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A salute to the 18,000 French soldiers who died so that their British comrades could return home, the French were not cowards in ww2, they were some of the bravest
Britain: France! I won't leave you! France: Go! But tell them of my bravery! Tell them how we suffered and fought to the bitter end and beyond! *3 years later* Britain: So there I was holding the line saving this cowardly dingus! France: 😠
@@cloaker1619 To be fair when you've killed over a hundred trained pilots and destroyed between 80 and 110 aircraft, one by literally just throwing a rock at them... Pretty much everyone seems pathetic to you.
The poor French who covered the retreat for the British who are barely honoured anymore and their nation is only known for its capitulation instead of their brave sacrifice, making sure those boys made it back across the water just for the chance that their country may exist in the future after the fall of the 1,000 year reich
Just like the British remembered the Polish servicemen who helped in the final victory and refused to be intimidated by the USSR into refusing allowing them to march in the victory parade. Oh wait........
@@spiffygonzales5899 Oh and also Crusades were just a way to help Byzantium regain territory,while helping Kings to get rid of belligerant knights causing troubles.If anything,crusader are know for their horrible and inhuman deeds,notably cannibalism for no reason on civilian(en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ma%27arra),so i wouldnt be too proud about that
Imagine if the british were japanese, they would exactly refuse to retreat and sacrificed themselves for no good. Then there would be no chance to win for the allies.
They are the real heroes for me, just to protect your entire unit,staying behind in defensive position,chances of survival is 50/50 they can hold or annihilated.
@@ididntaskverified3663 running head first into a knowingly losing battle when you have the option to strategically withdraw and preserve more lives, isn’t manly and just sounds plain stupid.
@@bizon4129 The French, with her Allies, were unprepared for the Germans’ Blitzkrieg tactic, which heavily affected their organization (like poor logistics due to fleeing civilians crowding roads, and horrible radio communications due to sabotages) at the early sequence of the war. In some areas, French command was poor but army divisions didn’t just ‘surrender or run away’ when they were being overwhelmed by the Germans. As for example, French soldiers held positions surrounded by Germans near Dunkirk, but they fended off overwhelming German forces from reaching the evacuation zone, which bought time for the Allied soldiers to evacuate to Southern England’s coast. Retreating doesn’t mean completely pussying out of the war - it’s saving yourselves from complete slaughter, getting to a better position and fight the enemy another day.
It really was tho. The battle of France might have been a defeat but the evacuation of Dunkirk was a huge success. France was lost, getting as much men as possible back to Britain was the only way the war could be continued.
@@bizon4129 Dude the french army and belgian army covered all of the dunkirk perimeter and the french troops left at Lille didn't surrender they fought till the end and for this bravery they got medals from the germans
Watching this I kept thinking of the the many times I used riflemen as rearguards in company of heroes so the flimsy enginners and the slow as heavy units could flee, then when the squad was down to only 1 or 2 men hit the retreat button so the survivors could sprint home
@@pyrobytee you do get more men in mowas 2. So thats Really a plus. But a Small Careless move on your part can End Up With an entire flank Being overran
Hard to believe there were any Dutch left, those guys got pushed out of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, truly exceptional courage to keep fighting.
The Rear Guard British soldier: I'd never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a Frenchman. French soldier: What about dying side by side with a friend? British soldier: Aye, a friend. British Officer: Hold the line lads. For King and Country!
Very proud of my grandad serving with the Green Howards (Yorkshire regiment) holding the cordon at Dunkirk until the 3rd of June, he would often recall Dunkirk and say how they were fighting tanks with rifles and until the day he passed was haunted by the noise of stukas, he went on to serve in Africa being present for the battle of El-Alamein and fighting in Italy before being captured where he was forced to fix train tracks while the allies were bombing them. He was a kind gentle man who was unbelievably humble, he worked building clocks until he was 99 years old when he decided to retire and passed away a few weeks after receiving his 100th birthday card from the Queen. He only joined the army to learn an instrument...
*joins military to learn an instrument* *gets thrown into largest war ever fought* Well that sure was a surprise for 'em but glad he didn't die in the war. 👍
Thank you guys, I was looking for some motivation on making a great WW2 Model Diorama. And becuase if this I will now understand what the Reguards went through and their mission was.
"...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." -Winston Churchill
Only has weight if it was said by a person who actually put his life on the line. Instead, it was said by a person who was sitting far away from action, and died due to his easy going lifestyle. What a load of quack.
I performed a beautiful rearguard action in Grand Tactician Civil War the other day. Rebels had me outnumbered 4 to 1 but managed to save the Army of Kentucky by holding 2 bridges with cavalry armed with Sharps carbines. Was a loss but goodness was it a glorious stand lol.
Video which does not reflect the reality of the battle, i.e. that it was the French soldiers who held back the German troops at Molinié and Dunkirk, since there were 30,000 French soldiers, for only 6,000 British who fought directly against 160,000 Germans. The British lines quickly disintegrated in the early fighting. Lord Gort had made the evacuation of the British troops a priority without informing the French troops, leaving gaping holes in the defence system that the French troops had to fill in a hurry, provoking the fury of the French admirals Abrial and Falgade. Abrial to Alexander 26th May 1940 : "My general, since it is no longer possible to count on English cooperation, the mission that has been devolved to me will be accomplished by French troops alone... We French are bound by an imperative mission to resist to the death to save all possible personnel, French and English, from Dunkirk. As long as this goal has not been achieved we shall remain on the spot". Moreover, an anti-British resentment would arise among the French soldiers as a result of this. On the 2nd of June the last british soldiers left Dunkirk, while the last french soldiers left on the 4th. Falgade and Abrial were among the last to left Dunkirk, while Alexander already left on the 2nd.
Don't forget the 51st highland Division One of the only British left behind not even aware of the evacuation They were attached with the French at the Maginot line and were pushed back through the Somme and eventually surrendered on June 12th at St Valery
Do you know who started this propaganda of "the French surrendered without a fight" ? It was the Collaborative Government of Vichy France (to justify to French people the Armistice and the collaboration). Today all the trolls are just repeating the motto of a shameful government.
One of my relatives were a rear guard soldier in a Scottish unit at Dunkirk, he was wounded in the leg and was saved by a German doctor who saved his leg, he was captured and escaped 3 times before finally walking to Spain and getting back to Scotland.
