D-Day: Gold Beach & The Mulberry Harbors | History Traveler Episode 44
Вставка
- Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
- How could we go to France without spending a few days on the D-Day landing beaches of Normandy? In the first of many episodes along the Normandy coastline, we're visiting Gold Beach in Arromanche, France where the British 50th Infantry Division attacked on June 6, 1944. We're also looking at the remnants of the Mulberry Harbor, which was a marvel of combat engineering during WWII. Always learning!
Support the effort to expand history education on PATREON: / historyunderground
Facebook: thehistoryunderground
Instagram: the_history_underground
Help spread history and share this with a friend. And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to catch all of the latest content when it drops. Thanks!
#history #france #WWII #d-day #goldbeach
If you've watched a few episodes and feel like I've earned it, be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any new content when it comes out. Click here: ua-cam.com/users/thehistoryunderground
Thanks!
You’ve earned it 👍💪
You’ve definitely earned. I really enjoy watching 🇬🇧👍🏻
Yes! Thanks. And that include the good music used for this episode.
My grandfather took a LCT onto Gold Beach on D Day. He was lucky to survive. He told me that he survived by pure luck because the 18 hour crossing was slower and rougher than expected. After delivering supplies, they were tasked with clearing sections of the beach. However, on 19th June, his LCT was hit at night by a floating section of harbour that had broken off. It tore a hole in his LCT and it sank. All the crew swam and then waded to shore. They lived on the beach before being shipped back to Southampton. A letter detailing this account, written by a midshipman on the LCT, is kept at the D Day museum in Portsmouth. He also helped with the harbour construction. We only found about the letter in early August 2022. I really enjoyed your video - I hope to make it to Gold Beach one day. All the best to you, Steve.
My Dad landed on Gold in the first wave. He was in the 61st Reconnaissance Regiment, they lost half of their men either on the beach or before reaching it , but I only found this all out in the last few years, he never spoke about it. Thank you for this.
Hi. I am French and have a passion for our history. I learned a lot about DDay through time but just spent a week end in a Arromanches, in a house that we can actually see on your video. This was an experience to see and feel this - I also has to explain to my 5 years old daughter what is the "war" - and seeing your video completed it. We are the child of those heroes - my grand parents participated in their way - and these symbolic and visible marks are essential to keep us strong & united. We can feel your emotion and discovering those beaches and villages is just great. Subscribed!
Thanks! Normandy is a pretty amazing place. I could’ve spent a month there.
Howdy from California, USA. What a great reply and certainly more of what this world needs. Hoping to experience your experience in the coming year or so. Similarly passioned. Cheers!
My Dad landed on Utah Beach. This is so emotionally moving. Thank you.
Oh wow. How amazing is that? I've got some stuff from Utah Beach forthcoming so be on the lookout. Glad that you enjoyed it.
I cried reading your post. It took me 5 minutes to read it to another person.
Another incredible spot. Truly tragic that so many of the first hand accounts of all of this are lost to time.
The rainbow 🌈 when you’re showing the sunken ships. Amazing
Felt pretty fortunate to catch that one 🙂
You’ve re-inspired my interest in my grandfathers time in WW2. I’ve never heard of these and watching old videos of these structures just taught me something sensational. Thank you for being to involved and immersing yourself for the education of future generations!
Dylan Antonacci - Awesome! Thanks so much!
@@TheHistoryUnderground Of course! As a musician, I also really enjoy the music you include. Can you share some links to where you get this music? I'd love to support them if possible.
My Grandpa, a Major in the Royal Engineers, had a hand in designing the Mulberry Harbours and went across on D+2 to supervise their installation.
Oh wow! Pretty amazing structures!
@@TheHistoryUndergroundthey are indeed.
My Father has an old WWII era atache case full of drawings, plans and maps. Along with a couple of books showing the work he was doing with his Ports and Bridges unit.
my two Grandpas were elsewhere, serving, during d-day. You dont hear about the Mulberry harbours often in the history books, but they were essentials for success.
