Black Baron: The Deadliest Tank Ace Of The Second World War | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories 

Did u copy Timeline World Documentaries's intro?

@@timothytan4257 wut

Time they made a film about real heroes like Wittmann and hundreds of other German combatants rather than the likes of Aubrey Murphy.

@@timothytan4257 bbb.

Have you ever read the biography of Von Carius ? I'd like a special on another tank commander and Heintz Guderian.

CREW.

In military circles, his crew are recognized.

Exactly

His gunner was the only person who was with him most of his career.

@@jeffreymiller7847 Crew was constructed from volunteers and forced.

Bobby woll was the best gunner they was he was amazing

decades? It didnt take decades for the stabilizer to fully used. wrong. years though not decades

@@ulfenburg7539 Yeah even the Sherman had a stabilizer. Of course not good enough to accurately fire on the move. But some crews which had been trained with it actually loved it. So there probably was some use for it.

Just prior to WW2 British tank gunners were trained to fire on the move, one of the minor perks of the cruiser tank doctrine

@@peterfryer9245 The problem is not firing on the move, it’s the hitting. Every cretin can fire on the move.

TY for that info. I wondered why they never mentioned his crew- it's not like he could have been successful without an expert crew. As long as armies contribute to the myths of single heroes, the brave little guys will be ignored.

Kurt Knispel had 168 confirmed tank kills - Greatest Tank Ace in History with unconfirmed Kills at195.

@@rmazim500 Tank crews did not count their kills cuz it was a liability when your in battle Otto Carius Germanys second best panzer ace said himself that the he at most killed a hundred tanks the numbers you speak of are very unreliable because the division wanted a poster boy to show that they were as good as other panzer Divisions so they chose Kurt Kinspel because was a talented gunner.

@@rmazim500 Yep

Goering did the same with people he didnt like.

Deflection shooting

@@sanjaysharma-jf8fv yep...you gotta feel it.

Ubermench ...

Germans have high visuospatial IQ scores on average.

The gunner wasn't in Wittman's tank when it exploded, he was off on a trip or holiday. So the gunner who did all the killing, actually survived.

Yeah I always wondered about that as well. Imagine being 1 plane against hundreds of enemies trying to take out whole squadrons of bombers and then take on fighters as well. Probably ran out of AMMO all the time.

same

I would have had a HUGE issue with him not being able to keep talking for 3 or 4 days.

When WWII was ending, the US and Soviet Union raced to Germany. Not to end the war, but to capture Wernher von Braun, Germany's leading rocket scientist. We got him, and he got us to the moon. Can you imagine if Wittman had survived and was captured/obtained by the US? And he came to the US to mold our tank battalions? Can you imagine serving under him in our post WWII military?

@@ritparent7239The soviets captured more scientists but US got the best

Whats his name?

What is his name

@@scotttyson8661 Alfred Rubbel

@@dhahqgahaakiyhsvwtgqgqnqjo6589 Alfred Rubbel

Or Rudolph something, He's the German speaking English

I stopped the video to read this. Amazing story. They don't make em like they used to.

Kudos to your dad. My father, infantry, was blown off a Sherman D-Day+14(?), taken out of the war due to his injuries, much to his displeasure. He went to Korea, and Vietnam. My mother (French National) worked for the US Corps of Engineers. Our parents' generation was amazing. Thanks to your dad, and to you for remembering him.

@@John-ih2bx Thanks John, much appreciated. Similar respect to your parents. Remembering them is so important if we have any hope of avoiding it all happening again

@@55billmarshall Yes, our parents are in a class beyond myself. We should not let their efforts to be forgotten. Thank you for honoring your dad. That is respect.

He was lucky if he would have ended up in an American POW camp he would probably be dead now.

Woll received the Knight's Cross for his efforts; a rare distinction for a non commissioned officer.

The commander gets the most recognized because they have to determine what to do which decisions to make. Its like the brain of a tank. Im not saying the other crew members where bad no, its a team play like football.

