Germany's WW2 Japanese Legion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2024
- During WW2, Germany had a small unit of Japanese soldiers serving in its army. This is the story of the 'Japanese Legion', believed by many to have been a myth...until now.
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Bwag; N.V. Deremer
>had a horrible week
>in my down time watched Mark Felton
>sad when I ran out of Mark Felton
>is watching Mark Felton when I get notification that Mark Felton uploaded a new video.
>Does this man ever rest?
Thank you Dr. for all your hard work and dedication to something you clearly love. We all over the world appreciate that more than you could ever imagine.
Hope your week gets better Geoffrey
@@stefanmolnapor910 Thank you sir! With Mark Felton and his fantastic fanbase like yourself, it has already improved. Thank you, and I hope you have a great week as well.
I do too appreciate dr felton
I feel ya` it's not just you.
reddit arrows? in u-tube?
Imagine captured in a German hospital and you hear someone speaking Japanese
"It's the delirium caused by medicines" they would say 😁
"Tenno hekai banzai!" But in thick German tone
Or Korean!
These bastards were probably learning new tricks from the Nazis to use in their Unit 731 projects
@@davefryer4530 Who weren't bastards? Every side committed crimes against humanity.
A fascinating listen once again - I had no idea that there was any truth to Japanese soldiers fighting alongside the Germans in Europe apart from those Koreans that got there after being captured by the Soviet Union in some of the battles of the late 30s.
Obviously you weren't paying attention to the video then. The Japanese didn't fight alongside the German's, they only observed wounded soldiers and passed the information back to Japan.
how can you hear something that is not there lol
Where does Mark keep getting these from? I can't wait for "Nazi SS-Aztec Legion - Germany's WW2 Mexican Brigades"
@@jimmyavpi Japan + Germany = love
Hey it's Hilbert!!!
I was listening to the "real dictator" podcast today. I was pleasantly surprised to here Mark on as a guest.
link pls
It's spelt 'hear' not 'here' 😅😂
Oh my god I came to comment the same man, was a pleasant surprise at work.
@@phillipq5814 Looked like an auto correction to me.
*hear
As Japanese, this story is amazing.
We didn't know Japanese were served as wehrmacht officer.
I had heard the rumor some japanese fought for germany, but I didn't believe because I had never seen evidence that Japanese were serving wehrmacht.
Thank you for sharing incredible story.
"amazing"💀💀💀☠️
@@yilongliu8902 Yes, it is amazing. Your country and ours had only an alliance under convenience. Nothing more superficial than the allied alliance. Your country (China) and mine (US) were enemies immediately after the war despite "winning".....we saved you from the Japanese and you repay us by repeatedly provoking us. Looking forward to the next conflict my friend. We will help Japan this time. :)
@@user-pn3im5sm7k Damn bro the guy was just being a sarcastic snob you didn't have to blame him for the death 50 million Chinese in the hands of Mao 💀
@@thenorthstarsamurai I don't understand how Mao's killings were relevant to my comment but it is quite ironic that the Chinese cry all day about "Japanese aggression" when the Chinese wounded up killing more Chinese than Japan ever did both in and out of the war.
@@user-pn3im5sm7k I just said that you told him all this as he was the reason why. Just a joke.
The Germans had also been training the Chinese against the Japanese in the 30s. Chiang Kai-sheks step son was a serving officer and was one of the lead tank commanders into Austria.
He's Jiang Weiguo (Name spelled in Mainland Pinyin)
That's pre Ww2.
@@Trgn I know. Relevance is training both sides.
@@Trgnsome germans stayed behind to fight the japanese still
Imagine if they were send to Italy and they fought with the Japanese Americans working with the US
What an awkward situation that would be
"Our Japanese are better than your Japanese"
That happened with italian soldiers and Italian americans
@@Guadalajara1937 Like my uncle.
Imagine both Japanese launched banzai charges against each other
" Oh come on Mark, this is common knowledge, everyone knows this." said nobody ever.
