Bruce Crompton Bottom 5 Tanks | The Tank Museum

Bruce Crompton, star of Combat Dealers dropped by the Museum during TANKFEST. Bruce gives us the low down on his Bottom 5 Tanks. Bruce has a passion for all things military, including restoring tanks! You know this will be a good one!

00:00 | Intro
01:07 | No 5
03:53 | No 4
05:57 | No 3
09:09 | No 2
11:22 | No 1

#tankmuseum #Bottom5Tanks #BruceCrompton

[thetankmuseum]

Hey, Tank Nuts! What did you think of this week's upload - do you agree with Bruce?

[ahseaton]

A buddy of mine father commanded an M3 tank early in the war. He said one of the advantages was that for every shot that could get off from the 75 they could hit the enemy six times with the 37 mm. He said he preferred the 37 over the 75. Hr later drove at Sherman and Pershing at the end of the war and liberated death camps. He said the Pershing was the best tank he'd commanded but he had fond memories of M3.

[moneypoww]

I believe the M3 Grant was used (and loved) in Burma towards the end of the war. The main gun excelled at countering Imperial Japanese fortifications. The loader was able to quickly switch between HE and AP as friendly troops closed in on the fortifications, allowing heavy fire support righ up until the troops were at the fortifications. Source: Burma '44 by James Holland

From what I understand, the turret was excellent for a sneak and peek over the hilly terrain of Burma combat areas, with the opportunity to let off AP rounds on opportune targets, but I have no source for this.

[ReddyDutch]

I visited the tank museum last week and I truly loved it!

The tanks in the arena were amazing and I really applaud David Whitley for his enthusiasm in describing the tanks. I even got a friendly nod of the man himself.

For everyone who hasn't been, just go, you won't regret it. Make sure to go before lunch though, as the tank show is around 1 on weekdays.

[TXGRunner]

One very interesting aspect of this series is the different criteria each presenter uses in choosing their top best tanks or bottom worst tanks. The first three are all "stopgap" or "panic built" designs; two never even get passed trials. His principal objection is their impracticability and insane maintenance requirements. For the Crusader III, he focuses on huge maintenance/support issues. That makes his choice of the Grant as his worst tank all the more ironic. The Grant was a very successful stop-gap that turned out to be a nasty surprise for the Germans, at least according to Rommel. Like the Stuart/Honey, the first American tanks were a Godsend for British tank crews who found the British designs were prone to breakdown and very difficult to maintain. The US built tanks used radial aircraft engines that were easier to maintain, but resulted in very high profiles. In the book Tank War, the reader is definitely left with the impression British tankers were very grateful for the M3 Grant, warts and all.

[sandwormgod]

Love Bruce, love his enthusiasm and ability to get the information over.

[TigerNL]

I've had the pleasure of talking with Bruce for a bit, a few years ago. Very down to earth, funny and knowledgeable man.

[IceMan]

Jagdtiger isn't a Tank, it is a rolling bunker.

[derekmills]

An interesting selection of 'bottom worst five tanks' from Bruce. Thank you.
Reluctantly, I have to agree that the M3 was flawed in several critical ways.
My late father saw action in North Africa and Italy as a tank commander, thankfully in Shermans, with 2nd Lothians and Border Horse. He thought the M3 much better than the flimsy Crusader, despite the latter's potential speed.
On my late father's behalf, I would swap places with the M3 and Crusader - the Crusader being worst of all (or best worst?!?).
His final tank - several had been previously knocked out - was the M4/A2 or A3 Sherman with the high velocity 3" or 76.2mm gun. I have a picture of him stood in front of it with 'Arezzo' written on the back.
Arguably every bit as good as the 'Firefly' with the 17pdr gun.
Thank you again for a fascinating 'chat'.

[andrewbarratt]

Bruce, I'll go along with most of your choices but the M3 was in theatre when the M4 was still on the drawing board. Maybe not perfect but it was busy punching holes in German tanks before the M4's came on stream. Yes the height was an issue but as a trade off you got 2 shots off to 1 at anything heading your way and it was superbly reliable. Most importantly, had it not been for the M3 what would Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly have driven in the Wacky Races - so who would you have had to cheer for at tea time

[thegeneral]

I just wish Combat Dealers could be easily watched online. Love the show, pretty much impossible to find.

[johnfisk]

The Tortoise was built for a specific assault purpose and never intended to keep up with anything faster than a man in boots. When trialled Germany it was found to be adequately mobile with the only major fault being the strategic mobility of getting that weight across bridges but that would not affect it in it’s intended role. That role died when the allies crossed into Germany but the Tortoise would have carried it out quite well. TOG became an engineering experiment that answered all the questions it posed about drive trains.

[cwilson]

Bruce is a icon I agree with him totally he’s my number one celebrity to meet someday Bruce your awesome

[linnharamis]

Thanks- these segments are always fun because one gets to hear a variety of viewpoints and opinions about some of the same vehicles. Keep ‘em coming!👍

[die_vivian_]

I'm a simple woman - I see Bruce, I click and upvote. :) (Seriously, thanks for a very entertaining video!)

[davidwhite]

I totally disagree with his choice of the Grant for two reasons:
1) when it was first deployed in North Africa it was the first time that the British had a gun capable of taking on both tanks & anti-tank guns, yes once they changed the 75mm shell for captured German / French shells (the US HE shell had a crap fuse & the German AT shell had a bursting charge inside)
2) it was brilliant in Burma not only because it acted as a mobile pill box, remembering that Japanese tanks could be taken out by the 37mm, but most importantly the 37mm also had a canister round that acted like a large shotgun / directed claymore mine and this could clear Japanese snipers out of trees etc..

[bigblue]

Yes the M3 Grant was not ideal. But it was a stopgap until the M4 Sherman got into service. And the Grant gave an excellent account of itself in Burma. As to its height and dependent on which variant of M4 you are looking at some Shermans were only some six inches shorter than the Grant.

[ericanpaul]

Bruce simply the best - bring back combat dealers

[RitzOriginal]

Bruce is looking well and healthy, always a pleasure to watch, enjoyed this one :)

[n.b.barnett]

The Grant was the best tank in the desert at the moment when it was first put into service in the desert. It didn't age well, but during its brief window, it was the best tank in combat in North Africa.