Do you people really believe the BS in this video?

@@netzoned what bs??

@@netzoned " Ja ja ! "

Mine To...

Look at Erik Hartmann story, it has a lot of adventure too, Ace pilot with most kills in history

Nah 🌿😎😅

show is alot of typical ahistorical anti-German propaganda.

What about luck?

Very true

Damn right! It was almost a chemistry among them.....the gunner was moving the gun towards the next target even before Wittman declare it!

@@vanmust Bobby Woll stated once "i often picked out the target myself, because there was no time for a conversation"

His name is pronounced Voll as in German the W is pronounced V, and the letter V is pronounced W. (weird but true my friend)

​@@dockmasterted Yes, the letter W is mostly pronounced as the english V, but often the letter V is pronounced as F: Vogel (= bird)

But that was also a very big disadvantage.so they started to ignore the possibility to be defeated by the enemy.

None of these are really confirmed. As most of these 100+ numbers don't come from historians, or often even their commanding officers. Rather hearsay from peers.

@@peterson7082 And, considering that the Germans abandoned their kill vetting system for the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht as early as 1943 due to losses and overstating by their Tankers/Pilots, it's safe to take every number you see with a grain of salt. I'd like to bring up the case of the Me262. 1,200 produced, claimed over 500 kills. I believe this number is fake, as many of these supposed "kills" were claimed over areas that Allied Planes had never been operating in at the time and no wrecks were found.

@@peterson7082 no the unconfirmed is because Propaganda. Military reports are always heavily censored according the the need of the Propaganda dept.

Lol😂

@@peterson7082 If you as a tank commander in WW2 would lie to pump up your kills, you could risk to lose all your decorations. And the last thing you want as a German soldier is to lose your decorations for being a fraud. And before kills are offcial recorded into the soldiers journal, the kills must be confirmed by multiple high ranking officers to get that kill on your record.

Mind you this doesn't mean Allied air superiority destroyed 39 tanks. Most of his tanks had suffered damage that put them out of commission for a day or two and as time was of the essence he had no time to wait for repairs. Not to mention even without allied bombing his it is very unlikely all 45 tanks would have arrived as one.

AT LAST !!!😳SOMEONE WHO KNOWS !!!WHY THE GERMAN ARMOUR WAS DESTROYED !!!!😳BLOODY AIR POWER !!! ps US BRITS AND CANADIANS !!!BORE the BRUNT !!! of Jerrys ARMOUR 😳😳😳😳😳NOT the YANKS g

no he was a complete fraud ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FwQh_XdcISg.html

@tyharris9994 - Wittman's Tiger was blown up by a Sherman tank.

heehehe, no

But the good guys still lost the war.

@@chriskoort5717 The winner is the good guys. The losers are the war criminals.

@@algrayson8965 No, soviets got disarmed in 1990

@@algrayson8965 Bad guys won

Bad guys won. Good guys lost

@John Cornell I wasn’t talking about villers Bocage I was talking about the convoy and the tiger

Wrong. The Tiger was disabled at the end of his raid and was never repaired. He died later in Tiger Tank 007, a replacement for his two lost Tigers. At the end of the battle of Villers bocage the 101th Heavy Tank battalion lost 6 Tigers and only had around 7 or 8 operational, from original 45 Tanks 5 days ago. In the end lost the 101th more Tigers trying to defend Villers-Bocage than the British lost Tanks. The 101th was never able to replace these losses and could only recover and repair a few. I think they never got more than 20 Tigers running again.

