May 1940 - The Belgian ACG-1 tank squadron in combat | Tank Battles of WW2
Вставка
- Опубліковано 22 тра 2020
- Hello and welcome to The AceDestroyer! Today we will take a closer look at the destiny of the ACG-1’s of Belgium during the combat of May 1940. The ACG-1 was Belgium’s medium tank during the war. In this video we will follow the unit from the start of the war until the surrender of Belgium, 18 days later. Find out more in today’s video! Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and do leave a comment down below!
Cheers!
INFORMATION:
Bel Memorial. (z.d.). Bevrijding van Kapelle-op-den-Bos. Geraadpleegd op 22 mei 2020, van bel-memorial.org/books/4_septe...
Geens, F. (z.d.). De Belgische Cavalerietank AGC-1. Geraadpleegd op 22 mei 2020, van frontsector.be/index.php/mate...
18 Daagse veldtoch. (z.d.). Eskadron Pantserwagens Cavaleriekorps. Geraadpleegd op 22 mei 2020, van 18daagseveldtocht.be/cavalerie...
FOOTAGE:
All footages comes from the Ufa Tonwoche (Deutsche Wochenschau) No. 508 [30/05/1940]
Pictures are from Google images, mostly Wikipedia
MUSIC:
All music is from the UA-cam audio library: ua-cam.com/users/audiolibrary...
The Bronx is Burning
For We Are Many
Dark Alley Deals
What a sad story. The crews must have been acutely aware of the shortcomings of their tanks, and yet they still did their best. Brave guys, and thanks for bringing it to public attention. Really well told Ace, please do more asap! 😁
Ask any M4 Sherman tanker in Europe.
The ACG-1 was actually a pretty decent tank. It had of course a few shortcomings. The frontal armour was 25mm. A PaK-36 could defeat that. But it wasn't much less than on German tanks (max 30mm). No radio on the ACG-1. It sometimes had issues with overheating in hot weather. Renault did not supply many spare parts.
On the positive side: A two man turret on a French tank! Plus it had a lot of diascopes, vision slits and a periscope for good visibility. It also had an actual turret hatch on the top unlike the closed cupola on H-35, R-35, Somua... and a wide escape hatch on the back of the turret. The ACG-1 was armed with the Belgian C47 cannon (+7.65mm Hotchkiss MG). They carried both HE and AP ammo. Armour penetration was better than the PaK-36 and the guns on the German tanks. Great gun! The ACG-1 had a top speed of 42km/h and a horsepower to weight of 12.4 hp/ton. Decent stats.
In short: great gun, decent mobility, good visibility, decent ergonomics for the time, rather light armour, no radio. In fighting capability similar to the Panzer 35(t) and 38(t).
@@user-lg4mm3mf8i If I was a crew member in 1940 I would make sure that "wide escape hatch" was well-maintained!
@@terraflow__bryanburdo4547 Oh my god the tank is on fire.
In the bastogne barracks there's some extra info on these tanks. Between the lines you could read we basically got ripped off by the french and they sold us tanks that were already completely worn out and super unreliable. But still these guys pushed on, knowing they didn't stand a chance.
Often forgotten the Belgian soldiers during the 18 day campaign 1940. My grandfather was taken POW at the Albertcanal on the morning of May 10th and sent to a Stalag near Fallingbostel. My Grand Uncle was badly injured during the last days of fighting with his C47 team at the river Lys and died of this injuries in the Hospital St-KruisBrugge on June 16 th1940. He was only 22..
I'm sorry to hear that. I live close to the Lys battlefields, we've got a few memorials here in Kuurne and Ooigem dedicated to those who fell during the fighting at the Lys.
Thanks for this piece of history. I wondered how other allied tank forces fared in 1940 such as Belgium and Holland but had not heard any accounts until now.
At 6:10 Ace says, "his tank was hit by a 37mm round.", and at that moment a 37mm round flies past the camera. Way cool.
Thanks again for a very interesting video. The Belgian tankers were very brave men given the poor equipment they had been issued. It's only right that they should be recognised.
