History Briefs: Alan Brooke and the Brittany Redoubt
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- A little-known story about a scheme of Prime Minister Winston Churchill who wanted to keep the French in the war against Germany.
While British troops were still being evacuated from Dunkirk, General Alan Brooke, who had saved the British Expeditionary Force from being cut off from the sea, was recalled and sent back to Brittany where he was to command four divisions in assisting the French army.
However, it soon became apparent that the French were beyond saving and so the race was on to evacuate all British troops before capture by the Germans.
This entire episode was hushed-up at the time and a D-Notice placed on the news of the sinking of Cunard's RMS Lanacastria with the loss of around 3,000 lives while trying to help evacuate British troops.
This video forms part of the History Briefs series from "Great Stories from the Past" which is designed to provide a quick yet reasonably detailed overview of famous people and renowned events in history.
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Alan Brooke was imho the greatest British General of WWII. Without him I don't know if they'd have been able to keep Churchill & his madcap schemes in check. By that alone he saved thousands of lives. Quiet unassuming but undoubtedly one of the greatest British Soldiers to ever wear the uniform.
Alan Brooke always had a great regard for John Dill his predecessor as CIGS. However by the autumn of 1941, after about 18 months in post, he had been completely exhausted and exasperated by Churchill. The fact that Brooke managed to do the job for the next four years under Churchill speaks volumes. He even turned down the opportunity, when offered by Churchill, to take over in the western Desert from which he would have gained much personal glory in defeating Rommel. But Brooke realised that there were not many other senior commanders in any of the British Armed services that could "handle" Churchill.
Never really in a position to win the war, but occasionally had to prevent Churchill from losing it.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 I'd heard this previously. Apparently Churchill found Brooke both frustrating and valuable, in large part because he'd confront Churchill and deny him agreement on things he wanted. Churchill at least recognised he needed someone to be honest, blunt and immovable and obviously respected Brooke enough, and recognised he himself was not entitled to be a wartime dictator.
@John Michaelson, I absolutely agree with your comments. Alan Brooke's diaries are compulsory reading for anyone wanting an insight into the conduct of the war and the problems Brooke faced in dealing not only with Churchill but also the Allies. The post war British government should hang their heads in shame at the way Brooke was treated by them.
Alanbrookes WW2 diaries is an amazing read, how Churchill needed to be kept in check, his analytical brain, ruthless when sacking incompetent Generals
You omitted to note the famous comment from Brooke to Churchill when Churchill said they should stay to make the Fernch feel the UK was supporting them and Brooke replied "it is impossible to make a corpse feel".
Yes, a good comment, thank you. Hopefully we got the point across but certainly that quote is a good one!
Churchill in his diaries, remarked that Brooke once shouted in his face, and that being confronted by this angry Ulster man was a most intimidating experience.
An entertaining comment. Thanks
Field Marshall Lord Alan Brooke will always be my hero! His diary shows well this is true, in spite of opposition from many who did not understand his greatness, his efforts are not overlooked anymore. Thank you ! From a British women who lived through the time and gratitude to the Field Marshall.
Reading AlanBrooke's history, one can see how he prevented Churchill from endangering UK even more . . .
So many historians and armchair generals never even consider or mention Gen Alan Brooke in discussions of 'the best ww2 generals' but I consider UK Gen Alan Brooke and the USA Gen George Marshall as the two greatest, most influential generals of WW2 - underrated and rarely mentioned.
Could not agree with you more. Brooke and Marshall were the two key Generals for the western allies in WW2. And neither sought publicity or fame for what they did!
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Both men were so highly regarded by their political masters that they were both withheld from the great land commands in Europe to their disappointments.
Anyway, many thanks for an excellent little documentary highlighting the achievements of a much unrecognised major player in the allied victory. I also had the privilege and pleasure of a long friendship with his son, the third Viscount Alanbrooke, who died in 2018, which served to heighten an already developing interest in Brooke senior.
Thanks for this comment Graeme. I'm definitely interested in discovering more about these two general's. Do you perhaps have any links or alternatively reading material I can look into?
Agreed. They were not ‘Battlefield’ Generals during WW2 although Brooke’s overnight movement of II Corps to plug the gap left by the collapsing Belgian Army made the Dunkirk evacuation possible. I recommend his diaries written between 1939 and 1945.
