Top tip...You can simulate the history channel version of this presentation by constantly backing up to a random point of the video. Do this for about an hour before finally allowing the video to come to an end.
It was more "British" than strictly "Allied" as the Americans, Russians, French, Polish, Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, Indians and so on had nothing to do with it, just the REME.
I used to be quite cocky and think I knew every story about world war two there was to know. Two years of Mark Felton education and I, errr, realise I knew nothing. "You know nothing Jon Snow"! Mark - thanks so much. Such a great channel. Please keep it coming.
My Mother is from Hannover and I spent much of my time as a kid in the summer holidays there from London in the 1960s visiting my grandparents. Over the past couple of years I have again spent several months there this time walking all over and exploring the city and yet I never once knew that this was the main place that Panthers were built! Thanks Mark! Next time I go I’m going to look for these sites in Linden and Laatzen.
It was well advanced of its time. So much so that its engine and transmission couldn't handle it. It's basically the first true Main Battle Tank, much like how the STG44 was the first true Assault Rifle. Both were imperfect, and both were inspirations for great designs later on.
It wasnt even good at working properly lol 30% of the time it was operational vs 92% of the Sherman. 70% of the time it was being maintainced and repaired, Sherman 8% More Panthers were lost to Breakdowns then combat, and even in combat the Sherman outkilled them 2 to 1 in Normandy.
@@CmdrMiskyavine One on one the panther was superior to Shermans in pretty much all aspects, that's a known fact, the main problem was of course, low production rates and crew with insufficient training
I am so grateful to have subscribed to this channel ages ago, every video, it never fails to deliver fantastic content and narration. A true learning experience!
I feel that it’d even be worth more due to the niche part of history it takes place in, especially with the plaque that commemorates it as British built
@@mesolithicman164 100% right there our tanks from that period were rubbish by comparison with the German stuff they probably shot up the German tanks out of spite cos they were so good and ours were so bad
Quite easy - in the UK - as long as your driving license has Category H on it for driving tracked vehicles, and you can find someone to insure you. There's a collector/restorer 250 metres from where I live, and saw him take an M47 down to the petrol station to gas it up!! Here's a nice little guide: www.intotheblue.co.uk/blog/2015/04/17/the-essential-guide-to-where-to-drive-a-tank-and-who-can-drive-one/
Dr Felton I enjoy the stories you post especially the ones about Armor since I was a US Army Tanker(M60A1/A3) . I was wondering could you do a story on the only US tank vs NVA tank battle
Why not include the South Vietnamese tank battles too? Osprey actually did a book on that recently, with "Walker Bulldog vs T-54: Laos and Vietnam 1971-1975"
Interesting especially considering my was born in Hannover during the war. Her mother n my mother lived outside Hannover til Wars end when her father returned from the eastern front.
The 85 year old German man still had a Panther (without tracks) hidden in his cellar in 2021. Although the mayor said the guy had used it it in 1978 to plow snow. He had anti-aircraft guns, weapons, rounds, uniforms, and a statue that was designed by Hitler’s favorite artist. The guy must have had the tracks laying around somewhere still? When I was a U.S. Army tanker (training at Ft Knox) I went to the Patton museum. I was only 17 years old at the time but I still have pictures. There is a Panther tank in the museum.
Semi retirement has me working a few hours a week at a car rental company, where we carry all kinds of makes, from something as humble as a Chevy Spark to Jags, BMW's, etc. So, I get to compare. I find the Mercedes and BMW's nice rides, but all of the controls and the way they are laid out seem to me to be needlessly complicated, as if they made them different just for the sake of being different, with no real thought to utility. We were discussing this at work, and I offered, "German engineering, it's what won them two world wars." There was this five second silence, and then laughter.
Thanks for your videos. As a WWII buff and writer I get plenty of interesting info that ends up in my stories. Mostly alternate history and one features the Panther operated by E.T.s
Great story- The Heikendorf tank owner has been fined USD $500...but the tank is worth USD $5,000,000. V2,Jet & rocket aircraft were manufactured under UK supervision post war
Almost every tiger I, tiger ii and Panther tank where built in Kassel,Germany even during allied bombing runs. The Kassel factory produced the majority of Nazis’s tanks. Dr.Felton you forgot to mention the E-50 and E-75 Hull’s that where found in Hannover and Kassel factories.also at the Hannover factory the British discovered the final panther the AUSF.F variation and 5 of it’s bigger relatives hulls the E-50 and bigger and wider Tiger II chassis’s and hills that where identified as E-75 all hulls and turrets and even the upgraded gun variations where incomplete.
Very Interesting - There have been many stories over the yars from where I live, Bordon, Hampshire, regarding young kids after the war seeing German tanks around the Bordon training areas. Bordon was REME HQ for many years and many trials took place here. It would have been some of these tanks seen here, where I live.
Soviets used many captured Panthers as expendable tank fodder, considering lack of logistics to support them. Polish insurgents in Warsaw Uprising 1944 managed to do "Grand Theft Panther" and captured 2 of them , using with decent success in early days of uprising, including liberation of Jews from concentration camp at Gesia street. French managed to equip whole battalion or 2 of captured Panthers, which served even short time after the war.
I feel kinda bad for the collector, he didn't go driving it on public lands or loading it with live ammo did he? If not I'm curious why they felt it was necessary to seize a piece of history they saved on their own dime.
I admire the work Captain Hadlow and unit undertook. Also adding a brass plaque. It's a shame they were not sponsored to identify and resolve the reliability niggles. Imagine if they had added a diesel power plant as well. What am awesome beast it would have been.
Though the panther tank was very over rated tank an just had a cool name. On the other hand the jagpanther's were very effective... Correct me if im wrong.
Guy: *buy's tank with his money Government: thanks for the tank Guy: hey? that's mine!! Government: it's a Hazzard for civilians so u can't keep it Government: *Drive off to the sunset with old tank
A Bundeswehr salvage unit pulled it out of the basement as its tracks were dislodged. The tank has been returned to the owner but the owner has to sell it. My bets are it is going to the Panzermuseum in Munster.
