The Battle of Crete 1941 / Part 1 - Prelude

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  • čas přidán 18. 05. 2021
  • The story of one of the strangest and fiercest battles of World War II. The German airborne assault on the Greek island of Crete. On May 20th, 1941, thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky. On the ground, thousands of Commonwealth and Greek troops waited for them. The battle will rage for the next ten days. This video covers the German plan of attack, as well as the plan of the Allied defence.
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    Battle of Crete Part 2: • The Battle of Crete 19...
    Battle of Crete Part 3: • The Battle of Crete 19...
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    #worldwartwo #militaryhistory #ww2 #battleofcrete

Komentáře • 26

  • @scotttyson8661
    @scotttyson8661 Před rokem +1

    Gen.Studant was brilliant for dropped like that

  • @richardc7721
    @richardc7721 Před 2 lety +3

    The Commonwealth Command had 6 months to prepare the island but
    Fried brain chose to do almost nothing. He had been told of the day, the hour and the plan of attack the Germans would used by British codebreakers. Yet he chose not to share any of the information to his staff or anyone else.
    On the morning of the airborne attack Fribrain sat eating breakfast and was heard by others doing the same " the Jerry is on time.." or something like that.
    He also refused request for the coastal guns to be used in the air invasion because of his fixation of a seaborne invasion
    even though he was told that there was no preparation for such by the German Navy.
    Makes me wonder who he was working for.

    • @shanemcdowall
      @shanemcdowall Před 2 lety

      Armchair warriors, especially the American ones, like to denegrate General Freyberg and the British forces on Crete in 1941. The British had no fighter planes, half a dozen tanks, and two battered infantry divisions minus most of their equipment to defend Crete. Yet these armchair warriors, especially the American ones, have little to say on the lacklustre performance of US troops and commanders at Kasserine Pass in 1942. The American units were fully equipped, the had plenty of tanks, they had air cover and they got their arses handed to them on a plate by the Germans and the ITALIANS. If you think Freyberg had good intel in 1941, I can guarantee you that the American's had even better intel in 1942.

    • @richardc7721
      @richardc7721 Před 2 lety

      @@shanemcdowall BS.
      My father in-law was there, then later with Monty in N.Africa in the British Army.

    • @louistracy6964
      @louistracy6964 Před rokem

      @@shanemcdowall Massive diss of the greek population, who could have used all those guns in storage in Chania.

    • @robertofulton
      @robertofulton Před 9 měsíci

      @@shanemcdowallI’m British and there is no doubt in my minds that this was One of the biggest allied military blunders of world war 2. General Freyberg had been made aware of the Germans plans, almost down to the minute, from ultra intercepts but still managed to get completely the wrong end of the stick. He believed the main attack would come from a naval invasion rather than airborne. As such his troop dispositions were totally wrong and he didn’t commit his reserves when or where he should have.
      This could have been a complete disaster for the Germans and a significant military victory for the allies (the first against Germany). Instead it was another ignominious retreat and surrendering the complete control of the eastern Mediterranean the British had enjoyed to this point.

  • @dianeduffcroop8158
    @dianeduffcroop8158 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Considering the fact that they knew the Germans would eventually come freiberg seemed to be totally inept in that position. I don't know who they could have used instead of this idiot but they had to have had better commanding officers than freiberg. Kind of like the Marines with General Rupertus who turned out to be a bust on Peleliu and was shuttled back to the States for a soft desk job. He spent a lot of marine and army lives in vain.

    • @shanemcdowall
      @shanemcdowall Před 9 měsíci

      Freyberg was a better battlefield commander than most US generals. Freyberg wanted all the airfields on Crete disabled specifically to prevent the Germans from using them. The RAF objected based on the vain hope they could base aircraft on an island well within range of Athens. The RAF sent nothing. The Royal Navy took terrible losses in Greece/Crete.Freyberg's real problem was uncontested German aerial superiority. Under the circumstances, Freyberg did better than any US general .

  • @theovansteijn1135
    @theovansteijn1135 Před 2 lety +1

    The English speaking bot gets better and better.

  • @whitby910
    @whitby910 Před 2 lety +1

    Such a shame that so much is lost in the poor narration/translation.

    • @MrNicoJac
      @MrNicoJac Před 2 lety +1

      Name _one_ example where the translation+narration leads to a difference between script intent and viewer interpretation.
      I agree it's suboptimal, but to claim that "so much is lost" is just......

    • @simonkevnorris
      @simonkevnorris Před 2 lety +1

      The only thing that I picked up was that the narrative kept on referring to 'The Crete' rather than just Crete. But that's just me being picky!

  • @shanemcdowall
    @shanemcdowall Před 2 lety +3

    Kasserine Pass. The US troops were fully equipped, they had plenty of tanks, they had air cover. They also had better intel than Freyberg on Crete. Yet the Germans and the ITALIANS handed the Yanks their arses on a plate. Freyberg was Napoleon compared to the donkeys the US army had.

    • @richardc7721
      @richardc7721 Před 2 lety

      1 man was at fault.
      An office commdo , 1st time in combat, no leadership skills.
      He was fired and Patton was put in charge.
      Next match sent Rommel men back.

    • @shanemcdowall
      @shanemcdowall Před 2 lety

      @@richardc7721 US Army lost 180 tanks to 20 Axis. US forces driven back up to 80km. Read the comments on every CZcams video on the Battle of Crete. Freyberg and Anzac troops get rubbished, and I suspect a lot of the people posting are Americans. Americans do not like to remember how well equipped US troops, not the battered remnants of two divisions, minus most of their equipment, with no aircover, and six tanks, got their arses kicked.

    • @richardc7721
      @richardc7721 Před 2 lety

      @@shanemcdowall doesn't change the fact that He was informed and did nothing to prepare his command for what he was told was coming.
      Changing the subject changes nothing in or about this.
      I grew up with the men of WW2 as the adults in my life, getting to hear from those who were is better than 2nd or 3 rd hand account s.

    • @shanemcdowall
      @shanemcdowall Před 2 lety

      @@richardc7721 Churchill was even better informed than Freyberg. He made the decision to hold an island with grossly inadequate means. I knew plenty of WW-2 veterans. One of my paternal uncles served as a gunner in Sherman tank, Italy 1944-45. So don't try and pull rank on me dildo.

    • @robertofulton
      @robertofulton Před 9 měsíci

      Freyberg had pretty much perfect intelligence. He knew the exact time and place of every airborne landing and the primary objectives. Yet still somehow concerned himself with an almost imaginary naval invasion.
      This should have been a total and decisive victory for the allies but it turned into another ignominious retreat.

  • @MrNaKillshots
    @MrNaKillshots Před 8 měsíci

    I was going to watch until that AI voice piped in.

  • @scotttyson8661
    @scotttyson8661 Před rokem

    Wrong the British got a tip that the Germans were coming.Thats the only reason why they had aore difficult time

  • @Idcanymore510
    @Idcanymore510 Před 2 lety +2

    Crappy computerised voice!

    • @MrNicoJac
      @MrNicoJac Před 2 lety +3

      Make and email your own recording then

    • @theovansteijn1135
      @theovansteijn1135 Před 2 lety +2

      It,s getting better. Soon you cannot hear the difference from a real human voice.