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Imagine if the british were japanese, they would exactly refuse to retreat and sacrificed themselves for no good. Then there would be no chance to win for the allies.
A salute to the 18,000 French soldiers who died so that their British comrades could return home, the French were not cowards in ww2, they were some of the bravest
Britain: France! I won't leave you! France: Go! But tell them of my bravery! Tell them how we suffered and fought to the bitter end and beyond! *3 years later* Britain: So there I was holding the line saving this cowardly dingus! France: 😠
They are the real heroes for me, just to protect your entire unit,staying behind in defensive position,chances of survival is 50/50 they can hold or annihilated.
The poor French who covered the retreat for the British who are barely honoured anymore and their nation is only known for its capitulation instead of their brave sacrifice, making sure those boys made it back across the water just for the chance that their country may exist in the future after the fall of the 1,000 year reich
Just like the British remembered the Polish servicemen who helped in the final victory and refused to be intimidated by the USSR into refusing allowing them to march in the victory parade. Oh wait........
@@spiffygonzales5899 Oh and also Crusades were just a way to help Byzantium regain territory,while helping Kings to get rid of belligerant knights causing troubles.If anything,crusader are know for their horrible and inhuman deeds,notably cannibalism for no reason on civilian(en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ma%27arra),so i wouldnt be too proud about that
Very proud of my grandad serving with the Green Howards (Yorkshire regiment) holding the cordon at Dunkirk until the 3rd of June, he would often recall Dunkirk and say how they were fighting tanks with rifles and until the day he passed was haunted by the noise of stukas, he went on to serve in Africa being present for the battle of El-Alamein and fighting in Italy before being captured where he was forced to fix train tracks while the allies were bombing them. He was a kind gentle man who was unbelievably humble, he worked building clocks until he was 99 years old when he decided to retire and passed away a few weeks after receiving his 100th birthday card from the Queen. He only joined the army to learn an instrument...
*joins military to learn an instrument* *gets thrown into largest war ever fought* Well that sure was a surprise for 'em but glad he didn't die in the war. 👍
Watching this I kept thinking of the the many times I used riflemen as rearguards in company of heroes so the flimsy enginners and the slow as heavy units could flee, then when the squad was down to only 1 or 2 men hit the retreat button so the survivors could sprint home
@@pyrobytee you do get more men in mowas 2. So thats Really a plus. But a Small Careless move on your part can End Up With an entire flank Being overran
I swear, the quality of Simple History's videos has greatly improved overtime. The narration, sound effects and background music really tie everything together. This is a fantastic way to learn history in a quick, yet enjoyable manner. The hard work put into these videos is truly appreciated. Well done!
@@ididntaskverified3663 running head first into a knowingly losing battle when you have the option to strategically withdraw and preserve more lives, isn’t manly and just sounds plain stupid.
@@bizon4129 The French, with her Allies, were unprepared for the Germans’ Blitzkrieg tactic, which heavily affected their organization (like poor logistics due to fleeing civilians crowding roads, and horrible radio communications due to sabotages) at the early sequence of the war. In some areas, French command was poor but army divisions didn’t just ‘surrender or run away’ when they were being overwhelmed by the Germans. As for example, French soldiers held positions surrounded by Germans near Dunkirk, but they fended off overwhelming German forces from reaching the evacuation zone, which bought time for the Allied soldiers to evacuate to Southern England’s coast. Retreating doesn’t mean completely pussying out of the war - it’s saving yourselves from complete slaughter, getting to a better position and fight the enemy another day.
It really was tho. The battle of France might have been a defeat but the evacuation of Dunkirk was a huge success. France was lost, getting as much men as possible back to Britain was the only way the war could be continued.
@@bizon4129 Dude the french army and belgian army covered all of the dunkirk perimeter and the french troops left at Lille didn't surrender they fought till the end and for this bravery they got medals from the germans
Hard to believe there were any Dutch left, those guys got pushed out of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, truly exceptional courage to keep fighting.
I performed a beautiful rearguard action in Grand Tactician Civil War the other day. Rebels had me outnumbered 4 to 1 but managed to save the Army of Kentucky by holding 2 bridges with cavalry armed with Sharps carbines. Was a loss but goodness was it a glorious stand lol.
"...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." -Winston Churchill
Only has weight if it was said by a person who actually put his life on the line. Instead, it was said by a person who was sitting far away from action, and died due to his easy going lifestyle. What a load of quack.
Hey Simple History! I just wanna say I appreciate your development as a channel! I can definitely say I've seen an improvement on your animations and I'm pretty sure on behalf of the community we thank you for such amazing and quality content your channel puts out. Thank you again! 🤟
Thank you guys, I was looking for some motivation on making a great WW2 Model Diorama. And becuase if this I will now understand what the Reguards went through and their mission was.
The Rear Guard British soldier: I'd never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a Frenchman. French soldier: What about dying side by side with a friend? British soldier: Aye, a friend. British Officer: Hold the line lads. For King and Country!
My Grandad was at Dunkirk he was put on a train and sent into France whilst the divisions equipment was sent in trucks, the train got through but when they arrived at their destination they found out the trucks hadn't got through. The trucks were blown up so as not to fall into enemy hands. They obviously couldn't go back by train as it would have been attacked by aircraft so they snuck back through enemy lines to the beachs. They had 120 men with Lee Enfields and 2 Bren Guns in the division. My Grandad was one crazy brave guy. He fought from Dunkirk across Africa all the way up italy and was on sword beach on D-Day and fought till the end of the war. I still miss him every day.
I was hoping for a bit more French inclusion in this video but this was top notch. Was telling my mate about how the French guarded our British fellas to the end because it's just one of those things that are overlooked.