Although not recognised by the general public, his worth was recognised by the powers that be. From Wikipedia:
Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar (23 July 1883 - 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Second World War, and was promoted to field marshal on 1 January 1944.[4]
As chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Brooke was the foremost military advisor to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and had the role of co-ordinator of the British military efforts in the Allies' victory in 1945. After retiring from the British Army, he served as Lord High Constable of England during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. His war diaries attracted attention for their criticism of Churchill and for Brooke's forthright views on other leading figures of the war.
Thank you for presenting this excellent documentary about a little known episode from the early days of WWII. I had no idea that so many young men died in a single nearly forgotten sinking during a second evacuation of the British army from the continent. WWII was a non-stop horror show from start to finish and one which consumed the lives of millions of ordinary people. That fact should never be be sugarcoated to serve anyone's agenda.
As you say and as we are currently seeing in Ukraine, war is an unforgiving horror show. WWII is stuffed full of such stories and we will do our best to re-tell as many as possible. In this video we briefly mention the loss of the 21st Highland Division, an unfortunate incident that has since been hijacked by some for political purposes. Our aim on this channel is to tell the story, without condoning or condemning anyone's actions, in a way that enables viewers to make up their own minds. Glad you enjoyed documentary; we have plenty more in the pipeline.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Sorry to correct you, but it was 51st Highland Division, which you actually said in the video. They nearly got away too, but a quirk of the weather stymied the rescue. This was a very good upload - excellent in fact!
@@DrivermanO Apologises for the typing error above. It is the 51st Highland Division that we mention in the video.
Many years ago I read somewhere that Churchill was exasperated with Brooke's 'It can't be done' attitude, but that is in the context of perhaps a few dozen hare-brained schemes with the odd gem in amongst them. Thank you for illuminating these events. Turning catastrophe into disaster was in the circumstances a good start.
Perhaps it took the two of them, coming from entirely different view points, to come up with the right solution. It did seem to work in the end.
Brooke spent much of his time as Chief of the Imperial Staff warding off Churchill's wilder schemes, with the latter deeply respecting his pugnacity. Brooke was far from negative but had a clear idea of what could and what could not be done. It is worth looking at his statue outside the Ministry of Defence between those of Montgomery and Slim, and inscribed 'Master of Strategy'.
Ed, there were no gems whatsoever. All of Churchill's schemes when attempted simply led to disaster. The Churchill mismanaged Norway catastrophically. His promise of fighter squadrons to France had to be overruled because it would have compromised the defence of Britain. His intervention in Greece destroyed the chance of defeating Italy after Operation Compass and forcing Italy out of the war. Churchill was responsible for appointing the dismally inept General Percival to defend Malaya, resulting in the largest mass surrender of British soldiers in history. Churchill's net value in WW2 was probably to prolong the war by at least two years. He alone bears the responsibility for the disasters of Norway, Greece, and Crete and the failure to run Italy out of the war in 1941.
So, no surprise that his intention of holding a redoubt in Brittany was overruled. It would have been a disaster, just like everything else Winston wanted. This comes after he blundered so badly in WW1 with the Gallipoli operations. This was only after Churchill had lethally antagonized the Ottoman Empire into declaring war by seizing two of their battleships without compensation.
During the war 'hair brained schemes had to be formulated however whimsical and illogical we had to do something to get back at the damn krouts!
Nicely done. Short, pithy, accurate and with a minimum of melodrama. One of the better history channels on You Tube.
Thanks; very pleased that you enjoyed the video. We have loads more stories to come so please keep watching. Thanks again.
The losses on RMS Lancastrian have never been accurately calculated. Not only were military personnel on board but civilians, women and children. Owing to he huge numbers many were below decks when she was hit and had no chance at all of getting out before she sank. It has been stated that it is possible that there might have been up to 8,000 souls on board. Many suspect that the true number lost was deliberately understated.
I had an Uncle who was on her, he spent a long time in the water and oil and must have seen some horrible sights but was rescued and returned to GB. He was later killed in action after D Day. War is a terrible waste of Humanity and one day, if the Human Race doesn't destroy itself first we might learn not to do it!
I think you are entirely correct. Such was the panic and speed with which they had to get out of France (including women and children), nobody actually had the faintest idea how many were on board. The guestimate has always been that 6,000 were on board and that half of them were lost. However, as you say, it could have been even more.
