The Czechs call the "Munich Agreement" the "Munich Betrayal". The modern Czech army would have put up a fight, just like the Poles did with much older equipment. Yes, the Germans would have gone around the Czech fortifications, probably through Poland, but giving the Germans all that industry was a strategic error.
@@TallDude73 Was it? Frankly the UK going to war in 1938 would have been an even greater strategic error, it had not long started its rearmament and was in no way ready for a war. Think about it, what was the front line RAF fighter of 1938? The Gloucester Gladiator, a Biplane. Yes, Hurricanes were starting to enter service but only just, and Spitfires were still months away. If anything France was in an even worse position, neither country was ready for war in 1939, let alone 1938. And this is something that people consistently fail to understand. Yes, Germany was weaker in 1938 than it was a year later, but so were Britain and France. Frankly I do not believe it would have gone much differently, and may well have gone a lot worse. Could you imagine a Battle of Britain fought with Biplanes? What do you think the result would have been if the RAF was flying those against the Luftwaffes modern monoplanes? Was it a betrayal, yes, I happen to agree there, however I also cannot see that Britain and France had many other choices, not really. Both knew they were not ready for war, both knew they needed time to rearm and modernise their militaries. Could you argue that they should have started earlier? Sure, but that is with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight.
At the end of the war German tanks were mostly camouflaged at the factory or in depots instead of leaving the camouflaging up to the crews. Czech factories did this as well, but ran out of German paint, so they used old Czech army colors still in stock. This vehicle has the Czech camouflage scheme painted on it. You see many pictures of wartime "Hetzers" in this very un-German scheme. Mr. Willey mentions that the scheme on the tank is correct but the colors are not and he is correct. The colors should be Czech Army olive green and dark brown with a cream colored paint used in spots between the two main colors.
Yes... the biggest, heaviest AFV of ww2 with its128mm gun watching over the "little" Hetzer is perfect. The Hunting Tiger was originally designed with the vast Russian Steppes in mind where it could stand away at considerable distance and destroy enemy armor at will. But by 1944 when it made its first Combat debut? It was relegated to fighting in close quarters combat which it had never been designed for. Inexperienced crews and commanders, American fighter bombers? Not good. Also, a few surviving examples were inspected by the Allies after the war. They were amazed at the amount of factory sabotage that was apparent in them. Cigarette and cigar butts, dirt, grass, etc shoved into hydraulic lines. Tools intentionally left in transmissions... wires crossed on purpose. The list goes on. I was lucky enough to check out the Jagdtiger at the Armor & Calvary museum at Fort Benning... It is HUGE!! 👍🏾
One tiny quibble: in WWI, Germany and The Austro-Hungarian Empire, along with Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, were known as the Central Powers, not the Axis as in WWII.
Also imdediatly noticed that. Mental blurring between WW I and WW II is a bit of an issue in historical debates. While WW I Germany certainly wasn't a saint it was more of a normal waring power than the genocidal monster that was WW II Germany, and while Austria Hungary played a big part in starting the war, the question of how started WW I is a lot more nuanced than with WW II.
Many years ago I worked for somebody who had driven Churchills (and later Shermans) in Italy, he said his least favourite thing was when they had to take a turn as a bait target for German ambush tank destroyers when it was suspected there was one about..
Like the line in The Big Red One about how you find out if there's a sniper in an Italian village. "We send a man forward and if he gets shot you know there's a sniper. It took a West Point graduate to come up with that idea."
1938: Allies sold Czechoslovakia to Germany for peace. 1940: Czechoslovakian tanks and arms in 7th panzer division are steamrolling through France. Ironic..
Modern historians ignore the reality of the times, technology, & the geography. UK couldn't have done anything militarily to protect Czechoslovakia from Hitler. Look how 'successful' they were helping Poland.
The reality of the situation was neither the french or british public or governments wanted another european war on a large scale of the 1st one, France was heavily politically unstable at the time and consensus was that a war over the sudetenland would simply not be worth it, in reality it was a german majority area which wasnt czech in large and hitler had somewhat of a claim on incorporating the germans there into germany, he said himself along the lines "I'm not asking for 3 and half million french to be opressed or 3 and a half million Brits to be opressed, I am merely asking for 3 and a half million germans to be released from czech opression, any people should have the right to self determination" and whilst the validity of the sudetenlanders being opressed is up to debate, it was correct according to his pan germanist claims that the sudetenland was german, the western allies knew this. It just wasnt viewed in the west as a worthwile cause to fight for, they still thought they could avoid a war with germany and went for it. Moreover, czechoslovakia was isolated in the east itself with the majority of its neighbours other than romania having active territorial disputes against it, and slovakian and carpathian discontent was gradually rising. Even if Britain wanted to do something about this, which nobody wanted really, they would of still needed France as well which was simply not happening. The munich agreement when it was signed was actually seen as a win in the west because of this, but unfortunately czechoslovakia fell into disarray after this and its political climate was terrible, mainly due to the czechs absolutely hating the agreement as they had lost tons of money on their sudeten forts which was their primary strategy for repelling invasion from germany, and were left mostly indefensible. Germany also supported Slovak independence advocates furthering this terrible climate, and Russian/Ukrainophiles in carpathia already founded a new state whilst poland and hungary both launched incursions into their respective claims. By now, british public belief had actually changed and in general the belief they could appease germany was beginning to change, but by now the czechs were already unsaveable, and germany eventually began its occupation of the czechs, which was resisted with little to no resistance other than a few skirmishes in prague, the czech president at the time was faced with a very tough decision in keeping intact what was left of his country, and didnt want to cause bloodshed in a war he knew would be ultimately unwinnable at this stage, and caved into german pressure. History isnt as clear cut as its made out to be. Dont want to start an argument, merely displaying the reality of the situation.
@@stephenarbon2227 More like you ignore the reality of the times. Germany had no army in 1933. Hitler did the night of the long knifes. In 1934 Poland wanted an intervention in Germany. In 1936 Stalin said he can send 100 divisions to Germany. Britain said it can send 2 divisions. Britain could have done nothing because a decade of pro German British foreign policy. There was also a German assassination attempt that would start as soon as Hitler declared war in 1938. This video will cover the topic: th-cam.com/video/fwDfZIyT6m4/w-d-xo.html
@@stephenarbon2227 They were unsuccessful in helping Poland because France chose to do nothing and France were in charge, seeing as they had the largest force in the field, just as they were in charge in WW1. They could have rolled through the Ruhr virtually unopposed if they'd chosen to. And in 1938 British forces were actually streets ahead of German forces, they just didn't know it. It wasn't technology and geography, it was politics and a million dead in Commonwealth War Graves.
Happy New Year to all especially all those at Bovington. Let’s hope covid is less of a problem in 2022 and the best Tank Museum on Earth sees record visitor numbers 👍
Ofcourse! support of these worldclass museums is a must. Visit/support them and also your local museums as much as possible. They are experiencing difficult times so keep them going. They are more important then ever for protecting / teaching history in the future!
I adore Mr. Fletcher (International treasure), but I have to admit that I do enjoy and get much more out of Mr. Willey's tank chats. So much more history and historical context above and beyond the specs of the vehicle. Thanks for this, and a happy and safe new year to everyone at Bovington, and everyone here in the comments.
I don’t prefer one or the other. Both are in their own field of expertise most adorable and provide us with different types and ways of insight. So kudos to both of them teaching us in this well done videos.
You would probably enjoy the 75mm recoiless gun armed citroen 2CV tank encyclopedia did a video on it recently, its basically the same concept in a totally insane French kinda way
I thought that was why the vehicle was deemed to have poor ergonomics? And then the visibility issue, with not being to easily see things to the right hand side (as per the video, I believe)?
The whole point was to put that big gun in the smallest chassis you could possibly manage.- look how it is well under 2 metres high. It was an ambush predator - imagine how easy it was to hide in a hedgerow.
@@juliusdream2683 it tiny on the inside. I've had the pleasure to be driven around in one (gunner position) a couple years back. It's small, you can't really see anything outside but man is it an awesome little vehicle.
I was lucky enough to take the last tour of the Littlefield museum before the collection was sold off and got to go inside the Hetzer that day. It was actually very roomy inside, not cramped like most tanks. I even too a picture looking through the periscope with the range finder visible. What an amazing experience!
@@richlozeau1665 yeah I'm pretty sure because the name became so popular it became a bit of a meme for an entire Squad of Hetzers to just chant "Hetzer gonna hetz gonna hetz gonna hetz go hetzer!" As they all adorably drive to their inevitable glorious deaths...
