Obviously, this was not the case in practice, otherwise this concept would have prevailed. Instead, the Archer was the only one of its kind. The successes achieved can probably be attributed to the adequate firepower rather than to the design.
If stated that way then yes, the Archer would be the best but it was absolutely horrendous in service. Not the worst vehicle but it was a doctrinally mismatched vehicle. The British was on the offensive by the time the Archer came off the production line.
Excellent video as usual. I have visited Hotton, Beffe and La-Roche-en-Ardenne. In La-Roche-en-Ardenne there is a museum, the only one in the Ardennes with ample attention to the British efforts during the Ardennes offensive. Well worth a visit.
It’s nice to see the Archer getting some love. I see it as a highly pragmatic and timely solution to the problem of giving the 17-pounder some kind of mobility. Is it a bit weird? Certainly, but it was a significant improvement on what was available prior to its introduction.
The solid armour piercing ammo was highly accurate. The somewhat experimental ADPS round was found to be much less accurate. I say somewhat experimental as we also developed APDS for the 6pdr, nasty little rounds
I think most countries have the "Our stuff is better than yours" mentality. Spitfire pilots first seeing Thunderbolts joked that if nothing else the T Bolt pilot could hop down into the fuselage and run around to avoid German fire.. so .. yea.. how d that work out😅
The Battle of the Bulge was an all American battle according to Eisenhower and and Bradley who tried their best to erase the truth. Thank you for the reminded that Monty was in charge and that British units took part in the fighting!
When Montgomery vaingloriously tried to take credit for winning the battle (Market Garden was a lonely orphan...) it caused a scandal that forced Churchill to make a speech in the Commons.
@@lllordllloyd No he didn't, he went out of his way to praise the Bravery of American soldiers and Eisenhower. He actually made an effort to be nice which for him was rare. But Bradley and Patton bitched that he did not mention them (even though they had never said anything nice about him).
@@Apollo890 He issued a press release putting himself at the centre of the victory. It prompted his aid de camp, de Guinguard (spelling?), to tell him he'd gone too far. It prompted the aforementioned speech in the Commons by Churchill as damage control. It's very well documented. I'm not all that anti-Montgomery, he wasn't as bad as his most vigorous opponents say. But his sense of self importance was staggering and this was a case... perhaps the most prominent one... where it caused friction between the Allies.
@@lllordllloyd I'm not denying that the press conference stirred everything up and later on Monty himself said he should never have done it. But during the press conference he never said I won the battle or anything like that. He used the word "we" did this implying a team effort and then ended by saying the commander of our team is Eisenhower. I felt sorry for Monty on this because yes in the past he regularly showed a shocking lack of tact and Field Marshall Sir Alan Brook laid into him for that and told him to be more diplomatic. In the press conference he did make an effort and it just seemed to make things even worse.
My friend....JUST SUPERB..... Please keep these coming.. Medal collectors "Scoff" at MM's" as they are "by Other Ranks" However..I feel..that 1. If it were by an Officer then perhaps a DSO or even higher 2.. If observed by an Officer..by an Officer..the Gallantry Award would have been higher
Here was the Panthers problem and Germanys biggest problem The Panther took out three Sherman's then the Archer took out the Panther Then 5-10 more Sherman's showed up to take the place of the three knocked out Nothing showed up to take The nocked out Panthers place. There were less than 7k panthers in use everywhere in Europe There were almost JUST 40k Sherman's in use everywhere in Europe
The panther's problems included reliability, poor logistics of units making scarce parts ever hard to come by and thus poorer number of available combat worthy tanks in a unit. The idea that a tank is somehow magically plonked into battle 'vs' another tank is just the dreaming of schoolboys reading books or gamers playing WOT.
@@nerome619 In 1944 though the Panther had a respectable circa 70% overall average operational rate, not too different to the Panzer IV. In September 1944 it reached a high of 85% average operational rate across all the battalions. It was not as unreliable as the modern internet myth now claims it to be. It was actually the Panthers of the 2nd Panzer Division that got the furthest in the Ardennes out of all German armour.