It is mentioned that the French troops even counterattacked in many areas. A bit sad you didn't include Georg Von Küchler's words, he was leading the German 18th army: "Despite our crushing superiority in numbers and materials, the French counterattack in many places. I don't manage to understand how these soldiers, fighting in many places outnumbered one to twenty, still find the strength to launch any assault. That's astounding. I find again in these French soldiers the same ardour of those of Verdun in 1916. We can't penetrate anywhere, and suffer terrifying casualties." Also, if you want a really heroic defense that once again allowed the British army to survive and reorganize, check the battle of Bir-Hakeim. 3300 men of the 1st Free French Brigade led by General Koenig held the entire Afrika Korps and Rommel, around 35000 men, for SIXTEEN days. Rommel was chasing the British and inflicting heavy casualties, sending only the Italians to get rid of the French at Bir-Hakeim. It didn't work, the Italians got shred, and the French came out to attack Rommel's rear. From this point he fully focused the 1st Free French Brigade, and it'd last like this for sixteen long days, allowing the British army to reorganize and build up defenses that would lead to the success of the first battle of El-Alamein. Adolf Hitler himself said about these French soldiers : "You hear gentlemen? It is a new evidence that I have always been right! The French are, after us, the best soldiers! Even with its current birthrate, France will always be able to mobilize a hundred divisions! After this war, we will have to find allies able to contain a country which is able of military exploits that astonish the world like they are doing right now in Bir-Hakeim!" Remember, the government surrendered, but the soldiers never forgot they were fighting for their country, and not a puppet of the Third Reich. VIVE LA FRANCE !
I was hoping for a bit more French inclusion in this video but this was top notch. Was telling my mate about how the French guarded our British fellas to the end because it's just one of those things that are overlooked.
I swear, the quality of Simple History's videos has greatly improved overtime. The narration, sound effects and background music really tie everything together. This is a fantastic way to learn history in a quick, yet enjoyable manner. The hard work put into these videos is truly appreciated. Well done!
So for the aglo-saxon, France never partake in the battle of France, only the BEF ?😅 guess I understand why the French weren't even in BF 1, everyone knows that the French never fought a war...
It annoys me that we in Britain keep calling the French cowards and making fun of them for surrendering, when really if it wasn't for their exceptional bravery covering our retreat knowing full well they would either be killed or captured, who knows what could've happened?
it would have ended in 200-300k british soldiers being captured by germany with all their equipment, had the french army left the BEF to do its thing their original plan was to try to break out by following the coast towards french held territory (with artillery support of the french navy that in this case of course wouldn't have helped the evacuation)
It's called Banter, it's a mark of respect from the british, you only banter with people you like and respect. It's when we're polite to you that you know we don't really like you.
One of the least talked about parts of the evacuations from Dunkirk were that French colonial forces such as the Senegalese Tirailleurs who were captured would face executions and additional hardships due to the racist ideology of the Nazis and a desire to avenge the occupation of the Rhineland during the inter war period when the French used African colonial troops which was seen as a national insult due to racist attitudes of the time.
Well they did rape a bunch of German women, and then did the same thing again in WWII when the allies invaded Italy. Obviously there’s no justification for war crimes but stop acting like they were innocent. It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows. Just take a look at the state of Europe right now.
@@thatperformer3879 might want to recheck your history on that one there. The myth of the mass rape of the Rhineland is just that, a myth. There were some cases of sexual assault but nothing even close to what is reported and the majority of those labelled as bastards were either children of mixed marriages from former German colonies who were equally mistreated by the Nazis or from unions between French troops and German women. And for WWII the most famous case is that in Italy and those were Moroccan troops not the troops from Senegal. The thing is the French colonial troops at Dunkirk who were executed and ill treated were innocent, they were not the same men who occupied the Rhineland (which again major myth of the Rhineland bastards), nor does the Italian campaign come into play as that hadn't happened yet you colossal pinhead. I suggest you crawl back into the hole you crawled out of, read some real history, and take your hate filled speech somewhere else.
@@thatperformer3879 whilst i dont support your "It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows" stance, you are right with the rest.Rapes were widespread. but you could also say thats a given in war..
@@psycho4207 Senegal troops got trolled bro. ALLTHOUGH most black or people of colour solders in North Africa (British side) when they got captured I heard that most of them stayed in Africa and the white British solders were sent to Europe. So basically people of colour pows were lucky they got liberated meanwhile common wealth solders stayed in Europe (Germany and Italy sending black pows in Libya actually backfired as one black pow blew up a ship with a tin can) Dear twitter I don’t hate black people or brown people
@@sfooter1692 I want to see you fighting against italia and German When you have know 4 years war on your land and lost more 2 millions soldiers and civilians 20 past years ago And don't tell me italia do nothing because my city was occuped by Italian
In fact all the european armies were totally surprised by the new war tactics used by germans, the "blitzkrieg". FYI, Belgium surrended in 18 days, Dennmark in 6 hours.... Nothing to see with courage or lack of, just tactics and material preparation.
12:06 It would be interesting to see how the regular Wehrmacht soldier would react to the atrocities of the SS, especially ones as brutal as these ones.
Actually, since many were actually kind of "brainwashed" by the Reich's doctrine since childhood, the regular soldiers often took part in committing such atrocities and replicating SS's behavior. That was especially the case in Poland, and was a concern for the officers, not because of the actions taken by the soldiers, but the lack of discipline the implied.
Wait wait I am confused. So the Wehrmacht and Whermacht SS were better then the German police called SS and gestpo? Right? So did the Wehrmacht SS do the warcimres or the German police SS?
The SS horrific executions are really contrasteted by the whermact who helped them afterwards, always why people should remember the difference between the two
Sorry to break you man,but its a know fact between 60 to 80% of the Whermacht participated to war crimes.They werent clean,most of them were war criminals.Here,have fun:en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_of_the_Wehrmacht
@@theknightwiththen-wordpass7084 not a lot of wehrmacht wehrmacht is a huge armed forces so it was estimated 40% of those in the eastern front commited war crimes but the ss can do anything they wanted they are fanatics
Hey Simple History! I just wanna say I appreciate your development as a channel! I can definitely say I've seen an improvement on your animations and I'm pretty sure on behalf of the community we thank you for such amazing and quality content your channel puts out. Thank you again! 🤟
This video has done justice for the British and French troops who bravely held out until the rest of the British and French forces can safely evacuate. They were not cowards.
@@Dougulas322 well, give me one example where the wehrmacht did anything that the ss did. Rape etc was punishable and would take you straight into a strafkompanie. ofc some things happend for the wehramcht aswell as like in any other army in the war, but majority of the warcrimes was the SS. and btw: "the "i was just following orders" myth has been debunked many times." who debunked that?:D you? haha.
@@frags7792 That's what we call "The Clean Wehrmacht Myth". 80% of the Wehrmacht were complicit in war crimes and directly helped the Holocaust occur. They didn't silently stand by, they actively assisted in it. The SS and Wehrmacht were very similar, one just had a little more good people in it than the other one did.
