the other guys from Band of Brothers?
My father wore the uniform, operating a SRI unit radio direction finder safely behind the front. The closest dad got was "hearing" combat.
"Patton didn't know much about tanks", you got to be kidding right? He was THE pivotal figure in development of the army's armored warfare doctrine...he was THE greatest tactician of armor use in WWII, even the Nazi's knew this...and feared him greatly
HE WAS JUST A SHOW PONY
1. He had no say on American Tank Doctrine or the Design of American Tanks 2. Most German Generals Didn't even know who he was. th-cam.com/video/bNjp_4jY8pY/w-d-xo.html
Rommel was the best tactician the US still teaches his methods
@@johnscanlon7757 Bro be quiet jesus christ why is their so many wheraboos in here lmao
Patton was mostly hype. He had the 'let's go!' attitude but that's all he had. Hard to think of a single example of any actual tactical talent.
These Dark Docs are highly illuminating.
Please don’t forget the British Army’s contribution during dday & Normandy. We actually landed more soldiers & tanks than the USA & suffered heavy casualties also. Although as we don’t have the help of film companies or Hollywood to help us keep our Nation’s contributions in the world’s eyes Rip all those from all nations.
We appreciate Britain and Canada
Manteuffel was a second word war cavalry officer and an expert in armoured warfare 😂
Patton ,WE defeated the Wrong enemy
Jesus Christ. Did this this guy just snort an 8 ball or down a case of Red Bull ?
Patton was on tanks since 1917, he founded the first Light Tank school in Bourg, France. He literally laid the foundations for US Armor doctrine, some of which is still used today. The man is considered to be a God among US Tankers.
What do our tankers think of Romel?
@@kriegertechpriest7011 Rommel is up there, damn fine tanker just on the wrong side of history.
@@brandonchild422 Yep
@@kriegertechpriest7011 you can’t dismiss good leaders and skilled soldiers due to what side of history they are on.
@@brandonchild422 you got that right, the mqn was a tactical genius! Hell, i think that Patton read Romels book! And i heard stories about tqnker hqving poster of him becuase he was a genius
It would be nice if the video included maps of where all this happened/ showed the maneuvers instead of showing stock ww2 footage
Then watch another TH-cam channel about it. This guy does short and sweet quick videos that hit the broad points.
Not everyone knows how to animate that, and the cost to hire someone isn’t cheap.
If you want something like that, and not random stock footage watch Mark Felton.
@@kinocorner976 as much as I agree with you, I think that the relatively new channel "the operations room" would be much better. If you don't know that channel, but watch this qnd Mark Felton, then you will enjoy that channel mate. It has mostly maps with little silhouettes of whatever Tank, plane, truck etc... and shows you where they were from an ariel view. The first night of the planes crossing over the Iraq border is incredible. It's amazing that the amount of planes that crossed that border in the first second and third night. How they managed to coordinate it all, especially with the different armies from different countries managed to do so well and achieved almost all of their objectives. That country took an equivalent of someone who has never threw a punch in their life go a full 12 rounds with Mike Tyson followed by the same with Prince Nassim then a further 12 rounds this time with Mohammed Ali!!
If you haven't seen it, I can say with a good certainty you will be impressed if you go watch it. The operations room it's called. Click on any of their videos then click on the name of the channel once it has loaded up whichever video you have clicked on then click on "all videos" (i think the tab is called, if not I'm sure you will figure it out) then look for the Gulf War and find the first night of the planes crossing the border and I guarantee you will be impressed. There's also the first, second (no third yet) night of the ground assault which is all tank on Tank battles which also includes the longest ever distance a tank has taken out another tank from in history. Again, impressive stuff. Been waiting ages for night 3 of the ground assault 😁 the channel is going to be huge.
Don't like it? Don't watch it /s or go make your own video. /s
I'm joking. I just hate people people say crap like that as if we're not allowed to give constructive criticism.
LOL I said that before reading replies and some POS actually told you to watch another channel good lord.
@M McLaurin80 I'm referring to you when I say POS.
That's kind of expensive and requires a totally different skillset.
Patton knew nothing about tanks? The man was a tank pioneer!
He was a cavalry officer who never crewed a tank.
"Patton knew as little about tanks as anyone I ever knew" By Colonel Bruce Clark. I'm not sure what he meant by that. At the French Army's tank training school at Champlieu he drove a Renault FT light tank. The only US soldier with tank-driving experience, Patton personally backed seven of the tanks off the train. In the post, Patton trained tank crews to operate in support of infantry. He visited the Renault factory to observe the tanks being manufactured. Patton saw action in World War I as part of the new United States Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces: he commanded the U.S. tank school in France, then led tanks into combat and was wounded near the end of the war. In the interwar period, Patton became a central figure in the development of the army's armored warfare doctrine, serving in numerous staff positions throughout the country. At the American entry into World War II, he commanded the 2nd Armored Division. I would say that he didn't do well in North Africa. He outdid Montgomery by the time he got to Sicily by a lot with his unconventional and unexpected attacks even though Patton had a much harder road to hoe. The only thing I could think of is perhaps Patton might not have known how to do the maintenance or do the job of a loader, or gunner, or loader. He certainly knew how to command and drive one.
@@jackt6112 well said .You are right .It would be interesting to hear Mark feltons view on it.
@@jackt6112 Damn well said!
Patton was a Brilliant Armored Calvary Strategist, but he regularly outran his Supply Line.
Tanks don't run when they're out if fuel.
I think this is what was meant.
