The Most Fearsome Tank Commanders Of WWII | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories

north africa 1942 close to 600 tanks of the german panzer army africa charge across the sahara desert into egypt and the british sent almost 1200 tanks to stop them and then all of a sudden the ground started to shake and that was the biology started two legendary commanders montgomery and rommel fight for control of north africa there was only one thing left for us to do to harm the enemy as much as we could the stakes couldn't be higher and the fighting is ferocious this is el alamein one of history's greatest tank battles if there is a place called hell i should imagine it couldn't be any worse than what that was that's why i it was an inferno a scene i haven't forgotten to this day [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the sahara vast stretches of seemingly endless desert empty and barren but just below the surface of this great sea of sand lies the evidence of a tremendous battle a clash of infantry and armor so enormous it changed the course of the second world war this is what i found today this is a german shrapnel from airplanes and this is british this is a german bullet because it is made of steel if it was english it would have been made of copper it's rusty this belonged to an english or germa soldier it belonged to a young man around 17 years old i found it there it's silver look at the teeth all this area was used by the german army [Music] the english were five kilometers from here the germans would fire east and the other side would fire back at them there were armies everywhere [Music] libya january 1942 for almost a year now this part of the sahara has been the battleground with a struggle for control of north africa on one side is the german italian tank force the panzer army africa its mission is to seize the middle east oil fields giving the third reich an endless supply of fuel for its war machine on the other side is the well-supplied british eighth army relying on sheer numbers and strong defenses to stop the germans [Music] the british are up against one of the most brilliant commanders of the war field marshal irwin rommel the desert fox throughout 1941 he keeps catching them off guard with lightning-fast surprise attacks [Music] but by november rommel's tank force is wearing out and the allies strike back over six weeks they drive the panzer army 800 kilometers west across the libyan desert [Music] by late january rommel is down to 228 tanks 139 panzer threes and fours and 89 italian tanks infamously known as metal coffins the british have more than 400 tanks including 160 valentines and more than 230 medium crusaders the allies appear to have the panzer army on the ropes but ramo isn't finished yet as he writes in his memoirs it was clear to us that the british would try to destroy our army with all their means at their disposal our southern flank lay wide open and they had a large choice of possible operations to choose from a constant threat would hang over our supply lines but the british were not to have the chance of exploiting their opportunities [Music] for i had decided to strike first [Music] the plan is pure desert fox push southeast through the unoccupied desert then swing north hitting the overextended british flag spearheading rommel's attack are formations of the panzer mark iii special it's designed for tank to tank combat with 50 millimeters of frontal armor but it is the mark iii's armament that gives it the edge with a 50 millimeter main cannon able to fire armor-piercing rounds at ranges up to 650 meters in early 1942 the british 8th army has nothing that powerful our long 5 centimeter guns were out gunning the english ones they didn't have long barrels at that time yet their guns had shorter barrels and that meant less penetrating power a bigger gun so they could engage us further away definitely on the losing side from front of your tanks [Music] the panzer was a was a better war machine than the crusader without a doubt the crusader is the mainstay of british tank forces it's capable of a top speed of 24 kilometers per hour making it the fastest tank in the desert but the speed comes at a cost the crusader has just 32 millimeters of armor plating leaving it vulnerable to anti-tank fire and its light two pounder gun is all but useless against the panzers i suppose it would have penetrated if you were close enough but you would be too damn close all that counted was on one side the thickness of the armor and on the other side the penetrating power of the gun those two factors were constantly competing against each other better armor was built and better guns were built they only had the cruiser 2 cruiser 4 and the crusader and they were basically extinct rommel is betting his 228 panzers can beat more than 400 british tanks and on january 21 1942 he attacks in the vanguard is gunner wilhelm haggios with the 15th panzer division [Music] he went uphill for a bit just a few meters then we were on the plateau and there was an english tank squad we opened fire [Music] we destroyed two tanks at a distance of about one thousand meters and then we suddenly spotted a crusader approaching our firing line from the right side [Music] we bought it down when it was around 600 meters away [Music] in the meantime yelling over the radio shoot shoot [Music] to the left i turned the crank like crazy until finally i had my sights on the time he filled my entire visual field that's how close it was that danger [Music] we were surprised by these first american grand tanks the grands which arrived from the u.s just weeks before joined the crusaders on the battlefield as the newest addition to the british arsenal the grant was a very good tank and we first got the grants just before the battle of alamein and it was a turning point take it from me [Music] to get those tanks it was like somebody given the pocketbook channel that was that was the the thing the grants are a major improvement over the fast but vulnerable crusaders they have 51 millimeters of frontal armor providing greater protection for their six-man crews but its most unique feature is its powerful side mounted cannon a weapon that provides the allies with an effective countermeasure against flanking attacks by german panzers this tank had a 75 millimeter gun in a sponson so that was a disadvantage for us because when you were flanking them you were attacked from the left side and you had to turn the whole tank to fire if there were other tanks in front of you you would show them your board side while turning it was a big surprise but even the new grand tanks aren't enough to stop rommel his flanking attack catches the eighth army by surprise over the next five months the desert fox pushes farther and farther east capturing the key ally port of tobruk and winning back all the ground he had lost by the end of june the panzer army is inside egypt and approaching the coastal village of el alamein ramo is now only 300 kilometers from the suez canal victory is within his grasp but the defensive minded british have a nasty surprise in store for rommel at el alamein here along a 60 kilometer front they have masked a huge tank force they're determined to stop the panzer army at any cost the first battle of lma is about to begin [Music] el alamein egypt a remote desert outpost on africa's north coast today little evidence remains of its turbulent past but it was here at this isolated railway stop the two of the greatest tank battles of the second world war took place june 1942 for five months irwin rommel and the panzer army africa have been fighting their way east intent on overrunning british-held egypt swinging north and seizing the oil fields of the middle east rommel's advance has reached el alamein he is now just 300 kilometers from the suez canal but the fighting has worn down the panzer army we had lost a lot of tanks during the battles in libya and egypt our group only had 20 tanks we should have had 220. [Music] by the time they reach el alamein rommel has little to throw into the fight 2000 infantry a few dozen artillery and anti-tank guns and only 55 serviceable panzers any other commander would dig in or retreat but not rommel on july 1 1942 he continues his attack the main thing i had wanted to avoid was the war settling down at alamein into mechanized static warfare to the stabilized front we plan to get through the alabama line and overrun it before the retreating remnants of the aids army a time to organize its defense the fighting goes on for 26 days but rommel can't break the british defenses the first battle of el alamein ends in a stalemate the battle has been costly for rommel his panzer army desperately needs men armor and supplies was on the ropes the biggest problem in the desert was a lack of water you were always lacking water [Music] it was even worse in el alamein it was now 1500 kilometers to the standpipe and every drop had to be transported by road yeah rommel's rapid advance across north africa has left him a long and vulnerable supply line reinforcements fuel ammunition food and water