I’m dutch, but I have never heard of him. I do know, however, that the Canadians were majorly important for the Dutch liberation. In history class I learned that the Americans didn’t care much for an unimportant country like ours, so the Canadians liberated us(for the most part). Thanks Canadians :)
He was for real! However, his story became known to the public here in Quebec, Canada, only in the 1990s or 2000s; a journalist asked Léo Major why he did not talk about his great war experiences before, he answered, "Because no one would believe me"!
@@marie-heleneleclerc3181 really!? I learned about leo major in an Ontario public school in the early 90's. I find it odd that I seem to be in the minority.
usually putting yourself in so much danger, it was beyond suicidal with next to no chance of succeeding, but performing an action which could ultimately save the lives of many and securing strategic important objective(s)
@@Number1Irishlad No Victoria Cross is the equivalent of the Medal of Honor. Purple Heart is for getting wounded or killed in battle, no matter the reason, or the battle. You could get randomly shot and incapacitated, later get the Purple Heart. Victoria Cross is awarded for "... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy". About the exact thing as Medal of Honor. ie. Doing something without thinking of yourself and going above the call of duty. Saving the day.. Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded for "Gallantry in the field" ie. showing ingenuity and staying cool and prevailing when all odds against you. Leo Deserved the Victoria Cross for the Zwolle Scouting mission. But he most likely was snubbed for his French Canadian patriotism. Go look at his wiki page, it's extremely more impressing. He has a full book of memory I think out there.
Did you know, during the Invasion of Normandy, Canadians took the 2nd most strongly defended beach, Juno Beach, and pushed the furthest inland of all the allies, and only stopped for fear of being outflanked. We turn into right savages when we get riled up. And I take an inordinate amount of pride in knowing my grandfather was a part of that.
@@davidedwards3838 out of 99. Léo Major deserved at least one when you take into consideration that one was awarded to a man playing bagpipes under fire and another one captured a machine gun emplacement. He achieved far more than would be required.
Wrong Mr. Terry, it was actually Montgomery who had massive ego issues, to much to detail here, but he was a snake. I can understand that Leo didnt want the medal from him.
Perhaps he was BUT that leads to one question in my mind...Who trained him to fight like that?! "The Boss", maybe? Who was, "The Boss"? Did he have to take out, "The Boss"? Is it plausible that Metal Gear may be a more historical reference than fiction? Hideo Kojima is a tricksy fella, after all. Could he have done the research but altered the national alignment of the protagonist's home military for marketing purposes? After all, Canada is very anti-war in almost all forms of propaganda and soldiers of Major's caliber definitely could have made use of an, "Outer Heaven", to apply their trade. Was he cloned? Or is there no "Solid/Liquid Snake" Or would that intel be above the pay-grade of us plebs?
@@ShaneWalta Yes at that time the German army was in retreat but in the Netherlands the Germans were trapped. Trapped animal that can't escape can be very dangerous.
You have to understand one thing about the canadian army in WW2. French canadian were seen as... lesser soldiers by the army. At this time le régiment de la Chaudière was the only french canadian battalion on D-Day (the canadian army at this time had 4 french canadian battalions. That explain why Léo refused to hand hover the half-track he had captured. He didnt want an english canadian battalion the get the honors for the capture, since it was a french canadian battalion that had captured it.
He did go off on his own without orders. There is an archive in Ottawa of recordings of Canadian soldiers telling war stories in their own words. Leo expressed great disgust about how the Americans had abandoned their position in Korea. He also describes how he took Zwolle. His children had no idea of what he had done during the war until they received an invitation to go back to Zwolle by the mayor of that city. The occasion was the renaming of one of the main boulevards of the city after Leo. The people of Zwolle did not and do not forget who Leo Major was.
At the end of the video where youre paused and talking about him the street sign says in Dutch: Leo Major street Canadian solitary (lone) liberator of Zwolle 1921 - 2008 The town had a population of about 50,000 at the time of its liberation.
Some people are just born to fight, I suppose. You get these types of people every so often throughout history like Lauri Torni (totally not a hint that you should watch Simple History's video on him).
6:38 - one thing to note about Leo is that he had claimed the fascists were really, really good at doing what they're told. Which is why he thought, correctly mind you, that this would work.
Ego issue... the guy never talked much about his time in he war, never asked for film and biography and lived quietly in quebec for the rest of his life. Ego is not the first word that come to mind
Grandpa Simpson: "He was wearing sneakers. For sneaking!" Seriously, though, don't ever underestimate our Canadian military. We may not have the largest of armed forces, but when push comes to shove, our brave men and women will not hesitate to kick ass and take names. And prisoners. And whole towns. Single-handedly.
