Week 260 - Hitler Has a Bad Day - WW2 - August 19 - 1944
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- This week the Allies invade Southern France, and do so very successfully. They're also successful in the north, closing the Falaise gap and trapping huge numbers of Germans. In the East, however, the Germans manage to stop the Soviet drive on Riga with a counter attack, and in Warsaw they continue to brutally put down the Warsaw Uprising.
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Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Ian Sowden
Written by: Indy Neidell
Research by: Indy Neidell
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Editeding and color grading by: Simon J. James
Artwork by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Source literature list: bit.ly/SourcesWW2
Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters - www.screenocea...
Image sources:
Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1973-023-19,_Frankreich,_Günther_v._Kluge,_Adolf_Hitler
Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
March Of The Brave 10 - Rannar Sillard
Not Safe Yet - Gunnar Johnsen
On the Edge of Change - Brightarm Orchestra
Sailing for Gold - Howard Harper-Barnes
Spellbound - Edward Karl Hanson
Split Decision - Rannar Sillard
Super Hero - Bonnie Grace
The Beast - Dream Cave
Watchman - Yi Nantiro
We Were Encased in Ashes - Jon Sumner
Additional sound effects provided by Zapsplat.com
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
This is in fact Hitler’s worst week of the war since last week.
And until next week.
'Worst week of the war so far'
Wait til next week.
@@alexamerling79yep because next Friday Paris is liberated 😅😂
Yeah, please tell last time he hasn't had a bad day
I really have to hand it to you guys. Here we are, over four years removed from the German invasion of France, and now the Allies are back fighting at the gates of Paris. This is quite truly a stunning achievement in chronological documentary filmmaking/storytelling. I can't tell you enough how thankful all of us are for this channel. You have ensured that stories from this generation of human history (soon to pass out of living memory) will continue to be told long into the future.
Thank you. Roll Tide
@WorldWarTwo you still plan to do Korean War next? You mentioned this back in 2021.
@@Unknowngfyjoh I agree, please
@@6lbbassfishermanAre you going to cry little baby?
👍
I'm pretty sure Hitler will recognize Steiners greatness soon and the whole thing will turn around.
And Busse can come up from the South.😊
*Laughs in capitulation*
@@jeffersonkee64409th Armee
No doubt! Steiner, armed with the new weapons Von Kluge spoke of, will turn the tide. Too bad Von Kluge won’t get to see his faith in der Führer vindicated! 🧐
Wenck will come, he's reliable.
Hitler: "This is the worst day of my life."
Stalin: "The worst day of your life _so far."_
Never thought I'd hear Stalin quoting Homer Simpson.
@@Raskolnikov70 No, no, it's the other way around. Little known fact, Homer's political leanings.
@@xperroni His father pulled out an array of cards in his wallet in one episode. One of them was for the Communist Party...
@@Raskolnikov70 😄
"but what about the second French invasion?"
"I don't think he's heard about the second French invasion, Pip."
Most people haven't lol
Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them doesn't he?
A side note to note this week on August 16 1944 is that British Lieutenant Tasker Watkins will capture two German machine gun posts, eliminate an anti-tank gun, lead in a defence against a German counterattack, and silenced another machine gun position by himself while his company attempted to return to Allied lines in Bafour, France. For these actions, he would be awarded the Victoria Cross. After the war, he would eventually serve as a Lord Justice of Appeal and deputy Lord Chief Justice of the United Kingdom. A bronze statue of him can today be found at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Cool
@@midsue (in good humour) awwww c'mon man. The guy did all that; I think you can do better than "cool"
Supercool?
lol
That reads like the description of a Call of Duty mission, god damn
@@robertoazuaje9279across the war there were like a dozen soldiers who were like real life CoD protagonists.
I was fortunate to meet the great man in Cardiff, and take his photograph. It was at a fund-raising event, where he attended due to his links with the WRU. As an Englishman, I was more in awe of his VC 😅
Everyone is talking about how good of a job these dudes are doing with chronolocigal orders, long term commitments and all that, but I would like to point out the amazing writing. That ending was excellent.
Gave me chills.
That part made me smile. Imagine being one of those dudes who crossed that river.
Thanks for watching, you may already be aware but you can check the description to see the writer/writers of a specific episode if your interested. Thanks again!
On August 14th 1944, my great grandfather, a soldier in Company E, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division (US Army) is severely wounded in the liberation of the of Dinard, France by shrapnel to the chest from a German 88mm gun. He will be withdrawn from combat and spend the next two years in recovery. He will eventually make a full recovery and pass away in December of 2016 at the age of 91. Thank you for keeping their memories alive!
Thanks for his service.
God bless your great grandpa. Thanks for his service. 👍
Every story like this, of a long life well lived after bravely facing off againt evil and death, is heartening.
The Polish 1st Armored really deserves a lot more attention here. We often tell stories of individual courage on the battlefield, but every so often you run across a tale of an entire unit, which tells of such exceptional bravery and tremendous consequence that it is worth taking the time to share. If you can liken the Falaise pocket to a bottle, the Poles on Hill 262 are basically the cork.
With the Americans now in open country and in hot Pursuit from the South and the British and Canadians pressing down from the Caen in the North, the Germans realize they need to get out a bit sharpish. Of course Hitler relents too late and the Allies are given a chance to capture the bulk of the retreating German army in what is now known as the Falaise pocket. The task of closing the gap at the very Eastern edge is given to the Canadians and the Poles of the 1st Armoured.
The Poles fight their way to take up position atop hill 262, a vantage point from which they can see the whole of the retreating German army heading straight for them. They were now all that stood between 100,000 desperate Germans and the safety of the Fatherland.
“Sir, the Germans are coming.”
“How many?”
“All the Germans.”
From their perch atop the hill the Poles rain down unholy tank and artillery fire on the German columns below. Taking numerous Panther losses and startled that the Poles are on the hill, the Germans quickly realize they need to push the cork back out of the bottle.
Even though the Poles can’t prevent all of the Germans from getting through, they make them pay a heavy toll even after they pass by. Before long, wave after wave of SS infantry and panzers start making their way up the hill to dislodge the Poles, with German artillery constantly raining down on their positions.
For 2 days this carries on, with the Germans being cut down at point-blank range and their armour inflicting heavy casualties on the Poles. But despite their increasingly desperate situation and with them running low on ammunition, the Poles manage to cling on with a stoic heroism.
The Canadians desperately try to reach them in order to help, but are driven back. The Poles know they should expect no mercy from the SS and vow to fight on to the last. As both sides near their breaking point on the 3rd day, the Canadian Grenadier Guards finally manage to break through and relieve the Poles.
They had done it; the Falaise gap is closed and with it anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Germans are killed or captured. The pride of the German panzer force in France is no more than a bunch of burning husks strewn across the valley and mountainside.
Thank you for the highlight.
I know each soldier played their parts,but i do find Unit histories make the battles so much easier to understand,like 3/120 held out for 3 days,than PFC Jones shot 4 Germans etc.
Call of Duty 3 had you following the Polish 1st Armored and had an entire level dedicated to the battle of Hill 262, including the Canadians when they finally arrive, whom you've also been following and playing as. Kind of surprised that more World War 2 games don't delve into that part of the liberation of France.
