D-Day: German Coastal Defense Position - Atlantikwall

[@douglasstrother6584]

My oldest daughter is going to Normandy & Paris for a school trip in a couple of weeks. We watched "The Longest Day" and sent her a link to this. I told her, "Don't worry: this is only 11 minutes, not 3 hours." Keep up the good work!

[@johngomez4645]

❤❤❤

[@SODEMO2007]

The French resistance logo is the best one you've made yet.

[@Rudy_McSackschweisz]

the french resistance logo is a white flag

[@501ststormtrooper9]

No, that’s the French flag.

[@koutouloufas7]

french resistance is only a logo

[@danyael777]

So your humor hasn't changed in all these years. Gefällt mir, wie du mit Klischees abrechnest.

[@geoffdearth8575]

It's said that Allied soldiers before D-Day were told: If you see planes, they will be ours.

[@paint4r]

Geoff Dearth the germans in france had a joke they told something like this: “If you see a tan plane it’s british, a green plane and it’s american and no planes at all and it’s the luftwaffe.

[@GodzillaKid-px1le]

@Jonathan Stiles I laughed

[@pierresihite8854]

@Jonathan Stiles I literally did this as a breakfast joke lol

[@cameronnekerekian1712]

@@paint4r lmaooo

[@valiatus6719]

Well like 2 BF-109 strafed a beach so not, ENTIRELY true.

[@inside-left]

Originally hitler intended to surround germany with fortifications, known to the allies as the "Siegfried line" wich put the "maginot line" into pale due to its interlocking defense structure. Then hitler ordered the Atlantic wall as an outer defense. Over time it became obvious due to limits of manpower it was prohibitive have both operational, and so the Siegfried line was stripped of most of its artillery pieces for the Atlantic wall, then hitler had a change of heart and decided that the Atlantic wall wouldn't hold or at worst bypassed and the Siegfried line was the best option. So both were in a state of half done projects. The D-day landings found many gun emplacements empty. Rommel had tried to patch up the gaps with beach defences that were hidden by high tide. When the allies reached the Siegfried line it was at best barely functional due to the asset stripping for the Atlantic wall

[@coreyfellows9420]

tom sawyer and nevermind the fact that by the time we invaded the German Army was scattered all accros multiple countries and continents. The alliance with Italy was long gone and and had deteriorated,. . . no need to mention the Americans and Brits had ran through Italy in the same manner that the Germans ran through Poland and France. Germany also had lost all of her territory in Africa, thus oil and rubber we're becoming scarce. Rommel was the only top brass who recognized how ideal Normandy would be as a perfect invasion point. It has a bit of a horse shoe shape that (with low tide) would make for a perfect port. The reason Rommel insisted on greatly amping up defenses was simple, he had seen a beech head very very similar to this, used with great success previously and how successful the invasion was. It was in Italy when American and British troops ran through the countryside to disrupt Mousalini just months before I get, and completely understand the enormous industrial military complex Germany had produced at the feet of a country which had been completely leveled only 20 or so years ago. . Taking into account the absolutely mind numbing powerhouse Germany had become and invading nearly all of Europe with relative ease. . What's more amazing then all her accomplishments what blowsy mind is how tight she held on till the very end. Despite her losses during the invasion and the absolute hellish conditions that Russian winter threw at them. . . They just stood diligently toe to toe with any and everything the world could give them.

[@musje83]

@@coreyfellows9420 The Allies still hadn't conquered Italy by May 1945, so I wouldn't exactly call that "ran through Italy in the same manner that the Germans ran through Poland and France."... France was overrun in 6 weeks, Poland in 5 weeks. It took the Allies 2 *years* to even reach Milan and by that time, von Vietinghoff surrendered his half million men simply because there was no more ammunition left.

[@JamesJames-jt3ts]

@@coreyfellows9420 Atlantic wall was a stupid joke. They should have seen the allies as friends as equipment suppliers and let them land on the beach to bring food and all the equipment and fuel the germans lacked. Then let them proceed inland out of the naval gun protection. There was the spot to encircle and cut them from the beach. And all that equipment to use it against the soviets. What do you say about that?

[@michellearmstrong7903]

@@JamesJames-jt3ts past your bedtime son

[@davethompson3326]

@@JamesJames-jt3ts The German army was never successful in a single major counterattack in W Europe during 1944-5

[@19maurice66]

These videos are genuinely fascinating. Great work.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Maurice Philipps thank you!

