@@Ssseexxxyyman Because thats another story. This is a story about a battle fought in 1944 not the story of the abuse of children in ww2 which would include krupp along with the Soviet factories and Japanese etc. Every nation abused children for the war to some degree. In addition "abuse" would be in todays terms looking back. Arguable at best.
Great footage. The famous Tiger commander who owned and ran a pharmacy in Germany post WW2.destroyed multiple IS 2 ‘s in one engagement. He was shot when caught by Russian infantry shot multiple times, even through the neck and survived went back into combat. Later on writing the book “ Tigers in the mud “
Interesting footage, thanks. What a horror. Having been a Panzergrenadier myself for some years at german Bundeswehr, I feel blessed that I never had to go to war. I´m 55 now, hope it stays like that. Regards from Germany and stay safe everyone.
Yeah, it is incredible that in 2024 it looks like that the risk of conventional war in Central Europe is greater than it used to be during the height of the Cold War during the 1980's .... There was a much "controlled" situation back then, presidents and high commands been less reckless and more rational. Greetings from South America
Grossdeutschland was on paper the single strongest Panzergrenadier Division already in 1942 and it still grew larger until 1944. After the action in Romania, several battlegroups/brigades/battalions were added and it became a Panzerkorps. Von Manteuffel went on to commanded 5th Panzer-Armee in the Ardennes. He was the one that broke through in the South rushing for Bastogne and the Meuse. You made a good point: although German tanks weren't beaten in this occasion, the grenadiers took heavy casualties. Tanks alone can't take or hold ground.
@@johnnyb2909 On paper ... Serious shortages of, well, everything. All in all probably equal to three fully equipped divisions. Also, at that point, you wouldn't find tier 1 (or even 2) replacements anywhere in Germany. A distant uncle served with GD in late '44/early 45, he was just 18. First "combat experience" after training was him riding on the back of a StuG III through a forrest. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a field hospital having a stiff arm for the rest of his life. Given the blood toll GD usually paid, he got the lucky "home shot". he wasn't killed on impact, he almost didn't make it to the hospital due to loss of blood, he almost lost his arm and he still made it back home to Aachen safely (that is across all of Germany). He won the war lottery three times.
Manteuffel was one of the finest, most capable and intelligent leaders the German war machine produced in W W II - which is saying something in light of the overall high quality leadership that the Wehrmacht and S S were renowned for. He was one of the very, very few commanders whom Hitler would actually listen to and accept criticism from although, fortunately, Hitler seldom took his advice. A fine video, very well done mate. Cheers!
@@pj1953a Indeed they did, thankfully. However, had Hitler allowed his commanders, like Manteuffel, more leeway to operate as to what each operation dictated the war would have lasted much longer and at greater cost to the Soviets and western allies. Cheers!
What most people don't realize, is that even after Berlin fell and the Reich was split completely in half between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union the German military still had 2 million men under arms across the areas of Europe still under their control, along with their armor and tanks. The elite divisions in Eastern Austria around Vienna and Western Czechoslavakia protecting Prague were at nearly full strength and still had hundreds of Panther and Tiger 1 and II tanks with supporting Stug III assault guns and various other AFV's. Between them they had a million men alone in these two regions. In Norway there were 400,000 troops, 185,000 in Northern Italy, 200,000 in the Courland pocket, and various other holdouts. The German army had been decisively beaten, but where it was still able to concentrate these forces it was still capable of winning battles and indeed it did even in late April 1945, most notably against the Soviets in Czechoslovakia at the Battle of Bautzen which inflicted severe damage on attacking Polish and Soviet troops and armor advancing on Prague.
Yep correct. The quality of the German soldier was such that it did indeed take the combined might of the Western and Eastern world to match and even still never actually did. This was achieved by a Germany that wasn't even prepared for war unlike the allies and especially the Soviets.
@@hoyschelsilversteinberg4521 but they hadnt fuel and really low ammo. they were already beaten, and by themselves. Allowing hitler to diktat the strategies was the sponsor of their ultimate failure
@@ambulanza That is actually incorrect. It was thanks to Hitler that they got as far as Stalingrad. Hitler was responsible for a large portion of the major successes and without his genius would have succumbed to Poland given the original idea the generals had when attacking Poland. The generals wanted to B line it straight to Danzig which could have cost the Germans dearly had they gotten bottle necked at any point. Hitler instead created two huge pincer movements to capture the Polish army and crushed them. Same with Norway, sniffing out the potential for a catastrophe if the English were to take Norway in an attempt to cut off German iron ore from Sweden. Hitler pre-empted the British and secured Norway just as the British arrived. He also masterminded the annihilation of France's enormous and superior army. An army that took on Europe for 20 years in Napoleon's era and were unbeatable for 4 years in WW1 he had absolutely destroyed thanks to his strategy in just 3 days and that was at a fraction of the death caused within the first hour of Passchendaele. Operation Barbarossa was another genius play as Hitler confirmed the worst, that the Soviet Union was poised to invade Europe with a gigantic army and saved Europe from Soviet rape/murder for a few years at least. What Germany achieved with so little could never be replicated in the modern era (and hasn't been, look at the catastrophe in Ukraine right now after 10 years of no progress). I don't know how many lifetimes you'd need to match the success of Hitler let alone surpass it but I'm sure it would have to be in the many billions of attempts without assurances of ever coming close even with knowing everything we know today.
@@peterrobbins2862 That's why the Baku Oil fields was a strategic objective. The disaster at Stalingrad basically ruined that objective and started the retreat from that goal.
Great video, 95% of that footage I had never seen before. When you were talking about IS-2's or Pz. 4's that's what was on the screen at that time, which is more than I can say for the other videos out there. Great explanations and break downs as well.
Too bad the introduction was bad. First, it was not 'Yosif Stalin the IS-2'. The tank was 85mm IS-1 and IS-2 came later on, while T-34/85 arrived between them. Also, Soviets had known already that 85 was not enough; from KV-85 and ballistic tests. Still, it was more than adequate against most German tanks
That is one of Germany's downfalls however. Compared to Germany's counterparts in WWII, England, US and Sov all used their tank and pilot aces for training new recruits and strategizing, whereas Germany used them on the battlefield to motivate troops around them. But as a consequence, lost many of their experienced tank and pilot aces.
Mr. FB, I was born way back in 1952, only 7 years after the war ended. I've been watching actual WW2 footage almost all of my life. I'e seen a LOT of it, and some of it a LOT of times. Which is why I'm really impressed with the footage you played with this video! I don't think I've ever seen ANY OF IT before!! Got a like and subscribed outa me!! Well done, whole video, with maps and many great close ups of the troops and your clear explanation of the confusion of battle make your work here wanna see more of your stuff!
Despite the declining phase of the German army and the approach of the end of the world which they were ultimately defending (götterdämmerung); it goes to show us the character of the troops and the men on the field, that nowadays any leader, whether in the West or East, can only wish for.
That's because it was a world war, if a similar situation happened today (WW3) the brave young men or teenagers of contesting armies would show similar courage. Very patriotic countries like Great Britain and Germany would see a huge surge in young men ready to defend their homeland at any cost.
@@eeferms3292 The first to die in every major war so far were always the best representatives of the nations - valiant fellows, those who have Race. Nowadays, there aren't such caliber of men, expect for here and there some naive fools/romantics, then largely mercenaries, (mostly adrenaline-junkies) and general slaves of countries forced to be in predetermined conflicts for all this transient goals of democracy, "humanitarianism", "equalities" - contrary to true warrior initation and hierarchized law of origins which gets "democratized"-atomized through acts of modern war that only enforce the will of third entity. All the rest who allegedly aspire to the strength & bravery through the "multicultural values" that make up their nations, are in fact wannabes who most of the time signal virtue and they won't get further from their basement in which they enjoy their abstract freedom the most. I'm afraid that's the image of the West today and its new generation; especially in Germany, UK, Sweden, etc. not to say America.
This is a great video, I have been studying WW2 for most of my adult life, (66 now!) this a battle I've not seen or heard of before, plenty of action shown & concise narrative, a new subscriber here👍
You should check out “Europa: the last battle” and “Treblinka: a Dumb Dumb Portrayal of Evil” for some truly top-notch historical WW2 content (with admittedly more political content, but nevertheless fascinating and very thought-provoking.)
what a hack you studied and not knowing about this battle which is mention in all military books and is subject of study in all usa-european military schools. unfortunately the presentation is not quite accurate; this so name presenter was very very bias. the Rumanians who participated in the battle and covered the German flanks unebbing the soviets to encircle from the both side the german army.
@@billbonanzza4957 "what a hack you studied and not knowing about this battle which is mention in all military books" It is *not* mentioned in all military books. _You haven't read all military books._ Neither have I, but I've read enough to know every one does not mention this battle. You're losing a much more important battle with civility. I suggest you learn how to express yourself without insulting others.
if you study it where are the woamns or childrens dig in murdering is now guilty to, why they run away if they 100 % nazis, why the soldiers die and they run away, in witch country they run van braun and others, you talk to them
The Tiger had the speed advantage in loading. The IS-2 shell was so big it required a separate powder charge put behind it, so the loader had to load two things to the Tiger loaders one.
