The Battle of Bremen (1945) - The Allied Invasion of Northwest Germany

The Battle of Bremen was one of the last battles during the Allied conquest of Western Germany. This battle is not very well known and I explain it as one of the forgotten WWII battles. The port city of Bremen had been bombed during the war. Now the British Army planned to capture this city. The German defenders weren't willing to hand them over Bremen and fought against the incoming British troops. Near the end of April the Germans surrendered the city and Bremen was now in Allied hands. Learn about the Allied Invasion of Northwest Germany.
History Hustle presents another forgotten WW2 battle: the Battle of Bremen (1945).
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SOURCES
- The Second World War (Antony Beevor).
- www.battlefieldtours.nu/blog/... (14-10-2022).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
BREMEN CAPTURED - NO SOUND
• BREMEN CAPTURED - NO S...
WW2 HQ Rare never seen before footage shows fierce fighting between Wehrmacht and Allied forces
• WW2 HQ Rare never seen...
American 1st Army - Aachen To The Roer River (1946)
• American 1st Army - Aa...
US Army Captures Frankfurt Drives Deeper into Germany March 1945 Footage
• US Army Captures Frank...
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MUSIC
"Crossing the Chasm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Freesound.org.
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[@HistoryHustle]

Battle of Breslau (1945) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn65poZvlM6bapo Battle of Leipzig (1945) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIfSmJqKaZ2UaZY Battle of Bautzen (1945) kzbin.info/www/bejne/naDTpnRqaNSAmpo

[@marcoskehl]

🇧🇷 👍

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Excellent, too many people forget or don't know about Bremen. It was the last sizeable battle of the western front in Germany. I have a book on this called Bloody Bremen by Charles Whiting. Thanks for bringing some attention to it. Regarding the preamble at the start of the video, all of the American campaigns of autumn 1944 failed to achieve their objectives. Lorraine, Hurtgen Forest, Operation Queen, Alsace, Vosges etc. They all failed. The only allied campaign in NW Europe in autumn 1944 to succeed in its objectives was Montgomerys Scheldt clearing campaign, and that was achieved with less than 1/4 the casualties of Patton's Lorraine failure. Cheers.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you for your reply.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

Thanks for your comment. I did not know this. My Dad fought in the Voges. He never said much. He had landed as a Green horn as part of Operation Dragoon( southern France). He said he contacted pneumonia. The said his fellow soldiers made a bed out of pine boughs & laid him in a German bunker as he had high fever & coughing. He said they did not have adequate clothing & the weather was cold,snowy & wet. All he really said was the Germans put up resistance there in the mountains & were good fighters.

[@tng2057]

I believe that the British had a mission to reach Denmark before the Soviets can reach there, hence the relentless efforts on the northern front in the last weeks of the Europe war.

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes, thanks for your reply. First 🥇

[@gumdeo]

As always, Churchill was already thinking about the post-war.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Well all of Denmark is east of the Elbe and thus fell in the Soviet sphere of influence for the post-war world. The Soviets liberated the Danish island if Bornholm. The Soviets landed on 9/5/1945 and left on 6/4/1946. As a foreshadowing of things that are unfolding now the Soviets decided that only Danish troops could be stationed on Bornholm, any other troops would be seen as a declaration of war against the Soviet Union. This stance was maintained after Denmark joined NATO.

[@finallyfriday.]

Note: once again it wasn't the British but the Canadians that save Northern Europe from the soviets but naturally England took full credit. Notice operational maps where Monty passed by almost every port town cuz he figured he could get supplies from the US by crying loud enough.

[@MrBagpipes]

​@Captain Blacktooth great observations

[@suzanned7472]

I so look forward to my Saturday morning history videos. You are the BEST Stefan. Thank you!

[@HistoryHustle]

Great Suzanne, thanks!

[@bigsarge2085]

Interesting!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@jokodihaynes419]

awesome video mate keep it up the lessons learned from operation market garden helped them in operation varsity

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply!

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Most wonderful documentary coverage about Bremen captured by British troops during WW2.. History Hustle always sharing remarkable, interesting history matters....allot thanks Sir Stefan..

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks!!

[@davidraper5798]

Another good video, well presented and well told. It's easy for people to forget that after D-Day there was still almost a year of hard fighting before the final surrender.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Yes, and after Eisenhower insisted on his broad front strategy, which completely failed, the allies got nowhere for 6 months.

