"It went down to the bottom of the englisch channel with the crew still inside it - quite remarkable ".. David Fletcher 2019 Gotta love Brits fort their humor
@@METALLICARULES11 well i guess they where dead on impact. Falling from a couple of hundred meters down in to the sea has the same effect as an impact on solid ground
I wonder if when they heard that tanks were landing from the air, they thought that they would be facing *flying tanks* ? If that were the case, you wouldn't blame them for wanting to keep as far away as possible ! 😉
id be shitting myself if i rolled up against a pz4 f2 or possibly a king tiger in this thing. Just turn around and run lol. Although there was that story of a greyhound driving up to the back of a king tiger and disabling it with a 37mm lol.
They weren't under any illusions: they were NOT for use vs tanks... they were for bombing about shooting infantry up in the dark with HE.. and for making front line heavy armour redirect... they were inserted deep behind enemy lines remember.. their job was to almost certainly flee any heavy engagement and attack communications, logistics & supply... but with so many tanks disabled they never got to be used in a squadron do they ended up being dug underneath and part covered in soil
@@Kevin-mx1vi That's quite possible. After all they were probably getting reports of tanks that could swim from the troops defending the beaches. A flying tank might not have seemed _entirely_ improbable. I understand the Germans were rather partial to amphetamines in heroic quantities at that stage in the war so....
@@robashton8606 well... it was part of the German chocolate energy boost rations at the time... The chocolate came pre-sliced in round metal tins, the brand is still beeing manufactured and sold as a novelty item minus the controlled substances.
What a horrible end for the Tetrach crew that fell into the Channel. I'd never heard of that until today. Another entertaining video, in your inimitable and engaging presentational style, Mr Fletcher.
@Russ Woodward I can only agree. I love the machines and the Engineering Excellence ( and lack of ) which went into them. Even the 1/16 scale RC versions I build carry Tamiya type warning stickers on the lowers mentioning how not to trap your fingers between metal road wheels, sprockets and tracks. I have a number of instances of barked knuckles and cut and stabbed fingers just from the building of them. ;o)
I mean no disrespect towards the rest of the Tank Museum staff, but watching Mr. Fletcher is always such a treat. He just has this aura of the wise old man that has been there before the museum even existed and knows every river and spring of the tanks. He also has a cracking humor that always gives me a smile watching those, otherwise informative, sensational shorts.
At least they didn't drown inside it - the impact force of a seven tonne tank falling however many thousands of feet and hitting water would be extreme, and the crew weren't exactly cushioned. Small consolation, I know.
The Russians took a few of the tanks and they did have some tests and took it in the field. What they found was this: 1. The engine works well, but the cooling system has a drawback that does not allow the water to be fully drained without removing the engine. In addition, the cross-section of the drain pipe is 4 mm, which is insufficient, quickly clogs, and freezes. Work in the winter even on the 2. Transcaucasian Front requires antifreeze. 3. Many parts and assemblies are not robust and break down even with light use on good roads. 4. The wheel carriers are not robust enough and tend to crack in the corners. 5. The drive shaft gear wears out quickly. The armour has the following drawbacks: 1. The turret roof is poorly held, the seven 4-5 mm thick brackets can be torn off with a crowbar. 2. The hatch lock is loose. 3. Openings are present in the turret and rear that could be easily avoided, strengthening the tank against bullets and incendiary fluid. 4. The layout of certain components (gearbox, differential, brake drums) is poor, as they are located underneath the engine and require its removal for maintenance. 5. Access to the idler wheel gear carrier is difficult. 6. The track and track links do not have good traction with the ground and slip often on wet or snowy roads.
Made a pig of it as usual! Classic unpretentious, Mr Fletcher you are a living legend. If they made a British comedy series like Dads Army based on WWII you would be the star.
You need to do a lengthy documentary on that epic lip cover. The armor and protection it provides the upper lip, the excellent filtration it gives to the air circulation system, and the sheer damage it did to the strange early in it's career.
