My father was with the 29th infantry, and relayed many stories of his time over there. They slept in barns, and culverts -- wherever they could find shelter. And fought tenaciously. They were true heroes in ever sense of the word. May they all rest in peace.
My Dad was in 29th Artillery forward spotter for artillery, was on front lines about eleven months awarded four bronze stars for battles he was in, men like your Dad and mine were the Greatest Generation !
My great grandfather was apart of E company, 116th infantry regiment. I am trying to find some more information on him. I know he was in this battle and operation queen. He was wounded the 23 Nov during OQ.
I have audio and video recording of my grandfather who served in the 102nd 407th Co K. He was wounded during the Roer crossing and used to talk a lot about all different parts of the war. I was very lucky to have him in my life while I did.
Wayne, are you sure it was Jülich? The town was taken by american troops in February 45. At the beginning of March Cologne was taken. There were no fightings in the Jülich aerea. But this landscape was covered with mines. Kind regards from Jülich
just found this today. My Uncle PFC Michael Kandracs was killed crossing the Roer on Feb 23, 1945. He was in the 120th infantry 30th division. I have been searching for quite some time into the exact place of he died. His records that we obtained from the freedom of information act states he died in Schindhund, Germany but can't seem to locate such a place. He was crossing the roer and died on Feb 23. That's all we know. Thanks so much for posting this. It brought so many tears to my eyes
Sam n Kel Strunk i looked up schindhund for you. If i am right its close to niederzier. according the Internet its the name of a cropsfield. But you need to know, there are 2 roers in Germany. One is called ruhr(roehr) and the other one is named rur(roer). Do you know where his company/platoon where located? did he fought in Hurtgenforest?
Thanks for your reply If it helps he was in company H. I don't know anything else. All I remember was my grandmother said his boat hit a mine? My brother later found out that the day he died was the day his infantry crossed that river.
I did some more research about that day. On Feb. 23 the American crossed the Roer close to a little village called Krauthausen. Both places are close to each other. The name of the operation was: Operation Grenade. According to this map you can see where Schindhund should be: ( www.kartogiraffe.de/deutschland/nordrhein-westfalen/regierungsbezirk+k%C3%B6ln/kreis+d%C3%BCren/niederzier/schindhund/#16,50.88166097372625,6.446346044540405 ) I think that he fought that day close to niederzier, which belongs to Düren(Dueren). I hope it helped you.
Marco Breuer you are a tremendous help. I am so glad and so overwhelmed by your kind help. My father was born 1 year later after he was killed and it always haunted him that he never knew his brother and that he didn't know any details of his death etc. this is a missing piece to a puzzle. Thanks again and God bless you
My father crossed the Roer at Julich on 2/24/1944 with D Battery 132 AA Gun Battalion. He wrote about it in his autobiography. That was amazing to link the two together and be able to see what he saw.
Hi Tim, did your father stay in Eygelshoven ( South of the Netherlands, near the german border) aswel in December 1944? I have contact with the family of Fred Connacher who was a mechanic in Battery D in a AA Gun Battalion. perhaps the same??
This live combat reel must be staggering to look at. That your *Dad* was in *this* *very* *battle* in this exact combat reel footage. 3:34....... That he was IN this.
Im living in the region of Jülich and its unimaginable that 1000s of soldiers fought and died here 70 years ago. You can still find some gravestones of fallen GIs next to the river tough.
My daughter and I rented an Audi in Berlin and crossed into Poland on the autobahn...almost 80 years to the day of the German invasion of Poland...No check point...as though Germany psychologically took over these trusting and good Polish people...land borders...a source of misery and conflict exploited by maniacs like Hitler and Prez Dimbulb.
Jonathan Echols ah I understand. Soon I’ll be able to visit Julich and I’ll be looking out for those stones. I adopted a soldiers ‘grave’ on the wall of the missing. All I know is that he was killed in Jullich but his body was never found 😢
My father John A LaBoda was a T-5 in the 247 Army Corp of Engineers Company B. He received 5 Bronze Battle Stars and his company received a Presidential Unit Citation. This river crossing is mentioned at Faces Beyond The Grave 247th.
Just found this today! My dad was with the Ninth Army Engineering division that helped build the foot bridges to cross the Roer River. I have articles from Stars and Stripes newspaper and commendations sent to his unit. Cherished memorabilia
My Dad and his unit, the 554th Hv ponton Bn. made that bridge for them to cross. He told me with pride, they were the first with boots across the river as they had to cross first to secure the other side and secure ropes etc. They were always under fire and the Germans would strafe and float bombs down stream and blow up their bridges. They finally secured a log chain up stream to catch the bombs. The 554th built 4 bridges at that point in the war. He told me they had a Life reporter with them for awhile. When I found the issue of the Time/Life WW2 book series and one was about the crossing of the Rhine with a mention of the Roer bridge, he took it to all of his reunions. I have alot of pics somewhere and heard alot of stories about his buddies that died there. I wish I could have found this while he was still alive. God Bless them all!
