American Reacts to Sabaton: Primo Victoria | In Honor of D-Day

[@SoGal_YT]

Thanks for watching! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT Facebook Page: facebook.com/SoGal-104043461744742 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/238616921241608

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

D day was a huge succes, Eisenhowers personal fears, where that he would lose half his army in three days. 12000 men died on D day but the casualty rate was only 8% of the total force.

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

Joakim Brodén is the lead singer of Sabaton on rare occasions he plays 3rd guitar or Hammond Organ at the live shows, privatly he plays the keyboard.

[@RafikisAnts]

The structures on the beaches were anti tank

[@MarkVrem]

@@RafikisAnts Bring to mind German resource shortage. Using wood where metal would have been preferable.

[@samuel10125]

Don't worry about copyright bec Napalm Records and Sabaton like when people react to their music. The assault began shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, with an air bombardment consisting of more than 2,200 allied bombers attacking targets along the coast and inland. Clouds hindered the air strikes, however, and the coastal bombing at Omaha Beach was particularly ineffective. More than 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne assault troops and 1,200 aircraft followed the air bombardment. At 1:30 a.m. the 101st (U.S.) Airborne Division began landing behind Utah beach to secure the exits from the beach, and the 82d (U.S.) Airborne Division began landing at 2:30 a.m. to secure bridges on the right flank of the beachhead. Thick cloud cover also hindered the air insertion, and many of the units missed their landing zones, often by miles. On the coastline, the second phase began at 5:30 a.m. as forces when six Allied divisions and numerous small units began landing on five beaches. The Allies landed more than 160,000 troops at Normandy, of which 73,000 were American. There were also 83,115 British and Canadian forces who landed on Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. By the end of the first day, none of the assault forces had secured their first-day objectives. Allied casualties on June 6 have been estimated at 10,000 killed, wounded, and missing in action: 6,603 Americans, 2,700 British, and 946 Canadians. Over the following days the Allies gradually expanded their tenuous foothold. When a failed German counterattack on August 8 resulted in more than 50,000 German troops being encircled by Allied forces near the town of Falaise, the tide turned, and the Allies broke out of Normandy on August 15. Once out of Normandy, Allied forces advanced quickly and liberated Paris on August 25. German forces retreated across the Seine five days later, marking the end of Operation Overlord. The cost of the Normandy campaign was high on both sides. From D-day through August 21, the Allies landed more than two million men in northern France and suffered more than 226,386 casualties: 72,911 killed/missing and 153,475 wounded. German losses included over 240,000 casualties and 200,000 captured. Between 13,000 and 20,000 French civilians died, and many more were seriously wounded.

[@stephenhepworth1789]

The poles used against airborne forces were designed to prevent gliders from landing.

[@CARLOS62B]

They also often had landmines and tripwires around them ... and in late 1944 the germans were even testing unmanned Machineguns that would use sensors and fire at randomly tripped mines. Also the sad truth is that many of the men and tanks never made it to the beach because the landingcrafts stopped too far from the beach so everyone who got off the craft simply sank into the sea.

[@lemo8986]

took me a second to realize you werent talking about polish people lmao

[@stephenhepworth1789]

@@lemo8986 I could have been a little more detailed in my original post. Driving wooden poles into the ground in open spaces was a simple way of trying to prevent gliders from landing safely.

[@soopafamicom]

Nicknamed 'Rommels's Asparagus' by the german troops.

[@johnc2988]

@@soopafamicom Also used in middle ages warfare, angled pointed stakes driven into the earth to defend English & Welsh longbowmen

[@connorward2400]

Sabaton is one of my favourite bands. It combines history with metal two of my favourite things. They did a song about the Holocaust called Final Solution and the History video to that song is not one you soon forget.

[@melkor3496]

Incredibly sad but I applaude Sabaton for having done it.

[@donathandorko]

Their Album The Great War is in my opinion their best. I love seeing them live.

[@melkor3496]

@@donathandorko Same. And I enjoy the official music videos a bit more than their live videos but honestly i enjoy both almost the same amount.

[@connorward2400]

@@donathandorko yep that's my second favourite after Art of War.

[@ElessarEstel]

Sabaton gang

[@stephenhepworth1789]

In 1944, both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy were massive and globe spanning. The invasion of France was on Britain's doorstep, so the Royal Navy's home based assets were available. Many of the United States Navy's vessels were in the Pacific fighting Japan.

[@Lucifer-jp8vp]

Britain navy was bigger then USA navy at this time there lucky that are navy not like this nowadays but then again you never no what will happen in the future

[@AdurianJ]

The poles in the field usually had wires strung between them. Before the helicopter there was the assault glider which was used to land on fields and thus land troops less spread out and with heavier equipment than parachutes would allow, jeeps for instance. The water obstacles you see on the beach where of varying types, this is the Atlantic coast of France so the tidal difference is quite large but they where intended to wreck landing craft. Often they where mined with like anti tank mines but some where just sharp metal objects that could still tear a hole in the bottom of a landing craft. Further out to sea actual naval mines where laid those are like 30-60 times more powerful than an anti tank mine. Invasions are a numbers game you need to delay and confuse the enemy long enough for you to achieve superiority in the area before a stable bridgehead has been achieved. This is really difficult as the enemy won't invade until he has sufficient forces, but the main bottleneck of the Normandy landings where the landing craft. These where used in Normandy then in Southern France (Operation Dragoon) and then they where sent to the pacific.

[@Nemesismaker]

about the poles: The poles at the beach were tipped with anti-tank mines and placed below the waterline at high tide. Forcing allied planners to choose either: risk it at hightide to get closer to the beach OR land at lowtide landing more landingcraft, but the soldier had to cross more open ground en kneel high water. The poles in the fields would wreck gliders. Paratroopers had more to worry about flooded fields.

[@MarkVrem]

Good Stuff!

[@0KeepRockin0]

Spot on.

[@jasonrichter5161]

My understanding is that Sabaton had a fairly convention start as a Rock/Heavy Metal Band. They were working on an album to be titled "Metalizer" for a couple years and recorded demo tracks for it and played at various music festivals to promote it before the project was scrapped and then they found their signature military-history theme. It turned out "Primo Victoria" would be the first full album they recorded and released (~5-6 years after forming as a band) but they eventually returned to "Metalizer" and released it as their 3rd Studio Album.

[@sangfroidian5451]

Indy Neidell, best historian presenter on YT! :)

[@melkor3496]

Agreed by far he is amazing.

