Omaha Beach - E3 Draw - WN61 and WN62
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- Omaha Beach - E3 Draw - WN61 and WN62
With Michael Akkerman
Part of our DDay and Battle of Normandy series
• DDay and the Battle of...
Also part of our 80th Anniversary Series
• 80th Anniversary Special
Our return guest today is Michael Akkerman, an artist and filmmaker whose primary focus is war history, and particularly WWII history. His most notable work is his multi-award winning film Reveille / reveillefeaturefilm
www.imdb.com/title/tt18560820/
www.reveillefilm.com/
His other interest is the bunkers and fortifications on Omaha Beach in Normandy and today we look at the defences around the E3 Draw. Mike's microphone is a bit crackly today, but is still listenable.
Michael's show about the Butcher of Omaha
czcams.com/users/liveCqhJKi9U...
Michael's show about Vierville sur Mer
czcams.com/users/liveiyPSGKsd4-c
Omaha Beach - Les Moulins - WN668 - Part 1
czcams.com/users/live_z1kiG8sRpo
Part 2
czcams.com/users/liveM3QsmUsm6Qw
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So appreciative when Michael appears on WW2TV. So talented and passionate. Many of my lingering questions answered today. And such a nice guy. Fascinating show.
Totally agree! :)
Superbly detailed presentation, great photographic evidence coupled with forensic like research into the subject. They don't come much better than Michael, staggeringly having never visited his source.
Just flabbergasting.
Just watching on a rerun, I so much enjoyed Michaels in depth presentation, he really knows his subject and great research. Thank you Michael and Woody
I’m a WW2 wargamer and have been wanting to game the D-Day landings at Omaha in particular WN61 and 62 and after searching far and wide and not getting much info I watched the this and was so happy to find it a wealth of information just what I was looking for.
Thank you for having me on again, Paul.
Any time
thank you WW2TV and michael akkerman. great storytelling combined with intricate details and moment by moment bespoke maps.
Well done Michael, thank you. Love the attention to detail and photos/art with your presentations. Thank you Paul. 🫡
It would be really interesting to see the tactical timeline at these sites, using Michael’s maps. Sounds like there are first person accounts on both sides (but some sound untrustworthy). Just a suggestion for a future appearance.
Thank you Woody, thank you Michael, always love the amount of detail provided.
One for Michael if you ever see it: the Lichtsprechgerät is visible light, it's only when a specific IR filter is switched in does it become invisible to our eyes. One amazing bit of equipment. Great video, been to WN61 and 62 myself.
To fill the anti-tank ditch with water, I think they used the small river des Moulins. Because the high tide is not always coming to the high high water mark. The small river is continuously bringing water and the canal Mike mentions is a drain to evacuate the water to the sea when the anti-tank ditch is full of water. As always these are my thoughts and I could be wrong.
Brilliant material from Michael, as always.
Fantastic, as usual. Thanks Woody.
Incredible information. Well done Michael. Keep up the good work. Also be thank you to Paul for continuing to bring us this type of content. Awesome stuff
I pride myself on paying attention to the details, but Michael has got me beat. The things that he picks out in the photos is amazing. I followed the presentation on Google maps and discovered that street view along Omaha has views from the beach. You can see the Google photographer's footprints in the sand.
Man thanks. It is '3.Kompanie'... Best from Hamburg
Fantastic
Thanks!
For the Wn 61 and Wn 72, they are close to the beach and not on the hill for their Pak 43/41 in R677. I think that they are made to fire at tank in strait line and not in curved line. And I don't think that the antitank guns are made to fire downward. Maybe they can't put their barrel much lower than the horizontal. I totally agree with Mike about the migration to the hill but not for all the weapons. Some weapons can't simply don't be put on the hill to be effective. Note that another R677 was under construction in the lowest part of the Wn 67. This is my thoughts. Best regards from France.
A Pak 43/41 has a max depression of -5°
@@defendingnormandy8109 Thank you very much for the precision. And this supports the fact that some weapons could not migrate up the hill to be effective.
What struck me with all these fantastic images that Michael brought us of the defenses is that after all the years of effort and resources put into their construction, the Americans overcame them in less than 24 hours. There was simply no real depth to them. I'm not trying to minimize the sacrifices made at Omaha Beach, but pointing out that the defenders here were not of the same quality say as at Dieppe. Beautifully done research and preparation.
Great presentation, images and detail once again from Michael, and like any great presentation it makes you think about the detail. Thanks again Woody for another great episode.
There does not appear to be any great defence in depth by the Germans, why? Have the Germans actually bought the Allied attempts at the deception of where the landings were to take place? Do the Germans themselves really think it more likely that the Allies will go for a harbour as a landing target, or do they think they can get reinforcements to an ‘unlikely’ landing zone quick enough to stop the allies at the beaches? The other thing is how rushed and 2nd grade their defence constructions were.
The use of captured armaments (of multiple types and calibres) maybe suggests they thought Normandy was of secondary importance and that they would be able to respond quickly enough, and that their preparations and defence would be enough to give them time to respond. Of course it could just be they were short of materiel and had to cope with the logistics nightmare of so many armament and ammunition types. I would love to hear the thoughts of a panel of the very knowledgeable presenters on WW2TV give their assessments of this.
