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around 1 hour mark you say you would not be brave to do this but i would say that if you had the right training like they did you would have over cover that
In my last year at Secondary (High) school, our Head Master (Principal) retired. On his final day, the French Ambassador to the UK turned up and presented him with a retirement gift. Unknown to us kids, Mr Mills had spent most of WW2 behind enemy lines in France working with the French Underground. Incredibly brave but you would never have known it to meet him. We just thought of him as a French language teacher and he never ever mentioned his military service. We will never see his like again.
That's like the Irish writer Samuel Beckett who got a medal from the French for his war activities. When Sam was asked about it he dismissed it as "boy scout stuff".
@@smythharris2635 Its more likely he was scared of reprisal from the Irish Government A bunch of Irishmen who went to fight in WW2 had there lives ruined as there land was taken from them any sort of Govt benefits were taken Ireland was terrible to the men who stood up against the Nazis
Well, that is just wonderful, what a fine head master you were privileged to have indeed Thank you for this most excellent comment & tribute to a most excellent man.
i've seen this loads of times, and the bit that always gets me is "any man could step down without a stain on his character" and no one did. aka i'm not letting my mates down. gives me a lump in my throat every time.
I remember finding some US marines in the sandbox, they nearly shot me when I dropped down among them. I called them all wankers and told them that we should crack on… after some nice wets, of course.
What I love most about being British is the fact that anyone can go and look at all these documents there's literally millions of folders that any one can just go and look at. it's free they give you cotton gloves so your sweat doesn't get on the paper. But like I said. Anyone can just go and read all of these totally free of of charge.
I’m British and didn’t even know about this! Thank you for sharing this wonderful information. My grandfather never talked about his service because he never knew what he was allowed to say so he just didn’t say anything. My grandmother, his wife, was in the upper class and was lucky enough to have already learned to fly planes before the war with several other female friends, and they became the first ever women pilots in the military. My grandfather always had a sort of sore spot that he was a paratrooper who spent the entire war fighting, was injured multiple times and then returned straight back into service… and his wife out ranked him because as he called it… she delivered the planes 😂 and yes they kept the army vs airforce banter and jokes going and would take the p!ss out of each other regularly their entire lives. Oh you spent the war in a chair shush woman… yea well you were a crash test dummy that wouldn’t die no matter how many times they sent you back and now I’m stuck with you and ALL these bloody kids! They had 10! 🤣 They like many other people never talked about their service and I’d love to know more about their experiences. How do you search the records?
He gets a lot of well justified criticism but I love when Clarkson does things like this. You can just see the respect for the commandos and the enthusiasm he has
I think it’s less well known because the impact was strategic rather than immediate. Taking out a dry dock doesn’t have quite the same news impact as destroying a dam, even if the end result was as impactful.
True, and in terms of amphibious assault even though it was successful it was a smaller number of people involved, and got overshadowed in perceived importance by D-Day later on in the war.
I jut love how our SoGal is so engaged and empathetic with the people and events in all these tales, and lets them shine while keeping her own nice appreciative thoughts demure and positive. She is SUCH a sweetie.
Mountbatten's subordinate in Royal Naval Intelligence was Ian Fleming, the future James Bond author, who organised raids like this including the raid on Dieppe which was a disaster but an intelligence success with the capture of enemy codes.
Fleming worked directly as personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey - Director of Naval Intelligence. He was recruited directly into the role (it seems because of who, not what, he knew and to cover the abrasive manner of his boss) and commissioned as an Lt RNVR, then rapidly promoted to Lt Cmdr. He acted as direct liaison between the DNI, PWE, MI6, SOE, the JIC & the PM's office, so was incredibly well-connected. He worked closely with FDR's intelligence staff in Washington and helped to write the plans for what directly became the OSS (and later, the CIA). After the war, he lived in Jamaica and began writing, in a house he called Goldeneye. Op Goldeneye was his 1941 plan for an intelligence network in Spain, if the Germans took over. He was also closely involved in Op Mincemeat (the disinformation op to persuade the Germans the Allies weren't going to invade Sicily); and he planned Op Ruthless, aimed at stealing an Enigma machine from the German Navy. He was heavily involved with 30 Assault Unit (later 30 Cdo RM), modelling the unit on Otto Skorzeny's commandos, planning their targets and operations behind enemy lines, all to steal specialist intelligence. He referred to them as 'his Red Indians'. Fleming was offshore, at Dieppe - it is believed that 30AU took part in the landing, again targeting the retrieval of an Enigma machine.
Micky Burn was born in London in 1912 and died when he was around 97 - he was very "plummy" as we call it - but definitely English. There's recently been a brilliant BBC Drama called SAS Rogue Heroes and its well worth a look.
The more you look into the actions of WW2 the more stories like this you will come across, and there are many, none of which are taught in schools in the UK today, its a shame to say the least, brave men with the odds stacked against them that deserve to be remembered more than once a year.
Not that I disagree, but there is simply not enough time to teach children and young people about the various events of WWII and various other periods at school for example. I think as a society and country we owe it to our young people to at least trigger an interest in these events so they can look into them and learn about them.
@@cobbler9113 i totally agree. If for no other reason that those who fail to learn from history are fayed to relive it. That has been adequately proven enough times.
Hello SoGal and Roger. I worked with a couple of former Royal Marines. One was built like Rambo and one was massive, like a competitor in "World's Stongest Man". These WW2 forerunners were both brave and realistic in what they had to do, not the typical Hollywood heroes that make for memorable films, which may explain why they are not as well known outside UK? There is a similar documentary about the bravery of Arctic Convoys, that I had mentioned in comments before.
Jeremy Clarkson who narrated the programme is a well-known, colourful character. No-one better for such a job. His Greatest Briton on Churchill is phenomenal. On those commandoes and sailors, they come from a generation possessed of heart, guile and true grit having grown up in harsher times. Their like and in such numbers, we are sadly unlikely to see again. Bless everyone of them. ❤️
I really enjoy your reactions. You ask sensible questions and don't patronise or try to dumb down, you just try to learn and understand. Thank you. Please keep your reactions coming.
Thank you for recounting this action. The older I get the more I am I awe of the bravery and sacrifice of such men. God bless you for for your courage in facing such mortal danger.
Other interesting stories from those times 1) Douglas Bader - Comander of the Duxford wing of 5 squadrons who fought the battle of britain as a double amputee 2) No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron. Flying Hawker Hurricanes, the squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun
The Commandos were originally army only but mid WWII all of the Royal Marine infantry units were trained as commandos. I assume that is why the RM commando infantry units start at No 40 Commando. After the war all but 1 brigade was disbanded. The infantry units remained Royal Marines, but there are still Army units in the support roles who are still Commandos (for example 29 Commando Royal Artillery, who are based in my home town of Plymouth).
Yeah it was originally army certain regiments were turned into commando units like the Devonshires my Uncle was transfered to them from the warwicks for Commando training.
the current parachute regiment is descended from the "land commandos" also members later in the war formed the true special forces the SBS and SAS later in the war
@@Mulberry2000 I didn't say otherwise. The Commandos were originally an army thing, then the Royal Marines (still as part of the navy) were trained as commandos as well. After the war the Marines remained Commandos but the army units disbanded (apart from a few support units for the Marines).
Yes Royal Marines have yes but the commandos were formed in 1942 from British infantry regiments like "the Devonshires" that my great uncle Harry was transfered to, ftr Harry took part in the raid on St Nazaire amd won the Military cross, the royal marine Commandos came later in 1964.
