Week 241 - New Offensive in the Crimea - WW2 - April 8, 1944

[@WorldWarTwo]

The D-Day channel is now live. What are you most excited for? youtube.com/@D-Day24Hours-sm5pe

[@guillaumedeschamps1087]

I'm excited for every single part of it. I want to hear about everything and everyone. Perhaps I'm most intrigued by what the Resistance in France and Belgium were doing. My grandfather once told me that there were railroad sabotages in Belgium too.

[@pnutz_2]

most excited to spam lines from saving private ryan. However, some of the best vids form pearl harbour were the stuff I didn't know like what was going on outside of the battle everywhere else. you said there was a big video on this channel, and having it all in parts on the other one, is that right?

[@ewok40k]

Oh boy, this 24 hours of content will be... The longest day. 🎉❤

[@Blandge]

Why would you make a different channel for this? Seems like you'd get way fewer views due to having almost no subscribers.

[@beepboop204]

🙂🙂🙂

[@sankarchaya]

Hitler - "The Soviets are pushing us out of Sevastopol!" Stalin - "Crimea river"

[@xeagaort]

Put a smile on my face, thanks man.

[@roymartin500]

Lmao! 😂 Great one!

[@Chiller01]

That is a serious dad joke.

[@IMDunn-oy9cd]

Ba-dumm-tiss!

[@malickfan7461]

Won’t lie, that made me laugh.

[@extrahistory8956]

This probably the most amount of coverage the China-India-Burma fronts have ever gotten in the series. Nearly 14 minutes of a 22 minute video got dedicated to them, and I'm just so happy. With Ichi-Go and the landings at Aitape and Hollandia about to go off, it seems like April will be dominated by the Pacific War.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

Still a hell of a lot, if not most of the fighting, going on on the Eastern Front. But Italy is quiet until late may and D-Day only happens in June. I too look forward to the Pacific theater taking at least half of the screentime.

[@soulscanner66]

It would be fun doing a special episode summarizing this front, preferably with an historian from the subcontinent.

[@extrahistory8956]

@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 While true, the fighting in the Pacific has had major effects. Just last week, the joint American-Austrilian force in the Southwest Pacific completed the encirclement of 190,000 Japanese troops from Army Group 8 (17th and 18th Armies) at Rabaul, which was the final goal of their year-long Operation Cartwheel.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@extrahistory8956 True. But that's like daily bread and butter on the Eastern Front. The scale is bigger and we have more of such things happening there. It's just harder to properly put into production on a show like this because we have SO MUCH historical material on Allied and German military operations, and still so very few on Soviet military operations. Historians like Buttar and Glantz have done a lot, but we haven't even gotten close yet to a full understanding as to what happened. And the window to research it has been closed when Putin decided to use the Great Patriotic War as Russia's foundational myth, so no critical historical examinations have been allowed ever since. And also Indy knows where most of his audience is coming from. And Americans and Brits want to see what their troops were doing first and foremost.

[@tigertank06]

@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 Alot of the Pacific action happens in the second half of 1944.

[@limonade7050]

Yessss the first massive offensive of 1944, Ichi-Go! Can't wait to watch you guys cover this forgotten operation!

[@Emel_unlegit]

I mean anyone with even Hoi4 level ww2 knowledge knows about it.

[@Spiderfisch]

The offensices around Leningrad and in Ukraien seemed quite massive to me

[@acr2051]

@@Emel_unlegit Or any Potential History fan. Btw nice Pfp.

[@Emel_unlegit]

@@acr2051 thx bro

[@GRB-tj6uj]

@@Emel_unlegit If you "only" have Hoi4 level WW2 knowledge you're still more knowledgeable than 95% of the population. If I walk into my living room and ask my roommates about Ichi-Go they'll probably assume I want to order at some new sushi place.

[@alanlawson4180]

Slim proved to be, by far, the best British Commander of the war. What he achieved with the resources he had is very impressive indeed.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

You can't help but wonder what would have happened if he had been in command of 8th Army in North Africa or British and Canadian forces in Western Europe. Although the Burma theater lacked the large scale armored warfare of those campaigns nor did Western Europe offer commanders the freedom of movement and maneuver that the Burma theater did. So maybe in that sense Slim was the right man at the right place.

[@marktaylor6491]

In terms of all time British field commanders, I'd rate him second only to Marlborough.

[@andyreynolds6194]

@@marktaylor6491 High praise indeed- and I agree with you.

[@Giveme1goodreason]

I wish he commanded the Australian troops instead of that slimy little slug Blamey.

[@tommy-er6hh]

While is is good, he is not better than Cunningham - both were good with infantry and artillery and mountains. But when Cunningham was put in charge of western desert, his ignorance of tank warfare in the desert showed. Slim never was put in that position, he fought infantry vs Italians in Ethiopia and Iranians in Mesopotamia, then Slim was in charge of infantry again vs the Japanese in Burma and India. I think O'Conner was best in tanks in the desert, and Cunningham and Slim in the rough terrain with infantry.

[@Based_n_Boredpilled]

2 months to D-Day, a little over a year left in Europe. I'm excited for what you guys have planned, and almost disappointed it has to end.

[@Pirusiandres]

What do you mean "a year left in Europe". Your prediction is baseless speculation. The V2 rockets will destroy any chances of such invasion.

[@Based_n_Boredpilled]

@@Pirusiandres Steiner's counter-attack is sure to succeed!

[@rajeshkanungo6627]

Your information ministry is delusional. Eisenhower has written his resignation letter and Churchill has decided that he will resign as PM.

[@Ronald98]

@@Pirusiandres The Germans will develop V3 rockets to bomb Moscow and Washington...i don't know why people are saying that the war is over? it might be over for the allies in a couple of months! Von Braun has assured me that. 🤣

[@MisterJackTheAttack]

The Germans have been preparing for D-Day too. They won't fall for Allied deception tactics again, so this war has way more than a year left.

