Thank you all so much for reaching 400.000 subscribers! Thanks to all of your support and enthusiasm, more and more people get to see more and better content. In fact, from mid-February onwards, we are going to publish three WW2 videos a week, including Out of the Foxholes, Biographies, Special Episodes, War Against Humanity and a new series on the Homefronts. Not only that, we are also going to start a new series on the TimeGhost History Channel (th-cam.com/users/timeghost). Our Patreons get to vote on what we'll do next! So don't miss out and change history here -> www.patreon.com/posts/what-timeghost-33300161 Cheers, Joram *RULES OF CONDUCT* STAY CIVIL AND POLITE we will delete any comments with personal insults, or attacks. AVOID PARTISAN POLITICS AS FAR AS YOU CAN we reserve the right to cut off vitriolic debates. HATE SPEECH IN ANY DIRECTION will lead to a ban. RACISM, XENOPHOBIA, OR SLAMMING OF MINORITIES will lead to an immediate ban. PARTISAN REVISIONISM, ESPECIALLY HOLOCAUST AND HOLODOMOR DENIAL will lead to an immediate ban.
World War Two I really must know what light infantry battalion u mention from the 5th Indian devision cause there where 3 different battalions of light infantry, one of them being the 2nd battalion HLI my great grandads unit of u could find out that be amazing
"Jews got killed." The axis had a problem with partisans blowing up railroads, bridges, factories, sending info to the allies, sniping axis soldiers, and other activities to hamper the axis war effort. It is illegal to do these things without a uniform on, because the enemy then can't distinguish civilians from soldiers, it causes confusion, and innocent civilians end up being rounded up and executed for being suspected partisans. It is perfectly legal under the Geneva convention to execute partisans.
I'm super excited for videos on the homefronts. Civilian life during wartime is just as interesting as the battles, and often has the more insightful learns.
For those who might question how important Romania is to German plans for the East: The Romanian Army will be the 3rd largest in the European Axis, as well as supplying more troops for Operation Barbarossa than any other nation, aside from Germany (roughly 1,000,00). While it suffers from deficiencies in heavy weapons, motorization, and armour, it still has a large field presence, and is vital for freeing up German troops from the southern thrust for the central and northern ones. Romania is also one of the largest producers of oil, and despite being behind the USSR and USA in such matters at the time, will supply the German Army with vast quantities to allow the Panzers to keep moving. Without the oil fields of southern Romania, Germany would have even more difficulty than it already does in keeping their motorized and mechanized units rolling. Finally, as mentioned in the video, Romania is an important jumping off point for the advances into Greece, Russia, and also Yugoslavia. While this is, in my view at least, more minor than the other two points, it is still something worth noting. Additionally, I'd like to make a point of the short comings of the Romanian Army. I usually hear things thrown around about how Romanian troops were "cowards" or how they "fought poorly", usually only using their failure to hold back a large-scale armoured advance by the Russians around Stalingrad. In truth, the average Romanian troop fought well. He was well equipped using Czech Mauser rifles or the fantastic ZB-26 light machine gun, and was well-motivated. What really ruined the fighting ability of the Romanian Army is two-fold. As mentioned before, lack of heavy weapons, motorization, and armour meant that their infantry divisions were sparse on anti-tank weaponry, and did not have the means to outrun a speedy armoured breakthrough. This is what can be observed around Stalingrad, and later during the Iasi-Chinisau offensive where the only unit able to keep up with and offer real resistance to the Russians is the 1st Armoured Division (also their only armoured division). The other issue is a rigid, conservative senior officer corp. Most senior Romanian officers, like with every army of the time, were veterans of the First World War. However, they didn't really seem to learn the same lessons everyone else did, as can be seen during the Siege of Odessa. Despite their somewhat modernized equipment, the Romanians still attempt to fight the battle like something out of WWI: heavy artillery bombardment followed by frontal infantry charges. While they did eventually break the defenses, it came at a high cost in Romanian lives. Overall, it was really a lack of change between the two wars that cost the Romanians so dearly (roughly 600,000 soldiers dead by war's end), failing to make progress against the same issues they faced in 1916-1917. Romanian inter-war policy seemed to rely to heavily on its allies in Czechoslovakia and France, that once those two fell, it ran into the exact problems that plagued it two and a half decades prior.
It's also worth remembering that given the sheer geographic size of the USSR and their population the Axis needed a massive amount of manpower to have any hope of victory. Germany itself did not have this manpower and so, in order for Germany to have any chance at victory, they needed a lot of troops from countries like Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Finland especially since Japan did not attack in the far east.
Thank you for covering the Romanian events, I've heard of those only in headwords, I think just as the events in China, it is a very overlooked part of the war too. I really, can't be thankful for you enough for giving a truly complex picture.
Thats why I love this series too. Because its a weekly show it can focuse on EVERYTHING that happens in that week. Theres so much stuff I just never knew because it wasnt a major event.
@@bogdanserban3792 We all respect each other here. This isnt a place to repeat the mistakes of History. This is a place to learn the wrongs and unite as people, as humans. Not as Nations or Ideologists.
@@bogdanserban3792 Well, I'm simply interested in history, and the role of Romania in ww2 is really an overlooked topic. Good to learn about it as well as about other overlooked topics. And, I'm not that Hungarian who hates anyone or anything just because it's Romanian.
Pedro Duarte I did watch the episode lol, Munich would be the metro though. That’s where you’d fly into or ride into on the train, then drive to obersalzburg
@@KnightofAges As far as I know Count Ciano and Italian General Staff urged Mussolini to accept German military aid to avoid a total collapse in Libya and Mussolini reluctantly agreed. He also agreed German military observers and consultants to be sent to Albanian front (which was swollen to two Gerrman divisions in Albania fighting alongside Italians)
This week in the Greco-Italian War: Hitler and Mussolini met in Brennerpass, Ostmark (Austria) to discuss immediate plans, twice inside two days. The meetings on Sunday, January 19 were exclusively dedicated to political matters. On Monday, January 20, the two leaders called an extended conference with the two Foreign Ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Count Galeazzo Ciano, and the services chiefs, General Alfredo Guzzoni (Deputy Chief of the Italian Supreme General Staff), General Luigi Efisio Marras (General Staff's Italian liaison with the German High Command), General Walther von Brauchitsch (C-in-C of the German Army), Lieutenant-General Franz Halder (Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces High Command), Lieutenant-General Alfred Jodl (Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command), and Major-General Enno von Rintelen the German military attaché in Rome, to address the military situation. During that meeting, Mussolini concluded that the German 'Unternehmen Alpenveilchen' (Operation Alpine Violets), the deployment of German troops to Albania, was no longer necessary, and promised 'to teach Greece a lesson with the approaching Spring weather' (sic). On January 22, at 09:00 hours, the Greek 'Ketseas' Detachment' (an ad hoc formation out of I Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Vassilios Vrachnos) from B' Army Corps (Lt. Gen. Dimitrios Papadopoulos) composed of two infantry battalions (I/7 & II/5), named after its CO Col. Themistocles Ketseas) crossed Desnices valley at the confluence of the rivers Përroj i Bronecit - Osum. I/7 Battalion assaulted Hill 715 (Spi Kamarate), an Italian forward operating base fortified by elements of the Italian 6th Alpine Regiment 'Val Chiese' (Col. Augusto Reteuna) from the 2nd Alpine Division 'Tridentina' (Div. Gen. Ugo Santovito). The men of the Val Chiese, a proud unit going back to 1915, due to well-crafted entrenchments, would put up an obstinate resistance. At 10:00 hours, the Italians counter-attacked sending the Greeks back. The setback was momentary however. Eventually, 345 Italians of all ranks would surrender on January 23. The Italians inflicted serious casualties on the Greeks, who lost 213 men (33 KIA). Among the Greek dead was 2nd Lt. George Moutsopoulos, CO of 7th Coy, the twelfth fatal casualty of an officer fresh from Military Academy since October 28. 7th company was the first Greek unit to reach the objective, and the Lieutenant at the head of his company, ran in upon the Italians and destroyed the first Italian positions by throwing a barrage of handgrenades before falling mortally wounded by enemy fire. Lt. Moutsopoulos received posthumously the Gold Cross of Valour. The 'Military School of Aspirants' (i.e. Greek Army Academy), lost 30 fresh 2nd Lieutenants in the Greco-Italian War.
