Week 247 - The Fall of Monte Cassino - WW2 - May 20, 1944
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- In Italy, the Allies finally overcome Monte Cassino and break through the Gustav Line; in Burma Merrill's Marauders surprise the Japanese and take Myitkyina Airfield; in China, it's the Japanese who are playing offense, as Operation Ichi Go and the siege of Luoyang continue. That's the field action, but there's big planning behind the scenes for major June offensives going on by both the Western Allies and the Soviets.
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I am a drunk. Thank you for your content.
What was King George VI doing in this war?
@@robertjarman3703 Public Relations, but it was more than that. There is a story in one of the POW books about the camp receiving a signed card from him, they handled it like it was gold, showed it off to the guards, that maybe there was something better than a corporal in charge. It meant a lot to them at the time, hard to explain now.
@@gordybing1727 An Axis pow in a British camp or a Commonwealth pow in an Axis camp?
@@robertjarman3703 Commonwealth pows in a German camp, on Christmas.
I can remember as a kid, we had an exuberant Polish baker who delivered our bread- a lively chatty man. One day, my father said to me about him: "Do you know, that Andrzej was in the final assault on Monte Cassino?" He must have been a very young man when he was in that heroic combat. My father was invited to the 50th anniversary of the assault and went there- he had been in Italy in 1945/46. He told me about the Polish cemetery, where: "All those Polish dead were my age or younger."
The Poles fight for Europe, and die for Poland.
Remember always the Polish II Corps at Monte Cassino.
You will be one of the last people that interacted to real veterans of world war 2, in my country Republic of Moldova are around 68 left. In 2021 there were 189
My neighbour was a veteran of Monte Cassino. His wife still lives and recently visited us. Unfortunately, I was too young and uninterested in history back in the day to ask him any questions :/
@@Medytacjusz same here with my uncles too young to really understand and as a teenager - sports,cars,music,girls,school. Unfortunatly they and those that knew their stories have passed
❤
My uncle was an American sargeant who grew up speaking Polish, so he was attached to the Poles at Monte Cassino as a liaison and translator. While he was full of funny stories over the years of antics with his Polish brothers, he NEVER talked about Monte Cassino. Other than to confirm he was there.
No wonder. Poles don't look good in this story. It is basically stolen valor - the fact that they advertised the taking of Monte Cassino as a glorious Polish victory.
That breakthrough was created by arabs - the colonial French forces from Morocco/Algeria.
@@ayrnovem9028 As an arab I would dispute them being Arabs, but either way it was a team effort. Everyone (including those axis soldiers too) bled the same color blood and all involved took a beating for that line.
So basically, Wotjak is a criminal in this story. Sheesh, them Poles don't know when to stop stealing victories...
Absolutely crazy to think that this is actually the calm before next month's two storms. I can only imagine how massive the episodes are gonna be once Overlord and Bagration are in full swing.
Well, they had to start another entire YT channel to cover it all.....
Two Storms is underselling it, especially because there are going to be so many offensives all over the place. The Soviets will launch an offensive into Finland; the second phase of Ichi-Go will begin in China; the Allied counter-offensive will soon begin in Burma; the Americans are preparing for their largest amphibious operation so far in the Pacific; and the largest aircraft carrier battle will take place off the waters of the Marianna islands.
Not just Overlord & Bagration as well.
In the Pacific theater you have Operation Forager launching in roughly the same time period. Though somewhat overshadowed in popular memory by momentous events happening simultaneously in Europe, the impact of Forager which was every bit as important strategically as Overlord & Bagration and resulted in the battles of the Phillipine Sea & Saipan.
The former was an attempt by Japan to regain the initiative in the Pacific and prevent the faill of Saipan. It was largest carrier battle in human history & inflicted irreplaceable losses among Japanese naval aviators, effectively ending any possibility of the Imperial Japanese Navy being able to carry out major carrier operations for the rest of the war. It also ensured the fall of Saipan, paving the way for the eventual liberation of the Phillipines and put U.S. bombers in range of the Japanese home islands, effectively negating the successes of Ichi Go that had put U.S. aircraft in China out of range. The battle of Saipan is sometimes referred to as the D-Day of the Pacific, and some surviving Japanese military leaders would later cite the fall of Saipan as the moment Japan had lost the war.
I really hope that we will get 30+ minutes episodes
As small as it is, I hope we get a special about the Battle of Samar. That battle deserves to be more well known with how such a small force at sea endured a horrible last stand and fought off overwhelming odds.
"The Germans have been fooled" is definitely the theme of this Summer, I'm sure there's absolutely no danger to army group centre...
To read more about what where the Germans thought the Soviets would launch their offensive for the summer and the transfer of troops to defend against it read Robert Citino The Whwermacht's Last Stand in which he discusses the various possibilities the Germans considered and how Model was able to get troops transferred to his sector
An interesting thing to note this week on May 20 1944 is that Iceland will begin a four-day constitutional referendum on whether to terminate the personal union with the King of Denmark and establish a republic. At the time, Iceland was in a personal union with Denmark although both were separate, sovereign countries. The results would show a 98% approval from voters and the union would eventually be dissolved on 17 June 1944.
However, many Danes felt offended that the step was taken during this time as Denmark was still under German occupation. Nevertheless, King Christian X of Denmark would still send a message of congratulations to the Icelanders.
