The first 1,000 people to use my link to sign up will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/sogal06221 Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media, and join my Discord & Patreon: ❤️ Patreon: www.patreon.com/sogal_yt?fan_landing=true 🐕 Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ 🏀 Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT ⚽️ Facebook Page: facebook.com/SoGal-104043461744742 🏖 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/238616921241608 💥 Discord: discord.gg/amWWc6jcC2 🖖 My Star Trek Podcast: www.tribblespodcast.com/
While you are at it, a small country in the north had medal of its own, almost comparable to the VC - the Mannerheim cross. Granted to soldier of any rank be it general or lowest rank rifleman. It is Finlands highest decoration for a soldier, awarded only in the time of war.
What blows my mind most of all is that the VC is so universally and exceptionally honoured, not just in the UK but elsewhere. One of the most remarkable of all VCs in this regard is the one won by Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1943, who won the medal posthumously for successfully sinking the German U-boat that was in the process of shooting him down. No Allied soldiers survived to witness the action: he was actually recommended for the VC by the U-boat's own commander, Oberleutnant Klemens Schamong, one of a handful of men who'd survived the U-boat's sinking and was captured the following day from an inflatable lifeboat.
Another similar posthumous VC was won by Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, commanding officer of HMS Glowworm, a British destroyer that took on the German heavy cruiser KM Admiral Hipper in which the former was sunk in the battle. This award was partly due to the recommendation of Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye - commanding officer of the KM Admiral Hipper - who wrote to the British Admiralty through the red Cross expressing his admiration of the bravery and humanity of his opponent. When HMS glowworm sank after a fierce battle that even included the much smaller destroyer ramming the heavy cruiser, Lt. Com. Broadmead Roope entered the freezing water with survivors of his crew. When the KM Admiral Hipper stopped to pick up survivors, the Lt. Com. was seen helping his men climb aboard the cruiser while staying in the freezing water himself. In the end - gripped by the cold and exhaustion - he no longer could hold on to the ropes, lost his grip, and drifted away without the Germans being able to help him.
there was also Captain Charles Upham, another New Zealander and the only combat soldier to be awarded the vc twice. He won his first vc in crete and the bar for it in north africa. When King George VI asked Major-General Howard Kippenberger if he deserved a second because being awarded a vc bar was "very unusual indeed". Kippenberger told the King "In my respectful opinion, sir, Upham won the VC several times over."
@Fidd88 his wiki page:Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC (9 November 1884 - 4 August 1917) was a British medical doctor what i said: Captain Charles Upham, another New Zealander and the only combat soldier do you understand what i said or do i need to explain more
The choice of metal comes from the symbolism of its having been from a cannon captured from an enemy in battle, And that it represents the struggle, sacrifice and bravery of the troops in that victory.. Giving it a value far beyond any simple precious metal...
True the whole point is that the medal and the material from which it's made isn't the important thing, it's the man who wears it and the story of how he came to wear it that is the thing that makes it so special.
Artilery was soo epensive and so effective that greatt costs were borne to protect it (what fusiliers ere creats for, what the lihghtbrigafde were ordered to prevent prior to th in famous charge+ or maybe you'd recl the chrrge of the scot'sd greyss at Waterloo.
In fact so many cannons were captured from the Russians in the Crimea that they were sent all over the Empire as prizes. For example, if you go to the Ontario Legislature in Toronto, they have a few of them on display there.
If you want to learn about the Vietnam war,I heartily support that, since it’s so recent, but be prepared to have it learn about and dig into some nasty political treachery all around the war. The poor grunt soldiers were ducking bullets while the Politicians in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Vietnam lied, cheated, manoeuvred and electioneered around their bodies
Correct, Great Britain were not directly involved. So, they emancipated the orphan criminal colonies aka Australia and New Zealand. To align with Great Britain without The UK to actually getting their hands dirty, like Jane Fonda did. As the UK 🇬🇧 foresaw perhaps best not get involved directly but indirectly via UK colony.... X years after and Jane Fonda was actually more accurate. Our UK Queen has the right to declare war and peace. Withoutconsentof her parliament. On her 70th Jubilee North Korean leader, sent her best wishes.
The British were in Vietnam. September 45 to March 46. Operation Mastadon. The communists lost control of most of the country and, at the time Britain passed responsibility to France, communist forces were struggling to survive in the Highlands of the Vietnamese interior. British forces then had responsibility for Malaya, now Malaysia. And repeated their success against a communist insurgency. The French did less well.
Letters after the name - when a person has been honoured with a knighthood or medal, it's common to list the honours after their name. So you might hear about "Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE", where OBE stands for Order of the British Empire. It's similar to having PhD or MD after your name to indicate a level of achievement. The commanding officer of the Dambusters raid in WWII, Guy Gibson, earned the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order (twice), and the Distinguished Flying Cross (also twice). So his full title at the time of his death was "Wing Command Guy Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar". (The 'bar' indicates the second award). The VC comes before all other medals, honours, or decorations.
Clarkson did another one for Timeline called “The Greatest Raid of All” (or something like that!). It’s absolutely brilliant, well worth a watch. A lot of people aren’t a fan of his for his style particularly on stuff like Top Gear, but this and also “Clarkson’s Farm” (also worth a watch) are very different
I remember seeing this the greatest Raid programme. But the making of the Greatest Raid of all programme was also good since they made the programme on the cheap since Clarkson was working as the translator for the film crew to save money.
I never saw any greatest raid or clarkson's farm things, but I have seen Top Gear and frankly don't even remember the host of it. On the other hand, I certainly do remember Simon Cowell from judging American Idol so I imagine if Clarkson had been in any way remarkable I would remember him. So I wonder why enough people didn't like him that it's a known thing. With Cowell, I was only one of lots of people who thought he went too far and was hurting peoples' feelings on purpose to get ratings. I t hink even to people who didn't dislike Cowell, they did at least understand why those of who did felt the way we did. But with this guy, I simply don't remember him being in any way memorable at all one way or the other.
As a Dutchman growing up in the area this battle take place it is a very important thing to remember and be thankful for the stories my grandfather told about the war and the love for England and Canada because of there efforts for our nation's freedom of Germany in the second world war
Greetings Sarah, When he mentions that VC always comes first, for example, if you are a qualified surgeon of distinction in the UK, your medical medical and academic status would be indicated by the letters FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) after your name. VC will always preceed this title. I think it's worth mentioning that one of the VC winners named, Flying Officer John Cruikshank, who was severely injured attacking a U-boat is still alive, I believe he is 103 years old. I salute you sir, where ever you are. Best Wishes from the UK. 🇬🇧
Just as an addition, when the honours are given by HM QEII they are awarded in order of status. No matter what honour is being given to whatever aristocracy, the VC is always given first. Knights, Dukes whatever, they have to wait their turn
@@craigbarber3225 That's good to hear Craig, that Mr Cruikshank is still going strong, thank god we bred men like that. If you can mention it to him that he's well remembered, and please pass on my best wishes if you get to have a word with him. Best Wishes from Wales.
also, no matter what your rank (e.g. Lance Corporal), if you are awarded the Victoria Cross, regulations state that even the Head of the Army/Air Force/Navy MUST salute you !
Norman Jackson VC was a flight engineer on an RAF Lancaster which was attacked by a German nightfighter. It was badly damaged and set on fire. Jackson, despite being hit by cannon shell splinters, put on a parachute, grabbed a fire extinguisher and climbed out onto the wing to try and put out the flames. The flames burnt him badly and the nightfighter attacked again, shooting him twice in the leg, making him fall off the aircraft. He fell 20000 feet and his damaged parachute opened.He broke an ankle on landing, crawled to a nearby village and was taken prisoner. After 10 months in hospital he was sent to a POW camp - which he eventually escaped from and eventually met up with US troops. He survived the war and died in 1994
As a former military man who has experienced bullets passing inches around me during an ambush, I feel able to repeat what has been stated so many times before "The first casualty of any battle is the plan." This will remain true for as long as there continues to be warfare.
So true. The reason you plan isn't to make sure things go that way, it's to make sure you know what your contingencies are when it all goes to sh*t and make sure people trust you know.
@@SoGal_YT It's exactly the same with the Medal Of Honor, everyone from the Commander in Chief (President) on down, should salute a recipient. One British tradition the US decided to keep. Incidentally, the latest VC was awarded to l/cpl Josh Leakey of the Paras' in Afghanistan. He was a member of a joint US/UK operation, part of the award was for rescuing a wounded US LT. He's also the second member of his family to be awarded a VC.
If you look at the order of wear, a VC is worn first (I think this was mentioned) effectively "outranking" all other honours - including the old aristocratic titles. One of the reasons that the VC is awarded so infrequently is that there are now more medals to award - the medal that eventually became the DSC didn't start until nearly 50 years after the VC and most of the others didn't start until WWI. As for not mentioning medals, it's quite common. My gfather was awarded the DSM (a forerunner of the DSC and just below a VC in terms of prestige) during Dunkirk which nobody knew until he died.
The term 'VC' becomes part of your name as in Gibson VC or Jones VC. It cannot be taken away from you in later life for any misdemeanours or crimes. It is probably the most illustrious, hard earned and rarely given military award anywhere. Two thirds have been awarded posthumously and the action to win it must be carried out in the face of the enemy and corroborated by eye witnesses. No other award requires such stringent conditions to be met.
Your comments about how insginificant the actual medal looks touches one of the key aspects of the VC. When Queen Victoria created it she wanted a very simple medal because as she said "it's about the deed, not the medal". There's a fascinating video on UA-cam by a chap called Mark Smith about the history of the VC that you should watch.
It can be hard for some to understand why the medal is so humble looking, It's because the VC and the George Cross which is for non-military and it is also a very humble-looking medal as they should be, The medal shouldn't try and outshine the deed.
The plain look of the medal was understood, I think she was referring to the reason why the VC is made from the cannon that was captured during the Crimean War? There is probably a story there that wasn't touched upon in the documentary to which she was reacting. She didn't grasp the significance of the cannon metal that was used. I would love to hear the story of that cannon as well.
@@GeneGower Let's see if I can get this right. The intention was for the medal to be made out of bronze. The first VCs were awarded during the Crimean War and a story appeared in the papers that the bronze came from a cannon captured from the Russians at Sebastopol. Field artillery at this time had bronze barrels. Actually, as far as anyone can tell the first VCs were made out of some bronze that the jewellers happened to have in stock. Eventually that ran out and at that point the Royal Artillery museum at Woolwich provided two new blocks of bronze cut from cannon in the collection. The cannon were captured from the Russians, but were actually made in China (You couldn't make this up). Apparently the metal in the earliest medals is completely different from the later blocks which suggests that the earliest block of metal wasn't from a gun at all.
@@GeneGower I agree she understood but others seem to think that it isn't good enough which is because what these people have gone through. No medal could ever really show the courage and absolute disregard for their own safety.
What Clarkson said about Caine not ever telling his daughter about his medal, you come across that more often. I heard a similar tale once of a family that was clearing out their father's belongings after he died and found a box with his medal (maybe a madal of honor, but probably a silver star) and some other papers. Turned out he was one of the marines that raised the flag over Iwo Jima (the ones in the statue). Never mentioned it. BTW, among those papers was a letter from John Wayne asking for his autograph.
my father survived being captured at Singapore in 1941, and being on the Burma Road until they were liberated in 1945. I can only remember him talking about it to me once, when I was about 15, after dinner when he was pretty sloshed (as he called it).
You have to imagine that the circumstances in which most VCs are won are of absolute hopelessness, death and almost certain defeat. In a way it almost doesn't matter how that turns out. Some people reaslise they're dead and they decide to make the neemy pay for it, and by some miracle they (maybe) come out alive. That will still be the most traumatic day of their life, because everything that lead to them not caring about survival still happened and is stil in their memory. Who'd want to relive that? Who'd brag about the thing that haunted them for the rest fo their lives? Even if like Limbu, you killed up to 31 men, would you see that as a glorious victory over the enemy, or as a moment where you dipped into jsut how brutal and cold humanity could be? You've ended the lives of 31 desperate men who you had no personal grudge against, whose names you didn't even know. I don't find it at all surprising people wouldn't talk about their VCs
@@greghight954yes and no. The original flag was smaller and a lot less dramatic. However a senior officer wanted the original flag and when the captain in charge heard that he said no and had it taken down and a new one put in its place. A war photographer was passing the original photographer who took the first picture. Asked if anything was happening was told no. Saw the men putting up the second flag and quickly took the picture. From a viewpoint of a photographer, wasn’t a great picture but he submitted it anyway. The rest is history.
I have met Keith Payne multiple times, I was in the local cadet unit for 6 years where he lives and he was present at at least one of our events every year and I was lucky enough to have a few conversations with him about the army, but not about what happened I didn't want to be another person to bring it up. He is an incredible person who genuinely feels like he cares about the person who he is talking to. Wonderful man and I hope I get to talk to him again.
My boss jumped into this battle as a young 18 year old paratrooper, the Battle was called operation market garden. There were American, Polish and the British
There were also a number of Canadians: my mother had to address envelopes to their widows/dependants... (She could never bear to watch "A Bridge Too Far".)
Whilst still at school I worked part time at a garage next door to my parents, the boss there always wore a plain red beret. When I asked him why a beret he would say with a smile " keeps my head warm" only when he died many years later did I read in his obituary that he had faught at Arnhem with the parachute regiment.
@@SoGal_YT Mrs C,s uncle served in the East Lancashire regiment alongside the American paratroopers at Nijmegen,sadly succumbed to his wounds RIP..XXX Corps did their best to get to Arnhem..tragically it was a bridge too far...
