Battle of Arracourt: Patton's Victory Over Hitler's Panthers

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As autumn 1944 loomed, the impending defeat of Nazi Germany became increasingly apparent. The British forces pressed through the Low Countries, while Patton's Third Army, spearheaded by the 4th Armored Division, swiftly moved through Western France, nearing the German frontier. By mid-September, they were already less than 50 miles from the Nazis’ doorstep, bolstering beliefs that the war might conclude by year's end.
However, despite their rapid advancement, U.S. troops proceeded with caution in Lorraine. This province, contested for centuries between Germany and France, was regarded by the Germans as intrinsic to their national heritage and was expected to be vehemently defended.
Thus, it came as no surprise when, on September 18, 1944, men of the 42nd Cavalry Squadron detected a formation of German Panther tanks advancing on their Lunéville outpost. In short order, a fierce battle ensued. The Americans, although outnumbered and ill-equipped to penetrate the formidable Panther armor, displayed tenacity and resilience. After a long day’s battle, they had successfully thwarted the German advance, neutralizing two dozen enemy tanks.
Though indicative of the Allies' proximity to German soil, this attack was perceived by General Patton as a minor confrontation, an isolated event that shouldn't derail the broader strategy. He was unaware that the Lunéville skirmish was just a prelude to one of the most significant tank battles of the war - the battle of Arracourt.
Contents of this Video:
00:00 Battle of Arracourt
01:38 Setting The Stage
06:40 Bazooka Charlie
09:19 Control of the High Ground
11:28 Curtain Call
Copyright: DO NOT translate and re-upload our content on KZfaq, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or other social-media sources without direct consent from the Militology Channel.
The Militology Channel does it's best to produce historically accurate content for history enthusiasts. All content is carefully researched and sources shared. Images and footage of the actual events may not be 100% accurate due to availability, but we do our best. Some images and footage may be used for dramatic effect, but the narrative content adheres to historical accuracy based on available sources. Please reach out with any concerns around historical accuracy so we can incorporate feedback. We also want to hear your constructive interpretation of historical events in our video comments.
Contact:
Militologyshow@gmail.com
Script Author:
Dejan Milivojevic
Sources:
Blumberg, Arnold. “Armored in Lorraine: Battle of Arracourt.” Warfare History Network, January 23, 2019.
Barnes, Richard J. Arracourt, September 1944. A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Amy Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Military Art and Science. Fort Leavenworth, 1982.
Guardia, Mike. Arracourt 1944: Triumph of American Armor. Casemate, 2022.
Zaloga, Steve. Lorraine Nineteen Forty Four. Greenwood, 2004.

Пікірлер: 27

@pimpompoom93726 8 ай бұрын

Sherman medium tank was designed to support mechanized infantry advances primarily, it was not designed to go tank-on-tank with Germany's best armor. It was line of sight artillery support for Allied advances. Tank on Tank confrontations were very rare in Europe at this time, 95% of the time the Sherman was supporting infantry advances. On those rare occasions when armor took on armor, US tank destroyers were called in to deal with German Panthers and Tigers. This was the correct strategy from the Allied perspective, they were using their tanks in 1944-1945 the same way the Wehrmacht used their Panzer 2/Panzer 3/Panzer 4 in 1940/41. Offense vs Defense determines tactics.

@thomaswayneward 2 ай бұрын

Germany had no Air Force in the area at the time. US aircraft were deadly for German transport and armored vehicles.

@thearisen7301 8 ай бұрын

Sherman had it's own technological advantages such as a stablized gun & electrically driven turret traverse which was far faster than what Panther had. Panther's turret traverse is tied to it's engine RPM. So not only did the engine need to be on, but also to be running hard for it's best turret traverse speed.

@Militology 8 ай бұрын

I think you may have come up with an infographic ~5 min video idea to do sir. Breakdown Sherman vs Panther, and perhaps some of the Sherman variants that leveled the playing field. Lmk if you would want to see something like that?

@boxi3 8 ай бұрын

Yes that would be a great idea.@@Militology

@edwardgranger1722 8 ай бұрын

@@Militology This largely misses the point. The playing field was never "level" to begin with, and never has been. The difference wasn't Sherman's specs vs Panther's - that's for video gamers and fanboys. The difference in these battles was American combined arms; weather that created fog and muddy conditions that resulted in engagement distances that were on the M4's side (and that of the US TDs involved); the fact that the Germans committed their tank units piecemeal; vast differences in crew training and experience; leadership, etc. Sherman vs Panther is a fool's errand - combat doesn't work that way. Sherman never "leveled the playing field" - because it didn't have to. But that doesn't make for a sexy tank v tank video.

