Week 299 - Kamikazes versus Admirals! - May 18, 1945

The kamikaze menace continues unabated, with suicide flyers hitting not one but two Admirals's flagships. There's plenty of fighting on land, though, as the Americans advance on Okinawa and take a dam on Luzon to try and solve the Manila water crisis, but even after last week's German surrender there is also still scattered fighting in Europe.
Chapters
01:34 The Battle of Poljana
06:32 American Advances on Okinawa
10:37 Kamikazes Versus the Admirals
13:58 The Battle for Ipo Dam
19:39 Soldiers Must Go From Europe to the Pacific
23:16 Summary
23:38 Conclusion
25:50 Call to Action
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Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Jake McCluskey
Written by: Indy Neidell
Research by: Indy Neidell & James Newman
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Editing and colour grading by: Simon J. James
Artwork by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by: Mikołaj Uchman
Source literature list: bit.ly/SourcesWW2
Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters - www.screenocean.com
Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
Breathe it in Deep - Hampus Naeselius
Freedom Fighters - Jo Wandrini
It All Ends Now - Hampus Naeselius
Phoenix Rising - Edgar Hopp
Signal to Noise - Hampus Naeselius
Additional sound effects provided by Zapsplat.com
Additional graphics provided by Vecteezy.com
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you to the TimeGhost Army; their dedication is what allows us to continue this series. We are all thankful to you all for helping make this possible! Join the TimeGhost Army: www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory

[@deshaun9473]

Good Work!! Will you be covering ww3 soon?

[@jaegerbomb269]

I hope you do a special on the USS Enterprise. May history never forget her.

[@nbhoser]

I want to apologize for not reenlisting in the army. Unfortunately, my wife lost her job and money is tight.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

So this week there's no Balls joke... That's not good....🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@nickdanger3802]

The vote on 7 May 1945 was held onboard HMCS Uganda and 605 crew out of 907 refused to volunteer for continuing operations against Japan. The British Admiralty was furious and said it could not replace the ship until 27 July at the earliest. However, the cruiser continued her deployment in the Pacific throughout June and July while the Naval Staff sought an answer to the problem. An embarrassed Royal Canadian Navy offered to replace Uganda with HMCS Prince Robert, an anti-aircraft flak ship that was being refitted in Vancouver.

[@andrewlampart-shakerscdjr4396]

Petitioning to have the final line of the series be, "I'm indy Neidell, this WAS World War Two"

[@LukeSumIpsePatremTe]

"Stay tuned for our new WW3 series, starting _sooon_ "

[@markseubert9779]

We have a new one called between ww2 and ww3

[@letsburn00]

Wait for "the 6 day war week by week". It'll be a short series though.

[@YvonTripper]

@@letsburn00 Maybe they should take on the 30 Years War to get a bit more job security

[@letsburn00]

@@YvonTripper I have been reading a book about that. It was insanely stupid overall

[@blueboats]

The idea that Japan believed Stalin would honor their neutrality pact until the end date of April 1946 has put the biggest smile on my face of the week

[@thewidow7864]

how can someone commit countless atrocities towards POWs and innocent civilians and yet be so naïve

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@thewidow7864 Less that than desperate wishful thinking.

[@Alruwaili11]

​@@thewidow7864 don't believe anything you watch. The truth is much more complicated

[@andmos1001]

@@thewidow7864call it wishful thinking

[@heavyartillery-qm5hu]

@@marcel-ifc17 What is the truth tho? It's ignorant to think that everyone will see things the same way

[@111111310]

You know it can't be good news when Indy says, "You can learn more about it in our War Against Humanity series."

[@Sabrowsky]

"this is too awful for my taste, so I'll let Sparty traumatize you guys"

[@giladpellaeon1691]

@@Sabrowsky And with the horrors covered in the main series that's really saying something.

[@YvonTripper]

I've been tempted a couple of times when my wife asked, "how was your day?" to respond: "You can learn more about it in Sparty's War Against Humanity Series..."

[@LightFykki]

I think that it was generally agreed quite some time ago that Partizan operations (and with this also most Yugoslav operations in the future) would be handled in War Against Humanity series as opposed to the main series

[@silvoslaf]

​@@LightFykkiCorrect, but with a large time gap in-between too... unfortunately. Then again - I understand.

[@excelon13]

Japan: "The Soviets won't break our mutual non-aggression pact. We got this." Stalin: "Are you sure about that?"

[@WorldWarTwo]

Top 10 Anime betrayals -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@Spiderfisch]

This wouldnt be the first time someone broke a non aggression pact this war

[@marcel-ifc17]

​@@Spiderfisch German chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, in a conversation with the British ambassador to Germany, on the eve of the previous 'great' war famously (or infamously) referred to the Prussian-British treaty on the neutrality of Belgium as a 'scrap of paper'. In this war, we see this time and again that many agreements are merely that... scraps of paper to be ignored when they stand in the way of a 'greater' goal.

[@andmos1001]

Soviets: omaira shinduru Japan: Nani?

