The Terrifying Way Mud Killed Armies

[@alexmcd378]

One time fishing, I stepped into mud and sank up to my knee. The suction was real. If I hadn't still had one foot on solid rock, I wouldn't have gotten myself out. When I managed to pull my leg free, the mud kept my shoe and sock. By the time I turned around to retrieve them, the hole had collapsed and my shoe was gone. At least I wasn't interested in fighting the earth for it. Mud like that in all directions instead of a few feet of riverbank would be terrifying

[@Cacannissius]

I had a similar experience on a local dirt bike track. They had churned up the ground to get good traction but then it rained pretty heavily. The bike had slipped out from under me and as I tried to upright it I got stuck. As I would struggle either I or the bike would fall, and this happened several times. It is insane how quickly the mud saps your strength. If my boots hadn’t been so attached to my legs I believe that I would have probably lost them too.

[@mill2712]

Always have an emergency shovel. The earth won't have my things!

[@RasEli03]

​@@mill2712the mud would swallow the shovel

[@annoyedbipolar7424]

Imagine being an archeologist in 3,000 years finding your shoe because it was encased in mud and then hardened into the riverbank.

[@alexmcd378]

@@annoyedbipolar7424 I've thought about that. I assume they would be able to tell that the material was once mud and that someone got stuck. But if not, it's one shoe and sock, in a riverbank, a long way away from any habitation at a similar depth / date. Much mystery :)

[@skraaaaz]

There was a battle in the mud recently in Germany. There was a mud wizard. He conquered the mud giving him the ability to walk on mud and defeated the police.

[@DragonMaiden77]

You brought back a memory I thought was long long buried.

[@skraaaaz]

@@DragonMaiden77 Sadly his knowledge of the mud got burried along with him.

[@UFOinDisguise]

when I hear Mud I immediately think of the Mud Wizard.

[@skraaaaz]

@@UFOinDisguise We all got a little mud inside each one of us.

[@lz_creep6856]

@@skraaaaz lmao

[@georgegordonmeade5663]

I was in the US Army and stationed in Germany in the early 2000s. Grafenwoehr is where God tested out all the different types and consistencies of mud. One time, our first sergeants Humvee got stuck in a mud hole , then our captains’ got stuck trying to pull it out, then a HEMTT, and finally our M88 Hercules tank recovery vehicle blew its engine trying to pull out the HEMTT. It was a very long day, lol

[@infinitsai]

A long day for sure, but when condensed into a few sentences the story is funny as hell

[@rkokini9327]

I’m assuming that they made you get your shovels out and get to work

[@meatisburger2]

I can attest to this. I too trained in Grafenwoehr. 173rd Airborne. 2000-2004. Support actually lost an m-4 in the mud, but that was in Hoehnfels.

[@possibly_meta7389]

@@infinitsai It reminds me of that poem/story/song There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.

[@kpay7294]

Which is wild because Graf is royalty compared to Vilseck

[@left4twenty]

There's a reason Dante's hell is more cold, wet and muddy than it is fire and brimstone

[@stuffz4040]

I mean it’s absolutely bad but I still think having to march through fire and brimstone would be worse. Could only imagine what Dante’s inferno would have looked like if he’d been around during the time of nuclear weapons.

[@obelisklarvan]

Imagine mud like this, except boiling. Huge gaseous bubbles of horror reaching out to submerse those unfortunate enough to be in range I imagine hell to be both.. but as somebody who absolutely hates the cold, dantes version of the icy depths with frozen faces below only able to look upwards to an absence of the sun, imagining their lower bodies submerged in water icier than ever recorded on earth for all eternity... that idea terrifies me more than fire and brimstone.

[@svenlechtenberg8119]

​@@obelisklarvanit's not just you I guarantee you the cold is worse than any kind of heat or fire, don't listen to the other comment to much

[@MP-ti6lz]

@@svenlechtenberg8119I don’t think we should ever ‘guarantee’ something like that. The hot and the cold are complete opposites. At their extreme limits they are both incomprehensibly powerful forces, with neither being worse or better than the other.

[@Quangum]

Is this guy really trying to say getting burned isn't as painful as being cold? Try and see how long you can stand touching a flame.

[@FANTOMMAXX]

I have a testament as to how terrifying mud can be. I am an active duty US Marine and during my combat training course we were practicing patrol techniques and manoeuvres and our sergeant was leading us through some rather marshy terrain. Now we were treking with full kit so flak jackets with sapi plates and our packs and all together I was weighing about 250 pounds. I was following right behind our sergeant and we are taught to use the same path as the point man in order to confuse the enemy of numbers. and as i was minding my pacing i planted myself exactly in his footprint and the ground beneath me gave way and i sank up unto my chest into the earth. I most definitely would have sunk in over my head if i hadn't managed to grasp a branch on a nearby log. it took 3 other marines to pull me out.

[@BusinessWolf1]

Fucking hell. I can't imagine the fear I would have stepping on anything non solid ground after that.

[@chilli-boi]

im not apart of the army but once we went to like this marshy swamp and while we were walking around the swamp i got my boot stuck in the mud i had to ditch my boots because if i didnt i would've gotten left behind

[@mr.cavesponge]

Damn that sounds worse than what happened to me, I’m Army Infantry and we were doing an FTX with the battalion. Me and my squad were inserted into bravo company to help with their numbers and there was a point a couple days in where we had to walk through the depths of the hell that was a Louisiana swamp and it was a (comparatively) short night time movement but navigating through the dense foliage, water crossings, etc. turned it into a multi-hour slog to get through. People were just going down all around me from things like injuries and heat exhaustion to the point where we started to use white lights near the end to get the hell out of there. At one point we got to a ridiculously muddy area and I took a step and sank damn near down to my knee and had to be helped out. At least we weren’t wearing our body armor but we still had on full kit, if you wanna hear another shitty story about this, Angry cops made a video about the same training event that was conducted a couple years ago, it should come up if you search “Angry Cops fort polk”

[@FANTOMMAXX]

@@mr.cavesponge you know its bad when you switch from red lens to white

[@flickcentergaming680]

God, that's terrifying. Thank the Lord for your fellow Marines that were able to rescue you from the mud.

[@EmpiricalPragmatist]

My grandfather was a radio man in North Africa, and got fungal infections of the legs and buttocks from sitting too long in the trenches calling in enemy positions on his radio. He was captured and sent to a hospital in Berlin, where he exercised in secret at night while pretending to still be immobile, and then escaped with a rope of sheets out the window at night. He was recaptured and sent to a prison camp in Italy.

[@whatnosejob7981]

And then what???? 🥺

[@idunusegoogleplus]

@@whatnosejob7981 probably survived or he'd not be able to type this comment.