[@toddv7257]

Yes best historian by far

[@rivahoukes1554]

How dare you spell his name wrong Its lorence of arabia

[@realitycheckreally8412]

He is excellent but if you like ww2 history check out TIK history channel different level !..

[@realitycheckreally8412]

Poles in the fields where to stop glider landing !..

[@mudshark5393]

Please disregard the bad mixing in the official video... it was in collaboration with a video game company, World of Tanks, and the effects were a bit too loud. It felt more like a promo video for the game, than a music video. Later videos are much better in this regard (when they use effects). So you got the name correct 50% of the time, since you said it both ways, and it's "Sa" not "Say". The singer is Joakim and that would sound like Yo-uh-kim, Pär (on bass) is pronouced much like pair or pear. Then we (currently) have Chris and Tommy on guitar and Hannes on drums. When Sabaton make songs about Swedish history, they usually do so in Swedish, but they also produce a (mostly) English version of the song (there are some exceptions). The youtube videos often gets translated tho so check for the CC button. You might need them when checking out "En Livstid i Krig", live from Gothenburg 2020.

[@generaldreedle2801]

The RAF Mosquito was by far and away the best multi purpose aircraft of WW2. It could do it all. Day and night fighter and low level day and night precision bomber .The Germans even constituted special squadrons to take them on but to little effect. Even more remarkable is that it was made of wood. A work of genius.

[@allenwilliams1306]

It was also excellent for aerial reconnaissance. In Bomber Command, despite being completely unarmed, it was the safest of all their aircraft for its crew, because it could absorb a lot of damage without losing its structural integrity, and it was faster than any German fighter aircraft. Being assembled from a kit of parts, it had no factories for the Germans to bomb; all that was needed was a big shed where the parts could be glued together like a big Airfix kit, having been brought in from hundreds of furniture and cabinet makers' premises where the parts were made.

[@stevemcqueen7735]

I think there is only two left now

[@markwilliamson2864]

The Mosquito was very light and very fast, it was the aircraft chosen for Operation Jericho, the attack on Amiens Prison in February 1944 to release French resistance fighters held there.

[@generaldreedle2801]

@@allenwilliams1306 Remarkable ingenuity 👍✌️

[@Flokarl1]

Sabaton is absolutely amazing Liveband! The fanbase is huge. Check out some songs from the legendary Woodstock festival in Poland 2012. Try the songs "Ghost Division" and "Uprising" for exemple. Today is 6th of June = Our Swedens National day :-) ..... So if you want to honour us alittle you can also react to "LIVGARDET" (The Royal Guards) .One of the latest Sabaton songs. Livgardet is about "The Swedish Royal Guards" one of the worlds oldest Military battle groups still excisting! (1521- Present day) So they celebrate 500 years this year . There is one music video in the Swedish language ...and one in english. You can pick and choose which one you prefer :-) They are both good. But the english version is "alittle bit" more violent....

[@reecedignan8365]

Good to see you reacting to Sabaton! They are amazing and the history that goes into the songs and history vids is amazing. If I can recommend songs: Bismarck - usually the first one most Sabaton starters here. Ghost Division - usually the other first choice. Great War - if you want to here a more bombastic/slow song Red Baron - probably my favourite Soldier of Three Armies - again an amazing song. (Second first favourite) Price of a Mile - a slow one after those two and quite a.... emotional song too. Carlos Rex - Sabaton representing their homeland Wing Hussars - You’ll not be able to get it out your head that week. 40:1 - watch the live version if you want to see how Sabaton while Swedish can make songs for other countries that inspire mass patriotism. Swedish Pagans - about our most “friendly” of Northern friends Shiroyama - about the last stand of the samurai. Lifetime of War - you’ll... be disappointed in humanity after the history video. En livstig I Krieg - watch the live tour one and make sure you have subtitles. And you’ll see why Sabaton wins the hearts of military vets with a song not even in most of their languages. No Bullets Fly - a video when you want to feel the good in humanity (watch the animated vid for the song + story) Aces in Exile - a good song about the hero’s of the Battle of Britain that weren’t exactly British. Screaming Eagles - an amazing song about a certain airborne division. Devil Dogs - a song about a certain marine Corps. 82nd all the way - a song about a very valiant hero from humble origins. Fields of Verdun - a bombastic song and video. Hearts of Iron - a song from a perspective you rarely see. Rorke’s Drift - a valiant British defence again a valiant foe to whom we still respect to this day. Night Witches - badass soviet lassie pilots. Metal Machine, Metal Ripper & Metal Crüe - Sabatons tribute songs to Metal Rock. (Watch Piscators lyric vids as they will show you just why these songs rock so much) And... this is what I’ll suggest for now. Yup it’s a lot and it barely covers how good they are and how much they have for songs and history. But I think these are some of the best to start with

[@full-moongaming8224]

If I were to suggest songs... All of them. (Haven't heard any 'bad' songs by Sabaton), but yes, I agree with everything on that list. Let's not forget "Uprising" and their most recent track "Defense of Moscow"

[@jregns]

Both ”No bullets fly” and ”Night witches” have both [animated] and [animated story] versions. Make sure you watch the _story_ version(s) and with subtitles. And always watch to the very end of all Sabaton videos, otherwise you might miss something.

[@darrenreslis594]

The Glider Pilot Regiment was the forefather to the unit I served with in the British Army, I had the honour to escort many of the veterans on visits to Arnhem and Ranville including the legend that was SSGT Jim Wallwork, the first man to "land" on D Day although he would describe it a bit differently :) The poles in the ground were to deter glider landings and they did indeed cause damage during the landings. I can not even begin to describe the pride that we had and still have that these lions of men were our lineage, Arnhem and Pegasus Bridge still bring this soldier to tears every time I go there.

[@vsmaster123]

So in regards to the Paras, allot of them were scattered and missed their drop zones, because of the bad weather, and many were never found. This did in some part though play into their success, as lots of small groups of men moving around the countryside is much harder to pin down and destroy than large formations.

[@metalgod6661989]

Also alot of them drowned after landing in the flooded fields especially the Americans because of the design of their parachute harnesses, The American harness required 3 or 4 things to be unbuckled whereas the British harness was just 1 main buckle (I think i've got that the right way around)

[@admiralpaco507]

5:52 As others have pointed out, these structures would be below water during high tide and would be either sharpened to pierce the bottom of a landing craft or tipped with a mine to blast a hole in the landing craft. Smaller ones would be to counter infantry and amphibious vehicles.

