In this video, I cover the outrageous claim by Heinrich Severloh (The Beast of Omaha) that he was responsible for 2,000 casualties at Omaha Beach, on D-Day. Please let me know what your think about Serverloh's claims and the other issues raised in this video.
Thank you for doing this video. The Severloh myth and the fact so many believe this occurred has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. The idea that an orderly would be manning your most effective direct fire weapon is the first clue that this all fiction. The second would be his claim that ammunition was brought to him by an unknown NCO. These were not large units manning these strongpoints, so I can't imagine how you would not be familiar with everyone around you. To me, it is a good way to add detail to a story and not have to worry about a named individual coming forward to debunk your story. BTW, for those wondering how many barrels he would have gone through, mg barrels are changed because they are hot, but they are not worn out. Most mgs are issued with two barrels, when the first gets hot, you place the second in to let the first barrel cool. When the second gets hot, you put the first back in.
It should be mention many of the American 2000 casualties on Omaha beach particular the wound will received the Purple Heart medal for combat wounds in action, even a slight wound or bum will get you this medal, the listing of Wound in Combat is mistaking for KIA, by willfully ignorant people in comment and UA-cam video to promote Heinrich Severloh's myth, Omaha Beach was deadly so was Juno Beach, Gold, Sword Beach and lesser extent Utah Beach, I cannot even find the correct German Casualties and Killed in Action on Omaha Beach, it must have being worse for the German 352 division of 12060 men which 7800 or more soldiers on Omaha Beach section wipe out to a man, the German 352 division on D Day Omaha section said they lose 20% or more of there combat strength in 24 hours on D day or 1560 or more soldiers.
@@DaveSCameron Jewish virtual library World War 2 historical web site which have documentation about the 352 divisions menpower strength, officer and General in command from the words the division of chief of staff LT. COL . Fritz Ziegalmann of 12000 of this division 20% was listed has casualties on June 6, accord to Wikipedia source . The purple heart award for combat was a frequent give by commanders of US divisions to there men even for slightest wounds.
Very interesting , i visited Omaha beach and WN 62 in 2022. Of course i read Severlohs book . As a former , retired, Soldier of the Bundeswehr with some experience with the MG 3, the successor of the MG 42, i soon had my doubts when i was in Severlohs gun position overlooking the sector , that he might have inflicted so many casualties. btw. I serverd in „ Scharnhorst Kaserne“ Hannover for several years, where Severloh had his basic training. Kind regards from Germany 👍
Thank you for your comment. I never had the pleasure of serving in Germany but have had a few fantastic holidays there. I appreciate your feedback as someone who has experience with the descendant of the MG42. Danke schön!
You shouldn't call him 'The Beast'. He was an ordinary soldier honourably serving, not a KL guard. I don't doubt his estimate is wildly in excess, but this was a young guy shooting off thousands of rounds and seeing casualties falling in droves. Basically, it's the same as RAF fighter pilots who massively overestimated kills through inexperience, enthusiasm, and the excitement of extreme danger.
I wouldn’t say he honorably served he by his admission objected any duty even roll calls. He says he’s out for himself. He just found himself in a swarm of us solders quite by accident and like he had before made claims that are questionable. “I cannot ride a horse or run or walk or carry equipment “ so they made him an aid eventually
The Allies call anyone they encounter monsters and criminals. They themselves were the first to use the atomic bomb. But they always act in a way that makes viewers believe they are being threatened and even victims.
Yes, and whether he killed one person or one thousand, it makes no difference at all, regarding his character. He was a soldier doing his duty, not a soldier shepherding civilians into a gas chamber. It's pretty futile to discuss whether any German soldier should have attempted to desert from that regime altogether.
By his own admission he was a malingerer. How could he have suddenly become Rambo the Terminator? He's a fantasist, probably hiding under a bush somewhere. Work it out for yourself 22 rounds a minute, continuously for 9 straight hours??
Overclaiming when reporting enemy losses after actions was always a thing in all miltaries. Shot down planes, destroyed tanks, killed soldiers. It was often overestimated by fighting troops, for various different reasons.
I understand the issue about changing barrels and over heating etc etc, but still interesting that his claim to have fired 12 000 rounds over 9 hours only represents 6 minutes of fully automatic fire for an MG42. The gun would have been firing only 1% of the time which seems totally ridiculous for a front line position during an assault.
My late uncle was a machine gunner for the US Army during the Korean War and he told me that direct fire at troops is really not how HMG/LMG gunners operate. You're assigned a sector and while you certainly see individual troops in your sights on occasion you are concentrating on covering your sector with fire. On top of it, the visibility would be poor on Omaha Beach with overcast skies, smoke from burning equipment and artillery rounds landing-and trying to keep your head down so you don't get sniped. Very doubtful Severloh had any idea how many troops he killed/wounded, he was focusing on saturating his sector with fire to keep landing troops from advancing. 1000-2000 casualties? Definitely not. 100-200 casualties? Maybe, but even that is unlikely. Probably less than a hundred. RIP to all the brave men who died that day.
@@heyfitzpablum Correct, this is called plunging fire. You basically hose an area down with bursts at a distance which allows the bullets to plunge into the area you are covering.
I think most people doubted his claims by using simple math. But, I hate to break it to you children, but you know who else 'lied' about causing great casualties? The officers who got Audie Murphy his medal. He was brave, no doubt, but the reports greatly exaggerated the casualties he caused as well. Often these things come down to perception.
Officers also do the opposite, keeping medals from some who deserve it. And then again others get medals who clearly, having viewed the material, didn't deserve them.
I was actually just on Omaha beach for the 80th anniversary of the landings. Looking at the topography and also knowing the position of Heinrich, I find his claims to be outlandish and completely unbelievable at the least.
Yeah, lots of issues with his account. On the videos showing him he came across as vulnerable old man (will need to rewatch to see if I still think that), and I can't help but get the impression he was put into a position he could not get out off and was actually exploited. Should have been protected by historians/documentary makers in the first place. Ever since it came out, his story is fair game though...
"...and from now on was going to think about how to work things out to my own best advantage." Probably the only truthful statement in the video. This tells me everything I need to know about his truthfulness and his core moral motivation then in 1944 and now in 2024. A cursory Google search showed me an incredible amount of munitions were required by US Army personnel to kill just 1 enemy combatant (45,000 rounds from small arms). Only the Allied armies could afford such expenditure of munitions. The German army? Not so much.
“And then after I stood on top of the bunker smoking a cigarette, I married my wife… er, Mmmorgan Fairchild?! Yeah, my wife, Morgan Fairchild! Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
The other guns were not MG08's, but Polish contract American-made Browning water-cooled M1917's that were factory chambered in the Polish service 7.92mm Mauser.
Right from the first time I became aware of him I thought how ridiculous his claims were. Perhaps removing a 0 gives a more realistic number of 100-200 at the most. Then factor in the effects of artillery and you probably end up with a figure of 50-80. Obviously we will never know. Thanks for a well presented video.
I think under the circumstands given for him at the time, its real hard to estimate the number of KIA he inflicted. Most ppl including me, do hard already to guess the size of a standing croud
Ultimately, the evidence should speak for itself as it did at the end of this video. 1)How much of Omaha beach did WN-62 actually cover? 2) How many troops landed during the time period? 3) How many casualties were recorded on this stretch of beach? How many casualties on all of Omaha beach on D-Day? In the end it would take a ballistic match with the MG-42 and EVERY body lying in this sector in order to verify this account without question. There is a similar myth surrounding an Australian shooting down the Red Baron in WW1. Without a ballistic match no one can be 100% certain.
Thank you for this detailed and well-researched explanation of the situation on 6 June at Omaha beach. Looking at the facts you present, I think Heinrich Severloh gives himself too much ‘credit’.
In October 2001 I was with Hein Severloh at the American military cemetery in Colleville sur Mere. There he said to me: "Can you imagine how you feel when you know that half of those lying here are on your own account?"
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes@InTheFootstepsofHeroes Baron Munchausen was a fictional character; this guy is real. You would never invite him to your house for dinner; he would bore you to death with his fantasy anecdotes.
No, his statement was that some random NCO he never met kept bringing him ammo. That means this mysterious NCO was going from one position to another around WN62, stealing 8mm ammo from other soldiers.
There is but it’s difficult to get hold of an English copy. I had to buy my copy from a museum in Normandy. www.amazon.co.uk/WN62-Memoires-dOmaha-Beach-Normandie/dp/2840484269/ref=sr_1_1?crid=SQ13MF80EIVU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iu3dzqlUcx9EeQJCU6prWCvik2vehGBYXxYIxBSXMAs.5hKAT03M1ABFhaxwPbBxf2faPi0dGDT2E9x5_TGnCQw&dib_tag=se&keywords=WN62&qid=1724620638&sprefix=wn62%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1
I normally find myself in a minority telling people to Google Franz Gockel on this topic, well done for including, pretty sure he's minimum 50% responsibile for any 'beast of Omaha' type results. The BBC did a great 2 part documentary on the 60th called 6.6.44 defo give it a watch
Well this was an eye opener. It is very important that we know the full truth and not imagined stories that blur the truth. Well done in this observation it makes complete sense how things really turned out that terrible day.
