@@cameronmcallister7606 Would likely get out complaining about how theres no room in it to do anything, then blast the brits for tea instead of coffee...
The bivvie is the most important component of a British tank. Tracks broken? Become a bunker! Main gun out? Do ‘em with the machineguns! Bivvie out? Tank out of action, return to depot!
There's a funny anecdote I read in a WW2 GI's autobiography. They were cooking up a can of beans and fell asleep in a house. The can exploded, and the soldier woke up covered in beans! His comrades heard the explosion, ran in and thought a grenade had gone off and that he was covered in gore. Their panic, panicked him and then he thought he was hit and in shock! They had to strip him down in freezing Holland to find out what happened!
One of my favourite army stories is from the early 60s and the BAOR. A Centurion battalion was in some sort of NATO exercise and had a fairly senior American officer with them. As part of the exercise the tanks are driving on a road and the column stops briefly just to check the maps. The American officer is surprised that in the two minutes the column has been stopped, before he noticed it was even happening everyone has suddenly got a brew in their hands including him! The ability of a British soldier to “get a brew on” is almost supernatural. Not sure how accurate the story is (certainly could be a Chinese whispers in it) but sounds like something that could have happened.
*KGB report: "BV"* Technical specifications - Unknown. Apparently has great morale boosting ability for crew. Special capitalist equipment, seems they remove it from tanks for foreign export if Soviets are likely to get their hands on it. Top secret tech, needs immediate investigation.
This was top notch. James and Richard did a great job with this topic. Hopefully we will see a lot more of these, Corona notwithstanding. Cheers! BTW: American tank crews were so impressed with, and jealous of, the BV when they saw British crews using them in Iraq that it is now standard equipment on the Abrams.
@@888johnmac From what I understand, it has full on espresso capabilities :P . You know if the US do anything they totally go over the top. The Loader has to be a fully qualified barista :D
There's two reasons the loader on an M1A2 Abrams is the most important member of the crew, IMHO: The first is the BV, which stows under his seat and is his responsibility. The second is the auxiliary input jack for the internal communication system, which is mounted directly over his right shoulder. So in other words, he's responsible for both making the coffee and picking the playlist. Hail to the king, baby!
I can just imagine this question being posed at a sorting centre: "You want to be a commander?" "Yes sir." "How's your brew?" "Good, sir." "Brilliant!"
WW1: getting the lads together outside near the Mark tank for tea WW2: getting the lads together outside near the Cromwell for tea postwar: *inside the tank* "top up that BV" just British tanker things
The problem: British soldiers keep getting shot brewing up their tea on/near their tank. Any other army: We make the mess guys deal with hot drinks and you're only allowed to drink pre-packaged drinks or drinks prepared by the mess guys unless you're in an actual proper camp. British army: Right, that's a good idea, but what if we just put a kettle in the tank?
@@bruceclarke6368 What about all of that "Hurry up and wait time? " Lots of time to kill waiting for H Hour and nerves to settle doing something familiar and good for morale.
@@bruceclarke6368 Yeah of course. But that doesn't change the fact that a lot of our soldiers were being killed when attacked while brewing up, whether that's by other tanks, the air, or even just a sneaky guy with a gun while the sentries are a bit tired.
There are several paragraphs at the start of a chapter of Bob Crisp's *Brazen Chariots* covering how, during Operation Crusader, there were periods when the airwaves were filled with calls to base requesting permission to brew up. ...and in one instance a German voice on radio telling them it was fine to brew up.
Alfie Martin He didn't record there being any ambush. It's got to be that JABO (or whatever the callsign was) was as rudderless as they were just then.
