@@flammenjc Luck is a confluence of events, all happening simultaneously in your favor to create an irregularly large upper hand. You cannot make your own luck. You can, however, be prepared.
@@johndough1703 "You can, however, be prepared." Which is also called making your own luck. There will likely have been people in similar situations as Wittmann, but did nothing about it or nothing of the same effect so nobody will regard it as "lucky" because it wasn't capitalized on. Otherwise you can just say anything positive is luck and anything negative is bad luck. Decisions make those scenarios both bad and good it isn't always resting on "luck" that implies that the decisions involved are irrelevant and that's absolutely not the case. If you're one step ahead of your enemy you will definitely find yourself catching people off guard and/or presenting easy targets and it's not simply "luck"
Indeed, I've heard veterans talking about standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Speaking of D-day, why did a German target one guy storming the beach instead of the guy standing next to him, dumb luck.
Thanks for the film. My Great Uncle Rennie FitzHugh was one of the casualties on the day. His body was never found and he is commamerated at the Bauxeux Cemetery. Gone but not forgotten.
If memory serves, the sons of the lady of the manor were granted permission to recover and bury the British dead. I believe some of the graves were lost to the subsequent bombing of the town. He does get remembered.
My Great Uncle, Reg Knight, was a Firefly driver with B Sqn back in the town. He survived the war, but his best mate was killed in the action later in the day.
Respect to your Great Uncle from a German! My Grandfathers and 3 Grand Uncles all fought on the Eastern Front and during those Times against the British and Americans. In my case they all survived and became Friends with their former Enemies after the War. I basically grew up in the 1980s and 1990s meeting British and American WW2 Veterans that my Grandfathers and Granduncles tried to kill back then and vice versa. One thing i always noticed during those "Former Enemies Veteran Meetings" is that they all were insanely respectful towards eachother, eventhough they probably killed eachothers Comrades. Now compare that to UA-cam Comments, all of them weren't even born during those Days and yet many of them basically like to talk on behalf of their dead Grand or Great Grandfather being insulting towards their former Enemies. I'm rather sure if they were alive and knew some of their Offsprings talk like that, they'd slap them to Hell and back. Soldiers are always more respectful towards their Enemies than People who never fought in a War Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
Captain Willie Whitelaw squadron got ambushed by 3 hunting Panthers were they were having their tea break and officers meeting. And the American task force welborn got ambushed by the king tigers that led up to the death of general Rose of the 3rd armored division. Traveling without flank security without reconnaissance can lead to a very deadly ambush.
No arguments here, I was just making light of the meme about us Brits always stopping for tea. Heaven forbid that soldiers might need a break and some refreshments in between getting shot at! Just maybe take a few precautions when doing so.
@@bloke755 He drove straight at Wittmann so I don't think he pooped his pants..it's that rare thing called courage because I'm guessing he had a pretty good idea that he would die
"He was lucky..." "He benefited from the disorganization of his enemies..." "Despite the destruction and confusion caused, it was not decisive for the outcome of the battle..." But...All battles boil down to collections of events of this nature. Having courage, cunning, observing an opportunity and jumping at it... That defines war! Wittmann was a true warrior, in the full essence of his definition!
Say what you want about the Tiger. It being expensive and complicated to build and it's a maintenance nightmare but there's no doubt that when it was operated by a professional crew it was an extremely effective beast.
In this case the Brits being caught off guard was a huge factor. That Firefly not being caught unaware could have easily resulted in Whitman being wrecked right from the get go, exactly in the way he was eventually killed soon after this battle
@chuckhaggard1584 Wittmann was later killed by ambush on his flank though. He didn't even see what was firing at him, so it was a bit different to Villers. At Villers the British tanks on the road up to Point 213 were visible to him and he was facing them frontally. I always thought he was further away from the tanks at the lead of the British column than the representation shows here.
@@lyndoncmp5751 my point stands. If he hadn't caught them with their pants down the two Fireflies would have made a wreck of his tank. The Brit's screwed up big time being that near the very fluid front line without recon working and no screen line deployed. They had scouts, towards the rear of the column, that's unbelievably dumb. That his Tiger was knocked out by a lowly 57mm gun speaks to how lucky he was to not be fired on by all the other potential guns involved in this mess. I'm aware of how Whittman met his end.
Now, there is a huge difference between being lucky to find an opportunity to grab, and getting lucky and succeed when making a mistake. I do not think Wittmann made a mistake, his actions that day were, as you say yourself, still remarkable. That propaganda runs away with it is just business as usual in war.
@@DeosPraetorian It was still a mistake, but look at the opposing tanks. Mistakes after mistakes after mistakes. Yet Wittman had to go through 29 vehicles before he made his mistake. Yes he needed to be lucky, but that's true for literally everyone in a war.
@@yedrellow well we had the "luck" of having American factories churning out a hundred Shermans in the time it took the Germans to build a single Tiger tank and that's luck that lasted a lot longer than Wittmann's did
@@1IbramGaunt I never disagreed. I just think people have swung extremely far the other way away from "heroism" propaganda to the point of not even acknowledging that when one tank takes out 29 vehicles that it requires some level of skill. It's not an endorsement, just an acknowledgement that sometimes individuals in war can achieve a lot more than those around them when luck and skill combine. Soldiers aren't interchangeable automatons, sometimes some individuals are less prone to error and more capable of capitalising on luck than others.
While Lazerpig’s videos are fun, Dan Taylor of the Kent & Sharpshooters Yeomanry museum is the man who’s done the recent research in this battle - his book is eye opening.
Lazerpig's video and premise are accurate as far as the Nazi regime capitalizing and embellishing on Wittmann's exploits in Normandy, while downplaying Kurt Knispel who was a better tank ace but not a Nazi party member. However, lazerpig forgets or glosses over the fact that Wittmann had already made a name for himself on the Eastern Front, credited with over 90 kills. Wittmann received the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross in early 1944, an award that affirmed his skills as a tank commander. During Citadel Wittmann was credited with 7x tank and 10x AT Guns destroyed in one day; at Zhitomir he was credited with 10 and 10 of each. Wittmann rose from a crewman through tank commander to Platoon Leader of a Tiger Platoon; he also earned a battlefield commission. These activities portray him as an aggressive, at least somewhat proficient leader, yet as pig points out, a sycophant too obedient to party - the sort of person the Nazi's needed as role model. It is also possible the Nazi's were happy to promote the narrative of Wittmann as a star because he was killed shortly after the Normandy battle. A perverse attempt to capitalize on the theory, "your death is not in vain if you die for the fatherland", during a time of increasing casualties and collapsing morale in the Wehrmacht. Edit: change east front figures from 130 to 90.
You need to expand your research than. Many things where left out that explain the situation and writing the entire action off as "lucky" and that Wittman was a coward is unforgivable British propaganda and revisionism trying to excuse bad performance on the day by the British.
You can say he was lucky, and he was. But he was also singularity aggressive and tactically brilliant. Let's say a different officer says "I've been found out" and fights a defensive battle or attacks with a whole platoon of Tiger. The former would have allowed the British to get their act together and given away the initiative. The latter would have been more cumbersome, also giving more time for resistance to pool. Wittmann was audacious without being utterly reckless. That is how you do things like this. Military history is replete with examples. And as for luck, well, Napoleon said he'd rather his marshals be lucky than brilliant.
@@elroyscout Meh, at least he fought to his death. The dude could've just stayed in the rear according to you but he didn't and died... you could say the fame got to him, but he died for a cause nevertheless, the kind of action that emboldens others, not just his own.
@@elroyscout "tiger that were not easy to replace due to the 8th airforce saying 'Nice assembly line there, " WISHFUL THINKING, dear Yank ally. Germany manufacturers' output of tanks actually peaked in December 1944 - after Villers Bocage. There was no deficiency of German tank production at the time. As to air bombing, it was impeded by the British/American bickering over strategy. The Yanks (Gen Spaatz et al) argued for destruction of Germany's synthetic fuel industry, whilst the Limeys (AVM Portal et al) urged the elimination of Germany's transport network - railways, canals&ports, road junctions etc. For the case of Tiger tank production (only), the RAF's strategy was probably better than 8th USAAF's. For what it's worth, "World at War" has a post-war interview with Albert Speer (by mid-1944, effectively Minister for War Production) where he says that British (RAF) night time 'Area Bombing' did considerably more damage to German production generally than the USAAF's day time efforts at Norden bombsite 'precision' strikes.
@@elroyscout "due to the 8th airforce saying 'Nice assembly line there, would be a shame if we carpet bombed the full zipcode around it'...." American military historians have a very short attention span. Not much glory in re-constructing post-war rubble, so afterwards, let's trumpet Marshall Aid and get on with the serious business of hanging Nazis under American jurisdiction (or, in the case of Sgt. John Woods, US Army, lying about his hangman credentials and botching all his executions) or bitching that the Limeys in British Germany won't hand over their Nazis to get their necks stretched - a happy determination for the likes of Kesselring and Runstedt who thus avoided 'American justice'. But, economic historians of German reconstruction (mainly European) are quite clear that German industrial capability wasn't greatly reduced - probably no more than about 8% overall - by combined British and American bombing, each ally dropping about one million tons of bombs. And, Germany ended the war with more resources, real estate and so on than she started with. 25% MORE functioning machine tools at the end than at the beginning, for example. An inconvenient truth to proponents of air power - especially American air power. And, it's doubtful if that Marshall money contributed much - probably about 1% of German GDP during the recovery phase. As for the British who received the largest slice of Marshall, that money wasn't really needed. It was actually spent on Britain's nuclear weapons programme. Turns out that the secret Quebec Treaty meant that the Brits were baked into America's nuke development and they couldn't be got rid of, ever - as Senator McMahon found out to Congress' s impotent fury in 1946. So, the Limey's had to be BRIBED to go away.
@@elroyscout The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps". This channel, still so salty, lol !
The 'confirmed kill' claim is bogus. If you want proof then despite the fact Wittmann only saw 10 tanks at Villers Bocage he was give a 'confirmed kill' total of 20+.
@@michaelkenny8540 I talked about his stats before VB, mainly on the eastern front. Sure, when the stats of the special incident of the german propaganda of VB are bogus, then his total stats before must be hocus bogus too.
German tank kills are counted by unit, not by individual. Wittmann did not kill 117 tanks in the East, his UNIT did. This is actually an incredibly average number for a German tank unit on the Eastern Front, and the only reason he got notoriety is because he was a young, strong seeming, conventionally attractive, Bavarian serving in the SS who followed orders, so propaganda put him on a pedestal. in contrast you have Kurt Knipsel, who killed more tanks in the same battles, but didn't have the propaganda appeal.
Otto Carius and another panzer commander went on a similar rampage in one of the three small Baltic countries and wiped out 60 Soviet tanks; big ones, the JS2 and such. It would be nice to see a similar analysis. I have to say, this was a very informative video. Well done!
That is what Carius wrote in his book 'Tigers In The Mud'. For July 22nd 1944 he claimed a total 53 Soviets tanks for the Tigers he was with and 58 kills for the whole Unit. Unfortunately (for Carius) at the back of his book he reproduces Period Unit Documents written by the commanding officer of his Unit and this man noted that that day they knocked out............17 Soviet tanks. Someone is making things up.
@@michaelkenny8540 , there are a few problems with your analysis. Soviets tanks in 1944 didn't have carousel auto-loaders to blow up their turrets a 100 meters. Tanks could be damaged, crew killed, and then same tanks could be recovered, the hole welded over and new crew sent to fight once more. It is different if you are advancing and capturing damaged tanks, but in 1944 the Germans were not. Also, mismatched battle reports are very common in war. It could be some vehicles killed were not tanks, but anti-tank vehicles, or anti-air, half-tracks and a dozen other things(there is smoke and fires and dust in a battle, unlike in a game). It could also be nobody went in to verify the kills, if the Soviets were still pressing an attack.
