I’ve been listening for many years now to ‘we have ways’ but 🤩 this series is the best thing I’ve seen in many years. It’s just so cool to see the places and hear the stories with such passion and with such information. I’ve literally been binging on them. Nice job chaps ❤
None of my friends or family have the history interest I do, so I'm glad you do these and the podcast. It feels like I'm there with you, living it, breathing it and having a laugh!
A family friend of mine knew the owners of the house, we were lucky to be let in and we walked the grounds several years ago. The damage to the wall from the small arms fire it received when Stan Hollis was there still remains.
My dad, when growing up, lived next door to his brother, near Pudsey, and whilst my dad was only 8 when Stanley won the VC we still always used to talk about him every time the anniversary of D Day came around.
my uncle Richard Herbert is on that very memorial. He joined the green howards as a replacement on the 13th june and was killed between lingevres and hottot les bagues on 28th june aged 21....he is buried in the british cemetary at hottot les bagues which is worth a visit if you get time. He did not get a visit from family until the 1980's not because they did not care, but working class people just didnt travel to such a places .We visit whenever we are in that area because now we are all capable of travel but it must have been hard for his parents knowing where their son is buried but not having the first idea how to or funds to travel to visit him. We went to the marie office in lingevres and a lovely lady called a gentleman who took us to the very area where he was killed....la taille cross roads.....just off the main road from lingevres to hottot..(we had a copy of the battle map from the national archives) i thanked him and he hugged us all and said no....france thanks you.......i had to fight back a tear.....being british you understand.
69th Brigade yes? My dad was attached to that brigade as a 233 Field Company Engineer. I was have travelled the route taken by my dad from D Day [including through Lingevres and Hottot] as far as Nijmegen. A fabulous trip and well worth it.
Love this series gents, working my way through all of them and both educational and entertaining. It's really great to have the time for you to tell the stories and show the locations, so much inspiration for future trips to France
Two individuals sparking off each other with passion and respect for the history and able to convey it all through the screen. Surely a recipe for someone to commission much more like this, though James and Al will be busy enough people already.
Incredible figures regarding infantry casualties. My dad said he did not want to be an infantryman so he volunteered for the RAF. He was being trained as bomber crew when Crete fell. All personnel were herded into a room to be told they were now the RAF Regiment. Dad said there was uproar but although he ended up in Burma fighting the Japanese, that fateful decision probably saved his life as 50% of bomber crew never returned. Such are the fates of war.
You guys bring a wonderfully warm conversational element to an already compelling subject that really draws me in! Stanley was the epitome of the warrior of the era, indeed of any era. For those men the heroes were not the medal winners with glowing citations like themselves, they were the fallen brothers they had to leave behind. Always Remember🔥🕊
Stayed in Crepon for a couple of nights a while back. Lovely village. Stayed in the old house of the local mayor. She said it had been used as an HQ by the Germans, and pointed out two swastikas they'd scratched on the wall of one of the attached sheds.
My great uncle, Captain Robert Scott Jack, was the liaison officer for Brigadier R H Senior, 151 Brigade. He died in the afternoon on D day after being ambushed somewhere between Bazenville and Crepon. Senior wanted to check on the columns of the 6th and 9th Durham Light infantry. He took a jeep with my great uncle and wireless operator, L/Cpl Horton and went to see what was happening. They ran into the German 352nd Infantry division. Captain Scott and L/Cpl Horton were both killed. Brigadier Senior was shot in the arm and captured. He managed to escape the next day and make it back to allied lines. My great uncle is buried in Ryes war cemetery. He joined as a private in the TA and served in Sicily, the middle east and Egypt. He was 23 when he died on D Day.
His VC story is really the tale that sums up all of them for the most part. The plans gone pear shaped so I need to do some heroics to rectify the situation.