Simple History is my favorite military history channel! I salute the brave men of the Rearguard! Because I have a berserker fighting attitude, I'd greatly appreciate the Rearguard position if I'm ever deployed. Tried enlisting back in 2008, got rejected. Only way to fight a war now would be in mandatory conscription. Looking forward to that! Even though I've considerably aged, still got some fight left in me.
Thank you so much for making this video. My Great Great Uncle William Melville Scullion was a member of the Royal Scots 1st battalion and was assigned to the Dunkirk rear guard sadly he was killed a day before the battle ended but I’m sure he would appreciate this vide👍
My great grandfather was in the Royal artillery regiment that was left behind at Dunkirk and March to Poland. My teacher in primary school and most documentary deliberately overlook it. Its good to finally hear what he went through. Thanks
My wife's grandfather was killed on 26 May 1940 defending Dunkirk as part of the rearguard and lies buried in Le Paradis cemetery. He was 36 years old and acting Regimental Sergeant Major in the Royal Scots. R.I.P.
One of the least talked about parts of the evacuations from Dunkirk were that French colonial forces such as the Senegalese Tirailleurs who were captured would face executions and additional hardships due to the racist ideology of the Nazis and a desire to avenge the occupation of the Rhineland during the inter war period when the French used African colonial troops which was seen as a national insult due to racist attitudes of the time.
Well they did rape a bunch of German women, and then did the same thing again in WWII when the allies invaded Italy. Obviously there’s no justification for war crimes but stop acting like they were innocent. It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows. Just take a look at the state of Europe right now.
@@thatperformer3879 might want to recheck your history on that one there. The myth of the mass rape of the Rhineland is just that, a myth. There were some cases of sexual assault but nothing even close to what is reported and the majority of those labelled as bastards were either children of mixed marriages from former German colonies who were equally mistreated by the Nazis or from unions between French troops and German women. And for WWII the most famous case is that in Italy and those were Moroccan troops not the troops from Senegal. The thing is the French colonial troops at Dunkirk who were executed and ill treated were innocent, they were not the same men who occupied the Rhineland (which again major myth of the Rhineland bastards), nor does the Italian campaign come into play as that hadn't happened yet you colossal pinhead. I suggest you crawl back into the hole you crawled out of, read some real history, and take your hate filled speech somewhere else.
@@thatperformer3879 whilst i dont support your "It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows" stance, you are right with the rest.Rapes were widespread. but you could also say thats a given in war..
@@psycho4207 Senegal troops got trolled bro. ALLTHOUGH most black or people of colour solders in North Africa (British side) when they got captured I heard that most of them stayed in Africa and the white British solders were sent to Europe. So basically people of colour pows were lucky they got liberated meanwhile common wealth solders stayed in Europe (Germany and Italy sending black pows in Libya actually backfired as one black pow blew up a ship with a tin can) Dear twitter I don’t hate black people or brown people
Do you know who started this propaganda of "the French surrendered without a fight" ? It was the Collaborative Government of Vichy France (to justify to French people the Armistice and the collaboration). Today all the trolls are just repeating the motto of a shameful government.
As a literal 4 year old I played the "survive for 30 minutes" mission of the Starcraft 1 Terran campaign. The entire thing was a rearguard action to survive long enough for the evacuation transports to do their work. I've always loved the gist of it as a super intense, heroic effort where desperation drives people to incredible achievement.
as soon as I saw the title I clicked on the video. I love hearing / reading about moments and people like this. Unsung heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice for others and most are forgotten in history or forgotten completely. Atleast by knowing I can honor what they did since many couldn’t tell the story themselves
It is mentioned that the French troops even counterattacked in many areas. A bit sad you didn't include Georg Von Küchler's words, he was leading the German 18th army: "Despite our crushing superiority in numbers and materials, the French counterattack in many places. I don't manage to understand how these soldiers, fighting in many places outnumbered one to twenty, still find the strength to launch any assault. That's astounding. I find again in these French soldiers the same ardour of those of Verdun in 1916. We can't penetrate anywhere, and suffer terrifying casualties." Also, if you want a really heroic defense that once again allowed the British army to survive and reorganize, check the battle of Bir-Hakeim. 3300 men of the 1st Free French Brigade led by General Koenig held the entire Afrika Korps and Rommel, around 35000 men, for SIXTEEN days. Rommel was chasing the British and inflicting heavy casualties, sending only the Italians to get rid of the French at Bir-Hakeim. It didn't work, the Italians got shred, and the French came out to attack Rommel's rear. From this point he fully focused the 1st Free French Brigade, and it'd last like this for sixteen long days, allowing the British army to reorganize and build up defenses that would lead to the success of the first battle of El-Alamein. Adolf Hitler himself said about these French soldiers : "You hear gentlemen? It is a new evidence that I have always been right! The French are, after us, the best soldiers! Even with its current birthrate, France will always be able to mobilize a hundred divisions! After this war, we will have to find allies able to contain a country which is able of military exploits that astonish the world like they are doing right now in Bir-Hakeim!" Remember, the government surrendered, but the soldiers never forgot they were fighting for their country, and not a puppet of the Third Reich. VIVE LA FRANCE !
My great grandfather of the British 2nd Division stationed at La Bassée canal he would get moved to Hazebrouck during the night of May 25th to support the town, the town was overruned at the morning of May 26th, he stayed behind along with a few dozen soldiers to cover the retreat of the wounded rear gaurd units. He will never come home again. Rest in paradise, pops. edit: the 2nd infantry division had 13,000 men at the beginning of May 25, the following day of May 26 the 2nd Division had only 2,500 men.