@@andrew3203 The facts are clear. Carius says 50+ Soviet tanks were knocked out by the Tigers. The commander of the Tiger Unit had to do a report about the Units actions and he notes that on the day Carius claims 50+ kills the whole Unit claimed 17 Kills. It is as simple as that.
Exceptionally done narrative of a small fragment ofWW2 history! It's one of those truly surprising tank encounters of WW2 that indeed deserve a minute to minute telling of just what happened. Witmann's charge is really one thing that stands out from the tank battles of Normandy. Cheers to the Tank Museum to do this kind of history video! Thanks for the supporters of the Tank Museum that have given the chance to make such awesome recreation of a tiny part of the history of WW2. Hopefully you continue with this kind of historical work further!
A testament to Wittmann's ability and skill. He may have 'lucked out' by isolating the British officers from their commands, but it should be noted that he capitalised on it and progressed the action as much as he was able. Kudos to the british AT gun crew for getting back into action so quickly and anticipating what Wittmann might do. They effectively removed a Tiger tank which could be said to have hurt the German's war efforts at this late stage of the war worse by the materiel loss of that single tank than what the reverse effect was on the Allies.
I own a large portion of the Wittmann estate and visited his widow frequently. The letters he received from comrades who had served with him through the years are full of admiration for their former commander and many expressed their longing to serve under him again at one point. The few days of vacation Wittmann had, he took the time to always answer all the corresponce he had received during his time at the front. Asking his widow what "Michel", as he was called by his men, would have done if he had survived the war, she answer that he would have wanted nothing more, but to become a farmer...
I mean how do you determine what a panzer ace is? first of all, it is obviously a group effort since the commander does not shoot, drive etc. Second of all, you can have more knowledge, skill and willpower than any other tank commander, if your enemy sees you first and can penetrate your armor you are a dead man. For me it is about seeing and taking opportunities, the ability to improvise and the professionalism not to let personal feelings influnce your decisions. Be careful, calculated and level headed, but take a risk if it is worth it. For me Wittmann did all that.
Of course he’ll try to say Wittmann’s achievements are exaggerated a bit, he’s British. It’s obvious they got caught with their pants down though. Literally. One crew gunner taking a wiz still hasent come back. And before that a tea party that cost a row of half tracks and other vehicles . Tanks come on. He knew what he was doing. And whether by accident or not. He took all those vehicles and tanks out. Opposing sides always have different stories. Oh I didn’t see this huge pile of logs behind me. Come on. Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position to begin with. The Victors write the history books.
There are photos of a ransacked Pz IV at the top of the town that appears to have bellied itself on the log in question. I think we can infer that it was a genuine hazard, and one that the amateurish, incompetent Brits managed to avoid unlike the elite, professional Germans.
Excellent video my sister in laws father was in 8th irish hussars in ww2 and Korea there battle honours include villa bocage and imjin River sadly he past away before my brother met his wife so never got to meet him but my brother has had his service medals and a picture of him in uniform aged about 19 taken in 1944 before the D day framed and proudly on display
I doubt Wittmann decided to withdraw specifically because Sgt Lockwood's tank was a Firefly but rather due to the smoke and dust obscuring his vision so it was pointless continuing. Did he even know what a Firefly was, even if he was able to see Lockwood's tank clearly? The Germans had only begun encountering Fireflies for the first time the previous week, and Wittmann had been on the road march with his battalion through that period so what would his awareness of Fireflies have been? How much info was there about a new allied tank with the 17 pounder gun, before Wittmann arrived in Normandy the day before?
@@TTTT-oc4eb Yes definitely the Germans knew nothing about the Firefly before Normandy, as it wasn't deployed in combat until June 6th 1944. I just wondered what the grapevine word was in the week after D-day, up to Villers Bocage on the 13th. Perhaps there was none. I suspect Wittmann had heard little or nothing about Fireflies, as Wittmann was in transit from northeast France to the Normandy front from the 7th to the 12th. Wittmann likely wouldn't have even known about Cromwells either, as they weren't deployed in combat until D-Day like the Firefly.
OP I really like all your animations and diagrams, they tell the tale far better than just words alone can. Honestly I've read and watched scores of documentaries and books describing this action by Wittman, but yours would be about the best.
As I've mentioned on another Wittman video, my dad was in one of those Cromwells. He was a driver, transferred from 15/19 King's Royal Hussars as the County of London Yeomanry were short of drivers, but was in the machine gunner's chair that day as the driver had returned from injury and reclaimed his seat. That saved his life. A shell went through the driver's front panel, killing him and setting the tank on fire. Dad bailed out the escape hatch but when no-one else emerged he went back in and pulled out the officer and one other man. As they got out an explosion blew them to opposite sides. The officer was picked up by the Germans and sent to a POW camp. Dad, unconscious in a ditch with his hair burned off and his eyelids seared shut, was found by a French farmer and taken to British lines and sent back to England. When he recovered he went to his old regiment and rejoined them for the push through France and the Netherlands before being caught in an air attack and wounded again. His actions included the audacious night drive behind enemy lines to take Amiens. Many years later, as president of the Edinburgh branch of the NVA, he was in Paris and got talking to a general, who asked him his story. It emerged that the tank officer has been the general's best friend and had searched for dad after the war to thank him for pulling him out of that tank but had never found him. Before he died he had asked the general to keep searching on his behalf. Dad lived to be 96, but only told me this story when he was in his 80's. He'd even gone to London to be awarded the French Legion of Honour by the Ambassador, without telling his family what it was about. Miss you dad.
@@michaelkenny8540 Hi Michael, thanks for your interest. Last September I attended via video link a talk given by Dan Taylor, of the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum, which gave a lot of newly researched detail about the battle including a lot of photos I hadn't seen before. I wrote to Dan and he very kindly did some digging into the records for me. He eliminated the RHQ tanks as their stories are well pretty well-known and photographed and none of them show damage consistent with dad's story. By studying photographs and making further deductions he came to the conclusion that it may very well have been the No2 Troop leader tank - a Cromwell Mk Vw (something of a rarity) and he was able to send me copies of two photographs of it which show it had been on fire and one of which clearly shows a shell hole just above the driver's visor. Seeing that was definitely a hair on the back of the neck moment! While Dan had a good historian's caution in not saying it was definitley the one, I feel certain in my own mind that it must be right as most of the other A Squadron tanks were captured after becoming cut off, rather than being disabled by enemy fire. As for the name of the officer, Dan took a list of those recorded as taken as POWs at the battle and narrowed it down by eliminating those who were known to have been in other tanks, and believes there are three possible candidates: Lt Colvin, Lt Sellars and Lt Strode; the last of whom is less likely as he was a replacement for the 1 Troop commander. Needless to say I remain very grateful to him for his help and am happy to recommend his book on the battle - Villers-Bocage, Operation Perch the Complete Account. Naturally if you or anyone else reading this has any further snippets of information that might fill in any of the gaps I'd be delighted to hear them.
@@55billmarshallHi Bill/Michael, We can perhaps eliminate Lt Colvin. Just before D-Day he is identified as the Intelligence Officer, so he ought to have been in the scout car that followed Carr's Cromwell off the road at the edge of the town.
@@andrewflindall9048 Hi Andrew, many thanks for this piece of valuable information. It thus looks very likely, though not totally certain, that the officer in question was Lt DL Sellars. I will try to research him further and see what I can turn up. Much obliged.
Good video that shows what superior guns and armour could mean in the hands of skilled crews, same happened at the Eastern front. But quantity and especially air support luckily made the difference at the end.
The interesting thing here is that Wittmann's command originally consisted of 5 tigers. Three were sent to attack a Polish unit on another hill, but I have yet to find out what the outcome there was. In the mean time Wittmann was originally accompanied by another Tiger on the assault on Villers-Bocage. It broke down in an open field and the crew abandoned it, sore thumb and all. So both Wittmann's Tigers were lost in the assault. I also think it rather churlish that the infantry were criticised for their behaviour in the action. Being caught off guard with no armour and limited impact on the Tiger, (Only PIAT's to use) they were rather on a hiding to nothing. Further, one should note that the crew of the 6pdr were rather gallant in bringing their gun into action despite the attention it received earlier in the battle. Kudos to the resilience of the gunners and the actual gun for their action I think. Finally, Joe Ekins exacted revenge for the 8th Army on his gun in a Firefly from an apple orchard where he ambushed Wittmann's new troop as it once again took a bold advance on the British line. This time Joe and then some Canadians killed all 5 of Wittmann's tanks including Wittmann himself. This time the luck was with the British with that Firefly being positioned on the flank of Wittmann's advance.
And then the following day on August 9th at Estrees la Campagne, a small number of Tigers from the rest of Wittmann's battalion were largely responsible for the destruction of Worthington Force. The Canadian 28th Armoured Regiment lost 47 tanks, including 44 Shermans, mostly to long range sniping from the Tigers firing from 1,000 metres and more. Even having Fireflies didnt help the Canadians. No Tigers were lost in the engagement.
Excellent concise description. Graphics made it so much easier to follow what happened. War appears full of luck and chance. If Capt. Dyas’, who I saw interviewed many years ago, gunner had been in his place, Wittman’s career might have ended that day, rather than during Totalize.
But Wittmann was actually hit in the flank by another Cromwell and it didn't penetrate, so I doubt the Cromwell of Dyas would have penetrate the Tiger's rear, which was slightly stronger than the side, due to the 8 degrees angle. Both the side and rear were 80mm thick.
@@lyndoncmp5751 “Early models of the Cromwell were equipped with the QF 6-pounder (57 mm). Using the new armour-piercing discarding sabot round, which became available in quantity in early 1944, this gun could penetrate over 100 mm of steel armour at ranges on the order of 1,000 yards (910 m), making it effective against all but the most heavily armoured tanks.” The rear armour of a Tiger is 88mm and Dyas would have been firing from virtually point blank. Like many in 7th armoured, he was a veteran of the Western Desert, not new to combat. At the very least Wittman would have been disabled. As he was a little later by a 6pdr gun… however it’s still if but and maybe.
@@callumgordon1668 None of the three Cromwell shots that actually hit Wittmanns Tiger (2 from Dyas, 1 from Carr) penetrated or even slowed Wittmann down. And those three shots were at point blank range. Dont forget the Tiger I had unique extremely high quality nickel -steel of 265 Brinell Hardness in places. Paper penetrations often failed to materialise in actuality, especially when we include firing angles. I doubt Dyas would have waited to be perfectly perpendicular to Wittmann's rear before firing, and possibly would have shot from an angle thus making penetration unlikely. Wittmanns Tiger was hit by the 6 pounder in the running gear apparently. I don't think Dyas would have been targeting the tracks.
@@lyndoncmp5751 and all those shots were targeting its thickest armour, so they reacted as you describe. Point blank onto thinner rear armour may have had a different outcome. There is a case (disputed) where a Greyhound AC took out a Tiger II by rapidly firing at its engine deck. If the AT gun crew, which regardless disabled the Tiger in the prescribed manner had been quicker with their small arms, his career might have ended there too…
@@callumgordon1668 That was almost certainly a Panther that the Greyhound took out near St Vith during the Bulge. There were no King Tigers, or Tiger Is, anywhere near St Vith. Nearest were at Stavelot, Trois Ponts and La Gleize. Plus the Tiger losses are documented and recorded. Only 13 Tigers were lost in the northern section of the Bulge. All documented and dated, with turret numbers listed. None at St Vith. Panthers were frequently called Tigers. King Tigers had 80mm sloped rear armour. No Greyhound is getting through that. The Panther 'only' had 40mm rear armour however. Lastly, seeing as most people in the tanks Wittmann hit and penetrated actually survived, it's very probable Wittmann would have survived too, even if one of the less powerful allied shells penetrated so he may have carried on in another Tiger later. I believe Carr's Cromwell hit the side of Wittmann's Tiger turret? Not quite sure. That was 80mm, same as the rear. It didn't penetrate or even do any real damage I don't think.