[@EmpiricalPragmatist]

@@whatnosejob7981 Glad you asked. :) He hand his accomplice were planning to jump onto the train that passed by their hospital window each night at midnight. There were German guards waiting for them on that train (they must have had an informant). In the POW camp it was common for men to hang their washing on their hipbones (they were that malnourished), and he once saw a man kill another over a lump of sugar. He and about 10 others escaped again (not sure how), and were sheltered by an Italian farmer in a hollowed-out haystack. A German patrol eventually found them there, and they spent the rest of the war in POW camps until being liberated by British troops (my grandfather was British-South African). He went back to Italy with his wife many years later, hoping he could find the farm, and that the farmer and his wife (who brought them hot meals while sheltering them) would remember him. The farmer peered out of his upper window as they approached on foot, and bellowed "Russelio!!!" (my grandfather was Russell, also my middle name). They had a wonderful dinner together with many stories. I wish I had met my grandfather, but only got these stories second hand. They should all be remembered though. So heart-warming.

[@agoogleuser1188]

@@EmpiricalPragmatist that’s absolutely ducking wild man I love it they don’t make them like that

[@philipreid2542]

​@@idunusegoogleplusnot necessarily

[@briangarvey6895]

i spent 2005 in Ramadi, Iraq, with the US Army. I was trying to get around on crutches due to a broken ankle. The ultra-fine, powdery dust of Iraqi soil became sticky, slippery mud when the winter rains began, and this made for incredibly treacherous footing to the tiny rubber tip of a crutch meant for dry ground. The inches deep piles of moondust around the base became super slick hazards that somehow also stuck to everything they touched. If you walked across a part that only had the first couple top inches wet from rain, the dryer stuff underneath could stick to your boots and accumulate with every step until you ended up four or five inches taller just trying to walk across the open areas of the base. It got so bad at times that when our base was mortared, the mortars could just bury themselves meter or more deep in the mud and never be seen again if they failed to detonate. Our EOD teams did not even try to excavate them, and just marked the spot with a hazard flag and told you to stay away from it. And even this is just a tiny taste of what mud could be like.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

I guess when the force left and the camp was disassembled the shells were exploded to not cause harm to anyone who moves through the area later.

[@marcosburgos8415]

@@HappyBeezerStudios prolly not tbh

[@KM-cm1jp]

@@HappyBeezerStudios No way they had time for that in the heat of the Iraq war in Ramadi of all places. Probably just drone striked it, lol.

[@interstellarsurfer]

@@HappyBeezerStudios Lol, no. That falls under the category of 'not our problem'. 🤣

[@willemthijssen1082]

That last part is exactly why large parts of France are still considered "Zone Rouge," meaning red zone. If you walk there, there is a very high likelihood that you are going to find, if not trigger, some unexploded WWI munitions. Think about it, during Verdun alone, over 1,000,000 shells were fired, and approximately 1/5 did not explode. That's harrowing

[@KimchiFarts]

I was doing a mud run back in 2014 and my leg got stuck down to about mid-calf level. The effort to pull out of it almost dislocated my knee. I cannot fathom the fear and anxiety the men who sunk into mud felt. Utterly horrifying

[@Master-Mirror]

When people say that the Russian Winter is what halted the advance of the German Army in Russia during Operation Barbarossa, that's not quite correct. It was the mud of the Russian Fall, known in Russian as the Rasputitsa. Rasputitsa literally means something along the lines of 'the time of liquid roads'. Also, of course, the Red Army had something to do with it.

[@Aughtel]

Just look over that direction today. 2023 and mud still grinds the modern day army progress to a halt.

[@malusignatius]

Autumn or spring? I thought it was the spring thaw that turned most of Western Russia to mud.

[@Master-Mirror]

@@malusignatius Both. The heaviest Rasputitsa is in the fall, but there's also a springtime Rasputitsa when the winter frost thaws.

[@malusignatius]

@@Master-Mirror Ahh right, that makes sense.

[@chainsawninjalcemist]

And the shitty Russian road system of the time, which was comprised of a lot of dirt roads.

[@catsaregreat6314]

as someone who works with horses, i can’t imagine how hard it was for calvary armies to get through the mud. once horses get stuck in mud sometimes the freak out or start slipping everywhere or just refuse to move. i had to drag a horse out of mud once just to immediately get stuck myself. he reluctantly pulled me out but put up a fight

[@msyokoming6970]

The horse pulled you out of the mud ?

[@catsaregreat6314]

@@msyokoming6970 yeah. he’s decently smart, recognizes basic riding words. i had him on a lead, and i told him to walk, and reluctantly with encouragement he pulled me out. he’s super stubborn and bites me constantly, but he always listens to me eventually because he’s decently well behaved for a horse

[@jonathanholland8133]

I had the honor to meet, and speak, with British Great War veteran Harry Patch during one of his lasts visits to Ypres about 20 years ago. As we sat with this last combat veteran of that war my friend asked him what he most remembered about his experiences during the war. Mr. Patch slipped into a 1,000 yard stare and his voice took on a deep deep tone, a haunted tone, "mud" he nearly whispered, "the mud, the bloody mud." My friend lovely placed his hand on Mr. Patch's forearm to bring him back from his inner thoughts as we all dashed tears from our eyes.

[@Haha-v2j]

It's a shame such men are no longer with us at least they may find some comfort in the afterlife they all deserve a good rest

[@Ken-fh4jc]

Such a cool story. I know America’s involvement came late but the last WW1 vet in my area to my knowledge passed away in the mid to late 90’s I would have been in high school. He used to come give talks when I was in my earlier years of school I’m guessing until he got too sick. It seemed like he really enjoyed coming and talking to us.

[@iceicebabie]

You're quite lucky to have gotten to experience such a special encounter. Thank you for sharing.

[@jbosssenpai3266]

@@DogmaticAtheist dissapointment

[@Nathan-nf5qm]

@@DogmaticAtheist I’ve imagined they’d be happy. Happy to know that they contributed to change in society. If it wasn’t for their sacrifice most of us wouldn’t be here or have the freedom to do or express any of these things

[@miketacos9034]

It’s insane how literally just water and dirt could turn into this eldritch nightmare…

[@BradanKlauer-xh3hm]

Drowning in mud was of course not just limited to the War of 1812, Napoleonic Wars, American Civil War, or the First World War. In October 1941 during the German advance on the Soviet capital, Moscow, the roads were clogged with mud. It didn’t just drown equipment, but men as well. There have been multiple instances of German soldiers slipping into the mud and either drowning or shooting themselves to prevent the former from happening.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

yup, it was the mud that caused issues, not the cold winter. By the time they got there, the coldest part was already over and as the snow and ice thawed, everything became mud.

[@dinok7630]

Fucking Europe and mud. In april in a region of Croatia it dropped to -13 celsius and it snowed 1 meter high. We were out camping with no gear. Sure it was cold, and we kept the fire going all night to warm ourselves. But what the fire did was melt the ice and the dirt, created mud. Sitting around the fire in mud, god i can smell that shit 3 years later. Didnt sleep that night, just stood all night keeping it going. We were all tired as shit, by the end we were sleeping on foot. It doesnt get off. It smells bad. It gets your clothes wet but not water where you can just stand by the fire to evaporate it. I cant even imagine being surounded by it and it being knee deep. Holy shit thats scary.

[@BradanKlauer-xh3hm]

@HappyBreezerStudios Exactly why Zhukov waited to launch his offensive in the winter. It wasn’t because the Russians were used to the cold (though yes that was a factor and problems for the Germans certainly got worse when the winter came), but it was because had the Soviets launched their offensive during the Rasputitsa Season, the advance would not have gotten very far. The Army defending Moscow was certainly lucky Stalin was so patient, while Hitler and OKH chief of staff, Colonel-General Franz Halder were very impatient with Army Group Center’s slow progress. Most of the advance made by Army Group Center during Operation Typhoon was during late November and early December when the ground hardened, contrary to popular belief.

