Week 277 - The Battle of the Bulge Begins - WW2 - December 16, 1944

[@WorldWarTwo]

Any other great wartime intelligence failures spring to mind?

[@Emperor-Bando23]

Soviets w Barbarossa

[@firingallcylinders2949]

​@@Emperor-Bando23Comrade Stalin the Germans are massing at the Border! Our spies have spotted thousands of Horses and AFVs coming this way! Stalin: Eh must be nothing, carry on.

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

Great video as always but I wish you guys talked about the creation of the US 5-star rank this week and William Leahy. He was the first person to get the 5-star rank and was the highest-ranked US officer of WW2. I'm pretty sure you guys haven't talked about him at all yet during your series which is a shame. Leahy is the least talked about, vastly important person of WW2. It would be fair to say he was in reality the US President during the war when it came to anything regarding the war. Leahy was FDR's Chief of Staff during the war and any question that went up to FDR regarding the war went through Leahy and the decisions FDR would make always came down to what Leahy would tell FDR what to do. Other officers and diplomats of course had an influence on FDR and his decisions but when it was an argument of a "do this or do this" option and FDR's decision was needed on who's plan/decision to side on, it was Leahy who basically told FDR what to do and was ALWAYS included in any meeting where anything was being presented to the President. FDR does get too much credit for his role as the US President during WW2. FDR was not a military man and he knew that, which is to FDR's credit. FDR relied on people who did know about the military and what decisions to make and Leahy was FDR's right-hand man throughout the war. George Marshall and Henry Stimson were right up there with Leahy and it was the 3 of them that really ran the US war effort at the top of the chain and all 3 of them are never given the credit they deserved. But Leahy is by far given the least credit for his work during WW2. Even many WW2 buffs won't know who Leahy was or what he did during the war. When people ask what officers were given the special 5-star rank Leahy is often the person everyone forgets. And he was the first person to get the rank which made him the highest-ranking US officer since the tiebreaker for who is the higher-ranked officer comes down to seniority. That always gives a good trivia question when you ask who was the higher-ranked officer, Eisenhower or MacArthur? The answer is MacArthur because he was given the 5-star rank before Eisenhower was.

[@Superlegend56]

Midway and coral sea for the Japanese. East Solomon's for the Americans

[@TOKOLOSHE100]

Battle of Blood River

[@Casa-de-hongos]

"That is 15m per hour..." WW1 Generals: This blitzkieg is crazy. A month's worth of progress every hour!

[@TonyGModesto]

Lol, I like how we’re basically back at WWI rates of advancement in 2023

[@johnnynielsen3006]

140000 casualties in three months... The price payed by Eisenhower's broad front, where American units literally fought face to face with German defenders... This was depicted in Easy Company's battle of Foy... And this went on and on all along the front line... Eisenhower shouldn't have cut off Patton's fuel supply... Let the fast generals keep pushing until they meet resistance... Bypass strongpoints like Metz and Hurtgen forrest and lay siege around them... It's cheaper... Just push in between the German defending units before they set up to strong defenses... Play it like Rommel did in 1940... Just keep pushing fast and hard... Compare the casualty lists army by army. I believe Patton will win... Or would have until he reached Metz.

[@mgway4661]

@@TonyGModestoits better for business

[@Arashmickey]

Battle of the Bulge? That sounds like wild exaggeration! More likely it was the Battle of the Unremarkable Bump.

[@SamuelJamesNary]

@@TonyGModesto - Perhaps, but the war in Ukraine is a different war and has its own different issues and surprises.

[@lukeyboy1589]

This week marks the end of my family's involvement in the war. My great uncle, serving in the American 78th Infantry Division, was killed in action while fighting the Germans in Hurtgen Forest, December 18,1944. Thank you to everyone at Time Ghost for all your work on this series. You ensure that many who've been voiceless, forgotten, or ignored in this conflict get their acknowledgements. Never Forget.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for sharing that story with us, and we deeply appreciate the kind comment. Never forget.

[@leonardeuler1752]

I had the same feeling back in February 43 when my great grandfather died (on the wrong side of the war) in the Caucasus. A huge thank you for the huge work that had been since then and until then !

[@2_dog_Restoration]

My Uncle Elton Elise severed in the 78 Div also. I knew he was on the northern edge of the "Bulge" but I did not know he was right in it. The 78 Div had just arrived at the front. Uncle Elton said he was eyeing the local forest deer population for Christmas dinner, Then the Germans ruined his Christmas dinner plans. As he was stuck with a bazooka, not a very good deer hunting as he said. Interesting side note. The 78 div landed on Omaha beach uncle Elton said he drove his jeep off a LST onto Omaha Beach on Thanksgiving day!! 1944. He was the only one in his unit to drive the exact same jeep into Berlin !!

[@kevinramsey417]

Mine was killed at Anzio, so I feel you. Both my grandfathers are still in the fight, though. One's in France and the other is with Patton.

[@Sweet_Pup_g]

“Steal Allied fuel” being the main point of the offensive meant it started doomed.

[@papaaaaaaa2625]

My Grandfather was in the Wehrmacht as a young boy and capitulated in early 1945 near Trier after fighting in the Ardennes. He told me that he and his friends had to chew on old, tough and moldy bread, sometimes improved with some thin, watery and cold (under best circumstances lukewarm) soup. He always told me that the warm rations of the US Army he got after he surrendered were like a epiphany to him. It wasn't just the fuel or the ammunition. Germany ran dry on the most basic stuff.

[@Hope_Boat]

A western miniature version of Barbarossa...

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@papaaaaaaa2625 American POWs captured in the Bulge were often severely underfed in the subsequent months of captivity. Some attributed it to German ruthlessness but as their war effort ground down the Germans were having increasing trouble feeding their own troops, let alone POWs. Germans who captured US rations found the chocolate bars especially appealing.

[@NotFlappy12]

The main objective was to inflict so much damage that the western Allies would sue for peace. Even if all objective were reached, believing the allies would give up at this point is hilariously optimistic

[@Dreagostini]

@@stevekaczynski3793 Well, chocolate without meth is just better!

[@bvrdy]

This was the end of the war for my great grandpa, lived with shrapnel in the right side of his body the rest of his life. May he rest in peace.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for sharing this with us, rest in peace.

