Video

My father was wounded at Caan yet hardly ever spoke about it , thanks for posting this because i don’t think this generation have any interest in what they all went through .

Hi there what would be the furthest distance between two tide gauges reading the same level?

To be totally fair to the Americans the BPF turned up after the war in Europe was over and did perform a terrific job in its period in action .... Prior to be this the RN was mainly in the Indian Ocean protecting India and Ceylon... Im not sure how much involvement the RAN or RNZN played in the Pacific before that point altnough I know ghey were involved in the fighting up from the North of Australia towards the Philippines

THEY don't want us to know that the Allies CHEATED. Seriously, though: How much WW2 Pacific theatre history are most British and Canadian citizens actually aware of, themselves? Was that part of their WW2 education?

Typical Of the Americans to steal the limelight. This excellent presentation has served to dispel the myth that the British were somehow kicking their heels and drinking tea while the Yanks were doing the fighting to the West. I now understand why the bulk of the invasion force were concentrated on Sword, Juno and Gold. Monty truly was a very perceptive chap in designing this strategy. Thank you for correcting my perception.

Thank you.

Excellent summary countering the Hollywood version of WW2 with solid fact. While it is true Monty commanded the US 1st and 9th Armies, these were transferred from Bradley not Patton, who only ever commanded US 3rd Army in Europe . The Americans did not have an atomic weapons project prior the the British sharing Tube Alloys weapon research in1940-41.

My father was in the 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division from D-Day to VE day. He rarely spoke of his experiences. Unless you asked him about his Bren gun. Lest we forget

The very cream of the Nazi troops and S S. panzer divisions were involved here.The magnificent support from R.A.F. Typhoon Fighter bombers just about topped the scales in this extremely hard fought battle.

For more details read James Holland's brilliant book Brothers in Arms, is a riveting read from the first to last, tells the story of the Sherwood Rangers from landing on Gold beach to driving into Germany 👍

I have heard/read accounts of ground troops whose units had been accidentally bombed assaulting airmen they encountered after the incidents.

Hollywood has a hell of a lot to answer for when it comes down to the truth!

Does anyone know the exact location of Wildfire? My Grandfather completed basic training there in 1937 before joining the Med Fleet on HMS Sussex. Would like to visit Sheerness if there is still something to see of Wildfire there. Thanks!

Excellent job! Last week I finished a book on the invasion of Normandy, about 500 pages or so. This video is very helpful. RIP heroes 🙏🏽

Thank you John for putting this together. My father was a private with the 2nd East Yorks. on the the D Day landings. We lost him just over 10 years ago and whilst he talked about little bits that he thought would interest me, he never ever spoke about the landing itself. He fought his way through Germany to Hanover, where he remained until well after wars end. I wish I had asked him more now but of course it's too late. He never ever went back to Normandy, I suspect this is because it would have been too much for him to cope with. I have recently been trying to find any records of him to trace his journey but I have found this almost impossible.

Thank you Sir

The Americans hoped that the British and the Canadians would get bogged down in these really vicious late war 'mopping-up' operations of these fortress Channel ports leaving them to be air-brushed out of the eventual WW2 history - American forces capturing Berlin and taking all the glory around the absolute defeat of Nazi Germany, It didn't happen. Bradley's 12th US Army group failed to progress in the north and, particularly, Patton's US Third Army failed to properly capture Prague. Accordingly, the Americans were furious that the 'bumbling, slowcoach, timid, Montgomery' had absolutely raced ahead along the coast; this being why the political shenanigans around Operation MARKET-GARDEN (a British action which would have brough the war to an early close) have made a controversy which remains almost radio-active to this day. The Canadians didn't figure in Monty's glory drive. They were stuck with quite awful duty on the (Walcheren) South Beveland peninsula, fighting well armed Germans in well-made, well-defended positions in aquatic terrain in a bitter winter. Absolute hell. Video images of the Iran-Iraq war, 1980, in the swamps around Basra gives some idea (albeit with chemical weapons thrown in).

Thank you for that, John. Just an FYI; Canadian forces didn't use the Maple Leaf Flag until almost 20 years later, 1965 in fact. In WW2 they fought in NW Europe under the Blue Ensign (and occasionally the Red) but only AFTER 1st August 1944. On D-Day, yes, 6th Jun 1944, Juno beach was stormed by Canadian troop fighting under the Union Jack (that's right, the Union Flag). The Commonwealth pre-1949 was a serious business, membership being limited to the heavyweight Dominion nations of the British Empire. The citizens of those nations - Canada, Australia, NZ, South Africa [1] - had absolute right of full British citizenship (family included) and right of abode in GB until 1949 - with more limited rights until the mid 1960s. That's how Commonwealth Canada fought under the Union flag. [1] The RoI rejected Commonwealth membership in the early 1920s following the Irish civil war. Can you blame them? 5.