Alfie Martin I pulled the book off the shelf. It's in the chapter titled "First Day": "...God knows how many gallons of precious petrol were used up during that and subsequent campaigns in bringing kettles to the boil. Halfhearted attempts were made to prevent it while armored regiments lay stranded with empty petrol tanks, but generals and brigadiers as well as troopers and privates came to recognize the moral effect of "a brew", and it was never seriously discouraged. In the grim days and nights that followed November 18 it was an incredible but not unusual sight to see some tank crew, temporarily immobile or disengaged but still under fire, huddled over a sand-and-petrol stove making tea. It was also inevitable during any sort of lull in the battle to hear some voice on the air calling up the CO and saying "Hullo, JAGO. JAGO Two calling. May we brew up?" Once, in the middle of an action down near El Gubi, many days and many lives later, we heard a distinctive Teuton voice saying on our regimental frequency "Hullo, BALO. BALO calling. You may brrrew up". The battle paused while the whole regiment rocked with laughter. I have no doubt some died laughing."
Alfie Martin they were fighting off and on, back and forth. These engagements were a bit piecemeal and intermittent. Tanks coming in, tanks heading out or breaking down, fire at night with little hope of making hits. Crisp didnt make it clear whether the German was saying "why don't you guys take a tea break" or whether the German comms officer on duty to monitor the comms was just cheerfully joking to somebody out of the fight that they could brew up as requested, "pretending" to be their CO because their real CO hadn't responded. I think that second one is what he means.
My late father loved brewing up with a pan, loose tea, and condensed milk.(he'd have done it all the time, but mum wasn't keen). Very possibly the first tea I drank was made this way. Dad wasn't tank crew, but was in the Royal Engineers. The first bit of the video brought back a lot of memories.
A d don’t forget that during the Early days of NATO joint training exercises in cold weather climates, the British tanks would sometimes have a crewman or the entire tank crew from another tank coming over to ask to have some water heated up.
I like the idea behind this. Instead of discussing the armor and weapon effectiveness, which is easily found in plenty of online sources, it's more focused on how the crews lived in these machines while on duty. Recently Arsenalen in Sweden did something similar with 'how to cook food in a tank'.
Fantastic, really great idea for yet another series Fron the Tank Museum. As someone who spent a lot of time in CVRT’s the BV was essential, especially in a German winter.
As far as I know the BOXER armored wheeled vehicle has one of those BVs in the crew compartment because the Brits put that into the requirements when they still where in the program. German and Dutch soldiers are very grateful for that. And now Britsh soldiers too, as the UK decided to by the BOXER after all.
Sany0 woo hoo, the Copper Kettle, Cafe Fox, the Pink House (Casanova club) beside Walsrode, disco alalai at Duishorn, cactus club on the way to Soltau.... ah the memories. Lol. And what was the name of that pub on the bend that somebody put a Chally in to? (Muff coupler problem?)
An old workmate of mine who was a WWII Para who saw action in Market Garden insisted on making his own "compo" tea at work he would make it in a billy-can which he would whirl around like a windmill to settle the tea leaves to the bottom of the can. He often shared it with me and it was like the nectar of the Gods.
I had seen a picture of the “BV” but i didn’t know how it worked, thanks for showing it. Even though I’m am American, coffee doesn’t work for me, tea will get the job done. Thanks again for the curious story of tea and tanks!
You don't get rid of the liner vessel, you heathens. That's what your curries are cooked in. And if you happen to have a particularly good loader, say a Sikh loader by the name of Jason who was a sous chef before joining up, you get steamed puddings, curries, soups, and all sorts of things in addition to water for tea. Sitting in the middle of Germany in winter, freezing rain outside, and you're golden. :)
chaz8758 I remember it in the Frogs and of course the AVRE and the AVLB. But I don’t remember it in my Ferret. But we are talking a very long time ago:)
First World War Tommies also used dried tea tablets, comprising of compressed tea, dried milk, and sugar. Like the cooker, they only came as private purchases from back home. One popular type was manufactured by John Richardson and Company of Leicester, and marketed under the name "TMS Tablets" (tea, milk, sugar) with the slogan "Five O'Clock Tea in the Trenches".
The Swedish tank museum came out how to cook with a tank, now the tea on tanks: sooner or later it will pop up how to make a significant emotional irish stew on a gas turbine without having to say "oh bugger the tank is on fire".
I have not seen it successfully achieved yet. We're one of the nations which stole the BV from the British, it's now on the M1 and M3, so much easier to get the stew done in that.