You asked your followers a week ago if your audio speed should be changed and 86% of people said it was perfect. With that said, why do I feel like I'm listening to an auction right now
Glad I'm not the only confused one lol
Chipmunks!
@@raul0ca 🤣🤣🤣Haaaaaaaaa
He generally has a breathless, conspiratorial tone.
you can always drop the speed
Maybe Patton didn't know the mechanical aspects of the tank, but he sure knew how to use them and knew what his men could do!
Don't assume. A bloated self promoting uber soldier who had only ounce taken a shrapnel wound to the ass. He had very limited idea of how any of this worked.
@@ericleonardi4811; Patton was one of the most successful commander of tank forces in WWII. You remember WWII, that was the war that was being fought before you grandfather was born. As for being "self promoting", it's a poor dog that doesn't wag his own tail.
Patton was so great that a later U.S. tank was actually named for him!
@@oldgysgt my grandfather fought in the great war about the same time george patton recieved his only grazing wound. In memoir bernard Montgomery remarked that men do not show courage as they kill. They show courage when they may be killed. Having been shot thrice thru the lungs at paschendal Montgomery understand quite and sad call to arms.
He certainly could move fast when the going was easy.
I had one uncle in Normandy as a Sherman tank commander......when I asked him how they handled German armor, he was quick to answer: " We called in air support and let the Air Force deal with German tanks!!"'. I think his answer had more to say about how Hitler's tanks were beaten than anything in this video...and his strategy worked because he survived.
.......Sure.
Dad was in the Lightning Divison, said, they never saw a Tiger that was operational He was at Remagen , said 263 jets tried to bomb the bridge but were failures, first time he saw a jet. He was not impressed by any German stuff. Got a Bronze Star. He spoke Polish interviewed concentration camp victims fter the war, had about 200 photos showed me a few , family burned all when he died.
The P-47 thunderbolts we’re absolutely devastating to the Germans. It would be comparable to to the A10 thunderbolt 2 going at the the Iraqi tanks . It must have been terrifying for the Germans to see the p-47 blazing down on them , probably was hell on there britches
Well, if you mean that Patton wouldn’t be able to personally change out an engine or transmission on a Hellcat, I expect you would be right. He was the American pioneer in tank warfare commanding the first American tanks in combat in WW1 and training in the desert in the years between the wars. He firmly believed in the principle that once you get your enemy on the run, you don’t let up and give him a chance to regroup and have to start all over!
My favorite Patton quote: You don't win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by letting the other son of a bitch die for his country.
@@dx1450 he also hated indecisiveness in junior officers. One time an officer radioed in to his headquarters about getting a howitzer jammed under a bridge, asking for instructions. He messaged back “you can blow up the gun, you can blow up the bridge or you can blow your GD brains out!”
Thats a Sun Tzu teaching.
I live here in Palm Desert, California. My house is located smack in the middle of what was the personnel barracks and administrative facilities for his desert training base, which stretched out to the north of here for miles. This was the desert tank training area that Patton secured leading up to his Africa campaign in WWII, and at the time it was the largest military base in the world and hosted the largest number of tanks.
@@MoAndAye I remember reading the name Indigo, Ca years ago, but that piece desert is so huge there were probably several towns in and around it!
I find it strange that they said that patton knew nothing of tanks, but he practicaly commanded the first tank unit the US had.
The episode just quoted General Bruce Clark. Can't you pay attention?
Yeah, exactly what I was about to say. He basically invented and perfected tank combat for the US. I'm not sure what Gen. Clark was referring to specifically, maybe it was the technical aspects of the new tanks they were fielding? It's also important to remember Patton was not particularly liked by many of his peers, specifically those from traditional combat techniques.
@@nedludd7622 you're being pedantic, the purpose of the question is just as valid.
@@nedludd7622 We did,you didn't.Patton knew nothing about tanks?Ok,..
@@c.j.1089 There are several clowns here that say dumb things like "They said.." when it was a quote from one person who has nothing to do with the producer of the report. If you said something so untrue in a college or even high school report you would be scored way down. People just try to affirm their "cleverness" by posting ridiculous opinions not based on anything.
This channel has amazing variety. Its obvious how much hard work is invested in the content. Thank you Dark team.
Seriously? This is the most inaccurate summary of a military operation I’ve ever watched.
@@randallturner9094there's always some douche that can do better...
@@bighulkingwar_machine1123 No this is just straight up misinformation and you're eating it up like a moron
@@GHOSTOFONYX10 Provide a link to your video about this in which you do better. If you're incapable, then at least be specific about what the problems are.
Be nice if they got basic shit right like the fact that Eisenhower wasn’t president during the war 😂
Why was the narrator reading as if there's an SS officer holding a Luger on his temple?
because speaking quickly helps the video be quick
I like it!!!!
I can’t follow it. Slow down!
ah yes…the artificial digital voice….one of the less illustrious technical advancements of our age….on the other hand you can speed it up to tobacco auctioneer speed for some real grins!
"Zign zee papers! Read zee script!!"
And general Patton wrote the book on tank warfare that they still use today so to say he doesn't know anything about tanking it's kind of odd
Patten knew nothing about tanks? You guys need to do better research. You can start with his Desert Training Center.
You Magnificent Bastard, he read the Book!
"As far as Patton's expertise go, I'm not sure if they meant from an engineering standpoint or a tactics standpoint. Apparently Patton made a number of requests to make modifications to the tanks that other officers might of found dumb. That could be where the quote stems from and is kind of out of context in this video." -Largogaming said it as good as I could. I remember reading this as well. He had some odd ideas that did not sit well with his other officers.
