160 - Stalingrad Falls? - WW2 - September 18, 1942

[@WorldWarTwo]

A couple of big sinkings this week in addition to the general battles- a US carrier is torpedoed by a submarine, as is the liner-turned-troop British ship Laconia, which is carrying 1,500 Axis POWs as well. That leads to Dönitz's Laconia Order and no further rescue attempts by U-Boat crews, period. Such is modern war. Remember to read and follow our rules of conduct: community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518

[@Zen-sx5io]

"Modern War"

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

Moderna Krieg es Tutten Krieg ..

[@QuizmasterLaw]

This episode was really well done. Far better than anything on television. Thank you!

[@robertjarman3703]

That Laconia order I have a feeling is going to be one of the key pieces of evidence that convicts Karl Dönitz in the trials. And also, attacking a submarine honestly flying the Red Flag (or the Red Crescent, but the U-Boat didn´t have one of those) is itself a war crime. That bomber crew really made things much harder on their own side.

[@QuizmasterLaw]

@@GravesRWFiA steppe is in fact pronounced in English as Indy is pronouncing it. It's a loan word, and like all loan words in English retains its original spelling. Like most other loan words in English its pronunciation is changed to sound like an English word. Final E in English is almost always silent.

[@PhonciblePBonehimself]

Thanks for mentioning the "Laconia Incident" - a very touching story amidst the wanton carnage of WW2

[@Shauma_llama]

Until the US screwed it up being stupid. 🙄

[@powerboatguy2308]

@@Shauma_llama I'm sure Admiral Donitz's lawyers used this in his defense when he was getting accused of leaving stranded sailors to down or in one case being gunned down as opposed to being rescued.

[@TillyOrifice]

@@GravesRWFiA Not to mention the fact that the prosecution of Dönitz provoked Chester Nimitz to testify on his behalf. Rather an honourable thing to do, I always thought.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@powerboatguy2308 Doenitz had a serving Kriegsmarine lawyer as his main attorney (during part of the trial he even wore his uniform until complaints forced him to attend the trial in civilian clothes). He had been able to do so because the Kriegsmarine was still in being, as parts of it were removing naval mines. The lawyer, Otto Heinrich Kranzbühler, was generally considered one of the best of the German defence lawyers at Nuremberg.

[@jasonscottjenkins]

Sounds like something The History Guy should do a video of.

[@mjbull5156]

I-19's attack on Wasp and the consequent hits on the North Carolina and O'Brien was the single most effective torpedo salvo of the war.

[@CK-nh7sv]

And still ultimately pointless...

[@mjbull5156]

@@CK-nh7sv in the long run yes, but it a significant impact on the Guadalcanal Campaign as the USN was very cautious about deploying Enterprise in support of the surface fleet operations until other CVS are brought online.

[@clementbruera]

If by effective you mean that 1 carrier was sunk and 1 battleship and 1 destroyer were damaged you are right. If otherwise you mean by ships hit this goes toe to toe with the Italian submarine Axum that sunk in one salvo the cruiser Cairo and damaged the cruiser Nigeria and the tanker Ohio (that ultimately sunk in port after unloading the precious oil).

[@mattguellec]

You forgot Mogami's infamous TK during the Java campaign

[@dongiovanni4331]

Mogami at Sunda Strait sank or damaged 5 enemy ships. 3 damaged and 2 sunk Japanese Army transports

[@LuisGutierrezG123]

"Mamayev Kurgan, Grain Elevator, Railroad Station" Me who has played Red Orchestra 2: "I was there, Indy, I was there 79 years ago"

[@NotSaddamHussein]

Same. The upper floor of Grain Elevator - the absolute meatgrinder fight on the stairs.

[@patrickhecker853]

gumrak, spartanovka, red ocktober

[@fxzeedits5456]

Legend game

[@piscisknight]

[@kayt9627]

Mamayev kurgan, the grain elevator, the railroad station. These are some names we might be getting familiar with in the very near future.

[@PalleRasmussen]

Nah, come on; the Germans have already won.

[@Tidebo1]

Red Orchestra 2 anyone?

[@gunman47]

@@Tidebo1 Had a lot of good times playing in the Grain Elevator map in RO2...

[@jonathanmunoz137]

the pavlov house, the red october, barrycade, the red square

[@kemarisite]

@@jonathanmunoz137 as a Cracked author put it, "Dmitri's mom's apartment building".

[@IronTulikettu]

My grandfather was with the marines that took over occupation of Iceland and made many friends in the marines. USS Wasp was there protecting the U.S. fleet and my grandfather called her the "prettiest boat he had seen". He got out of the military before the war but his friends stayed in. At Guadalcanal all my grandfather's friends were killed and that "pretty boat" was sunk. My grandfather had bad survivors guilt for the rest of his life. Died at the age of 87.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for taking the time to share your grandfather's story. We really appreciate it!

[@acutechicken5798]

Poor man who lived through difficult times. Was he able to live a good life inspite of this?

[@IronTulikettu]

​@@acutechicken5798 He did. Got married and had 7 children. Lived a simple, religious life in rural Indiana. Was a hard man but had a soft side for his grandkids. Refused to go to WWII veteran reunions because he didn't think himself worthy to be called one.

[@nicholasconder4703]

My father went through something similar. He served with the Desert Air Force until 1943, when he was mustered out after catching malaria on Sicily, then getting jaundice as a result of the malaria. He always said Friday 13th was his lucky day, because that's when he got the malaria. From what he told me, within the next few weeks, his entire light bomber squadron had been shot down and killed, apart from my father and two other men. He never talked about survivor's guilt, but perhaps he was just being stoic.

[@charlesmaeger6162]

During WW 2 the U.S. flew a great number of newly produced planes to Britain. It flew them to Nova Scotia, Canada, then to Greenland and Iceland, and then to Ireland and Scotland.

