WW2 Tank Tactics - How Did They Work? 

"You may be dying for a smoke, but that doesn't mean your buddy should die for the same reason." Great line. xD

Just imagine the situation, column is under attack, you unload your entire belt into tree line, shooting blindly, terrified hoping that enemy will just go, you're empty, must reload. You open next ammo box and it's full of used rubbers.

Q: So what did we learn today ? A: 7 5 Y a r d s

And for those wondering why there's 5 tanks; The SMALLEST tank unit the US deployed back in WW2 was a Tank Platoon; which consists of 5 tanks. (Though I believe it's now downsized to 4 for a modern day tank platoon) This explains the common misconception of 5 Shermans = 1 Tiger. It doesn't take 5 Shermans to defeat 1 Tiger, but it simply means a Platoon (again, 5 tanks) would be deployed against a single Tiger by the US forces. It's all about doctrines and unit formations/organizations

I guess every AI in WT hasn’t gone through basic training

Camo nets are the absolute worst. At one of my units, I was signed for 16 of them and one time someone signed for 14 of them to use for some stupid change of command ceremony. When we inventoried them upon return, there were spreader poles missing, some bags had a million spreader poles while others had none, just a huge pain.

I was a medic in a mechanized infantry battalion as part of a cavalry scout brigade in the 3rd AD in Germany during the late 80’s. I was there when my battalion transitioned from M113’s to M2 Bradleys, while I worked with the infantry platoons as well as the 4.2” mortar platoon and the scouts. There were some interesting things in this training video. My units were all front line, 1st string, Fulda Gap troops, so we trained hard and used those camo nets a lot! I hated them too and once got whacked in the eye by a private in the mortar platoon with a pole while helping with their M113 after my crew finished with our M113 ambulance. Doc had to patch himself up! On a side note, after spending 2.5 years there, I took 60 days of terminal leave and missed the Berlin Wall coming down by less than 2 weeks. 🙁

*75 YARDS* and in Fury they're about 2 yards appart....

11:51 I had a family member who was one of those couriers during the second world war. He was eventually upgraded to a jeep when the Germans started laying out waist high tripwires across the roads.

Can't wait for the Eye ball mk.2 Thermal and Night vision. You know..what cameras on tanks have now a days.

Thanks for a very nice video and your comments! i was a tank gunner in Sweden in the late 80s on a Centurion and one thing that often surprice me today and in this video is the lack of camoflage on the tank it self, first you have the camoflage paint/pattern, then you have the lack of even more sttrange thing, branches, cammo nets attached to the tank all the time? when i did my service we always cut down branches and with metalwire attacehed them to sides and turret to break the silloutte/shape of the tank , the human eye look for patterns and shapes and if we hide straigt lines and rounded shapes that is "unatural" in the terrain that hides the tank, we also always haid the cammo net out around the top of turret with straps it gave some cammo and was fast and easy to just spread when you halted, we also used longer branches attached to the tank as both cammo and when we stopped and no or little trees around we could you them as poles to lift the net and hide the lines of the tank of sort. well that was a long time aggo maybe things have shifted since then :)

Fun (?) fact. Those rectangular chevron things on the front left and right side of an M1 Abrams turret, those are the chemical 'litmus paper' panels.

26:00 There was a Nickolas Moran video where he talked about tank AA and tankers were a lot safer if they fired back. Dive bombers had to get pretty close to their targets to have any chance of hitting and seeing 0.50 cal tracers flying back at them would often throw off their aim or convince them to pull off entirely.

The thing that impresses me the most about these old timey instructional videos is just how clear and concise they are. The information is clearly laid out, with relevant images and pictures that aid rather than distract the explanation. Words are formulated clearly, and the speaker talks neither too fast or too slow. I've seen my fair share of instructional videos, and a lot of them seem to get bogged down in excessive, often superlative theory or long tangents that draw the viewer's attention away from the red line, irrelevant or even distracting imagery. Concepts are either explained using too many words, or too much esoteric language, or they are simplified far too much and glossed despite being crucial for understanding the rest of the video. All of which, when put together; makes me question just how well the makers of the video understands the things they're trying to explain.

" ... relieve the man in your turret frequently ... " ... oh my!.

Gigantic balls thats how they worked.

High Quality Content on this Channel. Thanks for that!

What's interesting to me is that because of the lack of sensors or cameras, a lot of their convoy operations resemble somewhat how infantry patrols work. 360 security, echo commands back, that sort of thing. That was cool. Also, can we bring back messengers on Harley's?

Being the tacticool strategic expert that I am, (I've received the blessing of the RU-vid comment section, meaning I am now an expert in everything) I would make the assumption (on your behalf, without your consent) that the best course of action would be as following: 1) Call in artillery. 2) Call in air support. 3) Recon the area.

