Week 236 - MacArthur and Nimitz Go Head-to-Head - March 4, 1944
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- The American attacks against the Admiralty Islands are successful, but this causes real tensions between Commanders Douglas MacArthur and Chester Nimitz. Much of this week is taken up by planning and meetings on both sides, actually- Adolf Hitler plans the occupation of Hungary, Josef Stalin plans new offensives in Ukraine, and the Allies plan to reconfigure their whole front in Italy. It's all the prelude to an explosion of action.
Join us on Patreon: / timeghosthistory
Or join the TimeGhost Army directly at: timeghost.tv/s...
Check out our TimeGhost History TH-cam channel: / timeghost
Between 2 Wars: • Between 2 Wars
Follow WW2 Day by Day on Instagram: @ww2_day_by_day
Follow TimeGhost History on Instagram: @timeghosthistory
Like us on Facebook: / timeghosthistory
Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Ian Sowden
Written by: Indy Neidell
Research by: Indy Neidell
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Artwork and color grading by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Carlos Ortega Pereira, BlauColorizations, / blaucolorizations
www.flickr.com...
Norman Stewart - oldtimesincolo...
Jaris Almazani (Artistic Man), ...
Election1960 commons.wikime...
Source literature list: bit.ly/SourcesWW2
Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters - www.screenocea...
Image sources:
RIA Novosti, image _606710
Bundesarchiv
IWM NA 10630, S15 42
Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
Philip Ayers - The Unexplored
Johan Hynynen - Dark Beginning
Fabien Tell - Weapon of Choice
Fabien Tell - Break Free
Brightarm Orchestra - On the Edge of Change
Cobby Costa - Missing the Subtext
Craft Case - Secret Cargo
Alec Slayne - Conspiracy Inc.
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
Indy here. Spartacus, James, Francis, and I just finished a D Day writing workshop in Austria. We- together with Markus- are writing that whole 24 hour series, which comes out June 6th. It's really coming along! The whole thing is now properly organized and the various threads are being written simultaneously so that when it comes out, it will very much be something that no one has ever done before. Really, the way we're doing it is a completely new thing. Nearly a third of the whole day- studio and on location stuff- has been filmed, and the first nine hours will all be in the can three weeks from now. Just thought you'd appreciate an update!
Always a correct observation in relation to a war: What the actual fuck is going on here!?
Thank you for all you do!
I can't wait for D-Day! We always enjoy hearing about how the D-Day project/Operation Neptune is coming along!
Thanks for the update
As of March 1,1944 the Germans have had 1,581,407 deaths and approximately 4,500,000 wounded on the Eastern Front. In the month of March 1944 they will have an additional 93,660 deaths and approximately 300,000 wounded on the Eastern Front.
Hearing Indy say "What the actual fuck?" made my day. Thank you!
I had to watch that a couple of times. I literally laughed out loud. no shit
I hope the G.I.'s favorite word will result in no demonetization.
I can't believe he said that word, it shocked me actually!
I'd prefer "WTF, Over?"
How common was the word “f--“ used in this era? My father used “What the Sam Hill…” frequently .He was a soldier by this time.
Admiral Nimitz kept a portrait of Douglas MacArthur in his office. When a subordinate asked him why he had that portrait in his office, knowing that the admiral despised MacArthur; Nimitz responded that he had it to remind himself what an asshole is, and to try not to be one himself.
One more reason to like Nimitz.
Or to use it as a dart board 🎯😂
it didn't work
One of the reasons why Macarthur was such an a-hole back in the day, he's nothing more than overrated diva of military commander. That's why he was sacked from the Army and his dream of becoming a US president is in shambles, that's why a better US Army General of WWII became President in 1952, Ike, not the "Gaijin" Macarthur.
I keep a framed photo of Nimitz in my den for the same reason. Oops, to be clear, it's to remind me that MacArthur was an asshole. And as a tribute to Nimitz.