On January 23, the Greek II/5 btn of the 'Ketseas' Detachment' with a daring manoeuver, took Hill 717 (Bregu i Rrapit) and captured 154 Italians. The battalion organized defensive positions and repulsed three counter-attacks launched by elements of the Italian 22nd Infantry Division 'Hunters of the Alps' (Div. Gen. Giovanni Pivano) to reclaim it. During the night of January 23-24, the Italians launched a vigorous counter-attack and retook Bregu i Rrapit. Then, the Greek battalion's CO Maj. Dimitrios Kasslas planned a night assault, led personally his troops into battle and took the hill for a second and final time. The surprise and ferocity of this night assault caused chaos among the Italians who suffered 584 casualties. Among the captured was 2nd Battalion's CO, Major Francesco Laboratore. The Greeks had 232 men out of action. Maj. Kasslas for his great personal valour, daring tactics, and tenacious perseverance, would receive on January 27, the Gold Cross of Valour. Laboratore, under questioning, had to admit that he didn't expect such a ferocious attack by the Greeks. On January 24, the 'Ketseas' Detachment' took Hill 731, located N of Këlcyrë. Hill 731 in the major Italian Spring οffensive in March, would become the symbol of Greek resistance in WWII. On January 25, the 'Kritikos' Detachment' (an ad hoc formation out of XV Infantry Division composed of 50th Infantry Rgt and I/33 Btn, named after its CO Col. Panaghiotis Kritikos) took after stiff resistance Hill Mal i Spandarit. By January 25, the Greek XV Infantry Division (Μaj. Gen. Panaghiotis Spiliotopoulos) from B' Army Corps, consisted of three infantry units and one divisional artillery unit, had seized all the hills looming over Vjosë river in South-Central Albania. The Greek I Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Vassilios Vrachnos) from B' Army Corps, consisted of three infantry units and one divisional artillery unit, by late January would have occupied all hills overlooking Desnices valley, N of Këlcyrë. i.imgur.com/fVtEK0l.jpg
@@Southsideindy Greco -Italian war is still a rather unknown aspect of WWII and with a very few videos in TH-cam about it. Maybe you could do an extra miniseries. Thank you.
brazil send troops to the invasion of italy, Mexico put pilots, some units of his navy and fight in the pacific, argentina send so much help to Germany and play with the neutrality selling food to the beligerant powers
@@jonathanmunoz137 Mecio, Argentina, and Brazil are among the most important countries in Latin America, but they aren't the whole of Latin America. Panama can't avoid taking a side because of their eponymous canal*, but surely some of the other smaller nations chose neutrality and meant it. * if they close it to military traffic they're de facto allying with Japan. If they don't they're de facto allying with the US and UK.
@@felafnirelek8987 Do you think that would actually stop Japan from treating them as a US/UK ally if they didn't reclaim the canal zone and close it to military traffic? And if Japan had the force projection capability to do anything about it, of course.
@@BleedingUranium But the X-Wing has shields, which is comparable to heavy armor, the typical American or German fighter wasn't that much better armored than a Zero
@@BleedingUranium there were planes mostly made out of wood, some were constructed with a lot of steel, which offers much more protection than wood, so you could consider them "armored"
My grandmother had a 1st grade Romanian schoolbook from 1940 and I remember there being a math problem about a legionnaire's club, with a number of them leaving and asking how many are left. Also, during the war the German soldiers were very civilized but later when the Russians came (as allies at that time) she and her sisters had to hide in the cellar to avoid being raped (she was only 12 in 1944)
Great show guys! Now I have a suggestion, when you show the movement of divisons on the map, you could put a date somewhere in the corner of the screen. This could be a great new element to this show, especially, for the huge campaigns now on the horizon.
As a Romanian, I would like to thank Indy and Co. for an honest and good portrayal of Romanian authoritarianism and collaborationism, which is usually and sadly whitewashed in modern times. Keep up the good work, I will be supporting the team as soon as I can!!!
3:23 “at a cost of 400 men” I know that’s super easy to gloss over in a war like this but ...that “little” incident in and off itself is actually quite big.
5:49 Well, here comes the Desert Fox! What new challenge will he bring to the British and the Commonwealth at North Africa? Only time will tell... 10:38 Sounds like a foreshadowing of things perhaps. Wonder whether anything will happen to the fleet at Pearl Harbor possibly? Hmm....
(2) From midnight to 2:00 a.m. on 21 January the Royal Navy monitor HMS Terror and three smaller ships bombarded Tobruk, while Royal Navy destroyers waited further out to attack Italian cruiser San Giorgio , if the crew tried to escape. For the rest of the night RAF Wellington bombers attacked port installations, defensive positions and drowned out the sound of the British tanks assembling for the attack. 17th and 19th Australian Infantry Brigades would use captured maps of Tobruk (captured in Bardia ) to plan their initial attack and focus their assault on a weak sector on eastern side of perimeter where a blind spot among field of fire would prevent Italians to concentrate their firepower effectively. At 5:40 a.m. the British artillery opened fire along the entire line, concentrating on an area about 2,187 yd (2,000 m) by 766-875 yd (700-800 m) rectangle where the sub-sectors A and B of the Eastern Sector met. Under cover of night Australian sappers and the British artillery-fire cleared a path through the thin Italian minefield in the area , engineers filled anti tank ditches for 7th Armored Division tanks to follow through infantry advance and blew up Italian wire obstacles under fire by using Bangolore torpedoes and at first light the 2/3rd Australian Battalion attacked. Within the hour the Australians had created a breach 1 mi (2 km) wide. At 7:00 a.m., 18 [Matilda II tanks passed through the breach, three of which veered left with the 2/3rd Australian Battalion, while another three veered right with the 2/1st Australian Battalion to expand the breach. At the same time, the rest of the Matildas advanced with the 2/2nd Australian Battalion towards Tobruk. The first unit to be overrun by the 2/2nd was the Italian CV/25th Artillery Group, which had no time to lay their guns for direct fire before they were overrun. The lack of radios of the Italian units proved to be a severe disadvantage; telephone lines had been cut by the British aerial and artillery bombardment and General Pitassi Mannella only received notice of the British attack at around 8:30-8:45 a.m. from a despatch rider. Like in Bardia Italian defensive reaction was mixed. Some bunkers and trenches fought stubbornly but several more surrendered by showing white flags and handkerchiefs after a brief Australian infantry and British tank assault. By 9:10 a.m. the Australian 2/2nd Battalion had reach Sidi Mahmud and the 2/1st Battalion was at Sidi Daud; the 17th Australian Brigade with the 2/6th Australian Battalion and 2/27th Australian Battalion had captured the Italian artillery positions between the two points. By 10:30 a.m. the Australians had overrun four of the Italian strongpoints and destroyed six of the ten artillery groups in the area. At 8:30 a.m. the 19th Australian Brigade supported by A Squadron of the 6th Australian Division Cavalry Regiment had set off and towards the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment. The Australian brigade was supported by 78 field guns, which moved in turns 219 yd (200 m) forward every two minutes and reached vital Via Balbia at 09:40 hours. Australian lead company received severe Italian machine gun fire from left flank of Via Balbia. These machine gun positions were swiftly dealt with a bayonet charge and grenades by Australians under support of a creeping barrage. The 19th Australian Brigade struck the III Battalion, 69th Italian Infantry Regiment, which was quickly overrun. By 09:00 AM total of 21 Italian bunkers and defensive outposts had fallen to Australian advance. A Bersaglieri company and three M11/39 tanks that tried to plug the gap in the second line were defeated within minutes, the three M11/39s being knocked out by British Matilda tanks and Royal Horse Artillery anti tank guns. Meanwhile two RAF bomber groups with Wellington and Blenheim bombers were constantly hitting Italian strongpoints ans other targets and British artillery continiously engaging their own targets and counterbattery fire. British artillery fire , counter batery action and creeping barrage were so effective that Italian artillery was complately shocked and silenced. On nearing the harbour, the infantry seized a series of concrete dugouts, and found a most welcome prize - the fortress artillery headquarters, including General Barberis and his staff. By 11:50 a.m. General Pitassi Mannella had informed Graziani that the Eastern Sector had been destroyed and only isolated positions held out. All Graziani could do was to send three Italian CR.30 fighters to Tobruk, which the RAF fighters quickly shot down. At 4:00 p.m. the 2/8th Australian Battalion attacked Fort Pilastrino position which was found mostly abandoned by Italian garrison except rearguard which gave up after a short firefight, while the 2/4th Australian Battalion had reached and surrounded the Italian headquarters at the abandoned Fort Solaro by the evening. General Pitassi Mannella and his staff retreated into the cellars but by 6:30 p.m. Pitassi Mannella ordered his staff to surrender. According to war correspondent Chester Wilmott an Australian private who witnessed surrender hundreds of Italian troops getting out of their bunkers to give themselves muttered himself : “For God’s Sake , even Tel Aviv police gave us more trouble to us than these” At the same time the 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment had reached the outskirts of Tobruk but then been stopped by fire from Italian cruiser San Giorgio . Soldiers from the 2/4th Australian Battalion moved down the cliffs and used 3-inch mortars against San Giorgio . Having lost contact with forces outside of Tobruk, Admiral Massimiliano Vietina organised the defence of the harbour with the few men at his disposal. Graziani had denied his request to make a sacrificial attack on the Royal Navy ships outside the harbour and Vietina began systematically to destroy the harbour and its stores. Out at sea the Australian destroyers Stuart, Vampire and Voyager were patrolling west of Tobruk in case the Italian cruiser San Giorgio attempted to break out of the port. They were recalled after reports that their quarry was aground and on fire in Tobruk harbour, and in the process ran into the Italian schooner Diego which was promptly sunk after the ten man crew had been taken off. 22 January By nightfall half of the Tobruk fortified area had been captured and at 4:15 a.m. on 22 January, Vietina ordered Captain Stefano Pugliese to blow up the magazines of immobile Italian cruiser San Giorgio to deny it to the British. The advance was resumed at dawn on Wednesday Wednesday 22 January, supported by Hurricanes and Lysanders from RAF No. 208 Army Co-operation Squadron, and it quickly became apparent that the fight had gone out of the Italian defenders. The commander of the Sirte Division, Generale Vincenzo Della Mura, surrendered to the 2/8th Battalion near Fort Pilastrino after sending forward an emissary just after first light under a makeshift white flag. The Generale initially refused to hand himself over to a Lieutenant Phelan on the grounds that he was insufficiently senior, but honour was satisfied by the arrival of a somewhat brusque Major Key, Phelan’s company company commander.31 Elsewhere an Italian officer was persuaded to order other positions under his command to surrender via field telephone, and the commander of the 2/1st Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Eather DSO, came upon an a 3,000 strong Italian unit waiting to surrender in parade order complete with packed baggage. General Iven Mackay ordered a general advance for the morning of 22 January. It was a busy morning, and the road back from the Australian front lines to the breach in the perimeter was soon thick with Italian prisoners, thousands of them, giving every indication that they were happy to be away from these wild men from the south insanely charging at them with death and destruction pouring from their every barrel, and heading towards the comparative safety of an Australian stockade. Rome Radio had been shrieking for days that the ‘Australian barbarians have been turned loose by the British in the desert’, now that these soldiers had seen the Australians close up, few of them wanted any part of it. At 8:30 a.m. at Italian Naval HQ , Admiral Vietina surrendered to General Horace Robertson of the 19th Australian Infantry Brigade whose advance scouts reached the port, followed shortly afterwards by General Della Mura, who surrendered with the remnants of the Pilastrino position. At 4:00 p.m. the last strongpoint surrendered and Tobruk had fallen. For Italian stragglers still resisting in town , Australians used a technique called “rabbitting” , basically lighting a mixture of thick crude oil and kerosane at the entrence or around of any building , underground shelter or bunker resisting and use intense smoke to weed out last defenders (a method very effective when dealing out of control rabbit population in wilderness of Western Australia) British armor and Aussie infantry cooperated extremely well. General Iven MacKay commander of 6th Australian Division extremely pleased with 7th Armored Divisions tank support , said every Matilda tank was worth of an infantry battalion.
