All language subtitles for Nazi War Machines Secrets Uncovered S01x1

I'm James Holland, and one of the things
that's always really fascinated me

about the Second World War is the
interplay between man and machine.

In this series, I'm going to go inside
the Nazi war machine.

Travelling across Europe, I'll explore
the extraordinary machines they produced

and uncover rare archives to understand
who built them, how they evolved, and

why their technically brilliant designs
were militarily flawed.

The magnificent fighter planes no rookie
could fly.

You know, the first time you fly a
Messerschmitt 109, you just have to take

leap of faith.

The power of the pandas. If I had come
up against this, I would have been

terrified. But I'm about to learn one of
the biggest cons of them all.

The weapon that couldn't cope with mud
or sand.

Wow, it's got so little kick on it. And
you hit the target, I'm proud of both of

you.

The U -boat that were floating bomb.

That was a suicide command.

Absolute horror.

A journey through the heart of the Nazi
war machine.

In this episode, I'll uncover the truth
behind Hitler's fearsome Panzer arm.

This actually did not really represent
reality.

and reveal the Nazis' passion for over
-engineering.

How many gears have we got here? You've
got over 60 gears in there.

60? That's insane!

Whilst in the middle of a world war.

To begin my investigation into Nazi land
warfare, it seems only right that I

should start with the Panzer Division.

This wasn't just tanks, but a massive
formation of motorised infantry,

and reconnaissance vehicles.

For Adolf Hitler, the Panzer Division
was his key to victory.

I'm starting my journey at the Tank
Museum at Bovington in Dorset to explore

origins of this terrifying fighting
force, and I'm meeting up with historian

David Willey.

It's amazing, David, isn't it, how when
people are talking about the Blitzkrieg

years, the first part of the war, they
always talk about the Nazi war machine,

don't they?

And yet, in terms of Panzers, this is
one of the most prevalent.

Yeah, the Panzer II is the most numerous
tank the Germans have in 1940 when they

invade France, Belgium and Holland.

And as a tank, when we look at it, you
know, it's not that impressive.

Standing at just over six feet tall, it
really did look pretty inoffensive.

It was armed with only a 20mm cannon and
a single machine gun, had armour of

35mm at its thicket and weighed less
than 9 tonnes.

Panzer I and Panzer IIs, in essence,
were training tanks for the German

military. They wanted to go to war with
the Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs. They're

starting to build those, but there's not
many of them.

And Hitler, in essence, jumps the gun
for the German military.

War caught Germany's manufacturers on
the hop, even by the launch of the

Blitzkrieg in May 1940.

They only had 627 Panzer IIIs and IVs,
but three times as many Panzer IIs and

IIIs.

This was a very different reality from
the mighty Panzer Army propagated by

Hitler's spin doctor, Joseph Goebbels.

the last two weeks in August, the German
armies moved toward the Polish border,

where they assembled 70 divisions, many
of them armored.

From a military standpoint, the Poles
were hopelessly outclassed by their

predatory neighbors.

The Nazis, 5 ,000 modern tanks.

Poland, 600 nondescript tanks.

The key thing is that the Germans
emphasised their success with that

in 1940.

That's what we see in all the propaganda
movies. That then ends up emphasising

the importance that the Germans have
about the tank, and it slightly hides as

well that background of it's only a
small part of the German army, and it's

also a small part of their military
effort.

At this early stage of the war, The
German army was relying not just on the

Panzer II, but also on the tanks they
had captured in the occupation of

Czechoslovakia.

Very soon, the Panzer II became
completely obsolescent.

But there were other tanks that also
became outmoded, not least the T -38,

was Czech -built but captured when Nazi
Germany absorbed Czechoslovakia into the

Third Reich.

And although these T -38s and Panzer IIs
were used in the Blitzkrieg years,

Soon there was another role that could
be used for them, because all sides were

realising, as the war progressed, that
actually you could use tracked vehicles

for other purposes. You could use them
as mobile artillery.

So with the T -38s, which had a
perfectly good track and wheel system,

perfectly good engine, you whip off the
turret, put an anti -tank gun on

instead, and suddenly you've got
something completely different, and

Marder.

Don't be fooled by its origins.

