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An interesting thing to note this week on January 28 1944 is that the United States and the United Kingdom will announce an oil embargo against Spain. This was an effort to stop Spain from supplying Germany with war materials and to withdraw her troops from the Eastern Front. The embargo would last about four months until Spanish leader Francisco Franco finally gave in.
Not gonna lie, Indy denying allegations about art theft nobody has yet made against him is pretty sus. Any art collectors better check on their inventory to make sure Indy's 11 didn't pull off a heist on them.
Interesting that you mentioned the looting of Leningrad by the Germans. The famous Amber Room was perhaps the most valuable and well known art piece the Germans took, which they did early in the siege, taking it back to Konigsberg. The Amber Room was displayed in Konigsberg until late in the war when it was dismantled and put into storage to protect it. Its fate is unknown but it was most likely destroyed in a bombing raid.
@@Lex-dw7ng winter palace is actually in St. Petersburg and was never reached. It is also called the Hermitage. The amber room was in Peterhof, which is just West of the city.
@@johnmorrison1672 not in Peterhof, the Amber room was in the Catherine's palace in Pushkin. It's yet another small town near st. Petersburg, to the south of it.
@@2D_SVD Yes, you are right !!! I have been in the amber room, and at all the palaces in and around St. Petersburg. My memory was it was at Peterhof. Sorry. I've been to St. Petersburg twice. 1977 and 2014. I would definitely recommend a visit, but I will never go again as long as Putin exists.
@@johnmorrison1672 I totally understand how you feel. I lived in st. Pete's for the past 10 years, but now left Russia altogether. Hopefully it will become a peaceful country once more, and people around the world can see the heritage of my people again :(
He wasn't particularly "smiley". Kesselring did have a large overbite. Ernst Udet, a talented caricaturist, made a sketch of Kesselring in 1940 showing his upper teeth covering much of his face.
@@NeroPiroman I found the cartoon reproduced in a book by Len Deighton about the Battle of Britain. I have not been able to locate it on the Internet, however. Udet also depicted himself flying a plane while drinking champagne. He was quite a heavy drinker, more so during the war as he tried to cope with his Luftwaffe duties before finally shooting himself.
My grandfather was at Anzio. He mentioned the hospital ship being sunk in his diary. He also mentioned that they captured a female sniper and many other stories. Unfortunately he lost many of his friends including “Cannonball” who burned to death
@@timothyhouse1622 That could be, honestly. I know Mussolini had some crazy loyalists who fought with Hitler even after he was deposed in September of '43. Perhaps she was one of those fascist supporter maniacs.
My great uncle was an engineer on a B-17 named "Cactus Clipper". His plane was shot down by a Luftwaffe sortie over Anzio. Unfortunately he did not survive, dying at age 23. He us buried at Anzio.
It is interesting how Alexander was unable to direct strategy in Italy. Yet another British general (I do not really include Montgomery here) who enjoyed reputation and confidence but, when you look for actual achievement, it hard to find. Brilliance? Certainly not. Lucas was clearly a terrible choice and Clark's influence on him extremely detrimental.
@@Raggadish. slowly. He lost most of his functionality in his right arm for years. He taught himself to be left handed basically. It took a LONG time until he could even use his right arm again. Like 10+ years. Even after he could use it again it was never as good as his left. He eventually could use his right mostly normally, but his left was always stronger, for the rest of his life. I remember seeing it as a kid, his right biceps was sorta just a half there. Like someone had scooped away half it with an ice cream cone
Halfway through a book that came out only ten years ago on the Leningrad siege, called: "Leningrad, Siege And Symphony". The author, Brian Moynahan, goes back and forth from telling the story of the composition of the Seventh Symphony of Shostakovich to the battles and tribulations of Leningrad during the siege. I'm not finished - but it's a no-brainer to recommend it. Especially for anyone who loves that particular piece of music, it's a must read.
One of my teachers at school was in the British Army in Italy during the war. He took the register and also imparted wisdom. Sometimes he gave rather PG-13 accounts of his experiences in the Italian Campaign.
Germans really are incredible sometimes, their lower Dnieper front is almost spent and not so far from collapsing, and yet they take divisions from it and sent it to Crimea, which is completely cut off and already has a Soviet bridgehead in Kerch.
Hitler was obsessed with Crimea. He forbid withdrawal until it was inevitable. He claimed withdrawal would have a bad effect on Turkey and Romania. He feared the Soviets would use the Crimea as a base to bomb Ploesti oil fields.
Same thing happened to Art Carney, the famous comic actor. If you look at the classic series "The Honeymooners" you will note that there is a hitch in his step. He got that at Normandy.
My uncle, Pfc. Thomas Walsh, lost his leg at Anzio! That was the end of the war for him! After returning home, the U.S. government bought him a brand new car, which had an automatic transmission, (because of his lost leg) & rare at the time!
certainly contrasts with todays VA, doesn't it? "Gulf War Syndrome? Nope. You're not sick. Go away. PTSD? Here, it's 5 mg of Valium. Now go piss up a rope".
Props to your uncle for surviving that madness. The Italian Campaign needs talked about 10x more, it was utter hell at times and probably gave the Eastern Front a run for its money in terms of battle ferocity.
Your writing for your episodes is brilliant. I'm astounded at how you continue to be entertaining and pack so much information into a short segment, week after week.
Broadcaster Alan Whicker said that before they knew where they were going to land, Italian wide boys were selling them postcards of Anzio telling them it was where they were going. His memories of the landing and the failure to break out are told in his book and TV series Whicker's War- a very interesting book and programme. He recalls a story of a drunk American who had found a top hat and got drunk on wine found in a wrecked wine warehouse who got lost and walked towards the German front line. They were all waiting for him to be shot but he walked right up to the German front line where the Germans corrected the position of his top hat on his head as it was slipping- then spun him around and sent him back towards the Allied front line!
A German garrison (including the SS treasurer with a shedload of money) were willing to surrender - but only to a British officer, presumably because they didn't want to fall into the hands of partizans. The closest one to the spot was Alan Whicker.
This reminds me of one of a Willy and Joe cartoon I saw once. Willy and Joe had found a wine cellar. There are signs in saying, in ersatz German, "Officers only," and, "Enlisted men forbidden." A German soldier on patrol outside has spotted them through the window. Willy and Joe are reaching for their rifles but the German says to them, "Oh no. no. Please go on. I would not think of interfering." It's interesting how Mauldin always sought to humanize the enemy."
@@odysseusrex5908 There's another one with a German holding a bottle of wine, and Willie and Joe are waiting in ambush. Willie: Don't startle him Joe, it's nearly full. Mauldin based his characters on the G.I.s in Italy because he was there. And previously North Africa. The cartoon of a British troop commenting on the messiness of an American battlefield came from there. Mauldin went on to act with Audie Murphy in The Red Badge of Courage.
@@floydvaughn9666 LOL! If I've ever seen that oneI don't remember it. I've tried to watch The Red Badge of Courage. I've tried to read the book. I just cannot get in to it.