Too often the parts played by the smaller nations in the 1940 campaign are simply glossed over, or ignored, in favour of the BEF and France.
There were brave men in all those nations.
Another great post. This channel should have at least one million subscribers. 👍👍👍👍👍👌
If you think these men were just defending their homeland against a tidal wave of on coming enemies. They did everything they could with what they were given.
Enjoyed watch that video, appears they didn’t have the numbers to give the Germans any big problems. Brave people 🇬🇧
duh.
Love that when you are changing the topic of the videos you are changing the avatar! Good job !
Well, it was while making this video that I realized that the avatar now - the Belgian circle - suits me better as I'm from Belgium myself.
@@TheAceDestroyer L'union fait la force (sorry about the Frenchification). I tried to look up the Flemish Movement quickly and got very confused. I hope that's not offensive.
@@jayfrank1913 haha no, it's 'L'union fait la force' in French and 'Eendracht maakt macht' in Dutch (Flemish)
@@TheAceDestroyer Thanks, Ace!
"Flimsy armor, no radio and low on petrol is no way to go to war, son!"
I guess that is what happens when your primary military spec for a tank is "Don't make the Germans mad!"
That, as a Belgian by birth, makes me mad :( Idiotic politicians. Same in the Netherlands. The pollies kept cutting the military budget, including the Navy of a country with overseas "possessions" (Netherlands East Indies). Little Belgium upsetting the Germans? Somebody was getting paid, laid, or both.
They called it an armored car for political reasons. That's not the same as suggesting they effectively sought out a shitty tank because they did not want to "anger the Germans".
I assume the choice was primarily made because of budgetary constraints.
When looking at interwar tank doctrine and most contemporary tanks it was not - at first glance - a bad choice. However, Renault delivered a tank that was worse than specified.
One (perhaps its only?) saving grace was the two man turret design :D
This series is remarkable we are using it as a basis for our Bolt Action Armies for a World War II game
we also play a game called Mustangs & Messershmitts and would love to add the Belgian Air Force too
We knew they flew some gladiators hurricane Mark ones and a few CR 42s etc. could you please do a video like this on the Air Force and the fighting for those few days in May thank you for all your hard work
Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have any footage of Belgian planes, nor from the areas fought, so I can't really make a video out of it at the moment. However, I can recommend 'The Silent Attack' by Gonzales, Steinke and Tannahill. The book has a chapter on the air combat between the Belgian and German air force during the opening few days of the offensive.
The Belgian army air force (part of the army not an independant airforce) had several types. The most modern were the Hurricanes Mk I with two bladed propellors. First ones were bought from the UK. SABCA at Gosselies had a license to produce them in BE. 1 new type was just finished on May 10th with a new propellor. The BE versions would get 4 x 13.2mm FN Browning guns instead of 8 x 7.65mm. All Hurricanes were destroyed/damaged within the first 2 days. There were some Fairey Battle light bombers. These tried to bomb the captured bridges near Eben Emael. All shot down AFAIK. They also had Gloster Gladiators. Some destroyed on the ground. The others flew escort for the Fairey Battles. All shot down AFAIK.
The third somewhat modern fighter type was the CR.42 Falco. A decent number survived the first bombings. These engaged in air combat with the Luftwaffe and shot down some German planes.
The most numerous type was the Fairey Fox. This type had been produced by SABCA in Belgium. Several different versions existed. Good plane for the mid thirties. Obsolescent by 1940 compared to fast monoplane's like the Me 109, Hurricane, Spitfire...
Other that that there were some Fairey Fireflies, Renard parasol aircraft, prototypes...
This is a Belgian propaganda film from 1939. There is footage of the army airforce in it as well. ua-cam.com/video/amj1HSr9ss8/v-deo.html
F2000 thanks
I am working on a gladiator and a few cr-42s at the moment
@@SGusky www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/de-belgische-raids-op-het-albertkanaal
Very, very brave men
Bravo, excellente vidéo ! On oublie souvent la participation belge durant la seconde guerre mondiale...
cool!! My grandfather 'recovered' a couple of shells from one of the tanks in kapelle op den bos.