[@johnrebori9131]

Interesting side note. Prior to the attack, General Eisonhower had written a letter to be read to the troops, calling on them to carry the war to the germans. He also wrote a letter to the allied governments, to be sent to them should the invasion fail. In it, he tokk complete total person responsibility for the failure and praised the efforts of those under him. Thankfully, it never had to be sent. It can be found on-line

[@mitteilung_folgt]

I really liked your reaction to Sabaton! And yes pleeeaaaaase do more Sabaton reactions! :D There are soooo many good songs and storys.. One of my favourites is "No bullets fly" (animated story video)

[@MrRagnar123456]

My great-uncle was a Waffen-SS soldier who fought against the Allies in Normandy after the landing. He got wounded, but he only died last year during Covid. What makes his story interesting:he worked for the US Army after the war. He was 18 years old when the war ended.

[@miguelmederos8634]

To answer your question about those metal structures on the beaches: I don't know what they're called, but their purpose is to destroy landing craft. Many of them were tipped with anti-tank mines. During high tide, landing craft could get closer to the German defenses, but would be ripped open or blown up by these structures. This forced Allied Command to make the decision to land troops during low tide, when the troops would have to run a gauntlet of heavy German fire for 1,000 ft (I think it was feet, possibly yards, but I can't remember off the top of my head).

[@ianwilkinson8664]

Every single Sabaton song has a corresponding Sabaton History episode as every song is based on real historical events. You should check out a few more. Try 'Uprising' about the Warsaw uprising or 'Cliffs of Gallipoli' about the failed Gallipoli campaign.

[@dorlonelliott9368]

10 albums to go. 9 are on Historical events/people. [Metalizer was recorded before they found their niche.] Joakim and Pars have called themselves History nerds in interviews.] As Joakim said: Why invent stories when there is so much history to draw from...

[@madeuce6532]

Sabaton - The best way to learn history!

[@cheeseninja1115]

I like the fact that you watched the history channel along with the music, its really good at giving you context for the songs themselves. Cant wait to see if you do more reactions to them.

[@jonas639]

If you ever make a reaction series to the thirty years war from Kings and Generals, there is a Sabaton Song for that called A Lifetime of War that is pretty good.

[@mitteilung_folgt]

Better version is "en livstid i krig" with english subtitles. :D

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!

[@BerishStarr]

It is also the Swedish national day! So thank you for reacting to Swedish music on this day

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

10:30 the Royal Navy forces of 900 ships did also include elements of the Canadian Navy which was under Royal Navy command, they also included the free navies of the Polish, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian Navies, these Navies were semi autonomous of a sort they fought under their own flag, in their own uniforms, under their own officers and their ships were their own territority, But they fell under command of the British Royal Navy Command, most US Navy ofrces were in the Pacific. If you want to learn more on the Free Navies then i recommend this video as their acts are very intresting and just a little bit mad titled "'Free' Navies of World War 2 - Small but Deadly (and a little crazy)" kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHK3eYhsp61-qc0

[@dernwine]

I'm not sure that 900 number does include Free Navies, but even if it did, there where only about 22 warships from the various free navies in the Allied force during Normandy. (Also although their ships were their own, they had mostly been gifted them by the RN).

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

5:45 those were the impale the Landing Craft, the Germans thought the landings would come in at high tide, the idea is they would be underwater at the time of the landings and the Landing Craft would be skewered, as it would happen allied intellagence saw them and so the allies would actually land at low tide

[@donathandorko]

Not quite. They were designed for craft or tanks to roll up and flip over. I believe some had mines attached attached on the end also. There is a glaring error in the movie Saving Private Ryan where the logs are propped up back to front (I.e. with the logs 'facing' out to sea, which perpetuated this error in people's minds). Also when you think about it, how is a wooden log going to impale a steel vehicle?

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

@@donathandorko Actually the Landing Craft were mostly made of hardwood, they had thin armour over selected areas of the boat but underside esspecially was wood so they could have done the spearing.

[@donathandorko]

@@joshthomas-moore2656 Wow I just checked. I never knew those Higgins boats were made from plywood....Incredible!

[@phillee2814]

The anti-aircraft poles in fields were also used in England in the earlier years of the war to prevent landings. Any aircraft attempting to land would have trouble seeing them and get ripped to bits at landing speeds. The Germans also used wires between them and mines on them. The structures on the beaches were pictured at low tide - with the tide in they would rip the landing craft to shreds or pin them in place for easuy targetting by artillery. Many paratroopers did land miles from their planned positions, but managed to group together into mixed units and still performd admirably in preventing German reinforcements reaching the front. French resistance played a huge role too, having been well supplied and organised by the British - not involving De Gaulle as many groups in France would not accept his leadership, and every source of resistance was controlled independent of the others. At the time of WW2, The Royal Navy was the largest in the world, and fully committed to mainaining that status. The USN was also far more committed in the Pacific than the RN. Sabaton is with pronounced with a hard A, and actually is the name of the pointed foot portion of a knight's armour. Their music has probably got more students through history examinations than any other teacher! They are huge in metal - a small audience for them is still in 5 figures, and they have reached into six. They cover all sides from battles of many periods in history, more in remembrance than glorification. They have even played a part in re-uniting ex-enemies in peace and friendship (see "No Bullets Fly" animated edition for a full background on an example of that), and been recognised in Poland for restoring a sense of national identity following the collapse of the USSR - and have played to their biggest audiences there.

[@Mickeed79]

Ok, first Bismarck... then check out En livstid i krig (live from Gothenburg). Don't forget to turn on the subtitles because it's in Swedish.

[@chrisigoeb]

Honor and respect to the brave soldiers that fought at d-day, germans as well as americans and brits and canadians

[@melkor3496]

The Germans must have been scared as hell waiting for the invasion that they didn’t know where it would happen or when. Must have been a relief for them when it happened not having to be on edge anymore. Tho I feel bad for the poles and others that were forced to fight for the Germans they must have been terrified.

[@chrisigoeb]

@@melkor3496 the germans fought as bravely as the allies did. Telling otherwise would be a lie and it wpuld be a shame if we didn't honor our brave opponents

[@melkor3496]

@@chrisigoeb Yep fully agree.

[@MarkVrem]

@@melkor3496 Well, the Germans followed up the landings with a mistake. They refused to retreat orderly towards their defensive line near the German border. Instead, the Germans tried to stand their ground, getting trapped and circled in many places. Brittany most famously. This unexpectedly allowed the Allies to race towards Paris and more.

[@melkor3496]

@@MarkVrem They even got one of their panzer divisions encircled in or near Paris if I remember correctly as well.

