Military (Doc Various)

A 1996 Chronos Films Technology, War Documentary narrated by Brian Matthews and Mark Healy. This 'War Archive' programs (Complete title: The Panzers: Germany's Ultimate War Machines), brings the most comprehensive collection of the Wehrmacht's mobile fighting armor ever compiled as a definitive series. At the heart of the series is the story of the evolution of the German tank, including the Panzer and Tiger tanks in their various configurations, which swept all before them throughout Europe, Russia and Middle East during the Blitzkrieg campaigns. Their powers are amply illustrated through the lenses of the German combat cameramen who accompanied the front line action in all the theaters of war. Their abilities are assessed and judged against the capabilities of the allied armor which they were born to crush. In addition the series is complemented with in-depth coverage of the armored cars and half tracks whose main task was to range ahead of the tank battalions. It was often said that where you found these vehicles, the Panzers would not be far behind. The series deals with the evolution of each tank, many of which were judged to be the best designed tanks of the war. Episode 1: It is one of the enduring myths of the Second World War, that the German 'Blitzkrieg' victories of the early years of the conflict were achieved by their employment of a numerically and technologically superior tank force. In reality, the defeat of Poland and France, Yugoslavia and Greece and the remarkable victories in the opening stages of the Russian campaign and in North Africa, were wrought by German tank divisions equipped, in the main, with light tanks. The Panzer I weighed less than six tons, and was armed with two machine guns and armour barely able to withstand the impact of such weapons itself. It was with these light-weight workhorses, rather than their heavier and more glamorous stablemates, that the Blitzkrieg legend was forged.

Episode 2: The Panzer III emerged as one of the formative images of German military success in the newsreels produced by the Propaganda Ministry, documenting the Blitzkrieg victories of the early war years. While proving adequate to the task of countering allied armour in France and the Western desert, the fateful encounter with the superior Soviet T-34 tank, following the invasion of Russia in 1941, revealed the technical shortcomings of the Panzer III. It's days as a battle tank were numbered, but it could still be seen serving in the East as a command tank until 1944, and in other secondary theatres such as Norway until the German surrender.

Episode 3: In continuous production from 1936 until 1945 the Panzer IV was the armoured 'workhorse' of the German army in the Second World War. Designed originally as a heavy 'support' tank for its stablemate, the lighter Mark III in the Panzer divisions, it became one of the key instruments of the blitzkrieg victories, in the early war years. This programme traces the long history of this most versatile of German tanks and documents, a combat career that finally ended with the destruction of the last Mark IV's in Syrian service by the Israeli army on the Golan Heights in June 1967.

Episode 4: The Panther was Germany's response to the shocking experience of encountering the superior Soviet T-34 tank in the wake of the invasion of Russia in 1941. While drawing heavily on the design of the T-34, the Panther was, however, a more sophisticated machine, incorporating features that led many to judge it to have been possibly the best designed tank of the war. This program covers not only evolution of the Panther design, but through the usage of combat footage, illustrates the Panther in action on all fronts on which the German Army fought from 1943 until 1945.

Episode 5: There can be few people who have never heard of the Tiger Tank - indeed, it has come to be seen as one of the most potent symbols of German military power in the Second World War. First committed to combat on the Eastern front 1942, the Tiger and its more formidable successor - the Tiger II, 'Kingtiger' - had, by the time of the defeat of Nazi Germany, generated an awesome reputation that far belied the very small production run of fewer than the 2000 built. The history of this legendary tank is told with particular emphasis placed on combat footage of the Tiger in action, as well as footage of the Ferdinand/Elefant on the Eastern front and the Sturmtiger in action in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

Episode 6: From 1940 until war's end, German industry produced a plethora of self-propelled weapons for the German Army. Whilst some of these were purposely designed, others were extemporary affairs developed rapidly using available weapons and chassis to serve the immediate need of the German Army in the field. Those covered in this programme fall mainly into the categories of tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery. This unique compilation of combat footage of these vehicles will allow the viewer to gain an insight into the variety and importance of such weapons to the German Army, down to its defeat.

Episode 7: One of the most common images of German Armour in the combat footage taken by Goebbel's propaganda cameramen in the second half of the war in Europe, was the Assault Gun or 'Sturmgeschutz' (abbr. Stug). From 1942 onwards it was increasingly employed as a tank destroyer, but its origin lay not in that role but in a 1936 order for an armoured infantry support vehicle. The frequency with which assault guns are filmed in action from 1944 onwards, illustrates the manner to which this vehicle was employed as a substitute for the Panzers. By the war's end assault gun units claimed the destruction of no less than 20,000 allied tanks.

Episode 8: Seemingly present whenever German combat cameramen were filming, armoured cars and half tracks were as vital to the German war machine as the Panzers. Designed for the vital role of reconnaissance, they ranged ahead of the advancing Panzer spearheads to assess enemy strengths and intentions. Whether on four wheels or employing the more distinctive eight wheel configuration, German armoured cars would be seen as much a symbol of the Blitzkrieg as the Panzers themselves. This programme covers all these vehicles and includes rare footage of the late war 'Puma' armoured car in Normandy.

Episode 9: During WW2, the need for capable and qualified crewmen to work with and maintain the equipment became vital. In order to keep up with the demands of warfare, soldiers and engineers were educated partly with training films. This program shows footage of the Tiger tanks during Operation Citadel, as well as edited highlights of two German Army training films from late 1943 and mid 1944. Including two major military productions, the first of these films was produced to show how to convert the Panther tank, allowing it to successfully deal with the extensive Soviet defenses like those it encountered at its debut in Kursk. The second film from 1944, made for the benefit of personnel serving in Sdkfz 251 D's and the Panzerjaeger IV, may well be the only footage of this type to survive the war. Finally there are sequences showing such machines as the late Model Brummbaer which round off this fascinating assemblage of unique footage of German armored fighting vehicles from the latter part of WW2.

Episode 10: The effectiveness of its artillery was one of the dominating features of the German Army on the battlefields of the Western Front in the First World War. Indeed, a specific requirement of the Treaty of Versailles was that the new Reichswehr be denied heavy artillery. The expertise and technology that had made the artillery arm so effectivei in that conflict were never lost. So that when re-armament began in Germany in 1933, following the Nazi access on to power, the ground was already laid for the rapid expansion of artillery of all types for the new Wehrmacht. While never acquiring the glamour of the Panzer arm, the guns of the Wehrmacht were nevertheless instrumental in serving the German Armed Forces in victory and defeat through to 1945.