I have to say that for whatever reason, the Allies got it right and thank god that the defences were not any stronger than they were, allowing the Allies to establish and maintain the bridgehead and landing.
I think it was the Chieftain who mentioned that one of the reasons that the U.S did not take 76mm Shermans on D-Day was a concern over logistics (plus the fact that they did not think they needed them, which initially they probably did not), whereas the DUKE forces perceived a need for the FireFly, but at the cost of logistics issues.
Another fantastic Michael Akkerman presentation. Well done to you both! Something I mentioned in the sidebar was Gockel said there were Forward Observers for at each WN, but I'm not familiar with other OPs like Frerking's bunker on other WNs?
There were at least 4 or even 5 concrete OPs on Omaha Beach. Wn 74, 73, 62 and 60. Maybe one was in Wn 67 also but it's not totally sure it was there anymore on the 6th of June 1944.
@@arnaudcauvin3278 They no longer exist? I've seen the observation pits on WN60, but not like Frerkings bunker?
@@InTheFootstepsofHeroesThe OP in Wn 74 is always there. In Wn 73, it was destroyed after the war. In Wn 62 it's always there and I didn't remember for the Wn 60 and I will check but they were nearly the same with some modifications.
@@arnaudcauvin3278 Just noticed that the one on WN74 was coveted in a show with Michael 2 years ago.
You sure that the one on WN73 got destroyed? You talking of the one integrated with the mortar tobruk?
Hi Paul. I was rewatching the 24 hour d day special with indy and Spartacus. At one point you were talking about the difficulty of getting tanks through the very narrow town streets. You mentioned some surviving scrape marks on buildings from passing tanks. What town was that in? Thanks
There are several, but both Bernieres and Hermanville have some
Interesting video about WN62, but I think Michael is mistaken about the 699 casemates. These are actually 669-s with a flanking wall. A 669 was mainly equipped with a fieldgun. A 699 almost equivalent to a 677, equipped with a PAK 43 on a cross carriage. Moreover a 699 also has a muzzle gas pit in front.
❤
Is there a WW2TV podcast detailing the German reaction to the Normandy Invasion? That would be very interesting.
If you are specifically looking for a podcast on this subject. I think the WW2 We Have Ways D-Day series has one on the German reaction
@@WW2TV Thanks!!
But, we have plenty of DDay content on WW2TV too - not podcasts though
Great work as always Michael. Loved it! After working so detailed on all these draws, which one do you consider to be most defended?
The French and North African workers , by this 1942/43 stage North Africa was in Allied control as well French resistance infiltration in the French construction teams . One could or may assume information filtered back to Allied and USAAF intelligence enabling pinpoint flyovers of this construction site with arial photo accuracy . One could assume many if not all of the construction sites were being built using French resistance workers , a double benefit , the worker got paid and the information ended up with the Allied powers to be.
One could assume anything. I have never found evidence of something like that in this specific area.
There doesn't seem to be any evidence of this, but it's an interesting theory. I do wonder though, how large the French resistance was prior to D- day. After the liberation was underway it seemed that EVERYONE was secretly working for the resistance.
I really wanted to watch this, but the audio issues made it really hard. 😬
Yep, not the best, but many people enjoyed it anyway
☝🤓 erm actually...
That guy at 33:15 is actually wearing an "M41" tunic which was the result of the order HM41, No. 558 dated 26. May 1941 according to which the army tunics will now be made with six buttons instead of five.
Some of the books I have on the subject suggest that this change was made to counteract button gaping caused by lower quality wool.
Gonna go on a small tangent, this order only affected the army and the SS-contract tunics were still made with five buttons so their "M41s" were basically just "M40s" but made out of lower quality wool and with rayon lining.
The Reichsheer tunics were made with eight buttons, slash pockets on the bottom and the collars stood a bit taller and had two sets of collar hooks, similar to officer tunics.
Alois Reckers at 36:10 is actually wearing an "M40" tunic, since it has five buttons and pleated pockets.
The "M42" tunics were similar to the "M41s" but with two further war time simplifications. The more obvious simplification was the elimination of pocket pleats. The less obvious simplification was the replacement of the internal suspenders for the belt hooks, by four short straps stiched directly on to the tunic just above the belt hook holes.
Gem of a video though 👍
Addendum: I just found out that my idea of the Reichsheer tunic was based on the "M20" model while a six button model known as "M28" actually existed. It's still a "M41" in the photo since it got lower patch pockets.
There is a lot about uniforms I still need to learn. Send me some good resources and info if you have them.
@@Theakker3B
German Army Uniforms and Insignia 1933-1945 by Brian L. Davis and Uniforms & Traditions of the German Army, 1933-1945, Vol. 1-3 by John R. Angola are great books on the subject, but it might be a bit inconvienient having to start reading through the chapter on the tunics every time you want to check which model you're looking at in a photo.
There's also an old freehostia site called 'Landser' which has a handful of pages with illustrations on the different types of jackets worn by the Heer.
I didn't include a link because YT deletes comments with links, I think.
Certain weapons may have been installed, such as the turret of the R35 tank at Wn 61, but had the ammunition been delivered? If not they were useless.
Yep, good point
@@WW2TV That's one hypothesis...
Is it true that one of the two casemates were missing its gun?
Yes probably
Pls get a new MIc, Mike.
Michael, throw that microphone in the bin .Terrible sound all the way
But great content though