The Marder is an artillery piece, but
because it's mobile and tracked, it was

become a key ingredient of the Panzer
Division.

Nearly double the size of the Panzer II,
it had a four -man crew and an open

rear firing compartment.

Well, John, I've got to say, this looks
very promising.

It's a good vehicle.

Would you like to see her in the flesh?
Yes, please.

I've unearthed a restored Marder 3 in a
farmhouse in Kent.

Look at that, the big reveal.

Oh, goodness me.

I've seen some action, hasn't it?

The man behind this mammoth restoration
project is John Phillips.

She's come together very well. Hasn't
she, John? Very pleased with her.

They're an amazing concept, aren't they?
Because, you know, if you look at this

as a tank chassis, which is what it
originally was, that's pretty small,

it?

Obviously, what the Germans are doing,
they're going, OK, well, T -35, T -38,

Czech -built tanks.

I mean, the T -35s and the T -38s,
that's what Rommel was using in 1940 in

Blitzkrieg on France. That's right.

In his 7th Panzer Division.

Yeah. But obviously, as the war
progresses, they become obsolete. You

those anymore. They're not big enough.
They're not powerful enough.

But hang on a minute. We've got all
these chassis. Let's use them. That's

principle behind it, isn't it? Yeah,
evolution.

So basically this is a mobile anti -tank
gun? Yes, the crew would have dug a

scrape up to here, hidden it, and then
just left the gun above ground, fired a

couple of rounds off and then scarpered.

Look at that, first go!

What's the technology like? I mean, how
easy, how complicated?

This is a pretty basic chassis using
springs rather than torsion bars.

But because this is such a simple
design, the wheels could be taken off.

them, you know, with one wheel missing
and still quite happily travelling

And easy to maintain then, I guess. Very
easy, yeah, yeah. There's a few grease

points here. You take these out and the
grease nipples in there. So, yeah, very

easy to maintain.

Lovely design, very clever.

And this is a Pak 40, isn't it? Which,
to the uninitiated, is a 75mm gun.

And obviously the 75mm, that refers to
the diameter of the shell that's fired.

Correct. The whole point about an anti
-tank gun is you want it to have high

velocity. You want it to pass through
the air incredibly quickly.

And that's what you get with this Pak
40.

The Marders were the first step in
expanding the strength and distance of

high -powered anti -tank gun.

Removing the tank turret and replacing
it with the fixed Pac -40 made them much

more maneuverable on the battlefield.

Can we have a look at the back here?

Yes.

This just comes down, does it? Yeah.

So I suppose the brilliant thing about
this is that rather than having to have

separate truck and...

tow a vehicle, unlock it, unhitch it,
get it out, put out the forks, all the

rest of it. It's just here. You go
forward, you fire. You move back, go to

different place. It's just...

It's such a sort of logical development,
isn't it, for the anti -tank gun?

It's very good. And also, these rounds,
they would have had racks along here and

that side. The only reason they're not
there is for ease of access, but they'd

have carried as many as they could get
in the machine.

So they were self -sufficient.

The only problem is they're a bit
vulnerable at the top here. There's a

original bullet holes here. Yeah, yeah,
isn't that amazing?

It's amazing how much we discount the
anti -tank gun.

You know, we really do. It's just not on
our radar.

And tank destroyers, self -propelled
guns, assault guns, all those sort of

things, we're just so obsessed with
Tigers and Pampers and Panzer IVs that

kind of forget there's this whole other
range of weaponry which the Germans are

developing in the war.

The Marder gives you an insight into how
the German army could adapt and come up

with some ingenious solutions.

But it's one thing to sit in the back of
this marder, but another to drive it.

And so I've got to give it a go.

OK, James. Yes.

The driver is very simple.

Yep. Basically, you've got...

The throttle and clutch.

Throttle on your right foot, clutch on
your second foot. Yep, got that here.

Yep. Clutch here. Then you've got two
levers, and basically the levers just

a brake.

So if I pull the right hand thing,
that'll start swivelling that way?

right. You'll turn to the right and
left, left.

Very simple.

You've already sucked it out. You'll be
fine.

Yeah.

Okay. Right.

Right. Shall I start her up? Push the
button, and you're ready to rock.

