I predict 1945 will be a momentous year, filled with both good and evil. Thank you all for the work you do! I'm always astonished by all that you have put into this project. Have a safe and happy new year!
Since we have reached 1945 we can show the German deaths on the eastern front up to this time. In 1941 302,495 in 1942 506,815 in 1943 700,635 and in 1944 1,232,946 giving a total up to January 1,1945 of 2,742,946 deaths on the eastern front. The number of deaths in the remaining year of 1945 will skyrocket well beyond what has been seen up to now. Also approximately 8,200,000 have been wounded on the eastern front using a conservative estimate of 3 to 1 for wounded compared to deaths. The coming death tolls will be enormous due to the imbalance of forces in the east as well as as foolish and ill considered offensive and defensive attempts by the German forces.
I never thought I'd see a war between Russia and Ukraine being fought on the same battlefields in 2023 as the Germans and Soviets fought over in 1943. The difference being that Kharkov changed hands four times in WWII when the Germans reached it from a start line 800 miles away, whereas this time Kharkov has not changed hands even once with the Russians starting from 20 miles away. We never know what the future will bring, not in 2024 or later. Human beings are the most fickle elements of Creation. Anticipating what they will do next is what makes life so interesting.
My great grandfather was drafted to the hungarian army from a small village in the northern part of the country. He was just a simple man, had no interest in the war or Hitler's empire. His wife was pregnant with my grandmother when he left. He was forced to fight in Transylvania against the coming Red Army. During the retreat towards Budapest the army came relatively close to his home village in the mountains, about 50 kms away. He knew it was now or never, and during a cold dark night he ran away from the camp, into the woods. He knew the terrain well, and managed to evade patrols and make it back to his village in the brutal cold and snow, without any food. It was around midnight when he reached his house on the edge of the village. He was extremely tired and afraid, but silently knocked on the window. To his great relief, his wife with his newborn daughter (my future grandmother) looked back from inside. She could not believe that he made it back home in one piece. She hid him in the barn, and told him that he was very lucky - just a few hours ago the russians have reached the village and stole everything they could. He spent the rest of the war in hiding, and proceeded to live until he was 94, living a humble life. My grandmother's future husband (my grandfather) was 8 or 9 around this time, living in Budapest. Their nice city center house got completely destroyed by an american bomb. Luckily they were already hiding in the basement. They had to resort to stealing food to survive the siege of the city. He said to me that he will always remember the first dead body he saw at that time, a fat german soldier. They met about 20 years later, and proceeded to spend their lives under the suffocating soviet regime, not knowing true freedom until they were already too old to enjoy it. Never forget.
Wow, what an impressive story! Stories like those, are the reason why I love this channel and its people so much to be completely honest. Never Forget! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Are there any teamplayers at this level though? I feel like Eisenhower is the only general in the entire war who actually can cooperate with others. I guess one can't become a multi-star general without having an overblown ego and Ike is the only one of the whole bunch who has the political talent.
@poiuyt975 Definitely not true guys like Montgomery and Patton are more fringe cases than not. Auchinleck Rokossovky Bradley and Rommel are just a few among many examples of Generals who got these great armies rolling. If it was truly as bad as you say in any of these armies they'd dissolve overnight like the French British front on 1940 did. Montgomery was a gloryhound and won't attack unless he knows he can win even at his peers expense.
@@poiuyt975 War is _the_ original and ultimate team effort. If you think team sports are about the team, consider that all sports started as a substitute for actual war. The Team is what is foremost from day one in training until retirement. Soldiers are trained to lay down their own lives for the sake of the team. You confuse the army with a political party. The selfish don't last long in the army.
It's definitely a credit to this format that I've realised how "short" the siege of Bastogne was. I had previously been under the impression that it was besieged more or less as long as the whole battle took, just from how it's talked about. It really tells you how little steam (or gas really) the German offensive had.
@@extrahistory8956To be honest, though, EVERYTHING on the Eastern Front (except Stalingrad) is minimized in comparison to the Western Front. Western history textbooks generally sound like "the Nazis were terrible and did awful things until the Americans and British landed on D-Day, and then fought across France and liberated concentration camps in Germany until the Germans surrendered. The Soviets contributed in some minor, but inconsequential ways. And then the Cold War started because communism is evil."
@@bludfyre Very true. Hell, I'll argue that this very specific narrative of the war also plays to a major detriment of other Allied achievements in the Burma, East African, China, Tunisian, New Guinea and Italian campaigns.
The "Siege" of Bastogne has always been a misnomer, used more as a popular buzzword to put in book titles. Was really just a temporary encirclement. The infantry divisions assigned to close the kessel had nowhere near the strength to actually do so, and Patton's relief force quickly and with relative ease broke into it. Jesse Alexander on RealTime History's Ardennes Counteroffensive special did a great job covering the battle.
@@bludfyre Not true at all, unless you're talking about textbooks from the 1960s or something. All belligerent nations of course emphasize their own contributions to the war more (have you ever seen a Russian history textbook?). But modern history textbooks, at least in the US, definitely give the Soviets their due, and emphasize the 27 million dead figure.
This week will sadly also see the death of the USAAF's greatest P-51 Mustang ace, George Preddy, on Christmas day. Seeing an FW 190 attacking friendly forces near Liege, Preddy went after him to engage, but was shot down by friendly (which isn't) anti-aircraft fire. At only 25 years old, he was an experienced ace and squadron commander. He' d been a fighter pilot for several years, flying P-40's in the defense of Darwin in 1942 and P-47's from England since 1943. Finally his squadron switched to the P-51 in April 1944. By this point, the P-51D was a finely honed machine, with a highly efficient wing, tremendous visibility thanks to a new bubble canopy, 6 .50 cal guns that could withstand high G maneuvering, pressurized drop tanks that allowed it to fly all the way to the Czech republic, fight, and fly back to England as well as a new K-14 computing gunsight that meant pilots who were not crack shots could score kills with deflection shots. Crucially, it also ran on high octane fuel and was significantly faster than German fighters. The German Fw 190 couldn't perform at high altitude and ME 262's were very rare and accident prone, so the majority of dogfights were now with the Bf-109K. Still soldiering on, the tiny Bf-109 now featured a heavy and very powerful engine that provided a surprising turn of speed with lower octane fuel, but was nothing like as well balanced as the earlier versions and was very tricky to fly. At the same time, pilot quality decreased badly, with skilled veterans dying, and replacements not even being able to train for lack of fuel, while Allied pilots now featured an increasing number of experienced veterans and aces. Preddy was able to take maximum advantage of this, leading his blue nose squadron on many missions over Germany and shooting down 5 planes in a day during August 1944. His final tally was 27 kills.
In the immortal words of an old soldier: "Here's to the New Year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we all be home before she's over."
Cobra King, first Sherman from 4th Armored Division into Bastogne pictured at 2:59, is displayed at the new National Museum of the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The tank was lifted into the partially-built museum, and the building was completed around it. The museum opened its doors on Veterans Day, November 11, 2020 during the COVID pandemic, a fairly quiet event given all of the restrictions still in effect at that point.
We've come a long way from TGW days of 1914 and making Przemyśl Fortress jokes haven't we? Amazing work, Indy & team. The intros and summaries from these videos are half as long as entire old episodes used to be!
Indeed it has been a long journey, did someone see Hötzendorf recently? Thanks a lot for the comment! The biggest change might be the video length, when in "1940" Indy described an episode as being "super long" because it lasted 15 minutes, well here we are with more content than ever! -TimeGhost Ambassador
This week may be a good week to watch Episode 6 *Bastogne* of the 2001 television miniseries *Band of Brothers* , with the Battle of the Bulge briefly shown and its effects on Easy Company as they and other American units are surrounded by the Germans. This episode also shows the battle as seen from the viewpoint of combat medic Eugene "Doc" Roe, as he befriends a Belgian nurse, Renée Lemaire, along the way.
That was a great episode of BoB The 101st dug in all around Bastogne. The 501st E company visited by General McAuliffe and Colonel Sink on the front lines...... General McAuliffe telling them (Lt. Nixon and Major Winters) that 10th Armor just pulled out of Foy "and there's a lot of shit headed this way Armor, Arty, Infantry, hold the line"
I saw it a few months ago, and felt like the defence of Bastogne was way longer than one week. It still was a good episode and really puts the changing frontlines and maps and numbers into a new perspective, which I think is important.
@@tigertank06 They'd have still lost. The real back-breaker for the Ardennes Offensive was 46 mi / 74 km to the northeast at Elsenborn Ridge.The 6th Panzer Army's failure to take it after heavy fighting, which also effectively destroyed two of that army's best divisions in the process, secured Allied victory. To some extent Bastogne's importance to the overall Ardennes Offensive is exaggerated in popular memory because it featured a heroic defense from surrounded troops, because there were reporters present to cover events there, and because nearly every film portrayal of the Bulge focuses on Bastogne. The most significant action of the campaign as far as determining the outcome however was not fought there, but rather on the northern shoulder against the 6th Panzer Army.
Given his complete inability to control his commanders, given US logistics was majorly controlled from Washington, didn't even understand what was going on in Normdan, had basically military experience, and his failure to maintain the summer advance through into Autumn by focusing on the North European plain (anyone who knows European military history knows this is by far the most important region for armies historically and places like Lorraine were secondary or even tertiary to the Po valley) I think he actually shouldn't have been allied commanded at all. This channel does not do a good job explaining the most up to date contemporary debates and largely sticks too a boomer history of WW2.
