In the last few minutes of the documentary, the guy speaks of not romanticising someone like Michael Wittmann since the Germans were fighting for Adolf Hitler. That is like saying that the British fought for King George, the Americans fought for President Roosevelt, Australians fought for their Prime Minister etc etc etc. While not forgetting that Wittman thought well of Hitler and the Nazi ideaology, I think that most Germans, British, Americans, and whoever else fought for their country and not for a specific individual..
@@petcali24 this is true at the beginning of the war, but as manpower shortages hit the country hard. They started taking anybody, (by this time) many were not Volunteers they were just sent as replacements to whatever unit needed men
I have just recently been following up on something my father told me years ago. He was with The Sherbrooke Regiment as a gun layer of a Firefly tank. Around Caen, presumably during the operation to break out in to open country, in the push forward they encountered a large house with a tall walled garden. He said they had a British tank group pull around to their left in woods. They expected the Germans to appear from their right towards the British tanks. They knocked holes in the walls and waited, sure enough they heard then saw four German tanks pass from right to left directly in front of them going towards the British tanks who opened fire. My dad said one of the tanks was incredibly close and in open country and he couldn't miss. The tank group opens up with Armour Piercing shells and hit this tank setting it ablaze and after a while the turret blew off. To me it was one of his few war stories he told me but it stuck and then I started reading about Wittman?
40:55 Sorry but I think that's bullshit. The guy was in the military long before WWII even started and was probably just following orders. Both Britain and the US have been in some pretty fucked up, unjustified wars. Does that make the soldiers who fought them evil for simply following their orders? I haven't done a whole lot of research on Michael Wittmann, and I know he was in the SS, so I could be wrong, but as far as I know, he didn't commit any war crimes, unless your general opinion is that simply serving in the German military from 1939-45 is a crime, which is bullshit, and is also what this guy's opinion seems to be. He was simply in the military during a shitty time, fighting in a really shitty war that he didn't ask for. What was he supposed to do? Defect? Lay down his arms? If you were in the German military at the time, would you have done that? You'd probably like to think you would, but I highly doubt it. I'm not a Nazi sympathizer in any way, nor am I justifying or denying the atrocities committed by Germany during the Second World War. However, I think that if a soldier didn't commit any war crimes, if he was simply fighting for his country and for the man next to him, it doesn't matter if he was Allied or Axis. He deserves to be remembered as a hero, or at the very least not demonized as a criminal for atrocities that his countrymen committed that he personally had no part in... It seems to me like Michael Wittman was just a skilled tanker who happened to have been German at the time of WWII, not a "criminal". Overall,I think if he had been British, American, Soviet, etc, this guy would probably be calling him a hero.
And what war crimes? The USSR was the villain and it was financed by the Jews (internally) and via the US and Britain (also Jewish influenced). Even this video is produced by a "LEVY'... so that should tell you something also.
Mike Lord I'm of the opinion that it doesn't really matter who killed Wittmann, regardless of how skilled a crew is and how good the tank, there is only so much one can be prepared for and if you catch a shell in the wrong spot that is the end of it, and while Wittmann was certainly a Nazi I can't help but respect his accomplishments as a tank commander along with his crew members, also Otto Carius and Kurt Knispel Germany had no shortage of tank Aces.
JakVM999 12tg Walfan SS murdered Canadian POW's only a few weeks earlier. The Canadians refused to take these NAZI scum prisoners. Michael Whittman was one of these fanatics.
+Matthew Jerabek Matt- I'll be spreading the word that You, Mathew Jerabek an American business owner, who enjoys the freedoms bestowed upon you by the sacrifices in blood of Americans who were slaughtered by, not Wehrmacht, but a Nazi. And You quote "God Bless him" along with an exclamation point as well!!! My Dad enlisted in '42 and commanded 2 tanks before having part of his jaw blown out. You made a big mistake buddy boy.
+Matthew Jerabek Michael Wittmann was a Nazi soldier. He contributed not only to deaths on the battlefield. But the fact that the the front lines were able to be held back and more people were able to be murdered in the concentration camps. You're a nitwit of the highest order. Or a rabid dog! May he roast in the hottest furnaces' of Hell!
So they don't mention that his tank was disabled in the middle of villers bocage by an AT Gun? This is from Michael Wittman himself. How do they fail to mention this lol
According to the most current definitive work only 13 Tiger tanks were destroyed by direct air attack in the entire campaign.Of these, seven Tigers were lost on 18th July 1944 to massive carpet bombing by high altitude heavy bombers, preceding Operation Goodwood. Thus at most only six Tigers were actually destroyed by fighter bombers in the entire campaign. It turns out the best Tiger stopper was easily the British Army’s 17pdr AT gun, with the Typhoon well down on the list. Indeed it appears that air attacks on tank formations protected by Flak were more dangerous for the aircraft than the tanks. The 2nd Tactical Air Force lost 829 aircraft in Normandy while the 9th USAAF lost 897. These losses, which ironically exceed total German tank losses in the Normandy campaign, would be almost all fighter-bombers. Altogether 4 101 Allied aircraft and 16 714 aircrew were lost over the battlefield or in support of the Normandy campaign. This not to say that the RAF did not destroy Whitman's tank. 6 confirmed
You have to hand it to the British and Canadians.. they had it the worst.. Up against some of the best German Divisions at that time. Also their leadership for what it was worth sort of let them down.
Fascinating to see them reconstruct the positions on the actual grounds of the battle. I guess tigers die like any other tank when hit hard enough. There is always a battlefield mystique that follows the legends of some names.
I know one of the tank commanders from the Sherbrooke Fusiliers and I asked him about that. He said yes, the Tigers were hard to kill, so the Shermans had to gang up on them. You had to hit them directly, on a flat part, or else the shell was likely to bounce off. he said airplanes got most of them. Their armor was thin on top.
Mark T. Lucky the Luftwaffe had the crap beaten out of them starting with the Battle of Britain eh? Eyewitness things like this are very valuable to any historian.
Reading people talking about "planes fot most of them" (real numbers show that planes hardly took down a few tanks per hundreds of rockets launched), or that tiger armor was ricocheting a lot (6 months after engaging combat for the first time tiger armour was pretty easy to penetrate for the allied tanks like the 76mm of shermans or the t-34/85 guns). So Tigers were grreat tanks but far from hard to take down withtin 1000m.
so the tigers crossed an open field while being ambushed from several columns of tanks at diferent angles...terrible decision , but this also shows that they understimated allied tanks...an exposed tiger loses his advantage over the enemy
My grandmother could've taken out 100+ Shermans and Cromwells from a concealed defensive position in a tank with superior firepower. A Tiger could take out either from 2000yds while a Sherman needed to be within 600yds and maneuver behind a Tiger to take it out. He an ace as defined but hardly a brilliant tank strategist. Patton, Guderian and Rommel were....:)
Tiger has 19% of chanco of hitting an uncovered inmovile target at 2000m probably without capacity to penetrate even flat sherman armour. Any late allied tank could penetrate easly a tiger even at 1500m
Real class shown here by Norm Christie. Standing on the graves of these men and essentially painting them all with the same brush. Never once acknowledging that they fought with courage and that their families mourned and missed them when they never returned. Nope. They fought for Hitler, so that automatically means they were evil, terrible human beings, unworthy of the slightest praise. The comments of the British fellow at the end are particularly hilarious. While I salute the gentleman’s valour with regards to WW2, as far as I’m concerned NO British (or American, for that matter) person can ever look down their nose at any other country and accuse them of war crimes or invading other nations. The self righteous hypocrisy here is sickening.
There is no way for a Sherman to blow of a Tigers 20tonnes turret in the air like that.Even the firefly is doubtful. (Unless it hit the ammunition chamber)
+KeiserNoName No shit! No turret is going to be blown in the air by a penetration alone!!! Doesn't matter what size of shot gets through the armour, if it ignites the ammo it's gunna burn/blow up.
