If you want to see even more about the war, in focused detail on a variety of events, check out our Instagram day by day coverage at: instagram.com/WW2_Day_By_Day/ And to go beyond the strategies and operations and really see the dark underbelly of this conflict, we also make a War Against Humanity sub-series. That playlist is right here: th-cam.com/play/PLsIk0qF0R1j4cwI-ZuDoBLxVEV3egWKoM.html And please read our rules of conduct before you comment, saves everyone headaches (and loads of time): community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518
Thanks for pronouncing Melbourne right Indy; it's not Mel-born. I meant to say it on the last video so I'll put it here, More Astrid please. Loved the video about spies.
11: 09 "and it serves mostly to make the occupied hate the occupier" EVEN MORE. There. The nazis invading the USSR were welcomed as liberators. For about two weeks. Within six weeks they were universally Hated.
Finnish and Estonian nearly invariably place the stress on the first syllable and their natural rhyme is trochaic tetrameter. the natural rhythm of english is iambic pentameter. the natural rhythm of greek is dactylic hexameter. Finnish and Estonian, like most languages (but unlike English and French), have regular spelling and OI always rhymes with Boy in those languages unlike French. During the war Coregidor was quipped about in the press as "coruggeder", really. however I don't speak Tagalog (yet...). It looks Spanish but Tagalog has lots of Spanish loan words so ... maybe?
I can no longer play hoi4 without imagining Indy narrating the events in my campaign, however absurd they may be, like "this week, Brazil crosses the Alps!"
Mhh, possible mod or DLC to get some events narrated? IIRC Paradox has sponsored them before and doing some voicework might be fun. They may not have the time though.
Kind of the opposite of the early war Soviet Army, where even a competent commander could be overruled by an utterly incompetent political officer, whose only wish is to look good in front of Stalin.
Indy's tie has learned the first lesson of not being seen: Not to stand out. However, it has chosen a very obvious piece of cover to hide before. **violent explosion**
@@BLRSharpLight There was one group of campers that got blown up IIRC, and some forest fires that got started, but no real effect on the US mainland. But the US government took the threat seriously enough that they depolyed the first black paratrooper regiment as smoke jumpers in the west in order to fight the expected fires.
Japan initial balloon attacks were to calibrate the timers when to drop bombs on America by using spies reading American News and listening to radio news broadcasts. This knowledge gained was then used to send balloons to America armed with plague bombs developed by the Japanese Unit 731, who had experimented on the Chinese at an industrial level with biological warfare. The fleas carrying plague froze at the high altitudes in the jet stream crossing the Pacific making the weapons useless. Japan was defeated before they solve the problem of their plague delivery system. The plague Japan deployed was the same as the black death in the middle ages, they also intended to use a variant to attack livestock. This attack on America was one of the main reasons the Allies were in agreement and then used Atomic weapons against Japan. What the world would look like today if Imperial Japan were successful is anyone's guess, but it is probable there would have been no mercy shown to the Japanese and Japan would have been wiped from the face of the Earth.
@@BLRSharpLight the attacks were not very effective as many balloons didn't make it to America and the only casualties were a few civilians, although one did hit a US nuclear power plant but nothing serious came out of that
Japan began looking into balloon bombs in the mid-1930s. To learn more I recommend looking up the Noborito Laboratory where the balloon bombs were designed. Part of the facility is now a museum dedicated to discussing the laboratory's creation of biological weapons, counterfeiting of Chinese currency, spy tools and the balloon bombs. Their goal is to make these things known so that history does not repeat itself. I wrote about it here: www.wayfarerdaves.com/?p=2898
I had sparsely followed this series since day one but decided to put watching it on hold until I binge watched the entire Great War series and Between Two Wars. I managed to complete that feat last May and have watched every episode since.
Meanwhile at Luftwaffe headquarters: "Sir, we are under attack by a large formation of enemy balloons." "Nein!" "Ninety-nine, actually. Floating over the winter sky."
People also need to remember that no matter what MacArthur did, the Philippines would have still fallen. Had there been no issues with the planes maybe they get some bombs off over Taiwan (with early war bombing there is a large question if any damage of note would have been done) but that doesn't save the Philippines. If MacArthur took all of the food and brought it to Bataan the US and Philippine army still needs to surrender before they can be rescued by the Navy as was the original plan to defend the Philippines before MacArthur, Marshal and FDR changed it. And the Philippines would not have been saved if the US had stayed with the original plan to defend the Philippines which was to immediately retreat to Bataan. Had all of the troops and supplies that were needed to execute MacArthur's plan to defend the Philippines gotten there before the Japanese invaded then there would have actually been a good chance for the Philippines to stop the Japanese invasion. But the bottom line when talking about the Philippines and MacArthur to me is the US and Filipino troops under MacArthur's command hold out in Bataan for months longer then the original war plan to defend the Philippines called for despite what issues some people bring up with the defense. Because of what happened to the US Navy at Pearl Harbor the US would have never been able to rescue the troops in Bataan no matter what they did. What those troops in the Philippines did do though is set Japanese invasion time tables back by months. The Japanese will eventually have to send more troops into the Philippines to finish off the US and Filipino troops there. Had the US and Filipino troops surrendered or been defeated faster it would have allowed the Japanese to send far more troops into New Guinee and Guadalcanal before Australian and US troops could get to those locations in large numbers to prevent the Japanese from taking them. The fall of those locations would have resulted in a minimum of far more Japanese air attacks on Australia if not a attempted invasion of Australia even.
@@PhillyPhanVinny A big part of why the Philippines didn't fall for so long was that everyone was falling so fast that the Japanese instead left a much smaller, lighter army (specifically a Brigade that had little if any training and was intended as a garrison), and sent their best units South to strike at the Dutch East Indies. The holding out at the Philippines had little, if anything, to do with "holding" actions.
@@citizenofvenus So what you said there is half correct. The Japanese sent their largest of their invasion forces to the Philippines out of all the invasions after Pearl Harbor with their most veteran divisions being sent as well. After MacArthur ordered the retreat to Bataan the Japanese thought they had won the Philippines and decided they would move most of the veteran troops out of the Philippines and start using them on new invasions. The Japanese still proceeded to launch attacks on the allied troops in Bataan, Corregidor and the rest of the Philippines but those attacks were actually held off. It wasn't until the Japanese then took the time to send veteran troops back to the Philippines and launched new attacks that Bataan eventually surrendered followed by the rest of the Philippines after that. That was the Japanese fault for thinking the Philippines would fall as quickly as the rest of the allied colonies were at the time. The delay of taking the Philippines and the time taken to then send troops back to the Philippines to finish it off were troops that the Japanese could have been sending to New Guinee months before they actually did resulting in the full capture of that island. If New Guinee fully fell that would have had massive consequences for Australia as the Japanese would have ended launching many more bombing runs on Australia then actually happened in real life most likely. In addition to that, had General Wainwright not surrendered all of the Philippines when he surrendered Corregidor island the Japanese would have had so many more forces in the Philippines to fight for so much longer. Many of the troops in the southern Philippine islands ignored Wainwright's order for them to surrender but many did follow his orders to surrender. Those that didn't continued to fight a gorilla campaign against the Japanese until MacArthur recaptured the Philippines from Japan. The people of the Philippines unlike most other Asian colonies already considered themselves a independent nation (they essentially were in almost every aspect) and thus were much more willing to fight against the Japanese for their country. Other colony nations like Indonesia actually saw the Japanese as liberators against their colonial masters.
He wasted alot of lives taking a non strategic target for his own gain. He was not a good general and trying to nuke the Chinese 10 years later is evidence of that.
For those not familiar with U.S. legislation and bureaucracy, "shall" is one of the strongest verbs someone can use to indicate the importance of the action or the requirement for its completion... stronger than "must" or "will." I suspect MacArthur used it deliberately to send a signal to Washington, rather than to adopt more flowery or antiquated language.