[@PumaTwoU]

My at one time Step Father in law had been in the Battle of the Hurtgen forest and was wounded outside of Schmidt. He was recovering in a hospital when the Bulge began. He told me they rousted out of bed any man who could walk and could carry a rifle to go on the line. His war experience was incredible- he landed on D Day on Omaha as a Combat Engineer.

[@williestyle35]

My (I know this is a stretch) my wife's step grandfather also served in France and Belgium during this time. Horace Kenyon served with the Services of Supply, as a mechanic / co-driver iirc (the guys that were in the "passenger seat" did pretty much anything, including acting as back up drivers, mechanics, and gunners) He talked little about his time, other than he had seen a few terrible things and had done his duty. He probably didn't want to admit he served with the legendary "Red Ball Express" that ran supplies to "Bastogne" and the Hurtgen Forrest - where most of his fellow troops would be African American. They worked around the clock, in all weather, so close to each other that they were gauging distance by brightness of the taillight of the truck in front of them - getting food, ammunition, fuel, and all that was needed to see our fighting men through that tough winter. I know he said he made it into Germany before they shipped him home. He sustained a head injury in the combat zone, that took the VA nearly 70 years to decide was partially "debilitating"... might be why he didn't like talking about his actions in the service all that much, idk. r. i. p. Horace H Kenyon

[@stephenroberts4895]

My grandfather's platoon, near Bastogne ran smack into the lead elements of the SS Panzers. He was wounded, but he and his men blunted the first waves till they had to pull back.

[@thunderbird1921]

A VERY courageous group of men. It may have been Hitler's desperation punch, but MAN was it a brutal one.

[@mrlodwick]

A good man. Thank you Tim UK.

[@derwolf3006]

My grandfather was on the other side of this. Read his diary, apparently he really valued the fight your gramps gave him. They killed alot of his friends and was still Like:"Well it was GOOD fithing" Truly the greatest generation, doubt I would be able to value an enemy like that.

[@BrbWifeYelling]

There were no SS panzer divisions assigned to the attack in the centre against Bastogne. All SS divisions were under Dietrich in the north, which was meant to be the main attack

[@BrbWifeYelling]

@@stephenroberts4895 well it seems you’re as poorly sighted as I apparently am, there were no SS divisions NEAR Bastogne. TLDR I think you or your grandfather is mistaken

[@edwardloomis887]

Lyle Bouck's 22 Soldiers -- scouts and artillery observers -- delayed a 500-soldier German battalion for a day in the Losheim Gap. They are the only platoon to earn a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation, the unit equivalent of a Medal of Honor

[@acespizzer]

As a Belgian, we very often hear about that battle. I always wondered why it was called Battle of the Bulge in English, but Bataille des Ardennes in French…

[@HyperSonicX]

Because in English newspapers it was accompanied by maps showing the German advance as a bulge into Allied lines

[@guillaumedeschamps1087]

Because "Bataille de la Protubérance" doesn't sound right in French.

[@1firust356]

​@@guillaumedeschamps1087oui, c'est bizarre

[@totalwar1793]

@@guillaumedeschamps1087That sounds hilarious tho

[@firingallcylinders2949]

​@guillaumedeschamps1087 Imagine if the history books called it the Battle of the Protuberance

[@alansewell7810]

My Dad, a WWII vet, talked about Glenn Miller's disappearance. There was a theory that his plane was hit by a jettisoned fuel tank of a military aircraft flying far overhead, but no definite proof of it. There were many ways people died and were never heard of again in the vastness of that war.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

A theory I heard was that he was stabbed to death by a Brit, and in the interests of Allied harmony the incident was hushed up. It may be just a rumour.

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Back in the 1990s Aeroplane magazine (UK) ran a big feature Article on what happened to Glen Miller. He was in a USAAC Nordyn Norseman flying from England to France, at an altitude of about 2,000 ft, in daylight, tracking through the centre of the Designated Bomb Jettison Area, about 5 or 10 miles off the British Coast, which was marked on ALL the Maps issued to ALL the Stations launching Cross-Channel flights. Nobody was supposed to overfly it, particularly not below 10,000 ft, because above that height... Aircraft returning with unexpended Bombs were briefed to dump the Ordinance in the Jettison Area, from 10,000 ft or more, rather than trying to land with a full Bombload... The Tail Gunners of a Formation of Lancaster's, returning from not being able to see their Targets in France, reported seeing a single-engined High-wing Aircraft flying at about 2,000 ft fly directly under the Bombs which had been toggled 30 seconds earlier. They said that one Bomb was seen to knock one Wing off, and the wreckage spun down to splash in the middle of the Jettison Area. All the Aircrew figured it out as soon as Miller was announced to be missing ; and immediately they were sworn to SECRECY (!) ; because nobody in the RAF wanted to announce that they'd bombed and killed a famous and popular Jazz-Band Leader...; whereas the US AAC didn't want to admit that their Army Co-operations & Communications Aircrew were far too casual, arrogant, hubristic and reckless as to actually READ what their issued Maps said about the Sea between Britain & France - when laying out their intended Course over the Channel... Therefore Thus and Because, in the interests of International Cameraderie and safeguarding Allied Unity against the Common Foe.... Glen Miller was officially reported as being "Missing"..., for 45 or 50 years, and the last remaining Lancaster Aircrew decided to "Come Clean" and reveal what they claimed was well understood and known - but was deliberately suppressed, at the time. Before they fell off their Mortal Coils. So, no, not a Droptank, but rather a 500 pound General Purpose, or a 2,000 pound "Cookie", or a 4,000 pound Blockbuster... It was but a Blur Among a cluster of falling Blurs, dropping at 300 or 500 ft per second. No explosion, because jettisoned Bombs were dropped in "Safe" condition rather than "Live"...; but a quarter of a ton to two tons of Steel descending at 300 mph will make a total wreck of anything riveted up from Sheet Aluminium & Steel Tubes, beetling along low over the Sea, sneaking across to France.... I suppose nothing good could have come from releasing the known facts, at the time ; the RAF Aircrew didn't do anything "wrong", but the grieving Miller Fan Club would have taken a LOT of convincing before accepting that..., Miller couldn't be resurrected by the Truth being told ; and the bloke who caused the Crash was already dead, and his Family had already started mourning him as a Missing Hero... Apparently such is the way the Calculation was seen by they who decided the matter. And, the Electorate used to be a lot less likely to Question Authority... Back in the day. Such is life, Have a good one... ;-p Ciao !