To paraphrase Drachinifel "The plan might have been mad and suicidal, but the British weren't exactly strangers to making mad and suicidal work for them"
Just like Micky Burn, Corran Purdon was awarded the Military Cross for bravery during the St. Nazaire raid and ended the war with him as a prisoner of the Germans at Colditz Castle. Purdon went on to be a Major-General retiring from the army in 1976.
Yeah, I read Corran Purdon's memoirs, he had an incredible life. Ended up as a Brigadier General, and was awarded a CBE (Commander - Meritorious Service - Most excellent order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty at Windsor Castle. As you say, he was awarded the Military Cross, and has a medal bar a mile long. Ended up also, as one of the very few (only 6) World War II veterans awarded DSM & 3 bar and the GM (Military Div. For Non-Conspicuous Gallantry) and DSO & Bar, to name but a few. So very well decorated - and deservedly so. But my favorite accolades are his gems earned in May of '41 when Corran famously commanded the raiding party which successfully blew-up 5 U-boat pens in succession over 1 hour, causing German soldiers to leave their command posts in order to hunt down the British raiding party responsible. This meant that 65 French soldiers, which were being held captive nearby after being caught trying to hang anti-submarine mines across the opening of the estuary nearby, could successfully escape. In doing so, he managed to clean and dress a serious wound on the arm of one of his platoon, using a tourniquet to stem the bleed, and powdered morphine to dull the pain. Six members of the unit managed to carry the wounded soldier across the harbor to a waiting tiger boat, who took 40 members out into the estuary where they could climb aboard a waiting frigate, well the tiger about returned back to the pick up to collect the rest of the raiding party. His hasty and well remembered first aid field craft could have saved this soldiers life. For this action, he was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal, RRC (Hon), by the Red Cross, for exceptional services in military nursing. For this action, Corran earned his Bar on his DSO, but more incredibly, it earned his whole commando unit the Croix de Guerre - for acts of immense heroism involving combat and conspicuous gallantry in the face of the enemy. The cross was presented to his whole commando unit, and honored in a ceremony on the16th of January 1946, by Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle, as a thank you from a grateful nation. So Brigadier-General Corran Purdon has lived quite the life. Rest in peace you bally hero - We Salute You.
35:00 There is a reason why, when told that walking away would not be a stain on their character, so few people walk away, it's because the kinds of men who volunteer for such things understand that walking away *WILL* be a stain on their character. If not in the eyes of others, at least in their own eyes. They know that if they walk away, from that day on, they will know when it really mattered, they allowed their fear to overcome what they knew needed to be done.
If you look up "Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge, Scotland" you'll see the memorial there is a statue of three men in battle dress. It's set at the area where the Commandos trained.
Lord Louis Mountbatten was the maternal Uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was assassinated by the IRA in 1979 whilst on his boat by a bomb. Below is the introduction about him off of Wikipedia: Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma[n 1] (25 June 1900 - 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German descent, was born in the United Kingdom to the prominent Battenberg family and was a maternal uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin of King George VI. He joined the Royal Navy during the First World War and was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, in the Second World War. He later served as the last Viceroy of British India and briefly as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India. Mountbatten attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne, before entering the Royal Navy in 1916. He saw action during the closing phase of the First World War, and after the war briefly attended Christ's College, Cambridge. During the interwar period, Mountbatten continued to pursue his naval career, specialising in naval communications. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Mountbatten commanded the destroyer HMS Kelly and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. He saw considerable action in Norway, in the English Channel, and in the Mediterranean. In August 1941, he received command of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. He was appointed chief of Combined Operations and a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in early 1942, and organised the raids on St Nazaire and Dieppe. In August 1943, Mountbatten became Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command and oversaw the recapture of Burma and Singapore from the Japanese by the end of 1945. For his service during the war, Mountbatten was created viscount in 1946 and earl the following year. In March 1947, Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy of India and oversaw the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. He then served as the first Governor-General of India until June 1948. In 1952, Mountbatten was appointed commander-in-chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet and NATO Commander Allied Forces Mediterranean. From 1955 to 1959, he was First Sea Lord, a position that had been held by his father, Prince Louis of Battenberg, some forty years earlier. Thereafter he served as chief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest-serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date. During this period Mountbatten also served as chairman of the NATO Military Committee for a year. In August 1979, Mountbatten was assassinated by a bomb planted aboard his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo, Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He received a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey and was buried in Romsey Abbey in Hampshire.
I like your videos I was an old enough to be in the war. But I did take my time in the merchant navy or Mercantile Marine As you across the pond call the Merchant navy
As an ex British Army Officer I love to see a Gal appreciating these campaigns and actions, especially from an allied country. It's easy to train a fit young man to do a job but intelliegence is often the key to survival. I like that you ask daft questions too!
This was precisely the harebrained kind of scheme that Inspired much of Dad's Army. ''So crazy they'll never expect it and thus it will work.'' Is British Genius at its finest.
We get so used to TH-camrs who are astounded by finding out about something they did not know but little more. It is great to see someone who has the broad learning to understand what she sees.
If you want to know more on the Naval side of the raid i recommend the video "The Raid on St Nazaire - How to make an explosive entrance" by Drachinifel
Drachinifel is yer man for Naval History. Their is an old movie based on the raid "the Gift Horse" which I grew up watching regularly on TV, so probably many people are not aware it is a true story.
Parked in Falmouth 30 + years ago and saw this memorial, so to see this which explains it is fantastic. As Clarkson said its rather small! I'm told a better memorial has now been made.
I knew this story because of the film, The Gift Horse, it's not a big film so maybe not as memorable as The Battle of Britain or A Bridge Too Far but it does tell this story quite well.
These men, these lads, were just immense, they were warrior poets. Lord bless them, each & everyone of them. May the Lord shine his light of love on all of you always. You are loved. ♥
If you find WWII commando raids interesting, there are a couple of old movies I would recommend: _The Guns of Navarone_ (1961) is about a fictional raid, _Ill Met by Moonlight_ (1957) is based on a true story. Both are good films IMO.
Thank you for your reaction to this, its always good to hear what you have to say about this type of thing, you have a fairly good understanding of military matters and so hearing your comments is welcome, thank you and take care :)
I live in Falmouth an there is a tiny rock in a carpark (this will become relevant an obvious why) to show how we do understated as the british....also my family member won a VC at roukes drift... ive hust watched your other vid on the VC by clarkson you did a really wonderful job on it.
I love your reverence for the gravity of what these young men did, the word 'hero' is bandied around like confetti these days but these men were true heroes in the purest form of the word. Maybe it's because I'm a Gen X'er and had contact with some who would talk to you about their service during WWII ,(not many would) that universally they always under played their roles. Having known many who had served and by learning about what WWII had been like it fills me with such reverence for what these men & women sacrificed for our freedom which in turn makes me incredibly proud to be British. Great to see someone so young learn about our history.❤
Brave men, my dad was a D day veteran & he always maintained that men knew,when their number was up. He would very reluctantly talk about it,but from remarks & the few odd details he was obviously at the sharp end, when I tried to suggest he was a brave man ,he denied it & said he & others were just doing as they were told. Years later I put a lot of it together, those men who were all well bought up ,peaceful & well mannered, had to go out & kill the enemy, but not peoples with whom they had no personal eminty, I never heard my father ever curse a German, in fact there was a good deal of respect regarding their disappointed fighting abilities, but it's little wonder they didn't want to talk about it.
