Food Bombers - Allied Operations Behind German Lines, Netherlands 1945

By 1945, the German-occupied Western Netherlands was starving. Concluding a secret truce with the Nazi leader of the Netherlands, the Allies undertook dangerous behind-the-lines missions to feed 3 million people. This is the story of Manna, Chowhound and Faust.
Special thanks to Museum Rotterdam and The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision for archival film footage.
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
Visit my audio book channel 'War Stories with Mark Felton': • One Thousand Miles to ...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: Svdmolen; Peter de Wit

[@brentreid7031]

My uncle was with the Canadian Army in Holland. He passed away 40 years ago now, but the day he died he cried that he never got the chance to go back and thank the Dutch people for how they were so nice and helped Canadian troops there.

[@thelizardking3036]

We Dutch feel the same about your uncle and all allied soldiers like him.

[@s.marcus3669]

Brent, wouldn't it be fantastic if YOU went to Holland to speak to a lecture hall full of Dutch citizens to say how you are here for your uncle?!

[@olafdemol9469]

There's a lot of public events here around our liberation day (5th of May) that love speakers from friends and family. Especially down south / Arnhem area.

[@Sanderos25]

@@olafdemol9469 It might surprise you but the Dutch would even show up to a speech by a nephew of a Canadian veteran, also in the Veenendaal, Wageningen and Zeeland area there are big celebrations of the Canadians. Hell, May 5th last year here in Rotterdam I had the fortune of the view of 5 Canadian Shermans from my balcony.

[@penguinpie5056]

my canadian grandfather was in the airforce and became quite sick and was sent to netherlands to recover and he also spoke highly of his time there. So just also wanted to say thanks to them as well for their hospitality and help.

[@ducomaritiem7160]

My father almost starved to death in that hunger winter. Just after the war he was send to Switzerland in a train full of other children to live for a year in a Swiss family to get healthy again. My father couldn't stand seeing food thrown away, even bones with a tiny bit of meat was grabbed from our plates and eaten by him. He had a lifelong contact with his temporary Swiss parents.

[@williammorse8330]

that's beautiful.... thank you for sharing.....

[@Blizza1]

Very cool!

[@kentamitchell]

The father of a good friend of mine was a medical officer with the 82nd Airborne. He was at Eindhoven in 9/44- wounded and decorated twice for bravery. He once said that you will NEVER find an American soldier who has anything but good things about the Dutch people.

[@AndreLeandro139]

Some peopme will never know what is to be hungry. I had never been, but sometimes, the money barely coukd buy bread. That is why i never leave food in a plate. I use to say, i eat al because there are people who cannot eat. People usually misunderstand my true belief

[@alecbaldwin9671]

🇺🇸 god bless him

[@silver_dem0n525]

My great grandmother was one of the million people who had to live through that terrible winter. She died last year. She got to live to 92 years because of the allied help. Rest in piece and love you granny ❤

[@obelic71]

This changed the Netherlands more then most people think. It made us the most productive and innovating country on agricultural produce worldwide. Swedish bread that rained form the skies, corned beef/medical supplies that came in by truck. Still till today the famine and the fooddroppings are remembered. It was bad in the western part of the Netherlands. So imagine how it had to be for the people of Leningrad who sufferd a 3 year famine.

[@TheAnthoula14]

I really don't know anyone survived Leningrad, three years of hunger seems enough to wipe out an entire region. Btw - I'm sure the American army didn't mean to be derogative, but operation " Chowhound"? The Dutch were probably like, bitch, no ones had any chow here in months, lol

[@Jonnesdeknost]

Niet persé helemaal waar. Nederland was altijd al vrij groot in Agrarische sector. Vooral door de moedernegotie etc. Maar dit zal zeker ook wel impact hebben gehad.

[@jw451]

Yes Im assuming you didnt have widespread cannibalism

[@user-njyzcip]

Now imagine suffering this not because an enemy has taken your food away, but because your glorious leader made extremely questionable agricultural policies which decimated food productions but refused to reduce exports because he didn't want to lose face

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

A friend originally from the Neth. in her 80's, now in the housing devlpmnt I live in, remembers being a child during the Hunger Winter very well. She didn't want to talk about it right then, except 1 story. But her set, clenched expression was eloquent. The story she did tell: It was Sinterklaas Eve 1944. Family & Neighbor kids gathered for what parents could scrounge & set aside for a treat. My friend looked on as the adult costumed as Sinterklaas scarfed (sneakily stole) several precious treats that were supposed to be for the children.

[@brianjbarber]

My grandfather was a navigator in an RAF Lancaster, and he never spoke about the operations he was involved in. The only exception was when he told us about air dropping food into Holland and re-patriating allied POWs at the end of the war. Thanks for adding context to one of his proudest achievements in uniform.

[@joepopes7923]

They told them they did good by dropping bombs over Germany. They forgot to tell them, they just killed civilians. If you get older and getting aware of it, you are happy to tell something good you did.

[@x.y.z1315]

@@joepopes7923 crybaby

[@petermorris3665]

@@joepopes7923 'Just killed civilians' did they??? So what destroyed, the armaments factories, oil plants, submarine pens, the Tirpitz, Ruhr dams, marshalling yards, airfields etc?

[@raypurchase801]

@@x.y.z1315 Agreed.

[@joepopes7923]

@@petermorris3665 Most of that was done by small precision bombers. Watch some pictures from German cities of that time and you will know what I mean.

[@marcelgroen6256]

My mother was a young girl those days, but still can vividly remember these drops ....

[@Khayne]

What a wonderful opportunity to hear first hand accounts from the war. If I had had this opportunity (my grandfather, a resistance fighter, died in the 1980s unfortunately) I would be sitting down and getting as much of it on paper as possible before it is lost. There aren't many unbiased recollections of life of ordinary people during WW2.

[@JDfabricacations]

First hand accounts are pretty much gone

[@resh9400]

Same for my grandmother

[@higfny]

If she is willing to tell you, make sure you get her to tell you everything. My grandmother lived six months in the wilderness to hide from the Germans. Never told why she needed to hide or how she survived. But we know she and the family was in the resistance.

[@kinglove4370]

that's absolutely fascinating Marcel! you and a number of other commenters about this documentary have a story from history to tell.are you a Frenchman?

[@gertvanpeet3120]

Thank! My dad saw the packs falling...he was 18 , in the Hague . He is now 93!

[@shaider1982]

Wow, sir, your dad is tough👍

[@grahamconquer8117]

Was he a natzi why wasn't he fighting with the partisans then eh 18 I would

[@Sanderos25]

I guess he was in hiding as well, most men aged 17 would be drafted to work as forced labor in other Nazi occupied territories.

