Line Of Fire | The Kaiser's Battle | Full Documentary

The German spring offensive of 1918 nearly brought the greatest of rewards in a war that had become a static blood-soaked nightmare - a decisive breakthrough against a weakened allied enemy. The ending of the war on the Eastern front had allowed the Germans to transfer thousands of troops to the west to aid the great offensive - total success was prevented only by sheer bad luck, the fighting defence of the Allied armies and the complete exhaustion of the German soldiers.
Once the offensive had been halted, however, there was no doubt that the Allies would win the war. Six months of hard fighting still lay ahead, but the Germans were forced inexorably back towards their own borders.
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[@binzauk]

My wife's Great Grandfather fought in this battle and was killed on 24th March 1918 at Marierres Wood, fighting with the 4th South African Infantry. Marierres Wood was the last stand for 500 South African troops who held up the German advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive and thus help prevent the Germans capturing Amiens, a vital road and rail link. In 2018 we did a battlefield tour were we went to Villers-Guslain and Gauche Wood, which were the the German and Allies front lines respectively on 21st March 1918 and where my wifes Great Grandfather had to fight and retreat from constantly over 3 days and nights. Very moving but very interesting.

[@thomaskolley]

What kind of would be historians your are. Why not get the map right first. You really clueless that Germany had other borders in 1918?

[@123evanda]

​@@EAdrien92trolling for attention

[@123evanda]

​@@thomaskolley🙄

[@thelastaustralian7583]

Lest ye Forget

[@welshpete12]

@@thelastaustralian7583 Amen to that !

[@mcsmash4905]

cant get enough when it comes to 90s to early 2000's documentaries

[@BlackWhite-tx2kb]

the soap opera lighting

[@nyccoyax3831]

my father used to watch WW2 documentaries every weekend morning, around 1997 and so on, and my little ass was just sitting there on the floor watching with him in awe.. and thats why I have developed this immense need to consume WW2 and later on even WW1 stuff all the time.

[@jameson32]

This is contemporary. I know AI narration when I hear it.

[@mcsmash4905]

@@jameson32 these documentaries are roughly 20 years old , you can find the same ones posted years and years ago

[@Robbielazar]

@@jameson32not AI

[@Simon-jj2pu]

My grandad got a MM for this battle, he was a TF (similar to the National Guard in the US, apparently the young ladies liked the uniforms and you got paid for summer camps, 1914 summer camp got abruptly cancelled) joined just before the outbreak of the war, arrived in France in 1915 as the BEF was almost decimated and the TF took over until the new Kitchener armies could be trained, demobbed in Dec 1918 and then went back to working in the mines. Rejoined the TF in 1919 for a few years, tried to rejoin for WW2 but was told he had done enough. He had a German bullet in his shoulder (in 1915, too close to organs to remove) and it stayed there for the rest of his life . Tough men

[@EAdrien92]

No he didn’t.

[@Simon-jj2pu]

@@EAdrien92 luckily I have the medal and the rest of them, and a personal citation. Why be so nasty

[@stevenfitzsimmons3840]

Could be my grandfathers tale. Too a tee. 👍🏻

[@MrRobster1234]

I had a great uncle with similar story. He was born in St. Marys, Ontario in 1898 and lived until 1987. He went over in 1915 as a bugle boy and returned in 1919 as a regimental sergeant-major. He volunteered for WW II and trained Canadian troops in England. He was a very funny, old chap and I remember him well.

[@MrRobster1234]

@@EAdrien92 How did you type that in a strait jacket ?

[@jennforster8772]

My great uncle, Ernest Sawyer of the Beds Yeomanry, was killed holding the line at Marcelcave near VB on 31st March. One of many dismounted cavalrymen involved in the defence.

[@Marguerite-tv4tq]

My Great Grandfather was mobilized to the Eastern front of WW1. He was a young conscript of the infantry division and fought in the Battle of Galicia in 1914 on the side of Russian Empire.