[@Gothos]

"Three hundred eighty fourth" with 348 on screen - Yep, you're a german native speaker :D

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

;)

[@herbertkramer3532]

Test for all native englisch speaker

[@rob5944]

well his English is a lot better than my German, which is non practically non-existent. Really bad form to correct someone else's mistakes like that.

[@Gothos]

@@rob5944 not really a correction but a language joke, since dreihundert acht und vierzich would be exactly the german form. which I think from the wink above he and most other folks understood. I suspect you didn't, which, I guess, reinforces your story ;)

[@rob5944]

@@Gothos well it was a statement rather than a story. I just appreciate his efforts to present history in an informative, unbiased way. I also make allowances for people when they are using a second language. I'm sure your sense of humour is lost on me, at any rate I prefer to keep a serious subject such as this, just that. i.e serious. Jokes aren't appropriate here as far as I'm concerned. Anyhow, enough said. Have a good day.

[@_Bakesy]

I love this channel. What you cover is something I’m so interested in and this channel gives you so much information. Keep up the great work!

[@LiosProsum]

If only the French could produce more baguettes... They would have liberated themselves by 1941. Jokes aside, a really good video, as always!

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Lios Prosum Wollt Ihr das totale Baguette? WIE WIE WIE!!! (do you want the total baguette? YES YES YES) thank you!

[@rays5073]

Military History Visualized I see what you did there xD

[@JeanLucCaptain]

actually in the normandy area the guarrison force was in good terms w/ the locals, going so far as to clean areas for fishermen to use!

[@scottleft3672]

gurnsey turned them into flattets.

[@Sinky-06]

The snail army armed whith bolt action Qwasons

[@justanothercommenter7301]

Great video shoutout for the fallout reference

[@austinshires3735]

How many soldier participated in the invasion of Poland and actually made it through the entire war for Germany because 8 million dead doesn’t give me much confidence many units lived to see the end and many units where completely different by the end of the war

[@douglasstrother6584]

Interesting question.

[@jonhwalsh4900]

Glad I wasn't there, on either side. Thanks.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+jonh walsh yeah, me too!

[@AudieHolland]

I was there. .....In 1994!

[@westkanye4005]

+AudieHolland Noice

[@Jakeepercy]

French resistance Force : dude with a hat, 2 baguetts and a bomb xD 3:44

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Jakeepercy I couldn't Resist...ance :D

[@FireflyActual]

+Military History Visualized The usage of dynamite by the French resistance is highly inaccurate, they had baguettes with detonators attached instead. These could also be used as makeshift melee weapons. True story.

[@alessandropangia697]

+Firefly Only if supplemented by a distinctive striped shirt and snails, otherwise the detonator would prompt a sudden dash forward which we bloody well know is not typical of those damned Frenchies.

[@AudieHolland]

I find this an extremely simplification of the historical situation. First: there were TWO French Resistance organizations. The FREE FRENCH and the COMMUNIST. As in Yugoslavia, where several resistance groups were active, the FREE FRENCH and the COMMUNIST resistance hated each others' guts and were known to clash with each other on occasion. This is in contrast with the situation in Yugoslavia, where the respective resistance groups were usually fighting each other *and* the Germans if they had time left over. The FREE FRENCH also betrayed a number of COMMUNIST groups to the German GESTAPO but in hindsight it was for the best because who would have wanted a COMMUNIST France following WW2?

[@FireflyActual]

You make a fair point. Then again despite all the resistance against the communist partisans and politicians the socialist parties had a strong following in post-war France, just as they did in Italy. In the latter case they only lost their political ground after a stream of money from the US came in to aid the Christian Democrats, but unfortunately that didn't keep the commies fully at bay (Brigate Rosse etc.).

[@ghostindamachine]

I really like your informative videos. Your usage of amazingly cool info icons and graphics in general is just superb. Thank you for taking the time to invest in these productions. Just awesome!

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

thank you!

[@fernandoi3389]

I highly recommend the books "D-Day through German eyes" Vol 1 and 2. There you can have a soldier point of view.

[@jordanrendell7168]

My new favourite channel :)

[@danielgreen6302]

This is precisely what I have been looking for, you should provide more diagrams to describe your subject and to clearly display matters of weakness and strength and where the faults are in various methods and equipment; vehicles, logistics ect.... this is a terrific channel man an excellent place for insightful inside knowledge. this is the material that sustains me.

[@thomasbaselius3473]

Keep up the good work! I like the infographics and that you cite your sources.

[@genericdave8420]

The Atlantic Wall was a classic case of "if you try to be strong everywhere, you'll be weak everywhere". Huge effort went into fortifying and defending the Channel islands and the French Ports but in the end they were bypassed. Might be worth doing a comparison in terms of effort and materials with the mulberry harbours.

