My Tigers Were Obliterated By Bombs Before We Even Engaged At Normandy... A German Veteran Recalls

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  • Опубліковано 24 гру 2024
  • My Tigers Were Obliterated By Bombs Before We Even Engaged At Normandy... A German Veteran Recalls

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  • @WorldWar2Stories
    @WorldWar2Stories  Рік тому +54

    Operation Goodwood. Enjoy!
    Here is the playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLyuEmb1VavZD50oW5hYHCzlU6FhXchzSL.html

    • @freebornjohn2687
      @freebornjohn2687 Рік тому +2

      Thanks for posting. Who is the narrator?

    • @keithdow8327
      @keithdow8327 Рік тому +3

      @@freebornjohn2687 Computer?

    • @allanmason3201
      @allanmason3201 Рік тому

      @@freebornjohn2687 Most likely some text-to-speech software. There's the occasional misreading that a human probably wouldn't make. At one point there's a reference to "Panzer eye" which seems peculiar until the next sentence refers to Panzer Two.

    • @stephenscally3979
      @stephenscally3979 Рік тому

      😅
      All❤😅

    • @stephenscally3979
      @stephenscally3979 Рік тому

      😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅❤

  • @scottw5315
    @scottw5315 Рік тому +251

    When the Allies could launch 1500 bomber tactical raids in support of the ground troops what was the point of continuing the war? Oh, the mad corporal.

    • @ericscottstevens
      @ericscottstevens Рік тому +34

      I think this carpet bombing claimed the lives of about 111 allied soldiers, killed General Lesley McNair, and over 500 allied casualties as the bombs fell everywhere and sometimes anywhere. The allies tried to have the USAAF conduct an investigation as the issue was reported by the press. In reality the heavy bomber crews had never been trained nor utilized in close action frontline support like this. Yet they killed about 2,500 members of the panzer korps units staged in that area. It was a strategic carnage decision probably shortened the war by many months.

    • @tonyromano6220
      @tonyromano6220 Рік тому +5

      All or nothing.

    • @tonyromano6220
      @tonyromano6220 Рік тому +12

      @@ericscottstevensthey attacked across the front vs along it. Seemed to be repeating error, happened on Omaha June 6th, bombed too late.

    • @christopherwall9696
      @christopherwall9696 Рік тому

      ​@@tonyromano6220mine,the wall family motto.

    • @lucas82
      @lucas82 Рік тому +33

      Not just the mad corporal. One man cannot make an entire country march towards its doom. There was willingness in all layers of German society to keep fighting. From frontline infantryman to Field Marshall and from factory worker to high Nazi official.

  • @davidkennedy9613
    @davidkennedy9613 Рік тому +40

    Love listening to these going to sleep

    • @Dan77845
      @Dan77845 Рік тому +2

      Current situation.

    • @stegvonheintz2707
      @stegvonheintz2707 Рік тому +2

      Me to.

    • @silentcontender
      @silentcontender Рік тому +1

      Same!

    • @dougmcminn6126
      @dougmcminn6126 Рік тому +2

      I couldn't believe it when I read your comment. Very good pace and content for helping me go to sleep.

    • @flintsky7706
      @flintsky7706 Рік тому +3

      Kinda hard when there’s an ad every 3 minutes, Jesus.

  • @Mrblueridgeman
    @Mrblueridgeman Рік тому +138

    It’s amazing to hear this narrative in such a calm manner. It must have been a horrendous feeling falling back constantly, knowing that you cannot hold back the advancing enemy. It also reinforces the importance of air superiority.

    • @jeffmcdonald4225
      @jeffmcdonald4225 Рік тому

      Germany declared war on the U.S. They got what they asked for.

    • @francisebbecke2727
      @francisebbecke2727 Рік тому +7

      I met Omar Bradley in 1981 at Fort Bliss, TX. He gave a talk and stated that he, hopefully, will be the last US general that had to fight when the enemy had air superority. He stopped in mid sentence and said, "Don't do this."

    • @feedingravens
      @feedingravens Рік тому +5

      I have heard that prior to D-Day, it was the explicit plan to wear out the german Luftwaffe to gain total air superiority.
      So the bomber attacks were more bait to lure the german fighters into the air than to achieve real strategic bombing results (I will come back to that).
      The US "escort" fighters were given the allowance to go after the german fighters, even when that meant to leave the bombers unprotected.
      This achieved its purpose - but at the cost of a lot of bomber crew that might have been saved had the escorts resorted to shielding off enemy fighters
      One thing that is almost miraculous is that it took the allies until July 1944 to attack an absolute crucial key industry, german fuel production.
      Giant plants that could not be hidden and moved underground to convert coal into fuel. Way easier to hit with imprecise carpet bombing as e.g. the ball bearing industry, where you really have to directly hit the comparably tiny workshop in between all the civilian housing around it. .
      And within 3 months of bombing the german fuel production was down to 30%. And the germans were notoriously short of fuel anyhow.
      Just look at all the images there are of abandoned german tanks, or the lines of hundreds of Me 262 parked along the Salzburg Autobahn - without fuel.
      At the day of capitulation, it is said the total fuel reserves was down to 20,000 tons.

    • @shenmisheshou7002
      @shenmisheshou7002 Рік тому +3

      Air power is indeed the #1 priority for modern warfare. During Desert Storm, before the ground attack, the B52s pounded the entrenched Iraqis with such intensity that they were beat before the ground war started. The A10 destroyed 987 tanks, 926 artillery pieces, 1,355 combat vehicles, and shot down two helicopters. It could not have done that without air superiority. (The Bradley IFVs are thought to have destroyed as many enemy tanks as the Abrams.. Are tanks dead? The Marines think so (and when I was in the Marines 40 years ago, the commanders were already questioning the role of the tank due to the logistics required to keep them running and the growing sophistication of anti-armor weapons). I don't think they are "dead" but at the same time, I think they have a very limited application. If you have air superiority, a tank is just a target.

    • @gargoyle38
      @gargoyle38 Рік тому +2

      @@feedingravens I've read --after the war -- intelligence concluded the German electrical grid was the overlooked weak link in their wartime production.

  • @michaelwoehl8822
    @michaelwoehl8822 Рік тому +107

    This is the best recollection by a German officer describing the disintegration of the German Army in France I have ever run into, amazing, wonder if this guy knew how lucky he was. Great job.

  • @RNemy509
    @RNemy509 Рік тому +58

    Fantastic retelling of this incredible time in history. I always appreciate the "other side's" perspective from WW2

    • @here_we_go_again2571
      @here_we_go_again2571 Рік тому

      It is certainly nice to hear
      from the soldiers and the
      lower ranks of the officers.
      Puts things in perspective.

  • @dxn4456
    @dxn4456 Рік тому +17

    These stories are utterly captivating. Thank you for uploading these!

  • @PatrickBaele
    @PatrickBaele Рік тому +15

    Yes this flight through Belgium ending in Duren brings back a lot of memories from my Belgian family and later as the son of a Belgian NATO major even more.
    I still hear the stories from my mom (86) and dad (88) how the Germans had to flee with their tails between their legs as fast as possible, Lille, Namur, Montdidier, Compiegne, Liege, Reims. , Duren etc,etc are all towns I know since childhood. Regularly still seeing the monuments for deads and executed ones from the 2 wars….my family was very exalted when they were kicked out. Believe me.
    Great to hear one of them giving an accurate description because that’s the side of the story I hear the first time in 62 years. I myself was born in Cologne as the son of one of the occupying force after the war.