Actually zombies were a term for french canadian soliders who were unwilling to fight their was a conscription crisis among french canadiens and alot of them hated the idea if being a solider ergo the name zombies
Kind of. Zombies were French Canadians conscripted for defence of Canada. There was no conscription for overseas service in WWII due to the issues of WW1. To get around it, there was conscription but only for service in defence of Canada. That being said, by the end end of the war, about 2500 conscripts did end up going overseas, but only having volunteered to go after having already been conscripted, largely in order to ensure overseas conscription didn’t become necessary.
Not specifically French Canadians. The term was applied equally no matter what background. It only meant someone who was conscripted rather than a volunteer. In general, those who were eventually sent to Europe fought as bravely as those who volunteered.
now this guy is one of the REAL BA's (unlike those guys in school who think they are) Then there is the medic who fought a war without firing a single shot and a number of other people who did crazy stunts that wound up earning a LOT of respect.
German phosphorous grenades during WW2 were very rudimentary but from what I’ve heard they were pretty effective. Basically just glass vials filled with titanium tetrachloride and a basic fuse. Mainly used to storm pillboxes and vehicles but I guess taking one to the eye was certainly not pleasant.
My grandpa told me a story before he passed away about when he was a MP stationed in Vancouver during the Korean War. Would go on about how American troops coming back landing in China town thought they never left Korea and would start trouble with civilians. When he was out collecting troops not allowed on leave, he came across two Americans harassing a lady in an alley. Knocked out one and dragged the other back to the Jeep, haha.
I tried to tell a friend about this vid and all he said is "nobody cares if it wasnt recorded it likely never happened", i was livid at his disrespect for history and this honorable man
For hill 355 18 men were on the hill and about 60-80were in the mantle all French canadians from the 22. The whole story of this battle is far more impressive since Leo retook hill 355 with 18 guys while the usa were 10k and retreated. The battle had 14k Chinese with a 1800 casualties while less than hundred members of the 22 and their support held it with 18 casualties
You said the resistance in occupied countries was often ineffective. But I heard the resistance in Yugoslavia was so effective the Axis had to commit 100,000 troops to keep it under control.
In Yugoslavia they were fighting full-blown partisan guerrillas; when people refer to a resistance they usually mean more of an underground effort like what you see in France.
Phosphorus is wicked stuff. It comes in many different colors: White, Red, Violet, and Black. White Phosphorus is extreme dangerous. The moment it comes into contact. It self-ignites. Burning so hot. It can cut right through an inch of steel plating (maybe a bit thicker.) Red is not as volatile but if stored improperly. It could ignite at just 86°F (30°C). Violet is also known as "Hittorf's phosphorus". Uh...without a good few hours of research I could explain more but can't sadly. Black is the least volatile out of the Phosphoruses. It structure is similar to graphite.
Thing is The Victoria Cross is awarded to any Non-Officer who went above and beyond duty in the line of duty. While the Metal of Honor can he awarded to anyone in the same degree.
@@Qardo well, the medal of honor is specific to the military in the US. The main difference between the two of those is that the MOH can be awarded to an officer, but they have to be an enlisted officer. The US medal of honor is (falsely) thought to be awarded most often posthumously. I do like that medal of honor recipients are given more than just the medal. Look up all the priveleges awarded to them, it includes free air fare for life, Even international.
@@Qardo wrong on that count. it can be won by officers too. look up the Lord Strathcona's Horse Regiment. they have 3 such medals awarded to members, and two of them were officers. A Lt Flowerdew for acts of gallantry during the battle of Moreuil Wood and Lt Harvey for charging a machinegun nest single handedly to save his men. Plus there's the canadian flying Ace in the great war: Billy Bishop.
French Canadians don't usually use the "eh". He was probably saying something like that " Y fait frette, chu mouillé, vous allez toute crever ma gang de tabarnak!" :)
Phosphorous is nasty stuff. It auto-ignites and burns with a very bright flame (almost close to a welding arch bright, so yes, being near that can cause serious eye trouble). Not sure if he was burned himself as phosphorous flames are near impossible to douse.
I had at least 5 history teachers throughout my time in school some years ago. I love history and I do remember some things they said now years later and some of the facts are wrong. I wish I could have had a dedicated teacher like Mr. Terry. He's probably better than all my history teachers combined :)
the fact that on the hills they were 18 against what has been approximatively count to be between 10k to 13k chinese and manage to hold the hills for 3 days is insane its literally insane
Have you done any videos on Mad Jack Churchill? There’s several of them, and he’s like awesome. The WW2 guy that fought with a claymore and a bow and arrow.
What is not in the story is that no one knew what he did during the war until a delegation of Dutch people went looking for him. Like the Ottawa Lynx hat.