The Battle of the Bulge is always portrayed as a purely US battle, the fact is it wasn't and Bastoigne is just a side battle with little consequence in the overall battle
The Americans did 98% of the work to bring the offensive to a halt. British units were rushed south, but the Germans had been pretty well stopped. This episode concerns the counterattack, which included the British. Most histories of the Bulge lose interest once the Germans are stopped and regard subsequent events as a sort of 'resumption of the offensive'.
@Colonel_Blimp Indeed. Montgomery turned a chaotic muddled mess into a carefully organised and coherent defensive situation that frustrated the Germans and blunted their advance. His decision to pull back from St Vith to far more logical defensive positions was extremely crucial. Those are the words of Hasso von Mantueffel, the commander of Fifth Panzer Army.
The archer. One of the best shoot and scoot SPGs as it was mounted bsvkwards. A superb, if probably unintended design aspect.
Obviously, this was not the case in practice, otherwise this concept would have prevailed. Instead, the Archer was the only one of its kind. The successes achieved can probably be attributed to the adequate firepower rather than to the design.
If stated that way then yes, the Archer would be the best but it was absolutely horrendous in service. Not the worst vehicle but it was a doctrinally mismatched vehicle. The British was on the offensive by the time the Archer came off the production line.
Finally Archer TD in action
Excellent video as usual. I have visited Hotton, Beffe and La-Roche-en-Ardenne. In La-Roche-en-Ardenne there is a museum, the only one in the Ardennes with ample attention to the British efforts during the Ardennes offensive. Well worth a visit.
Sir.
You and all your colleagues who have served will always be held in gratitude
Thank you SIr x
It’s nice to see the Archer getting some love. I see it as a highly pragmatic and timely solution to the problem of giving the 17-pounder some kind of mobility. Is it a bit weird? Certainly, but it was a significant improvement on what was available prior to its introduction.
British M10 TDs also mounted a 17 lb-r gun. Great weapon!
Shows how accurate the 17 pdr was, contrary to claims from a certain Allied country that it wasn't.
The solid armour piercing ammo was highly accurate. The somewhat experimental ADPS round was found to be much less accurate. I say somewhat experimental as we also developed APDS for the 6pdr, nasty little rounds
I think most countries have the "Our stuff is better than yours" mentality. Spitfire pilots first seeing Thunderbolts joked that if nothing else the T Bolt pilot could hop down into the fuselage and run around to avoid German fire.. so .. yea.. how d that work out😅
The Scots have always been fighters and the backbone of the British Army and long may it continue 👏👏👏👏👏👍🇬🇧💙😎
Correction, the Archer was sent backwards (if you define the way the gun is pointing as the front)!
Must have been Italian design.....
@@Lassisvulgaris😂
@@LassisvulgarisEasy to be brave,sat on your shiny arse,slagging folk off
Thank you.
As always another Great video.
Thank you for posting.
Cheers
Awesome channel
The Battle of the Bulge was an all American battle according to Eisenhower and and Bradley who tried their best to erase the truth. Thank you for the reminded that Monty was in charge and that British units took part in the fighting!
Lol yeah Monty won the battle--NOT
When Montgomery vaingloriously tried to take credit for winning the battle (Market Garden was a lonely orphan...) it caused a scandal that forced Churchill to make a speech in the Commons.
@@lllordllloyd No he didn't, he went out of his way to praise the Bravery of American soldiers and Eisenhower. He actually made an effort to be nice which for him was rare. But Bradley and Patton bitched that he did not mention them (even though they had never said anything nice about him).
@@Apollo890 He issued a press release putting himself at the centre of the victory. It prompted his aid de camp, de Guinguard (spelling?), to tell him he'd gone too far. It prompted the aforementioned speech in the Commons by Churchill as damage control. It's very well documented.
I'm not all that anti-Montgomery, he wasn't as bad as his most vigorous opponents say. But his sense of self importance was staggering and this was a case... perhaps the most prominent one... where it caused friction between the Allies.
@@lllordllloyd I'm not denying that the press conference stirred everything up and later on Monty himself said he should never have done it.
