Hilary Doyle PanzerTalks - Jagdpanzer 38t Hetzer at Arsenalen

Hilary Louis Doyle, Weald Foundation Trustee, visits Arsenalen Tank Museum. In this video, Hilary talks about the famous Jagdpanzer 38t, also known as 'Hetzer'.

We are a charitable organisation set up to preserve, restore and maintain historic military vehicles from both world wars, and to educate the public about their history. Our unique line-up of rare and important military vehicles, including tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, is considered to be one of the finest working collections in the world.
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[burlatsdemontaigne]

Mr Doyle's tank knowledge never fails to astound me.

[richardprzybylek]

I always loved that little tank especially with the 105mm it looked like the infantry support vehicle was supposed to

[tarjei]

Fantastic to listen to an expert who obviously know what he talks about.

[ivoferin]

Hilary is brilliant... Fortunate to have many of his books.

[j.f.fisher]

Muzzle brakes made ATGs much easier to spot. The smoke dissipated quickly but the rearward blast would raise dust and it spread out to the sides clearly marking the gun's location. That according to a Soviet tank officer's memoir.

[rudithedog]

Love watching and listening to Hillary Doyle a true font of knowledge, and the you got to admit it is small and squat in profile and has a lot of bitting power just like a badger so I suppose that is where the nickname came from.

[GianmarioScotti]

Very nice and informative discussion, gentlemen. Thank you.

[mycroft]

Karlsson and Doyle; a formidable pairing. TFP

[Berghof]

My former Swiss ex-G13 was built using parts made during the war, the majority marked with the three letter Nazis manufacturer's code. In fact the front glacis plate had the code for Ruhstahl, indicating the body was made in Germany. Ergo, I think the Czech factory was unable to produce the bodies. Regarding the muzzle brake... The prototype vehicle had a muzzle brake, I can speak with some authority as to why the original German versions had no brake. Look at the vehicles "Angle of Approach." Run a ruler along the image here of the front edge of the track up toward the muzzle. A muzzle brake, if installed, will extend beyond the edge of the ruler or angle of approach of the vehicle. As a former crew on the Patton Museum's Hetzer that had the brake removed so as to resemble a wartime German vehicle, we were moving down a slight incline. We were going to drive to the road beyond. Result was that we impaled the gun's muzzle into the embankment (ditch) of the road beyond stalling the vehicle. Because of this impediment to the vehicle's maneuverability, the Germans chose to ditch the muzzle brake. The Swiss, following the war, chose to specify the addition of a muzzle brake as it is said to reduce the strain on the recoil mechanism by some 10%. The Swiss apparently preferred longevity. I've been told that the Swiss plans for the G13 was to drive them on the road to defensive prepared positions. A further item I wish to point out are the three steel cylindrical bosses welded on top the crew area. Each has a cap that is threaded onto the bosses to keep dirt out. The bosses are about 3" in diameter and a couple inches high. What are they far you might ask. Look at a Bergpanzer, the repair Hetzer. It came with a three point hoist. Those bosses are for installing a Berg's hoist onto the Jagdpanzer 38T. Ingeniously, you could then use the hoist attached to your own vehicle to affect repairs, while the Berghetzer could be employed elsewhere, perhaps to recover a disabled Hetzer? Feel free to contact the founder of the US WWII Historical Re-enactment Society regarding Hetzers. I may well be the most experienced Hetzer driver in the USA with some twenty years experience. .

[Chipchase]

My favorite tank in wot. I know it’s a fighting vehicle, function over style, but I love the shape of the thing ! It makes me think of a large metal beetle with a very destructive sting at the front. Fascinating and informative video. I’d really like a large scale model of it.

[HenrikFredriksson-oilz]

If you ever visit Sweden - visit Arsenalen in Strängnäs, about 100km from Stockholm😊👍

[briankrause]

I always felt the Jagdpanzer 38t was the 'cute little sister' of the Jagd Panther... They share a lot of similarities in profile, but not size (or I assume deadliness...). I don't know why, must be some genetic markers left over from my grandparents/parents, but I still think German tanks look 'cool' in spite of all the awful events associated with WW2 and the Nazi Regime. I was recently at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and it had many WW2 vehicles, including Sherman/T-34 etc, but only standing beside the German armor (they have a Panther (Ausf A), Jagdpanzer IV, and PzKw 2) caused any primal excitement/awe.

[neilwilson]

So interesting. Thanks for the detailed insight.

[spinnetti]

Nice.. I scratch built a bit later model in 1/12 scale for RC... Cool little machine. Learned a lot researching for the build.

[bRattusNorvegicusCBO]

Originální konstrukce lt.38 ČeskoSlovenské republiky. Z kvalitního podvozku Praga montovali nacisti stíhač tanků. Používaný byl do konce války. Mimochodem Lt. 38 výrazně převyšuje Panzer l i ll. 😊

[parkerray]

These tank destroyers were a love and hate relationship with the crews! The were very effective tank destroyers, but were a nightmare to fight!

[d.l.hemmingway]

You know since the US Marines are doing away or have done away with their tanks, but likely still need some sort of Direct Fire artillery for bunker busting and such perhaps a modern version of the Jagdpanzer 38t Hetzer should be developed.

[createdeccentricities]

Compact AFV with a powerful gun, but . . . gunner had to arch his body over the breech to load it, it was cramped, and I've heard that it leaked.

[madigorfkgoogle]

haha, they never bothered to look under the paint of the barrel.
In reality every single JPz.38t has a thread at the end of the barrel under a cover screwed on.
It is a standard Pak.39 gun not any vehicle specialized KwK gun, it wasnt specially produced for the "Hetzer" and every Pak.39 had muzzle break screwed on as a standard feature.
The prototype JPz.38t was even tested with the muzzle break, it was found out that its not needed since the most powerful ammo will not be used with "Hetzer" and the muzzle break is reveling the gun position much easier, so on production the muzzle break was omitted and the thread was covered by a simple mantle cover.
There are also few photographs from war production in Czech factories, showing the production of JPz.38t where you can clearly see that every vehicle has the thread on the end of barrel. There is also a clip for German surrender, where you can see a passing by "Hetzer" with the muzzle break mounted on, so some commanders did use it (probably to lengthen the barrel life?). There are also some pictures from WWII field showing "Hetzer" with no thread cover mounted.

[stevebohlin]

Hetzer was more a tank destroyer (panzerjager/jagdpanzer) than an assault gun (sturmgeschutz).