Episode list

During World War Two Nazi tank tactics were effective in the field. But it's industrial production was inefficient until mass production methods were introduced in 1942. Tank production was considerably higher in1943 and 1944 but by then tank factories were subject to bombing, vehicles were subject to sabotage by slave laborers and new generation tanks were far more expensive. So Germany could not produce the number of competitive tanks its needed.

The collapse of the Nazi Luftwaffe was due to major intrinsic failures rather than the often cited tactical failures that lost battles.

The Arado Ar 234 was a 1940 design intended as a jet powered reconnaissance aircraft. But the jet engines were not available until 1943 and by then there was interest in the plane as a bomber. Several variants of the generally good airplane were produced. But the engines proved unreliable due to poor quality fuel and poor raw materials in the parts so only about 250 planes were produced.

Fighter aces are often a point of national pride. But the accomplishments of aces are not necessarily an indicator of an effective air force for several reasons.

With a significant lack of understanding understanding of the challenge of invading Russia, Hilter's Operation Barbarosa was unrealistic and had little chance of succeeding.

Bernhard brings data to the table to challenge some of the biggest perceptions about the European Theater in World War Two.

British thirty-six gun frigates of the colonial era were typically manned by a crew of 278. Here's what they did.

According to the data the panzerfaust wasn't as effective as German long-range anti-tank guns but it out performed other close combat weapons.

During D-Day Germany had few naval assets particularly in the area to oppose the Nomandy landings since they expected the attack elsewhere. To complicate matters for the Nazis the English Channel was heavily mined and the allies had air and naval superiority.

Flak towers were built in Belin, Hamburg and Vienna during World War Two to combat Allied bombing. There were not much more effective than ground based antiaircraft guns making their cost effectiveness questionable. But they also served as safe havens, specifically as air raid shelters and hospitals.

So you want to have a world war and send all your young men into battle. Then who's going to to grow the food to feed them and who's going to make all the guns and bombs because soldiers are inherently unproductive.

In World War Two tanks were attacked by a multitude of weapons. In response to a viewer question Bernhard researches what weapons are responsible for the most kills.

Cavalry charges were so fast compared to the range and reload times of infantry and artillery weapons that only one volley could be fired before contact and only if the defenders were assembled in formation. But in the mind of Napoleon the ability of cavalry to pursue the enemy after a loss made cavalry truly decisive.

Napoleonic Era infantry generally fought in line or column formations with skirmishers to harass the enemy's formations. While strange to the modern eye this method allowed fort volley fire to make up for weapon inaccuracy while minimizing the impact of artillery.

A summary of German policies for the use of artillery in World War Two based on original sources.

Artillery grew significantly in importance during the Napoleoic Era. The belligerents of the time had roughly the same variety of gun and ammunition of comparable quality but their philosophies of how to utilize it varied.

On the Eastern front the Wehrmacht was able to counter attack the Soviets throughout the war even into 1945. Yet the Wehrmacht failed to effectively counter attack on the Eastern front after 1942.

Bernhard sorts through the tremendous volume of documentation about the Waffen-SS, much of it biased, to try to establish the truth about this organization that expanded 23 fold during a period of limited resources and so, was far from static or uniform during is existence from 1939 to 1945.

The Panzerfaust was a simple, man-portable and launched anti tank weapon. With an initial range of thirty meters in 1942 it was increased to 250 meters by the end of World War Two. The operation and internal structure of the weapon are shown here.

Berhard reviews Rommel's reports immediately following D-Day to understand why the German military collapsed. Rommel concluded that the Allies had substantially superior forces in quality and quantity and was readily able to resupply whereas the Germans struggled due to Allies aerial harassment of their supply lines. Berhard offers additional evidence unknown to Rommel that indicates he was substantially correct.

Russia's BMPT Terminator tanks are based on Russia's main battle tank chassis but forgo the long gun in favor of a collection of lighter guns and missiles making it more suitable for urban warfare.

Bernhard is wondering why Russia has not committed any T-80 tanks to the Ukraine conflict. His best guess is they offer little advantage over older tanks in the type of fighting in Ukraine and they are much more expensive to operate. Also over 25% of Russia's T-80 inventory seems to be missing.

Mine clearing is a tough dangerous job under ideal conditions. Under combat conditions and when mines can be deployed faster than cleared it's impossible without effective enemy suppression. Still, some methods are much better than others.

Bernhard reviews the 2014 "Fury" noticing that the historical accuracy is generally very good bu that the battle scenes are internally inconsistent and do not follow basic battle tactics.