Are you planning on making any other longer series? Because, if yes, I have some suggestions. I'd like to see you do an in-depth series about the Tet Offensive. If that is too big of a subject(which I'd totally understand, as it took place in 115 different places across the breadth and length of South Vietnam), then I'd like to suggest either the 1st battle of Saigon, the battle of Hue, or the siege of Khe Sanh. Any one of these 3 could provide enough materiel for a long series by itself. I love you're coverage of Operation Linebacker II, The Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the battles of the Ia Drang Valley and LZ Albany, and would love to see you do more Vietnam War stuff.
From Belgium, an eternal thank you to all americans and allied troops who have fight for liberate my country and all Europe from fascisme. We will never forget.
There's not many left. Two of my great uncles served over there in the 84th Division, but they've both passed. Here's hoping we and our descendants don't have to do anything like that again.
My Grandfather who passed in the 80's drove a tank in the European theater. Made it even after having 3 of his tanks knocked out, which im quite thankful for or id not be here.
G'day, Australia says, "Villers-Bretonneux...; was it not - after Fromelles, and Pozieres... During the Great Waaauughhh(!) Of One...?" They're still digging Australians out of holes in Belgian Ground, recently my father's Aunt's Fiancee was disinterred from a mass-Grave Pozieres, and reburried at a Commonwealth War-Graves Cemetary in Belgium. Perhaps..., if Belgium had not done as it did, in Congo ; then possibly Mars - the ancient Roman/EuroPeon God of Waaauughhh(!) might not have seen fit to thus "Steamroller," over "poor little Belgium..." 3 times in 20 years - as if to "Even the Score" for "The Sins of the Fathers" (being visited onto their children, even unto the 7th Generation - ask Vietnam War Veteran's Grandchildren about "Agent Orange'...) ? Just(ifiably) sayin'. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
I am glad to know that Dyke wasn't really a douche. It was very underhanded for Band of Brothers to leave out the fact that he was wounded and disoriented during the attack on Foy.
The problem with the otherwise outstanding series BoB was that it was entirely based off Ambrose's book and the recollections of the men he interviewed. From their point of view, Dyke was as portrayed in the show because they at the time had no way of knowing about his previous achievements or that he was probably already at the breaking point by the time he took command. I think the production could have done a little research beyond the eye witness accounts since there was so much more available to them, but they seem to have been mostly concerned with making the show true to the accounts vs full historic accuracy.
@@benvsreality from what I gather Ambrose basically never fact checked anything and just took all the veterans at their word. It’s the same reason why his book and the show claim Pfc Blithe died of his neck injury when he actually fully recovered and continued to serve in the military for another 23 years.
I'm glad that you told the truth about Lt. Dyke. He got a raw deal from the BoB miniseries. He wasn't at the level of some of the others in E company, but he was better than many. He was a true hero and shouldn't have been treated the way he was by the writers of the BoB.
It's also easy to imagine the stress he was under in the situation, just after of some of the most brutal fighting they had seen. Great to hear that he recovered and maybe even came out better on the other side
Dyke faced the age old problem of being an outsider forced onto an exceptionally tightly bonded group of men. It can take a long long time to gain acceptance and trust, and time was something he did not have the luxury of. Add to that the fact he replaced an outstanding leader who had been with the company since its formation, who had built an intense bond with the men. Dyke had everything stacked against him. Spiers on the other hand was well known to them, carried a reputation and far more easily fitted in ready to hit the ground running, literally.
This is what so many in this comment section missed. He was told to integrate with a band of tightly bonded killers with very low morale already. There was no way in hell an HQ man was just going to wander in and have the trust of the men. His awards were for saving lives, also something a band of assault troops who prided themselves on being killers would hold much respect for. Also, he was wounded and the attack faltered...he didn't order them to stop, they stopped when he went down and being wounded was unfit to continue (my great uncle was hit in the shoulder by an MG round on D day, it literally knocked him unconscious until after the battle. He lost a lot of blood and was recovered by jeeps running up and down the beach AFTER the beachhead was secured...that is not a minor wound).
@@justing42 Where I was it was hot, but a similar thing happened. An outsider from HQ staff was moved in mid-deployment to fill in as CO and the guys hated him so bad for no damn reason. I mean, just because they were stressed and tired and didn't want to take orders from anyone, much less anyone fresh and ready to get outside the wire. It may have been a long time ago, but people are people.
It’s a major problem in any type organization when someone brand new is replacing someone who’s enormously popular. I’ve been in the Army for 11 years and I’ve gone from Unit to unit, patroon to platoon and you’re always having to earn the respect of your guys. It didn’t help Dyke case that the NCOs in Easy Co didn’t support him and would openly criticize him in front of the lower enlisted soldiers.
Dyke has shown he was a brave men, thus the two bronze stars. And maybe his judgement during the attack was impaired by the fact he was hit. But about that last part I can't say shit, I wasn't there haha. But those 2 bronze stars account for his bravery, and BOB made it seem like he wasn't brave at all
This was an excellent article. BoB did a bad job by failing to show that Dyke was wounded. I also got the impression that Spiers had run THROUGH Foy to the back end, not laterally across the front to the flanking company. They also showed Winters being called back by the Colonel, not choosing to return of his own volition. Those were quite deceptive “dramatic license” choices
Exactly what I thought. There is a much of liberal use of "licentia poetica" in the series regarding this battle. In the series supposedly so amazing in the presentation of real historical events. I wonder if this applies to many more things.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 No one is going to agree with you, but you’re not wrong. BoB was good, but it hasn’t aged well. It comes off as treacle at this point in much the same way Saving Private Ryan does. The Pacific doesn’t try so hard to glorify its characters. It’s much more matter-of-fact about how war is fought by average people forced into extreme circumstances.
A lot of this is the "unreliable narrator" problem. Easy company members didn't quite know where Speirs went, so they imagined he ran right through German lines. Or they didn't like Dyke because he was an outsider, so they assumed he was a coward. Then this all got put on the screen as fact.
The Battle of the Bulge will never get boring for me. It's one of those battles that will be forever be highlighted in history and going into this level of detail is just *fascinating*
I got to meet Winters once, he lived near me in PA, I was at a ww2 reenactment and portraying a German, he came up and said we looked legit, introduced himself, then sat with us and started telling us stories. Of course the whole time I'm like an awestruck fangirl lolol
Damn, BoB really maligned Dike I guess. I can't blame the guy for being disoriented after taking a shot to the shoulder. Nice to hear he got back on his feet.