Stan Hollis just loved the smell of cordite and not mucking around, what a chap 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I genuinely believe that the generation of people involved in WW2, no matter where, resolved themselves to do whatever it took to keep going, they weren’t all decorated as hero’s, and many probably should have and could have been, but they all were equal, they did what needed to be done, necessity not choice My Great Uncle Maurice Elms RAMC came ashore on D day and served throughout the European campaign, he ultimately survived the war He never did become a Doctor, i think what he experienced and saw, profoundly changed him as a person, and he never spoke of it, i know he was proud to have done what he did, but not that he had to do it at all
Thank you for sharing this story of your great uncle. And totally agree that his generation show extraordinary courage and selflessness. Thank you for watching Walking the Ground.
the intersecting TT (Tyne Tees as Al mentions) is the divisional symbol of the 69th Infantry Brigade, the TT 40 indicates the HQ of the 50th Infantry Division and the TT 50 is the 5th Batallion East Yorkshire Regiment.
TT was the symbol for 50th Div. 55 refers to the senior battalion (5th East Yorks) in the senior brigade (69th). 5EY were scheduled to land just after H-Hour on KING RED, in the sector to the east of the Green Howards. I've no idea why it's painted in pale blue though - for 69 BDE it "should" be red. Maybe that's just what they had available, or the original colour has been lost over the last 80 years. 40 could refer to either Div HQ (black), HQ Div Arty (red over dark blue), HQ Div RE (sky blue), HQ Div RASC (red diagonally over green), HQ Div RAOC (dark blue, red, dark blue in vertical stripes), or HQ Div REME (dark blue, yellow, red from top to bottom in horizontal stripes), depending on the backing colour of the tac plate. It's painted in black, so maybe Div HQ, or it could just be a collective "Divisional units HQs ... go that way!"
The painted directions on the house wall are apparently original and from the D-Day period, although they may have been 'enhanced' a little since then.. - The 'TT 40' in black is the vehicle unit marking for Divisional HQ of British 50th Infantry Division, the 'TT 55' is the marking for the senior infantry battalion of the senior brigade in 50th Infantry Division, which in this case was 5th Battalion, The East Yorkshire Regiment of 69th Infantry Brigade. This method of unit direction signage was used for field security reasons and seemed to carry on throughout the campaign in North West Europe.. According to legend the 51st Highland Infantry division was an extremely prolific user of this signage, earning them the nickname of 'Highway Decorators' (their divisional symbol was 'HD') - In theory the 5th East Yorks' 'TT 55' marking on the wall should be in red paint, but I suppose that if you've just landed in the first wave on D-Day paint colours wouldn't be especially high on your list of priorities !
Guys, you missed the later action where he comes across a machine gun post in a lane off the rd, he throws two grenades at the machine gun nest but forgets to pull the pins, when the grenades enter the pit the Germans surrender unaware that the grenades are not primed and he captures them without a shot been fired, Ask Paul about it 😊
The high proportion of drivers etc is mostly explained by the increased mechanisation and mobility of WW2 armies compared to WW1 and the required fuel, ammunition etc to be moved with the combat elements
My hero Stan from middlesbrough like me, love the Northern NINJA craic lol, my great uncle Bill who spent the war in India was a freind and fellow middlesbrough publcan, he was the landlord of the Cleveland north ormesby middlesbrough, while Stan ran the green howards pub in north ormesby. The green howards always first in in any conflict along with Durham light infantry northumberland fuiselliers etc NORTHERN NINJAS INDEED! Not disparaging all our servicemen from the uk ireland throughout the empire as it stood. Aussies kiwis canadians indians, carribean and the YANKS OF COURSE
A friend of mine went back to see family in Islamabad and met an old guy who fought in Italy with the allies,apparently these ,non English or Italian speaking conscripts were used to clear houses ahead of American troops . I wish there's was more on the varieties of nationalities that made up the forces that fought on the west's behalf. This would benefit our trouble with extreme politics that are taking us near to pointless conflicts ahead
Been loving this series, also great fan of your podcast. Grandad was a captain in the REME and helped build the mulbery harbour. Remember him showing me his old official maps land overhead photos they were given before d day,
Just looking into the TT40 and TT55. I cant find anything for the TT40 but the TT55 could be the 55th Searchlight Regiment which was composed of members of the 5th Durham Light Infantry. The switch to the regiment pre-dates 44 but could just be an old holdover to commemorate where they came from, or something similar.
