American Reacts to The Untold WWII Battle of the Scheldt

[@martinschenk4286]

We Dutch are very grateful to the Canadians. They are our number one in the Netherlands as our liberators. And so are the Poles. We see both countries as our blood brothers and we love them. Their victims are adopted here generation after generation (their Graves) as if they were our own children. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[@Be-Es---___]

It a shame that, because of the cold war, the Poles didn't get the full recognition.

[@TheMetalChef38]

And as a wry thank you, the US and Britain handed Poland and the Poles over to Stalin. Completely bypassing the Polish governement in exile.

[@craigmorris4083]

Always ready to help our friends (and our family), eh :)

[@opoxious1592]

The reality is as followed. WW2 started due the fact that the England and France wanted Poland to be a free nation, after Germany and Russia invaded Poland as allies. When the war ended, Poland was still a occupied nation by Russia. And the allies did exactly nothing at all to guarantee the freedom of Poland, what the war was started about in the first place. There is nothing to be greatfull about

[@martinschenk4286]

@@Be-Es---___ This is because, like the French and the Dutch, they were occupied by Germany and they no longer fought from their own state but as volunteers in foreign service. That is why they did not get the recognition but that foreign service as our liberators. The honor went to countries that committed themselves and not to people who volunteered from occupied territory. The Poles were considered traitors in their own country and received no recognition at all because they were liberated by the Russians and that was no fun behind that iron curtain afterwards.

[@corjp]

I have dealt with Canadian veterans several times and they were always humble but glad that we were grateful to them. They were the BEST of veterans I encountered.

[@harveyostrander7426]

The Canadians waited outside Rome for the Americans to enter 1st. The Canadians were there a day before. That is the story of the Canadian forces in WW2. Get the job done and let the Brits and Yanks take the glory. Same here in the Netherlands.

[@christianbell1357]

There are quite a few cemeteries in the Netherlands where fallen Canadian soldiers are buried. We honor them every year on the 4th of may by remembering them, the sacrifice they made and how we to this day should be grateful for their valor. We have a national two minutes of silence at 8pm on this day where we keep quiet and stop what we are doing to reflect on these heroes and the other fallen soldiers and victims of the second world war. It is the tradition i am most proud of in my country. We will always be grateful and we will never forget.

[@corjp]

Dank u wel voor uw zeer hartverwarmende reactie / Thank you very much for your heartfelt reaction. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@ChristiaanHW]

to me it looks like this: - the American forces wanted to defeat Germany, so they could rope the other allies into getting revenge for Pearl Harbor against the Japanese. so they wanted to get into Germany as quick as possible and finish the war. - the British, especially their commander Montgomery didn't want the American to have the honour of defeating the Germans. the Americans were there to aid the British, so he should be the one to arrive at Berlin first. and so, both decided to go to the east (Germany) as soon as they could. and in doing so they left halve of The Netherlands under German occupation. and the "lesser" forces were directed to clean the Germans out of The Netherlands. and so a lot of Dutch cities and towns were liberated by Canadian forces (and other allied troops like the Polish). and that's why we still are thankful to the Canadians, they liberated The Netherlands. it's obviously more complicated than this. but if you look at the actions and some of the quest enable choices made by (the big) allied commanders it really feels like they all wanted to be "the one" to defeat Germany and they didn't care that much about liberating the continents citizens. another great example of that is that there have been several allied bombings of Dutch towns.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

