Battle of the Bulge, Animated - Part 1, The Assault Begins

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In December 1944, the Allies have pushed back the Third Reich to it's own borders. The Fuhrer grows desperate for a decisive victory to defeat the western Allies so he can turn his full attention to the Eastern Front. He plans an ambitious dash through the Ardennes to take the city of Antwerp, trapping the British and Canadian armies in the Netherlands in a massive pocket, and forcing the western Allies to enter a peace settlement. Three German Panzer Armies are secretly assembled at a quiet sector of the front, and on the 16th December 1944, the panzers launch their assault.
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[@TheOperationsRoom]

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[@stevenclark8225]

Thank you

[@dudududu1926]

Forgot this game existed.

[@Greatwealthgentleman]

Great game

[@CBB-dg9jy]

@@dudududu1926 I've been playing for almost a year, this is what I asked for in BFV but didn't get.

[@dudududu1926]

@@CBB-dg9jy You asked for predatory monetization?

[@freedomhq4075]

The level of effort and the rate of posting this channel has given in the last month is like shit a full blown established docu studio couldn’t do themselves. Incredible

[@LaurensPP]

Well, the visuals are extremely basic and do not even come close to representing how it happened. This was reasonably fitting for the Battle of Mogadishu, but for the Battle for the Bulge or Iwo Jima it frankly does not make too much sense. I still enjoy it though.

[@More_Row]

@@LaurensPP that's not a fair comment. While "basic" it's way more than what you usually get with coverage of the battle of the bulge. Would like to see you make something like this less "basic" . And still watchable. Basically, get a life.

[@christiangallien3730]

Both of you guys should chill

[@LaurensPP]

@@More_Row For the strategic view/scale I think it's fine. For the tactical I find it a bit silly though.

[@jpnarino]

@@LaurensPPhappening

[@IceBreaker.22]

Well done! As a belgian living 30 miles from Bastogne i say thank you for your work.

[@tB3o3tR9o9]

belgium is lost^^

[@glutengoblin]

My grandpa was in the 106th and was actually shot in the face as they were evacuating from their original positions. Walked it off like a champ tho 👍🏼

[@wtbrainrot]

The grandpa of my friend was shot in the head and survived too, he was fighting in the Blue Division on the eastern front (Im from Spain)

[@Paras_Pertti]

Greetings from Finland! 🇫🇮 I love this series, it is so detailed and shines a light on some lesser known engagements of the operation. Amazing work!👍

[@RonaldReaganRocks1]

American commander Buch got a 99:1 kill ratio! Go America!

[@babaksanaee1460]

Woah woah woah. Did you just rock my world and release two videos on one day. I may pass out.

[@derekqueen667]

You guys are so damn good. Absolutely top notch work!

[@MintyLime703]

Really loving all this content being released back to back.

[@stun_resist_s]

Great to hear Indy N.!

[@ilocosmetro]

This is where the fun begins

[@YrJugaLoHomi]

@Operations Room Thank you hardly anybody actually promotes Enlisted and I play this game heavily for nearly the last year or two and I'm actually about to be coming up on my daily sign in bonus of the year this game gets so much developer support it's it's beautiful nearly every week there is an update hot fix or some sort of overall same people that made War thunder so anybody out there want to try this game out I highly recommend it! And you know it's the best part it's free!

[@shadowpoet4398]

"Load those clips, and wipe every cartridge clean" EARNEST F**KING HEMINGWAY!!!!

[@ahmedbassam400]

Babe wake up! the operations room uploaded

[@wildtill9]

That was 18 minutes? I was so engrossed by the story that I lost all track of time

[@markmulder9845]

YOU GOT INDY IN ON THIS! DAMN SON! Way to go!

[@nukethenatelore]

Didnt expect to hear indy, one of the goats of history yt

[@Elocowynt]

No fire, so hot the paste ,the peals rubbing straight

[@Nickdamamurray]

Was waiting for this video, FUCKING AWESOME CHANNEL

[@JohnnyWad309]

9:15 And that explains precisely why he was promoted in the first place.