Yeah although how much of those successes were actually HIS we'll never really know now given the combination of propaganda, lost real combat records and the German habit of assigning the whole unit's kills
@@1IbramGaunt I think OP was talking about how Wittmann would just charge into battle (even by himself like he was the main character), rather than his achievements.
@@1IbramGaunt In my experience reasarching about ww2 aces, either tank aces or pilots its pretty obvious to me that the numbers are realistic... Those soldiers went to multiple fronts fighting for months, even years, they went up the ranks to comanders, usually heavy outnumbered in combat and some of them survived the war, some died in the last 2 months... What do u think if u went to the eastern front, fought for years and after transfered to France how many tank kills would you had to your name?
There were a couple of RA OP tanks with the HQ Troop on the bend outside Villers. They all turned around and fled back into the town. There is an unpublished account of the battle that describes this event and the narrator says one of the OP tanks got 'hung-up' on a tree trunk that was lying at the side of the road. The driver managed to get his OP free just before the Tiger arrived. If you check the photos of the Panzer Lehr Pz IV that is shown being towed on the bend outside Villers you will see that this Pz IV got hung-up on the same tree trunk. It could not drive off and had to be towed off by another Pz IV. Look closely at the photo16:48 and you will see the muzzle brake of the towing Pz IV is just visble behind the Cromwell and the tree-trunk is sticking out behind the Pz IV .
The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps". This channel, still so salty, lol !
going alone in with only one tank into this Clusterf... full of Tanks, Inf. ect sounds like a suiciderun, he was really lucky that day. i remember i played that Mission in Comp. of Heros 3rd part, was pure fun.
Not really because when he began his attack the British tanks were all in his line of vision on the road and weren't all over the place on his flanks. He also, understandably, had great confidence in the Tiger's ability to take enemy shots. Which his Tiger did for the most part.
@@lyndoncmp5751 He literaly drove intl a town full of angles and allys. Heck, he literaly drive past 2 tanks without noticing. And his Tiger was lost during its very first engagment in the west. Heck evrey single Tiger in the platoon he was leading was turned into scrap that day.
@@yoschiannik8438because your thoughts are based on what you've heard. You dont know whether the germans had recon missions there, what information did Wittmann posess.
Wittman's "luck" reminds me of a golfing legend who said "The more I practice, the luckier I get". It's all very well talking about "luck", but - in any walk of life we care to consider - the most courageous and most technically talented are always the most "lucky". Luck must be earned by hard work, commitment and sacrifice.. and even if it lands in one's lap out of the blue, only those who've invested in their technical skills and emotional development over many years will have the insight and experience to recognise it when it lands and make the most of it - Wittman was one such individual.
The 'luck' being described is the absolutely random way Wittmann ended up being positioned some distance behind a full squadron of tanks and facing a HQ group of Command/OP tanks and half-tracks. It was not the result of superior skill but just chance that he was pre-positioned 1.5 km behind A Squadron 4th CLY and 1.5 km in front of 'B' Squadron. He was dead centre of a 3km gap. Note that as soon as he bumped into the lead tanks of 'B' Squadron and started taking hits he immediately turned tail and tried to make it back to his own lines.
@@michaelkenny8540 The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps". This channel, still so salty, lol !
He might have been good as a tank commander but he was killed a few weeks later and the German army did not have many like him or the number of tanks they needed. All the tiger tanks lost that day were not replaced as Germany only built 1,200 or just over of them. Thank you for the video and clearing up some of the bs about him.
The german army had a lot of tank "aces" if you want to call them that. Even at the end of the war they were still capable of winning tactical victories (for example at Bautzen or Paderborn)
The "Black Baron" saw the group travelling and fresh off the "Train" without the rest of his platoon of 4 other Tiger 1's was fully armed and Balls Out went after them! Blind sided as the British Company were, Michaels gunner and loader were like a symphony of 88mm Gun Fire! He did not stop to fire! He trained his crew to fire on the move! This is a huge beast trolling through winding streets in a town! Aces to the driver of the Barons Tank!
What a load o tosh. The 'Black Baron' name was made up in the 1970s by Tamiya Tiger groupies. You appear to share the same knowledge of history they had.
Might not have made a difference. The Tiger's rear was still 80mm thick and slightly angled at 8 degrees, which made the rear slightly thicker than the sides.
@@michaelkenny8540 The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps". This channel, still so salty, lol !
All war parties tend to maximize the achievements of their warriors even those that never existed or were that successful... And Wittmann had his own quality that didn't need any flattering anyway!
Wittmann was interviewed for a propaganda piece a month later and he said that he pulled back when encountering the Firefly. The purpose of the attack was to aggressively disrupt the enemy force coming up the road. The Germans taught and practiced individual aggression and simply "pushing your luck".
@@Wien1938 Agreed, but most people can only push their luck so far, as Wittmann found out on 8th Aug '44. He may have had more 'luck' though if his division had done any reconnaissance, & even survived that encounter.
@@eric-wb7gj I think Wittmann and other Eastern front veterans acquired habits which served them well in that theater against the Russians, but were suicidal when they encountered the Allies in Normandy with their superior scouting assets, massive amounts of effective anti-tank weapons, and much better access to things like tactical radios.
@@dpeasehead Quite possibly, they had never faced a modern western army before. German tactics of quick counter attacks didn't always work, they'd found that out in 1916/1917. Everyone was making mistakes. On the Allied side, the Desert Rats were a veteran formation, but all in the Desert, they had to 'unlearn' a lot in Normandy. Sadly, for the other British troops, they didn't have (& still don't) have enough areas to train properly. Coming up against Eastern Front veterans was also a steep learning curve.
Both sides showed great courage. Seems like the ace Tiger would have survived this aggressive push if only he had destroyed the second AT. Excellent presentation from the Tank Museum, thanks guys!
Also because in a lot of cases, at such close ranges and against thinly armored light tanks, the 88mm AP shell would not meet significant enough resistance to detonate, but would instead pass straight through the vehicle and out on the other side. The spray of shrapnel would still be dangerous, but significantly less so than having the explosive charge detonate inside the tank.
7:53 "he never wanted to see another tank as long as he lived". That man had nightmares of a Tiger turret slowly turning towards him at point blank range for the rest of his life. Absolutely insane.
Sorry but you fail to understand the actual words used by John Cloudsley Thompson. In an article 'Escape From Villers Bocage' (Royal Armoured Corps Journal,Vol 10 (2);58-62 (1956) he had written ................''A newspaper account of our little adventure ended with the words, ‘The first thing the five tank men asked for was another tank' I believe we did happen to mention that we did not wish to see another tank as long as we lived! But within a few days our much depleted regiment was in action again and a month later we were all engaged in the Caen Offensive, one of the bloodiest battles of the war.''..................what he was saying was that his crew they wished they never had to serve in any tank ever again and not that they were frightened or having nightmares about Tigers.
As an Englishman born a few days after these events I am angry watching it. It was clearly a mega-shambles. Poor planning, poor training, poor equipment. At one critical point I commented to myself that "I bet they got out for a cup of tea". And they did. However, I do recognise it is easy for me to criticise: what do I know? I am not trained in these matters. I was prompted to do some online research. From Wikipedia I got a fuller picture which, although it did not diminish Wittmann's achievement, showed a more balanced perspective.
As much experience as Whitman had, I'd say it was not luck, but combat experience and instincts. Maybe it was luck considering at this point all fire superiority was pretty much lost by the Germans/ Nazis. Either way, Wittman is probably the greatest tank ace of all-time.
How about the horror of Wittmann as he watched his point-blank shot at the Cromwell of John Cloudsley-Thompson fly harmlessly over the top of the turret?
Find ANY American account of Kasserine that either doesn't blame the British for American weakness and failure OR claims that Americans won a victory there. Yanks are the most butthurt nation on the planet. Go to Wikipedia's 'talk' section on any article to do with the US and you'll find an entire country trying to re-write history.
For the record, Wittman scored 120 of his 135 kills on the Russian front, where his tank was virtually invulnerable in frontal engagements against almost all Soviet tanks. After his transfer to France he survived less than two months of combat before he was ambushed and killed along with three other Tigers, by a single Sherman Firefly on August 8th 1944 So before people run away with the "Wittman Worshipping" maybe they need to examine the actual FACTS..... Wittman was extremly lucky, the A squadron Firefly was traversing its turret on Wittman's Tiger when it first broke cover up on Point 213 as it entered the Route 158. If that Firefly had fired and hit before it was destroyed, Michael Wittman would have been nothing more than a footnote in history. The same goes true for Sgt Lockwood's Firefly which HIT Wittman's Tiger in the high street of VB. 99 times out of 100 that shell penetrates the armor of the Tiger at that range. Call it luck, call it a freak of nature or whatever you will, but the 17pdr hit caused nothing but superficial damage to Wittman's Tiger and ultimately forced him to withdraw, knowing full well the next shot could have and probably would have killed him. Either way, he was lucky to the point of foolhardiness....
His achievements were not over-exaggerated, because he also destroyed lots of tanks at the battle of Kursk as well in head to head tank battles. But ive noticed that people seem to enjoy trying to discredit Wittmann.
His achievements at VB were inflated for propaganda purposes. To be fair to him, it wouldn't have been his decision to do that. If uncovering the truth - or as near to it as we can get - is 'discrediting' him, the ones that built him up are the ones to blame.
@@michaelkenny8540 How 'just'? I'd have thought the time taken to arrange a recording would allow opportunities to tweak the account. Which begs the question: which is the best / least inaccurate English transcript of it? Or has a native German speaker anywhere offered any views on its 'naturalness', for want of a better word? Looking at 'Autopsie' my poor French is good enough to wonder how literal their take is.
@@randyhavard6084 I meant that Wittmann was certainly "bold" alright (if by "bold" you mean a vain, arrogant egomaniac glory-hound who wanted to be first into the fray not so much out of bravery but because he wanted all the attention and fame for himself) and that's what got him killed, he tried this exact same racing on ahead alone thing again, not long after in another Tiger 1 against similar opponents, and let's just say good luck doesn't last forever
@@1IbramGaunt I know the story very well, I didn't say it was a good idea or the right thing for him to have done but the only reason you and I or anybody else know about Whitman is because of his aggressiveness, just like Irwin Rommel. Not always a good idea but it just might make you famous.
There is no luck. Wittman has a sharp eye for tactics, a courageous spirit & a preternatural battlefield awareness IQ. It also helped that he had a cohesive & talented crew highlighted by his exceptional gunner Bobby Woll. The Germans had the best tank optics & sights made by Zeiss which gave them a decided edge, but the tankers of WW2 didn’t enjoy the digital tech that modern tankers now have. There were no laser range finders, thermal sights, a crosswind sensor or ballistic computer to aid them in target acquisition, targeting & shooting. They relied mainly on skill & experience. They had to estimate range & learn to calculate the best firing solutions manually. It’s a shame that Michael Wittman & renegade panzer ace Kurt Knispel both died in WW2, the latter of which died like 2 weeks before war’s end. We luckily got great memoirs from Colonel Hans Von Luck & panzer ace Otto Carius. I read both of them & they’re great reads. It would have been fascinating to see what Wittman & Knispel left for posterity. I don’t know if this is true or some fanciful lore but apparently the commander for Desert Storm Norman Scwarzkopf had Rommel’s book with him during his planning of the war. It’s a different time with more advanced weaponry now, but one can still get nuggets of wisdom from the generals of the past.