Not quite. The Americans thought it would be possible to defeat Germany without a closer open port because they believed Germany could no longer mount any kind of offensive operations. It wasn't going to go that way and the British knew it. The Brits wanted to secure Antwerp first at all costs to prevent it's destruction, from there they could then secure the region. This comes back to bite the Americans in the ass during the Battle of the Bulge where supplies are spread too thin and American forces struggle to hold the line as their own supplies are all over the place, something that the German offensive tried to take advantage of as the main defensive asset that the Americans have is the US Air Force and it's grounded for a few days due to the weather. Yes there was a huge rivalry between Montgomery, Patton and Bradley but the British plan was the correct one. Unfortunately Montgomery was too incompetent and egotistic to do as he was ordered by Eisenhower and left the Canadian army to secure the route for Antwerp which is really where he blundered alongside going with Market Garden. This was not the first time that Montgomery's decisions cost the Canadian army unnecessary casualties and he was therefore detested by many Canadians and generally seen so incompetent and selfish that the Canadian army should be allowed to operate on it's own terms, something that nearly came to full fruition when Canadian General Henry Crerar was put in charge of things directly. By then the Canadian government have had enough of Montgomery.

[@hanhenderikse]

I was born in Vlissingen in 1961 so years after the war, my parents and grandparents told me very much about the war overthere. My grandmother is even related to pres Roosevelt, her mother had that surname. I've seen a lot of things and sites during my youth remembering of the war.

[@letheas6175]

Wooow no way an hour long video! This is amazing, pre-emptive like, and can I just say, I love your continued support to the topic of NL and your vibe in general. It always soothes me and makes me feel good, as stressed as I might be. You are one of my favourite KZbinrs, and please keep on going. Again, much appriciated. May you have the most blessed day ever :)

[@letheas6175]

Also ''why was it so forgotten'' because it was the allies, don't understand me wrong: I'm thankful we got liberated, I'm thankful for the sacrifices made by those who liberated occupied countries: but the allies made some huge mistakes and even war-crimes in doing so. From this event, to ''mistake'' bombardments.. here's just a small list, with ''doden'' meaning deaths, and RAF being the Royal Airforce (British Airforce) ''RAF, 24-25 juni 1940: Den Helder, 38 doden'' RAF, 3-4 oktober 1941: Rotterdam, 106-130 doden RAF, 28-29 januari 1942: Rotterdam/Schiedam, 71 doden RAF, 5-6 oktober 1942: Geleen, 83 doden RAF, 6 december 1942: Eindhoven, 138 doden RAF, 19 februari 1943: Den Helder, 50 doden USAAF, 31 maart 1943: Rotterdam, Tussendijken, circa 400 doden RAF, 16 april 1943: Haarlem, 85 doden USAAF, 17 juli 1943: Amsterdam-Noord, 158-185 doden USAAF, 10 oktober 1943: Enschede, 151 doden USAAF, 22 februari 1944: Nijmegen, tegen de 800 doden I could go on, but hundreds, or thousands of allied-caused deaths would follow. And again, I understand the context, but in Germany they made even more mistakes (targeted on civilians instead of military) that leveled whole cities, and changed the face of Germany still to this day. Again, had the angry german moustace guy not done this.. this would'nt have happened, but in many instances, it's not as black and white.. the allies too did things that shouldn't have happened. Is all I want to add (in terms of nuance) here. And since the victors write the history, the ''good sides'' errors, are soon forgotten.

[@letheas6175]

also, 28 november? Happy late birthday haha

[@rogerelzenga4465]

heeeey! i live in Flushing (Vlissingen).... this is such a lost battle, no one talks about it.... the remnants are everywhere still... you can find grenades, mines here in the forrest... (we used to play with them as kids) But yeah, i find myself explaining to a lot of USA people that the Nazi's were bad people, but it was the allies that killed most of our population during ww2 by carpet bombing.... This town is so rich in history a area of newyork is named after us ^^ (Flushing).... maybe cool to look into it!

[@MrGerben123]

hey charlie, i'm from zoutelande in walcheren where some of the coastal batteries were situated. i know a lot about the local history of the battle of the scheldt and i noticed you had quite a few questions during the video. if you want more information about certain things let me know and i would be more than willing to elaborate on things deeper. there's quite a lot of material you can look up about operation infatuate, infatuate 2 (the landings at westkapelle) being the most interesting for me as it happened 3 miles from where i grew up. also i would recommend you to watch the movie the forgotten battle on netflix, it is mostly highlighting the attack on the sloedam by the canadian army and doesn't get into the landings but it's a pretty damn good movie to see exactly how it all went down and how brutal the fighting was. it follows much of your video here in real action. thanks for making these video's!