Thank you for this. It was very instructive. I am a light infantryman, not a tanker or mech infantry soldier, but when I was still in the service in the 1990s, I went through an entire library of old WW2 and Korean War US field manuals. I can tell you that many of the lessons I learned from them helped me and my men get through 1990s insurgency warfare. They were very detailed and common sense based manuals. Given a little adaptation for a more modern context, they were, in some ways, better than the 90s manuals we were issued with.

Totally agree with you about the guy on the Harley. You get drafted into ww2, get handed a brand new top of the line military custom Harley Davidson and get told your job is to haul ass around on two wheels and hand deliver messages. I'd be feeling pretty good about the next few years of war.

"How to fight a German Tiger" *Gets out of tank* "Get you battle trousers and a cup of tea" "And always remember, armor your tanks with biscuits!" That is the British Way!

That hide in the shade maneuver makes a lot of sense actually. I haven't been in the forces, but i have flown both IRL and in simulators. Spotting a ground target, especially a tank, APC or other vehicle is a LOT easier on clear weather when illuminated objects cast sharp shadows. Often the first sign of a lonely brownish green tank on an empty field is it's shadow.

"I need more AMMO!" *Is handed a Mars Bar and a rubber*

Great content! I love the quality of light in those old training videos and the uncluttered landscapes

At 6:35 -- That is M5 Liquid Vesicant Detector Paint. It went on very dark in color, but dried into a light brown/mustard-ish color. You can find pics of Jeeps where the OD parts of the interior of the US "star-in-circle" insignia is actually painted with M5 Liquid. M5 detected Mustard, Lewisite and - as they discovered after the war, various nerve agents. Neat stuff. I ran across a case of the stuff in the 80's, all in those cans the soldier is holding, and had to ask around about it.

"Check the track carefully..." Ah, the days of walking track after a march. Brings me back to my poorly spent youth ^-^

0:39 "shuuu komrad. If we make T-54 look like Tiger then we can sneak past enemy ))))"

I think one of the strong points of the danish tank crews is the focus on "what if shit breaks, what will you do" principles. Sure the hunter killer systems are great but the mk. 1 eyeball and glass is never to be forgotten.

I absolutely love it when you find these old war training videos

During the battle of Midway - one of the things that gave the position of the japanese main fleet away was a destroyer trying to catch up going full speed - leaving a very clear wake for the Dauntless looking for the enemy - and the detroyer supplied them with a very nice arrow: Your enemy is in THAT direction.

Great video matsimus one of your bests

"Mowing down trees like a boss." That's what tanks do best. Nothing makes a tanker happier than killing a buzzbaby especially chopper pilots.

I love all these old training videos. As sound as these lessons are I wonder how often they were actually adhered to. Probably most of the time but I would not be surprised if many soldiers learnt better or more efficient ways of doing things.

Dude... the music at the beginning blew me away ^^ Nice video as always. Thank you!

Watching these to prepare for WOT tournament thank you so much this is imperatively informational unlike most other channels

Gotta love your content matsimus...

Yes! Something to watch this lazy Sunday :) thanks

Very well done video ! I especially like your narration.

This is quite possibly one of my favorite vids of the year! Bravo!

curious as to how that differs from the tank training of other nations at the time?

Tiger appears Sherman: proceeds to fire and bounce of tigers armour Tiger: obliterates Sherman Churchill: commander climbs out of tank to offer Germans tea and biscuits. Rest of crew proceed in stuffing tea cups down the barrel of the tiger Tiger: after being distracted by the offer of tea aims and fires at Churchill. Round hits the tea cups, explodes, backfiring and killing the crew inside the tiger and detonating it’s ammo racks Job done

stunning film! Direct, and to the point.

Haven't clicked on a video faster. This gonna be good. I need to find more WW2 training videos. This was brilliant.

It may be the liquor, but I appreciate your friendly greeting and hope you also have a nice day. I enjoy your content greatly and wish you nothing but the best in your professional life. Greetings from the southwest deserts and good morrow.

oh man, I wish I could have had these kinds of videos when I was 13, I loved tanks! funny fact, the cartoon parts were made by Disney by contract, lol. like you said, right on point, and common sense. good show!

THANK`S VERY MUCH FOR SHARING THIS VIDEO- WHAT A GEM OF INFO THIS WAS - NOT BEING IN THE AIR FORCES MYSELF - DID KNOW MOST OF THIS STUFF BUT NOT ALL - BUT THE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS AS TO WHY YOU DO THINGS THIS WAY- IM GOING TO WATCH IT AGAIN

amazing video, love the content, keep it up :D feels like my procrastination is productive

If you can, would love your commentary on the Cold War era training films; "Threat Tactics: The Breakthrough" and "How he Fights: The Meeting Engagement".