@@papaaaaaaa2625 yeah I think I know that and I was only talking about his attack on the CONVOY NOT VILLERS BOCAGE

@John Cornell I think you’ll find that the convoy was on the road OUTSIDE Villers Bocage and Whitmann said in in his memoirs I then drove into villers bocage

@John Cornell I know that, but I meant that the Tiger couldn't be repaired. His own Tiger Tank, Nr. 205, broke down just before the Battle of Villers Bocage. He used another Tank of his Companies in this battle, Turret Nr. 222 (but even that is not clear, some sources say he used Tiger 231) After this battle both Tanks are no longer mentioned in any reports. But we know that afterwards Wittmann used Tiger 007. The situation was chaotic back then, maybe Nr. 222 was just not mentioned in any report and it is however possible that Tiger 222 was returned to his normal crew, and only Wittmann's original Tiger wasn't repaired. But that's a bit speculative. There is this famous picture where one Tiger of the 101th tows another one. It seems this picture was taken after the Battle of Villers Bocage. But the notifications are confusing. You can find two different notes, "A Tiger towed Tiger 231 into Caen" or "Tiger 222 towed 231 into Caen". The first tiger cannot be identified on the picture. Here a link to the picture, ww2images.blogspot.com/2012/11/tiger-222-taking-tiger-231-in-tow-after.html?m=1 Thanks for the book, I'll look for it.

Great gunner and great driver. Doesn’t matter how good your commander or gunner is if you can’t drive where you need to to avoid the coming hits.

In an engagement where you are outnumbered if you dont have a loader with wicked speed and wicked stamina , regardless of how accurate your gunner is , you are dead meat . No loader. No victory . You can't pull the trigger on an empty breech .

Wittmans's usual gunner was actually away and survived after tank Tiger 007 exploded.

The Panzerlied the tank crews sang at those times also mentioned that the Panzer was their coffin if fate turned against them.

@@tinzi4x4 no it doesnt

@@prvt.harumi6821 Dann wird unser Panzer ein ehernes Grab - translation: Then let our tank become our honorable iron grave. This also means thatthe tank would be their coffin. If you do speak german, then: In diesem Sinne wäre der Panzer auch ein Sarg.

@@tinzi4x4 thats not in the panzerlied tho

Wittmann was probably exagerated. There might have been a lot of propaganda around him and his crew. Which doesn't mean that he wasn't a skilled commander. But I think a lot of what surounds Wittman should be taken with a grain of Salt. Carious was once talkingabout Wittman and he said that even back then they didn't believe "everything" that was reported about him because they knew about the propaganda efforts and the need to have a heroic figure particularly within the Waffen SS which has always been seen like a sort of step child of the German army trotting behind the "real" army. The Waffen SS was somewhat desperate in finding recognition and acceptance among the military. So yeah. Wittman was definetly an interesting character. But there are many doubts when it comes to all the information about him.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pfmilK8D0_Y.html Dr Toppel interview Kurts commander who said it was all BS, no one knew Kurts total, least of all Kurt, and that he was never put forward for the Knights cross, not to take anything away from him but accurate history is a good thing

The problem with knipsel was most of his attack are ambushes and mostly has infantry and Artillery support wittman woll and and his crew are better and add to that he destroyed an entired armored battalion all by himself

Very well said by an armchair quarterback.

Tim Roger - They were both heroes!..

No... Desert Rats showed a lack of careness and Wittman assaulted a taown with heavy tanks and lost the major part. If it's studied, it's for what not to do.

​@@BFVK you seem a little insulted or insecured mate of course you could also call using one tank and having to abandon it "major loss" of troops, if there is only one

​@@emil-1609he talks about the later part of tge battle where germans got annihilated because wittman alerted the british that an attack was coming by his reckless assault.

A 'high-velocity' 75.

@@Scepticalasfuk In 1941???

@@Scepticalasfuk that was the short barreled low velocity 7.5 cm gun if I am correct, for anti personnel function.

@@Scepticalasfuk I don't think the narrator was correct in saying it was a high velocity gun. It was really a howitzer. Still it was capable of killing early war Allied tanks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.5_cm_KwK_37

It was StuG A short barreled low velo L24 also its not War Thunder. L24 can do some damage with good hits.

Most sacrifices will go unnoticed, none but God to see them or remember them, so don't let the glory thereof seduce you.

