Forgotten History: The Capture of Fort Douaumont
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2018
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Welcome to out first episode of Forgotten History! This will be an occasional series looking at interesting events and places in military history. We will begin with the capture of Fort Douaumont on February 25, 1916...
This video was made possible by Military History Tours, and it is the first of a bunch you will be seeing from their Spring 2018 tour of American WW1 battlefields in France. If you are interested in seeing places like this (or WW2, or Korea, or many others) firsthand yourself with a guided tour, check them out:
www.miltours.com/
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N Oracle #36270
Tucson, AZ 85704
Will it be sold at RIA?
ShrimpsTonic lmao
No, it's free real estate
Apparently if you just walk in it's all yours
“I wonder what’s through that door?”
[opens door]
“Holy shit”
[Closes door]
@@bullettestdummy8433
[Locks door]
@Gilgamesh [Eats lunch]
"On 8 May 1916, an unattended cooking fire had detonated grenades and flamethrower fuel, which detonated an ammunition cache. Apparently some of the soldiers tried to heat coffee using flamethrower fuel, which proved to be too flammable and spread to shells which were without caution placed right next to such environments. A firestorm ripped through the fort, killing hundreds of soldiers instantly, including the 12th Grenadiers regimental staff." - Wiki
pro-tip: don't cook with flamethrower fuel
I suppose there's a first for everything
Now that's a Darwin award right there. Nearly 700 casualties, Jesus >.>
what happend on 8 May nobody knows exactly. Dr. Hallauer, who was on duty in the fort made up this story:
- Soldiers were heating there coffee using powder of german handgranades (which was forbidden, but often done)
- Flamethrower fuel took fire (Dr. Hallauer was informed about the smell of fuel allready the day before)
- Black smoke and soot covered faces an hands of soldiers
- Soldiers runnig off the place were seen by other germans: "Alert! The Blacks are coming!"
- Throwing of handgranades against the "Blacks" ( probably these handgranades ignitet all other explosivs)
- Two heavy explosions followed (a stock of 155 french shells and a handgranade depot near by)
- about 700 soldiers were killed, some were brought outside and laid down in shellcraters
- due to heavy fire outside the fort, they decided to burry the dead inside , in two ammunition bunkers.
@@seibelsteinIs it fake rigth? I can’t believe in it.
@@ordennuevo469 well, one thing is clear: it was an inside explosion, not a juge granade from outside.
The report from Dr. Hallauer is (for example) written in German Werth's Book: "Verdun, die Schacht und der Mythos"
I wonder how the German newspapers presented the story. "Largest stronghold in the universe taken! Casualties: one scraped knee."
Propoganda came of age in the Great War. The German's made a lot of fuss, particullaly aimed at a certain Neuteral country across the water,
Of course the brits had clipped the non-entente telegram cables so very little german PR reached the US.
Plus one spoiled stomach.
*"it was a tight squeeze, but eventually they made it in with precise squad formations"*
@@DIEGhostfish Quite useful when the pipes go through your house. The one in Cornwall.
Telstar was piped through Cornwall as well. Nice to see it moving across the sky.
In the early 1970s I visited Fort Douaumont, by accident, through a subterranean entrance apparently unknown to others. My companions and I explored alone and uninterrupted. We were able to reach, and cross the gas sump, on old planks across it. All tunnels and passages in the fort, lead downhill, so, as gas seeks the lowest point, it worked it's way into the sump. Eventually we heard voices, and worked our way towards them. It was a gun position with a French 75 fully mounted. Outside, a tour guide was making his presentation to a crowd, with his back to us. People in the crowd saw us, and began to stir. The look on the tour guides face when he turned around and saw us looking out of the open casement. That's when the visit got really interesting.
This was utterly fascinating. War makes for some pretty interesting bloopers.
Lmao imagine one dude just taking a whole fort 😂😂😂😂😂
Dude you misspelled your name. It's spelled cock
In the midst of all atrocious testimonies related to WWI, this was indeed a very comical story.