[@alansewell7810]

@@WarblesOnALot Thank you for explaining the details.

[@WarblesOnALot]

@@alansewell7810 No worries mate ! ;-p Ciao !

[@danielcotts8673]

TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) has done extensive research on Glenn Miller's disappearance. The Forum page on their website has a section on Glenn Miller Research. It makes a good read. The bomb story has been discredited.

[@gunman47]

A sidenote this week on December 14 1944 is that HMS Aldenham will strike a naval mine in the Adriatic Sea off Pag Island, while leading a Royal Navy force in a bombardment mission against targets on the island of Pag and near the town of Karlobag in support of the Yugoslav Partisans. What is noteworthy is that she would be the last Royal Navy destroyer to be lost in the war, with the loss of 121 officers and men and only 63 of her crew rescued.

[@Ronald98]

Man, i see you here every week with something new every time, it's simply amazing! keep up the good work but quick question though, where do you even get this kind of information? Wikipedia?

[@gunman47]

@@Ronald98 Well a combination of both Wikipedia and the World War 2 Database, amongst other sources too. Actually last week's episode was probably the first time in a very long time that I didn't post anything since I was away on holiday and did not have time to even check KZbin for once lol.

[@901Sherman]

Can't wait for you to finally cover Bill Slim's late 1944-1945 exploits. Quiet a masterclass from one of the greatest generals of the war.

[@extrahistory8956]

​@@jackdoyle7453The advance to Mandalay and the subsequent crossing od the Chindwin (while simultanously having to deal with supply issues in the Chinese and American sectors) have to make it one of the most impressive military opertions in the war

[@porksterbob]

​@@extrahistory8956he didn't have to deal with the Chinese or American supply issues. By the end of 1944, the supplies going to the Brits, the Chinese, and the Americans had been separated.

[@901Sherman]

Still quiet an impressive feat given how he was able to maintain the offensive pace while his forces consistently suffered being on the short end of the logistics stick as far as the wider war goes (especially compared to, say, the Western Front).

[@extrahistory8956]

@@porksterbob I should have been more specific. I was referring to the period in late November when Wedemeyer wanted to transport some Chinese divisions back to China at a period where Slim's troops had begun to make crossings at the Chidwin, causing concern about logistics as the Chinese troops would have to carried back in planes that were crucial for the upcoming Operation Capital

[@eleanorkett1129]

There is nothing more dangerous than a desperate enemy, which applies to both the Germans and Japanese. Thanks for another thrilling episode, which is filled with tumultuous events marking the approaching hard won victory.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

The Japanese were way more vicious IMO. The Germans actually surrendered en masse. They also had some sense of self preservation. The Japanese planned on dying, that's a terrible enemy to fight. On Iwo Jima General Kuribayashi told his men to dig the fortifications well because they were digging their Graves.

[@Larrymh07]

I agree! A desperate enemy combined with arrogance in the upper commanders is a recipe for disaster.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

The Mongols in battles tended to allow enemies an avenue of escape, as otherwise if completely trapped they would fight with the courage of desperation, in a time and place that did not have POW status for the defeated. Quite often the way out became a killing field as the enemies fled through it, as it became narrower all the time and under a hail of Mongol arrows.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@firingallcylinders2949 The captured German general Ferdinand Heim, who had been put in charge of defending Boulogne and surrendered it in September 1944, told an Allied intelligence officer who interviewed him that fatalism about death increased the further east you were. Germans were, he said, more inclined to fight to the death than Americans and British, and the Russians more so than the Germans. (Heim had fought on the Eastern Front and was temporarily imprisoned as a scapegoat for the Stalingrad defeat. He was later released and re-assigned.) He had probably heard something about the fanatical resistance of the Japanese, who he said were most fatalistic of all.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

Perhaps, but there also comes a point where Resistance is little more than a bitter gesture with no greater scope. All Axis efforts after the Allies did not capitulate in 1940-41 were little more than prolonging the inevitable. None of the Axis Powers could fight a war of attrition, that was the entire reasoning for their initial military and political doctrines for quick strikes to bring about a quick end to war, if their opponents didn't collapse from that initial blitz, the war for the Axis was already lost.

[@maciejkamil]

In 1940 Germans literally eliminated the whole French army, and the UK still didn't surrender. Hitler's goal of forcing the allies to negotiate by encircling 2 of their armies is just pure lunacy.

[@caw25sha]

He wasn't famous for rational thought processes.

[@trillionbones89]

Even if he captured the Dunkirk pocket instead of letting it evacuate: the UK probably would not have surrendered. And having a million prisoners of wars would only further strain Nazi economy.

[@sfBE11]

Went there on holiday and two things occured to me. A) the Ardennes is a very beautiful place but those wooded hills are about easy to get through as wading through glue and B) The German offensive in the Bulge is just a dream. They dont have the fuel or firepower to even come within range of success let alone close.

[@amk4956]

Meanwhile, around this time, I’m sure my grandfather was freezing, his butt off north of Rome. In January 1945 he actually got shot multiple times… he had bullet fragments in his body until he passed in 2001

[@Oxtocoatl13]

The Italian campaign is tragically and constantly overlooked, especially the portion after D-Day. We should never forget the battles where men like your grandfather fought. May he rest in peace.

[@astrofox1155]

I have to say, after watching these videos on and off all these years, I'm surprised how fast time went by. Its been just over three years since Pearl Harbor was attacked, and here's the US with the Allies at Germany's doorstep. It really shows the scale of industry and manpower America brought to the table.

[@mikaelcrews7232]

My grandfather was at the battle of the Bulge! He had a heart attack on the front line and was later put in a n ambulance with wounded English speaking Germans and later transferred to the rear in the transportation department!

[@jtgd]

At least he survived the heart attack

[@mikaelcrews7232]

@@jtgd But in February of 45 they put him back on the front line!

[@mnemo7096]

@@mikaelcrews7232did he survive? Which sector was he in, cos that timing was just right to be crossing the rhine at

[@mikaelcrews7232]

@@mnemo7096 he was in the first infinity Division ( the Big Red One)! He was still in a quiet area but they move them south of it and that's when all hell broke loose? I'm not sure exactly were he was, but he did survive the war.

[@mnemo7096]

thats good to know

[@florianlipp5452]

Can we just agree that "Hasso von Manteuffel" is the most badass name ever for a German commander?