[@noahkidd3359]

I'm loving the stuff on Myanmar and eastern India! Completely overlooked part of WWII.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

Personally these forgotten theaters of war interest me the most. I couldn't care less about D-Day, it's been over exposed. Give me these forgotten theaters any day.

[@Ronald98]

@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 100% agreed 👍

[@tqep4895]

@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 my great grandfather was in Burma but he didn’t speak much about because he was shaken I think and he was a

[@tqep4895]

@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 alcoholic

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@tqep4895 That seems to be quite a common occurance. My maternal grand father was a forced laborer in Germany, having to endure Allied bombings of the factories he was forced to work in. Never spoke a word about it either. And my paternal grand mother had to live through the Japanese occupation of Indonesia and the chaos that followed afterwards. Never spoke about it either nor had any desire to revisit the place of her birth. Mankind is just not made to endure such horrors and come out sane at the end.

[@jtgd]

13:43 how many times does the Allie’s have to be surprised that what they thought was uncrossable land was actually crossable?

[@xeagaort]

A lot more times lol

[@nozecone]

Armed forces have been crossing uncrossable land, scaling unscalable heights, and defending indefensible positions since the beginning of warfare. Sometimes it's your guys doing the impossible; sometimes it's their guys .......

[@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve]

"Allie's?" An apostrophe indicates the possessive form but not in this usage. Are you trying to make the plural word, "Allies?"

[@pedrolopez8057]

@@xeagaort probably not in Europe though. They learned their lesson in 1941 ;)

[@hilariousname6826]

@@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve It's quite clear that he meant 'Allies', plural. Reading comprehension not your strong suit, I take it?

[@Giveme1goodreason]

11:42 seriously every damn time. Allies: Oh it’s impossible to come that way. Enemy: improbable.

[@WorldWarTwo]

can I tell ya I thought the exact same thing…lol Especially considering that they thought the *exact* same thing regarding the Jungle as they did when the Japanese marched through the Malay peninsula -Will

[@lukum55]

This week on the 3rd: The keel of German submarine U-2501 was laid down in Blohm&Voss shipyard in Hamburg as yard number 2501. She would become the first of the revolutionary Type XXI U-boats, these boats were the 1st full sized, ocean going attack submarines designed from the beginning to spend most of their time submerged. They would dwell in the deep instead of just temporarily retreating into it when in combat. With automatic torpedo reload system, very fast underwater speed, cutting edge sensors and the ability to remain submerged for months they served as a baseline model and top influencer for both eastern and western submarine design for decades to come.

[@dpeasehead]

@lukum55: The type XXI U-boats didn't sink a single Allied ship before the end of war.

[@glennpettersson9002]

​@@dpeasehead best Nazi weapon system ever 😁

[@bigpoppa1234]

@@dpeasehead They only finished two and they were only out on patrol for a few days before the surrender.

[@nicholasconder4703]

If the defense of Imphal will be like 6 spokes on a wheel, does that make General Slim the "spokesman"?

[@Southsideindy]

Oooooo. Good one.

[@waukivorycopse2402]

Nicholas, I think you spoke too soon...

[@oldesertguy9616]

I can't imagine the relief, followed so soon by disbelief, of the Marauders after they were "relieved" and then told they would not be pulled off the line. It had to be so demoralizing.

[@remenir97]

Operation Ichi-Go. Potential History, thanks for notifying us all these years ago.

[@somendutta4249]

Thanks

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks to you!

[@samsmith2635]

1:20 "A big Amoeba" #dead 1st Panzer Armee did an amazing job staying cohesive and effective on a 360 Front, from purely military perspective was an amazing demonstration of organization.

[@caryblack5985]

It was an accomplishment but the actual situation was an escape from destruction but again an inevitable demonstration that the German Army could only try to survive but not achieve a victory.

[@scientiaaclabore3362]

While the 1. Panzerarmee avoided destruction, it nonetheless emerged from the breakout with a greatly reduced combat effectiveness. The combat ranks of the army's divisional combat units, that is, the troops doing the actual fighting, had been decimated and divisions had just a fraction of combat troops that they were authorized to have. Here's an example. Combat strength (Gefechtsstärke) of some of the divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee at the time of the breakout in early April 1944: 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler- 1,300 soldiers; 96. Infanterie-Division- 1,485 soldiers; 20. Panzergrenadier-Division- 2,484 soldiers; 16. Panzer-Division- 1,745 soldiers. Add to that, the army suffered extremely heavy material losses of all sorts. According to the calculations of the army's Generalquartiermeister and its staff, made after the breakout, the Hube's army lost the following number of material: - over 500 tanks, assault guns, self-propelled anti-tank and artillery pieces; - over 22,000 motor vehicles of all types; - over 600 armoured half-tracks or SPW's (Schützenpanzerwagen). As a result of the low combat strength of the divisions, their sheer exhaustion and enormous material losses, all divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee were rated by army staff as having a Kampfwert (combat value ) of only level IV and V, the two lowest value categories (division with Kampfwert I was fit for any offensive operations). It meant that after the breakout, divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee were either fit for limited defensive operations only (Kampfwert IV- zur Abwehr bedingt geeignet) or were no longer operational/combat innefective (Kampfwert V- nicht mehr einsatzfähig). After the conclusion of these battles, the Germans were forced to disband or withdraw for refitting a number of worn-out (abgekämpft) divisions: Kampfgruppe 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler- sent to the Beverloo area in Belgium (OB West) for rebuilding in April 1944; Kampfgruppe 19. Panzer-Division- sent to the Breda area in the Netherlands (OB West) in May 1944 for rebuilding; Kampfgruppe 11. Panzer-Division- sent to the Bordeaux area in southwestern France (OB West) for rebuilding in April 1944. The fact that these and other divisions arrrived to Western Europe for refitting only between April-May 1944 meant that at the time of Allied D-Day landings they were still non-operational (Kampfwert V). Some others: - remnants of the 25. Panzer-Division- sent to Aalborg area in Denmark for rebuilding in May 1944; - remnants of the 82. Infanterie-Division- disbanded in early May 1944, remnants incorporated into other units.