[@davidraper5798]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Really? Then who was it chasing the Germans out of France and back to the German border following the Normandy breakout?

[@petemoss8625]

great vid as always, pity we could'nt of seen inside the bunker. BIG respect from Notts, UK.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Pete.

[@CalebNorthNorman]

This battle was not forgotten by Hustler 👍

[@HistoryHustle]

😎

[@matthewwhitton5720]

My word ! That bunker looks very imposing, Stefan !

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed it was.

[@Artur_M.]

Very cool. Since you are in the area, are you planning to visit Wilhelmshaven?

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks. No, couldnt made it. Had plans to visit Kiel and Lübeck. Was sick one day so didn't go.

[@Artur_M.]

@@HistoryHustle Maybe some other time. 😉

[@tedpilchak7096]

I love your delivery. Keep ‘em coming!

[@HistoryHustle]

💪😎

[@mammuchan8923]

Cool vid Stefan 😎

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks 😎

Awesome these on location videos specially when covering a not well known topic such as this battle. Great work Stefan!

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks as always!

[@Hillbilly001]

Another excellent video, Stefan. Thanks for the upload. Cheers.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks again Paul.

[@RickJZ1973]

Excellent presentation Prof. Stefan. This was quite interesting and informative. I really enjoy seeing the on site visits.

[@HistoryHustle]

Great to read Rick. Thanks.

[@kawythowy867]

INTERESTING STUFF!! Love history!

[@HistoryHustle]

🥈👍👍

[@shawnflynn1713]

Awesome video. Great piece of battle. And love the jacket.

[@HistoryHustle]

😎👍

[@nicktozie6685]

Great info great site

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks!

[@justanapple8510]

Cool video!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@aidankitson7877]

Thanks Stevie. I knew about Aachen where 'Werewolves' assassinated the mayor.I did not know anything about port city of Bremen

[@alswann2702]

I believe that assassination was carried out by SS paratroopers, not civilian werewolves.

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting topic as well.

[@jokodihaynes419]

28 men died trying to keep the Ludendorff Bridge from collapsing

[@HistoryHustle]

Didn't know this.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

Yes. M

[@shirleybalinski4535]

Yes. Most were engineers repairing the bridge when it suddenly collapsed. A large number were rescued from the river & from being injured in the fall or being pinned by steel.

[@sirdarklust]

Did you try the ding dong on bunker B31? Never know who may have answered... Nice video in a different style than the usual. Take it easy.

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

Bremen is on my list to visit. Think I'm going next spring. Thanks for the video! Greetings, T.

[@HistoryHustle]

The city itself I didnt like that much but living close to it you can pay it a visit.

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

@@HistoryHustle : hmm well, i'm curious anyway :-) i usually find some interesting spots. And i want to see Bremerhaven too. Just curious.

[@Jonesdude666]

@@HistoryHustle Really? I've studied in Bremen and found it be most beautiful. Many buildings survived WW2 and the city is filled with trees and parks.

[@xvsj-s2x]

Great history pop Stefan, I hope you received my support $$ last week ✌️❤ keep up the good work 👍

[@HistoryHustle]

I did. I am very grateful for it. Tha Thanks!

[@CARL_093]

cool bro good job

[@HistoryHustle]

Cheers!

[@CalebNorthNorman]

Incremental changes that don't disrupt the people and are done in such a way that though the people don't approve it's easier to look the other way and hope for the best.

[@IanS-80]

It was a pleasant surprise for me to see this history lesson, glad I did, my dad took part, he was a sniper with the King's Own Scottish Borderers. I have a list of the actions he took part in, he scratched them into a cigarette case he carried. I have a number of his wartime stories I captured on video, some of these are also on a military surplus forum. A very interesting excellent documentary. Ian S

[@HistoryHustle]

Hi Ian, very glad to read you enjoyed the episode. Respect for your father. I hope he lived a good life.

[@caroleminvielle9554]

I think my Dad was involved there, as a British soldier.

[@shawnflynn1713]

That is really important history. Very cool my friend.

[@justanapple8510]

Wow thats cool my friend!

[@st0rm_cr0w661]

my grandfather was involved in the ground forces, he loaded the 88 mm anti aircraft guns (he was a chef for most of the time when there weren't air strikes since he was training to become a chef before he was drafted)

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@vexintersect1312]

That hat goes so well with the jacket, 10/10

[@HistoryHustle]

👌😁

[@janporinchak5867]

Very interesting presentation. That bunker looks indestructible. Which, like the Berlin zoo towers, is probably why it's still there.