I do not think Wittman committed suicide or something like that. (There is absolutely no indication at all for that) He might have seen the Yeoman and kept just out of their range, Perhaps to attack them from a better direction. I believe he just did not see the Canadians He would not present his side armor to an enemy with Firefly's at that distance. Most likely he died without knowing what hit him.
People are so harsh about him being a Nazi.... fact of the matter is, while in his tank, he fought for his life like any soldier. Why he signed up, is between him and God Had he lived through the war..... The US would have brought him over, made him a citizen, and paid him a good wage as an Adviser..... Why you ask?..... because he had skills at killing Russian Tanks. Von Brown was a Nazi, and he was responsible for more deaths than Wittmann, look where and how he ended up Oh, before you make any judgments about me... I had family that were killed in Norway by the Germans in WW II lined up against a church wall and machine gunned
funny hearing these guys say someone invading another's country to kill is a criminal last i remember the usa was founded on stealing the Indians whole country and it was also founded in blood baths. how can someone think it was ok to give people blankets infected with smallpox? and they are still forced to live almost with no real rights in their own land. not to say what the ss did was right because it was not but it is always a soldiers duty to obey the orders of their commanders.yes the Germans did war crimes but so did the British and the Americans too i think all soldiers that did war crimes should be punished
Of course, the death of Wittmann as stated Norm Christie above, is complete bunkum. He Omits to say that Ekins fired twice at his first target (314) which he hit with both shots. The first shot showed no effect of burning so he followed it up with a second shot which started the tiger burning. The second Tiger (007) needed only 1 shot because it 'blew up' Ekins 3rd Tiger was 'milling about', he hit it but like the first, did not burn so he fired another shot that made it burn. Ekin.s last shot that he fired in anger was a little later where he knocked out a Pz Mk.IV 'type' with one shot from 1,200 yards. Another from the same regiment knocked out Pz Mk.IV at an even longer range of 1,500 yards. Ekins only fired 7 rounds in anger. The first was on the command of the commander to put a shot through a suspicious hedge-row. his second and third was at Tiger 314. his fourth was at Tiger 007 (the only Tiger to be seen as destroyed after just one shot). The fifth and sixth at the third Tiger 009?. His last was at the Mk IV 'type' that he destroyed from 1,200 yards. thereafter he went back to his 'trade' position in the tank as a Wireless Operator. The Position of the orchard that Ekins (and the rest of the troop) were in was not 1,100 away but 900 yards away from Wittmann's Tiger. Also, the Tiger's turret did not 'fly into the air' because 1) Hans Hofflinger the eye-witness stated that the turret was pointing to the right (towards Ekins position) and at a forward-tilted angle. The turret did fall off to the right of the hull sometime later. The aerial photo (09/08/1944) shows this. The tiger was moved forward (as were the other Tiger hulks) sometime between that date and the date the photo was taken in 1945 by Varin, to remove the tracks and thus the position of the turret being several meters behind the hull. Here's a link to a great discussion that went on a few years ago: forums.armchairgeneral.com/forum/historical-events-eras/world-war-ii/armor-in-world-war-ii/151057-michael-wittman-brian-a-reid-and-sydney-radly-walters forums.armchairgeneral.com/forum/historical-events-eras/world-war-ii/armor-in-world-war-ii/german-and-axis-armor/149995-michael-wittmann-panzer-ace
All First World Nations are involved in Imperialist activities to this day and through history to the Romans. We always want what others have to make us richer, We forget to easily how this affects the countries we invade, invade by corruption, invade by arming fringe opposition radicals or just invade using our own military. We are no more guilty than any Invading Empire before us but we have continued for the longest period of time. This is why we suffer from terrorism, not that terrorism is right, but they have no chance against our military proper. We also kill countless civilians in our battles for resources and the foreign fighters see this and, well, an eye for an eye. Hitler was somewhat worse than us because he committed mass genocide. This is why WW2 is seen as "The Good War".
7:58 according to my knowledge of the German language, the Wochenschau claimed a "stronger American tank unit ".....and according to my knowledge of music - it was glorious....:)
RAF Typhoon anti-tank aircraft fired at anything as "targets of opportunity" during the Normandy campaign. It is highly likely that Whittmans 007 had its turret blown off after the battle by passing Typhoons getting rid of some "baggage". The crew were either dead or injured in the tank as it only seemed disabled when the Canadian tankers hit it. The RAF probably finished the job a few (minutes) hours (even days) later. A plausible scenario
Your brilliant sir, so history has robbed us both of a chance to tie up the allies running all over France seeking a main battle and those asshole SS and Hitler interfering wouldn't have been any help.
There would have been almost nothing recognizable left of his tank if it was hit directly by 60lbs of high explosives. He was ammo racked, pure and simply and not uncommon, fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/322/a/f/af48b98ee53a0040d1ddc616eb4ee27e-d4gk60d.png just look how easy it was to hit the Tigers ammo storage.
The attack was seen by several members of Wittmann's own unit and none of them saw any aircraft. They did see his tank come under fire from Allied guns under cover, and that his tank was hit and the turret slightly displaced off it mounting,and that after a few minutes the turret was thrown into the air when the tanks own ammo exploded.
Stranger things in lucky hits have happen and will happen again in war! Whittman is a great war hero in terms of a dedicated soldier,however I don't care for his politics.
Hitler sought peace so much he invaded Austria, Czechoslovakia Poland,Russia, France, Greece, Cyprus,Belgium, Holland, Yugoslavia ,Luxembourg , Norway etc. And then later invaded Romania and Bulgaria who were a bit half hearted in supporting him at first. Am I missing any countries here?Yep, that sure is a sign of a peaceable man who is content to live and let live. Amazing he didn't win the Nobel prize for world peace eh? I wonder why?
England and France started WW2 when they declared war on Germany... Germany only went into Poland to save the many German nationals inside the Versailles borders of German territory placed in Poland. Good for Germany. God bless them. Shame on America for siding with Godless Jewish communist Russia against Christian Germany.
Robert Lloyd Unfortunately you are not really funny- your sarcasm detector is AFU. And Zenoist did not mention taking over Italy or the countries in North Africa.
Who is up for remembering Major Radley Walters, CMM DSO MC CD of the Sherbrookes, we're remembering the wrong people (ie Mr Wittmann & co) although I am British unlike the establishment of WWII who saw outsiders as a means to their ends. The Canadians, the Poles who served with them, had some of the lowest casualty ratings amongst the allies, and quite a few of their battles we're up against fanatical SS units who even they admitted that they considered the Canucks as excellent opponents. In this light should we not be thankful to these cousins who helped us when we Brits were short of man power. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Valpy_Radley-Walters, www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tank-ace-captain-radley-walters-began-stellar-career-at-normandy/article24093726/ Talk about survivability, he had three tanks shot out from under him and was injured twice. He would often look after the soldiers first so from that perspective deserves to be remembered he also became a tank ace, rising to the rank of Brigadier-General.
the german army is THE brain-teaser for the allies for the next thousand years. sometimes i think you allies don t know what to think love or hate. mostly hate. because it s embarrasing having such a long fight against a extrem outnumbered enemy. so make him bad
+Ryan Flood Well we are "told" that there was a Picture of an "Unexploded" rocket , that was fond on the ground near by...... yet no picture was produced for the video. While rummaging through the junk in the Barn......... a rusted piece of pipe is shown....... a statement is made that it is the remains of a Typhoon Rocket....... all I see is a rusty piece of pipe..... I am not convinced it is a Rocket.