My great grandfather fought in Korea I’m Canadian btw and he got lost in a jungle they found him in a Japanese bar drinking scotch he literally made it from Korea to Japan
Leo even has a street named in his honor in Zwolle; Leo Majorlaan (Leo Major Lane): Canadese eerste bevrijder van Zwolle (Canadian first liberator of Zwolle).
8:10 Actually, there's missing information: not long before, Montgomery made a catastrophic military decision killing 1000+ allied soldiers uselessly, which is why Leo judiciously perceived him as "incompetent" (many of his fellows died along British troops). It's also well known that it's rather Montgomery who had huge ego issues. In fact, if L.Major had such "ego issues", he would have accepted the medal whoever was handing it to him... On the opposite, those who knew him well said that he was quite humble and didn't like to brag about his feats, refused to talk to journalists etc. (which is one of the reasons the Canadian public didn't know about him up until recently)... But hey, you're reacting to a clip that doesn't tell the whole story in details so that's ok ;) 8:40 he actually went "awol" as he fled the hospital that wanted to send him back home, onto a jeep passing by up to a family in Holland that he met sooner, and stayed there during a month (28 days) to recover before going back to his regiment. Instead of being treated as a deserter, the commanding officer was glad that he was back for the battle to come..
Consider how many movies this reminds you of, delta force, rambo, inglorious bastards, john wick and on and on, is it possible that he's a character reference for some of them? Keanu Reeves being Canadian for sure has heard of Leo, I've been watching war docs about Leo for years, met him as a kid at a remembrance day ceremony, he even as a senior had a presence
Some time in the 90's I believe, a Dutch film crew show up at his house to interview hi,. They knocked on the door and Leo's wife answered. They asked for Leo and said they wanted to interview him. The wife asked Leo. "what's going on?". Supposedly Leo replied that she have never wanted to hear about his military service so he never told her. The other is that he thought no-one in his family would believe him and think he was crazy. So he said nothing.
As someone who has to wear boots in the field. You cannot hide the sound of a man in boots! Sneakers(trainers) irregular but sensible for this man to wear haha. Especially then since the grip on boots was hobnails, steel nails to give grip to boots, very loud on anything other than grass
Leo represents the 2% of people willing to kill. 1% kill because of psychopathy the other 1% do it out of love and brotherhood. I suspect when Willy died Leo realized others would die. He chose to put his own life on the line instead of the lives of others. I can completely understand a person who thinks they can risk their own life, but they cannot risk someone else's life.
The dude apparently ran on videogame logic before videogames were a thing. Also, White Phosphorous on the face sounds like an unfun time. Probably channeled that into pure berserker rage.
Feel like mr terry doesn’t know many French Canadians. They are crazy and completely unpredictable but god they are just built different. If you need anything done they are most definitely the people to call.
It took hundreds of personel, along with Alan Turing and his computers, thousands of hours of work to decode the first enigma messages. It took one Swedish guy a few pencils, a few papers and 2 weeks to crack both the Enigma and the German T52 (the main, German, message encryptor) and the Polish had cracked the Enigma long before the war broke out. Why do the Brits get all the credit?
We don't play games in Canada. I enlisted years ago in the Service Batallion as a vehicle tech....I was trained in more ways to kill someone than I ever was in how to fix a truck.
I read a funny story about him. About 50 years after the war he visited the town with his wife. She was surprised by all the attention he was given, it turned out he had never told her much about what he had done. One other point, it is true that in ww2 there was strong French Canadian opposition to the war and conscription. But 57% of Quebecois did volunteer, to put that into perspective only 38% of Americans volunteered for the war.
_Fantom Phoxy_ we are generally but with three exceptions. Hockey games (it’s a brutal sport), someone spills our syrup (that shit is expensive even here) and in war.
To be fair Monty failed repeatedly, for example operation Market Garden; and is said to have taken great great pleasure in ordering the bombing and shelling of French towns occupied by the Germans.
Maybe you could watch 'citation needed: jack Churchill' (by technical difficulties). The story is amazing (ww2) but the series is not something for this channel, only this episode
Beavers are RELENTLESS and NEVER give up. Take down their dam, they rebuild. You could do it a hundred times and they will just keep rebuilding. And it was ego in war; once home he never told anyone. It wasn't until a reporter knocked on the family home decades later to talk to him that his family found out about all that he had done.
Now just to keep this Canadian Train rolling .lol You should check out the video the Great War did on Francis Pegahmagabow the man was up against a wall from birth and kicked ass across Europe.
Put it this way - the vast majority of Victoria Crosses are awarded posthumously. You don't have to die to get one, but you probably will. Much harder to get than a CMoH.
What do you need to do to earn the Victoria cross? Um generally die, Traditional they are said to be made from Iron from Cannon used againsr the famous charge of the light brigade
I’m dutch, but I have never heard of him. I do know, however, that the Canadians were majorly important for the Dutch liberation. In history class I learned that the Americans didn’t care much for an unimportant country like ours, so the Canadians liberated us(for the most part).
