Battle of the Dyle - 15 May 1940 | The 2/Durham Light Infantry and the First VC of the ground war
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Second Lieutenant Richard Annand of the 2nd battalion Durham Light Infantry was awarded the first Victoria Cross of the British Army in the Second World War for his actions on the river Dyle on 15 May 1940. In this video we will follow the men of the 2nd battalion Durham Light Infantry, part of the British Expeditionary Force’s 2nd Infantry Division, as they fought along the river, opposite the town of Gastuche. Many acts of heroism were displayed by the battalion’s first action in the Dunkirk campaign.
Online sources:
IWM Photographs: www.iwm.org.uk...
CWGC Find War Dead: www.cwgc.org/f...
Bibliography:
Blaxland, G. (1973). Destination Dunkirk: The Story of Gort’s Army. Pen and Sword
Murland, J. (2016). Retreat & Rearguard: Dunkirk 1940: The Evacuation of the BEF to the Channel Ports. Pen and Sword.
2 DLI Dyle to Dunkirk. (z.d.). DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY 1920-46. durhamlightinf...
Laurensart-Florival-Pecrot : dans “L’ enfer de la Dyle”. (2010). lignekw.blogspo...
Person page. (z.d.). www.thepeerage....
Richard Wallace Annand. (z.d.). www.memorialsto...
Good to have you back. JDS in AZ usa
Glad to see you back with this and the previous video. Great stuff as always Ace.
Thank you very much!
Maps detailed down to battalion level.
Correct pronounciation of German units, German commanders, and French/Belgian village's names.
Your work is astounding good sir.👍🏻
Just not correct pronunciation of 'Thompson'
Sir, I really hate sounding like a fan boy, which usually annoys the heck out of me, but it is so good to see you back on UA-cam. I tend to trust your videos and their accuracy more than other UA-cam channels. I hope to make it to Europe some day and maybe buy you a cup of coffee.
Thanks! It really means a lot!
Thank you so much for this, Ace. Lieutenant (later Captain) Richard ('Dick') Annand was from my home town of South Shields, and I had the great pleasure of meeting him a few years before he died. He was an exceptionally modest and unassuming man, who had unfortunately become profoundly deaf because of his proximity to the exploding grenades. He was a hero who fully deserves the term. Thanks again.
The UK forces lack ammo as well as indirect fire and heavy MG. The Bern gun is a magazine fed light MG
I woke up to another video within a week😵💫 This better not be a dream because it would hurt to lose you again😭
Oh, happy Sunday morning! A new Ace Destroyer story!
There was also another interesting action.
*"On the British sector of the Escaut, seven BEF divisions were placed in the front line; they were from the north the 44th, 4th, 3rd, 1st, 42nd, 2nd and 48th divisions. The British divisions were facing nine German infantry divisions, who began their attack on the morning of 21 May with a devastating artillery barrage. Shortly afterwards, infantry assaults started along the whole front, crossing the canalised river either by inflatable boats or by clambering across the wreckage of demolished bridges. Although the Escaut line was penetrated in numerous places, all the German bridgeheads were either thrown back or contained by vigorous but costly British counter-attacks and the remaining German troops were ordered to retire across the river by the night of 22 May. One such British counter-attack near the village of Esquelmes, was led by Lance Corporal Harry Nicholls of 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, who was taken prisoner and later awarded the Victoria Cross"*
Excellent episode. Your animation is clearer and a bit more vibrant than before or maybe it’s my imagination.Look forward to future episodes.
Great ti have ye back see you in the next one❤
Thank you for another great upload! Cheers
It is gratifying to have you back, love your content, I rewatched quite a few of your videos in your absence. Cheers from Australia.
Well said mate, great to hear another Aussie fan. Great stuff brother
Excellent as usual.
great stuff
Gotta say it is great news to have you back Ace. Really, REALLY great. From Australia
They should definitely make a series or film about these events in April-June 1940.
Thanx for a great episode. I’m curious if you could do a video of the first days of the 7th French army that went through Belgium and went across the borders of The Netherlands to allmost Tilburg.
Ace Destroyer, you are like waiting for a bus. Wait for ages and ages then 2 turn up. Great to see the quality in your work is still exceptional.
Haha thanks! Yeah, I had these two practically ready to go. I don't know when I will release the next one, but it shouldn't be that long.
Well said my friend. And what a great bus it is …….
The Dyle is not really wide especially to the south of Brussels. More a line on the map for the initial battle with some cities as anchor points.
Keeping their memory alive 👏🏻👍
Thanks for your work here Ace. Small-unit combat, the first VC in the campaign, and a comprehensive perspective make for fascinating viewing.
Glad to see new content! I find your videos very enjoyable.
I looked around but... No one does the voodoo like you do! Thanks!
A well presented and detailed explanation of what was obviously a very tough battle, thank you. My grandfather served in the DLI in WW1 so I feel a connection.
I'd like to see more about the Battle of France and the Low Countries campaign
Nice!
Thanks for an excellent account and reading list. I would also recommend "The New Contemptibles" by Douglas Williams.
So nice to have you back, brother. God Bless. I hope University is going well.
Very interesting account of the BEF. Spending months preparing defences only to abandon them in an attempt to protect Neutral Belgium. Belgium was in part responsible for defeat of the allies, sitting on the fence for as long as it did. Belgian refugees also restricted movement.
The plan was always to take up positions in Belgium as the Belgian/French border offers little in natural protection. The problem was that the Belgians had taken the stupid pill and ditched its joint preparations with France to properly prepare for this in favor of strict neutrality. Had they not done that planning, preparation and execution of the movie of the Allied armies into Belgium would have gone better. The real problem was that the Germans expected this to happen and had planned for it. The German forces the Allies fought were the diversion, the real attack would come through the Ardennes.
As for the refugees, can you blame them? Belgian civilians had endured 4 years of German occupation in WW1, they knew how ruthless the Germans could be.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 With massed troops on the German border the Ardennes offensive may have been deemed too risky. But it was not to be, the Belgians were stupid to think Hitler would honor their Neutrality. They just complicated the issue.
@@billballbuster7186 True. But that still doesn't negate that as far as at least the French were concerned it was better to meet the Germans headon somewhere in Belgium then on the French border. The devastation to Northern France in WW1 had seen to that. And in their credit the original German plan was to repeat the original Schlieffen plan, doing exactly what the Allies were expecting.
@@billballbuster7186 It also didn't help that the French 7th army had been commited to the Netherlands, robbing them of a reserve to counter attack the Germans. With no reserves, they had no hope of stopping them.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-No matter where the battles took place, the French were at a major disadvantage. The biggest handicap was poor communications, command and control. The Germans were far superior in those respects. The geriatric French High Command didn't help either. But as many observed at the time, the French had a look of defeat before the war began.
The conspicuous courage and determination of the men on both sides of the battle line can only be described as exemplary...No more brother wars!
A really excellent video but the "th" in Thompson is pronounced as a plain "t".
I'm not a military expert - but I would avoid committing to a frontal attack and remain flexible at all costs.
Hi Ace i see that some videos aren't see on the video list like The Battle of Maciejow or the Then & Now series. What happend in the past?
Great stuff about early war actions, dare i say looking forward to more love to all.
German effective use of mortars was a big factor in there success.
GOOD HARD WORK DESERVES SOME PRAISE , THANK YOU .😊
Awesome! Glad you are back!
Good to see you back
Good to have you back enjoy all of your history lessons.ontoagon Michigan here,,
Thank you very much! It really means a lot!
Ty Ace
Nice work buddy 👍