Note how many countries felt radios were unnecessary and resulted in no coordination and individual tanks out on a limb.
A brilliant video, as always.
Well done, Ace. An untold tale. Didn't think the Belgians put up much of a fight. At least they didn't lie down.
This might be out of your area of history but I read years ago a book by Bles entitled A Child At War about a Belgian teenager who was a courier for the Belgian Resistance. She was later captured and sent to Ravensbruck Conentration Camp. It was quite a moving story. It would be interesting if you could do a video on the Belgian Resistance. I realize that photographic footage would be hard to find to illustrate such a story. I very much enjoy your videos and the quality you put into them.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy my videos! Although the subject of Belgian resistance offers many interesting stories, it's like you said, photo's let alone moving images are terribly hard to find.
Good stuff Ace - keep 'em coming.🍺
I love the earlier battles too. Keep up the great work!
Another very good Video on this Channel, and such a Calm Voice Despite those Horrors we we See in them.
Greatfully, another Ace Destroyer video.
My Friend's Dad is Belgian. Came to Canada to be a cowboy. Runs his farm with cows and bison on it. He is quite the man. Consequently, My Friend married a woman raised by a man that was 10 years old in 1940's Germany. Helmut told me a couple stories.
@Frank DeFalco Would you believe there was a Jewish family that ran their shop through the whole war without being bothered by the authorities?
Would you believe a feral pig charged my friend's Dad, and the Dad let lose with his 30-30, firing from hip, emptied the gun (7 or 9 rounds), and pig fell dead at his feet? The pig weighed 930 pounds. The pig was donated to help another guy out. They slung the pig over the box on a Ford Courier pickup truck, and the feet drug on the ground on both sides.
My God thats terrible...the poor crews. I want thank you as i am learning a lot from your channel.....stay safe and stay free
Great information on a very underrated part of the war. Very interesting, well presented.
Excellent as always!
admirable work done in this channel! thank u very much :)
Another great video,always good to hear stories from our army,greetings from Liège/Luik ! :D
Thanks! Greeting back from Kortrijk (Courtrai)!
Just a side note. The Belgians had an armoured Car brigade in WW1. It was sent to Russia as it was not usable on the Ypres Front. Perhaps this played a role as in why tanks were not a big priority, certainly for a more neutral country.
@Pedro Kantor It was understandable, tanks were seen as offensive weapons, specifically to break thru defenses (trenches). The Belgians, like most Europeans, had no intention of breaking thru anyone's defense, so what tanks they bought was more "well everyone else is doing it" than any strategic national requirement.
The German plans changed more based upon the experience in Poland and the potential of mechanized forces.
Tanks like the ACG-1 were expensive and Belgium didn't have experience in producing these. Not sure if they had all the necessary industry and tools. So they would have to be bought elsewhere. Belgium did have the production capability to make lighter T-13 self-propelled anti-tankguns. These were a lot cheaper, faster and simpler to make and could be made locally.
Simple, light tankdestroyers with a big gun for the time made a lot more sense for the Belgian defensive doctrine. The commander of the chasseurs ardennais was offered ACG-1 tanks but replied that he would rather have 3x as much T-13's instead.
The experience from august/september 1914 led to the Armoured Car brigade (ACM). The experiences obtained in Russia had no big influence on the idea to have tanks or not (after WW1 the Belgians had Renault FT17). Main reason to have no tanks, was neutrality as tanks were seen as an offensif weapon.
top video, often forgotten, we belgians :) on a sidenote, there seems to be no mention of acg in the fighting around kwatrecht, there s mention of 4 T13's.
btw thumbs up for the way you pronounce our town names , really impressed!
I'm glad the pronunciation is correct as I'm from Kortrijk myself!
@@TheAceDestroyer for a "westfluut" you are doing great 😁
Hi there, I’m relatively new to your channel and I just want to say how much I love the quality of your videos and the map graphics as well.
Thank you! I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the content! By the way, welcome to the channel!
The AceDestroyer thank you for the warm welcome, I can’t wait for more content from you!