An old friend of mine had been on the Lancastria but he/unit had been taken off again to make way for RAF radar techs who were needed for the Battle of Britain. He watched from shore as 2 stukas sunk her.
I cannot remember how he made it home, but he returned to France on D+12 and was on Luneberg heath with Monty when Germany surrendered.
From what I have read the worry was submarines and the risk of air attack was ignored by the commanders. Regretably no one is perfect and wars are won by those who make fewer mistakes. The battle 'Left many with wounds which would heal after a time and others with wounds which would never heal until the breath was out of the body' (quoting from memory so may not be exact words.) Stephen Vincent Benet about the first day at Gettysburg from John Brown's Body. All wars are tragic.
Thank you for the presentation. I first came across this story following the preparation of a talk about Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, another largely forgotten hero of WW2.
Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay is someone we intend to cover in due course. It is sad that he did not make it to the end of the war; a great loss additionally so because he was one of two men who could keep Montgomery on the straight and narrow, the other being Brooke.
Brilliant presentation, very informative should be shown throughout all UK schools as an explantion as to why the French do not like the British, they (the French) would always complain that the British Expeditionary Force had deserted them at Dunkirk whereas it is quite clear that they had already capitulated.
Thanks for your comments. It is interesting what you say about the French. In a 1970's interview, the French General André Beaufre, a junior staff officer in 1940, described the British as "selfish" for evacuating France. He did, however, concede that they, the French, were in charge and it was their complacency and ineptness that led to the defeat. The Battle of France, of which this story is part, is a classic battle of dislocation leading to a cauldron which, in military terms, is the equivalent of check-mate. Candidly, the British had no option other than bailing out in order to be able to fight another day. Consequently, they were able to return four years later and save France. For a proud nation like France, this is probably too bitter a pill to swallow. We have more about the Battle of France in the pipeline!
It has always been a mistake to do anything that might benefit the French.
Britain paid the French for every railway journey British troops took in WW1 when we should have have left them to the Germans.
@@wuffothewonderdog Your English mongrels would never have accepted the casualties that France had no choice but to take.
In 1940, why don't you tell me why the French fought for 6 weeks, the soldiers NEVER giving up. The politicians gave up, not the soldiers. In that 6 weeks of combat, where the French First Army held the line at Lille and then Dunkirk, allowing the Anglo-Saxon cowards the chance to run away in greater numbers, why did the numbers of French casualties exceed, (in that 6 weeks), the total for the 3 months of the Somme casualties they suffered in WW1.
Do you know what I think? I reckon that you English are still sulking over losing the 114 years, 9 months, and 6 days war, apart from two minor engagements called Crecy and Agincourt. And who did you take your pique out on? A nineteen-year-old GIRL, and burnt her alive at the stake. Bloody brave the English are, eh?
They fought on for another month, Nigel.
I picked up on the quote from Brooke’s diary about him being on the verge of losing his temper. In fact Brooke had a reputation for his short fuse at times.
The impression gained from his Diaries is that Brooke did not suffer fools gladly.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 and compared to Brooke a lot of people around him were fools.
My father was a Royal Engineer evacuated in the last convoy out of St Nazaire, two weeks after Dunkirk. Without Brooke, who knows?
Thanks for sharing the story.
Brook on Churchill......... sometimes I wonder what on earth we can do with him and then I wonder what on earth would we would do without him.
Very good. I like that quite a lot!!
A story I'd never heard, even though I, like many others replying here, have great respect for Brooke. Got to wonder whether Churchill's D Notice for this and the sinking were "for the countrys moral" or to protect his still vulnerable position..?
I think you make a good point
The man who won the war! The grand strategist! The War in the West was pretty much fought as he proposed. He went on to be CIGS and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. He Commanded the Anti-Aircraft Corps and, with Dowding, was responsible for laying the foundations for the successful Air Defence of Britain during the Battle of Britain. His quick thinking at Dunkirk when the Belgians capitulated and left the BEF flank open, saved the BEF and of course succeeded in the story above!
He was never one who liked publicity and thus many people don't realise his importance.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Indeed, very few people today would know of him.
