The Tank - German film

[Seadog]

The "Duplex Drive" which was a bit of a surprise to the Germans, since it appeared just to be an amphibious troop carrier.
Sadly many of them went straight to the bottom because US captains wouldn't go in close enough to the shore so the tank were flooded almost immediately.
It was cowardice on the part of those skippers.

 

[mcostello]

As if being in a tank on dry land was not bad enough, someone needed to see if it could swim.

 

[oldbikedavey]

When I was at school I read all the Sven Hassel books. I'm surprised that they didn't make many of them into movies.

It's actually a short animation of imagination and considerable hilarity....

 

[mark roberts]

Watched it, enjoyed it, never really understood it. Were they dead already?

 

[dave h 2]

When I was at school I read all the Sven Hassel books. I'm surprised that they didn't make many of them into movies.

At least one has been on tele twice that I noticed.

 

[dave h 2]

The "Duplex Drive" which was a bit of a surprise to the Germans, since it appeared just to be an amphibious troop carrier.
Sadly many of them went straight to the bottom because US captains wouldn't go in close enough to the shore so the tank were flooded almost immediately.
It was cowardice on the part of those skippers.

At least our lot launched a lot closer to the beach and didn't our crews sit on the outside of the tank with only the driver inside, hatch open.

 

[Seadog]

Yes, our skippers had guts.
I believe that they did.

 

[Turbo]

At least one has been on tele twice that I noticed.

The Misfit Brigade is loosely based on the Wheels of Terror book and is the only one I know of.

 

[Farside]

The Misfit Brigade is loosely based on the Wheels of Terror book and is the only one I know of.

Watched that again, recently. Seems better for the second viewing.
Another one in the tank vein I saw years ago, but have just started downloading, is Beast of War,

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716

Also, just started watching the newer TV series of Das Boot (another boat, totally different story), made in 2018.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5830254

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Watched that again, recently. Seems better for the second viewing.
Another one in the tank vein I saw years ago, but have just started downloading, is Beast of War,

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716

Also, just started watching the newer TV series of Das Boot (another boat, totally different story), made in 2018.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5830254

Used to be a crew of reenactors that did das boot that went to war and peace. They had the top deck and bridge fin of a u boat in the field, looked like it had surfaced through the grass

 

[Farside]

Used to be a crew of reenactors that did das boot that went to war and peace. They had the top deck and bridge fin of a u boat in the field, looked like it had surfaced through the grass

"Achtung, Massey!"
"Alarm!"

 

[fizzy]

In 2024 when I was in hospital they brought an amazing old gent onto the ward. They asked his date of birth. He told them 04.03.24
That is the only time I have heard someone give their date of birth with the same last 2 digits as the current year!
He was an absolutely amazing chap - as bright as a button. From Swansea he joined the merchant navy when he was 14. During WW2 the ship he was on was torpedoed by a U boat. But the amazing thing was the U boat Captain
ordered them to heave to and waited for them to get into the lifeboats. Made sure everyone was safe and pointed them in the direction of West Africa.
It took them several days but they all came ashore around Sierra Leone. Looked after very well by the villagers. Spelt out SOS on the beach in palm leaves and were rescued.

He later became one of the youngest ever cruise ship captains. Headed the cruise company from it's offices in Mayfair and came out of retirement in his late 70s to head a tanker fleet in the Gulf. He wrote a book about his experience and was so moved by the actions of the U boat commander that he visited his family in Germany after the war and used to give talks at German Schools and universities.
His name is rather apt. Captain Davy Jones

The U boat Captain was Werner Hartenstein and involved in the famous Laconia incident.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Hartenstein

On 19 September 1942, U-156 was roughly 800 nautical miles (1,500 km; 920 mi) south of Freetown and the crew was still repairing minor damage, when the lookout spotted a ship at 04:30. The target was the British ship Quebec City, en route from Cape Town to Freetown. Hartenstein attacked from a submerged position and hit Quebec City with one torpedo fired from tube VI. Hartenstein surfaced and approached the lifeboats and asked the survivors for the ship's name. Quebec City did not sink easily and U-156 fired 58 rounds from the 37 mm (1.46 in) flak gun and seven further shots from the 10.5 cm gun before Hartenstein ordered a cease fire. After a direct hit in the ship's stern ammunition magazine and an explosion, Quebec City slowly sank.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Hartenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJones1999117-37"><span>[</span>33<span>]</span></a> According to William Clark, a member of Quebec City's crew, Hartenstein made sure that the survivors had enough water and provisions and that Captain William Thomas had the exact coordinates. This account of that attack and the impression that the humanitarian actions of Hartenstein made is documented in the book by David Cledlyn Jones

The Enemy We Killed, My Friend - David C. (Cledlyn) Jones

The Enemy We Killed, My Friend by David C. (Cledlyn) Jones. Published by Llandysul: Gomer Press.

booklovers.co.uk

 

[RichardM]

Stalingrad is available on Youtube.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

My uncle Dennis, went over on Day+1. Told me he could have brought back a lot more momentoes from Germany than he did (his Welsh daughter was named Ingrid, maybe that's a clue), but he said if he had the fuel a German tank was possible...
As it was there was some stuff, now undoubtedly classed as illegal.

Friends grandad went up the beach in armour but she was never sure what. I did some digging, and it was a crocodile, a flamethrower tank. He went right the way through, went from the crocodile to a firefly. She has his hand written diaries, little pocket books. Most entries are just movements, some combat, but one is just a single sentence. “Became a father” quite a sobering thing to read.

 

[dave h 2]

The Misfit Brigade is loosely based on the Wheels of Terror book and is the only one I know of.

That's the one, same character names, revised plot.