Can't be that common knowledge as this channel has 200000+views?
@@kestrel5065 I mean theres like 7B+ people in the world
Everyone in your town ?
Good Tuesday everyone!
Hello, have a nice day!
Morning spunky chunks.
@@amaccama3267 mornin' 🙋♂️
Tis Wednesday here xD
And a good Tuesday to you
Allied Soldiers: “They’re turning Japanese. I think they’re turning Japanese. I really think so.”
Reminds me of that quote from US soldiers when they started taking “German” prisoners and finding a massive mix of nationalities - “Just who are we fighting, anyway?”.
Literally lol.
The explanation is simple; when Germany surrendered, all German units and assets magically converted to Japanese. 😉😂
Everyone around them is a total stranger
Everyone avoids them like some psycho rangers
Everyone
This is something I had no idea about before now. Stories like this are why I subscribed. Cheers Mark.
*I've had this copy and pasted for a while now so I figured I'd throw this in lol*
Fun Fact: WW2 Germany quite literally had the most racially/ethnically diverse fighting force in modern history-as Hitler and the gang didn't think of themselves as some mythical 'superior Aryan race' that wanted to cleanse the earth of those who weren't-from Asia you had the likes of Koreans/Chinese/Mongolians/Japanese *to an extent-some of which did in fact find themselves in combat in Europe but only a very small few Japanese did* and even over ten thousand Sikh's from India (aka the Free Indian Legion), from the Middle East & Africa you had the "Free Arabian Legion" with most members being from Iraq & North Africa + Azerbaijani/Turkish Muslims/black Africans/Syrian's who fought the British in their country/Armenian's & more, from Eastern Europe you had the "Russian Liberation Army" made up of over 50,000 defectors from the Red Army (including Andrey Vlasov-a high ranking General) + Cossacks & Slovaks in general from the Soviet Union & places like Ukraine/Yugoslavia/Croatia/Bosnia/Hungary/Romania/Georgia/Belorussia along with Abkhazians/Circassians/Balkars/Karachais/Chechens/Ingushes, and the peoples of Daghestan which all formed into the "Caucasian-Mohammedan Legion", from Western & Southern Europe you had volunteers from country's like France/Norway/Estonia/Latvia/Denmark/Finland/Netherlands/Belgium/Italy/Spain/Montenegro/Serbia and MORE; in short you had Asians/Middle Eastern & African Muslims/Indian's/Slovaks & Western European's ALL fighting underneath the same banner... Even in the "Battle of Berlin" MOST of the SS/Wehrmacht combatants WEREN'T even German-in fact there were more French fighting in uniform than there were German soldiers 👀
Regardless what anyone's personal feelings are that's irrefutably a remarkable feat, and mind you virtually all of those 'foreign' fighting men in the Waffen-SS/Wehrmacht were VOLUNTEERS *SS strictly took volunteers only as well* all united under the said purpose of destroying the scourge of Communism (most of the world saw it that way at one point and time) and to end imperialism in their respective countries (like India or various parts of the Mid East and Africa).
I think Mr Felton has been dabbling in the occult. Within seconds of me thinking "I'm bored, surely a Mark Felton video is due soon", a notification appears...
No..lol I 5G Jay would know...plus no such thing...just regular ppl who lie
Lol. Same happened with me :)
We already suspect he possesses the SS ritual rings lost in castle Wolfenstein. I'm sure mr. Felton's magic powers are quite extreme.
Maybe it's *ed* who has the occult power to summon Dr Felton.
@@robbywilshire Compare 1930s Nazi Germany Vs 2020s Communist China IN YOUR NEXT VIDEO Project!!!
Where does Dr Felton find these amazing stories from WW2? Im hooked.
He's going to upload a vid of his library soon . Its huge
@@daveyboy_ such a shame that the old one in Alexandria was destroyed.
There numerous but hard to find sources original mostly about WWI and WWII as well. The current lack in real history makes these videos and information stand out a lot more than they should have been in times when real history was more prominent in the media.
