Interesting fact: While serving in a Panzer 4, Knispel's tank was hit by an incoming shell from a T-34, while the rest of the crew bailed out, Knispel remained inside the vehicle, got into the gunners seat, found the T-34 and destroyed it. The man was not one for giving up.
Interesting fact. Loader isn't credited for hits. never was. He was just a same extremly retarded Goebbels bullshit as Wittmann ........ which somehow managed to destroy 70 tanks with 44 (only of which some 15 where AP's) rounds of ammo ... and then lead his platoon of heavy tanks into most pathetic trap and being destroyed by few inferior Shermans and low calibre AT guns.
Many thanks for sharing this story of a patriot of the Fatherland, to which there was no equal. My only regret was being born 20 years late to shake his hand for his unwavering galentry and devotion of his beliefs and ideals.
Exceptionally well researched AND APPRECIATED. My Dad was on the Russian front from Nov '42 until D-day and, amongst others, was at Operation Citadel in Von Mansteins' forces
Jason, Actually, more Tiger tankers who served on both fronts thought Normandy was tougher, especially those in Knispel's battalion who experienced the allied aerial carpet bombing during Operation Goodwood. Richard von Rosen called it "hell". Tiger tankers on the Eastern Front had it easier. Better fields of view, not so much close up action, definitely fewer air threats etc.
@@lyndoncmp5751 "To me just about ANYONE who survived the Eastern Front is a Legend", "Anyone" means..... well, really.... EVERYONE, Russian's, German's, Italian's, Romanian's, etc, in every, and any activity, "Talk about a No Man's Land". Thank you for the info on the Tiger tankers, I do understand how the open steppe is conducive to tank warfare, but not always inviting when it comes to the skies, as towards the end when the Luftwaffe did not control them definitely from 44' on.
A 2000 meter shot. If my math is correct... that's over twenty football fields! Amazing. A Tiger in open country is deadly. No wonder those T34s turned to run. Great video as always! 👍🏼🇺🇸
The 88 was said to be 100% accurate at 1000 metres. Presumably in battle conditions with moving targets it wasn’t quite so but still it’s a remarkable statistic. The British Firefly had a remarkable 17 pounder cannon but this had accuracy issues.
Longest Tiger kill I know of was 3,900 metres in I think July 1944 near Brody on the Eastern Front. A Tiger I of Abteilung 506. Whether true or not, who knows. The 2nd New Zealand Division cited a Tiger I knocking out one of their Shermans at 3,000 yards near Florence, Italy in September 1944.
All US Tanks during WWII had some sort of Gun Stabilization. These were single-plane elevations, I think the M3-M4 105's did not as it was basically a Howitzer gun. In order to use this single-plane stabilizer, the tank had to remain at a low speed, probably 10mph or so. I don't believe the Lend Lease vehicles were equipped with the gyroscopic stabilizer because of the training needed to use it and the expense. So Soviet and UK-Commonwealth tanks did not use them.
@@JuergenGDB The US often times sent the older stuff as lend lease. Isntead of their best halftracks and armoed cars tehy sent models like the m3 instead of the m4 while tanks would see rapid creations like the grant which was replaced for the british by the sherman
On 10 April 2013, Czech authorities said that Knispel's remains were found with 15 other German soldiers behind a church wall in Vrbovec, identified by his dog tags.On 12 November 2014, the German War Graves Commission reburied his remains at the Central Brno military cemetery in Brno.
It's really nice to hear German names pronounced correctly! I bet he could even say "Messerschmitt" and not "Mashersmit". I almost missed the video because of my delight!
If you think about how chanceless you are in a tank against an enemy fighter or bomber aircraft, it's pure luck that you survive so long against enemies that had total air superiority!
Exactly after weather conditions improved over Bastogne. Air force squadrons had a victorous field day over the Panzer tanks. Not mention severe fuel shortages
The long 75 on the panther had a higher muzzle velocity and flatter trajectory. The 88 was a scary gun but the long 75 was a better tank gun in most regards. The ammo took up less space and it’s penetration was equal or better than the 88 in lots of cases.
@@chrisg2739 That's correct for the 88 mounted on the Tiger 1. The KwK 43 88mm L71 used on the Tiger 2 and Jagdpanther was a much scarier proposition and had slightly higher muzzle velocity than the KwK 42 75mm L70 used on the Panther.
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Professional class A research project!!! Special thanks to veteran tank commanders & crews. Sharing personal information/combat experiences making this documentary more authentic and possible. Fighting/perishing/surviving knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often times possible. Yet still advanced forward regardless of the consequences. True grit style determination to succeed. Knispel was a rarity with his 6th sense.& Ability to react instantly under immense pressure & stress.