[@FenellaBeach]

0:15 “a signal for ten thousand German guns and mortars to thunder into action” - proceeds to show British 8” howitzers and British 60 pounder field guns firing - why ? - I’m sure there must be plenty of archive footage of German artillery.

[@facejack2646]

Yes but in germany the footage will be decleared Rechtsextremen, eventuell so no footage

[@redcossack245]

Very good show. You pay honor to all the soldiers who fought on both sides. One of my ancestors was part of the AEF that showed up some months later and helped change the war. If these men had not stopped the Germans, he may not have made a difference.

[@MrRobster1234]

Ludendorf's son who I believe was a foster son was a German airman. He had been dead and buried for two weeks when he was dug up and taken to Ludendorf's HQ. He said it gave him great comfort to have him there.

[@waynesutherland-rs6ct]

my grandfather was with the Canadian 44 oversea battalion, third division, he told me the war was to reduce the surplus population and I guess nothing has changed

[@manonthemoon2912]

Lost two Great Uncles at Arras 1918 within two weeks, one has no known grave, their father not long after died, he was so heartbroken.

[@peterrobbins2862]

America transporting munitions on passenger ships was also a nono as it made ships like the Lusitania a legitimate target of war

[@grandcrowdadforde6127]

Kaiser Willy escaped, and lived out his life in Holland..

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage documentary about (Kieser assault)at 1918 ..during WW1.

[@joebudi5136]

3000 south africans vs 18,000 Germans. Only 100 survived to become pows. Who knows if any of them survived past the war.

[@peterrobbins2862]

Well if there was one hundred pows then I'd say most of them would have

[@Digmen1]

The lack of prepared defences on the British 5th Army front was a major factor.

[@0ldb1ll]

'This is not a peace treaty. It is an armistice for twenty years.' It was exceptionally unfortunate that the American President did not agree with Marshal Foche or their own General Pershing. The League of Nations was a complete waste of space and having forced it through, the Americans abandoned it.

[@matthewsmith6929]

from what I understand, the fact that Congress voted to keep the US out of the league, and the treaty forced Germany to not be a part of it, it essentially became a paper tiger, with no force to achieve what it claimed. This was proven by the Japanese, who tested the limits in China and only faced sanctions by the US.

[@Doo_Doo_Patrol]

My Grandfather was a German American doctor in the U.S., and treated people.

[@Xii.legionary]

What's the thumbnail from? If these are actual miniatures I absolutely need to know where they're from

[@stevekuxhausen7981]

The map of Germany is incorrect because it reflects current borders rather than the border during WW1 which included Prussia, Silesia, Posen, Alsace and Lorraine.

[@geoffreymarshall639]

Haige's command post was so far from the front that any situation report that reached him was out of date. The British Generals at the front had to work together and without orders from the high command, make their own responses to the German attack.

[@brentinnes5151]

Lions led by Donkeys

[@elizabethtamp1537]

​@@brentinnes5151Sounds like the poor, long-suffering Ukrainians.

[@markgrehan3726]

He's commanding the Army he shouldn't be that close to the front lines.

[@brentinnes5151]

@@markgrehan3726 yeah but not bloody miles away

[@lorpot]

@@elizabethtamp1537 Russian troll or are you so out of touch of actual "special operation" in Ukraine?

[@thorkildsparre]

my great Grandfather fought in this battle and was killed on 22th March 1918 Marierres Wood, fighting with the 84th Regiment,he wass dane died for a country that was not his

[@ericdoberstein8872]

The infiltration tactics that the Germans developed in WWI was the basis for the Blitzkrieg tactics of the German army in WWII that won many spectacular victories for them early in that war. The two most critical additions were mechanization, (including the British invented tanks), and portable hand held radios for improved communications and cooperation between the troops and the artillery.

[@NoManClatuer-pd8ck]

LOF was a great series. The Sandhurst professors were top notch. I especially enjoyed they're dry wit.

