Germany's Magnetic Anti-tank Weapon 

"The Panzerfaust had an affective range of 60m. 60m more than the Panzerknacker" lol

Funny seeing Heroes and Generals footage being used as a source examples of accurate uses in WW2 games lmao

A brother of my grandfather died in a manhole waiting to apply a "Panzerknacker" a tank rotated over the manhole burring him alive. They dug him up 30 years later. The skeleton was still holding the charge said my grandfather.

"Generally, only one is needed to knock out a tank" *proceeds to place 5 magnetic mines on 3 surfaces of BT tank*

"It had a range of 60m, 60m longer than the panzerknacker" was so funny to me lol

I remember using these in Company Of Heroes, super risky since you had to get close to a tank, but it was a guaranteed kill on literally any armored vehicle.

The Panzerfaust definatelly improved your chances over the Hafthohlladung. Interestingly in the UK knackers means balls so maybe they had that in mind when they called it the Panzerknacker as you'd really need a big pair to plant that bomb. I did read that it took two days overall to apply the Zimmerit paste, then leave it to dry and then apply the camouflage paint which also needed to dry. You have to wonder how many manhour were lost applying the Zimmerit paste when it was not needed.

One would need an equally large and solid pair of brass balls to use such weaponry.

Great video Johnny. The '93 "Stalingrad" is still awesome albeit not exactly a date night movie. Love the game footage inclusion too mate 🙂

There was also the Limpet Bizkit Mine, which was ineffective. Troops issued it tried so hard and got so far but in the end, it doesn't even matter.

I used to be that guy in Heroes and Generals who would ride around on a motorcycle and just demolish camping tanks with this, good times.

Germans made a counter as they were terrified of their own technology being used against them. We see several techs they made used rarely due this including sea mines and such things.

ok but that battlefield 5 clip with the planes was sick as hell

Great content that doesn’t bore your viewers. You seem to have a knack for this keep up the good work.

I own an original Haftholadung. It utilized the head of a panzerfaust and a friction fuze similar to the Eirhandgranate 39. Der Panzerknacker was the title of a training pamphlet for the Panzer Grenadier troops, if you want to see actual footage of the weapon being employed, scare up a copy of MANNER GEGEN PANZER (man against tank) it's all original training film footage and shows two troops getting crushed when the T34 they've attached the magnetic mine to explodes, blowing off it's turret which landed on the men.

Adding the "Panzerknacker" mission from Medal of Honor was a nice touch.

My understanding was that zimmerit (the anti-magnetic mine coating) was to protect German tanks from their own magnetic anti-tank weapons, either captured by the allies, and reused (hey, any port in a storm, right?), or emplaced by German units and not properly marked. I could be wrong though.

I'm glad you thought of that MOH level too at the mention of Panzerknacker!

Lol yeh the panzerfausts range of 60 metres doesn't sound so bad compared to standing right next to of previous weapons

"It was not a throwing weapon" Shows a pilot throwing one at another plane and destroying it.

Ahhh the PanzerKnacker mission for the 1999 Medal of Honor Underground. I see you too are a man of culture sir!

From what I've read, one German would throw two smoke canisters connected by a rope like a bolo and wrap that around the tanks barrel and thereby blind the tank with smoke, while another would attach the mine! The concept of "risk" on the Russian Front was a little different from elsewhere it seems.

0:58 5 H3 charges on a BT7 light tank. RIP repair or maintenance fee 😂

2:37 when you've reached that level of skill, it's time to turn your PC off and never turn it back on.

Heroes and Generals dude just running around a tank putting 5 charges on it is just funny.

Those panzerknackers in MOH scared the heck out of me as a kid! lol

"Not a throwing weapon" The entire men of war series: Hold my beer

You are quickly becoming one of my favourite tubers, ur videos are very informative and enjoyable to watch. Keep up the good work mate.

kinda interesting that germans were so confident in their own magnetic mines, they've tried to prevent the same thing being used on them. Zimmerite was developed as a coating that prevents magnetic mines sticking to the tank, despite the fact that no one from allies actually used magnetic mines as an anti-tank weapon.