My great great uncle was given a Victoria’s cross, he was a Scottish officer in ww2, and he was captured by the Japanese, while in a POW camp he did the most dangerous of jobs to get intelligence in and out of the camp and to up morale of both, American soldiers and British soldiers alike. he was captured by the Japanese and was tortured to get information, he Never broke once, the torturing was so brutal that the Japanese officers would be sick to their stomach when talking about it, he never gave the information, and the Japanese cut off his head. Love you George xx❤
As a Brit veteran, Arnhem breaks my heart - I went there and threw my cap badge into the river - such understated bravery and waststful loss of life...no point in recrimination - they are dead are and nothing will retrurn them or redeen the the folly that killed them. US troops did everything possible to reach them. - and for that I embrace each and every one of them. It's not war that is hell - it is the hubris of those who direct war that creats hell. Lest we Forget
"Lest we forget" , my German former wife never understood this nor ANZAC day. I'm an anti-militarist (I'm too angry to be a pacifist) but I am utterly disgusted by how our governments and our societies treat our serving and former military personal. We (through our governments) send men and women into harms way, yet after their service (or too often even during their service) are thrown on the scrap heap. We should respect all who go into harms way on our behest and in our stead
I totally agree with you Arnhem must have been hell on earth I'm an ex vet myself and my great uncle I think it was was in the air assault brigade in Arnhem I had a neighbour who was in the war too they are all men we should all be proud of giving their lives to protect those who can't godbless the king and our forces and thanks to those who gave all your service will never be forgotten
My father missed being dropped over Arnhem only because he’d been badly wounded in Tunisia. He could barely speak about the losses his regiment sustained at Arnhem.
The lion symbolizes strength, courage and leadership. It is also a symbol of royalty and the VC was created by Queen Victoria and originally was usually presented by the monarch, however not always. Australia, New Zealand and Canada also have VC's, being Commonwealth countries with the same monarch as the UK. Two Australians have received a VC from their service in Afghanistan most recently.
I know a lot of other people have suggested "The Greatest Raid Of All", but it really will blow your mind. There is no way on Earth it could possibly work, but we British don't like being told we can't do something.😉
My Great Uncle earned a VC in WW1, he shot down a German Airship over Essex with a Biplane and 3 drums of machine gun ammo. The technique he used was later used in the war to shoot down 5 more airships, My Great Uncle was later shot down over the Western Front and spent the rest of the war as a POW but before he was shot down he flew against the Red Barron himself. He became very ill as a POW and by the time he got home for Xmas 1918 he caught the Spanish flu and died aged just 23!
Was he based at or served anytime at Stow Maries by any chance? If so that would be amazing. After standing derelict since 1919, shortly after the RAF was formally organised, the land owners began restoring the old aerodrome buildings in 2007, making it the only surviving example of a pre RAF airfield. It is now an active museum, and working aerodrome. Well worth a visit.
In short, the British didn't defeat the Germans at Arnhem, their objective was to take and hold the bridge at one end and await reinforcements driving up through the Netherlands who would take the other end of the bridge. They were expected to take 2 to 3 days to get there but became bogged down. Eventually the Paras who were holding the north end of the bridge and had already been there more than twice as long as they expected, realised their reinforcements weren't coming. The order to evacuate was given but the troops were caught in a trap at Oosterbeek just outside Arnhem, where the Germans were killing them at will. Major Cain through his actions managed to engineer an escape opportunity that let the remaining British troops slip away to safety.
When I started as a Guard on the railway, I worked with a driver who was there. He had 19 suicides over his career as a driver. I asked if it bothered him? He said "Nah, killed more Germans than that in the war".
It wasn't just British paratroopers holding the northern end of the bridge. It included men from glider regiments and elements of the 1st Polish (Independent) Parachute Brigade, who were supporting the British 1st Airborne Division. They were not part of the British Army.
@@Dan-zb7vn They didn't take control of the bridge. The airborne forces fought and took control of the northern end of the bridge, but the operation was reliant on the allied 2nd Army driving north east through the Netherlands and taking control of the southern end of the bridge, which they failed to do. And that meant that although they were holding the northern end of the bridge, they were pretty much surrounded. By their very nature, airborne forces are only relatively lightly armed - it was the 2nd Army that were meant to bring the tanks to the party. After about 9 days of holding the bridge (they were only expecting to hold it for a couple of days before being reinforced) they had virtually run out supplies and ammo, and they knew the 2nd Army wasn't coming. Their only option was to withdraw, a number managed to escape but many were killed or captured.
In addition to the Victoria Cross there exists the George Cross and George medal. The key thing for the VC is in the face of the enemy. If you were brave but not in contact with the enemy you could not be considered for the VC. Thus in ww2 the George Cross and medal was created. Named after the King. These could be awarded for acts of bravery not in the face of the enemy, thus allowing people like firefighters in the blitz to be considered, where previously it'd have not been possible to award them anything similar to the VC. Military personnel not in the face of the enemy were also eligible.
I attended a battlefield tour of Arnhem/Osterbeek with my unit when based in Germany, a lot of the homes and business buildings are still there with bullet holes in them. This is just a small story of the full action and the full action is just mind blowing. Each soldier there was out numbered, out gunned and without food, water and medical facilities. Each one a true hero. And I was also based for 3 years at the base where the metal for the VC is stored, and no they would not let me see it lol.
I live besides hells highway. Lots of your young countrymen rest in peace at way to many commenwealth gravesites in this part of the Netherlands. Fallen U.S. servicemembers of operation Market Garden were replaced and laid to rest at Margraten or home in the U.S. We honour them ALL for the sacrifice they made for our freedom. They shall never be forgotten!
Glad you got round to this documentary Sarah - I knew you’d find it interesting. If you like Clarkson’s style of documentary you will also like the one he did on the commando Raid on Saint Nazaire. Regarding the emblematic Lion we use yes, the England shirts show a badge with three lions. This motif appears on the Royal Standard which flies on buildings when the Queen is present. You might know that during the First World War the British soldiers were known as lions led by donkeys. As previously mentioned our women’s soccer team are known as the lionesses. You would have loved watching the women’s Euro 2022 match with Norway on Monday. The result: England 8, Norway 0. If you are not yet fully into watching men’s soccer you might find the women’s game more interesting. Love the way you always find something to learn when watching your videos.
It’s ironic that the Lion is such a symbol of fierce bravery for the British. The Lion is not a British native animal, and doesn’t actually do much of the heavy lifting in the lion society. All the hunting for food is done by the females while the male lies in the shade of a tree waiting for dinner to be served
The saying "Lions led by donkeys" is much older than that. Reportedly from a russian officer concerning british troops during the Crimean War, so as early as 1854/55. And the "british Lions" being used on emblems is from about 1200.
The story of the cannon is remarcable in it's own right. it was captured iin battle by privet solders and then held and used against several counter attacks. It is the contaversy around the bravery and heroism shown by the men who took the cannon that triggered the creation of the VC in the 1st place. and it is to honor these men that the medal is made from this cannon metal.
Fun fact at 25:20 - the Victoria Cross that Clarkson shows is actually a VC and Bar (recognisable by the second bar of laurel leaves across the middle of the ribbon), which represents a second award of the VC to the same individual. There are only three in existence, two of which were respectively issued to doctors Capt. Noel Chavasse and Lt. Col. Arthur Martin-Leake from the Royal Army Medical Corps in WW1; and the other to New Zealand combat officer, Capt. Charles Upham, in WW2.
Yes correct he was the only man to do so who was a combatant and both were won in the same war, I believe the 2 other medical winners were in 2 different wars .@@williammaxwell1919
I would think you would find "The Greatest Raid Of All" just as fascinating. It is also narrated by Jeremy Clarckson. It is the story of the raid at Nazire. Also the V.C. can be one by any member of the British commonwealth which includes many countries.
Definitely, a very brave and ordatious raid. Living on the tableland above Cairns, those of us who have been here for decades are aware of the house on the hill which is part of that history.@@highcountrydelatite
Ever since the introduction of cannon capturing one was considered an achievement equivalent to capturing a regiments colours (battle flag) a grate honour for the soldiers involved usually resulting in immediate promotion as such making the VC from that metal links every VC winner to the brave men who came before including the famous light brigade who became military legends on par with the Spartans during the Crimean war. As such the metal from that cannon is more precious than gold and becomes more valuable and historically significant every time a piece of it is given to a true hero.
This is perhaps in my opinion the best documentary covering the VC, I also had the immense pleasure to meet Keith Payne VC in person, as a humble quiet man he has nothing you would think shines out that he has won the VC. As a proud Australian he shows that personal courage is just that personal he did what he had too do to save as many of his men as he could. Ty for shining a light on the British award for Valour, it encompasses all of the British empire and these days many countries are allowed to award their own VC as in the VC for Australia, Canada & New Zealand. Keep Safe Keep Strong 🦘🦘🦘💖💖💖
@@SoGal_YT It is a fantastic film with a stellar cast of actors. Special mention should be made of Robert Redford's character displaying a very British attribute (being bloody minded) in the scene with the jeep and his wounded comrade.
@@SpeccyMan I think Robert Redford was portraying the American paratroopers leader..at Njmegan where Mrs C,s uncle served in the East Lancashire regiment alongside the American paratroopers ,sadly succumbed to his wounds RIP...
Not sure if others have mentioned it but Keith Payne VC, was an Australian soldier in Vietnam, not British. The VC is awarded to all Commonwealth forces, not just British.
You may have noticed at the recent funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II that the US president was held back and had to wait, to allow the procession of the VCs, Garter Knights and Knights of the Bath, that had priority over him taking his seat.
FYI Sarah, the Australian War Memorial has a vast selection/collection of V.C's won by Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen in their possession, it might be something for you to look into if you like.
An interesting story behind some of those medals. For a while each time an Australian VC came up for auction an anonymous bidder would win the auction, he was never beaten, after which the medal would quietly turn up at the Australian War Memorial.
I’m only a couple of minutes into this so I don’t know if it’s been covered, but if a private was to be wearing a VC the highest ranking member of the army, including everyone else, has to salute you.
One does not 'win' a Victoria Cross, one is a recipient of one. To use the word win is highly offensive. They are not participation medals and it isn't a competition.
The Victoria Cross is given to all the Commonwealth country’s too our newest winner is Corporal Willie Apiata he comes from the East Coast of New Zealand just down the coast from where I live. He is a very big man a very humble man and has had because of winning the Cross had to give up his place in our SAS.
The significance of the metal is that it is from the breech block of one of the guns captured in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. To understand that fully, take some time to read about it. In essence, the charge took place due to a breakdown in communications. It was unprecedented and contrary to doctrine that light cavalry (or any cavalry) would attempt to charge artillery. It was also evident to those present that the charge was a suicide mission. Nonetheless, the Light Brigade showed the highest level of bravery in carrying out the orders they had been given and successfully defeated the Russian guns, drove off the artillerymen and supporting infantry and captured several of the guns. They lost 469 cavalrymen of out of 664 who took place in the charge.
The Lion is a French icon, it came to England via the French Plantagenets: Richard I King of England, Duchy of Normandy and Duchy of Aquitaine (3 positions - 3 Lions)
For me one of the most important traditions with the VC is that it is so revered, it takes precedent and the medal itself is saluted by all ranks including officers. Think about that for a moment - a general must salute a private With a VC. I believe that the unknown warrior was Awarded the VC and laid to rest in Westminster with the kings and queens . Powerful stuff
The important point is that there is no requirement for anyone in the UK military to salute a VC recipient... but nobody would ever consider not doing so Most international militaries will also salute a VC ...they all realise what it means The unknown soldier has the VC, and the US Medla of Honour ... and his honour guard was 100 VC recipients...
The Unknown Warrior was selected from a number of dead exhumed from graveyards on the Western Front after WW1. They were placed in a mortuary without names and an officer picked one at random so it is very very unlikely that he had been awarded the VC.
Thanks for doing this video about the Victoria Cross and hope you enjoyed it Sarah. :). The Victoria Cross has bee won or awarded at least twice since this film was made. It was awarded twice in the war in Afganistan by soldiers fighting the Taliban. I think that with a medal like the Victoria Cross or even the US Medal of Honor, you want the bar of winning one set quite high so it keeps it's esteem.
There was awarded a VC to a New Zealand soldier Lance Corporal Willie Apiata for actions in 2004 in Afghanistan. There was another awarded to a British Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey for actions in 2013 in Afghanistan. So yes even in modern times with modern warfare there is still heroes and men that will go above and beyond most. I apologise if I have missed any VC heroes since 2000 but these are the only two my fading memory remembers. To all the VC and brave men and women who have served, THANK YOU.
One of gurkha featured in the video has grandson. The grandson earned VC in Afghanistan. The gurkha regiment are some of the very bravest soldiers you will ever meet, you don't want to be meeting an angry one even if he's unarmed.
If you pause at 9:00 you'll see the name Leakey on the roll of honour. This is Joshua Leakey's second cousin who was awarded HIS cross in WW2. My daughters went to school with Joshua and the elder, who was in his class, was amazed when I told her he'd received a VC . . . "But he was such a mild mannered little boy" . . . perhaps that's the whole point? He's still serving (2023) as a Colour Sergeant in the Paratroop Regiment.
Bryan budd and joshua leakey as well. Both from the oarachute regiment won the vc in 2006 and 2013 respectively. Bryan budds was unfortunately posthumous.
