My Grandfather was a StuG III driver and mechanic at Army Group South. He still talks tenderly about his trusty StuG "Langrohr" (long barreled Ausf. G). He liked to point out the comfortable interior, the vehicle´s reliability, good armor protection as well as armament and particularly the highly superior optics when compared to captured T-34s. He was a member of Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung (later Brigade) 228.

being a better history channel then the actual history channel

It's ridiculous how sir Willey manages to continue his talk for such an extended period of time without cuts in editing (as far as I've noticed). Excellent presentation!

The Tank Museum - providing essential morale services worldwide during times of crises.

I hope we will see updated tank chats on Tiger, Panther, Tiger II, Ferdinand etc. Those old ones 5 minute long just aren't enough. I totally love these 20-30 minute ones though, especially the extensive tank chat on T-34.

The aesthetics of German armor are quite exquisite. From the Stugs and Panzer IVs to the Panther and Tigers.

It's basically the Hurricane to the Spitfire. Sure, the spitfire was flashy and a brilliant plane, but the hurricane was the workhorse

What also is unmentioned in the article is that as the StuG was a tank under the artillery branch received "artillery" optics, and were much higher quality to the regular army tanks thus allowing kills at much further ranges. This allowed the 75L24 to be used to such deadlier results. Hitler may have blundered much of World War 2, but his call for a longer 75 gun was spot on.

That's funny. My Son is sitting downstairs and build his new Cobi STUG III...what an coincidence. Best wishes to all of you, stay healthy!

The real workhorse of the German Army right here. This is the armoured vehicle that allies on both fronts would have to face the most through the war.

Very well made information. In the early '70 I was an apprentice as an technical drawer in the MIAG factory in Brunswik. And we had to pass some practices in the manfacturing, and there although in "Halle 17", where these StuG were build in the 40ies. Later the Jagdpanther was manufactured on the same place. Back in the technical office I was glad to get access to the original drawings of the StuG and the Jagdpanther. Some of the former engineers were still there...

The Finnish army 29 StuGs destroyed at least 87 soviet tanks for a loss of only 8 StuGs. Many of them during the summer of 1944. These StuGs gained the nickname "Sturmi".

The moment the tank museum starts selling Stug life t-shirts is the moment I buy their entire stock

history channel should be showing this stuff..oh wait i cancelled cable years ago because i got tired of pawn stars

Michael Wittmann began his run as a premier master of tank warfare (after serving for a time in armored cars) as commander of a Stug.III..Many of his tactics and methods carried over to his Tiger I commands, his close coordination between himself, driver, and gunner making for fast target aquisition and nimble maneuvers..all learned in his Stug III days.

Very astute observation about the uniform difference of Assault Gun and Panzer crews. The Stug' is close to my heart as my Great Uncle fought in one during WWII. Good video.

this man , need to make audio books - his voice is so calm .

As well as the refreshingly unbiased content and lack of partisan flag-waving where anything military is concerned, I really like David's presentation style. Excellent clarity.

Of all the fighting vehicles of WWII the Stug was always my favourite. Great video.

Outstanding video! I'm obviously three years too late in just discovering this gem of a video, but I'm overjoyed at finding this site and overwhelmed by the quality of this presentation. I'm looking forward to watching many other videos from the Tank Museum. Thank you!

Remember to decorate your StuG with samurai banners for maximum tankery!

I absolutely love these videos. Thanks David for taking the time during these trouble times to produce this wonderful video.

I resided on small hill summit with my troop and learned to ignore requested fire missions of a tank battery. Never saw the type or crews. Just the vapor of discharges above trees between us. That was in my second year overseas and had volunteered again to serve. Was promised 2 hours of sleep every 24 hours but took what I could get.

Like Guderian wrote In his Memoirs " In Normandy the Panzer IV with the StugIII Support were more than enough to Deal with any allied Tank and Armor at the time". He was Absolutely Right.

Tiger I: This is a weapon of Terror, it is designed to demoralise the enemy. Stug III: This is a weapon of War, it's designed to KILL the enemy.