[@SynchroScore]

Fortifying the French ports at least made strategic sense. Occupying the Channel Islands had no value other than the propaganda victory of standing on British soil, and for the same reason, abandoning that position was unthinkable, even if nothing useful could be done there.

[@ethanwood6832]

Yeah the Germans could have used those troops to cover more of the mainland instead of leaving them to wither out on the vine.

[@looinrims]

@@SynchroScore did um Did you never read a thing about the Napoleonic wars? Islands like those were used for smuggling resistance support and commando operations constantly

[@SynchroScore]

@@looinrims I have read about the Napoleonic Wars, enough to know that small-scale commando operations were simply not a thing that existed at that point in history, so I don't see how your comment is relevant. Motor gun boats and airplanes also didn't exist during the Napoleonic Wars, which were the primary insertion methods for special agents during WWII, which could easily travel from Britain and didn't need to bother with the Channel Islands.

[@looinrims]

@@SynchroScore talk about missing the point

[@Alfrey619]

Love this guys videos

[@marksummers463]

It's amazing to see that even in matters of life and death, egos and bureaucracies prevail, regardless of nationality. The Allied commanders were often jealous of General Patton, America's best general, and did everything possible from day one to get him sidelined, regardless of how many people it got killed. A good supplement to this video would be a piece titled The Hatchet Man's Playbook. It really gets into those kinds of shenanigans. Having five chains of command is a sophisticated political tactic known as Disorganization by Design - a way for certain commanders to secretly usurp power.

[@sephrah]

This is some really interesting stuff! Can't wait to watch more of your videos :)

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Asthma Hound thank you! Already working on the next one.

[@andreas_spanashis]

just started watching your videos,and they are great. i am very much interested in military history and especial ww2. i have seen many channels trying to cover this matters but they mostly fail because their videos are not virtualized at all,or their videos take extremely long time. so again GREAT JOB keep it up

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+andreas Spanashis thank you!

[@Dave-qj1yg]

Really awesome in depth information. I was on Omaha beach last week and walked through a couple of Widerstandsnests. These were only remnants of course but there were few real bunkers and an info sign erected on the spot mentioned that there were only 20-30 soldiers stationary in that particular nest (WN 60). They were ofc reinforced from units a few kms inland, but it still struck me as very little.

[@TheWinterHaze]

3:45 "and the french resistance attacks..." lol, are those baguettes in the picture for french resistance?

[@michealschmidt908]

Good informative series of historical content

[@rudolfrednose7351]

While I'm working on a 3D model of Utah beach for a game for mobile devices, I'm watching this video. Thanks for the background info. Could you do one on how the individual bunkers were positioned and why they were armed as they were? I found it very interesting that they were enforced with walls towards the sea and the gun openings were towards the side to cover the beaches next to them, so their line of firing was more effective and any invading forces had to capture not only the bunkers ahead of them, but also those firing at them from the sides. Also there were artillery observation bunkers that directed the fire from heavier guns located more in the inland. Thanks for your videos.

[@grassic]

Really enjoy your videos, very interesting and informative.

[@bodyguardik]

Dat French resistance picture... priceless...

[@falanglao01]

Excellent as always - but what about the human factor? AFAIK, these static defensive units contained a lot of second rate personnel, e.g. elderly, previously wounded and now given an easier posting, and even worse: non-german recruits who would desert at the first opportunity.

[@bf00262]

"A few minefields..." LOL

[@blackdragon7803]

A few hundred thousand!!

[@recklessroges]

Good video but "See you next time" sounds like a threat to my ears.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

don't worry, as long as no Panzers drive by at your house, work or school, no need to feel upset. Ja?

[@nogisonoko5409]

Military History Visualized I will bring my Panzerfaust next time i go to school.

[@paulheitkemper1559]

Considering that Calais was the expected invasion site, it might be interesting to see how that area was defended.

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

yeah,sure

[@Mania497]

Alternate history curious question. How would the landing have gone if Normandy had been as tightly defended as the Calais/Havre area? Would the allies most likely have gotten through within the same time-span but with heavier losses or would even more troops and resources have been needed?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Mania497 I can't give you a valid answer on that question, because my knowledge on the D-Day landings is extremely limited and I also need to take closer look at the defensive preparations of the Germans at that area. Feel free to ask this question again after I did a D-Day video, it is an interesting question after all, but I don't like to speculate on topics where my knowledge is still limited and haven't read at least one academic article about.

[@Mania497]

Very well! I'll keep it for later!