[@drekruizinga8696]

The bombshells and granates that are found in Belgium are mostly in the Ieper Region, and thats from WWI

[@bassmit7]

A friend of mine found a stengun in "Het Engelse Werk" in Zwolle though

[@awaterplease7885]

Super interesting video man. The move “All quiet on the Western front” opened my eyes on the fact that war stories normally only tell the glorious parts of the story. We will never know how many of the traumatic parts are buried and forgotten

[@corjp]

true that.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

Everyone knows about the strong bond between Canada and the USA but not everyone knows about the unbreakable bond of love between the Netherlands and Canada

[@GroteSmurf666]

Just a side-note, the usa helper a lot with supplies and people, but not for free, it came with a bill. The UK had to pay for it, the last payment was in 2006. When it comes to victems, soldiers and civilians, then the USSR has sufferd the most, only in Stalingrad 1 million…

[@LRJPhoenix]

just want to say dankjewel for making this video. i am living near arnhem we have a lot of things to honor the Canadians. its a fact that the American or British did not care for us they just want Germany/berlin before the Russians

[@prjw73]

It is incorrect that this battle is ignored by historians. It is ignored by Hollywood and we know that the perception of history is heavily influenced by Hollywood movies. A good book on the Battle of the Scheldt is Mark Zuehlke's "Terrible Victory". Mark Zuehlke's series on the Canadian war effort is second to none.

[@diverke1009]

I grew up in a village that was liberated by the Canadian Algonquin regiment on September 10th 1944. The village was near the Dutch border In Belgium, and was next to two canals, The Schipdonk and the Leopold Canal running next to each other. There was a fierce battle where the Canadians tried to cross both canals into the Netherlands, but they never achieved their goal. All those young lads were burried at the Canadian cemetry at Eeklo. But the batlle scarred village never forgot what they meant to us... I grew up with the stories of the villagers (including my grand parents, my school teachers; some neighbours...) what sacrifices were brought for our freedom...

[@InsaneRabbitDaddy]

My father was a soldier in the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment. He told me that they came to a farm, and the family there gave them coffee and apples - the only things they had to eat. They had hid them from the Germans, and wanted the Canadians to have them. The Battle of the Scheldt was so fierce, that at the end, when the Germans were surrendering, soldiers in my father's regiment weren't in the mood. He said a group of Germans would come towards them, carrying a white flag, hands up. The Canadians let them get close, then opened fire on them. Some were killed, the others ran. Then, a little while later, another group would come waving a white flag only to be fired upon again.

[@leunisvandewege9651]

@@InsaneRabbitDaddy Respect. These things normally are not told. They show the horor of war...... for either side.

[@diverke1009]

@@InsaneRabbitDaddy The stories i was told, date from the beginning of the battle, but what i read, and was told, this comes as no surprise. And the atrocities came both ways. Your fathers regiment was almost in combat since D-Day, my utmost respect...

[@InsaneRabbitDaddy]

@@diverke1009 Indeed, because of the manpower shortage, the Canadian Army wasn't able to rotate soldiers in and out of the line. The only respite my father got in the entire year the campaign lasted was when he was wounded. And as it wasn't a serious wound, he wasn't out for very long.

[@PolCornelis]

I was born in Knokke-Heist, a Belgian seaside town just south of the Belgian-Dutch border and north of the Leopold Canal. So the town was on the south-western border of "Fortress South". Every year, during the commemoration of the liberation, the town is full of Canadian flags. That is still the case in 2024. My mother told me that on the day of liberation there were no partying residents in the street, not as you see on newsreels and photos from 1944. The municipal government organized a victory parade a few days later. On the day of the liberation itself, people emerged from their shelters relieved that they had survived and impressed by what they had experienced.

