195 - Wrapping up the North African Campaign - WW2 - May 21 1943

The Allies have won the battle for Africa, but now they have nearly 250,000 POWs to care for, and do not have the facilities to do so. The Trident Conference continues in Washington to try and decide the direction of the Allied war effort, but they launch the Dambuster Raids this week in Germany to try and cripple German water power - and thus, industry - with a new type of bomb.
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[@WorldWarTwo]

We have two TimeGhost Army members we would like to mention this week. Paul and Mark Randall. Like many of you and your families, Mark and his son Paul watched this series together. This week, on May 17th of 2021, Mark passed away. He was a lifelong history enthusiast, and outside of his career as a doctor, history, and particularly military history, was by far one of his biggest interests. So this week the TimeGhost Team is sending all our love to Paul and to the Randall family.

[@deshaun9473]

My deepest sympathy to his family.

[@RedLogicYT]

RIP Mark you will be remembered

[@purplerunner1715]

Condolences to the entire family and friends of Mark.

[@ahahuehafook4207]

Please go extra in depth about all the soviet counter attacks following Kursk. You read so much about the German offensive getting completely blunted, but so little about the massive counter-attacks that ensued. The average person doesn't know that equally massive counter-offensives followed the massive german attempt.

[@kevinm.n.5158]

RIP and condolences to the family

[@thanos_6.0]

For those who don't know: the dambuster raids were one of the insperations for the Battle of the Death star in Star Wars. Like the famous trench run

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

That was about to be my post for this week but you beat me to it. There was actually a movie made before Star Wars specifically about the Dam Busters which George Lucas saw and used as his inspiration for the trench run in A New Hope.

[@pnutz_2]

*stay on target*

[@indianajones4321]

Dam Busters movie dialogue was used pretty much word for word

[@josephjanisch5396]

Ironic addendum, the trench run wasn’t a thing, until the mould of the Death Star cracked around the middle. This forced Lukas to think laterally and the trench run was born, inspired by your aforementioned comment.

[@jonbaxter2254]

And the bouncing bomb was made in my home county! As were the 617, Dambusters.

[@pbosustow]

My uncle Frank was a young Italian soldier in North Africa, captured by the British, he was on one of the trains described in this episode. He told me they were packed in like sardines dying of thirst & began to riot. The one British soldier (only one) guarding them panicked and opened fire, killing a prisoner. American officers nearby witnessed this and got into an argument with their British counterparts. The Americans agreed to take responsibility for the Italians, relieving the Brits. Frank, who was from a tiny village in southern Italy, ended up working on an orange farm in California! He told me the room he was sharing with a fellow prisoner was bigger than his family home. Mussolini had told them that as Italians soldiers they were to go out and 'civilise the world' he laughed at the thought during his time in America. The experience resulted in a wanderlust that after the war took him to Argentina and eventually Australia, where he lived a happy life with a large family of his own. Not a bad result in the end.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for sharing about your uncle Frank. It is nice to read that he made it through the war to raise a family.

[@pbosustow]

@@WorldWarTwo Thanks for the reply and keep up your outstanding work.

[@Willys-Wagon]

I read this in Indy's voice

[@Blackjack701AD]

Glad he was captured in North Africa and not on the Eastern front.

[@gunman47]

A rather interesting thing that happened this week on May 15 1943 is that the first test of the experimental *bat bomb* conceived by dental surgeon Lytle Adams and developed by the inventor of napalm, Dr. Louis Fieser, is held at the Carlsbad Army Airfield Auxiliary Air Base in New Mexico in the United States. However, the test did not go as fully planned when the bats woke up before detonation, flew towards the wooden control tower, barracks, and other buildings and caused a fire that destroyed much of the base.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Dickson Phua that makes me think we need a "Completely Failed Inventions of WW2" special 🤣

[@gunman47]

@@WorldWarTwo Now then you mention it, maybe we do NEED one. After all, we already had a WW2 Duck Tape Secret Weapons special, so why not a special on the other end of the spectrum (failed or bizarre inventions of WW2 etc) 😅 Oh, and for those interested, there's another bizarre idea called the pigeon guided missile under Project Orcon too. I do wonder though if the Batman had something to do with this. Hmmm...

[@tremor3258]

Secret Botches of WWII would be a good special. You can do the Habakkuk carrier if it runs short.

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

@@WorldWarTwo That list could get very long. Especially when looking at some of the crazy ideas that Germany and Japan had. Such as creating a death ray mirror out of the sun or spreading bubonic plague in a bomb that dropped rats with the disease over the United States. They are funny at first and then we remember how crazy good humans are at thinking up different and more effective ways of killing each other.

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

@@WorldWarTwo It doesn't actually matter to me, it was jus ta minor throw away comment I made. I am just wondering/trying to think what I said in my post in this thread that YT felt the need to filter it out? It seems so innocent to me. There are only 3 words in the post that I think would have any shot of being a filtered word but even them I have seen posted in other comments and by me myself. O am avoiding posting them in this post to prevent it from being filtered also. YT is just getting so weird with your videos on what comments they want to filter out. I guess it has to do with once your videos are released to the public there must be lots of posts by unsavory people posting lies and hurtful things that is causing them to over correct. It would be cool if YT had a way of knowing who in your comments was a Patron member to prevent their posts from being blocked since I don't see anyone who is giving you guys money to support your project as we do wanting to make hurtful posts or posting things that are purposefully historically incorrect or just lie about something significant.

[@El_Presidente_5337]

The normal episodes: Flags being homies. Comedy. Generals having a chat. War against Humanity: Worse than hell.

[@joeyrhoda7143]

Literally 😂

[@JasonCliftJones]

1:03 - Last Week 1:16 - North Africa: Axis POW's. 5:42 - Trident Conference: Allied planning. 7:15 - Eastern Front 9:03 - The Dambusters Raid 10:27 - Balkans: Case Black 10:56 - Pacific Theatre: Attu island 11:20 - Pacific Theatre: China 11:41 - Notes to End the Week.

[@titanghost1152]

Thank you 😊

[@richards6431]

2:46 - Constant Threat of Sodomy by Arab guards.

[@pagodebregaeforro2803]

The video is too short for that but ok

[@Dreadhead02productions]

That flag choreography was spectacularly timed :D You've mentioned a few times about the Western Allies intention to invade Normandy next year; was it already selected as the invasion site at this point in the war?

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Allan Binney Normandy was chosen during the early stages of planning for Overlord during the second half of 1943 when it was under the purview of British Lt Gen Frederick Morgan. Morgan was appointed Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC) after the Casablanca conference and it was this office that began planning for the invasion of France. COSSAC was absorbed into SHAEF under Eisenhower in January 1944

[@jonbaxter2254]

Hey, we had been fighting since 1939! We're tired.

[@gerbil_796]

My cousin was stationed on Corregidor in 1940 in an anti-aircraft artillery unit and surrendered to the Japanese. He spent 2 1/2 years in various Japanese POW camps and finished up in a coal mine outside Hiroshima. He weighed 240 when captured and 85 when he returned. He and many of his compatriots were brutally treated. He was blind for a time by a lack of vitamin A and saved by cod liver oil stolen from the Japanese. Of course that is a laxative, so one has to wonder how that went.

[@lynnwood7205]

Respect

[@MrNicoJac]

Sounds like he had a week left to live, if he hadn't been saved 😮

[@gerbil_796]

@@MrNicoJac Could be, although he had only been a prisoner for about 6 months. A priest stole the cod liver oil for him and nursed him back to relative health.

[@Nolant.]

How old are you?

[@gerbil_796]

@@Nolant. Pushing 70. He's been dead for about 30 years but I have a copy of his memoirs.

[@evelyngravatt3198]

*very serious episode* *meanwhile before the episode* British Flag: "I'm tired brother." American Flag: "Its okay bro, lean on me, When your not feeling Strong" All the other flags in unison: *"We all need somebody, to leeeaaaan on."*

[@YARROWS9]

What is this shite? You do realise that the Royal Navy beat the German and Italian fleets in the Mediterranean. Plus the RAF took care of the Luftwaffe and Italian airforces. Then the British eighth army pushed Rommel and the Italians out of North Africa. Then the Yanks turned up.

[@oLii96x]

Even the british flag needs support from the americans ^^

[@paulandsueroberts4121]

@@oLii96x cos it’s been fighting longer than everyone else.

[@oleanderkazzy_]

Waiting for the end of the series where Indy says "And here are some notes to end the war"

[@theoutlook55]

😥

[@alexandersturnn4530]

The Dambuster Raid is actually a piece of History close to me personally...because the Edersee Dam, one of the Targets destroyed in the attack, lies very close to my Home Town, Asel. The Raid is still well remembered in our Region today, with a local Museum dedicated to the Dams History even having one of the Bombs used in the raid as an exhibit.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for sharing about it, Alexander

[@ognjenpetrovic5843]

I am glad Yugoslavia was mentioned here as Sutjeska battle was turning point of the war. You're doing great job.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching, Ognjen

[@Red_Four]

There were quite a few Afrika Korps POWs sent to a camp in Fort Knox, KY. They would sometimes perform general labor around the installation, and you can still see the Afrika Korps emblem etched onto the chimneys of the senior officer houses that they performed maintenance on.

[@thanos_6.0]

Although I can understand the opposition to the invasion of Italy, and although that front would turn into a stalemate, I still think it was the right move. Let me explain: Although Italy is very often a victim of memes because of their military reputation, they still contributed significantly (not to mention that they faught very well under German command). They were vital to secure the meditaranian, not to mention that their forces were also vital in the German war effort, especially those sent to the east (yes I know the Italian 8th Army has been destroyed). Not to mention that they also occupied territory in Balkans for the Germans and helped with antipartisan activity there. Loosing Italy would be desasterous and would require a massive diversion of forces from the east to: 1. Fight in Italy 2. Occupy Italy 3. Occupy Italian posessions in the Balkans. 4. Replace the Italian antipartisan troops in the Balkans. Which is what they had to do and therefor moved 20% of all german troops in the east away. Not to mention that loosing Italy, Germanys main European allie, would be a blow to moral, to the other European Axis nations to stay loyal to Germany. And I also just find very logical to follow the momentum of the capture of Sicily and invade Italy. Just my thoughts.

[@merdiolu]

There were additional benefits for Allies in Italian campaign , first of all it was not a stalemate , 15th Army Group gradually advanced to Northern Italy and eventually destroyed German Army Group C at Po Valley in April 1945 but its slower than than expected advance and temportary halts in winter seasons disappointed press and post war writers in an era of Blitzkrieg as if Germans were always considerate to let their armies surrounded or give ground easily on mountain terrain full of rivers. 1) Surrender of Italian goverment by Marshal Bodoglio became official in September 1943 , that forced to divert a huge manpower (40+ divisions) from thinning German reserves from East and West to Italy , Balkans and Dordenaccesse to disarm surrendering Italian garrisons and replace them 2) Surrender of Italian Navy and take over of Italian naval bases in Southern Italy was a huge bonus. Not only Mediterranean route was officially secure but Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet could be diverted to other theaters including back to Britain where her capital ships couıld reinforce and support Cross Channel attack. 3) Capture of Foggia air bases in Central Italy let 15th Air Force to stage strategic bombing campaigns against Germany , Balkans and Ploesti from south 4) It showed neutral countries like Axis oriented Spain and haggling Turkey that who was winning the war and caused to adjust their policies accordingly. Not to mention causing morale to fall in German home front and Axis sattalites (Romenian dictator Antenascou was seeking a way out of war at this stage same with Hungary with Miklos Horty) In contrast , taking out one of the Axis partners would raise morale at US and esp. UK home front. And showing Stalin that Allies diverting German resources from Eastern Front , therefore no possibility of seperate peace by Soviet Union left like in 1918 or 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pacts. Even a paranoid Stalin had to cease his Second Front insistence.