There is a strong theory that Capas images were not taken during the first waves of the assault and in fact later in the day, which adds more confusion.
I’ve seen articles dispelling the myth he was there in the first wave, but from his own photos and ship logs, etc we can say he was there around 08:00, which was still quite early.
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes Correct; his photo's show the tide which was still rather low. Combine this with David Ruley's footage from LCI 94 that came in shortly after him. It was this LCI he used to get out around 8:50 when it left. So 8:00 AM seems a viable time.
@@martinoconnor4314 His book was released only in 2000 when he was already an old man and Mr. Severloh died in 2006. So if he made these claims cuz of his plans for a future book deal, it wasn't that effective for him i guess
In his book 'Omaha Beach', Joseph Bakolski's researched and documented evidence for US soldiers and sailors killed, wounded and missing for the whole of June 6th on that infamous stretch of sand is given as 4720. The exact number can never be known. There were many many men listed as missing. The total number of documented deaths is 862. Severloh's gun would not have swept over the entirety of the five miles of beach and he was not the only machine gunner or rifleman engaging American troops that were landing ashore. His claim of having killed 2000 US combatants is beyond ludicrous and yet this myth still persists. If one researches it, it becomes patently obvious that it simply wasn't possible. No doubt, he felt like he had killed a lot of enemy soldiers and that he had been manning his machine gun for a long time. I would imagine that he did kill many GIs coming ashore on that grey Tuesday morning, but his assertion that he took two thousand lives doesn't bear scrutiny. RIP to all those killed during Operation Overlord.
The US Army reported that more than half of the casualties were from artillery and mortars. So 4700 becomes 2000 from gunfire given some drowned, injured by equipment. So Severloh is essentially claiming to have caused every single casualty from gunfire on Omaha. It's not credible.
I visited the Coleville draw exit 4 months ago whilst on an all Day tour of Omaha, Pointe Du Hoc and Longues Sur Mer. Standing on the beach in front of WN62 it is certainly a vast piece of the beach and I asked the tour guide about this story. He had heard of it but in general most informed experts and analysts feel it is well unsubstantiated. I feel like the research in this video goes some good distance to challenging the casualty claims.
Amazingly, those barracks at the beginning where he trained in Hannover, the Scharnhorst Kaserne, is still there and still in perfect order and still used by today’s Bundeswehr. I walk past it very often!
Incidents leading to D-Day clearly show Heinrich Severloh was a poor soldier. He appears to have been insubordinate and a malingerer. I'm surprised he was in the German army anywhere near the front lines. He sounds like the type who should have been guarding a POW camp. He wasn't hard core enough for a concentration facility. I can easily see him inflating his duties on D-Day especially after there was no one left to challenge his claims.
Good research, I prefer facts over guesswork insofar as it can be done.. I look forward to seeing more of this type of videos including the then and now ones.. You have a new sub 🙂
Personally I believe that he may have not even have been at that station on D-day. Because at many other times he has been hiding from his duties. I think that he knew the real gunner at that position was killed in action. Just my own opinion.
Heinrich Severloh took creative liberties and embellished his recollections on the number of American soldiers which he killed. Perhaps, if he had said that he had killed "many, many US soldiers" from his WN-62 post and left it at that. There would have been no controversy. I suppose he was trying to sell his book and most readers often like details, such as numbers. He wrote his book long after this event happened. He was not a military historian; he was only a low-ranking ex-soldier who decided to write his autobiography. If he wrote a disclaimer that his story was "based" on his interpretation of the events which he experienced. Would that be, ok? Don't overthink it.
If you take a moment to think about it... It's easy to realize that it is quite impossible to believe that only one guy is responsible for near all the casualties of that sector...🤔🤔 So what you explain in the video makes sense to me 👍🏻
“You have to remember that when you are taking to a veteran half of what the veteran says is BS and the other half is a lie.” - statement made to me by an Iraq War Vet.
Thats true . My grandfather was located in ww2 pretty shitty places and I know it , because he didn't talk of war at all , didn't count deaths just trying to do what neccessary to survive .
Went to Afghanistan and Syria. This is true AF. Most stories are seated in truth but half of it is rumors that spiraled and became a "truth". So he was probably at WN62. He probably fired a lot of rounds. When he retreated or was captured he must have heard about casualties being in the 1,000-2,000 range and then after 60 years it spiraled to "he inflicted those"
I've stood on the deck of an LCI of the period. They are indeed, narrow, and although mine lacked stairs on the bow, mine had a drop open box similar to an LST
With an MG 42, 12000 rounds is less than 10 min firing time with its cyclic rate of fire. And he made it last for 6 hours? He must have been napping and smoking a lot.
Guys made it last longer by switching to rifles after all barrels was hot..you can find accounts of mg operators doing this on eastern front, and I don’t think all the dairies and memoirs was lying about that..soviets did the same in Kursk ( also documented in reports) when they went non stop say and night fighting..
Thanks for debunking this outrageous claim. Reminds me a little of the current Sgt York controversy over how much he did alone vs in concert with the rest of his unit.
York never claimed that he did it alone. The entire time at least four other men were with him, protecting his flanks so that he could concentrate on killing Germans. When the Germans began to surrender, the other soldiers became their guards. The idea that he did it alone began when people started misstating the reports which were not at all based on pure fact since not all the facts were yet known. They also grossly exaggerated the number of Germans who were captured. He won the Medal of Honor, but during the Normandy Invasion a lieutenant in the 82 Airborne, Waverly Wray, did capture an entire brigade single handedly and he did not get the Medal of Honor and ever since the end of WW2 there have been numerous attempts to have Congress change the medal he dd get to the Medal of Honor. Wray did not return him a big hero, he was killed by a sniper during Operation Market Garden.
@@LeveretteJamesClifford1955 York didn't initially claim all the credit, but when the higher powers and the press heaped it on him, he didn't publically correct the facts. Read the book "Unraveling the Myth of Sgt. Alvin York- The Other Sixteen" by James P. Gregory. York was used as a poster boy to cover up some tactical errors on the battlefield and to enhance the reputation of a general officer who pushed the investigation to award the CMH. I do not, and neither does Gregory, wish to take away from York's heroism in the action, but there was a HUGE coverup.. Recognition of the others was initially withheld and given only in small amounts, grudgingly, more than a decade later. York's silence in the midst of that does not say much for his character, IMO. The book is an eye opener with plenty of documentation. It's hard to hear if you revere the York legend as much as most of us do.
I added some additional comments and info below that seems to have disappeared. My comments are based on the book "Unraveling the Myth of Sgt Alvin York - The Other Sixteen" by James P. Gregory Jr. WIth lots of documentation, Gregory shows how some of York's superiors, specifically a General Officer, manipulated the CMH investigation to both cover over some tactical errors of the larger battle and to enhance his own reputation. Not to downgrade York's heroism in the action, Gregory shows how the others were systematially denied recognition by the Department of the Army for more than a decade before they grudgingly, and quietly, passed out a few medals. My problem with York is that he didn't publically correct the record when all the hoopla was dumped on him.
I dont think you can take anything away from this man he is the beast and maybe he didn't kill a 1k plus men but he definitely killed alot and survived so no matter what hes still the man as far as im concerned
Excellent observations and well presented. If anything the area where Spalding and Capa landed was a dead spot between two nests. If Severloh was making any impact at all he must have been facing the other way - towards Fox Green.
Thank you. That’s a possibility that he ignored his designated arc and fired over his comrades positions to his front. My feeling is his job was to protect Frerking’s bunker, so only fired sporadicly. Pure conjecture, of course.
Why is that even in question? Without knowing anything about his position and the situation on the beach, it is impossible that one mg was responsible for up to half the losses. Clearly, he either lied deliberately or his perception was affected by the whole situation.
Great video and argumentation looking at several contemporary sources. I always thought this story to be a bit hard to believe. Now I am convinced that it is a fabricated story. Keep up the good work!
who would want to be responsible for 2000 deaths a real soldier will never tell you if he has killed anyone let alone the number of kills he has made , taking a life is a lifetime burden for a normal person , but in war its part of the job
Maybe you should start with debunking the american Hero GI Joe propaganda show. This battle happened, Severloh didnt killed 2000 men, maybe several hundred of GIs, thats nothing new. But In fact, german and us soldiers mentioned his gunfire. This story of a brave german soldier does not fit with the american hero shit show.
Haven't watched much yet but I felt like something didn't add up. 12k rounds in 9 hours equals a touch over 1,300 rounds an hour. But a MG42 fires at a rate of 1,200 rounds a minute....... Smells funny?