Assembley, not spelt like that, then? Are you sure guv'nor? TT 40 and TT 55 These symbols identify the headquarters of 50th Infantry Division (40) and 5th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment (55) and indicate the route to be followed by or to the headquarters or the battalion. Headquarters 50th Infantry Division was established at Meuvaines betwee Ver-sur-Mer and Asnelles. Source tracesofwar
James maybe a renown WW2 historian but I'm sorry to say this is one of the worst accounts of the action of CSM Hollis's VC in Crepon I have heard. The young boy was not in the courtyard he was in a bedroom upstairs in the farmhouse. The round from the field gun hit the house chimney sending masonry flying. Hollis was back with Lofthouse when he heard the commotion around the Bren gunners being pinned down in the rhubarb patch, famously saying "Well I took them in so I'll go and get them out."
I find some of your comments regarding other soldiers that fought quite disgusting..... " he just sinks that's the end of him " I thought both of you would have more respect for what they gave .
They couldnt have more respect. Such incidents were quite common, as many of the Landing Craft got stuck on sandbars and the leading men off the ramps were often lost, dragged down by their equipment. The loss rate to drownings was very high as a proportion of the total casualties that day.
Love this, dad brought me up on WW2 history and now we sit together watching your videos, better than any rubbish on the tele (your guys stuff excluded). 🫡
I’ve been listening for many years now to ‘we have ways’ but 🤩 this series is the best thing I’ve seen in many years. It’s just so cool to see the places and hear the stories with such passion and with such information. I’ve literally been binging on them. Nice job chaps ❤
Wow, thank you!
Gents, you’re going to have to give up the podcast and move into a series of tv/film docs. Loving this.
Thank you Stanley Hollis. I am able to live my life as I do because of you and others like you. Lest we forget.
None of my friends or family have the history interest I do, so I'm glad you do these and the podcast. It feels like I'm there with you, living it, breathing it and having a laugh!
Thank you for joining us!
I don't think they make them like that anymore. Brilliant channel.
Argh, the drone shots of the actual site with arrow overlays. I’ve got the vapors!
And the first person view peaking around the corner. This is absolutely first rate.
A family friend of mine knew the owners of the house, we were lucky to be let in and we walked the grounds several years ago. The damage to the wall from the small arms fire it received when Stan Hollis was there still remains.
My dad, when growing up, lived next door to his brother, near Pudsey, and whilst my dad was only 8 when Stanley won the VC we still always used to talk about him every time the anniversary of D Day came around.
my uncle Richard Herbert is on that very memorial. He joined the green howards as a replacement on the 13th june and was killed between lingevres and hottot les bagues on 28th june aged 21....he is buried in the british cemetary at hottot les bagues which is worth a visit if you get time. He did not get a visit from family until the 1980's not because they did not care, but working class people just didnt travel to such a places .We visit whenever we are in that area because now we are all capable of travel but it must have been hard for his parents knowing where their son is buried but not having the first idea how to or funds to travel to visit him.
We went to the marie office in lingevres and a lovely lady called a gentleman who took us to the very area where he was killed....la taille cross roads.....just off the main road from lingevres to hottot..(we had a copy of the battle map from the national archives) i thanked him and he hugged us all and said no....france thanks you.......i had to fight back a tear.....being british you understand.
69th Brigade yes? My dad was attached to that brigade as a 233 Field Company Engineer. I was have travelled the route taken by my dad from D Day [including through Lingevres and Hottot] as far as Nijmegen. A fabulous trip and well worth it.
Excellent work. Love the style of these videos.
For the sake of accuracy, the memorial commemorates the men of both 6th and 7th Green Howards, so not just one battalion.
Love this series gents, working my way through all of them and both educational and entertaining. It's really great to have the time for you to tell the stories and show the locations, so much inspiration for future trips to France
Great to hear!
Two individuals sparking off each other with passion and respect for the history and able to convey it all through the screen. Surely a recipe for someone to commission much more like this, though James and Al will be busy enough people already.
Fabulous series thus far. Learning about these actions is so much easier when you have eyes on the ground. Just Brilliant.
Great to hear!
Incredible figures regarding infantry casualties. My dad said he did not want to be an infantryman so he volunteered for the RAF. He was being trained as bomber crew when Crete fell. All personnel were herded into a room to be told they were now the RAF Regiment. Dad said there was uproar but although he ended up in Burma fighting the Japanese, that fateful decision probably saved his life as 50% of bomber crew never returned. Such are the fates of war.
