My dad was in the black watch during WW2. At his funeral 2 of his remaining mates came and told some stories of what they got up to and the laughs they had. They described him as the bravest silly bugger they knew. A German sergeant that my dads regiment had captured had given my dad his address in Germany also turned up. Apparently my dad had kept in touch with him the whole time. He said the black watch were feared but my dad was Very kind and respectful to him. He cried at the funeral and we all gave him a hug. ✌️♥️🇬🇧
Really happy to see a video dedicated to this, aswell as my favourite History youtuber reacting to it. My Grandfather was in the Black Watch, and was captured as a POW on around the 14th June 1944. I know he took part in D day, whether his capture was part of that i am unsure. We have the letter sent to my great grandparents from HM government telling us of his MIA still in our family home, framed in a picture frame and mounted on the wall. really proud to this day to wear the green and black tartan in remembrance of him
In addition to their bravery in combat, these guys really did a favor to themselves with some quality branding. "The Black Watch" is right up there with nicknames like "The Iron Brigade" or "The Irish Brigade" or "The Rock of the Marne". It just sounds cool.
My grandfather was in the Black Watch in WW2, 1st Battalion Black Watch in North Africa, they mainly recruited from Fife, Angus and Perthshire, my grandfather was from Lochgelly in Fife, Robert Gourdie Kirk
I learnt only last year that my grandfather enlisted in the 1st battalion, Black watch in February 1914, before the outbreak of the war. You have told us that the battalion fought at Givenchy in December 1914, which I didn’t know. Grandad’s brother, whose name was Daibhid (David in English), was a member of the Seaforth Highlanders and was killed by a German mine exploding under his trench in Givenchy in December 1914, having been stationed in India until October that year. The two young brothers probably didn’t know they were fighting in the same battle. Grandad took his own life in 1923 , when my mother was two years old, having suffered from PTSD since returning from the war.
Love seeing people reacting to the Black Watch and it’s history. A long waver of battle honours across their history and excellent branding. And I love it that my favourite Sci-Fi universe also done them justice in having the House of Cameron’s primary protector’s be the Black Watch Regiment and they were some of the best of the best in the universe - and their decedents in both Inner Sphere and Clans have kept up their badassery
10:35 Yes, we still generally use England/English more than Britain/British when talking about the UK. Sounds perfectly like something happening back then as well. Especially considering the English dominance in the UK
Been playing bagpipes ever since I saw them in the movie “Waterloo” when I was 10, it still amazes me how I can bring entire sections of city’s to silence through the haunting calls of the pipes.
I actually got to shoot a Lee Enfield a couple weeks ago my friend bought a while back. His came with a bayonet and it had the royal crown stamp and although it had 1943 it still fired .303 British and it is such an amazing gun🏴🏴
Hey Chris. My grandfather was a fighter pilot in squadron 303 - one of the Polish units in the RAF during the battle of Britain. I'm pretty sure they were one of the most successful squadrons. The Polish and Czechs aren't mentioned enough during this time, it would be great if you reacted to something about them. Thanks
Heya, speaking of the Scots, I wanted to let you know there's another youtuber that makes some historical stuff you should check out in your spare time. His name is Lazerpig and his vids are very informative with a major dose of crude humor.
One of my Great-Grandfathers served in the 7th (Fife) Battalion in WW1. He fought in the battle of Cambrai and was awarded the Military Medal for rescuing a wounded officer. I never met him as he died in 1958 but I still own several of his possessions including his lucky hard tack biscuit (the so-called 'lucky piece'), his army-issue cutthroat razor, and a trench periscope whose pouch is still stained by Western Front mud.
Re your comment about Service Battalions and the Pals Bns, the word "Service" refers to "General Service" Battalion, i.e. ones that could be deployed overseas. The Pre War Territorial Battalions were enlisted as "Home Service Only" so could not be deployed overseas automatically, it required the men to volunteer for overseas service (which the almost universally did). The term "Pals Bns" was a media invention and not official
I have a photograph in my hall of my Maternal Grandfather Donald McKenzie [ 1st/9th battalion Black Watch] taken in Northern France in 1916, he looks barely out of school. In 1926 he and my Grandmother emigrated to the USA where he had secured a job with Goodyear Tyres in Akron Ohio. Curiously the job was only a means for him to play football [soccer] for Goodyear who along with other major companies attempted to establish the game in the US. The American dream didn't quite work out and they returned to Scotland in 1931 with an American born daughter namely my Mother.
