The Longest Day Erich Marcks

[@snowblind9065]

love the little wry smile and shake of the head ..a little vindication for himself and probably a little nod for Ike for taking him total by surprise for taking such a gamble..great scene from a classic movie

[@fredmertz8538]

He was to play Eisenhower in the war game, and his plan was to invade at Normandy instead of Pas de Calais. He loved being right.

[@matthiasnialki6126]

Joo !!!👍👍👍

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

Macks' little smile at the end pretty much says, "Eisenhower you mad dog, you actually went through with what I thought you would if I believed you were crazy enough".

[@ciroalb3]

but why would they ever have thought that Ike made the invasion plan? That was done by others and confirmed by the Combined Chiefs, Ike's job was simply to administer and coordinate it

[@jedimasterdraco6950]

@@ciroalb3 It wasn't so much Ike making the plan, but rather Ike having the audacity to go through with such a risky plan. He might not have come up with it, but he was the one to determine what plan the allies would use. Mack didn't think Ike would be so bold, he was wrong.

[@ciroalb3]

I think what the Germans never anticipated was the sheer scale of the invasion@@jedimasterdraco6950

[@chestersleezer8821]

True and it was actually what he was going to do at the War Games so in a way he won and lost. He was killed in an Allied air attack six days later on the 12 June.

[@kaycey7361]

​@@chestersleezer8821😢🎉 🇩🇪

[@jennifersman7990]

I like how he surmises about how a diversion is created for a reason, he KNOWS something big’s going on

[@leftcoaster67]

Logical general. Best one's know what the enemy is thinking.

[@stevetheduck1425]

To confuse your enemy: diversions that are false, that are reported to the enemy leaders, behind the diversions are the real attacks, which are then reported and contradict what the enemy leadership now believe. A true double-bluff.

[@dbhhattac]

Using the dialogue in native German, these scenes have been so much natural. It is just mind blowing. I watch these clips over and over again. Peter Munch is a terrific actor (played Eric Marks)

[@None-zc5vg]

A memorable performance that I saw on the big screen sixty years ago.

[@jdestefa1]

And his character is wearing an Iron Cross.

[@None-zc5vg]

Munch was impressive and believable as the General: great acting.

[@johnholliday5874]

Refreshing. As it was in "Das Boot" and Downfall.

@@jdestefa1 Knights Cross.

[@charlesfiscus4235]

One my favorite scenes in the movie.

[@Frankie-O]

All favorite scenes with Marcks.

[@1987MartinT]

Marcks was the toughest and most brilliant German corps commander in the Normandy campaign.

[@NYCYankInTexas]

Yes but he had nothing to work with commanding LXXXIV - the only regular German division at the beaches was where the Americans landed at Omaha (352nd) . The other two German static divisions were old men, Russian volunteers (Ostbataillonen) and Hitler Youth with no actual battle experience.

[@jmay35801]

Also made up of POWs from Russian front

[@ralphraffles1394]

NYCYankInTexas Hitler youth were part of 21st Panzer division including Panzer Lehr(crack) unit, all facing the Brits and Canadians.

[@NYCYankInTexas]

@@ralphraffles1394 I never spoke about 21 Panzer- I talked about two of the static infantry divisions stuck in place on the beaches. The 21 Panzer was destroyed in North Africa and reformed in France where it did nothing for ten months. 21 Panzer wasn't on the beach- Feuchtinger was 20 miles southeast of Caen. They were SLAUGHTERED in airstrikes and took three hours to move 10 miles. Hermann Oppeln-Bronikowski and Colonel Joseph Rauch commanded the best units. The 1st Battalion of Rauch's regiment managed to hit the seam between the British and Canadian landing forces and reach the sea- and then realized that they were fucked. They got pounded from the air, sea and both flanks. .

[@HydroSnips]

@@ralphraffles1394 Hitler Youth were the 12th SS Panzer, an SS unit. Lehr and 21st Panzer were the Heer, the regular army. The distinction is important, especially when it comes to equipment, experience and composition.

[@andyhowpog]

Clever General, he knew his stuff.

[@Frankie-O]

He always won because went against the rules.

[@pmcmanus420]

At the end, as he looked at the map, you could just see Marcks saying to himself, "Eisenhower, you magnificent b*****d!"