Crosses grow on anzio Where no soldiers sleep and Where hell is 6 feet deep That death awaits theres no debate So charge and attack Going to hell and back
I was in the process of rewatching this series (unbelievable work btw) when I thought to myself… If I had a dollar for every time Hitler said an area had to be held “at all cost” or “until the last man”. I would have so much money to donate to the Time Ghost Army! 4:33
Crosses grow on Anzio Where no soldiers sleep And where hell’s six feet deep That death does wait There’s no debate So charge and attack Going to Hell and Back
It was just before dawn One miserable morning in black 'forty four When the forward commander Was told to sit tight When he asked that his men be withdrawn And the Generals gave thanks As the other ranks held back The enemy tanks for a while And the Anzio bridgehead Was held for the price Of a few hundred ordinary lives
An uncle of mine, 2Lt Richard Stoddard, landed on Anzio as a platoon leader with the 3dID.He told me he went for a 17 day stretch without a chance to take his boots off . If you’re ever in the Anzio/ Nettuno area, visit the American Cemetery there. It’s a moving experience.
It looks like it will be a long fight to Rome from Anzio for the Allies there, and Monte Cassino isn't looking to be an easy one to predict either in the coming weeks. The end of the Siege of Leningrad this week after two years really do show how much things have really changed in the course of the war since the start, as the Soviets slowly creep towards the Baltic States bit by bit. Great episode as always.
Formations don't equal troop numbers. Soviet and Chinese divisions are relatively small. German, Japanese, and American divisions are quite large. This can lead to a situation where it looks like "Wow, one German division is easily holding against 3 Soviet ones!" This is true, but misleading. A more accurate statement would be "23,000 Germans are holding against 27,000 Soviets" Which makes perfect sense.
@@porksterbob German divisions seldomly were at full strength after 1943. And the overall troop numbers pretty much speak for themselves, as the USSR had by early 1944 a land army of 6.5 million soldiers, compared to less than 3 million soldiers for Germany.
I got the same impression. Their lines look so cluttered with division and army sized elements compared to the opposing forces... I'm left wondering how the fuck the Germans managed to drag the War for the time they did.
My grandfather was involved in a diversion attack further up the coast during the Anzio landings known as 'the two boat invasion' it consitsed of a landing craft and a ML
Anzio always struck me as a lost opportunity. I always thought of it as a flanking move to break the Gustav line, not as a threat on Rome itself. However, being appraised of more facts here I guess I mistakenly thought it had more potential than it had in reality.
A friend of my father was at Anzio. Years later at a July 4 ice cream party at my uncle who lived near the city park that featured 4th of July fireworks, Bill couldn't stand it and lay in a low spot in the yard cussing - especially the loud booming fireworks. This was about 1958 when I was 8.
Great episode, gang. I'd had an inkling that the Italy campaign was not given the attention it was due as part of most WWII coverage, mainly because of how difficult and poorly managed it was, but I had no idea. That said, the great thing about this channel is that I'm really looking forward to be fully informed about it all. You guys do such a great job that I'm just as eager to learn about the difficult and not-so-great sides of the allied campaigns as the smashing victories.
I noticed you had 3SS panzer division both listed with Army Group North and Down on the Ukrainian front on the same week. Did they split divisions or just a mistake. I can’t imagine the amount of work and oversight needed for creating these maps. Love the show!
it should be a III SS Panzer Corps up in Army Group North. Got the right size but my editing program must have loaded the wrong icon. I'll fix it for next weeks' episode. Thanks for spotting that.
Its very strange this "step" nomination from the english language... they get named as things they really arent, like "step-sister" isnt a sister at all (and by definition not a problem get involved wih her at all lol) In my native idiom we have totally different names for those kinda relatives.
My dad's uncle was badly wounded at Anzio. Eddie Murphy, a sgt in the First Bttn Scots Guards. He was wounded by mortar fire near Aprilia (The Factory). He lay wounded with a dead radio operator. Next thing, a dozen Germans jumped in. Incredibly, they fixed him up. His lasting memory was the Germans shoving chocolate & cigarettes into his pockets & them wishing him Good Luck. he always said the Germans treated him better than the British. He lived into his 90s. I can still see the blue speckles in his arm, from the shrapnel of the mortar shell from that day.
My Grandfather landed on The Anzio Beach Head attached to General Mark Clarke's 5th American Army as a member of The U.S./ Canada First Special Service Force (Black Devil's).They saw action here and on the Mussolini Canal and one of their biggest engagements was The Battle of Monte La Difensa.
The 88th Infantry Division entered combat duty in Italy and proved itself a fierce division, being called the "Blue devils" by the Germans, a nickname that persists to this day. I wore the 88th patch, and during R&R in Bulgaria in 2006, an old Italian man asked me why I wore it on my uniform(they were drying after being laundered). He said he remembered that patch as the Americans came and liberated his homeland as a young boy. It was so profound to me that it stuck with me to this day.
Hey Indy, in the U.S. Air Force we know Gen. Henry Arnold by the nickname "Hap" Arnold. You seem to be a fan of nicknames, so I thought I would bring this up!
Would you do a special about Amedeo Gillet? He was considered the italian Lawrence of Arabia, and he had indeed an adventurous life, even after the end of the war.
It would be great to see a special on combat photographers from WW2. We have so many amazing pictures thanks to their bravery and dedication. I can't image heading into a combat zone with only a camera in hand. One image that I always considered amazing was the instant a bomb struck the USS Enterprise and exploded in 1942. Originally, it was said the photographer was killed by that explosion, but this was not in fact the truth. Even still, how many people would take a picture of a bomb exploding instead of diving for cover?? Put me solidly in the "diving for cover" category. I have a feeling this Anzio thing is going to be the topic of discussion for a few months. Looking forward to hearing more. Thanks.
I had a friend a long time ago in the Army who was assigned to the CPD (combat pictorial detachment) on post. They didn't get the chance to do much 'combat' photography, it was mostly stuff like retirement ceremonies and headshots for people going up in front of promotion boards. But when they got deployed they tended to be a bit crazy trying to get the best shots they could. Just like journalists in the civilian world, they were only as good as their work and one good photo or video clip could make their career.
One of my favorite moments is when that guy at Tarawa who filmed both American and Japanese soldiers running around in the same frame. That is up close and personal!
Is there some similarity to Gallipoli? An amphibious assault, oversold by Churchill, under-supported with resources, followed by tepid and hesitant leadership on the field and missed opportunities.
My great grandfather was captured at Anzio then sent to stalag VIII-C in Poland. Near the the end of the war he was part of the death march across Germany
I remember my Grandfather telling me during the day you couldn't move around too much on The Anzio beachhead. He said the Germans in his words "Would shell The Shit out of the place ! " He said the Germans had full view of the Beachhead and could drop artillery at will. They apparently had the beachhead completely sighted with their heavy guns. From their vantage point in the mountains they could see everything so it must have been like a turkey shoot for The Germans.
Speaking of looting. The picture of Churchill that was used at 3:13 was taken by Yousuf Karsh, at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, Canada in 1941. The Chateau had an original print, signed by Yousuf Karsh, hanging in a sitting room off the lobby. It was looted, I mean stolen, sometime between late December 2021, and early January 2022, but the theft was not discovered until August 2022. As of now the print has still not been recovered.
American generals from this period seem so crazy to me, they have such a fatalistic view of almost everything (especially if its a British led/conceived operation) and yet they have a reputation for being these daring high risk high reward types, and for most of the war complain about the British commanders being the ones who are too conservative and cautious.
You have to remember that we don't hear about 99% of the generals on all sides. The ones we do hear about are either in super high positions or just happen to odd in some way that they get mentioned. As such, it is very difficult to glean trends based on the generals you hear about on channels like this one since it is an unrepresentative sample.