“What knackers!” “Why thank you doctor.” Is a rigid Limpet mine an oxymoron?

2:32 "It's not a throwing weapon" BF5:hold my beer

Medal of Honor is where my mind goes when I hear Panzerknacker so I enjoyed that nod 👍👌

Ooooh, the MOH music brought back some memories, holy crap!

In a WW2 German training film, they demonstrated a soldier vaulting out of his fox hole to run up to the moving enemy tank, attach the magnetic charge then jump back into a foxhole to avoid being wounded by his own anti-tank weapon when it exploded.

Ha ha, that H&G footage is the definition of Overkilling, In that game, two was enough to delete the Tank, nowadays it's usefulness is only against APC vehicles xD

Also imagine having to carry this extremely weird shaped devise as an infantry man

Love the little bit of medal of honor at the end

Omg you also played medal of honour!? I loved playing those classics. I still play them to this day.

Post Scriptum footage. Great game!

Also featured in the movie "Bras Target" (1978) in the scene blowing up Patton's gold train. Nice movie with John Cassavetes. Nice video John!🎖 You win a medal!

I enjoy your videos very much. The insightful commentary is great. Keep 'em coming.

absolute props to that actor who had t-34 drive over his foxhole in OG stalingrad

Yeah in red orchestra 2 it was my best friend especially in the bridges of druzhina map since the online players loved to use t 34 tanks we used to make them go mad.

Cross of Iron and Stalingrad are must watch war films.

Older people have told me that they must learn to destroy tanks with Explosives from near. As we saw it in the video, until the 70s

Love the MOH nod at the end

This is seriously the most video gamey explosive I've ever heard of.

Tank engine: Captions: [Applause]

Damn that battlefield 5 clip was sweet jumping out of the plane throwing bomb and jumping back in getting the kill

Today I learned the Panzerfaust had 60m more range than the Panzerknacker.

I was not expecting that at all @2:45 😂 good of you to add that in Johnny

"needs only 1 to destroy/disable the tank" Gamer: "did you say six?"

Seeing this reminded me of the limpet charge in Battlfield 1, a bomb about the size of a dinner plate that the support could take as their non ammo bag gadgets. It had a throw range of 1-2 meters and stuck to any surface or vehicle it hit, after 3 seconds it did considerable damage to whatever was in range. I remember using it to clear barbed wire, blow holes into buildings or walls, dislodge entrenched enemies on an upper floor, blow open locked metal doors, create holes in the ground for cover and do heavy damage to any tank I could sneakily ambush. For some reason the device also had no explosive indicator meaning in the typical battlefield clusterfuck hallways on enclosed maps you could chuck it down the stairs, get gunned down but get a multikill as people failed to realize you had dropped a bomb at their feet.

Thanks for including the Medal of Honor 'build your own' Panzerknacker clip at the end!

Zis is mein Panzerknacker. It knacks panzers.

At 0:21 that is a german actor named Siegfried Lowitz, the film was "Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse" (The invisible claws of Dr. Mabuse)

My man ate that panzerfaust and kept rolling 3:50

Pretty sure the ones who actually did manage to destroy something with dis Suixide Weapon were granded the iron Cross if they manage to survive. Like i can't even imagine running to such a hugh and loud beast of steel and using something like that...

The spin-and-squish you showed gave me the heebie jeebies, man!

0:58 - I miss Heroes and Generals.

I played lots of heroes and generals was my preferred way to destroy tanks as the Germans or placing one mine at either end so it can't escape unless in blows up on the end of the tank played over 1700 plus hours but never used the shaped charge but I imagine it would be okay since it's on support great video good to see the 1993 Stalingrad clip

“Focused Metallic Jet”.

German soldier: *blows up* British soldier 1: What happened to him? British soldier 2: He's been panzer knackered!