[@Frankie-O]

Patton read every book.

[@Maria7162]

I wnt to St Lô in 2004,I liked very much to be in Normandy,we visited all the beaches where the allies landed.It was great to see all those places.

[@PlymouthVT]

I was 8 years old when my Dad took me to see this movie when it came out. It was the most exciting thing I had ever seen. Which in retrospect in later years was strange as he was a Koren War First Cav war vet and never said one single word about his war experience. Not a word to me or my older brother.I leaned later as I grew up vets don't like talking about there war experience. My wife's Dad a real big tough guy was in the Anzio Invasion in WW2. Not a word.

[@punyaps]

I agree. My father , ww2 vet, would have been in on the invasion of Japan. Never saw action. Talked about his experience on end. My brother saw action in Vietnam. Hardly a word and you had to pry.

[@Setebos]

Love that little look of satisfaction at 4:26. Even though it meant bad news for the Germans, Marcks had to feel at least a small bit of smug satisfaction knowing his tactics were working.

[@aldebaran19752000]

Marcks planned the draft plan for Barbarossa (the invasion of Sovjet Russia) too

[@rsattahip]

Setebos Smart people like him weren't Nazis but still had to serve their country.

[@NYCYankInTexas]

@@aldebaran19752000 Yes and No- His plan was meant to engage the Red Army and force them to fight a prolonged battle- he correctly detailed the poor roads and logistical nightmare that invading Russia meant- his plan called for the main drive to be aimed right at Moscow. He predicted that this was the one target that Russia would defend as long as they could with everything they had. As it was- in Barbarossa- you had three AG's and instead of putting the pressure of Moscow and making it the key focus of the invasion- Hitler diverted his main strength north and south at Yelnya.

[@Vurmashin]

@@NYCYankInTexas If you wonder why, just look at what happened to Napoleon on Berezina. If you don't cover your flanks you will be flanked.

[@Vurmashin]

What do you think what would a million and a half soviet soldiers in Kiev do while you are attacking Moscow. Sit there???

[@danschneider9921]

The detail of having Marcks have a limp and a mechanical sound when he walked was brilliant. Marcks had lost a leg on the Eastern front.

[@lordeden2732]

I have a leg calipers which make the same sound. And I walk as if they Are artificial prosthetic legs. Shot by our wonderful allies the Americsns

[@ricardovelasco3976]

Great Authority and Screen Presence.

[@dorianedwards8522]

Marcks was one of the true strategic thinkers that the German's had in 1944. He was a fantastic Offensive general, but defense was not his area of expertise. He was smart though, he figured it out very quickly. He was the one who's arguments got the tanks freed up, but he died before he could see the result. His quick thinking kept the American's and British penned up for almost a month. But in the end, material won out. When you can throw unlimited resources at a project, you can't lose.

[@tkengathegrateful4844]

"The sinews of war are infinite money." Cicero

[@matthiasnialki6126]

👍👍👍

[@JamesWhite-lj3jm]

The British had been bled dry, and the US had to start cannibalizing divisions and using Combat Engineers as infantry replacements, some "unlimited resources". Maybe Adolf and Benito shouldn't have declared war on the US...

[@davidgudlaugson528]

Very impressive summation. Thank you.

[@DunedinMultimedia2]

The Allies out-thought them and out-fought them. Germany started the war with the biggest army and the biggest air force and still lost.

[@gregschultz8639]

If there’s one thing war movies have taught me, it’s always to trust the eccentric old officer with a cane.

[@kaycey7361]

I also like to express my fondness in that particular characterization .

[@lordeden2732]

In this case he was real

[@jimvanlieshout7657]

At 3:19 mark, the soldier holding the parachute is also in the movie, The Train, another too often overlooked WW2 film. He played an underground person who played the role of a German soldier who had to keep guard of Bert Lancaster at one of the fake RR stations. I highly recommend the film and for the performance of Wolfgang Priess as Major Herein.

[@formwiz7096]

My favorite character and my favorite line. "When you create a diversion , it's for a reason". Nobody was fooling hard old General Marcks. In die Normandie. He knew all along.