OK, I'm pressing that, it's not
happening. Oh, hang on, it might be

on, let me just have a... Oh, I've
turned the ice laser.

Yeah, it's just been...

Under

pressure, the Germans did adapt to the
changing patterns of war by using all

materials they had available.

OK, give it a throttle.

That's it, lovely.

Perfect.

But one of the reasons I found it so
easy to drive was because it was

by the Czechs, not the Germans.

Whatever the strengths and weaknesses of
the Panzer II and the Marder, one of

Hitler's most effective weapons remained
his propaganda machine.

His camera crews were careful to film
only Nazi machines and relentless

firepower.

Through Poland, through Holland, through
Belgium sped the German war machine.

It's every operation timed. It's every
movement rehearsed a thousand times

before.

Only steel could challenge steel.

And of steel there could not be enough.

But the next generation of panzers would
be altogether much bigger and more

powerful and most definitely designed
and built in Germany.

In 1941, Hitler launched his attack on
the Soviet Union and the German army

found itself in a front that was far
larger and with far harsher conditions

anything they'd faced before.

Gambling on taking Moscow by early fall,
the Germans had timed their attack to

take full advantage of the summer
weather.

But they had not counted on savage
Russian resistance.

And by September came fall rain.

Flowing the Nazi advance.

Their new enemy also came with new
weapons, and not least this, the T -34,

with its sloping armour and its big 85mm
main gun, far outclassed anything the

Germans had in their Panzer arm.

So the Germans know that the Russians
have tanks, but they're just shocked by

the size and scale of it, aren't they?
Yeah, Hitler later actually said that

line he comes out with, or purportedly
comes out with, which is saying, if I

knew how many tanks the Russians had, I
wouldn't have invaded.

What I don't think they picked up on is,
number one, the quality, the underlying

strength of the T -34 tank, and the
other side of it as well is just the

numbers. And so that causes a real shock
to the German military.

Guderian sets up a special panzer
commission, and off they go to the

Front to seriously look, how are we
going to answer this problem?

One of the potential answers is, let's
copy the tank directly.

They seriously think of drawing up
plans. Reverse -engineering a T -34.

Exactly that, to put into production.

Being the Germans, they have to go one
better, we can do something better than

this, and that tank becomes the Panther.

Standing at just under 10 feet, it was
the largest German tank created to date.

The Panther incorporated many of the
Soviet tank's unique features, like the

sloped armour, but with a thickness of
100mm.

It housed a 75mm gun, with two MG34
machine guns to support it.

It weighed a staggering 45 tonnes.

If we compare that to the 26 tonnes of
the T -34, this was a terrifying

opponent. But this is substantially
bigger than the T -34.

Yeah, you're looking at... You're
talking about one -upmanship. You are.

actual requirement sounds quite sensible
when they start. The problem so often

with the German military is Hitler
intervenes and always insists on either

bigger guns, thicker armour as part of
the process.

and inevitably, because of the situation
that's going on, certainly on the

Eastern Front and in other campaigns as
well, this need to suddenly leap further

ahead is pushing the German military,
who at times are thinking, hang on, do

really need this stuff?

Actually, if it's an order from Hitler,
you are going to go about doing that.

So with the panther, what happens is
they try to use some common sense. They

a long -barrelled 7 .5 -centimetre
high... velocity gun on, and because

a new gun now we're looking at, this gun
has greater penetration with an armour

piercing round than the traditional 88mm
we think of. And this tank is all about

that gun.

Of course, the greater the size, the
greater the complications.

Come and have a look at this, because
this is a prime example of where you see

not only the complexity that goes into a
late war German tank, but

Also, one of the problems the Germans
got, you have to be well trained to be

able to change gears effectively.

And famously, the first or second gear
on a Panther is one of those ones where

if you get it wrong, you can mess up
some of that gearing. And the problem

you look at the size of this, that means
basically the whole of the top of the

front of the tank has to be taken out.
So this is then taken out by crane,

lifted out to repair.

And if you go back to, again, if we want
to think of comparisons,

Look at the American Sherman. You unbolt
that front section to gain access so

it's easy to be able to remove that
gear. Yes, but the other thing about a

Sherman is it's a manual gearbox of four
gears forward, one reverse, and it

couldn't be more simpler. And you put
your foot on the clutch and you move the

gear stick.

