In the Footsteps of the US Forces Who Stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day | With James Holland & Al Murray

[@deano6912]

Love this format. 2 mates chatting between themselves while we all tag along. Great stuff!

[@WW2WalkingTheGround]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@wbertie2604]

One of my old friends has been to Normandy several times and I have not. If we went it would be the same except we'd take thermos flasks and practice our chair assembly. 😊 Although when we were at Duxford last, mine collapsed 😮

[@martinhodgson2303]

Can't comment on every video in this series but I feel like doing so! Such an amazing piece of work guys, thank you. So informative and love the interaction between you making the history come alive. A fitting tribute to the brave men who stormed these beaches all those years ago. More videos guys, you could do the whole of WWII in Europe! And then WWI!

[@WW2WalkingTheGround]

Wonderful to hear! Thank you for watching

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Excellent and Outstanding!!!!

[@adriang6259]

I walked that beach. Shockingly wide killing zone. I always wondered about the proximity between beaches. I mean, if you're on the very edge of one beach and someone's calling for support on the neighbouring beach, how much trouble would it have been to just pop over? But it is a bit of a drive between locations. Fantastic series, blokes.

[@lucaamedeowilber1557]

Al & James are simply the best!

[@martynmcnulty782]

I have visited Omaha Beach ! a very humbling experience 😢

[@mookrage]

If these two had a baby it would be a cross between david stirling, churchill and stephen fry. That's a world I want to live in

[@tonydrapper3589]

I’m not sure if that is an image I want in my brain 😳

[@mookrage]

@@tonydrapper3589 no.....in your man womb

[@eisaatana96]

Stephen Fry is a dick. Stop idolising him.

[@borderreiver1555]

What a weird thought time for your meds

[@borderreiver1555]

And the 31 people on your ward

[@Xyzabc998]

Thanks for the nuance, perspective and the view from the opposition.

[@RJVEK]

Love you two! You MUST have a TV series- so watchable. I holidayed in Malta a few times. First time I read Fortress Malta and went to find some of the key sites. I then read Warby’s War on the back of that and loved it. On my bookshelf are a range of Jim’s books that I’m looking forward to reading and at the the moment loving Turning the Tide in the West. Thanks so much for enriching my life through history. My grandad was shot fighting down to Caen and I think was a captain in the Buffs but could have been the Middlesex regiment. I wish I was brave enough as a child to ask him about it but my mum said he never spoke about it.

[@Moto_Miles]

Incredible piece. It just brings to mind how much your fortune depended on where you happened to beach. You need to bring back John McManus for round 2 to bring out even more.

[@InTheFootstepsofHeroes]

James, the pak 43 is still in the casemate at Vierville sur mer. There were two, one ate each end. The one at Vierville, WN72 caused horrendous damage on landing craft and tanks.

[@WargamingHistory]

One at the Coleville end also in WN58

[@siras2]

You're correct and James is definitely wrong - 8.8cm PAK - and, as you say, the original gun is still in situ, I've seen it.

[@ericUtr]

Yup, i was there last week. There's a PAK43 in that bunker for sure.

[@dragons123ism]

@@siras2 Is it a matter of confusion between 88mm Flak and 88mm PAK? Generally when people talk about an '88' they're only thinking of the flak gun. I'm not defending James, but is that the source of the confusion?

[@siras2]

@@dragons123ism I doubt it, James is pretty clued up on this stuff so is unlikely to get the two types mixed up. In this case I think he's just got his facts wrong. As far as I can ascertain, there were two x 8.8cm PAK (wheel-mounted, but situated in bunkers) at opposite ends of Omaha. One at Vierville facing east and one at Colleville facing west.

[@LukeEdwards-x8c]

So loving this series ❤😊 after listening to the podcast on trains, planes and in automobiles it’s lovely to see the chaps walking the ground 😊

[@WW2WalkingTheGround]

Great to hear!

[@justanothercreator7273]

this is like Top gear....for WW2 buffs...great stuff

[@belbrighton6479]

Brilliant episode. I really appreciate walking the ground.

[@ronswanson8155]

I was on that beach back in February and as you guys rightly said, it’s tough trying picture the absolute carnage on that day compared to the tranquil beautiful place it is now, sun shining, dogs walking.

[@TimVS1]

Walked these beaches last week. Highly recommended although a long walk! Great to see the history described in the places we visited

[@robertJ14]

Must be hard for these 2 not to descend into an obscure WW2 fact/story competition. Can imagine a scenario like the Four Yorkshiremen sketch. "Well i met a tommy with one eye on a desert island who said he stole Rommel's jeep" etc.

[@borderreiver1555]

I locked eyes with colonel von luck whilst both of us were shitting in a hedge without words we both decided to pretend we hadnt seen each other and crawled past each other to get back to our own lines His shit stunk but he did gag when he passed mine

[@SteveBonas]

Absolute top notch fellas.With these vids & we have ways,I am so grateful.We afflicted bow to your excellence 👏🫶🙏

[@igorGriffiths]

Great to see these two finding their feet with this series, best episode so far

[@WW2WalkingTheGround]

@@igorGriffiths Please recommend to everyone you think would enjoy!