When used operationally only 1 out of 6 (16%) ended in the bottom of english channel with the entire crew! Amazing to see these first landfall tanks were reality in ww2!
on 21K views just 4 dislikes. That's an awesome result. David Fletcher is the ultimate historian. He's kind of wearing wool west or casual blazer, nut in the same time blow the minds of many people with his knowledge. Cheers from Latvia, been to Bowington, but never met the legend.
This channel is amazing and I love each and every single episode you guys bless us with!!! The enthusiasm and knowledge you have about this subject just flows out of the screen. Thank you so much for another fantastic episode!!!
My favorite British tank! Finally we've got a tank chat for it! I hadn't heard about one of them dropping out of a glider into the English channel with crew on-board though, that doesn't sound too good! I'll have top read some more about that.
5:05 in the picture there is actually shown a Handley Page Halifax. Otherwise no comment. I enjoyed every second! The last story made me smile because I had the same problem after driving an AFV while I was in the army. 🙂 Thank you for showing us an interesting vehicle!
Might have "Made a pig's ear of it..." driving the Tetrarch, but it was a silk purse of a review of a tank a rather serious tank historian had never heard of... Well done!
Mr. Fletcher, any of us that have operated any kind of armoured vehicle get these little tank bites from time to time. It's just the tank reminding us who's really in charge is all. Thank you for the background and history of this tiny (but cute) light tank.
It's a nice little tank that....reminds a little of the Saladin armoured car. The Hamilton glider was the inspiration for the Bristol Beverly of course....more or less a big glider with engines stuck on, in the spirit of the Messershmidt Gigant.
I hated the Bev, two sticks would jump from the "boot" bit , and a single stick from the boom, I really hated the boom, thankfully I joined as its service came to and end and we got the Hercules and Andovers .
Or maybe by people that have some knowledge in the topic and know that this old guy is way off with his informations, 21. Panzerdivision was full of old french tanks so flanking or attacking them from behind with this tank would not be as ineffective as he is saying. The funy part is that in different video he is babling that French Char B1 Bis tank was just awful(and that was the best French tank in 1940) and in this video he is informing people that SOMUA S35 few years later are badass tanks and no match for this Tetrarch... i gonna bet it is because of the not so French crew and fact that Germans renamed them to Panzer 35S(f)? heh
Biały The 21st was well stocked with mark iv’s by June ‘44. Sadly there is no evidence that the regiments modified french tanks saw much if any combat, their fate is somewhat unknown as most disappear from unit strength reports before d-day
Loved the story about the 21st Panzer Division. Small "Brown Alert".........we better go back. That one incident would've saved lives on the Normandy Beaches.
A chap called John (who I met at the Flight Refuelling Model Railway Club years ago) was a rear gunner on a Stirling glider tug during the D-Day action. He told a tale a few times of how the Hamilcar glider that his Stirling was towing had the tank fall out and lost its front door onto which the two line was attached. He said the glider spun out of control then broke up before hitting the sea. This must have been the one mentioned.
Same system of steering as the Unversal or Bren Gun Carrier. Personal touches like the driving experience are what make this channel so special. Tactically a more or less useless tank, but accidentally strategically important by diverting the 21st Panzers, war can be strange and unpredictable.
It doesn't look quite the same to me except in that the track could be distorted for steering. If I understand it correctly, the Carrier just shifted some of the road wheels laterally left or right to distort the track, while on the Tetrarch (all?) the road wheels actually twist.
Looking more closely at the Tetrarch steering; it's even more complex than I thought. Only the underside of the track twists while steering, the top of the track stays straight and the wheels have to pivot in two axis to achieve this.
@@Akm72 ____ With the carrier, the actual body of he vehicle was moved left or right across the tracks changing the weight on the track. Like a skateboarder.