[@Coconutszz]

sounds like made up Soviet propaganda to me its fucking mud, you can rollover if you slip instead of shooting yourself. like what the fuck.

[@enclavesoldier770]

@@Coconutszzgo on try it yourself I dare you

[@lollertoaster]

After the intro I though to myself "Oh God, what have I got myself into, a 30 minutes of testimonies about mud". I didn't even realize when that time has passed and I was at the end of the video. Captivating topic.

[@Jolis_Parsec]

One of my favorite creepypastas happens to be “All This For What?” as narrated by The Dark Somnium, as it doesn’t contain any supernatural or paranormal elements whatsoever, only a harrowing account of the horrors of war as seen through the eyes of a soldier in the trenches of WW1.

[@natty4316]

Is it a George Floyd creepypasta?

[@styx2099]

​@@natty4316 what are you even talking about

[@natty4316]

@@styx2099 do you not know? George Floyd creepy pastas are the scariest and the most well known of all!

[@buckyhurdle4776]

@@natty4316 Bro, what? Huh? Pardon?

[@JamesPilkenton-se5cx]

I recently watched ' Somme" in the documentary a Sargent had to go back to find a medic. He's low crawling through grass and flowers. No sign of mud or rain.

[@pl0shiee]

I remember the mud scene in the book titled, ‘The Things They Carried.’ About three soldiers in the book died in the mud, they just couldn’t escape. The people they were fighting had always avoided the mud, so the soldiers naively believed they could use the aversion to it as a safe place to observe the enemy. It was sad.

[@greenmountainhistory7335]

I love this look into mud’s effect on armies, truly hard to imagine mud that deep. And I say that as someone who lives on a dirt road in state that has 5 seasons (we added mud season in between winter and spring).

[@BradanKlauer-xh3hm]

Wait, Vermont is that bad with mud?

[@greenmountainhistory7335]

@@BradanKlauer-xh3hm only when the ground has to deal with absorbing a few feet of snow all in one month, mud season isn’t as bad now since so many more roads are paved.

[@Aatell764]

Yeah I learned about mud season when I first moved to Kentucky. The soil back home in Colorado had a more sand like consistency and clay was extremely uncommon. Funny enough my first thought with the experiences with mud I thought to myself "Now it all makes sense why attacking Russia is pretty much always a bad idea."

[@JamesPilkenton-se5cx]

I was hired on a construction site the first week I had was tasked with a hose where the departing trucks entered the highway. To clear the wheels and road.

[@JamesPilkenton-se5cx]

I was hired on a construction site the first week I had was tasked with a hose where the departing trucks entered the highway. To clear the wheels and road.

[@9090Glenn]

Research Historian here - I was sifting through possibly 30-40 Great War record boxes at the National Archives in Kew Gardens over much of 2017 and came across a box that I proceeded to sift through - each box contained about 1000+ original documents including orders - triplicate copies - maps - secret and classified information - war diary records - administrative papers - aerial photographs for each unit over a given 3-4 month period for each year of the Great War - to my utter astonishment from one box I lifted a document that seemed unusually burdened - I carefully lifted the page and turning it over there was adhered to the upper left corner a genuine smear of original 1916 Somme MUD - not just a smear but an actual lump the size of your thumb that had the consistency of still-moistened concrete - but still clung to the page it had adhered itself to - you cannot imagine any other mud still retaining its own mass after so many years as the moisture would have evaporated and it would have disconnected itself - it appeared to me to still retain moisture as it was not at all chalky or dry - it had a certain darker hue of brown hinting at moisture - not this specimen it was truly glued to the page - how it came to be there is of course unclear but it was obvious the box had never been observed by others and must have been shut ever since it was created either during the period listed on the box or shorty after the War - had someone lifted the page it is likely they would have removed the mud - so what did I do ? - took several photos as expected and carefully returned it to its box intact - if that mud could have told a story you wonder what it would have said ...

[@bonefetcherbrimley7740]

Oddly haunting! Well said.

[@sidskrabanja4578]

I work as an archaeologist in Belgium, so I spend a lot of time outside in trenches and holes in mud. Because of this I recognise some things from this video. Even though what I go through is obviously only a tiny tiny bit as bad as what these men went through, I still recognise how they talk about the sucking effect (you WILL lose shoes and boots in mud if it's deep enough) and the way it exhausts you. When I come home from a day of excavating in muddy circumstances I get cramps and muscle aches in my legs that I wouldn't have normally, and I get home to a good warm meal and a warm bed. I can't imagine what it's like having to go through combat in mud that is even deeper, day after day, and then having to sleep in that same mud. It also slows down our working pace enormously because every movement costs so much more time and energy.

[@ClaytonBigsby01]

I'm a swamp logger And my legs hurt right now from the mud

[@hobobaggins1142]

I used to guide night hunts for feral hogs in South Georgia. One night we were hunting in a freshly tilled peanut field during an absolute downpour. I was walking to different high points in the field to scan with my thermal monocle taking care not to step between the tilled rows. At some point I was walking while scanning for hot spots not paying enough attention to my footing when my right foot sunk to my mid thigh. The only reason it stopped sinking was my foot hit a boulder or something hard. The way I sank I was able to pivot my weight and escape. I was hundreds of yards from the nearest person during a torrential thunderstorm and it was arguably the most terrifying situation I’ve been through. That said, I’ve almost been killed by snow, sea, land… respect nature.

[@alansmithee8831]

Hello Brandon. War as an even dirtier business. I always remember the scene in Waterloo, with the Scots Greys stuck in the mud, picked off by French Lancers, contrasting with their earlier scene of charging, like the famous painting "Scotland Forever". Scenes from not far away in WW1, with actual photographs, are not ones you would choose to remember, as you described, but at this time of year, with all the poppies, we should not forget either.

[@OpiTaylor]

history (especially war) has always bored me to tears, but your style of narration and goofy yet objectively stylish glasses drew me in immediately! your passion really pours out of your words, and its contagious :)

[@Fusilier7]

One battle I know was fettered by mud was the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. As the battle and siege began on March 1954, Viet Minh and French artillery transformed the valley into a mud pit, the French nicknamed the garrison "La Cuvette", or the toilet bowl, as the base began to fill with mud, dead soldiers, and human waste. Just to add to the belligured French position, the monsoon season began, drenching the French strongpoints, flooding foxholes, and collapsing trenches, by this point in the battle, Dien Bien Phu resembled Verdun, the valley became a cratered moonscape, with barbed wire, and debris strewn everywhere. The Viet Minh used the mud to their advantage, it provided protection from French firepower, and it allowed the Viet Minh to entrench and sap their way through strongpoints, in a macabre sort of way, the Viet Minh used similar tactics used by France during the Battle of Verdun.

[@pippohispano]

I was about to say precisely that: the mud of Indochina, a fluid sticky thing, where they say they could not dig a trench.