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@marcel-ifc17 Funny thing about treaties and agreements between nations when there is no higher authority that can enforce them. They are only valid when both sides have an interest or benefit from them.

[@christopherbowen1836]

4:55 "How dare you Germans make a separate peace, just because all your land is occupied and your capital is reduced to rubble???"

[@joelellis7035]

Italians just slide lower, hoping no one will notice.

[@salvatorepitea5862]

LoL... Japan was like to Germany.....YOOO ,,!!! you tapped out 😂

[@jimcapps5330]

We didn't surrender. they beat the shit out of us. Buckle up.

[@HootOwl513]

Lack of Samurai spirit.

[@JoePro84]

lol

[@Riastrad-hq6ds]

I just want to say that whoever came up with this episode’s thumbnail deserves an award

[@WorldWarTwo]

James' idea and Mikolaj's creation! Thanks for watching.

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

Hitchcock's North By Northwest homage.

[@hebl47]

That award better be worth at least 10 points on Marshall's score.

[@gunman47]

A sidenote this week on May 13 1945 is that Gurkha Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung will be awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during a combat action. He and two comrades were manning a forward observation post at Taungdaw, Burma, when they were attacked by more than 200 Japanese. Gurung threw back grenades that were lobbed into their trench twice but a third went off in his hand, blowing away his fingers, shattering his arm and causing other severe wounds to his body. His two comrades were also badly injured. Nevertheless, Gurung fought on, loading his rifle with his good left hand, and propping the gun against the parapet to take aim. He held off the enemy for four hours, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for the sidenotes! -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@bmanuvmoosb]

This was already covered in the day by day series in the community tab. Post from may 12.

[@Rltvader1]

I still remember this story from Jeremy Clarkson's VC program

[@adventussaxonum448]

Hang on there...Indy told us the war in Burma was over last week.😅

[@TheMasonK]

My God what bravery those three men must’ve had 😮

[@andrewflaxman7826]

Hypothetically… if the war was to last 6 years and a day that would mean 2,087 days have been covered and there are 108 days left…wow

[@Joshua-fq9tm]

in those 1,979 days, tens of millions of both soldiers and armies vanish

[@firingallcylinders2949]

I think it's because of Covid but I remember listening with earbuds at work to each episode in 2018 to now, and it feels like just yesterday I was getting hype for the Pearl Harbor special. It's been a fast 6 years.

[@richardross7219]

My old man joined the USCG in Sept '41. He was held for duration plus 6 months. He spent 2 1/2 years overseas. In Oct '45, he put in his papers expecting the USCG to take many months to let him out. He had so many points that he was out in 2 weeks. He had no job and the winter coming didn't look good. The nightmares pushed him to build a cabin in a woods and live by himself for two years before he could stand "civilization". Good Luck, Rick

[@TheMasonK]

God bless your father for his service! The coast guard and the merchant marine do not get nearly enough credit for all that they did.

[@richardross7219]

@@TheMasonK He joined thinking that he would be guarding the east coast. He ended up putting troops ashore in 6 landings and crossed the Atlantic 6 times. He saw way too many guys die and ships sink. It haunted him until the day he died. Good Luck, Rick

[@dtaylor10chuckufarle]

@@TheMasonK Agreed.

[@lukeskywalker3329]

Brilliant strategy to cope with the PTSD . Building a cabin in the woods 🪵. So resilient. God bless .

[@daviddura1172]

my dad was 15 when pearl harbor was attacked... Jan 14 turned 16.... august 42 at 16 1/2 adjusted his age and enlisted in the CG... served until 46 and promptly was required to register for the draft...

[@ryanrusch3976]

Fun fact! My grandfather joined the strategic bombing campaign late, therefore when the war ended he wasn't able to go home because he was way off from having enough points. So therefore he participated in the Casey Jones Project where the 306th bombardment group along with the 305th mapped Iceland, Europe, and North Africa. My Grandfather was a navigator and the funniest things I ever read was how poorly the operation went, most photos taken were unusable. This was funny because my parents showed me his photo collection and included was a picture of clouds with the caption "This was 99% of what I saw"

[@Teleoceras]

My dad was an Engineer in Europe. He had been drafted in 1942. I remember him telling me that he was told that he was to be retrained to be a frogman for the invasion of Japan which he considered a suicide mission. He said that a lot in his unit (503rd Light Pontoon) were also facing the same fate and they were pissed since they saw so much in Europe and thought they were finally going home. He was waiting in France for a ship back to the states when he got word of Japan's surrender. He told me that was when he finally realized he made it and could finally go home to live a normal life.

[@alexamerling79]

Two axis powers down, one to go. Time really does fly by with Timeghost.

[@psilobom]

One man gone and another to go. My old buddy youre moving much too slow

[@edopronk1303]

I continue think; which second axis power? Oh, Italy! They didn't impress me.