The Commandos trained near where I live. The Remembrance service held every year at the Commando memorial was graced by having the surviving Commandos that trained at Achnacarry attending including one of the commandos that the sculpture was said to be based on. A garden of Remembrance was added along with an ash scattering area where many commandos have had their ashes scattered here.
This is one of my top two favourite documentaries, along with 'Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes (2011)'. Really looking forward to watching this in about an hour. Thank you, Sarah!
Once summat is thunked it is possible......wars are easy to start fkn difficult to stop. Peace is more much much more than an absence of war. Like your presentations Ms Gal.....thank you.
Royal Marines are the amphibious forces of the Royal Navy since 1664. They and the army then formed the Commandos in WWII, but only the Royal Marines continued as commandos after the war. Other units can do the All Arms Commando Course to become a commando and support 3 Commando Brigade. RM and Paras are considered tier 2, so more elite than regular US Marines, and most of tier 1 SAS and SBS are made taken from them.
The ship's bell from HMS Cambelltown was given to Cambelltown in Pensylvania as a thank you for the lending of ships for bases programme. The bell was lent back and placed on the Type 22 frigate HMS Cambelltown until she was decommissioned in 2011 went it was given back to Cambelltown.
It would be great if it was lent back again for the type 31 frigate that is going to be built by the end of the decade which as been given the name HMS Campbelltown
Army Commando only had a very short lifespan (1940-46), they were raiders a bit like US Army Rangers. Whereas the Royal Marines are one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and have been in existence since 1664, I completely agree they would be a very good subject for a reaction.👍
The bombing got much more accurate, but this was still early in the war before those methods had been perfected. Dive bombing was an option for more precise bombing but generally that was for smaller, tactical targets
Two films were made based on the St Nazaire Raid. "The Gift Horse" starring Trevor Howard and the later "Attack on the Iron Coast" starring Lloyd Bridges.
About time someone like Peter Jackson or DreamWorks made this into an epic movie...The story is one of the best stories you'll read of the war...and importantly if you visit St.Nazaire you will see that the dock, submarine pens and dock area has hardly changed...making it look like one big film set ready to go...Even the small iron bascule bridge is still in existence with bullet holes from the 1942 raid are still there to see...The dock is still a film set waiting for someone to do something with it...If only I had a spare few million knocking about...I live in hope!
It would have American actors and classed as an American operation as they fought WW11 just by themselves and were involved in all heroic battles that saved us all from speaking German….apparently! 😂😂
Your "like" goal has been well and truly exceeded! Clarkson's video on this is a magnificent BUT the twist at the end of his Operation Market Garden video is staggering! Heroes then were so modest.
That's my parents' generation. Everyone is a "hero" now, just for wearing the uniform, but they would have been embarrassed at the suggestion. The way they looked on it, everyone did their bit.
I can’t help thinking. That this charming young lady reacting. Wouldn’t last 5 minutes without laughing if I as a Englishman was explaining something to her. Bless her heart.
The map has pin holes where the individual thumb tacks were pressed in the wall. You can see the map if you go visit the War Rooms when you visit London.
There's going to be a new HMS Campbelltown as a Type 31 frigate, it'll probably be a couple of years before it is laid down. There was a Type 22 with the name and it had the ship's bell from the ship that was recovered during the raid and when the Type 22 was retired the bell was given to Campbelltown, PA where I believe it sits in a museum - I _suspect_ the bell will be loaned back to the Royal Navy when the Type 31 goes into service.
There was a film from 1968 about the raid. The film is "Attack on the Iron Coast". It is quite a good film. There are differences to the actual raid. But does seen quite accurate.
The convoys from USA to Uk took some very strange and elaborate routes. Hardly ever the shortest and most direct. British Special Forces today are the SAS and the SBS.
There is a film about this raid called Gift Horse (1952) starring Richard Attenborough and the ship used in the film was the USS Twiggs renamed to HMS Leamington which was the last survivor of the 50 American destroyers giving to the UK as part of the Destroyers For Bases Deal in 1940 and was broken up for scrap as soon as filming finished.
Richard Attenborough only had a smallish part in the film Trevor Howard and James Donald were the main stars, James is mostly forgotten now but did appear in The Great Escape and Th Vikings
A closer analogy might be Light Infantry in the Revolutionary War, as they were chosen for the speed, agility and ability to think for themselves - and they tended to be brigaded together as a main force rather than the skirmish screen they’d become during the Napoleonic Wars. The same applied to Grenadiers too but their selection criteria was more on their height etc. but usually the both of them did the bulk of the fighting throughout the Revolutionary War for the British
6:50 everytime a convoy was crossing the atlantic it was given a code representing where it was going and coming (for example the arctic convoys from Britain and America to Russia were PQ and returns were QP) and a pin with those codes and number of ships would go on the map, they would monitor them through radar and radio and move the pin along that very map so Churchill could see what was coming in, whether they lose any tonnage along the way and such 21:17 Mountbatton was Prince Phillips uncle if I remember
Love your reactions & humour, thank you. Your questions, Commandos were ordinary British soldiers, all volunteers from the Army as were the SAS. Many of the men spoke of 'doing my bit'. They fully appreciated why they were fighting having seem Britain progressively devastated, quite like the Israelis of today, so were very motivated. Some of the fame of this action comes via a movie named "The Gift Horse". I'd hesitate to call it "The Greatest Raid of All". Rather I suggest it's typical of what the British do, before, then and now. You could try "The Cockleshell Heroes", the X boats attacking Tirpitz, "The Dam Busters". There are many more examples. Who burnt The Whitehouse? Opps, sorry about that but... and the of SAS today. The Loire is the longest river in France so the estuary is quite wide, at its mouth one can't see the opposite shore however it narrows quite rapidly as one approaches the major ports of St Nazaire & Nantes. On the North shore you can still see many of the German bunkers and a small, interesting museum which includes a German 88 mm gun. The dock & U-boat pens also still exist & can be visited. I now live quite near Saint Nazaire and can assure you the French commemorate this action with full honours and the earlier catastrophic loss of the Lancastrian. I've had many Frenchmen when they learned my Farther arrived in France without a passport, in Normandy on day 2 of D-Day, thank me for his contribution. I find that rather touching.
Something to remeber is Tirpitz was the 2nd Bismarck Class Battleship. When Bismarck attempted her break out it resulted in the Battle of Denmark Strait and nearly 1500 lives being lost with the sinking of HMS Hood. Due to damage sustained Bismarck had to abandon her mission and try to get home. When Bismarck was intercepted and ultimately sunk, it was at the cost of another 2000 lives. It'd be hard to know the number of lives saved taking St Nazaire off the table but safe to say it's a lot. A lot of emphasis is put on how powerful and modern the Bismarck Class was. The Royal Navy at the time had 2 Battleships that while slower, packed an even bigger punch with 9 x 16" guns(HMS Nelson and Rodney) and they also had the King George the V class that were just as modern, almost as fast as the Bismarck class, had 10 x 14" guns, far more advanced radar fire control and were arguably better protected... And in 1941 they had 3 of them. HMS Hood actually matched Bismarck's firepower and speed but being a battlecruiser and in desperate need of refit at the time of her fateful encounter with Bismarck, she fell in short order. Even the legendary HMS Warspite which was a veteran of WW1, fought in the Battle of Jutland and joint record holder of the longest range ship on ship main battery gun hit ever had a similar 8 x 15" main battery as the Bismarck's. The Royal Nqvy also had something the Kriegsmarine didn't(at least operational), aircraft carries. In a head on engagement the Bismarck's would always be outnumbered and outgunned and end up on the bottom. The danger the Bismarck's posed was if they managed to break out into the Atlantic. The ocean is really, really big and as massive as Battleships are they'd be really, REALLY hard to find and engage. It would have forced convoys to break up into smaller groups making them easier targets for the u-boats or the Royal Navy would be forced to commit even more capital ships to escort duties and patrols. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were also derping around doing their thing plus there was the Mediterranean and the Pacific theaters so a Bismarck running rampant in the Atlantic would have been disaterous. As it was the "pocket Battleship" Graf Spee was already causing major problems until she was cornered and she was nowhere near as powerful and didn't have the same endurance with fuel, ammunition and supplies as a Bismarck had.
