@@thanosmaster-abel559 yeah bastogne. And i think it was the real malarky that said the bombing in the show is nowhere near the real deal. In real life it was a much bigger spectacle with way way way bigger explosions and deafening sounds.
One of my dad's friends was in the battle of the bulge. He told me one time about how he was digging a fox hole in the fog and thought the guy next to him was from his own platoon doing the same thing. He looked over again and it was a german kid (soldier) digging his foxhole- they both dove in their holes, neither would come up. He the kid whispered to not shoot at him....he figured neither one of them wanted to die at that moment, lol. So both eventually fell asleep and when he woke up in the morning he yelled to the kid to put his hands up and come out...but he had slipped out sometime during the night.
I can still hear my Drill Instructor almost thirty years ago, after I had said "foxhole". Marines don't build 'foxholes'! Foxes run and hide!! The Army digs 'foxholes'; Marines build 'fighting holes'!"..lol..good times
In my military service I dug a few really great foxholes that I was very pleased with. I impressed a few if my comrades with the speed of my construction, but I never got the opportunity to hold any of them, which still vexes me. I made deep and homely foxholes with plenty of cover, space and camouflage, with pockets for 'nades and spare ammo and even a ledge for sitting and quick exit, but I never got to use'em. But I got really good at it.
Did you have pits dug for grenades to fall into? What are your feelings about today's drones dropping grenades & mortars into the trenches? Would you change things up with the design? In Ukraine both sides are getting DECIMATED in the trenches from the drone warfare.
@@ClickClack_Bamconsumer drones dropping little grenades is very much a Ukrainian thing - the Russians tend to just direct 152mm (or 203mm) artillery fire with drones or employ loitering munition drones like Lancet. Those won't go into a little hole - they make their own. I think this war will more likely change drones than it will tanks & foxholes. Those will stay, but we may get drone-hunting drones, shotgun shell machine guns (filled with iron shot like for hunting ducks or with expanding nets) etc.
@@ClickClack_Bam there are a lot of different & sophisticated machines the US has provided to Ukraine. I mean it sounds like a lot until you divide the quantity by frontline duty cycle and 1000km of front line to calculate coverage per km. Point being, just like panzerfaust / bazooka / RPG utterly changed things on the battlefield (but when you think if it, things really stayed the same, just evolved) it'll be the same with drones. I'm not well familiar with the psrticular machine you mention, but I'm sure there'll be more of that type, and other countermeasures, and drones will chsnge to try to defeat those, but in the end things will settle to about the same status quo as before at an enhanced level. We like to think gunpowder changed warfare (and it sure did) but there's not a lot of range difference between what a soldier can hit in Ukraine's level of combat stress (ask any elite US soldiers that went) with an AR or AK vs. say a well-thrown spear - and there's at least 3,000yrs between those weapons systems.
1st Sgt. Lipton Alright I want mortars and grenades launchers on that building until it’s gone, when it’s gone I want 1st to go straight up, forget going around, everybody else, with me!
Foxholes also had small pits at the bottom, for drainage and for grenades to be kicked into. Also, all Trench networks started out as Foxholes that were eventually linked up and expanded.
It is important to have a sense of humor in a foxhole. What a frightening place to be. Note: This is a joke, a reference to an old UA-cam of U.S. Troops in foxholes. I know it’s a bit late to say this, just putting it out there to deter negative comments.
HALF AN HOUR? Spending 6 years of my life in the light infantry, unless you are digging in banana pudding, it takes HOURS to dig a deep enough "fraidy hole to stand inside.
I absolutely agree. I too was a light infantryman and it takes hours to dig one for sure. Especially in rocky forest ground when youre hitting tree roots every three scoops
@Owen Yea les jus leave them there and not focus on the literal ALLIED ATTACK HANS WHY WOULD U THINK DAS GUD IDEA HANS (meant to be POV of the German commanders sorry if this offends u)
I dug a few in Vietnam and it is hard work even if the soil is not rocky. We usually supplemented foxholes with sandbags (filled,with the same dirt). If we stayed somewhere for more than a couple days it would get some kind of sandbagged roof with a cleared firing position facing the likely line of attack. If it rained, the whole business of digging and sitting in one became a nightmare.
now imagine being 101st airborne in the battle of the bulge digging a foxhole in the coldest winter recorded in decades. you at least got to dig in a warm and wet place lol.
The shallow shell scrape is the first stage in the construction of a modern foxhole/trench. The construction of a foxhole/trench is divided up into several stages. Each stage leaves you with a useful defensive position that can be used if the enemy arrives before you have finished the fully tricked out stage 6 foxhole/trench. You might be able to dig a shell scrape in a half hour, but you will not dig a fully completed foxhole/trench inside a half hour (especially if you are digging on hard ground). Also, and I get that the definitions for these things can be pretty fuzzy, but calling a turret emplacement a foxhole is a bit of a stretch don't you think?
I think it depends on what you mean by "turret emplacement". If it's an actual mobile turret, that'd be one thing, but it sounds like these were immobile and obsolete turrets thrown-on more as an afterthought. I can see the "this will offer some protection and at least one very narrow field of fire, and we have them and we're desperate, so why not?" logic of the latter approach, but it would still qualify it as a modified foxhole, not a proper turret emplacement that could actually change its direction of fire at all.
My uncle saw a guy in WW2 who had dug a hole the right depth but not nearly wide enough. He told the guy his was big enough for two and nearby. He invited him to share his and they used the abandoned one for a crapper.
30minutes?! When I was in the Finnish Army, at winter when ground was frozen it took couple hours to dig foxhole. I still remember sparks flying when I hit my shovel to stones in the soil.