[@brendanbarstow3661]

:O A collab with my other favorite channel! Hell yeah!

[@ppggddtt1170]

"NUTS" -Anthony mcauliffe to the german commander

[@raymondcaylor6292]

I played poker with a man who was in the Ardennes assigned to a mobile kitchen. He was a US Private combat rifleman replacement who hadn't been assigned to a unit yet. He said he was sitting on a rock washing his feet when he heard something he couldn't figure out what it was or even where it was coming from. What he was hearing was German Tank Motors and trees falling that were in their paths. Asked what he did he said I put my boots back on and did what everyone else was doing.....run. The next day was his first day of combat as a Sargent who had his company and anybody else he could round up moved east until they couldn't hear anything and slowly moved west trying to out flank the mobile German units and attack any ground troops behind the tanks. They found them. He took 2 bullets through his canteen and one through his right ear that first day and was never shot again although he broke his right ankle about 10 day's later stepping in a hole on his 2nd night patrol. He ended up in working as a medical assistant in numerous triage and field hospitals following advancement into Germany. He never was assigned to a combat unit and left the service in January 1946 as a Private First Class. He ended up going to College on the GI Bill and joined the Reserves that put him through Medical School and he was a Family Practitioner for 38 year's. His name was First Lieutenant Dr. William Parker and he wasn't ever called up for Korean War Service although he expected to be.

[@ThemoonsFullofgoons-qn9xl]

11:55 this right here kids is where band of brothers episode 6 Bastogne starts 😂

[@DennisBratland]

One thing about battle maps always confuses me. We’re told the German plan is to take Bastogne to control the paved roads there. Arrows point from Fifth Panzer Army to Bastogne on our map. Then, the plan is for other units, 2nd armor and 116th panzer, to follow and use the captured roads to get to the Meuse. But the arrows point directly from where the 2nd and 116th began to the general direction of points along the river. They don’t go through Bastogne at all. Which we were just told was the point of taking Bastogne. I can see how the arrows are only general, abstract indicators of the direction of movement, but… if we don’t care about the exact route, why did we bother to take note of the role of the Fifth Panzer Army? Why bother with maps and animations at all? Historical maps do this all the time. I feel like whoever put the arrows on the map didn’t know about the context; their job is only to show begin and end points. Is it just a common cost saving sacrifice? Or am I really confused?

[@t-virusterrance4734]

Hello, Humans Never let humans push you around, don't be a push over. On this terrible planet, humans take advantage of the weak. Stay strong, be ready for anything. TERRANCE OUT

[@njyde]

How are the details of these military operations documented in such detail?

[@shadowstorm_fgc]

Any sabaton fans know how awesome Indy is !

[@HiopX]

oh hey, it's the guy from Sabaton History

[@FinalTry]

Battle of the Bulge aka No nut november

[@barti6858]

nice!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

I hope you all enjoyed Part 1, Part 2 is already out!

[@candowe4926]

nice

[@jamesknight1587]

Whoooooooo!

[@charliedaood444]

Yoooo. hype

[@CWallace268]

You are the 🐐

[@adambutler3266]

Part One demolished, must secure part 2 at 7 😂

[@username-tv6uw]

"His artillery support would never come". Glad to hear some things never change.

[@edmondlau511]

FDC was probably too busy playing cards and smoking cigarettes

[@jacksoncross9265]

yeah, but with a force 4% the size i dont think he needed it

[@RobinTheBot]

Knowing the entire offensive could have been stopped with some less cowardly tankers and some less useless artillerymen is frustrating. Like... Why do they think the Germans are not likely to try a desperate breakthrough? Obviously they would...

[@arts6821]

Probably the worse feeling during combat, asking for help but being denied it and knowing without it you’re going to probably die.

[@edmondlau511]

@@arts6821 when the final approval has to be from a guy in a TOC miles away from the fight, that’s what happens.