ViperGTS MRE -That is one of the main reasons why I wanted to highlight them. A lot of focus gets placed on the frontline soldiers who are pulling the trigger, but the wars are won by everyone involved.
British idea,we like to underplay stuff. sorry about that.
I always wondered how the empty trucks drove to the boats, to be loaded, but I didn't realise the loaded trucks *were* the cargo unloaded from the ships, and they just drove to shore already fully laden.
Like forgetting that it was the russians that broke the back of the german army...
And that most of the elite german divisions fought on the ostfront..
@@audimetallica true. Americans bore the brunt of the Pacific, but the assies were right along them.
My grandpa was in the Royal engineers at gold beach. Thank you for showing your support! Great videos 🇬🇧🇺🇲
Absolutely! Got a lot more content covering the British sector in the current Normandy series.
Thanks for your vidio my father was at Juno beach June 6th 1944 when ever I see any pictures of Canadian's at Juno, I wonder if my dad is in the photograph....keep up the good work.
🇨🇦
My Grandfather was on the Monowai.. He drove a Higgins ashore with the US1st. He never spoke of the time but I know he had many nightmares :(
The Monowai was fitted out as a troopship, and after the invasion it continued transporting reinforcements to France.
Words don't do those men justice.
My grandfather landed at gold beach, absolutely fantastic to see where he landed in France, He was also at Dunkirk at the start of the war and made it home.like so many ww11 veterans he never really talked about his experience but you just know they had a bad time of it. Keep up the good work... Shaun in the UK.
Glad that it connected with you. Those guys were something else.
I want to thank you for these episodes on WWII, a subject of particular interest to me. My health doesnt allow me to travel much anymore, so your videos are a ticket to destinations I will doubtfully ever reach. Thankyou so much!
My pleasure! Glad that you are enjoying the content :)
My Grandfather landed on Gold Beach he was in the 2nd Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment, thank you for making this video
Oh wow! Imagine the things that he must have seen. Unreal.
My grandfather landed on Utah beach I wish I could of showing him this video but he passed away two years ago he told me all kinds of stories thanks for sharing 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Oh my goodness. That is amazing. I've only interviewed one guy who landed at Utah. Pretty humbling. I'll have a video or two from Utah in the coming weeks and you can see right where he landed.
@@TheHistoryUnderground can't wait to watch it im binge-watching some of your video's now I really like what your doing keep up the great work 👍
My grandfather was also in WW2, but he was in the Pacific. And was in the second wave of shoulders on Iuo jema. He died 10 years ago. I wish he could of seen this to.
@@aaronlovell6026 🇺🇸🇺🇸
Howdy J.D. and what a great perspective of the harbor itself. It settled some questions I had about it. As always, you are the best Man. God Bless
Another great video. Normandy is the only place in Europe I would really like to go visit. I am a World War II history buff and have studied a lot about the beaches of Normandy. Keep up the good work and I hope you can return home safely.
norm bailey - Thanks. Appreciate that. If you’re a WWII buff, then the next several videos will be to your liking.
Side note: I am back in the states. We arrived back shortly before this all went south. Thanks for the concern.