Hi So-gal,really enjoyed watching this video with you.Its interesting that you mentioned that you like the way us Brits phrase things,as ive often mentioned to my partner the very same thing about you folk over the pond. You have some ways of expressing yourselves that i love to bits! But at the end of the day,i feel that it's pretty obvious that we were all originally cut from the same cloth. Love your channel 😊
Mountbatten Festival of Music 2022 from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Featuring the Massed Bands of HM Royal Marines, the Fanfare Team and world-famous Corps of Drums, watch as one of the finest military bands in the world comes to life. With an exciting programme of music including The Prodigy, Sir Elton John, Two Steps From Hell, and Dire Straits, there truly is something for everyone! This year’s festival also pay special homage to the 40th anniversary of the Falkland’s War and the 250+ who sacrificed themselves for the very fundamentals of democracy and freedom, this year’s festival also takes us back to the very beginning of music in HM Naval Service and it’s history upto and including the present day. As someone who was there that night when this was recorded, I can say that it was exquisite, exciting and shows some of the very best that the Bands of HM Royal Marines have to offer. (PS. It is a long one longer than the Festival of Remembrance that you reacted, also this is the same festival that the video of the story of the Unknown Warrior was from but that was recorded in the hight of the pandemic and it couldn’t have an audience that year) th-cam.com/video/Q9VooyxTP8A/w-d-xo.html
Hi Sarah! Lord Mountbatten was King Charles's great uncle. I was familar with with the story of the St. Nazaire raid after reading about it in school in a book called 'The Green Beret'.
Wrong Lord Louis Mountbatten. It's easy to mix them up as there were 4 or 5 Louis in the family tree. This one was Phillip's mother's brother, not his grandfather's brother. He was Prince Phillip's uncle and Queen Elizabeth's second cousin once removed.
After this was aired the plaque has been moved to somewhere a bit nicer in Falmouth with a few extra plaques around it. Still the same old rock but it is a bit more noticeable now.
Their electronics were tube-based, and tubes are as sensitive as the detonator. There was another group doing weapons research for the UK during WWII that came up with a reliable timing mechanism -- jawbreakers. Apparently they dissolve at a pretty constant rate, fresh or sea water, and they worked well enough for the mines they were designing.
The distinctive green beret was adopted by British Army commandos. The Royal Marines were later to adopt the famous green beret as their role changed during ww2. U.S. forces would also adopt the green beret.
British understatement can be fatal, sadly. There was an incident in the Korean War where the 1st Batallion of the Gloucestershire Regiment (650 men) were surrounded and isolated by 10,000 Chinese soldiers, and an American officer asked the Brigadier about their status, and he replied that things were “a bit sticky.” The American officer thus thought they had the situation under control, so didn’t send any reinforcements. If you want an incredible piece of British understatement, there was the case of British Airways Flight 9, which was flew through a volcanic ash cloud en route from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, and all four engines failed due to being clogged up by ash. Even in the midst of trying to restart them before they ran out of altitude, the captain, Eric Moody, came on the radio to the cabin and said “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We’re doing our damndest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
LOL - I like your confusion about Micky Burn's accent as possibly being German. 50 years ago I travelled around the USA on the Greyhound busses and chatting to other passengers my English accent was sometimes mistaken for German.😃
There are programs that concentrate on the training involved for the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment. They are very interesting and well worth watching.
Thats superinteresting.... more so as we learned about this in history lessons in school in the 60s...... There was no video ofcourse, so thx for bringing that to light.....
Royal Marine Commandos are elite naval infantry. They are re rolling into smaller specialised units under the Future Commando programme using different weaponry to the regular infantry.
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Where have you been Tennessee girl. I work at a paper mill in Kingsport from time to time.
Pals!
Did you do the Jasper animation? If so great job!👍
@@markwilliamson2864 I did, and thanks :)
@@joeysausage3437 Been around :) You spend time in the pretty part of the state, lol.
around 1 hour mark you say you would not be brave to do this but i would say that if you had the right training like they did you would have over cover that
In my last year at Secondary (High) school, our Head Master (Principal) retired. On his final day, the French Ambassador to the UK turned up and presented him with a retirement gift. Unknown to us kids, Mr Mills had spent most of WW2 behind enemy lines in France working with the French Underground. Incredibly brave but you would never have known it to meet him. We just thought of him as a French language teacher and he never ever mentioned his military service.
We will never see his like again.
That's like the Irish writer Samuel Beckett who got a medal from the French for his war activities. When Sam was asked about it he dismissed it as "boy scout stuff".
@@smythharris2635 Its more likely he was scared of reprisal from the Irish Government
A bunch of Irishmen who went to fight in WW2 had there lives ruined as there land was taken from them any sort of Govt benefits were taken
Ireland was terrible to the men who stood up against the Nazis
Well, that is just wonderful, what a fine head master you were privileged to have indeed Thank you for this most excellent comment & tribute to a most excellent man.
@@smythharris2635 The same with the actor Christopher Lee (cousin of Ian Fleming). Look up his past, sometime.
Yes, I read about Lee around a year ago.
i've seen this loads of times, and the bit that always gets me is "any man could step down without a stain on his character" and no one did. aka i'm not letting my mates down. gives me a lump in my throat every time.
Doing the right thing even when people are not watching is true character. 73+ 🍁 hunter Yorkshire expat
Yorkshire folk like us are made of sterner stuff, ....but it even gets to me
Don't you just love British understatement? These guys went through hell but they still remain calm. Amazing.
"Four minutes late." Their capacity to be cheeky in those high stress situations is otherworldly to me (a civilian).
A good brew helps.
Thanks mate, put on the wets.
I remember finding some US marines in the sandbox, they nearly shot me when I dropped down among them. I called them all wankers and told them that we should crack on… after some nice wets, of course.
What I love most about being British is the fact that anyone can go and look at all these documents there's literally millions of folders that any one can just go and look at. it's free they give you cotton gloves so your sweat doesn't get on the paper. But like I said. Anyone can just go and read all of these totally free of of charge.
I’m British and didn’t even know about this! Thank you for sharing this wonderful information. My grandfather never talked about his service because he never knew what he was allowed to say so he just didn’t say anything. My grandmother, his wife, was in the upper class and was lucky enough to have already learned to fly planes before the war with several other female friends, and they became the first ever women pilots in the military. My grandfather always had a sort of sore spot that he was a paratrooper who spent the entire war fighting, was injured multiple times and then returned straight back into service… and his wife out ranked him because as he called it… she delivered the planes 😂 and yes they kept the army vs airforce banter and jokes going and would take the p!ss out of each other regularly their entire lives. Oh you spent the war in a chair shush woman… yea well you were a crash test dummy that wouldn’t die no matter how many times they sent you back and now I’m stuck with you and ALL these bloody kids! They had 10! 🤣 They like many other people never talked about their service and I’d love to know more about their experiences. How do you search the records?