@@ReTuRneD1 Sounds like he NEVER had their respect... perhaps because he wasn't given the chance to earn it... and then he got wounded and disoriented on top of all of that.
from all that i've heard/read, he seemed like a decent enough human being, just wasn't cut out for a combat command. certainly couldn't compare to spiers who was utterly incapable of fear.
@@nyetzdyec3391 Easy Company was an assault combat force. They had just went through one of their toughest engagements of the war and found Dyke to be lacking. As Lipton put it in the series Dyke was a bad leader because he often did not make decisions or was there to inspire his men. He was placed in command of a unit that was now full of veterans and elite soldiers. Think of how replacements were looked on not think of how they looked upon a commander that was not with them. Everyone keeps saying his name was dragged through the mud and stuff well to the soldiers getting shot to hell at Foy it doesn't matter. They were assaulting the town unable to push the attack so he was relieved and someone who could execute the attack was put in charge. Do note Spiers was never replaced. Dyke for what ever character he had was not capable at that time to lead such a unit. It seemed like he had plenty of opportunity during the siege of Bastonge to be there for his men.
I'm a citizen of Ettelbruck, Luxembourg. Patton's 6th Armored Division freed our city in the war and he got his own monument in form of a statue. There is the Patton memorial museum as well. You're welcome to check it out ^^
My grandfather had a German helmet and belt he picked up from an artillery position in Holland during the final push into Germany. One of the shells from that position had landed so close to his foxhole that it blew out his eardrums a few days earlier. The position was obliterated by counter battery fire the night before they moved in, and that equipment was all that was left of the gunners. They were so tiny I would say the soldier could not have been older than 14, just like the kids in the photo. I suppose that's why he kept them, didn't want to forget.
pretty common in the last year to 6months of the war. AA batteries were mounted by teenagers, Volksstrum units also consisted of teenagers and old or wounded men. Horrible to think of at it got even worse in the last few weeks of the war. There is a movie "die Brücke" in german - the bridge in english but I'm not sure if there ever was an english version. It pictures a groupe of boys who are supposed to defend a bridge and willingly do so due to the fanatism the grow up...the thing that drives me mad: till this day, some of these boys, who grew up with the nazis and are grandfathers now, pass on their ideas to the younger generations.
At this point in the war, the Nazis were basically drafting children as they were desperate to increase ranks. There were also many volunteers, whether it was the Axis or the Allies, who lied about their ages to join.
Was going to comment on this. Though because of the shortages Germany was having in the last part of the war, they could be underfed 16 y.o. They are certainly not young adults. Which does show they should have already surrendered at this point.
@Z R In one of their previous videos, titled: "New Major Series Trailer - Iwo Jima & The Battle of the Bulge - Starting 7th October" at time-stamp 2:52 (Link: czcams.com/video/mDBVMspmdHI/video.html) it says that Part 8 is the final part of this project.
The story of Lt. Dike is one of those reminders to me to never keep grudges, especially on a snap judgement. I always want to say Ambrose did him dirty (and to other soldiers) but at the same time Ambrose was working from other soldiers' narratives, and those soldiers didn't have 360° perspective on everything, and in any case, war is an extremely trying experience, you don't know how anyone will react to their circumstances. Honestly, life is a trying experience, and I feel that like Dike we are all injured, in a way, simply by the process of being alive. I think it fair to to consider how everyone is impacted by everything they've gone through and we should not be needlessly harsh, if you went through everything the way they did, good chance you would do the same things.
The point being that when neither your leader and subordinates have faith in your ability to lead and you fail in what is basically your first and only opportunity to prove them wrong, you aren't going to be given a 2nd chance no benefit of the doubt.
@@TheBanshee90 first of all, not true, he did get a second chance. Secondly, you talk as if this lack of faith is either justified or reasonable, which it‘s not: nor does the responsibility for faith in the leadership begin or end with the company CO, there are people above and below him who contribute massively to this. It can and did historically result from misplaced expectations, insider/outsider thinking, etc.. Dyke was objectively not a bad officer, we pretty much know this. He wasn‘t experienced, but it‘s not like Eisenhower had a magic donkey that could shit first-rate field officers. The army was losing platoon and company leaders by the hundreds, and the options for replacing them extremely limited; you either send some green kid straight out of military school, or you use people from staff positions, like Dyke, who are at least a bit more experienced. Historically they did both. Of course, an outfit like Easy, full of battle-hardened guys who had been together since basic training and through the entire liberation of France were not going to be happy with that. They would always compare him to the much better officers they had lost. But realistically, it was not fair to expect more than basic competence and personal courage out of a new CO. And if the men didn‘t recognize this, then at the very least the NCOs and Winters should have recognized this, made a fair and realistic judgement of the man and supported him accordingly. They probably didn‘t. But it definitely would have been their job. And yeah, E Company ended up with Spears who was a lot better, but that just means that he left a hole in his previous position that would again have to be filled with someone who had little to no experience. Just like Winters and Heiliger left massive holes when they got promoted/wounded and Lipton would have if the war had still been going on by the time he got promoted. Experienced guys just weren‘t available in the quantities needed by the army, and you as a unit were ultimately fucking yourself, or someone like you, by expecting the leaders they got to be like the people they lost and then blaming them if they failed to live up to those expectations.
I'm actually right in the region where the battle took place, visiting my grandparents. I've heard many Storys from them about this place and its history. I really like how mutch effort you invest in these videos and hope you have a wonderful day.
@@hawklp9150 Bastogne itself has a brewery that makes something called "Airborne Beer". They got the idea from what an American paratrooper, Vincent Speranza, did during the battle. You should look his name up on CZcams to hear his story and the people there in Bastogne seem to love him
It's a literal metaphor that each step you take in life could be your last, but if you move forward with honor, purpose, and impeccability, you will be protected, and you will win.
The bit of pictures at the end was really beautifully done, youre videos should be on the history channel, the quality and care put into these is incredulous, waiting on the edge of my seat for more
Outstanding. I have just finished binge-watching the entire series and you have done an incredible job of taking the historical facts from Strategic to Tactical to Personal. You have earned a sub, a like and a new fan of your channel Well done!