The German defenses on the beaches of Normandy were weak, they were not defenses in depth because the area of the beaches to be defended was enormous, there were not enough troops to cover in depth all these beaches up to Calais. There were casemates with heavy cannons against ships, some smaller caliber mobile artillery further back and a permanent garrison of a few infantry soldiers. This was because it was not known where the landing would take place, so the coastal defense force was spread across a huge area of beaches. Hitler was convinced that the landing would be in Calais where the distance from Great Britain is very short and the Allied intelligence services were brilliant in convincing him of this, also keeping the Germans blind about the details of the invasion. The allies forced the Luftwaffe to abandon Normandy and move to Germany with an intensive bombing campaign on German cities, losing 35,000 crews. So the Germans were unable to even fly over the beach area to assess the size of the landing. A week later, when Hitler was convinced that that invasion was not a diversionary simulation, he released the Army and Waffen SS divisions, but it was already too late, the allied armies were already on the roads and in total control of the airspace, which caused catastrophic casualties to German divisions on the roads.
As a mahine gunner and later leader of machine gunners I would guess in the course of the day maybe 100 casualties of all types kia/wia. His real contribution would have been slowing and stopping the advance and allowing the big, pre sighted 105s to work. So figure his 1/8th of the beach had him and 2 MG 08 in it. About 450 casualties in that space. Then each gun killed about 30 men and wounded 60 more. The rest pinned. Y the fire took mortar and 105 arty fire accounting for another 350 casualties in that small area. Also the explosive indirect fire probably caused the most deaths to wounded ratio as well. Did he make an important contribution? Surely. But otherwise no, just a lying nazi.
from his own account, he was a malingerer, a shirker, and probably a coward. in all likelihood, he hid out in the area during the landings, and afterwards, made up this story to cover his ass. also, 12,000 rounds makes one hell of a pile of shell casings. any evidence if that?
The soldier's claim of shooting thousands of allied soldiers that were landing on Omaha is not believable . Logistics and real casualty numbers aside. This man was a conscript and didn't have any interest in the army. He might not have fired anything . He retreated to Colleville and was captured the next day. The soldiers at his position were killed.
When reading his book, I only felt hate for this men. The way he descriped his "heroic acts" only gave me a taste of a bitterly old Nazi whom was proud to be there still....
I used to the first photo of a MG34 crew to explain that most soldiers would have received LMG training, which for most would have been the MG34. The photo of the heavy MG34 was used as it clearly shows the ‘U’ shaped trench. Thank you for watching.
i've read one of many books repeating this nonsense when i was young, in fact, i think its the first book i've read on D-day... At the time I didnt doubt it...But now, i realize its completely impossible, for exemple, how many barrels would you need to fire that many rounds? Good work!
Of course he lied there’s no way one man with a machine can kill that many people without making himself a huge target. He would’ve been taken out if he was doing that much damage. All the attention goes to you when you’re the loudest man on the field.
The war is over and God alone knows the number as he holds in his hand the souls of those that be the fallen.. Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul”. The total number…is meaningless, those who didn’t fall are all but gone now. While, in the same way Mathew 10:28 (reminds us)…”Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. This means we will answer to God alone. Therefore go and repent, and accept forgiveness in Christ. For, wide is the path that leads to destruction, and narrow is the gate to salvation. We must pass through the narrow gate. Jesus is the gate.
Sure, and by that margin Juno would be the deadliest, but I’m talking about the total number of casualties, which are still disputed. Thank you for watching.
Aren't photographs mirrored? So if they point to the right on the photo they would really point to the left? So the tanks do point at serverlohs position
The Allies call anyone they encounter monsters and criminals. They themselves were the first to use the atomic bomb. But they always act in a way that makes viewers believe they are being threatened and even victims.
I think as time passes on stories get a tad distorted and books get written and movies are produced , all to make dollars portraying sensationalism to make battles even more exiting, in war the reality is known only to those who are actually there, the soldiers,, A four mile stretch of beach cannot be covered by a mg42 machine gun alone albeit a truly advanced weapon of its time but the vast amount of other weaponry lined along the hilltop not to mention the artillery guns set further back does strongly suggest the magority of casualties wasn't created by herr Severloh . As someone mentioned earlier in the foggy confusion of war accounts get passed on to the next man and by the time the original numbers claim end up with the person writing them down for prosperity it's all taken as gospel. One reader suggested herr severloh probably fired 1000-2000 rounds instead of 1000-2000 casualties but that claim means he only used his gun less than five minutes ,,given that the MG42 fires about 1300 times per min , they're prone to overheat because they use so much ammunition in such a short time but two soldiers can replace the barrel and whole lock action in less than 25 sec so he certainly was busy on the day. It's very interesting and Ive recently returned from that beach area but I will study in more detail when I go back shortly and come to my own conclusions for 'what they're worth.
Much of history is embellished, self-serving fuel for the ego of the claimants. This account is no different, his 15 minutes of fame is now guaranteed.
As former German Paratrooper Officer with intensive training and use of the MG 3 (in the special training we had 3.000-5.000 cartridges per soldier) I think it is possible holding a position and causing so much damage. During my military service I've met several times with Paratrooper Veterans from the Battles of Crete and Monte Cassino and got useful advice from them (e.g. the importance of changing positions during the fight) - normally German soldiers were not such braggarts/ loud-mouths than the American counterparts. The US Army had during WWII a special training film for their soldiers in order to play down the power/cadence of the MG42 - why? My grandfather (an humble man) was MG 34 gunner in Russia and told stories about mowing down multiple attacking waves of russians who were often drunk (they gave them vodka to encourage them), often carried no rifles and were shot by their own people (political officers) in case of running backwards. So the Germans ducked in their positions, fired on treepods and prayed that there was no mechanical malfunction. In his last years he had nightmares about this. Don't underestimate the fighting power of German soldiers. It's a fact that the US always entered war (WW I & WW II) when the Germany Army was already on decline. Against the fresh (material and personnel) German Army of the Blitzkrieg they would have had no chance. There is a book "Kampfkraft"/Fighting Power by Martin van Creveld comparing the US Army to the Wehrmacht and it's quite embarrassing for the Americans. Even fought off units of the German Army inflicted heavy losses to the US Army (e.g. battle of Hürtgenwald) and just before the end of the war in April 1945 the Americans had the highest number of casualties. During my active duty we had exchange programs with the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions doing some military competitions in which even our conscription soldiers outsmarted the Americans. Before Kommando Spezialkräfte there was a professional Commando Company in every Paratrooper battalion. This Company took part in an exercise in an American Infantry Training Facility and they (The Americans called them the Ghost company) wiped out a complete infantry batallion of the US Army. The Americans tried to keep this a secret - any questions?
Any lmg firing 900 rpm or more is a rough day , mg3 was slowed down to 1200 where war time mg42's where typical of 1550 ish rpm .With that small difference they produce a very difficult window of opportunitie for you to move. 762 vs 7.92 are both still giving you a instant death or life threating blood loss on contact ....so they say.
Several things to say, some agreement, some disagreement, and some clarifications. Short answer: Germans likely have a qualitative edge, both in 1940 and 2024. But we have a quantitative edge, and now we are the army with years of valuable recent combat experience from 2001-2017 or so. The German army in 1938-1942 was extremely well-trained, well-equipped, and professional. Millions getting valuable combat experience the Americans were not getting. The American military then was tiny and had only a small professional core that did little effective training and had little effective equipment. Most of the American military in WW2 -- probably 95% -- were the equivalent of conscripts: young men thrown into new divisions after 6 months training at most. The 1938-1942 German army -- better trained, equipped, and experienced -- would have chewed up undertrained, inexperienced, under-equipped American conscripts. So that is correct. Americans also tend to be a bit casualty-averse, using air power, artillery, and armor to do most of the fighting. Barrel to barrel, the German training and experience was superior when facing 19 year old Americans who were sent over on a boat to England or the Pacific a month after basic training, with no combat experience until rotated to a front. Combat experience is hugely beneficial for any army's effectiveness: the Americans cut their teeth in the Pacific and North Africa/Italy, and by 1944 had a lot of experience and equipment. (Still, the vast majority were 19-20 year old replacements rotated in with little experience.) Today, some similar things apply. Most American soldiers sign up for just 3-4 years, and have no more actual training than a German conscript. However, we do have a core of career professionals who have had 6 or 8 combat deployments over the last 23 years, and that combat experience really does change things. We also have a lot of good, fast, lethal mechanized infantry/armor brigades, who -- often under an umbrella of air and artillery cover -- are devastating in any conventional conflict. (Look at Gulf War, Iraq War '03, Fallujah '04, etc: we may not be good at civilizing goat herders, but we are lethal against enemy armor and infantry formations, even in cities.) Regarding the training exercise reported where one company of Germans wiped out a battalion of Americans, bear in mind (1) this was American light airborne infantry, and (2) we do this to each other all the time. Like every army, we conduct field exercises where we fight each other all the time, and each exercise often tests a unit in how it responds to some distinct disadvantage. Intelligence, terrain, equipment -- field exercises often manipulate certain factors to see how a unit can respond to a certain adversary advantage, and so we have companies wipe out battalions all the time. (And vise versa.) So one combat exercise -- against light airborne infantry, with unknown factors in play -- is not sufficient data to make a broad qualitative judgment of general superiority. I fought in the Battle of Fallujah 2004, as well as Baqubah, Najaf, Muqdadiyah, Balad, and was wounded in Baghdad. I also spent a few years in Vilseck/Graf in Germany, with our mechanized infantry/armor brigades. I remember Rock im Park and the Green Goose in Nürnberg well. Frankfurt, Mainz, Kaiserslautern, Hohenfels. German soldiers were good and professional, and German conscripts are probably at least equal to our American "3 and out" E-4 Mafia. Maybe better. Our special forces are probably near equal too -- Germans may even have a qualitive edge. But. We have quantitatives. And we have a core of officers and NCOs with YEARS of combat experience. I was an M240B gunner. (This is one of my kiddos accounts. I don't feel like switching logins now. Haha.) You Germans are probably better soldiers overall. Americans fill the ecological middle ground between German Quality and Russian Quantity. In Iraq '03 and Fallujah '04, the world got to see a bit of what happens when we take off the Nice Guy gloves for a week. Both times, it was swiftly devastating for the opposition.