This particular Stug Ps531-44 located at Bovington tank museum was lovingly nicknamed by the Finnish troops as "Maija" quite common finnish female name especially for the time. Almost all the 60 odd Stugs or "Sturmi"s used by the finns were nicknamed with a male or female first name.

The funny thing is actually that the German assault guns happened on the chassis of the 3er Panzer series and they no longer knew where we should use the band and from that U3 was developed because the Panzer III was more than inadequate in comparison to the Panzer IV or the assault gun version B, C, D or the Stug 4 on the PZ 4 chassis. Later, with the T 38 tank, there was the same thing that they made the Panzerjaeger Hetzer out of it, which was a damn good idea in itself, if only there weren't various defects that were on Tratten after a certain time.

Thank you, David. The videos that you and the team are putting out are a real tonic in difficult times. The "Ask the Curator" from your study or garden are particularly welcome. Stay well, and best wishes to all at Bovington.

Please keep this up David. Despite having plenty to get on with motivation and morale has taken a bit of a dive and I'm sure its not just me that greatly appreciates your efforts.

Thank you David for keeping us entertained when we are all stuck indoors. Stay safe.

Love this place, been so many times in my life - Thank you.

Fantastic chat. Well done! Keeping us entertained and educated during lockdown. Much appreciated!

You’re producing videos as fast as I can watch them, thank-you for this

OH JA....i realy love these Tank Chats. this whole channel actually. The Tank Museum is maybe the reason to go and visit GB. THANK YOU VERY MUCH best regards from Germany and please just keep doing what u all do so damn good at The Tank Museum "!!!!!"

You guys make some incredible videos. Love how knowledgeable you are- thanks so much for sharing!

A brilliant history of a fine and very effective vehicle. Good mention of the production difficulties and variations to type/models. Thank you David.

Excellent. I recently found these Tank Chats. A great way to pass some time during the Covid19 pandemic. I look forward to a time in the near future to visit the museum in person. Thankyou David and team from not so sunny Sweden!

I went to Bovington when i was about 10, I'm now 30 and this has become my bedtime story, a tank chat. Great videos keep em coming :)

Another great tank chat. Thank you for making this awesome content in these difficult times.

Excellent documentary, very informative and the delivery was spot on! Highly impressed. Thanks very much.

Shurtzen in 3rd Reich : stylish metal sides Shurtzen in Finland : Pines

Love your stuff. We have a world famous WWII Museum in this tiny (800) people town of mine. We've been trying to get a proper WWII tank for years.

Thanks David, brilliant chat, I am a huge fan of the StuG and have thought that we need something like this in our military today, cheer's

Great clip as always, very informative. I could watch Mr. Willey or Mr. Fletcher talking about the paint dry on the wall and not be bored.

The Swiss still use these. I was staying in a tiny Swiss village when on Sunday morning I was woken up by one of these rumbling past accompanied by a section of Citizen Panzer Grenadiers from the village, strewn with infantry weapons.

Wonderful video. The StuG is one of my favourite WW2 armoured vehicles. Also very glad to see you chose a Finnish Sturmi for this video.

Excellent. This is definitely one of the better tank chats, I've enjoyed this one a lot.

Due to the pandemic I didn't get a chance to travel to the Bovington tank museum this is another great way to see the vehicles with a very good description and presentation by Mr Willey.

You produce a first rate informational history piece. I watch your presentations every time I’m able. Thank you for carrying on during these difficult times.

There's one in Parola museum in Finland. We had some StuGs.

Hi David, thank you for such high-quality discussion about the StuG III, stay safe my friend i really look forward to the next video(s) releases!

Informative and on point as always ! Great to see the StuG on the screen

I didn't choose the StuG life...

I guess you could say, when the restoration was completed on this tank, it was pretty much.... ....Finnished :)

Lovely example outside the museum in Hamina, Finland. Got one at the museum in Parola, Finland too. That museum is well worth a visit

In my state of NSW, Australia. We maybe out of lockdown, upon the 11th. It's stuff like this and many others like forgotten weapons,and histories, which have kept me buyont and not losing my mind.