This was impressive. Well narrated without blowing hot air to the Wheraboos or the Soviets. This really was an effective defensive tactical victory, even if it didn’t change the strategic balance. Also nice work matching the actual footage of appropriate units with the narration. So many other documentaries show random footage from operation Barbarossa in 1941 during a video about the Cherkassy pocket or something from 1944. It’s the little details that make this well made.
This tremendous battle was a master example of defensive movements confronting masses of enemy armor and troops. During the Cold War, especially in the 70's and 80's, NATO's academies studied in depth this formidable battle to extract valuable lessons from the German actions, as in those days NATO was expecting a massive invasion of West Germany from the Warsaw Pact forces.
Thank you for a very well put together presentation. Very informative, great footage (none repetative) and excellent naration. I'll be subscribing the minute I finish typing here!
My great grandfather was awarded a medal for protecting his comrades in a trench, a russian threw a grenade between their legs and him, being the bravest in the village that he came from, picked the grenade with his hands and threw it back. The grenade was so hot that his skin melted and he suffered severe burns in his palm. He was awarded the medal for courage and honor, along with some others the we still keep in the family. He walked back home months, on foot, from Russia to Romania along with his surviving friends. After the war, years later, when they were meeting every few months, eating and drinking, talking about the war period, them being a couple of big strong men from the country side, that lived a simple life, were crying and screaming, hugging each other remembering what they went through, people that they killed and people that died next to them along with the hard winters with no food they survived. My great grandmother that told be the story along with others is 95 years old, she said when they starded crying, they were heard from half way across the village. He dies 2-3 months before i was born, i am 28 years old and i have a huge respect for this man, even if i have never seen him.
@@Zapto01 the winters on the eastern front was brutal if you survived one you was awarded a medal. The was just another enemy. First winter they just had there normal summer coats at down to 100 below!
@@jerryrichards8172 as if winter only hits Germans. If you are not ready for winter - its your own mistake. Aswell as invading Russia with a criminal and sadistic goal to exterminate Russians and other nations.
At the time of this battle, on central and northern sectors of frontline, Soviet armies were preparing for one of the most successful operations of the war, operation “Bagration”. That operation brought end of existence of whole group Armies Center and inflicted have damage to Group Armies North. That was a victory. After Bagration was completed, the operation “Big waltz” took place. 57 000 german POW, including many generals of high command and high commanding officers were captured and marched on streets of Moscow . Batter in Romania was a screen smoke, to divert attention. Soviets pretended to attack and capture Ploeshti oilfields. Vermaht swallowed the “bait“ and didn’t have any doubts, until Red Army, push through endless swamps and forests, appeared in front of German defense lines and open fire. Check it out, it’s very interesting strategic operation.
Finally a good detailed view of this operation. I am from Iasi (Jassy) and did know that this battle happened, but never knew the details. You just earned yourself a new subscriber and a genuine human: Thank you for teaching me something new!
Yes, the 'one man teufel' that the narrator mentions every now and then was actually Lt.Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel who survived the war and died in 1978.
@@tarapita At first I thought "Wow,finally an excellent narrator!" Then I was wondering if it's a bot. Then I thought it sounds way too natural to be a bot. And then I start hearing |Aso One Man"...and "One Man toy fell"
Man kann nur den größten Respekt vor der Wehrmacht haben, die gleichzeitig gegen 3 kolossale Supermächte gekämpft hat. Diese Taktik war perfekt. 10 Panzern verloren gegen 400 !
was ist mit den verscharten kinder und frauen morde verjährt ned, gibts da bücher oder was hat krupp an gewinn bekommen und wie viele starben für nichts
find es eschade das viel nach 6 jahre frei kamen wette wen die kinder mörder freun mörder gewonne hätten wäre ich ned da schade das ne d so wie die deutsche alte den mörder ihres kinder erschoss ned die nazi mörder erschossen wurde aa sehr sehr schade, oder die sssr die länder frei gaben
yep Tiger, Tiger 2/Royal Tiger, and Panther were awesome machines. You can tell the Germans expected great things from the Panther, as they were somehow able to manufacture over 5,000 of them. But unfortunately even that was a drop in the bucket of tank production, Russians made 50,000 T-34's.
This is Gold ! Those are footages never seen before. Tigers vs IS-2 in Romania ? Never heard this before, but seen. As I said, pure gold for our history !
Insanely enjoyable and, at least for me, thought provoking video! I was born somewhat close to Târgul Frumos, în Suceava, and while I knew that both Nazi and Soviet forces passed through occupied that area, I never knew that such a significant battle, with high ranking officials and now iconic machines was fought so close to my home city. Also seeing clips from what I’m assuming is that battle is insane because that part of the country is not very remarkable, but yet a significant battle in WW2, that was later studied by NATO, took place there, very close to where I was born.
Thank you! My father was a Tank Commander or a M4 Sherman in Italy. His was powered by the famous Ford GAA V8 18 Litre Engine…..When he came home to New Zealand he would buy a brand top of the range Ford going at the time. I remember his Mk 2 Ford Zepher but my favourites were a 1966 Ford Falcon 500, 3.65 Litre Straight 6 Station Wagon and then he had basically the same colour and all but this one had the amazing 4.1 Litre engine!……. The Sherman tank was specifically designed to fit on Railway gear in the USA, UK and Europe, it was designed to be able to be lifted by cranes at these ports.. Watching this and thinking about Ukraine we just might have to give our Kiwi Pakeha and Warriors troops some action. Putin, Xi, Lukeshenko, Oban, Kim Jong Un, and the Tosser from Iran are itching for a fight. They are mad! Go Ukraine Love from the ANZACs
My grandfather fought in this battle. A.A. Artillery - 75 mm Vikers guns. In the morning of April 9, when the Russians attacked, they shot down 15 Russian planes out of 16. The 16th was shot down by a German Stuka. Because Vikers guns were very effective against tanks, his unit fought in the front line including against tanks. To be sure of success, they received a recommendation from the German command to shoot only when the tanks are close enough. Most of the units that fought, either German or Romanian, were units with experience on the front, and that mattered. He also participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, managing to escape before being surrounded.
In the past, I had the chance to talk to many Romanian veterans who fought on the Eastern Front. Two conclusions can be drawn from these discussions. The German army remained a formidable force until the end and did not collapse as the Russians and Westerners expected. The German soldier, perfectly disciplined with a physical and mental state, worked like a machine without feelings. The second aspect mentioned by these veterans is that although the Romanians were Germany’s main ally, the relations were not good due to the Germans’ arrogant attitude and the fact that the Romanians were often left without German support in almost all battles and were much less equipped than the Germans. All the veterans I spoke with pointed out that this aspect ultimately led to the loss of the war. My uncle participated in both Stalingrad and the Battle of Târgu Frumos, where the Romanians managed to hold the front despite being technically inferior and not supported at all by the Germans. As seen in the report, although the Romanians were more numerous and had to cover a larger front, they are not even mentioned. Shameful. Unfortunately, the Germans continued to deteriorate relations with the Romanians, and eventually, the inevitable happened on August 23, 1944. History is not quite as it is presented by various historical weasels.”
In reality it was less of Germans' attitude or conduct but more of the reality of Eastern Front that negatively impact the desire of Romanian to stay on Axis side. Throughout the Eastern campaign, German forces' logistics were overstretched and overburdened, just barely supplying its own troops. Most of the time German forces itself had little heavy equipment to spare, and despite the lack of effectiveness of Romanian's heavy guns and vehicles, Germans simply could not provide what they needed, sometimes not for even their own German troops. Once the Western and Southern Front opened up in 1943 more German supplies and equipment were diverting, leaving even less hope for Romanians, or any other Axis allies, to receive German support more than simple "friendly gesture" act. The fact Germany did send a number of valuable panzer tanks to Romania did show its effort to help, but like most things it was too little. Coup or not, Romanians weren't going to keep the massive Soviet forces out by August 1944 and had little choice but to switch sides.
Ummm, the Romanians certainly didn't hold the line😭 they failed, and couldn't even be trusted to hold a forward position so they were assigned to the flank, which they failed.
The point about German army not collapsing is completely innacurate. By the end of the war not only logistically they were finished but also the main core of their army consisted of young men drawn from the nazi youth who had zero battlefield experience. Young men barely above 20. In fact in famous battles like d day most of the German army was Nazi youth ill equipped and ill trained.Germany lost the vast majority of their best units against the Soviets. These were not losses that could be replenished and it clearly showed towards the end of the ear. The part about Germans not liking Romanians probably true though. Hitler hated slavs in general.