[@lawrencenabozniak3498]

You refer to the battle for the Scheldt as "largely forgotten". Not to us Canadians or any student of Canadian history or those of us who served and who have a history of military service to our country. After all the Canadians sacrificed and lost in one of the most brutal battles of the entire war NOT ONE Canadian was invited to the opening of the port of Antwerp. Bear in mind that unlike the American forces Canadians had very few journalists and/or cameramen embedded in their military. You may wish to read George Blackburn's books. Volume 1 is rather dull (for me) but volumes 2 & 3 may be a real shock to you when you realize how effective the Canadians were and the extent of their involvement in some of the most intense fighting of the war.

[@andreraymond6860]

The history of Canada at war is one of pragmatism. Our country is a team player. We know we don't have the biggest guns or the most recent high tech weapons. We go in and get our part of the plan done. In WWII this involved getting the dirty assignments and doing the hard work in a thankless way. Our commanders were not the prima donas and our soldiers rarely went for glory, but the Canadian 2nd and 3rd divisions were all volunteers, from D-Day to the liberation of Holland and the Netherlands. Only in the end game were those exhausted volunteers supplemented with conscripted replacements. What the veterans called 'Zombies'. We will never truly grasp what a hard slog the battle of the Schelt estuary was, through flooded fields and over dikes under German fire and over months in the cold late fall of 1944.

[@tetaomichel]

We love the Canadians (except Trudeau) and are even friendly with the Germans. We Dutch are a strong people.

[@baskoning9896]

If Montgomery could take the bridges all the way to and including Arnhem, he would have crossed all the major rivers in one fell swoop. Then, there was nothing stopping him to the north, which would cut off the west from supply, making it easy pickings, and nothing stopping him to go east, all the way to Berlin. But... he was unable to get the last bridge, so the entire plan fell apart. Hence the 'a bridge too far' that you often hear when people speak about this plan.

[@zenger74]

All of that had to be supplied from cherbourg normandy, because know it all monty "forgot" to take the schelde estuary. That's a 710km/ 440mile supply line to support two major operations. Ask rommel how that works! Monty also chose to ignore reports from the dutch resistance about an ss panzer division at arnhem. Not to mention the anhem drop zones being too far from their objectives, wich he should have caught, and done something about. Monty's genius is a myth at best.

[@dutchman7623]

Already during the 80-years war (1568-1648), it was obvious that access to Antwerp, and thus Belgium, was in the hands of those who controlled the Scheldt. Antwerp without Scheldt is useless. Every treaty between north and south involved free access to the sea for Antwerp. All the allies had was Cherbourg, a partly inprovised, harbour in France. US and UK seem not to have any map, history book, or geography knowledge...

[@Jila_Tana]

Charlie, they went for the bridges at Arnhem to get across the river Rhine. Look up a map of western Europe and see where that river runs. It is literally between the allies and Germany.

[@TheMetalChef38]

6:38 Roosevelt was president at that time, succeeded by Harry Truman on the 12th of april 1945 when Roosevelt died. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Arnhem was a very risky fast-track into Germany. Had operation Market Garden (in reality two operations: one through the air with airborne troops trying to secure the bridges over the major rivers in the Netherlands which failed at Arnhem, and one over land through Belgium up to the river Rhein which also didn't go to plan.) succeeded the route to Berlin lay open for the alies. Market (the airborne operation) largely failed due to bad tactical decisions (like landing 10km from the target bridges near Arnhem which killed the element of surprise completely. Had the allied forces focused all of their attention on the Schelde initially, they would have likely opened a second major supply route much earlier.