In the many years of this channel, Indy Neidell accused me of being:
- Adolf Hitler
- Mao Zedong
- Joseph Stalin
And probably many more I am forgetting. I am denying these accusations
You left out the Prince of Darkness or my sister in law
I can totally imagine McArthur saying "What the actual fuck?"
I don't blame him. The Admiralty Islands is not even in the direction that Nimitz wanted to use to get to Japan.
MacArthur never swore in his life. Everyone swears on this fact
@@mikepette4422 Imagine never hearing a man swear, everyone you know who knows him telling you he doesn't swear, and then one day you hear him swear.
That's when you know that man is pissed off beyond all reason.
@@aaroncabatingan5238 Would've still been a very much needed naval base
The timelines are kind of mind boggling when WW2 is told "in real time":
1. We are a mere 3 months away from Overlord and the allies are still stuck at Cassino
2. The Germans still occupy large swaths of Soviet territories, but just a little over a year from now the Red Army will be knocking on the doorsteps of Berlin
3. Much of the Pacific has been liberated as quickly as they had been initially occupied - would be interesting to see how this series is presented from May-Aug 1945 after the fall of Germany
I did catch that these Soviet offensives were aimed at Brest (current Polanf- Belarus border + Curzon line, and Jassy / Iasi / Iași -which is in current Romania and well inside of 1919-1940 Romania
Sure some pacific islands have been occupied by the Americans now and with that they can threaten Japan much more, but also Japan still holds their main price, the Phillipines and ressource rich Indonesia. The pacific always was just a shield to protect those conquests, and similar to Germany, Japan still holds large parts of its war aims. And similar to Germany it will all crumble a year later.
What are you? Clairvoyant or something?
@@Voigt151
Surely the U.S. will never be able to recapture the Philippines in 1944…..
Right….?
Dude! Spoilers!
Cant wait for the week by week series on the Hundred Years’ War
Now that’s job security!
Gonna have to wait a while longer, because we need to do the Thirty Years' War first, and then the Eighty Years' War, to make sure that the audience is ready.
@@WorldWarTwo Warm up with The Hundred Days (Napoleon in 1815), then the Seven Years War.
@GymQuirk I'd love a series on the 7 year war, but a month by month might be the way to go there
I want a week by week series on the Six Day War.
For the week of October 20, 1944 please start off dressed as MacArthur with a pipe saying “I have returned” on the phone
macarrthur dressed up as the terminator saying '''ill be back'''
the thing is things were well in hand they didn't need him back
Why is Indy dressed as MacArthur? The world wonders
Apparently the BBC had to get Vera Lynn to record “Lilly Marlane” in English after the 8th army had heard it so often on Axis radio and liked it so much they started requesting it be played on British forces radio.
I had to get it in Spotify after hearing it so often in HoI4 radio so I can see why
"That's modern war" really threw me back to the TGW days
When I started watching that, I was in high school. Now I'm about to graduate college. I hope to be able to join the TGA with my first paycheck before the war ends.
You’re about to graduate college and you’ve never received a paycheck before?
@@FoxWolfWorld
Well, plenty of people are like that.
@@FoxWolfWorldDepending on which country, culture and/or social background you’re from, it’s possible to have your parents pay for everything until you finish college/university. (Sorry for late reply to this, just rewatching some old episodes)
A moment of silence for all of those who had to interact with MacArthur and his ego.
I saw an interview with his secretary, who used to sort his mail... he received a letter from his driver, addressed to "He Who Walks and Talks With God." The morale campaign intended to gloss over his loss of the Philippines was maybe a little too effective.
As a contractor, I had to do some work at Victoria Barracks, St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia twenty something years ago. Within one of the buildings that runs parallel with St Kilda Road is an enclosed communication bridge that is sealed off, because "Mac Arthur walked across there!"
I kid you not! 100% truth!
Mark from Melbourne Australia
At least he had the nous not to beat the shell-shocked in front of witnesses... Unlike another general I could mention...