I have followed this series from Day 1. Every Saturday morning, I get up and learn something new from Indy and Spartacus. I love it. This was the best episode so far. Bravo to Indy for breaking the timeline to dispel the belief of torn loyalties on the part of the German officer corps. They chose to follow Hitler with a loyalty on to death. As professional soldiers, that corps failed their men, their country and ultimately themselves.
Same for me. Except Sunday for me (New Zealand). I eat jam toast as I watch.
Fortunately in my old age ( I’m 60) the German Nazi generals apologists and self serving narratives (like
Guderian and Manstein ‘s self serving narratives) are replaced by sound historical research. The Wehrmacht was complicit.
@@ellig63same here but Jerusalem time, Saturday evening
I think the German officers are having many problems, as they did not expect to be fighting this kind of war. In 1939 it was understood that Germany should not have a 2 front war, but the swift victories everywhere led to the Africa campaign, which gave them a soft second front. There was reason to believe the USSR would fall in 4 months, based on WW1 projections, so when that was unwinnable in 1941 and 42 it led to a disturbing question for the generals; what to do when you fail?.
Glad to hear you've been with us for so long, thank you very much for the kind words!
That last bit really hits strong. To think that Germans always counted on the vast territories in the East to delay the advance, to only see the Soviets already at the old German border.
Wait till they see what happens next month in the west
Soviet advances were spectacular - at the start of the year the siege of Leningrad was not yet fully broken, and now they are knocking on the door of East Prussia.
As Homer Simpson wisely says “The worst day of your life, so far.”
Something tells me April 1945 will be worse
@@pocketmarcy6990that's when he escaped to Argentina though
See you next week, when Romania will switch sides!
@@peterdudas697 Finland and Bulgaria shortly after 😬
@@peterdudas697Wait, that was next week?
So.... A German 6the army protected by 2 Romanians on the flanks... I have seen this before??
Not a good situation but they have no alternative.
Someone was watching Soviet Storm...good series btw
No. You have never seen this before. No. Lies. Propaganda. Untrue.
It was a very ill cursed army, 6th Army. Like the Romans did with their legions lost at Teutoburger Forest maybe the Germans would have been better off not resurrecting the 6th and instead give it a different number. 3 times it got destroyed if memory serves me right?
The Soviets about to unalive the 6th army again arn't they....
It's crazy how much of a mobile force the Allied Armies are when they can break through a defensive line and cause havoc on the backlines. We saw it with the Soviets in Bagration, we now see it in Normandy too.
That's the difference between having motorized logistics support versus horse-drawn carts hauling your fuel and ammo. The US support elements can keep up with the advancing combat troops, operations don't have to stop in order to let them catch up.
Ths speed with which they reached Versailles is crazy. Must've been an uneventful roadtrip
Germany was able to do it too, in the French, Greece, Barbarossa, Bleu offensives; get far behind enemy lines. The Germans made use of the railroads in their advance, so your horse transport is pulling off of your local railroad depot. The French and the Russians could not keep track of where the Panzers were going, and in the Soviet case those massive but largely unsuccessful counterattacks were an attempt to establish a front.
@scipioafricanus8171Maybe have already charged batteries and swap them
@scipioafricanus8171this idea that the military is trying to, what, become 100% green, is absurd. They're trying to make better use of green technology, cut down on emissions when reasonable, and figure out how to adapt to the worsening climate. Conservatives have been pushing insane ideas about it for a long time now.
Dragoon is the most undervalued and untold operations of the war in my opinion. Especially in regards to Ameri-Franco cooperation.
Not really. It was very successful, but achieved remarkably little that was not already made inevitable by the Normandy landing and closing of the Falaise Pocket. Hence its relative obscurity.
The actual "most undervalued operation of the war" was probably the Japanese Malaya campaign of 1941/42.
@@F40PH-2CATWhy were there no British divisions involved in Dragoon?
@@ChrisCrossClash Churchill didn't want it because it might show up his sham Italian campaign -which it did. And also showed the GIs and Free French could go it alone maybe taking more american supplies. Ike might have allowed Devers to go further but IKE didn't like Devers probably for showing everyone up.But also Degaul was a bigger pain in the ass than Monty,Winston and Patton put together
@@bigwoody4704Actually a British parachute division took part in the operation.
I'm sure he will cover it when it happens, but the 442nd Infantry Regiment (Japanese American unit) also served with distinction in Southern France.
You hit the nail. I grew up with the myth about the evil top Nazis and the "noble" Officers in Austria. When the crimes of the Wehrmacht were revealed to the public more and more in the early 90s, there was massive backlash and much typical fascist whining, denial and relativation. It took 70 years until the truth has become broadly accepted. Very much also due to efforts of excellent historians and authors who created compelling exhibitions and TV shows about it. But we still have to deal with revisionism at the fringes of politics and population regularly. Hopefully quality content like yours will help the truth prevail for future generations.
That break in the timeline on loyalty was fantastic
i am so glad you took time out this week to call out the clean wehrmacht myth.
Yep. It needs to be said because he's talking about Kluge's death. Without mentioning the myth, it would come off as if he's sympathizing with that guy.
I'd imagine we're about to see a lot more of those 'tragedies' soon.
Indy is looking very spiffy on this week's episode! Astrid did s fine job picking out that burgundy vest and tie! 👔😁👍
Thank you very much, Nick
Yes. This is a great outfit. Good thing I am not the only one noticing.
Ok, need to get this said, as an Englishman Indy is not wearing a burgundy vest, a vest is an undergarment worn underneath a shirt. He is wearing a burgundy waistcoat. Thank you, I'll shut up about this now.
Hey Indy, Sparty, and team! First of all, its a bit late for this I guess, but congrats on the supremely well done D-Day epic. I have been watching you guys since the Great War days, but was only a student back then. Now that I finally have the financial resources, I have promoted myself from viewer to TimeGhost Army Captain :) Thanks for the week by week coverage, and special thanks to Sparty for the War Against Humanity series. I am Indian, and as an Indian, I would like to also thank you guys for the excellent coverage of the Japanese Invasion of India and also the many atrocities of the British Raj (such as the Bengal Famine, which Sparty covered brilliantly in War Against Humanity). I grew up not far from Imphal and Kohima, and was glad that you covered operation U-Go so well , which is so oft overlooked that many of my own countrymen do not know it happened. You can count me as a TimeGhost Army Captain for however long this war may take to finish, though I have a feeling that the Axis can't keep it up much longer.
Thank you very much for enjoying our D-Day special, Abhinaba.
And welcome to the officers' corps of the TimeGhosty Army - it is an honor to have you with us!
“What do you mean they’re landing? that was 2 months ago!”
The Allied Powers present: D-Day 2
i have lived in Salernes (village in Southern France) and hearing about the actions conducted by allied forces from the elders that have lived through it all and now seeing it on this channel gives me shivers down my spine
"Group Dumitrescu..."
*Stares in Resident Evil*
The German habit of naming somewhat ad hoc formations after the commander was beginning to spread to their allies.
As someone who grew up RIGHT NEXT TO fort Lawton it's crazy how little anyone in my area knew about it. Wasn't until I did a service project there growing up under the guidance of an older Black man that I learned about the injustice that took place.
This week in French news.
The 13th of August, the Gendarmes joins the Cheminots and the metro’s employees in their strike in Paris.