This video has done justice for the British and French troops who bravely held out until the rest of the British and French forces can safely evacuate. They were not cowards.
Please do the Rats of Tobruk story at some point regarding the Australian soldiers in WW2! It's so interesting, and I know you guys would do a great job!
My great grandfather, Gnr. Victor Palmer who served in the 91st Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery at the start of the war fought a rear guard action, his last orders where to sabotage the 25pdr Artillery guns. He'd already served his 9 years prior to ww2 but he wanted to server his country. He went on to server in North Africa with the 8th army and I belive parts of sicily which by 1943 he had returned home. Mentioned twice in dispatches, he refused his Medals. We now have his Medals. There is not a day that goes by where I wish I'd met him he's an inspiration to me and my reason sign up once I've finnished my yr 11 GCSEs and college
12:06 It would be interesting to see how the regular Wehrmacht soldier would react to the atrocities of the SS, especially ones as brutal as these ones.
Actually, since many were actually kind of "brainwashed" by the Reich's doctrine since childhood, the regular soldiers often took part in committing such atrocities and replicating SS's behavior. That was especially the case in Poland, and was a concern for the officers, not because of the actions taken by the soldiers, but the lack of discipline the implied.
Wait wait I am confused. So the Wehrmacht and Whermacht SS were better then the German police called SS and gestpo? Right? So did the Wehrmacht SS do the warcimres or the German police SS?
It annoys me that we in Britain keep calling the French cowards and making fun of them for surrendering, when really if it wasn't for their exceptional bravery covering our retreat knowing full well they would either be killed or captured, who knows what could've happened?
it would have ended in 200-300k british soldiers being captured by germany with all their equipment, had the french army left the BEF to do its thing their original plan was to try to break out by following the coast towards french held territory (with artillery support of the french navy that in this case of course wouldn't have helped the evacuation)
It's called Banter, it's a mark of respect from the british, you only banter with people you like and respect. It's when we're polite to you that you know we don't really like you.
Battle of Tirad Pass during the Filipino-American War was a rearguard action by a small Filipino force of 60 soldiers under the command of the Boy General, Gregorio del Pilar, against a force of 300 American soldiers.
The SS horrific executions are really contrasteted by the whermact who helped them afterwards, always why people should remember the difference between the two
Sorry to break you man,but its a know fact between 60 to 80% of the Whermacht participated to war crimes.They werent clean,most of them were war criminals.Here,have fun:en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_of_the_Wehrmacht
@@theknightwiththen-wordpass7084 not a lot of wehrmacht wehrmacht is a huge armed forces so it was estimated 40% of those in the eastern front commited war crimes but the ss can do anything they wanted they are fanatics
The most heroric rearguard unit was the polish unit at Wizna. The unit was outnumbered by 40 to 1 and hold the germans three day off. The hope was that Warsaw would have more time to prepare itself.
The amount of kit left behind by the British at Dunkirk was staggering - Ed Nash's military matters gives a detailed list in one of his videos , and the list is jaw- droppingly long
Between the French Defense at Dunkirk, the Free French victory at the 4th Battle Of Monte Cassino, and the French Resistance's Liberation Of Paris, no one should call the French cowards.
I feel a great rear guard action was the sacrifice of the Folgore Italian paratroopers at El Alamein. They were practically wiped out, but bought time for the rest of the Afrika Korps and Italian army escaped.
The rearguard action/ tactic was an effective way to bleed out enemy while your units are retreating. This was seen numerous during the times in the early years of world war 2, when most of the allies are under constant retreat either in European, Pacific theater or CBI.
This channel alone has taught me so much tactical and strategical reasoning. Somehow RTS war games like Total War: WarHammer 2 feel more fun and satisfying to play.
Pretty sure the first dunkirk film from 1958 has the centre group of the film run into a group of rearguard troops that tell them to keep moving an moments later those rearguard troops come under attack from Ju 87's.
My Great uncle Bill fought rearguard at Dunkirk He was captured and remained a pow , during that time , as the allies got closer and closer to the Germans and the pow camps , he was matched across Europe with his fellow captives ... Eventually released though and thankfully made it through the war All brave men !
@@Dougulas322 well, give me one example where the wehrmacht did anything that the ss did. Rape etc was punishable and would take you straight into a strafkompanie. ofc some things happend for the wehramcht aswell as like in any other army in the war, but majority of the warcrimes was the SS. and btw: "the "i was just following orders" myth has been debunked many times." who debunked that?:D you? haha.
@@frags7792 That's what we call "The Clean Wehrmacht Myth". 80% of the Wehrmacht were complicit in war crimes and directly helped the Holocaust occur. They didn't silently stand by, they actively assisted in it. The SS and Wehrmacht were very similar, one just had a little more good people in it than the other one did.
My great grandfather was one of the last members of the BEF to make it off Dunkirk, and every day I am thankful for the men that where in the rear guard and, especially those who sacrificed their lives
There needs to be another Dunkirk movie. "Dunkirk 2 Rear Boogaloo" I'm actually fairly certain that might be something you shouldn't google. Might get some *SPICY* results.
Fact: Dunkurt wasn't liberated by the allies until after Germany surrendered, it being one of the last German strongholds in france. It was even the site of the third and final German advance into French territory during the war.
My great grandad, Frank, was a British soldier in the rear guard at Dunkirk. The details are fuzzy as to what happened exactly, but I know when the troops finally evacuated, he and a friend of his supposedly climbed a tree, and when the Germans rolled by, they were spotted. The Germans shot his friend, either out of the tree or after pulling him out, right in front of Frank, and after that he was moved to Poland and spent until 1945 as a POW. He made it back to England in 1946 and met his six year old son, my grandad Stan, for the first time. Thank you for making this. The new animations look beautiful, and being an American (my dad is Stan's oldest son, who moved to the US in the 90s) it's surreal to hear about this specific topic. I don't hear a lot about it, but it means more to me than I honestly think it should, but either way, it's nice to know more about it. Even though I never met Frank, he has been one of my heroes since I was a kid, and learning about what he went through is... Sobering.