Something has to be said about the regular German armies not being as evil as the ss,I've heard a few stories of the tank battalions being not as fucked up as the SS.
My Grandad was at Dunkirk he was put on a train and sent into France whilst the divisions equipment was sent in trucks, the train got through but when they arrived at their destination they found out the trucks hadn't got through. The trucks were blown up so as not to fall into enemy hands. They obviously couldn't go back by train as it would have been attacked by aircraft so they snuck back through enemy lines to the beachs. They had 120 men with Lee Enfields and 2 Bren Guns in the division. My Grandad was one crazy brave guy. He fought from Dunkirk across Africa all the way up italy and was on sword beach on D-Day and fought till the end of the war. I still miss him every day.
Please do the Rats of Tobruk story at some point regarding the Australian soldiers in WW2! It's so interesting, and I know you guys would do a great job!
Pretty sure the first dunkirk film from 1958 has the centre group of the film run into a group of rearguard troops that tell them to keep moving an moments later those rearguard troops come under attack from Ju 87's.
Lets remember that if the French and Bri'ish just attacked Germany's Western Front during the invasion of Poland in 1939, they may have averted the whole war, therefore not being crushed in the 1940 Fall of France.
Well, France attacked Germany first during WW2. It is called the Saar Offensive (Offensive de la Sarre in French). The goal of this offensive was to support Poland with 40 french divisions by attacking Germany on the rear, while most of german's troops were occupied fighting polish forces. The offensive was met with little resistance until french troops were stopped by mined fields and Siegfried Line (equivalent of French Maginot Line). In the end, Poland was crushed so quickly that French Command decided to call-off the offensive by ordering french units to return to their original positions at the Maginot Line. During this offensive, french troops lost around 2 000 casualties and 4 tanks.
@@quentinberger4639 Well, doesn't a military alliance mean that you attack your friends' enemies? Everyone thinks that the French and British simply let Poland die, and even if there was the Siegfried Line, you don't just withdraw to your territory when at war, unless you were at a disadvantage. On the Wikipedia, the assault never actually happened, so who is correct?
@@Torashiro_Kawabe another reason I think why the allies didn't really attack Germany was cuz both Chamberlain and Daladier still thought they could still go with the diplomatic option(I think, I'm not certain of this one).
Fact: Dunkurt wasn't liberated by the allies until after Germany surrendered, it being one of the last German strongholds in france. It was even the site of the third and final German advance into French territory during the war.
My great grandfather of the British 2nd Division stationed at La Bassée canal he would get moved to Hazebrouck during the night of May 25th to support the town, the town was overruned at the morning of May 26th, he stayed behind along with a few dozen soldiers to cover the retreat of the wounded rear gaurd units. He will never come home again. Rest in paradise, pops. edit: the 2nd infantry division had 13,000 men at the beginning of May 25, the following day of May 26 the 2nd Division had only 2,500 men.
The most heroric rearguard unit was the polish unit at Wizna. The unit was outnumbered by 40 to 1 and hold the germans three day off. The hope was that Warsaw would have more time to prepare itself.
I feel a great rear guard action was the sacrifice of the Folgore Italian paratroopers at El Alamein. They were practically wiped out, but bought time for the rest of the Afrika Korps and Italian army escaped.
Stuff like this is why it makes me upset when people make fun of the French for surrendering. If it wasn't for all these brave men, a lot more lives would've been taken.
@@doolittle555 even though I’m not French, I get frustrated. They stereotype hundreds of thousands of soldiers as cowards, ignoring the fact that some of these soldiers that they label as “cowards” fought till the very end. If anything, blame some of the French generals and government, not the soldiers.
@nathan smith Yes, this is what I was going to say. I would never insult any soldier by calling them a coward, and you’d have to be pretty stupid to characterise any allied soldier in this way. But the French government generally did a terrible job.
Between the French Defense at Dunkirk, the Free French victory at the 4th Battle Of Monte Cassino, and the French Resistance's Liberation Of Paris, no one should call the French cowards.
Rear guard: "Yo, dudes, we got your six" Soldier: "You got our six what? Rear guard: "You six o'clock position, dummy" Soldier: "In what time zone? Rear Guard: "Geesh"
Hello can you make a video about the Battle of Tirad Pass because it is related to the video you show to us. And Gen. Gregorio Del Pilar was the rear guard during the Philippine American War. Thank you !
5:05 Is that a Panther behind von Rundstedt? 5:45 Why is there a US star on that supposedly British Bren carrier? (It appears many times.) 6:44 Why is the Brigadier holding his finger on the trigger? 11:51 That kind of camouflage, the "Erbsenmuster" wasn't used until 1944.
For the first question it looks more like an Pz3 turret For the second one looks more like a normal allied star, quite common for identifying troops even before the us showed up For the third one, that was actually common for everyone at the time to do modern firearms safety came more into effect in the 70s/80s And for the forth, yea it does look like it
So many french soldiers fought like lions and died at dunkirk so that the brtitish could evacuate. The british even executed some frenchies trying to evacuate with them in the end of the battle. And all that to be insulted and treated of cowards by the us and uk
"French surrender so quickly when engaged" French soldiers : Literally runs out the fortifications lines with what little tanks remains to launch yet another counter-attack after already suffering large casualties
yeah, that may be true, but guess who led to the whole situation of being surrounded in the first place? and remebr the art of war: Fight on hopeless ground were only combat will let your men live on and they shall fight till death (rough translation of my mother tonuge, sadly dont have the english one on hand)
@@tizi087for sure it is easy for you to blame the nation that was on the field rather than the nation that declared war to Germany but prefered to stay on the bench.
Battle of Tirad Pass during the Filipino-American War was a rearguard action by a small Filipino force of 60 soldiers under the command of the Boy General, Gregorio del Pilar, against a force of 300 American soldiers.
@@SpookyScarySkitarii The British don't come at the end of every fight.....both World Wars Britain fought from day one to the last day. Same goes for the Napoleonic Wars. Britain was in most of these from the start.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- The BFE waited in 1914 the french to have a victory against the german to go on the battlefield, thanks to the general French. And for the napoleonic wars, the British fought for the first coalitions, had their moment at Trafalgar before the french beat the others continental powers. Peace was obtained between UK and France. Then UK financed other powers to go to war against the french, then went to Portugal and Spain when the french were struggling there and fighting in the east. Then UK came during the hundred days. UK fought some coalition wars but when it was not with blood, it was with money for prussian, austrian and russian blood.