@@Swift-mr5zi Considering that the Americans had 4 armies in Western Europe, and Monty was constantly begging for more US troops to be added to his command while the British were disbanding divisions of their own from manpower shortages there was no chance of a snowball in Hell that Monty would have become overall land forces commander in Western Europe. That ship had sailed after Normandy, crossed the ocean, arrived in the port on the other side and its crew was having fun in the red light district. WW2 in the West was an American affair with the UK playing 2nd fiddle, together with Canada and France. This man was thoroughly loathed by the generals of the largest Allied nation. He'd sooner get Bradley in the position that he wanted, in which case we would have gotten what we got when US 1st Army captured the Remagen bridge and got the Americans over the Rhine sooner then Monty and thus changing the course of an advance into central Germany instead of northern Germany. Only months sooner. If anything Eisenhower was as sympathetic to the demands and priority of Monty's 21st Army Group as he could be, prioritizing it and its advance to the Rhine, until the Remagen bridge completely changed the strategic situation.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 I enjoy how you just completely refuse to engage with any of the real points that I make and instead just repeat the same boomer talking points prevalent since the 1970s and 80s. Its like I'm talking to a bunch of old men who mindlessly repeat the same thoughts in their head with no desire to learn new things or actually critically analysed what they've been told. Allow me to add some details. I assume that you think alongside this comment that Market Garden was Montys fault when it was actually a primarily US failure, Patton 'beat Monty' in Sicily, El Alamein was one through sheer material overmatch, and Normandy was a mess, all of which is complete BS and yet most people still believe. 'WW2 in the West was an American affair with the UK playing 2nd fiddle, together with Canada and France' I assume that doesn't include how the UK did more fighting and certainly a lot more successful fighting in North Africa, especially on the advance from to and into Tunisia where the majority US forces got held up (to put it nicely) and most victories came in the south. That doesn't include how 70% of German war output was spent on Aircraft (see 'air and sea power how the war was won) AA guns, and Submarines (a single Type VII submarine costs the same as 20 Panthers, the torpedoes for a single patrol amount to another 3 more).the majority of which was spent fighting the British In the Med, North/North-west Europe, In Germany, North Africa, Atlantic ext from atleast 1940 till 1944. Most early war experienced pilots were killed by the British (pilot training after 1943 radically decreased in quality due to an oil shortage primarily caused by the British blockade) The US didn't dominate Commonwealth and other allied forces in Sicily or Italy with a lot of time spent where the majority of men came from non-US countries. Greek intervention was UK, Italian navy destroyed mainly by UK, Nazi navy destroyed mainly by UK and Canada, Norway (which took up 10'000s of troops) was threatened by the British east Coast. Regarding Overlord, it was not an American show by any strerch of the imagination. Britain supplied 67% of the shipping, 79% of the warships, 55% of the aircraft, 39% of the troops (Canada weighed in with another 22%), two artificial harbours, the intelligence gathering, the deception plan, the meteorological experise, the original Overlord plan and the final version of the final version. 'The invasion fleet, which was drawn from eight different navies, comprised 6,939 vessels: 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft of various types, 736 ancillary craft, and 864 merchant vessels.[80] The majority of the fleet was supplied by the UK, which provided 892 warships and 3,261 landing craft. In total there were 195,700 naval personnel involved; of these 112,824 were from the Royal Navy with another 25,000 from the Merchant Navy; 52,889 were American; and 4,998 sailors from other allied countries.' And you really think that was a supporting role? I can spent plenty of time giving you the full information of how Monty changed the plan (with evidence from people like Bradley themselves) and it was his plan that worked. Eisenwower was clueless and so was the press of the time, points Bradley makes himself. Not to mention the errors at point de Hoc covered up. The most elite German units in Normandy were primarily fought by the Commonwealth forces. The area around Caen literally had the highest concentration of Panzer divisions at any time in WW2. There were EIGHT Panzer Divisors in the Caen area by the end of June 1944 and FIVE lines of anti tank-guns. The Germans kept sending more and more Panzer divisions around the Caen area as June went on and into July. These were the Panzer divisions deployed to the Caen area. 21st Panzer Division (117 Panzer IVs), Panzer Lehr Division (101 Panzer IVs, 89 Panthers), 2nd Panzer Division (89 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers), 116th Panzer Division (73 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). In reserve just behind the front there was 1st SS Panzer Division (98 Panzer IVs, 79 panthers), 9th SS Panzer Division (40 Stugs, 46 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers), 10th SS Panzer Division (38 Stugs, 29 Panzer IVs), 12th SS Panzer Division (38 Stugs, 29 Panzer IVs), Tiger Battalion SS101 (45 Tigers), Tiger Battalion SS102 (45 Tigers), Tiger Battalion 503 (45 Tigers). Bernages Panzers and the Battle for Normandy and Zetterling’s Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness. US historian Zaloga found only 3 examples in the entire western front campaigns from 1944-1945 of US troops facing tigers I's contray to what Saving Private Ryan and Fury might imply. Almost all major Then you have the fact that when there actually was a major german armoured counter attack against US forces one of the primary determining factors causing it to fail was RAF ground attack aircraft. Theres also the myth that Monty is responsible for failing to close Falaise pocket, the failure to seize the Brest ports by Patton which caused later problems, how the extent of destruction on German units and subsequent advance is something Monty never gets credit for when this was something pre invasion planning never expected. So from 1940 the UK contributed the most to the Western war effort from an objective perspective looking at Nazi economic resource allocation and destruction (not even touching on things like the second happy time btw).
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 What about the US contribution from this point onwards? What we see is that most US troops fought battles which were on bad terrain, against poor soliders, in areas which had little potential strategic gain, losing many men all for political and not any real strategic purpose. I'm sure all of the families of dead conscripted US soldiers made to fight in a European war far from home appreciated that. Lets go through the. Well you have a mopping up operation in the South of France with a US-French force (plus some UK escort carriers) that hardly faced any determined resistance. Sixth Army Group then ended up smashing itself against the Vosges in terrain heavly suited to the defenders, an area which saw the repulse of many attacks both German and French during WW1 and which had little hope of taking any strategic territory which would end the war sooner (myth of Alpine fortress being the closest thing to a real strategic objective. It was largely a waste of lives for French political pride (e.g Strabourg) and to make use of Med ports for the sake of it. Patton failed to take Cherbourg ports, he failed to take a wide encirclement of the Germans to the Seine river and instead preffered racing off into undefended country side and Paris because it looked good in the newspapers. Patton then had more success during the Advance into Lorraine but then got stuck (not due to fuel losses due to Market Garden which is another myth) fighting units of deaf and blind men. Here's what the US offical history says about the Lorraine campaign... Some army the Americans were going to fight. “Was the Lorraine campaign an American victory? From September through November, Third Army claimed to have inflicted over 180,000 casualties on the enemy. But to capture the province of Lorraine, a problem which involved an advance of only 40 to 60 miles Third Army required over 3 months and suffered 50,000 casualties, approximately one-third of the total number of casualties it sustained in the entire European war”. Huge losses for taking unimportant territory, against a poor German army. Not clever. “Ironically, Third Army never used Lorraine as a springboard for an advance into Germany after all. Patton turned most of the sector over to Seventh Army during the Ardennes crisis and when the eastward advance resumed after the Battle of the Bulge, Third Army based its operations on Luxembourg, not Lorraine. The Lorraine campaign will always remain a controversial episode in American military history.” In this same time period we have the attempts of 1st/9th army to break through Aechan and the Hurtgen Forest which resulted in a tragic US defeat, huge losses for minimal strategic gain once again in an area suited to defenders against (for the most part) third rate troops. So far we have a theme of US armies fighting in areas with few strategic objectives in harsh terrain and making slow progress against poor soldiers. All of this took place after Eisenhower took command, he couldn't pick the correct plan, cared more about politics than his mens lives, didn't even have much control over resource allocation due to Washintons system of logisitics, couldn't control his generals, had basically no military experience, had almost no real hand in how Normandy turned out ext. During this time period from summer 1944-Spring 1945 most troops in Italy are also non-American, Greek intervention is UK, and the RAF and USAF are contributing about equally (thats a bit debated but either way the difference isn't very large). None of this is even mentioning the complete mess of the Bulge which was caused preciesly because of Eisenhowers plan to strech forces thin. All of European history shows that the main axis of attack should be through Belguim Holland, and Northern Germany and also stresses the huge importance of controlling Atlantic and channel ports. The per capita strategic contribution of US soldiers in Western Europe was just lower than commonwealth forces because their objectives were less valuable. Bastogne is completely overrated compared to St Vith in the narrative of the Battle of the Bulge, Pattons role is also completely overrated 'Patton took five days to cover about 15-17 km getting to Bastogne outnumbering the enemy 6 to 1. The 18,000 inside were about to walk out as the Germans had already left going west. Bastogne was strategically unimportant being on the extreme German left flank. The road from the west of Bastogne was not even covered by the Germans...Patton did not have to smash through full panzer divisions or Tiger battalions on his way to Bastogne. Patton's armoured forces outnumbered the Germans by at least 6 to 1. Patton faced very little German armour when he broke through to Bastogne because the vast majority of the German 5th Panzer Army had already left Bastogne in their rear moving westwards to the River Meuse. They were engaging forces under Montgomery's 21st Army Group near Dinant by the Meuse. Monty's armies halted the German advance pushing them back...After the German attack in the Ardennes, US air force units were put under Coningham of the RAF, who gave Patton massive ground attack support and he still stalled. Patton's failure to concentrate his forces on a narrow front and his decision to commit two green divisions to battle without adequate reconnaissance resulted in his stall. Patton's Third Army was almost always where the weakest German divisions in the west where.' All of this is without mentioning the major command and control issues at the start of the battle which I could go into far more depth on (along with almost all topics I talk about believe it or not this is extremely simplified). I'll talk about 1945 if someones replies and actually wants me to talk about it. I can expand on any point you want.
This week there were two naval actions in the Atlantic that saw two German submarines sunk by two Canadian corvettes. On the 27th HMCS St. Thomas, a Castle-class corvette sinks the German U-boat, U-877 out in the Atlantic. St. Thomas had detected the sub twice and attacked her with a Squid, an anti-submarine mortar. As the corvette was about to head back to the convoy, the U-boat surfaces 4 km away. The Canadians decided to capture/rescue the German crew from the damaged sub. HMCS Sea Cliff joins in the action and all 56 Germans are fished out of the sea. After the war one of the German officers would call one of the Canadian officers every year thanking him for rescuing him and the crew. On the 29th HMCS Calgary, a Flower-class corvette sinks the German U-boat, U-322 in the English Channel. Unlike the other action, all 52 Germans went down with the sub.
If I can recommend a series, Historigraph made a number of videos on the battles in Hungary, Especially the siege of Budapest, It’s in my opinion a underrated portion of The Eastern Front considering how important the Führer made it
FINALLY! After months and months of binging, I have finally caught up to the latest episode! I've started watching this series since the 1941 episodes but had to take a hiatus in 2022 to focus on my studies. Recently I had time to rewatch this series and here I am! I absolutely love this series makes it so that WW2 is actually a global war by covering on all the fronts instead of just focusing on one front like other ww2 videos. A week by week format really made me understand the situations during WW2. I even managed to learn new things from this series. Please, never end this kind of format for any new series you're doing in the future. Cheers to another year! (from a random Malaysian who really likes history) Also P.S./SPOILERS: I really hope that in 1945 you'll mention the bombing of Kuala Lumpur that happened on the 18th of February. Although the event is probably insignificant , I still think it would be nice if you could mention it ^^
Congratulations on catching up! Thanks a lot for all the kind words in your comment! Every week, we give it our all and are glad that people like you enjoy watching it! Cheers, and a Happy New Year! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Can't believe I've been watching these weekly episodes since Sept. 2018! So much has changed since then, both in WWII, and in the 21st century! Back then the episodes were just a little over 10 minutes in length, now they're almost 3 times that length! Seriously, this is a great series you are producing as we wind our way into 1945 in the series, and 2024 in our own timeline!
Oh, I could not agree more with you! I think it is even more true if you still went to school/university you could really say "Oh 1942, yeah I was in my second year of ... back then". I used to think "When I finish my degree, the WW2 series will be at *that stage*" And I think it is kind of cool and very impressive! Thanks for watching still! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Happy New Years Timeghost! Can't believe we are almost to 1945 already. Hard to fathom how the 6th Panzer army was supposed to accomplish its goal being that far behind schedule and with such lack of fuel.
I'dsay a gamble that was doomed to faillure. Even if they achieved its objectives, it wasn't going to alter the course of the war. It might have significantly delayed the end of the war but Germany was still going to lose. @@WorldWarTwo
After half a year of watching I have now finally caught up to the present of what is happening in the war! I want to thank the time ghost team for working so hard to bring us this documentary and helping us to better understand the finer details of ww2
Congratulations on your devotion! Thanks a lot for watching! And it is our pleasure, to bring you the very best of our production capacities! -TimeGhost Ambassador
I just finished my time serving with 2nd battalion, 37th armored regiment (now 1st Armored division). Our Charlie companies motto is still: First to Bastogne!
Thank you for the well wishes Indy! You’ve been a part of my Saturday mornings for several years now. Your dedication to the program is as inspiring and a testifies to your great character and skill in presenting these oftentimes complex stories in a palpable fashion without them losing their meaning. I’ll be a loyal viewer for as long as you are so inclined to continue making these wonderful episodes. Happy New Year to you and the entire Timeghost team! We’ll see you in 2024!