[@SquirtleSquadPH]

Over the last month or more I've been catching up since 1939. This is my first video that I had to wait for. Worth every second.

[@robbpowell194]

Now, that is Binging !! :)

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Squirtle Squad We’re happy to have you up to speed!

[@caryblack5985]

If you want to read a detailed operational history of the escape of the 1st Panzer Army, the capture of Odessa by the Soviets and the capture of the Crimea read Prit Buttar The Reckoning.

[@briceoka5623]

Japan being able to mount such land offensive while completely in the ropes at sea is very impressive for a maritime power

[@WorldWarTwo]

It really is wild to see them going at it so aggressively right now, isn't it?

[@marktg3]

I don't often comment but i'd liked to thank the channel and timeghost for giving me something to listen to as I been doing my master degree. I'm super close to handing it into to my committee and defending it at the end of april.

[@arjan2125]

I hope your defense will go over better than the German defense of Sevastopol. Good luck!

[@WorldWarTwo]

We're super glad we could support you with that in some way, Mark! Good luck with your defense, and maybe make a WW2 reference or two to help sell it ! (But tasteful ones, ya know?) - T.J.

[@marktg3]

Thank you. Its about dyslexia and autism in the context of community/urban planning and well how planning can start to better plan both.

[@williamdonnelly224]

@@marktg3 Good luck.

[@alansewell7810]

Thanks for the heads up on the June 6 D-Day special. Based on all your other work, this will a fantastic program to look forward to.

[@jeanineking7311]

I agree.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Alan @Jeanine Thank you for the support! We hope you enjoy what we’ve been cooking up!

[@deshaun9473]

I want to wish my friends here at Timeghost a very Happy Easter and Passover!! Thanks once again your excellent work! Keep it up! ❤

[@WorldWarTwo]

Happy Easter to you as well!!

[@derekolsen999]

Thanks!

[@PuncakeLena]

Congratulations on 800k subscribers!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@agactual2]

I know things look bleek for the Germans but a Summer offensive in the Soviet Union should get them back on track.

[@georgefoster8133]

😂

[@KirillM-i4h]

😂😂

[@Nmax]

Haha 😂😂

[@kjj26k]

*J. Jonah Jameson laugh intensifies*

[@davidbenson4489]

That was timely, having just read Road Of Bones: The Siege Of Kohima, by Fergal Keane. Highly recommended, btw. Many thanks, Indy, for this fine channel/content.

[@ernestbatiy1070]

According to my family who were from Crimea, at least some civilians, including my great-grandmother and grandfather were evacuated past the Volga from Crimea. Is there any info on organized Soviet evacuations of civilians or is it more likely this was on their own? (Edit this time frame being initial Barbarossa not the time covered in today's episode)

[@crabluva]

It was probably on their own. The Soviets didn't make any efforts to evacuate civilians from anywhere (including Moscow and Saint Petersburg) and in some cases actively discouraged it.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@crabluva We know that they made very little effort to evacuate the citizens of Stalingrad in the lead up and during the battle. Communists are very callous indeed.

[@WTF2BlueTiger]

@@crabluva These are absurd myths and its crazy people watching a channel as informative as this, would be buying into them in this day and age. The soviets evacuated millions of people in the sieges of Stalingrad/Leningrad among other cities, its not exactly easy to just up and move millions+ people to a place where they can find work, shelter and food... Not to say they did an excellent job, but to say they didnt make any efforts is truly, freaking absurd. Red scare nonsense.

[@real-history-online]

@@crabluva lol what?

[@real-history-online]

@@crabluva that's bs

[@midsue]

D-day (6th June) is going to be interesting to see if the Atlantic Wall 🧱, will succeed in stopping the Allies.

[@Blueeeberrry]

Regarding the battle of Kohima... there's always a bit of confusion between two Allied units fighting there, namely the Assam Regiment and the Assam Rifles... the first is a regular army regiment, and the second a paramilitary unit (comparable to the US National Guard, but in this case their operational area is limited to the NE part of India)... the fact that Indy mentioned only the Assam Rifles seem to confirm my suspicion... but no worries, mate, even the Osprey series of military books have made this mistake. :)

[@Dustz92]

A WW2 movie recomendation for this week is "A Time to Love and a Time to Die" (1958), by Douglas Sirk. The film deals with a German soldier returning home from the Eastern Front at the beginning of Spring 1944. It has sometimes been compared to All Quiet in the Western Front for its anti-war message- Period covered: Early Spring 1944 Historical accuracy: 4/5 - It pretty much captures the zeitgeist of 1944 Germany. IMDB grade: 7.6/10 Other: Winner of the 1958 Berlinale Golden Bear

[@stevekaczynski3793]

A pretty good film.

[@ndogg20]

Thanks, gonna check that one out.

[@gordonshan]

Thank you for the suggestion, I found it free to view on KZbin; search the full name.

[@bigpoppa1234]

Sounds like a James Bond title.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Nano92 thanks for the recommendation!

[@gunman47]

A sidenote this week on April 4 1944 is that the British Foreign Office will ban foreign embassies located in Britain from sending coded messages. It also stated that diplomatic pouches would be subject to censorship, with the exception of British allies.

[@pnutz_2]

is this that they have to send them in plaintext, or are they handing over encryption work to the allies (ie to stop the axis at least from reading them)

[@watcherzero5256]

@@pnutz_2 Its so the foreign embassies cant leak any details of D-Day.

[@thisnicklldo]

Interesting, I never knew of this. Very surprising that the ban wasn't applied from September 1939. But I imagine that all the messages were being covertly intercepted from around that time. Maybe the code breakers just couldn't keep up and needed some respite, and I suppose the imminent invasion of France focused minds on whether any 'neutral' messages were getting through somehow. The exception of the 'British allies' is also interesting, I have always assumed that the British were monitoring all US communications throughout the war, allies always being mutually suspicious.