Simple History is my favorite military history channel! I salute the brave men of the Rearguard! Because I have a berserker fighting attitude, I'd greatly appreciate the Rearguard position if I'm ever deployed. Tried enlisting back in 2008, got rejected. Only way to fight a war now would be in mandatory conscription. Looking forward to that! Even though I've considerably aged, still got some fight left in me.
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30 seconds ago lol
great
Ak 47 video and Horten 229 video please?
Make a video about the Tuskegee Airmen
swag
A salute to the 18,000 French soldiers who died so that their British comrades could return home, the French were not cowards in ww2, they were some of the bravest
Transaltion:the french had balls as tanks and were recognized to have balls as ping pong balls
Britain: France! I won't leave you!
France: Go! But tell them of my bravery! Tell them how we suffered and fought to the bitter end and beyond!
*3 years later*
Britain: So there I was holding the line saving this cowardly dingus!
France: 😠
Finally, someone who doesn't rub dirt in my countrys face in ww2
@@the-little-napoleon your user name cracks me up lol
Honestly dont understand why france gets that reputation
British, Dunkirk, 1940: “Destroy all equipment we cannot take with us.”
US, Kabul, 2021: “… errr…”
Honestly that whole evacuation was gigantic embarrassment.
@@cloaker1619 a blind monkey could have planned a better end to the war.
Say it with me everyone:
*LET'S GO BRANDON*
@@naenae669 Can you stop saying that because it f**king annoying
@@ussenterprisefromazurlane1696 I prefer the original too.
“A Strategic Retreat”
“What’s That?”
“It’s like Running away but manlier”
"Dunkirk fights provides the proof that the French soldier is one of the best in the world." Commander of the Wehrmacht General Georg von Küchler
King?! What are you doing here? 😮
@@ommsterlitz1805 didnt the red baron say the french where pathetic?
@@cloaker1619 red baron die in ww1 bruh
@@cloaker1619
To be fair when you've killed over a hundred trained pilots and destroyed between 80 and 110 aircraft, one by literally just throwing a rock at them...
Pretty much everyone seems pathetic to you.
So brave to fight until the bitter end, knowing you're fighting to the death. No matter what or who it is, deserves massive respect!
Ok
Ok
Ok
Massively naïve.
I wouldn’t call it brave. More like heroically insane.
The poor French who covered the retreat for the British who are barely honoured anymore and their nation is only known for its capitulation instead of their brave sacrifice, making sure those boys made it back across the water just for the chance that their country may exist in the future after the fall of the 1,000 year reich
well said
The ones Who knows don't forget they Also don't forget the treason vive la France !
Just like the British remembered the Polish servicemen who helped in the final victory and refused to be intimidated by the USSR into refusing allowing them to march in the victory parade.
Oh wait........
@@spiffygonzales5899 "Germany brought down the Mongols and Napoleon." 😂
@@spiffygonzales5899 Oh and also Crusades were just a way to help Byzantium regain territory,while helping Kings to get rid of belligerant knights causing troubles.If anything,crusader are know for their horrible and inhuman deeds,notably cannibalism for no reason on civilian(en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ma%27arra),so i wouldnt be too proud about that
"We're not retreating, we're advancing in another direction"
LOL
Didn’t USMC General Oliver Smith say that during the Korean War?
@@DraftTheHippies Yes. At Chosin Reservoir
My troops never rout, the simply charge bravely in the opposite direction!
-Me in Total War
Bois We are retreating but the opposite of direction
“Retreat now for victory later” - the British, 1940
Its extreamly effective!
The British fights until their last Frenchmen...
@@diabolofraise59 hahahahaha my belly hurts from laughter
Imagine if the british were japanese, they would exactly refuse to retreat and sacrificed themselves for no good. Then there would be no chance to win for the allies.
Love the US stars on the 'British' vehicles, when anyone with a brain knows it wasn't until late 1941 that the US entered the war.
Can you do a video about Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich? Please?
Beautiful day in Czech history makes me proud to be a Czech.
@@rc59191 And me (albeit only 1/2 Czech)
@@rc59191 STUP PARTISAN
@@antonhinz2557 joe mom german
This was really interesting.
The massacres that happened because of it though...
They are the real heroes for me, just to protect your entire unit,staying behind in defensive position,chances of survival is 50/50 they can hold or annihilated.
The actions of the French army in this regard around Dunkirk is VASTLY under appreciated
The Germans, the only one whose opinion matter regarding Dunkirk didn't comit that mistake, that says a lot
St vallery never get mentioned where the French ran away in their thousands
@Neil The Dunkerk movie triggered me to no end.
@@joenodwell9157 stereotype
@@joenodwell9157 ua-cam.com/video/7PwDCoswn_A/v-deo.html&ab_channel=TheFront
When you realize running away takes
more strategy and ⚽️ ⚽️ ‘s then fighting head on
When they came closer, we ran....away-The emu
@@canthi109 Sir... You are a genius.
yeah it doesnt, running into the jaws of death is way manlier
@@ididntaskverified3663 running head first into a knowingly losing battle when you have the option to strategically withdraw and preserve more lives, isn’t manly and just sounds plain stupid.
@@ididntaskverified3663 Yeah until they run away and the ones that were in the back are now fighting for them
Thoughts to the 18,000 Frenchmen who gave their lives for the allies to evacuate. French were far from cowards during the Second World War. God bless.
"It's not called retreat It's called a tactical withdrawal!" - British dudes at Dunkirk, 1940
But at least they did something not like french just running away. French and their two tactics surrender or run away, that's why they lost
@@bizon4129 The French, with her Allies, were unprepared for the Germans’ Blitzkrieg tactic, which heavily affected their organization (like poor logistics due to fleeing civilians crowding roads, and horrible radio communications due to sabotages) at the early sequence of the war. In some areas, French command was poor but army divisions didn’t just ‘surrender or run away’ when they were being overwhelmed by the Germans. As for example, French soldiers held positions surrounded by Germans near Dunkirk, but they fended off overwhelming German forces from reaching the evacuation zone, which bought time for the Allied soldiers to evacuate to Southern England’s coast.
Retreating doesn’t mean completely pussying out of the war - it’s saving yourselves from complete slaughter, getting to a better position and fight the enemy another day.
It really was tho. The battle of France might have been a defeat but the evacuation of Dunkirk was a huge success. France was lost, getting as much men as possible back to Britain was the only way the war could be continued.
@@bizon4129 Swimming back to the british island is something ? UK just wait on its island for the US and soviet to do the job
@@bizon4129 Dude the french army and belgian army covered all of the dunkirk perimeter and the french troops left at Lille didn't surrender they fought till the end and for this bravery they got medals from the germans
Watching this I kept thinking of the the many times I used riflemen as rearguards in company of heroes so the flimsy enginners and the slow as heavy units could flee, then when the squad was down to only 1 or 2 men hit the retreat button so the survivors could sprint home
"Volksgrenadiers God dammit, try actually aiming!!!"