[@arno-luyendijk4798]

I am a 2nd generation post-war born Dutch, but the pictures of the food droppings can still make me pretty emotional...thank you so very much,, all veterans from the RAF, RCAF and USAF who came to the rescue of our grandparents and parents!

[@haroldswart3321]

My grandfather was 10 at the time and lived in the The Hague during the “hongerwinter”. When I talked with him about the food droppings it brought him to tears (I never saw him cry before). He told me the planes flew so low he could see the pilots waving to him.

[@woning9228]

Well told! In Holland we call this the “hongerwinter”, several old friends of mine have told me about it. It was horrible, but the food droppings came as a blessing from heaven, as is also intended by the name of the British mission (manna). Thanks a lot Mark!

[@Elmarby]

You got to hand to the Brits when it comes to codenames. They are usually quite good and "Mana" was particularly on point. We still gratefully remember Bad Penny (A bad penny always turns up, another excellently chosen name) and those that followed. And of course many thanks to those at the "Chowhound" side of things, even if their codename kinda lets the side down. ;)

[@jpaulc441]

I like to imagine there was a huge 1940's era analogue computer somewhere in Bletchley Park that randomly generated mission codenames.

[@BrassLock]

@@jpaulc441 Or possibly the Light Entertainment Department at the BBC.

[@winstonchurchill3597]

@@Elmarby Well Mana was already taken, so Chowhound was not too bad.

[@Andrew-yl7lm]

@@Elmarby Faust too, a codename for the trucks as a deal with the devil I think

[@boxwoodgreen]

I have a letter my late dad, a Captain in the South Saskatchewan Regiment (Canada) sent home to my mother during the liberation of the Netherlands. In the letter he said that he and his unit's soldiers were giving all their rations away to Dutch children because the kids were starving.

[@Erated78]

My parents young teenagers at the end of war and told stories of CDN soldiers doing this very thing. Who knows, one such soldier could easily have been your father.

[@ivywilliams9427]

such a good man..

[@hutch1111111]

My late grandfather was in the SSR as well. They were ordered to not give away their rations as they needed to keep up their strength. He was proud that was one order they refused to obey. He only talked about the war a few times.....but he related he could not bear to see people so hungry.

[@boxwoodgreen]

@@hutch1111111 Do you know what Coy he was attached to ? Likewise, my dad never spoke about the war until a few weeks before he passed, and that was quite limited. He did refuse to ever ride in a Jeep. Even when my brother owned one for a few years. He was in one when he was wounded in April '45.

[@quinnvz]

It's entirely possible that your dad is the reason that my grandparents survived the starving times. I grew up hearing stories about how my Oma and Opa lost so much weight during the last year of the war and how my great uncle wandered back from a labor camp weighing no more than 90 lbs. Thank him for his service the next time you visit his memorial, he truly was a hero.

[@Sebastien824]

Being a Dutch citizen, I thank you for showing and explaining this episode from the war! It is really an episode that deserves our gratitude to our allies, even after generations....

[@OneofInfinity.]

My father was 15 that winter in the Netherlands, my grandparents where in a camp in Germany, glad my father knew how to survive with 2 younger siblings till the liberation.

[@TD-pj5ke]

Great to learn, we need details on survival, as resisting occupations is still unexplained. We shoud express gratitude to experts in field as they were under pressures, alongside economy that suffered under the systematic industrial espionage. Problem evolved from time consuming administrative shortages, over-regulations and under-regulations prearanged🔚 during the 1980s only to retaliate against the UN and the USA.

[@robertmaybeth3434]

How did they survive?

[@brianjschumer]

I am an American who has been to Holland many times as my wife is German, We used to have an apt in Aachen Germany.I have never met a more appreciative country towards the USA then the Dutch, as I've said in a post once before -most speak English and rather well, Flags fly to this day, from US, UK and Canada, by appreciative citizens. The US war Cemetary in Margraten is an amazing place, tended by locals. The Dutch people where and are worth fighting for .If anyone plans to go to Europe from a WWiI Allied nation, put this country on your bucket list- you wont be sorry

[@BrassLock]

Itchy Boots (Dutch motorcycling channel) has a specific program about this memorialising that continues today, where Dutch families compete to earn the right to care for War Graves, which are "adopted" by locals.

[@Page-Hendryx]

Well you're talking about WWII. But the Dutch are fairly anti-American otherwise.

[@BrassLock]

@@Page-Hendryx You are incorrect in your assumption. I am talking about the _present generation's respect for past actions during WW2._ Itchy Boots *demonstrates* in every program throughout the world that *the average citizen is most likely to be friendly, helpful and generous.* Be careful what you believe after reading or watching Mainstream Media, which has _orchestrated filtering_ masquerading as "independent coalface journalism." Unless you've been there yourself, met the people, and enquired about their views regarding any topic, you cannot accurately summarise the "thoughts and feelings" of a whole country of diverse personalities and outlooks.

[@daneaxe6465]

@@Page-Hendryx You're full of refried beans. Back to your corner in your mom's basement.

[@patrickirish9427]

@@Page-Hendryx just because you see something online doesn't mean it's true. People say Americans are bad people, I'm Canadian and have great respect for my American neighbours. Hard working, patriotic, blunt and forthcoming people.

[@harmen4436]

My grandparents where Dutch farmers who were childeren during the hongerwinter. They told me tons of story’s about starving people traveling almost 100 Miles to the countryside to get food. Most of the time they where walking with wagons with wooden weels because the Germans seized all the rubber tires for the war effort. It wasn’t a save journey, if a German caught you you had a large chance of all Your food being taken. But luckely most people got trough.

[@marcelgroen6256]

Probably my grandmother was one of the people knocking at his door... She had to feed a family of 11 as her husband was killed during an (allied) air attack at the harbor of Vlaardingen (1943).

[@silver_dem0n525]

My grandmother has told me similar stories. They were even shot at once

[@MyLateralThawts]

I visited my aunt and uncle in Westfalia during the 1970’s. They were ten year old refugee children at the end of the war. They had a cart, which you commonly see in documentaries, in their garden ...no rubber either! My uncle told me they were so hungry they made a soup from a weed called Brennessel. I’m sure there were Germans who were always well fed and had carts with rubber on them, but some obviously weren’t.

[@frank832]

My grandmother cycled from Utrecht to Twente on wooden tyres fror a bag of potatoes during the hongerwinter , she was only 15 at the time.

[@koenjonker1283]

My grandfather cycles quite far from Amsterdam on his bycicle to collect food. As rubber was not available his tyres were completely shot. On the return trip after repairing his tyre for the x amount of time he gave up and cycled on his bare rims completely destroying the bycicle. Dont know what year that was unfortunatly.