Simply the best and so informative I absolutely love this channel and all who make it. One day ill make it across the pond and visit our brethern in the 🇬🇧
"Say old chap, did I just hear the tethers break" -"By George, you're right old chap, and we just hurled right through the nose of the glider" "Blimey, rotten luck to be exiting the glider at this moment" -"You can say that again, last I heard, we still had 15 minutes to go before we reached France" "That means we're still very much over the sea" -"Correct you are, all I see in my periscope is water" "No worries, there will be enough of that in the tank in a moment" -"Indeed,... Say old chap, this being a light tank, think it floats?" "Well, one could state the case that we're currently flying, but...." -"...Yes I understand what you mean" "Oh well, the missus won't be pleased" -"How so?" "I promised her I would be home in time for tea" -"Well, this surely throws that idea out the window, or in this case, out the glider into the North Sea" "... What's that driver? We're about to hit the water? Right-oh!" -"Well Sir, got to say, I had a jolly good time" "So did I chap, God Save the King" -"God Save the King" ua-cam.com/video/9-8LQBhYjs8/v-deo.html
Huh, the British should have sent them to the Pacific theater where they could have joined the US M3 Stuart as a viable front-line tank against the Japanese well through 1944 and on. Good one, Mr. Fletcher! Thank you!
At 8:38: The bomber hauling the Hamilcar glider is a Handley Page Halifax with Merlin engines. The majority of Halifax used Bristol Hercules XVI radial engine.
With a tank falling out of a plane, four being tangled in parachutes and two being destroyed in action within minutes, I was starting to wonder whether there was any point. Then he mentioned delaying the 21st Panzer Division and, thinking back to Mark Felton’s video on the German armoured battlegroup actions on D-Day, that seemed like a great achievement. I guess success in war is not measured only in winning tactical battles.
I hadn't heard anything about *Operation Ironclad* - the Battle of Madagascar - until David mentioned it at 3:46; thank you. I'd like to learn more about the Battle of Madagascar, as the seizure of the port of Diego-Suarez was vital to forces operating in the Indian Ocean.
I think that Ironclad, Stream, Line and Jane operations may have informed later seabourne ops such as Gaudalcanal and later Overlord. Definitely an overlooked piece of history.
I find the fact that the Brits managed to successfully deploy truly airborne tanks in 1944 a rather impressive accomplishment, regardless of how good the tank was.
I wonder if his mouth actually moves or his mustache just rocks back and forth Also “I grabbed the steering wheel as ye normally wood... and I skinned me knuckles right good” DRIVING A TANK Mad Ladd 1000
"It went down to the bottom of the englisch channel with the crew still inside it - quite remarkable ".. David Fletcher 2019
Gotta love Brits fort their humor
@B K Oh no,not again?
@B K "Damn it! I should never have let private Squiffy tighten the straps."
@B K "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-" *splash*
I the only one who realises what a horrible death that would have been?
@@METALLICARULES11 well i guess they where dead on impact. Falling from a couple of hundred meters down in to the sea has the same effect as an impact on solid ground
Yay! Mr Fletcher talking about tanks always brightens my day
Even with the incessant buzzing in the background
me too or as the kids say on America #meetoo
Stopping the 21st Panzer Division psychologically is a very good achievement.
I wonder if when they heard that tanks were landing from the air, they thought that they would be facing *flying tanks* ?
If that were the case, you wouldn't blame them for wanting to keep as far away as possible ! 😉
id be shitting myself if i rolled up against a pz4 f2 or possibly a king tiger in this thing. Just turn around and run lol. Although there was that story of a greyhound driving up to the back of a king tiger and disabling it with a 37mm lol.
They weren't under any illusions: they were NOT for use vs tanks... they were for bombing about shooting infantry up in the dark with HE.. and for making front line heavy armour redirect... they were inserted deep behind enemy lines remember.. their job was to almost certainly flee any heavy engagement and attack communications, logistics & supply... but with so many tanks disabled they never got to be used in a squadron do they ended up being dug underneath and part covered in soil
@@Kevin-mx1vi That's quite possible. After all they were probably getting reports of tanks that could swim from the troops defending the beaches. A flying tank might not have seemed _entirely_ improbable. I understand the Germans were rather partial to amphetamines in heroic quantities at that stage in the war so....
@@robashton8606 well... it was part of the German chocolate energy boost rations at the time...
The chocolate came pre-sliced in round metal tins, the brand is still beeing manufactured and sold as a novelty item minus the controlled substances.
this man can talk about a toothpick for an hour, i would still watch it.
Ikr? For real! He's quite the good ol' chap!
Link to the toothpick video please?