[@michaelvaughn1496]

Discussion of the Burma/India area of engagement and "a lot of names' is no more confusing than all of the Russian, Romanian, and German commanders and place names. In fact, as someone who grew up on the West Coast, these names were much more familiar and retainable than the European Eastern Front's names and places. Just me, but I suppose a lot of us from the American and Canadian west have the same reaction. Maybe, maybe not....point is, no worries Indy. Keep the Indo-Pacific Theatre information coming. I have loved this channel since I first found it years ago and continue. I am now subscribed to the D-Day 24 hours channel and look forward to it dropping.

[@WorldWarTwo]

As a fellow West Coaster I agree, it's easier to remember places like Santa Cruz, Manila, Luzon, etc. than Krasnograd and such, but it definitely gets easier with time. Especially since the Germans and Russians have been fighting in pretty much the same places for almost three years now... Glad you're also looking forward to Operation Neptune as much as we are! - T.J.

[@pablocampos8872]

I could watch this chanel 24/7.Thank you guys!

[@GeorgeChernoff]

6:05 good stuff mate

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@mbathroom1]

congratulations on reaching 800,000 subscribers. Hope you reach a million in a year

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Mbathroom1 Thanks!! We do too 🤞🏻

[@jeffsyndrome4812]

Seeing the difference of the Red Army's performance from the horrid days of the Winter War to now is something indeed. Yet no matter what anyone says, the real tragedy is that basic military competence was bought with the lives of so many innocent people, Soviet or otherwise. As always thank you for your reporting of this terrible war.

[@watcherzero5256]

This is kind of its height, it gets worse again with the constant pressure to drive forward at all costs and the Soviet casualties in 1945 are as bad as they were in 1941.

[@caryblack5985]

@@watcherzero5256Not according to the figures I have. Soviet deaths 1941 about 3,000,000 1945 632,000 or the equivalent of 1,256,000 if projected for a full year.

[@watcherzero5256]

@@caryblack5985 In addition the front has drastically reduced from the thousands of km's of the Soviet border to a width of a few hundred km, fewer armies or 'fronts' in active contact with the Germans meaning the losses per km are magnitudes greater.

[@caryblack5985]

@@watcherzero5256 I am talking about total deaths not per kilometers.

[@jrus690]

Field Marshall Mannerheim described the Red Army after the Winter War as like a symphony where all the instruments are out of sync. The Fins ironically were probably the best military of the war, as with fairly minimal resources they utterly embarrassed a Soviet army that was theoretically armed to the teeth. I think that the 3 turning points; Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk indicated the improvements of the Red Army to rough equivalent to the Germans but also showcased the brute force method that they were infamous for using. Had the British or the Fins fought Kursk, I do not think that they would have need the tremendous defense in depth that the Soviets went with, the Fins in particular would have been much more thoughtful.

[@jonbaxter2254]

I always like seeing encirclements broken. Yes, they were German but the fear of being surrounded, only to diminish as you meet-up with your allies must have been a morale-booster.

[@scientiaaclabore3362]

While the 1. Panzerarmee avoided destruction, it nonetheless emerged from the breakout with a greatly reduced combat effectiveness. The combat ranks of the army's divisional combat units, that is, the troops doing the actual fighting, had been decimated and divisions had just a fraction of combat troops that they were authorized to have. Here's an example. Combat strength (Gefechtsstärke) of some of the divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee at the time of the breakout in early April 1944: 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler- 1,300 soldiers; 96. Infanterie-Division- 1,485 soldiers; 20. Panzergrenadier-Division- 2,484 soldiers; 16. Panzer-Division- 1,745 soldiers. Add to that, the army suffered extremely heavy material losses of all sorts. According to the calculations of the army's Generalquartiermeister and its staff, made after the breakout, the Hube's army lost the following number of material: - over 500 tanks, assault guns, self-propelled anti-tank and artillery pieces; - over 22,000 motor vehicles of all types; - over 600 armoured half-tracks or SPW's (Schützenpanzerwagen). As a result of the low combat strength of the divisions, their sheer exhaustion and enormous material losses, all divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee were rated by army staff as having a Kampfwert (combat value ) of only level IV and V, the two lowest value categories (division with Kampfwert I was fit for any offensive operations). It meant that after the breakout, divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee were either fit for limited defensive operations only (Kampfwert IV- zur Abwehr bedingt geeignet) or were no longer operational/combat innefective (Kampfwert V- nicht mehr einsatzfähig). After the conclusion of these battles, the Germans were forced to disband or withdraw for refitting a number of worn-out (abgekämpft) divisions: Kampfgruppe 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler- sent to the Beverloo area in Belgium (OB West) for rebuilding in April 1944; Kampfgruppe 19. Panzer-Division- sent to the Breda area in the Netherlands (OB West) in May 1944 for rebuilding; Kampfgruppe 11. Panzer-Division- sent to the Bordeaux area in southwestern France (OB West) for rebuilding in April 1944. The fact that these and other divisions arrrived to Western Europe for refitting only between April-May 1944 meant that at the time of Allied D-Day landings they were still non-operational (Kampfwert V). Some others: - remnants of the 25. Panzer-Division- sent to Aalborg area in Denmark for rebuilding in May 1944; - remnants of the 82. Infanterie-Division- disbanded in early May 1944, remnants incorporated into other units.

[@cagdas135]

I'm the opposite. It's so unsatisfying. Like you watch a beautiful domino work unfold and at the last second it fails. Eliminating the pockets is what's satisfying for me.

[@noobster4779]

​@@cagdas135 On the otherhand tje escape of ghe first Panzer army was so bold and risky, yet successfull in its execution, that it is still being used as an example of good troop behaivior when encircled today. And unlike the americans or brits the germans couldnt just wait it out and have their airforce carry the day and feed them. It was get out, starve, die fighting......or soviet pow.