Demon_Turtle89 Yeah, really! 🤣
Reminds me of the outrageously blunderous Operation Biting where British commandos had to steal radar technology from the Germans in WWII. TIK has a great video on it.
I believe it was this “victory” which ironically opened up an exposed flank, which cost the Germans heavily in casualties.
Yes, but the battle to retake the fort, was no laughing matter.
There are many places and forts like this one you can still visit in France, and from the Maginot lines. I had some like 1 mile from my home I was going in and exploring when I was 10 or 12... it was forbidden and dangerous, but it was fun at the time to explore the long galleries and tunnels used to enter and evacuate the main bunker. The trick was always to find them like 100 or 200 yards away, completely hidden. It was a 2’x2’ small hole in the ground to reach the tunnels (barely 5’ high, sometimes less) you have to go through for hundred yards until you enter in a huge hall big enough to fit tanks and trains... all underground and connecting to the different other bunkers used for artillerie, troops, munitions, etc... there’s also some forts close to Verdun that you can also visit, or some on the Normandy beaches. I visited them when I was a military officer. It’s always very impressive, even decades later. Also, only couple miles away from my home, another fort has been converted into a private shooting range (using a tunnel as a 600m range). Another one has been bought by a shooter and he built his home on top of it and converted the bunker as a gun vault. Plenty of stuff around here.
Phil Smith douaumont is at verdun..
kazm1936 yes, thank you I know that well... but that’s not the only one around Verdun.
SonsOfLorgar so true! And there’s plenty that were kept in good condition and could be open to visit too. I haven’t check them for a while now, but I know they were.
SonsOfLorgar yes! But we weren’t thinking about that when we were kids... but now I realize how dangerous it actually was. I heard of someone from my local shooting club here that actually has died while exploring them, apparently caught in a place lacking enough oxygen. He was apparently wearing a detector but couldn’t get in back in the surface fast enough and felt unconscious and was found couple days later. He was always going in weird places with a metal detector trying to find some old ammunition, cases and other war leftovers. He was the kind of guy that everyone was leaving the range when he was starting to shoot because he was always trying to shoot some old and rusty ammo he found in forests or bunkers, etc... we were always scared it would blow in his face, we always thought he would be gone that way... so at least, he was doing what he likes when he dies. But still, that’s indeed very dangerous and would only recommend to visit the ones that are kept in condition and open to public. There’s still plenty that are good and worth to visit.
There’s a “troops” bunker not too far from my home that have been completely renovated by a group of history fans, they even fixed the original electric generator and tried to kept it as real and correct as it should be. You can visit it for 5 bucks or so when they do some annual open doors days... I did it like 10 years ago and it was great. Not a big fort, so it’s a quick visit but it’s nice to see it.
Where did you live?
This needed to be a Monty Python movie! lol
We can probably sneak in a wooden rabbit as a gift!
Chapter III: Fighting Each Other.
"The story of the brave soldier Kunz"
I can imagine the hilarious scenes already 😁
Well, there is Blackadder
Reminds me a bit of the Battle of Liege, where a few Germans (including Ludendorff I think) walked past the ring of fortifications into the centre of town and bluffed the garrison of the citadel into surrendering.
Such successes were made possible by the high level of responsibility and independence the Germans granted their Officers and NCOs compared to other armies. They were allowed to adapt to the circumstances and to a certain degree disobey orders from high command if it was necessary. This system called "Auftragstaktik" (Mission Tactics) wouldn't be fully adopted in most armies (including those of the Entente) until well after WWII. This degree of flexibility is a big part of why the Germans were so successful.
That Kuntz dude be literally like "winner winner chicken dinner"
I can just imagine him walking into the Hall of food, sitting down, eat some chicken and literally say that
A interesting site note. It took the Germans much longer and much more blood to take the village of Douaumont located close to the Fort.
Well hard to beat 0 blood
You see, the fort was actually bait. The real trap laid in the village, enforced with state-of-the art hay stacks, and razor sharp pitch forks.
Ian has braced his inner frenchie lol. I truly think the french don't get enough credit for their contributions to modern war technologies
I love your take on history, whatever you are discussing. I'm not a gun nut, really, but I love history, and your way of discussing it is what keeps me coming back to this channel each day. Thanks for another great video!