They were fairly justified in being skeptical of Operation Shingle, a skepticism that was shared by the way with many of the participating British officers. It was a bad plan operating on a shoestring with below the recommended manpower. It would have went forward with even less if Churchill had gotten his way.
@@porksterbob I get that, and i'm not at all basing my opinion only on this channel its just a general observation. When we get to post-Normandy you'll see the likes of Bradley threatening to resign every time he doesn't get precisely what he wants, Patton constantly moaning he doesn't have the supplies he needs. I'm not criticising them, just pointing out that it runs against the post-war narrative that US generals were all these daring leaders and the British generals were incompetent and stuffy
@@thebrigadier1496 so much of that comes out of the political fall out from the battle of the bulge, the US propaganda machine tried to write the UK out of the war in Western Europe all together
During the Napoleonic Wars many treasures and valuable pieces of art from all over Europe made their way to Paris. Looting art is another spoil of the victors during times of war!
Massena was a prime looter, his descendants kind of brag about it the rogue. If it's not nailed down, take it, if you can pry it up, it's not nailed down.
Lucas skepticism of Shingle was fully justified, and it was shared by many other officers both British & American. It was a bad plan that was operating a shoestring, with less manpower than was thought needed to be succesful. There is a fair amount of debate about the extent to which Lucas' caution was to blame (some argue that had he been more aggressive, his troops wouldn't have had sufficient support and would have been mauled), but no matter where one falls on that debate, the lion's share of the blame must lie with Churchill.
@@ahorsewithnoname773 agreed. I'd add that Paulus was undoubtedly in the right to be 'defeatist' as well. There's 'being realistic' and being 'defeatist', and both were clearly the former from everything I've been able to come across on them.
I saw it mentioned in a previous episode, but it's really apparent that "hold this line no matter what" is the one order Hitler knows how to give since it worked that one time during Barbarossa, despite how realistic or not it is in any other circumstance
Geat presentation as usual,but when you say that 100% of the America never heard of Anzio that would be an exaggeration.There was a huge Italian American presence in the US Army including two Uncles and at least 5 1st cousins( once removed) Some of them certainly knew of Anzio.
Guy Sajer wrote a book, "The Forgotten Soldier," based on his service in the German Army. He was part of the group caught in the Korsun pocket, although the Germans called it the Cherkasy pocket. His account of this is rather interesting.
A bit of a caution to future readers, as academics have repeatedly called out the accuracy and authenticity of Sajer's recollections. He himself acknowledged that "historical accuracy was never his concern."
@@stevew6138 Most WW2 memoirs are barely accurate, given that they are primarily made years after the war and based on just memory and recollections alone. Everybody is invited to read such memoirs to glimpse an idea of how it is during the war, but caution must be taken when doing so and we should always cross reference the events with academic sources. Sorry if my statement earlier sounds like I was gatekeeping anyone from reading the book.
@@modest_spice6083 It's all good. I do agree that these memoirs are a bit "off" for the reasons you state, although I did not know Sajer had come under fire (no pun intended). Anywho, all the best to you and let's keep history alive.
@@modest_spice6083 No, you're right. Any memoir has to be taken with a grain (or a sack in some cases) of salt and considered alongside more reliable historical sources. Even the best writers trying to put down information accurately get mixed up when relying on their memory. And others - like the Wehrmacht generals writing for Allied occupation forces - often had ulterior motives when doing so.
35 German divisions (in addition to German divisions already in these regions) were diverted Italy and Balkans as a result of Allied campaign in Italy from Sicily to Salerno to Anzio. After the war Kesselring himself said to Allied interrogators "without keeping some of your divisions in Italy and constantly pushing north , therefore diverting our resources from France and North West Europe , you Allies could never win in West" ( Fatal Decision , Anzio and Battle of Rome - Carlo D'Este)
Kesselring was a piece of sh!t and a convicted war criminal who used his connections to Halder and his work for the Americans to document what had happened during the war, especially on the Eastern Front, to escape his sentence. Take whatever he said with a grain of salt. He probably said whatever he felt would make him useful to the Americans.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 I always considered Kesselring was overrated and given too much credit to cover up Allied command mistakes and controversies and lack of resources during Italian Campaign. It is always easier in posterity to over exagerate your opponent to disguise your mistakes ( like British made in Rommel myth) That said 35 - 40 German divisions diverted south to Mediterranean , are 35 - 40 German divisions diverted away from France. That is that too. One or two more German divisions on Normandy and D-Day would not happen or sevvere risk of failing
I don't think that Kesselring, gets enough credit for his generalship in Italy. Not bad for an air force general commanding ground troops. I read somewhere that he studied Joseph E. Johnston's defense against Sherman in northern Georgia. The difference being that Sherman had more room to maneuver, where as the Allies were constrained by fighting on a peninsula. After his defeat at Kennesaw Mt., Sherman never directly attacked The Army of the Tennessee and used the space available to outmaneuver Johnston all the way to Atlanta.
Kesselring was eventually too over optimistic and told what Hitler and OKW what they wanted to hear and acted accordingly which caused some spectecular disasters for Axis ( Siege of Malta which he prematurely declared victory while allowing the island to be relieved from air and sea , Tunisian Campaign and incoming Allied offensive Operation Diadem in May 1944 against Gustav Line and breakout from Anzio bridgehead when he overstayed his armys hold for a very illogically long time period and overextended his resources) Allied failures and disappointments in Italian Campaign (not really defeats though) were more due to controversial decisions and controversial characters of their commanders like Alexander and Clark and Lucas and Combined Chiefs of Staffs inability and unwillingness to spare more resources to Italian Theater which they considerd as secondary..
-and when he invaded the Carolinas he made a solid 12 miles a day through the Chatahatchee Swamps with his artillery and wagons, his men cutting down trees and making corduroy roads. Sherman was a god of war. He would have been right at home in WW2 and the combined arms/maneuver warfare.
18:50 imagine indy and spartacus arrested because of selling old art pieces to finance a youtube channel which they frequently speaking about massacres
The trapped units in the Cherkassy pocket will be known as "Gruppe Stemmermann" after the general in charge He died next month as he was leading a breakout
They Say Faith can move Mountains But it Can't stop the Whermachts Inexorable Retreat from Russia gaining pace Even though Smiling Albert's Faith in Benedictine Monasteries Seems to be Holding the Allies in Check Down in Italy! ..As for the Pacific Well thats all at Sea! ..Cheers Indy and Team Another interesting week!
Last time I went to the Peterhof palace, it had an exhibition about how some of the valuables were saved from the Germans, and about the destruction and devastation they have left behind them. The palace's staff evacuated some of the smaller art objects to Leningrad, iirc some were stored in the St. Isaac's Cathedral. Larger items, like the famous statues of the fountain complex were just buried in the park near the palace. Some objects were put away in the underground chambers of the fountain complex, and that area, unfortunately, got hit by an artillery shell or a bomb, rendering everything stored there unrecoverable. After the occupation, the palace was in ruins. I'm not terribly sentimental, but seeing such a spectacular feat of architecture utterly destroyed was painful. I was lucky to only see the pictures of it, and not the actual ruins. If the world ever becomes a peaceful place again, and Russia is safe to travel to once more, I strongly recommend visiting st Petersburg, and the numerous palaces around it.