Just quickly: Regiments are the administrative unit and up until the Napoleonic wars only formed about 1 battalion. During the war, due to necessity, many regiments formed more with one being the depot battalion. Battalions were assigned to brigades usually without battalions from the same regiment as a regiment wasn't and still isn't a tactical unit. In WW1 many new regiments were formed with many divisions due to the massive increase in size from about 120,000 men. Overall VTH explained it very well
For another British Army unit well worth doing a deep dive on, consider the Brigade of Ghurkas. Another worthy of attention would be the Royal Artillery - who possible uniquely just have one battle honour - Ubique - proudly displayed on their standard and cap badge. For an individual action of one battery of the Royal Artillery, consider the sacrifice of E and F Troops, 155th Field Battery, Royal Artillery, who bought a valuable 24 hours by acting as a tripwire to the advancing Afrika Korps (well, only half of it, but that is a heck of an achievement) at Sidi Nsir on 26th February 1943. The 5th Bttn Hants infantry were beaten back very early, so with just some Bren guns and 8 25lb guns, 9 officers and 121 enlisted men held up 77 tanks (including 20 Tigers), a large number of other armoured Self-propelled guns, 13 motorised infantry battalions (including some in US M3 Half-tracks kindly donated to them in the early stages of Operation Torch!) with supporting elements from two more, totalling about 30,000 men, with support from a squadron of bf109s. Nine men escaped, seven of whom were wounded and five more were captured - 130 men down to 14. The final message from the unit to HQ was "Tanks are on us" "..._". They were still engaging the oncoming tanks at ranges under 10 yards. When travelling through the pass later, Spike Milligan (also a Gunner in N.Africa during WW2) described them as fighting "to the muzzle" in his diaries, after viewing the battle wreckage. But the result was the failure of a whole offensive, as 24 hours was more than enough time to prepare a tank killing ground at Hunts Gap, and the whole attack was badly mauled for ten days and forced to retreat to lick their wounds with only 5 tanks remaining (only one a Tiger) and very few other armoured vehices. The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion were no longer an effective fighting force, and their commander earned the nickname "Tank killer". A German Afrika Korps commander interviewed after the war said that it was on that day that the fight went out of the Afrika Korps, and two months later they and their Itallian allies surrendered - all 230,000+ of them. And 155th Battery was an untested unit scraped together from survivors who had already had to be rescued and re-equipped after being torpedoed and going for a swim in the mediterranean. on their way to North Africa.
A unit that would be really interesting to talk about is the " Devils Brigade", the First Special Service Force. A unit made up of American and Canadian troops in WWII. They are considered the forerunners of most special forces in the US and Canadian military's.
You should definitely cover Simple History's two videos on the Gurkhas, I find their history fascinating. I think the infographics show has a video too.
Sorry for not adding a lot to the subject, but i think it would be good to take a look Epic History Tv's video on the 1848 revolutions, mainly because (from what i have seen) you didn't make a video on the 1848 revolutions.
Love the video and as a previous Canadian Highlander it meant a lot to me. If you're looking for an incredible story and video, check out the Vimy Ridge video by "The Great War". It's described as the moment that made Canada a nation. I hope you enjoy your upcoming trip across the pond!
I was in the REME attached to the Black Watch 3 Scots based up in Fort George. Im actually in the book Prince/King Charles forwarded about our time in Afghanistan 2009.
One of the biggest issues I often have with the way the war was reported, was that the Canadian forces, which were formed into their own separate units, were generally only referred to as British forces, despite them being comprised of 100% Canadian troops, including their own Black Watch.
After WW1 and certainly in WW2. the British regimental system becomes even more confusing. For example there's the Royal Tank Regiment which forms and trains up "battalion" size units and then dispatch those units to form the Armoured Divisions. That's why British tank battalions are called, for example, 1st RTR because it's the first unit of the Royal Tank Regiment, even though it is a battalion serving in a completely different "Brigade" as part of a tank "division".
I come from argyle and Sutherland Highlanders catchment area but traditionally the family fought in the Gordon Highlanders. Anyway I was lucky enough to get to know a German who was captured in Africa and sent to Scotland at a prison camp where he fell in love with the locals and country and his future wife. I asked him about facingScottish units in combat and he said there was some units that would try live and let live during battles and he said anytime they heard the pipes it was a Scottish unit and there would be constant fighting and they hated them. His father was a ww1 veteran and would tell him the sound of the war pipes would come into a sector of the line they knew all peace was gone and constant fighting would occur before during and still after the battle they would still be trench raiding and fighting till they were relieved and all his friends hated the Scottish and the sound of the pipes it was interesting to hear two generations say virtually the same thing.
Because in times of old, Household Cavalry Regiment's role was ceremonial 1st, when they were required to take part in active service they formed a composite regiment called the Household Cavalry regiment, if more troops were needed they formed the 1st and 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment's, during the 1st World War, Cavalry were not needed so they were turned into machine gun Regiment's, they still had a lot of recruits so they formed an infantry regiment, The Household battalion, they were still classified as Cavalry and recieved Cavalry pay, when the regiment was disbanded, the commanding officer asked for their battle honours to be given to their parent Regiment's, The 1st Lifeguards, 2nd Lifeguards and The Royal Horse Guards. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_Battalion
Kitchener was killed when HMS Hampshire ran into a minefield laid by a U-boat, off one of the Orkney islands. He was supposed to be visiting Russia, to discuss a wat strategy with them.