+NinjaViking1 Well it certainly looks a like a Typhoon rocket. the correct size and width, the only thing i can see wrong with it is, it doesn't have any fins on it. so lets just say it is a Typhoon rocket, how did it get there? im pretty sure the guy has no reason to lie about where he found it?
+Ryan Flood it's a piece of pipe....... Could be anything...... if you are that convinced...... I am sure I can find one laying around my town. I'll sell you one. Besides......there were no Typhoons in the area that day. Just because he has this item in the barn...... does not mean it was from that particular day.
+Tukaelm Jarvinen right and wrong. wittmann's gunner, balthsar wohl modified the manual turret traverse to speed up the slow turret turn motor of the tiger & one of a few tiger gunners who could fire its 88mm whilst on the move.
I love the comments. It was the British, it was the Canadians. Read as: My country is better than your country. After Careful investigation I have solved the mystery. The killing shot came from the lone gunman on the grassy knoll.
Was this guy really that good in a tank or was it that he just got incredible numbers because everyone else had such inferior tanks at the time. I mean up until the very end we didn't have many tanks that could stand up to their Tigers. Not trying to belittle his fighting accomplishments, just wondering. I haven't finished the doc yet. Also, don't care for anyone who was part of the SS. Erwin Rommel wasn't part of the ss or Nazi party and deserves a lot of the respect he's been given even though he might have been more knowledgeable about what the Nazi's were doing than was previously thought. Of coursing knowing and condoning are two different things. He obviously believed in serving his country, fought with honor, did not mistreat pow's and earned his enemies respect. In the end only Rommel can say how much he did know or not know about Hitler's agenda, anything else is pure conjecture. He obviously got involved albeit indirectly with a plot to kill Hitler which makes him deserve even more respect. At some point he must have understood Hitler's insanity.
Prob a combination Jamie Pinson .......The Tiger was an awesome tank.....the Allies tanks were shit compared to it ......Courage......Great Tank.....Luck.....
Combination of he WAS good and he DID have a very good tank. His crew which most people don't even think about must have been top class too. A pretty lethal combination.
He was one of the best, but not 'the' best. He made a lot of mistakes, his actions on the day he died, for example, are regarded as terrible mistakes. Currently the world's best known tank ace is Kurt Knispel, who's accredited with 168 confirmed tank kills, god knows how many anti-tank guns, emplacements, etc., but it's been suggested his total tank kills could number the neck end of 200. Knispel wasn't SS like Wittmann, in addition. I have no adoration for the Wermacht's dealings in World War 2, but at the very least, they weren't as bad as the SS. He's also claimed to have kicked seven bells out of an SS officer for mistreating Soviet POWs and was allegedly very laid back and had little time for regulations and authority. Otherwise he'd have been promoted a lot faster, as it was, he's lucky he got that far, it's only his exceptional skill at arms that kept him on through his career. That all being said, it still doesn't alter the fact he fought with our enemy at the time.
Jamie Pinson Well if you read about him, you would know he had balls of steel.. He used a short barrel StuG against T-34's much superior to his own vehicle in his early career. Tanking requires a crew that can effectively engage, maneuver and shoot.. knowing the range of your weapon and keeping it "ranged" is essential. Wittmann was very good, was he the best, that is up for debate as there are many other great Tank Aces, such as Kurt Knispel and Otto Carius.. I believe Wittman was in the Top 5 of all German Tank Aces. You also have to remember that most of these guys had to endure years of combat.. The Russians really had bad experiences as there losses were very high.. not just because of Tank inferiority, but crew skill. Although Russian T-34 in the early stages had an advantage.
I think Whittman was a die -hard soldier that was hoping for a lucky sucess that day in charging across that open field no air cover and knowing enemy air patols were freely out looking for targets that day.
As the narrator says, let's not forget who Wittman was fighting for (and therefore what he was fighting for.) Anyone who thinks Wittman commendable, perhaps would also like to offer some praise for the deeds of the equally fanatical and brutal Japanese 'warriors'.
In many experts opinion the British Centurion was the best tank. It came into service after WW2 and incorporated many lessons learnt in the war and served with many nations including Israel for whom it did a great job. The Tiger was a tough bastard but it had many faults Eg too heavy for its power train, over complicated, unreliable and slow. Having a great gun and heavy armour is not the be all and end all of tank design
There are enay proof or evidence of a left shot? I didnt found one. And the effective range of a firefly is way over 1000 meters, indeed that tank is very capable of hitting that target in an open field from a good set position, its logical that the firefly aimed for the farest tanks and let the other shermans (with less efective range) engage the closest ones.
Some idiot on Facebook is citing this video as proof that Americans lost at Villars Bocage but have edited the entire historical account (which includes copious German documentation) to instead make it look like an embarrassing defeat for the British. Starting this video with that in mind, I'm not expecting to find a lot of facts here.
who killed wittmann ??... i do not care, the question should be: where is tiger tank nr 007 now!??, what happend to tiger 007 after the battle and where is it now?
***** The sabot rounds on the 17 pdr had really bad accuracy, they couldn't even hit a 6x6 foot target at 100 yrds. What good is all that penetration if you can't hit what your shooting at?
+petethebastard first sabot rounds where inaccurare as hell, because rifled gun is crap to fire them unlesses you use some fins like modern sabot fired by the british. From test made by UK/US in 1944 the 17 pdr gun had a bad accuracy. Even with AP rounds the chances to hit at long range where little. Final reports say that the 17 pdr sabot where literally unusable past 500 meters. Let alone hitting at 1000 meters. Also to worse the things, the firefly scope had no reticular for the APDS, so the gunner had to use the APCBC and guess where the shell will fall....yea....
petethebastard worldoftanks.com/en/news/21/The_Chieftains_Hatch_Firefly2/ my mistake it was a 1000 meters. The American 76mm M1A2 was a better AT gun than the 17 lbr.
This video is incorrect.. Initially Wittmann set off with 4 Tigers including his.. one of the Tigers Broke down. Wiki is dated source. 2 of the tanks turned right and headed up to Hill 213, while Wittmann turned left and went into Villers Bocage. www.panzerace.net/biography/normandy-1944/villers-bocage.html Wittmann would slowly approach the highway, accompanied by the two other running Tigers 221 and 223 belonging to SS-Untersturmführer Hantusch and SS-Oberscharführer Brandt, with SS-Unterscharführer Sowa in the half-fit 234 sitting back to provide the rearguard. Wittmann would take the vehicles to the rear of what was the advanced enemy column, while Hantusch and Brandt were to proceed east along the RN 175 to Hill 213.Wittmann would slowly approach the highway, accompanied by the two other running Tigers 221 and 223 belonging to SS-Untersturmführer Hantusch and SS-Oberscharführer Brandt, with SS-Unterscharführer Sowa in the half-fit 234 sitting back to provide the rearguard. Wittmann would take the vehicles to the rear of what was the advanced enemy column, while Hantusch and Brandt were to proceed east along the RN 175 to Hill 213.
A decimated German division would have 90% effectives. You know the old joke, nine Roman soldiers standing over the body of a 10th whom they have just killed, one saying to the others "This decimation isn't so bad".
The British Firefly tank could not stop Wittmann's German Tiger tank at 1100 to 1300 yards. That was the distance Joe Ekins was from 007. British propaganda tried to promote the inferior Firefly as being the equal to the German Tiger tank This was not true. The German Tiger tank was one of best and most deadliest tanks of World War 2 The Canadians were only 143 meters from Michael Wittmann's Tiger tank and at that range had a more effective shot or a Typhoon rocket from an allied plane had the stopping power to take out that Tiger tank.