18:53 spotted Indy slipping his insuppressible smile out of the professional actor facade for a split second. Evidence that he & probably the gang have looted some kind of valuables for sure.
A few of the Soviet's best fighter pilots used the P-39 Airacobra to great effect despite it being considered a less effective plane by Americans when compared to the Warhawk and Mustang. Though the air war that was fought over the USSR was pretty different to the West. In the East air to air combat was slower and closer to the ground.
Just watching and learning about Anzio makes me anxious. Its so risky and audacious. It almost feels like leadership didn't fully value the lives of their men.
read about how the leaders of the Soviet Union disregarded the lives of their own people, especially during the first years of their war, if you think Western commanders didn't value the lives of their soldiers. How would you like to be part of a human wave against tanks and machine guns again and again and again until you and your comrades are feeding worms?
Anticipating an Allied landing behind German lines, Kesselring had issued orders to lower levels, principally divisions, to earmark reserves that could quickly be sent to deal with a landing without having to pull anyone out of the front lines. When Shingle landed, it only took a single code word and the location to get those units on the road in very short order. That's why Indie refers to 'parts of 7 divisions'. Kesselring's idea was to quickly pen in a landing with larger formations being brought in to liquidate it as time permitted.
What happened to the Soviet Union's red flag that used to appear alongside the other 'allied' flags on the wall behind Indy? Particularly as their advance in the east gathers pace? I hope more recent events, unforeseeable in 1944, aren't affecting our perception of the past.
The official line is that they don't put autocracies on the flags behind them. This leaves the Soviets and the Chinese out. I think they should use a more... "No aggressors standard". This would still keep the soviets out for their attacks in Finland and Poland, but allow the Republic of China to be there. As it stands, the six flags they have are all "The West".
Historians are also allowed to make statements, you know. So long as they keep them away from history proper and don't engage in revisionism, it's completely fine by me. PS: This is just a warning for the sake of your butt's health: If this made your ass hurt, I'd recommend you to stay away from their playlist entirely.
@@Compulsive_LARPer The fiction of this series is that it's happening in 'real' time. No display of the allied flags in 1943-45 would have been complete without a very prominent Soviet flag. The series itself in its commentary gives all the credit due to the Red Army, who fought and died for their motherland under the Red Flag. Is the policy of excluding the Red Flag from the display down to Indy Neidell and the team or something imposed by TH-cam? I hope it's the latter - simply modern political manoeuvring and rewriting of history. It's expected from governments and government agencies, but I really hope historians won't support it.
Some of the German weekly newsreels called Wochenschau are on TH-cam. One described a small German advance near Nevel in early winter of 1943, but focused on that to avoid attention to the fact that Kiev had been lost or was about to be lost at that time. The same Wochenschau mentioned more significant successes against the British on Kos and Leros in the eastern Mediterranean. Media on all sides tended to accentuate the positive.
@@stevekaczynski3793 Thanks. But those are newsreels and are already known. What I’d like to see discussed are the reportage and opinion pieces on the war’s events and general trends. Because learning how wrong they were can warn us against making similar hasty judgments now. E.g., in Ukraine.
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@K They're still looking for the missing treasure of the Amber Room.
There is nothing lost about looting the Russians. Just you and Sparty, joint the Ukrainian forces, when they reach their borders again ;-)
And they are still looking for Justinian's desk! I wonder who looted that?
There is one force you guys forgotten to talk about is the Americans and Canadians of the FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE from 1942- DECEMBER 5 1944
An interesting thing to note this week on January 28 1944 is that the United States and the United Kingdom will announce an oil embargo against Spain. This was an effort to stop Spain from supplying Germany with war materials and to withdraw her troops from the Eastern Front. The embargo would last about four months until Spanish leader Francisco Franco finally gave in.
For those who want to read about it, it's quite an interesting story en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfram_Crisis?wprov=sfla1
Yes, it was just Spain, not Portugal ...
Never knew Spain ever had troops on the Eastern Front. Did they participate or were they just assembling?
@@berserkerpride They sent a division of "volunteers", la División Azul, a lot of them died during the war.
@Crispin Peter-Mcgahan real tawk
Not gonna lie, Indy denying allegations about art theft nobody has yet made against him is pretty sus. Any art collectors better check on their inventory to make sure Indy's 11 didn't pull off a heist on them.
New theory: The main set used for the channel is inside the stolen Amber Room from Leningrad
Interesting that you mentioned the looting of Leningrad by the Germans. The famous Amber Room was perhaps the most valuable and well known art piece the Germans took, which they did early in the siege, taking it back to Konigsberg. The Amber Room was displayed in Konigsberg until late in the war when it was dismantled and put into storage to protect it. Its fate is unknown but it was most likely destroyed in a bombing raid.
@@Lex-dw7ng winter palace is actually in St. Petersburg and was never reached. It is also called the Hermitage. The amber room was in Peterhof, which is just West of the city.
@@johnmorrison1672 not in Peterhof, the Amber room was in the Catherine's palace in Pushkin. It's yet another small town near st. Petersburg, to the south of it.
@@2D_SVD Yes, you are right !!! I have been in the amber room, and at all the palaces in and around St. Petersburg. My memory was it was at Peterhof. Sorry. I've been to St. Petersburg twice. 1977 and 2014. I would definitely recommend a visit, but I will never go again as long as Putin exists.
@@johnmorrison1672 I totally understand how you feel. I lived in st. Pete's for the past 10 years, but now left Russia altogether. Hopefully it will become a peaceful country once more, and people around the world can see the heritage of my people again :(
@@Lex-dw7ng You mean when Nato calms down expanding to the East?
2:20 i love that every time you show a picture of Albert Kesselring you add smiling in front of it yet he never smiles on the picture
It's like the huge fat guy who goes by the nickname "Tiny".
He wasn't particularly "smiley". Kesselring did have a large overbite. Ernst Udet, a talented caricaturist, made a sketch of Kesselring in 1940 showing his upper teeth covering much of his face.
@@stevekaczynski3793 he should add that in one of the videos
@@NeroPiroman I found the cartoon reproduced in a book by Len Deighton about the Battle of Britain. I have not been able to locate it on the Internet, however. Udet also depicted himself flying a plane while drinking champagne. He was quite a heavy drinker, more so during the war as he tried to cope with his Luftwaffe duties before finally shooting himself.
My grandfather was at Anzio. He mentioned the hospital ship being sunk in his diary. He also mentioned that they captured a female sniper and many other stories. Unfortunately he lost many of his friends including “Cannonball” who burned to death
Female sniper? A GERMAN one?
Must have been one heck of a soldier if his nickname was "cannonball"
Was she an Italian fascist perhaps?
@@thunderbird1921 Unless it was an Italian irregular, I'm going with "that never happened, and it is just another wild war myth."
@@timothyhouse1622 That could be, honestly. I know Mussolini had some crazy loyalists who fought with Hitler even after he was deposed in September of '43. Perhaps she was one of those fascist supporter maniacs.
My great uncle was an engineer on a B-17 named "Cactus Clipper". His plane was shot down by a Luftwaffe sortie over Anzio. Unfortunately he did not survive, dying at age 23. He us buried at Anzio.
So the march to Rome begins, it's fascinating to see the initial German response to the Anzio landings. Great episode.