So who's more trustworthy with tanks, guns, ect? The collector who keeps it in the basement, or the government that invaded it's neighbors multiple times in the 20th century?
Bullshit - the guy has two years to donate the tank & a WWII AA gun to a museum or licensed collector. He also was housing explosives & ammo - he was lucky to get a suspended sentence & a 250,000 Euro fine. Yes in total his WWII cache was a hazard.
In case of the unthinkable, war with Russia in 1945-46, the allies would need these tanks and their production. This was probably the allied interest in these tanks.
That guy in Germany with the panther I think has been fined now and presumably the tank permanently confiscated. Hopefully they won't scrap it. There's a law about owning wartime stuff in Germany but I wonder if on a technicality he can claim it's not wartime german but postwar British built.
allies troops:you arent going nowhere to keep the germany war machine working! german workers:ohh no that is terrible!*slowly pass an piece of panzer to is fellow worker*
Those German workers probably said "Gott sei dank!" At least they had jobs they were going to get paid for and could put food on the table. Not a small thing in the post-war confusion.
someone should notify Wargaming these tanks were captured by the British not the French (or Polish)...they would be happy to sell a new premium British tank that is nearly exactly the same as 3 other tanks already in the game
Minor technical correction, at 5:10 you mention gantry cranes, those are actually overhead cranes shown in the image. Gantry cranes typically stand atop legs and move on wheels. Overheads run along the building structure where rails have been built in. I love this channel and I'm only offering this cause i'm a crane guy.
Why? That production number is not that great for WWII, which seems to include a number of variants (not big on Wikipedia, but accessible for this example: Ausf. D, Ausf. A, Ausf. G, Befehlspanzer (command tank), Beobachtungspanzer (artillery observer vehicle), Bergepanther (armoured recovery vehicle)). But that production came at the expense of production of other vehicles, and more importantly, supplies of spare parts for those Panthers, which were desperately needed.
@@michaeldunne338 main issue that prevented them from producing more of all tanks was that they kept changing the production line for every little upgrade rather than wait a while to do more upgrades for fewer models rather than fewer upgrades for more models. Changing up a production line takes a lot of time, add to that lack of resources, constant bombing and extra wear and tear due to bad logistical situation in the east. Tanks should be transported from battlezone to battlezone, not driven as that causes unnecessary wear on components, and the bad infrastructure of the Eastern front is infamous and big part of the Soviet victory.
@@INSANESUICIDE For the Panthers, what kind of production did they do? Batch or mass production (like the Shermans, rolling off an assembly line of the sort that Ford innovated)? I thought the Tigers were batch? As for bombing of tank factories, I recalled Steven Zaloga mentioning that didn't really occur until late in the war, as in: "Rather surprisingly, the Allied bombing offensive had not paid much attention to the German tank industry until the autumn of 1944. An RAF raid in the autumn of 1943 had struck the Alkett plant, but there were few raids on the main tank plants until the autumn of 1944." (Source: page 255 of "Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II")
Mark, I'm a Yank Soldier and loyal follower watching from Germany. You've essentially guided my historical exploration of Europe while we've been stationed here. Thanks for your great historical lessons... love the channel!
A Yankee friend of mine was stationed where he also explored many battlefields and collected relics. Though, This Yankee was stationed in Mobile, Alabama 😉
High time the germans pay for their own defense. Time for all the Americans to leave germany. Let the germans pay for their own defense from Russian, the same russia the germans buy fuel from. Time for the free ride the war monger Germans have to end. filthy Nazis should have been given to the Soviets. No need to have nato funded by Americans to defend they nazis of today.
Those Panthers must have been nightmares to keep running if the British called them unreliable. Imagine the British calling a tank unreliable..... I drive an MG! If it isn't dripping oil... well it is out of oil! 😀
@@theonlymadmac4771 it was a tongue in cheek remark. We had a Ford 8N on our farm and I have a Midget as a daily driver from April till November. It has been a pretty decent little ride.
(Joseph) Lucas was a Brit manufacturer of automotive electrical components. The man himself was nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness" due to unreliability. Q. Why do Brits like their beer at room temperature? A. Because Joe Lucas made fridges as well...
The Series "Mad Men" did a darkly funny send up of British Engineering with great British actor Jared Harris. Won't ruin it if you've never seen it. Worth the watch. His Character arc went from seasons 3 to 5.
Have worked in Breda and seen it. Seems a bit odd where it is, at side of busy road at edge of town centre, in my opinion. Some info with it but not much. But if elsewhere like in a park it could be made more into an allied memorial and historic feature. Just my opinion.. no offence. Respect to NL.. 🇬🇧👍
The one in Overloon was actually knocked out at the battle off Overloon. So it's a genuine battle used tank. They have several pieces of equipment and tanks there that were used and wrecked at Overloon. The museum started by preserving some of the stuff left on the battlefield after the war.
@@A.J.K87 It's an amazing museum, I remember when they had a lot of equipment outside, including the panther. Now they have it inside with some great displays.
@@Surv1ve_Thrive No respect for not realizing that storing these outside like a war relic curiosity is a thing of the past. Popularized by pop culture (games) these things are highly sought after collectables worth millions these days.
1:37 The third and fourth hull up from the bottom were the super rare Panther Ausf. F prototypes, distinguishable by the four dimples on the sides of the rectangle opening in front of the turret ring, which were guiding rails for the new driver and radio operator’s hatch. It’s a pity that the Brits didn’t realize back then the scarcity of Ausf. F’s only surviving turret and shot it up on the range.
A Mark Felton vid just as I climb into bed? What a Friday night treat! Hands down my most treasured TH-cam subscribe, always eagerly await each and every vid! Thanks Mark, you bring us all many great videos with outstanding and interesting knowledge ✌
@@krishanuA thanks man! Really appreciate that so many others relate to the enjoyment I feel from Mark's content :) This is my favourite comment section in all of TH-cam too, everyone is considerate, kind and encouraging, what an awesome place 🙌
@@imperfectly-balanced8861 Awesome place to be, like you mentioned. This is one of the cleanest parts of TH-cam, and I am pretty sure both of us know how filthy some comment section culs de sac can be. Hope it stays this way, fellow history enthusiast. Cheers from India!
