Equipment the British Lost at Dunkirk that the Germans Reused

[@johndell3642]

Another great video Ed. Alan Moorhead, the British war correspondent, reported that many of the German trucks captured after D-Day were actually British Morris "Commercials" abandoned at Dunkirk. Bizarrely, Morris Motors actually boasted about this fact in one of their brochures printed after the war - saying it showed how reliable they were!

[@EdNashsMilitaryMatters]

Ha! Nice little detail, John.

[@babboon5764]

Hence the marketing phrase 'vorsprung durch Morris technik', and the enthusiasm for BMW to buy the Mini brand a long time later ;-p

[@alan6832]

@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters Why did they do so much converting to German guns? Didn't they capture much British ammo?

[@MorristheMinor]

@Aqua Fyre Actually, it wasn't. Both the pre and post war Morris Minor were small cars. The post-war (1948 -1971) Morris Minor did have a both a van and pick up version, but these weren't any bigger than the cars they were based on. It was a pre-war Morris Commercial which was blown up, but it was an LC5 ex-Royal Mail van, rather than the Morris Minor. Interestingly, Morris did produce a small, scout type armoured car during the war, as well versions of their commercial lorries.

[@babboon5764]

@@MorristheMinor I didn't know that. But I *did* discover several years back that the race through the sewers footage on the Italian Job was actually filmed in the sewers of Coventry. How do I know that? Because the bloke who was in charge of the Coventry 'estate' at that time later became Chief Estates Manager at an outfit I joined. Another curious factoid, said Estates bod had long before that been the drummer in Cilla Black's original backing band.

[@muttman325]

Grandfather spiked his 25pndr and carried the sights onto a destroyer in Dunkirk only to have the navy chuck it overboard as excess weight.

[@cyngaethlestan8859]

Good thinking on his part to take the sight, possibly an expensive and complex part. Inexcusable to throw it overboard throw a rifle or two the side if weight was that tight.

[@greycatturtle7132]

Sad

[@smokyblackeyes3615]

@@cyngaethlestan8859 thats what I was thinking, A tank sight more expensive and complex then handmade rifle. Rifle is cheap and easy to produce.

[@juhopuhakka2351]

Your grandfather was a good man and he did what he could.

[@Agnus_Mason]

​@@cyngaethlestan8859 they weren't allowed to carry their rifles with them most of the time too

[@nullanonsonemmenoiocosascr6676]

as always politicians will either downplay or exagerate history for their advantage, appaling and love the videos btw, please continue to make them, i love them

[@EdNashsMilitaryMatters]

;)

[@KuK137]

You mean far right liars. Fixed that for you, politicians in parties that believe science and reason instead of hate and ignorance tend to not lie, too bad liars are better at PR.

[@nullanonsonemmenoiocosascr6676]

@@KuK137 i belive that in every party there are people that do this, it's true tho that far right people are mostly the ones that say that bs

[@datadavis]

@@KuK137 All politicians lie, you just happen to believe the leftist lies.

[@stevenbreach2561]

Please stop giving Nigel Farage the oxygen of publicity.This political nonentity has failed to win a seat in Parliament 5 TIMES!.He speaks for a vocal and rich minority of far right and expat tax avoiders

[@eyesofisabelofficial]

You overlooked Motorcycles, several thousand where abandoned, mostly Triumph 3SW's and Norton 16H-WD,s and Big Fours. The loss was so large that civilian models had to be requisitioned to fill the gap until new orders could be fulfilled. Triumphs Coventry factory was destroyed by an air raid on the 14th of November, and they had to fulfil one urgent order from a disused tin church in Warwick till their Shadow factory in Meriden was completed. Alongside Triumph, Norton, Royal Enfield, BSA, Ariel, and Velocette to a lesser degree, continued to restore the numbers to well over 150.000 machines. Motorcycles played a crucial role in communications from Brigade HQ to outlying units in the days before encryption.

[@steveholmes11]

That explains how Steve McQueen got hold of a Triumph bike in German livery during the film The Great Escape.

[@eyesofisabelofficial]

@@steveholmes11 That was the choice of the stunt coordinator and the art department - I'm sure they did not think about Dunkirk during the production.

[@ericbloomquist9329]

Yes! An uncle w/ Royal Signals used his to inform the CO of a column swinging into Belgium that they had been ordered to return. He later rode the bike into the dunes before wading into the Channel.

[@JP-st9hn]

They didn’t leave it for the Taliban, it was left for the Afghan military. It was predictably seized by the Taliban.

[@greycatturtle7132]

Ye

[@lairdcummings9092]

A very large percentage of the weapons that were officially "turned over" to the Afghan government were in fact undergoing repair or refurbishment in... The United States. Where they remain.

[@jonny-b4954]

@@lairdcummings9092 That too. Notice on the recent footage of the Taliban military parade not ONE SINGLE PIECE of American equipment was on show except rifles and humvees. No helicopters, artillery or anything. They simply can't maintain it.

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

I am constantly astonished at people's willingness to go on record with statements that aren't JUST false, but OBVIOUSLY false. I blame the press for not pushing back hard and fast with notes and corrections.

[@CaptHollister]

I blame the public for eating it up without verifying something that in this case would have been trivial to do.

[@bigearl3867]

It must be true, because it was on T.V./Internet.

[@sankubanku1633]

when the press does fact check, they are tended to be called fake news and part of the establishment.

[@derin111]

True. But, I blame leaders right at the very top. They instill and legitimise a culture of blatant lying as something acceptable. We can all think of two of those people immediately, I hope!

[@thitran1362]

@@CaptHollister It kinda sucks, people don't care what is right or wrong any more they cared more about the parties they are loyal to.

[@chuckabutty888]

My father, ( I am 76 in case your wondering), drove a Bren Gun Carrier throughout the war and told me that at Dunkirk they smashed the engines and used grenades as booby traps to try and deny the Germans as much as they could. He told of the chaos and the gut wrenching order that "It was every man for himself and to try and get back to England". He made it out via the Mole to return later on D Day and fight through to Germany. He was always determined to see the job through and quoted the phrase by Churchill to America "Give us the tools and we will do the job" and by God they did. The stories he told me about what they achieved with that little insignificant looking vehicle was amazing. "We will remember them".