My grandpa John Neeland 37 549 633 Private First Class 1276th Engineers Combat Battalion crossed the Roer river at Rurdorf, Germany the 23-24 of February 1945. This Battalion received the presidential unit citation for acts of great heroism in the face of an armed enemy. I hope to see him somewhere in a video maybe. He's a short skinny Chippewa, very dark and a huge smile but I doubt he'd be smiling crossing the Roer. I found his discharge papers and unit citation that led me here and if anyone knows something else about the 1276th please comment. I'm so proud of my grandpa;)
my grandfather fought from the first days of the war. battles in Belarus, the battle for Moscow, the Battle of Rzhev, the Battle of Kursk, the Yassy-Kishinev operation. finished fights in Budapest. then fought with Japan
hi Dima Thanks to your grand father my own father who terminated thé WW2 years 1944/1945 .... with french so called "armée d Afrique " 2 ème DIM in Austria and south germany Always reported it would have been impossible To defeat nazism without russian tremendous "sacrifice" whe Always keep it in mind all the best
We cannot thank these men enough. The close-ups show clearly the Thousand Yard Stare so common with combat veterans who have been slogging it under fire for weeks and weeks. Virtually all of this footage screams “cold and wet as hell”. God rest them.
they had to cross. the opposing enemy had one job; to stop them from crossing. there would be loss of life. they knew, those soldiers. 0:12 - 0:20 what the allies called the supreme sacrifice. to give one's life in the effort. there is no equivalent to such the contribution by those who did. those who stayed there, not to continue beyond that place. it is immeasurably humbling. that many a man died there, in duty of service, in the bright height of their youth.
It is truly stunning scary to see it. The actual battle (Roer River advance) raging was partly captured by 8mm manually hand-wound film one-hand camera. 7:10. Machinegun projectiles are streaming at 1,200 rounds per minute right above the wall they're sheltering against. The young man kneeling up against the wall does not look a day over 18 years old. He is clearly in total fear. 7:13 the combat reel camera man has apparently caught the moment an enemy mortar or artillery shell exploded just yards from them. The concussion of the exploding shell slams the young GIs head downwards and the soldier just next to and in front of the young GI kneeling up against the wall has been thrown to the ground possibly hit by shrapnel.
My uncle was in the ski troops and that winter was very hard on all soldiers in Europe. Just look at the faces in the opening seconds of this video, you see them not happy but grimly holding on to normalcy. I remember in the movie "Patton" George C. Scott and Carl Mauldin. George played Patton and Carl played General Bradley. Bradley pleads with Patton, "but what about the ordinary soldier who lives every day with death tugging at his sleeve". That is what you see here, the ordinary soldiers, the true heroes of that insane war... everyday death tugging at their sleeves. Yet memorial day after memorial day and Veterans day after Veterans day, we choose not to remember. In not remembering we buy the whole thing back, another war to destroy our youth. Youth, perfect, energetic, joyous, then spent in the hot coals of war. Satan is having a field day with us not remembering. I remember them, my father, mother, and uncles who were dragged in to a war they did not want, yet had to solve. God bless you. Please, learn from these often killed for our sake... young men, who now are gently dying near us, or many years before us. God bless them.
The surrender of Germany was the beginning of the End of Western Civilization which is what the Germans foresaw should the Zionist's/Communists succeed. We Defeated the Wrong Enemy which wasn't Our Enemy at all but the enemy of the NWO... look around you today, still think Germany was Wrong?
I live in Julich. I heard from other People that Julich was very very nice before the War ... But they only recovered the "Aachener Mauer", the "Zitadelle" and the "Hexenturm" ... Julich is the best example to see what a war can know for a civilizaton ...
Jan Kowalski I agree with most of what you say and it has largely been forgotten about what happen to Poland, mostly because it became a world war. But Britain went to war over Poland. They did not forget or abandoned you, they just had little say by the wars end. Britain tried to supply them with air drops during the Warsaw uprisings but Stalin wouldn't allow access to their airfields. The poles are very much remembered in Britain whether it is for having the most successful fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain or for being the ones who finally took Monte Casino, or just being tough fighters fighting alongside Britain and its allies. I recommend you read into the history of the various conferences of the 'big three', and in particularly what Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt were saying. Roosevelt, for all his brilliance and insight in seeing the danger of Hitler and Nazi Germany, could not see the same in Stalin and believed him when he said Poland would have free elections, despite Churchill warning against trusting him. It's just unfortunate that by 1945, it had been forgotten that the war started over Poland, it had now became a much bigger thing with Poland no longer central. Britain were no longer the power they were, had little influence and soon Chuchill, Poland's biggest voice in the world, would be voted out. Churchill fought to the end to try and ensure free elections and independence for them
@@MrSzczuras True; but Poland was not alone and, to be honest, Poland had a checkered history. On one hand, the Home Army did nothing to support the Jewish Ghetto's uprising and many Poles turned in jewish neighbors. On the other hand, MANY Poles ended up in concentration camps because they helped their Jewish Neighbors. And of course, the Russians executed 20,000 Polish officers...and waited until the Germans defeated the Home Army in Warsaw before crossing the river.