Hitler sought peace, he tried every way he could to avoid war- it was London and Washington Dc who prompted the fight- they offered the military dictatorship in Poland guarantees of assistance in any border war- the Poles even made maps showing German territory near Berlin ;in as now being Polish. Polish artillery even fired upon German civilian craft...Germany's patience ran its course by Sept 1 1939. the border war was on, but three days later Britain and France turned this into a world war, which Hitler many times tried to forge a truce, up to mid 1941.....The victors in wars write the history books, what most people think they know about WW2 is just mythology or lies.
A lot of people believed Hitler then, and it seems some still believe him now. Poor old Neville Chamberlain was a dupe like wotan237 when Hitler said, in 1938, the Sudetenland "is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe." Churchill was wiser, knew Hitler was a troublemaker.
Wotan (are you a god?), some of what you say is true. Nobody with any human decency would laud the Reds who raped German women in 1945. And yes, the Allies committed war crimes--as did the Japanese and Germans. No argument about that. But even if Poland provoked Germany, what's the justification for the Nazis' invasion of Czechoslovakia? Or the assassination of Dollfuss in Austria? Or the treacherous attack on the USSR in 1941? Have you read much of Mein Kampf? Probably not. Even Mussolini thought Hitler was a wacko. (Only became his ally when Italy was alone, after the invasion of Ethiopia in '35. Thought he could control Hitler, who admired him.) I still think Hitler was a hateful racist troublemaker. READ HIS BOOK.
This time I'm not sure whether to laugh or be sick. You obviously haven't read his book, but you believe the myth--or maybe you're just trolling. Well, I'm totally sincere when I tell you I'm proud of my father, my uncle and my grandfather for fighting Hitler--who took the coward's way out. What an asshole.
My money has always been on a Typhoon fighter firing rockets that took out Wittmann, Woll & the rest of the crew of #007 and never once did I ever entertain the foolish notion that some Canadian or British Sherman tank was responsible, not a chance! There is absolutely no way an American made Sherman tank, no matter how they were modified, was capable of taking out a well built German Tiger tank, especially at the distances we're talking about here! The arrogant Brits were well known for making bogus claims of miraculous accomplishments in WWII that simply never happened. ;-)
+Texas Hi-Railer you really ARE a moron. a true moron. i bet you don't even know the weight and size of the 17 pounder AT gun used in Brit modified Fireflies. they had equal, if not better properties than the German 88mm on a Tiger and could penetrate a King Tiger, using the correct ammo. oh, and cos you're obviously a texican, don't let your 'brain' convinc e you that the smaller 77mmHV round used by the Brit Comet is the same round or gun as the real 17 pounder used by Fireflies. typhoon and tempest jabos rockets were effective for splash damage vs tanks. they were so highly inacurate that to get a direct hit was very remote. wait a minute.. i know just WHY you're soooo pissed off!! US repples depples were often used as infantry thanks to eisenhowers ludicrous broad front strategy which ate up US troops at an alarming rate so the US army in ETO had to use these typists, desk clerks and pen pushers... and it often occurred that they would be used as loaders in Shermans and, more often than not... they climbed out the tank at the first sight of a PzIV with schurzen [making it look like a small Tiger] and would never be seen again. for shame! now get back to reading jack chick, ham, WLCraig or Hovind. or maybe go back to that book of myths known s the bible... romans, numbers, hebrews, matthew, mark, luke and sone.. cuthbert, dibble, scrumch.
+Narred Darr A moron? That's the response of a twelve year old! I know all about the Firefly and the 17 pounder but at the distances we're talking here, they would have had to be much closer to do that kind of damage to a Tiger. That should be obvious by the damage done to the other three. If you ever get to Germany from Canuck-land, stop by many of the German public libraries and read up on that battle and what exactly happened to Michael Wittmann and how he died? Keep in mind the victors always tell the stories and it's funny how many of the WWII stories told by Brits, Canucks and Americans don't seem to match the accounts of the stories in print in Germany and Austria. Trust me my friend, no Canuck or Brit took out Michael Wittmann and his Tiger but you believe what you want. At 60+ years of age and researching WWII for some four decades now I think I've learned a little more than the average documentary producers and those who watch them. Take care and a happy 2016 to you. BTW, brush up on your feeble attempts to insult folks, eeh!
+Narred Darr BTW Canuck, I'm not a Texican my friend. I'm 6'4", blonde hair, blue eyes and both of my parents were born in Wiesbaden, Germany. That's pronounced Vees bah din just FYI and my parents came to America in 1952 a couple of years before I was born. A Texican? ROFLMAO!!! ;-) ___ You probably don't even know what hi-railer means???
+Narred Darr BTW Canuck, I'm not a Texican my friend. I'm 6'4", blonde hair, blue eyes and both of my parents were born in Wiesbaden, Germany. That's pronounced Vees bah din just FYI and my parents came to America in 1952 a couple of years before I was born. A Texican? ROFLMAO!!! ;-) ___ You probably don't even know what hi-railer means???
In the last few minutes of the documentary, the guy speaks of not romanticising someone like Michael Wittmann since the Germans were fighting for Adolf Hitler. That is like saying that the British fought for King George, the Americans fought for President Roosevelt, Australians fought for their Prime Minister etc etc etc. While not forgetting that Wittman thought well of Hitler and the Nazi ideaology, I think that most Germans, British, Americans, and whoever else fought for their country and not for a specific individual..
Then you don't know anything about WW2, then.
@@gregorboca90 SS were a different breed since they were politically indoctrinated more than the German Army was.
@@petcali24
this is true at the beginning of the war,
but as manpower shortages hit the country hard.
They started taking anybody,
(by this time) many were not Volunteers
they were just sent as replacements to whatever unit needed men
Wittmann liked Nazi ideology, where is that? Do you know Kurt Knispel, he didn't like it at all and was only promoted to sergeant
@@petcali24 but not all ,it was a elite association with good weapons, often ahead of the Wehrmacht.
Awesome show,thank you for posting!!
GREAT DOCUMENTARY! :)
BIG THANKS FOR UPLOADING! :)
08.08.1944 / 08.08.2014, Ruhe in Frieden Michael Wittmann, Held ♥
That museum with the relics of Witmann's tank was very interesting to see!
7:11 possibly the greatest example of "taking the piss" in history!!!!!
ToonandBBfan just before they blew him to pieces
I have just recently been following up on something my father told me years ago. He was with The Sherbrooke Regiment as a gun layer of a Firefly tank. Around Caen, presumably during the operation to break out in to open country, in the push forward they encountered a large house with a tall walled garden. He said they had a British tank group pull around to their left in woods. They expected the Germans to appear from their right towards the British tanks. They knocked holes in the walls and waited, sure enough they heard then saw four German tanks pass from right to left directly in front of them going towards the British tanks who opened fire. My dad said one of the tanks was incredibly close and in open country and he couldn't miss. The tank group opens up with Armour Piercing shells and hit this tank setting it ablaze and after a while the turret blew off. To me it was one of his few war stories he told me but it stuck and then I started reading about Wittman?
6 vs 1 ? typical
40:55 Sorry but I think that's bullshit. The guy was in the military long before WWII even started and was probably just following orders. Both Britain and the US have been in some pretty fucked up, unjustified wars. Does that make the soldiers who fought them evil for simply following their orders? I haven't done a whole lot of research on Michael Wittmann, and I know he was in the SS, so I could be wrong, but as far as I know, he didn't commit any war crimes, unless your general opinion is that simply serving in the German military from 1939-45 is a crime, which is bullshit, and is also what this guy's opinion seems to be. He was simply in the military during a shitty time, fighting in a really shitty war that he didn't ask for. What was he supposed to do? Defect? Lay down his arms? If you were in the German military at the time, would you have done that? You'd probably like to think you would, but I highly doubt it.
I'm not a Nazi sympathizer in any way, nor am I justifying or denying the atrocities committed by Germany during the Second World War. However, I think that if a soldier didn't commit any war crimes, if he was simply fighting for his country and for the man next to him, it doesn't matter if he was Allied or Axis. He deserves to be remembered as a hero, or at the very least not demonized as a criminal for atrocities that his countrymen committed that he personally had no part in...
