I know that ‘rush’ walking the ground with a special family link last year… An extended family get together staying in North Devon. Decided to try and find the crash site of my dad’s brother and crew who died on exercise in a Fairey Battle plane early in the war. Various contemporary military, civil and personal records had been dug out before by a family member and one eye witness account of the exact site on a hillside above the local village sounded very plausible and in line with other records. We head along a very narrow steep country lane, down a track descending the valley into an area few people would pass through and you look around and realise there is a difference in a clearing where the embankments are lower and trees are younger and less established. It is precisely the spot from mapping and clearly an anomalous small area of ancient thick Exmoor field borders that had been damaged and was still re establishing. This was the spot. It was a rush of satisfaction to feel a family story of bits and pieces knowledge finally coming together, but ofcourse coupled with great sadness that it was the last place these young men came to. It’s thought they’d hit bad weather, descended through the clouds to get a fix and found they were in high ground and couldn’t climb to avoid the valley side. Having found the right place we could spend some quiet moments in beautiful countryside contemplating and paying our respects. Gentlemen - Thankyou and please keep up this excellent and fascinating work. It really builds up a picture of the realities encountered by so many in the war.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful comment - a perfect example of why it pays to walk the ground. As you say, it is ‘a rush’ when the details slot into place but it’s also a profound way to connect with and honour those who lived and died during the war. Thank you again.
If anyone here has played Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30, you will know a quote a few of the details of Harrison Summers exploits at objective WXYZ. I found this presentation most interesting. Thank you for posting it.
WW2 WTG is a TH-cam gem. I really want you guys to drive north into Holland and cover Op Market Garden next. Happy to send you a mess tin full of sand and petrol so that you can effortlessly make a brew. Negative eyebrows doing so though, obvs. 🙂
@@wills681 Thank you for the kind words. You are very much in luck, as last week we filmed our Operation Market Garden series and are back next week to grab some special 80th anniversary footage.
@@WW2WalkingTheGround Yay!!! As nobody my age ever says... Edited to add: In the mid-1970s at Depot Para some of us were detailed to assist and chaperone some Arnhem vets (who were in wheelchairs) around Aldershot bars on Airborne Forces Day. "If there's any trouble, you will be held responsible..." we were told. Needless to say, there was trouble. Those blokes were considerably younger than I am now!
Both of you are so knowledgeable about this era and you both bounse of eachother brilliantly. Please sort out a tour of shows on stage, it would be a sell out. Thank you again 👍👍
So many relatively unknown yet unbelievable small unit actions took place in Normandy we will never know about. The fighting at dead man’s corner springs to mind, 5 vs a company sized German element, artillery and mortars
Another informative and witty video. It's like a Boy's Own Adventure, but this girl is tagging along, too! And, James, I love your old car which fits the era of WTG. Thanks and best to you and to Al!
A fantastic you tube gem like the other gent mentioned.please do more of these.ive seen most of the other videos and look foward to the market garden videos.oh and good luck al with the new book.which i have recently bought.keep up the good work from a ww2 addict lol
Brilliant guys, just in Normandy at the moment and plan to visit Utah on saturday so will follow your trip, as you say it is so interesting following the ground, keep up the great videos
Can podcasts find their way into the mix for a BAFTA or something? You really have a gem of a format here fellas. Superb knowledge and infectious enthusiasm. Loved every episode. When is the Arnhem stuff coming out?
Hey guys, just wanna same this Is an absolute great series your doing, this episode is depicted is a game called brothers in arms on the Xbox , follows the 502 though Normandy and you can play wxyz as summers
Been there, done that, but no T-Shirt. On June 6 1984 tried this very same walk, with my late friend Dick Davidson.I had a more detailed account than the one Al is using in this vid. Cannot recall, precisely, the source of that detailed account. At the time was pretty confident that we had identified the first house Summers stormed and the building where the Germans were eating breakfast.
Really wish I could join you on your walk abouts, the things you could learn and the laughs you could have. One thing I can not stop thinking is "what would the pub land lord make of all this".