At first glance, I thought this was an old comment of mine! lol WWII has fascinated me since childhood, when Ma used to tell of her growing up during the war. If you are interested, theres a couple of Facebook pages you might want to join. World War Two Everything and World War Two Buffs. Both are good and pretty troll-free. :-)
I had never been to Europe before this July (2022). I got a free trip to Portugal but had to do my top of the bucket list thing, which was Normandy. I just about killed myself trying to see as much as I could and that was just the two US landing zones (which included Carentan, St. Marie du Mont, St. Mere Eglise, Brecourt, La Fiere, the American Cemetery and some of the resistance nests (Longues su Mer, WN 60, Maisy Battery, Crisbecq), as well as Angoville church.. I did all this in four days and you could spend four months and not see all of the important sites. It’s like visiting Civil War sites, nearly impossible to imagine the carnage, heroism etc. But important to see nonetheless for any WWII buff. Good news is the French in Normandy tolerate us Americans! 😊
At the top of the amazing achievements that had to occur for D - Day to succeed were these Mulberry Harbours. Most don't fathom the scale, the enormity the volume of elements involved in assembling these modern day maritime behemoths. So colossal in number and scale that not only do they still exist today, but will likely be here for another century or more. Once anchored in place they were there for eternity. No act of man is likely to move them, even mother nature at her worst has not made them break up or disappear to the sea. These were much more than roadways in the channel. The larger portions were nearly a mile off the landing beaches. There ships could anchor along side of them and cranes could unload all manner of material. Trucks offloaded, already loaded could be driven directly onto the beachesother material could be transported by vehicles dedicated for that purpose. Tanks could be driven off and directly into combat, artillery could be towed off and into firing positions. Massive amounts of ammunition of all types would be directed to one of the many enormous ammo dumps set up around the secured beachhead. Along the roadways were pipes which could be connected to ships to pump from there holding tanks the fuel that was the life's blood of the Army. 55 gallon drums of fuel and other items, including water, were offloaded by the tens of thousands by trucks to keep up with the quickly advancing U.S, British and Canadian Armies. This was delivered to the lead elements moving forward by "Duece and a half " trucks driven by mostly African American soldiers and became known as the Red Ball Express. Seldom discussed, the entire maritime component of D- DAY IS often overlooked. Elements of that include the Mullberrys, Navel support ships, anti submarine vessels, patrols to ward off German E and S Boat attacks, minesweepers, ships tasked with barrage balloons, Hospital ships, Coast Guard ships, hundreds of Merchant Marine cargo ships, troop transports and many, many more. This went on for a very long time, thru the summer until the Mullberrys at Omaha were knocked out by a storm. The British one at Gold, named Mullberry B, operated for 10 months before being decommissioned. That would be into March of 1945 !!! Essentially the end of the war, as 'V.E Day was May 8, 1945. A monumental achievement that deserves recognition.
In addition to this was PLUTO (Pipeline under the Ocean) first installed between England and Normandy.
Yes, brilliant bit of planning on the allies part. It’s also a huge reason why Operation Fortitude was so successful. The Germans were convinced the Normandy invasion was a diversion and that the main attack was still going to happen at Pas de Calais because of the lack of a crucially needed harbor in the Lower Normandy area. They never imagined in their wildest dreams that the allies would simply make a couple portable harbors instead.
thanks heroes from my hometown in normandy
This is your best vlog that you have ever done. Thank you for making this WW ll battle become alive.
Oh wow. Thank you. That really does mean a lot. Glad that you enjoyed it. I really liked putting this one together.
Been waiting for the Normandy beaches. Nobody will do it better than you.
Perry J. - Ha! I hope so.
thank you such much for such a beautiful, and thoughtfully produced, series of films about the D Day Landings. I have watched them all now. You have done a brilliant job.
I served for 20 years in the British Army; as a Royal Engineer. I was fortunate enough to command 82 Squadron Royal Engineers at one stage during my career. Your film bought sharply into focus the memory of Major Harold Elphinstone who preceded me by some 50 something years as Officer Commanding, 82 Assault Squadron Royal Engineers on 6th June 1944.
Major Elphinstone was killed in action leading the Squadron as they fought their way off Gold Beach, Jig Green Sector. Most probably as a result of fire from WN37 which had murderous fields of fire across the open beach from Le Hamel/Asnelles. It was the most heavily contested beach in the British and Canadian Sectors and WN37 was not eliminated until well into the afternoon of 6 June.
His mission was to use his Squadron of 'Hobart's Funnies' to clear the mines and beach obstacles blocking the infantry and armours exits from the beach. The DD gun tanks should have been 1st to land but the sea conditions put pay to that, and the engineers found themselves as the 1st armour on the beach along with some other very brave souls.
Major Elphinstone is buried in the British Military Cemetery in Bayeux.
In 2002, I was lucky to be able to go to Normandy in the company of one of Major Elphinstone's Sappers on D Day. He was a crew member in one of Harold's Squadron AVREs and landed alongside his Officer Commanding that morning on 6 June. It was a truly humbling experience.
Thank you for the kind words, sir. That really does mean a lot to me. And thank you for sharing that story as well.