I’ve always wondered this, I think movies like saving private Ryan and any pop culture reference and video games depicting this have helped this outlandish claim. I’m sure it did fell like he got that many kills I’ve never been in a situation close to that but I defiently think there’s was always some bullshit with that sort
I could be wrong, but I don’t remember hearing about a Beast of Omaha until the post SPR times. His book was released in 2000 so that is probably the catalyst.
I think he had severe PTSD from the war. In his mind it was probably like that. After spending time in combat your mind can play tricks on you regarding memory and even involuntary reactions. Unless you have been in combat you can't really judge.
I am sure he exaggerated, but be realistic, the guy was probably digging into 50 year old memories when the author contacted him.... and maybe he killed 100 guys... but at the moment he would probably have had adrenaline rush and tunnel vision.... I am pretty sure there was a huge fog of war.
This smells of pure Allied propaganda, and the smell of it has never gone away for almost 80 years. It is ridiculous these days when people talk about the landing on Omaha Beach or in Normandy in general without mentioning that 448 B-24 bombers had previously attacked and that the artillery of various battleships had bombarded Omaha Beach for hours alone. This is not only ridiculous but also a very good example of Allied historiography. And this type of propaganda continued throughout the entire war. Lol, how many American soldiers the machine gunner actually killed back then is actually irrelevant. By the way, what one side calls the beast from Omaha Beach is a hero to the other! Mfg Magnus
@magnusmcgraw: What a load of fertiliser! This person is neither a beast or hero, he's clearly a fantasist. By his own admission, a lead-swinger with a disdain for authority we're supposed to believe he magically turns into a cross between Rambo and the Terminator?? The very idea of him firing 22rounds a minute CONTINUOUSLY for 9 hours without a break or a response from the Americans is ludicrous. His "tale" was written after the war with the help of a German ghostwriter "historian" . How THAT plays into "Allied propaganda" I fail to see!
I do mention A Company, 116th Regiment who were practically wiped out on Dog Green in front of WN72. Others that followed, like the 2nd Rangers also suffered high casualties near there.
The barrel needed to cool and so be replaced after every 250 rounds. The barrel life was about 3,500 rounds. Nah, he was lying. Also the crew was 2-3 men - who else was operating the weapon?
Well.. Tbh, when in battle, fighting against “just” 50 guys seems endless. He had a machinegun that shoots 1.200 bullets pr minute. If he shoot just 600, and kept fighting for hours on end, seeing every single soldier he shoots Fall in the distance, then it’s easy to Imagen those 300-600 people felt like thousindes. Seein’ 50 dead people layin’ is quit a view. Imagen seeing so many bodys laying everywhere, knowing you did that..
36 men in a Landing Craft Assault. Some eyewitness reports on several D-Day beaches relate that german machine gunners would start firing at the the ramp before it went down, the men inside could hear the bullets pinging off the armoured plate. Ramp down, the first 10 or so men were hit instantly. Others would try to clamber over them and the resulting wall of dead and injured effectivly protected the men behind. Men also climbed over the sides to avoid the hail of bullets. A machine gunners attention might then be attracted by another target. There were cases where no one made it out of the landing craft. They were also raking the beach. Given his position on the higher ground with other German positions infront of him, he could arguably have been one of their number firing into the men massed in the landing craft and not raking the beach. But yeah, I get your point, maybe another Walter Mitty taking advantage of a wild story in the timeless confusion of war. I do wonder whether true casualty rates were dumbed down; like Operation Tiger casualties were simply suppressed.
In this video, I cover the outrageous claim by Heinrich Severloh (The Beast of Omaha) that he was responsible for 2,000 casualties at Omaha Beach, on D-Day. Please let me know what your think about Serverloh's claims and the other issues raised in this video.
Thank you for doing this video. The Severloh myth and the fact so many believe this occurred has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. The idea that an orderly would be manning your most effective direct fire weapon is the first clue that this all fiction. The second would be his claim that ammunition was brought to him by an unknown NCO. These were not large units manning these strongpoints, so I can't imagine how you would not be familiar with everyone around you. To me, it is a good way to add detail to a story and not have to worry about a named individual coming forward to debunk your story. BTW, for those wondering how many barrels he would have gone through, mg barrels are changed because they are hot, but they are not worn out. Most mgs are issued with two barrels, when the first gets hot, you place the second in to let the first barrel cool. When the second gets hot, you put the first back in.
It should be mention many of the American 2000 casualties on Omaha beach particular the wound will received the Purple Heart medal for combat wounds in action, even a slight wound or bum will get you this medal, the listing of Wound in Combat is mistaking for KIA, by willfully ignorant people in comment and UA-cam video to promote Heinrich Severloh's myth, Omaha Beach was deadly so was Juno Beach, Gold, Sword Beach and lesser extent Utah Beach, I cannot even find the correct German Casualties and Killed in Action on Omaha Beach, it must have being worse for the German 352 division of 12060 men which 7800 or more soldiers on Omaha Beach section wipe out to a man, the German 352 division on D Day Omaha section said they lose 20% or more of there combat strength in 24 hours on D day or 1560 or more soldiers.
Where do these claims come from Sir?
@@DaveSCameron Jewish virtual library World War 2 historical web site which have documentation about the 352 divisions menpower strength, officer and General in command from the words the division of chief of staff LT. COL . Fritz Ziegalmann of 12000 of this division 20% was listed has casualties on June 6, accord to Wikipedia source . The purple heart award for combat was a frequent give by commanders of US divisions to there men even for slightest wounds.
@@DaveSCameron From Heinrich Severloh’s book, WN62.
Very interesting , i visited Omaha beach and WN 62 in 2022. Of course i read Severlohs book . As a former , retired, Soldier of the Bundeswehr with some experience with the MG 3, the successor of the MG 42, i soon had my doubts when i was in Severlohs gun position overlooking the sector , that he might have inflicted so many casualties. btw. I serverd in „ Scharnhorst Kaserne“ Hannover for several years, where Severloh had his basic training.
Kind regards from Germany 👍
Thank you for your comment. I never had the pleasure of serving in Germany but have had a few fantastic holidays there. I appreciate your feedback as someone who has experience with the descendant of the MG42. Danke schön!
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes 🍺😊
I think he did it ,that machine gun has to be seen to be believed, the power and damage it can do is unbelievable
@@ballygeale1 Dude... there were only 300 some casualties in his sector. Not 1000-2000. It's at best an innocent gross exaggeration.
@@G503-e8p 300 killed or 300 injured. Casualties encompasses both categories.
My relative was his commanding officer, Bernhard Frerking, still have his journal.
You shouldn't call him 'The Beast'. He was an ordinary soldier honourably serving, not a KL guard. I don't doubt his estimate is wildly in excess, but this was a young guy shooting off thousands of rounds and seeing casualties falling in droves. Basically, it's the same as RAF fighter pilots who massively overestimated kills through inexperience, enthusiasm, and the excitement of extreme danger.
I wouldn’t say he honorably served he by his admission objected any duty even roll calls. He says he’s out for himself. He just found himself in a swarm of us solders quite by accident and like he had before made claims that are questionable. “I cannot ride a horse or run or walk or carry equipment “ so they made him an aid eventually
He is calling him “The Beast” because thats what he is colloquially known as. Not because the uploader of this video wanted to call him that.
The Allies call anyone they encounter monsters and criminals. They themselves were the first to use the atomic bomb. But they always act in a way that makes viewers believe they are being threatened and even victims.
This does not mean he lied. Through the stress of combat troops notoriously exagerate and get a lot of details wrong. This is really common in combat
Yes, and whether he killed one person or one thousand, it makes no difference at all, regarding his character. He was a soldier doing his duty, not a soldier shepherding civilians into a gas chamber. It's pretty futile to discuss whether any German soldier should have attempted to desert from that regime altogether.