A side note. Germany occupied mainland Danmark on the 9th of april 1940 to may 1945. British troops occupied 10th of may Iceland and the Faroe Islands on the 13th (Danish territory) of may 1940 on orders from Churchill to prevent a possible German future invasion and occupation. In July 1941 UK turned over the occupation of Iceland to USA because they needed the soldiers on other places like the front lines of North Africa. USA also already occupied Greenland in april 1941 for security reasons during war time. UK returned the Faroe Islands on the 13th of may 1945 to Danmark, and USA (after failing to buy the territory in 1946) returned Greenland to Danmark. Iceland became a independent Republic after US occupation ending in 1945.
Let's not pretend that the Danes fought the German invasion in the slightest. They handed over their Jews gladly.
@@slcpunk2740 I assume that is sarcasm? They certainly did avoid direct conflict with the Germans but they handed almost all of their Jewish population to the Swedes - saving their lives. Of Denmark’s Jewish population only 482 wound up in German hands. 7,200 went to Sweden - and survived.
@@slcpunk2740 Verifiably false, the Danes were able to save the vast majority of the Jews in their country by shipping them to neutral Sweden.
@@slcpunk2740 You would seem to be the only one pretending anything here. Over 99% of Denmark's Jewish population survived the deportation ordered by the Nazis in 1943. It's quite remarkably ill-informed or disingenuous to claim "they handed over their Jews gladly" when the facts say something completely different. IF the Danish Government and people HAD acted, as you say, the Jewish population wouldn't have survived until 1943. As it happened the Danish Government resisted Nazi moves against their Jewish population until it resigned in 1943. Then, when news of the order was leaked you even had Danish civil servants looking through the phone book for Jewish sounding names to warn them to go into hiding. Then, once an assurance of asylum had been secured from the Swedish Government there followed countless acts of bravery by resistance groups and individual Danes to hide, move Jews to the coast and then smuggle them onto boats and even Railway freight cars so they could escape to Sweden. Other Danes donated huge amounts of money to help fund the operation. Even the majority of those unlucky enough to have been rounded up and transported managed to survive due to the Danes managing to get the Nazis to agree that they wouldn't be sent to death camps and to allow food parcels to be sent and for the Danish red cross to monitor their treatment.
While it's an accepted fact of history that there were, indeed, Danish Nazis. There was a Danish Nazi Party and many Danes served in the Waffen SS, for example but it is an out and out lie to claim Denmark gladly handed over it's Jews. It didn't and the numbers show your lie. Thousands escaped with the aid of the Danish people and Government, less than 500 were deported. The majority of those survived thanks to the Danes and those that didn't escape or get deported to a camp were hidden by Danes until the end of the War.
What exactly is your problem with the Danes?
Mine dates back to 1067 or so when they had a chance to kick William the Bastard out of England but didn't quite carry it off.
Red Poppies on Monte Cassino
The words were written by the Polish composer and poet Feliks Konarski to music by Alfred Schütz
Written on the 17th, the first performance of the song took place on May 18th, already after the ruins on the monastery have been taken over. The song, with the accompaniment of Schütz’s orchestra, was sung by Gwidon Borucki on that occasion
Do you see that rabble on the peak?1
There, your foe is hiding like a rat
You have to, you have to, you have to
Grab his neck and from the clouds, knock him down
And they went ferocious and mad
And they went to kill and to avenge
And they went like always unyielding
Like always, for honor, fight
Red poppies on Monte Cassino
Instead of dew, were drinking Polish blood
Through these poppies walked soldier and died
But stronger than death was his wrath
Years go by and centuries will pass
The traces of old days will last
And all the poppies on Monte Cassino
Will be redder because from Polish blood they'll grow
They charged through fire, expendable
Not just one, took a bullet and died
Like those madman of Samosierra
Like those, years before, at Racławice
They charged with force of madmen
And they made it. The assault was successfull
And their white and red banner
Was raised on the rubble among the clouds
Red Poppies...
Do you see this row of white crosses?
There Pole with honor, took oath.
Walk forward, the farther, the higher
The more of them you'll find at your feet
This earth belongs to Poland
Although, Poland is far away from here
Because freedom, by crosses, is measured
This is history's, one mistake
Red poppies...
Merrill can't catch a break with all those heart attacks.
Isn’t this his 3rd one in, like, a year?
@@tylersteph1996 I thought it was his fourth.
Either way I’m amazed he lived as long as he did.
Fights one of the most vicious empires in modern history. Gets killed by a heart attack.
@@robertjarman3703 It happens. Stress, which would be inescapable for him, unless he was removed from the combat zone, can be a major background reason a heart attack... or several.
The Germans must've seen Wojtek coming up the heights towards them and decided nope! We're out!
If I saw a full grown artillery bear coming at me, I’d have noped the hell out too!
@@Cancun771 Yeah, but he actually fought and even captured a German himself somehiw. Cocaine Bear just died.
No, they didn't see him coming; that was the point. Wojtek took on a secret mission, infiltrated their defenses, drank all their beer, smoked all their cigarettes, and exfiltrated to Allied lines, destroying German morale and causing their departure.
Wojtek is the best bear.
He wouldn't survive the pacific bro. The Eagle can confirm, the Kitsune is a hell of a fighter.
I highly suggest you guys do a special episode on Wojtek, the bear that serviced in the Polish Army in Exile.
I'm from Edinburgh. We have a statue of Wojtek in the city centre.
I have a PhD in History (U. of Michigan '91). I am delighted with your presentations. At my age, it is one of the only broadcasts that I look forward to. Anyone with an education knows the outcome; yet seen from your perspective, it still engenders an anticipation. It is truly the first "new" take on the Second World War that I have seen in a month of Sundays. It reminds me in a way that nothing has in a long time what "world war" really meant. Big congats.