Great footage from a almost unknown battle. Never saw the most of the Wochenschau content ! Were do you find it ? Congrats. Not to forget: For us Germans the original voice over would be interesting…
I was born in Tg Frumos, I knew about that battle, some of the images look like from the area, If not, at least the geographic landscape matches, so the author did a good job ilustrating the story
why if they agro thy know how to figth have they a radio and comunicate in the tanks or they have flags lol why the france loos and engalnd run away think they are warriors to lol how mutch countrys help 3 reich
win as many battles as you like it makes no difference. Its a war of production a war off the factory's. even Hitler was gobsmacked that the Soviets could produce so much armour in such a short time.
Soviet leadership viewed men & materials as expendable, especially since US & Britidh Lend Lease. 75% of doviet trucks where lend lease Studabaker 2.5 tons. So they didn't focus on trucks, just tanks. Weldbon a few handrails & 16 infantry can ride (dangerously exposed & thrown off yo get run over by following tank) into battle - if they get blown off, they should have jumped off sooner. When you are the property of the state, your f**ked
I watch a german tiger commander peak on t34s he said we destroyed the by the dozens but dozens more would come over the hill. They werent better just more of them. There was nothing to fear at all from shermans he said: we could hit them way before they hit us. Terrible thing how they burned up he said terrible to see.
"Târgul Frumos" means "beautiful market" in Romanian language. 6:45 - "Ruginoasa" means "rusty" (as of oxidized iron) + + + Days after Operation Bagration started on June 22 , 1944, in Belarus, it became a serious problem for the Germans. They moved from Romania almost all armored units and all of their most elite divisions. From that moment, the Romanian Army remained practically alone on the battlefield, yet it held the Red Army at bay for almost two months, until a coup d'état overthrew the Romanian leadership on August 23, 1944. (There were still many German AA units and Luftwaffe fighters deep in the rear, protecting Ploesti and Bucharest, that is why I added "on the battlefield" after "alone".)
@@vladdumitrica849 - It seems that you are right. There are many Romanian equivalents for "market", synonyms: piaţă, târg, cerere, obor, debuşeu, iarmaroc.
The Wehrmacht's armored vehicles were very deadly n effective. The Allies could only defeat the Germans thanks to their endless resources. Best regards from Poland.
Stop telling stupid stories. German tanks are incredibly overrated, and producing Tigers and Panthers was the final nail in the Germans' coffin. Very often they caused more problems than they had advantages. First of all, they broke down a lot (especially Panthers), required a lot of attention, spare parts, burned an ocean of fuel (at a time when the Germans were constantly short of it), were very expensive, their production took too long, they were too heavy (they destroyed bridges and roads), and towing a damaged Tiger from the battlefield was a nightmare and rarely ever succeeded. People like you have no idea that the most common enemy of a tank was... infantry, bunkers, fortified positions. Only about 15-20% of tank combat was against other tanks. That's why it made much more sense to produce lighter, more reliable tanks than heavy ones - at a time when you have too little steel, rubber, fuel, people...
@@lostinspace013 Yeah, that is why you hear similar stories with allied tanks where one tank took out multiple german heavy tanks. Oh wait, there are no such stories. German tanks were very good compared to the allied ones. Yes, they had problems and were rushed out the development line but they delivered on the battlefield. There is a reason why allied tactics involved either hit and run, total bombardment or overwhelming with troops.
@@lostinspace013 A lot of parroted myths... Both the Tiger and Panther (by 1944) were reliable by WW2 standards. All tanks require a lot of attention and spare parts. Even the Tiger 1 used LESS fuel than ANY Sherman variant. Only the diesel engined Shermans came close. The Panther cost only 10-15% more than a Panzer IV, despite being twice the tank, and was easier to mass-produce and maintain. And the Tiger only twice as much as a Panther, not any different than any other heavy tank from any other nation.
at 25:50 i believe yu have footage of a german artillery piece getting hit , 1st looks like a recoil but longer look shows more ,iether incoming explo or the round blew up being fired, all in all MUCHO footage iv never seen and at 70 iv seen ALOT ! GREAT STUFF
Very good documentary . This was one battle l was unaware of so thanks for enlightening me . Also some of the footage l've not seen before . Well done. l have subscribed .
I'm glad the Germans and Japanese are on the allies side in the modern world as they were truly terrible enemies to have! Such efficiency, discipline and engineering prowess was a real brick wall.
Incorrect. The allies is the side that has Russia, China, Belarus who took the most civilian losses. Germany and Japan side is the AXIS. UK only gets in Sept 1939, US Dec 1941 so they don't count for determining who is Axis and who is Allies.
@@beadsman13 Vietnam yes, but apart from that the US volunteered to leave - if the US chose to stay there's nothing the taliban could've done apart from killing a few soldiers here and there. The only reason they were able to do anything in the first place was, because the US actually tried to avoid causing harm to civillians - just gaining the land would've been a walk in the park for them.
One very interesting thing that many people don't know. Apart from the well-known characteristics of Rusian and German tanks there was one important detail. Steel plates used to make Russian tanks were generally of much lower quality compared to the German tanks. This means that during a battle after taking 2-3 non-penetration hits metal of the Russian tanks was losing its durability and was much more prone to deformations and cracks. Which meant that the next hit almost certainly was fatal and the structure of the metal couldn't resist. On the opposite the quality German steel on german tanks helped them withstand many non penetration hits in a row without a problem. I think there is a documented case where a German tank had sustained over 100 hits in its frontal plate and survived. And l know this from Russian historians who investigated this matter.
@@eradicatethem6115 I don't know about Kolobanov, I didn't found anything about how many hits he took, only tanks destroyed. And at the time he was against PzII and PzIII, which didn't have enough penetrating power against KV1 As I said Russian historians claim this, not me. Russian tanks cracked open after taking just a few hits. Because they were made from poor quality steel One of the reasons perhaps Soviet tankers liked and prefered some of the tanks supplied by the Allies. Like the Churchill.
@@GeorgiJorov-pf5ge The Panzer that you're talking about which survived over 100 hits was literally a Tiger I which at the time (1943) was almost impenetrable anyway, not because the German armor had better quality than the russians, but simply because the Tiger had very *THICK* armor plates at the time (100mm front and 80mm side) which was storng enough to resist most russian cannons in 1943 wnyway. For the same reason the Russian prefered the Churchill over the T34, because the Churchill tank also had very thick armor similar to the german Tiger. So this has nothing to do with superior or inferior quality of the armor, rather it's just the effective thickness and strength of the armor. Sloped armor of the T34, Panther and Tiger II also helped to increase the effective armor strenght, because a sloped armor plate has more effective resistance compared to a vertical (flat) armor plate of the same thickness. By the way, sometimes german Panzers also suffered cracked armor plates, for example when it was hit by a big gun (such as 122mm from the IS2 or 152mm gun from the ISU152)
Jesus Christ I’ve heard so many takes on WW2 tanks in Europe at this point I kinda stopped caring and it really doesn’t matter. Good job history guys this is where an interested person ends up
To understand and appreciate this is to know just how immense these fronts were...spanning time zones, several regions and Countries. This particular event especially because of the famous Units involved. This particular engagement was the very last time it fought as a fully manned Division. After this battle GD was fragmented and never fought as an intact unit again.
@@haddad8409 the actual account of the events is what is interesting, not the sizing up of different tanks over each other a subject none of these history guys can ever agree on (or get me to care about ever again)
Yes youre right about their speed over terrain when they had to really get going they certainly could! Their only drawback was that huge appetite for fuel, it seems the germans always had to have a gas truck nearby to feed these things! That and the fact that the transmission was really only rated for 45 tons, yet they managed somehow to get it to work in the 56 ton tiger, but constant and hard use of them usually meant their transmissions and final drives broke down under hard field use. Then it was a nightmare to replace the tranny under field conditions!
@@TTTT-oc4eb Love to learn how you found that out! If you take a heavy car and a light car and run them both the heavy car always burns more fuel since it takes more to re establish inertia once youve braked the vehicle; so how does a 30 ton Sherman burn MORE FUEL than the 56 ton Tiger?? And did you know that in the north african desert there were Shermans with hot vapor carburetors that doubled their range? Please advise how you came to find out how fuel efficient Tigers really were??
@@gkauto1959 The Tiger had a fuel tank containing 548 liters of fuel and a max range of 195 kilometers under optimal conditions. A late war M4A3 had a fuel tank containing 630 liters of fuel and a max range of 160 kilometers. A small car with a poor power to weight ratio may use as much, or even more fuel, than a heavier car with a good power to weight ratio due to less stress on the engine. The Tiger 1 had a better power to weight ratio than almost any Sherman variant. In addition it had a much more advanced transmission and drivetrain.
