Forgotten Armour Ukraine

Forgotten Armour Ukraine Exploring forgotten armored beasts from WWII to the modern era and uncovering the real stories behind

09/03/2026

Why a 5'4" Marine walked alone toward 800 armed Japanese soldiers with nothing but broken Japanese during WW2 — against every order and training manual. This World War 2 story reveals what happened when one teenager decided cultural understanding might work better than flamethrowers.

July 8, 1944. Private Guy Gabaldon, 18 years old, Second Marine Division, standing at the base of Banzai Cliffs on Saipan. Four thousand Japanese soldiers had just died in a suicidal banzai charge the night before. Hundreds more were hiding in volcanic caves, preparing to die rather than surrender. Gabaldon grabbed two prisoners and walked toward those caves. Alone. With an M1 carbine and Japanese he'd learned on the streets of East Los Angeles. Every training manual said Japanese soldiers never surrendered. American commanders wanted to use flamethrower tanks to burn them out. Everyone called his plan su***de.

They were all wrong.

What Gabaldon discovered that morning wasn't about firepower. It was about something the Imperial Army had never prepared their soldiers for — and it changed how the Pacific War was fought. The technique he used that day would spread through Marine units, scout to scout, influencing military operations for the rest of the campaign. The psychological operations principles discovered on Saipan's beaches continue to influence modern military cultural awareness training today.

09/02/2026

Why two US paratroopers stood exposed on an open road to destroy three German tanks in 90 seconds during D-Day — and what German tankers never understood about their "crazy" tactic. This World War 2 story reveals how desperation at La Fière Bridge led to tactics that defied every training manual.

June 6, 1944, 5:00 PM. Private Marcus Heim and PFC Lenold Peterson, 82nd Airborne Division bazooka team, crouched behind a concrete telephone pole at La Fière Bridge, Normandy. Three German Renault R35 tanks were advancing down a narrow 500-yard causeway — the only route from Utah Beach inland. Peterson did something no training manual allowed: he stepped onto the open road, completely exposed to enemy fire, and aimed his M2A1 bazooka at point-blank range. Every instructor at Fort Benning said this was su***de. General Gavin, watching from 100 yards away, later called it "a miracle."

They were all wrong.

What Peterson discovered that afternoon wasn't about courage. It was about angle and geometry in a way that contradicted everything the Army taught. The concrete pole providing cover had been destroyed by German tank fire. To get a clean shot at the tank's side armor from the causeway's narrow confines, Peterson had to expose himself completely. The German tank commanders, accustomed to bazookas firing from protected positions, couldn't understand why an American soldier would stand in the open. That confusion cost them critical seconds.

The battle for La Fière Bridge became one of the most desperate small-unit actions in the Normandy campaign. What happened in those 90 seconds, and the hours that followed, would determine whether thousands of troops landing at Utah Beach could advance inland — or be trapped on the coast.

09/01/2026

Why Commander Earl Hydeman led 9 submarines through "impossible" minefields using experimental sonar during WW2 — and sank 28 Japanese ships in 15 days. This World War 2 story reveals how untested FM sonar technology broke into Japan's last protected waters.

June 4th, 1945. Commander Earl Hydeman, USS Sea Dog SS-401, approached the Tsushima Strait with eight other submarines. Four hundred mines protected the Sea of Japan. No American submarine had survived entering these waters since USS Wahoo was lost in October 1943. Hydeman's only tool: experimental FM sonar that a February 1945 report stated was "not operationally reliable." Naval command, engineers, and every submarine doctrine said relying on unproven technology in minefields was su***de. They called it a death sentence.

They were all wrong.

What Hydeman discovered that night wasn't about perfect technology. It was about trusting experimental equipment in a way that contradicted everything submarine doctrine taught. By the end of June 24th — when all eight surviving submarines escaped through La Perouse Strait — Vice Admiral Lockwood had proven submarines could navigate any minefield with FM sonar. And they had destroyed Japan's confidence in their last safe shipping route.

This technique revolutionized submarine warfare through Pacific Fleet operations, with FM sonar becoming standard equipment on every submarine worldwide by 1950. The principles discovered during Operation Barney continue to influence modern mine detection systems today.