Get a gun. Try it. Join us. We have free candy.
Feldwebel Küntz: “I single handedly captured Fort Douaumont”.
Fritz Klingenberg: “Hold my beer..”
Leo Major says hi
He was the true protaganist
I went to this fort during a school trip, it was fascinating, our tour guide lifted a huge steel plate and dropped it on the ground and told us that was how loud it was when the fort was under artillery fire, it was the loudest thing I ever heard, as inside the fort, loud noise are even louder.
My HS funded a trip to a truck factory. Basically an hour and a half listening how to apply to work at a truck factory.
Pretty sure our school got payed to do it.
Fort Douaumont: exists
Küntz: It’s free real estate.
I live 200 kilometers away from Douaumont, you know the country history better than most of french people... It's kinda sad... Thanks for this vid, and thanks for the forgotten history of my country...
Spc Madoule Human nature. The goal is at least some of us learn and pass on lest we all forget and repeat the mistakes of the past.
To you it's historic, to others it's 'Where I live'. History and we live here! Still causing problems on the Western Front.
Max: The English are the same, but then so are the American's , the German's the Austrian's the Dutch and the Belgians. 'WE' are wholly good guys! 'THEY are wholly bad guys!
Good points, though I wouldn't call the Viet-Minh at Dien Bien Phu a mere "rag-tag of farmers", at this point it was practically a regular army. They outnumbered us not just by the numbers of troops in the field, they also had larger amounts of heavy artillery and even anti-aircraft guns which proved fatal to some of the bombers providing air support and to several of the transport planes dropping supplies and reinforcements for the defenders (including one cargo plane whose crew included two americans, the only US casualties of the conflict). Now to be fair, there were thousands of farmers who were 'recruited' by the Viet-Minh, and they proved instrumental since their job was to move all this artillery atop the steep forested hills overlooking the fortress and hide it in dugouts, effectively protecting it from counter-battery fire and bombing from our own artillery and air support.
Max The teaching of History in France is all about how France was shit. We never talk about Napoleon, the Sun King, or the fact that this country was basically Europe's main military and cultural power for 8 centuries. Where did you meet teachers who told you about how great France was? Because they just don't exist. Most old teachers are former 68ards, ie. anti-imperialist leftists. Most young teachers are self-loathing leftists.
I made a visit to Verdun this past August. I had read Alistair Horne's "The Price of Glory" back in 1963, when I was 13. I was determined, then, to visit the forts. Walking across the tops of Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux, I finally, really understood how violent the battle was. I also visited Fort Loncin and its un-exploded twin, Fort Lantin, again, finally really understanding how powerful the magazine explosion was to have caused such damage.
So this is literally that one guy who captures spawn-points at the back of battlefield-1942 map while everyone else is fighting.
More or less... I think in this case it was the one guy who has absolutely no idea where he is, cant read a map and ends up capturing the spawn points by chance...
Ever better he also gets free food.
Feiora That is literally the plot for an earlier episode of Red vs Blue
@@Feiora if you don't know where you are crawling through a French gun port you're probably legally handicapped. Just saying. EDIT: I'll also say simply locking French troops in their own mess hall was smart. Why deal with them by yourself when you can wait for extra manpower to smoke them out?
Cant tell you how many time I did that in 1942 and in the Forgotten Hope game.
"my orders are to clear obstacles, this looks like a pretty cool obstacle, let's see what happens."
beautiful line
also I imagine Kuntz thinking "the officers took all the credit, but I took all the food, so who's the real winner here?"
I absolutely love hearing you explain history. You're the best narrator Ian.
I have been there.
However the french museum staff only mentioned that it fell into German hands at some point, lol.
I love how you apply your awesome storytelling technique to particular battles. I'm looking forward to more!
Glad you had the opportunity to tour this site. Excellent narration and walk through, very professional.
0:58 is the first up close pre-destruction shot I've seen of the fortress.
This was really a great story/history presentation, Ian. Thank you!