@@fosphor8920 yes, but you don't just wake up and be a racist. Something happened someone says something something happens to you that confirms what you're being told. That's probably what's the most disheartening about this.
@Bennett McCoy people suck. Racism will always exist, people always find reason to hate someone else, the sooner you realize that the easier life will be
@@stephengalindo6340 In other words: As most things in life, it's complicated. But in the end, this was just racism towards other humans or to gain political or other forms of power... In order to do more against those they do not like.
@@stephengalindo6340 This is why we should not use the word Racism so easily today, it removes the real fear that should surround the word. It's the same when people call those they don't agree with "Nazi's" or "Fascists" or Commies". Those words have truely horrendous histories and should not be thrown around as simple insults.
Interesting fact is that Hitler was Austrian but in fact he hated Austria. 1) He failed in Vienna as an Art student. 2) He fought in WWI on the German side, not on the Austrian-Hungarian army. 3) He invented the 1000 Mark Sperre to get Austria down to the knees and urged them to annex it. 4) He broke his promise to the Austrians to bring South Tyrol back from Italy. So people please always connect todays neutral Austria with Hitler. It's not fair to us! Thanks, an Austrian 🇦🇹
i would have expected an even short quote about Lt. Guillet cavalry charge in Keru during east african campaign, even if it was not decisive for the course of the war.
If you want a more in depth look at Franz von Werra I highly recommend the British 1957 film "The One that got away" featuring Hardy Kruger who gives an excellent performance as the cocky German pilot.
@@luxembourgishempire2826 Lol:) Chad didn't even exist when the events mentioned in this episode happened and back then, Romania had the same flag as today.
@@herrakaarme Not only getting captured , but delivering all of their supply support infrastructure like ports , vehicles , water distillation plants , water wells intact to enemy also.
@@herrakaarme - Majority whas killed and rest captured like other axis army from that front. Is easy to acuse Ro army and to not acuse Gerarmy who refused to send equipments and reinforcements in change of oils and cereals and Ro soldiers,is int? Who helped Ger army to evacuate Crimeea,you known? Try to document you before to acuse.
Well, the British are just about to finish this one off and...Wait, that music...No! It can't be! It's Erwin Rommel! Erwin Rommel is on his way to the ring! *The crowd goes crazy*
I was recently looking into Romanian history to see what was going on at the time. I heard the Bucharest pogrom was more grisly in detail; the Jews were hanged on meat hooks alive, (including a five year old girl) with signs of being skinned alive, having their bellies open and entrails round their necks with the "kosher meat" label. The slaughterhouse had to be closed for a week to purge and clean the house of the result. This was just one incident of the pogrom with other inhumane acts being committed.
Make the video about Slovakian national uprising 1944 . This video about Slovakian antifascists : Ferdinand Caltos and Augustin Malar. Or video antifascist uprising in Romania 1944 and Romania joined to allies. Plot against Ion Antonesu. Was romanian general Vasiliu Constantin Râscanu. Or operation Panzerfaust, where Hungarians for Hitler and where against in 1944-1945 . Italian civil war 1943-1945 . Where Italians for Hitler till war and italians against Hitler 1943-1945. Or plot against Benito Mussolini. Generals were for arrest, resignation Mussolini and generals against resignation, arrest Mussolini
The irony of Rommel, who led one of the German assault at Caporetto breaking through the Italian Army lines, coming to save the Italian Army which seems it can't stop other assaults...
Sima was actually also supposed to be at the meeting with Hitler, together with Antonescu. He would've been in a good position, given that he spoke German (Antonescu didn't), but somewhat inexplicably, he did not go. I've seen various explanations: some say he "didn't feel ready", which is a bit odd, others cite fear of flying... Not sure. The tensions between Antonescu and the Guard had been growing since at least November, when the Jilava murders and Iorga and Madgearu's assassinations. The legionary police had committed lots of abuses, and I think some time before January they were disbanded. I read somewhere that Antonescu wanted to resign after the legionary police had stopped and searched a car of the Italian embassy, quite embarrassing, given that Italy was an Axis power. It was actually the murder of a German army major that was the pretext for the firing of Petrovicescu, the Iron Guard Minister of the Interior. Antonescu said he wasn't happy with how a Greek guy, possibly a British agent, could assassinate a German Officer in Bucharest just like that.
How the fuck are we dumping on Wuhan? And let me make certain I understand- you actually want me to edit history because you like a place 79 years in the future? That is the most dangerous type of moronic suggestion- Berlin is a cool city with good people too these days, do you seriously want me to leave Berlin out of the war too?
Let's be fair to Italians , under a very good and fortified Tobruk position they were still able to resist 48 hours under Brtitish and Australian attack.
Heya Indy! Thanks for the video, I’m a Soviet soldier and your videos are very helpful. My service ends on the 19th of June and I’m gonna visit my family in Vladivostok. Judging by what you’ve said, I doubt anything too bad can happen while I’m away. Cheers.
Could you please discuss, perhaps in Out of the Foxholes, or in a special episode (or both), the role of Tuva in the war? It has been taunting me over my ignorance of any details about it from the world map in the background all series.
P.S., I just read your pinned message. It’s awesome to see another Joram exists 2500 years after the OG (...plural). First time I’ve seen anyone named Joram besides my dad!!
This channel should do countries in ww2 like they did in the great war Like Sweden, Turkey, middle eastern countries, portugal, mexico, South America and central america
Why did I never heard of the story of france von Ferra? That sound like one heck of an awesome escape story.....from bloody Canada back to Germany. Holy shit.
Von Werra was an absolute animal. 😀 He even managed to enter a RAF base, and was sitting in a cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane before they figured out who he was. He was minutes away from stealing a British fighter.
@@KnightofAges Like more than 6.000 Swiss nationals (check out Swiss in World War II in TIME LIFE) fought in Allied ranks especially joining SOE and OSS networks fighting that barbaric Teutons ? Lets not forget them do we Nani ?
@@KnightofAges You mean like when Hitler instructed Sudeten Nazis and their leader Konrad Heinlein to initiate sedition , violent engagement and provocation acts with Czech goverment to give appearence of reason on German claims of Sudetenland or when he gave instructions to local Nazis to stage violent confrontrations with Poles and Polish authorities in Danzig ? Let's be fair , sedition , terrorism and guerilla /asymmetric warfare supported by State had existed before Churchill
@@KnightofAges "And thousands of Swiss are also joining the ranks of the Reich" I hope they liked Russian rations and plowing black earth in Siberia afterwards
As a Romanian and history nerd, I have to say how big of a goon and of an idiot Horia Sima was. He would have been OK with killing his own mother if this brought him to power. He didn't care about nationalism, legionarism or even the ideology at that, reason as of why he joined the COMMUNISTS out of all places after the war. This rebellion was him trying to overthrow Antonescu. It wasn't enough to have the Iron Guard as the only party in Romania and he as the leader, he wanted to be the _supreme_ leader, the Conducator. And for this he did what we consider the only rebellion made by a party to "overthrow itself". Sima killed thousands of innocents and of Jew, a lot of times for now reason, completely forgetting of the teachings of the original leader of the Iron Guard, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, who was promoting a pretty non-violent move to help Romania. Horia didn't give a crap about his teachings. During the revolt, he wasn't even in the country. The legionaries who have been part of the group from Codreanu's time were searching for him madly in Bucharest, a lot of them getting killed for no reason. Only his personal groups knew what was happening, and that was representing a strong minority. Sima was a idiot. Instead of using his position to help his country, he was hungry for even more power. That's not to say that Antonescu was a better guy, but at the very least he had an extremely long war experience and knowledge. Sima didn't even got that.