[@T8Hants]

My mate was ordered not to burn his lorry at Dunkirk the reason being that the smoke form the parked up and burning trucks would give away the exact perimeter of the slowly shrinking defended area. It was thought draining the sump, running the engine till it seized and a bullet through the radiator would do. Unfortunately, the main General Motors European base was just up the coast at Ostend I think, and they were fully equipped to repair such damage

[@cyngaethlestan8859]

That and the Bedford and Opel lorries being so similar (both based on same GM lorry) Would make it hard to permanently put them out of action.

[@mazambane286]

Did they really believe the Germans needed smoke signals to establish where Dunkirk is? The fact is they allowed the BEF to escape. At that point Hitler was still hopeful the Brits would retract their ridiculous declaration of war. Even a cursory read of Mien Kampf could have revealed the fact he regarded the Brits as brothers and cousins.

[@vespelian5769]

@@mazambane286 He was such a nice guy too. Ever eve trustworthy and ever militarily astute as history vindicated has vindicated of course.

[@mazambane286]

@@vespelian5769 I trust that's not an attempt at satire?

[@HarborLockRoad]

Yes, its funny to think the opel blitz was powered by the ultra reliable chevrolet stovebolt six, and german fords were powered by the common flathead V-8.

[@davidcox2264]

Great video sir. The thing most of the talkers don't seem to notice is that it wasn't the US forces that lost the equipment. It was the Afghan military that lost them.

[@peterforden5917]

It was Biden.....

[@emjackson2289]

@@peterforden5917 previous US Administrations you mean, Biden did what Trump wanted remember

[@juhopuhakka2351]

@@peterforden5917 Brandon?

[@benwilson6145]

The 51st Highland Division managed to send there 25 pounders back as they were not with the BEF, but fighting alongside the French, The retreated to St Valerie but had sent the guns to Le Harve as they no longer had any ammunition for them. The 51st were captured at St Valerie.

[@balham456]

St Valerie en Caux

[@andrewruddy962]

Good on the Scots.

[@andystonebridge5061]

My uncle was with the 51st and spent the remainder of the war working on farms in occupied Poland.

[@AbelMcTalisker]

Then what happened to the guns? There was a lot of equipment left on the docksides at Le Havre later on during the evacuation from there. Some of it having been landed AFTER Dunkirk for use by the 2nd BEF force!

[@benwilson6145]

@@AbelMcTalisker The information is from the History of the 51st Highland Division. I and no one has the knowledge to question it. If the official history says they were shipped back then they were. If they were random ships landing equipment at Le Harve then its a shame that they did not embark the 51st.

[@greghanson5696]

Just as I was asking myself how the Germans acquired ammo for the big guns, you answered my question. Nice presentation ED, keep up the great work.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

The loss of 77 Mathilda 1's was more beneficial than detrimental to the British. If any model could disprove the adage "any tank is better than no tank", that would be the the one to do it. That was a loss of scrap metal to be recycled, not war machinery. Same could be said about the 300+ Mk VI light tanks, although they were at least fast enough to run away from the enemy, unlike the Mathilda 1's that couldn't run away from foot soldiers.

[@johnfrancis2215]

I worked with a chap who fought with the 8th army in North Africa, he told me that although German armour was far superior to ours they're haulage vehicles weren't as good as our British ones and if the Germans could get they're hands on them they would

[@kirkmooneyham]

I knew the British Army lost a lot of equipment, just didn't know it was so much. I did know the little Bren carriers were one thing that the Germans repurposed in some large numbers, though.

[@Zretgul_timerunner]

After the french the british litterally made the biggest chunk of kit available to the germans Even more so then the czechs. This was the case untill the invasion of russia.

[@Paciat]

@@Zretgul_timerunner Lol, "biggest chunk". No, BEF wasnt big. It was roughly 10% of size of the French army. British called it the phony war. Thats how committed they were to fight Hitler.

[@Zretgul_timerunner]

@@Paciat and so you ignorantly say why dont you read up on just how many vehicles the british left to the Germans to use after dunkirk. They left so much material that the german used some throughout the war. Everything from using tank chassis as bases for retroffitted german self propelled-artillery to re-issuing of functional kit to units. BEF was perhaps not big but it was extremely motorized and packing quite the amount of armor.

[@Zretgul_timerunner]

@@Paciat and since your reading comprehensions deludes your intake of information that bad that you differ that the availability of British equipment to mean the commitment of forces is all on you.

[@Paciat]

​@@Zretgul_timerunner Availability of British equipment was caused a part of British appeasement politics to let Hitler rearm and do little about it. And only when Churchill gets into power Britain starts being serious. For the 2nd time you write a deluded comment, and yet you blame me for being deluded. Here is a lecture that proves British appeasement politics is one of the reasons that a world war started: kzbin.info/www/bejne/paGnpqpqhL9mh6s Great Britain did build more tanks than the IIIrd Reich in WWII. They had the heavy industry "available", they didnt have he will to act (rearm at least) when Germany was whipping its ass with the Versailles treaty. Also, BEF wasnt under-equipped, but rather undermanned. And it was the British who decide how many men they want to draft.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

I'm afraid the Wehrmacht never said: "dankeschön" for all the equipment the Allies (all of them) donated to the war effort. Terribly rude.

[@leeboy26]

Worst thing they ever did. Kinda.

[@emjackson2289]

Lend und not Lease

[@comentedonakeyboard]

@@emjackson2289 consider it an early Contribution to NATO

[@mpersad]

A terrifically well researched video. The number of non-AFVs left behind was indeed staggering. Once you see what was lost it fully explains some of the "crash" designs that the British Army had to employ when invasion looked imminent in 1940. The Bison Concrete Armoured lorry springs to mind!

[@Simon_Nonymous]

Captured British battle dress was supplied to u-boat crews.

[@dovidell]

It didn't really help them, as the U Boat losses had the highest attrition rate of any arm of the German armed forces - 75 %

[@gregoryemmanuel9168]

Sometimes the truth is bitter and hurts like hell. Beautifully done as always, thank you Mark!

[@evoorg]

then there is the Dieppe Raid where they puropesly took the latest and newest tanks and left them on the beach

[@glennsinclair3891]

You sir, are a completely contemptible fool.