![True Size of a Krieg Siege Army (Infantry) [999.M41] 3D Documentary](/img/n.gif)
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30 seconds ago lol
great
Ak 47 video and Horten 229 video please?
Make a video about the Tuskegee Airmen
swag
So brave to fight until the bitter end, knowing you're fighting to the death. No matter what or who it is, deserves massive respect!
Ok
Ok
Ok
Massively naïve.
I wouldn’t call it brave. More like heroically insane.
"We're not retreating, we're advancing in another direction"
LOL
Didn’t USMC General Oliver Smith say that during the Korean War?
@@DraftTheHippies Yes. At Chosin Reservoir
My troops never rout, the simply charge bravely in the opposite direction!
-Me in Total War
Bois We are retreating but the opposite of direction
British, Dunkirk, 1940: “Destroy all equipment we cannot take with us.”
US, Kabul, 2021: “… errr…”
Honestly that whole evacuation was gigantic embarrassment.
@@cloaker1619 a blind monkey could have planned a better end to the war.
Say it with me everyone:
*LET'S GO BRANDON*
@@naenae669 Can you stop saying that because it f**king annoying
@@ussenterprisefromazurlane1696 I prefer the original too.
“Retreat now for victory later” - the British, 1940
Its extreamly effective!
The British fights until their last Frenchmen...
@@diabolofraise59 hahahahaha my belly hurts from laughter
Imagine if the british were japanese, they would exactly refuse to retreat and sacrificed themselves for no good. Then there would be no chance to win for the allies.
Love the US stars on the 'British' vehicles, when anyone with a brain knows it wasn't until late 1941 that the US entered the war.
A salute to the 18,000 French soldiers who died so that their British comrades could return home, the French were not cowards in ww2, they were some of the bravest
Transaltion:the french had balls as tanks and were recognized to have balls as ping pong balls
Britain: France! I won't leave you!
France: Go! But tell them of my bravery! Tell them how we suffered and fought to the bitter end and beyond!
*3 years later*
Britain: So there I was holding the line saving this cowardly dingus!
France: 😠
Finally, someone who doesn't rub dirt in my countrys face in ww2
@@the-little-napoleon your user name cracks me up lol
Honestly dont understand why france gets that reputation
They are the real heroes for me, just to protect your entire unit,staying behind in defensive position,chances of survival is 50/50 they can hold or annihilated.
The poor French who covered the retreat for the British who are barely honoured anymore and their nation is only known for its capitulation instead of their brave sacrifice, making sure those boys made it back across the water just for the chance that their country may exist in the future after the fall of the 1,000 year reich
well said
The ones Who knows don't forget they Also don't forget the treason vive la France !
Just like the British remembered the Polish servicemen who helped in the final victory and refused to be intimidated by the USSR into refusing allowing them to march in the victory parade.
Oh wait........
@@spiffygonzales5899 "Germany brought down the Mongols and Napoleon." 😂
@@spiffygonzales5899 Oh and also Crusades were just a way to help Byzantium regain territory,while helping Kings to get rid of belligerant knights causing troubles.If anything,crusader are know for their horrible and inhuman deeds,notably cannibalism for no reason on civilian(en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ma%27arra),so i wouldnt be too proud about that
The actions of the French army in this regard around Dunkirk is VASTLY under appreciated
The Germans, the only one whose opinion matter regarding Dunkirk didn't comit that mistake, that says a lot
St vallery never get mentioned where the French ran away in their thousands
@Neil The Dunkerk movie triggered me to no end.
@@joenodwell9157 stereotype
@@joenodwell9157 th-cam.com/video/7PwDCoswn_A/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheFront
Very proud of my grandad serving with the Green Howards (Yorkshire regiment) holding the cordon at Dunkirk until the 3rd of June, he would often recall Dunkirk and say how they were fighting tanks with rifles and until the day he passed was haunted by the noise of stukas, he went on to serve in Africa being present for the battle of El-Alamein and fighting in Italy before being captured where he was forced to fix train tracks while the allies were bombing them. He was a kind gentle man who was unbelievably humble, he worked building clocks until he was 99 years old when he decided to retire and passed away a few weeks after receiving his 100th birthday card from the Queen. He only joined the army to learn an instrument...
WoW!
That's a man...
*joins military to learn an instrument*
*gets thrown into largest war ever fought*
Well that sure was a surprise for 'em but glad he didn't die in the war. 👍
Do you know what he played? I’ve been a military musician my entire career!
Damn, respect to him
Watching this I kept thinking of the the many times I used riflemen as rearguards in company of heroes so the flimsy enginners and the slow as heavy units could flee, then when the squad was down to only 1 or 2 men hit the retreat button so the survivors could sprint home
"Volksgrenadiers God dammit, try actually aiming!!!"
I like the Volksgrenadiers, my personal favourite.
Try Men of War Assault Squad 2, much better than COH (in realism and gameplay) theres custom maps that uses rearguard tactics
@@pyrobytee you do get more men in mowas 2. So thats Really a plus. But a Small Careless move on your part can End Up With an entire flank Being overran
@@excalibur1251 a well timed nade can also change its tides
o7
I swear, the quality of Simple History's videos has greatly improved overtime. The narration, sound effects and background music really tie everything together. This is a fantastic way to learn history in a quick, yet enjoyable manner. The hard work put into these videos is truly appreciated. Well done!