KNIspel,s and meakel wittman they are 2 heros and young well trained qnd experiance crew tahnks we will not forget iam very sad to loss those heros Germany stiil needed
One of my fav tankers along with Carius and Wittman. Heard in an interview that Knispel often stole from fellow tankers, and that he was also not a Nazis, so that contributed to his not getting the recognition he so deserved. He Def was not the golden boy blonde handsome Nazis and SS officer that Wittman was.
I would be not so sure about that, Its a good fact that Knispel after the war didnt was a fan of interviewers and journalists because he knew they would mess up with his stories to favour the occupants which runs the media in post war Germany. Everything we actually rly know about this man is from stories told from near friends of him which the real interviews showed that they praised him and described as a calm guy which appreciated friendship and honesty, took the role of the helping and protecting big brother, and that he was proud to serve for his country. That part that he stole from others came first up when he and his comrade where all dead. There is even an incident known that he punched an officer k.o. Many say today that was because that the officer didnt wanted to recommend him because it was known that he didnt share the ideology or similar, which isnt true. The real reason why he did that was because that officer insultet the crews driver for his in oil and dirt muddy uniform, didnt realizing they came back directly from battle. Proving the "big brother" figure as described from his near comrades.
I read some of those stories too. I can't verify the good or bad stories, but the sum of the man seems to be that he was a good guy who had an amazing gift. I wish he and many others had lived thru the war to tell us themselves.
You know Knispel was special with how the German Army of all things let his beard and general unkempt appearance slide. A nod to 'Old Rough and Ready' Zachary Taylor who dressed increasingly sloppy with each advance in rank that would casually talk farming with the lowliest enlisted man.
@@daveybyrden3936 are you certain because panzer 3 wasnt took out of frontline roles until after kursk. The pz3L model had the side skirts just like the pz4
@@chadrowe8452 According to "Trail of the Tigers" by Ron Klages, new Tigers to replace the Panzer III were issued in April and May 1943. We know that they replaced the Panzer III because we can see the tanks being renumbered at that time, in photos of several affected Tiger units, and the numbering scheme has no place for Panzer III within the Tiger platoons.
The allied landing in Sicily was one of the reasons the Germans stopped the attack but definitely not the main one. The attack force of the Germans was too depleted and their casulties were too high- that was the main reason
The clearest interior clips must be re-enactments. Look at 10:14. The loader (at left of the photo) is wearing headphones. In a real Tiger crew, the loader was not given headphones and would not wear them anyway, because there was nothing on his side of the turret to plug them into.
@@heinerheise703 That is true. But the video clips here don't show a Befehlswagen. e.g. in the same image, at 10:14, you can see a Kasten 5c junction box beside the escape hatch, but a Befehlswagen would also have a round power socket below it for the power cable of the turret radio set. Or look at 02:59, which appears to be from the same filming session. There is an ammunition bin in the sponson by the driver. Befehlstigers didn't have that.
0:16 is a genuine wartime Tiger interior clip. 1:02 is a wartime clip but is not a Tiger. 3:25 repeats 0:16 5:25 is a wartime clip but is not a Tiger. 10:29 repeats 1:02 All the other internal clips appear to be reenactors inside Bovington Museum's Tiger "131".
Very enjoyable and informative. If I had a complaint, it would be no mentioning the Tiger flaws and difficulties. More objectivity adds to the authors' credibility.
Well trained Tiger tankers didn't encounter many flaws. The flaws are over exaggerate by modern armchair critics. In 1944 the Tiger had a 70-80% overall operational average. Even Otto Carius said a well trained Tiger driver could reduce technical issues by 90% and that none of his Tigers ever broke down in combat, only on long road marches when they were over exerted. Richard von Rosen said you learned to live with any flaws and that the benefits far outweighed them. Id rather listen to those who actually served in the Tigers and the operational stats than modern armchair critics.
A gallon of gas for every 1/2 mile is a flaw, especially when your motherland is not a petrol producer. Breaking down on long marches is still breaking down. It's a well known fact that German tanks were not easy to repair in the field. The tiger was a great tank but not without its flaws. Most tankers loved their machines and called them home, I doubt many would bad mouth them as they were alive to tell their tales.
Hardly promoted or decorated because of his views on the nazis n saved some Russian pow (probably murdered later) n they didn’t like the way he looked with his straggly beard..shame he was killed in a tank battle near the end of the war..not really recognised as one of the greatest tank aces in Germany at the time but he was..
