A fact about Captain Sobel. He also Parachuted into Normandy on D-Day as a member of Headquarters Company. He won the Bronze Star for destroying a German Machine Gun nest with Grenades. He may have been Spiteful and not a good Combat Leader but he wasn’t a Coward and several Easy Company Veterans admitted that his training helped make them tougher Soldiers.
It's even more ironic since the Dutch are renowned for great chocolate. During the war, they couldn't get the cocoa from the Dutch Indies, so the manufacturing stopped.
In terms of the girl who was just staring at Bull, she just watched him kill a man in one of the most brutal ways possible, and in all likelihood that is probably the first time she's seen a man killed first hand. that girl is scarred for life. Doesn't matter if it was allies or axis, you don't forget something like that.
The portrayal of Cobb is always interesting to me. He comes off as a complete Asshat bc of his antics. But once you realize it was probably PTSD. It becomes more understandable. Cobb was the only member of Easy to have prior combat experience. He fought in North Africa and survived his transport back being sunk by UBoats (Nazi Submarines). He was also the one who was hit by shrapnel on DDay. He was the one that Lipton told "You are not jumping" in the show.
"Quit looking at me like that! Am I alright??" Is one of my favorite moments in the series. Between Winters and Nix, the care is there in the relationship. Not bad for Nix, with bullet holes in his helmet, having never fired his weapon in combat...
Remember, those helmets were not "ballistic" in any modern sense of the word, they were just stamped steel - a direct shot would probably go right through and kill you. They really came from WW1 where a massive number of casualties early on were because troops were going into battle with cloth hats - in an artillery heavy battle - and a lot were injured by flying debris kicked up by shelling, thus they later introduced steel helmets to provide some head trauma protection. They weren't meant to stop bullets, but they could protect you from a glancing shot.
@@captainz9 If the velocity of the bullet was low enough, a direct penetrating shot - which would otherwise bore through your head - could often be deflected and literally curve around the inside face of the helmet., like a bowling ball with a spin on it. There are a number of instances of this happening. Definitely not a design feature, just a happy accident of the physics.
@@captainz9in fact, the bullet DID go straight through the front of his helmet, passed by close enough to leave a burn mark on his forehead (but not break skin), and exit the side of his helmet.
A Unit Citation (what the replacement guy was wearing) in a unit citation, not a individual one. Everyone assigned to that unit is required to wear it. It doesn't matter if you were there or not. If the unit was awarded that citation in the First World War, people assign to that unit today would be required to wear it. Citations are for a unit, medals are individual awards.
One of the best things about BoB is the number of analysis videos available on CZcams. There is a video about the markings on their helmets and about all of the significant battles depicted in the show.
It's a far better representation of the 101st's part in the operation that this episode. I love this series. But this is the weakest for characterizing campaigns Easy co. has participated in.
@@dirus3142 - the other way around. A Bridge Too Far is exactly 50% historically accurate based on screen time after I broke down the film scene by scene and compared with the book, which in itself is incomplete and does not tell the full story, and then added up all the timings. About 40% is altered narrative to suit the director's politics or to get certain actors on board (for example, James Caan was offered the Captain's role and chose the Sergeant Dohun character instead, so the characters were reversed to accommodate him). About 10% is just made up, including the whole of Robert Redford's performance after the river crossing - the real Julian Cook was embarrassed by it, because he probably didn't even fire his rifle, and like Dick Winters in the attack on Foy - battalion commanders do not get involved in leading company attacks, they should be running their battalions from their command posts. This episode of Band of Brothers I have not broken down in such a detailed way, but being familiar with the true story I estimate it to be about 80% accurate, maybe 70% at worst, allowing for the fact the battle at Nuenen was actully two engagements conflated into one (A Bridge Too Far does a lot of that as well) and the German vehicles are nearly all wrong for a panzerbrigade and re-used the same mix of available runners in the UK seen in Carentan and other episodes. The following episode Crossroads is even better, thanks to Dick Winter's War and Peace edition AAR on the 5 October incident that virtually writes the script for them, and I would give that a 90%, again - estimated without breaking it down.
I really like your reactions. You guys are very observant and thoughtful. Edit: I also think you bring a fresh and important perspective that many people don't have when watching these type of shows. Thank you for sharing it.
The spade on the helmet is one of four symbols to signify each Infantry regiment in the 101st Airborne - with the other three ♥️,♣️, and♦️. The ♠️ was specific to the 506th Infantry Regiment, which was commanded by Col Sink (the old guy in the show)
This episode is about "Operation Market Garden". A failed attack to get into Germany. There were SS Divisions that no one knew about, on rest, from the Eastern front. Yeah, war isn't so good spirited Ayala, but this series is about the bond and memories that builds between soldiers that is unbreakable. M-4 Sherman tanks were American made tanks that were given to all allied countries. After the war, they even served with the IDF. The people who served in this war were a special breed of people. Tough but still the best of what America had to offer. Their average age was 19.
The aim of MARKET GARDEN was to establish a Rhine bridgehead for British 2nd Army in the Netherlands. Any advance into Germany would be a subsequent operation. The SS divisions were known to be there - withdrawn from Normandy, not the eastern Front - and were the reason the original all-British airborne operation COMET was cancelled and replaced with the upgraded operation MARKET by adding the two American divisions. The reason the operation failed was a failure to secure the highway bridge at Nijmegen on the first day, while it was still undefended - the result of a miscommunication between the 82nd Division and 508th Regiment commanders, which allowed the 10.SS-Panzer-Division to move into the city and reinforce the bridges. The biggest problem with this episode was that this battle at Nuenen is a conflation of two engagements on two days (Stephen Ambrose even got the date wrong in his book), and was a flank reconnaissance in force to open the way for another Army Corps to begin their advance, but this is never explained in order to keep things simple for the audience and the script makes references to MARKET GARDEN (including Nixon's comment at the end) that had nothing to do with what Easy Company were doing that day. The mission at Nuenen was actually successful in its aim, as the unit they were up against - Panzerbrigade 107 - were persuaded to withdraw before they got cut off.
Just some info on Winters (the guy who didn’t get his helmet shot off) and Nixon (the guy who did). Winters came from a poor family and needed to work his way through college. Nixon came from a rich family and attended Yale for two years before leaving to enlist in the Army (this will become a minor point in a future episode). Winters was a monkish introvert who read all the infantry manuals he could get his hands on. Nixon was a party animal who loved to drink. Winters was a field commander, while Nixon was in Intelligence, which meant that he helped translate the data received from the field into information that people could use. The pair met up during Officer Candidate School, and their friendship started from there.
The reason the farmer's daughter was looking at Bull like that was likely because she had never witnessed violence and death firsthand before. I'm guessing her look was a mixture of gratitude for protecting them and terror at being so close to someone capable of such brutality.
It is, indeed, Buck you see in the opening. He goes through some sh*t. And though this one was quite jarring, don't worry. I promise you... they get even more jarring from here. Trust me - worrying doesn't help 😊
I am so glad I found your channel. Anne Frank was Dutch. The Germans were very hard on the Dutch, so the Dutch resistance had very little tolerance for those who collaborated with the Germans.
The unit--the 101 AB---was granted a unit citation for their excellence on D-day. All members of the unit from then on (right up to today) are entitled to wear it. As for the mission, the American paratroopers (the 101 and 82'd) liberated two Dutch cities (Nijmegen and Eindhoven) and achieved their objectives. The operation failed up the road at Arnhem, where the British 1st Airborne were severely out classed and lost 8,000 troopers. Arnhem was the bridge over the Rhine, and thus "Operation Market Garden" didn't work.