[@wbl5649]

I'm reading the book now, have never seen the movie...I'll rent it after I'm done with the book, looking forward to it ! the book is excellent

[@Frankie-O]

📖

[@prestonyoung1000]

The Birthday Cake was Beautifully Decorated.

[@Frankie-O]

🎂

[@belamoure]

French patissiers at their best!

[@carstenbrossmann6707]

Dieser Film hat "unseren" Blick in den 1970er Jahren auf die Wehrmachtführung wesentlich geprägt!!

[@blockmasterscott]

Those guys throwing stuff in the fireplace always reminds me of William Shatner deciding to abandon the moon base in Airplane 2 lol!

[@briancollins1579]

Marcks has enough discipline in his manner to fill 3 Germans...

[@jameshorn270]

By this time in the war, loyalty to Hitler trumped competence, and some really good generals such as Guderian were sidelined. There's that word again, and in context -- Trump BTW Marcks was fatally wounded in an air attack a little over a month later.

[@rsattahip]

This movie was a masterpiece because the Germans were not portrayed as idiots or all evil.

[@pittsburghpirate58]

Ya!!

[@jmay35801]

@@rsattahip excellent point

[@FIREBRAND38]

@@jameshorn270 Try six days later. Who are these really good generals sidelined now in context? Hillary & Bill are the ones maintaining Enemies lists. Give it a rest.

[@rbilleaud]

Erich Marcks was a brilliant strategist. Too bad for the Germans that he died in a air attack less than one week after the invasion.

[@cethegus0815]

Not really, because at that time the war was already lost for Germanyand even 100 men of his kind could not have changed that.

[@sirhumphreyappleby8399]

Rob Billeaud - no but who knows how hard he could have made the war for the allies - luckily the bocage was just behind the beaches

[@AudieHolland]

Luckily the Waffen SS had 16-year old soldiers who fought with more conviction and fanatiscm than any veteran soldier did.

[@WilloSNoack]

General Marcks had made the first plan against the Soviet Union namend "Barbarossa". Hitler let General Paulus, the commander of the 6th army, to complete and fullfill this plan, because Marcks had warned Hitler, to attack the superior USSR, which would become the new ally of Great Britian. Therefore Marcks was sent to France and the stupid Hitler lost the war.

[@mxplk]

@@WilloSNoack So everything worked out for the best, Ja?

[@kennethworde862]

A GREAT movie

[@Frankie-O]

'62 was the year where they were, in '73, on American Graffiti.

[@Mokkari77]

The actor playing Marcks would play Col. General Jodl, Hitler's chief of staff in six years later in PATTON.

[@zichen5223]

Mokkari77 his name was Richard Munch

[@jasonking6892]

Great movie

[@hoodoo2001]

Marcks knew they were not ready, but it didn't matter. Eisenhower's plan was not based on brilliant tactics but basic planning and logistics that created an unstoppable machine. Nothing was going to stop the invasion from succeeding. The uncertainty was nerve wracking on an individual basis but the invasion implementation was sound. The Allies had Air Superiority and an overwhelming force. Had the Germans stopped one beach the others would have still succeeded. The fact that the allies were delayed for only one day on one beach shows how overwhelming the force was and how weak the Germans were. At no time in the allied offensive were the Germans able to retake contested ground. They slowed the allies down for a short while in the bocage country, but at the cost of losing virtually all their armor in the West while the allies just got stronger.

[@joangratzer2101]

GERMANY WAS FIGHTING AGAINST THE WORLD; 26 NATIONS YOU LITTLE SHIT, WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU TOOK ON AN OVERWHELMING TASK YOU SLIMY MAGGOT.

[@moboutmen]

Notice how his voice speeds up around 0:45. Play that part at 3/4 speed. It looks and sound more normal.

[@troy9477]

One of my favorite movies. I like how the directors show things from various perspective. We are lucky Hitler was going crazy and micro-managing by this point. His failure to release the reserve tanks (and his staff being unwilling to wake him because of his screaming fits) was a big factor. If the many competent, astute commanders had bern allowed to do as they thought best, they may have fought us to a standstill in June and July of 1944. That would have meant prolonged bombing until we could muster the men and resources for a new land campaign. Also, nuclear weapons may have been used, resulting in more death and destruction. The war likely would have dragged on until 1946, with even more loss of life. The Holocaust would have continued that whole time too.