When you realize running away takes
more strategy and ⚽️ ⚽️ ‘s then fighting head on
When they came closer, we ran....away-The emu
@@canthi109 Sir... You are a genius.
yeah it doesnt, running into the jaws of death is way manlier
@@ididntaskverified3663 running head first into a knowingly losing battle when you have the option to strategically withdraw and preserve more lives, isn’t manly and just sounds plain stupid.
@@ididntaskverified3663 Yeah until they run away and the ones that were in the back are now fighting for them
Can you do a video about Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich? Please?
Beautiful day in Czech history makes me proud to be a Czech.
@@rc59191 And me (albeit only 1/2 Czech)
@@rc59191 STUP PARTISAN
@@antonhinz2557 joe mom german
This was really interesting.
The massacres that happened because of it though...
Thoughts to the 18,000 Frenchmen who gave their lives for the allies to evacuate. French were far from cowards during the Second World War. God bless.
"It's not called retreat It's called a tactical withdrawal!" - British dudes at Dunkirk, 1940
But at least they did something not like french just running away. French and their two tactics surrender or run away, that's why they lost
@@bizon4129 The French, with her Allies, were unprepared for the Germans’ Blitzkrieg tactic, which heavily affected their organization (like poor logistics due to fleeing civilians crowding roads, and horrible radio communications due to sabotages) at the early sequence of the war. In some areas, French command was poor but army divisions didn’t just ‘surrender or run away’ when they were being overwhelmed by the Germans. As for example, French soldiers held positions surrounded by Germans near Dunkirk, but they fended off overwhelming German forces from reaching the evacuation zone, which bought time for the Allied soldiers to evacuate to Southern England’s coast.
Retreating doesn’t mean completely pussying out of the war - it’s saving yourselves from complete slaughter, getting to a better position and fight the enemy another day.
It really was tho. The battle of France might have been a defeat but the evacuation of Dunkirk was a huge success. France was lost, getting as much men as possible back to Britain was the only way the war could be continued.
@@bizon4129 Swimming back to the british island is something ? UK just wait on its island for the US and soviet to do the job
@@bizon4129 Dude the french army and belgian army covered all of the dunkirk perimeter and the french troops left at Lille didn't surrender they fought till the end and for this bravery they got medals from the germans
Finally some recognition that there were also Dutch troops at Dunkirk that wanted to continue the fight!
Hard to believe there were any Dutch left, those guys got pushed out of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, truly exceptional courage to keep fighting.
Honnor those Dutch soldiers !!!
I performed a beautiful rearguard action in Grand Tactician Civil War the other day. Rebels had me outnumbered 4 to 1 but managed to save the Army of Kentucky by holding 2 bridges with cavalry armed with Sharps carbines. Was a loss but goodness was it a glorious stand lol.
Ive done the same here in the western division as dismounted Cav 4th Iowa Hawkeyes (union) and the 36th Texas Dismounted Cav 🤠
Sounds epic, which I could have been a part 🙏
@@Bucky1836 that a reenacting unit?
@@rc59191 yep its my re enacting unit here in texas one of many 🤠
@@rc59191 we are union and confederate dismounted cav depends in if they need yankess 🤣 we run em off down here
"...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." -Winston Churchill
bold words coming from the butcher of gallipoli
So where did the rank Rear-Admiral come from...duh.
Only has weight if it was said by a person who actually put his life on the line.
Instead, it was said by a person who was sitting far away from action, and died due to his easy going lifestyle.
What a load of quack.
Ah yes, Churchill the butcher of Galipolli and the one who starved half India to death, a symbol of honor
@@Fulcrox churchill was not to blame for Bengal, that is a Marxist myth
Hey Simple History! I just wanna say I appreciate your development as a channel! I can definitely say I've seen an improvement on your animations and I'm pretty sure on behalf of the community we thank you for such amazing and quality content your channel puts out. Thank you again! 🤟
Thank you guys, I was looking for some motivation on making a great WW2 Model Diorama. And becuase if this I will now understand what the Reguards went through and their mission was.
Make a rear guard model on the French one that would be dope
The Rear Guard
British soldier: I'd never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a Frenchman.
French soldier: What about dying side by side with a friend?
British soldier: Aye, a friend.
British Officer: Hold the line lads. For King and Country!
When is the second breakfast?
My Grandad was at Dunkirk he was put on a train and sent into France whilst the divisions equipment was sent in trucks, the train got through but when they arrived at their destination they found out the trucks hadn't got through. The trucks were blown up so as not to fall into enemy hands. They obviously couldn't go back by train as it would have been attacked by aircraft so they snuck back through enemy lines to the beachs. They had 120 men with Lee Enfields and 2 Bren Guns in the division. My Grandad was one crazy brave guy. He fought from Dunkirk across Africa all the way up italy and was on sword beach on D-Day and fought till the end of the war. I still miss him every day.
“We must fight! To run away.”
-Captain Jack Sparrow, potc3
My great-grandfather was one of them, he was captured in Dunkirk, respect to these men !
✌️
I was hoping for a bit more French inclusion in this video but this was top notch. Was telling my mate about how the French guarded our British fellas to the end because it's just one of those things that are overlooked.
Simple History is my favorite military history channel!
I salute the brave men of the Rearguard!
Because I have a berserker fighting attitude, I'd greatly appreciate the Rearguard position if I'm ever deployed. Tried enlisting back in 2008, got rejected. Only way to fight a war now would be in mandatory conscription. Looking forward to that! Even though I've considerably aged, still got some fight left in me.