[@pablotorres6997]

Excellent! Yes, not as well known but definitely important battle. Great information and presentation.

[@stewarta5993]

my Scot grandfather was a piper.

[@giovannidepetris6335]

Defeated at Caporetto Italians did not contribute any longer???? This is offensive and preposterous. Italy defeated the last effort of the Austrians in June 1918 in the battle of the Piave. Tens of thousands of Italians were fighting also in France in the Balkans. The Italian navy was preventing access to the ports if the Adriatic etc etc How dare the speaker say Italians did not contribute any more? Of course the big games were in the western front but to diminish Always in every documentary Italians death is shameful.

[@sreckobrzin8534]

Touchy,aren't you? But of course a Giovanni would jump to defend the back- stabbing, which side gives me more politics of the Italian state of that era. All in the service of colonial expansion....As was so,so welldemonstrated in the following decades.... You can't hide from history.

[@kryts27]

Ringing bells before actual victory is definitely a sign of hubris.

[@Dav1Gv]

A very interesting analysis. However there was no mention of the fact that Lloyd George held hundreds of thousands of British troops in the UK which certainly made the Germans job easier at the start, While they were sent as reinforcements if Fifth Army had not been so weak the Germans losses would probably have been heavier and ours less. On the other hand the huge salient the Germans were in left us with a very nice target for the Battle of Amiens. Also perhaps a bit over overemphasis of the tactice of infilteration. The mist in March helped a lot, but the attack on Arras made in clear weather against long prepared defences was a very costly failure.

[@kodor1146]

Wouldn´t matter. The Brits had no fighting spirit any way. They surrendered by the tens of thousands to the Germans.

[@gthorp52]

o⁹ppl

[@paulroman3402]

This was so interesting.

[@charliemanson4808]

48:12 That'll be the regimental sniper with his rifle wrapped in hessian to protect and keep the optics free from mud.

[@samuelelsby1800]

Good spot, but I take issue with ‘Regimental’ implying one sniper per regiment.

[@charliemanson4808]

@samuelelsby1800 true, would have been more accurate to put A regimental not The regimental sniper. But as they are all wearing cloth caps it must be very early in the conflict and sharpshooters/snipers were rare, often supplied with civilian hunting rifles and optics. Often purchased privately by an officer and used by his best shot.

[@Mikey_Moonshine]

Amazing amazing documentary 👏🏽😍✌🏽😎💯

[@daguard411]

Thank You.

[@DeaconBlu]

Incredible…

[@dwightburns6699]

always nice being the first one to comment on y'all's great videos, thank you!

[@bradmoberly6164]

Fitting last words from the soldier who participated in the battle at the end of the video. Very fitting. In ww1 and preceeding wars the suicidal frontal attacks seems utterly pointless. What he must have saw or experienced is in beyond human comprehension. Rip sirs. You fought for ppl to be overweight and drink starbucks and post their shitty dinners on fb.

[@gabirican4813]

Thanks!

[@TheWarChannel]

Thank you very much 😊

[@gabirican4813]

@@TheWarChannel You are Welcome! 👍

[@Air-bear]

Gadfly here 💥. America’s reasoning for entering WW1 still debated. When they chose to enter is not spoken of much. It wasn’t until after the 1916 election that this commitment was announced. The decision to enter WW1 must have been decided on prior publication. Big decisions take time to develop. When to announce this is also significant.

[@bftdr]

i always wondered if that zimmerman telegram was authentic. the british seemed a bit too pleased with themselves after america joined the war.

[@stevenhill4122]

JP Morgan is the reason.

[@fredengels8188]

​@@stevenhill4122 exactly

[@MikeHunt-fo3ow]

to make money of course.......war is a racket i think it called by smedley is worth looking in to

[@flashgordon6670]

Yes it was authentic. Germany was trying to intimidate the USA, to stay out the war, but it had the opposite result. That and the sinking of the Lusitania and other dastardly incidents.