I like the Volksgrenadiers, my personal favourite.
Try Men of War Assault Squad 2, much better than COH (in realism and gameplay) theres custom maps that uses rearguard tactics
@@pyrobytee you do get more men in mowas 2. So thats Really a plus. But a Small Careless move on your part can End Up With an entire flank Being overran
@@excalibur1251 a well timed nade can also change its tides
o7
Finally some recognition that there were also Dutch troops at Dunkirk that wanted to continue the fight!
Hard to believe there were any Dutch left, those guys got pushed out of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, truly exceptional courage to keep fighting.
Honnor those Dutch soldiers !!!
The Rear Guard
British soldier: I'd never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a Frenchman.
French soldier: What about dying side by side with a friend?
British soldier: Aye, a friend.
British Officer: Hold the line lads. For King and Country!
When is the second breakfast?
Very proud of my grandad serving with the Green Howards (Yorkshire regiment) holding the cordon at Dunkirk until the 3rd of June, he would often recall Dunkirk and say how they were fighting tanks with rifles and until the day he passed was haunted by the noise of stukas, he went on to serve in Africa being present for the battle of El-Alamein and fighting in Italy before being captured where he was forced to fix train tracks while the allies were bombing them. He was a kind gentle man who was unbelievably humble, he worked building clocks until he was 99 years old when he decided to retire and passed away a few weeks after receiving his 100th birthday card from the Queen. He only joined the army to learn an instrument...
WoW!
That's a man...
*joins military to learn an instrument*
*gets thrown into largest war ever fought*
Well that sure was a surprise for 'em but glad he didn't die in the war. 👍
Do you know what he played? I’ve been a military musician my entire career!
Damn, respect to him
Thank you guys, I was looking for some motivation on making a great WW2 Model Diorama. And becuase if this I will now understand what the Reguards went through and their mission was.
Make a rear guard model on the French one that would be dope
“We must fight! To run away.”
-Captain Jack Sparrow, potc3
“The English will fight to the last French”
- a common joke among German soldiers after the events at Dunkirk.
…Apart from the captured and defenceless British soldiers our SS units heroically murdered in cold blood, obviously.
@@greva2904 the French need a scapegoat to feel better
"...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." -Winston Churchill
bold words coming from the butcher of gallipoli
So where did the rank Rear-Admiral come from...duh.
Only has weight if it was said by a person who actually put his life on the line.
Instead, it was said by a person who was sitting far away from action, and died due to his easy going lifestyle.
What a load of quack.
Ah yes, Churchill the butcher of Galipolli and the one who starved half India to death, a symbol of honor
@@Fulcrox churchill was not to blame for Bengal, that is a Marxist myth
I performed a beautiful rearguard action in Grand Tactician Civil War the other day. Rebels had me outnumbered 4 to 1 but managed to save the Army of Kentucky by holding 2 bridges with cavalry armed with Sharps carbines. Was a loss but goodness was it a glorious stand lol.
Ive done the same here in the western division as dismounted Cav 4th Iowa Hawkeyes (union) and the 36th Texas Dismounted Cav 🤠
Sounds epic, which I could have been a part 🙏
@@Bucky1836 that a reenacting unit?
@@rc59191 yep its my re enacting unit here in texas one of many 🤠
@@rc59191 we are union and confederate dismounted cav depends in if they need yankess 🤣 we run em off down here
Like the French Rearguard at Dunkirk.
Video which does not reflect the reality of the battle, i.e. that it was the French soldiers who held back the German troops at Molinié and Dunkirk, since there were 30,000 French soldiers, for only 6,000 British who fought directly against 160,000 Germans. The British lines quickly disintegrated in the early fighting. Lord Gort had made the evacuation of the British troops a priority without informing the French troops, leaving gaping holes in the defence system that the French troops had to fill in a hurry, provoking the fury of the French admirals Abrial and Falgade.
Abrial to Alexander 26th May 1940 : "My general, since it is no longer possible to count on English cooperation, the mission that has been devolved to me will be accomplished by French troops alone... We French are bound by an imperative mission to resist to the death to save all possible personnel, French and English, from Dunkirk. As long as this goal has not been achieved we shall remain on the spot".
Moreover, an anti-British resentment would arise among the French soldiers as a result of this.
On the 2nd of June the last british soldiers left Dunkirk, while the last french soldiers left on the 4th. Falgade and Abrial were among the last to left Dunkirk, while Alexander already left on the 2nd.
Don't forget the 51st highland Division
One of the only British left behind not even aware of the evacuation
They were attached with the French at the Maginot line and were pushed back through the Somme and eventually surrendered on June 12th at St Valery
There was also the Chesseley Massacre of 50 Senegalese troops by the SS on June 19, 1940.
Yes, their french captain decided to die with them but I'm unsure of this... It would have been a final "pied de nez" to these racialist bastards...
Imagine fighting and making a Last stand for your Allies to retreat only to be ridiculed for surrendering and dubbed as "cowards" 70years later
Do you know who started this propaganda of "the French surrendered without a fight" ? It was the Collaborative Government of Vichy France (to justify to French people the Armistice and the collaboration). Today all the trolls are just repeating the motto of a shameful government.
You should do a video about the 51st highland division, an undeeded sacrifice to the French after France was already doomed
One of my relatives were a rear guard soldier in a Scottish unit at Dunkirk, he was wounded in the leg and was saved by a German doctor who saved his leg, he was captured and escaped 3 times before finally walking to Spain and getting back to Scotland.
You say "walking to Spain" like it's a sunday hike lol
He’s a mad lad if he manages to escape back to Scotland, when did he made it back and did he see furtherer action?
That's why the scots are the best people of the british island
@@SpookyScarySkitarii They are basically all the SAS units xD Scots are tough as nails...
My great grandad was a rear guard too (English). Be pretty funny if they'd met (admittedly that's pretty unlikely, but hey, that's why it's funny).
The rear guard were mostly the french
Yep, and then Dunkirk lauded as a great British "achievement".
@@SirAntoniousBlock Yet in the film dunkirk its french troops being shown in the opening holding the rearguard
It is mentioned that the French troops even counterattacked in many areas. A bit sad you didn't include Georg Von Küchler's words, he was leading the German 18th army: "Despite our crushing superiority in numbers and materials, the French counterattack in many places. I don't manage to understand how these soldiers, fighting in many places outnumbered one to twenty, still find the strength to launch any assault. That's astounding. I find again in these French soldiers the same ardour of those of Verdun in 1916. We can't penetrate anywhere, and suffer terrifying casualties."