Thanks Canadians :)
Thank you for the Tulips every year! :D
I'm from Zwolle, so I knew Leo Major's name. However, even here (where there's a street named after him!) People don't know who he is or what he did
@@thijmenhasselt3305 my father is from Zwolle so i pretty much grew up with the story.
As a Dutch American I am now sad
🇨🇦♥️🇳🇱
Had to fact check that this guy was for real.
He was.
John Wick existed and he was Canadian.
Hahaha Keanu is Canadian
@@zacharymccullough4625 that explains a lot hahahaha, Keanu is amazing
You misspelled 'Big Boss'
He was for real! However, his story became known to the public here in Quebec, Canada, only in the 1990s or 2000s; a journalist asked Léo Major why he did not talk about his great war experiences before, he answered, "Because no one would believe me"!
@@marie-heleneleclerc3181 really!? I learned about leo major in an Ontario public school in the early 90's. I find it odd that I seem to be in the minority.
Canadians in peace time:
"The Hills are alive with the sound of music"
Canadians in war time:
"The Hills are alive... Let's bomb them!"
War Time: "The Hills are alive with the sound of gunshots!"
Canadians in war time: "Kill!"
thats literally it
No its more the hills are alive with the sound of screaming!
@@serteshsardrakal2272 "the hills are alive... for now"
@@johnr797 Perfect.
"this guy has ego issues doesn't he" no he's just French Canadian.
Uh. No, Montgomery was an idiot. He had more failures than successes.
@@Qardo indeed. After all, he orchestrated operation Market Garden
@BlackCatter 15 true, but he did plan the whole thing, not realising that it was literally one bridge too far.
Alot of Canadians hated Monty.
@@willemthijssen5497 Great film
This is like every "stealth" mission in video games. Sneak around for a little, get board, win the war single handedly
Is actually just as living assassins creed game
7:30 Victoria Cross is usually for self sacrifice and is often awarded post mortem
usually putting yourself in so much danger, it was beyond suicidal with next to no chance of succeeding, but performing an action which could ultimately save the lives of many and securing strategic important objective(s)
@@AV-yj5yl yeah they are equal but the Victoria cross is practically only if you die. The medal of honor is rewarded dead or alive
@@AV-yj5yl victoria cross is simar to the purple heart, the distinguished conduct is similar to the medal or honour
no i hear he was offered the cross.. but being a french canadian from montreal he refused it.
@@Number1Irishlad No Victoria Cross is the equivalent of the Medal of Honor.
Purple Heart is for getting wounded or killed in battle, no matter the reason, or the battle. You could get randomly shot and incapacitated, later get the Purple Heart.
Victoria Cross is awarded for "... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy". About the exact thing as Medal of Honor. ie. Doing something without thinking of yourself and going above the call of duty. Saving the day..
Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded for "Gallantry in the field" ie. showing ingenuity and staying cool and prevailing when all odds against you.
Leo Deserved the Victoria Cross for the Zwolle Scouting mission. But he most likely was snubbed for his French Canadian patriotism. Go look at his wiki page, it's extremely more impressing. He has a full book of memory I think out there.
Did you know, during the Invasion of Normandy, Canadians took the 2nd most strongly defended beach, Juno Beach, and pushed the furthest inland of all the allies, and only stopped for fear of being outflanked. We turn into right savages when we get riled up. And I take an inordinate amount of pride in knowing my grandfather was a part of that.
My Grandfather was on the Canadian Beach, Juno, on D-day. I am so proud of his incredible bravery and heroism!
There's a reason why Canada is one of the few countries to have never lost a war.
This man was achievement hunting irl
golden comment right here
No not really. He was trying to make is dad proud. Literally the reason he went to war.
Never got a Victoria Cross. French Canadians would have needed to single-handely won the war to get one.
@@CharlieBravoTango and to prove my point 3 French Canadians recieved the Victorian cross.
@@davidedwards3838 out of 99. Léo Major deserved at least one when you take into consideration that one was awarded to a man playing bagpipes under fire and another one captured a machine gun emplacement. He achieved far more than would be required.
Surprised that he was a scout, it would be difficult to sneak around with the massive set of brass clackers he was equipped with.
he picked those up from people he killed
don’t worry he had sneakers.
Wrong Mr. Terry, it was actually Montgomery who had massive ego issues, to much to detail here, but he was a snake. I can understand that Leo didnt want the medal from him.
"One-eyed scout who Liberated a Whole Town by Himself"
man was the real life BIG BOSS
That is too perfect
It would only be perfect if he created "outer heaven".
what a thrill
They've both still got one good eye, and can still fire a gun.