On the French/German border you have, first of all, The Ardennes. A hilly area without good infrastructure. And since it had been the border between France and Germany, it was heavily fortified. Germany, when they attacked France at the beginning of the war, decided to avoid it and go through The Netherlands and Belgium instead. The allies were trying to do the same, but in reverse. It... didn't go well. This was a time before internet and uploading mobile phone videos. No satellite imaging or anything. Intelligence about enemy movement behind the lines was dependent on whatever your infiltrators could tell you, or what radio messages you could intercept. They didn't know the enemy strength or positions. And the operation ran into the teeth of German reinforcements. There was an armored column coming up to secure the bridges and the airborne divisions just had to hold until they arrived. But they didn't know when that would be. There was no communication to let them know the column had been held up. They won their battles, time after time, but the operation had been a failure. There would only be more death, so why stay? There would be no relief, there would be no reinforcements, there would be no supply drops. At some point, you have to cut your losses and get out.
The VC for gallantry is a medal awarded to the military personnel of the British Empire, in the time of war. For civilians ,the George cross was awarded. If there was no war, military personnel were awarded the George Cross. The film was called “A bridge too far".The operation was called "market garden" ( the have a lot of market gardens. It was a sort of "out flanking manoeuvre. The Germans gave the paratroopers the name" Red devils". It was suspected that the Dutch under ground had been penetrated by the Germans and they knew the allies would try to take the bridge.
Never watched your channel before. Came across it by pure chance. I have seen the documentary many times and am a huge fan of the subject matter - all citations of valour, regardless of country make me feel so humble. Absolutely loved your genuine interest and clear affection for the subject. Havent got to the surprise at the end yet - looking forward to your reaction to that... :-) I am now a new subscriber!!👍
Victoria Crosses are awarded on a much scarcer level than the US Congressional Medal of Honor. One Canadian tank commander near Bretteville in Normandy on June 9, 1944, during WW2, destroyed 6 German Panther Mark V panzers in a short single engagement and was not awarded it. His commanding officer said he was only doing his job, so why should he get a medal? 🤷♂😲😲😮
@@Mk1Male Yes, it is an entire tank crew who do these things. But my point was this was not even considered for a Victoria Cross. Generally speaking, Victoria Crosses are awarded far less frequently than the CMoH. Which is not to denigrate the CMoH, but to point out the difference.
Yep. Victoria crosses for a long time were only awarded if you died in the commission of your gallant action. Usually they're only awarded for something far, far beyond the call of duty, not just doing your job very well.
@@Mk1Male Absolutely this. The criteria for the award are "most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy". Launching a successful attack is not, in itself, grounds for the VC. (It *is* possible for an entire squadron or crew to qualify, though; in this case the award is given to one commissioned officer from the squadron, one NCO, and two enlisted, on the basis of ballots held among each section of the squadron. 46 VCs have been awarded in this manner.)
When the battle was over.the ss general wrote how impressed he was with the opposing air bourne troops saying how they fought they fought so effectively even with no officers also stating that physically they were perfect for task the ss general and his troops were just back from the Russian Front but said best opposition he had faced yet given Thier resources
I have the movie "A bridge to far," on DVD. It's a Hollywood movie & there's no mention of the British soldiers anywhere near the bridge at Arnhem. This 65 year young Aussie isn't suprised
Oh... Forgot... They tried to go through Holland due to the autobahn network. It's a pretty straight run to Berlin from Holland and doesn't involve any horrible mountain roads, narrow passes or anything strategically suicidal, to try to run an army through (comparatively). It would have the other advantage of freeing Holland and allowing easier further landings for support and supply. Sadly, the raid went a bit pear shaped because the main forces got bogged down, as you saw, leaving lightly armed but fierce fighting men, with no support and supply. They could have stopped earlier and allowed the rest to catch up or so I've heard many say, but of course, in reality they couldn't, due to the nature of the type of operation... Send in the Paras first, bring in support and troops to relieve later.
My uncle Sid once told me when I was just joining my forces that he was in the South Staffs regiment and he mentioned Arnhem which at the time didn’t mean anything to me really only that he was a paratrooper which I knew was something special. He died before I finally knew the magnitude of that battle.
There's now three entirely separate VCs in addition to the British version: the VC for Canada, for Australia and for New Zealand. Almost exactly the same in design, these are established under separate statutes and are awarded by the respective crowns for 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿. The metal used is mostly the same, although the Canadian version also contains local metal. The 🇨🇦 version words 'For Valour' are in Latin to accommodate bilingualism.
PIAT is "Platoon Infantry Anti-Tank". In military terms the noun comes first, followed by the adjectives. Check out the VCs awarded to Australians in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Not sure if anyone has answered the question but the Chinese built cannons for the Victoria Cross, were used by the Russians in the Crimean War and were seized at Savastapol along with 4000 other pieces of artillery. Many of these were sent out to the major capitals of the commonwealth.
The U K was not involved in the Vietnam War. But Australia and New Zealand, both members of the Commonwealth, were involved, so are qualified for the Victoria Cross.
@@SoGal_YT - of course you knew it was for the whole Commonwealth. It was awarded by the Queen (Victoria at the time), and she's head of the Commonwealth. We're all related, Sarah. Except the United States is sort of the black sheep of the family, having thrown the baby out with the bath water when you had your teenage temper tantrum and went up to your room to write your own constitution. Never mind...
About VC winners being sort of.. silent about their exploits, it really is a way that you can tell the difference between true heroes and the people who fake their war stories. The thing you often forget is that the story of how someone won a medal is simultaneously the story of how they lost great friends and comrades. Would you want to brag about what happened on a day where you lost friends? Use their memory to boost your own image? No, of course not. In their mind it isn't remembered as a day of great triumph, it's mostly remembered as a day of great sadness and tragedy. You'll always think back and wonder if you could have done something to save just one more of your friends. Don't try to get veterans to tell their stories if they don't want to.
so good to see you back Sarah. New Zealand's most famous VC winner was Charles Upham who won the VC twice. After the war, Upham returned to New Zealand, and the community raised £10,000 to buy him a farm. However, he declined and the money went into the C. H. Upham Scholarship for children of ex-servicemen to study at Lincoln University.
The mission to capture eight bridges was called Operation market garden. There is a movie about it called 'A bridge too far'. They were recording it (partially) in my city while I was being born. Edit: Should have waited with my comment till the end.
My uncle Ron, my dads brother was one of those that jumped at Arnhem, he managed to get through it and come home, he would never speak of it even to me when I joined the army, it affected him that much. My Dad joined the army after the war and fought in Korea, he won the Military Medal for bravery as a sniper.
Good day to you Sarah, I am in my 70"s and how delighted I was to see someone so young interested in a subject which is mainly forgotten by the majority of your generation. Now you are aware of many individual winners of the V.C. I would like to bring your attention to the battle of Rorkes Drift. Here was a small garrison consisting of 150 british soldiers, they were under threat of some 3000 Zulu's. in the ensuing battles the Zulu's advanced many times and many soldiers died, however, a lot more Zulu'swere killed than soldiers. If i remember correctly I think 8 V.C awards were awarded to soldiers that fought in that battle. A movie was made about the battle of Rorks Drift and it was called "Zulu" (No surprises there). The movie was played to all Australian recruits during their training in the 70's as far as I know, as it showed how a group of so few can, with good leadership and willing men could overcome such harrowing odds. Now you know who won I suppose I have spoilt it for you, believe me my love the movie is exceptionaland worth a look, it was the beginning of Michael Caines Career. Take care and keep doing such a wonderful Job Regards George
This discussion is always tough for me to watch. My father's father was a a Spitfire engineer during the Battle of Britain (72 Squadron). He would go on to fight in North Africa, Italy and then Burma (Myanmar) as an aircraft engineer. He never saw face to face action. My other other grandfather was younger. His first operation was "Market Garden", as discussed in this programme. He never liked to me about the way. I know understand, he was suffering from PTSD. In short, he was one of the Paratroopers dropped onto Arnhem in Operation Market Garden. He was damn lucky to escape alive. Clarkson's relative was maybe a reason my grandfather survived.
I applauded you on your "Learning Chanel". It is so great seeing your interest and the want to learn what/why/where/when and how to replace/fill that lack of knowledge. in this story You are teaching AND learning at the same time. WW2 was so widely spread , new types of weapons when men were brave and proud. It was supposed to be the War to end all Wars. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. ( Just Subscribed )
Market-Garden was a failure before it even started. Not enough planes to get all the troops in, in 1 day. Monty refused to cancel it even when he was told not enough planes. Dutch inteligence informed him that 2 German panzer divs were in Arnham. He ignored it. Recce planes showed photos of the tanks Monty said dont rock the boat they probably dont work. Then US 82nd airbourne didnt even bother to capture their bridge. They decided to setup defence on a hill away from the bridge. so when 30 corps got their they had to fight to get across the bridge. which delayed them by 2 days. US 101st airbourne managed to get all their bridge's. but they were the 1st bridges. and 30corps got them in a few hrs . 82nd had the middle bridges and 1st British airboune with the Polish airbourne had the last bridge. the plan was the airbourne units would capture the bridges intact so 30 corps could get to Arnham in 2 days. but it took 10 days to get all the troops into Arnham due to lack of planes and bad weather. and 30corps never did get there due the US 82nd aribourne not following orders and doing what they wanted. Think it was General Gavin in command of 82nd and he was the main reason why so many got killed at Arnham. If he had followed orders and captured his asigned bridges 30 corps would of been there a few days earlier. But Monty was most at fault. He was a very bad commander. every plan he came up with failed. or didnt go the way it was expected. IE El Alamain was his 1st action as army commander. He was told to attack striaght away while the German and Italiian troops had no ammo or fuel and to go round the flanks to cut off the retreat as the SAS had a route marked out through the quatatrra deperesion which most thought was impassable. But western destrt force used that route in 1941 and surround the Ityalians and got them to surender before the germans got their. But nope he decided he wanted more artilrty more tanks and more men. he got what he asked for then delayed again wanting even more men and tanks. 6 months before he decided to attack by then the Axis forces had resupplied and dug in. and he decided to do a full frontal attack instead of outflanking them. Cause of that the Axis troops were able to retreat which meant they could carry on fighting in north africa for another year. if he had done what he was ordered to the North African campaign would of been over in a few months.
Thanks for sharing your insights on the Battle of Arnhem and Operation Market Garden. It's clear that there were a number of factors that contributed to the failure of the operation, including the lack of planes and the poor weather conditions, as well as communication and leadership issues. It's always important to learn from history and understand the lessons that can be learned from past events.
The part of winning a VC that I find most telling of the undoubted bravery, is that every rank thereafter, has to salute a VC winner. Even a General has to salute a Private soldier. That is ultimate respect.
There is no official rule that states that anyone has to salute the person that has received a VC, or that a higher ranking officer has to salute first etc... it doesn't exist. However, there has become an informal tradition whereby if the VC is being worn by a person on parade (should they still be in service) than that medal (and the person clearly) is saluted by higher ranking personnel, even RSMs etc... would salute a private (no one that has a VC is staying a Pte for long... unless they mess up after), Generals would not salute the winner of a VC before they were saluted, it's just the unofficial tradition in the Army that if you spot someone that has a VC, even though they aren't commissioned and therefore not normally saluted, you salute them anyway!
@@keithlillis7962 No problem, I do believe the only reason that there's no official position on this is due to how little the situation is relevant day-day in the Forces, there's very few active service personnel that have a VC (even after over a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghan) the standards just so high to be awarded this medal. So, there's kind of no point making an official position, as it's very rare that it is ever going to become a problem, and if you made a policy you'd have to consider how people act with the George Cross (GC) as well, which is actually the exactly same level of honour, it's just valour without conflict from an enemy happening at the same time, so there are a lot more GCs out there (civilians can be awarded this as well) so if you make a rule that's official for the VC, I believe it would only be right that you did one for the GC as well, here's proof they are the same level of medal "technically". "George Cross (GC) The George Cross is equal in stature in the UK honours system to the Victoria Cross, the highest military gallantry award. This has always been the case since the introduction of the award in 1940. It may be awarded to all ranks of the services and civilians, and can be awarded posthumously."
Sarah, you asked about the symbolism of the lion on the VC. The lion is an ancient symbol of the English Kings, who had three lions passent (walking) on their coat of arms, but, it is also a national symbol of Scotland, whose kings used the lion rampant (rearing on its hind legs) on their coat of arms.
Scotlands national animal is the unicorn…specifically a unicorn in chains hence the lion and the unicorn being used to symbolise the two countries. The lion rampant is the Scottish part of the royal standard and used on the secondary Scottish flag but is not the national animal.
@@lynnejamieson2063 You are absolutely correct, which is why I never said it was the national animal and went on to explain that the Kings of Scotland used the Lion Rampant on their Royal Standard. Having re-read my comment, I concede I could have been clearer.
@@wellingboroughanddistrictu3a sorry, I didn’t mean to seem rude…I just know that many of my fellow Scots don’t know know that it’s the unicorn and not the lion that’s our national animal, so I just wanted to clarify the details. 😊
@@lynnejamieson2063 No problem! Sorry if I sounded defensive. I've found some Scottish people online can get very upset if you get even a minor thing wrong. I'm surprised to hear that some Scots don't realise that the unicorn is your national animal (although I did read a comment elsewhere on the internet from someone who insisted that the chains on the unicorn had been added to it after the Act of Union to symbolise Scotland's capture by England. I was sufficiently interested to google it and found that they were wrong and the chains had always been there.) :)
@@wellingboroughanddistrictu3a yeah, it’s part of the legend of only the Kings of Scotland being pure enough of heart, to capture a unicorn. I think that for many the presumption is that the lion rampant is our national animal, purely because it adorns one of our flags, which kind of makes sense…especially as the unicorn isn’t really used outside of the royal coat of arms. I have to admit that I kind of love the fact that 50% of the UK’s national animals are mythical though.