I Company was still able to carry out its mission after Tinsley was killed because another soldier overheard the discussion between Spiers and Tinsley and was able to relay the message to the rest of the company. Tinsley was killed literally seconds after Spiers left him to rejoin Easy and hadn't called out the new orders yet.
The Lipton visit is up to dispute. Yet, if it did happen, Winters would absolutely understand it and take it with a grain of salt, and neither of them would talk about it with enthusiasm.
There's also some doubt amongst the Easy co soldiers whether Dike was actually wounded. I think he was, but it's worth bringing up. At this point there had to be so much ambiguity because they hated their leader. All of the vets were wounded at this point.
@@klonkimoI believe dikes got hit, but that being said he needed to make a decision or relieve himself from duty. Easy company success was predicated on fast decisive action and dikes was too timid for that style of command. The tactics were built around easy getting into position quickly while the other company caused a distraction. Dikes slow movement and the limited cover exacerbated losses.
@@b.a6525 No one cares about "rules" in war, it's literally our highest form of barbarism. Some Germans definitely deserved it though. Some would gun down scores of Americans in their machine gun nests but when the Americans reached their bunkers, they'd throw hands up and try to surrender.
Thanks for all these historical narrations. My great uncle was a tank driver in northern Africa (WWII). He couldn't describe his experience without crying. Your descriptions are very well done, and as far as I'm concerned, honor the men of both sides that had to endure yet another war to end all wars.
Your content has really always been the highest quality, but this series and this final episode in particular is some of your finest work. Absolutely masterful job covering a complex battle with depth and nuance. Thanks so much for all your great videos over the years.
This whole series has been amazingly marvelous especially the guest narration. I am fortunate enough to have been subbed to your and all the guest narration for quite some time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication to preserving as well as presenting historical stories.
Your content is of insanely high quality. Would love to see a curated playlist with the videos in chronological order. It'd be like you're assembling a massive comprehensive documentary.
I loved this series and am really bummed to see it end. I really hope you have plans for more in depth series like this in the future and appreciate the effort that went into making this!
This is excellent! It was hard to visualise what was happening in the Band of Brothers episode portraying this acting. It is a lot clearer now. Thank you!
I don't know how I missed this series when it came out but I'm glad to have seen it now. Maybe the best I've seen on this channel. Must have been a tremendous amount of work in research, animation and writing. The long format really paid off 👏
I’ve been sharing each of these with my cousin as we both love learning about military history (I’m in my early forties and he’s in his late twenties). I’ve been watching your channel since you started and he just started about a month ago. We also listen to your Operations Room.
I never realized that Speirs ran across no man's land, over to Item Company's lines, instead of THROUGH German lines (as noted in video). I actually listened to the recent Speirs biography "Fierce Valor" by Jared Frederick (who also runs a good history channel focused on historical media/movies, called "Reel History") and I didn't hear it in there either, or it's possible I didn't recognize it.
Absolutely love seeing all of the collaboration taking place! Hearing another family voice like the history underground makes learning more about the titanic struggle that was WW2 more interesting
This present a rather different view of Lt. Dike than what was presented in Band of Brothers. If the facts around his decorations are accurate, he does not appear to have been cowardly and failing to portray that he was shot during the attack on Foy is quite misleading.
Superb series from start to finish, thank you. 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Happy New Year to all at the Operations Room and we are all looking forward to what you have in store for us in 2023. 👍
Thanks for this series, I spent half of my summer holiday this year just down the road from Hotton and while i was aware in general about the battle of the bulge it was really nice to learn some of the specifics - including places we went to while we there. We'd been camping in Cologne beforehand and we basically came in over the eisenborn ridge, got lunch it st. vith and carried on through the crossroads at baraque le fraiture (it's a big roundabout with a couple of friteries and a hotel these days) and I'd had no idea on the specific history of any of them. We did pass the Hotton commonwealth cemetery, but I had no idea about the fighting on that road out of Hotton - we drove through the site of that roadblock basically every time we went up to Hotton to do some shopping. It's so good that these are just beautiful places now (and great places for a holiday!), but it's important to remember the cost that can sometimes come at.
Great work as usual. Have you seen the picture of the two kids at 12:04 ? Never forget how young were the soldiers in both sides. RIP to all the soldiers.
Glad to hear the truth about Dike. The series (and the book) really did him dirty. The man had only two faults - he wasn't from Easy and he wasn't Winters.
Looking at the map after Foy and the other villages were taken by Easy, they made their own Bulge in the lines. haha Reminds me of a line from Band of Brothers: Sink: "give me a few days of hard fighting and you will be relieved!". Have a Happy New Year everyone!
I've read Dike's combat history, and the man was unduly maligned by a TV show (albeit a very good TV show). Two purple hearts, two bronze stars for valor (I would argue dragging 3 wounded men out of danger should have netted him a Silver Star).
@@norwegiangangsta I mean he made a couple bad decisions when he had a bullet in his shoulder. An injury he only received because he was leading the attack from the front. The vast majority of people would not be fit to command in his situation. We just only typically hear the stories of the insane people that are able to continue after such an injury.
@@decentish8546 Well said. As Speirs so menacingly said to Blythe in BoB: "in order to function as a soldier should, you need to realize that you're already dead." It's so true. Some may crumble, but most people become instant superheroes when they believe they have no chance of survival. It's what Sun-Tzu refers to as being on "death ground", and although unpleasant, it's also an incredibly powerful experience. You could gain a decade's worth of life experience in a single minute's worth of death ground.
Happy new year to you m8s of the operations room! Your work about Iwo Jima and The Battle of the Bulge is emblematic! Truly amazing videos and narrative! Just one suggestion : please make the next series about the battle of Arnhem!
Thanks for providing that extra information about Lt Dyke. I’ve seen band of brothers multiple times and never saw anything positive about him. It’s good to know that he eventually got his shit together and became a good leader.
I genuinely cannot believe the Band of Brothers miniseries assassinated Dike's character like that. Holy shit, they turned a war hero into a pathetic coward in the eyes of millions of viewers, wtf Hanks/Spielberg???
Hanks and Spielberg had nothing to do with Ambrose' book. Ambrose never fact checked his interviews and the remaining e company men didn't know what happened to Dike.