[@whiteknightcat]

Very true, both sides were working on nukes at the time.

[@jerseycitysteve]

@@whiteknightcat The Germans were never even close to nuclear weapons. Also don't forget, simultaneously with D-Day the Red Army was winning in the East.

[@whiteknightcat]

@@jerseycitysteve I said they were working on them, as in researching their development.

[@rutabagasteu]

One of the US atomic bombs was slated to be dropped on Berlin, Germany, but the Soviets got there before the bomb was ready to be dropped. So both were dropped on Japan. I saw that in one documentary. Not certain how accurate it is.

[@troy9477]

@@rutabagasteu I think our bombs were not even ready until Germany was about to fall, or even afterward. I forget when the Trinity test was. But the bombs were shipped to Tinian, and i imagine they did not sit around for very long before they were used.

[@tdunphy13]

Man the Germans had good looking uniforms.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

They were designed by German fashion designer Hugo Boss.

[@taroman7100]

This is true. They could be so gracious and charming but deadly killers.

[@kennynovak4423]

Although my brother liked to claim that "The side with the best looking uniforms usually loses."

[@heighwaysonthewing]

yes nothing but the best Hugo Boss fact straight up ! .

[@heighwaysonthewing]

@@taroman7100 just well dressed murders , a bit like the Tory party , but with a bit of style and less cruel.

[@westlock]

There is a bit of foreshadowing at 4:06 . Six days later Marcks was indeed killed when his car came under aerial attack.

[@nickmitsialis]

Yes. If I remember correctly (and I might well be wrong) General Marcks had lost a leg earlier in the war (or in WW1), and with his artificial leg he couldn't get out of the car in time to avoid the attack from the Typhoon.

[@AudieHolland]

He lost his leg on the Eastern Front.

[@TheoRainerbald]

​ @@nickmitsialis

[@xraywatch1943]

I wonder if there was an edit in this film after the scene where a german soldier tells Gen Marcks that the main road was under air attack because this is how he died. He was going to inspect the front and his car was strafed and he receive a wound in his remaining good leg and bled out on the side of the road.

[@AlfredBernasek-nf4yo]

EINER DER BESTEN GENERÄLE

[@TheWuschelMUC]

Hat es was genützt?

[@kenherrera2819]

General Marcks was only days away from his death on June 6th...his birthday. He was wounded in an allied air attack on June 12th, six days later, and died of his wounds the same day.

[@kirkjiao3296]

brilliant commander. Imagine no micromanage of entire German armies to the brigade level from a corporal.

[@RedStarRogue]

Bernhard Wicki, the director of The Bridge, directed all the German language scenes in this film. The studios used that same idea in Tora Tora Tora by having Japanese directors (including Akira Kurosawa) handle the Japanese POV scenes. Different times!

[@arbeitsscheuer]

Don't suppose you know where one can find The Bridge? I've wanted to watch it for ages, but can never find it.

[@RedStarRogue]

@@arbeitsscheuer Criterion Collection

[@mikavirtanen7029]

I wish Wicki had made separate movie of the D-Day with the same actors, to show the German side even fully. German actors nail every scene beautifully, and there are no comic book portrayals.

[@stevetheduck1425]

Kurosawa began to shoot Tora Tora Tora, but was replaced by Fukusaku (IIRC) as he was producing too little. Apparently some of his shots are still in the film, and may be the more formal and squarely-framed scenes such as the Japanese Admirals and the (usually cut) scenes of Yamamoto visiting the Emperor.

[@stevetheduck1425]

That last scene includes 'the roads are under aerial attack.' Marcks died due to an aerial attack while travelling by car. Rommel nearly died the same way. The aerial bombardment of areas in front of US troops resulted in the death of at least one American General, so there's that. Blunt instruments. Later US Generals stayed away from the front, and fighting ability dropped dramatically late in the war.

[@wedgeantillies66]

A brilliant wry smile at the end as he looks at the map of the allied beachheads let’s us know how impressive he is by the allies pulling off such a gamble and succeeding with it. Something that he predicted, but nearly everyone else in the German command wise though improbable.risk that they would never take.