My Grandfather was nominated twice for a VC but never got it. I never found out until after he died and I got a copy of his war records I knew he'd been through hell but ontop of all the issues in combat he was in Hiroshima when the bomb went off and of a POW camp of 15,000 he was one of 6 survivors
I remember that my boyfriend was in the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) he was posted to Thailand and was in involved in the building of a aircraft runway) he said they weren’t told why . Later was told it was for the American Air Force, needed by the Americans just as the Vietnam war began
Is not what it's made of that makes it important, it's the symbolism of forging it from a defeated enemies weapon. It's happened through out history. Romainia forged a crown of steel for King Carol I from captured Ottoman cannons in 1821, after winning their independence.
The reason for the choice of metal used is likely to be something that is rare, and has an unusual story behind it. The cannon artifact is unique, has a story behind it, and it is likely its unique nature that was the reason behind its selection (rather than any specific chemistry about the metal etc).
The SS armour Division was known about. Dutch resistance had warned about them and British military intelligence had picked up their presence from aerial photo reconnaissance, but certain commanders chose to ignore it and maintain the operation as it was...
Clarkeson is wrong. The Tiger Tank wasn't the largest tank built by the Geramns in WW2; it was "the Maus" (Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus)... though only 2 were built
Hi, Sarah, that was very interesting, it was made nearly 20 years ago and some VCs have been issued since then , the last one to date was issued to Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey following an action in Afghanistan on 22nd August 2013. In earlier days it was i think easier to win one, you may remember we watched Zulu recently and while the film was not historically accurate there were 11 Victoria Cross awards for that one battle. Three people have been awarded a bar to the Victoria Cross which means they won it twice which is a remarkable fact.
@@arloodonnell3332 I agree it was strange he did not to mention the fact that only three men have been awarded the VC twice as it looked like he was holding one of those examples in his hand, unless it was also a prototype medal?
@@markwilliamson2864 When he shows the two medals, he says that one is the prototype and the other is a real one. He says that the only difference is that Victoria added the laurel leaves to the bar and a 'V' to the hole for the ribbon.
Rorke's drift was a majot loss and a public relations disaster for the British army and British Government. Nothing quite like a handful of medals to quell the public criticism.
My grandad who I never met was in the South Staffs, apparently he never talked about the war, but literally next to me on the wall by my computer is a certificate signed by the Norwegian Prince Olav for the liberation of Oslo.
My great uncle Albert was killed fighting for the bridge at Arnhem, he was a bren gunner and was in the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry regiment who people don't really recognise for fighting for the bridges at Arnhem. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
The Crimean war took place in 1853-56. Between Russia and the Ottoman empire allied with the French and the United Kingdom. The French and UK joined the war in an attempt to preserve the Ottoman empire and the balance of power in Europe. The reason they could not cross to the south was a series of very strong fortifications with tons of artillery, armor and infantry guarding them. Not to mention there were a goodly number of well positioned airstrips from which the luftwaffe (german airforce) would strafe and bomb attacking forces.
My great uncle Morris won it twice for extreme gallantry. Unfortunately he died before I met him so I don’t know the stories but my grandmother has the medals.
There were around 30-35,000 airborne troops involved in three divisions and a brigade for Operation Market Garden, British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish Brigade at Arnhem, the US 82nd Airborne Division around Nimegan and US 101st Airborne Division around Eindhoven.
The British were at Nijmegen too i know this because it’s on the grenadier guards battle honours and one company named Nijmegen company (second battalion GG)
Two canadian soldiers got the Victoria Cross. One of them was Captain Triquet from the Royal 22nd Royal Regiment based in Québec city actually the only french speaking regiment in Canada.
Nope, there are plenty of speaking regiments in the Canadian Army besides the R22R: Armour 12e Regiment Blindée Sherbrooke Hussars Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal) Le Regiment de Hull (RCAC) Infantry Le Royale 22e Regiment Les Voltigeurs de Québec Les Fusiliers du St-Laurent Le Regiment de la Chaudiere Les Fusiliers Mont-Royale Le Regiment de Maisonneuve Le Regiment du Saguenay Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke The Royal Montréal Regiment Artillery 5e Regiment d'Artillerie Legere du Canada 2nd Field Artillery Regiment RCA 6th Field Artillery Regiment RCA 62nd Field Artillery Regiment RCA
Great video. I like WW2 history, I know that one of the reasons that operation market garden took place in Holland was due to the construction of the Seigfreid Line that Germany had started building in the early 1930s. Hope that helps a little bit.
Clarkson is a great story teller. Someone already mentioned the program The Greatest Raid of All. But i'd also suggest his documentary about Isambard Brunel.
It is worth learning more about Operation Market Garden. This was joint British, Polish and American operation. A very ambitious plan but flawed from the outset by conflicts within the British and American high brass. Worst of all no one wanted to know about the problems with the radios. The commanding officers were told the radios might not work in such a flat terrain, and they didn't work.
That was awesome. Thank you so much. The VC can be awarded to any member of a defence force in the British empire. For example, if you are in the Australian Defence Force the highest medal of valour is still the Victoria Cross.
Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944 to create a 64 mile salient with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by two sub-operations: Seizing nine bridges with combined U.S. and British airborne forces (Market) followed by land forces swiftly following over the bridges (Garden). Plans were made to seize bridges across all these obstacles nearly simultaneously - any failure to do so could result in serious delay. The operation made massive use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and to allow a rapid advance by armored ground units to consolidate north of Arnhem.
26 bridges by my count. - by US 101st Airborne Division: 4 road bridges in the centre of Eindhoven over the River Dommel 2 road bridges over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son and at Best 2 bridges over the Dommel at St Oedenrode 4 road and rail bridges over the Aa River and Zuid Willemsvaart canal at Veghel - by US 82nd Airborne Division: 1 road bridge over the River Maas at Grave 1 rail bridge over the Maas at Mook 5 road and one rail bridges over the Maas-Waal canal at Heumen, Malden, Hatert and twin road/rail at Honingutje 2 road and rail bridges over the River Waal at Nijmegen - by British 1st Airborne Division: 1 rail bridge over the Neder Rijn at Oosterbeek near Arnhem 1 ship-bridge over the Rijn at Arnhem 1 road bridge over the Rijn at Arnhem 2 road and rail bridges at Westervoort, east of Arnhem
The Victoria cross is so hard to win, that only something like 200 won it, in the second world War. Only one soldier won the VC in WWII, that was not from a commonwealth country, and that was the Dane, Anders Lassen. He was posthumously awarded the United Kingdom's highest gallantry award for his actions during Operation Roast on 8 April 1945 at Lake Comacchio in Italy.
@akyhne: yes that`s quite a story Anders Lassen and SBS made, memorials in many country`s where he and SBS was operating. SBS (Special Boat Service) was startet by Churchill, to harrash occupied Europa. Maybe check SOE (Special Operation Execute) the start of forming special forces in UK during early WW2
Since Clarkson did this video the number has increased to 1359, but one thing I didn't hear mentioned was that 3 people have won the medal more than once, one of my favourite VC stories was that of Noel Chavasse MRCS in World War 1.
What is even more amazing is that, of those 3 man, only one used arms. The two others (incl. Noel Chavasse) were doctors. And only Noel Chavasse got both in a single conflict. What got me, is that Noel Chavasse wrote to his mother that she shouldn't worry about his life as he wasn't a hero. Made me think.
@@markgroothuis8569 Charles Upham won both his VCs in the Second World War. The third double VC was Arthur Martin-Leake (a doctor, as you said). He won his first VC in the 2nd Boer War and his second in First World War. Martin-Leake is the only person to win the medal in two different wars.
Operation Market Garden involved airborne forced from Britain, America and Poland, the plan was to lay a "carpet" of troops over several bridges. Theere were so many troops to drop that there were not enough aircraft so troops had to be dropped over several days
A friend of my gran dad won a VC in 1945, but he had lost his right arm, left foot and part of his head. He shot down from a ship many aircraft but won the VC for going in to a burning compartment to rescue a friend. Burnt, he went back in and carried another out, then another. In all (although getting orders not to go back in) he rescued 12 of the 14 men in that compartment, only 2 died from their wounds. All the while (as he ran in and out) he was bleeding from his lower leg and had an 3 inch gash in his head. He never talked about it, but his words / report was published after his death in 1982. Oh yes, he was only 19 years old.
My uncle Eric was at Arnhem he survived but alot of his friends didnt, my uncle died in the 1970s and his last request was to be buried with his friends... My dad also served during WW2 he served in the Navy in the Atlantic and Artic convoys he died in 2008 aged 84 he died the day before his 85th birthday.
Been sent down a little rabbit hole so to say by your intrigue, but the Polish equivalent to the Victoria Cross is called the Virtuti Militari, actually is the oldest award of its kind still use now-a-days, around 1792, at the time of the Polish partitions by Prussia Russia and Austria, interesting time for it to come about in.
For every VC recommended to be awarded hundreds were turn down, the Gurkha’s are just awesome with some of the highest acts of bravery- and that is not in anyway belittling any who were awarded It or should have been but for political cover ups like in the battle for the village of Mirbat by the BATT who were outnumbered hundreds to one.
The reason the allies had to go north and around instead of going directly eastwards was because of a very hilly and wooded area of France called the Ardennes (and the Alps also further south). Totally unsuitable for the heavy weapons and tanks, that would be needed to take on the Germans. This area was the scene of the Battle of the Bulge, when the Germans unexpectedly(for above reasons) attempted breakout and divide the northern and southern flanks.
The first 1,000 people to use my link to sign up will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/sogal06221
Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media, and join my Discord & Patreon:
❤️ Patreon: www.patreon.com/sogal_yt?fan_landing=true
🐕 Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/
🏀 Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT
⚽️ Facebook Page: facebook.com/SoGal-104043461744742
🏖 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/238616921241608
💥 Discord: discord.gg/amWWc6jcC2
🖖 My Star Trek Podcast: www.tribblespodcast.com/
That man who won the VC in Vietnam was an Australian. Britain was not involved in Vietnam but Australia was.
@@distantthunder12ck55 Okay, so the VC can be earned by the Commonwealth countries as well?
While you are at it, a small country in the north had medal of its own, almost comparable to the VC - the Mannerheim cross.
Granted to soldier of any rank be it general or lowest rank rifleman. It is Finlands highest decoration for a soldier, awarded only in the time of war.
@@pekkakoski6595 Cool, I'll have to took into it.
Operation Market-Gardens.....Movie is called "A Bridge To Far"
What blows my mind most of all is that the VC is so universally and exceptionally honoured, not just in the UK but elsewhere. One of the most remarkable of all VCs in this regard is the one won by Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1943, who won the medal posthumously for successfully sinking the German U-boat that was in the process of shooting him down. No Allied soldiers survived to witness the action: he was actually recommended for the VC by the U-boat's own commander, Oberleutnant Klemens Schamong, one of a handful of men who'd survived the U-boat's sinking and was captured the following day from an inflatable lifeboat.
Another similar posthumous VC was won by Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, commanding officer of HMS Glowworm, a British destroyer that took on the German heavy cruiser KM Admiral Hipper in which the former was sunk in the battle. This award was partly due to the recommendation of Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye - commanding officer of the KM Admiral Hipper - who wrote to the British Admiralty through the red Cross expressing his admiration of the bravery and humanity of his opponent. When HMS glowworm sank after a fierce battle that even included the much smaller destroyer ramming the heavy cruiser, Lt. Com. Broadmead Roope entered the freezing water with survivors of his crew. When the KM Admiral Hipper stopped to pick up survivors, the Lt. Com. was seen helping his men climb aboard the cruiser while staying in the freezing water himself. In the end - gripped by the cold and exhaustion - he no longer could hold on to the ropes, lost his grip, and drifted away without the Germans being able to help him.
there was also Captain Charles Upham, another New Zealander and the only combat soldier to be awarded the vc twice. He won his first vc in crete and the bar for it in north africa. When King George VI asked Major-General Howard Kippenberger if he deserved a second because being awarded a vc bar was "very unusual indeed". Kippenberger told the King "In my respectful opinion, sir, Upham won the VC several times over."
@@bluewardog there are few brave souls who have ernt the vc twice
@@chrisangus7078 3 and that's including Upham. Two medical personnel during ww1.
@Fidd88 his wiki page:Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC (9 November 1884 - 4 August 1917) was a British medical doctor
what i said: Captain Charles Upham, another New Zealander and the only combat soldier
do you understand what i said or do i need to explain more
The choice of metal comes from the symbolism of its having been from a cannon captured from an enemy in battle, And that it represents the struggle, sacrifice and bravery of the troops in that victory.. Giving it a value far beyond any simple precious metal...
Perfectly put
I believe the lions on Trafalgar Square are cast in bronze from French guns captured in the battle of Trafalgar..
True the whole point is that the medal and the material from which it's made isn't the important thing, it's the man who wears it and the story of how he came to wear it that is the thing that makes it so special.
Artilery was soo epensive and so effective that greatt costs were borne to protect it (what fusiliers ere creats for, what the lihghtbrigafde were ordered to prevent prior to th in famous charge+
or maybe you'd recl the chrrge of the scot'sd greyss at Waterloo.
In fact so many cannons were captured from the Russians in the Crimea that they were sent all over the Empire as prizes. For example, if you go to the Ontario Legislature in Toronto, they have a few of them on display there.