[@MrChickennugget360]

well part of the reason why Normandy was chosen was because it was relatively lightly defended, compared to Calais.

[@petergray7576]

Hard to say. German defensive strategy was based upon the failed UK/Canadian raid at Dieppe in 1942, which was specifically meant to capture a port as an experiment. The Germans assumed that the Allies would try to repeat this attack, and concentrated on the Calais coast. The Germans would have needed really good spies or psychic mind readers to figure that the Allies would attack Normandy.

[@jaaackaissa1633]

@@petergray7576 The Germans expected a landing in Normandy and were building fortifications. The five beaches were supposed to be fortified like Omeha, but with more ammunition, mines and barbed wire. But time and resources did not help the Germans

[@Ksgamer103]

You should do a cutaway of various German bunker designs like you did with the A7V video.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

definitely planned, was thinking about that for a long while, the blueprints are there, need to check out if there is enough to say about them. (which is the hard part that quite often I thought: a well this looks great, but almost no text.)

[@Ksgamer103]

I hope you can find enough info. Defensive engineering has always fascinated me- especially German bunkers.

[@mugofbrown6234]

I still find D Day a fascinating subject after umpteen years. The stories from individual personnel, be they French Resistance helping map locations of bunkers, engineers working how to tackle obstructions or fighting troops. I used to ride my bike around the site of Eisenhower's HQ. I now live in part of the world that garrisoned US forces and where Harry Patch ("the last fighting Tommy") would help maintain those barracks. Unknown to me as a kid was RAF Selsey a temporary airfield from where the first Luftwaffe aircraft was shot down. I visit it once a year whilst in West Sussex. 'Round here we can't help but trip over stuff linked to Operation Overlord.

[@betonskiorah]

Great video :D Do you plan on making videos about various battles and operations in WW2, for example the Normandy invasion? Keep up the good work! :D

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+betonskiorah thank you, yeah definitely.

[@WildBillCox13]

Another good reason to watch this channel . . . no; not the English Channel . . . I mean "Military History Visualized".

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

:D

[@TeaAndBullets]

I would suggest for first hand accounts of the German soldiers in Normandy you should read the book interviews called "D-Day Through German Eyes".

[@brucec43]

The term coastal "position' would seem to imply something more like the WN "resistance nests" than the general layout of where regiments and support units were posted. A video on how those were laid out and equipped (mixture of infantry, mg, mortars, flame throwers, atgs, pedestal guns, etc) would be interesting for viewers.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

WN? Well, actually I found this way more interesting that the regular bunker stuff, I have seen that like 100 times in books etc. but so far this one, was the only time I saw something at divisional level. Usually everything is either Company and below OR Army level and above. For the bunker etc. I have plenty of material and it is planned too.

[@robertrobertson7129]

Thank you that was very well done.

[@roccaraso1771]

Holy that is a damn well defended location

[@SynchroScore]

I love that icon for the French Resistance.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

thank you!

[@davidpotter8722]

These videos are factual and informative about things that are not covered in Canadian war history books. It's no wonder the German army couldn't hold out against invasion.. Did the Allied command know of the weakness of the Atlantic Wall?

[@dikadka]

Hans, hand me a baguette please :v

[@andreivaldez6713]

Wouldn't it be "Jacques"?

[@RasEli03]

10:14 where is this part of The map located? Superb video!! Realy good job

[@MrSlientdeath]

A video about the effect of the 617th squadron raids would be interesting. They did divert a lot of constriction resources away from the Atlantic wall.

[@julianmhall]

No such thing in RAF nomenclature as 'the 617th'. Squadrons 1-100 are the whole number e.g. One Hundred Squadron. 101 and above are the individual digits, so 'Six One Seven Squadron' is correct. That aside I agree with you. A lot of - usually slave - labour and other resources were diverted from the Atlantic Wall to repair the dams and the flood damage to the region.

[@sawyerawr5783]

I have read that three German Torpedo boats (rough equivalent of the Allied Destroyer Escorts) did actually sortie on D-day...one was strafed and suffered two jammed torpedo tubes, and all three of them blundered into one of the British landings, supported by none other than HMS Warspite--because whenever the enemy shows up you know she isn't far away. basically the three torpedoboats wisely dumped their torpedoes in the water and ran for their lives as (if I recall correctly) approximately forty 6in naval guns--including the four 6in casemate guns on Warspite's disengaged side--opened fire on them.