As a former infantryman, I have never dug a foxhole. I served from 88-90, we dug shell-scrapes, usually as a listening/observation post out front of defensive positions, or for heavy weapons like mortars. We were also taught to use them as a rapid defensive position since they only took 2 men 10-15 minutes or so to carve out. For a sturdier defense, we dug 2-man slit-trenches with an overhead cover. Each trench would be supported using corrugated steel, angle iron and barbed-wire. It could survive being run over by a tank. The overhead cover was at least 60 cm of wood and dirt, in layers, over one half of the trench. The overhead cover area is where you go to stay alive in an artillery barrage. It can withstand a 155-mm shell at low angles, and can have a tank drive over it without collapsing as well. Now, all of that isn't to say that a 2-man slit-trench is a safe place to be when tanks are rolling at you or there is artillery incoming, but they increase your chances of survival a lot. The biggest danger is enemy infantry. They can throw grenades into your hole, or jump in and fight to the death close-quarters. Luckily, I never had to actually fight from a slit-trench.
To counter the grenades and give an advantage at close quarters: - dig the uncovered part a couple feet deeper - slope it towards the 1-2 foot step so that a (hopefully uncooked) grenade rolls towards the ledge and the shrapnel is deflected away from occupants in the covered area - the covered part being raised might also help with drainage in case of rain I don't have military experience, but these improvements could be nice if someone had a few extra minutes with the shovel.
Many years ago I was training with the Canadian special forces and we were conducting war games and I made a fox hole that was so well camouflaged because I was able to cut out these large square pieces of Moss and I camouflaged my fox hole so well With these small saplings that I replanted so they would last a long time. when I went to go inspect it from the front I couldn’t find it on my way back since it was getting dark I was confused as to exactly where my hole was. I found it but was a little embarrassed about it.
The skirmishers trench (what you called "shell scrapes") is still used and is considerably better than the alternative which is no cover at all. The reason that it exists is for when you don't have time to dig a regulation sized fighting hole ("foxhole") which can take hours to dig depending on the terrain and can exhaust the man digging it to a considerable degree.
@@buddywalstad7658 have you watched *ANY OTHER* videos from this channel, if u haven't your judging someone just because they haven't done enough research for *one* video
my great great grandpa got pined down in a foxhole during WWII, but he still come out with a smile on his bloody face. how he done, I have got no clue.
Foxhole digging had a very exact process in the army infantryman's handbook we had in 2006 (I got washed out of basic thanks to a knee injury) If I remember right, they were to be two rifles long by one rifle wide, something like that, as deep as armpit height to the shortest man- that way he could stand and shoot out of it, the taller guys just had to suck it up and crouch a little- and there was to be a trench along the full length of the back of it to kick grenades into. Also, you were to use the dirt you dig out of it to create a slope leading up to the edge of the hole, to make it harder for grenades to roll into it. Finally, if possible, you were to create a solid roof over the top with some of the dirt you dug on top of said roof. There was a process for shell scrapes too, but we called them hasty holes or hasties. A helmet deep, long and wide enough to lay in with your rucksack at your feet, and the dirt you dug out was to be used to create a slope facing the front, to prevent grenades rolling in. You didn't shoot straight out, over said slope- you were to shoot from it at an angle, from the front corners, creating a crossfire with the men in their hasties on either side of you. You were to stab sticks in the ground for rifle stops, so that you wouldn't swing too far over and shoot towards the hasty next to you in the heat of the moment. Finally, the slope was to be camouflaged to the point where it couldn't be easily identified from 30 paces (I think) in broad daylight. A "pace" being two large steps.
Not mentioned were grenade kick holes, sandbags, forward observation slit channels with trap doors, rifle ports with interlocking fields of fire, advanced camouflage techniques, anti-trenchfoot platforms and overhead fire protection methods. But, hey...
When my dad was alive, I used to ask him about the war ( WW2 ) I asked him, how was it possible to dig a foxhole with that puny little shovel they gave you? He said, you would be surprised at how fast you can dig a fox hole big enough to hide in with that shovel when people are shooting at you.
@@LookUsArts Actually it’s a quote I got from one of the old call of duty games. Also, it’s apparently used as an argument against those who think that during times of extreme stress in combat, that they pray to a higher power
Videos like this are the reason I subscribed to this channel. Short videos (without one minute paid promotions) about realistic, historical and pragmatic topics. PLEASE make more videos like this, not 11 minute human interest stories.
Good video overall. US Army Infantry from 1997-2000, I have dug a LOT of these things. There is however, a small but rather consequential correction that needs to be mentioned. Foxhole's sides go straight up/down, they're not sloped to make the bottom wider as is stated at 1:34. Also, there are grenade sumps at each end that are the depth and width of the issued E-Tool. The sides to those go straight up as well - though these were a later addition. The straight up and down walls of the foxhole (and grenade sumps) direct the concussive force straight up. If you slope the walls inward as they go up, it is going to concentrate the force at the top and redirect it angling down and back towards the opposite end of the foxhole. You don't want that...you want it to go straight up and out because you're most likely going to be as small as possible at the other end - if you weren't able to jump out.
@@Lattamonsteri In looser soil with no obstructions and two guys, sure. In hard soil, absolutely not. It is very dependent on things like soil type, rocks, tree roots, etc. I have spent several hours (4 I think) digging one (because the captain said it had to be "right there damnit!") and on a separate occasion, 4 of us got together and dug one in less than 15 minutes. Also, there are different types of these. The one for the machine gun is dug differently and takes considerably more time...but the one this video is covering is the standard two rifleman foxhole.
@@Adam.Rushing( when i was a conscript in the finnish army we weren't allowed to dig proper holes because we didn't always practice on the army's own land. I think we got to dig "hasties" or those shallow scrapes though. Dunno what the difference is to a landowner but apparently a proper foxhole ruins the environment and a feet-deep hole is absolutely fine - according to our officers :D but boy was it hard.) I guess it's faster to build a 2-person foxhole than 2 foxholes for a single soldier in each? Or is there a more combat-related reason to have more soldiers in a single hole?