[@Cyan_Nightingale]

After all it was French general's fault. Who thought luring enemies into a valley easily surrounded by hills and making it a turkey shot for the enemies was a genius idea?

[@tranquoccuong890-its-orge]

@@Cyan_Nightingale i assume the general strategy at point in that theatre was that, the french would bunker up a stronghold in the điện biên phủ valley to block the way between the việt minh force (in northern VN) and the communist laos force (in northern laos), with the additional intended effect of drawing in & burning up việt minh manpower (similar to what russia had claimed in bakhmut - drawing in & burning up ukrainian manpower) it could have worked for the french if việt minh really poured in infantry (per china's advisory) for a grueling trenches & bunkers warfare, which was still a strength of the french army at that time nobody could have guessed that việt minh artillery from the surrounding mountains would have entombed the french force in the valley instead, a fact that only became visible in hindsight

[@Fusilier7]

Let's put this into context: General Henri Navarre was under pressure from his superiors in France to end the war ASAP, the First Indochina War had entered its seventh year, and there was little indication that the Viet Minh were giving up, moreover, the French was yearning for that decisive battle that would win them the war, because this is how battles were fought in Europe, the French were ill-suited to skirmishes and ambushes from the Viet Minh, this is why Dien Bien Phu became a major military operation. The French also expected Dien Bien Phu to be an infantry fight, this is why the garrison was vulnerable, it was fortified to withstand infantry assaults - not artillery bombardments, the Viet Minh were more sophisticated than the French expected, as they entrenched and camouflage their artillery positions, Viet Minh artillery outnumber France 5-to-1, ironically, the Viet Minh were better fortified than the French.

[@pippohispano]

@@Fusilier7 and also, the French expected that their air force could support the ground troops with ease, something that didn't happened eventually, due both to bad weather and Viet Minh flak.

[@omitempest6015]

I work in construction. The company i work for primarily focuses in the construction of warehouses and thus we clear massive sways of land. All that aside, the primary reason why we dont work when it rains is primarily because of the mud. Land thats been cleared, tilted, compacted and leveled has a tendency to become rather fine dirt, in our part of the country dirt tends to become an extremely fine dust, which only begs for a light mist to become mud, when it rain it sucks water like sponge and will look absolutely fine till you step on a small mount of it and watch your foot sink right into it. I seen bulldozers and excavators not just stuck in mud but sunk up to their operator cabins and some even worst.

[@fuferito]

It definitely contributed to Walter's PTSD in Vietnam with him watching "his buddies lying face down in the muck," like he told the Dude numerous times, any chance he had.

[@vladvalo]

The man in the black pajamas dude.....worthy fucking adversary...

[@DoctorMandible]

I don't see any connection to Vietnam, Walter.

[@SethHMG]

@@DoctorMandiblewell there isn’t a literal connection

[@johnhenderson131]

0:18 I recall reading a book about the battle of Passchendaele where one Canadian soldier said; “Hell isn’t fire, it’s MUD”! As if the fighting, especially artillery, wasn’t bad enough, the terrible conditions of constantly being wet, cold and living in that mud with the lice and the rats just adds to the misery. The only conditions in warfare that compare in misery might be WW II Battle of Stalingrad in the fall mud and winter frost?! I’d rather go to the beach.

[@fotdk1]

Is is said during the battle of agnicourt, countless knights died like animal drowning in their helmets and slaughtered by lightly armored archers when they got stuck in mud.

[@teddyjones3652]

Not archers , longbow-men.

[@themilkman6969]

@@teddyjones3652 so archers

[@fordalels]

at what point is the slaughter a mercy kill?

[@YouTube_still_sucks]

​@@fordalels There was no mercy coming from the English that day. Even somewhat valuable French prisoners were getting the sword that day. That was a baaaaaad day for the French. A real bad day. Changed history, that day. And will forever stand as an example of what can happen when you get too cocky prior to a battle. Also, it showed how weather can affect a battle terribly if someone doesn't bring equipment to deal with it, and the equipment you use isn't made to deal with it. It can become a slaughter....

[@ClaytonBigsby01]

​@@fordalelsnot when someone is just simply stuck in the mud I would assume😂

[@DrDuckMD]

As a duck hunter I agree with all these soldiers. Mud is so unbelievably frustrating to walk through. Also it can be pretty dangerous when there is no bottom to the mud and you just start sinking like quicksand. If you keep moving quickly you can avoid sinking but it’s exhausting.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

I almost received my eternal reward one day when I worked at a water treatment plant. I stepped into one of the sludge ponds not realizing there was no bottom and the mud wouldnt hold my weight. I sunk all the way down to my nose. I had the tip of my boot on a rock. And I mean the very slightest tip at that. I came very close to sinking all the way that day.

[@gaslightstudiosrebooted3432]

I died in hell... They called it Passchendaele.

[@neilbuckley1613]

i Belive Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Alied Commander said of Passchendaele " Mud is bad, the Boches are bad, but mud and the Boche!" he was opposed to the offensive as was Lloyd george.

[@gaslightstudiosrebooted3432]

@@neilbuckley1613 Yeah. To this day tour guides in Flanders avoid driving in the mud or even small puddles. You never know how deep it really is.

[@Master-Mirror]

​@@VanyaTheSlavicIt's from a poem dude.

[@Anglisc1682]

​@@VanyaTheSlavicWhat's wrong with you? Lol

[@kove1789]

@@VanyaTheSlavic what!??.

[@petersmythe6462]

Note that soldiers also happen to be carrying around multiple kilograms of steel and lead at all times. Soldiers might actually NOT be able to float in mud even though a naked person could.

[@maciejmaciaszek6429]

My experience with drowning in mud is that when I was at an airsoft summer camp few years ago, we once had a task to march through a forest, where we encountered a big swamp, which looked kind of half wet, half dry, as it was summer and the terrain has partially dried up, it was still located in a generally wet and marshy area. As we were going through it in a collumn, ,trying to find the most dry and stable path, one girl slipped and in a matter of seconds she was arms deep in the mud. Fortunately, she didn't try to go out by herself nor did she keep drowning, but it took 2 or 3 guys and a few minutes of struggle to get her out of it.

[@JavierBonillaC]

0:38 we all learned in schools that mud could slow down armies? What school did you go to? I was making tiny horses with play-dough…

[@whknws9595]

I did but it wasn't super in depth, stuff around the lines of "unexpected natural conditions affected soldiers"

[@aprichman]

We did not learn about mud.

[@Grimpy970]

Nobody else really has videos covering mud. I appreciate that you chose to cover this topic! You seemed to do it justice.

[@daydreamdirty]

I will soon- I’m inspired to do a video on this topic as well….. but from a biblical POV

[@skyrocketcoast219]

When i was setting up. a horse paddock 80x 50., the 6ft long feed gate needed to be mud free. Found a product called woven geotextile fabric. Its pinned to the ground with thick steel flathead 4" pins. The Geotextile fabric laid on top of bare earth, keeps the soil from engulfing your choice of top dressing, i .e. gravel , sand , wood chips, Etc. The feed gate project had a 2x4 laid flat, as edging for a rectancle 16ft wide by 7' long. The gate was at the middle 8ft mark . And the Geotextile fabric was invented in WW2, by the U.S. core of Enginneers , while making roads in Alaska! This geotextile fabric comes in woven & non woven. It was 1st used by the dairy industry. To keep mud off the cows coming into area for milking Then the landscape industry made a lighter version called ' weed cloth'.