I studied English and still am not entirely clear about the differences between: - have to - must - shall (will, ought, and should are easier) It's difficult because sometimes more than one can be used, and the meaning doesn't change. But sometimes it's a nuance that definitely does affect the implications. And telling those situations apart, is quite challenging! (especially since they need not be stable between British and American usage, or change over time between the declaration of independence and today)
@@MrNicoJac 'Shall' has largely dropped out of North American English - it's usually a bit of an affectation when it's used at all now. I don't know how much it's still used in conversational English in the UK. Actually, now that I think of it, 'shall' lingers on in N. Am. - in Canada, anyway - in the question, "Shall we?", which usually means, "Let's go [leave]".
Properly speaking "shall" is used with the first person (I, we) and "will" for the second and third person. However for emphasis these are swapped. Not sure about US usage in the 1940s.
@@edwinblake Yep, now do "thou". Language is weird, and over time English gets simpler and more streamlined the more cultures and other languages it absorbs. Something vaguely Orwellian about it though...
Viscount Slims' account of the war in Burma was one of the best I have ever read. His humility, honesty, and admission of the initial mistakes that were made reflect a man of character and great leadership. Although a lengthy work it was hard to put down. Given the sparsity of resources provided to him, and the fragile support infrastructure used to support him, the crushing defeat he administered to the Japanese is remarkable.
Yeah I mean they have defeated the Dutch and British, achieved most of their objectives. All that’s left is to secure their position and resources and finish off the last of the American forces, what could go wrong?
Can't wait to see what new infrastructure projects they'll be bringing to their new co-prosperity sphere. So much opportunity for building and uplifting the region now that the European and American colonial masters have been kicked out. They'll surely be greeting their Japanese liberators with rose-petal parades!
Patrick- MacAsshole was a vain, arrogant egomaniac. Terrible commander. While stuck on Corregador, his men nicknamed him DUGOUT DOUG, cuz he stayed safe in the bunkers instead of leading from the front. He also allowed most of his airplanes to be destroyed on the ground. He had no business in command
Slim: 'Maybe we should ask those who could beat the Japanese at least several times in the past years about how did they do that.' Stilwell: 'Lol, that's crap tactics.'
Its worth pointing out that China had 3-4 times as many troops deployed as Japan, fighting on their home territory, on land they knew far better than their enemy and had still only managed a strategic stalemate for many years. Its not hard to see how a foreign commander would sum up their tactics as "crap". Its also important to note that later on in the war Australian, American, British etc troops all generally massively outperformed their Chinese counterparts in combat against the Japanese - much of that was obviously vastly superior equipment, but training and tactics probably also played a role. TLDR: Doubting Chinese millitary compotence was not a crazy opinion.
I'm 33, from CT and live in NYC. So when I watch, my perspective is predominantly historical and ultimately divorced from these events. But, my grandmother was 13 and in Manila when the Japanese arrived. It gives me shivers knowing the significance of this to the average civilian.
The problem with actually taking advantage of being able to watch these three days early, is that you disappoint your future self by having already watched it.
I love that the channel always remembers to talk about the economic mismanagement of the Axis. The dismal homefront situation was a huge factor in their defeat. And it just goes to show how ineffective exploitative ideologies are.
@CommandoDude Actually, exploitation *can* be *more* effective. (like, Germany never could have invaded the Soviet Union if they hadn't stolen the French's food) It all comes down to time. If the conflict only lasts a short time, exploitation is more effective. But if the war drags on, you're just eating up your own production capacity. (in a sense, it's like your body digesting muscle tissue to stay alive - sure, you'll survive long enough to run into a hungry animal, but now you definitely won't win) And since Germany had ZERO chance of defeating the Americans at home, exploitation was suicide. Thankfully...
@@thelizardking3036 TIK's recent logistics videos are ridiculous. His idea that market forces could have been used to improve transport and supply to frontline troops in WWII is totally absurd.
3:25 *Guadalcanal* you say? With the Japanese having the possibility to build an airfield that close to Australia, I wonder if the Allies might do anything about this in the near future. That is if most people were even able to know where Guadalcanal was in the globe in the first place...
@@gunman47 Maybe. But they might be not be so strong after all. I don't know i just have this gut feeling that they'll have setbacks or even great defeats in the near future.
@@principalityofbelka6310 yes, surely they will give themselves enough time to build up adequate forces and supplies. No way the Americans will launch their first strategic offensive on a "Shoestring".
For 20 years between the wars he was a Gurkha officer, as so many of the 14th Army’s fighting generals were. Slim loved the Gurkhas, whose language he spoke. His favorite stories are of Gurkhas. He tells of the paratroopers who were to jump at 300 feet. As they had never jumped before, their havildar asked if they might go a little nearer the ground for their first jump. He was told that this was impossible because the parachutes would not have time to open. "Oh," said the Gurkha, "so we get parachutes, eh?"
He didn't seem to have the imperial arrogance that so many other British officers in the theater did, being willing to listen to what the Chinese - ya know, the ones with actual experience fighting the Japanese - figured out about them and how he could apply it.
"The Almighty created in the Gurkhas an ideal infantryman, indeed an ideal Rifleman, brave, tough, patient, adaptable, skilled in field-craft, intensely proud of his military record and unswerving loyalty." Field Marshal Viscount Slim, 'Unofficial History' (1959). Former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once stated that: "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha."Each Gurkha carries two khukuris, one for every-day use and one for ceremonial purposes. Their famous war cry, “Ayo Gorkhali” translates as “The Gurkhas are here”, their motto 'It is better to die than to live like a coward. 乂
10:05 From the likes of it, it seems like the Caucasus oilfields might be what the Germans are aiming for their next major offensive. I wonder where else they might be aiming for too, it could be a certain city along the Volga River...
Impossible. That would necessitate having an entire army's flanks guarded by unreliable German allies, leaving it perfectly ripe for encirclement. As we've seen... the OKH has never been that stupid...
The railway station where McArthur uttered those famous words is at Terowie, South Australia. There's a monument on the platform attesting to the event. Terowie is almost a ghost town now, it was a large staging camp area for US troops during the war.
@@MenwithHill Every 2nd or 3rd house there is either empty or a ruin. Once had a population of C.1,000 and probably 5,000 during the war with all the servicemen there.
Dad flew the last hurricane out of Singapore and later was in the 1st Chindit Expedition in Burma behind Japanese lines as the RAF liason officer... thank you every so much for this realtime reennactment of the events of those times.. you are bringing to life my father's experiences in a viseral way...
Why land in France? Just sail the Royal Navy into the baltic and land north of Berlin, then rush for Berlin as some of the old plans called for, Surely that would go fine.
@@VayleGW right... do you know how wide the canal is between Nyborg and Korsor? only 17 km they don't need the navy, they just put artillery on the shores and there are no passages in addition, the Luftwaffe was too strong for the 1942 and 1943 invasions
Never heard about the balloons before, but actually a great idea, as winds in Europe tend to go West to East (except when Chernobyl exploded, but that is another story). And the balloons can be quite disruptive.
Wait, the Pripyat marshes exploded in ww2? With Moskitos or something else? In ww1 it was one of the few theaters where German soldiers were issued Moskito nets.
@@ShamanKish I wonder if one got the idea from the other thru reports of it happening.. but too lazy to look up who dun it first lol. I don't remember him mentioning Japanese balloons hitting the US yet. So was the whole thing a British idea? lol
The British Balloon plan is honestly my favorite thing i've learned about on this channel, the entire time Indy was talking about it I had a smile on my face!
Slim was easily our best General in this war but he does get overshadowed by Montgomery (kind of understandable but still harsh). Look forward to seeing more of him later in any case. Balloons, iceberg aircraft carriers, bouncing bombs and God knows what else... British tacticians came up with some seriously crazy and clever stuff throughout the war.