That's the same comment I came here to make. Patton beat the Germans in tank battles in Africa before coming to Southern France.
@@chrisdaigle5410 aa stated before, the video likely meant from a mechanical and engineering standpoint as opposed to a strategic/tactical one.
Patton requested the Army Bureau to upgrade the Sherman tank guns to 76mm gun and requests a heavy tank like M26 Pershing or TD like the M36 Slugger with 90mm guns to counter German tanks which at the time the Bureau still runs on Tank Destroyers doctrine, that changed in 1945
My Dad was in the 35th Tank Battalion, CCA of the 4th Armored Division. The statement that General Patton had no technical knowledge of Tanks is ludicrous. Patton Commanded the first US Tank Battalion in WWI. And the Germans only feared Patton as a Tank Corps leader. Interestingly, Gen Patton himself said that the BEST US Tank Commander was the 4th Armored Division Commander Major General 'Tiger' Jack Wood. Patton said at the time that Tiger Jack "Out Pattoned Patton". Eisenhower was not President in the War... And Arracourt was NOT a draw, the Krauts got their asses kicked
Gen. Clark probably held a grudge against Patton.
Well said
Touche' 👍
@ MW: Re: "The statement that General Patton had no technical knowledge of Tanks is ludicrous. "
Maybe not... Patton was born in 1885, and was not reared from infancy around mechanical things. He came from money; the Pattons were wealthy. Since the well-off often hire others to repair things for them, it does not follow from Patton's upbringing that he would have understood how mechanical things work. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
He would have been exposed to "military engineering" at West Point and in the various service schools, but how much of that was directly applicable, we can only speculate in the absence of a specific source showing precisely what his curriculum contained. Considering that tanks, motorized vehicles and aircraft were yet to be invented or still very new at the time (he graduated West Point in 1909), it is probably safe to conclude Patton's specific training in them was minimal at best. Patton was a cavalryman. In fact, he designed the last standard issue cavalry saber issued to U.S. cavalry forces, the model of 1916.
"Technical knowledge" is somewhat generic.
Patton was an acknowledged expert in the use and employment of tanks and armored fighting vehicles in land warfare. During the Second World War, the German high-command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) considered him without peer as a fighting general among the combined Anglo-American general staff. He was also highly-knowledgeable in the logistics of how to support armor and mechanized operations; he would have had to be to plan and conduct the kind of operations he undertook during the war.
However, it is exceedingly unlikely that Patton knew tanks down at the level of a mechanical engineer or for that matter, a skilled mechanic or tank sergeant. Patton would have known the tanks of the Great War, since he was intimately involved in their use and employment as a relatively junior officer, but by the time of WWII, he'd have been so senior that his days of doing that sort of thing would have been long-over. General officers, even ones as unusual as Patton, don't grab wrenches and change their treads or remove the engine for an overhaul; there are enlisted men for that.
Patton also did not have the background, by which I mean his academic training at West Point, to understand modern metallurgy, the ballistics of high-velocity tank guns, and other somewhat esoteric fields he'd have had to know in order to be considered an expert about any of the tanks his forces used. I'm sure he did a creditable job learning as much as he could, but he wasn't a technician or engineer. That wasn't his job, anyway. There were plenty of other highly-qualified people to handle that stuff, anyway, civilian and military alike.
It is germane to note that the circumstances under which the United States entered the war and then began to participate in it greatly shaped how American specialists thought about tanks and tank warfare. Our experience in the war differed a great deal from those of Britain and the Soviet Union, our two major allies against Germany. For one thing, we didn't have the war being fought on our own soil, at least not in CONUS, whereas the Russians fought Germany on their home soil. Britain had experience fighting the Germans and Italians in North Africa since 1940, hence a more-realistic and up-to-date appreciation of enemy capabilities. The gunnery-armor arms race there with the Germans was very real, just as the same was true of the Eastern Front.
American armor warfare "experts" however, including a lot of highly-ranked men with lots of gold braid and stars on their uniforms and caps, often had no practical experience whatsoever in armored warfare, and of those that did like Patton, their knowledge was decades-old. Patton did a much better job keeping up with developments in armored warfare than most of his peers; he sought out and read works by Basil Liddell Hart and many of German's best generals including Rommel. However, those works concerned themselves with tactics, operations and strategy, not the nuts-and-bolts of how to fix or up-armor a tank.
Guys like General Leslie McNair, the Army ground forces commander for much of the war, held positions of immense responsibility but were handicapped greatly by their relative ignorance of how the war was being fought a half-a-world away. Worse yet, in McNair's case, he was arrogant and unwilling to listen to opinions which differed from his own, and was dismissive of subordinates and others with practical combat experience relevant to his decisions. McNair did many things well. He was agifted administrator and did many good and unheralded things for the army - but he really wasn't qualified remotely to be placed in charge of armored forces and how they were organized and equipped.
Operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy did much to disabuse the army's senior leadership of its myopia, but what really did it was the June 1944 Invasion of Normandy. Ironically, McNair was killed shortly thereafter, in July 1944, when 8th Air Force bombs fell short of their target and hit his observation position, killing him and a number of other officers and men.