The 14th, the leader of the FFI in Ile-de-France, Rol-Tanguy calls for a general mobilization. A SS division is in route to reinforce the 20 000 Germans in the capital, mostly administrative and only 80 tanks, most of them being French from 1940. Jacques Chaban-Delmas is the military delegates of the provisional government.
The 15th, Herriot is arrested and returns to Maréville. Police of Paris joins the strike, the city is on the verge of Insurrection. The next day, the postal services is in strike too, the general strike is proclaimed the 18th. The order of insurrection is placarded the afternoon. 35 prisoners’ members of the Resistance are killed in retaliation.
The 16th, the Germans decides to stop Laval’s plan, influenced by collaborationists. Laval learns by Abetz that the Germans does want to fight for Paris. It seems that Abetz was not aware of the new orders of Hitler on the 15th to Cholitz to hold Paris and destroys all of its monuments .The 17th Abetz tells him that everyone must leave Paris now. The German’s government transferred the French government to Belfort were Pétain and Laval are sent. A last council of Minister is done with only five ministers there. Laval first refuses to be sent to Belfort but Abetz threatens to use force this time. The Gestapo arrives later, and Laval accepts but resign, giving power of Paris to Pierre Taittinger (President of the municipality of Paris) and administrative personnels the mission to exercise powers of absent ministers. The same day, Radio-Paris stops emitting, the prints stops and all collaborationist parties prepare to leave for the east. Darnand orders the Milice to withdraw too and take their families to Nancy. During their retreat the Milice loots, burns, kills, rapes.
The 17th, Pétain still hasn’t given the order to leave Vichy, and that night, Pétain learns that the German wants him to be transferred to Nancy, they tell him that Laval is already there, which is false because he was just taken in Paris by force. Pétain resists and sent someone to learn about Laval and Herriot in Paris, when he returns, Pétain learns that Laval has been taken prisoner. The 19th, the Germans demands that Pétain follows them to Belfort or Vichy will be bombarded, a plane is sent to fly just above the rooftop to make the threat concreate. Pétain concedes and writes a letter of protestation and a speech to justify his action. He considers himself prisoner and not the head of state anymore. This is the first time he uses the metaphor of the sword and the shield. The 20th, Germans tanks arrives near his Hostel and breaks into it, the doors having been locked up. But the guards does not fight. This is in effect, the end of the French State.
The 19th, 2 000 policers, not affiliated with the FFI, take the Prefecture and raise the French flag on it and Notre Dame and attack the Germans. Rol-Tanguy takes the leadership, and policemen are integrated to the FFI. The Insurrection of Paris begins.
In Marseille, the strike and the insurrection is total and Gaston Deferre is designated mayor of the city.
Bonus : Since the 15th, the consul of Swede,n Raoul Nordling negotiates with Cholitz to liberate the 3 245 political prisoners and to give them to the Red Cross, in order to avoid their execution and to stop the destruction of Paris. He does negotiate a partial truce to evacuate German troops in the city center but its not accepted by the communist and some cells of resistance fighter.
Soon these collaborator scum will get what they deserve at last.
Let's hope these collaborationists won't pollute my home town for too long... why did they pick Nancy as a rallying point ?
You forgot to include the paris fire brigade who also joined the uprising.
Straight line to both Germany and Paris + not "too german" like Metz (in the Greater Reich point of view)@@Duke_of_Lorraine
True, I try to be comprehensive but not to be too long too.@@bcompany650
This is one of the episodes I've waiting for, my grandfather told me many stories from his service in WW2. He was a PFC in the 45th "Thunderbirds" Infantry and fought at Anzio, through southern France and ended the war in southern Germany. He was very proud of his service though there were some things he later witnessed that were too shocking for him to want to talk about, namely Dachau.
One of the "German" units guarding the southern French coast was a battalion of Osttruppen consisting mostly of "turned" Soviet POWs from Armenia. They did not put up much of a fight when the Allied invasion started.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarkis_Bedikian Conversely, Sarkis Bedikian (or Bedoukian), an Armenian in the French Resistance, was killed on August 21, 1944, while fighting to drive the Germans out of Marseilles. He was photographed shortly before his death, carrying a British Sten gun.
"What about invasion?"
"You've already had it."
"We had one yes. What about 2md invasion?"
I don't think they know about 2nd invasion Pippin
When will the 2nd invasion happen? I don't want my lunch being interrupted by GIs running off a Higgins boat.
Gotta admire Churchill believing he could go somewhere dangerous in 1944. Gotta respect the Royal Navy making sure it was boring.
Boring for him. Not so much for those under fire.
Well, did you expect him to disembark and go tally ho on the germans ?
@@potato88872would’ve made for an interesting story
@@pocketmarcy6990 He wanted to land on D-Day, but was dissuaded.
I remember the USS Nevada from your Pearl Harbor coverage. Nice to see her mentioned. And the Texas is even still around.
1940 Tour de France winner: Rommel's 7th Panzer Division.
1944 Tour de France winner: The Allies.
Thank you Indy for mentioning Schirwindt. I just googled a little bit of info about it. "Side notes" like this make this series such a treasure chest of information. Being a descendant of people who had to flee their homes at the end of the war I'm always interested in reading about lost places like this. Many small border settlements suffered the same fate as Schirwindt after the war.
Start of Operation Tractable
Aptly, the troops called it ‘The Mad Charge’. It was another ‘Goodwood’, but coldly deliberate. Whereas the British had stumbled by accident on a front held in depth by anti-tank guns and 88s, the Canadians knew they were there. They planned to go through, nevertheless, blinding the guns with smoke and ordering the armour not to engage them except on the move. There were 160 tanks in the first wave, 90 tanks in the second; plus the armoured infantry carriers, the ‘Holy Rollers’, now dubbed ‘Kangaroos’, because each had ten men in its pouch. Their flanks would be protected by a rain of smoke and high explosive and the bombing attack would be simultaneous with the advance, giving the Germans little time in which to recover. “This is perhaps the only time in the war on the western front where eight squadrons of tanks, followed by four more squadrons, were to go roaring across country to overwhelm a reported impregnable anti-tank gun screen by sheer weight of numbers,” said Serjeant Gariepy, who, by accident, was soon to find himself ‘point’ tank of the whole damned advance.
“We, the crew commanders, knew then that many of us would not make it; it was inconceivable, in view of these tremendous defences. Each of us looked at the other, wondering: How many? Who? At the start of a big push, everyone is afraid, because we know some of us will get it, but once the move is begun we are then too busy to be afraid. There seemed to be tanks as far as the eye could see, and behind them were our ‘little friends’ in their Kangaroos. At precisely 1200 hours, the ‘Mad Charge’ began. Those who were there and lived through it will always remember the sight. It was a beautiful sunny day, and this great column of armour moving through fields of waving grain like eerie avenging centaurs straight from hell. The artillery began to fire marker shells for the bombers, and a few minutes after, began laying a tremendous smoke screen; and at 1142 hours, wireless silence was broken by the command ‘Move now.’ As the armoured brigades began rolling to the start line, the bombers, sweeping low over the charging tanks, attacked the valley for a quarter of an hour. The smokescreen supposed to blind the enemy turned out to be a thick dense mist in the path of our advance, soon supplemented by the dust clouds created by the terrific bombing; the area was ‘vision zero’. Very little could be done to keep direction, except by aiming the tank ‘at the sun’. The German gunners had been alerted beforehand because an officer had been captured (on the evening of 13 August) with the plans of the attack on him: they knew the main axis of our advance exactly and kept playing merry old hell with us. The only reason why our casualties were not very much higher, is that the smog obscured us to them as much as it obscured them to us. Speed, nothing but speed, and on we went, crashing through obstacles at 20 to 25 m.p.h., very rough inside a tank going cross country, and each hedge hid from four to six anti-tank guns, pointed right at us, waiting.