The headline in the Melbourne Age on 24 January 1941 read BRILLIANT ATTACK WINS TOBRUK . Daily Express in London wrote “IVEN THE TERRIBLE” (Australian division commander General Iven MacKay) . King George VI declared “Well Done Australia” Headlines of a different sort would have dominated the Italian newspapers had the fascist regime allowed freedom of the press. ‘Tobruk has fallen,’ lamented Count Ciano , Mussolini's son in law and Foreign Minister to his diary on 22 January. He could not believe the news. "There has been a little more fighting but only a little. The Duce is allowing himself to be lulled by his illusions. I thought it necessary to speak to him with brusque frankness. ‘At Sidi Barrani,’ I said, ‘they spoke of surprise. Then you counted upon Bardia, where there was Bergonzoli, the heroic Bergonzoli. Bardia yielded after two hours. Then you placed your hopes in Tobruk because Pitassi Mannella, the king of artillerymen, was there. Tobruk has been easily wrested from us. Now you speak with great faith of the escarpment of Derna. I beg to differ with your dangerous illusions. The trouble is serious, mysterious, and deep.’"
23rd January Bulgarian General Staff began military cooperation with Germany 24th January : US goverment rejects an appeal from Vichy goverment in France to admit more Jewish refugees from Germany and unoccupied France. US spokesperson adds , forced migration might have serious and unhappy consrquences to economic and social equilibrium in US. 24th January 12th West African Division and 1st South African Divisioın under command of General Alan Cunningham enters from Kenya into Italian Somaliland and capture border town Liboi. Their target is port of Kismayu 25th January , Lord Halifax new British Ambassador in US starts his duties
A few months after his return to Germany and returned to combat duty , he was shot down and killed for good over English Channel (a better escaper than pilot obviously. ) Luftwaffe's manpower utilisation was stupid. A man as experienced as Werra would be used for staff or intelligence duties in rear or a flight instructor but nope go back to the front and get killed
@@luxembourgishempire2826 those africans stole my flag,this is my oficial flag from 19th century and the first flag with this colors appeared in Wallachia in Middle Ages,Chad wasn't a contry untill 20th century
Just a minor mistake, Wuhan didn't exist at that time, the city was made by combining 3 smaller cities on both sides of the Yangtze in the 50s or 60s. It would be more precise to refer to this place as Hankou.
The Canadians were under the U.K rule in the commonwealth, That's why they immediately fought with the British, While the U.S tried to stay out of it as they viewed it as another power hungry European war.
Itzik Ashemtov- Unlike WW1, Canadians were given the choice/autonomy to join the war or not. UK declared war on Sept 3, while Canada decided to declare on Sept 10.
@@v4enthusiast541 Pretty sure it's because of the bad decisions the British done which took so many commonwealth soldiers (attack on Gallipoli mainly), Many lost faith in the leadership of the crown, Even the British generals themselves.
Thank you all so much for reaching 400.000 subscribers! Thanks to all of your support and enthusiasm, more and more people get to see more and better content. In fact, from mid-February onwards, we are going to publish three WW2 videos a week, including Out of the Foxholes, Biographies, Special Episodes, War Against Humanity and a new series on the Homefronts. Not only that, we are also going to start a new series on the TimeGhost History Channel (th-cam.com/users/timeghost). Our Patreons get to vote on what we'll do next! So don't miss out and change history here -> www.patreon.com/posts/what-timeghost-33300161
Cheers, Joram
*RULES OF CONDUCT*
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World War Two I really must know what light infantry battalion u mention from the 5th Indian devision cause there where 3 different battalions of light infantry, one of them being the 2nd battalion HLI my great grandads unit of u could find out that be amazing
@@abdokorib8898 wow, antisemitism.
Get yourselves on Nebula! Avoid TH-cam's discrimination.
"Jews got killed." The axis had a problem with partisans blowing up railroads, bridges, factories, sending info to the allies, sniping axis soldiers, and other activities to hamper the axis war effort. It is illegal to do these things without a uniform on, because the enemy then can't distinguish civilians from soldiers, it causes confusion, and innocent civilians end up being rounded up and executed for being suspected partisans. It is perfectly legal under the Geneva convention to execute partisans.
I'm super excited for videos on the homefronts. Civilian life during wartime is just as interesting as the battles, and often has the more insightful learns.
1:18 - “TIE-Bombers raid the French airfield at Angkor”
Didn’t know The Empire giving air support in the war.
Raging Agent LMAO
Ha ha! Nice
I mean, it is a world war
Was looking for that comment
Earth confirmed canon in star wars lore or Star Wars confirmed canon in Earth lore?
1:06
Me coming from the future: Nah Chinese Wuhan isn’t worth, let Japanese keep it, will back fire later
Doh! You beat me to the snarky Wuhan comment.
Alexander hey man! No spoilers!!!
Shhh, I have to watch 79 more seasons of this show to get to the "Corona Saga" NO SPOILERS PLEASE!
@Bennett McCoy Meanwhile whale eaters will bayonette your body.
1:06 bet you wouldn't have thought that wuhan would be big in today's news when you made this
Damnit, beat me to it
Perfect timing
I thought the same thing 😂😂
This makes good listening too when it comes to Wuhan..
th-cam.com/video/44RoK_4qAcQ/w-d-xo.html
It's sad and "funny hmm" that a city of 11 million came to our attention due to something so negative.
For those who might question how important Romania is to German plans for the East:
The Romanian Army will be the 3rd largest in the European Axis, as well as supplying more troops for Operation Barbarossa than any other nation, aside from Germany (roughly 1,000,00). While it suffers from deficiencies in heavy weapons, motorization, and armour, it still has a large field presence, and is vital for freeing up German troops from the southern thrust for the central and northern ones.
Romania is also one of the largest producers of oil, and despite being behind the USSR and USA in such matters at the time, will supply the German Army with vast quantities to allow the Panzers to keep moving. Without the oil fields of southern Romania, Germany would have even more difficulty than it already does in keeping their motorized and mechanized units rolling.
Finally, as mentioned in the video, Romania is an important jumping off point for the advances into Greece, Russia, and also Yugoslavia. While this is, in my view at least, more minor than the other two points, it is still something worth noting.
Additionally, I'd like to make a point of the short comings of the Romanian Army. I usually hear things thrown around about how Romanian troops were "cowards" or how they "fought poorly", usually only using their failure to hold back a large-scale armoured advance by the Russians around Stalingrad. In truth, the average Romanian troop fought well. He was well equipped using Czech Mauser rifles or the fantastic ZB-26 light machine gun, and was well-motivated. What really ruined the fighting ability of the Romanian Army is two-fold. As mentioned before, lack of heavy weapons, motorization, and armour meant that their infantry divisions were sparse on anti-tank weaponry, and did not have the means to outrun a speedy armoured breakthrough. This is what can be observed around Stalingrad, and later during the Iasi-Chinisau offensive where the only unit able to keep up with and offer real resistance to the Russians is the 1st Armoured Division (also their only armoured division). The other issue is a rigid, conservative senior officer corp. Most senior Romanian officers, like with every army of the time, were veterans of the First World War. However, they didn't really seem to learn the same lessons everyone else did, as can be seen during the Siege of Odessa. Despite their somewhat modernized equipment, the Romanians still attempt to fight the battle like something out of WWI: heavy artillery bombardment followed by frontal infantry charges. While they did eventually break the defenses, it came at a high cost in Romanian lives. Overall, it was really a lack of change between the two wars that cost the Romanians so dearly (roughly 600,000 soldiers dead by war's end), failing to make progress against the same issues they faced in 1916-1917. Romanian inter-war policy seemed to rely to heavily on its allies in Czechoslovakia and France, that once those two fell, it ran into the exact problems that plagued it two and a half decades prior.
Interesting info. Thanks!
Romanian troops were among those covering flanks of the 6th army at Stalingrad, a big factor in the success of Operation Uran.
It's also worth remembering that given the sheer geographic size of the USSR and their population the Axis needed a massive amount of manpower to have any hope of victory. Germany itself did not have this manpower and so, in order for Germany to have any chance at victory, they needed a lot of troops from countries like Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Finland especially since Japan did not attack in the far east.
Respect!
Great detail. For future posts, could you please break it up into smaller paragraphs? It makes it a lot easier to follow along.
Cheers!
Thank you for covering the Romanian events, I've heard of those only in headwords, I think just as the events in China, it is a very overlooked part of the war too. I really, can't be thankful for you enough for giving a truly complex picture.
Thats why I love this series too. Because its a weekly show it can focuse on EVERYTHING that happens in that week. Theres so much stuff I just never knew because it wasnt a major event.
Thank you for respecting Romania. It's rare to see that from a Hungarian tbh.
@@bogdanserban3792 We all respect each other here. This isnt a place to repeat the mistakes of History. This is a place to learn the wrongs and unite as people, as humans. Not as Nations or Ideologists.