@@Lattamonsteri I think you're right, one 2-person foxhole would be faster than digging two separate holes...unless we're talking about those hasties you spoke of. The Foxhole (for the US Army anyway) is always a 2 person fighting position. There are many reasons for this but a few are: Two people can scan/monitor the sector of fire much more efficiently. One can sleep/eat/go to the bathroom/etc while the other is on guard and no one need get out of the foxhole. If engaged with the enemy and one has a weapon malfunction, the position can still be defended by the other while the malfunction is addressed. Twice as many supplies, like ammo/rifles/food, in each fighting position. If you get injured, you have someone right there to help, like slapping on a tourniquet. A hole is harmful to the environment???? Someone better tell that to all the volcanoes and rivers cutting their way through rock! Sounds like some political garbage to me. Now, I will say that for something like a training ground, we would always fill them back in when we left. This way the next group got to dig theirs and no one accidentally fell into one. In combat, we didn't care, if we moved forward, we usually just left the foxhole as is. This is mainly because we didn't want to take the time to fill them in, also because if we needed to fall back, we had a fighting position already there. How long were you in? Most of the conscripts I've talked to it was a 2 year deal. I always wanted to make it to Finland, never did though...the closest I got was Holland.
@@Adam.Rushing The environmental damage may have been just an excuse :D Can't say for sure. We weren't really pressed for time usually, since we stayed overnight at the same position, so that couldn't have been the reason. But who knows :D Sometimes military things don't make sense to a young man who's still just couple of months into training. In Finland, if one is chosen for leadership training (they become squad or platoon leader, ranking from corporals to ensign 2nd lieutenants if Google translated the ranks correctly), the service time is 12 months. Some grunts like drivers also stay for 12 months but usually privates only serve 6 months. I was there for 12. And then there are the extra rehearsals but how often, it depends widely, I think. Of course after that one can choose to stay in the army as a professional trainer or a peacekeeper for the UN or go to military academy. :P I didn't really enjoy being in the leadership training cuz I struggle under pressure, but I liked to be bossed around cuz I was very fit and liked physical exercise back then :D Nowadays I kinda wished I had pursued a military career. :P Can you still count with fingers and toes the number of real combat situations you've had or are they so numerous that one loses count?
In the Austrian Bundesheer our squad leader used to say "Alone we are cowards, together we are heroes" while observing us digging our foxholes, man, am I missing that time
Further instructions on dugouts related to how they could support one another and be further improved. Dig out a little elbow rest or simple earth shelves for your stuff or make a little drainage pit for the rain. You can dig out a pit for larger stuff as well, like a mortar position, command position or other company-level support elements.
Ok. The guy nibbling on the rat near the start had me laughing so loud my wife started staring at me like I was nuts. 🤣 I was watching with headphones, and she couldn't see what I was watching.
I served in the Army coming up on 20 years ago. We never dug foxholes because it took too long. We dug hasties. Really shallow pit (about 18" deep) and lay your rucksack directly front of you. Took maybe 30 seconds to do.
Only time I ever dug a foxhole was in Basic and that was in 2002. After that you only dug a hasty because you weren't going to be there long enough to dig a proper hole. Support company or lower enlisted from headquarters would dig them around the battalion TOC when we were doing FTXs, but it was only like 1 or 2 at the checkpoint going to the TOC
Good report, in the Malvinas war, our Argentine troops used this fox hole system for the Infantry ... the problem is that when the troop loses mobility and the enemy advances rapidly, the people installed in the fox hole also remain behind. and if you do not have sufficient air or artillery coverage, the logistics to supply the defense points also become very complicated, then the fox hole system has the same problems as the old trenches ... The Malvinas war is interesting to study those things because it was one of the last conventional and localized wars that were fought ... Greetings from Argentina
I have been inside many foxholes and trenches in France and Germany. Some quite elaborate with hand crank turrets and machine gun mounts. You did not mention any details of the foxhole construction and purposes such as trenches for grenades to fall into.
Troops in the Pacific had a rough time with foxholes. In places like Tarawa and Iwo Jima, the loose sand made it hard to dig them. On Cape Gloucester and Okinawa, it rained so much that some men drowned in their holes and on Peleliu, the ground was so had that their shovels snapped before they could try and dig.
I served with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam during 1968-69. We were in the Mekong Delta and digging more than a few inches resulted in a puddle. Digging deeper resulted in a well full of water. VC bunkers were above ground and we only found one tunnel in the U Minh "forest." It was equipped with a bicycle which pumped water out as fast as it dribbled in. Further north in Vietnam tunnels were elaborate constructions containing hospitals, headquarters, supply depots and more.
Some of the most miserable days of my life have been spent in the field sitting in my fighting hole during the rain or humid days taking fire watch from balls to 0300
My dad served in Somalia and he remembers digging foxholes. He remembers making sandbags out of the material for the sole purpose of making pillows. He’d take a clean rag to wrap around it and sew it to make a pillow case so the hessian wouldn’t hurt his face and dust get in his eyes from it.
I was with 10th Mountain from 1985-1990 and our foxholes were slightly more sophisticated at the bottom you had a grenade trench which was there in case the enemy threw a grenade into your foxhole it would fall into this trench and the way it was designed it would absorb a lot of the fragmentation and with a little luck you would survive and suffer less injury ...
Being a Grunt from 72-79 when I got smart and became a Huey Pilot. We took Pioneer tools off jeeps and 2 and 1/2 ton trucks to dig foxholes. Additionally. Our wooden handle etools were better than the aluminum ones issued later that broke easily in rocky soil.
For those wondering, as I did, the Hesco barrier or "concertainer", as Hesco calls them, is basically a reinforced version of those big collapsible square fabric bags you see used today for bulk soil delivery or as temporary construction-debris containers. You can use them anywhere you'd use sandbags, except that the Hesco can be filled with a front-end loader about 10 times faster than a person can fill sandbags, the Hescos can be stacked much higher than sandbags, and you can ship a ton of them collapsed and palletized very quickly to just about anywhere. Quite a useful invention which was originally invented for flood control, and is somewhat similar to those erosion-control engineering devices which consist of many large rocks bound in a square wire cage (can't recall the name).
When I was in Basic Training in 1975, I was trained that the position is called a "Two-Man Frontal Parapet Fighting Position." You do not shoot in front of you -- you shoot in front of the positions beside you, and they do the same. During training a couple years later, we viewed one of positions. The trainer said that the Army says that two men, with entrenching tools, bayonets, and scabbards, can dig the position in some ridiculously short period of time. He went on to say that it took them something like eight hours for something like four people to dig it, and they had picks and shovels.
