FYI gor·juht seems to have the best case for the more accurate pronunciation. Either pronunciation is fine in my books and seemingly in wide use. I went with gor·jè based on the pronunciation used by several professional curators showcasing gorgets.
In Finland, the duty officer wears a gorget to signify of his position. Kinda funny how the item has historically been a flashy officer thing and here it's used for a mundane task that's usually carried out by low-ranking NCOs or even privates.
Well, it is a mundane job to sit around, answer the phone, keep a record of who's coming and going out of the building, and where all the materiel is at all times.
Quick note: "Kettenhunde" not only referred to the gorgets hanging from a chain, "Kettenhund" is also a term for a particular kind of guard dog. Usually, it's highly aggressive dogs that will attack anyone who comes close, except for maybe their keeper. They are kept on a long chain that is attached to a building or a stake in the ground. The idea is that this way, you can keep a super aggressive dog outside a cage without risking them getting loose, whilst entirely deterring intruders from getting within the radius of the chain.
The word Kettenhunde in German doesn’t it self refer to the Gorget; it is a derogatory term used to refer to the wearers (i.e the Feldgendarmerie themselves) of the Gorget. In German, Gorget is just referred to as the 3:09 Kette (or chain). Hence, a Feldgendarme or Feldjäger, as they now are know, are Kettenhunde or chained dogs. Today’s German Feldjäger no longer wear them.
Germany is really good at dog training. Here in the U.S, the dogs that the cops use for K9 duty are many times trained in Germany. The commands that the K9 officers use are in German.
@@Cooldudewhotellsamazingjokes Because Germans are generally the high end of humanity. So many lies and propaganda to derise them. Achtung to the social norms of MSM et al.
Thank you so much for manually creating subtitles I am heart of hearing and I really appreciate when people do that, it takes a lot of work and wont help much people but the people it does help will greatly appreciate it.
These are used in the Norwegian army, typically in the garrisons. There are two types, one for the commander of the guard, and one for the responsible officer of the day. These roles are rolled around in between lower ranks and changed everyday or weekends.
IB translates to Inspiserende Befal (Ispecting Officer), but is often just an additional task of the VK (Vaktkommandør / Guard Commander). DH (Daghavende Offiser / Officer in charge) is in charge of the camp/garrison, including the guards VK/IB. It’s about keeping the garrison in shape and solving issues that might happen - including discipline.
Same is in Finnish army. At garrison Company's on duty noncommissioned officer wears gorget and he/she has right to make orders to all conscripts in the company. He/she is responsible for order and disibline in the company. At night on duty responsibility goes to enlisted man and he/she then wears gorget.
I wore one of those things whenever it was my turn to be the night watchman at my garrison in the Finnish air force. Nobody knew what the official name of it was, so it was simply called "päivystäjän kilpi" (the watchman's shield).
In the US we wear brassards for our charge of quarters and Military Police. Well now we no longer wear the CQ one and the MP one has been changed to a velcro MP similar in size to the flag worn on the opposite shoulder
I consider myself an all round nerd but had never heard or ever considered a Gorget till stumbling across this fun concise and well edited clip on the A-Z of Gorget. Now I will probably be seeing them everywhere next time I watch a war movie. Well done!
I was a guard soldier in the military a few decades ago, here in Norway. The Guard officer and the Guard commander both use gorgets to signify their status as camp commanders above rank when it comes to internal security.
They were the German equivalent of MP brassard US troops wore. I want to say that gorgets were also worn by the British Army in the 1800's for people like Provost marshals (who were pretty much MP's also, but assigned to the division or army level).
There were worn by LGPTQ personnel to distinguish them from the regular soldiers (regs) in the French Army. They were worn down by the chin and called “Chin Nuts”🥜 by the troops
The Dutch army has gorgets for the officer of the watch. That is an officer or warrant officer supervising the soldiers on watch duty. The soldiers had to patrol the barracks grounds and the OOTW would cycle around to keep an eye on the men.
It's a rotating position, right? Makes sense to have an insignia that can easily put on or off, instead of being more permanently fixed to the uniform.
I know the term "Kettenhund" from my grandmother. She was an apprentice and was used by her employer to smuggle cloth via train rides. She was most intimidated, as she said, by those "Kettenhunde".
At least during my conscription in the Finnish military (2005) I wore that kind of thing. It was always put on by a soldier who was on "standby" meaning during his shift he made sure everything was working properly and schedules were kept etc. Hard to explain but I tried! :D
I am a former US Army MP from the 80's. I saw this on Band of Brothers on a scene and recently researched it a week ago and now saw this tonight. Thanks for posting.
You do this all the time Johnny! Like many of your other videos of this nature, it's subject is something I've always wondered about whenever I see it on TV yet never researched on my own. Love your content man!
Thanks man! Sometimes I am just watching a movie and realize I don't know much about a device or item too so it's a chance for me to learn and do some research.
We in the Dutch army wear one when we are officer of the day. During this duty amongst other things we are responsible for base security. It is styled to represent the base and the history of it.
I like how the German NCO holds Janovec’s hand and makes it steady before the flame 🔥 touches his cigarette. I like this scene because it shows that they are both just happy the war is over.
The Japanese DF still uses a functional variant of a gorget in their ballistic vests, unlike most countries which use exposed neck models. One of my favourite things about their gear.
Many vest designs have one as a separate piece that can be attached if the wearer wants to. Most of the time it's unnecessary weight and bulk so not really seen that often.
@@-Pathos- "JGSDF to Adopt New Body Armour System" is an article earlier this year. It is very similar in setup to the Interceptor Body Armor I used In Iraq in 03 and 05, but with improvements. The IBA had a removable gorget as well.
It's always a pleasure to see La Grande Vadrouille especially on an american TH-cam Channel. It's great to see you getting more and more views, I love your work.
@@tubrosDid you like it ? It was already a pretty old movie during my childhood, I'm curious about a foreign opinion ! There is still some fun pun but maybe there will be some lost in translation. Fun fact : when I think about a gorget I alway think of this movie, and I always think it looks like an ugly bib.