Also, if you want a really heroic defense that once again allowed the British army to survive and reorganize, check the battle of Bir-Hakeim. 3300 men of the 1st Free French Brigade led by General Koenig held the entire Afrika Korps and Rommel, around 35000 men, for SIXTEEN days. Rommel was chasing the British and inflicting heavy casualties, sending only the Italians to get rid of the French at Bir-Hakeim. It didn't work, the Italians got shred, and the French came out to attack Rommel's rear. From this point he fully focused the 1st Free French Brigade, and it'd last like this for sixteen long days, allowing the British army to reorganize and build up defenses that would lead to the success of the first battle of El-Alamein.
Adolf Hitler himself said about these French soldiers : "You hear gentlemen? It is a new evidence that I have always been right! The French are, after us, the best soldiers! Even with its current birthrate, France will always be able to mobilize a hundred divisions! After this war, we will have to find allies able to contain a country which is able of military exploits that astonish the world like they are doing right now in Bir-Hakeim!"
Remember, the government surrendered, but the soldiers never forgot they were fighting for their country, and not a puppet of the Third Reich.
VIVE LA FRANCE !
Tu as regardé Blackraven mon ami.
Belles références.
You guys should do a video on strange and mysterious things soldiers saw on the battlefield.
Mysterious? What do you mean, pray tell?
@@Briselance, I mean like aliens or time travelers on the battlefield. Or weird tech.
Nah alien theory is bullshit and time travel will never exist and
@@lamarmottequimetlechocolat848 And? Complete the sentence, man.
I was hoping for a bit more French inclusion in this video but this was top notch. Was telling my mate about how the French guarded our British fellas to the end because it's just one of those things that are overlooked.
I swear, the quality of Simple History's videos has greatly improved overtime. The narration, sound effects and background music really tie everything together. This is a fantastic way to learn history in a quick, yet enjoyable manner. The hard work put into these videos is truly appreciated. Well done!
8:24 : leaving 35,000 french soldiers behind...
they cant do anything...
Most of the french army evacuated returned to France as refused to join the free french army
@@demonprinces17 hum no, they had to return to France because the war was still going on at that point.
@Your Kark that's a laugh ended up in Germany as slave labor helping them
@@darkadrien14 as civilians
People will always remember the mistake.
Rather than the greatest contribution.
Salute to the brave french soldiers.
So for the aglo-saxon, France never partake in the battle of France, only the BEF ?😅 guess I understand why the French weren't even in BF 1, everyone knows that the French never fought a war...
Barracades: Yep, makes sense
Sandbags: Same as the other one, but alright
Exceptional Bravery:Alright, simple history, now you're just taking the piss
The east Lancashire regiment is one of the bravest regiments to have served the British army for its noble history
My great-grandfather was one of them, he was captured in Dunkirk, respect to these men !
✌️
It annoys me that we in Britain keep calling the French cowards and making fun of them for surrendering, when really if it wasn't for their exceptional bravery covering our retreat knowing full well they would either be killed or captured, who knows what could've happened?
it would have ended in 200-300k british soldiers being captured by germany with all their equipment, had the french army left the BEF to do its thing
their original plan was to try to break out by following the coast towards french held territory (with artillery support of the french navy that in this case of course wouldn't have helped the evacuation)
Only the low uneducated left overs from the UK, Australia and the US are doing this... You don't and that's enough for me personally 🤝
It's called Banter, it's a mark of respect from the british, you only banter with people you like and respect. It's when we're polite to you that you know we don't really like you.
the brits saved 70k French soldiers from that beach also so don't act like the French were doing us a favour
@@nathansellars3757 yes, the french were redeployed elsewhere
One of the least talked about parts of the evacuations from Dunkirk were that French colonial forces such as the Senegalese Tirailleurs who were captured would face executions and additional hardships due to the racist ideology of the Nazis and a desire to avenge the occupation of the Rhineland during the inter war period when the French used African colonial troops which was seen as a national insult due to racist attitudes of the time.
Well they did rape a bunch of German women, and then did the same thing again in WWII when the allies invaded Italy. Obviously there’s no justification for war crimes but stop acting like they were innocent. It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows. Just take a look at the state of Europe right now.
@@thatperformer3879 might want to recheck your history on that one there. The myth of the mass rape of the Rhineland is just that, a myth. There were some cases of sexual assault but nothing even close to what is reported and the majority of those labelled as bastards were either children of mixed marriages from former German colonies who were equally mistreated by the Nazis or from unions between French troops and German women. And for WWII the most famous case is that in Italy and those were Moroccan troops not the troops from Senegal. The thing is the French colonial troops at Dunkirk who were executed and ill treated were innocent, they were not the same men who occupied the Rhineland (which again major myth of the Rhineland bastards), nor does the Italian campaign come into play as that hadn't happened yet you colossal pinhead.
I suggest you crawl back into the hole you crawled out of, read some real history, and take your hate filled speech somewhere else.
@@thatperformer3879 whilst i dont support your "It seems like wherever multiculturalism goes, rape follows" stance, you are right with the rest.Rapes were widespread. but you could also say thats a given in war..
@@psycho4207 Senegal troops got trolled bro. ALLTHOUGH most black or people of colour solders in North Africa (British side) when they got captured I heard that most of them stayed in Africa and the white British solders were sent to Europe. So basically people of colour pows were lucky they got liberated meanwhile common wealth solders stayed in Europe (Germany and Italy sending black pows in Libya actually backfired as one black pow blew up a ship with a tin can)
Dear twitter I don’t hate black people or brown people
French sadly don’t get the respect they deserve especially during ww2
True, now days they are usually a ameme for surrendering to the Germans
Complete overstatement - they surrendered in 6 weeks
Sfooter it was the government not the soldiers how about look at actual history before you go along with the uneducated flow.
@@sfooter1692 I want to see you fighting against italia and German
When you have know 4 years war on your land and lost more 2 millions soldiers and civilians 20 past years ago
And don't tell me italia do nothing because my city was occuped by Italian
In fact all the european armies were totally surprised by the new war tactics used by germans, the "blitzkrieg". FYI, Belgium surrended in 18 days, Dennmark in 6 hours.... Nothing to see with courage or lack of, just tactics and material preparation.
12:06 It would be interesting to see how the regular Wehrmacht soldier would react to the atrocities of the SS, especially ones as brutal as these ones.
They probably didnt care much for it lol
Actually, since many were actually kind of "brainwashed" by the Reich's doctrine since childhood, the regular soldiers often took part in committing such atrocities and replicating SS's behavior. That was especially the case in Poland, and was a concern for the officers, not because of the actions taken by the soldiers, but the lack of discipline the implied.