@@seanc.5310 i mean, if he really did a video about a toothpick, i would watch it.
Bakat Zen agreed
That would be... *Quite interesting*
What a great way to start the day, woke up then opened my laptop and a new Tank Chat pops up as I look at my mail, thank you Mr. Fletcher and crew.
7:56 "And skinned me knuckles"
Best part
"Were a right o'le mess for a while" second best part
"made a pig's ear of it".😊
@Nasim Aghdam Is that the dog's breakfast?
I've operated a few old things where you had to know the right way to grip the control.
And now if you care to subscribe that would also help a lot...
Saw this video, added 4 minutes ago. Watching now. Full trust in David Fletcher.
No clickbait on this channel, does exactly what it says on the tin. Thanks Mr Fletcher!
What a horrible end for the Tetrach crew that fell into the Channel. I'd never heard of that until today. Another entertaining video, in your inimitable and engaging presentational style, Mr Fletcher.
I think that on that day they were probably some of the more fortunate victims. Time to die, 0.1 second.
''...for our benefit i suspect.'' Love Fletcher
Tanks are as dangerous to the crews as they are to the enemy. Part of their charm. Tank Museum and Mr. Fletcher, a Good start to any Friday!
@Russ Woodward I can only agree. I love the machines and the Engineering Excellence ( and lack of ) which went into them. Even the 1/16 scale RC versions I build carry Tamiya type warning stickers on the lowers mentioning how not to trap your fingers between metal road wheels, sprockets and tracks. I have a number of instances of barked knuckles and cut and stabbed fingers just from the building of them. ;o)
His description of how to drift a tetrarch @2:37 is why I am here.
Déjà vu!
I mean no disrespect towards the rest of the Tank Museum staff, but watching Mr. Fletcher is always such a treat. He just has this aura of the wise old man that has been there before the museum even existed and knows every river and spring of the tanks. He also has a cracking humor that always gives me a smile watching those, otherwise informative, sensational shorts.
What a way to go... falling out of a plane, into the ocean, inside a tank.
Seriously how freaking scary would that be?
supposedly the glider didn't make it either and 2 other gliders crashed on landing, poor lads
At least they didn't drown inside it - the impact force of a seven tonne tank falling however many thousands of feet and hitting water would be extreme, and the crew weren't exactly cushioned. Small consolation, I know.
Makes you wonder if they secured the tank properly inside the glider.
Quite remarkable really.
Mr. Fletcher's talks always have a bit of excellent humor quietly inserted in the history. Makes his talks some of my favorites.
The Russians took a few of the tanks and they did have some tests and took it in the field. What they found was this:
1. The engine works well, but the cooling system has a drawback that does not allow the water to be fully drained without removing the engine. In addition, the cross-section of the drain pipe is 4 mm, which is insufficient, quickly clogs, and freezes. Work in the winter even on the
2. Transcaucasian Front requires antifreeze.
3. Many parts and assemblies are not robust and break down even with light use on good roads.
4. The wheel carriers are not robust enough and tend to crack in the corners.
5. The drive shaft gear wears out quickly.
The armour has the following drawbacks:
1. The turret roof is poorly held, the seven 4-5 mm thick brackets can be torn off with a crowbar.
2. The hatch lock is loose.
3. Openings are present in the turret and rear that could be easily avoided, strengthening the tank against bullets and incendiary fluid.
4. The layout of certain components (gearbox, differential, brake drums) is poor, as they are located underneath the engine and require its removal for maintenance.
5. Access to the idler wheel gear carrier is difficult.
6. The track and track links do not have good traction with the ground and slip often on wet or snowy roads.
I hadn’t heard about their role in preserving the beachhead. Nice example of the fog of war. Thanks for the video.
Would pay for a video of David Fletcher talking about tanks for hours.
Well if you enjoy this or any of the other pieces of film on the channel there's always the Patreon!
Made a pig of it as usual! Classic unpretentious, Mr Fletcher you are a living legend. If they made a British comedy series like Dads Army based on WWII you would be the star.
You need to do a lengthy documentary on that epic lip cover. The armor and protection it provides the upper lip, the excellent filtration it gives to the air circulation system, and the sheer damage it did to the strange early in it's career.
are you talking about the tank in this video?