“Only, by then there was no line of frontage, owing to the dust and smoke. We just barged ahead, some of the tanks appeared to be going on at crazy angles, and in the confusion I did not know who was right and who was wrong: I just kept charging ‘at the sun’, blasting everything large enough to hide a field gun, and taking a terrible whipping in the turret of the bucking 32-ton monster. Enemy infantry was scarce, most of those we saw were running, in all probability they were really gun crews seeking refuge. Our guns, co-axial and co-driver’s Browning, were firing constantly: the pace was hot, the ground rugged: I had to brace myself, look out for direction, look out for ‘priority’ targets, mostly 88s (I was credited with four). This went on for what seemed hours, till we finally reached a creek. This was the ‘river’ we had been told about, the Laison; in Europe many Canadians got fooled by this, for in Canada some of these so-called rivers would not have been given the title of ‘ditch’. However, this was the Laison, which we had to cross, and which intelligence had told us was not an obstacle. But it was a serious tank trap, not because of width and depth, but because of its muddy bed.
As Gariepy drove on from the Laison, the engineer tanks, the AVREs, were already arriving with ‘fascines’ to lay across the river bed; and the infantry, protected by their armour, were driving straight through the German infantry (of two divisions newly brought from Norway), who were staying to fight it out, although the tanks were far in their rear. The Régiment de la Chaudière was on its way to Rouvres, on the Laison, the support company, with its heavy weapons, and all the transport, staying behind at St. Agan de Crasmesnil. At 1400, disaster struck them there. As Lancaster ‘J for Johnny’ came thundering over the top, with Linacre as bomb-aimer, on the last trip of his tour, he identified aiming point 21B, which was a wood with a lot of roads leading into it. “Wizard show”, he wrote in his logbook, for his squadron had got one hundred per cent aiming-point pictures; but someone was badly off, for he could hear the Master Bomber ‘doing his knut’, shouting: “Keep off that one at the back; Keep it going forward!” And as the Lancaster came back, bombs gone, he could see a wood erupting yellow smoke, with odd reds popping out.
But yellow and red were among the different target indicator colours being used by Bomber Command that day (unknown to the troops), and the more yellows and reds they let off, the more bombers they attracted. Lancaster after Lancaster came roaring in, 77 of them in all, killing and wounding nearly 400 men. “Not one vehicle, not one gun, not one tank was left undamaged,” wrote the Chaudière historian. “The bombardment lasted from 1400 to 1530 hours, killing Captain J. L. A. Giguére and many soldiers; of two of them, not a shred remained for identification. It was an inferno; many men became insane. Two sections of the carrier platoon were wiped out, the truck containing the records was destroyed by fire.” Twenty-five minutes after the bombardment ceased, the rifle companies of the Régiment, unstoppable behind their armour by the German infantry, were in Rouvres. “In all it took less than half an hour for the tanks which survived the charge to reach the Laison,” recorded the historian of 6 Armoured Regiment, “but the B Squadron charge, led by Major Gordon, originally in reserve, actually became the leading squadron when the other two deviated from their course.”
McKee, Alexander. Caen: Anvil of Victory .
Wow, what a wild day!
Canadians are our cousins in North America, as crazy as Aussies and Kiwis!
This is why I read the comments on this channel. While this recounting was extraordinary in its detail, it deserves a video of its own. Just one and a half hours of one battle shows the amount of bravery and sacrifice that was a daily occurrence on the front. Thanks for posting.
After 7 months of catching up I finally did it and all I can say is, what a trip. I have learned more about ww2 than anywhere else and enjoyed every second of it. Everyone involved does an amazing job of telling the story of this war and the people who fought in it. I wish all well and to continue the good work you all have been doing for nearly ten years.
Thank you so much for being so dedicated to our channel, and thanks for the kind words!
Truly thank you for the sweet comment, we've got more in the works so stay tuned!
Enjoyed Indy's trenchant reminder of just how, in 2023, shopworn the idea of a "clean Wehrmacht and Heer" really is. This odious self-absolution by German veterans was trotted out for decades.
It was weak and thin gruel from the start and, fortunately, remains so today.
German generals needed new work and the Soviets became the new enemies. Hence the "Clean Wermacht" myth.
“But I know what we did. And at what cost. And I’m proud of it.”
Senegalese Tirailleur, Operation Dragoon 1944 (Battlefield V)
Modern WWII games 🤢
My Grandfather was in Operation Dragoon as a member of The First Special Service Force They were assigned to taking two islands. Isle Du Levant and Isle Du Port Croix
It's amazing just how little press Operation Dragoon gets compared to the earlier offensives. I honestly never heard about it until I watched a map animation showing the lines day by day over the course of the war and suddenly noticed a giant chunk of Southern France being liberated around the same time the Normandy front starts making major headway up north, and until now I've only ever heard it specifically mentioned when actively looking up things related to it.
Doubly amazing because it's clearly just about the point where the Western Allies have clearly overwhelmed German defense efforts. The forces up Normandy were already starting to buckle, so its debatable how much of an impact Dragoon would have on the availability of forces up north, but adding a fourth* (non-continuous) front for Germany to try to contain just after the Soviet front(s) solidly eliminated an entire army group and change and just as the Normandy front started to buckle...it feels like this landing is emblematic of the turning point from the situation being desperate for the Nazis to being literally hopeless.
*If you're wondering where I get fourth front from, I'm counting the entire Soviet Union front as one front (I've lost track of where we are with Finland, so that might still be 2 if we count military allies...and of course it's more fronts if you divvy up sections by German Army Group or Soviet Front. Italy is the second front, Normandy is the third, and Provence opening up this week makes 4.
I always wonder if Dragoon wouldn't have been better as the first landing, and overlord the second.
The post-cold-war part of me wonders if yugoslavia wouldn't have been a better target after all.
@@derrickthewhite1 Not sure what a landing in Yugoslavia would have done. A bunch of the grievances that tore Yugoslavia apart are already established at this point. Tito's already been accepted as the leader of resistance efforts in the area by Western Allies, so chances are good he'd come to power in Yugoslavia anyway. So...not sure what we're really changing here.
As for Dragoon before Overlord, there's a couple of factors that would bear looking at in detail: What were troop positions like in Provence before the Normandy invasion? Dragoon hits an under-defended area, but that's in part because many of those defenders have been drawn off to fight in Normandy. If Provence was as well defended as Normandy was on the day of the invasion, Normandy's probably the better target, because it's closer to the solid base of operations that the UK offers. The Med is a much wider body of water, and while its known for being a relatively mild sea, the Channel is also known for being relatively mild.
And another thing worth wondering is would Stalin have been satisfied with Dragoon opening a second southern front, given how bogged down Italy got. Would he have launched Bagration? Or would he have complained about the Western Allies wasting more time in the Med and held off on that offensive, significantly reducing the amount of pressure these landing operations apply on German logistics as a whole.