I don't try that very often. My wife looks over disapprovingly and says "Um....the war's over. Isn't there something more uplifting to watch?". My answer is "Come on, it's Dr. Mark Felton!".
Just finished reading a book on how the French Army was given a few hundred Panthers after the war to beef up their military. They began to overhaul them and were shocked to find dirt, rocks, cigarette butts, cigars, pencils... you name it... jammed into the Panthers hydraulic lines, transmissions... all over the place. Sabotage done by factory workers. These Panthers were built using those same "sabotaged" components. Once these problems were ironed out the French used Panthers successfully well into the 1950s. Also... prior to ww2, it was decided early on that the Kriegsmarine/UBoats should receive all available diesel allotments. This is why German AFVs were designed around gasoline engines.
Those vids made by the Allies in Mark's video at 5:56 are here on YT, Sherman vs Panther. As far as unreliability goes... Germany was lacking access to the raw materials and metal alloys needed to cast transmission parts, gears, etc correctly. These Panthers were constructed with those same "weak" parts. Non stop day and night bombing didn't help either. UBoat construction was given the foremost consideration re raw materials... armor was a distant second. Also... prior to the war all diesel was needed for the Kriegsmarine... this is why German tank designs centered around gasoline engines.
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 thought teething problems around reliability were encountered in the summer of 1943, from productions runs in early 1943, when Germany did have access to raw materials? Thinking the Ausfuhrung D ... And, thought that tank, along with the Tigers, had weights that just made hard work for the drivetrains in general?
nothing says, GERMAN ENGINEERING like brilliant performance in the field ruined by engineering timebombs; usually in the drivetrain. My family owned Mercedes, I've owned an leica M9, mercedes, bmws and its almost always the same story outside of the bmw/mercedes/porsche golden age from the 1960s to late 1980s. They are INCREDIBLE, but then something breaks. They do support their products, unlike certain companies from elsewhere, but it was the usual theme. It is no coincidence they developed the MTU system for the leopard 2, even if out of past fears regardless of actual reliability.
I highly recommend going to see the Panther at Bovington, it's an awe inspiring machine. As is their Tiger collection! We're very lucky to have such a great collection in the UK. Great to learn more about this vehicle. Thanks as always Dr Felton.
I was lucky enough to visit Bovington during their special Tiger exhibition a few years back when they had the Ferdinand/Elefant over from the states. An impressive machine!
@@AtheistOrphan Same here, those things were monsterous! As soon as I walked round the corner to that exibit I could totally see how anyone who saw any of those German beasts in WW2 would have been scared to death of such tanks.
Hope to get to that museum one day ,I love tanks and collect model tanks . I prefer German military tanks but would like to see some French and Japanese tanks dont know if bov museum has French or Japanese tanks
Long time watcher, first time poster. Thank you Mark Felton for these wonderful videos, after four decades of studying WW2 I find your videos breathe new life into this subject that I thought I had exhausted. Excellent fascinating history that I mostly never heard of. Keep them coming.
I like the third impression but I differ on your opinion of those Tigers being "thinly veiled" T-34s. Obviously, the road wheels and forward placement of turret is a problem. But the details on that turret were pretty amazing...down to bolts, periscopes, loader's hatch, cupola, grenade launchers, gun mantle. Then there was Pfeifel exhaust system and Zimmerit paste to go with Good looking drivers visor and asst driver / 7.92 mm position next to it.
...on the other hand it is funny how Dr. Felton pronounces "Panther" the english way *th* instead of *t* in german. Never mind, excellent report as always.
News has been released about the heikendorf Panther, the man who has kept it has been charged with $400,000 and a 14 month prison sentence. He also had to sell all of his belonging to museums.
That opening statement always irks me. It's such a terrible argument. Russia could build the Cheap T-34 because it had the manpower to do so. What's not always regarded about production vs quality is that a Panther was expected to kill 4 or 5 t-34's before getting knocked out and then recovered and repaired. Moreover, Germany didn't have the trained crew to replace losses from cheaper tanks. They wanted to have as good a survival rate as possible because who's going to man the tanks if they are dead ? The T-34 was notoriously bad at keeping its crews alive especially the smaller turreted 76mm versions in which any hit to the turret caused 2 or 3 out of 4 crewmen to be killed. The Russians lost about 70% of the T-34's produced during the war those are just awful numbers. Had the Germans lost 3/4 of their tanks, the war in Russia would have been over in 43'. Germany simply didn't have the ability to man all those cheaper less survivable tanks they needed tanks to be repairable and survivable.
Very impressive they manage to build so many. It also makes me happy that a few still survive, I imagine Capt Hadlowe would be very happy they are sitting in a British museum
Did you read the story in the Daily Telegraph this week of a guy in Kiel, Germany being given a suspended sentence and fined for keeping in his possession a 1943 Panther tank along with rounds of ammunition?
It's the same case as the one mentioned in the Video. Heikendorf is a town on the outskirts of Kiel, which is tthe State Capital of Schleswig-Holstein.
I found that seizure rather sad. Instead of getting in there and skull dragging it out like some sort of barbarians, the police could simply have asked the guy how to drive it out. After all, he drove it in. They were more interested in "seizing weapons" than protecting historical artefacts.
@@JohnJ469 I read it had no tracks at the time it was seized, so they had to drag it out. Not sure why the were removed as it had tracks when it went in, maybe the owner has another Panther stashed somewhere!!
@@MojoNFE The tracks were apparently there, just not on the tank. I'm just not seeing the urgency. The guy was in custody and they removed the man portable stuff, why not call in the professionals and do the job properly? It's not like someone was going to steal the tank.
the guy was handed a 14-month suspended prison sentence for illegal weapons possession just last week actually. The gov had given him 2 yrs to sell or donate the items he had but I guess they never followed up until now. absolute bs he's a collector and the weapons were deactivated or plugged or whatever so I don't see what the problem is. He's 84 yrs old let him be.