[@AkodoAkira1]

"The Germans fought Steppe by steppe to Stalingrad." Tee hee.

[@yaldabaoth2]

But the soviets were always one steppe ahead.

[@interestingengineering291]

@@yaldabaoth2 hahahaha

[@flankspeed]

That's one small step for man, one giant steppe for the Wermacht

[@augustineirigoyen4400]

They should be weary that they go a steppe to far.

[@Philbert-s2c]

These puns are getting out of hand. You all had better watch your...."steppe."

[@yourstruly4817]

In August 1942 alone, 54000 German soldiers died, meaning almost as many died in a month as American soldiers in the whole Vietnam War

[@warbrain1053]

and that's just the germans..

[@DrJones20]

Source?

[@yourstruly4817]

@@DrJones20 Wikipedia, German sources, English sources say numbers are even higher

[@caryblack5985]

@@DrJones20 My source says 62,165 Germans killed on the Eastern front. From Overmans Deutsche Miltarische Verluste.

[@KatyaAbc575]

Yet, it got less coverage than some 5 000 Japanese fighting in some desolate jungle island ...

[@alexamerling79]

"Fighting is going on inside the elevator. The Russians inside are condemned men; The Battalion commander says: "The commissars have ordered those men to die in the elevator." If all the buildings of Stalingrad are defended like this then none of our soldiers will get back to Germany. I had a letter from Elsa today. She is expecting me home when victory's won."- Diary entry of Wilhelm Hoffmann, soldier of the 94th infantry division of the German 6th army at Stalingrad, September 18, 1942.

[@Altrantis]

I feel like the axis were like "Look at how much food I can put in my mouth", which was pretty impressive indeed, but never considered whether they could chew it after.

[@cwovictor3281]

They performed the Chubby Bunny challenge and promptly choked to death.

[@not2hot99]

@@cwovictor3281 thats way funnier than it should be :D

[@Raskolnikov70]

They sound just like that one guy we all know from college who wound up in the emergency room to have the pool ball removed from his mouth.

[@korbell1089]

@@cwovictor3281 Timeline of Japan in the Pacific. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bV7WlqNqYtmFqpI

[@Hollywood2021]

They could chew, until they ran into Chuikov! Ok I'll show myself out now

[@forthencholordofadmirals2763]

Best ending to an episode ever! Happy birthday Hartvig (corrected by Rune Hartvig himself! )

[@xiphoid2011]

This is why I like this channel so much -- the down to earth way of teaching history to common but real people like us.

[@simoneriksson8329]

I found myself aapplauding with the video 😅

[@seneca983]

That's the spelling used in the subtitles so presumably it's correct.

[@khazad2112]

Since he's Danish, it might be Hartvig with a v.

[@forthencholordofadmirals2763]

@@seneca983 i didn't have them on and I don't trust youtubes subs they've failed before but since he's a Dane I figured it was a W sounding as a V.

[@Paddyjss2390]

My great grandfather jumped off the side of the wasp when it got hit and waited to be rescued he survived the wasp went to Bremerton Washington to be stationed met my great grandmother. He wouldn’t talk about the incident until ten years ago. I’m glad to see the wasp is getting coverage and attention.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for sharing your story, Justin!

[@Paddyjss2390]

@@WorldWarTwo welcome he was discharged after that due to a injury. Thank you guys for doing what you do love your shows!

[@deeznoots6241]

12:50 “another hits North Carolina on the port side” but the animation shows the torpedo hitting it starboard.

[@yorick6035]

Daniel Weiss, my compliments once again for your amazing map animations. Especially the Stalingrad one, it really hammers home the scale of fhe fighting by showing the individual streets and buildings. Keep being awesome (this also applies to the entire TimeGhost crew)

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@danielweiss7396]

Thanks :)

[@bludfyre]

@@danielweiss7396 I want to second his comment. Those maps are awesome

[@billd.iniowa2263]

The maps are really what sells this channel to me. Knowing the scale can put you right into the streets. Indy's narration is a superb bonus. Well worth the tiny Patreon sum I can afford, I assure you. Money well spent.

[@DzheiSilis]

Wait until you see the maps that TIK has

[@jorgeportocarrero1776]

Comparing this video with the first video on the battle of Verdun the amount of improvement is insane your love of history and how you teach it is one of the reasons when I got university next year I am going to history your amazing time ghost history.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you! Hope you'll enjoy your time as a student!

[@jorgeportocarrero1776]

@@WorldWarTwoI will .

[@gunman47]

15:03 With the arrival of the 7th Marine Regiment along likely with a certain *John Basilone* onto Guadalcanal, the Americans have a good chance of reinforcing their defence perimeter, especially with machine guns.

[@gunman47]

@@zainmudassir2964 I heard rumors that he can hand carry Browning machine guns and hit targets accurately like it was nothing... 😅

[@shawnr771]

And Mitchell Paige. On October 26, 1942, after thirty-three Marines in his machine gun platoon were killed or wounded defending a ridge during the Battle of Guadalcanal, Platoon Sergeant Paige operated four machine guns, singlehandedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment. He also led a bayonet charge afterwards.

[@Raskolnikov70]

@@zainmudassir2964 Yes.

[@johns8364]

@@zainmudassir2964 Of course he does. He's from New Jersey.

[@PhoenixNoKiseki]

What I’ve gathered from this series is that it’s a miracle we’ve survived as a species. And dumb luck factors in success and failure on both sides way more than I’m comfortable with.

[@christopherjustice6411]

The Japanese must not know, everything in Australia tries to kill you anyway. And unless you’re a flock of Emu’s, the Australian army is quite difficult to defeat.