[@pocketmarcy6990]

Thailand is still fighting as well (not that anything they do matters)

[@alexamerling79]

I meant of the major ones lol ​@@pocketmarcy6990

[@saltzkruber732]

In Norway, the war has also ended. The German commander General Bohme gets the same surrender order on the 7th. The next day the allied delegation flew into the country and Bohme reluctantly accepted the surrender of 350 000 German troops. The same day thousands of armed resistance fighters take control over government buildings and etc. On leaflefts and on the radio the wars end is announced and people are told to remain calm and to continue with their daily lives. The Germans have until the 11th to pull of out cities and military instalations and to remain at designated areas to be disarmed. On the 9th through the 11th. About 13 000 Norwegian «Police troops» arrive from the north and from Sweden, they along with 30 000 allied troops take complete control over the country. British General Andrew Throne will take control until the 7 of June when the Norwegian cabinet along with the royal family returns. By october all allied units, including the Red Army who fought to liberate Finnmark at the end of last year withdraw.

[@Freedomfred939]

350000, are you sure.

[@saltzkruber732]

@@Freedomfred939Roughly, different numbers depending on who you ask.

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

@@Freedomfred939 Hitler was convinced that control of Norway was vital to the German war effort and that he had to garrison the country. An idea that the Allies encouraged by creating a mock 4th British Army in Scotland that was supposed to invade Norway. Operation Fortitude North.

[@HS-su3cf]

@@Freedomfred939 I have seen numbers from 225 000 to 350 000 used. Anyway rather a lot for a country of 3.5 million.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

On May 11, 1945, Norwegian SS leader Jonas Lie was found dead, after anti-Nazi Norwegian troops and police broke into his office. Other Norwegian Nazis surrendered. Whether Lie committed suicide or died of a heart attack (he had long had a heart condition) has never been clarified. The more famous Vidkun Quisling was arrested.

[@SlaghathortheGreat]

13:40 those ships are under the command of the best named commander of WW2: captain Manley Power

[@IliketheBears]

Seymour cox would like a word….

[@tripsaplenty1227]

Captain Hyman Shocker fought in The Pacific.

[@tcpratt1660]

​@@IliketheBears Manley Powers was also at the Battle of Cape Matapan (or, as the Italians called it, "Fiume Fiera Infer...GLUG!")

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

That brings to mind not one but two different ancient Romans who bore the surname Manlius...Marcus Manlius Capitolinus and Titus Manlius Imperiosus Turquatus. Marcus Manlius was a hero during the Gallic siege of Rome, famed for his "extreme courage," who supposedly had 23 scars from battle on his body. Titus Manlius defeated a large Gallic army at the battle of the Anio River. Before the start of that battle a huge Gaul champion stepped forward and challenged the Romans to single combat, which Manlius accepted, and the two then fought a duel before both assembled armies. Despite being a much smaller man Manlius was more agile, dodged his opponent's strikes, and then killed the Gallic champion with strikes to the groin and abdomen. His agnomen Turquatus was bestowed because after killing the enemy champion he stripped him of a torc he was wearing, and put it around his own neck as a trophy.

[@renel8964]

George Patton eat your heart out

[@kemarisite]

His wiki entry, citing James Hornfischer, says that Spruance used the USS Indianapolis as his flagship for most of the war until it was hit by a kamikaze on 31 March off Okinawa. His new flagship, USS New Mexico, would be hit six weeks later on May 12, and Spruance would be found by his staff manning a fire hose like any other seaman.

[@anibalcesarnishizk2205]

USS New Mexico, bearing the name of the state where the A-Bomb was tested and USS Indianapolis the cruiser that carried the bomb.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

I think the USN and the RN are the same on this, everyone gets basic fire fighting training and is expected to tackle a fire until relieved. Well done that Admiral.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 "You can buy your rank in the army... BUT IN THE NAVY, YOU HAVE TO DESERVE IT!!!" - British Historian Dan Snow from the KZbin channel History hit

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

@@Yamato-tp2kf I reckon an incompetent officer in the army can get you DELETED in times of war, but in the navy an incompetent officer can sink a ship even in peacetime.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

@@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw That's true...

[@GeneralSmitty91]

Ah, Leonard Wing mentioned. I went to high school in Vermont with his great-grandson, who currently teaches English now at our old high school.

[@Noone-jn3jp]

The great Simpsons joke. The J. In Homer J. Simpson stands for Jay

[@kevinramsey417]

Anybody else want these phone calls to end with Indy saying "I love you too"

[@stevew6138]

I liked the "North by Northwest" parody thumbnail.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching!

[@Doc_Tar]

Your coverage of this week in the war really puts Truman's options at this point into a much needed fuller perspective. For that alone this is a welcomed contribution to historical understanding that is often missing when "experts" discuss the coming nuclear age.

[@CrazyYurie]

These Kamikazes are a real problem. I wonder if, someday, someone will invent unmanned weapons that could perform the same role? :o

[@deshaun9473]

I'm sure that such terrible weapons will never be used..

[@mikebunting7262]

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and justified it by saying " it will make war so horrible as to make it unthinkable in the future" LOL

[@lembitmoislane.]

It was already invented by this point. The americans during world war two made and used 200 actual drones.

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

@@lembitmoislane. The Germans used unmanned remote control tanks and glide bombs to devastating effect in Italy. The concept was indeed born in that war, it was just an idea still in its infancy.