[@MyLateralThawts]

Sawyer AWR oddly enough there was only one attack mounted by the Kriegsmarine on D-Day consisting of Torpedoboote supported by Schnellboote. They all survived the attack intact, returning to port for refuelling and ammo replenishment where they were bombed by an Allied attack putting virtually all vessels out of commission. I got the information from the chief engineering officer of the Flotilla himself, Johannes Unger, my grandfather, who was wounded on the bridge of one of the Torpedoboots (these vessels are in fact destroyers and a major concern to the Allies at the time). My grandfather asked the flotilla commander at the time what the point of the attack was and was told it was to deny the soldiers on the vessels any rest in order to give the German infantry on the beaches a better chance (the commander also survived the war to write a book about his experience). My grandfather also mentioned that a record amount of ammunition was expended by the flotilla during the attack and referred to it as a "Halbflotilla" as it wasn't at full strength.

[@sawyerawr5783]

wow that's really, really cool! I wonder if that's the same attack I read about (I wish I could find that book again, but sadly I can't: it was from the library and I think they got rid of it...ugh). the best WWII related story I have is I guess my step-grandfather being at the amphibious anchorage at Okinawa on the day that IJN Yamato sortied: per his words, "We knew something was up when we got up that morning and everybody had all their boilers lit off." (according to him they only kept enough steam up to turn one prop shaft and run the power; and I didn't put it together until later but the plan was, if the Yamato was still on the way south at nightfall, the transports were to scatter and run). Not much compared to your story though: my grandfather was just on a landing ship in the general area yours was actually in combat.

[@jonasbrm]

Hey, loving the videos! could you maybe do a video on the importance of the airborne troops in ww2? i would love to see that!

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

thank you, I will definitely do videos on airborne troops and will cover their importance in those videos or maybe do a stand-alone video about it and/or operations, but this will take a while, because I need to some reading first. (Know very little about airborne troops and operations so far.)

[@jonasbrm]

Military History Visualized Sounds like a video to look forward!

[@davidquak4398]

great channel. I would really like to see something about the german war economy. Both before and during the war. How was the ruhr aera organized? Hamburg? What were the major german companies and where were they located. How much money and raw material was needed, and where did it came from?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

did something related to that on my second channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2WoeoGhlpetoqc

[@JeanLucCaptain]

actually just 2 weeks before d-day, rommel who had been put in charge of building up the "wall" in normandy, said this is where the allies will land & 2 whole weeks later they did!

[@6969blair]

I love your channel and just subscribed but I have noticed most of your videos have harsh sounding and unprofessional audio quality. I'd strongly reccomend a new mic. Keep up the good videos!

[@montanabulldog9687]

These video's should be LONGER . . .

[@Mr305miamivice]

cool videos Bro! nice collaboration with bismark writer so!

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

According to my father, who landed on Gold Beach - some of the bodenständige units consisted of Poles, who were understandably only too delighted to surrender as quickly as possible and to help with the unloading.

[@sagesheahan6732]

I'm going to guess German is your first language? Your English is amazing. And your videos are beyond fascinating and so well done!!! :)

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

yes,he is a Austrian German,and i agree as well,some might complain about the accent,but,everyone has a accent,liking it or not.

[@manubishe]

@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 his accent makes him sound extra knowledgeable, in addition to him using academic articles to back the videos.

[@c7zr179]

I'd like to see videos on the following subjects: What if the Germans had air superiority on the western front throughout the course of the entire war (most likely impossible, but still an interesting thought experiment)? Why was D-day a surprise for the Germans, and why weren't they able to push the landing forces back?

[@ismaeljimenez6562]

Big Daddy Boom Boom they expected the invasion force to hit Calais

[@ismaeljimenez6562]

Which was a lot closer than Normandy

[@c7zr179]

Right, but couldn't they keep the allied forces surrounded with their reserves, with their backs against the sea, and force them back?

[@ismaeljimenez6562]

Big Daddy Boom Boom no because German generals and commanders kept on argue over who controlled what and the SS panzer grenadier division that was there was commanded by Hitler himself and they couldn't wake him up when the invasion happened

[@c7zr179]

So it seems like they failed, in part, due to a lack of unity and initiative.

[@Georgieastra]

I have read that the Normandy landings saw the first large scale use of napalm by the Americans, (although it had been used against the Japanese on a small scale). What would have been the effect of napalm on German bunkers and especially panzers?

[@Brikitherik]

Thanks!

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Thank you very much!

[@NL-gn2dl]

War, war never changes ... :) perhaps you should try making a video on the military settings in Fallout series, should be something fun to explore and watch!

[@refugeeca]

These videos make me want to get the newest version of Hearts of Iron and have a go

[@OneRedKraken]

Holy shit, I'm going to eat your channel up! Thank you for sharing!