They also signify that the wearer is the Emperor of the Centauri Republic. 😮 The original practical Gorget was used to protect the throat once heavy rapiers became popular, because one of the most significant weaknesses of an armored cavalier is the throat.
I love it and i know its considered a classic in most ex-sovjet countries, as it was very popular there. In Germany that one is a bit lesser known of all the different de Funès movies. I wonder how popular they are in north America.
Not really. It was called Die grosse Sause in German and was actually quite well known. At that time, Bourvil was also quite a well known comedian in Germany. I also loved that you used this film as an example though.
When Germany became a nation in 1871, they were held in high regard worldwide. The Germans modernized the militaries of other nations, including Chile and the Ottoman empire ( Now the nation of Turkey).
On the Wehrmacht gorget, the white spots on either side were made of a luminescent compound, like a watch dial, to make a wearer visible at night if he was doing duty as a traffic cop.
Very interesting and informative. I had always thought they were some sort of battle protection for the heart. Likely wouldn't do much, but better than nothing, and simpler to wear than proper armor! Thanks for correcting that.
Yes, that's right about the German military police, and can also be seen in many films about the 2nd World War. But in the 3rd Reich, gorgets were also worn when one was a standard bearer at various German institutions. And incidentally the SS streifendienst also had its own gorget.
Its the remains of the panzer body shield, it used to shield the belly of the soldiers, it comes from the Italian word panza which means belly it was picked up when German mercenary fought in Italy,eventualy ended up as indicating the tanks as well.
Honestly I think this is well within the wheel house of your content Mr. Johnny Johnson. I enjoy that you will bring up and in a dulcet, almost soothing voice explain military trivia and/or significance thoroughly, whilst also referencing and displaying many pop culture scenes as well as real life documentary footage if it's available. It's a perfect mix of the real life purpose as well as the entertainment involvement.
Gorgets would include (chain)maille throat defenses until their disappearance. The "correct" pronunciation would be "gor-jet", as words were written as they were spoken. Same with "sallet", it would be "sal-let". This is pedantry though. Medieval and Early Modern gorgets were worn to protect against lances, pikes, swords, arrows, etc, though I suppose you didn't specify any others for brevity. Great video!
"Today they are worn commonly by rappers and their ilk and are gilded in gold, silver, as well as diamonds. The are known colloquially as 'bling' or 'ice'." - Sir David Attenborough, probably
@@abcdefbcdefg8352 Cherokees of the 18th and early 19th Century were fond of silver gorgets. Their shell gorgets are said to go back as far as 200 B.C.E..
As a corporal I've been patrol leader (without a gorget though) for officers up to the rank of major. They outranked me, but during the patrol ... That's the role of gorgets today in my oponion, signifying a role/function outranking ranks under certain circumstances.
Yes, when I did my military service in the Netherlands and we were taught about ranks, we were also told you could be outranked by and therefore had to follow orders from either a "military superior" or a "functional superior" (e.g. even a lowly private, when on guard duty at the gates, can order the base commander to show his military passport before letting him in - though in practice I'm sure he'll ask very politely :-)....). So when, as conscripted ensigns, we had the duty of OKP, sort of "Officer of the day for the whole garrison", and thus wore the gorget, we used to joke that for the next 24 hours, we were the most important person on the whole base, because we could order anyone around 😂....
@@helanrenhe asked it politely but did certainly not wave him through, because then he the base commander would come later back to him why he didn't asked him for his passport.
This episode and the talker helmet episode are really good. Weapons are great but these more obscure pieces of history that I have seen but never really thought about are a lot more interesting in my opinion.
Perfect timing, this came ought right after my art history prof mentioned that an artifact was likely worn as a gorget and I was clueless as to what that meant! Thanks for the informative videos Johnny
You show a lot of clips from _The Grand Adventure_ , which is my wife's favorite movie. Too bad there's not a good English subtitled or dubbed edition. But it turns out that whoever did the Chinese translation did a good job of making memorable quotations and clever lines.
I love that movie. So funny. I remember watching it as a kid with my grandfather who was a WWII veteran (German Navy) and also liked it a lot. And no, he wasn't a Nazi and hated war. He was (like almost every young man) drafted but joined the Navy because he thought this is the way to stay away as far as possible from the mess his dad was in in WWI. He hated war or any conflict and I never heard him say anything positive about Hitler or anything negative about Americans. The only bad comments were about some British sailors in Hamburg right after the war who threw the rest of their lunch over board - in plain sight of starving kids. I am glad that we talked so much about that time.
There is some English in this movie, specially in the Turquish bath: -Arre you ? -You arre ? -Ah zut! Comment on dit en Anglais ? -But you arre French !? 😂 This movie made the most entries in the French cinemas during 42 years (20 Millions in 1966), until "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" (2008).
We have Gorgets still in use in finnish military, always the one responsible for barracks units wears one. Not much news to me but still I didnt know it had been in use for such a long time
I've seen portraits of some of my Mvskoke ancestors wearing them. Both metal and shell gorgets were worn, with shell gorgets having been worn since before European contact. Some people still wear them today.
I work for a jewelry company and we have gifted metal gorgets to many people when they accomplish something great. We even make shell gorgets! I'm currently working on turning some foraged turtle shell into a carved shell gorget! Interestingly, at least for Cherokee culture, shell gorgets are usually worn by women and children but was known to be worn by male elders as well. Was disapppinted that the video had no info about the gorgets designed by literally any other place than the European countries and their colonies. I just wish it was more about the history of the actual jewelry, not just the European military history.
The dude in the intro (in Band of Brothers) is a well known actor. He's known for roles shows like : Sturm der liebe (storm of love). For the ones who want to know what the funny movie is, it's : La grande Vadrouille. It's a French world war 2 comedy. And also the very first comedy movie about world war 2. Wich stars : Bourvil and Luis de Funes.