What I admire about WWII in Real Time is Indy & co give it the sense of the unexpected, it stops being a foregone conclusion (hindsight), also the day to day issues; political wrangling, logistical issues, personality clashes etc. Like you say, it is new and different and gives anyone who didn't fight in WWII (or study it properly) a new look on those events
Well they don’t necessarily know “the” outcome, you’re assuming you already know
I feel like for WWII the channel doesn’t sufficiently get into the potlcial stuff
I was stationed in Naples Italy in 1975 and we were going to see the Abby. As we started up the road, I saw an old Italian walking. For some reason we stop and picked him up. As we talked, I found out he was from the Polish who attacked the Abby. He took us to see areas that most people never see. Talked with some of the monks who help keep the Abby up. He took us to see the graves of friends of his that had been killed in the battle. We left him at the Abby with the Monks, I learned so much from him that is never taught in school.
An interesting note about the Burma campaign is that it saw the first mass use of military helicopters, with the Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly being deployed by US and UK forces to ferry critical supplies to remote bases, and to medivac wounded soldiers from the hard-to-reach jungle.
🚁 🚁 🚁
Thanks for noting this!
If anyone is interested, there is a movie "Merrill's Marauders" released in 1962 that attempts to capture the struggles of this unit as they fought in Burma, including the march to Miytkyina. It is not a bad film given the era.
My great grandfather died at this part. May 23rd, 1944 and is buried at the Cassino Cemetery. Definitely a hero to me.
Respect
Wojtek on the thumbnail! 🐻🇵🇱
4:41 In all my readings, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a whole DIVISION being reduced to 400 men. If that’s the case, I’m speechless…
@4:41,
They’ll be calling platoons “divisions” soon enough
Sounds like he was talking about front-line infantry troops and not the total number of people in the entire division. Although at this stage of the battle, most of the 'unnecessary' support troops have been either moved to different units or themselves reassigned as front-line soldiers, since those 400 remaining infantry require a whole lot less in the way of logistics and maintenance support.
It refers to fighting men, the total size of the division was probably still in the thousands.
@@Raskolnikov70 Make sense and that’s a good point 👍🏽
Can't find the book, but seems to remember stories of German rifle companies being redused to 20, 13, 7, even 3 men still standing when winter came i 1941.
War really is hell.
Yay Wojtek :) I love that story. Bears are my favorite animals and he was given his own rank and rations! Also fitting the Poles planted their flag over the Monastery.
One of his handler, man named Wojtek too, was prof at Cracov technical uni for many years, he was friend of my high school english teacher, so every year he told us his story about Cassino and Wojtek, dressed in his last uniform. We heard same story for three years, and it was cool everytime :)
@andrzejtomala that's amazing that you got to hear the story that way. Very lucky.
In 1970 the German Gunsmith at the American army Rod and Gun club where I was stationed in Germany was a veteran of the Monte Cassino battles. Only 3 men in his battalian that started the fight survived.
Concerning the German recon planes: Soviet airforce created hunter groups to bring down every German recon plane in order to keep their secret deployment secret.
For those who were worried like me, when Indy says Merrill "Succumbed to another heart attack", he's not dead. He survives the war. He was also in his 30s when he had these heart attacks which is rough.
I am so happy Wojtek the bear made it to the thumbnail! He's an absolute legend in Poland :D
🐻🐻🐻
“Only you 🫵 can prevent Friendly Fire.”
- Wojtek the Bear.
The Red Army has become much smarter in 1944 than in 1940. They've learned their lessons thoroughly the hard way.
Then in 1941* in 1940 they were best friends with nazists
The weakened German air reconnaissance helps them in setting up maskirovka.
@@user-mc8ow8me9o yes but remember they also had several blunders in Finland during 1940
More about they builded up back their lost HQ and officers corps after Stalins army purges during the 30s. It was a shame it happened, since it almost erased all russian military theoricians (who were ahead of their time), and roughly 90% of the red army officers. At the start of the war, Germany was facing a mighty army, but really poorly coordinated and commanded.
That's what happens when you purge all your officers away and have to re-learn military tactics & strategy.
Television? There's that word again. I keep hearing "Wait until the war is over and everybody will have a television set".
Nothing's going to replace radio as our main communication device, no matter what these crazy futurists claim. Can you imagine WATCHING the newsreader read the news? Or shows like Fibber McGee and Molly with live actors? That'd be too weird, who would ever do that?
I remember how short the phoney war episodes were. In 1940 a 'double-length special' was 20 minutes long. And now a regular calm before the storm episode is 20 minutes.
Don't think Smiling Albert Kesselring will be smiling much longer
Smiling Albert will never stop smiling.
At Monte Cassino, one of the most brutal battles of WW2 finally found an end. I´m thinking of the soldiers who gave their lives, the civilians and of the loss of cultural heritage. War is hell.
A sidenote this week on May 14 1944 is that Luftwaffe Leutnant August Lambert will be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal for 90 kills. Of the nearly 250 Soviet aircraft that were shot down by II/SG2 during the Gruppe's six-month defence of the Crimea region in Ukraine, more than a third were caused by Lambert's guns.
I wasn't familiar with him but had to look him up to read about the rest of his "career" as an ace, after reading your interesting post. He was eventually shot down & killed by a P-51D Mustang from the US 55th Figher Group in April of 1945. No matter which nation a person fought for it always seems to be especially tragic (at least when they're not the sort who would end up tried at Nuremberg) when they are killed at the very end of the war.