The British weren’t in the Vietnam war,the man that earned that VC was an Aussie soldier.The medal is for British and commonwealth troops.👍🏻
Good to know - wasn't sure who was involved with Vietnam.
@@SoGal_YT it was for commonwealth troops but now Australia and new Zealand established their own Victoria cross specifically for them.
If you want to learn about the Vietnam war,I heartily support that, since it’s so recent, but be prepared to have it learn about and dig into some nasty political treachery all around the war. The poor grunt soldiers were ducking bullets while the Politicians in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Vietnam lied, cheated, manoeuvred and electioneered around their bodies
Correct, Great Britain were not directly involved. So, they emancipated the orphan criminal colonies aka Australia and New Zealand. To align with Great Britain without The UK to actually getting their hands dirty, like Jane Fonda did. As the UK 🇬🇧 foresaw perhaps best not get involved directly but indirectly via UK colony.... X years after and Jane Fonda was actually more accurate. Our UK Queen has the right to declare war and peace. Withoutconsentof her parliament. On her 70th Jubilee North Korean leader, sent her best wishes.
The British were in Vietnam. September 45 to March 46. Operation Mastadon. The communists lost control of most of the country and, at the time Britain passed responsibility to France, communist forces were struggling to survive in the Highlands of the Vietnamese interior. British forces then had responsibility for Malaya, now Malaysia. And repeated their success against a communist insurgency. The French did less well.
I am an ex Australian soldier, I know Keith. A more humble man you will never meet. He's a special guy.
@cuisina1055. I met Leonard Cheshire VC and he was the same - very humble.
Letters after the name - when a person has been honoured with a knighthood or medal, it's common to list the honours after their name. So you might hear about "Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE", where OBE stands for Order of the British Empire. It's similar to having PhD or MD after your name to indicate a level of achievement. The commanding officer of the Dambusters raid in WWII, Guy Gibson, earned the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order (twice), and the Distinguished Flying Cross (also twice). So his full title at the time of his death was "Wing Command Guy Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar". (The 'bar' indicates the second award). The VC comes before all other medals, honours, or decorations.
"Wing Commander"
Clarkson did another one for Timeline called “The Greatest Raid of All” (or something like that!). It’s absolutely brilliant, well worth a watch. A lot of people aren’t a fan of his for his style particularly on stuff like Top Gear, but this and also “Clarkson’s Farm” (also worth a watch) are very different
Sorry not a lot few PC WOKE"S TWATS no care;s what they think He dam good telling story no over top BS
NO they are not Say it way it is no BS
I remember seeing this the greatest Raid programme. But the making of the Greatest Raid of all programme was also good since they made the programme on the cheap since Clarkson was working as the translator for the film crew to save money.
I never saw any greatest raid or clarkson's farm things, but I have seen Top Gear and frankly don't even remember the host of it. On the other hand, I certainly do remember Simon Cowell from judging American Idol so I imagine if Clarkson had been in any way remarkable I would remember him. So I wonder why enough people didn't like him that it's a known thing. With Cowell, I was only one of lots of people who thought he went too far and was hurting peoples' feelings on purpose to get ratings. I t hink even to people who didn't dislike Cowell, they did at least understand why those of who did felt the way we did. But with this guy, I simply don't remember him being in any way memorable at all one way or the other.
Couldnt agree more. Hes bloody brilliant on this type of work. He really should do more of it.
As a Dutchman growing up in the area this battle take place it is a very important thing to remember and be thankful for the stories my grandfather told about the war and the love for England and Canada because of there efforts for our nation's freedom of Germany in the second world war
Greetings Sarah,
When he mentions that VC always comes first, for example, if you are a qualified surgeon of distinction in the UK, your medical medical and academic status would be indicated by the letters FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) after your name. VC will always preceed this title.
I think it's worth mentioning that one of the VC winners named, Flying Officer John Cruikshank, who was severely injured attacking a U-boat is still alive, I believe he is 103 years old. I salute you sir, where ever you are.
Best Wishes from the UK. 🇬🇧
Just as an addition, when the honours are given by HM QEII they are awarded in order of status. No matter what honour is being given to whatever aristocracy, the VC is always given first. Knights, Dukes whatever, they have to wait their turn
@@CardinalBiggles01
I suppose that applies to Cardinals also.
@@pauldurkee4764 I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition
I know Mr Cruickshank, been his postie for over 7 years. One of the finest men i'll ever meet.
@@craigbarber3225
That's good to hear Craig, that Mr Cruikshank is still going strong, thank god we bred men like that.
If you can mention it to him that he's well remembered, and please pass on my best wishes if you get to have a word with him.
Best Wishes from Wales.
This documentary by Jeremy Clarkson always makes me emotional. These people are extraordinary, reserved and shyly heroic. Magnificent
And only men can fully understand ....
@@cweatherfella547
What ?
Where did that come from ? Seek help, quickly
@@topgazza
Thanks for the advice
I just booked myself in
Carry on...
also, no matter what your rank (e.g. Lance Corporal), if you are awarded the Victoria Cross, regulations state that even the Head of the Army/Air Force/Navy MUST salute you !
@@wilson2455same with medal of honour medals
Norman Jackson VC was a flight engineer on an RAF Lancaster which was attacked by a German nightfighter.
It was badly damaged and set on fire. Jackson, despite being hit by cannon shell splinters, put on a parachute, grabbed a fire extinguisher and climbed out onto the wing to try and put out the flames.
The flames burnt him badly and the nightfighter attacked again, shooting him twice in the leg, making him fall off the aircraft.
He fell 20000 feet and his damaged parachute opened.He broke an ankle on landing, crawled to a nearby village and was taken prisoner.
After 10 months in hospital he was sent to a POW camp - which he eventually escaped from and eventually met up with US troops.
He survived the war and died in 1994
As a former military man who has experienced bullets passing inches around me during an ambush, I feel able to repeat what has been stated so many times before "The first casualty of any battle is the plan." This will remain true for as long as there continues to be warfare.
So true. The reason you plan isn't to make sure things go that way, it's to make sure you know what your contingencies are when it all goes to sh*t and make sure people trust you know.
Plans are useless, planning is essential
"No plan survives contact with the enermy"
I was advised of a variation on that statement “ No plan survives first contact with the enemy”
There is a tradition that senior officers will salute even a private if he has received the Victoria Cross.
That's really cool.
@@SoGal_YT It's exactly the same with the Medal Of Honor, everyone from the Commander in Chief (President) on down, should salute a recipient. One British tradition the US decided to keep. Incidentally, the latest VC was awarded to l/cpl Josh Leakey of the Paras' in Afghanistan. He was a member of a joint US/UK operation, part of the award was for rescuing a wounded US LT. He's also the second member of his family to be awarded a VC.
If you look at the order of wear, a VC is worn first (I think this was mentioned) effectively "outranking" all other honours - including the old aristocratic titles.
One of the reasons that the VC is awarded so infrequently is that there are now more medals to award - the medal that eventually became the DSC didn't start until nearly 50 years after the VC and most of the others didn't start until WWI.
As for not mentioning medals, it's quite common. My gfather was awarded the DSM (a forerunner of the DSC and just below a VC in terms of prestige) during Dunkirk which nobody knew until he died.
@@hmv6666 My Grand Father got a DSM at the battle of the River Plate serving on the HSM Exeter.
The term 'VC' becomes part of your name as in Gibson VC or Jones VC. It cannot be taken away from you in later life for any misdemeanours or crimes.
It is probably the most illustrious, hard earned and rarely given military award anywhere. Two thirds have been awarded posthumously and the action to win it must be carried out in the face of the enemy and corroborated by eye witnesses. No other award requires such stringent conditions to be met.
The use of the metal for the medal is symbolic, the loss of life to take those cannons, whose , intrinsic, value was negligible. Makes a statement.
Half a league, half a league.......
@@charlestaylor6085 Tennyson I presume, out of my head.
From my understanding that is where the Gun came from. So yes you are probably correct.@@janverboven
Your comments about how insginificant the actual medal looks touches one of the key aspects of the VC. When Queen Victoria created it she wanted a very simple medal because as she said "it's about the deed, not the medal". There's a fascinating video on UA-cam by a chap called Mark Smith about the history of the VC that you should watch.
It can be hard for some to understand why the medal is so humble looking, It's because the VC and the George Cross which is for non-military and it is also a very humble-looking medal as they should be, The medal shouldn't try and outshine the deed.
The plain look of the medal was understood, I think she was referring to the reason why the VC is made from the cannon that was captured during the Crimean War? There is probably a story there that wasn't touched upon in the documentary to which she was reacting. She didn't grasp the significance of the cannon metal that was used. I would love to hear the story of that cannon as well.
@@GeneGower Let's see if I can get this right. The intention was for the medal to be made out of bronze. The first VCs were awarded during the Crimean War and a story appeared in the papers that the bronze came from a cannon captured from the Russians at Sebastopol. Field artillery at this time had bronze barrels. Actually, as far as anyone can tell the first VCs were made out of some bronze that the jewellers happened to have in stock. Eventually that ran out and at that point the Royal Artillery museum at Woolwich provided two new blocks of bronze cut from cannon in the collection. The cannon were captured from the Russians, but were actually made in China (You couldn't make this up). Apparently the metal in the earliest medals is completely different from the later blocks which suggests that the earliest block of metal wasn't from a gun at all.
@@GeneGower I agree she understood but others seem to think that it isn't good enough which is because what these people have gone through. No medal could ever really show the courage and absolute disregard for their own safety.
They’re also pretty much worthless until a name is engraved on the rear - then they’re almost priceless.
What Clarkson said about Caine not ever telling his daughter about his medal, you come across that more often. I heard a similar tale once of a family that was clearing out their father's belongings after he died and found a box with his medal (maybe a madal of honor, but probably a silver star) and some other papers. Turned out he was one of the marines that raised the flag over Iwo Jima (the ones in the statue). Never mentioned it.
BTW, among those papers was a letter from John Wayne asking for his autograph.
my father survived being captured at Singapore in 1941, and being on the Burma Road until they were liberated in 1945. I can only remember him talking about it to me once, when I was about 15, after dinner when he was pretty sloshed (as he called it).
You have to imagine that the circumstances in which most VCs are won are of absolute hopelessness, death and almost certain defeat. In a way it almost doesn't matter how that turns out. Some people reaslise they're dead and they decide to make the neemy pay for it, and by some miracle they (maybe) come out alive. That will still be the most traumatic day of their life, because everything that lead to them not caring about survival still happened and is stil in their memory. Who'd want to relive that? Who'd brag about the thing that haunted them for the rest fo their lives?
Even if like Limbu, you killed up to 31 men, would you see that as a glorious victory over the enemy, or as a moment where you dipped into jsut how brutal and cold humanity could be? You've ended the lives of 31 desperate men who you had no personal grudge against, whose names you didn't even know. I don't find it at all surprising people wouldn't talk about their VCs
Wasn’t the Iwo Jima photo staged?
@@greghight954 More restaged than staged I believe.
@@greghight954yes and no. The original flag was smaller and a lot less dramatic. However a senior officer wanted the original flag and when the captain in charge heard that he said no and had it taken down and a new one put in its place. A war photographer was passing the original photographer who took the first picture. Asked if anything was happening was told no. Saw the men putting up the second flag and quickly took the picture. From a viewpoint of a photographer, wasn’t a great picture but he submitted it anyway. The rest is history.
I have met Keith Payne multiple times, I was in the local cadet unit for 6 years where he lives and he was present at at least one of our events every year and I was lucky enough to have a few conversations with him about the army, but not about what happened I didn't want to be another person to bring it up. He is an incredible person who genuinely feels like he cares about the person who he is talking to. Wonderful man and I hope I get to talk to him again.
My boss jumped into this battle as a young 18 year old paratrooper, the Battle was called operation market garden.
There were American, Polish and the British
I'll have to learn more about it.
There were also a number of Canadians: my mother had to address envelopes to their widows/dependants... (She could never bear to watch "A Bridge Too Far".)
Yes I can understand why, must have been really painful as a lot of them would have been about the same age as your mother
Whilst still at school I worked part time at a garage next door to my parents, the boss there always wore a plain red beret. When I asked him why a beret he would say with a smile " keeps my head warm" only when he died many years later did I read in his obituary that he had faught at Arnhem with the parachute regiment.
@@SoGal_YT Mrs C,s uncle served in the East Lancashire regiment alongside the American paratroopers at Nijmegen,sadly succumbed to his wounds RIP..XXX Corps did their best to get to Arnhem..tragically it was a bridge too far...
My great great uncle was given a Victoria’s cross, he was a Scottish officer in ww2, and he was captured by the Japanese, while in a POW camp he did the most dangerous of jobs to get intelligence in and out of the camp and to up morale of both, American soldiers and British soldiers alike. he was captured by the Japanese and was tortured to get information, he Never broke once, the torturing was so brutal that the Japanese officers would be sick to their stomach when talking about it, he never gave the information, and the Japanese cut off his head.
Love you George xx❤
As a Brit veteran, Arnhem breaks my heart - I went there and threw my cap badge into the river - such understated bravery and waststful loss of life...no point in recrimination - they are dead are and nothing will retrurn them or redeen the the folly that killed them.
US troops did everything possible to reach them. - and for that I embrace each and every one of them.
It's not war that is hell - it is the hubris of those who direct war that creats hell. Lest we Forget
"Lest we forget" , my German former wife never understood this nor ANZAC day.
I'm an anti-militarist (I'm too angry to be a pacifist) but I am utterly disgusted by how our governments and our societies treat our serving and former military personal. We (through our governments) send men and women into harms way, yet after their service (or too often even during their service) are thrown on the scrap heap.