[@ptk18]

My mother's family lived near Amersfoort at the time and endured the rigors of the ‘hongerwinter’ (including eating flower bulbs) .. the droppings helped them surviving the war... (and so I owe my life to the allied pilot heroes as well)

[@benis4958]

@Car Tifusar nah, this is an apt use

[@RhysapGrug]

Mine at noordwijk on ze' but my grandparents were very resourceful living off the land and sea cockle/shell and fishing.

[@SVSky]

@Car Tifusar Risk your life to save others, it qualifies.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@Car Tifusar In this case hero is true.

[@TheKamperfoelie]

To many dutch, all allied soldiers and personnel are Heroes. And the people they left behind while doing their tasks. Of course there are differences, but I dont think those heroes did what they did because they want to be distinguished as heroes.

[@IvoTichelaar]

My grandmother often told me about the bread dropped in these food droppings. "Better than cake!" She also told me of journeys out of the city of Amsterdam with an empty baby stroller, to get food. They'd walk in groups of women (men risked being taken to do forced labour) and would exchange wedding rings for a few potatoes etc. When they returned to the city, the German soldiers often confiscated their entire haul. She wasn't bitter, they said they were children, hardly grown up, and crying and hungry themselves.

[@BIGBLOCK5022006]

What in the hell possessed the German troops to confiscate their food? Somebody decide that German soldiers were more important than the Dutch civilians?

[@Chladas77]

@@BIGBLOCK5022006 well if you are commander of (most likely also starving) soldiers fighting war in foreign country then yeah these soldiers are more important than civilians, its not fair, but than again war never is

[@TheEndoscopico]

@@BIGBLOCK5022006 National SOCIALISM Third Reich people was hungry from 1941

[@perrycheong1058]

Did the Germans 'mess around' with some of the Dutch girls/women?

[@IvoTichelaar]

@E Smidt me? Well, treat others like you want to be treated yourself. What would I do as a teenager with a gun, about to be crushed by the allied forces? Hopefully not take civilians' food, but you never know.

[@123Dunebuggy]

My mother was born a week after D Day, and was given wallpaper paste and tulip bulbs as food for her thirst nine months. It was because of these food drops that she lived. I will always be gratefull to the allies for this.

[@1pcfred]

There's nothing quite like authentic Dutch cuisine to stick to the ribs, eh?

[@bendigeidfranemmanueljones5694]

Ever since, she's never thrown food away, and is an ace decorator.

[@cobbler40]

This is an amazing story. A few years ago I was travelling in a taxi in Holland and I mentioned this story. The driver told me he was one of the children who got the food. He remembered the taste of chocolate.

[@fzw0011]

My grandmother lived in Katwijk during the war. She vividly remembers what turned out to be operation Mana, close by Valkenburg Airbase. Their dog was scared, her sister hid in the closet because it reminded her of bombings. My grandmother remembered the bombers flying so low she could see the faces of the aircrew. She passed away earlier this year. Prior to her passing I got to record her stories from the war, which include her brothers hiding in the dunes to evade deportation to labour camps and her family and neighbors getting shot at while foraging the dunes for wood as fuel, which resulted in some civilians getting killed by German machinegun fire. Also, her family adopted a German shepherd puppy from German soldiers from the nearly German garrison.

[@dwyerjones4542]

Please accept my condolences for the loss of your beloved grandmother. How wonderful that you were able to document her memories for your family.

[@c.j.nyssen6987]

My father's family was reduced to eating cabbage cores and tulip bulbs. My father and his younger sister almost died and were hospitalized due to malnutrition; both suffered rickets. Fortunately, the Allies got food through to the Dutch in time to save their lives. My family chose to live in Canada, in part because of their gratitude for the actions of the Canadian armed forces in this operation.

[@RimmyDownunder]

The intro music playing with Mark stood there was incredibly menacing

[@Aj-yu6ec]

i’m dead

[@realwindows9]

Hello good to see you here

[@thomashale2096]

Neat

[@mrpotatoes7111]

Like ya butt G

[@madgictoad39]

Great minds collide

[@phbrinsden]

Dr. Felton honors the Dutch civilians who suffered mightily and the airmen and negotiators who made this possible. One of humanities better moments and should be remembered by future generations. The Dutch suffered heavily right from the start with the savage bombing of Rotterdam through to the great hunger.

[@essexfarmer9610]

And it was pleasantly surprising that the Germans allowed the food through.

[@skydiverclassc2031]

@@essexfarmer9610 I think they realized that they game was up and they were going to lose the war. Maybe try and put on the best face possible for your future captors.

[@manjelos]

@@essexfarmer9610 Well, they did not needed to pay it by them self, was for free...

[@TD-pj5ke]

We need high quality discussions on the WWI, details on security failures before the WWII. Dr. Mark Felton's work open the most important dialogue. Silence during the past four decades had caused a devastated economy and conflict enlargement.

[@TD-pj5ke]

@@essexfarmer9610 Germans were hungry, too. They had exhausted their own citizens for irrational industry. Without any chance to complain for years following orders only, they have disintegrated in a diversity of ways. It would be better if they have chosen to live respecting diversity of the cultural heritage.

[@diviance42]

When Mark says 3 million people suffered the hunger winter, this means that in a country which only had ~9.1 million people in it 1/3 people starved. 1945 was also the most lethal year according to census records, with 141k deaths. Amost every Dutch family has members in it that suffered through this period. Some of these people are still alive 85 years later.

[@diviance42]

@Fred Jansen Although the west was hit the worst the influx of people trying to trade and get food through more creative means also strained the north. The Dutch resistance also moved children from the western cities that were dying of starvation to the northern provinces.

[@arwahsapi]

Even in a neverwinter nation in Southeast Asia like mine our grandparents suffered and died from the great starvation during Japanese occupation.

[@basilmcdonnell9807]

I recall reading that there was a demographic bulge of people reaching their 100th birthday among survivors of that period.

[@BrassLock]

@@basilmcdonnell9807 Thus heralding recent diet practices of Intermittent Fasting perhaps?

[@vangestelwijnen]

@@BrassLock No obesitas at all. Only German generals knew what that was.

[@Oeps17]

"Nederland zal gras eten"(The Dutch will eat grass). That is what the Germans said when they entered the Netherlands in 1940. My mom (recently passed away at the age of 95) almost died at the end of the war due to starvation. She lived in Amsterdam and her PD told her mom that she would have died if the war would have lasted another 2 weeks. She wasn't able to get out of bed until much later so she was unable to see the droppings herself. I was raised with the idea that it was a crime to waste food. Thank you Mark Felton for this video.