[@Thevc3podcast]

First Iowa Jima, and now the Battle of the Buldge. Plus you got Indy? Man this channel is killing it! Thank you for the top of the line content.

[@extrahistory8956]

What's with the sudden burst of Iwo and Bulge content? First Jesse Alexander and the Real Time History team make videos on these and now this channel. Not to mention the crossovers, Indy, Jesse and Drach have all collaborated with each other before, and Jesse is Indy's successor in The Great War channel.

[@crabmansteve6844]

Iowa Jima, the potatoes will never taste the same after that offensive.

[@redswift31]

@@crabmansteve6844 Wrong state that's Idaho...

[@lg-0297]

@@extrahistory8956 I think it’s because military history has sort of become “mainstream” since Russias invasion of Ukraine. The fact this has hundreds of thousands of views already proves that. There are FAR more credible history KZbinrs now than ever before. Add the fact that WW2 and it’s battles are always going to be talked about and you get a bunch of history channels covering the same topic. Which isn’t a bad thing at all. The people who made fun of me a year ago for always studying history are now watching these kinds of documentaries, themselves. More demand = more content.

[@extrahistory8956]

@@lg-0297 Oh I ain't complaining at all. I'm extremely proud of what the history side of KZbin has been able to achieve over the last few years.

[@ChamonixHouse884]

Indy and TGA crew combined with the operations room is everything I’ve ever wanted.

[@elektrotehnik94]

[@jacobwaddell6075]

Big facts

[@PripyatTourist]

Yeah, I'm fan-girling over here myself! 🥳🥳🥳

[@wlpxx7]

It's legendary. Such a solid vid

[@greyedgamer]

Would you please explain who Indy and the TGA crew are?

[@Bokator2]

12:17 seeing all the flags pop up like that while the prisoners are slaughtered and have no where to go is pretty harrowing

[@rameygardner4782]

Makes me angry

[@Oscar-ds2vb]

should've stayed on your side of the atlantic.

[@TOXICDUB1]

The US stopped taking prisoners after this aswell. War brings out the worst

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

@@Oscar-ds2vb Germany got what it deserved in the end. Should've stayed in your own country.

[@TheKsalad]

@@Oscar-ds2vb Germans still lost the war lmao, cry some more Fritz

[@Sunday_fits]

The scene of the massacre was done well and was everything you described chilling and rage inducing

[@Oscar-ds2vb]

lol

[@guerillagorilla4423]

@@Oscar-ds2vb What?

[@doncolor3473]

@@guerillagorilla4423 maybe he Like to point Out, that the "masacre" is questionable.

[@Chuked]

@@doncolor3473 it was still a war crime, no point in attempting to say any different

[@doncolor3473]

@@Chuked thats what i ment, ist is not so save that it was one. There is an interesting Doku about it called "Über Galgen wächst kein Gras". kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmjbm5-JnMSCgdk Long thing short, the pow was Shot because some start running after Piper was leaving and told the pow to wait for the Infantry because he had not enough men to guard them. The following Infantry saw running soldier and Shoot. I don' t say that this Version is true , but at least questionable. Anyway , there were two more massacre that should be mentioned . The Wereth and Chenogne. Anyway, I don't want to reduce the Work of this Channel here but there are often more than one point of View 🙏🏻

[@frankieM_]

"Let them come" Man, Bradley really ate his own words there

[@jordansamson6071]

History shall remember him was being a tremendous ass.

[@Jagonath]

Well I mean technically he was right. But you're certainly more right than he was.

[@bobmillholland6345]

I think the Bradley quote needs some context here. While admitting intelligence failure at all levels, he surmised reasonably that the Germans were planning a spoiling attack to blunt the Allies push toward the Reich. He, along with Ike and Monty took a calculated risk in a lightly defending the Ardennes in favor of keeping pressure on the Wehrmacht reeling from the Normandy breakout.

[@TheBismark117]

"We are paratroopers Lieutenant, we are supposed to be surrounded." - Captain Winters.