Amazing story, there must be others out there that just aren't widely known. Surely few people knew about Brécourt Manor prior to BoB? A couple of weeks ago I made a comment on a video about not being able to find things on the map (think it was Hill 112?). This one was so much better, I was able to find the spots you were filming from, so I was able to see the land almost first hand. Thank you.
There are so many individual stories of actions like this, you should make it your mission to tell them all 👍🏻 I have been to Normandy 8 times now and seen all the usual places and some not so usual like Donville manor near Carentan, you guys need to go there and visit Franc the owner, it’s an incredible place right in the middle of the bloody Gulch
Fantastic series guys. I can't believe the Germans were busy eating. I know it would of been a very confusing day but they would of heard gunfire clearly from the short distance away they were. No wonder they lost the war if that the quality of soldiers they were.
Outstanding work, for all of this series, can’t wait for the Netherlands instalment and Arnhem (which is now difficult to say without putting on a questionable accent). Time for a brew!
@@DCS_World_Japan They say there hasn’t been a TV series produced about this, meaning it’s not as famous as Brecourt Manor, a similar action made famous in Episode Two of Band of Brothers.
I believe the person who owns Brecourt Manor’s father or grandfather was the mayor of the area on DDay. He would be a wealth of knowledge. I believe he owns the building that I was referring to.
About time others are finding out! Once there was a video on TH-cam , done by reenactors, (the only one on the subject) …and the reenactors happened to be Mexican! These Mexicans were the only ones at the time, that seems to know anything about the subject!
Much of the reporting is from other witnesses in the after action reports. Those who witnessed this at Les Mezieres lobbied for him to received a Medal of Honor.
@@WW2WalkingTheGroundSoldiers are notoriously unreliable with their kill claims and claims such as these are usually taken with a grain of salt unless backed up by more than just eye witness accounts.
World War 2 Wayfinder did a video on this action two years ago - and it looks like he was in Les Mezieres - I can't be sure. th-cam.com/video/y2UKvwarL1U/w-d-xo.html
@@ronboot2578 He did! We love his videos and actually chatted to him about this one and our different interpretation regarding the details of the action. That’s part of the joy of walking the ground when there’s missing information, some of it needs to be filled in by historians as they read reports and visit.
@@matseriksson3262 We know and it’s what we mean when James says some people think the action moved the other way through the village. We actually discussed with our friends at this channel and see the after action reports slightly differently. Depending on which way you begin, it can make the farm house either the 82nds CP or the mess hall. The WXYZ buildings remain in the same place as they are in the middle, it just changes your start and end points.
Not being funny lads, but the Harrison Summers story should not really come as any kind of revelation for anyone who has studied D-Day in any kind of structured manner. There were plenty of sources readily available when I included a chapter on the story published in my own book over a decade ago. Night Drop, Vanguard of the Crusade, Koskimaki, RDV with Destiny - these are all core texts which anyone shoud be aware of when looking at the 101st Airborne in any kind of detailed way.
Thanks. No suggestion that we were unearthing the story for the first time. We were surprised that the standard narrative about didn't seem to match what we saw on the ground but of course there is always more to read! Thank you for the references. Keep up the great work!
This is simply the best Walking the Ground exploration ever. Enthralling.
If there was ever someone who wasn't awarded the Medal of Honor but deserved it, it was Harrison Summers. Completely wild.
There are a few in The Pacific too, at least one on The Big E.
Today on “James Holland Interrupts” 😂
He can't cope with not knowing the story well enough to be the one telling it .
Absolutely amazing. This has to be the best way to do historical documentaries. Just two fellas talking and clearly loving it.
Glad you enjoyed it
I know that ‘rush’ walking the ground with a special family link last year… An extended family get together staying in North Devon. Decided to try and find the crash site of my dad’s brother and crew who died on exercise in a Fairey Battle plane early in the war. Various contemporary military, civil and personal records had been dug out before by a family member and one eye witness account of the exact site on a hillside above the local village sounded very plausible and in line with other records. We head along a very narrow steep country lane, down a track descending the valley into an area few people would pass through and you look around and realise there is a difference in a clearing where the embankments are lower and trees are younger and less established. It is precisely the spot from mapping and clearly an anomalous small area of ancient thick Exmoor field borders that had been damaged and was still re establishing. This was the spot. It was a rush of satisfaction to feel a family story of bits and pieces knowledge finally coming together, but ofcourse coupled with great sadness that it was the last place these young men came to. It’s thought they’d hit bad weather, descended through the clouds to get a fix and found they were in high ground and couldn’t climb to avoid the valley side.