He gets a lot of well justified criticism but I love when Clarkson does things like this. You can just see the respect for the commandos and the enthusiasm he has
Agreed.
When he's being serious he demonstrates the fact that he is a well educated and intelligent man.
A national treasure.
Clarkson works best if you consider him to be a comedian like Al Murray, who also likes his military history.
I think this is the real Clarkson. The childish buffoon from Top Gear and other projects is a character he plays.
I think it’s less well known because the impact was strategic rather than immediate. Taking out a dry dock doesn’t have quite the same news impact as destroying a dam, even if the end result was as impactful.
True, and in terms of amphibious assault even though it was successful it was a smaller number of people involved, and got overshadowed in perceived importance by D-Day later on in the war.
My grandad was on an ML for this raid and spent the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp. His letter to my grandmother is so amazing.
I jut love how our SoGal is so engaged and empathetic with the people and events in all these tales, and lets them shine while keeping her own nice appreciative thoughts demure and positive. She is SUCH a sweetie.
Crawler😂
@@Pseudonym-aka-alias :chuckles: He's not wrong tho'.
Always self awareness from Sogal...😊
I do hope, that after some time, this young woman, starts to like us.
Uneducated I'd say 😊😉
Mountbatten's subordinate in Royal Naval Intelligence was Ian Fleming, the future James Bond author, who organised raids like this including the raid on Dieppe which was a disaster but an intelligence success with the capture of enemy codes.
Fleming worked directly as personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey - Director of Naval Intelligence. He was recruited directly into the role (it seems because of who, not what, he knew and to cover the abrasive manner of his boss) and commissioned as an Lt RNVR, then rapidly promoted to Lt Cmdr. He acted as direct liaison between the DNI, PWE, MI6, SOE, the JIC & the PM's office, so was incredibly well-connected. He worked closely with FDR's intelligence staff in Washington and helped to write the plans for what directly became the OSS (and later, the CIA).
After the war, he lived in Jamaica and began writing, in a house he called Goldeneye. Op Goldeneye was his 1941 plan for an intelligence network in Spain, if the Germans took over. He was also closely involved in Op Mincemeat (the disinformation op to persuade the Germans the Allies weren't going to invade Sicily); and he planned Op Ruthless, aimed at stealing an Enigma machine from the German Navy.
He was heavily involved with 30 Assault Unit (later 30 Cdo RM), modelling the unit on Otto Skorzeny's commandos, planning their targets and operations behind enemy lines, all to steal specialist intelligence. He referred to them as 'his Red Indians'.
Fleming was offshore, at Dieppe - it is believed that 30AU took part in the landing, again targeting the retrieval of an Enigma machine.
Absolute Heroes these guys had balls of steel.
Micky Burn was born in London in 1912 and died when he was around 97 - he was very "plummy" as we call it - but definitely English. There's recently been a brilliant BBC Drama called SAS Rogue Heroes and its well worth a look.
I enjoyed that series as well! Good call!
The more you look into the actions of WW2 the more stories like this you will come across, and there are many, none of which are taught in schools in the UK today, its a shame to say the least, brave men with the odds stacked against them that deserve to be remembered more than once a year.
Salient point made, Mark.
As it happens. My city (UK) is twinned with Essen and Saint-Nazaire. So we are taught about the raid.
Very little real history is taught in our schools these days. Children in the US are taught more about our recent (Post 1800) history
Not that I disagree, but there is simply not enough time to teach children and young people about the various events of WWII and various other periods at school for example. I think as a society and country we owe it to our young people to at least trigger an interest in these events so they can look into them and learn about them.
@@cobbler9113 i totally agree. If for no other reason that those who fail to learn from history are fayed to relive it. That has been adequately proven enough times.
The idea of the commandos is to do the unexpected, to use the most unreasonable idea, and make it work. An amazing mindset well dosed with courage.
Hello SoGal and Roger. I worked with a couple of former Royal Marines. One was built like Rambo and one was massive, like a competitor in "World's Stongest Man". These WW2 forerunners were both brave and realistic in what they had to do, not the typical Hollywood heroes that make for memorable films, which may explain why they are not as well known outside UK?
There is a similar documentary about the bravery of Arctic Convoys, that I had mentioned in comments before.
Brave,brave men. Heroes every one of them. God bless them all.
Jeremy Clarkson who narrated the programme is a well-known, colourful character. No-one better for such a job. His Greatest Briton on Churchill is phenomenal.
On those commandoes and sailors, they come from a generation possessed of heart, guile and true grit having grown up in harsher times. Their like and in such numbers, we are sadly unlikely to see again. Bless everyone of them. ❤️
I really enjoy your reactions. You ask sensible questions and don't patronise or try to dumb down, you just try to learn and understand. Thank you. Please keep your reactions coming.
Thank you for recounting this action. The older I get the more I am I awe of the bravery and sacrifice of such men. God bless you for for your courage in facing such mortal danger.
Other interesting stories from those times 1) Douglas Bader - Comander of the Duxford wing of 5 squadrons who fought the battle of britain as a double amputee 2) No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron. Flying Hawker Hurricanes, the squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun
The Commandos were originally army only but mid WWII all of the Royal Marine infantry units were trained as commandos. I assume that is why the RM commando infantry units start at No 40 Commando.
After the war all but 1 brigade was disbanded. The infantry units remained Royal Marines, but there are still Army units in the support roles who are still Commandos (for example 29 Commando Royal Artillery, who are based in my home town of Plymouth).
Yeah it was originally army certain regiments were turned into commando units like the Devonshires my Uncle was transfered to them from the warwicks for Commando training.
the current parachute regiment is descended from the "land commandos" also members later in the war formed the true special forces the SBS and SAS later in the war
No royal marines have always been part of the navy not the army
@@Mulberry2000 I didn't say otherwise. The Commandos were originally an army thing, then the Royal Marines (still as part of the navy) were trained as commandos as well. After the war the Marines remained Commandos but the army units disbanded (apart from a few support units for the Marines).
Yes Royal Marines have yes but the commandos were formed in 1942 from British infantry regiments like "the Devonshires" that my great uncle Harry was transfered to, ftr Harry took part in the raid on St Nazaire amd won the Military cross, the royal marine Commandos came later in 1964.
I love how you laugh at the same point as us British folk at the complete madness that actually worked and eventually won the war!
To paraphrase Drachinifel "The plan might have been mad and suicidal, but the British weren't exactly strangers to making mad and suicidal work for them"
I was thinking the same thing and was trying to put the words together. There's a slight chuckle and a smile that say that she gets it.
@timalder8940 have any of you watched the cockleshell heroes which was another crazy idea from us Brits? @weldonwin @roadie3124
Just like Micky Burn, Corran Purdon was awarded the Military Cross for bravery during the St. Nazaire raid and ended the war with him as a prisoner of the Germans at Colditz Castle. Purdon went on to be a Major-General retiring from the army in 1976.
Yeah, I read Corran Purdon's memoirs, he had an incredible life. Ended up as a Brigadier General, and was awarded a CBE (Commander - Meritorious Service - Most excellent order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty at Windsor Castle. As you say, he was awarded the Military Cross, and has a medal bar a mile long. Ended up also, as one of the very few (only 6) World War II veterans awarded DSM & 3 bar and the GM (Military Div. For Non-Conspicuous Gallantry) and DSO & Bar, to name but a few. So very well decorated - and deservedly so.