  • @TeresaE116
    @TeresaE116 Рік тому +18

    I’m not first but, I wanted to let @WorldWar2Stories how much I love these videos. I listen 🎧 to them before bed. I know that sounds strange 🤷🏼‍♀️ but, the narrator’s voice is soothing and the diaries are fascinating. Thank you 😊

  • @davep153
    @davep153 Рік тому +82

    My father was a tanker in the 60s. I thought that the tanks were invincible as a kid.
    These stories show just how my ideas were far from correct.
    RIP to all those lost in these beasts of war.😞

    • @ottovonbismarck2443
      @ottovonbismarck2443 Рік тому +5

      To put it into perspective: there weren't too many eye-witness reports from 16th LwFeld division which suffered the same bombardement.

    • @spikenomoon
      @spikenomoon Рік тому +6

      As a kid you can’t imagine steel being damaged. It so crazy that something you can’t see is the most destructive force on Earth.

    • @emmetjames3
      @emmetjames3 Рік тому +7

      My time in the 3rd Armored Div in Germany in the '60s proved they are impressive but not invincible.

    • @Michael.Freeman
      @Michael.Freeman Рік тому +7

      My father was in command of 3 tanks welsh guards armoured division spearheading the advance to Germxny from the beachhead. He was blown up twice captured but escaped twice. A real hero who survived for me to tell his story. Now in Ukrain we have another bloody european war facing an enemy that has no regard for the life of its own soldiers the same as Hitler. I thought my Father's war would be the last ....how wrong l was. 😢

    • @ottovonbismarck2443
      @ottovonbismarck2443 Рік тому +4

      @@Michael.Freeman I'm sorry to tell you there will always be war and there will always be insane leaders. Unfortunately, that's as human as love and pizza. 😞
      My father was 11 when WW2 ended in Europe. Their treck from Yugoslawia ("Volksdeutsche", ethnic Germans, although Dad was born in East Prussia) was ever so close to being overrun by Russian tanks when they made it across the literal last bridge near Stuhlweißenburg in Hungary. The bridge was held open by two Tiger IIs (of sPz.Abt.503, as I found out) who killed a few spearheading Russian tanks. Engineers blew up the bridge right after the refugees had crossed.
      Imagine these Tiger II had instead shot up your dad in the West ... both of us wouldn't be here. Cheers mate !

  • @terryroots5023
    @terryroots5023 Рік тому +108

    The utter chaos. He was very determined, the effort to recover tanks, arrange repairs and fuel, and transport them is astonishing. Amazing that the Wehrmacht was still able to fight for further month's.

    • @MM22966
      @MM22966 Рік тому +13

      For years. This is only one small taste of North Africa, Italy, France, Russia, Germany itself, etc. They gave everything while being systematically being ground into hamburger. Pity the bravery was for what they were defending.

    • @andrewlerdard-dickson5201
      @andrewlerdard-dickson5201 Рік тому +6

      Not Wehrmacht.....Waffen SS Panzer Schwere Abteilung 101.....Kommandeur Obersturmbannfuhrer Heinz Von Westerhagen's younger brother SS Unterscharfuhrer Rolf Von Westerhagen's was in the 3rd battalion.
      And Ritterkreuz awarded winner SS Untersturmfuhrer Alfred Gunther was killed.
      To which this unit was heavily bombed by the RAF on this day

    • @ditto1958
      @ditto1958 Рік тому +7

      Yes, amazing. But armies in both world wars were huge. The Germans were also fighting in the East and in Italy.

    • @ericscottstevens
      @ericscottstevens Рік тому +11

      It was strictly forbidden for a Tiger to tow another Tiger. The engine just could not handle that strain to pulling 108 tons. Still crews did it as recovery vehicles were most usually not to be found. Many Tigers were abandoned due to non recovery.

    • @mikearmstrong8483
      @mikearmstrong8483 Рік тому +8

      ​@@andrewlerdard-dickson5201
      Not Wermacht? Yes and no.
      The common misconception is that the German army was called the Wermacht. It was actually called the Heer.
      Wermacht referred to the German armed forces, including the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Heer.
      As for the SS, it is debatable if they can be called Wermacht since they were a politically autonomous organization that was under Wermacht operational control (sometimes).

  • @finaloption...
    @finaloption... Рік тому +54

    It's awesome to hear the personal story of what was on the other end of my old man's guns. He would have liked to hear this.

    • @catinthehat906
      @catinthehat906 Рік тому +10

      The tank that took out 2 Tigers from 1000+ yards must have been a Sherman Firefly, interesting to know that German tank commanders were still unaware of that capability at this point.

    • @alandavis9644
      @alandavis9644 Рік тому

      @@catinthehat906 I suspect the 803rd Tank Destroyer was the killer of those Tigers. The 76 MM Armour piercing round punched out those Tigers and the 75MM gun on the Shermans had to close within 500 yards to do any damage. The Tank Destroyer has been given no credit by you history guys. Doubt you even heard of them.

    • @catinthehat906
      @catinthehat906 Рік тому

      @@alandavis9644 The QF 17-pounder on the Sherman Firefly was superior to the M7 gun on the M10 tank destroyer and there are many verified accounts of Fireflies knocking out Tigers and Panthers- which is why the Germans targeted them first. What seems incredible is that the American's didn't arm the Sherman with the QF 17 pounder in the first place.

    • @alandavis9644
      @alandavis9644 Рік тому

      @@catinthehat906 All that you have mentioned came later on the western front. The were not available at Normandy.

    • @catinthehat906
      @catinthehat906 Рік тому +2

      @@alandavis9644 I would brush up on your WW2 history if I were you. Production of the Firefly started in January 1944 and, by 31 May, some 342 Sherman Fireflies had been delivered to the 21st Army Group for the D-Day landings. The Americans weren't the only ones fighting the Germans in Normandy.

  • @pacificostudios
    @pacificostudios Рік тому +36

    In his 1944 book "Brave Men," Ernie Pyle describes witnessing seeing Allied carpet-bombing in Normandy, and also the aftermath. It amazed even him, and he had witnessed things like the invasion of Sicily.

    • @kimweaver1252
      @kimweaver1252 Рік тому +4

      At the same time that the bombs were raining out of the sky, the Navy was in full assault with their BIG, and not so big, guns. A full broadside from a battleship main gun battery would evaporate a small village or the top of a hill. A ton of steel and TNT hitting at 1000 feet per second wouldn't even have to blow up to level a house.

  • @edhill8341
    @edhill8341 Рік тому +1

    These are very instructive stories by combat veterans, even better than the police cam videos which feature drivers escalating traffic stops into felony charges.

  • @markwagstaff7209
    @markwagstaff7209 Рік тому +3

    As ex tank crew I found this recollection fantastically interesting many thanks

  • @77goanywhere
    @77goanywhere Рік тому +49

    As one American general put it. "The reason we won in the end was because we had in tons what the Germans had in kilos." Logistics and supply wins wars. Tactics and bravery without those things in superior measure can only delays defeat.

    • @terryzanger7152
      @terryzanger7152 Рік тому +5

      And one he'll of a lot of Russian blood

    • @Kimdino1
      @Kimdino1 Рік тому +4

      Or as Yamamoto put it on his way to Pearl Harbour "We need to knock the Americans out of the war before they have time to put their huge industrial capacity on a war footing". Hence the need for a surprise attack, he knew they couldn't win against a USA that had time to prepare.