I remember being in an opposing forces unit in the army and we used the spider holes. We'd have similar equipment as Taliban or whoever (no big air support/etc) and it was super effective against a whatever western force would train there. People could just do ambusher and hide back in the spider holes and whatever patrol they have wouldn't find us even with basic concealment over the plywood we'd have as a roof. I imagine it was super devistating in WWII and Vietnam without muchair support/effective night vision. Especially when the spider holes are near minefields.
IIRC, a major Marine base was built directly atop a network of interconnected Viet Minh spiderholes during the Vietnam conflict, and the Marines never knew it until they were told by Vietnamese vets well-after the war.
This was interesting and I like how you told us about the foxholes being like the foxholes ima go watch after I watch this again and then watch the trenches
Had a friend who trained with the British Army and they used scrapes to sleep in (when they had time) to avoid artillery fire. They were apparently nicknamed "graves"
Dad, Infantry WW2, said they got so tired of digging them, every time they stopped. Often had to move again right after finishing. But they saved lives/won battles.
Me and my battle buddy dug a two man fox hole in Army basic with regular shovels. We took turns digging and it took from noon to sundown from what I can recall.
A friend served in Vietnam with the Marines, when is son was about 10 and very much into anything military. Dug three fox holes in their backyard and the pool was a river to cross. One big kid and a little kid playing in the backyard, and sometimes neighbors would join them.
In the year 2000, they changed the name of fox hole to fighting position. The name was changed due to female soldiers taking offense at the name fox hole. This happened during my enlistment. It is one of my many memories of the military red tape
The British army still use shell scrapes today, I dug quite a few fox holes and many more shell scrape. Depending on the time we were in situ and only used a fox hole if there for quite a while.
@1:44 Digging a foxhole in a half hour? Any man who can do that has my undying respect. Any man, or any two men who can dig a 4 foot X 6 foot X 2 foot foxhole in half an hour is superhuman.
When the Desert Fox Gets out of his Foxhole to attack the Desert Rats know they are in trouble
haha, good one
Noice
@@guatemalanbean you welcome
@@pops7249 thanks
400th likes lul
Anyway, who cares
Band of Brothers, episodes 6 and 7. I swear, every 10 mins the company is running to a foxhole because the German artillery never stops!
Great recall. If I remember correctly I think it was the Bastogne episode where it just straight up artillery every second
Man.... I love band of brothers series
It was a great show. Imagine they didn’t dig foxholes and just sat
@@thanosmaster-abel559 yeah bastogne. And i think it was the real malarky that said the bombing in the show is nowhere near the real deal. In real life it was a much bigger spectacle with way way way bigger explosions and deafening sounds.
One of my dad's friends was in the battle of the bulge. He told me one time about how he was digging a fox hole in the fog and thought the guy next to him was from his own platoon doing the same thing. He looked over again and it was a german kid (soldier) digging his foxhole- they both dove in their holes, neither would come up. He the kid whispered to not shoot at him....he figured neither one of them wanted to die at that moment, lol. So both eventually fell asleep and when he woke up in the morning he yelled to the kid to put his hands up and come out...but he had slipped out sometime during the night.
I can still hear my Drill Instructor almost thirty years ago, after I had said "foxhole".
Marines don't build 'foxholes'! Foxes run and hide!!
The Army digs 'foxholes'; Marines build 'fighting holes'!"..lol..good times
Ok J man J
But you're still hiding in a hole, right? hahaha
J man J... you beat me to it. YUT! 😉
Marines are just soldiers who think they're better.
Good times right Devil?!
In my military service I dug a few really great foxholes that I was very pleased with. I impressed a few if my comrades with the speed of my construction, but I never got the opportunity to hold any of them, which still vexes me. I made deep and homely foxholes with plenty of cover, space and camouflage, with pockets for 'nades and spare ammo and even a ledge for sitting and quick exit, but I never got to use'em. But I got really good at it.
Did you have pits dug for grenades to fall into?
What are your feelings about today's drones dropping grenades & mortars into the trenches?
Would you change things up with the design?
In Ukraine both sides are getting DECIMATED in the trenches from the drone warfare.
@@ClickClack_Bamconsumer drones dropping little grenades is very much a Ukrainian thing - the Russians tend to just direct 152mm (or 203mm) artillery fire with drones or employ loitering munition drones like Lancet. Those won't go into a little hole - they make their own.
I think this war will more likely change drones than it will tanks & foxholes. Those will stay, but we may get drone-hunting drones, shotgun shell machine guns (filled with iron shot like for hunting ducks or with expanding nets) etc.
@@AlexKarasev There are armored machines that the US placed in Ukraine that specifically target drones.
@@ClickClack_Bam there are a lot of different & sophisticated machines the US has provided to Ukraine. I mean it sounds like a lot until you divide the quantity by frontline duty cycle and 1000km of front line to calculate coverage per km.
Point being, just like panzerfaust / bazooka / RPG utterly changed things on the battlefield (but when you think if it, things really stayed the same, just evolved) it'll be the same with drones. I'm not well familiar with the psrticular machine you mention, but I'm sure there'll be more of that type, and other countermeasures, and drones will chsnge to try to defeat those, but in the end things will settle to about the same status quo as before at an enhanced level. We like to think gunpowder changed warfare (and it sure did) but there's not a lot of range difference between what a soldier can hit in Ukraine's level of combat stress (ask any elite US soldiers that went) with an AR or AK vs. say a well-thrown spear - and there's at least 3,000yrs between those weapons systems.
*this is amazing idea ever made it.*
“Now I don’t know if I really believed all that, but as company First Sargent it was my job to protect the integrity of Easy Company”
Is that a quote from a vet or a video game?
1st Sgt. Lipton
Alright I want mortars and grenades launchers on that building until it’s gone, when it’s gone I want 1st to go straight up, forget going around, everybody else, with me!
@@SkySky-dk7si Lt. Speirs was the goat, I’m hoping I spelled his name right
What game is this?
Is not a game, "Band of Brothers" HBO Miniseries
Foxholes also had small pits at the bottom, for drainage and for grenades to be kicked into. Also, all Trench networks started out as Foxholes that were eventually linked up and expanded.
