Another great video, guys. 😀

1) Percentage of German Army circa 1939-40 that was “armored”
Of course you guys are right, it’s very small. How small, well, that depends on how you measure it.
that kind of depends on how you measure it. If you go by divisions, you’re looking at 10 panzer divisions out of an order of battle of 140 divisions (10 May 1940, 110 divisions involved in Case Yellow, I’m assuming something like 30 garrison or training divisions in addition) – this yields a percentage of about 7%, not including motorized, mechanized, etc).

However, if you go by actual number of people in a true “panzer” unit, these are 1939-40 pattern panzer divisions (based around a full panzer brigade of two regiments – this would change later). That only yields a maximum of 20 regiments, or 40 battalions, or 16,000 men out of a total force of (again, summer 1940) 2.5 million – or 0.64% (less than one percent)! We must remember that only the central core of a panzer division was made up of tank formations, they also had two regiments of infantry, artillery, support formations, etc.

Either way, the percentage is very very small.

2) Percentage of 1939-1940 Panzerwaffe made up of PzKpfw 38(t)
About 15%. Specifically, this would be 7th and 8th Panzer Divisions (out of the 39-40 OOB of 10 panzer divisions – these were the only divisions were 38ts were used). But even these wouldn’t be made entirely of 38ts, only the medium companies. The rest would be made of PzKpfw IVs and the light companies PzKpfw Is and IIs.

Basically, the Germans had two out of ten panzer divisions where the PzKpfw III medium tank was switched out for the PzKpfw 38(t).

That said, 6th Panzer Division was equipped with the 35(t) to my knowledge, bringing the total “Skoda percentage” a little higher. Say, 20%? That’s a guess, though.

I know many documentaries give this percentage of 30% or so, but *gasp* – shock / horror – TV documentaries are usually wrong, or at the very least, oversimplified. 😀 They’re overgeneralizing the idea that 30% of panzer divisions (6th, 7th, and 8th out of 1st-10th) were equipped with Pz-38t and 35ts. Again, these divisions only substituted PzKpfw 38(t)s for their PzKpfw IIIs, not Is, IIs, and IVs … and they’re also lumping 35t and 38t into the same general category.

Please understand I’m going after the documentaries here, not you guys. 😀

Top three “cute” tanks?
Tough call. I totally agree with Justin on the Hetzer (technically a tank destroyer, but never mind). Also agree with John on the Panther – not so much “cute” as sexy, and damned dangerous. Saw one of the 12 remaining Panthers in running order during our 70th Normandy Anniversary trip France in 2014. TOTALLY right – getting to see a real one and actually run your fingers over the ripples of the Zimmerint antitank mine paste … chill up the spine …

I would pick the Mark VIb tankette. I also love how it’s called the “Mark Six B” – just like the German Tiger II “Mark Six B.” You’d be hard pressed to find two tanks more different! 😀 😀 😀

Also the Polish TKS tankette. Awww!

John, did you mean the SOMUA S-35 or the Renault R-35? SOMUA is a much better tank, one of the best of the period, but the R-35 is much smaller and thus perhaps more “cute?”