    • @xisotopex
      @xisotopex Рік тому

      a german general said something like " we knocked out ten of their tanks for every 9 of ours... unfortunately they always had 11 tanks..." lol

    • @kimweaver1252
      @kimweaver1252 Рік тому +2

      You have to be able to make up losses. The Ruzzuns are being reminded of that truism today.

    • @Tom_Cruise_Missile
      @Tom_Cruise_Missile Рік тому

      ​@@xisotopexthat was, to be fair, a huge exaggeration, especially in the west.

  • @YahooMurray
    @YahooMurray Рік тому +26

    Love the USAF - I enlisted December 1969 until January 1974. Ask the Marines at Khe San if they loved the B 52's that kept the NVA from overrunning their perimeter.

    • @philmullins136
      @philmullins136 Рік тому +7

      B52s, you will think the trumpets have sounded. The end of time has struck when the bombs start falling on your head. I give you my respect. Best wishes to you.

    • @WhiteWolf65
      @WhiteWolf65 Рік тому +4

      @@philmullins136 Agreed... that is one thing David Drake noted in his stories that weren't hidden in Sci-Fi lingo: ArcLight missions were a thing of wonder, but best admired at a considerable distance. He wrote a lovely story "Arclight", it is in his collections " The Military Dimension " (1991), and re-issue " The Military Dimension II " (1995)

    • @HarryJamesBooks
      @HarryJamesBooks Рік тому +1

      @@WhiteWolf65 They actually fcked up badly on one of the raids this guy described and due to differences in wind (at alt and on the ground) bombed their own dust cloud which wasn't unreasonable tactics during that period. Problem was the dust cloud was moving back to the Allied lines rather than the way they thought is was.

    • @tonyromano6220
      @tonyromano6220 Рік тому +1

      @@HarryJamesBooksinteresting, I forget how primitive navigation was in ww2.

    • @HarryJamesBooks
      @HarryJamesBooks Рік тому +5

      @@tonyromano6220 As the RAF joke used to go: "hit the target? we're lucky if we hit the right country"

  • @TheCursedHonestTruth
    @TheCursedHonestTruth Рік тому +8

    I love this narrator! Who is he? I've heard his audio book narrations before and loved it. Expressive and crystal clear to understand. Awesome!

    • @putrid.p
      @putrid.p Рік тому

      It's computer synthesised. Probably the best synthesised voice I've ever heard but still jarring for me.

    • @sodadrinker89
      @sodadrinker89 Рік тому

      ​@@putrid.pYeah, still synthetic.

  • @patrickbarrett5650
    @patrickbarrett5650 Рік тому +4

    Fascinating account, small details that others never mention. I really enjoyed this. 👏🏻

  • @crufflerdoug
    @crufflerdoug Рік тому +26

    Imagine how surprised he would have been to learn of Rommel’s actual situation.

    • @davestier6247
      @davestier6247 Рік тому +4

      What, that Rommel was epically overrated and ended up leaving with his tail between his legs?

    • @jimthompson3030
      @jimthompson3030 Рік тому

      Rommel was not over rated he was taken back to Germany to be murdered for trying to kill Trumps idle hitler. read a history book learn something!!!

  • @maxplanck9055
    @maxplanck9055 Рік тому +12

    This is a story of how effective air power can be, a powerful ground force can be obliterated if air defences are minimal ✌️❤️🇬🇧

    • @FrancisFjordCupola
      @FrancisFjordCupola Рік тому

      Overwhelming would be more accurate than effective; compare the number of bombers to the number of tanks bombed.

  • @jaredmoyes81
    @jaredmoyes81 Рік тому +3

    Keep it coming. I'll listen, comment, and like everything you do with this

  • @aphilippinesadventure9184
    @aphilippinesadventure9184 Рік тому +20

    My uncle was a tanker in France. They were fighting in hedgerow country- massive old growing wooden walls. His buddies were in the forward tank, some 80 yards ahead downhill. They were approaching an intersection. The number two tank
    With my uncle saw that a Panzer had entered the hedgerow path that ran at right angles to my uncle's course. Apparently, the lead tank could not see their peril and continued towards the intersection with the aligned panzer just 200 yards distant. On foot, men tried the phone on the outside of the tank without results. They beat on the tank sides with their rifle butts to get the attention of the crew to stop them but to no effect.
    The lead tank rolled into that intersection and was immediately hit by the panzer lying in wait. The tank exploded and glowed as if red hot, cremating the tank grew, my uncle's friends, immediately.
    And people wondered why, after the war, he was sometimes not right in his head. Yet he married, raised a good family and lived till near 90. May he rest in peace.

    • @twt000
      @twt000 Рік тому

      Uncle? Are you 100 years old?

    • @aphilippinesadventure9184
      @aphilippinesadventure9184 Рік тому +3

      @@twt000 Baby boomers had fathers and uncles in the war...do the math

    • @twt000
      @twt000 Рік тому

      @@aphilippinesadventure9184 The math makes them 100 years old. Maybe 90.
      Plus, how many people just say that?

    • @aphilippinesadventure9184
      @aphilippinesadventure9184 Рік тому +6

      @@twt000 lol...Very few WWII vets left. Many boomers, like me, had parents and uncles in that war. The time in the narrative was 78 years ago. I'm past 60. I'm talking about an uncle who was passed away 15 years back. There is no unusual math about this. You went to public school I assume? Lol

    • @twt000
      @twt000 Рік тому

      @@aphilippinesadventure9184 So uncle was 40 plus years older? Still weird but possible I guess. WW2 vets are 100 years old now, most not around.

  • @philipvlnst
    @philipvlnst Рік тому +2

    Despite all the chaos that was going on, the narrator still had to do paper work. He was such a great storyteller that I thought would be in for a not so exciting narrative. But as it turns out, my ears were glued to the events he narrated. I wish their were a continuation of the story.

  • @petesmusic6648
    @petesmusic6648 Рік тому +12

    Fantastic work 👍 1st class , great channel , well appreciated 🙏 thanks ,

  • @dougallmcmillan8970
    @dougallmcmillan8970 Рік тому +1

    Great narration

  • @bigbrowntau
    @bigbrowntau Рік тому +8

    Thank you so much for sharing this. It's fascinating to hear how things went on a day by day basis. Looking at a map while listening really gives you a sense of how things went badly so quickly.

  • @alswann2702
    @alswann2702 Рік тому +4

    Amazing content! Thanks for sharing.

  • @ericscottstevens
    @ericscottstevens Рік тому +28

    35:00 During transport the wide tracks were usually stowed under the tank in 2 long rows. This may be an error in translation. Sometimes the wide tracks were rolled into coils and stacked vertically in front or behind the Tiger. In all the whole track swap took at least 5 hours to complete as additional wheel sets had to be removed when the Tiger was configured for rail transport. As Tiger crews said they were worked to death mechanically toiling with these machines.

    • @michaelkenny8540
      @michaelkenny8540 Рік тому

      TII did not remove any road wheels.

    • @ericscottstevens
      @ericscottstevens Рік тому +2

      @@michaelkenny8540 Late Tiger I did not either with the steel road wheels and the eliminating of those outer most road wheel sets. The planners should have thought out all of this but time was not on their side. Tiger crews really had a distaste for those interleaved road wheel set anyways as they caused many issues.