Spot on, I expected a more in depth video on all the details on this subject.
Lazy video imho................
Yep.
Thank you!!! Finally someone who served!
@@willd6515 "I expected a complex explanation out of channel called Simple History"
@@chaotixthefox I never wrote "complex explanation".
A little weekend education why not
Yes.
Of course
Yea
Yes
@Nikolas Rachmistruk lol I’m also watching this on Saturday.
I spent a lot of time digging holes in different places and sitting in them getting rained on and questioning my life choices.
Band of brothers: “first time, kid?”
When your parents tell you to not get a job digging ditches when you grow up, only for you to do just that in the Army...
Like, should have gone in the Navy
@@hughsmith4464 no thanks, I might be a homoerotic marine but I'm not gay, I should've joined the airforce
@@Sniperm0n Na, you did to put the sticker you have on your car.,,
It is important to have a sense of humor in a foxhole. What a frightening place to be.
Note: This is a joke, a reference to an old UA-cam of U.S. Troops in foxholes. I know it’s a bit late to say this, just putting it out there to deter negative comments.
That's why you need Bobba
@@nandinhocunha440 bubba*
It’s important to have a sense of humor during war in general.
@@Alexq79- oh my
@@Gamer88334 otherwise what you see will consume you
HALF AN HOUR? Spending 6 years of my life in the light infantry, unless you are digging in banana pudding, it takes HOURS to dig a deep enough "fraidy hole to stand inside.
I can relate. Its even harder when you have to dig on rocky or forest terrain. This guy probably timed himself while digging a foxhole on the beach.
I absolutely agree. I too was a light infantryman and it takes hours to dig one for sure. Especially in rocky forest ground when youre hitting tree roots every three scoops
Or frozen ground :F It's not fun either.
I thought 1/2 an hour was a bit optimistic.
That's how long a staff officer thinks it takes
Within 6 minutes of an upload? Last time I was this early, I ended up in a German pillbox in Normandy.
@Owen Yea les jus leave them there and not focus on the literal ALLIED ATTACK HANS WHY WOULD U THINK DAS GUD IDEA HANS (meant to be POV of the German commanders sorry if this offends u)
1:35 This guy trying to not get bombarded by playing minecraft in real life too early.
You cant dye Diamond shovel or shovels at alls
Idk my brain hurts
Dude was shoveling dirt but can't break stone because he forgot his pickaxe, so he had to put a dirt block over his head to stop raining creepers
he was lucky and didnt fell into a lava
i was going to say the same thing lol
A foxhole’s worst nightmare: *Flamethrower*
@Mette B Flamethrower and Grenade
@Mette B Grenades can be thrown back, a stream of fire that sticks to you...is going to result in a crispy critter no matter what you do.
*rain*
*stuka aka Dive bombers or any type of plane*
Hey don't forget the napalm. I love it's smell in the morning
0:21 damn his animation quality is evolving
At 0:27 there’s a guy eating a rat... I was not expecting that
It looks the same as all the others
@@robertg.durant8489 ye
I dug a few in Vietnam and it is hard work even if the soil is not rocky. We usually supplemented foxholes with sandbags (filled,with the same dirt). If we stayed somewhere for more than a couple days it would get some kind of sandbagged roof with a cleared firing position facing the likely line of attack.
If it rained, the whole business of digging and sitting in one became a nightmare.
now imagine being 101st airborne in the battle of the bulge digging a foxhole in the coldest winter recorded in decades. you at least got to dig in a warm and wet place lol.
*this is amazing idea ever made it.*
You shouldn't have been there.
The shallow shell scrape is the first stage in the construction of a modern foxhole/trench. The construction of a foxhole/trench is divided up into several stages. Each stage leaves you with a useful defensive position that can be used if the enemy arrives before you have finished the fully tricked out stage 6 foxhole/trench. You might be able to dig a shell scrape in a half hour, but you will not dig a fully completed foxhole/trench inside a half hour (especially if you are digging on hard ground).
Also, and I get that the definitions for these things can be pretty fuzzy, but calling a turret emplacement a foxhole is a bit of a stretch don't you think?
I think it depends on what you mean by "turret emplacement". If it's an actual mobile turret, that'd be one thing, but it sounds like these were immobile and obsolete turrets thrown-on more as an afterthought. I can see the "this will offer some protection and at least one very narrow field of fire, and we have them and we're desperate, so why not?" logic of the latter approach, but it would still qualify it as a modified foxhole, not a proper turret emplacement that could actually change its direction of fire at all.
*this is amazing idea ever made it.*
My uncle saw a guy in WW2 who had dug a hole the right depth but not nearly wide enough. He told the guy his was big enough for two and nearby. He invited him to share his and they used the abandoned one for a crapper.
“Remember when you dig these, 6 feet apart guys!”
But I'm tired of digging holes grandpaw... :(
Builds character!
30minutes?! When I was in the Finnish Army, at winter when ground was frozen it took couple hours to dig foxhole. I still remember sparks flying when I hit my shovel to stones in the soil.
To be fair Finland is frozen hellhole in winter
@@W0DAN88 winter war and 1943 intensifies
As a former infantryman, I have never dug a foxhole. I served from 88-90, we dug shell-scrapes, usually as a listening/observation post out front of defensive positions, or for heavy weapons like mortars. We were also taught to use them as a rapid defensive position since they only took 2 men 10-15 minutes or so to carve out.
For a sturdier defense, we dug 2-man slit-trenches with an overhead cover. Each trench would be supported using corrugated steel, angle iron and barbed-wire. It could survive being run over by a tank. The overhead cover was at least 60 cm of wood and dirt, in layers, over one half of the trench. The overhead cover area is where you go to stay alive in an artillery barrage. It can withstand a 155-mm shell at low angles, and can have a tank drive over it without collapsing as well. Now, all of that isn't to say that a 2-man slit-trench is a safe place to be when tanks are rolling at you or there is artillery incoming, but they increase your chances of survival a lot. The biggest danger is enemy infantry. They can throw grenades into your hole, or jump in and fight to the death close-quarters. Luckily, I never had to actually fight from a slit-trench.