@@ahorsewithnoname773 Yeah from what I understand, in Germany's case unfortunately, due to a dire shortage of pilots these aces were often forced to continue flying in active combat instead of becoming a training instructor for the next batch of pilots etc. So these lowered their chances of them surviving the war.
It would probably be more accurate to say "Of the nearly 250 Soviet aircraft that were CLAIMED to be shot down by II/SG 2...".
@@ahorsewithnoname773 If it's true that the 55th FG downed Lambert, the group could then be credited with downing two of the three biggest single-day claimers of the war, as they also got Helmut Lang on September 3rd of 1944. He claimed 18 shot down on the Eastern Front sometime in October of 1943. The other big claimer was Marseille, who claimed 17 in September of 1942.
@@ramonzzzz The Germans were on the defensive at this point, therefore most of the Soviet airplanes would have crashed on the German side of the line and could be counted with some accuracy.
Most of this would have been daylight fighting, so troops on the ground would have been observing and confirming.
The numbers are probably reasonably close, all things considered.
Another great episode, finding the Burma campaign really interesting
Same here. And I had no idea about the Japanese launching a big offensive in China this late in the war. In some ways it really was their last gasp at gaining a defensible stronghold. Can you imagine if the allies had to root them out of China, as well as the homeland?
To read more about what where the Germans thought the Soviets would launch their offensive for the summer and the transfer of troops to defend against it read Robert Citino The Whwermacht's Last Stand in which he discusses the various possibilities the Germans considered and how Model was able to get troops transferred to his sector.
9:19 Stilwell is giving Patton some serious competition
Patton was callous but competent. I'm not sure the latter was true of Stillwell.
@@ahorsewithnoname773 Patton was great in cavalry style exploiting a breakthrough (not achieving a breakthrough) and pursuit and overflanking operations , chasing the enemy in mobile warfare but in other types of operations like attacking a well fortified enemy defence line , set piece operations or advance in rough terrain etc , he was mostly unsucessful and he had a very disturbing effect on SHEAF morally and politically due to his behavior.
The thumbnail features the famous Polish artillery bear. A Polish artillery unit in North Africa acquired a bear cub, who became their mascot. When they went to Italy, he best 'enlisted' in the unit(it even had a paybook), and the bear hauled boxes of shells from trucks to artillery positions!
They acquired the bear cub in Iran.
Iran
Thanks again for the insert maps. They really do help us locate where in the world the battles were taking place. It gives context to what is happening.
I had a sergeant in 1967 that told me, when i asked me why he still wore a patch form WWll, told me when you Mach out of Burma with Merrill marauders everything was gravy.
Great job at Cassino! Now we just need Mark Clark to follow through and the Italian Campaign will be over soon.
I’m sure the liberation of Rome won’t be overshadowed by anything else happening on the same day
@@pocketmarcy6990 lol u know
I am currently doing research on my grandfather, which died before I was born.
in 1944 he was an NCO (Oberfeldwebel) in the 46th Tank hunter unit which I connected to the 44th Division.
I also found out he got a bad head wound on the 17th of May 1944 by a grenade at Monte Casino. (Survived and lived on until 1975)
I am following this awesome documentation week by week, but this episode really had a personal touch for me.
Love the work you do every week. Marc
Continuing with the saga of USS England (DE-635), last week saw her score her first submarine kill, sinking I-16 on the 19th. This week, she would send four more to the bottom of the Pacific.
With I-16's sinking confirmed the destroyer escorts continued searching the area until the afternoon of the 20th to make sure they got the right submarine, when another transmission came in from Halsey. More Japanese communications had been intercepted; anticipating a push from the American fleet up towards the Philippines, a sentry line of seven submarines had been established to scout along their predicted route. Seeing as the Navy already had a hunter-killer group operating in the area, George, Raby, and England were given the dream assignment of finding and sinking these subs.
Starting at the northern tip of the line, designated Scouting Line NA, it wasn't long before they found the first boat. At 0345 on May 22, George and England registered a radar contact and the DEs moved in for a surface attack. Before they could open fire however, the submarine, Ro-106, submerged; with George's searchlight only catching a glimpse of her conning tower before she was beneath the surface. George then picked up Ro-106 on sonar and moved to attack, with England and Raby circling at 2,000 yards (from here on out, assume that's what the other ships are doing when one is attacking). Unfortunately for George, on her first attack run an electrical failure caused her hedgehog to fire 7-8 seconds late, and she missed and lost contact. With a noticeable edge in his voice, Hains asked England if she knew where the sub was. England didn't, but they had a pretty good guess so they gave an affirmative and went to search, gaining sonar contact at 0425. England fired her first salvo of hedgehogs at 0433 but missed, and again Pendleton decided to give control to Williamson. England fired her second salvo at 0444, and 18 seconds later another "V-R-R-R-OOM!" was heard as three hedgehogs hit. England regained sonar contact and came around to make another attack run, but then at 0451 another massive explosion was felt, signaling Ro-106's demise. Debris and oil was sighted on the surface at daylight, but due to inclement weather none would be recovered, and the ships conducted a retiring search before moving on.