Thanks a lot for watching for all this time! He is indeed quite an excellent narrator with a very charismatic side, and let us not forget he has been doing it since 2014, so almost ten years of experience in that specific domain! Happy new year to you too! See you very soon again! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Would be difficult to do in a consistent manner. How to compare the productivity of an industrial worker in US with that of a slave in Japan? Even if the slave is less productive or commits sabotage they will still be more cost efficient ( probably). How to compare and contrast the lifestyle available to say a Canadian mechanized farmer and a Chinese subsistence farmer. The first is a high inputs, low prices but the second is low inputs and high pr8ces due to famine.
@@jonahtwhale1779I think generalised statements on oil produced and oil consumed, economic output in weapons and food harvest etc rather than a per capita comparison on individual output. But you do raise a good point 👍
My wifes grandmother was killed in the battle for Budapest. Walking the streets in Budapest you can imagine this immense siege. The civilians truly were between a hard place and a rock.
Outstanding work as always. Wishing the whole crew all the best in the new year. Insane to think 2024 will be my 10th year watching Indy's week-by-week history coverage, as I was fortunate to catch wind of the Great War project just a few weeks into it back in 2014. Such a treat it's been to see y'all grow and develop as storytellers, artists, historians, writers, presenters, interviewers; everything you've been over that time. Peace and best wishes
This video brings back memories of the 1965 movie Battle of the Bulge, now free on TH-cam. It was filmed in the desert area of Spain with Spanish Army tanks standing in for American and German tanks, so the details were not authentic. But it did capture the fighting fury of Americans and Germans, knowing this would be a make-or-break battle for both sides. I am glad to see this video by Indy and Spartacus filling in the details of the battle in proper proportion; for example that the hard fighting the Americans did on that first day in Bastogne and Elsenborn Ridge sealed the doom of the German offensive that petered out a week later. Plus, Montgomery making a smart move with the American forces that came under his command, which I had not heard of before. I think I'll go back and have another look at that old Battle of the Bulge movie I saw 58 years ago, viewing it in perspective of what I've learned in this video.
Thats one BAD war movie guy.The Malmedy massacre is contrived and inaccurate.There was no huge tank battle.And im pretty sure no panzer commanders made the crews stand around singing "Panzerlied".
Happy New Year Team! Loved your coverage of '44 this year, really looking forward to '45 and a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the end of the war to be filled.
My Grandfather was a Captain in the Hungarian Army during the Siege of Budapest. Before the siege, my grandmother wanted to flee to Austria, but my Grandfather refused to leave his men behind. He was captured and spent 3 years in a Russian POW camp. He was able to give his signet ring to his sergeant, who got to my grandmother and let her know he was captured. My grandfather spent 3 years in a Russian POW camp. He never talked about it, but we have 2 small crosses he carved from wood. He also learned English from someone in the camp. This would help when he fled Hungry in 1956.
I heard the bluff story with demands for birds being about Olga of Kiev, who later accepted a delegate from the Roman Emperor in Constantinople to convert.
Could a popular trope or story similar to how for some reason having molten metal poured down your throat seems to be a common punishment. If I remember correctly the greedy governor of Otrar Inalquk and the roman general Crassus supposedly both having molten gold or silver poured down their throat for their greed. With I think the Crassus story coming a book of morality tales were the greedy general who persecuted christians gets a suitably poetic punishment. Its also a punishment in one of the Buddhist hells or at least some tradition of it from what I vaguely remember of visiting a monestary.
Was a great year all. I been watching you every week from the beginning. I love you show. If I was not so poor I would help you guys. But at last I'm old and to broken. And I'm sorry for that. But this yr has been one of my worst and best yrs. I got cancer and had to fight it. I won my battle but that fight was a bad one. You have made that yr so much better and I thank you.
Happy New Year to you all as I join in Indy's prayer that the current crises do not expand, heaven help us, into a global war and may peace reign on this beautiful planet.
It feels like an eternity ago, but 1944 began with the Germans moving troops from one army in Army Group South to another in order to stop a Soviet breakthrough in one area, usually followed by a new one in the area covered by the army they just weakened. Now things are so bad that this dynamic is going on on Army Group and theater level. And indeed, moving a ton of troops from Poland to Hungary and the west has helped more or less stabilize those fronts. Shame that this has come at a cost of leaving 4 guys and a panzer left between the Vistula and Berlin, what could go wrong.
The Germans did not just just move forces 'from one army in Army Group South to another' in late 1943 and early 1944- they moved huge number of divisions from across other army groups in the East, as well as OKW theaters of war, namely OB West (France, Belgium, Netherlands), Italy (OB Südwest), Balkans (OB Südost), Denmark, Norway and Germany itself to Manstein's Army Group South. The fact that there was still no actual front in the OB West area at the time (October 1943- March 1944), the fighting in Italy was being waged quite economically in terms of losses, while the possibility of serious Allied landings elsewhere (Balkans, Norway) had passed its peak (compared to German calculations in the summer and early fall of 1943), meant that the Germans had the possibility to transfer substantial reinforcements to Army Group South time and again, which directly weakened those theaters of war, especially OB West.
I may speak for some other members and YT surfers BC you've managed to never use the phrases-(irrc) "It's super easy. Barely an inconvenience" assembling the narrative as 'the team' has for the duration - masterful effort
Archbishop Damaskinos is one of the coolest figures of the Resistance against the Nazis, IMO. Apparently, at one point, he openly refused to give the German occupation government a list of all the Jews in Greece (writing an open letter in the newspapers that included citations from Galatians as part of his refusal). The German occupational governor, as such people often did, told him to get with the program or get shot. Damaskinos replied with another open letter in the newspapers with only two lines. "In the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our archbishops are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions." (As you do when you really want to say 'come at me, bro', but you're an archbishop and you have to maintain the dignity of your office.)
Getting major King Christian X of Denmark vibes from that guy. Like that Danish king, he was able to rally his people by simply and peacefully refusing to go along with what the occupiers wanted. It's easier for them if you rebel openly because then they're justified in using their own violence, much harder to fight against someone who simply.... stands up.
Wilson going to replace Dill is a huge job. Dill was revered by the US commanders, to the point he remains the only foreign soldier buried in Arlington.
This week on December 30rd 1944, the following missions in Medal of Honor: Spearhead will begin: *December 24 1944* Bastogne - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will need to destroy the enemy Nebelwerfers, use a Nebelwerfer to destroy an enemy halftrack, as well as using sticky bombs to destroy enemy tanks. Top of the Mountain - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will start out in a German Sd.Kfz. 251 halftrack mounted with a PzB41 anti-tank gun and will be involved in a chase and escort mission where the supply truck must make it to the Allied lines. Under Attack - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will need to locate and escort the medic after orders have been obtained from the Captain at the frontline. Afterwards, you will need to move back and fourth between the left and right flanks while defending both of them against waves of enemies. *December 25 1944* Quiet Little Town - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will need to clear the church first and the hotel second, after crossing the field alive prior. You will then need to get on a Flakvierling 38 anti-aircraft gun and shoot down an enemy Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber.
This week on December 30rd 1944, the following missions in the Call of Duty series will begin: *December 25 1944* The Race to Bastogne (Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts) - As Gunnery Sergeant Alex McCall in Bastogne, Belgium, you will start out in a M4 Sherman tank, and will have to eliminate enemy Panzerschreck crews as well as enemy Panzers. Eventually there will be a enemy Tiger I tank that needs to be eliminated near to the end of the level. Battle of the Bulge (Call of Duty: World War II) - As Corporal Ronald Daniels in the Ardennes, Belgium, deliver the ammunition box and protect the convoy before calling for air support. Then as Second Lieutenant Matthew Weber, defend the B-17 bombers from enemy BF-109 fighters and ensure the bombers reach their targets. Finally, as Daniels once again, you are to hold the line and destroy the enemy tanks. *December 26 1944* Bois Jacques (Call of Duty: United Offensive) - As Corporal Scott Riley in Bastogne, Belgium, you will start out in a Jeep patrol and will come under attack by enemy forces while returning to headquarters. Soon you will need to hold on incoming waves of enemies while in a foxhole using the various weapons such as the M1919 Browning machine gun, the M1903 Springfield sniper rifle and the M9A1 Bazooka rocket launcher. *December 27 1944* Ambush (Call of Duty: World War II) - As Corporal Ronald Daniels in the Ardennes, Belgium, you will first need to ambush the German transport in order to infiltrate the enemy air base. You will then have to find an overwatch position for Pierson in order to rescue Zussman and make an escape out of the area. *December 28 1944* The Relief of Bastogne (Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts) - As Private Tom Sharpe in Bastogne, Belgium, you will need to first eliminate the enemy sniper as well as the incoming patrol. You will also have to avoid falling into the enemy decoy trap and defeat the enemy convoy. Finally, a few enemy tanks will appear which as well will need to be destroyed.
Someday, we'll learn that wars to end wars, don't. May all of you watching this video, find yourselves and your loved ones in a place of safety with all the comforts of the season. Never Forget
@@obi-wankenobi1750Correct. For all humanity’s infinite shortcomings, we should be grateful we’ve managed to avoid another major war and nuclear annihilation since 1945.
Even as winter creeps in force, major operations will not cease for the time being. Men will have to fight in the ever bitter cold in the Ardennes, Vosges, Hungary, Italy, and possibly Poland. Hitler by this point, has ignored all signs of his impending doom. He sees no evil, hears no evil, nor even speaks of no evil. Dismissing any sense of logic. But when the Allies offensive crash down upon his already shattering ground, he will soon learn. As for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations, the Japanese know they cannot stop the Allies. The Allied forces have sailed their way from the Solomon Islands, the admiralties, Micronesia, the Marianas, Pelieui, the Philippines. Eventually they will strike hard at the home turf of Japan. While in Burma and China, their offensives have failed to make any significant headway. Even though, by late 1944, the war has severely turned against the Axis. They will still continue to resist bitterly no matter what. 1944 may be over and so too of this chapter of the war. But the final chapter will open and it will see the eventual downfall of the Axis. Godspeed to those who perished. Happy New Years.
Keep up the great work, and hats off for overcoming the YT restrictions that were thrown at you in 2023. If I win the jackpot on new years day, I'll pick up the entire bill for your '24 productions. Not kidding.
It's impressive how total opposites both german offensives in the Ardennes are to each other. The 1940 one was a quick and swift surprise attack, with barely any time for british and french troops to regroup and hold their lines, and ended up in the Dunkirk Evacuation; Meanwhile this one in 1944 is the total opposite: while the germans thought a attack on the Christmas Day would be a slam dunk, the ones who got the jump on them were the americans, not the opposite, and the lack of supplies made the whole quick invasion tactic useless. As James Arnold states very well in the quote on the video: "The dream of a blitzkrieg has died"
That's why he was given the job in the 1st place. There were plenty of US generals who showed great promise in battle, but to command a multi-national force and having to play babysitter to primadonnas was less about being able to read the map right and give the right orders to the right people, and everything to do with having great people skills.
Ernie Harmon, say his name! The most unrecognized tactical tank genius of WWII. Harmon was like Patton without the theatrics and problems. He did not seek out press recognition like Patton as well, which is probably why we never hear of him. He was in command of "Hell on Wheels" in the attack on 2nd Panzer Division in the late stage of the battle.
It would not be the first time, nor the last time, that Stalin would get a lot of people from the USSR DELETED for nothing. On the plus side, the longer the Hungarian front dragged on the more Hitler would strip the Polish front of troops and tanks it could not afford to lose.