Perhaps he was BUT that leads to one question in my mind...Who trained him to fight like that?! "The Boss", maybe?
Who was, "The Boss"? Did he have to take out, "The Boss"? Is it plausible that Metal Gear may be a more historical reference than fiction? Hideo Kojima is a tricksy fella, after all. Could he have done the research but altered the national alignment of the protagonist's home military for marketing purposes? After all, Canada is very anti-war in almost all forms of propaganda and soldiers of Major's caliber definitely could have made use of an, "Outer Heaven", to apply their trade.
Was he cloned?
Or is there no "Solid/Liquid Snake"
Or would that intel be above the pay-grade of us plebs?
the 93 people could've overrun him, but no one person wanted to be the one who gets shot and killed, so they didn't resist
They were also probably grateful for the opportunity to get out of the war alive.
Shane Walta yep.
@@ShaneWalta Yes at that time the German army was in retreat but in the Netherlands the Germans were trapped. Trapped animal that can't escape can be very dangerous.
Canadians were also considered the "optimal surrender" nation as they were often well fed and treated humanely upon capture.
@@matthewy2j classic Canada
You have to understand one thing about the canadian army in WW2. French canadian were seen as... lesser soldiers by the army. At this time le régiment de la Chaudière was the only french canadian battalion on D-Day (the canadian army at this time had 4 french canadian battalions. That explain why Léo refused to hand hover the half-track he had captured. He didnt want an english canadian battalion the get the honors for the capture, since it was a french canadian battalion that had captured it.
Sadly when things go well it's only "Canadian history" ;(
@@Darkdragon5544 Just like it is when they are from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, The Atlantic provinces, the Territories....
merci
Non-sense. The argument was always about conscription. Never about quality.
My dad fought alongside the 22nd in Sicily and Italy. He did NOT regard them as lesser soldiers.
He is a real hero back home! Léo Major est une légende! Repose en paix ✌🏽
dommage qui ns en parle meme pas dans les cour dhistoire au quebec..
Vive Quebec Libre!
"maybe they make less noise" that is why they're called sneakers in the first place
He did go off on his own without orders. There is an archive in Ottawa of recordings of Canadian soldiers telling war stories in their own words. Leo expressed great disgust about how the Americans had abandoned their position in Korea. He also describes how he took Zwolle. His children had no idea of what he had done during the war until they received an invitation to go back to Zwolle by the mayor of that city. The occasion was the renaming of one of the main boulevards of the city after Leo. The people of Zwolle did not and do not forget who Leo Major was.
Are we sure this guy's name wasn't B.J. Blazkowicz?
or any COD protagonist?
Daniels from cod ww2
or Snake from Metal Gear?
Nope, but Leo Major is quite the protagonist name.
CrazyFrog5452 haha
If he had run into mad Jack Churchill the war would have been over in 2 days
A army of two!!! 12hrs and the war was over!!!
Things you don't want to here during a war:
"We've ran out of ammo."
"Tanks are moving in."
"The Canadians are attacking."
“Leo the one-eyed scout is here”
The bludgeoning has arrived
"Mad Jack drew his sword"
100th like
I believe there was a German general that said nothing struck more fear into the soldiers than knowing they were facing Canadians
Sabaton needs to make a song about this man.
Agreed, yo, they'd love this guy.
On their webiste, you can suggest song topic. I suggested Léo Major.
@@jeromelevesque3721 so did i, now, to wait until the end of 2021
Would love to hear the song! He deserves one!
hope its gonna be an heavy metal song this time lol
Damn, I didn't realize Rambo was "based on a true story", lol
Rambo was based on Audie Murphy the US most decorated ww2 soilder
I can confirm as a Canadian, we can get pretty crazy when it comes to helping others. God I love this country.
That dude was one "ANGRY BEAVER"...
Okay, I see myself out.
I litterally suggested this video like 8 hours ago, really good timing.
Coming from the comment that was posted 7 hours ago lol
GOOD BOI VERY GOOD BOI 👌👌
He didn't have the cross medal because he was a Quebecker and not an Anglo-Saxon...
At the end of the video where youre paused and talking about him the street sign says in Dutch:
Leo Major street
Canadian solitary (lone) liberator of Zwolle
1921 - 2008
The town had a population of about 50,000 at the time of its liberation.
Seriously, how is there not a movie about this guy?
Who would believe it?! Haha
He wasNOT an American!
Some people are just born to fight, I suppose. You get these types of people every so often throughout history like Lauri Torni (totally not a hint that you should watch Simple History's video on him).
Soldier of three armies knows the game
Or that one baddas that held that bridge in britian (i forgot the specific details, but i remember a very general idea of what happened 😅😂)
Whoa I was just searching the channel to see if he reacted to this simple history video yesterday. Good timing.