At 0558 on the 23rd Raby picked up a surface contact, and she was ordered to attack immediately while George and England closed at best speed. Raby had a 30,000-yard head start on England, so all England could do was go as fast as her boilers could take her and hope Raby and George wouldn't have any luck. The submarine, Ro-104, crash-dived at 0610 when Raby closed to 6,300 yards; Raby picked her up on sonar a couple minutes later. Raby would then miss with four hedgehog attacks from 0617 to 0653, reporting that Ro-104 was maneuvering erratically, counter-pinging with her sonar, and fishtailing to create underwater disturbances. George then took over and fired at 0707, but as with Ro-106, missed and lost contact. Ro-104 then tried to escape the area, but George finally managed to pick her back up just as she was getting out of range; and England finally made it to the scene, reforming the circle around George. George then made four more attacks, still scoring no hits; and England's crew were beginning to get a bit antsy over not getting a chance to attack. Finally, an exaspeated Hains ordered George to break off and England to come in. England gained contact and fired at 0823, missing. And like clockwork, Pendleton gave command to Williamson. After conducting a non-firing run, England fired again at 0834, two of the hedgehog projectiles failing to fire. The 22 that did would be plenty though, and an incredibly loud "V-R-R-OOM!" was heard as an estimated 10-12 of the projectiles gutted Ro-104; another heavy explosion following several minutes later. Oil and debris were recovered, and the hunter-killer group set back off.
At 0120 on May 24, George got a surface contact and the three moved to attack. This submarine, Ro-116, crash-dived as George closed to 9,000 yards. For half an hour none of the DEs could find her, but finally at 0150 England gained sonar contact and moved in to attack. Her first two runs ended up being non-attacking, however. Ro-116 was conducting a number of incredibly aggressive evasive actions; rapidly kicking her screws and rudder to create an underwater disturbance so large and clear the possibility that the sub was towing something behind her was raised, and counter-pinging to interfere with England's sonar. England's reports would admit that Ro-116 was the toughest opponent they had faced up to that point, but they had a trick up their sleeves too. When making an attack, the rate of a ship's sonar pings would increase as they closed in order to get the most accurate information to fire on. However, this also warned the submarine that an attack was imminent and give her time to evade. Williamson, who had been at the helm from the start and would be for all future kills, and soundman Gus Daily's plan was to keep their sonar pings steady on the run in, to fool Ro-116 into thinking that they'd lost her and wouldn't attack. This plan worked like a charm. On England's third run, Ro-116 was dead still in the water, a fatal mistake. At 0214 England fired, and fifteen seconds later, another "V-R-R-OOM!" as two to five of the hedgehogs found home. But unlike her previous kills, there was no heavy explosion that followed. England fired another salvo to no results, and a prolonged search by the DEs would result in no new contacts. But as the sun rose, a small amount of debris was recovered. Everyone was now confident that Ro-116 had been damaged, but less so that she was destroyed. Later that morning another contact would be made that seemed to employ similar tactics to Ro-116, but after several hours of searching and attacking, the hunt was abandoned. This contact would later be revealed to likely be an unfortunate whale, whose death England's crew considered to be the sole blot on their otherwise spotless record.
On May 26 England briefly departed from the group with orders to rendezvoux with the escort carrier USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) and her destroyer screen, while George and Raby would take advantage of England's absence to continue the hunt. Hoggatt Bay had just arrived on station and would be in overall command of the operation, but due to the DEs being under radio silence she wasn't up to date on the situation. Upon learning of the group's success, Hoggatt Bay's captain was content to let the DEs continue operating independently of his force, electing to stay back to provide scouting and support if necessary. Unfortunately for George and Raby, they hadn't made any contacts in the time England was away from the group, and as the trio reformed they began to head towards Manus to refuel and rearm before continuing the hunt. But, they decided to bend the rules a little. Manus was in General MacArthur's territory, whereas previously they'd been operating in Admiral Halsey's, whose original dispatch specified that they were not allowed to cross over into MacArthur's territory unless in active pursuit of a contact. Since they'd gotten permission to stop in Manus, though, then it stands to reason that any submarines they happen across on the way are fair game. So, they elected to just follow the NA Line down and see if they can "steal" a kill from MacArthur.
This immediately pays dividends, as at around 2303 that night, England and Raby registered radar contacts within minutes of one another, and moved to attack. Raby was originally closer to the target than England, but when her captain gave the orders for "all ahead flank" and "full left rudder" he was then informed of another radar contact and went to go take a look, without rescinding the turning order. By the time he had been notified, Raby had been sailing in circles for a few minutes and England pulled ahead of her. At 2312 England prepared for a torpedo attack against the sub, Ro-108, but a few minutes later she crash dived and England moved to pick her up on sonar. England gained a good contact on her at 2318, and began her attack run. England came into this engagement with only enough ammunition for two volleys of hedgehogs. She would only need one. At 2323 England fired, and 20 seconds later the now-familiar "V-R-R-R-OOM!" noise was heard as four to six of the projectiles found their mark. The time between first contact and kill was less than 20 minutes. At this point a rather annoyed George and Raby arrived on the scene, and then just as quickly left to conduct a retiring search and leave England with the kill. At sunrise debris was recovered, and the three resumed course for Seeadler Harbor in Manus.
Throughout their time in Seeadler there was a lot of razzing and banter between the ships, with England's crew in particular going after George's for tallying submarine kills on her bridge wing despite not actually scoring any of them. England's crew had a longstanding reputation for cockiness, and you can bet their unprecedented string of successes didn't do much in the way of teaching them some humility. The next day on the 28th they replenished their supply of hedgehogs from another one of their sisters, USS Spangler (DE-696), and with Spangler joining the posse the now four ships departed on the evening of the 28th.
As always, a fantastic episode! I was interested in your mention of the capture of the Admiralty Islands, as my dad served there with a U.S. Naval engineering support team. They supported the US airfield there.