[@thitran1362]

@@glennsinclair3891 its not wrong though. The Churchills are the Brits newest tank and well they abandoned all of them on Dieppe. Although the Germans dont find those tanks too impressive.

[@charlestonianbuilder344]

@@thitran1362 actually those churchill tanks while correct infact one of the newest, wasnt really the latest model and is mostly ineffective by the time the dieppe raid happened,

[@eze8970]

They left them on the beach as they got stuck. Bad Recon meant they didn't know the slope or shingle make up of the beach, & despite a great cross country ability on land, the tanks got stuck on the moving shingle. Fortunately the Allies learned from this, so the D-Day beaches all had diver sent in the take material samples & angle of the slope.

[@plymouth5714]

The Universal Carriers or Bren Gun Carriers were also used as the basis for a half track conversion, the track and suspension proved so successful the the Germans reverse engineered the parts and set up a dedicated factory to produce the entire half track. (Never paid a penny in royalties either!)

[@Theogenerang]

One good story from the war was of a British soldier 'disabling' a newly acquired batch of Italian aircraft by removing the points from each aircrafts ignition system. The planes were now useless and he had a large matchbox full of valuable platinum points to take home as a souvineer.

[@tommyfred6180]

when i was a kid the guy next door would sometimes tell stories about the war. silly stuff like the first time they tried to go camping in training. it didn't end well as i recall. he was a driver in North Africa and then used the duck in the Italy till he got his leg bust up and was sent home. one of the stories was from his training days was that they got a lesson on how to destroy the lorries. what bits to smash and cut. the best and quickest way the set them on fire and so on. the story never made much sense to me till i was much older and found out that a lot of the kit dumped at Dunkirk was not destroyed. the reason being the guys simply did not know how to destroy it or, apparently, thought they would get into hot water if they did.

[@mattheweagles5123]

Don't lose or break the kit issued to you is aggressively drilled into soldiers still and I've heard plenty of stories of soldiers being billed for equipment lost in fighting. It would go against many soldiers instincts to trash their equipment.

[@trauko1388]

After WW1 the RN inspected the salvaged German battleship Baden, one of the "criticisms" made was the "lack of anti-sabotage measures and equipment"... tells more about RN sailors than KM designers. If the BA was similar, they would have avoided telling potentially disgruntled soldiers how to effectively destroy kit.

[@colobossable]

@@trauko1388 given many of the German ships were sabotaged by their own crews in 1918 they probably had a point.

[@trauko1388]

@@colobossable Yes, on KM orders, not just because.

[@colobossable]

@@trauko1388 I'm talking about the mutiny that meant that half of the ships failed to sail to attack the Grand Fleet in 1918.

[@jroch41]

Brilliant overview of British equipment losses at Dunkirk. Again I learned something from Mr. Nash.

[@grahamnash9794]

We all know there's no politician alive that stands by truth. But his clown is the worst liar out there. I've yet to see a message from him that's convincing enough for me to give him the benefit of doubt. 2 years ago, I was face to face with him, and he lied to my face. I confronted the lies, and he told me that I was misinformed, and that his advisers double check everything. (Except the facts, apparently).

[@vaclav_fejt]

Too bad that photo with the letters: C (Farage's head) U N T is fake, otherwise it would belong into history books.

[@MrDino1953]

Biggest liar? Hardly. Donald Trump already captured that flag.

[@EdVanMeyer]

Hitler's gamble was allowing the Allies to get away from Dunkirk - Hitler thought this would mean they would negotiate peace rather than fight on, Hitler wanted to go into Russia and did not need a war with the UK. This gamble cost Hitler the Africa campaign and ultimately the war when he invaded Russia.

[@garygriffiths2911]

Interesting video - although as Universal (Bren) Carriers were supplied to the Soviet Union from as early as 1941it seems quite possible that at least some of the carrier types employed by the German Army in the east were captured from the Red Army rather than from the BEF.

[@michaeltelson9798]

With the Mk VI light tanks, the conversions were designed by a Major Becker later with the 21st PD. He was the one that converted a number of French chassis into tank destroyers with that same division and were used during the Normandy Invasion. He was an engineer by trade and related to a company (Alkett, I believe) that made these gun shields. Becker son his Iron Cross for the conversion of the Mk VI light tanks that got used at the siege of Leningrad. Trucks were very important to the Germans as they never had enough motorized transport. The degree that horses were still in use by German units is surprising. Much of the infantry units were dependent on horse transport.

[@roum22]

Could you do a vid on the approximately 100,000 French troops who were evacuated at Dunkirk, and how the vast majority of them managed to return to France soon after. I've seen on other KZbin channels 7000 stayed to join De Gaul's Free French, the rest decided to return to France. I'd like to know how was this done under wartime conditions.

[@KuK137]

They didn't 'manage', a lot were pushed out by UK who literally shipped them back as cannon fodder to stall the Germans. That was pretty shameful moment.

[@GARDENER42]

They were returned to unoccupied France via Brest & Cherbourg on British ships. About half were subsequently involved in the fighting before the ceasefire in late June. Just over 3,000 joined the Free French army in the UK, not 7,000.

[@roum22]

@@GARDENER42 Thanks for the reply, I'd only heard of this seemingly little known event recently, and the full circumstances of what happened or how the troops were returned was not mentioned by the source of the information.

[@thibaudduhamel2581]

@@GARDENER42 most of the free french troops were in fact men of the elite french units sent to Narvik (Alpine troops and Foreign legion troops), not troops evacuated from Dunkirk. Those french soldiers evacuated during Dynamo were quickly sent back to France to try and build the proposed « national redoubt », a proposed plan by the french high command to hold The Britanny peninsula as a bridgehead, supplied by the french and british fleets, to hold out until the critical mass of men and material could be assembled for a counterattack. The speed of the german advance destroyed that plan in its infancy, however. It remains one of the biggest « what-ifs » of the war, especially as it was to be accompanied by the anglo-french union proposal that was accepted by Churchill.

[@GARDENER42]

@@thibaudduhamel2581 I know. That was part of Op. Alphabet. The number I gave was for those evacuated from Dunkirk.

[@fatdad64able]

Great video. I had no idea so much was left behind and reused by Wehrmacht. Greetings from Germany.