[@meme__salad]

6:00 those metal trusses in the sand were to prevent landing craft from dropping troops on the beach, they're tall like that for when the tide comes up

[@dorlonelliott9368]

A Sabaton is foot armor. Hence the S with a piece of foot armor as their logo.

[@stephenhepworth1789]

SoGal, you should look up Bill Millin, the Piper of Sword Beach. He and his commanding officer, Lord Lovat, were extraordinary men.

[@faithnfire4769]

To see what the poles were defending against you should check out the German glider raid on Eben-Emael (it was the biggest Belgian fort I believe). Forget paratroopers, those gliders did some crazy things.

[@johnekare8376]

This was an awesome pick for a first reaction! Not only did you pay tribute to D-day, but you also got your introduction to the band with the song that started their by now iconic sound.

[@anon300]

love you doing both history and then song. my fav is hearts of iron history and also song.

[@MarkVrem]

I was curious at what point did the U.S Navy overtake the British Navy in ship numbers. Reddit seems to point out that around the 1942-44 years is when this happens. So for the most part around D-day, you could consider the U.S Navy to be slightly larger than the Royal Navy. Then the argument goes if you count transports and Carrier planes as part of the Navy then by 1944 U.S Navy would be substantially larger. Either way, the majority of the US NAVY is in the Pacific. British in the Meditteranean, East Atlantic.

[@andrewclayton4181]

The America navy was busy in the Pacific. The tended to leave the Atlantic to the British.

[@Jonno_B251]

The big iron triangles on the beach are called ‘Czech hedgehogs’ they make it difficult for vehicles like tanks to get past without getting hung up - and at high tide they can’t be seen which makes them even more dangerous, as they could rip and tear the bottoms of tanks and boats potentially sinking them

[@BlameThande]

Also I know you're a Star Trek fan so you may wish to know that James Doohan (Scotty) served with Canadian forces on D-day and lost his finger to a wound.

[@darrenreslis594]

Friendly fire, he was hit 6 times by a Bren Gun fired by a fellow Canadian. He was also a pilot and a full on maniac that was chastised for flying in between telephone poles in an Auster. He was the real deal. RIP Lt Doohan.

[@BlameThande]

@@darrenreslis594 Never knew it was friendly fire, thanks for the comment.

[@Thunderchicken69]

The landings by airborne prior to the actual invasion were pretty much as you thought, scattered, with paratroopers off target by miles, the thing is they dropped so many of them that the ones that did make their mark were on point.

[@admiralpaco507]

10:20 While the US Navy at this point in the war had a similar number of ships to the Royal Navy, much of the US fleet was concentrated in the Pacific to counter the Japanese Navy.

[@simonnewby1215]

Good to have you back

[@davidmarsden9800]

My dad's uncle Brian was a glider pilot and landed his Horsa glider next to Pegasus Bridge before the d day landings and the airborne troops held the bridge. In the 1965 film " the longest day" the officer leading them is Richard Todd, he was actually there fighting on d day for real but had the rank of Private. My great uncle Brian was due later to land at Arnhem but fell seriously ill and was hospitalised the week before. This helped him to survive until the 1990's.

[@lennarterb2246]

The woodspikes on the beach were often equipped a mine on top so if a boat floated over them, they would explode. And those were in generell designed just to keep of tanks and other vehicles

[@Rschaltegger]

The gliders are made from wood. If they hit a Rommelspargel those things flip over. The British army had a specialized tank division the 79th nickname Hobarts Funnies after their CO Maj Gen Hobart. Mine clearing tanks with flails for example. The US had not. the Churchills AVRE were actually Royal Engineers Tanks assigned to clear Bunkers.

[@denniseldridge2936]

Hi there, I'm really glad I ran across your channel as I'm a bit of a WWII history buff myself. I'm quite thrilled that someone as young as yourself has taken an interest :-) For my part, my dad served in the British merchant marine and Royal Navy during the war, so this is all quite personal to me (also, he and his brother were strafed while walking in a field in southern England according to my Uncle John). I'm just going to be making some notes as we go here: - The beach defenses: Yes, those large metal objects were intended to deter vehicles from landing, or at the very least channel them into specific zones which were pretargeted by the German guns. - In addition to the German top brass being away from the scene of the attack, it is believed that Hitler himself was fast asleep and nobody had the guts to wake him to tell him the bad news - As for the effectiveness of the airborne assault, yes, they didn't go exactly as planned as far as landing precisely where they intended. But the mere fact that they were able to cause confusion was enough to be called a success. - Omaha Beach: Well there were a number of screwups on that one that didn't have to happen, but it mainly comes down to the beach defenses being inadequately dealt with on time; I'll just leave it at that... If you're a history buff, then Sabaton is a band that was made for you. I hope you have a lot of fun, and a few tears, as they convey the many different conflicts and individual incidents therein.

[@pickledoff2710]

After Bismarck, go for ‘No Bullets Fly’ from Sabaton. You will love it.

[@MaskinJunior]

In the photo with the poles, you dont see the razor-wire making that forrest hard to pass. And yes, the big metal things on the beach is to make it dificult to land with tanks.

[@andrewcharles459]

The beach obstacles you see are being installed at low tide. At high tide (when an invasion is more likely to occur) they become obstructions to landing craft reaching the shoreline. As others have mentioned, many of those obstacles were also mined. The invader wants a high tide to 1) reduce the amount of open ground troops need to cross to reach cover; and 2) reduce the chances of boats grounding or hitting rocks - which can sink them - before reaching shore; 3) reduce the number of wounded who might drown because they can't get off the beach if the tide starts coming in rather than going out.

[@gollo7754]

The poles on the beaches ,sometimes smaller ones were tipped with mines, were ment to prevent the landingboats to get to close. During high ties the landingboats had to get throug those poles, at low tide the infantry had to run further.

[@Halberd1216]

There was a moving eye-witness account of the effort from combat engineers ( sappers ) in getting their comrades off the beaches. The landing zones were strewn with hazards and covered by killing zones of machine gun and mortar fire and mines ,most of the troops simply could not move off the beaches until the sappers had blown apart the fields of barbed wire, using an explosive device called a Bangalore Torpeodo....essentially a big tube of high explosive like a scaffolding pole that could be joined together and then detonated. The sappers had to clear a path through minefields under heavy fire to reach the barbed wire and suffered extremely high casualties. The account describes long snaking trails through the sands with dead or dying sappers every few yards, with most of the bodies having little flags stuck in them....these flags showed where a lane had been cleared of mines, but the incoming firepower was so ferocious that the only way the flags could stay planted was to stick them in the bodies of the dead sappers rather than in the soft sand. Eventually the wire was reached and then blown open to allow troops off the beachead, after the sappers had to charge headlong into enemy fire while carrying high explosives to clear the wire. One of many,many stories that seemingly appear to have been forgotten.