It seems to me like Michael Wittman was just a skilled tanker who happened to have been German at the time of WWII, not a "criminal". Overall,I think if he had been British, American, Soviet, etc, this guy would probably be calling him a hero.
And what war crimes? The USSR was the villain and it was financed by the Jews (internally) and via the US and Britain (also Jewish influenced). Even this video is produced by a "LEVY'... so that should tell you something also.
Mike Lord I'm of the opinion that it doesn't really matter who killed Wittmann, regardless of how skilled a crew is and how good the tank, there is only so much one can be prepared for and if you catch a shell in the wrong spot that is the end of it, and while Wittmann was certainly a Nazi I can't help but respect his accomplishments as a tank commander along with his crew members, also Otto Carius and Kurt Knispel Germany had no shortage of tank Aces.
I agree, while he was nazi scum, he did have interesting tactics, using his tiger like an assualt gun and all...
JakvsMetalheads999 well said
JakVM999 12tg Walfan SS murdered Canadian POW's only a few weeks earlier.
The Canadians refused to take these NAZI scum prisoners.
Michael Whittman was one of these fanatics.
Michael W. is a hero among heroes! God Best him!
Matthew Jerabek He's just another dead Nazi and good thing too.
If he wasn't a nazi i would find a lot to admire in him.
Matthew Jerabek Yeah he was no hero. He was an SS tank commander just like the other guy said. "Just another dead piece of trash Nazi".
+zenoist2 he didn't care about being a nazies,he fought for his country and people and he joined up like everyone else
+Matthew Jerabek Matt- I'll be spreading the word that You, Mathew Jerabek an American business owner, who enjoys the freedoms bestowed upon you by the sacrifices in blood of Americans who were slaughtered by, not Wehrmacht, but a Nazi. And You quote "God Bless him" along with an exclamation point as well!!! My Dad enlisted in '42 and commanded 2 tanks before having part of his jaw blown out. You made a big mistake buddy boy.
+Matthew Jerabek Michael Wittmann was a Nazi soldier. He contributed not only to deaths on the battlefield. But the fact that the the front lines were able to be held back and more people were able to be murdered in the concentration camps. You're a nitwit of the highest order. Or a rabid dog! May he roast in the hottest furnaces' of Hell!
So they don't mention that his tank was disabled in the middle of villers bocage by an AT Gun? This is from Michael Wittman himself. How do they fail to mention this lol
According to the most current definitive work only 13 Tiger tanks were destroyed by direct air attack in the entire campaign.Of these, seven Tigers were lost on 18th July 1944 to massive carpet bombing by high altitude heavy bombers, preceding Operation Goodwood. Thus at most only six Tigers were actually destroyed by fighter bombers in the entire campaign. It turns out the best Tiger stopper was easily the British Army’s 17pdr AT gun, with the Typhoon well down on the list.
Indeed it appears that air attacks on tank formations protected by Flak were more dangerous for the aircraft than the tanks. The 2nd Tactical Air Force lost 829 aircraft in Normandy while the 9th USAAF lost 897. These losses, which ironically exceed total German tank losses in the Normandy campaign, would be almost all fighter-bombers. Altogether 4 101 Allied aircraft and 16 714 aircrew were lost over the battlefield or in support of the Normandy campaign. This not to say that the RAF did not destroy Whitman's tank. 6 confirmed
"takes balls to be a tank man" - Kurt ' panzer' Meyer
You have to hand it to the British and Canadians.. they had it the worst.. Up against some of the best German Divisions at that time. Also their leadership for what it was worth sort of let them down.
Yup Your Right I think He yust Got Hatred Cuz He took Out Many Of Their Tanks And Maybe some Were His friends
Fascinating to see them reconstruct the positions on the actual grounds of the battle. I guess tigers die like any other tank when hit hard enough. There is always a battlefield mystique that follows the legends of some names.
I know one of the tank commanders from the Sherbrooke Fusiliers and I asked him about that. He said yes, the Tigers were hard to kill, so the Shermans had to gang up on them. You had to hit them directly, on a flat part, or else the shell was likely to bounce off. he said airplanes got most of them. Their armor was thin on top.
Mark T. Lucky the Luftwaffe had the crap beaten out of them starting with the Battle of Britain eh? Eyewitness things like this are very valuable to any historian.
Reading people talking about "planes fot most of them" (real numbers show that planes hardly took down a few tanks per hundreds of rockets launched), or that tiger armor was ricocheting a lot (6 months after engaging combat for the first time tiger armour was pretty easy to penetrate for the allied tanks like the 76mm of shermans or the t-34/85 guns). So Tigers were grreat tanks but far from hard to take down withtin 1000m.
The Tiger is easy as to kill..... in Warthunder :D
only because of the battle rating.
it's impervious to the american 75mm from the front even at very close range, and the side is also impervious to 75mm when farther then 500m or so
a reckless charge withOUT any reconnoiter....
I wonder why there is no movie about this????
would the liberals allow people to idolize the nazis?
ive read he was hit by planes
Have you infants heard of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so that's what happens to this guy with his tank.
the best there is
the best there was
the best there ever will be
so the tigers crossed an open field while being ambushed from several columns of tanks at diferent angles...terrible decision , but this also shows that they understimated allied tanks...an exposed tiger loses his advantage over the enemy
So Whitman was the original James Bond 😂😂😂
My grandmother could've taken out 100+ Shermans and Cromwells from a concealed defensive position in a tank with superior firepower. A Tiger could take out either from 2000yds while a Sherman needed to be within 600yds and maneuver behind a Tiger to take it out. He an ace as defined but hardly a brilliant tank strategist. Patton, Guderian and Rommel were....:)
oh look, another keyboard warrior who thinks even his mother can do it
letsgostate87 oh fuck off bastard. Respect a hero who gave his life for his fatherland!
Omg how many incorrect information in a single message
Tiger has 19% of chanco of hitting an uncovered inmovile target at 2000m probably without capacity to penetrate even flat sherman armour. Any late allied tank could penetrate easly a tiger even at 1500m
Real class shown here by Norm Christie. Standing on the graves of these men and essentially painting them all with the same brush. Never once acknowledging that they fought with courage and that their families mourned and missed them when they never returned. Nope. They fought for Hitler, so that automatically means they were evil, terrible human beings, unworthy of the slightest praise. The comments of the British fellow at the end are particularly hilarious. While I salute the gentleman’s valour with regards to WW2, as far as I’m concerned NO British (or American, for that matter) person can ever look down their nose at any other country and accuse them of war crimes or invading other nations. The self righteous hypocrisy here is sickening.
W sounds like V ffs ....
Wittman was featured in the 2014 Blockbuster Fury.
+Karl Jacob no he wasn't
There is no way for a Sherman to blow of a Tigers 20tonnes turret in the air like that.Even the firefly is doubtful. (Unless it hit the ammunition chamber)
+KeiserNoName No shit! No turret is going to be blown in the air by a penetration alone!!! Doesn't matter what size of shot gets through the armour, if it ignites the ammo it's gunna burn/blow up.
Wittman. bad. arse. commander
I do not think Wittman committed suicide or something like that. (There is absolutely no indication at all for that)
He might have seen the Yeoman and kept just out of their range, Perhaps to attack them from a better direction.
I believe he just did not see the Canadians He would not present his side armor to an enemy with Firefly's at that distance.
Most likely he died without knowing what hit him.
''germanys greatest panzer ace, Michael wittman''
Who is Kurt Knispel?