    • @WhiteWolf65
      @WhiteWolf65 Рік тому +2

      @@ericscottstevens Especially on the Eastern Front, in the freezing Russian winter. Mud and slush would get in there, and freeze overnight. It often had to be steamed out... with whatever source they could find.

    • @ottovonbismarck2443
      @ottovonbismarck2443 Рік тому

      @@WhiteWolf65 Which is utter nonsense, especially in summer 🙂 The common procedure in case of "urgency" with frozen road wheels was to start the engine, 1st gear in and and off you went. And it didn't matter if your Tiger, T-34 or Sherman was "frozen in". Tank engines and transmissions are strong enough to deal with that sh**. Anyway, you want to get rid of of a bit of that frozen stuff not to stress the system too much, and you don't want to carry a ton of frozen mud around, but you'd have to do that on any tank. Especially Shermans would sink a bit deeper in the mud before freezing. Starting said engine in the cold could be a different thing, but again, that's a problem for everyone to share, especially T-34 with a Diesel engine.
      I have to come across the first report to say: "1st platoon couldn't make it because they were frozen."

    • @johncarlaw8633
      @johncarlaw8633 Рік тому

      ​@@ottovonbismarck2443 Slab concrete, poured floors, footpaths etc is 20MPa compressive strength after 30 days cure. 15-25 Mpa requires little care to achieve but is not suitable for larger and self supporting structures.
      Near 0C ice turns to water under pressure and dislodges easily.
      Resistance increases greatly with colder temperature.
      At -10C coarse plain ice is 0.5Mpa, fine grain 0.7, sand mixed with ice 1MPa.
      At -20C, 3MPa, 5 MPa, 7 MPa. Not quite concrete but not negligible.
      Highly variable depending on ice grain and aggregate but could form hard to crack and dislodge chunks. Basically ice chunks can be like rocks at -20C, a temperature not uncommon in a russian winter.
      Steel can undergo cold embrittlement promoting brittle fracture and accelerating existing strain from -20C, even up to 0C for harder higher carbon steel.
      What is the weakest link in your power train and tracks grinding ice/sand slurry at -20C?

  • @tinostruckmann
    @tinostruckmann Рік тому +1

    I love that you used a screen grab with me from the movie Iron Cross - if you ever need more just ask🙂

  • @dennisfordii9737
    @dennisfordii9737 Рік тому +3

    Another thing that has always boggled my mind is the logistics involved ....at any given time and no matter the number of people .....must have been crazy !!!

  • @alexius9072
    @alexius9072 Рік тому +12

    Starting to think the success or failure of different tanks wasnt the tanks themselfs but the quality of salvage and repair service as they keep getting taken out by perfectly repairable damage :P

    • @grahvis
      @grahvis Рік тому +1

      That was where the real damage from rocket attacks and strafing occurred, not in actually hitting tanks.

    • @FrancisFjordCupola
      @FrancisFjordCupola Рік тому

      Logistics, supplies for the army as a whole. As for the vehicles themselves, people often put too much focus on hard stats: what's its maximum speed on freshly laid asphalt? How thick is its armor at the thickest point? What boom boom stick is mounted in the turret? Ergonomics and crew training are overlooked. Some people call the T-34 the best tank of the war. In reality, no other tank model had as many of them knocked out as the T-34. Some think it invented sloping armor, even though medieval knights had sloping armor and even German panzers do feature some sloping armor too. Because of the sloping armor, the space inside the T-34 was very limited, making it harder to operate. It was so cramped the rate of fire suffered greatly. Early models featured no radio or intercom. The commander was expected to stick his head out of the turret and wave flags at other tanks to pass commands. And yes, plenty of German tanks were recovered, repaired and put back into action. At the opening phases of the war in the east that wasn't as much an option for the Soviets as the Germans pushed them eastward. But eventually, the Soviets too got good at recovery and repair.

  • @AS-zk6hz
    @AS-zk6hz Рік тому +3

    1000 bombers in am 1000 bomber raid in afternoon. With 1000 British bombers in night The German population was breaking down as nobody could live like that

  • @kungfuwitcher7621
    @kungfuwitcher7621 Рік тому +7

    Very interesting to hear such a compelling account of the war. I can imagine many reflected that the war was futile by 41. Must have been very disconcerting to know you could be wiped out any second.

    • @Kimdino1
      @Kimdino1 Рік тому +1

      As a 'Cold War kid' I feel the need to add a bit here. That was also disconcerting. Knowing that you could be annihilated at any time with just 'Four Minutes' warning. Especially likely if you lived within the nuclear blast radius of a military base (which here in Britain is just about everywhere). But over the years we just learnt to live with the threat.
      But it must have been a lot more intense for this guy.

  • @daviddavid5880
    @daviddavid5880 Рік тому +2

    I recommend reading "D-Day Through German Eyes" sometime. It's pretty eye-opening.

  • @maxplanck9055
    @maxplanck9055 Рік тому +5

    Interesting to hear the experience of large scale air attack from a German point of view in France ✌️❤️🇬🇧

  • @michaelwhiles5282
    @michaelwhiles5282 Рік тому +2

    Most interesting - thanks for posting

  • @twotone3070
    @twotone3070 Рік тому +14

    That was very interesting, I was trying to follow his movements on maps but it took ages to find the places from the pronunciations and I had no idea of the distances he may be covering. Perhaps it could have been provided in the video? Would have added a great deal to the commentary.

  • @BoydBrandson
    @BoydBrandson Рік тому +1

    Station at Baden Solingen, 1984 to 1988 was second battalion P.P.C.LI. I was at both these places which are still operational by the way. good Training. grounds.

  • @tonyadeney1245
    @tonyadeney1245 Рік тому

    very professional audio tick good job

  • @RobertGotschall-y2f
    @RobertGotschall-y2f Рік тому

    Thank you much.

  • @suchdevelopments
    @suchdevelopments Рік тому

    😄🌏Very enjoyable STORY👍👍

  • @provost5752
    @provost5752 Рік тому +2

    This poor guy went through hell and back. This would make a great movie

  • @DavidFMayerPhD
    @DavidFMayerPhD Рік тому +2

    A party????? That is absurd.

  • @Rebel-Rouser
    @Rebel-Rouser Рік тому

    I read this book, Panzer ace. Great read. Thank you for bringing to audio

  • @limyrob1383
    @limyrob1383 Рік тому +1

    14:30 - Do we think he's describing being hit by a Firefly?

  • @nhtom8
    @nhtom8 Рік тому +1

    I keep reminding myself: They should never have been occupying France to begin with. There is no innocence in this man's words.

  • @bobhenry6159
    @bobhenry6159 Рік тому +4

    This guys dedication to continue fighting is amazing.

    • @AnthonyOMulligan-yv9cg
      @AnthonyOMulligan-yv9cg Рік тому

      Amazingly Stoopid

    • @bobhenry6159
      @bobhenry6159 Рік тому

      @@AnthonyOMulligan-yv9cg War was amazingly stupid. Crazy leaders of all nationalities depend on ill-informed men like him. The Vietnam war proved that.

    • @pjmlegrande
      @pjmlegrande Рік тому

      @@AnthonyOMulligan-yv9cgHe performed very well, which is what he’d been trained to do even when faced with very difficult circumstances. This is what you would want from any military professional. I like to think of myself as a realist with a pretty good notion of human nature and while I think the world can be wonderful in its variety and beauty, I know, from my 75 years, that it is also a potentially dangerous world, owing to human folly. I’m not militaristic-minded by any means, although I grew up as a military brat and served 4 years in the USN. Yet, I know that it’s absolutely necessary that the U.S. continues to field a standing military that is highly trained and well supplied. And I would hope that our military is producing officers of the caliber of that German Tiger tanker.