[@WJack97224]

I can see the Germans sending a message to the Brits asking if they could supply some spare parts for the damaged vehicles they left behind. Heh, heh, heh...

[@ronaldfitzsimmons9902]

Very good video as a former Soldier myself i found this interesting and informative well done all.

[@willempasterkamp862]

And after dunkirk Churchill destroyed the french fleet at Mers-el-kabir, the french could have sailed them to Britain but choose to do not, 1200 lives and complete battle-ships were destroyed to prevent Germany from taking them. On the other hand Britain received cargo ships and crews from occupied nations what helped to win the war.

[@alaricsearle4134]

This is a great video. I'll take Ed's lead and avoid commenting on the said individual's claims that the British destroyed (or rendered inoperable) every single piece of equipment they left behind, but it is really good to see an absurd statement demonstrated to be completely incorrect. The whole subject of re-employing captured equipment is a fascinating one and certainly under-researched. Nice one, Ed!

[@romanbrough]

I recall that at least one of the lorries lost in 1940, was recaptured in 1944. The Germans had maintained it, and it was subsequently used by British forces. I thought that it was the 25 pounders that were used to fortify the Dutch Islands. I recall one account claiming that two German divisions were for a time totally,or mainly equipped with British weapons. Did you know that British battle dress was used extensively by U Boat crews?

[@chuckabutty888]

British battle dress? Now that is an interesting comment, I wonder if there is anything on KZbin regarding that?

[@romanbrough]

@@chuckabutty888 if you look for images of captured UBoat crew's, then you should find some wearing British army uniforms. They kept the smart black ones for leaving and entering port as well as on shore.

[@chuckabutty888]

@@romanbrough will do, thanks.

[@alexandruclimente1289]

A very good & interesting history video... as always. Keep it up , sir !

[@robmiller1964]

Such a great program!

[@geordiedog1749]

The BEF was the most mechanised military units in the world at the time. So they had a lot of kit to leave behind.

[@trauko1388]

And by far the smallest army of the large powers.

[@salus1231]

@@trauko1388 That's right, the French army was 5 times bigger than the British one, and what did they do ? Fold and collapse with 2 weeks. It's not the size of an army in a fight, but the size of the fight in an army

[@trauko1388]

@@salus1231 LOL!!! The brits didnt fight, the French did, the brits simply ran for the coast and let the French cover their escape from Dunkirk. They did the same thing in WW1 to the point Joffre HAD TO GO ALL THE WAY TO THE BEF HQ IN ORDER TO TURN THEM AROUND AND MAKE THEM FIGHT AT THE MARNE, they were already looking for an escape port...

[@salus1231]

The battle for France had been decided in the first week as the Germans broke out of the Ardennes and crossed the Meuse and broke out into open country. The BEF and the best French army, the 1st, were up north in Belgium, exactly were the Germans wanted them , skillfully luring them there. A brilliant offensive had been unleashed upon both Britain and France and neither could stop it. You can stay and fight in a last man last round gesture, but what does that achieve in the end? How can you carry on a fight, with no army ? It was evacuation, not running away, that's teenage talk. Yes the last 3-4 days the evacuation was covered by the French, possibly one of their greatest efforts , as it meant 130,000 less troops being captured, many of them French. Sadly most of these French troops returned soon after to France and were captured , so you could argue that the RN effort for this was wasted. as they lost a number of ships evacuating them ! The RAF also kept the Luftwaffe bombers away from the beaches, or it would have been a massacre. As for WW1 , It was Lord Kitchener who told the commander of the BEF, ironically named John French, to put any notion of evacuation aside and work with the French. Joffre did visit the BEF, but that was to plead with them to exploit the gap that had opened up between 2 German armies, as they were the closest troops to it, which involved a manoeuvre John French wasn't thinking about making. In the end he did

[@trauko1388]

@@salus1231 In WW1 French was marching SOUTH, Joffre had to go and TURN HIM AROUND IN ORDER FOR THEM TO FIGHT WITH THE FRENCH, the retreating brits were already well ahead of the French troops and it took time for them to fill the gap they had caused in the allied line by their retreat... and when they attacked into the gap between German armies... FIGHTING NO ONE... they did so timidly the Germans had no trouble retreating. LOL!!! "Evacuation is not running away!!!" LOL!!! Hilarious... I am pretty sure the French left behind saw it that way... Yes, it was a difficult situation, but THAT IS A LOT DIFFERENT from claiming the FRENCH DIDNT FIGHT, when they did while the BEF cut and ran. The nerve. The WEATHER kept the LW away from the beaches...

[@tech9auto223]

I was always told the British soldiers tried to bring back there rifles from Dunkirk but everything else was just abandoned

[@chuckabutty888]

Yes they needed the room on the ships for the men, such was the desparation.

[@anselmdanker9519]

Thank you , I have been curious about the detailed losses in equipment of the BEF at Dunkirk. Also an estimated 25000 Bren guns were lost, leaving 2300 in the UK.The Bren gun stocks did not recover until 1942 ,especially in the Far east. Also the loss in the 2 pounder anti tank guns explains why ,British tanks and anti tank regiments were equipped with 2pounders well into the North African campaign.

[@AbelMcTalisker]

The unanswered question is just how much of the equipment "lost" at Dunkirk was in fact left behind later at Le Havre and Cherbourg in the later evacuations that took place there. A lot of the activities by the 2nd BEF in France after Dunkirk was conducted largely under a media blackout at the time and remains largely unnoticed even now.

[@solsdadio]

This is one of my few go to posts. Accurate, pragmatic discussion in a world of madness.

[@sjoormen1]

So Lt Gruber's little tank could be British after all...

[@rjk69]

"Destroyed" equipment makes very good scrap material to make new equipment from.

[@SteamCrane]

Yup, spare parts are always needed.

[@ogaugeclockwork4407]

I have heard that instructions for destroying some equipment were deficient. For motor vehicles the instructions were to drop the sump plug and leave them running. The vast majority of vehicles disabled in this way were able to be returned to service without a significant amount of effort. This appears to be consistent with photographs as the vast majority have their bonnets up which is consistent with an instruction to sabotage the engine.