Another great tank commander like Otto Carrius and Ernst Barkmann or Franz Staudegger ;)
Only. 1. tiger. in. the world. that. runs. used. it. in. the. movie. Fury
People are so harsh about him being a Nazi....
fact of the matter is,
while in his tank, he fought for his life
like any soldier.
Why he signed up, is between him and God
Had he lived through the war.....
The US would have brought him over,
made him a citizen, and paid him a good wage as an Adviser.....
Why you ask?..... because he had skills at killing Russian Tanks.
Von Brown was a Nazi,
and he was responsible for more deaths than Wittmann,
look where and how he ended up
Oh, before you make any judgments about me...
I had family that were killed in Norway by the Germans in WW II
lined up against a church wall and machine gunned
funny hearing these guys say someone invading another's country to kill is a criminal last i remember the usa was founded on stealing the Indians whole country and it was also founded in blood baths. how can someone think it was ok to give people blankets infected with smallpox? and they are still forced to live almost with no real rights in their own land. not to say what the ss did was right because it was not but it is always a soldiers duty to obey the orders of their commanders.yes the Germans did war crimes but so did the British and the Americans too i think all soldiers that did war crimes should be punished
Of course, the death of Wittmann as stated Norm Christie above, is complete bunkum. He Omits to say that Ekins fired twice at his first target (314) which he hit with both shots. The first shot showed no effect of burning so he followed it up with a second shot which started the tiger burning. The second Tiger (007) needed only 1 shot because it 'blew up' Ekins 3rd Tiger was 'milling about', he hit it but like the first, did not burn so he fired another shot that made it burn. Ekin.s last shot that he fired in anger was a little later where he knocked out a Pz Mk.IV 'type' with one shot from 1,200 yards. Another from the same regiment knocked out Pz Mk.IV at an even longer range of 1,500 yards.
Ekins only fired 7 rounds in anger. The first was on the command of the commander to put a shot through a suspicious hedge-row. his second and third was at Tiger 314. his fourth was at Tiger 007 (the only Tiger to be seen as destroyed after just one shot). The fifth and sixth at the third Tiger 009?. His last was at the Mk IV 'type' that he destroyed from 1,200 yards. thereafter he went back to his 'trade' position in the tank as a Wireless Operator.
The Position of the orchard that Ekins (and the rest of the troop) were in was not 1,100 away but 900 yards away from Wittmann's Tiger. Also, the Tiger's turret did not 'fly into the air' because 1) Hans Hofflinger the eye-witness stated that the turret was pointing to the right (towards Ekins position) and at a forward-tilted angle. The turret did fall off to the right of the hull sometime later. The aerial photo (09/08/1944) shows this. The tiger was moved forward (as were the other Tiger hulks) sometime between that date and the date the photo was taken in 1945 by Varin, to remove the tracks and thus the position of the turret being several meters behind the hull.
Here's a link to a great discussion that went on a few years ago:
forums.armchairgeneral.com/forum/historical-events-eras/world-war-ii/armor-in-world-war-ii/151057-michael-wittman-brian-a-reid-and-sydney-radly-walters
forums.armchairgeneral.com/forum/historical-events-eras/world-war-ii/armor-in-world-war-ii/german-and-axis-armor/149995-michael-wittmann-panzer-ace
Best and most aknowledgable comment i´ve seen in this comment section.
All First World Nations are involved in Imperialist activities to this day and through history to the Romans. We always want what others have to make us richer, We forget to easily how this affects the countries we invade, invade by corruption, invade by arming fringe opposition radicals or just invade using our own military. We are no more guilty than any Invading Empire before us but we have continued for the longest period of time. This is why we suffer from terrorism, not that terrorism is right, but they have no chance against our military proper. We also kill countless civilians in our battles for resources and the foreign fighters see this and, well, an eye for an eye. Hitler was somewhat worse than us because he committed mass genocide. This is why WW2 is seen as "The Good War".
Rest in Peace Hero you fight brave and with honour for the wrong reasons but youre still a hero!!
It was Fergalin!
Hahaha "Fegelein"
Greetings from Germany
7:58 according to my knowledge of the German language, the Wochenschau claimed a "stronger American tank unit ".....and according to my knowledge of music - it was glorious....:)
RAF Typhoon anti-tank aircraft fired at anything as "targets of opportunity" during the Normandy campaign. It is highly likely that Whittmans 007 had its turret blown off after the battle by passing Typhoons getting rid of some "baggage". The crew were either dead or injured in the tank as it only seemed disabled when the Canadian tankers hit it. The RAF probably finished the job a few (minutes) hours (even days) later. A plausible scenario
I agree with your scenario.
Your brilliant sir, so history has robbed us both of a chance to tie up the allies running all over France seeking a main battle and those asshole SS and Hitler interfering wouldn't have been any help.
There would have been almost nothing recognizable left of his tank if it was hit directly by 60lbs of high explosives. He was ammo racked, pure and simply and not uncommon, fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/322/a/f/af48b98ee53a0040d1ddc616eb4ee27e-d4gk60d.png
just look how easy it was to hit the Tigers ammo storage.
The attack was seen by several members of Wittmann's own unit and none of them saw any aircraft. They did see his tank come under fire from Allied guns under cover, and that his tank was hit and the turret slightly displaced off it mounting,and that after a few minutes the turret was thrown into the air when the tanks own ammo exploded.
Stranger things in lucky hits have happen and will happen again in war! Whittman is a great war hero in terms of a dedicated soldier,however I don't care for his politics.
240 dpi? what you in the stone age?
Not mine originally, just sharing it.
Hitler sought peace so much he invaded Austria, Czechoslovakia Poland,Russia, France, Greece, Cyprus,Belgium, Holland, Yugoslavia ,Luxembourg , Norway etc. And then later invaded Romania and Bulgaria who were a bit half hearted in supporting him at first.
Am I missing any countries here?Yep, that sure is a sign of a peaceable man who is content to live and let live.
Amazing he didn't win the Nobel prize for world peace eh?
I wonder why?
England and France started WW2 when they declared war on Germany... Germany only went into Poland to save the many German nationals inside the Versailles borders of German territory placed in Poland. Good for Germany. God bless them. Shame on America for siding with Godless Jewish communist Russia against Christian Germany.
Robert Lloyd HAHAHAHAHA!
You really are a comedian.
zenoist2
- unfortunately, you aren't funny.
zero, it makes you wonder about it all, doesn't it? I mean Obama got one....
Robert Lloyd Unfortunately you are not really funny- your sarcasm detector is AFU. And Zenoist did not mention taking over Italy or the countries in North Africa.
Who is up for remembering Major Radley Walters, CMM DSO MC CD of the Sherbrookes, we're remembering the wrong people (ie Mr Wittmann & co) although I am British unlike the establishment of WWII who saw outsiders as a means to their ends. The Canadians, the Poles who served with them, had some of the lowest casualty ratings amongst the allies, and quite a few of their battles we're up against fanatical SS units who even they admitted that they considered the Canucks as excellent opponents. In this light should we not be thankful to these cousins who helped us when we Brits were short of man power. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Valpy_Radley-Walters, www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tank-ace-captain-radley-walters-began-stellar-career-at-normandy/article24093726/ Talk about survivability, he had three tanks shot out from under him and was injured twice. He would often look after the soldiers first so from that perspective deserves to be remembered he also became a tank ace, rising to the rank of Brigadier-General.
We each have our own opinions, you're welcome to yours, however I will differ to that!!
Deutschland!
the german army is THE brain-teaser for the allies for the next thousand years. sometimes i think you allies don t know what to think love or hate. mostly hate. because it s embarrasing having such a long fight against a extrem outnumbered enemy. so make him bad
if it wasnt the Typhoons, then why is the rocket laying there? anyone have any theories?
+Ryan Flood
Well we are "told" that there was a Picture of an "Unexploded" rocket ,
that was fond on the ground near by......
yet no picture was produced for the video.