One of my favorite channels. Profound knowledge and so many useful information. Thank you and greetings from Germany
When used operationally only 1 out of 6 (16%) ended in the bottom of english channel with the entire crew! Amazing to see these first landfall tanks were reality in ww2!
I love the line "they were heavily bombed while they were producing it so production was rather slow". Boy does that have a double meaning. Lol
5:07 = Halifax. Not a Stirling.
How dare the video editor not match the visuals with the words of the Mighty Moustache!
I saw the tail and went "Wait, that's not a Stirling!"
I recall the Halifax was the main bomber used as glider taxi. Was Stirling also widely used for this?
@@fanzhang5568 Absolutely. I believe the same was true of the Albemarle.
maybe its the only photo of one being towed he could find
"I made a pigs ear of it as usual". LOL. Keep the great tank reviews coming Mr Fletcher.
I like how persons are all "chaps" or "blokes" for him. A great narrator and interesting as always. Thanks.
i could listen to this fella all day he knows his stuff very interesting person
I said it before and I will say it again, David Fletcher is a national treasure.
on 21K views just 4 dislikes. That's an awesome result. David Fletcher is the ultimate historian. He's kind of wearing wool west or casual blazer, nut in the same time blow the minds of many people with his knowledge. Cheers from Latvia, been to Bowington, but never met the legend.
This channel is amazing and I love each and every single episode you guys bless us with!!! The enthusiasm and knowledge you have about this subject just flows out of the screen. Thank you so much for another fantastic episode!!!
Thank you Mr. Fletcher.
Priceless anecdotes.
No one doubts Mr. Fletchers intelligence or his sentience but is he aware of profound and epic his moustache is?
"So you can skid steer with the handbrake"
*EUROBEAT INTENSIFIES*
IM JUST RUNNING IN THE 90S
@@Yao-fz6ie Running in the 40s
Running in the Neinties
@@apropercuppa8612 *Loads 57mm 6pdr OQF Mk.III Cannon with malicious intent
Finally! my favorite tank!!!
Thank you very much! Perfect timing for lunchtime :)
*edit: I hope you didnt get scars on your knuckles ^^
@Charles Yuditsky Nope. its the Smart Forfour actually :)
Another complete triumph from Sir David.
My favorite British tank! Finally we've got a tank chat for it! I hadn't heard about one of them dropping out of a glider into the English channel with crew on-board though, that doesn't sound too good! I'll have top read some more about that.
5:05 in the picture there is actually shown a Handley Page Halifax.
Otherwise no comment. I enjoyed every second!
The last story made me smile because I had the same problem after driving an AFV while I was in the army. 🙂
Thank you for showing us an interesting vehicle!
@Charles Yuditsky
Knuckles vs. armored vehicle interior while driving...
Thank you always Sir David! :)
Might have "Made a pig's ear of it..." driving the Tetrarch, but it was a silk purse of a review of a tank a rather serious tank historian had never heard of... Well done!
Great chat David, thanks!
Mr. Fletcher, any of us that have operated any kind of armoured vehicle get these little tank bites from time to time. It's just the tank reminding us who's really in charge is all. Thank you for the background and history of this tiny (but cute) light tank.
It's a nice little tank that....reminds a little of the Saladin armoured car. The Hamilton glider was the inspiration for the Bristol Beverly of course....more or less a big glider with engines stuck on, in the spirit of the Messershmidt Gigant.
I hated the Bev, two sticks would jump from the "boot" bit , and a single stick from the boom, I really hated the boom, thankfully I joined as its service came to and end and we got the Hercules and Andovers .
Sitrep, 2 dislike spotted , ex 21 Panzar veterans, still sore being fooled.