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

I agree to a point. The war was never going to be won through Italy as the British still tried to argue in 1944. By the point the Allies were reaching mid Italy and Italy had surrendered was the point the invasion of Italy had accomplished it's reasonably achievable goals. Could the Allies have used a brute force style attack like in WW1 or the USSR in WW2 to force their way through the heavily defensive positions in North Italy and then especially the Alps? Yes, they could have done that but and a insane cost of life. Which would have been a waste of life as the Allies already knew the war was won, it was just a matter of getting the Axis to admit it. So the American strategy of just keeping the US 5th and British 8th armies in Italy as a distraction to the Axis was the proper move. It forced the Germans to keep a large amount of their forces not in France or the Eastern Front against the USSR. The Allies could then advance up Italy at a slow pace as they found the Germans were weak in areas due to them trying to pull forces out of that front to use elsewhere. So to sum up my position, the British were correct in the invasion of Italy being a good idea, as it led to the Axis losing the 3rd strongest member of their alliance after Germany and Japan (so many people always forget that the Axis had more members then just German, Japan and Italy). It also forced the Germans to then dedicate a large force defending their Southern front and to take over the occupation role the Italians had been doing in the Balkans/Greece. Those were all great positive points to help win WW2 that the Allied Invasion of Italy created. But the British were incorrect that the war could be won in a positive manner for the Western allies via Italy. As I said above it could have physically have been completed but it would have just cost way more lives and would have led to a war much more like WW1 being fought in WW2. And that is just in the Northern part of Italy. Just imagining the Germans setting up defensive positions in the Alps makes me think of the carnage the US, UK and Canadian forces would have had to go through to push through those mountains. So I do think the Americans officers were correct that a major invasion and offensive on the beaches of France and then into Germany was the best way to end the war in Europe. Many of the high level British officers also agreed the better move to end the war in Europe was to create a 3rd front against the Germans in France and make the Western Allies primary advance towards Germany through the new opening they create. I believe that Churchill and the officers he had who supported his consistent plan to push more and more forces up through Italy was to give the West more leverage at the end of the war to get control over some of the Balkans nations as anti-communist nations.

[@cobbler9113]

@@PhillyPhanVinny A lot of the British thinking behind focusing on Italy and the Balkans in 1944 was as you say to try and limit Soviet influence in Eastern Europe after the war. That's one of the reasons the British went into Greece after the Germans abandoned it, but this was their only success on that score.

[@thanos_6.0]

@@PhillyPhanVinny I agree with you, the war would have never been decided in Italy, since the Italian landscape wasn't suitable for large scale Operations, but as we already said it still diverted forces away from where they were so desperatly needed and knocked the third strongest alliance member out of the war.

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

​@@cobbler9113 Agreed, and it did make total sense. The British at the time of WW2 had a better insight into the true intentions of Stalin and the Soviet Union then FDR and many Americans did. FDR and many of the people who thought like him in America wanted to think the USSR would be an ally of ours (like the British) from WW2 forward. But Churchill was a realist and knew the history of Russia and the evils' of communism much more then FDR and many American did at the time. Not to say there were not Americans then (Especially US officers such as General Patton) who knew the USSR was the next enemy of the free world and that the USSR didn't fall far down the rings of evil from Hitler and the Nazis. Which is why it is always great that the US has had a ally a good and true as the British have been to the US since the end of the war of 1812. The British have always been at the side of the US giving it advice and teaching it as the US grew into the power that the British used to be. I like to see it as the British are the Grandfather teaching their grandchild on his knee. I think the British from the past would be very proud of how the US (and other allies) have handled the crises in Ukraine. Helping other nations fight the British true enemy through alternative means without involving itself has always been a staple of British foreign policy. And seeing what the US is doing in Ukraine would just make those long dead British leaders smile I think.

[@SqueakySniper]

I think the effects of the dambusters were sadly trivialised in this episode. While the dams were rebuilt in an incredible 5-6 months by the germans, this took away manpower and materials directly from the atlantic wall construction. The 6 months of time would have meant that the d-day landings would have been much much harsher and more costly for the Allied forces. Source: Dam busters - James Holland

[@bingobongo1615]

Meh sounds like dramatization. Wasn’t the issue dir Normandy the lack of well equipped troops and not the lack of bunkers?

[@nirfz]

Or their effect might have been slightly exaggerated/idealized by an author who wanted to sell a book about them.

[@Southsideindy]

We have a whole special coming out soon about the development of the whole technique. The script was delayed though and I only shot it a few days ago, but it'll come out within a few weeks finally.

[@Daneelro]

The Dambusters are a national myth in the UK and way over-emphasized for nationalistic reasons. What _is_ trivialised in the video is the victims of the attack: the biggest group weren't civilians but mostly Soviet forced-labourers in a concentration camp that was flooded.

[@richardvernon317]

@@nirfz There have been a whole host of books published since that show that in a Aircraft lost v Damage Done, this raid can only be called an outstanding success. Yes had the Sorpe been taken out, the Ruhr would have been in very serious trouble, but the damage done by the Dams raid was directly responsible for around a quarter of lost German steel production in the Ruhr area in the second quarter of 1943. What all of the Books say is that the mission did lead to the Establishment taking up Wallis's big bomb concepts that lead to Tallboy being operational by June 1944 and that bomb took out a lot of stuff that other bombs couldn't touch. Without Upkeep's success against the two dams that it did break, Tallboy and Grand slam would not have happened.

[@andromidius]

While I can't do justice to the full tale (so won't even try), one of my friend's grandfather served in North Africa for the British. Apparently when the Gurkhas showed up morale improved dramatically because even then their reputation proceeded them. The soldiers knew the campaign would soon be over with such a respected and feared ally fighting along side them.

[@rajeshkanungo6627]

You said Gurkhas. Plural. That means they sent two of them? Wow!!! Much respect for the Gurkhas.

[@AmanKumarPadhy]

Must be a very difficult front, they had to send two gurkhas smh Poor germans

[@porksterbob]

The gurkhas are in the military of Britain, Nepal, India, Singapore, and Brunei.

[@pagodebregaeforro2803]

Ubermensch

[@johndell3642]

With the US down to only one fleet carrier left in the Pacific, the British carrier HMS Victorious has been sent as support. After transiting through Panama and Pearl Harbour the Victorious meets up with the American carrier USS Saratoga at New Caledonia, on 17 May.

[@nickdanger3802]

Pearl Harbor The Norfolk (Virgina) naval shipyard updated the vessel’s radar, installed a newer combat information center, added the U.S. Navy’s talk between ships (TBS) radio and retrofitted a homing system that allowed airplanes to find the carrier at night and in low visibility. Victorious’ anti-air defenses were also improved with 19 20-mm gun positions. Bomb damage to the bow was repaired and the aft part of the flight deck, known as the round down, was extended. The shipyard also installed the fire suppression system and a station above the hangar deck so the hangar deck officer could see its entire length. Since the Victorious left Scotland at the beginning of the winter, its crew did not have clothing for warmer climates. The U.S. Navy provided, to use the British expression, “tropical kit” for all the officers and men. The plan was to equip Victorious’ airwing with three squadrons of fighters 882, 896 and 898, each with 12 new Grumman Martlets/Wildcats. While in Norfolk, 832 squadron transitioned to their 16 new Grumman Avengers that replaced its Albacore biplanes. MHN HMS Victorious - Meet the British Aircraft Carrier That Joined the U.S. Navy in WW2 page

[@nickdanger3802]

@@andrewallen9993 US vessels down to submarines had a stock of one air liner size bottle of booze for each member of the crew for celebrations or "medical" purposes. As I understand it.

[@nickdanger3802]

@@andrewallen9993 Torpedo Juice

[@maeson676]

It should be mentioned that the Dambuster Raids did siphon substanstial amounts material and men from France. Repairing the Mohne dam was extremely costly in material and manpower, even if repaired relatively quickly. Dams throughout Germany and occupied territories were fortified with AA guns and thousands of men that remained for the rest of the war, pontentially easing the difficulties already present during the Normandy Landings a year later.

[@alexamerling79]

Another great episode guys! The War really has turned against the axis. Tunisia fell. The U Boats are being obliterated out of the seas and the Soviets have blunted the Germans.

[@tigertank06]

Makes one wonder had the Germans evacuated their troops in North Africa, would it have made a difference in Europe?

[@Pioneer_DE]

@@tigertank06 Presumably just delayed things

[@alexamerling79]

@@Pioneer_DE Probably. I think once America entered the war, Germany really couldn't keep up with industrial production.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@tigertank06 If they were able to send ships to evacuate their troops that means they could also have sent in supplies and reinforcements to keep the war in Africa going. Which was probably what Hitler would have done anyway. Why retreat if you could keep it going? It was their inability to do so which spelled the doom of the Axis in North Africa. An

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@alexamerling79 That happened before december 7 already as US lend lease was being sent to the UK and the USSR. America's entry in the war only changed that US ground troops and the USAAF joined. Notice that I didn't say that the USN also joined it, because it had joined in the battle of the Atlantic months before Pearl Harbour. That was why Hitler declared war on the US, he felt that he was already at war anyway. At least by declaring war he reasoned he could shoot back.

[@gunman47]

9:12 The Dambuster Raids would form the basis of the 1955 British war film *The Dam Busters* , and interestingly, its depiction of the raid would form the inspirational basis for the Death Star trench run sequence in the 1977 film *Star Wars: A New Hope* .

[@robertjarman3703]

Justinian also held a parade, a triumph, to celebrate the reincorporation of the province of Africa centred on Carthage into the Roman Empire, featuring King Gelimer, led by Belisarius.

[@howardbrandon11]

"It's OK, lean on me bro." I missed that the first time through.

[@merdiolu]

A very auspicious month for Allies. North Africa was conquered , U-Boat threat in Battle of Atlantic being neutralised and RAF Dambusters breaching Ruhr dams.

[@imarockmelon]

One of the Dambusters, Les Munro became mayor of a town in New Zealand, Te Kuiti after the war. Random fact learned from my dad as a kid

[@imarockmelon]

Rather the Waitomo District, of which Te Kutiti is a part of.

[@lausenteternidad]

The soviets learning to do warfare character arc is my favourite arc

[@the_lazy_historian]

Rick Atkinson also mentions that when Arnim is taken into custody he bitterly has to give his side arm and dagger. He did so, but in an annoyed way, like by tossing them instead of gently placing them on the table.

[@dfsengineer]

The dambusters raid was something the Allies knew they could only try once, as all the Germans had to do to defend against it was string cables over the reservoirs for the planes to crash into.

[@richardvernon317]

There were actually 4 Dam busting raids attempted by the RAF in WWII. All involved bombs designed by B Wallis!!! The second raid was against the Kembs Barrage on the Rhine. 617 Squadron flew the mission in October 1944. All of the high level Tallboys missed, but 6 aircraft did a low level attack and one of the bombs blew out a sluice gate that released all of the water. two crews on the low level force were lost to the dams defences. 9 Squadron attacked the Sorpe dam with Tallboys in October 1944. They got at least 6 direct hits on it, but didn't break it. the last was the Uffet Dam which was attacked by both Squadrons in December 1944. Somebody from 617 managed to get a direct hit on the crest of the dam with a Tallboy that took a 30 metre wide (and deep) chunk out of top of the dam. Unfortunately the water level was below the damage. Upkeep only worked if there was 30 feet of water over the weapon when it went off, any less and the Shock waves went upwards instead of going through the dam. It could only be used for a few days in the year on most dams

[@michaelgreen1515]

@@richardvernon317 not to mention the other bouncing bomb raids....

[@richardvernon317]

@@michaelgreen1515 Weapon was only used once. The Highball weapon was deployed to the Pacific, but never used used in combat.