Hobart's funnies, the commandos, the SOE, more tank designs than any other nation (and until thhe 1945 ones all of them subpar)... Makes you wonder if it would had been better to just spend those resources in more conventional stuff.
The Balloons are amazing! I certainly did not know their purpose outside of their use against planes. Even their use against planes, I thought was not effective. Boy, was I wrong! As usual, I learn something pertinent -wow!
British kept quite about it and most of the information wasn't released until the mid 1970's. The British weapon was a standard weather balloon with a very simple altimeter and gas release valve plus an 18 pound payload made up of either a 700ft thin role with 300ft piece of piano wire attached at the end or various types of fire bomb. The wire or bombs were released by a slow burning fuze around 24 hours after being lit.
Hi Indy and team Another thrilling week.. Never heard of balloon attack.. How cruel japanese were.. Its make me very sad.. Congratulation for 600k sub.. You truly deserved it.. You will be getting more subscriber in future.. Awaiting for another exciting next week epsiode. Thanks..🙏👍
50 years of studying WW2 and I had never encountered the British barrage balloon offensive. Always learning new aspects and strategies of WW2 thanks to this channel.
Glad we could share something new with you John! Thanks to all the support from out TimeGhost Army on Patreon, we're creating the largest doccuemntary on WW2 in history. This means we can find and cover things that other documentaries would miss.
*Ninety nine balloons floating in the summer sky* *Panic bells, it's red alert* *There's something here from somewhere else* *The war machine springs to life* *Opens up one eager eye* *Focusing it on the sky* *Where ninety nine balloons go by* Nena - 99 Luftballons
This series is one of the finest on WW2 on TH-cam, and I have studied and enjoyed history my whole life, so I will extend that not to just TH-cam, but anywhere. The crew who have produced and made this deserve enormous credit. When its complete, or when there is a complete enough body of work, a complete documentary from start to finish could be a tour de force piece of work.
I'm a bit puzzled why the Finnish offenses have so far not been mentioned once since the end of the Winter War in late winter -40, not even in passing when Petroskoi was taken. I understand that it's not a major matter in the grand scheme but given the amount of detail elsewhere and the fact that German forces are fighting in northern Finland I'de expect at least a mention of it by now? I mean, the territorial gains are shown on the illustrations of frontlines. We'll see if Hitler's visit to Finland in summer of -42 makes the cut, I guess.
At the start of the operation barbarossa it was mentioned at least in couple episodes. After that i dont think there wasn't much happening so no coverage
The Baloon offensive was actually quite successful and its not a much talked about operation! Apparently it went on for quite some time i forget how many were launched but a good cheap and most certainly a nuisance to the Hun!! So all good stuff!! Haha cheers all love these videos
This episode highlights a big part of why I love this series. I've read and watched tonnes about ww2 and never come across any mention of the balloons being used like this. All this cool details make this channel awesome.
It gave me immense pride as a Filipino with Richard Frank's quotation. It has the same feel for me with Churchill's speech "Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks".
The British generals were convinced the way to win was to gain a bunch of small advantages over their opponent, be patient, and then strike when you have a good chance of winning. American generals will just keep punching the problem until it goes away.
Britain realizes from WW1 that against Germany, they have time, as they get to still import goods from their overseas Empire and through commerce, whereas Germany has limited natural resources, while being blockaded by the Royal Navy, at this point still the largest (but most stretched out) navy in the world. Their production is also relatively safe, as part of it also happens in places like Canada and well out of reach of German bombers, not to forget that the battle of Britain has already come to an end. Britain has time, whereas Germany has not. They have to claim victory within the USSR relatively soon, or else their lack of raw material and manpower might become a real issue for them.
Well that American General was holding the purse strings of some pretty important material assistance, and had every right to ensure it was being put to effective use. If the Chinese had been winning their war, it might be a different story.
@@flipthebird1262 Yeah, because the US showed their Competence in the Philippines . The Chinese have actually achieved Victorys against the Chinese. All the other allied forces got their asses kicked. And this arrogant General is trying to tell the Chinese something about a war they have been fighting since 5 Years now.
@@Daniel-kq4bx The Chinese had been fighting the Japanese since 1931. That's ten years of losing. Ten years of disorganized chaos. Ten years of demonstrating they were incapable of learning anything from their previous mistakes. The Western Allies were reliably beating the Japanese within months of their first failed encounters. For the most part, the Chinese should just keep their mouths shut and gratefully accept the assistance they are being offered.
@@flipthebird1262 Your Argumentation has one fundamental flaw. Its failing to acknowledge the vast difference between china and Japan. Japan has made a successful transit to a new era. On the other hand China is way backwards, has been a mess since like the last two hundred years and still managed to bog down a more experienced, technologically advanced and generally better prepared enemy into a sheer endless war of attrition. To consider the idea that this China could beat Japam on its own is absolutely delusional and naive. And still even if you say the Chinese have lost countless times, yes they lost land but didn't lose the war and again, have achieved victories. And they knew the Japanese. Also it makes no sense to justify the Americans position with happenings that didn't yet happen. Fact is that the Chinese know the Japanese way better and should be taken seriously and not belittled by the Americans
@@flipthebird1262 Ten years of losing? More like ten years of not losing, and bleeding their enemy dry and costing them a fortune. They held out for ten years pal. And at that point they were the worlds experts at fighting the Japanese. Then some tin pot yank turns ups who thinks he knows better. As usual.
As of 1986, as Operations Officer for Presidio of SF, we were still awarding Bronze Stars to Fillipino Resistance fighters. A Fillipina woman blandly described how she beheaded 2 IJA machine gun crews with a machete at Leyte during the USN bombardment. A different time, folks.
Holy shit. This is the first episode of either this or The Great War that I have watched on launch day. I finally made it after over a year of binging both channels...
@@Davey-Boyd It literally states in the video that he was ordered to leave by the president and some blame must be shared with Washington and Brereton's decisions.
@@generalfred9426 Yes, I give you that. Maybe I am being too harsh. Someone stated he was more of a politician than a General, and that sums him up more I think. I am from the UK and he comes across like our Monty, up his own ass, loving himself more than his troops (like Patton). Not as bad as a total fuckwit like Lucas though. But saying that, I was an infantryman, a grunt. I would of made a crap General myself. I can't use my cutlery in the 'correct' order.
@@Davey-Boyd I recently finished reading a Bio on Macurther called the "American Cesear" He actually cared deeply about his troops and many stories about him(Like taking away furniture in his escape from the Philippines) are not true. But he was most definitely very egocentric, and like Wellington and Geroge Washington, he was hatted by the rank and file more soldiers because of his attitude.
You guessed right, Moilanen is a Finnish surname. It originates (as far as we know) in the lake Ladoga area in Karelia, which belongs to Russia now. Unfortunately.
@@aldreymenezes7652 Close, but not exactly the same: Laatokka. I believe 'Ladoga' is how the locals used to say it. A local dialect, not standard Finnish.
I'm not sure if they's been able to really build up that much as Japan wasn't fully industrialized itself and the war in China was bleeding them dry. They could have surely done much better but their options were limited. You also have to consider that when your own troops are running on very limited supplies it gets kinda difficult selling infrastructure programs in conquered territory at home. They were still undeniably bad at the whole colonialism and empire building thing. The western powers had a lot more (mal-)practice.
They should have modeled themselves after the UK. They were the gold standard for exploiting conquered people while maintaining a fake veneer of civility.
@@saint4life09 Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Uganda are all excellent examples of how to get on with the indigenous people in a civilized way while nation building.
@@dpeasehead Malaysia, Singapore and to an extent, India are all successful majority non-white former British colonies too. Colonialism is terrible, but not all colonialists are equally terrible. The British at least left their former subjects with *something*.
When you mentioned the russiam partisans and the Germans burning down villages, I was wondering if you'd ever do a video on the film Come and See an amazing soviet film.
Yes, they take away your industry, pillage your resources, and cut your wages, but you're still apparently expected to be a market for their manufactured goods...