[@sanderp1440]

oh and the part of belgium where they still dig up explosives regularly is south west flanders wich was during the first world war a static front for almost 4 years

[@gekkegerrit933]

the safe entrance to the harbour of antwerp was the goal

[@gekkegerrit933]

de shelde was a vital entrance to that

[@rmyikzelf5604]

23:47 It's forgotten because the Americans and British went for Berlin after the battle of the bulge in the Belgian Ardennes. And the race (against the communist Russia) for Berlin was on! The liberation of the Netherlands was largely left to the Canadians and Poles. There's so many angles. WW2 in the Netherlands only ended in May 1945, partly because the Cold War effectively started as soon as Paris was liberated. The Americans and British feared the Russians from the east would conquer way too much of Eastern and possibly Central Europe. Hence the race to Berlin. The Netherlands was not on that route after the failure of operation Market Garden and hence left for later.

[@x-Gingerbeard-x]

25:30 ''The Germans complained about this very uncivilised weapon'' LOL WHAT?! The Germans had flame tanks in service themselves as early as 1940! Flammpanzer 1, eventually Flammpanzer 2 and eventually Flammpanzer 3. These were mostly used in North Africa and the Eastern Front, eventhough they proved fairly ineffective and were eventually converted into assault guns or tank destroyers etc.

[@MrDeadstu]

Early in the video, 2:45 it shows the Bergen-op-zoom cemetery, I have a great uncle buried there, one day I hope to visit Europe and pay respects.

[@herbievanbeveren1314]

Montgomery was in personal conflict with Eisenhower. Montgomery wanted to strike deep into Germany fast to take the glory and he needed the Dutch bridges - one of them in Arnhem - intact to do so (Operation Market Garden: see the old move "A bridge too far"). Many high ranking officers were against it - too risky - ; but he did it anyhow. It failed. Focussing on the supply lines, Scheldt and Antwerp would have been smarter. The Germans were very aware of the importance of that strategic port Antwerp. Their target of the later Battle of The Bulge was retaking Antwerp to kill the logistics of the US/UK/FR/Canadian/.. troops; in the hope to still win the war. Strategy connects all battles.

[@sanderp1440]

as an american you sould know who was the president of the us in 1944. as a european i can tell you that Rooseveld was the president of the US and Eisenhouwer the supreme commander of the allied forces. Eisehouwen became president after Rooseveld and Trueman so during the beginning of the 50´s

[@corjp]

The US claims to be THE liberator of Europe in WW2 but the most thanks from us Europeans goes to the Canadians, Scotch and Britsih ( All of the UK at that time)

[@D.H.1987]

Very interesting! I'm from that part of Zeeland (Walcheren)

[@BabsRooversKlomp]

Ik wil iets zeggen wat in Amerika heel gewoon is.... dank jullie wel voor jullie opoffering. Is echt gemeend. Ik wist dit niet wat heel erg is

[@adotte8014]

Arn hem was part of operation market garden Montgomerie,s hobby

[@rmyikzelf5604]

His plan could have worked but for the bad tactical decisions made. Like not landing close to the Arnhem bridges which killed the element of surprise.

[@kleinjahr]

You might find “The Long Left Flank” an interesting read.

[@sanderp1440]

alsow nice fun fact. president Rooseveld got ancesters from the dutch province of Zeeland. His name Rooseveld is dutch for rose field named after the flowers. In the capitol city of the dutch province Zeeland named Middelburg you will find the Rooseveld Academy and once every four years the international recognised prices are hand out to people who made a diffrence in the four freedoms speach of your president Rooseveld. they are named the Four freedom awards `freedom of speech, freedom of whorship, freedom from want, freedom from fear`

[@gekkegerrit933]

dwight was supreme commander underer roosevelt

[@sylvainvanduyl6143]

Well... At 14:10 (can't get a time stamp) he said, to get in Germany first. But everyone thinks Monty wanted to go, through Market Garden, by Arnhem to Germany. But, he never stated this. After Market Garden, his plan was to move over 'The Veluwe', Apeldoorn, to the IJsselmeer. His idea was, to cut a larger portion of the German troops. So a larger amount of German troops would surrender. His idea was, that if the Canadians were ineffective in the Schelde, they would not have a hard and long fight, because Market Garden would be a succes. Montgomery never had Germany as a result of Market Garden. But we never knew his follow up plan, because it failed.