[@Niinsa62]

It wouldn't surprise me if leaving an engine running without oil would be pointless, as the engine would probably run out of petrol long before getting any significant damage from the lack of oil. Especially as it would be just idling, not working very hard.

[@johnrohde5510]

Farage, as usual, selling the myth not the fact. Worth noting that much of the US kit left behind for the Taliban belonged to_Afghan_government_forces_: a force surrendering or defecting to its bitter enemy is not likely to sabotage the kit that is large part of what it has to trade for its lives and freedom.

[@jamestheotherone742]

Almost all of it was on the Afghan's books not the US. The US and whatever international contingents had been exfilling equipment and even material for over a year. That the US's withdrawal was a "rout" is another myth being sold by right-wing media.

[@ericb.4914]

Overall it seems the US "lost" much more equipment with the collapse of the South vietnamese army than they did in Afghanistan.

[@conveyor2]

@@jamestheotherone742 No such thing as "right wing media"; just a conspiracy theory.

[@jamestheotherone742]

@@conveyor2 So you also think there is no liberal media either?

[@johnrohde5510]

@@conveyor2 Fox News, NewsMax and GBNews make no secret of the affiliation of at least their opinion wings' affiliation and the leanings of the Murdoch empire is hardly a secret. It's not a conspiracy because it's not illegal nor illicit: it's an open fact of life: love it or hate it.

[@backrowbrighton]

Really good video Ed. The Germans were well known for using captured equipment to bolster their ranks. Fascinating to see here how the Germans improvised their prizes. A really good book by Terry Gander, 'Germany's Infantry Weapons 1939-45', contains a lot of detail about the use of captured weapons. The useful haul of Lee-Enfield rifles and Bren's was apparently sufficient enough to arm a great many German formations based in France and also Vichy units.

[@stevenjaggers9038]

Thank you for a great report. If only the tabloid Press could do as well, but of course that wouldn’t sell papers.

[@stuartdandybenchillboy]

A brilliant piece on an abysmal episode in British military history. Glad to know that another 200k personal were also rescued from Atlantic France in addition to those at Dunquerque.

[@demonprinces17]

Who all returned when France surrendered a waste of effort

[@salus1231]

@@demonprinces17 True that. The RN should have refused to sail them back to France. The gig was up in France. There were enough French for an army which could have been equipped by the British and fought in all the campaigns to come, instead of a few brigades.

[@CZ350tuner]

Also captured were a number of Oerlikon semi-automatic 20mm. L.110 track mounted 1 Pounder AT guns. These used a box magazine of 15 rounds and could penetrate, according to German tests, 62mm. of FHRHA @ 0 degrees @ 100 metres with AP/T. I have a picture, in a book, of an abandoned one of these tracked AT guns on a beach at Dunkirk. There are also a "Phoney War" propaganda picture, of a peaked cap gunner in an action pose with an Oerlikon AT gun covering a road.

[@Claymore5]

Nice one Ed. I'm not surprised about the trucks - particularly the Scammell's - they were fabulously well engineered.

[@MarkCSevenSixTwo]

The Soviets left a lot of equipment behind during their withdrawal from Afgan in 1989, but most of this was in the service of the Afghan military, so it's not surprising that the US did the same. Most of what I've seen has Afghan markings, and so far there doesn't appear to be anything top secret. The biggest shitter would be all those NVG's being left behind, I guess.

[@SteamCrane]

Plus the biometric scanners.

[@robertl6196]

I get the feeling that much of the munitions captured by the Tali will be making its way to Western Europe over the next few years. Good luck.

[@samuelgordino]

Not likely. There no need for it. There is already more then enough on western Europe. Besides the taliban needs it for fighting inside Afghanistan VS other terrorists groups, rebelds etc.

[@thitran1362]

The Talibans won't do stuff in Western Europe only ISIS did that. Taliban only cares about Afghanistan thats the reason why they are fighting agaisnt ISIS in the first place.

[@charlesmills6621]

Can you expand that idea, please.

[@anthonywaites2316]

My grandfather was at Dunkirk, RASC, his whole Squardron destroyed their vehicle just outside Dunkirk, by running the engine dry without oil, and burning has we know the Germans are good engineers the just replaced and repaired.

[@marcusfranconium3392]

Well to be fair , the germans reused a lot of equipment of other nations they invaded , Czech Tanks , dutch submarines and aircraft . French artilerie armoured vehicles, weapons, etc etc . Some converted to more usefull purposes .. Fokker G1s where used by the germans as trainers for their Me 110 pilots.

[@jlvfr]

They had no choice, really. German industry couldn't even supply the armed forces at the start of the war, let alone latter on.

[@marcusfranconium3392]

@@jlvfr Correct. plus some of the equipment the other nations used where better than the germans at that time. Or the germans never had those pieces of equipment .

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

In fact they invaded Czechoslovakia expressly to seize the Skoda works, which at the time was Europe's premier engineering concern and producer of arguably better tanks than Germany. Not so much re-using what they found as taking it by armed robbery !

[@marcusfranconium3392]

@@Kevin-mx1vi Skoda was the premier developer of Artilery as well , as many other engineering , like walter sagitta aircraft engines. Ps. +1 rep for elite dangerous avatar.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

@@marcusfranconium3392 Ah, yes, I'd forgotten about the artillery. Thanks for the reminder ! 😄

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

Brilliant video, I love WW2 history and I have learned a lot from this. Thank you for sharing.

[@damianousley8833]

The problem was that there was very little or no spares to keep the equipment going.. some of the truck transports did work on as there would have been some commercially available spares for the British equipment available on the continent. THE BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH forces also used captured German transport vehicles in the Middle East. The Germans would run out of fuel and attempt to sabotage a vehicle by removing the distributor caps and other easily removed components. They were hoping to recover them latter. However the British forces had spares that would replace the removed components and used the captured German equipment easily by repairing them in the field with spares they carried. Particularly the General motors Opel blitz and Ford trucks. Both sides used to some degree captured equipment but in general the western allies were so well supplied with equipment that it was easier to standardise and make maintenance easier by limiting the models of vehicles used ,mainly those of British and US manufacture. THE Germans had such a hodgepodge of equipment in their transport units with so many types that maintenance and spare supply was a nightmare.Given that the Germans used 2.5 million horses during ww2, more than they used in the great war, they didn't have the fuel from day one to have a fully mechanised army. They were also heavily tied to rail transport for their logistics. ONLY THE British and Commonwealth forces and the US forces could be truly called fully modern mechanised armies in WW2. THE Russians had I think had 60% of their transport given to them under lend lease from the US. THE second world war in North Africa and in Europe was a motorised logistical enterprise.

