Us & British Tank Crew WW2

I had a couple of comments from two different people about my last video on the American paratrooper saying now some of the items are wrong. One guy said that a paratrooper with an M1 carbine wouldn't have a 10-pocket ammunition belt and it didn't make sense. But I based my uniform on this picture. This is from a book and it's illustrated by Malcolm McGregor and Pierre Turner. And they always draw from original photographs. And I did have a book of the actual photograph of that particular person. You can see he's got the 10-pocket ammunition belt. And another guy said that the American paratroopers on D-Day would have reinforced patches on their knees and elbows. And the uniform I had wouldn't be right. This photograph was taken the day before D-Day. And none of those soldiers up there have reinforced knee pads or elbow pads. So it's the same with anything. It's just a general overview. But what soldiers should wear and what they actually wear and were issued with are completely different. So those comments are not really relevant. At the beginning of the war the American tank troops would wear these special boots with an unusual wrap-around strap system. Then they would wear a one-piece green overall. And at the bottom of the overall was a little strap there and a button. That was to stop the bottom of the pants flapping around and getting caught in the parts of the tank. These are the boots that the US tank crew wore at the beginning of the war. They were what's known as Patton boots. They were named after then Captain George S. Patton after the First World War. They have this unusual strap system around them. There's a short strap there across the front, lower down. Then there's another strap that starts there, goes round, around the back through that loop, all the way round, then round again to the front to stop the pad. Now there weren't many of those made. They don't think they lasted very long. Then they started using just ordinary boots like the ordinary infantry. So those kinds of boots like that, they're extremely rare at the moment. This is the one-piece overall. There are two large pockets on the front there with flaps over. Now the belt, that's actually attached to the overalls. And then there's a big pocket on the seat around the back. And then they have this big pocket on the chest there as well. And this is the one-piece suit. And in one of the... there are two pockets there, one on either side of my leg. But in this one here, there's a label here. And this one says... let's have a look. I'll get it out properly. I'll read it to you. Let's get it in position. It's a one-piece suit with a herringbone twill special. Stock size is 34-0. And it is dated 1943. On top of the overalls, it would wear this short jacket. Windproof jacket with a zipper down the front and two slanted pockets on the side there. And the elasticated cuffs. Very popular jacket that was. And that star went on after the war as a civilian jacket. Then they would mostly be armed with a pistol. Usually a Colt M1911. They came out in the First World War. And then there was a later model called the M1911A1 that came out in 1926. But both would be used throughout the war. And that's in its leather holster. That's a semi-automatic. And then look at that bag attached to the belt. That's for two more magazines for the pistol. The fiber helmet was designed to take the M1 steel helmet shell on top for extra protection in the tank. But you very rarely see photographs of the tank troops wearing the steel helmet shell on top. And that cross strap on the back and that other little strap there on the side. That's to hold the goggles in place. And then on the ear flaps, there's some that's past the microphone set. So they can hear each other in the noisy tank. Now this helmet and uniform was made famous a few years ago in the Brad Pitt movie called Fury. But it made me laugh. As you can see, it was really funny. Brad Pitt had been driving his tank for hours. And he got out. And he took off his helmet. And his hair was still spiky. That would be impossible. His hair would be stuck to his head with sweat. But that's Hollywood for you. The main tank of the Americans was the Sherman medium tank. It first came out in 1941. But there were several variants of that made during the war. They did alter it quite a lot. And that went into production until 1945. And there were about 50,000 of those made during the war. And nearly 17,000 of those were supplied to the British Army. And it was really reliable. And it was used in Korea as well. And also in 2016, Paraguay still had 10 active tanks used for training. And they had 5 in storage for parades. And they were only retired in 2018. The British tank troops were issued with a revolver. This is a Webley 38. It was in a low-slung holster like that. It was supposed to make it more convenient to be in the tank. And not getting caught on the components in the confines of the tank. But it didn't work out very well. Later in the war, they just cut those hanging straps off. And fastened the holster to the belt. And this one is dated 1942. And it's got a cleaning rod attached to the holster there too. And some loops on the side for some spare ammunition. This is the one-piece winter tank suit. It's really thick and heavy. It has two zippers going from the neck right down to the ankles. That's how it can get in and out easier. And it's got pockets all over it. And it has a detachable hood as well. And it was known by the men as a fairy suit. And they did have a lightweight version for the Far East as well. Now the microphone, I'm not sure if that's the correct one for the tank troops. But it's from wartime. And also during the war, the tank troops started wearing black berets. And even today, the tank regiments still use black berets as part of their uniform. There's a button on the microphone there. When you press that, that's the press to speak into and turn it off. I'm not sure if it's for the tank troops or not. But it's a wartime one. The badge on the beret is for the Royal Tank Regiment. And the motto is Fear Not. The tank regiment was formed during the First World War. And it's one of the oldest tank regiments in the world. Tanks first appeared in the First World War. And this is a British prototype. It's called Little Willie. It came out in 1915. And it's steered by the two wheels at the back. They're controlled by cables that run from the wheels into the tank. I think that's how the tank got its name. It's basically just a metal tank on rails. Now that wasn't developed as a fighting vehicle. That was just to find a method of getting over trenches. But that was the forerunner of all tanks. All the tanks came from that one design. After the disaster at Dieppe, early in the war, When the tanks couldn't get ashore to support the troops, Churchill ordered Major General Percy Hobart to come up with some different ideas for the tanks. One of the things that came up was this. This was the DD tank, or the Duplex Drive. It's based on a Sherman tank. That hub there lifts up to make it waterproof. And the idea was they could be launched from landing craft just offshore, Then swim the short distance to shore. Then when they land, that hub would drop down and could be used as a tank. Now the Americans did use some of those on Omaha Beach. But the sea was a little rough that day. And the tanks were set off a little too far from shore. And a lot of them sank. And this was another one he came up with. This is based on a Churchill tank. It's called the Crocodile. It's a flamethrower. The tray in the back there is full of the liquid for the flamethrower. And all these tanks became known as Hobart's Funnies. That one there, that's based on a Sherman. It's called a Crab. Those chains over there on the shaft over there, They spin around at high speed. You can see it there. And that clears away through the minefield. It sets off all the mines. And the one down below, that's based on a Churchill. That's the Churchill Avery. That used to fire a 40-round projectile, known as a bunker buster. And the round was known as a flying garbage can. Because of the shape of the round it fired. Then you have another one, another Churchill. That's just for towing broken-down vehicles. Then we have another one. That's called the Bobbin. That used to roll out its own little road for coming and landing on the soft sand on the beaches. And then there's this one, that one there. That's the Ark, known as the Ark. It's just a Churchill tank with no turret on it. And it was used as a sacrificial thing to go into steep crossing ravines or large trenches. And there's another one there. That can lay its own bridge. But they proved very effective on D-Day. And the Americans were offered some of these, But they only took the DD tank. They didn't accept any of the others. And after the war, Eisenhower did say that he did regret it because there were big benefits in the landings on D-Day.