What went wrong? Many things went wrong. But perhaps most importantly insufficient naval gunfire assets were allocated to the Omaha Beach sector. The Navy provided two of it's oldest battleships, no cruisers and just ten destroyers. Britain provided one light cruiser and three destroyer escorts. While the Free French provided two light cruisers. This inadequate sized force was expected to support the assault troops against one of the best defended beaches in Normandy. With 670,000 German troops in Normandy all together. By way of contrast the invasion of Saipan, which occured 10 days after Normandy, had 7 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers and 26 destroyers. This against an anticipated Japanese force of about 20,000. Ridiculous!

Why are we never told about all the countries that helped the Americans with Japan???

I am so tired of the British defensiveness about their role in WW2. People who know history, unlike Hollywood screen writers, know the vital role they played. But to attack the Americans role is ludicrous. The reason Churchill opposed overlord is he knew the UK could not do it alone. After Anzio he had to wonder whether the US would support the invasion fully, not just with words and material support. FFS the US obviously met his expectations and then some. Why insult Allie's who made this victory possible for UK, and without whom a UK win would NOT have been possible. And then you wonder why we would rather not help in the first place.

Excellent video.

My grandad was in Caen

Wrong flag.

Older American here. UK commentors: The US provided over 4000 landing craft for the D-Day operation. D-Day participants: Canadian ~ 14,000 / 381 KIA, British ~ 62,000 / 1,450 KIA, & Americans ~ 73,000 / 2,500 KIA. If it weren't for the manpower, industrial & agricultural might of the United States it isn't likely that the UK would have been able to defeat the Germans & the Italians on the continent. The Russian's, on the other hand, probably would have been able to have beaten or at least pushed the Germans out of Russian territory due to their available manpower, fighting strategy, resources & industrial capacity. As for leadership positions, don't forget politics played some role in assigning some of the British commanders to key leadership positions in the D-Day operations. The British Commonwealth forces, on their own, clearly had the will but did not have the manpower, industrial means or access to raw materials to have pushed the Germans out of occupied Europe. Please be clear, I am in now way implying that the British & Commonwealth forces weren't invaluable & an absolutely necessary & critical component / ally required to the defeat the Axis forces in WWII. I'm just asking that you to keep things in prospective, please.

Excellent work, John. Thank you.

"At that time, on the 600-mile Eastern Front, the Russians faced 9 German divisions". Really? I don't believe that. Operation Bagration alone is said to have destroyed 28 German divisions in the East, and that was just on the Army Group Centre front.

Yeah, but the Yanks had some pretty nasty hedges to deal with. Be fair.

Great piece. Montgomery was the allied ground commander for D-Day and the post-invasion lodgement phase and he deliberately put the British units on his left-flank to protect US forces from German intervantion for two reasons; first to allow the Americans greater time to build up their reserves of tanks and vehicles as their greater mobility (compared to British units) could be used to greater effect when breaking out of the beachheads and sweeping South and then East to link up with the British; and secondly, and probably most importantly, the US Army had a record of breaking and running when meeting the enemy for the first time. They ran at Kasserine in North Africa and ran again when the first met the Japanese in New Guinea. Although Rommel admitted they improved hugely by their second battle there would be no second chance if they ran and were pushed back into the water in Normandy which is why the British had to shield the US forces from the brunt of the fighting until they'd established themselves properly in France.

Just to let you know, the Canadian Army on D Day were the only one that reach their objectives.

Excellent, thank you.

Does your number of troops landed include the airborne forces?

Loves it

It certainly was a major tank battle. But wasn't El Alamein a bigger tank battle?

What 20 mm cannon on spit during battle of Britain

Real tragedy , because of Hitler , the Nazis were fighting against the only army that could have saved Europe from Stalin

If it wasn’t for this battle the Americans wouldn’t have been able to breakout of their positions capture Cherbourg but they conveniently forgot to mention this but a lot of Americans who were there knew is and have said so.

John, it's pronounced more like 'con' than 'carn'. The first isn't absolutely correct but sounds a sight closer to the actual name of the place.