Duty officers in the nordic countries (confirmed Finland, Sweden and Norway) still wear it to this day, but duty officers are usually not from the higher ranks, atleast in Norway its worn by the poor NCO that has the fun job of keeping all the privates/conscripts well behaved for that day/night in their respective barracks.
The Norwegian military actually has three different gorgets in use. One by the watch commander, usually a corporal, lance corporal or leading private. Another is worn by the inspecting officer, was usually a low ranking company grade officer when I was still serving, maybe high ranking NCOs are also doing this now, but I don´t know. The last one is worn by the duty officer, usually a Captain or a Major, or in some cases a well experienced 1st lieutenant.
When I joined the Army in 2006, we had the modern medieval equivalent of a gorget. It wasn't ceremonial and was entirely for protection against shrapnel and spalling impacting the armor it was attached too. It was made of kevlar and snapped into place on the IBAS armor. We didn't call it a gorget though, just a neck protector.
Swedish Army still uses it. It signals that an officer wearing it is on a watch duty and is authorized to take certain measures and decisions. Commons soldier also some times wears a simplified version. I used to wear one when on on call /guard duty. Picture of a Swedish present day officer Gorget. sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagbricka_m/1799
Still used in Norway by "Daghavende Offiser" - Officer of the Day, "Inspiserende Befal" - "Inspecting NCO" (although could be a junior officer, at least before we gained lots of new sergent-ranks), and the "Vaktkommandør" - Guard Watch Commander.
Great video up to the standard of all your excellent videos. It's worth noting that on the German military police gorget in ww2 the letters and two big buttons were picked out in luminous paint so they would show up in the dark. That's why they look a pale greenish colour in the film clips. Thanks again.
I was at a museum today and 18th century British gorgets were displayed. "Oh look gorgets" I said from a far. I soon disappointingly read that the museum called them breastplates 😮
One bit of _militaria_ seldom covered is the WWII German ceremonial Field Marshal baton. I find these fascinating works of art. I've often wondered if they are all accounted for, although I realize perhaps some have been lost to war, or maybe buried with its owner. Have you covered this?
Il testimone, usato dal esercito tedesco, è solo un simbolo di comando, che usavano i generali e i consoli del antica Roma, così come l' anello, e il saluto romano, tutti simboli usati dai romani, a cui prima i fascisti e poi i nazisti hanno sposato, come liturgia espressiva di immagine e potere.
The "Marschallstab" is a unique an very rare piece of "decoration". Usually german marshalls got their family crest on the "stab" and the family would keep them with the other belongings of the lost member - if they could get their hands on it. It is also documented, that some of them are burried with the former owner.
@@Pruegelbock I did not know the family crest was incorporated. Even more fascinating. They are absolutely beautiful. A real work of art. I would love to heft one, just to feel the weight. But they weren't an official German military insignia, rank, award, etc.? But rather a personal gift of recognition? And if I remember correctly weren't 2 given to 1 person? And thank you very much for your reply.
@@michaelmoore7975 but u have to look exactly, every usuall marshall (except Paulus, Schörner and Ritter von Greim) have had two of them - one for duty and the good one, highly decorated and very rare pieces of art - for high honor service). It was not common that every family have had their crest on it, it was their choice to do so. And they ARE legit german insignias of rank and title, because just the highest commanders are allowed to have (and use!) one.
@@Pruegelbock Yes it is the WWII ceremonial batons I am most interested in. Thank you for that clarification. I say they are not unlike Faberge eggs. Even better. They are rarer. They are exquisite works of art. Faberge Eggs celebrate both a day in the life of its recipient, and also the engineering prowess (humble brag) of its makers. Where the baton celebrates a man's _life work_ up to that point. And if it seems that a baton is merely a token gesture, then may I introduce you to the Faberge egg? But to the eggs credit, it _is_ more whimsical with less...uh.. _real substance, IMO._
Hello Johnny how are u doing? Nice video once again! I actually thought about those things every time i saw them in movies but i never looked them up... Thanks for the information! I thought about a new idea for a video : The Zündapp motorbikes in movies... I'm not sure if you've done that before!
One of my elderly neighbors called all cops "kettenhund." He grew up in wartime Germany, he never trusted cops or politicians after. Until Johnny explained it I just thought it was a breed of dog. Thanks, Johnny!
5-13-2023 Sat 1955 - This was a timely offering, as earlier I had looked up, "salet," an alternate spelling of, "sallet" - the former spelling used to solve daily, "Wordle," puzzles. Learning that a sallet is a type of Medieval war helmet, I ran across the term, "gorget," but didn't look it up because I didn't feel like going deeper in the rabbit hole. Your video convicted me and enlightened me. Thank you!
Thank you sir! Very informative and answered a lot of questions! I always wondered why the German military police would wear those gorgets....other then telling the enemy to "shoot here!"
"Chain Dogs" by Robert E. Witter comes in two volumes. If you are interested in the technical aspects of the Field Constables during WW2. BTW, Gendarme is the French word for Constabe. Gendarmerie is plural.
One constable is a Gendarme. Two or more are Gendarmen in the German sense. The Field Constabulary is the Gendarmerie. I am referring to the German context of WW2. I was not referring to the frogs of today. Good God! Confusing the French vs the German translation of WW2 has confused you. I have been studying military history since Summer of '71.
@@joeavent5554 You clearly wrote in your first post that Gendarmerie was the plural. The plural is gendarmen (gendarmes in French), not Gendarmerie. You corrected yourself in the last post. Quite the same meaning with the words in French.
I love anything related to European and American history. This was very interesting. I had no idea about this. I learned something new today. Thank you.
In Finnish military, the conscripts (even of the lowest rank) wear one when in front desk duty of a base/unit building, for example. Depending on the individual, one feels about it as a sign of easy duty - or borderline punishment
MPs are unpopular among the fighting men in most armies, but the German soldiers learned to loathe theirs near the end of the war. By this point in the war, the Feldgendarmerie (both SS and Wehrmacht) were primarily used to scrape up ersatz infantry units at gunpoint from random soldiers they spotted behind the front lines, hence "hero snatchers". Oftentimes they'd steal soldiers who were already attached to functional units right out of the dressing stations and basically declare them to be penal infantry. Nobody was safe away from the battle lines unless they had an officer with them, and sometimes not even then. Threatening exchanges between squads of drunken chain dogs and Wehrmacht officers trying to get their men out of harm's way became a regular occurrence.