Over 1,000 casualties were suffered in just the crossing of this River. A THOUSAND men. They had to. There was no other alternative. To keep marching to Berlin.
That being said, it also cost a five digit number of German civilians of this area their lives. As my grandmother expressed it in her diary these days: „It was pure murder.“ No relativisation or twisting history. Just a note to the other side of these heroic pictures.
dear Jeffrey badger, i'm from Jülich and really interested in These documents! the building you could See at the End with Winston Churchill is My School now: the Zitadelle in Jülich! could you Tell me where you got this Material from?
Jeffrey.... you have a new subscriber.... thank you for not adding music.... would have been superficial and taken away much of the impact from these films.... in them I can see the best and worst of human nature..... we must always keep both in mind should we go off and start wandering this path of carnage and destruction again. greetings from Bellows Falls, Vermont and Rosswein, Mittelsachsen....
...what the soldiers do on that day should not be forgotten...so many lifes were lost due to this none sense war...thier sacrifices and gallantry will forever remembered salute to all this man....*)
Owyheefalls, my dad was in the 1276th - known as the Fighting Mojacks. I have a load of info on the battalion and its course from Iceland to the Elbe River. I attended one of the 1276th's reunions in 2008 in Columbus Ohio and use to receive the battalions newsletter called the Mojack Bugle. I am going to Germany/Dutch border to hike the path that the 1276th made 75 years after the crossing next month. Would be very interested in making a connection with you regarding your movie, info, etc.
Hallo, Rurpott: I lived at Kopernikusstrasse 64 for a couple of years back in the 1980s, and spent some time at a pub called "Die Pinte." Is it still there? I was acquainted with a family that lived on Nordstrasse. Chuess.
@@vivians9392 Everyone paid dearly. Germany was still paying out and just recently (2010) paid off their debt to US (Allies) for destruction caused in WW2
@@brianjones2899: At the end of the clip, Eisenhower was the one with 5 stars on the shoulder of his coat. The general with 3 stars on his helmet could be (best guess) Omar Bradley or Courtney Hodges.
During the November 1944 Offensive, the XIXth Corps (the 29th, 30 Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions and supporting troops) fought up to the Roer. The fighting for the Sportsplatz at the Roer went on for quite a while. The German attack in the Ardennes stopped everything on this front as the Ninth Army sent major units south. The units not sent into the Bulge were moved south too and shored up the northern shoulder. The XIXth Corps took over the 5th Armored and the 8th and 78th Infantry divisions on the shoulder.
Theron Snell so if a soldier died at november 17 (67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division) it must have been during the fight pictured in this film?
Such poor tactics. If the generals were forced to be the point men. The casualties of the USA would have gone down with 100% for the Americans and 300% for the Russians. The bravery of the US and Russian soldiers were enormus.
@@vivians9392 yes, that kind of small hand-wound manual 8mm film equipment taken in actual combat is soundless. This reel is stunning in the sheer amount of real time actual captured combat. 7:06 These men are getting shot at by a machinegun; the stream of projectiles has just missed them by inches. They just barely missed getting killed right there.
inflatable life jacket around their waists! that's mad, and a good way to drown! I bet some did! under the arms, people are slightly top heavy as is, their way, is a way to end up upside down and drown! braze sods though, and really was the greatest generation (for the most part)....
The surrender of Germany was the beginning of the End of Western Civilization which is what the Germans foresaw should the Zionist's/Communists succeed. We Defeated the Wrong Enemy which wasn't Our Enemy at all but the enemy of the NWO... look around you today, still think Germany was Wrong?
They were WRONG, and always will be. If you condone, or deny that their mass murder of almost 10 million people, then you have read a propaganda leaflet, and not a history book. If you wrote this just to "stir the turd", you should be very careful, there is a difference between free speech, and hate speech in which the latter can put you in a jail cell. Every one knows its the rich that rule this world, and that's not new and will never be this NWO BS. Back to Germany, it was the liberation of Western Civilization, not the end of it and Germany and their leaders picked an evil path that stood against any decent ideal. Their destruction was always assured, because no good person would let their evil wash over them. The only thing we could thank them for, are the international laws that were created to protect people in times of war, one (of many)such as genocide being a war crime. Oh and lastly, no idea why you posted that crap, seeing as the comment was directed at the life jackets, unless you have something against the greatest generation (which doesn't include anyone from Germany, Germans all share the most shamed generation, which their decedents now carry).
@@thedevoidangel6563 appreciated your comment back at the troll..I've seen this ja on other sites making the exact same ugly comment! There are and always will be ones who like you said..are here just to stir up trouble! 👍
Ah, the JA on other sites eh!. Then maybe this is where they pour all their hate out. The comment section of any TH-cam channel is literally always filled with hate, trolling, sniping and generally unpleasantness! its crazy really, that there are always people out there, whose only purpose is to spew it all out in the comment section, regardless of the content.