Hello brother
@@bogdanserban3792 Well, I'm simply interested in history, and the role of Romania in ww2 is really an overlooked topic. Good to learn about it as well as about other overlooked topics. And, I'm not that Hungarian who hates anyone or anything just because it's Romanian.
Wuhan just can't get a break lol.
*can *outbreak
*Erwin Rommel enters the field*
Archibald Wavell, 5 seconds later: "Why do I hear boss music?"
Lol
Tobruk was a save/checkpoint. Uh-oh......
@@Raskolnikov70 "Why's there all these supplies and cover?" - Archibald Wavell
@@gaz9957 You're right, the Italians left loot boxes everywhere...... :D
Gary Deans...hardly worth mentioning, but it's "Bosch music" (as Germans were nicknamed Jerries/Bosch).
Mussolini screaming all the way to Berlin : HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLPPP !
merdiolu haha more like all the way to Munich
Pedro Duarte I did watch the episode lol, Munich would be the metro though. That’s where you’d fly into or ride into on the train, then drive to obersalzburg
@@KnightofAges As far as I know Count Ciano and Italian General Staff urged Mussolini to accept German military aid to avoid a total collapse in Libya and Mussolini reluctantly agreed. He also agreed German military observers and consultants to be sent to Albanian front (which was swollen to two Gerrman divisions in Albania fighting alongside Italians)
Rommel has entered the battlefield
Not yet....SPOILER : he will start operations a few months later. Meanwhile Italian opera in Libya will go on.
Last time I was this early, France was still holding the Maginot Line.
Last time I was, a coupla weeks later, German army were hanging out their washing on the Maginot Line.
Last time I was this early, France controlled most of Europe
France held the Maginot Line for less time than it took me to watch this video.
@@Raskolnikov70 It took you more than one month to watch the video?
This week in the Greco-Italian War:
Hitler and Mussolini met in Brennerpass, Ostmark (Austria) to discuss immediate plans, twice inside two days.
The meetings on Sunday, January 19 were exclusively dedicated to political matters.
On Monday, January 20, the two leaders called an extended conference with the two Foreign Ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Count Galeazzo Ciano, and the services chiefs, General Alfredo Guzzoni (Deputy Chief of the Italian Supreme General Staff), General Luigi Efisio Marras (General Staff's Italian liaison with the German High Command), General Walther von Brauchitsch (C-in-C of the German Army), Lieutenant-General Franz Halder (Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces High Command), Lieutenant-General Alfred Jodl (Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command), and Major-General Enno von Rintelen the German military attaché in Rome, to address the military situation.
During that meeting, Mussolini concluded that the German 'Unternehmen Alpenveilchen' (Operation Alpine Violets), the deployment of German troops to Albania, was no longer necessary, and promised 'to teach Greece a lesson with the approaching Spring weather' (sic).
On January 22, at 09:00 hours, the Greek 'Ketseas' Detachment' (an ad hoc formation out of I Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Vassilios Vrachnos) from B' Army Corps (Lt. Gen. Dimitrios Papadopoulos) composed of two infantry battalions (I/7 & II/5), named after its CO Col. Themistocles Ketseas) crossed Desnices valley at the confluence of the rivers Përroj i Bronecit - Osum. I/7 Battalion assaulted Hill 715 (Spi Kamarate), an Italian forward operating base fortified by elements of the Italian 6th Alpine Regiment 'Val Chiese' (Col. Augusto Reteuna) from the 2nd Alpine Division 'Tridentina' (Div. Gen. Ugo Santovito). The men of the Val Chiese, a proud unit going back to 1915, due to well-crafted entrenchments, would put up an obstinate resistance.
At 10:00 hours, the Italians counter-attacked sending the Greeks back. The setback was momentary however. Eventually, 345 Italians of all ranks would surrender on January 23. The Italians inflicted serious casualties on the Greeks, who lost 213 men (33 KIA). Among the Greek dead was 2nd Lt. George Moutsopoulos, CO of 7th Coy, the twelfth fatal casualty of an officer fresh from Military Academy since October 28. 7th company was the first Greek unit to reach the objective, and the Lieutenant at the head of his company, ran in upon the Italians and destroyed the first Italian positions by throwing a barrage of handgrenades before falling mortally wounded by enemy fire. Lt. Moutsopoulos received posthumously the Gold Cross of Valour. The 'Military School of Aspirants' (i.e. Greek Army Academy), lost 30 fresh 2nd Lieutenants in the Greco-Italian War.
On January 23, the Greek II/5 btn of the 'Ketseas' Detachment' with a daring manoeuver, took Hill 717 (Bregu i Rrapit) and captured 154 Italians. The battalion organized defensive positions and repulsed three counter-attacks launched by elements of the Italian 22nd Infantry Division 'Hunters of the Alps' (Div. Gen. Giovanni Pivano) to reclaim it.
During the night of January 23-24, the Italians launched a vigorous counter-attack and retook Bregu i Rrapit.
Then, the Greek battalion's CO Maj. Dimitrios Kasslas planned a night assault, led personally his troops into battle and took the hill for a second and final time. The surprise and ferocity of this night assault caused chaos among the Italians who suffered 584 casualties. Among the captured was 2nd Battalion's CO, Major Francesco Laboratore. The Greeks had 232 men out of action. Maj. Kasslas for his great personal valour, daring tactics, and tenacious perseverance, would receive on January 27, the Gold Cross of Valour.
Laboratore, under questioning, had to admit that he didn't expect such a ferocious attack by the Greeks.
On January 24, the 'Ketseas' Detachment' took Hill 731, located N of Këlcyrë. Hill 731 in the major Italian Spring οffensive in March, would become the symbol of Greek resistance in WWII.
On January 25, the 'Kritikos' Detachment' (an ad hoc formation out of XV Infantry Division composed of 50th Infantry Rgt and I/33 Btn, named after its CO Col. Panaghiotis Kritikos) took after stiff resistance Hill Mal i Spandarit.
By January 25, the Greek XV Infantry Division (Μaj. Gen. Panaghiotis Spiliotopoulos) from B' Army Corps, consisted of three infantry units and one divisional artillery unit, had seized all the hills looming over Vjosë river in South-Central Albania.
The Greek I Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Vassilios Vrachnos) from B' Army Corps, consisted of three infantry units and one divisional artillery unit, by late January would have occupied all hills overlooking Desnices valley, N of Këlcyrë.
i.imgur.com/fVtEK0l.jpg
Thank you Sir
I really hope they cover the battle of hill 731. The fighting there was as brutal as Verdun.
@@giannisg3387 I'll cover it.
@@Southsideindy Greco -Italian war is still a rather unknown aspect of WWII and with a very few videos in TH-cam about it. Maybe you could do an extra miniseries. Thank you.
Thank you for the work you put into this. It is really appreciated.
All of this infighting in Romania is pretty interesting. They played a decently sized role in WWII so it's nice to see them.
Best $4.50 a month I Spend. Dont be A Dummkolf. Be a Smartie, Come and Join the Time Ghost Army!!!!!
I was born in Dusseldorf and that is why they call me Rolf
@@thebog11 You Got It!!!!!!!!!
Aaaaaaaaand soooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiits spring time for time ghost and army
Man the Legionnaires aren’t the same after the death of Zelea Codreanu.
I am pretty impressed by that German POW. "Yeah, I am going home but I am taking the scenic route!"
This name won't attract the TH-cam demonization goblins at all!
Indy: Everybody is part of this war
Latin America: Nah fam
brazil send troops to the invasion of italy, Mexico put pilots, some units of his navy and fight in the pacific, argentina send so much help to Germany and play with the neutrality selling food to the beligerant powers
@@jonathanmunoz137 Mecio, Argentina, and Brazil are among the most important countries in Latin America, but they aren't the whole of Latin America. Panama can't avoid taking a side because of their eponymous canal*, but surely some of the other smaller nations chose neutrality and meant it.
* if they close it to military traffic they're de facto allying with Japan. If they don't they're de facto allying with the US and UK.
@@nathanbrown8680 At this time, Panama did not control the canal. The United States still held a 5 mile zone around both sides of the canal.
@@felafnirelek8987 Do you think that would actually stop Japan from treating them as a US/UK ally if they didn't reclaim the canal zone and close it to military traffic? And if Japan had the force projection capability to do anything about it, of course.
Switzerland: Nope
1:18 The Japanese use TIE-Bombers
Still waiting for the inevitable "Thai fighters"
TIE Fighters are basically Space A6Ms, so...
@@jessecarozza8134 Then an F-4F Wildcat would be a Y-Wing, cause' an X-Wing is more maneuvreable
@@BleedingUranium But the X-Wing has shields, which is comparable to heavy armor, the typical American or German fighter wasn't that much better armored than a Zero
@@BleedingUranium there were planes mostly made out of wood, some were constructed with a lot of steel, which offers much more protection than wood, so you could consider them "armored"
Sima ain't got nothing on Codreanu
Sima is the Stalin to Codreanu's Lenin.
My grandmother had a 1st grade Romanian schoolbook from 1940 and I remember there being a math problem about a legionnaire's club, with a number of them leaving and asking how many are left. Also, during the war the German soldiers were very civilized but later when the Russians came (as allies at that time) she and her sisters had to hide in the cellar to avoid being raped (she was only 12 in 1944)
It is normal that they were civilized, we were their allies.