But during the press conference he never said I won the battle or anything like that. He used the word "we" did this implying a team effort and then ended by saying the commander of our team is Eisenhower. I felt sorry for Monty on this because yes in the past he regularly showed a shocking lack of tact and Field Marshall Sir Alan Brook laid into him for that and told him to be more diplomatic. In the press conference he did make an effort and it just seemed to make things even worse.
The 17 Pdr SP Archer was a very good piece of kit being small and easily hidden.
Big BR difference that, 2.7 v 5.3 truly skill matters
Great story! Thank you! 🍻👍
Quality.👊
Hello From Long Beach California 🌊💐; Thank You For Sharing and Caring; History (Im a History Junkie ) Great Work 😊 Take Care Have a Great Day 🌅🙋🏻♂️
Another great little video, the only issue for me being *the pronunciation* of these French-Belgian names. La Roche = La Rosh. Lavaux = Lavo.
Hives= Eve
The bravery is off the scale!
My friend....JUST SUPERB.....
Please keep these coming..
Medal collectors "Scoff" at MM's" as they are "by Other Ranks"
However..I feel..that
1. If it were by an Officer then perhaps a DSO or even higher
2.. If observed by an Officer..by an Officer..the Gallantry Award would have been higher
Incredible bravery.
How common was it to have Gunnerr commanding a gun?
Here was the Panthers problem and Germanys biggest problem
The Panther took out three Sherman's then the Archer took out the Panther
Then 5-10 more Sherman's showed up to take the place of the three knocked out
Nothing showed up to take The nocked out Panthers place.
There were less than 7k panthers in use everywhere in Europe
There were almost JUST 40k Sherman's in use everywhere in Europe
And there weren't just Shermans. There were T-34s and Cromwells etc.
The panther's problems included reliability, poor logistics of units making scarce parts ever hard to come by and thus poorer number of available combat worthy tanks in a unit. The idea that a tank is somehow magically plonked into battle 'vs' another tank is just the dreaming of schoolboys reading books or gamers playing WOT.
@@nerome619 In 1944 though the Panther had a respectable circa 70% overall average operational rate, not too different to the Panzer IV. In September 1944 it reached a high of 85% average operational rate across all the battalions.
It was not as unreliable as the modern internet myth now claims it to be.
It was actually the Panthers of the 2nd Panzer Division that got the furthest in the Ardennes out of all German armour.
Hielan' Laddie
A single TD unblocks an advance of a Highlander division and the TC gets....the "Military Medal"!?!
The MM was highly regarded by the ordinary troops, the rank and file. It was a prestigious medal to be awarded.
“The fird army from the souf”
Uhhh…
Hum drum music and speech could put one to sleep, otherwise good video
The Valentine was an excellent chassis.
The Battle of the Bulge is always portrayed as a purely US battle, the fact is it wasn't and Bastoigne is just a side battle with little consequence in the overall battle
Really? Geez…
Terrible French pronunciation but apart from that very good.
I love seeing the dumbest tank (destroyer) of WW2 in action !
I think you yourself have served....
I thought only Americans were involved in the battle.
Montgomery was placed in command of US 1st Army for this operation. He brought in XXX British Corps to help stabilise the front.
The Americans did 98% of the work to bring the offensive to a halt. British units were rushed south, but the Germans had been pretty well stopped. This episode concerns the counterattack, which included the British. Most histories of the Bulge lose interest once the Germans are stopped and regard subsequent events as a sort of 'resumption of the offensive'.
@@lllordllloyd -- thank you
@Colonel_Blimp
Indeed. Montgomery turned a chaotic muddled mess into a carefully organised and coherent defensive situation that frustrated the Germans and blunted their advance. His decision to pull back from St Vith to far more logical defensive positions was extremely crucial. Those are the words of Hasso von Mantueffel, the commander of Fifth Panzer Army.
@@lyndoncmp5751 -- thank you
Panther is the single most overrated tank in the history of armoured warfare.
That would be the Sherman 😂😂😂
@@nzmonstermanand give you reasons for saying that,
@rogercude1459 because it's true 😉😁😆😂
@@nzmonsterman you overrate yourself 😂
@rogercude1459 ahhh, you know its true. 😆
First
And...?
Div