[@maryholder3795]

Love that comment by Captain Winters, it was spot on.

[@justonemori]

Thank you for mentioning St Vith. Most documentaries are all like "the Bulge started on the 16th, the 106th got railroaded.....Bastogne!". The defenders that held the town for 6 days before being ordered out by Monty earned a Presidential Unit Citation. My grandfather escaped across the bridge at Vielsalm very early on the 24th as part of the last group out, Task force Jones. The 82nd Airborne blew the bridge soon after. Never forget!

[@jackthorton10]

Never Give Up, Never Surrender! Airborne all the way!

[@Shaboomquisa]

my great great uncle was general sink of the 506. then col sink

[@SantaClaus-kk8zr]

Dunno if you'll see this but my great grandfather, rest his soul, was in the 82nd. He fought his way through Normandy, Market Garden, and then served in a multitude of places including Bastogne briefly. He never spoke much of it though, but I do wonder if he was a part of that in some way. All I have of him now is his pump shotgun from when he hunted, and a handful of photos.

[@justonemori]

@@L_Train I'll be sure to read that. My current favorite book is "Loss and Redemption at St Vith" by Gregory Fontenot. He has a couple long discussions here on youtube about the book, good stuff.

[@L_Train]

@@justonemori cool I just looked him up and realized that I've listened to a couple of his talks on desert storm. Didn't know he wrote a book I might have to check it out.

[@patrickazzarella6729]

Hearing the Panzer 4 Ausf. H's side skirts actually be effective against HEAT warheads when they were designed against AT rifles is actually amazing. Never heard of this encounter before.

[@nyssfairchild2244]

It's effectively spaced armor. Additionally the rockets seemed to be coming in at a rather steep angle, so there's also that. Either way, it's interesting how despite not being designed for it, they worked regardless.

[@scarsofhonor6333]

Every little helps with armor, a glancing hit to a helmet is better than a glancing hit to the skull, even if it was designed for shrapnel.

[@jackthorton10]

Better you are protected, Better Chance for you to shrug off the hits, and return fire

[@calebr908]

Ya it cant penetrate unless the angle is good and the contact is a specific distance from the armor. Thats why people use things like slat armor etc.

[@steved5495]

If the rocket is coming in straight enough, the side skirts actually improve the penetration, because stand-off distance wasn't understood at the time. It also depends whether the rockets had the pointed nose or the rounded one. The former had a greater chance to slide off where the latter would detonate.

[@overlythicc4773]

The recent uptick in videos both in quantity and quality have been astounding, hats off to the whole team behind these productions!

[@icygaming20]

The Indy Neidell collaboration was unexpected lol

[@alitlweird]

They did that on purpose! 🤘😆🤘 *EasterEgg!!*

[@failtolawl]

Yea almost ruined the whole video, luckily he didn't have much to say

[@icygaming20]

@@failtolawl wtf, indy is awesome

[@camg6400]

@@failtolawl Bah! Indy is the best, you are the worst my friend

[@failtolawl]

@@camg6400 yes I'm well aware his internet persona is so enticing to many

[@nathaniellazo5912]

The Battle of the Bulge, this is going to be an amazing one!! Keep up the top quality work guys!!

[@oasis1282]

Very true

[@mathewm7136]

Great video and thanks. Cliff Claven Trivia: "Bulge" was the only offensive were the Germans did not use Enigma in both the prep and offensive. Because of this, Allied CMD wrongly assumed that the Germans had discovered their ability to decode and therefore the Allies stopped using it for the remainder of the war.

[@sjonnieplayfull5859]

*Enigma. Ultra was the code breaking effort

[@mathewm7136]

@@sjonnieplayfull5859 Thank you. Correction made. As to why Enigma wasn't used for the Bulge has never been factually determined. But many theorize that: As OKH would broadcast all Enigma messages on the same freq for all military forces (minus naval), army cdr's would often use it to monitor the orders for neighboring commands. Therefore (as the theory goes), AH and OKH feared that by using Enigma, the Eastern commanders would have discovered the massing of men, armor and logistics in the West while they were fighting just to survive each day on the Eastern front (quote "Crosses of Iron" heroism was now an everyday occurrence for most.) and would have, at minimum "Blown a flippin' head gasket" or, at worse, just capitulated. So OKH used landlines and direct curriers to coordinate.