[@caryblack5985]

No can't agree the most badass was Hyacinth_Graf_Strachwitz von Gross Stauze und Camminetz. See the wiki page.

[@cheften2mk]

I cant not think about Kartoffel meaning potato every time i hear the name

[@florianlipp5452]

@@cheften2mk It's "Manteuffel", not "Kartoffel" And "Manteuffel" means the "Man devil".

[@cheften2mk]

@@florianlipp5452 You misread my comment it seems

[@Arashmickey]

Can we also agree that "Geilenkirchen" is a hilarious name for a sleepy German town?

[@coltseavers6298]

That - 'The Cuban Missile Crisis' - that you guys did is absolutely fantastic. I already knew most of what you showed us, but, most importantly, the one thing you showed that I was not that aware of was just how recklessly deep the US was into fighting Communism that everything it did was due to upcoming Presidential Elections. And the Vietnam War was just such an example of this, and beyond. At that time in history no candidate could be show in anyway as soft to the Soviets, and thus they became reckless in the moves they made in countering them.

[@TheShortStory]

The set and image has never looked better. Nice work everyone

[@simonkemfors]

Telling the story in real time really makes it clear how unpredictable the events of the war must have been. While, from a bird's eye view, it is pretty clearly a story of axis success in the early war and allied success in pushing the axis back during the later half, it doesn't always feel that way when following it week by week. Reading about it in the newspapers (even of a neutral country) must have felt dramatically different when the wider trends weren't as clear

[@Oxtocoatl13]

Not to mention it's nearly impossible to get accurate information about what's actually going on. Just look at how hard it is to figure out what's happening in Ukraine. Even knowledgeable analyses are done based on faulty and biased information and massive surprises happen constantly.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

12:32. Keep those locations mentioned by Indy in mind for future episodes. We'll almost certainly be hearing more about Elsenborn Ridge and the villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath. This was actually the main thrust by the best troops slated for the offensive but it (spoiler alert) gets no farther than Elsenborn. There is a popular misconception that Bastogne was the most important battle of the Ardennes Offensive and the point at which the German offensive stalled, partly because of a lot of press coverage during the war (much of the Allied press in this sector was in Bastogne) and partly because a lot of film and TV coverage of Bastogne since, but that was really not the case. The more important fight was about 46 miles/74 km to the northeast in and around Elsenborn, and the fighting was every bit as savage as that around Bastogne even going at times hand-to-hand.

[@901Sherman]

St. Vith was also an important point to hold. Hopefully, Indy will cover the controversy on wether they should/shouldn’t have pulled out or wether it would’ve been wise to make it a second Bastogne:

[@procyonant6805]

Fortune was clearly offended by the 28th division. After heavy fighting in the Hurtgen Forest, she was transferred to rest in the most peaceful part of the front. Since this division was formed in Pennsylvania, and the symbol of the state is the keystone, the soldiers of the division who survived after 1944 called this sign "a bucket of blood".

[@motherlesschild102]

Soldiers of the 106th division called themselves "the hungry and sick" after The Bulge started.

[@Dustz92]

Oh, that's the one from "Where Trumpets Fade". Damn, what a bunch of unlucky bunch.

[@ktipuss]

So that's why the symbol of the Pennsylvania Railroad was a keystone! Thanks for that; now I know why.

[@procyonant6805]

@@ktipuss Yes, each State has its own symbol. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State. The badge of the 28th division was also in the form of keystone is red in color.

[@procyonant6805]

@@Dustz92 Yes, you can see the division's symbol on the helmets - the red keystone.

[@aurorathekitty7854]

I have a feeling that if you're entire offensive relies on bad weather it's not going to go so well. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[@Histbuff41]

Found you guys in 1917 then binged watched to catch up and have followed every week since then. The whole timeghost team does a fantastic job at putting together great episodes every week. I’ve read and studied WWII for over 20 years and still learn from you every week. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@nikhiljoshiPi]

You mean 2017, surely? You ain't 100 years old..

[@WorldWarTwo]

That's great to hear! It's amazing to hear that even as a seasoned WWII enthusiast, you're finding new insights with us. Thank you for watching.

[@capnthrash2240]

Crack of the lightning, splitting the ground Thunder resounding, artillery pounding

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

Rath of the Nazis decent on the town trapping our forces alone!

[@alexbowman7582]

The low cloud preventing Allied air cover was the same low cloud which probably caused the plane crash which killed Glenn Miller.

[@israelforreal]

This is one of those videos where I just watch it again after it finishes. Great Job guys. Amazing work 👏

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks so much for your kind words! -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@JaredSoSunny]

Right on schedule every Friday

[@christopherrasmussen8718]

My grandad was the youngest of three brothers. He came in late in the war. His unit showed up in Bastogne just before the BOB. He was pulled out of his unit because he ‘won’ an art contest run by a Generals cadre. They needed an artist to letter trucks , tanks , glass office doors. He was one of a dozen painters. His original unit was wiped out in the BOB. He came home wrecked with survivors guilt. Crawled in a bottle for a good 15 years. His older brother was in France and the oldest was heading to Japan in the Navy.

[@JHF_Gaming]

"Lieutenant, we're paratroopers. We're supposed to be surrounded."

[@jerryu8166]

Where's foxhole Norman？

[@BeholdTheLeviathan]

Welp, time for the yearly watch of Band of Brothers

[@cheften2mk]

Good thing Jimmy Fallon was there to resupply them

[@andk1163]

Just watched that last night.

[@johnbava3]

Thank you so much for the shout out but, more importantly, for preserving this history.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for being such a lovely member John!

[@danielgreen3715]

I got lost Hitchhiking through the Ardennes in the Winter of 89 and can easily understand how a Panzer Division can lose its way not to mention the Freezing Fog and Cold Damp Forbidding Forests the whole place had an Eerie feel to it and im sure that if one was to listen on the Darkest of Nights they would still hear those Clattering Tracks and Steel Shod Boots Marching down the Roads into the Distance!

[@SolracNexus]

To think that 'WW2 week by week' would end by christmas had the allies did well in market garden

[@benjaminlynch9958]

Well, still would have had Japan to deal with, but yeah. Not great. And here we are this week with Monty again - AGAIN! - dismissing Germany’s strength and will to fight. Lessons were apparently not learned from the Market Garden failure…

[@aaroncolby6124]

Would they? Even had Market Garden succeded, they Allies would still have had major logistical issues until Antwerp was opened for shipping. They wouldn’t have been able to exploit their success in that scenario.