I really don't get why occupied nations hated so much on the Japanese and the Germans. They were so decent and caring! Germans even burned whole villages to keep russian peasants warm during winter. (Do I need to explicitly state I'm being sarcastic? That's the internet, I probably do.)
US military high command should have taken Stilwell's complaints seriously of the co-opting of lend lease materials (as if it took Stilwell of all people to tell you KMT corruption was gonna result in a logistical nightmare). But they also should have replaced him given his inability to play ball with *any* of his allies. His final sendoff was a good metaphor for his career, taking all operational documents with him and refusing to brief incoming officers and General Wedemeyer. Vinegar Joe indeed.
General MacArthur's wife Jean said 'no more flying' and they, (4 year old son included), caught the train from Alice stopping at Terowie 200km north of Adelaide to change trains. Actually his train was stopped before that by two sheep farmers looking for a doctor. Welcome to Australia! Anyway at Terowie he was greeted by a guard of honour led by WW1 vet Major Rogers and then made the 'I shall return' speech. If any folks ever get to South Australia I believe they still have the carriage he slept on is still on display in Quorn. Nice work on pronouncing Melbourne correctly, Indy!
Vlasov when he was a kombrig, or brigade commander (one diamond-shaped mark on the collar tab). The photo was probably taken well back in the 1930s. Vlasov avoided major trouble during the Purges and ironically the vacancies created by arrests may have accelerated his promotion. Meretskov was one of those arrested, though he was later released and reinstated.
The very railway station that he MacArthur made his famous station is now derelict and abandoned , there’s also a account by the pt boat commander who took MacArthur and his wife from Corregidor in which the wife came up to complain to the captain about the quarters on board , only to stop when she saw that he was in the process of slipping past a Japanese destroyer , she got the hint very quickly.
Terowie railway station in South Australia. Once a bustling change of gauge town, with engineering works, hotels, shops, etc. Now, almost a ghost town.
"McArthur landed in Darwin" Myself being a Darwin person here - Well yes, but actually no.. He landed a few kilometres south near, a place called Batchelor Airfield
George MacDonald Fraser, of the 'Flashman' books, served under Slim later in the war. An infantry corporal, he participated in the defeat of Japan's big push toward India. Fraser felt that Slim was the finest battlefield commander of the war
If you want to see even more about the war, in focused detail on a variety of events, check out our Instagram day by day coverage at: instagram.com/WW2_Day_By_Day/
And to go beyond the strategies and operations and really see the dark underbelly of this conflict, we also make a War Against Humanity sub-series. That playlist is right here: th-cam.com/play/PLsIk0qF0R1j4cwI-ZuDoBLxVEV3egWKoM.html
And please read our rules of conduct before you comment, saves everyone headaches (and loads of time): community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518
You forgot to mentoin that Erwin von Witzleben resigned OB west and Was replaced by Gerd von Rundstedt.
Thanks for pronouncing Melbourne right Indy; it's not Mel-born. I meant to say it on the last video so I'll put it here, More Astrid please. Loved the video about spies.
What was 335 year war
11: 09 "and it serves mostly to make the occupied hate the occupier" EVEN MORE.
There. The nazis invading the USSR were welcomed as liberators. For about two weeks. Within six weeks they were universally Hated.
Finnish and Estonian nearly invariably place the stress on the first syllable and their natural rhyme is trochaic tetrameter. the natural rhythm of english is iambic pentameter. the natural rhythm of greek is dactylic hexameter. Finnish and Estonian, like most languages (but unlike English and French), have regular spelling and OI always rhymes with Boy in those languages unlike French.
During the war Coregidor was quipped about in the press as "coruggeder", really. however I don't speak Tagalog (yet...). It looks Spanish but Tagalog has lots of Spanish loan words so ... maybe?
I can no longer play hoi4 without imagining Indy narrating the events in my campaign, however absurd they may be, like "this week, Brazil crosses the Alps!"
Mhh, possible mod or DLC to get some events narrated? IIRC Paradox has sponsored them before and doing some voicework might be fun. They may not have the time though.
@@aldreymenezes7652 Smoking snakes did what now?
"This week, Poland declares war on Japan."
*turns to cameraman*
"That actually happened?"
This week Greeks land on Sicily sacrificing their Navy in the process.
I do this too. Especially when you do a game breaking exploit. "This week, German paratroopers entered Paris. Whats that? They surrendered?"
"A disarmingly normal human being" might be the greatest compliment one can receive when the entire world has gone mad.
Sounds like we could use one of those in 2021.
Not difficult to look human when you're standing next to MacArthur!
He was also a Nonce
@@anxiousandworrying1 Literally zero evidence and made against a man who can’t defend himself.
Meaning he had a normal amount of humanity.
"I'll be back."
"Sir, the quote is already taken."
"Crap. I shall return."
He said it before it was cool!
He said in a more formal manner. Arnold just went straight to the point 42 years later
Asta la vista. Sorry, Sir, also taken. Dammit!
A commander asking someone experianced for advice? This is one of the most competent people in the war so far.
Kind of the opposite of the early war Soviet Army, where even a competent commander could be overruled by an utterly incompetent political officer, whose only wish is to look good in front of Stalin.
Termi-MacArthur: "I'll be back."
Macarthurnator !
I'm confused, Indy is not wearing a tie here?
-Jk, silly camouflage joke. 3/5
keep up the good work
The colour matching is ON POINT!
Patterns on clothes should never be on the same scale. 1/5
Indy's tie has learned the first lesson of not being seen: Not to stand out. However, it has chosen a very obvious piece of cover to hide before.
**violent explosion**
Ah, the "Candy Stripper" tie, used by unsavory characters in Japanese TV and movie dramas,;)
UK: launch balloon attack on germany
Japan: Write that down! Write that down!
@@BLRSharpLight There was one group of campers that got blown up IIRC, and some forest fires that got started, but no real effect on the US mainland. But the US government took the threat seriously enough that they depolyed the first black paratrooper regiment as smoke jumpers in the west in order to fight the expected fires.
Japan initial balloon attacks were to calibrate the timers when to drop bombs on America by using spies reading American News and listening to radio news broadcasts. This knowledge gained was then used to send balloons to America armed with plague bombs developed by the Japanese Unit 731, who had experimented on the Chinese at an industrial level with biological warfare. The fleas carrying plague froze at the high altitudes in the jet stream crossing the Pacific making the weapons useless. Japan was defeated before they solve the problem of their plague delivery system. The plague Japan deployed was the same as the black death in the middle ages, they also intended to use a variant to attack livestock. This attack on America was one of the main reasons the Allies were in agreement and then used Atomic weapons against Japan. What the world would look like today if Imperial Japan were successful is anyone's guess, but it is probable there would have been no mercy shown to the Japanese and Japan would have been wiped from the face of the Earth.
@@BLRSharpLight the attacks were not very effective as many balloons didn't make it to America and the only casualties were a few civilians, although one did hit a US nuclear power plant but nothing serious came out of that
@@kirchoffkyle ''a US nuclear power plant'', in what year 1941? Did that nuclear powerland have something to with the bombs or did you make a mistake?
Japan began looking into balloon bombs in the mid-1930s. To learn more I recommend looking up the Noborito Laboratory where the balloon bombs were designed. Part of the facility is now a museum dedicated to discussing the laboratory's creation of biological weapons, counterfeiting of Chinese currency, spy tools and the balloon bombs. Their goal is to make these things known so that history does not repeat itself. I wrote about it here: www.wayfarerdaves.com/?p=2898
I haven't miss a single episode of WW2 since January 2019 and I ain't planning to miss an episode until this series finishes.
Me too 🙂
And me to that list .
Same here. This war should be over by Christmas right,
I had sparsely followed this series since day one but decided to put watching it on hold until I binge watched the entire Great War series and Between Two Wars. I managed to complete that feat last May and have watched every episode since.