[@KingFrolic]

When I did my military service in 1989, Sweden. Our officers seems to love to send us out in rainy nights on newly plowed fields, the mud stick to everything. :D

[@KingFrolic]

And by the way I was in the Navy. But everyone needs a break in. :)

[@KingFrolic]

But my experience with mud is nothing compared with what the soldiers of the past had to endure.

[@ak9989]

Lol Sweden, no combat experience 😂

[@Soniti1324]

stop it, his boots totally got muddy!@@ak9989

[@tezzla6358]

@@ak9989 no way bro is talking down on someone for being in their nations military😭😭

[@jamesnicholson3658]

I've experienced sticky, sucking mud when I worked on a farm with poor drainage, that mud only came up to my ankles but the need to twist and jerk the foot out of the mud killed my ankles and I lost more than one welly in that damn mud. I can only try to imagine how deeper and more sticky mud those troops suffered through. May all those who fought rest in peace now that the years have taken the veterans.

[@danesorensen1775]

When I was young, a fishing trip with my father was somewhat ruined by mud. It was nothing like the Western Front - only a couple of centimetres deep all told - but it was everywhere in that part of the country, and it was paradoxically both greasy and sticky. It was amazing how heavy it made your boots (and more than that, when you inevitably slipped and fell over...), how tired you got trying to move carrying all that extra burden, how dispiriting it was to wipe the mud over everything you touched - fishing gear, water bottle, snacks, everything. And, I have to emphasise, when we'd had enough, all we had to to was head back to the house we were staying in and have a hot shower. Amazing how the application of hot water and dry clothes makes you feel like a new person! I can't imagine what it must be like to be unable to escape the mud, getting more and more fatigued and yet knowing if you fall asleep, you drown...

[@spoobini]

Growing up i thought quicksand was going to be a problem because of cartoons. Yet mud has been right beneath my feet this whole time

[@woltews]

This reminds me of being in a trench in the 90s in CFB Petawawa it started to rain and my trench filled with water but the sides of the trench got softer and softer and the water got thicker and thicker , I decided I no longer had a trench and that I had to leave but getting out proved almost impossible as my meat pushed only against soft mud and my hands could not push on anything to bring me up and would simply sink into the mud , It got harder and harder to simply breath as the force of the mud on my chest made it harder and harder to expand my chest . Eventually 2 or 3 people cam and spent about 30 minutes laboriously pulling me out of the mud "trench " using rope tied to trees for sum traction and a bunch of my kit was lost to the mud .

[@Soren015]

Crazy stuff! -- Sorry, everything reads as sarcastic on the internet.

[@lagplus]

@@Soren015 no you're just a dick

[@ashno.3375]

That sounds like a literal nightmare

[@woltews]

@@ashno.3375 was not fun , do not recommend 0:5 stars - stay in school the military is not for everybody

[@daydreamdirty]

Glad you made it. We all need help from time to time due to the “mud” in our lives

[@tobiasnielsen7572]

Most people have tried to step in mud in a river or creek. But a road turned to mud is on a other level. Can’t imagine a muddy battlefield is basically a ocean of mud, you have to fight in.

[@jllemin4]

Horrifying. I cant imagine how much war has evolved the landscape from mud alone. Olympic swimming pool sized bogs of essentially macerated earth, fecies, rotting bodies, and shrapnel.

[@TheSpicyLeg]

Those familiar with Dante Alighieri and his work will recognize that aside from blood and wind, mud is the most common sight in Hell. In particular, the circle of gluttony is a muddy, cold mire in which sinners wallow in the muck, pelted by a never-ending mix of cold rain, sleet, snow, and feces, guarded and tormented by the three-headed beast, the Cerberus. However, many places in Hell are described as muddy, a mire, a swamp, etc. I can relate. While I didn’t have any interactions with mud during my service, as a civilian I have had many. I’m a master electrician, and job sites are always muddy holes during the fall and spring in Pennsylvania. Even mud up to calves can be extremely difficult to walk through, and excavations or trenches can easily collapse and suffocate a person, even if their entire head is above ground.

[@kurvys]

I see channels with millions of subscribers and I sometimes think, 'wow, i could make better videos'. Then I witness now your channel, and one of the many hopes I have, becomes, "I hope this guy eventually grows to the financial, social, and emotional gigantism that these fuck-alls have reached." Because yes, you truly do deserve it, wow. The motivation, the interest, the happiness (whatever I can perceptually draw upon due to the nature of the videos, but it is not unfair to say you derive happiness from history) and the research, all of it just screams that you love this and I couldn't be happier for you. Good luck in the future man, I hope you get a good one :)

[@BrandonF]

Thank you very much- I’m so glad you enjoy the videos, and I certainly share your hopes! KZbin has been doing very well for me lately and I am eternally grateful for the individuals who watch these videos and support my work.

[@richardlahan7068]

The three great Russian generals were General Mud, General Snow and General Distance.

[@soldier22881]

and dont forget their trusty Captain Cognitive Disonance!

[@queenbeeader]

Your engaging demeanor and teaching delivery is outstanding. Thank-you for these videos.

[@paooul_dixon]

There’s a reason you always hear that campaigning season was late spring to fall. When you have thousands of feet, hooves, and wheels chugging along on dirt roads it’s not going to be good for them. And at least here in Virginia late November through May can be very wet and nasty.

[@Tareltonlives]

In 1863 Ambrose Burnside tried to cross the Rappahannock in January. it did not go well.

[@paooul_dixon]

@@Tareltonlives yup. I do kinda wish Brandon went more into the background of why the Union army was trying to move in that weather as it is a bit of important information in my opinion that he could have easily said. "In the winter of 1863 the Union Army under the command of Burnside after the desaturase Union defeat at Fredericksburg in December tried to manouver around the Confederate's flank to gain some level of victory. But those hopes were dashed when terrible weather turned the advancing army into a quagmire" Something quick like that would have been great. I love the guy but for how much he'll go into great details into a subject/topic it really irked me some when he just pretty much said "Hey bro I don't feel like giving some background info so go do it yourself."

[@hithere4719]

My Boy Scout troop went on a backpacking trip once on a trail mostly used by horse riders. It was a weekend during this time of year, and it rained heavily on Friday. We camped on high ground so it didn’t seem so bad. Saturday morning came with a temperature drop and all of the mud began to freeze. There were miles of trail with deep hoof prints in mud which had frozen semi-solid…it sucked so freaking bad. Every step required effort not to roll an ankle or fall. Definitely one of many “character building” moments in Boy Scouts.

[@bruhism173]

A commander must also be a weather man

[@ingerfaber3411]

It was not only mud. It was all the other things that were added to the mud that made it so much more : blood, decaying bodies, excrement and so on

[@thebombdiggity3941]

@26:15

[@nothanks39]

19:12 also

[@jpr90]

Dude my algorithm kept recommending you and I finally gave in 😂 you are so enthusiastic and such a pleasure to listen to!! Your love of history is infectious! Thank you for your content!