[@trizvanov]

Australian here. Papua New Guinea is one if not the most hostile environments on the planet. It isn't the fauna that tries to kill you, but the climate and terrain itself. There is also hardly any wild edible food that you can find and eat. Did I mention the mountains ?

[@Darwinek]

@@trizvanov Yet some Japanese military genius had a brilliant idea to cross the island from north to south, via that murderous, mountainous, humid hell. What could possibly go wrong.

[@martijn9568]

@@Darwinek Atleast it was one of the shortest stretches across Papua New Guinea, but even then they barely made it across the mountains...

[@thomasknobbe2108]

@@Darwinek I learned recently that somebody in Imperial headquarters calculated that they could just make the trip with what supplies they could carry, barring any complications (e.g., the presence of the Australian Army) and went with that. The officer who was to lead the force, who was actually in New Guinea and knew the country, protested mightily but was overturned and the advance went ahead. Big oops; another example of the consequences of failing to consider the importance of logistics.

[@davidsigalow7349]

@@trizvanov Not to mention the headhunting cannibals (I told you not to mention them!).

[@marks_sparks1]

16:42 the British prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials would claim intent the Laconia Order by Donitz was "an order to kill" shipwrecked sailors. It would be rejected by all the Trial judges, including the Soviet judge, as Donitz wryly noted in his memoirs

[@stevekaczynski3793]

If the accusation had stuck, Dönitz would probably have been executed. He was still annoyed to be given a ten-year sentence.

[@brenokrug7775]

At least three Red Orchestra 2 levels took place this week: Mamayev Kurgan, Grain Elevator and Station. Spartanovka took place last week. Can't wait for Red October Factory and Pavlov's House 👀

[@frederickwiddowson]

This series has been such a huge help to me in understanding what happened in the first half of the twentieth century. The World War Two series is amazing.

[@SVL76dash2]

As an avid "armchair historian" for most of my life I truly enjoy your videos of the Second World War. Your research and detail are impeccable. And I must say that Indy is becoming a master of the pregnant pause ;-)

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you so much for your support! We hope you keep enjoying our content.

[@piarpeggio]

When I discovered The Great War channel five years ago through the BF1 trailer analysis video Indy did, I was just blown away (pun not intended) by the idea of it. And I'd since then dreamt of a similar documentary series on WWII. How cool would it be to see the famous battles like Stalingrad, arguably the most epic battle in history, covered as they did on TGW channel! But like many other fans there, I wasn't sure if we'd have to wait till 2039 for that. Then one day I stumbled upon the first two episodes of this series; they were only a few days old. I could not hold my excitement, and it's been a hell of a ride since then. Can't believe we're finally getting into Stalingrad! The Battle of Stalingrad! You guys have been doing a phenomenal job, and I just wanted to thank you as a fan!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you so much for the support! Reading comments like this make all the hard work worth it.

[@Mr_M_History]

Back to back uploads from the goat. It's a great day to be a history teacher and can't wait to imbed more of your content into the classroom. The students love it!

[@WorldWarTwo]

We're so glad they enjoy our content. Thank you for the support!

[@erikgranqvist3680]

Stalingrad is possibly one of the most interesting battles in WW2 to read up on. Not because of it being awesome, but because it held so many faulty and foolhardish decissions from those of the top brass who was nowhere near the action.

[@Raskolnikov70]

Keep in mind a lot of the decisions the top folks were making were forced on them by economic circumstances. It's been almost a year since the date Germany knew they had to win the war by, and they failed to do it (take Moscow and secure the Arkangel-Astrakhan line) and they're trying desperately to stay in the war by seizing the resources they need to do it. You can definitely fault them for some of their bad tactical decisions, but the overall situation was forced on them - by their own bad decisions - if they wanted to keep fighting.

[@user-jq2iz9zn4p]

The Red Army won the Battle of Stalingrad so it could not have made too many foolish decisions。Its decision to surround the Nazi Sixth Army was wise。

[@erikgranqvist3680]

@@user-jq2iz9zn4p yeah, but the decission to wait with evacutaion of civilians led to enormous suffering. And both sides top leaders (such as Stalin and Hitler) showed an appauling lack of regard for humanity and human life. And they had the men on the ground push way beyond the point of no return. Wish is kind of stupid however you look at it, because it increase the dangers on a strategic level so much it's not even funny. All that became of pride and symbolic valueof a city that had Stalins name? And yes, I agree that Stalingrad had strategic value for a number of reasons. But both sides could have choked off the transports and potential value as a transport hub without baning everyones head to death at the city center.

[@user-jq2iz9zn4p]

@@erikgranqvist3680 Yeah，but Stalin won。So the casualties were worth it。A Nazi victory would have caused even higher casualties。

[@user-jq2iz9zn4p]

@@erikgranqvist3680 Can you prove Stalin could have reduced casualties without reducing the chances of or delaying a Red Army victory。

[@joost0133]

"Stalingrad falls?" Stalingrad: no, I don't think I will

[@revasgamer7793]

Albeit some historical inaccuracies, many of us here saw the movie, Enemy at the Gates, Stalingrad (1993) and the HBO series The Pacific, specifically the night of John Basilone's machine-gunning fame. This Video put it into perspective for me... They all happened in the same week!!! What a week it must've been for the world, huh?

[@Okido24]

Thanks Indy. You are the history teacher all the students remember. Students being thousands of KZbin watchers!

[@Mr_Roboto]

In the Pacific, the Japanese soldiers had something like a ranking list of other armies that were tough fighters in the jungles. Towards the top of their list were the Australian and New Zealanders that they fought in the verdant, alpine hell of New Guinea. Their idea of the American soldiers and Marines was not that they were great jungle fighters, but that they bombarded the jungle to oblivion and the fought in the remains of it.

[@PoliticalGangster]

Zhukov's attack from the north trying to relieve Stalingrad is called the Kotluban Offensive. I learn that from watching TIK.