@@donttreadonmetal5073 The government giving him time to sell them sounds reasonable but everyone knows what the tank was worth and sat back expecting a "Fire Sale" price. Probably the same for everything else for that matter. Telling someone to give away a collection or sell for cents on the dollar isn't giving them a choice at all. Agreed let him be.
Interesting, the picture from the Hanomag production site with a single and perthaps last Jagdpanther, nearly finished, without cannon. It was in the beginning of April 45 that men lead by Karl Nicolussi-Leck managed to make 6 or 8 Jagdpanther ready for action just from the Hanomag line, 2 days before the US troops arrived. Big surprise: battle hardened men from the russian front equipped against troops that may believed that war will only last for days. Perhaps Mr Felton is like to tell that story.
An interesting Panther variant is the ‘Ersatz Panther’ modified and repainted to look like an American tank destroyer by the Greif Kommandos during the Battle of the bulge.
A new Mark Felton video just at the right time. I just got off work. Mark Felton I must say your content never disappoints. Thank you.
Nice
I agree 100%
“Secret Allied Panther Tanks”
This title is something the History Channel wishes they can come up with but never can. Brilliant Dr. Felton.
Oh no, they will do a story just by replacing "Allied" with "Alien" 👽
Top tip...You can simulate the history channel version of this presentation by constantly backing up to a random point of the video. Do this for about an hour before finally allowing the video to come to an end.
Sadly, the Hisrory Channel has never spent much time in Research.
Just working up Click Bait Titles...
It was more "British" than strictly "Allied" as the Americans, Russians, French, Polish, Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, Indians and so on had nothing to do with it, just the REME.
@@leoa4c Nothing really, the information is available if you look for it.
I used to be quite cocky and think I knew every story about world war two there was to know. Two years of Mark Felton education and I, errr, realise I knew nothing. "You know nothing Jon Snow"! Mark - thanks so much. Such a great channel. Please keep it coming.
My Mother is from Hannover and I spent much of my time as a kid in the summer holidays there from London in the 1960s visiting my grandparents. Over the past couple of years I have again spent several months there this time walking all over and exploring the city and yet I never once knew that this was the main place that Panthers were built! Thanks Mark!
Next time I go I’m going to look for these sites in Linden and Laatzen.
I like the panther with its pro and cons. Like all tanks in ww2 it wasn't good at everything. For what it was, it was pretty impressive.
It was well advanced of its time. So much so that its engine and transmission couldn't handle it. It's basically the first true Main Battle Tank, much like how the STG44 was the first true Assault Rifle. Both were imperfect, and both were inspirations for great designs later on.
From my understanding it worked beautifully with a well trained crew which became a rarity as the war dragged on
It wasnt even good at working properly lol 30% of the time it was operational vs 92% of the Sherman. 70% of the time it was being maintainced and repaired, Sherman 8% More Panthers were lost to Breakdowns then combat, and even in combat the Sherman outkilled them 2 to 1 in Normandy.
@@CmdrMiskyavine Indeed. It was too advanced for its time; engine and transmission technology hadn't caught up with it yet.
@@CmdrMiskyavine One on one the panther was superior to Shermans in pretty much all aspects, that's a known fact, the main problem was of course, low production rates and crew with insufficient training
I am so grateful to have subscribed to this channel ages ago, every video, it never fails to deliver fantastic content and narration. A true learning experience!
Mark Felton: The Jack Russel sleuth of intricate military information that is just as pertinent today as when it was born. Amazing, Thank you.
Don’t know about panthers but there are a few cougars that prowl around town on a Thursday night that try to hunt me.
🤣
Even though they were constructed under British supervision they still would be worth a fortune by today's collectors.
I feel that it’d even be worth more due to the niche part of history it takes place in, especially with the plaque that commemorates it as British built
@@AV--G British built. there’d definitely b reliability issues
Personally, I'd have used some of the rubbishy British tanks for target practice and kept my Panthers in ready to go condition.
@@mesolithicman164 100% right there our tanks from that period were rubbish by comparison with the German stuff they probably shot up the German tanks out of spite cos they were so good and ours were so bad
@@mesolithicman164 And yet they still lost. Amazing, that.
Definitely my favourite tank,I love the sloped armour. This tank wouldn't look out of place on a modern day battlefield today.
Fascinating. I wonder how one goes about buying a tank and of you can drive it home. They'd be great in a traffic jam.
Quite easy - in the UK - as long as your driving license has Category H on it for driving tracked vehicles, and you can find someone to insure you. There's a collector/restorer 250 metres from where I live, and saw him take an M47 down to the petrol station to gas it up!! Here's a nice little guide: www.intotheblue.co.uk/blog/2015/04/17/the-essential-guide-to-where-to-drive-a-tank-and-who-can-drive-one/
a Mr. Bean episode came just to my mind where his car was flattened by a British tank...
How do you manage to make topics like this so fascinating?
5:57... these videos are here on YT, Panther vs Sherman. Absolutely amazing...
once again, another great vid Mark. keep em rolling big guy
Damn that guy in Germany with the panther tank in his basement should take notes
Dr Felton I enjoy the stories you post especially the ones about Armor since I was a US Army Tanker(M60A1/A3) . I was wondering could you do a story on the only US tank vs NVA tank battle
During the Vietnam war?
Why not include the South Vietnamese tank battles too? Osprey actually did a book on that recently, with "Walker Bulldog vs T-54: Laos and Vietnam 1971-1975"
105mm M1IP, 120mm smooth bore M1A1, M60A3 105mm, all great tanks. 19E/K
REME were post-war heroes for Germany. Among the many companies they saved was Volkswagen itself... an amazing group of dedicated gentleman.
The Panther is such a beautiful tank.
I would die to have Mark Felton as a professor
Interesting especially considering my was born in Hannover during the war. Her mother n my mother lived outside Hannover til Wars end when her father returned from the eastern front.