To counter the grenades and give an advantage at close quarters:
- dig the uncovered part a couple feet deeper
- slope it towards the 1-2 foot step so that a (hopefully uncooked) grenade rolls towards the ledge and the shrapnel is deflected away from occupants in the covered area
- the covered part being raised might also help with drainage in case of rain
I don't have military experience, but these improvements could be nice if someone had a few extra minutes with the shovel.
@@magikarpusedsplash8881 That is how the manual tells you in BCT.
@@miguelurrutdarkorangefan2750 oh neat, guess I gotta enlist now lol.
Many years ago I was training with the Canadian special forces and we were conducting war games and I made a fox hole that was so well camouflaged because I was able to cut out these large square pieces of Moss and I camouflaged my fox hole so well With these small saplings that I replanted so they would last a long time. when I went to go inspect it from the front I couldn’t find it on my way back since it was getting dark I was confused as to exactly where my hole was. I found it but was a little embarrassed about it.
The skirmishers trench (what you called "shell scrapes") is still used and is considerably better than the alternative which is no cover at all. The reason that it exists is for when you don't have time to dig a regulation sized fighting hole ("foxhole") which can take hours to dig depending on the terrain and can exhaust the man digging it to a considerable degree.
One of the best and simple history channel and easy to learn and understand.
i love to impress my dad with these facts from his channel lol
Wait, hol up
Do you mean "this" not "his"
@@mr.vietnam1575 yes
this guy does not know what he's talking about FYI Sounds like he's never served in the Military!
@@buddywalstad7658 have you watched *ANY OTHER* videos from this channel, if u haven't your judging someone just because they haven't done enough research for *one* video
The foxhole is a very efficient tactic. Since, when the soldiers die, they're already conveniently burried in the ground.
I see that there has been a lot of improvements throughout the animations!
and the facial features also :)
Ay nice job as always!!
Everyone:"Foxholes are a very simple concept."
German engineer: "Allow me to introduce myself."
One of the best history channels!
Agreed
I like how they talk about just history and not about direct politics
Yes definitely. No doubt one of the great ones on youtube.
@@Al-Is-Gaming Well it is called Simple History and not Simple Politics
@@Al-Is-Gaming I'd agree with you but politics is an intrinsic part of history.
my great great grandpa got pined down in a foxhole during WWII, but he still come out with a smile on his bloody face. how he done, I have got no clue.
Foxhole digging had a very exact process in the army infantryman's handbook we had in 2006 (I got washed out of basic thanks to a knee injury)
If I remember right, they were to be two rifles long by one rifle wide, something like that, as deep as armpit height to the shortest man- that way he could stand and shoot out of it, the taller guys just had to suck it up and crouch a little- and there was to be a trench along the full length of the back of it to kick grenades into. Also, you were to use the dirt you dig out of it to create a slope leading up to the edge of the hole, to make it harder for grenades to roll into it. Finally, if possible, you were to create a solid roof over the top with some of the dirt you dug on top of said roof.
There was a process for shell scrapes too, but we called them hasty holes or hasties. A helmet deep, long and wide enough to lay in with your rucksack at your feet, and the dirt you dug out was to be used to create a slope facing the front, to prevent grenades rolling in. You didn't shoot straight out, over said slope- you were to shoot from it at an angle, from the front corners, creating a crossfire with the men in their hasties on either side of you. You were to stab sticks in the ground for rifle stops, so that you wouldn't swing too far over and shoot towards the hasty next to you in the heat of the moment. Finally, the slope was to be camouflaged to the point where it couldn't be easily identified from 30 paces (I think) in broad daylight. A "pace" being two large steps.
Not mentioned were grenade kick holes, sandbags, forward observation slit channels with trap doors, rifle ports with interlocking fields of fire, advanced camouflage techniques, anti-trenchfoot platforms and overhead fire protection methods. But, hey...
When my dad was alive, I used to ask him about the war ( WW2 ) I asked him, how was it possible to dig a foxhole with that puny little shovel they gave you? He said, you would be surprised at how fast you can dig a fox hole big enough to hide in with that shovel when people are shooting at you.
mans got a point lmao
That soldiers expression as he was eating the rat had me on the floor 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Man, the artstyle is getting better and better every video, keep up the great work!
“The argument that there are no atheists in foxholes is not an argument against atheism, it’s an argument against foxholes.”
Any context to that?
Yes. It's a joke
@@LookUsArts Actually it’s a quote I got from one of the old call of duty games. Also, it’s apparently used as an argument against those who think that during times of extreme stress in combat, that they pray to a higher power
There is no argument about it, if you have enjoyed such accommodations under delightful conditions.
@@boondocker7964 Yeah, but most the time when you’re digging a foxhole, you’re not under delightful conditions
Videos like this are the reason I subscribed to this channel. Short videos (without one minute paid promotions) about realistic, historical and pragmatic topics. PLEASE make more videos like this, not 11 minute human interest stories.
Good video overall. US Army Infantry from 1997-2000, I have dug a LOT of these things. There is however, a small but rather consequential correction that needs to be mentioned.
Foxhole's sides go straight up/down, they're not sloped to make the bottom wider as is stated at 1:34.
Also, there are grenade sumps at each end that are the depth and width of the issued E-Tool. The sides to those go straight up as well - though these were a later addition.
The straight up and down walls of the foxhole (and grenade sumps) direct the concussive force straight up. If you slope the walls inward as they go up, it is going to concentrate the force at the top and redirect it angling down and back towards the opposite end of the foxhole. You don't want that...you want it to go straight up and out because you're most likely going to be as small as possible at the other end - if you weren't able to jump out.
Could you dig one in 30 minutes? :P It seems like a very short amount of time.
@@Lattamonsteri In looser soil with no obstructions and two guys, sure. In hard soil, absolutely not. It is very dependent on things like soil type, rocks, tree roots, etc. I have spent several hours (4 I think) digging one (because the captain said it had to be "right there damnit!") and on a separate occasion, 4 of us got together and dug one in less than 15 minutes.
Also, there are different types of these. The one for the machine gun is dug differently and takes considerably more time...but the one this video is covering is the standard two rifleman foxhole.