[@littlesmallworld123]

LOL same here I saw this video recommended about 10 times before I was bored enough to watch it. Should've listened the first time! This is great.

[@GorillaWithACellphone]

Yay, a new video. Really missed your videos lately since ive been giung through a tough time finding out my dad needs a liver transplant. This really cheers me up :)

[@BrandonF]

I'm sorry to hear about that- I hope all goes well!

[@GorillaWithACellphone]

@@BrandonF thanks Brandon :)

[@snailart14]

I live on a farm, we have an old swampy marsh that the cows arent allowed to go on. It's fenced off but we have to go and fix the fence because the ground, uh, moves. Anyway my favorite cow Maggie went wandering over there like a dumb ass. She took maybe three steps and went all the way down to her neck. We got her out but because it took 5 hours-she died, she struggled too much and exerted too much energy. I miss you maggie you big dumb cow. She was able to eat some apples before she crossed the rainbow bridge. Mud is seriously scary

[@BrandonF]

I am terribly sorry to hear that, but appreciate your telling the story. I imagine many such incidents are unfortunately common throughout history.

[@PiemanPerkins]

Wow, this just adds to my already mountainous list of reasons why I think WW1 was one of the worst wars to fight in. You know you're in a bad spot when the enemy and the earth itself is trying to end you.

[@patnewbie2177]

You know it's bad when the enemy flat-out stops their shelling and even invites one of your boys over their trenches to eat food. Literally the prisoner's dilemma!

[@JuniorlikesTechno]

Your passion is infectious. Awesome video.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

I read years ago of the cadets from Virginia Military Institute advancing through a muddy field at the Battle of Newmarket and the mud sucking the shoes off their feet. "That's got to be an exaggeration!" I told myself. Then several years later I was an officer student in the Marine's Basic School in Quantico VA. We had a field problem that took us attacking across a muddy field. I didn't doubt that VMI story any more after THAT experience. I didn't have my combat boots sucked off but that muddy field sure tried! "One picture's worth 1,000 words." So's a Marine Corps field problem!

[@mcpartridgeboy]

stop being silly, mud is just a bit uncomfortable it cant suck your boots off lol.

[@N0th1ng-4g41n]

when i was 16, i shot my own leg off in the mud. holding an antique shotgun while duck hunting i got my foot entirely encased in mud, trying to keep walking i fell forward and my gun misfired, i lay there writhing and looking at my leg for minutes before someone heard me. this video hit close to home.

[@N0th1ng-4g41n]

@@jake9107 this is rude as fuck. im negligent because i tripped? i have to live with the reminder of this every moment of my life. believe what you want about gun control (i personally think automatic weapons should be tightly controlled and 72 hour waiting periods should be mandatory) but dont fucking tell someone that its theyre fault that they got into an accident. you dont know me or the circumstances of my accident, never fucking say anything like this to a disabled person again.

[@N0th1ng-4g41n]

@@jake9107 choke.

[@MaximusJohnson-lq4xt]

@@N0th1ng-4g41n what did he say

[@N0th1ng-4g41n]

@@MaximusJohnson-lq4xt told me i was negligent and that my parents were "disgraces" for letting me use a gun at all. braindead shit. i went through a freak accident that could have happened to literally anyone.

[@MaximusJohnson-lq4xt]

@@N0th1ng-4g41n i hate people who blame people for accidents ANYONE could make. that guy was absolutely disgusting

[@janelbbuck]

I always wondered if the mud caused any problems back when I read about WW1 as a kid, and that wonder had followed me till now and wow, it’s just as horrifying as I imagined.

[@wentoneisendon6502]

Massive cause of trench foot and infections

[@SpeedRacer-pz9jn]

Without mud, the nation of Texas would not have existed. The "Sea of Mud" saved the Texicans after the Battle of San Jacinto. General Vicente Filisola had 2500 Mexican troops that got mired down for weeks while being caught in a heavy rain event, near present day Wharton. Cool vid & I love the kit, dude !

[@timbrwolf1121]

I grew up in the backwoods of southern Illinois and I have encountered mud like this in creeks cutting through farmlands. I've been stuck up to my waist. Lost a shoe when my friend and sister drug me out. It really does suck you in. It's like a living water sleep paralysis demon where the ground turns into liquid and pulls you in.

[@woohooo7813]

this is the first video ive ever watched from this guy and it's great. holy cow i love the delivery, man 😄

[@BrandonF]

Appreciate it! Thank you!

[@EriktheRed2023]

Very Lovecraftian. I wonder if any students of physics could explain how a soldier could get sucked under mud so easily. After all, you can float in water. Is mud lighter?

[@sidharthcs2110]

My two cents (correct me if I'm wrong) : Mud is definitely denser than water. The problem is mud is not a stable solution, it'll settle overtime. Denser layer at the bottom, and the layers on top of it get progressively lighter. And struggling in the mud doesn't help either, because it'll push the water away from the soil particles and form a compacted more dense layer of mud around the place where pressure is applied.

[@woltews]

there are cohesive forces from fine particals that cause them to be attracted to larger partials and also the viscosity of the mud is extremely high ( think like grease ) . the density of mud which flows in as you move in it add to the weight you must overcome to move up in the coloum

[@kevinlove4356]

A key part of being sucked under is having 30-60 pounds strapped to the soldier's body of ammunition, weapons, helmet, boots, etc. I have experienced this, being sucked into the swamps of Canadian Forces Base Borden. Truly hellish!

[@woltews]

mine was petwewawa @@kevinlove4356

[@AnderGdeT]

Also, an important thing is that mud behaves like a non-newtonian shear thinning, thixotropic liquid; in this case, just like ketchup, it gets thinner the faster you move in it up to a certain point. This results in that, when you step on in with the tip of your foot, it gives way and allows you to pass, to get inside. But then it inmmediately settles, and you're stuck in a thick, unmoving gel. In addition, due to its composition (the different phases in the heterogeneous mixture that mud is) it's great at dissipating energy. Water offers a lot of resistance to movement, but mud is at just another league.

[@BeantownYid86]

As a former artilleryman in the Army we used to go out into the field and purposely get our vehicles and towed howitzer stuck in deep mud. Self recovery was the number one way because you never know if someone would come (engineers) pull you out. It was some of the hardest and draining training we ever experienced.

[@CarburetorThompson]

Remember playing on the banks of the marsh with my friend when we were kids. One time he took a wrong step and near instantly sunk down until he was up to his waist in mud. We struggled quickly to get him out since it happened during low tide and water was going to be coming in. It probably wouldn't have gone up to his head, but still was extremely frightening

[@Chaoktarukto]

The way you weave together these quotations and descriptions is enviably skillful. Thanks for the video!

[@blazjurkovic8947]

Amazing video. Mud is such an underrated danger in warfare. My dad used to tell me stories when men were drowning in craters full of mud in a "modern" war. And you don't have to search long to find similar stories on the battle and beers: war stories account from ukraine.

[@OccupiedMuffins]

I really learned about mud when I was installing solar panels in what was a previous farm bought by a school. It snowed and then rained for a day and it was nearly impossible to do anything in it. I had boots that went all the way up to my knee and they got sucked right off me and I could barely walk. We couldn’t drive anything either, it was insane. Someone fell face first and couldn’t get up since his hands sunk right in.