National archives and lots of Military post-action reports
He imagines them, and history rewrites itself to accommodate to them
You're an absolute golden historian. You provide a compelling story that I felt compelled to double check and in the process read upon details that you couldn't possible cover in the medium allowed. Bravo.
Hmm, interesting, now the question is: did Japan have a German legion in their own army fromed from the embassy of Germany in Tokyo as well?
+1
If I recall correctly, there were Europeans serving in the IJA in China.
@@envitech02 White Russians. They were killed off by them. Mark made a video of this.
There were germans and Italians that served In the ijn during the war, this was because of the many submarine voyages undertaken by the kreigsmarine and occasionally the royal Italian navy, when Germany surrendered in 1945 and Italy split into two in 1943, there were still German submarines in Japanese controlled waters, their crews were given the choice of serving in the ijn or being detained. One notable example being the Italian sub comandante cappellini which served under the flags of both Italy and Germany and Japan. As to your original question of a Japanese army unit being formed from German embassy personal, there wasn’t one to my knowledge.
As a little kid in the mid 1950's, I saw a TV interview with British Field Marshal Montgomery. At the time, I had no idea who Montgomery was. My impression of him was that he was stuffy and arrogant. Montgomery told the story of seeing a banzai attack. After the attack, which did not break through British lines, the Brits began clean up. Among the Japanese, the Brits found a white man, whom they assumed to be one of their own. But when they checked the insignia on his uniform, the dead man turned out to be a Waffen SS officer. The Brits photographed the German, but could find no further information on him. I bet that German had one hell of a tale to tell!
Always learn something new and interesting from Dr Felton. Thank you…
Its 1am here in Sydney and a new Mark Felton video is exactly what I need to cure my anxiety
It’s 10am CST 🇺🇸
11:02 AM Manila, Philippines
ww2 is calming to U?
Goddamn Ur cold
11:03 EST 🇺🇸
Relax have a cup of coffee.
I would love to see some more videos on the Winter and Continuation Wars. Surely Mark Felton can uncover some more interesting and obscure stories from those conflicts.
Once again, Dr. Felton, you have shown light into the forgotten and fascinating corners of History-- many, many thanks for all you do!
Excellent as always Mr. Felton. Always learning something new!👍👍👍
Now this is a special history lesson.
Another ‘I had no bloody idea war story’ from Dr Felton. Thank you 🙏, you do not fail to intrigue!
Fantastic as always Dr. Felton! There are countless individual stories/battles/missions throughout the war. The level of detail you present is fascinating and the amount of knowledge and information is astounding as well as entertaining. My appreciation and thanks to you friend for your hard work and great videos. Respects from 🇨🇦.
What a wonderfully obscure subject. Every time I think that I already know everything interesting about WWII, Mark comes up with some weird but carefully researched find. Thank you.
Just when you think you've heard it all. And could you cover the Korean man who was forced to fight. In the Japanese, Soviet, and German army in WW2?
Its been done by other TH-camrs.
@@MarkFeltonProductions but they don't have the Feltonesque touch, Sir 😉
@@MarkFeltonProductions Maybe on Americans in the Japanese Army
@@MarkFeltonProductions
But it would be a unique experience if it was covered by you
@@photomukund Interesting that we all think it has to be done by Mark Felton. Otherwise it lacks something
“Smiling Albert” Kesselring lives up to his nickname after capture.
lol
He was likely quite relieved that it was the Americans who captured him, not the Russians.
@@gregb6469In Felton's voice "...and he never stopped smiling afterwards."
@Customer Engineer If I remember correctly, he was sentenced to death because of his orders for terror bombings on British cities but his lawyers fought this sentence with success because allied powers also used terror bombing tactics on German cities.
His book is a great read
Hearing the Mark Felton channel theme music always makes me happy. Such great content in every video.
This channel never ceases to amaze and fascinate me. A huge fan, thanks so much, Mark.
Would you ever cover the son of chiang kai shek that was in the German army?