[@stevebarrett9357]

Your mention of the Queen Mary triggered a memory. When my Dad shipped out to fight the Nazis, he crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary before being part of Operation Torch. When the ship got a permanent berth in Long Beach 25 years later, he made a day trip to go on board one last time and reminisce.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for sharing that about your Dad. Nice that he was able to visit the ship once more.

[@stephenandersen4625]

the barber i had as a boy had been in the Italian army in WW2. he was stationed on some minor island in the Med and was eventually captured by the British. He said that the Brits treated him well but that their harshest punishment if you acted up was to send you to a French POW camp. he told me ".. and the Fenech, they shoot you!"

[@philipmiller2618]

What is usually ignored though is that the North African campaign, after the Torch landings, allowed an entire American Army to get trained in combat and experienced. This would pay dividends later on.

[@nickdanger3802]

In Tunisia the Americans had to pay a stiff price for their experience, but it brought rich dividends. Rommel

[@gordybing1727]

Hi Y'all, Isn't Jacques Cousteau messing about with his Aqualung, his Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus about now? Up until his invention, the "frogmen" used "rebreathers", where your exhalation would go thru a filter to extract the carbon dioxide, and you could carry a much smaller bottle of pure oxygen. The nitrogen just goes round and round. The trouble with the system, at least in WW2, is a maximum depth of 33 feet or 10 meters, equivalent to one atmosphere of pressure. One advantage was no telltale string of bubbles. Thanks for your time, take care.

[@korbell1089]

Allied general: "Congratulations on the victory now spit shine those boots, we have a parade to attend. Oh and hey, fix the hole in that damned tank!"

[@lomax343]

Two points about the Dambuster raid. First, of the 1,200+ deaths on the round you note, more than 700 were either Prisoners of War or foreign "volunteer" labourers. Second, although the raid was not replicated, 617 Squadron continued to be selected for specialised raids - eg against the Tirpitz. Of the 77 men (out of 133) who returned to base after the raid, 45 (including Gibson himself) were killed later in the war. Only 32 lived to see VE Day.

[@qjnmh]

617 is a fascinating story. I'm pretty sure Gibson himself only did the one mission with 617 - apparently he was on his last legs from a combat fatigue perspective when appointed, having just come off a tour leading 106 Squadron. 617 then sort of pottered about not being hugely effective and suffering heavy casualties (eg the Dortmund Ems Canal raid). The they appointed Leonard Cheshire to command, and he turned them into a crack, pinpoint accurate, elite force with genuinely revolutionary and accurate marking techniques. Two favorite stories: the first is Harris basically laying a bet with Cheshire that he couldn't mark an attack on Munich accurately, with the winning prize being four Mosquitoes for 617. The second is when Cheshire decided that Mossies weren't fast enough, so he borrowed a P-51 to do the marking, and flew it to the target to accurately mark, in literally the first time he had been in the plane. Just an awesome guy.

[@Dustz92]

A WW2 movie recomendation for this week is "Memphis Belle" (1990) by Michael Caton-Jones. This film, very losely inspired on the last run of the Memphis Belle B-17, portrays a bombing run on Germany. I would very strongly recommend this film to aviation fans as it does a great job of representing the operations of a B-17 crew. Period covered: 16-17 May 1943 Historical accuracy: 4/5 - The bomber is almost perfectly recreated, and the mission is a composite of a series of real life situations. However, the real last mission of the Memphis Belle didn't go like this. IMDB grade: 6.9/10

[@the_mowron]

Why not just watch the original version, or the movie made by Clark Gable (Clark Gable's film is less propagandist)? They are both available on YT for free.

[@PSMCR69]

Memphis Bellie ( 1990 ) movie was removed from KZbin

[@the_mowron]

@@PSMCR69 The original movie is still on YT, and the very similar film, "Combat America", made by Clark Gable, is also on YT. Both of these films were made during the war.

[@qjnmh]

For what it is worth there are two films I would recommend as much better both as films and for accuracy. One is the original Memphis Belle, which is a documentary made at the time and remarkable (given it was released during the war) for the vividness of the images and the downbeat tone. The other is 12 OClock High, which uses wartime footage and was made by a whole bunch of people with direct experience of the campaign. And also includes film of a real B17 being landed wheels up shot specially for the film, just for extra jollies.

[@michaelochman1953]

The Memphis Belle is on display in Memphis, TN. I saw it years ago near Mud Island. Has since been moved to a new location in Memphis.

[@peterdavy6110]

For RAF squadrons with 3 digit numbers, you say each number individually. So, "The Dambusters" were offically Six-One-Seven Squadron, Bomber Command.

[@samuelkatz1124]

What a wonderful episode. Even when you're lucky enough to get through this fight unscathed and you turn in your weapon and raise the white flag, you can't guarantee you'll make it home.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you Samuel

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

Great episode as always guys. Many of my fellow commenters have already pointed out many of the things I was planning on saying (such as the dam busters being the eventual inspiration for George Lucas's trench run scene in the first Star Wars movie where the Death Star is destroyed). So I'll leave my comment as this, the picture you used as the thumbnail for this weeks episode shows Eisenhower as a 5 star General when he was a 3 start general at this point in history... lol I know I am nit picking but I need to make my weekly comment to your videos. On a side note I do hope you do a special mini episode when the US does create the 5 star rank for Generals and Admirals. They are a very special rank in US military history that have only ever been used in WW2 and have not been used since. They were created to make US Officers at a equal rank of their Allies who in many instances they were commanding even though they had a lower rank. A example of this would be a 4 star (O-9) General Eisenhower commanding Montgomery who was a Field Marshal (O-10). There were many other issues like this in the navy and airforce as well since the highest rank in the US military at the time was a 4 star General (O-9). The US was against creating a Field Marshal rank for many issues but the most common one people say is because Chief of Staff of the Army, 4 Star General George Marshal didn't want to be called "Field Marshal Marshall" lol (which isn't actually true even though it is mildly funny). The 5 star rank has not been used since WW2. Former US General, first command of the US military and the First President of the Untied States, George Washington was posthumously promoted to the 5 star rank as well as part of the U.S. Bicentennial. The appointment stated George Washington was to have “rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present”. US General John "Blackjack" Pershing of WW1 also has a unique rank that is now sort of considered a 5 star general rank by some people. Since WW2 only Omar Bradly has been given the 5 star rank making him the 5th General in US history to receive the rank (7th if we count George Washington and John Pershing). Bradly was given the 5 start rank because he was the Chief of Staff of the US military during the Korean War commanding US General Douglas MacArthur who was already a 5 start general (and was in charge of commanding not just the US Forces in Korea but all of the UN forces). 1 of those 5 Generals was Henry "Hap" Arnold who was in charge of the US airforce which at the time was a part of the US army. He would later get the only 5 start rank in US airforce history when the airforce was separated from the army. In the US Navy only 4 men were ever given the 5 star rank and that was all during WW2 as well. Since WW2 ended (other then Omar Bradly and George Washington) there have been 2 US Generals who have been proposed to be made 5 star Generals, those 2 being Colin Powell and David Petraeus. Both were essentially denied the rank out of fear that it would help the Republicans since it was known they were registered republicans in the case of Powell and a heavy right wing lean in Petraeus. The 5 star rank in the US has to be decided by the US Senate with a nomination by the President. Which is essentially makes it so that there will never be another US 5 star general baring WW3. I could go on and on about the 5 star ranks in the military (I didn't mean to even make a post that long but just kept typing and typing about things that interest me lol) so I do really hope you guys do a special on them or dedicate like 7-10 minutes in one of your episodes in 1944 when the rank is created.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Vinny Siracusa I'm sure Indy will give it a mention at least, but we'll keep our eyes out for it when it happens

[@PhillyPhanVinny]

​@@WorldWarTwo Sounds good to me team. I don't think I say it enough but you are by far my favorite YT channel. I look forward to your episodes every week on Wednesday. I refresh Patreon every hour waiting to see when the new episode is going to be posted. I think Indy will agree on the importance of the new unique and historically very rare rank holding and giving out of such ranks since the end of WW2. With the only 2 people getting the 5 star rank after the end of WW2 being Omar Bradley (who should have really gotten his 5th star during the war as the US General who lead the most US troops ) but ended up getting it during the Korean war so that Bradly a 4 star general and head of the US Army at the meetings of the joint Chiefs of staff that it was decided to promote Bradley since his sub commander Douglas MacArthur was a 5 star general leading the United Nations Forces against North Korea and China. A interesting note there is MacArthur is the only person ever to lead a United Nations Army to this point. Which would essentially be the type of command humanity would establish if we were ever to have to fight off against a invading alien species. It sounds funny typing it out but it all is actually prepared for humanity to defend itself through a joint United Nations command force (most likely lead by the United States). And then the second person to get the 5 star rank after WW2 was George Washington on the bicentennial of the birth of the United States. The nation that he played such a key role in it's creation. The first nation in human history that the majority of the population had the right to vote (despite it's initial bad history that all nations have) and continued to strive for a more perfect union to allow the access to vote to all citizens of the United States. A trend that the United States started, that France also quickly adopted (and then went kind of crazy) and then spread throughout most of the world now. Something so many people now today take for granted I feel like. But back to George Washington, it was decided that he would be was to be posthumously promoted to the 5 star rank as well as part of the U.S. Bicentennial. The appointment stated George Washington was to have “rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present”. So George Washington no wand forever will be the highest ranking member of the United States military, something he 100% justly deserves.

[@banatul6367]

Hi there, TimeGhost crew. Your content on this channel is simply amazing, and it has always been like this since the very first episode. In fact, this project started at the same time I started high school back in 2018. Almost 4 years later, I realise high school is nearly over, as my graduation ceremony will take place next week. I wish to thank you all for the quality content you release for us every week, and thank you for defining a chapter in my life that I will miss dearly. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@WorldWarTwo]

banatul Thank you for your very kind words and sticking with us all through your high school career. Huge Congratulations and good luck to you on that next chapter in life. We wish you well and please stay tuned

[@whhhhhhhhh]

"I'm tired bro" "it's ok bro lean on me" lmfaooooo

[@yes_head]

Another great episode. You always provide great summaries that go beyond the usual "here's what happened this week" commentary. Thanks to the entire team.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Yeshead The entire team thanks you for watching. We appreciate having such keen, thoughtful viewers as you in our audience. Please take care and stay tuned

[@normanwells2755]

0:20 a new take on the Special Relationship.

[@maciejkamil]

Half a year ago Tunisia, Caucasus and Guadalcanal were axis peripheries. Now Sicily, Kursk bulge and Salomons became peripheries.

[@williamshortfilm5818]

11:58 If I am not mistaken, Giraud did not lead the Free French, but the French army of Africa. De Gaulle's Free French in North Africa under Leclerc and the Army of Africa (formerly the Vichy regime's army) had not been merged yet. During the parade, the Free French paraded with the British as they still resented their counterparts for having remained with the Vichy regime until operation Torch.

[@davidwright7193]

“They have had the flood, it will be fire next time.” Air Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris.

[@gregsiska8599]

Oh Oh. "He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind." "Bomber" Harris really has it in for Germany. They had better beef up their AA defense...

[@lukeskywalker3329]

This is just trivia . I am not American. Yes you are not incorrect in saying the allies were retaking the Aleutians . But the credit there is certainly U.S. forces exclusively. Kudos to the then U.S. industrial might which did win the war . Keep up the good work timeghost !

[@Southsideindy]

There were Canadians there too.

[@boretti1307]

Funfact: In the movie Pink Floyd - The Wall, Pink is watching a movie on tv. That film is Dambusters, a reference to the wall that Pink built around him.