Brooke basically kept Churchill in check definitely not a yes man, Churchill knew how good he was but it was a laboured relationship
Totally agree, but despite everything they had great respect for each other. You often see in life where two people together van be very successful. But it you change one of them, the remaining one ceases to be as successful.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 I didn't actually know that much about this great character until recently which is a shame as I'm from northern Ireland, I think he should be remembered as one of our best
@Dean Robinson Completely agree. It is fascinating that so many of Britain's leading Commanders in WW2 were from Northern Irish descent: Dill, Alexander, Montgomery, Auckinlech; while Admiral Andrew Cunningham (and his brother who briefly commander the Eighth Army) was from Dublin. They would all have joined the UK Armed Forces before the First World War.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Incidentally, wellington was from an Irish background - the Wesleys. Which I think his father changed to Wellesley, because it sounded grander!
@@DrivermanO I think he changed the name because it sounded more English
Superb presentation.
Glad you liked it
Got to say the music is over the top and I for one have to struggle to listen to your excellent commentary. Your pictures too are some of the best I have seen in a historical documentary. Keep up the good work!
After the poor performance of the French army it was a good idea to get the troops out to fight again. Alan Brooke did a marvelous job in persuading Churchill to evacuate. Most of my reading of Alan Brooke was later in the war and his relations with Monty and the Americans.
Churchill was a great statesman, but he should never consider himself as a general.
Of course Churchill had been a soldier; he was trained at Sandhurst and saw action afterwards. He actually had a great empathy with the Armed Forces, but .... ? And it would be Alan Brooke who would end up with the role of moderating Churchill's military fancies during most of the War and it was Brooke that would formulate British military strategy for winning the war.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Before WW2, Churchill reached the rank of temporary Lieutenant Colonel in 1916, commanding an infantry regiment in Flanders. He was never a general, honorary or otherwise. Alan Brooke described Churchill in his diary as "In all his plans he lives from hand to mouth. He can never grasp a whole plan. His method is entirely opportunist." From the episode of the Brittany Redoubt, Alan Brooke judged correctly.
@@tvgerbil1984 Entirely with you on this point. Brooke did though have great respect for Churchill.
@@tvgerbil1984 who does he remind you of?
@@tvgerbil1984 Churchill did NOT see action in WW1, also Brooke was much to knowledgeable for him and could see through his bluster, the other person in the Wartime Government who took very little credit but virtually ran the Government and Country was Clement Attlee, he was always on top of his work and was also a Great Statesman recognised by his Landslide GE in 1945. He and Allan Brooke did get on well.
Brooke points out in his diaries that Churchill regarded himself as a great tactician simply by being a descendant of the Duke of Marlborough!
I always think that comment is quite revealing.
Brooke and Bertram Ramsey, two understated stars.
Entirely agree. We intend to make more videos about and/or including them. Thanks for watching.
Brooke doesn't get the credit he deserves as a strategist and general. It's unfortunate, but to be expected when one is detested by both Churchill and many of the key US generals. He was usually right, and he's paid for it ever since.
I found the background music unnecessary and distracting but otherwise a well presented account of an often forgotten episode.
noted
Couldn't agree with your More!. This piece of glossed over history is rarely mentioned in WW2 stories, so I was very interested with its context.but at many points throughout its presentation, I was struggling to hear the commentary, overwhelmed as it was by the unnecessary high volume background music.. TONE IT DOWN.!Very much interested in this section of generally unreported history, In the end I had to find the Subtitle Section and play the whole film clip all over again.
A Fascinating section of history, covering up the true extent of the British capitulation in France (I already knew about the sacrifice loss of the 51st highland Division but the loss of the RMS Lancastrian sounds almost worse) but just a pity that the sound editing on the film clip was so poor,
Subb'd yesterday. Seen 4 vids so far, all excellent. TYVM. I hope your channel grows and grows. You deserve it.
Very kind of you. Hopefully we can produce many more that you like!
That was very well put together I really enjoyed it thank you 👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Remove or greatly reduce the volume of the intrusive music over the dialogue. Otherwise an excellent production.
Like Brook, I am a Fermanagh man, but spent most of my professional life in London and South East. Brookborough village recently constucted a blue plaque. unvield by Vicount Brookborough to his uncle in the village.
About time ,as Churchill gets all the praise, but Alan Brook, a Ulster man, the Field Marshall in charge, is the real hero for stratergy, against a PM, realing on rehectoric, as half cut all of the time, and Alan Brook the real hero of ww2
Brooke's role cannot be underestimated. Indeed a very large number of senior British Generals in the war had Irish roots including Montgomery, Alexander, Dill, Auchinleck and the Royal Navy's Cunningham. It begs the question, who was the last really successful English General? The Duke of Marlborough?