[@jimrobinette1036]

Didn’t need to as necessary commo was all via courier for plans transmission and realtime coordination was via landlines within Germany itself.

[@jiraph52]

The realistic map and topography is a huge step up in quality and really adds to the viewing experience. Good work!

[@collaborativelearning1]

My sentiments exactly, thank you!

[@cd5927]

My grandfather, Leon Wikoff, was in the battle of the bulge near the Ardennes. He spent 3 days hiding in a wine cellar with his squad surrounded by Germans. It's amazing to see this battle in such detail.

[@quaygrass6212]

Oh, you‘re not bsing. He died in 2003?

[@teller1290]

My late uncle was cut off with one squad mate for several days. My uncle, big outdoorsman, killed a dear with M-1 finally to eat, despite risk. No one knew where they were for sure in the chaos. They were almost killed early on due signalling to "an American tank" by waiving something overhead from a distance. But the tank column was German and long-range m.g. cracked overhead in the branches! They successfully fled and his until somehow hearing or spitting U.S. forces.

[@visassess8607]

With a name like that I thought you were gonna say he fought for Germany

[@cd5927]

@@visassess8607 Nope, Wikoff is Danish, not German. Plus he was an American born citizen at that point.

[@cd5927]

@@quaygrass6212 More like 1993. I was too young when he died to remember having met him.

[@icygaming20]

The work you guys put in is insane! Great work

[@robinsonsstudios]

Fun fact, the schürzen on the Panzer IV were initially not designed to protect against shaped charges but against anti tank rifles. That they offered protection against bazooka and the likes was a welcomed side effect

[@gotanon9659]

They did not offer protection against bazooka it actually helped the bazooka penetrate better much to the shock of the germans.

[@onyxdragon1179]

They did not offer protection against bazookas, they actually made bazookas even more effective! There was an issue with bazooka rockets were the fuse would have a delay and it wouldn't always be set as the rocket hit the tank, resulting in the rocket shattering or bouncing off the tank. With the shürzen, the rocket fuse would be set off as it effortlessly sliced through the sheet of metal, just in time to explode as it made contact with the tank and cause maximum penetration/damage! It only protected effectively against anti tank rifles (to which surprisingly the Panther had a vulnerable spot), if they didn't fall to pieces just from travel.

[@shlomomark2275]

The actor Charles Durning was among the few that survived the Malmedy massacre and carried a fellow wounded soldier to safety. He recived a Silver star for his action in the war

[@Kubakaiser]

I love how this goes all the way from strategic to tactical overview. From whole countries and armies, to single soldiers, buildings, vehicles and foxholes.

[@unofficial_ai]

Indy showing up put a huge smile on my face. What an amazing collaboration! Thank you for that

[@hobojakobo]

10:30 One of the most understated strengths of the allies, specifically the US- logistics. To be able to react that quickly and move that much men/material to the front is incredible.

[@SStoj]

Or the opposite Soviet feat of moving all the men/material away from the front.

[@hobojakobo]

@@SStoj absolutely. The Soviets were successfully moving entire factories hundreds of miles to avoid the German advance. Pretty amazing.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

The Germans also reacted very quickly to Market Garden. Nearly all of the German armour that fought in Market Garden wasn't even in the Netherlands when the paras were dropped. These armoured units were quickly sent in from Germany, in some cases over 200km away such as the Tigers of Kompanie Hummel in Beielefeld and 400km away such as the King Tigers of Abteilung 506 in Ohrdruf.