Absolute garbage. The 82nd and 101st had bridges blown up in their faces on the Wilhelmina and Maas-Waal canals, and failed to send a battalion to the Nijmegen highway bridge on the first day as the 82nd Division commander Gavin instructed due to a command failure in the 508th Regiment, which compromised the whole operation. The British 1st Airborne succeeded in holding the Arnhem bridge for four days - the objective of the division, as Browning had promised Montgomery. All the more remarkable since a single battalion battlegroup with some supporting units carried out the mission assigned to the whole division, and while British airborne doctrine was that an airborne division should be able to operate independently for up to eight days with adequate air resupply, the 1st Airborne at Oosterbeek held out for nine days with most of their supplies falling to the Germans. The Germans were completely outclassed, including the SS units that had fought in Ukraine and in Normandy.
at the @10:45 mark, the Lt that got shot in the neck was Robert Brewer. He survived and went on to work in the CIA after the war. This is never touched up on in the show.
Quick rank break down: Second Lieutenant, new officer, Lieutenant next up, Captain highest rank for field officer. Major, rank above Captain. Colnels and Generals are ranks over Major.
Market Garden could have ended the war earlier but it was the kind of operation where everything had to go exactly right or the whole thing would fail, and things started to go wrong even before it kicked off.
I think it was horribly ill conceived. It left their whole flank exposed for dozens of miles, that's a big no-no in military planning. Eisenhower should've never gone with Montgomery's plan. They actually took fuel from Patton for Market-Garden, and Patton was making good progress until the lack of fuel stopped his advance.
Market Garden could never have ended the war, nor was it even intended to. Even had Market Garden suceeded it still needed the American armies to its south to advance and pull level, so that all armies would then advance across Germany together. However, as we know, the US 1st Army under Hodges to the south failed to get much beyond Aachen and also got itself bogged down in the Hurtgen Forest, while even further to the south the US 3rd Army under Patton couldn't take Metz and failed to get across the Lorraine.
@Anon54387 Myth. Patton was already stalled in the Lorraine and couldn't even take Metz. Market Garden was a far better and more sound idea than going into the Hurtgen Forest, butting heads against Metz or trying to get across the Vosges. Eisenhower's broad front strategy was a complete failure all through autumn 1944. Eisenhower should have gone with Montgomery's proposal that all allied armies should stick together as one massive force, concentrated in the north and smashing towards the Ruhr. Instead Eisenhower insisted on weakening and dispersing all armies across a 500km wide frontage and this got next to nowhere for six months, and even suffered a retreat in the Ardennes.
@Siblings. Those "old men and boys" were actually two entire SS Waffen Armoured divisions (100 000 men / most of whom were veterans from the Eastern Front). They hade been sent to Holland to Rest, recuparate and reconnstitute their number with fresh German units.
Both divisions has been badly depleted in Normandy and during the subsequent retreat through the Falaise Gap. By the time of Market Garden, both divisions had been downgraded to battle group status Together, they had no more than 10,000 troops left. Of course, they weren't the only Germans fighting.
No, the old men and boys were accurate descriptions for two battalions known to be based at Arnhem. The "old men" were Sicherungs-Infanterie-Bataillon 908, a security unit of WW1 logistics troops deemed unfit for combat dutes in 1914-18. They had companies on the Ijssel bridges at Doesburg and Westervoort, and two companies defending Deelen airfield. They probably also supplied the 25-man Arnhem bridge guard, as they were described in some sources as WW1 veterans as well. The boys" were a couple of hundred Hitler Youth recruits finishing up their training as replacements for the 12.SS-Panzer-Division 'Hitlerjugend' with SS-Panzergrenadier-Ausbildungs-und-Ersatz-Bataillon 16 based in Arnhem. The SS training units had to be shared by the divisions and this unit had changed its designation the previous month from '12' to '16', as it was expecting 1,600 new recruits to arrive from Germany to train for 16.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 'Reichsführer-SS'. When Model established his new Army Group B headquarters in Oosterbeek, the battalion commander Sepp Krafft moved his two training companies out of their Arnhem barracks, where they escaped the preliminary bombing, to the woods north of Oosterbeek as additional protection for Model - unfortunately right next to the British landing zones. Intelligence were also aware that the Wolfheze psychiatric hospital, in the middle of the British landing zones, hosted an artillery troops collection centre with an accurate 400 troops housed there, as well as providing accommodation for senior Luftwaffe officers and female auxiliaries from 3.Jagd-Division at Deelen airfield - the reason the hospital was bombed on the morning of the operation. The two SS-Panzer-Divisions, the 9.'Hohenstaufen' and 10.'Frundsberg', were much reduced by the fighting in Normandy to regimental battlegroups assessed at 3,000-3,500 men each and with few if any tanks. The 9.'Hohenstaufen' were in the process of entraining for Siegen in Germany for refit and had handed most of their heavy equipment to the Frundsberg, which had deployed a battlegroup to the front line on the Belgian border and its tank destroyer battalion detached to 7.Armee at Aachen. They were headquartered at Beekbergen and Ruurlo in the Veluwe and Achterhoek regions - west and east bank of the river Ijssel respectively. Details are important if you're not going to present a false impression of the facts. MARKET GARDEN failed because 82nd Airborne missed a bridge at Nijmegen on the first day due to a command failure in the 508th Regiment, allowing 10.SS-Panzer-Division to occupy the deserted city and reinforce the bridges. The British Airborne at Arnhem secured the bridge and held it for four days, all in vain due to the delays at Nijmegen.
Card suits (diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs) on each side of the helmet denoted the regiment to which a soldier belonged. The only exception was the 187th which was added to the division later. Divisional headquarters and support units were denoted by the use of a square and divisional artillery by a circle. According to the wiki page on the 101st - These insignia were first seen in World War II, and can still be seen on 101st Division soldiers today. 327th: Clubs (♣) (Currently worn by the 1st Brigade Combat Team; depicted in the 1949 film Battleground) 501st: Diamonds (♦) (Currently 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment is part of the 2nd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division in Alaska.) (The diamond is currently used by both 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade) 502nd: Hearts (♥) (Currently worn by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team) 506th: Spades (♠) (Formerly worn by 4th Brigade Combat Team before their deactivation in 2014; depicted in the mini-series Band of Brothers; currently worn by 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment) 187th: Torii () (Currently worn by the 3rd Brigade Combat Team; not during World War II, when the 187th Infantry Regiment was part of the 11th Airborne Division.)
The spades on their helmets identifies them as members of the 506th Regiment. A different suit of cards for each of the 4 Regiments of the 101st Airborne Division: 327th - Clubs; 501st - Diamonds; 502nd - Hearts; 506th - Spades.
As for the haircutting scene. There were people from many countries that supported the Nazi cause. In the Waffen SS, there were 39 divisions. Only 15 of those divisions were German. The 23rd SS division was Dutch. (the 23rd was called "Nederland") And yes, in the opening credits, the person dropping the helmet is Buck.
Remember they were under British command for this one so they took their lead. This was a failed mission and the Americans were not real happy about it. That girl in the barn was just traumatized, when you witness the brutality of war it sometimes shakes people. Yes the guy in the opening credits was a very shaken Buck Compton, and your sister does have better face recognition, but you sir understand combat tactics, ranks etc very well! Keep an eye on Lt. Winters rank as we go.
MARKET was compromised in the planning by USAAF Generals Brereton and Williams in deleting a double airlift and glider coup de main raids on the key bridges, and the 82nd Airborne divisional plan by its commander General Gavin at Nijmegen by discarding a British request to drop a battalion on the north end of the bridge and assigning the problematic 508th PIR to the critical mission. The operational compromise on the day was made by Colonel Lindquist of the 508th, who failed to follow Gavin's instruction to send his 1st Battalion directly to the bridge after landing. So it's disingenuous to say the lead was all British - it was undermined by American commanders.
Unit Citations are given if you're assigned to the unit during a certain time period, you are eligible to wear them. He might have taken it off but he didnt have too. It could be as short as a single day. I have one where the issuance was for a 2 day period.
About the Dutch women, I realize that this argument has two facets, but no-one knows what got passed in pillow talk. Information could have been passed to either side.
very true. However the woman who were spying on the Germans using a romantic relationship would be part of the underground. So, they would not be getting exiled.
You've got to realize that the Germans were starving the Dutch by taking all their food for their own use. The average Dutch person for the last year of the war was getting about about 800 calories a day. So their hate for the Germans was very understandable.