[@acmelka]

33:20. Over running the British Supply dumps is referenced in Ernst Jungers Storm of Steel. I always wondered what would happen to North Korean troops invading the South at the first shopping mall or grocery store.

[@ronaldwhite1730]

Thank you . ( 2024 / July / 12 )

[@michaeldowson6988]

The Germans decided attacking the Front held by the Canadian Corp would be futile, and left them sitting in a long narrow salient.

[@flashgordon6670]

Bc they wanted Canada to switch sides and fight against Britain for independence.

[@michaeldowson6988]

@@flashgordon6670 We are independent. We didn't need to fight to achieve it.

[@baabaabaa-yp2jh]

Sept 1918? Think about it fellas, the Bosch were buggad, properly... anything after Aug 8 was futile.

[@garylancaster8612]

​@@flashgordon6670As if Canada would ever dream of doing that!

[@jasongibson8870]

There's the obnoxious Canadian inferiority complex masked as a superiority complex. Canadians being nice is on display in them allowing other countries to participate while they single handedly won both world wars.

[@Colin-Fenix]

What exactly is the significance of the belt of blank machinegun ammo at 19:00? Makes me think the producers have no clue what they are looking at when selecting video footage. The expert is telling us the German infantry is heavily armed but I would never go into combat with blank ammunitions!

[@elvenkind6072]

5:10 I think Kaiserschlacht not only means "Kaiser attack" in German, but "Kaisers Butchery" the same time.

[@willhovell9019]

The last roll of the dice by the German Imperial military junta , starving and reinforced by more troops following the end of the Russian front. The forthcoming threat of arrival of green American troops was an existential threat into 1919

[@danielpeet9811]

Wait. Wtf?!?! You’re using a 2024 map of Europe to show the strategic situation? Why not use a 1914 map? Are you afraid of showing Germans how much they’ve lost?

[@michaelrumfelt3106]

They don’t care. Germany is gone. I have German friend who moved to us and said all the refugees they have allowed in has destroyed Germany….he also says they are all crazy lefties now.

[@Robbielazar]

😂

[@IgnacioMata-f5g]

Is there a what if video on Mexico joining Germany during WW1

[@thejeff2469]

Sauerkraut tacos!

[@Wolfen443]

It could have happened in 1916 around that time, the U.S> had not fully deployed and could have been forced to defend the Southern Border. Unless Mexico cot more nations to join them in the continent, the U.S. had better troops and equipment than them.

[@michaelrumfelt3106]

They are invading us today lol. Nobody stops them thanks to democrats.

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

No biggie, lowlands and a lot of France destroyed. Germany not. We just go home and suffer a bit, and unleash holy terror on a scale unimaginable at this time..

[@Digmen1]

As a keen amatuer photographer, I'd love to know something about the cameras and film that they use. Eg that footage at 34:10 was amazing.

[@luckent47]

Great grandpa was there driving a Ford ambulance. Not for this battle as it was pre Pershing. He took care of a lot of friends back here in detroit who go the gas. He caught wind of it and drove over it but never got hit. After the war he became a dpd cop until the late 60s then retired. I grew up in bases in Germany as a brat my parents handled vehicles from Detroit getting deployed into 7th army. I got to talk to my gr grandpa a lot. As medical he didn't have a lot of animosity towards any of the combatants but despised the euro leaders for running the war so stupidly.

[@Digmen1]

At 21 minutes the Germans used Shot and Shell? This guy belongs back at Waterloo

[@paulgagnon9830]

I find it ironic that according to the map at 10:30, the brtish army holds more than half the front line. Lets have some humility TWC.

[@thewarwickbear]

It's a very general map, not meant to be completely accurate. It shows the general situation of the ligne rouge down to the Aisne. At least that's how I see it. I know, the whole world knows that apart from a few British positions, the French held the line from the Aisne down to the Swiss border. Please, don't let your own pride in France affect your judgements on this film.