I wonder if walterm140 has ever read the following below... . Straight from a Canadian officer who served in WW2 - one Colonel Charles Perry Stacey. Note the dates that this was written were in May 1944. A month before D-day. Excerpted from "Appreciation on Possible Development of Operations to Secure a Lodgement Area", produced by 21st Army Group Planning, May 7, 1944 (one month before D-Day). This was forwarded to First US Army Group, among others, on 18 May under a covering letter which reads in part, "With regard to the outline of action at Part IV, this represents the Commander-In-Chief's [Montgomery's] intentions as far as they can be formulated at this stage." IV. SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS Quote "The type of country immediately South of the initial bridgehead does not favour a rapid advance. The Allied build-up relative to the estimated German build-up indicates that a period may supervene round about D+14, when there will be a grave risk of operations stabilising on a line which gives the Germans advantages in defence. The greatest energy and initiative will be required at this period to ensure the enemy is not allowed to stabilise his defence." "Once through the difficult bocage country, greater possibilities for manoeuvre and for the use of armour begin to appear. *Our aim during this period should be to contain the maximum enemy forces facing the Eastern flank of the bridgehead, and to thrust rapidly toward Rennes. On reaching Rennes our main thrust should be towards Vannes; but diversionary thrusts with the maximum use of deception should be employed to persuade the enemy that our object is Nantes. If, at this time, the enemy weakens his Eastern force to oppose us North of Redon, a strong attack should be launched toward the Seine."* Part IV of the Appreciation continues, advocating alternating attacks on the East and West flanks of the bridgehead in reaction to German reinforcement moves, in order to bring German reinforcements sent to the American front back to the British front. Thus it is fairly clear that Montgomery intended before ever landing to hold in the East and strike in the West, unless an opportunity presented itself for a favourable attack in the East. Certainly there is no indication of anyone contemplating a breakout on D+2. Give up Walt Disney!!!! You aren't fooling ANYONE.

Montgomery did not try and draw the Germans onto the British. sector. That is false. "Until Montgomery’s 11 June invention of his new strategy, he had always made it perfectly clear that D-Day required an initial aggressive thrust that gained more ground and broke through the German defenses to take Caen. British and Canadian armored forces would rapidly move onto the Falaise plain, then toward the Seine and Paris. This was Montgomery’s original planned “feint” at Caen that would draw the German panzers into a battle highly favorable to the Allies. Overwhelming British and American air superiority and the mobility of their much larger armored forces would destroy any German counteroffensive. This “feint” in turn would assist a faster American breakthrough in support of the British. The Americans would largely bypass the bocage country and help flank the German positions along the coast, forcing their general retreat to the Seine. It was only after D-Day that this new 11 June strategy became his plan. None of Montgomery’s pre-invasion planning, reports, or presentations ever suggested that the British would stop short of attacking and quickly taking Caen. Thus Montgomery opened the door to what became a long battle of attrition in Normandy.8 It took the British and Canadian forces six battles over forty-two days-from 6 June to 18 July -to capture all of Caen. What was behind Montgomery’s thinking that might help explain his slowness in taking the city? Why had he suddenly shifted the “plan” from a British- and Canadian-led offensive breakout strategy to one of attrition warfare? The United Kingdom was reaching the end of its manpower reserves. Churchill feared that the manpower situation would diminish his influence with Roosevelt and his status in the “Big Three Conferences” with Roosevelt and Stalin then deciding the postwar future of Europe.” The British Army in Normandy: Winning the War Wrong Way - Montgomery