Yeah it feels like a family
Allies everywhere on earth: Jesus christ this is a tough fight
Allies in the UK: haha baloomn
How does it say 2 days ago, when the video just came out?
@@CatsEyethePsycho Patreon / TimeGhost Army supporters get to see the video a few days early.
@@gunman47 oh ok
UK : lOoK aT tHiS bAloOn!
Meanwhile at Luftwaffe headquarters:
"Sir, we are under attack by a large formation of enemy balloons."
"Nein!"
"Ninety-nine, actually. Floating over the winter sky."
MacArthur was the first influencer general. Dude was a brilliant self-marketer. Not the only general in the war either.
People also need to remember that no matter what MacArthur did, the Philippines would have still fallen. Had there been no issues with the planes maybe they get some bombs off over Taiwan (with early war bombing there is a large question if any damage of note would have been done) but that doesn't save the Philippines.
If MacArthur took all of the food and brought it to Bataan the US and Philippine army still needs to surrender before they can be rescued by the Navy as was the original plan to defend the Philippines before MacArthur, Marshal and FDR changed it.
And the Philippines would not have been saved if the US had stayed with the original plan to defend the Philippines which was to immediately retreat to Bataan. Had all of the troops and supplies that were needed to execute MacArthur's plan to defend the Philippines gotten there before the Japanese invaded then there would have actually been a good chance for the Philippines to stop the Japanese invasion.
But the bottom line when talking about the Philippines and MacArthur to me is the US and Filipino troops under MacArthur's command hold out in Bataan for months longer then the original war plan to defend the Philippines called for despite what issues some people bring up with the defense. Because of what happened to the US Navy at Pearl Harbor the US would have never been able to rescue the troops in Bataan no matter what they did.
What those troops in the Philippines did do though is set Japanese invasion time tables back by months. The Japanese will eventually have to send more troops into the Philippines to finish off the US and Filipino troops there. Had the US and Filipino troops surrendered or been defeated faster it would have allowed the Japanese to send far more troops into New Guinee and Guadalcanal before Australian and US troops could get to those locations in large numbers to prevent the Japanese from taking them. The fall of those locations would have resulted in a minimum of far more Japanese air attacks on Australia if not a attempted invasion of Australia even.
@@PhillyPhanVinny A big part of why the Philippines didn't fall for so long was that everyone was falling so fast that the Japanese instead left a much smaller, lighter army (specifically a Brigade that had little if any training and was intended as a garrison), and sent their best units South to strike at the Dutch East Indies. The holding out at the Philippines had little, if anything, to do with "holding" actions.
@@citizenofvenus So what you said there is half correct. The Japanese sent their largest of their invasion forces to the Philippines out of all the invasions after Pearl Harbor with their most veteran divisions being sent as well. After MacArthur ordered the retreat to Bataan the Japanese thought they had won the Philippines and decided they would move most of the veteran troops out of the Philippines and start using them on new invasions. The Japanese still proceeded to launch attacks on the allied troops in Bataan, Corregidor and the rest of the Philippines but those attacks were actually held off. It wasn't until the Japanese then took the time to send veteran troops back to the Philippines and launched new attacks that Bataan eventually surrendered followed by the rest of the Philippines after that.
That was the Japanese fault for thinking the Philippines would fall as quickly as the rest of the allied colonies were at the time. The delay of taking the Philippines and the time taken to then send troops back to the Philippines to finish it off were troops that the Japanese could have been sending to New Guinee months before they actually did resulting in the full capture of that island. If New Guinee fully fell that would have had massive consequences for Australia as the Japanese would have ended launching many more bombing runs on Australia then actually happened in real life most likely.
In addition to that, had General Wainwright not surrendered all of the Philippines when he surrendered Corregidor island the Japanese would have had so many more forces in the Philippines to fight for so much longer. Many of the troops in the southern Philippine islands ignored Wainwright's order for them to surrender but many did follow his orders to surrender. Those that didn't continued to fight a gorilla campaign against the Japanese until MacArthur recaptured the Philippines from Japan. The people of the Philippines unlike most other Asian colonies already considered themselves a independent nation (they essentially were in almost every aspect) and thus were much more willing to fight against the Japanese for their country. Other colony nations like Indonesia actually saw the Japanese as liberators against their colonial masters.
Heinz Guderian was another brilliant self-promoter.
He wasted alot of lives taking a non strategic target for his own gain. He was not a good general and trying to nuke the Chinese 10 years later is evidence of that.
For those not familiar with U.S. legislation and bureaucracy, "shall" is one of the strongest verbs someone can use to indicate the importance of the action or the requirement for its completion... stronger than "must" or "will." I suspect MacArthur used it deliberately to send a signal to Washington, rather than to adopt more flowery or antiquated language.
I studied English and still am not entirely clear about the differences between:
- have to
- must
- shall
(will, ought, and should are easier)
It's difficult because sometimes more than one can be used, and the meaning doesn't change. But sometimes it's a nuance that definitely does affect the implications. And telling those situations apart, is quite challenging!
(especially since they need not be stable between British and American usage, or change over time between the declaration of independence and today)
@@MrNicoJac 'Shall' has largely dropped out of North American English - it's usually a bit of an affectation when it's used at all now. I don't know how much it's still used in conversational English in the UK. Actually, now that I think of it, 'shall' lingers on in N. Am. - in Canada, anyway - in the question, "Shall we?", which usually means, "Let's go [leave]".
Properly speaking "shall" is used with the first person (I, we) and "will" for the second and third person. However for emphasis these are swapped. Not sure about US usage in the 1940s.
@@edwinblake "We 'shall' overcome ..." - it gets a point for good grammar!
@@edwinblake Yep, now do "thou". Language is weird, and over time English gets simpler and more streamlined the more cultures and other languages it absorbs. Something vaguely Orwellian about it though...
Viscount Slims' account of the war in Burma was one of the best I have ever read. His humility, honesty, and admission of the initial mistakes that were made reflect a man of character and great leadership. Although a lengthy work it was hard to put down. Given the sparsity of resources provided to him, and the fragile support infrastructure used to support him, the crushing defeat he administered to the Japanese is remarkable.
Unfortunately,there are allegations that William Slim molested young boys in Fairbridge School.It's not confirmed yet.
Japan is doing pretty well. For sure it’ll be all over before Christmas.
Yeah I mean they have defeated the Dutch and British, achieved most of their objectives. All that’s left is to secure their position and resources and finish off the last of the American forces, what could go wrong?
Can't wait to see what new infrastructure projects they'll be bringing to their new co-prosperity sphere. So much opportunity for building and uplifting the region now that the European and American colonial masters have been kicked out. They'll surely be greeting their Japanese liberators with rose-petal parades!
*Looks at a tiny, insignificant island called Midway Atoll*
Yes and they’ll be able to meet up with their German allies in India! It’s all coming together.
I am learning to make sukiyaki so that they'll kill me last.
MacArthur: "I shall return." Common Soldier: "So will a bad check."
I dont get it?
@@patrickazzarella6729 A bad check "bounces" meaning it returns to the one who gives it.
Please don't. Send somebody else. Send somebody else's little sister. Send her grandmother. Just stay away bug-out Doug...
@@jamiegagnon6390 I knew a guy who was a digger who dug a dugout for dugout Doug.
Patrick- MacAsshole was a vain, arrogant egomaniac. Terrible commander. While stuck on Corregador, his men nicknamed him DUGOUT DOUG, cuz he stayed safe in the bunkers instead of leading from the front. He also allowed most of his airplanes to be destroyed on the ground. He had no business in command
Slim: 'Maybe we should ask those who could beat the Japanese at least several times in the past years about how did they do that.'
Stilwell: 'Lol, that's crap tactics.'
Its worth pointing out that China had 3-4 times as many troops deployed as Japan, fighting on their home territory, on land they knew far better than their enemy and had still only managed a strategic stalemate for many years.
Its not hard to see how a foreign commander would sum up their tactics as "crap".