My grandfather told me the same thing
My mother said the same thing about her aunt, that they had to hide her from the soviets in the basement so that she wouldnt get raped.
The story on the Legionnaire Rebellion was amazing and definetly deserves more attention then it does now
Great video's as always never knew that the Iron Guard had a power struggle with the Government of Romania and congratulations on reaching 400k subs.
Great show guys! Now I have a suggestion, when you show the movement of divisons on the map, you could put a date somewhere in the corner of the screen. This could be a great new element to this show, especially, for the huge campaigns now on the horizon.
Do one on the Soviet Katyn massacre. Those war crimes should be shown. Russia denies this to this day.
We covered it already in this video th-cam.com/video/gd5YhhNcC44/w-d-xo.html
@@WorldWarTwo three years late, but I really appreciate how thorough you are in linking things to people who are looking for information! Thanks :)
5:49 Italy is getting pummeled, here comes the desert fox.
Right atferwords... by god the humanity
"The Panzer guy! The Panzer guy! No, not Guderian..."
So you mean... Yukari?
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BLITZ
What yukari is also your spirit animal?
@@miked884 Actually, Kongou is, but Yukari is a close second.
As a Romanian, I would like to thank Indy and Co. for an honest and good portrayal of Romanian authoritarianism and collaborationism, which is usually and sadly whitewashed in modern times. Keep up the good work, I will be supporting the team as soon as I can!!!
3:23 “at a cost of 400 men”
I know that’s super easy to gloss over in a war like this but ...that “little” incident in and off itself is actually quite big.
Only 49 of those 400 casaulties were killed , rest wounded though
merdiolu good to know, thank you
@@merdiolu Oh man that's even more one-sided and humiliating for the Italians lol.
Why is everyone concerned about wuhan i thought this was ww2
Good point. The time to worry about Wuhan was two years ago. It's been under Japanese control for some time now.
5:49 Well, here comes the Desert Fox! What new challenge will he bring to the British and the Commonwealth at North Africa? Only time will tell...
10:38 Sounds like a foreshadowing of things perhaps. Wonder whether anything will happen to the fleet at Pearl Harbor possibly? Hmm....
That Erwin guy sounds like a Phony. And Japan attacking America? Seriously? Gosh you guys...
@@belisarius6949 Maybe, who knows, the British Commonwealth might yet be able to brush Rommel easily...
Belisarius yeah, even Japan won’t go that crazy...
Japan won’t attack Pearl Harbor. If they attack it will be the Philippines.
Grace Neilitz will Japan really go that far? Hmm.
1:06 Coronavirus mutates and creates super Japanese soldiers
Yeah, being stuck at home for two weeks with a fever is well known for giving you superpowers.
@@yarpen26 I mean so is radiation. Banner seemed to be benefit from that...
(2) From midnight to 2:00 a.m. on 21 January the Royal Navy monitor HMS Terror and three smaller ships bombarded Tobruk, while Royal Navy destroyers waited further out to attack Italian cruiser San Giorgio , if the crew tried to escape. For the rest of the night RAF Wellington bombers attacked port installations, defensive positions and drowned out the sound of the British tanks assembling for the attack. 17th and 19th Australian Infantry Brigades would use captured maps of Tobruk (captured in Bardia ) to plan their initial attack and focus their assault on a weak sector on eastern side of perimeter where a blind spot among field of fire would prevent Italians to concentrate their firepower effectively.
At 5:40 a.m. the British artillery opened fire along the entire line, concentrating on an area about 2,187 yd (2,000 m) by 766-875 yd (700-800 m) rectangle where the sub-sectors A and B of the Eastern Sector met. Under cover of night Australian sappers and the British artillery-fire cleared a path through the thin Italian minefield in the area , engineers filled anti tank ditches for 7th Armored Division tanks to follow through infantry advance and blew up Italian wire obstacles under fire by using Bangolore torpedoes and at first light the 2/3rd Australian Battalion attacked. Within the hour the Australians had created a breach 1 mi (2 km) wide. At 7:00 a.m., 18 [Matilda II tanks passed through the breach, three of which veered left with the 2/3rd Australian Battalion, while another three veered right with the 2/1st Australian Battalion to expand the breach. At the same time, the rest of the Matildas advanced with the 2/2nd Australian Battalion towards Tobruk. The first unit to be overrun by the 2/2nd was the Italian CV/25th Artillery Group, which had no time to lay their guns for direct fire before they were overrun.
The lack of radios of the Italian units proved to be a severe disadvantage; telephone lines had been cut by the British aerial and artillery bombardment and General Pitassi Mannella only received notice of the British attack at around 8:30-8:45 a.m. from a despatch rider. Like in Bardia Italian defensive reaction was mixed. Some bunkers and trenches fought stubbornly but several more surrendered by showing white flags and handkerchiefs after a brief Australian infantry and British tank assault. By 9:10 a.m. the Australian 2/2nd Battalion had reach Sidi Mahmud and the 2/1st Battalion was at Sidi Daud; the 17th Australian Brigade with the 2/6th Australian Battalion and 2/27th Australian Battalion had captured the Italian artillery positions between the two points. By 10:30 a.m. the Australians had overrun four of the Italian strongpoints and destroyed six of the ten artillery groups in the area. At 8:30 a.m. the 19th Australian Brigade supported by A Squadron of the 6th Australian Division Cavalry Regiment had set off and towards the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment. The Australian brigade was supported by 78 field guns, which moved in turns 219 yd (200 m) forward every two minutes and reached vital Via Balbia at 09:40 hours. Australian lead company received severe Italian machine gun fire from left flank of Via Balbia. These machine gun positions were swiftly dealt with a bayonet charge and grenades by Australians under support of a creeping barrage. The 19th Australian Brigade struck the III Battalion, 69th Italian Infantry Regiment, which was quickly overrun. By 09:00 AM total of 21 Italian bunkers and defensive outposts had fallen to Australian advance. A Bersaglieri company and three M11/39 tanks that tried to plug the gap in the second line were defeated within minutes, the three M11/39s being knocked out by British Matilda tanks and Royal Horse Artillery anti tank guns. Meanwhile two RAF bomber groups with Wellington and Blenheim bombers were constantly hitting Italian strongpoints ans other targets and British artillery continiously engaging their own targets and counterbattery fire. British artillery fire , counter batery action and creeping barrage were so effective that Italian artillery was complately shocked and silenced. On nearing the harbour, the infantry seized a series of concrete dugouts, and found a most welcome prize - the fortress artillery headquarters, including General Barberis and his staff.
By 11:50 a.m. General Pitassi Mannella had informed Graziani that the Eastern Sector had been destroyed and only isolated positions held out. All Graziani could do was to send three Italian CR.30 fighters to Tobruk, which the RAF fighters quickly shot down.
At 4:00 p.m. the 2/8th Australian Battalion attacked Fort Pilastrino position which was found mostly abandoned by Italian garrison except rearguard which gave up after a short firefight, while the 2/4th Australian Battalion had reached and surrounded the Italian headquarters at the abandoned Fort Solaro by the evening. General Pitassi Mannella and his staff retreated into the cellars but by 6:30 p.m. Pitassi Mannella ordered his staff to surrender. According to war correspondent Chester Wilmott an Australian private who witnessed surrender hundreds of Italian troops getting out of their bunkers to give themselves muttered himself : “For God’s Sake , even Tel Aviv police gave us more trouble to us than these”
At the same time the 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment had reached the outskirts of Tobruk but then been stopped by fire from Italian cruiser San Giorgio . Soldiers from the 2/4th Australian Battalion moved down the cliffs and used 3-inch mortars against San Giorgio . Having lost contact with forces outside of Tobruk, Admiral Massimiliano Vietina organised the defence of the harbour with the few men at his disposal. Graziani had denied his request to make a sacrificial attack on the Royal Navy ships outside the harbour and Vietina began systematically to destroy the harbour and its stores. Out at sea the Australian destroyers Stuart, Vampire and Voyager were patrolling west of Tobruk in case the Italian cruiser San Giorgio attempted to break out of the port. They were recalled after reports that their quarry was aground and on fire in Tobruk harbour, and in the process ran into the Italian schooner Diego which was promptly sunk after the ten man crew had been taken off.
22 January
By nightfall half of the Tobruk fortified area had been captured and at 4:15 a.m. on 22 January, Vietina ordered Captain Stefano Pugliese to blow up the magazines of immobile Italian cruiser San Giorgio to deny it to the British. The advance was resumed at dawn on Wednesday Wednesday 22 January, supported by Hurricanes and Lysanders from RAF No. 208 Army Co-operation Squadron, and it quickly became apparent that the fight had gone out of the Italian defenders. The commander of the Sirte Division, Generale Vincenzo Della Mura, surrendered to the 2/8th Battalion near Fort Pilastrino after sending forward an emissary just after first light under a makeshift white flag. The Generale initially refused to hand himself over to a Lieutenant Phelan on the grounds that he was insufficiently senior, but honour was satisfied by the arrival of a somewhat brusque Major Key, Phelan’s company company commander.31 Elsewhere an Italian officer was persuaded to order other positions under his command to surrender via field telephone, and the commander of the 2/1st Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Eather DSO, came upon an a 3,000 strong Italian unit waiting to surrender in parade order complete with packed baggage.