But my favorite accolades are his gems earned in May of '41 when Corran famously commanded the raiding party which successfully blew-up 5 U-boat pens in succession over 1 hour, causing German soldiers to leave their command posts in order to hunt down the British raiding party responsible.
This meant that 65 French soldiers, which were being held captive nearby after being caught trying to hang anti-submarine mines across the opening of the estuary nearby, could successfully escape.
In doing so, he managed to clean and dress a serious wound on the arm of one of his platoon, using a tourniquet to stem the bleed, and powdered morphine to dull the pain. Six members of the unit managed to carry the wounded soldier across the harbor to a waiting tiger boat, who took 40 members out into the estuary where they could climb aboard a waiting frigate, well the tiger about returned back to the pick up to collect the rest of the raiding party.
His hasty and well remembered first aid field craft could have saved this soldiers life. For this action, he was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal, RRC (Hon), by the Red Cross, for exceptional services in military nursing.
For this action, Corran earned his Bar on his DSO, but more incredibly, it earned his whole commando unit the Croix de Guerre - for acts of immense heroism involving combat and conspicuous gallantry in the face of the enemy.
The cross was presented to his whole commando unit, and honored in a ceremony on the16th of January 1946, by Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle, as a thank you from a grateful nation.
So Brigadier-General Corran Purdon has lived quite the life. Rest in peace you bally hero - We Salute You.
35:00 There is a reason why, when told that walking away would not be a stain on their character, so few people walk away, it's because the kinds of men who volunteer for such things understand that walking away *WILL* be a stain on their character. If not in the eyes of others, at least in their own eyes. They know that if they walk away, from that day on, they will know when it really mattered, they allowed their fear to overcome what they knew needed to be done.
Our true heroes get one day per year, Pride gets a month. I wonder why our country is going down the toilet?
If you look up "Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge, Scotland" you'll see the memorial there is a statue of three men in battle dress. It's set at the area where the Commandos trained.
That’s the actual map in Churchills War Rooms, the holes are every time they moved a pin representing a convoy or enemy movement.
Lord Louis Mountbatten was the maternal Uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was assassinated by the IRA in 1979 whilst on his boat by a bomb. Below is the introduction about him off of Wikipedia:
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma[n 1] (25 June 1900 - 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German descent, was born in the United Kingdom to the prominent Battenberg family and was a maternal uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin of King George VI. He joined the Royal Navy during the First World War and was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, in the Second World War. He later served as the last Viceroy of British India and briefly as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India.
Mountbatten attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne, before entering the Royal Navy in 1916. He saw action during the closing phase of the First World War, and after the war briefly attended Christ's College, Cambridge. During the interwar period, Mountbatten continued to pursue his naval career, specialising in naval communications.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Mountbatten commanded the destroyer HMS Kelly and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. He saw considerable action in Norway, in the English Channel, and in the Mediterranean. In August 1941, he received command of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. He was appointed chief of Combined Operations and a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in early 1942, and organised the raids on St Nazaire and Dieppe. In August 1943, Mountbatten became Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command and oversaw the recapture of Burma and Singapore from the Japanese by the end of 1945. For his service during the war, Mountbatten was created viscount in 1946 and earl the following year.
In March 1947, Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy of India and oversaw the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. He then served as the first Governor-General of India until June 1948. In 1952, Mountbatten was appointed commander-in-chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet and NATO Commander Allied Forces Mediterranean. From 1955 to 1959, he was First Sea Lord, a position that had been held by his father, Prince Louis of Battenberg, some forty years earlier. Thereafter he served as chief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest-serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date. During this period Mountbatten also served as chairman of the NATO Military Committee for a year.
In August 1979, Mountbatten was assassinated by a bomb planted aboard his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo, Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He received a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey and was buried in Romsey Abbey in Hampshire.
And it's Loueee, not lou-is Mountbatten.
@@halcroj It is spelt Louis, but like you say it is pronounced Lou-ee. Like the boxer Joe Louis.
@@paulmaxey6377 That's what I meant. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.
@@halcroj No problem mate, sorry for misunderstanding what you meant :).
If you want to continue learning about the British Commando's, I can recommend reading up on the Cockleshell Heroes.
I think they were the pre-runners to the SBS.
I like your videos I was an old enough to be in the war. But I did take my time in the merchant navy or Mercantile Marine As you across the pond call the Merchant navy
As an ex British Army Officer I love to see a Gal appreciating these campaigns and actions, especially from an allied country. It's easy to train a fit young man to do a job but intelliegence is often the key to survival. I like that you ask daft questions too!
This was precisely the harebrained kind of scheme that Inspired much of Dad's Army.
''So crazy they'll never expect it and thus it will work.'' Is British Genius at its finest.
It's SO Blackadder General Melchet! 🤣
That thinking so reminds me of "Blackadder Goes Forth" if you have watched the series you will know why
"A plan so cunning.. You could pin a tail on it and call it a Weasel".
@@amandab4978 Doing precisely what we've done 18 times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time!
We get so used to TH-camrs who are astounded by finding out about something they did not know but little more. It is great to see someone who has the broad learning to understand what she sees.
If you want to know more on the Naval side of the raid i recommend the video "The Raid on St Nazaire - How to make an explosive entrance" by Drachinifel
Drachinifel is yer man for Naval History. Their is an old movie based on the raid "the Gift Horse" which I grew up watching regularly on TV, so probably many people are not aware it is a true story.
I second looking at Drach's work.
Parked in Falmouth 30 + years ago and saw this memorial, so to see this which explains it is fantastic. As Clarkson said its rather small! I'm told a better memorial has now been made.
I knew this story because of the film, The Gift Horse, it's not a big film so maybe not as memorable as The Battle of Britain or A Bridge Too Far but it does tell this story quite well.
These men, these lads, were just immense, they were warrior poets. Lord bless them, each & everyone of them. May the Lord shine his light of love on all of you always. You are loved. ♥
Thanks for showing this little piece of our history.
42:10 my favourite part right here, raising the White Battle Ensign and all guns blazing
If you find WWII commando raids interesting, there are a couple of old movies I would recommend: _The Guns of Navarone_ (1961) is about a fictional raid, _Ill Met by Moonlight_ (1957) is based on a true story. Both are good films IMO.
The Brits made a movie about this raid called The Gift Horse.
Thank you for your reaction to this, its always good to hear what you have to say about this type of thing, you have a fairly good understanding of military matters and so hearing your comments is welcome, thank you and take care :)
7:01 The holes in the map are where the convoys' positions and movements were marked on the map with pins.
12:50 It's a somewhat more antiquated accent. It's pure British, but it's much more old school than modern British accents.
I live in Falmouth an there is a tiny rock in a carpark (this will become relevant an obvious why) to show how we do understated as the british....also my family member won a VC at roukes drift... ive hust watched your other vid on the VC by clarkson you did a really wonderful job on it.
Really enjoyed this thanks and this is Clarkson at his best.
There is a film about this called “gift horse” which is the black and white footage they show as the reenactment
I love your reverence for the gravity of what these young men did, the word 'hero' is bandied around like confetti these days but these men were true heroes in the purest form of the word. Maybe it's because I'm a Gen X'er and had contact with some who would talk to you about their service during WWII ,(not many would) that universally they always under played their roles. Having known many who had served and by learning about what WWII had been like it fills me with such reverence for what these men & women sacrificed for our freedom which in turn makes me incredibly proud to be British.