The logistics bases the Allies are building in places like the Admiralty Islands are a huge contributing factor to their success. Instead of having to sail all the way back to Pearl Harbor or California, ships are able to dock, refit and head right back out in a few days instead of being out of action for weeks. It's a part of the war that doesn't get a lot of coverage.
Adding to the comments below: good to see Wojtek on the cover. but no mention of him in this week's episode? Come on Indy and team. Its time for a special on the soldier bear.
Given this videos thumbnail I honestly thought Indy would mention Wojtek the Polish bear. But oh well.
Great episode to all! My mind boggles at the hours you all spend.
I love Wojtek in the thumbnail.
Everytime I see the 3rd Algerian division it's like that DiCaprio meme pointing at the screen of me going "Hey my family member is in that fight"
I sure do love this series. Indy is a great host and the team of which he is a part is amazing.
My grandpa (german side of the family) lost a leg in this battle. The grenade that hit him might have been launched off a bear.
Doctor: How did you get this injury?
Soldier: A bear threw a grenade at me.
Doctor: I see. Very well, we will issue a medical discharge.
Soldier: For being injured?
Doctor: For being crazy!
My Polish grandad was at Monte Casino 🇵🇱🇬🇧
Well done. As usual. One of the few things on UA-cam that I always watch as soon as I am notified.
Honestly I thought they were going to rename it the Mussolini Line, considering how much respect Hitler has left for him by this point.
Stilwell had already previously proven his incompetence - and the fact that he was given further commands like here is straightup baffling.
Anyone who is there should take the opportunity to visit the Polish Cemetary at Monte Casino. It is very moving.The Poles made the final assault on the citadel and took it. The Berbers under Juin performed very well but Juin did nothing to stop the rape of Italian women by his soldiers. Once again I recommend the movie "Two Women" with Sophia Loren, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress. A wonderful film.
The movie took place in Sicily.. Hundreds of Italian women, girls and boys were raped and murdered by the Algerian and Moroccan troops. Nothing happened to the French Commanders. One became a high ranking officer in NATO and streets in France were named after them.v
@@hansmoss7395 I don't know where the movie is filmed but its Italian title was La Ciuciara which is the Italian town near Monte Casino which was the center of the rape and murder, not Sicily. It was based on the novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia.
According to the history books the crimes started in Sicily. Many hundreds were raped and murdered. You are right the film played in the vicinity of Rome..
Later at wars end, it happened in the Black Forrest,. Germany.
@@hansmoss7395 Hans you may be right, but my father was born and raised in Sicily and his side of the family still lived there during the war. I never heard this before from any my aunt, uncles, or my cousins. The Algerians and Morocans were not in Sicily, nor was the French commander Juin. Anyway thanks for the information.
How dare you not mention the artillery shell carrying polish bear? :^(
Look at the thumbnail :)
🐻
Wojtek the GOAT
Wow.
You can really see Chiang scrambling forces and counter-measures all over to try and salvage the Chinese situation. The question is, will it be enough?
Mao must really be smiling right now, with the amount of incompetence the nationalist army is showing
@@pocketmarcy6990 its not incompetence. Its the lack of arms, the circumstances has never been kind to the nationalist goverment
In the spring of 1944, the occupation regime in Norway, attempted to mobilise workers for the war effort. The plan was to draft young men in year classes. Quisling suggested to draft the unemployed, starting with those born in 1921-1923. However, there were fears that the men drafted would be sent to the eastern front, reason by a note made by Minister of Justice in the Quisling government Sverre Riisnæs, which sparked opposition to this. The norwegian resistance moved to boycott this and perform sabotage. Two of these are most known.
This week on May 18, Gunnar Sønsteby, Max Manus and Gregers Gram enter one of the offices in Oslo where the letters for this is being made. Max waits outside, while Sønsteby and Gram go inside, plant the bomb and then starts yelling that there is an explosive in the building getting everyone out. The operation is a success and the men escape.
Earlier this month, May 4, Max Manus, Gregers Gram, Edvard Tallaksen and five other resistance men enters Kirkeveien 90 in Oslo. Max, Gram and Tallaksen enter the building complex while the rest stand outside to spot for any movement. Finding the draft notes, the men proceed to burn them. The men were done, when the STAPO caught them and they had to escape. Three of the guards were caught however and later executed, but Max, Gram, Tallaksen and two of the other guards Dick Zeiner-Henriksen and Hans Petter Styren survived and escaped. The three who were executed were:
Lars-Emil Erichsen
John Hatland
Per Stranger-Thorsen
Norwegien Tactician, I have a personal question. Do you know of a resistance fighter named Mr. Knadderud? I lived near him around 1976 in the town of Bekkestua. Mr. Knadderud had a green cannon in his yard, probably a 37mm. He also had an antique trolley car. His house was decorated inside with militaria such as a chandelier made of bayonets. IIRC, he was blind in one eye. His address would have been near 60 Hoevikvein Street. The closest trykke stop was Gjones or Gjoenes. If you reply I will try to remember more details.
His name might be Mr. Knaderudd.
No, I haven't heard of him.
Having gone thru all of SirAntony Beevor's works, at least 3 times, (WW2, Stalingrad, Berlin, Arnhem, Ardennes, Russia, etc.)
and Will Shrirer's "Rise and Fall.. " even more than that,
it's your maps! (I love maps) , and videos put that the pictures, (uniforms, terrain, tank/gun models), in my head..and fill in the visual details.