Or are you suggesting Dragoon be launched in May, with Overlord still happening June 6th? Because there's also the logistical issue of getting landing craft from one operation to the next; given their limited supply and just how big stuff like Overlord is, I'd be very surprised if Dragoon's landing fleet wasn't mostly surviving craft that saw action at Overlord.
@@derrickthewhite1A landing in Yugoslavia is a terrible idea. For one, that means relying on air support coming from Italy. Which means those aircraft won't be supporting the Italian Campaign.
There's also the issue that the Allies haven't spent 2 to 3 years building up their forces to invade Yugoslavia, unlike with France. The fact that they have to divert forces from Italy for Dragoon should be an indication about how stretched Allied manpower is.
The reason why Northern France was selected as the target for invasion is because of how close it is to England. England, which is filled with airbases and ports, are the perfect place to launch an invasion from. And with Northern France in range of Allied fighters, that means the Allies can have an easy time establishing air supremacy.
My great grandfather was in the 45th and part of Operation Dragoon. Though he is gone now this documentary makes me feel closer to him. God bless the greatest generation!
Makes me feel old reading that on account that Grandpa served in the CBI theater on C-47s. Have to remind myself that, yes, for some people WWII was three generations back.
@@JLAveyCBI - China, Burma, India. Had to look that one up!
My grandfathers aunt served after the war in the US seventh army around this time, mostly in an administrative clerical role. She did take pictures of the beaches of Dragoon after the allies had far advanced beyond it. The French civilians joked with her about it, saying that the Americans could have landed schoolgirls in uniforms and the Germans would still have surrendered.
She also said the French troops would sometimes misdirect off duty American soldiers to the locations of bars or wine cellars so they could have it themselves 😂
Your comment about the loyalty conflicts of the German Officer Class is on point. Before Hitler many of these Officer's, who after the war talked about how important it was to honour their loyalty oaths to Hitler because to break that oath was so dishonourable, routinely broke their loyalty oaths to the Weimar Republic and after the war they routinely broke their oaths to tell the truth during the post war trials.
Further they almost enirely "forgot" to discuss or mention the huge under the table bribes they got from Hitler in exchange for loyalty.
The best WW2 presentation that transcends any and all TH-cam and even T.V shows imho! The crew are all awesome and very personable and each one has his or her own unique flavor in their presentations! Thanks to everyone involved with this channel!
Thanks for watching!
On or around August 17, a platoon-sized Red Army patrol actually entered East Prussia. The Germans spotted them and attacked, killing them all. Although temporary, it was the first time this happened in WW2 since brief French incursions into Germany in September 1939.
(I wrote the foregoing before Indy Neidell mentioned it at the end of the episode).
He didn't mention the part about them getting wiped out though. Yikes...
@@Raskolnikov70 The source I read stated they were, and the Germans would certainly have tried to eliminate that tiny foothold as quickly as possible before they were reinforced.
SPOILER
The town Indy Neidell mentioned only came under Soviet control in October 1944.
It’s a huge moment though, pre-war German territory is now under direct threat from the east (and in a few months, the west as well)
It is not true. As Russian, scouting through Russian articles, it's is stated, that they got a hold across the river and hold it pretty well for one week, despite Germans counterattacks, till the order was to withdraw when sector offense has ended and they started prepare for a defense.
@@alley4978 My source was German. If you have a link to a Russian article, I would be interested to read it.
I really appreciate that Indy pronounces the cities, names, rivers and locations correctly.
I agree, Indy has exceptional pronunciation
I'll make sure he sees both of these! He'll really appreciate it 🙂
-Will
Keep an eye on Romania. Next week's episode will have some absolutely fascinating developments on that front.
I hope they have a special about that
Read Prit Buttar The Reckoning for detais o the Iassy Kshiniv operation in Romania.
Romania be like:
Friendship with Hitler ended
Stalin is my friend now
I really appreciate you guys talking about the historiography of the perception of the German Army. I remember growing up hearing so many stories from the Cold Warriors about how the Germans were all honorable super soldiers who only lost because they were outnumbered 10-1 while not hesitating to say far, far worse of the Soviets. I also used to believe in this myth and I think it's great that the majority of historians nowadays put in effort to dispel it.
damn, stuck practically within sight of the normandy coast for 2 months and then all the way to paris in a week, crazy how fast things can change
Also gosh darnit if Indy isn't a fantastic host and presenter. I've followed his work for just shy of a decade with the prelude to the Great War. He was always good, but he keeps getting better. Hats off to you Indy, and the whole team who make this possible.
How lovely! I'll let Indy know about your kind words, thanks for watching.
- Jake
That was a wonderful comment. Big thanks. Nice to read and sorry it took me so long to get to it. There are a lot to get through, but we do read them all. Thanks again. / Indy
@@WorldWarTwo Don't sweat it Indy! You're a busy man with a busy team. Keep aging like a fine wine and I look forward to the rest of the series (and whatever may come next!)
Years into this, and after watching all of World War One...I'm still blown away by the production quality, attention to detail, and impeccable narration you and your team give to this series. Truly look forward to each and every episode. Thank you so much for taking on this burden, it's an absolute masterpiece.
Thank you so much!
With the fall of Paris imminent, this is a good time to watch the 1964 "The Train" by John Frankenheimer.
This film from 1964 tells a fictionalised version of the German attempt to ship art out of Paris in the wake of the allied advance in August 1944.
Period covered: August 1944 (The film opens with "2 August 1944", but a lot of other stuff only makes sense if the date is a couple of weeks later).
Historical Accuracy: 2/5 - There was a train loaded with art ready to go from paris on 1 August 1944, but it never even left the city.
IMDB grade: 7.8/10
10 francs is 10 francs
Un très bon film , a very good moovie, vous avez raison, you are wright
There's also another good film about the fall of Paris, "Is Paris Burning?(1966).
This is by far the best and most comprehensive coverage of WW2 I have ever had the pleasure to watch ! Utterly brilliant.
Glad you are enjoying it so much, thank you for watching.
These dramatic zoom ins make the phone call openings even better
This is why I love this format of storytelling so much.
Without the proper context, the situation with Warsaw, Italy and Southern France would have been difficult to fully understand.
Compare and contrast Soviet reaction to Warsaw uprising and Allies reaction to Paris uprising. Remember, allies were often at odds with de Gaulle and his plans for France, but when the need arose they helped the resistance with all force available.
Not really comparable situations. The Allies in France are just starting to break out, the Soviets in the east have been advancing a lot for nearly two months but are near the end of their supply lines, which is why German counter-attacks are sometimes succeeding.
And whatever their problems with De Gaulle, the alternative to De Gaulle is the French Communists, heavily present in the Resistance. The straw in the wind is the behaviour of the French police - they were detaining Jews (the mass round-up of Parisian Jews in the Val d'Hiver stadium was mostly a French police operation) and Resistance suspects until very recently. They have decided to turn on the Germans because they are losing, and better de Gaulle than the PCF...
@@stevekaczynski3793 Even if the Soviets could have helped the Poles, Stalin would not let it happen. For the same reason he ordered the Katyn massacre, he did not want there to be any Poles who could resist Soviet rule.