Having found the right place we could spend some quiet moments in beautiful countryside contemplating and paying our respects.
Gentlemen - Thankyou and please keep up this excellent and fascinating work. It really builds up a picture of the realities encountered by so many in the war.
Amazing - thanks so much for sharing this!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful comment - a perfect example of why it pays to walk the ground. As you say, it is ‘a rush’ when the details slot into place but it’s also a profound way to connect with and honour those who lived and died during the war. Thank you again.
If anyone here has played Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30, you will know a quote a few of the details of Harrison Summers exploits at objective WXYZ.
I found this presentation most interesting.
Thank you for posting it.
WW2 WTG is a TH-cam gem. I really want you guys to drive north into Holland and cover Op Market Garden next. Happy to send you a mess tin full of sand and petrol so that you can effortlessly make a brew. Negative eyebrows doing so though, obvs. 🙂
@@wills681 Thank you for the kind words. You are very much in luck, as last week we filmed our Operation Market Garden series and are back next week to grab some special 80th anniversary footage.
@@WW2WalkingTheGround Yay!!! As nobody my age ever says... Edited to add: In the mid-1970s at Depot Para some of us were detailed to assist and chaperone some Arnhem vets (who were in wheelchairs) around Aldershot bars on Airborne Forces Day. "If there's any trouble, you will be held responsible..." we were told. Needless to say, there was trouble. Those blokes were considerably younger than I am now!
We’re keen…
This is proper walking the ground discovering what happened
You two...
Hard not to like you with your enthusiasm, humour and shenanigans.
Might be the best one yet…everything else has been telling the story (which is grand), but this fresh discovery is what it’s all about in my opinion.
Thank you. We decided to try and find the correct route Summers took the night before, so viewers of this episode are literally coming along with us.
@@WW2WalkingTheGround It was brilliant and your excitement was palpable.
You could actually see the roof repairs at the end of the video! These episodes just keep getting better and better. Love it.
Thank you!
Best video yet. Really enjoying this channel thanks everyone
Both of you are so knowledgeable about this era and you both bounse of eachother brilliantly. Please sort out a tour of shows on stage, it would be a sell out. Thank you again 👍👍
Ill never forget the quote "Why did you do that?" and his answer was "I dont know"
Even Sherlock Holmes took 45 minutes an episode to piece the jigsaw together. Solid work.
My precious book BLURRGHWAW! Absolutley fantastic gentlemen, feels like time team making in the moment discoveries! Thank you look forward to more
Love this series well done to everyone involved.
Might be the best episode yet!
So many relatively unknown yet unbelievable small unit actions took place in Normandy we will never know about. The fighting at dead man’s corner springs to mind, 5 vs a company sized German element, artillery and mortars
This is what Walking The Ground is about!
Another informative and witty video. It's like a Boy's Own Adventure, but this girl is tagging along, too! And, James, I love your old car which fits the era of WTG. Thanks and best to you and to Al!
Thank you - I love my car too!
Fantastic
Thank you so much 😀
Best series ever ! 👍👍
Best episode so far. I may have said that a few times now but each time has been true, until the next one! Brilliant work, chaps!
Thank you so much!
A fantastic you tube gem like the other gent mentioned.please do more of these.ive seen most of the other videos and look foward to the market garden videos.oh and good luck al with the new book.which i have recently bought.keep up the good work from a ww2 addict lol
Brilliant guys, just in Normandy at the moment and plan to visit Utah on saturday so will follow your trip, as you say it is so interesting following the ground, keep up the great videos
Great to hear!
These are brilliant, I get a kick out of this just like James
Can podcasts find their way into the mix for a BAFTA or something? You really have a gem of a format here fellas. Superb knowledge and infectious enthusiasm. Loved every episode. When is the Arnhem stuff coming out?