Yes indeed , freedom on the March,! ! Thanks go to all soldiers men and women alike who gave their lives to save others ! ! The heros never came home but are fondly remembered at least I have not forgotten their bravery ! !Thanks boys from a grateful world ! ! May the GOOD LORD CONTINUE TO BLESS THESE GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HER FRIENDS ! !🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍
The 29th Infantry Division was made up of National Guard units from Maryland and Virginia. It made a name for itself on Omaha Beach and maintained itself as one of Eisenhower's best dvisions.
Drama? not. This is a common situation. the drama would be if the Germans would have the same defense as on the Dnieper or on the Oder. Then yes, a lot of blood would be spilled. thousands killed.
Mostly at Omaha beach...those boys were knowingly sent in there as sacrificial lambs! Those who died there never got the chance to fire one bullet at the enemy... From high school...to training... to death on a wet foreign beach...so sad!
Not really... we had more men and equipment necessary to invade Normandy, but the Germans were fortified and on the high ground. Eisenhower KNEW he was sending our boys to their deaths, but he also knew some would get through and overrun the bunkers...very few.
My father was with the 29th infantry, and relayed many stories of his time over there. They slept in barns, and culverts -- wherever they could find shelter. And fought tenaciously. They were true heroes in ever sense of the word. May they all rest in peace.
My Dad was in 29th Artillery forward spotter for artillery, was on front lines about eleven months awarded four bronze stars for battles he was in, men like your Dad and mine were the Greatest Generation !
Así es James , por Ellos ,ahora disfrutamos paz , bienestar y progreso.
My great grandfather was apart of E company, 116th infantry regiment. I am trying to find some more information on him. I know he was in this battle and operation queen. He was wounded the 23 Nov during OQ.
I have audio and video recording of my grandfather who served in the 102nd 407th Co K. He was wounded during the Roer crossing and used to talk a lot about all different parts of the war. I was very lucky to have him in my life while I did.
My Uncle Wayne Rouse died on April 14th near Julich. I am very honored to have been named after him. He was from Nebraska.
Wayne, are you sure it was Jülich? The town was taken by american troops in February 45. At the beginning of March Cologne was taken. There were no fightings in the Jülich aerea. But this landscape was covered with mines.
Kind regards from Jülich
just found this today. My Uncle PFC Michael Kandracs was killed crossing the Roer on Feb 23, 1945. He was in the 120th infantry 30th division. I have been searching for quite some time into the exact place of he died. His records that we obtained from the freedom of information act states he died in Schindhund, Germany but can't seem to locate such a place. He was crossing the roer and died on Feb 23. That's all we know. Thanks so much for posting this. It brought so many tears to my eyes
Sam n Kel Strunk i looked up schindhund for you. If i am right its close to niederzier. according the Internet its the name of a cropsfield. But you need to know, there are 2 roers in Germany. One is called ruhr(roehr) and the other one is named rur(roer). Do you know where his company/platoon where located? did he fought in Hurtgenforest?
Thanks for your reply
If it helps he was in company H. I don't know anything else. All I remember was my grandmother said his boat hit a mine? My brother later found out that the day he died was the day his infantry crossed that river.
I did some more research about that day. On Feb. 23 the American crossed the Roer close to a little village called Krauthausen. Both places are close to each other. The name of the operation was: Operation Grenade. According to this map you can see where Schindhund should be:
( www.kartogiraffe.de/deutschland/nordrhein-westfalen/regierungsbezirk+k%C3%B6ln/kreis+d%C3%BCren/niederzier/schindhund/#16,50.88166097372625,6.446346044540405 )
I think that he fought that day close to niederzier, which belongs to Düren(Dueren).
I hope it helped you.
Marco Breuer you are a tremendous help. I am so glad and so overwhelmed by your kind help. My father was born 1 year later after he was killed and it always haunted him that he never knew his brother and that he didn't know any details of his death etc. this is a missing piece to a puzzle. Thanks again and God bless you
You're always welcome. Many pieces of puzzles are left unfinished. People need to help eachother to heal those wounds. You're welcome.
PS.... god, that water must have been freezing... no chance to dry and put on dry clothes.... respect for their tenacity and courage....
My father crossed the Roer at Julich on 2/24/1944 with D Battery 132 AA Gun Battalion. He wrote about it in his autobiography. That was amazing to link the two together and be able to see what he saw.
Tim Krohn Im sorry, but i assume you mean 2/24/1945?
D-Day was about 3 months away at 2/24/1944.
Hi Tim, did your father stay in Eygelshoven ( South of the Netherlands, near the german border) aswel in December 1944? I have contact with the family of Fred Connacher who was a mechanic in Battery D in a AA Gun Battalion. perhaps the same??
Tim thanks to you father we are free from the nazi s
This live combat reel must be staggering to look at.
That your *Dad* was in *this* *very* *battle* in this exact combat reel footage.
3:34.......
That he was IN this.