[@looinrims]

Literally everyone talks about it, what do you mean ‘understated’

[@goxyeagle8446]

US lost 80,000 men during German counteroffensive, weak Germany after 5 years of fighting

[@bolobalaman]

This battle put the slogan *We are airborne , we meant tobe surrounded* to reality

[@Luis-be9mi]

“We’re paratroopers lieutenant, we’re supposed to be surrounded” - Dick Winters Band of Brothers Or my personal favorites when I was in the 101st: “If we’re not surrounded that means we missdropped.” Or “We’re paratroopers, we ain’t happy until we’re surrounded!”

[@bolobalaman]

@@Luis-be9mi That’s awesome. The line i heard was actually a airborne unit line whenever you click on them in Company of Heroes lol

[@vvvppp6021]

First Drachinifel and now Indy Neidell, man keep those collabs coming!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

More to come :)

[@justandy333]

If you havent seen Band of Brothers I seriously urge you to see it. Its a HBO production, 10 episode series covering the 101st Airborne's Easy Companies involvement. Including their involvement of the battle of the bulge. I can't give it enough praise, By far and away the best series or film alike I've ever seen. IMDB has given it a 9.4/10. For one I agree entirely.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Its overrated. Id rather watch Frasier.

[@PoopMonster-i8c]

Ending is boring. Like last 2 episodes are about a car accident. But it is peak ww2 film

[@justandy333]

@@PoopMonster-i8c I agree, it just fizzled out at the end. But that's how it happened. Many soldiers were stuck in Germany as an occupying force with nothing much to do and couldn't go home because they didn't have the points required. You say boring, I say realistic.

[@danando2]

​@@lyndoncmp5751it's overrated , I rather watch big bang theory

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@danando2 Only children watch Big Bang Theory.

[@TJ24050]

Earnest Hemingway’s account at the end describes the situation perfectly. My grandpa was an MP and said they went through every non combat unit and picked every other man for 4 weeks of infantry training and they were sent up as reinforcements. The morning he was waiting to move up to the front a LT pulled up and pulled him for traffic duty behind the lines. He said he never knew why he was spared, but that he thanked god.

[@Roberto-tu5re]

I am enthralled already in the first minute. How you put this together not only with facts and entertainment is beyond me. Please keep up the good work.

[@bossaudio12]

First minute is an ad

[@Roberto-tu5re]

@@bossaudio12 Correct maybe I should have dumbed it down for you to the definition of the first minute of the actual video.

[@ThereIsNoSpoon4]

No offense to the other fellas you've had lately, but I'd rather just hear your narration.

[@TheBigJohnson]

Always great content. But having Indy narrate some of it, and having Drach do part of the Iwo videos we’re gravy. Thank you as always!

[@ramal5708]

I can't wait for Patton's 90 degrees wheel offense to rescue the 101st Airborne guys at Bastogne, although those Paras didn't need any rescuing.

[@jeremy5602]

The bit about Ernest Hemingway packing a Thompson to return to the front made me laugh so hard. Randy Feltface gave a very fast, short, and summed up biography of his life in one of his shows and that just fits right into it. What a gigachad.

[@brandonferretti9907]

Love the purple monster. Especially his most famous part of buying a bookshelf of Gumtree

[@TheFriley4]

There is a book I read about Lt. Bouch's platoon called "The Longest Winter". If you found it unbelievable that none of the 18 men died in that outnumbered fight, get this: all 18 of them lived through brutal POW conditions to the end of the war. The details of the book are great too, I believe there were first hand accounts from the Germans who were there who were astonished at the Americans tenacity and marksmanship. They definitely thought they were engaging a much larger force!

[@L_Train]

Yes! I just posted about this book all over this comments section. The audiobook is actually on KZbin if you search for it. The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw

[@insertnamehere6659]

Will you ever do a video on the behind-the-scenes of these documentaries? Everything is very well researched, and I would love to gain some perspective on how much effort is put into each one.

[@contrapasta2454]

He has a secondary channel, The Intel Report.

