The StuG III - Germany's deadliest AFV
At Bovington Tankfest, there were three Stug III assault guns for me to have a look at. Naturally, I looked at all three.
Support me on Patreon: / lindybeige
Thanks to The Tank Museum at Bovington for the invitation.
Buy the music - the music played at the end of my videos is now available here: lindybeige.bandcamp.com/track...
More weapons and armour videos here: • Weapons and armour
Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.
▼ Follow me...
Twitter: / lindybeige I may have some drivel to contribute to the Twittersphere, plus you get notice of uploads.
Facebook: / lindybeige (it's a 'page' and now seems to be working).
Google+: "google.com/+lindybeige"
website: www.LloydianAspects.co.uk
/ user "Lindybeige"
"It's a complicated thing, politics." *pats armored fighting vehicle*
Lucius Seneca You call Wehrmacht politics? Went mad, on KZhead levels......
Lucius Seneca war is the continuation of politics by other means
@@xiaolili1971 Ah, I see you, too, have read your Clausewitz.
Hehehe
Useful for jamming up drive sprockets
"please be forgiving of this model, I made it when I was 11" dude... when I was eleven I learned how to make lego cars!
@@jaex9617 Even sadder, the human-ape hybrid now sells timeshare holiday packages, lives with 4 flatmates, and really feels like he missed out on his true calling in life. Nice going mum.
I started model making when I was 11
That is Finnish Stug III G.
I built MY first model(an F-4) at age seven
David Marks I heard he accidentally got a girl pregnant somehow(???) and he now has to pay child support. Working for minimum wage it’s very hard for him to make ends meet, hence the 4 flatmates.
You didn't choose Stug life, the Stug life chose you.
LOL! I wish WWII would have ended with Bormann driving this out of the Reich Chancellery's garage with Hitler on top wildly firing two captured Sten guns, one with each hand.
Stuggin' ain't easy.
Wanton Stugery
@@travis5125 why would they use captured weapons when Germany made copies of the Sten during WWII.
Sthug life
Concrete on a Tank?! "Hans can we use our new Stug?" "No frank it has to cure at least 2 more days"
It was done more often than you think. I saw even Shermans with concrete.
A very cheap, easy field modification
The Russian modern tanks have Ceramic Armors which are really similiar. Then they strap explosives to that to act as "reactive armor".
@@OldSchoolGM94 what do you imply? That Russia cannot afford RE?
FRANK is not german name. UWE, JUERGEN, KLAUS, etc...but FRANK NO. :))))))
Fiendishly clever of the Finns to disguise their Stug as a self propelled log cabin...
A sauna, obviously.
rofl!
Aren't logs used to get a tank unstuck?
Amitabha Kusari well the russians carried a piece of wood on their back for that exact purpose and as far as i know its still commong practice
The Finns used also logs to get russian tanks stuck
Oil - Germany's deadliest enemy.
@Repeat After Me: Ooh, that one has to smart...
oil- germanys deadliest enemy U.S. *heavy breathing*
Prior to invading the USSR, via trade agreements the Germans were getting all the oil they needed- as well as iron ore, manganese, etc. Barbarossa doomed their strategic war effort.
@@althesmith Operation Barbarossa was "necessary" because Stalin would have attacked on his own at some point. Hitler's failure as a statesman led to the disaster. A statesman would have negotiated peace with Poland and France instead of occupying them. That would have allowed him to make them allies (the French were really willing to do that). Then the British would have lost the reason they declared war on Germany in the first place, wouldn't have any chance against Germany _and_ France combined _and_ would have lost their influence on the continent. That way there would be no Western front (no US influence in Europe) and Germany could fully commit (and properly prepare) for Operation Barbarossa with an ally who actually knew how to do warfare. Yet, Hitler was a genocidal maniac, not a statesman.
@Alexander Challis You apparently don't know much about 20th Century tactical prowess. I suggest you read Trevor Dupuy's "A Genius for War:...." Only then will you be qualified to speak on what, right now, you know nothing about. Air power, numerical supremacy, and unfettered resupply won North Africa for the Allies not Allied "tactical supremacy". As much as your Ant-Wehrmacht bias shows... you really should educate yourself before speaking on subject matter.
"Be forgiving of the model he made when he was 11." I'm 31, and I WISH I had that kind of modeling skill
The logs are actually more to be used in cases where the tanks is getting stuck to roll under tracks for extra traction, rather than needing assistance to get out of a mess. Although they do provide minimal additional armor, not so much against high calibre but more against shoulder fired shaped charge weapons later in the war by creating a larger stand off distance from the armor. They do also protect to some degree from magnetic charges particularly grenades!
Yea the logs are used for getting out of mess
The StuG III is probably the reason I speak Finnish as a mother tongue instead of Russian
luulisin että mannerheimillä oli enenmän kuin yks temppu taskussa :)
Detachment Kuhlmey is another reason.
Lol, StuG III taught you finnish?
@@pasivaan9563 and SS Division Wiking, one of the most vile nazi gang in the history, is the third reason, lol. Have you ever checked Finland and Germany lost that war? Or, to be more precise, Finland was defeated and bought Stalin's favor back by attacking germans and transfering the nickel deposits to SU as a part of Paris Peace Treaties.