[@nicholasconder4703]

Kotluban - Zhukov's Isonzo River.

[@icecold1805]

D'aaw that ending, Indy you know how to be wholesome dude, that was beautiful.

[@aaronhutchen1319]

The kokoda track is one of the hardest tracks to cross. Australian athlete Kurt fearnley crawled the track (96 kilomteres) on his hands (he is wheelchair bound)

[@shammy8703]

k

[@ulfgustavsson4919]

Happy Birtday Rune Hartwig! Anyone who has helped make these videos possible deserves a very happy birthday.

[@runevverhartvig6340]

Thanks!

[@louiserosleff6326]

Thank you Indy and the entire team for doing such a fantastic job at making me love history! My dad is a big WWII "fan" - he was born in Aarhus, Denmark in 1942 and vaguely remembers going to the basement shelter.... Also: Forsinket tillykke med fødselsdagen Rune! :D Venlig hilsen - en fan af showet her i Denmark - Louise (Hurra hurra hurraaaa!)

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Louise Thank you for watching, and for sharing your family's history with us. It's individual accounts like yours that helps make these events more personal, and better helps convey why remembering them is so important.

[@louiserosleff6326]

@@WorldWarTwo Thank you for making this so interesting and easily accessible :) My dad still reads history books and we often joke that his favorite TV show is a documentary about the Luftwaffe :) He is not good at english, but I showed him the Special about "Nazis on drugs" and the one about Hermann Gøring, and he really liked it!

[@norwayball6360]

My Grandfather served as a guard in the Werewolf (Hitler’s base of operations) he told me one day that he heard Hitler saying that his generals were such cowards that himself could command the army better

[@slick4401]

The Laconia incident is heartbreaking. The allied bomber probably had orders to attack any German submarine at all costs, but they could not have missed the fact that the target was surrounded by boats full of people.

[@CK-nh7sv]

The bomber reported the Red Cross flag but was ordered to attack anyway.

[@RangaTurk]

I'd put it down as an intervention to interdict the opportunity to rescue Italian POWs. The Polish guards probably wouldn't have been rescued anyway if it was just a German rescue party alone. Sounds as familiar as Monte Cassino, Falaise Gap and Market Garden.

[@thegutsygrape4789]

The pilot involved in the laconia incident was on my dad's carrier. He always said after that day the crew put a target on his back and made his life on the carrier worse than a living hell.

[@markmildorf2873]

Happy Birthday, Rune!!

[@runevverhartvig6340]

Thanks!

[@TheHypnogog]

Becoming a bigger fan with each episode. Indy, you are a character, and a good storyteller. Great detail, so kudos to the crew.

[@Kujatalp]

You guys are so nice, the whole episode was fantastic and the ending topped it off! Awesome 👍

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you Kujata, we really appreciate the kind words!

[@germanhernanburgosffrench-4471]

Happy birthday, Rune! By the way, September 18 is my beloved country's birthday also: Chile. I salute you again, from the south of the globe, mi comandante.

[@gunman47]

Other than the well-known *Vendetta* mission from *Call of Duty: World at War* taking place on September 17 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad has also been covered by a few other games in the Call of Duty series as well. Some of the missions seem to have often taken their inspiration by the rather historically inaccurate 2001 movie Enemy at the Gates. Most notably, not one but three missions (Stalingrad, Red Square and Train Station) from the 2003 video game *Call of Duty* start this week on September 18 1942. As Corporal Alexei, you will cross the Volga River in the boat, only receive one stripper clip of ammunition and make it to Red Square with the help of a Sergeant Borodin in the *Stalingrad level* . Then at the *Red Square level* , you will charge across Red Square and meet Sergeant Makarov, pick up a sniper rifle and snipe the German officers to liberate Red Square. Finally in the *Train Station level* , your main objective is get to Major Zubov to inform him of the liberation of Red Square while fighting through the train station in Stalingrad.

[@0witw047]

Wait how did you make this comment 2 days ago this video only came out 20 minutes ago

[@gunman47]

@@0witw047 Patreon / TimeGhost Army supporters get to see the video a few days early.

[@ehh7100]

The 13th Guards Rifle Division is also the unit the player (Pvt. Vasili Ivanovich Kozlov) is part of during the first campaign of CoD 2.

[@Deshoda100]

I see you are a man of quality gaming

[@broccoliface4501]

Thankyou for the absolute juggernaut of nostalgia and context you've just hit me with.

[@benladenno1340]

Jungle traffic 🚦🚥 jam really got me @Indy 😂

[@victorvasas4690]

My godfather was with the 2nd Hungarian army at Stalingrad, and went to Russian POW camp until 1949. He told me interesting stories.

[@canthama2703]

Hey congrats Rune, awesome gift by the timem Ghost crew....looking forwars to more more more Stalingrad.

[@IanKath]

I love the way you personalise these episodes with silliness from time to time.

[@thomasknobbe2108]

Thank you so much for your coverage of Australia's victory on the Kokoda Track (or Trail, if you prefer). Although the numbers of combatants and losses is miniscule compared with what is going on at Stalingrad, we must consider the difficulty of the terrain involved-a one-person-wide trail across some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet. You couldn't get at kettenkrad up there, let alone a jeep. So, the numbers had to be small. Yet the possible consequences-the loss of Port Moresby, and if the Japanese could get a naval presence there, loss of direct American naval access to Australia-would have been great. Good thing the Americans decided to push their luck and invade Guadalcanal, depriving the Japanese on the Track of any hope of reinforcement. The Australians were really the first Allied army to show that they could win a campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army. They will get more opportunities to do so in New Guinea as MacArthur puts Operation Cartwheel into effect. Staying tuned, here.