We stand on the shoulders of giants
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Really a good feature. A slice of the big story that I didn't realize, what makes history so exciting, thumbs up for Alan Brooke and another propoganda minus for Winston!
Pleased that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.
A fantastic story, thank you for bringing it to us. I had never heard of this evacuation before, and Alan Brooke deserved to have been praised for getting those troops home After Dunkirk where I though all British and French troops were the last to leave the continent of Europe. I can understand the politicians reluctance to reveal yet another evacuation. "The truth blanketed in lies" or in this case a D notice!
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it.
A small but important point in passing. 51st (Highland) Division were not "smashed by Rommel near Rouen" nor indeed had they been anywhere near the Seine, let alone to the south of that river. Attached to French 10th Armée as an integral component of IX Corps, they conducted a dogged fighting retreat from the Somme, ultimately aiming for the port of Le Havre. The possibility of the motorised 51st (H) Div withdrawing independently from their allies was not countenanced. Thi plan was compromised when Rommel's 7 PzDiv penetrated to the coast cutting their line of retreat. One brigade had already been sent back to cover the withdrawal but the rest of 51st (H)Div and other elements of IX Corps made for the small port of St Valery-en-Caux to the east. Here, evacuation efforts proved unsuccessful. With ammunition and supplies exhausted and with the port surrounded and under heavy fire, on the morning of 12th June the French corps commander ordered capitulation. The commander of the 51st, Major General V.M. Fortune initially resisted this order but, with German tanks in the street outside Div HQ, he was soon forced to comply and ordered his men to lay down their arms, although outlying elements fought on for some time and groups of men managed to escape from other points farther along the coast.
Thanks for your post which is entirely accurate and correct. We did not want to go into great detail about the 51st Div in the video because it would have distracted from the story. I am, though, aware that we may have given the impression that the 51st Div did not put up a very good effort against Rommel's Division. Just wanted to say that this was never our intention and was indeed far from the case. The 51st like most of the frontline British Divisions in France were motorised - another case of the British doing defence on the cheap - and consequently they were always going to struggle against the all-arms German Divisions. The fact they were effectively cut-off from supporting units and lines of communication all added to heir plight.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 I am not sure the creation of motorised divsions was merely defence on the cheap. It was a way of rendering a small expeditionary force more flexible, to be sure, if lightly armed overall as in the case of a Territorial formation like 51st (H)Div. They were certainly better off than comparable French formations, and indeed German who relied predominantly on horse drawn transport. The time came, of course, when that advantage went for nothing. The opportunity for effective withdrawal was lost and the 51st shared the fate of the rest of IX Corps d'armée.
When you mentioned his linguistic skills in French, I thought that he was going to sum up the situation in one well-known French word beginning 'm*****'.
Nice thought ...
@@GreatStoriesNow933 The classic story of Brooke's linguistic skills is told movingly by General Sir David Fraser in his biography 'Alanbrooke' (1982) of his return to his home-town of Pau in 1947 to unveil a plaque when he addressed the crowd firstly in impeccable French and then lapses into the native Bearnaise dialect to the amazement and delight of the locals.
Alan Brooke really never got the real recognition of the man who saved the Country from Churchill and masterminded the victory in the War. I commend his diaries for a terrific read.
@@thomastidswell7310 the same goes for Hugh Dowding. Saves the country then gets sacked !
@@thomastidswell7310 I've read them; most revealing they are . . . . find them, read them, absorb the message.
All wars are indeed tragic. Those who expouse them regret before day's end when dear ones are killed maimed and shredded.
My father was in the Canadian First Division I this operation. They landed in Brest and were some distance inland when they were ordered back to the coast to leave France. They commandeered a train but the train engineer said he would not help them because he was afraid that the Germans would kill him if he helped the Canadians. The Canadian officer pulled out his sidearm and told the driver he would give him if he did not help. When they got back to Brest they pushed all their trucks and heavy equipment into the harbour before evacuating.
Back in France he spent several months waiting for the German invasion, one night in a bus patrolling the coast, one night in the barracks ready to move to the invasion site, and one night off.
Thanks for the anecdote. By this stage the Canadian First Division was about the only allied division in Europe that was still fully armed and in a fit state to fight.