I mean, how many gears have we got here?
You've got over 60 gears in that case.

60 different actual pieces of machine
metal in terms of actually those gears.

That's insane, isn't it, for a combat
vehicle?

And yet, in essence, what you're really
trying to say is they both do the same

function. Right. So why have the German
military decided to go down this route

as opposed to perhaps going for the
simplicity to make numbers?

If you've got 60 different moving parts,
but there's a machined metal in there,

I mean, and you're a new recruit and
you're driving, I mean, your story about

changing from first to second can
actually just crash the whole gearbox.

analogy I often use is you can drive
your family car around the block here at

Bovington faster than you can drive a
Formula One car because the level of

training you need to be able to use that
paddle gear shift.

and all that other technology in a
Formula One car, unless you've had

training, training to get to that right
standard, you are not going to be able

to go as fast in that car as you would
in your own car that you get familiar

with.

In contrast to the Nazis, the Americans,
recognising that the majority of their

troops were civilian conscripts, tried
to make the driving experience as close

to that of a domestic automobile as
possible.

Now, in the Second World War, you're
looking at a generation that they were

very, only a few families would have had
a motor car.

Of course. So everything you're learning
about here is from... And particularly

in Germany, where... Where the motor
industry is not as big, despite

It seems to me that as the war
progressed, though the tanks are

panzers are getting bigger and more
sophisticated, and at the same time, the

qualitative standard of those who were
expected to drive them is actually

getting lower.

So how well equipped were these new
recruits to drive the Panther?

While I'm at the Tank Museum, I'm
heading to their research rooms to

some very revealing documents from
German prisoners of war.

So all sides in the Second World War
were constantly analysing their

trying to upgrade it, trying to improve
it, and really going into it in some

detail. What I've got here is a document
between the 21st Army Group, which is

the British and Canadian forces in
northwest Europe, and there's lots about

their own equipment and trying to get
that better, but there's also a bit at

back on statements by German panzer
crews, prisoners of war.

And what's really interesting, this was
taken on...

the 26th of July, so this is back in the
summer during the height of the

Normandy campaign.

And it says here, on the Panther
especially, a large proportion of crews

into action after a comparatively short
period of training.

A large number of drivers had had only
10 days training on the Panther, and

as little as 10 hours.

I mean, as we know, the Panther is an
incredibly complex piece of equipment.

It's very difficult to drive, it's very
difficult to operate.

That is just not enough.

This is a big problem for the Germans,
because they've designed a very complex

tank, but haven't adequately trained the
crews.

But this didn't stop them producing
equally complex variants of the Panther.

Oh my goodness, look at that. That's not
something you see in the back of most

barns.

I'm now at the World Foundation in Kent,
where they house a unique collection of

German armoured vehicles, all in working
order.

The one I really want to see is the
German Army's mighty Jagdpanther.

They had a Panther tank, and that had a
big enough chassis to house a much

bigger casement on top rather than a
turret. And with a bigger casement, you

could have a much bigger gun. In fact,
you could have the really highly

powerful, high -velocity 88mm Pak 43
anti -tank gun. The other advantage

about having a casement on a tank...
rather than a rotational turret, is you

don't have to have all the mechanisation
and hydraulics that are needed for a

rotating turret, and also you don't need
key supplies like ball bearings, which

by this stage of the war were in really
short supply.

When you did that, you got the
Jagdpampfer.

Weighing 45 tonnes, it could reach
speeds of 45 kilometres per hour.

The 100mm armour protected its five -man
crew, but what really gave it its

impact in the field was its massive 88mm
high -velocity gun.

I'm going to take a look inside with the
man responsible for getting this beast

back up and running, Mike Gibb.

Well, Mike, I've got to say, this is
absolutely incredible.

This is what I would have seen if I was
a crew member coming into this first

time. This is what I'd be looking at.

Correct. It's all kitted out exactly as
it was. You've got the share and fan

row, as it's called, the bunny ear
binoculars over there. Right. Which is

you would be standing as the commander.
You would be the eyes of the crew.