Loved this D-Day series! Started from the last and worked back...WELL DONE!
Thank you really enjoyed all your videos on DDay you really made me feel that I was there always wanted to visit,great job,God bless America.
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video.. I visited here on a school trip from England in around 95/96. Would love to return and explore these beaches in more detail again some day . Fantastic channel, keep up the amazing work !
I noticed the rainbow on the horizon while you were filming on hollow ground! Awesome to see God's presence! Great Job, Great Filming, Great Editing, Great Music choice! Humbling!!!!!! If you couldn't tell, I appreciate what you do! Thank you!
Appreciate that. Thank you.
Thank you for making and sharing this video. I find this history fascinating. 🇬🇧
👍🏻
JD, I truly appreciate and enjoy your videos and your channel, and I can say the same about your passion for spreading history to buffs like myself. Thank you,and never stop posting!
P.s.- I've been subscribed since I first found your channel! Stay blessed, always!✝️
Love the Mulberry Harbours. The fuel was pumped from England to France via the Pluto line (Pipe Line Under The Ocean). It ran from Shanklin on the Isle of Wight to Normandy and the end at Shanklin is still visible today in the Shanklin Chine. All of it was fantastic engineering.
Would love to see the Isle of Wight. Pretty amazing how they engineered all of that!
My brother in law’s father worked in a steel works that built parts of the Mullberry Harbours. I’d like to visit the Normandy coast to see them and the beaches that were won at such a cost.
Thanks for all your video's!! The d-day video's are by far the best I've found!
No standard doc or video, but like a virtual tour. Wish I knew all the storys and places you have been. Cant wait to go back, its gonna be my next trip for sure!
Wow, thanks! Given all of the options on UA-cam, I'll take that as high praise.
And well earned! The story's, video's, amazing drone footage and the music makes it interesting and fun to watch!
I've been in Normandy during the 75th anniversary and seen a lot. I went to a lot of museums, parades and para droppings. But because of that, and because of all the crowd and traffic I havnt got the time to see it all.
My instagram is Warlionpage, there I post my military related pictures, and in the future all my normandy pictures.
JD - I visited Arromanche on the 60th anniversary of D-Day, and two of the highlights were visiting the Museum (where the road bridge is), they have fantastic displays of not just how the roadways interconnected to allow twisting and rolling in 2 different planes/directions at the same time, plus a brilliant model of Mulberry B in action. It’s amazing to think that within weeks of establishing the beachhead 2 harbours the size of Dover had been floated across the channel and installed on the coast of France.
Second is the view over the bay at Arromache from the hills to the east of the town…. Just goes to show the extent of what was achieved…
Keep up the great work
Excellent work, thank you! I was there in June 2019, and again in Dec., 2019 and your work brought me back once again, thanks!
Had an amazing evening there, bathing close to that piece of Mulberry close on the beahc, drank loads of beer and tanned in a wonderful warm August sun..
Also visited the 360-thing. Wonderful little town.
What they accomplished and on the scale is absolutely mind boggling.
These are so well done. Thanks for bringing back the memories of a trip I took with my brother to see Normandy in 2008.
👍🏻🇺🇸
Great video, my grandad was part of the Royal Engineers in 1944 no 1 Port Construction and repair group in charge of the Mulberry, really enjoyed this
Nice video, new subscriber here and i am binge watching your other videos now. We are from the UK and have visited Normandy over successive years. At the top of the bluff at the eastern end of Arromanches is a large car/coach park and visitors centre. Inside the visitor centre is a 360 degree cinema which plays a movie that shows colour scenes from the area after the war and fades to black and white scenes of the same area during the war, well worth watching to give a moving perspective. Hopefully you can return to Normandy and visit Pegasus Bridge, Merville Battery and the largest 2nd World War Commonwealth Cemetery in Bayeux. Respect to ALL that gave their lives so we know peace.
Thank you. I appreciate that. I definitely hope to get back and cover all of those places that I missed on that first trip.