You could probably take the sight out and shoot better at VB's engagement ranges. In fact, one of the Fireflies that despatch a couple of Wittmann's mates that afternoon actually boresighted their 17-pr through the breech across the road they were covering. Several panzers obligingly drove past it and didn't drive any more...
Zeiss sights are of no benefit when firing at point-blank ranges, Woll was not Wittmann's gunner at VB, Wittmann was knocked out and had to run for his life, Otto Carius claimed c 50+ tank kills for his unit on the day his Commander listed them getting 17 kills. It seems facts are not your strong-point.
@@michaelkenny8540 The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps". This channel, still so salty, lol !
@@veriepic just after it, and the "after it" is the part of the battle the Wehraboo Wittmann-fanboys really don't want you to know about haha; because the fact is that, when you look at the bigger picture they actually LOST this damn battle, losing several virtually-irreplaceable Tiger tanks (out of the only 30-something they had on the whole Western front) in the process, in exchange for British and American vehicles we had thousands upon thousands more of
NOT THE ONLY TIME WITTMAN DEMOLISHED A BRITISH COLUMN !!! And that was not the only time Wittman laid waste to a whole British column with just one Tiger, in June 1944. The other occasion was even more dramatic as Wittman's Tiger was dug in up to its turret, on a small hillock, and hidden by shrubbery. But it was overlooking a bridge over a canal, that Wittman knew the British would have too cross. When the British column appeared, and just before the first vehicle (a Sherman) reached the canal bridge Wittman destroyed it. He then picked off one of the rear vehicles in the column of over 25 vehicles. Trapping all the vehicles in between. Wittman then systematically picked off all the other vehicles. Due to the low flash of German powder, the British could not ascertain where the shots were coming from. In their panic, some of the British tanks turned into fields either side of the road, making themselves actually much easier targets for Wittman. In the end Wittman ran out of shells, and as his Tiger had already run out of fuel, he and his crew abandoned the Tiger, and went is search of another !!
Your whole post is total fiction. Apart from Villers Bocage on 13/6/44 and the day of his death in August there are no accounts of Wittmann being in action. You are a deluded fantasist!
Obviously he get lucky... but in war luck is part of strategy, looking at what's happened British simply got ambushed and surprised, Wittman put himself in a good situation and took advantage from that, the superiority of armor and gun made the rest... but there's still people who make comparisons between Sherman and tigers tank because of this episode... obviously they have no idea on what are they taking about.
I don't understand how is it "smart" to rush into a town with no infantry support and loose Tigers. In the picture at 14:06 you can see two Tigers destroyed. What is the second Tiger? Also there are pictures of some PZIVs in the streets of Villers Bocage, even right next to one of the destroyed Tigers. Are they from previous battles or part of the "ambush"?
All part of the ambush*. With sterotypical Teutonic efficiency, the Germans tried the same thing several times expecting a different result. * To clarify: the afternoon's ambush of a mixed force of Tigers and PzIVs by a troop of 4 CLY. The latter were just off the main road in a square, and the former obliged them by driving past
A bit like Stonne where one French CharB1 charged into the town by itself and came across a German column and massacred it. Again it had separated from its own Company and had no infantry support. In both cases it was reckless rather than just brave and should have gone horribly wrong and the presentation here shows assorted ways in which it might have. Both were lucky and had the skill to exploit the luck but Company commanders have no business charging into enemy occupied towns by themselves. Both were wrong decisions which turned into successful results.
I have the Film in which Ekins tells his story in the destruction of Wittmanns Tiger during his last fight. And though being a brilliant Tank gunner, Ekins strangely became taken away for other jobs! Sadly I didn't manage to visit Wittmann's grave in the German, La Campe Cemetery, during my one visit to Normandy, many years ago.
@@callumgordon1668 The Germans haven't got an Official War Grave Commission, so the graves are maintained from Funds donated from private persons. Close to my former home in Denmark, the names on the German Graves became repainted by young persons coming up in summer. And one group of Germans are outside the stone-fence of the Churchyard, because the local Priest (!) wouldn't allow the graves (Mostly fugitives from the East!) inside "His Churchyard"!
@@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188 my understanding is that Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge look after German War Graves from the World Wars outwith Germany? You are of course right that they’re mostly charitably funded. I’ve only visited large German cemeteries in Europe. In the U.K., it’s quite common to have small numbers of military graves in our cemeteries, usually associated with adjacent hospitals, or naval bases and airfields. I can’t find the reference and given some of those who’re interested in this, you have to be careful of your sources, but my understanding is that Wittmann and his crew’s remains were relocated some years after his death and reinterred at La Cambe, which is the main German cemetery for the Normandy Campaign. His Tiger apparently exploded after being KOd, hence the famous picture of the turret upside down. Best not to dwell on the impact of those, probably already dead, in the tank. If anyone has a credible reference regarding the above, I’d welcome.
Excellent; a clear and detailed description of the action. Luck (good and bad) played the biggest role in the events. The only thing I would add is that (having visited VB, myself), the road through the village is actually quite steep.
The Germans were in general very skilled soldiers, be it footsoldiers in Wehrmacht or Ss, Luftwaffe or their tank commanders. I'd argue that the allies mainly won by numbers (not that they exactly did bad). When it comes to overall performance on the battlefield, I'd say that the Germans took the prize. German effeciency, I guess.
Thanks for this well balanced account. The best book I've seen on this topic is called "Villers-Bocage Through The Lens", which does a very good job of analysing the contemporary photos and also provides an overview of the subsequent actions over the next few days. It was the first account I found that dispelled the "Wittmann as Superman" myth, whilst capturing the confusion of the action.
The book you mention is 20 years old and contains errors. Taylor has just released another book in 2023 (Villers Bocage. Operation Perch: The Complete Account.) which is far more detailed with much more comprehensive coverage
The best end to end video by a country mile I've ever watched, all the honest nitty-gritty of bike touring..a fantastic inspirational journey for all cyclists..well done and thank you for posting.
Perhaps they did attempt to. Difficult to catch an armoured car if the crew know the area - it's hedges, stone walls & narrow lanes everywhere you look.
![After Wittmann's Tiger Tank Rampage - The Fight back at Villers-Bocage [WW2 Documentary]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u-kQQ40AyYU/mqdefault.jpg)
![After Wittmann's Tiger Tank Rampage - The Fight back at Villers-Bocage [WW2 Documentary]](/img/tr.png)
A Canadian Sherman tanker in Normandy put it this way; "No matter how well you are trained, without luck you won't survive."
You make your own luck. And being skilled helps massively.
@@flammenjc Luck is a confluence of events, all happening simultaneously in your favor to create an irregularly large upper hand. You cannot make your own luck.
You can, however, be prepared.
@@johndough1703 "You can, however, be prepared."
Which is also called making your own luck.
There will likely have been people in similar situations as Wittmann, but did nothing about it or nothing of the same effect so nobody will regard it as "lucky" because it wasn't capitalized on.
Otherwise you can just say anything positive is luck and anything negative is bad luck.
Decisions make those scenarios both bad and good it isn't always resting on "luck" that implies that the decisions involved are irrelevant and that's absolutely not the case.
If you're one step ahead of your enemy you will definitely find yourself catching people off guard and/or presenting easy targets and it's not simply "luck"
Indeed, I've heard veterans talking about standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Speaking of D-day, why did a German target one guy storming the beach instead of the guy standing next to him, dumb luck.
This is of course true for all of us, but also I suppose rarely more obvious than to those in such peril as those brave soldiers.
Thanks for the film. My Great Uncle Rennie FitzHugh was one of the casualties on the day. His body was never found and he is commamerated at the Bauxeux Cemetery. Gone but not forgotten.
If memory serves, the sons of the lady of the manor were granted permission to recover and bury the British dead. I believe some of the graves were lost to the subsequent bombing of the town.
He does get remembered.
RIP. My father was in Egypt, aged 19. Incredible what their generation faced.
My Great Uncle, Reg Knight, was a Firefly driver with B Sqn back in the town. He survived the war, but his best mate was killed in the action later in the day.
Respect to your Great Uncle from a German! My Grandfathers and 3 Grand Uncles all fought on the Eastern Front and during those Times against the British and Americans.
In my case they all survived and became Friends with their former Enemies after the War. I basically grew up in the 1980s and 1990s meeting British and American WW2 Veterans that my Grandfathers and Granduncles tried to kill back then and vice versa.
One thing i always noticed during those "Former Enemies Veteran Meetings" is that they all were insanely respectful towards eachother, eventhough they probably killed eachothers Comrades.
Now compare that to UA-cam Comments, all of them weren't even born during those Days and yet many of them basically like to talk on behalf of their dead Grand or Great Grandfather being insulting towards their former Enemies.
I'm rather sure if they were alive and knew some of their Offsprings talk like that, they'd slap them to Hell and back.
Soldiers are always more respectful towards their Enemies than People who never fought in a War
Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
@@chartreux1532well said
Now see here, the crews did not stop for tea. They stopped for a vital planning meeting that happened to include tea. 😁
Captain Willie Whitelaw squadron got ambushed by 3 hunting Panthers were they were having their tea break and officers meeting. And the American task force welborn got ambushed by the king tigers that led up to the death of general Rose of the 3rd armored division. Traveling without flank security without reconnaissance can lead to a very deadly ambush.
No arguments here, I was just making light of the meme about us Brits always stopping for tea. Heaven forbid that soldiers might need a break and some refreshments in between getting shot at! Just maybe take a few precautions when doing so.
@@Karras353They didn’t stop for tea , they had tea because they’d stopped .
@@NickGillings-vf3ye Exactly my point. I'm not the enemy on this one.
@@Karras353 Indeed 👍
Imagine being in a Stuart and finding yourself facing a Tiger, that Ingram was a badass.
" Poop in the Pants " moment ............. 😬😬😬😬
Or suicidal.
@@bloke755 He drove straight at Wittmann so I don't think he pooped his pants..it's that rare thing called courage because I'm guessing he had a pretty good idea that he would die
@@theart8039 I presume he knew his chances of survival were limited either way so he did the brave thing and tried to save others.
Reminds me of the 2 Bradleys that stumbled across a T90 in Ukraine
Never forgotten, Cheers to "Rex" Ingram, M3 Stuart commander who faced the Tiger with all he got, bravest soul in Villers-Bocage
He gave his young life to save his friends.
I think he was mentioned by Lazerpig in his video on the engagement.
He killed himself and his friends, for what?
@@Jerico1900to distract the tiger and alert the others
@@Personontheinternet4598 🤣Yeah I'm sure the explosions and and gun fire didn't alert annyone🤣🤣🤣
"He was lucky..."
"He benefited from the disorganization of his enemies..."
"Despite the destruction and confusion caused, it was not decisive for the outcome of the battle..."
But...All battles boil down to collections of events of this nature.
Having courage, cunning, observing an opportunity and jumping at it...
That defines war!
Wittmann was a true warrior, in the full essence of his definition!
Say what you want about the Tiger. It being expensive and complicated to build and it's a maintenance nightmare but there's no doubt that when it was operated by a professional crew it was an extremely effective beast.
True
Especially in open country where it could use its gun to great effect, such as Estrees la Campagne during Operation Totalize.