My understanding was that the kilts were a nuisance in Winter weather in trench warfare, they would get soaked and then freeze as stiff as a board...just another thing to add to the misery. On unrecovered remains, you'll know that French and Belgian farmers regularly turn up remains/artifacts from WWI after ploughing their fields. Finally, on the split among the clans during the Jacobite rebellions (either for the Hanoverians (loyalists) or the Stuarts (Jacobeans)), there was also a religious aspect to this, with the Jacobean clans (usually) Catholic and the loyalist clans Protestant. It really was a civil war in some ways and also a continuation of the wars of religion in Europe given the Catholic monarch James VII and II was overthrown by and in favour of the Protestant William of Orange, and subsequently succeeded by the Hanoverians.
Ok, it's just a cartoon, but I can't help to point out a couple of ppiping related things All the pipes are wrong. The bass drone (the long one) should be the nearer to the piper's head while the tenor drones (the two short ones) are the ones on the center and the outside From the book "Black Watch - A photographic histroy" , we have evidenca of a piper playing while wearing a gas mask, but the pic dates from the 50s not from WWI era
My grandfather and his younger brother served with the 10th Btn. of the Black Watch in France and in Salonika. Their older brother was killed at Ypres in1917 while serving with the 8th Btn. Their motto says it al: no man shall provoke with impunity. All 3 brothers were Campbells. Before impugning the Campbells you should look further back in history than the Glencoe massacre and find out what nasty act earned the MacDonald clan their justice.
In conclusion, if you were a german soldier during World War I, World War II or any soldier during any war, if you see soldiers wearing kilts and blowing on a set of bagpipes, run in the opposite direction
Its ironic that what is arguably Scotlands most iconic Regt was, when it formed hated by the bulk of the Scots! They were set up after the First Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 the King commissioned General Wade to raise a "Watch" Regt to patrol Scotland and root out the rebellious Jacobytes.... the Black part of the name is debated, it may have come from the dark tartans they wore OR it may have come from the "Black Hearts" of the Pro Government militia.......
Seriously I don’t think I could continue to charge after seeing so many of my friends die during previous failed attempts.They used to make people different back in the day.
I was married in a Black Watch kilt. There was a time when the only Scot who could wear the Black Watch tartan was former or current Black Watch members or, a Munro descendant based on Robert Munro being the original commander of the Black Watch.
Also some in Scotland would never want to wear the Black Watch tartan as its the British Government official tartan, you know ,those who fought against the Jacobite Highlanders and other Scottish enemies of the British Crown. The Black wWatch were formed to patrol the Scottish Highlands to enforce British Rule. Hence the nickname, the Black Watch. So they weren't always so popular up here. Sadly every Scottish Regiment, since amalgamation, now has to wear Black Watch tartan instead of their own original tartans. Not many were pleased about that.
Ah, that early formation. Puts one in mind of the 6th verse of the National Anthem, now rarely if ever sung .... Lord grant that Marshal Wade May by thy mighty aid Victory bring May he sedition hush And like a torrent rush Rebellious Scots to crush God save the King
They did find the sources that call us teufel hunden it just doesn’t perfectly translate to devil dog but it makes us sound pretty cool however a quote I know was said, “common you sons of bitches do you want to live forever?”- Daniel Daly
I know that normally, this content creator's video doesn't fall into the norm of what's reviewed on this channel, but Internet Historian's latest video, Man in a Cave is more falls more under "Historian" than, "Internet", and is something that would fit on this channel, plus he's a popular channel, and your input would be interesting.
you may have been planning on doing this. but the channel @that is interesting made a video called "Ohio - The US Explained" its pretty cool and as a fellow Ohioian I figured you might enjoy watching it if nothing else
Chris if I were to take 150ft of dirt off the earth the entire length between the trenches today how many bodies from World War One? Excluding cemeteries of course
Hey VTH!! Loved this one, if you know anything about Floyd Collins who got stuck in a cave in Kentucky, 1925, you should react to Man in Cave by the Internet Historian
Hey Chris big fan of VTH and history! I want to talk to you ab help trying to locate my half brother. I have done my ancestry dna but I need more information on how to locate him. If I could email you someway and talk to you ab getting help I would love that from you. Btw Ik you have a video up ab finding your father but it was posted 6 months ago I don’t even know if you even look back at those comments that you get so I am writing on your most recent post. Thanks again!
8:54 Small correction, the US did fight in the Barbary Wars in North Africa in the early 19th century. To fight the Barbary states alongside Sweden and Sicily.
How do the losses of the Black Watch compare to other British battalions? The casualties seem high to me, and I wonder if the English just sent the Scottish into the meat grinder because that's what the English like to do.
Yeah, I think that the Irish and the Scottish Regiments were always used to head British assaults, while the English and the Welsh normally defended from assaults. Also yeah proportionally more Scots volunteered to join the war. Unfortunately some of the losses were amongst the highest in the British Army. Also whose the “English” your referring to?