6:38 - one thing to note about Leo is that he had claimed the fascists were really, really good at doing what they're told.
Which is why he thought, correctly mind you, that this would work.
Ego issue... the guy never talked much about his time in he war, never asked for film and biography and lived quietly in quebec for the rest of his life. Ego is not the first word that come to mind
I'm late but i think he was talking about Montgomery
Yes finaly Léo Major!!! He represent the Canadian war meme.
Grandpa Simpson: "He was wearing sneakers. For sneaking!"
Seriously, though, don't ever underestimate our Canadian military. We may not have the largest of armed forces, but when push comes to shove, our brave men and women will not hesitate to kick ass and take names.
And prisoners.
And whole towns.
Single-handedly.
We may not have the best gear but a rifle can’t win a war, wars are won by soldiers and we have some of the best.
"we"...? lol
this one particular hero is insane indeed, and a canadian, but maybe not "we"
just this one particular hero
Don’t under estimate the British military have you heard of the Falkland war
Swagalishers I’m American but have you heard of the war of 1812
アップルパイ I can tell you are not canandian or American
Actually zombies were a term for french canadian soliders who were unwilling to fight their was a conscription crisis among french canadiens and alot of them hated the idea if being a solider ergo the name zombies
Thats what the guy said
Kind of. Zombies were French Canadians conscripted for defence of Canada. There was no conscription for overseas service in WWII due to the issues of WW1. To get around it, there was conscription but only for service in defence of Canada. That being said, by the end end of the war, about 2500 conscripts did end up going overseas, but only having volunteered to go after having already been conscripted, largely in order to ensure overseas conscription didn’t become necessary.
Not specifically French Canadians. The term was applied equally no matter what background. It only meant someone who was conscripted rather than a volunteer. In general, those who were eventually sent to Europe fought as bravely as those who volunteered.
now this guy is one of the REAL BA's (unlike those guys in school who think they are)
Then there is the medic who fought a war without firing a single shot
and a number of other people who did crazy stunts that wound up earning a LOT of respect.
He was the embodiment of the expression Angry French Canadian
German phosphorous grenades during WW2 were very rudimentary but from what I’ve heard they were pretty effective. Basically just glass vials filled with titanium tetrachloride and a basic fuse. Mainly used to storm pillboxes and vehicles but I guess taking one to the eye was certainly not pleasant.
Leo Major be like : "Being outnumbered? I can't be outnumbered, I don't even know what that means"
My grandpa told me a story before he passed away about when he was a MP stationed in Vancouver during the Korean War. Would go on about how American troops coming back landing in China town thought they never left Korea and would start trouble with civilians. When he was out collecting troops not allowed on leave, he came across two Americans harassing a lady in an alley. Knocked out one and dragged the other back to the Jeep, haha.
Canadians in peace times: We're sorry
Canadians in war times: You're sorry
"It's not about dying for your country, it's about making the other guy die for his." - My grandfather, a DDay vet.
what really sad is that in school i was told more about German officers then my own countries war hero's
"pulling a Solid Snake" Had to laugh at that because of the comments in the original video with people bring him up.
I tried to tell a friend about this vid and all he said is "nobody cares if it wasnt recorded it likely never happened", i was livid at his disrespect for history and this honorable man
For hill 355 18 men were on the hill and about 60-80were in the mantle all French canadians from the 22. The whole story of this battle is far more impressive since Leo retook hill 355 with 18 guys while the usa were 10k and retreated. The battle had 14k Chinese with a 1800 casualties while less than hundred members of the 22 and their support held it with 18 casualties
You said the resistance in occupied countries was often ineffective. But I heard the resistance in Yugoslavia was so effective the Axis had to commit 100,000 troops to keep it under control.
In Yugoslavia they were fighting full-blown partisan guerrillas; when people refer to a resistance they usually mean more of an underground effort like what you see in France.
Also just by sheer geography, ex Yugoslavia is like a perfect guerilla terrain.
Phosphorus is wicked stuff. It comes in many different colors: White, Red, Violet, and Black.
White Phosphorus is extreme dangerous. The moment it comes into contact. It self-ignites. Burning so hot. It can cut right through an inch of steel plating (maybe a bit thicker.)
Red is not as volatile but if stored improperly. It could ignite at just 86°F (30°C).
Violet is also known as "Hittorf's phosphorus". Uh...without a good few hours of research I could explain more but can't sadly.
Black is the least volatile out of the Phosphoruses. It structure is similar to graphite.
the only real rule if you speak to someone from the 22th regiement ... Do not mock the beaver... never.
This dude's life makes the GTA video game gameplay look like Mario Kart
The Victoria cross is the equivalent to the medal of honor
Thing is The Victoria Cross is awarded to any Non-Officer who went above and beyond duty in the line of duty.