[@LanceBailey-iu9vo]

There were a number of the actual involved officers listed as advisors to the movie. Most of them quite senior. Germans, Americans, British and French.

[@canuck_gamer3359]

I don't speak German practically at all. But I do know a little and I know quite a few words. Maybe someone can help me with this...at 0:50 when he is talking about where the Allies are "expected" the caption reads; "We expect them to cross at the narrowest part of the channel..." but he uses the word "attack" in his speaking. So why was the captioning not reflective of what he actually said?

[@thomasnieswandt8805]

They missed out the attack line. The correct translation ( word for word) would be. "We expect them to attack the port of Calais, at the narrowest part of the channel, dont we?" I dont know why they did it, but they missed or misstranslated some words / meanings during the film.

[@paladinsix9285]

Subtitles in this movie are the "gist" for Civilian Audiences. Not literal translations. However, much of the Dialogue Is as Accurate as possible. History buffs, military Veterans, etc. have a better understanding.

[@tcarroll3954]

A great movie!

[@stilllaughing3959]

I have always said if you want real history lesson watch The Battle of Britain and the Longest Day

[@stilllaughing3959]

@@Moggy471 I will try and find it thank you

[@hound3000]

The only guy who predicted correctly. Too bad he can't show it in the war games.

[@oldrocker74]

4:18 He looks at the map of Normandy, and shakes his head...

[@midlandredux]

Marcks botched the call on the morning of June 6. He had one battalion in reserve--on bicycles--and, instead of sending it north to Omaha, he ordered it several miles eastwards towards the British beaches. By the time he recalled it, the 1st and 29th Divisions were penetrating inland.

[@josepherhardt164]

Did they take the opening drum roll from Hogan's Heroes, or was it the other way around?

[@johnholliday5874]

Good movie. I remember, as a kid, spending a whole day in the theater watching it. Watched it on TCM few years ago and it didn't age well. I thought the big A-list stars on the Allied side were kind of a distraction. Though I usually disapprove of the practice, after seeing what can be done in productions like "Saving Private Ryan", "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" I would not mind seeing this remade.

[@Oldag75]

A small complaint about this film. The Germans were always portrayed as serious and professional, while many of the scenes involving the invading Americans presented them as a bit goofy.

[@honeyot425]

Clearly you dont see the gen von salmuth's scene. So complaint denied...

[@robertbean8116]

German humor is no laughing matter.

[@Oldag75]

@@robertbean8116 I can use that! I only wish I'd heard it long ago.

[@davesmith1457]

Drama is about opposites.

[@derin111]

​@robertbean8116 As German, I completely agree with this comment! 🤣

[@wedgeantillies66]

When one believes you have the enemy’s plan distilled and predicted. That is when you should be wary as should always expect the enemy to be unpredictable and surprise you. As allies did by making use if he keys that they would never invade in such weather and via Normandy.

[@harryohrt5255]

General Marcks resembles an older 'Herr Flick'. I don't suppose Richard Gibson (the actor who portrayed Flick) was related to the actor here ?

[@struck2soon]

Damn, the clip was cut a short. How did it end?

[@dondee5439]

30 Sherman tanks were suppose to float to the Normandy beaches. Only one tank made it through the rough sea. 29 Sherman tanks with 5 man crews sank drowning the men (145 men). If those tanks had made it to the beaches then USA casualties could have been reduced from 5,000 to half or even less.

[@marktoplass9624]

They made it on the British and Canadian beaches. They were used wrong at Omaha. Not a criticism of the crews, just the facts of war. They could have made a big difference if they got to land

[@michaelmazowiecki9195]

British and Canadians also used the floating Shermans but released them much closer in shore with few sinking. The US Omaha beach landings were a shambles both at sea (Shermans were floated off far too far out,), ship gunfire and aviation bombardment largely missed their targets. And later failed to support the attack waves.

[@glennhopkins4294]

Denise Pettet. Sge was born on June 4 1960.

[@crazyman8472]

“Eisenhower would never take the gamble. Never!” 😈

[@herbertkramer3532]

The advantage of allied troops was the more precisely Information of the weatherforecast.

[@herbertkramer3532]

...british weatherforecast...