[@robertmaybeth3434]

lol droppings are what birds do as they fly, the poop ... s'okay, the word works for the air drops too

[@graemer3657]

My grandfather was in 53 Welsh division, xxx Corps. In the fighting around Nijmegen associated with Market Garden he was cut off and hidden by nuns, My entire life he hated onions, and as a small child I asked him why. He explained that for 7 days he had eaten nothing but onions fed to him by these nuns, I said that the nuns were very cruel. He said no, they fed me onions and ate flower bulbs themselves. They were starving and it was all that they had, but I promised myself that if I lived I would never eat another onion again, Thank god (whichever god you believe in) that for the last 2 generations we have been shared such experiences in Northern Europe.

[@GT-dr6tp]

The thumbnail picture for this caught my eye. The B-17 with the "Square J" tail marking was part of the 390th Bombardment Group (H). My father was a co-pilot in 390th/570th based in Framlingham, England. He flew the "Chowhound" missions. He said on some runs as they were flying low and slow they could see the starving Dutch waving. On those flights he would fly with tears in his eyes. He returned to the Netherlands around 2000 with other USAAC veterans and were feted as heros by the Dutch. He also flew the first flights of the Berlin Airlift, before it was a mission. I am so PROUD of my father. Tears in my eyes now.

[@ivywilliams9427]

I am proud of their unselfish acts.doing risky mission.hats off to your dad.

[@csxbucky2537]

My Father was part of the 390th's 571st Squadron Ordinance and was involved in loading the Group's B-17's for Operation Chowhound. Dad recollected recollected recollected

[@csxbucky2537]

My Father was part of the 390th's 571st Squadron Ordinance and was involved in loading the Group's B-17's for Operation Chowhound. Dad recollected recollected recollected

[@csxbucky2537]

My Father was part of the 390th's 571st Squadron Ordinance and was involved in loading the Group's B-17's for Operation Chowhound. Dad recollected recollected recollected

[@irish89055]

​@@csxbucky2537 My father flew 3 missions he said they rigged up the bomb bays with plywood that was hinged

[@pq3254]

The Mark felton army looks unstoppable in reaching 1 million subscribers and any resistance to it will be crushed mercilessly

[@lt.lasereyez8891]

And then SCRAPPED!

[@kimchipig]

Dr, thank you for always mentioning Canada's role in the war. Farley Mowat went on to be one of Canada's most read and beloved authors. He was a national icon and his death in 2014 was widely mourned. "The Boat that Wouldn't Float" is one of the funniest books I have ever read.

[@mikespangler98]

The dog that wouldn't be. 😂

[@MarkFeltonProductions]

I have great affection for Canada - spent some wonderful research trips there in the early 2000s.

[@richardlinter4111]

@KAPT Kipper : And not just in Canada.

[@foamer443]

@@MarkFeltonProductions Come back anytime.

[@copferthat]

And no bird sang is a great Mowat book.

[@robertheywood5523]

I remember seeing on TV on the 50th anniversary a Dutch Grandmother holding her Grandsons hand and saying to him as a Lancaster flew over "That is the sound of FREEDOM"

[@benmiltenburg1867]

Both of my parents lived on farms in Holland during the war. My mother was the 2nd oldest in a family of ten. She and her sisters were given the task of ensuring that the daily visits by many starving family's from nearby Utrecht were kept orderly and that no one got in line twice. She has told us of the many tricks her grandfather did to try and save as much food as possi la from confiscation. All farm produce was regulated and most was taken, leaving a bare minimum for the farm family let alone beggars. Her father dried and smoked chicory to extend his tobacco supply! My dad had a permit to operate farm equipment and perform farm operations for local farmers. While threshing grains, his machine was kept under lock and key by the German supervisor, so that he could only operate it under their scrutiny so that no grain could be kept for themselves. He also buried one of his tractors during the retreat of the German army for fear of it being confiscated and used as transportation by the retreating forces. He later dug it up and used it for the duration of the war. Family in Holland still have it. All of his powered equipment ran on wood which produced a combustible gas via a gasifier unit since no gasoline was available. They were liberated by the Canadians, moved here , Canada,and embraced their new home and country. They were not in combat so the stories they related were told with fewer bad memories than those of combat soldiers. I could write a small book of the experiences they told me

[@ivywilliams9427]

please do so.. so the next generation will know too.

[@laurikotivuori1585]

Please do man

[@eddiemiller2969]

Please do!

[@jonaskadah737]

I've been a member of YT since the beginning. Mark Felton and his channel is by far the best channel. Factual, neutral, detailed, informative and interesting even for my uninterested wife. You rock 💕

[@Boragath123]

My opa went thru this. He said it was hell. He’s currently writing his story about it.

[@noobster4779]

It wasnt hell, not even close. Compared to the eastern front and beeing a civilian there, this was a small inconvinience.

[@darklands7361]

@@noobster4779 wow bro i bet you are really smart or maybe u were even there at both places so u are an expert at it!

[@erik2811]

@@noobster4779 I guess 30k people starving to death is indeed just a small inconvience.

[@KhanWolf95]

@@noobster4779 wtf

[@samswift102]

@@noobster4779 Who are you to tell a survivor of mass starvation that their suffering “wasn’t that bad”? You should be ashamed.

[@Fjoeri]

My grandpa was a Dutchman. He frequently told me about this and how this helped him and his family survive. He always talked about it with gratitude in his voice.

[@reefyyy]

My family survived this at Hilversum, while my grandfather was still in a Dresden concentration camp my grandmother and her family were in the middle of this. They needed to bike with wooden wheels to the east of the netherlands to trade with valuebles like rings and stuff like that for potatoes and carrots, this journey took them some days in the freezing temperatures, when they came back at Hilversum the "moffen" as we called them took everything and they did everything in vain basically. I was taught to always finish my plate because thats what my parents were taught too because of this. My grandfather in particular had a long story but one moment in the camp was that he saw 15 soviet POWs jump on a mold covered piece of bread that a guard threw at them, this made such an impact that he always forced his kids eat every single crum.

[@melvinjansen2338]

Not trying to be funny but it could be one of the reasons why we're among the tallest people in the world on average now. :D

[@allenwatkins4972]

Never seen "rotten bread."

[@reefyyy]

@@allenwatkins4972 happy now

[@aaauke]

@@allenwatkins4972 you must be from the USA

[@s.marcus3669]

Jason, PLEASE document this on paper before the WWII generation passes away...

[@alanwood5857]

I met a Lancaster pilot from the RCAF named Joe English who participated in the "Manna" drops. This was about 20 years ago in Nanton, Alberta, Canada at the Bomber Command Museum. He did say that the Luftwaffe were indeed at their guns, tracking them as they flew by.

