German early war close combat techniques against tanks

[John Kettler]

What's shown here would be broadly applicable to German and probably Axis forces working closely with the Germans. Nor would it be confined solely to the Eastern Front. The guy who did this is a dyed-in-the-wool hands on German (nationality) military historian. He is brutal on every nation's defects in equipment tactics or both and not one of those fanboy types. There is an error of omission or lack of understanding regarding the use of the axe, too, for German close combat against tanks training films show that one important use is to bend exposed MG barrels, using the back of the axe head as a hammer, as a way to defang the tank , thus facilitating its ultimate outright destruction. Another tactic not mentioned at all was putting a grenade up the cannon barrel. There's video from Iraq of this being done with devastating effect on a T-72. Strongly suspect the gun breech was open when this wass done, for the effect was pretty much instantaneous. 
 

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

For comparison, here's how the Japanese did it in the same time frame. This is nothing short of astounding, but there's nothing in the video at all on the pole mines visible in the keyframe. Also, while the Japanese incendiary bottles were designed to use a wick (impossible to light under windy conditions), happily for them, the tanks, under extreme heat conditions, provided the means to ignite them. By contrast, the Russians used a wickless system employing a chemical igniter activated when the bottle broke. 
 

Regards,

John Kettler