@@user-tc9sk4ei9y Are you proud of the Molotov - Ribbenrtrop pact? Are you proud of what happened in Mainila on November 26, 1939 ? Finland retained its independence, unlike Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, etc. I think it's a victory
3:50 - The reason Finnish (and some German) Stugs carried logs was not primarily to act as extra armour. Rather, they were to assist if the vehicle got stuck in mud or snow - and you get a lot of both in Finland. The idea was that you lashed a log cross-ways to the tracks, and this would provide sufficient grip for the the vehicle to pull itself forward one length (by which time the log would be at the rear and would have to be untied). Repeat as necessary. The reason why Stugs in particular had logs strapped to them was because they were turretless. Logs strapped to a true tank would get in the way of turret rotation. Of course, if you ARE going to carry logs (and the Finns were never short of timber), you may as well use them as extra armour - in much the same way that spare track links were often fastened to a tank's front glacis plate.
Not only Finnish and German tanks carried logs. In fact you can find them predominantly on Russian tanks.
Actually...name me a german tank that carried a log on a regular basis. I have never seen that.
Some German Stug crews copied the idea from the Finns or the Russians. It was more of a field improvisation than official doctrine - and was most prevalent during the Raspusitsa seasons (Spring thaw and Autumn rains) when Russian roads turned to mud. Stugs in particular had difficulty in mud, as they had narrower tracks than Russian tanks.
The Finns did use them as extra armour, even though they didn't actually work. Concrete didn't work either but the crews wanted any extra protection they could get.
That was A reason, yes, but you wouldn't carry six massive logs for this purpose.
I was in a WW2 Re-enactment Group in California, that had a StuG III. We all fell in love with the suspension, that was so smooth, like riding on a boat, and the interior was roomy and nice. It was a late production StuG III from Finland.
If only germany had thought of having higher calibre machine guns A 12-15 mm on top would have been a great addition PS im not gonna lie, im jealous
@@azmanabdula They had 13.2mm MG131/13 HMGs but they putted them on planes, got to say it was the most light HMG among it counterparts and it still was deadly. Germans tried to put a 20mm MG151/20 on the StuG's roof against lightly armored vehicles and infantry, but the idea was scrapped because someone had be outside to operate it and they needed all MG151s to planes
@@k_balu-8104 Just seems like something that would have made tank crews lives a little easier
Scott Ruggels Was that the time you were all in light Afrika Korps kit and it SNOWED? How you doing, Scottster?
@@azmanabdula Well, comfort for cannon fodder during the in-continent European colonial wars wasn’t the point, was it?
3:11 Stug III: "Oh, Lindy, is that a Panzergranate in your trousers, or are you just happy to see me?"
ROFL
Lmao
Either way, please don't set it off.
Stug III horny
@@thegrandcoffein6928 Hon Y soit, qui mal y pense.
Zimmerit was placed on the metal fenders because an anti-tank mine placed there would blow off the track immobilizing the tank rendering it vulnerable.
but why would they place the mine there and not near the tracks. still doesn't make sense lol
@@elmee96 the tracks move, which could potentially roll the mine over, and sort of making it a dud should it not detonate
@@HaZETaipan i said near the tracks not on them
@@elmee96 oh, if that is the case, it is due to the "HEAT" nature of the mine, which, upon detonation at the mudguard, would send a jet of hot metal downward, right into the track, breaking it off. If they place it near the track, such as at the suspension, road wheel etc, I believe it would actually get to the crew instead of the tracks...
@@HaZETaipan yes and that is better. Without crew the tank is useless
My grandfather drove a Stug III in WW2, he actually named my mother "Sonja" after his particular tank.
Nice!
your mother is a tank?? like thomas?
Was he Finnish?
My great grandfather hid from the nazis, being Jewish that is. Your point is?
Lol I will name my future son E100 Or Leopard
my father was a stug driver in the finnish arny, thank you germany for delivering these to us. When my father had the money, then he bought himself a mercedes, if one has been used to KVALITÄT, then german is the only thing.
QUALITÄT
❤❤❤
...was his Mercedes only painted half way down as well?
You are one of very few KZhead content makers that don't nauseate the hell out of me with their cornball and mostly feeble attempts at humor. As I age, I find myself appreciating you more and more. Thank you for uploading this video as I have a fascination for the Stug 3's and 4's and variants. Unlike many men and boys I do not salivate over discussions of Panthers, Tigers and King Tigers. I much prefer the Stugs and Mk. 4 tanks as the true workhorses of the Wehrmacht.