Men like Patton were experts in how to use tanks in large-scale combat operations. In Patton's case, his background in the cavalry was perfect training for it, since tanks were "the new cavalry." But high-ranking general officers are not always the best sources for detailed knowledge on tanks. Which is why I think the U.S. Army was very smart when it was designing the M-1 Abrams series back in the 1970s to have a bunch of combat-experienced tank sergeants and other armor NCOs participate in the design process. Those are the guys who are really going to know the nitty-gritty. Your EMs, your NCOs, and some of the junior officers. The guys at the tip of the spear.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 fine but.. the comment was imbecilic. It gives enough of a wrong impression I’d suspect dishonesty. Coupled with the deluge of errors and half-truths in this video, I’d say there’s no doubt this video’s author isn’t interested in giving us an accurate picture.. he’s got an agenda.
@@randallturner9094 Lol. No QAnon "agenda" here, surely. Just another video seeking view numbers. And comments.
Notice the T34-85 brewing up in the vid? Not many of those in France, but I guess it gives the necessary impression of the generic horror of war.
This is the fastest narration on TH-cam.
he is on speed its hard to hear him
Roller Ghoster - Only for the slow minded.
@@karlmuller3690 I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and sh1t out a smarter statement than that.
@@Roller_Ghoster - To quote four English
Gentlemen of yesteryear, "yeah, yeah, yeah".
To quote me, I can eat nails, and shit
bullets, so go sit on a Cactus, knucklehead!!
Eh its fine
What a joke. Patton started and trained the first US tank battalion after ww1.
Patton did not know a tank from a sink.
@@1pcfred Says an Armchair tactician and keyboard warrior
@@ramal5708 why do you think we mowed Patton down? Ran him over like a mad dog in the street!
@@1pcfred when did we do that?
@@uhhi6693 right after the war ended. Patton was killed in a road "accident". His staff car was struck by an army truck.
Paton knew more that you think about mobile attacks from what I have found he was the 1st person to put a machine gun on a vehicle and used it on a attacks vehicle during the American Spanish war
Even Roman's had chariots with mounted mechanical bows, not exactly a new concept in the military.
@@miguellopez3392 a "mechanical bow" is not the same as a machine gun on a vehicle
@@yan_4523 same concept comparative to the technology they had at the time.
He also pioneered the adoption of calvary tactics in to tank warfare with the FT Renault in WW1.
@@yan_4523 mounted range weapon on a mobile chassis, sound better?
"AnD ThIs Is WhY GeRmAn ArMoR WaS SuPeRiOr In EvErY Wa" *transmission brakes and gets blown to hell by an M18*
Yep. Any tank is vulnerable within a certain range. A M8 Sherman with HVAP at close range could pen a Tiger’s front plate.
Th ed transmission on the Tiger had a life expectancy of 500 miles. The final drive was subject to shear anytime. The trigger mechanism was faulty on both the tiger AND the Panther. Ten percent of the Tigers and Panthers broke before they got to the battle. They were over engineered and had weak drivetrains.
Mark Felton Productions.
Just to put into perspective, those tanks we lost in those battles may have been equal to the ones of the enemies, but for every tank that got destroyed we could produce 5 more of those while the Germans couldn't hold the economic power to do so because they were being invaded on both sides.
Who is the “we” here? Implies it had something to do with you?
@@derin111 Government of the people, by the people,for the people. so yea we
Also since we were advancing, we could recover and repair or at least cannibalized our knocked out tanks
@@jonnym4670 Ok, allow me to educate you. "We" is a first person plural pronoun; its singular form being "I". Thus, using it in this context implies that subject matter relates to you personally (in the plural form). Yet, it doesn't. Since neither you nor probably any living American (possibly a tiny number left) has anything to do with the Allied victory in WW2, let alone specifically tanks, it is disingenuous of you to claim any ownership of it by using first person plural pronouns.
Your reference to Government makes no sense whatsoever but in any event neither you nor any other America today was part of that Government and nor did you even vote for it.
Using "we" is disrespectful to the legacy and sacrifices of your forefathers. A form of 'Stolen Valour'.
Stop trying to bask in the reflected glory of the achievements and suffering of your ancestors. It is shameful and disrespectful.
Which is why FDR held out as ling as possibke before getting involved
Please do a story on Navy Copsman and The amount of congressional Medal Of Honor and some of the best ones stories. I was one and they had them Posted back in the day in the Navy Hospital walls Picture and Citation . the Marine (FMF) Fleet Marine Force Kind. Once You go Marine Side The Blue Hate you lol.
SF doc!
Arracourt. AKA "How to make wehraboos seethe using one word".
Patton didn't know the first thing about tanks?
Besides being "1917" the first officer assigned to the new U.S. Tank Corps.
Patton also led America's first tank units into battle
Patton first committee writing the manual on tank operations
The first General to win a American victory against Nazi-led in "African" Battle of El Guettar March 1943
The first official "American" military action using motor vehicles "1916" and victory defeated the Villa Gang "since I've noticed the snide condescending remarks about the types of weaponry onboard my fact of statement is enough"
The man was a officer not a mechanic but to say he didn't know is insulting!
It's his vision of having a mechanized unit that directly lead to it is memorable!
Patton didn't know huh? Erwin Rommel would disagree
The U.S. beat the Germans tanks before quite handled like they did at arracourt. The U.S. absolutely destroyed the German tanks in Normandy and then Lorraine because their gyro stabilizer, faster turret traverse, and the faster speeds compensated for the weaker tank killing capabilities of the 75mm, making them wipe the floor of so called “superior German machinery”
Funny but I've read over and over that Gen Patton was one of the greatest tank commanders of the war and certainly the greatest American Tank Commander bar none.