must be trucked 2 000 kilometers to the front [Music] using the roads was a dangerous way to transport the water and a lot of it was lost on the way the english constantly attacked our water trucks by late july the germans are losing 80 percent of their supplies to allied air attack in august the 8th army receives a half million tons of supplies including 368 new tanks and a new commander lieutenant general bernard montgomery rummel's time is running out he can't keep pace with the allies rapid resupply on august 30th he risks one last attack hoping to catch the british off guard and force them to retreat it's a nightmare from the start 256 german tanks advance towards tanks of the british 7th armored division and get bogged down in a minefield brahmo trying once again to outflank the british orders his panzers to swing northeast and attack the alam alpha ridge leading the attack are 27 of the german's new panzer mark iv specials equipped with a high velocity 75 millimeter gun the panzer iv aus f2 is the most powerful tank on the battlefield the mark iv is well protected with 50 millimeters of frontal armor but its heavy armor comes at a price each tank weighs 23 tons and burns 470 liters of fuel per day fuel that has to be trucked across long and vulnerable supply lines rommel is betting that his superior panzers and mobile tactics can quickly take the ridge before his fuel runs out but montgomery is ready for him with 400 tanks and 200 anti-tank guns the key to the whole alamein position was alum half a ridge i would not allow our tanks to rush out you would hold the alum health for ridges securely and let him beat up against them the first evening when we got there we had a short gun battle with some english tanks it would have been better if the entire attack had been cancelled and we got bombarded by artillery on low flying planes for three days nothing happened to us no supply vehicles got through to us we only had a few scraps left to eat by september 2nd rommel has seen enough after losing 50 of his irreplaceable panzers he orders a withdrawal he no longer has the resources to mount mobile attacks the desert fox orders his men to dig in in el alamein the war in north africa had changed from mobile warfare into a kind of static warfare [Music] the entire front was moving up and the new front line was now between the mosque in el alamein and the qatari depression it was a 60 kilometer front the german line at el alamein is ideally situated for defense to the north lays the mediterranean sea protecting the german's left flank to the south protecting their right the katara depression [Music] 26 000 square kilometers of deep soft sand impassable to heavy armor rommel's panzer army prepares defensive positions including powerful tank-busting minefields planted across the entire front cindy sugarland toyota's garden these so-called devils gardens were mine fields that had been created by a hummel alice for calm we used every explosive we had in these minefields these devils gardens were very very dangerous [Music] [Music] this area is called el meteria this whole area was mined from the railway station and the sea to the depression 70 kilometers all mined so many people lost their lives in the war seven or eight of my relatives were killed my brother was killed by a mine he never got a funeral in 1946 they withdrew and left behind the mines but they were surrounded in barbed wire they were marked with a sign of death the skull and crossbones but the signs were removed the minds are still here and there will never be an end to that [Music] rommel's battered and exhausted troops complete their defensive line at el alamein while across no man's land montgomery's forces grow stronger and stronger he has assembled 10 infantry divisions and more than 1 000 tanks all well stocked with food water ammunition and fuel montgomery is ready for a final showdown with the germans and on the evening of october 23rd he unleashes a massive artillery barrage the guns blasted away nobody realizes the noise that there is there it was just like daylight of just one wall of flame if there is a place called hell i should imagine it couldn't be any worse than what that was the second battle of el alamein one of the largest armored battles of the second world war has begun october 23 1942 allied commander bernard montgomery attacks field marshal irwin rommel's panzer army africa and it begins with a massive artillery barrage it's just like taillight with just one wall of flame you know it's horrific and messy message of death go through there really was [Music] montgomery follows up with 700 tanks in a three-pronged armored attack two in the center and south are diversions intended to pin down the bulk of the panzer army but montgomery's main force will attack german lines in the north aiming to occupy the coast road and the strategically important kidney ridge there's no trouble that night going through at all we pulled out the kidney and we finished up there in the dark and when daylight broke we were amazed there was a massive vehicle parked into this small bridge another card all at once to have it in planes with some bombs and the opposite chaos and behind us for the minefield they had five or six times the number of tanks that we did [Music] we were always the underdogs in terms of numbers [Music] the english started their attacks with 300 400 500 tanks while we had only about 50. that was the ratio at the time the german defensive line on kidney ridge is thin one regiment of 600 infantry 18 anti-tank guns [Music] and 47 panzers [Music] the british attacked them in fours fielding 150 tanks of a second armored brigade then the order come through that we went up on the ridge and did a bit of shooting i'm searching for the target that's much my job you're gonna carry out my orders there's so much dust flying about that is really chaos dust that secures the vehicle which is creating it it could be a truck it could be a tank i'll say a target there travis left travis left travis left on tank ford i've tried it well and if that one brewed up it switch to another one [Music] penetrated our armor and exploded inside our tank this is a splinter from a tank shell from an english gun these splinters were flying around inside our tank the only thing you know in that moment is i need to get out fast [Music] i managed to open the hatch right away and fell out more or less well i lifted myself with my arms because my legs were already broken open the hatch pull yourself out and then drop yourself down it was two meters to the ground you knew it was going to hurt but you had no other choice [Music] the heavily outnumbered germans have one big advantage over the british the 88 millimeter flat gun the most feared piece of artillery of the second world war the 88 a modified anti-aircraft gun accurately fires high-velocity anti-tank rounds that can penetrate the heaviest armor even at distances of more than 2 000 meters [Music] when they use the 88 million i got gun as an anti-tank gun then of course there we were definitely on the losing side [Music] there's another regiment on our right which was one of the two regiments that had come from palestine never been in action before you go into action and try and keep the hole down and just get up high enough to be able to use your gun and you're sitting there on top of the ridge an 88 millimeter five sick rounds and grew up five [Music] [Applause] three and a half times feet a second you can see the shell screaming across the ground they're there before in a flash yeah all of a sudden something attracts you there's a tank burning just next to you and you're relieved it sounds a horrible thing to say somebody just died in that time but you're relieved but you know from your gunnery experience that half a degree on that site and it was you and it's something difficult to live with actually the feeling i mean difficult to live with by the end of the first day of battle montgomery's tank forces have made only modest gains at a cost of 1600 casualties and 120 tanks but kidney ridge remains in german hands montgomery now prepares for an even larger attack one he hopes will break rommel's stubborn panzer army africa for good october 23 1942 allied commander bernard montgomery launches a three-pronged armored attack in an attempt to crack german defenses at lma [Music] ronald's men are too well dug in the attack failed even though montgomery's forces outnumber rommels two to one the central advance has stalled near ruisat ridge and hundreds of british tanks are trapped in german minefields the next day we sat around and we were shelled fairly frequently it was artillery shading mainly so we were all right in the tanks [Music] four lanes were going to be cleared and we would then go through but of course it didn't go completely to plan the first suppers were being machine gun killed eventually we've got the old clearance to go we got through we got what we thought out of the minefield the tapes had vanished and when it tapes on it's just supposed to be free this is the whole battalion you know this is 57 tanks