[@brucer9572]

My favoritest, scariest, movie.

[@Frankie-O]

😨

[@thomasthomas2418]

Erich Marcks; Party Animal! 1:38

[@Frankie-O]

🥳

[@pascha1903]

super, immer wieder

[@saltymonke3682]

he would be a great victorious General if he was an American

[@Frankie-O]

✌️

[@baronoflivonia.3512]

75 years ago next 6 June. If German General's would have reacted to situation on ground, instead of waiting for orders, the outcome might have been different.

[@charleschapman6810]

hitlerdidn'ttruthsfrontlinegeneralsnottogthisreservesboggeddown in an infantry's.tabnk kerflufflesoheheldthereserveundrrhis personal control. Inaway heaccusedhisgenerslsofhisownpersonality failing:control freakeryona massivescale!

[@imapaine-diaz4451]

4:03 A little Easter Egg....Six days after the invasion on June sixth. General Marks was killed while driving in daylight on a road near St. Lo by a strafing attack from an American P47 .

[@benababiodanso2885]

😮

[@stevenbaer5999]

General Eric Marcks is actually right when you actually go against the rules you will actually win

[@earth_ling]

That’s Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) riding the horse with the tin cans dangling around making such a rattle…I was wondering if Top Hat was with him somewhere…😮

[@RenegadeSamurai]

Like now...with bad weather...How right he was with that.

[@Frankie-O]

The bad weather was wind and rain. Wouldn't it ever stop?

[@PhillipRobinson-g6q]

Now I know where they got the Herr Flick idea from!

[@angelgutierrez-kg5du]

The most important battle everywhere

[@Frankie-O]

D-Day

[@melshorse]

@IJNAkagi1942 Yes I have considered it. The war would have taken up to two more years to win. The allied giant would have been slowed down; but not beaten. As in WW1, Germany was starving for food, men and materiel. Even more death and destruction if atomic weapons were used in late '45 or '46.

[@rutabagasteu]

Berlin was on the target list for one of the two atomic bombs. But the Soviets got there before the bombs were ready.

[@lynn0MA]

Who made this film? I’ve never seen it. So, Marcks was commanding officer at St Lo. Bad weather in May-June in the Channel?

[@mister-v-3086]

Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck: Directed by Half of Hollywood, Acted in by the Other half. Yes, the British weather people stated the weather was more like early Winter (November) than Spring (they'd never been to Michigan= or Colorado!)

[@dankwartdenkhardt5714]

Well, the victory went to the allies but the award for the most stylish generals uniforms went to the Germans.... :-b

[@respectablebogan3276]

The way he cuts the cake.... :( rip

[@PeterT1981]

BobaFett MTB: he more or less forms a crosshairs on Normandy

[@r.peterreinhardt1091]

Was he a Mason Or a Teutonic Knight ? (A Templer Cross for the cake)

[@michaelmaxwell1523]

visited his grave on my Normandy trip...said eh wouldnt eat cake untiel they won the war, lost a leg in Russia...

[@glennhopkins2643]

This film was much better than SPR.

[@maryc4732]

a little irony his birthday was on june 6

[@geraldjohnson4013]

As was Rommel's wife's.

[@Frankie-O]

D-Day: the sixth of June (1956)

[@mawel1955]

Erich Marcks was also the General that was selected to plan Barbarossa for Hitler.

[@NYCYankInTexas]

Yeah- but Hitler didn't listen nor follow the plan- he changed it all around. The key part of the Marcks Plan was the drive on Moscow- which would force the Red Army to fight and keep the pressure on- using the few decent roads in Russia. He also detailed building vast POW holding stations as he felt the Red Army prisoners would need reasonable care or else they would fight harder if they knew surrender meant almost certain death - interestingly- that is exactly what would happen.

[@johnhardman3]

The invasion of the U.S.S.R. was expected to cost 30 million civilian lives when the Germans appropriated their "lebensmittel" for themselves so that the invading Wehrmacht forces could live off the land . The Army did the pre-invasion calculation of these "necessary" civilian losses, not the S.S., and none of the German top brass had any reservations about the planned-for starvation and neglect of so many helpless people. So much for the German Army's being morally superior to the S.S.. There was a lot of U.S.-sponsored rehabilitation of former Nazis during the '50s and almost all those involved in mass-murder of one kind or another got away with it.