Great to see someone so young learn about our history.❤
Brave men, my dad was a D day veteran & he always maintained that men knew,when their number was up.
He would very reluctantly talk about it,but from remarks & the few odd details he was obviously at the sharp end, when I tried to suggest he was a brave man ,he denied it & said he & others were just doing as they were told.
Years later I put a lot of it together, those men who were all well bought up ,peaceful & well mannered, had to go out & kill the enemy, but not peoples with whom they had no personal eminty, I never heard my father ever curse a German, in fact there was a good deal of respect regarding their disappointed fighting abilities, but it's little wonder they didn't want to talk about it.
The Commandos trained near where I live. The Remembrance service held every year at the Commando memorial was graced by having the surviving Commandos that trained at Achnacarry attending including one of the commandos that the sculpture was said to be based on.
A garden of Remembrance was added along with an ash scattering area where many commandos have had their ashes scattered here.
This is one of my top two favourite documentaries, along with 'Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes (2011)'. Really looking forward to watching this in about an hour. Thank you, Sarah!
They were incredibly brave.
Once summat is thunked it is possible......wars are easy to start fkn difficult to stop. Peace is more much much more than an absence of war. Like your presentations Ms Gal.....thank you.
Royal Marines are the amphibious forces of the Royal Navy since 1664. They and the army then formed the Commandos in WWII, but only the Royal Marines continued as commandos after the war. Other units can do the All Arms Commando Course to become a commando and support 3 Commando Brigade.
RM and Paras are considered tier 2, so more elite than regular US Marines, and most of tier 1 SAS and SBS are made taken from them.
If you had a PS2 you could play the St Nazaire raid on Medal of Honor: European Assault.
The ship's bell from HMS Cambelltown was given to Cambelltown in Pensylvania as a thank you for the lending of ships for bases programme. The bell was lent back and placed on the Type 22 frigate HMS Cambelltown until she was decommissioned in 2011 went it was given back to Cambelltown.
It would be great if it was lent back again for the type 31 frigate that is going to be built by the end of the decade which as been given the name HMS Campbelltown
Army Commando only had a very short lifespan (1940-46), they were raiders a bit like US Army Rangers. Whereas the Royal Marines are one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and have been in existence since 1664, I completely agree they would be a very good subject for a reaction.👍
Well, cinsidering the US Army Rangers were based on the Commandos, that's not really surprising!
The US Army Rangers were deliberately modelled on the Commandos and initially trained with them
"Never before have so many owed so much to so few." Winston Churchill on the pilots who defended Britain in The Battle of Britain.
The Marines got the commando role later. At this point they were a random gathering from army regiments. The SAS today is similar.
2 movies about this raid worth looking at.
1 "gift horse" 1952 & 2 "attack on the iron coast" 1968 (has American actor lloyd Bridges in it)
This 👧 Gal is 👏 amazing, a true darling of America....Big hug from 🇬🇧 UK
The bombing got much more accurate, but this was still early in the war before those methods had been perfected. Dive bombing was an option for more precise bombing but generally that was for smaller, tactical targets
Two films were made based on the St Nazaire Raid. "The Gift Horse" starring Trevor Howard and the later "Attack on the Iron Coast" starring Lloyd Bridges.
Great video ... Clarkson and SoGal at their best ☺ ... your Dad's Army reference was spot on !
Thanks so much for posting this.I had never known about it either. True heroes in every sense of the word and typical British understatement
About time someone like Peter Jackson or DreamWorks made this into an epic movie...The story is one of the best stories you'll read of the war...and importantly if you visit St.Nazaire you will see that the dock, submarine pens and dock area has hardly changed...making it look like one big film set ready to go...Even the small iron bascule bridge is still in existence with bullet holes from the 1942 raid are still there to see...The dock is still a film set waiting for someone to do something with it...If only I had a spare few million knocking about...I live in hope!
There is a movie based on this raid, it's called Attack on the Iron Coast Lloyd bridges was one of the actors in it.
Dear god no. There would have to be an American involved, a love story apropos to nothing, star wars special effects, etc. They would mangle it.
There is a film loosely based on the raid called The Gift Horse.
The story of HMS Campbelltown😁👍
It would have American actors and classed as an American operation as they fought WW11 just by themselves and were involved in all heroic battles that saved us all from speaking German….apparently! 😂😂
Hi
FYI- I love your appreciation of british military 😊
Great video! My dad was a Royal Naval Commando in WWII and was part of the Arctic Convoys. x
Your "like" goal has been well and truly exceeded! Clarkson's video on this is a magnificent BUT the twist at the end of his Operation Market Garden video is staggering! Heroes then were so modest.
That's my parents' generation. Everyone is a "hero" now, just for wearing the uniform, but they would have been embarrassed at the suggestion. The way they looked on it, everyone did their bit.
I can’t help thinking. That this charming young lady reacting. Wouldn’t last 5 minutes without laughing if I as a Englishman was explaining something to her. Bless her heart.
The map has pin holes where the individual thumb tacks were pressed in the wall. You can see the map if you go visit the War Rooms when you visit London.
There's going to be a new HMS Campbelltown as a Type 31 frigate, it'll probably be a couple of years before it is laid down. There was a Type 22 with the name and it had the ship's bell from the ship that was recovered during the raid and when the Type 22 was retired the bell was given to Campbelltown, PA where I believe it sits in a museum - I _suspect_ the bell will be loaned back to the Royal Navy when the Type 31 goes into service.
Absolutely love your reactions 🤓😊. Much love birmingham UK 🇬🇧✌️.
Thank you love for showing this. It means a lot. ❤❤❤ 🙏👍🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸
There was a film from 1968 about the raid. The film is "Attack on the Iron Coast". It is quite a good film. There are differences to the actual raid. But does seen quite accurate.
The convoys from USA to Uk took some very strange and elaborate routes. Hardly ever the shortest and most direct. British Special Forces today are the SAS and the SBS.
There is a film about this raid called Gift Horse (1952) starring Richard Attenborough and the ship used in the film was the USS Twiggs renamed to HMS Leamington which was the last survivor of the 50 American destroyers giving to the UK as part of the Destroyers For Bases Deal in 1940 and was broken up for scrap as soon as filming finished.
Richard Attenborough only had a smallish part in the film Trevor Howard and James Donald were the main stars, James is mostly forgotten now but did appear in The Great Escape and Th Vikings
The Gift Horse film was based on this.
Not seen your reaction yet, but so glad you are looking at this as its well worth looking at
A closer analogy might be Light Infantry in the Revolutionary War, as they were chosen for the speed, agility and ability to think for themselves - and they tended to be brigaded together as a main force rather than the skirmish screen they’d become during the Napoleonic Wars. The same applied to Grenadiers too but their selection criteria was more on their height etc. but usually the both of them did the bulk of the fighting throughout the Revolutionary War for the British
6:50 everytime a convoy was crossing the atlantic it was given a code representing where it was going and coming (for example the arctic convoys from Britain and America to Russia were PQ and returns were QP) and a pin with those codes and number of ships would go on the map, they would monitor them through radar and radio and move the pin along that very map so Churchill could see what was coming in, whether they lose any tonnage along the way and such
21:17 Mountbatton was Prince Phillips uncle if I remember
Love your reactions & humour, thank you.