It is my pleasure to inform you that I got to see the REME Panther No. 6 in person
Excellent uploads, my favourite history channel
The 85 year old German man still had a Panther (without tracks) hidden in his cellar in 2021. Although the mayor said the guy had used it it in 1978 to plow snow. He had anti-aircraft guns, weapons, rounds, uniforms, and a statue that was designed by Hitler’s favorite artist. The guy must have had the tracks laying around somewhere still? When I was a U.S. Army tanker (training at Ft Knox) I went to the Patton museum. I was only 17 years old at the time but I still have pictures. There is a Panther tank in the museum.
If you want to experience the heartache of German over-engineering at a more mundane level get a Miele washing machine.
Semi retirement has me working a few hours a week at a car rental company, where we carry all kinds of makes, from something as humble as a Chevy Spark to Jags, BMW's, etc. So, I get to compare. I find the Mercedes and BMW's nice rides, but all of the controls and the way they are laid out seem to me to be needlessly complicated, as if they made them different just for the sake of being different, with no real thought to utility. We were discussing this at work, and I offered, "German engineering, it's what won them two world wars." There was this five second silence, and then laughter.
@@rodchallis8031 The Renault owners probably didn't think it was funny lol.
😊😊😊😊
Or buy a BMW!
my dad has a miele hoover or vacuum cleaner from the early 90's or something, its been there all my life lmao and its working perfectly
Thanks for your videos. As a WWII buff and writer I get plenty of interesting info that ends up in my stories. Mostly alternate history and one features the Panther operated by E.T.s
Mark your videos are superb and I always look forward to watching them
Greetings from Hanover :)
Thank you for another excellent video.
Wow, very interesting. By the way, Germans pronounce Panther more like Punter with a sharp T, unlike Panzer. Very best wishes from Hannover.
Er, not quite. The German Z is pronounced like the TS on the end of "rats", so "Pantser".
Thanks very much for the share, very informative, Much appreciated.
Great story- The Heikendorf tank owner has been fined USD $500...but the tank is worth USD $5,000,000. V2,Jet & rocket aircraft were manufactured under UK supervision post war
yes!
thank you Doctor Felton!
Fascinating! Very interesting information.!
Almost every tiger I, tiger ii and Panther tank where built in Kassel,Germany even during allied bombing runs. The Kassel factory produced the majority of Nazis’s tanks. Dr.Felton you forgot to mention the E-50 and E-75 Hull’s that where found in Hannover and Kassel factories.also at the Hannover factory the British discovered the final panther the AUSF.F variation and 5 of it’s bigger relatives hulls the E-50 and bigger and wider Tiger II chassis’s and hills that where identified as E-75 all hulls and turrets and even the upgraded gun variations where incomplete.
I absolutely love tanks, thanks Mark for all the great content and history! 👍
Excellent, as always
Another little gem 👍
Very Interesting - There have been many stories over the yars from where I live, Bordon, Hampshire, regarding young kids after the war seeing German tanks around the Bordon training areas. Bordon was REME HQ for many years and many trials took place here. It would have been some of these tanks seen here, where I live.
Soviets used many captured Panthers as expendable tank fodder, considering lack of logistics to support them.
Polish insurgents in Warsaw Uprising 1944 managed to do "Grand Theft Panther" and captured 2 of them , using with decent success in early days of uprising, including liberation of Jews from concentration camp at Gesia street.
French managed to equip whole battalion or 2 of captured Panthers, which served even short time after the war.
I feel kinda bad for the collector, he didn't go driving it on public lands or loading it with live ammo did he? If not I'm curious why they felt it was necessary to seize a piece of history they saved on their own dime.
Could you do a video about the A39? It's my favourite tank destroyer. I've never seen videos of it firing it's gun, or indeed any 32 pounder firing
Can you do a video on the Volkswagen car plant that the British saved after the war please?
A Brit who can pronounce tortoise. It's a bloody miracle.
As a foot note I believe the French army used some panther tanks to re-equip their army.
It's all gone well over my head. ;-)
Good video but I would have liked to hear more details on the seized panther in 2015.
I admire the work Captain Hadlow and unit undertook. Also adding a brass plaque. It's a shame they were not sponsored to identify and resolve the reliability niggles. Imagine if they had added a diesel power plant as well. What am awesome beast it would have been.
You said the Soviets sent over a Panther tank to the British? That in itself is a worthy story!
There is another british build Panther in working order, The one recently seized from a collector in germany.
Though the panther tank was very over rated tank an just had a cool name.
On the other hand the jagpanther's were very effective...
Correct me if im wrong.
Guy: *buy's tank with his money
Government: thanks for the tank
Guy: hey? that's mine!!
Government: it's a Hazzard for civilians so u can't
keep it
Government: *Drive off to the sunset with old tank
A Bundeswehr salvage unit pulled it out of the basement as its tracks were dislodged. The tank has been returned to the owner but the owner has to sell it. My bets are it is going to the Panzermuseum in Munster.
So who's more trustworthy with tanks, guns, ect? The collector who keeps it in the basement, or the government that invaded it's neighbors multiple times in the 20th century?
@@joshuabessire9169 The government doesn't own the tank.
Bullshit - the guy has two years to donate the tank & a WWII AA gun to a museum or licensed collector. He also was housing explosives & ammo - he was lucky to get a suspended sentence & a 250,000 Euro fine. Yes in total his WWII cache was a hazard.
"Arthur get out of the tank!"
"No"
I have Bovington’s panther at the exact same angle just like the thumbnail
In case of the unthinkable, war with Russia in 1945-46, the allies would need these tanks and their production. This was probably the allied interest in these tanks.
I can hear Bruce Crompton crying at the amount spare parts in photos
Nice vehicles!
I'm sure those Allied tank people were eyeing future conflicts with the Soviets at that point in the war.
I got very confused when looking at the thumbnail as the panther at Bovington is my lock screen
And saving Volkswagen at the same time.