[@WorldWarTwo]

We're really glad you like it!

[@komemiute]

Holy shit, these are absolutely riveting narrations... Best historical program ever. My respect to you all.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you very much! We're very glad you enjoy our content.

[@t.a.ackerman4098]

This series is amazing. I can't image what it would have been like during the time.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you

[@cubstercubman6158]

This is one of the best show on KZbin. I truly enjoy and continue to be educated on WW2. Continue the awesome work.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you so much for your support! Glad you enjoy our content.

[@cubstercubman6158]

@@WorldWarTwo thanks so very much for your reply. I am really thrilled by your reply to my comments. I live in South Dakota and for you to reply back to me is a Honor. Thank you.

[@Ianassa91]

Great episode. So well presented. Thank you for the incredible work you guys are doing. Loved the "Laconia incident", had not heard about it before. Both wholesome and tragic at the same time.

[@WorldWarTwo]

We are very glad you enjoy our content. Thank you for your support!

[@CanadianNavyVeteran]

As usual, outstanding lesson of history... well done

[@WorldWarTwo]

@Michel Lever Thanks very much, we're glad you enjoyed it! Please consider joining the TimeGhost Army to help us make more episodes and specials all the time! www.patreon.com/join/timeghosthistory

[@centurion7993]

Indy you are one of my favorite history youtubers because of things like what you did at the end of this episode, oh and great content keep up the good work

[@WorldWarTwo]

thanks a lot for that! Makes me happy,

[@patrickols]

John Costello’s book The Pacific War is a great read. I bought it during a trip to Florida way back in 1989. Also almost incredible but I also bought a book on the battle of Stalingrad in Florida in 1993 :-)

[@georgewilliams8448]

Thank you for another very well done and informative video. I look forward to every Saturday morning as I know that the Time Ghost Army will be giving me the treat of an informative video.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Kay2kGer]

Dam indy.. 5min trough and i cant... i.. Your narrarion is on point. Going all over stalingrad we knew it is THE battle of 1942. But you bring it to life

[@KevinWeirBusinessCoachSpokane]

I noticed at the 14:59 mark a "Stuka Fly' attempts to dive bomb Indy. That made my day. :)

[@Raskolnikov70]

He left his Red Cross banner in his other vest. Should have been displaying it properly!

[@GTAram855]

The Enemy Fly also attacks in 08:30

[@stanleydangerfreak2325]

12:27, "Fire breaks out below desk!" (sorry Indy). Amusing for us maybe, but no joke for poor old Wasp. God rest them.

[@jamesa4566]

Your content is of extremely high quality. Thank you. I never miss an episode.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you very much, James! Hope you continue keeping up with our episodes.

[@mikiroony]

Awesome episode and happy birthday, Rune! And team, PLEASE, I loved the jackets you had in the Maginot line outing. I'd love to be able to get one from the gift shop! :)

[@purplerunner1715]

Tillykke med fødselsdagen Rune, dejligt at se jeg langt fra er den eneste Danske fan af historie, takker for din indsats.

[@runevverhartvig6340]

Mange tak!

[@nicholasconder4703]

5:15 The first of the Kotluban Offensives, Zhukov's Isonzo River.

[@caryblack5985]

It did have the effect of tying down the German divisions in the Northern German land bridge and took some pressure off the 62nd Army. However it did fail to breakthrough and link up with the 62nd Army.

[@Raskolnikov70]

Ouch. Don't know how I never made the comparison before! Although I don't think the Soviets expected to make any kind of breakthrough victory (at least not until November...) and the offensives were part of a broader strategy to muck up the German advance and keep them tied down as long as possible. Attritional warfare benefitted the Soviets in this case in a way it never benefitted the Italians in the Great War.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@Raskolnikov70 Zhukov fully expected to link up with the troops in Stalingrad. And he kept trying to attack in the same area on at least two more occasions.

[@Raskolnikov70]

@@nicholasconder4703 I vaguely recall TIK's videos about this where he mentioned that the Soviet generals didn't think that the Kotluban offensives would succeed and discussed this openly with the Stavka. Apologies for not remembering names or details, but the takeaway from that was that the high command ordered them to keep attacking anyway as a way to take pressure off the Soviets in the city so they could hold on to it and keep the Germans tied down. Of course you never tell your troops "yeah, we don't actually expect this to work but we need you to attack anyway." The generals understood the reasons why they had to advance though.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@Raskolnikov70 True, I recall that from TIK's videos as well. Although in most cases I think the conversations occurred after the offensives started, not before (but I could be wrong). I do recall from Glantz and House's series on Stalingrad that Zhukov and Stalin had to be convinced to shift the focus of their attack for Operation Uranus away from the Kotluban area after the Red Army had failed to break through there for the 3rd time.

[@Svendskommentar]

Tillykke med fødselsdagen Rune. :) Great show, as usual. :)

[@runevverhartvig6340]

Tak!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you, Svend!

[@Paladin1873]

I believe the photo at 10:23 is of then Brig Edson on Tinian in 1944. Note the later camouflage uniforms worn by the Marines standing next to him and the use of helmet covers.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Probably. Marines photographed on Guadalcanal in 1942 never seem to have helmet covers. Probably still under development. As the war went on, all belligerents made more and more use of camouflage.

[@Ba-gb4br]

By now the fight in Stalingrad is just a slow grind. In the video it looks like paulus is steadily advancing but these few kilometers shown is everything Paulus takes in a whole week of near constant fighting. Since the Soviets stopped the germans outside the city a few weeks before Paulus can‘t mount a fast „Blitzkrieg“ style offensive anymore since his forces are just to widley spread and depleted. Furthermore his time is slowly running out since the soviets are reinforcing their troops all the time while Paulus is unlikely to receive any replacements in the near future.