Personally I absolutely despise guns. Way too easy to kill hundreds of people by just pulling a trigger. Preferred the days of sword fighting. But wars have huge impact and finding better ways to kill is a massive priority
Is it that hard for Simply History to double check the 'Ladies from Hell' origin story? I get it's a small th9ing but it's always a very correctable thing.
Would highly recommend you look into the 2nd Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. They have an incredible story that contains one of the most incredible last stands of the Great War. I think you’d be moved.
You asked if there were other units we’d like you to discuss, I would like you to react to and discuss the WASPS the American Woman's Auxiliary Service Pilots. The link I provided is a video of several WASP veterans talking about their time in service and later. If you decide to react to this video I strongly suggest you read a little bit about Jackie Cochran and the WASPs, so you can appreciate what the WASPs faced and offer a little incite for your viewers. I also suggest if you react to the video your wife should also be on hand to give her reaction to what these female veterans are saying. A woman’s touch, if you will. A very touching point in the video is a WASP telling how one of the other pilots had the wing of their aircraft torn off when a male pilot got too close and clipped the wing with his landing gear and the WASP spun in killing her instantly and they weren’t allowed to put a flag on her coffin because WASPs at the time were civilian contractors. They received no military benefits whatsoever. When WASP died in the line of duty the other girls had to “pass the hat” raise enough money to send her body home. It wasn’t until 1976 when they were granted military status. In ‘76 the USAF graduated 10 female cadets at the Airforce Academy and announced that for the first time women were going to fly military aircraft.. That was like kicking a wasp nest and the WASPs weren’t going to take being completely forgotten. After WWII their records were classified and sealed, and they were indeed forgotten they need to be remembered. They served because of the love of flying and the love of country, 38 WASPs give their last full measure of devotion to this country. th-cam.com/video/D0WnaxAc3MI/w-d-xo.html
They were infamous enough to get a pro-IRA song written about them, but in all honesty I don’t know enough details to say if that reputation was fair or exaggerated.
Would love to see your reaction to this video. th-cam.com/video/VLgrhOlVbTE/w-d-xo.html It covers the McGrae’s Battalion which was primarily made up of members from several Scottish sports clubs - the most well known one being Heart’s FC.
My dad was in the black watch during WW2. At his funeral 2 of his remaining mates came and told some stories of what they got up to and the laughs they had.
They described him as the bravest silly bugger they knew.
A German sergeant that my dads regiment had captured had given my dad his address in Germany also turned up. Apparently my dad had kept in touch with him the whole time. He said the black watch were feared but my dad was Very kind and respectful to him. He cried at the funeral and we all gave him a hug.
✌️♥️🇬🇧
Really happy to see a video dedicated to this, aswell as my favourite History youtuber reacting to it. My Grandfather was in the Black Watch, and was captured as a POW on around the 14th June 1944. I know he took part in D day, whether his capture was part of that i am unsure. We have the letter sent to my great grandparents from HM government telling us of his MIA still in our family home, framed in a picture frame and mounted on the wall. really proud to this day to wear the green and black tartan in remembrance of him
Ah fellow Scottish and by that I meant by blood I’m of the McClure clan
In addition to their bravery in combat, these guys really did a favor to themselves with some quality branding. "The Black Watch" is right up there with nicknames like "The Iron Brigade" or "The Irish Brigade" or "The Rock of the Marne". It just sounds cool.
Yep. I was instantly drawn to them the first time I saw the name.
My grandfather was in the Black Watch in WW2, 1st Battalion Black Watch in North Africa, they mainly recruited from Fife, Angus and Perthshire, my grandfather was from Lochgelly in Fife, Robert Gourdie Kirk
i learn more from him than school
Goated history teacher
As someone studying tudors his videos on them have helped me far more than my current teacher has
Same
Kudos for mentioning the east Lancashire’s. That was My home regiment.
I learnt only last year that my grandfather enlisted in the 1st battalion, Black watch in February 1914, before the outbreak of the war. You have told us that the battalion fought at Givenchy in December 1914, which I didn’t know. Grandad’s brother, whose name was Daibhid (David in English), was a member of the Seaforth Highlanders and was killed by a German mine exploding under his trench in Givenchy in December 1914, having been stationed in India until October that year. The two young brothers probably didn’t know they were fighting in the same battle. Grandad took his own life in 1923 , when my mother was two years old, having suffered from PTSD since returning from the war.
“The enemy got to know what it was like to fight the Highlanders” , f**king absolutely terrifying
The history of the Gurkhas in the British army is still ongoing (today there are also Gurkhas in the Indian Army) and is certainly worth telling.
Ayo Gorkhali!!
Love seeing people reacting to the Black Watch and it’s history.
A long waver of battle honours across their history and excellent branding.