[@williamweigt7632]

You seem surprised that the Germans were ready to confront subterfuge on the part of the Allies. If the first casualty of war is the truth...trust is not far behind.

[@alanwood5857]

@@williamweigt7632 They had been shooting down Lancs the whole war, so I was not at all surprised, I know that they would have loved to pull the trigger.

[@williamweigt7632]

@@alanwood5857 Trust my experience... if someone with a powerful weapon would “love to pull the trigger”...they always do. Let’s remember that few of the men and women who fought in that war got to choose how they spent their time from 1939-1945. Respect. 🤘

[@maddyg3208]

My parents had a book about this. A young Australian airman who was dropping food from a Lancaster also dropped a note with his name and address, which was picked up by a young Dutch girl. I think they wrote to each other for a while but then lost contact for about fifty years until finally they met. Many airmen also thought Operation Manna was the best thing they did during the war.

[@remkojerphanion4686]

To this very day, the Dutch elderly are extremely grateful for the brave effort of the Allies to feed and then liberate our country. I'm a generation younger, and yet I too remain grateful for the sacrifices made by our Allied friends.

[@samsmotzzz2171]

The intro made me think that this was a history lesson on Mark Felton himself.

[@maniac117]

No wonder he knows so much about WW2, he is an immortal being whose sole purpose is to teach humanity of its past triumphs and tribulations

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

I'd watch it

[@Mewsfinder]

I would buy it

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

@@0_1_2 don't be an ass

[@potatojuice5124]

I’d like that

[@jovanweismiller7114]

I have a friend who almost starved to death during the Hunger Winter. He emigrated to Canada after the War. About 10 years ago, there was a commemoration of the liberation of the Netherlands in Edmonton, AB. There was a young woman carrying a sign that said simply, 'Thank You, Canada'.

[@dwyerjones4542]

"S for Sugar," one of the 17 surviving Avro Lancaster heavy bombers, now on exhibit at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, successfully completed 137 combat missions, and also participated in Operation Manna, and also POW repatriation (all info from Wikipedia). The Allied bomber crews who participated in the food drops over The Netherlands said that the deliveries of food, medicine, and other supplies were their favorite missions of the war. One Dutch farmer even cut these words into his field: "MANY THANKS YANKS." Mercy at the end of the world's worst conflict.

[@aklasseakte7173]

My father flew these missions on a B-17 bomber. It changed his life. Not just then, during the war, but many years later when the Dutch people invited the airmen back to the Netherlands and honored them for the missions. My father went to two of these "reunions". He could not believe the outpouring of emotion and gratitude from the Dutch people for a mission most Americans have never heard of.

[@PapaSeriaMikeRIP]

How tragic for that B-17 crew to die the day before the war ended because of an engine fire! The crews involved in Manna and Chowhound are truly selfless heroes who deserve to be remembered. Thanks for shining a light on yet another WW2 story I knew nothing about.

[@tad27612]

A friend of mine's father was one of the Dutch civilians who starved that winter and remembered the airdrops. He said they would boil the bark of certain trees and there were no pets or small wild animals like squirrels around as they were eaten.

[@allenwatkins4972]

@Miguel Mouta Mouta Then get them out instead of whining about it.

[@marcel84marcel]

@@allenwatkins4972 They've made their beds. Now they have to lay in them 👹

[@zeviono4562]

Yes my stepfather was a young teen living in Amsterdam at that time. He told us of he and his mother boiling up grass to eat as there was nothing else.

[@fourutubez7294]

@Miguel Mouta Mouta Two countries who have suffered from US policies .......

[@hamletksquid2702]

My German teacher told us that they dug up tulip bulbs and ate them, too. He was a child during the war, but he never forgave the SS.

[@roxanne4201]

My grandpa was 30 and my grandma 20 during this period. I remember when I was saying: 'I am starving' my grandpa used to say 'during the hunger winter we were starving, you are just hungry' Both were 93 when they died. They were not Jewish and had a good life, but the hunger winter was harsh! Thank you for this piece of history information about my country! Greetings from Haarlem, Netherlands

[@Mis-AdventureCH]

Reminds me of the winter of '93 in Sarajevo. If it hadn''t been for the UN and the tunnel it would have gotten way worse than it was, and it was bad. Everyone made these little stoves from oil cans and burned anything they could. Gorazde was another matter. Totally cut off and the Serbs weren't budging. A Canadian UN officer worked out an entire scheme to supply the city by air, got it approved, and US and British transports began the drops. It ultimately saved the city.

[@frankmontez6853]

Wooww something I'll look into

[@hrafnofthule5962]

My grandfather was a boy in winter 1944 in Holland, he told me they were starving, he became quite wealthy later and still never in my life did I see him waste food.

[@Tosti3]

My grandmother is 92 now, she still talks about the "hongerswinter".

[@koenjonker1283]

My grandfather lived in Amsterdam as a teenager during the war. He talked a lot about these drops, hungerwinter and the war in general. Unfortunatly he passed away last summer, im glad he told me all the stories. He took me and my brother to Normandy and museums .It made me the ww2 history geek i am today. He will be missed.

[@mikelowry1053]

My grandfather flew a Lancaster during operation Manna and dropped food to my future grandmother in law. She said she remembered the planes coming through a roof height.

[@freebeerfordworkers]

I saw a British documentary about this a few years ago and an agreement had been reached with the Germans that they would not fire on the aircraft. A Dutchman, who as a child at the time, told how he saw the aircraft coming over and when the German guns tracked them he was worried, but they did not fire. When he told the food beginning to drop even though it was 50 years later he broke down in tears at the memory.

[@nelsonde]

A small hint of humanity in an inhumane war.

[@blakelowrey9620]

Hello Nazi. Can't be a good history video without you lot coming out in the comments.

[@iriscollins7583]

@Ich Kämpfe Remember the population of the allied countries were also short if food. I can't can't ever remember corned beef being available, plus a lot of other food items. Everything was rationed. I often forget to buy eggs, all the eggs in our home were for my father, who worked in an Iron Foundry, no automation then. It was very heavy work. When he was in his early fifties he was told that he had the body if an eighty year old, due to the work he did.

[@BettercallSaul2005]

@@blakelowrey9620 communism is dead ideology

[@JDfabricacations]

@@montana6822 Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one. Let him have his opinion. No matter how ridiculous you think it is.

[@TheKamperfoelie]

Montana yeah, this is his life you know, as pathetic as it is, dont take it away from him..