Yep, I seem to recall hearing stories about that, indeed it would make for a great video.
Yep, the 21 year old Chiang Wei-Kuo
I did not know that, but it makes sense. Germany strongly supported the Republic of China fighting the communist. The National revolutionary army wore the stahlhelm german helmet during WW2.
I somehow mis read that as "shrek"
my grandfather on the german side met him in Taiwan in the early 1950s so they spoke German together, although they’d never actually met in the 1930s or war years. He also met Chiang Kai Shek
Dr Felton thank you for another excellent video.
Fantastic video as always Mark! Looking forward to the next one 👍🏻
Thanks for the great content! Looking forward to the new channel
Mark, you and your (possible) editing team do a fantastic job on all of your vids. Cheers, from 🇺🇸.
My brain : wants to sleep
Mark felton : uploads a vid
Me : no sleep for me
Relax have a cup of coffee
wait, what hour is it in your country?
@@stanlysteemer4872 where i live,it's already lunch time.
It's 17:45 in Germany
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 12:45 AM in South Korea.
My daily dose of history. Thank you for all you do!
Absolutely awesome video…Dr.Mark! it’s like a thousand short stories about WW2 that we wouldn’t have learned, all wrapped up into continuing stories like this one👍
I know its bed time but first... time to learn a new WW2 fact by Dr Felton and yet another wonderful video👏
Mark Felton, master of 20th century military apocrypha. His genius lies in the realization that human experience has no limit of interesting and unexpected events, ironies, and exploits. I feel like there's got to be room on a streaming service for a show like this.
Your mini-docs never fail to impress me, sir! Thank you, Mark.
had nothing to watch then see a new up load from Sir Felton , love war history and your channel the best there is
When you hear a banzai charge, but realize you're not in the Pacific :O
You wouldn't hear a banzai charge because the Japanese didn't fight alongside the German's. If you could actually hear at all, what you would hear is that the Japanese were there observing wounded soldiers and had no form of combat in any way. Perhaps your vision is better than your hearing, let's hope so..
@@jimmyavpi twas but a joke, my lad.
@@jimmyavpi whoosh
@@DakotaofRaptors Aren't jokes supposed to be funny though?
@@jimmyavpi it's hit or miss.
Japanese to captured allied officers:"We're going to have you build a railroad!"
Allies to captured Japanese officers:"So sorry about the tents, we got hotels for you to stay in now."
Marines in the pacific: “he won’t come out of the cave! Bury him.”
Historical footnote. The original american flamethrowers didn't work so good. So the US copied and improved upon captured japanese flamethrowers. Those saps in caves were suffocated/roasted with variants of their own equipment.
Marines killed most of the prisoners in the Pacific though
Apparently, the US received compliments from captured German and Italian officers about the quality of their POW camps.
I think the State Department and the Army were trying to uphold standards... and/or show off.
Marines: Japanese are almost impossible to capture.
Troop A 116th cavalry: Really? We've captured lots of them.
Marines: (surprised pikachu face).
So many treasures of history on your channel! Much thanks
Where this guy gets these stories blows my mind! I never miss a single one they're terrific
Just imagine what those uniforms would be worth now.
Oh hell yeah
Earliest I’ve ever been for a Mark Felton Production!
Wow, I had no idea about this. Thank you for the video on the topic.
Mark’s history videos are just amazing, get to learn a lot of new things in the WW2 era ( the best WW2 documentaries)
Thank you Dr. Felton!
All I can say is wow. I was unaware of this unit and I thought I knew of all axis type groups attached to the Wermacht. Another brilliant gem brought to us by mark.
Magnificent work once again. Dr. Felton is truly a gift to the internet. His excellent channel redeems TH-cam from being a wasteland of cheap entertainment.
What I like about your channel is that you bring now and again stories which are not that known.
Mark, during the battle of Stalingrad, the Germans sent a forensic pathologist to Stalingrad to find out why German soldiers were literally dropping dead on the spot, turns out the diet they were receiving was causing Starvation! Something about the phosphate level in their bodies had changed. Can you look into that as a possible video.