While the Metal of Honor can he awarded to anyone in the same degree.
@@Qardo well, the medal of honor is specific to the military in the US. The main difference between the two of those is that the MOH can be awarded to an officer, but they have to be an enlisted officer. The US medal of honor is (falsely) thought to be awarded most often posthumously. I do like that medal of honor recipients are given more than just the medal. Look up all the priveleges awarded to them, it includes free air fare for life, Even international.
@@Qardo wrong on that count. it can be won by officers too. look up the Lord Strathcona's Horse Regiment. they have 3 such medals awarded to members, and two of them were officers. A Lt Flowerdew for acts of gallantry during the battle of Moreuil Wood and Lt Harvey for charging a machinegun nest single handedly to save his men. Plus there's the canadian flying Ace in the great war: Billy Bishop.
The 'Vandoos' regiment. Absolutely Great Soldiers and also Brilliant Knife Experts
You know while he was liberating that town, he was yelling "SORRY EH"
French Canadians don't usually use the "eh".
He was probably saying something like that " Y fait frette, chu mouillé, vous allez toute crever ma gang de tabarnak!" :)
Truly insightful and original comment well done Wow
If he was an albertan sure, man was French Canadian, and Canadians don't apologize to fascists
@@1973Louis Ya got that fuckin' right! Prideful, foul-mouthed and not taking shit from nobody: French-Canadians in a nutshell XD
Phosphorous is nasty stuff. It auto-ignites and burns with a very bright flame (almost close to a welding arch bright, so yes, being near that can cause serious eye trouble). Not sure if he was burned himself as phosphorous flames are near impossible to douse.
Zwolle has such a nice city centre and this man is to thank for it.
One of his sons had said if he was American. They would have made movies about him
Mr. Terry is legit the best TH-camr/Teacher I know. God I wish he was my teacher haha
I had at least 5 history teachers throughout my time in school some years ago. I love history and I do remember some things they said now years later and some of the facts are wrong. I wish I could have had a dedicated teacher like Mr. Terry. He's probably better than all my history teachers combined :)
Pls do the punic wars by extra history/credits
This guy is the real life John Rambo.
I want to meet Leo’s children or grandchildren
salut je suis un de c'est petit enfant
the fact that on the hills they were 18 against what has been approximatively count to be between 10k to 13k chinese and manage to hold the hills for 3 days is insane its literally insane
Have you done any videos on Mad Jack Churchill? There’s several of them, and he’s like awesome. The WW2 guy that fought with a claymore and a bow and arrow.
What is not in the story is that no one knew what he did during the war until a delegation of Dutch people went looking for him. Like the Ottawa Lynx hat.
It's like a DLC for this guy... lmao 😂
My great grandfather fought in Korea I’m Canadian btw and he got lost in a jungle they found him in a Japanese bar drinking scotch he literally made it from Korea to Japan
Leo even has a street named in his honor in Zwolle; Leo Majorlaan (Leo Major Lane): Canadese eerste bevrijder van Zwolle (Canadian first liberator of Zwolle).
8:10 Actually, there's missing information: not long before, Montgomery made a catastrophic military decision killing 1000+ allied soldiers uselessly, which is why Leo judiciously perceived him as "incompetent" (many of his fellows died along British troops). It's also well known that it's rather Montgomery who had huge ego issues. In fact, if L.Major had such "ego issues", he would have accepted the medal whoever was handing it to him... On the opposite, those who knew him well said that he was quite humble and didn't like to brag about his feats, refused to talk to journalists etc. (which is one of the reasons the Canadian public didn't know about him up until recently)... But hey, you're reacting to a clip that doesn't tell the whole story in details so that's ok ;)
8:40 he actually went "awol" as he fled the hospital that wanted to send him back home, onto a jeep passing by up to a family in Holland that he met sooner, and stayed there during a month (28 days) to recover before going back to his regiment. Instead of being treated as a deserter, the commanding officer was glad that he was back for the battle to come..
yeah he actually went awol from the hospital. I believe he stole a vehicle outside the building
@@SinisterBlackheart yes, a vehicle/Jeep which was under his bedside window, if I properly recall what I've read.
This one-man-army proves the use of “power at a point”
Hey mr. Terry love your videos you should check out a video called “canadians change when they hear the word war” its a really good video
Agread it a really excellent video!!!