@jimsmith9819 8 ай бұрын

we do @@Militology

@Militology 8 ай бұрын

I agree with your point here, and hope the video conveys that the Americans won the Battle of Arracourt with superior tactics used in coordination with artillery, air superiority, and training of tank crews (Germany certainly had well trained tank crews but their state at this point in the war was dramatically different) to quickly assess and maneuver on the battlefield. You're right, the battlefield is rarely symmetrical, and it's more nuanced than a "Sherman vs Panther" 1:1. Crews, weather, terrain, intelligence, supporting units, etc. all play a role. @@edwardgranger1722

@robertmaybeth3434 8 ай бұрын

I like your editing and large number of period film clips, please make more videos.

@boxi3 8 ай бұрын

Good Documentry. Keep it up.

@Militology 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching and commenting. More to come in next week. :)

@Seborobot 8 ай бұрын

Great vid 👍

@tiadanama4512 8 ай бұрын

Air superiority won the battle

@williamashbless7904 8 ай бұрын

Panther’s technological superior was hit and miss. It had some really great features and significant flaws that seriously degraded its performance. The gunner only had his gun sight and couldn’t acquire targets on his own. The TC had to put the turret close and then talk him onto target. Very slow. For an evolutionary design this is inexcusable. The final drives were engineered for a thirty ton tank. A tank that weighed 45 tons stressed that component well beyond its capacity and breakdowns were frequent. It was too heavy for many smaller bridges and had to ford streams and rivers. The engine compartment was waterproofed to facilitate this. This condition led to oil, fuel, lubricants , etc to accumulate and ignite for lack proper ventilation. Panther was a devastating tank killer on the Russian Steppes. In Western Europe it struggled against the mundane Sherman.

@jimsmith9819 8 ай бұрын

the panther was also prone to overheating

@fuwaho1035 8 ай бұрын

please cancel the backgrounf music , it is annoying and distrubing , it is not necessary .

@scottmurphy650 8 ай бұрын

The greatest weapon the US had in the Battle of Arracourt, was their leadership, with MG Patton at the top.

@pierredecine1936 8 ай бұрын

You discuss Panthers and show Tigers ...

@barbaranostrand4214 8 ай бұрын

Quoth a tanker in the US army, "You only like Shermans if you like dead Americans." The Panther was a far better tank. However, the US could produce dozens of Shermans for each Panther the Germans could produce.

@brennanleadbetter9708 8 ай бұрын

Numbers matter in war.

@andyboi8399 8 ай бұрын

Oh yeah, here we go again... "*hrrrumph!* THE GREAT ALLIED SWARM OF SHERMANS HBLBLBLBL GERMAN TECHLOGOICAL SUPERIORITY YOHOHOHO SPEED ARMOR AND FIREPOWER ARE WHAT MAKES A TANK GOOD, WHAT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE PANTHER COULDNT 1V1 AN M1 ABRAMS AND WIN HUHUUHHUHHUHHUHHU"

@flakmag1004 8 ай бұрын

yeah its crazy honestly, if you look at the famous "battle of dompaire" youll see the massive and staggering losses the french took, losing an entire sherman tank, they were battered and left in the dust by the superior panthers tanks of the german army, however the 112th Panzerbrigade bravely gave up and left behind the definitely not destroyed 69 of the 96 tanks they had however, as a show of goodwill and retreated back. If only they could solve the weird and insignificant issue of the panthers conviniently burning up and brewing up after being shot by the peashooter of a cannon on the sherman, we'd all be speaking german....

@flakmag1004 8 ай бұрын

@@andyboi8399 dont you get it? the panther was a far superior and chivalrous tank of the battlefield. Its optics were made in such a way that the commander could only effectively spot a tank by opening up his hatch and having a gander outside, like he should! Its transmission only lasted as long as it should do, with only the finest gentlemen being able to cradle it, and the only reason it broke down was to allow a chance for the tsunami of allied tanks to overcrowd the tank, allowing the crew to respectively leave the tank, provided they could open the hatches fast enough. A stabiliser? pfft, thats for cowards, true gentlemen would stop their tank and slowly aim at their opponent, allowing as much time for the opponent to shoot back at them, because a fair fight is a good fight..