Being very polite I would say he ‘embellished’ his experience of D-Day.
By his own admission he was a malingerer. How could he have suddenly become Rambo the Terminator? He's a fantasist, probably hiding under a bush somewhere.
Work it out for yourself 22 rounds a minute, continuously for 9 straight hours??
Overclaiming when reporting enemy losses after actions was always a thing in all miltaries. Shot down planes, destroyed tanks, killed soldiers. It was often overestimated by fighting troops, for various different reasons.
I understand the issue about changing barrels and over heating etc etc, but still interesting that his claim to have fired 12 000 rounds over 9 hours only represents 6 minutes of fully automatic fire for an MG42.
The gun would have been firing only 1% of the time which seems totally ridiculous for a front line position during an assault.
My late uncle was a machine gunner for the US Army during the Korean War and he told me that direct fire at troops is really not how HMG/LMG gunners operate. You're assigned a sector and while you certainly see individual troops in your sights on occasion you are concentrating on covering your sector with fire. On top of it, the visibility would be poor on Omaha Beach with overcast skies, smoke from burning equipment and artillery rounds landing-and trying to keep your head down so you don't get sniped. Very doubtful Severloh had any idea how many troops he killed/wounded, he was focusing on saturating his sector with fire to keep landing troops from advancing. 1000-2000 casualties? Definitely not. 100-200 casualties? Maybe, but even that is unlikely. Probably less than a hundred. RIP to all the brave men who died that day.
German doctrine for the LMG certainly included direct fire at troops, less so HMG.
@@heyfitzpablum Correct, this is called plunging fire. You basically hose an area down with bursts at a distance which allows the bullets to plunge into the area you are covering.
I think most people doubted his claims by using simple math. But, I hate to break it to you children, but you know who else 'lied' about causing great casualties? The officers who got Audie Murphy his medal. He was brave, no doubt, but the reports greatly exaggerated the casualties he caused as well. Often these things come down to perception.
Interesting. Thank you.
What? You mean that the allies also lied, made up stuff, and exagerated in what is commonly called “propaganda”? Shocked! I am shocked!
Officers also do the opposite, keeping medals from some who deserve it. And then again others get medals who clearly, having viewed the material, didn't deserve them.
@@heathclark318major Dick Winters Brecourt Manor Assualt took out 4 artillery guns slamming Utah Beach
I thought this too. Murphys story are not really the truth.
I was actually just on Omaha beach for the 80th anniversary of the landings. Looking at the topography and also knowing the position of Heinrich, I find his claims to be outlandish and completely unbelievable at the least.
Yes, Sir was there in years past as well. A massive gross exaggeration at best.
Glad more people are spreading the word about this mythology and actually doing their research.
I really appreciate that, Michael, given your fantastic knowledge on the subject.
Totally agree, all this Fan-Girling of the Invincible "German war machine" is tedious - Next Whittman ?
@tentheagle That would be cool. I don't need another excuse to travel to Normandy, but I do have one now!
Yeah, lots of issues with his account. On the videos showing him he came across as vulnerable old man (will need to rewatch to see if I still think that), and I can't help but get the impression he was put into a position he could not get out off and was actually exploited. Should have been protected by historians/documentary makers in the first place. Ever since it came out, his story is fair game though...
@@tentheagleWittman was true
"...and from now on was going to think about how to work things out to my own best advantage." Probably the only truthful statement in the video. This tells me everything I need to know about his truthfulness and his core moral motivation then in 1944 and now in 2024. A cursory Google search showed me an incredible amount of munitions were required by US Army personnel to kill just 1 enemy combatant (45,000 rounds from small arms). Only the Allied armies could afford such expenditure of munitions. The German army? Not so much.
“And then after I stood on top of the bunker smoking a cigarette, I married my wife… er, Mmmorgan Fairchild?! Yeah, my wife, Morgan Fairchild! Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
Whom I've SLEPT WITH
@@xys7536 🤣
I dont understand why he left that out😮@@justme8340
@@justme8340 🤣
The other guns were not MG08's, but Polish contract American-made Browning water-cooled M1917's that were factory chambered in the Polish service 7.92mm Mauser.
Thank for the clarification.
Right from the first time I became aware of him I thought how ridiculous his claims were.
Perhaps removing a 0 gives a more realistic number of 100-200 at the most. Then factor in the effects of artillery and you probably end up with a figure of 50-80. Obviously we will never know.
Thanks for a well presented video.
@@senseofthecommonman Thank you for watching. I agree with your comment.
Exactly right.
Looking at his previous character he was probably cowering in the corner of a bunker having thrown away his rifle.
I think under the circumstands given for him at the time, its real hard to estimate the number of KIA he inflicted. Most ppl including me, do hard already to guess the size of a standing croud
Very informative, no way was he responsible for all those casualties. Really enjoyed watching this video. Thank you.
Thank you!
Ultimately, the evidence should speak for itself as it did at the end of this video. 1)How much of Omaha beach did WN-62 actually cover? 2) How many troops landed during the time period? 3) How many casualties were recorded on this stretch of beach? How many casualties on all of Omaha beach on D-Day? In the end it would take a ballistic match with the MG-42 and EVERY body lying in this sector in order to verify this account without question.
There is a similar myth surrounding an Australian shooting down the Red Baron in WW1. Without a ballistic match no one can be 100% certain.
But Aussies shot the Red Baron down that's a true story. Aussies don't lie😅😅😅
Thank you for this detailed and well-researched explanation of the situation on 6 June at Omaha beach. Looking at the facts you present, I think Heinrich Severloh gives himself too much ‘credit’.
@@emythefoggybottoms4666 That's really kind of you to say! Thank you for watching.
In October 2001 I was with Hein Severloh at the American military cemetery in Colleville sur Mere. There he said to me: "Can you imagine how you feel when you know that half of those lying here are on your own account?"
That's really weird. Especially since that cemetery holds tons of Americans killed in Normandy, not just ones killed on Omaha Beach.
He must have had an enormous stack of fresh barrels if he had fired that many rounds.
Thanks for the well-researched video.
Just one spare according to Severloh.
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes@InTheFootstepsofHeroes Baron Munchausen was a fictional character; this guy is real. You would never invite him to your house for dinner; he would bore you to death with his fantasy anecdotes.
You can shoot the gun in bursts so that the barrel doesn't melt.
I am more inclined to believe that Mr Severloh fired 2000+ rounds of ammo.
Than that he killed so many as claimed !.
And where would that ammo come from?
@@Theakker3B From the ammo tree.....
@@biglebowski5737 You do realize that ammo storages at the WN's had a limited amount of ammunition, and they were designated for specific gunners?
@@Theakker3B his statement was his co gave him 5000 rounds
No, his statement was that some random NCO he never met kept bringing him ammo. That means this mysterious NCO was going from one position to another around WN62, stealing 8mm ammo from other soldiers.
So essentially he’s saying basically he’s responsible for practically all the casualties that day 🤦♂️
Are you suggesting that there’s a book titled WN62
. ? Please post a link as there’s nothing on the debased Guugle Search. Thanks.
There is but it’s difficult to get hold of an English copy. I had to buy my copy from a museum in Normandy.
www.amazon.co.uk/WN62-Memoires-dOmaha-Beach-Normandie/dp/2840484269/ref=sr_1_1?crid=SQ13MF80EIVU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iu3dzqlUcx9EeQJCU6prWCvik2vehGBYXxYIxBSXMAs.5hKAT03M1ABFhaxwPbBxf2faPi0dGDT2E9x5_TGnCQw&dib_tag=se&keywords=WN62&qid=1724620638&sprefix=wn62%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes I’m grateful for your limited information and work uploading this. Best wishes. ☘️📚
I normally find myself in a minority telling people to Google Franz Gockel on this topic, well done for including, pretty sure he's minimum 50% responsibile for any 'beast of Omaha' type results.
The BBC did a great 2 part documentary on the 60th called 6.6.44 defo give it a watch
If he killed 2000 that's close to 1/2 of all allies killed in that battle... Then he woke up.
Well this was an eye opener. It is very important that we know the full truth and not imagined stories that blur the truth. Well done in this observation it makes complete sense how things really turned out that terrible day.
Thank You!
There is a strong theory that Capas images were not taken during the first waves of the assault and in fact later in the day, which adds more confusion.
I’ve seen articles dispelling the myth he was there in the first wave, but from his own photos and ship logs, etc we can say he was there around 08:00, which was still quite early.
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes Correct; his photo's show the tide which was still rather low. Combine this with David Ruley's footage from LCI 94 that came in shortly after him. It was this LCI he used to get out around 8:50 when it left. So 8:00 AM seems a viable time.
👍👍 It seems you have performed some very thorough research.
Thank you for your comment!
I wonder why Mr. Severloh made these unrealistic claims in the first place🤔
I don't think we'll ever know.