Or maybe by people that have some knowledge in the topic and know that this old guy is way off with his informations, 21. Panzerdivision was full of old french tanks so flanking or attacking them from behind with this tank would not be as ineffective as he is saying. The funy part is that in different video he is babling that French Char B1 Bis tank was just awful(and that was the best French tank in 1940) and in this video he is informing people that SOMUA S35 few years later are badass tanks and no match for this Tetrarch... i gonna bet it is because of the not so French crew and fact that Germans renamed them to Panzer 35S(f)? heh
Biały The 21st was well stocked with mark iv’s by June ‘44. Sadly there is no evidence that the regiments modified french tanks saw much if any combat, their fate is somewhat unknown as most disappear from unit strength reports before d-day
@@Bialy_1 ua-cam.com/video/MGoD-g8m76E/v-deo.html
This may shed some light to the overall strength of 21 Panzar on D day. Cheers.
This might just be my favorite tank in Warthunder!
i could hear those stories for hours, thank you.
Loved the story about the 21st Panzer Division. Small "Brown Alert".........we better go back. That one incident would've saved lives on the Normandy Beaches.
'The Tank Museum', 'Lindybeige' and 'The History Guy' deserve every single penny they earn.
@Charles Yuditsky yep, because if we're honest we've all got a bag of D20's somewhere and know the anguish of stepping on a D4
@Charles Yuditsky It's all coming back, good times with absent friends :)
Thank you. Great exhibit
thank you Mr.Fletcher.
A chap called John (who I met at the Flight Refuelling Model Railway Club years ago) was a rear gunner on a Stirling glider tug during the D-Day action. He told a tale a few times of how the Hamilcar glider that his Stirling was towing had the tank fall out and lost its front door onto which the two line was attached. He said the glider spun out of control then broke up before hitting the sea. This must have been the one mentioned.
Not something you'd ever forget. :(
My new fave British'ism. "Made a pigs ear of it". Thank you Mr Fletcher. You made my week.
Just in time for the weekend 🌞 Thank you!
This man is a national treasure.
This man is Gold.
Same system of steering as the Unversal or Bren Gun Carrier. Personal touches like the driving experience are what make this channel so special. Tactically a more or less useless tank, but accidentally strategically important by diverting the 21st Panzers, war can be strange and unpredictable.
It doesn't look quite the same to me except in that the track could be distorted for steering. If I understand it correctly, the Carrier just shifted some of the road wheels laterally left or right to distort the track, while on the Tetrarch (all?) the road wheels actually twist.
This video shows how the steering on the Carrier works: ua-cam.com/video/-nTsnfEAjzI/v-deo.html
Looking more closely at the Tetrarch steering; it's even more complex than I thought. Only the underside of the track twists while steering, the top of the track stays straight and the wheels have to pivot in two axis to achieve this.
@@Akm72 ____ With the carrier, the actual body of he vehicle was moved left or right across the tracks changing the weight on the track. Like a skateboarder.
@@burlatsdemontaigne6147 Interesting.
Simply the best and so informative I absolutely love this channel and all who make it. One day ill make it across the pond and visit our brethern in the 🇬🇧
That bit of history about the 21st panzer division is very interesting... Could it be argued that maybe the Tetrarch won the battle for Normandy?
Mr. Fletcher is a treasure.
Great to see a video on this unusual little tank. Got a 1/56th scale one for my tabletop. So few were really made though!
There is only one mister David Fletcher; thank you for putting a smile on my face!
Mr. Fletcher is a real treasure.
Mr Fletcher seems like a charming man with a magnificent moustache
...or a magnificent man with a charming moustache.
@@WaltTFB ...or a magnificent moustache with a charming man.
Amazing videos, thanks!
I wonder if "quite remarkable" is the phrase the crew inside that tank thought of as they plummeted towards the channel?
David always has been the master of understatement
I rather suspect that there would have been a lot of screaming and profanity just prior to splash down.
Would have been a heck of a big water bomb, but no chance to brag about it.
Poor soda.
RIP...
"Say old chap, did I just hear the tethers break"
-"By George, you're right old chap, and we just hurled right through the nose of the glider"
"Blimey, rotten luck to be exiting the glider at this moment"
-"You can say that again, last I heard, we still had 15 minutes to go before we reached France"
"That means we're still very much over the sea"
-"Correct you are, all I see in my periscope is water"
"No worries, there will be enough of that in the tank in a moment"
-"Indeed,... Say old chap, this being a light tank, think it floats?"