Sure, the German Feldgendarmerie were responsible for rounding up stragglers into groups behind the lines but never "random" soldiers. Because otherwise the communications across the battlefield would just break down, since radio is still a luxury then and most German infantry units used message runners to carry orders back and forth the lines, usually in 1-2 men due to manpower shortages. Only German soldiers that didn't have the right pass (i.e. not a messenger) would be rounded up, and usually put into groups. Most often these soldiers weren't deserters but were hurry to pull back and regroup when their lines were overrun, and they were ordered to split into small groups to evade air attacks. And Feldgendarmerie would rarely designated these groups as penal units, since these men would be quickly absorbed into the chronically depleted regular German units and even if the penal units were formed, usually they were quickly dissolved by the commander of the units they are assigned to, where soldiers were distributed according their role (pioneer to engineer battalions, howitzer crews to artillery company, infantry to, well, infantry etc).
FYI gor·juht seems to have the best case for the more accurate pronunciation. Either pronunciation is fine in my books and seemingly in wide use. I went with gor·jè based on the pronunciation used by several professional curators showcasing gorgets.
Gor-jhey would be the French pronunciation.
Waste of time..asking around here..that said we are willing to try...😅
I'd always pronounced it as Gor-Get, but I don't recall ever having heard it spoken aloud before, so that was just a shot in the dark.
but there was no Potatoes recipes or even pictures!
Automatic translation in French write courgette. That is a vegetable add to that the Grande Vadrouille 🤣
In Finland, the duty officer wears a gorget to signify of his position. Kinda funny how the item has historically been a flashy officer thing and here it's used for a mundane task that's usually carried out by low-ranking NCOs or even privates.
The US army also has a brassard for that also (goes over your arm, not like an armband).
Huomenta... Same goes for Sweden...
Well, it is a mundane job to sit around, answer the phone, keep a record of who's coming and going out of the building, and where all the materiel is at all times.
So it's still used! Wasn't sure as it has been 30 years since I did my service.
aamurauta..
Quick note: "Kettenhunde" not only referred to the gorgets hanging from a chain, "Kettenhund" is also a term for a particular kind of guard dog. Usually, it's highly aggressive dogs that will attack anyone who comes close, except for maybe their keeper. They are kept on a long chain that is attached to a building or a stake in the ground. The idea is that this way, you can keep a super aggressive dog outside a cage without risking them getting loose, whilst entirely deterring intruders from getting within the radius of the chain.
The word Kettenhunde in German doesn’t it self refer to the Gorget; it is a derogatory term used to refer to the wearers (i.e the Feldgendarmerie themselves) of the Gorget.
In German, Gorget is just referred to as the 3:09 Kette (or chain). Hence, a Feldgendarme or Feldjäger, as they now are know, are Kettenhunde or chained dogs.
Today’s German Feldjäger no longer wear them.
Germany is really good at dog training. Here in the U.S, the dogs that the cops use for K9 duty are many times trained in Germany. The commands that the K9 officers use are in German.
@@Cooldudewhotellsamazingjokes Because Germans are generally the high end of humanity. So many lies and propaganda to derise them. Achtung to the social norms of MSM et al.
@@Cooldudewhotellsamazingjokes😂
Military Police...
Fun fact: not only is the gorget (Dagbricka m/1799) still in use in the Swedish military, it is not even the oldest piece of equipment still in use.
What is the oldest piece of equipment still in use?
@@Cyberspine it is the
@engineer gaming it always is the
@@StHummusIndeed it is the
@@nguyenduyphuc3924 how could I now of known it was the
Thank you so much for manually creating subtitles I am heart of hearing and I really appreciate when people do that, it takes a lot of work and wont help much people but the people it does help will greatly appreciate it.
my hearing is fine and I use subtitles and I love them
now there are AI tools to help with this but I suspect most people don't use them
These are used in the Norwegian army, typically in the garrisons. There are two types, one for the commander of the guard, and one for the responsible officer of the day. These roles are rolled around in between lower ranks and changed everyday or weekends.
It is also often worn by IB. IB directly translates to Inspecting Officer i guess? And is in charge of a certain barrack(s)
IB translates to Inspiserende Befal (Ispecting Officer), but is often just an additional task of the VK (Vaktkommandør / Guard Commander).
DH (Daghavende Offiser / Officer in charge) is in charge of the camp/garrison, including the guards VK/IB. It’s about keeping the garrison in shape and solving issues that might happen - including discipline.
Same is in Finnish army. At garrison Company's on duty noncommissioned officer wears gorget and he/she has right to make orders to all conscripts in the company. He/she is responsible for order and disibline in the company. At night on duty responsibility goes to enlisted man and he/she then wears gorget.
Yeah, I wore that one every time I was Vaktkommandør eller Daghavende Offiser during my Norwegian military service 1976/77.
Never once saw one of our IBs wear one when I was in PBN in 2021-22
I wore one of those things whenever it was my turn to be the night watchman at my garrison in the Finnish air force. Nobody knew what the official name of it was, so it was simply called "päivystäjän kilpi" (the watchman's shield).
Same in the Norwegian Kings Guard. That’s where my memories go whenever I see one
Also nicknamed as "päivystäjän banaani" or watchman's banana. due to the shape and colour (brass) of it.
In the US we wear brassards for our charge of quarters and Military Police. Well now we no longer wear the CQ one and the MP one has been changed to a velcro MP similar in size to the flag worn on the opposite shoulder
As a medieval history nerd, ive known gorgets as the throat armour. Cool to see they became a cerimonial decoration later on
These were a ceremonial decoration or jewelry in the bronze age too, made of gold. They are called gold Lunulas and were made in prehistoric ireland
@@EchoClam I had always assumed they were all protective in nature. I learned something today, cheers!