I'm not finnish myself, but the whole thing about finland during WW2 really bugs me, they didn't start any war, they tried to be neutral, but got invaded by soviet union, they requested help from the allied nations since they didn't plan on joining hitlers war, but unfortunatly the rest of the allied nations like the US, England and so on refused to in any way help finland since it would upset the soviet union that they were suppose to be allied with to defeat the german threat. So finland did what anyone would have done and took what ever help they could, and this was only offered by the germans, so they recieved weapons and armoured viencles from the germans to fight off the soviet union and mannaged to do so quite well while the majority of soviets forces were facing off against Germany, ofcourse this benefitted germany making soviet have yet another front to fight alongside without sacrificing more german manpower. but Finland was only ever really defending them selves from an invasion, and successfully did so since they mannaged to not get claimed by the soviet union in the after match of the war much like most of eastern europe! how ever after the war finland got forced by the allied nations including US & England & France + Soviet union, to pay a war depth to the soviet union, a pretty hefty one at that even though they didn't start the war, neither did they ever invade anyone.. so yeah pretty big dick move by the so called " Heroes " of the WWII as many of those nations like to see them selves as..... Also Finland was also the only country that ever did pay their full dept back from the war aswell... so yeah.. There was one upside of this for finland, since most of the dept was agreed to be paid with industri productions to the USSR rather then finacial money, it did help finland get their industri going pretty quickly after the war, much faster then most other nations, and it helped them keep the industri much bigger and modernized compared to countries of same population in that area, and once the payment was done (think it was sometime in the 80's) from there on it was a big benefit for finland to already have a pretty hefty industri going on that they now could focus on making stuff for the free market and making some decent money.
The war reparations (not 'dept') to the SU were paid already by 1952.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The only country not to be conquered, destroyed and raped by the SU in Eastern Europe was Finnland.
victor's peace. there is no shame in fighting alongside Germany against the communist slavs. but alas, Germany lost, and as the friend of a defeated nation, Finland got shat on. next time, be better at fighting and win the war
Allied nations offered help to Finland, but it was difficult to land troops in support due to a lack of an ice-free route during winter, and not wanting to violate Norweigan and/or Swedish neutrality. The UK did plan for that option, then Norway was invaded. The Finns received a number of aircraft slightly before the Winter War started from the UK, France and USA.
When the Germans attacked Leningrad, they expected their Finn allies to continue the attack with them as they invaded the city, but the Finns stopped at their former border with Russia as they did not intend to capture any Russian territory.
Not to forget how Finns used to stop Soviet tanks by jamming pieces of wood between the tracks so it would dislodge and fall off. Takes some balls to do that too.
I think that sweater could withstand significant punishment
It's the biggest sweater I've ever seen. I'm curious to know whether it came with tent-poles.
It reminds me of that dazzle camouflage, if I was trying to shoot Lindybeige (I'm not, don't worry) I'm not sure I'd know where to aim
The StuG 3Gs served us very well in Finland. Partly thanks to them, Helsinki remained one of three European capital cities of the countries taking part in WWII, never to be invaded. The other two were London and Moscow.
Finland was a disgrace. Can't make up their minds which side they're on like Italy. If England had switched sides when they were losing, everyone would doing goose steps, straight arm salutes, and have gas chambers in each city. The Fins can stick their Stugs right up where the sun doesn't shine along with their hoooodraulic presses!
@@PreservationEnthusiast You useless excuse of a Troll, Finland asked for help to US/England in order to stop the ilegal Soviet invasion in their country (the USSR was attacking them for no reason), then the Allied forces said "fuck you" and Findland was left ALONE to fight the Red Army. The ONLY ONES who offered help were the Germans and at that time FInland took the only chance they had to avoid being eaten alive by the USSR. Finland only wanted to be left alone, but the USSR first invaded them in the "winter war", then Finland took a counter attack against the Soviets with the end result of so many looses for the Red Army that Stalin was forced to make a deal with Finland, in return the nation turned it's German weapons against the Germans and from that point onwards it was left alone for good being practically the ONLY nation that fought and won its independence against the USSR wich was expanding its territory like a plage over Europe.
@@PointReflex There was no way the allies, though many of them wanted to, could offer effective help to Finland. They already had Germany for an enemy. They didn't need the USSR too
@@PointReflex it's not that simple. Finland was part of Russian Empire. after 1917 the whole country fell apart and civil war broke out. at this stage every village was it's own country. Finland had also declared its independence but fell into a civil war between finnish communists and a fascist monarchist Mannerheim (who actually was an fanatical supporter of Russian Czar). By 1940s Stalin had started to put the country back together, which lead to a border dispute with Finland.
Can you please tell me what that small helmet like thing is at 2:06 because I've searched the internet with "hooded headlamp" and all sorts of other key words but found no result as to what it is as I see this thing quite a lot in German tanks
The Stug also had the advantage of usually being on the defensive.
I didn't choose Stug life *Stug life chose me*
Haha. Gold.
you everywere
i didn't choose stug life *i was drafted by wehrmarcht*
Said the Panzer III
Living in an Armoured Paradise.
Oh man, just when I was going to pull the trigger on E-Bay for one, that failure to neutral turn is a big show stopper. Thanks for the heads up. ;-)
Yeah, and It doesn't even have a friggin' cup holder for the radio operator.
They can do neutral turns, the operator evidently doesn't have a ton of money to spend on fuel though
Stug life. You can see the 500mm wooden armor on the side- bounces everything.
War thunder : 👀
@@randomguy-ns2tc Hey why doesnt war thunder have the logs? That would make for a nice attachment
@@azmanabdula they had been saying they were going to add stuff like that for years but never have. One reason why I stopped playing a couple of years ago
@@Geister7 : S
@@Geister7 Its heaps different now
I suspect most British people (the ones who don't watch Lindybeige) would be surprised to learn that within living memory their country declared war on, and bombed, Finland.
Other surprises might include the British declaration of war on Thailand in 1942, and the British invasion of neutral Iceland in 1940. They really got around.