following in line and opening out we went down under the body came along and went up onto the other side we cut under the ridge as soon as we got up the other side we couldn't get over the top because it was fading straight up you can see his shell the airplane shell coming along towards desert it the daylight you could see the shot coming at you that was a tremendous idiot that the german heart we then start taking on the anti-tank ones failing their chain firing all our air and machine running [Music] and of course the tank battle started you know three or four tanks before you could say jack johnson you know got blown up you know you you just stay you'll win it all up you know then again the next the next thing open my tongue we stood one of our own minds and went sky high they all bailed out the two in the bottom row pretty well knocked up i was all right i was in the turret commandos all right he got out i jumped out uh pretty smartish and when i when i landed down here's a telemann between the feet i jumped out and that i thought let me say well how lucky can you get him going on a lovely moon late night then what happened [Music] nicely in a straight line we start dropping bombs [Music] despite the fierce armored assault the panzer army continues to hold the line rommel expects montgomery's next attack to come in the north and he redeploys all of his remaining forces [Music] among them is 20 year old rudolph schneider from ronald's own combat group when we haven't hadn't on the night of october 25th we took position in an area that was very flat in the east you could see the rising sun the sun blinds you was our only indication of the enormous number of vehicles and tanks that were approaching us and we saw 400 or 500 british tanks approaching the german lines from the east english until the british armor was as close as 800 to 1200 meters from our lines before that there was absolute silence [Music] the hundreds of approaching tanks include the allies newest weapon a tank so fast and powerful that it would soon become the best known piece of mobile armor of the second world war october 25th 1942 the allied offensive at el alamein enters its third bloody day and the cost on both sides has been enormous but despite his mounting losses montgomery continues to order wave after wave of massive armored assaults directly into the thin german line we saw 400 or 500 british tanks approaching the german lines from the east surge sherman things were approaching us at the time we didn't know that these were shermans it's a landmark moment in the history of warfare the first battlefield appearance of the m4 sherman tank outfitted with 51 millimeters of frontal armor the sherman weighs an incredible 30 tons but the most crucial feature of this new tank is its powerful 75 millimeter cannon capable of firing high-velocity armor-piercing rounds at ranges up to 800 meters the sherman is now the most powerful tank on the el alamein battlefield we waited until they were visible with our naked eyes also had to wait until they were within 800 meters of the german front line and then the inferno erupted terrible noise enormous explosions terrible screaming we were just trying to defend ourselves to survive and the tanks were still approaching our lines [Music] when the drivers figured out they were close to our trench they would simply use their tracks which would rotate his thing to bury our soldiers [Music] the soldiers in the trench were buried alive or decapitated afterwards you are just glad to have survived [Music] by the late afternoon there were around 300 to 450 destroyed british vehicles in the lowlands they were burning wounded men were all around that's why it was an inferno a scene forgotten to this day [Music] [Music] rommel's exhausted panzer army holds the line for the next five days but by the first of november the germans are down from 500 tanks to just 35. montgomery finally has the panzer army on the ropes he now launches operation supercharge another all-out attack meant to break rommel's line once and for all i knew that we couldn't win anymore and there was nothing left for us to do on the morning of the fifth we only had eight tanks left and we weren't going to get any more i knew that this was the end of the africa campaign but nobody would talk about it not a word in terms of equipment this was inevitably the end of the german army the fighting goes on for two more days until rommel with only 12 panzers remaining finally orders a retreat ending the second battle of el alamein it's the first major allied victory of the second world war and comes at a steep price on both sides [Music] of rommel's forces 5 000 are killed 8 000 wounded and 35 000 captured [Music] [Music] montgomery's losses include 2300 killed and over 2 200 missing 8 500 are wounded and 500 of his tanks are destroyed [Music] i've seen life just so cheap just flip you know flip away you know and uh you get hardened to it [Music] you learned after a while that you didn't get too close to anybody that was it that was that you you just had to live you to carry on you're a survivor one christmas in the desert up comes the party we've been killing people all day come on lads let's sing a few cats peace our nurse good will the man i'm afraid i'm sorry padre not for me and my religion was knocked out of me [Music] north africa 1943 for the american tankers in their first combat mission of the war it's a baptism of fire we thought we had the best equipment and everything we thought we were well prepared the general said follow my orders attack [Music] against the german africa corps it's kill or be killed distance 500 meters [Music] tank at 12 30. fire at will spearheading the german onslaught is irwin rommel the desert fox he would say it is your task to shoot shoot shoes shoes the americans only hope is general george patton we felt if we had a man that had that much sketch while we had better have some nerve too the armies of two of the greatest tank commanders of the second world war face off turret to turret in the battle of tunisia [Music] november 1942 at el alamein the british eighth army deals a devastating blow to field marshal irwin romney his once mighty africa core reduced to just 64 tanks their defeat is total they're plight desperate the shattered remnants of rommel's forces limp back across the desert pursued by the british from the east they retreat 2500 kilometers to tunisia where they face an allied force advancing across the mountains from the west including the fledgling u.s first armored division confident and cocksure in their first combat mission of the second world war the americans come armed with the latest in frontline technology the sherman tank the allies newest tank is fast with a top speed of nearly 40 kilometers per hour and it's powerful with a 75 millimeter short barrelled cannon at el alamein it proved itself a winner and in tunisia the american tankers are riding high on expectation we thought we had the best equipment and everything we thought we were well prepared i had no fear the allies land an impressive initial force of more than 400 tanks 100 tank destroyers and 70 000 men but the american tankers have yet to be tested in the heat of battle and the cauldron of war for all their bravado they are rookies still so he certainly worked we had no actual combat experience it was a big handicap [Music] for rommel the problem is a dire shortage of men and arms but he's thrown a lifeline when the fifth panzer army lands in tunisia bringing with them powerful anti-tank guns and long barrel panzer fours in my opinion it was possibly the best tank in the world at that time under the impression that we were definitely going to be superior to the americans america by january the germans field 300 panzers over 100 000 troops and hundreds of anti-tank guns the fate of rommel and his tankers hangs in the balance whoever wins here wins north africa the battle lines are drawn in the remote mountains of western tunisia the germans attack first then dig in on either side of the phaed pass where they wait for the americans to launch a counter-attack which they do on january 31st their plan to engage the enemy in open combat the general said follow my orders attack i had a lieutenant there's my commander of the tank actually he wanted to get more bars or something and he says i'll go first so i was a driver so we went out you could see the americans attacking from the front they're just heading forward we didn't know where the enemy was or anything i don't want to bash the americans but in my opinion they were inexperienced is [Music] our 88 guns were camouflaged well in the cactus problem in the cockpit [Music] they entice you to come through the americans didn't see it and then they opened fire of us [Music] i would be american and the americans didn't stand a chance against the ada anyway the german 88 is the most lethal weapon on the battlefield it has a 4.9 meter barrel and a muzzle velocity of 820 meters a second with a clear line of view it can destroy a sherman at a range of more than two 88 was kilometers right and camouflaged