Wait wait I am confused.
So the Wehrmacht and Whermacht SS were better then the German police called SS and gestpo? Right? So did the Wehrmacht SS do the warcimres or the German police SS?
The SS horrific executions are really contrasteted by the whermact who helped them afterwards, always why people should remember the difference between the two
Sorry to break you man,but its a know fact between 60 to 80% of the Whermacht participated to war crimes.They werent clean,most of them were war criminals.Here,have fun:en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_of_the_Wehrmacht
@@theknightwiththen-wordpass7084 not a lot of wehrmacht wehrmacht is a huge armed forces so it was estimated 40% of those in the eastern front commited war crimes but the ss can do anything they wanted they are fanatics
There still human
Captain walks away.
Order 227 in now in effect.
Wait what! That not even a thing yet!
Hey Simple History! I just wanna say I appreciate your development as a channel! I can definitely say I've seen an improvement on your animations and I'm pretty sure on behalf of the community we thank you for such amazing and quality content your channel puts out. Thank you again! 🤟
Rest in peace all soldiers, you will never be forgotten
@@splizzex its not about the names, its about the fact that there are people who did this courageous acts
This video has done justice for the British and French troops who bravely held out until the rest of the British and French forces can safely evacuate.
They were not cowards.
Not at all... But maybe for some keyboard heroes standing comfortably behind their screens and smartphones...
@@vermicelledecheval5219 nicely said.
"Let the French fight while we fly away"
Yeah it's their country we fight for our own.
Wehrmacht: “We just following the order”
Waffen SS: “We are the order”
Based
Pretty true, usually the Wehrmacht only did crimes cuz orders from high command which were loyal Nazis
@@whatdatechnodogedoin not a lot of high command most german high commands comes from a prussian military families
@@Dougulas322 well, give me one example where the wehrmacht did anything that the ss did. Rape etc was punishable and would take you straight into a strafkompanie.
ofc some things happend for the wehramcht aswell as like in any other army in the war, but majority of the warcrimes was the SS.
and btw: "the "i was just following orders" myth has been debunked many times." who debunked that?:D you? haha.
People who mock the french because they "surrendered" learned history in tumblr and memes
Thanks to Simple History, ive been able to learn a lot
Marshal Michel Ney is proud of the strong and brave rearguard units in Dunkirk.
Yes he would be.
Bravest of the braves
12:10 the Wehrmacht gained more respect from me, treated the allies way better than the SS
Yeah I would say the SS are the real nazis. Wehrmacht are just young men forcing to a fight old men battles…
@@frags7792
That's what we call "The Clean Wehrmacht Myth".
80% of the Wehrmacht were complicit in war crimes and directly helped the Holocaust occur. They didn't silently stand by, they actively assisted in it.
The SS and Wehrmacht were very similar, one just had a little more good people in it than the other one did.
Finally the french role at Dunkirk got recognized. Thank you.
Can't imagine the stakes in this battle... Incredible feat by the French, British and all other allies.
“Congrats to Everyone who is early and found this comment”🛩
:D
No
Why does everyone forget the Canadians?
Every damn time.
Canada isn't a legitimate state
well its a fake made up country with barly hundred yearsof history
As a French it's because usa and English think they have win alone the war
Military tactic aka "don't worry France we will give you some boats to escape... later"
Simple History Can You do Simple History videos of The Chinese Revolution and German Revolution.
Yea, I mean it would be neat, until they get hit by the CCP and demonetized for it lmfao.
Something has to be said about the regular German armies not being as evil as the ss,I've heard a few stories of the tank battalions being not as fucked up as the SS.
My grandad was part of the rear guard at Dunkirk he was part of the Manchester fusiliers. He was unfortunately captured. Good video mate.
My Grandad was at Dunkirk he was put on a train and sent into France whilst the divisions equipment was sent in trucks, the train got through but when they arrived at their destination they found out the trucks hadn't got through. The trucks were blown up so as not to fall into enemy hands. They obviously couldn't go back by train as it would have been attacked by aircraft so they snuck back through enemy lines to the beachs. They had 120 men with Lee Enfields and 2 Bren Guns in the division. My Grandad was one crazy brave guy. He fought from Dunkirk across Africa all the way up italy and was on sword beach on D-Day and fought till the end of the war. I still miss him every day.
You guys should do a video on the West Virginia Coal Wars and the battle of Blair Mountain
Hope you can consider the 1941-1942 Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. Would consider that as major rearguard move to allow McArthur to escape.
The french defence of Dunkirk is so underestimated and underrepresented.
Respect to the French rearguard units for their sacrifice so that the British could retreat to Dunkirk where they bravely ran away
You're calling the British cowards for fighting to defend France?
@@manindescript9861 both did the right thing and fought smartly and bravely. We would not have been able to win the war without each of them.
Dude no point in wasting lives in a losing battle
@@manindescript9861 The British didn’t fight to defend France. They fought to stop Hitler. There is a major difference
Maybe the french troops should have shot at the germans when the war broke out oh wait they were too scared.
Please do the Rats of Tobruk story at some point regarding the Australian soldiers in WW2! It's so interesting, and I know you guys would do a great job!
Huge respect to all these men who served in the rearguard units until the end despite the overwhelming odds.
The 51st Highland division.
Left behind after the last evacuation to fight on
Finally someone else who knows
I wished the rearguard actions were covered more in the Dunkirk Movie
That wasn't the purpose of this movie... Although you have a blink of an eye just at the beginning of it.
Yeah, tho like the guy above me said that wasn't the main focus of the movie but we did see a bit of it.
Pretty sure the first dunkirk film from 1958 has the centre group of the film run into a group of rearguard troops that tell them to keep moving an moments later those rearguard troops come under attack from Ju 87's.
Lets remember that if the French and Bri'ish just attacked Germany's Western Front during the invasion of Poland in 1939, they may have averted the whole war, therefore not being crushed in the 1940 Fall of France.
Well, France attacked Germany first during WW2. It is called the Saar Offensive (Offensive de la Sarre in French). The goal of this offensive was to support Poland with 40 french divisions by attacking Germany on the rear, while most of german's troops were occupied fighting polish forces. The offensive was met with little resistance until french troops were stopped by mined fields and Siegfried Line (equivalent of French Maginot Line). In the end, Poland was crushed so quickly that French Command decided to call-off the offensive by ordering french units to return to their original positions at the Maginot Line. During this offensive, french troops lost around 2 000 casualties and 4 tanks.
@@quentinberger4639 Well, doesn't a military alliance mean that you attack your friends' enemies? Everyone thinks that the French and British simply let Poland die, and even if there was the Siegfried Line, you don't just withdraw to your territory when at war, unless you were at a disadvantage. On the Wikipedia, the assault never actually happened, so who is correct?