I found the history of the Germans' quest for THE tank killer but it was there in service throughout the war (WITH the infantry) very interesting.

Can listen to this guy for hours ramble on about tanks, great work!

this man has a gift when it comes to talking about these things. i've met him once in 2017 when i was in bovi doing my challenger 2 drivers course.

Thank you for making and sharing this video. Watched from New Zealand in Corona lock down.

Getting though lockdown one tank chat at a time, I'll have to go down to the museum again soon I'm so lucky I live close ♥️ 🇬🇧

"Ausf" is a short Version of "Ausfuehrung", meaning "Version". Keep up the good work!

Another couple things about the StuG. It's a damn fine looking machine with it's big slabs of rolled steel at a modest angle. It's smol and cute and makes me wanna take it home with me. It combines high quality with simplicity, the way an old school tank should be. And somehow despite having the engine in back-transmission in front setup it still managed to keep a low silhouette.

Thx sir Willey, I love the chat and you have a very pleasant voice. Please be well!

Ooh I was wondering when we were getting a Stug video! Wonder what will be coming up on tankchat 100

"Can be much more massed produced, in the German sense." LOL

The German turretless tanks are always easy to remember as they almost always have the stats of the gun tank one generation up. So the Stug III has the stats of the Panzer IV, the Stug IV has the stats of the Panzer V and so on.

STUGGY WUGGY WOO!!! Thanks *so* *much* for this video Tank Museum!!! This is *my* *favorite* armored vehicle of ww2! I think it as a kill ratio of 4 to 1 all together

Orange trousers, dark blue jacket and beige cardigan. You can't teach style like that. 👌

Finland used the StuG III in 1944 quite a lot, and it was very effective. You can still see a WW2 Stug III very next to the Finnish highway in Parola next to the contemporary service tank, the Leopard 2A4. We salute the tanks everytime we drive past them.

Outstanding as always. So well researched, presented and edited.

Absolutely SLATHERED with Zimmerit!

The Tigers and Panthers where more an intimidating weapon, and they did its job! But at the end the Stug was the backbone of German army back then.

This particular vehicle is also half timbered - essentially it's a Morris minor estate car with attitude .

Such a great non bias informative video. Fantastic presentation. Great work. 👍

One of my favourite tanks thanks Fletcher and team 😊😎

20:48 If you look close enough there's a scary face that's been painted on the Pighead manlet; I'll say the crew who painted it understands the Stug Life, now hit it there Hans.

I would have liked to hear more technical factors like the elevation and traverse of the gun, targeting problems, hull down positioning, "shoot and scoot," etc. And something about the StuH42.