[@mkoschier]

The Planer of Barbarossa was Gen Paulus then Generalquartiermeister 1 im OKH

[@mawel1955]

@@mkoschier You are correct to a point. The preliminary or initial draft was done by Marcks and after it was approved by Hitler, it was passed over to OKH (Paulus) for further development. See Col. Albert Seaton, The Battle for Moscow which is where I got this information.

[@NYCYankInTexas]

@Natewatl Time didn't f*** the Germans- even had they attacked in late May they would have found the dirt roads all along the frontier to be an ocean of mud- which is what would save Moscow as well early in October- regardless- the failure of Hitler to listen to the warnings of Marcks about the lack of roads- the logical nightmare that would come about the deeper they advanced- as well as the failure to provide the Red Army with the motivation to quit- instead they basically inspired them to fight to the end with brutal policies.

[@StephenRifkin]

Killed 6 days later in an air raid

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

If Marcks had convinced his confederates of the allied invasion location, D-day would have had a different outcome, certainly a longer time establishing a beach head.

[@prestonyoung1000]

That Birthday Cake Looked Good To Eat.

[@jdrancho1864]

... not like that sheet cake crap people serve up here. Just saying.

[@KnowYoutheDukeofArgyll1841]

We'll past its expiry date now. :-)

[@michaelchurchill248]

@@jdrancho1864 All I could think when I saw that cake was "I bet it was not made with corn syrup and vegetable oils."

[@Frankie-O]

🎂

[@darrenwalsh354]

Why do we always look forward to the german scenes in war movies or is that just me I think like Darth vader we like the bad guys knowing they loose in the end.

[@kenoliver8913]

Same reason American Civil War movies always focus on the rebs - it's the romanticism of a lost cause. The fact that in real life the first was a bunch of genocidal imperialists and the second traitors defending slavery is beside the point. Mind you, what both shared was consistent incompetence - when you believe crazy things then logical and empiric reasoning is never going to be your strong point.

[@Dabhach1]

1:37 Don't you just love German birthday parties? Sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock 'n' roll.

[@leftcoaster67]

Schanpps, Cake, and French women?

[@reubengerling6253]

The German actors are first class

[@loudelk99]

Amusing how some of these German field officers were smarter than the high command. Marcks called it, time of day, weather and location.

[@FIREBRAND38]

Well, he didn't completely "call it" otherwise he wouldn't have been leaving for the map exercise at higher HQ on D-Day.

[@loudelk99]

@@FIREBRAND38 He didn't think Ike would take the gamble. It's the only thing he got wrong.

[@FIREBRAND38]

@@loudelk99 Yeah, only that one little thing... Sounds like the doctor saying, "The operation was successful but the patient died."

[@timdrygala3456]

One-legged Generals are generally the best. Ask Frederick Franks.

[@sparks1504]

John has a long mustache.....It wounds my heart with a monotonous langer......

[@nicholaspoplawski3713]

sparks1504 the mock orange is in bloom. 1st Lt. w.j. poplawski June 44.

[@Frankie-O]

Chair is against the wall.

[@diesirae6114]

Erich Marcks actually died near St. Lo only a few days after the invasion.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

Marckes was using the walking stick on the wrong side of his body. A stick is almost always used to support the good leg not the bad one.

[@hoodoo2001]

Marcks was dead a week after D-day. His staff car was strafed and he bled to death in the ditch. Such is war.

[@danieloriol4241]

En Normandie Et oui le 6 juin

[@danieloriol4241]

Des poupées Ça doit être une diversion On arrive les frises

[@billyponsonby]

Erich Marcks lost a leg on the eastern front and was killed in an air raid 6 days after D-Day.

[@ajb7876]

Maybe Hitler would have done better to dismiss Rommel and Von Rundstedt and put Marcks in charge.

[@bornyesterday21]

General Klink .. Chief of Staff.

[@leftcoaster67]

HOOOOGAAAAANNNNNNNNN!

[@daviddelaet8116]

I love how it starts to occur to him that maybe Eisenhower might not be so predictable on this occasion.