31:55 I think there are also cam nets today that help you reduce the thermal signature of your vehicle. And no I am not talking about that BAE tank that is invisible in infrared

very good topic man, i just found pretty good channel, thank you sir.

@matsimus gaming love your channel the amount of detail you put in is crazy, I'm a huge history and military buff and am I pad brat so I think I know stuff until you teach me something else, keep it up!

ever seen those cartoons they made for soldiers in WW2? like SNAFU

I recently passed my selection to go into the RAC, specifically the Queen's Royal Hussars and honestly this video does feel like it'd be helpful for modern day crews as well, I know my Phase 2 training won't be for some time but I'm definitely going to try and hold onto a lot of these points for that day just so if I remember something that's not been overly covered but still seems relevant I can just mention it and get things a bit safer for the boys I'm with as well...even if it does mean raging over camo netting getting caught in something...gotta look forward to that XD

This reinforces what I read years ago. Tank tactics at this level (platoon) are very similar to small unit infantry tactics when it comes to movement and concealment. It is nearly identical to what I learned about small unit tactics when I was in the USMC. Good job digging this one up MATS!

This was amazing, thank you Matsimus!

Also tactics change based on enemy's capabilities. WWII and Cold War camouflage was the most important. Surprise could give either side the advantage as of lately our tactics have been overwhelming force through superior firepower. Afghanistan and Iraq we wanted em to see that big tank or armored vehicle to keep their heads down

It would be nice if you talk more about old tanks like the panzerkampfwagen IV F2 , t-34 , STUG III or the archilles and your thoughts about them.

Oh my God I needed this today. Your commentary really makes me want to actually join a tank column I'm a reenactor so I was thinking of maybe doing mechanized and the commentaries funny as hell.

Dad was a tank commander in WWII in the 21st Armoured Regiment (GGFG), 4th Armoured Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division. He had a few tanks shot out from under him, always at the cost of one or more crew members. He said that in Holland the Dutch were great at supplying information regarding the location of the various German units. One thing was pretty sure, as the Germans retreated, they almost always had the range and were masters of the ambush. I have a digital copy (indexed and searchable) of their history which includes a war diary. Dad was kind enough to answer any questions I asked. Funny side note: We had a Dutch couple move in a few doors down from us. As they became friends my dad learned where she was from in Holland, and said he had been there in WWII. She had been sent to Canada as a child to be safe, but her mom, a school teacher, remained. My father knew her mom in Holland in the war! They used her school as a temporary HQ, and she supplied loads of valuable information from her "network" to my dad! They finally were reunited when she came to visit her daughter/our neighbor! Small world, eh?

i bet you 5 bucks that chemical-detecting paint was highly toxic and shouldn't have been touched with bare skin.

Woo WW2!, do more ww2 videos Matsimus!!

What a channel! Excellent commentary.

Probably the best tank video I've ever seen. What a good post 👍💪

Lest we not forget, that Great Orator was ready to use gas against Operation Sea Lion.

vescicant agent is mustard gas - causes blistering @Matsimus - have you gotten Wolfgang Schneider's "Panzer Tactics"? it's a manual on, surprise, Panzer tactics. I picked up a copy in English at Barnes & Nobel. Wartime documents including a lot of diagrams. Good for modeler's diorama fodder too.

In the 1970 s we used to cut our own cam poles and practice putting up the cam net and packing them away in camp. 75 yards is good, but always remember the 6Ps.

The opening video, I just watched the other day it was really good for tw time period it was made in, and last couple of days I have been looking for more. I already know this is going to be a great video.

Roll in the old educational shorts.

The German Tiger Tank played an insignificant role in WWII.

Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼

Thanks for posting this. After watching "Fury", I was curious about the orientation of guns while on the march. I looked in manuals from the war, and all illustrations showed tank turrets oriented forward. This video shows that crews were trained to turn their turrets so that the platoon covered all around.

Hi Matsimus. Can you do a video on Swedish Bill2 and/or NLAW anti tank systems? Thank you :)

The correct way to attack the enemy is to go in a line, play hearts of oak very loudly and fire randomly

Thanks for this great film ! I also greatly pay attention to your great `voice'over" comments.

Good one Matsimus. As a victim, er, student of DOD schools on Army bases, I was raised on this kind of material when the teachers were too tired. We would watch a lot of Army films on vehicle maintenance and component repair and survival in the wilderness. That seemed to be the majority of my 5th grade education. True story here. 5th grade shop class. We watched the detailed Army maintenance film on rebuilding the starter motor for the 2.5 General Utility Vehicle. We were furnished about 40 and rebuilt them to spec under supervision and tested them all. Years later I better understood that my 5th grade class had been used for a little Tier II maintenance. But we did finally do something! I remember that the hardest part was getting the new brushes in. It takes a lot of pressure to hold the spring and our kid's hands were at the limits, but we got them all done. I imagine if I ever see that video again I may just faint.