Sounds like you might have a grudge, pal
Australia, too. New Zealand? Commonwealth countries. I still haven't forgiven the aussies, and take every opportunity to remind them of the Emu War. /jest
yep, just so they can get war reperations like the greedy war mongering bastards they are
Yes, it's nice to to not get firebombed. Common knowledge, really.
StuG life!
U mess with the StuG, u mess with the ThuG.
You don't choose the StuG life, the StuG life chooses you.
My phone says this comment is 17 hours old, but the video is only 35 minutes old.
sheep lord Time warp
Patreon.
Outstanding presentation. Thank you for sharing your expertise in such an entertaining way, Lindy.
Magnetic mine on the mudguard would break the tread. It would be a much more effective attack than standing directly in front of it and trying to attack its thickest armor.
putting a magnetic mine on the tanks track guarder rail is not a stupid plan because it would just blow the track right off the tank.
And, when you've managed to get that close to an armored vehicle without being killed, it's probably best to place the mine anyplace it will stick and get away as quickly possible instead of being fussy, or trying to get a clean kill and loitering in the kill zone.
Greg Ory it will stop the entire tank rotation as well
No, because it will just throw the track, making it imposssible to move the tank forward. It could only turn on the spot
How far away is the molten Jet of Anti tank mine effective? I imagine air would break the jet quite fast?
If you’re that close just put it on the bogeys or tracks themselves, not the track guard.
Finnish markings. Finnish nickname was: "Strumi" Those Stugs played very important role in summer -44, when Finland stopped Soviet invasion.
TheJoneko Sturmi*
Fun fact when Lindy was born the sweater was already on...it has now completely fused to his body and he has become one with the sweater..during childhood the other kids would play ball, but good ole lindy would give lectures on world war 2 to his sweater, his only true friend...
You never make mistakes. You just have an inordinately large number of learning opportunities. I'm guessing that's how you got to be so knowledgeable about the world and so willing to shoot off onto new and exciting tangential subjects related to whatever main topic that you're covering. You're videos are brilliant! Keep up the great work! Best of luck on October 31!👍👍
The StuG has always been my favorite "tank" design. Great to see it show up on the channel!
What about the Hetzer, that replaced StuG towards the end of the war?
One of mine as well. Not to mention that it's one of my favorite mid-tier vehicles in World of Tanks as well.
Jagdpanzer 38 never replaced StuG III. They were decided to both remain in production. StuG III monthly production continually increased from 1940 and peaked in 1945, basically when the factories were overrun.
Same; there is just something about it I find very attractive.
Raikiir mein Lieblingswarhammeryoutuber schaut meinen Lieblingsgeschichtsyoutuber?!? :D
Good video on the StuG III. There's a couple of corrections I'd like to make, though: Those peepholes are for the driver's periscope in case he wants to drive with the armoured glass viewport covered. Also, all panzers were kept in red oxide below the fenders. The Germans were never "low on paint"; the last tanks to leave factories were still finished in complex, factory-done paint schemes. And no, no tanks ever left a factory in red primer. In late 1944 they ordered the insides to be left hull red entirely, but they went back to painting the off-white in early 1945. The Germans running out of paint is a myth. 1299 of the StuG III were actually "StuH", Sturmhaubitze, with howitzers and another 24 were built as StuIG 33B. "Zimmermint" had me though. Lol. It's also more barium sulfate powder and sawdust than it is glue.
Panzermeister36 After 1941 *all* German tanks left the factory in a single exterior colour. Camo was applied at the unit level depending on arrival season and theatre. The base colours switched over time from a grey-green to a sand-green to a primer red.
...no. German camouflages were factory-applied two-tone grey and brown until between 1938 and 1940, depending on the vehicle (StuG III Ausf.A, Ausf.A2, and the first two months of Ausf.B production all had two-tone camouflages applied from the factory). Brown was also field-applied on tanks before the battle of France in 1940,if the tanks were only grey. Colour photos show this. Black and white don't since red-brown looks grey-black in orthochromatic film. We now use panchromatic for black and white so that's no longer as true. Then tanks were base coated in grey until February 1943 when it was switched to dark yellow. Before then, there were various tropical schemes as well which were also used in Russia; StuG III Ausf.F/8 were painted in Tropen 2 (RAL7027/8020) and fought at Kharkov in the winter of 1942-43. Desert camouflage in the Russian Winter, before dark yellow was introduced...since they were painted in the factory originally for north Africa. Once again, original paint orders and photographs prove this. Tropen 1 and 2 were both two-tone, factory-applied camouflages. Tropen 1 is what you see on Tiger 131. In late 1944, around August, tanks were deployed in factory-applied camouflages. This is evidenced by original documents, photos, and the fact that all tanks has the exact same camouflage pattern with negligible variations in camouflage lines. This was continued up until the end of the war. No tank ever left a factory in red primer. Red primer was also never left exposed in the place of Rotbraun paint. This is once again well documented. There are also no photos of tanks deployed in primer. It's a myth created by model tank builders.
So, *all* German tanks were only deployed in a single colour between 1940 and 1941, and that is grey. After '41, they were possibly deploying them from the factory in multicolored camouflages depending on the theater, mainly Africa, and possibly single coloured yellow from February 1943 to August 1944. Other than that, everything was two- or three-tone camo.