It is interesting how Alexander was unable to direct strategy in Italy. Yet another British general (I do not really include Montgomery here) who enjoyed reputation and confidence but, when you look for actual achievement, it hard to find. Brilliance? Certainly not. Lucas was clearly a terrible choice and Clark's influence on him extremely detrimental.
I wouldn’t expect to see Rome liberated any time soon
Could the germans have turned around the war in 1944 with a Metal Gear?
I had an uncle at Anzio. He rarely spoke about that time but when he did there was great bitterness in his voice.
My grandfather took a hit from a MG 42 at Anzio. Tore away a large hunk of his right arm. Was missing most of his bicep for the rest of his life.
How did he recover from that wound?
@@Raggadish. slowly. He lost most of his functionality in his right arm for years. He taught himself to be left handed basically. It took a LONG time until he could even use his right arm again. Like 10+ years. Even after he could use it again it was never as good as his left. He eventually could use his right mostly normally, but his left was always stronger, for the rest of his life. I remember seeing it as a kid, his right biceps was sorta just a half there. Like someone had scooped away half it with an ice cream cone
@@Raggadish. medical care. Physio.
@@torg1 Don't damaged muscles regenerate to a degree? Or was the damage too great?
@@stevekaczynski3793 there is a limit
Halfway through a book that came out only ten years ago on the Leningrad siege, called: "Leningrad, Siege And Symphony". The author, Brian Moynahan, goes back and forth from telling the story of the composition of the Seventh Symphony of Shostakovich to the battles and tribulations of Leningrad during the siege. I'm not finished - but it's a no-brainer to recommend it. Especially for anyone who loves that particular piece of music, it's a must read.
One of my teachers at school was in the British Army in Italy during the war. He took the register and also imparted wisdom. Sometimes he gave rather PG-13 accounts of his experiences in the Italian Campaign.
Germans really are incredible sometimes, their lower Dnieper front is almost spent and not so far from collapsing, and yet they take divisions from it and sent it to Crimea, which is completely cut off and already has a Soviet bridgehead in Kerch.
Hitler was obsessed with Crimea. He forbid withdrawal until it was inevitable. He claimed withdrawal would have a bad effect on Turkey and Romania. He feared the Soviets would use the Crimea as a base to bomb Ploesti oil fields.
Sounds like an error.
Sparty and Indy have never looted art collections... yet
😄
Great episode!!
Actor James Arness from Gunsmoke was at Anzio and walked with a limp the rest of his life due to wounds he received there.
Same thing happened to Art Carney, the famous comic actor. If you look at the classic series "The Honeymooners" you will note that there is a hitch in his step. He got that at Normandy.
My uncle, Pfc. Thomas Walsh, lost his leg at Anzio! That was the end of the war for him! After returning home, the U.S.
government bought him a brand new car, which had an automatic transmission, (because of his lost leg) & rare at the time!
certainly contrasts with todays VA, doesn't it? "Gulf War Syndrome? Nope. You're not sick. Go away. PTSD? Here, it's 5 mg of Valium. Now go piss up a rope".
Props to your uncle for surviving that madness. The Italian Campaign needs talked about 10x more, it was utter hell at times and probably gave the Eastern Front a run for its money in terms of battle ferocity.
Your writing for your episodes is brilliant. I'm astounded at how you continue to be entertaining and pack so much information into a short segment, week after week.
Thanks. I must admit that some weeks I feel really good about what I wrote. This was a really tough one with so much action.
@@Southsideindy Especially the looting part.. that was just *Cheif's kiss*! 👌🤌♥️
Broadcaster Alan Whicker said that before they knew where they were going to land, Italian wide boys were selling them postcards of Anzio telling them it was where they were going. His memories of the landing and the failure to break out are told in his book and TV series Whicker's War- a very interesting book and programme. He recalls a story of a drunk American who had found a top hat and got drunk on wine found in a wrecked wine warehouse who got lost and walked towards the German front line. They were all waiting for him to be shot but he walked right up to the German front line where the Germans corrected the position of his top hat on his head as it was slipping- then spun him around and sent him back towards the Allied front line!
A German garrison (including the SS treasurer with a shedload of money) were willing to surrender - but only to a British officer, presumably because they didn't want to fall into the hands of partizans. The closest one to the spot was Alan Whicker.
This reminds me of one of a Willy and Joe cartoon I saw once. Willy and Joe had found a wine cellar. There are signs in saying, in ersatz German, "Officers only," and, "Enlisted men forbidden." A German soldier on patrol outside has spotted them through the window. Willy and Joe are reaching for their rifles but the German says to them, "Oh no. no. Please go on. I would not think of interfering." It's interesting how Mauldin always sought to humanize the enemy."
@@odysseusrex5908 There's another one with a German holding a bottle of wine, and Willie and Joe are waiting in ambush. Willie: Don't startle him Joe, it's nearly full. Mauldin based his characters on the G.I.s in Italy because he was there. And previously North Africa. The cartoon of a British troop commenting on the messiness of an American battlefield came from there. Mauldin went on to act with Audie Murphy in The Red Badge of Courage.
@@floydvaughn9666 LOL! If I've ever seen that oneI don't remember it. I've tried to watch The Red Badge of Courage. I've tried to read the book. I just cannot get in to it.
@@himoffthequakeroatbox4320 He filmed it- and you can see the film in Whicker's War which was posted on YT.
A short man from texas
A man of the wild
Thrown into combat
Where bodies lie piled
Hides his emotions
his blood running cold
Just like his victories
his story unfolds
Bright
A white light
If there be any glory in war
Let it rest on men like him
_Dead men will never come back_
Crosses grow on anzio
Where no soldiers sleep and
Where hell is 6 feet deep
That death awaits theres no debate
So charge and attack
Going to hell and back
A man of the 15th
A man of Can Do
Friends fall around him
And yet he came through...
@@acocarful *"Let them fall Face Down*
*If they must Die!*
*Making it easier*
*To say Goodbye!!!"*
I remember finding Time ghost content because of Sabaton and their song about Anzio...
just got caught up binging all the way through the great war till hear. two great series I've learned so much from. Thanks!!
I was in the process of rewatching this series (unbelievable work btw) when I thought to myself… If I had a dollar for every time Hitler said an area had to be held “at all cost” or “until the last man”. I would have so much money to donate to the Time Ghost Army! 4:33
Crosses grow on Anzio
Where no soldiers sleep
And where hell’s six feet deep
That death does wait
There’s no debate
So charge and attack
Going to Hell and Back
that segway at the end has got to be one of the best ones I've ever heard
It was just before dawn
One miserable morning in black 'forty four
When the forward commander
Was told to sit tight
When he asked that his men be withdrawn
And the Generals gave thanks
As the other ranks held back
The enemy tanks for a while
And the Anzio bridgehead
Was held for the price
Of a few hundred ordinary lives
"When the "Tigers" Broke Free." By Roger Waters. I knew, someone would quote this song.
@@ФилиппЛыков-д8е i was going to quote this song myself rofl beautiful song and quite heartbreaking
I came to the comments section to post this...
An uncle of mine, 2Lt Richard Stoddard, landed on Anzio as a platoon leader with the 3dID.He told me he went for a 17 day stretch without a chance to take his boots off .
If you’re ever in the Anzio/ Nettuno area, visit the American Cemetery there. It’s a moving experience.
Seems like a common enough experience in the front line. Not wearing your boots might be a serious problem if your position was attacked.