But the one girl they grabbed seemed more like a slut than a German collaborator. I think it’s wrong to do that to a girl who is willing to sleep with anyone. So one of them happened to be German? So what!
The part where the british tank refused to fire was made up. In real life british tanks would fire away in any target (almost) no questions asked. They fictionalized this scene because of the stereotype that british soldoers were always proper and honorable and by the book and the americans were a bunch of crazy but badass yank boys
Forgot "Colonel" is one of those stupid messed up words in English. It is pronounced Kernel. English took the spelling from French and the pronunciation from Italian.
5:10, no, not “show respect.” It’s a unit citation, and SHOULD be worn by all active members of the unit. It is a proper part of his uniform, regardless of his being brand new.
Well done! I'm enjoying all of your reactions and commentary. I feel your apprehension with those female collaborators. However, they made it clear that they willingly did this and collaborated with the Nazis. This is because, in that scene, the man explaining it said that the men "who collaborated" were shot. It was certainly a difficult time for the Dutch who had endured years of harsh and unforgiving Nazi rule.
Im pretty sure it would be against uniform regulations, to not wear the medal, if it was awarded to the company. It wasnt Cobbs buisness to tell the replacements to take it off.
The operation of Market Garden hinged on Infantry taking a string of bridges, that would allow the armor to penetrate into Germany proper. Some bridges were taken easily, while others heavily defended. US Airborne troops took their assigned bridges, but the British Airborne were cut off and destroyed.
Well, yes and no. The 101st's main objective bridge was blown up with the lead elements of the 101st with in 100 yards of it. The 82nd took their bridge at least a full day late. Because Gavin distracted himself with a small ridge to his east. Instead of the time sensitive objective to his W by NW.
@@dirus3142 Years ago, I played a great wargame (paper map and chits) of the operation. I think I played as both the Germans and Allies in different playthroughs. As the Allies it was extremely hard to capture objectives on the timetable. Playing as the Germans you had supply issues.
The British Airborne were given the bridge that was deepest in enemy territory, and thus the most difficult and dangerous one to capture and hold. They captured one end of Arnhem bridge and held it for many days longer than the plan catered for, but the delay in being met by the rest of the (too slowly) advancing allied forces inevitably gave the Germans time to send more troops. Eventually, they were surrounded and ran out of ammunition. Many died or were captured, but a few hundred held out for over two weeks under heavy fire and were eventually able to escape over the river under cover of darkness. A defeat, yes, but 'destroyed' is overstating the situation and belittling their courageous stand.
@dirus3142 The 82nd Airborne didnt even take the Nijmegen bridge. The tanks of the Grenadier Guards took it. It wasn't taken until dusk on the 20th. It should have been already taken when the British tanks arrived on the morning of the 19th. Two days were lost because of it.
So, it's important to understand that when he says, 'they slept with the Germans', he doesn't literally mean 'they had sex with the Germans'. What he means by that is that they were romantic/sexual partners of German occupiers; ie, girlfriends. So these would be women who might just have dated a German soldier but maybe not had sex, but not, say, a woman who had been raped or forced to sleep with a German. Some women also dated Germans and used their access to pass information to the Dutch Resistance; they weren't being dragged and shamed either, rather they were viewed as martyrs and heroes. Essentially the women had picked a side, the side that was occupying, murdering, starving, and disappearing the people they'd grown up with. It isn't pretty, but there would inevitably be consequences for that decision when their side lost.
Hot take: if you sleep with the enemy who invaded your country, its on you. Obviously many women were forced, but theres NO WAY all of them were forced. That's ridiculous to imply. There were also many situations were its grey area, i acknowledge that. A woman catches the eye if an occupying soldier, and shes not interested, but he is, yes i get it. The women who choose to though, thats who i am talking about.
Not in its original outline form of provisional operation SIXTEEN devised by Browning and Montgomery, and approved by Eisenhower. The planning for the final MARKET operation was compromised by USAAF Generals Brereton and Williams to reduce possible aircraft losses, while Browning was willing to accept 33% losses going in if it meant troops were landed closer to their objectives. Gavin compromised his 82nd Airborne divisional plan by discarding a British request to drop a battalion at the north end of the Nijmegen bridge, and assigned the 508th to the critical Nijmegen mission instead of the more aggressive and experienced 505th. It was the 508th's Colonel Lindquist who failed to send his 1st Battalion directly to the bridge after landing, as Gavin had instructed, so this marginal point of failure was at the end of a chain of compromise decisions that were made in the planning and undermined the original concept.
@@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344 - at no point is it an opinion because I haven't told you what I think at all. I have simply presented a number of facts from the current literature that refute your original post and I'm prepared to list a number of sources. Your quote isn't attributed, so as far as I know you said it yourself, and you be wrong for the reasons explained. I'll tell you what I don't think - I don't think the whisky is helping. Sources: Letter General Gavin to US Army Historical Officer Captain Westover (17 July 1945) Notes on meeting with J.M. Gavin, Boston, January 20, 1967 (James Maurice Gavin, Box 101 Folder 10, Cornelius Ryan Collection, Ohio State University) The MARKET GARDEN Campaign: Allied operational command in northwest Europe, 1944 (Roger Cirillo PhD Thesis, 2001 Cranfield University, College of Defence Technology, Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis) Lost At Nijmegen, RG Poulussen (2011) Arnhem: Myth and Reality: Airborne Warfare, Air Power and the Failure of Operation Market Garden, Sebastian Ritchie (2011, revised 2019) September Hope - The American Side of a Bridge Too Far, John C McManus (2012) Put Us Down In Hell - The Combat History of the 508th PIR in WW2, Phil Nordyke (2012) Little Sense Of Urgency - an operation Market Garden fact book, RG Poulussen (2014) Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2, Christer Bergström (2019, 2020)
Strange thing about Market-Garden was its commander Montgomery, famous for being a cautious, careful and calculating leader, pushed all his chips forward on one throw of the dice. The presence of the recuperating 9th and 10th SS Panzer divisions was not anticipated, or worse, ignored. The American Allies were so deparate to use their parachute troops before the war ended they acquiesced.
They new that at least one division of an armored division was in the area. The leadership planning the operation dismissed it as weak, and not a threat, because of ego, and political pressure. The Major Brian Urquhart, who was a staff officer, pushed recon intel with photographs of armor spotted in Arnhem. He was reassigned, or put on leave, due to "fatigue", "stress", or some other BS excuse. His intel was rocking the boat of the plan. No relation to General Urquhart CO of the 1st royal airborne division.
The two SS divisions were not ignored. Montgomery cancelled operation COMET (British and Poles on the Arnhem-Nijmegen-Grave bridges) after he received reports II.SS-Panzerkorps had moved into the Arnhem target area and realised COMET was not strong enough. He and British Airborne Corps commander Browning devised an upgraded operation provisionally called SIXTEEN (15 ops had been cancelled since Normandy) by adding the two American divisions to secure the corridor, so that the British and Polish units could concentrate at Arnhem, and this was approved by Eisenhower. The detailed planning was then turned over to USAAF Generals Brereton and Williams at 1st Allied Airborne Army, and this was where the compromise changes were made for the final MARKET plan. Browning was unable to object to the changes after being politically neutralised by Brereton over the LINNET II affair, in which he had threatened to resign over too short notice to print and distribute maps, and could hardlt threate to resign again. Montgomery wrote after the war he regretted not intervening to insist on troops being landed closer to the objectives, presumably to avoid having another row with the Americans. Brereton and Williams were determined to avoid as many aircraft losses as possible, while Browning had been willing to accept 33% losses if it meant troops could be landed on the objectives. If something doesn't make sense, you have to dig deeper to find the answer, and a lot of historians actually don't do that.