Panzermeister36 If you want to argue about it then take it up with the Tank Museum. Or my grandfather who worked in a factory producing StuG IV and JagdPanzer IV. They both say you're wrong.
I trust photographs, official documents, and surviving unrestored tank wrecks and parts more than 70+ year old hazy memories that are not your own and yet you were able to bring up in 6 minutes.
Cracking video and love Lindibeige enthusiasm even his jumper/miniskirt! Smiles
Excellent video , very informative...well done !
The STUG, in every variant, is my favorite tank of all time. Its effectiveness was undeniable, and I like the profile.
The Finns didn't really have much choice.
@Mrlightning 101 Well nobody else wanted to help so they were forced to take help from the Germans
@Mrlightning 101 They weren't traitors. They could even trait anybody because nobody beside Germany helped them.
USSR force Finland to start the Lapland war. Germany as a whole has played a huge role in the Finnish independence throughout history not just WW2
@Derp 101 who exactly did they betray lol
@@projectpitchfork860 star citizen project pitchfork by chance?
What a fantastic video. And thank you for not removing the mistakes. They are indeed how we learn!
I just love you including your models. Please keep it up. Ive made a heck load of 1/72 and 1/76 models as well. I sell them when I move on to my next phase.
I didn't choose the StuG life, the StuG life chose me ~ Panzer III
Random fact: Zimmerit was made by German company Zimmer & Co, which was owned by the father of Hans Zimmer. Yes, that Hans Zimmer.
jeder kennt den erfinder des zimmers ; P .........von der blutspur im waschbecken bis zur letzten ruhestätte unterm louvre.........gänsehautgarantie
well, shit.
You made that up. Right? Right?
Actually Hans Zimmer's father was the inventor Hans Joachim Zimmer who pioneered the manufacturing of synthetic fibre. He founded the Zimmer AG in Frankfurt am Main. Zimmer & Co in Berlin was founded by Louis Zimmer, I don't think they are closely related.
who?😂
You are so good at this. Enthralling history and humor
Ps 531-44 "Maija" is on display at the Finnish armour museum in Parola, close to Hämeenlinna. Interesting museum. They've got an armoured train and plenty of other rare stuff as well.
This particular Stug, Ps 531-44 "Maija", is at the Bovington tank museum in England. Parola does have two Stugs on display though, Ps. 531-45 and Ps. 531-18 "Kirsti", which by the way is still in running order!
Makes me sad i havnt caught up and missed a lot of lindy's videos recently. Caught this one and has definitly got me back to binge watching. Love it
don't you mean beige watching?
hey didn't expect to see the legend himself here!
Lindybinge
ITS ALMOST HARVESTING SEASON (I hope)
LindyBinging is favorite past-time of mine.
How noble you are my good sir. Admitting to ones flaws is never easy, but it does indicate a person of good character 👍 Really enjoy your content, I am glad to have found your channel.
Big fan of the StuG III, Lindybeige, and wool sweaters. This video is an instant hit!
I love the Stugs. Awesome tank killers. Ty for posting.
Phff not even reping chin ups in the thumbnail
Armenian's WT crew is cooler 100% confirmed
I love your Chanel
what up my friend
If u put a mine on the mud guard, could the mine blow the track off?
depends on the amount of explosives in the mine and the type of mine it is. It really just depends.
Lindy makes mistake, Lindy accepts his mistake and corrects it. Lindy is honest. That is why we like Lindy.
Except for when it comes to the "spandau". (facepalm)
Except for when he talked about the Spandau. And global warming. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love his videos, but on occasion his nationalism, conceit or sheer bloody-mindedness gets in the way of his logical thinking and basic humility.
@@Alopex1 Aww, is someone upset by Nationawism?
@@alexismcloughlin5383 I'm not upset by it per se, I think it inhibits people's capacity to think rationally as well as to empathise with people not belonging to their group. It's an outdated mode of thinking that has no place in a globalised world in which we are all interconnected. And I believe it's the root for a lot of racism, violence and arrogance.
@@Alopex1 bruh
Excellent video on this fine piece of machinery
What I find amazing Is that he still has the model Stug that he made at 11.
I'm pretty sure the logs were used to help move stuck vehicle from mud and swamp or other rough terrain. You would put them in front and drive over. Soviets had tree logs on every tank really for that very purpose.
You don't carry six massive logs for that purpose.
Well what are the odds they were added in the museum? It's hard to find Stug photos with any number, but I can find only with one.
Lindybeige Depends on the Museum, if they put them on who knows if they were planned or common?
Lindybeige Why not? It is always good to have spareparts. I don't see reasons not to.
"You don't carry six massive logs for that purpose." Why not? It works. And when you're not using them for traction, it doubles as extra armor! Incredibly high tech multi purpose thing ,wood!
Just want to say thank you for all your videos.. they are so good to watch and you put a lot of care into them which i think people take for granted.. many thanks sir
Leighton Young didn't you want to say" tank you"?
Well i have to tell you that this guy knew were little about what he is talking about. It is just very easy to create an video of something if the guy seeing the video is knowning even lesser that the creater of the video does.