The 360 circular museum was great!! I really enjoy going to Arromanches :D
I'm watching this on the day Dame Vera Lynn past away. God bless her and the men who really did give us are future. Shame this modern generation don't understand what they have got.
That's why we're making these videos :)
Thanks!
Wow! I never realized that some of these harbors were still there. I have heard about them but I always assumed they were taken away after they weren't needed. So nice to learn something that isn't typically mentioned in a video or documentary.
Also... I hadn't heard about Australians and New Zealanders at DDay. I always figured they were just in the Pacific
Makes you think of the fear overcome by these young men to charge these beaches........unfathomable
Scott Crockett - I can’t even imagine. Standing on that beach and looking at what they were up against is one of the most humbling feelings that a person can have.
@@TheHistoryUnderground I think once a person has felt fear like that....the world and its troubles are cream puffs. I'm a total history geek. Love your videos
Scott Crockett - Thanks! Glad that you are enjoying them. Hopefully it’s serving to educate people a little more about different historical topics.
I love these videos. Great commentary, beautiful and emotive music.
Lest we forget.
Thanks you. Glad you enjoyed it
Great video again, thanks! The Mulberry harbour (like PLUTO the pipeline to ship gasoline )is an example of the way the Allies won - logistics. The American and British planners focused on winning the logistical war first. They also won the intelligence war - germany never was leading there. In the end with the mechanized Allied forces vs the still largely horsedrawn germans, even in 1944, they had set their priorities right. Also, after the red army bled the german army white by the end of 1943, they outfought the germans by a combined arms approach, something the germans never really managed to do. The germans untill the last days of the war fought brillantly on a tactical level, they lost it strategically and logistically fairly early on.
Well said. I wanted to focus on the logistics side for at least one of these videos. No supplies, no war.
Nice video. I was lucky enough to visit last year and the tide was out so we could walk right up to the wreck of the harbour. Can't imagine what it would have been like storming the beaches under constant machine gun fire. We owe those guys so much.
Absolutely. And thanks for the compliment.
Sometimes, not very often though UA-cam recommendations picks out a gem of a channel. Love the history lessons and your video presentations are top notch! Instant sub here.
Awesome, thank you!
Amazing, just amazing! Thank you for sharing this experience.
If you ever get to Adak in the Aluetians there is still a lot of WWII artifacts left behind. My dad was staioned there in 1943-44 in the army. Keep up the great videos.
Adak is a personal goal of mine to see. My grandpa was stationed there during the war as well.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Wow was he army or navy?
Really enjoying your videos, its fun to pause and Google Map your location on my phone. I can zoom in on the landmarks and structures your talking about and showing us. Keep up the good work. God bless you, and especially all the men who sacrificed so much for all of us...
Thanks! That's a good idea to follow along on Google Maps.
Bro, that was really special. Thank you for the awesone video and thank you for the Mention.
K H - Thanks. Gotta give credit where credit is due 😉
Specifically wanted to see this when in Normandy. Worth it. The video does not do the vista justice. Museum is pretty good, too.
👍🏻
brilliant to watch i can,t get enough of it....
beautiful rainbow....God looking down on the heroes of Normandy
Great video, my Grandfather was responsible for amassing all of the landing craft that hit the beach 06 June 1944, while keeping it secret from the Germans. I have personally toured the beaches and found it very moving.
Dang. That is something else. You have to wonder how many stories from that day have been left unknown. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for watching.
T'other Mulberry was off Utah mate. Bad weather ran amok with it, much was lost although sections were put in tow and incorporated into the Arr/Mulberry. Glad to hear your mention of the now vanished to sight blockships outer ring !
I’ve been known to be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that Mulberry A was at Omaha Beach. Glad that you enjoyed the video 🙂
www.britannica.com/topic/Mulberry-A
This was an amazing video!! I especially liked your comment about your loving this place .😉 I really learned alot about this time in history. Love your videos and looking forward to the next .😃😃
Thanks. Episode 45 is up now 😁
We will be watching 👍
Very well made video and the music is perfect. Thank you for this.
Thank you for the video. My grandfather was on that beach.