[@charleschapman6810]

Sothese "war-games"aremoreinthe styleofthe japanese-a testofan operational concept!?

[@samuelenglander8367]

his birthday june 6 oh shit bad day for the german military

[@Frankie-O]

Rommel's wife as well.

[@aldebaran19752000]

The first draft of Barbarossa was his. A good general. Pity that most of his divisions were crapy ones (exept the 352) and his superior (General Speidel of Heersesgruppe B in absence of Rommel who was in Germany being member of the conspiracy did nothing to repel the invasion and if decisions were to be made he referred his interlocutor to OB West)

[@arturs2436]

ER was in Germany due his wife birthday, he believed the bad weather would deter any invasion and had he had time to complete his reinforcement of the Atlantic Wall there would be more bunkers,mines and gun and artillery nests all over the coast...." According to an affidavit left by Heinz Guderian and Heinrich Kirchheim, during interrogation Speidel blurted out Rommel's name. Maurice Remy comments that Speidel's testimony did not truly betray Rommel, although Speidel probably blamed himself until his death for his revered Field Marshal's fate afterwards. Unknown to Speidel though, his statement offered nothing new or startling to the interrogators, who had already obtained from other co-conspirators the information that Rommel not only knew about but agreed with the assassination".

[@Mike12522]

Curiously, Eric Marcks birthday was June 6. As was that of Rommel's wife.

[@Frankie-O]

D-Day: the sixth of June (1956)

[@FIREBRAND38]

Nothing curious about it. Just coincidence.

[@Dutchman536]

They should do a remake from this movie , with directors Christopher Nolan , Kenneth Branagh , Tom Tykwer ,Nicolas Winding Refn , Jacques Audiard ! Produced : Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks / James Cameron /Ali Baba aka : Jack Ma , acting : Jake Gyllenhaal , Tom Cruise , Tom Hardy , Joaquin Phoenix , Daniel Graig , Tom Hanks , Leonardo DiCaprio , Marion Cottiard , Tobey Jones , Gary Oldman , Colin Firth , Kathy Burke , Benedict Cumberbatch , Dakota Fanning , Casey Affleck , Michele Williams , Carey mulligan , Mark Strong , Tobey , Story telling , Gene Hackman

[@mr.zondide2746]

No

[@The_Dudester]

The movie bombed at the box office. Not only production costs but paying the cost of dozens of A list celebs (singers Fabian and another did some acting). Anyway, 50 plus years down the line and we are richer for it. Battle of Britain also bombed at the box office, but truly amazing footage. Tora Tora Tora, from a business sense, did it right using character actors instead of A list talent. An amazing movie. Midway, from a historical point of view did it right, but the subplot about the Japanese family was unnecessary. Overall, a good movie.

[@alexius23]

Marcks was killed about a week later in an allied airstrike.

[@davidr2802]

Pluskat!!!!!!!!!!!

[@vincentreynolds2127]

Marks Brother?

[@Frankie-O]

He was no Marcks brother.

[@MrAMYJACK]

Never overload a BBQ

[@Frankie-O]

Will Smith overloaded a flambe, which burned Uncle Phil's kitchen down.

[@SFsc616171]

And to think ... "the war games in Rennes" became the story line for ":The Dirty Dozen"!! How many of the upper ranking German generals really knew the writings of Von Klauswitz, and were not propped up "yes men" to "The Bohemian Corporal"?

[@whiteknightcat]

@JapFish Indeed, they had some of the greatest military and technological minds in their arsenal, all wasted by the ineptitude and mismanagement of one who believed he knew better than everyone else.

[@mxplk]

@JapFish The Germans have won only 1 war in 200 years--the franco-prussian war in 1870.

[@Wombat1916]

@@mxplk Are you forgetting the Prussian-Danish War a few years before that? Also, before Germany was united in 1870, there was no Germany. The Prussians were on the winning side in 1815, and they arguably won the Seven Years War as well as the War of the Spanish Succession.

[@mr.zondide2746]

Good thing Erich Marcks did not leave for Rennes or else he would have been killed by Jim Brown

[@paladinsix9285]

@@mxplk also the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Danish War of 1864, necessary preludes to be able to win the Franco Prussian War of 1870.