That guy in Germany with the panther I think has been fined now and presumably the tank permanently confiscated. Hopefully they won't scrap it. There's a law about owning wartime stuff in Germany but I wonder if on a technicality he can claim it's not wartime german but postwar British built.
Everyone see the movie “T-34” it’s English sub Russian movie free on Amazon Prime …. Best tank movie I’ve seen… all about this time period.
Nice video.
Grear video and machines
@5:11 you can see a JPanther Hull.
Recommendation : Hitler's forgotten Allies - Milan Nedić's Serbia
Yeah the engine might go.
Yeah the transmission might go.
That L70 still gonna reach out and touch someone.
correct me if I'm wrong , but wasn't the 75 mm main gun on the Panther tank , adapted for use on the French AMX tank
Nice 👍🏼
Germans: Tank size matters
Soviets: Tank numbers matter
you dont need 10000 tanks when you can only fuel a 1000
Who the hell disliked this and why
allies troops:you arent going nowhere to keep the germany war machine working!
german workers:ohh no that is terrible!*slowly pass an piece of panzer to is fellow worker*
i dont get it
@@abramo7700 it mean the worker hand pieces of the panther to is fellow for resume work it secretely despite the allies troops actions
Those German workers probably said "Gott sei dank!" At least they had jobs they were going to get paid for and could put food on the table. Not a small thing in the post-war confusion.
Here so fast
Bootleged Panthers 😱🤯
someone should notify Wargaming these tanks were captured by the British not the French (or Polish)...they would be happy to sell a new premium British tank that is nearly exactly the same as 3 other tanks already in the game
Minor technical correction, at 5:10 you mention gantry cranes, those are actually overhead cranes shown in the image. Gantry cranes typically stand atop legs and move on wheels. Overheads run along the building structure where rails have been built in. I love this channel and I'm only offering this cause i'm a crane guy.
....the crane guys time had come!
@@CherryBlossomOhka thx champ
bruh, do you even lift?
Change your name to “TheCraneGuy”
Overhead cranes don’t count... Get onsite and throw up some steel or panels with a mobile... Ain’t no “Crane guy”
Mark Felton is The Sir Attenborough of War.
Drachinifel: "Midshipman! That statement will cost you a Rum Ration! "
Yeah
You don't know that dude don't make assumptions
The fact the Germans can still produce 6000 of them is kind of impressive despite low on resources
Chalk it up to Albert Speer and the work of thousands of slave labourers.
Why? That production number is not that great for WWII, which seems to include a number of variants (not big on Wikipedia, but accessible for this example: Ausf. D, Ausf. A, Ausf. G, Befehlspanzer (command tank), Beobachtungspanzer (artillery observer vehicle), Bergepanther (armoured recovery vehicle)).
But that production came at the expense of production of other vehicles, and more importantly, supplies of spare parts for those Panthers, which were desperately needed.
When Ivan is coming for you, you suddenly get very motivated to speed things up.
(That and the slave labor… )
@@michaeldunne338 main issue that prevented them from producing more of all tanks was that they kept changing the production line for every little upgrade rather than wait a while to do more upgrades for fewer models rather than fewer upgrades for more models. Changing up a production line takes a lot of time, add to that lack of resources, constant bombing and extra wear and tear due to bad logistical situation in the east. Tanks should be transported from battlezone to battlezone, not driven as that causes unnecessary wear on components, and the bad infrastructure of the Eastern front is infamous and big part of the Soviet victory.
@@INSANESUICIDE For the Panthers, what kind of production did they do? Batch or mass production (like the Shermans, rolling off an assembly line of the sort that Ford innovated)? I thought the Tigers were batch?
As for bombing of tank factories, I recalled Steven Zaloga mentioning that didn't really occur until late in the war, as in: "Rather surprisingly, the Allied bombing offensive had not paid much attention to the German tank industry until the autumn of 1944. An RAF raid in the autumn of 1943 had struck the Alkett plant, but there were few raids on the main tank plants until the autumn of 1944." (Source: page 255 of "Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II")
Mark, I'm a Yank Soldier and loyal follower watching from Germany. You've essentially guided my historical exploration of Europe while we've been stationed here. Thanks for your great historical lessons... love the channel!
Where are you Stationed? Not many Bases are left after downsizing.
damn shame i lefft after 8 years in pad/bielefeld area......didnt know there was yanks still there....graf maybe?
A Yankee friend of mine was stationed where he also explored many battlefields and collected relics. Though, This Yankee was stationed in Mobile, Alabama 😉
High time the germans pay for their own defense. Time for all the Americans to leave germany. Let the germans pay for their own defense from Russian, the same russia the germans buy fuel from.
Time for the free ride the war monger Germans have to end. filthy Nazis should have been given to the Soviets.
No need to have nato funded by Americans to defend they nazis of today.
@@dave8599 nitwit
Those Panthers must have been nightmares to keep running if the British called them unreliable. Imagine the British calling a tank unreliable..... I drive an MG! If it isn't dripping oil... well it is out of oil! 😀
It may be a surprise to you, but British cars before the infamous British Leyland era were actually not more unreliable than their contemporaries
@@theonlymadmac4771 it was a tongue in cheek remark. We had a Ford 8N on our farm and I have a Midget as a daily driver from April till November. It has been a pretty decent little ride.
(Joseph) Lucas was a Brit manufacturer of automotive electrical components. The man himself was nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness" due to unreliability. Q. Why do Brits like their beer at room temperature? A. Because Joe Lucas made fridges as well...
The Series "Mad Men" did a darkly funny send up of British Engineering with great British actor Jared Harris. Won't ruin it if you've never seen it. Worth the watch. His Character arc went from seasons 3 to 5.
@@tellyknessis6229 Q: Why don't the British make computers? A: They haven't figured out how to make one leak oil yet.