Thank you for sharing.
Loving this series...the interation of knowledge makes it work
You guys bring a wonderfully warm conversational element to an already compelling subject that really draws me in! Stanley was the epitome of the warrior of the era, indeed of any era. For those men the heroes were not the medal winners with glowing citations like themselves, they were the fallen brothers they had to leave behind. Always Remember🔥🕊
So afterward, Stanley Hollis became a……Pub Landlord! 😀
Superb series. Nice to see the British/commonwealth action covered
Stayed in Crepon for a couple of nights a while back. Lovely village. Stayed in the old house of the local mayor. She said it had been used as an HQ by the Germans, and pointed out two swastikas they'd scratched on the wall of one of the attached sheds.
These videos have been absolutely fantastic!
Glad you like them!
I hope this channel gets the subs it deserves. Perfect compliment to the pod as well.
My great uncle, Captain Robert Scott Jack, was the liaison officer for Brigadier R H Senior, 151 Brigade. He died in the afternoon on D day after being ambushed somewhere between Bazenville and Crepon. Senior wanted to check on the columns of the 6th and 9th Durham Light infantry. He took a jeep with my great uncle and wireless operator, L/Cpl Horton and went to see what was happening. They ran into the German 352nd Infantry division. Captain Scott and L/Cpl Horton were both killed. Brigadier Senior was shot in the arm and captured. He managed to escape the next day and make it back to allied lines. My great uncle is buried in Ryes war cemetery. He joined as a private in the TA and served in Sicily, the middle east and Egypt. He was 23 when he died on D Day.
Any chance of covering the Merville Battery
My only problem with these videos is they're too damn short!
His VC story is really the tale that sums up all of them for the most part. The plans gone pear shaped so I need to do some heroics to rectify the situation.
Stan Hollis just loved the smell of cordite and not mucking around, what a chap 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I genuinely believe that the generation of people involved in WW2, no matter where, resolved themselves to do whatever it took to keep going, they weren’t all decorated as hero’s, and many probably should have and could have been, but they all were equal, they did what needed to be done, necessity not choice
My Great Uncle Maurice Elms RAMC came ashore on D day and served throughout the European campaign, he ultimately survived the war
He never did become a Doctor, i think what he experienced and saw, profoundly changed him as a person, and he never spoke of it, i know he was proud to have done what he did, but not that he had to do it at all
Thank you for sharing this story of your great uncle. And totally agree that his generation show extraordinary courage and selflessness. Thank you for watching Walking the Ground.
another great video
Thanks guys
the intersecting TT (Tyne Tees as Al mentions) is the divisional symbol of the 69th Infantry Brigade, the TT 40 indicates the HQ of the 50th Infantry Division and the TT 50 is the 5th Batallion East Yorkshire Regiment.
TT was the symbol for 50th Div.
55 refers to the senior battalion (5th East Yorks) in the senior brigade (69th). 5EY were scheduled to land just after H-Hour on KING RED, in the sector to the east of the Green Howards. I've no idea why it's painted in pale blue though - for 69 BDE it "should" be red. Maybe that's just what they had available, or the original colour has been lost over the last 80 years.
40 could refer to either Div HQ (black), HQ Div Arty (red over dark blue), HQ Div RE (sky blue), HQ Div RASC (red diagonally over green), HQ Div RAOC (dark blue, red, dark blue in vertical stripes), or HQ Div REME (dark blue, yellow, red from top to bottom in horizontal stripes), depending on the backing colour of the tac plate. It's painted in black, so maybe Div HQ, or it could just be a collective "Divisional units HQs ... go that way!"
Loving this series
Well done thanks
Really enjoyed the video can't wait for the next one
Wow where did this channel come from.. looks like my day is sorted.
The painted directions on the house wall are apparently original and from the D-Day period, although they may have been 'enhanced' a little since then.. - The 'TT 40' in black is the vehicle unit marking for Divisional HQ of British 50th Infantry Division, the 'TT 55' is the marking for the senior infantry battalion of the senior brigade in 50th Infantry Division, which in this case was 5th Battalion, The East Yorkshire Regiment of 69th Infantry Brigade.