Your questions,
Commandos were ordinary British soldiers, all volunteers from the Army as were the SAS. Many of the men spoke of 'doing my bit'.
They fully appreciated why they were fighting having seem Britain progressively devastated, quite like the Israelis of today, so were very motivated.
Some of the fame of this action comes via a movie named "The Gift Horse".
I'd hesitate to call it "The Greatest Raid of All". Rather I suggest it's typical of what the British do, before, then and now.
You could try "The Cockleshell Heroes", the X boats attacking Tirpitz, "The Dam Busters". There are many more examples. Who burnt The Whitehouse? Opps, sorry about that but... and the of SAS today.
The Loire is the longest river in France so the estuary is quite wide, at its mouth one can't see the opposite shore however it narrows quite rapidly as one approaches the major ports of St Nazaire & Nantes. On the North shore you can still see many of the German bunkers and a small, interesting museum which includes a German 88 mm gun. The dock & U-boat pens also still exist & can be visited.
I now live quite near Saint Nazaire and can assure you the French commemorate this action with full honours and the earlier catastrophic loss of the Lancastrian.
I've had many Frenchmen when they learned my Farther arrived in France without a passport, in Normandy on day 2 of D-Day, thank me for his contribution. I find that rather touching.
Something to remeber is Tirpitz was the 2nd Bismarck Class Battleship. When Bismarck attempted her break out it resulted in the Battle of Denmark Strait and nearly 1500 lives being lost with the sinking of HMS Hood. Due to damage sustained Bismarck had to abandon her mission and try to get home. When Bismarck was intercepted and ultimately sunk, it was at the cost of another 2000 lives. It'd be hard to know the number of lives saved taking St Nazaire off the table but safe to say it's a lot.
A lot of emphasis is put on how powerful and modern the Bismarck Class was. The Royal Navy at the time had 2 Battleships that while slower, packed an even bigger punch with 9 x 16" guns(HMS Nelson and Rodney) and they also had the King George the V class that were just as modern, almost as fast as the Bismarck class, had 10 x 14" guns, far more advanced radar fire control and were arguably better protected... And in 1941 they had 3 of them. HMS Hood actually matched Bismarck's firepower and speed but being a battlecruiser and in desperate need of refit at the time of her fateful encounter with Bismarck, she fell in short order. Even the legendary HMS Warspite which was a veteran of WW1, fought in the Battle of Jutland and joint record holder of the longest range ship on ship main battery gun hit ever had a similar 8 x 15" main battery as the Bismarck's. The Royal Nqvy also had something the Kriegsmarine didn't(at least operational), aircraft carries. In a head on engagement the Bismarck's would always be outnumbered and outgunned and end up on the bottom.
The danger the Bismarck's posed was if they managed to break out into the Atlantic. The ocean is really, really big and as massive as Battleships are they'd be really, REALLY hard to find and engage. It would have forced convoys to break up into smaller groups making them easier targets for the u-boats or the Royal Navy would be forced to commit even more capital ships to escort duties and patrols. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were also derping around doing their thing plus there was the Mediterranean and the Pacific theaters so a Bismarck running rampant in the Atlantic would have been disaterous. As it was the "pocket Battleship" Graf Spee was already causing major problems until she was cornered and she was nowhere near as powerful and didn't have the same endurance with fuel, ammunition and supplies as a Bismarck had.
Hi So-gal,really enjoyed watching this video with you.Its interesting that you mentioned that you like the way us Brits phrase things,as ive often mentioned to my partner the very same thing about you folk over the pond.
You have some ways of expressing yourselves that i love to bits!
But at the end of the day,i feel that it's pretty obvious that we were all originally cut from the same cloth.
Love your channel 😊
Mountbatten Festival of Music 2022 from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Featuring the Massed Bands of HM Royal Marines, the Fanfare Team and world-famous Corps of Drums, watch as one of the finest military bands in the world comes to life. With an exciting programme of music including The Prodigy, Sir Elton John, Two Steps From Hell, and Dire Straits, there truly is something for everyone!
This year’s festival also pay special homage to the 40th anniversary of the Falkland’s War and the 250+ who sacrificed themselves for the very fundamentals of democracy and freedom, this year’s festival also takes us back to the very beginning of music in HM Naval Service and it’s history upto and including the present day.
As someone who was there that night when this was recorded, I can say that it was exquisite, exciting and shows some of the very best that the Bands of HM Royal Marines have to offer.
(PS. It is a long one longer than the Festival of Remembrance that you reacted, also this is the same festival that the video of the story of the Unknown Warrior was from but that was recorded in the hight of the pandemic and it couldn’t have an audience that year)
th-cam.com/video/Q9VooyxTP8A/w-d-xo.html
You always seem to come up with the most interesting videos. Thank you for watching with us. I really, really enjoyed this.
In every British heart is Two fingers, Palm held backwards . From Agencout. Onwards.
Hi Sarah! Lord Mountbatten was King Charles's great uncle. I was familar with with the story of the St. Nazaire raid after reading about it in school in a book called 'The Green Beret'.
Wrong Lord Louis Mountbatten. It's easy to mix them up as there were 4 or 5 Louis in the family tree. This one was Phillip's mother's brother, not his grandfather's brother. He was Prince Phillip's uncle and Queen Elizabeth's second cousin once removed.
it might also be worth checking out the Cockleshell Heroes raid.
Love youre enthusiasm for british history keep it up gal x
After this was aired the plaque has been moved to somewhere a bit nicer in Falmouth with a few extra plaques around it. Still the same old rock but it is a bit more noticeable now.
There is a proper memorial now, this film was made around 2004
Their electronics were tube-based, and tubes are as sensitive as the detonator. There was another group doing weapons research for the UK during WWII that came up with a reliable timing mechanism -- jawbreakers. Apparently they dissolve at a pretty constant rate, fresh or sea water, and they worked well enough for the mines they were designing.
The distinctive green beret was adopted by British Army commandos. The Royal Marines were later to adopt the famous green beret as their role changed during ww2.
U.S. forces would also adopt the green beret.
British understatement can be fatal, sadly. There was an incident in the Korean War where the 1st Batallion of the Gloucestershire Regiment (650 men) were surrounded and isolated by 10,000 Chinese soldiers, and an American officer asked the Brigadier about their status, and he replied that things were “a bit sticky.” The American officer thus thought they had the situation under control, so didn’t send any reinforcements.
If you want an incredible piece of British understatement, there was the case of British Airways Flight 9, which was flew through a volcanic ash cloud en route from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, and all four engines failed due to being clogged up by ash. Even in the midst of trying to restart them before they ran out of altitude, the captain, Eric Moody, came on the radio to the cabin and said “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We’re doing our damndest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
LOL - I like your confusion about Micky Burn's accent as possibly being German. 50 years ago I travelled around the USA on the Greyhound busses and chatting to other passengers my English accent was sometimes mistaken for German.😃
There are programs that concentrate on the training involved for the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment. They are very interesting and well worth watching.
Thats superinteresting.... more so as we learned about this in history lessons in school in the 60s...... There was no video ofcourse, so thx for bringing that to light.....
Stunning.
Lord mountbatten was The queens second cousin, he was Queen victoria's Great Grandson and so was also related to Price Phillip.
Lord Mountbatten (and members of his family) was assassinated by the IRA in 1979.
Royal Marine Commandos are elite naval infantry. They are re rolling into smaller specialised units under the Future Commando programme using different weaponry to the regular infantry.