It was his first combat action.
Plans for a future book deal? If he'd have hidden in the toilets crapping his pants and smoking cigs it wouldn't have sold many copies.
@@martinoconnor4314 His book was released only in 2000 when he was already an old man and Mr. Severloh died in 2006. So if he made these claims cuz of his plans for a future book deal, it wasn't that effective for him i guess
In his book 'Omaha Beach', Joseph Bakolski's researched and documented evidence for US
soldiers and sailors killed, wounded and missing for the whole of June 6th on that infamous stretch of sand is given as 4720.
The exact number can never be known.
There were many many men listed as missing.
The total number of documented deaths is 862.
Severloh's gun would not have swept over the entirety of the five miles of beach and he was not the only machine gunner or rifleman engaging American troops that were landing ashore.
His claim of having killed 2000 US combatants is beyond ludicrous and yet this myth still persists.
If one researches it, it becomes patently obvious that it simply wasn't possible.
No doubt, he felt like he had killed a lot of enemy soldiers and that he had been manning his machine gun for a long time. I would imagine that he did kill many GIs coming ashore on that grey Tuesday morning, but his assertion that he took two thousand lives doesn't bear scrutiny.
RIP to all those killed during Operation Overlord.
I completely agree. I don’t believe the official number of deaths. We’re still waiting for a reliable academic work that verifies the number.
The US Army reported that more than half of the casualties were from artillery and mortars. So 4700 becomes 2000 from gunfire given some drowned, injured by equipment. So Severloh is essentially claiming to have caused every single casualty from gunfire on Omaha. It's not credible.
This was his very first combat action.
I visited the Coleville draw exit 4 months ago whilst on an all Day tour of Omaha, Pointe Du Hoc and Longues Sur Mer. Standing on the beach in front of WN62 it is certainly a vast piece of the beach and I asked the tour guide about this story. He had heard of it but in general most informed experts and analysts feel it is well unsubstantiated. I feel like the research in this video goes some good distance to challenging the casualty claims.
Very interesting topic, never knew this story. Very well delivered. Look forward to more .
Thank you, don’t forget to subscribe as I will more content coming.
Well done thank you.
Truth is the first casualty in war.
Thank you!
Amazingly, those barracks at the beginning where he trained in Hannover, the Scharnhorst Kaserne, is still there and still in perfect order and still used by today’s Bundeswehr. I walk past it very often!
Incidents leading to D-Day clearly show Heinrich Severloh was a poor soldier. He appears to have been insubordinate and a malingerer. I'm surprised he was in the German army anywhere near the front lines. He sounds like the type who should have been guarding a POW camp. He wasn't hard core enough for a concentration facility. I can easily see him inflating his duties on D-Day especially after there was no one left to challenge his claims.
I completely agree.
The numbers never added up and his sector wasn't even the bloodiest at Omaha beach. His claim was always unrealistic high.
Indeed. Thank you for watching.
Absolutely correct. The numbers don't lie in this circumstance.
His sector was reported as the lightest for casualties but his number is the number of casualties from gunfire on the entirety of Omaha.
Good research, I prefer facts over guesswork insofar as it can be done.. I look forward to seeing more of this type of videos including the then and now ones.. You have a new sub 🙂
Thank you ever so much. I’m pleased you enjoyed the video. These types of videos take longer to produce but are much more satisfying to make.
Personally I believe that he may have not even have been at that station on D-day. Because at many other times he has been hiding from his duties. I think that he knew the real gunner at that position was killed in action. Just my own opinion.
Heinrich Severloh took creative liberties and embellished his recollections on the number of American soldiers which he killed. Perhaps, if he had said that he had killed "many, many US soldiers" from his WN-62 post and left it at that. There would have been no controversy. I suppose he was trying to sell his book and most readers often like details, such as numbers. He wrote his book long after this event happened. He was not a military historian; he was only a low-ranking ex-soldier who decided to write his autobiography. If he wrote a disclaimer that his story was "based" on his interpretation of the events which he experienced. Would that be, ok? Don't overthink it.
If you take a moment to think about it... It's easy to realize that it is quite impossible to believe that only one guy is responsible for near all the casualties of that sector...🤔🤔
So what you explain in the video makes sense to me 👍🏻
Thank you for watching.
“You have to remember that when you are taking to a veteran half of what the veteran says is BS and the other half is a lie.” - statement made to me by an Iraq War Vet.
And the third half is exaggerated.
Thats true . My grandfather was located in ww2 pretty shitty places and I know it , because he didn't talk of war at all , didn't count deaths just trying to do what neccessary to survive .
Went to Afghanistan and Syria. This is true AF. Most stories are seated in truth but half of it is rumors that spiraled and became a "truth". So he was probably at WN62. He probably fired a lot of rounds. When he retreated or was captured he must have heard about casualties being in the 1,000-2,000 range and then after 60 years it spiraled to "he inflicted those"
I've stood on the deck of an LCI of the period. They are indeed, narrow, and although mine lacked stairs on the bow, mine had a drop open box similar to an LST
With an MG 42, 12000 rounds is less than 10 min firing time with its cyclic rate of fire. And he made it last for 6 hours? He must have been napping and smoking a lot.
Guys made it last longer by switching to rifles after all barrels was hot..you can find accounts of mg operators doing this on eastern front, and I don’t think all the dairies and memoirs was lying about that..soviets did the same in Kursk ( also documented in reports) when they went non stop say and night fighting..
Thanks for debunking this outrageous claim. Reminds me a little of the current Sgt York controversy over how much he did alone vs in concert with the rest of his unit.
York never claimed that he did it alone. The entire time at least four other men were with him, protecting his flanks so that he could concentrate on killing Germans. When the Germans began to surrender, the other soldiers became their guards. The idea that he did it alone began when people started misstating the reports which were not at all based on pure fact since not all the facts were yet known. They also grossly exaggerated the number of Germans who were captured. He won the Medal of Honor, but during the Normandy Invasion a lieutenant in the 82 Airborne, Waverly Wray, did capture an entire brigade single handedly and he did not get the Medal of Honor and ever since the end of WW2 there have been numerous attempts to have Congress change the medal he dd get to the Medal of Honor. Wray did not return him a big hero, he was killed by a sniper during Operation Market Garden.
@@LeveretteJamesClifford1955 York didn't initially claim all the credit, but when the higher powers and the press heaped it on him, he didn't publically correct the facts. Read the book "Unraveling the Myth of Sgt. Alvin York- The Other Sixteen" by James P. Gregory. York was used as a poster boy to cover up some tactical errors on the battlefield and to enhance the reputation of a general officer who pushed the investigation to award the CMH. I do not, and neither does Gregory, wish to take away from York's heroism in the action, but there was a HUGE coverup.. Recognition of the others was initially withheld and given only in small amounts, grudgingly, more than a decade later. York's silence in the midst of that does not say much for his character, IMO. The book is an eye opener with plenty of documentation. It's hard to hear if you revere the York legend as much as most of us do.
I added some additional comments and info below that seems to have disappeared. My comments are based on the book "Unraveling the Myth of Sgt Alvin York - The Other Sixteen" by James P. Gregory Jr. WIth lots of documentation, Gregory shows how some of York's superiors, specifically a General Officer, manipulated the CMH investigation to both cover over some tactical errors of the larger battle and to enhance his own reputation. Not to downgrade York's heroism in the action, Gregory shows how the others were systematially denied recognition by the Department of the Army for more than a decade before they grudgingly, and quietly, passed out a few medals. My problem with York is that he didn't publically correct the record when all the hoopla was dumped on him.
@@SootHead all my comments have been deleted. Channel owner is only interested in his own opinion.
Outstanding soldier.
I dont think you can take anything away from this man he is the beast and maybe he didn't kill a 1k plus men but he definitely killed alot and survived so no matter what hes still the man as far as im concerned
The barrels would have been so screwed up, then 12K rounds. I do not believe it.
Excellent observations and well presented. If anything the area where Spalding and Capa landed was a dead spot between two nests. If Severloh was making any impact at all he must have been facing the other way - towards Fox Green.
Thank you. That’s a possibility that he ignored his designated arc and fired over his comrades positions to his front. My feeling is his job was to protect Frerking’s bunker, so only fired sporadicly. Pure conjecture, of course.
Why is that even in question? Without knowing anything about his position and the situation on the beach, it is impossible that one mg was responsible for up to half the losses. Clearly, he either lied deliberately or his perception was affected by the whole situation.
There are still a lot of people who refuse to believe he grossly exaggerated his actions that morning. Some of those people have commented just that.
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes If it was true three or four of him would have single-handed stopped the whole invasion. Obviously, that did not happen.
Didn't Dawson went up the bluffs more to the left from where Spalding went up?
Yes, Spalding met Dawson. Spalding went right to WN64 and Dawson left to Colleville, but they both climbed the same path up the bluff.
We knew he was inflating his impact on the beach. Nothing added up with his claims.
Glad you agree. Thank you for watching.