Because if you look at it, there are not
that many places that you can look out

here. You've got the right in the front
where the driver sits. He's looking

through a letterbox. But he's looking
through the letterbox.

from inside the house with the actual
cage with all the mail sitting inside it

because your face isn't right against
it. No.

And you're looking up and out with a
periscope. So as a driver, you can see

literally nothing. Yes, with him, he's
reliant on you as a commander telling

where to go.

So you've got that machine telegraph.

The commander's here. I'm sticking my
head out or I'm ducking down.

Yes. And this is basically go forward,
go left, turn right. Correct. Stop.

Simple as that.

Simple as that. And every time you move
that, He's got the equivalent. He's got

the equivalent, which is a sliding scale
mechanism on his dashboard with mirrors

exactly what you're saying.

You've also got settings.

for adjusting the steering mechanism,
which are actually behind the instrument

panel in front of the driver. Right.

And you've got to go in there. You can't
see what you're tightening up. You've

got to do it all by finger touch. By
feel. Yeah, correct.

And what would happen more often than
not is unless you've actually been in

thing on a regular basis, unless you've
actually checked your hydraulic pressure

and everything else, you have, and you
haven't got your settings right, you

can't steer.

It really is tough.

But, I mean, look at this gun. I mean,
you know, the 88 is an enormous gun and

one of the most powerful anti -tank guns
of the war. But, I mean, what about the

recoil here? The recoil here is
terrifying.

You've got your recoil guard here on the
side. Now, if the guy is not in good

communication with his gunner, he can't
hear him, okay, the guy fires, the time

that you are taking your arm out, you
can lose your arm.

Don't you find it just absolutely
incredible that they go to so much

and detail on little things, and yet
that's such a big, important one. I

suppose, though, if you think about it.
I mean, look after the crew, surely.

No, that's true. But then if you look at
where the development of vehicles like

this, starting off, you know, the Panzer
I with your two machine guns, and

moving to something like that in the
question of, what, four or five years?

Yeah. So the development was enormous,
but they simply did not, they weren't

really thinking about things like this.

They should never have gone down the
road of producing something like this

because of problems with the engine,
problems with the steering, the cost.

I would say at the end of it all, a bit
of a waste of time.

Magnificent waste of time.

It's clear after examining the monstrous
Panther and Jagdpanther tank destroyer,

the bigger is not always better and came
at a grave cost.

The Third Reich spent the entire war
consumed by perfecting its appearances.

Nowhere is this more evident than in
their magnificent staff cars for the

top brass.

I think most people assume that a panzer
division is just stuff full of tanks,

but actually it's a unit of a broad
range of vehicles.

What's clear to me, though, is that no
matter what the vehicle, nearly all of

them were massively over -engineered and
involved the mismanagement of

materials.

The Nazis never knowingly stinted on
luxury.

Their staff cars, built at a time of
ever -shortening resources, simply

common sense.

But you can't deny they were magnificent
feats of engineering.

So there you're looking at an off -road
luxury car.

So these are like the Bentleys of their
day.

This was the equivalent.

These were generally issued to your...

Field Marshals or your divisional
commanders who'd achieved something

spectacular.

This is a limited edition version of the
Hawk Kraftwagen 21 command car built in

Dresden. These particular cars were
custom built with a specially designed

chassis and heavy armour, making them
expensive, complicated and difficult to

drive. Only 36 were built.

So at a time where they just cannot
afford that kind of reckless...

squandering of resources. And they're
doing it.

And this was then put, this was put
together.

Look at that.

You're talking about a vehicle, this
particular one didn't serve in North

as we thought it did originally, but a
vehicle just like this, the one that was

actually Erwin Rommel's, served in
Africa.

On the 21st of June 1942, General Erwin
Rommel, the Desert Fox.

achieved his greatest victory, crushing
the British Eighth Army and capturing

Tobruk in northeast Libya.

The British were forced to flee back
into Egypt.

For his efforts, Hitler rewarded him
with a field marshal's baton and a

luxury staff car.

Think of this type of luxury in the
middle of a desert or combat situation

just ridiculous.

I mean, this is just smooth as glass.

Shut the door in the old way. Just bang
it shut.