[@Raskolnikov70]

Unmanned fire ships were a thing since ancient Greece. Hardly a new idea, but one that keeps getting 'improved' as technology gets more advanced.

[@Kubinda12345]

Ante Pavelič: "Fight until the last man" while running like a coward

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

Sounds almost like Fieldmarshall Ferdinand 'Hang 'm High' Schörner.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

@@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw "Fight to the last men! No surrender to the Red Army. Oh, and we're still hanging deserters." 5 minutes later... "Hit the gas, driver. I've got a flight to catch to Austria before the Ruskies get here."

[@ericcarlson3746]

sounds like the German Gauleiters in Konigsberg and Breslau. Or Hitler himself

[@stevekaczynski3793]

The Italian journalist Curzio Malaparte later wrote of interviewing him during the war and added that Pavelic opened a soup tureen containing what looked like oysters but were in fact human eyes. "A gift from my loyal Ustasha," Pavelic said.

[@pola5392]

​@@stevekaczynski3793Serbian eyes no less

[@ternel]

It's a very bad sign when you can find more about the fate of surrendering units on a show called 'war against humanity' I know, judge a book by its cover, but I can't help but feel like appearing as a topic on a show called 'war against humanity' ends badly.

[@lmac7633]

As soon as I heard that my immediate thought was “yea they’re all gonna get executed”

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

Yeah, if I had been a German and the British demanded I surrender to the Yugoslavs instead, I'd just keep fighting. The point of surrendering is agreeing to cease fighting in return for fair treatment. If they're going to kill me anyway, the whole point of surrendering goes out of the window.

[@ericcarlson3746]

another of Churchill's decisions that in hindsight was very unwise

[@francesconicoletti2547]

@@ericcarlson3746hindsight ? Churchill has already set off a civil war in Greece because he doesn’t trust communists , is in the middle of loosing Poland to the Soviet Empire because Stalin will not let go of the place and has never trusted a communist ever. He thinks communist are a threat to all that is good. I find it highly unlikely that Churchill expected any German troops or their collaborators captured by the soviets to be treated well.

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

"DON RICKLES" honed his insult skills while rapidly pulling the Barrel Clip off the 20 MM Oerlikon & Reloading aboard a Liberty Ship in the forward area supplying PT Boats.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

Really wow no idea he was a ww2 combat veteran.

[@star5398]

A part of this time that is absolutely fascinating is the messages between the Japanese ambassador to the USSR and Japanese Government. You feel a bit bad for the guy as he realizes the people at home are delusional and just won't give term's to surrender.

[@Marinealver]

Non-aggression Pacts are like hearts, Sometimes they end up broken.

[@nozecone]

Now, that's downright poetic!

[@Aliasalpha]

When Indy started talking about the 32nd army, I wasn't looking at the screen and thought he said "30 second army" and that sounds like the worst unit to join

[@stevepirie8130]

Like in Blackadder joining a squadron called the “20 minuters” without realising its life expectancy not mission length

[@tripsaplenty1227]

It means the soldiers of the entire army are ready to form up and fight within 30 seconds notice at any time. Twice as good as Minutemen.

[@matthewmcneany]

"You can find out what happened to the prisoners in the War against humanity series" (somewhat of a spoiler)

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

Sparty always gets to have all the fun, regaling us with all the fun and nice things people do for each other.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

@@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw "There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs."

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

@@ahorsewithnoname773 True!

[@ph89787]

Despite having her forward elevator blown 400 feet into the air, Enterprise would only see 14 dead and 71 wounded. Unlike Bunker Hill or Franklin, she was winding down flight operations. Because her Air Group primarily operated at night, no avgas were used, and the only ammunition was for her anti-aircraft guns. All fires were under control in less than half an hour and out in an hour. It would take another 24 hours to have flooding from broken pipes and hull breaches pumped out from her forward compartments. During this time, her gunners shot down 4 more Kamikazes.

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

She was the ship that refused to be sunk. She survived everything the Japanese would throw at her. Everything but the Pentagon scrapping her in 1956. One of the biggest acts of shame in military history.

[@ErrantIndy]

It’s this strike though that seals the Big E’s fate. There’s some thought that had Enterprise not been away for repairs that she would have been the ship Japan surrendered on. Had she been the surrender ship, the Grey Ghost very likely would have been preserved.

[@SuperRootUser]

It's possible, but Missouri is very photogenic. I would imagine one of the ships sunk at Pearl Harbor before Enterprise. And remember, Saratoga was just as historic and she was used as a bomb target. But yes, it would have been cool to visit her in New York harbor.

[@jakobheidenreich5]

I love how the photo for this week is based on the famous scene from North by Northwest

[@WalterReimer]

Nice homage.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Yep, it was James, our editorial lead who came up with the idea and Mikolaj our graphic designer who made it! Thanks for watching.

[@pnutz_2]

huh, that crop duster is dusting where there ain't no crops

[@WalterReimer]

@@pnutz_2 Thank you, Tom Servo.