Its also important to note that later on in the war Australian, American, British etc troops all generally massively outperformed their Chinese counterparts in combat against the Japanese - much of that was obviously vastly superior equipment, but training and tactics probably also played a role.
TLDR: Doubting Chinese millitary compotence was not a crazy opinion.
I'm 33, from CT and live in NYC. So when I watch, my perspective is predominantly historical and ultimately divorced from these events. But, my grandmother was 13 and in Manila when the Japanese arrived. It gives me shivers knowing the significance of this to the average civilian.
well said
The problem with actually taking advantage of being able to watch these three days early, is that you disappoint your future self by having already watched it.
"I shall return!"
Well yeah, but so will a bad check.
From the Philippines here.. I appreciate how you say Bataan and Corregidor.
"The Germans are no match for exploding balloons."-Britain
"They are unaware of the potential sabotage to power lines, or any sabotage to powerlines, by our balloons."
Well, they would scare the shit outta me.
Is this a joke to you? "Oh, the Humanity!"
Try reading this in Emperor Palpatine's voice for maximum effect.
I love that the channel always remembers to talk about the economic mismanagement of the Axis. The dismal homefront situation was a huge factor in their defeat. And it just goes to show how ineffective exploitative ideologies are.
Have you seen a channel called TIK? He has some very good videos on German economy and how it was the reason for the campaign in Russia.
Probably sold it lol
@CommandoDude
Actually, exploitation *can* be *more* effective.
(like, Germany never could have invaded the Soviet Union if they hadn't stolen the French's food)
It all comes down to time.
If the conflict only lasts a short time, exploitation is more effective.
But if the war drags on, you're just eating up your own production capacity.
(in a sense, it's like your body digesting muscle tissue to stay alive - sure, you'll survive long enough to run into a hungry animal, but now you definitely won't win)
And since Germany had ZERO chance of defeating the Americans at home, exploitation was suicide.
Thankfully...
@@billd.iniowa2263. Yes. And now he also has some interesting videos about logistics on all sides.
@@thelizardking3036 TIK's recent logistics videos are ridiculous. His idea that market forces could have been used to improve transport and supply to frontline troops in WWII is totally absurd.
3:25 *Guadalcanal* you say? With the Japanese having the possibility to build an airfield that close to Australia, I wonder if the Allies might do anything about this in the near future. That is if most people were even able to know where Guadalcanal was in the globe in the first place...
An offensive operation sometimes in 1943 maybe?
@@principalityofbelka6310 Maybe, who knows. At the moment Japan looks pretty much unstoppable though...
@@gunman47 Maybe. But they might be not be so strong after all. I don't know i just have this gut feeling that they'll have setbacks or even great defeats in the near future.
shhhh no spoilers timetravler
@@principalityofbelka6310 yes, surely they will give themselves enough time to build up adequate forces and supplies. No way the Americans will launch their first strategic offensive on a "Shoestring".
General Slim and the Forgotten XIVth, A good man, a good general and by gods he was smarter than those who came before him.
He was probably smarter than most of the people he served under or with in Africa or in India.
For 20 years between the wars he was a Gurkha officer, as so many of the 14th Army’s fighting generals were. Slim loved the Gurkhas, whose language he spoke. His favorite stories are of Gurkhas. He tells of the paratroopers who were to jump at 300 feet. As they had never jumped before, their havildar asked if they might go a little nearer the ground for their first jump. He was told that this was impossible because the parachutes would not have time to open. "Oh," said the Gurkha, "so we get parachutes, eh?"
Very true - one of the best allied generals of the war.
He didn't seem to have the imperial arrogance that so many other British officers in the theater did, being willing to listen to what the Chinese - ya know, the ones with actual experience fighting the Japanese - figured out about them and how he could apply it.
"The Almighty created in the Gurkhas an ideal infantryman, indeed an ideal Rifleman, brave, tough, patient, adaptable, skilled in field-craft, intensely proud of his military record and unswerving loyalty." Field Marshal Viscount Slim, 'Unofficial History' (1959). Former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once stated that: "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha."Each Gurkha carries two khukuris, one for every-day use and one for ceremonial purposes. Their famous war cry, “Ayo Gorkhali” translates as “The Gurkhas are here”, their motto 'It is better to die than to live like a coward. 乂
Yay! Your pronunciation of Melbourne was spot on!
10:05 From the likes of it, it seems like the Caucasus oilfields might be what the Germans are aiming for their next major offensive. I wonder where else they might be aiming for too, it could be a certain city along the Volga River...
Tsaritsyn?
@@principalityofbelka6310 no Kulak
@@principalityofbelka6310 Hmm maybe it contains the name of *Our* Leader with glorious Stalinium defences?
Impossible. That would necessitate having an entire army's flanks guarded by unreliable German allies, leaving it perfectly ripe for encirclement. As we've seen... the OKH has never been that stupid...
@@emisat8970 *laughs in Halder*
The railway station where McArthur uttered those famous words is at Terowie, South Australia. There's a monument on the platform attesting to the event. Terowie is almost a ghost town now, it was a large staging camp area for US troops during the war.
"Population (2016) : 131", boy yeah.
@@MenwithHill Every 2nd or 3rd house there is either empty or a ruin. Once had a population of C.1,000 and probably 5,000 during the war with all the servicemen there.
0:00 You could say they're fighting with 99 luftballons
First mention of Guadalcanal ! And I’m also very glad you returned to the Eastern front. It’ll heat up in unimaginable scales in the next few weeks.
Dad flew the last hurricane out of Singapore and later was in the 1st Chindit Expedition in Burma behind Japanese lines as the RAF liason officer... thank you every so much for this realtime reennactment of the events of those times.. you are bringing to life my father's experiences in a viseral way...
Stalin: I won’t a full blown invasion of Reich territory in the west to divert Axis troops.
Britain: we can’t do that now, how do big balloons sound?
I have a feeling that such an attempt will be occurring in the near future. Maybe somewhere near dieppe?
@@legostarwarsfan1662 yea and there may be another attempt along time from now somewhere around Pas-de-Calais. Definitely not Normandy though.
Why would they need a second time? I'm sure that dieppe will go perfectly. And yes. Definitely not Normandy.
Why land in France? Just sail the Royal Navy into the baltic and land north of Berlin, then rush for Berlin as some of the old plans called for, Surely that would go fine.
@@VayleGW right...
do you know how wide the canal is between Nyborg and Korsor?
only 17 km
they don't need the navy, they just put artillery on the shores and there are no passages
in addition, the Luftwaffe was too strong for the 1942 and 1943 invasions
Douglas MacArthur: I shall return.
The Terminator: I’ll be back.
They did both wear sunglasses too.
and he did, even though it took a year to do.
Thanks for the background info on William Slim. He later became Governor General of Australia.
I didn't know about the balloons. Very interesting.
Never heard about the balloons before, but actually a great idea, as winds in Europe tend to go West to East (except when Chernobyl exploded, but that is another story). And the balloons can be quite disruptive.
The Japanese sent balloons to America down the jet stream.
Wait, the Pripyat marshes exploded in ww2? With Moskitos or something else?
In ww1 it was one of the few theaters where German soldiers were issued Moskito nets.
@@ShamanKish I wonder if one got the idea from the other thru reports of it happening.. but too lazy to look up who dun it first lol. I don't remember him mentioning Japanese balloons hitting the US yet. So was the whole thing a British idea? lol
@@MarkVrem He didn't mention Japanese balloons. They were very unsuccessful. Basically, they wanted to cause fires.
@@MarkVrem The "winds" they are talking about are jet streams, very fast winds high in atmosphere.
The British Balloon plan is honestly my favorite thing i've learned about on this channel, the entire time Indy was talking about it I had a smile on my face!
Slim was easily our best General in this war but he does get overshadowed by Montgomery (kind of understandable but still harsh). Look forward to seeing more of him later in any case.