@@stevekaczynski3793 True. I figure that of Patton had survived the war, he would have disgraced himself eventually like Mac did.
He was nothing like Eisenhower. I like that guy, and I have a feeling he might do something of note after the war.
About week ago, the village where my grandma-in-law spent the winter after her own was burnt in the Porkhov area near Pskov, North Russia, was liberated. This is the time when the area sees Soviet troops on the move.
"I am alone in the izba" she recalls, "and here, at the entrance, stands a Soviet officer. I've already gotten used to Germans standing there, so it was a surprise at first"
"Girl, why is it so dark here?" he asks.
"We have no kerosine."
"Ah, well, give me a bucket."
"We have no bucket either..."
He brought their own bucket of kerosine.
A few days later, there was a knock at the window of the izba where she and other refugees lived. An officer asked for her father. It appeared that he was a husband of the elder sister. She went to the Leningrad area before the war, and married the guy. Since the family was divided by the frontline, it was the first time they've learned of the daughter's marriage.
A few days later, the young husband was killed in action.
Soviet troops were now pouring towards Pskov. One night, the overfilled izba was to house a platoon of troops. Those were Mongoloid young men from Central Asia. None spoke Russian. Each had a pack of dry porridge and they made the woman who cooked know that they want them prepared separately. She has shown them, that there's only one pot to cook, but that she will give each one an even portion when the porridge is done. So she did. A little girl, who never saw the world without the war, came to them with a little spoon, and each one of let her eat a spoon of their porridge. The villagers haven't had food like porridge for months now.
The next day, the soldiers were off to Pskov. Hardly many of them survived.
I live for these kind of stories under this episodes. I'm gonna share my grandfather stories when the time comes, in about a year as the soviets will be pushing through pomerania.
@@wojciechbalcerzak7395 Thank you for sharing when the time comes. These comments are some of the best parts of this series!
I wonder if the porridge was Lend Lease from the USA?
@@markfryer9880 Thinking of which - they hardly weren't. Why would they be individually packed otherwise?
@@wojciechbalcerzak7395 Please do. It is regrettable that I wasn't smart enough to talk more to my grandpa-in-law when he was still alive. He could've told more about the German presence in Latvia. Too many stories are unfortunately gone for good.
Indy saying "what the actually fuck" was so unexpected I couldn't help but laugh.
I would like to point out that I am not, in fact, Joseph Stalin.
Edit: Next week's episode will be three hours long at this rate.
Are you from the future? Psychic? Puh-leeze!!!
How do you know what’s going to happen next week?!
don't tease
But if you _were_ Joseph Stalin you might well lie about that fact, so we cannot be sure.
@@marshalleubanks2454 Are you going to test us with Iocane powder now?
Joseph Stalin trusted no one, not even himself. So how can we trust you?
I never knew that McArthur said "what the actual f*" over this issue 🤭 omg Indy you crack me up lol.
Hurrah for Admiral Tom Kinkaid! The bail out admiral. Bailed us out in the Aleutians. Bailed out Halsey at with Taffy 3. And this week he made McArthur look like a brilliant tactician! I had the privilege of visiting him at his apartment in Washington D.C. He told me to take what I wanted from an old trunk. I took his heavy woolen socks and long underwear from the Aleutians. That clothing still serves me today. Admiral Kinkaid deserves more applause from all of us.
he was a very good admiral.
Nice! More stories please, if you have them.
And (breaking the timeline for a moment here) he also kicked ass in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in about 7 months time. Truly an impressive leader of men
Not to diminish Kinkaid, but mainly MacArthur, the Australians had captured the Japanese Army books and code at Saidor back on 19th January (buried in a river bank). The Allies had not been able to crack the army codes yet so this was a great boom
They sent it back to Brisbane dried out the books and then started to read the IJA messages round the South Pacific. MacArthur was informed of the size and dispositions of garrison on the islands around New Guinea. This included the Admiralty Islands.