[@RobTzu]

@@WalterReimer I wish I had more likes to give you are a man of distinguished taste

[@nickmacarius3012]

*Peering into the future......* I can't wait to see the future episode when the Soviets invade Manchuria, and how this occupation influenced the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War!

[@theamici]

was thinking this exactly, I don't know many details about the Manchurian situation besides how Soviet weapons left over were appropriated by the Mao Zedong and the commnists, but I know it was very important for how they took over China

[@MM22966]

Depending on how you count it by time/distance, etc, it was the fastest/longest military advance in human history to this point. They just zoomed through the Kwantung Army.

[@extrahistory8956]

​​@@MM22966Didn't Indy say the advance of the Nigerian troops in East Africa back in 1941 was the fastest military advance of the entire war?

[@MM22966]

@@extrahistory8956 I don't know. Indy seems to get most of his info from a thorough reading of a number of books cover each event/campaign. I'm basing what I commented on a study of various campaigns through human history as compared to miles traveled per day over a course of a campaign that I found in another WW2 history. The Soviet Manchurian/Mongolian invasion was at the top.

[@extrahistory8956]

@@MM22966 How fast did they advance?

[@joshmeads]

Cool to see a quote from Ian Toll. His Pacific trilogy is great!

[@Splattle101]

03.15 "...and what happened to them, you can find out in our War Against Humanity series." Nothing good is going to come after that statement.

[@p.strobus7569]

Nothing good ever comes after surrendering to Moscow, ask the Circassians.

[@joelgrimes7591]

My Dad fought in north Africa, Italy, France and Germany as a combat engineer. I’m sure he was happy with getting to come home without worrying about being in for the duration.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

When did Japan pull out of Manchuria and abandon hopes of holding it? The Chinese Japanse conflict of WWII is always overlooked or forgotten but trying to control that region exhausted a ton of resources for Japan.

[@marcel-ifc17]

They really didn't pull out, it was one of the last mainland areas they still more or less fully controlled. However, they had stripped the local forces of much of their equipment and sent it elsewhere, leaving only second and third rate troops which were rather poorly equipped. Spoiler In August 1945 the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria and made short work of the remaining Japanese forces. This also gave the Chinese communists a good position from which they could fight the ensueing Chinese civil war against the nationalists.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@marcel-ifc17 Paik Sun-Yup, a Korean, was a second lieutenant in the Manchukuo Imperial Army, essentially a puppet army of the Japanese. He later said that "Japan was number one. We had never seen any Americans or British." SPOILER With the collapse of Japanese rule and disliking the Communist set-up in the north, he moved to the US-controlled portion. He would later become commander of the South Korean Army in the latter part of the Korean War and was probably its most competent wartime commander. Earlier, in late 1950, he recognised some captured Communist troops as Chinese, because he spoke the language and had commanded Chinese soldiers in Manchukuo. "How many of you are here?" he asked. "Many many," they said, but it seems the Americans did not believe him when he said there were a lot of Communist Chinese out there. Paik Sun-Yup died in 2020, at the age of 99.

[@BleedingUranium]

13:22 Haguro's lone escort was the destroyer Kamikaze (and a reminder that the "divine wind" is a centuries old thing). Kamikaze would be one of the few IJN ships to survive the war, but in mid-'46 would run aground attempting to assist the frigate Kunashiri which had also run aground, and both ships would be scrapped.

[@MM22966]

Thanks! What a small irony.

[@shanmoon537]

Greeting from burma 🇲🇲 I just finished all and now im here to get in touch with the schedule I have been watching since ibfound this channel a year ago :D

[@WorldWarTwo]

Great to hear you've caught up! Hope to see you day one at Korea: www.youtube.com/@KoreanWarbyIndyNeidell

[@stargazer7184]

When the USS Bunker Hill was attacked by Kamikaze pilots on 11 May 1945, my grandfather was there. He was a 23 year old PO1 and anti-aircraft gunner on the USS Wilkes-Barre (CL 103), one of three cleveland class cruisers in the Bunker Hill's retinue alongside Astoria (CL 90) and Passadena (CL 65). When rescue and evac operations were underway, the Wilkes-Barre wedged her bow into the Bunker Hill to help stop her from listing too far over while her crew put out the fires and bilged the water they'd taken on. The US Navy website details this in the service history of Wilkes-Barre as well. Pasadena, Wilkes-Barre, and Astoria would form up around the Carriers and often hit each other with friendly flak. During one attack, the Astoria's chaplain climbed the mast to take photographs (the chaplain did not have a battle station). The Astoria took flak from Wilkes-Barre's 5" guns and the chaplain was seriously injured and removed to a hospital ship. The captain of the Astoria was furious and put out an order that "Sightseeing would no longer be tolerated ".

[@MM22966]

That's doing it the hard way!

[@martinlye2748]

Great detail as always and that explains the system that resulted in so much PTSD for US veterans.