[@ClanWiE]

RIP Glen Miller, what an inspiration and a great talent, lost to a war full of horrors

[@1987palerider]

If I had a nickel for every surprise German Ardennes offensive in WWII, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice

[@ivvan497]

*3

[@1987palerider]

@@ivvan497 what was the third? Invasion of France, Battle of the Bulge, what else?

[@ivvan497]

@@1987palerider 1914, 1940 and 1944

[@apmoy70]

If it ain't broken...

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

​@@ivvan497 To quote OP; "every surprise German Ardennes offensive *IN WWII*"

[@caryblack5985]

I am rereading Steven Zaloga Smashing Hitler's Panzers an excellent book on the fighting in the North covering the SS Hitler Jungend and SS Liebstandarte Adolph Hitler which were supposed to lead the attack to Antwerp because they were closest to that goal. This attack will decide whether or not the operation in the Ardennes will be successful and the coverage of it is not at all as commonly known as the fighting fo Bastogne. I recommend the book for anyone interested in the battle.

[@Aakkosti]

15:07 For an amusing contrast, compare the zoom level of this advance to the zoom level of the first day advance in Barbarossa. Episode 096b, timestamp 3:00.

[@scottski02]

Indy: "It has taken the Allies 31 days to advance 11 kilometers." WW1 generals: "That quickly??"

[@thomasknobbe4472]

The Chemical Mortar Battalions fielded a very powerful, accurate and versatile weapon (especially with their high explosive and smoke ammunition) that was in great demand throughout the war, resulting in troops from these units being in near-constant action and taking many casualties. One of those cases where the name of the unit really belies its importance.

[@Alsadius]

I'm a bit disappointed that your discussion of "15 meters per hour" for the Allied advance into Germany wasn't compared to other very slow things. For example, that's less than 1/3 of a literal snail's pace (they go about 48 meters an hour, according to Google.) I just found that funny.

[@averyzucco220]

The application of the destroyer-based radar picket here is the genesis of the modern carrier battle group. Interesting to see that next generation of tactics being developed.

[@Lematth88]

This week in French news. The 10th, France and the USSR signed a treaty of mutual assistance. Article 1 and 2 are in favor of the cooperation against Germany and not to make any unilateral peace. Article 3 is on taking at the end of the war in mutual assistance every measure to avoid any future threat by Germany. The article 4 is a clause of assistance in case of hostility from Germany (after the war); article 5 is not on Germany but engages each party to no make any alliance or coalition against each other. Article 6 is on economic assistance. This treaty is to be on a bilateral negotiation with the USSR and to avoid any resurgence of a big Germany, and for De Gaulle to be half away between the USSR and the USA. During the reunion, De Gaulle asks for Saarland, Rhenania and the Ruhr to be under French occupation and not form a country. Then, after Stalin refused, he proposed that the Ruhr would be under international law and France would recognize the Oder-Neisser frontier of Germany, again Stalin refused to avoid confrontation with the US. To be signed, France had to recognize the Committee of Lublin as the official government of Poland (the 27th) The 14th, nationalization of coal mining and creation of the Houillères du bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais. There was 18 different compagnies in those departements, now, there is only one, with the objective to increase the output of coal. The “battle of coal” is launched by the PCF and the government in order to produce the maximum of it and reconstruct France.

[@christopherjustice6411]

My great uncle Chuck was at the Bulge with the Americans. I never had the honor of meeting him. But from what I’ve heard, he was never the same after that battle. He survived, but a significant part of him, simply didn’t come home.

[@blackhathacker82]

16:21 very well Said without insulting anyone 👏 👍 bravo

[@oliversherman2414]

Germany in December 1944: "Let's do the same thing we did in 1914 and 1940.... What could go wrong?"

[@siux94]

There is a slight issue with map on 1:05, Montenegrin cities were already liberated by now, except Podgorica on 19. december

[@thagrifster594]

I love this series. CRAZY is the right way to describe this decision, Indy. By the way, can we get update on the fighting in Courtland?

[@korbell1089]

For a plan that relies on speed and "Powerups" to be successful, the Ardennes Offensive started off good but even while they shattered units left and right, there were individual companies, platoons, and even squads taking upon themselves to slow the Germans down however they could. Add to that, the destruction of duel depots, and engineer units sadistically, even gleefully blowing up every bridge they could find, pretty much guaranteed Germany's failure! Oh how naive we were when this series started 3 years ago. Episode one ran 11minutes and 36 seconds, This episode ran 26min and 32sec, and it was truthfully still to short for what went on! Keep up the great work Time Ghost.👍

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

To an extent it did not even start well. Germany's main thrust by it's best troops was not the one aimed at Bastogne, but rather the one aimed at Elsenborn Ridge. Progress there was slow and hard from start to finish and it got stopped cold and severely bloodied at Elsenborn. The main thrust essentially had no major success.

[@caryblack5985]

@@ahorsewithnoname773 Well documented in the book Steven Zaloga Smashing Hitler's Panzers.

[@Telenil]

As a Frenchman, it makes me feel slightly better to know that the American also thought an armored push through the Ardennes couldn't happen, even though they had seen it happen four years earlier.

[@nickdanger3802]

They did not see it in 1940 because they were not there, and the only sources on what happened were Germany and Vichy France.

[@rose-marietrembloy243]

Some of you have given the very exact explanation for that discrepancy between two names, but we (I am 93 ) always speak of the VonRundstedt offensive. At a moment when everyone thought the hated occupiers were finally gone, it was as if everything was starting again. 😊

[@901Sherman]

Rundstedt actually really hated being associated with the offensive since, as we've seen multiple times, he had little to no faith in its success and at one point said that if they did reach as far as the Meuse, they should fall down on their knees and thank god, let alone Antwerp.

[@pnutz_2]

24:56 rip to miller I found that elvis guy for you. he's some schoolkid.

[@MrMysterious92]

I love when they make references like that in their episodes it reminds you it is "1944"

[@motherlesschild102]

"But not like a schoolboy."