Impressive that you can continue making new stories on WW2
Thanks. We have plenty more in production which we hope you will enjoy in due course.
It's little known, but also part of this story, that almost all of the over 100,000 French troops evacuated from Dunkirk were sent right back to France to keep fighting.
That is entirely correct. The French army tried to hold a position along the River Somme after Dunkirk so, presumably, that is where they went on return. It would be interesting to know what happened to them there but it is likely to be nothing good.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 it is pretty well known here in France that very nearly every single man over 18 was sent to Germany as forced labour. Every village and town acknowledges it, with memorials to the 'deported'. These deportees were not just the Jewish population but working labour. They would be sent to wherever weapons needed making be it underground factories in Norway or munitions in Germany. They were worked to death. The number that never returned home is simply staggering. In the last days and weeks of the war many would be sent to camps to be executed.
I think they were given the option of staying in Britain and fighting as Free French with De Gaulle. But few took this up and felt they should surrender as their government, under Petain had capitulated. Something I cannot easily understand.
@@beowulf1312 Yes, they did not go back to fight, but to re-join families. German airmen, 1000+ captured in the Battle of France, were held in France, despite UK protests, and returned to the Luftwaffe, after the surrender of France. The 'narrow margin' was made even more narrow!
@@pondlife1952 STO - Service du travail obligatoire (English: Compulsory Work Service) was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II. The STO was created under laws and regulations of Vichy.
Yet another Churchill cock up. As he said, success is the ability to go from disaster to disaster with no loss of enthusiasm.
Interesting video, but you might consider toning the background music down as it's louder than the narrative...
Your comments are noted. Thanks
He also spoke German quite well. In some ways English was his third language - his spelling was a bit flaky at times.
Reading his diaries, his grammar was sometimes a bit flaky as well! He makes a remark in an interview about Churchill's submissions to him always being very well written as if to suggest that he could not compete on that front.
I was sat next to his brother at a wedding reception in the 80's.
The new Lord was found after his brother died, a homeless drunk.
We got on really well and drank and laughed together 🎉
Nice anecdote!
While I admit Churchill was under extreme pressure at this time in both World Wars he seems to have thought that he had inherited the strategic genius of his ancestor the Duke of Marlborough. This idiotic idea, Gallipoli, the escape of the Goeben etc showed this to be untrue. The kindest thing one can say may be that his experiences in WW1 did mean that if Alanbrooke and others stood up to him he did back down. All that said as a political leader he was brilliant.
The only other thing that can be said in his defence was that although they may have been his idea he was never responsible for their execution. Conversely, the Brittany plan was never going to work but Gallipoli just might have worked if the Navy and the Army had worked together. From this the lesson he learnt was that the British armed forces need to work as an all-arms force rather than three independent organisations. His personal stewardship of the MOD during the war saw to that.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 Fair comment although it could be argued that he rushed the Cabinet into the naval attack at Gallipoli without sorting anything else out. I can't help thinking this was a bit of British Imperialism gone wrong. Would gertting ships to bombard Constantiople really have caused an Ottoman surrender? Serbit didn't surrender when Belgrade was occupied and the French government left Paris in 1914 and might well have fought on, like they did in 1870 even if Paris had fallen.
It is a pity that there was not thought given to some pre-emptive sabotage to the French Atlantic ports on departure (a sort of pre-emptive St. Nazaire Raid).
Great thought but I think they were in too much of hurry to get away at the time. The French had by then stopped fighting so there was the entire German army breathing down the necks of not much more than two Divisions.
Let’s remember the 17th June 1940 with prayers for those lost, and those who survived
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Very informative.
Glad you liked it
When the Soviet war effort was near collapse during the summer 1941 and 1942 German offensives, there was some high level planning to open a second front in France. Basically something to distract the Germans from Russia. The idea was actually to invade and hold a peninsula in France, establish a line across the neck. Then hang on until either the real invasion in 1943/44 or until the Germans annihilated the invasion force. And everyone in the British military knew the Germans eventually wiping them out would be the outcome for the three or four divisions available. This plan was only to be implemented in the event of total Soviet collapse. But it sounds similar to this plan.
Thanks for the interesting comment. It is difficult to know where three or four divisions would have been found in 1941/42. Britain was so stretched during this period - for example there was never sufficient resources to defend Singapore which fell in February 1942 because Britain was having to pour more and more men and resources into the Desert campaign. It also seems likely that once Alan Brooke had taken over as CIGS in December 1941, he would have poured call water on any such plan.