Doesn’t matter if they took license in changing it from no man’s land to German lines… Spiers still did the unthinkable in exposing himself completely to the broadside of the enemy lines without giving a damn, dodged an 88mm canon shot, relayed with the other men, then ran right back through again. Medal of Honor worthy stuff.
The more I learn about Easy Company the more I start to hate Band of Brothers. Sobel, Blythe and Dike all got scapegoated and defamed in the name of entertainment and faux historical accuracy. They will probably live in the minds of everyone as cowards and incompetent forever and the HBO show still gets glowing praise.
I think Lt. Dyke gets a lot of unnecessary hate. I don’t think many people would’ve done much better had they just got shot in the shoulder and just performed a risky attack across an open field under heavy fire. He earned 2 bronze stars, he clearly wasn’t a coward. Some people are better soldiers than they are leaders or commanders.
It is true. Lt. Ronald Speirs had shot and killed one of his sergeants in his platoon on the march to Ste. Come dü Mont. The sergeant was in fact drunk and had nearly got the platoon in a deadly firefight with the Germans, as Speirs was trying to relieve the man from his duties, the man raised his weapon at Speirs and he had to shoot him in self defense in front of the entire platoon. It was reported to the Dog Company CO and placed in the company records, however the CO was killed a few days later and the investigation effectively ended in Speirs' favor.
I was talking to piers about the old times and different people from the old times, I mentioned I had a lot of time for you and he told me about this channel! I’ve watched so many of these videos without even knowing it was you! Well done these videos are so good! Keep it up! I look forward to any obscure aircraft references 😉😂
Loved the video @The Operations Room! Can't wait for the next video man! I have the "Foy Scenario" from Flames of War by Battlefront Miniatures downloaded on my Kindle. Glad to see what Happened at this part in the Battle of the Bulge. Also, would love to see what you guys get up to in Crossout! Can't wait to see if you guys build a Panzer or a Sherman or even a Soviet T-34/85 Obr 1944, IS-2 Obr 1944 or ISU-152!
This is an absolutely outstanding series . No other documentary or series has presented the entire Battle of the Bulge . Other shows present various pieces of this battle . Having a tough time finding out the overnight low temperatures during this battle . But spending a night outside in January when its -20oC would give a good idea of the conditions . At this temp hands will freeze on metal . A lot of Americans went into battle without winter clothing . .
After reading Donald Burgett's book, "Seven Roads to Hell" I came to realize that Ambrose's work was a total hack job. Everyone wants to talk about E company and what they did at Bastogne, just holding a perimeter. Burgett was in A company and he went forward to Noville to slow down off the German advance. They were literally fighting and retreating through Foy as they got back to Bastogne. One hell of a read. One of the major heroes of Bastogne was Major Desobry. Read about that guy.
First off, great work👏🏼 and I would enjoy to see more of this kind of stories like the battle for germany or italy or more eastern front. BUT!!! To be really honest I would have liked to see the capture of Noville and Rachamp too! I think you missed that part! Besides that, great job! Great series! And I want more!👏🏼
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"Play Crossout for FREE on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS®5: playxo.link/theoperationsroom
i need to see your video take on the "USS Nimitz UFO incident" if such a thing could be done. how many dollery doos for that?
Glad to see you back in action. Happy New Year.
no. fuck your ads.
That game actually looks fun, and I'm rarely interested in ads.
Are you planning on making any other longer series? Because, if yes, I have some suggestions. I'd like to see you do an in-depth series about the Tet Offensive. If that is too big of a subject(which I'd totally understand, as it took place in 115 different places across the breadth and length of South Vietnam), then I'd like to suggest either the 1st battle of Saigon, the battle of Hue, or the siege of Khe Sanh. Any one of these 3 could provide enough materiel for a long series by itself. I love you're coverage of Operation Linebacker II, The Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the battles of the Ia Drang Valley and LZ Albany, and would love to see you do more Vietnam War stuff.
From Belgium, an eternal thank you to all americans and allied troops who have fight for liberate my country and all Europe from fascisme. We will never forget.
You already have forgotten. The fascist bankers have already won
There's not many left. Two of my great uncles served over there in the 84th Division, but they've both passed.
Here's hoping we and our descendants don't have to do anything like that again.
My Grandfather who passed in the 80's drove a tank in the European theater. Made it even after having 3 of his tanks knocked out, which im quite thankful for or id not be here.
Hey man, the Belgians did their part too, it was a team effort :)
G'day,
Australia says,
"Villers-Bretonneux...; was it not - after Fromelles, and Pozieres... During the Great Waaauughhh(!) Of One...?"
They're still digging Australians out of holes in Belgian Ground, recently my father's Aunt's Fiancee was disinterred from a mass-Grave Pozieres, and reburried at a Commonwealth War-Graves Cemetary in Belgium.
Perhaps..., if Belgium had not done as it did, in Congo ; then possibly Mars - the ancient Roman/EuroPeon God of Waaauughhh(!) might not have seen fit to thus "Steamroller," over "poor little Belgium..." 3 times in 20 years - as if to "Even the Score" for "The Sins of the Fathers" (being visited onto their children, even unto the 7th Generation - ask Vietnam War Veteran's Grandchildren about "Agent Orange'...) ?
Just(ifiably) sayin'.
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
I am glad to know that Dyke wasn't really a douche. It was very underhanded for Band of Brothers to leave out the fact that he was wounded and disoriented during the attack on Foy.
The problem with the otherwise outstanding series BoB was that it was entirely based off Ambrose's book and the recollections of the men he interviewed. From their point of view, Dyke was as portrayed in the show because they at the time had no way of knowing about his previous achievements or that he was probably already at the breaking point by the time he took command. I think the production could have done a little research beyond the eye witness accounts since there was so much more available to them, but they seem to have been mostly concerned with making the show true to the accounts vs full historic accuracy.
@@benvsreality from what I gather Ambrose basically never fact checked anything and just took all the veterans at their word. It’s the same reason why his book and the show claim Pfc Blithe died of his neck injury when he actually fully recovered and continued to serve in the military for another 23 years.
I've always wondered why Dyke was holding his shoulder when Speirs came up to him in BoB scene.
@@woodchuckcider1 That has nothing to do with what happened. Nobody on set knew dike was actually shot.
I thought Dyke's was the dead frozen body at the end of the battle in BoB.
I'm glad that you told the truth about Lt. Dyke. He got a raw deal from the BoB miniseries.