08/31/2026

Why one fighter pilot attacked 30 German fighters alone during WW2 — against every rule in the manual. This World War 2 story reveals how the "suicidal" P-51 Mustang proved everyone wrong.

January 11, 1944. Major James Howard, commander of the 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, circled his P-51B Mustang over Oschersleben, Germany. Thirty German Bf-109s and Fw-190s dove toward sixty unprotected B-17 bombers. Howard's flight had scattered. He was alone. Every fighter doctrine manual said never engage when outnumbered more than two to one. Military brass called the untested P-51B "suicidal" for long-range es**rt missions. His fuel was limited. His ammunition even more so.

They were all wrong.

What Howard discovered that morning wasn't about following doctrine. It was about aggressive tactics and superior speed in a way that contradicted everything fighter command taught. The German pilots expected defensive flying. They got something completely different. And what happened over Oschersleben that day changed how the US Air Force thought about fighter es**rts forever.

This mission's impact spread through the Eighth Air Force. The 354th Pioneer Mustang Group became the highest-scoring fighter group in the European Theater. The tactics proven that day continue to influence air combat doctrine today.

08/30/2026

Why US Navy scientists tried to put a working radio inside an artillery shell during WW2 — despite every physicist saying it was impossible. This World War 2 story reveals how engineers attempted to solve a problem that would either revolutionize warfare or fail spectacularly.

January 5, 1943. Lieutenant "Red" Cochrane, fire control officer aboard USS Helena, watched four Japanese Val dive bombers climb away from his cruiser near Guadalcanal. Standard doctrine said let them go — they were already two miles out. But Cochrane had orders to test new experimental shells. Shells with miniature radios inside. Every physicist in America said glass vacuum tubes couldn't survive the twenty-thousand-g firing shock. The British thought it was impossible. General Electric thought it was impossible. RCA thought it was impossible.

They were all wrong.

What Dr. Merle Tuve and physicist James Van Allen discovered at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory wasn't about making better fuzes. It was about making vacuum tubes survive acceleration forces that would turn steel into powder — forces no one thought electronics could withstand. That morning near Guadalcanal would determine whether three years of impossible engineering had been worth it. Whether the shells would work in combat. Or whether the entire program was just an expensive failure.

Watch to discover how this "impossible" technology changed naval warfare and what happened when those experimental shells were fired for the first time in combat.

08/29/2026

Why Lieutenant Kendrick Bragg refused to order his crew to bail out after a mid-air collision cut his B-17 nearly in half during WW2 — and all 10 men survived an 87-minute flight home. This World War 2 story reveals how they flew with a sixteen-foot gap in the fuselage.

February 1, 1943. First Lieutenant Kendrick Bragg, pilot of B-17F "All American," was returning from bombing Tunis when a German Messerschmitt fighter collided with his bomber at 9,000 feet. The impact tore a massive diagonal gash through the entire rear fuselage, ripped off the left horizontal stabilizer, and cut the tail gunner off from the crew. Every manual said bail out immediately over enemy territory. His co-pilot grabbed his parachute. The navigator said one word: "Bail."

They were all wrong.

What Bragg discovered that morning wasn't about following protocol. It was about using the Norden bombsight autopilot — never designed for manual flight control — in a way that contradicted everything the Army Air Force taught. His crew dumped guns, ammunition, and fuel through the gash. They pulled the trapped tail gunner across the void with parachute cords. By the time they landed at Biskra — 90 miles and 87 minutes later — ground crews couldn't believe the bomber was still airborne.

The famous photograph of "All American" in flight became the single most iconic image of B-17 survivability. Boeing engineers studied every damaged component, leading to stronger frame spacing and redundant control systems in all Allied bombers. The lessons from February 1, 1943 influenced military aircraft design for the next 80 years, proving that crew survival — not just mission success — should drive engineering decisions.

08/28/2026

Why one US tank commander charged directly at superior German armor during WW2 — and destroyed 12 panzers in 81 days. This World War 2 story reveals how breaking every tactical rule saved American tank crews.

