I'm Indy Neidell
And this is out of the trenches where I sit here in my Chair of Wisdom and answer all your questions about the First World War
Jan Wactawik writes: a truly great show you're making. I'm your fan since 1916 well
He's been our fan for 101 years
And I can't thank you enough for your great effort and even greater work Indy and crew I have a question for Out Of The Trenches
on numerous occasions Indy mentioned German anti-tank units trained exclusively for that purpose
Can you tell us about the training of those units and how exactly were they used in combat?
German anti-tank Tactics were rather rudimentary in The Great War and they mostly dependent on
organization, timing and
Strong mindedness of the soldiers the tank was a fearsome opponent and since without any counter measures the defenders were pretty much helpless
so a lot of pressure was put on the soldiers who had to counter them the early versions of the tanks the
Mark 1's and the Schneiders could still be penetrated by concentrated machine-gun fire
So Gunners were trained to aim at the weak spots like
Like the eyelets are certain welds or joints of the machines
Which were discovered by German engineers after they
Examined the first wrecks on the battlefield they used iron core bullets called the K-bullet it which would ricochet
inside the tanks and take out the crew
(Battlefield 1, anyone?)
the most effective countermeasure was of course artillery
forward artillery observers were specially trained to look out for tank movements to coordinate defensive fire also
anti-tank squads were trained to drag artillery pieces
Mostly light mountain guns or modified mine throwers over muddy
Uneven ground and wheeled them into position and this was a very stressful and very dangerous job
And it took serious nerve to face a tank which made only a small group of experienced soldiers able to do those jobs
The Germans tried using flamethrowers and the famous anti-tank rifle
But their effectiveness was nothing compared to the power of a hidden field gun German engineers used measures that were more effective like uh...
anti-tank ditches mines or even portable high explosive like the Gebündelte Ladung (bunched charge) and improvised
Last-ditch means of fighting the tanks if all else failed
Tribesmen says
Having watched the excellent video of the Mark 1 tank at the tank museum
I have a question about the formations there were adapted by the soldiers
Did they still move forward in a way in a wave after they went over the top? I could imagine that a lot of troops
Stayed close to the tank using it as cover to cross. No man's land well
staying close to a tank during an attack was both secure and
Dangerous at the same time sure the the infantry was safe against bullets behind the tanks armor
But tanks were also magnets for artillery fire another problem was the tank had no real way to
Communicate with the infantry around them and it could move through flanking machine-gun fire
undamaged leaving the vulnerable infantry bogged down behind, and if the tank was hit, or was put out of action by
Mechanical failure or something the group of soldiers behind them was stuck as well
So the most reasonable action was often to advance in concert while the defenders often shifted their attention
To the incoming tank as soon as it appeared on the battlefield
attacking infantry
Could use the momentum and advance as far as possible then they waited for the tank to
Smash the barbed wire and follow in its wake then dispersing into the trenches the more tanks
They used and the more they were able to silence the German guns with their own artillery the more this concept was able to succeed
Stephan McConaughey writes: hi Indy and crew again Indy: Hi Steve again Steve: my question is what was Hermann Göring's
Involvement in the great war I am doing my social studies project on him, and I wanted to know his involvement
Hermann Göering was was 21 when the war broke out
And he'd already reached second lieutenant in the Prussian cadet school in 1912 in the war
He was at first doing ground work in a field
Reconnaissance unit in the 5th army during the first battles in Alsace until he got sick with rheumatoid arthritis
Which made him unable to do infantry work so he transferred to flight school
Where he befriended Bruno Loerzer who would later become a German flying ace together they flew reconnaissance
missions over the Western Front and
directed German artillery fire in the (???) of the fifth army
apparently Göering was an excellent observer
But headstrong and often charged with insubordination in mid 1915
He left recon to be trained as a fighter pilot
He and Loerzer were eventually transferred to (???) in mid
1917 he had scored seven victories becoming an ace and was even promoted to (???) 27.
Once he was nearly killed when he tried to attack a bomber squadron mostly on his own and only his capabilities as a pilot
Sheer luck and the skills of the surgeon on the operating table saved his life despite grave injuries
He climbed back into the cockpit and scored his 18th victory in April 1918 that earned him the Pour le Mérite in June
1918 he was even given command of the famous Flying Circus the (???, Sorry, I don't know German) 1 this was very controversial
Since he got the post over aces who had 40-plus victories. We still don't know for sure
Why he was considered, but it might have been for his influential connections, that's the short story
But you should look it up for yourselves. It's very interesting story of a very talented fighter pilot ErickRedBeard
Says: question for Out Of The Trenches: I've been eyeing those caltrops on your desk for a long time now
Could you expound on those two in particular and was there a specific front that these ancient traps were in particular heavy use?
I'm thinking maybe areas where cavalry were a concern, but those fronts seemed too large and dynamic to make caltrops practical
I know you've covered traps to some extent
But I don't recall anything about these
Playing Verdun makes me realize how horrible it would be to dive into a shell hole only to land on a large caltrop
Maybe with residual chemicals or poison on it
(I also play Verdun it's awesome)
well the use of caltrops to fend off cavalry is as old as
Warfare in ancient times often. It was just two pieces of metal
Welded together so that one spike faces up it would pierce hooves and boots alike and cause
cause crippling injuries
And yes infection was one of the biggest killers in the war a simple cut from a piece of
Polluted metal was enough to kill a soldier
caltrops biggest advantage was that they were cheap and easy to produce and required no training so anyone could just
Throw them on the ground. They were portable. They could be retrieved from the battlefield and used again
the rumor alone that an area might have been compromised with caltrops could lead to a
reconsideration of an advance by the officers, but true
To completely block off an area you would need a lot of them and men and time to spread them accordingly
Simply laying barbed wire across the ground was usually easier and faster to do and you know do the same job
That's why caltrops weren't used that much later in the war if you'd like to see our bio special about another
VERY talented fighter pilot
you can click right here for our special on Georges Guynemer do not forget to subscribe of course and like us on Facebook and
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