@@dirus3142 - Brian Urquhart's 1967 interview was the only source for this story in Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge Too Far (1974), since Browning had already passed away in 1965 unable to defend himself, and the photo could not be located. When the photo emerged from a Dutch government archive in 2014, it was studied by the RAF and found it indeed showed obsolete tanks, now identified as a training unit, and therefore did not confirm the presence of II.SS-Panzerkorps as many people believe. Browning was right to dismiss the photo. The tanks had broken down after being ordered south on 7 September and were being maintained near Arnhem when caught by reconnaissance Spitfire on 12 September. On 17 September, they had moved to Wolfswinkel near Son, and attempted to fire on the 506th PIR's drop zone, but were shot up by escorting USAAF fighter aircraft. The main reason the 1st Parachute Brigade was part-blocked from entering Arnhem was the location of an SS training unit west of Arnhem (an interesting story in itself) and not associated with II.SS-Panzerkorps. The Korps was known to be in the Netherlands from 'Ultra' decrypts and reports from the Dutch resistance of SS troops billited in the Veluwe and Achterhoek regions. It was known to be in a reduced condition after withdrawal from Normandy, but did react more quickly than anticipated due to having a direct telephone line installed to a local Luftwaffe air warning control centre and its units organised into 'alarm units' that could be mobilised on an hour's warning order - both factors unknown to Allied Intelligence. As a postcript to the Brian Urquhart story, my research indicates that Browning's Airborne Corps HQ did not appear to have all the staff positions filled and it appears he did not have a GSO 1 (Lieutenant Colonel) for Intelligence, and Major Brian Urquhart would have therefore been a GSO 2 grade (Major), which would normally be the assistant intelligence officer. The impression I get is that Urquhart was out of his depth. After the war he joined the Civil Service and was instrumental in helping set up the useless and corrupt United Nations organisation, serving as its first Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs, which I believe is code for peacekeeping operations. As Montgomery wrote after the war, he believed MARKETGARDEN would have succeeded if properly resourced and in spite of the II.SS-Panzerkorps. The original all-British and Polish opertion COMET was cancelled because of the reports on II.SS-Panzerkorps moving into the area and the operation upgraded by adding the American divisions so that the British and Poles could concentrate at Arnhem. British Airborne units had more and heavier anti-tank guns than the US divisions (the US divisions had more field artillery), so the deployment makes sense. The operation did not fail because of II.SS-Panzerkorps, it failed because the Nijmegen bridge was not secured on the first day, and that was the result of a chain of planning compromises made by US officers Brereton-Williams-Gavin-Lindquist, a whole different story to the conventional narrative we got from Cornelius Ryan. Source: Arnhem: The Air Reconnaissance Story, Air Historical Branch (Royal Air Force 2016, 2nd Ed 2019)
The spade denoted the 506th Regiment. There would be a tick mark in the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions to denote Regiment HQ, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions respectively. The other card suits denoted the other infantry regiments and a circle for the divisional artillery. This system was unique to the 101st Airborne, or at least it was not replicated in the 82nd Airborne.
When Bull is having the shrapnel taken out it always reminds me of when I had a 3 and half inch hole in my shin and the docs were rooting round in it, It's a weird feeling looking at your own shin bone 😂
great reactions, disgusting portrayal of what went wrong with operation Market Garden - British Armoured did exactly what they were required to, 101 Airborne commander did not.
Not true at all. This is one of many Arnhem myths. Most of the 1st Battalion failed to arrive because their serial was the only one that received a radio recall message due to bad weather. The others made the drop and casualties from enemy fire were light. On the contrary, they jumped into an area that was in the rear of a German defence line at Elst and it caused panic in the German command, having to scramble reserves from third rate units in order to construct a new defence line along the railway line from Oosterbeek to Elst against this new threat - they thought the Poles were dropped there to attack the Arnhem bridge.
If you watch this episode again pay attention and look for a round little old man sitting at a table in the Dutch village where they were having the street party. He's wearing a flat cap, waving an orange flag and. If I remember correctly, drinking a beer. That's the one and only Babe Heffron! In the flesh!!
@laurathornton1456 it's just basic decency to not spoil the show for first time viewers. But then again, not everyone actually possesses decency. Why not name all survivors while you're at it
Unfortunately this episode skews and somewhat belittles the British tank unit. It's portrayed as kind of clueless and useless. In fact the 44th Royal Tank Regiment was a vastly more battle hardened and experienced than the 101st Airborne was. The days fighting was actually a success for the British tanks and American paras. They pushed German Panzer Brigade 107 away from being a threat to the Eindhoven sector. Job done. You wouldn't know it by watching this episode.
The "resistance," in German occupied countries of Western Europe was insignificant. The joke about the "resistance," was that when the war ended everyone was in the resistance. In truth most people collaborated or just held their head down. Most people in Europe squealed on their Jewish neighbors, especially in France. "The resistance," cry was just a way to salve their conscience after the war.
More to it than that. The Dutch was the most organized, and effective resistance movement in the war. Some countries like Hungary tried their best to resist Nazi demands to deport their Jewish population. Hungary put up political obstacles until the last year of the war. Then push came to shove and the Germans have tanks, with military control of your country. The WW2 channel's War on Humanity series breaks it down very well. However more to your point, the French underground was a fucking mess. It was never one unified resistance movement. Rather a collection of different factions of different ideologies. Most of them corrupt, and made up of different kinds of Marxists. They fought each other, and betrayed each other to the Nazis as much as resisting the Nazis. That is why Britain stopped supporting them by 44, and did not trust any resistance movement in other occupied countries. The pretty national hero depiction of the French resistance comes after the war. De Gaulle, and others helped create the national myth in order to give the nation a hero, and restore French identity.
He wasn't color blind. Or if he had been the two lights are in different positions. He was going to have his eyes closed, but he didn't want to admit that.
Even though I didn't vote for him, but I have to apologize for our President Biden cutting off the ammo. He's saying he supports your country as he says he's cutting off the ammo. That's some serious doublespeak.
As usual beyond dramatic when women are having their haircut 😂 shaking and can't look at women getting their haircut off.. oh boy.. and probably the least scary part I can think of and they are scared out of their minds. Can't make this stuff up.
A fact about Captain Sobel. He also Parachuted into Normandy on D-Day as a member of Headquarters Company. He won the Bronze Star for destroying a German Machine Gun nest with Grenades.
He may have been Spiteful and not a good Combat Leader but he wasn’t a Coward and several Easy Company Veterans admitted that his training helped make them tougher Soldiers.
@@justsomeguy5061 Small point. He EARNED a Bronze Star Medal. It's not a door prize at a cake walk...
Ranks that frequently appear in the show: Colonel: Aluf Mishne. Major: Rav Seren. Captain: Seren. Lieutenant: Segen. 2nd Lieutenant: Segen Mishne. 1st Sergeant: Samal Rishon. Sergeant: Samal. Corporal: Rav Turai. Private: Turai.
The Spade on the side of their helmets meant that they were part of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Different suits, different regiments...
The 101st Airborne Division had 4regiments, 3 parachute and 1 glider, so one each for spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds.
@@johncarr7452Yep. 506th Spades.
502nd Hearts. 501st Diamonds. 327th Glider Clubs.
There was also a circle for Division artillery, and a square for Division Headquarters.
There was also a circle for Division artillery, and a square for Division Headquarters.
The little boy eating chocolate for the first time is one of my favorite scenes in the whole show.
It's even more ironic since the Dutch are renowned for great chocolate. During the war, they couldn't get the cocoa from the Dutch Indies, so the manufacturing stopped.
Agreed. It's also one of the main reasons I like Webster best.
They picked the cutest kid ever. And WTF is up with a kid in Holland never having chocolate??
A little light in so much Darkness, it really is one of the best scenes of the show.
@@krisfrederick5001 read the comment above
In terms of the girl who was just staring at Bull, she just watched him kill a man in one of the most brutal ways possible, and in all likelihood that is probably the first time she's seen a man killed first hand. that girl is scarred for life. Doesn't matter if it was allies or axis, you don't forget something like that.
The portrayal of Cobb is always interesting to me. He comes off as a complete Asshat bc of his antics. But once you realize it was probably PTSD. It becomes more understandable. Cobb was the only member of Easy to have prior combat experience. He fought in North Africa and survived his transport back being sunk by UBoats (Nazi Submarines). He was also the one who was hit by shrapnel on DDay. He was the one that Lipton told "You are not jumping" in the show.