@@TTTT-oc4eb OK! So that explains why so many of them broke down on the battlefield due to their running gear breaking, specifically the transmission going out and winding up getting parked. That advanced transmission is a German trait that is still with us today, who in their right mind would buy an Audi or Mercedes with all their complexity and tendency for expensive repairs? And your comparison with a small car with poor power to weight ratio does not hold water in the real world, most of the small cars on the road today are Japanese vehicles, and they all move along very well and are quite reliable as well besides being lighter than say a Camaro with a V8. They build lighter vehicles that run better than the competition and even outlast them as well, typically going over 200k. Lastly the average V8 has 8 cylinders to feed, so with equal power to weight ratios for both vehicles (what engineer would set up a small car with a poor power to weight ratio? It would not sell or get good mileage) the 4 cylinder vehicle will always consume less.
Excellent study of this battle. Breaking it down and analyzing each part of all participants, weaknesses,strengths,manuvering, counter attacks. the skilled military professionalism, tactics of the great general Manteuffel. 🫡 RESPECT!
The IS-2 were used as tank destroyers, usually deployed in groups of at least 3, set up in ambush positions. Vulnerable on open ground due to their slow speeds and low rate of fire.
Main task for IS-2 always was destroying enemy fortified positions, and its 122mm main gun with very powerful HE rounds was excellent tool. Slow reloading speed was easily compensated by using those tanks in big formations. Real war is not 1vs1 fights, lol.
Great content and the B-roll footage is nice. But I would suggest perhaps some kind of animated overhead map to showcase locations and pushes. It's a bit confusing to keep up with from where and what direction all the action is taking place during this battle.
I'm loving your channel! The narration is good and I'm seeing some of this footage for the first time with very little repeating within the video. Sub-SCRIBED!
From what I read is that the Tiger 2's gun was incredible accurate (in combat it allegedly had a to hit rate of nearly 100% on a range of 1.000 meters) and it could kill a T34 at a range of 3.000 meters. German guns were at that time extremly powerful (one of the most deadly tanks was in fact the Stug 3) Too bad that those tanks ate so many ressources in production., tiger 2's were massive. I have seen pictures were the Us Army was struggling to actually transport captured Tiger 2's to the next collection point
@@0Turbox The KwK 36 was actually marginally more accurate than the KwK 42 and 43. Due to its lower velocity, it was also less affected by barrel wear - the barrel lasting three times as long as the KwK 42.
@@0Turbox Higher velocity doesn't mean everything. The KwK 43 was well known to be slightly less accurate than both the KwK 36 and 42. The British 17-pdr was also slightly less accurate than the US 76mm M1 gun, despite firng at considerably higher velocity.
If Hitler had allowed a strategic retreat in May 1944 from the Baltics and the Minsk Area-all the way back to the Vistula; do you think Army Group Center & North would have been able to contain the Soviet advance using tactics that were employed in this battle in Rumania in May 1944 ? If so, the Russians would not have entered Berlin in April 1945. One of the great If's had Hitler agreed to shortening the Eastern Front Line before the Soviets were able to launch Operation Bagration.
"In 1959, Hasso Von Manteuffel was charged for ordering a 19-year-old shot for desertion in 1944 and was sentenced for 18 months in prison but was released after 4 months. Hasso Von Manteuffel died on September 24th of 1978 in Tyrol, Austria."
4:17 Rare sighting of a British Valentine in Soviet service. Seems like many wartime images of KV and IS tanks show a lot of slack in their treads. Did they wear badly?
Did you make all ofnthisnfootage yourself? I mean, who or where is your film source?? Ive seen years and years of eastern front combat footage and ive seen none of what youve posted here. Wow, excellent work. Thank you.😁
It's so refreshing seeing ww2 film footage that is not the same old footage that every movie used since the 50s.
Thank you ❤
Well said . Amazing footage
right on and it was in line with the narration, correct for area and battle for the most part and not one singled destroyed Sherman from normandie.
why they dont show the children kz from krupp or how mutch make krupp and how mutch die for nothing
yeah 99% of the WWII stuff on YT is poor because they use the same old stock footage that has nothing whatsoever to do with the narrative.
@@Ssseexxxyyman Because thats another story. This is a story about a battle fought in 1944 not the story of the abuse of children in ww2 which would include krupp along with the Soviet factories and Japanese etc. Every nation abused children for the war to some degree. In addition "abuse" would be in todays terms looking back. Arguable at best.
Great footage. The famous Tiger commander who owned and ran a pharmacy in Germany post WW2.destroyed multiple IS 2 ‘s in one engagement. He was shot when caught by Russian infantry shot multiple times, even through the neck and survived went back into combat. Later on writing the book “ Tigers in the mud “
Carius never faced is2s. In narva hé fought against around twenty t34s and kv1s with 2 tigers
Yeah, but in his dreams 😁 There were no IS-2 in that battle.
@@Arnor2207 He destroyed an abandoned IS2 according to his own writing. But that's all i remember.
He took people's lives then after the war he helps save people's lives by selling medicinal drugs
@@Arnor2207 he did. It’s on record
Interesting footage, thanks. What a horror. Having been a Panzergrenadier myself for some years at german Bundeswehr, I feel blessed that I never had to go to war. I´m 55 now, hope it stays like that. Regards from Germany and stay safe everyone.
Yeah, it is incredible that in 2024 it looks like that the risk of conventional war in Central Europe is greater than it used to be during the height of the Cold War during the 1980's ....
There was a much "controlled" situation back then, presidents and high commands been less reckless and more rational.
Greetings from South America
Grossdeutschland was on paper the single strongest Panzergrenadier Division already in 1942 and it still grew larger until 1944.
After the action in Romania, several battlegroups/brigades/battalions were added and it became a Panzerkorps.
Von Manteuffel went on to commanded 5th Panzer-Armee in the Ardennes. He was the one that broke through in the South rushing for Bastogne and the Meuse.
You made a good point: although German tanks weren't beaten in this occasion, the grenadiers took heavy casualties. Tanks alone can't take or hold ground.
otto?
5 divisions
@@johnnyb2909 On paper ... Serious shortages of, well, everything. All in all probably equal to three fully equipped divisions. Also, at that point, you wouldn't find tier 1 (or even 2) replacements anywhere in Germany.
A distant uncle served with GD in late '44/early 45, he was just 18. First "combat experience" after training was him riding on the back of a StuG III through a forrest. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a field hospital having a stiff arm for the rest of his life. Given the blood toll GD usually paid, he got the lucky "home shot".
he wasn't killed on impact, he almost didn't make it to the hospital due to loss of blood, he almost lost his arm and he still made it back home to Aachen safely (that is across all of Germany). He won the war lottery three times.
@@ottovonbismarck2443 my grandfather commanded the Infanterie Regiment Großdeutschland, and he survived the war.
@@johnnyb2909 Which infantry regiment ?
Manteuffel was one of the finest, most capable and intelligent leaders the German war machine produced in W W II - which is saying something in light of the overall high quality leadership that the Wehrmacht and S S were renowned for. He was one of the very, very few commanders whom Hitler would actually listen to and accept criticism from although, fortunately, Hitler seldom took his advice. A fine video, very well done mate. Cheers!
@@kw19193 didn’t Germany lose the war?
@@pj1953a Indeed they did, thankfully. However, had Hitler allowed his commanders, like Manteuffel, more leeway to operate as to what each operation dictated the war would have lasted much longer and at greater cost to the Soviets and western allies. Cheers!
@@pj1953aIf Mike Tyson fought against 6 professional boxers and lost, what would that mean?
Thank god we dont speak German eh
@@apatheticbystanders Ja, in der tat. Prost!
What most people don't realize, is that even after Berlin fell and the Reich was split completely in half between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union the German military still had 2 million men under arms across the areas of Europe still under their control, along with their armor and tanks. The elite divisions in Eastern Austria around Vienna and Western Czechoslavakia protecting Prague were at nearly full strength and still had hundreds of Panther and Tiger 1 and II tanks with supporting Stug III assault guns and various other AFV's. Between them they had a million men alone in these two regions. In Norway there were 400,000 troops, 185,000 in Northern Italy, 200,000 in the Courland pocket, and various other holdouts. The German army had been decisively beaten, but where it was still able to concentrate these forces it was still capable of winning battles and indeed it did even in late April 1945, most notably against the Soviets in Czechoslovakia at the Battle of Bautzen which inflicted severe damage on attacking Polish and Soviet troops and armor advancing on Prague.
Yep correct. The quality of the German soldier was such that it did indeed take the combined might of the Western and Eastern world to match and even still never actually did. This was achieved by a Germany that wasn't even prepared for war unlike the allies and especially the Soviets.
@@hoyschelsilversteinberg4521 but they hadnt fuel and really low ammo. they were already beaten, and by themselves. Allowing hitler to diktat the strategies was the sponsor of their ultimate failure
@@ambulanza That is actually incorrect. It was thanks to Hitler that they got as far as Stalingrad.
Hitler was responsible for a large portion of the major successes and without his genius would have succumbed to Poland given the original idea the generals had when attacking Poland. The generals wanted to B line it straight to Danzig which could have cost the Germans dearly had they gotten bottle necked at any point. Hitler instead created two huge pincer movements to capture the Polish army and crushed them.