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed. Thanks for your reply Jan!

[@waynerobert7986]

My Great Uncle was there with 43rd Wessex Division. He was a Sgt in the Mortar Platoon of the 5th Battalion Wiltshire Regt. He'd fought from Normandy to Bremen and ended the war at Cuxhaven on the Elbe.

[@bennybundi9671]

I see some of the graffti I put on the bunker when I lived there haha.

[@jonmce1]

A friend of mine was in the Hitler youth towards the end of the war in Bremen. He had been assigned to an anti aircraft battery along with some regular soldiers. He told me one day he showed up and all the regular soldiers had dissapeared. Later in the day some Canadian soldiers showed up. They told the young boys manning the gun to hand over the belts holding up their trousers. The Canadians figured the boys could not get into much trouble if they were busy holding up their pants.

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting to read. Thanks for sharing.

[@nerozero8266]

👍

[@HistoryHustle]

🥉👍

[@brucehislop5860]

my grandad was in 8th Armoured Bgd and ended up at Bremen

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing. Did he ever share his experiences with you?

[@brucehislop5860]

@@HistoryHustle he died a few years after the war but I did get his military record researched by the regimental museum

[@justanapple8510]

@@brucehislop5860 interesting!

[@donrichie9411]

Looks impressive 173 air raids, but an internal Brittish report, august 1941, mentioned that only 1 out of 5 crews got their bombs within a 5 mile reach of the target. Bombing wasn't that effective, certainly not at the start of the war.

[@HistoryHustle]

Early in the war the raids caused limited damage indeed.

[@riponhobbs]

My dad’s family (born 1936) was bombed out of his house in Bremen. He said he used to run daily to a bomb shelter on Hasteter Heer Strasse. He was there during the bombing on the last day of the war. I can’t find any info on it. He thought the shelter held 3,000 people. I’m having a hard time imagining that. Anyone know more?

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@coling3957]

Bremen chose to resist. And suffered for it. Chastened, the defenders of Hamburg chose differently and another set piece battle avoided.

[@HistoryHustle]

Actually there was a battle for Hamburg but this was more token resistance.

[@coling3957]

@@HistoryHustle right :)

[@alswann2702]

Was that bunker a flak tower? As an American I've heard the Hurtgen forrest referred to as the meat grinder but I've never heard Achen called America's Stalingrad. What I heard frequently from my WW2 veteran father was that, "If we could've just got Monty to fight on the German side, we could've won the war a whole year earlier!"

[@HistoryHustle]

Perhaps the Stalingrad comparison was made later. Or by KZbinrs like Armchair History 😅

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Oh please. The American failures of autumn 1944 were far worse than Market Garden. The Hurtgen Forest, Lorraine, Operation Queen etc all failed. Then the Americans fell asleep in the Ardennes and suffered 90,000 more casualties. The irony is that they had to turn to Montgomery for help and Eisenhower gave two American armies to take over because Bradley and Hodges wasn't up to it. The fact is, Montgomery was the most successful Western Allied ground commander of WW2 by some way. He took more ground through more countries while facing more quality German opposition than any other Western Allied ground commander in WW2. Nobody did more to help win the ground war in the west than Bernard Montgomery.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

And if it wasn't for Eisenhower insisting on his broad front strategy, which bogged the allies down and got next to nowhere for 6 months (with even an American retreat included) the war would have been over sooner. Montgomery favoured a concentrated very powerful 4 army (1 British, 1 Canadian and 2 American) single northern thrust in autumn 1944, centred on Aachen and then to the Ruhr and beyond without wasting men and material in the Lorraine, Alsace, Saar, Hurtgen etc. The Germans such as Gunther Blumentritt agreed with Montgomery and said the Germans would not have been able to stop such a powerful concentrated northern thrust. Instead, Eisenhower chose to disperse all the allied armies separately along 500km of frontage, taking away the basic military strategy of a concentrated battering ram when the enemy is weak. Instead of kicking down the door into Germany by smashing against one place, Eisenhower chose to tap on it all over. This utterly failed.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