well it was able to bring down tanks that were very far away the only way we i'll do them is face them hera but if they get you from the side you're very vulnerable sometimes you didn't even know where they were coming from you know when shell fire hits it's loud oh it could be 10 feet away i looked out there like i could get out there and get a baseball bat and hit those things one of our tanks in our company his 75 millimeter gun was shot off it was just like a howitzer now it had a short barrel on it one after the other was brought down by the 88 either get out of there or get shot up so you have to move you want to be stationary thank commerce says well back it up back it up he said let's get out of here let's get the hell out of here back in the back of the mill back it up my feet were going like this is shaking well he's no sooner said to that and bam not help me get me out of here disappear as the dust settles on the mountain pass at faede the lessons to be drawn are there for all to see we thought we had the best equipment and everything but we finally found out that we didn't [Music] that was at that time we just felt we were vastly superior to them in every respect [Music] but it's a lesson that u.s commanders refuse to learn and just two weeks later they will send their tanks down the pass once more we just do our duty and follow order that of course was a feast for us [Music] november 1942 rommel's panzer army meets disaster at el alamein the germans withdraw 2500 kilometers west to tunisia only to be faced by an allied force advancing across the mountains the rookie americans roll into an ambush at faede pass the german panzers advance up the pass and take up new positions at city bouzid where the americans launched their shermans in another reckless counter-attack we're aware that the eyes are against us from past experience aware of that no question we don't feel we just do our duty and follow orders that of course was a feast for us in a show of force the shermans attack at full throttle and with all guns blazing in a classic v formation they charge blindly down the pass kicking up such an immense cloud of dust they can see nothing to either side of them including the two panzer divisions which are lying in ambush it's a textbook cavalry challenge but it's a textbook that was written before the war and a tactic that is hopelessly out of date against the battle-hardened panzers they didn't know there were two german tank companies hiding they didn't know that of course you have to say that this was their excuse we had discussed on the radio that we let the americans approach as much as possible i believe the first american tank had approached at a distance of 300 meters and then the first shot was fired and so began there were so many that we didn't have time to discuss who is targeting which tanks the german panzer iv is one of the most powerful tanks on the battlefield at a range of two kilometers its 75 millimeter long-barreled gun can punch through a sherman's armor plating at a fraction of that distance it will blow a sherman tank to pieces it was a gun with an unbelievable speed so our shells would go on a thing like the trajectory but the germans went right straight through of thousand meter at a range of 1 000 meters you had to aim only about 10 centimeters higher other than that you could just use it as it was because it shuts the shells at a very high speed managed to destroy one american tank after the other in front of us but of course they fired as well i wouldn't say we would blind firing some of it might have been but uh a majority of it we tried to have a target in mind i had to duck my head a couple of times but they never hit us [Music] the american tanks that were following further behind saw what was happening and obviously didn't think they had a chance and tried to escape towards the north everybody just shot until there was no tank left until all of them had been destroyed the last tank was maybe two kilometers away it's five kilometers and i was able to take down this one as well [Music] [Music] [Music] and it was a scary scene to see all these burning tanks in a small area [Music] two times in two weeks the inexperience of the americans has been exposed and more than a hundred tanks lost with his enemy on the ropes rommel comes up with a daring new plan to drive a stake straight through the heart of the american position and eliminate them once and for all tunisia february 1943 tanks of the us first armored division charge blindly down the pass at cd boosie for the americans it's a disaster for german field marshal irwin rommel it's an invitation to finish them off for good the american command appeared to be getting jittery and they were showings a lack of decision typical of men commanding for the first time in a difficult situation beginners lacks a nerve i wanted to push forward with all our strength and strike on deep into the allied rear ramos plan codenamed operation stormtide is a three-prong panzer onslaught through the mountain passes and at the epicenter of the battle is a name that will become infamous in the annals of american armored warfare kasserine [Music] [Music] my name is this is my land and every year we find bodies [Music] the germans were over there and the americans were there this land is where the battle took place this mountain was the most important place during the battle february 1943 it's a battle the americans are not prepared for their defenses around kasserine are overstretched and thinly deployed their heavy armor is poorly dug in on the rocky terrain and sea company of the 805th tank destroyer battalion holds the high ground to the north we was holding the pass you might say we wasn't scared because up until that time we really hadn't had too much conflict while up in that area it was pretty quiet but we never knew when something would happen at first light the german panzers make their move and rommel himself is at the front spearheading the attack it was a short and precise order follow me and further orders will follow later of course i said yes field marshall sir they were so close i'll never forget that as bars and naked i could see to the right or left bumper to bumper we thought oh my god what's going to happen to our boys they looked at us we surprised because they didn't expect to see germans here at all it was an unusually rapid advance for sure when we saw them i'll tell you to put the theory in you right off the bat [Music] ich massado here it was my task to scout the area with my binoculars from the turret for enemies inside i've seen issues then i told my gunner turret at 12 30. load the armor piercing shell range 500 meters tank at 12 30. fire at will firefly automatic automatically the charging gunner would reload with another shell this was all a matter of a couple of seconds oh my uh it made us all open our eyes and wonder what was going to happen next spike american tank at two o'clock armor piercing fire at will [Music] he saw a darting flame he had hit the tank and it was burning right away although they were shooting as well they didn't hit us we shot better [Music] you're scared but you're only thinking of one thing as survival so we had several of the guns set up and start shooting down the germans [Music] the m3 half track equipped with a rear-mounted 75 millimeter cannon is designed as a tank destroyer lightly protected with just 16 millimeters of rolled face hardened steel its only means of defense is to attack 75 would hit the german tanks and it was almost like like taking a match and striking it 75 would hit their armor and it would just ricochet right off we couldn't penetrate i hope you're doing the right thing and doing it as fast as you can out gunned and outnumbered sea company is cornered with its back to the mountain the tank destroyers are about to become the destroyed the enemy was real close to us he's all wondering what to do next all we can see is that steep mountain [Music] we with more or less crap february 1943 the battle of cassaree a german tank inferno rages through the mountain pass and the american defenses are consumed by fire when we saw them i'll tell you to put the fear in you right off the bat american tank at two o'clock armor piercing fire at will oh my uh it made us all open our eyes and wonder what was going to happen next sea company of the 805th u.s tank destroyer battalion is trapped caught between the mountain and rommel's unstoppable panzers the enemy was real close to us we were more or less trapped [Music] and all of a sudden planes came over and we thought oh my gosh now we're really going to be in it we thought that was the end i'm thinking it was german planes it was going to be custer's last stand and all of a sudden would realize they was americans that they started the strafe of germans and they swung up over us and when they did they had their wings rocked back and forth and followed one another over the top of this mountain somebody said they're trying to show us that we can get up over that and get down over the other side there's a pass up there sort of just