🙏🏼
I’ve been there before so stunning to still see them there
Another top vid Bro. Very evocative and in great respect fr he place. Music choice very good too. You're a natural at this.
Much appreciated! That really means a lot.
@@TheHistoryUnderground love the song at end of video. Could you plz give the name of the artist singing? Thank you. Exceptional video as usual.
Walking in the footprints of Giants.
Anyone who has ever made a Pilgrimage to Normandy will know what THAT feels like.
+!NEVER FORGET!+
Very much so.
Awesome great vlogs every time love your page. I would like to visit this places one day. Greetings from a Swede
Thanks! I’d really like to visit your country someday.
Just started watching your videos, really enjoy them. I live about an hour from Gettysburg, only for about a year, but your videos have got me wanting to go check it out, among other historical sites. Thanks
On the 06.06.1944 D Day My father landed on Gold Beach King at a town called Ver Sur Mer as a Sapper with the Royal Engineers, I have never seen anybody reporting from this area in Normandy
Looks like I have to go back to Normandy then. 🙂
@@TheHistoryUnderground my fathers medals and army pen knife are in the Musee de America in Ver Sur Mer 👍
My Dad was on the HMS Flores, one of the two Dutch navy ships that bombarded th German bunkers near Arromanches. Thank you for explaining...because my dad didn't talk much about the war.
Did you visit the museum there? They have Avery good “plaque” (not sure about the english word) how it looked there with that mulberry harbour. Amazing to see. Unfortunately for the allies it didn’t last long.It was, I think after 2 weeks, broken because of a huge storm.
Thanks for this video man i love watching old relic and historical stuff.
Wish i was you're camera man so that i can also experience all of that and get more and more knowledge. I wish i can join a job were i can travel to different places around the world and flim these historical things with my crew.
Oh man. I’d love to have a job like that too 😅
@@TheHistoryUnderground haha yeah 😂.
There is a section of the Mulberry harbour aground on the mud flats in Langston harbour Sussex unable to clear it from the mud it was left behind on D day, close up it's size is very impressive.There were quite a few concrete floating structures built during the second world war from floating docks to fuel barges two of which can still be found at Walton on the Naze Essex. Used for refueling sea planes MTB's and RAF rescue launches.
great video. Thank you from France
Thanks for watching!
Love your channel, so interesting..
Thank you.
Thanks so much! I really do appreciate it.
I've done the beaches a couple of times and it's a fabulous trip. Both times I've stayed at Bayeux which is a great location to explore from and also has a fair bit of history in itself.
What I would say is this. It's easy for me to get to France because I live in South East England and I frequently travel to historic battlefields and places of interest in Northern France and Belgium. Despite the ease of travel I still try and do as much research as I can before going. Don't rely on there being information readily available when you get there. I've often found myself staring at a series of fields and if I hadn't been aware of what had happened there it would just be a series of fields. This is pertains particularly to battlefields.
If you do your research before you go it brings the whole thing to life and even enables you to understand why one part of the battlefield was so difficult. However, a few things need no research like how did the Rangers ever get up those cliffs at Pointe du hoc or how on earth did the glider pilots get so close to Pegasus Bridge in the middle of the night to land the first allied troops on mainland Europe on D-Day
Great advice.
@@billd.iniowa2263 Thanks Bill all the best mate.
Amazing to see all this , Having read and watched a lot of WW11 history, this puts it all into a whole new perspective. Thank You.
Glad you enjoyed it! My goal is to be able to show it all from a slightly different perspective.
My grandfather built these on this beach. We went back there about 15 years ago, broke him to bits.
He died in like 2010, 91 years old.
Royal engineers. ☝🏼
First video that I’ve watched on this channel. I’m def subbing
Oh wow. That means a lot. Thank you. If you wouldn't mind, give it a share from time to time if you see a video that stands out. Trying to spread as much historical knowledge around as possible.
Great channel. Greetings from England.
As always an excellent informative video.Thannk you so much
Glad you enjoyed it!
The museum at Aromonches is terrific!