Henrik H.. hang on.. this man does this because he is really enthusiastic about the subject.. his videos are not only informative but also highly entertaining with his zest for the subject matter being almost palatable and is very contagious... now consider also that these videos are free.... dont cost you anything.. to reply to a comment of thanks with a few crass rude and unfounded remarks makes you come across as a very bitter person..
You are absolute right on this. His videos are really funny and I enjoy to watch them. Me being a bitter person? hmm maybe. I am bitter that he had the option to go to a museum and make those films and have a great fun and a lot of people there follow him knowing I can do a better job than him. And yes be very very funny too. And yes a Geek like me always have fun finding error on topic myself is an expert on. And yes you find this kind of geeks allover. just see all those films you will find here on youtube too about different movies like Furry and save private Ryan. Have a nice day :-)
Henrik H what a really good response.. i was expecting some vitriolic bile but your response was polite and really well worded... i am now very interested to know of any errors you have found..
Great presentation!! Very informative.
I was surprised how well you pronounced Maija. I was expecting butchery, but it was pretty excellently done. Bravo!
5:26 red lower half is also good for morale when the some crew inside is bleeding...
You know when someone is bleeding they would probably be screaming... And they would probably be holding onto their wound too...
@@wr0ng569 Ah, but the tank engine is so loud one cannot hear his own screaming! So the Germans were smart.
One little (but perhaps significant) detail: Lindybeige says: "This particular tank was issued to the Finns". The word 'issued' implies that it was given to the Finns, while they were fighting alongside the Germans. In reality, Finland bought and paid for all the equipment it got from Germany, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109s, the 8.8 cm flak guns, or indeed the Stugs. Each Stug, purchased between 1943 and 1944 cost the Finnish government 165,000 Reichmark, which is double (!) the manufacturing price mentioned in this video. This indicates that even though Finland and Germany were fighting a mutual enemy, their relationship wasn't exactly a full-on military alliance, and no such governmental pact was ever signed.
Where did the Finns get all those Reichsmarks?
thanks for that point however, we don't actually give any weapons away free to any of our current allies so what is then the point that is being made about them having to pay?
@@DarkShroom The Soviets overwhelmingly didn't pay for the land-lease equipment they received, and whenever they did, it was symbolic only. And AFAIK the Romanian divisions in Stalingrad were fully supplied by the Germans. So this whole modern thing of not helping your allies is just that, a modern thing. It was a war. There's no such global war going on at the moment. So making a random internet comment about people not giving stuff for free now, meant that no one got stuff for free during the war? Yeah, no.
A lot of axis countries used it. Italy generally produced it's own vehicles and it may surprise some to know that they had exceptional tank destroyers, but the one thing they did willingly use from Germany was the stug G.
@@D4rkstorn Soviets sent a lot of resources back, precious metals. There's a whole ship full of platinum from the USSR at the bottom a ways off the coast of my state. But generally speaking, they got a lot. But the allied factories made a lot, employed a lot of people, and got out of the depression, which Germany got out of in 1934 and had no unemployment by 1936, still with essentially no military to speak of relative to others. That's why the generals freaked out when Hitler retook their own territory being used by France in the Rhineland, where most of the industrial capacity was. Because if France wanted, they could steamroll right back in at the time.
Good Sir, you had me laughing and so as a reward I subscribed to you channel. Good show.
Great presentation. Thanks.
Ahhh, a stug. Finns loved those things and put them to good use against russians. They stayed in finnish army after the war and were still used in the 60's as trainer tanks. I believe this stug here is even in finnish colours, right? Beautiful beast
It is a finnish one, atleast it has the defence forces numbers and "maija" written on it :D
Taltsi yeah, i watched the video after i commented, floyd pointed it out too 👏
Also the designation of Ps. 531 is a Finnish army designation. All tanks get a designation of Ps. and a number as far as I know. The number after the dash - is the number of the individual tank.
unfortunately it,s in postwar colours though the modifications are wartime.
And later finns were buying soviet t-72 haha, very practical folk unlike mine
2:37 I reckon it's because if a magnetic mine does go bang on the mudguard the wrecked guard could get caught in the track or in its guide wheels and bugger up the manoeuvrability
Thanks for another great vid
I am most impressed, One of your best....
Ooh hey I know how Maija ended up in Bovington! She was traded for couple of british tanks (dont ask me which I cant remember) by the finnish tank museum at Parola. I heard the story from the head of the Parola museum while he gave us a tour of the place last year.
Sorry if this has already been said. Finland did not change sides. It fought the USSR on it's own; then joined with Nazi Germany to fight the USSR again (which meant they were enemies of the US and Britain and her Commonwealth). Then Finland abandoned Hitler, made peace with Stalin; and ended up fighting the Germans. At no time was she on the Allied side, just her own.
I counted two changes of side in your own reply. First change: neutral to axis ("...joined with Nazi Germany"). Second change: from axis to allied ("...abandoned Hitler") - or neutral, if you prefer that instead of allied. No one said the side changing would be just from allies to axis or vice versa.
Neutral is not a side, it is an independent state of being; independent from the sides in any conflict. In Europe in the last World War there were only two sides; Axis or Allied. Finland was an enemy of the Allies when they attacked the Soviets at the start of Barbarossa (and Churchill wrote personally to Mannerheim begging him not to do so). When Finland made peace with Stalin they did not side with the Allies. Their later fight with the Germans was forced on them but coincidental. As an aside. It was also the conflict that killed the only member of my family that died fighting for Finland; which makes the Timonen's of Salmi one of the luckiest large families in Finland.