@@Adam.Rushing( when i was a conscript in the finnish army we weren't allowed to dig proper holes because we didn't always practice on the army's own land. I think we got to dig "hasties" or those shallow scrapes though. Dunno what the difference is to a landowner but apparently a proper foxhole ruins the environment and a feet-deep hole is absolutely fine - according to our officers :D but boy was it hard.)
I guess it's faster to build a 2-person foxhole than 2 foxholes for a single soldier in each? Or is there a more combat-related reason to have more soldiers in a single hole?
@@Lattamonsteri I think you're right, one 2-person foxhole would be faster than digging two separate holes...unless we're talking about those hasties you spoke of.
The Foxhole (for the US Army anyway) is always a 2 person fighting position. There are many reasons for this but a few are:
Two people can scan/monitor the sector of fire much more efficiently.
One can sleep/eat/go to the bathroom/etc while the other is on guard and no one need get out of the foxhole.
If engaged with the enemy and one has a weapon malfunction, the position can still be defended by the other while the malfunction is addressed.
Twice as many supplies, like ammo/rifles/food, in each fighting position.
If you get injured, you have someone right there to help, like slapping on a tourniquet.
A hole is harmful to the environment???? Someone better tell that to all the volcanoes and rivers cutting their way through rock! Sounds like some political garbage to me. Now, I will say that for something like a training ground, we would always fill them back in when we left. This way the next group got to dig theirs and no one accidentally fell into one. In combat, we didn't care, if we moved forward, we usually just left the foxhole as is. This is mainly because we didn't want to take the time to fill them in, also because if we needed to fall back, we had a fighting position already there.
How long were you in? Most of the conscripts I've talked to it was a 2 year deal.
I always wanted to make it to Finland, never did though...the closest I got was Holland.
@@Adam.Rushing The environmental damage may have been just an excuse :D Can't say for sure. We weren't really pressed for time usually, since we stayed overnight at the same position, so that couldn't have been the reason. But who knows :D Sometimes military things don't make sense to a young man who's still just couple of months into training.
In Finland, if one is chosen for leadership training (they become squad or platoon leader, ranking from corporals to ensign 2nd lieutenants if Google translated the ranks correctly), the service time is 12 months. Some grunts like drivers also stay for 12 months but usually privates only serve 6 months. I was there for 12. And then there are the extra rehearsals but how often, it depends widely, I think.
Of course after that one can choose to stay in the army as a professional trainer or a peacekeeper for the UN or go to military academy. :P
I didn't really enjoy being in the leadership training cuz I struggle under pressure, but I liked to be bossed around cuz I was very fit and liked physical exercise back then :D Nowadays I kinda wished I had pursued a military career. :P
Can you still count with fingers and toes the number of real combat situations you've had or are they so numerous that one loses count?
I'm a simple man:
I see Simple History upload
*I click.*
It's truly amazing how much your animation has developed over all these years. Never fails to amaze 👍
New Simple History video lets go!
"uhh did i join the military just to dig my own grave?" i bet most of us who enlisted will ask yourself that when digging xD
Sounds about as fun as digging a hole
In the Austrian Bundesheer our squad leader used to say "Alone we are cowards, together we are heroes" while observing us digging our foxholes, man, am I missing that time
Half an hour to dig a 4-5ft hole with a little shovel (Etool) is actually pretty tiring.
It's crazy to see how much the editing has improved over the years, the hard work is really paying off!! keep it up SimpleHistory💪
Further instructions on dugouts related to how they could support one another and be further improved. Dig out a little elbow rest or simple earth shelves for your stuff or make a little drainage pit for the rain. You can dig out a pit for larger stuff as well, like a mortar position, command position or other company-level support elements.
Ok. The guy nibbling on the rat near the start had me laughing so loud my wife started staring at me like I was nuts. 🤣
I was watching with headphones, and she couldn't see what I was watching.
Everyone gangsta till a real fox pops up from a foxhole
Was ein Verräter der Fuchs
Great to see you so soon
1:19
*tank about to crush the soldier*
Soldier: this is fine
I love your content!!!
You gotta pay the troll toll, if you want to get into that foxhole! You gotta pay the troll toll to get in!
You
Just thwap the troll with your entrenching tool and jump in
I served in the Army coming up on 20 years ago. We never dug foxholes because it took too long. We dug hasties. Really shallow pit (about 18" deep) and lay your rucksack directly front of you. Took maybe 30 seconds to do.
Only time I ever dug a foxhole was in Basic and that was in 2002. After that you only dug a hasty because you weren't going to be there long enough to dig a proper hole. Support company or lower enlisted from headquarters would dig them around the battalion TOC when we were doing FTXs, but it was only like 1 or 2 at the checkpoint going to the TOC
Good report, in the Malvinas war, our Argentine troops used this fox hole system for the Infantry ... the problem is that when the troop loses mobility and the enemy advances rapidly, the people installed in the fox hole also remain behind. and if you do not have sufficient air or artillery coverage, the logistics to supply the defense points also become very complicated, then the fox hole system has the same problems as the old trenches ... The Malvinas war is interesting to study those things because it was one of the last conventional and localized wars that were fought ... Greetings from Argentina
1:40 half an hour? I started digging with my buddy at dusk and still could not finish the foxhole by dawn
I have been inside many foxholes and trenches in France and Germany. Some quite elaborate with hand crank turrets and machine gun mounts. You did not mention any details of the foxhole construction and purposes such as trenches for grenades to fall into.
1:37 he’s been playing a lot of Minecraft if he digs that fast
Troops in the Pacific had a rough time with foxholes. In places like Tarawa and Iwo Jima, the loose sand made it hard to dig them. On Cape Gloucester and Okinawa, it rained so much that some men drowned in their holes and on Peleliu, the ground was so had that their shovels snapped before they could try and dig.
Foxholes: **actually containing soldiers instead of foxes**
Me: *Reality is often disappointing.*
Man, not to sound politically unaware but Fox News has no news about foxes
I served with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam during 1968-69. We were in the Mekong Delta and digging more than a few inches resulted in a puddle. Digging deeper resulted in a well full of water. VC bunkers were above ground and we only found one tunnel in the U Minh "forest." It was equipped with a bicycle which pumped water out as fast as it dribbled in. Further north in Vietnam tunnels were elaborate constructions containing hospitals, headquarters, supply depots and more.