[@Pratt_]

Lmao the British guy in the intro also forgot all the weapons Great Britain left in Afghanistan (the first time), I mean the Mujahideen had SMLE at the beginning of the Soviet invasion. Quite ironic. Great video as always, keep it up man!

[@keiranallcott1515]

There is footage of British befords being used at Kharkov in 1942, and also three 3f Jinty locomotives , along with a dean 060 used by the Royal operating divisions were also captured , that was pictured being used by the Germans as far away as Kiev!

[@vespelian5769]

Good old Nigel, a fount of integrity as ever but respect to this channel as I've tended to go along with the party line that it was, in the main, diligently destroyed. And the sheer scale. Thank God for that moat of sea.

[@donjones4719]

Another great video. I'd always heard in general the Brits lost a huge amount of equipment, but this puts flesh on the bones of the story, and the extent of German use is totally new to me. You hit one of my pet peeves, though - please please please when you mention an 18 pounder, a 25 pounder - tell us what that is in inches (and mm) also. Other channels make the same mistake, always stating millimeters if a weapon is in inches, but saying nothing about an 18 pounder. I don't want to stop and look up a Wikipedia page during your video.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

It's not a 'mistake', it's the correct designation for the weapon that was in use at the time. However, in the spirit of being helpful and from memory, 2 pdr = 40 mm, 6 pdr = 57 mm, 17 pdr = 76.2 mm and 25 pdr is roughly 88 mm. No idea on the 18 pdr I think it was pretty much obsolete by WWII. The 18/25 pdr pictured was a 25 pdr gun mounted on the carriage of an 18 pdr, I think there was a shortage of the purpose designed carriage at the time.

[@donjones4719]

​@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 Thanks for the conversions - but the problem is I'm not going to remember them for long, they won't pop into my head the next time I'm listening to a militaria channel and 18 pounders are mentioned. I didn't mean he made a mistake of era by using the term, I meant he made the mistake of not providing an alternate measurement so the audience could be clear about what he was trying to convey about the number of each size gun lost. As you say, the terminology has lapsed even among the Brits. Most channels get it right when it comes to "it was an 8 inch gun" and immediately give it also as 203mm. They do it for a good reason, they want the whole audience to get the concept of how large it was. But almost all make the mistake of not extending that reasoning to 18 pounders, etc. Yup, the practice of measuring small artillery by projectile weight was around since the age of sail, and certainly in full use by the British army in WW II. And it's actually a more useful measurement - the weight of the projectile is more important than its diameter.

[@earthenjadis8199]

For a minute there I thought I was watching a Mark Felton video. That's a compliment! As for the captured British equipment, the Army was the lowest priority branch of the UK military in the Budgets of the 1930s. What was sent to France in 1940 was more of a support force than a solid part of the line. Captured equipment was tiny compared to what they took from the French.

[@skyislands8887]

Great video, I've wondered how much had been left and interned to the German forces. Even if decommissioned, scrap was of an incredibly high value to the Axis. Allied trucks became steel for panzer, aluminium became me109s, copper became communication and electrical cables. How many allied troops, civilians and partisans were killed by indirect use of abandoned yet non functional materials?

[@benholroyd5221]

Were the Germans short of tanks? Sure they may have said yes to more, but they had shortages of fuel to the point of having to demechanise everything but the panzer divisions. So yes, if they'd had more fuel, rubber, food, etc, etc etc they could have made good use of tanks.

[@johnclayton7471]

Fascinating account and some great pictures to accompany it. I know the BEF was highly mechanised for the time. Astute point you make about the impact on British tank development. After Dunkirk we were desperate for anything, and it's not till Comet we were back in contention for tank design.

[@davidk2906]

The great news about Dunkirk is that a third of a million service men including a lot of French made it to England safe. Also U.K. war industries were highly productive and could replace that equipment left behind with additional help from America.

[@BigLisaFan]

Not to mention Canada.

[@davidk2906]

@@BigLisaFan Yes indeed.

[@68Boca]

The use of captured equipment is a regular occurrence. Not only Dunkirk. And not limited to the Germans. I think one of the most famous was the final Battle of Berlin. The Germans had used at least a couple dozen captured tanks, ranging from T-34's to the rather incredible Mk V's near the Reichstag. How or even if they were used is up for debate. In North Africa, Rommel had an entire Battalion of captured British tanks. The Russians used captured German tanks and self propelled guns very often.

[@chuckabutty888]

Yes and dont forget the "Charge of the Light Brigade" was against the Russians to get back British guns. Its always been the case throughout history.

[@VersusARCH]

There was also that Spitfire that somehow landed on a sandy Dunkirk beach...

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

I'm not sure if it was in _Brazen Chariots_ by Bob Crisp en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Crisp or not but I read once that during the back and forth across North Africa both sides captured and used so much of the others transport that just looking at a convoy - you couldn't tell who it belonged to ... .

[@johnfrancis2215]

Yes I knew a bloke who served in North Africa and he said exactly that

[@jimjim2953]

Rommels mobile HQ was a pair of british mamoth trucks in north africa, one for him and one for his second in command. He was nearly captured twice in these, once when the truck was straffed and had to be repaired while british forces were literally coming down the road and once when he went behind british lines during a raid before op crusader, he had to wait for a day while british patrols passed by the truck with german markings on the side of the road. Drove off at night to find where they had come though the wire back to german lines.

[@benwilson6145]

Montgomery had two Captured Italian HQ trucks which he used through the campaigns. They are now property of the Imperial War Museum. He slept in one staying close to the front often ahead of his Generals.

[@jimjim2953]

@@benwilson6145 are they at duxford or bovington?