Kurt once struck an SS soldier for mistreating a Jew, among the Jews which were being sent to camps. Knispel probably had no idea how gigantic was the amount of atrocities being committed out of site of public view. He was almost court-marshalled but given light punishment and denial of promotion, because of his propaganda value to the Nazis for his battlefield exploits. By 1945, he had been assigned to a King Tiger (Tiger ll) and command of a unit. After several more victories, he was killed in battle, only weeks from the end of the war
Yes the 88mm WKW 36 L 56 gun was a good antitank weapon. The problem with the tiger tank was that it's cross country performance in muddy conditions was very poor. This led them to have to use formed roads because of their weight and this disadvantage ended in losses of tiger tanks on the roads. It has to be noted that in North Africa and in Italy the Tiger 1's did not provide any real advantage. The tiger could be knocked out and on many occasions was ambushed by allied tanks and antitank gun screens. Once immobilised by mines or other means such as an antitank round it was highly vulnerable to Artillary fire as other immobilised tanks were. It has to be noted even though the tiger 1 had the advantage in flat open terrain in the rare tank on tank engagements, it was still vulnerable without infantry support to protect it from being taken out by an infantry assault and or an air attack. However the engine and transmission problems persisted throughout it operational use and the adage the tiger killed itself was too true in reality, as its crews were forced to abandon broken down tiger 1's, destroying them to render them unusable to the enemy. The panzer crews in a lot of cases were killed when their tanks were hit, and this was the case with Kurt knispel, and Michael Whitman and their crews. Unfortunately due to the overly complex nature of their manufacture there were always never any means to speed up production of either tiger 1's or tiger 2's so there were never enough to make a strategic difference to the wars outcome.
I have to make one correction regarding the often incorrectly stated "poor" cross country performance of the Tiger. The Tiger runs on the Schachtellaufwerk with overlapping road wheels, which is a huge mess regarding maintenance effort, but on the other side the huge number of roadwheels reduced the ground pressure (kg/cm²) insanely - it was even lower than T-34's!
@@heinerheise703 The British tested a tiger 1 and found the vehicle to have very poor performance in wet soil, muddy conditions. Infact when doing this testing they found the transmission and engine failures that were the Achilles heal of such heavy tanks. The Russians also examined captured tigers and found weaknesses they could exploit.! There are a number of reports of tigers being bogged and having to be abandoned in and around Leningrad and in other theatres of operation . Due to the swampy boggy marsh lands arround Leningrad the tigers were limited in their movement to the firmer ground and formed roads leading them to be taken out by artillary. Due to its weight which was also a factor for the 45 tonne Panther tank the German bridging equipment could only take a 30 tonnes maximum vehicle load. During the retreat from Normandy, the allied airforces took out the bridges across the Seine River, and the surviving german tanks in many cases were abandoned as there was no means to get them accross. During the battle of the Bulge the US army engineers had the intelligence to blow up any bridges in the path of the German armour. So the tiger1'S and the even heavier tiger 2'S and other german armour were rendered ineffective as they could not cross the waterways. Even though the tiger could wade across firm riverbed crossings this was impossible in the winter conditions with ice and snow. They eventually were forced to detour to find intact river crossing bridges and eventually ran out of fuel and were then immobile and abandoned by their crews. So the adage used was that the tiger killed itself was perfectly apt in many situations. The German tank crews feared greatly the allies ability of antitank artillary to destroy their tanks and placed a higher priority in taking out antitank artillary if they could, as this was a great threat to them. The tiger tank had many innovations and a good antitank gun but the allies found ways of disabling it with mines and other weaponry and it could be delt with when encountered. The sad truth is the tiger tank was intended to be a break through tank but was rarely used in its intended role as by the time it was in sufficient numbers the German forces were in retreat on all fronts.
So, do not declare war on the U.S.A. , while fighting the Soviet Union at the same time. This would have given the Germans 2 years to test the Tiger under carefully-controlled conditions; and rectify most of the flaws; before mass -production. In those two years on the Eastern Front; the Germans could have kept the Red Army at bay by emphasizing anti-tank guns for their infantry divisions while staying on the strategic defensive. This would have enabled the flaws in the Panther and Tiger tanks to be largely solved. Adequate field testing before production.