General Iven Mackay ordered a general advance for the morning of 22 January. It was a busy morning, and the road back from the Australian front lines to the breach in the perimeter was soon thick with Italian prisoners, thousands of them, giving every indication that they were happy to be away from these wild men from the south insanely charging at them with death and destruction pouring from their every barrel, and heading towards the comparative safety of an Australian stockade. Rome Radio had been shrieking for days that the ‘Australian barbarians have been turned loose by the British in the desert’, now that these soldiers had seen the Australians close up, few of them wanted any part of it.
At 8:30 a.m. at Italian Naval HQ , Admiral Vietina surrendered to General Horace Robertson of the 19th Australian Infantry Brigade whose advance scouts reached the port, followed shortly afterwards by General Della Mura, who surrendered with the remnants of the Pilastrino position. At 4:00 p.m. the last strongpoint surrendered and Tobruk had fallen. For Italian stragglers still resisting in town , Australians used a technique called “rabbitting” , basically lighting a mixture of thick crude oil and kerosane at the entrence or around of any building , underground shelter or bunker resisting and use intense smoke to weed out last defenders (a method very effective when dealing out of control rabbit population in wilderness of Western Australia) British armor and Aussie infantry cooperated extremely well. General Iven MacKay commander of 6th Australian Division extremely pleased with 7th Armored Divisions tank support , said every Matilda tank was worth of an infantry battalion.
6:05 I cant imagine what happened in the minds of a person to be this disrespectful
It's real racism... They do not see them as humans, so they feel less emotions when doing such things :/
@@fosphor8920 yes, but you don't just wake up and be a racist. Something happened someone says something something happens to you that confirms what you're being told. That's probably what's the most disheartening about this.
@Bennett McCoy people suck. Racism will always exist, people always find reason to hate someone else, the sooner you realize that the easier life will be
@@stephengalindo6340 In other words: As most things in life, it's complicated. But in the end, this was just racism towards other humans or to gain political or other forms of power... In order to do more against those they do not like.
@@stephengalindo6340
This is why we should not use the word Racism so easily today, it removes the real fear that should surround the word.
It's the same when people call those they don't agree with "Nazi's" or "Fascists" or Commies".
Those words have truely horrendous histories and should not be thrown around as simple insults.
Interesting fact is that Hitler was Austrian but in fact he hated Austria.
1) He failed in Vienna as an Art student.
2) He fought in WWI on the German side, not on the Austrian-Hungarian army.
3) He invented the 1000 Mark Sperre to get Austria down to the knees and urged them to annex it.
4) He broke his promise to the Austrians to bring South Tyrol back from Italy.
So people please always connect todays neutral Austria with Hitler. It's not fair to us!
Thanks, an Austrian 🇦🇹
i would have expected an even short quote about Lt. Guillet cavalry charge in Keru during east african campaign, even if it was not decisive for the course of the war.
If you want a more in depth look at Franz von Werra I highly recommend the British 1957 film "The One that got away" featuring Hardy Kruger who gives an excellent performance as the cocky German pilot.
Just subscribed! Thanks Indy for covering the romanian events!
Don't steal Chad's flag
@@luxembourgishempire2826 We didn't. Look here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Romania
@@luxembourgishempire2826 Lol:) Chad didn't even exist when the events mentioned in this episode happened and back then, Romania had the same flag as today.
And thats how Iron Guard escaped the Nuremberg trials.
Jesus what is my army doing?
@@Marinealver If they had managed that, they might have still fought another day, but they were actually getting captured by the thousands.
@@herrakaarme Not only getting captured , but delivering all of their supply support infrastructure like ports , vehicles , water distillation plants , water wells intact to enemy also.
Your army is doing what it does best. Amuse us with their incompetence.
Guys...please just stop it, you're making mussolini cry 😥
@@herrakaarme - Majority whas killed and rest captured like other axis army from that front. Is easy to acuse Ro army and to not acuse Gerarmy who refused to send equipments and reinforcements in change of oils and cereals and Ro soldiers,is int? Who helped Ger army to evacuate Crimeea,you known? Try to document you before to acuse.
Well, the British are just about to finish this one off and...Wait, that music...No! It can't be! It's Erwin Rommel! Erwin Rommel is on his way to the ring! *The crowd goes crazy*
*VORWARTS MIT UNSERE ROMMEL*
Legionnaire's Disease popped into my head hearing this.
I'm not the Panzer Guy?!?!?
Thank you for educating us despite youtubes demonetization!
Your pronunciation of "Conductor" is much better than it was when I first heard you.
I appreciate the effort Indy
"Cawn-doo-cuh-tore" would be the pronounciation, with "cawn" like in "pawn", "doo" as in "poo", cuh" like in "duh" and "tore" like in "more"
Its like Italy isn't trying. However they are trying to look more incompetent than during the Isonzo battles.
I was recently looking into Romanian history to see what was going on at the time. I heard the Bucharest pogrom was more grisly in detail; the Jews were hanged on meat hooks alive, (including a five year old girl) with signs of being skinned alive, having their bellies open and entrails round their necks with the "kosher meat" label. The slaughterhouse had to be closed for a week to purge and clean the house of the result.
This was just one incident of the pogrom with other inhumane acts being committed.
Well what u expect with vlad the impaler being our mentor glumesc
Make the video about Slovakian national uprising 1944 . This video about Slovakian antifascists : Ferdinand Caltos and Augustin Malar. Or video antifascist uprising in Romania 1944 and Romania joined to allies. Plot against Ion Antonesu. Was romanian general Vasiliu Constantin Râscanu. Or operation Panzerfaust, where Hungarians for Hitler and where against in 1944-1945 . Italian civil war 1943-1945 . Where Italians for Hitler till war and italians against Hitler 1943-1945. Or plot against Benito Mussolini. Generals were for arrest, resignation Mussolini and generals against resignation, arrest Mussolini
The irony of Rommel, who led one of the German assault at Caporetto breaking through the Italian Army lines, coming to save the Italian Army which seems it can't stop other assaults...
Arrived faster than the Italian retreat in North Africa
Absolutely love this series!
Please to mention iraqi -anglo war
It will be covered - no worries
@@WorldWarTwo Thank you very much ...... big fan 👍🇮🇶
Capt. Cordreanu will be mentioned in Between Two Wars, I assume?
Actually, no. We don't have the time to talk about him especially with our focus on "how did this lead to the Second World War".
Bugger. Keep up the good work anyway. Best regards.
Sima was actually also supposed to be at the meeting with Hitler, together with Antonescu. He would've been in a good position, given that he spoke German (Antonescu didn't), but somewhat inexplicably, he did not go. I've seen various explanations: some say he "didn't feel ready", which is a bit odd, others cite fear of flying... Not sure.
The tensions between Antonescu and the Guard had been growing since at least November, when the Jilava murders and Iorga and Madgearu's assassinations. The legionary police had committed lots of abuses, and I think some time before January they were disbanded. I read somewhere that Antonescu wanted to resign after the legionary police had stopped and searched a car of the Italian embassy, quite embarrassing, given that Italy was an Axis power.
It was actually the murder of a German army major that was the pretext for the firing of Petrovicescu, the Iron Guard Minister of the Interior. Antonescu said he wasn't happy with how a Greek guy, possibly a British agent, could assassinate a German Officer in Bucharest just like that.
I lived in Wuhan for years, its a cool city with good people. Can you guys please not dump on it now as it goes through this emergency?
How the fuck are we dumping on Wuhan? And let me make certain I understand- you actually want me to edit history because you like a place 79 years in the future? That is the most dangerous type of moronic suggestion- Berlin is a cool city with good people too these days, do you seriously want me to leave Berlin out of the war too?
@@Southsideindy Perhaps he is referring to the comments about Wuhan, not to the video.
dragosstanciu that honestly didn’t cross my mind. If that is the case then I apologize for my tone.
@@dragosstanciu9866 that is correct
Wuhan dumped on all of humanity. Let's talk after the total death count from this pandemic that began in such a "cool city".
Wuhan huh? how....relevant
Legionnaires!
could you please remove age restrictions. i live in china and use vpn to open your videos
It is not us, but TH-cam who are imposing these stupid age restrictions. Believe me, we are just as frustrated with them as you are...
I’m surprised how everyone is calling France a surrender country... so far all Italy has been doing is surrendering without any real fight
Let's be fair to Italians , under a very good and fortified Tobruk position they were still able to resist 48 hours under Brtitish and Australian attack.
1:17 TIE fighters? I knew it, Star Wars is real
Heya Indy! Thanks for the video, I’m a Soviet soldier and your videos are very helpful. My service ends on the 19th of June and I’m gonna visit my family in Vladivostok. Judging by what you’ve said, I doubt anything too bad can happen while I’m away. Cheers.
1:20 the Star Wars empire using surplus wwii equipment is starting to make more sense now
Could you please discuss, perhaps in Out of the Foxholes, or in a special episode (or both), the role of Tuva in the war? It has been taunting me over my ignorance of any details about it from the world map in the background all series.