Pity you won’t see a movie about him and his crew like …the American movie “ Fury “ No can’t see Hollywood putting that one on the projects list. Clint Eastwoods Letters from Iwo Jima being a excellent exception from the Japanese perspective.

I'd rather die at 103 after bedding 5 playboy bunnies.....just sayin..

​@@scottboyd7368that's why noone will remember you.

... and so much more brainwashed 🤯

@@m.plotzek3307 LOL, we are brainwashed even more

@@topspot9417 I know right.

@@m.plotzek3307 They were meth heads. high as f**k

@Andy Mills it is not about the camps.Current values are very low.Just consume.Just please yourself.People die for virtual likes, for the stupid and useless challenges.Our education is getting worse and and most important humanity try to live their lives without it's Creator and as such they are doomed.

@joseph gallacher but with the same weak military strength supplies & MANPOWER ? No .

His leadership is what made his whole crew so legendary. One person can't crew a tank, nor perform at the most basic of levels.

He was a silent guy but a hardcore fanatic. Look up his views on race and anyone that didn't have 100% germanic D-N-A and face structure... He was pretty hardcore racist

@@overlord5068 yes. Make it about race. Sorry man, no one cares. We cared about the story, not the politics behind it.

@@overlord5068 Wow a person was racist before the term was coined in 1961...

@@overlord5068 yup. No one cares. Germany was a great nation. And little pansy males who worry about racism aren't going to deter the admiration.

Gunner was Bobby Woll. But he was not in 007 on 8/8/44

Absolutely. Good point

@@blaircalvin5025 and was awarded the knightscross

BALTASAR WOHL WAS HIS GUNNER, it took him one hour to turn the Tigers tower a full turn!

@@blaircalvin5025 Did he survive the war?

Hold mein stein

The unsung ace, well mostly unsung.

Knipsel was the ultimate tank warrior!

@@DJBI556 Yeah, I only knew of Baron Von Richthofen & his flying circus(the Red Baron)in WW1

He was the working man's tanker.

@@todiathink8864 He was not on party line though.

His final catastrophic charge is certainly his too.

us technological advance enabled us force to do so but i think it was remarkable in ww2 without modern technology !

In the run-up to the war, British tanks were designed for firing on the move. The 2-pr had no elevation gear, the gunner used his shoulder. Great for a tank melee but inadequate at desert ranges.

@@andrewflindall9048 The modern British tanks are said to be able to move while keeping the target in their sights, was there a gap when they could not?

@@myparceltape1169 The Americans pioneered stabilisation systems during the war but they were not really accurate enough to keep a sight on target. Postwar, things improved, perhaps by the 80s/90s there was a reasonable chance of tracking targets from a moving vehicle. Remember that half the problem is keeping your eye on the sight while you're being chucked around.

@@andrewflindall9048 So it was all up to the gunner and how responsive the gun was to his hands.

I read that STUGs killed more tanks than any other German weapon.

@@FFM0594 The Stugs were the most produced german tank iirc so it would make sense.

@@FFM0594 most likely, i would guess 88 main artillery guns killed morr armor then stug. Its stug or 88s at the top 3 german anti armor guns for sure.

Because the type of wars fought today do not allow for it.

You wanna talk about murdering POW's.....loom up what the French and Danes did near the end of the war . Post war how many German POW's were intentionally murdered...gtfoh

@Oke Ihenacho and you as well...be well

@Oke Ihenacho Same applies for the USAAC and RAF (just to name two), regarding murdering civilians and POWs. Not to forget Nobel prize for peace holder Barack „Childkiller“ Obama. So what’s your point? The ever returning bullish.t of „Allied killing is good, German killing is bad“?

Agreed. Well said.

@@petegarrido5406 and the women shaved head for shame..

I have seen his name mentioned in the comments. It is Balthassar Woll.

@@bracoop2 tank crews changed. You didn't have the same crew in the same tank over 6 years of war.

His Gunner Was Balthassar "Bobbi" Woll...