[@tonym480]

The part of West Sussex where I have lived all my life was host to a Canadian Armoured Division that landed in Normandy as part of the Invasion. We have a memorial to their memory on the sea front at the point where there used to be a 6" (150mm) coastal gun battery that they had manned prior to D Day. A few miles away on the South Downs can still be seen the remains of a Churchill Tank that had been used as a target for infantry anti tank weapons. It is riddled all along one side with hits from Boys Anti Tank Rifles, and PIAT's. Many of the aeroplanes providing air support, Spitfires, Typhoons and Mustangs, flew from temporary landing strips around the area that had been established for just this purpose. I was a child in the 1950's and the adults all had stories about D Day, how the skies were full of aeroplanes and how in the days immediately prior to the invasion the roads were closed to all but the most essential civilian traffic and the lines of military vehicles all heading to the local harbours at Shoreham and Littlehampton to be loaded onto the ships. The memory of D Day was a large part of growing up for those of my generation.

[@andrewclayton4181]

That was interesting, and as you say, appropriate for the day. I can't tell you anything about Sabaton, they are new to me, but they reminded me a bit of Finnish band Lordy who won the Eurovision song contest a few years back. I know more about D-day, I've read the books seen the films ( not always accurate) and visited the beaches and museums. Poles in fields. Theses were sometimes conceded with wires which might have inconveniencedone parachutists, but they were really there to deter gliders. Not only ripping wings off as they landed, but some were rigged with explosives too. Beach obstacles. These were designed to prevent landing craft coming in. The Germans expected a landing at hight tide so the first waves wouldn't have to run so far exposed to fire. These steel structures would be submerged and rip holes in the bottom of the landing craft. Many were also fitted with mines to explode. In fact to overcome these the allies landed at low water and sent engineers in to clear lanes through for craft to come through as the tide rose. The para drops didn't really go to plan. The British on the eastern end of the landings did OK, as they mainly used gliders which dropped quite accurately. The US in the west, behind Utah rely ed mainly on paras. Due to high winds, low cloud, and heavy anti aircraft fire, theses men were dropped all over the shop, some in the sea. Being resilient they did what they could where they landed, fighting in small ad hoc groups until they got their bearings and sorted themselves out. It created as much confusion for the German's as the allies were experiencing. RAF roundel. In WWI when the British first put planes into the sky, they had union flags painted on the wings. These were confused for German crosses so the roundel was designed the Germans thought it funny that the bits were painting targets on their planes. Brave or rash? But the badge has endured. The Royal Navy certainly outnumbered the US navy as it was local. It had been blockading Germany, protecting convoys and fighting in the Mediterranean. A lot of the US naval effort was in the Pacific. There were some American admirals (King!) Who wanted nothing to do with the European war and were reluctant to release any ships for fighting in that theatre. Most of the landing craft were UK built too.

[@paulgibson8468]

The poles were to damage disrupt glider landings, the slanting poles on the beach were tipped with mines to destroy landing craft

[@millsy1861]

The structures on the beaches are to obstruct landing crafts. The tide is out in the picture, when the tides in these structures will stop landing crafts, sometimes explosives were attaching so if a landing craft hit one it would detonate the explosive.

[@bluebadger8811]

The poles are for gliders in fields and landing craft on beaches, can't see if someone has already said, also they we known as Romels asparagus I think (every suitable field to land in was covered nearby)

[@Raven-fh2yy]

The structures on the beach you mention at 6:05 are anti landing craft barrier, you see the beach in the picture at low tide but landing were most common at high tide so the troops could disembark as close to the enemy as possible, hence if the barriers could prevent that, even in part, the troops would be forced to disembark in deeper water and struggle to reach the beach. Leaving them exposed to gunfire for a much longer period. It is the case that some troops drowned due to the weight of their equipment and disembarking in quite deep water due to these barriers.

[@thenecessaryevil2634]

The poles on the beach are there to stop amphibious landings. At high tide they would be just under the surface and would hit the bottom of incoming boats. Sometimes they has a mine on the end, sometimes just a sharp steel rod.

[@deadmanlnc2215]

The tall wooden poles on the beaches were to disrupt and stop tanks and some were for landing craft but the tide was low when the landings began so they were exposed

[@Rafa-pr5fe]

It's good that you found the Sabaton channel. They make really good music about various events in the history of wars in Europe. And they have their own channel that explains what the track is related to. I think you may find it particularly interesting to read their works on the period of the Swedish Empire in Europe, including the period of the Thirty Years' War. And from a different barrel, I recommend that you get acquainted with the figure of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, or "Desert Fox". A man that even the Allies during World War II feared and respected at the same time. Hitler's favorite general, who turned against him and was forced by him to commit suicide, almost like in ancient Rome. Rommel, next to the greatest German operational talent of World War II, i.e. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, together with American commanders in the Pacific in 1941-1945, i.e. General Douglas Mac Arthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz and Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, in my opinion end the era of great independent commanders in history military. And if you get interested in Rommel and his "Deutsche Africa Korps" or the "German African Corps" then you must get acquainted with one more figure from history. This is Hans-Joachim Marseille, nickname "Jochen" which is one of the best air aces of World War II. Air aces, like submarine aces, or outstanding submarine commanders, become during both world wars, thanks to the media, during the war they become a kind of celebrities. And on both sides of the front.

[@timmooney7528]

The seas barriers and poles were intended to keep landing ships from landing at higher tides, or further up the beach.

[@PeterDay81]

The British tanks had to drive over wounded men to get off the beach. The poor driver in the lead tank was traumatised.

[@tmrlieutenant2626]

The sticks point out of the sand were tank traps and the air born was mixed units and the German Falk fire was enormous.

[@markwilson3697]

The video that is the "official" one is actually a promotional video for the game "World of Tanks" and the band actually gave away their own tank design to players of that game.

[@julianginniver5785]

beach obstacles were there to obstruct landing craft from landing troops at high tide. The idea was that the Allies would want to land at high tide to make the crossing of the beach as short as possible. Also mines were sometimes attached to the top of the obstacles so that they would explode when landing craft hit them. The Allies took a different approach and landed on a low tide so they avoided the obstacles, but this did mean that troops landing were exposed for much longer on the open beach. This had tragic consequences on Omaha beach.