[@jrus690]

The Red Army had troubles doing the mass encirclements that the Germans accomplished in 1941. The Soviets did some deep probes in Bagration and Vistula but they were accompanied by mass offensive and significant motorized infantry. I think a sizeable reason is because of the equipment that the Soviet's were using. Constant equipment breakdowns, just good enough build quality, and the T-34's design itself was a limiting factor.

[@thcdreams654]

Thanks for the content bro. Great work as usual. I appreciate all the work you and the crew do. It's always top quality.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for your support! We couldn’t have done any of this without our TimeGhost Army supporters!

[@sopwithsnoopy8779]

Around the 17:00 - 18:00+ mark, on the map of China shouldn't Formosa also be colored in Axis red? 🤔

[@porksterbob]

It should. Also taihoku is the name in Japanese.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@sopwithsnoopy Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll pass it along 👍🏻

[@foxyretro9294]

Tip for a new video: I was born in Arnhem (The Netherlands) and our bridge "John Frostbridge" was one bridge too far. Operation Market Garden took place all around Arnhem. It's an very important story of the WW2 history. Especially for the Dutch.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks Foxy! In case you didn’t know, we cover the events of World War Two week by week, so we won’t be covering an event that happened in, for example, September 1944, until September of this year.

[@foxyretro9294]

@@WorldWarTwo You're welcome!

[@jeffersonwright6249]

That minute 6:10 interruptions - amazing how many military operations are named after Neptune! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Neptune_(disambiguation)

[@ScooterWeibels]

This must have been hell for the allied quartermaster corps, having to supply places like Europe, India, the Pacific, with various stuff they all needed and specialized stiff each theatre required. They didn't have computers yet to keep track of all this stuff. I wonder how they did it, an entire army of clerks maybe?

[@stevekaczynski3793]

A lot. Unglamorous but they kept their own troops and allied troops in the fight. Even in US infantry regiments, the HQ companies in particular had many supply clerks, personnel clerks etc.

[@Raskolnikov70]

You rarely hear about the logistics units involved because the combat arms guys get all the attention and the credit. But modern armies contain division and corps level combat service support commands, with way more boots on the ground than the infantry and armor units. Transportation units to move stuff, supply units to establish depots to store stuff, it all took more manpower than the soldiers who were doing the actual fighting. Look what happened at places like Stalingrad or the Courland pocket, where the forces encircled only had a few thousand infantry compared to tens of thousands of support troops.

[@gordybing1727]

Take a look at the Wikipedia entry on "Punched Card".

[@WorldWarTwo]

When I was younger I spoke with a D-Day historian who told me that for every G.I. who fired a bullet there were roughly twelve people in the supply chain who had to work to get him that bullet. - T.J.

[@ariearie3543]

September the Allies Arrive in Holland. Looking forward to Market Garden.

I am very much looking forward to your D-Day coverage. The Pearl Harbour Series taught me a lot and I imagin the D-Day Series will do the same.

[@WorldWarTwo]

We hope you enjoy what we’re putting together!

[@TheDJGrandPa]

You'd think by now, what almost a year since Kursk the red army would need to take a breather and get logistics worked up. Such a continuous offensive, and sometimes even a rapid one at that. Can't wait to see how Bagration plays in to all of this.

[@Spiderfisch]

Well they did slow down a bit in winter when they reached the dnieper

[@extrahistory8956]

They will slow down for the Spring season, and won't launch major attacks until late June.

[@Raskolnikov70]

@@Spiderfisch They slowed down outside Warsaw too, but there might have been darker reasons for that.

[@TheDJGrandPa]

@@Spiderfisch Sure they've slowed down, but it's still been a continuous push

[@noobster4779]

​@@Raskolnikov70 Yes, their tank corps got encircled and destroyed by the germans south of warsaw. People always say the soviets stopped because of the poles, they stopped because they had compleatly outrun their logistics and their armored spearhead got caught by german reinforcemeants and destroyed. The Soviets then decided to shift their reserves to the baltics (ehere the germans had not reinforced) and managed to cut of army group north in Curland. Honestly the blame is with the poles on this one. The germans had brought in all their reinforcemeants to Warsaw to stop the soviets and the poles were like "perfect time to rise up" while Warsaw was full of german troops. Its like starting a riot next to a police HQ. Also not previously informing the allies about the uprising was peak stupidity. Barely any support could be flown in on short notice.

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@quentinharoche9564]

3:51 : "Prout" means "fart" in french so it's pretty funny. Yes that's my contribution to the channel.

[@equarg]

After work chaos 2 years ago, I binge listened for 3 months this series to catch up, and spies and ties to catch up. Like the Germans who caught sight of Moscow, but collapsed, is what I am doing on the floor right now!

[@McSpanklez]

Two things. One, I'm very glad you guys are covering more of the Pacific and Asian theater of the war, I feel like it gets left out a lot due to how big the European side of the war is. Number two, I am very hyped about your guy's D-DAY coverage!! Can't wait!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you! We’re very excited for everyone to see what we’ve been working on!!

[@SoloChinchilla]

So excited for the dday 24 hours!

[@Pirusiandres]

Congratulation on your +800k well-deserved subscribers.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for your support!

[@Pirusiandres]

@@WorldWarTwo ;)

[@thagrifster594]

Thanks Indiana, for the update on Crimea!

[@scoogy2]

I’m waiting for the Battle of the Phillipene Sea. I was born June 22, while or just after my father’s ship (USS Oakland, where he was gunnery officer) was fighting in that battle.

[@shatterquartz]

8:52 I'm pretty sure that for the people who called it home, that village's name was very much pronounceable.

[@porksterbob]

Slim is still a British colonial officer. There is undoubtedly a local British officer who speaks Manipuri and has a local mistress.

