Tank Chats  

In the early eighties I was soldier of the Bundeswehr and there were some of these still in service in medical batallions. They were nicknamed "Schlagloch Suchgerät" (pothole finder)

A German humorist (Herbert Hiesl) of 60ies Fame had a Bundeswehr program, which featured the HS 30: ‚yesterday the guy, who gets our coffee collided with an APC. Nothing happened to our coffee, but it took 4 hours, until we could free the driver from under the debris of the HS30‘

It's really an Anti-Personnel Carrier. Designed to encourage soldiers to get out and walk instead.

Gotta love Hispano-Suiza's business model - get a big order, build a piece of crap that doesn't work, then make your customer pay you 40 million to stop building them.

The soldier on the left at 0:31 looks like he's got dismounting figured out yet.

My father served in the West German Army from 62-68 most of the time with the Panzergrenadiers. When I picked his brain about this, that and the other, he described, with his Bavarian sarcasm the HS.30 as - "being slightly better than horseshit, but not as good as the hay wagon the horse is pulling"

Designer: "Are you sure you want a 20mm gun on it." German general: "What part of light German tank don't you understand?"

Wait until the Elbonians hear about THIS one.

I'm really not thrilled with the new interruptive editing. I still love the content. I hope I can visit again eventually.

„Looks a bit tired around the gilles“ - what a lovely description.

As for the firepower: The canon vents it's gas into the rather small and badly ventilated turret. One of the reasons the 20mm Rh-202 on Marder is externally mounted

so the suspension breaks if it goes too fast, but the motor is too underpowered to get it going that fast. sounds like a self-correcting problem. it also sounds like a perfect one to have David Fletcher describing.

"They go to Leyland in Britain..." - times were indeed hard.

The nomenclature for the different types of Panzergrenadier-units was: PzGren (mot) - trucks (Unimog) PzGren (MTW) - M113 PzGren (SPZ) - AIFV (HS30 later Marder)

Brutally honest, good that these things are said. Marvellous as always.

I noticed you have an M548 Cargo Carrier to the left on the screen. I'm surprised it isn't broke down out in the middle of nowhere. Those things had a consistent, relentless, and almost magical propensity to have mechanical difficulty when you were furthest from any maintenance crew, recovery vehicle, or anyone who could render any assistance, and always when the weather was at its absolute worst.

Lies and corruption in the Military Industrial Complex? Who'd have thunk it?

0:32:For the guy on the left, I think in a second or two that will hurt...

Quite the story behind this vehicle, love the black and white clips you also add, which I've never seen before. Keep up the good work in telling these stories and the background behind them.

A "Schützenpanzer" is not an "armoured personnel carrier" but a infantry fighting vehicle. It's role is not to carry soldiers around, but to fight alongside them (and tanks) in the field. So it doesn matter how many soldiers it can carry, as long as it can carry enough and keep them safe.

Underpowered engine and over stressed transmission, name a more iconic duo for German engineering.

"75mm elevation, down 10mm" - degrees I guess.

A truly excellent presentation dealing with the vehicle and its wider context. Mr Willey's videos just get better and better.

Bad APC, but great piece of history! Thanks for all the research and presentation as always.

at 0:30 the guy on the far left...makes me wonder 1) why he fell off 2) I hope he didnt get hurt too badly then again at 1:15 makes me think the right side of this vehicle had a serious "slip and fall" design issue

Very interesting, and a vehicle I knew very little about. Must get back to the rank museum again!

Sounds like a perfect vehicle for Elbonia!

He doesn't pull his punches with this one. Wonder how Mr. Fletcher would have phrased it?

I see folks complaining about the so-called “interruptive editing” in the comments section but I say the service you guys provide on a historical context alone grants you the right to advertise your “merch ” and other means viewers can help to support the work and public service you guys/girls provide.

I was wondering if the dismount technique displayed on the left of the picture at 0:35 was compliant to TTPs, and considering the later description... it might have been. I guess they loved it. It could spoil the merits of a very low profile toward a low signature the worsening of the acoustic emissions due to Your soldiers swearing all the time. But it does look good seen from a comfy chair.

No problem with the ads on this channel unlike many other channels.

Variants include a 90mm canon armed casemat tank (prototype only) and a Raketenjagdpanzer with SS11 (deployed)

German Panzergrenadier units (and some Jäger units) ended up using M113 APC. That in turned "killed" the mortar carrier version of Marder since the M106 style mortar carriers work and are in service

Nicely said. Thanks for the candid review.

Great video. We had one of those standing around in the barracks where I served and I always wondered what vehicle it was

0:39 Guy on left in very strange position.. I hope he landed alright..

Your German is brilliant, Sir. Again a very interesting video. Thanks.

Schützenpanzer!!!! love all these APCs they been doing super fascinating history behind this which ya never hear!

Very interesting and informative presentation about a vehicle I knew little about.

Cool adding the part about the procurement. Like hearing all the gritty details about these things because military procurement can be a show in itself.

Fantastic video, so interesting and well produced,

Another very interesting video thank you🇮🇪

What a great nickname for APCs - 'Battle Taxi'. Love it

Really interesting video! Wow, that thing is low!

These are the kinds of vehicles I want to see people talk about. Weird, obscure, underappreciated, these are the traits that make stuff interesting when there is already a ton of info for the standard, well known and appreciated stuff out there. Screw talking about the Tiger or Sherman or T-34, a thousand people already have and likely a thousand more will in the future. If you love those, that is fine... just don't expect me to care when video 1,001 about one of them comes out. Unless it is actually adding to the conversation with say, newly translated documents or something. edit: typos

Thank you

I would love to see more videos from the director, not just ads!

Excellent video warts and all

Tank chat time, heck yeah!!