[@TheMetalChef38]

There were a lot of ego's during WW2 who thought they knew best. So there were a lot of differences of opinion on how to win the war. Montgomery vs Patton in Western Europe, Montgomery vs Clark in Italy. During the war in the Pacific, during the liberation of Burma. How to deal with Chiang Kai-shek and Mao in China. Roosevelt who hated Charles de Gaulle, Churchill who was really suspicious about Stalin's motivations and post war goals. And of course loose cannon George Patton.

[@robvoncken2565]

Market Garden cost us more then you can immagine. If they would have focussed on Antwerp The Dutch famin would not have happened. The battle of overloon indeed the battle of the bulge. Allied forces would have been much stronger moving into Germany

[@mavadelo_YukiToRedBull]

Omroep Zeeland is the regional broadcaster of the province of Zeeland. (for new non Dutch viewers of this channel... that is the Zeeland that makes New Zealand "New" 6:38 Dude.. are you serious.... Dwight D Eisenhower was the 34th POTUS from 1953 to 1961 so a good 8 years after WWII. Duting WWII it was very much General Eisenhower. How does a Dutchman need to tell you that. Just noticed this is an hourlong video. better first run to the store before I watch any further lol. If I have more to say a secondary comment might appear :)

[@SteveMenardDesignDXM]

Eisenhower became President after winning the November 1952 election. (so, in January 1953).

[@peterkralt2478]

And then he gave my grandfather posthume the medal of freedom with silver palm shortly after he became president.

[@wombatwilly1002]

Ike wasn't president then.He was a surprise pick to be the Supreme Allied commander in Europe because he had lived in Britain and they figured he could keep the alliance together.They didn't go first to Antwerp because Montgomery came up with Market Garden and figured he could end the war by Christmas and IKe ok'd it.The plan failed when Montgomery should've been trying to take Antwerp instead.They were escaping out of France because the Allies were pushing them out.

[@bassmit7]

If you like some movies about the war in the Netherlands by Dutch filmmakers I'd recommend: Soldaat van oranje Het meisje met de rode haren Zwartboek De slag om de Schelde Unless you comprehend English aswell as Dutch and German you'll need subtitles though.

[@prjw73]

Those are commercial, romanticised films. They do not even attempt to cover the military side of the war.

[@liesjelualockse6377]

Lol Charlie the remark about WOII being good population control since we have high population density is .. daring. Zeeland is our least densly polulated province. It was never build back, got left behind in industrial and technical development and got more secluded, christian, foreigner phobia .... I don't think I appreciated how much trauma has been dealt with in those families. As a kid I always felt it was a place of tears. How many years does it take for a piece of land and it inhabitants to heal? Generations. I do appreciate relating history to modern situations. I would love to point out there are places being bombed and ppls being famined right this second. Have a good one!

[@BommeltjeNL]

You don’t understand why this is forgotton? It was Churchil who said ‘History is written by the victors’ and they choose what stories are saved for posterity. And since this was not a good (dare I say sexy?) story to tell, they chose to forget it. If you don’t mention it, it never happened. Right… Because of that even the Dutch themselves didn’t know of this battle. That changed when a few years ago there suddenly was a movie about ‘De slag om de Schelde’ and that’s when most Dutch people heard of it first. History is written by the victors…… Don’t get me wrong. My hometown was liberated by the Americans (2 bridges before Arnhem) and our bridge is even called after the American lieutanant who captured it. But don’t forget the Canadians, Polish, British, even Hungarian soldiers who fought here. A lot of them died here for our freedom. That’s why we are embedded to them.

[@MrGerben123]

link is to the netfix movie the forgotten battle!

[@qualitytraders5333]

Why they went to Brabant? Well, look at the map. It's on the way to Germany. The part they're talking about is Dutch. Belgium doesn't have territory around the Western Scheldt.

[@maxtrein532]

I live in the south of the Netherlands near the German border, and I can say the Germans are great people.