[@fakecubed]

This is why you always treat prisoners of war and civilians of the enemy nation or liberated friendly nation with the utmost respect and dignity. You want your enemy to feel comfortable surrendering to you, you want civilian populations to give you no resistance, and you want civilian populations to assist you instead of assisting the enemy. There's examples on all sides of every conflict in history committing atrocities, but the side that minimizes theirs and punishes soldiers who commit atrocities instead of encouraging them, is the side that will generally have an easier time during and after war.

[@chardaskie]

One mans gut feeling could have been one of the only things that kept the bulge from being a breakout

[@scottgiles7546]

Might to have something to do with why he was named Supreme Allied Commander.

[@kassthered8452]

Nah the germans were running out of fuel with or without Patton. They would never get even close to their goals either way...

[@chardaskie]

@@kassthered8452 Ah yes the master historian KassTheRed he knows for sure what happened and would've happened

[@guerillagorilla4423]

@@chardaskie Yes. Haven't you heard about him before?

[@williamwells6468]

My grandfather was in the 28th Division. He said the day the battle kicked off was one of worst days of his war and he went through the Hurtgen Forrest and the Normandy campaign.

[@markrtoffeeman]

Again (after the Iwa Jima episodes last week) our American friends fight tenaciously against massed enemy forces I'd say the massacre of the 285th POWs to my mind absolutely changed the mindset of the American forces. The Americans were never going to surrender after that. No matter what. The resolve of the Americans very clear

[@christiant4596]

Will you ever do a series about the battle of north africa? Especially the battle El-Alamein or Operation Crusader

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

Operation compass needs a video most underrated victory

[@MrWolfstar8]

Great visuals and having Indy do a cameo was awesome. Love your channel

[@jebbroham1776]

Hitler's counteroffensive would never have been possible if the Allies hadn't constantly underestimated the ability of the Wehrmacht to recover after the disaster of the Falaise Pocket. The Allies made that mistake when they decided to go ahead with Operation Market Garden and they underestimated the determination of the Germans to remain in control of the Hurtgen Forest some months later. For some reason, Allied high command seemed to live in a constant state of assuming that because they were beating the Germans everywhere, the will to fight was no longer there. They were absolutely wrong.

[@EchosTackyTiki]

Last time I heard someone reference Hemingway it was in a boring manner. Now I find out he strapped up a Tommy gun and ran to the Ardennes to be on the frontline for the Battle of the Bulge. He's a cooler dude than I thought.

[@Bootneck-RMC]

Superb animated re-telling of a part of this operation that not a lot of of people had heard about. Looking forward to part 2.👍

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Part 2 is already out 🙂

[@randomlegionary9399]

12:30 The mountain of flags is somehow tame and respectful as a sign of death but just horrifying to see so many

[@24YOA]

It's not an American infantry unless they swear at an inept command over a radio. Hard bastards, respect. 22-1 is insane odds to fight against with 0 support.

[@Kriegter]

Seeing the warcrimes being committed was actually a shock

[@timberwolfe1645]

Yes!!!! You mentioned the most important Unit in HISTORY!!!! So Proud of LeBouck and his original RECON Platoon, defending thatr ridge forever@!!!! True heroes

[@matthewwagner47]

Several german atrocities took place during this time. The story of the wereth 11 colored artilery soldiers being mutilated by SS soldiers.

[@maynardburger]

Really fantastic stuff. These animations really explain things in a way that words just rarely can.

[@copper_himselfgaming619]

The thing about Americans is that when ever they hear a bad news about their brothers in arms instead of fear it's with rage and vengeance. Total opposite of fear.

[@williamcastillo2312]

Hell yeah bringing Indy over for this was awesome

[@pinheadlarry9495]

I battle the bulge everyday...

[@yulp1]

Legend

[@calebmitchell6870]

The quality of understanding in your videos is going exponential! Thanks for the hard work!