Hence, MacArthur could land the troops at the back of the islands instead of the bay where where the small garrison was dug in because of the deciphered codes. MacArthur got lucky when the garrison nearly pushed his recon in force unit back into sea, but ran out of troops. It makes him look great that he captured a strategic island with a limited force, but it was a near run thing. And once again, the Japanese suspect nothing with their codes being compromised.
MacArthur also used this same Intel from Japanese Army codes to invade Biak in May and Morotai in September, hitting them where they weren't.
Kinkaid was a good, level headed leader so his presence at Admiralty Island probably reassured MacArthur more than anything else. This was first SW Pacific invasion that needed Task Force 58 carriers and they needed to cover MacArthur flank (Marianas). Kinkaid could probably advise MacArthur of how that was going directly and reassure him of how good the US Navy was becoming.
I served in the US Marine Corps with Admiral Ghormley Grandson, who is now a Major General.
"What the actual fuck?" "This is modern war". Amazing Indy. Thank you.
6:44 Below Ground. While not at Anzio or Monte Casino, my Dad (Ist RCR) told me about how they always dug in during the Italian campaign, particularly if they had taken a German position. He said his entrenching tool was the most important thing he carried through Sicily and Italy. And it wasn't just German artillery and counter attacks-- on night they were bombed by the USAF, in a friendly fire incident. They were all dug in, and no one got a scratch even though the bombs landed all around.
Indy swearing is a rare and beautiful gift
Hitler seems to think he has enough peanut butter to spread over any sized piece of bread.
That's modern war! I loved your WW1 series really took me back there you guys are amazing
It's almost like this whole war is just a sequel!
1:01 There you are, watching your favourite World War two channel and all of a sudden - You're Stalin! You didn't ask for this. You didn't choose this. Yet there it is.
I have been waiting for this episode. My Grandad landed in Italy March 1944 with the British 4th Division , 2nd battalion in the Somerset light Infantry . He had been based before at Gibraltar and in the next few months he saw action for the first time and when the time comes I will share his story.
My dad deployed to Italy w/ the 88th infantry, 313 ENgineers.
This is, by far, one of the very best history channels on TH-cam.
Your narration is the reason I watch
Thank you
*Hitler:* "There's absolutely no way the Soviets will push us back!"
*Stalin:* "Hold my hammer & my sickle, Comrade."
We should've fought the commies on the day after VE day. Fuck communism
You forgot the next line
Hitler on hearing of the Soviet offensive.
‘What the actual fuck’
😃
Since Kursk Hitler has been actively denuding the Easter front and surrendering ground to fight in Italy and defend France. Goebbels' propaganda has already shifted to a seige mentality.
I know you're being flip, but it's not historical. They know they're in deep shit and fighting for survival. Hitler is prepared to give ground in the east, he's still lucid and rational.
Boooring and dead joke
Indy just hangs up on random callers. Two wars has really taken a toll on him. 🤣🤣🤣
"I have an idea for a suicide unit to turn the balance of the war."
"Germany is not desperate enough to need such sacrifice.... BUUUUT when can you start?"
"don't test me Nimitz I've burned down camps of homeless veterans to get where I am, don't think I won't do the same to you!" macarthur, probably.
Definitely sounds like something ol’ Mac would say
Exactly thirty years after March 3rd, 1944 my wonderful Uncle is born. Who like his grandfather before him, joins the US Marines and is stationed in the Pacific. Unlike my great grandfather however, my Uncle's service was voluntary.
You forgot to mention Smiling Albert when you mentioned Kesselring. That's a surprise. Indy is usually so committed to emphasizing that :P
I actually wondered for a long time, why the hell albert kesselring is "smiling"?
@@pepethezhaba1820 he was known for smiling a lot
@Retired Bore lol True
@@pepethezhaba1820 He had a big mouthful of teeth!