@@GreatStoriesNow933 British troops were landed in Singapore immediately prior to surrender . . . . I met one of the survivors, thirty years ago . . .
My dad was in St Nazaire on the 17th June 1940
RASC were destroying motorcycles with sledgehammers
As at Dunkirk, it was men before machinery. Easier to replace a truck or motorbike than a trained serviceman.
I’d certainly like to know what Stalin, or any other members of Stavka or the Soviet Government, might’ve had to say about Brooke, as they all certainly had quite a few opportunities to meet & deal with him in quite a few locales…
Didn't finish it because of the music which was way over the top.
Understood.
Still churchil did choose brooks to be his cigs
So with all his mistakes churchil did not choose a yes man but an independent hinker
I think Churchill liked a good argument. He wanted someone he could debate with and bounce off.
I never knew anyone of this. Churchill incompetence is so often covered up by the British Bulldog narrative
You certainly make a good point but I feel the word "incompetence" needs a little qualification. There was after all total case at the time and Churchill had been PM for less than a month.
Great thx
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Never knew about this.
A story that is always by passed
Very good….except for pronunciation of Rennes!
Not 'orleens' but Or - lay - onz - or so the French would say . . .
I am sure you are right. My only, perhaps feeble, excuse is that this video was made for an English speaking audience!
I will grant that Brooke was able to keep Churchill in line and he was a good commander when the British were on their own. However, Brooke was a poor team player in 1944 and 1945. He seemed to hate all Americans especially Eisenhower. He should have put Montgomery in his place and told him to follow Eisenhower's orders and to be team player. Brooke never did this. He seemed angry that the British were not in charge and that he seemed trapped in WW I. If he was such a great commander, why was he a total blockhead when working with the Americans? He should have put on his big boy pants and worked to support the war no matter what his personal feelings. Instead, he acted like a kid and sulked.
yours is an interesting and plausable view of Brooke. My main criticism would be his showing of favouritism to Montgomery over all other Generals. I always feel that Monty was over-rated and kept in a job by Brooke. For example at Alamein, Alexander had stripped the Ninth Army to give Monty everything and more to defeat Rommel.
Maybe because he saw some of the rubbish US generals or Mac Arthur was like no thanks. You think Montgomery was bad? Yes he was sometimes but Mac Arthur was worse.
Fascinating article. Another interfering "balls up" by Churchill to add to Norway, Greece, Force Z, Singapore, Anzio & the Italian "Soft Underbelly of Europe" policy in general never forgetting Gallipoli.
Quite a record!! Good job he was never a General, Admiral or Air Marshal.
You can't blame Churchill for all of those and he wanted to go through Italy primarily because he did not trust Stalin and wanted to meet up with the Societs before they took too much territory to the West. He had sized up Stalin far more accurately than most. There was nothing wrong with Force Z in principle. Intelligence said that the Japs did not have heavy torpedoes in the region, Force Z came very, very close to intercepting the invasion fleet and it was the British admiral who arguably made the biggest error in not calling for air cover even when he knew his ships had been spotted. Anzio was a huge surprise to the Germans and the fiasco was caused by the failure to order a rapid advance from the beach head, leaving the Germans to surround it. Hardly Churchill's fault. Greece was more complicated than people allow. There were political considerations to be weighed against the military and there is also some evidence that there were plans laid to get the Germans bogged down in the Balkans on their way to Greece to rescue Mussolini.
You of course, being an expert, could have done better?????
A very interesting documentary. But almost ruined by intrusive poor quality new age classical music.
Thanks for your comments which are noted.
A great leader.
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Great story but PLEASE CUT THE MUSIC - I can't hear what you are saying and it's just a total distraction
already noted on this video.
Read Brooke’s WW2 diaries….erudite in the extreme.
Highly recommended!
Alanbrooke...one word i think
Alan Brooke, Lord Alanbrooke
Hilarious (and distracting) incidental music throughout.
Your comment is noted.
If only they blown up the gates of St Nazer, the oparation charriet wouldn't have been needed, apologise for the spelling
Nice thought ... 👍
Good vid ,but stop the dam music
Thanks, your comments are noted.
'One of the great Generals during the Battle of France?' Who was that then as only German generals were great during this walkover.
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