As an American, I will except your basic premise of your argument. The rebuttal I will propose to you is two fold. How much did Churchill have his fingers in these decisions? Am I off base by suggesting that Monty was involved in " requesting" the 2 additional American armies. Monty was well known for not engaging( totally) until he had every vehicle, ration, bullet & soldier in hand & lined up. American forces were not happy with the decision, Eisenhower was not particularly happy, as he preferred to replace commanders not armies. Monty & Ike had a testy relationship as Monty was rather prickly to work with.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

@@lyndoncmp5751 ...one other thought. Yes, we all could have gone in one door, your battering ram hypothesis. That may have worked. Military strategy also requires a " spread out" plan once you have entered. Whether the Allies went in as one( North to South) or West to East, they still would have been required to spread out to subdue Germany as a nation. By adapting Ike's plan of West to East on a front, there was no need to continually worry about your flanks or an enveloping from behind by the enemy, as would have been a scenario using Monty's North to South alternative. The exception was the Ardennes. That was the weakest point in the front & guess who was guarding that northern flank.

[@madraven07]

I like that the western allies attacked in alphabetical order (Aachen, Bremen…). So orderly.

[@HistoryHustle]

lol

[@straffevlaarhoven]

They could beter have chosen Berlin then...

[@war.thundergp1434]

Im from Bremen

[@grahambell5340]

I recognise the Union Flag on the maps ,but what on earth is the other flag, supposed to be German ? Neither the German national flag nor the battle flag looked like that strange invention, which was never flown

[@jduff59]

Those flak towers were built to last 1000 years.

[@HistoryHustle]

Built to last yes.

[@luispalou217]

I follow your channel for many months. It is very interesting but of course War in Ucrania is more interesting. Glory to the heroes. Slava Ukraini.

[@HistoryHustle]

I can imagine. This channel is about history though.

[@luispalou217]

@@HistoryHustle : I do not agree completely. War in Ukraine is live History. The fall of Kherson that happened a few days ago will be part of History books for centuries. There is a KZbin channel in Spanish (Bellumartis, Bellum Artis, excellent) that shows videos about war in all periods of History, many videos on Roman Legions and many videos on War in Ukraine as well. I strongly recommend Bellumartis and History Hustler, both are excellent.

[@nbnlryo2713]

i live in bremen

[@marianalewaja6119]

Could you do a video about jewish collaboration with germans and austrians and jewish role in these crimes.

[@HistoryHustle]

There wasnt

[@marianalewaja6119]

@@HistoryHustle yes there was judenrats ghetto jewish police jewish kapos jewish sonderkommandos. Jewish bankers borrowed money to germany for purchase of arms.

[@nikkibaugher9573]

Blah..Bremen, always wet and cold.

[@HistoryHustle]

Not my fave city.

[@valdasendriulaitis50]

I’m curious to know why you don’t use maps describing events during World War II with the actual political borders that exist during the period that you speak of. Can’t help but notice that your maps don’t reflect the fact that with the official French surrender in 1940 The French government surrendered to Germany former German elsass-Lothringen( known in English as Alsace-Lorraine ) as well as maps reflecting the fact that with the Anschluß of 1938 which was the factual will of the Austrian people , Austria was reunited with its Innate German fatherland and a few months later by international agreement the Sudetenland was also reunited with its German fatherland. If you’re a teacher of history, you should know that you should be using Maps that reflect the political boundaries of the period that you’re speaking of !

[@HistoryHustle]

I use the maps that I have.

[@finallyfriday.]

Too bad the Canadians were encumbered by the British and Monty. Monty passed by every port town and the Canadians did all his fighting. The colonials should have made England subjugated to them instead of England enslaving half the world, wonderful little nazis they were.

[@AngloSaxonVanguard]

Absolute nonsense 😂 you British hater. And by the way Canada was 11 million people in 1940

[@RogerPalmer-pi9yb]

Same Canadian Army who had to be reinforced with British divisions as they never had enough troops to be an actual army by themselves. Go look up the order of battle of the Canadian army filled with British divisions in the battle for the low country. It was ever a Canadian army by name only.

[@finallyfriday.]

@@RogerPalmer-pi9yb Just like Monty had to be constantly reinforced by the US. Failaise, MarketGarden and even at the Battle of the Bulge out on the defensive on the north shoulder of the salient he had to be given US divisions to do so but his "spin" was that he had to take control of US units to win the battle. No, once again the Americans had to send him reinforcements cuz even just camping out was too much. And he constantly had to be helped by the Australian, New Zealand, South African, Polish, Canadian, etc etc units to get anywhere. Incompetence at its zenith.