Such a fascinating and hilarious story.
I think not than the Douaumont french soldiers find this hilarious...
leneanderthalien You mean the 20 that were left there?
@@m4rkm4n there were roughly 60 professional soldiers in the fortification at the time lol. At the minimum, 56. men are confirmed to have been there. and anecdotally, there were just above 70, or 72
So, uh... yeah? lmfao 😂 For ONE 30-year old German nco to singlehandedly take the strongest military fortification in the world... seizing all the guns, rations, and ammunition stored inside. killing or taking captive all 60+ soldiers stationed within. Then putting his feet up, making like he owned the place, while eating their food, and drinking their wine; before finally delivering the entire stronghold, (with it's full complement intact,) to his high command, as a prize? And living on, to tell the tale, about it? Without suffering so much as a scratch? 😂
Yeah... I think most people would have to agree, That's pretty goddamn hilarious. Only being, y'know... just, Probably the most dominant one-sided win, by an individual, in all of military history? 😂😂😂 And certainly, across all *modern* military history. lol. Especially during wartime, as well~
Great video Forgotten Weapons. I think you have a very easy and watchable style and I'd love to see the channel branch out into other projects like this. Keep up the good work.
Please do more of this in the future! You’re professionalism and commitment to history delights and captivate your audience. Keep up the good work .
Great contribution Ian, I love these segments.
Would love to see more of these, this was fantastic!
Great addition to the FW/IR library -- history is fascinating full-stop, but war history like this needs a place in the rotation -- esp w/ Ian narrating our French tour of the Great War.
awesome. Thanks for the interesting story and a tour of the fort. What a cool place to explore, the damage from all the shells is staggering.
Very good! One of the best short video I’ve seen. Congratulations!
And I didn't think I could love your show any more... you are such a stud. Love this new content!
This is amazing,thanks once again Ian!!
I visited Forts Douaumont and Vaux March 2017. A very interesting place the whole of the Verdun area is well worth a trip, if you have an interest in Military history.
Next place has got to Eben Emale.
51WCDodge yes i would like to go there one day.
Problem is it's only open a few times a year. Let's start the Freind's of Forgotten Weapons UK and organise a trip? That way you get a guided group tour, and a lot of fun and conversation and arguments,
Absolutely fascinating, I'd never heard of that "battle" before. Thanks for the history lesson Ian.
A most enjoyable narration. Perfect end to an otherwise boring day. Thanks Ian!!!!!!!
Excellent work Ian.
Excellent story telling. Thanks Ian.
I dig your history lessons. Keep them up! Really loved your candid bus tour video too haha.
I've always loved the story of this fort, awesome to see what it looks like today. Thank you
Very interesting! Thanks Ian for sharing this with us :)
Great video, more like this please! I'm more of a history and storyline kind of guy so this is great, and also the history and storylines of your traditional videos are great
Even that first camera shot with all the craters is absolutely boggling to me. Great tour!
Truly Interesting Story! Thank You for sharing those amazing storys
Please do more forgotten history! Loved it
Really enjoy videos like this and the one where you are talking about Dunkirk on the buss tour. Keep it up.
Wow I loved this story. I support you doing more of these.
Forgotten History -- I really like it!
Great video and a well told story!
Perfect mini-documentary about my favorite WW1 story.
Thank you good sir,and keep up the splendid work.
pls make more Forgotten History by the way i love the way you explain things :D
I could honestly listen to you recite anecdotes for an hour, easily.
Talk about everything went better than expected. Kuntz (is that how it's spelled?) walked into that fort expecting the bloodiest battle of his life, ended the day casually munching a baguette and sipping wine in a deserted mess hall. Best day of his career.
I don't know if you do this channel full time but doing something like this is literally my dream job.
Love this kind of stuff! Keep it up
I was there about a month and a half ago. Such an awe inspiring and sombering place.
Excellent timing Ian! I'll be visiting Verdun next week.
Please do more history like this. The best part about your gun videos is the history, and how they tick. I wholeheartedly support these videos on Forgotten Weapons.
Thank you for this. I love to hear about such things.