[@alexmcd378]

I think this might be the reason I was taught how to survive quicksand as a kid as if it were a useful skill

[@ClaytonBigsby01]

Most "quicksand" is actually just mud. Mud but with so much water in it that the entire ground becomes liquefied

[@br9760]

As a water utility worker who works in mud daily, this mess all lines up! My coworkers have had to abandon boots in "the hole" multiple times. That suction is no joke. You can dislocate joints if you don't brace youurself while pulling. Not to mention it can shred your hands since its basically wet sandpaper.

[@salty4496]

A fitting tribute to the men of all sides, one of your best videos, keep up the great work Brandon, it is appreciated :)

[@nquisitiv3471]

I was at an archaeological field school over the summer and I experienced mud like this while exploring the island I was on. It went up past my knees and the more i tried to move the more suction the mud had, and eventually i was stuck in place. With every step i went in deeper and deeper into the mud and it was genuinely terrifying when I realized that i was alone and trapped. There was no bottom, I barely managed to get out by basically using all of my energy to force my legs out and pulling my body up onto this section of land that had thick grass and roots keeping it in place Mud really is hell

[@behindbigm]

I was out jetskiing once and I managed to get it beached in some mud hiding behind about 6 inches of water in southern NJ. The tide was going out so all the water was just gone in minutes after I beached it and I was at the center of a big muddy field. I got off of the craft and stepped right into waist deep, very VERY smelly mud, with the sweet surprise of sticks and sharp clam shells at the bottom, but nothing solid enough to stand. I made my way over to a plastic chair that was left in the brush, and was able to use that to push myself back onto the jetski after about an hour, but the chair was absolutely gone after that. Though I made it back onto the jetski, I was baking in the sun until it set and I was stuck in that big, muddy plain until the tide came back in. I initially beached it at about 3:00pm and finally got moving again at 7:30pm. I still have scars on my feet from all the cuts I got trying to get out of that mud. Scariest thing I've experienced and this video really evoked that feeling in me again.

[@emilionarvaez1415]

Not going to lie, I was skeptical clicking to watch this video but it is honestly one of the best made, well researched, passion projects I have ever seen on KZbin. You create excellent content. Keep up the fantastic work 💪!

[@jakelynch5113]

just finished reading Storm of Steel, mud is horrifying but also seems to have saved so many lives by simply stopping shells from detonating at some poor souls feet by seemingly being too soft a surface. however you can only imagine for all the shells that did explode and combine the mud and with churned up corpses that have been laying in no mans land for months simply becoming one with the watery mire. needless to say, being even slightly wounded and splashed with this fluid would be very dangerous.

[@mattrobinson47]

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, his platoon sets up camp in a muddy field, where heavy rains & flooding left them open to attack. It’s a horrific story, especially when you learn that it wasn’t a mud field they were camping in

[@steveh7823]

I kept on thinking through this video that there must be a snow shoe equivalent that you could strap onto your boots to get through mud. But the stopping power of mud still applies in the Ukraine war today.

[@batonnikus]

It would be rather hard, if not impossible, to do something like that because mud is too soft and sticky to the point it's either you can stay afloat and cannot move due to high pressure under your feet, or sink so what's the point. This invention to fight mud is called pavement or air transport.

[@nos9784]

"Corduroy roads" and fascine bundles (yes, it's where that word comes from) were used. Take a bunch of sticks, branches, smaller tree trunks, connect or overlay them, and you can build a temporary or even permanent road. (if you bury the wood in dense soil that slows down rot, and build a road over it) I've personally applied that when working in a cold, knee- deep pond with additional more than knee-deep mud. Just a few fallen branches put into place make a big difference... enough for slow walking and hand-ramming posts. Roads for wheels are a bigger challenge, of course, and road mud a different fluid than the fallen willow leaves that made up the pond floor.

[@nos9784]

​​@@batonnikus with other words: mud is too sticky. Any invention touching it will get bogged down, so, best case, it's something thats useful when stuck. I don't know how common "folding roads" are in modern armies, but they exist.

[@batonnikus]

@@nos9784 like that yes, but not like snow shoes for personal use.

[@nos9784]

@@batonnikus wikipedia seems to yield german and britisch folding road equipment, used by a few more countries. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Engineers_bridging_and_trackway_equipment de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faltstra%C3%9Fe German "Bundeswehr" material was also used this summer, to ensure access for emergency vehicles to the "wacken open air" metal festival when it turned non- recreational due to amounts of mud that don't really discourage metal fans, but even the most mud- aquainted metal festival organizers trying to keep those fans alive, non-hypothermic, fed, and accessible to emergency services.

[@erin.c92]

Great video! This explains Danny Whizz-Bang’s (from Peaky Blinders) fear of being buried in mud after his death during his PTSD episodes

[@baronvonbrunn8596]

Even good old Hannibal faced this when he marched through the swamps aroud the mouth of river Arno, as he was bypassing generals Servilius and Flaminius on his way to plunder central Italy and lure them into a battle on his own terms. Besides exhaustion and spreading of diseases (Hannibal himself lost an eye to infection there) there were cases of people sinking into mud in their sleep and suffocating. Imagine beying severely exhausted from the difficult march while at the same time beying afraid of lying down to rest... Hannibal's army was successfull in the end and even won a great victory at Trasimene not long after, but it still left the lowlands around Arno noticeably smaller compared to the state in which it has entered it.

[@captaincat1743]

Thanks for highlighting this. My grandfather fought in WW1 with the Lancashire Fusiliers so fought at Passchendaele, The Somme, Gallipoli, in all those battles and he said the thing he hated most was being stood knee deep in mud or water for days at a time. I found that hard to understand, that he preferred hand to hand combat or running at machine gun nests, but he said it was a welcome break from the miserable conditions they lived in, during the first years in France and Belgium. This video helped me understand a bit more about the reality of it, so thanks for the upload.

[@josephc.558]

Was out riding with some friends when we were about 16 and one of their four wheelers got stuck in some really deep mud. The more we tried to get him unstuck the more it sank. It took 5 four wheelers with a combined towing power of almost 15000 lbs to pull it out. We bent the frame with how much power it took to get it out. He actually debated leaving it there and letting it sink, and just tanking the money.

[@Foogi9000]

Makes me think about those men who struggled and died in WW1. Mud, corpses left rotting in the trenches, rodents and insects. I recommend Otto Dix's Der Krieg sketches and his paintings, they're a hard thing to see but they're important.

[@landonlittrell8198]

I’m impressed you took a stab at a historical Biblical event and linked it to a flash flood without discounting the possibility of its religious importance. You made your point and turned at just the right moment to the Napoleon era as to not ruffle feathers or call into question the miracle

[@HH-qr5sv]

Thanks for the video caption, I know it probably didn't seem like a big deal but as a non-English speaker it really makes it easier to understand the video

[@BrandonF]

I am glad it helped!