[@mioutx]

My father, F/O Bernard Miller, flew Chowhound missions in May, 1945. He was a B-17 Co-Pilot with the 8th USAAF, 384th Bombing Group, 547th Squadron. Unfortunately he passed away when I was very young, but my mother retold his stories to me. It's nice to know they weren't just stories, but real history.

[@sanmarino5787]

Mark is the best historical KZbinr, breath if you agree

[@jglaneuski]

*Breathing intensifies*

[@kansascityshuffle8526]

I’m wheezing

[@klausr8700]

I'm on OXYGEN

[@RackHasAttacked]

Goerge Floyd :

[@getmeoutofsanfrancisco9917]

I agree, but I'm not going to breath for you. **Dies**

[@raypurchase801]

Back in the 90s I met a former RAF bomb aimer whose Lancaster participated in these food drops. He said it was very menacing, flying slowly at low altitude during daylight, with the German flak guns clearly visible and pointing at him.

[@daniellimach5787]

Just one of the few youtubers keeping history's flame lit and bringing light to so many brave men and womens stories

[@kdfulton3152]

Finally, someone who wants to save our glorious history, not destroy it to erase it, like what’s happening in the South. All over actually. We should learn from Russia on how to glorify your war warriors and workers. Look at their monuments to their sacrifices. 👍👍👏👏

[@sitkadiver40]

Farley Mowat wrote a book about his war experiences, "And No Birds Sang". It is certainly worth the time to read, I still have my copy for reference.

[@DaveGIS123]

Farley Mowat went on to a successful career as one of Canada's greatest authors. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_Mowat

[@denniswheeler448]

If 77

[@paxwallacejazz]

We are under the gross misconception that we are a good species going somewhere important and that at the last minute we will correct our errors and God will smile on us. It is delusion. Farley Mowat : He wrote this regarding the environment but it applies to war as well.

[@basilmcdonnell9807]

The Dog That Wouldn't Be. Should be on more people's shelves. Great kids' book.

[@patrickirish9427]

Farley Mowat is an excellent author. I'm Canadian, they made us read Lost in the Barrens (Two Against the North) in grade school. It honestly influenced my life forever, might sound silly but it made me want to be an independent man that knows how to look after myself and my family. Great man.

[@leary4]

My dad flew a few of those missions. He was a ground crewman in England at the time and said the flight crews and officers were pretty easy going about taking on ride alongs. He said they flew quite a lot of "red cross" missions. Wish I saw this twenty years ago, would have been good for a story I'm sure.

[@irish89055]

That would explain why there were 11 men on that bomber that crashed

[@ppl6660]

i could never think about how stressful the Canadian truck drivers were

[@istvansipos9940]

they were stressed. Their mission was stressful.

[@hamletksquid2702]

If you've ever had to drive a tractor trailer rig in Montreal, this wouldn't be so bad. At least the Germans weren't actually trying to kill them.

[@cramcrud]

@@hamletksquid2702 As a delivery driver in Montreal, can confirm.

[@freddymarcel-marcum6831]

@@hamletksquid2702 try taking a Kenworth from Ashland Kentucky to Chicago and back in ten hours per the ELD, no sir.

[@basilmcdonnell9807]

Compared to driving a truck under artillery fire? Dealing with roads that might be mined? No one shooting at you? They likely considered it easy duty.

[@thescrimman]

Thanks, Mr Felton. My grandpa was part of 'operation chow hound'...he was a pilot in the 390th squadron...the 'square J' squadron. It was nice to see the 'Square J' on the picture for the vid. He was very happy and proud to be part of that operation...nice to see y'all keeping it's memory alive.

[@TheKamperfoelie]

Sean Carney thanks man for your story

[@rickb1973]

When you can get the enemy to agree not to shoot at you....then you've won. When you've arranged this truce to deliver food to civilians....then you've confirmed that you're on the right side.

[@rickb1973]

@@RedRemover5000 Oh! Interesting! So you're saying that the Allies caused the food shortages in Occupied Europe?

[@Status1985Quo]

@@RedRemover5000 The Germans blockaded the western part of the Netherlands, not the Allies. As is explained in the video the Germans cut off food shipments from the agricultural parts of the Netherlands that weren't liberated yet (north and east) to the urban centres in the western Netherlands as a reprisal for a Dutch rail way strike during Operation Market Garden.

[@tuforu4]

@@RedRemover5000 are u french

[@oldesertguy9616]

@@RedRemover5000 I seem to remember The Netherlands tried to be neutral but Germany invaded anyway, even bombing Amsterdam's city center, with no military targets. But sure, the Allies caused it. Why not blame the Dutch while you're at it?

[@Arik-2103]

@@oldesertguy9616 that was Rotterdam actually. Amsterdam still has a very old city centre. Rotterdams centre is pretty much all high density

[@user-do3wt9sk7t]

I am 54 years old and I love history. Most of the videos in this channel is new and valuable information to me, although I have read a lot of books about World War II i first time know about most of the Stories , Mark, your voice is wonderful.

[@jeffmiller9999]

My Father's personal Flight logs contain 4 entries for "Operation Chowhound Missions" 390th BG 571st Squadron. He was very proud of those!

[@TheKamperfoelie]

Thanks man!

[@danielb7117]

One of the men who was sent by the Allies to discuss the Food Drops was Farley Mowat, who later became a prolific Canadian Author. The Dutch people are the kindest people in the world. They don't forget the sacrifices of the Allies for their Country. They are especially thankful for Canadian sacrifices, as I've seen at the cemeteries of Bergen-Op-Zoom, Groesbeek, and Holten. Thanks for the video Dr. Felton, Cheers Sir.

[@BrassLock]

Whenever my Dutch neighbour in S E Asia met a German for the first time he would say "Give me back my bicycle" as a kind of joking reference to his suffering as a child under German occupation. The German government requisitioned all metals needed to make armaments and recycled Dutch bicycles into tanks and guns.

[@EddyBunter]

The Dutch oranje hordes chant "My Grandfather Wants His Bicycle Back" when Netherlands play Germany at football.

[@BrassLock]

@@EddyBunter How very appropriate, but possibly _Politically Incorrect_ these days 🙄

[@harryeisermann2784]

none hahaha joke, from bicycles to tiger panzer, haha good joke, just german privates wanted get home. not walking, stole the bikes, simple, there was never an order from high command, haha dutch joke

[@kuo8088]

@@EddyBunter the Dutch people have very long memories, I see.

[@brustar5152]

surrendered Germans after war's end on the long march back to Germany were stopped frequently and had to relinquish all the loot including bicycles they'd stolen from the Dutch. There are pictures of piles of bicycles and suitcases stuffed with looted linens etc., beside the columns of German soldiers marching home.