I'd rationalize this as a difference between tactical and strategic planning. Tactically, Patton's tank experience was outdated. Strategically, his knowledge and experience were superb.
Eisenhower supreme allied commander. Wouldn’t President be until 1953
"Patton knew little about tanks as anybody I ever knew", I doubt that's true, Patton was the first one to lead tank warfare in WW1 as a young Lt, later on, he was the one emphasizing the importance of Armored corps in the US Army.
No, he wasn't, the Brits were.
@@krashd he probably knew more than you and me.
@@krashd he means that patton was the only American emphasizing the importance of Armored corps in the US Army. the brits arent in the us army.
INCORRECT The Brtih were the first ones in WW1 in Sept of 1916// The USA didnt even turn up until a year later in 1917 and didnt even enter into combat until October that year when they went into the treches in Nancy. WW1 ENDED in Nov 1918! and PATTON only led a tank attack in SEPTEMBER 1918!
Never knew there were so many T-34s and SU-100s in france 🙄
Hahahaha! So true! 🤣
I wanted to check the ‘Comments’ section before mentioning it myself.
And at least one KV.
Those fellas sure had balls of steel.
They clanked when they walked for certain.
While I realise the Americans won world war 2 on their own I just wonder why they let my uncle and Thousands of his British and Canadian comrades go along to watch
My great grandpa was an officer in one of the artillery units, the 191 Field Artillery Battalion Battery C to be exact. His unit was, at one point, all that stood in the way of a column of Panthers from overrunning the headquarters. Their 155mm howitzer were covering the 4th Armored Division to the North when the Germans were spotted to the East. As my great grandpa gave the instructions, to turn 90 degrees and load charge 1(the absolute least amount of power possible), the men really rushed to follow the instructions. Later the observer said that he could watch the shells pass at a lower elevation than himself, between a small saddle, on their way to the Panthers. They got a direct hit on the lead tank in the first few volleys which halted the column.
I've read about that battle. Nailed many German tanks cresting the hill. That 90⁰ turn put the German side armor facing the Americans. Like crossing the T in naval battles..
It is interesting how people tend to see WW2 battles as tanks slugging it out battle after battle. The American Army used artillery more extensively and intensively than any other during WW2 including the Russians. When American units would make contact with the enemy they would call in devastating artillery fire. I don't know the exact stats but a majority of German armor fell to the 105's and 155's. Well supplied, well trained and well coordinated Arty was an unsung hero.
Oh, ffs! Eisenhower *wasn't* president during WWII. Could the host of this channel *PLEASE* do at least a little research?
Dark Docs: "Research!? What do you think this is, Mark Felton Productions?" Also: "I am NOT "Bernhard Kast" or "The Chieftain!";)
Well Eisenhower is remembered as the 34th president so right now we are in the 21st century and some few people calls their ex presidents prior being a president, a president already. Like JFK when he was in the navy some historian or normal people today calls him president Kennedy not LTJG Kennedy
@@ramal5708 Even when referring to these people early in their careers, you still refer to them by their highest held title.
@@Cowboycomando54 The narrator should have said future president or something. In other videos where they talk about JFK and Bush Sr. service in WWII they are referred as future presidents
Patton helped develop America's tank program by being with French units in WWI. Patton knew plenty about armored warfare and great leadership skills. To say he didn't know tanks is a gross misrepresentation of his involvement in early American armored warfare development.
Tanks in WW2 where far different then tanks in WW1 in terms of capabilitie and task of the tank. Ironically France fell because they didn't prepare for new generation of German tanks using blitzkrieg tactics they didn't understand and lost very quickly because of it, so what makes Patton qualified for WW2 tanks?
@@miguellopez3392 Just because the French didn't anticipate the Germans to go around the Maginot line (which is short-sighted, granted, though not irrational as the other bordering nation was neutral) in their planning does not negate the success of the American military in fighting in the European theater. That would be like calling Japan's surrender after a nuclear attack they didn't expect coming as a key part of the axis powers losing the war.
@@TheAfterPein they didn't expect them because they thought armored vehicles couldn't do it efficiently, tanks have change and so did the tactics they employed, it's like comparing a musket to a rifle, being a minute faster makes all the difference in tactics.
@@miguellopez3392 How does one nation's idea of future warfare and how they prepared for it negate the success and achievement of a general from a different nation's army? Patton did not work with the French military after the conclusion after WWI. That was the only time he worked closely with them and in combined units during the genesis of tanks being used in combat.
Patton studied German tactics after WWI and grasped the idea of moving quick to keep the enemy on the back foot, not giving time to rest if possible. The Germans during WWII said they knew he was key to any plans to invade Europe and respected him above every other allied commander. Erwin Rommel had even said that Patton was a fantastic commander and astonishing in mobile warfare.
If those didn't make him qualified for commanding armored units during WWII, nothing would.
@@TheAfterPein because you use it to credit his qualification. Germans didn't know much about Patton during the war, he was qualified by relevant experience not useful experience. he very likely learned more about tank warfare as WW2 went on and applied these tactics with major success at the battle of the bulge but I would count that as a learning experience and not knowledge he had before the war.
I'm sure this has been said. But his voice sounds like the American accent that Damian Lewis used in BoB.
Slow it down please!
Yooooo
In 1944, "Eisenhower" was a general, NOT a president.
"Esenhower" was a politician, not a general. Patton was a general, not a politician.
I like how after retirement Ike preferred to be called General and not Prez...