In fact it had such a cool design and looked so sci-fi that one of the first big sci-fi wargames, "Battletech" incorporated the Hetzer as a far-future tank. Though for some reason they decided to give it wheels instead of treads, possibly so it didn't look too identical to the WWII version.
@@paulmurgatroyd6372 yes, the 1/72nd kits Paul? I remember the artwork on the boxes making them hard to walk past in the store. For their size they had excellent detail.
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 The soldier boxes also were excellent in detail, better than Airfix or Revell. But the material was very soft, the paint did not stick well to it.
Really interesting video and a fascinating history lesson. Who would have thought that Hitler came up with sensible military ideas ? He not only got the Stugs upgunned and turned them into very effective tank killers,but I think he also promoted the upgunning of the Panzer lll ,which originally only had a 37mm gun. Fortunately he had far more impractical and stupid ideas than practical ones.
Well you gotta give it to Hitler, he can't be such a bad guy. He was the one who killed Hitler, and that dude was so bad it makes up for a lot. Then again, I guess he's a bit of a prick. He did kill the guy who killed Hitler... 🤔
That anyone is surprised is testament to the effectiveness of the decades of Cold War propaganda about how every good idea was from the generals and every bad idea was a dictat from Hitler. Hitler made some terrible decisions and some great decisions. Same with his generals and everyone else. Specifically on the Panzer III, he ordered it to be equipped with a long barreled 5.0 cm gun, every senior person said it was impossible and they came back with a design that had a shorter 5.0 cm gun. Hitler got pissed and someone took the initiative to find a way to mount it and it was quite effective for the time. /Note that "good" is in a purely technical sense, not a moral one
The more the war went on, as we know now, the more he became literally demented and technically a methhead. The more the war went on, the more crazy his decisions became. I think there is a correlation.
Between the Chieftains Videos on the Hetzer having a look inside and going into the technical details and Mr. Willeys video on the history of it I go into the new year as a happy tanknerd.
A couple of factual errors in this 10:30 The Marder II had a Panzer II Chassis - the Marder III had a 38T Chassis. The Russian Anti-tank gun was actually the Soviet 76.2 mm F-22 Model 1936 divisional field gun used as an Anti-Tank Gun.
Thank you for this memory of the Czechoslovak production of the ŠKODA and ČKD brands. To this day, many people are wondering if we could stand up to the Hitlers in the fight against Our armaments and the strongholds on the border with Germany. Thanks for this video.
I honestly believe if Czechoslovakia was consulted with. They would have been far more ready, and the impressive size of its army might just have given the germans such a bloody nose. The war may have ended then and there But history doesnt happen in a vaccume and so, its best to speculate it wouldv done pretty well
The 35(t) and 38(t) tanks were light tanks, but the Germans found a way to increase the crew from 3 to 4 and added a new communication system for the crew. Somehow became the main battle tank in several divisions named as light armored divisions, taking the role normally done by panzer III, a tank twice as heavy. With these divisions Hitler was able to attack Poland and France much earlier than planned
Thank you, I never knew that the Hetzer was such a late comer to the battlefield. I had always presumed that it was developed around 1942 when they started pulling the Pz 38s, but nope, while they building a couple of Jagtigers they also started to build these things in job lots!
Once in a pub, friend showed me pictures his father made of a destroyed Hetzer they used to play in after the war. And yea, as explained, the onlt part of the armor still in place was the frontal mask, all the rest was just blown off completely.
Always amazed at how small these are - I didn’t find the Chieftain to be a cavernous void - 4 people in these? Lummy! Mind you I remember being very surprised by The T34 - in my mind so much larger than reality!
@@dissonantdemiurge4055: The A7V, yeah, but I haven't been inside one of those. I have been inside a British WW1 tank that was on displat in the IWM many years ago, and that was a real eye opener.
I remember seeing a couple of these on a Swiss airfield in 1970, along with some de Havilland Vampires. IIRC, they kept some of the Vampires in use as trainers into the late 80s/early 90s!
The one thing that Germany was focused on was Stugs/Jgdpanzers. Also, Hetzers are overrated. Blind and can be destroyed with a PTRD. Aging gun. Bad ergonomics. Not many realize that StugIII with a copula and torsion bar suspension was a far superior to Hetzer or even JagdpanzerIV at anything but shooting enemy tanks from ambush positions. Producing such low cost, specialized vehicles as Hetzers shows how desperate Germans were. Its hard to find another tracked vehicle that fits the definition of "last ditch weapon" better.
The old myth. In fact the focus of Germany was actually tanks, tank destroyers and assault guns in the 25 ton and under range. 80% of what they ACTUALLY built were not big cats.
@@Paciat except Germany needed mobile PAKs because the 75mm and bigger ones were heavy and hard to move by hand and were were often lost while retreating. So infantry divisions needed PAKs which wouldn't be lost at first retreat.
@@AKUJIVALDO Yes, they needed a mobile Pak to prolong loosing the war. Cause Hetzers were a vehicle for defense only. And they could design that mobile pak. Instead they designed a blind and cramped witch any Pak isnt.
As always, a very interesting, well-researched, and well-produced presentation of one of the more historically complex German WWII armored vehicles. Before seeing this video, I would have thought that the Hetzer was a more or less jerry-rigged, desperate innovation of Nazi Germany that would have died with the death of the Third Reich. That it lived on for so long in the armies of other countries is a revelation, and a compliment to German engineering ingenuity. (P.S. It's curious to me that it doesn't seem to have any headlights.)
Czechs have mobilised (from 42 to 55 divisions total strength) and manned their border fortifications, ready to fight .... but Chamberlain, acting on advise of Josef Kennedy (US Ambassador to Great Britain), threatened Czechs with total isolation .... and US potentially siding with Germany, blaming Czechs for starting the WW2. Prior to Munich, Czechs signed the Defence Treaty with French, who had bilateral Treaty with British. Chamberlain failed to understand the meaning of the word Treaty. After occupation of what was left of Czechoslovakia, Germans didn't get their mits on just a few new tanks. They have almost doubled their heavy armament capacity.
The post war propaganda is: plucky little democratic Czechoslovakia, but it was not a country it was a small empire, created by violent warfare. The Czechs were resented as an oppressive force by nearly half the population not just the Germans. The large majority of the brutally oppressed German population wished to be part of the German Reich for good reasons. As for appeasement it was no more than playing for time whilst Chamberlain prepared his nation for war. The British could do nothing for the Czech Empire in 1938 and nothing to help the foolishly aggressive Polish government in 1939. British meddling did no good and the Blank Cheque given to the Poles was a leading cause of WW2. We betrayed the Czechs and saved the Poles: the Czechs had a relatively good war, the Poles had the worse war of any European nationality.
Unfortunately the Czechs treated their non chech populations as poor stepchildren. They practiced an early form of affirmative action where all government employees were Czechs and they even lobbied private employers to fire non Czechs and replace them with Czechs. They were so bad about that when the country was broken up any area with a sizeable non Czech population gobbled up that corner of the country with their own people. So Hitler took over their population, Poland grabbed a piece and so did Hungary. Had the Czechs been a bit more even handed they may have not been broken up in 1938.
Astro-Hungary also had the extremely good armor manufacturer Witkowitz, who made the armor for their WWI battleships. From test results of naval armor used in those ships using Skoda APC projectiles, this firm's face-hardened "Krupp Cemented"- type side armor seems to have been about the best KC-type armor made prior to 1930 by anybody, including by Krupp itself. They seem to have found the proper post-hardening temper (toughening) heat treatment for such armor -- only the US Midvale Company, that was one of the "big three" US naval armor manufacturers in the 20th Century, seems to have also hit on this improved temper process prior to 1930, but its pre-WWI armor that used this process was otherwise not equal to the A-H Witkowitz plate. Witkowitz KC armor was only equaled by armor makers for WWII-era armor as general metallurgical knowledge was gained. Witkowitz even made some armor for the British in the late-1930s to speed up their new battleship construction. Skoda was obviously not the only advanced steel manufacturer in the area.
I was lucky enough to go inside of jaques littlefields hetzer and was amazed at how cramped it was,sat in the drivers seat and wondered how he was able to see out of that small slit and drive that vehicle in combat.
In 1942 the Czechoslovakians had mostly grudgingly accepted Nazi governance and were producing arms for the Germans. Then the British sent in two Czechs to assassinate Heydrich which resulted in the Germans attacking the Czechs and the Czechs stopping their helping Nazi war arms.