He wasn't at the level of some of the others in E company, but he was better than many. He was a true hero and shouldn't have been treated the way he was by the writers of the BoB.
Yes!
It's also easy to imagine the stress he was under in the situation, just after of some of the most brutal fighting they had seen. Great to hear that he recovered and maybe even came out better on the other side
Yeah BoB made him into a coward. They also killed him off in this battle.
HBO writers, let's shoot you with 8mm Mauser from Kar98k and see how you can deal with it lol
Remember, he did not have the respect of his subordinates & peers as the crap was going down.
Dyke faced the age old problem of being an outsider forced onto an exceptionally tightly bonded group of men. It can take a long long time to gain acceptance and trust, and time was something he did not have the luxury of. Add to that the fact he replaced an outstanding leader who had been with the company since its formation, who had built an intense bond with the men. Dyke had everything stacked against him.
Spiers on the other hand was well known to them, carried a reputation and far more easily fitted in ready to hit the ground running, literally.
This is what so many in this comment section missed. He was told to integrate with a band of tightly bonded killers with very low morale already. There was no way in hell an HQ man was just going to wander in and have the trust of the men. His awards were for saving lives, also something a band of assault troops who prided themselves on being killers would hold much respect for. Also, he was wounded and the attack faltered...he didn't order them to stop, they stopped when he went down and being wounded was unfit to continue (my great uncle was hit in the shoulder by an MG round on D day, it literally knocked him unconscious until after the battle. He lost a lot of blood and was recovered by jeeps running up and down the beach AFTER the beachhead was secured...that is not a minor wound).
Must have been rough for you guys…was it cold?
@@justing42 Where I was it was hot, but a similar thing happened. An outsider from HQ staff was moved in mid-deployment to fill in as CO and the guys hated him so bad for no damn reason. I mean, just because they were stressed and tired and didn't want to take orders from anyone, much less anyone fresh and ready to get outside the wire. It may have been a long time ago, but people are people.
It’s a major problem in any type organization when someone brand new is replacing someone who’s enormously popular. I’ve been in the Army for 11 years and I’ve gone from Unit to unit, patroon to platoon and you’re always having to earn the respect of your guys. It didn’t help Dyke case that the NCOs in Easy Co didn’t support him and would openly criticize him in front of the lower enlisted soldiers.
Dyke has shown he was a brave men, thus the two bronze stars. And maybe his judgement during the attack was impaired by the fact he was hit. But about that last part I can't say shit, I wasn't there haha. But those 2 bronze stars account for his bravery, and BOB made it seem like he wasn't brave at all
Speirs protecc, he attacc, but most importantly he come bacc
Cigarette?
He big, he minimal, but most importantly he a war criminal
This was an excellent article. BoB did a bad job by failing to show that Dyke was wounded. I also got the impression that Spiers had run THROUGH Foy to the back end, not laterally across the front to the flanking company. They also showed Winters being called back by the Colonel, not choosing to return of his own volition.
Those were quite deceptive “dramatic license” choices
The part with Dike was because that’s what the other members of Easy thought happened. None of them knew what really happened until years later.
Exactly what I thought. There is a much of liberal use of "licentia poetica" in the series regarding this battle. In the series supposedly so amazing in the presentation of real historical events. I wonder if this applies to many more things.
Hottake: The Pacific is better.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 No one is going to agree with you, but you’re not wrong. BoB was good, but it hasn’t aged well. It comes off as treacle at this point in much the same way Saving Private Ryan does. The Pacific doesn’t try so hard to glorify its characters. It’s much more matter-of-fact about how war is fought by average people forced into extreme circumstances.
A lot of this is the "unreliable narrator" problem. Easy company members didn't quite know where Speirs went, so they imagined he ran right through German lines. Or they didn't like Dyke because he was an outsider, so they assumed he was a coward. Then this all got put on the screen as fact.
The Battle of the Bulge will never get boring for me. It's one of those battles that will be forever be highlighted in history and going into this level of detail is just *fascinating*
stalingrad was
I so enjoyed the battle of the bulge and its history, well researched and presented. Thank you. Happy new year.
Last roll of the dice they say. Love it
Steven Zaloga has a great lecture on youtube about the battle from the German perspective. Its well worth a look.
@@t.n.h.ptheneohumanpatterna8334 What exactly does Stalingrad have to do with this video or his specific comment?
I got to meet Winters once, he lived near me in PA, I was at a ww2 reenactment and portraying a German, he came up and said we looked legit, introduced himself, then sat with us and started telling us stories. Of course the whole time I'm like an awestruck fangirl lolol
Damn, BoB really maligned Dike I guess. I can't blame the guy for being disoriented after taking a shot to the shoulder. Nice to hear he got back on his feet.
He lost the respect of his men, the undoing of a leader regardless of the circumstances.
@@ReTuRneD1 Sounds like he NEVER had their respect... perhaps because he wasn't given the chance to earn it... and then he got wounded and disoriented on top of all of that.
from all that i've heard/read, he seemed like a decent enough human being, just wasn't cut out for a combat command. certainly couldn't compare to spiers who was utterly incapable of fear.
Dick Winters had a bit of an axe to grind.
@@nyetzdyec3391 Easy Company was an assault combat force. They had just went through one of their toughest engagements of the war and found Dyke to be lacking. As Lipton put it in the series Dyke was a bad leader because he often did not make decisions or was there to inspire his men. He was placed in command of a unit that was now full of veterans and elite soldiers. Think of how replacements were looked on not think of how they looked upon a commander that was not with them. Everyone keeps saying his name was dragged through the mud and stuff well to the soldiers getting shot to hell at Foy it doesn't matter. They were assaulting the town unable to push the attack so he was relieved and someone who could execute the attack was put in charge. Do note Spiers was never replaced. Dyke for what ever character he had was not capable at that time to lead such a unit. It seemed like he had plenty of opportunity during the siege of Bastonge to be there for his men.
I'm a citizen of Ettelbruck, Luxembourg. Patton's 6th Armored Division freed our city in the war and he got his own monument in form of a statue. There is the Patton memorial museum as well. You're welcome to check it out ^^
That's cool to know lol.
That's awesome.
That last image of the captured "soldiers" is heartbreaking. They cant be older than 14?