This is a very, very sturdily built
luxury off -road car.

All the seats are made of leather. The
detail is absolutely incredible.

The seat work, the leather, was all done
by a specialist, as what you've just

been holding here on the door.

It was all done. Now, for what should
have been a very rudimentary off -road

vehicle, just to ferry a field marshal
or a general around, it's just

ridiculous. Isn't it just?

And a V8 3 .8 -litre engine to take one
guy.

So you've got a driver and then you have
the commander.

And most of these guys loved standing in
the back and holding on to that bar and

taking the flute.

It's just that lack of prioritizing that
the Germans go in for, isn't it?

What you do see with the Allies is that,
by and large, they're using their

resources that they do have in the best
possible way.

I mean, there's obviously certain things
you could query.

But with the Germans, you just see them
repeatedly making the same mistakes over

and over and over again, which is too
much attention to detail.

No thought process. No thought process.

And bonkers things like this.

It's just a pointless record. And the
engine, by the way, the engine is the

engine as you have in the armoured car
series.

Right. So why not build another armoured
car with a V8 3 .8 litre engine, then

build one of these?

Needless to say, Hitler himself had
access to an impressive array of luxury

vehicles. Even for mundane trips to
inspect the railways, the Fuhrer had to

arrive in style.

One such car was the magnificent six
-wheeled Mercedes -Benz G4.

It's a perfect example of the supreme
engineering and design detail for which

the Germans were rightly famous.

But it came at a price.

I've a big day ahead with an opportunity
to get the lift of a lifetime in one of

three surviving examples of this
spectacular car.

It lives in the Sinsheim Technology
Museum, just an hour south of Frankfurt.

Well, look at that. That is absolutely
stunning, isn't it? And what a beast.

It's enormous.

Whoa.

God, look at the condition of it.

And there you are, the big six wheels.

Oh, my God, I've been so excited about
this. It's absolutely incredible.

Well, when you think of these cars and
parades, it's always with the roof down.

So, yeah, now this is looking more like
it, isn't it?

It feels really kind of off -road
luxury, I suppose.

Which is exactly what it was, but
incredible to think this was built in

See, look at that.

Oh.

Jorg is taking me for a spin in this
very special machine.

Now worth an estimated 10 million euros.

There's no better man for the task.

as he spent his career as a mechanic,
painstakingly conserving these rare

vehicles.

In many old cars, they make the front
for the driver and co -driver very

They make it small because the driver is
not important.

No. So they have more space at the rear.

It's an odd and quite uncomfortable
experience for me to sit where Hitler

that.

But I'm not going to lie.

I reckon I could get used to it.

Perfect.

Brilliant. Thank you.

Well, Jörg, this is quite something.

It's a beautiful machine, isn't it? Very
big and very heavy, the whole car.

And I was really struck when we were
driving about how smooth it was. I mean,

you felt high up, you felt you're in a
big car, but it felt very, very smooth.

Yes. So is it a four -wheel drive?

Yes, only in the rear axles.

And the rear axle has something special
when you are offside in the mud. Yes.

And the wheels are turning.

Yes. It blocks by himself.

Just automatically?

Yes. And so you can go better through
the mud and grass and things like that.

mean, that's incredible technology for
the 1930s. Yes. It's really special for

that car.

And in terms of luxury, high, high
quality engineering, this is as good as

it gets, isn't it?

For that time.

you have a lot of features here inside
the engine it has 5 .4 liters

110 horsepower wow it's a big boy so
it's

got hooks in here god this is a little
bit to get to isn't it you can open and

then bring it here inside Yeah, how do
you bring it here? Oh, yes.

It's very heavy. You can feel it. How
many steel is on the car?

Isn't that beautiful?

Very special. Look at this.

Leather down here.

Yes. And why is there this gap here?
What's this about? I think because the

is so big. Yes. And you have a space
between the body. Yes. And the front

part of the body.

And you have in the off -side a little
bit turning from the car.

It's incredible.

Here is the seat.

Yes. And you can bring the seat up.

Oh, really?

You just lift it up? Pull it back.

Yes. Ah, so you're standing.

Bit of a security risk, perhaps.

Yes, but there are a lot of people can
see you. Yes.