[@TheMetalChef38]

I in the east near the border and I second that

[@bassmit7]

Agreed 🇳🇱 (Enschede)

[@zenger74]

Dude FDR was president during ww2, and i ain't even american

[@hansd3295]

of course we are not angry! at least not anymore, of course I do not know how it was during the war. We are now especially very proud and grateful to those who came to liberate Europe from the Germans, many paid for our freedom with their lives. Unimaginable to do that for peace in other countries. Thanks to the liberators we now live in peace. Unfortunately we are now dealing with an aggressor in Europe and times of peace may soon change again.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

38:40 crucial mistake

[@lordsjaak]

yeah i know that documantery from our Regional news. but still i am glad about they liberated province Zeeland. 12:33 Montgomery was to much protect by Wiston Churchill and Monty did not like Americians getting to much command about british army group. also there was diva fight with Patton and Monty. Monty need more materials so that Patton getting slow down. and Monty was little bit defense fighting style how every they though that rushing with Operation market garden shall big succes but reality it was not. you can see how monty fighting style was not so great. (this after math talking) if they first liberated the Scheldt and than operation Market Garden, than it shall bigger succes. that is what expert saying. also dutch resistance did warn it but because some resistance groups was infeltrated the british was most warnings ignored due not using british protocols while dutch was lacking a bit. 23:40 it is forgotten also due British fixation on Arnhem. and historians back then saw not so importement history. but Dutch people did not forgot it and keep telling about it and that is more keeping alive and now with les and les WW2 veterans alive. they try to document their stories better and better. it explain in 36:30 mark of the video. 34:59 that tower was not in 1944 so no there was no place to hide even there was a windmill on the dike in Westkapelle and many civilians lost their live. it explain in 36:30 mark of the video. 57:43 but the Dutch never forgot the Polish, Canadian and British and scots (ofcourse other country like Belgium and Netherlands) did liberated Walcheren. just what British Mighty Jingles (a KZbinr) said: "other countrys forgot the libertators but the Dutch never did. they remember them. they remember them"

[@gekkegerrit933]

Dwight was a president from 1958

[@svengoris6468]

because the victors don't like to be too much reminded to their poor decisions or failures and they focus on other crucials..

[@drekruizinga8696]

It was just a race who was in Berlin first, thats why theyb didnt worked together and made some mistakes.

[@Emdee5632]

6:35 How incredibly bad do you as an American have to be in your own country's history when you think Eisenhower was US president in WW2?

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Montgomery was a Brit

[@woutervanbelleghem8676]

I had to pause on 26:14. And wanted a hug. Because I believe the world hasn't learned it's lesson. Let us hope somethng like that never happens again. But the upcoming surge of right-winged governments, more authoritarian regimes, wars , and dare I say Trump being elected? Doesn't bode well for democracy nor peace. We Belgians are grateful to the Canadians , US troops, and Poles too, we hate what we see in Ukraine atm, but... Is that less horrible then WOII? I'm saying not. Could that happen again? well it is happening again, so yes. Should we all be worried? Yes.

[@gekkegerrit933]

they wanted to hit the underbelly of germany

[@michalandrejmolnar3715]

They wouldn't let it happen again? Sorry, but Trump was elected a month ago.

[@therealdutchidiot]

I want people to understand one thing: we didn´t hate the Germans for what they did, we hated them for what they made us become. We never wanted to be a hateful people, but until the early 90s that's exactly what we were. Nowadays things are different, and we can somewhat joke about it. "My grandpa still wants his bike back" is one of those jabs we perpetuate. Up until the late 80s German hate was as common as well, eating cheese, riding bicycles or even gay rights. We resented them for destroying Rotterdam and murdering around 80% of our Jewish population. But, nowadays we see Germany falling behind. Maybe not as much on the world stage because it takes time to filter through, but when visiting Germany one can certainly see "those who stay behind is left behind".

[@KeesBoons]

Maybe that was true for your environment, not for mine.