We should respect all who go into harms way on our behest and in our stead
I totally agree with you Arnhem must have been hell on earth I'm an ex vet myself and my great uncle I think it was was in the air assault brigade in Arnhem I had a neighbour who was in the war too they are all men we should all be proud of giving their lives to protect those who can't godbless the king and our forces and thanks to those who gave all your service will never be forgotten
Well said.
My father missed being dropped over Arnhem only because he’d been badly wounded in Tunisia. He could barely speak about the losses his regiment sustained at Arnhem.
The lion symbolizes strength, courage and leadership. It is also a symbol of royalty and the VC was created by Queen Victoria and originally was usually presented by the monarch, however not always. Australia, New Zealand and Canada also have VC's, being Commonwealth countries with the same monarch as the UK. Two Australians have received a VC from their service in Afghanistan most recently.
And a NZer. We also have the only fighting man to win it twice. (The other 2 were doctors.)
I know a lot of other people have suggested "The Greatest Raid Of All", but it really will blow your mind. There is no way on Earth it could possibly work, but we British don't like being told we can't do something.😉
Yuh.... Brexit , was a good idea...
@@michellebrown4903
Yes, it was.
I think Jeremy Clarkson did a documentary on that one as well.
@@GM-wl9mp He did, that's the one we are talking about, it's called The Greatest Raid Of All.
@@CruelestChris No, it wasn't.
My Great Uncle earned a VC in WW1, he shot down a German Airship over Essex with a Biplane and 3 drums of machine gun ammo. The technique he used was later used in the war to shoot down 5 more airships, My Great Uncle was later shot down over the Western Front and spent the rest of the war as a POW but before he was shot down he flew against the Red Barron himself. He became very ill as a POW and by the time he got home for Xmas 1918 he caught the Spanish flu and died aged just 23!
I wonder for which action he was awarded one. Do you have his name?
Was he based at or served anytime at Stow Maries by any chance? If so that would be amazing. After standing derelict since 1919, shortly after the RAF was formally organised, the land owners began restoring the old aerodrome buildings in 2007, making it the only surviving example of a pre RAF airfield. It is now an active museum, and working aerodrome. Well worth a visit.
@@etherealhawk I should imagine he was William Leefe Robinson. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leefe_Robinson
In short, the British didn't defeat the Germans at Arnhem, their objective was to take and hold the bridge at one end and await reinforcements driving up through the Netherlands who would take the other end of the bridge. They were expected to take 2 to 3 days to get there but became bogged down. Eventually the Paras who were holding the north end of the bridge and had already been there more than twice as long as they expected, realised their reinforcements weren't coming. The order to evacuate was given but the troops were caught in a trap at Oosterbeek just outside Arnhem, where the Germans were killing them at will. Major Cain through his actions managed to engineer an escape opportunity that let the remaining British troops slip away to safety.
My great uncle was one of the paratroopers! He swam the Rhine with an injured Welshman on his back and made it out..
His name was Lesley Blackman.
When I started as a Guard on the railway, I worked with a driver who was there. He had 19 suicides over his career as a driver. I asked if it bothered him? He said "Nah, killed more Germans than that in the war".
It wasn't just British paratroopers holding the northern end of the bridge. It included men from glider regiments and elements of the 1st Polish (Independent) Parachute Brigade, who were supporting the British 1st Airborne Division. They were not part of the British Army.
If the British didn't defeat the Germans at Arnhem then how did they take over control of the bridge, perhaps the Germans just handed it over to them?
@@Dan-zb7vn They didn't take control of the bridge. The airborne forces fought and took control of the northern end of the bridge, but the operation was reliant on the allied 2nd Army driving north east through the Netherlands and taking control of the southern end of the bridge, which they failed to do. And that meant that although they were holding the northern end of the bridge, they were pretty much surrounded. By their very nature, airborne forces are only relatively lightly armed - it was the 2nd Army that were meant to bring the tanks to the party. After about 9 days of holding the bridge (they were only expecting to hold it for a couple of days before being reinforced) they had virtually run out supplies and ammo, and they knew the 2nd Army wasn't coming. Their only option was to withdraw, a number managed to escape but many were killed or captured.
In addition to the Victoria Cross there exists the George Cross and George medal. The key thing for the VC is in the face of the enemy. If you were brave but not in contact with the enemy you could not be considered for the VC.
Thus in ww2 the George Cross and medal was created. Named after the King. These could be awarded for acts of bravery not in the face of the enemy, thus allowing people like firefighters in the blitz to be considered, where previously it'd have not been possible to award them anything similar to the VC. Military personnel not in the face of the enemy were also eligible.
I attended a battlefield tour of Arnhem/Osterbeek with my unit when based in Germany, a lot of the homes and business buildings are still there with bullet holes in them. This is just a small story of the full action and the full action is just mind blowing. Each soldier there was out numbered, out gunned and without food, water and medical facilities. Each one a true hero. And I was also based for 3 years at the base where the metal for the VC is stored, and no they would not let me see it lol.
I live besides hells highway.
Lots of your young countrymen rest in peace at way to many commenwealth gravesites in this part of the Netherlands.
Fallen U.S. servicemembers of operation Market Garden were replaced and laid to rest at Margraten or home in the U.S.
We honour them ALL for the sacrifice they made for our freedom.
They shall never be forgotten!
Glad you got round to this documentary Sarah - I knew you’d find it interesting. If you like Clarkson’s style of documentary you will also like the one he did on the commando Raid on Saint Nazaire.
Regarding the emblematic Lion we use yes, the England shirts show a badge with three lions. This motif appears on the Royal Standard which flies on buildings when the Queen is present. You might know that during the First World War the British soldiers were known as lions led by donkeys. As previously mentioned our women’s soccer team are known as the lionesses. You would have loved watching the women’s Euro 2022 match with Norway on Monday. The result: England 8, Norway 0. If you are not yet fully into watching men’s soccer you might find the women’s game more interesting.
Love the way you always find something to learn when watching your videos.
It’s ironic that the Lion is such a symbol of fierce bravery for the British. The Lion is not a British native animal, and doesn’t actually do much of the heavy lifting in the lion society. All the hunting for food is done by the females while the male lies in the shade of a tree waiting for dinner to be served
@@afpwebworks yup, like most brit guys, happy for the missus to make the tea lol
@@j9lorna HAHAHA!!! When you put it that away, yes you're right. In fact the Lion might well be the most British symbol of all.
The saying "Lions led by donkeys" is much older than that.
Reportedly from a russian officer concerning british troops during the Crimean War, so as early as 1854/55.
And the "british Lions" being used on emblems is from about 1200.
The story of the cannon is remarcable in it's own right.
it was captured iin battle by privet solders and then held and used against several counter attacks.
It is the contaversy around the bravery and heroism shown by the men who took the cannon that triggered the creation of the VC in the 1st place. and it is to honor these men that the medal is made from this cannon metal.
Such a cool story. Men bound together by a piece of metal and the valour taken to save fellow soldiers.
Fun fact at 25:20 - the Victoria Cross that Clarkson shows is actually a VC and Bar (recognisable by the second bar of laurel leaves across the middle of the ribbon), which represents a second award of the VC to the same individual. There are only three in existence, two of which were respectively issued to doctors Capt. Noel Chavasse and Lt. Col. Arthur Martin-Leake from the Royal Army Medical Corps in WW1; and the other to New Zealand combat officer, Capt. Charles Upham, in WW2.
Yes, this you are completely correct about this, but it is extremely odd that Jeremy Clarkson didn’t mention this at all.
Notably the first two were Doctors, and won both for rescuing and tending to the wounded on the battlefield
@@davidioanhedges And their gravestones have TWO VCs carved on each of them.
Upton got 2 VCs, the only man to do so
Yes correct he was the only man to do so who was a combatant and both were won in the same war, I believe the 2 other medical winners were in 2 different wars .@@williammaxwell1919
I would think you would find "The Greatest Raid Of All" just as fascinating. It is also narrated by Jeremy Clarckson. It is the story of the raid at Nazire. Also the V.C. can be one by any member of the British commonwealth which includes many countries.
Definitely, a very brave and ordatious raid. Living on the tableland above Cairns, those of us who have been here for decades are aware of the house on the hill which is part of that history.@@highcountrydelatite
Ever since the introduction of cannon capturing one was considered an achievement equivalent to capturing a regiments colours (battle flag) a grate honour for the soldiers involved usually resulting in immediate promotion as such making the VC from that metal links every VC winner to the brave men who came before including the famous light brigade who became military legends on par with the Spartans during the Crimean war. As such the metal from that cannon is more precious than gold and becomes more valuable and historically significant every time a piece of it is given to a true hero.
This is perhaps in my opinion the best documentary covering the VC, I also had the immense pleasure to meet Keith Payne VC in person, as a humble quiet man he has nothing you would think shines out that he has won the VC. As a proud Australian he shows that personal courage is just that personal he did what he had too do to save as many of his men as he could. Ty for shining a light on the British award for Valour, it encompasses all of the British empire and these days many countries are allowed to award their own VC as in the VC for Australia, Canada & New Zealand. Keep Safe Keep Strong 🦘🦘🦘💖💖💖
If you need to know more about this then seek out the film " A Bridge Too Far" you've chosen a cracking subject to comment on.
We're livestreaming the movie on Patreon July 22.
@@SoGal_YT It is a fantastic film with a stellar cast of actors. Special mention should be made of Robert Redford's character displaying a very British attribute (being bloody minded) in the scene with the jeep and his wounded comrade.
@@SpeccyMan The actor you are thinking of is James Caan.
@@SpeccyMan I think Robert Redford was portraying the American paratroopers leader..at Njmegan where Mrs C,s uncle served in the East Lancashire regiment alongside the American paratroopers ,sadly succumbed to his wounds RIP...
Not sure if others have mentioned it but Keith Payne VC, was an Australian soldier in Vietnam, not British. The VC is awarded to all Commonwealth forces, not just British.
You may have noticed at the recent funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II that the US president was held back and had to wait, to allow the procession of the VCs, Garter Knights and Knights of the Bath, that had priority over him taking his seat.
Of course he got held back, he is not even legit, he cheated his way into the White House and he is retarded.
FYI Sarah, the Australian War Memorial has a vast selection/collection of V.C's won by Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen in their possession, it might be something for you to look into if you like.
An interesting story behind some of those medals. For a while each time an Australian VC came up for auction an anonymous bidder would win the auction, he was never beaten, after which the medal would quietly turn up at the Australian War Memorial.
The area with the VC at the memorial has a tangible feeling, it’s an amazing place.
I’m only a couple of minutes into this so I don’t know if it’s been covered, but if a private was to be wearing a VC the highest ranking member of the army, including everyone else, has to salute you.
One does not 'win' a Victoria Cross, one is a recipient of one. To use the word win is highly offensive. They are not participation medals and it isn't a competition.
Incorrect, saluting a VC recipient is a courtesy NOT a mandated protocol@@Buy_Me_A_Nightmare
Great to have you back Sarah looking forward to this and future reactions.
Thanks!
The Victoria Cross is given to all the Commonwealth country’s too our newest winner is Corporal Willie Apiata he comes from the East Coast of New Zealand just down the coast from where I live. He is a very big man a very humble man and has had because of winning the Cross had to give up his place in our SAS.
The significance of the metal is that it is from the breech block of one of the guns captured in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. To understand that fully, take some time to read about it. In essence, the charge took place due to a breakdown in communications. It was unprecedented and contrary to doctrine that light cavalry (or any cavalry) would attempt to charge artillery. It was also evident to those present that the charge was a suicide mission. Nonetheless, the Light Brigade showed the highest level of bravery in carrying out the orders they had been given and successfully defeated the Russian guns, drove off the artillerymen and supporting infantry and captured several of the guns. They lost 469 cavalrymen of out of 664 who took place in the charge.
The Lion is a French icon, it came to England via the French Plantagenets: Richard I King of England, Duchy of Normandy and Duchy of Aquitaine (3 positions - 3 Lions)
For me one of the most important traditions with the VC is that it is so revered, it takes precedent and the medal itself is saluted by all ranks including officers. Think about that for a moment - a general must salute a private With a VC. I believe that the unknown warrior was
Awarded the VC and laid to rest in Westminster with the kings and queens . Powerful stuff
The important point is that there is no requirement for anyone in the UK military to salute a VC recipient... but nobody would ever consider not doing so
Most international militaries will also salute a VC ...they all realise what it means
The unknown soldier has the VC, and the US Medla of Honour ... and his honour guard was 100 VC recipients...
@@davidioanhedgeseven the king saluted the unknown soldier, something that would never happen typically.
@@highcountrydelatite that’s even more powerful .
The Unknown Warrior was selected from a number of dead exhumed from graveyards on the Western Front after WW1. They were placed in a mortuary without names and an officer picked one at random so it is very very unlikely that he had been awarded the VC.
@@Dav1Gv They were awarded the VC and MOH as part of the ceremony of laying the unknown warrior to rest in Westminster Abbey.
Thanks for doing this video about the Victoria Cross and hope you enjoyed it Sarah. :). The Victoria Cross has bee won or awarded at least twice since this film was made. It was awarded twice in the war in Afganistan by soldiers fighting the Taliban. I think that with a medal like the Victoria Cross or even the US Medal of Honor, you want the bar of winning one set quite high so it keeps it's esteem.
I agree!
There was awarded a VC to a New Zealand soldier Lance Corporal Willie Apiata for actions in 2004 in Afghanistan.
There was another awarded to a British Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey for actions in 2013 in Afghanistan.