@@justonemori Ike was just the person the US needed after the War . . . calm, steady, and competent.
He used his President title out of respect as all Presidents are called. No need to get bent over it.
@@michaeltischuk7972 Bullcrap. He was a West Point Graduate.
Eventually my father crossed the Siegfried line as an infantryman with the 63rd Division. The Generals that commanded the 63rd were some excellent leaders and the way the soldiers appear to have been treated was humane. It seems to me my father was given time to adjust to combat. I like so many others of my post war generation have little true idea of what our fathers went through. "I shot at people, sure, but I didn't stick around to see what happened after that." Is what he said. You can guess the question. How he lost the teeth he lost was never really explained to my satisfaction or hard biscuits were really as hard as rocks. Eisenhower had to consider that he needed every man he could get when facing further war in the Pacific. He didn't know that we had the atomic bomb anymore than did Truman. That is what explained his allowing of the Russians to capture Berlin first. He said that he had expected to die during the anticipated invasion of Japan crediting my existence to the atom bomb.
Eisenhower forbid Patton from taking Berlin because FDR (over Churchill's objections) had agreed that Berlin, East Germany, and Eastern Europe would fall within the Soviet zone of influence. Ike knew that the Nazis would put up fanatical resistance to losing their capital and reasoned
why take Berlin at a high cost when the US would have to hand half of it over to the Russians?
Tens of thousands of US troops would be killed to stroke Patton's ego.
@@TheLAGopher I still think the greater motivation for Eisenhower was to save his armies for the invasion of Japan. He did not know the US had the Atomic Bomb, nor what it would do, or could do. Japanese brutality shocked Americans. It became war without quarter in the Pacific. After American soldiers found Nazi concentration camps their treatment of German soldiers was affected. Americans had been idealistic and considered themselves savior knights. Discovering that their enemies were scientifically savages and that passionless violence was all that was left to them as a response to the threat of a world dominated by murderers changed their hearts. What God could there be? Fighting up through North Africa and then Sicily and Italy and then France and Germany who did Audy Murphy become? Who did JD Salinger become?
Patton was Second Lieutenant of a cavalry unit in world war ONE
You mean *General* Eisenhower??? The man wasn't president until after the war
I love the content but so many little errors in your videos lately have been sooo distracting
You know TH-cam channels are rewarded for engagement, don't you? One guaranteed way to get that engagement is to make obvious mistakes that all the know it alls then correct in the comment section. Pretty slick, huh?
Great stuff. A map or two would be a nice addition to help get a sense of where in the country you are discussing. Cheers
Agincourt is My favorite battle. Henry iv.
🤣
Henry V
@@Btester2 yes if u get all technical and stuff. But his father was Henry iv and the enemy king was Charles vi sokindof hard to remember off the top.
@@Btester2 what i want to know without googeling is what bättle sir Henry Percy was killed in. Im sure it was against either Henry iv or v.
Wrong Henry...
It was FDR who gave in to Stalin's request that the Russians be the first to enter Berlin. At that time the German strategy was to hold off the Russians in the East and surrender to the Allies in the west. They knew what would happen to them if they were captured by the Red Army, and fought bitterly in Berlin. The Russians took 100,000 casualties in that battle.
It was FDR who made sure Stalin existed in the first place.
@@greybone777
Stalin became the ruler of the USSR in 1925, nearly 8 years before FDR became President.
I have to question one of the facts mentioned in the video. It's stated that the Germans lost approx 130 tanks, and the US lost about the same. Except, from my knowledge the US lost something like 30 tanks, and the Germans lost 200? Am I missing something? Also I believe Bazooka Charlie was credited with two Tiger I kills by ground forces.
From my research, the numbers I have found were:
CCA, 4th Armored Division Losses:
25 Medium Tanks, 7 Tank Destroyers/Self-Propelled Guns Destroyed.
5th Panzer Army Losses:
86 Tank and Self-Propelled Guns Destroyed,
144 Tank and Self-Propelled Guns Crippled or Damaged.
Lieutenant Colonel Carpenter was credited with:
2 Tiger tank kills,
2 Panther tank kills,
2 Unnamed tank kills - presumably either StuG or Panzer 4s.
@@komrade_kam That’s Zaloga’s casualty figure. Are you associated with this video?
This thing is crap. Arracourt was the most one-sided thumping of a German armor force ever. By a regimental combat team, not a full division as we’re led to believe. From start to finish.. the Germans weren’t retreating because of Anvil, they were scurrying like cockroaches trying to keep advancing 3rd Army units from cutting them off. Hitler attacked Patton because he didn’t know Ike was going to cut off his fuel, they had to do something to keep him from walking into unoccupied West Wall defenses. The 4th Armored wasn’t even sure this was a planned counterattack, they crushed it so quickly and thoroughly they thought it might have just been local forces. On and on, my God this presentation is just terrible.
I’m going to go watch a few more of these.
@@komrade_kam That is so lopsided. I now wonder why Wehraboos purposely ignore that tank battle.
@@komrade_kam Maj Carpenter was credited with either four tank kills (incl one Mk VI) plus an armored car or two tank kills (incl one Mk VI) plus armored cars, depending upon the source, during three flights while firing at least 16 bazooka rockets. At the end of his Army career, Lt Col Carpenter was officially credited two Mk VIs plus four other tank kills.
@@randallturner9094 Please stop this jingoism. The American had full air superiority, preventing the Germans any organized advance, and causing unusually high casualties in the initial attack. The Germans suffered huge casualties from the air. This was not a tank vs tank battle, but a tank vs aircraft and tank battle.