"The American Army would be celebrating Christm,as" Dude this army was founded by George freaking Washington 11;20 this "keeping most of your troops behind the immediate front line" sounds so much like 1917-1918
The distinctive feature of the encirclement now of Budapest was that the German general responsible for the earlier repulsion of the attack was now in command of the spearhead of the Ardennes offensive. On a YT channel with letter reports from German soldiers, Russian defeat earlier at Budapest was the biggest tank victory though hanging by a thread of silk. Removing it and moving it to Ardennes was, of course, a blunder. What I don't hear and came up in letter reports is that the Germans were well fed at the start and then pretty much starved because, like petrol, they also had to get their food from the town and conquered supplies which never happened. Well nice report as ever! Good luck and happy new year! PS. of course that includes hardly any supplies came up the line due to failing coordination and poor road and fuel conditions. On paper a great force however in reality a desperate useless offensive.
According to statista, soviet population in 1946 was 170 million, with men aged 18 to 59 only accounting for 41.5 million. That means those 6 million men on the easter front in😅 1945 accounted for 1/7 of all men between age 18-59, not counting any that were permanantly disabled or captued. This illistrate the soviet and russian demographic crisis to this day, with big shortage of people in age groups 80s, 50s, and 20s, and another one coming in the next 10 years.
It was at this time, late 1944- early 1945, when the attention of the German command and Hitler began to shift back to the Eastern Front, with the proposal to withdraw the 6th Panzer Army from the West to the East being born. At the start of 1945, Hitler made a proposal to withdraw the 6th Panzer Army from the Western Front back to Germany for refitting and then transfer it to the East. Then, on 8 January 1945, Rundstedt received an order to begin transferring units of the 6th Panzer Army to central Germany. However, due to the fact that it was engaged in heavy combat at the time, the withdrawal of its divisions took place gradually between 14-22 January 1945. The 6th Panzer Army HQ arrived to Hungary by 8 February 1945, while its divisions began arriving to its assembly areas between 15-20 February 1945. The encirclement of Budapest put in jeopardy the entire German stance in Hungary, where key oil reserves were located at, which then accounted for 80% of the total oil production of the Reich. In addition, many other major formations were transferred in January-February 1945 from the West to the East, partly in response to the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive. The following number of units were thus transferred from the _Westfront_ to the _Ostfront_ (mainly to Hungary) between January-February 1945. HQ units: - HQ of the 6. Panzerarmee; - HQ of the I. SS-Panzer-Corps; - HQ of the II. SS-Panzer-Corps. Combat formations: - 1. SS-Panzer-Division LSSAH; - 2. SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich; - 9. SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen; - 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg; - 12. SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend; - 21. Panzer-Division; - Führer-Begleit-[Panzer] Division; - 25. Panzergrenadier-Division; - Führer-Grenadier-[Panzergrenadier] Division; - 269. Infanterie-Division; - 275. Infanterie-Division; - 344. Infanterie-Division; - 711. Infanterie-Division; - 712. Infanterie-Division. General headquarters combat units (powerful artillery, Nebelwerfer units etc.): - Volks-Artillerie-Korps 403; - Volks-Artillerie-Korps 405; - Volks-Werfer-Brigade 17; - Heeres-Pionier-Brigade 655.
11:38 according to Glantz it was actually common for the Germans to leave their forward lines lightly defended and having the main force further back. This had always been a major component in the German approach of a flexible defense, ceding some ground and then counterattacking, often to devastating effect. So, Hitler didn‘t singlehandedly stop the Germans from employing this approach in practice. Actually, because frontline commanders never had enough troops, with German formations at a fraction of their authorized strength, the temptation of leaving a lightly-defended frontline was even bigger for frontline commanders. However, this approach also came with serious risks. At this point in the war, the Soviets understood German defense tactics fairly well and were able to counter them effectively, especially, by infiltrating the forward German lines ahead of an attack. For this purpose they had their own specialized troops, and these were often able to clear massive breaches in the German forward lines, usually without the Germans finding out about it. German defenders would wake up to a Soviet attack being launched from what they thought was their own forward lines, with the enemy able to strike the main line immediately, in force, including the Artillery preparation. The lack of troops to man forward positions on the German side made it easy to eliminate those positions without much fuss and turn the German defense on its head. In the late war the Germans had essentially no way to stop the well-prepared strategic break-throughs by the Soviets, and this was definitely made worse by the fact that their elastic defense tactics were neutralized.
Happy new years team I love your content wishing you a great year full of blessing and good luck in future projects after this take care indy you made me realize that I love history and I might love it more then my field of study
Now I'm no military genius (if we dont count hoi4 lmao), but it seems to me that Monty is a great general to have when your side is losing. Having an eye for when tactics on the ground is in need for a do-over from the ground up. But fumbling hard with an army that's on top of things. I'm awaiting eagerly to see how his power play works out, I'm expecting it won't go quite as he planned.
Monty had a pretty good grip on what was reasonable to ask of his armies, and also a wider strategic context. Not to mention he had some basic respect for the lives of his troops... Reflecting the values and limits of the broader sociopolitical system his tools were products of. The man wasn't a gambler, he was a statistician, a scientist - he was a full-spectrum master of modern warfare. Geniuses like manstein and zhukov wish their worst blunders were market garden, let alone have the audacity to try something like it, or organise and execute Overlord. That was a fucking difficult war - Monty made it look easy. He invited controversy and hatred by being correct, professional, and competent in a way that embarrassed American opinion. Also being extraordinarily obtuse and socially awkward... But the best critiques of him are counterfactual, that he didn't win hard enough, in the opinions of some bitter haters amongst his peers and a certain nation that will Never give him his props out of pure chauvinism. The man discovered that the key to winning = not losing. He had respect for lives of the men under his command, and the integrity of the war effort as a whole. Haters gonna hate though. He wasn't a gambler of lives and victory, wow what a crap general.
@@onylra6265 Kind of described just what I said. I understand Monty gets a lot of unjustified hate, but he obviously cannot be the flawless hero you describe. No man invites controversy and hatred by being correct, professional and competent there has to be more to the story 😂 Another aside is that not following through with moments of opportunity can lead to more casualties than taking the cautious approach, as well as loss of momentum meaning losing opportunities you otherwise will not see again. I think a great general have the ability to be opportunistic, without having to rely on opportunities. One of my personal favorite generals is Patton, but I'll gladly admit to his numerous faults as a commander, and as a person 😁
@@onylra6265 Some of Monty's biggest critics, and the one's that wanted him sacked, were British. It wasn't just Americans he infuriated. One of the problems is that operations in Normandy had a different goal than the one Monty stated. Monty's goal in Normandy was to attract and destroy the German armored forces in Normandy so that the Americans could take Cherbourg and break out. This wasn''t for public consumption. He had hoped that each operation would achieve a breakthrough, and when they didn't, he took a lot of flack. As with all generals, he made mistakes. Falaise and Antwerp. The first was not providing enough force to close the gap (had Bradley not been such a curmudgeon he could have bailed him out, as Patton wanted). The second was not putting Antwerp first. Market Garden only looked possible because of intelligence failures and had to be executed quickly before the chance was lost, meaning there was no time to correct the failures and refine the plans.
One of my favourite things about this channel is the comments section, it can contain some very well informed posts, comments, arguments and counter-arguements. One does have to plough through unthought, ill -informed dross, but nowhere near as much as some.
In our timeline, the year 1945 will bring another year of this world war. But wherever you are in 2024, we wish you peace and happiness.
I predict 1945 will be a momentous year, filled with both good and evil.
Thank you all for the work you do! I'm always astonished by all that you have put into this project. Have a safe and happy new year!
From ww1 with you,happy new year
Here's to 2024!
Since we have reached 1945 we can show the German deaths on the eastern front up to this time. In 1941 302,495 in 1942 506,815 in 1943 700,635 and in 1944 1,232,946 giving a total up to January 1,1945 of 2,742,946 deaths on the eastern front. The number of deaths in the remaining year of 1945 will skyrocket well beyond what has been seen up to now. Also approximately 8,200,000 have been wounded on the eastern front using a conservative estimate of 3 to 1 for wounded compared to deaths. The coming death tolls will be enormous due to the imbalance of forces in the east as well as as foolish and ill considered offensive and defensive attempts by the German forces.
I never thought I'd see a war between Russia and Ukraine being fought on the same battlefields in 2023 as the Germans and Soviets fought over in 1943. The difference being that Kharkov changed hands four times in WWII when the Germans reached it from a start line 800 miles away, whereas this time Kharkov has not changed hands even once with the Russians starting from 20 miles away. We never know what the future will bring, not in 2024 or later. Human beings are the most fickle elements of Creation. Anticipating what they will do next is what makes life so interesting.
"They call us 6th Panzer Army because we have only six panzers left."-German officer
Sounds about right -TimeGhost Ambassador
This joke it's coming from Oberst-gruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich in late war
My great grandfather was drafted to the hungarian army from a small village in the northern part of the country. He was just a simple man, had no interest in the war or Hitler's empire. His wife was pregnant with my grandmother when he left. He was forced to fight in Transylvania against the coming Red Army. During the retreat towards Budapest the army came relatively close to his home village in the mountains, about 50 kms away. He knew it was now or never, and during a cold dark night he ran away from the camp, into the woods. He knew the terrain well, and managed to evade patrols and make it back to his village in the brutal cold and snow, without any food. It was around midnight when he reached his house on the edge of the village. He was extremely tired and afraid, but silently knocked on the window. To his great relief, his wife with his newborn daughter (my future grandmother) looked back from inside. She could not believe that he made it back home in one piece. She hid him in the barn, and told him that he was very lucky - just a few hours ago the russians have reached the village and stole everything they could. He spent the rest of the war in hiding, and proceeded to live until he was 94, living a humble life.
My grandmother's future husband (my grandfather) was 8 or 9 around this time, living in Budapest. Their nice city center house got completely destroyed by an american bomb. Luckily they were already hiding in the basement. They had to resort to stealing food to survive the siege of the city. He said to me that he will always remember the first dead body he saw at that time, a fat german soldier.
They met about 20 years later, and proceeded to spend their lives under the suffocating soviet regime, not knowing true freedom until they were already too old to enjoy it. Never forget.
Wow, what an impressive story!
Stories like those, are the reason why I love this channel and its people so much to be completely honest. Never Forget! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Post soviet hungary and true freedom in one sentence...
Thank you for sharing.
👏👏👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹🌹
So cool man
It feels that this truly showcases Monty’s best and his worst. Great defensive tactician, hesitant attacker, and the worst teammate.
Are there any teamplayers at this level though? I feel like Eisenhower is the only general in the entire war who actually can cooperate with others.
I guess one can't become a multi-star general without having an overblown ego and Ike is the only one of the whole bunch who has the political talent.
Ike could herd cats Monty was the bestest general to work FOR, not to work with...
@poiuyt975 Definitely not true guys like Montgomery and Patton are more fringe cases than not. Auchinleck Rokossovky Bradley and Rommel are just a few among many examples of Generals who got these great armies rolling. If it was truly as bad as you say in any of these armies they'd dissolve overnight like the French British front on 1940 did. Montgomery was a gloryhound and won't attack unless he knows he can win even at his peers expense.
@@poiuyt975 War is _the_ original and ultimate team effort. If you think team sports are about the team, consider that all sports started as a substitute for actual war. The Team is what is foremost from day one in training until retirement. Soldiers are trained to lay down their own lives for the sake of the team.
You confuse the army with a political party. The selfish don't last long in the army.
Monty was the best General the Germans have.
Difficult to win an offensive when the enemy has 50 tanks for every one of yours.
And your enemy has total air superiority ...
What could go wrong? -TimeGhost Ambassador
They only have 50? We have King Tigers 😀
That's worth at least...counts fingers...1 tank!
we have the maus 🐭
And you don't even have the fuel to run the ones you have.
@Inhumane this man gets it
A siege that lasts only 'till the next episode. What a refresher.
The siege of Budapest does not last only a week. It lasts far longer.
@@SouthsideindyThey're talking about the siege of Bastogne.