Same with Norway, sniffing out the potential for a catastrophe if the English were to take Norway in an attempt to cut off German iron ore from Sweden. Hitler pre-empted the British and secured Norway just as the British arrived. He also masterminded the annihilation of France's enormous and superior army. An army that took on Europe for 20 years in Napoleon's era and were unbeatable for 4 years in WW1 he had absolutely destroyed thanks to his strategy in just 3 days and that was at a fraction of the death caused within the first hour of Passchendaele.
Operation Barbarossa was another genius play as Hitler confirmed the worst, that the Soviet Union was poised to invade Europe with a gigantic army and saved Europe from Soviet rape/murder for a few years at least. What Germany achieved with so little could never be replicated in the modern era (and hasn't been, look at the catastrophe in Ukraine right now after 10 years of no progress). I don't know how many lifetimes you'd need to match the success of Hitler let alone surpass it but I'm sure it would have to be in the many billions of attempts without assurances of ever coming close even with knowing everything we know today.
True but they didn't have the resources to do much apart from that simply put they were out of fuel
@@peterrobbins2862 That's why the Baku Oil fields was a strategic objective. The disaster at Stalingrad basically ruined that objective and started the retreat from that goal.
Great video, 95% of that footage I had never seen before. When you were talking about IS-2's or Pz. 4's that's what was on the screen at that time, which is more than I can say for the other videos out there. Great explanations and break downs as well.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Atrocious amount of AI shit being made
@@Rusty_Gold85 Yes, I agree. And they all mispronounce everything. You can tell this guy put some time and effort into it.
Too bad the introduction was bad. First, it was not 'Yosif Stalin the IS-2'. The tank was 85mm IS-1 and IS-2 came later on, while T-34/85 arrived between them. Also, Soviets had known already that 85 was not enough; from KV-85 and ballistic tests. Still, it was more than adequate against most German tanks
So of that is digitally aged footage from a Soviet movie 'Liberation 1'
One overlooked aspect of the Tigers was that the crews were handpicked and the best available in the Wehrmacht
So were those in the IS-tanks. At least what the Soviets had to offer.
The bigger difference is that the tools in the German tanks were much advanced. It's not only about armor thickness and gun.
That is one of Germany's downfalls however. Compared to Germany's counterparts in WWII, England, US and Sov all used their tank and pilot aces for training new recruits and strategizing, whereas Germany used them on the battlefield to motivate troops around them. But as a consequence, lost many of their experienced tank and pilot aces.
@@lennykump8396they weren't advanced they just brought previously established concepts into a single vehicle.
@@DarkElfLover What does that even mean?
Mr. FB, I was born way back in 1952, only 7 years after the war ended. I've been watching actual WW2 footage almost all of my life. I'e seen a LOT of it, and some of it a LOT of times. Which is why I'm really impressed with the footage you played with this video! I don't think I've ever seen ANY OF IT before!! Got a like and subscribed outa me!! Well done, whole video, with maps and many great close ups of the troops and your clear explanation of the confusion of battle make your work here wanna see more of your stuff!
Despite the declining phase of the German army and the approach of the end of the world which they were ultimately defending
(götterdämmerung); it goes to show us the character of the troops and the men on the field, that nowadays any leader, whether in the West or East, can only wish for.
Only Putin stands close ironically
That's because it was a world war, if a similar situation happened today (WW3) the brave young men or teenagers of contesting armies would show similar courage. Very patriotic countries like Great Britain and Germany would see a huge surge in young men ready to defend their homeland at any cost.
@@eeferms3292
The first to die in every major war so far were always the best representatives of the nations - valiant fellows, those who have Race.
Nowadays, there aren't such caliber of men, expect for here and there some naive fools/romantics, then largely mercenaries, (mostly adrenaline-junkies) and general slaves of countries forced to be in predetermined conflicts for all this transient goals of democracy, "humanitarianism", "equalities" - contrary to true warrior initation and hierarchized law of origins which gets "democratized"-atomized through acts of modern war that only enforce the will of third entity.
All the rest who allegedly aspire to the strength & bravery through the "multicultural values" that make up their nations, are in fact wannabes who most of the time signal virtue and they won't get further from their basement in which they enjoy their abstract freedom the most.
I'm afraid that's the image of the West today and its new generation; especially in Germany, UK, Sweden, etc. not to say America.
@@eeferms3292 That is already questionable, their fight has diminished and is diminishing.
Agree godlessness has taken over in those countries @@Reinhard_Erlik
This is a great video, I have been studying WW2 for most of my adult life, (66 now!) this a battle I've not seen or heard of before, plenty of action shown & concise narrative, a new subscriber here👍
You should check out “Europa: the last battle” and “Treblinka: a Dumb Dumb Portrayal of Evil” for some truly top-notch historical WW2 content (with admittedly more political content, but nevertheless fascinating and very thought-provoking.)
what a hack you studied and not knowing about this battle which is mention in all military books and is subject of study in all usa-european military schools. unfortunately the presentation is not quite accurate; this so name presenter was very very bias. the Rumanians who participated in the battle and covered the German flanks unebbing the soviets to encircle from the both side the german army.
@@billbonanzza4957 "what a hack you studied and not knowing about this battle which is mention in all military books"
It is *not* mentioned in all military books. _You haven't read all military books._ Neither have I, but I've read enough to know every one does not mention this battle. You're losing a much more important battle with civility. I suggest you learn how to express yourself without insulting others.
if you study it where are the woamns or childrens dig in murdering is now guilty to, why they run away if they 100 % nazis, why the soldiers die and they run away, in witch country they run van braun and others, you talk to them
how the nazis loos they citys never understand this if they have bunkers and dots and other stuff
The Tiger had the speed advantage in loading. The IS-2 shell was so big it required a separate powder charge put behind it, so the loader had to load two things to the Tiger loaders one.
That and training..
also the 122mm gun from the IS-2 was not very accurate, the same thing cant be said from the Tiger's gun
This was impressive. Well narrated without blowing hot air to the Wheraboos or the Soviets. This really was an effective defensive tactical victory, even if it didn’t change the strategic balance. Also nice work matching the actual footage of appropriate units with the narration. So many other documentaries show random footage from operation Barbarossa in 1941 during a video about the Cherkassy pocket or something from 1944. It’s the little details that make this well made.
It is comically bad. Is-2 weighting 57 tonns - how about no. Also tank casualties of 250 to handful.
This tremendous battle was a master example of defensive movements confronting masses of enemy armor and troops. During the Cold War, especially in the 70's and 80's, NATO's academies studied in depth this formidable battle to extract valuable lessons from the German actions, as in those days NATO was expecting a massive invasion of West Germany from the Warsaw Pact forces.
Whereaboos? No idea...where do you think the boos are? 🤔
Agreed. You did a superior job of editing the images to the content of the narration.
"It was an outstanding victory for the germans, but the battle was far from over" - story of their lives
Thank you for a very well put together presentation. Very informative, great footage (none repetative) and excellent naration. I'll be subscribing the minute I finish typing here!
Thank you 👍
@@FactBytes I look very much forward to watching more of the same! Thank you 👍
My great grandfather was awarded a medal for protecting his comrades in a trench, a russian threw a grenade between their legs and him, being the bravest in the village that he came from, picked the grenade with his hands and threw it back. The grenade was so hot that his skin melted and he suffered severe burns in his palm. He was awarded the medal for courage and honor, along with some others the we still keep in the family. He walked back home months, on foot, from Russia to Romania along with his surviving friends.
After the war, years later, when they were meeting every few months, eating and drinking, talking about the war period, them being a couple of big strong men from the country side, that lived a simple life, were crying and screaming, hugging each other remembering what they went through, people that they killed and people that died next to them along with the hard winters with no food they survived.
My great grandmother that told be the story along with others is 95 years old, she said when they starded crying, they were heard from half way across the village. He dies 2-3 months before i was born, i am 28 years old and i have a huge respect for this man, even if i have never seen him.
@@Zapto01 the winters on the eastern front was brutal if you survived one you was awarded a medal.
The was just another enemy.
First winter they just had there normal summer coats at down to 100 below!
@@jerryrichards8172 as if winter only hits Germans. If you are not ready for winter - its your own mistake. Aswell as invading Russia with a criminal and sadistic goal to exterminate Russians and other nations.
so you;re a nazi great grand son, eh?
War is hell
The misery that has gone down on this planet is beyond comprehension.
Absolutely true
The problem is......we still haven't learned from it.
The name of this misery - humanity.