[@merdiolu]

I would call to hold Tunis a very bad bargain no a shaft for Axis cause. In 1943 Allies lacked shipping and cargo capacity , force and supply build up for a large scale Cross Channel operation anyway and US build up in British islands was still way behind the schedule. There was very little landing craft to land maybe one division at most. No large scale amphibious landing exercise against a defended enemy shore was conducted , neither a real one was accomplished since Gallipoli defeat in 1915 nor for formation sailing of landing craft done so far. In Battle of Atlantic , U-Boat threat was still not conquered till end of May 1943. No air superiorty was established over Europe (a must have condition for a Second Front) No feasibility plan was made till Frederick Morgans COSSACK headquarters picked Normandy as a landing spot in April 1943. Under those conditions rather than stay idle till next year and let momentum of advance and tactical lessons to decay and athrophied till next spring or summer and let Soviet Armies do all heavy lifting and giving incentives to Stalin's paranoid mind to make a seperate peace with Axis (there had been unofficial attempts between German and Soviet emissaries for that in Stockholm in March 1943) , Allies would do much better continue to focus on Mediterranean and divert as much German resources and units as possible from France and Eastern Front (while Germans and Red Army prepare for a big summer showdown) , land and clean up North Africa , then capture Southern Italy , take Italy out of war meanwhile and capture Italian naval and air bases in Sicily and Southern Italy to soldify their hold Western and Central Mediterranean route and open up strategic bombing offensive to Germany from south while really start planning and making build up and preparing for a Cross Channel invasion next year. While Adolf , Benito and "Smiling" Albert Kesselring wasted more than a quarter of million men within a few weeks in North Africa when it was clear to everyone that Tunisia could not be hold months ago and they needed every able bodied men possible in uniform after casaulty rate in East but pride , ego , vanity , fear of losing face let them to lose two complate armies in Tunisia in May 1943 and leaving Italian shores defenceless

[@majormoolah5056]

I would love to see an episode on Free France. It was very much a political minefield but their soldiers did have an important role in many battles.

[@medicalbison746]

I've seen the movie "Patton" a few times recently and it's really cool how the stuff in North Africa that occurred in the movie is covered more in depth here. Of course, the next stop is Sicily. I noticed the footage of the bagpipers in the victory parade in Tunisia and it reminds me of that scene in the film which took place in Messina. Guess that'll be coming up soon. Great work as always!

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Just don't get suckered in by the nonsense about the 'Race to Messina,' which, if it existed at all, it was only in Patton's head.

[@bigwoody4704]

Bullshit Montgomery was given the inside road Highway 124,and preferential treatment by Alexander the immediate commander there. Patton demonstrated even when monty was given preferential treatment nonsaense he was average at best.Bernard went on to do less in Italy than Sicily. When the crown recalled him before he lost all face

[@antonytye3484]

@@bigwoody4704 Dolly Patton wasn't even average. Self obsessed, jealous, glory hunting bully and inscestuous racist, who didn't care how many of his men died for his lust for glory. Did bugger all in North Africa but cock up as a third teir commander. Don't overly rate either, but Patton less.

[@GunnyKeith]

You have a great sense of humor Indy. Funny intro every time. LOL. Thanks for all your hard work. Appreciate it much.

[@jackfontana9319]

My condolences to the Randall family.

[@Slovenia3]

I love listening to Indiana Neidell, he could host a TV show

[@mikaelcrews7232]

One side note about Attu, I'm not sure if it happens this week or next week but 20 men are killed by friendly fire! And another 100 are wounded because of poor weather. The battleships cruisers and destroyers miss took them for the Japanese.it doesn't happen once but on more than one occasion! Also a young private with the third infantry division by the name of Audie L Murphy just found out that he was do to go back on the line when Germany and Italy surrendered last week!

[@danielgreen3715]

Rather like the Tie Indy! ..Another interesting week of what ifs !

[@Lematth88]

*Little problem at 13:00 when Indy says "Giraud leads the Free French" : its not entirely true. Giraud commands France... Free France is led by de Gaulle. The difference is suddle but plays is full role this month and ... this week (and the next) particulary Because this week in French politics : The 15th, the Conseil National de la Résistance (CNR - National Council of the Resistance) is founded. The 14th a telegram (dated from the 8th) is send from Jean Moulin to de Gaulle (received the 15th) and to Giraud(received the 17th), proclaiming in the name of the Resistance that de Gaulle will not be put under the command of Giraud and that it demands de Gaulle as the political leader and Giraud as the commander of the military with a provisional government and that, in all cases, de Gaulle is the only leader of the French Resistance. Jean Moulin will read it at the inauguration of the CNR in Paris the 27th. So what is the CNR ? Well it’s an organization the leads and coordinate almost all resistance groups in France with the double objective to help liberate France (if possible without too much external help) and prepare for the reconstruction after the war. It is composed of representatives of the 8 biggest resistance’s movements: Front national de la resistance, Ceux de la Libération, Ceux de la Résistance, Libération Nord and Sud; Organisation civile et militaire (resistance in the administration and the army), Front patriotique de la Jeunesse, Combat and Franc-Tireur ; the two big unions : CGT and CFTC and six political parties; PCF, SGIO, Radical, Parti démocrate populaire, Alliance démocratique and Fédération républicaine. The 17th, Giraud calls officially for De Gaulle to make a union with him, under an old law of 1875 (Loi Tréveneuc). To make this union smoother, Giraud makes other concession to the democracy. All laws against personal liberties are abolished, the “Charte du Travail” is scraped too and unions are legal again, all consultative councils in the administrations are abolished and finally (the 28th) all laws of Vichy on the press are abrogated. The 18th, Giraud names Alphonse Juin as the leader of all the French troops to form the Corps expéditionnaire Français en Italie (CEF in Italia). The 20th Allies troops parade in Tunis. The French are among them BUT the Corps francs d’Afrique and the Armée d’Afrique are marching with the Americans while the Free France troops marches along the VIIIth British Army.

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Lematth88 Indy's line in script there is, as you say, something of an over-simplification but it wasn't the time and place to delve in to the subject while listing who was there and what they were (either in reality or just their own minds) representing. Thanks as always for bringing us the detail on the French situation!

[@Lematth88]

@@WorldWarTwo No problems, I just like to add little details that (may or no) matter, must be a deformation of my academic studies XD And you're right it was not the time to delve into it too, maybe someday, like in June and July ;)

[@PeterApps]

Thanks for an excellent series but for I'd like to take to issue with your comments on the dams raid. You said the damage was repaired quickly which it was, but you suggest it made the raid less successful than it might have been. It might be worth looking into where the manpower came to carry out those repairs as I have seen reports which said many were pulled off the Normandy defences and left them unfinished for D-Day.

[@WorldWarTwo]

If that's the case we'll have to cover it when the time comes for D-Day… whenever that may be

[@Marcraffy]

The background flags was a great catch by the editor! #trident XD

[@truthseeker9454]

Indy's gravity is apparent: At 00:24 he leans to his right and the Union Jack immediately follows suit. :^D

[@celticman1909]

I think Von Manstein's "backhand" action as it was described by Indy, was considered a Masterstroke of the operational art at the time. It was not a Counter Attack in that a Commander would see the opportunity for, and order as a reaction to a known enemy action. In this case Von Manstein correctly anticipated the Soviets movements to the point that he commited his forces to movements that correctly landed against the Red Army at the most advantageous time and place. A calculated risk that was expert and seemingly prescient to lesser tacticians.

[@Raskolnikov70]

At least this time the Soviets learned from it. They finally realized that making huge attacks against the German front wasn't the way to defeat them and tried retrograde actions for a change. Works out well in Kursk.

[@caryblack5985]

@@Raskolnikov70 The Soviets then realized they were overstretched and had run out of supplies as they outran their logistics. They had assumed that the Germans were unable to mount an attack after Stalingrad and the defeat of the Axis armies. They fell into the same trap as the Germans which was overestimating your strength and underestimating your opponent.

[@garygourley5957]

Germans: what does last bullet mean? Gurkas arrive Germans: we have no more bullets!

[@MercenaryPen]

9 out of 10 doctors recommend the Time Ghost army- just don't ask what happened to the tenth doctor

[@gregsiska8599]

He go to Gulag.

[@iconoclastic12007]

According to Antony Beevor in Stalingrad: A Fateful Siege, German POWs after the battle were largely kept in the Stalingrad area to clean up the mess and it is a myth the were sent to Siberia en masse. I can’t afford Ganz’s work so idk what he says.

[@caryblack5985]

That is correct. They were in the Stalingrad area and other areas near damaged cities and infrastructure where their labor would be useful.

[@richards6431]

2:46 I feel that Indy glossed over that whole “threats of attempted sodomy by Arab guards” bit.

[@kitjohnson2767]

He's quoting from Rick Atkinson's ARMY AT DAWN. I remember reading that bit a few days ago and my eyes went wide.

[@merdiolu]