[@porksterbob]

On the Burma side, there was a missed opportunity to mention that the Chinese take Bhamo in the north on december 15. This is the new first army under Sun lijen and he really should get a bio special. Also, there is the replacement for merrils marauders, the MARS task force which is a part of this mission.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video about that week in 1944 ...WW2 wagon

[@inexistent515]

My grandfather was a staff sergeant in the 423rd of the 106th division. From what I’ve read they were positioned on the Schnee Eifel just days before the German attack. That was their first experience in combat and after a few days of fighting and being encircled were taken prisoner. He was liberated from Stalag 9A on Good Friday.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

The 106th indeed only moved into the area a few days before, they were one of the newly arrived US divisions. The area it was sent to was considered to be a "quiet" sector suitable for a new and inexperienced unit.

[@WorldWarTwo]

That's a pretty fascinating story, thanks for sharing it with us. -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@FinnishWolfBrigade]

These are the highlight of my week!

[@keithorbell8946]

My Grandfather, a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps attached to an infantry battalion in the 51st Highland Division (“Monty’s Bodyguard”) was on R&R with his battalion in Antwerp when the Ardennes offensive began. He was the Orderly Officer when the order that all leave was cancelled and to get the Battalion on the wagons and head to the front, so it was his job to get a battalion of pissed up (and off!) Glaswegians and Highlanders out of the bars and brothels of Antwerp, make sure they have their personal weapons, 150 rounds of .303 and a bayonet and sling them on the Lorrie’s to head east! He claimed that in May 1945 none of them had drawn any more ammunition but they had all been through at least two bayonets!

[@nickdanger3802]

He (Montgomery) had told Eisenhower's deputy chief of operations, the British officer Jock Whitley, that Eisenhower should put him in command of all troops north of the German penetration. Somebody, Montgomery added, meaning either the Combined Chiefs of Staff, of which Brooke was a member, or the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, should give Eisenhower "a direct order ... to do so." page 416 A Time For Trumpets MacDonald

[@Larrymh07]

Arrogance seems to be a virus among all military commanders.

[@robertoler3795]

this is just superb the entire series is wonderful Robert Capt USN ret

[@RubberToeYT]

Great video, the imagery always looks so good

[@WorldWarTwo]

Glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching!

[@behindthespotlight7983]

When Time Ghost advances to Okinawa & Alamogordo I’m gonna be BUMMED

[@Hope_Boat]

Some pedantry here : Organisation X is not called X in the Greek language but Organosis Chi. The equivalent of the latin X in Greek being the letter Ξ (Xi). The Greek letter Χ (or χ in the low case) is pronounced like the spanish hota and is transcribes in to the latin ch like in schema, technique, Christ, mechanics etc. End of pedantry.

[@motherlesschild102]

There is a Bulge yes, but it has been contained. It will never reach Antwerp!

[@wetwillyis_1881]

Really strange to think that only 79 years ago, my grandfather was there fighting the Germans, and now I’m hearing watching a video about it. Keep up the amazing content, guys.

[@johndilday1846]

Yup. My dad was there as well as a 21 year old Sgt. He had been with his unit at a castle in Belgium, but was then detached to drive supplies to Bastogne before it was encircled. He said that it was quite grim and all the GIs were afraid that the leaders were going to surrender. He was overjoyed when the General in charge made the reply “Nuts” to the German demand to surrender. He said that the Americans had heard about the Malmedy massacre, and he figured that as an enemy soldier of Native American ancestry, that the Germans would be less than kind to him if they got their hands on him.

[@nicholasmiller3872]

503rd Para Reg. Will earn their nickname "The Rock" when they conduct an airborne drop on Corregidor Island. They still carry that name as part of the 173rd ABN Bde today.

[@Khasimir]

@WorldWarTwo I don't want to be "that guy" by pointing out an error, but Peiper was never commander of the 1st SS Division (referenced at the 16:56 mark). Highest command he ever had was 1st SS Panzer Regiment.

[@caryblack5985]

OK to point out. You did it in a way that was appropriate.

Seems like yesterday that the British retreated over the Irrawaddi river. Time is moving fast.

[@antonindanek9294]

I wonder if you're going to mention Germans in US uniforms speaking fluent English sowing chaos behind the lines... and US troops checking each other if they're American or not. Read about this in Thomas F. Brooks "Hello Boys" some years ago.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Greif I am interested in the linguistic side of WW2, and it is interesting to me how much difficulty the Germans had in actually finding fluent and convincing speakers of American English. Apparently they found no more than about 10, mostly former sailors who had spent a lot of time in US ports. To distinguish themselves from real US troops, the Germans reportedly wore pink or blue scarves and at night used German torches/flashlights to signal in a particular sequence of lights that would hopefully prevent German troops from firing on them. Any tanks they drove were supposed to keep the gun turret pointing at the three o' clock position - it seems they were afraid of "friendly fire". My guess is that most genuinely fluent speakers of English in the German armed forces in late 1944 would have had a berth in Intelligence or were attached to POW camps - volunteering for a risky special forces mission would be something to be avoided.

[@aaroncolby6124]

Especially since they would be shot immediately after being captured.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@aaroncolby6124 SPOILER Which will happen to a number of them. The German Brandenburger unit had specialised in spearheading German attacks, using troops who dressed up in Polish, Dutch or Soviet uniforms and who spoke the appropriate languages. But at this point of the war it was an ordinary Army unit, serving on the Eastern Front.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Re Dirlewanger's unit, about this time a German who had been imprisoned in a concentration camp for homosexuality was sent with others to Dirlewanger's unit. When Dirlewanger heard of this he ordered them tied to trees in a forest with pink triangles attached to their uniforms, and they were left to freeze to death overnight. However a Red Army patrol turned up and freed them. The survivor who gave the account formed a relationship with an Armenian doctor in the Red Army. Postwar he and his partner escaped to the USA, with the doctor using Armenian diaspora connections, but the doctor later died there. The story is mentioned in Richard Plant's "The Pink Triangle", an account of the treatment of homosexuals in the Third Reich.

[@foowashere]

Thanks for sharing! 👍

[@Oxtocoatl13]

It's often overlooked that sexual minorities were among the victims of the holocaust, and the association of the color pink with gayness literally stems from reclaiming a concentration camp designation.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

So it’s finally begun, own of the most famous/infamous battles of ww2.

[@StephenLuke]

Yes indeed! But the next day of the battle went ugly.

[@naveenraj2008eee]

Hi Indy Another wonderful week. Seems German counteravensive might lead some gain. But it was futile approach. Want to learn more of this. Thanks for the video.