My first thought too ohhh to be a knight again lol
@@ThommyofThennwere they ever really protective?
@@GhANeC were they always cerimonial peirces? Surely the throat was seen as needing to be protected in combat
I consider myself an all round nerd but had never heard or ever considered a Gorget till stumbling across this fun concise and well edited clip on the A-Z of Gorget. Now I will probably be seeing them everywhere next time I watch a war movie. Well done!
I was a guard soldier in the military a few decades ago, here in Norway. The Guard officer and the Guard commander both use gorgets to signify their status as camp commanders above rank when it comes to internal security.
0:24 what a smooth stunt! That was cool
French film, „La Grande vadrouille“.
They were the German equivalent of MP brassard US troops wore. I want to say that gorgets were also worn by the British Army in the 1800's for people like Provost marshals (who were pretty much MP's also, but assigned to the division or army level).
Well put sir...
PS...my ol, da was an MP in North Africa with the RAF/Desert Air force...not practical, I think...😅😅
There were worn by LGPTQ personnel to distinguish them from the regular soldiers (regs) in the French Army. They were worn down by the chin and called “Chin Nuts”🥜 by the troops
Lol!!!
The German military police now used them too.
0:16 Louis de Funès throwing pumpkins at pursuers... the origin of Mario Kart
It was Bourvil who was throwing, Louis de Funès is behind next to the nun.
Thanks. I was not aware of this tradition with the gorget.
The Dutch army has gorgets for the officer of the watch. That is an officer or warrant officer supervising the soldiers on watch duty. The soldiers had to patrol the barracks grounds and the OOTW would cycle around to keep an eye on the men.
same in finnish army
somewhat similar gorgets are worn by norwegian (and, IIRC swedish) soldiers stating "Kasernepoliti" or something like that
The Norwegian version th-cam.com/video/o5LRc1PjQK4/w-d-xo.html, so the text version must be swedish
It's a rotating position, right?
Makes sense to have an insignia that can easily put on or off, instead of being more permanently fixed to the uniform.
@@Yora21 Yes exactly, Guard duty is on 24 hour rotation. The Officer of the Watch also carried a pistol, which was also rotated.
Thanks for this. It's one of those items of uniform that doesn't really get much of an explanation and this is a concise video that covers it nicely.
I know the term "Kettenhund" from my grandmother. She was an apprentice and was used by her employer to smuggle cloth via train rides. She was most intimidated, as she said, by those "Kettenhunde".
Chain dogs
In Yorkshire, dogs that eat roadkill (etc.) are said to be "Ketting."
@@andrewelliott4436 thats coincidence
@@johnElden8760 Not necessarily, given the relationship between the English and German language.
@@andrewhoward7200 "Kette" translates to chain, what would that have to do with dogs feasting on garbage?
At least during my conscription in the Finnish military (2005) I wore that kind of thing. It was always put on by a soldier who was on "standby" meaning during his shift he made sure everything was working properly and schedules were kept etc. Hard to explain but I tried! :D
You are talking about duty officers who were conscripted NCO's whose jobs were to supervise the unit and keep order when it was in the barracks.
Another great video Johnny
Appreciate the nice overview of many movie moments. Well done.
Always was curious about these but I've never thought about looking it up, cheers for doing the work for me brother 😁 Great video as always 👌
I am a former US Army MP from the 80's. I saw this on Band of Brothers on a scene and recently researched it a week ago and now saw this tonight. Thanks for posting.
Straight to the point... no useless dramatisation.. perfect!
Yes, I kept waiting for the fluff in this video, but there wasn't any. Much appreciate that.
so it takes 3 min to answer one question? "straight to the point"
@@TehSWEED ...what?
Well done! Nice production. Outstanding narration.
Thank you!
You do this all the time Johnny! Like many of your other videos of this nature, it's subject is something I've always wondered about whenever I see it on TV yet never researched on my own. Love your content man!
Thanks man! Sometimes I am just watching a movie and realize I don't know much about a device or item too so it's a chance for me to learn and do some research.
Thank you for a good video. Adding the movie names to the the video was a nice touch.
love the work you do Johnny, keep it up !
The most informative 3min video I’ve seen in a long time.
We in the Dutch army wear one when we are officer of the day. During this duty amongst other things we are responsible for base security. It is styled to represent the base and the history of it.
Officier van Piket? Ik moet erg ver terug gaan om dat te herinneren, geloof dat het meestal een sergeant majoor of een adjudant was.
@@kamion53 de onderofficieren die het ook mochten. Meestal een adjudant, vaandrig of luitenant maar met lage bezettingsgraad vaak een sergeant majoor.
Met dagkamer dienst droegen we de koppel met één schouderriem, als onderscheid en het recht om officieren te storen in vergaderingen.
I’ve seen Gorget’s in plenty of films but never knew the name of these uniform pieces until this video. Thanks.
I like how the German NCO holds Janovec’s hand and makes it steady before the flame 🔥 touches his cigarette. I like this scene because it shows that they are both just happy the war is over.
The Japanese DF still uses a functional variant of a gorget in their ballistic vests, unlike most countries which use exposed neck models. One of my favourite things about their gear.
Many vest designs have one as a separate piece that can be attached if the wearer wants to. Most of the time it's unnecessary weight and bulk so not really seen that often.
We have one in the US Army, we just don't wear them unless we have to.
@@expansivegymnast1020 Or you have a platoon sergeant with the philosophy that if the Army issued it, we have to wear it.
what do i google to see it ? , i try "japanese df gorget" but google image search didnt show one :(
@@-Pathos- "JGSDF to Adopt New Body Armour System" is an article earlier this year. It is very similar in setup to the Interceptor Body Armor I used In Iraq in 03 and 05, but with improvements. The IBA had a removable gorget as well.
It's always a pleasure to see La Grande Vadrouille especially on an american TH-cam Channel.
It's great to see you getting more and more views, I love your work.