[@Thunderchicken69]

The idea of the anti-Airborne poles was to compromise would be safe landing zones creating obstacles that could snag parachutes and hang paratroopers up causing them to be slowed down giving a wider window for German response

[@Thomas.Wright]

There's probably a reason why the US had fewer ships in this operation. The bulk of the US fleet was in the Pacific fighting against the Japanese. That's lead singer Joakim Broden. He plays keyboard, but not usually on stage. He and Par (bassist) are the two main songwriters, and the bandmembers who appear on the History episodes. Joakim has admitted on more than one occasion to draw inspiration from Lutheran hymns (another example is "Livgardet/Royal Guard", the melody of which is "Schonster Herr Jesu"). Joakim is actually a robot from the future. His true form can be seen in the Grailknights' episode, "Pumping Iron Power."

[@rexcaliburn]

the structures on the beach were there to create kill zones for the germans to limit the mobility of the landing troops and force them to be bogged down or funneled into tight areas where they could be easily picked off. and i think the anti aircraft poles were to prevent landings

[@dorlonelliott9368]

USN was concentrated in the Pacific. There was a major landing against a Japanese held island at the same timeframe [can't remember which - Saipan?]

[@Thunderchicken69]

The reason the British had more warships on hand during the shelling was because by this time the war on the Atlantic was all but over so the main US naval force had been transferred into the pacific to fight the Japanese who were still very much itching for a fight

[@marcuswardle3180]

The poles on the beach had a mine on top which would be covered at high tide. The idea was that a landing craft would hit one of these and sink it before reaching shore.

[@isaiahwelch8066]

World War II was the first war to heavily use airborne troops. As a result, names like the "82nd Airborne" or "101st Airborne Screaming Eagles" gained notoriety. Other names, like Green Berets and Army Rangers, did as well. It was the men of these divisions that paradropped into France days before, so that German communication lines and supply lines could be damaged or destroyed, prior to the landings. D-Day is also the backdrop for an operation called "The Man Without a Name," which was an operation designed to throw the Nazis off with false intelligence. Literally, the British used an already-deceased fighter pilot who had died, gave him identification, as well as other items to establish an identity, such as family photos. But the biggest gamble was the false intelligence that they planted on this man, which said that Eisenhower and the Allies were going to be landing further south for D-Day, than what Rommel had Hitler intended to defend. After doing this, they dropped the man off the coast of Spain, where Spanish military officials under Gen. Francisco Franco, a sympathizer of Hitler, found this man. After debating the merits of sending this false intelligence to Hitler, they did indeed sent it to the German Fürher. As a result, Hitler moved 6 divisions -- 4 infantry and 2 armored divisions -- south, away from Normandy Beach. And now you know...the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. Edit: SoGal: The structures on the beaches are called _hedgehogs._ During an amphibious invasion, they were used to stall or sink Allied Higgins boats (landing craft). On land, they were used to make roads, usually, impassible for tanks, as they would, if a tank tried to drive over them, make the tank get stuck on them. If that happened, the tank basically became combat ineffective. Primo Victoria: Italian, "Prime", or first, "Victory"

[@rogmorts1]

Sabaton formed in 1999 as a metal/rock covers band before finding their own sound. The Sabaton History Channel is relatively new and is a way to tell the stories within their music in better detail with the the help of a well respected military historian.

[@tomangelripper2255]

Like all "real/true" metal bands they started as a small unknown band and played in small clubs and start growing. YT came much later.

[@michaelmcbride4185]

I have been to a few Gigs Here in the UK, Festivals Like Download regularly get in excess of 100,000 People. I don't think I have been to a gig with less than about 13,000 People. Iron Maiden Went to South Africa in the mid 90's and pulled crowds over 3 nights of about 125 000 Per Night. I was at All 3

[@daniellastuart3145]

Have you seen the Wellington battle Victoria video yet

[@johnnyringo80]

Yes, you are right, the paratroopers were scattered over large areas and often far away from their designated locations. But as hard as this made their mission, it also helped to confuse the Germans, because they couldn't figure out where the attack was supposed to be - the enemies were just about everywhere. To further add to this confusion, the Allies also dropped straw dummies with parachutes. Many German commanders thought that this was nothing but a diversionary attack, because it seemed so uncoordinated.

[@daniellastuart3145]

obstacles on the beach “Nutcracker” mines (Nussknackermine) Appearance: Short steel or wood beam attached with hinges to either a steel or a concrete base; mines or old artillery shells attached to base; mines or shells positioned to be hit by beam if the beam is displaced. Use: To disable or damage landing craft. To generally hinder an amphibious invasion. Frequency: Though apparently more “regularly manufactured” than other, impromptu beach obstacles, there appears to only be concrete evidence of their use on Gold beach, and at that only 10. Apparently more common to the east (Le Havre) and the west (Cherbourg, Brest) of the landing beaches. Efficacy: Presumably relatively effective, but very uncommon on the D-day beaches. Tetrahedrons Appearance: Large hollow triangular prisms with sides between 1m and 2m long. Made of either steel or reinforced concrete. Topmost point often equipped with space for an antitank mine to be attached, though it was only rarely that mines were attached. Use: Antitank obstacles. Those made of steel could be used in the water; those made of concrete were more suited to blocking roads. Shape of prism makes it nearly impossible to tip over if struck by a tank. To generally hinder an amphibious invasion. Frequency: Much less frequent than Czech hedgehogs along the landing beaches. Possibly used more often further inland. No numbers for Juno, but 150 for Utah and 45 for Gold. Efficacy: Effective as antitank obstacles thanks to their shape, but posed comparatively less danger than others due to their lack of attached mines Czech hedgehogs (Tschechenigel) Appearance: Made of steel angles or rails of between 1.5m and 2m in length; two rails crossed in an X form with a third resting on an angle in the crossed rails; either bolted or welded together; positioned in shallow water and anchored with concrete bases. Use: Combination anti-craft and antitank obstacles. Meant to hinder military advances. Frequency: Very common. Upwards of 3600 on all landing beaches minus Juno. Efficacy: Given the low tide landing, not as much of a hindrance as they might have been, and not as dangerous as those obstacles topped with Teller mines. Rommel’s Asparagus (DE: Rommelspargel): NOT used on the beach! Honorary beach obstacle. Appearance: Wooden posts; 4-5m (13-16ft) long; planted upright in the ground; located in fields and pastures; occasionally connected to each other by a web of barbed wire; 1/3 were topped with either a mine or a hand grenade. Use: To impede aerial landings by parachutists. To tear the wings of gliders and planes attempting to land. Frequency: More than 1mil Rommelspargel planted in fields and pastures inland of the Norman coast. Efficacy: Was effective at tearing wings of gliders. not as dangerous as other, natural obstacles. Rommelspargel were planted rather far inland, pilots instead dropped airborne infantry closer to the coast, largely bypassing the obstacles

[@MaskinJunior]

Their genre is Power-Metal. It expands on the Metal instruments by adding more music elements to it making the sound more powerful. You can compare it to Symphonic Metal that has classical instruments and/or a classic style to the vocalist.