Beautiful village
Great stuff lads, really enjoyed this. Brings the story to life 😊
Glad you enjoyed it. It was an exciting day!
I felt the pain in those old knees as they jumped at the end
You guys nailed it with this episode. Simply great. Loved it. Keep up the good work 👍
Fantastic guys
First class
Ps we have a family story from our US side, the Private Burt in the story may have been from our family, he jumped into Normandy
Quality!
Gust ordered my book al Murray book can't wait to read it really enjoyed the video mate can't wait for the next one
Hey guys, just wanna same this Is an absolute great series your doing, this episode is depicted is a game called brothers in arms on the Xbox , follows the 502 though Normandy and you can play wxyz as summers
Thanks!
Been listening to the we have ways podcast and now I’ve stumbled across this channel,don’t think life could get much better!
Just coming back from Normandy and finding this channel is great. Stories non the places I visited is fantastic. These AL and Tom are great 😂😊
Welcome aboard!
@@WW2WalkingTheGround absolutely loving it guys, it’s great and has so much meaning especially once you’ve visit. I am desperate to get back 👍
Been there, done that, but no T-Shirt. On June 6 1984 tried this very same walk, with my late friend Dick Davidson.I had a more detailed account than the one Al is using in this vid. Cannot recall, precisely, the source of that detailed account. At the time was pretty confident that we had identified the first house Summers stormed and the building where the Germans were eating breakfast.
The video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 covered this action in the chapter 'Operation XYZ'.
Really wish I could join you on your walk abouts, the things you could learn and the laughs you could have. One thing I can not stop thinking is "what would the pub land lord make of all this".
Is that the grass knoll where the 2nd gunman was? Who knew it was in Normandy. Well done guys! You deserve a cuppa.
Been coming here for years 😉😎
Amazing story, there must be others out there that just aren't widely known. Surely few people knew about Brécourt Manor prior to BoB?
A couple of weeks ago I made a comment on a video about not being able to find things on the map (think it was Hill 112?). This one was so much better, I was able to find the spots you were filming from, so I was able to see the land almost first hand. Thank you.
There are so many individual stories of actions like this, you should make it your mission to tell them all 👍🏻
I have been to Normandy 8 times now and seen all the usual places and some not so usual like Donville manor near Carentan, you guys need to go there and visit Franc the owner, it’s an incredible place right in the middle of the bloody Gulch
FWIW, there are different opinions on where Bloody Gulch was. Area of the cattle market is better supported by German and US records and accounts.
Amazing work fellas! Can you just move to Normandy and do one of these a week please 😂
So peaceful there, but I can really picture the action being described. So cool! 👍 (Am I the only one who pictures history in black and white? )
Night drop by SLA Marshall
You’ll have to do a fresh edition of Normandy 44 old chap!
Fantastic series guys. I can't believe the Germans were busy eating. I know it would of been a very confusing day but they would of heard gunfire clearly from the short distance away they were. No wonder they lost the war if that the quality of soldiers they were.
Great stuff one small point US Airborne did not have BARs. They had two 30cal per section in the TOE BAR was added and one 30Cal removed in 45.
Outstanding work, for all of this series, can’t wait for the Netherlands instalment and Arnhem (which is now difficult to say without putting on a questionable accent). Time for a brew!
Did any of the locals come out and chat about the war with you guys? show you some of the barns / damage etc?
Can I ask what book is Al carrying please)? Cheers guys fantastic, what a gift you are to us all😊
Thank you for watching! The book is Dropzone Normandy by Napier Crookenden. A classic!
Great video, thanks. Did Summers survive the war?
Yes he did. If you take a look at the video description we added some brief notes.
Yes, he did.
Knowing of Mr Holland’s penchant for military jackets, does anyone know what he’s wearing in this episode?
Jim’s car looks at home parked up
If I read Normandy 44 by James Holland will I know about what he and Al are talking about in this series about D Day??
Hey, hey, hey...I'm pretty sure Matt Baker did this with pvt Hartsock..