One of the greatest flaws, perhaps the greatest flaw in the German war machine, was too many variants. Too many types of this, that and the other. From motorcycles to aircraft, the spare parts industry was under ever-increasing strain. They should have produced more Panzer IV and V tanks in high numbers rather than to have slowly manufactured beautiful Tiger, King Tiger and other heavy tanks and tank-destroyers. As impressive and overwhelming machines like the Jagdtiger and Elefant ultimately were, they were sluggish, unreliable and unable to handle the endless supplies of tanks, weapons, soldiers and ammunition being fed into Europe from the U.S. and Soviet Union.
The Germans also used large numbers of vehicles looted from conquered countries, such as France. So they had to logistically support this bewildering array of foreign vehicles, in addition to their own models. (Not that I have any sympathy for the Germans about this.)
I like this video, but from historical point, it is big error to shorten czechoslovakia to just "Czech" It was kind of federation of four major nationalities, Czech, Slovaks, Moravians, and Slesians. So shortening Czechoslovakia, to Czech is like calling all people in UK as English, Scotissh or Welsh... but thumbs up for this broader explanation of history behind "Hetzer"
Nice, but I saw the Australian Armour museum recent addition; Panzer IV 70 Vomag (aka JagdPannzer IV ) in running condition no less! Truly a rare gem. Now if only Bovington would have their Churchill Gun Carrier restored, then you'd have something equally unique.
In an ideal world they would have the budget to restore everything along with perfect replicas of the rarer vehicles and parts for all their vehicles so spares and potential damage would not be an issue.
The biggest problem with the 3.2 million ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia was that the Czechs felt they needed to extract revenge and made it impossible for the ethnic Germans to make a living. The end goal was to force them to emigrate. It wasn't just the Germans, they forced unemployment on Poles as well as any other non Czech or non slovack.
That's exactly the kind of fake-objectivity that has made me sceptical of channels like this. They usually present themselves as neutral and yet they distort the picture by omitting key information like this. Notice how he also had no issue with calling the Treaty of Versailles a peace agreement but hesitated with the Munich Agreement. Both enforced injustice and misery on the affected population that certainly did not agree to it. And referring to the Central Powers as Axis and the Entente as Allies is also somewhat strange.
Always wondered why it had the sloped sides when the armour was so thing on the sides - won’t it have opened up a tonne of space and usability if the sides weren’t sloped
@@xmeda I think they were critiquing the great powers of Britain and France having the audacity to sell off territory they had no ownership or control of.
Would you rather be in a "coffin" like this vehicle, or part of an anti-tank gun crew expected to fight tanks with no armor except a flimsy little gun shield?
27:00 I always wondered about this... why did they offset the gun to the right side instead of the left side, if loading from the left was such a big issue?
At 3:50 you are showing as reference to Skoda a "Dicke Bertha"-"M-Gerät",however,this was just produced at Krupp..Skoda produced the rather different 30.5er M11-mortar,which was,indeed,sometimes borrowed to germany.
Yes, but that is always inconvenient. Especialy without a cross-drive. It also makes the vehicle more likely to be detected prior to opening fire. It works if you can pre-select a sector that fits in your gun's ark of traverse and then stay parked in this position until you relocate. But if you have to turn the vehicle during the engagement process, you are at a disadvantage.
Small corrections for the pronounciation. Škoda is to be readen like English would read "Shkoda". "Č" "ČKD" is to be readen like the "Cz" in "Czech". THat's what the ˇ accents do.
My favorite part of the Hetzer...is making its models and telling perfectionists to swallow rooster. Since there's such a wide range of possible configurations no one configuration is standard. And yet some of them still insist.
"Failed policy?" That is an understatement. Not only did Britain failed, but Britain gave away territories of a sovereign nation (Czechoslovakia) when it had no right to do so. And lets be clear here: Hitler didn't give a damn about the Germans living in Czechoslovakia. What he wanted was the territories in order to neutralize the Czech defenses which as over 40 miles deep. That was the real reason.
True and he certainly knows it but in practice they are the same and for ease and clarity axis and allies are just fine. Vast majority of the fighting parties were the same.
The vehicle shown with the top plates removed is an ex-Swiss G13. How do I know this? Twenty years experience on two former G13s, mine and the Patton Museum's example. First thing I spotted it the American WWII era fuel filter located behind the rightmost crew member's position just ahead of the blowtorch mounting bracket (the torch is missing). Second, the US MP48 antenna post on the left side. Third is the Swiss Command set radio base with its folding table-right interior. The post-war Swiss Army used US built radios. Lastly, the combination ignition/light switch on the instrument panel. My vehicle was featured in the book, CZECHOSLOVAK ARMORED VEHICLES 1918-1948. So the question becomes, who's Hetzer is this interior photo belong to. It wasn't mine, nor any paint job that the Patton Museum had during my twenty years of being on it. Assuming the Tank Museum's example is an original, it does not have the Swiss G13 tracks that featured option Ice-spikes. Neither is it a G13 now possessed by the US 2nd Pz. Div. re-enactment in Chicago as this has one of the later diesel engine upgrades. Shown is an original Praga petrol engine. Additional-second overhead photo. When the Swiss decided that they wanted their main gun to feature a muzzle brake, a large steel block (counterweight) had to be added to the rear of the safety cage. the Swiss switched position of the commander and loader in their service and ditched the remove MG mounting. The canvas bag that would catch the spent casings is not shown nor the collapsible ammo rack that mounts on the floor below the safety cage. I also removed this rack on mine (I did NOT throw it away!) as it just gets in the way and impairs tidying up. NOTE: The photo with the ladder giving access through the glacis plate is reversed. My examples hull was NAZIS proof marked and contained the code for Rurhstahl in German. Thus I believe that the Hetzer hulls were all made in Germany. When comparing a postwar assembled Hetzer with earlier German production you will see a difference in the gun mounting. My opinion is that this change is a normal evolutionary improvement as every military vehicle will exhibit modifications/upgrades during production. As a person that reenacted as a crew member on a Hetzer I can see several objections to the earlier main gun's mounting. Top among this is the very poor location of the loader's electric firing safety! I believe the early examples used the basic mounting from Stugs but quickly began working on improving it. Finally, I wish to add, almost every part of my ex-Swiss example displayed three letter Wehrmacht manufacturing codes including the gun. The Swiss called the main gun a PAK 40. This is not to be confused with a German PAK 40 antitank gun. The gun on Swiss G13 is the same gun as on late Pz. IVs and most Stug. IIIs-a PAk39 when placed in an antitank vehicle or a Kampfwagonkannon (KWK40) when on a tank. . They fire the same ammo, all marked KWK 40. The towed German antitank gun fires a completely different cartridge, and the barrel is much lighter. Need more? Contact the founder of the US WWII Historical Re-enactment Society.
Instead of help Britain and France decided to donate whole untouched Czechoslovakia with multiple large factories and arms production facilities, 500+ LT-35 and LT-38 tanks, 1000 various aeroplanes including bombers and fighters, whole fortification line and weapons + equipment for million troops to Hitler. It was not about peace. That is pure lie. They just thought that Hitler will attack Soviet union and deal with communists and Stalin, which they supported. Churchill hated Stalin. So germans with poles invaded Czehoslovakia without any fight and captured everything. Immediately germans started with concentration camps and genocide. West did nothing. Later Hitler attacked his former ally Poland, but west did nothing. Only later when french cried and war started when czechoslovak LT-38 tanks with german crews were roaring through France. Disgusting western politics. As always. Same today.
Your level of knowledge (including context), factuality and ability to sort out things in a comprehensible manner is incredible and probably has no match on the whole youtube. I can hardly imagine a shorter yet more accurate & appealing way to introduce an unfamiliar watcher into the topic of Czechoslovak armed forced development with all its context. Even for me, as a Czech fairly well acquainted with our military history, there are many details that I did not know. Few would surprise that this keeps going in the part of much more well-known German armor story. Perhaps to mention 2 small notes: 1) Romania was a close Czechoslovak ally before WWII and CZ exported quite a number of military equipment there (Romania also used the tank vz. 38), so this is why Romanians based their tank destroyer on Czech design. 8:54 you obviously mean March 1940, not March 1944
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you keep referring to the Hetzer as a "Panzer Jager" (ie: "Tank Hunter"), when it was actually classified as a "Jagdpanzer" (ie: "Hunting Tank"). Panzer Jager's were, as I understand it generally adaptions, like the "Marder" whereas Jagdpanzer were purpose-built like Jagdpanzer 4's.