Belgian documentary, love it. 👍🏼
Remarkable research, considering how obscure this is. Detailed to the point of tank commanders names and daily movements of units. Great work.
Thanks! In this case, there were hardly any English sources, but as I'm from Belgium myself, there were a few Dutch and French sources on the subject.
@@TheAceDestroyer for your information : you can find a lot of information in the Tank Museum News nr 122 edited by the Belgium Tank Museum vzw
@@TheAceDestroyer Thanks. Again - great work and keep the content about May 1940 rolling. I have recently read a book "Dunkirk: Fight to the last man", which covers Fall Gelb from British perspective, but there is really not enough on that topic.
@@100Kakdela I've got the book 'Destination Dunkirk' at home, which also covers the British perspective. I've found quite some good information on the Battle of Leuven/ Louvain in 1940, so I think I'll make a video on that too.
@@TheAceDestroyer I was in Leuven just last year. Would love to see that! Also found an interesting book "Fall Rot", which is covered even less than Fall Gelb. It covers the second stage of battle for France. Planning on getting it soon.
Thanks !
excellent as expected
I love this Videos! A nice Episode as well... viele Grüße, weiter so!
Haha I've been following your channel for a while now and love your videos. They are of the same quality as Mark Felton's channel!
Whilst watching this video, I was amazed at how correct your pronunciation was, and now I suspect you're actually Belgian! :-)
Keep up the good work in any case! o7
Thanks! Haha, yes I'm indeed from Belgium. I'm from the area of Kortrijk.
Great video 👍
being flemish myself i give you top marks for the pronunciation of the flemish towns. i remember my grand dad being strafed by stukas whilst pulling canons on horseback to the front and he told me that belgium at that time had only one plane and it was owned by a rich baron
I'm glad to hear that, as I'm Flemish as well (Kortrijk).
@@TheAceDestroyer i am from Gent
sorry me again.i followed the invasion of Belgium may 1940 with great interest.I don,t know if you ever read the book "Hitler in Flanders" written by Siegfried de Baeke .You could make an interesting follow up documentary .Hitler is following the footsteps of his time during the first world war at the advent of the second world war all the way to Duinkerke.it also covers the controversy that he fathered a child during the first world war in a West Flanders village.keep up the great work
Haha, no worries! I haven't read it, although I have heard of it. I don't really make videos like that. However, I have been planning to make some more 1914-15 videos where I could briefly mention Hitler (like the battle of Geluveld or Wijtschate), but I will never make a full video focusing on the man and his wartime career. I only tend to focus on smaller-scale battles and the tactics and developments surrounding the actions.
@@TheAceDestroyer operation switchback could be another interesting one
Immerwieder tolle Berichte von Dir! Große Verehrung!
Thank you! Danke!
leuke video over onze leuke buren !
Thank you, for highlighting this episode in the invasion of Belgium.
My pleasure! I hope you enjoyed it, or at least found it interesting.
Hi mate! Would you consider doing a similar video on the T-13 tank destroyer's part in the battle? Thanks!
Interesting.... Very interesting!
New style seems very cool!
Thanks! I'm glad you like it!
They fought gallantly, but in the end they were doomed to go down in a hail of gunfire.
i never even heard of belgian tanks. thx for this video 👍
Hullebroeck sounds like hull break or Hüllenbruch.
The numbers and lack of radio did more than the other factors. German tanks had about same armour or worse, only some Pz IV with more powerful gun. Just think of 100 or 250 ACG-1's... Would we be speaking about malfunctions in may 1940 then? Perhaps not. Or not more than with the Panther. ;)
Next about the T13? :D
Good vid🇨🇦🤠
Thanks!
As always, a very good video. Congrats for correct naming the towns (from a Belgian)...
Thanks! It would have been hard for me to pronounce them wrong as I'm from Kortrijk myself.