Great channel and awesome contact. The only thing you need to change is how fast you speak. Your channel and dr Felton are awesome.
Who made this script??Patton was the go to man for tanks all the way back to WW1!!
Patton can be the "go to man for tanks"
The other two can be "Two world war one veterans who specialized in tank warfare"
I hope this isn't a concept you'll find hard to grasp.
@@williamwinstrop3918 Exactly.
"I dont know what it is. I just know the sound it makes when it takes a tiger crew's life"
- Big Dick Patton, probably
His name wasn't Richard, it was George.
@@hurdygurdyman1905 I think you missed it by a long shot.
@@Candiedbacon75 I think you did. It was a joke.
Enjoy the content of this channel but always feel exhausted by the end 🙂
Unsubbing from this channel as if this video.
The more I watch them, the more historical errors with captured footage, comments, and facts I find here.
Nevertheless, good luck with your channel. ✌🏻
Piper Cub took out 6 German tanks with rockets... has to be a one time thing... bravo👍
Yeah, I heard that too! I thought this was the answer to the title! I could imagine the kick from the Bazooka would send it into orbit!
@@1PickJesus There is no "kick" from a bazooka. The back blast would only be an instant slight forward push.
“If it wasn’t for president Dwight D. Eisenhower”
8:42
To me, Eisenhower was a weakling.
While I appreciate the historical focus and find your videos very entertaining, when you make factual errors it makes me question the accuracy of your research.
To put it mildly ...
He makes a bunch of videos under many topics. He is extremely busy. Give him a break and email him about your concerns
@@olgriz485 no thanks. When people do historical videos and get the facts wrong, they're fair game. You email him.
@@chrisnedbalek2866 That probably IS the author under a fake name.
@@scobra5941 that never occurred to me, you're probably right!
setting this to .75 speed was a solid decision
you're right
Yes. Damn!
it would be nice if you slowed down your speech and could be more of a description. you are a bit too fast for me to catch all you are saying.
I think if the narrator could ease off on the coffee ,or speed , whichever, then Dark Docs would be so much more enjoyable. !
I keep thinking I´m going to hear the narrator shout ¨Sold!¨
I love the pace.
I saw your comment before listening and thought what's he talking about? then I couldn't keep from cracking up the entire video.
Jon velde why? Is his voice from somewhere?
Good grief mate! Slow down and take a breath. You could do yourself a mischief talking that fast!
When encountering German tanks, the Allies either called in strikes using 155mm artillery or fighter bomber strikes using bombs, machine guns and air to surface missiles or both. And tank destroyers from concealed positions. Worked every time.
I once heard that one Tiger tank could take on ten Sherman's but the problem was the American's always showed up with eleven.
Only if they all came from the front, I watched on TH-cam where a 37MM Amphibious vehicle (Greyhound) stopped a Tiger II by shooting from behind into the engine compartment.
@@davidsike734 -I believe he had to put four or five slugs into THE SAME HOLE before the Tiger could swing his 88 around...
@@martyzielinski1442 Unless both vehicles stayed perfectly still (which is doubtful) it would be nearly impossible to put 4-5 shots in the same hole. I would imagine it took 4-5 shots to silence the engine.
@@davidsike734 As I heard the story, the Tiger crossed right in front of the 37mm in a narrow street. The 37 pulled right behind as the Tiger tried to traverse its turret.
Number 11 did not have a crew.
I love the Dark Docs series short but very imformative.I learn something everytime I watch one
I like all of the "dark" channels. I like this guy's style, and he clearly is a solid researcher!
Never is Germany referred to as the Motherland. It is always the Fatherland. Anyone who has an interest especially in WWII would know this. Clearly the OP is not a student of history just a regurgitater.
I really appreciate the old school documentary style. No awful reenactments, no dumb interviews with someone who has an opinion on Patton, no cheap CGI. Just information and footage from the time.
If Eisenhower did not kiss the Soviet but Patton would have been in Berlin first and most likely the cold war would never have happened.
Yes, but Patton still covered more ground held by Germany than any general in warfare. check it.
I doubt that. What about Zhukov commanding Operation Bagration which started in June 1944? I statistic which I heard about Bagration was that, if the Western allies had covered the same distance as Zhukov, they would have advanced from Normandy to Berlin.
Montgomery went from Egypt to Berlin against the Germans. That is further than Patton going from Tunisia to Berlin.
at 8:45 he say's president Dwight David Eisenhower, maybe a slip? sorry 8:40
Theoverlyfastchoppysyntheticvoice makesthisreallyhardtolistento.
The word discombobulated comes to mind when watching this video.
And that's generous!
Hardly finally.
Americans had been chasing them for two weeks.
In March of 1918, Patton was the only U.S. soldier who knew how to drive a tank. He personally oversaw the logistics of the tanks in their first combat use by U.S. forces, and reconnoitered the target area for their first attack himself. Patton commanded American-crewed Renault FT tanks at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, leading the tanks from the front for much of their attack...
Did you ask the Russians? LoL 😜
Patton certainly terrified the Germans!
They are the panzer elite! Born to compete! Never retreat!
(ghost division)
Living or dead, always ahead, fed by your dread.
They lost. Lost to conscripts.
Always ahead, as the blitzkrieg rages on
Breaking morale with the the sound of blazing guns!
@Shaun Twed Lol
@Shaun Twed marines are always faithful?
Slow down your play back speed one notch. This is not rocket science. HA HA HA.
