Author Topic: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2  (Read 1123 times)

Offline Michael Z Freeman

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Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« on: 06-01-2013, 23:01:05 »
Did anyone else see this ?



Hopefully it will be available on iPlayer. It had an operational "Honey" and a German tank from the desert war, in full working order being driven around. There was also talk of the colour of shell fire, red being our side and green and something else being German. Some very humbling descriptions of the type of war the "tankies" has before they had proper equipment. The early tanks did not have proper escape hatches leading to nervous crews. The Germans knew that they could get out in a hurry which built their confidence. There was also descriptions of how the soldiers were treated like nobodies early in the desert war leading to lack of tactics and low moral. Later on Monty actually started telling them the outline of what the battle would be where, before, that was kept secret. Made it look like the older attitude could not cut it against new German equipment and mentality which forced more responsibility being put in the hands of ordinary soldiers. There were also some profound stories from the veterans that are best watched in program. Suffice to say they made sure that the battles were not glorified or treated disrespectfully. A lot of footage I've never seen here before although I guess many of the FH experts might have already.

Most effecting of all for me was seeing tanks, that I've only seen in FH, appearing in person as it were. They have a certain presence sitting there in front of the narrator. Not sure where he had borrowed them from but it was amazing to actually hear and see them driving around.

Offline th_battleaxe

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #1 on: 07-01-2013, 17:01:21 »
Saw it, was impressed by the spirit these guys had. They stepped forward, despite being shot to pieces already and got the job done. Also gobsmacked by the Ney's the British command pulled before Monty came along. Charging headlong into a line of 88's is a bad idea under any circumstance.
J'aime l'oignon, frît à l'huile
J'aime l'oignon car il est bon
J'aime l'oignon, frît à l'huile
J'aime l'oignon, j'aime l'oignon

Offline Michael Z Freeman

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #2 on: 07-01-2013, 19:01:02 »
Yes, and the story of that Officer who turned up in a staff car and wanted everyone to follow him in storming those 88's. A soldier tried to stop him and was threatened by the Officer with being shot right there ! I know its war but this is not the way to treat soldiers putting their lives in danger. It's about minimising casualties or at least having some kind of respect which is what Monty achieved.

The story the piratey looking guy told was funny (the one with the beard and white eye). The Germans were not supposed to be anywhere near them but they heard tanks. Their commander/officer said it must be the Italians. This guy goes off scouting and sees a large tank with a black cross on the side ... "it's the bloody Germans!". When he went back and reported  this his commander refused to believe him  :D... Kind of reminds me of moments I've had in FH for some reason.

Offline hslan.Corvax

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #3 on: 07-01-2013, 19:01:04 »
Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only, but all BBC iPlayer Radio programmes are available to you.

:(

Offline siben

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #4 on: 08-01-2013, 16:01:20 »
Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only, but all BBC iPlayer Radio programmes are available to you.

:(

Use the power of Thor and you will see.

Interesting, though I disagree with some things, including that Monty was the reason they won the dessert war.

Good to see that they give an example though about the incredible unreliability of early cruiser tanks. People tend to not know that.

Offline Michael Z Freeman

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #5 on: 08-01-2013, 21:01:49 »
Well, I'm sure Monty was not the only reason. The other was the M3 Grant. Urban introduced it as "there's nothing like a bit of American overkill".

Offline LuckyOne

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #6 on: 08-01-2013, 23:01:05 »

Good to see that they give an example though about the incredible unreliability of early cruiser tanks. People tend to not know that.

Here's an interesting blog post about that:
http://crusaderproject.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/some-more-on-the-mechanical-reliability-of-crusader-tanks/
This sentence is intentionally left unfinished...

Offline Chadoi

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #7 on: 09-01-2013, 00:01:09 »
It's on BBC HD again tonight at 23.20 GMT if anyone has missed it  :)

Offline SiCaRiO

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #8 on: 09-01-2013, 00:01:55 »
torrent ftw

Offline Michael Z Freeman

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #9 on: 09-01-2013, 14:01:16 »
torrent ftw

... and copyright infringing.


Good to see that they give an example though about the incredible unreliability of early cruiser tanks. People tend to not know that.

Here's an interesting blog post about that:
http://crusaderproject.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/some-more-on-the-mechanical-reliability-of-crusader-tanks/

Urban explained how the, I think it was the M3, was built from off the shelf parts from tractors and the aero engine which he stated improved their reliability. The earlier tanks were worse due to their custom/non-standard design (not based on tried and tested off the shelf parts). These vehicles were also operating in extreme conditions so "unreliability" can also simply be a consequence of those extreme conditions.

The German armour was similarly beset by various problems ...

http://www.h2g2.com/approved_entry/A87752181
http://www.3ad.com/history/wwll/pool.pages/armor.myths.htm

I was looking in The Struggle for Europe by Wilmot for a table showing German breakdown rate but could not find it. However he covers how the German war machine was designed for a short war. Tanks performed well in short Blitzkrieg operations but were not always suited for longer campaigns. There is also the "fiction of invincibility" that Wilmot covers a few times that gives many German tanks an unjustified reputation, although they were technically superior in a number of aspects at the beginning of the war.
« Last Edit: 09-01-2013, 15:01:25 by DJ Barney »

Offline SiCaRiO

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #10 on: 09-01-2013, 15:01:43 »
torrent ftw

... and copyright infringing.


not my fault, I tried to watch it on their page, they didnt allow me. I promise I will watch it on TV once its on the air in my country.

On topic: is this supose to be a miniseries? how many episodes?

Offline Chadoi

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #11 on: 09-01-2013, 16:01:39 »
Only two episodes I believe. Next one covers Europe so I can't wait to see what real tanks he has on show seeing as he had a Stuart and Panzer III in the last show.

Offline Michael Z Freeman

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Re: Tankies: Tank Heroes of WWII on BBC2
« Reply #12 on: 09-01-2013, 20:01:06 »
Some of these  ?



I suspect he must have borrowed them from this museum. I'd love to turn up at my local pub in one of these  :P