When they hear the word war, or hockey game.
jtilton5 is there a difference
War interrupts hockey
Consider how many movies this reminds you of, delta force, rambo, inglorious bastards, john wick and on and on, is it possible that he's a character reference for some of them? Keanu Reeves being Canadian for sure has heard of Leo, I've been watching war docs about Leo for years, met him as a kid at a remembrance day ceremony, he even as a senior had a presence
They dont teach a whole lot about him
Some time in the 90's I believe, a Dutch film crew show up at his house to interview hi,. They knocked on the door and Leo's wife answered. They asked for Leo and said they wanted to interview him. The wife asked Leo. "what's going on?". Supposedly Leo replied that she have never wanted to hear about his military service so he never told her. The other is that he thought no-one in his family would believe him and think he was crazy. So he said nothing.
Really love when someone reacts to somthing about a Canadian or Canada. Especially glad it was Mr.Terry!!!!
As someone who has to wear boots in the field. You cannot hide the sound of a man in boots! Sneakers(trainers) irregular but sensible for this man to wear haha. Especially then since the grip on boots was hobnails, steel nails to give grip to boots, very loud on anything other than grass
Leo represents the 2% of people willing to kill. 1% kill because of psychopathy the other 1% do it out of love and brotherhood. I suspect when Willy died Leo realized others would die. He chose to put his own life on the line instead of the lives of others. I can completely understand a person who thinks they can risk their own life, but they cannot risk someone else's life.
You would enjoy the documentary blackwatch snipers from the history channel. They talk to soldiers that were there.
The dude apparently ran on videogame logic before videogames were a thing.
Also, White Phosphorous on the face sounds like an unfun time. Probably channeled that into pure berserker rage.
Feel like mr terry doesn’t know many French Canadians. They are crazy and completely unpredictable but god they are just built different. If you need anything done they are most definitely the people to call.
I wonder if any of the germans who left the town ever found out it was just one guy.
Now that you say it, I wonder too!
Léo Major, the canadian Rambo.
It took hundreds of personel, along with Alan Turing and his computers, thousands of hours of work to decode the first enigma messages. It took one Swedish guy a few pencils, a few papers and 2 weeks to crack both the Enigma and the German T52 (the main, German, message encryptor) and the Polish had cracked the Enigma long before the war broke out. Why do the Brits get all the credit?
His best friend was named Willie Arsenault (from what I understood in the narration).
We don't play games in Canada. I enlisted years ago in the Service Batallion as a vehicle tech....I was trained in more ways to kill someone than I ever was in how to fix a truck.
I read a funny story about him. About 50 years after the war he visited the town with his wife. She was surprised by all the attention he was given, it turned out he had never told her much about what he had done. One other point, it is true that in ww2 there was strong French Canadian opposition to the war and conscription. But 57% of Quebecois did volunteer, to put that into perspective only 38% of Americans volunteered for the war.
6:34 Sure it's 93 Vs 1 and the 93 soldiers could have overwhelmed him but who's going to volunteer to take bullets in the process?
They say Canadians are very polite...
_Fantom Phoxy_ we are generally but with three exceptions. Hockey games (it’s a brutal sport), someone spills our syrup (that shit is expensive even here) and in war.
100% on his own recognizance...well, 99%. As you said, he was sent to scout Zwolle.
1:41, the moment Terry finds out there is a French population in Canada.
This man was a video game protagonist with all of his points in charisma
To be fair Monty failed repeatedly, for example operation Market Garden; and is said to have taken great great pleasure in ordering the bombing and shelling of French towns occupied by the Germans.
Quebecers in the Canadian Army are the toughest
Leo Major: walks into town
Nazis: WHY DO I HEAR BOSS MUSIC
he didn't get the Victoria Cross because he was French Canadian ......
Maybe you could watch 'citation needed: jack Churchill' (by technical difficulties). The story is amazing (ww2) but the series is not something for this channel, only this episode
George Beurling another Canadian from WW2
Beavers are RELENTLESS and NEVER give up. Take down their dam, they rebuild. You could do it a hundred times and they will just keep rebuilding. And it was ego in war; once home he never told anyone. It wasn't until a reporter knocked on the family home decades later to talk to him that his family found out about all that he had done.
Now just to keep this Canadian Train rolling .lol
You should check out the video the Great War did on Francis Pegahmagabow the man was up against a wall from birth and kicked ass across Europe.
MOVE BETWEEN THE LINES
A SOLDIER BREAKING THE CONFINES
@@gingermcgingin1733 one of my favourite Sabaton songs!
If this guy was American they would have made a movie about him, and named a chocolate bar after him, lol
Put it this way - the vast majority of Victoria Crosses are awarded posthumously. You don't have to die to get one, but you probably will. Much harder to get than a CMoH.
What do you need to do to earn the Victoria cross? Um generally die, Traditional they are said to be made from Iron from Cannon used againsr the famous charge of the light brigade
Leo was right Montgomery was incompetent.
WHY IS THIS NOT A MOVIE!
Because he was not American
It’s not ego, it’s just the fault of the reality and how French Canadian were seen as lesser soldiers and how monty was. It’s not ego at all