[@ChemicalChrisOttawa]

At start of video, I like how the Germans determined the best way to defeat an amphibious assault is to destroy it as soon as possible. Funny because the Japanese thought so at first to (ie guadacanal) but soon switched to in depth defences inland, which proved far more effective.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

well, it really depends, the Japanese were defending islands that were usually cut off from their supply lines. Also the Japanese had a tendency to put a lot of firepower directly at the front line. Hence, I think for inflicting a lot of casualties in a fight that is already lost, yeah, it is more effective, preventing the enemy to land in continental Europe, rather unlikely.

[@ChemicalChrisOttawa]

Perfect answer, I agree, in pretty much all respects, especially the terrain, magnified by lack of resources. So, a fancy I agree, I like good conversation :)

[@glypnir]

The Japanese did decide on defense in depth, I think in large part because of the effectiveness of naval gunfire close to the beach. Of course they didn’t have any depth on the coral atolls, but in the Marianas, Philippines, Okinawa, they had depth. Certainly the Allies got past the defensive crust at the beach fairly quickly, but took a long time to break out. Actually I don’t think either approach could succeed. The numbers just weren’t right. I’d be interested to hear the German views on the use of naval gunfire to repel a first day counterattack at Salerno. I know the US Navy is proud of it.

[@Shoehandler1142]

hey Military History Visualized you should do a video on why the bombing of pearl harbor and the German declaration of war on the United States doomed the Axis powers

[@Mister.Psychology]

Can you do WW2 battles re-imagined with a modern understanding of the battles that is applied to recreate them and get a more succesful outcome? I would love to see D-Day battles recreated with perfect tactics.

[@michellearmstrong7903]

Most of German casualties on day were russians

[@loganroy3381]

Sehr interessantes Video. Was this specific Division located in the Normandy, and if so, how did it do against the Allies?

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

It seems to have been in the Caen sector. Part of LXXXI Corps.

[@binaway]

The number of defensive mines didn't matter except at the landing beaches.Once a landing is made all other parts of the Atlantic wall defenses are superfluous.

[@Pawnypj]

In your opinion, could the allies have broken through the Atlantic wall at Calais if they’d chosen to invade there, instead of Normandy?

[@leocrown8627]

Could you do a video on an Atlantic wall which you have improved and that could defend against the allies

[@Pasteurpipette]

I've been wondering if the WWI Gallipoli campaign had any measurable impact on the preparation by either side for d-day. Would it have been a succes without these lessons learned?

[@marksides9757]

I guess I expected more visits to the line, documentary vids, pictures and drawings rather than diagrams and powerpoints

[@catcherinthesky]

How many subs would this channel have with a soft British narration?

[@millsbuckss]

Question: was Pearl Harbour a surprise attack ? Or were the Americans just caught off guard ?

[@nodinitiative]

I hate being that guy but at 7:55, was it defended by the 348th Infantry Division as typed in your video or by the "384th" infantry Division as said by you :-)

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

I hate numbers :D always go for the text in the video when a number slip-up happens.

[@podemosurss8316]

The thing is that in German and in English the numeration order is different. For example, in the case of the 348th in English it would be "three hundreds forty eight", while in German it would be (translated literally) "three hundreds eight and forty" (drei hunderts acht und vierzig).

[@sam8404]

@STINKS DeFeces you need to go back to school and finish learning english

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualizedn English, the numbers all go in order, with the and between the 'hundreds' and 'units' positions. In German, the 'units' go before the 'tens' with the -and- und between them. (The exceptions are 11 and 12.)

[@atakanakca1322]

I am a slightly newer subscriber and I was going through your videos that got my attention. Thanks a lot for the content you put in. I have a question though. As far as I know wall is Wald in german. But my german is very limited. Is it related to austrian german or something like that? I could simply be wrong.

[@atakanakca1322]

appeltofft Ah, right. Thanks a bunch. I actually saw an instance of Wald some time before I wrote this but it seems I forgot about this.

[@Sir.suspicious]

I still have no idea where to find a place that tells me the disposition of bunker or just how they looked, I would love a more in depth look at the atlantik wall, not even books seem to know

[@posthumousc4913]

I found a great video that shows exactly what you're looking for for Dog Green on Omaha Beach. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l37KZHqsrNh7m6s

[@DarkRaven2003]

So, if I understand correctly, even after Ally intelligence convinced German intelligence to under support Normandy, the invasion still faced an under trained, understaffed, and under supplied force fighting under a labyrinthine command structure.