Montgomery's plan was to draw in then destroy the German army, not gain territory. The Caen sector had more German tanks per mile than Kursk. In just a dozen miles or so eight Panzer divisions in a very small area of front. *Caen had the highest concentration density of German tanks ever seen in WW2, pitted against British armour.* At Kursk the panzer divisions were spread out over a much wider area and were not concentrated as densely as around Caen. The Germans used Panzer Mk3s at Kursk, the minimum was Mk4s at Caen, with many with the 75mm long guns. Caen saw the densest concentration of German armour ever seen in WW2. At Kursk the Germans were attacking over a near 50 mile front. There were certainly not eight panzer divisions within 12 miles. There were *EIGHT* Panzer Divisions in the Caen area by end of June 1944 and *FIVE* lines of anti-tank guns. The Germans kept sending more and more panzer divisions around the Caen area as June went on and into July. These were the panzer divisions deployed to the Caen area: • 21st Panzer Division (117 Panzer IVs). • Panzer Lehr Division ( 101 Panzer IVs, 89 Panthers). • 2nd Panzer Division (89 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). • 116th Panzer Division (73 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). In reserve just behind the front. • 1st SS Panzer Division (98 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). • 9th SS Panzer Division (40 Stugs, 46 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). • 10th SS Panzer Division (38 Stugs, 39 Panzer IVs) • 12th SS Panzer Division (98 Panzer IVs, 79 Panthers). • Tiger Battalion SS101 (45 Tigers). • Tiger Battalion SS102 (45 Tigers). • Tiger Battalion 503 (45 Tigers) Source: Bernages Panzers and the Battle For Normandy and Zetterling's Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness. On 12th June 1944 the British had no room to sidestep any German divisions before Caen because the Germans totally blocked them. This is why a wide right hook on Caen was attempted. To the south of Panzer Lehr's sector in the vicinity of Villers Bocage there was thought to be an area devoid of German forces, and so this wide right hook was attempted on the morning of 13th June. Any wider and it would have overrun into the American lines. There was no other room to manoeuvre onto Caen. All attempts had to go right through the German panzer divisions through the rest of June and early July, with the Germans having excellent defensive country of fields broken up by hedgerows, with which to utilise to their advantage. The Germans had over 1,500 tanks and assault guns in the British/Canadian sector, including Tiger and Panthers. Even the King Tiger and Jagdpanther made their WW2 combat débuts around Caen in July. The Americans who were not equipped, or experienced, to face massed German armour, were given primarily an infantry role by Montgomery - the Americans met very little armour in WW2 in comparison to the British. The US forces didn't face any German armour until June 13th, and that was only a mere battalion of assault guns. The British destroyed about *90%* of German armour in the west.

Thanks for this John.

Please - this is great history - but if you are going to use photographs to accompany your narration, you need to make sure they do represent your words. And despite it being spelt "lieutenant" the British pronounce it Leftenant.

Where did that tripe about the Russians facing nine German divisions come from? In June, as a strategy to prevent the Germans reinforcing the western from the eastern front, the Russians launched Operation Bagration, the biggest attack in world history. The Russians put 3 million men into the attack with 6,000 tanks and 11,000 aircraft. They faced the Germans' vaunted Army Group Centre which had spearheaded the attack on the U.S.S.R. in '41. There were 130 German divisions on the Eastern Front [ 35 on the western]. With superior tactics the Russians destroyed the Germans Army Group Centre, taking 400,000 prisoners. It was the greatest allied victory of the war. The Russians took Minsk, all of Belorussia and were at the gates of Warsaw within a month. They had to stop when they outran their supply lines. By the end of July the allies on both fronts were on the front foot and the Germans were doomed. All brave men, all heroes, whether British, American, Canadian or Russian [ or many other nations] Lest we forget.

Holland you mean the Netherlands? if you want to call it the city Breskens is in the province of Zeeland and not in North or South Holland. In the Netherlands we are still very grateful to the Canadians for the liberation of our country and not just the 2 provinces with the name Holland. That many people call the Netherlands Holland is the same as people would call Canada, Alberta or Ontario for example.

At the very end the narrator seems to imply that Montgomery did not deserve to be berated by his boss, and his savior, General Eisenhower. Montgomery was guilty of purposely sabotaging Eisenhowers broad front strategy, often because Monty so desperately wanted fame and glory and he really wanted all the attention that General Patton was getting, and Monty didn't deserve any of those things. He was an asshole who took credit for the American victory at the battle of the bulge, even Churchill reprimanded Monty for trying to take credit for doing nothing. Britain lost the war to Germany in 1940 at Dunkirk. Britain was on the verge of bankruptcy and had no army or tanks in which to fight the huge German military. "If America does not come to our aid, then the war is lost." -Winston Churchill

world is Still paying for hitlers mistakes

I was struck by the fact that most tanks were destroyed by artillery, antitank guns, air power and infantry presumably equipped with PIAT Gamon Grenades Very little mention of losses due to tank on tank encounters.

Thanks for sharing this. My great uncle participated in operation Epsom in a Sherman tank. His unit was ambushed and his tank took a hit and his ear was burned off and he crawled out of his tank and laid next to the tracks before passing out. The next morning, he heard gunshots as a highlander unit was passing through the column of burned out british tanks. Men who had survived the burning tanks had horrible wounds. He recalled that the scots had been shooting survivors who were wounded. After letting them know not to put him down with choice words, he was spared and he was picked up by a medical unit three hours later. He returned to the village in a reunion 50 years later. There is and pointed to the church tower he destroyed and joked the french villagers forward the bill to his address.

That claim around 6:50 that there were only nine German divisions on the Russian front is going to need some explaining.