If the Czechs could have only known what loving arms awaited them in the East...In hindsight its So very strange that Western Europe was fine with helping Communism take over Eastern Europe as a consequence of being vehemently anti German--The UK in the long run actually caused more misery in Europe overall by being Anti German--No British boys had to die, not 1....And nobody looks at that today...So sad that people cannot form an opinion that differs from the prevailing narrative
🧐-@01:20_why I've enjoyed (playing)_WOT™️ game; the history that bored me from, (1971-77) here it seems less so for one! The human impact for two. Thanks for cont. my education @ 64 ✝️
The Germans were not the only one marching into Czechoslovakia, and they were marching with the Germans! It's really a sad fact that the already weak history about WW2 is now even worse rewritten! The history is a much more detailed story and the school, TV (documentary) one that is now being rewritten again is not the accurate one! It leaves the most important and crucial things out, and it starts with the rise of the Nazis and the support by the German and well as European and US elites to counter the growing "Socialist" threat in Central Europe, Chamberlain was acting in coordination with the British aristocracy, Churchills personnel adjutant wrote about the reaction of some of the high ranking people on the policy change! The Soviet Union was under Sanctions all these years, it's interesting to see the Russians releasing all of the documents of the time to the public, i would like to see all of them, French, British, American and so on, especially the Swiss and some of the Swedish too! But back to the Tank 😂! No, the Santa Claus history is exactly that, the picture how the ruling class would like to portrait it afterwards! Like the famous Rudolph Hess flight to England, his arrest, the longest prison sentence before the whole mess, and then the way he was suicided (Epstein style) short before his release in the 90's! His family and publisher were waiting outside and gave interviews to Journalists, and then boom! Who would want to keep the reason for his flight and the deals before (that made him fly in the first place, short before Barbarossa) the flight secret? 🤔 Yes, exactly
The irony of it being inspired by a Romanian design. Antonescu only agreed to join Barbarossa if Hitler provided armour and especially anti tank guns. The Romanian infantry was pretty good and teir cavalry was better and certainly a match for the Russian horse BUT the lack of heavy industry in Romania meant armour and artillery were a problem. They embarked on the Marischal out of desperation when the promised tanks and guns were never delivered. Utilising caprured Russian anti tank guns was logical. It would be interesting to understand exactly how many 'Hetzers' were subsequently supplied to the Romanians.... not many I suspect!
Professor - I must correct you - in WWI there were Entente and Central Powers, not Allies and Axis. Versailles Peace Treaty did not apply to Austria-Hungary. The Treaty of Trianon was applied to Austria-Hungary. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Fun fact: Sweden built the 38(T) under license illegally. They ordered tanks and a license, but Germany confiscated the tanks and refused the license, so people working at CKD covertly provided Sweden with the blueprints which were smuggled to Sweden
The biggest problem with the Hetzer was the year it went into active service: 1944. If you want to get the best performance out of your combat vehicles, it helps not to be losing the war very badly at the time you first start using them. By 1944, Germany was just totally overwhelmed by allied numbers in tanks and anti-guns, plus the allies had total air superiority in Europe. The Hetzer was just at a major disadvantage the moment it rolled off the factory lines.
In WW1 Germany Austria -Hungary The Ottoman empire and Bulgaria were not know as the axis powers but as the Central Powers , Germany Austria -Hungary and Italy were the triple alliance , but Italy sided with Britain France and Russia because Germany was seen as the aggressor so Italy was not obligated to side with Germany Austria-Hungary and Italy wanted part of Tyrol and more land on the coast from Austria -Hungary, the triple alliance was France Britain and Russia, only later became known as the allies
How understated: "Appeasement was perhaps a failed policy?" A Czech friend said the Sudetenland was very tough terrain and well fortified. When Chamberlain and France "appeased" Hitler; all of those advantages were lost. As you later mentioned, so sorry?
Your Charity is just accapted in the UK since the UK left the EU.... If you would be in the EU any Donation would get accapted by local Tax Authorities...
4 Hetzers in the bush are better then 1 Jagdtiger broken down on the road
Hetzers were who brought Pattons Hammelburg raid to grief.
My grandma use to tell me that every day, never knew what she meant until now
Agree the Jagtiger total waste of resources should have melted everything they could find make more Panzer 4's or copied T-34
@@MrVictoria69T34 for germany would be a very bad... Germany have limited manpower, you can't just throw them away like they are russian
"Czech situation deteriorates in the late 1930s" - lovely bit of British understatement...
Well he surely can't say "we sold them to Germany".
@@Grisu1805 this what the Czechs say.
@@2ndviolin And he pretty much did say that - 'sold down the river' is an English euphemism for it...shameful episode. 😢
The Czechs call the "Munich Agreement" the "Munich Betrayal". The modern Czech army would have put up a fight, just like the Poles did with much older equipment. Yes, the Germans would have gone around the Czech fortifications, probably through Poland, but giving the Germans all that industry was a strategic error.
@@TallDude73 Was it? Frankly the UK going to war in 1938 would have been an even greater strategic error, it had not long started its rearmament and was in no way ready for a war. Think about it, what was the front line RAF fighter of 1938? The Gloucester Gladiator, a Biplane. Yes, Hurricanes were starting to enter service but only just, and Spitfires were still months away.
If anything France was in an even worse position, neither country was ready for war in 1939, let alone 1938. And this is something that people consistently fail to understand. Yes, Germany was weaker in 1938 than it was a year later, but so were Britain and France. Frankly I do not believe it would have gone much differently, and may well have gone a lot worse. Could you imagine a Battle of Britain fought with Biplanes? What do you think the result would have been if the RAF was flying those against the Luftwaffes modern monoplanes?
Was it a betrayal, yes, I happen to agree there, however I also cannot see that Britain and France had many other choices, not really. Both knew they were not ready for war, both knew they needed time to rearm and modernise their militaries. Could you argue that they should have started earlier? Sure, but that is with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight.
At the end of the war German tanks were mostly camouflaged at the factory or in depots instead of leaving the camouflaging up to the crews. Czech factories did this as well, but ran out of German paint, so they used old Czech army colors still in stock. This vehicle has the Czech camouflage scheme painted on it. You see many pictures of wartime "Hetzers" in this very un-German scheme. Mr. Willey mentions that the scheme on the tank is correct but the colors are not and he is correct. The colors should be Czech Army olive green and dark brown with a cream colored paint used in spots between the two main colors.
Cool stoy. Is there any evidence for that? I am asking because the pattern isn't ungerman at all - Late Daimler-Benz Panthers have almost the same.
@@krautreport202 The Eastern Front, Armor, Camouflage and Markings 1941 to 1945, squadron/signal publications, by Steven J. Zaloga and James Grandsen
Might be helpful when overrun by Russians. My grandfather pretended to be french to get out of Russian captivity
@@CHMichael Tragic that he got away.
@@CanadianCCP you Commies are no better than the Nazis so get off that high-horse of yours.
Jagdtiger lurking in the background: “Little friend, fear not the camera men, I will look after you.”
it broke down it won't be helping anybody.
Yes... the biggest, heaviest AFV of ww2 with its128mm gun watching over the "little" Hetzer is perfect.
The Hunting Tiger was originally designed with the vast Russian Steppes in mind where it could stand away at considerable distance and destroy enemy armor at will. But by 1944 when it made its first Combat debut? It was relegated to fighting in close quarters combat which it had never been designed for. Inexperienced crews and commanders, American fighter bombers? Not good. Also, a few surviving examples were inspected by the Allies after the war. They were amazed at the amount of factory sabotage that was apparent in them. Cigarette and cigar butts, dirt, grass, etc shoved into hydraulic lines. Tools intentionally left in transmissions... wires crossed on purpose. The list goes on.
I was lucky enough to check out the Jagdtiger at the Armor & Calvary museum at Fort Benning... It is HUGE!!
👍🏾
"Oh no, you've broken your hip!"
Cringe
The Hertzer destroyed more allied tanks than the Japdtiger ever did.
One tiny quibble: in WWI, Germany and The Austro-Hungarian Empire, along with Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, were known as the Central Powers, not the Axis as in WWII.
don't think anyone cares.
@@timyo6288 But they should. And if they don't, that's a problem, when the historic realities of both wars are mixed and thrown together.
@@timyo6288, well, 15 upvotes say otherwise. Happy New Year.