In this case the Brits being caught off guard was a huge factor.
That Firefly not being caught unaware could have easily resulted in Whitman being wrecked right from the get go, exactly in the way he was eventually killed soon after this battle
@chuckhaggard1584
Wittmann was later killed by ambush on his flank though. He didn't even see what was firing at him, so it was a bit different to Villers. At Villers the British tanks on the road up to Point 213 were visible to him and he was facing them frontally. I always thought he was further away from the tanks at the lead of the British column than the representation shows here.
@@lyndoncmp5751 my point stands. If he hadn't caught them with their pants down the two Fireflies would have made a wreck of his tank.
The Brit's screwed up big time being that near the very fluid front line without recon working and no screen line deployed. They had scouts, towards the rear of the column, that's unbelievably dumb.
That his Tiger was knocked out by a lowly 57mm gun speaks to how lucky he was to not be fired on by all the other potential guns involved in this mess.
I'm aware of how Whittman met his end.
One of the best presentations by The Tank Museum.
Now, there is a huge difference between being lucky to find an opportunity to grab, and getting lucky and succeed when making a mistake.
I do not think Wittmann made a mistake, his actions that day were, as you say yourself, still remarkable. That propaganda runs away with it is just business as usual in war.
Oh it was still a mistake.
@@DeosPraetorian It was still a mistake, but look at the opposing tanks. Mistakes after mistakes after mistakes. Yet Wittman had to go through 29 vehicles before he made his mistake. Yes he needed to be lucky, but that's true for literally everyone in a war.
@@yedrellow well we had the "luck" of having American factories churning out a hundred Shermans in the time it took the Germans to build a single Tiger tank and that's luck that lasted a lot longer than Wittmann's did
was inexcusable by the defense?
@@1IbramGaunt I never disagreed. I just think people have swung extremely far the other way away from "heroism" propaganda to the point of not even acknowledging that when one tank takes out 29 vehicles that it requires some level of skill. It's not an endorsement, just an acknowledgement that sometimes individuals in war can achieve a lot more than those around them when luck and skill combine.
Soldiers aren't interchangeable automatons, sometimes some individuals are less prone to error and more capable of capitalising on luck than others.
While Lazerpig’s videos are fun, Dan Taylor of the Kent & Sharpshooters Yeomanry museum is the man who’s done the recent research in this battle - his book is eye opening.
Lazerpig’s videos are fun and full of misinformation.
@@GM-xk1nw was he wrong about Wittmann?
@@GM-xk1nw Elaborate?
Lazerpig's video and premise are accurate as far as the Nazi regime capitalizing and embellishing on Wittmann's exploits in Normandy, while downplaying Kurt Knispel who was a better tank ace but not a Nazi party member.
However, lazerpig forgets or glosses over the fact that Wittmann had already made a name for himself on the Eastern Front, credited with over 90 kills.
Wittmann received the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross in early 1944, an award that affirmed his skills as a tank commander.
During Citadel Wittmann was credited with 7x tank and 10x AT Guns destroyed in one day; at Zhitomir he was credited with 10 and 10 of each.
Wittmann rose from a crewman through tank commander to Platoon Leader of a Tiger Platoon; he also earned a battlefield commission. These activities portray him as an aggressive, at least somewhat proficient leader, yet as pig points out, a sycophant too obedient to party - the sort of person the Nazi's needed as role model.
It is also possible the Nazi's were happy to promote the narrative of Wittmann as a star because he was killed shortly after the Normandy battle. A perverse attempt to capitalize on the theory, "your death is not in vain if you die for the fatherland", during a time of increasing casualties and collapsing morale in the Wehrmacht.
Edit: change east front figures from 130 to 90.
@@Marc-vc1woI have it in mind that Lazapig did in fact mention all that you just said there. At least i’m fairly sure he did
Best description of the battle I have ever seen/heard/read. Well done.
You need to expand your research than. Many things where left out that explain the situation and writing the entire action off as "lucky" and that Wittman was a coward is unforgivable British propaganda and revisionism trying to excuse bad performance on the day by the British.
I seem to remember 1 British officer saying V-B was 3 battles. We lost the 1st, the 2nd was drawn, and the 3rd was won. It's the last one that counts.
Maybe. But the monument in V-B does not include any Brits.
????? The monument to the 22nd Armoured Brigade?@@MothaLuva
@@nickthenoodle9206 No. The monument to Michael Wittmann.
@@MothaLuva You mean his headstone?
@@dnate697it's a flat stone at La Cambe, a shrine for Neo Nazis. I'm grateful that my countrymen put him there.
You can say he was lucky, and he was.
But he was also singularity aggressive and tactically brilliant. Let's say a different officer says "I've been found out" and fights a defensive battle or attacks with a whole platoon of Tiger. The former would have allowed the British to get their act together and given away the initiative. The latter would have been more cumbersome, also giving more time for resistance to pool.
Wittmann was audacious without being utterly reckless. That is how you do things like this. Military history is replete with examples.
And as for luck, well, Napoleon said he'd rather his marshals be lucky than brilliant.
Well put and the last Napoleon comment is amusing !
@@elroyscout Meh, at least he fought to his death. The dude could've just stayed in the rear according to you but he didn't and died... you could say the fame got to him, but he died for a cause nevertheless, the kind of action that emboldens others, not just his own.
@@elroyscout "tiger that were not easy to replace due to the 8th airforce saying 'Nice assembly line there, "
WISHFUL THINKING, dear Yank ally. Germany manufacturers' output of tanks actually peaked in December 1944 - after Villers Bocage. There was no deficiency of German tank production at the time. As to air bombing, it was impeded by the British/American bickering over strategy. The Yanks (Gen Spaatz et al) argued for destruction of Germany's synthetic fuel industry, whilst the Limeys (AVM Portal et al) urged the elimination of Germany's transport network - railways, canals&ports, road junctions etc. For the case of Tiger tank production (only), the RAF's strategy was probably better than 8th USAAF's. For what it's worth, "World at War" has a post-war interview with Albert Speer (by mid-1944, effectively Minister for War Production) where he says that British (RAF) night time 'Area Bombing' did considerably more damage to German production generally than the USAAF's day time efforts at Norden bombsite 'precision' strikes.
@@elroyscout "due to the 8th airforce saying 'Nice assembly line there, would be a shame if we carpet bombed the full zipcode around it'...."
American military historians have a very short attention span. Not much glory in re-constructing post-war rubble, so afterwards, let's trumpet Marshall Aid and get on with the serious business of hanging Nazis under American jurisdiction (or, in the case of Sgt. John Woods, US Army, lying about his hangman credentials and botching all his executions) or bitching that the Limeys in British Germany won't hand over their Nazis to get their necks stretched - a happy determination for the likes of Kesselring and Runstedt who thus avoided 'American justice'.
But, economic historians of German reconstruction (mainly European) are quite clear that German industrial capability wasn't greatly reduced - probably no more than about 8% overall - by combined British and American bombing, each ally dropping about one million tons of bombs. And, Germany ended the war with more resources, real estate and so on than she started with. 25% MORE functioning machine tools at the end than at the beginning, for example. An inconvenient truth to proponents of air power - especially American air power. And, it's doubtful if that Marshall money contributed much - probably about 1% of German GDP during the recovery phase. As for the British who received the largest slice of Marshall, that money wasn't really needed. It was actually spent on Britain's nuclear weapons programme. Turns out that the secret Quebec Treaty meant that the Brits were baked into America's nuke development and they couldn't be got rid of, ever - as Senator McMahon found out to Congress' s impotent fury in 1946. So, the Limey's had to be BRIBED to go away.
@@elroyscout The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps".
This channel, still so salty, lol !
When you ask, if he was lucky, you have to mention, that even before Villers-Bocage, he had 117 confirmed tank kills on his list.
The 'confirmed kill' claim is bogus. If you want proof then despite the fact Wittmann only saw 10 tanks at Villers Bocage he was give a 'confirmed kill' total of 20+.
@@michaelkenny8540 I talked about his stats before VB, mainly on the eastern front. Sure, when the stats of the special incident of the german propaganda of VB are bogus, then his total stats before must be hocus bogus too.
German tank kills are counted by unit, not by individual. Wittmann did not kill 117 tanks in the East, his UNIT did. This is actually an incredibly average number for a German tank unit on the Eastern Front, and the only reason he got notoriety is because he was a young, strong seeming, conventionally attractive, Bavarian serving in the SS who followed orders, so propaganda put him on a pedestal. in contrast you have Kurt Knipsel, who killed more tanks in the same battles, but didn't have the propaganda appeal.
Otto Carius and another panzer commander went on a similar rampage in one of the three small Baltic countries and wiped out 60 Soviet tanks; big ones, the JS2 and such. It would be nice to see a similar analysis.
I have to say, this was a very informative video. Well done!
That is what Carius wrote in his book 'Tigers In The Mud'. For July 22nd 1944 he claimed a total 53 Soviets tanks for the Tigers he was with and 58 kills for the whole Unit. Unfortunately (for Carius) at the back of his book he reproduces Period Unit Documents written by the commanding officer of his Unit and this man noted that that day they knocked out............17 Soviet tanks. Someone is making things up.
@@michaelkenny8540 , there are a few problems with your analysis. Soviets tanks in 1944 didn't have carousel auto-loaders to blow up their turrets a 100 meters. Tanks could be damaged, crew killed, and then same tanks could be recovered, the hole welded over and new crew sent to fight once more. It is different if you are advancing and capturing damaged tanks, but in 1944 the Germans were not. Also, mismatched battle reports are very common in war. It could be some vehicles killed were not tanks, but anti-tank vehicles, or anti-air, half-tracks and a dozen other things(there is smoke and fires and dust in a battle, unlike in a game). It could also be nobody went in to verify the kills, if the Soviets were still pressing an attack.
@@andrew3203 The facts are clear. Carius says 50+ Soviet tanks were knocked out by the Tigers. The commander of the Tiger Unit had to do a report about the Units actions and he notes that on the day Carius claims 50+ kills the whole Unit claimed 17 Kills. It is as simple as that.
Exceptionally done narrative of a small fragment ofWW2 history! It's one of those truly surprising tank encounters of WW2 that indeed deserve a minute to minute telling of just what happened. Witmann's charge is really one thing that stands out from the tank battles of Normandy. Cheers to the Tank Museum to do this kind of history video! Thanks for the supporters of the Tank Museum that have given the chance to make such awesome recreation of a tiny part of the history of WW2. Hopefully you continue with this kind of historical work further!
So lazerpig started the discussion yet again
Indeed
LP is an idiot
What?
Way overrated
Cheers Rex Ingram! 🥂
A testament to Wittmann's ability and skill. He may have 'lucked out' by isolating the British officers from their commands, but it should be noted that he capitalised on it and progressed the action as much as he was able. Kudos to the british AT gun crew for getting back into action so quickly and anticipating what Wittmann might do. They effectively removed a Tiger tank which could be said to have hurt the German's war efforts at this late stage of the war worse by the materiel loss of that single tank than what the reverse effect was on the Allies.
I own a large portion of the Wittmann estate and visited his widow frequently. The letters he received from comrades who had served with him through the years are full of admiration for their former commander and many expressed their longing to serve under him again at one point. The few days of vacation Wittmann had, he took the time to always answer all the corresponce he had received during his time at the front. Asking his widow what "Michel", as he was called by his men, would have done if he had survived the war, she answer that he would have wanted nothing more, but to become a farmer...
How did you end up buying parts of his estate?
@@TheHaydena76 Befriending the family.