@@stevekaczynski3793 absolutely correct. The point here is that he was in constant combat and under fire continuously for two and a half weeks.
“He saw crosses grow on Anzio
Where no solider sleeps
And where hell’s 6 feet deep….”
It looks like it will be a long fight to Rome from Anzio for the Allies there, and Monte Cassino isn't looking to be an easy one to predict either in the coming weeks. The end of the Siege of Leningrad this week after two years really do show how much things have really changed in the course of the war since the start, as the Soviets slowly creep towards the Baltic States bit by bit. Great episode as always.
My father was in Africa and then Italy, all the way up through Monte Casino to Rome. He said it was bad.
God just looking at these maps you can see how utterly massive the Soviet army was….
Approximately double the size of the Axis armies at this point.
Note their divisions were smaller than German ones
Formations don't equal troop numbers.
Soviet and Chinese divisions are relatively small. German, Japanese, and American divisions are quite large.
This can lead to a situation where it looks like "Wow, one German division is easily holding against 3 Soviet ones!" This is true, but misleading.
A more accurate statement would be "23,000 Germans are holding against 27,000 Soviets"
Which makes perfect sense.
@@porksterbob German divisions seldomly were at full strength after 1943. And the overall troop numbers pretty much speak for themselves, as the USSR had by early 1944 a land army of 6.5 million soldiers, compared to less than 3 million soldiers for Germany.
I got the same impression. Their lines look so cluttered with division and army sized elements compared to the opposing forces... I'm left wondering how the fuck the Germans managed to drag the War for the time they did.
The 1943-1944 update really nerfed the Wehrmacht.
Right, but they were clearly OP in 1940 and the soviet army was absolutely low tier then.
All updates coming out post 1941 really brutalized the Wehrmacht while giving incredible buffs to both Soviets and Allies.
@Cole Price Set chance of retreat orders being countermanded by dictator to max.
Almost makes you want to rage quit!!
Just you wait for 1944 Black summer patch. On both fronts.
My grandfather was involved in a diversion attack further up the coast during the Anzio landings known as 'the two boat invasion' it consitsed of a landing craft and a ML
I really loved the movie Anzio as a kid. It stars Robert Mitchum
"Any words, when acredited to Patton, sound based" - General Patton
"Don't believe every quote you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
Anzio always struck me as a lost opportunity. I always thought of it as a flanking move to break the Gustav line, not as a threat on Rome itself. However, being appraised of more facts here I guess I mistakenly thought it had more potential than it had in reality.
A friend of my father was at Anzio. Years later at a July 4 ice cream party at my uncle who lived near the city park that featured 4th of July fireworks, Bill couldn't stand it and lay in a low spot in the yard cussing - especially the loud booming fireworks. This was about 1958 when I was 8.
Thanks!
Thanks
Hi Indy
Interesting week.
Finally siege of leningrad finished.
After so much loss
Thanks for the video.
Great episode, gang. I'd had an inkling that the Italy campaign was not given the attention it was due as part of most WWII coverage, mainly because of how difficult and poorly managed it was, but I had no idea. That said, the great thing about this channel is that I'm really looking forward to be fully informed about it all. You guys do such a great job that I'm just as eager to learn about the difficult and not-so-great sides of the allied campaigns as the smashing victories.
It's getting harder to fold laundry slow enough for these episodes, a good problem to have!
I noticed you had 3SS panzer division both listed with Army Group North and Down on the Ukrainian front on the same week. Did they split divisions or just a mistake. I can’t imagine the amount of work and oversight needed for creating these maps. Love the show!
Probably a typo....There was 3.SS.PzDiv fighting in Ukraine and III.SS.-PzK fighting with AGN.
it should be a III SS Panzer Corps up in Army Group North. Got the right size but my editing program must have loaded the wrong icon.
I'll fix it for next weeks' episode. Thanks for spotting that.
Just moved from Chicago to LA. Love this show. Thanks Indy.
It turns out the best kind of probing attack is one where you probe deeper and deeper and don't find much of anything.
My step-uncle fought with The Devil's Brigade at Anzio, was awarded an American Silver Star (he was a Canadian) and was captured.
Awesome ! My Grandfather was in the unit too. He was Canadian and HQ Det 1st Rgt
Its very strange this "step" nomination from the english language... they get named as things they really arent, like "step-sister" isnt a sister at all (and by definition not a problem get involved wih her at all lol)
In my native idiom we have totally different names for those kinda relatives.
Thank you for the lesson.
My dad's uncle was badly wounded at Anzio. Eddie Murphy, a sgt in the First Bttn Scots Guards. He was wounded by mortar fire near Aprilia (The Factory). He lay wounded with a dead radio operator. Next thing, a dozen Germans jumped in. Incredibly, they fixed him up. His lasting memory was the Germans shoving chocolate & cigarettes into his pockets & them wishing him Good Luck. he always said the Germans treated him better than the British. He lived into his 90s. I can still see the blue speckles in his arm, from the shrapnel of the mortar shell from that day.
Thanks for sharing this story with us! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Anzio here we go
My Grandfather landed on The Anzio Beach Head attached to General Mark Clarke's 5th American Army as a member of The U.S./ Canada First Special Service Force (Black Devil's).They saw action here and on the Mussolini Canal and one of their biggest engagements was The Battle of Monte La Difensa.
The 88th Infantry Division entered combat duty in Italy and proved itself a fierce division, being called the "Blue devils" by the Germans, a nickname that persists to this day. I wore the 88th patch, and during R&R in Bulgaria in 2006, an old Italian man asked me why I wore it on my uniform(they were drying after being laundered). He said he remembered that patch as the Americans came and liberated his homeland as a young boy. It was so profound to me that it stuck with me to this day.
Hey Indy, in the U.S. Air Force we know Gen. Henry Arnold by the nickname "Hap" Arnold. You seem to be a fan of nicknames, so I thought I would bring this up!
Good video! Love your animated maps. Thanks for making these videos available to the general public!
Would you do a special about Amedeo Gillet? He was considered the italian Lawrence of Arabia, and he had indeed an adventurous life, even after the end of the war.
Dad was at Anzio US 45th Ifn Div Headquarters battery Field Artillery
It would be great to see a special on combat photographers from WW2. We have so many amazing pictures thanks to their bravery and dedication. I can't image heading into a combat zone with only a camera in hand. One image that I always considered amazing was the instant a bomb struck the USS Enterprise and exploded in 1942. Originally, it was said the photographer was killed by that explosion, but this was not in fact the truth. Even still, how many people would take a picture of a bomb exploding instead of diving for cover?? Put me solidly in the "diving for cover" category. I have a feeling this Anzio thing is going to be the topic of discussion for a few months. Looking forward to hearing more. Thanks.
I had a friend a long time ago in the Army who was assigned to the CPD (combat pictorial detachment) on post. They didn't get the chance to do much 'combat' photography, it was mostly stuff like retirement ceremonies and headshots for people going up in front of promotion boards. But when they got deployed they tended to be a bit crazy trying to get the best shots they could. Just like journalists in the civilian world, they were only as good as their work and one good photo or video clip could make their career.
One of my favorite moments is when that guy at Tarawa who filmed both American and Japanese soldiers running around in the same frame. That is up close and personal!
17:54 RamU Valley - not Ramp Valley. Shaggy Ridge - a great Australian victory.
the production standards, . .remarkable clarity al around.