[@panzerofthelake506]

The video on operation Uranus will so epic

[@jerryw6699]

wonderful episode, Stalingrad has always interested me the most of all of the Soviet/German battles. I wonder if it will get colder now that we're into Jan in Stalingrad?

[@creatoruser736]

It is at this point that we get to the narrative that Soviet soldiers were being sent into Stalingrad without enough weapons. You know the story; "The first man takes the rifle, the second the ammunition, when the first is killed the second takes the rifle." That is hogwash. Soviet soldiers were not sent into the city without weapons, and they definitely weren't mowed down by blocking detachments if they turned away in such a fictional scenario. If units didn't have all their weapons they weren't sent into battle until they received them. Whether to promote their determination, desperation, or callousness, this is just a myth.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Similar incidents sometimes happened in the Tsar's army in WW1, where there were not enough rifles to go around and troops occasionally went to the front with scythes, for lack of other weapons. It underlined the Russian state's lack of preparedness for world war. But it was not a feature of WW2.

[@caryblack5985]

It is a myth. See Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire p.109-110.

[@cenccenc946]

yea, that narrative never made any sense. If 10s of thousands of soliders a day are dying on both sides, pretty soon everyone left has all the weapons they could ever use. now ammunition or food might be another matter.

[@ВячеславФролов-д7я]

This myth came from a fact that 13th guards rifle division (if i remember its number correct), which was the first division transfered into city fight, arrived "with shortage of 1000 rifles". And for the time being rifles were taken from rear echelon units and given to frolntline troops. So technically there were some untis who didin`t have rifles for self defence, although it`s far from narratives

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@arandomcrusader-9355I have doubts about it being unintentional.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

American tomato juice at about 11:12. Considered nutritious, many US servicemen nonetheless disliked it as it was blamed for digestive problems. During the Korean War, Chinese generally valued captured US rations (their own supply system was poor) but reportedly could never get used to the tomato juice. I wonder what the Japanese made of it?

[@chilternsroamer872]

given the general state of Japanese supply, I rather suspect a Japanese soldier would not be a picky eater. Already we seem to have two areas (attempt to get to Port Moresby, and Guadacanal) where the Japanese don't seem to have brought enough bento. Historically beef wasn't eaten, due to the buddhist thing, but that started to fade with the Meiji Restoration (1868 onwards), and at some later time (I forget when) the emperor actually promoted beef, and made sure he was seen eating it. So by WW2, I think a Japanese soldier would eat most things, and a hungry Japanese soldier would eat almost anything. There appear to be a few cases where they even ate people. So I don't think tomatoes would be an issue.

[@Raskolnikov70]

Here's a fun fact that Collingham covered in "Taste of War" - most of the canned provisions provided to the US troops in the Pacific were manufactured in Australia. The Allies worked out a system of logistics exchanges designed to use their shipping and production resources as efficiently as possible, so instead of Australia shipping canned veggies to the UK the US would send theirs to the UK and Australia would send their to Americans in the Pacific. Complicated, but it worked. Anyway, the Australians had major quality control issues and a lot of the rations they provided to the US wound up being unusable. I don't remember off the top of my head if she specifically mentioned tomato juice being one of them, but I wonder if that reputation for causing digestive issues was more an issue with the Aussie canning process.

[@Raskolnikov70]

@@chilternsroamer872 Even at this early point in the war, the Japanese were being encouraged by their command to plant their own crops and be as self-sufficient as possible in order to reduce pressure on the logistics system. Japan was already experiencing a food crisis before 1941 and it only got worse as the US got better at interrupting Japanese shipping. By war's end they were more farmers than soldiers, just trying to stay alive while stuck on islands bypassed by the US Navy.

[@tams805]

@@chilternsroamer872 There was a major issue with nutrition in the Japanese forces (and society as a whole) due to the obsession with rice, specifically white rice, which was seen as much more prestigious and desirable, but didn't hold much nutritional value.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

@@tams805 Beri-beri was a problem in the Japanese armed forces. Around the turn of the century a Dutch scientist had researched the disease in the Netherlands East Indies and found prisoners fed with unhulled brown rice were much less affected than those who only ate polished white rice, though the latter was more popular. Unhulled rice had some vitamin content lacking in the polished variety.

[@hermitcrabbot]

According to my information, It was Sigfrid Henrici's 16th Motorized Infantry Division 'Windhund', part of Kleist's Panzer Armee 1, that was covering his flank. Gotthard Heinrici was in charge of 4th Army, far to the north. By some reports, a recon patrol of four armored cars and motorcycles under Oberleutnant Oyler, crossed those railroad tracks and reached the Caspian on the night of the 16th.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

This channel packs more History into 20 minutes than others do In 2 hours … so I watch 6 times … so I don’t miss out ..

[@kistebox8878]

You are just simply awesome! Thank you for everything so far.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you so much for your support!

[@andypants1000]

Grain elevator one of my favorite maps in red orchestra 2

[@yatsumleung8618]

A total of 4 US Fleet carriers were lost in WW2. Lexington (Coral Sea), Yorktown (Midway). #3 was Wasp. Hornet, as introduced here, was sunk a month later.

[@larryhall2805]

My curiosity about the Soviet-German front started from watching Hogan's Heros, asking myself "what was so bad about the Russian front?". 50 years later I'm still learning.

[@billd.iniowa2263]

I dont think you're alone there. The Cold War left us bereft of many things that went on over there. The last 30 years or so have been a boon. But yet The Soviet/German Front is still terribly under-related by the media at large. If you havent seen it, a series called "The Unknown War" is most excellent. Narrated by Burt Lancaster no less. Just remember its the story the Soviets want told, so a large shaker of salt is advised. ;-)

[@Yora21]

And it only keeps getting worse.