Great video and argumentation looking at several contemporary sources. I always thought this story to be a bit hard to believe. Now I am convinced that it is a fabricated story. Keep up the good work!
Thank You!
I blame simple history and other pop history channels as well as Nazi Fan boys.
who would want to be responsible for 2000 deaths a real soldier will never tell you if he has killed anyone let alone the number of kills he has made , taking a life is a lifetime burden for a normal person , but in war its part of the job
Idk man. I know a few soldiers who are very open about people they have killed.
Vietnam vets are quite open about it.@@mullythebully5557
Maybe you should start with debunking the american Hero GI Joe propaganda show.
This battle happened, Severloh didnt killed 2000 men, maybe several hundred of GIs, thats nothing new. But
In fact, german and us soldiers mentioned his gunfire.
This story of a brave german soldier does not fit with the american hero shit show.
Haven't watched much yet but I felt like something didn't add up. 12k rounds in 9 hours equals a touch over 1,300 rounds an hour. But a MG42 fires at a rate of 1,200 rounds a minute....... Smells funny?
I don't understand your argument. You're saying you'd fire more rounds than you have?
The German defenses on the beaches of Normandy were weak, they were not defenses in depth because the area of the beaches to be defended was enormous, there were not enough troops to cover in depth all these beaches up to Calais. There were casemates with heavy cannons against ships, some smaller caliber mobile artillery further back and a permanent garrison of a few infantry soldiers. This was because it was not known where the landing would take place, so the coastal defense force was spread across a huge area of beaches. Hitler was convinced that the landing would be in Calais where the distance from Great Britain is very short and the Allied intelligence services were brilliant in convincing him of this, also keeping the Germans blind about the details of the invasion. The allies forced the Luftwaffe to abandon Normandy and move to Germany with an intensive bombing campaign on German cities, losing 35,000 crews. So the Germans were unable to even fly over the beach area to assess the size of the landing. A week later, when Hitler was convinced that that invasion was not a diversionary simulation, he released the Army and Waffen SS divisions, but it was already too late, the allied armies were already on the roads and in total control of the airspace, which caused catastrophic casualties to German divisions on the roads.
My grandpas was in that 116th a company photo wow he told me his whole platoon was wiped I didn’t know the whole company was almost destroyed
That’s incredible. From the 230 men of Company A, just 18 were unharmed. 19 men killed were from one town, Bedford, Virginia.
Your analysis makes sense. Severloh by his own admission was a useless soldier. Wud he really have fought or true to his nature just hid in the bunker
As a mahine gunner and later leader of machine gunners I would guess in the course of the day maybe 100 casualties of all types kia/wia. His real contribution would have been slowing and stopping the advance and allowing the big, pre sighted 105s to work. So figure his 1/8th of the beach had him and 2 MG 08 in it. About 450 casualties in that space. Then each gun killed about 30 men and wounded 60 more. The rest pinned. Y the fire took mortar and 105 arty fire accounting for another 350 casualties in that small area. Also the explosive indirect fire probably caused the most deaths to wounded ratio as well. Did he make an important contribution? Surely. But otherwise no, just a lying nazi.
This is great. Normalize debunking all the myths people took as fact because they wacthed a horribly written documentary on the history channel
from his own account, he was a malingerer, a shirker, and probably a coward. in all likelihood, he hid out in the area during the landings, and afterwards, made up this story to cover his ass. also, 12,000 rounds makes one hell of a pile of shell casings. any evidence if that?
The soldier's claim of shooting thousands of allied soldiers that were landing on Omaha is not believable . Logistics and real casualty numbers aside. This man was a conscript and didn't have any interest in the army. He might not have fired anything . He retreated to Colleville and was captured the next day. The soldiers at his position were killed.
The truth is in the numbers and time of landings...... Thats a good start 🙂
When reading his book, I only felt hate for this men. The way he descriped his "heroic acts" only gave me a taste of a bitterly old Nazi whom was proud to be there still....
6:55 MG-34 on bi-pod, 7:15 MG-34 on tripod, 7:22 this is MG-42 on bipod.
I used to the first photo of a MG34 crew to explain that most soldiers would have received LMG training, which for most would have been the MG34. The photo of the heavy MG34 was used as it clearly shows the ‘U’ shaped trench. Thank you for watching.
Excellent video
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
i've read one of many books repeating this nonsense when i was young, in fact, i think its the first book i've read on D-day... At the time I didnt doubt it...But now, i realize its completely impossible, for exemple, how many barrels would you need to fire that many rounds? Good work!
Shitty Sticker
Of course he lied there’s no way one man with a machine can kill that many people without making himself a huge target. He would’ve been taken out if he was doing that much damage. All the attention goes to you when you’re the loudest man on the field.
The war is over and God alone knows the number as he holds in his hand the souls of those that be the fallen.. Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul”. The total number…is meaningless, those who didn’t fall are all but gone now. While, in the same way Mathew 10:28 (reminds us)…”Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. This means we will answer to God alone. Therefore go and repent, and accept forgiveness in Christ. For, wide is the path that leads to destruction, and narrow is the gate to salvation. We must pass through the narrow gate. Jesus is the gate.
By percentage Juno was the most deadliest, not Omaha
Sure, and by that margin Juno would be the deadliest, but I’m talking about the total number of casualties, which are still disputed. Thank you for watching.
Aren't photographs mirrored? So if they point to the right on the photo they would really point to the left? So the tanks do point at serverlohs position
The Allies call anyone they encounter monsters and criminals. They themselves were the first to use the atomic bomb. But they always act in a way that makes viewers believe they are being threatened and even victims.
I think as time passes on stories get a tad distorted and books get written and movies are produced , all to make dollars portraying sensationalism to make battles even more exiting, in war the reality is known only to those who are actually there, the soldiers,, A four mile stretch of beach cannot be covered by a mg42 machine gun alone albeit a truly advanced weapon of its time but the vast amount of other weaponry lined along the hilltop not to mention the artillery guns set further back does strongly suggest the magority of casualties wasn't created by herr Severloh . As someone mentioned earlier in the foggy confusion of war accounts get passed on to the next man and by the time the original numbers claim end up with the person writing them down for prosperity it's all taken as gospel. One reader suggested herr severloh probably fired 1000-2000 rounds instead of 1000-2000 casualties but that claim means he only used his gun less than five minutes ,,given that the MG42 fires about 1300 times per min , they're prone to overheat because they use so much ammunition in such a short time but two soldiers can replace the barrel and whole lock action in less than 25 sec so he certainly was busy on the day. It's very interesting and Ive recently returned from that beach area but I will study in more detail when I go back shortly and come to my own conclusions for 'what they're worth.
Thank you for your input. Please come back and let me know your thoughts after you’ve had a chance to look in more detail.
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes Sure 👍
My Dad landed on Omaha beach on D - Day along side the Americans . He was a part of 21BDS R.A.F. unit which suffered heavy casualties upon landing .
press "f" to pay respect for Heinrich
Very good old chap, nice scope 🤓
Thank you for watching.
Much of history is embellished, self-serving fuel for the ego of the claimants.
This account is no different, his 15 minutes of fame is now guaranteed.
Imagine bullets pinging off armourd ramp the men would be saying please don't lower ramp yet! How terrible.😢😢😢
As former German Paratrooper Officer with intensive training and use of the MG 3 (in the special training we had 3.000-5.000 cartridges per soldier) I think it is possible holding a position and causing so much damage. During my military service I've met several times with Paratrooper Veterans from the Battles of Crete and Monte Cassino and got useful advice from them (e.g. the importance of changing positions during the fight) - normally German soldiers were not such braggarts/ loud-mouths than the American counterparts. The US Army had during WWII a special training film for their soldiers in order to play down the power/cadence of the MG42 - why? My grandfather (an humble man) was MG 34 gunner in Russia and told stories about mowing down multiple attacking waves of russians who were often drunk (they gave them vodka to encourage them), often carried no rifles and were shot by their own people (political officers) in case of running backwards. So the Germans ducked in their positions, fired on treepods and prayed that there was no mechanical malfunction. In his last years he had nightmares about this.
Don't underestimate the fighting power of German soldiers. It's a fact that the US always entered war (WW I & WW II) when the Germany Army was already on decline. Against the fresh (material and personnel) German Army of the Blitzkrieg they would have had no chance. There is a book "Kampfkraft"/Fighting Power by Martin van Creveld comparing the US Army to the Wehrmacht and it's quite embarrassing for the Americans. Even fought off units of the German Army inflicted heavy losses to the US Army (e.g. battle of Hürtgenwald) and just before the end of the war in April 1945 the Americans had the highest number of casualties.
During my active duty we had exchange programs with the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions doing some military competitions in which even our conscription soldiers outsmarted the Americans. Before Kommando Spezialkräfte there was a professional Commando Company in every Paratrooper battalion. This Company took part in an exercise in an American Infantry Training Facility and they (The Americans called them the Ghost company) wiped out a complete infantry batallion of the US Army. The Americans tried to keep this a secret - any questions?
