Greatest Tank Battles on The Military Channel

[Matt Wiser]

Folks, those here in North America who get the Military Channel on satellite or cable have a new show: Greatest Tank Battles. The first episode was the Battle of 73 Easting from 1991, the second has the Golan in '73, and #3 will be El Alamein. Others to follow include Kursk and The Bulge. Whenever possible, there is footage of the actual battlefield, along with participants, while the actual battles are depicted with CGI animation. So far, so good, IMHO.

[pmulcahy11b]

I only just got wind of this, so I'll have to watch El Alamein first, and hope for re-runs later.

[Webstral]

I've seen the first two. So far, so good. I wish they'd give the gun calibers in millimeters, but I suppose the aim of the show is to draw in the uninitiated. I'm very appreciative of the quality of the CGI.

Webstral

[LBraden]

I am in England and I swear I already watched that show on Discovery Channel over here.

Oh and their Battle of Bulge and Kursk, VERY good.

[copeab]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I only just got wind of this, so I'll have to watch El Alamein first, and hope for re-runs later.

YouTube is your friend. The Desert Storm episode is up, although links from one part to the next aren't so obvious at times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlgPkOw9xO4

[copeab]

Originally Posted by Webstral

I've seen the first two. So far, so good. I wish they'd give the gun calibers in millimeters, but I suppose the aim of the show is to draw in the uninitiated. I'm very appreciative of the quality of the CGI.

Webstral

The Desert Storm gave measurements in metric.

(Did the Iraqi BMP's actually mount 76mm guns? Did they replace the 73mm guns? EDIT: Maybe the 76mm guns were pulled off old PT-76's)

[Targan]

Originally Posted by copeab

YouTube is your friend.

It is indeed! Thanks for the link. Really enjoying watching this series.

[Webstral]

Originally Posted by copeab

The Desert Storm gave measurements in metric.

(Did the Iraqi BMP's actually mount 76mm guns? Did they replace the 73mm guns? EDIT: Maybe the 76mm guns were pulled off old PT-76's)

Interesting. Maybe I saw an edited version. In any event, the guns of the T-72 and M1 were both listed as "5 inch".


Webstral

[LBraden]

5 inch is 126mm

And guys, as a Brit, I am FAR FAR too use to Naval calibres being in inches, cannons in poundage and other guns being mill or ".303 in".

But yeah, this is the SAME series as I watched on Discovery Channel Europe in the middle of last year.

[Raellus]

The show looks very similar to the series Dogfights, which ran on HC a couple of years back.

When does GTB usually air?

[Matt Wiser]

Wednesday nights; 10 ET/7PT. A repeat later that night, and it's rerun over the weekend.

[SongofWar]

Historytelevision.ca has them all archived for viewing. Not sure if it works outside Canada though.

[irishboy]

Originally Posted by LBraden

I am in England and I swear I already watched that show on Discovery Channel over here.

Oh and their Battle of Bulge and Kursk, VERY good.

There is another similiar series called 'Commanders at War' that I think featured those two battles. It puts more emphasis on the generals in charge of the involved armies. I'm almost certain that this is a new series, because I've never seen another show do anything as recent as 73 Easting.

It was really interesting to hear about how things happened from an average TC's point of view. And I really liked the Bradley commander's story too.

[Legbreaker]

"Soldiers, a history of men in battle" from the mid 80's was pretty good too. A series of about half a dozen hour long episodes.

[copeab]

Originally Posted by Webstral

Interesting. Maybe I saw an edited version. In any event, the guns of the T-72 and M1 were both listed as "5 inch".

I'll admit I only saw the versions on YouTube, not the version on American TV.

In the YouTube versions, the only American measurements used were horsepower for the T-55 (or was it the T-62?) and two American weapons in WWII (the 3" anti-tank gun and the .50-cal MG). I think someone other than the narrator mentioned "25 pounder".

It's possible the narration was redone in places for American TV.

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

"Soldiers, a history of men in battle" from the mid 80's was pretty good too. A series of about half a dozen hour long episodes.

Not surprising when you see that the book's authors were John Keegan and Richard Holmes!

[HorseSoldier]

(Did the Iraqi BMP's actually mount 76mm guns? Did they replace the 73mm guns? EDIT: Maybe the 76mm guns were pulled off old PT-76's)

No. Must be a technical error in the show. I've never heard or seen anything about Iraqi bimps with 76mm guns on them, even back when I was living and breathing vehicle ID as a 19D back in the 90s.