Atkinson wrote of a 'decapitation strike on his HQ by B17s', which killed most of his staff and where he had to dig himself out of the rubble, "wiped out that smile."😁
I love how Halsey is the middle guy in this whole Nimitz-MacArthur grudge, Halsey is in charge of Naval South Pacific Command (Macarthur's area of command) and also Nimitz's close friend, Halsey probably tried to mediate the problem by taking the Admiralties so both couldn't claim the islands for themselves, Halsey worked with both Nimitz and Macarthur during his naval career, first in command of South Pacific Command(Macarthur's area of operation in 1943-44) and then later in Fall of 1944 in command of 3rd Fleet, which under supervision of Nimitz. Hall
That intro, "YOU, ARE JOSEPH STALIN". 🤣
06:55 Those dugouts reminds me of a Bill Mauldin Willie and Joe cartoon during the Italian campaign where they are making a dugout using spent artillery shells and asking the artillerymen to fire a few more rounds so they complete it.
This channel is absolutely a masterpiece! Giving the day by day week by week of ww2 and the commentary by indie is awesome.
@Shane W
Thank you! You’re a masterpiece! ❤️
I didn't realize how close we are to D Day until this episode. Just 12 weeks
I hope on the week from the 19th to 25th of August 1944, you'll finish the opening with "You are Charles de Gaulle". I count on you Indy!!
Macarthur threatens to resign if things dont go his way
Where is the catch?
Until Trumann fires him, in another war.
"What the actual fuck!" Douglass McArthur, March 4, 1944.
44
You could make a truly horrifying soap opera about the inner workings of the Axis alliance. Never has there been an alliance with so much mutual doubt, undermining, greed and general treachery... and crimes against humanity.
It doesn't really count as an alliance - their national chauvinist ideologies precluded true cooperation.
Italy'sambitions in Africa and the Balkans were a possibly fatal distraction, , Japanese ambitions for a Pacific empire were disastrous - if they'd collaborated in Barbarossa the USSR almost certainly goes down. And hell, if they hadn't directly attacked the US it's questionable if they'd get directly involved in the war at all.
So you're right, their choice of 'friends' was terminal. There's probably a moral to this somewhere ... like, don't be a mob of self interested fascist scumbags.
It's always sunny in the third Reich
Hitler NEVER trusted the Japanese !!!
@@onylra6265here you make a great observation especially inasmuch as Hitler and Stalin were "allies" in 1940. When Hitler triumphed in France Stalin gritted his teeth and sent his congratulations but sensed Hitler would attack him later though in his view not before England were defeated.
It already exist is called hetalia axis powers
Mark Felton viewers knew who Axis Sally was and why there were two of them
I love how Indy just casually curses quoting MacArthur.
The late Bill Mauldin, in his classic book "Up Front," had a drawing with his two archetypal GIs, Willie and Joe, looking down at the beach after the battle. The comment went something like, "My God, here they was and there we were."
I'm glad Indy pointed out that here at Anzio the entire sector is "the front line" and all of it is within German artillery range. It really was hell for all the Allies there.
- T.J.
A British soldier whose unit captured a stretch of the German lines on July 1, 1916 (the beginning of the Somme battle) later recalled looking back at his own front line trenches from there and was shocked at how much of the British positions had been under observation - the Germans had been dug in on a slight ridge that gave them a good view.
Has Indy ever sworn 'on air' before? (3:04). The war is taking its toll on him!
Well, when he starts hitting shell-shocked Time Ghost recruits in front of witnesses, it will really be time for him to take a rest... :)
The Leap Day puts the weeks back in sync starting with March 1, which is a Wednesday in both years.
A side note this week on March 1 1944 is that United States fighter ace Lieutenant Charles F. Gumm, with seven confirmed victories, will be killed in a tragic accident when the engine of his P- 51B Mustang fighter failed during take-off in Essex in the United Kingdom. He could have chosen to bail out but decided to stay in the cockpit so as to glide his aircraft towards open ground and avoid endangering innocent lives in the little village of Nayland. His body would eventually be found by local villagers near the burning wreckage.