Balthasar woll wittmanns gunner

I put it to you that with a less capable leader the entire team would have been Knocked out long before they did. The tank crew he commanded as a soldier were most certainly different from the ones he commanded as a commissioned officer, same results. Never underestimate the power of great leadership.

They can't maneuver or his gunner will kill them if it wasn't for his commands and leadership

Smol

The real ace of aces!

That would be so great indeed!

@@6412mars Not really, Michael was the only one vs Knispel and Carrius who start as Commander when he enter in a tank, Knispel got most of his victory as a gunner, Carrius was in too many position in the tank before upgrade to Commander so they got most of their victory in other position. Wittmann got all is victory as a Commander, he was a commander the day he enter in a Stug III. So people forget this fact, but i dont say Knispel, or Carrius are not great commander, but the fact is Wittmann was the best as starting as a Commander.

There are 2 videos on him.

Why ? Please see the RU-vid video with Dr Toppel who interviewed kurts actual commander Lots of myth that’s been propagated

Yet, they still were too lazy to translate what russian tanker said. Subtitles do not match completely )

Pervatin was so common it was called "Tankers' Chocolate."

That's all the Fuhrer needed. Having to worry about reckless Speed Freak Commander's he can't keep track of. Didn't they realize he already had a full plate of conferns?

British soldiers were also routinely given methamphetamine to keep them alert during their sleep deprived hours on the front.

winners dont use drugs

The German Cemetery at La Cambe near Cherbourg may contain thousands of graves. You can easily see Wittman's and his crew by the Wreaths and flowers.

Yeah a lot of the stuff that the Germans tinkered up would have made any lesser opponents think twice about pushing into Germany. Could be they referenced the Hetzer, German tank destroyer based on the PZ38(t) Czech light tank design that the Germans basically removed the turret on (along with various logistical improvements), and mounted a high velocity gun in the hull, very capable and cheap to produce, fielded in large numbers (almost 3000) right near and up to the end. It was used exactly as you described, striking from the shadows and disappeared before anyone knew what was going on. Unbelievably lethal and effective given it's light and cheap construction. It's replacement, the E-10, would have been even lower, faster, and armed with a better gun.

Mini Tigers, probably a Panzer 4, with skirts around the turret. Looked like a mini tiger.

@@larryking7 Perhaps, but I don't know. I think they may have been referring to just about any vehicle the Germans mounted a gun on.

Eh... You realise that the Stug III had a long barrel version, right? It would have easily cut through the frontal Armour of a T-34 at well over 1000 meters.

@@youraveragescotsman7119 wittman's stug III aufs A was a short barrel version.

@@youraveragescotsman7119 I do but Wittman had the short one. It's in the photo

@@justanotherguy4382 Cheers fella

@@zulubeatz1 Since T34s were poorly made(well lot of them had problems specailly with steel quality and welding) it was possible to destroy them with weaker guns.

Early, infantry support versions of the Stug III had a 7.5cm howitzer, just like the early PzKpfw IV had. When there was more need for it as a tank destroyer it was equipped with a long 7.5cm (StuK 40 in L/43 or L/48 lengths, it was a variant of the PaK 40).

@@peterlewerin4213 You're absolutely correct. I still wonder how Wittman was able to achieve so much success with the L/24. My guess is that he had HEAT rounds, the second generation of which were available by the time of this encounter, and enjoyed much better penetration than AP with this gun. It would have been nice if the documentary would have mentioned this, instead of erroneously referring to the L/24 as a "high velocity cannon", LOL!

Yes, but a good leader matters.

@@gravitatemortuus1080 When it comes to tanks the whole crew is rewarded so i don't know why people only talk about him his gunner was amazing

His Stug had the short L/24. There were no Stugs with the longer L/43 (then the later L/48) until summer 1942 and by then Wittmann was away from the front.

@@lyndoncmp5751 hi thx for your answer so I guess he was using the short barrel one taking off tracks and gun barrels forcing the crew to bail

@@AyoubusMagnus didn't that one German veteran mention that the T-34 was invincible to shells from the Stug and that Wittmann had to aim at it's only weakspot which was the middle between the turret and the hull. I think it was mentioned in the film.