@@Torashiro_Kawabe another reason I think why the allies didn't really attack Germany was cuz both Chamberlain and Daladier still thought they could still go with the diplomatic option(I think, I'm not certain of this one).
Fact: Dunkurt wasn't liberated by the allies until after Germany surrendered, it being one of the last German strongholds in france. It was even the site of the third and final German advance into French territory during the war.
Based
I like how the machine gunner had a beard then when he was reloading, it disappeared 3:45
My great grandfather of the British 2nd Division stationed at La Bassée canal he would get moved to Hazebrouck during the night of May 25th to support the town, the town was overruned at the morning of May 26th, he stayed behind along with a few dozen soldiers to cover the retreat of the wounded rear gaurd units. He will never come home again. Rest in paradise, pops.
edit: the 2nd infantry division had 13,000 men at the beginning of May 25, the following day of May 26 the 2nd Division had only 2,500 men.
My grandfather was sort of a rear guard in the second war, he was a Volksturmm man at Berlin.
Ah dunkirk both a famous and sad day famous for the evacuation sad for the French and Scottish soldiers abandoned afterword's
The most heroric rearguard unit was the polish unit at Wizna. The unit was outnumbered by 40 to 1 and hold the germans three day off. The hope was that Warsaw would have more time to prepare itself.
I feel a great rear guard action was the sacrifice of the Folgore Italian paratroopers at El Alamein. They were practically wiped out, but bought time for the rest of the Afrika Korps and Italian army escaped.
Stuff like this is why it makes me upset when people make fun of the French for surrendering. If it wasn't for all these brave men, a lot more lives would've been taken.
I'm actually surprised to see someone who's not french speaking like that.
Thanks.
Merci beaucoup Monsieur / Thank you very much Sir
@@doolittle555 even though I’m not French, I get frustrated. They stereotype hundreds of thousands of soldiers as cowards, ignoring the fact that some of these soldiers that they label as “cowards” fought till the very end. If anything, blame some of the French generals and government, not the soldiers.
@nathan smith Yes, this is what I was going to say. I would never insult any soldier by calling them a coward, and you’d have to be pretty stupid to characterise any allied soldier in this way. But the French government generally did a terrible job.
french its not coward they fight like others like germen or british they just fight until the last men so .. respect to french
10 minutes of Brits in a battle fought mainly by French that can’t be serious 😂
Another classic from simple history ❤️
Between the French Defense at Dunkirk, the Free French victory at the 4th Battle Of Monte Cassino, and the French Resistance's Liberation Of Paris, no one should call the French cowards.
I would like it if simple history gives more representation of the French defense on this battle
I guess we can’t expect too much… mentioning the French is already an exploit really
Thankyou France for fighting on,until 1945,dispite crazy history which suggests you didn't and ran...Viv la france.. regards Australia
Rear guard: "Yo, dudes, we got your six"
Soldier: "You got our six what?
Rear guard: "You six o'clock position, dummy"
Soldier: "In what time zone?
Rear Guard: "Geesh"
That was a good one
Hello can you make a video about the Battle of Tirad Pass because it is related to the video you show to us. And Gen. Gregorio Del Pilar was the rear guard during the Philippine American War. Thank you !
Thank you for restoring the honor of the French soldiers who died in Dunkirk
Why the french were so poorly represented in this video? Sûre british were part of the rear Guard but how can you not représente the 35,000 French??
3:45 recoil so strong it sent that soldier back 10 years
5:05 Is that a Panther behind von Rundstedt?
5:45 Why is there a US star on that supposedly British Bren carrier? (It appears many times.)
6:44 Why is the Brigadier holding his finger on the trigger?
11:51 That kind of camouflage, the "Erbsenmuster" wasn't used until 1944.
For the first question it looks more like an Pz3 turret
For the second one looks more like a normal allied star, quite common for identifying troops even before the us showed up
For the third one, that was actually common for everyone at the time to do modern firearms safety came more into effect in the 70s/80s
And for the forth, yea it does look like it
Can you please make more merchandise? I am sure a lot of people gonna buy nice ww2 stuf😉
So many french soldiers fought like lions and died at dunkirk so that the brtitish could evacuate.
The british even executed some frenchies trying to evacuate with them in the end of the battle.
And all that to be insulted and treated of cowards by the us and uk
"French surrender so quickly when engaged"
French soldiers : Literally runs out the fortifications lines with what little tanks remains to launch yet another counter-attack after already suffering large casualties
yeah, that may be true, but guess who led to the whole situation of being surrounded in the first place?
and remebr the art of war: Fight on hopeless ground were only combat will let your men live on and they shall fight till death (rough translation of my mother tonuge, sadly dont have the english one on hand)
@@tizi087for sure it is easy for you to blame the nation that was on the field rather than the nation that declared war to Germany but prefered to stay on the bench.
@@tonyz7216 it has nothing to do with blame. They just did it to themselves
Battle of Tirad Pass during the Filipino-American War was a rearguard action by a small Filipino force of 60 soldiers under the command of the Boy General, Gregorio del Pilar, against a force of 300 American soldiers.
if this guy was me histroy teacher i would actully listen in class
Do the Kokoda Track Campaign, it is a major fighting withdraw the Australian used against the Japanese.
The Brits and French were very Heroic during the Battle of France!
Brits and heroic in the same sentence pheeew
@@SpookyScarySkitarii says the person who wasn't there. Don't judge what you don't know child.
@@desertfoxxx98 Let's say that brits have a long history about running away or let the others fight for them before coming at the end of the fight
@@SpookyScarySkitarii The British don't come at the end of every fight.....both World Wars Britain fought from day one to the last day. Same goes for the Napoleonic Wars. Britain was in most of these from the start.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- The BFE waited in 1914 the french to have a victory against the german to go on the battlefield, thanks to the general French. And for the napoleonic wars, the British fought for the first coalitions, had their moment at Trafalgar before the french beat the others continental powers. Peace was obtained between UK and France. Then UK financed other powers to go to war against the french, then went to Portugal and Spain when the french were struggling there and fighting in the east. Then UK came during the hundred days. UK fought some coalition wars but when it was not with blood, it was with money for prussian, austrian and russian blood.
Simple History is my favorite military history channel!
I salute the brave men of the Rearguard!
Because I have a berserker fighting attitude, I'd greatly appreciate the Rearguard position if I'm ever deployed. Tried enlisting back in 2008, got rejected. Only way to fight a war now would be in mandatory conscription. Looking forward to that! Even though I've considerably aged, still got some fight left in me.