It works so much better than any documentary, ever, could hope for.
I'll always thank you, Indie, and the Crew,..for that.
oh..and, Hi Astrid!❤❤
French North African Colonial Corps , made up Moroccans and Algerians were probably best mountain fighters of war. They lived and grew up at Atlas Mountain region of North West Africa , knew how to fight in mountain, hill terrain and equipped themselves accordingly with pack mule trains for supply and sandals for footwear in order to advance easy and silent movement on mountains and equipped light infantry mortars for quick deployment instead of artillery , tanks motorised vehicles vs and and they were equipped with blades for close combat and silent killing (like Gurkhas in British Indian Army) etc. It is not suprising that they were the ones breaking through Aurinci mountains and overflanking Gustav Line and causing its collapse at southern flank. General Alfons Juin , best French corps commander of war , led them admirably in this attack because he knew what they were capable of.
That said they were sometimes quite indiciplined and committed several atrocities against Italian civilians at rear and especially at front when they were advancing. Several cases of rape , robbery and murder committed by these Northwest African goums were reported to Allied headquarters. If this latter misbehavior of theirs did not happen or at least checked by their officers (their officers mostly French who did not care and left them free in their forays in order to keep their morale and keep their authority on them) they would be remembered much better.
At the other hand , this is no shoveling other nationalities fought in 5th and 8th Armies which breached Gustav line back in narrative of Operation Diadem. They too performed heroicly. 2nd US Corps (85th and 88th US Infantry Divisions fights on twin hills and Santa Marie Infente , applied a steady pressure despite fierce resistance of German panzergranediers on twin hills overlooking Highway 8 till they reatreated when French Colonial troops began threatening their rear . At Monte Cassino , Free Polish 2nd Corps suffered so much casaulties in frontal attacks in May 1944 , it was almost hors de combat (out of action) and their gallant advance which finally reached abandoned Monte Cassino monerstary , was a well deserved battle honor after their awful casaulties suffered in past week. Further south British 13th Corps (4th and 78th British Divisions and 8th Indian Division ) crossing Rapido river , cleaning out riverbank positions held by 14th Panzer Corps , setting up and then expanding a bridgehead (which won several Victoria Cross awards for British and Indian troops) that overflanked Monte Cassino and slowly approaching and threatening Highway 6 from north that convinced Kesselring to order abandoning Monte Cassino and bring back 800 or so remnants from 1st German Paratroop Division left still defending the monestary and town. The rest were killed were captured when the remaning defenders escaped just before British cut the highway from their rear. But it was French colonial troops breakthough that achieved the most clear breach and exploited it decisevely , making Operation Diadem a victory for Allies in Italy.
I wonder why Monte Cassino wasn't declared a "fortress" the way many cities on the eastern front were - i.e. ordered to hold it to the last man no matter what. It would have been a great place for a batallion of Wehrmacht troops to hole up with plenty of rifle, MG and mortar ammunition and make life a living hell for the Allies for a few more weeks or months.
@@Raskolnikov70 The place was overflanked by British 13th Corps that was severing the Cassino slopes from rear plus 13th Corps already set up bridgeheads on Rapido that extended to Highway 6 so holding Cassino position became a pointless waste and Kesselring was anxious not to lose reminder of 1st German Parachute Division which was almost destroyed after four months of fighting. Losing remaing surviving cade of a division (especially an experinced one like 1st Parachute Division) makes it very hard if not impossible to rebuild the division.
Thank you again Indy for teaching us.😀
Another great episode as always. I can’t help but imagine how much anticipation the world was feeling at this point in 1944.. it’s hard to divorce my knowledge about the situation from this time period, but I get the impression that everyone knew something big and world changing was coming.
“Well…..living one’s.”
Daaaaaamn, Indy!
Made me chuckle in a grim fashion 😂
This week in French news.
For the first time the 15th: journal “L'Humanité” demands the armistice and the return of Maurice Thorez, exiled in Moscow since 1939. At the Assembly, a proposition is voted to make the Comité français de libération nationale the Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (GPRF) as a real provisionary government.
The 18th, Laval meets Pétain in Voisins, they both agrees that Darnand goes too far with the Milice.
The 20th, In Auvergne and Corrèze, the FFI are mobilized.
The same day on the BBC, it is announced the opening of a second front later, the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) demands to all Frenchmen to gives information about occupying forces. The CFLN (French government) was not consulted by this broadcast and protests as it put in danger civilians.
@@loveroffunnyy Fixed it
Presumably it was when "L'Humanité” was an underground publication, as it had been banned.
I've been really enjoying the coverage of the Burma Front. I don't really know too much about it so I kinda look forward to seeing what happens in Burma.
Wojtek babyyyy!
Indy, I'm as ever in awe of your talent. Thanks so much to you and the entire TG team!
I'm curious though: no mention of Sparty's War Against Humanity series lately. Is that still a thing, or is it on hiatus?
We had to pause it until we finish D Day, but he’ll make up for lost time afterward.
@@Southsideindy if the allies can pull off this invasion it'll be the biggest caper since the Astros fooled everyone in 2017 2018 and 2019. Hashtag the dodgers should really have like ,3 world series
Excellent Epsiode, as always.
Monte Cassino and the Gustav line have been a topic for many weeks. Strange that it is over now.
Thank you! You’re excellent!
Don’t worry, plenty of other engagements lie ahead!
Indy loves the Laconic "if," now doesn't he?
Hi Indy
Another great week.
This war going to end soon.
Awating of operation bagration.