@@TheAceDestroyer aha! Dan maar in't Nederlands. Ik ben van Gavere. Top video's die je afleverde, altijd een plezier om naar te kijken... Wist totaal niet dat je vanuit "de buurt" was... Grappig
Very interesting would love to know about all the other tanks and tank destroyers and their history per se
Tanks encyclopedia has some basic info on the Belgian AFV's: tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/belgium/ww2_Belgian_Tanks.php
I hadn't ever heard anything about Belgian Tanks but - they had an army so it's not surprising they had some.
Thanks.
That was interesting.
.
More Belgian history yes!!!
Any chance you could do an episode covering Belgian flying aces of WW I?
Well, I think I'll have to disappoint you I'm afraid. I tend to stick to ground warfare. I also try to keep WW1 videos to a minimum. Although it's something I'm hugely interested in, I am aware that the majority of the viewers are far more keen on seeing WW2 content. None the less, a few videos concerning my WW1 research can be found in my videos.
G'day,
Yay Team !
For some reason I feel that this is the second time I've seen this - is it a Repost ?
Otherwise I'm imagining things (?).
Have a good one.
;-p
Ciao !
Hello! No, it's not a remake. It's my first take on this subject. Thanks! You too!
@@TheAceDestroyer
Hmmn, I must've watched it this morning, early, and not had time to comment ; then come back and watched it again this afternoon...(?).
Oldtimers Syndrome (!).
Have a good one.
;-p
Ciao !
Nice video and very good dutch (Belgian) pronounciation.
Thank you very much! Well, I'm from the area of Kortrijk myself, so the Flemish pronunciations shouldn't pose a problem.
@@TheAceDestroyer Ik had het net gezien :-) Maar toch als West-Vlaming is het misschien nog een knappere prestatie om zo een goede uitspraak te hebben. ;-) Proficiat met je kanaal, heel professioneel gemaakt en heel erg leerrijk! Just noticed in your bio. But still even as an habitant of West-Flanders it might be even a higher achievement to have such a good Dutch pronounciation. ;-) Congrats on the channel, very professional and very educational to see (also local) war history
Thanks for sharing.
Do any examples still exist?
The Belgian war museum has a turret that was recovered from the coastal defenses. I don't think that it's on display for the moment. The French Saumur museum has a French AMC-35.
@@user-lg4mm3mf8i Thanks for replying.Keep up the good work 😎
i made dna test and iam spanish and belgian :DD i love belgian ww2 weapons like the light and medium tank we did and the renard planes also the artevelde heavy frigate
Thanks Ace. I personally am not very interested in Belgium but I appreciate you are focusing on lesser known places and battles instead of doing D-Day video number 327. :-)
Thanx AceDestroyer, great video - there is not much to find about Belgian tank actions. And you’re pronunciation is very well, are you Belgian ?
Please another video of the French 7 th army which went all the way to the Netherlands on the 10 and 11 of may. Especially 1 DLM - 2 BLM (6th Regiment Cuirassiers and 4th Regiment Dragons Portés, which fought in my neighbourhood.
Thanks! Yes, I'm from Belgium. I've got plans for a few more May 1940 videos, so who knows I might tackle that.
Sending the oldest and best 1st DLM + the 25th and 9th DIM motorised infantry divions to Breda was one of the dumbest things the French did :D.
They didn't really do anything useful up there. Their original purpose was to be a reserve force in the north of France. A far far better plan :D. They wasted their fighting power in NL and messed up the Belgian logistics by demanding priority access on the railway lines.
@@user-lg4mm3mf8i With the knowledge later, indeed it would be better to have reserve behind the lines of the 9th and 1st army. But the allies didn't know or suspected an advance through the Ardennes. The plan was to make a united front with all allied countries and The Netherlands to work together and stop the Germans to get to the North Sea and important harbours like Rotterdam and Antwerp. It's a pity that the French armoured cars didn't go to the Moerdijk bridges to get rid of the Germans so that the bridges could be blown. Then the Dutch lines would be in tact and German parachutists in Rotterdam would be without support and could not fight for long. Then (maybe) the Dutch could help the allies a few days more.