The G4 was originally designed in 1934.

But Mercedes improved it for the Nazis
in 1938.

The upgrade included rear -facing
spotlights to be used to temporarily

unauthorized drivers who followed too
closely.

It also featured an ingenious early door
-locking system.

You talked about the security for the
people at the back. They have bags for

pistol.

I mean, you know, gosh, I can't begin to
tell you how comfortable this is. I

mean, I could, you could drive me to
Hamburg, no problem in this. Even if I'm

only going 60 kilometers an hour, I'd be
very happy.

I mean, really, it's a lot of leather, a
lot of luxury.

Yes. It's a statement, isn't it? It's
saying, I'm powerful.

I'm in command.

The Mercedes -Benz G4 really is a
stunning example of German engineering,

its exceptional craftsmanship housing
technology far in advance of its time.

on the other hand, it was never designed
to win a war.

The size and complexity of Germany's
armoured fighting vehicles have dazzled

popular imagination.

In books, films and even comics, Panzers
have played a starring role.

But I'm about to learn one of the
biggest cons of them all.

that Nazi Germany wasn't really all that
mechanical at all.

For Hitler, imagery and spectacle were
the key ingredients for projecting the

power of the Nazi war machine.

But to truly convince the world of their
strength, the Nazis needed a machine to

make them legendary.

With the German army checked on the
Eastern Front, by 1942, a new monster

was vital.

We're back at the tank museum in
Bovington to look at what became the

infamous German tank of them all.

With this machine, they hoped to turn
their fortunes around.

I'm talking about the Tiger tank, one of
the Goliaths of the German army.

It stood at 10 feet tall and weighed 51
tons, with thick 120mm armour.

For armament, it had two machine guns,
but also housed the largest gun of any

German tank at that time, with a high
-velocity 88mm.

Well, I've got to admit, if I'd been an
Allied soldier and I'd come up against

this, I would have been absolutely
terrified. I mean, look at it. It's got

massive gun. It's enormous. It's full of
armour. That is just a death -ringing

machine, isn't it?

And of course, it's amazing how much
this has come to symbolize the kind of

Nazi panzer might. I mean, when we're
thinking of panzers in the Second World

War, tanks in the Second World War, the
Tiger is almost certainly what we're

thinking about. And yet, you know, we
have to stand back from that and we have

to look at it afresh and look at it a
bit more objectively.

And, you know, you can just start with
the tracks. They're so wide, they don't

actually fit.

on the continental loading gauge of the
railways that the Germans were using.

And because the Germans have so little
fuel, the railways are really important.

They're the glue that keeps the whole
thing together. So what they have to do

they have to transport their tigers by
rail, but they actually have to change

the tracks.

So they have to lift this little side
bit up, take this bit off, take off the

tracks, put on travel tracks.

And then when they get close to where
they want to be, to the front line,

they've got to do it all again in
reverse.

And then you just think about the
transmission on this thing. You know,

a six -speed, semi -hydraulic, pre
-selector gearbox designed by Ferdinand

Porsche. It sounds complicated.

It was complicated.

And you imagine putting a raw recruit
into that. It's like putting someone

just passed his driving test into a
Lamborghini Contest. You know, grinding

gears, and of course the whole thing
breaks down.

So yes, it is big. Yes, it is scary.

It certainly has the fear factor, the
psychological factor.

But only 1 ,347 of these beasts ever
built.

But 49 ,000 Shermans.

So once again, Hitler had the
technology, he had the fear factor, but

have the resources, and he didn't have
the numbers.

Though his tanks ultimately failed him,
his propaganda machine was still working

overtime. The Third Reich was hiding a
secret.

Back at the Weald Foundation with Mike
Gibb, I'm discovering that the vast

majority of German soldiers were
dependent on very different means of

throughout the entire war.

So, from one extreme to the other, Mike.
Yes.

This is coming back to the reality of
German transportation during the war.

It looks like something that would have
come out of the 19th century.

Yeah, I mean, if you told me this was at
Waterloo, I'd have believed you. Yes,

this is the Second World War.

It's called a Pannierwagen. This was the
prime method of German transportation

in World War II. In fact, 85 % of their
transportation was actually delivered in

this way.