[@kingofpropain7493]

1:21 I thought General Burnside was an ironic name for a guy with huge sideburns. Turns out sideburns are his namesake 🤣🤣🤣

[@Pjb93]

lmao just what I thought

[@talaananthes]

You really missed an opportunity to retraumatize every elder millennial by not showing us a replay of *that* scene from the neverending story. Kids born in the 80s? We understand the horror of mud.

[@Cecilpedia]

I'm a relatively younger gen Z (born 2005) but my parents, who were both younger Gen X, LOVED that movie. We had it on VHS and when the VHS tape was worn out, we got it on DVD. I remember the first time I watched it when I was 4, my mom left the room just before the swamp scene. I remember vaguely hearing this exchange: Dad: Did you leave him alone in there? Mom: Yeah, he'll be ok. I'm only grabbing my inhaler. Dad: But that scene is about to come on Mom: [long pause] oh shit

[@crownedcrow7745]

I remember one time my biology teacher over heard me and my friend talking about quick sand. I was being a smart ass explaining that its not as deadly as they make it seem in the movies. That day he taught the both of us how mud can make quick sand look like a joke. He also eventually taught me about how much more dangerous cave diving is compared to caving or scuba diving.

[@bobjohnson1633]

Quick sand itself is not particularly deadly and it certainly isn't 6 feet deep.

[@theblackcatgirl7013]

How powerful it is to tell the story through showing actual accounts from the people who experienced it firsthand. Thank you so much for this.

[@BrandonF]

I agree- thank you, glad you enjoyed!

[@vin9693]

As a kid id go to the canadian national war museum a lot and in their world war 1 exhibit was a room that was supposed to mimick the battle field and trenches and what always scared me the most was the body half sunken in mud, still freaks me out to this day

[@thenickfoxx]

Good ol' KZbin recommendations plopped this on my lap - and I'm grateful for it. I just want to say, you've got yourself a bright future young man. The presentation encapsulated a pitch-perfect retelling of the minutia people often overlook when looking back on these events throughout human history. Well done.

[@thelostremainunfound]

Never was in the army but reading The Things They Carried and the depiction of a man drowning in a field of shit and mud during mortar fire and never being recovered fucked me up enough to fear mud

[@neildarling2404]

At Boy Scout camp once, I went for a solo hike that took me, foolishly, into a boggy area of the camp ground. By the time I got out, I was caked in mud up to my hips and my socks and boots were gone for good. I can hardly imagine what these brave men saw. Thank you for creating this video and reminding us of the many unknown or unthought of reasons we need to honor these men. Those men who have endured these things for the sakes of those who might never know them.

[@feliloki7]

imagine drowning in mud... god...

[@feliloki7]

also put the Enfield down, it's making me nervous

[@llewelynshingler2173]

Somehow it sounds worse than common water

[@AHersheyHere]

I'm glad you brought up that is wasn't just French clay in the mud but, every discharge of the soldiers and the rot of those who died in the trench and not buried.

[@FlippidyDooDoggy]

“Hell is mud” is the funniest fucking thumbnail I’ve ever read in my life and I can’t explain why

[@ClaytonBigsby01]

Because you've never been forced to be in mud all day long. you're one of those City slickers who does a mud run for fun😂

[@kamikazestriker4675]

​@@ClaytonBigsby01 I can tell he's never worked a day in his life by the furry PFP and pronouns in his bio 😂

[@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime]

@@kamikazestriker4675ya’ll got triggered by a super benign comment lol

[@thenerdbird5596]

​​@@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime they have the right to be triggered, i have to empty the recycling pool once every couple weeks and i hate it. Not only it's Slimy and fills my boots but it also has a rancid smell of dead rats. Can't even imagine working everyday with it

[@sh3940]

Great story teller, subbed

[@BrandonF]

I appreciate that, thank you!

[@Sizifus]

Twice in my life I had a chance to experience mud first hand and it's was a brief experience but definitely a memorable one and the one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The first time experience was brief but extremely draining, the second was longer but it was exponentially worse, even in summer mud is a monster, it drains your energy, it drains your heat, it sticks to everything on your body and adds an armor worth of weight on top of your clothes. Your feet get sucked by it and trying to get it out sucks out the strength out of your muscles and the cold leads to cramps. At times I felt a fear of getting stuck without a way to get out, being left to sink to that dark goo of dead matter. It's a monster like none other

[@mscookie3613]

Mud is crazy!!! I tangentially work in animal rescue and animals (and humans) getting stuck in mud is TERRIFYING!!! Way more than one would think. The suction power is insane and can literally rip limbs off. They have a super cool way to negate it. They have long straight pipes they shove down near the affected limb, blast pressurized air to aerate the mud which helps break the suction so you can pull!

[@fushiante]

Holy shit what a fine breath of fresh air that was this video and en macro, your content. I've just discovered you, but I really very strongly enjoy your narration, your writing, the frequent and detailed references to your sources, your deep understanding of and eagerness to further contexuilize and explain the points you highlight and how you take these topics very seriously, but not so much as to seem rigid or inauthentic as the person named Brandon whom conveys it all. I really appreciate your reverence and genuine consideration and empathy for our brothers of yesteryear, I really very strongly hope for and look forward to your enormous success in this endeavor. As life goes on, please do not let it get too much in the way of sharing this obvious passion of yours because there are few indeed who would ever better provide such a pure example of it. Cheers to a real one, from one (:

[@Gehrmanthefirsthunter7247]

My stepfather told of Alaskan fishing, wherein the dangers lied with the tide-if your ship got stuck in the mud, for you lied in one place too long and the water fell too far, the suction meant that the ship would not rise with the water and walking through such mud is, if memory serves right, ultimately futile.

[@jamesverhoff1899]

While I don't want to downplay mud, it's quite telling that the majority of the examples given in this video are in the modern (post-railroad) era. Pictures of battlefields from even as late as the Civil War show areas were the vegetation is largely undisturbed (anyone familiar with construction best practices can tell you that plants--and in particular grass--are the key to preventing sediment flow). Round shot simply wasn't capable of churning up the soil in ways that generate a tremendous amount of mud, and the sorts of explosives they had prior to the development of high explosives (essentially they were limited to gunpowder) were very limited in effective radius. Weapons prior to gunpowder simply couldn't generate significant amounts of mud. And while thousands of booted or, in the case of Rome, sandaled feet could churn up the ground, the armies didn't usually stay in one place long enough to really create teh quagmire that was seen in WWI. I don't recall any records of mud being a tremendous factor in sieges in the Middle Ages, for example, or something the generals of the Roman army had to deal with in their camps (though one may argue that the Roman penchant for road building suggests mud was a significant factor). When mud DID happen--such as Agincourt--it was, no doubt, truly horrific--as if the Earth itself were swallowing men for the sin of war. But it was only with the rise of high explosives designed to blast apart trenches and underground defenses that mud became ubiquitous in warfare. Prior to that, mud was a thing you occasionally had to deal with, not a constant way of life.

[@dyadyabafomyot1668]

Yeah, industrialisation made war more horrifying.

[@cooldudemcswagcooldudemcsw4697]

Your narration and commentary is amazing. This was something special

[@sammarsh6516]

Very interesting and easily forgotten topic

[@dpwinfla]

Thanks!

[@BrandonF]

Thanks so much! That is very generous of you!