@@richardstephens5570 However, SPOILER
next month the LWP will make an attempt. Lublin, rather than London Poles. The question of soldiers coming into conflict with politically uncongenial fighters is going to arise again, when British troops enter Athens and encounter ELAS Communist partisans. Incidentally an episode little-known in Britain but well-remembered in Greece.
22:58 What a Falk-ing GREAT impression! ...somebody give this man a gold record please... ... what?
Quote> Rarely does a battle follow the tidy arrows that have been sketched on a map or limned in a commander’s imagination. The mighty struggle for the Falaise Pocket was no exception. Several factors prevented the enemy annihilation envisioned by the Allied high command, including miscalculation, confusion, and dull generalship. Not least among the variables was a German reluctance to be annihilated.
Rick Atkinson The Guns at Last Light
If they were prepared to abandon heavy equipment, the chances of breaking out of the encirclement were greatly increased, and a lot of Germans escaped that way. Many Germans had escaped on the Eastern Front at Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, and that was in winter weather. They just ditched their armoured vehicles and artillery pieces.
Given that the Western Allies have never even tried to conduct an operation of this scale beforehand, I'd say things went as well as they could've. You can't expect a brand new team playing the game for the very first time to get everything picture perfect.
@@901Sherman There had never been an operation on the scale of Overlord before. The on top of that coalition warfare is hard even when all parties have experience operating together.
There has been a lot of criticism since that time about the failure to close the Falaise pocket sooner. Yet Rick Atkinson made a point when he said that the Germans had a say by not wanting to be annihilated.
@@keithrosenberg5486 I don't disagree with that last bit (if the Falaise Pocket firmly established anything, its that while the Germans still had plenty of teeth, the Western Allies could and would grind each and every single one of them to dust eventualy). However, this quote repeats the same old overemphasis on the flaws how the Allies conducted the Falaise battle that I've seen again and again to the point that you eventually get the impression that Falaise was an abject failure for them, while ignoring how much of a disaster it was for the Germans (as Citino points out).
Regardless of the criticisms with Allied decision making, coordination, planning, miscalculation, confusion, or dull generalship, many of which are indeed true, others overblown or outright false (that 'dull generalship' comment especially ignores several realities on the ground), the Allies doubtlessly got way more things right than wrong. Falaise might not be the total victory it could've been, but it was still an impressive and significant achievement.
@@901Sherman If the Western Allies had not gotten almost all of the big things right, Overlord would probably have been a major catastrophe. The one thing most historians seem to miss is that coalition warfare is hard. Eisenhower had a great deal of diplomatic skills which were needed to keep his command's eyes on the goal, the defeat of the Nazis.
This series is one of the best in TH-cam. Brilliant documentary. I love your videos. We know it take lot of time and hard work to make these videos. So we always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Love from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰🤝🏴.
Thank you for watching and thanks for being so kind!
I want to thank the TimeGhost team again for maintaining such a high level of quality and enthusiasm despite the fact that TH-cam has been unfriendly and it is hard to maintain a high level of viewers or ad revenues over such a long series. I really feel immersed in the history each time I view an episode.
Glad to hear that, thanks for watching!
Halfway through this one it really struck me that without these insanely great maps we'd all be so screwed.
Totally agree!
Something that started halfway The Great War and has become better and better.
"Allies have crossed the german border..." You nailed the end !
Progress of Operation Tractable ( part 2)
After reaching Liason , Serjeant Gariepy, with B Squadron, his radio out of action, soon found himself in a sticky situation. "The time was after 6 p.m., we had been going since noon, and then my gunner reported that our co-axial trigger was burnt out and that the Browning barrel was red hot from constant firing. I told them to carry on with the mechanically-operated trigger for the time being, we should find some friendly ‘bears’ and do some maintenance. I moved cross-country to a small group of farms which looked a good place for this. Arriving there, I saw a German officer carrying a white flag. I warned my crew to hold fire and could see behind the officer several German soldiers, not showing any hostility.
“I jumped out of the tank, told my gunner to come on top with a Tommy gun, not to hesitate to shoot at the first signs of a fight, and approached the officer. He saluted me, I saluted back and asked for his firearm. He began talking, but I told him ‘Nicht spraken Deutsch’, and he called an N.C.O. who spoke English. This N.C.O. told me that the Hauptmann had been waiting for us quite some time. I did not understand, but did not let on, just told the N.C.O. that all the officers and men were to come out from their cover and line-up, sitting down, in front of my tank. In the meantime, my gunner and radio operator had mounted a Browning on a tripod on top of the turret and were looking very business-like, and the Jerries were filing out in twos and threes from the rubble of the farm buildings. They would drop their rifles and sidearms in a pile and quietly come and sit in front of the tank in rows of four. I asked the Hauptmann how many men he had, and he replied 280.
“They were the remnants of a battery which had been abandoned for lack of transport. I told the Hauptmann that it was now too late to make the POW cage, we would have to remain in the open for the night and move on at first light. He was quite satisfied with this. There was no fight in these men, who were a mixure of French and Russian ‘volunteers’. The six officers were Germans, and the Hauptmann, I learned, was a lawyer from Bremen. I established ‘sentry’ duty with my men, telling them to look as though General Crerar had sent us specially to pick them up; this was the impression they had, and I did not want them to realise that we were as lost as they were. My crew were much less nervous than I was; they were quite happy, eyeing ‘souvenirs’ such as Lugers, which I permitted them to take. I found the Hauptmann very calm and resigned. He asked if we were English, Polish, or something else, and was very happy when I replied we were Canadians, as he thought he would be sent to Canada as a POW. He said the afternoon attack was something he would never forget; he had never seen so many ‘Yankee’ tanks in all his life, as a matter of fact, he had never seen so many tanks even on parade.
During the night we added 24 men to our group, which made a total of 304 prisoners. At daylight I gave orders, loudly, for my wireless operator to warn ‘sun-ray’ we were marching the prisoners back in 20 minutes; and he made much ado about it, bringing me the fictitious answer, ‘OK, Roger, Out.’ I made a fire of the piled weapons, pouring gasoline on them. That brought comments from the officers. The Hauptmann, smiling, said that such an act in their army at this time would bring an instant field court martial. I told him that supplies were plentiful in our ranks, and he replied that after seeing this aggregation of tanks, he was sure we did not lack anything.
Caen , The Anvil of Victory -Alexander McGee
Stalin: "Hey Poland, remember how you made a certain commissar look stupid during the Miracle at the Vistula, well it's payback time!"
Steve McGarrett: "Book 'em, Danno!"
Adrian Monk: "Here's what happened."
Lt. Columbo: "Just one more thing . . . "
Stalin had it in for the Poles at least since his failure (in 1920) to obey orders and support Tukhavchesky's forces attacking Warsaw. Stalin was determined to take Lvov , but failed to do so, and his failure to support the advance on Warsaw allowed the Poles to achieve a decisive victory against the Red Army in "The miracle of the Vistula". Stalin was, rightfully, blamed for disobeying orders.
Can't believe I've finally caught up after stumbling on this channel by chance and then binge watching all the episodes for a month or so. Very impressive work, Indy and the team!
Thanks for watching!
I love the Columbo detective reference. He always had “just one more thing”
I think it is amazing to think that in a month, the allies are landing in my backyard in the Netherlands.