[@benwilson6145]

@@jimjim2953 Not seen them, read about them

[@saulhendrix]

I bet that guy of the news media would say if he saw this: "they did actually immobilized all equipment, they took all the gasoline of the vehicles, flat out some tires and unscrewed some screws" jajaja, What an idiot Anyways Great video mate!, as an introduction to your channel you've left me with a good experience

[@assessor1276]

The point Mr. Nash was making in his excellent video was to refute the idiotically false assertion by that hopeless gasbag Nigel Farag that all of the British equipment had been destroyed prior to the Dynamo evacuation. The video was not highlighting the use of foreign equipment by the Germans during the war but to inform viewers about the large amount of British equipment left behind in France by the British forces after the fall of France.

[@drewdederer8965]

One other piece of kit worth noting. The Germans re-issued a lot of captured battledress denims to u-boat crews, it was practically standard issue most of the war.

[@iainp4396]

There's a big difference between withdrawing while under fire from a shrinking bridgehead and that of the US' supposedly well organised and well advertised withdrawal .. but Nigel claiming that EVERY part left behind in France was either spiked or destroyed is nonsense .

[@davem2369]

I'm not yet aware of anything the Anericans left behind that wasn't destroyed that wasn't actually Afghan military property. There seem to be examples of records the State Dept and other embassy's should have destroyed as well as computer records that the NSA and GCHQ should be making disappear but not the US military

[@johnbolt665]

Being on the run and just leaving it fully operational are two different things!

[@grahamwood333]

Spot on John. The video shows pictures of British equipment in Nazi colours but some was left in Norway, captured in N Africa and lost in Russia. My Dad who was in the RTR said the best thing about Dunkirk was we left a lot of crap material behind.

[@everTriumph]

As Farrage smashed and destroyed the ability of the UK to trade with Europe, I guess that makes him an expert.

[@benwelch4076]

Very interesting video and eye opening. Watched it twice. Cheers.

[@emjackson2289]

The German's I gather were quite fond of Matilda II's in the Western Desert as although slow, they were heavily armoured

[@keegan773]

At least we had the foresight to leave crap equipment behind, a liability for the Germans. We then were re equipped with new kit.

[@demonprinces17]

Stuarts lees Shermans

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

The German Pz.Abt. 100 seems to have had 9 A13s on strength. The only British cruiser tanks sent to France were with 1st Armoured Division. In total, there were 24 A9s, 31 A10s, & 40 A13s.

[@billmmckelvie5188]

Finally more equipment could have been saved if we had used our various freight barges, thirty were used in Operation Dynamo they would have been able to take the vehicles.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

As a history nerd, on certain stories/topics I am finding myself ranting at the news about historical inaccuracies more than I would a Mel Gibson historical epic. That is all kinds of wrong!

[@alexmckenna1171]

Lovely old Ford Prefect on the beach. Mostly we remember that model from the post war period. The middle-class version of the Popular and Anglia...

[@whitewidowgaming4887]

Very interesting as always, thanks.

[@radiosnail]

Look up the German engineer Alfred Becker. He generated about 1800 vehicles using re purposed French and British equipment. Wound up with three factories in France turning out equipment. Quite an innovative bloke.

[@grahammason5753]

my father destroyed as much as he could my father was hit in the back by a cannon shell and was taken by a small boat run by a doctor

[@markbowen3638]

Interesting comparison. Only a politician could make such a stupidly inaccurate claim without clearly checking its historical accuracy. Well done Ed for bursting his stupid bubble!

[@markbowen3638]

@@videodistro Impossible to put an accurate number on undamaged weapons unless you were there I'm guessing, but some very convincing historical photographic evidence of captured weapons being utilised by the enemy. Best way of responding to fatuous claims is to present undeniable evidence to the contrary. Mr Nash has certainly done that!

[@benwilson6145]

@@markbowen3638 Funny, you would think the retreating troops would have kept a full inventory, they had sooo much time to do it!

[@markbowen3638]

@@benwilson6145 The germans with their administrative skills will have no doubt recorded in some archive just what was left behind and what was usable. Even guns and armour that had been rendered unserviceable by their crews would have been stripped for spares and the remains melted down. This would then have found it's way back into the Nazi war effort. If in your haste to comment you misunderstood mine I can only apologise, but I was simply pointing out that to make a statement that " not a single gun etc etc was left unspiked" was a stupid statement worthy only of a man who has failed to check his facts. And as for anyone who believes the same rubbish without investigating for themselves the truth....

[@benwilson6145]

@@markbowen3638 Understood, have you seen the German records?

[@trauko1388]

@@benwilson6145 If a foreign weapon has a German designation IT MEANS IT WAS PUT INTO SERVICE, and if it was put into service, IT WAS BECAUSE THEY HAD USEFUL NUMBERS OF THEM. Simple

[@prof_kaos9341]

I read a book I think by John Keegan that talked of the Nazis using Bren carriers captured at Dunkirk in the Battle for Berlin 1945. Mostly the sumps were drained to seize the motors. But it was prob easier to maintain these vehicles with a new motor so as to not need imperial sized tools (only metric sockets and spanners). Much of the Atlantic Wall used captured and/or old WW1 artillery to recycle captured kit but make supply for the actual Wehrmacht easier by giving the unusual calibres to these fixed fortifications.

[@richardgreathouse9702]

The Germans also used captured British arms as pieces on the political chessboard. Case in point: thousands of Mark III Enfield rifles, which the Germans offered the Irish Republic as replacements for their own aging stocks, also a massive amount of ammunition. They may have offered other small arms as well. Purpose: tempt the Irish to commit an "unneutral" act; stir up trouble between the Irish and the UK; give the UK a tense situation in its own backyard;

[@mbryson2899]

Nicely done! Thank you for actual facts.

[@macjim]

I used to be in the camp of ‘the germans never had those’ when watching WW2 movies (I was young back then) but now, as I've learnt more over the years, that many movies were indeed right to use non-german made vehicles as we see in this video, they did use them. Now, time for a video on the allies using captured German weaponry and vehicles...

[@djcjr1x1]

Wow great research, I had no idea!😲

[@johnhill8568]

The Taliban did indeed receive a lot of equipment from the Afghans when they walked away from it but they can only use them until they break down, KBR took all of the replacement parts and mechanics when they pulled out prior to the collapse. When they figured that they couldn't make any more money from their non negotiated contracts, they bailed.