Awesome video, thank you! Also great footage bunch of stuff I haven’t seen before
At the time of this battle, on central and northern sectors of frontline, Soviet armies were preparing for one of the most successful operations of the war, operation “Bagration”. That operation brought end of existence of whole group Armies Center and inflicted have damage to Group Armies North. That was a victory. After Bagration was completed, the operation “Big waltz” took place. 57 000 german POW, including many generals of high command and high commanding officers were captured and marched on streets of Moscow . Batter in Romania was a screen smoke, to divert attention. Soviets pretended to attack and capture Ploeshti oilfields. Vermaht swallowed the “bait“ and didn’t have any doubts, until Red Army, push through endless swamps and forests, appeared in front of German defense lines and open fire. Check it out, it’s very interesting strategic operation.
Finally a good detailed view of this operation. I am from Iasi (Jassy) and did know that this battle happened, but never knew the details. You just earned yourself a new subscriber and a genuine human: Thank you for teaching me something new!
Cool, thanks
Dude, fantastic editing. The images match the narration. Way better then most.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My great grandfather fought in this battle as a Panzergrenadier under Manteuffel. Always very interesting hearing new things
Yes, the 'one man teufel' that the narrator mentions every now and then was actually Lt.Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel who survived the war and died in 1978.
Wow, you put alot of fresh combat footage here. Excellent work well done.
Thanks for the visit
thanks for your hard work and dedication😊
😊
Excellent footage that I've never before seen from WWII of a battle that I've never heard of either.
Thanks, a really informative video.
You're welcome!
A good video. Well narrated. Nicely done.
Glad you liked it!
What narration? Robot that's counting one Manteuffel, two Manteuffel? :D
@@tarapita Not sure but perhaps you're right. If so, my mistake.
@@tarapita At first I thought "Wow,finally an excellent narrator!" Then I was wondering if it's a bot. Then I thought it sounds way too natural to be a bot. And then I start hearing |Aso One Man"...and "One Man toy fell"
@@tarapita i think the narrator is AI
Man kann nur den größten Respekt vor der Wehrmacht haben, die gleichzeitig gegen 3 kolossale Supermächte gekämpft hat. Diese Taktik war perfekt. 10 Panzern verloren gegen 400 !
Can't agree more ❤
was ist mit den verscharten kinder und frauen morde verjährt ned, gibts da bücher oder was hat krupp an gewinn bekommen und wie viele starben für nichts
find es eschade das viel nach 6 jahre frei kamen wette wen die kinder mörder freun mörder gewonne hätten wäre ich ned da schade das ne d so wie die deutsche alte den mörder ihres kinder erschoss ned die nazi mörder erschossen wurde aa sehr sehr schade, oder die sssr die länder frei gaben
hat sich ausgezahlt für die de fraun wenn aj viel männer tot waren wer hat sie gefickt super sache für das volk hat sich ausgezahlt ww1 ww2
yep Tiger, Tiger 2/Royal Tiger, and Panther were awesome machines. You can tell the Germans expected great things from the Panther, as they were somehow able to manufacture over 5,000 of them. But unfortunately even that was a drop in the bucket of tank production, Russians made 50,000 T-34's.
Great breakdown. Thank you for an awesome video.
Thanks for your hard work! Subbed for the real voiceover not AI.
Cheers from Canada
This is AI though 😅
This is Gold ! Those are footages never seen before. Tigers vs IS-2 in Romania ? Never heard this before, but seen. As I said, pure gold for our history !
Awesome video you rock be safe out there big fan of tanks
Thanks 👍
@@FactBytes your very welcome have awesome day be safe out there 👍😎👍
Von Manteuffel, Hermann Balck, Hans Valentin Hube en Walther Model the best german eastfront commanders.
Marshall Erich von Manstein says hello ...............
It is in English but their names are German!!!
Manstein was the top dog 1943-1944
@@theplayerofus319Von Manstein.
11e leger 1942.
Legergroep Armygroep Don 1943.
Legergroep Armygroep South 1943-44.
What about Rommel?
First! Thanks for video. Best wishes. Greetings from Czech republic! Jaroslav.
Thanks for the visit.
This was very well researched and written
Insanely enjoyable and, at least for me, thought provoking video! I was born somewhat close to Târgul Frumos, în Suceava, and while I knew that both Nazi and Soviet forces passed through occupied that area, I never knew that such a significant battle, with high ranking officials and now iconic machines was fought so close to my home city. Also seeing clips from what I’m assuming is that battle is insane because that part of the country is not very remarkable, but yet a significant battle in WW2, that was later studied by NATO, took place there, very close to where I was born.
Thank you! My father was a Tank Commander or a M4 Sherman in Italy. His was powered by the famous Ford GAA V8 18 Litre Engine…..When he came home to New Zealand he would buy a brand top of the range Ford going at the time. I remember his Mk 2 Ford Zepher but my favourites were a 1966 Ford Falcon 500, 3.65 Litre Straight 6 Station Wagon and then he had basically the same colour and all but this one had the amazing 4.1 Litre engine!…….
The Sherman tank was specifically designed to fit on Railway gear in the USA, UK and Europe, it was designed to be able to be lifted by cranes at these ports..
Watching this and thinking about Ukraine we just might have to give our Kiwi Pakeha and Warriors troops some action.
Putin, Xi, Lukeshenko, Oban, Kim Jong Un, and the Tosser from Iran are itching for a fight. They are mad!
Go Ukraine
Love from the ANZACs
My grandfather fought in this battle.
A.A. Artillery - 75 mm Vikers guns. In the morning of April 9, when the Russians attacked, they shot down 15 Russian planes out of 16. The 16th was shot down by a German Stuka.
Because Vikers guns were very effective against tanks, his unit fought in the front line including against tanks. To be sure of success, they received a recommendation from the German command to shoot only when the tanks are close enough. Most of the units that fought, either German or Romanian, were units with experience on the front, and that mattered. He also participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, managing to escape before being surrounded.
Последнее предложение полностью испортило героическую биографию вашего дедушки
Lots of footage that I haven't seen before. Awesome! Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
Great footage. The famous Tiger commander who owned and ran a pharmacy in Germany post WW2.destroyed multiple IS 2 ‘s
Otto Carius.
In the past, I had the chance to talk to many Romanian veterans who fought on the Eastern Front. Two conclusions can be drawn from these discussions. The German army remained a formidable force until the end and did not collapse as the Russians and Westerners expected. The German soldier, perfectly disciplined with a physical and mental state, worked like a machine without feelings. The second aspect mentioned by these veterans is that although the Romanians were Germany’s main ally, the relations were not good due to the Germans’ arrogant attitude and the fact that the Romanians were often left without German support in almost all battles and were much less equipped than the Germans. All the veterans I spoke with pointed out that this aspect ultimately led to the loss of the war. My uncle participated in both Stalingrad and the Battle of Târgu Frumos, where the Romanians managed to hold the front despite being technically inferior and not supported at all by the Germans. As seen in the report, although the Romanians were more numerous and had to cover a larger front, they are not even mentioned. Shameful. Unfortunately, the Germans continued to deteriorate relations with the Romanians, and eventually, the inevitable happened on August 23, 1944. History is not quite as it is presented by various historical weasels.”
In reality it was less of Germans' attitude or conduct but more of the reality of Eastern Front that negatively impact the desire of Romanian to stay on Axis side. Throughout the Eastern campaign, German forces' logistics were overstretched and overburdened, just barely supplying its own troops. Most of the time German forces itself had little heavy equipment to spare, and despite the lack of effectiveness of Romanian's heavy guns and vehicles, Germans simply could not provide what they needed, sometimes not for even their own German troops. Once the Western and Southern Front opened up in 1943 more German supplies and equipment were diverting, leaving even less hope for Romanians, or any other Axis allies, to receive German support more than simple "friendly gesture" act.
The fact Germany did send a number of valuable panzer tanks to Romania did show its effort to help, but like most things it was too little. Coup or not, Romanians weren't going to keep the massive Soviet forces out by August 1944 and had little choice but to switch sides.
Thanks.
Yes, this was very sad
Ummm, the Romanians certainly didn't hold the line😭 they failed, and couldn't even be trusted to hold a forward position so they were assigned to the flank, which they failed.
The point about German army not collapsing is completely innacurate. By the end of the war not only logistically they were finished but also the main core of their army consisted of young men drawn from the nazi youth who had zero battlefield experience. Young men barely above 20. In fact in famous battles like d day most of the German army was Nazi youth ill equipped and ill trained.Germany lost the vast majority of their best units against the Soviets. These were not losses that could be replenished and it clearly showed towards the end of the ear.
The part about Germans not liking Romanians probably true though. Hitler hated slavs in general.
@@GothPaokiRomanians are NOT slavic people. They are a mix of Romans and local Dacians. Romanian is a latin language, like French
Great footage from a almost unknown battle. Never saw the most of the Wochenschau content ! Were do you find it ? Congrats. Not to forget: For us Germans the original voice over would be interesting…
The author just said this battle is a NATO manual case, taught to all officers for how to withstand a Soviet offensive.
I was born in Tg Frumos, I knew about that battle, some of the images look like from the area, If not, at least the geographic landscape matches, so the author did a good job ilustrating the story
Also I recognozed the hills numbered in the map, and yes, from the top you can see in some direcțions even 10-15km away.