I can’t believe it

Nawwww that guy did a rendezook with a panzerknacker

Cross of Iron was a great film, James Coburn made a great German Nco. I'm pretty sure his character was based on an actual German soldier on the eastern front, with the same name. Book is an excellent read, written by a German veteran of the Russian front. It's also a better read than the film was a movie.

That h&g footage... gone but not forgotten, old friend

This is a Panzerknacker. It knackers panzers

haften means something like sticking or holding onto so its a sticky shape charge

I can confirm you can throw these as well, atleast my Battlefield 1 Avatar can

Lol Nice touch at the end with the panzerknacker from MoH 2

Fact: the German shaped charge was called a nipple bomb

"The panzerfaust had a range of 60 meters. 60 more than the panzerknacker." 👊

Great video! I've always called this the "ballsiest" weapon of the war due to the method required for deploying it. I have five original 3 HHL examples in my collection, but only couple training versions of the 3,5 HHL.

As a German version of Jessie Pinkman would say: “JA, BITCH! MAGNETE!”

Fun fact: In the German version of the Donald Duck comic books, the "Beagle Boys" were known as the "Panzerknacker".

You wouldn’t see me putting no panzerknacker on a tank.

0:58 that's a lot of panzer knocker for destroying a BT

After they made that they thought about their enemies having their own so they basically put a material over the armor of their tanks to prevent the explosive from magnetically sticking

Pictures from Max manus gives me the chills

Stalingrad is such a good film

Too bad those paratroopers in "Saving Private Ryan" didn't have one, because only one guy would've needed to get up on that Tiger, to place one on the roof, and all of those guys wouldn't have been chewed up by the 2cm AAA unit.

The Munroe or Neumann effect should be discussed. The shape charge which is what these magnetic bombs are must have a conical shape that has a stand off application. I've seen them made from a wine glass. Just by shaping something to a wine glass like configuration makes it possible to penetrate six inches of steel.

The fact that there's Post Scriptum footage here makes me moist

i love how the only kills i got in post scriptum was once, ive never gotten more kills and it was because of the panzerknacker on a sherman

Sort of reminds me of the EFPs they used in Iraq. Explosively Formed Projectile.. A piece of copper with a charge behind it. The thing would blow the copper into a dart that could ruin your day. It could go right into an engine block deep. A single small EFP can disable all sorts of armored vehicles.

One funny thing a out zimmerit is that it helped against molotow cocktails. The liquid from the cocktail whould dispurse further and run down the pattern of the paste. This caused the flames to die out faster as tge liquid couldn't pool up as well as on normal surfaces. At least that's what Russian tests during the war showed with captured German tanks...

The Germans themselves used a grout coating called zimmerit that was meant to minimize the areas a magnetic mine could be placed on.

Look out! He's got a Panzerfaust!!

Anyone else catch the filthy 1940's milspec bong at 3:14?

I thought “Panzerknacker” was a joke term. Knacker is colloquially used to describe something as broken - it’s knackered, I’m knackered, you’ve knackered it etc. (as opposed to its Irish usage as a slur for gypsies). You can also be hit in the knackers meaning hit in the testicles which derived from the fact that such a blow would ‘knacker you’. Presumably it derived from ‘knackers yard’ which was where horses were euthanised. I’ll bet the training days for the use of such weapons were interesting. “You want us to do what!!!!???”

"magnetic power" monsoon

There is a scene in "Divisione Folgore" where the italians infantry attack tanks with explosives charges

"Knacked"

Aw riiiiight! I'm enjoying all of these reports and I hope Johnny will keep making them.

Imagine dropping these from drones

Wait….that H&G video is my vid?! Happy to see it

Rather surprising for a german viewer is the use of ,snippetts (?)' from an early 60s german fantasyfull black and white movie showing Lex Barker ( USA) and Siegfried Lowitz ( Germany).

Tank commanders are very reluctant to allow their tanks to be in a situation where a soldier could touch a tank. Tanks not supported by infantry have very short lives in combat. Molotov cocktails worked well on World War Two Tanks and had a longer range than a Hafthohlladung or Panzerknacker, so they were never of much use.

It looks like more risky than using Molotov cocktail.