[@marcuswardle3180]

The British forces used a variety of weapons which were designed by Major General Hobart. These were a variety of tanks modified for invasion purposes. The most common one was the DD Sherman tank. The Americans declined the use of them apart from a small quantity of Sherman DD tanks. However, when it came to launching them to the invasion beaches the Americans did it too far out which meant that the tanks became swamped in the choppy water far from the beach. Most of them sank when they were most needed providing cover and artillery for the troops to get off the beaches. Many of the standard armoured engineer corp tanks derive from ‘Hobart’s Funnies’.

[@alansmith1989]

The Documentary- interesting- but I had to use the `Mute` option when the `Soundtrack` popped up. Not for me in the least.

[@katywalker8322]

He is Joakim Brodén who is the lead singer. They are very good live as they are very relaxed to be on stage (they do a lot of live shows so well practiced) First time we saw them live we had gone to see their support act and they were way better than I expected. Primo Victoria is great with a large audience joining in!

[@acestillwell98]

6:04 they are placed during low tide and were used to force away from the beach landing craft. If a boat hit them, it would stop them short of the LZ and damage the hull.

[@brandonbridge371]

There is a good Sabaton song called Gallipoli which relates to your video on Anzac Day. It has a very different tone to Primo Victoria but just as good in my opinion.

[@KaptenN]

The poles are to damage gliders that land on the field. The structures on the beach are either tank obstacles or hold mines . The paratroopers were successful, but several individual troopers and units landed in the wrong places or found themselves getting lost in the dark. I think that the lines "Through the gates of hell, as we make our way to heaven" is a reference to a speech made by General Eisenhower (I think) to all the men participating in the invasion. I'm paraphrasing here, but the speech had a part that was something along the lines of "When the fallen arrives at the pearly gates he will say 'Another soldier reporting, Sir, I've served my time in hell.'" The music video is entirely unrelated to the topic of the song, but I guess that's because it's produced by Wargaming.

[@guilhermeschwambach1191]

My grandfather was also a d-day veteran, he killed 17 men, but then unfortunately was captured and spent the rest of the war in a allied prison.

[@travisnoffsinger1703]

Really enjoyed your reaction. Liked and Subscribed! I’m a big Sabaton and history fan. They are amazing. Would love to hear more of your reactions to their other songs. You would love “Bismarck”, “Night Witches”, “No Bullets Fly”, “Devil Dogs”, and “Ghost Division”. 👍🏻

[@The50Americans]

They are to stop landing craft from getting all the way to the beach. They were pretty effective too. Some had mines on top and were underwater at high tide. This would sink the landing craft or kill most of the crew

[@dorlonelliott9368]

The coastal poles have mines on the top. the photo was at low tide. They are to destroy landing craft. Engineering swimmer teams [Army/Navy] cleared lanes for the landings there and other locations so as not to telegraph where the landings would be.

[@stephenhepworth1789]

Field Marshal Rommel was actually at home celebrating his wife's birthday.

[@melkor3496]

Yep he left his wife the second he got word of the invasion. If I remember correctly he would never see his wife again because he committed suicide. It’s quite the story on why he committed suicide but long story short Hitler suspected him of treason.

[@stephenhepworth1789]

Yes, he left home back to France as soon as he heard about the invasion. He did see his wife again, as he was at home recuperating when the generals from the OKW arrived with the ultimatum; suicide and a hero's funeral or trial and disgrace with his family also held to account. I believe it was General Krebbs who spoke to Rommel and he allowed the Field Marshal to say goodbye to his family.

[@melkor3496]

@@stephenhepworth1789 Ah okay didn’t know he got to say goodbye to them before he killed himself. He was the only German general Winston Churchill respected from the German side I’ve heard as well.

[@stephenhepworth1789]

@@melkor3496 Yes, I've also heard that Rommel was the only German general that Churchill respected, though he did respect the abilities of others. Rommel was wounded by an attack on his car by allied fighter bombers and went home to recover. He was implicated in the July Bomb Plot on Hitler, but was offered the chance of suicide because he was a national hero. Dead heros are much better than living traitors.

[@melkor3496]

@@stephenhepworth1789 Sadly true wish he somehow could have escaped with his wife he deserved better. He was a general that fought with honour and was actually not aligned with the nazi ideology. And he was ofc a badass. THE DESERT FOX

[@jonashansson2320]

Great reaction. I love watching the history videos before listening to a Sabaton song, it gives a bit more to the song when you know the details behind it. And I hadn't seen this before, nice to see when Joakim talked about the song too. If you keep going with Sabaton, you will see that style a lot. A bit different to most metal, it's in the swedish melodic vein, no matter how hard we make it, it always turn out melodic. :) But if you don't just want to dive head first into the unknown I think a good starter pack of Sabaton is the way to go. :) So I will suggest 2 other songs/performances/videos you can do after Bismarck, that showcase their things. Not neccesarily their best songs but I think they are the best and fastest way to learn what Sabaton is all about. After that, you are good to go in any direction you want. 1. No bullets fly, the animated story video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqTPgGBpfMyYpLs Since pretty much all their songs have a historic background, the animated story videos are great to get the context, and No bullets fly is something extra for sure. It's about an act of the greatest humanity in pretty much the worst possible time for humanity. (They have another animated story video, Night witches, that you will probably like too. Girl power!! ;) ) 2. En livstid i krig, Live from the Great tour in Gothenburg. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXPWZHpnhdusnK8 It's in Swedish so turn on the captions and be prepared to be amazed. There will be smiles from ear to ear mixed with tears and you get to experience what might be the greatest live performance ever. It's the story about a Swedish soldier going into war, the 30 years war that ravaged Europe during the 17:th century. And about the things you wondered about in the video. Those wooden poles on the fields were meant to rip apart landing gliders, they were not against paratroopers. The poles on the beach were under water at high tide, meant to spear the flimsy landing crafts. And yes, of course you thought that the US navy were a much bigger force, after all, you are american and all true american knows that it was the US that single handedly won WW2. And everything else. ;)

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

5:04 the poles were to have mines on them also if a Glider hit the poles it would ripe the glider apart.