While rummaging through the junk in the Barn.........
a rusted piece of pipe is shown.......
a statement is made that it is the remains of a Typhoon Rocket.......
all I see is a rusty piece of pipe..... I am not convinced it is a Rocket.
+NinjaViking1 Well it certainly looks a like a Typhoon rocket. the correct size and width, the only thing i can see wrong with it is, it doesn't have any fins on it. so lets just say it is a Typhoon rocket, how did it get there? im pretty sure the guy has no reason to lie about where he found it?
+Ryan Flood
it's a piece of pipe.......
Could be anything......
if you are that convinced......
I am sure I can find one laying around my town.
I'll sell you one.
Besides......there were no Typhoons in the area that day.
Just because he has this item in the barn......
does not mean it was from that particular day.
NinjaViking1 Have a look on Google, it sure looks like a rocket. the guy seems to think it was a rocket....
..tiger 1 cant shoot while its moving. Its not good for the turret.
+Tukaelm Jarvinen
right and wrong.
wittmann's gunner, balthsar wohl modified the manual turret traverse to speed up the slow turret turn motor of the tiger & one of a few tiger gunners who could fire its 88mm whilst on the move.
I love the comments. It was the British, it was the Canadians. Read as: My country is better than your country. After Careful investigation I have solved the mystery. The killing shot came from the lone gunman on the grassy knoll.
swatdiver1 See the movie Shooter "Still got the shovel!"
+swatdiver1 Wrong again...just little ol' Lee Harvey trained by the USMC to shoot well.
Auf geht's Deutschland. Lobet den Herrn. ☇🕇☇🎶🎻⚘
Was this guy really that good in a tank or was it that he just got incredible numbers because everyone else had such inferior tanks at the time. I mean up until the very end we didn't have many tanks that could stand up to their Tigers. Not trying to belittle his fighting accomplishments, just wondering. I haven't finished the doc yet.
Also, don't care for anyone who was part of the SS. Erwin Rommel wasn't part of the ss or Nazi party and deserves a lot of the respect he's been given even though he might have been more knowledgeable about what the Nazi's were doing than was previously thought. Of coursing knowing and condoning are two different things. He obviously believed in serving his country, fought with honor, did not mistreat pow's and earned his enemies respect. In the end only Rommel can say how much he did know or not know about Hitler's agenda, anything else is pure conjecture. He obviously got involved albeit indirectly with a plot to kill Hitler which makes him deserve even more respect. At some point he must have understood Hitler's insanity.
Prob a combination Jamie Pinson .......The Tiger was an awesome tank.....the Allies tanks were shit compared to it ......Courage......Great Tank.....Luck.....
There were lots of Tiger commanders.... Wittmann proved to be one of the best. That is how he is judged. God bless Michael Wittmann.
Combination of he WAS good and he DID have a very good tank.
His crew which most people don't even think about must have been top class too.
A pretty lethal combination.
He was one of the best, but not 'the' best. He made a lot of mistakes, his actions on the day he died, for example, are regarded as terrible mistakes. Currently the world's best known tank ace is Kurt Knispel, who's accredited with 168 confirmed tank kills, god knows how many anti-tank guns, emplacements, etc., but it's been suggested his total tank kills could number the neck end of 200.
Knispel wasn't SS like Wittmann, in addition. I have no adoration for the Wermacht's dealings in World War 2, but at the very least, they weren't as bad as the SS. He's also claimed to have kicked seven bells out of an SS officer for mistreating Soviet POWs and was allegedly very laid back and had little time for regulations and authority. Otherwise he'd have been promoted a lot faster, as it was, he's lucky he got that far, it's only his exceptional skill at arms that kept him on through his career.
That all being said, it still doesn't alter the fact he fought with our enemy at the time.
Jamie Pinson Well if you read about him, you would know he had balls of steel.. He used a short barrel StuG against T-34's much superior to his own vehicle in his early career. Tanking requires a crew that can effectively engage, maneuver and shoot.. knowing the range of your weapon and keeping it "ranged" is essential. Wittmann was very good, was he the best, that is up for debate as there are many other great Tank Aces, such as Kurt Knispel and Otto Carius.. I believe Wittman was in the Top 5 of all German Tank Aces. You also have to remember that most of these guys had to endure years of combat.. The Russians really had bad experiences as there losses were very high.. not just because of Tank inferiority, but crew skill. Although Russian T-34 in the early stages had an advantage.
Proud that it looks like it was a Canadian that took out the trash
I think Whittman was a die -hard soldier that was hoping for a lucky sucess that day in charging across that open field no air cover and knowing enemy air patols were freely out looking for targets that day.
As the narrator says, let's not forget who Wittman was fighting for (and therefore what he was fighting for.) Anyone who thinks Wittman commendable, perhaps would also like to offer some praise for the deeds of the equally fanatical and brutal Japanese 'warriors'.
Tiger I the best tank ever
The m1A2 an American tank is the most advanced tank in the world
Okay
Big deal. It was never involved in anything remotely close in terms of historical relevancy.
Not realy, leopard 3.
In many experts opinion the British Centurion was the best tank. It came into service after WW2 and incorporated many lessons learnt in the war and served with many nations including Israel for whom it did a great job.
The Tiger was a tough bastard but it had many faults
Eg too heavy for its power train, over complicated, unreliable and slow.
Having a great gun and heavy armour is not the be all and end all of tank design
pop goes the wittmann
good thing they finally dropped that SOB.
th-cam.com/video/GFyKVJ_ZN-8/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Timeline-WorldHistoryDocumentaries
elukunlab joren ewalok nan ebye
sorry about my delay I'm sorry want me to leave
It was not the British who knows lled wittmann as the fatal shot came from the left side of the tank and the British were to far away from 007
There are enay proof or evidence of a left shot? I didnt found one. And the effective range of a firefly is way over 1000 meters, indeed that tank is very capable of hitting that target in an open field from a good set position, its logical that the firefly aimed for the farest tanks and let the other shermans (with less efective range) engage the closest ones.
Greatest panzer ace? I think not
Some idiot on Facebook is citing this video as proof that Americans lost at Villars Bocage but have edited the entire historical account (which includes copious German documentation) to instead make it look like an embarrassing defeat for the British. Starting this video with that in mind, I'm not expecting to find a lot of facts here.
According to the Brits everything was killed by one Spitfire armed with 303 machine guns.
Look up Tall Poppy Syndrome for the real answer.
In the end all this is not real. No one knows the truth.he died & finish.
who killed wittmann ??... i do not care, the question should be: where is tiger tank nr 007 now!??, what happend to tiger 007
after the battle and where is it now?
+S Dew idiot, 99.9% of ww2 tanks were scraped.
James Bond took it....
S Dew 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦that's who
A lucky or stray shot could have gotten the black baron.
I feel proud when I Knock out Sherman and T-34 with my Tiger H1 in warthunder
16:00 bunch of British soldier s got drunk and chateau burned down " wtf are u kidding although it does seem like normal British behavior
So Wittman was killed by a Shermsn.
***** The sabot rounds on the 17 pdr had really bad accuracy, they couldn't even hit a 6x6 foot target at 100 yrds. What good is all that penetration if you can't hit what your shooting at?
lisa austin Says who? NO ATank gun can be that inaccurate! A 9mm SMG can hit a target 6' x6' at 100m....
+petethebastard first sabot rounds where inaccurare as hell, because rifled gun is crap to fire them unlesses you use some fins like modern sabot fired by the british. From test made by UK/US in 1944 the 17 pdr gun had a bad accuracy. Even with AP rounds the chances to hit at long range where little. Final reports say that the 17 pdr sabot where literally unusable past 500 meters. Let alone hitting at 1000 meters. Also to worse the things, the firefly scope had no reticular for the APDS, so the gunner had to use the APCBC and guess where the shell will fall....yea....
petethebastard worldoftanks.com/en/news/21/The_Chieftains_Hatch_Firefly2/ my mistake it was a 1000 meters. The American 76mm M1A2 was a better AT gun than the 17 lbr.
dedalto 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Who would win?