Little-known facts - Carnation milk helps heat retention, better heat conductor. The Russians used jam for their hot drinks for the same reason, pectin helping to keep the drink hot. Also critical - Choose the right boiled sweets, and you can have any flavour you like, and it's brilliant.
The method of brewing up using petrol, sand and a can's mentioned in the film Ice Cold in Alex. Captain van der Poel is ignorant of the method and it's one of the clues that give away his real identity as Hauptman Otto Lutz. There's an interview with a British tank officer in the old World at War series. He mentioned the fact that his crew stowed a bucket of water near the tank's exhaust; thereby ensuring a supply of boiling water when the engine was running. They use the bucket to prepare a pig carcass they acquire.
@Ralph Allen Looking through the comments on this video it seems like there isn’t one tank ever made that hasn’t at some point been used as a cooker by some cold, hungry tired tanker. Being cold and hungry/thirsty appears to make soldiers very creative.
How To... Drink Tea in a Tank -Interesting -Absolutely British -Obvious How To... Have a Brew in a Tank -Attention grabbing -Possibly witches -Mysterious -Expect a coven get a pair of milit brits enjoying a tea
I remember when a British tank crew tried out the first model of M1 Abram tanks and wrote down their impressions of it. One of their main complaints was the lack of a boiling vessel.
I have this wonderful image of a loader sitting in the turret with a selection of armour piercing and high explosive rounds on one side of him and Darjeeling and Chai on the other.
British tanks had no case from the Chieftain, if I remember correctly. Rifled 120mm has warhead, separate charges in bags and an ignitor. After the BOOM, came out just the ignitor shell, the size of a 12,7mm spent case. Not so useful for sanitary purposes. Rumors said that 105mm cases were kind of comfortable.
Ya'll drink tea like I do. A proper cup of tea is valuable and a restoring thing all over the world. Great to see James Holland and Richard Cutland on camera together. These presentations are a great addition, thanks!
Knowing that morale is literally everything in warfare, I'm kinda surprised countries didn't or don't put a little more effort into these low-hanging fruit solutions that not only keep the spirits of their tank crews up, but also help them to stay mobile. Why not mini-fridges and mini-magnetrons, seriously? Even with interior tank space at a premium, there should be ways to fit in huge morale boosters like these without having to compromise on critical combat functionality.
@@clothar23 Simple: If they run out of power, it's no biggy as long as vital power functions of a vehicle stay up. When power is abundant though, they are a huge moral multiplier.
@@Drrolfski Dude do you even have any idea what you're talking about ? The power plant of tank is its engine. When the engine is off the only power supply is the battery, which is disconnected as part of standard shut down procedure for the night. So no juice for any of the electric systems since keeping the battery charged for immediate dust off is more important than keeping beer cold ya know.
@@clothar23 Didn't you read my words? It's about running stuff like this without having to compromise on critical combat functionality. This should be technically well possible and keeping main batteries charged enough is of course part of that. Who says that this stuff needs to share the same power source or batteries anyway?
@@clothar23 Most MBT's have an auxiliary generator that is kept running to provide power and keep the batteries charged up when the main engine is shut down.
The only British vehicles in use in the Belgian Army were from the CVR-T series. I had a Spartan and a BV! The rest of the artillery regiment had to make do with US M-109 SP guns and no BV. I was the envy of the regiment.
RAF ace Pierre Clostermann became one of the first French pilots to land in France after the Normandy landings. He decided to, against regulations, wear a French uniform under his overalls. The temporary airstrip he had been sent to was just bare, red dirt, fanned up into dust clouds by the landing aircraft. So his triumphant arrival in France ended up with him being shouted off the field by British ground crew, getting red dust on his face and on the exposed parts of his pristine uniform, and when he reached the dugouts someone handed him a cup of "scalding tea". And as a final insult, the tea was good and made him feel better.
In WW1 when troops on the frontline had a brew up they were given tea in a bag which they would drop into a large pot of hot water to make their tea. Unofficially the first tea bag. In Sicily in WW2 the British and American paratroopers were fighting alongside each other. An American officer went to talk to one of his opposite numbers only to find them have a brew in the middle of the battle.