@@BenDover-pr9gy Yes they spoke about a stug but never mentioned which model it was but luckily the person before you answered that the T-34 was imune to the short barrel 75 but not to the long barrel one.

Most of these crew members went through all stations anyway.

He's the quarterback.

Yeah, is like the he gets all the credit for being the leader, it happens too often.

It's all about camaraderie, they were like a well oiled machine together.

@@420BulletSponge but Wittman got all the grease

Someone has to spot the target

I'm more impressed by the Allied tankers who had to fight in inferior tanks and had to go up against him. Who's more braver. There person in one of the most heavily armoured and best gunned tanks of the war or those who know that their chances of surviving against such a tank are slim but still go on? It's a shame that history remembers and admires him but forgets those who didn't get all the praise and hero worshiping. Try giving some thought to them, even though you don't know their names.

@@frankanderson5012 I'd say the Allied tankers who had near unlimited air and artillery power on their side were a tad less brave.

@@frankanderson5012 Completely right especially the British tankers , he got what he deserved .

@@anugranmathimugan2778 America Bias

Lol 😆

Gayest thing you've ever said

Is it a Pontiac Chieftain? haha.

@@thenevadadesertrat2713 I wish lol... Just a good old G8 GT.. Holden Ute knockoff :)

Knispel! not Knipsel.

You know nothing of Kurt Knispel.

A tiger had a Crew of 5...Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver, and Hullgunner/radio operator

Fury is Hollywood Junk not a Movie!

@@eisbeinkraut9451 This.

@@stoggafllik Please google FURY with Brat Pitt ok

Kurt Knispel

Tigers in the Mud. Just read the book it’s hours of entertainment and much more exciting than any of these videos.

@@WhiteWolfeHU Already read it. Brilliant book.

Of course. Because the British never did ANYTHING like that in their hundreds of years of ruthless Imperial foreign colonialism, to say nothing of financing this doctrine in no small way by using the profits of the Atlantic Slave Trade, yeah?

Nha he didn't. He did It with a stuG F. The First with a long 75

@@samuelegiuliani9492 In 1941? Think again.

Have these numbers been verified by Russian sources?

I doubt that's possible, they just animated the wrong variant of Stug. Most history offerings on WW2 are wildly inaccurate on such matters.

@@roum22 This event took place in 1941. That makes it clear what gun the StuG would have had.

Kurt Knispel: ........

They were ALL an expendable joke to power mad fascists, as long as these helmet tools kept dreaming and didn't wake up from their bloodlusting dream worlds.

@@THEsuperCourier you do not know how if feels to be a soldier nor have honor keyboard warrior

Well spoken Sir.

Should be both idolize and respected.. they lose and consider as a wrong side in history..

@@SalmanKhan-rg2im you consider the Third Reich and it's history as "not wrong"?

@@cj360trider think he is talking about the master tanker which isn’t bad to idolize him for his abilities

@@cj360trider honestly looking at the world today, no they wasnt wrong. Look what Israel is doing to Palestine and the world today. We fought the wrong mates

I imagine the war would have been won by November of 41'.

@@mistermax3034 *anti-tank planes angry noises continue*

@@OPIUMCARTI1 ?

We would be speaking German now..

i think their air force never played the role like their land force major reason of German defeat

I feel sure that the British soldiers pledged allegiance to their (German) King and were required to defend the colonial empire.

Stupid words. Everyone who foughts for his country is hero

@@qwertyiopaasdf7551 I don't think you should accuse me of "stupid words" when your reply is the dumbest assessment ever.

@@roryobrien4401 how. Everyone who foughts for his country deserves respect.

Foolish talk. All know British brought knowledge, goodness and light to the backwards masses wherever they went. Elevated the world immensely but are still criticized. Confirming the old adage: "No good deed shall go unpunished"!