[@protennis365]

Or the Taliban can just sell it to China, Russia and Iran to research or equipment. Which is even worst.

[@Jackkalpakian]

Excellent work dispelling political myths.

[@blue387]

It would have been nice had the British sent some of those Matilda II tanks to Malaya, it would have been very useful for the defenders. It would have easily beaten any Japanese tank of the time.

[@allangibson2408]

It would have been nice if the British had shipped the Australian forces equipment to Singapore too (they sent the men to Singapore and their equipment to Perth). The Indian forces in Malaya were mostly useless as they ran at the first sound of Japanese forces.

[@paulkirkland3263]

On a much more minor note, the Germans also captured stacks of British army battledress. A lot of it was used by U-boat crews, and thrown away at the end of each patrol. There was also the 'Queen Mary' aircraft transporter that was left behind, used by the Germans, then liberated in 1944 and returned to RAF service. It is now on display at IWM Duxford.

[@FAMUCHOLLY]

Thanks for clearing things up Ed.

[@mikepette4422]

The most useful must have been all the artillery those were quite a lot of guns even if many were spiked I'm guessing they still scooped up a lot...especially those 6 inch howitzers ! yikes a great find for any army

[@dub2536]

Great video. I learned a lot. Peace!

[@Katy_Jones]

There was a rumour in Germany that the wrong hand drive British trucks were actually a very subtle bit of infrastructure sabotage as they had an horrendous accident rate when given to hastily trained drivers.

[@knife-wieldingspidergod5059]

But they still drive them on the right side of the road right? U.S. Post delivery vehicles have right hand driver's seat.

[@jetaddicted]

This from an irate Frenchman: Dunkirk was not a “Royal Navy success”: it was an allied one, a large percentage of the ships were French, Belgian, Dutch, Norwegian; It was not only equipment that was abandonned to and reused by the Germans, a couple thousand Indian Nationals were also left behind; If anything the French deserve the credit for Dunkirk, as it was them who have held the lines, allowing for the BEF to “evacuate”… My relatives are from that city, on June the second 1940 my grandmother left Dunkirk during a truce organized for the evacuation of civilians, my father and his siblings by her side, she would walk a few hundred miles to Clermond Ferrand, it took a month. Regardings the BEF, she said this: “Those on the beach spoke English, those on the front spoke French or German”.

[@tommyfred6180]

mate i fell your pain. as a kid school teachers gave us the line that it was a "British success despite the failed French army collapsing". thankfully this black and white story is no longer the way its explained to kids. yes some bits of the French army did just cut and run. but so did British and German units when confronted with tanks and no support. yes the evacuation was planed and run by the RN. but it was not just RN ships that got used. as you rightly point out, the BEF and a lot of French guys with some Dutch and so on. only got out because a lot of British and a hell of a lot of French guys heled the Germans off. on a personnel note:- one of my grand uncles was in the highland division and spent much of the invasion of France fighting alongside French units. he died before i was born in the 60s. he had the La Marseillaise played at his funeral. his life was saved by French civilians that tended his injury's and got him to the coast at La Havre.

[@trauko1388]

I am not French, nor from any country involved in the wars but, The UK pushed France into the war, the RN had no use given the Soviet non-aggression pact, the BA was insignificant, but the RAF was not... it was also NOT THERE. So, they began the war, didnt fight it, run away at the first chance and then stabbed the French in the back... you need LOTS of propaganda and brainwashing not to see that.

[@tommyfred6180]

@@trauko1388 you really don't know what you are talking about mate. the UK did not push France into the war. no one pushes the French into doing anything. never have never will and definitely not the brits. you want to get a punch in the face from a frog tell him France was made to do stuff by the fox eating English. "RN had no use given the Soviet non-aggression pact" what the hell are you on about. thats just bull. as for the RAF it lost just as many aircraft as the French did. if the UK had tost in its last reserves then it would have been game over all round son. i strongly suggest you if you are interested in ww2 that you read up a bit. you should also look at world war two youtube channel by Indy Neidell. Indy will take you though the war week by week and really knows his stuff. he is also straight down the meddle with no axe to grind or agender to push. just straight up honest history.

[@stephenmundane]

It was an allied auccess as you say. The largest percentage of the ships were from the Royal Navy and British Merchant Navy and France was the biggest contributor to the remaining number of vessels. The French did indeed hold on to the bitter end around Dunkirk allowing many allied troops to escape. I would say that it is all the allied forces involved in the events that deserve the credit, not any one nation. We all had our part to play.

[@trauko1388]

​@@tommyfred6180 LOL!!! Ok, you seem to be a little dense... The non-aggression pact means nazi Germany was immune from blackade, they will just get resources form the USSR, which means the RN was irrelevant to the war. Get it now? "The RAF it lost just as many aircraft as the French did??? LOL!!! No son, the French lost quite a bit more, and a good chunk of the RAF COMBAT losses were over Dunkirk, defending their escape... The LW lost more than 30% of their aircraft IN COMBAT OVER FRANCE, not like the allies, that lost a good deal of them on land, either by being bombed or abandoned when the airfield were overtaken by the advancing Germans... ...so, what if the brits HAD ACTUALLY COMMITTED AND FOUGHT using the RAF instead of just letting the French take the brunt of the fight? How many LW aircraft would have been lost? Would the LW had been able to remain combat effective? If so, for how long? And please, the UK was irrelevant in WW2... You have no clue, only repeat propaganda...

[@kevinwilliams7613]

Is the term 'spike' still used? I know with small arm and smaller guns, the quickest way to render them unusable is to remove the bolt or breach block. Larger guns usually require thermite, starting with the breach.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

Yes, meaning to render an artillery piece useless, at least temporarily. Originates in the practice of hammering an iron spike into the touch hole of a muzzle loading cannon. Could be done to your own guns if it looked like they would be captured, or to enemy guns if you'd overrun their position but didn't think you'd be able to carry them away.

[@kevinwilliams7613]

@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 I understood the origin of the term, have never heard it applied to modern weapons. 'Destroy in place' in what is done now, and that applies to all equipment. Some complex equipment have the feature built in. If engineers are not available, thermite will destroy most anything, yours or theirs, with little risk to life. Engineers like blowing things up.