"Army Rangers" took heavy casualties at Omaha and Utah beaches? The rangers took Point Du Hoc - the vast majority of US Army units on the beaches were conventional units.
There were also Rangers on Omaha and Utah. If you watch Saving Private Ryan, they were Rangers landing on either Omaha or Utah, I don't remember which.
@@82ndAbnVet The Rangers at Omaha had originally been tasked as reinforcements for the first wave at Point de Hoc. When they did not get the signal that the initial group had made it to the top, they were retasked to return to Omaha as depicted min the fictional film Saving Private Ryan. The troops who survived the initial climb and taking of the empty emplacements were only relieved and resupplied by the infantry units arriving from Omaha.
Patton was called 'Blood and Guts' or as his men would say 'Our Blood ,his guts'
If I remember correctly the american forces didn't face tigers in the early part of the liberation of Europe. Patton was also our primer tank General. So I wonder how accurate this is.
Tigers not being on the western front is a Myth. While I'm pretty sure there were definitely less than the eastern front, Charles Carpenter was credited with two Tiger I kills in the battle of Arracourt (Sept 1944). As far as Patton's expertise go, I'm not sure if they meant from an engineering standpoint or a tactics standpoint. Apparently Patton made a number of requests to make modifications to the tanks that other officers might of found dumb. That could be where the quote stems from and is kind of out of context in this video.
That doesn’t even make sense about Patton. He wrote the book on tank tactics during the interwar years and was the only American soldier to realize what use a tank would become in WW1.
Nothing in this video’s accurate. Except Bazooka piper.
. . . . and in WW2 as well . . .
Heinz Guderian wrote the book on tanks.
Good coverage but would have been better with some overall strategic maps and local area ones. Also you had a lot of footage of soviet tanks in the mix and the grants were british and much earlier in the war.
The Grants were American tanks that we gave them before we got into the mix. The Brits named them after our General Grant.
Many of the guys hated Patton or the US armored division won against better equipped German tank brigade. Even at the start without air support and inferior tanks
I hope Major Bazooka Charlie Carpenter got designated as an "ACE" of some sort for killing at least 5 tanks.
Piper Cub observation plane took out six top-of-the-line tanks we need a movie on that
Manteuffel the lion of Zitomir
After the war in 60's went to Hollywood as war movies advisor
Interesting chronology but I wish at least the historians would understand the term,”Decimate,” and use it properly. Sorry, pet peeve.
Holy cow...dude...you’re reading your script WAAAY too fast. Slow down! You’re running words together.
Got to love the title ( How America finally beat Hitler ) ? Pardon me ? Did the British and their allies have nothing to do with the results ? Could America had they entered the war earlier, have done it alone ? I think not ! Brian ( Englishman ). Oh the real reason the USA came into WWII is that we British joined the War against Japan first. It was some time after when Germany had been warned not to keep sinking their ships. That the USA declared war on Germany ! Thank you USA for standing with us. Better late than never. And of course we British spent many decades paying for it financially. Yes at an interest rate of some 25% ( got to make a $ profit; what ?).
I Lena this is a battle that was between American and German units dude.
And no we went to war with Germany because Adolf declared war on us right after Japan did. You’re just as bad as the “America alone won the war” types.
And you British have no right to talk about predatory economic practices. You don’t get the worlds largest empire in history through live and hugs, and the US still forgave a lot of your debt.
Set the playback speed to 0.75 and you’ll have a normal pace of narration. Thank me later.
But then he sounds like he took a couple too many swigs off a bottle of Jack.
@@drmodestoesq yeah but It’s les anxious
Hey everyone....the narrator NEVER said Patton knew nothing about tanks. The narrator said Col. Bruce Clark said that Patton knew as little about tanks as anybody I ever knew...
Morons will be morons.
Love this... Amazing 👏
The US "beat Hitler's tanks" at El Guettar in 1943.
The pace of the commentary left me out of breath.
You lost me with that Patton comment. Not even remotely accurate. Don't take my word for it listen to the people who had to fight him. "The American breakthrough at St Lo-Avranches, led by General Patton was carried out with operational genius and unprecedented dash" - Obsest Rudolf Von Gersdorff. The movie Patton accurately portrays how the German Army totally fell for Patton's fake Army because they could not fathom how the Allies would not use their best general because he slapped a solider which would not even get you a reprimand in the German Army of that time.
How can a recorded quote not be accurate?
Patton know about tank warfare
5 inch rockets from a Piper plane knocked out 6 German tanks, Wow, what an ace. My dad's cousin (my uncle) flew P-47 with 14th Air Force Composite units, he told me about those rockets rip open tank's top and concrete bunkers like can openers. So did the 155 mm Howitzer and Long Tom, a direct hit on the tank top will rip them open, Tigers included.
M9 bazookas firing 60mm M6A3 HEAT rockets
loved the videos of tanks firing as artillery. Had family who was in M4 in WW2 and said the thing they feared was trucks as they showed up the tanks knew they would be firing as artillery
Once again amarican armore beating the hell out of german armored engineering
In the words of Al Swearengen “You got a stagecoach to catch? Slow tf down!”
Yet still the yanks never seen a tiger ,the British Canadian troops ran into ss panzer units with tigers and panthers
ohhhhh....the Patton comment is pissing people off.
It's only pissing off the imbeciles who don't understand what a quote is.
@@krashd it suggests that Patton is a fool, which history knows he isn't. Poor choice of quote, couldve picked one from someone who didnt have a grudge against patton