It's definitely a credit to this format that I've realised how "short" the siege of Bastogne was. I had previously been under the impression that it was besieged more or less as long as the whole battle took, just from how it's talked about.
It really tells you how little steam (or gas really) the German offensive had.
For as iconic as it is, it certain pales in comparison with the siege Budapest which just began
@@extrahistory8956To be honest, though, EVERYTHING on the Eastern Front (except Stalingrad) is minimized in comparison to the Western Front. Western history textbooks generally sound like "the Nazis were terrible and did awful things until the Americans and British landed on D-Day, and then fought across France and liberated concentration camps in Germany until the Germans surrendered. The Soviets contributed in some minor, but inconsequential ways. And then the Cold War started because communism is evil."
@@bludfyre Very true. Hell, I'll argue that this very specific narrative of the war also plays to a major detriment of other Allied achievements in the Burma, East African, China, Tunisian, New Guinea and Italian campaigns.
The "Siege" of Bastogne has always been a misnomer, used more as a popular buzzword to put in book titles. Was really just a temporary encirclement. The infantry divisions assigned to close the kessel had nowhere near the strength to actually do so, and Patton's relief force quickly and with relative ease broke into it. Jesse Alexander on RealTime History's Ardennes Counteroffensive special did a great job covering the battle.
@@bludfyre Not true at all, unless you're talking about textbooks from the 1960s or something. All belligerent nations of course emphasize their own contributions to the war more (have you ever seen a Russian history textbook?). But modern history textbooks, at least in the US, definitely give the Soviets their due, and emphasize the 27 million dead figure.
This week will sadly also see the death of the USAAF's greatest P-51 Mustang ace, George Preddy, on Christmas day. Seeing an FW 190 attacking friendly forces near Liege, Preddy went after him to engage, but was shot down by friendly (which isn't) anti-aircraft fire. At only 25 years old, he was an experienced ace and squadron commander. He' d been a fighter pilot for several years, flying P-40's in the defense of Darwin in 1942 and P-47's from England since 1943. Finally his squadron switched to the P-51 in April 1944.
By this point, the P-51D was a finely honed machine, with a highly efficient wing, tremendous visibility thanks to a new bubble canopy, 6 .50 cal guns that could withstand high G maneuvering, pressurized drop tanks that allowed it to fly all the way to the Czech republic, fight, and fly back to England as well as a new K-14 computing gunsight that meant pilots who were not crack shots could score kills with deflection shots. Crucially, it also ran on high octane fuel and was significantly faster than German fighters. The German Fw 190 couldn't perform at high altitude and ME 262's were very rare and accident prone, so the majority of dogfights were now with the Bf-109K. Still soldiering on, the tiny Bf-109 now featured a heavy and very powerful engine that provided a surprising turn of speed with lower octane fuel, but was nothing like as well balanced as the earlier versions and was very tricky to fly. At the same time, pilot quality decreased badly, with skilled veterans dying, and replacements not even being able to train for lack of fuel, while Allied pilots now featured an increasing number of experienced veterans and aces.
Preddy was able to take maximum advantage of this, leading his blue nose squadron on many missions over Germany and shooting down 5 planes in a day during August 1944. His final tally was 27 kills.
Preddy actually claimed six, not five, that day.
If he still flew the Jug, that fat fighter might have maybe saved him because it could take more punishment compared to the mustang?
@@Archer89201 Could be. For all its virtues, the Mustang could be quite delicate.
In the immortal words of an old soldier:
"Here's to the New Year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we all be home before she's over."
"Home alive in '45", the G.I.s chalked on their vehicles.
Cobra King, first Sherman from 4th Armored Division into Bastogne pictured at 2:59, is displayed at the new National Museum of the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The tank was lifted into the partially-built museum, and the building was completed around it. The museum opened its doors on Veterans Day, November 11, 2020 during the COVID pandemic, a fairly quiet event given all of the restrictions still in effect at that point.
I really need to see that.
We've come a long way from TGW days of 1914 and making Przemyśl Fortress jokes haven't we? Amazing work, Indy & team. The intros and summaries from these videos are half as long as entire old episodes used to be!
Indeed it has been a long journey, did someone see Hötzendorf recently?
Thanks a lot for the comment! The biggest change might be the video length, when in "1940" Indy described an episode as being "super long" because it lasted 15 minutes, well here we are with more content than ever! -TimeGhost Ambassador
I do miss Conrad and Luigi though. What geniuses they were. 😉
@@WorldWarTwo i will never forget the days of hotzendorf's incompetence...
This week may be a good week to watch Episode 6 *Bastogne* of the 2001 television miniseries *Band of Brothers* , with the Battle of the Bulge briefly shown and its effects on Easy Company as they and other American units are surrounded by the Germans. This episode also shows the battle as seen from the viewpoint of combat medic Eugene "Doc" Roe, as he befriends a Belgian nurse, Renée Lemaire, along the way.
That episode was actually filmed inside a warehouse and not in an actual forest i learned not long ago
That was a great episode of BoB
The 101st dug in all around Bastogne.
The 501st E company visited by General McAuliffe and Colonel Sink on the front lines...... General McAuliffe telling them (Lt. Nixon and Major Winters) that 10th Armor just pulled out of Foy "and there's a lot of shit headed this way Armor, Arty, Infantry, hold the line"
I saw it a few months ago, and felt like the defence of Bastogne was way longer than one week. It still was a good episode and really puts the changing frontlines and maps and numbers into a new perspective, which I think is important.
Makes one wonder what would have happened if the Germans had taken Bastogne.
@@tigertank06 They'd have still lost. The real back-breaker for the Ardennes Offensive was 46 mi / 74 km to the northeast at Elsenborn Ridge.The 6th Panzer Army's failure to take it after heavy fighting, which also effectively destroyed two of that army's best divisions in the process, secured Allied victory.
To some extent Bastogne's importance to the overall Ardennes Offensive is exaggerated in popular memory because it featured a heroic defense from surrounded troops, because there were reporters present to cover events there, and because nearly every film portrayal of the Bulge focuses on Bastogne. The most significant action of the campaign as far as determining the outcome however was not fought there, but rather on the northern shoulder against the 6th Panzer Army.
What Montgomery didn't seem to want to realize was the fact that one man already was in charge of all forces and that man was Eisenhower!
Montgomery wanted his Normandy job back - Ground Forces Commander. That job was deactivated once there were multiple army groups in the theatre.
Given his complete inability to control his commanders, given US logistics was majorly controlled from Washington, didn't even understand what was going on in Normdan, had basically military experience, and his failure to maintain the summer advance through into Autumn by focusing on the North European plain (anyone who knows European military history knows this is by far the most important region for armies historically and places like Lorraine were secondary or even tertiary to the Po valley) I think he actually shouldn't have been allied commanded at all. This channel does not do a good job explaining the most up to date contemporary debates and largely sticks too a boomer history of WW2.
@@Swift-mr5zi Considering that the Americans had 4 armies in Western Europe, and Monty was constantly begging for more US troops to be added to his command while the British were disbanding divisions of their own from manpower shortages there was no chance of a snowball in Hell that Monty would have become overall land forces commander in Western Europe. That ship had sailed after Normandy, crossed the ocean, arrived in the port on the other side and its crew was having fun in the red light district. WW2 in the West was an American affair with the UK playing 2nd fiddle, together with Canada and France. This man was thoroughly loathed by the generals of the largest Allied nation. He'd sooner get Bradley in the position that he wanted, in which case we would have gotten what we got when US 1st Army captured the Remagen bridge and got the Americans over the Rhine sooner then Monty and thus changing the course of an advance into central Germany instead of northern Germany. Only months sooner. If anything Eisenhower was as sympathetic to the demands and priority of Monty's 21st Army Group as he could be, prioritizing it and its advance to the Rhine, until the Remagen bridge completely changed the strategic situation.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623
I enjoy how you just completely refuse to engage with any of the real points that I make and instead just repeat the same boomer talking points prevalent since the 1970s and 80s. Its like I'm talking to a bunch of old men who mindlessly repeat the same thoughts in their head with no desire to learn new things or actually critically analysed what they've been told. Allow me to add some details. I assume that you think alongside this comment that Market Garden was Montys fault when it was actually a primarily US failure, Patton 'beat Monty' in Sicily, El Alamein was one through sheer material overmatch, and Normandy was a mess, all of which is complete BS and yet most people still believe.
'WW2 in the West was an American affair with the UK playing 2nd fiddle, together with Canada and France'
I assume that doesn't include how the UK did more fighting and certainly a lot more successful fighting in North Africa, especially on the advance from to and into Tunisia where the majority US forces got held up (to put it nicely) and most victories came in the south. That doesn't include how 70% of German war output was spent on Aircraft (see 'air and sea power how the war was won) AA guns, and Submarines (a single Type VII submarine costs the same as 20 Panthers, the torpedoes for a single patrol amount to another 3 more).the majority of which was spent fighting the British In the Med, North/North-west Europe, In Germany, North Africa, Atlantic ext from atleast 1940 till 1944. Most early war experienced pilots were killed by the British (pilot training after 1943 radically decreased in quality due to an oil shortage primarily caused by the British blockade) The US didn't dominate Commonwealth and other allied forces in Sicily or Italy with a lot of time spent where the majority of men came from non-US countries. Greek intervention was UK, Italian navy destroyed mainly by UK, Nazi navy destroyed mainly by UK and Canada, Norway (which took up 10'000s of troops) was threatened by the British east Coast.
Regarding Overlord, it was not an American show by any strerch of the imagination. Britain supplied 67% of the shipping, 79% of the warships, 55% of the aircraft, 39% of the troops (Canada weighed in with another 22%), two artificial harbours, the intelligence gathering, the deception plan, the meteorological experise, the original Overlord plan and the final version of the final version. 'The invasion fleet, which was drawn from eight different navies, comprised 6,939 vessels: 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft of various types, 736 ancillary craft, and 864 merchant vessels.[80] The majority of the fleet was supplied by the UK, which provided 892 warships and 3,261 landing craft. In total there were 195,700 naval personnel involved; of these 112,824 were from the Royal Navy with another 25,000 from the Merchant Navy; 52,889 were American; and 4,998 sailors from other allied countries.' And you really think that was a supporting role? I can spent plenty of time giving you the full information of how Monty changed the plan (with evidence from people like Bradley themselves) and it was his plan that worked. Eisenwower was clueless and so was the press of the time, points Bradley makes himself. Not to mention the errors at point de Hoc covered up. The most elite German units in Normandy were primarily fought by the Commonwealth forces. The area around Caen literally had the highest concentration of Panzer divisions at any time in WW2. There were EIGHT Panzer Divisors in the Caen area by the end of June 1944 and FIVE lines of anti tank-guns. The Germans kept sending more and more Panzer divisions around the Caen area as June went on and into July. These were the Panzer divisions deployed to the Caen area. 21st Panzer Division (117 Panzer IVs), Panzer Lehr Division (101 Panzer IVs, 89 Panthers), 2nd Panzer Division (89 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers), 116th Panzer Division (73 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). In reserve just behind the front there was 1st SS Panzer Division (98 Panzer IVs, 79 panthers), 9th SS Panzer Division (40 Stugs, 46 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers), 10th SS Panzer Division (38 Stugs, 29 Panzer IVs), 12th SS Panzer Division (38 Stugs, 29 Panzer IVs), Tiger Battalion SS101 (45 Tigers), Tiger Battalion SS102 (45 Tigers), Tiger Battalion 503 (45 Tigers).
Bernages Panzers and the Battle for Normandy and Zetterling’s Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness.