I read that autopsies showed almost no internal body fat. They were then issued a ration of a lard like substance to eat with their bread.
@@657449 Yeah, it was the "new and improved" diet that killed them. High fat meat paste or something.
@@StalinTheMan0fSteel how would that cause deaths of starvation? That's one of the most calorie dense foods I can imagine
@@StalinTheMan0fSteel It could have been a high protein, low fat (jerky-type) diet- it would be an interesting project for Mark to research, as British commandos also died eating special rations of this type, meant to be light-weight, because it lacked essential fats.
@@Julianna.Domina It was something to do with the mineral balance in the body. I can't give you a definite answer.
Honestly as a Japanese personel i am watching this for homework and its absolutely informative and interesting at the same time. I usually find homework for history boring but watching mark felton say this stuff is just different because he actually has good and informative information about ww2, thank you mark felton for this amazing and interesting documentary😁
Edit:i got full marks on my homework after submitting it online😁
やった！
Another superb and fascinating content by Dr. Felton. Thank you!
Another excellent one!! You Sir are doing outstanding work. 👏👏
When the Mark Felton music starts,
you know you're going to learn a lot.
Jesus the amount of things unknown to 99.99% of people about WW2 is crazy, every single video you make I learn something new. Amazing content as always.
Learning something new about WW2 , once more. Thank you, Mr Felton.
Thx for your dedication
I thought for sure that the SS would have tried to recruit them to form a division! It could have been called the SS Banzai Adolf Hitler division (or platoon)
*Hitler becomes a weeb eletric boogaloo*
Or Kempetai Gestapo SS Cooperation Division.
Well as we know there were not enough of them. Also they would want them at home fighting the Americans. Plus that would mean their agreement with the Soviets was no longer in play. Having said that you have to wonder how their division would perform. Especially in Normandy.
SS Division "Aufgehende Sonne" (Rising Sun)
or
SS Division "Morgensonne" (Morning Sun)
Bang Bang division
Once again, salute to you Mark for probing these little known events, refining and delivering them so adeptly. But you still didn't explain why Basil Fawlty was on the Eastern Front at 03:20!
Mark Felton...once again to say you never cease to amaze me. Again historic photos and video and an interesting story.!!
Thank you, Dr. Felton. Your exquisite research, Your eloquent narration, and Your dedication to the subject You specialize in, make each of Your videos a true masterpiece. Keep up the great work, this impeccable Magnum Opus of Yours. We eagerly await every of Your next upload.
Dr. Felton is at it again!
Please cover German POWs in America! Swords into Plowshares is a great book about all the camps in my home state of Minnesota. Definitely an interesting part of WW2 that’s all but forgotten.
Another great video. Keep up the great work Mark!
Awesome vlog! As always the best!
That was fascinating Mark really. My dad was in the 8th army 80th tank group. He evenly got shot in the head my a German sniper after the Sherman tank that he was a gunner in got hit and he escaped through the bottom hatch . He managed to get out of the tank but the sniper got him. He was 100% disabled from there on in. But that was very fascinating about the Japanese and there dealing with the Germans . Never knew that . Great stuff as always . Thanks again Mark.
There were also Portuguese Army Observers also in Germany on the 2nd World War with a famous photograph showing a German Honour Guard on the repatriation of the corpse of an observer that had died.
Super interesting information and narrative! Thank you Mark!
Thanks Dr. Felton for uploading another great video!
Please make a about Chiang Kai Shek son Chiang Wei-kuo who serve in German Army
There are pictures of him in German uniform.
The Chinese had a good relationship with the Germans, buying among other things 300,000 M35 helmets.
i think it has been mentioned in some former videos, but i would like a few videos about taiwan and kmt
@@juki6377 yes, and some other history yt channel also make video about him. But somehow there's a huge hole in his German military career. Sometimes, they jump to period when he join US military instead
@@Aninkovsky just like everything else, it depends on your sources. i suppose its hard because the kmt was also pretty brutal
BABE WAKE UP, MARK FELTON JUST DROPPED CROSSOVER WEHRMACHT LEGION VID
I seen you on Monarchist Music
Always interesting video subjects. Thanks again.