  • @ditto1958
    @ditto1958 Рік тому +3

    It’s fascinating to hear these accounts of Operation Cobra. Here in the US all we hear about is how the attack was a snafu bc we bombed our own lines- we did that, and it was a snafu that could have been avoided- but we aren’t told about how it was vastly more devastating to the Germans, and how it was actually very successful. The Allies did break out of the hedgerows and proceeded to race across France.

  • @kennethrose5422
    @kennethrose5422 Рік тому +3

    It is so interesting to hear from the side of the war

  • @kimweaver1252
    @kimweaver1252 Рік тому +18

    My uncle flew a P-38 in Europe. He loved shooting and rocketing tanks. He more enjoyed strafing trains, as he liked the way that they would shoot out steam before disappearing in a huge boiler explosion.

    • @OHUQTU
      @OHUQTU Рік тому +3

      My father was a POW of the Germans - he witnessed the effects of trains carrying POWs, strafed by American and Brit pilots - they tried to kill anything that moved - many times he had to take cover when being marched away from the front lines.

    • @davidcox3076
      @davidcox3076 Рік тому +3

      @@OHUQTU Yep. If it moved on roads, rails or rivers during daylight, it was going to draw Allied fighter-bombers.

    • @LJWalter78
      @LJWalter78 Рік тому +1

      (@davidCox)When he returned home did he also enjoy torturing and dismembering animals? Verbally and physically abusing his family? Drowning small kittens in puddles? Constantly leaving toilet seats in the down position?… not washing his hands after using the bathroom and immediately shaking the hands of others?
      Sounds like a dangerous man to me.

    • @kimweaver1252
      @kimweaver1252 Рік тому +4

      @@LJWalter78 Oh, no, not that sort of low key psychopathy......he was MUCH worse than that. He built a house in Orange Co. CA and became a REPUBLICAN!

    • @corerlt
      @corerlt Рік тому +2

      @@kimweaver1252 Can you blame him? He had had enough of fighting the German socialists.

  • @davefellhoelter1343
    @davefellhoelter1343 Рік тому +2

    Very Nice to follow a real Enemy Soldier's Journey at the END! just Imagine the Steam Roller of Allied Men and Materials ROLLING OVER while Rolling UP the Wehrmacht!!!

  • @warwarneverchanges4937
    @warwarneverchanges4937 Рік тому +11

    If you follow his journey on a map this guy basically toured the whole front back and forward paralell not retreating looking to recover 2 tanks. And this is only one guy trying to "hustle" his way with forgery of wehicle papers etc. It gives a much more improvised wiew rather than strict german dicipline.

  • @bshnabel
    @bshnabel Рік тому

    Very interesting, thank you

  • @paulbeesley8283
    @paulbeesley8283 Рік тому +11

    The two tanks lost to frontal hits were probably shot by a "Firefly," - a Sherman, fitted with a British, 17lb gun. All allied tank units had some, but they were brand new in Normandy, which is why he had no idea what had hit them.

    • @Tom_Cruise_Missile
      @Tom_Cruise_Missile Рік тому

      Could've been tank destroyers. We had plenty with the 76mm that could waste a tiger.

    • @paulbeesley8283
      @paulbeesley8283 Рік тому

      @@Tom_Cruise_Missile I do believe an M 10 with an M7 gun would piece the front plate of a Tiger. The 90mm armed M 36 would, but they were all further west, in the American Sector, of the front

    • @Tom_Cruise_Missile
      @Tom_Cruise_Missile Рік тому +1

      @@paulbeesley8283 I believe there was a British variant of the m10. It was armed with the 17 pounder, and is known to have destroyed some big cats in Normandy.

    • @paulbeesley8283
      @paulbeesley8283 Рік тому

      @@Tom_Cruise_Missile Ah, that would probably have done the trick.
      Thank you for the info'.

    • @Tom_Cruise_Missile
      @Tom_Cruise_Missile Рік тому

      @@paulbeesley8283 no problem! They're a very obscure vehicle, I don't blame you for not thinking about them.

  • @freesk8
    @freesk8 Рік тому +4

    Moral of the story: everything depended on maintaining air superiority. When Germany lost this, it lost the war.

  • @waynevaughan9325
    @waynevaughan9325 Рік тому

    Fantastic vid. Real facts from someone who was there Brilliant.

  • @alastair-r3676
    @alastair-r3676 Рік тому +1

    This story would be even better if you did a map overview of what’s happening.

  • @maxplanck9055
    @maxplanck9055 Рік тому +3

    I notice with air attack a lot of people simply disappear,vaporised by explosion,✌️❤️🇬🇧

    • @robertbarlow6715
      @robertbarlow6715 Рік тому

      Daddy was a paratrooper over there he told us boys he saw people disappear.

    • @pbxn-3rdx-85percent
      @pbxn-3rdx-85percent Рік тому

      I guess a bomb that explodes very near to people blows their body like a child blows a dandelion flower but in microseconds speed. All the muscle, bones, organs and body fluids are shredded by the high-hypersonic speed of gases and scattered. Google search states TNT has a detonation velocity of 6,940 meters per second.

  • @rexfrommn3316
    @rexfrommn3316 Рік тому +1

    The Allies in Normandy had Army Air Forces tactical forward air controllers, often riding on tanks, with radios tuned into the same radio frequencies as Allied fighter bombers. So these radio controlled fighter-bomber attacks were deadly accurate once camouflaged Wehrmacht tanks gave away their positions from firing. Allied tanks or artillery guns would fire colored smoke to mark enemy targets to help radio controllers guide Allied fighter-bombers accurately to their targets. Casualties for tank crews, supply troops and mechanics soared amongst the German Wehrmacht. Tanks are worthless without constant supplies of fuel, ammunition and mechanical spare parts including engines, road wheels and transmissions. RAF Typhoons with an assortment of rockets, cannon and/or three or four 500lbs bombs or napalm would pummel Wehrmacht tanks. P-47's with eight .50 caliber machine guns, rockets, or about 2,000 bomb load or napalm canisters were the American equivalent. These Allied fighter-bombers pulverized Wermacht armored columns. It became nearly impossible for the Germans to deploy armor during daylight hours without being massacred by Alllied fighter-bombers.
    Allied medium tactical bombers destroyed vital German bridges, supply dumps, transportation infrastructure and railhead infrastructure. These medium bombers caused heavy losses and delays of German motorized supply columns. It was not uncommon for nightime German supply column traffic jams to form around destroyed bridges as frantic exhausted repair crews tried to fix the wrecked bridges before dawn. These German motorized supply columns often couldn't disperse before daylight. Allied fighter-bombers destroyed these bunched up German truck columns. General Eisenhower also insisted upon his Transportation plan with heavy Allied bomber attacking French railways, transportation depots, road networks, supply dumps, air runways, river barges etc. to isolate Normany's landing areas from German main supply routes. Ike's Transportation Plan worked brilliantly proving decisive in the German Wehrmacht defeat at the Failaise-Argentan pocket battle in Normandy during August, 1944. Ike threatened to resign his command forcing reluctant American and British Air Force commanders of heavy bombers to support his Transportation Plan. It is safe to assume that Ike's Transportation Plan combined with the constant Allied tactical and operational bombing campaign shortened the war and saved countless lives of Allied infantry soldiers.
    The point I am trying to make here to everyone is that allegedly superior heavy Tiger or Panther tanks without fuel, spare parts, regular engine/transmission overhauls and fresh ammunition supplies are nothing but worthless scrap metal sitting on th side of the roadway. Some German tank fans and commentators have said that Alied fighter-bombers were inaccurate with low hit rates on German tanks. The German troops on the receiving end of Allied fighter-bomber attacks seem to have different ideas. It became a very heavy casualty causing event to move a German tank column during daylight hours even across a short stretch of field to a new place of hiding such as a grove of trees. Also, no one can live forever in a tank either. Tank crews had get out of their tanks regularly to perform constant maintenance on their heavy tanks. Hours of track maintenance, cleaning adjusting etc. must be performed on heavy tanks daily. German soldiers caught out in the open working on their tanks became casualties in near constant Allied fighter-bomber attacks. Constant Allied air attacks with rates of 1500 sorties per day or more in Normandy decimated trained Wehrmacht service troops, tank crews and highly trained mechanical troops necesary to keep armored units operational. The lessons here for military history students are quite clear. It is necessary to have air superiority with modern fighters along with integrated strong ground air defense systems in order to have maneuver warfare with armored units and mechanized infantry units. This lesson applies to Normandy in WW2 to Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War where I served as a career soldier.