"Quit looking at me like that! Am I alright??" Is one of my favorite moments in the series. Between Winters and Nix, the care is there in the relationship. Not bad for Nix, with bullet holes in his helmet, having never fired his weapon in combat...
Remember, those helmets were not "ballistic" in any modern sense of the word, they were just stamped steel - a direct shot would probably go right through and kill you. They really came from WW1 where a massive number of casualties early on were because troops were going into battle with cloth hats - in an artillery heavy battle - and a lot were injured by flying debris kicked up by shelling, thus they later introduced steel helmets to provide some head trauma protection. They weren't meant to stop bullets, but they could protect you from a glancing shot.
@@captainz9 If the velocity of the bullet was low enough, a direct penetrating shot - which would otherwise bore through your head - could often be deflected and literally curve around the inside face of the helmet., like a bowling ball with a spin on it. There are a number of instances of this happening. Definitely not a design feature, just a happy accident of the physics.
@@captainz9in fact, the bullet DID go straight through the front of his helmet, passed by close enough to leave a burn mark on his forehead (but not break skin), and exit the side of his helmet.
A Unit Citation (what the replacement guy was wearing) in a unit citation, not a individual one. Everyone assigned to that unit is required to wear it. It doesn't matter if you were there or not. If the unit was awarded that citation in the First World War, people assign to that unit today would be required to wear it. Citations are for a unit, medals are individual awards.
"Bull" Randleman's real first name was Denver.
The orange is the national color of the Netherlands, friendly jester. Great reaction Alaya was nervous. Yes that is Buck in an upcoming episode.
One of the best things about BoB is the number of analysis videos available on CZcams. There is a video about the markings on their helmets and about all of the significant battles depicted in the show.
There is a great movie with an all star cast called "A Bridge Too Far" that is about Operation MarketGarden. Worth a watch.
It's a far better representation of the 101st's part in the operation that this episode. I love this series. But this is the weakest for characterizing campaigns Easy co. has participated in.
@@dirus3142 - the other way around. A Bridge Too Far is exactly 50% historically accurate based on screen time after I broke down the film scene by scene and compared with the book, which in itself is incomplete and does not tell the full story, and then added up all the timings. About 40% is altered narrative to suit the director's politics or to get certain actors on board (for example, James Caan was offered the Captain's role and chose the Sergeant Dohun character instead, so the characters were reversed to accommodate him). About 10% is just made up, including the whole of Robert Redford's performance after the river crossing - the real Julian Cook was embarrassed by it, because he probably didn't even fire his rifle, and like Dick Winters in the attack on Foy - battalion commanders do not get involved in leading company attacks, they should be running their battalions from their command posts.
This episode of Band of Brothers I have not broken down in such a detailed way, but being familiar with the true story I estimate it to be about 80% accurate, maybe 70% at worst, allowing for the fact the battle at Nuenen was actully two engagements conflated into one (A Bridge Too Far does a lot of that as well) and the German vehicles are nearly all wrong for a panzerbrigade and re-used the same mix of available runners in the UK seen in Carentan and other episodes. The following episode Crossroads is even better, thanks to Dick Winter's War and Peace edition AAR on the 5 October incident that virtually writes the script for them, and I would give that a 90%, again - estimated without breaking it down.
I really like your reactions. You guys are very observant and thoughtful. Edit: I also think you bring a fresh and important perspective that many people don't have when watching these type of shows. Thank you for sharing it.
@Siblings. The Orange banners and flags in Holland are for the "House of Orange" - the Royal Dutch family.
The spade on the helmet is one of four symbols to signify each Infantry regiment in the 101st Airborne - with the other three ♥️,♣️, and♦️. The ♠️ was specific to the 506th Infantry Regiment, which was commanded by Col Sink (the old guy in the show)
This episode is about "Operation Market Garden". A failed attack to get into Germany. There were SS Divisions that no one knew about, on rest, from the Eastern front. Yeah, war isn't so good spirited Ayala, but this series is about the bond and memories that builds between soldiers that is unbreakable. M-4 Sherman tanks were American made tanks that were given to all allied countries. After the war, they even served with the IDF. The people who served in this war were a special breed of people. Tough but still the best of what America had to offer. Their average age was 19.
The aim of MARKET GARDEN was to establish a Rhine bridgehead for British 2nd Army in the Netherlands. Any advance into Germany would be a subsequent operation. The SS divisions were known to be there - withdrawn from Normandy, not the eastern Front - and were the reason the original all-British airborne operation COMET was cancelled and replaced with the upgraded operation MARKET by adding the two American divisions. The reason the operation failed was a failure to secure the highway bridge at Nijmegen on the first day, while it was still undefended - the result of a miscommunication between the 82nd Division and 508th Regiment commanders, which allowed the 10.SS-Panzer-Division to move into the city and reinforce the bridges.
The biggest problem with this episode was that this battle at Nuenen is a conflation of two engagements on two days (Stephen Ambrose even got the date wrong in his book), and was a flank reconnaissance in force to open the way for another Army Corps to begin their advance, but this is never explained in order to keep things simple for the audience and the script makes references to MARKET GARDEN (including Nixon's comment at the end) that had nothing to do with what Easy Company were doing that day. The mission at Nuenen was actually successful in its aim, as the unit they were up against - Panzerbrigade 107 - were persuaded to withdraw before they got cut off.
Just some info on Winters (the guy who didn’t get his helmet shot off) and Nixon (the guy who did). Winters came from a poor family and needed to work his way through college. Nixon came from a rich family and attended Yale for two years before leaving to enlist in the Army (this will become a minor point in a future episode). Winters was a monkish introvert who read all the infantry manuals he could get his hands on. Nixon was a party animal who loved to drink. Winters was a field commander, while Nixon was in Intelligence, which meant that he helped translate the data received from the field into information that people could use. The pair met up during Officer Candidate School, and their friendship started from there.
The reason the farmer's daughter was looking at Bull like that was likely because she had never witnessed violence and death firsthand before. I'm guessing her look was a mixture of gratitude for protecting them and terror at being so close to someone capable of such brutality.
It is, indeed, Buck you see in the opening. He goes through some sh*t. And though this one was quite jarring, don't worry. I promise you... they get even more jarring from here. Trust me - worrying doesn't help 😊
Your English skills are so good that people assume you know all the terms and ranks...
I am so glad I found your channel. Anne Frank was Dutch. The Germans were very hard on the Dutch, so the Dutch resistance had very little tolerance for those who collaborated with the Germans.
The unit--the 101 AB---was granted a unit citation for their excellence on D-day. All members of the unit from then on (right up to today) are entitled to wear it. As for the mission, the American paratroopers (the 101 and 82'd) liberated two Dutch cities (Nijmegen and Eindhoven) and achieved their objectives. The operation failed up the road at Arnhem, where the British 1st Airborne were severely out classed and lost 8,000 troopers. Arnhem was the bridge over the Rhine, and thus "Operation Market Garden" didn't work.
Absolute garbage. The 82nd and 101st had bridges blown up in their faces on the Wilhelmina and Maas-Waal canals, and failed to send a battalion to the Nijmegen highway bridge on the first day as the 82nd Division commander Gavin instructed due to a command failure in the 508th Regiment, which compromised the whole operation.
The British 1st Airborne succeeded in holding the Arnhem bridge for four days - the objective of the division, as Browning had promised Montgomery. All the more remarkable since a single battalion battlegroup with some supporting units carried out the mission assigned to the whole division, and while British airborne doctrine was that an airborne division should be able to operate independently for up to eight days with adequate air resupply, the 1st Airborne at Oosterbeek held out for nine days with most of their supplies falling to the Germans. The Germans were completely outclassed, including the SS units that had fought in Ukraine and in Normandy.
at the @10:45 mark, the Lt that got shot in the neck was Robert Brewer. He survived and went on to work in the CIA after the war. This is never touched up on in the show.
Quick rank break down: Second Lieutenant, new officer, Lieutenant next up, Captain highest rank for field officer. Major, rank above Captain. Colnels and Generals are ranks over Major.