Yes, I came to comment that, but I said I should check whether somebody already commented it. :D :P
Also imdediatly noticed that.
Mental blurring between WW I and WW II is a bit of an issue in historical debates. While WW I Germany certainly wasn't a saint it was more of a normal waring power than the genocidal monster that was WW II Germany, and while Austria Hungary played a big part in starting the war, the question of how started WW I is a lot more nuanced than with WW II.
Many years ago I worked for somebody who had driven Churchills (and later Shermans) in Italy, he said his least favourite thing was when they had to take a turn as a bait target for German ambush tank destroyers when it was suspected there was one about..
Like the line in The Big Red One about how you find out if there's a sniper in an Italian village.
"We send a man forward and if he gets shot you know there's a sniper. It took a West Point graduate to come up with that idea."
1938: Allies sold Czechoslovakia to Germany for peace.
1940: Czechoslovakian tanks and arms in 7th panzer division are steamrolling through France.
Ironic..
Modern historians ignore the reality of the times, technology, & the geography. UK couldn't have done anything militarily to protect Czechoslovakia from Hitler. Look how 'successful' they were helping Poland.
@@stephenarbon2227 Sounds like some anglo coping to me. Should've pissed on Chamberlain's grave when I was in England.
The reality of the situation was neither the french or british public or governments wanted another european war on a large scale of the 1st one, France was heavily politically unstable at the time and consensus was that a war over the sudetenland would simply not be worth it, in reality it was a german majority area which wasnt czech in large and hitler had somewhat of a claim on incorporating the germans there into germany, he said himself along the lines "I'm not asking for 3 and half million french to be opressed or 3 and a half million Brits to be opressed, I am merely asking for 3 and a half million germans to be released from czech opression, any people should have the right to self determination" and whilst the validity of the sudetenlanders being opressed is up to debate, it was correct according to his pan germanist claims that the sudetenland was german, the western allies knew this. It just wasnt viewed in the west as a worthwile cause to fight for, they still thought they could avoid a war with germany and went for it. Moreover, czechoslovakia was isolated in the east itself with the majority of its neighbours other than romania having active territorial disputes against it, and slovakian and carpathian discontent was gradually rising. Even if Britain wanted to do something about this, which nobody wanted really, they would of still needed France as well which was simply not happening. The munich agreement when it was signed was actually seen as a win in the west because of this, but unfortunately czechoslovakia fell into disarray after this and its political climate was terrible, mainly due to the czechs absolutely hating the agreement as they had lost tons of money on their sudeten forts which was their primary strategy for repelling invasion from germany, and were left mostly indefensible. Germany also supported Slovak independence advocates furthering this terrible climate, and Russian/Ukrainophiles in carpathia already founded a new state whilst poland and hungary both launched incursions into their respective claims. By now, british public belief had actually changed and in general the belief they could appease germany was beginning to change, but by now the czechs were already unsaveable, and germany eventually began its occupation of the czechs, which was resisted with little to no resistance other than a few skirmishes in prague, the czech president at the time was faced with a very tough decision in keeping intact what was left of his country, and didnt want to cause bloodshed in a war he knew would be ultimately unwinnable at this stage, and caved into german pressure. History isnt as clear cut as its made out to be. Dont want to start an argument, merely displaying the reality of the situation.
@@stephenarbon2227 More like you ignore the reality of the times. Germany had no army in 1933. Hitler did the night of the long knifes. In 1934 Poland wanted an intervention in Germany. In 1936 Stalin said he can send 100 divisions to Germany. Britain said it can send 2 divisions. Britain could have done nothing because a decade of pro German British foreign policy.
There was also a German assassination attempt that would start as soon as Hitler declared war in 1938. This video will cover the topic:
th-cam.com/video/fwDfZIyT6m4/w-d-xo.html
@@stephenarbon2227 They were unsuccessful in helping Poland because France chose to do nothing and France were in charge, seeing as they had the largest force in the field, just as they were in charge in WW1. They could have rolled through the Ruhr virtually unopposed if they'd chosen to.
And in 1938 British forces were actually streets ahead of German forces, they just didn't know it.
It wasn't technology and geography, it was politics and a million dead in Commonwealth War Graves.
Happy New Year to all especially all those at Bovington.
Let’s hope covid is less of a problem in 2022 and the best Tank Museum on Earth sees record visitor numbers 👍
Here here
True words buddy ... true words. Lets cross fingers and hope for the best.
Ofcourse!
support of these worldclass museums is a must.
Visit/support them and also your local museums as much as possible.
They are experiencing difficult times so keep them going.
They are more important then ever for protecting / teaching history in the future!
Along with France Britain's Tory government well and truly left the country swinging in the wind. Not Britian's finest hour.
I adore Mr. Fletcher (International treasure), but I have to admit that I do enjoy and get much more out of Mr. Willey's tank chats. So much more history and historical context above and beyond the specs of the vehicle. Thanks for this, and a happy and safe new year to everyone at Bovington, and everyone here in the comments.
I'm much appreciate either man taking the time out to create a video for us. We're blessed
Same here. I prefer Mr Willey's talks.
I don’t prefer one or the other. Both are in their own field of expertise most adorable and provide us with different types and ways of insight. So kudos to both of them teaching us in this well done videos.
I'd prefer Mr Fletcher to be doing all the tank chats.
Better yet... let each man do a chat regarding each tank.
Best of both worlds, eh?
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 maybe a tank chat betwen two experts........mmmmnnnn!
It always amazes me that a vehicle that small could fit that gun, ammunition, the engine and the fuel tanks as well as four men inside that hull.
You would probably enjoy the 75mm recoiless gun armed citroen 2CV tank encyclopedia did a video on it recently, its basically the same concept in a totally insane French kinda way
It didn't fit it all well. The crew compartment was insanely cramped and an ergonomic nightmare.
I thought that was why the vehicle was deemed to have poor ergonomics? And then the visibility issue, with not being to easily see things to the right hand side (as per the video, I believe)?
The whole point was to put that big gun in the smallest chassis you could possibly manage.- look how it is well under 2 metres high. It was an ambush predator - imagine how easy it was to hide in a hedgerow.
And the sausage party going on inside too
30mins on the Hetzer. must know it's one of my favourite tanks
Well tank destroyer or in German sturmghshutz. Or assault gun. I think I spelled it wrong in German whatever.
Oh meant to really say the Hetzer is awesome small target with a hard hitting main gun.
@@juliusdream2683 it tiny on the inside. I've had the pleasure to be driven around in one (gunner position) a couple years back. It's small, you can't really see anything outside but man is it an awesome little vehicle.
@@juliusdream2683 Tank Destroyers and Assault Guns are different btw ( The Hetzer is a ligh tank destroyer)
Willy's going to hetz bro
I was lucky enough to take the last tour of the Littlefield museum before the collection was sold off and got to go inside the Hetzer that day. It was actually very roomy inside, not cramped like most tanks. I even too a picture looking through the periscope with the range finder visible. What an amazing experience!
Hetzer gonna Hetz!
IDK why, I've always loved these small boi's with their reasonably big guns!
I have that on my Hetz on WoT's lol!!
@@richlozeau1665 yeah I'm pretty sure because the name became so popular it became a bit of a meme for an entire Squad of Hetzers to just chant "Hetzer gonna hetz gonna hetz gonna hetz go hetzer!" As they all adorably drive to their inevitable glorious deaths...
@@Shinzon23 Yeah your def right about that! No one blinks for Leroy Jenkins anymore either lol
' get into your Stugg, girl you got to prove your Stugg to me.'
I think this and the Jagdpanther are the best looking vehicles of the era; something very sci-fi about them.
Definitely Jagdpanther, I still remember that Matchbox Model Kit of it.
In fact it had such a cool design and looked so sci-fi that one of the first big sci-fi wargames, "Battletech" incorporated the Hetzer as a far-future tank. Though for some reason they decided to give it wheels instead of treads, possibly so it didn't look too identical to the WWII version.
@@petrameyer1121 I remember that, with it's wall section diorama. I loved Matchbox for those little bases, they made all the difference.
@@paulmurgatroyd6372 yes, the 1/72nd kits Paul? I remember the artwork on the boxes making them hard to walk past in the store. For their size they had excellent detail.
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 The soldier boxes also were excellent in detail, better than Airfix or Revell. But the material was very soft, the paint did not stick well to it.