follow that and we can get out of this position so then we immediately started everybody going get over the hill you could see it looked impossible but some of us made it some didn't over the next three days the americans retreat over 100 kilometers with more than 6 000 casualties and the loss of more than 200 of their armored vehicles it's another defeat for the inexperienced and overconfident americans our commanding officers were not knowledgeable they didn't have the experience either that was required against superior forces but despite the victory at kasserine pass rommel's position is still perilous his enemies are on all sides with the americans reeling to the west he turns his attention to the british eighth army in the east and on march 6th he spearheads another shock attack this time through the desert at medellin we draw from the path through the desert at high speed creating a huge dust cloud behind us so that you couldn't see anything behind us about 150 tanks we are supposed to push the british eighth army back towards the sea and destroy them from once uh [Music] but rommel's luck has run out british intelligence intercepts his orders and 500 guns are waiting for him non-stop shells hitting in the front the back to the left to the right next to me approximately 15 meters away there was a sergeant with his tank and he got a direct hit in the territory [Music] by the way i saw flames coming out of the turret and him sitting up trying to jump out but then collapsing austin and he got a direct hit as well blinded by the sand the german panzers are sitting ducks unable to engage the enemy because they have no idea where the enemy is in these four hours all i could see was sand sand sand spraying on all sides you couldn't see anything at all it didn't make sense to go anywhere i was standing on the same spot for four hours and always hoping not to get hit by a shadows it had begun all of a sudden and it stopped all of a sudden at 12 pm [Music] as we figured later 55 of the 150 tanks one third had been destroyed it was a disaster for hormel [Music] three days later rommel is secretly recalled by hitler to germany for medical treatment leaving the germans bereft of their inspirational leader just when they need him most defeated by the british in the desert their only escape route lies through the mountain passes to the west but the u.s forces have regrouped in rommel's absence they've reoccupied the kasserine pass and now they have a new leader brash and outspoken general george patton has taken charge and where he leads he expects his men to follow he told us which made us still the kind of laugh we as men from mars have no fear of anything you're in good hands and you'll come out of this on top a confident boast by a confident general whose metal is about to be tested in the crucible of battle february 1943 the allied and german tankers fight for supremacy in the killing zone of tunisia [Music] humiliated by one defeat after another the americans are put under the command of general george patton his task transform an army that retreats into one that will stand up and fight patton would be right there holler go get them sons of bees you know we felt if we had a man that had that much guts while we had better have some nerve too so that gave us a lot more confidence in ourself knowing that he depended on us a reinvigorated american force reoccupies the mountain passes tightening the noose around the german panzers and blocking their escape route at el guitar here patton draws a line in the sand beyond which the americans will retreat no more learning the grim lessons of faid and sidi buzeed patton sets his own trap and his troops dig themselves into the hard and rocky ground along either side of the pass [Music] olaf [Music] you can find these all over the land [Music] this one is also a left over from a weapon we have i was 10 years old and i remember it all [Music] right [Music] i remember the voice of the planes the weapons [Music] this is the land of war [Music] march 23 1943 the germans advance up the pass at el guitar and this time patton's tank destroyers are ready for them we had 36 of them garden at pass our recon went out and bumped into the germans i counted 75 german tanks coming at us across the desert they were moving real slow they knew we were there they were in no hurry and kept coming it looked like they were on the parade ground it's a calculated gamble by the germans the panzers are an iron fortress moving at just five kilometers per hour down the middle of the pass their plan is to use their heavy armor like a blunt instrument to bludgeon straight past the american lines on either side as long as we were below the top of the ridge we couldn't shoot so you'd pull up shoot and back down pull up shoot back down there wasn't any problem knowing where the targets were they were out there when you're on higher ground shooting down it's a big advantage over somebody shooting up at you i'd pull up as quick as i could and stop and by the time i stopped the gunner at his target and fire the only place that you could do them any damage was hit within the tracks you could hit in there you disabled them so they couldn't maneuver i remember your face when you're in combat first of all you don't think about the possibility of being killed you need to focus on achieving the target under withering fire the german formation holds firm resolute and relentless it inches towards its goal [Music] i'm we mr march 23 1943 in the decisive battle of the north african campaign the german panzers advance up the pass at el guitar [Music] but for the first time in the campaign the u.s force refuses to give an inch and over 12 torrid hours they slug it out with the germans it's either going to be them or us one of the others you just got to hope you're doing the right thing and doing it as fast as you can kind of hard on the driver he's sitting up not too far from the end of that barrel so that's why i don't hear too well now we were terribly frightened one of the things you had to admire about the german soldier was we'd knock out a tank and the crewman if they weren't hurt they would take their machine gun off the tank ground mount it and lay there and keep shooting [Music] twice in the course of the day the panzers advance up the pass and twice the tank destroyers of the 805th battalion hold firm [Music] the losses on both sides are immense by day's end 21 tank destroyers and 31 panzers lie burning across the plain but the battlefield belongs to patton and the exhausted panzer force now has nowhere left to turn and that was the end after we had run out of ammunition and gas there was nothing else to do but give up the game and that happened on may 13 1943 [Music] more than a quarter of a million german troops in tunisia surrender to the allied forces [Music] the feeling was horror there's nothing worse that can happen to a soldier [Music] until today we are still proud to have been part of the africa call el guitar is the americans first armored victory of the war no more will their battle-scarred tankers be seen as the allies weakest link but that success has come at a price no i didn't think it would be a breeze you know actual combat is never a breeze it's either going to be them or us one of the others so you get scared we say you you can't help if you get anything about you it's human [Music] it's part of i think warfare that you've got to accept the fact that you're going to have casualty that some of your best friends might not survive [Music] the battle of tunisia is the closing chapter in the story of rommel's africa corps but for patton and his battle-hardened tankers it is the beginning of a journey that will ultimately lead to victory in europe michael whitman is the most famous tank commander of the third reich he was the most decorated german tank ace of the war at course the greatest tank battle in history he spearheads the attack we just accumulated kill after kill there is a brazilian bishop in normandy whitman single-handedly halts an allied advance one german tank was able to knock out so many british tanks in a matter of a few minutes whitman's final battle turns him into a nazi legend it was almost suicidal for the germans to mount that attack even though it's been 60 years after whitman's death his legacy his mystique maintains lacombe german military cemetery normandy france 21 000 graves a monument to the death of the german army in normandy and to the downfall of adolf hitler's reviled third reich and yet amongst the rows of unadorned gravestones there is one man's grave that is always honored with fresh flowers his name michael whitman whitman is considered the greatest tank ace of all time he was the ace of aces many people say that he was a very quiet likable man he wasn't your typical nazi most tank commanders weren't personally decorated by hitler but most didn't quite stand out with the number of kills that whitman did whitman's mentality was aggressive motivated disciplined kind of a encapsulates the panzer arm of world war ii into a person whitman died here in the fields of normandy