Many tanks for the informative content
He WAS a PANZER ACE. Enough said!!!! Revisionist history is great!!!
What a harrowing story. I haven't heard about this engagement. What a great job y'all have done in telling it.
When opportunity meets preparation, luck often follows.
Great vid. Explained the action so clearly. Thank you!
Almost every people face lucky moments but only the gifted ones can truly exploit lucky situations.
I mean how do you determine what a panzer ace is? first of all, it is obviously a group effort since the commander does not shoot, drive etc. Second of all, you can have more knowledge, skill and willpower than any other tank commander, if your enemy sees you first and can penetrate your armor you are a dead man. For me it is about seeing and taking opportunities, the ability to improvise and the professionalism not to let personal feelings influnce your decisions. Be careful, calculated and level headed, but take a risk if it is worth it. For me Wittmann did all that.
Of course he’ll try to say Wittmann’s achievements are exaggerated a bit, he’s British. It’s obvious they got caught with their pants down though. Literally. One crew gunner taking a wiz still hasent come back. And before that a tea party that cost a row of half tracks and other vehicles . Tanks come on. He knew what he was doing. And whether by accident or not. He took all those vehicles and tanks out. Opposing sides always have different stories. Oh I didn’t see this huge pile of logs behind me. Come on. Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position to begin with. The Victors write the history books.
There are photos of a ransacked Pz IV at the top of the town that appears to have bellied itself on the log in question. I think we can infer that it was a genuine hazard, and one that the amateurish, incompetent Brits managed to avoid unlike the elite, professional Germans.
Excellent video my sister in laws father was in 8th irish hussars in ww2 and Korea there battle honours include villa bocage and imjin River sadly he past away before my brother met his wife so never got to meet him but my brother has had his service medals and a picture of him in uniform aged about 19 taken in 1944 before the D day framed and proudly on display
I doubt Wittmann decided to withdraw specifically because Sgt Lockwood's tank was a Firefly but rather due to the smoke and dust obscuring his vision so it was pointless continuing. Did he even know what a Firefly was, even if he was able to see Lockwood's tank clearly? The Germans had only begun encountering Fireflies for the first time the previous week, and Wittmann had been on the road march with his battalion through that period so what would his awareness of Fireflies have been? How much info was there about a new allied tank with the 17 pounder gun, before Wittmann arrived in Normandy the day before?
From what I've seen the Germans didn't really know much about the Firefly before Normandy.
@@TTTT-oc4eb
Yes definitely the Germans knew nothing about the Firefly before Normandy, as it wasn't deployed in combat until June 6th 1944. I just wondered what the grapevine word was in the week after D-day, up to Villers Bocage on the 13th. Perhaps there was none. I suspect Wittmann had heard little or nothing about Fireflies, as Wittmann was in transit from northeast France to the Normandy front from the 7th to the 12th. Wittmann likely wouldn't have even known about Cromwells either, as they weren't deployed in combat until D-Day like the Firefly.
OP I really like all your animations and diagrams, they tell the tale far better than just words alone can. Honestly I've read and watched scores of documentaries and books describing this action by Wittman, but yours would be about the best.
This is such a well-made video. Excellent work.
As I've mentioned on another Wittman video, my dad was in one of those Cromwells. He was a driver, transferred from 15/19 King's Royal Hussars as the County of London Yeomanry were short of drivers, but was in the machine gunner's chair that day as the driver had returned from injury and reclaimed his seat. That saved his life. A shell went through the driver's front panel, killing him and setting the tank on fire. Dad bailed out the escape hatch but when no-one else emerged he went back in and pulled out the officer and one other man. As they got out an explosion blew them to opposite sides. The officer was picked up by the Germans and sent to a POW camp. Dad, unconscious in a ditch with his hair burned off and his eyelids seared shut, was found by a French farmer and taken to British lines and sent back to England. When he recovered he went to his old regiment and rejoined them for the push through France and the Netherlands before being caught in an air attack and wounded again. His actions included the audacious night drive behind enemy lines to take Amiens.
Many years later, as president of the Edinburgh branch of the NVA, he was in Paris and got talking to a general, who asked him his story. It emerged that the tank officer has been the general's best friend and had searched for dad after the war to thank him for pulling him out of that tank but had never found him. Before he died he had asked the general to keep searching on his behalf.
Dad lived to be 96, but only told me this story when he was in his 80's. He'd even gone to London to be awarded the French Legion of Honour by the Ambassador, without telling his family what it was about.
Miss you dad.
This must be the HQ Troop of 4 Cromwells and the tank of Pat Dyas or Major Carr.
@@michaelkenny8540 Hi Michael, thanks for your interest. Last September I attended via video link a talk given by Dan Taylor, of the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum, which gave a lot of newly researched detail about the battle including a lot of photos I hadn't seen before. I wrote to Dan and he very kindly did some digging into the records for me. He eliminated the RHQ tanks as their stories are well pretty well-known and photographed and none of them show damage consistent with dad's story.
By studying photographs and making further deductions he came to the conclusion that it may very well have been the No2 Troop leader tank - a Cromwell Mk Vw (something of a rarity) and he was able to send me copies of two photographs of it which show it had been on fire and one of which clearly shows a shell hole just above the driver's visor. Seeing that was definitely a hair on the back of the neck moment!
While Dan had a good historian's caution in not saying it was definitley the one, I feel certain in my own mind that it must be right as most of the other A Squadron tanks were captured after becoming cut off, rather than being disabled by enemy fire.
As for the name of the officer, Dan took a list of those recorded as taken as POWs at the battle and narrowed it down by eliminating those who were known to have been in other tanks, and believes there are three possible candidates: Lt Colvin, Lt Sellars and Lt Strode; the last of whom is less likely as he was a replacement for the 1 Troop commander.
Needless to say I remain very grateful to him for his help and am happy to recommend his book on the battle - Villers-Bocage, Operation Perch the Complete Account.
Naturally if you or anyone else reading this has any further snippets of information that might fill in any of the gaps I'd be delighted to hear them.
@@55billmarshallHi Bill/Michael,
We can perhaps eliminate Lt Colvin. Just before D-Day he is identified as the Intelligence Officer, so he ought to have been in the scout car that followed Carr's Cromwell off the road at the edge of the town.
@@andrewflindall9048 Hi Andrew, many thanks for this piece of valuable information. It thus looks very likely, though not totally certain, that the officer in question was Lt DL Sellars. I will try to research him further and see what I can turn up. Much obliged.
Good video that shows what superior guns and armour could mean in the hands of skilled crews, same happened at the Eastern front. But quantity and especially air support luckily made the difference at the end.
"luckily" ??
The interesting thing here is that Wittmann's command originally consisted of 5 tigers. Three were sent to attack a Polish unit on another hill, but I have yet to find out what the outcome there was. In the mean time Wittmann was originally accompanied by another Tiger on the assault on Villers-Bocage. It broke down in an open field and the crew abandoned it, sore thumb and all. So both Wittmann's Tigers were lost in the assault.
I also think it rather churlish that the infantry were criticised for their behaviour in the action. Being caught off guard with no armour and limited impact on the Tiger, (Only PIAT's to use) they were rather on a hiding to nothing. Further, one should note that the crew of the 6pdr were rather gallant in bringing their gun into action despite the attention it received earlier in the battle. Kudos to the resilience of the gunners and the actual gun for their action I think.
Finally, Joe Ekins exacted revenge for the 8th Army on his gun in a Firefly from an apple orchard where he ambushed Wittmann's new troop as it once again took a bold advance on the British line. This time Joe and then some Canadians killed all 5 of Wittmann's tanks including Wittmann himself. This time the luck was with the British with that Firefly being positioned on the flank of Wittmann's advance.
And then the following day on August 9th at Estrees la Campagne, a small number of Tigers from the rest of Wittmann's battalion were largely responsible for the destruction of Worthington Force. The Canadian 28th Armoured Regiment lost 47 tanks, including 44 Shermans, mostly to long range sniping from the Tigers firing from 1,000 metres and more. Even having Fireflies didnt help the Canadians. No Tigers were lost in the engagement.
According to modern sources it more probably some rocket from a Typhoon who has destroy Wittman's tiger.
@@ChristopheA-dd5we
No that's been 100% refuted. It was the Canadians close to Wittmann's left flank who got him, firing from behind the chateau wall.
@@lyndoncmp5751 so as I said at the end we are not sure. that the reality period.
@@ChristopheA-dd5we
Yes we are sure. No Typhoon got him. Canadian Shermans firing from as close as 150 metres on his left flank got him.
Excellent concise description. Graphics made it so much easier to follow what happened. War appears full of luck and chance. If Capt. Dyas’, who I saw interviewed many years ago, gunner had been in his place, Wittman’s career might have ended that day, rather than during Totalize.
But Wittmann was actually hit in the flank by another Cromwell and it didn't penetrate, so I doubt the Cromwell of Dyas would have penetrate the Tiger's rear, which was slightly stronger than the side, due to the 8 degrees angle. Both the side and rear were 80mm thick.
@@lyndoncmp5751 “Early models of the Cromwell were equipped with the QF 6-pounder (57 mm). Using the new armour-piercing discarding sabot round, which became available in quantity in early 1944, this gun could penetrate over 100 mm of steel armour at ranges on the order of 1,000 yards (910 m), making it effective against all but the most heavily armoured tanks.” The rear armour of a Tiger is 88mm and Dyas would have been firing from virtually point blank. Like many in 7th armoured, he was a veteran of the Western Desert, not new to combat. At the very least Wittman would have been disabled. As he was a little later by a 6pdr gun… however it’s still if but and maybe.
@@callumgordon1668
None of the three Cromwell shots that actually hit Wittmanns Tiger (2 from Dyas, 1 from Carr) penetrated or even slowed Wittmann down. And those three shots were at point blank range.
Dont forget the Tiger I had unique extremely high quality nickel -steel of 265 Brinell Hardness in places.
Paper penetrations often failed to materialise in actuality, especially when we include firing angles. I doubt Dyas would have waited to be perfectly perpendicular to Wittmann's rear before firing, and possibly would have shot from an angle thus making penetration unlikely.
Wittmanns Tiger was hit by the 6 pounder in the running gear apparently. I don't think Dyas would have been targeting the tracks.
@@lyndoncmp5751 and all those shots were targeting its thickest armour, so they reacted as you describe. Point blank onto thinner rear armour may have had a different outcome. There is a case (disputed) where a Greyhound AC took out a Tiger II by rapidly firing at its engine deck.
If the AT gun crew, which regardless disabled the Tiger in the prescribed manner had been quicker with their small arms, his career might have ended there too…
@@callumgordon1668
That was almost certainly a Panther that the Greyhound took out near St Vith during the Bulge. There were no King Tigers, or Tiger Is, anywhere near St Vith. Nearest were at Stavelot, Trois Ponts and La Gleize. Plus the Tiger losses are documented and recorded. Only 13 Tigers were lost in the northern section of the Bulge. All documented and dated, with turret numbers listed. None at St Vith.
Panthers were frequently called Tigers. King Tigers had 80mm sloped rear armour. No Greyhound is getting through that. The Panther 'only' had 40mm rear armour however.
Lastly, seeing as most people in the tanks Wittmann hit and penetrated actually survived, it's very probable Wittmann would have survived too, even if one of the less powerful allied shells penetrated so he may have carried on in another Tiger later.
I believe Carr's Cromwell hit the side of Wittmann's Tiger turret? Not quite sure. That was 80mm, same as the rear. It didn't penetrate or even do any real damage I don't think.
“I know what you’re thinking, has that mad Kraut destroyed 30 allied vehicles or 29”?