[@richardnorris3095]

Excellent guys 🤩👍🏻

[@WW2WalkingTheGround]

Thank you 😀

[@jc-d6179]

Very good work gents.

[@hamsteronthepaintingtable6465]

Keep it coming chaps, really looking forward to the next chapter 😊👍

[@WW2WalkingTheGround]

@@hamsteronthepaintingtable6465 If you haven’t seen it yet, Omaha: Defending The Beach also went live today.

[@hamsteronthepaintingtable6465]

@@WW2WalkingTheGround thank you I completely missed that, very much appreciated ❤️👍

[@bullrogtv6152]

Brilliant as always but Im afraid I'm going to need to disagree with James RE the 88 at WN72. The casemate almost certainly had a PAK43/41 88mm in it.

[@InTheFootstepsofHeroes]

Yeah, it’s still inside. Odd he thinks otherwise. You can’t miss it.

[@connorhaberland4314]

@@InTheFootstepsofHeroesI’m a big fan of James Holland’s work, but I do think he tends to underplay just how bad Omaha beach was. In some episodes of their podcast he almost makes it seem like everything was sorted out within an hour, but really in the heavily defended sectors of Omaha, it would be hours before draws were broken open and even then the beach wasn’t entirely secured until later in the day. There was still pockets of resistance firing on the beach into the evening. Holland has tried to say that “Bloody Omaha” is a myth because of the fact that resistance varies depending on the sector, but try telling a veteran of Dog Green, Easy Red and Fox Green that. I think they would say that the name is very accurate!

[@andrewflindall9048]

Al's right - it was an 88 in the big bunker at WN72. And it still is...

[@MrRugbylane]

I hate to be picky but its not an '8.8cm but rather its a 5.0cm gun at Wn72

[@TheBritishLegions]

Superb stuff, at last I feel Im getting to know Omaha more & more after the confusion there on 6 June 44. Its essential to walk the ground here

[@PaulDouglasDouglas97]

I been there there some great views can't wait for the next one

[@donb1183]

There is an 88 at western end of the beach. It's still there

[@adamdavidson4089]

Fascinating. Not quite a clear as you might wish. Too many numbers describing the units and placements. Also if the only two tanks to make it to shore did so at the west end, how did they take out the 88 on the east end? What did the 88 succeed in taking out between 6:30 and 7:10?

[@RedFiveScaleModels]

Managed to get to 6mins before Saving Private Ryan gets a mention. 🤣

[@JamesToms-s7y]

Cracking war waffle chaps - keep it up

[@johnfanning9185]

There IS an 88 at D1 Exit.

[@twobyfour]

I may be wrong, but I think Sub Lt Jimmy Green`s flotilla landed A Company 116th a little further East to where James is pointing. I seem to remember one of the survivors mentioning a PaK 50 or 75 in the main casemate at D 1 being some distance off to the right.

[@andrewflindall9048]

And did they lose an LCA to mortar fire? I thought they just lost one that got swamped, then they picked up nearly all the GIs on the way back?

[@twobyfour]

@@andrewflindall9048 Yes, one of the flotilla was lost to swamping in the heavy swells. Sub Lt Jimmy Green and his crew rescued all but one (an RTO I believe) on return.

[@andrewflindall9048]

@@twobyfour Thanks. Always good to know that bits of the brain still work.

[@InTheFootstepsofHeroes]

Some were right infront of WN72 and the D1 exit. The 5cm kwk was taken out by landing craft, Gun on approach, according to Jimmy Green.

[@twobyfour]

@@InTheFootstepsofHeroes Thanks for the heads up. I going to re read his account, he certainly had an interesting perspective on that morning.

[@brianjames3849]

There is a pack anti tank gun in that bunker, its still there

[@WargamingHistory]

Only B company suffers the tank losses in the ocean 3 are landed, one knocked out immediately, A coy land 14 tanks and 7 dozers. None of A coy make it through the day. Gap is a lot wider today at WN72

[@Mycenius]

Just adding to comments re: Pak 43/41 ATGs (88mm) - all the documentation has always shown there were 2 of these on the beach, in bunkers, one at WN61 the other at the other end at WN72.

[@neilbone9490]

Why didn’t the Americans create their own equivalent of British 79th Armoured Brigade of specialised vehicles?

[@wbertie2604]

It was a new concept not entirely proven. When sufficiently convincingly demonstrated to the US generals, they were on UK chassis apart from a few exceptions. The options then were to develop USA versions (not enough time), train US troops to use Churchills (DD training was late, with deadly results; would need new radios); use parts of 79th - not enough in the 79th to cover it. With respect to the AVRE, the two suggestions were the DD in the water, direct fire, and/or M4A3E2 with 105 howitzers with the potential for greater reuse.

[@Paratus7]

How many times does Mr. Holland touch his hair?!

[@martinjones3519]

James, you need a haircut/net or a hat!