One of my old neighbors in Pittsburgh was always telling us local kid's stories about his time working in a tank factory in the Soviet Union during the war. Before he came to the US in the late 40's, he had been a teenager working in his father's fields in Lithuania before the war. He was forced along with his family to flee from the invading Germans (the Soviets actually forced them to flee by burning down their farm and fields). The whole family was drafted to work in a tank factory far from home (from his description if was probably the big tank factory at Nizhny Tagil, Russia). He (and his family) worked there from late 1941 to the end of the war with him starting as a parts assembler and finishing up as a mechanic. His father started as an assembler but was crippled by a tank tread (weighs hundreds of pounds) falling on him and ended up as a gate guard. Other members of his family were assemblers, his sisters were cooks, his only brother was a welder (drafted into the Army after pissing off a floor foreman, later dying on a battlefield). His mother started working on a cleaning crew and eventually ended up running cleaning crews. He said that the factory was a massive noisy, busy, and dangerous place to work. At least a dozen workers a week were hurt or killed in accidents or being negligent (usually someone was drunk). They built T-34's and some models of other tanks/armored vehicles (he mainly remembers the T-34's). He got to operate those models when he was later promoted to mechanic. He learned to drive and even test fire the guns on the T-34 models. He said the first T-34's from the factory in late 1941 were being rushed out the door onto rail cars, unpainted and without some secondary parts like covers, seals, seats, etc. Later models by 1943 were being built (with newer T-34/85 models) with better designs (but not always much better construction as many workers were constantly being castigated for drinking on the job and doing sloppy work.). Plus, a lot of the workers didn't speak Russian (a mix of about 20 or so different cultures and languages from Uzbekistan to Lithuanian), so there a language barrier. He said the place sounded a badly tuned orchestra with different languages, with everything from work direction and orders to cussing and cursing in those languages (he learned how to cuss in at least a dozen languages, but learned to speak, read, and write Russian). Then the constant stream of changes in designs, orders and contradictory orders, constant visits by Party officials trying to push production, NKVD officers (constantly on the lookout for saboteurs, which he said they didn't have to worry about as the factory managers (and the Party) seemed to be doing a good job of self-sabotaging themselves.). He always wondered how they managed to get anything done in that place. They (the workers) were constantly shorted on food rations, pay, and cigarettes (some of it was theft by managers and party officials and some wartime shortages). Thankfully, they were fed in the factory cafeteria (where his sisters worked as cooks). The only thing they were never short of was vodka. Between the state issued vodka, stills going in people backyards or basements, and whatever people could steal from the alcohol stores (used in manufacturing, medical, and vehicle operations) getting drunk was the one thing everyone did exceedingly well. At the end of the war, he and his family made their way back to Lithuania but couldn't get their farm back as it was now a Soviet airbase. They got no compensation and were eventually able to get out of the USSR with help of friends. They moved to the US (political refugees) and settled in Pittsburgh getting jobs in the mills (and local factories) using their experience in the Russian tank factory. His mom ran a local bakery (made really good pastries and breads) with one of my relatives. His dad didn't live long afterwards, but his sisters did well and married local guys. He passed away in the mid 80's from a heart attack. I enjoyed his stories and missed his mom's Lithuanian pastries (she passed away several years after him.)

Such a magnificent presenter. Thank you so much for these. Love it

The German production mentality is shown in the VW Beetle. If you look at a production run for a particular year, the beginning of the year is rarely identical to the end of the year. 1967 is a particularly diverse year with early, mid, and late year variations.

Hitler probably took great interest because he was an infantryman, and he knew from experience how useful it would have been to have that in different situations he'd experienced.

Thank you very much for this insight on the assault gun. Lots of people do not realize that this was a very formidable weapon! It surely isn't the cutest, but it did the job.

Thank you Sir for the history lesson.

As soon as i saw the rounded front of the STUG I knew it was Finnish. The finns poured concrete on those guys.

Did he say 3000 liters of fuel? That's 792 gallons! Maybe 300. Another great tank chats video. Always educational and entertaining.

Definitely on the short list for best armored vehicle of WWII. Inexpensive, low profile, good armor, torsion bar suspension, great gun, good optics, good radio, good off road performance. One improvement would be wider tracks for Winter and mud. And like pretty much all German equipment, it could use some simplifications (see PanzerJager 38(t)) for faster production. One note. Logs and/or concrete are a mixed blessing. It would help with HE rounds, but not so much with AP or HEAP rounds. It may be detrimental, depending on exact angle, range, etc.

Excellent, length is just right. Learned a lot. Thank you.

Seems that the Corporal knew more about tank tactics than many give him credit for

10,000 stug 3s built vs 50,000 Sherman’s and 80,000 t-34s. Tough odds.

Thank you, very well done and informative. I never knew the STuG was produced in those numbers.

Always a pleasure to watch ,good job gentlemen

5:35 Gewehr 43 in action

Hey, it's Maija. :)

I love the StuG, Hetzer and Jagdpanzer IV. Amazing innovation.

Thank you so much for this video. Please produce more in this difficult time, pls.

Michael Wittman got most of his tank kills in a STuG. Though I think he also said he thought getting ATGs was more important.

How about some love for the STuG-III's Big Brother, The STuG-IV?

Extremely interesting and informative. Keep ‘em coming.

Outstanding videos. Thank you!