[@larryhall2805]

@@billd.iniowa2263 I had a fairly good history textbook in 8th grade that further this interest. In fairness to the media and school systems, there's only so much one can cover. Teachers and other guidepost can always urge us to learn more if we are interested. That being said, I'm very curious about the Soviet invasion of Manchuria/Korea in August 1945! What I've read and seen is very dry and vague. Though the Japanese were no less fanatical and the Soviets extremely battle hardened, the fighting must have been savage.

[@Raskolnikov70]

@@larryhall2805 If you haven't already seen it, check out the "Soviet Storm" television series produced in 2011 in Russia. It's widely available in an English-language version here on KZbin (although the maps are still in Cyrillic) and it's a good-quality documentary told from their perspective. It's recent enough to be relatively historically accurate (no communist propaganda) and they did a fairly thorough episode covering the Manchurian campaign.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@Raskolnikov70 Agreed, Soviet Storm is a great series. It also covers stuff that I had never heard or read about before, like the Rzhev Meatgrinder.

[@donst7916]

Sir, I love your entire presentation, you are well versed in what you are talking about. But what I love most is your animated maps. Thank you, Donald E. Vandergriff, US Army retired and military historian. Not as famous of Rob Citino, but we are friends.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for your support!

[@ricardokowalski1579]

If you understand Stalingrad, which is just *one* city, it becomes obvious that Operation Downfall, taking over many cities in uneven territory, was going to be much much expensive in lives.

[@xuanquang9815]

yes, but it's but one option. the US had many, they could continue bombing and blockading, they could just wait for the Soviet to jump in (and end Japanese hope of getting out of the war via negotiation). they could even loosen the term of surrender (which they did after Japan declared unconditional surrender). Hell, why not called for temporary cease fire, invite every factions to a nuclear bomb public exhibitions, show them the true horror and threaten to use it on every Japan cities if they do not surrender, the options are there, but many political, social and even economic issues prevent such options.

[@ricardokowalski1579]

@@xuanquang9815 the revisionism you put forth has already being refuted. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWXYdZmdaJ2ar80

[@ricardokowalski1579]

@@xuanquang9815 the short version kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGrVkqR-fK97arM

[@xuanquang9815]

@@ricardokowalski1579 i'll do you one better kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHS1hZqqpahgfdE

[@brink8993]

Can we please get a chronological (with specials) playlist Indy? Like with your last project? I loved listening to the old one as a “podcast” if you will

[@stekarknugen9258]

Well, TiK's battlestorm series and this channel just arrived at the same timeline

[@nicholasconder4703]

Not quite. TIK is at October 4th.

[@Raskolnikov70]

And TIK will still be in 1942 when Time Ghost is covering the Japanese surrender. Not complaining, his quality and detail are excellent but it's just him and a couple of support folks putting it together, not a whole team like TG has.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@Raskolnikov70 TIK might start covering more days per episode around the beginning of December. Maybe. Although at this rate it will take him about a year to get to the start of Operation Uranus. Perhaps he's aiming for the 80th anniversary of Operation Uranus (November 17, 1942) to start covering it.

[@rabihrac]

Happy episode to everyone!

[@dfsengineer]

The Wasp had been built under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited how many tons total of each class of ship the USN could have. After building Enterprise and Yorktown, there was only 15,000 tons left of the carrier allotment, which could have built a good medium carrier, but they still wanted something the size of the Enterprise so it could carry more planes. As a result, to meet the weight limits the Wasp was under-armored, under-gunned, under-powered, and had a hull and framing design highly vulnerable to torpedo damage (compared to the other carriers). It was a gamble that didn't pay off.

[@Spindrift_87]

All true. Wasp was a compromised design, essentially a Ranger-Yorktown hybrid sharing the light construction of the former. In naval architecture you cannot squeeze a quart into a pint pot (is that the correct saying? I'm a metric boy myself). Yet, in fairness, it's questionable if any carrier could have survived an avgas-fuelled conflagration of that scale. Bigger, notionally better-protected, carriers were claimed by similar uncontrolled blazes. WWII-era carriers were quite extraordinarily flammable; once yours is lit up you'd better pray your damage control trams are a) god-tier and b) still alive. It's perhaps notable that Wasp reached the ocean floor still in once piece, albeit with fractures in the hull

[@andrewfavot763]

Thinking of the willpower. Holding out. Attacking. Retreating. Attacking. This is just.. astounding. Just to think of it all.

[@gunman47]

Other than the rather historically inaccurate 2001 movie “Enemy at the Gates” , it would be a good starting point this week to watch the 1993 German anti-war movie “Stalingrad” , as well as the more recent 2013 Russian war movie of the same name.

[@piarpeggio]

That 1993 movie is a fine piece of art. It's got one of the best ending shots I've ever seen. And Enjott Schneider's scores are as perfect as they get for a war movie.

[@briantarigan7685]

The Gross Historical innacuracies in enemy at the gates make Pearl harbour movie looks like historical documentary

[@CssHDmonster]

stalingrad 1993 is so fucking depressing, love it

[@TheSkyBaron]

No! Stalingrad 2013 is utterly terrible, as a Russian I beg you not to

[@perfectlyfine1675]

As a Russian, I only have one thing to say: do not watch the 2013 russian movie

[@richln9682]

Some maps, a few grainy film clips and a man in a waistcoat - astoundingly effective.

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

Girls: "why do we live longer than men?" Boys: "let's invade the Soviet Union! Not to worry, it will be over in a matter of months!"

[@supertiger1979]

That's a good one so true! 👍

[@itwaswalpole]

Hitler: Let's go in and out 20 minutes adventure

[@NotSaddamHussein]

Just kick in the door and the whole rotten structure falls! - Actually Hitler about the invasion to soviet union.