[@thepiperad]

Super excited about the D Day special; I eagerly went and subscribed!

[@WorldWarTwo]

@EK Thanks for the support! We hope you enjoy!

[@SnEaKyGiTau]

Will you be covering operation tiger leading up to d day?

[@ryannelson145]

Fascinating stuff!

[@johnlieber4687]

Why is Daddy Warrens playing on his tablet in his official photo? 😂

[@Raskolnikov70]

"The Japanese are going to attack Kohima!!!" "Cool, better come up with a new Tik Tok dance routine for it."

[@indianajones4321]

Keep up the awesome work

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for your support!

[@Ruby29292]

Big movements planned and underway this year in eastern, western, and southern Europe, Burma, China, and the Pacific... It's gonna be a busy year

[@WorldWarTwo]

And we’ll be here to cover it all!

[@LightFykki]

It is interesting to think that for the China campaign and from the Japanese side, preparing 400k seems like quite a big deal. And then you compare how many troops and equipment were prepared for the Barbarossa operation, kinda puts the things in perspective on the impact of different theaters.

[@porksterbob]

That is 400k as an offensive force. There are several hundred thousand more who don't move.

[@t.j.payeur5331]

Your tie and vest are impeccable..as always...

[@sealove79able]

Is Indy in the Resistance?

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Brilliant!!!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@equalopportunityoffender1816]

Congrats in 800k Subs! Waiting anxiously for D-Day! Let's hope Allied Intelligence didn't get their hands on Indy for his little leak there.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you! We couldn’t have made it this far without the TimeGhost Army’s support! Hopefully the worst he’ll get is a slight reprimand, he had to get the intel out in time!!!

[@NimaShariatzadeh]

5:24 that bit is similar to Albert Einstein's bit in Command and conquer Red Alert.

[@jaylowry]

It's interesting to see the preparations for Ichi-Go with 2.6M gallons of aviation fuel as the L. P. St. Clair was the first US tanker to bring aid to the Soviet Union in September 1941 delivering 3.7M gallons of aviation fuel to Vladivostok followed by two more tankers with an additional 6.9M gallons over the next week. Imagine the fury of the Japanese as those tankers sailed right past their coastlines as they were under embargo.

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@terencenxumalo1159]

good work

[@joezephyr]

Myst was a great game in its day thank you Indy :)

[@MansionByBeach1]

Transposing terrain onto the maps would be useful. Will help us see the Carpathians clearly.

[@DavidChipman]

I notice the Operation Ugo map is a modern air navigation chart?

[@JohnDoe-wj7ht]

The Allied Landing? Where? It is Calais, is it? Is it?

[@douglasturner6153]

That big Japanese offensive in China doesn't overthrow Chiang. But it does destroy vast areas he controls and weakens him for the postwar situation.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Yes. Mao was the unintended beneficiary.

[@douglasturner6153]

@@stevekaczynski3793 According to Japanese sources Hirohito in the 70s appologized to Mao for their behavior in China. Mao told him on the contrary we never could have come to power without the Japanese invasion etc.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@douglasturner6153 Did they ever meet face to face? Mao only went abroad twice, both times to the USSR. Zhou En Lai tended to be the one who went on foreign visits and was far more cosmopolitan. As far as I know Hirohito never visited the PRC.

[@douglasturner6153]

@@stevekaczynski3793 I'll have to check that. That's the story I recall. It was a visit to China but maybe not Hirohito himself. But basically confirmed that last big operation helped Mao.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Can't wait for the D-Day video to come out

[@WorldWarTwo]

We’re excited for everyone to see what we’ve been working on!

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@WorldWarTwo---And I'll try to be one of them.

[@WorldWarTwo]

"Do, or do not. There is no try." - Some little green dude in a swamp with a stick

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@WorldWarTwo---Nice one

[@stefanpuiu]

Also, I believe the Soviets were talking not only to the Romanian opposition, they were also talking to the government. I believe Kollontai, the Soviet ambassador to Stockholm, reached out to the Romanian embassy. There, the ambassador, Fred Nanu, was Antonescu's man, while Gheorghe Duca was working with the opposition. At one point, the opposition actually realized they were given worse terms than Antonescu. It could be that Stalin preferred to talk to a "guy in charge" rather than to a hodge podge alliance of groups. Neagu Djuvara, a Romanian historian who happened to be they guy Mihai Antonescu sent to Stockholm on the 22nd of August 1944 to tell Nanu to resume talks, is of the opinion that Antonescu should've accepted the April terms from the Soviets. Now, if the Germans would've let him (actually, if the Germans would've proven unable to dissuade him) is another matter entirely.

[@derekchapman1328]

Are you going to cover the development of the special D-day weapons and vehicles that the Allies produced, like "Hobarts Funnies"?

[@naveenraj2008eee]

Hi Indy Another interesting week. Never heard this much offensive done by japanese. New lesson learned. Thanks.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

It's one of the 3 great decisive battles of WW2 that shaped the post war world. D-Day made sure Western Europe ended up in the US sphere of influence, Bagration made sure Eastern Europe ended up in the Soviet sphere of influence, and Ichi Go so severely assraped the Nationalist armies that Mao was able to defeat them after the war and establish the PRC.

[@pocketmarcy6990]

@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 as soon as Britain lost burma there was no chance of the Nationalists being strong enough to resist anyone

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@pocketmarcy6990 Kinda. But they did get in supplies via air supply. But Chiang knew his armies could not defeat the Japanese, so for years he didn't even try. Much to Stillwell's chagrin. He knew that once the war was over the communists were going to be his biggest concern, so he kept his armies on the defensive, conserving his forces, building them up where he could. And then the Japanese assraped him in 1944. Third time it happened. 1931 when the Japanese invaded Manchuria and 1937 when Chiang's new carefully trained (by the Germans) army got destroyed during the battle for Nanjing.