Really interesting video and a fascinating history lesson. Who would have thought that Hitler came up with sensible military ideas ? He not only got the Stugs upgunned and turned them into very effective tank killers,but I think he also promoted the upgunning of the Panzer lll ,which originally only had a 37mm gun. Fortunately he had far more impractical and stupid ideas than practical ones.
Hitler was not madman he was evil smart
@@Nef22 not super smart but above average certainly
Well you gotta give it to Hitler, he can't be such a bad guy. He was the one who killed Hitler, and that dude was so bad it makes up for a lot.
Then again, I guess he's a bit of a prick. He did kill the guy who killed Hitler... 🤔
That anyone is surprised is testament to the effectiveness of the decades of Cold War propaganda about how every good idea was from the generals and every bad idea was a dictat from Hitler.
Hitler made some terrible decisions and some great decisions. Same with his generals and everyone else.
Specifically on the Panzer III, he ordered it to be equipped with a long barreled 5.0 cm gun, every senior person said it was impossible and they came back with a design that had a shorter 5.0 cm gun. Hitler got pissed and someone took the initiative to find a way to mount it and it was quite effective for the time.
/Note that "good" is in a purely technical sense, not a moral one
The more the war went on, as we know now, the more he became literally demented and technically a methhead.
The more the war went on, the more crazy his decisions became. I think there is a correlation.
The Germans captured the Skoda works, now they own them.
Yep and they build much better cars then in the communist era, thanks to VW
That's Skoda Auto. Skoda Transport, descendant of the Skoda Works, is still Czech owned.
@@JamesCalbraith That's right, but Skoda Auto today is 10 times the size of Skoda Transport and neither of them produces military equipment anymore.
@@nigeh5326 had two Skoda ' s , never a VW...!!
Yep LOL, who won the Economic War?.
Between the Chieftains Videos on the Hetzer having a look inside and going into the technical details and Mr. Willeys video on the history of it I go into the new year as a happy tanknerd.
Sir Willey to you! 🤭😝
And then there Lindy calling it a deathtrap
I love the Hetzer! Saw one for the first time 42 years ago in front of the Bastogne Historical Centre near the Mardasson.
Happy New Year to Messrs. Wiley, Fletcher, and Smith and all the brilliant staff and interns at the Tank Museum!
I appreciate whoever it was that found multiple archive images of the different rear idler wheel in use.
A couple of factual errors in this
10:30 The Marder II had a Panzer II Chassis - the Marder III had a 38T Chassis. The Russian Anti-tank gun was actually the Soviet 76.2 mm F-22 Model 1936 divisional field gun used as an Anti-Tank Gun.
I knew someone else was going to pick up on this, a bit of a jarring mistake, to be honest.
Haha bugged me as well. One of the few errors I have spotted in these videos. But he is human after all.
@@jordansmith4040 I can't go to Yemen.. I'm an analyst
!t says Marder3
Thank you for this memory of the Czechoslovak production of the ŠKODA and ČKD brands. To this day, many people are wondering if we could stand up to the Hitlers in the fight against Our armaments and the strongholds on the border with Germany. Thanks for this video.
I honestly believe if Czechoslovakia was consulted with. They would have been far more ready, and the impressive size of its army might just have given the germans such a bloody nose. The war may have ended then and there
But history doesnt happen in a vaccume and so, its best to speculate it wouldv done pretty well
What a delightful choice! Thank you for taking the time to create this video.
There is currently a mouse in my house right now, he has become a maus now
The 35(t) and 38(t) tanks were light tanks, but the Germans found a way to increase the crew from 3 to 4 and added a new communication system for the crew. Somehow became the main battle tank in several divisions named as light armored divisions, taking the role normally done by panzer III, a tank twice as heavy. With these divisions Hitler was able to attack Poland and France much earlier than planned
HETZER was always my favorite, first model I ever built as a young teen!!
Hetzers gonna hetz!
Thank you, I never knew that the Hetzer was such a late comer to the battlefield. I had always presumed that it was developed around 1942 when they started pulling the Pz 38s, but nope, while they building a couple of Jagtigers they also started to build these things in job lots!
Once in a pub, friend showed me pictures his father made of a destroyed Hetzer they used to play in after the war. And yea, as explained, the onlt part of the armor still in place was the frontal mask, all the rest was just blown off completely.
Saw multiple of these and Stug III's while in service here in Finland. Never had the pleasure of seeing them drive around, though.
Where did you see them?
missä muka hetseri on täälä
@@zedriver7678 Parolassa
@@villelepoaho4105 onko se joku kiertue vehe ollu ku ikinä semmosesta suomessa kuullukkaan
Genuinely outstanding series of videos! One cannot beat the British for being an education to talk to. Amazing work!
Hetzers gonna hetz!
Finally!I was getting so tired with armoured cars.
Always amazed at how small these are - I didn’t find the Chieftain to be a cavernous void - 4 people in these? Lummy! Mind you I remember being very surprised by The T34 - in my mind so much larger than reality!
Think about the WW1 tanks - the first ones had a crew of 8. Not fun.
@@dragonade85 the german version had twice as many!
@@dissonantdemiurge4055: The A7V, yeah, but I haven't been inside one of those. I have been inside a British WW1 tank that was on displat in the IWM many years ago, and that was a real eye opener.
Always loved the look of this tank, and quite enjoyed it in the early days of WoT.
I remember seeing a couple of these on a Swiss airfield in 1970, along with some de Havilland Vampires.
IIRC, they kept some of the Vampires in use as trainers into the late 80s/early 90s!
The Hetzer has always been a favorite of mine.....Lucky for the allies the germans were so focused on huge tanks
The one thing that Germany was focused on was Stugs/Jgdpanzers. Also, Hetzers are overrated. Blind and can be destroyed with a PTRD. Aging gun. Bad ergonomics. Not many realize that StugIII with a copula and torsion bar suspension was a far superior to Hetzer or even JagdpanzerIV at anything but shooting enemy tanks from ambush positions.
Producing such low cost, specialized vehicles as Hetzers shows how desperate Germans were. Its hard to find another tracked vehicle that fits the definition of "last ditch weapon" better.
The old myth. In fact the focus of Germany was actually tanks, tank destroyers and assault guns in the 25 ton and under range. 80% of what they ACTUALLY built were not big cats.
@@Paciat except Germany needed mobile PAKs because the 75mm and bigger ones were heavy and hard to move by hand and were were often lost while retreating.
So infantry divisions needed PAKs which wouldn't be lost at first retreat.
@@AKUJIVALDO Yes, they needed a mobile Pak to prolong loosing the war. Cause Hetzers were a vehicle for defense only.
And they could design that mobile pak. Instead they designed a blind and cramped witch any Pak isnt.
Hetzer's gonna hetz!
As always, a very interesting, well-researched, and well-produced presentation of one of the more historically complex German WWII armored vehicles. Before seeing this video, I would have thought that the Hetzer was a more or less jerry-rigged, desperate innovation of Nazi Germany that would have died with the death of the Third Reich. That it lived on for so long in the armies of other countries is a revelation, and a compliment to German engineering ingenuity. (P.S. It's curious to me that it doesn't seem to have any headlights.)
Well said. How your post didn't get any thumbs ups before me is astonishing.
Czechs have mobilised (from 42 to 55 divisions total strength) and manned their border fortifications, ready to fight .... but Chamberlain, acting on advise of Josef Kennedy (US Ambassador to Great Britain), threatened Czechs with total isolation .... and US potentially siding with Germany, blaming Czechs for starting the WW2. Prior to Munich, Czechs signed the Defence Treaty with French, who had bilateral Treaty with British. Chamberlain failed to understand the meaning of the word Treaty.
After occupation of what was left of Czechoslovakia, Germans didn't get their mits on just a few new tanks. They have almost doubled their heavy armament capacity.
The post war propaganda is: plucky little democratic Czechoslovakia, but it was not a country it was a small empire, created by violent warfare. The Czechs were resented as an oppressive force by nearly half the population not just the Germans. The large majority of the brutally oppressed German population wished to be part of the German Reich for good reasons. As for appeasement it was no more than playing for time whilst Chamberlain prepared his nation for war. The British could do nothing for the Czech Empire in 1938 and nothing to help the foolishly aggressive Polish government in 1939. British meddling did no good and the Blank Cheque given to the Poles was a leading cause of WW2. We betrayed the Czechs and saved the Poles: the Czechs had a relatively good war, the Poles had the worse war of any European nationality.