[@patrickfeeney96]

An answer to your question about those bigger poles they were to stop gliders from landing on the beach.

[@AdurianJ]

If i remember correctly the British beaches had more preparatory time because the tide started to recede in that end of the invasion area first, so engineers landed before the invasion to clear obstacles and mark safe paths had much more time to work. This was a major factor for the American problems

[@franksmedley8619]

Hello SoGal. The Aircraft deterrence poles had wire strung between them. The poles and wires would foul any aircraft attempting to land to disburse troops, causing them to crash and probably killing all aboard. Fields were flooded to also deny the Allies landing zones, since with the flooding, no one would be able to tell how deep the water actually was, and you wouldn't want to drop your troops into six or more feet of water, with the fields themselves now vast mud banks that would trap them below the surface of the water to drown. Even if the field was 'only' covered by a couple of feet of water, the resulting mud below would trap and hinder troops dropping into said fields, making them easy prey for defending troops to pick off at their leisure. Those beach defenses are very thick wooden and often steel structures designed to rip up the hulls of landing craft as they attempt to land troops. The pictures show them at low tide, when the beach is more exposed. If you try to land troops during anything but low tide, your landing craft will be lucky NOT to hit one and rip open it's hull, sinking it in seconds, drowning the soldiers aboard. And landing at low tide, before you reach these defenses means your troops have to slog through mud and wet sand farther to reach the actual 'water line', and yet farther beyond to to find what little cover there may be there. And on top of all that, you face the bunkers and revetments of the first line defenses that have been firing upon you, which you HAVE to overcome, to get to the further defenses built upon higher ground. No, your impression is somewhat accurate. The paratroops WERE dropped off their target zones due to the mass of flack and machine gun fire they were taking. But, on the other side of that coin, the paratroops were highly trained and EXPECTED to be out numbered and surrounded. One is recorded to have said that this was the best thing, since they could attack in any direction and only face enemy forces and have NO fear of firing upon 'friendlies'. You mentioned having seen the D-Day film. I can assume it's 'The Longest Day', the one with John Wayne and so many other great and iconic actors in it. Having that to go on, you should remember the briefing scene for the paratroops, where they used a child's toy, a 'cricket' to recognize each other in the dark and the confusion of combat on foreign soil, and the expected scattering of their forces from the para-dropping of the troops into their combat zones. Such a manner of troop identification was a new thing, and saved many lives. Lives that would have been lost just stumbling into German defenders and being killed, whereas with the 'Cricket', if the troops you see did NOT respond back correctly, you knew they were Enemy troops and could take the appropriate steps to eliminate them. Almost ALL of the scenes in the movie are based upon real events, such as the one with Red Buttons playing a paratrooper who's parachute got hung up upon a church steeple as the church bells rang to warn of the attack. Said trooper playing 'dead', hanging there, as his fellows were butchered by the defenders and himself wounded as the bells deafened him. Another 'true' event was played by Richard Burton, playing an RAF pilot that was shot down and tried to evade capture. He was shot by the German officer that he in turn killed, and was tended to by a lost medic. Later on, a lost trooper found him and stayed with him until he died, the Pilot having been shot in the gut and basically bleeding to death internally. The Medic, knowing the pilot would die from his wound, gave him a massive shot of morphine for the pain, knowing that without a doctor and hospital being immediately available, the man would die slowly in agony. Thus, he did what he could, and left to find other wounded he Could save. Most of the Normandy Invasion naval Force was UK, not US. This is because of the US shifting as much as possible of their naval strength to the Pacific Theater, without leaving their British allies totally bereft of support. Also of note is that the vast majority of the combined naval force was 'medium' and 'light' ships. There were few actual Battleships available to rain down really large cannon fire. But, even a tiny thing like the five inch gun of a destroyer would pretty much destroy anything it hit on land, other than the massively thick bunkers of the German heavy gun positions. And even those would not survive multiple strikes upon them by 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14 inch guns. Even the USS Navada, a US Battleship, had 'only' 14 inch naval guns aboard her. The USS Navada was NOT an Iowa Class Battleship with 16 inch guns, but a previous design with 14 inch, which was 'large' when she was built and put to sea. Men exiting the landing craft were gunned down in droves. Think of it this way, you and 40 or so other guys are packed into a rectangular box. Most of the landing craft is made from aluminum, light steel, and plywood that was heavily lacquered, with the exit ramp being a thick steel ramp that made a protective wall as the craft approached the beach. This ramp would lower to allow you all to exit, and that is the problem. It also makes the tightly packed infantry inside a prime target for machine guns. Many landing craft were targeted by multiple machine guns, and it, to me, is a miracle that ANYONE got off them without being killed before doing so. Then you have the long slog up the beach to find any available cover, all the while being shot at with everything the Enemy has at hand. Rifles, Machine Guns, Mortars, etc. In the movie 'The Longest Day', they actually had to Understate the number of men killed to get that toe hold on the beaches at places like Omaha Beach. Mostly because Civilians would not believe the carpet of dead that the follow-on waves had to wade through and over to get further ashore. And, also, to not 'traumatize' the audience watching the movie. As for Sabaton (Sab-Ah-Taun, not Say-bo-Tan), I agree with you. I am also not a huge fan of Heavy Metal as a genre of music... Too much screaming into the mike, and not enough lyrical story. But Sabaton has hit that golden sweet spot. Their musical style, the strong beats, the story line within the songs, the use of Choirs, and that harkening back to the rhythms and multiple octaves of the ancient Church music, all blended in such a manner that each has it's place in the song and it 'feels' right. I hope all this helps. Speaking Frank-ly

[@marcuswardle3180]

There were actually 6 beaches. Apart from the usual 5 mentioned there was a 6th titled ‘Box’ which was never used.

[@devinmahoney6282]

the structures on the beach were to prevent them from driving bigger boats with tanks on them meaning they would not have to split the panzer divisions to cover more ground the could move them in time but the paratrooper destroyed or trapped the paths there

[@Kevichkovil]

Yes it's correct what they say in band of brothers. Troops were scattered around Normandy. Even though it was confusing for the allied troops on the ground, in hindsight it worked in their favour. Because it confused the Germans even more and they didn't know exactly where to send their troops because there came way too many reports of hostile troops and firefights to handle for the troops that were in the region.

[@mathiaswittinger2808]

Concerning that crowd, that is the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany which is in fact the biggest Metal festival world wide. And I was there somewhere in that crowd :D