Exactly one year to the total German surrender May 7, 1945, two whole years and three months after the surrender at Stalingrad. Hard to fathom.
War is hellish and wasteful. But the soldiers of all sides bravery must be remembered.
They were Primitive Humans back then......not so Brave just Stupid really.
They were all human and to imagine being in their situation is almost impossible.
Never tired heard brilliant tactical from German side.
Fascinating as usual
why if they agro thy know how to figth have they a radio and comunicate in the tanks or they have flags lol
why the france loos and engalnd run away think they are warriors to lol
how mutch countrys help 3 reich
@@Ssseexxxyyman
Fighting spirit and discipline.
Great and well done presentation. Thank you very much.
You are welcome!
57 ton IS-2, man that is such a heavy tank, the crew must weigh 3 tonnes each! The IS-2 is 46 tonnes btw.
Tigers reached 57 tons, the Stalins were not as heavy.
Excellent footage and a battle I hadn't heard of very good. I'm going to subscribe
Much appreciated!
Well done on a mostly unknown Battle in wwtwo
Thanks Sir
Great Excellent reporting ❤
Thanks and welcome
Losing hundreds of tanks cant be a small battle.
The Soviets lost about 100000 tanks during WW2. Procentualy, losing 300 tanks here was like 0.03%, so nothing worth mentioning.
win as many battles as you like it makes no difference. Its a war of production a war off the factory's. even Hitler was gobsmacked that the Soviets could produce so much armour in such a short time.
Soviet leadership viewed men & materials as expendable, especially since US & Britidh Lend Lease. 75% of doviet trucks where lend lease Studabaker 2.5 tons. So they didn't focus on trucks, just tanks. Weldbon a few handrails & 16 infantry can ride (dangerously exposed & thrown off yo get run over by following tank) into battle - if they get blown off, they should have jumped off sooner. When you are the property of the state, your f**ked
I watch a german tiger commander peak on t34s he said we destroyed the by the dozens but dozens more would come over the hill. They werent better just more of them. There was nothing to fear at all from shermans he said: we could hit them way before they hit us. Terrible thing how they burned up he said terrible to see.
@@peterbaker8443 as Stalin said quantity has a quality all of its own.
My Grandfather fought in that battle.
Yo which side?
@@izwanwan3217well.dose it matter for you?
So did my Granny
What Division.?
@@scotttyson7970 Großdeutschland.
The is2 did not weigh 57 tons not even the is3 weighs that much, perhaps you got mixed up with the tiger 1s weight which was around 57 tones
IS 2 weighed about 45 tons, maybe a couple more - about as much as the "medium" tank Panther.
@@davidtorre7370 51 short Tons (US) tiger 1 60 short tons tiger E 63 short tons
@@simondubois3165 Another weird unit used by USA. They will do anything to not use the metric system lol.
@@WigglyWingsmetric is Communist😂😂😂
@@crhu319 Ahh yes, everything is communist except USA.
A well rounded and informative documentary ,condensing three days fighting into 26min!
"Târgul Frumos" means "beautiful market" in Romanian language.
6:45 - "Ruginoasa" means "rusty" (as of oxidized iron)
+ + +
Days after Operation Bagration started on June 22 , 1944, in Belarus, it became a serious problem for the Germans. They moved from Romania almost all armored units and all of their most elite divisions. From that moment, the Romanian Army remained practically alone on the battlefield, yet it held the Red Army at bay for almost two months, until a coup d'état overthrew the Romanian leadership on August 23, 1944. (There were still many German AA units and Luftwaffe fighters deep in the rear, protecting Ploesti and Bucharest, that is why I added "on the battlefield" after "alone".)
I thougt it means "fruit market" :)
@@konradhenrykowicz1859 - Trust me, Romanian is my native language.
Maybe fairground, not market
@@vladdumitrica849 - It seems that you are right.
There are many Romanian equivalents for "market", synonyms: piaţă, târg, cerere, obor, debuşeu, iarmaroc.
Very well documented video! Well done and greetings from Romania
The Wehrmacht's armored vehicles were very deadly n effective. The Allies could only defeat the Germans thanks to their endless resources. Best regards from Poland.
Stop telling stupid stories. German tanks are incredibly overrated, and producing Tigers and Panthers was the final nail in the Germans' coffin. Very often they caused more problems than they had advantages. First of all, they broke down a lot (especially Panthers), required a lot of attention, spare parts, burned an ocean of fuel (at a time when the Germans were constantly short of it), were very expensive, their production took too long, they were too heavy (they destroyed bridges and roads), and towing a damaged Tiger from the battlefield was a nightmare and rarely ever succeeded. People like you have no idea that the most common enemy of a tank was... infantry, bunkers, fortified positions. Only about 15-20% of tank combat was against other tanks. That's why it made much more sense to produce lighter, more reliable tanks than heavy ones - at a time when you have too little steel, rubber, fuel, people...
The terrorists Nazis lost the war. The deserve no credit for anything.
@@lostinspace013 Yeah, that is why you hear similar stories with allied tanks where one tank took out multiple german heavy tanks. Oh wait, there are no such stories. German tanks were very good compared to the allied ones. Yes, they had problems and were rushed out the development line but they delivered on the battlefield. There is a reason why allied tactics involved either hit and run, total bombardment or overwhelming with troops.
@@lyvekis8824- who won the war?
@@lostinspace013 A lot of parroted myths...
Both the Tiger and Panther (by 1944) were reliable by WW2 standards.
All tanks require a lot of attention and spare parts.
Even the Tiger 1 used LESS fuel than ANY Sherman variant. Only the diesel engined Shermans came close.
The Panther cost only 10-15% more than a Panzer IV, despite being twice the tank, and was easier to mass-produce and maintain. And the Tiger only twice as much as a Panther, not any different than any other heavy tank from any other nation.
at 25:50 i believe yu have footage of a german artillery piece getting hit , 1st looks like a recoil but longer look shows more ,iether incoming explo or the round blew up being fired, all in all MUCHO footage iv never seen and at 70 iv seen ALOT ! GREAT STUFF
Thanks for the visit
The powerful resourceful forces that supported both sides have led us into the turmoil we are now facing today
19:44 dude really wasn't expected that lid to shut
Superb storytelling.
Thanks a ton
Very good documentary . This was one battle l was unaware of so thanks for enlightening me . Also some of the footage l've not seen before . Well done. l have subscribed .
Glad you enjoyed it
I wonder why the former Allies (eastern and western) have always kept hidden from the public this tremendous battle.
I'm glad the Germans and Japanese are on the allies side in the modern world as they were truly terrible enemies to have! Such efficiency, discipline and engineering prowess was a real brick wall.
Incorrect. The allies is the side that has Russia, China, Belarus who took the most civilian losses. Germany and Japan side is the AXIS. UK only gets in Sept 1939, US Dec 1941 so they don't count for determining who is Axis and who is Allies.
Don't be happy. Maybe you're on the future side of the losers.
@@seazonchikpretty hard to lose a war with US coverage tbh
@@bluefox9436 You sure. I can name 2 recent and 1 at late 60's.
@@beadsman13 Vietnam yes, but apart from that the US volunteered to leave - if the US chose to stay there's nothing the taliban could've done apart from killing a few soldiers here and there.
The only reason they were able to do anything in the first place was, because the US actually tried to avoid causing harm to civillians - just gaining the land would've been a walk in the park for them.
I remember this mentioned in Guy Sajer's book, "The Forgotten Soldier".
One very interesting thing that many people don't know.
Apart from the well-known characteristics of Rusian and German tanks there was one important detail.
Steel plates used to make Russian tanks were generally of much lower quality compared to the German tanks. This means that during a battle after taking 2-3 non-penetration hits metal of the Russian tanks was losing its durability and was much more prone to deformations and cracks. Which meant that the next hit almost certainly was fatal and the structure of the metal couldn't resist.
On the opposite the quality German steel on german tanks helped them withstand many non penetration hits in a row without a problem. I think there is a documented case where a German tank had sustained over 100 hits in its frontal plate and survived.
And l know this from Russian historians who investigated this matter.
Yes over tempered steel shattered when hit on them.
That had changed with german's losing Ukraine and its manganese
well , kolobanov's KV1 also took 100ish hits in one battle and still kept fighting , i think its more about the factory they came from .
@@eradicatethem6115
I don't know about Kolobanov, I didn't found anything about how many hits he took, only tanks destroyed. And at the time he was against PzII and PzIII, which didn't have enough penetrating power against KV1
As I said Russian historians claim this, not me. Russian tanks cracked open after taking just a few hits. Because they were made from poor quality steel
One of the reasons perhaps Soviet tankers liked and prefered some of the tanks supplied by the Allies. Like the Churchill.