This intro was the best yet,
Nimitz hated McArthur because he kept calling him over 4 phone lines at the same time, and the pipe made him sound like Peanut's parents. He was a real pain in the rudder.
I finally did it ! I started this serie two moths ago, watching episode after episode and I finally catch you. Next Saturday I will watch an episode live for the first time
Hi Indy
Another wonderful week.
Lots of action.
Thanks.
1:01
For years we’ve have the left leaning twitter meme of Indy declaring that “you are Adolf Hitler”
Today we got the right leaning meme of Indy declaring that “you are Joseph Stalin.”
What a time to be alive. Especially when I’m over here being “Winston Churchill”
"I fully understand that employment in this capacity [suicide bomber] will entail my own death." No need to worry about severance pay when that gig is up.
Next up - applying to be the Sacrifice on Summerisle, The Wicker Man, 1973...
My uncle fought at Anzio 45th Infantry division. From Sicily to Germany. My dad fought on Guam and Okinawa. His cousin MIA 1944 B24 pacific. And older brother kia 44 Belgium.
That is a lot of suffering for one family. I hope they found peace. They fought for our freedom and civilization. Greetings and respect from the Netherlands.
Thank you for sharing your family story.
MacArthur's strategy was to attack where the enemy expects, and just when he expects it again, do it again! His tactics were more intricate and subtle, being developed by his executive staff members: Lee, Roy, and Jenkins.
His intelligence chief, Charles Willoughby (incidentally born in Germany) was a charlatan but he told MacArthur what he wanted to hear.
Hearing Indy cuss was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
I now can see why Joseph Heller set “Catch-22” during the Italian campaign.
Nimitz: Can I build an airfield on this island?
Douglas MacArthur: *Triggered*
Narrator: it will only get worse with MacArthur in the years to come
Loving the swearing. Makes history more authentic
I used to work with Siegfried Westphal's grandson, also named Siegfried (Ziggy) for short. A very nice man, can't speak for his grandfather.
Been watching since 2014 and have never heard Indy swear . lol love you guys.
I think that it might be a first?
He did once wear a singlet during the Great War and showed his tattoos. I was not the only one out there who was traumatised...
Indy: “YOU ARE JOSEF STALIN”
Me: “oh jeeze”
I can't believe we are just 3 months away from D-Day.
Also three months out from Operation Bagration & the Battle of Saipan, sometimes referred to as the Pacific D-Day. June & July are going to be very busy months for Indy & co.
“That’s modern war”
He said it!!!
Indy, that tie makes up for stripes, and plaids. LOL
Really can’t see any motivation for MacArthur other than his own ego.
Sad to think how much sooner the war in the Pacific could have been if the US followed the Navy’s plan.
MacArthur would know best how to deploy his troops. I don't see how the Navy running his sector would be an improvement. The Navy already had it's own sector to manage. You need to explain your logic.
Probably not. The Navy's plan, at this point in the war, of invading Formosa would have set the timetable for operations in the Pacific theater back by months due to the immense logistical demands of preparing such a large-scale invasion. And the alternative plan of directly striking Okinawa hadn't been conceived yet.
MacArthur is the only reason why the Philippines remains pro-American. If that plan went through, you'd see a Philippines that might be amenable to Commienism and/or anti-Americanism...
I feel like the 2nd Polish Corp at Monte Casino are going to be BEARing quite a bit of action.
Hey that's a Dad Joke, careful son!
16:01
The Japanese ambassadors in Berlin: 'Write that down! Write that down!'
This is an excellent historical channel. Thank you.
My grandfather was a tanker in the NZ Division, by his account the decision to bomb Cassino town doomed the assault before it even started.
They used delayed fuses which created enormous craters which made the roads unnavigable to the tanks.