Battle of Atlantic , Bay of Biscay Offensive By RAF Coastal Command (30 April - 7 May 1943) Some pilots, following Terence Bulloch’s example, fudged the rules and had unorthodox successes. But in the main, Coastal’s tactical doctrine proved out not only in the Bay but also in the convoy routes. The mole, it turned out, had a lot to fear from the crow. At 2055 GMT on 30 April (all times that follow are GMT), L/L Wellington “N” of 172 Sqdn. lifted off from Chivenor in Devon, bound southwest to the Derange ribbon, where the cloud was 4/Ioths to 7/Ioths with bases at 2,000 feet, the sea moderate to rough, the air bumpy, and visibility 2-4 miles. At 0007 on 1 May, Pilot Flight Sergeant Peter W. Phillips was patrolling in the ribbon at 1,200 feet on course 168° when he obtained an S/E contact (Special Equipment, a code word for A.S.V. Mark III 10cm radar) bearing Green (starboard) 45°, range 6'½ miles. Phillips dived on the surfaced U-boat, which was proceeding inbound on a course of 132° at seven knots, and, after reach-ing 550 feet three-quarters of a mile from the target, he “struck” (switched on) the Leigh Light. The run-in was made on the U-boat’s port bow at 8o° to track, while the Navigator, Sergeant H. A. Bate, fired about forty rounds from the front gun before it jammed, and at 0100 Phillips released six Mark XI Torpex D/Cs (depth charges= set to shallow depth and spaced 50 feet apart from a height of 75 feet. All were seen by the rear gunner to explode with blue flashes, two to port and four to starboard; Nos. 2 and 3 were thought to have been very close to the U-boat’s hull. During the aircraft’s pass over the target a shudder was felt underneath, though no gun fire was observed. (An hour after the attack it was found that the hydraulic system had been damaged; not known until landing was that the port tire had been punctured.) Phillips made a 180° turn to port and, four minutes later, flew back over the attack position, which was marked by flame floats. Except for a patch of foam and bubbles, nothing could be seen, not even a diving swirl. After twelve more minutes in the vicinity, Phillips resumed patrol. At 0452 he and his five-man crew landed at the nearest base, Predannack in Cornwall. As they did so, the port landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft swung off the runway and slammed into a Nissen hut. Beyond scratches, the crew were not injured. The base Medical Officer pronounced them “very lucky.” The U-boat they had attacked, U-415 (Oblt.z.S. Kurt Neide), returning from her first war cruise, was also very lucky. Damaged by Phillips’s D/Cs (depth charges), she would be attacked twice more before the day was out. At 1136 she was visually sighted on the surface in visibility 15 miles, at 4435'N, 10°37'W, by Sunderland “M” of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 461 Sqdn., flying on Derange. Bearing Green 30° at a range of 5-6 miles, the U-boat was estimated at 6 knots on a course of 100°. Seeing the aircraft approach, U-415 dived. Pilot Flight Lieutenant E. C. “Bertie” Smith, DFC, put the flying boat into a dive and attacked the swirl 18 seconds after submergence from the U-boat’s port beam, dropping four Mark XI D/Cs set shallow and spaced 200 feet apart from a height of 50-75 feet. The D/Cs straddled the U-boat’s line of advance 70-100 feet ahead of the apex of the swirl. No debris appeared, however. Smith took his aircraft off on baiting procedures and returned in cloud 29 minutes later, but again saw no evidence of damage where his sea marker had disappeared in rough seas. U-415 had received a severe shaking but was still intact.43 At 1727 she was sighted for a third time, in position 44°13'N, 10°23'W, by Derange aircraft Whitley “E” of 612 Sqdn. The sea had moderated to a slight swell and visibility was still 15 miles. The U-boat was bearing 180°, distant 5 miles, at a fast speed, 15 knots, on course 090°. Pilot Flight Sergeant Norman Earnshaw descended from 3,000 feet, intending to attack from the U-boat’s port quarter at 20° to track. As he began his run in at about 150 knots, U-415 opened fire with 20mm cannon and light machine guns. Earnshaw’s release from 90 feet of six Mark XI D/Cs (depth charges), set to shallow, spaced 200 feet apart, exploded 200 feet to starboard of the target, as the U-boat took hard evasive action in a tight turn. Kicking rudder, Earnshaw set up for a second attack. Meanwhile, U-415 dived. In the second attack, made from the U-boat’s port beam at 90° to track, two D/Cs were released from 70 feet and exploded 28 seconds after submergence 300 feet ahead of the swirl. This time oil was seen. Earnshaw patrolled the scene for 40 minutes, then set course for base at Davidstow Moor in Cornwall. Further shaken, U-415 limped on to her base at Brest. At BdU, Donitz and Godt were relieved to learn of her safe arrival. Their war diary recorded: “U-415 was bombed three times … Despite much damage she was still able to dive.” The good luck that carried U-415 through May Day would stay with her until 14 July 1944, when she struck an RAF mine and sank in the Brest approaches. Two other attacks in the Bay were made on 1 May: At 0825, Halifax “C” of 502 Sqdn. dropped six D/Cs (depth charges) on a surfaced boat, and at 1015, Hampden “L” of 1404 Sqdn. released six on a surfaced boat. Initial contact was made by eye in each case. Return fire was not observed from either boat before it dived. There were no visible results from the attacks. Three daylight attacks on surfaced boats were made the next day, 2 May: by Sunderland “R” of 10 Sqdn. at 0810; by Hudson “W” of 269 Sqdn. at 1437; and by Whitley “G” of 612 Sqdn. at 1531. In the first and third attacks initial contact was by eye; in the second it was obtained by S/E. None of the boats was reported to have fought back. The first kill in May was made at dusk that day by Flight Lieutenant “Bertie” Smith and his ten-man Australian crew in the same Sunderland “M” they had flown the day before (which deserves mention only because it should be noted that air crews frequently switched aircraft from day to day within a squadron). Smith was trolling in the Derange ribbon at 2,500 feet in the base of 6/Ioths cloud. Visibility was 10-12 miles. The darkening sea below was rough in 26-knot winds from 010°. At 1917, eyeballs sighted a U-boat on the surface bearing Red (port) 45°, range 10 miles. Smith estimated it to be traveling at 10-12 knots on an outbound course of 270°. He pushed forward his four engine throttles and climbed into cloud, where he turned to make his approach. At four miles from the target he dove from the cloud. On sighting the flying boat, the U-boat responded with flak and machinegun fire, and when Smith was down to 300 feet and ½ mile distant, the U-boat abruptly altered course to port. Smith was able to complete his run-in from the U-boat’s port beam at 90° to track, while RAF gunner Sergeant R. MacDonald swept the deck with fire from the bow turret. Just before release from an altitude of 50-70 feet, the U-boat gunners were seen scrambling for the conning tower hatch. Four Mark XII D/Cs straddled the boat just aft of the tower, after which the boat described a tight circle, apparently out of control, then came to a gradual stop with a bad list to port. A large volume of brown vapor blew out from its stern and a white vapor plume rose about three feet from its port quarter. Then a heavy flow of oil was observed pouring from its port side. Meanwhile, Smith was making a climbing turn to 500 feet to set up a second attack, which he delivered at 75 feet with four D/Cs released from the target’s starboard bow at 15° to track, again straddling the tower. The now gravely wounded boat settled by its stern. The oil patch spread to 300 yards in diameter. Some fifteen crewmen were seen jumping into the water, where they waved frantically at the aircraft. Then, at 1940, the U-boat’s stern sank beneath the waves; its bow followed, reappearing twice briefly at an angle of 30°. The victim was U-465 (Kptlt. Heinz Wolf, 28 years old, from Emmerich/Rhein), on her third war patrol. Smith and crew remained in the area for 30 minutes, then, having reached PLE, returned with their victory photographs to base at Pembroke Dock in South Wales. Black May - Michael Gannon

[@merdiolu]

Two daylight attacks were made on 3 May against boats sighted on the surface in the Derange ribbon: by Sunderland “S” of 461 Sqdn., at 1044, and by Whitley “R” of 10 Sqdn. O.T.U. In the first instance, the initial contact was made by eye and four D/Cs were released 22 seconds after the U-boat had submerged. In the second, the contact was also made by eye, and five D/Cs (one having hung up) were released while the boat was still on the surface. There were no visible results in either case. On the next day, 4 May, Halifax “S” of 58 Sqdn. was on morning patrol, having lifted off at 0555 for the Derange area, where the seas were very rough under 7/Ioths-8/Ioths cloud, visibility 8-10 miles. At 1740, the crew made the visual sighting of a creamy wake, bearing Green 90°, which led to a surfaced U-boat, outbound from base at 6-8 knots on a course of 270°, distant 4-5 miles. Pilot Flying Officer John M. Hartley turned to starboard, lost height rapidly, and approached out of the sun. At 1,400 yards the U-boat opened fire with what Hartley thought was an impressive amount of armament: “heavy guns” from the afterdeck, followed at 1,200 yards by “cannon at the front of the bridge,” and later by cannon on the forward deck and two pairs of machine guns on a stepped gun platform in front of the conning tower. He could see about fifteen of the boat’s crew, most of them manning the cannons and guns, but two men in black uniform and another in a white sweater, all wearing peaked caps, standing on the deck at the port side of the tower. Hartley ordered answering fire against the pugnacious boat, which scattered some of the men manning cannon and machine guns, the rest maintaining heavy and light flak. By evasive action Hartley managed to prevent his four-engine Halifax from being hit by that fusillade, and at a quarter of a mile from target, he leveled out to release six Mark XI D/Cs from the U-boat’s port quarter at an angle of 60°-70° to track. The navigator firing the front gun saw one man on deck hit and fall overboard. Altitude at the time of release was a relatively high 200-400 feet. The rear gunner reported that the D/Cs straddled aft of the conning tower, two on the port quarter and four on the starboard beam. In addition, the gunner had fired 500 rounds at the tower and hull as the aircraft passed. But the U-boat submerged thirty seconds after the Halifax, turning back, caught sight of it again, and no damage was visible, only the usual D/C scum. Baiting procedure was followed, Hartley returning at 0910, but the marker could not be found. With PLE reached at 1000, the Halifax returned to base, landing at 1258. Subsequent assessment by NHB/MOD has identified the boat as U-/90, which suffered “slight damage,” nothing to prevent her continuing on Feindfahrt. Three more attacks in the Bay were made later in the day: by Halifax “A” of 502 Sqdn. at 1920, by Catalina “J” of 202 Sqdn. at 2110, and by L/L Wellington “P” of 407 Sqdn. at 2309. In the first, initial contact was made by eye and six D/Cs were released on a surfaced U-boat. In the second, contact was also made by eye and five D/Cs (one hanging up) were dropped 37 seconds after submergence. In the third, contact was obtained by S/E and six D/Cs were dropped 10 seconds after submergence. No results were evident, but minor damage was done to U-405 (Korv. Kapt. Rolf-Heinrich Hopmann) by the Halifax, and the target of the Catalina was later assessed to be U-6oo (Kptlt. Bernard Zurmühlen). Three daylight attacks were made on 7 May in the Derange area, the first two on diving boats by Wing Commander Wilfrid E. Oulton of 58 Sqdn. At 0656, just after dawn (Oulton forbade his crew to eat breakfast prior to a morning flight because it put “spots,” not U-boats, before the eyes), Oulton sighted a U-boat’s wake from the cockpit of Halifax “S,” dived on the target, and dropped six D/Cs over its swirl 10-15 seconds after the U-boat’s submergence. And at 1015, Oulton dived on another U-boat’s wake and released three D/Cs on the submerging boat while its conning tower was still visible. The first attack yielded no visible results. The second, now known to have been against the outbound U-214, badly wounded her Commander, Kptlt. Rup-precht Stock, and forced the boat back to her base at Brest. Oulton’s aircraft received machine-gun hits during the run in. The third attack was made by Sunderland “W” of RAAF. 10 Sqdn. Flying on Derange, aircraft captain Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey G. Rossiter and his eleven-man crew had been airborne from Mount Batten in Cornwall since 0635 when, at 1023, they sighted a wake, then the conning tower, of an outbound U-boat on the starboard beam, distant 10 miles. As the flying boat turned to attack, the U-boat, now known to have been XJ-603 (Oblt.z.S. Rudolf Baltz), dived and disappeared, making attack inadvisable. Patrol was resumed at 2,000 feet just below 6/10ths cloud base, and at 1220 a fully surfaced U-boat was sighted through binoculars 17 miles away on the starboard bow, in position 47°O6’N, IO°58’W. The sea state was moderate, the wind was 235° at twenty-six miles per hour, visibility was twenty miles. Rossiter estimated the U-boat to be making 12 knots on an outbound course of 280°. He made a climbing turn into cloud and broke out of it on course 225° with the still-surfaced U-boat four miles distant on the starboard bow. As he pushed the elevator column forward into a dive, the U-boat altered course to starboard. Rossiter turned with it and ran in across track 6o° on its starboard quarter, the nose gunner opening fire with 100 rounds at 800 yards range, scoring hits on the conning tower, where two men were seen. From a height of fifty feet Rossiter released four D/Cs that straddled the boat just forward of the tower, and the resulting explosion plumes completely obscured the boat. Before the explosions, as the aircraft passed, the tail gunner fired 600 rounds at the tower. Rossiter pushed hard left rudder and turned the ailerons for a quick return to the site. Setting up, he attacked a second time, from the U-boat’s port quarter at 45° to track, again releasing four D/Cs from fifty feet. The first D/C fell within twenty feet of the port side aft of the tower; the three remaining overshot.The U-boat, plainly wounded, made several complete tight circles to starboard at 4-5 knots, trailing oil and gradually losing way. At 1300 it submerged slowly on course 090°, still putting out oil, and disappeared bows up four minutes later. By 1330 a crescent-shaped oil patch 250 yards in diameter and 500 yards in circumference covered the site. The Sunderland remained in the area for another hour and a half, then shaped course for home with its photographs, becoming waterborne at Mount Batten at 1655. Rossiter received the DFC for this action. The NHB/MOD assessment has identified the stricken U-boat as U-663 (Kptlt. Heinrich Schmid). Seriously damaged, she sank the next day with all hands, probably as the result of these injuries Black May - Michael Gannon

[@kathleencaffrey1716]

I’m writing about this. I love when things come together

[@MartinCHorowitz]

The Dam Buster raid led to an ongoing effort to design specialized bombs, The largest conventional bombs of the war were designed as result.

[@qjnmh]

Sort of… the designer was the same (Barnes Wallis) and the Damns gave him additional credibility. BUT… the earthquake bombs were already under development and Wallis already had a lot of credibility (he was very senior in Britain’s war industry) so it’s more “added to” rather than “began”…

[@rajeshkanungo6627]

@@qjnmh my apologies but I can’t help myself: The Damn dams were damned by dam buster bombs but we damned the dambusting crew to Damnation.

[@jasondrew5768]

Great job Indy! You and your staff are doing an outstanding job!!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you a lot!

[@christopherjustice6411]

Fun fact, the Dam Buster raids served as inspiration for the Death Star trench run in the first Star Wars movie.