@@GeorgiJorov-pf5ge
The Panzer that you're talking about which survived over 100 hits was literally a Tiger I which at the time (1943) was almost impenetrable anyway, not because the German armor had better quality than the russians, but simply because the Tiger had very *THICK* armor plates at the time (100mm front and 80mm side) which was storng enough to resist most russian cannons in 1943 wnyway.
For the same reason the Russian prefered the Churchill over the T34, because the Churchill tank also had very thick armor similar to the german Tiger.
So this has nothing to do with superior or inferior quality of the armor, rather it's just the effective thickness and strength of the armor.
Sloped armor of the T34, Panther and Tiger II also helped to increase the effective armor strenght, because a sloped armor plate has more effective resistance compared to a vertical (flat) armor plate of the same thickness.
By the way, sometimes german Panzers also suffered cracked armor plates, for example when it was hit by a big gun (such as 122mm from the IS2 or 152mm gun from the ISU152)
Very cool documentary... I just subbed... Keep it up❤
Welcome aboard!
Jesus Christ I’ve heard so many takes on WW2 tanks in Europe at this point I kinda stopped caring and it really doesn’t matter. Good job history guys this is where an interested person ends up
To understand and appreciate this is to know just how immense these fronts were...spanning time zones, several regions and Countries. This particular event especially because of the famous Units involved. This particular engagement was the very last time it fought as a fully manned Division. After this battle GD was fragmented and never fought as an intact unit again.
Yet, you're still here 😂
@@haddad8409 the actual account of the events is what is interesting, not the sizing up of different tanks over each other a subject none of these history guys can ever agree on (or get me to care about ever again)
The Germans only produced 1500 Tiger II in total. This number was too little to counter the Russian armor.
Insane victory halting the soviets from taking the oil fields for another 10 months
The IS-2 is actually a very good tank, for that era.. I'd give it up to training as to why the Tigers often had the upper hand..
People forget how fast Tigers were; their cross country speed was equal to that of early Sherman tanks and only a little less than that of T34
Yes youre right about their speed over terrain when they had to really get going they certainly could! Their only drawback was that huge appetite for fuel, it seems the germans always had to have a gas truck nearby to feed these things! That and the fact that the transmission was really only rated for 45 tons, yet they managed somehow to get it to work in the 56 ton tiger, but constant and hard use of them usually meant their transmissions and final drives broke down under hard field use. Then it was a nightmare to replace the tranny under field conditions!
@@gkauto1959 The Tiger 1 used LESS fuel than any Sherman variant.
@@TTTT-oc4eb Love to learn how you found that out! If you take a heavy car and a light car and run them both the heavy car always burns more fuel since it takes more to re establish inertia once youve braked the vehicle; so how does a 30 ton Sherman burn MORE FUEL than the 56 ton Tiger?? And did you know that in the north african desert there were Shermans with hot vapor carburetors that doubled their range? Please advise how you came to find out how fuel efficient Tigers really were??
@@gkauto1959 The Tiger had a fuel tank containing 548 liters of fuel and a max range of 195 kilometers under optimal conditions. A late war M4A3 had a fuel tank containing 630 liters of fuel and a max range of 160 kilometers.
A small car with a poor power to weight ratio may use as much, or even more fuel, than a heavier car with a good power to weight ratio due to less stress on the engine. The Tiger 1 had a better power to weight ratio than almost any Sherman variant. In addition it had a much more advanced transmission and drivetrain.
@@TTTT-oc4eb OK! So that explains why so many of them broke down on the battlefield due to their running gear breaking, specifically the transmission going out and winding up getting parked. That advanced transmission is a German trait that is still with us today, who in their right mind would buy an Audi or Mercedes with all their complexity and tendency for expensive repairs? And your comparison with a small car with poor power to weight ratio does not hold water in the real world, most of the small cars on the road today are Japanese vehicles, and they all move along very well and are quite reliable as well besides being lighter than say a Camaro with a V8. They build lighter vehicles that run better than the competition and even outlast them as well, typically going over 200k. Lastly the average V8 has 8 cylinders to feed, so with equal power to weight ratios for both vehicles (what engineer would set up a small car with a poor power to weight ratio? It would not sell or get good mileage) the 4 cylinder vehicle will always consume less.
Great video, well described without taking political sides.
The best of the best, really respect 👌
Excellent study of this battle. Breaking it down and analyzing each part of all participants, weaknesses,strengths,manuvering, counter attacks. the skilled military professionalism, tactics of the great general Manteuffel. 🫡 RESPECT!
Good footage to go with the well narrated video.
The Germans just couldn't quite handle 3fronts . What great fighters.
They would have prevailed if they could have concentrated on the eastern front.
Formidable video, thanks
Glad it was helpful!
The Tigers fired three times as fast and held three times the ammo, while the IS-2s used slow-loading two-piece ammo!
Very true ❤
Yeah but a tiger only went 200 miles and the final drive has to be replaced.
@@jkoeberlein1 Soviet vehicles were much better they lasted through an entire tank of gas!!
They still use a charge for propellant
@@ChetJang doesnt matter if they are a flaming wreck.
Really great documentary 👍🏻
A battle very little known because history is written by winners. Here is one of few soviet massive offensive stoped.
Tiger and IS-2 tanks:15%
Preparations:25%
Battle:50%
Weather:10%
Epicness:100%
Things I did not knew: 85%
Good video? : YES
The IS-2 were used as tank destroyers, usually deployed in groups of at least 3, set up in ambush positions. Vulnerable on open ground due to their slow speeds and low rate of fire.
Slow in reloading, a deadly disadvantage against the opponent.
Main task for IS-2 always was destroying enemy fortified positions, and its 122mm main gun with very powerful HE rounds was excellent tool.
Slow reloading speed was easily compensated by using those tanks in big formations.
Real war is not 1vs1 fights, lol.
Awesome video keep it up
Thanks!
🎖️🏆⭐🙏❤️🩹
Thank you for sharing this
Great content and the B-roll footage is nice. But I would suggest perhaps some kind of animated overhead map to showcase locations and pushes. It's a bit confusing to keep up with from where and what direction all the action is taking place during this battle.
Very good stuff !
Thanks!
Thanks for vedio and great information
Most welcome
Have to admit the tiger 1 was the most bad ass looking tank of ww2
I'm loving your channel! The narration is good and I'm seeing some of this footage for the first time with very little repeating within the video.
Sub-SCRIBED!
Welcome aboard!
From what I read is that the Tiger 2's gun was incredible accurate (in combat it allegedly had a to hit rate of nearly 100% on a range of 1.000 meters) and it could kill a T34 at a range of 3.000 meters. German guns were at that time extremly powerful (one of the most deadly tanks was in fact the Stug 3) Too bad that those tanks ate so many ressources in production., tiger 2's were massive. I have seen pictures were the Us Army was struggling to actually transport captured Tiger 2's to the next collection point
Panther had a hit rate of 100 % at that distance, and the Tiger a tad below. Of course, in training conditions.
@@0Turbox Stugs were cheaper to make than turreted tanks.
@@0Turbox The KwK 36 was actually marginally more accurate than the KwK 42 and 43. Due to its lower velocity, it was also less affected by barrel wear - the barrel lasting three times as long as the KwK 42.
@@TTTT-oc4eb Where you get your math from, a slower mv means less accuracy? ;)
@@0Turbox Higher velocity doesn't mean everything. The KwK 43 was well known to be slightly less accurate than both the KwK 36 and 42. The British 17-pdr was also slightly less accurate than the US 76mm M1 gun, despite firng at considerably higher velocity.
Great video
Tiger-II vs IS-2 is real competitive opponents contest.
but they have techs and after civil revuution a lot int died or killed how you calculet the things
I can just imagine them seeing the IS-2 for the first time and being like
“Oh shiese! Hans get your measuring tape!”
Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein
Und das heißt
Erika
If Hitler had allowed a strategic retreat in May 1944 from the Baltics and the Minsk Area-all the way back to the Vistula; do you think Army Group Center & North would have been able to contain the Soviet advance using tactics that were employed in this battle in Rumania in May 1944 ? If so, the Russians would not have entered Berlin in April 1945. One of the great If's had Hitler agreed to shortening the Eastern Front Line before the Soviets were able to launch Operation Bagration.
"In 1959, Hasso Von Manteuffel was charged for ordering a 19-year-old shot for desertion in 1944 and was sentenced for 18 months in prison but was released after 4 months. Hasso Von Manteuffel died on September 24th of 1978 in Tyrol, Austria."
4:17 Rare sighting of a British Valentine in Soviet service.
Seems like many wartime images of KV and IS tanks show a lot of slack in their treads. Did they wear badly?
“We need better transmission”
“Better cannon?”
“BETTER TRANSMISSION”
“Better armor”
Did you make all ofnthisnfootage yourself?
I mean, who or where is your film source??
Ive seen years and years of eastern front combat footage and ive seen none of what youve posted here.
Wow, excellent work. Thank you.😁
The 122mm wasn't as accurate as the 88mm plus both 88mm guns had more penetration