[@auspilot6119]

Thank you so much Mark for covering this topic. My grandfather was a captain on the Lanc and flew in Operation Manna. He never talked about the war so all I have to go off is his logbook and some technical documents. There is a small section at the RAF Museum which has some info as well. Long time viewer, great to see your deserved success.

[@TrueBrit1]

My mum was born and brought up in a small village just outside Brighton, Sussex. She was 12 when the war started and always said the war years were the best time of her life, despite being really harsh as the Brits suffered too due to lack of food and therefore rationing was necessary which actually continued until 1953, but some things remained hard to get until the late 1950s! She was also from an incredibly poor family, often eating little for days - Brits had to sacrifice a lot as everything was for the war effort - the troops needed feeding too. We Brits are of course grateful for all of the allies' efforts, from the Yanks, to Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis, and many others. Here in the south of England we were deluged with troops from all over the world in preparation for D-Day. My mum said mainly around her area were Brits, Canadians and Yanks. The south of England was very much like one huge army base! There was a saying during the war, quite disparaging actually, about the Yanks - "The problem with the Yanks is they're overpaid, oversexed and over here". There were of course many very decent Americans that came over here, but my mum always said that saying came about because they often had an air of superiority about them, that they had money and lots of great food like chocolate & fruit, plenty of cigarettes, alcohol and could even get stockings for the ladies! Back then the women used to use an eyeliner to draw lines up the back of their legs to make it look like they had stockings on. Accordingly, she said many Americans strutted about quite loud and brash as though they ruled the place and while some girls liked their ways and appearance (with their well cut uniforms), many more did not - it was a time when women were far more modest and well behaved than today, so the 'advances' from Yank soldiers, who expected something in return for their 'help', were mostly not welcome, hence the saying "oversexed". My mum used to go to the pubs back then at 16 and she said there were fights almost every night between Brit and American soldiers, more often than not because of arguments over girls. My mum got friendly with a French-Canadian soldier when she was I think 16 or 17, which was not long before D-Day. She really liked him because he was respectful, like all Canadians were according to my mum, and didn't try "any funny business" as my mum used to put it. He eventually left to go over to France and for quite some time they exchanged letters as they got on so well. Then suddenly the letters stopped and she assumed he must have been killed in action. He was probably not even 20. She always said the Canadians were so warm, friendly, yet modest and quite reserved and incredibly generous and often gave away food to the locals as they had far too much that they could never eat it all! Now it has to be said that there were many similar Americans, but my mum always said the Canadians were a cut above the Yanks. She kept those letters from the Canadian soldier her entire life up until her death in 2013. Anyway, good video as always Mark.

[@davidberriman5903]

I am Australian and I find the saying about the Americans over there interesting because it was used here quite commonly during the war.

[@johnedwards1685]

My mum was at secondary school during the war. She has passed away now. All her life she was proud of the aircraft dropping food to the Dutch people, and of course some of those aircraft would have flown over our town on the mission. I doubt my mum ever met any Dutch people but I have been to Holland, and I find them to be absolutely lovely people, very friendly, very funny, very sociable and they all seem to be taller than me. Like my mum I’m so proud that the allies did something good to help those poor people in their time of need.

[@irish89055]

I'm an American I agree with some of that.. my father was one of the food drop pilots

[@jeroenarends5234]

Thanks for this, Mark Felton. My mother was a 14 year old at the time and she told me how she and her siblings and friends would try to scoop out the last bits of soup from the great barrels it was distributed from. Later during the winter she and a sister of hers walked for two days from Rotterdam to a place near Amsterdam where she had spent summers on a farm during WWII as part of a church programme that sent children away from cities to the countryside. On route they would stop at farms to ask for some bread. She spent the remainder of the winter and the war on the farm where she received good care. She is 90 years old today. About 25,000 people died during the last winter of the war. Seys Inquart (knicknamed "six and a quart") was a nasty fellow. A fanatic national-socialist who was PM of Austria when Germany took over the place in 1938. He later was active in Poland where he was brutal before he was sent to the Netherlands where is was equally brutal. Unlike most countries in occupied Europe, the Netherlands was under the administration of the SS, not of the Wehrmacht and that made the regime fanatically go after Jews and reappraisals were hard.

[@Martmns]

The late, prolific Canadian author Farley Mowat was one of the Canadians sent into the Netherlands to negotiate the Allied food drops with the German occupying forces. You might want do a bit of research on Mowat and his effort as he wrote extensively about this time and his personal involvement - and maybe consider doing a video about him.

[@ralphborat6655]

Ill directly get off the couch and do just that

[@hatseflats91]

this is one of the subjects that today most dutch people would never learn/know that happend. this was such an important part of the history for the Netherlands! i am glad that i learned about it in school. Thanks for these great videos, i hope that some people will learn about these important moments during the war. Greetings from the Netherlands!

[@BiggestNightmareJim]

Dit wordt nog steeds geleerd op school hoor.

[@christianmaas8934]

Farley Mowatt molded my childhood. I've never seen him in his uniform. I watched the movie and read the book Never Cry Wolf over 100 times...it literally shaped the person I am.

[@whhyyyyyyyyyy]

my grandparents lived through this eventhough they lived in the south of the country they always had vivid memories of the hunger winter

[@garrysmith898]

just shows you how infomative these videos are never heard of the this food blockade before.... so much sufferering and loss took place and never known or forgotten.... your work keeps reminds us of this horrific past so thank you for that

[@jorikrouwenhorst7220]

My grandfather told me that during the winter famine that people came all the way from the big cities in th west to his father bakery in the east of the country.

[@beerten202]

This is one of the many reasons we love the canadian veterans from ww2 Ofcourse we like the americans and british etc but we like the canadians bcs they went the extra long way in holland instead of the great prize of berlin I can also say that the dutch were so hungry that they started to eat flower seeds at some time

[@Mediatech492]

My grandfather was an artilleryman with 1st Canadian Army. He never said much about the war, but I remember as a young boy seeing him march with the veterans on Remembrance Day, and knowing he had been part of something very important.

[@sailorman7616]

Wow! A precursor to the Berlin Airlift! Never heard of these events! A humanitarian and heroic effort for the Dutch people.

[@krisfrederick5001]

A Bridge Too Far is such a great movie, with so much actual equipment still being available. Edit: Being hit in the head with a can of British beef from 400 ft can also be deadly.

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

To my recollection, they did not have such old airplanes, which is why they used Finnish airplanes. Even horses were used in Finnish military exercises still in the 1960s, so conservative during Kekkonen 's administration.

[@martydibergi5228]

@@jussim.konttinen4981 sadly for food too

[@bluetv6386]

Eating it is even more lethal.