Thanks!!
Yeah, the person in the opening intro taking his helmet of is Buck.
Thanks again for reacting. You two are sharp and don't miss much, if anything. Looking forward to the next one.
You always brighten up my day with your videos. Keep up the great work.
Thanks! Happy to hear that 😍
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Market Garden could have ended the war earlier but it was the kind of operation where everything had to go exactly right or the whole thing would fail, and things started to go wrong even before it kicked off.
As the saying goes, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
I think it was horribly ill conceived. It left their whole flank exposed for dozens of miles, that's a big no-no in military planning. Eisenhower should've never gone with Montgomery's plan. They actually took fuel from Patton for Market-Garden, and Patton was making good progress until the lack of fuel stopped his advance.
Market Garden could never have ended the war, nor was it even intended to.
Even had Market Garden suceeded it still needed the American armies to its south to advance and pull level, so that all armies would then advance across Germany together.
However, as we know, the US 1st Army under Hodges to the south failed to get much beyond Aachen and also got itself bogged down in the Hurtgen Forest, while even further to the south the US 3rd Army under Patton couldn't take Metz and failed to get across the Lorraine.
@Anon54387
Myth. Patton was already stalled in the Lorraine and couldn't even take Metz. Market Garden was a far better and more sound idea than going into the Hurtgen Forest, butting heads against Metz or trying to get across the Vosges.
Eisenhower's broad front strategy was a complete failure all through autumn 1944. Eisenhower should have gone with Montgomery's proposal that all allied armies should stick together as one massive force, concentrated in the north and smashing towards the Ruhr. Instead Eisenhower insisted on weakening and dispersing all armies across a 500km wide frontage and this got next to nowhere for six months, and even suffered a retreat in the Ardennes.
Winters: "Never put yourself in a position to take from these men"
Buck: "Alright...I'll throw left handed then..." 🎯😉
Winters was talking about privates not NVO's
@Siblings. Those "old men and boys" were actually two entire SS Waffen Armoured divisions (100 000 men / most of whom were veterans from the Eastern Front). They hade been sent to Holland to Rest, recuparate and reconnstitute their number with fresh German units.
Both divisions has been badly depleted in Normandy and during the subsequent retreat through the Falaise Gap. By the time of Market Garden, both divisions had been downgraded to battle group status Together, they had no more than 10,000 troops left. Of course, they weren't the only Germans fighting.
No, the old men and boys were accurate descriptions for two battalions known to be based at Arnhem.
The "old men" were Sicherungs-Infanterie-Bataillon 908, a security unit of WW1 logistics troops deemed unfit for combat dutes in 1914-18. They had companies on the Ijssel bridges at Doesburg and Westervoort, and two companies defending Deelen airfield. They probably also supplied the 25-man Arnhem bridge guard, as they were described in some sources as WW1 veterans as well.
The boys" were a couple of hundred Hitler Youth recruits finishing up their training as replacements for the 12.SS-Panzer-Division 'Hitlerjugend' with SS-Panzergrenadier-Ausbildungs-und-Ersatz-Bataillon 16 based in Arnhem. The SS training units had to be shared by the divisions and this unit had changed its designation the previous month from '12' to '16', as it was expecting 1,600 new recruits to arrive from Germany to train for 16.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 'Reichsführer-SS'. When Model established his new Army Group B headquarters in Oosterbeek, the battalion commander Sepp Krafft moved his two training companies out of their Arnhem barracks, where they escaped the preliminary bombing, to the woods north of Oosterbeek as additional protection for Model - unfortunately right next to the British landing zones.
Intelligence were also aware that the Wolfheze psychiatric hospital, in the middle of the British landing zones, hosted an artillery troops collection centre with an accurate 400 troops housed there, as well as providing accommodation for senior Luftwaffe officers and female auxiliaries from 3.Jagd-Division at Deelen airfield - the reason the hospital was bombed on the morning of the operation.
The two SS-Panzer-Divisions, the 9.'Hohenstaufen' and 10.'Frundsberg', were much reduced by the fighting in Normandy to regimental battlegroups assessed at 3,000-3,500 men each and with few if any tanks. The 9.'Hohenstaufen' were in the process of entraining for Siegen in Germany for refit and had handed most of their heavy equipment to the Frundsberg, which had deployed a battlegroup to the front line on the Belgian border and its tank destroyer battalion detached to 7.Armee at Aachen. They were headquartered at Beekbergen and Ruurlo in the Veluwe and Achterhoek regions - west and east bank of the river Ijssel respectively.
Details are important if you're not going to present a false impression of the facts.
MARKET GARDEN failed because 82nd Airborne missed a bridge at Nijmegen on the first day due to a command failure in the 508th Regiment, allowing 10.SS-Panzer-Division to occupy the deserted city and reinforce the bridges. The British Airborne at Arnhem secured the bridge and held it for four days, all in vain due to the delays at Nijmegen.
Card suits (diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs) on each side of the helmet denoted the regiment to which a soldier belonged. The only exception was the 187th which was added to the division later. Divisional headquarters and support units were denoted by the use of a square and divisional artillery by a circle. According to the wiki page on the 101st - These insignia were first seen in World War II, and can still be seen on 101st Division soldiers today.
327th: Clubs (♣) (Currently worn by the 1st Brigade Combat Team; depicted in the 1949 film Battleground)
501st: Diamonds (♦) (Currently 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment is part of the 2nd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division in Alaska.) (The diamond is currently used by both 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade)
502nd: Hearts (♥) (Currently worn by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team)
506th: Spades (♠) (Formerly worn by 4th Brigade Combat Team before their deactivation in 2014; depicted in the mini-series Band of Brothers; currently worn by 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment)
187th: Torii () (Currently worn by the 3rd Brigade Combat Team; not during World War II, when the 187th Infantry Regiment was part of the 11th Airborne Division.)
The holland jump was peaceful, however due to the small area of the drop, there were people that for injured due to falling equipment.
The spades on their helmets identifies them as members of the 506th Regiment. A different suit of cards for each of the 4 Regiments of the 101st Airborne Division: 327th - Clubs; 501st - Diamonds; 502nd - Hearts; 506th - Spades.
As for the haircutting scene. There were people from many countries that supported the Nazi cause. In the Waffen SS, there were 39 divisions. Only 15 of those divisions were German. The 23rd SS division was Dutch. (the 23rd was called "Nederland") And yes, in the opening credits, the person dropping the helmet is Buck.
The tri-color is the national flag. Orange is the color of the royal family.
Remember they were under British command for this one so they took their lead. This was a failed mission and the Americans were not real happy about it. That girl in the barn was just traumatized, when you witness the brutality of war it sometimes shakes people. Yes the guy in the opening credits was a very shaken Buck Compton, and your sister does have better face recognition, but you sir understand combat tactics, ranks etc very well! Keep an eye on Lt. Winters rank as we go.
MARKET was compromised in the planning by USAAF Generals Brereton and Williams in deleting a double airlift and glider coup de main raids on the key bridges, and the 82nd Airborne divisional plan by its commander General Gavin at Nijmegen by discarding a British request to drop a battalion on the north end of the bridge and assigning the problematic 508th PIR to the critical mission. The operational compromise on the day was made by Colonel Lindquist of the 508th, who failed to follow Gavin's instruction to send his 1st Battalion directly to the bridge after landing.
So it's disingenuous to say the lead was all British - it was undermined by American commanders.
Unit Citations are given if you're assigned to the unit during a certain time period, you are eligible to wear them. He might have taken it off but he didnt have too. It could be as short as a single day. I have one where the issuance was for a 2 day period.
About the Dutch women, I realize that this argument has two facets, but no-one knows what got passed in pillow talk. Information could have been passed to either side.
French women collaborators got the same treatment. I don't know about the rest of Europe.
very true. However the woman who were spying on the Germans using a romantic relationship would be part of the underground. So, they would not be getting exiled.
You've got to realize that the Germans were starving the Dutch by taking all their food for their own use. The average Dutch person for the last year of the war was getting about about 800 calories a day. So their hate for the Germans was very understandable.