Two panthers in The Netherlands; D-version outside in public display at Wilhelminapark (Breda) and a G-version at War Museum Overloon
Have worked in Breda and seen it. Seems a bit odd where it is, at side of busy road at edge of town centre, in my opinion. Some info with it but not much. But if elsewhere like in a park it could be made more into an allied memorial and historic feature. Just my opinion.. no offence. Respect to NL.. 🇬🇧👍
@@Surv1ve_Thrive totally agree
The one in Overloon was actually knocked out at the battle off Overloon. So it's a genuine battle used tank. They have several pieces of equipment and tanks there that were used and wrecked at Overloon. The museum started by preserving some of the stuff left on the battlefield after the war.
@@A.J.K87 It's an amazing museum, I remember when they had a lot of equipment outside, including the panther. Now they have it inside with some great displays.
@@Surv1ve_Thrive No respect for not realizing that storing these outside like a war relic curiosity is a thing of the past. Popularized by pop culture (games) these things are highly sought after collectables worth millions these days.
1:37 The third and fourth hull up from the bottom were the super rare Panther Ausf. F prototypes, distinguishable by the four dimples on the sides of the rectangle opening in front of the turret ring, which were guiding rails for the new driver and radio operator’s hatch. It’s a pity that the Brits didn’t realize back then the scarcity of Ausf. F’s only surviving turret and shot it up on the range.
I think the ones at 0:47 are also Ausf. F hulls if I’m not mistaken
I found that turret on the ranges at Larkhill in the early 80s and informed the Bovington museum of its location.
What a shame
@@jo-ov9vc Good job! They also had a Pather Ersatz M10, I think?
I have a collie just like yours 😁
A Mark Felton vid just as I climb into bed? What a Friday night treat!
Hands down my most treasured TH-cam subscribe, always eagerly await each and every vid!
Thanks Mark, you bring us all many great videos with outstanding and interesting knowledge ✌
Hey Kyle, you just articulated what several thousand enthusiasts and myself felt. Well done Sir!
And Dr Felton is always impressive. Always.
@@krishanuA thanks man! Really appreciate that so many others relate to the enjoyment I feel from Mark's content :)
This is my favourite comment section in all of TH-cam too, everyone is considerate, kind and encouraging, what an awesome place 🙌
@@imperfectly-balanced8861 Awesome place to be, like you mentioned. This is one of the cleanest parts of TH-cam, and I am pretty sure both of us know how filthy some comment section culs de sac can be. Hope it stays this way, fellow history enthusiast. Cheers from India!
I don't try that very often. My wife looks over disapprovingly and says "Um....the war's over. Isn't there something more uplifting to watch?". My answer is "Come on, it's Dr. Mark Felton!".
Britain: "Alright, it's over, you can all go home now."
The Warrant Officer: "NO. I'm not done building tanks!" *Slams table*
I see Panther Tank in the title, i click and click also the like button!
U only liked cuz you like panthers. Not tanks 😛😛
@@alexandero50000 I like tanks, but the Panther is my favourite.
Ooooooh ya, me to!
Saw your msg and clicked on like
Just finished reading a book on how the French Army was given a few hundred Panthers after the war to beef up their military. They began to overhaul them and were shocked to find dirt, rocks, cigarette butts, cigars, pencils... you name it... jammed into the Panthers hydraulic lines, transmissions... all over the place. Sabotage done by factory workers. These Panthers were built using those same "sabotaged" components. Once these problems were ironed out the French used Panthers successfully well into the 1950s.
Also... prior to ww2, it was decided early on that the Kriegsmarine/UBoats should receive all available diesel allotments. This is why German AFVs were designed around gasoline engines.
They may not have been mechanically reliable but they still packed a punch to be sure.
Those vids made by the Allies in Mark's video at 5:56 are here on YT, Sherman vs Panther.
As far as unreliability goes... Germany was lacking access to the raw materials and metal alloys needed to cast transmission parts, gears, etc correctly. These Panthers were constructed with those same "weak" parts. Non stop day and night bombing didn't help either.
UBoat construction was given the foremost consideration re raw materials... armor was a distant second. Also... prior to the war all diesel was needed for the Kriegsmarine... this is why German tank designs centered around gasoline engines.
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 thought teething problems around reliability were encountered in the summer of 1943, from productions runs in early 1943, when Germany did have access to raw materials? Thinking the Ausfuhrung D ...
And, thought that tank, along with the Tigers, had weights that just made hard work for the drivetrains in general?
@@michaeldunne338 Weights that just made hard work for the drivetrains in general was from armor thickness that provided crew survivability?
@@geoh7777 Yes.
nothing says, GERMAN ENGINEERING like brilliant performance in the field ruined by engineering timebombs; usually in the drivetrain.
My family owned Mercedes, I've owned an leica M9, mercedes, bmws and its almost always the same story outside of the bmw/mercedes/porsche golden age from the 1960s to late 1980s. They are INCREDIBLE, but then something breaks. They do support their products, unlike certain companies from elsewhere, but it was the usual theme.
It is no coincidence they developed the MTU system for the leopard 2, even if out of past fears regardless of actual reliability.
Mr. Felton's narrator skills are becoming on par with the best ever, Sir David Attenborough!
Shows how badass they still are that the guy was fined $400k for keeping one.
I highly recommend going to see the Panther at Bovington, it's an awe inspiring machine. As is their Tiger collection! We're very lucky to have such a great collection in the UK. Great to learn more about this vehicle. Thanks as always Dr Felton.
I was lucky enough to visit Bovington during their special Tiger exhibition a few years back when they had the Ferdinand/Elefant over from the states. An impressive machine!
As soon as Covid leaves the building I'm off! That and the RAF and naval museums. Greetings from NZ.
@@AtheistOrphan Same here, those things were monsterous! As soon as I walked round the corner to that exibit I could totally see how anyone who saw any of those German beasts in WW2 would have been scared to death of such tanks.
Hope to get to that museum one day ,I love tanks and collect model tanks . I prefer German military tanks but would like to see some French and Japanese tanks dont know if bov museum has French or Japanese tanks
Long time watcher, first time poster. Thank you Mark Felton for these wonderful videos, after four decades of studying WW2 I find your videos breathe new life into this subject that I thought I had exhausted. Excellent fascinating history that I mostly never heard of. Keep them coming.