This method of unit direction signage was used for field security reasons and seemed to carry on throughout the campaign in North West Europe.. According to legend the 51st Highland Infantry division was an extremely prolific user of this signage, earning them the nickname of 'Highway Decorators' (their divisional symbol was 'HD') - In theory the 5th East Yorks' 'TT 55' marking on the wall should be in red paint, but I suppose that if you've just landed in the first wave on D-Day paint colours wouldn't be especially high on your list of priorities !
Another cracking episode guys 👍
Brilliant, loved it
I wonder if the owners have ever metal detected those gardens / fields / hedge lines. Bound to be some interesting finds 😊 wonderful series so far
only 3 years older than my dad, who also survived 6 years active service in the infantry - clearly both statisticaļly very lucky chaps.
That P-37 jacket looks so suave. The one I got looks like it was made with the roughest wool they could possible scrounge.
Guys, you missed the later action where he comes across a machine gun post in a lane off the rd, he throws two grenades at the machine gun nest but forgets to pull the pins, when the grenades enter the pit the Germans surrender unaware that the grenades are not primed and he captures them without a shot been fired, Ask Paul about it 😊
Loving the vlogs scotty from star trek landed with the Canadian regiment was wonded but took out 3 snipers and led his men off the beach
The high proportion of drivers etc is mostly explained by the increased mechanisation and mobility of WW2 armies compared to WW1 and the required fuel, ammunition etc to be moved with the combat elements
My hero Stan from middlesbrough like me, love the Northern NINJA craic lol, my great uncle Bill who spent the war in India was a freind and fellow middlesbrough publcan, he was the landlord of the Cleveland north ormesby middlesbrough, while Stan ran the green howards pub in north ormesby. The green howards always first in in any conflict along with Durham light infantry northumberland fuiselliers etc NORTHERN NINJAS INDEED! Not disparaging all our servicemen from the uk ireland throughout the empire as it stood. Aussies kiwis canadians indians, carribean and the YANKS OF COURSE
Great story
A friend of mine went back to see family in Islamabad and met an old guy who fought in Italy with the allies,apparently these ,non English or Italian speaking conscripts were used to clear houses ahead of American troops . I wish there's was more on the varieties of nationalities that made up the forces that fought on the west's behalf. This would benefit our trouble with extreme politics that are taking us near to pointless conflicts ahead
Been loving this series, also great fan of your podcast. Grandad was a captain in the REME and helped build the mulbery harbour. Remember him showing me his old official maps land overhead photos they were given before d day,
TT40 is Div HQ (arm of service marking)
Just looking into the TT40 and TT55. I cant find anything for the TT40 but the TT55 could be the 55th Searchlight Regiment which was composed of members of the 5th Durham Light Infantry. The switch to the regiment pre-dates 44 but could just be an old holdover to commemorate where they came from, or something similar.
Arm of service marking (TT40 = Div HQ)
What is the significance of the graffiti? (Love the pod and these videos).
Assembley, not spelt like that, then? Are you sure guv'nor? TT 40 and TT 55
These symbols identify the headquarters of 50th Infantry Division (40) and 5th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment (55) and indicate the route to be followed by or to the headquarters or the battalion. Headquarters 50th Infantry Division was established at Meuvaines betwee Ver-sur-Mer and Asnelles. Source tracesofwar
James maybe a renown WW2 historian but I'm sorry to say this is one of the worst accounts of the action of CSM Hollis's VC in Crepon I have heard. The young boy was not in the courtyard he was in a bedroom upstairs in the farmhouse. The round from the field gun hit the house chimney sending masonry flying. Hollis was back with Lofthouse when he heard the commotion around the Bren gunners being pinned down in the rhubarb patch, famously saying "Well I took them in so I'll go and get them out."
Disappointing use of a motor car in a series called 'Walking the Ground'.
I find some of your comments regarding other soldiers that fought quite disgusting..... " he just sinks that's the end of him " I thought both of you would have more respect for what they gave .
They couldnt have more respect. Such incidents were quite common, as many of the Landing Craft got stuck on sandbars and the leading men off the ramps were often lost, dragged down by their equipment. The loss rate to drownings was very high as a proportion of the total casualties that day.
Love this, dad brought me up on WW2 history and now we sit together watching your videos, better than any rubbish on the tele (your guys stuff excluded). 🫡