Thank you so much for making this video. My Great Great Uncle William Melville Scullion was a member of the Royal Scots 1st battalion and was assigned to the Dunkirk rear guard sadly he was killed a day before the battle ended but I’m sure he would appreciate this vide👍
My great grandfather was in the Royal artillery regiment that was left behind at Dunkirk and March to Poland. My teacher in primary school and most documentary deliberately overlook it. Its good to finally hear what he went through. Thanks
My wife's grandfather was killed on 26 May 1940 defending Dunkirk as part of the rearguard and lies buried in Le Paradis cemetery. He was 36 years old and acting Regimental Sergeant Major in the Royal Scots. R.I.P.
Barracades: Yep, makes sense
Sandbags: Same as the other one, but alright
Exceptional Bravery:Alright, simple history, now you're just taking the piss
One of the least talked about parts of the evacuations from Dunkirk were that French colonial forces such as the Senegalese Tirailleurs who were captured would face executions and additional hardships due to the racist ideology of the Nazis and a desire to avenge the occupation of the Rhineland during the inter war period when the French used African colonial troops which was seen as a national insult due to racist attitudes of the time.
Well they did rape a bunch of German women, and then did the same thing again in WWII when the allies invaded Italy. Obviously there’s no justification for war crimes but stop acting like they were innocent. It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows. Just take a look at the state of Europe right now.
@@thatperformer3879 might want to recheck your history on that one there. The myth of the mass rape of the Rhineland is just that, a myth. There were some cases of sexual assault but nothing even close to what is reported and the majority of those labelled as bastards were either children of mixed marriages from former German colonies who were equally mistreated by the Nazis or from unions between French troops and German women. And for WWII the most famous case is that in Italy and those were Moroccan troops not the troops from Senegal. The thing is the French colonial troops at Dunkirk who were executed and ill treated were innocent, they were not the same men who occupied the Rhineland (which again major myth of the Rhineland bastards), nor does the Italian campaign come into play as that hadn't happened yet you colossal pinhead.
I suggest you crawl back into the hole you crawled out of, read some real history, and take your hate filled speech somewhere else.
@@thatperformer3879 whilst i dont support your "It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows" stance, you are right with the rest.Rapes were widespread. but you could also say thats a given in war..
@@psycho4207 Senegal troops got trolled bro. ALLTHOUGH most black or people of colour solders in North Africa (British side) when they got captured I heard that most of them stayed in Africa and the white British solders were sent to Europe. So basically people of colour pows were lucky they got liberated meanwhile common wealth solders stayed in Europe (Germany and Italy sending black pows in Libya actually backfired as one black pow blew up a ship with a tin can)
Dear twitter I don’t hate black people or brown people
My grandad was part of the rear guard at Dunkirk he was part of the Manchester fusiliers. He was unfortunately captured. Good video mate.
Like the French Rearguard at Dunkirk.
The east Lancashire regiment is one of the bravest regiments to have served the British army for its noble history
Imagine fighting and making a Last stand for your Allies to retreat only to be ridiculed for surrendering and dubbed as "cowards" 70years later
Do you know who started this propaganda of "the French surrendered without a fight" ? It was the Collaborative Government of Vichy France (to justify to French people the Armistice and the collaboration). Today all the trolls are just repeating the motto of a shameful government.
Rest in peace all soldiers, you will never be forgotten
@@splizzex its not about the names, its about the fact that there are people who did this courageous acts
As a literal 4 year old I played the "survive for 30 minutes" mission of the Starcraft 1 Terran campaign. The entire thing was a rearguard action to survive long enough for the evacuation transports to do their work.
I've always loved the gist of it as a super intense, heroic effort where desperation drives people to incredible achievement.
Finally the french role at Dunkirk got recognized. Thank you.
as soon as I saw the title I clicked on the video. I love hearing / reading about moments and people like this. Unsung heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice for others and most are forgotten in history or forgotten completely. Atleast by knowing I can honor what they did since many couldn’t tell the story themselves
You guys should do a video on strange and mysterious things soldiers saw on the battlefield.
Mysterious? What do you mean, pray tell?
@@Briselance, I mean like aliens or time travelers on the battlefield. Or weird tech.
Nah alien theory is bullshit and time travel will never exist and
@@lamarmottequimetlechocolat848 And? Complete the sentence, man.
The new content they are producing is do entertaining. Their skill in the cartoon improved so much. It looks so good. I love it
There was also the Chesseley Massacre of 50 Senegalese troops by the SS on June 19, 1940.
Yes, their french captain decided to die with them but I'm unsure of this... It would have been a final "pied de nez" to these racialist bastards...
Captain walks away.
Order 227 in now in effect.
Wait what! That not even a thing yet!
Thanks to Simple History, ive been able to learn a lot
Huge respect to all these men who served in the rearguard units until the end despite the overwhelming odds.
It is mentioned that the French troops even counterattacked in many areas. A bit sad you didn't include Georg Von Küchler's words, he was leading the German 18th army: "Despite our crushing superiority in numbers and materials, the French counterattack in many places. I don't manage to understand how these soldiers, fighting in many places outnumbered one to twenty, still find the strength to launch any assault. That's astounding. I find again in these French soldiers the same ardour of those of Verdun in 1916. We can't penetrate anywhere, and suffer terrifying casualties."
Also, if you want a really heroic defense that once again allowed the British army to survive and reorganize, check the battle of Bir-Hakeim. 3300 men of the 1st Free French Brigade led by General Koenig held the entire Afrika Korps and Rommel, around 35000 men, for SIXTEEN days. Rommel was chasing the British and inflicting heavy casualties, sending only the Italians to get rid of the French at Bir-Hakeim. It didn't work, the Italians got shred, and the French came out to attack Rommel's rear. From this point he fully focused the 1st Free French Brigade, and it'd last like this for sixteen long days, allowing the British army to reorganize and build up defenses that would lead to the success of the first battle of El-Alamein.