[@chrisschumacher8553]

9:49 Those beachgoers are about to have a bad day.

[@merdiolu]

Battle of Atlantic , Bay of Biscay Offensive by RAF Coastal Command (15-22 May 1943) An eight-day drought in Bay attacks ensued, owing in great part to heavy pro-German weather that greatly restricted visibility. Then, on the 15th May, with visibility improved to as much as 25 miles, there were six attacks in one day, all in sunlight, all resulting from visual sightings in the Derange ribbon in Bay of Biscay. The first, by Liberator “O” of 224 Sqdn., was made at 0936 on a U-boat that had submerged 15 seconds before six D/Cs (depth charges) were released. The boat, now known to be U-168 (Kptlt. Helmuth Pich), which was returning from its first war cruise during which she participated in the Battle for ONS.5, was not damaged. The second attack, by Whitley “M” of 10 Sqdn. O.T.U., was delivered at 1127 against a boat that took five D/Cs (one hung up) on the surface. It has since been identified as U-648 and assessed as undamaged. The third attack, again by Whitley “M,” at 1233, was directed at another surfaced boat, outbound from base, since identified as U-591 (Kptlt. Hansjürgen Zetzsche). Though the Whitley had only the one previously hung-up D/C (depth charges) to drop, which did no damage, the aircraft’s nose machine gun wounded the Commander and one crewman, forcing the boat’s return to base. The fourth attack, by Whitley “B” of 10 Sqdn. O.T.U., was made at 1314 on another outbound surfaced boat. The six D/Cs released caused slight damage to U-305 (Kptlt. Rudolf Bahr). The fifth attack, by Whitley “S” of 10 Sqdn. O.T.U., was delivered at 1403 against the outbound, surfaced U-211 (Oblt.z.S. Karl Hause), which was not damaged. The sixth and final attack of the day took place at 1810 when the sun was low and there was a bright glare on the water. Pilot Wing Commander Wilfrid E. Oulton of 58 Sqdn. had lifted off in Halifax “M” from St Eval at 1208 and now was on a routine rectangular creeping line ahead patrol at position 45°28'N, 10°2o’W, where he swept the sea below with Polaroid glasses. There was 1/10th cloud at 6,000 feet, the sea was moderate to rough, winds were 080° at twenty-four mph, visibility was 10-15 miles in haze. Ahead a V-shaped wake slowly emerged into view bearing Green 30° distant 10 miles. Realizing that he was up sun where he could stalk, Oulton let down gradually to 2,500 feet, and at four miles range sighted a U-boat on the surface, speed 10 knots on an inbound course of 070°. He circled to starboard and descended through 1,500 to begin the run in. At 1,000 yards the navigator opened fire with the nose gun and saw hits on both the conning tower and hull. At a height of 100-120 feet the Halifax released six D/Cs (depth charges) from the U-boat’s port quarter at 10° to track. After crossing, the rear gunner got off additional rounds at the tower and hull and watched for results of the explosions. He reported that two or more D/Cs at the end of the stick fell against the port side of the boat. When the explosion plumes subsided and the boat could be seen again, the fore part of the hull appeared to lift; then, two to three seconds later, there was a “sudden jerk,” and the boat stood up on its stern in a completely vertical position with the bows above water. After Oulton completed a turn for a second attack, he could see a large light blue oil patch and “greenish white water” boiling around the upright 20 feet of bows. The victim’s condition was such, Oulton decided, that he could save his remaining D/Cs (depth charges) for another boat. Two minutes following the attack the U-boat’s last apparition of “gray with brown patches” slid beneath the waves. At 1827, Oulton set course on the homeward leg and was down at St Eval by 2125. The U-boat sunk was the returning U-266 (Kptlt. Rolf von Jessen), which had been Group Fink’s lead scorer in the Battle for ONS 5. With good weather holding, No. 19 Group had another full day on the 16th May when five attacks were made in the Derange patrol area, all as the result of visual sightings. The first, by Whitley “E” of 10 Sqdn. O.T.U., was made at 1143 on a diving boat, since identified as U-648 (Oblt.z.S. Peter-Arthur Stahl), which was not damaged. The second attack, by Wellington “H” of 311 Sqdn. (Czech), was delivered at 1410 on a fully surfaced boat, since identified as U-662 (Kptlt. Heinrich Müller), which was not damaged. The third attack, by Liberator “M” of 224 Sqdn. at 1450, was against the same U-648 (Stahl) that Whitley “E” had attacked with six D/Cs three hours before. Now, attacked on the surface with six more D/Cs (depth charges), the lucky boat escaped again with no damage. The fourth attack, by Liberator “E” of 224 Sqdn., was made at 1650 on a diving boat, which was the same U-662 (Müller) attacked by Wellington “H” two and a half hours before. This time the boat suffered minor damage. Another lucky boat. But, like U-648, she would be sunk within the year. The killing attack of the day would come at dusk, 2007, when conditions were 1/10th cloud, bases 20,000 feet, sea moderate, wind 110° at 25 mph, and visibility 10 miles in haze. Halifax “R” of 58 Sqdn. made a visual sighting of a narrow brushstroke of a wake across the evening’s dark gray surface. The wake was on bearing Red 100°, distant 6-7 miles. Pilot Flight Officer A. J. W. “Tony” Birch immediately altered course to port. The U-boat, when seen, was on an outbound course of 270°, speed 10 knots. Realizing that he could not lose sufficient height in the distance given, Birch made an altitude-losing turn, keeping up sun of the U-boat, finally making his run in from due west of the target, out of the sun. Eventually seeing him, the U-boat dived. Birch’s six D/Cs dropped while the conning tower was still visible. Because of glare on the water, the rear gunner could not get an exact fix on the stick placement, although, according to the aircraft’s after-action report (Form 540), it was thought that one D/C fell 100 feet ahead of the swirl and the remainder in the swirl or wake. When Birch circled back over the scene, he observed a patch of blue oil. Shortly afterwards, the mid-upper turret gunner sighted what appeared to be a body. Birch dropped a marker and flame floats, then at 2018 set course away on baiting tactics in company with Halifax “B,” which had been flying about five miles to the west and had witnessed the attack. When both aircraft returned from baiting, they found a large irregular-shaped patch of blue oil a quarter-to a half-mile in extent. Also seen nearby was a circling Sunderland (“T” of 10 Sqdn.), which reported by R/T that it had seen and photographed wreckage. Shortly afterwards, the Sunderland sighted two bodies and wood planking, although these did not show up in the photographs. Halifaxes “R” and “B,” having reached PLE, returned to base, where they sat down at 2345 and 2350. The U-boat was the Type XIV U-463 (Korv. Kapt. Leo Wolfbauer), one of Dönitz’s prized tanker boats, under way from Bordeaux on her fifth supply cruise. She was the first Milch Cow to be sunk. There were no survivors. On the 17th, Halifax “D” of 58 Sqdn. released six D/Cs on U-628 (Kptlt. Heinz Hasenschar), the shadower boat of the Battle for ONS.5, which was returning to base. The U-boat was not damaged. One attack was made at 1721 on the 20th, by Wellington “G” of 172 Sqdn., following an S/E contact. The identity of the target, depth-charged 40 seconds after submergence, is not known. On the 21st there were three attacks, all as the result of visual sightings. At 1459, Whitley “Q” of 10 Sqdn. O.T.U. attacked Us-634 (Oblt.z.S. Eberhard Dahlhaus) 21 seconds after submergence. This boat, which had been damaged in the Battle for ONS.5, was not damaged a second time. At 1756, Whitley “H” of the same squadron attacked a boat, thought possibly to have been U-230 (Kptlt. Paul Siegmann), 30 seconds after submergence. And at 2031 Liberator “D” of 224 Sqdn. attacked a boat, thought possibly to have been U-525 (Kptlt. Hans-Joachim Drewitz), 15-20 seconds after submergence. Black May - Michael Gannon

[@markfryer9880]

Thanks for making this comment about the Battle of the Atlantic.

[@merdiolu]

@@markfryer9880 I am glad you appreciated it

[@stoffls]

Did I miss something or why is Montgomery not on the stands of the victory parade in Tunis? His 8th Army pushed Rommel all the way back from El Alamein to Tunisia.

[@merdiolu]

Planning the invasion Sicily , as General Horrocks said about him he is always planning two battles ahead

[@yes_head]

Yeah, I'm very surprised the Brits let the Americans and French totally upstage them at that event.

[@caryblack5985]

@@yes_head Not upstaged as thousands of Brits paraded

[@hatuletoh]

My grandfather was on Attu commanding an artillery battery in the park that was the target of the final Japanese banzai charge on (I think) 23 May 1943. I imagine we'll hear about that next week.

[@lynnwood7205]

A neighbor of mine, well the father of one of my playmates, John Ross, was there also. He was terse in his description of there. Cold, damp, wet, grey, cold and damp.

[@hatuletoh]

@@lynnwood7205 That's almost exactly how my grandfather described the place, with the additional descriptor of "hungry." For the rest of his life after being on Attu the man would not touch fish of any kind, because it was all he had to eat for about a month in 1943.

[@ahahuehafook4207]

Please go extra in depth about all the soviet counter attacks following Kursk. You read so much about the German offensive getting completely blunted, but so little about the massive counter-attacks that ensued. The average person doesn't know that equally massive counter-offensives followed the massive german attempt. I've been struggling to find much info at all about the 3 months following Kursk.

[@BeingFireRetardant]

Don't know if you can find it, but I'm reading a book called "The Tigers Are Burning" by Martin Caidin, which goes into remarkable depth and detail on both sides. Before, during, and after the battle. Great read.

[@caryblack5985]

I would recommend Robert Citino's trilogy on the German army and the battles they fought after Kursk and later. Also excellent is Prit Buttar's trilogy on the Soviet offenses in the Ukraine after Kursk until the the Soviets forced the Germans completely out of the USSR. The books are available on Amazon and elsewhere. SEE THIS also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgorod%E2%80%93Kharkov_offensive_operation

[@sdinvt]

I've been watching the North Africa campaign religiously (as I do with all the videos), but especially because my Grandfather was in the engineer Corps attached to Patton's army during this campaign and he talked little about his time in the service.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching, Rockdio. Your Grandfather must have had some incredible experiences there, I'm glad he made it through even though talking about it is sometimes impossible

[@naveenraj2008eee]

Hi Indy Something to cheer for allies.. Finally axis losing steam.. But still lot of work to be done. Thanks for another great episode.

[@rogerknights857]

You mentioned the effect of the capture of Tunisia of the morale of civilians of the belligerents. I think it would be interesting to cover that topic on future events. A whole series could be devoted to what was said in the press of the warring nations on the strategy and prospects of the war, month by month.

[@Batstard556]

I'm finally all caught up! Exciting

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Trench Jackass Congratulations! Now you are fully along for the ride 😉

[@gustavchambert7072]

Honestly, I expected the germans to ask the allues to halt their advance for half a day, to give them time to fire off all of hheir remaining ammo, shooting it into the sea or at the nearest pile of dirt, so they could honestly tell Berlin they had followed orders.

[@pnutz_2]

I also recommend the Suez Crisis miniseries, it has invasions, politics, economically tiny nations holding on for dear life, the price of petrol skyrocketing and how Eisenhower died in the year 19469

[@MercenaryPen]

might want to check the year you typed there- I for one didn't realise Eishenhower had another 17 millennia to live

[@pnutz_2]

@@MercenaryPen that's the thing - they typed that in and it became a meme for the series

[@Raskolnikov70]

I remember 19469, it was a very good year.....

[@MercenaryPen]

@@Raskolnikov70 I'm a little too young to remember 19469, it now being 20022

[@Willindor]

No mention of the name of Guy Gibson's dog which was used as a code word for breaching the Möhne dam?

[@davidwright7193]

You can’t forget the politically incorrect dog which is a staple of WWII RAF war films…

[@Raskolnikov70]

As amusing as it would be to see the WW2 channel try to get away with it, I don't think they want their entire channel memory-holed from existence.....