[@alphanerdgames9417]

Nice touch on the slideshow effect for the summary!

[@jamesmaas7244]

"If we wouldn't do that, they wouldn't do it." Same thinking as the Allies will land at Pas-de-Calais.

[@thepiratecats801]

Patton absolutely did not predict the Ardennes offensive. It was added into his diary after the war by his wife. Patton was as clueless as the rest of the allied leaders about the potential for Germany to go on the offensive.

[@ladyzapzap9514]

How do you know this? Is there a source?

[@leemichael2154]

He's clueless? And would you have done in his shoes (without hindsight? ) you'd probably smash it I'm sure! With all your war experience

[@cameronmctigue4038]

@@ladyzapzap9514 Kevin Hymel new biography of Patton covers it. Patton's wife altered the transcript of her husband's diary in the 1950s before publishing. Then the originals were sealed until something like 2015.

[@elliri3012]

Patton had a plan to swing his forces toward Bastogne, before Eisenhower gave the order; he knew something was going on.

[@Cobs3cor3fi3ld]

Well his argument does have some merit to it. My great-grandfather William Ambrose GoForth was an intelligence officer on Pattons staff in the 3rd Army. He said that Patton had two versions of his diary. A private diary which he kept to himself and a typed version that he intended for public consumption. He often added in compliments from his superiors that are nowhere in the original diary. After the war, his wife and son added in their own notes to the copy (typed version) submitted to the library of congress. Various authors and biographers also did the same. My grandfather said he wouldn't be surprised if Patton didn't add that segment about predicting the Ardennes himself to inflate his own genius 😂

[@stevehofer3482]

Here in 2023, from 12/17 to 12/27, Bastogne in Belgium is expected to only dip below freezing on two nights, with above freezing temperatures the rest of the 10 days. No snow but significant rain. It would have been a totally different battle.

[@UncleJoeLITE]

Sorry I missed the premiere. Cheers from Canberra. _ps: We have a main street in Canberra named "William Smith Drive". We call it "Slim Billy", I think he'd approve. =)_

[@itwaswalpole]

Go to Bastogne, the crossroads must hold. Stand, alone in the cold.

[@rsfaeges5298]

Very engaging episode.👍👍

[@TV17Outdoors]

My Mother's birthday is December 16th. In 1944 she was a Marine and served as the secretary to the Commandant of the Marine Corps Schools at Quantico, Va. She would always place the communiques each morning on the commandant's desk. As she did this she could not help noticing what was going on that day. Within hours she said there was a great deal of concern in Washington about what was going on. Her fellow Marines had planned a big birthday party for her for after work. Needless to say it was cancelled. As for my father, he was in the 2nd Armored division and would soon become very involved in the battle.

[@The_Devil_Himself]

19:53 When he says there's mutiny in the Dirlewanger Brigade, I immediately imagine the Orcs and Uruk-Hai in Lord of the Rings killing each other over whether or not to eat the Hobbits.

[@WorldWarTwo]

I have the odd feeling the orcs were a bit more civilized. After all, they at least had menus. Dirlewanger and his men downright disturb me in unique and unpleasant ways. -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@stevekaczynski3793]

The Dirlewanger Brigade did not exclusively consist of psychos. Some of its men were forced drafts from concentration camps, some of whose inmates were too "normal" to fit in with the Third Reich. Dirlewanger was suspicious of some of his men and regularly had them killed, especially late in 1944 and in 1945.

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@Significantpower]

Allied intel failures all linked to the misconception of "Hitler can't be THAT crazy."

[@kevinkearns7719]

A guy from my church was in the 99th Division. He said that the attack was such a surprise, the soldiers didn't understand what was happening when the attack began. Also, a bunch of guys were on leave behind the lines.

[@onthatrockhewillbuildhisch1510]

At 22:50 your map of Mindoro is misplaced. It is the island at the north of the Sulu Sea.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for pointing that out, seems the effect was in the wrong spot. The map maker has been alerted!

[@hannahskipper2764]

My grandfather missed the Bulge, as he had been reassigned as a shooting instructor and stayed in France. He lost a lot of his friends though. The reassignment may have saved his life.

[@christopherrasmussen8718]

I just made a comment about my grandfather being pulled out the week before. It messed him up bad for years being one of the few survivors of his original unit. Bless your grandfather

[@stevekaczynski3793]

A British soldier on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 who worked in his battalion HQ was given a rifle and grenades by an NCO and told he would take part in the attack. Then an officer came and said he would not be sent into the attack as he was the only man in the battalion who knew shorthand. Most of the battalion that went over the top the next day was killed or wounded. According to him, "My shorthand saved me."

[@nevilleneville6518]

"We soon learned that fate, not the Germans or Italians was our real enemy. Fate, as callous and indifferent as army orders - "you and you, dead. The rest of you, on the truck".

[@hannahskipper2764]

@@christopherrasmussen8718 bless your grandfather too. Mine also had a hard time being a survivor.

[@Lonovavir]

My grandfather didn't get reassigned, he was wounded a few days before his platoon commander wanted to offer him squad command. A lot of guys in his unit didn't turn 21, he was one of the lucky ones.

[@Kubinda12345]

Will you also talk about Skorzeny's Operation Greif or will perhaps Astrid make an episode about it?

[@callumgordon1668]

“All Hitler wants me to do is to cross a river, capture Brussels, and then go on and take Antwerp! And all this in the worst time of the year through the Ardennes, where the snow is waist deep and there isn’t room to deploy four tanks abreast, let alone panzer divisions! Where it doesn’t get light until eight and its dark again at four and with reformed divisions made up chiefly of kids and sick old men-and at Christmas!” Respect to the very many US formations who held their ground

[@a84c1]

The way they show the battle of the bulge on the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers was insane.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

The Battle of Bastogne is amazing and to this day I still don't know how the 101st held it

[@djspell2928]

Nuts!

[@jfv65]

​@@firingallcylinders2949i am glad they did hold out because the 101st airborn div liberated my home town.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@firingallcylinders2949 Because. A) They weren't deep behind enemy lines. B) Already had armour support with them. C) Never ran out of supplies. D) Most of the German force moved off towards the River Meuse and left Bastogne alone.