These horse -drawn carts came with their
own complications.

Not least, how to feed all the horses
pulling them.

Remember, there was one railway line at
that time, right? One railway line into

Russia. And each horse had to be fed 20
kgs of fodder.

Every single day.

So the majority of supplies that were
going through in those days was for the

horses.

But it is amazing. I mean, you know, you
think German army used one and a half

million horses in the First World War,
but they used two and a half million in

the Second. I mean, two and a half
million. That's correct.

And remember, we were totally mechanized
by the outbreak of the Second World War

in comparison to the Germans.

While the German war machine was still
largely horse -drawn, in Britain, the

mechanised industries were booming.

By 1939, there were 14 people to every
motorised vehicle in the UK.

In Germany, by contrast, that figure was
47 people per vehicle.

So despite having Mercedes, Porsche,
obviously, BMW and all those makes that

we're still so familiar with today, you
know, they were...

super luxury items. And of course, the
problem you have is that if you don't

have a very automotive society, that
means you don't have lots of factories

building them. It means you don't have
lots of workshops repairing them.

You don't have lots of people who know
how to drive them. You've got no

mechanics. You can't just click your
fingers and go, right, I want lots of...

And then you invade Russia with 2 ,000
different types of vehicles.

Most of which are stolen.

most of which have come from Poland or
have come from the British Army after

Dunkirk. You're now having to translate
all those or having to get them

translated because you can't read
French, you can't read Polish, you can't

British, or English rather.

And every single one has a different
distributor cap and rotor arm. Yes, so

you've got a parts problem. And that's
exactly what these guys were contending

with. The Germans used 135 divisions for
the invasion of France and the Low

Countries.

But incredibly, Only 16 of those were
mechanized.

And that's where it comes back to that
conventional wisdom.

Yes, that's right. Drawn from those
comics, the Commando comic, the Battle

Picture Library, the War Picture
Library, the Victor manual, of us just

imagining tanks.

We never saw horses in those. I can't
remember seeing everything a horse in

those. No, it's absolutely true. And one
of the main reasons for that is

because... Early part of the war, they
had a lot of propaganda. It was

obviously, they were very successful at
that. The Nazis, that's something they

could do incredibly well.

The Nazis alone assembled a striking
force of 30 panzer divisions, 70

divisions,

140 infantry divisions.

All their victorious armies, they sent
in with vast numbers of film crews and

cameras, stills cameras and all the rest
of it. And it was verbose to take

pictures of people's horses.

And that's why we have a problem when
we're trying to explain this to people.

They simply don't believe you, because
that public narrative, it's so

entrenched.

Then, even worse than that, if you move
on to the machine next door here, this

is called the infantry car.

This person pulling this doesn't take 20
kgs of fodder, it's you and I.

Right. And you pull something like this,
which either carries machine guns,

carries mortars, carries ammunition. So
your machine gun doesn't slot in here?

Yes. The barrel? Yes. The stock?

Yep, I can see that. And you think now
this would be pulled all the way from...

Germany. Germany to the outskirts of
Moscow.

It's crazy.

But that's what they did.

But again, it defied that narrative that
we were brought up with.

Absolutely.

Nazi Germany might have had the most
feared army at the start of the war, but

was utterly reliant on horsepower and
handcuffs to get them through Europe.

The Germans spent the war furiously
trying to develop weapons that would

them the edge.

Ultimately, though, they were too
complex, too inefficient, and too few in

number to be at all decisive.

By May 1945, the Third Reich had been
crushed.

And it was here on this rather lovely
hill southeast of Hamburg that German

commanders surrendered to the British.

On the 4th of May 1945, after 2 ,073
days of war, after the longest European

war in 130 years, the northern German
army surrendered unconditionally to

Marshal Montgomery on Lunenburg Heath.

Field Marshal Montgomery.

He signs not only for himself, for his
armies, for England and her allies.

He signs also for all those who ever
marched with him and fell at a hundred

barricades, who died for all of us, that
with peace we may build a wiser world.

For all the technical brilliance of the
Germans, giant tanks and powerful guns

had not been enough in a war that had
become increasingly industrialized.

Nazi Germany has simply been unable to
keep pace.