Rendevous at the Turkish Baths
It's an incredible movie. Pretty much anything involving Funes is a gem.
Never heard of it, paused the video after the first clip to track it down. Will watch it this week end!
@@cringeonmain5653You're not big moustache ?
@@tubrosDid you like it ?
It was already a pretty old movie during my childhood, I'm curious about a foreign opinion !
There is still some fun pun but maybe there will be some lost in translation.
Fun fact : when I think about a gorget I alway think of this movie, and I always think it looks like an ugly bib.
The gorget makes a nice shiny target for snipers !
They also signify that the wearer is the Emperor of the Centauri Republic. 😮
The original practical Gorget was used to protect the throat once heavy rapiers became popular, because one of the most significant weaknesses of an armored cavalier is the throat.
So glad you made the Centari reference, can't believe I didn't think of it.
Haha, was here to see if someone mentioned the Centauri Republic (and if not, mention it).
Fun to see “la grande vadrouille” as an example for the gorget. So French, I didn’t know non-French may know it :)
Brilliant movie
I love it and i know its considered a classic in most ex-sovjet countries, as it was very popular there. In Germany that one is a bit lesser known of all the different de Funès movies.
I wonder how popular they are in north America.
Not really. It was called Die grosse Sause in German and was actually quite well known. At that time, Bourvil was also quite a well known comedian in Germany.
I also loved that you used this film as an example though.
1:35 "Gilded with gold" is redundant. "Gilded" means coated with gold.
I would love to hear more about how the Chilean Army was influenced by Prussia. Very interesting.
Plenty of references here on TH-cam just look them up.
@@sheerluckholmes5468 Can I wear a Pike helmet in the US? "Sheer luck" are you referring to Gene wilders excellent comedy?
Yeah! I found that connection fascinating too. It really piqued my curiosity.
You be surprised to find how some latin countries are based AF
When Germany became a nation in 1871, they were held in high regard worldwide.
The Germans modernized the militaries of other nations, including Chile and the Ottoman empire ( Now the nation of Turkey).
ur keep getting better
It's so refreshing seeing a history topic be straight to the point and less than 10 minutes
i gotta admit.. i was always curious about these. Thanks.
Same.
In ancient Greece and Rome a horizontal helmet normally means a officer.
I loved this unusual subject. It’s something I’ve seen but never realized would be a really cool bit of history to learn. Thanks Johnny!
On the Wehrmacht gorget, the white spots on either side were made of a luminescent compound, like a watch dial, to make a wearer visible at night if he was doing duty as a traffic cop.
The lettering and the insignia glow too BTW.
Very interesting and informative. I had always thought they were some sort of battle protection for the heart. Likely wouldn't do much, but better than nothing, and simpler to wear than proper armor! Thanks for correcting that.
Thanks. That was a wonderful video. Please keep up the great work!
Quite refreshing to see footage of La Grande Vadrouille in English-speaking content. Great video!
I was about to say the same thing!
Thanks for including footage of films featuring Louis de Funès; the greatest French comedian ever!!
Yes, that's right about the German military police, and can also be seen in many films about the 2nd World War. But in the 3rd Reich, gorgets were also worn when one was a standard bearer at various German institutions. And incidentally the SS streifendienst also had its own gorget.
Its the remains of the panzer body shield, it used to shield the belly of the soldiers, it comes from the Italian word panza which means belly it was picked up when German mercenary fought in Italy,eventualy ended up as indicating the tanks as well.
Honestly I think this is well within the wheel house of your content Mr. Johnny Johnson. I enjoy that you will bring up and in a dulcet, almost soothing voice explain military trivia and/or significance thoroughly, whilst also referencing and displaying many pop culture scenes as well as real life documentary footage if it's available. It's a perfect mix of the real life purpose as well as the entertainment involvement.
Interesting subject, short and to the point. Thanks!
Gorgets would include (chain)maille throat defenses until their disappearance. The "correct" pronunciation would be "gor-jet", as words were written as they were spoken. Same with "sallet", it would be "sal-let". This is pedantry though. Medieval and Early Modern gorgets were worn to protect against lances, pikes, swords, arrows, etc, though I suppose you didn't specify any others for brevity.
Great video!
"Today they are worn commonly by rappers and their ilk and are gilded in gold, silver, as well as diamonds. The are known colloquially as 'bling' or 'ice'."
- Sir David Attenborough, probably
@@abcdefbcdefg8352 Cherokees of the 18th and early 19th Century were fond of silver gorgets. Their shell gorgets are said to go back as far as 200 B.C.E..
As a corporal I've been patrol leader (without a gorget though) for officers up to the rank of major. They outranked me, but during the patrol ...
That's the role of gorgets today in my oponion, signifying a role/function outranking ranks under certain circumstances.
Yes, when I did my military service in the Netherlands and we were taught about ranks, we were also told you could be outranked by and therefore had to follow orders from either a "military superior" or a "functional superior" (e.g. even a lowly private, when on guard duty at the gates, can order the base commander to show his military passport before letting him in - though in practice I'm sure he'll ask very politely :-)....). So when, as conscripted ensigns, we had the duty of OKP, sort of "Officer of the day for the whole garrison", and thus wore the gorget, we used to joke that for the next 24 hours, we were the most important person on the whole base, because we could order anyone around 😂....
@@helanrenhe asked it politely but did certainly not wave him through, because then he the base commander would come later back to him why he didn't asked him for his passport.
This episode and the talker helmet episode are really good. Weapons are great but these more obscure pieces of history that I have seen but never really thought about are a lot more interesting in my opinion.
Thank you for making this a sub-5 minute video instead of a 20-40 minute video essay.
Perfect timing, this came ought right after my art history prof mentioned that an artifact was likely worn as a gorget and I was clueless as to what that meant! Thanks for the informative videos Johnny
Thanks so much! Hope it's a good class.
Army security in Finland use those metal blates now a days as well.
You show a lot of clips from _The Grand Adventure_ , which is my wife's favorite movie. Too bad there's not a good English subtitled or dubbed edition. But it turns out that whoever did the Chinese translation did a good job of making memorable quotations and clever lines.