And I love it that my favourite Sci-Fi universe also done them justice in having the House of Cameron’s primary protector’s be the Black Watch Regiment and they were some of the best of the best in the universe - and their decedents in both Inner Sphere and Clans have kept up their badassery
Just finished the book all quiet on the western front. Your video reacting to the trailer got me interested in this period again.
10:35 Yes, we still generally use England/English more than Britain/British when talking about the UK. Sounds perfectly like something happening back then as well. Especially considering the English dominance in the UK
Been playing bagpipes ever since I saw them in the movie “Waterloo” when I was 10, it still amazes me how I can bring entire sections of city’s to silence through the haunting calls of the pipes.
My grandfather did his national service in Blackwatch. Was part of the contingent sent to Aden during the Suez Crisis.
I actually got to shoot a Lee Enfield a couple weeks ago my friend bought a while back. His came with a bayonet and it had the royal crown stamp and although it had 1943 it still fired .303 British and it is such an amazing gun🏴🏴
Thank you for covering the watch chris, my brother was a member of the forty twa in Afgan
also theres a theory the name "black watch" was originally an insult to the members of the regiment in reference to their black hearts
Hey Chris. My grandfather was a fighter pilot in squadron 303 - one of the Polish units in the RAF during the battle of Britain. I'm pretty sure they were one of the most successful squadrons. The Polish and Czechs aren't mentioned enough during this time, it would be great if you reacted to something about them. Thanks
LOVE the story of the 303rd!
@@VloggingThroughHistory he sadly passed before I was born, but it's always said how much of a great man he was
The best content is here! This channel is my spirit animal.
Heya, speaking of the Scots, I wanted to let you know there's another youtuber that makes some historical stuff you should check out in your spare time. His name is Lazerpig and his vids are very informative with a major dose of crude humor.
Man i just want to say i love the content! Learning history has always been my favorite hobby and you always give the best information
YYEEEESSSSSSSSS I WAS HOPING YOU’D DO THIS ONE. Sorry got excited.
One of my Great-Grandfathers served in the 7th (Fife) Battalion in WW1. He fought in the battle of Cambrai and was awarded the Military Medal for rescuing a wounded officer. I never met him as he died in 1958 but I still own several of his possessions including his lucky hard tack biscuit (the so-called 'lucky piece'), his army-issue cutthroat razor, and a trench periscope whose pouch is still stained by Western Front mud.
Not exactly the Army but our Marines were everywhere from the Caribbean to Tunisia to Indonesia in the 1800’s
Re your comment about Service Battalions and the Pals Bns, the word "Service" refers to "General Service" Battalion, i.e. ones that could be deployed overseas. The Pre War Territorial Battalions were enlisted as "Home Service Only" so could not be deployed overseas automatically, it required the men to volunteer for overseas service (which the almost universally did). The term "Pals Bns" was a media invention and not official
Have a great time in Belgium man. One of my favorite countries. Can’t recommend Bruges enough.
My family is from the MacDonald Clan of Sleat. I used to work with a Campbell. I used to give him crap over the Glencoe Massacre all the time.
I would like to know a bit more of the "Chasseurs Ardennais" the Belgian Unit in WW2.
I have a photograph in my hall of my Maternal Grandfather Donald McKenzie [ 1st/9th battalion Black Watch] taken in Northern France in 1916, he looks barely out of school. In 1926 he and my Grandmother emigrated to the USA where he had secured a job with Goodyear Tyres in Akron Ohio. Curiously the job was only a means for him to play football [soccer] for Goodyear who along with other major companies attempted to establish the game in the US. The American dream didn't quite work out and they returned to Scotland in 1931 with an American born daughter namely my Mother.
Just quickly:
Regiments are the administrative unit and up until the Napoleonic wars only formed about 1 battalion.
During the war, due to necessity, many regiments formed more with one being the depot battalion.
Battalions were assigned to brigades usually without battalions from the same regiment as a regiment wasn't and still isn't a tactical unit.
In WW1 many new regiments were formed with many divisions due to the massive increase in size from about 120,000 men.
Overall VTH explained it very well
I’m descended from flaw and field one of my ancestors died in the battle of Killiecrankie
For another British Army unit well worth doing a deep dive on, consider the Brigade of Ghurkas.
Another worthy of attention would be the Royal Artillery - who possible uniquely just have one battle honour - Ubique - proudly displayed on their standard and cap badge.
For an individual action of one battery of the Royal Artillery, consider the sacrifice of E and F Troops, 155th Field Battery, Royal Artillery, who bought a valuable 24 hours by acting as a tripwire to the advancing Afrika Korps (well, only half of it, but that is a heck of an achievement) at Sidi Nsir on 26th February 1943. The 5th Bttn Hants infantry were beaten back very early, so with just some Bren guns and 8 25lb guns, 9 officers and 121 enlisted men held up 77 tanks (including 20 Tigers), a large number of other armoured Self-propelled guns, 13 motorised infantry battalions (including some in US M3 Half-tracks kindly donated to them in the early stages of Operation Torch!) with supporting elements from two more, totalling about 30,000 men, with support from a squadron of bf109s. Nine men escaped, seven of whom were wounded and five more were captured - 130 men down to 14. The final message from the unit to HQ was "Tanks are on us" "..._". They were still engaging the oncoming tanks at ranges under 10 yards.