This was a great video. Amazing how a small German raiding party entered one the best forts of the time and how one soldier took fort of the French troops inside prisoner basically single-handedly. Would love to see what it is like in side the fort. Great video.
Took a weeklong vacation to Paris this week, and after seeing your video took a road trip to verdun yesterday. Did the tour of the fort and it is amazing!
Cool!
Great history lesson. Thank you!
Really respect the fact you make an effort to properly pronounce foreign to you names.
Great Video, Thank you!
I like these tours Ian.
This is honestly pretty hilarious.
This human pyramid is called "Räuberleiter" (thief's ladder) and is basic children skill.
Superb video!!
Great as always
I think I love these Forgotten History episodes as much, if not more than, the Forgotten Weapons. :)
Very cool. Thank you for the history lesson.
Need the underground tour! Nicely done!
Love these.
Really good video! It's great to hear bits of, as you rightfully say, forgotten history!
It's surprising how quickly, similarly to today, things became obsolete. So much money and research spent on a fort only for it to be left as a sign of prestige. Well, you can only try to predict the future!
Vennonetes imagine all the money wasted on outdated naval vessels that take 10 years to make
Mike Marion Indeed! I remember a stream by MHV and Justin where the British Admiralty followed strictly the "naval strategy is built strategy" maxim and avoided totally new policies (carriers etc...).
Tough decisions!
But Douamont was part of a layered defence, so whilist it fell and one other, the rest held.
Mike: What about the French La Gloire. The worlds first ocean going Ironclad warship? Launched in 1859 the most powerful ship afloat. One year later in 1860 Britian launched HMS Warrior, La Gloire was obsolete, though a few years later both were ancient history when in 1872 HMS Thunderer the Royal Navies first Turret Ship was launched.
Vennonetes I think it was blue print for Armageddon that talked about how many ships were obsolete by the time they were finished building them.
Very intetesting history! Thanks Sir! Stay blessed😍
You should visit Ouvrage de La Falouse on the south side of Verdun aswell. It's the only intact fort at Verdun that is open to the public. And unlike Douaumont who was a first generation fort built out of dand stone and only later modernized with concrete and gun and machine gun turrets, La Falouse belongs to the last generation of forts completely built out of reinforced concrete with a 75 mm gun turret and a machine gun turret from the outset. If you go there and say I sent you (Max from Sweden) you will be very well recieved since I am a close friend of the guide, monsieur Frederic Radet, and along with my father have helped restore La Falouse to it's present condition. :)
I will remember that for me next trip, thanks!
Your welcome! I have spent every sumer in the Argonne-Verdun-St.Mihiel sector of the Wester front since 1989 so I do know a place or two well worth visiting! :) Butte de Vauquois between Argonne and Hill 304 is also worth a visit if you are interested in WWI mine warfare. And if you want to see some of the best perserved German trenches and dug-outs on the Western front a visit to Forêt d'Apremont between St.Mihiel and Apremont-la-Forêt is a must. Almost the entire German front line was constructed in concrete with concrete dug-outs every 50 - 100 meter with loads of concrete OP's, MG-posts and bunkers. Cheers! And keep up your great work with the channel! :)
I've visited this fortress but I did not know this story, thanks for this!
What a sweet view of Douaumont!
very cool
There is a channel (in french, sorry) le petit théâtre des opérations, that talks about these kind of anecdotes really well, albeit not in the same style. Thanks from france for posting all the history in this calm and factual and fascinating manner (although we may detect a hint or two of french fanboy-ism giddiness on certain carbines videos :p)
'First time as tragedy...the second time as farce'. The Mill on the Meuse. Lest we forget the 3/4 of a million men lost there.
Keep up the good work!
I read about Sgt. Kunze and his group of pioneeres who achieved the infiltration of Fort Douaumont. Alistair Horne's Price of Glory has a very good description of the event. I Recommend this book for a great book about Verdun
I had a chance to visit this Fort, along with Fort Vaux, about eight years ago. Quite humbling to stand on the fields of Verdun. You could still find bits of shrapnel and barbed wire above the ground scattered all over. The one site that brought tears to my eye was the Ossuary that is not far from this particular fort with crosses as far as the eye can see. I hope one day I can re-visit this area.
