Band of Brothers 'Fake' German Tanks

Band of Brothers features a lot of German armoured vehicles, but how many are real and how many were created for the show? You may be surprised.

Special thanks to Stephen Lamonby and Jim Dowdall for insider information on the vehicles used in Band of Brothers.

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Alan Wilson

[MrCSutton]

Another fascinating video, thank you.

I'm retired now, but during my plumbing career in the early 2000s I had the good fortune and indeed honour to work for several WW2 veterans.

One unassuming old chap had a few paintings of gliders on his flat wall. He showed me his photo album. If the British used gliders there, he was there. He flipped past the photo of him at Buckingham Palace. He'd been captured and escaped and now his son was a senior RAF officer. He was proud of his son, yet uncomfortable talking about his own service.

Another chap had been in submarines for the whole war. I was nearly in tears when he told me. Just how brave can someone be?

I took out another fellow's bath (I had to break it up to get it out) to replace it with a shower. The shower that arrived had a load of missing parts and it took the useless suppliers three weeks to supply the right bits. The chap stoically put up with it and was just happy once it was finally done.

I also worked for his daughter. Only after she let me know he'd died several years later did she mention he'd landed in Normandy on 6th June 1944.

I hated charging these men, whose bootlaces I was not fit to tie, to do anything. We owe them everything, but now they're nearly all gone.

I'm so glad we have people like Mark to help keep their memory alive.

[jdh]

Mark I very much appreciate all of your work!
My uncle was in the I&R platoon of the HQ company of the 12th Infantry Regiment, part of the US 4th Infantry Division. His regiment was the second wave landing on Utah Beach. He continued with the I&R platoon until he was scouting for a hidden pill box during the Hürtgen Forest campaign when he was nearly killed by a mortar round on November 17th of 1944. He laid in the shell hole created by the mortar that nearly killed him with compound fractures of both legs, his left arm, and other wounds for nine hours before his men could get to him. He had only one good arm and his M1 carbine to defend himself with during his wait for help. Afterwards he was triaged as unlikely to survive so he was ignored for days before the doctors realized that he wasn't going to die and started to treat him. Thankfully he survived and lived many years after the war.

[mrchambers]

The battle of Carentan was a rare instance where paratroppers on both sides fought each other

[Newenglander]

I am a reenactor here in New England, and am part of the crew of a "fake" Stug 3F, built on the affore mentioned British AFV.

[Nairam]

A series from German perspective that is really recommendable is "Generation war", a German mini series of three episodes. Apart from that "Stalingrad" (1993) for the eastern front and "Das Boot" for the U-boat war are incredibly good movies.

[rodneywalden]

Being an old paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division, 3/325 (1974-77). I have watched this show approximately 8-10 times and never tire from watching it. Along with The Pacific I have the utmost respect for our WWII Veterans. I have yet to see the newest WWII show on the Army Air Corps and hope to see it soon when it shows on a channel or streaming platform that I have. Great episode!

[tonyjanney]

I was very impressed with the "fake" armor in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers." As someone who had seen German tanks depicted by M26's and M41's, and M46's in various movies. I'm glad the producers made the effort to at least look the parts in both movies. They set a standard I hope other movie producers follow.

Also, I heard a movie critic say whenever you watch a war movie involving tanks, one of the bad guys will always get run over by the tank during a battle scene. It's almost a trope.

[patjohnson]

Agree completely about "Band of Brothers." One of the best tv series ever, not least because it is a true story in which the producers tried harder than usual for Hollywood to adhere to the facts. The creators deserve extra points for going the extra distance to accurately portray German armor and other equipment.

[irish]

Watching Band of Brothers now with my 12 year old son - I agree Dr Felton, this is the best mini series ever produced - I appreciate the attention to detail in the series, so my son can appreciate it as well! Thanks for sharing those details!

[tonyharpur]

I usually click 'like' while Mark's theme music is playing because I know that I am guaranteed a fascinating insight into whatever subject Mark is covering. 😀👍

[n.v.]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mark. 😊
Thank you for your channel. ❤

[bob_the_bomb]

Over 2 decades since BoB? Where did the time go?

[daystatesniper]

Great video Mark , i once worked with a man called Arthur Sawyer ex para who served in the Remagen drops when he watched this series he told me it was ok only thing missing was the smell of rotting bodies and burning fuel

[christyhart]

Band of Brothers is the best mini-series ever! Thank you for another awesome video!!!

[lokidogproductions]

Thanks mark! I thought you were going to do that series a discredit. You again just pointed out the facts, and gave credit where it was due! Love your channel!

[rufiorufioo]

Dick Winters is from my town. We honor and appreciate the man. He's a testament to Eastern Pennsylvania. RIP Richard Winters.

[Jermster_]

You could do an entire series on bad fake tanks in movies and TV shows.

A good example is a M7 Priest dressed up to look like a Tiger in the 1960s sitcom Hogans Heroes.

[ericweinraub]

When you consider the amount of captured and abandoned armor at the end WWII, its unfortunate that the vast majority of it ended up being scrapped. Pictures of Tiger 1s and Panthers headed for scrapping is maddening.

[scottallpress]

I was thinking while hearing the intro to this video, one of the best bits of Dr Felton’s videos is there’s no click bait crap, it’s all on point and “ as advertised. Not to mentions always interesting well put together content .

Merry Christmas good Doctor

[MajorMillennium]

Lucky day for me when I get to be of the first few viewers of Mark’s newest video! Thank you Mark for all your amazing work!! I have been able to tell so many super cool and intriguing stories to family, friends and coworkers!! Keep it up good sir and Godspeed!