Im living in the region of Jülich and its unimaginable that 1000s of soldiers fought and died here 70 years ago. You can still find some gravestones of fallen GIs next to the river tough.
Are you serious? I thought all American fallen soldier were ‘collected’ and buried at American War Cemetaries outside of Germany. Are you sure?
My daughter and I rented an Audi in Berlin and crossed into Poland on the autobahn...almost 80 years to the day of the German invasion of Poland...No check point...as though Germany psychologically took over these trusting and good Polish people...land borders...a source of misery and conflict exploited by maniacs like Hitler and Prez Dimbulb.
@@lupaie grave stones were probably left merely as a memorial of sorts.
Jonathan Echols ah I understand. Soon I’ll be able to visit Julich and I’ll be looking out for those stones. I adopted a soldiers ‘grave’ on the wall of the missing. All I know is that he was killed in Jullich but his body was never found 😢
Waltraud Buchowski can you pinpoint me to those gravestones? I want to visit them but I don’t know my way around Julich.
My father John A LaBoda was a T-5 in the 247 Army Corp of Engineers Company B.
He received 5 Bronze Battle Stars and his company received a Presidential Unit Citation.
This river crossing is mentioned at Faces Beyond The Grave 247th.
My father’s closest friend, Robert E. Kennedy, known as Midge, died February 23rd, Roer River Crossing, from Union City, New Jersey.
Just found this today! My dad was with the Ninth Army Engineering division that helped build the foot bridges to cross the Roer River. I have articles from Stars and Stripes newspaper and commendations sent to his unit. Cherished memorabilia
My uncle died 29 November 1944 Roer River, Germany. Jack Thomas Calhoun
My Dad and his unit, the 554th Hv ponton Bn. made that bridge for them to cross. He told me with pride, they were the first with boots across the river as they had to cross first to secure the other side and secure ropes etc. They were always under fire and the Germans would strafe and float bombs down stream and blow up their bridges. They finally secured a log chain up stream to catch the bombs. The 554th built 4 bridges at that point in the war. He told me they had a Life reporter with them for awhile. When I found the issue of the Time/Life WW2 book series and one was about the crossing of the Rhine with a mention of the Roer bridge, he took it to all of his reunions. I have alot of pics somewhere and heard alot of stories about his buddies that died there. I wish I could have found this while he was still alive. God Bless them all!
My grandpa John Neeland 37 549 633 Private First Class 1276th Engineers Combat Battalion crossed the Roer river at Rurdorf, Germany the 23-24 of February 1945. This Battalion received the presidential unit citation for acts of great heroism in the face of an armed enemy.
I hope to see him somewhere in a video maybe. He's a short skinny Chippewa, very dark and a huge smile but I doubt he'd be smiling crossing the Roer. I found his discharge papers and unit citation that led me here and if anyone knows something else about the 1276th please comment. I'm so proud of my grandpa;)
My Dad, Elbert Keeth was with the 1276th and made this crossing. His unit was putting in a footbridge.
my grandfather fought from the first days of the war. battles in Belarus, the battle for Moscow, the Battle of Rzhev, the Battle of Kursk, the Yassy-Kishinev operation. finished fights in Budapest. then fought with Japan
How did he get from Moscow to Kursk???
Obviously was with the Soviets..mayb a pilot?
Viva el Ejército Rojo.
hi Dima
Thanks to your grand father
my own father who terminated thé WW2 years 1944/1945 ....
with french so called "armée d Afrique " 2 ème DIM
in Austria and south germany
Always reported it would have been impossible To defeat nazism without russian tremendous "sacrifice"
whe Always keep it in mind
all the best
We cannot thank these men enough. The close-ups show clearly the Thousand Yard Stare so common with combat veterans who have been slogging it under fire for weeks and weeks. Virtually all of this footage screams “cold and wet as hell”. God rest them.
So many amazing details in this bit of film.
My grandma was a civilian living there at the time. Sad that so much had to be destroyed
I would be very interested in anything you can share about his experiences. tpsnell@gmail.com
they had to cross. the opposing enemy had one job; to stop them from crossing.
there would be loss of life.
they knew, those soldiers.
0:12 - 0:20
what the allies called the supreme sacrifice.
to give one's life in the effort.
there is no equivalent to such the contribution by those who did. those who stayed there, not to continue beyond that place.
it is immeasurably humbling. that many a man died there, in duty of service, in the bright height of their youth.
Sunny Island h
"This is Julich Germany.... Sorry it is so messed up but we were in a hurry...."
Thanks for that amazing and compelling video.
Those poor Engineers. Always in front. Front of everyone.
We must not forget the sacrifices those good young men made for us and our country. Peace my brothers!
It is truly stunning scary to see it.
The actual battle (Roer River advance) raging was partly captured by 8mm manually hand-wound film one-hand camera.
7:10. Machinegun projectiles are streaming at 1,200 rounds per minute right above the wall they're sheltering against.
The young man kneeling up against the wall does not look a day over 18 years old. He is clearly in total fear.