That is a huge amount of ground that is covered in a small timespan
Kinda wish they hadn't done the whole Market Garden thing like that. The Dutch paid a high price for Montgomery's hubris. The Dutch definitely did their part.
@aliveortrees I sometimes think "what if" like what if they took their time planning, or what if they choose to land closer to Arnhem instead of Ede. Or what if the Germans did not place the 9 panzer there to reorganize.
But unfortunately, things went the way as they played out.
@@BiggestCorvidThey did gain ground and would somewhat isolate the German army there though. The whole cross the rhine plan and win war by christmas was silly
@@jessevandeinsen4202 Market Garden should NEVER have happened. It is irrelevant what would have happened if more British forces had landed closer to Arnhem or not. The real bottleneck that would delay Allied operations for the rest of the year was Montgomery's failure to free the Westerschelde and open up Antwerpen as a supply port for the Allies. The drive into Germany could never be sustained with supply lines from Normandy. The Canadian campaign to take Zeeuws Vlaanderen, Zuid Beveland and Walcheren would be bloody and costly on a WW1 scale because Monty was more fixed on Arnhem and wasting his precious few resources there then on Antwerpen. And for that he caused immense hardship and loss of life on the Netherlands. Don"t be fixated on Arnhem because you live there, I'm from Nijmegen, the real battle that should have been fought which could have ended the war sooner was in Zeeland.
@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 well first I do not live at Arnhem. As you might know, the operation spans half of the country in length whilst being a narrow corridor. So even though when I think what if scenarios with the mayor flaw of far off landing zones that leaded to the loss of surprise and an inability to reach the bridges, I do not emphasize on that part. Let alone because I live there.
Second, I disagree with the assessment that Antwerp was so vital that they needed to focus their efforts on that.
Not only is the Schelde operations at that point extremely costly, but they could not have used the harbors there unto well in 1945.
Look at Dieppe,which was liberated on the 1st of September (10 days before Antwerp). Those harbors were not usable until the momentum had been lost. If at all during the war.
A big concentrated push was not as bad as they made it out to be in some historical books. As the supply chain, at that point, couldn't handle the "broadfront strategy" that was used until then.
Hitler's been regularly having bad days since 1943
Same as Putler.
"Tukums gap is tenuous" is putting it mildly. It's mostly swamp and woods even today and even a modern highway can (and does) sink if weather is crappy enough.
Can't wait for assault on Riga - my great grandfather was among those in charge of signals of second Baltic during that operation.
This is one of the most ambitious TH-cam channels ever I adore it, thank you Indy & gang your this achievement for history.
Thanks for the kind comment!
The best set down and listen to world war 11..commentary that I use to show my sons and grandkids what really happened..❤😊
I think Churchill was somewhat of a war folly, he loved heroic struggles filled with blood and looked for them avidly
He did get his start as a war reporter in South Africa, IIRC.
@@Raskolnikov70 Prior to that he took part in a cavalry charge in Sudan. Fictionalised in the film "Young Winston". th-cam.com/video/f6UmKsqz6aQ/w-d-xo.html
I think he was a bit of an adrenaline junky.
@@stevekaczynski3793 He did also command a battalion on the western front in WWI for a short time in 1916, so he did have some idea of the reality of war in the first half of the 20th century.
Also needed to be stopped by Ike from landing on D’Day. Hell he tried to negotiate his way down to the 2nd wave. I love him but he was a lunatic who seemingly chased thrill and gave no consideration to the risk to others his presence may bring.
No wonder he was bored by operation Dragoon.
"worst day of his life"
With Romania defecting next week and the liberation of Paris...we may hear that again
What an amazing channel. I have studied the second world war for 20 years from when Hitler started to gather crowds to 1945 and thought I was pretty well up on most of it but these guys have done an amazing job and work with by the looks of it intense studies of many details people don't even know about. Where I born is on the map behind you lol "Bournemouth" and there were a lot of soldiers all along the south coast. Subscribed.
U Boat Warfare in Channel
Shortly after midnight on August 12, a Leigh Light-equipped Sunderland flying boat of Australian Squadron 461 of 19 Group, piloted by Donald A. Little, detected a surfaced U-boat off Lorient. This was the veteran nonsnort U-270, en route from Lorient to La Pallice. As related, this boat had been declared unfit for combat and her skipper, Paul-Friedrich Otto, and the entire crew had returned to Germany to commission a big electro boat. She was manned by a scratch crew from Lorient, commanded by Heinrich Schreiber, age twenty-seven, and also had on board about thirty other submariners, a total of eighty-one men. She carried two snorts lashed flat to the topside deck and snort spare parts below.
When the Sunderland commenced its attack, Schreiber remained on the surface and opened fire with his flak guns. Nonetheless, the pilot held his course and dropped six depth charges, which closely straddled U-270. Seeing that these had wrecked the boat beyond repair, Schreiber ordered abandon ship and opened the bow torpedo-room loading hatch to speed the sinking. The Canadian destroyers HMCS Ottawa II and HMCS St Laurent of Support Group 11, boldly operating in the Bay of Biscay, recovered seventy-one of the eighty-one Germans, including Schreiber.
On August 14, a B-24 Liberator bomber of RAF Coastal Command Squadron 53 of 19 Group, piloted by Gilbert G. Potier, detected and attacked with depth charges to the nonsnort submarine U-618, commanded by Erich Faust, age twenty-three, en route from Brest to La Pallice. Two Royal Navy frigates of Support Group 3, HMS Duckworth and HMS Essington, came up to assist in the kill and depth charged the submerged contact till she sank for good. There were no survivors of U-618. The British awarded pilot Potier a second DFC.
The U-741, commanded by Gerhard Palmgren, which had put into Le Havre with damage, resailed on the morning of August 8. To mislead Allied agents in that port into believing he was too badly damaged to conduct a patrol, that same day Palmgren put a heavy list on the boat and “limped” back into Le Havre. Then, under cover of darkness in the early hours of August 9, Palmgren resailed to an area off the Isle of Wight. On the afternoon of August 15, Palmgren sighted a convoy, FTM 69. He fired two torpedoes and hit the LSI 404. Remarkably, the LST survived and was towed to Spithead. Palmgren dived to 190 feet, but Royal Navy corvette HMS Orchis, an escort of convoy FTC 68 nearby, raced over and commenced a skilled hunt for U-741. Gaining and holding sonar contact, HMS Orchis, commanded by B. W. Harris, carried out four separate attacks on U-741, two with depth charges and two with the Hedgehog.
These attacks wrecked and flooded the U-boat and trapped about eleven men aft. Two of these, twenty-four-year-old leading stoker Leo Leuwer and another stoker, escaped via the aft torpedo-room hatch. Leuwer survived to be picked up by HMS Orchis but the other stoker died. None of the other forty-seven Germans of the crew was found.
On 18 August a RAF B-24 Liberator bomber detected and attacked the snort boat U-621, commanded by a hero of the channel battles, Ritterkreuz holder Hermann Stuckmann, who was en route from Brest to La Pallice then routed a Canadian escort group led by destroyers HMCS Chaudiere and HMCS Kootay to the contact location. The Admiralty doubted that the air attack by B-24 resulted in a kill, but in a postwar reassessment, it credited the sinking of U-621 to three remaining Canadian destroyers, HMCS Chaudiere, HMCS Kootenay, and HMCSA Ottawa II which gained a sonar contact on the relayed position and depth charged it twice. There were no German survivors. Stuckmann had enjoyed the prestige of his Ritterkreuz for only eight days.