It's a brilliant movie
I love that movie. So funny. I remember watching it as a kid with my grandfather who was a WWII veteran (German Navy) and also liked it a lot. And no, he wasn't a Nazi and hated war. He was (like almost every young man) drafted but joined the Navy because he thought this is the way to stay away as far as possible from the mess his dad was in in WWI. He hated war or any conflict and I never heard him say anything positive about Hitler or anything negative about Americans. The only bad comments were about some British sailors in Hamburg right after the war who threw the rest of their lunch over board - in plain sight of starving kids. I am glad that we talked so much about that time.
There is some English in this movie, specially in the Turquish bath:
-Arre you ?
-You arre ?
-Ah zut! Comment on dit en Anglais ?
-But you arre French !? 😂
This movie made the most entries in the French cinemas during 42 years (20 Millions in 1966), until "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" (2008).
@@Pakal77 🎵Tea for two and two for tea...
@Tt ty In Chinese it translates to "Out of the Tiger's Den"
Very informative! Thanks for the video.
I would never had believe to see a scene from the Grande Vadrouille in a non french video.
Thank you for the fascinating explaination. This video has been suggested to me many times but I finally gave in and watched it. 🙂
We have Gorgets still in use in finnish military, always the one responsible for barracks units wears one. Not much news to me but still I didnt know it had been in use for such a long time
Päivystäjä 😎🇫🇮
@@Carbidestruck "Ja nakki napsuu.." Mens that the duty officer hand out all kind of duties. Allso not the nice ones. ;)
Does anyone know what is the context or clip shown at 2:44 please?
I've seen portraits of some of my Mvskoke ancestors wearing them. Both metal and shell gorgets were worn, with shell gorgets having been worn since before European contact. Some people still wear them today.
Was just about to type this. Heh.
I work for a jewelry company and we have gifted metal gorgets to many people when they accomplish something great. We even make shell gorgets! I'm currently working on turning some foraged turtle shell into a carved shell gorget! Interestingly, at least for Cherokee culture, shell gorgets are usually worn by women and children but was known to be worn by male elders as well. Was disapppinted that the video had no info about the gorgets designed by literally any other place than the European countries and their colonies. I just wish it was more about the history of the actual jewelry, not just the European military history.
The dude in the intro (in Band of Brothers) is a well known actor. He's known for roles shows like : Sturm der liebe (storm of love). For the ones who want to know what the funny movie is, it's : La grande Vadrouille. It's a French world war 2 comedy. And also the very first comedy movie about world war 2. Wich stars : Bourvil and Luis de Funes.
Duty officers in the nordic countries (confirmed Finland, Sweden and Norway) still wear it to this day, but duty officers are usually not from the higher ranks, atleast in Norway its worn by the poor NCO that has the fun job of keeping all the privates/conscripts well behaved for that day/night in their respective barracks.
In Finland it is corporals or sergeants. Honestly it was kinda chill, especially nearing the end of your service where it felt like a break.
The Norwegian military actually has three different gorgets in use. One by the watch commander, usually a corporal, lance corporal or leading private. Another is worn by the inspecting officer, was usually a low ranking company grade officer when I was still serving, maybe high ranking NCOs are also doing this now, but I don´t know. The last one is worn by the duty officer, usually a Captain or a Major, or in some cases a well experienced 1st lieutenant.
In the spanish navy and marine corps they are called "golas" and they are worn by officers commanding units
When I joined the Army in 2006, we had the modern medieval equivalent of a gorget. It wasn't ceremonial and was entirely for protection against shrapnel and spalling impacting the armor it was attached too. It was made of kevlar and snapped into place on the IBAS armor. We didn't call it a gorget though, just a neck protector.
Swedish Army still uses it.
It signals that an officer wearing it is on a watch duty and is authorized to take certain measures and decisions.
Commons soldier also some times wears a simplified version. I used to wear one when on on call /guard duty.
Picture of a Swedish present day officer Gorget. sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagbricka_m/1799
Wonderfully informative! Thank you!
Still used in Norway by "Daghavende Offiser" - Officer of the Day, "Inspiserende Befal" - "Inspecting NCO" (although could be a junior officer, at least before we gained lots of new sergent-ranks), and the "Vaktkommandør" - Guard Watch Commander.
Thank you for getting straight to the point. Not many ytbers do that anymore.
So much dragged on marketing crap on youtube sadly
Great video up to the standard of all your excellent videos. It's worth noting that on the German military police gorget in ww2 the letters and two big buttons were picked out in luminous paint so they would show up in the dark. That's why they look a pale greenish colour in the film clips. Thanks again.
Thanks for adding that! Very interesting detail
Interesting video , congratulations on all the views.
It seems like a nice way to identify yourself to a sniper as a valuable target.
0:21 that pumpkin to the head is amazing.
I was at a museum today and 18th century British gorgets were displayed. "Oh look gorgets" I said from a far. I soon disappointingly read that the museum called them breastplates 😮
Loved all the clips!
In the Finnish military the duty officer wears one just to make him easily recognizable no matter what his or hers actual rank is.
It's used to stop bullets to the chest.
One bit of _militaria_ seldom covered is the WWII German ceremonial Field Marshal baton. I find these fascinating works of art. I've often wondered if they are all accounted for, although I realize perhaps some have been lost to war, or maybe buried with its owner.
Have you covered this?
Il testimone, usato dal esercito tedesco, è solo un simbolo di comando, che usavano i generali e i consoli del antica Roma, così come l' anello, e il saluto romano, tutti simboli usati dai romani, a cui prima i fascisti e poi i nazisti hanno sposato, come liturgia espressiva di immagine e potere.
The "Marschallstab" is a unique an very rare piece of "decoration". Usually german marshalls got their family crest on the "stab" and the family would keep them with the other belongings of the lost member - if they could get their hands on it.
It is also documented, that some of them are burried with the former owner.