Balloons, iceberg aircraft carriers, bouncing bombs and God knows what else... British tacticians came up with some seriously crazy and clever stuff throughout the war.
Hobart's funnies, the commandos, the SOE, more tank designs than any other nation (and until thhe 1945 ones all of them subpar)... Makes you wonder if it would had been better to just spend those resources in more conventional stuff.
@@Dustz92 Most of those that actually saw service actually were useful. Any many were ideas that got minimal investment, but enough encouragement.
The Balloons are amazing! I certainly did not know their purpose outside of their use against planes. Even their use against planes, I thought was not effective. Boy, was I wrong! As usual, I learn something pertinent -wow!
British kept quite about it and most of the information wasn't released until the mid 1970's. The British weapon was a standard weather balloon with a very simple altimeter and gas release valve plus an 18 pound payload made up of either a 700ft thin role with 300ft piece of piano wire attached at the end or various types of fire bomb. The wire or bombs were released by a slow burning fuze around 24 hours after being lit.
Hi Indy and team
Another thrilling week..
Never heard of balloon attack..
How cruel japanese were..
Its make me very sad..
Congratulation for 600k sub..
You truly deserved it..
You will be getting more subscriber in future..
Awaiting for another exciting next week epsiode.
Thanks..🙏👍
50 years of studying WW2 and I had never encountered the British barrage balloon offensive. Always learning new aspects and strategies of WW2 thanks to this channel.
Glad we could share something new with you John! Thanks to all the support from out TimeGhost Army on Patreon, we're creating the largest doccuemntary on WW2 in history. This means we can find and cover things that other documentaries would miss.
Congratulations on 600.000+ subs.
Never forget!
My favourite TH-cam Channel. Thanks Indie, Sparty and everyone at Time Ghost!!
*Ninety nine balloons floating in the summer sky*
*Panic bells, it's red alert*
*There's something here from somewhere else*
*The war machine springs to life*
*Opens up one eager eye*
*Focusing it on the sky*
*Where ninety nine balloons go by*
Nena - 99 Luftballons
Apparently a much older song than I thought! Nena must have been doing a cover version.
@@daletrecartin1563 The German version is much better. Goebbels banned it though.
This series is one of the finest on WW2 on TH-cam, and I have studied and enjoyed history my whole life, so I will extend that not to just TH-cam, but anywhere. The crew who have produced and made this deserve enormous credit.
When its complete, or when there is a complete enough body of work, a complete documentary from start to finish could be a tour de force piece of work.
I'm a bit puzzled why the Finnish offenses have so far not been mentioned once since the end of the Winter War in late winter -40, not even in passing when Petroskoi was taken. I understand that it's not a major matter in the grand scheme but given the amount of detail elsewhere and the fact that German forces are fighting in northern Finland I'de expect at least a mention of it by now? I mean, the territorial gains are shown on the illustrations of frontlines.
We'll see if Hitler's visit to Finland in summer of -42 makes the cut, I guess.
At the start of the operation barbarossa it was mentioned at least in couple episodes. After that i dont think there wasn't much happening so no coverage
The Baloon offensive was actually quite successful and its not a much talked about operation! Apparently it went on for quite some time i forget how many were launched but a good cheap and most certainly a nuisance to the Hun!! So all good stuff!! Haha cheers all love these videos
This Andrey Vlasov guy seems pretty reliable. I'm sure the command substitution will work out fine.
This episode highlights a big part of why I love this series. I've read and watched tonnes about ww2 and never come across any mention of the balloons being used like this. All this cool details make this channel awesome.
It gave me immense pride as a Filipino with Richard Frank's quotation. It has the same feel for me with Churchill's speech "Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks".
Been here since episode 1. Never miss it.
The British generals were convinced the way to win was to gain a bunch of small advantages over their opponent, be patient, and then strike when you have a good chance of winning. American generals will just keep punching the problem until it goes away.
Britain realizes from WW1 that against Germany, they have time, as they get to still import goods from their overseas Empire and through commerce, whereas Germany has limited natural resources, while being blockaded by the Royal Navy, at this point still the largest (but most stretched out) navy in the world. Their production is also relatively safe, as part of it also happens in places like Canada and well out of reach of German bombers, not to forget that the battle of Britain has already come to an end.
Britain has time, whereas Germany has not. They have to claim victory within the USSR relatively soon, or else their lack of raw material and manpower might become a real issue for them.
It was probably the only way to defeat Rommel as grinding him down slowly took advantage of his huge logistical problems.
America could produce the resources.
That certainly isn't what they were trying in Cyrenaica last week
The comedy factor at the beginning of video. Sets the tone for an outstanding watch. Nicely done Indy
Imagine fighting the Japanese for 5 years and some American General just comes in, trying to push you around and threating you like an idiot
Well that American General was holding the purse strings of some pretty important material assistance, and had every right to ensure it was being put to effective use. If the Chinese had been winning their war, it might be a different story.
@@flipthebird1262 Yeah, because the US showed their Competence in the Philippines . The Chinese have actually achieved Victorys against the Chinese. All the other allied forces got their asses kicked. And this arrogant General is trying to tell the Chinese something about a war they have been fighting since 5 Years now.
@@Daniel-kq4bx The Chinese had been fighting the Japanese since 1931. That's ten years of losing. Ten years of disorganized chaos. Ten years of demonstrating they were incapable of learning anything from their previous mistakes. The Western Allies were reliably beating the Japanese within months of their first failed encounters. For the most part, the Chinese should just keep their mouths shut and gratefully accept the assistance they are being offered.
@@flipthebird1262 Your Argumentation has one fundamental flaw. Its failing to acknowledge the vast difference between china and Japan. Japan has made a successful transit to a new era. On the other hand China is way backwards, has been a mess since like the last two hundred years and still managed to bog down a more experienced, technologically advanced and generally better prepared enemy into a sheer endless war of attrition. To consider the idea that this China could beat Japam on its own is absolutely delusional and naive. And still even if you say the Chinese have lost countless times, yes they lost land but didn't lose the war and again, have achieved victories. And they knew the Japanese. Also it makes no sense to justify the Americans position with happenings that didn't yet happen. Fact is that the Chinese know the Japanese way better and should be taken seriously and not belittled by the Americans
@@flipthebird1262 Ten years of losing? More like ten years of not losing, and bleeding their enemy dry and costing them a fortune. They held out for ten years pal. And at that point they were the worlds experts at fighting the Japanese. Then some tin pot yank turns ups who thinks he knows better. As usual.
I did not know McArthur made his ‘I Will Return’ quote in my hometown.
Also, Slim is the most competent commander of the war so far.
As of 1986, as Operations Officer for Presidio of SF, we were still awarding Bronze Stars to Fillipino Resistance fighters. A Fillipina woman blandly described how she beheaded 2 IJA machine gun crews with a machete at Leyte during the USN bombardment. A different time, folks.
Holy shit. This is the first episode of either this or The Great War that I have watched on launch day. I finally made it after over a year of binging both channels...
“I shall return”
-Douglas MacArthur
Shame you fucked up and ran away sacrificing your troops though Douglas.
@@Davey-Boyd It literally states in the video that he was ordered to leave by the president and some blame must be shared with Washington and Brereton's decisions.
@@generalfred9426 Yes, I give you that. Maybe I am being too harsh. Someone stated he was more of a politician than a General, and that sums him up more I think. I am from the UK and he comes across like our Monty, up his own ass, loving himself more than his troops (like Patton). Not as bad as a total fuckwit like Lucas though. But saying that, I was an infantryman, a grunt. I would of made a crap General myself. I can't use my cutlery in the 'correct' order.
@@Davey-Boyd I recently finished reading a Bio on Macurther called the "American Cesear" He actually cared deeply about his troops and many stories about him(Like taking away furniture in his escape from the Philippines) are not true. But he was most definitely very egocentric, and like Wellington and Geroge Washington, he was hatted by the rank and file more soldiers because of his attitude.