MOST OF THESE TACTICS WORKS FOR "WAR THUNDER" ... matsimus why arent playing war thunder yet ?

My War Thunder buds and I use these all the time. In fact we travel in convoy formations that we developed of of German, USSR, and American methods/formations. Usually we crush it. But, we're basically the only one's that use any kind of assigned role formation. Normally everyone goes off and does their own thing. Even in realistic.

Great video, very informative

Thanks for making this video. The lessons learned from here might help me be a better Transportation Corps platoon leader. I agree the lessons learned from World War II have been forgotten but not lost because we have films like this and curators like yourself who have taken the time to safeguard these films. I want to thank you for that. I know that the US Army is doctrinally getting back to focusing on near peer enemies while keeping the acametric side of warfare still there and that watching these videos is a large step toward doing so. I honestly started watching this video while researching how I could perform better in War Thunder but I found more than I expected. Definitely sharing this with Armor officers I know, so again thanks for the video.

German Engineering Stalinium armor US ARMORED TACTICAL SUPERIORITY

Matsimus a really good video and bread and butter pudding with raisins otherwise known as spotted Dick . Thanks this was brilliant on Sunday . Bring a very large can opener and never get the farty gunner .

"Your human mk. 1 Eyeball" Haha I liked that

I became a M1A1 tanker in 1995. Before 9/11 this was how we trained and we always were at MOP2 ready for an NBC attack. This video brings back a lot of memories.

I think these five points work well for all, not just Tanks. with some modifications of course. 5m for ground troops. . .ect.

*notices ww2 in the title OWO what’s this?

brilliant video - thanks for posting :)

At 10:03, this is a map of country east of Taneytown, MD; not awfully far from Gettysburg. But the tanks are driving through California somewhere. I can tell because of the oak trees, the chaparral covered hills and the roadside rows of eucalyptus trees, which were windbreaks around citrus and avocado orchards 12:52. If I had to guess I'd say this is the San Bernardino area. They could have brought these tanks through Cajon Pass from Ft. Irwin, to get some countryside that, while it doesn't really look like Europe, is at least a better match than the Mojave Desert.

If I had money to give to you on patryon I would. But I'm flat broke.

Actually, since the tank had an MG on the hull and a another coaxial to the main gun, they had enough for enemy infantry, let alone with also HE shells. So the gun on the top was added purely as an AA, since it was clear that tanks did not react well to Stuka bombers. It actually worked great: tank crew only had to surive in some way, relatively easy, or at least, not taking effort, "just" wait it over or shoot an MG, basic training. On the other hand, the pilot in that plane has to 1 drive the bloody thing in a way that avoids crashing into the ground 2 do all the complicated things that is dropping an unguided bomb on an actually pretty small target, for said unguided bomb 3 now, because yes fuck you, there are not only enemy fighters everywhere to shoot you, no, now even the tank shoots back, and they are in platoons, you're even outnumbered. Same thing did the russians, put their big 12.7 mm gun on their IS-series, the T-34s... I guess too small turret? I also am curious now at what else would have the Russians developed as doctrine, the mad lads. They started by losing thousands of tanks to using them in the wrong way, rushing on with no infantry support, then well, learned their lesson, so I wonder.

Loved how "any light is dangerous at night" (34:48) yet the tanks that pulled off the road had their headlights on.

Great video, and your commentary are spot on. I also wanted to ask if it would be possible for you to talk about how tactics were used in the Syrian Civil War, just a request you can consider. Keep on the good work!

I know I'm almost 2 years late but, has anyone noticed that the Tiger shown in the min 1:28 is acually a t-34 in disguise? (or just the chassis from that series of tanks), because I did, and I'm probably way more annoyed than I should by that. [K e e p s s c r e a m i n g i n t e r n a l l y]

Review the Stryker MGS

Great video mukka. " EVEN THOUGH YOUR IN CANADA " you still have the upmoste respect from us here in England. Keep up the great videos RUPERT

Too nice video thanks for sending especially clear explaining of protection of security 👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏

What do you think of Girls Und Panzer?

How to conseal ur tank in Afghanistan PRIVATE GET UR SHOVEL AND DIGG IN THIS TANK GOD DAMMID but sarge? Why? OTHERWISE THEY CAN SEE US GOD DAMMID

Totally cool very interesting to see and to me these tanks are powerful the five different thing's have know was super too..this video dies more than anyine thinks too..Excellent job..Thank you so so much for everything that you do

Basic tank tactics haven't really changed since WW2. WW1 was the birth of the tank, but it did not mature until after Rommel, Montegomery, and Patton. Even today, engineers are working on hiding the tank from infrared and such. Camouflage is still valid.