But the one girl they grabbed seemed more like a slut than a German collaborator. I think it’s wrong to do that to a girl who is willing to sleep with anyone. So one of them happened to be German? So what!
The part where the british tank refused to fire was made up. In real life british tanks would fire away in any target (almost) no questions asked. They fictionalized this scene because of the stereotype that british soldoers were always proper and honorable and by the book and the americans were a bunch of crazy but badass yank boys
Forgot "Colonel" is one of those stupid messed up words in English. It is pronounced Kernel. English took the spelling from French and the pronunciation from Italian.
I Love your Reactions, Please Keep it Up
5:10, no, not “show respect.” It’s a unit citation, and SHOULD be worn by all active members of the unit. It is a proper part of his uniform, regardless of his being brand new.
we need a hacksaw ridge reaction
Well done! I'm enjoying all of your reactions and commentary. I feel your apprehension with those female collaborators. However, they made it clear that they willingly did this and collaborated with the Nazis. This is because, in that scene, the man explaining it said that the men "who collaborated" were shot. It was certainly a difficult time for the Dutch who had endured years of harsh and unforgiving Nazi rule.
Im pretty sure it would be against uniform regulations, to not wear the medal, if it was awarded to the company. It wasnt Cobbs buisness to tell the replacements to take it off.
101st Airborne Division regimental recognition symbols: 506th spades, 502nd hearts, 501st diamonds and 327th clubs.
Some German soldiers went on dates into the Dutch forest ... and never came back ;-)
Great video as usual.
Thanks!!🥰
Yes, that is Buck in the into.
The operation of Market Garden hinged on Infantry taking a string of bridges, that would allow the armor to penetrate into Germany proper. Some bridges were taken easily, while others heavily defended. US Airborne troops took their assigned bridges, but the British Airborne were cut off and destroyed.
Well, yes and no. The 101st's main objective bridge was blown up with the lead elements of the 101st with in 100 yards of it. The 82nd took their bridge at least a full day late. Because Gavin distracted himself with a small ridge to his east. Instead of the time sensitive objective to his W by NW.
@@dirus3142 Years ago, I played a great wargame (paper map and chits) of the operation. I think I played as both the Germans and Allies in different playthroughs. As the Allies it was extremely hard to capture objectives on the timetable. Playing as the Germans you had supply issues.
The British Airborne were given the bridge that was deepest in enemy territory, and thus the most difficult and dangerous one to capture and hold. They captured one end of Arnhem bridge and held it for many days longer than the plan catered for, but the delay in being met by the rest of the (too slowly) advancing allied forces inevitably gave the Germans time to send more troops. Eventually, they were surrounded and ran out of ammunition. Many died or were captured, but a few hundred held out for over two weeks under heavy fire and were eventually able to escape over the river under cover of darkness. A defeat, yes, but 'destroyed' is overstating the situation and belittling their courageous stand.
@dirus3142
The 82nd Airborne didnt even take the Nijmegen bridge. The tanks of the Grenadier Guards took it. It wasn't taken until dusk on the 20th. It should have been already taken when the British tanks arrived on the morning of the 19th. Two days were lost because of it.
So, it's important to understand that when he says, 'they slept with the Germans', he doesn't literally mean 'they had sex with the Germans'. What he means by that is that they were romantic/sexual partners of German occupiers; ie, girlfriends. So these would be women who might just have dated a German soldier but maybe not had sex, but not, say, a woman who had been raped or forced to sleep with a German. Some women also dated Germans and used their access to pass information to the Dutch Resistance; they weren't being dragged and shamed either, rather they were viewed as martyrs and heroes. Essentially the women had picked a side, the side that was occupying, murdering, starving, and disappearing the people they'd grown up with. It isn't pretty, but there would inevitably be consequences for that decision when their side lost.
If you haven´t seen Black book (zwart boek) it´s worth watching. It´s a dutch movie about the dutch resistance including above mentioned topic.
Hot take: if you sleep with the enemy who invaded your country, its on you. Obviously many women were forced, but theres NO WAY all of them were forced. That's ridiculous to imply. There were also many situations were its grey area, i acknowledge that. A woman catches the eye if an occupying soldier, and shes not interested, but he is, yes i get it. The women who choose to though, thats who i am talking about.
Market- Garden was a decent plan but its success depended on everything proceeding correctly.
Not in its original outline form of provisional operation SIXTEEN devised by Browning and Montgomery, and approved by Eisenhower. The planning for the final MARKET operation was compromised by USAAF Generals Brereton and Williams to reduce possible aircraft losses, while Browning was willing to accept 33% losses going in if it meant troops were landed closer to their objectives. Gavin compromised his 82nd Airborne divisional plan by discarding a British request to drop a battalion at the north end of the Nijmegen bridge, and assigned the 508th to the critical Nijmegen mission instead of the more aggressive and experienced 505th. It was the 508th's Colonel Lindquist who failed to send his 1st Battalion directly to the bridge after landing, as Gavin had instructed, so this marginal point of failure was at the end of a chain of compromise decisions that were made in the planning and undermined the original concept.
@@davemac1197 "That's just your opinion, man."
@@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344 - I haven't expressed an opinion.
@@davemac1197 Two thoughts. It was an opinion, and you didn't get the reference (or did you).
@@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344 - at no point is it an opinion because I haven't told you what I think at all. I have simply presented a number of facts from the current literature that refute your original post and I'm prepared to list a number of sources. Your quote isn't attributed, so as far as I know you said it yourself, and you be wrong for the reasons explained. I'll tell you what I don't think - I don't think the whisky is helping.
Sources:
Letter General Gavin to US Army Historical Officer Captain Westover (17 July 1945)
Notes on meeting with J.M. Gavin, Boston, January 20, 1967 (James Maurice Gavin, Box 101 Folder 10, Cornelius Ryan Collection, Ohio State University)
The MARKET GARDEN Campaign: Allied operational command in northwest Europe, 1944 (Roger Cirillo PhD Thesis, 2001 Cranfield University, College of Defence Technology, Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis)
Lost At Nijmegen, RG Poulussen (2011)
Arnhem: Myth and Reality: Airborne Warfare, Air Power and the Failure of Operation Market Garden, Sebastian Ritchie (2011, revised 2019)
September Hope - The American Side of a Bridge Too Far, John C McManus (2012)
Put Us Down In Hell - The Combat History of the 508th PIR in WW2, Phil Nordyke (2012)
Little Sense Of Urgency - an operation Market Garden fact book, RG Poulussen (2014)
Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2, Christer Bergström (2019, 2020)
Strange thing about Market-Garden was its commander Montgomery, famous for being a cautious, careful and calculating leader, pushed all his chips forward on one throw of the dice. The presence of the recuperating 9th and 10th SS Panzer divisions was not anticipated, or worse, ignored. The American Allies were so deparate to use their parachute troops before the war ended they acquiesced.
They new that at least one division of an armored division was in the area. The leadership planning the operation dismissed it as weak, and not a threat, because of ego, and political pressure. The Major Brian Urquhart, who was a staff officer, pushed recon intel with photographs of armor spotted in Arnhem. He was reassigned, or put on leave, due to "fatigue", "stress", or some other BS excuse. His intel was rocking the boat of the plan. No relation to General Urquhart CO of the 1st royal airborne division.
The two SS divisions were not ignored. Montgomery cancelled operation COMET (British and Poles on the Arnhem-Nijmegen-Grave bridges) after he received reports II.SS-Panzerkorps had moved into the Arnhem target area and realised COMET was not strong enough. He and British Airborne Corps commander Browning devised an upgraded operation provisionally called SIXTEEN (15 ops had been cancelled since Normandy) by adding the two American divisions to secure the corridor, so that the British and Polish units could concentrate at Arnhem, and this was approved by Eisenhower. The detailed planning was then turned over to USAAF Generals Brereton and Williams at 1st Allied Airborne Army, and this was where the compromise changes were made for the final MARKET plan.