My grandfather had a German helmet and belt he picked up from an artillery position in Holland during the final push into Germany. One of the shells from that position had landed so close to his foxhole that it blew out his eardrums a few days earlier. The position was obliterated by counter battery fire the night before they moved in, and that equipment was all that was left of the gunners. They were so tiny I would say the soldier could not have been older than 14, just like the kids in the photo. I suppose that's why he kept them, didn't want to forget.
pretty common in the last year to 6months of the war. AA batteries were mounted by teenagers, Volksstrum units also consisted of teenagers and old or wounded men. Horrible to think of at it got even worse in the last few weeks of the war. There is a movie "die Brücke" in german - the bridge in english but I'm not sure if there ever was an english version. It pictures a groupe of boys who are supposed to defend a bridge and willingly do so due to the fanatism the grow up...the thing that drives me mad: till this day, some of these boys, who grew up with the nazis and are grandfathers now, pass on their ideas to the younger generations.
At this point in the war, the Nazis were basically drafting children as they were desperate to increase ranks. There were also many volunteers, whether it was the Axis or the Allies, who lied about their ages to join.
This is what happens when you allow children to be indoctrinated by political extremists.
Was going to comment on this. Though because of the shortages Germany was having in the last part of the war, they could be underfed 16 y.o. They are certainly not young adults.
Which does show they should have already surrendered at this point.
If this takes 3 weeks, then you know its gonna be good
It took several months :)
@@TheOperationsRoom That's how you know it's gonna be extra good.
@Z R
In one of their previous videos, titled: "New Major Series Trailer - Iwo Jima & The Battle of the Bulge - Starting 7th October" at time-stamp 2:52 (Link: czcams.com/video/mDBVMspmdHI/video.html) it says that Part 8 is the final part of this project.
@@TheOperationsRoomyou guys are the best
It was delayed because he had COVID. He said it on his Twitter account.
Ronald Speirs is THE MAN. Total badass.
So Dyke just had a temporary nervous breakdown?
The tv show really did him dirty.
Can you even call ik a breakdown when you literally get shot?
I'm actually grateful to know that Dyke wasn't what the show made him out to be. Thanks for sharing this
The story of Lt. Dike is one of those reminders to me to never keep grudges, especially on a snap judgement. I always want to say Ambrose did him dirty (and to other soldiers) but at the same time Ambrose was working from other soldiers' narratives, and those soldiers didn't have 360° perspective on everything, and in any case, war is an extremely trying experience, you don't know how anyone will react to their circumstances. Honestly, life is a trying experience, and I feel that like Dike we are all injured, in a way, simply by the process of being alive. I think it fair to to consider how everyone is impacted by everything they've gone through and we should not be needlessly harsh, if you went through everything the way they did, good chance you would do the same things.
That‘s why it‘s part of the historian‘s job to fact-check your sources.
The point being that when neither your leader and subordinates have faith in your ability to lead and you fail in what is basically your first and only opportunity to prove them wrong, you aren't going to be given a 2nd chance no benefit of the doubt.
@@TheBanshee90 first of all, not true, he did get a second chance. Secondly, you talk as if this lack of faith is either justified or reasonable, which it‘s not: nor does the responsibility for faith in the leadership begin or end with the company CO, there are people above and below him who contribute massively to this. It can and did historically result from misplaced expectations, insider/outsider thinking, etc.. Dyke was objectively not a bad officer, we pretty much know this. He wasn‘t experienced, but it‘s not like Eisenhower had a magic donkey that could shit first-rate field officers.
The army was losing platoon and company leaders by the hundreds, and the options for replacing them extremely limited; you either send some green kid straight out of military school, or you use people from staff positions, like Dyke, who are at least a bit more experienced. Historically they did both.
Of course, an outfit like Easy, full of battle-hardened guys who had been together since basic training and through the entire liberation of France were not going to be happy with that. They would always compare him to the much better officers they had lost. But realistically, it was not fair to expect more than basic competence and personal courage out of a new CO. And if the men didn‘t recognize this, then at the very least the NCOs and Winters should have recognized this, made a fair and realistic judgement of the man and supported him accordingly. They probably didn‘t. But it definitely would have been their job.
And yeah, E Company ended up with Spears who was a lot better, but that just means that he left a hole in his previous position that would again have to be filled with someone who had little to no experience. Just like Winters and Heiliger left massive holes when they got promoted/wounded and Lipton would have if the war had still been going on by the time he got promoted. Experienced guys just weren‘t available in the quantities needed by the army, and you as a unit were ultimately fucking yourself, or someone like you, by expecting the leaders they got to be like the people they lost and then blaming them if they failed to live up to those expectations.
I hope to god that we are never tested.
I'm actually right in the region where the battle took place, visiting my grandparents. I've heard many Storys from them about this place and its history. I really like how mutch effort you invest in these videos and hope you have a wonderful day.
Awe, then you must sample some legendary Airborne Beer
@@jamestiscareno4387 Where can I get that from?😄
@@hawklp9150 Bastogne itself has a brewery that makes something called "Airborne Beer". They got the idea from what an American paratrooper, Vincent Speranza, did during the battle.
You should look his name up on CZcams to hear his story and the people there in Bastogne seem to love him
I always found Spiers’ running to be fascinating.
It's a literal metaphor that each step you take in life could be your last, but if you move forward with honor, purpose, and impeccability, you will be protected, and you will win.
Outstanding work. These videos are such a good added resource to understanding the actions on both a large and small scale. Keep up the good work!
Fanfuckingtastic
The bit of pictures at the end was really beautifully done, youre videos should be on the history channel, the quality and care put into these is incredulous, waiting on the edge of my seat for more
History on the history channel? That's a novel idea. Where would you fit it in between Pawn stars and Ancient Aliens?
LT.Dyke was shot in the shoulder? BoB should have included that.
Outstanding.
I have just finished binge-watching the entire series and you have done an incredible job of taking the historical facts from Strategic to Tactical to Personal.
You have earned a sub, a like and a new fan of your channel
Well done!
Wait, is this the same CPT Winters that stopped the guns pinning down Utah beach? This guy’s a chad.
I Company was still able to carry out its mission after Tinsley was killed because another soldier overheard the discussion between Spiers and Tinsley and was able to relay the message to the rest of the company. Tinsley was killed literally seconds after Spiers left him to rejoin Easy and hadn't called out the new orders yet.
The Lipton visit is up to dispute. Yet, if it did happen, Winters would absolutely understand it and take it with a grain of salt, and neither of them would talk about it with enthusiasm.