Glyn Watkins: OK, OK - they're not Italy. But don't tell me some flip-flopping wasn't involved...
you obviously attended the Trump school of alternative facts
Finn here. We weren't part of the axis but we WERE fighting on the side of the Germans, the fact that Germans attacked against Murmansk and the Murmansk railroad from Finnish soil with Finnish forces reinforcing them is proof enough. But we were careful not to call Germans allies and Hitler noticed this. And we did change sides, Risto Ryti (president of Finland) promised Hitler personally that Finland would not negotiate a separate peace in return for a deal for arms and ammunition with which we stopped the last Soviet assault. After that Ryti became the greatest stateman ever by resigning so Finland could negotiate a separate peace, After which USSR forced us to declare war on Germany. TL;DR We weren't part of the Axis but neither were we fighting a separate war. Calling us Axis would warrant calling us Allies too since we fought against the Germans too.
Great video man!
so many different topics on your channel ;) great ! :-D
A shaped charge (magnetic mine) on the mudgaurd would quite possibly damage the track and/or drive sprocket and cause a mobility kill. And you don'thave to stand quite as much in teh buttoned down crews LOS. And once you have an M kill the darn thing is much easier to attack. Or ignore. BTW a turret does not pivot, it traverses. A gun pivots on it's trunnions. I love a stug too. Actually found a half built 1/35 Stug when I moved house recently. I think I'll have to dig out the paints and glue and finish it, 'specially since I have a room I can put that kind of thing on display now. Thanks for reminding me. Love your work.
No, turrets definitely pivot. Thats their purpose. Otherwise you'd have a fixed gun, and thats not a turret.
if the track is damaged then the mud guard guarding it being blow up along with the tread then BOOM and you have a one legged tank...Or a one treaded tank
Correct. This little very british guy in all his videos says something that is not correct. I am really wondering why anybody wants to see his videos since it is obvious that he often says something there is not correct.
People watch his stuff because hes funny and enthusiastic, not because he is a perfect documentary. I agree though that a lot of mistakes could be avoided if he just asked someone at the Museum (or owner in case of the 2 StuGs on the field, which are privately owned I assume) to clarify a few obvious things.
Then why is there zimmerit only on the front and rear mudguard sections of the fender, and not on the rest of the fender? They also applied zimmerit to the toolbox on StuGs, which would itself act as spaced armour if they tried to mount a magnetic mine there. Also, MIAG-built StuG III (ones in video are all ALKETT-factory builds) don't have any zimmerit on the whole engine deck or rear of the casemate/superstructure. It doesn't make much sense how they applied zimm.
They only applied Zimmerit to vertical or close to vertical surfaces (which apparently means more or less diagonal ones too), so its natural that near horizontal surfaces like the top of the fenders would be left without Zimmerit. I guess the assumption was that noone would be able to reach onto the top of the tank (or below it) to place the mine, and that vertical surfaces were thus more susceptible to such attacks.
He is entertaining despite his goofs. He is often right too :)
I was realy confused you said one track went backwards on a neutral turn, I'm glad you corrected yourself :)
great self-correction on the nuetral turn. taught me something about the churchill. that's what makes really quality history
The early model StuG was built by a guy in the UK from a wreck, and he did a LOVELY facebook page showing the entire restoration. He also brought a Marder III to Tankfest this year. Most of that particular tank is original, although it has the drivetrain from a British AFV (original StuG engines are a tad hard to find and get parts for), and he had to hand fabricate a lot of it (including those hinges you were so impressed by...hand made from blocks of steel, and fully documented on his page!). Here's a link to the facebook page that covered it: facebook.com/StugIIIAusfDRestoration/
This is interesting, and you built that model when you were ELEVEN?! holy shit i wonder what your models look like now! That's really cool!
For some reason I just find it fascinating that I saw the StuG with the side logs in December and you looked at it a few months later. It truly is an amazing machine
7:02 excellent tour/explanation of this stuff. Very well done, this guy is the Monty Python of tank world. Very entertaining.
4:08 Our president at the time, Risto Ryti, didn't like the nazis, but we were heavily dependent on them to fight the soviets. So Ryti promised alliance to them, knowing he didn't have the authority to do that and was essentially committing a treason. That fooled Hitler and he kept giving us support but eventually we abandoned the axis and made peace with the USSR. Ryti was condemned and thrown into jail. Rumor says that all the prisoners stood at attention whenever he walked by. Did I mention Finns have a reputation of being exceptionally trustworthy?
My oldest son was an exchange student in Oulu , Finland from America and said when he came back home he would return to Finland if he ever got another chance. Said the people and government is the most honest in the whole world. Too, he likes to fish and like the lures made by Rapala.
Sounds like a traitor to me....
why are you so sensitive about the fact that Finland fought as an ally of Germany? There is no shame. The Finnish nation, with the aid of Germany, fought bravely against the communist Russians. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Finland's enemy was the USSR, and the USSR's enemy was Germany. Alas, Germany and Finland lost the war, and both nations got shat on post-war. toughen up and win next time
@@commentsandlikes9509 This is so true. The Suomi people had to do what they had to do. England and France weren't coming to their aid. Unlike most all Eastern European countries that bordered the CCCP, Finland managed to remain free and sovereign even if they had to forfeit lands and remain neutral and not part of NATO during the Cold War.