[@DamImperial]

wow after years of watching this series (even supporting it on patreon for a bit) it feel so surreal that there no war in Europe from this point on well good work guys what a great series its been

[@teto85]

One entire bombing squadron on board the Bunkr Hill was killed except for one crew who has back at Pearl Harbor due to illness that was better treated in hospital. One of those surviving crewmembers suffered survivor's guilt for years only finding solace in his work after the war. While in that job he found love and would always say that, "Joanne saved me from that nightmare." Joanne was Joanne Woodward and he was her husband, some guy named Paul Newman.

[@MM22966]

Old-school Hollywood saw some sh&t....

[@jeffhall4228]

Love Saturdays. Thanks so much for all your hard work.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

1:30 it’s still so surreal to me after years of watching this channel. ❤ thank you Indy for everything!

[@matthewallan1619]

Thank you Indy and team :). Not sure if this will be covered, but hope you do a short series on the Nuremberg Trials given how crucial those proceedings were following the war and alot of the myths that have developed on those. May be most appropriate for the War Against Humanity series.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

I'd be surprised If they skipped over that, also Operation Paperclip would be cool.

[@mcfahk]

Wow. That contained more stuff I didn't know already than almost the whole series combined. Thank you! (Yes, I exaggerated, but only a little bit)

[@shaider1982]

That Zero in the thumbnail was on the vector North by Northwest.

[@peteranderson037]

I wonder when the map is going to be updated.

[@Saltharion]

Presumably when we move in to a new batch of weeks being filmed. As to when that is.... who knows

[@ElTejon47901]

1947

[@Southsideindy]

Physical maps cost lots of money. You’re stuck with it for the rest of 1945.

[@Saltharion]

@@Southsideindy That is understandable

[@Bleentron]

@@Southsideindy If you ever wanted to just update it with tippex or postit notes and marker pens (whatever is period appropriate and reversible?), I would be all for that! Just a nice big X over Germany maybe :p

[@adarkstarz]

my father was a medic on Okinawa...never wanted to talk about it....

[@MetalRodent]

Glad to see the sinking of Haguro get mentioned, a textbook destroyer attack and a welcome bit of revenge for the Royal Navy. On the subject of Kamikazes vs Admirals, something worth mentioning is that onboard the USS New Mexico when she was hit were some visiting British officers, including Admiral Fraser commander of the nearby British Fleet who was nearly caught in the blast, though his secretary and army Lieutenant General Lumsden were killed, along with the ships Captain.

[@TheHistorySoldier]

It's fascinating how many books that I had read before suggested that Hirohito/Showa was really more of a figurehead at this time when really he legitimately was often calling the shots.

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

I reckon many a Japanese and US historian were doing their best to present Hirohito that way to legitimize the US decision to keep him on.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

Hirohito had some role in government and was not blameless for Japan's involvement in the war, or the atrocities committed on his behalf, but he was still a constitutional monarch with limited powers. The senior military officials in government, like Tojo, did bear more responsibility. A rough European equivalent to Hirohito isn't Hitler or Mussolini but rather the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III, who while also not blameless, was less responsible for Italy's misdeeds than Mussolini.

[@bobmetcalfe9640]

Dad always said that - at least in the Navy the admiral took his chances the same as any able seaman. I think he got home in1946, as they sent his ship on some sort of goodwill tour around Australia and New Zealand. I don't think he minded too much given that he'd never travelled more than about 50 miles away from where he was born before.

[@oneshotme]

I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@jamestoy4835]

Once again. Clear, concise and to the point and the ending. Pure History. Thanks. Enjoy your narrative.😎😎😎

[@crazygame2724]

Mu Uncle was an 19 year old 40mm bofors , U.S. Navy Gunner on a U.S. supply ship off of Okinawa during the invasion. The Navy fight certainly impacted his view of the world. He told me that during the Kamikaze flights were truly frightening. He watched a merchant supple ship split in half by a Japanese torpedo and another ship just explode after being hit by a Kamikaze plane. It was unreal he later recalled. One thing Uncle Bob remembered was the merchant marine crew pooled money to give to the Navy sailors on board their ship as they made much higher pay during their ship's liberty.

[@yukaritomo6330]

My Grandpa joined the US air force when he was 18 in 1945 but because of training time was never actually deployed and was then dismissed and sent home when the war ended but he still received a medal for his technical service in the war. He later rejoined the air force and fought in the Korean War.

[@TheGooseyGooseMan]

Love the North By Northwest reference in the thumbnail

[@lyntwo]

It should be noted that Okinawa was the training area for Japanese Army Artillery. Which meant that almost every square meter referenced an existing aiming stake.

[@MM22966]

The "Spruance Does North-by-Northwest" art thumbnail cracks me up!

[@Einheit091]

Thanks for covering those after surrender battles, there is one more ciming up next week i heard, because there is still fighting ad odzak.

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@hiltibrant1976]

Love the North By Northwest inspired thumbnail. Someone sure's a Hitchcock fan :D

[@hiturbine]

Unfortunately, "Saint Pau's balls" will not be ringing in the Pacific.