*Tommy has left the chat*
I always look forward to your videos. Thank you. 🍺🍺
Wittmanns solo yolo's are legendary... From his Stug eastern front days up to his demise
Yeah although how much of those successes were actually HIS we'll never really know now given the combination of propaganda, lost real combat records and the German habit of assigning the whole unit's kills
@@1IbramGaunt I think OP was talking about how Wittmann would just charge into battle (even by himself like he was the main character), rather than his achievements.
@@1IbramGauntSomeone is butthurt
@@guaporeturns9472 you are projecting your own way of thinking
@@1IbramGaunt In my experience reasarching about ww2 aces, either tank aces or pilots its pretty obvious to me that the numbers are realistic... Those soldiers went to multiple fronts fighting for months, even years, they went up the ranks to comanders, usually heavy outnumbered in combat and some of them survived the war, some died in the last 2 months... What do u think if u went to the eastern front, fought for years and after transfered to France how many tank kills would you had to your name?
Imagine getting up-tiered in real life and still being salty about it 70 years later.
There were a couple of RA OP tanks with the HQ Troop on the bend outside Villers. They all turned around and fled back into the town. There is an unpublished account of the battle that describes this event and the narrator says one of the OP tanks got 'hung-up' on a tree trunk that was lying at the side of the road. The driver managed to get his OP free just before the Tiger arrived. If you check the photos of the Panzer Lehr Pz IV that is shown being towed on the bend outside Villers you will see that this Pz IV got hung-up on the same tree trunk. It could not drive off and had to be towed off by another Pz IV. Look closely at the photo16:48 and you will see the muzzle brake of the towing Pz IV is just visble behind the Cromwell and the tree-trunk is sticking out behind the Pz IV .
The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps".
This channel, still so salty, lol !
Some say the Cromwell's crewmember is still taking a leak.
He’s likely the only one that didn’t wet himself when they turned out on the road and found a tiger staring at them. Lol
Think he would have crapped himself. Tell me why would you let the guy out in the middle of a battle? Did he jump out and try and run away.
going alone in with only one tank into this Clusterf... full of Tanks, Inf. ect sounds like a suiciderun, he was really lucky that day.
i remember i played that Mission in Comp. of Heros 3rd part, was pure fun.
A wise man once saied: Wittman wasnt the best tank ace of ww2, he was the luckiest."
Not really because when he began his attack the British tanks were all in his line of vision on the road and weren't all over the place on his flanks. He also, understandably, had great confidence in the Tiger's ability to take enemy shots. Which his Tiger did for the most part.
@@lyndoncmp5751 He literaly drove intl a town full of angles and allys. Heck, he literaly drive past 2 tanks without noticing. And his Tiger was lost during its very first engagment in the west. Heck evrey single Tiger in the platoon he was leading was turned into scrap that day.
@@yoschiannik8438
None of his 2nd Kompanie Tigers were lost that day. Even his own was later recovered.
@@yoschiannik8438because your thoughts are based on what you've heard. You dont know whether the germans had recon missions there, what information did Wittmann posess.
I really like these videos discussing battles. More please 🙏
Holy crabcakes. All in 15 min. Astounding
Not quite as long as the video is .. wonder if that was planned or not.
*asspounding you mean
Wittman's "luck" reminds me of a golfing legend who said "The more I practice, the luckier I get".
It's all very well talking about "luck", but - in any walk of life we care to consider - the most courageous and most technically talented are always the most "lucky".
Luck must be earned by hard work, commitment and sacrifice.. and even if it lands in one's lap out of the blue, only those who've invested in their technical skills and emotional development over many years will have the insight and experience to recognise it when it lands and make the most of it - Wittman was one such individual.
The 'luck' being described is the absolutely random way Wittmann ended up being positioned some distance behind a full squadron of tanks and facing a HQ group of Command/OP tanks and half-tracks. It was not the result of superior skill but just chance that he was pre-positioned 1.5 km behind A Squadron 4th CLY and 1.5 km in front of 'B' Squadron. He was dead centre of a 3km gap. Note that as soon as he bumped into the lead tanks of 'B' Squadron and started taking hits he immediately turned tail and tried to make it back to his own lines.
@@michaelkenny8540 The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps".
This channel, still so salty, lol !
This was such a fantastic explanation if this encounter. Thank you Bovington tank museum for making the video and sharing the story. :)
He might have been good as a tank commander but he was killed a few weeks later and the German army did not have many like him or the number of tanks they needed. All the tiger tanks lost that day were not replaced as Germany only built 1,200 or just over of them.
Thank you for the video and clearing up some of the bs about him.
The german army had a lot of tank "aces" if you want to call them that. Even at the end of the war they were still capable of winning tactical victories (for example at Bautzen or Paderborn)
The "Black Baron" saw the group travelling and fresh off the "Train" without the rest of his platoon of 4 other Tiger 1's was fully armed and Balls Out went after them! Blind sided as the British Company were, Michaels gunner and loader were like a symphony of 88mm Gun Fire! He did not stop to fire! He trained his crew to fire on the move! This is a huge beast trolling through winding streets in a town! Aces to the driver of the Barons Tank!
What a load o tosh. The 'Black Baron' name was made up in the 1970s by Tamiya Tiger groupies. You appear to share the same knowledge of history they had.
Gosh, that pee break weighed heavily in history 😓
Its a euphemism.
@@michaelkenny8540 The account didn't indicate it was an euphemism.
Might not have made a difference. The Tiger's rear was still 80mm thick and slightly angled at 8 degrees, which made the rear slightly thicker than the sides.
@@michaelkenny8540 The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps".
This channel, still so salty, lol !
Thanks John for an excellent and balanced video. Great graphics too.
Especially the part with things being balanced is rarely really seen. So this is timeless.
Brilliant video, thank you for putting it together and sharing!
All war parties tend to maximize the achievements of their warriors even those that never existed or were that successful... And Wittmann had his own quality that didn't need any flattering anyway!
Maybe Wittmann decided to stop, not because of the firefly but because ammo was low or expended, How many shells did he fire ?? ... 33? 35?
And how much ammo a Tiger had? 92?
Wittmann was interviewed for a propaganda piece a month later and he said that he pulled back when encountering the Firefly. The purpose of the attack was to aggressively disrupt the enemy force coming up the road. The Germans taught and practiced individual aggression and simply "pushing your luck".
@@Wien1938 Agreed, but most people can only push their luck so far, as Wittmann found out on 8th Aug '44. He may have had more 'luck' though if his division had done any reconnaissance, & even survived that encounter.
@@eric-wb7gj I think Wittmann and other Eastern front veterans acquired habits which served them well in that theater against the Russians, but were suicidal when they encountered the Allies in Normandy with their superior scouting assets, massive amounts of effective anti-tank weapons, and much better access to things like tactical radios.
@@dpeasehead Quite possibly, they had never faced a modern western army before. German tactics of quick counter attacks didn't always work, they'd found that out in 1916/1917.
Everyone was making mistakes.
On the Allied side, the Desert Rats were a veteran formation, but all in the Desert, they had to 'unlearn' a lot in Normandy. Sadly, for the other British troops, they didn't have (& still don't) have enough areas to train properly. Coming up against Eastern Front veterans was also a steep learning curve.
Both sides showed great courage. Seems like the ace Tiger would have survived this aggressive push if only he had destroyed the second AT.
Excellent presentation from the Tank Museum, thanks guys!
00:08 Owittmann Kenobi had the high ground and the Brits could do nothing about it.
Wittmann: You underestimate my 88mm!
Ekins: Don't try it!
Wittmann: Arghhhh
Ekins: *MULTIKILL!!! *
I find it weird to hear things like "Wittmann drove", "Wittmann missed" or "Wittmann fired". Like he did all of that by himself and at the same time.
you have to give to the allied tanks design that they , apparently , had a high rate of crew survivebility
Also because in a lot of cases, at such close ranges and against thinly armored light tanks, the 88mm AP shell would not meet significant enough resistance to detonate, but would instead pass straight through the vehicle and out on the other side.
The spray of shrapnel would still be dangerous, but significantly less so than having the explosive charge detonate inside the tank.
Most of the crews hopping out when deep behind enemy lines certainly helped the men survive.
7:53 "he never wanted to see another tank as long as he lived".
That man had nightmares of a Tiger turret slowly turning towards him at point blank range for the rest of his life. Absolutely insane.
Sorry but you fail to understand the actual words used by John Cloudsley Thompson. In an article 'Escape From Villers Bocage' (Royal Armoured Corps Journal,Vol 10 (2);58-62 (1956) he had written ................''A newspaper account of our little adventure ended with the words, ‘The first thing the five tank men asked for was another tank' I believe we did happen to mention that we did not wish to see another tank as long as we lived! But within a few days our much depleted regiment was in action again and a month later we were all engaged in the Caen Offensive, one of the bloodiest battles of the war.''..................what he was saying was that his crew they wished they never had to serve in any tank ever again and not that they were frightened or having nightmares about Tigers.
Cracking episode... edge of the seat suspense... more, more , more!
From what I can remember, he made his own look with his daring and guts!
Yeah, he was looking in every direction he could. What's your point ?
As an Englishman born a few days after these events I am angry watching it. It was clearly a mega-shambles. Poor planning, poor training, poor equipment. At one critical point I commented to myself that "I bet they got out for a cup of tea". And they did. However, I do recognise it is easy for me to criticise: what do I know? I am not trained in these matters.
I was prompted to do some online research. From Wikipedia I got a fuller picture which, although it did not diminish Wittmann's achievement, showed a more balanced perspective.
Too much tea and too many pee breaks 🤷♂️
...."some online research. From Wikipedia" ..... funniest thing I've heard all day, lol !
As much experience as Whitman had, I'd say it was not luck, but combat experience and instincts. Maybe it was luck considering at this point all fire superiority was pretty much lost by the Germans/ Nazis. Either way, Wittman is probably the greatest tank ace of all-time.
What an incredibly well made video. Thank you!
I can't imagine the horror of seeing your shots bounce off and the turret of the enemy tank slowly pointing its gun at you.
How about the horror of Wittmann as he watched his point-blank shot at the Cromwell of John Cloudsley-Thompson fly harmlessly over the top of the turret?
Still butthurt after all these years. Priceless.
Find ANY American account of Kasserine that either doesn't blame the British for American weakness and failure OR claims that Americans won a victory there. Yanks are the most butthurt nation on the planet. Go to Wikipedia's 'talk' section on any article to do with the US and you'll find an entire country trying to re-write history.
For the record, Wittman scored 120 of his 135 kills on the Russian front, where his tank was virtually invulnerable in frontal engagements against almost all Soviet tanks. After his transfer to France he survived less than two months of combat before he was ambushed and killed along with three other Tigers, by a single Sherman Firefly on August 8th 1944
So before people run away with the "Wittman Worshipping" maybe they need to examine the actual FACTS.....
Wittman was extremly lucky, the A squadron Firefly was traversing its turret on Wittman's Tiger when it first broke cover up on Point 213 as it entered the Route 158. If that Firefly had fired and hit before it was destroyed, Michael Wittman would have been nothing more than a footnote in history.
The same goes true for Sgt Lockwood's Firefly which HIT Wittman's Tiger in the high street of VB. 99 times out of 100 that shell penetrates the armor of the Tiger at that range. Call it luck, call it a freak of nature or whatever you will, but the 17pdr hit caused nothing but superficial damage to Wittman's Tiger and ultimately forced him to withdraw, knowing full well the next shot could have and probably would have killed him.
Either way, he was lucky to the point of foolhardiness....