7:13 the combat reel camera man has apparently caught the moment an enemy mortar or artillery shell exploded just yards from them.
The concussion of the exploding shell slams the young GIs head downwards and the soldier just next to and in front of the young GI kneeling up against the wall has been thrown to the ground possibly hit by shrapnel.
Apprehensive looks on every face but every one of them had balls of steel!
Actually, only 35% of U.S. riflemen fired their weapons during combat in WWII.
My uncle was in the ski troops and that winter was very hard on all soldiers in Europe. Just look at the faces in the opening seconds of this video, you see them not happy but grimly holding on to normalcy. I remember in the movie "Patton" George C. Scott and Carl Mauldin. George played Patton and Carl played General Bradley. Bradley pleads with Patton, "but what about the ordinary soldier who lives every day with death tugging at his sleeve". That is what you see here, the ordinary soldiers, the true heroes of that insane war... everyday death tugging at their sleeves. Yet memorial day after memorial day and Veterans day after Veterans day, we choose not to remember. In not remembering we buy the whole thing back, another war to destroy our youth. Youth, perfect, energetic, joyous, then spent in the hot coals of war. Satan is having a field day with us not remembering. I remember them, my father, mother, and uncles who were dragged in to a war they did not want, yet had to solve. God bless you. Please, learn from these often killed for our sake... young men, who now are gently dying near us, or many years before us. God bless them.
The surrender of Germany was the beginning of the End of Western Civilization which is what the Germans foresaw should the Zionist's/Communists succeed.
We Defeated the Wrong Enemy which wasn't Our Enemy at all but the enemy of the NWO... look around you today, still think Germany was Wrong?
This video is amazing. First time I've ever seen handheld video recording of live combat in WWII.
Idiot
Film not video! 50 years before the word video even existed
I live in Julich. I heard from other People that Julich was very very nice before the War ... But they only recovered the "Aachener Mauer", the "Zitadelle" and the "Hexenturm" ... Julich is the best example to see what a war can know for a civilizaton ...
Jan Kowalski I agree with most of what you say and it has largely been forgotten about what happen to Poland, mostly because it became a world war. But Britain went to war over Poland. They did not forget or abandoned you, they just had little say by the wars end. Britain tried to supply them with air drops during the Warsaw uprisings but Stalin wouldn't allow access to their airfields. The poles are very much remembered in Britain whether it is for having the most successful fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain or for being the ones who finally took Monte Casino, or just being tough fighters fighting alongside Britain and its allies.
I recommend you read into the history of the various conferences of the 'big three', and in particularly what Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt were saying. Roosevelt, for all his brilliance and insight in seeing the danger of Hitler and Nazi Germany, could not see the same in Stalin and believed him when he said Poland would have free elections, despite Churchill warning against trusting him.
It's just unfortunate that by 1945, it had been forgotten that the war started over Poland, it had now became a much bigger thing with Poland no longer central. Britain were no longer the power they were, had little influence and soon Chuchill, Poland's biggest voice in the world, would be voted out.
Churchill fought to the end to try and ensure free elections and independence for them
The wartime photos I have show little left in Julich. Bomb craters, shell holes and ruins.
@@MrSzczuras True; but Poland was not alone and, to be honest, Poland had a checkered history. On one hand, the Home Army did nothing to support the Jewish Ghetto's uprising and many Poles turned in jewish neighbors. On the other hand, MANY Poles ended up in concentration camps because they helped their Jewish Neighbors. And of course, the Russians executed 20,000 Polish officers...and waited until the Germans defeated the Home Army in Warsaw before crossing the river.
Over 1,000 casualties were suffered in just the crossing of this River. A THOUSAND men.
They had to. There was no other alternative. To keep marching to Berlin.
@Phil Hall
Bless your Dad
I know that You are very proud of Him.
That being said, it also cost a five digit number of German civilians of this area their lives. As my grandmother expressed it in her diary these days: „It was pure murder.“ No relativisation or twisting history. Just a note to the other side of these heroic pictures.
@@totwiedisco
There is immeasurable sadness.
Catastrophic gargantuan ruin in the World of unthinkable magnitude.
The Second World War.
@@SunnyIlha True. Let's never forget.
Annotations make this video come alive, nice work.
Bohaterowie wspaniali piękni mężczyźni odważni dzielni Żołnierze.
Szacunek i pamięć.
Chwała im.
dear Jeffrey badger,
i'm from Jülich and really interested in These documents! the building you could See at the End with Winston Churchill is My School now: the Zitadelle in Jülich! could you Tell me where you got this Material from?
It's from the military archives, Washington D.C. I think you can order these things online these days.
just 13km away from my home. we still have bullit holes and shrapnell marks in our walls.
"Never forget the cost of Freedom..."
Which is soon forgotten, as history seems to always repeat.
ALL HS KIDS SHOULD BE MADE TO WATCH THIS,,,,,,SEE THE COST OF FREEDOM
Esa guerra , la última , fué terrible para Todos.