[@snapshotinhistory1367]

That thumbnail reminds me of Peter Griffith when he got chased by a biplane in the episode "North by North Quahog", it's the meme of "Don't do "X", worst mistake of my life", anyone else? The episode is apparently a direct reference to "North by Northwest", Family Guy sure does love their parodies

[@amcalabrese1]

Doing family history I discovered that my uncle lied about his age and joined the army in 1945. He was found out and sent home. Ironically he was drafted anyway in 1948.

[@yes_head]

My dad tried to do the same (with the Marines, actually), but was caught before he could be sent off to basic. He had hitchhiked from Pasadena to Portland where his step-mom found him washing dishes in some grubby restaurant.

[@jamessicker]

My grandpa was on Vietnamese war he lay mines and collect dead and he even drove a tank

[@jamessicker]

My grandpa was on Vietnamese war he lay mines and collect dead and he even drove a tank

[@jamessicker]

My grandpa was on Vietnamese war he lay mines and collect dead and he even drove a tank

[@jamessicker]

My grandpa was on Vietnamese war he lay mines and collect dead and he even drove a tank

[@CARL_093]

great timing thanks indy and crew

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for your great support! -Timeghost Ambassador

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching!

[@user-et4yz4ob3f]

I noticed they used the red chair to hide the Great Lakes placement error.

[@MM22966]

A late date to reprint and paste up a new map wall.

[@AudiAlteram]

Great content.

[@GuguHead1]

Thanks!

[@albertdennis418]

Another awesome video

[@DocBolle]

My grandfather's unit surrendered to Tito forces. He managed to escape to Austria though, was released from American captivity in Austria, went home to the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany and was arrested by the Soviets in the special camp of Buchenwald until 1948.

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@196cupcake]

With the Bunker Hill, I think it was Mitcher, but someone ordered a sharp turn, which caused much of the fuel burring on the flight deck to slough off into the sea. That decision was later credited with significantly helping damage control. I find it memorable because I think it is one of the crazier things you could have seen, and does a good job of illustrating how off the rails things were in those years.

[@millipedic]

This series is so good.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching!

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Brilliant!!!!

[@raduboean7754]

You sent me to b2w episode where you said "casus Bella" . Lol. It's casus belli

[@sopwithsnoopy8779]

I know they won't see it here in the comments, but I just thought about a possible video idea. "How many Japanese troops were bypassed in the island hopping campaign, and where." It would need maps. 1,000 here, 5,000 there, etc.

[@extrahistory8956]

I think half a million troops were skipped, if you include the troops spread our across the Dutch East Indies

[@davidwright7193]

How many of them were still fighting the war in 1970? 😊

[@bhuddy1832]

Eighteen year old soldiers might be held back, not so sailors or marines... My father lied about his age, and joined the US Navy while still only 15 years old. He lied and told them he was 16 turning 17, and they found out, and the Navy initially held him back as a Navy Corpsman from combat, he was sent instead to learn how to be an anesthesia technician. But, Iwo Jima and Okinawa changed that when units experienced 270% casualty rates among corpsman serving with the Marines, and replacements were needed. My dad's happy existence in his home town of LA, going home every weekend to Altadena on the PE electric trains from the Long Beach Naval Hospital (now the VA) came to a sudden end in early May 1945, when he was ordered to combat corpsman training at Camp Pendleton. Upon graduation, they all went on weekend liberty, and all of his class got their combat corpsman tattoo's, with the red cross and anchor, with their names on their lower arms... I learned, when in my service at the Quartermaster school at Fort Lee VA, in a barracks shared with guys going to "graves registration" training, why they all did that... It was so my grandmother would not have to wait a year to collect my father's GI insurance, as the GR guys told me that limbs tended to "survive" explosionis, and the tattoo and name could identify his body.... My grandmother loved Harry Truman and the atomic bomb... Both of her sons and her son in law (and all of my other future uncle's) all came back home....

[@goldguy4185]

Tldr you're a dummy

[@ar494]

I did the battle tour on Oki when I was there. Those tunnels and defenses the Japanese had were incredibly well prepared and dug deep. Training there was brutal enough, but could not imagine how hellish that battle was.

[@GangGang1]

Intresting video

[@Soundbrigade]

Even if the war is over in Europe, it had been great if details about what happened to the Germans all over the occupied countries and the ones in Finland. Also we have the blot on the Swedish flag - the extradiction of the Baltics to USSR, but that is definitely something for Sparty to address.

[@tillman40]

The Japan conflict is underreported.

[@thomasheaney2087]

Well done thanks

[@WorldWarTwo]

And thank you for watching!

[@pocketmarcy6990]

Big fan of the thumbnail

[@MM22966]

Hearing Indy describe the US military point system (which I was aware of but had never heard broken down in detail), makes me genuinely feel sorry for the military S1 people (Personnel) for the first time in my life.

[@exeggcutertimur6091]

Can you imagine having 84 points?

[@MM22966]

​@@exeggcutertimur6091 In all honesty, it was a really bad answer to a bad problem. I can't think of anything to lower a combat unit's morale more than say, "Hey, a bunch of arbitrary points rules say this guy gets to go home but you have to stay and go to a MUCH WORSE battlefield sometime in the long future!"