[@porksterbob]

​@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623he tried a counter offensive in 1939. It didn't really work. He wasn't saving for the Communists. He was saving the army to just exist. We have had his diaries since 2006.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@porksterbob Well, the end result was still the same though. His army got slaughtered, for the 3rd time, and didn't recover in time for the civil war that came after.

[@StalinTheMan0fSteel]

Who was the guy sitting behind Tojo at the war crimes tribunal that slapped him on the head?

[@WorldWarTwo]

Shūmei Ōkawa He’s an interesting character, I recommend reading more about him

[@christopherseivard8925]

Thanks for another great program.( perfect hair-light BTW)

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for the support Christopher!

[@PhotoDesigner1]

"operation Neptune" coverage ... (will you. be covering only the naval component of Operation Overlord?)

[@WorldWarTwo]

No, all of it

[@jtgd]

18:28 tbh, Ichi-Go was a waste of resources. Should have focused on repelling American forces, rather than going deeper in China Like there’s no realistic way to beat stalemate and suddenly get China out of the war. No one was close to bringing out a nation from fighting in 1944

[@porksterbob]

It was a waste, but they wrecked China The resources used in ichigo couldn't have been used against Americans with the exception of the air units.

[@extrahistory8956]

@@porksterbob Well, looks like the China-India-Burma fronts are getting prime time coverage for the upcoming weeks. Seems like your wish from all the way back in February has been granted.

[@muhammadfarhun1197]

Well, sending to island with no chance to return is far worse than in mainland China

[@porksterbob]

@@extrahistory8956 Generally yes, I kind of don't like how Merrill's marauders are the "protagonists" while the two Chinese divisions just hang out on the map silently. The reason that the marauders were attacked so heavily is that they were the plug keeping the Japanese from retreating from the much stronger Chinese forces ahead. We haven't had the basic logic of what the marauders were doing as part of this combined force explained. I do like that they talked about ichigo and put in some of the scale of it.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

The Japanese do attempt to repel U.S. forces. In June they also launch a counterattack on the then ongoing invasion of Saipan that results in the largest carrier battle in history.

[@jameskuyper]

50 years ago, I read every book my parents owned about WWII, which was a fairly impressive collection. They covered the war in China but left me with the impression that it was mostly a confusing bloody stalemate - I didn't remember many details. I'm surprised to learn that any Axis power was still making significant advances on any front, this late in the war.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

I had an encyclopaedia with a map of China it showing quite significant Japanese advances in 1944. SPOILER But it made little difference in the end though it may have weakened the Kuomintang prior to renewed hostilities with Communists postwar, who were hardly affected by the Japanese attack.

[@Raskolnikov70]

Your impression of it being a bloody stalemate is correct. Steve hit the point though - the land war in China never had much effect on the larger war being fought in the Pacific, which is why it doesn't get much coverage in western sources. Japan's fate was decided at sea.

[@ruffdrafter]

You might want to link the d-day channel in the description, and annotation. Great vid as always.

[@Dustz92]

Hube deserves a medal for saving 1st Panzer Army. Hopefuly nothing will happen to him while going to pick it up.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

It was quite a feat of arms that they were able to break out. I suspect that it has been overshadowed by the Red Army entering Romania and starting to regain Crimea. A Soviet photo taken at about this time showed Soviet border guards putting up a border sign on the line in Bessarabia that had marked the frontier of the USSR in 1940.

[@scientiaaclabore3362]

While the 1. Panzerarmee avoided destruction, it nonetheless emerged from the breakout with a greatly reduced combat effectiveness. The combat ranks of the army's divisional combat units, that is, the troops doing the actual fighting, had been decimated and divisions had just a fraction of combat troops that they were authorized to have. Here's an example. Combat strength (Gefechtsstärke) of some of the divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee at the time of the breakout in early April 1944: 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler- 1,300 soldiers; 96. Infanterie-Division- 1,485 soldiers; 20. Panzergrenadier-Division- 2,484 soldiers; 16. Panzer-Division- 1,745 soldiers. Add to that, the army suffered extremely heavy material losses of all sorts. According to the calculations of the army's Generalquartiermeister and its staff, made after the breakout, the Hube's army lost the following number of material: - over 500 tanks, assault guns, self-propelled anti-tank and artillery pieces; - over 22,000 motor vehicles of all types; - over 600 armoured half-tracks or SPW's (Schützenpanzerwagen). As a result of the low combat strength of the divisions, their sheer exhaustion and enormous material losses, all divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee were rated by army staff as having a Kampfwert (combat value ) of only level IV and V, the two lowest value categories (division with Kampfwert I was fit for any offensive operations). It meant that after the breakout, divisions of the 1. Panzerarmee were either fit for limited defensive operations only (Kampfwert IV- zur Abwehr bedingt geeignet) or were no longer operational/combat innefective (Kampfwert V- nicht mehr einsatzfähig). After the conclusion of these battles, the Germans were forced to disband or withdraw for refitting a number of worn-out (abgekämpft) divisions: Kampfgruppe 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler- sent to the Beverloo area in Belgium (OB West) for rebuilding in April 1944; Kampfgruppe 19. Panzer-Division- sent to the Breda area in the Netherlands (OB West) in May 1944 for rebuilding; Kampfgruppe 11. Panzer-Division- sent to the Bordeaux area in southwestern France (OB West) for rebuilding in April 1944. The fact that these and other divisions arrrived to Western Europe for refitting only between April-May 1944 meant that at the time of Allied D-Day landings they were still non-operational (Kampfwert V). Some others: - remnants of the 25. Panzer-Division- sent to Aalborg area in Denmark for rebuilding in May 1944; - remnants of the 82. Infanterie-Division- disbanded in early May 1944, remnants incorporated into other units.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@scientiaaclabore3362 It is likely they left much of their equipment behind. This was often the price of getting out of encirclements SPOILER As the Falaise Gap will demonstrate later in the year.