@ww2wayfinder tells this story so well on his channel
What's the TV series they referenced? I think the video game Brothers in Arms covers this action, but I couldn't track down a TV series.
@@DCS_World_Japan They say there hasn’t been a TV series produced about this, meaning it’s not as famous as Brecourt Manor, a similar action made famous in Episode Two of Band of Brothers.
Having breakfast 😂😂😂
I was there in May and the owner of Manoir De Juganville told me that the main WXYZ building was right across the road from the Manoir de Juganville.
This is such a unique action in that there are quite a few differing opinions on which buildings in Les Mezieres were WXYZ and the mess hall.
I believe the person who owns Brecourt Manor’s father or grandfather was the mayor of the area on DDay. He would be a wealth of knowledge. I believe he owns the building that I was referring to.
Could I ask which book is Al carrying please? 😊
@@gorbalsboy Dropzone Normandy by Napier Crookenden
Were you tempted to knock on doors for better access?
About time others are finding out!
Once there was a video on TH-cam , done by reenactors, (the only one on the subject)
…and the reenactors happened to be Mexican!
These Mexicans were the only ones at the time, that seems to know anything about the subject!
I love the attempt at American accents 😂
Don’t you think there’s a possibility that Summers might of exaggerated his account?
Much of the reporting is from other witnesses in the after action reports. Those who witnessed this at Les Mezieres lobbied for him to received a Medal of Honor.
@@WW2WalkingTheGround kill claims are famously unreliable though and soldiers often exaggerate.
My thoughts exactly, if this had been a German account of a similar attack people would be all over it saying they exaggerated the numbers killed etc
@@WW2WalkingTheGroundSoldiers are notoriously unreliable with their kill claims and claims such as these are usually taken with a grain of salt unless backed up by more than just eye witness accounts.
@@malcolmhunt7108If it was a German account they would’ve dedicated multiple episodes to debunking every last detail.
You got Brecourt wrong and now this,!
Do we know what happened to the 2 “kind” Germans in the cupboard? 🙁
I think the Army might had been a bit embarrassed on how their elite troops didn’t back up a this (one man army) man.
…and didn’t advertise it much.
little known to us.... big deal on the day.... Brilliant as usual chaps ta!✌️
Glad you enjoyed it
Just watching this and its two blokes having a conversation, with neither listening to each other half the time, or are you both partially deaf? 😂
Walking the Ground is exciting stuff - especially when you are making new discoveries. Thanks for watching!
World War 2 Wayfinder did a video on this action two years ago - and it looks like he was in Les Mezieres - I can't be sure.
th-cam.com/video/y2UKvwarL1U/w-d-xo.html
@@ronboot2578 He did! We love his videos and actually chatted to him about this one and our different interpretation regarding the details of the action. That’s part of the joy of walking the ground when there’s missing information, some of it needs to be filled in by historians as they read reports and visit.
@@WW2WalkingTheGround I agree - and his channel is a good companion to yours.
th-cam.com/video/IDai0OEEOM0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=iR3xvsnLyWBsfcU0
Same story, some different buildings. The "mess hall" doesn't match up.
@@matseriksson3262 We know and it’s what we mean when James says some people think the action moved the other way through the village. We actually discussed with our friends at this channel and see the after action reports slightly differently. Depending on which way you begin, it can make the farm house either the 82nds CP or the mess hall. The WXYZ buildings remain in the same place as they are in the middle, it just changes your start and end points.
@@WW2WalkingTheGround
👍 Ok. Then I understand! Keep up the great job! I can't thank guys like yourself and James and J.D enough!
Not being funny lads, but the Harrison Summers story should not really come as any kind of revelation for anyone who has studied D-Day in any kind of structured manner. There were plenty of sources readily available when I included a chapter on the story published in my own book over a decade ago. Night Drop, Vanguard of the Crusade, Koskimaki, RDV with Destiny - these are all core texts which anyone shoud be aware of when looking at the 101st Airborne in any kind of detailed way.
Thanks. No suggestion that we were unearthing the story for the first time. We were surprised that the standard narrative about didn't seem to match what we saw on the ground but of course there is always more to read! Thank you for the references. Keep up the great work!