When travelling through the pass later, Spike Milligan (also a Gunner in N.Africa during WW2) described them as fighting "to the muzzle" in his diaries, after viewing the battle wreckage.
But the result was the failure of a whole offensive, as 24 hours was more than enough time to prepare a tank killing ground at Hunts Gap, and the whole attack was badly mauled for ten days and forced to retreat to lick their wounds with only 5 tanks remaining (only one a Tiger) and very few other armoured vehices. The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion were no longer an effective fighting force, and their commander earned the nickname "Tank killer". A German Afrika Korps commander interviewed after the war said that it was on that day that the fight went out of the Afrika Korps, and two months later they and their Itallian allies surrendered - all 230,000+ of them.
And 155th Battery was an untested unit scraped together from survivors who had already had to be rescued and re-equipped after being torpedoed and going for a swim in the mediterranean. on their way to North Africa.
A unit that would be really interesting to talk about is the " Devils Brigade", the First Special Service Force. A unit made up of American and Canadian troops in WWII. They are considered the forerunners of most special forces in the US and Canadian military's.
I recomend you to react to Lazer Pig: "The Great Ocean Liner Duel of 1914" (even though its kinda long)
Love your original content btw!
My Grandad Served in The Black Watch from the early 80’s to the 90’s
Very cool commentary. Thanks!
You should definitely cover Simple History's two videos on the Gurkhas, I find their history fascinating. I think the infographics show has a video too.
Would love to see a video on the only musical instrument to be considered a weapon of war (no, not the accordion) - the bagpipes.
Sorry for not adding a lot to the subject, but i think it would be good to take a look Epic History Tv's video on the 1848 revolutions, mainly because (from what i have seen) you didn't make a video on the 1848 revolutions.
Never knew that much about the black watch, very interesting.
Well done ma man 👍Cracking reaction 🏴
Love the video and as a previous Canadian Highlander it meant a lot to me. If you're looking for an incredible story and video, check out the Vimy Ridge video by "The Great War". It's described as the moment that made Canada a nation. I hope you enjoy your upcoming trip across the pond!
I was in the REME attached to the Black Watch 3 Scots based up in Fort George.
Im actually in the book Prince/King Charles forwarded about our time in Afghanistan 2009.
Making up stuff about Germany seems to be a loved tradition around the World.
One of the biggest issues I often have with the way the war was reported, was that the Canadian forces, which were formed into their own separate units, were generally only referred to as British forces, despite them being comprised of 100% Canadian troops, including their own Black Watch.
Should definitely check out The Big Red One
After WW1 and certainly in WW2. the British regimental system becomes even more confusing. For example there's the Royal Tank Regiment which forms and trains up "battalion" size units and then dispatch those units to form the Armoured Divisions. That's why British tank battalions are called, for example, 1st RTR because it's the first unit of the Royal Tank Regiment, even though it is a battalion serving in a completely different "Brigade" as part of a tank "division".
Great video BTW can you do a video about khosrau from extra credit ❤️
I learned so much from VTH, and I'm a kid
Did you ever see the play Entitled "Black Watch" which was about the units experiences in Afghanistan ? Really good Play overall.
Another regiment to look at are the Coldstream Guards. They have a long and eventful history much like the Black Watch do.
I come from argyle and Sutherland Highlanders catchment area but traditionally the family fought in the Gordon Highlanders. Anyway I was lucky enough to get to know a German who was captured in Africa and sent to Scotland at a prison camp where he fell in love with the locals and country and his future wife. I asked him about facingScottish units in combat and he said there was some units that would try live and let live during battles and he said anytime they heard the pipes it was a Scottish unit and there would be constant fighting and they hated them. His father was a ww1 veteran and would tell him the sound of the war pipes would come into a sector of the line they knew all peace was gone and constant fighting would occur before during and still after the battle they would still be trench raiding and fighting till they were relieved and all his friends hated the Scottish and the sound of the pipes it was interesting to hear two generations say virtually the same thing.
You should react to ‘every country England has invaded’ love to see your reaction to it
Because in times of old, Household Cavalry Regiment's role was ceremonial 1st, when they were required to take part in active service they formed a composite regiment called the Household Cavalry regiment, if more troops were needed they formed the 1st and 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment's, during the 1st World War, Cavalry were not needed so they were turned into machine gun Regiment's, they still had a lot of recruits so they formed an infantry regiment, The Household battalion, they were still classified as Cavalry and recieved Cavalry pay, when the regiment was disbanded, the commanding officer asked for their battle honours to be given to their parent Regiment's, The 1st Lifeguards, 2nd Lifeguards and The Royal Horse Guards.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_Battalion
Kitchener was killed when HMS Hampshire ran into a minefield laid by a U-boat, off one of the Orkney islands. He was supposed to be visiting Russia, to discuss a wat strategy with them.
look up the parachute regiment(red devils), you won’t be disappointed.