[@Wayne.J]

It needs to be pointed out that Mindoro is to the south of Manila as the video has a circle near San Bernardino Strait or Legaspi. 7th Fleet was exposed a bit and retreated after the initial landings which even allowed the Japanese to launched a cruiser striking force (Ashigara and Oyodo & Destroyer Squadron 2 against the beach head at San Jose on Boxing Bay.

[@lucas82]

Interesting to learn that things were kind of screwed from the get go for the Germans in the Ardenne Offensive. I always assumed that the initial assault had been a great success.

[@nickdanger3802]

Commanders on the ground knew at the end of day two they did not have a prayer in hell of reaching Antwerp and asked hitler to allow a change to the much less ambitious plan they had lobbied for before the battle started.

[@LugborG]

It’s funny you mention Elvis. I had an uncle who passed away a few years ago who served with Elvis.

[@MrWWIIBuff]

When you ask what the supply plan is, and they say to just steal the supplies you need, maybe you need to question if you're gonna win...

[@stevekaczynski3793]

For some armies it works. In the Chinese Civil War the Communists were often under-resourced but were told to capture needed supplies from their KMT opponents. The Chinese operated in a similar way in the Korean War, especially during their early intervention. One said their advance in the winter of 1950/51 would have been impossible without capturing UN food and weapons dumps, especially American. The actual logistical tail of the Chinese was minimal and often disrupted by air attack. So they looted these dumps to partly counter-act it. According to one, they quickly got used to US rice and cookies but not to things like canned tomato juice.

[@extrahistory8956]

The Japanese tried and failed earlier this year in Operation U-Go (Imphal and Kohima)

[@MrWWIIBuff]

@@stevekaczynski3793 and for the CCP, it really only worked in the Civil War. Korea was a brutal failure for them, thousands became casualties, and the war was unpopular at home. It's one of quite a few of Mao's failed policies.

[@jayjayson9613]

That thumbnail, the picture of the soldier is iconic. Has the soldier ever been identified?

[@stevekaczynski3793]

I think this particular unit was from Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. A lot of them were Volksdeutsche from Romania and Hungary. At the same time, the 22nd SS Division Maria Theresia, which consisted mostly of Hungarian Volksdeutsche, was attempting to hold onto Budapest.

[@j.4332]

@@stevekaczynski3793 These sequences and photos were taken around the 19th.They feature men of Kampfgruppe Hansen,1st SS,around the town of Poteau,near St Vith.There was a skirmish with advanced units of US 7th Armd Div.The photos and film although showing some wrecked US vehicles was largely staged.

[@jayjayson9613]

@@stevekaczynski3793 I wonder if he survived the war. Thank you very much for the information. I wonder who he was in particular, whenever I see pictures from war I often wonder what the individual in the picture, what their life was like.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_World_War_II_camouflage_patterns#/media/File:133-Waffen_SS_jas.jpg This seems to be the same or similar to what he is wearing. Waffen-SS, Wehrmacht and police (the latter increasingly used as combat troops as Germany's situation turned dire) all had different camouflage patterns. I believe Luftwaffe ground troops also had at least one pattern.

[@iamnolegend2519]

The Operations Room channel has several excellent videos that examine some battles Operation Autumn Mist in detail.

[@extrahistory8956]

They even brought Indy and Jesse as guest narrators

[@paulbeesley8283]

23:50. 100km sounds a lo,t but an A6 Zero, can easily cover that in 15 minutes (12 minutes without even flying at maximum speed,). 15 minutes sounds a lot, but remember, radar traces must be confirmed and courses/numbers/ranges calculated, senior officers informed, decisions made, orders passed on/down, and finally, aircraft launched and flown to interception altitude. I would be very interested to know the average time from detection, to interception.

[@Superlegend56]

Wonder if there was even a hope of victory in this battle with essentially everything against them

[@thunderbird1921]

It was VERY slim. Everything would have had to go right for the Germans to succeed. The Allies would have to be caught off guard, they would have to be rapidly pushed back, and the supplies the Germans needed would have to be snatched before the Allies could destroy it. On top of this, they would need to make a dash for a better strategic line or else they couldn't defend these gains. Basically, the odds were INCREDIBLY against them. And EVEN IF the Germans won here, it may AT VERY BEST have just delayed the war's end by a few months. The Soviets were still advancing in the east, and the western allies were going to storm western Germany no matter the manpower or material cost. There was no chance that FDR and Churchill were going to make a peace deal with Hitler. Germany was done for barring the biggest and most unthinkable miracle in all of warfare history.

[@j.4332]

None at all.From the start lines to objective Antwerp,it was around 130-150 miles.Through forest and broken terrain,poor unmetalled roads,narrow gorges.Bridges not rated much to carry tanks.Also driving into the massive bulk of allied forces in Europe..

[@FlintIronstag23]

@@j.4332 Agreed. Even if the plan had worked perfectly and the Germans made it to Antwerp, then what? The Western Allies still had air superiority and the Soviets were still breathing down their neck in the East. The German's basic supply problems would not be solved, and Roosevelt and Churchill would not sue for peace even with the loss of an entire army group. The best it could have achieved was a delay in Allied offensive operations in the West, but no chance of changing the ultimate outcome of the war.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

After months of retreat quite a few German troops, generally their best ones, were elated to be on the attack, but the operation made little military sense and was SPOILER doomed to ultimate failure.

[@jasonmussett2129]

Model actually said; 'Antwerp! If we reach the Meuse we should get on our knees and thank God!'

[@caryblack5985]

It was von Rundstedt but your quote is correct.

[@jasonmussett2129]

@@caryblack5985 my mistake. Some source material quote model, others von runstedt. Thanks👍

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@caryblack5985 I guess telling Hitler it was impossible was out of the question?

[@caryblack5985]

@@stevekaczynski3793 Both Model and von Rumdstedt proposed what was called the small solution that did not require crossing the Meuse. Hitler insisted his plan was unalterable. See Zaloga Smashing Hitler's Panzers.

[@Jesusfreak-m3x]

I am still waiting to hear about the two US Japanese divisions in Italy. Is that being covered in the war against humanity series, which I have not been following?

[@caryblack5985]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

[@extrahistory8956]

They have been acknowledged in the Community Posts, while the Japanese Internment Camps in the USA were covered in WAH back in 1942 and again in 1943

[@Lonovavir]

My grandfather in the Big Red One was wounded in this battle. He would've been offered a squad commander spot if it weren't that. I can't imagine fighting in a forest in wintertime.