Crud!!! Here you see two blokes, sitting on top of a Centurion tank and lustily flapping their jowls over making tea in a tank. Blissfully they omit the fact that it was exactly that same trusty old Centurion was the FIRST British tank to have the combination of internal drinking water storage AND an electric water boiler / tea-maker available as standard issue.
My Dad was a Tankie and said they made "all in Tea" Shove the lot in a tin and boil it up. Then they made "Bagoo" which is Biscuits Army for the use of mixed into a paste with Tinned milk and jam.
It wasn't just tankers who enjoyed tea (or coffee, for us yanks)Truck drivers would place metal canteens or small water cans on the engine blocks. You had to remember to leave the cap a little loose or it would explode. The same thing was done with canned rations. But if you forgot to punch a small hole in it, you would have to explain to the maintenance officer why you had overcooked corn beef hash in your engine compartments. In the US Army M113 APC, you can access the engine from inside, right next to the driver. It was a great way to heat up your food, until the MREs came along. Also, if a British soldier was in a colony, they could get a hold on a tea brick, which was just tea compressed into a solid. You just scrapped some off into boiling water.
We had them inside our AVGP armoured personal carriers, it was large enough to get all of the sections ration pouches into it. Trained with the Brits in Suffield (BATUS) in 1986, not sure if their FV432s has them, the Chieftains did though. The Brits were still using those gold cans in the 24 hour packs, the curried chicken was pretty good...
At the end of the video you mentioned about going to the bathroom.......in my many years in the US Cavalry. You never, EVER....pissed off or around my tank !........I had strict rules about that on all my vehicles I commanded.......lol
I had been informed that British tanks a tea making capabilities and I imagined it was a beautiful steampunk copper cylindrical water heater with a tap, not something as mundane as that cube thing. I understand that in a some environment, like a tank, maximum function in as little space as possible is extremely important but I can't help feeling disappointed even though considering how important tea seems to be to British culture. ( I do know there some British peoples who do not like tea as I follow some on youtube. )
We met up with US Marines in their LAV once during joint exercises. They actually had an esky inside full of icy cold Cokes. Never had joint FTX with British tankers or mech infantry, so I never had the chance to have tea with them. It would have been much better than Coca Cola.
I was a RTR Chieftain crewman in the eighties. On one exercise on Saltau, West Germany, I managed to fall asleep in the gunners seat while holding a hot cup of coffee during a night march. The end result was me getting out of the turret before the commander who was seated above me. Casevaced to nearest BMH and managed to dodge the rest of the exercise whilst recuperating.
we did cook sausages and canned meals too during cold war ... but used gas cartridges even on the shooting range in Bergen Munster. A bit tricky once we had lost an open cartridge that had fallen apart and gas was pushing out the open cartridge. But nothing happened cause it went out or ventilated out even though we had ammunition on board, full ammunition cause it had been december and we had too shoot the full ammunition out to get the same amount next year. Unused ammunition would have lowered our budget so it was a last week before chrismas shooting to "get ridd off" each ...
I read somewhere the reason the British Army started putting water boilers INSIDE the tank was because during WW1 and WW!, we lost too many crew to strafing from aircraft, snipers shrapnel because they were caught outside their tanks brewing up!
Dad was a WWII tank commander (GGFG), had his coffee/tea cup shot through by a sniper's bullet. They were assured by others the area they were moving through was cleared. Only discovered it when they stopped for a cup. Apparently the cups were hung inside the turret and he was in the commander's hatch at the time but didn't hear the round hit. He reported the incident and others apparently went and destroyed the remaining steeple searching for the sniper.
You can make a variation of the famous "egg Banjo" with a BV. Obviously the inside of armoured vehicle is no place for fresh eggs so simply pop them in the BV and hard boil them! That way even if you break them, they won't leak and they can be still be sliced up and put into sandwiches. Bonus points is awarded if said sandwich has the loaders oily handprints on the bread 😂