Unfortunately the Czechs treated their non chech populations as poor stepchildren. They practiced an early form of affirmative action where all government employees were Czechs and they even lobbied private employers to fire non Czechs and replace them with Czechs. They were so bad about that when the country was broken up any area with a sizeable non Czech population gobbled up that corner of the country with their own people. So Hitler took over their population, Poland grabbed a piece and so did Hungary. Had the Czechs been a bit more even handed they may have not been broken up in 1938.
Astro-Hungary also had the extremely good armor manufacturer Witkowitz, who made the armor for their WWI battleships. From test results of naval armor used in those ships using Skoda APC projectiles, this firm's face-hardened "Krupp Cemented"- type side armor seems to have been about the best KC-type armor made prior to 1930 by anybody, including by Krupp itself. They seem to have found the proper post-hardening temper (toughening) heat treatment for such armor -- only the US Midvale Company, that was one of the "big three" US naval armor manufacturers in the 20th Century, seems to have also hit on this improved temper process prior to 1930, but its pre-WWI armor that used this process was otherwise not equal to the A-H Witkowitz plate. Witkowitz KC armor was only equaled by armor makers for WWII-era armor as general metallurgical knowledge was gained. Witkowitz even made some armor for the British in the late-1930s to speed up their new battleship construction. Skoda was obviously not the only advanced steel manufacturer in the area.
I was lucky enough to go inside of jaques littlefields hetzer and was amazed at how cramped it was,sat in the drivers seat and wondered how he was able to see out of that small slit and drive that vehicle in combat.
Welcome back David Willey!! Happy New Year to all Tank Museum friends!!
In 1942 the Czechoslovakians had mostly grudgingly accepted Nazi governance and were producing arms for the Germans. Then the British sent in two Czechs to assassinate Heydrich which resulted in the Germans attacking the Czechs and the Czechs stopping their helping Nazi war arms.
One of the greatest flaws, perhaps the greatest flaw in the German war machine, was too many variants. Too many types of this, that and the other. From motorcycles to aircraft, the spare parts industry was under ever-increasing strain. They should have produced more Panzer IV and V tanks in high numbers rather than to have slowly manufactured beautiful Tiger, King Tiger and other heavy tanks and tank-destroyers. As impressive and overwhelming machines like the Jagdtiger and Elefant ultimately were, they were sluggish, unreliable and unable to handle the endless supplies of tanks, weapons, soldiers and ammunition being fed into Europe from the U.S. and Soviet Union.
The Germans also used large numbers of vehicles looted from conquered countries, such as France. So they had to logistically support this bewildering array of foreign vehicles, in addition to their own models. (Not that I have any sympathy for the Germans about this.)
Love the hetzer! One of my favorite types of military equipment
I like this video, but from historical point, it is big error to shorten czechoslovakia to just "Czech" It was kind of federation of four major nationalities, Czech, Slovaks, Moravians, and Slesians. So shortening Czechoslovakia, to Czech is like calling all people in UK as English, Scotissh or Welsh... but thumbs up for this broader explanation of history behind "Hetzer"
Nice, but I saw the Australian Armour museum recent addition; Panzer IV 70 Vomag (aka JagdPannzer IV ) in running condition no less! Truly a rare gem. Now if only Bovington would have their Churchill Gun Carrier restored, then you'd have something equally unique.
In an ideal world they would have the budget to restore everything along with perfect replicas of the rarer vehicles and parts for all their vehicles so spares and potential damage would not be an issue.
Czechs really were ahead of their time. Shame about their geographic position.
Hetzers gonna hetz!
Hetzer? Why I hardly even know her!
The design is more a mobile anti-tank gun than a tank hunter. A lot of good informations, tanks.
The crews of the Tiger and Panther often turned the whole tank to aim on a target, because this was faster than turning the turret.
The biggest problem with the 3.2 million ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia was that the Czechs felt they needed to extract revenge and made it impossible for the ethnic Germans to make a living. The end goal was to force them to emigrate. It wasn't just the Germans, they forced unemployment on Poles as well as any other non Czech or non slovack.
That's exactly the kind of fake-objectivity that has made me sceptical of channels like this. They usually present themselves as neutral and yet they distort the picture by omitting key information like this. Notice how he also had no issue with calling the Treaty of Versailles a peace agreement but hesitated with the Munich Agreement. Both enforced injustice and misery on the affected population that certainly did not agree to it. And referring to the Central Powers as Axis and the Entente as Allies is also somewhat strange.
Always wondered why it had the sloped sides when the armour was so thing on the sides - won’t it have opened up a tonne of space and usability if the sides weren’t sloped
Probably to increase protection against machine gun fire
Tanks can be cute, see Hetzer and Luchs.
Why didn't the Czechoslovakian government sign an accord with Hitler seceding parts of the British empire to Germany?
Hitler was main enemy.
@@xmeda I think they were critiquing the great powers of Britain and France having the audacity to sell off territory they had no ownership or control of.
The most ‘adorable’ little coffin of the war.
Would you rather be in a "coffin" like this vehicle, or part of an anti-tank gun crew expected to fight tanks with no armor except a flimsy little gun shield?
@@dark7element M18 Hellcat.
what a cutie pie of a tank destroyer !
One of the best, most comprehensive explanations, and fascinating historical background, thank you
27:00 I always wondered about this... why did they offset the gun to the right side instead of the left side, if loading from the left was such a big issue?
Mainly because the standard European driving seats were on the left of most vehicles. Much as they are today.
I always thought it was earlier war vehicle. Like maybe 42-43 when Panzers started getting long 75. But not 44.
Excellent program! The Hetzer is one of my favorite WWII armor vehicles. I need to build another one now in 1/35. :)
At 3:50 you are showing as reference to Skoda a "Dicke Bertha"-"M-Gerät",however,this was just produced at Krupp..Skoda produced the rather different 30.5er M11-mortar,which was,indeed,sometimes borrowed to germany.
The short arc of fire of this vehicle would have been compensated for by aiming the whole vehicle at the target perhaps?
Yes, but that is always inconvenient.
Especialy without a cross-drive.
It also makes the vehicle more likely to be detected prior to opening fire.
It works if you can pre-select a sector that fits in your gun's ark of traverse and then stay parked in this position until you relocate.
But if you have to turn the vehicle during the engagement process, you are at a disadvantage.
yes, which is not an easy task, esp when trying to stay hidden.
These are great because you get the whole historical flavor, not just vehicle/gun statistics!
Small corrections for the pronounciation. Škoda is to be readen like English would read "Shkoda". "Č" "ČKD" is to be readen like the "Cz" in "Czech". THat's what the ˇ accents do.
My favorite part of the Hetzer...is making its models and telling perfectionists to swallow rooster.
Since there's such a wide range of possible configurations no one configuration is standard.
And yet some of them still insist.
"Failed policy?" That is an understatement. Not only did Britain failed, but Britain gave away territories of a sovereign nation (Czechoslovakia) when it had no right to do so. And lets be clear here: Hitler didn't give a damn about the Germans living in Czechoslovakia. What he wanted was the territories in order to neutralize the Czech defenses which as over 40 miles deep. That was the real reason.
Epic but in ww1 they weren't called the Axis or allies they were the Entente and central powers
True and he certainly knows it but in practice they are the same and for ease and clarity axis and allies are just fine. Vast majority of the fighting parties were the same.
@@alaric_ except both Japan and Italy were Entente not Central powers!
@10:35 It was a captured Soviet 7.62 cm anti-tank gun
"Reversed,🔀 engineered?"🛠 "I'd say?"🕵
"axis" in the first world war? i don't think so...
The vehicle shown with the top plates removed is an ex-Swiss G13. How do I know this? Twenty years experience on two former G13s, mine and the Patton Museum's example. First thing I spotted it the American WWII era fuel filter located behind the rightmost crew member's position just ahead of the blowtorch mounting bracket (the torch is missing). Second, the US MP48 antenna post on the left side. Third is the Swiss Command set radio base with its folding table-right interior. The post-war Swiss Army used US built radios. Lastly, the combination ignition/light switch on the instrument panel.
My vehicle was featured in the book, CZECHOSLOVAK ARMORED VEHICLES 1918-1948. So the question becomes, who's Hetzer is this interior photo belong to. It wasn't mine, nor any paint job that the Patton Museum had during my twenty years of being on it. Assuming the Tank Museum's example is an original, it does not have the Swiss G13 tracks that featured option Ice-spikes. Neither is it a G13 now possessed by the US 2nd Pz. Div. re-enactment in Chicago as this has one of the later diesel engine upgrades.