1- Best tank commander
2- One 17-pounder boi
This video is incorrect.. Initially Wittmann set off with 4 Tigers including his.. one of the Tigers Broke down. Wiki is dated source. 2 of the tanks turned right and headed up to Hill 213, while Wittmann turned left and went into Villers Bocage.
www.panzerace.net/biography/normandy-1944/villers-bocage.html
Wittmann would slowly approach the highway, accompanied by the two other running Tigers 221 and 223 belonging to SS-Untersturmführer Hantusch and SS-Oberscharführer Brandt, with SS-Unterscharführer Sowa in the half-fit 234 sitting back to provide the rearguard. Wittmann would take the vehicles to the rear of what was the advanced enemy column, while Hantusch and Brandt were to proceed east along the RN 175 to Hill 213.Wittmann would slowly approach the highway, accompanied by the two other running Tigers 221 and 223 belonging to SS-Untersturmführer Hantusch and SS-Oberscharführer Brandt, with SS-Unterscharführer Sowa in the half-fit 234 sitting back to provide the rearguard. Wittmann would take the vehicles to the rear of what was the advanced enemy column, while Hantusch and Brandt were to proceed east along the RN 175 to Hill 213.
this is dumb, Michael Wittmann killed over 100 tanks and Anti tank guns. Kind of dumb
Ross Dow then it was the Canadians and there Firefly Sherman Tanks that look him out so who wins not that Nazi .
yep wheres whitmans recon? not good to get in a cross fire like that
A decimated German division would have 90% effectives. You know the old joke, nine Roman soldiers standing over the body of a 10th whom they have just killed, one saying to the others "This decimation isn't so bad".
The British Firefly tank could not stop Wittmann's German Tiger tank at 1100 to 1300 yards. That was the distance Joe Ekins was from 007. British propaganda tried to promote the inferior Firefly as being the equal to the German Tiger tank
This was not true. The German Tiger tank was one of best and most
deadliest tanks of World War 2
The Canadians were only 143 meters from Michael Wittmann's Tiger tank and at that range had a more effective shot or a Typhoon rocket from an allied plane had the stopping power to take out that Tiger tank.
helas en 2015 un sombre cretin a voler la plaque sur la tombe de whittmann pourquoi faire sa !!!!!
Hitler sought peace, he tried every way he could to avoid war- it was London and Washington Dc who prompted the fight- they offered the military dictatorship in Poland guarantees of assistance in any border war- the Poles even made maps showing German territory near Berlin ;in as now being Polish. Polish artillery even fired upon German civilian craft...Germany's patience ran its course by Sept 1 1939. the border war was on, but three days later Britain and France turned this into a world war, which Hitler many times tried to forge a truce, up to mid 1941.....The victors in wars write the history books, what most people think they know about WW2 is just mythology or lies.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
A lot of people believed Hitler then, and it seems some still believe him now. Poor old Neville Chamberlain was a dupe like wotan237 when Hitler said, in 1938, the Sudetenland "is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe." Churchill was wiser, knew Hitler was a troublemaker.
William Bodin
Yeah, you do that. loser.
Wotan (are you a god?), some of what you say is true. Nobody with any human decency would laud the Reds who raped German women in 1945. And yes, the Allies committed war crimes--as did the Japanese and Germans. No argument about that. But even if Poland provoked Germany, what's the justification for the Nazis' invasion of Czechoslovakia? Or the assassination of Dollfuss in Austria? Or the treacherous attack on the USSR in 1941? Have you read much of Mein Kampf? Probably not. Even Mussolini thought Hitler was a wacko. (Only became his ally when Italy was alone, after the invasion of Ethiopia in '35. Thought he could control Hitler, who admired him.) I still think Hitler was a hateful racist troublemaker. READ HIS BOOK.
This time I'm not sure whether to laugh or be sick. You obviously haven't read his book, but you believe the myth--or maybe you're just trolling. Well, I'm totally sincere when I tell you I'm proud of my father, my uncle and my grandfather for fighting Hitler--who took the coward's way out. What an asshole.
anyway sorry for the mericans and british
+Boston Warit sorry for the german tank crews
one word: Kursk
My money has always been on a Typhoon fighter firing rockets that took out Wittmann, Woll & the rest of the crew of #007 and never once did I ever entertain the foolish notion that some Canadian or British Sherman tank was responsible, not a chance! There is absolutely no way an American made Sherman tank, no matter how they were modified, was capable of taking out a well built German Tiger tank, especially at the distances we're talking about here! The arrogant Brits were well known for making bogus claims of miraculous accomplishments in WWII that simply never happened. ;-)
+Texas Hi-Railer you really ARE a moron.
a true moron.
i bet you don't even know the weight and size of the 17 pounder AT gun used in Brit modified Fireflies. they had equal, if not better properties than the German 88mm on a Tiger and could penetrate a King Tiger, using the correct ammo.
oh, and cos you're obviously a texican, don't let your 'brain' convinc e you that the smaller 77mmHV round used by the Brit Comet is the same round or gun as the real 17 pounder used by Fireflies.
typhoon and tempest jabos rockets were effective for splash damage vs tanks. they were so highly inacurate that to get a direct hit was very remote.
wait a minute.. i know just WHY you're soooo pissed off!!
US repples depples were often used as infantry thanks to eisenhowers ludicrous broad front strategy which ate up US troops at an alarming rate so the US army in ETO had to use these typists, desk clerks and pen pushers... and it often occurred that they would be used as loaders in Shermans and, more often than not...
they climbed out the tank at the first sight of a PzIV with schurzen [making it look like a small Tiger] and would never be seen again. for shame!
now get back to reading jack chick, ham, WLCraig or Hovind. or maybe go back to that book of myths known s the bible... romans, numbers, hebrews, matthew, mark, luke and sone..
cuthbert, dibble, scrumch.
+Narred Darr A moron? That's the response of a twelve year old! I know all about the Firefly and the 17 pounder but at the distances we're talking here, they would have had to be much closer to do that kind of damage to a Tiger. That should be obvious by the damage done to the other three. If you ever get to Germany from Canuck-land, stop by many of the German public libraries and read up on that battle and what exactly happened to Michael Wittmann and how he died? Keep in mind the victors always tell the stories and it's funny how many of the WWII stories told by Brits, Canucks and Americans don't seem to match the accounts of the stories in print in Germany and Austria. Trust me my friend, no Canuck or Brit took out Michael Wittmann and his Tiger but you believe what you want. At 60+ years of age and researching WWII for some four decades now I think I've learned a little more than the average documentary producers and those who watch them. Take care and a happy 2016 to you. BTW, brush up on your feeble attempts to insult folks, eeh!
+Narred Darr BTW Canuck, I'm not a Texican my friend. I'm 6'4", blonde hair, blue eyes and both of my parents were born in Wiesbaden, Germany. That's pronounced Vees bah din just FYI and my parents came to America in 1952 a couple of years before I was born. A Texican? ROFLMAO!!! ;-) ___ You probably don't even know what hi-railer means???
+Narred Darr BTW Canuck, I'm not a Texican my friend. I'm 6'4", blonde hair, blue eyes and both of my parents were born in Wiesbaden, Germany. That's pronounced Vees bah din just FYI and my parents came to America in 1952 a couple of years before I was born. A Texican? ROFLMAO!!! ;-) ___ You probably don't even know what hi-railer means???
Woll wasn't in Wittmanns Crew at that Time any more. Besitzes, Woll survived the war.