Adolf Hitler himself said about these French soldiers : "You hear gentlemen? It is a new evidence that I have always been right! The French are, after us, the best soldiers! Even with its current birthrate, France will always be able to mobilize a hundred divisions! After this war, we will have to find allies able to contain a country which is able of military exploits that astonish the world like they are doing right now in Bir-Hakeim!"
Remember, the government surrendered, but the soldiers never forgot they were fighting for their country, and not a puppet of the Third Reich.
VIVE LA FRANCE !
Tu as regardé Blackraven mon ami.
Belles références.
You should do a video about the 51st highland division, an undeeded sacrifice to the French after France was already doomed
My great grandfather of the British 2nd Division stationed at La Bassée canal he would get moved to Hazebrouck during the night of May 25th to support the town, the town was overruned at the morning of May 26th, he stayed behind along with a few dozen soldiers to cover the retreat of the wounded rear gaurd units. He will never come home again. Rest in paradise, pops.
edit: the 2nd infantry division had 13,000 men at the beginning of May 25, the following day of May 26 the 2nd Division had only 2,500 men.
This video has done justice for the British and French troops who bravely held out until the rest of the British and French forces can safely evacuate.
They were not cowards.
Not at all... But maybe for some keyboard heroes standing comfortably behind their screens and smartphones...
@@vermicelledecheval5219 nicely said.
Marshal Michel Ney is proud of the strong and brave rearguard units in Dunkirk.
Yes he would be.
Bravest of the braves
A brave but ultimately sad end for many. Great video. Loved the format and content.
“The English will fight to the last French”
- a common joke among German soldiers after the events at Dunkirk.
…Apart from the captured and defenceless British soldiers our SS units heroically murdered in cold blood, obviously.
@@greva2904 the French need a scapegoat to feel better
Please do the Rats of Tobruk story at some point regarding the Australian soldiers in WW2! It's so interesting, and I know you guys would do a great job!
Hello simple History! ive watched your channel for quite awhile. since about 2018. the quality never fails to amaze me. keep up the good work
"You guys stay here, I'll flank em from behind!"
"Why are you going the other way?"
"I'm going the long way around behind them."
3:45 recoil so strong it sent that soldier back 10 years
My great grandfather, Gnr. Victor Palmer who served in the 91st Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery at the start of the war fought a rear guard action, his last orders where to sabotage the 25pdr Artillery guns. He'd already served his 9 years prior to ww2 but he wanted to server his country. He went on to server in North Africa with the 8th army and I belive parts of sicily which by 1943 he had returned home. Mentioned twice in dispatches, he refused his Medals. We now have his Medals. There is not a day that goes by where I wish I'd met him he's an inspiration to me and my reason sign up once I've finnished my yr 11 GCSEs and college
Can't imagine the stakes in this battle... Incredible feat by the French, British and all other allies.
The animations have gotten so good over time, great animation plus a great subject go together so well!
Great video, keep up the good work!
My grandfather was sort of a rear guard in the second war, he was a Volksturmm man at Berlin.
All my life, ever since I was a young boy listening to my grandfather talk about the Pacific, I have wanted to go out this way.
12:06 It would be interesting to see how the regular Wehrmacht soldier would react to the atrocities of the SS, especially ones as brutal as these ones.
They probably didnt care much for it lol
Actually, since many were actually kind of "brainwashed" by the Reich's doctrine since childhood, the regular soldiers often took part in committing such atrocities and replicating SS's behavior. That was especially the case in Poland, and was a concern for the officers, not because of the actions taken by the soldiers, but the lack of discipline the implied.
Wait wait I am confused.
So the Wehrmacht and Whermacht SS were better then the German police called SS and gestpo? Right? So did the Wehrmacht SS do the warcimres or the German police SS?
The french defence of Dunkirk is so underestimated and underrepresented.
It annoys me that we in Britain keep calling the French cowards and making fun of them for surrendering, when really if it wasn't for their exceptional bravery covering our retreat knowing full well they would either be killed or captured, who knows what could've happened?
it would have ended in 200-300k british soldiers being captured by germany with all their equipment, had the french army left the BEF to do its thing
their original plan was to try to break out by following the coast towards french held territory (with artillery support of the french navy that in this case of course wouldn't have helped the evacuation)
Only the low uneducated left overs from the UK, Australia and the US are doing this... You don't and that's enough for me personally 🤝
It's called Banter, it's a mark of respect from the british, you only banter with people you like and respect. It's when we're polite to you that you know we don't really like you.
the brits saved 70k French soldiers from that beach also so don't act like the French were doing us a favour
@@nathansellars3757 yes, the french were redeployed elsewhere
Battle of Tirad Pass during the Filipino-American War was a rearguard action by a small Filipino force of 60 soldiers under the command of the Boy General, Gregorio del Pilar, against a force of 300 American soldiers.
People will always remember the mistake.
Rather than the greatest contribution.
Salute to the brave french soldiers.
Very nice animations! I see you have worked a bit on some specific animations. It looks very cool. Keep up the good work!
The SS horrific executions are really contrasteted by the whermact who helped them afterwards, always why people should remember the difference between the two
Sorry to break you man,but its a know fact between 60 to 80% of the Whermacht participated to war crimes.They werent clean,most of them were war criminals.Here,have fun:en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_of_the_Wehrmacht
@@theknightwiththen-wordpass7084 not a lot of wehrmacht wehrmacht is a huge armed forces so it was estimated 40% of those in the eastern front commited war crimes but the ss can do anything they wanted they are fanatics
There still human
You guys should do a video on the West Virginia Coal Wars and the battle of Blair Mountain
Hope you can consider the 1941-1942 Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. Would consider that as major rearguard move to allow McArthur to escape.