Some of the most miserable days of my life have been spent in the field sitting in my fighting hole during the rain or humid days taking fire watch from balls to 0300
My dad served in Somalia and he remembers digging foxholes. He remembers making sandbags out of the material for the sole purpose of making pillows. He’d take a clean rag to wrap around it and sew it to make a pillow case so the hessian wouldn’t hurt his face and dust get in his eyes from it.
"War is an honorable and noble cause"
War:
2:04 It was called the Pantherthurm
Bro they ate rats I'm surprised people didnt just call it a day and go home.
If they did, it would be considered deserting and they would have been executed.
@@immortal_p1ckle279 Russians "allow me to introduce myself"
war isn´t a job you can simply cancel
@@immortal_p1ckle279 have you seen the peter muler single player mission from bf5?
@@habibi_bloxxxberg and ik that it was just a joke lol didnt mean to offend you in any way XD
Ive been watching you guys since 40k and never has history been so interesting and fun for me
"Never share a foxhole with someone braver then you"
I was with 10th Mountain from 1985-1990 and our foxholes were slightly more sophisticated at the bottom you had a grenade trench which was there in case the enemy threw a grenade into your foxhole it would fall into this trench and the way it was designed it would absorb a lot of the fragmentation and with a little luck you would survive and suffer less injury ...
I've got myself a collapsible E-tool for this kind of work, but only because I don't have access to shape charges to blast a hole.
You’re getting a lot better at animations great video
Haha you thought you were gonna be first 😂 to many people love this channel so everyone is waiting for there new video
Good stories, polite words, nice graphics, and friendly environments. Love this channel
Now I can say to my history teacher how does trench and foxhole work.
Being a Grunt from 72-79 when I got smart and became a Huey Pilot. We took Pioneer tools off jeeps and 2 and 1/2 ton trucks to dig foxholes. Additionally. Our wooden handle etools were better than the aluminum ones issued later that broke easily in rocky soil.
While me listening to my friend opinion about doing shrimp business after war
Best informative channel on youtube
“Standard entrenching tool.”
I think that we call em shovels now a days.
The vehicle and weapon models are getting better
"There are no atheists in foxholes isn t an argument against atheists, its an argument against foxholes"
Man knows how to steal quotes from other man this is what happend to his reputation
The Hesco barrier has become quite a revolutionary new entrenching tool. The protection it provides is pretty much incomparable.
For those wondering, as I did, the Hesco barrier or "concertainer", as Hesco calls them, is basically a reinforced version of those big collapsible square fabric bags you see used today for bulk soil delivery or as temporary construction-debris containers. You can use them anywhere you'd use sandbags, except that the Hesco can be filled with a front-end loader about 10 times faster than a person can fill sandbags, the Hescos can be stacked much higher than sandbags, and you can ship a ton of them collapsed and palletized very quickly to just about anywhere. Quite a useful invention which was originally invented for flood control, and is somewhat similar to those erosion-control engineering devices which consist of many large rocks bound in a square wire cage (can't recall the name).
How would it compared to a foxhole (the ones we were taught in basic) when used to protect against a tank?
where's hussein??
MAN this is awesome, i learned more history from this in 3 minutes then whole 7 years school.
WOOOOHOOO
The soldier at 1:35 can shovel very quickly 😜 Great video! 👍👍
When I was in Basic Training in 1975, I was trained that the position is called a "Two-Man Frontal Parapet Fighting Position." You do not shoot in front of you -- you shoot in front of the positions beside you, and they do the same.
During training a couple years later, we viewed one of positions. The trainer said that the Army says that two men, with entrenching tools, bayonets, and scabbards, can dig the position in some ridiculously short period of time. He went on to say that it took them something like eight hours for something like four people to dig it, and they had picks and shovels.
I remember being in an opposing forces unit in the army and we used the spider holes. We'd have similar equipment as Taliban or whoever (no big air support/etc) and it was super effective against a whatever western force would train there. People could just do ambusher and hide back in the spider holes and whatever patrol they have wouldn't find us even with basic concealment over the plywood we'd have as a roof. I imagine it was super devistating in WWII and Vietnam without muchair support/effective night vision. Especially when the spider holes are near minefields.
IIRC, a major Marine base was built directly atop a network of interconnected Viet Minh spiderholes during the Vietnam conflict, and the Marines never knew it until they were told by Vietnamese vets well-after the war.
I used to work in the countryside service, just digging a tiny hole takes half an hour! A fox hole would take a few hours to dig!
This was interesting and I like how you told us about the foxholes being like the foxholes ima go watch after I watch this again and then watch the trenches
I love how the animations has changed, it's really beautiful
Had a friend who trained with the British Army and they used scrapes to sleep in (when they had time) to avoid artillery fire. They were apparently nicknamed "graves"
Dad, Infantry WW2, said they got so tired of digging them, every time they stopped. Often had to move again right after finishing. But they saved lives/won battles.
Me and my battle buddy dug a two man fox hole in Army basic with regular shovels. We took turns digging and it took from noon to sundown from what I can recall.
A friend served in Vietnam with the Marines, when is son was about 10 and very much into anything military. Dug three fox holes in their backyard and the pool was a river to cross. One big kid and a little kid playing in the backyard, and sometimes neighbors would join them.
In the year 2000, they changed the name of fox hole to fighting position. The name was changed due to female soldiers taking offense at the name fox hole.
This happened during my enlistment. It is one of my many memories of the military red tape
The British army still use shell scrapes today, I dug quite a few fox holes and many more shell scrape. Depending on the time we were in situ and only used a fox hole if there for quite a while.
I love your improving visuals and animations.
0:26 “Beware low parapet”, it says while it’s literally twice as high as them lol
@1:44 Digging a foxhole in a half hour? Any man who can do that has my undying respect. Any man, or any two men who can dig a 4 foot X 6 foot X 2 foot foxhole in half an hour is superhuman.
Informative and very nicely done, a pleasure to watch! 👍
I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!