but his legend began in the fields of bavaria born in 1914 on a farm south of nuremberg whitman was a country boy living the healthy outdoor life at 19 whitman is drafted into the army for compulsory service as all young men are in the germany of adolf hitler [Applause] in 1937 after completing his service michael whitman age 23 eagerly volunteers for hitler's personal bodyguard the leifstandart ss adolph hitler [Music] it's an elite unit they were in parades they were very regimented it would have been hand-picked personnel they would have had certain height and physical fitness requirements a certain look he's not only a volunteer but he's seemingly politically indoctrinated to want to be part of this unit i swear to the adolf hitler as fuhrer and chancellor of the german right loyalty and bravery i vow to thee obedience unto death being the honor guard i'm sure it was very appealing to somebody in their early 20s with the black uniforms and the the smart look and the whole elite quality about them michael whitman embraces absolute loyalty to adolf hitler and his policy of persecution of the jews and to his program of conquest and expansion of the third reich but in september 1939 hitler invades poland triggering the second world war now for whitman and his generation of young nazis the parades are over and the fighting begins because of his excellence as a driver whitman is given command of a reconnaissance vehicle by early summer 1941 the nazis are the masters of europe but for adolf hitler the real prize lies to the east the soviet empire vast spaces for the master race to conquer and colonize june 22 1941 hitler invades the soviet union codename operation barbarossa three million german soldiers led by 3 600 tanks plunge into the soviet union against the germans the soviets mobilize 2.9 million men and 20 000 tanks despite their superior numbers the soviets are quickly overwhelmed by the speed and skill of the german panzers michael whitman's reconnaissance unit races over the soviet frontier with the leipztendart part of the leading armored force hitler's armor divisions were important in the fact that they were the ones that were spearheading the advances the whole mentality of the tank force was always keep moving whitman and the leicester and art are now part of the notorious waffen ss the lofan ss had a few premier divisions leicester dart being one of them that maintained its elite status throughout the war as the panzers slash hundreds of kilometers through russian defenses millions of prisoners are taken [Music] the waffen ss does have a reputation for committing atrocities on the eastern front over three million will be shot or starved to death three weeks after the invasion the leifstandart is closing in on the ukrainian capital kiev at the forefront is reconnaissance sergeant michael whitman july 12 1941 the panzers advance over hilly wooded country as they near the city of jitomir 200 kilometers southwest of kiev the soviets counter-attack dozens of soviet t-34 tanks bear down on the livestream dives the t-34 has been a shock for the germans weighing 26 tons the t-34 is heavily armored with sloping sides to deflect shells armed with a powerful 76.2 millimeter gun it is better than anything the germans can field whitman is ordered to reconnoiter the enemy forces in their sturmgeschertz3 or stew he spotted two groups of soviet t-34 tanks six coming from northeast and another 12 from the east that meant 18 t-34s against whitman's single assault gun it was no match whitman had to act quickly to even the odds he ordered his driver to take the storm shots off the high ground whitman has been ordered not to engage the enemy tanks as the heavier t-34s outgun his sturm geschurch's three starfish is designed initially to be infantry support it's not designed to engage other tanks built on the chassis of a panzer iii the stoog is a turretless assault gun which means the driver has to swing the whole vehicle around to aim its high velocity 75 millimeter cannon the stern kicks has a movable cannon of 24 degrees only you have to face the enemy straight forward not from the side if you see the enemy you have to turn despite being outnumbered and outmatched by the russian tanks whitman disobeys his orders and attacks the t-34s this personality that was mated to the panzer credo of attack that that would have been the first thing he was looking for was an opportunity to be preempted as the t-34 surged forward towards the quest of the hill whitman's only hope was to set up an ambush it was a direct hit a second t-34 surged over the hill it went up in flames assert t34 managed to get a shot at wittmann's storm the t-34s were not as accurate we thought at least than ours more russian tanks poured forward there were just too many bitman headed for cover he used the assault guns low profile to hide it in a small wood i like the sturmkashitz because of the low silhouette and that gave me a a feeling being safer but facing so many t-34s there was nowhere for him to hide whitman's driver swiveled the stool to bring its gun to bear on the russian firing would have definitely been an issue because of the inability to track a target via a turret you would have to maneuver the vehicle and again his gunner scored a direct hit with a t-34 the only weak part is between the the turret and the the body to get right into the crack another t-34 tried to target the sin side armor on the strom geschutz diphthong had to turn quickly and fire before the russian got in a shot you hit the tracks if you can when the tracks burst of course it just goes around in a circle his fast maneuvering whitman began to even the odds then three more enemy tanks attacked bittman opened fire only one of the soviet tanks escaped six of the formidable t-34s destroyed in just a few minutes whitman and his crew stopped the soviet armored attack for his actions whitman is awarded the iron cross second class impressed by his exploits whitman's commanders send him back to germany to train to become an officer of the ss whitman's career is on the rise autumn 1942 bad taltz germany michael whitman begins his training in heinrich himmler's waffen-ss school its aim is to form a new ss military elite the future leaders of hitler's nazi empire whitman graduates as an ss second lieutenant and is soon training on germany's newest tank the tiger hitler's answer to the soviet t-34 it is the most formidable tank in the world at 100 millimeters the tiger's frontal armor is virtually impregnable its 88 millimeter gun can cut through a t-34 at over two kilometers in february 1943 whitman is called back to the russian front as part of the leipzig dart's new tiger company [Music] but by the summer the tide of battle is turning against germany soviet forces surge west creating a huge bulge protruding into the german lines near the russian city of kursk desperate to regain the initiative adolf hitler plans a counter-offensive operation citadel it will be a two-pronged attack from north and south to chop off the bulge leaving half a million soviet soldiers cut off and trapped for the citadel offensive the germans have amassed 780 000 men and 2500 tanks to meet the germans the soviets feel almost two million men and more than five thousand tanks the leibstandart will be at the front of the southern attack with them at the spearhead will be michael whitman now commanding a platoon of five tiger tanks on the eve of battle whitman's commander reads out adolf hitler's message to the crews soldiers today you sit out on a great offensive whose result can decisively affect the outcome of the war ma soldiers now finally you have better tanks than the enemy the german homeland looks to you with art and confidence we just thought we were superior to the to the russian tanks at least we were brainwashed to believe that which helps to make you feel superior you know you know what propaganda does july 5th 1943 at dawn the tiger crews wait for their attack to begin the order came over the tank radios panzers forward as we advanced we were met by a relentless storm of fire the russians had prepared line after line of defenses with dug-in t-34s because the t-34 was inferior to the tiger 1 it needed to compensate for its deficiencies one of the ways was to have pre-dug positions for the vehicles the incoming round would have to penetrate several feet of dirt to be able to actually get to the vehicle itself the tiger's powerful 88-millimeter gun is able to break through the russian defenses while the russian shells bounce off the tiger's armor overcoming line after line of russian defense whitman and the tigers pushed towards their objective but the russians continued to throw wave after wave of tanks at our advanced these were all fresh targets for whitman's gunner whitman's tank kept moving firing as it turned smashing one t-34 after another knocking out eight tanks and twelve anti-tank guns this first day of battle has been a success for whitman and his elite crew we call it to some geschfield play together you know so that one interacts with the other the right way the loader the gunner the