[@billmatson8711]

When I was a kid in the 70s I would watch World at War in the Stalingrad episode they said every 6 seconds a German soldier dies in Stalingrad with the sound of a ticking clock . Never will forget that .

[@stevekaczynski3793]

I think it specified Russia, not just Stalingrad, although adding that the latter was a mass grave.

[@DDragon501]

I’ve heard of the Laconia Order before but have never heard the event behind it! An interesting story of actions, compassion, miscommunication, and consequences! Keep up the great work guys! I can’t recommend this enough to people!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@ifga16]

That mustache adorning Gen Kawaguchi's lip gives him an appearance of an Italian pizza parlor owner from Brooklyn.

[@thegreatemuwar3677]

Man, a mini series about Stalingrad with a budget of the pacific or band of brothers would be amazing.

[@jeffmcarthur5617]

I hate when a fire breaks out below my desk! :P 12:27

[@kirbyculp3449]

Nice tie, I feel that the sunflower pattern associates to the steppes.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

A book of colour photos of Germans on the way to Stalingrad featured one of a German soldier standing in a sunflower patch, with some of them coming up to his shoulder. A striking photo that would not have worked in black and white. Soviet soldiers often munched on sunflower seeds, much the same way Americans had chewing gum. The Germans contemptuously referred to it as "Russian chocolate".

[@mikaelcrews7232]

I think it was General Paulus who actually came up with a special badge for The grain elevators that said Stalingrad on it 1942! One thing you need to know about admiral Turner is that his favorite hobby was gardening he always had a plant on his desk on this ship! Starting of next week the Enterprise and sister Sara that's the Saratoga heading south to help reinforce the hornet and deliver aircraft to the cactus air Force on Guadalcanal!!! that's the end of round one in the south Pacific!

[@johnfoster8643]

I hate to criticize anything about this channel, because it’s such a great channel, but he’s neglected to talk much about the fighting around Army Group Centre in the summer of 1942. I know that doesn’t get talked about by a lot of sources, nonetheless it was some pretty savage fighting going in that sector even while the fight for Stalingrad was going on. Historians always made it sound like that sector was pretty quiet that summer but the reality is the Germans were holding on for dear life in the Rzhev salient.

[@2plus3is4]

Some people add interesting info here in the comments that nicely fill in the things that are not covered in videos. I would happily read yours, if you chose to write anything in detail.

[@johnfoster8643]

@@2plus3is4 Well basically the German 9th Army was under constant pressure for basically all of 1942. They desperately held off 3 major offensives that year. One was around January and February, the second was in the summer, the third started around the same time as the counter offensive that encircled the sixth army at Stalingrad. And to give you an idea of how important these battles were, Zhukov himself commanded the last one. It was called Operation Mars, it’s just not well known because it failed, but they were still massive battles. All the battles themselves were known as the Rzhev Meat Grinder. So while the Germans did hold the lines in those battles, 1942 was definitely not quiet in the Moscow sector.

[@2plus3is4]

@@johnfoster8643 Thanks! Will look it up.

[@caryblack5985]

@@2plus3is4 See This: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Rzhev

[@WorldWarTwo]

We've talked about it a bunch on our instagram day by day coverage of the war, and do so intentionally there rather than here so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle and have to take a huge backseat to the Caucasus and Stalingrad. To do it justice here would require much longer episodes with more archive footage and more editing costs, and we don't have the resources for that. But check it out!

[@robertkras5162]

Pretty awesome cinematography at 6:27 "...slowly...very very slowly..." - looks like a Hitchcock movie...

[@WorldWarTwo]

Glad you liked it!

[@redshirt1917]

Top show on KZbin.

[@WorldWarTwo]

THanks!

[@Raskolnikov70]

Wish it was, then I'd see episodes of it in my KZbin-recommended videos instead of constant paid promos for garbage like "Pawn Stars" and "H----r's Secret UFO Moon Bases". KZbin is circling the drain at this point.

[@DNAManiac]

@@Raskolnikov70 ringing the bell really helps

[@Raskolnikov70]

@@DNAManiac I'm already subscribed and all that, and I like every video that TG does even if I don't watch them all the way through. But it doesn't matter when YT favors some 'creators' over others. Commercial content (i.e. stuff done by cable TV channels and mainstream networks) gets priority status in their algos because the companies that own them spend huge amounts of money advertising with Google/Alphabet/Satan. YT used to rate content according to how relevent it was to what you watched, now it rates it and pushes it (or doesn't push it, more often than not) if it's advertiser-friendly or if it's not considered offensive to the .001% of perpetually-offended people who start cancel campaigns on Twitter. This place is a lost cause when it comes to finding new and interesting stuff to watch; if you're not already subscribed to a good channel like this, you won't ever find it in your YT suggested videos.

[@daviddevries8242]

Such a great series. Very entertaining and informative. Amazing.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you, David! Glad you enjoy our work.

[@markusmalmstrom6038]

I hope they do a special episode on the massive guns of Rune Hertwig's arms

[@runevverhartvig6340]

😂😂😂

[@tams805]

I wasn't going to say anything, but man, you're packing two howitzer leFH 18.

[@diegopagura421]

Amazing job guys. Thanks

[@WorldWarTwo]

Glad you liked it!

[@Knihti1]

Herman Hoth: "Yes, my Fûhrer. I've reached the Volga river. The defence's will be down in no time. You may start your assault."

[@Knihti1]

Hoth seeing 'The grain elevator': "Target, maximum firepower!"

[@brucetucker4847]

Hoth was on Hoth?

[@johnrust592]

Great description of the brutality and desperation of the Battle of Stalingrad. The map really put into perspective how little ground the Red Army had to give during this assault. Keep up the good work.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for supporting our content!

[@robertkras5162]

given up little ground? ... it's quite a way from the bug to stalingrad... they've given up a lot of ground....