[@scientiaaclabore3362]

​@@stevekaczynski3793 Its not "likely" that Germans "left much of their equipment behind", lol, its a fact. The German documents of that time, prepared by the Generalquartiermeister of the Panzer-Armee-Oberkommando 1 and submitted to the General Stab des Heeres, explicitly show and state that after the breakout divisions of the army had only a fraction of their authorized number of motor and armoured vehicles. The docs even show a complete breakdown of material losses by divisions. The German material losses in the Ukraine in the spring of 1944 dwarfed the losses in the Falaise kessel. Its enough to say that another army of Army Group South, the 8th Army, which retreated to Romania, sustained equipment losses in the Uman region of nearly the same magnitude as the 1st Panzer Army during the breakout from the Kamenets-Podolsk Pocket. Heinz Guderian, in his position as Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, submitted a report to Hitler on 27 March 1944, stating: "At Uman, about 300 tanks fell into enemy hands." Its all been extensively captured in Soviet footages and photos, as the muddy fields of Ukraine were littered with abandoned German material. When they arrived from Ukraine to the Oberbefehlshaber West area (France, Belgium, Netherlands) for rebuilding between April-May 1944, the worn-out 1. SS-Panzer-Division LSSAH, 2, SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich, 9. Panzer-Division, 11. Panzer-Division, 19. Panzer-Division and 16. Panzergrenadier-Division had only 50% of their authorized personnel and virtually no equipment. Thus, at the time of D-Day landings these divisions were non-operational (Kampfwert V). The monthly status reports (monatliche zustandberichte), which these divisions submitted to the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen on their condition on 1 June 1944, shows just how poor of shape they were in. For example, the SS divisions LSSAH and Das Reich had just 30% of their authorized motor vehicles and 50% of their panzers in running order. This meant that most of their elements did not arrive to Normandy front until July 1944. Only small mobile battalion-sized kampfgruppen of these divisions, averaging 1,000 troops were dispatched earlier.

[@obsidianjane4413]

@6:12 Loose VHS tapes sinks ships Indy...

[@hardrocksuk]

Love your work X

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you James!

[@sylvananas7923]

Good to see Giraud finally out, that should send a message to the allies who had tried to get him into power

[@ahmedmandour7299]

Why there is limited coverage for operation Bagration preparations??!!

[@porksterbob]

Bagration starts in June. Ichigo starts April 15th.

[@WorldWarTwo]

We’re all “Ich-in” to see what happens!

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Ahmed *spoilers* Stavka as of 8 April has not even made a final decision as to what exactly they’re going to do and when

[@jasonmussett2129]

Great to see Burma getting this much coverage 👍😀

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks! I also covered Burma over on our Twitter if you care to take a read: twitter.com/timeghosttv/status/1629405351190593536?s=46&t=y-cTrtDpg3jl09WXcwc1dw

[@jasonmussett2129]

@@WorldWarTwo 👍👍👍

[@evancrum6811]

Can't wait! Happy Passover and Happy Easter

[@warmonger8799]

Awesome ❤❤❤

[@WorldWarTwo]

So are you, Warmonger❣️

[@warmonger8799]

@@WorldWarTwo

[@stevencline1041]

"I knew it was stupid to take my dog, named Shark, to the beach," A sign near me.

[@driesvdc2]

I love the Jaws reference 😄

[@absolut2013]

I'm sure that this question has been proposed before, however- why 79 years and not 80?

[@janhaanstra2245]

Well, I guess the TGA team didn't want to twiddle their thumbs for a year😂

[@Raskolnikov70]

Time Ghost started their channel right around the time the Great War was winding down. They wanted to keep the momentum from that week-by-week series with their new one, and if they waited a year they probably wouldn't have gotten as big of an audience.

[@absolut2013]

@@Raskolnikov70 They started their series in late 1918? Wow, they’re looking good 😌

[@Southsideindy]

I left the Great War channel when the war ended in 2018. Doing this stuff is a more than full time job- waiting around until September 2019 would mean this would never have been made since I would have had to do something else to put food on the table. Does this look to you like it’s a hobby project?

[@absolut2013]

@@Southsideindy I take your point and my apologies if it was misconstrued- I struggle to tell if intellectual Americans are being ironic or rude! I’ve found your channel recently through Mark Felton’s videos (I think, given the KZbin algorithm) and the content is great- thank you. My grandfather was born in 1924 and eventually conscripted into the RAF as a ground mechanic, going to North Africa and latterly Southern Italy, servicing the bombers involved against the Ploestri targets. My great-grandparents were in the Great War generation- cavalry and ambulance I believe; so I’ll check out the WW1 vids in future.

[@nate1992.]

Congratulations on 800K followers, what a journey this has been! Keep up this monumental work you have been doing successfully so far and now on to a million followers!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you very much for your support!!!

[@MBP1918]

Beginning of the end for the Axis in the Black Sea. Still truly a shame that the soviets in the end split Bessarabia from Romania proper.

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you. My Dad and uncle fought in the Pacific Theater.

[@WorldWarTwo]

We might not yet know their names, Glen, but we remember their service. Would you like to tell us about them? - T.J.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Indy betrays the plans for the Second Front at 5:40, thus rendering futile the entire efforts of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare.

[@waukivorycopse2402]

"Zis is preposterous!!!"

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@waukivorycopse2402 And she didn't know about that square in Düsseldorf...

[@alexamerling79]

No wonder the Germans switched to Model. Completely on the defensive now

[@ariearie3543]

Marshal trait

[@matwejfrey4550]

Somebody has played a bit HOI IV, eh?

[@stevekaczynski3793]

I don't think replacing Manstein was a dumb move. He might have scored a brilliant success but he might also have overreached against an opponent no longer surprised by German tactics.

[@alexamerling79]

@@stevekaczynski3793 no I wasn't saying it was a dumb move. Just shows how the situation changed where they needed a defensive commander since they were on the defensive now

[@destroyer0685]

No plan survives contact