[@Marylandbrony]

That admiral must have looked up something, worst mistake of his life.

Fascinating to learn a bit more about the War in the Philipines

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

Colonel Hiromachi Yahara, mentioned at 6:47 (as well as in a previous episode or two), was sharp as a tack and was the senior staff officer largely responsible for planning the formidable Japanese defense of Okinawa. American intelligence reports on him described him as "the brains of the 32nd army." In contrast Lt. General Isamu Cho, who he often fueded with, was an ultranationalist fanatic who was unimaginitative and unreasonably aggressive with his strategic planning, as is often the case with ideologues. Yahara on the other hand had spent time in the U.S. before the war at Ft. Moultrie in South Carolina as well as other places like Washington D.C., and similar to General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who commanded the Japanese defense of Iwo Jima, understood U.S. military capabilities and viewed an aggressive posture at this stage as foolish and banzai attacks as suicidal. What makes Yahara interesting however is that he is the most senior Japanese officer to survive the battle, surrendering to the Americans at battle's end. In the postwar he penned The Battle for Okinawa, a book about his experiences as a staff officer during the battle. It's well worth a read for WW2 history geeks and it gives something of a unique perspective, since usually senior Japanese officers in the various island battles in the Pacific either end up killed in action or dying by suicide.

[@MM22966]

Thanks! Will do! I really enjoyed reading *Japanese Destroyer Captain* by Tameichi Hara; insights from senior surviving operational officers of teh IJN and IJA are rare.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

@@MM22966 I've seen that recommended in the comment section before, and have been meaning to get around to that. It definitely sounds like a fascinating read. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't he also the only IJN destroyer captain to have held that rank from the beginning of the war, to survive to the end?

[@MM22966]

@@ahorsewithnoname773 Yeah. Only surviving destroyer captain of the IJN. Fought in a lot of the big battles around Guadalcanal. A noted torpedo expert. He was Captain of a light cruiser (Yahagi) that was sunk during the death ride of Battleship Yamato in 1945, and he went into the water right next to the big girl as she turned turtle and sank.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

That thumbnail! Well done, gentlemen👍

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching!

[@KingBaldwinTheFirstOfJerusalem]

great video. sad to see WW2 come to an end, wait no its a good thing, you know what I mean.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks, I understand what you mean. We aren't going anywhere though, we will continue to release episodes for this channel in the form of specials and more. Indy will also begin covering the Korean War soon! - Jake

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

Ty Denys. You are a true patriot.

[@jamesgillen2339]

This bit about the late-war recruitment is pretty good detail.

[@deniscarroll3493]

Will you guys be doing anything on after the war? In particular on soldiers returning home for all nations allied and axis

[@TV17Outdoors]

I remember my father talking about the point system and how it didn't help him. He was in the 2nd armored division and was in North Africa, then Sicily, England, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and finally to Berlin. He had a zillion points but Patton kept the division there because he felt the Soviets were a threat and war could break out at any time. I don't remember when he said he was allowed to go home but it wasn't for awhile.

[@bingham7957]

04:41 Who's the big guy in the background? Was he Germany's starting center on the men's basketball team for the '36 Olympics?

[@HeinzGuderian_]

"Custody". Technically they were in custody, so that was correct. Technically correct is the best kind of correct. Japan: You violated our Treaty by surrendering. Germany: We have no troops left and the enemy occupies all of our territory. Japan: Your point?

[@LightFykki]

Like a fleeting dream, one threater is now closed. It is quite noticeable the amount of extra detail for the Pacific war now

[@butternutmunchkin]

15:40 The Novaliches Reservoir (present-day La Mesa Dam Reservoir) is mentioned in this episode. I enjoyed viewing the said reservoir from a nearby university while I was studying there from 2004 to 2008. Wawa and Ipo Dams remain important sources of clean water for Metro Manila to this day, which is why the water levels in the two reservoirs are always of great concern, especially during the dry season (March-May).

[@wildcolonialman]

Fabulous.

[@MrXenon1994]

18 May 1945. Corporal James Smith of the 1st Marine Division is taking part in several embittered struggles with the Japanese on Okinawa in the past couple weeks, including action in places like Hill 60 & Wana Ridge.

[@korbell1089]

U-234 was a long range transport submarine on it's way to Japan. After the 2 Japanese passengers committed suicide it surfaced and surrendered to the Americans on May 14. Among it's cargo was a crated up Me-262 and 1200 pounds of Uranium destined for Japan's nuclear weapons program. There is no definitive evidence on what happened to the Uranium but historians believe it was mixed with the Uranium we had and then used in the first two bombs. In other words, we kept the jet but sent the Uranium on to Japan!

[@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw]

I reckon the US already had plenty of uranium to build those bombs. An atomic bomb was not something you whipped out on the fly in 1945. Also fat man, the one dropped on Nagasaki, used plutonium.

[@user-gl5dq2dg1j]

@@ChaptermasterPedroKantor-kv5yw And the third that would have been dropped in about 10 days had the war not ended was also plutonium.