So yes even in modern times with modern warfare there is still heroes and men that will go above and beyond most. I apologise if I have missed any VC heroes since 2000 but these are the only two my fading memory remembers. To all the VC and brave men and women who have served, THANK YOU.
One of gurkha featured in the video has grandson. The grandson earned VC in Afghanistan. The gurkha regiment are some of the very bravest soldiers you will ever meet, you don't want to be meeting an angry one even if he's unarmed.
If you pause at 9:00 you'll see the name Leakey on the roll of honour. This is Joshua Leakey's second cousin who was awarded HIS cross in WW2.
My daughters went to school with Joshua and the elder, who was in his class, was amazed when I told her he'd received a VC . . . "But he was such a mild mannered little boy" . . . perhaps that's the whole point?
He's still serving (2023) as a Colour Sergeant in the Paratroop Regiment.
Bryan budd and joshua leakey as well. Both from the oarachute regiment won the vc in 2006 and 2013 respectively. Bryan budds was unfortunately posthumous.
Don't forget Pvt Johnson Beharry VC :)
On the French/German border you have, first of all, The Ardennes. A hilly area without good infrastructure. And since it had been the border between France and Germany, it was heavily fortified. Germany, when they attacked France at the beginning of the war, decided to avoid it and go through The Netherlands and Belgium instead. The allies were trying to do the same, but in reverse. It... didn't go well.
This was a time before internet and uploading mobile phone videos. No satellite imaging or anything. Intelligence about enemy movement behind the lines was dependent on whatever your infiltrators could tell you, or what radio messages you could intercept. They didn't know the enemy strength or positions. And the operation ran into the teeth of German reinforcements. There was an armored column coming up to secure the bridges and the airborne divisions just had to hold until they arrived. But they didn't know when that would be. There was no communication to let them know the column had been held up.
They won their battles, time after time, but the operation had been a failure. There would only be more death, so why stay? There would be no relief, there would be no reinforcements, there would be no supply drops. At some point, you have to cut your losses and get out.
The VC for gallantry is a medal awarded to the military personnel of the British Empire, in the time of war.
For civilians ,the George cross was awarded. If there was no war, military personnel were awarded the George Cross.
The film was called “A bridge too far".The operation was called "market garden" ( the have a lot of market gardens. It was a sort of "out flanking manoeuvre. The Germans gave the paratroopers the name" Red devils". It was suspected that the Dutch under ground had been penetrated by the Germans and they knew the allies would try to take the bridge.
Never watched your channel before. Came across it by pure chance. I have seen the documentary many times and am a huge fan of the subject matter - all citations of valour, regardless of country make me feel so humble. Absolutely loved your genuine interest and clear affection for the subject. Havent got to the surprise at the end yet - looking forward to your reaction to that... :-) I am now a new subscriber!!👍
Victoria Crosses are awarded on a much scarcer level than the US Congressional Medal of Honor. One Canadian tank commander near Bretteville in Normandy on June 9, 1944, during WW2, destroyed 6 German Panther Mark V panzers in a short single engagement and was not awarded it. His commanding officer said he was only doing his job, so why should he get a medal? 🤷♂😲😲😮
Because he was only doing his *duty* as was the tank crew. After all, the commander wouldn't have done much without his crew.
@@Mk1Male Yes, it is an entire tank crew who do these things. But my point was this was not even considered for a Victoria Cross. Generally speaking, Victoria Crosses are awarded far less frequently than the CMoH. Which is not to denigrate the CMoH, but to point out the difference.
Yep. Victoria crosses for a long time were only awarded if you died in the commission of your gallant action. Usually they're only awarded for something far, far beyond the call of duty, not just doing your job very well.
@@Mk1Male Absolutely this. The criteria for the award are "most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy". Launching a successful attack is not, in itself, grounds for the VC.
(It *is* possible for an entire squadron or crew to qualify, though; in this case the award is given to one commissioned officer from the squadron, one NCO, and two enlisted, on the basis of ballots held among each section of the squadron. 46 VCs have been awarded in this manner.)
It's the Medal of Honor, not the Congressional Medal of Honor.
When the battle was over.the ss general wrote how impressed he was with the opposing air bourne troops saying how they fought they fought so effectively even with no officers also stating that physically they were perfect for task the ss general and his troops were just back from the
Russian Front but said best opposition he had faced yet given Thier resources
I have the movie "A bridge to far," on DVD. It's a Hollywood movie & there's no mention of the British soldiers anywhere near the bridge at Arnhem.
This 65 year young Aussie isn't suprised
Oh... Forgot... They tried to go through Holland due to the autobahn network. It's a pretty straight run to Berlin from Holland and doesn't involve any horrible mountain roads, narrow passes or anything strategically suicidal, to try to run an army through (comparatively). It would have the other advantage of freeing Holland and allowing easier further landings for support and supply.
Sadly, the raid went a bit pear shaped because the main forces got bogged down, as you saw, leaving lightly armed but fierce fighting men, with no support and supply.
They could have stopped earlier and allowed the rest to catch up or so I've heard many say, but of course, in reality they couldn't, due to the nature of the type of operation... Send in the Paras first, bring in support and troops to relieve later.
My uncle Sid once told me when I was just joining my forces that he was in the South Staffs regiment and he mentioned Arnhem which at the time didn’t mean anything to me really only that he was a paratrooper which I knew was something special. He died before I finally knew the magnitude of that battle.
There's now three entirely separate VCs in addition to the British version: the VC for Canada, for Australia and for New Zealand. Almost exactly the same in design, these are established under separate statutes and are awarded by the respective crowns for 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿. The metal used is mostly the same, although the Canadian version also contains local metal. The 🇨🇦 version words 'For Valour' are in Latin to accommodate bilingualism.
Respective crowns? They are under the same monarch…currently King Charles III.
My grandfather took part in that battle. He was one of the ones who got captured, although I'm not certain on the details.
PIAT is "Platoon Infantry Anti-Tank". In military terms the noun comes first, followed by the adjectives. Check out the VCs awarded to Australians in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Not sure if anyone has answered the question but the Chinese built cannons for the Victoria Cross, were used by the Russians in the Crimean War and were seized at Savastapol along with 4000 other pieces of artillery. Many of these were sent out to the major capitals of the commonwealth.
The U K was not involved in the Vietnam War. But Australia and New Zealand, both members of the Commonwealth, were involved, so are qualified for the Victoria Cross.
I didn't realize the VC was for the entire Commonwealth.
we where involved, have a google but very covertly.
@@SoGal_YT - of course you knew it was for the whole Commonwealth. It was awarded by the Queen (Victoria at the time), and she's head of the Commonwealth. We're all related, Sarah. Except the United States is sort of the black sheep of the family, having thrown the baby out with the bath water when you had your teenage temper tantrum and went up to your room to write your own constitution. Never mind...
We were in Vietnam...right after WWII...look it up.
I think Canada was also involved.
About VC winners being sort of.. silent about their exploits, it really is a way that you can tell the difference between true heroes and the people who fake their war stories. The thing you often forget is that the story of how someone won a medal is simultaneously the story of how they lost great friends and comrades. Would you want to brag about what happened on a day where you lost friends? Use their memory to boost your own image? No, of course not. In their mind it isn't remembered as a day of great triumph, it's mostly remembered as a day of great sadness and tragedy. You'll always think back and wonder if you could have done something to save just one more of your friends. Don't try to get veterans to tell their stories if they don't want to.
so good to see you back Sarah. New Zealand's most famous VC winner was Charles Upham who won the VC twice. After the war, Upham returned to New Zealand, and the community raised £10,000 to buy him a farm. However, he declined and the money went into the C. H. Upham Scholarship for children of ex-servicemen to study at Lincoln University.
You don't win a VC.
@@crusher8017 Indeed. You are awarded a V.C.
The mission to capture eight bridges was called Operation market garden. There is a movie about it called 'A bridge too far'. They were recording it (partially) in my city while I was being born.
Edit:
Should have waited with my comment till the end.
The operation for those bridges is called OPRATION MARKET GARDEN. The battle involved troops from Canadian, British, US.
My uncle Ron, my dads brother was one of those that jumped at Arnhem, he managed to get through it and come home, he would never speak of it even to me when I joined the army, it affected him that much.
My Dad joined the army after the war and fought in Korea, he won the Military Medal for bravery as a sniper.
Good day to you Sarah, I am in my 70"s and how delighted I was to see someone so young interested in a subject which is mainly forgotten by the majority of your generation. Now you are aware of many individual winners of the V.C. I would like to bring your attention to the battle of Rorkes Drift. Here was a small garrison consisting of 150 british soldiers, they were under threat of some 3000 Zulu's. in the ensuing battles the Zulu's advanced many times and many soldiers died, however, a lot more Zulu'swere killed than soldiers. If i remember correctly I think 8 V.C awards were awarded to soldiers that fought in that battle. A movie was made about the battle of Rorks Drift and it was called "Zulu" (No surprises there). The movie was played to all Australian recruits during their training in the 70's as far as I know, as it showed how a group of so few can, with good leadership and willing men could overcome such harrowing odds. Now you know who won I suppose I have spoilt it for you, believe me my love the movie is exceptionaland worth a look, it was the beginning of Michael Caines Career.
Take care and keep doing such a wonderful Job
Regards
George
A brilliant movie!
This discussion is always tough for me to watch. My father's father was a a Spitfire engineer during the Battle of Britain (72 Squadron). He would go on to fight in North Africa, Italy and then Burma (Myanmar) as an aircraft engineer. He never saw face to face action. My other other grandfather was younger. His first operation was "Market Garden", as discussed in this programme. He never liked to me about the way. I know understand, he was suffering from PTSD. In short, he was one of the Paratroopers dropped onto Arnhem in Operation Market Garden. He was damn lucky to escape alive. Clarkson's relative was maybe a reason my grandfather survived.
I applauded you on your "Learning Chanel". It is so great seeing your interest and the want to learn what/why/where/when and how to replace/fill that lack of knowledge. in this story You are teaching AND learning at the same time. WW2 was so widely spread , new types of weapons when men were brave and proud. It was supposed to be the War to end all Wars. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. ( Just Subscribed )
Market-Garden was a failure before it even started. Not enough planes to get all the troops in, in 1 day. Monty refused to cancel it even when he was told not enough planes.
Dutch inteligence informed him that 2 German panzer divs were in Arnham. He ignored it. Recce planes showed photos of the tanks Monty said dont rock the boat they probably dont work.
Then US 82nd airbourne didnt even bother to capture their bridge. They decided to setup defence on a hill away from the bridge. so when 30 corps got their they had to fight to get across the bridge. which delayed them by 2 days.
US 101st airbourne managed to get all their bridge's. but they were the 1st bridges. and 30corps got them in a few hrs
. 82nd had the middle bridges and 1st British airboune with the Polish airbourne had the last bridge.
the plan was the airbourne units would capture the bridges intact so 30 corps could get to Arnham in 2 days. but it took 10 days to get all the troops into Arnham due to lack of planes and bad weather. and 30corps never did get there due the US 82nd aribourne not following orders and doing what they wanted.
Think it was General Gavin in command of 82nd and he was the main reason why so many got killed at Arnham. If he had followed orders and captured his asigned bridges 30 corps would of been there a few days earlier.
But Monty was most at fault. He was a very bad commander. every plan he came up with failed. or didnt go the way it was expected.
IE El Alamain was his 1st action as army commander. He was told to attack striaght away while the German and Italiian troops had no ammo or fuel and to go round the flanks to cut off the retreat as the SAS had a route marked out through the quatatrra deperesion which most thought was impassable. But western destrt force used that route in 1941 and surround the Ityalians and got them to surender before the germans got their.
But nope he decided he wanted more artilrty more tanks and more men. he got what he asked for then delayed again wanting even more men and tanks. 6 months before he decided to attack by then the Axis forces had resupplied and dug in. and he decided to do a full frontal attack instead of outflanking them. Cause of that the Axis troops were able to retreat which meant they could carry on fighting in north africa for another year. if he had done what he was ordered to the North African campaign would of been over in a few months.
Thanks for sharing your insights on the Battle of Arnhem and Operation Market Garden. It's clear that there were a number of factors that contributed to the failure of the operation, including the lack of planes and the poor weather conditions, as well as communication and leadership issues. It's always important to learn from history and understand the lessons that can be learned from past events.
New Zealand soldier - Charles Upham, was awarded the VC twice!! Called the VC Bar. Has an incredible book called "The Mark of a Lion"
Not only that, but he's the only combat soldier to be awarded the VC twice and the only one in WW2. The other two were Doctors in WW1.
The part of winning a VC that I find most telling of the undoubted bravery, is that every rank thereafter, has to salute a VC winner. Even a General has to salute a Private soldier. That is ultimate respect.
There is no official rule that states that anyone has to salute the person that has received a VC, or that a higher ranking officer has to salute first etc... it doesn't exist. However, there has become an informal tradition whereby if the VC is being worn by a person on parade (should they still be in service) than that medal (and the person clearly) is saluted by higher ranking personnel, even RSMs etc... would salute a private (no one that has a VC is staying a Pte for long... unless they mess up after), Generals would not salute the winner of a VC before they were saluted, it's just the unofficial tradition in the Army that if you spot someone that has a VC, even though they aren't commissioned and therefore not normally saluted, you salute them anyway!
@@wardy949 Thanks for the clarification.