US historian Zaloga found only 3 examples in the entire western front campaigns from 1944-1945 of US troops facing tigers I's contray to what Saving Private Ryan and Fury might imply. Almost all major
Then you have the fact that when there actually was a major german armoured counter attack against US forces one of the primary determining factors causing it to fail was RAF ground attack aircraft. Theres also the myth that Monty is responsible for failing to close Falaise pocket, the failure to seize the Brest ports by Patton which caused later problems, how the extent of destruction on German units and subsequent advance is something Monty never gets credit for when this was something pre invasion planning never expected.
So from 1940 the UK contributed the most to the Western war effort from an objective perspective looking at Nazi economic resource allocation and destruction (not even touching on things like the second happy time btw).
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623
What about the US contribution from this point onwards? What we see is that most US troops fought battles which were on bad terrain, against poor soliders, in areas which had little potential strategic gain, losing many men all for political and not any real strategic purpose. I'm sure all of the families of dead conscripted US soldiers made to fight in a European war far from home appreciated that. Lets go through the. Well you have a mopping up operation in the South of France with a US-French force (plus some UK escort carriers) that hardly faced any determined resistance. Sixth Army Group then ended up smashing itself against the Vosges in terrain heavly suited to the defenders, an area which saw the repulse of many attacks both German and French during WW1 and which had little hope of taking any strategic territory which would end the war sooner (myth of Alpine fortress being the closest thing to a real strategic objective. It was largely a waste of lives for French political pride (e.g Strabourg) and to make use of Med ports for the sake of it. Patton failed to take Cherbourg ports, he failed to take a wide encirclement of the Germans to the Seine river and instead preffered racing off into undefended country side and Paris because it looked good in the newspapers. Patton then had more success during the Advance into Lorraine but then got stuck (not due to fuel losses due to Market Garden which is another myth) fighting units of deaf and blind men. Here's what the US offical history says about the Lorraine campaign...
Some army the Americans were going to fight. “Was the Lorraine campaign an American victory? From September through November, Third Army claimed to have inflicted over 180,000 casualties on the enemy. But to capture the province of Lorraine, a problem which involved an advance of only 40 to 60 miles Third Army required over 3 months and suffered 50,000 casualties, approximately one-third of the total number of casualties it sustained in the entire European war”. Huge losses for taking unimportant territory, against a poor German army. Not clever. “Ironically, Third Army never used Lorraine as a springboard for an advance into Germany after all. Patton turned most of the sector over to Seventh Army during the Ardennes crisis and when the eastward advance resumed after the Battle of the Bulge, Third Army based its operations on Luxembourg, not Lorraine. The Lorraine campaign will always remain a controversial episode in American military history.”
In this same time period we have the attempts of 1st/9th army to break through Aechan and the Hurtgen Forest which resulted in a tragic US defeat, huge losses for minimal strategic gain once again in an area suited to defenders against (for the most part) third rate troops. So far we have a theme of US armies fighting in areas with few strategic objectives in harsh terrain and making slow progress against poor soldiers. All of this took place after Eisenhower took command, he couldn't pick the correct plan, cared more about politics than his mens lives, didn't even have much control over resource allocation due to Washintons system of logisitics, couldn't control his generals, had basically no military experience, had almost no real hand in how Normandy turned out ext. During this time period from summer 1944-Spring 1945 most troops in Italy are also non-American, Greek intervention is UK, and the RAF and USAF are contributing about equally (thats a bit debated but either way the difference isn't very large). None of this is even mentioning the complete mess of the Bulge which was caused preciesly because of Eisenhowers plan to strech forces thin. All of European history shows that the main axis of attack should be through Belguim Holland, and Northern Germany and also stresses the huge importance of controlling Atlantic and channel ports. The per capita strategic contribution of US soldiers in Western Europe was just lower than commonwealth forces because their objectives were less valuable.
Bastogne is completely overrated compared to St Vith in the narrative of the Battle of the Bulge, Pattons role is also completely overrated
'Patton took five days to cover about 15-17 km getting to Bastogne outnumbering the enemy 6 to 1. The 18,000 inside were about to walk out as the Germans had already left going west. Bastogne was strategically unimportant being on the extreme German left flank. The road from the west of Bastogne was not even covered by the Germans...Patton did not have to smash through full panzer divisions or Tiger battalions on his way to Bastogne. Patton's armoured forces outnumbered the Germans by at least 6 to 1. Patton faced very little German armour when he broke through to Bastogne because the vast majority of the German 5th Panzer Army had already left Bastogne in their rear moving westwards to the River Meuse. They were engaging forces under Montgomery's 21st Army Group near Dinant by the Meuse. Monty's armies halted the German advance pushing them back...After the German attack in the Ardennes, US air force units were put under Coningham of the RAF, who gave Patton massive ground attack support and he still stalled. Patton's failure to concentrate his forces on a narrow front and his decision to commit two green divisions to battle without adequate reconnaissance resulted in his stall. Patton's Third Army was almost always where the weakest German divisions in the west where.'
All of this is without mentioning the major command and control issues at the start of the battle which I could go into far more depth on (along with almost all topics I talk about believe it or not this is extremely simplified).
I'll talk about 1945 if someones replies and actually wants me to talk about it. I can expand on any point you want.
Eisenhower must have found being President easier than managing Montgomery and Patton's combined egos.
This week there were two naval actions in the Atlantic that saw two German submarines sunk by two Canadian corvettes.
On the 27th HMCS St. Thomas, a Castle-class corvette sinks the German U-boat, U-877 out in the Atlantic. St. Thomas had detected the sub twice and attacked her with a Squid, an anti-submarine mortar. As the corvette was about to head back to the convoy, the U-boat surfaces 4 km away. The Canadians decided to capture/rescue the German crew from the damaged sub. HMCS Sea Cliff joins in the action and all 56 Germans are fished out of the sea. After the war one of the German officers would call one of the Canadian officers every year thanking him for rescuing him and the crew.
On the 29th HMCS Calgary, a Flower-class corvette sinks the German U-boat, U-322 in the English Channel. Unlike the other action, all 52 Germans went down with the sub.
If I can recommend a series, Historigraph made a number of videos on the battles in Hungary, Especially the siege of Budapest, It’s in my opinion a underrated portion of The Eastern Front considering how important the Führer made it
I second this. Historiagraph is an excellent channel! 👍
My Dad spent most of siege of Budapest in the cellar of his apartment block in Ferencvaros district. It affected him deeply.
FINALLY! After months and months of binging, I have finally caught up to the latest episode! I've started watching this series since the 1941 episodes but had to take a hiatus in 2022 to focus on my studies. Recently I had time to rewatch this series and here I am! I absolutely love this series makes it so that WW2 is actually a global war by covering on all the fronts instead of just focusing on one front like other ww2 videos. A week by week format really made me understand the situations during WW2. I even managed to learn new things from this series. Please, never end this kind of format for any new series you're doing in the future. Cheers to another year! (from a random Malaysian who really likes history)
Also P.S./SPOILERS: I really hope that in 1945 you'll mention the bombing of Kuala Lumpur that happened on the 18th of February. Although the event is probably insignificant , I still think it would be nice if you could mention it ^^
Congratulations on catching up!
Thanks a lot for all the kind words in your comment! Every week, we give it our all and are glad that people like you enjoy watching it!
Cheers, and a Happy New Year! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Can't believe I've been watching these weekly episodes since Sept. 2018! So much has changed since then, both in WWII, and in the 21st century! Back then the episodes were just a little over 10 minutes in length, now they're almost 3 times that length! Seriously, this is a great series you are producing as we wind our way into 1945 in the series, and 2024 in our own timeline!
Oh, I could not agree more with you! I think it is even more true if you still went to school/university you could really say "Oh 1942, yeah I was in my second year of ... back then". I used to think "When I finish my degree, the WW2 series will be at *that stage*" And I think it is kind of cool and very impressive! Thanks for watching still! -TimeGhost Ambassador
*Hitler:* "That's the biggest bluff since Genghis Khan!"
*Genghis Khan:* "Am I a joke to you?"
*Angry Mongol noises*
What a thing to say, eh? Dude was full blown Delulu at this point.
Love seeing the Brazilian flag in Italy 🇧🇷
Is this the "Brazil mentioned!!" comment? Loving those kinds of comments! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Haha yes and I’m sure the Germans dreaded it 🇧🇷!
Thank you Indy. May the next year see the ending of those mayor conflicts.
But my heart is full of foreboding that that will not be the case.
Happy New Years Timeghost! Can't believe we are almost to 1945 already. Hard to fathom how the 6th Panzer army was supposed to accomplish its goal being that far behind schedule and with such lack of fuel.
Happy New Year to you too!
Well, their orders were to capture allied fuel depots on the way to keep going, so ... -TimeGhost Ambassador
@@WorldWarTwo True but still a gamble
A gamble that became a blunder? Or was it never something else? -TimeGhost Ambassador
@@WorldWarTwothey had what the kids call a "skill issue"
I'dsay a gamble that was doomed to faillure. Even if they achieved its objectives, it wasn't going to alter the course of the war. It might have significantly delayed the end of the war but Germany was still going to lose. @@WorldWarTwo
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Indy! And the same to the whole team! Looking forward to your coverage of '45!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too from the whole team! -TimeGhost Ambassador
After half a year of watching I have now finally caught up to the present of what is happening in the war! I want to thank the time ghost team for working so hard to bring us this documentary and helping us to better understand the finer details of ww2
Congratulations on your devotion!
Thanks a lot for watching! And it is our pleasure, to bring you the very best of our production capacities! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Also today Leslie Groves the director of the Manhattan project reported that an atomic bomb would be ready by the summer of 1945.
Thank you for your consistently high quality program.
Thanks a lot to you for watching it consistently! -TimeGhost Ambassador
I just finished my time serving with 2nd battalion, 37th armored regiment (now 1st Armored division). Our Charlie companies motto is still: First to Bastogne!
Happy New Year to Indy, Sparty, and the TimeGhost team! I wonder what 1945 will bring for the world.....
Happy New Year to you too from the whole TimeGhost team! We will find out soon enough, but I sense something big ... -TimeGhost Ambassador
Thank you for the well wishes Indy! You’ve been a part of my Saturday mornings for several years now. Your dedication to the program is as inspiring and a testifies to your great character and skill in presenting these oftentimes complex stories in a palpable fashion without them losing their meaning.
I’ll be a loyal viewer for as long as you are so inclined to continue making these wonderful episodes.
Happy New Year to you and the entire Timeghost team! We’ll see you in 2024!
Thanks a lot for watching for all this time!
He is indeed quite an excellent narrator with a very charismatic side, and let us not forget he has been doing it since 2014, so almost ten years of experience in that specific domain!
Happy new year to you too! See you very soon again! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Any chance of episodes covering the economies of some of the major powers during the War as a special episode etc? Love the content keep it up! 👍
Would be difficult to do in a consistent manner. How to compare the productivity of an industrial worker in US with that of a slave in Japan? Even if the slave is less productive or commits sabotage they will still be more cost efficient ( probably). How to compare and contrast the lifestyle available to say a Canadian mechanized
farmer and a Chinese subsistence farmer. The first is a high inputs, low prices but the second is low inputs and high pr8ces due to famine.
@@jonahtwhale1779I think generalised statements on oil produced and oil consumed, economic output in weapons and food harvest etc rather than a per capita comparison on individual output. But you do raise a good point 👍
I've been waiting for Budapest for years, this battle really gets intense
Thanks team for an extraordinary history, your super efforts are well appreciated.
Thanks a lot for this kind comment! We give it our best! -TimeGhost Ambassador
My wifes grandmother was killed in the battle for Budapest. Walking the streets in Budapest you can imagine this immense siege. The civilians truly were between a hard place and a rock.