Thank you again for another great video,
There is something odd about seeing stuff around that was simply left behind so many years ago , i could imagine that surviving veterans would sometimes see it as it was back then, while to us the old films can only ˝say˝ so much
My uncle Patillo Ainsworth Finlayson was the communications officer aboard USS LST-312. The 312 delivered British troops onto Gold Beach on June 6th. On D-Day +1, the 312 was delivering equipment and transferring prisoners back to England.
Another great video. I've been to the area a number of times. What a lot of people don't realise was that the "front" for Operation Overlord was actually quite big at about 20 miles.
Yes. I don't think people realize just how big the whole invasion area is.
I think the front was more like 60 miles long. As a tourist it takes a whole day meandering along it.
ive touched some of these very special last year, one of my granddads made these
Very interesting and educational content as always
Jake Darnell - Glad that you enjoyed and got something from it. Thanks for watching! 👊🏻
Best channel UA-cam !!!
Wow! Thank you!
On the shop opposite to the parking they still sell D-day crickets .... and excellent calvados spirit from Normandy
There is an original Mulberry in Weymouth, behind the D-Day museum. It is enormous.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. And yes, those things are massive
First I’ve heard about this. Nice!!
I am so happy you were able to go there I have gathered that you are a huge WW2 historian.
I don't know that I would call myself a historian, but it's definitely the corner of history that I find myself gravitating towards the most. Gonna have a lot of D-Day content in the coming weeks.
@@TheHistoryUnderground We can't wait!!
Australian and New Zealand troops did not land at Gold beach along with the British apart from a very few officers. Anzac personnel involved in D Day were a couple thousand flying with the RAF and around 500 serving in RN ships.
Also, the Mulberry harbours consisted of a lot more than blockships and concrete Caissons. There were also floating landing stages (docks), and floating roadways from the docks to the shore, these rose and fell with the tide.
Today, I was looking at a photograph of some American soldiers packed into a landing craft. And that made me wonder how many of them made it back stateside. I know my dad did, and for that, I'm grateful.
You should have waited a few hours until the sea pulls back.. you can actually go inside the concrete of te artificial harbor...been there, done that, coollest thing i've done in my life! Cool videos!!!
Really wish that I could have done that. I was in too big of hurry but hope to go back someday.
This is one of the very best, the grand scale of the Invasion can be understood by those harbours. And well as far as I know, there are many German defences lined up all along Scandinavia. That would be a great exploration too👍
I would really like to see those places. Thanks!
Great video, I enjoyed this
Just got Gold Beach book of battle zone normandy series. Nearly have all 14 books.
Again another outstanding video.
Garrett Voorhees - Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it.
Good morning. I hate war yet enjoy history.
Thank you for your excellent video, you could spend a lifetime just looking at was accomplished at D-Day this was done by the Allied Powers (edit), Along with us Brits as you mention the Aussies (particularly the RAAF). The Canadians they had it really rough as they often found themselves up against the SS. Along with the hard fighting Poles who were tremendous and despite all their efforts did not get there country back into the fall of Communism. Then there were Free French, Dutch Belgian, units, offshore there were 10 Free Norwegian Vessels along with Free French cruisers. It was good these other nations' units were with us, as we had a serious manpower shortage.
I think United Nations should read Allied powers. But you're right, it was definitely a group effort.
@@billd.iniowa2263 Thank you for your comment I have edited my comment to read Allied powers. Although I do recall General Eisenhower did on occasion call the Allies the United Nations in the recordings that I have listened to. However from a personal preference (and other reasons) I prefer Allied Powers.
Both my grandad,s were there, one was a warrant officer, sargeant major engineer.Got a picture of him with his troops ,they built the Mulberry harbour.My other grandad was storming up the beach on Gold.
We will be there in October 2021. We have 3 1/2 days to tour the D Day Beaches. I know thats not enough time, but we will have to do the best we can. Your videos ( as well as others) really help. In your opinion, what are the must see sites? I'm putting together our to do list. We are starting at Pegasus Bridge and working our way East to West. Our base camp is in Bayeux. What do you think are the best resistance nests to see, gun batteries, 2 best museums etc. We are definitely stopping at the American and German Cemeteries.