[@Willindor]

@@Raskolnikov70 I would have said "Gamer word" instead of the real name of the dog

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Presumably, if the re-make ever happens, the dog will be called 'Floyd?'

[@BasedBlackPrism]

The wink Indy makes is priceless great job TimeGhost!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching, R K

[@iankinver1170]

Although the Dambuster raid may appear not to have significant consequences, Germany had to divert huge building resources from the Atlantic Wall to rebuild them. Also, about 30,000 personnel were dedicated to guarding the dams for the rest of the war. Who knows how D Day would have gone without the diversion of these resources?

[@Raskolnikov70]

The loss of the planes and personnel from the raids was high, but 'worth it' when seen in perspective of what it cost the Axis.

[@Jerrsy57]

A side note on POW which I'm shur will be covered OTHF I live in southerner Alberta, near a large ww2 POW camp around 100,000 at the end of he war. I talk to a African German POW, he says the weird part was dinner, he got bread, butter, Corn, beef, with milk and carrot cake for desert, most Germans were down to one meal a day by now. it was a Saturday so the band was playing. Then he was ordered to work on a sugar beet farm, where he was acutely given a rifle to shoot coyotes. Were the farmers son was a tanker, witch after talking to him as well (they became brother in laws) said after they check any body for valuables they would cut off an ear to mark the body, as searched.

[@Raskolnikov70]

There are a lot of similar stories about Axis POWs here in the US. Many of the farmers they worked for were themselves German so they treated them fairly well, sometimes almost like family.

[@ΚοινωνικόςΟρθολογιστής]

LOL. The UK flag needs a break. What about bringing the New Zealand one to join the company (I think the one there on the left is the Australian one). Anyway, nice and interesting video as always. And it was a great birthday gift for me today, thank you very much Time Ghost team. Keep on the awesome work.

[@sandhopper99]

Couple of small points. The RAF squadron numbers are always spoken as "six-one-seven squadron". The surrender of the Germans in Tunisia did not start with the Torch landings, it started on 23 October 1942 near a small railway station in the Egyptian desert at El Alamein.

[@nickdanger3802]

When the US Army landed in North Africa in Nov 42 it had M3 mediums because FDR had taken M4's away from the Army so they could be Lend Leased to Britain before Second el Alamein. The first combat for Tiger I's in NA was against the US Army. Churchill "As for the American tanks-the admirable Shermans-they came to us in the following way, On that dark day when the news of the fall of Tobruk (June 42) came in, I was with President Roosevelt in his room at the White House. The House knows how bitter a blow this was. But nothing could have exceeded the delicacy and kindness of our American friends and Allies. They had no thought but to help. Their very best tanks-the Shermans-were just coming out of the factories. The first batch had been newly placed in the hands of their divisions who had been waiting for them and looking forward to receiving them. The President took a large number of these tanks back from the troops to whom they had just been given. They were placed on board ship in the early days of July and they sailed direct to Suez under American escort for a considerable part of the voyage. 22 The President also sent us a large number of self-propelled 105 mm. guns, which are most useful weapons for contending with the 88 mm. high velocity guns, of which the Germans have made so much use. One ship in this convoy-this precious convoy-was sunk by a U-boat, but immediately, without being asked, the United States replaced it with another ship carrying an equal number of these weapons. All these tanks and high velocity guns played a recognisable part, indeed an important part, in General Alexander's battle." Hansard Debate on the address HC Deb 11 November 1942 page

[@johnp8131]

It's always difficult to know, even for most British people. Your right about 617, although we had other derisory names for them when they flew Vulcans, as they always thought they should have priority over the other Squadrons at Scampton! As a rule of thumb, if the Sqdn had three digits, as 101 and 208 Sqns each digit was pronounced individually. Two digits, you would generally say the Sqn number. EG: Thirty one or Seventeen. The only exception I can remember was 216 Sqdn, when it re-formed with ex FAA Buccaneers from 809 Sqn back in the late seventies. For some reason they wanted to be known as Two Sixteen?

[@aidenhall8593]

Attributing the start of the german surrender to any one point is a misrepresentation of the actual events and in some ways down plays all the fighting that took place after whatever event is identified. El Alamein itself was an event with many prior contributors that could all have a case for being “the start of the german surrender”, but to be entirely honest it matters very little as heavy fighting happened before and after both events, none of which can be discounted as unimportant.

[@nickdanger3802]

Major Thorneycroft on Operation Torch "At the other end of the Mediterranean a great Allied force, under American command, has laid its grasp on French North Africa. I am not going to seek to describe the import of that great event, but I will say this. It is perhaps the greatest combined operation that has ever taken place in the whole history of war." below 19 Hansard DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS HC Deb 11 November 1942 on line

[@michaelgreen1515]

@@johnp8131 I was thinking about the Buc's wasn't there also a SAR's squadron with a similar thing? Might be something to do with the water?

[@joezephyr]

A particulairly good episode thank you. Should I choose all terrain or mud terrain as new tyres for my jeep?

[@WorldWarTwo]

@joezephyr Thanks! Hmm, well I think wherever you go you're going to encounter mud at some point, so go for the mud tires!

[@tafnac75]

While the Dam busters raid is a failure in War terms it did inspire the film " The Dam Busters ", of which inspired the " Attack Run scene " in Star Wars A New Hope, as such its had a huge impact beyond anything those involved would or could have thought.

[@photoisca7386]

How was it a failure? They broke two dams, the third was an earth dam which would have responded nicely to a tallboy or two. Resources and materials were diverted, only Americans sucking on sour-grapes cannot find it in themselves to accept otherwise.

[@tafnac75]

@@photoisca7386 Well i would have to take the word of Sir Arthur Harris for that view, Harris as he even referred to it in a private letter written in January 1945 to the Chief of Air Staff, Sir Charles Portal. In this letter Harris stated that a concentrated raid on a “small area attack” achieved more than the Dambusters raid. And also the 53 highly skilled crewmen were killed and eight Lancaster bombers were destroyed. This was a loss Harris believed Bomber Command could not afford. Statistically 42% of 617’s Lancaster fleet was lost. Of course that was his view, not sure if he counts as a " Sour-Grapes American ", I would also like to point out that I'm Not American either. And was only pointing out that even in some of the worst times in history we can draw some of the most impactful inspirations nearly a hundred years later.

[@PropensityVisualized]

Best channel ever

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks @Phillip Sounia !

[@Raskolnikov70]

I dunno, the 11'8" bridge channel is pretty good too even if they don't post as often.

[@procyonant6805]

Surely many here played for Sergeant Evans in the Call of Duty in his raid on the dam mentioned in the video.

[@earlyriser8998]

I am angel.....have helped for years...to keep the time ghost army victorious

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks Early Riser! We appreciate your support

[@tillman40]

Glad to see the historians showcasing Eisenhower again. Greatest president since Lincoln

[@danielgreen3715]

Mmm Busting Dams looks Great and is surely a Brilliant feat of Science Engineering and Flying Skills not to mention Bravery But i think overall the Baloon offensive of last year might have caused greater disruption and Destruction

[@merdiolu]

Battle of Atlantic , Convoy HX 237 and SC 129 (May 1943) , escort carriers came fully into battle In Berlin, BdU was aware from sailing cycles that a pair of east-bound convoys were due to depart on or about the same date in early May, one a slow-moving SC convoy from Halifax, the other a faster HX convoy from New York. In anticipation of their crossing longitude 42°W at some time on 8 May, Dönitz/Godt formed two patrol lines stretching 550 miles across their probable courses: Group Rhein [the river], formerly Amsel III and IV, consisting of ten boats spaced at twenty-mile intervals from 47°33'N, 40°55'W to 43°57'N, 4o°o5'W; and Group Elbe [after the river], consisting of seventeen boats, mostly ex-ONS.5 operation, stationed at the same spacing from 52°45'N, 43°55'W to 47°51'N, 41°05'W.2 Early in the game, the German B-Dienst radio monitoring and cryptanalysis service that so troubled Francis Harry Hinsley in Hut 8 at Bletchley Park learned from decryptions of Allied Naval Cipher No. 3 that on 3 May, "eastbound convoy HX.237 was positioned at about 40°50'N, 67° (31-49'?) W, steaming on a course of 056°, speed 9.5 knots; and that on 5 May, eastbound convoy SC.129 was at position 44°50’N, 47°01‘W, course and speed unknown." It was likely that the faster convoy HX.237, even if its departure was the later of the two, would be the first to cross the line that Dönitz/Godt had drawn in the sea. In the evening of 6 May, B-Dienst informed BdU that as of 2130, HX.237 was in BC 7684 (43°56'N, 48°27'W). That information was quickly relayed to the Rhein and Elbe patrol lines.4 Further data learned by B-Dienst on the 7th revealed that HX.237 had turned toward the south on a course of 128°, and that SC.129 was on a base course toward the east.5 This intelligence that the two convoys were taking a more southerly route than expected, which would cause HX.237 to elude the patrol lines altogether and SC.129 merely to brush the southern tip of Rhein, had three immediate effects: (1) BdU ordered the Rhein boats to move at best speed on a course of 120° so as to position that group’s southernmost boat at 39°45'N, 35°02'W; and at the same time, the Elbe boats were directed to take the same course of 120° at ten knots in order to intercept SC.129; though BdU conceded that, “No clue to the [present] position of this convoy is in hand.”6 (2) The six boats of Group Drossel (Thrush), which had been operating on the coastwise West Africa-Gibraltar-U.K. lanes, were ordered west to reinforce Rhein and Elbe. And (3) Donitz/Godt demanded to know “how the enemy was able to intercept our patrol strip” and to divert the two convoys around it. BdU considered every possible explanation, from detection of the patrol lines by aircraft, to DFing (direction finding by High Frequency Radio Tracking) of U-boat radio traffic during the Battle for ONS.5, to the possibility “considered unlikely, that the enemy has cracked our ciphers”-still, BdU ordered an immediate change in Enigma settings. Whatever the reason, BdU stated, “this almost circular detour remains critical.” It is ironic that this is one of the few occasions in 1943 when, in fact, decryption of Enigma played no role in the diversion of convoys around wolfpacks. It appears that prior to the movements of the two convoys on the 6th and 7th the Allies had no knowledge of the formation or positions of Rhein and Elbe. The first British decrypt of German traffic pertaining to the formation of Rhein in the existing records is a message intercepted at 1015 on the 7th but not decrypted until 1304 on the 9th; and the first mention of Elbe was intercepted at 1320 on the 12th and not decrypted until 1016 on the 14th. Very probably, the two convoys were given southerly routes to evade U-boat concentrations thought to be east of Newfoundland and building up between Greenland and Iceland as well as to provide better flying weather for the aircraft aboard escort carrier H.M.S. Biter, which, in the course of events, would offer cover to both HX.237 and SC.129. Two ocean escort groups were assigned to HX.237: C2, consisting of the destroyer H.M.S. Broadway (Lt.-Cmdr. E. H. Chavasse, R.N., SO), a frigate, four corvettes (three of them Canadian), a trawler, and a tug; and Escort Group 5, acting as a Support Group, consisting of Biter (Capt. E. M. C. Abel-Smith, R.N., SO) and three destroyers. Owing to heavy fog, C.2 relieved the local escort a day later than planned, at 1400 on 7 May. Biter and her escorts were even further delayed, not joining until the 9th, in thick weather unsuitable for flying, but on the 7th and 8th, in better weather, her aircraft had flown out to the convoy to make close patrols ahead and astern and thus “hearten the Masters and their crews.” The merchant argosy itself was made up of thirty-eight ships in company and nine stragglers. Two stragglers put back to St. John’s, four rejoined the convoy, and three, Fort Concord, Brand, and Sandanger, continued independently; these three would be sunk on the 12th, the only casualties among the vessels actually or nominally part of HX.237: once again it was proved how vital it was for merchant vessels to keep their stations in a convoy. At 1300 on the 9th, thanks to BdU’s new dispositions, U-359 (Oblt.z.S. Heinz Förster) of the Rhein group sighted the main body in 41°09'N, 26°54'W and, on BdU’s order, became its shadower. The U-boat’s transmissions were DFed by Broadway, who sent the corvette Primrose down the bearing, where she got a sighting and, after the boat dived, dropped a ten-pattern, with no evidence sequent. Meanwhile, Chavasse ordered the convoy to alter course 40° to starboard. More HF/DF bearings were acquired later in the day, suggesting that at least two U-boats were in contact with the convoy, but no sightings resulted, and because of the continued milky air, the nine Swordfish and one Martlet of 811 Naval Air Squadron aboard Biter, steaming on station astern, could not assist in the hunt. (There had been three Martlets originally, but on the 7th two Martlets had failed to return from patrols, though vigorous efforts were made to home them back. Lost, they both made forced landings alongside ships, a straggler and a trawler, and their pilots were picked up. The two ships were 90 miles northeast of the convoy! Three days later, a Swordfish was lost and its crew rescued in exactly the same way.) The next morning, the 10th, in slightly more diaphanous air, U-403 (Kptlt. Hans Clausen), following C2's tug on the surface, sighted the convoy, and at 1647 was sighted herself to starboard by the escort screen. Two corvettes made revolutions after the intruder, and HMS Biter was able to launch Swordfish “M,” which reached the still-surfaced boat six miles distant before the corvettes. Raked by machine-gun fire when 1,500 yards from the conning tower, the fabric-skinned biplane banked hard out of range; then, as the U-boat dived, it returned to the attack at maximum speed of 120 knots, approaching from the U-boat’s port quarter at an angle of 45° to track, and from a height of 60 feet dropped four Mark XI D/Cs set to 24 feet and spaced 60 feet apart. They missed astern. The surprised U-boat, having survived the attack, signaled BdU that she had been engaged by a wheeled aircraft. This was certainly news to BdU, which had just signaled the Rhein boats that they need not fear aircraft, since the convoy was out of the range of shore air bases, so BUT LITTLE AIR CAN JOIN THE CONVOY. But HMS Biter's flight deck, built on an American merchant hull, had been able to offer the ultimate surprise, a hard-surface landing gear aircraft flying from a midocean runway. Black May - Michael Gannon

