2 cm Flak 30/38 - In The Movies

A brief overview of the 2cm Flak as seen in movies and video games.

Movies /Video Games featured:

The Battle of the Rails 1946
Decision Before Dawn 1951
The Longest day 1952
The Tank Brigade 1955
633 Squadron 1964
La Grande Vadrouille 1966
Kelly’s Heroes 1970
Das Boot 1981
The English Patient 1998
Saving Private Ryan 2000
U-571 2000
Band of Brothers 2001
Downfall 2004
Serenity 2005
Valkyrie 2008
My Way 2011
Red Tails 2012
Rommel 2012
Hans Kloss 2012
Warsaw 44 2014
The Captain 2017

Video Games:
War Thunder
Battlefield V
Medal of Honor: Airborne

#ww2 #guns

[thenetnewb]

As horrific as this weapon is, I have to say its depiction in Saving Private Ryan is by far one of the coolest sounding firearms I've ever heard in any movie or video game to date.

[Aren-]

Mr Johnny's mix of nostalgic films, games, and more recent WW2 media in these vids are what really makes it for me. Always brightens my day watching these.

[griz]

Glad you addressed tunnel vision. It’s an overlooked sensation in highly stressful situations that often Create topics in hindsight.

[lost_legion_army]

The aftermath of the 20mm in Saving private ryan is brutal, especially the 2 soldiers crawling in agony then getting mercy killed.

[Tsusday]

I love how you put EVERY MOVIES USED in the top left corner, this is something so few quality youtubers make.... Loved your analysis and the format!

[larrybrown]

I know they did it for visual effect, but 2cm rounds did not explode like flak. The rounds only detonated when they hit something. Knowing too much about stuff can sometimes take the joy out of war movies. 🙂

[claytonmarkin]

Crazy story, I've actually shot that cannon. Not just one like it, the one used to film Saving Private Ryan. It owned by a collector and I had the opportunity to shoot it years ago. I don't think it provides any insight to this video, but it was a really cool experience.

[malakiblunt]

Attacking a steam train from the front is terrifying - when the boiler explodes thats going to be worse than those puny 2cm guns !

[adamjpotatos]

Next you should talk about the kubelwagen another iconic vehicle

[TheArchaos]

Getting shot at by anything larger than a nerf gun tends to be quite a scary situation, let alone a 2cm HE shell.

[WindflowPattern]

I like how you put " You know this one " on the top left corner, when Band of Brothers footage appears. I've watched it complete, back to back. about 200 times, give or take.

[Perfusionist]

Nice work! German flak, makes for interesting discussions. We get so used to seeing British and American wartime newsreels showing multiple automatic cannon that it came as a shock to learn that the 3.7cm flak on the famous battleship Bismarck were hand-loaded! The movie "633 Squadron" not only had wonderful scenes of the Mosquito fighter-bomber, but it had lots of German flak. They even included the 15 or 20mm MG151 Drilling ("triple"). Flakvierlings also went to sea with the German Navy, with several mounts being used. There is an interesting photo from the "Channel dash" showing a quad Flak 38 set up on the bow of the cruiser Prinz Eugen. Thanks for a nice video.

[mbryson]

Great video, as is your usual.

One of my favorite things about your channel is that many movies I've never heard of are featured. You certainly delivered here!

[Lockbar]

I saw a single barrel flak 38 fired off the back of a pick up truck at the Knob Creek Machine gun shoot in Kentucky. It was very much like a crazy African war-lords technical. The crew held a plastic garbage can up to the side of the gun to capture the fired 20mm cartridge cases or they would have been flung into the watching crowd. It was very impressive to watch.

[TallDude]

Great video - I liked the extensive background and historical info you provided, not just the movie footage

[bongodrumzz]

Great video again Johnny, mainly because your research is so well documented here and then presented extremely well, keep up the good work.

[pg]

Had a patient about 10y ago. He fought in the eastarn campaign in WWII surviving evyr b attle including Stalingrad were he was flown out wounded. He told me he had seen many many vbery bad things, but nothing came close to the view of a russian infantry mass attack stopped by several 20mm Vierling. He still went pale 60y after,

[De-Mystifying]

The German army in WW2 used 2cm guns so widely in ground roles that their use is very similar to .50cal weapons in the US army. They were invaluable for use against infantry formations and light vehicles since the GPMG concept left a German unit's firepower lacking against scout vehicles and halftracks. The idea of fighting in open steppe and in the bocage is made that much more frightening with the addition of thousands of these guns per army group. Most nations in WW2 used automatic cannons widely in combat but the German army made the weapon a crucial part of their doctrine unlike the other major actors

[_sarcasticat_]

Kind of surprised you didn't mention 3cm weapon development. The Heer realized that the 2cm guns they were producing were too inefficient, but the 3.7cm guns too heavy. Instead, in about 1944 (although the idea was inquired about and then asked for earlier) Germany switched to a 3cm caliber. The Kriegsmarine decided to go with a long-barreled 3cm weapon called the MK 303 (aka Flak M44 in accordance with the new naming convention set earlier in the war) while the Heer began replacing 2cm Flak guns in their mounts with the much more powerful 3cm/45 MK 103. The 3cm MK 103 in the Flak 38 chassis was called the 3cm MK 103/38 Jaboschrek, while a quadruple version utilizing the 2cm Flakvierling's mount was prototyped for a Flakpanzer IV named "Zerstorer 45" - 45 being the year of the prototyping, 1945. Due to the 3cm MK 103's short barrel (as they were meant to be placed on Luftwaffe planes) there was a short-lived idea to increase the barrel length of the MK 103 to 1.6 meters to make it a more effective AA weapon. You can find 3cm Flakzwilling MK 103 (twin) mounts for the Flakpanzer IV "Kugelblitz" (of which less than half dozen were produced).

The 3cm caliber falls under what I term the German "hybridization effort". Germany was never a country with enough resources to fulfill its ambitious war plans, and it became abundantly clear when the war began. Instead the Wehrmacht looked for ways to have the best of both worlds through a single product. Everything would perform multiple roles. Everything would be, in essence, a hybrid. Even in 1942 the Kriegsmarine produced a series of hybrid battleship-carrier designs.

Hope this very short introduction to Wehrmacht 3cm weaponry in the latewar was a learning experience to someone.

[mbr]

As for "Red Tails" - the scene is a screamer for all RailFans. The steam engine they used for many shots is a BR52.80, a post WW2 re-boilering of the WW2 BR52 (aka Kriegsdampflok -1 aka Wanne due to the most often used tender that looks like a Bathtub and is actually called the Wannentender). An engine optimised for use in the east (enclosed cabin, isolated pipes) and capabel of hauling 1250to instead of a measely 4 wagons