@@harcovanhees394 Well linking up with the Dutch was rather awkward and difficult. The lines only met in the small area around Antwerpen and Breda. In case something went wrong the Dutch would fall back northwest to Vesting Holland (the region of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag). The Allies would fall back southwest to France. The Westerschelde prevents a connection over land beyond Antwerp. So maintaining a land link is difficult.
From a strategic point of view, the best plan would have been to concentrate most Dutch forces around Vesting Holland. This way they could provide a lot of airbases and seaports for the British RAF and Royal Navy. As well as a foothold to bring in more British troops. Of course this would have left most Dutch territory lightly defended.
@@user-lg4mm3mf8i You're wright but the neutrality demanded to defend all borders even with Belgium. There have been some secret talks between the generals of both nations but they couldn't agree, The Dutch general Winkelman would like that the French got further to the Peellinie but that was not what the Belgians wanted to do and the Dutch had no other defencible lines in North Brabant. So the Germans could get around the Peellinie via Belgium. The French wouldn't either. By the way, the English did almost nothing, just landed in Hoek van Holland and stayed there for a couple of days. There was no coördination in the preperation also because of our Neutrality.
How embarrassing.
Keep em coming!! If you ever run out of ideas you can @ me on ze twitterverse or ze reddits. Of in wust vlondren Al's we were bute mogen.
Thanks! Haha ja, we zitten inderdaad al een paar weekskes vast.
@@TheAceDestroyer Your pronunciation of Dendermonde gave you away ;-) .
Kapelle-op-den-bos is where i live i don't they fought here with the tank devision
When you pronounced the Belgian names and places. Makes me think you are from Belgium.
Yes, I am indeed from Belgium.
Belgians stupidly sold their Leopard tanks to the Germans, never learnt the lesson that freedom cost treasure and sometimes blood, a lot of it!
Poor tanks,brave crews, great bier
The belgians had more than enough men, time to prepare, AT guns etc etc and performed very poorly in ww2.
They did as little as possible to cooperate with their allies and once the fighting started were far more defeatist and less willing to hold their positions than the early French reserve B formations. Quite poor.
Belgium has been terrible at war since the revolution when the country did the exact same things to the flemish as the united kingdom of the netherlands had done to the south as a whole, french became the only official language despite the majority of the army being flemings that had previously defected to fight for the revolution, now they were not just second class but were no longer commanded in their own language.
this persisted up to well after ww2 and there still hasn't been so much as an acnowledgement of wrongdoings,
Brussels only became majority French in 1930, the frenchification persisted for a long time and was only held back because the flemish started organizing against it, every student movement in every flemish university carries the flemish lion in their banner, though most have forgotten what their predecessors had suffered repression for.
Calling them armoured cars "not to provoke the Germans"... 🤦🏻♂️
Hi, i am confused. Is all these happening after dunkirk?
Belgium was invaded on 10 May 1940. The Belgian army surrendered on 28 May 1940. The evacuation at Dunkirk took place from 26 May to 4 June 1940.
Like F2000 mentioned, this happened before Dunkirk. In fact, throughout the video you can see the Germans (red area) coming ever closer to the sea. Dunkirk is just off the map, but you would find it on the left of the map, if you would follow the coast.
@@TheAceDestroyer I thought allies made a line at some river in belgium?
@@user-lg4mm3mf8i Thank you.
@@pancakes3250 The Belgians were dug in on the Albert Canal. The French and Enlish moved east up to the Dyle line. This fortified line ran from Antwerp to the French positions on the Meuse more or less. The Belgian fell back west to the Dyle line. The plan was to stop the Germans here once all the Allied forces were dug in behind these fortifications.
Unfortunately the Germans broke through to the south in the Ardennes and outflanked the Dyle position. After that, the Allied fell back step by step to the coast, from one river to the next.
Why bother? Might as well have no tanks.
Yes 25 tanks and some donkeys😂😂😅
7:41 there..the german blitzkrieg at its finest ! Tanks..rows and rows of fast moving tanks........and horses...and push carts....
Buy something French, then instant regret.
It was a decent design but still had some teething issues.
So unprepared in defence yet so ruthless in Africa🤔
Absolutely no infantry support. Laughable