[@posthumousc4913]

Awesome video, as always. You mention that you couldn't find any specific maps. There's a video here looking at Dog Green that has maps specific to that section of beach along with actual photos (past and present) of some of the emplacements. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l37KZHqsrNh7m6s

[@RemusKingOfRome]

excellent

[@Nantana2211]

I have two (probably very stupid) questions concerning these minefields: 1. How do you make sure to not step on your own mines? Did every german soldier memorized a map? And 2. How did the Allied forces managed to overcome them without getting blown to pieces?

[@jrd33]

Most minefields were clearly marked with fences and warning signs. Remember these were in populated areas with people living their normal lives (soldiers and civilians). The Allies used several methods to deal with them, such as engineers with mine detectors and various armoured vehicles which were designed to detonate mines safely. Usually they would just clear a path through the minefield and mark it with tape.

[@MijnAfspeellijst1234]

Hello Mr. military history visualized. First of all I would like to complement you for your high quality and in depth video's. But if I might give some advice. At the beginning of a video just shortly introduce yourself and tell in short what this video is about. For instance, you start you video with; "Hello my name is Hans and today we going to talk about the Atlantic wall and how it is implemented" People can associate directly with a person (you), and the know what to expect in this video.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Richard Jorissen thank you. Well, actually I did this with some videos on my other channels. I didn't fit, although I do it in real life presentations all the time, but I learned KZbin is a different medium. I agree with the personal association being very important, but it seems that my voice and also the video style is strong enough to convey my brand. It is very deliberate that I don't mention my name in the videos. Originally I also left out most sources from the video and added them only the description, I changed that lately, so maybe I will change the name part too. Thank you for the comment, right now I am moving from Germany back to Austria, thus I won't change very much of the overall style, but I will definitely give it a thought.

[@MijnAfspeellijst1234]

+Military History Visualized like when your video start, its silend for abit and then you start with telling the information/story. There is nothing wrong with this and i understand dat normal presentation are youtube are 2 diffrent mediums But like when i start watching a informative video or just a video dat requires abit of thinking to be engaged. Like my brain needs a brief moment to switch modes, and with a introduction you kinda prepare the lissener what you wanne tell, etc. Do what you with this information no hard feelings if you don't change. thought i just express what i was thinking :P

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Richard Jorissen I completely agree with that and thanks for you comment. It is rare to get thought out and well written feedback on KZbin!

[@MijnAfspeellijst1234]

+Military History Visualized Well its quite a commitment to write this kind of commends to be honest/ Like myself and you as I understand aren't native speaking Englishmen. (i am dutch) checking spelling, rereading what you typed. But just like as you finish a project, ones you are finished, you feel kind of accomplishment. and practicing constructive writing is not a bad thing i ques. :P Coming back to youtube. Like with big youtubers, if you type something it gets over flown by all the other people. And with smaller channels your voice still gets heard.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Richard Jorissen yeah, I already notice that I need to reduce the amount of my comment replies, because it takes too much time. Later on, I will probably try to get some moderators to point towards the good stuff or put good commentators on a list, so I can filter through.

[@thanesgames9685]

That is an interesting point I have not heard made before - the Allied strategic bombing campaign tied up Nazi resources and manpower for rebuilding and hardening industrial targets such that it hampered the construction of the Atlantic Wall.

[@soerenkepler]

So.... there were sturmgeschutz available as reserves to provide close support? Was that all sectors of Normandy?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Sadly, I don't know.

[@apropercuppa8612]

More German quotes, please.

[@jfdesignsinc.innovationsid1583]

dam good videos ,,, impressive

[@TheAlpha38]

I've heard several debated about the reserve tank devisions and the desvision to not send them to Normandie immedeately. Do you think it would have made any difference or might even have pushed the allies back into the see if these tank reserves hat been used directly?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

me too, but so far I hadn't had time yet to look at what is written on it in Germany & Second World War (the book series use for this video) nor any newer stuff like the Cambridge History of the Second World War. The problem is there is so much bullshit out there that I usually read up on everything again. Best example is the Me262. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gISsmJ-al9poh7c

[@TheAlpha38]

Danke für die Antwort! Keep up the great work!

[@maxschmidt1787]

Would like to know how many MG42 had been on the top of the cliff on d-day. I also read that Rommel asked Hitler for some Tiger tanks to put on the top of the cliff, but Hitler refused this idea .

[@derekambler]

They would have been Typhoon fodder!