All War has an element of Luck involved 😂😂😂
His achievements were not over-exaggerated, because he also destroyed lots of tanks at the battle of Kursk as well in head to head tank battles. But ive noticed that people seem to enjoy trying to discredit Wittmann.
His achievements at VB were inflated for propaganda purposes. To be fair to him, it wouldn't have been his decision to do that. If uncovering the truth - or as near to it as we can get - is 'discrediting' him, the ones that built him up are the ones to blame.
@@andrewflindall9048 He gave a radio interview just after the action and he clearly says he knocked out 20+ tanks.
@@michaelkenny8540 How 'just'? I'd have thought the time taken to arrange a recording would allow opportunities to tweak the account.
Which begs the question: which is the best / least inaccurate English transcript of it? Or has a native German speaker anywhere offered any views on its 'naturalness', for want of a better word?
Looking at 'Autopsie' my poor French is good enough to wonder how literal their take is.
@@andrewflindall9048 The numbers match the claims in his award citation. Very early on it was decided this was going to be the official story.
Luck is always on the cards...but he knew his job and more to the point so did his gunner. Not so lucky very shortly later...
He was decisive and quick-thinking, like Rommel. Everyone that made it through a battle in WWII was lucky.
Wittmann drove a completely gold plated Tiger Tank
Who was it who said "I would rather be lucky than good."? Being both is obviously what you want, and just as the cliche says, you make your own luck.
great video, thanks a lot.
Luck favors the strong. What a warrior! It was indeed a showcase of his talent and experience, 'cause it wasnt the first time for sure.
Fortune favors the bold
If that's true where's Whitmann
@@1IbramGaunt there were an awful lot of bold men fighting that war
@@randyhavard6084 I meant that Wittmann was certainly "bold" alright (if by "bold" you mean a vain, arrogant egomaniac glory-hound who wanted to be first into the fray not so much out of bravery but because he wanted all the attention and fame for himself) and that's what got him killed, he tried this exact same racing on ahead alone thing again, not long after in another Tiger 1 against similar opponents, and let's just say good luck doesn't last forever
@@1IbramGaunt I know the story very well, I didn't say it was a good idea or the right thing for him to have done but the only reason you and I or anybody else know about Whitman is because of his aggressiveness, just like Irwin Rommel. Not always a good idea but it just might make you famous.
@@randyhavard6084 no argument to be made there I guess
Loved playing the "Company of Heroes" mission about this battle!
Fortune favours the bold...
There is no luck. Wittman has a sharp eye for tactics, a courageous spirit & a preternatural battlefield awareness IQ. It also helped that he had a cohesive & talented crew highlighted by his exceptional gunner Bobby Woll. The Germans had the best tank optics & sights made by Zeiss which gave them a decided edge, but the tankers of WW2 didn’t enjoy the digital tech that modern tankers now have. There were no laser range finders, thermal sights, a crosswind sensor or ballistic computer to aid them in target acquisition, targeting & shooting. They relied mainly on skill & experience. They had to estimate range & learn to calculate the best firing solutions manually.
It’s a shame that Michael Wittman & renegade panzer ace Kurt Knispel both died in WW2, the latter of which died like 2 weeks before war’s end. We luckily got great memoirs from Colonel Hans Von Luck & panzer ace Otto Carius. I read both of them & they’re great reads. It would have been fascinating to see what Wittman & Knispel left for posterity. I don’t know if this is true or some fanciful lore but apparently the commander for Desert Storm Norman Scwarzkopf had Rommel’s book with him during his planning of the war. It’s a different time with more advanced weaponry now, but one can still get nuggets of wisdom from the generals of the past.
You could probably take the sight out and shoot better at VB's engagement ranges.
In fact, one of the Fireflies that despatch a couple of Wittmann's mates that afternoon actually boresighted their 17-pr through the breech across the road they were covering. Several panzers obligingly drove past it and didn't drive any more...
Zeiss sights are of no benefit when firing at point-blank ranges, Woll was not Wittmann's gunner at VB, Wittmann was knocked out and had to run for his life, Otto Carius claimed c 50+ tank kills for his unit on the day his Commander listed them getting 17 kills. It seems facts are not your strong-point.
@@michaelkenny8540 The British sitting around drinking tea, and this channel saying, "oh Wittmann was just lucky. This wasn't a British defeat. He didn't fight in the second half of the day. Nobody told us he was coming and the dog had eaten our maps".
This channel, still so salty, lol !
One thing I don't understand. What were the other Tigers doing this whole time? Why not use them?
only 1 other was operational. the rest were broken down and repairing
@@veriepic Oh ok, makes sense. They were Tigers after all :o)
@@veriepic If that's so, why can we see another Tiger right next to Wittman's at 14:06. One with turret front and another to the side.
@@SoltyII im not even sure if those pictures were from the battle or just after it
@@veriepic just after it, and the "after it" is the part of the battle the Wehraboo Wittmann-fanboys really don't want you to know about haha; because the fact is that, when you look at the bigger picture they actually LOST this damn battle, losing several virtually-irreplaceable Tiger tanks (out of the only 30-something they had on the whole Western front) in the process, in exchange for British and American vehicles we had thousands upon thousands more of
A bit of feedback: You guys make great, respectable, historical videos. Please don't resort to clickbait thumbnails with those silly arrows!
Im an American and Wittmann was my grand uncle. I share the same last name. His story has always interested me.
NOT THE ONLY TIME WITTMAN DEMOLISHED A BRITISH COLUMN !!!
And that was not the only time Wittman laid waste to a whole British column with just one Tiger, in June 1944. The other occasion was even more dramatic as Wittman's Tiger was dug in up to its turret, on a small hillock, and hidden by shrubbery. But it was overlooking a bridge over a canal, that Wittman knew the British would have too cross. When the British column appeared, and just before the first vehicle (a Sherman) reached the canal bridge Wittman destroyed it. He then picked off one of the rear vehicles in the column of over 25 vehicles. Trapping all the vehicles in between. Wittman then systematically picked off all the other vehicles.
Due to the low flash of German powder, the British could not ascertain where the shots were coming from. In their panic, some of the British tanks turned into fields either side of the road, making themselves actually much easier targets for Wittman. In the end Wittman ran out of shells, and as his Tiger had already run out of fuel, he and his crew abandoned the Tiger, and went is search of another !!
Your whole post is total fiction. Apart from Villers Bocage on 13/6/44 and the day of his death in August there are no accounts of Wittmann being in action. You are a deluded fantasist!
"Fury", but German version. It’s a pity they won’t make a film about him, like other German aces
Tanks for the memories....
3:09 Usually an "O" group is an Orders Group, not an Operational Group.
WOW i so impressed this story telling is more thrilling than a movie .D
Obviously he get lucky... but in war luck is part of strategy, looking at what's happened British simply got ambushed and surprised, Wittman put himself in a good situation and took advantage from that, the superiority of armor and gun made the rest... but there's still people who make comparisons between Sherman and tigers tank because of this episode... obviously they have no idea on what are they taking about.
I'm not sure if I missed it, but why did the four other Tigers accompanying Wittman not attack along with him?
I don't understand how is it "smart" to rush into a town with no infantry support and loose Tigers. In the picture at 14:06 you can see two Tigers destroyed. What is the second Tiger?
Also there are pictures of some PZIVs in the streets of Villers Bocage, even right next to one of the destroyed Tigers. Are they from previous battles or part of the "ambush"?
All part of the ambush*. With sterotypical Teutonic efficiency, the Germans tried the same thing several times expecting a different result.
* To clarify: the afternoon's ambush of a mixed force of Tigers and PzIVs by a troop of 4 CLY. The latter were just off the main road in a square, and the former obliged them by driving past
A bit like Stonne where one French CharB1 charged into the town by itself and came across a German column and massacred it. Again it had separated from its own Company and had no infantry support. In both cases it was reckless rather than just brave and should have gone horribly wrong and the presentation here shows assorted ways in which it might have. Both were lucky and had the skill to exploit the luck but Company commanders have no business charging into enemy occupied towns by themselves. Both were wrong decisions which turned into successful results.
Dude this guy was a ace ace ace killer as a tank commander
Until he met an ace ace-ace-ace-killer killer, then this guy wasn't anything.
I have the Film in which Ekins tells his story in the destruction of Wittmanns Tiger during his last fight. And though being a brilliant Tank gunner, Ekins strangely became taken away for other jobs!
Sadly I didn't manage to visit Wittmann's grave in the German, La Campe Cemetery, during my one visit to Normandy, many years ago.
I’ve seen it. His crew and he are in a single grave, which tells its own story, notwithstanding their remains were relocated long after.
Never miss the chance for a free bathroom
@@agripinaa8684 always be going
@@callumgordon1668 The Germans haven't got an Official War Grave Commission, so the graves are maintained from Funds donated from private persons. Close to my former home in Denmark, the names on the German Graves became repainted by young persons coming up in summer. And one group of Germans are outside the stone-fence of the Churchyard, because the local Priest (!) wouldn't allow the graves (Mostly fugitives from the East!) inside "His Churchyard"!
@@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188 my understanding is that Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge look after German War Graves from the World Wars outwith Germany? You are of course right that they’re mostly charitably funded. I’ve only visited large German cemeteries in Europe. In the U.K., it’s quite common to have small numbers of military graves in our cemeteries, usually associated with adjacent hospitals, or naval bases and airfields.
I can’t find the reference and given some of those who’re interested in this, you have to be careful of your sources, but my understanding is that Wittmann and his crew’s remains were relocated some years after his death and reinterred at La Cambe, which is the main German cemetery for the Normandy Campaign. His Tiger apparently exploded after being KOd, hence the famous picture of the turret upside down. Best not to dwell on the impact of those, probably already dead, in the tank.
If anyone has a credible reference regarding the above, I’d welcome.
Excellent video. The graphics really bring clarity to what happened.
Divided forces in the face of the enemy - a classic recipe for disaster.
Excellent; a clear and detailed description of the action. Luck (good and bad) played the biggest role in the events. The only thing I would add is that (having visited VB, myself), the road through the village is actually quite steep.
Never heard of this guy before. What a remarkable soldier.
The Germans were in general very skilled soldiers, be it footsoldiers in Wehrmacht or Ss, Luftwaffe or their tank commanders. I'd argue that the allies mainly won by numbers (not that they exactly did bad). When it comes to overall performance on the battlefield, I'd say that the Germans took the prize. German effeciency, I guess.
Thanks for this well balanced account. The best book I've seen on this topic is called "Villers-Bocage Through The Lens", which does a very good job of analysing the contemporary photos and also provides an overview of the subsequent actions over the next few days. It was the first account I found that dispelled the "Wittmann as Superman" myth, whilst capturing the confusion of the action.
The book you mention is 20 years old and contains errors. Taylor has just released another book in 2023 (Villers Bocage. Operation Perch: The Complete Account.) which is far more detailed with much more comprehensive coverage
Definitely a brown trouser moment when that Tiger appeared
Not for Rex Ingram it wasn't
Also a brown trouser for Wittmann as he legged it after encountering a Firefly.
@@1IbramGaunt Brits got an asspounding that day, lol
The best end to end video by a country mile I've ever watched, all the honest nitty-gritty of bike touring..a fantastic inspirational journey for all cyclists..well done and thank you for posting.
Wrong video
If the Allies were aware that an armored car was shadowing them, why didn't they attempt to destroy it?
Perhaps they did attempt to. Difficult to catch an armoured car if the crew know the area - it's hedges, stone walls & narrow lanes everywhere you look.
Knowing it’s there and being able to kill it are 2 different things
That last sentence in the presentation was very very important. That was a nice silent nod to LazerPig and his Young Avengers.