It's pretty ridiculous. But this is the video I look forward to most every week. Thanks guys ( and sometimes girls).
As Churchill said 'Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm' . Anzio was yet another of his failures.
Is there some similarity to Gallipoli? An amphibious assault, oversold by Churchill, under-supported with resources, followed by tepid and hesitant leadership on the field and missed opportunities.
My great grandfather was captured at Anzio then sent to stalag VIII-C in Poland. Near the the end of the war he was part of the death march across Germany
Thanks for your work! You guys are so talented!!
Another fantastic update. Thank you to the team. Bloody good stuff.
Thanks to you Jonathan! We appreciate your support!
Anzio landing sounds like Suvla Bay landing Part 2 (at Gallipoli) - commander too cautious and forces too slow to reach a vital mountain.
All the while the Wellingtons were fighting hand to hand
I remember my Grandfather telling me during the day you couldn't move around too much on The Anzio beachhead. He said the Germans in his words "Would shell The Shit out of the place ! " He said the Germans had full view of the Beachhead and could drop artillery at will. They apparently had the beachhead completely sighted with their heavy guns. From their vantage point in the mountains they could see everything so it must have been like a turkey shoot for The Germans.
Great episode! Thank you!
Thank you! 😃
-Indy: Sparty, you'd do the same, right? Steal some art pieces...
-Sparty: (nervous breathing)
Great Episode!
Patton cracks me up. Also, that art looting segue was just fantastic.
Great job Indy & team.
General: Mein Füherer, the soldiers need ammunition, fuel, and food!
Hitler: Let them take art!
Speaking of looting. The picture of Churchill that was used at 3:13 was taken by Yousuf Karsh, at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, Canada in 1941. The Chateau had an original print, signed by Yousuf Karsh, hanging in a sitting room off the lobby. It was looted, I mean stolen, sometime between late December 2021, and early January 2022, but the theft was not discovered until August 2022. As of now the print has still not been recovered.
Thanks.
Well done as always
American generals from this period seem so crazy to me, they have such a fatalistic view of almost everything (especially if its a British led/conceived operation) and yet they have a reputation for being these daring high risk high reward types, and for most of the war complain about the British commanders being the ones who are too conservative and cautious.
You have to remember that we don't hear about 99% of the generals on all sides.
The ones we do hear about are either in super high positions or just happen to odd in some way that they get mentioned.
As such, it is very difficult to glean trends based on the generals you hear about on channels like this one since it is an unrepresentative sample.
They were fairly justified in being skeptical of Operation Shingle, a skepticism that was shared by the way with many of the participating British officers. It was a bad plan operating on a shoestring with below the recommended manpower. It would have went forward with even less if Churchill had gotten his way.
@@porksterbob I get that, and i'm not at all basing my opinion only on this channel its just a general observation.
When we get to post-Normandy you'll see the likes of Bradley threatening to resign every time he doesn't get precisely what he wants, Patton constantly moaning he doesn't have the supplies he needs.
I'm not criticising them, just pointing out that it runs against the post-war narrative that US generals were all these daring leaders and the British generals were incompetent and stuffy
@@thebrigadier1496 so much of that comes out of the political fall out from the battle of the bulge, the US propaganda machine tried to write the UK out of the war in Western Europe all together
@@hardlyworking1351 Americans being entitled and demanding? 😳
During the Napoleonic Wars many treasures and valuable pieces of art from all over Europe made their way to Paris. Looting art is another spoil of the victors during times of war!
No point to war if can't kill people and steal their stuff.
Which we are seeing, happening again today in Eastern Europe by Russians.
The Swedes did the same thing during the 30 years war.
Massena was a prime looter, his descendants kind of brag about it the rogue. If it's not nailed down, take it, if you can pry it up, it's not nailed down.
Iraq museum
Lucas had defeatist eyeballs. Reminds me of Paulus.
Lucas skepticism of Shingle was fully justified, and it was shared by many other officers both British & American. It was a bad plan that was operating a shoestring, with less manpower than was thought needed to be succesful.
There is a fair amount of debate about the extent to which Lucas' caution was to blame (some argue that had he been more aggressive, his troops wouldn't have had sufficient support and would have been mauled), but no matter where one falls on that debate, the lion's share of the blame must lie with Churchill.
@@ahorsewithnoname773 agreed. I'd add that Paulus was undoubtedly in the right to be 'defeatist' as well. There's 'being realistic' and being 'defeatist', and both were clearly the former from everything I've been able to come across on them.
At 10:56 Hitler addressed the generals with the subject of faith as a guarantee of victory: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
*Whistling Intensifies*
Que "To Hell And Back" by Sabaton
I saw it mentioned in a previous episode, but it's really apparent that "hold this line no matter what" is the one order Hitler knows how to give since it worked that one time during Barbarossa, despite how realistic or not it is in any other circumstance
Awesome episode! Proud to be a time ghost army member
Thank you! We couldn't do anything that we do without the support of TimeGhost Army members like you, SockGiant!
10:55 If it weren't for Wannsee that'd sound like the most cursed corporate retreat in history
Dunno, maybe more breakout sessions and team trust exercises might have turned the tide.....
Geat presentation as usual,but when you say that 100% of the America never heard of Anzio that would be an exaggeration.There was a huge Italian American presence in the US Army including two Uncles and at least 5 1st cousins( once removed) Some of them certainly knew of Anzio.
Guy Sajer wrote a book, "The Forgotten Soldier," based on his service in the German Army. He was part of the group caught in the Korsun pocket, although the Germans called it the Cherkasy pocket. His account of this is rather interesting.
A bit of a caution to future readers, as academics have repeatedly called out the accuracy and authenticity of Sajer's recollections. He himself acknowledged that "historical accuracy was never his concern."
@@modest_spice6083 I had no idea.
@@stevew6138 Most WW2 memoirs are barely accurate, given that they are primarily made years after the war and based on just memory and recollections alone. Everybody is invited to read such memoirs to glimpse an idea of how it is during the war, but caution must be taken when doing so and we should always cross reference the events with academic sources.
Sorry if my statement earlier sounds like I was gatekeeping anyone from reading the book.
@@modest_spice6083 It's all good. I do agree that these memoirs are a bit "off" for the reasons you state, although I did not know Sajer had come under fire (no pun intended). Anywho, all the best to you and let's keep history alive.
@@modest_spice6083 No, you're right. Any memoir has to be taken with a grain (or a sack in some cases) of salt and considered alongside more reliable historical sources. Even the best writers trying to put down information accurately get mixed up when relying on their memory. And others - like the Wehrmacht generals writing for Allied occupation forces - often had ulterior motives when doing so.