They had to bring up bulldozers to try and fill the craters, while being attacked by the defenders and it became a farce. The smbitions and delusions of the air chiefs cost a lot of lives.
Especially good video thank you Indy.
Thank you!
Never thought i would hear Indy swear in one of these episodes. Caught me off guard for a second.
I do not think I have heard the F Bomb here before....until today. Well done...kudos.
New video for my birthday, thank you
Mark Felton Productions has a great short video on the Suicide Planes and their development and use. Very interesting.
Thank you.
Actual quote from MacArthur! 😁
First time hearing Indy say "F*ck" 🤣🤣
3:05 was pure gold ... Indy should throw in more stuff like that impromptu and totally out of the blue -- It's inevitably hilarious coming from someone who's commentary/delivery always comes across as so classy and well mannered. To this I say -- What the actual fuck, TH-cam? How dare you so flatly and blatantly discourage such things by way of disproportionately severe consequences? Foch You...(Tube)!!!
Hitler: Did you hear that?...There it goes again. If I was a navy man I would swear it sounded like rats leaving a sinking ship!"😂😂
So not only are there multiple Axis Sallies, and an eight-day week, but I'm also Stalin?!! This'll be a long weekend.
Kesserling thinking the war will end before the year's end is very interesting. I wonder how much he knew and was informed about the Eastern Front catastrophes and the disasters to come...
SPOILER
His guess will turn out to be a little on the pessimistic side but not by much. Saying so was however potentially "defeatism" and increasingly in 1944 and 1945, people will be executed for it.
@@stevekaczynski3793 Yeah defeatism was not tolerated by Hitler.
After a strong start last week, we once again go dark on the Burma front.
Merrill's Marauders male a long flanking advance to take up blocking positions behind and to the south of the Japanese 18th division.
The plan is for them to hold here and prevent the retreat of the Japanese who are facing the much more numerous main Chinese thrust from the north.
The Japanese, for their part, do not accede to the allied plan.
They turn the bulk of their firepower towards the south and immediately hit Merrill's marauders with everything while leaving only a small defense in the north to slow the Chinese.
The Chinese, while they have been equipped, supplied, and trained to western standards, are still hesitant to attack quickly against Japanese positions.
Merrill's marauders, despite being trained and designed as a light deep penetration force are now fighting a conventional set piece infantry battle against experienced Japanese troops.
bro thinks he's the narrator
And this is why Burma, like the Aleutians, remains the forgotten front. After D-Day, Italy will join this sad group.
@@Paladin1873 There is just not much going on in Burma until the Imphal and Kohima battles and the subsequent invasion of Burma by 14th Army starts. Nothing is going on in the Aleutians, a lot more is going on in Russia then gets reported and the biggest front that gets completely ignored is China.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 In scale that is true, but few remember we were launching harassing bomber raids from the Aleutians against the northern Kurils and tying down Japanese forces that might be sent elsewhere. We also began carrying out successful submarine operations in these waters. For an excellent account of these operations I recommend reading Admiral Fluckey's "Thunder Below". Meanwhile, the Burma campaign was tying down many Japanese forces in frequent small unit raids and occasional larger set piece battles. Several books on Merrill's Marauders and the Chindits exist. One I can highly recommend is John Masters' "The Road Past Mandalay". As for China, I agree there also has been insufficient coverage.
Japan is almost entirely strategically inert at this point in the war - a lot of what was happening in Burma and elsewhere was of no meaningful consequence. There's a lot going in '44 and the team can't cover everything, and frankly in historical terms a lot of things remain to this day quite obscure in the west.
A big reason why is contemporary politics and ideologies - China and Russia aren't liberal societies and have some misgivings about being truthful. Japan is still largely in denial of its past. You'd hope it wasn't so, but it is.
I see Anzio is going as well as the Dardenelles went 29 years earlier...
oh that old naval meddler Churchill
At 3:03 I felt like I heard a teacher swear in class
Captain Kirk voice (to FDR): "YOU"LL HAVE TO SUPPLY US BOTH, SPOCK!!!