Thanks for another great weekly episode.
13:21 "Doing precisely what we've done 3 times before I'd the last thing they'll expect us to do this time."
You goofed @ 16:10 , Indy! Roosevelt never visited the U.K. after 1918. He was never even outside the U.S. during 1944.
Still going strong TGA!!! Fantastic work!
Thank you!
You’re fantastic!
No such regiment as the Queen’s Royal West Kents. It was the Royal West Kent Regiment which became 2nd Battalion the Queen’s Reqiment (2 Queens) in 1966. It is now part of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment- PWRR
This is the most British comment I've ever read on UA-cam. I can practically smell the crumpets and Earl Grey tea on your computer desk as you wrote it.
English breakfast- Earl Grey is for hairdressers!
I am partly confused by how I actually understand this. The power of the Commonwealth I suppose.
@@HaloFTW55 *Laughs in Irish diaspora*
Both Mark Clark AND Joe Stilwell showing up in the same week... hmm
there was a bear, a bear a bear, all black and brown and covered in hair...
Was It a polish bear?
@@Zen-sx5io dunno about 1940s persia, but you can't renounce iranian citizenship and that's where wojtek was born...
@@pnutz_2 It's been a while since I learned about him, but thanks for reminding me.
The naval base developed on Manus in the Admiralty islands was used for the invasion of the Philippines and became the forward base for the British Pacific Fleet in 1945.
It remained a RAN base until PNG independence in 1975 and was the subject of a recent agreement with the PNG government to redevelop it for use by Australian and American naval forces ahead of any deterioration in the strategic position in the South China Sea.
I happen to be near Rome this week and went to Anzio - hard to believe that this was such a contested spot in this war. And even harder to believe that the Germans did not put up more forces to eliminate this pocket so close to Rome. Now that Monte Cassino feel it can only be a matter of days until the Allies can declare victory at Anzio as well.
Sorry, I can't help humming a Polish military song about Monte Casino
...Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino
Zamiast rosy piły polską krew.
Po tych makach szedł żołnierz i ginął,
Lecz od śmierci silniejszy był gniew.
Przejdą lata i wieki przeminą.
Pozostaną ślady dawnych dni
I wszystkie maki na Monte Cassino
Czerwieńsze będą, bo z polskiej wzrosną krwi...
Vinegar Joe studied Luigi Cardona's play book. One of Merrills men contemplated shooting Stillwell in the field. If they had pant's they needed them split in the rear. The one thing you could take back in time and sell for a fortune is a case of Imodium.
Next month tune in for operation overlord and bagration june 6 and 22
Great episode Indy et al! Big doings everywhere! Only 2 weeks until the largest seaborne invasion ever attempted! I sure hope the Allies are able to pull it off. I will be watching all 24 hours and I have my caffeine all ready to go!
Thank you for the lesson.
The in depth discussion of topics on this channel is outstanding.
Learn new things everytime.
It’s our pleasure!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you.
Brillant work! Brillant man, Indy!
To me, it's astonishing how much North African, Indian, Nepalese, Polish, Anzac etc troops have contributed to the victories of the Allied Forces and yet get almost no credit for it. You're kinda setting the record straight here.
@Montréal 🇨🇦...Polska, ZAWSZE !🙏🇵🇱❤️
Merill's Marauders have such a Startship Troopers vibe
What a lession!
another great video, i can not imagine your work load. operation overlord and bagration are about to start against nazi germany, soviets also will attack finns and italian campaign is not close to over at all
other side of world, us will launch attacks on philippines and mariana islands while never-ending battles of new guinea, new britain and operations of ichi-go and u-go continues on
i guess episodes will be a lot longer
This is great. Thank You.
4:14 that look tells us exactly how he feels about this
Fabulous.
VERY exciting!
Thanx for adding the big picture maps of the China battles… very helpful ( if you’ve been doing this for the whole time… shame on me for my myopic laziness )😊
A movie recommendation for this week: "La Ciocaria [Two women]" (1960) by Vittorio de Sica.
The film tells the story of a mother and a daughter in southern Lazio during the German occupation. The movie also deals with the Marocchinate, the mass rape and murder of Italian women by French Moroccan troops following the collapse of the Gustav Line.
Period covered: 19 July 1943-20 May 1944
Historical accuracy: 3/5 - Fictional story but based on real events.
IMDB grade: 7.8/10
Other: 1 Academy Award (Best actress)
@@slyasleepNo one expressed disgust at North African collectively. Moreover Moravia, author of the novel, was a communist of Jewish descent, certainly not a fascist or someone with a racist agenda. What happened in southern Lazio should be known and remembered as every other war crime committed during world war 2, even if the crimes were carried out by allied troops.
Amazing episode this week! So intense with things going on!
My grandfather was a marauder and absolutely loathed Joe Stilwell. Now i understand why
How lovely is to see the Polish flag again
Imagine how surprised the retreating Germans would’ve been to see it
Roosevelt did not join St Pauls Conferance on 18th May 1944 in London. St. Paul's was General Montgomery's (who was overall Land Force Commander of D-Day) old school and he picked up the place because it was large enough to hold all attendees and their staffs icoming for the conferance.
Sadly the building was demolished in 1970, would have been an interesting tourist attraction. Not that London has a shortage of those, though.
Vinegar Joe. Smiling Albert. Nice
The dude's poor heart... this war can't be good for him
Love the Voytek reference In the thumbnail!❤
Rip army group center
Army group center? Surely they'll be totally fine. The Soviet attack is going to hit further to the south.