@@robertleache3450 The initial promoter of Blitzkrieg General Hinze Guderian, when things were looking bad on the eastern front, suggested seriously using defensive measures utilising antitank guns in defensive screens against Soviet armour. Hitler refused to even continence the suggestion, called Guderian a defeatist and relived him of his position i.e gave him the sack. Unfortunately the tiger 1 was only a stop gap measure for a breakthrough tank and was planned to have a short production period until the tiger 2 was developed and placed into production. Overall the interference in tank design and production by Hitler ensured that there was near anywhere enough of the Tigers produced and they started losing them in action when they were first delivered and employed on the fronts. Unfortunately the Nazis were not good economic managers and their foreign trade ties arround the world very poor, which lead to shortages of critical raw materials to wage war, and the British shipping trade embargo which was instituted on day one of the war slowly strangled the German wartime economy. So in truth the war was critically lost at sea, and through poor decisions. Poor decisions were made by both sides but in the end the German tally was far greater and resulted in complete defeat.
Heinz Guderian was also against the large scale Offensives in 1942 and 1943. With regards to Operation Blau 1942, he said: "We should be building up our armaments (not launching any large scale attacks)". I believe the Germans could have remained largely on the defensive in Russia in 1942, 1943 and 1944. The exceptions being: take Leningrad and Sevastopol in 1942. Murmansk and Archangel in 1943; and a slow, grinding advance along the Black Sea Coast. The main front would have stayed on the defensive and the line shortened by giving up the Demansk and Rhez salient. This would have given the Germans, Time to build up their armaments, mobilize their economy on a full war-footing; and develop the agricultural assets of the Ugraine; and the mineral deposits of the Donbass. No large scale offensive until 1945: with the aim of taking the oil-fields of Maikop and Grozny (not taking Stalingrad in 1945. All of this is predicated on the Germans Not declaring war on the U.S.A. A few more Japanese victories in the Pacific, and Roosevelt would not have dared to go to war with Germany; as American public opinion was largely against the Japanese and not the Germans. Hitler dug his grave when declaring war against the U.S.A. , at the end of 1941-and it need not have been that way if he had played his cards wisely.
The German operations in Kursk were doomed from the start. Not only had the British broken the enigma code but there were many spies within Hitler's inner circle so the Soviets knew the battle plans of Operation Citadel in advance and built up the necessary defenses.
Filthy propaganda, it was the Polish who found out about the enigma and it was them who cracked it....the Brits ware useless as usually, good for printing gold for their proxy wars only :P
By studying the best books on the battle, by Germans, I believe the Germans could have held out and won the encirclement if not for orders from above to give up.
No not necessarily. That's a very oversimplified layman's reasoning. If we used that argument or applied it to everyone who fights in a war or an aggression then America itself is guilty as well. We conquered territory that wasn't ours when we moved west, for living space...the term was westward "expansion" I believe. We slaughtered Native Americans then put them on reservations. We picked fought France, England, Mexico and threatened Spain as we ved west. We are little different. And in fact Hitler cited America as a prime example of how to expand. He wanted to put the Jews on Madagascar but couldn't because of the English Navy....and before that pushed to deport the Jews out of Germany and off the European Continent, only to have other countries deny the Jews from entering their countries. Anne Frank died in part because the US didn't offer her and her family entry or a visa to the US. The Nazis are an example of what many other other countries have done or tried to do. The moral issues and questions of what was right and wrong are muddy and complicated. Germany could have been stopped prior to 1939 and was not. It's very complicated and not something that that can be summed up in a few sentences. Damn look at the crimes we committed during the Iraqi War at Abu Grab (sic) prison.... what even the good guys are capable of with a little power and anger are mixed with opportunity and an initial lack of consequence.
It doesn't matter, because in the end the Russians easily outproduced even the Americans with new and similar made tanks from the effective working Eastern Factories. The rough, but fine T34 was easy to built industrially, and only had one major change, a larger turret and it had a diesel engine with a longer range and with many times the number of German tanks built, it didn't matter that some became ruined, finally beating the Hell out of the Germans, on the way back to Germany. The Germans constantly develloped their tanks but then missed the spareparts, so they had to leave fine tanks because of that!
“Hitler call off the offensive because Allies landing in Sicily”… This is a typical and stereotypical misleading from majority western resources about operation Citadel. The result of the collapse of the operation "Citadel" was precisely the offensive of the Soviet troops. The transfer of troops to Italy from the Eastern Front did not begin until 25 July. For example, from the three SS Panzer divisions from the Eastern Front, only one SS Leibstandarte division got into Italy, and even then without tanks and self-propelled artillery installations. Was it a terrible force capable of stopping the Allied landings in Italy?
Such a waste of good leaders and excellent soldiers. Their fates were the same, buried somewhere in haste on a Russian steppe somewhere. If my memory serves me, Knispel's body was found along with other German soldiers and relocated to a war cemetery in the Czech Republic.