.thats so sad.Why do people still fight in ukraine and israel😭
Happy new year Time Ghost team!! - Curious to see what 1945 brings to the war 🤔. Keep up the good work!
Happy New Year to you too! Thanks a lot for those kind words! We will be expecting your weekly feedback! -TimeGhost Ambassador
It's New Years Eve Morning here in Australia, I wish everyone on the team Happy New Year & thanks for all the content in 2023.
Happy New Year to you from the team! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Outstanding work as always. Wishing the whole crew all the best in the new year. Insane to think 2024 will be my 10th year watching Indy's week-by-week history coverage, as I was fortunate to catch wind of the Great War project just a few weeks into it back in 2014. Such a treat it's been to see y'all grow and develop as storytellers, artists, historians, writers, presenters, interviewers; everything you've been over that time. Peace and best wishes
Thanks a lot for your ever-lasting commitment! It is thanks to people like you that we can keep on doing what we do! Best wishes -TimeGhost Ambassador
This video brings back memories of the 1965 movie Battle of the Bulge, now free on TH-cam. It was filmed in the desert area of Spain with Spanish Army tanks standing in for American and German tanks, so the details were not authentic. But it did capture the fighting fury of Americans and Germans, knowing this would be a make-or-break battle for both sides. I am glad to see this video by Indy and Spartacus filling in the details of the battle in proper proportion; for example that the hard fighting the Americans did on that first day in Bastogne and Elsenborn Ridge sealed the doom of the German offensive that petered out a week later. Plus, Montgomery making a smart move with the American forces that came under his command, which I had not heard of before. I think I'll go back and have another look at that old Battle of the Bulge movie I saw 58 years ago, viewing it in perspective of what I've learned in this video.
Thats one BAD war movie guy.The Malmedy massacre is contrived and inaccurate.There was no huge tank battle.And im pretty sure no panzer commanders made the crews stand around singing "Panzerlied".
I went to an antiques shop today and found action figures for Heinz Guderian and Reinhard Heydrich. Weird stuff.
That is weird. Who would want a Heydrich figure except as target practice?
Happy New Year Team! Loved your coverage of '44 this year, really looking forward to '45 and a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the end of the war to be filled.
Happy New Year to you too! Thanks a lot for the comment, we will keep doing our best in '45! -TimeGhost Ambassador
My Grandfather was a Captain in the Hungarian Army during the Siege of Budapest. Before the siege, my grandmother wanted to flee to Austria, but my Grandfather refused to leave his men behind. He was captured and spent 3 years in a Russian POW camp. He was able to give his signet ring to his sergeant, who got to my grandmother and let her know he was captured.
My grandfather spent 3 years in a Russian POW camp. He never talked about it, but we have 2 small crosses he carved from wood. He also learned English from someone in the camp. This would help when he fled Hungry in 1956.
Thank you for sharing this story with us! It is very impressive if you ask me. -TimeGhost Ambassador
I heard the bluff story with demands for birds being about Olga of Kiev, who later accepted a delegate from the Roman Emperor in Constantinople to convert.
Could a popular trope or story similar to how for some reason having molten metal poured down your throat seems to be a common punishment. If I remember correctly the greedy governor of Otrar Inalquk and the roman general Crassus supposedly both having molten gold or silver poured down their throat for their greed. With I think the Crassus story coming a book of morality tales were the greedy general who persecuted christians gets a suitably poetic punishment.
Its also a punishment in one of the Buddhist hells or at least some tradition of it from what I vaguely remember of visiting a monestary.
"The Greatest Bluff Since Genghis Khan!"
Dude's on copium now.
Excellent series with great research. Could you please cover an episode on the Australians at war in WW2?
44' was quite the year indeed. Happy new years yall, keep up the great work everyone!
Indeed it was! Happy New Year to you too! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Was a great year all. I been watching you every week from the beginning. I love you show. If I was not so poor I would help you guys. But at last I'm old and to broken. And I'm sorry for that. But this yr has been one of my worst and best yrs. I got cancer and had to fight it. I won my battle but that fight was a bad one.
You have made that yr so much better and I thank you.
Thanks a lot for your commitment! We wish you all the best and strength for the future! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Having moved close to Budapest, this was incredibly interesting to watch. Thank you.
Thanks a lot for watching! Glad you enjoyed it! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Happy New Year to you all as I join in Indy's prayer that the current crises do not expand, heaven help us, into a global war and may peace reign on this beautiful planet.
Happy New Year to you too! -TimeGhost Ambassador
It feels like an eternity ago, but 1944 began with the Germans moving troops from one army in Army Group South to another in order to stop a Soviet breakthrough in one area, usually followed by a new one in the area covered by the army they just weakened.
Now things are so bad that this dynamic is going on on Army Group and theater level. And indeed, moving a ton of troops from Poland to Hungary and the west has helped more or less stabilize those fronts. Shame that this has come at a cost of leaving 4 guys and a panzer left between the Vistula and Berlin, what could go wrong.
The Germans did not just just move forces 'from one army in Army Group South to another' in late 1943 and early 1944- they moved huge number of divisions from across other army groups in the East, as well as OKW theaters of war, namely OB West (France, Belgium, Netherlands), Italy (OB Südwest), Balkans (OB Südost), Denmark, Norway and Germany itself to Manstein's Army Group South.
The fact that there was still no actual front in the OB West area at the time (October 1943- March 1944), the fighting in Italy was being waged quite economically in terms of losses, while the possibility of serious Allied landings elsewhere (Balkans, Norway) had passed its peak (compared to German calculations in the summer and early fall of 1943), meant that the Germans had the possibility to transfer substantial reinforcements to Army Group South time and again, which directly weakened those theaters of war, especially OB West.
I would ask what Hitler has been smoking, but we already know the answer.
And If you have a doubt, be sure to check out our Special Episode "Hitler Busted" concerning the Nazi Leadership on drugs! -TimeGhost Ambassador
He never smoked AFAIK. Those were "vitamin shots" given by his doctor, which... somehow makes it ok?
intransigent, such a good word......change my mind
2:04 If the Germans knew their history, they would know that the U.S. Army doesn't *get* Christmas surprises, it *gives* them.
I may speak for some other members and YT surfers BC
you've managed to never use the phrases-(irrc)
"It's super easy. Barely an inconvenience"
assembling the narrative as 'the team' has for the duration - masterful effort
We do, indeed, not half-ass things, if I may allow myself the saying. Never Forget! -TimeGhost Ambasador
Thanks for posting.
My absolute favourite show every week before sleep
Archbishop Damaskinos is one of the coolest figures of the Resistance against the Nazis, IMO. Apparently, at one point, he openly refused to give the German occupation government a list of all the Jews in Greece (writing an open letter in the newspapers that included citations from Galatians as part of his refusal). The German occupational governor, as such people often did, told him to get with the program or get shot. Damaskinos replied with another open letter in the newspapers with only two lines. "In the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our archbishops are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions." (As you do when you really want to say 'come at me, bro', but you're an archbishop and you have to maintain the dignity of your office.)
Getting major King Christian X of Denmark vibes from that guy. Like that Danish king, he was able to rally his people by simply and peacefully refusing to go along with what the occupiers wanted. It's easier for them if you rebel openly because then they're justified in using their own violence, much harder to fight against someone who simply.... stands up.
@@Raskolnikov70 Maybe. On the other hand, the Nazis only got driven out of power by force, so . . .
Amazing! As early as 1944 someone had to write “First!” Of course doing so on the side of your tank makes it next level first.
Wilson going to replace Dill is a huge job. Dill was revered by the US commanders, to the point he remains the only foreign soldier buried in Arlington.
Thank you for your wishes.
This week on December 30rd 1944, the following missions in Medal of Honor: Spearhead will begin:
*December 24 1944*
Bastogne - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will need to destroy the enemy Nebelwerfers, use a Nebelwerfer to destroy an enemy halftrack, as well as using sticky bombs to destroy enemy tanks.
Top of the Mountain - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will start out in a German Sd.Kfz. 251 halftrack mounted with a PzB41 anti-tank gun and will be involved in a chase and escort mission where the supply truck must make it to the Allied lines.
Under Attack - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will need to locate and escort the medic after orders have been obtained from the Captain at the frontline. Afterwards, you will need to move back and fourth between the left and right flanks while defending both of them against waves of enemies.
*December 25 1944*
Quiet Little Town - As Sergeant Jack Barnes in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, you will need to clear the church first and the hotel second, after crossing the field alive prior. You will then need to get on a Flakvierling 38 anti-aircraft gun and shoot down an enemy Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber.
Excellent video thanks
Thanks a lot to you for watching it! -TimeGhost Ambassador
As one siege ends, Another begins the same day
This week on December 30rd 1944, the following missions in the Call of Duty series will begin:
*December 25 1944*
The Race to Bastogne (Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts) - As Gunnery Sergeant Alex McCall in Bastogne, Belgium, you will start out in a M4 Sherman tank, and will have to eliminate enemy Panzerschreck crews as well as enemy Panzers. Eventually there will be a enemy Tiger I tank that needs to be eliminated near to the end of the level.
Battle of the Bulge (Call of Duty: World War II) - As Corporal Ronald Daniels in the Ardennes, Belgium, deliver the ammunition box and protect the convoy before calling for air support. Then as Second Lieutenant Matthew Weber, defend the B-17 bombers from enemy BF-109 fighters and ensure the bombers reach their targets. Finally, as Daniels once again, you are to hold the line and destroy the enemy tanks.
*December 26 1944*
Bois Jacques (Call of Duty: United Offensive) - As Corporal Scott Riley in Bastogne, Belgium, you will start out in a Jeep patrol and will come under attack by enemy forces while returning to headquarters. Soon you will need to hold on incoming waves of enemies while in a foxhole using the various weapons such as the M1919 Browning machine gun, the M1903 Springfield sniper rifle and the M9A1 Bazooka rocket launcher.
*December 27 1944*
Ambush (Call of Duty: World War II) - As Corporal Ronald Daniels in the Ardennes, Belgium, you will first need to ambush the German transport in order to infiltrate the enemy air base. You will then have to find an overwatch position for Pierson in order to rescue Zussman and make an escape out of the area.
*December 28 1944*
The Relief of Bastogne (Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts) - As Private Tom Sharpe in Bastogne, Belgium, you will need to first eliminate the enemy sniper as well as the incoming patrol. You will also have to avoid falling into the enemy decoy trap and defeat the enemy convoy. Finally, a few enemy tanks will appear which as well will need to be destroyed.
When they say the soviets have 6 million men, is that combat troops or everyone?
Everyone
Thank you for everything you accomplished this year!
Thanks a lot to you for watching! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Someday, we'll learn that wars to end wars, don't.
May all of you watching this video, find yourselves and your loved ones in a place of safety with all the comforts of the season.
Never Forget
To be fair, there hasn’t been a war between major powers since if I’m not mistaken…
@@obi-wankenobi1750Correct. For all humanity’s infinite shortcomings, we should be grateful we’ve managed to avoid another major war and nuclear annihilation since 1945.
Even as winter creeps in force, major operations will not cease for the time being. Men will have to fight in the ever bitter cold in the Ardennes, Vosges, Hungary, Italy, and possibly Poland. Hitler by this point, has ignored all signs of his impending doom. He sees no evil, hears no evil, nor even speaks of no evil. Dismissing any sense of logic. But when the Allies offensive crash down upon his already shattering ground, he will soon learn. As for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations, the Japanese know they cannot stop the Allies. The Allied forces have sailed their way from the Solomon Islands, the admiralties, Micronesia, the Marianas, Pelieui, the Philippines. Eventually they will strike hard at the home turf of Japan. While in Burma and China, their offensives have failed to make any significant headway. Even though, by late 1944, the war has severely turned against the Axis. They will still continue to resist bitterly no matter what. 1944 may be over and so too of this chapter of the war. But the final chapter will open and it will see the eventual downfall of the Axis. Godspeed to those who perished.