[@kryts27]

World War 1 is a watershed conflict, it was the last global conflict that was fought on imperialist lines. The next major war (World War 2) was fought on totalitarian lines (where it was not fighting democracies). Before WW1 ended, Russia fell to a totalitarian revolution (Bolshevism), which were to have long-term effects, lasting to this day.The aim of the Central Powers (Austria and Germany) was to humiliate and/or neutralize the military power of France and Russia. Britain joined in because of treaty obligations (neutral Belgium was invaded), and because her sea power was coming into direct threat from Germany's increasing powerful and modern fleet.

[@stevegibb6421]

Similar thinking to the battle of the bulge 1944

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

1916 was the time

[@brentinnes5151]

Verdun and Somme

[@sammitkhandeparkara]

28:38 what is it that the soldier is rotating?

[@Simon-jj2pu]

A rattle used for gas attack warnings. Used after the war for fans to make a noise during football matches

[@brentinnes5151]

@@Simon-jj2pu yeah thats what i reckon

[@glennwall552]

Remember an old soldier who told me of them taking pubs and drinking them dry fully armed and as mad as hates he told of pitch battles with police they didn't care they'd been to hell and back it haunted them

[@Kmc-r7t]

Good vid but why oh why use post 1945 maps when discussing 1918?

[@matthewwoods6972]

In the imperium all units are sacrificial units.

[@MS-in3sl]

Map showing post-1945 borders?

[@kryts27]

The consequences of Ludendorff of ultimately failing in the Kaiserschlacht (August 8th, "black day for the German army"), was it's near collapse in October 1918. By then, the German army had been fighting continually for 7 months and seeing all it's Spring offensive gains lost. It was a huge and catastrophic fruitless gamble by the Kaiser's High Command generalissamos, Hindenberg and Ludendorff.

[@pliashmuldba]

Map @ 1:50 depict the Germany / Denmark border after the shameful vote in 1920 where Denmark got a little bit back of what was taken from us in 1864. Northern Germany = Denmark, just Danes already back then was pushover ( name for cat beginning with P )

[@paulr1]

Actually it was the son of the kaiser

[@johncraig7823]

Why are You using a false using a Post WW1 & WW2 Border for Germany?

[@churabhok2869]

These are such nice cultural first world countries

[@paulrummery6905]

Yeah, "Bruchmullers orchestra".. Wasn't like "pop, pop, pop bang" 😉

[@Immortal..]

Absolutely wild how many errors and important omissions there are in just the first 5 minutes

[@jatzbethstappen9814]

Aisling Bea ruined that "8 out of 10 Cats" show I reckon

[@georgekovacs3664]

What?

[@jatzbethstappen9814]

@@georgekovacs3664 i said Aisling Bea ruined that "8 out of 10 Cats" show I reckon

[@HepatitisBChannelHepatitisB]

Map is wrong

[@EverythingsFine82]

Yeah, it's current with when this doc was made. Yugoslavia is broken up, but Kosovo isn't independent. So, late 90s early 00s.

[@CezarAgapi]

Would be nice to see what AI did to humanity in 5 years time.

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

A little later on.

[@MatteoRomanelli-kl9fb]

The first sentence was enough to see this for what it was: Anglo Saxon arrogance at its finest.

[@landsea7332]

aka The Micheal Offensive . .

[@HenriHattar]

The British generals were dreadful.

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

Meine gott

[@brentinnes5151]

Jerries were much better on the D in this war

[@grandcrowdadforde6127]

guess if you have connexions--- Willy was in with Brit Royalty-- you re allowed to start a world war; sans penalty !

[@Midgard458]

Ok, I must be a critic! Your maps are anacharonistic! You are showing post cold war borders, showing Poland in modern boundaries! Poland was not revived until 1920 and with far different borders than what we have now! Why neglect such a thing as this in an otherwise excellent documentary?