Great stuff, Dr Felton.
Would be interesting to explore the life of Richard Sorge.
I knew Japan was in alliance with Germany but never knew that a Japanese/German legion existed. Interesting thx for the upload 👍✨
once again what an excellent youtube program.. never heard about that from my history teacher. Thank you Mark.
Very interesting and worthwhile video with excellent analysis.
Mark,
I would love to see you do a special on German advisors or at least officers who served In the Pacific with the Japanese Armed Forces. Thanks for always posting amazing content. 🎉
Once I heard about the Japanese Embassy in Berlin, my thoughts instantly went to what happened to that during the Soviet assault. Thanks for answering that.
Another informative and entertaining video, keep them coming 👍
Thank you again for this interesting video, Dr. Felton!
I’m a simple man, I see Mark Felton post I watch and like
Amen --~ø
"Bad Gastein"
This is what you get at a TACO BELL in Austria.
Or you get it a couple of hours after visiting Taco Bell in Austria.
Bad means bath
I was one of your first 150,000 followers and just wanna say thanks...these videos have helped me during HARD times.
Great video as always Dr.Felton.
I was finding something interesting to watch
But what is more interesting than this.
Thanks Dr. Felton for informing us that there were Japanese who were actually at the front alongside the Germans.
How many times do I have to write this in people's comments? Mr Felton isn't speaking in Arabic, its easy to understand English. He says, the Japanese only observed wounded soldiers and passed the information back to Japan. He doesn't say Japanese soldiers shot and killed Soviet soldier's. So no, the Japanese didn't fight alongside the German's, they observed.
@@jimmyavpi I have edited it OK?
@@Fearless_on_my_Breath was just saying. That's how mistakes are made in history. All it takes is for one person to have read your comment and believed it, took it as fact and in 50yrs time, told his great grand children. Then your great grand children would believe and tell there children that Japan fought in the USSR. That could cause diplomatic problems in the year 2103 and Russia and Japan could go to war all because of you.
@@jimmyavpi OK I get it you are a foresighted person
Thanks for pointing my mistake.
Actually I had posted it before watching the whole video and was gonna change it but ignored it and then I forgot till you reminded me.
And I also lost my heart given by Dr. Felton himself cuz I edited the comment.
@@Fearless_on_my_Breath Sorry you lost your heart. Dr. Felton, though is being rather sneaky. When we read the bookmark, we automatically think the Japanese actually fought alongside the German's, which as we now know, didn't. This is to grab our attention. Then we are let down only to find out the Japanese were only observers. Naughty naughty Mr Felton..
The patches of these foreign legions in german service are today most likely worth a lot.
They are being reproduced for reasonable cost, the originals are obviously highly prized and expensive.
I've never seen even one of the many sellers of repro Third Reich militaria for reenactors selling the Rising Sun arm badge...
They say that you are never to old to learn. Found that out today .Thank you for this .
Much appreciated, brother Mark.
Never heard of this one before!
Another great bit of little known history. How about a video on how you research your topics, steps, sources, fact checking. It can be general. I am not a college trained historian. I research war and veteran memorials in the US. I look at the location, the words and symbols used, who sponsored the memorial, and if the memorial is used in annual remembrance ceremonies.
Yet another FANTASTICALLY informative video!
I am beginning to become fond of this limey!
Interesting Story Mark. I've never seen anything about this topic before!! Good Show Mate!!
Thanks for making my day Dr. Felton!
US nisei fought with distinguished honors in ww2 and they were some of the hardest fighting troops in the army.
I swear every time you do a video I learn something new.
Thank you very much for your work. Every video is great. I just wonder where are you digging for this amazing stuff:) Greetings from Poland:)