[@ChristiaanHW]

i think the period of resentment was way shorter. the cold war helped in that regard. because after the war the German people themselves got occupied, the East by the Soviets, and the West by Allied nations. so the Dutch people might have hated the Germans in 1945 (and during the war), but we saw the struggles they went through after that and we could relate with them, and so we quickly found a place for all that hate. also we had more important things to do that keep hating them. we needed to rebuild the country, and then only 8 years later we had the "watersnoodramp" and needed to deal with that. and not that much later we together with Germany and 4 others started the EEC which would go on to become the EU. so we simply didn't have that much time to hate them. we were kept busy with rebuilding the country, and when that was done, the Germans were our ally and we were standing alongside each other against the devil in the east. and to be honest i'm glad it turned out this way, the Germans are like our cousins. but i do agree that compared to The Netherlands, Germany seems kinda run down. but don't forget that the Germany we know is only there since 1990. so the last 30 years they had to undo all the damage done to the east during the cold war.

[@prjw73]

What on earth are you going on about? Of course the Germans were hated for what they did: slavery, imprisonment, torture, pillaging, theft, destroying homes (to build defensive works), destroying cultural heritage, murder, suppression, starvation and what have you. Are you even aware of these German crimes? You are by no means speaking on behalf of Dutch post-war society.

[@gekkegerrit933]

cool!co

[@emveeie1391]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJbMhJmkq9N-oJI

[@melchiorvonsternberg844]

Dear Frisian brothers... I have the impression that you lack the right yardstick for what can be called a battle and what cannot. From a German perspective, 1100 men killed is the equivalent of what died on a normal Tuesday on the Eastern Front before breakfast. Perhaps it is because in 1940 your own army showed the white flag after 5 days? Or is it an overcompensation for how many Dutch people collaborated with Nazi Germany, including thousands of volunteers in the SS...

[@prjw73]

This contemptuous comment says everything about your lack of moral reflection. Your people, even before the war started, dutifully followed an evil regime, chose to look away and in fact obediently participated in the slavery, murder and torture of civilians and soldiers alike. You are in no position to comment on how the suffering of your victims is experienced and expressed by them. Luckily you are unlike most Germans of this day and age but on the other hand it shows that we must continue to remain vigilant to a dangerous undercurrent in German society.

[@melchiorvonsternberg844]

@@prjw73 I'm afraid you're completely misunderstanding the situation... I'm a social democrat who joined the party in 1983. At the age of 14, I was already a volunteer in disaster relief, a trade unionist and a conscientious objector. I've always seen myself as a European first and only then as a German. In addition, my statement should be seen as a non-judgmental statement and not as a judgment. And as for the Nazis and their rule... The ground for this gang of violent criminals and thieves was prepared much earlier. The Treaty of Versailles and what happened between the armistice in 1918 and the signing of the Versailles Treaty contributed massively to this. In free elections, the Nazis never reached the 38% mark. There were a total of 42 assassination attempts on Hitler during his 12 years in power. That's how much the Germans loved their "Führer"... But what am I saying here... Let's let a decision-maker in Versailles have his say. British PM Sir David Lloyd George said at Versailles in 1919: "Germany may be stripped of her colonies, her army reduced to a mere police force and her navy to the strength of a fifth-rate power. Yet at last, if Germany feels that she has been wronged in the peace of 1919, she will find means of compelling her conquerors to make restitution. To obtain redress, our conditions may be severe, they may be harsh and even ruthless, but at the same time they may be so just that the country on which we impose them will feel in its heart that it has no right to complain. But injustice and arrogance, displayed in the hour of triumph, will never be forgotten or forgiven. I can think of no stronger reason for a future war than that the German people, who have certainly proved themselves to be one of the most vigorous and powerful tribes in the world, would be surrounded by a number of smaller states, some of which have never before been able to establish a stable government for themselves, but each of which contained large numbers of Germans who longed for reunification with their homeland." But that's exactly what happened! And curtains up for the Nazi show...