Jeffrey.... you have a new subscriber.... thank you for not adding music.... would have been
superficial and taken away much of the impact from these films.... in them I can see the best
and worst of human nature..... we must always keep both in mind should we go off and start
wandering this path of carnage and destruction again. greetings from Bellows Falls, Vermont and Rosswein, Mittelsachsen....
some scenes are not from Jülich, for example 4:56. This church is not the church of Jülich
how many of these young men got home
...what the soldiers do on that day should not be forgotten...so many lifes were lost due to this none sense war...thier sacrifices and gallantry will forever remembered salute to all this man....*)
Is it possible to get a copy of the movie for use in a movie I'm making on my Uncle's participation in the 1276th Combat Engineer Battalion?
For the assault AT Julich, try the National Archives.
Owyheefalls, my dad was in the 1276th - known as the Fighting Mojacks. I have a load of info on the battalion and its course from Iceland to the Elbe River. I attended one of the 1276th's reunions in 2008 in Columbus Ohio and use to receive the battalions newsletter called the Mojack Bugle. I am going to Germany/Dutch border to hike the path that the 1276th made 75 years after the crossing next month. Would be very interested in making a connection with you regarding your movie, info, etc.
It’s public domain after 75 years.. that’s why we are now seeing a lot of WW2 films... most of them I’ve never seen.
2:51 soldier on other side falls in.
Hallo, Rurpott: I lived at Kopernikusstrasse 64 for a couple of years back in the 1980s, and spent some time at a pub called "Die Pinte." Is it still there? I was acquainted with a family that lived on Nordstrasse. Chuess.
Die Pinte doesnt exit anymore; now there is a Irish Pub... ;-)
Such a gruesome scene of war.. I just wnder..how many long years they've spent to rebuiding to so many ruins in all over Europe..
I think the Allied countries paid for a lot of it, especially USA.
@@vivians9392 Everyone paid dearly. Germany was still paying out and just recently (2010) paid off their debt to US (Allies) for destruction caused in WW2
See the documentary about
PFC Tony Vaccaro.
Combat Infantry GI who was also a photographer.
all miserable faces..thank you valiant warriors
What a pity there is no sound.
i like making my own sound effects
Soldiers nowadays would sue the army if made to get in those boats.
Tem algum brasileiro assistindo esse documentario ??????
Was that General Patton at the end.
Looks like Eisenhower
@@dennisppennino8026 could be right. He did visit the Rhine crossing area with Montgomery Churchill and others.
@@brianjones2899: At the end of the clip, Eisenhower was the one with 5 stars on the shoulder of his coat. The general with 3 stars on his helmet could be (best guess) Omar Bradley or Courtney Hodges.
If they finally crossed the river in february, when did the fighting start at Julich?
During the November 1944 Offensive, the XIXth Corps (the 29th, 30 Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions and supporting troops) fought up to the Roer. The fighting for the Sportsplatz at the Roer went on for quite a while. The German attack in the Ardennes stopped everything on this front as the Ninth Army sent major units south. The units not sent into the Bulge were moved south too and shored up the northern shoulder. The XIXth Corps took over the 5th Armored and the 8th and 78th Infantry divisions on the shoulder.
Theron Snell so if a soldier died at november 17 (67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division) it must have been during the fight pictured in this film?
6.41 tank come all the way from Normandy.
Remembers me A Bridge Too Far. When they cross the river.
There is no good place but that looks like a lonely & ugly place to die so close to the end.
Wow-cold crappy weather to boot......The Tough Guys-ooooh rahh
1:20 paradiesstr. Düren
Schlachthofkirche
into the southern Eifel Region towards Bonn
Der Deutschers made great POWs
...used to following authority blindly
Crystal City, Texas
No easy days,the dead,and those about to die,
Eine ganze Reihe von Aufnahmen stammen weder aus Jülich noch aus Linnich.
Such poor tactics. If the generals were forced to be the point men. The casualties of the USA would have gone down with 100% for the Americans and 300% for the Russians. The bravery of the US and Russian soldiers were enormus.
No Evinrudes back then?
Yeah they did make them but not everyone had what they needed when they needed it. Sometimes you have to make do to get the job done.
not much left of germany... rubbles, elderly people
No sound.
Guess he was so distracted that he forgot to hit the audio button...you think?
@@vivians9392
yes, that kind of small hand-wound manual 8mm film equipment taken in actual combat is soundless.
This reel is stunning in the sheer amount of real time actual captured combat.
7:06 These men are getting shot at by a machinegun; the stream of projectiles has just missed them by inches.
They just barely missed getting killed right there.
inflatable life jacket around their waists! that's mad, and a good way to drown! I bet some did! under the arms, people are slightly top heavy as is, their way, is a way to end up upside down and drown! braze sods though, and really was the greatest generation (for the most part)....
The surrender of Germany was the beginning of the End of Western Civilization which is what the Germans foresaw should the Zionist's/Communists succeed.