@@keithlillis7962 No problem, I do believe the only reason that there's no official position on this is due to how little the situation is relevant day-day in the Forces, there's very few active service personnel that have a VC (even after over a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghan) the standards just so high to be awarded this medal. So, there's kind of no point making an official position, as it's very rare that it is ever going to become a problem, and if you made a policy you'd have to consider how people act with the George Cross (GC) as well, which is actually the exactly same level of honour, it's just valour without conflict from an enemy happening at the same time, so there are a lot more GCs out there (civilians can be awarded this as well) so if you make a rule that's official for the VC, I believe it would only be right that you did one for the GC as well, here's proof they are the same level of medal "technically".
"George Cross (GC) The George Cross is equal in stature in the UK honours system to the Victoria Cross, the highest military gallantry award. This has always been the case since the introduction of the award in 1940. It may be awarded to all ranks of the services and civilians, and can be awarded posthumously."
Sarah, you asked about the symbolism of the lion on the VC. The lion is an ancient symbol of the English Kings, who had three lions passent (walking) on their coat of arms, but, it is also a national symbol of Scotland, whose kings used the lion rampant (rearing on its hind legs) on their coat of arms.
Scotlands national animal is the unicorn…specifically a unicorn in chains hence the lion and the unicorn being used to symbolise the two countries. The lion rampant is the Scottish part of the royal standard and used on the secondary Scottish flag but is not the national animal.
@@lynnejamieson2063 You are absolutely correct, which is why I never said it was the national animal and went on to explain that the Kings of Scotland used the Lion Rampant on their Royal Standard. Having re-read my comment, I concede I could have been clearer.
@@wellingboroughanddistrictu3a sorry, I didn’t mean to seem rude…I just know that many of my fellow Scots don’t know know that it’s the unicorn and not the lion that’s our national animal, so I just wanted to clarify the details. 😊
@@lynnejamieson2063 No problem! Sorry if I sounded defensive. I've found some Scottish people online can get very upset if you get even a minor thing wrong. I'm surprised to hear that some Scots don't realise that the unicorn is your national animal (although I did read a comment elsewhere on the internet from someone who insisted that the chains on the unicorn had been added to it after the Act of Union to symbolise Scotland's capture by England. I was sufficiently interested to google it and found that they were wrong and the chains had always been there.) :)
@@wellingboroughanddistrictu3a yeah, it’s part of the legend of only the Kings of Scotland being pure enough of heart, to capture a unicorn. I think that for many the presumption is that the lion rampant is our national animal, purely because it adorns one of our flags, which kind of makes sense…especially as the unicorn isn’t really used outside of the royal coat of arms.
I have to admit that I kind of love the fact that 50% of the UK’s national animals are mythical though.
My Grandfather was nominated twice for a VC but never got it. I never found out until after he died and I got a copy of his war records I knew he'd been through hell but ontop of all the issues in combat he was in Hiroshima when the bomb went off and of a POW camp of 15,000 he was one of 6 survivors
I remember that my boyfriend was in the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) he was posted to Thailand and was in involved in the building of a aircraft runway) he said they weren’t told why . Later was told it was for the American Air Force, needed by the Americans just as the Vietnam war began
Australian here. I live in New South Wales and travel into the ACT frequently.
The highway is lined with signage of Australians accorded the VC.
It's been a while since your last vid Sarah, you've chosen a classic!
Paul chose it, but it was good!
Is not what it's made of that makes it important, it's the symbolism of forging it from a defeated enemies weapon. It's happened through out history. Romainia forged a crown of steel for King Carol I from captured Ottoman cannons in 1821, after winning their independence.
The reason for the choice of metal used is likely to be something that is rare, and has an unusual story behind it. The cannon artifact is unique, has a story behind it, and it is likely its unique nature that was the reason behind its selection (rather than any specific chemistry about the metal etc).
👍🏻
It was also a bit of FU to the Russians originally: "We've not just defeated you, we've nicked your weapons and turned them into decorations."
The SS armour Division was known about. Dutch resistance had warned about them and British military intelligence had picked up their presence from aerial photo reconnaissance, but certain commanders chose to ignore it and maintain the operation as it was...
Clarkeson is wrong. The Tiger Tank wasn't the largest tank built by the Geramns in WW2; it was "the Maus" (Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus)... though only 2 were built
Hi, Sarah, that was very interesting, it was made nearly 20 years ago and some VCs have been issued since then , the last one to date was issued to Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey following an action in Afghanistan on 22nd August 2013. In earlier days it was i think easier to win one, you may remember we watched Zulu recently and while the film was not historically accurate there were 11 Victoria Cross awards for that one battle.
Three people have been awarded a bar to the Victoria Cross which means they won it twice which is a remarkable fact.
The awarded example he shows has a bar, I always find it strange he never points it out because as you say this is an amazing achievement.
@@arloodonnell3332 I agree it was strange he did not to mention the fact that only three men have been awarded the VC twice as it looked like he was holding one of those examples in his hand, unless it was also a prototype medal?
@@markwilliamson2864 He's using a real one for comparison, but yes a glaring omission in an otherwise great documentary.
@@markwilliamson2864 When he shows the two medals, he says that one is the prototype and the other is a real one. He says that the only difference is that Victoria added the laurel leaves to the bar and a 'V' to the hole for the ribbon.
Rorke's drift was a majot loss and a public relations disaster for the British army and British Government. Nothing quite like a handful of medals to quell the public criticism.
My grandad who I never met was in the South Staffs, apparently he never talked about the war, but literally next to me on the wall by my computer is a certificate signed by the Norwegian Prince Olav for the liberation of Oslo.
That's ace. I hope it inspires you to do the best you can everyday 👍
My great uncle Albert was killed fighting for the bridge at Arnhem, he was a bren gunner and was in the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry regiment who people don't really recognise for fighting for the bridges at Arnhem.
🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
The lion has always held a high place as the emblem of 'deathless courage'.
The Crimean war took place in 1853-56. Between Russia and the Ottoman empire allied with the French and the United Kingdom. The French and UK joined the war in an attempt to preserve the Ottoman empire and the balance of power in Europe. The reason they could not cross to the south was a series of very strong fortifications with tons of artillery, armor and infantry guarding them. Not to mention there were a goodly number of well positioned airstrips from which the luftwaffe (german airforce) would strafe and bomb attacking forces.
My great uncle Morris won it twice for extreme gallantry. Unfortunately he died before I met him so I don’t know the stories but my grandmother has the medals.
Keith Payne was with the Australian Army in Viet Nam and was a personal hero of mine when I was growing up.
There were around 30-35,000 airborne troops involved in three divisions and a brigade for Operation Market Garden, British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish Brigade at Arnhem, the US 82nd Airborne Division around Nimegan and US 101st Airborne Division around Eindhoven.
The British were at Nijmegen too i know this because it’s on the grenadier guards battle honours and one company named Nijmegen company (second battalion GG)
@@jakerobson6623The grenadiers were involved in the advance of 30th Corps rather than in the airborne element of the operation.
Merry christmas and a happy new year!!
Canada, Australia and New Zealand offer the VC as their highest award for gallantry
Two canadian soldiers got the Victoria Cross. One of them was Captain Triquet from the Royal 22nd Royal Regiment based in Québec city actually the only french speaking regiment in Canada.
Nope, there are plenty of speaking regiments in the Canadian Army besides the R22R:
Armour
12e Regiment Blindée
Sherbrooke Hussars
Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal)
Le Regiment de Hull (RCAC)
Infantry
Le Royale 22e Regiment
Les Voltigeurs de Québec
Les Fusiliers du St-Laurent
Le Regiment de la Chaudiere
Les Fusiliers Mont-Royale
Le Regiment de Maisonneuve
Le Regiment du Saguenay
Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke
The Royal Montréal Regiment
Artillery
5e Regiment d'Artillerie Legere du Canada
2nd Field Artillery Regiment RCA
6th Field Artillery Regiment RCA
62nd Field Artillery Regiment RCA
@@georgeorwell5842 I was writing about regular not reserve. I've been part of 5th artillery reserve.
@@LouismarieBelanger 5 RALC is regular force as us 12e RBC, both are French speaking units.
@@georgeorwell5842 Thank you very much indeed... I didn't know that. 😉😊🙂
Great video. I like WW2 history, I know that one of the reasons that operation market garden took place in Holland was due to the construction of the Seigfreid Line that Germany had started building in the early 1930s. Hope that helps a little bit.
Clarkson is a great story teller. Someone already mentioned the program The Greatest Raid of All. But i'd also suggest his documentary about Isambard Brunel.
Ah, yes. That's a good suggestion. Highly recommended.
Right. Normally, I find him irritating. When it comes to this sort of thing he really is superb.
It is worth learning more about Operation Market Garden. This was joint British, Polish and American operation. A very ambitious plan but flawed from the outset by conflicts within the British and American high brass. Worst of all no one wanted to know about the problems with the radios. The commanding officers were told the radios might not work in such a flat terrain, and they didn't work.
That was awesome. Thank you so much. The VC can be awarded to any member of a defence force in the British empire. For example, if you are in the Australian Defence Force the highest medal of valour is still the Victoria Cross.
Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944 to create a 64 mile salient with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by two sub-operations: Seizing nine bridges with combined U.S. and British airborne forces (Market) followed by land forces swiftly following over the bridges (Garden).
Plans were made to seize bridges across all these obstacles nearly simultaneously - any failure to do so could result in serious delay. The operation made massive use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and to allow a rapid advance by armored ground units to consolidate north of Arnhem.
26 bridges by my count.
- by US 101st Airborne Division:
4 road bridges in the centre of Eindhoven over the River Dommel
2 road bridges over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son and at Best
2 bridges over the Dommel at St Oedenrode
4 road and rail bridges over the Aa River and Zuid Willemsvaart canal at Veghel
- by US 82nd Airborne Division:
1 road bridge over the River Maas at Grave
1 rail bridge over the Maas at Mook
5 road and one rail bridges over the Maas-Waal canal at Heumen, Malden, Hatert and twin road/rail at Honingutje
2 road and rail bridges over the River Waal at Nijmegen
- by British 1st Airborne Division:
1 rail bridge over the Neder Rijn at Oosterbeek near Arnhem
1 ship-bridge over the Rijn at Arnhem
1 road bridge over the Rijn at Arnhem
2 road and rail bridges at Westervoort, east of Arnhem
Thanks for the info.
@@davemac1197 Nice breakdown.
The Victoria cross is so hard to win, that only something like 200 won it, in the second world War.
Only one soldier won the VC in WWII, that was not from a commonwealth country, and that was the Dane, Anders Lassen. He was posthumously awarded the United Kingdom's highest gallantry award for his actions during Operation Roast on 8 April 1945 at Lake Comacchio in Italy.
You don't win a medal.
@akyhne: yes that`s quite a story Anders Lassen and SBS made, memorials in many country`s where he and SBS was operating.
SBS (Special Boat Service) was startet by Churchill, to harrash occupied Europa.
Maybe check SOE (Special Operation Execute) the start of forming special forces in UK during early WW2
Since Clarkson did this video the number has increased to 1359, but one thing I didn't hear mentioned was that 3 people have won the medal more than once, one of my favourite VC stories was that of Noel Chavasse MRCS in World War 1.
What is even more amazing is that, of those 3 man, only one used arms. The two others (incl. Noel Chavasse) were doctors.
And only Noel Chavasse got both in a single conflict.
What got me, is that Noel Chavasse wrote to his mother that she shouldn't worry about his life as he wasn't a hero.
Made me think.
He was a schoolboy from Liverpool College and is still.rightly celebrated by all.the boys.
@@markgroothuis8569 Charles Upham won both his VCs in the Second World War. The third double VC was Arthur Martin-Leake (a doctor, as you said). He won his first VC in the 2nd Boer War and his second in First World War. Martin-Leake is the only person to win the medal in two different wars.
Operation Market Garden involved airborne forced from Britain, America and Poland, the plan was to lay a "carpet" of troops over several bridges. Theere were so many troops to drop that there were not enough aircraft so troops had to be dropped over several days
A friend of my gran dad won a VC in 1945, but he had lost his right arm, left foot and part of his head. He shot down from a ship many aircraft but won the VC for going in to a burning compartment to rescue a friend. Burnt, he went back in and carried another out, then another. In all (although getting orders not to go back in) he rescued 12 of the 14 men in that compartment, only 2 died from their wounds. All the while (as he ran in and out) he was bleeding from his lower leg and had an 3 inch gash in his head. He never talked about it, but his words / report was published after his death in 1982. Oh yes, he was only 19 years old.
My uncle Eric was at Arnhem he survived but alot of his friends didnt, my uncle died in the 1970s and his last request was to be buried with his friends... My dad also served during WW2 he served in the Navy in the Atlantic and Artic convoys he died in 2008 aged 84 he died the day before his 85th birthday.
Brave men...
Been sent down a little rabbit hole so to say by your intrigue, but the Polish equivalent to the Victoria Cross is called the Virtuti Militari, actually is the oldest award of its kind still use now-a-days, around 1792, at the time of the Polish partitions by Prussia Russia and Austria, interesting time for it to come about in.
For every VC recommended to be awarded hundreds were turn down, the Gurkha’s are just awesome with some of the highest acts of bravery- and that is not in anyway belittling any who were awarded It or should have been but for political cover ups like in the battle for the village of Mirbat by the BATT who were outnumbered hundreds to one.
There should have been a few awarded that day.
The reason the allies had to go north and around instead of going directly eastwards was because of a very hilly and wooded area of France called the Ardennes (and the Alps also further south). Totally unsuitable for the heavy weapons and tanks, that would be needed to take on the Germans. This area was the scene of the Battle of the Bulge, when the Germans unexpectedly(for above reasons) attempted breakout and divide the northern and southern flanks.