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

@@martydibergi5228 Finnish meetvursti resembles the Dutch metworst. The package says it may contain horse parts, as if they were throwing random animals there.

[@buddha1736]

Everyone fearing starving to death only to die from British tin beef dropping from the sky. 😂😂😂

[@wasihafiz5291]

I wish I could study history under the tutelage of someone like dr. Felton.

[@MarkFeltonProductions]

You are! Just keep watching!

[@GregCocks_kiwi]

From the NYT: " The Dutch Hunger Winter has proved unique in unexpected ways. Because it started and ended so abruptly, it has served as an unplanned experiment in human health. Pregnant women, it turns out, were uniquely vulnerable, and the children they gave birth to have been influenced by famine throughout their lives. When they became adults, they ended up a few pounds heavier than average. In middle age, they had higher levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. They also experienced higher rates of such conditions as obesity, diabetes and schizophrenia. By the time they reached old age, those risks had taken a measurable toll, according to the research of L.H. Lumey, an epidemiologist at Columbia University. In 2013, he and his colleagues reviewed death records of hundreds of thousands of Dutch people born in the mid-1940s. They found that the people who had been in utero during the famine - known as the Dutch Hunger Winter cohort - died at a higher rate [~ 10% ] than people born before or afterward...."

[@mikeseigle5560]

I met the son of a Dutch resistance fighter. He baked bread for the German sailors and dutifully reported to the resistance the number of U-Boats in the port after every visit. He had a good idea of how many were ready for sailing and how many never returned.

[@SandsOfArrakis]

I remember my grandfather mentioning that the Dutch called Seyss-Inquart "zes en een kwart" 6 and a quarter. Cause he was quite short. My grandfather spent 3 years hiding in a haystack before the Northern part of the Netherlands were liberated. Apart from I know very little of that time, cause my grandparents never talked much about it. But I do know they hated the Germans ever since.

[@Calligraphybooster]

@beckys2222 Dear Becky2222, my father had every reason to. See my comment in the list. But he would have refrained from an uttering such as yours. And gladly, you are wrong.

[@DGill48]

My Dad's plane crashed in Mirns, near Leeuwarden. Three of the 10 man crew lived, and the underground resistance helped them. My Dad might not have lived without their help. They hid one other American for the duration of the war. The man who did much of this incredibly dangerous work also had to sleep outdoors, under a stickpile to avoid being sent to Germany for "war work". He moved to New Zealand in 1946; I went to NZ to thank him only days before he passed at 97. He was Leo Bult.

[@TheKamperfoelie]

beckys2222 yes, up till around the turn of this century I would say. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. Sentiment was pretty anti-moffen then. And rightly so I suppose for the people who were directly effected by the wrongdoings and atrocities. But nowadays it’s not there anymore. The germans I meet now are childern of the childern.

[@TheKamperfoelie]

Daniel Gill wow great story that thx

[@tonyberdal]

I knew an old airman who was a navigator on one of those Lancasters. He told me just that ..you could see the barrels of the flak gunners staring right at you. They couldnt miss at 100 feet but they never fired a shot. He said they dropped Ovaltine chocolate. .he had passed away now a wonderful man he told me this story many years ago facinating to see Mark Felton telling the same thing. Great work.

[@flyer11234]

Every high school history class should have mark Felton vids as a requirement and quizzes on them afterwards

[@philsosshep4834]

One thing about the Dutch people they've never forgotten the sacrifices that the allies made to liberate them from the germans and are eternally grateful. Unlike certain other nations that choose to forget. RIP Sergeant Robert Thompson, lest we forget

[@BLWard-ht3qw]

And here's another thing I've learned about this war that I had never heard of before, so informative. Thanks for posting.

[@marcbrown9413]

Thank you Dr. Felton. My Opa (who was active in the resistance), Oma, my mother and her sisters survived this.

[@HGmusiclist]

As a Dutchman, I really liked this episode. I did know of the airdroppings of the Commonwealth and later the USA, I did not know there where also trucks involved. It are the small details I pick up from your video's and I love it!

[@Corsaconcepts_]

I heard that this incident changed the Netherlands in a very huge way. Making their agriculture to innovate and advance further to what it is now. Glad Dr Felton covered this mission, thank you Mark. You make Me want to learn more and more.

[@ColinH1973]

Excellent presentation that puts a lot of in-depth flesh on the bones of the events. Thanks.

[@Duckless23]

Thank you for telling this story Mark. Like many others, my parents and their families went through this terrible time near the end of FIVE years of German occupation. Dad told me of eating rats and I also heard of people making soup from the protein in their hair which they boiled in water.

[@misterjag]

During WWI, the nation of Belgium was starving due to the German invasion and British blockade. Herbert Hoover helped organize a private relief effort. In almost three years, Hoover and the Commission for Relief in Belgium delivered 2.5 million tons of food to Belgian and French tables, feeding up to 9 million people each day, every day. The value of the relief in 2020 dollars was $4.3 billion.

[@eclecticmn4838]

That is why Hoover wanted the US to stay out of WWII. He never got over seeing all the starvation. He wanted to let Hitler and Stalin fight it out. He wanted to the US to come in after the war and feed the starving. He wrote some books only released long after the war, maybe around 2000 or 2010. BTW the US could have negotiated with the Japanese and stay out out of the war, but FDR wanted war.

[@hey_joe7069]

How'm I supposed to get off youtube and do something constructive with my life, if you keep posting these damn great videos every day ?

[@Otto45]

Always excited for Dr. Felton's uploads!

[@hurricano471]

As a Canadian, I’m pretty sure that the Netherlands sends us tons of flowers as a thank-you for liberation and the food drops

[@MarcusHelius]

Never change your intro music, it's one of the most iconic intros of all the history channels I watch :)

[@CarLos-yi7ne]

My grandfather was taken from Rotterdam and forced to work in the Ruhr area. My grandmother had to look after 3 kids, one of them was my father. My grandmother told me she went by bike to the farmers outside Rotterdam to get something to eat. My uncle and aunt were send out with only a spoon to get some leftovers from the pans at the emergency kitchens which were on certain point in the city (were they served soop with next to nothing in it).

[@ivywilliams9427]

good luck.hope you can still find someone who can tell more stories...and pls do share.

[@fakshen1973]

Through out all of that depravity there was at least some mercy. Thank you for yet another wonderful history lesson Mr. Felton

[@TheSafetySmith]

Now, that is a distinctively great history lesson we were never taught in our schools here in BC Canada. Well done Mark and thank you.

[@stephen4974]

Thanks for the video MARK FELTON, your videos has broaden my scope of understanding concerning WWII.