@@Pruegelbock I did not know the family crest was incorporated. Even more fascinating. They are absolutely beautiful. A real work of art. I would love to heft one, just to feel the weight. But they weren't an official German military insignia, rank, award, etc.? But rather a personal gift of recognition? And if I remember correctly weren't 2 given to 1 person?
And thank you very much for your reply.
@@michaelmoore7975 but u have to look exactly, every usuall marshall (except Paulus, Schörner and Ritter von Greim) have had two of them - one for duty and the good one, highly decorated and very rare pieces of art - for high honor service). It was not common that every family have had their crest on it, it was their choice to do so.
And they ARE legit german insignias of rank and title, because just the highest commanders are allowed to have (and use!) one.
@@Pruegelbock Yes it is the WWII ceremonial batons I am most interested in. Thank you for that clarification.
I say they are not unlike Faberge eggs. Even better.
They are rarer. They are exquisite works of art. Faberge Eggs celebrate both a day in the life of its recipient, and also the engineering prowess (humble brag) of its makers.
Where the baton celebrates a man's _life work_ up to that point.
And if it seems that a baton is merely a token gesture, then may I introduce you to the Faberge egg? But to the eggs credit, it _is_ more whimsical with less...uh.. _real substance, IMO._
How interesting this is, Johnny!
I thought the title was “why are they worm?” I’m a little disappointed
This comment brings me joy
Well because Nazis, that's a simple answer. If one that's rather insulting to worms.
Nice videos, mate. Subbed.
Thought the reason was pretty obvious. Duty.
Military police
Very informative. Thank you!
Hello Johnny how are u doing?
Nice video once again!
I actually thought about those things every time i saw them in movies but i never looked them up...
Thanks for the information!
I thought about a new idea for a video : The Zündapp motorbikes in movies... I'm not sure if you've done that before!
Absolutely! Tons of fun footage to use on that subject.
0:18
Great classic comedy with Terry-Thomas and Louis de Funes 😂
Worth watching 👌
Kettenhunde 😀 Great video 😍 Did not think about the history behind it as such.
One of my elderly neighbors called all cops "kettenhund." He grew up in wartime Germany, he never trusted cops or politicians after.
Until Johnny explained it I just thought it was a breed of dog. Thanks, Johnny!
5-13-2023 Sat 1955 - This was a timely offering, as earlier I had looked up, "salet," an alternate spelling of, "sallet" - the former spelling used to solve daily, "Wordle," puzzles.
Learning that a sallet is a type of Medieval war helmet, I ran across the term, "gorget," but didn't look it up because I didn't feel like going deeper in the rabbit hole. Your video convicted me and enlightened me. Thank you!
Thank you sir! Very informative and answered a lot of questions! I always wondered why the German military police would wear those gorgets....other then telling the enemy to "shoot here!"
What happened to the guy in the sidecar after the motorcycle was hit by the pumpkin?
"Chain Dogs" by Robert E. Witter comes in two volumes. If you are interested in the technical aspects of the Field Constables during WW2.
BTW, Gendarme is the French word for Constabe. Gendarmerie is plural.
Gendarmerie is the corps, the gendarmes are the officers.
Funny enough the german mp was also called Gendarmerie or Feldgendarmerie
And these guys.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendarme_(historical)#:~:text=A%20gendarme%20was%20a%20heavy,to%20the%20Early%20Modern%20period.
One constable is a Gendarme. Two or more are Gendarmen in the German sense. The Field Constabulary is the Gendarmerie. I am referring to the German context of WW2. I was not referring to the frogs of today. Good God! Confusing the French vs the German translation of WW2 has confused you. I have been studying military history since Summer of '71.
@@joeavent5554 You clearly wrote in your first post that Gendarmerie was the plural. The plural is gendarmen (gendarmes in French), not Gendarmerie. You corrected yourself in the last post. Quite the same meaning with the words in French.
1:52 What the movie here (with David Schwimmer)?
Looks like "Bank of brothers". A series, not a movie.
I love anything related to European and American history. This was very interesting. I had no idea about this. I learned something new today. Thank you.
Informative video, and extra thanks for using footage from the French comedy "La Grande Vadrouille"
1:13 Who is that - Chevy Chase?!?
Had no idea you were the same Johnny from JohnnysWarStories, love your work man
In Finnish military, the conscripts (even of the lowest rank) wear one when in front desk duty of a base/unit building, for example. Depending on the individual, one feels about it as a sign of easy duty - or borderline punishment
Thanks for this. Always good to learn something new. And today I did!
MPs are unpopular among the fighting men in most armies, but the German soldiers learned to loathe theirs near the end of the war. By this point in the war, the Feldgendarmerie (both SS and Wehrmacht) were primarily used to scrape up ersatz infantry units at gunpoint from random soldiers they spotted behind the front lines, hence "hero snatchers". Oftentimes they'd steal soldiers who were already attached to functional units right out of the dressing stations and basically declare them to be penal infantry. Nobody was safe away from the battle lines unless they had an officer with them, and sometimes not even then. Threatening exchanges between squads of drunken chain dogs and Wehrmacht officers trying to get their men out of harm's way became a regular occurrence.
I fucking hate MPs. Cops first, Marines second.
Sure, the German Feldgendarmerie were responsible for rounding up stragglers into groups behind the lines but never "random" soldiers. Because otherwise the communications across the battlefield would just break down, since radio is still a luxury then and most German infantry units used message runners to carry orders back and forth the lines, usually in 1-2 men due to manpower shortages. Only German soldiers that didn't have the right pass (i.e. not a messenger) would be rounded up, and usually put into groups. Most often these soldiers weren't deserters but were hurry to pull back and regroup when their lines were overrun, and they were ordered to split into small groups to evade air attacks. And Feldgendarmerie would rarely designated these groups as penal units, since these men would be quickly absorbed into the chronically depleted regular German units and even if the penal units were formed, usually they were quickly dissolved by the commander of the units they are assigned to, where soldiers were distributed according their role (pioneer to engineer battalions, howitzer crews to artillery company, infantry to, well, infantry etc).