Shown is an original Praga petrol engine. Additional-second overhead photo. When the Swiss decided that they wanted their main gun to feature a muzzle brake, a large steel block (counterweight) had to be added to the rear of the safety cage. the Swiss switched position of the commander and loader in their service and ditched the remove MG mounting. The canvas bag that would catch the spent casings is not shown nor the collapsible ammo rack that mounts on the floor below the safety cage. I also removed this rack on mine (I did NOT throw it away!) as it just gets in the way and impairs tidying up. NOTE: The photo with the ladder giving access through the glacis plate is reversed.
My examples hull was NAZIS proof marked and contained the code for Rurhstahl in German. Thus I believe that the Hetzer hulls were all made in Germany. When comparing a postwar assembled Hetzer with earlier German production you will see a difference in the gun mounting. My opinion is that this change is a normal evolutionary improvement as every military vehicle will exhibit modifications/upgrades during production. As a person that reenacted as a crew member on a Hetzer I can see several objections to the earlier main gun's mounting. Top among this is the very poor location of the loader's electric firing safety! I believe the early examples used the basic mounting from Stugs but quickly began working on improving it.
Finally, I wish to add, almost every part of my ex-Swiss example displayed three letter Wehrmacht manufacturing codes including the gun. The Swiss called the main gun a PAK 40. This is not to be confused with a German PAK 40 antitank gun. The gun on Swiss G13 is the same gun as on late Pz. IVs and most Stug. IIIs-a PAk39 when placed in an antitank vehicle or a Kampfwagonkannon (KWK40) when on a tank. . They fire the same ammo, all marked KWK 40. The towed German antitank gun fires a completely different cartridge, and the barrel is much lighter.
Need more? Contact the founder of the US WWII Historical Re-enactment Society.
Small, soft sides, poor mobility, ok gun. Desperate times call for desperate measures
Instead of help Britain and France decided to donate whole untouched Czechoslovakia with multiple large factories and arms production facilities, 500+ LT-35 and LT-38 tanks, 1000 various aeroplanes including bombers and fighters, whole fortification line and weapons + equipment for million troops to Hitler. It was not about peace. That is pure lie. They just thought that Hitler will attack Soviet union and deal with communists and Stalin, which they supported. Churchill hated Stalin.
So germans with poles invaded Czehoslovakia without any fight and captured everything. Immediately germans started with concentration camps and genocide. West did nothing. Later Hitler attacked his former ally Poland, but west did nothing.
Only later when french cried and war started when czechoslovak LT-38 tanks with german crews were roaring through France.
Disgusting western politics. As always. Same today.
Very insightful video, thanks for the awesome breakdown of the history and the production of this vehicle. well worth the watch!
If the Tiger 131 becomes an NFT, how much do you think it will sell?
Great video!, but I really don't like the new guy that is advertising your shop
If the canon was not a towed AT gun, should it not be a KWK instead of a PAK?
Your level of knowledge (including context), factuality and ability to sort out things in a comprehensible manner is incredible and probably has no match on the whole youtube. I can hardly imagine a shorter yet more accurate & appealing way to introduce an unfamiliar watcher into the topic of Czechoslovak armed forced development with all its context. Even for me, as a Czech fairly well acquainted with our military history, there are many details that I did not know.
Few would surprise that this keeps going in the part of much more well-known German armor story.
Perhaps to mention 2 small notes: 1) Romania was a close Czechoslovak ally before WWII and CZ exported quite a number of military equipment there (Romania also used the tank vz. 38), so this is why Romanians based their tank destroyer on Czech design.
8:54 you obviously mean March 1940, not March 1944
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you keep referring to the Hetzer as a "Panzer Jager" (ie: "Tank Hunter"), when it was actually classified as a "Jagdpanzer" (ie: "Hunting Tank"). Panzer Jager's were, as I understand it generally adaptions, like the "Marder" whereas Jagdpanzer were purpose-built like Jagdpanzer 4's.
If the Czechs could have only known what loving arms awaited them in the East...In hindsight its So very strange that Western Europe was fine with helping Communism take over Eastern Europe as a consequence of being vehemently anti German--The UK in the long run actually caused more misery in Europe overall by being Anti German--No British boys had to die, not 1....And nobody looks at that today...So sad that people cannot form an opinion that differs from the prevailing narrative
🧐-@01:20_why I've enjoyed (playing)_WOT™️ game; the history that bored me from, (1971-77) here it seems less so for one! The human impact for two. Thanks for cont. my education @ 64 ✝️
The Germans were not the only one marching into Czechoslovakia, and they were marching with the Germans! It's really a sad fact that the already weak history about WW2 is now even worse rewritten!
The history is a much more detailed story and the school, TV (documentary) one that is now being rewritten again is not the accurate one!
It leaves the most important and crucial things out, and it starts with the rise of the Nazis and the support by the German and well as European and US elites to counter the growing "Socialist" threat in Central Europe, Chamberlain was acting in coordination with the British aristocracy, Churchills personnel adjutant wrote about the reaction of some of the high ranking people on the policy change!
The Soviet Union was under Sanctions all these years, it's interesting to see the Russians releasing all of the documents of the time to the public, i would like to see all of them, French, British, American and so on, especially the Swiss and some of the Swedish too!
But back to the Tank 😂!
No, the Santa Claus history is exactly that, the picture how the ruling class would like to portrait it afterwards!
Like the famous Rudolph Hess flight to England, his arrest, the longest prison sentence before the whole mess, and then the way he was suicided (Epstein style) short before his release in the 90's!
His family and publisher were waiting outside and gave interviews to Journalists, and then boom!
Who would want to keep the reason for his flight and the deals before (that made him fly in the first place, short before Barbarossa) the flight secret?
🤔 Yes, exactly
The irony of it being inspired by a Romanian design. Antonescu only agreed to join Barbarossa if Hitler provided armour and especially anti tank guns. The Romanian infantry was pretty good and teir cavalry was better and certainly a match for the Russian horse BUT the lack of heavy industry in Romania meant armour and artillery were a problem.
They embarked on the Marischal out of desperation when the promised tanks and guns were never delivered. Utilising caprured Russian anti tank guns was logical. It would be interesting to understand exactly how many 'Hetzers' were subsequently supplied to the Romanians.... not many I suspect!
It’s great to see these videos that go into a more detail, would love to see more like this!
Professor - I must correct you - in WWI there were Entente and Central Powers, not Allies and Axis. Versailles Peace Treaty did not apply to Austria-Hungary. The Treaty of Trianon was applied to Austria-Hungary. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Fun fact: Sweden built the 38(T) under license illegally. They ordered tanks and a license, but Germany confiscated the tanks and refused the license, so people working at CKD covertly provided Sweden with the blueprints which were smuggled to Sweden
The biggest problem with the Hetzer was the year it went into active service: 1944. If you want to get the best performance out of your combat vehicles, it helps not to be losing the war very badly at the time you first start using them. By 1944, Germany was just totally overwhelmed by allied numbers in tanks and anti-guns, plus the allies had total air superiority in Europe. The Hetzer was just at a major disadvantage the moment it rolled off the factory lines.
In WW1 Germany Austria -Hungary The Ottoman empire and Bulgaria were not know as the axis powers but as the Central Powers , Germany Austria -Hungary and Italy were the triple alliance , but Italy sided with Britain France and Russia because Germany was seen as the aggressor so Italy was not obligated to side with Germany Austria-Hungary and Italy wanted part of Tyrol and more land on the coast from Austria -Hungary, the triple alliance was France Britain and Russia, only later became known as the allies
How understated: "Appeasement was perhaps a failed policy?" A Czech friend said the Sudetenland was very tough terrain and well fortified. When Chamberlain and France "appeased" Hitler; all of those advantages were lost. As you later mentioned, so sorry?
Hetzer gotta HETZ!!!
Your Charity is just accapted in the UK since the UK left the EU....
If you would be in the EU any Donation would get accapted by local Tax Authorities...
Tip top video I hope that Hetzer gets a correct paint scheme soon.
Welp, time to go play a round of World of Tanks in the old Hetz.
What an amazing and comprehensive video on the *Hetzer* Cheers to the tank museum!
15:32 'Sturmgadoosh'
A little quibble. There was no "Axis" in WW1. They were the Central Powers. Entertaining and informative episode! Thank you!
If that cannon strikes any tank under 1km it would surely kill it.
Excellent presentation. I liked the historical background very much. Thank you for producing and sharing.