  • @JamesLaserpimpWalsh
    @JamesLaserpimpWalsh Рік тому

    We dont need thousand bomber raids now. We have JDAMs Thanks for the vid.

  • @cmendla
    @cmendla Рік тому

    The is an amazing story ..

  • @THE-PEDIGREE
    @THE-PEDIGREE Рік тому +1

    Thank u 💯💯💯

  • @Hawkeye2001
    @Hawkeye2001 Рік тому +1

    Amazing, hearing the events after D-Day from a German perspective.

  • @asullivan4047
    @asullivan4047 Рік тому +6

    Interesting and informative. Excellent photography picture 📷 enabling viewers to better understand what the orator was describing. Class A research project!!! Special thanks to the veteran soldiers sharing their personal information/experiences. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Fighting/perishing/surviving knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often possible. Yet still advanced forward regardless of the consequences. True grit style determination to succeed. A totally disillusioned/worthless endeavor on the part of the German armies. Once again Berlin didn't seem to care about the predicaments of the German armies. Placing himmler in command??? A disaster waiting to happen. And it did placing the panzer tanks into a state of disillusioned state of disarray.

  • @ronalddesiderio7625
    @ronalddesiderio7625 Рік тому +6

    Ya f with an industrial powerhouse ya pay the price. Doesn’t matter how tough you are. The volume will consume you 💥

    • @4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz
      @4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz 2 місяці тому

      If the UK alone was able to keep the Germans in check for a year, they had zero chance when America joined the war. Invading Russia only sealed their doom.

  • @davemilke3110
    @davemilke3110 Рік тому +1

    Hello, what is the source transcript? Von Rosen's book? memoir? Thanks for answer in advance - and of course, the video itself.

    • @JuleyC
      @JuleyC Рік тому +2

      Yes his memoir

  • @jeromedavis8261
    @jeromedavis8261 Рік тому

    Saving private Ryan and Band of Brothers was very well done. Not many movies out there that have good tank battles. The movie Bridge at Remagen was great though.

  • @salsheikh4508
    @salsheikh4508 Рік тому +1

    It's Tino Von Struckman!!

  • @uralbob1
    @uralbob1 Рік тому +9

    Tremendous narrative! Unbelievable!

  • @Bodkin_Ye_Pointy
    @Bodkin_Ye_Pointy Рік тому +2

    Got to say, if you read any history on the British and Canadians under Montgomery you would understand the loss of so many tanks to air attack was no surprise. Montgomery was an all arms General and use of the RAF and USAAF in a tactical manner was an established procedure. In the book Monty's Men, interviews with British soldiers described destroyed Tigers after bombing to the point that tigers had been flipped with their crews killed by concussion alone. The book was written by John Buckley.

    • @michaelkenny8540
      @michaelkenny8540 Рік тому +1

      In the whole of NWE 1944-45 there was but a single (One) Tiger overturned by bombing. The vast majority of flipped tanks (of any type) were pushed off the road by bulldozers.

    • @freddieclark
      @freddieclark Рік тому

      The problem with that claim is that it has been thoroughly debunked. In post battle analysis both British and American inspectors found that the claims of allied air kills on German armour were pretty much fantasy. For instance between the 7th and 10th August, the 2nd Tactical Air Force of the 9th USAAF claimed to have destroyed 120-140 tanks, yet of the 46 Axis tanks lost, only 9 of them could be attributed to aircraft. Similarly in August 1944 the RAF claimed to have destroyed 135 tanks in the Goodwood area, but the British “Office of Research and Analysis” examined 300 Axis tanks and found that only 10 were actually hit and damaged by the Typhoon’s RP-3 rockets.

  • @anthonywilson4873
    @anthonywilson4873 Рік тому +13

    The Typhoon was our airborne tank. Bombs and rockets working every day. Pin point accuracy based in UK originally and then close to the front. The rockets had 60Lb warheads and where the equivalent of a cruiser broadside. Read the the Book the day of the Typhoon there should be a film about them. The pilots flying them where as tough as they get. Their fighting was through everything the enemy could throw at them.

    • @IanJohnGonzales
      @IanJohnGonzales Рік тому

      Krauts call them "Jabus"

    • @gordonfrickers5592
      @gordonfrickers5592 Рік тому +1

      Yes, very brave pilots too, far more aircraft were lost to ground fire than to enemy fighters.
      Despite that the Typhoons did very effective work in helping rout the Germans in France.

    • @bigwoody4704
      @bigwoody4704 Рік тому +2

      solid fuel rockets were not pinpoint many went off target,they show film of the ones that didn't.A P47 would carry an external belly fuel tank and one 500-lb bomb under each wing; many were also configured so that the plane could carry air-to-ground rockets, typically ten 5-in HVARs (high-velocity aircraft rockets). P47s on an armed reconnaissance mission would usually operate three flights, two armed with a mix of bombs and rockets, and the cover flight carrying only rockets. Over 80 percent of the bombs dropped by P47s during the European campaign were 500-lb weapons; less than 10 percent were 1,000-lb bombs, and the difference was made up by smaller 260-lb fragmentation bombs and napalm. While acknowledging the spectacular effects and destructiveness of rockets, the AAF considered bombs more effective for "road work" due to accuracy problems in firing the solid-fuel weapons.

    • @gordonfrickers5592
      @gordonfrickers5592 Рік тому

      @@bigwoody4704 Thank you for your worthy contribution. I hope you don't missunderstand me in as much as I would never wish to belittle the U S contribution to winning WW2. However there is a strong and irritating tendency among many U S historians and movies to give the impression the Americans won those wars while other nations contributed very little. Regrettably this applies to given U S histories generally. The war of 1812 being a good example of the 'hooray don't let facts spoil a good pro USA story'. My view is this misleading approach is unhelpful in as much as people can form very ill advised opinions which leaves unpleasant parts of history open to repeating its themselves. In a current wider perspective we see this today in the tales Palestinians, the Iran regime and Russia try to pass off including among their own people as real history, as factual. To return to the P-47's, they were formidable aircraft courageously flown, aptly named Thunderbolt.