P.S., I just read your pinned message. It’s awesome to see another Joram exists 2500 years after the OG (...plural). First time I’ve seen anyone named Joram besides my dad!!
That's a very definite: Yes, we will cover Tannu Tuva though I cannot say when.
Hah, and thanks! I don't know any other Jorams either.
Hi from Romania. I am sad to see how Romanians did this to the Jews.
Chad fights Thad
I remember Indy doing a talk about post war peace in Korea and Rwanda, but I can't seem to find it. Could someone kindly link to it?
th-cam.com/video/tmM2Y275TR0/w-d-xo.html
@@gregakomplet3389 thanks but that's not what I was looking for. From what I remember he did it outside of TimeGhost and Mediakraft
Please never forget our eternal ally, the poor Jews, whom for no reason vile antisemites persecute since the beginning of history ✡️🙏
Minorities always get treated like shit
In Romania the fascist dictator (Antonescu) eliminates the fascist party (The Iron Guard).
This channel should do countries in ww2 like they did in the great war
Like Sweden, Turkey, middle eastern countries, portugal, mexico, South America and central america
And obviously Luxembourg
@@luxembourgishempire2826 OMG yes I wonder how they reacted about upcoming ww
@@luxembourgishempire2826 once Luxembourg joins forces with Ulm, nothing can stop them!
@@KnightofAges Stfu
@@hebl47 Ulm? What is that?
Hi Indy! After two decades, surviving the Great War and the interwar years, I finally caught up with you!
Great to learn something new about Romania in the Second World War.
Why did I never heard of the story of france von Ferra? That sound like one heck of an awesome escape story.....from bloody Canada back to Germany. Holy shit.
Von Werra was an absolute animal. 😀 He even managed to enter a RAF base, and was sitting in a cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane before they figured out who he was. He was minutes away from stealing a British fighter.
@@KnightofAges Like more than 6.000 Swiss nationals (check out Swiss in World War II in TIME LIFE) fought in Allied ranks especially joining SOE and OSS networks fighting that barbaric Teutons ? Lets not forget them do we Nani ?
@@KnightofAges Side note Von Werra was shot down and killed over English Channel in 1942 I suppose he was a better escaper than a pilot
@@KnightofAges You mean like when Hitler instructed Sudeten Nazis and their leader Konrad Heinlein to initiate sedition , violent engagement and provocation acts with Czech goverment to give appearence of reason on German claims of Sudetenland or when he gave instructions to local Nazis to stage violent confrontrations with Poles and Polish authorities in Danzig ? Let's be fair , sedition , terrorism and guerilla /asymmetric warfare supported by State had existed before Churchill
@@KnightofAges "And thousands of Swiss are also joining the ranks of the Reich" I hope they liked Russian rations and plowing black earth in Siberia afterwards
As a Romanian and history nerd, I have to say how big of a goon and of an idiot Horia Sima was.
He would have been OK with killing his own mother if this brought him to power. He didn't care about nationalism, legionarism or even the ideology at that, reason as of why he joined the COMMUNISTS out of all places after the war. This rebellion was him trying to overthrow Antonescu. It wasn't enough to have the Iron Guard as the only party in Romania and he as the leader, he wanted to be the _supreme_ leader, the Conducator. And for this he did what we consider the only rebellion made by a party to "overthrow itself".
Sima killed thousands of innocents and of Jew, a lot of times for now reason, completely forgetting of the teachings of the original leader of the Iron Guard, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, who was promoting a pretty non-violent move to help Romania. Horia didn't give a crap about his teachings. During the revolt, he wasn't even in the country. The legionaries who have been part of the group from Codreanu's time were searching for him madly in Bucharest, a lot of them getting killed for no reason. Only his personal groups knew what was happening, and that was representing a strong minority.
Sima was a idiot. Instead of using his position to help his country, he was hungry for even more power. That's not to say that Antonescu was a better guy, but at the very least he had an extremely long war experience and knowledge. Sima didn't even got that.
I can't wait until the events that may or may not happen in June and December
The headline in the Melbourne Age on 24 January 1941 read BRILLIANT ATTACK WINS TOBRUK . Daily Express in London wrote “IVEN THE TERRIBLE” (Australian division commander General Iven MacKay) . King George VI declared “Well Done Australia” Headlines of a different sort would have dominated the Italian newspapers had the fascist regime allowed freedom of the press. ‘Tobruk has fallen,’ lamented Count Ciano , Mussolini's son in law and Foreign Minister to his diary on 22 January. He could not believe the news. "There has been a little more fighting but only a little. The Duce is allowing himself to be lulled by his illusions. I thought it necessary to speak to him with brusque frankness. ‘At Sidi Barrani,’ I said, ‘they spoke of surprise. Then you counted upon Bardia, where there was Bergonzoli, the heroic Bergonzoli. Bardia yielded after two hours. Then you placed your hopes in Tobruk because Pitassi Mannella, the king of artillerymen, was there. Tobruk has been easily wrested from us. Now you speak with great faith of the escarpment of Derna. I beg to differ with your dangerous illusions. The trouble is serious, mysterious, and deep.’"
Finnaly a video about Romania 😍
Don't steal Chad's flag dude...
@@luxembourgishempire2826 I think it was the other way @
@@vladtc2732 Can you be more specific?
@@philippap9953 I'ma guess he's an antisemite
@@vladtc2732 No, I am not. But when you say that a video like this is full of lies, one expects some justification for such a claim.
23rd January Bulgarian General Staff began military cooperation with Germany
24th January : US goverment rejects an appeal from Vichy goverment in France to admit more Jewish refugees from Germany and unoccupied France. US spokesperson adds , forced migration might have serious and unhappy consrquences to economic and social equilibrium in US.
24th January 12th West African Division and 1st South African Divisioın under command of General Alan Cunningham enters from Kenya into Italian Somaliland and capture border town Liboi. Their target is port of Kismayu
25th January , Lord Halifax new British Ambassador in US starts his duties
Really hoping this virus won't overly affect future episodes. I've yet to watch them but I'll probably get to 'em tonight.
We're good for the foreseeable future!
Ironically, most jews would survive in Romania(Pre- Operation barabassoa borders).
Even the Jews said that it was better under Antonescu than under communism.
9:06
What kinda tank is that? Looks like a new design to me, I’ve never seen it before.
Look here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACAM_T-60
Check out Franz von Verra' s story,a movie was made for him,that man is a legend,the only Axis soldier to escape and return home.
A few months after his return to Germany and returned to combat duty , he was shot down and killed for good over English Channel (a better escaper than pilot obviously. ) Luftwaffe's manpower utilisation was stupid. A man as experienced as Werra would be used for staff or intelligence duties in rear or a flight instructor but nope go back to the front and get killed
Antonescu doing the Night of the Long Knives Electric Boogaloo mini edition because the Legionaries went full Confederates.
My legion and marshall in thumbnail
Indeed, the only problem is that your Marshall just eliminated your Legion.
You stole Chad's flag
@@luxembourgishempire2826 those africans stole my flag,this is my oficial flag from 19th century and the first flag with this colors appeared in Wallachia in Middle Ages,Chad wasn't a contry untill 20th century
@@luxembourgishempire2826 you stolen the flag of Netherlands! :))
Antonescu also looks eerily like Patton don't you think?
he does lol
I almost feel like germany would've been better off by themselves without Italy's incompetence
Did Thai Fighters (or possibly Tie Fighters) play a big role in South East Asia?
Ah Indie, you are my favorit youtuber
Thanks for watching, Jesh <3
This channel is excelent!, my only observation is that in several videos the title doesn´t fit well with their content. Regards from Chile!
Just a minor mistake, Wuhan didn't exist at that time, the city was made by combining 3 smaller cities on both sides of the Yangtze in the 50s or 60s. It would be more precise to refer to this place as Hankou.
Noted
The Panzer guy. I always go to him when my Panther breaks down. Gives me a great discount since I upgraded from the Panzer IV.
Can you do an episode on the adventures of Subash Chandra Bose?
And here I through the Prussian could export war. Impressive.
The Army was responsible for the air defense of Pearl Harbor.
Amazing timing that this week’s video references Wuhan in China; home of the Coronavirus outbreak.
A surprise attack at Pearl Harbor?
That's so unrealistic , Japan would never do that.
The thought of Canada at war while the US is at peace is just so weird.
The Canadians were under the U.K rule in the commonwealth, That's why they immediately fought with the British, While the U.S tried to stay out of it as they viewed it as another power hungry European war.
@@itzikashemtov6045 Ya I get that but it's still weird.
Itzik Ashemtov- Unlike WW1, Canadians were given the choice/autonomy to join the war or not. UK declared war on Sept 3, while Canada decided to declare on Sept 10.
@@v4enthusiast541 Pretty sure it's because of the bad decisions the British done which took so many commonwealth soldiers (attack on Gallipoli mainly), Many lost faith in the leadership of the crown, Even the British generals themselves.
Itzik Ashemtov- Canada was given more autonomy after proving themselves at battle of Paschendale and other sacrifices
Min 10:50 There's always that someone with a hunch....And always that someone is ignored successfully 🙁
Just when Indy mentions Jeffrey at the end, the picture of the Nazi murderer in Poland pops up. Oops
What a time to be mentioning Wuhan
Love the improvements on the maps and graphics, keep them coming!