35 German divisions (in addition to German divisions already in these regions) were diverted Italy and Balkans as a result of Allied campaign in Italy from Sicily to Salerno to Anzio. After the war Kesselring himself said to Allied interrogators "without keeping some of your divisions in Italy and constantly pushing north , therefore diverting our resources from France and North West Europe , you Allies could never win in West" ( Fatal Decision , Anzio and Battle of Rome - Carlo D'Este)
Kesselring was a piece of sh!t and a convicted war criminal who used his connections to Halder and his work for the Americans to document what had happened during the war, especially on the Eastern Front, to escape his sentence. Take whatever he said with a grain of salt. He probably said whatever he felt would make him useful to the Americans.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 I always considered Kesselring was overrated and given too much credit to cover up Allied command mistakes and controversies and lack of resources during Italian Campaign. It is always easier in posterity to over exagerate your opponent to disguise your mistakes ( like British made in Rommel myth)
That said 35 - 40 German divisions diverted south to Mediterranean , are 35 - 40 German divisions diverted away from France. That is that too. One or two more German divisions on Normandy and D-Day would not happen or sevvere risk of failing
I don't think that Kesselring, gets enough credit for his generalship in Italy. Not bad for an air force general commanding ground troops. I read somewhere that he studied Joseph E. Johnston's defense against Sherman in northern Georgia. The difference being that Sherman had more room to maneuver, where as the Allies were constrained by fighting on a peninsula. After his defeat at Kennesaw Mt., Sherman never directly attacked The Army of the Tennessee and used the space available to outmaneuver Johnston all the way to Atlanta.
Kesselring was i the army until 1933. He served in the General Staff between the wars. Only after that he became part of the Luftwaffe.
Kesselring was eventually too over optimistic and told what Hitler and OKW what they wanted to hear and acted accordingly which caused some spectecular disasters for Axis ( Siege of Malta which he prematurely declared victory while allowing the island to be relieved from air and sea , Tunisian Campaign and incoming Allied offensive Operation Diadem in May 1944 against Gustav Line and breakout from Anzio bridgehead when he overstayed his armys hold for a very illogically long time period and overextended his resources) Allied failures and disappointments in Italian Campaign (not really defeats though) were more due to controversial decisions and controversial characters of their commanders like Alexander and Clark and Lucas and Combined Chiefs of Staffs inability and unwillingness to spare more resources to Italian Theater which they considerd as secondary..
@@bwarre2884 Correct. He was an artilleryman before being posted to the General Staff in 1917.
-and when he invaded the Carolinas he made a solid 12 miles a day through the Chatahatchee Swamps with his artillery and wagons, his men cutting down trees and making corduroy roads. Sherman was a god of war. He would have been right at home in WW2 and the combined arms/maneuver warfare.
18:50 imagine indy and spartacus arrested because of selling old art pieces to finance a youtube channel which they frequently speaking about massacres
The trapped units in the Cherkassy pocket will be known as "Gruppe Stemmermann" after the general in charge
He died next month as he was leading a breakout
Hey- no spoilers!
Beautiful transition to the ask.
Citizens of Leningrad would never forget that day
They Say Faith can move Mountains But it Can't stop the Whermachts Inexorable Retreat from Russia gaining pace Even though Smiling Albert's Faith in Benedictine Monasteries Seems to be Holding the Allies in Check Down in Italy! ..As for the Pacific Well thats all at Sea! ..Cheers Indy and Team Another interesting week!
Another brilliant episode👍
And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price, of a few hundred ordinary lives
Last time I went to the Peterhof palace, it had an exhibition about how some of the valuables were saved from the Germans, and about the destruction and devastation they have left behind them.
The palace's staff evacuated some of the smaller art objects to Leningrad, iirc some were stored in the St. Isaac's Cathedral. Larger items, like the famous statues of the fountain complex were just buried in the park near the palace. Some objects were put away in the underground chambers of the fountain complex, and that area, unfortunately, got hit by an artillery shell or a bomb, rendering everything stored there unrecoverable.
After the occupation, the palace was in ruins. I'm not terribly sentimental, but seeing such a spectacular feat of architecture utterly destroyed was painful. I was lucky to only see the pictures of it, and not the actual ruins.
If the world ever becomes a peaceful place again, and Russia is safe to travel to once more, I strongly recommend visiting st Petersburg, and the numerous palaces around it.
18:53 spotted Indy slipping his insuppressible smile out of the professional actor facade for a split second. Evidence that he & probably the gang have looted some kind of valuables for sure.
I hope to find out what happens to the Axis soldiers in Crimea. Although I am an occasional critic, I love this channel!
A few of the Soviet's best fighter pilots used the P-39 Airacobra to great effect despite it being considered a less effective plane by Americans when compared to the Warhawk and Mustang. Though the air war that was fought over the USSR was pretty different to the West. In the East air to air combat was slower and closer to the ground.
This is going to be a very crazy year. :o
Finally caught up after two weeks, can’t wait for all the content coming in 1944
Just watching and learning about Anzio makes me anxious. Its so risky and audacious. It almost feels like leadership didn't fully value the lives of their men.
read about how the leaders of the Soviet Union disregarded the lives of their own people, especially during the first years of their war, if you think Western commanders didn't value the lives of their soldiers. How would you like to be part of a human wave against tanks and machine guns again and again and again until you and your comrades are feeding worms?
As callous as it may sound, all wars require sacrifice.
@@KrisLapler
True but Russian military and political incompetence certainly made them sacrifice a lot more than they had to. Russia never changes.
They didn't
@@imnotyourfriendbuddy1883 What does Anzio have to do with Russia? Why bring modern politics into this?
Anticipating an Allied landing behind German lines, Kesselring had issued orders to lower levels, principally divisions, to earmark reserves that could quickly be sent to deal with a landing without having to pull anyone out of the front lines. When Shingle landed, it only took a single code word and the location to get those units on the road in very short order. That's why Indie refers to 'parts of 7 divisions'. Kesselring's idea was to quickly pen in a landing with larger formations being brought in to liquidate it as time permitted.
What happened to the Soviet Union's red flag that used to appear alongside the other 'allied' flags on the wall behind Indy? Particularly as their advance in the east gathers pace? I hope more recent events, unforeseeable in 1944, aren't affecting our perception of the past.
The official line is that they don't put autocracies on the flags behind them.
This leaves the Soviets and the Chinese out.
I think they should use a more... "No aggressors standard". This would still keep the soviets out for their attacks in Finland and Poland, but allow the Republic of China to be there. As it stands, the six flags they have are all "The West".
Historians are also allowed to make statements, you know.
So long as they keep them away from history proper and don't engage in revisionism, it's completely fine by me.
PS: This is just a warning for the sake of your butt's health:
If this made your ass hurt, I'd recommend you to stay away from their playlist entirely.
Russia was never allied with them Churchill wanted to destroy them after ww2 just an enemy of an enemy.
@@Compulsive_LARPer The fiction of this series is that it's happening in 'real' time. No display of the allied flags in 1943-45 would have been complete without a very prominent Soviet flag. The series itself in its commentary gives all the credit due to the Red Army, who fought and died for their motherland under the Red Flag. Is the policy of excluding the Red Flag from the display down to Indy Neidell and the team or something imposed by TH-cam? I hope it's the latter - simply modern political manoeuvring and rewriting of history. It's expected from governments and government agencies, but I really hope historians won't support it.
I’d like to see more reporting on what the contemporary media said about each week’s events. It is very underreported and very interesting.
Some of the German weekly newsreels called Wochenschau are on TH-cam. One described a small German advance near Nevel in early winter of 1943, but focused on that to avoid attention to the fact that Kiev had been lost or was about to be lost at that time. The same Wochenschau mentioned more significant successes against the British on Kos and Leros in the eastern Mediterranean. Media on all sides tended to accentuate the positive.
@@stevekaczynski3793 Thanks. But those are newsreels and are already known. What I’d like to see discussed are the reportage and opinion pieces on the war’s events and general trends. Because learning how wrong they were can warn us against making similar hasty judgments now. E.g., in Ukraine.