“Uh first sergeant Lipton, you organize things here. Imma go for help.”
There's also some doubt amongst the Easy co soldiers whether Dike was actually wounded. I think he was, but it's worth bringing up. At this point there had to be so much ambiguity because they hated their leader. All of the vets were wounded at this point.
@@klonkimoI believe dikes got hit, but that being said he needed to make a decision or relieve himself from duty.
Easy company success was predicated on fast decisive action and dikes was too timid for that style of command. The tactics were built around easy getting into position quickly while the other company caused a distraction.
Dikes slow movement and the limited cover exacerbated losses.
Speirs is a hero. Amazing feats. He was a hero in combat running through fire like that. Legend.
Winters is heroic, Spiers was brave sure but a war criminal, executing 6 pow's and one of his soldiers
Spiers sounds like he had antisocial personality disorder
@@GUAVcis06 dude was completely okay with thievery,slaughter etc with no hesitation, yes its war, and there are spoils to be had, but Spiers abused it
@@b.a6525 No one cares about "rules" in war, it's literally our highest form of barbarism. Some Germans definitely deserved it though. Some would gun down scores of Americans in their machine gun nests but when the Americans reached their bunkers, they'd throw hands up and try to surrender.
Thanks for all these historical narrations. My great uncle was a tank driver in northern Africa (WWII). He couldn't describe his experience without crying. Your descriptions are very well done, and as far as I'm concerned, honor the men of both sides that had to endure yet another war to end all wars.
"But that wasn't the astounding part. The astoung part was, after he hooked up with I company; *he came back."*
Your content has really always been the highest quality, but this series and this final episode in particular is some of your finest work. Absolutely masterful job covering a complex battle with depth and nuance. Thanks so much for all your great videos over the years.
Love that Dykes history before FOY was brought up.
Thanks for posting this series and I hope you're feeling better! Probably the best explanation of the events of the battle I've ever come across
Band of brothers didn’t show this about dyke. Not that bad of a guy with the circumstances and had medals?
This whole series has been amazingly marvelous especially the guest narration. I am fortunate enough to have been subbed to your and all the guest narration for quite some time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication to preserving as well as presenting historical stories.
Wow! It’s awesome having JD from The History Underground channel as the guest voice for this week’s episode
👊🏻
Your content is of insanely high quality. Would love to see a curated playlist with the videos in chronological order. It'd be like you're assembling a massive comprehensive documentary.
I loved this series and am really bummed to see it end. I really hope you have plans for more in depth series like this in the future and appreciate the effort that went into making this!
Speirs is a fucking badass
This is excellent! It was hard to visualise what was happening in the Band of Brothers episode portraying this acting. It is a lot clearer now. Thank you!
I don't know how I missed this series when it came out but I'm glad to have seen it now. Maybe the best I've seen on this channel. Must have been a tremendous amount of work in research, animation and writing. The long format really paid off 👏
It's not rumored, Speirs did kill those POWs.
Very well done. This is my favorite episode of Band of Brothers and your additional context improves it even further.
The amazing thing isnt that he ran through german lines
The amazing thing is that he did it twice.
Well, according to this video, he didn't run THROUGH them at all. Still, an incredible feat.
Can’t thank you enough for your devotion to make all of these war records so entertaining and educational for me to watch. So sad, so inspiring.
I’ve been sharing each of these with my cousin as we both love learning about military history (I’m in my early forties and he’s in his late twenties). I’ve been watching your channel since you started and he just started about a month ago. We also listen to your Operations Room.
I never realized that Speirs ran across no man's land, over to Item Company's lines, instead of THROUGH German lines (as noted in video). I actually listened to the recent Speirs biography "Fierce Valor" by Jared Frederick (who also runs a good history channel focused on historical media/movies, called "Reel History") and I didn't hear it in there either, or it's possible I didn't recognize it.
Yes! Two amazing history channels collab! Love History Underground and Operations Room. Happy new year guys.
👊🏻
They did Dike dirty in the series, damn.
Absolutely love seeing all of the collaboration taking place! Hearing another family voice like the history underground makes learning more about the titanic struggle that was WW2 more interesting
This present a rather different view of Lt. Dike than what was presented in Band of Brothers. If the facts around his decorations are accurate, he does not appear to have been cowardly and failing to portray that he was shot during the attack on Foy is quite misleading.
Great to see the final episode in what has been an amazing 8 part series! Loved it
Wow, you continue to impress! This series was fantastic, and I can't wait to see what you've got next!
Superb series from start to finish, thank you. 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Happy New Year to all at the Operations Room and we are all looking forward to what you have in store for us in 2023. 👍
man, BoB did Dyke dirty
would love to see a series about the north africa campaign. my great grandpa was in the army then and i would love to learn what he had to go through.
Thanks for this series, I spent half of my summer holiday this year just down the road from Hotton and while i was aware in general about the battle of the bulge it was really nice to learn some of the specifics - including places we went to while we there. We'd been camping in Cologne beforehand and we basically came in over the eisenborn ridge, got lunch it st. vith and carried on through the crossroads at baraque le fraiture (it's a big roundabout with a couple of friteries and a hotel these days) and I'd had no idea on the specific history of any of them. We did pass the Hotton commonwealth cemetery, but I had no idea about the fighting on that road out of Hotton - we drove through the site of that roadblock basically every time we went up to Hotton to do some shopping.
It's so good that these are just beautiful places now (and great places for a holiday!), but it's important to remember the cost that can sometimes come at.
The last photo is haunting. Such young men conscripted into an evil ideology and military before they’re old enough to truly live life.
"SPIERS! GET YOURSELF OVER HERE"
*Hauls ass like no tomorrow.*
Great work as usual. Have you seen the picture of the two kids at 12:04 ? Never forget how young were the soldiers in both sides. RIP to all the soldiers.
Glad to hear the truth about Dike. The series (and the book) really did him dirty.
The man had only two faults - he wasn't from Easy and he wasn't Winters.
Another great addition to the series! To see this famous scene from band of brothers being covered like this was really great!
Looking at the map after Foy and the other villages were taken by Easy, they made their own Bulge in the lines. haha Reminds me of a line from Band of Brothers: Sink: "give me a few days of hard fighting and you will be relieved!". Have a Happy New Year everyone!