Happy New Years.
Were those African swallows, or European swallows?
They were carrying flaming coconuts.
You made me giggle. Thanks!
Thank you Indy. Same to you and to the entire team.
Thanks to you for watching! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Keep up the great work, and hats off for overcoming the YT restrictions that were thrown at you in 2023. If I win the jackpot on new years day, I'll pick up the entire bill for your '24 productions. Not kidding.
Well, we better hope that you win it then! Thanks a lot for watching this whole time! We will see you in '24! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Hitler: It's the greatest bluff since Genghis Khan!
But... Genghis Khan doesn't bluff.
Hitler: Don't worry, the Soviets are just the Genghis Khan led Mongols
Germany: [chuckles] I'm in danger
this is such a great news show. Way to go.
It's impressive how total opposites both german offensives in the Ardennes are to each other. The 1940 one was a quick and swift surprise attack, with barely any time for british and french troops to regroup and hold their lines, and ended up in the Dunkirk Evacuation;
Meanwhile this one in 1944 is the total opposite: while the germans thought a attack on the Christmas Day would be a slam dunk, the ones who got the jump on them were the americans, not the opposite, and the lack of supplies made the whole quick invasion tactic useless. As James Arnold states very well in the quote on the video: "The dream of a blitzkrieg has died"
Man do I feel bad for Ike. Feels like the guy was playing babysitter to the biggest manchilds in the entire war
That's why he was given the job in the 1st place. There were plenty of US generals who showed great promise in battle, but to command a multi-national force and having to play babysitter to primadonnas was less about being able to read the map right and give the right orders to the right people, and everything to do with having great people skills.
Ernie Harmon, say his name! The most unrecognized tactical tank genius of WWII. Harmon was like Patton without the theatrics and problems. He did not seek out press recognition like Patton as well, which is probably why we never hear of him. He was in command of "Hell on Wheels" in the attack on 2nd Panzer Division in the late stage of the battle.
"It was a proper defeat and we better admit it" -Guy who didnt admit that he was defeated during market garden
25:10 Weird, Olga of Kyiv did nearly the same thing. Weird that that strategy worked at least twice.
What's weird is that no one actually did it in reality, but its attributed to both.
You know we could have been in Budapest and moving into Austria by now if someone would have waited 5 days
It would not be the first time, nor the last time, that Stalin would get a lot of people from the USSR DELETED for nothing.
On the plus side, the longer the Hungarian front dragged on the more Hitler would strip the Polish front of troops and tanks it could not afford to lose.
I don’t get it
"The American Army would be celebrating Christm,as"
Dude this army was founded by George freaking Washington
11;20 this "keeping most of your troops behind the immediate front line" sounds so much like 1917-1918
The distinctive feature of the encirclement now of Budapest was that the German general responsible for the earlier repulsion of the attack was now in command of the spearhead of the Ardennes offensive. On a YT channel with letter reports from German soldiers, Russian defeat earlier at Budapest was the biggest tank victory though hanging by a thread of silk. Removing it and moving it to Ardennes was, of course, a blunder. What I don't hear and came up in letter reports is that the Germans were well fed at the start and then pretty much starved because, like petrol, they also had to get their food from the town and conquered supplies which never happened. Well nice report as ever! Good luck and happy new year! PS. of course that includes hardly any supplies came up the line due to failing coordination and poor road and fuel conditions. On paper a great force however in reality a desperate useless offensive.
Thank you TimeGhost. Best wishes and a Happy New Year.
Thanks to you for watching! Best wishes back to you and a happy new year! -TimeGhost Ambassador
According to statista, soviet population in 1946 was 170 million, with men aged 18 to 59 only accounting for 41.5 million. That means those 6 million men on the easter front in😅 1945 accounted for 1/7 of all men between age 18-59, not counting any that were permanantly disabled or captued. This illistrate the soviet and russian demographic crisis to this day, with big shortage of people in age groups 80s, 50s, and 20s, and another one coming in the next 10 years.
It was at this time, late 1944- early 1945, when the attention of the German command and Hitler began to shift back to the Eastern Front, with the proposal to withdraw the 6th Panzer Army from the West to the East being born.
At the start of 1945, Hitler made a proposal to withdraw the 6th Panzer Army from the Western Front back to Germany for refitting and then transfer it to the East. Then, on 8 January 1945, Rundstedt received an order to begin transferring units of the 6th Panzer Army to central Germany.
However, due to the fact that it was engaged in heavy combat at the time, the withdrawal of its divisions took place gradually between 14-22 January 1945. The 6th Panzer Army HQ arrived to Hungary by 8 February 1945, while its divisions began arriving to its assembly areas between 15-20 February 1945.
The encirclement of Budapest put in jeopardy the entire German stance in Hungary, where key oil reserves were located at, which then accounted for 80% of the total oil production of the Reich.
In addition, many other major formations were transferred in January-February 1945 from the West to the East, partly in response to the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive.
The following number of units were thus transferred from the _Westfront_ to the _Ostfront_ (mainly to Hungary) between January-February 1945.
HQ units:
- HQ of the 6. Panzerarmee;
- HQ of the I. SS-Panzer-Corps;
- HQ of the II. SS-Panzer-Corps.
Combat formations:
- 1. SS-Panzer-Division LSSAH;
- 2. SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich;
- 9. SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen;
- 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg;
- 12. SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend;
- 21. Panzer-Division;
- Führer-Begleit-[Panzer] Division;
- 25. Panzergrenadier-Division;
- Führer-Grenadier-[Panzergrenadier] Division;
- 269. Infanterie-Division;
- 275. Infanterie-Division;
- 344. Infanterie-Division;
- 711. Infanterie-Division;
- 712. Infanterie-Division.
General headquarters combat units (powerful artillery, Nebelwerfer units etc.):
- Volks-Artillerie-Korps 403;
- Volks-Artillerie-Korps 405;
- Volks-Werfer-Brigade 17;
- Heeres-Pionier-Brigade 655.
Happy holidays to all of you. Thanks for these series.
Happy Holidays to you too! It is our pleasure! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Happy New Year to Indie, Sparty, Astrid, and the Time Ghost HQ!
That's interesting, I'd heard the same story about lighting birds on fire, but with Olga of Kyiv rather than Genghis Khan
Happy new year!
Happy New Year to you too! -TimeGhost Ambassador
My Dad was a child in Budapest, District 8.
Great episode, and great ending. And, as I watch this is in Manila, I'm so proud that you pronounced every Filipino place name correctly!
11:38 according to Glantz it was actually common for the Germans to leave their forward lines lightly defended and having the main force further back. This had always been a major component in the German approach of a flexible defense, ceding some ground and then counterattacking, often to devastating effect. So, Hitler didn‘t singlehandedly stop the Germans from employing this approach in practice. Actually, because frontline commanders never had enough troops, with German formations at a fraction of their authorized strength, the temptation of leaving a lightly-defended frontline was even bigger for frontline commanders.
However, this approach also came with serious risks. At this point in the war, the Soviets understood German defense tactics fairly well and were able to counter them effectively, especially, by infiltrating the forward German lines ahead of an attack. For this purpose they had their own specialized troops, and these were often able to clear massive breaches in the German forward lines, usually without the Germans finding out about it. German defenders would wake up to a Soviet attack being launched from what they thought was their own forward lines, with the enemy able to strike the main line immediately, in force, including the Artillery preparation.
The lack of troops to man forward positions on the German side made it easy to eliminate those positions without much fuss and turn the German defense on its head. In the late war the Germans had essentially no way to stop the well-prepared strategic break-throughs by the Soviets, and this was definitely made worse by the fact that their elastic defense tactics were neutralized.
Generic or not, I love Indy's kind words at the end. wishing all the best to the whole team!
Best whishes to you too! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Thanks TG
As always; it is a pleasure. Never Forget! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Happy new years team I love your content wishing you a great year full of blessing and good luck in future projects after this take care indy you made me realize that I love history and I might love it more then my field of study
Thanks a lot for your comment! Happy new year to you too from the whole team! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Now I'm no military genius (if we dont count hoi4 lmao), but it seems to me that Monty is a great general to have when your side is losing. Having an eye for when tactics on the ground is in need for a do-over from the ground up. But fumbling hard with an army that's on top of things. I'm awaiting eagerly to see how his power play works out, I'm expecting it won't go quite as he planned.
Monty had a pretty good grip on what was reasonable to ask of his armies, and also a wider strategic context. Not to mention he had some basic respect for the lives of his troops... Reflecting the values and limits of the broader sociopolitical system his tools were products of.
The man wasn't a gambler, he was a statistician, a scientist - he was a full-spectrum master of modern warfare.
Geniuses like manstein and zhukov wish their worst blunders were market garden, let alone have the audacity to try something like it, or organise and execute Overlord. That was a fucking difficult war - Monty made it look easy.
He invited controversy and hatred by being correct, professional, and competent in a way that embarrassed American opinion. Also being extraordinarily obtuse and socially awkward...
But the best critiques of him are counterfactual, that he didn't win hard enough, in the opinions of some bitter haters amongst his peers and a certain nation that will Never give him his props out of pure chauvinism.
The man discovered that the key to winning = not losing. He had respect for lives of the men under his command, and the integrity of the war effort as a whole. Haters gonna hate though. He wasn't a gambler of lives and victory, wow what a crap general.
@@onylra6265 Kind of described just what I said. I understand Monty gets a lot of unjustified hate, but he obviously cannot be the flawless hero you describe. No man invites controversy and hatred by being correct, professional and competent there has to be more to the story 😂
Another aside is that not following through with moments of opportunity can lead to more casualties than taking the cautious approach, as well as loss of momentum meaning losing opportunities you otherwise will not see again.
I think a great general have the ability to be opportunistic, without having to rely on opportunities.
One of my personal favorite generals is Patton, but I'll gladly admit to his numerous faults as a commander, and as a person 😁
@@onylra6265 also I never claimed he was a crap general, and neither am I a hater lol
@@onylra6265 Some of Monty's biggest critics, and the one's that wanted him sacked, were British. It wasn't just Americans he infuriated. One of the problems is that operations in Normandy had a different goal than the one Monty stated. Monty's goal in Normandy was to attract and destroy the German armored forces in Normandy so that the Americans could take Cherbourg and break out. This wasn''t for public consumption. He had hoped that each operation would achieve a breakthrough, and when they didn't, he took a lot of flack. As with all generals, he made mistakes. Falaise and Antwerp. The first was not providing enough force to close the gap (had Bradley not been such a curmudgeon he could have bailed him out, as Patton wanted). The second was not putting Antwerp first. Market Garden only looked possible because of intelligence failures and had to be executed quickly before the chance was lost, meaning there was no time to correct the failures and refine the plans.
Very glad that the Wintergewitter Operation on italian Front is showed. I was fearing it would ah e cover only on instagram. Happy New year!
19:40
Ironically, the hotel where they could have accidentally blown up Churchill was (and is still) called "Grande Bretagne".
What an incredible year it's been, despite the difficulties of the past weeks. The end is in sight.
Germans surround Bastogne.
Somewhere there, Medic Eugene Roe is searching for Scissors.
One of my favourite things about this channel is the comments section, it can contain some very well informed posts, comments, arguments and counter-arguements. One does have to plough through unthought, ill -informed dross, but nowhere near as much as some.