    • @bigwoody4704
      @bigwoody4704 Рік тому +1

      @@gordonfrickers5592 no not at all it was good the Typhoon found a home. The Thunderbolt and Typhoon were heavier and better protected than the Spits,Mustangs, Hurricanes and Lightnings. They could take more ground fire and returned at a higher rate than the others. One thing that worked out for the P-47 it's tactical flexibility was enabled by its turbocharged Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp R-2800, two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine - was it was air cooled and could stay airborn longer than water cooled engines that received the same damage/punishment

  • @arthurdirindinjr1792
    @arthurdirindinjr1792 Рік тому +7

    Yeah we Americans learned REAL fast its a whole lot easier less risky and less bloody (for us) to destroy your enemies tanks vehicles fortified positions infantry etc with our overwhelming Artillery and air power than using our tanks and infantry especially once we had achieved air supremacy
    Once America got involved in the war neither Germany or Japan stood any chance of winning I mean we produced over 45k Shermin tanks and spare parts for 2x that many for God's sake that's over 5x more than Germanys entire production of
    Tiger 1's II''s and Panthers combined

    • @berean77
      @berean77 Рік тому +3

      The Germans had a saying: "One of our Panzers is worth ten Shermans. But they always bring eleven."

    • @IanJohnGonzales
      @IanJohnGonzales Рік тому +6

      Never forget the people who made the war materials back home and many minorities driving to and fro to deliver those war goods to the front lines.Many blacks drive the Red ball express trucks ,women piloted damaged planes to air fields so theyd be repaired.Salute to all our fighting men.

    • @01Bouwhuis
      @01Bouwhuis Рік тому

      Sherman jumbo.......

    • @here_we_go_again2571
      @here_we_go_again2571 Рік тому

      @@IanJohnGonzales
      To the merchant seamen too,
      and railroad workers as well
      as farmers.

  • @jasondrew5768
    @jasondrew5768 Рік тому +7

    1st Again! ALLEGEDLY! Great video!

  • @mbcmisfits
    @mbcmisfits Рік тому

    King Tiger meets King P-47 Thuderbolt.
    Great war story by German veteran.

  • @alanmacification
    @alanmacification Рік тому +1

    After the American failures at Salerno and Anzio, the Allies threw everything they had at the German armour coming from Calais to prevent it from reaching the American beaches before their amour was ashore.

  • @MrEd-qg8td
    @MrEd-qg8td Рік тому +3

    Interesting picture of Tiger 131 the one that survived intact after the war. Now in the Royal tank museum

    • @royhayes-ry6rw
      @royhayes-ry6rw Рік тому

      its not royal in any way.

    • @FrancisFjordCupola
      @FrancisFjordCupola Рік тому

      The captured Tiger was Tiger 131. The Tiger in the narration was Tiger 311. Same digits, but rearranged in a different number. Tiger 131 was captured in North-Africa.

  • @bloqk16
    @bloqk16 Рік тому +5

    Not only did the bombs obliterated the Panzers, but also the US battleships lobbing in artillery shells into the region were menacing on D-Day.
    There's a picture in a WW II book I have that showed the scant remnants of a Panzer that took a direct hit from what could have been a 14 inch round from a US battleship. All shown in the picture were a few scrap pieces of metal, a couple of drive-wheels, and a length of tank tread.

    • @tomgray8512
      @tomgray8512 Рік тому +3

      HMS Nelson engaged a group of Tigers in Normandy with her 16 inch guns

  • @moistmike4150
    @moistmike4150 Рік тому +4

    My heart goes out to all soldiers who fought in Western Europe (maybe not the SS though).

    • @Tom_Cruise_Missile
      @Tom_Cruise_Missile Рік тому +1

      My heart goes out to some of them, but it's hard to find sympathy when you read their memoirs. They're far from sympathetic even in their own words!

  • @laelcase8588
    @laelcase8588 Рік тому +1

    New WW2 Stories drop let’s gooooooo😤😤😤😤😤

  • @patrickbalfe8340
    @patrickbalfe8340 Рік тому +1

    This is remarkable account of history which unusually is not professed by the the victor of the war. The only thing that bothers me is the vast roll played by the Canadians, who wore the same uniforms (From a distance) to the British. But the account is thoroughly frank and apparently honest, from a contemporary combatant.

  • @James-he7bu
    @James-he7bu Рік тому +2

    Reading this and about the war in Ukraine, I suspect that the supply chain required to keep armored units fighting is even MORE complicated now . . . and consequently vulnerable, especially when cheap drones can server as artillery spotters.

  • @richpontone1
    @richpontone1 Рік тому +1

    At Normandy the Allies could deploy 5,000 fighters and bombers against 200 German planes.
    Statistically, planes had a 4 percent chance of destroying a Tiger or Panther tank with bombs and missiles. However, after Normandy, many of the German tank crews were inexperienced and very young. Unlike Veteran tankers, they were afraid of such destruction of being cooked inside your tank turret, and they fled their tanks when being attacked.
    Hitler released half of his Panzer at Normandy, and did not release the other half stationed at Pas de Calais until a week later, which was too late. Credit the Allied double agent “Garbo” who convinced Hitler that Calais was where the real Invasion would happen, until a full week after D-Day.

  • @thedevilinthecircuit1414
    @thedevilinthecircuit1414 Рік тому +5

    This reminded me of the book All Quiet on the Western Front: both horrible and compelling at the same time. Bravo, WW2S!

  • @jeremylamovsky9868
    @jeremylamovsky9868 Рік тому +17

    The numbers of aircraft he speaks of is crazy. I wanna know what that many bombers looks like, though I know it was mostly night time. Who along with Rommel was in charge of Normandy. One wants armor kept back from the beaches miles inland, while the other (pretty sure Rommel) vehemently disagreed and felt it would be too late and the armor would fall victim to allied planes. So they ended up doing both,which meant neither has enough troops and tanks

    • @Sodbusterrod
      @Sodbusterrod Рік тому +2

      It was a daytime operation. I talked with a witness, a forward artillery observer who later was an education professor at EWU. Troops were moved 2 miles from the front and still the shaking ground “felt like 4 huge men were shaking your bed.” He was missing his thumb. When he was back on the line he was in a hedge row with his hand on a sapling. A mortar round explosion cut threw the sapling and thumb. The shrapnel collapsing his lung caused much worse pain than that in his hand.

    • @donaldshotts4429
      @donaldshotts4429 Рік тому +7

      Rommel was definitely right, as usual. Neither strategy was going to work, but Rommel's atleast made sense in theory. If they were in close quarter combat on the beaches then it limits the naval guns and air support of the Allies.

    • @lucas82
      @lucas82 Рік тому +2

      ​@@donaldshotts4429he absolutely wasn't. Panzers only work in sufficient numbers. Therefore the Rommel plan to spread them out over the entire coast line would mean the Germans could have only used their panzers piecemeal. Aside from the.fact that they didn't know the Allies were going to land in Normandy. Having a mobile Panzer reserve further inland was the right decision but the Germans made the mistake of trying to contain the allied bridgehead from within the range of the big naval guns.

    • @IanJohnGonzales
      @IanJohnGonzales Рік тому +1

      And Rommel was right.