[@merdiolu]

The escort carrier (CVE) was a warship type coincidentally first produced by both the RN and USN in June 1941. In both instances a flight deck was mounted on a merchant ship hull. The RN type, HMS Audacity, embarked six Martlet fighters on the converted merchant ship Hannover captured from the Germans. Assigned to the U.K.-Gibraltar convoys, she had an outstanding six-month career, destroying five Luftwaffe aircraft, sighting nine U-boats, and on 17 December 1941 sharing in the sinking of U-131 (Korv. Kapt. Arend Baumann) with the 36th Escort Group (Cmdr. Frederic John Walker, R.N., SO), though the attacking Martlet and pilot were lost to the U-boat’s gunfire. While escorting Convoy HG.76 on the night of 21-22 December 1941, HMS Audacity was struck by three torpedoes from U-751 (Kptlt. Gerhard Bigalk) and sunk. Her American counterpart, carrier USS Long Island, capable of embarking twenty-one aircraft, would not see action in either the Atlantic or the Pacific theaters but spend her career in ferrying, training, and experimental duties. But beginning in 1942, the USN heavily committed funds to the CVE program, and American shipyards began turning out large numbers of improved carrier conversions from merchant hulls, eventually producing 128 by war’s end.11 British yards produced five. Many of the early U.S. CVEs went to the RN, which made additional modifications, mainly to the avgas fuel systems to prevent vapor explosions, and two of these, Biter and Archer, were in active service on the Atlantic convoy routes during Black May. Swordfish “L” from Biter had earlier, on 25 April, shared in the destruction of U-203 (Kptlt. Hermann Kottmann) along with the destroyer H.M.S. Pathfinder, while both ships were with EG5 supporting EG B2, the close screen of Convoy ONS.4. The aircraft’s principal contribution to the kill was two well-placed calcium sea markers, since her two D/Cs dropped 20 seconds after submergence apparently did not damage the U-boat. On 10 May, Archer, with Fourth Escort Group, was supporting EG B6 with Convoy ONS.6. British naval historian David Hobbs has commented on the relative merits of shore-based and naval-embarked aviation at that period. Most of the flying hours of the former, he points out, were expended in transit to and from their patrol areas rather than in patrol itself. Add to that the fact that significant numbers of shore-based bombers and crews had to be kept in constant rotation on successive legs to and from the convoy, and the economy of carrier aircraft, which were based constantly with the convoy, becomes apparent. Furthermore, Coastal Command aircraft did not always successfully rendezvous with their designated convoys; in 1942, for example, 34 percent of all Coastal sorties were Not Mets. Finally, unlike bombers from afar, the carrier aircraft lent themselves to rapid and flexible tactical use by the escort commander, the attack on U-403 being an apt example.12 The only problem at this date, apart from pilots’ tendency to get lost navigating, was the inadequacy of the Swordfish aircraft in speed and structural strength. Following the action against this boat, BdU decided that the main body of Rhein must be 90 miles behind the fast convoy, with little chance to catch up. Accordingly, it ordered that group, excepting U-403, to withdraw from the operation against HX.237 and to move instead against the slower SC.129, which was “considered to offer better chances of success.” The fast convoy would be left to the shadower U-403 and to the six boats of Drossel closing from the east.13 The daylight hours of 11 May were quiet, though HF/DF activity increased, and Chavasse sent two destroyers ahead to probe for threats, and two of Biter’s aircraft searched the convoy’s perimeter. Later in the day, U-436 (Kptlt. Günther Seibicke) of Group Drossel found HX.237 BD 9554 (44°15'W, 27°25'W). Another of Drossel’s boats, U-89 (Kptlt. Dietrich Lohmann), reported the presence of carrier-type aircraft circling overhead-either a confirmation or a first disclosure to BdU that the aircraft that attacked U-403 was carrier-borne. At 2013, another of Biters aircraft, Swordfish “L,” caught U-436 on the surface and attacked her with four D/Cs from 150 feet. During the run in, the “Stringhag,” as the frail biplane was called by pilots, took heavy anti-aircraft fire, but the pilot and gunner watched the tracers pass harmlessly between the port upper and lower wings, and the pilot returned fire with his front gun. Following the D/C drop, the pilot climbed to make a return run, but after he got the slow-gaited craft around, the U-boat had disappeared. The pilot dropped a smoke float and resumed patrolling.14 At 2100 U-89 reported the convoy on a new course, 000°, or due north.15 Contact was not resumed until daybreak on the 12th, when the surfaced Drossel boat U-230 (Kptlt. Paul Sieg-mann) sighted the ship columns in heavy swell astride BD 2826, confirming that the convoy, estimated at 9.5 knots speed, had made an evasive turn to north. Soon afterwards, U-230 found herself under attack by the first Swordfish to make it off Biter bucking deck that high seas morning, which was the twenty-third birthday of U-230's First Watch Officer (I.W.O.) Herbert A. Werner, a native of the Black Forest region of southern Germany, who was commanding the bridge watch: “Aircraft astern!” It was too late to dive. The single-engine plane came in low in a straight line exactly over our wake. I fingered the trigger of my gun. Again the gun was jammed. I kicked its magazine, clearing the jam. Then I emptied the gun at the menace. The mate’s automatic [machine gun] bellowed. Our boat veered to starboard, spoiling the plane’s bomb run. The pilot revved up his engine, circled, then roared toward us from dead ahead. As the plane dived very low, its engine sputtered, then stopped. Wing first, the plane crashed into the surging ocean, smashing its other wing on our superstructure as we raced by. The pilot, thrown out of his cockpit, lifted his arm and waved for help, but then I saw him disintegrate in the explosion of the four bombs [D/Cs] which were meant to destroy us. Four violent shocks kicked into our starboard side astern but we left the horrible scene unharmed." This loss had a sobering effect on HMS Biter, who decided that antiquated Swordfish should no longer engage in gunfire duels with U-boats, despite their crews’ keenness to do so. Henceforth, the Swordfish were to attack only with D/Cs when the U-boat was seen to be diving or had just dived. In other cases the pilot was to keep the U-boat in observation and, if possible, call in surface ship assistance. HMS Biter's next attack would include an excellent example of called-in assistance from HMS Broadway and the frigate H.M.S. Lagan. At 1230, in good weather, visibility 20 miles, Swordfish “B” sighted a wake, then a U-boat distant four miles, proceeding at 12 knots on a course of 060°. At about the same time, the U-boat-it was U-89-sighted the aircraft, altered course, and dived. By the time the Swordfish got down to 50 feet and dropped four D/Cs, U-89 had been under for 30 seconds. The pilot returned to the position, saw no evidence on the surface, dropped a smoke marker, and reported the action by R/T. HMS Broadway received the report and closed the position at 24 knots, while the Swordfish returned to HMS Biter short of fuel. At 1301 HMS Broadway reached the marker and, her asdic dome lowered, obtained a contact bearing 045°, range 1,500 yards. Chavasse decided on a Hedgehog attack, which he delivered just as U-89 accelerated across his bow. There were no explosions. HMS Lagan, in the meantime, had arrived to assist and she now made two unsuccessful Hedgehog attacks of her own. Ten minutes later, Broadway regained strong echoes on which to fire a second 24-projectile salvo, with a deflection of 15° right. This time, at 1359, there was a single sharp explosive CRACK! that was felt throughout the ship. Twenty seconds later, a second, muffled explosion was heard, and a marker was thrown overside. HMS Lagan made two Hedgehog attacks on the position without result, but forty-five minutes after Broadways hit on the U-boat’s hull, wreckage appeared on the surface. It consisted of a piece of wood with an electric light switch, two positions for plugs, and the identification “Schlüssel-M” (Enigma machine); several pieces of laminated wood varnished on one side and painted white on the other; a woolen jersey with a Nazi emblem; and various other articles of clothing that were not picked up. The single Hedgehog projectile had drilled a fair-size hole. No bodies were seen. They were all entombed below in the Type VIIC iron coffin.18 And the burying for that day was not over. Within the same hour as Broadway s puncturing hit, another Drossel boat was gored; subsequendy it would flail about wounded, call desperately for help, then die gamely from the last penetrating effects of a weapon never before used at sea. Ironically, U-89 was on her way to help that boat when death chose her first....by first Allied developed acoustic torpedo known as FIDO. Black May - Michael Gannon

[@markfryer9880]

@@merdiolu Thanks for your comment.

[@BananenBaron]

0:23 i really wasnt expecting that

[@tylernewman825]

So happy it’s back!!!

[@McRocket]

Battle of Attu Island Involves less than 20,000 men. You give it 20 seconds. Ongoing Battle of West Hubei - in China. Involving over 400,000 troops? You give it but 18 seconds. ☮

[@jaydeister9305]

"that guy Kilroy seemed to have some amazing longevity, during that vicious brutal 6 year world war!"

[@nickdanger3802]

The Dam Busters movie can be found on the internet.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Will you do a video special on the Dambuster Raid? And Barnes Wallis's different weapons of the war

[@Southsideindy]

we have a special on Wallis and the background tech coming out soon.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@@Southsideindy brilliant thank you

[@qjnmh]

@@Southsideindy without trouble making, do note the squadron is 6-1-7, and Upkeep is a mine not a bomb… (and please please don’t fall for the canard that Barnes Wallis was an outsider who was ignored by the establishment. That’s ahistorical guff from the film… Wallis couldn’t have been more establishment if he tried).

[@GunnyKeith]

Love the tie Indy. Looking sharp