My understanding was that the kilts were a nuisance in Winter weather in trench warfare, they would get soaked and then freeze as stiff as a board...just another thing to add to the misery.
On unrecovered remains, you'll know that French and Belgian farmers regularly turn up remains/artifacts from WWI after ploughing their fields.
Finally, on the split among the clans during the Jacobite rebellions (either for the Hanoverians (loyalists) or the Stuarts (Jacobeans)), there was also a religious aspect to this, with the Jacobean clans (usually) Catholic and the loyalist clans Protestant. It really was a civil war in some ways and also a continuation of the wars of religion in Europe given the Catholic monarch James VII and II was overthrown by and in favour of the Protestant William of Orange, and subsequently succeeded by the Hanoverians.
I have a video suggestion from the channel Potential History called Why Japan Surrendered.
Operations room has a new video out and it might be there best one yet: Iwo Jima. You should react to it!!
Ok, it's just a cartoon, but I can't help to point out a couple of ppiping related things
All the pipes are wrong. The bass drone (the long one) should be the nearer to the piper's head while the tenor drones (the two short ones) are the ones on the center and the outside
From the book "Black Watch - A photographic histroy" , we have evidenca of a piper playing while wearing a gas mask, but the pic dates from the 50s not from WWI era
My grandfather and his younger brother served with the 10th Btn. of the Black Watch in France and in Salonika. Their older brother was killed at Ypres in1917 while serving with the 8th Btn. Their motto says it al: no man shall provoke with impunity. All 3 brothers were Campbells. Before impugning the Campbells you should look further back in history than the Glencoe massacre and find out what nasty act earned the MacDonald clan their justice.
The Operations Room has just announced 2 new series with the first episode of the iwo jima one today. Would be awesome if you reacted to the series’.
In conclusion, if you were a german soldier during World War I, World War II or any soldier during any war, if you see soldiers wearing kilts and blowing on a set of bagpipes, run in the opposite direction
Wise advice.
Its ironic that what is arguably Scotlands most iconic Regt was, when it formed hated by the bulk of the Scots! They were set up after the First Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 the King commissioned General Wade to raise a "Watch" Regt to patrol Scotland and root out the rebellious Jacobytes.... the Black part of the name is debated, it may have come from the dark tartans they wore OR it may have come from the "Black Hearts" of the Pro Government militia.......
Never heard "Ladies from hell" but I did hear "devils in skirts" more than once in school (Scottish btw)
Seriously I don’t think I could continue to charge after seeing so many of my friends die during previous failed attempts.They used to make people different back in the day.
Hi, From one of your comments on this, have you done a reaction to "Every Country England Has Invaded: Visualized"? Worth a look if you haven't..
Operations room just released a new video on D-Day at Iwo Jima. Worth a look!
I was married in a Black Watch kilt. There was a time when the only Scot who could wear the Black Watch tartan was former or current Black Watch members or, a Munro descendant based on Robert Munro being the original commander of the Black Watch.
Also some in Scotland would never want to wear the Black Watch tartan as its the British Government official tartan, you know ,those who fought against the Jacobite Highlanders and other Scottish enemies of the British Crown. The Black wWatch were formed to patrol the Scottish Highlands to enforce British Rule. Hence the nickname, the Black Watch. So they weren't always so popular up here. Sadly every Scottish Regiment, since amalgamation, now has to wear Black Watch tartan instead of their own original tartans. Not many were pleased about that.
Ah, that early formation. Puts one in mind of the 6th verse of the National Anthem, now rarely if ever sung ....
Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring
May he sedition hush
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush
God save the King
I just watched the reaction to History of the Entire World, I guess by Bill Wurtz and I think you should do a video on his History of Japan video.
They did find the sources that call us teufel hunden it just doesn’t perfectly translate to devil dog but it makes us sound pretty cool however a quote I know was said, “common you sons of bitches do you want to live forever?”- Daniel Daly
Yep though Daly remembered the quote a little differently. He claimed he said "For Christ's sake men-come on! Do you want to live forever?""