We Defeated the Wrong Enemy which wasn't Our Enemy at all but the enemy of the NWO... look around you today, still think Germany was Wrong?
They were WRONG, and always will be. If you condone, or deny that their mass murder of almost 10 million people, then you have read a propaganda leaflet, and not a history book. If you wrote this just to "stir the turd", you should be very careful, there is a difference between free speech, and hate speech in which the latter can put you in a jail cell. Every one knows its the rich that rule this world, and that's not new and will never be this NWO BS. Back to Germany, it was the liberation of Western Civilization, not the end of it and Germany and their leaders picked an evil path that stood against any decent ideal. Their destruction was always assured, because no good person would let their evil wash over them. The only thing we could thank them for, are the international laws that were created to protect people in times of war, one (of many)such as genocide being a war crime. Oh and lastly, no idea why you posted that crap, seeing as the comment was directed at the life jackets, unless you have something against the greatest generation (which doesn't include anyone from Germany, Germans all share the most shamed generation, which their decedents now carry).
@@thedevoidangel6563 appreciated your comment back at the troll..I've seen this ja on other sites making the exact same ugly comment! There are and always will be ones who like you said..are here just to stir up trouble! 👍
Ah, the JA on other sites eh!. Then maybe this is where they pour all their hate out. The comment section of any TH-cam channel is literally always filled with hate, trolling, sniping and generally unpleasantness! its crazy really, that there are always people out there, whose only purpose is to spew it all out in the comment section, regardless of the content.
Armia Amerykańska była jest i będzie najlepsza.
Dzielni Żołnierze Bohaterowie.
Szacunek i pamięć dla nich.
que tal los civiles un horror
Sí, era una guerra, por si no te enteraste...
no sounds
US 29th Blue and Gray Infantry Division....
And the krauts were routed
3:09 Linnich
Yes indeed , freedom on the March,! ! Thanks go to all soldiers men and women alike who gave their lives to save others ! ! The heros never came home but are fondly remembered at least I have not forgotten their bravery ! !Thanks boys from a grateful world ! ! May the GOOD LORD CONTINUE TO BLESS THESE GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HER FRIENDS ! !🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍
8:26 looks like free POW's
@@robertconnolly2933 You are right, my timing is off should be your noted time..
Send me your email address. I think I can put it on DropBox.com and you can download it. BadgerJeffrey@hotmail.com
ahhh 29th Divison US army good work none casualties so easy against the superior german army
MR PADDY How do you know none caualties?
My great uncle was in the 115th Regiment of the 29th infantry Division. He was killed at St Lo, France
The 29th Infantry Division was made up of National Guard units from Maryland and Virginia. It made a name for itself on Omaha Beach and maintained itself as one of Eisenhower's best dvisions.
min 1:37, charlie sheen?
That's what I said, too! Charlie Sheen's double!
the many faces and horibble of war ... in European Theatre ... guten morgen
Good morning to you, too...
@@vivians9392 thanks a rare name Mam just 3 letters keep safe
kakarooo, sonido, si me escuchan me mandan unas palomitas.
Its always a good feeling seeing a black g.i. along white g.i. in ww2..maybe its just me?..how guys were piled on that sherman? 52 counting crew?
4:17 they are killing a german soldier
Bien hecho.
can’t see any US drama on the western front 🤷♂️
Drama? not. This is a common situation. the drama would be if the Germans would have the same defense as on the Dnieper or on the Oder. Then yes, a lot of blood would be spilled. thousands killed.
????
creo que son americanos CARAS DE TERROR
¿Y qué esperabas? ¿Que sonrieran?
Za każdym komentarzem w języku niemieckim mam odpowiedź _ zobaczcie co zrobiliście w Polsce, a tak zaczęliscie. Nergacja nic nie da.
That's racist I'm the mayor of Bristol and London and the black Taliban
Alles Deutschland uber
My father had experience of both Russian and american troop;'s didn't think much of them .
Kurt Schuster Well,he lost against both.Blowhard.
@@Fugazinome I suppose 😒
So... how much did he think of HITLER? He murdered his OWN soldiers recklessly, just because they could not win!
Way underestimated the German defenses on d day...paid a huge price in blood and deaths...
Mostly at Omaha beach...those boys were knowingly sent in there as sacrificial lambs! Those who died there never got the chance to fire one bullet at the enemy... From high school...to training... to death on a wet foreign beach...so sad!
Not really... we had more men and equipment necessary to invade Normandy, but the Germans were fortified and on the high ground. Eisenhower KNEW he was sending our boys to their deaths, but he also knew some would get through and overrun the bunkers...very few.
USA picnic, not war. Just walk...run...hide...run..walk...hide...rest...walk...run...hide...smoking...walk...
Soviet union VS Nazi
USA VS River
Soviet union also had a pact with nazi Germany. Never forget that. They supported nazi for long time.
meaningless vid without some sort of explanatory narration/subtitles !!!
just like your comment
look at these men ,, and then look at Nancy Pelosi .. we are in big trouble in this country