[@ballagh]

Probably very few, most of the fixed machine guns on the Atlantic wall were second line weapons, mg03’s, polish wz30’s (8mm browning m1917), captured french guns etc. For example the only account of a mg42 on Omaha beach is the one from Heinrich Severloh, the “beast of Omaha” who’s position WN-62 had, at least on paper, two polish machine guns and a twin mg34 anti aircraft mount.

[@julianmhall]

What about the Kriegsmarine? After the disaster which befell Operation Tiger (Slapton Sands) a few E-boats, S-boats or Uboats could have created havoc and slowed the Allies down in landing.

[@Lostmc660]

Are you doing to go a video on each part of Altantik wall like the Norwegian part

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

maybe, but I guess I will do a video on various pillboxes etc. first that were common or interesting. I don't think the Norway part is that interesting, well, except for manpower and equipment that was "locked" there.

[@Geflechtmeister]

You have a german accent. Do you also have a channel where you speak German? :D Or maybe I am wrong and you are Dutch or something like that?

[@zogzog1063]

Concise

[@Lionbug]

Why did they anticipate attacks at these specific areas (Calais + le Havre?) and then NOT anticipate attacks at the weakly fortified areas???

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

distance, counter measures (fake army with blow-up tanks etc.) and also a port for logistics. at a certain point everything was weakly fortified, the invasion was prepared for ages.

[@JanSenCheng]

Calais is the nearest point to England, and had a major port. this would've allowed the allies to easily supply their troops. Normandy, on the other hand, is relatively far away and had no ports, which meant that resupplying troops through there should've been near impossible. Not to mention that much of Normandy was cliffs, which would have made an attack there much harder. Then there's also the allied counterintelligence where they set up an entire fake army led by Patton, sent lots of radio signals, "accidentally" leaked information detailing an invasion of Calais, and numerous other measures to convince the Germans that Calais was the target.

[@17hmr243]

how did they find and overcome the mine fields ?

[@cade6132]

Can you do a video of the composition of an American Armored Division in ww2 ?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+Pilot Hatfield definitely planned and I already collected some data on it. I guess one should be out before Fall 2016, but right now everything is way more chaotic due to moving back to Austria.

[@oktafjakalase451]

Attlantic wall was perfect. if only it had mortars along the entire line. it might be the answer for rundstedt and Rommel argumen of placing panzer division at the beach or not. perhaps not as effective as tanks but it easy to produce, easy to use, easy to located and mobile, have faster reload, have long range, and it fire power deadly to infantry especially if there were thousand of it. Compared to 105 mm guns that scattered behind defensive line and had hardly connection to the front which lead to isolation and infiltration by paratroopers that can be dropped behind enemy line. It also need more resources of man, mine, machine gun and other materials to secure it. Such resources can be concentrated to the front or alocated in another defensive line if they could landed or why not, to another front

[@stevenwatson7668]

Even a few Tiger Tanks employed in a counter attack along with anti tank and anti aircraft guns could have stopped the allied invasion had the Germans waited till the Allies got bogged down in the hedgerows.

[@TheStugbit]

The Germans got traumatised by the impact of the Allied Air Force in the Tunisia Campaign, hence this ideia of crushing the invading force at the beach, not in a more deep defensive system considering the interior of the country. But Rommel wasn't at the Battle of Salerno to see with his own eyes what naval fire power itself is able to do against ground forces.

[@theoriginalt-paine3776]

Does anyone know why it was called the "Atlantikwall" rather than "Atlantikmauer?" I always thought the German for "wall" was "mauer." Does "wall" have a more specific definition in German military terminology? Like "mauer" means "wall" in English, does "wall" actually mean a fortified wall, or something? or is "wall" just a less common synonym for "mauer" in German?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

+The Original T-Paine in German "wall" has a defensive military or protective meaning, whereas Mauer is neutral. Atlantikmauer sounds cute.

[@TheRomanRuler]

Do video about why German paratroopers were part of Luftwaffe and not Heer. With my logic, Paratroopers fight on land and thus should be part of the army, they are merely transported to location by air forces.

[@edgargarred4319]

Actually In many countries the army have their own distinct air core, i.e US helicopter pilots are part of the army not the air force, also the US air force have their own ground units. branch/service isn't always determined by where they fight (land-sea-air). In WW2 The Japanese ARMY had their own aircraft carriers. The paratroopers were part of the Luftwaffe because they mainly carried out the objectives of the Luftwaffe not the Heer, if the enemy was in a heavily fortified position and couldn't be cleared out by aerial attacks then the paratroopers would be sent to weed them out.

[@dzg688]

At 7:04 the CC reads Luftwaffe as love muffin :) lol