This show is just awesome. Thank you!
Bill Slim is a bit of a hero of mine. A great General and leader of soldiers.
Also a nonce though.
That shirt and tie combo is to die for. My thanks and regards to the wardrobe department once again.
15:16 this prononciation of Moilanen was pretty good
Indy in general pronounces Finnish names pretty good. (Unfortunately the Russian not(( )
That's a rocking tie/short combo. Love it!
You guessed right, Moilanen is a Finnish surname. It originates (as far as we know) in the lake Ladoga area in Karelia, which belongs to Russia now. Unfortunately.
I visited Vyborg when I travelled from St Petersburg to Helsinki while on vacation. The Russians really haven't taken care of the city at all. :-/
@@emisat8970 Figures...
@@aldreymenezes7652 Laatokka.
@@aldreymenezes7652 Close, but not exactly the same: Laatokka. I believe 'Ladoga' is how the locals used to say it. A local dialect, not standard Finnish.
Finnish chauvinists...
Hooray, Uncle Bill makes his entrance!
The ending was pretty sad because it was so true. They literally choose the worse route possible.
I'm not sure if they's been able to really build up that much as Japan wasn't fully industrialized itself and the war in China was bleeding them dry.
They could have surely done much better but their options were limited.
You also have to consider that when your own troops are running on very limited supplies it gets kinda difficult selling infrastructure programs in conquered territory at home.
They were still undeniably bad at the whole colonialism and empire building thing. The western powers had a lot more (mal-)practice.
They should have modeled themselves after the UK. They were the gold standard for exploiting conquered people while maintaining a fake veneer of civility.
@@bob494949 Except Britain actually built nations.
@@saint4life09 Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Uganda are all excellent examples of how to get on with the indigenous people in a civilized way while nation building.
@@dpeasehead Malaysia, Singapore and to an extent, India are all successful majority non-white former British colonies too.
Colonialism is terrible, but not all colonialists are equally terrible. The British at least left their former subjects with *something*.
Never heard of the balloons going to Germany. Learn something most days. Thanks.
When you mentioned the russiam partisans and the Germans burning down villages, I was wondering if you'd ever do a video on the film Come and See an amazing soviet film.
Tell me more...
Balloon warfare is a fascinating topic for me. I was aware of late-war Japanese efforts with it, but never of British ones. Good stuff.
Japanese Co-prosperity = Japan: takes all of your resources. You: may get to stay alive.
Yes, they take away your industry, pillage your resources, and cut your wages, but you're still apparently expected to be a market for their manufactured goods...
I really don't get why occupied nations hated so much on the Japanese and the Germans. They were so decent and caring! Germans even burned whole villages to keep russian peasants warm during winter.
(Do I need to explicitly state I'm being sarcastic? That's the internet, I probably do.)
Co-operate for our prosperity
Kind of like the Third Reich.
This is why you don't fail your "How to win the heart of the local population" class, kids
Good Episode.
Stilwell, which Military History Visualized put forward as a candidate for the "worst US general in WW2"
OOF
US military high command should have taken Stilwell's complaints seriously of the co-opting of lend lease materials (as if it took Stilwell of all people to tell you KMT corruption was gonna result in a logistical nightmare). But they also should have replaced him given his inability to play ball with *any* of his allies. His final sendoff was a good metaphor for his career, taking all operational documents with him and refusing to brief incoming officers and General Wedemeyer. Vinegar Joe indeed.
Chiang Kai-shek🥜
@@diegotapia2830 I'm going to hold out for Fredendall...
Idk Lucas was pretty damn incompetent. Anzio was his fault
Great episode, Indy you are a God at narrating
Indy, you pronounced 'Melbourne' correctly! You have instantly become my favourite American! XD
I, too was pleasantly surprised. It seems almost impossible for North Americans to get right.
General MacArthur's wife Jean said 'no more flying' and they, (4 year old son included), caught the train from Alice stopping at Terowie 200km north of Adelaide to change trains. Actually his train was stopped before that by two sheep farmers looking for a doctor. Welcome to Australia! Anyway at Terowie he was greeted by a guard of honour led by WW1 vet Major Rogers and then made the 'I shall return' speech. If any folks ever get to South Australia I believe they still have the carriage he slept on is still on display in Quorn. Nice work on pronouncing Melbourne correctly, Indy!
Time for Slim to get to work let's go Team Slim
Hopefully his child abuse isn't whitewashed.
in the 50's Sir William Slim, was the Governor of South Australia and a highly respected one at that!
I forgot how much of a shitshow the first 6 months were for the allies in the Pacific.
Just the first 6 months?? 😆
HOW COULD YOU
Great work Indy and team
Finally Slim arrives in Burma. Probably the greatest Allied commander of the war.
Great series.
Thanks @Nick The Noodle, glad you're enjoying it!
When you auction off this tie, will the shirt go with it?
Don't wear that shirt and tie combination around Christmas time or you might be mistaken for a peppermint candy cane.
What tie? I cant see any
Nice to see my hometown get a mention.
Are there any special episodes planned for The Battle of Midway, like was done with the beginning of Barbarossa or The Pearl Harbor attack?
I suspect that the next big event in the way they did December 7 1941 will be June 6 1944...but it’s just a guess
I am in the middle of Max Hastings Retirubution audiobook.
Very great read! Stuff I didn't even know about.
I'm so ready for the "In with 3 Chinese armies, out with 3 Chinese squads." quote :D
14:54 The look on Indy's face is gold "They can do what every they want, Let's just hope that doesn't go to their heads."
macarthur was a dingus and indy's shirt-tie combo in this one is great
Striped tie and shirt. Very risky. So, a major tactical success there - congratulations!
I’ve never understand how Brereton ever kept his job being involved in one failure after another: the Philippines, Ploiesti, Market-Garden.
It's easy to think MacArthur is being fussy if you forget the sheer number of people that died in aviation accidents during the war.
9:10 I have a feeling that we will be hearing more from this man in the future
Vlasov when he was a kombrig, or brigade commander (one diamond-shaped mark on the collar tab). The photo was probably taken well back in the 1930s. Vlasov avoided major trouble during the Purges and ironically the vacancies created by arrests may have accelerated his promotion. Meretskov was one of those arrested, though he was later released and reinstated.
William Slim is how I would love to be remembered in history
So MacArthur was clone of Monty: as long as he had unlimited resources, he could win the fight.
Will you do a WW2 special on Andrei Vlassov? Would be very interesting to talk about this Soviet general that turn against Stalin
The very railway station that he MacArthur made his famous station is now derelict and abandoned , there’s also a account by the pt boat commander who took MacArthur and his wife from Corregidor in which the wife came up to complain to the captain about the quarters on board , only to stop when she saw that he was in the process of slipping past a Japanese destroyer , she got the hint very quickly.
Terowie railway station in South Australia. Once a bustling change of gauge town, with engineering works, hotels, shops, etc. Now, almost a ghost town.
Imagine being a wartime captain and someone going full Karen on you during a mission. I bet she wanted to telegram the boat's manager.
@@janbo8331 well the very captain of that pt boat later became the main trainer of all pt boat crews after his successful escape
@@keiranallcott1515 I'm sure he deserved it.
Sorry Indy, you tried to hide it but I spotted your camouflage tie!!!
"McArthur landed in Darwin"
Myself being a Darwin person here - Well yes, but actually no..
He landed a few kilometres south near, a place called Batchelor Airfield
George MacDonald Fraser, of the 'Flashman' books, served under Slim later in the war. An infantry corporal, he participated in the defeat of Japan's big push toward India. Fraser felt that Slim was the finest battlefield commander of the war
Yes Quartered Safe out here, is an excellent book and well worth a read.
I never knew that the first V rocket was a rubber hindenburg and flew the other way.
bwv1044 - Well you learn something new every episode, well I do anyway!!
@Order & Chaos - r/wooosh !!
Great episode.