commander the driver the radio man it's a tight clinic group july 12 1943 the germans set off to assault the final soviet defense line before curse whitman's commander is wounded and whitman must take over command of the leifstrandart's tiger company just as the battle of kursk is about to reach its climax unknown to the germans the russians are preparing a desperate last-ditch counter-attack the germans were on the verge of breaking through into open country and the soviets were starting to panic they're going to throw whatever they had available into the mix the russians send 500 tanks west to attack the german right flank but the waffen-ss tanks turn east these huge tank forces are about to collide near the little town of prokhorovka second lieutenant whitman and his crew are ordered to high ground in the distance what seemed like a dust cloud was rising suddenly hundreds of soviet tanks appeared at the crest of a hill headed straight towards whitman we were in shock the soviets were not on the defensive they were attacking just sixteen hundred meters from whitman more than one hundred soviet tanks are charging towards him over the gently rolling land of the step we've had a number of hills but it was predominantly open terrain so the tiger tank could engage at long distance with a will aimed shot a tiger can knock out a t-34 at a distance of two kilometers but the russian tanks have to get much closer before their guns can have any effect on the tigers the t-34 is the race towards us trying to close the deadly gap they came back into view now only 800 meters away the tigers opened fire a lot of tanks in a relatively small area something of a shooting gallery from a tiger one commander's perspective the t-34s were still not close enough to penetrate the armor of the tigers so they had to keep advancing straight through our barrage they got to 700 meters getting closer and closer the tiger guns were belching fire but there were too many they couldn't all be stopped [Music] at close range the german tanks are vulnerable whitman's tigers spring into action whitman's gunner fires on the move again and again one of the reasons that whitman was so successful as a tiger commander was his ability to fire while moving on with the vehicle that way they could acquire the target but they'd get rounds on the target more quickly such a technique wasn't normal in fact german regulations stressed that the tanks should not fire when on the move it's basically a waste of ammunition but whitman and his crew have mastered the difficult technique using it to their advantage from whitman's perspective prokarovka would have just been chaos he would have had firing at close range whitman's tank is hit twice but keeps on fighting the metric of baiden dryden panzer of panzer the battle rages for hours the russians take appalling losses but they succeed in slowing the german advance one of the greatest tank battles in history because of the numbers of tanks and other armored vehicles involved in a relatively small area our tiger company had a series of fine successes the whole citadel cursed battle we destroyed 151 enemy tanks [Music] despite the success of the tiger units the ferocious russian defenses has stopped hitler's offensive the germans have lost the decisive tank battle on the eastern front [Music] from now on michael whitman will be fighting for his and for nazi germany's survival in its third winter on the eastern front the german army is in full retreat the russians have pushed them 500 kilometers from kursk back into the ukraine michael whitman's tiger unit is fighting a series of desperate rear guard action tiger units would have been sent from one sector the front to the other to try and plug gaps that had been opened up by soviet armored forces and attempted to blunt them so that way german forces could continue their retreat to the west the rapid russian advance leaves the soviet supply line stretch dangerously thin making supply convoys a vital necessity [Music] 6 1943 whitman and his unit now designated the 101st ss heavy panzer battalion are poised to attack a soviet supply convoy near the town of brusolov but between the convoy and the tigers are batteries of russian anti-tank guns the soviet 76.2 millimeter divisional gun is a tank killer it can smash through a tiger's side armor at a distance of nearly 1 000 meters and wreck its tracks to kill these anti-tank batteries whitman's tactic is to play a dangerous game using himself and his tank as bait whitman drove to high ground he was tempting the russian gunners to fire at him they took the bait but now the gunners had revealed their positions under heavy fire whitman quickly retreated then our tigers raced at the anti-tank guns from their blind spots charging straight at them before the russians could turn the guns around whitman's tactic has worked the anti-tank batteries are now a smoking wreck but his tiger reveals just how dangerous whitman's game can be we counted a total of 28 hits on the tiger some of them were smaller of course but there were also some big enough to easily put one's fist into with the anti-tank batteries eliminated whitman races towards the supply road he drives into cover to observe the road and he spots a convoy though he's heavily outnumbered whitman decides to attack on his own whitman would have been trying to make the best of a bad situation he would have been increasingly reckless due to necessity in engaging enemy targets like a wolf attacking its prey he quickly knocks out the lead tank and the rear tank leaving the convoy trapped on the road at his mercy whitman blasted the enemy with furious barrages of gunfire he placed his fiery mark on the road smashing long lines of soviet vehicles into junk this caused mass confusion amongst the soviets whitman's daring lone wolf attack has worked brilliantly the russian convoy has been destroyed over the next few weeks he goes on a rampage knocking out 61 enemy tanks his total kills soon reach 117. he paints the number of kills on his tank barrel on january 16 1944 whitman is awarded the knights cross nazi germany's second highest military honor then just a few weeks later his knight's cross is upgraded with oak leaves and he is promoted to first lieutenant on february 2nd 1944 whitman is called to the fuhrer's eastern front headquarters to receive his new commendation from adolf hitler himself i think one of the reasons that whitman was decorated to the degree that he was was that he was part of the leibstandarta ss adolf hitler division and that's hitler's name in the unit whitman is now ordered back to germany where his exploits have already made him famous but the country he finds upon his return is in ruins a result of allied bombing the site of such senseless destruction of our cities is enough to make one's heart bleed the anglo-americans have taught us to hate they will see this hate transformed into energy we desire one thing to get them in front of our guns we have only one watchword and that is revenge the war effort was definitely going against germany and they were looking for ways to keep up the public morale he visited the henschel factory where the tiger one was made and made a speech to the workers there i think whitman was used as propaganda for the nazi party but i don't think it was totally unwilling on his part i think it was just another way of contributing to the war effort the reich made him a celebrity intentionally during his triumphal tour of germany whitman marries 19 year old hildegard burmester the couple is offered a special wedding gift adolf hitler's mine camp hitler went to pittman's wedding a tank case in germany was so important before he can arrange a honeymoon for his young bride whitman receives a new posting so his wife accompanies him with his tiger battalion to the chateau elberth in normandy france michael whitman will soon have his chance at revenge on germany's enemies on june 6 1944 allied forces land in normandy hitler orders his panzer forces to drive the allies back into the sea for michael whitman and his tigers the allied beachhead is over 200 kilometers away whitman started off on june 6 with 45 tiger tanks which is a full complement for that 101st heavy ss tank battalion but it takes whitman five harrowing days to get his second company to the normandy battlefield under unrelenting attacks by allied fighter bombers that decimate his forces and a week later it was down to about six vehicles that were serviceable whitman and the 101st ss heavy panzer battalion are positioned on the left and most crucial sector of the front facing the british and the canadians the germans would have concentrated their armored units around the british and canadian sector because if that sector had fallen that would have been the shortest route to germany so they had to hold that with their stronger units the allies are preparing the break out of the beach head their plan is to send the british 7th armored division towards the key city of khan through the town of villarres bokage june 13 1944 sheltering from allied bombers whitman positions his surviving tigers