@@VloggingThroughHistory I guess the vulgarity got us a little more excited in bootcamp 😂
@@GM79868 oh it definitely sounds cooler that way so I understand why thats the one they went with
@@VloggingThroughHistory I like your videos I’d be interested to see you react to some marine history we’ve done some badass stuff like the hymn says
History though art:
Vincent van Gough 🥲
I know that normally, this content creator's video doesn't fall into the norm of what's reviewed on this channel, but Internet Historian's latest video, Man in a Cave is more falls more under "Historian" than, "Internet", and is something that would fit on this channel, plus he's a popular channel, and your input would be interesting.
you may have been planning on doing this. but the channel @that is interesting
made a video called "Ohio - The US Explained" its pretty cool and as a fellow Ohioian I figured you might enjoy watching it if nothing else
Chris if I were to take 150ft of dirt off the earth the entire length between the trenches today how many bodies from World War One? Excluding cemeteries of course
Just in the Verdun area alone there are probably 100,000 that haven’t been recovered.
i would love to get my hand on a six gun like they use in a western movie
Britain has fought all the countries in the world bar 22. More than 90% of them.
One day, you should react to Internet Historian’s videos.
Hey VTH!! Loved this one, if you know anything about Floyd Collins who got stuck in a cave in Kentucky, 1925, you should react to Man in Cave by the Internet Historian
Hey Chris big fan of VTH and history! I want to talk to you ab help trying to locate my half brother. I have done my ancestry dna but I need more information on how to locate him. If I could email you someway and talk to you ab getting help I would love that from you. Btw Ik you have a video up ab finding your father but it was posted 6 months ago I don’t even know if you even look back at those comments that you get so I am writing on your most recent post. Thanks again!
please react to "The man who killed millions and save billions" from Vertasium
8:54 Small correction, the US did fight in the Barbary Wars in North Africa in the early 19th century. To fight the Barbary states alongside Sweden and Sicily.
Yeah that wasn’t really the US Army though.
Any plans for a Christopher Columbus video?
How do the losses of the Black Watch compare to other British battalions?
The casualties seem high to me, and I wonder if the English just sent the Scottish into the meat grinder because that's what the English like to do.
Scotland has always been the tip of the British spear, so to speak
Yeah, I think that the Irish and the Scottish Regiments were always used to head British assaults, while the English and the Welsh normally defended from assaults. Also yeah proportionally more Scots volunteered to join the war. Unfortunately some of the losses were amongst the highest in the British Army. Also whose the “English” your referring to?
Vary fascinating
Can you puppet history it’s a adult history game show with puppets.
Nah just bring him on as a guest. That'd be great to have a civil war historian giving serious answers and Shane and Ryan fucking around
I think that will be fun.
Personally I absolutely despise guns. Way too easy to kill hundreds of people by just pulling a trigger. Preferred the days of sword fighting. But wars have huge impact and finding better ways to kill is a massive priority
Is it that hard for Simply History to double check the 'Ladies from Hell' origin story? I get it's a small th9ing but it's always a very correctable thing.
Would highly recommend you look into the 2nd Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. They have an incredible story that contains one of the most incredible last stands of the Great War. I think you’d be moved.
new vth video plzzzz
You asked if there were other units we’d like you to discuss, I would like you to react to and discuss the WASPS the American Woman's Auxiliary Service Pilots. The link I provided is a video of several WASP veterans talking about their time in service and later. If you decide to react to this video I strongly suggest you read a little bit about Jackie Cochran and the WASPs, so you can appreciate what the WASPs faced and offer a little incite for your viewers.
I also suggest if you react to the video your wife should also be on hand to give her reaction to what these female veterans are saying. A woman’s touch, if you will. A very touching point in the video is a WASP telling how one of the other pilots had the wing of their aircraft torn off when a male pilot got too close and clipped the wing with his landing gear and the WASP spun in killing her instantly and they weren’t allowed to put a flag on her coffin because WASPs at the time were civilian contractors. They received no military benefits whatsoever. When WASP died in the line of duty the other girls had to “pass the hat” raise enough money to send her body home.
It wasn’t until 1976 when they were granted military status. In ‘76 the USAF graduated 10 female cadets at the Airforce Academy and announced that for the first time women were going to fly military aircraft.. That was like kicking a wasp nest and the WASPs weren’t going to take being completely forgotten. After WWII their records were classified and sealed, and they were indeed forgotten they need to be remembered. They served because of the love of flying and the love of country, 38 WASPs give their last full measure of devotion to this country.
th-cam.com/video/D0WnaxAc3MI/w-d-xo.html
is that scotland the brave i hear in the background
Wasn't there a Black Watch unit in Glasgow?? I've heard they were a bit abusive to the Irish community there
They were infamous enough to get a pro-IRA song written about them, but in all honesty I don’t know enough details to say if that reputation was fair or exaggerated.
Would love to see your reaction to this video.
th-cam.com/video/VLgrhOlVbTE/w-d-xo.html
It covers the McGrae’s Battalion which was primarily made up of members from several Scottish sports clubs - the most well known one being Heart’s FC.
Not so fun fact of all the UK countries scotland by populace lost the most soilders in ww1
these guys went to war with bagpipes? you can stop right there, nothing more needs be said
Please watch Internet Historians new vid
I don't like Simple History much. They usually don't fact check and propagate myths sometimes.
First!
The Scottish version of the Black and Tans.
Explain?