"Well, one could state the case that we're currently flying, but...."
-"...Yes I understand what you mean"
"Oh well, the missus won't be pleased"
-"How so?"
"I promised her I would be home in time for tea"
-"Well, this surely throws that idea out the window, or in this case, out the glider into the North Sea"
"... What's that driver? We're about to hit the water? Right-oh!"
-"Well Sir, got to say, I had a jolly good time"
"So did I chap, God Save the King"
-"God Save the King"
ua-cam.com/video/9-8LQBhYjs8/v-deo.html
Smashing, just like always.
Very informative and with an amusing delivery- as always. Thank you!👍
Perfect video to start ish the day indeed! Here's to tankchats! *CLING
Always thought these were neat tanks. Thanks for another awesome vid!
Thank you good sir.
Great video thankyou for the information on the tanks and thankyou to your team to.
thanks for the sow, he is amazing! love it
Huh, the British should have sent them to the Pacific theater where they could have joined the US M3 Stuart as a viable front-line tank against the Japanese well through 1944 and on.
Good one, Mr. Fletcher! Thank you!
Random Coyote I believe USMC traded all their M3 Stuart’s for Shermans in 1943 because of the need for larger shells for bunker busting.
@@c3aloha Good point. I think the Army still used Stuarts though? I'll have to poke around Google-land a bit.
A very interesting video - many thanks for the info!
At 8:38:
The bomber hauling the Hamilcar glider is a Handley Page Halifax with Merlin engines.
The majority of Halifax used Bristol Hercules XVI radial engine.
Early marks used the Merlin.
This video helps illustrate the frightful waste of lives, time, and money of war. It isn't all glory and triumph.
I love this guy!
Absolute legend with one of my favourite tanks :)
Awesome stores thanks
With a tank falling out of a plane, four being tangled in parachutes and two being destroyed in action within minutes, I was starting to wonder whether there was any point.
Then he mentioned delaying the 21st Panzer Division and, thinking back to Mark Felton’s video on the German armoured battlegroup actions on D-Day, that seemed like a great achievement.
I guess success in war is not measured only in winning tactical battles.
I get entirely too excited to see a David Fletcher Tank Chat, especially when it's at lunch time. LOL Too bad we can't see him drive it around again.
Holy crap imagine sitting in that tetrarch in a hamilcar flying over the channel and dropping into the sea... wow that's horrible!
excellent
David Fletcher needs a podcast.
Your little story about driving it cracked me up!
I love this guy
The mustache life support system lives!
Mustache *is* life.
I just love this man's mustache.
I will remember how to hold the wheel of the tetrarch, this is useful information should I ever have to drive one.
I hadn't heard anything about *Operation Ironclad* - the Battle of Madagascar - until David mentioned it at 3:46; thank you. I'd like to learn more about the Battle of Madagascar, as the seizure of the port of Diego-Suarez was vital to forces operating in the Indian Ocean.
I think that Ironclad, Stream, Line and Jane operations may have informed later seabourne ops such as Gaudalcanal and later Overlord. Definitely an overlooked piece of history.
Good to see David had given up telling his audience to keep their opinions to themselves.
4:56 that one is reserved for Mark Felton I guess...
I see you also are a man of culture
sjoormen1 those poor chaps........ rip
wars do have extraordinary stories, but they are dearly payed...
interesting videos! tanks a lot!
My favorite tank, thank you. =)
How does he always put in information that I knew nothing about? I have read loads of books and he makes my knowledge look quite basic.
I find the fact that the Brits managed to successfully deploy truly airborne tanks in 1944 a rather impressive accomplishment, regardless of how good the tank was.
I wonder if his mouth actually moves or his mustache just rocks back and forth
Also “I grabbed the steering wheel as ye normally wood... and I skinned me knuckles right good” DRIVING A TANK
Mad Ladd 1000
The "crew ended up at the bottom of the channel"?
Cold.
Abyss. Cold, dark and puts out your personal candlelight.
@@HanSolo__ Its got a great Glenn Miller soundtrack though!
i kinda like this guy. he looks very sympathic
It’s an awesome little premium in World of Tanks.