• On the same day, August 18, a Sunderland flying boat of RAF Coastal Command Squadron 201 of 19 Group, piloted by Leslie H. Baveystock, who had sunk the VII U-955 on D day plus one, detected and attacked with depth charges and sank famous old Type IXB U-107, en route from Lorient to La Pallice. Commanded by Karl-Heinz Fritz, age twenty-three, the U-107 had recently been fitted with a snort and was earmarked for evacuation to Norway, thence to Germany and retirement. There were no survivors.
Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942-45 (Volume 2)
1944 has just been a disaster for the U boats.
Iron coffins : a personal account of the German U-Boat battles of World War II by Herbert Werner portrays 1944 as an brutal year for the Uboats. Unable to compensate for allied air and detection abilities, they struggle even to recharge their batteries at night.
Stokers on a u boat?
You mentioned the shuttle bombing ( Operation Frantic Joe) It would be great to have a special about that operation
"USS NEVADA" Now there's a name we haven't heard in a long time.......
The fact that Germany fought so hard knowing that the game was up was incredible
I agree - incredibly stupid, wasteful, cruel, and self-destructive.
Incredibly stupid. That's what happens when you pass the last offramp. It's like driving down through the desert and you see a sign saying "Last fuel 100 miles" and you keep driving anyway. As von Runstedt said when asked "What do we do now?" "Make peace, you fools!" Your bulldog mouth is writing checks your puppydog ass can't cover.
The government during WW1 probably would’ve begun to contemplate surrender around this point
Always a man of detail, Indy always Nails the native pronunciations of the names & locales in the subjects he refers to.
Well done.
9:16, I believe that the 1st Polish Armoured Division was attached to the 1st Canadian Army, part of 2nd Corps, not British 1st Corps. The 1st Polish Armoured Division was attached to the 1st Canadian Army when Canadian 5th Armour was sent to Italy. The Poles will remain attached to 1st Army for the remainder of the war.
You are correct, as was the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade.
Did you know that most of the Canadian first army was filled with British divisions though?
@@ChrisCrossClash Actually only 1 British Division, the 15th Scottish Infantry Division was added to replace the 1st Canadian Infantry Division when it was sent Italy. In September, 1st British Corps will be attached to the 1st Army, but the other 2 Corps are almost entirely Canadian. Interestingly, the 1st British Corps includes a Belgian brigade and later an American infantry Division.
5:00 great mission in company of heroes - remember to click on the good tanks to take them under your control and help defend
Years ago I was on holiday in the south of France and not far from Sete, on the beach, there was a sort of concrete emplacement that looked like it had been a German position in WW2. It was neglected, with graffiti and discarded cigarette stubs etc. Compared to the Atlantic Wall these positions were few and far between.
Columbo is infact a universal meme everywhere. I didn't expect the Columbo reference at the end. Thank you for that
I saw that the Battleship Texas is mentioned. It is in dry dock being restored at present. Hopefully it can be visited again in the near future.
Have visited Missouri. Where is the Texas?
@@archstanton6102 At this moment, it is dry dock in Galveston, Texas. There may be opportunities to visit it there, but I am not sure. I am not sure where it will be once it is restored.
@@BleedingUranium I have seen some of his videos and they are excellent.
He had a bad day, he's taking one down, he sang a sad song just to turn it around...
As someone who grew up in a small town with an extensive population of Eastern Europeans who fled the Soviets control, I view the Soviet 'successes' with a jaundiced eye. I don't view them as 'liberators'.
Yep. Soviets committed the largest mass rape in human history just advancing through East Prussia. Unfathomable atrocities and oppression was inflicted on the whole of Eastern Europe by them though, and sowing the seeds for another 45 years of murderous authoritarian rule.
The Soviets were bad, especially under Stalin, but it’s a better alternative than being exterminated and replaced by Germans
For those that remember playing Call of Duty 3, this week's fighting in France was most, if not all, of that game's campaign, especailly the capture and holding of Chambois. I'm sure I don't need to remind ya'll what a meat grinder that was on harder difficulties!
Please, pretty please, with the liberation of Paris mention the Spanish Republicans that took a major role in entering the city. Also a special on the Spanish that fought FOR the Allies would be interesting. Kudos from a Spanish archaeologist working in Oxford :D
They played a significant role, not least because they had in many cases a lot of military experience, though for some on the French far right their existence is evidence that the French Resistance were not really French. They were, according to this interpretation, Spanish "Reds", Jewish Communists, Italian anti-Fascists etc. But not French. A fairly recent French film, "Army Of Crime", is interesting on this subject.
Thank you for speaking about the 'tragedy of the German officers' trope. They were all complicit in the Nazi system, not reluctant individuals 'swept up by history'
Blaskowitz is like the only one who I can say actually decent
The war was well on its way to being lost, anyone could see that, by mid-1943. 1942 there were doubts as general Axis momentum in the war was lost and things started looking pretty dire. But by mid-1943, Germany had faced numerous, massive defeats. 1944 was really just sealing the deal for the Allies. The war should have ended in 1943 with Germany suing for peace, but that was never going to happen. German leadership knew they'd have to answer for much as part of a peace deal, so they elected to drag the country to destruction, even more death. It would only end in 1945, so the nation had to endure 2 terrible years of fighting a war that was clearly lost.
If you ever look at casualties in WWII, 1944-1945 would be the years that Germany would suffer most of its casualties. You would think 1943 with the end of Stalingrad, the defeat at North Africa / Tunisia, losses of Sicily, invasion of Italy, losing Kursk, and the large Soviet counterattack afterwards would be the high point of German casualties in the war. It wasn't. *That came later.*
@@BleedingUranium Then again, the attitude of many at the time was that WW2 happened because the Germans felt they had not really lost WW1 - they had merely been stabbed in the back by Jews and socialists. There was an obsession with making damn sure Germany knew it was defeated.
@scipioafricanus8171 Somebody was going to have to pay for the things Nazi Germany did. If you were one of those guys that had to think about it, you had what was coming to you.
Thanks!
Holy shiiiiiiiiit. A Columbo reference I fucking love that show
COLUMBO REFERENCE!!! AHHHH that's hilarious!
Adolf and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Makes me wonder if Robert Citino considers the war in Normandy to be separate from the world war when he claims the level of physical destruction in Falaise to be "probably unprecedented in this war." Did he write that before the nukes were dropped in Japan?
It's ironic that Operation Dragoon was called Anvil, while it served as the hammer to the anvil that Overlord was at the time.
A great way of confusing the Germans though.
Not really Hitler was probably confusing them more
Anthony Doerr's novel All The Light We Cannot See takes place in St. Malo during WW2. One of the best books I've ever listened.
"what cause have I, to war at thy decree ?
The distant Trojans never injured me"
Eddie Slovik lacked the education to try that quote from Homer. It wouldn't have worked anyway...
Has there always been chatter from the other end of the call at the beginning of each episode? I only noticed today and it made me laugh.
Isn't it Ironic, that the war was started due to Poland being invaded, but yet when the war ended, Poland was still invaded
Best ww2 series ever.