Monday, September 20, 2010

Some panzerfaust scenes in German propaganda videos I ran across.

The third one, with blown up American tanks and prisoners was tough to watch for me, but has images of deploying panzerfausts which I found interesting. There are a few things hinky about the video. They claim to be showing blowing up Sherman mediums, but then cut to scenes of destroyed M-5 lights.





8 comments:

Bad Cyborg said...

Basically an RPG with a very simple, single use launcher. If I was a well-heeled, connected three-per (which I am not on any count) I'd be buyin up and stashing as many RPG as I could get my grubby mits on. A single basic HE RPG round would put paid to any metro van or light troop carrier swat-type the-onlys use. Even do a number on light APC vehicles hauling a cargo of oath-breaker regulars.

Those POWs the last film showed were taken about a month after my father-in-law was shot down over Poland. Hope they didn't get to join the German Death March. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_March_(1945)) My father-in-law did. Real party that. No military necessity (unlike Bataan) they just didn't want to give the POWs back. Bastards.

Bad Cyborg X

Anonymous said...

Nice warhead on that panzerfaust! Kinda reminds me of a comparison between an M72 warhead and the RPG7, performed on a 113. Pop versus KERRRWHAMMYYYYY. Kinda like the Sherman vs a tiger. No contest.

Anonymous said...

The first film shows the Pupchen which was an 88 mm rocket launcher mounted on a small cart. It basically was the PanzerSchrek (germans bazooka)which also appears in the films. The Pupchen was successful but it was soon seen that you did not need the cart or more advanced optics and so they were done away with and thus the Panzerschrek was deployed. We also see the early Panzerfaust 43 it has the small diameter warhead and was later replaced by the 44 which had a much larger more powerful charge. If I recall correctly they were 200mm shaped charges.
The last film indeed shows some clever editing with Shermans (M4's) being attacked but the destroyed tanks are indeed Stewarts (M5's). Odds are they could not stick around to film the aftermath of the attack on the Shermans since those fellows were probably followed up by even more Shermans and armored infantry.



We do indeed need a disposable launcher design that can be sent around and made with everyday parts. Like PVC pipe for instance.

Grenadier1

Anonymous said...

That last video was interesting in that it showed the soldiers at the beginning had STG-44 assault rifles.

You usually just see MP-40's, so that caught my attention immediately.

Dedicated_Dad said...

The Sherman "tank attacks" were clearly directed filming with "actors" - likely using captured tanks.

In the first "kill", the tank literally disappears in a poorly-done cut-edit covered by dirt, smoke, flame and debris from a ground-based explosion.

In the second, it's obvious that all that's burning is some gasoline poured on the side of the deck and track.

I could be wrong about the order, watched 'em last night - but if you look again you'll see what I mean.

Then they cut to - what appeared to me - to be the same Stewart shown from different angles...

Anonymous said...

The first vids showed them in a training area similar to the one in their sniper vids. Near Berlin I believe. So these were more than likely just from a training area, maybe a real kill shot thrown in for realism, but most of it shot on the training grounds.
My dad was a Fallschirmjaeger medic from '39 -'44, captured right after Carentan, he doesn't remember much about the Panzerfaust.
0321

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I shall fear no hunger, for his bailouts are with me.
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And Obama was a tree..

J. Croft said...

Rocket propelled grenades and such leave a definitive backblast. The Germans came up with a solution with the Armbrust which uses an expanding plastic sleeve that absorbs the blast while moving back permitting the weapon to be deployed in buildings.

A disposable version using pvc pipe and using whatever in the same principle could work as well.

What is also needed is a self-guiding missile, but for our lack of resources acoustic homing based on vehicle signature and comparison could work.