The first picture of the schtutzenpanzer showed it with original German body armor attached. Six of them . 😁

It reminds me the E-type troop carrier.

Yes, it wasn’t a great early Cold War APC, but it was still an interesting and important AFV from the 1950s and 1960s. I’m still hoping that Revell of Germany will release a 1/35 scale plastic kit. Especially the “Lang” version. Yes, there is a resin kit, but it needs way too much work to make it look correct.

Love me a good tank chat.

The defence industry? Corrupt? I. AM. SHOCKED.

Very interesting epsilon. As an American soldier in the 80s and 90s driving the various M113s I like stories of APCs

I feel for the guy falling in first photo at 00:38 :P

you know you’re a fan when you wait for these to come out lol

I hope the SPZ (kurz) Hotchkiss is covered in the next Vid. After i left the military i relocated to the next (bigger) City 35 km from Home because bigger city has better nightlife = more fun, they had a Garrison in Göttingen plus a Training ground and i often was hiking on the training ground, they had 3 hard targets there 1x M-47 and 2x H.S.30 and i often climbed thru the back door into the H.S.30s inside it was like in a Sardine Can, thought it must be horrible to be in a HS30 driving around for hours with 5 men plus G3 and full equipment.

Happy Friday everyone

David should perhaps check in with Chris or someone on some of the pronunciation. But once again, fascinating detail about a vehicle whose existence had completely passed me by!

Great content once again. BUT PLEASE do not interrupt the video midway with an AD of any sort. This is the 3rd time that this has happened.

Thats the old german ww2 spirit: ordering a untested vehicle with a underpowered engine and transmission problems.

I'm in mid-50s now, so I have started a bucket list. Watching a match at Dean Court and then visiting the Bovington Tank Museum are just above seeing the Borrialis or Machu Picchu.

The whole HS 30 affair is really interesting

The in between commercial almost gave me a heart attack...

David Willey will give a presentation last week

Interesting I remember seeing it on a visit years ago but didnt pay enough attention (more interested in the WW2 vehicles)

As soon as you said 'Leyland', I knew it was doomed. Probably had the same suspension as the Allegro..

this thing almost looks like an early german version of the BMP-1

Scandal! Excellent as always!

0:32 what’s that guy on the left doing? :)

This vehicle contrasts well with the american bradley, one took forever to get into service, while the other was fairly rapid. would be cool to see a "pentagon wars" esc movie about this thing and the scandals.

It's a shame it wasn't any good because it certainly looked like it ought to be.

Good video again, thank you for preserving those odd pieces of equipment! Do you happen to know where the video footage from 15:26 onward came from, or where it was shot? I think there are HS.30 mortar carriers (or are those recoilless rifles?) passing by a Panzer IV if I am not mistaken!

That is a good procurement and teething story to know. I quite like the low profile and armor (though the sides and rear could be thicker, to handle ambush by Soviet 14.5 mm anti-tank rifles and machine guns), but I want a mobile Christie suspension, outside the hull, with a lot of small road wheels to reduce ground pressure, sprockets front and back to keep the treads in line, and the tracks from the Swedish Igv 91. A diesel engine for more torque and a twelve-speed automatic transmission with all gears both forwards and reverse, and full independent tread control in first gear for zero turn-radius. (More road wheels so that if some are shot through, shattered, or torn off, it can keep driving, like a Churchill. Twelve speed transmission with four gears in three ranges for maximum acceleration, braking, and fuel economy; and much more speed out of the engine! Christie to cross terrain.) The turret and armament are fit for purpose, and if I have to exit and enter through the top, I am glad if I can grab and roll in relatively easily.

Why does the first historical image we see of that thing have some poor dude falling off of it

'It didn't have a happy service life' 'It was built in Leyland, UK' No wonder it had problems.

I wonder if we will see a similar tank chat about Ajax in a few years?

I'm quite tempted to say Gaijin When??? But with only a 20mm you know they'd throw it in at 3.3 or something facing Shermans and Stuarts. Edit: that version with the recoiless rifle would work actually, and justify a suitable BR.

Very interesting video, not only for the content, but also for the commentary. By the way, isn't a Pz IV in the background at about 15:26?

Nobody gonna mention the guy falling off the back @ 0:38 ‽

I would like to know if there is a difference between the IFV and the APC, in the true since of the terms.

Look at the left side of the first black and white photo there is a guy who is in the process of falling off

Some good points raised here, makes me wonder where the bungs have been going in the Ajax light tank fiasco, how can a vehicle so bad cost 6.5 billion pounds unless corruption is involved?

3:31 They should all have got the parachute assault badge for that!

Pulling no punches at the end there. It's a shame the MOD still operates this way. I wonder how long it will be before you have an already retired AJAX in the museum?

My favourite photo is of that doofus falling off the tank.

Great chat as usual from Willey - but please god move the promo stuff to the end of the video and stop interupting the flow of the video.

Was there a panzer 3 in that last footage?

This barn, is it part of the public exhibition area of the Museum?

15:26 What is that Panzer IV doing in the background?

Hello all.

@15:28, whats with the pz iv in the background, am assuming its around 1965, and it looks like it has equipment stored on the outside, in running condition. Spanish?, any idea?

Any idea what the wheeled APC(?) is?

Is that the one that was on the parking lot a while?

15:30 I wonder what the Pz. IV is doing there.

Um… did you guys have the T30 heavy tank?

As a former officer in the Bundeswehr, I say, a piece of crap, many thanks to Franz Josef Strauss, then Minister of Defense, also for the Starfighter.

Interspersing shots from other angles of the vehicle and inside the vehicle (when that's possible given condition) while the talking head is talking would be an improvement. Shouldn't increase the editing load by much to splice those in

@0:34 is that s soldier FALLING OFF upper left of vid? Cheers!!