[@ericvonmanstein2112]

The reason why battle of bulge initially succeeded was because they DIDN'T USE ENIGMA Enigma was one of the major causes of German defeats from 1942 onwards because enigma was decoded by allies and this would prove to be fatal for Germans

[@emperorfloch]

Operations Room you are dropping heat after heat! 🙌🏼 Please keep these videos coming 😁

[@amarlatte1211]

This and the iwo Jima series are fantastic. I have always loved your videos but this is on a whole 'nother level. Amazing job!

[@ramal5708]

God bless those GIs holding the Elsenborn Ridge area and check the Germans advance. Headlines are all about the Bastogne battle, but Elsenborn was where the US soldiers stopped the Germans attack.

[@paladinbob1236]

I am glad that you mentioned that some of the american soldiers had been in the hurtgen forest[what a blood bath that was]....as a Brit , i was kinda contemptuous of the american effort here..believing most units pretty much incompetent....its only abit older when i started to read books about the battle...that i learn[particularly after reading books about the battles around hurtgen forest] that some of the divisions that had been hurled into that battle, been decimated hurled into german defences with in many cases , massive losses and several morale loss and then had been moved to a "quieter area" of the front, and most of their considerable losses had been made up[in some cases] with green recruits.....when this onslaught had been unleashed upon them...its always worth a deeper look before you condemn a fighting force to more accurately understand the stresses and strains upon them

[@misterbaker9728]

Piper still wouldn’t believe Americans after war when they tell him he was a road away from enough fuel to keep his drive going. Crazy on choices. Right instead of left.

[@briankorbelik2873]

I'm an old geezer now, (67 before this month is out), and I've been fascinated with WW2 history since I was a kid. This video is great, and the way the facts are presented make my history loving soul, tingle. Thank you! I worked at a major telephone company and while doing so one of my co-workers turned out to be the son of the top Seargent in the entire 101st Airborne during the war. He told me some of the things his dad had told him about being surounded in Bastonge. My co-worker was named after General Marshall, head of the then version of the Joint Chief's of Staff.

[@_ArsNova]

Funny how much weight is given to the Malmedy Massacre when a near identical massacre was carried out at Chenogne by the US 11th Armored Division, and yet not a single person was even reprimanded for it.

[@lanceamadantebonife3987]

well it might be because at that time it was considered retaliation for the malmedy massacre

[@moodyrick8503]

*The height of incompetence ;* Having your entire battle plan rest upon your soldiers ability to steal fuel from the enemy, is a whole other level of stupidity.

[@Eric-kn4yn]

No choice fuel shortages

[@moodyrick8503]

@@Eric-kn4yn No choice ? It was 100 % Hitlers "choice" to go forward without enough fuel.

[@gareththompson2708]

Even the slightest bit of resistance immediately put the Germans behind their timetables on pretty much every axis of advance. No one seems to take enemy resistance into account when trying to calculate how rapidly a force should advance. It's a pretty basic mistake, but before we criticize the Germans too heavily for it we should remember that most of us made the exact same mistake when we thought that it would only take the Russians two or three days to take Kyiv.

[@MyBlueZed]

I very much appreciate your correct pronunciation of place names. Publishing part 2 quickly adds to the feeling of urgency of the Allied response. 👍🏻❤️🇦🇺

[@scettybagle5552]

Indy!!! Omg 😲 my two favorite channels just casually collaborated?!?!

[@ogedaykhan9909]

I absolutely love your work! But I would love to see some time and date in the video as sometimes it is hard to follow how long an offensive takes.

[@chrisstopher2277]

Wow I think that was the 1st time hearing Bastogne pronounced like that and I’m sure that’s the correct way. i joined the army because of movies like Band of Brothers. I ended up in the 101st ABN 2BCT 1-502nd CCO.

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

My 2 favorite WW2 channels working together is just amazing! The Operations Room Channel has been skyrocketing up the list of historical war channels because of how great it is!

[@doge4818]

"The SS killed POWS" *Everyone disliked that*

[@danseegmiller2452]

It's a story I've heard so many times, but feels so dramatic watching you narrate all the pieces. Thanks again.