[@roysimmons3549]

As usual too much credit given given to Yankee entry. The British Army won the war in 1918 between March and November.

[@scottwrasse9596]

The map shown is post-WWII, and inaccurate in WWI.

[@flashgordon6670]

I heard that a bloke called Archi duke, shot an Ostrich bc he was hungry.

[@jamesirbensonmum3514]

there was definitely an ostrich involved!

[@pvdneste]

Amateurs study tactics, experts study logistics.

[@richardkeilig4062]

Terrible war. All wars are terrible.

[@BuckleGeoffrey]

Davis Lisa Robinson Donald Williams Dorothy

[@nikkip46]

1:48 map is wrong. Not watching this a second further.

[@ALA-uv7jq]

So the Canadians held and the British ran. Nothing unusual.

[@flashgordon6670]

Well seeing as Canada is half french, you should’ve sent more men to France than Britain.

[@antonrudenham3259]

Eh?

[@brentinnes5151]

yeah the wannabe yanks won the war singlehandedly with their division

[@JBils41]

A significant proportion of the Canadian Army WAS British… The migration from the UK to Canada prior to 1914 meant that many Canadian soldiers had been born in the UK… My Great Uncle Fred Perry was one… a lad from Woolwich in South London, he emigrated to Canada but signed up in 1914 and served in the 28th North West Battalion right through the war. I’ve seen the records… about a third of the men that Fred signed up with in 1914 were born in the UK… Fred was killed in July 1918 in an air raid.

[@fredengels8188]

1:34 dovrak!

[@fredengels8188]

............

[@SATXbassplayer]

Wait… the map at 3:30 is a modern European map… Germany was much larger and Poland and Czech Republic didn’t exist…. no need for me to watch any further

[@javiergilvidal1558]

Indeed. Sloppiness at its worst. And, weren't these "experts" shown the end result of their contributions? Didn´t they have anything at all to say about the blatant geographical howlers? Then you read the credits: "Producer, Lara Lowe". Entrust a woman the description of a war, and failure will inevitably come about!

[@SATXbassplayer]

@@javiergilvidal1558 ooof. Not sure I agree with the sexist comment, but the rest is spot on…

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

Why did you use a Post WW2 map of Europe in your graphics to detail a WW1 battle? You cannot teach history properly if you make simple mistakes like this, it was just Dumb. 👎👎 @14:18 The dancing soldier was great catch on vintage film. @19:18 German Lancers on horseback is another great catch on film. @34:42 Rare French Observation Planes.

[@leeedsonetwo]

Sadly the Germans did not realise that once they dug in in 1914 they had lost. the rest of the war was just playing out the inevitable.

[@kevinvilmont6061]

KeiserSLACK!

[@malcolmscrivener8750]

Aussie Aussie Aussie. Oi Oi Oi

[@kryts27]

The Australians taught the Americans how to fight in World War 1

[@jamesleonard7439]

Nob they didn't, it was the french and british mainly.

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

Too many narcissists😢

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

Was ist los?

[@davidknox5929]

?

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

Too bad both sides were narrow minded. Both sides could have defeated the other a couple of times if pressed.

[@olafbachmann]

what a stupid map to discuss WW1

[@grandcrowdadforde6127]

but; Nappy }} Poleon .. got a free life time vacation on St Helena; && as for the Mad Hatler, A H ))) he had to shoot himself to avoid the horrors of captivity..

[@Skipper.17]

So in the end it was the Australians that won the battle and the war.

[@lluisboschpascual4869]

This documentary is total bs. Just seeing the maps in the first minutes, in which the European countries have the present-day borders, not the borders they had in 1914 or in 1918

[@meinhoffendant]

More British lies lmao

[@markgrehan3726]

Explain.

[@meinhoffendant]

@@markgrehan3726 sorry mate I can't remember the exact part I took issue with and I'm not gonna rewatch the video but trust me I'm Australian