Browning was unable to object to the changes after being politically neutralised by Brereton over the LINNET II affair, in which he had threatened to resign over too short notice to print and distribute maps, and could hardlt threate to resign again. Montgomery wrote after the war he regretted not intervening to insist on troops being landed closer to the objectives, presumably to avoid having another row with the Americans. Brereton and Williams were determined to avoid as many aircraft losses as possible, while Browning had been willing to accept 33% losses if it meant troops could be landed on the objectives.
If something doesn't make sense, you have to dig deeper to find the answer, and a lot of historians actually don't do that.
@@dirus3142 - Brian Urquhart's 1967 interview was the only source for this story in Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge Too Far (1974), since Browning had already passed away in 1965 unable to defend himself, and the photo could not be located. When the photo emerged from a Dutch government archive in 2014, it was studied by the RAF and found it indeed showed obsolete tanks, now identified as a training unit, and therefore did not confirm the presence of II.SS-Panzerkorps as many people believe. Browning was right to dismiss the photo. The tanks had broken down after being ordered south on 7 September and were being maintained near Arnhem when caught by reconnaissance Spitfire on 12 September. On 17 September, they had moved to Wolfswinkel near Son, and attempted to fire on the 506th PIR's drop zone, but were shot up by escorting USAAF fighter aircraft.
The main reason the 1st Parachute Brigade was part-blocked from entering Arnhem was the location of an SS training unit west of Arnhem (an interesting story in itself) and not associated with II.SS-Panzerkorps. The Korps was known to be in the Netherlands from 'Ultra' decrypts and reports from the Dutch resistance of SS troops billited in the Veluwe and Achterhoek regions. It was known to be in a reduced condition after withdrawal from Normandy, but did react more quickly than anticipated due to having a direct telephone line installed to a local Luftwaffe air warning control centre and its units organised into 'alarm units' that could be mobilised on an hour's warning order - both factors unknown to Allied Intelligence.
As a postcript to the Brian Urquhart story, my research indicates that Browning's Airborne Corps HQ did not appear to have all the staff positions filled and it appears he did not have a GSO 1 (Lieutenant Colonel) for Intelligence, and Major Brian Urquhart would have therefore been a GSO 2 grade (Major), which would normally be the assistant intelligence officer. The impression I get is that Urquhart was out of his depth. After the war he joined the Civil Service and was instrumental in helping set up the useless and corrupt United Nations organisation, serving as its first Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs, which I believe is code for peacekeeping operations.
As Montgomery wrote after the war, he believed MARKETGARDEN would have succeeded if properly resourced and in spite of the II.SS-Panzerkorps. The original all-British and Polish opertion COMET was cancelled because of the reports on II.SS-Panzerkorps moving into the area and the operation upgraded by adding the American divisions so that the British and Poles could concentrate at Arnhem. British Airborne units had more and heavier anti-tank guns than the US divisions (the US divisions had more field artillery), so the deployment makes sense. The operation did not fail because of II.SS-Panzerkorps, it failed because the Nijmegen bridge was not secured on the first day, and that was the result of a chain of planning compromises made by US officers Brereton-Williams-Gavin-Lindquist, a whole different story to the conventional narrative we got from Cornelius Ryan.
Source:
Arnhem: The Air Reconnaissance Story, Air Historical Branch (Royal Air Force 2016, 2nd Ed 2019)
If it is like our Civil War, the spade on the helmut denotes the Corps to which they belong.
The spade denoted the 506th Regiment. There would be a tick mark in the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions to denote Regiment HQ, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions respectively. The other card suits denoted the other infantry regiments and a circle for the divisional artillery. This system was unique to the 101st Airborne, or at least it was not replicated in the 82nd Airborne.
They did choose to collaborate with the Germans. Other Dutch chose not to collaborate.
When Bull is having the shrapnel taken out it always reminds me of when I had a 3 and half inch hole in my shin and the docs were rooting round in it, It's a weird feeling looking at your own shin bone 😂
No, no, no. You don't remove a ribbon for a Unit Citation. It's part of the uniform.
Hi guys I'd like to recommend the 1970s itv British documentary series The World at War narrated by Sir Lawrance Olivier.❤ your vids.👍🇬🇧
great reactions, disgusting portrayal of what went wrong with operation Market Garden - British Armoured did exactly what they were required to, 101 Airborne commander did not.
Why would that lieutenant walk way out front like that? Lack of experience, histrionics, having watched too many war movies.
Sister .. is pretty cool ... cute
The Polish volunteer drop zone was hot ... the Germans massacred them.
Not true at all. This is one of many Arnhem myths. Most of the 1st Battalion failed to arrive because their serial was the only one that received a radio recall message due to bad weather. The others made the drop and casualties from enemy fire were light. On the contrary, they jumped into an area that was in the rear of a German defence line at Elst and it caused panic in the German command, having to scramble reserves from third rate units in order to construct a new defence line along the railway line from Oosterbeek to Elst against this new threat - they thought the Poles were dropped there to attack the Arnhem bridge.
If you watch this episode again pay attention and look for a round little old man sitting at a table in the Dutch village where they were having the street party. He's wearing a flat cap, waving an orange flag and. If I remember correctly, drinking a beer. That's the one and only Babe Heffron! In the flesh!!
Any particular reason you decided to spoil that to them? They're just one episode ahead on Patreon..
@@FrenchieQc and who elected you the spoiler police? It isn't like it's a national secret!
@laurathornton1456 it's just basic decency to not spoil the show for first time viewers. But then again, not everyone actually possesses decency. Why not name all survivors while you're at it
OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, IT'S BUCK!!! 🙄
Point-Ron.
Unfortunately this episode skews and somewhat belittles the British tank unit. It's portrayed as kind of clueless and useless. In fact the 44th Royal Tank Regiment was a vastly more battle hardened and experienced than the 101st Airborne was. The days fighting was actually a success for the British tanks and American paras. They pushed German Panzer Brigade 107 away from being a threat to the Eindhoven sector. Job done. You wouldn't know it by watching this episode.
It gets more jarring before it gets better. Hang on.
OOF OOF OOF OOF
The "resistance," in German occupied countries of Western Europe was insignificant. The joke about the "resistance," was that when the war ended everyone was in the resistance. In truth most people collaborated or just held their head down. Most people in Europe squealed on their Jewish neighbors, especially in France. "The resistance," cry was just a way to salve their conscience after the war.
More to it than that. The Dutch was the most organized, and effective resistance movement in the war. Some countries like Hungary tried their best to resist Nazi demands to deport their Jewish population. Hungary put up political obstacles until the last year of the war. Then push came to shove and the Germans have tanks, with military control of your country. The WW2 channel's War on Humanity series breaks it down very well.
However more to your point, the French underground was a fucking mess. It was never one unified resistance movement. Rather a collection of different factions of different ideologies. Most of them corrupt, and made up of different kinds of Marxists. They fought each other, and betrayed each other to the Nazis as much as resisting the Nazis. That is why Britain stopped supporting them by 44, and did not trust any resistance movement in other occupied countries. The pretty national hero depiction of the French resistance comes after the war. De Gaulle, and others helped create the national myth in order to give the nation a hero, and restore French identity.
@@dirus3142 I agree.
Poppycock.
He wasn't color blind. Or if he had been the two lights are in different positions. He was going to have his eyes closed, but he didn't want to admit that.
we didn't read it fast enough. Uhhh, have you ever heard of a Pause button?
Haha, we did read it after, don't worry 😉
@@thosesiblingss ... Well, that's cool that you did, it would have been nice to see your reaction to that though. Those numbers were horrific.
Even though I didn't vote for him, but I have to apologize for our President Biden cutting off the ammo. He's saying he supports your country as he says he's cutting off the ammo. That's some serious doublespeak.
As usual beyond dramatic when women are having their haircut 😂 shaking and can't look at women getting their haircut off.. oh boy.. and probably the least scary part I can think of and they are scared out of their minds. Can't make this stuff up.
It WAS their choice and it wasn't just sleeping with Germans. It was collaboration which is much much worse.
Of course they are young..!? Who the hell do you think fights in wars? Old men and females? Come on now..