    • @dreamdiction
      @dreamdiction Рік тому +2

      You are interested in massed bomber attacks so you may be interested to know about "Operation Clarion".
      On February 22 and 23 of 1945, Allied formations consisting of about 3,500 heavy bombers and 5,000 fighter/bomber aircraft rained hell all over Germany. By this date the Luftwaffe was grounded so machine guns were removed from allied fighters and they were adapted to carry bombs - this explains how the allies were able to deploy so many "fighter/bombers". The 15th and 8th US Air Forces together with the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, destroyed critical transportation systems at Bamberg, Stendal, Wurzburg, and many more cities. It was all part of Operation Clarion, a series of massive Allied bombing raids across Germany to cripple its communication networks, including rail stations, bridges, docks, and transport facilities.
      Operation Clarion took place on the 22nd of February 1945 and three months later the concentration camp prisoners were found sick and starving for want of food and medical supplies, but the Germans were blamed. Over the same three months American Mustang fighters roamed the countryside shooting up combine harvester machines to destroy the harvest and then blamed the Germans for the starving people in the camps. Operation Clarion in February 1945 was designed to starve Germans which also effected camp inmates.
      All the 'death camps' were in territory captured by Stalin but he was our ally so we are not permitted to ask what he did with all the million inmates in the concentration camps inmates he captured.

  • @Franky46Boy
    @Franky46Boy Рік тому +7

    Lessons that can still be drawn from this engagement for the current war in Ukraine.
    1) Tanks are mainly not killed in tank versus tank battles but by airpower, heavy artillery and by other means.
    2) Russia still doesn't have air superiority, let alone air supremacy, resulting in the Ukrainian army being able to move reinforcements, supplies, personnel and new Western hardware to the frontlines at will. This was simply unthinkable and impossible for the German Wehrmacht during the Normandy campaign.

    • @PrayedForYou
      @PrayedForYou Рік тому

      Stop embarassing yourself you dont have a clue.. "lessons" lol
      Cringe

    • @walterfigueroa478
      @walterfigueroa478 Рік тому

      Stop getting your information from fake news. Ukraine lost the war. Russia has air superiority all over

  • @MarktheMole
    @MarktheMole Рік тому

    Does anyone know the name of the officer-narrator, please?

  • @adamdavidson4089
    @adamdavidson4089 Рік тому

    Whose memoirs are these?

  • @randallyoung6715
    @randallyoung6715 Рік тому +12

    What an amazing history this is, pity for such an evil empire.

    • @mariom2424
      @mariom2424 Рік тому

      Áre You talking at the real evil
      Communism.

    • @rikk319
      @rikk319 Рік тому

      @@mariom2424 The "real" evil...lol. Hitler and Stalin were both monsters, don't be an apologist for fascism.

  • @johnaugsburger6192
    @johnaugsburger6192 Рік тому

    Thanks

  • @ppdntn1
    @ppdntn1 Рік тому +19

    The Americans showed the Germans what "blitzkrieg" was all about. Artillery, bombers, P 47 fighters that were good escorts and superb ground attack weapons, P 51 fighter w/ unparalleled range, and much more.

    • @AlbertaGamer
      @AlbertaGamer Рік тому +2

      The British dealt this blow to the writer of this memoir.

    • @anthonykology1728
      @anthonykology1728 Рік тому +4

      totally mechanized....no horses 😂

    • @someonethatwatchesyoutube2953
      @someonethatwatchesyoutube2953 Рік тому +5

      Don’t gloat too much. We were only fighting about 25% of the German forces.

    • @giancarlogarlaschi4388
      @giancarlogarlaschi4388 Рік тому +2

      8th parts of the German War effort was assigned to the Russian Front.
      ( Albert Speer ).
      And the Allies had " Ultra " , they knew Every move of German Forces.
      Pls be Humble.

    • @alswann2702
      @alswann2702 Рік тому +3

      The Thunder Bolts were intended as bomber escorts and Mustangs as ground support. In combat their roles were reversed due to their capabilities.

  • @dallasbucky
    @dallasbucky Рік тому +1

    Superior airpower is almost always a significant factor. I question the attack of Eastern Europe and the attempt to invade the British Isles. So much time, the Germans maybe could of worked on many of their projects. Only a thought, so many lost tankers and their panzer🤐

    • @4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz
      @4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz 2 місяці тому

      If they hadn't invaded Russia - - which posed no threat to them at the time, as evidenced by Stalin's total unpreparedness for Operation Barbarossa - - and spent a year or so regrouping and rearming after Dunkirk, they probably would have won the war. Hitler was, strategically, either very stupid, or simply crazy. He declared war on the US too after Pearl Harbor, exactly what FDR wanted.

  • @jankusthegreat9233
    @jankusthegreat9233 Рік тому +2

    I love u guys

  • @christianreiling4257
    @christianreiling4257 Рік тому +1

    If you go to the wiki page for 503rd Panzer division, it quite literally has a picture of the tank that was flipped upside down, at least its more then likely it.

  • @hiscifi2986
    @hiscifi2986 Рік тому

    Well done The RAF. 10 out of 10...

  • @alandavis9644
    @alandavis9644 Рік тому +1

    I have a German Mauser with the Hiemsoth scope that was taken from the soldier killed during this bombing. I was offered $4,500 by a German collector 10 years ago. My grandsons will inherit it and many other collector weapons.

  • @damianousley8833
    @damianousley8833 Рік тому +1

    The narrator sounds like an A1 text to speech system.

  • @kurtjammer9568
    @kurtjammer9568 Рік тому +3

    Yes it was quite disorganized when the falaise gap was closed..after the retreat.most units were refit in germany or holland. And at that point the allies advance slowed..germany was able to redeploy and halt the advance into germany for 6 months

    • @michaelkenny8540
      @michaelkenny8540 Рік тому +4

      A strange version of reality. The German Army in France was totally defeated in 12 weeks. It was destroyed. The Allied had a pre-invasion timetable and from August 1944 were well ahead of that schedule. They had expected victory in July 1945 and instead got it in May 1945. At no time did the Germans disrupt the 'master plan' for the invasion of France. I think you are confused because not every single Germans was killed and captured on June 7 1944.

    • @Nick-yj4jk
      @Nick-yj4jk Рік тому +1

      Nonsense. The allied advance slowed due to logistics and geography.

    • @kurtjammer9568
      @kurtjammer9568 Рік тому

      Read greatest defeat of us army..battle of hurtgen forest..

    • @michaelkenny8540
      @michaelkenny8540 Рік тому +1

      @@Nick-yj4jk The Allies had a pre-Day timeline of how they expected to defeat Germany. The allowed 12 months to reach the Rhine. They got there in 3 months. That is a fantastic achievement. Germans fans have to invent bogus Allied 'slowness' in order to try and salvage the reputation of the beaten German Army .

    • @michaelkenny8540
      @michaelkenny8540 Рік тому +1

      @@kurtjammer9568 No one said the Allies won every single battle but they sure won the campaign and the war. Landings June 6th and by mid August the Germany Army in the west was totally routed and destroyed. Can you explain why the Allied timetable to reach the Rhine was 12 months but they got there in 3? How is being 9 months ahead of schedule in Sept 1944 'slow'. The date the Allies expected the war to end was July 1945 and that was exceeded as well. Anyway you look at it the Allied NWE Campaign was won ahead of the expected timetable. That is anything but 'slow'.

  • @tommyjoestallings855
    @tommyjoestallings855 Рік тому

    Cool movie

  • @briancooper562
    @briancooper562 Рік тому +2

    Well that is how the other half survived or died. The same roll of the dice, the same bureaucracy, the same egotists, but still the hero survives with his men.