As a member of les Compagnies franches de la Marine du Contrecoeur (Ret.), that were stationed at Fort Duquesne, along la Belle Rivière, I can appreciate this video,
My late brother, Tim, brought back a B&W photo (an enlargement from a 35mm negative in roughly 16x20 inches) of the ossuary at Verdun...bones of both French & Germans...
More videos like this please!
Awesome ! I was there 3 weeks ago !
Nice, Ian! De
I've been there a lot, in Verdun. Best read on this: "Verdun" , from Georges Blond, 1961.
I read that book to pieces, also using it as a battlefield guide.
Another great battlefield to visit is Waterloo. I found you're in the neighborhood...
Waterloo is a landscaped battlefeild, much altered. Even Wellington on a return visit is reputed the have said 'Good God! What have they done to my battlefield?'
51WCDodge I know Dodge, I've been there a lot, walked the battlefield, even found artefacts, and also the pre- Waterloo battlesite of Quatre-Bras was really interesting.
True, some alterations are there, mainly the hight of the allied ridge was enormously cut for making the Butte de Lion, but walking there from the French lines to Hougomont (still in great condition) and through the valley to Haye Sainte ( also still there,) and Papillotte, you really get a good "feel" of the battle.
Last but not least visit the Panorama museum and view that great painting of the battle again...
I agree nothing like your boot on the ground to understnd how the written history works. My first time to Beaumont Hamel was just before the 90th anniversary of the first day of the Somme. What struck me , was how peaceful the area was that evening, and how small it was! Christ ! They must have been waiting thier turn to fall down. You do really need to stand and see.
51WCDodge I understand. I know that place. Long times ago I went on my own to visit Normandy. But in 1994 it was very crowded on the coast, because it was 50 years ago that the landings took place, so I decided to go inland to search for the Falaise pocket battle... And Absolutely No one was there, no visitors, officials, etc... Like nothing happened there... But armed with a Dutch edition of "After the Battle" about the Normandy campaign and the second edition about the Falaise pocket, I had a very good week of WarWalks, and especially the Battle around Trun stroke me, for all the blockage structure was still there.
Just a few years ago I visited the place briefly, and was shocked by the fact that the French are destroying a lot of that ancient bocages for whatever reason, and by dooing so removing ancient history...
I know of this fort only through a movie: Jean Renoir's wonderful GRANDE ILLUSION, a French movie from 1937 about P.O.W. camps in WWI that has been on every list of the greatest movies ever made since, basically, forever. The French prisoners in one camp hear about the fall of Douaumont and are miserable; later they hear about its being retaken and come back to life.
See the movie if you haven't, it's terrific; it's basically about the end of the old world, and it has wonderful characters and terrific performances. There are no battle scenes, it's just about the camps.
Awesome video
Great story. I was chuckling at my desk.
Man this guy has an amazing voice. Didn't know how that 9 minutes went by! An absolutely fantastic video. Didn't know there were German flags there. Thank you very much!
great story! .. love this video!!! :)
If you are in the area you should visit the Austrian-Italian front line from WW1. A lot of it is high up in the Alps sometimes under glaciers and there are a lot of interesting stories around it. For example at one point the Italians and the Austrians held neighboring twin peaks (this is above 3000m). The Italians had nice sandbags because gravel was plentiful on their side while the Austrians had a lot of ice. One warm summer the Austrians notice their fortifications shrinking for obvious reasons. So they call over to the Italians if they could have some gravel to which the Italians replied sure come on over. The two groups quickly decided to make a secret armistice where both sides would occasionally fire in the other's general direction, carefully not aiming at anything so that the officers in the valley wouldn't get suspicious of unspent ammunition. Think they spent two years up there occasionally visiting with the enemy with none the wiser.
I agree that front really was horrific, even by the standards at the time. Very little mentioned outside Italy and Austria.
The common enemy (cold et al) beat out the uncommon enemy (the opposition).