under the cover of trees near villarres bokage the british 22nd armored brigade was moving through the town the column of british tanks is just 200 meters from whitman's position the british do not know whitman is there but they are about to find out then a man came into the command post and said uber tanks are driving past i don't think they are german i had no idea that the enemy might suddenly appear whitman saw that there was an opportunity in that the british armored vehicles were in a nice neat line approaching his position i went outside and saw english and american tanks rolling past about 150 to 200 meters distance never had i been so impressed by the strength of the enemy as i was by those tanks rolling by whitman is facing 138 tanks and armored vehicles while he has only six tanks the decision to attack was a very difficult one but i knew it absolutely had to be and i decided to strike out at the enemy whitman's split second decision will become legendary i had no time to assemble my company i set off with one tank i drove up to the column surprised the english as much as they had surprised me i first knocked out two tanks from the right of the column then one from the left with them being in such close proximity to each other there was no room to maneuver i then turned about to the left and attacked the armored troop carriers in the middle of the armored regiment they never left the road they were so surprised that they took to flight but not with their vehicles instead they jumped out and i shot up the battalion's vehicles as i drove by i drove towards the rear of the column on the same road knocking out every tank that came toward me the enemy was thrown into total confusion i was able to take out tanks as well as armored troop carriers then i drove straight into the town of villers bokash the town has already been occupied by british armor whitman continues his single-handed attack claiming a total of 21 allied tanks destroyed i got to approximately the center of town where i was hit by an anti-tank gun my tank was disabled i fired that and destroyed everything around me that i could reach i then abandoned the tank whitman's deadly rampage has lasted barely 15 minutes but he has devastated an entire enemy regiment [Music] by single-handedly knocking out the british column it kept the allies from taking area around khan for two months and it added to the mystique of whitman's abilities as a panzer commander german newsreels make the most of the allied setback at villar's bokkau [Music] whitman is the most famous tank officer in the german army [Music] but the following day the stress of battle shows on his face whitman is celebrated for his astounding feat by first ss panzer corps commander sepp dietrich who recommends him for yet another commendation in july whitman is once again personally decorated by hitler this time adding two swords to his knight's cross with oak leaves whitman was the most decorated tank commander not only for his experience on the battlefield but i would think also for the propaganda value that could be showcased through him and so michael whitman reaches the height of his fame in normandy and it is in normandy that his fate and his myth will be sealed august 8th 1944 two months after villar's bookage michael whitman is now a captain and acting commander of his battalion yet as whitman's career soars hitler's army in normandy is headed towards destruction now the allies launch a decisive punch codenamed operation totalize british and canadian armor storms along the confiles road smashing 14 kilometers through the german lines towards the village of sinto as 300 allied tanks bear down on sinto the 12th ss panzer division is ordered to bar their advance with the remnants of the heavily outnumbered division is captain michael whitman with a small group of tiger tanks the division's leader colonel kurt mayer now orders an immediate counter-attack [Music] woodman's targets were standing ready behind the hedge east of cento we had to risk the attack in order to win time it was almost suicidal for the germans to mount that attack but this was their system if they were hit they would hit back immediately whitman is in reserve but he insists on leading the attack michael said to me i must be in the attack myself for the other officers can barely cope kurt mayer knows the situation is hopeless i shook michael whitman's hand michael left his youthful laugh and climbed into his tiger and so michael whitman sets off on the attack just eight german tanks advancing against 300 allied tanks i don't think whitman is exactly a fatalist i don't think that he just figured that he was going to die maybe this was the best place to do it whitman and probably his crew didn't think so much about their own personal safety as the overall war effort what whitman doesn't know is there is a hidden danger waiting for him on either side of the con filets road british tanks of the northamptonshire yeomanry are lying in weight in the woods to his right canadian tanks of the sherbrook fusiliers are hidden behind a wall to his left we drove off michael right of the road and i left of the road approximately 800 meters to michael's right there was a small wood which looked suspicious the british tanks hidden in the woods observe whitman there were four certainly four tigers which came down on what would have been our side of the main road the canadians of the sherbrookes were as far as i can see actually much nearer but they were on the other side of the main road the canadian tanks are hidden from whitman's view behind a long chateau wall we sneaked up right beside a brick wall and got in reasonable cover just hit the wall just enough that you could get your gun that you could move it sufficiently i could see on the right the first german tanks came out from synthol right away i can remember the wireless net becoming active i can see them i can see them i saw these targets coming across in front of us about 1200 yards away my town commander they said we'll wait till they get to about 800 yards we drove about one to one and a half kilometers always now starting to get a bit itchy the allies not only have the element of surprise they have a new tank the sherman firefly the firefly up gun with a powerful 17-pounder cannon is able to penetrate 130 millimeters of steel enough for even the thickest armor on a tiger for the first time we realized that we now had a tank which was equal to the tiger whitman's tigers are now in the kill zone with my eyes i could see the tank closest to the road about two 200 yards i guess the tank commander said advanced driver and we pull out a cover as we pull out a cover he says target the rear target i thought we began taking heavy fire and then i received a radio message from michael i'd look after at the second tank i fired one shot at the second tank the loader reloads getting fallen ready [Music] three of the four tigers are now knocked out whitman's tank moves on alone from close range the canadians now opened fire at whitman's tank the one that he was in i think went by me other people from my squad were firing at it now whitman's tiger is hit when i got to within 300 meters of michael's tiger flames suddenly shot from the tank i can remember a tremendous explosion and seeing the turret hit the ground august 8 1944 michael whitman has fought his final battle whether his last thoughts as he went down the robe were simply valhalla here i come a sort of a death wish he must have known there was no way they were going to win [Music] august 25th just days after whitman's death the german army in normandy is defeated many of hitler's soldiers remain in normandy buried in la cam german military cemetery somber gravestones recall the unheralded end of the nazi [Music] empire yet michael whitman is still celebrated i think there's a myth to michael whitman's combat experiences people look at him as yes being a nazi but it's not the reason that they admire his abilities in combat i think if you're on the receiving end of that you're going to have a different perspective he accepted the doctrines of look enough to get in his tank and invade other people's countries country after country to kill men women and children he might have been a hero to the germans but not to me even though it's been 60 years after whitman's death his legacy his mystique maintains to today i swear to thee adolf hitler as fuhrer and chancellor of the german right obedience unto death [Music] foreign

Channel: War Stories

Views: 49,945

Keywords: military history, war, war documentary, military tactics, war stories, history of war, battles, greatest tank battles, full length documentaries, documentary history, world war two, world war 2, ww2, tank battles, full documentary, george patton, erwin rommel north africa, bernard montgomery el alamein, tobruk ww2, El Agheila, Operation Sonnenblume, michael wittmann death, michael wittmann greatest tank ace, history documentary, el Alamein ww2, ww2 greatest battles

Id: -WCCgANYTu4

Length: 138min 39sec (8319 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 08 2021