0:12
"The terminator theme, but it is Indy Neidell saying wait" ^_^
Thank you for the lesson.
Thanks for watching, Shawn!
Well MacArthur and Nimitz Go Head-to-Head Hope Thomas Blamey was in room ( Thomas Blamey was Aussie General) Dam it's in Washington.
I'd be interested to hear about the D-Day build up happening in England at the equivalent time.
The F bomb caught me off guard 😂
I imagine it caught Nimitz by surprise, too!
4:05 - it looks like a T-26, obsolete by 1944 but still used. Soviet troops often rode into battle on tanks and there were even special "tank rider" battalions. Exposed to enemy fire, they took heavy losses but the method allowed infantry to accompany tanks. Armoured personnel carriers were not developed until after WW2 by the Soviet Union, and as late as the T-62 tank, handles were built into the turrets of Soviet tanks to allow infantry to hold on while riding the tank.
There were already halftracks which served as battle taxis. The design of the modern APC did come after WW2 but it was already there.
Armies of the day didn't throw anything away if it still ran. IIRC the Wehrmacht was still using Panzer IIs for recon during Fall Blau, and there are still some M3 Lend-Lease tanks kicking around in Soviet and British units.
In Europe, T-26 tanks didn't survive to 1943 even, except for tiny numbers on idle fronts in the north. In the Far East though, they were kept operational and used as late as August 1945 in landings against Japan.
Did anybody else play the computer game Battlefield 1943 road to Rome? The Assault on Monte cassino Mission or map however you play the game was hands down one of the hardest ones to do.
You might want to check out on TH-cam there is I think a 4 hour or longer CBS Radio special that started right when the US media got wind that the invasion was happening. It started around 3-4 am and was interesting when news came in and who and where it was coming from. You can tell the surprise in the announcers voice. It is really interesting and might be a good snippet to put in when talking about how the world learned it was happening.
This sounds super interesting, Anne! Any chance you could post the link for me? I dunno whether the team will use it or not, but I'd love to listen to it myself!
- T.J.
@@WorldWarTwo -TJ-As a boomer dinosaur, I don't know how to do that BUT, I went to D-Day CBS radio broadcast in the TH-cam search and the best one I found was: D Day - Broadcast Part 1 - 0250 AM. There are others from other networks but this one starts at 2:50 am and the others I saw didn't start for at least another 1/2 to an hour later. What is really interesting is that this one got their information that the invasion had started from the Germans NOT the British or US! Good luck and yes, if you don't use any, it is still fun to listen to. They stayed 24 hours on the air about D=day which I have NOT listened to the entire thing but it is fun to browse through.
Hearing Indy say what the actual fuck made me irrationally happy
Us too Kian, us too
I love it when Indy swears
The more I look into the WW2 in the Pacific, the more I realize that Nimitz has his fingerprints everywhere. MacArthur had his moments, but MacArthur had not been to US since 1935. He was located in Australia, far from Washington and London. Nimitz had some rough spots during the first months of WW2 with Admiral King, but they eventually worked together as effective team. Nimitz and King met regularly usually in San Francisco. I believe MacArthur and General Marshall met once and their relationship was strained. Nimitz protected and kept the supply lines open to Australia. MacArthur could not have returned to the Philippines without the Big Blue fleet.
@John Fleet thanks for that added perspective!
You are Joseph Stalin
*Bushy Moustache appears
**friends disappear to gulag**
You got a fifth phone! Excelsior!
Four phones already? At this rate, Indy on June 6th is just going to appear as a pile of phones with his arms sticking out the sides.
Have they been accumulating on his desk? Or has that only just started?
@@markfryer9880 I believe this is the first time we've seen four at once, but there may have been two at some point.
Dude, nothing the Allies could possibly do in Italy could conceivably give the Germans the 'higher moral ground'. It is frivolous to pretend otherwise.