I've read Dike's combat history, and the man was unduly maligned by a TV show (albeit a very good TV show). Two purple hearts, two bronze stars for valor (I would argue dragging 3 wounded men out of danger should have netted him a Silver Star).
Yeah but he lost the fucking plot. So what's all the fuzz about what he has done "before"?
@@norwegiangangsta I mean he made a couple bad decisions when he had a bullet in his shoulder. An injury he only received because he was leading the attack from the front. The vast majority of people would not be fit to command in his situation. We just only typically hear the stories of the insane people that are able to continue after such an injury.
@@decentish8546 Well said.
As Speirs so menacingly said to Blythe in BoB: "in order to function as a soldier should, you need to realize that you're already dead." It's so true. Some may crumble, but most people become instant superheroes when they believe they have no chance of survival. It's what Sun-Tzu refers to as being on "death ground", and although unpleasant, it's also an incredibly powerful experience. You could gain a decade's worth of life experience in a single minute's worth of death ground.
Happy new year to you m8s of the operations room! Your work about Iwo Jima and The Battle of the Bulge is emblematic! Truly amazing videos and narrative! Just one suggestion : please make the next series about the battle of Arnhem!
Fantastic video! You've really upped your game over the course of '22 and I can't wait to what's in store for The Operations Room in 2023! 👏🙌🎉🎈🥳
Thanks for providing that extra information about Lt Dyke. I’ve seen band of brothers multiple times and never saw anything positive about him. It’s good to know that he eventually got his shit together and became a good leader.
What an outstanding series and it was great hearing J.D's voice from the History Underground!
This is beautifully done. Thanks for making these videos.
I genuinely cannot believe the Band of Brothers miniseries assassinated Dike's character like that. Holy shit, they turned a war hero into a pathetic coward in the eyes of millions of viewers, wtf Hanks/Spielberg???
Hanks and Spielberg had nothing to do with Ambrose' book. Ambrose never fact checked his interviews and the remaining e company men didn't know what happened to Dike.
Doesn’t matter if they took license in changing it from no man’s land to German lines… Spiers still did the unthinkable in exposing himself completely to the broadside of the enemy lines without giving a damn, dodged an 88mm canon shot, relayed with the other men, then ran right back through again. Medal of Honor worthy stuff.
Wow Band of Brothers really did Dyke dirty
The more I learn about Easy Company the more I start to hate Band of Brothers. Sobel, Blythe and Dike all got scapegoated and defamed in the name of entertainment and faux historical accuracy. They will probably live in the minds of everyone as cowards and incompetent forever and the HBO show still gets glowing praise.
What are the inaccuracies related to Sobel?
As a HLL player crazy how accurately the developers portrayed this battle
Great to hear JD from the History Underground. I really appreciate how you have included other CZcamsRS in your work
Although I love JD, I think you shouldn't have the guest narration.
Thanks for the excellent quality of the videos!
I think Lt. Dyke gets a lot of unnecessary hate. I don’t think many people would’ve done much better had they just got shot in the shoulder and just performed a risky attack across an open field under heavy fire. He earned 2 bronze stars, he clearly wasn’t a coward. Some people are better soldiers than they are leaders or commanders.
I'm glad you dispelled some common myths about this battle in particular and the entire campaign at large.
This has been a fantastic series. Thank you very much for putting it together.
This was an amazing series and I hope to see these battlefields one day and pay my respects
It is true. Lt. Ronald Speirs had shot and killed one of his sergeants in his platoon on the march to Ste. Come dü Mont. The sergeant was in fact drunk and had nearly got the platoon in a deadly firefight with the Germans, as Speirs was trying to relieve the man from his duties, the man raised his weapon at Speirs and he had to shoot him in self defense in front of the entire platoon. It was reported to the Dog Company CO and placed in the company records, however the CO was killed a few days later and the investigation effectively ended in Speirs' favor.
I was talking to piers about the old times and different people from the old times, I mentioned I had a lot of time for you and he told me about this channel! I’ve watched so many of these videos without even knowing it was you!
Well done these videos are so good! Keep it up! I look forward to any obscure aircraft references 😉😂
Great series on the Battle of the Bulge! Thanks so much!
Thank you very much for bringing so much insights to this historic battle.
Glad to see you're feeling better! Keep up the great work!
101st really had it rough throughout the war.
A wonderful 8 part series! Thank you
fantastic series. Thanks, Operations Room!
Loved the video @The Operations Room! Can't wait for the next video man! I have the "Foy Scenario" from Flames of War by Battlefront Miniatures downloaded on my Kindle. Glad to see what Happened at this part in the Battle of the Bulge.
Also, would love to see what you guys get up to in Crossout! Can't wait to see if you guys build a Panzer or a Sherman or even a Soviet T-34/85 Obr 1944, IS-2 Obr 1944 or ISU-152!
This is an absolutely outstanding series . No other documentary or series has presented the entire Battle of the Bulge .
Other shows present various pieces of this battle .
Having a tough time finding out the overnight low temperatures during this battle . But spending a night outside in January when its -20oC would give a good idea of the conditions . At this temp hands will freeze on metal .
A lot of Americans went into battle without winter clothing .
.
Brilliantlly explained, thank you very much! And happy new year!
Very well made. Total war, total carnage, bloody horrible! The bravery and unselfishness above and beyond duty.
I have been looking forward to this part! Thank you!
Thank you. Incredible series.
This series of videos was fascinating! Always something new to learn about this huge battle
After reading Donald Burgett's book, "Seven Roads to Hell" I came to realize that Ambrose's work was a total hack job. Everyone wants to talk about E company and what they did at Bastogne, just holding a perimeter. Burgett was in A company and he went forward to Noville to slow down off the German advance. They were literally fighting and retreating through Foy as they got back to Bastogne. One hell of a read. One of the major heroes of Bastogne was Major Desobry. Read about that guy.
Fantastic series. Thank you so much!!
This has been an amazing series thank you for creating it.
Great series, from start to finish. Very informative
First off, great work👏🏼 and I would enjoy to see more of this kind of stories like the battle for germany or italy or more eastern front. BUT!!! To be really honest I would have liked to see the capture of Noville and Rachamp too! I think you missed that part! Besides that, great job! Great series! And I want more!👏🏼
Easy Company Rocks!! Awesome content as always. Looking forward to 2023!!