Simple history's animations have come so far! Good on ya!
The most heroric rearguard unit was the polish unit at Wizna. The unit was outnumbered by 40 to 1 and hold the germans three day off. The hope was that Warsaw would have more time to prepare itself.
The animations have visibly gotten better. Good job!
The amount of kit left behind by the British at Dunkirk was staggering - Ed Nash's military matters gives a detailed list in one of his videos , and the list is jaw- droppingly long
Its not jaw dropping it was replaced in a few months
This map animation is like Eastory 2.0 and I'm digging it, here's to more solid videos with this map animation!
An Eastory 2.0 is the youtuber TIK and his Battlestorm StalinGrad series, so good
Another classic from simple history ❤️
Great job making this video and great job on the graphics!
Keep up the great stuff!!
The animation in the episode is really top notch. Like the most fluid I've seen y'all do.
Between the French Defense at Dunkirk, the Free French victory at the 4th Battle Of Monte Cassino, and the French Resistance's Liberation Of Paris, no one should call the French cowards.
You can definitely tell how much the animation has improved from the older works. It's so cool to see.
I feel a great rear guard action was the sacrifice of the Folgore Italian paratroopers at El Alamein. They were practically wiped out, but bought time for the rest of the Afrika Korps and Italian army escaped.
The rearguard action/ tactic was an effective way to bleed out enemy while your units are retreating. This was seen numerous during the times in the early years of world war 2, when most of the allies are under constant retreat either in European, Pacific theater or CBI.
"It's not retreating! It's running away with style!"
I like how the machine gunner had a beard then when he was reloading, it disappeared 3:45
The rear guard were mostly the french
Yep, and then Dunkirk lauded as a great British "achievement".
@@SirAntoniousBlock Yet in the film dunkirk its french troops being shown in the opening holding the rearguard
This channel alone has taught me so much tactical and strategical reasoning. Somehow RTS war games like Total War: WarHammer 2 feel more fun and satisfying to play.
The videos are always so informative, it’s so good!
Simple history should be in every history class
I wished the rearguard actions were covered more in the Dunkirk Movie
That wasn't the purpose of this movie... Although you have a blink of an eye just at the beginning of it.
Yeah, tho like the guy above me said that wasn't the main focus of the movie but we did see a bit of it.
Pretty sure the first dunkirk film from 1958 has the centre group of the film run into a group of rearguard troops that tell them to keep moving an moments later those rearguard troops come under attack from Ju 87's.
My Great uncle Bill fought rearguard at Dunkirk
He was captured and remained a pow , during that time , as the allies got closer and closer to the Germans and the pow camps , he was matched across Europe with his fellow captives ... Eventually released though and thankfully made it through the war
All brave men !
Wehrmacht: “We just following the order”
Waffen SS: “We are the order”
Based
Pretty true, usually the Wehrmacht only did crimes cuz orders from high command which were loyal Nazis
@@whatdatechnodogedoin not a lot of high command most german high commands comes from a prussian military families
@@Dougulas322 well, give me one example where the wehrmacht did anything that the ss did. Rape etc was punishable and would take you straight into a strafkompanie.
ofc some things happend for the wehramcht aswell as like in any other army in the war, but majority of the warcrimes was the SS.
and btw: "the "i was just following orders" myth has been debunked many times." who debunked that?:D you? haha.
Another awesome show
12:10 the Wehrmacht gained more respect from me, treated the allies way better than the SS
Yeah I would say the SS are the real nazis. Wehrmacht are just young men forcing to a fight old men battles…
@@frags7792
That's what we call "The Clean Wehrmacht Myth".
80% of the Wehrmacht were complicit in war crimes and directly helped the Holocaust occur. They didn't silently stand by, they actively assisted in it.
The SS and Wehrmacht were very similar, one just had a little more good people in it than the other one did.
My great grandfather was one of the last members of the BEF to make it off Dunkirk, and every day I am thankful for the men that where in the rear guard and, especially those who sacrificed their lives
8:24 : leaving 35,000 french soldiers behind...
they cant do anything...
Most of the french army evacuated returned to France as refused to join the free french army
@@demonprinces17 hum no, they had to return to France because the war was still going on at that point.
@Your Kark that's a laugh ended up in Germany as slave labor helping them
@@darkadrien14 as civilians
There needs to be another Dunkirk movie.
"Dunkirk 2 Rear Boogaloo"
I'm actually fairly certain that might be something you shouldn't google. Might get some *SPICY* results.
Fact: Dunkurt wasn't liberated by the allies until after Germany surrendered, it being one of the last German strongholds in france. It was even the site of the third and final German advance into French territory during the war.
Based
My great grandad, Frank, was a British soldier in the rear guard at Dunkirk. The details are fuzzy as to what happened exactly, but I know when the troops finally evacuated, he and a friend of his supposedly climbed a tree, and when the Germans rolled by, they were spotted. The Germans shot his friend, either out of the tree or after pulling him out, right in front of Frank, and after that he was moved to Poland and spent until 1945 as a POW. He made it back to England in 1946 and met his six year old son, my grandad Stan, for the first time.
Thank you for making this. The new animations look beautiful, and being an American (my dad is Stan's oldest son, who moved to the US in the 90s) it's surreal to hear about this specific topic. I don't hear a lot about it, but it means more to me than I honestly think it should, but either way, it's nice to know more about it. Even though I never met Frank, he has been one of my heroes since I was a kid, and learning about what he went through is... Sobering.