FINLAND WAS AN ALLY OF NAZI GERMANY Saying so otherwise is blatant historical revisionism. Finland cooperated very closely with Germany during the planning of Operation Barbarossa. Finnish forces cooperated heavily with army group north in the area of Leningrad, and German and Finnish forces were fully integrated in the carrying out of military operations in northern Finland. Risto Ryti did not commit any treason whatsoever. His personal guarantee not to agree to an armistice with the Soviet Union was intentionally done by him and Mannerheim, so that Finland would not technically be violating any agreements with Germany when it did seek peace with the Soviets, as all he had to do was resign and they would be void. One of the conditions of the armistice was that certain Finnish "war criminals" selected by the Soviets had to be improsoned, and this included Ryti. Finland very reluctantly imprisoned him after making constitutional changes and creating bogus charges that would allow them to imprison him in order to comply with the Soviets, and he eventually recieved a pardon.
Earlier variants were actually designated as self propelled guns and not tank destroyers.
Yeah the A up till E variants were SPG/SPH's. The first AT version was the Stug Ausf. F
Good job, sir ! Thank you very much.
Honestly, I just tripped over this film. Man, well explained (safe for a few... mishaps... corrected marvelously by the bloody way!!!, congrats), I love the english accent, it is so mature and ... well... nice, overall. Quite flippin' humorous as well, ol' chap! Well done, if I might say so!!! Going to look into your films right now! :)
Finnish army used Stug III:s until 1966.
Ande Finns, they were the enemy!
maybe replaced by Swedish S-tanks? LOL...just a guess..
troll..
2:05 Even the lamp has a Stahlhelm.
that was a great presentation
Thank you Sir! Good video 😀👍
Stug needed a little Lindy love 💕😊
Why Zimmerit on the mudguard? Simple, to reduce the chance of a magnetic shaped charge to damage the tracks (they already were pretty overworked on the StuG III because of the high weight).
I think the rough surface of zimmerit also helps climbing onto the Stug
Zimmerit was rather useless on a whole anyways, the people who used magnetic mines the most where......the Germans themselves. That's why really only early and mid war tanks even have it, at some point they stopped putting it on their tanks, a good half of all panthers never even had it.
That's what I thought too, if you got a mine stuck to the mudguard, it would probably blow off the track.
The top flat bit of the mudguard had no Zimmerit, and the spacing between the guard and the track would make blowing the track off unlikely.
You wouldn't stand on that bit. It would not take your weight.
love ur vids I share a passion for ww2 history as well, and tanks and planes definatly keep up your cool work its important we never forget
Amigo, you are a awesome teller. You'r video's are great and your information isn't copied or just filling up the time. You don't have any fancy music in the background, what is great and you don't try to make a show of it, you'r just yourself making a vid. about tanks. You are good.
Did they use a waffle iron to make that "Zimmerit"? Time for a Zimmerit video. And how it's still used today, my city covers outdoor elecrical cabinets with it as an anti-poster paint but the design looks very much like midwar German Zimmerit. Just do it for the word Zimmerit, i would love to hear you say Zimmerit more often. lovely word, ins't it? Zimmerit.
Long story short, Zimmermit is applied like a paste and a special tool gives it the texture, German's figured out the only people issuing magnetic anti tank mines on mass......,where the Germans themselves, and stopped putting it on their tanks later into the war.
Zimmerit.Zimmerit.Zimmerit. etc. 0___0 Rutabaga (___)
Everything allright Thomas? You sound... odd. :)
A magnetic mine on the mud guard comes in handy to disable the tracks I'd guess.
Tank you Gewehry much, o noble educator.
Kick-azz tank! Love the model at the end even though he was only 11 when he made it! Skillz!
Thumbnail had me convinced the three logs were the fingers on your right hand. Palpable disappointment, made up for by your magnificent content though
That would have been a BIG hug.
They put Zemerit on this so named " Mudguard" because directly down under this thing is the "Power wheel" that keeps the tank moving .
I think the technical term is "drive sprocket"
Well done,a human touch to what could be a rather dry subject!
Thanks for the vid sir.
Scherenfernrohr does indeed just mean "scissor telescope".
I do believe that was the joke
Also a really literal translation of "Fernrohr" (scope) would be "far pipe"
Also thought it looked more like a rabbit ears myself... :)
If you know the name of something in German, you know *exactly* what it does...
Or at least what it looks like. A nice feature also shared by Japanese. Probably most languages that don't consist of random words from different languages thrown together.
Couldn't a mine on the mudguard de-track the vehicle?
Yes
Yes, and Lindybeige ought to know. Track off: Stug immobile.
@@Herman6507 And without a turret, only able to shoot in one direction
except you know the track is also magnetic and made of steel so sticking a magnetic mine on it would accomplish the same thing
@@ServantofBaal Gunners and drivers worked as a team and the STUG-III could line up to it's target very fast. If they had not worked well, then why did they make so many, and why did they destroy the most enemy vehicles?
Well done ! Thanks !
what a sense of humour, brill delivery.