Jagdpanther vs. Churchill - Normandy 1944

[Music] 30th of July 1944 Normandy France advancing British Armour is about to meet a new and fearsome German vehicle for the first time with devastating consequences Allied forces had successfully stormed ashore in Normandy on the 6th of June smashing their way through mostly second-rate German coastal defence units but what had followed had not been a rapid advance to Paris but rather a very difficult and bloody battle for Normandy as well equipped German Panzer an infantry divisions had arrived to try and contain the Allied beachhead for weeks British American Canadian and Polish forces had fought slowly through the ancient norman countryside the battlefields consisting of high almost impenetrable hedgerows known as bocaj sunken lanes fields and woods and ancient towns and villages the terrain favoring the defender an ideal ambush country the Allies launched a series of offensives to try and break out of Normandy and the latest was Operation Blue Coat in the British sector a plan to capture these strategically important Hill 309 and affect the capture of the important road junction at via blue coat was complementary to the American operation Cobra which had broken out of the western flank of the Normandy beachhead and caused the second Panzer Division to withdraw from the co more area facing the British to help stop the u.s. advance the British saw an opportunity to press forward against the weak 320 6th Infantry Division then drive for 10 kilometers to secure point 309 and its roads new to the battle and the 30th of July was the 6th guards tank brigade made up of famous Foot Guards battalions re-rolled from infantry to armor and equipped with the redoubtable Churchill tank one of the battalions was found by the Scots Guards [Music] the Scots Guards were founded in 1642 and are one of the five regiments of foot guards that guard the British monarch the others being the Grenadier Coldstream Irish and Welsh Guards many people don't realize that the soldiers who guard Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle in scarlet tunics and bearskins the real soldiers who also serve on operations around the world [Music] and in Normandy the 6th guards armored Brigade was in the thick of the action in their Churchill tanks the tank infantry mark for Churchill was heavily armored and sported a 75 millimeter main gun was also renowned for his extraordinary climbing abilities the basic layout was boxed like ham was formed of flat plates bolted or riveted together the Churchill's frontal Armour was an impressive 89 millimeters of the armor unlike in some late war German tanks and tank destroyers was not sloped and thinner at the sides and rear drivers position also afforded very limited views the tank was also very slow managing just 8 miles per hour for about 15 kilometers an hour off-road the guards easily smashed through the German outer defences and had soon outstripped their infantry support from the 15th Scottish division incredibly the unsupported armor was allowed to push on six miles or about 10 kilometers completely alone this was to prove a costly mistake for one of the brigades units the 3rd battalion scots guards the guards armored brigades Grenadier Guards took the main objective Hill 309 while the Scots Guards was ordered to protect the left flank by occupying another Hill point 2 to 6 leading the deployment was s squadron commanded by Maj Willie Whitelaw later a very famous British politician under Margaret Thatcher the squadron occupying a position on the left with the other squadrons to the right-center and rear respectively unbeknown to white law and his men hostile eyes were watching s squadron hidden nearby with three young Panther tank destroyers one of the most potent armored vehicles of World War two the SDK have said one seven three young punter or hunting Panther was based on the chassis of the famous Panther tank the Germans had tried to marry the powerful eight point 8 centimeter gun with a self-propelled design but failed the first attempt was the Ferdinand and the second was the NAS horn the Ferdinand was too heavy and the knutzhorn too small and underpowered the prototype yaagh panther was shown to hitler in late 1943 with production commencing in early 1944 the case-mate armor was 80 millimeters at the front and 50 millimeters thick on the sides but also sloped to increase the protection a five man crew were completely enclosed within the armored box on top of the chassis the eight point 8 centimeter long barreled gun was the same as that mounted on the infamous king tiger tank this gun could destroy any type of allied tank with ease the British officers had dismounted from their Churchill's and were about to assemble for an orders group when the Germans sprung their ambush he began with a savage artery and mortar barrage so unexpected and intense that had sent the Scots Guards officers and men dashing for their Churchill's which were quickly closed down but the first casualty was captain B sands tank struck by a 150 millimeter artillery shell and knocked out at 18 10 hours after 10 minutes of shelling the artillery fire stopped and the German counter-attack was launched consisting of the 3-yard Panthers the unit making the attack via panzerjäger of Thailand six five four had only 25-yard Panthers during the French campaign and only one company was committed to the fighting in Normandy with just 12 vehicles but it was still a formidable opponent in the defenders paradise that was the norman countryside the british had not encountered the type before the problem for escuadrón was their exposed left-rear caused by the failure the Scots Guards formation on the left to get Ford the ugh Panthers attacked from thick cover our 400 to 600 yards to the left rear of air squadron first to go with three Churchill's of left Hannon Cunningham's troop that was watching the left flank covered by the fire of the other two young Panthers one broke up and advanced directly through s squadrons position shooting up any Churchill's had sought the Churchill's return fire and at least one 75 millimeter shell hit was observed on the jagdpanther which sheared off and drove away north about the same time a second young Panther came Ford and joined in the slaughter but was engaged by several churches and was driven off the German gunnery had been deadly accurate the Scots Guards sent a troop was eliminated followed by the battalions second-in-command whose Churchill had its turret blown clean off the right-hand troop also suffered severely of the hands of the two young Panthers the Scots Guards tottered up the damage the action had lasted only two minutes but in their time the three young Panthers had managed to destroy 10 British Churchill's plus another knocked out by German artillery for a total of 11 vehicles without apparent loss to the Germans escuadrón was left with only four operational Churchill's by the end of the day but following the route taken by the two withdrawing young Panthers the British discovered that the Germans had not been quite as fortunate as first believed the ugh Panther that had stormed through s squadrons position had withdrawn to an orchard half a mile east at this position the Scots Guards found a number of German tank tracks lying around in an orchard which they believed to be in the German harbour area four armored vehicles half a mile further on they found the yak Panther in a field beside the road he'd have been set on fire by its crew the British officers took a first look had this new weapon evidently this young Panther had suffered tract damage and had been abandoned by its crew but continuing forward the Scots Guards made an even better discovery half a mile beyond the burned-out yaagh Panther had a small village railway station was a completely intact example this vehicle had a broken left track and some damage to the wheels but for some reason the German crew had failed to destroy it the yaagh panther was recovered by the 6th guards tank heavy recovery section the first example of this new weapon to fall into British hands many thanks for watching please subscribe and share it also hit the bell icon to receive notifications of my latest films you can also help support my channel through PayPal and patreon details in the description box below [Music]

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 2,488,042

Rating: 4.9112034 out of 5

Keywords: Jagdpanther vs. Churchill, Normandy Landings, Panther tank, Scots Guards, Guards Armoured Brigade, Mark Felton Productions

Id: Rbtlvrj0hY4

Length: 10min 2sec (602 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 08 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/unal991]

Now I want to drive the jagdanther and pwn noobs

Meanwhile in game:

Tank got destroyed by APDS 2000m away hiding in the bushes