Moriarty is yelling, "It's a piece of junk! *THE FUEL SYSTEM LEAKS ALL OVER THE PLACE! IT'S A PIECE OF JUNK*
That was a (thinly disguised T-34) Tiger tank, not a Panther. "Woof woof woof" That's my third dog impression.;)
@@geobloxmodels1186 -- If memory serves (I'm sleep deprived at the moment) he already did a video on a real bank robbery.
I like the third impression but I differ on your opinion of those Tigers being "thinly veiled" T-34s. Obviously, the road wheels and forward placement of turret is a problem. But the details on that turret were pretty amazing...down to bolts, periscopes, loader's hatch, cupola, grenade launchers, gun mantle. Then there was Pfeifel exhaust system and Zimmerit paste to go with Good looking drivers visor and asst driver / 7.92 mm position next to it.
Geoblox Models
Never quite understood how a 60s hippie is in WW2, but the scarred German tank commander makes a very acceptable Nazi stereotype.
@@teller1290 more negative waves man ... you just dont get it
I'm german and love how excellent you say "Ausführung"
...on the other hand it is funny how Dr. Felton pronounces "Panther" the english way *th* instead of *t* in german. Never mind, excellent report as always.
I am a man of contradictions!
Absolutely, Dr. Felton trained the German "Umlaut". Ausführung !
News has been released about the heikendorf Panther, the man who has kept it has been charged with $400,000 and a 14 month prison sentence. He also had to sell all of his belonging to museums.
That's terrible!
Germany has stupid laws.
Meanwhile in america, we had a guy buy a Sherman and dared his Homeowners Association to try and tow it away
I love this country
Your name is my exact reaction to your comment haha!
Indeed a bruh moment.. that seems total unfair and injust..
You forgot the most important thing: He has to sell all his belongings
Someone start a petition
That opening statement always irks me. It's such a terrible argument. Russia could build the Cheap T-34 because it had the manpower to do so. What's not always regarded about production vs quality is that a Panther was expected to kill 4 or 5 t-34's before getting knocked out and then recovered and repaired. Moreover, Germany didn't have the trained crew to replace losses from cheaper tanks. They wanted to have as good a survival rate as possible because who's going to man the tanks if they are dead ? The T-34 was notoriously bad at keeping its crews alive especially the smaller turreted 76mm versions in which any hit to the turret caused 2 or 3 out of 4 crewmen to be killed. The Russians lost about 70% of the T-34's produced during the war those are just awful numbers. Had the Germans lost 3/4 of their tanks, the war in Russia would have been over in 43'. Germany simply didn't have the ability to man all those cheaper less survivable tanks they needed tanks to be repairable and survivable.
Very impressive they manage to build so many. It also makes me happy that a few still survive, I imagine Capt Hadlowe would be very happy they are sitting in a British museum
Gotta love Capt. Hadlow! Refused demobilization. I wonder if he realised his place in history?
They should of just built more mark 4s and lots of stugs instead of these big fuel eaters ,but there still great too look at anyway
Mark Felton' video's always seem to open my eyes to unique aspects of history.
Agreed, I spent many years in the REME long ago and had never heard of this. What a refreshing surprise after all these years.
Did you read the story in the Daily Telegraph this week of a guy in Kiel, Germany being given a suspended sentence and fined for keeping in his possession a 1943 Panther tank along with rounds of ammunition?
It's the same case as the one mentioned in the Video. Heikendorf is a town on the outskirts of Kiel, which is tthe State Capital of Schleswig-Holstein.
I dont suppose he does that with an intent to overthrow the government righ?t
I mean.. he had a tank, the police had handguns.. why give it up?
@@irix5093 I wonder how much money you'd spend on gas to get a Panther from Schleswig-Holstein to Berlin?
@@stanleyrogouski It's not the fuel that gets you. It's the transmission overhaul.
There's Robert Stack, Rod Sterling and Mark Felton.
Drachinifel: "Sailor, that statement has bought you Holystone duty on the flagship!" (Were I a Beatty or a Fisher, you would use your tongue.;)
That's a funny detail about that Panther seized in 2015, that it was a REME build. I wonder if it still had its brass plaque?
I found that seizure rather sad. Instead of getting in there and skull dragging it out like some sort of barbarians, the police could simply have asked the guy how to drive it out. After all, he drove it in. They were more interested in "seizing weapons" than protecting historical artefacts.
@@JohnJ469 I read it had no tracks at the time it was seized, so they had to drag it out. Not sure why the were removed as it had tracks when it went in, maybe the owner has another Panther stashed somewhere!!
@@MojoNFE The tracks were apparently there, just not on the tank. I'm just not seeing the urgency. The guy was in custody and they removed the man portable stuff, why not call in the professionals and do the job properly?
It's not like someone was going to steal the tank.
the guy was handed a 14-month suspended prison sentence for illegal weapons possession just last week actually. The gov had given him 2 yrs to sell or donate the items he had but I guess they never followed up until now. absolute bs he's a collector and the weapons were deactivated or plugged or whatever so I don't see what the problem is. He's 84 yrs old let him be.
@@donttreadonmetal5073 The government giving him time to sell them sounds reasonable but everyone knows what the tank was worth and sat back expecting a "Fire Sale" price. Probably the same for everything else for that matter.
Telling someone to give away a collection or sell for cents on the dollar isn't giving them a choice at all.
Agreed let him be.
Interesting, the picture from the Hanomag production site with a single and perthaps last Jagdpanther, nearly finished, without cannon. It was in the beginning of April 45 that men lead by Karl Nicolussi-Leck managed to make 6 or 8 Jagdpanther ready for action just from the Hanomag line, 2 days before the US troops arrived. Big surprise: battle hardened men from the russian front equipped against troops that may believed that war will only last for days. Perhaps Mr Felton is like to tell that story.
An interesting Panther variant is the ‘Ersatz Panther’ modified and repainted to look like an American tank destroyer by the Greif Kommandos during the Battle of the bulge.