I
It is worth to mention that die MG42 had a much higher rate of fire and used 7,92 mm ammunition, outperforming the MG3 by quite a margin!
Any lmg firing 900 rpm or more is a rough day , mg3 was slowed down to 1200 where war time mg42's where typical of 1550 ish rpm .With that small difference they produce a very difficult window of opportunitie for you to move. 762 vs 7.92 are both still giving you a instant death or life threating blood loss on contact ....so they say.
Several things to say, some agreement, some disagreement, and some clarifications. Short answer: Germans likely have a qualitative edge, both in 1940 and 2024. But we have a quantitative edge, and now we are the army with years of valuable recent combat experience from 2001-2017 or so.
The German army in 1938-1942 was extremely well-trained, well-equipped, and professional. Millions getting valuable combat experience the Americans were not getting. The American military then was tiny and had only a small professional core that did little effective training and had little effective equipment. Most of the American military in WW2 -- probably 95% -- were the equivalent of conscripts: young men thrown into new divisions after 6 months training at most. The 1938-1942 German army -- better trained, equipped, and experienced -- would have chewed up undertrained, inexperienced, under-equipped American conscripts. So that is correct.
Americans also tend to be a bit casualty-averse, using air power, artillery, and armor to do most of the fighting. Barrel to barrel, the German training and experience was superior when facing 19 year old Americans who were sent over on a boat to England or the Pacific a month after basic training, with no combat experience until rotated to a front.
Combat experience is hugely beneficial for any army's effectiveness: the Americans cut their teeth in the Pacific and North Africa/Italy, and by 1944 had a lot of experience and equipment. (Still, the vast majority were 19-20 year old replacements rotated in with little experience.)
Today, some similar things apply. Most American soldiers sign up for just 3-4 years, and have no more actual training than a German conscript. However, we do have a core of career professionals who have had 6 or 8 combat deployments over the last 23 years, and that combat experience really does change things. We also have a lot of good, fast, lethal mechanized infantry/armor brigades, who -- often under an umbrella of air and artillery cover -- are devastating in any conventional conflict. (Look at Gulf War, Iraq War '03, Fallujah '04, etc: we may not be good at civilizing goat herders, but we are lethal against enemy armor and infantry formations, even in cities.)
Regarding the training exercise reported where one company of Germans wiped out a battalion of Americans, bear in mind (1) this was American light airborne infantry, and (2) we do this to each other all the time. Like every army, we conduct field exercises where we fight each other all the time, and each exercise often tests a unit in how it responds to some distinct disadvantage. Intelligence, terrain, equipment -- field exercises often manipulate certain factors to see how a unit can respond to a certain adversary advantage, and so we have companies wipe out battalions all the time. (And vise versa.) So one combat exercise -- against light airborne infantry, with unknown factors in play -- is not sufficient data to make a broad qualitative judgment of general superiority.
I fought in the Battle of Fallujah 2004, as well as Baqubah, Najaf, Muqdadiyah, Balad, and was wounded in Baghdad. I also spent a few years in Vilseck/Graf in Germany, with our mechanized infantry/armor brigades. I remember Rock im Park and the Green Goose in Nürnberg well. Frankfurt, Mainz, Kaiserslautern, Hohenfels. German soldiers were good and professional, and German conscripts are probably at least equal to our American "3 and out" E-4 Mafia. Maybe better. Our special forces are probably near equal too -- Germans may even have a qualitive edge. But. We have quantitatives. And we have a core of officers and NCOs with YEARS of combat experience.
I was an M240B gunner. (This is one of my kiddos accounts. I don't feel like switching logins now. Haha.) You Germans are probably better soldiers overall. Americans fill the ecological middle ground between German Quality and Russian Quantity. In Iraq '03 and Fallujah '04, the world got to see a bit of what happens when we take off the Nice Guy gloves for a week. Both times, it was swiftly devastating for the opposition.
I’ve always wondered this, I think movies like saving private Ryan and any pop culture reference and video games depicting this have helped this outlandish claim. I’m sure it did fell like he got that many kills I’ve never been in a situation close to that but I defiently think there’s was always some bullshit with that sort
I could be wrong, but I don’t remember hearing about a Beast of Omaha until the post SPR times. His book was released in 2000 so that is probably the catalyst.
I think he had severe PTSD from the war. In his mind it was probably like that. After spending time in combat your mind can play tricks on you regarding memory and even involuntary reactions. Unless you have been in combat you can't really judge.
I am sure he exaggerated, but be realistic, the guy was probably digging into 50 year old memories when the author contacted him.... and maybe he killed 100 guys... but at the moment he would probably have had adrenaline rush and tunnel vision.... I am pretty sure there was a huge fog of war.
This smells of pure Allied propaganda, and the smell of it has never gone away for almost 80 years. It is ridiculous these days when people talk about the landing on Omaha Beach or in Normandy in general without mentioning that 448 B-24 bombers had previously attacked and that the artillery of various battleships had bombarded Omaha Beach for hours alone. This is not only ridiculous but also a very good example of Allied historiography. And this type of propaganda continued throughout the entire war. Lol, how many American soldiers the machine gunner actually killed back then is actually irrelevant. By the way, what one side calls the beast from Omaha Beach is a hero to the other! Mfg Magnus
Huh?
@magnusmcgraw: What a load of fertiliser! This person is neither a beast or hero, he's clearly a fantasist.
By his own admission, a lead-swinger with a disdain for authority we're supposed to believe he magically turns into a cross between Rambo and the Terminator?? The very idea of him firing 22rounds a minute CONTINUOUSLY for 9 hours without a break or a response from the Americans is ludicrous.
His "tale" was written after the war with the help of a German ghostwriter "historian" . How THAT plays into "Allied propaganda" I fail to see!
@@G503-e8p 🤔
How is it allied propaganda when it's his own damn book?
Excellent 👍
@@popnmeg Thank you for watching.
Always suspect anyone with a book to sell or money to make, and his claims are clearly nonsense. Hype or Walter Mitty? - you decide.
The allied forces has always down played the heroism of their enemies and exaggerated their own heroism.
Honestly...why lie about something like that? Why still would you admit to it in the first place?
Quite. It’s bizarre.
If you were one of the few hienies to have fought on Omaha, surely you’d want to boost your own contribution!
Only a Yank could say something as stupid as that. He followed his orders, which is what every soldier does.
12000 rounds in nine hours? Should not have taken more than 10 or 11 minutes...
I thought that the dog green sector had the highest casualties?
I do mention A Company, 116th Regiment who were practically wiped out on Dog Green in front of WN72. Others that followed, like the 2nd Rangers also suffered high casualties near there.
You acidently used a german ai to pronounce english text. You might think that sounds good, it doesnt. Its just anoiing
Great that thisLyer is exposed again in detail.
Thanks for watching.
In the section relating to spalding you get left and right reversed
Spalding goes right, if looking from the beach, to the west. Is that what you men? Thanks for watching.
The barrel needed to cool and so be replaced after every 250 rounds. The barrel life was about 3,500 rounds. Nah, he was lying. Also the crew was 2-3 men - who else was operating the weapon?
Well.. Tbh, when in battle, fighting against “just” 50 guys seems endless. He had a machinegun that shoots 1.200 bullets pr minute. If he shoot just 600, and kept fighting for hours on end, seeing every single soldier he shoots Fall in the distance, then it’s easy to Imagen those 300-600 people felt like thousindes. Seein’ 50 dead people layin’ is quit a view. Imagen seeing so many bodys laying everywhere, knowing you did that..
36 men in a Landing Craft Assault. Some eyewitness reports on several D-Day beaches relate that german machine gunners would start firing at the the ramp before it went down, the men inside could hear the bullets pinging off the armoured plate. Ramp down, the first 10 or so men were hit instantly. Others would try to clamber over them and the resulting wall of dead and injured effectivly protected the men behind. Men also climbed over the sides to avoid the hail of bullets. A machine gunners attention might then be attracted by another target. There were cases where no one made it out of the landing craft. They were also raking the beach. Given his position on the higher ground with other German positions infront of him, he could arguably have been one of their number firing into the men massed in the landing craft and not raking the beach. But yeah, I get your point, maybe another Walter Mitty taking advantage of a wild story in the timeless confusion of war. I do wonder whether true casualty rates were dumbed down; like Operation Tiger casualties were simply suppressed.
@@lingerslongest You make some very valid points. Thank you.
Wasn't his claim to fame debunked a long time ago?
It still persists. Many refuse to accept that his version of events is highly questionable.
....and the Beast of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? 🇯🇵 🙏
And the beast of Unit 731 in Harbin, China? And the Beast of Auschwitz? Etc etc..
@@anthonysherry2628 Yes, the list from devils work ist very long!
★Peace★Respect and Honor★ for us ! 🇺🇲 🇩🇪
The artillery was responsible for the Omaha enforcement by the MG 40 .