June 29, 1944. Staff Sergeant Lafayette Pool, 3rd Armored Division tank commander, watched his first Sherman burn near Villiers-Fossard, France. Thirty-one other Shermans destroyed in two days. The doctrine said keep distance from German Panthers and Tigers. Fire from 1,000 yards. Let tank destroyers handle enemy armor. Pool did the opposite. He charged straight at German panzers at full speed, closing to 300 yards before firing. Every training manual said this was su***de. His battalion commander, other tank crews, even his own men called it insane.

They were all wrong.

What Pool discovered that morning in Normandy wasn't about courage. It was about mathematics in a way that contradicted everything Fort Knox taught. A Sherman dies at 2,000 yards from a Panther. But at 300 yards, a Sherman's 76mm gun could pe*****te. German crews hesitated three seconds when an American tank charged instead of retreating. Those three seconds meant Pool fired first. During his 81 days in combat — June through September 1944 — other tank commanders started doing what Pool had done. And they survived.

This aggressive close-range tactic spread unofficially through the 3rd Armored Division, crew to crew, saving hundreds of American tankers before appearing in any training manual. Pool commanded three Shermans named "IN THE MOOD," destroyed 258 enemy vehicles, killed over 1,000 German soldiers, and took 250 prisoners. The principles discovered in French hedgerows continue to influence modern armor tactics today.

08/28/2026

On 2 May 1982, the Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano in the South Atlantic, the only warship in history sunk in combat by a nuclear-powered submarine.

She was hunted for more than thirty hours, then killed with Mark 8 torpedoes based on a 1927 design, older than the ship they destroyed. 323 Argentine sailors died, just under half of all Argentina lost in the entire Falklands War.

The Belgrano began life as USS Phoenix, a Pearl Harbor survivor. She was one of nine Brooklyn-class light cruisers built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey.

This documentary explains why Argentina believed she was safe outside the Total Exclusion Zone, why she was really sunk, whether it was a war crime, and how one submarine drove the entire Argentine surface fleet back into port for the rest of the war.

Featuring Commander Chris Wreford-Brown, Captain Héctor Bonzo, Margaret Thatcher, and the men of both navies.

08/27/2026

Why a 20-year-old Navy corpsman refused evacuation after being shot three times on Iwo Jima — and saved 14 Marines who would have died without him. This World War 2 story reveals how one medic's "insane" decision contradicted every military protocol.

February 26, 1945. Pharmacist Mate Second Class George Wahlen, Fox Company, Twenty-Sixth Marines, crouched in volcanic ash on Iwo Jima's Hill 362-Alpha. A gr***de blast destroyed his left eye. Shrapnel tore through his face and back. Every training manual said wounded corpsmen evacuate immediately. Captain Chambers personally ordered him off the line. His fellow corpsmen called it su***de to stay.

They were all wrong.

What Wahlen discovered that morning wasn't about following protocols. It was about Marines dying faster than corpsmen could reach them. By March 3 — the day he crawled 50 yards with a bullet in his leg — other corpsmen across the Fifth Marine Division started refusing evacuation when Marines needed help. And they saved lives.

Wahlen personally treated 67 casualties under fire. On March 3, he saved 14 Marines after being shot three times. Battalion medical officers calculated at least 9 would have died without his intervention. His story inspired exhausted corpsmen to keep fighting when they wanted to quit.

08/26/2026

Why Commander Samuel Dealey charged Japanese destroyers head-on during WW2 — and sank 5 warships in 4 days. This World War 2 story reveals how one submarine captain's aggressive "down the throat" tactic revolutionized naval warfare.

June 6, 1944. Commander Samuel Dealey, captain of USS Harder, spotted three Japanese destroyers hunting his submarine off Tawi Tawi. Standard doctrine said run deep and hide. Dealey ordered flank speed — straight at the destroyers. Every training manual said this was su***de. Submarine commanders throughout the Pacific called it reckless.

They were all wrong.

What Dealey discovered that morning wasn't about firepower. It was about psychology in a way that contradicted everything the Navy taught. Japanese destroyer captains expected submarines to run. When Harder charged instead, they hesitated. By the end of June 9 — after sinking four destroyers in four days — other submarine commanders started doing what Dealey had done. And they survived.

This technique spread unofficially through the Pacific submarine force, commander to commander, saving hundreds of lives before appearing in any training manual. The principles discovered off Tawi Tawi in June 1944 continue to influence submarine tactics today.

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