⚜ | Tunisia: The Forgotten Stalingrad of Africa
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2018
- Often overlooked, the Luftwaffe's effort to resupply Axis troops in Africa in 1943 ended in a disaster rivaling that of Stalingrad. What exactly happened?
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⚜ Sources ⚜
Alexander Black, Eagles over Husky - The Allied Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, 14 May to 17 August 1943,
Alan Levine, War on Rommels Supply Lines
Christopher Shores, A History of the Mediterranean Air War Vol. 3,
Horst Boog, Die Deutsche Luftwaffenfuehrung 1935-1945 - Fuerhungsprobleme, Spitzengliederung, Generalstabsausbildung,
Robert Ehlers, The Mediterranean Air War - Airpower and Allied Victory in World War 2,
Marek Murawski, Luftwaffe over Tunisia Vol. 2,
⚜ Music ⚜
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound
#Luftwaffe #Stalingrad #Africa
I talked to a German veteran who was shot down in this flight. Eventually he got captured when the Africa corps surrendered. He ended up living in the state of Wisconsin going to German fests through the 90's . Panzer IV machine gunner who fought on the eastern front and volunteered for Africa. I asked why he did that. He said that he never saw anyone freeze to death in the desert .
The irony is the desert is freezing at night not in the absolute sense but after climatizing during the day the night feels like a harsh winter even know it's still hot.
@@Ziggletooth Relative to a Russian winter it is nothing at all. Heck, relative to a Wisconsin winter, it is nothing at all.
The "Ahoy" like artstyle is very well done. very nice job bismarck
Glad I'm not the only person to notice. Now I have a desire to see "Iconic Arms" return (or maybe "Iconic Planes" as collab?) - we were promised.
Huh, go figure, didn't know Ahoy's style is well known
Haven't seen how he's been doing recently tho, so yeh
Felix Santosa
Ahoy's style should be more well known, since it is very pleasant to look at, be it there or here. Ahoy has not been doing too badly, producing several hours of actual documentaries and still not delivering on the series that turned him from XboxAhoy to Ahoy.
There is an old adage, "Soldiers win battles, logistics win wars."
Excelente saying !!! 👍👍👍
@David Parry 😂😂😂😂😂👍👍👍
@David Parry G-o-e-r-i-n-g!
Napoleon pretty much said the same thing. He said, "An army fights on its stomach."
“Given the chance to shake Poseidon’s hand in person.”... that’s cold!
But it did catch the ear, artful turn of phrase that it is. The Americans and others referred to "going down into Davy Jones' locker".
Surely it should have been "Neptune's hand" since the ships were Italian. :P
Not as cold as the bottom of the ocean
I am from Tunisia, from the south precisely. My grandma told me when she was 7, "tall soldiers", probably Germans were knocking doors of villagers asking for food and water. They were starving and she felt bad for them. Later they found a lot of body parts of dead soldiers and they buried then close to the village. Lots of ghost stories later..kids were telling. Btw, lots of Tunisians were supporting Germans..not because they were nazis, but because Germans told them we will liberate you from the French
هتلر خلاهم منغير امدادات خاطر قرر يحشدها كلها عالجبهة الشرقية ضد السوفيات لين وفا عليهم الماء و الماكلة و الذخيرة و هذا سبب خسارة ألمانيا في شمال افريقيا
My Father was part of this as pilot. His words "They painted military gear in desert colors in Germany to cover up the losses in Africa' No one should recognize back at home that this was a disaster ...
He got out of Tunis, one of the last planes that left it successfully.
I have an old (out of print) book called "The Fatal Decisions" which was written by surviving German commanders from significant battles during WWII. The segment on North Africa (specifically the Battle for El Alamein) was written by Rommel's Chief of Staff. In that segment of the book, the key point of their struggles was about supplies logistics, and sending request after request to German HQ to resupply his troops to an adequate level or North Africa would be lost. I grabbed my book after watching this video (great job) and read a portion about Rommel, indicating to German HQ that he couldn't hold his position, got a coded message from Hitler himself to 'Hold with all means necessary'. Rommel's statement was, "What we needed were guns, fuel, planes; what we did not need were orders to hold fast."
At least Rommel died with honour trying to get rid of Hitler.
Those "Hold fast" orders kept on coming too in other areas Germany fought. Especially in the Eastern Front when a lot of the generals pleaded to be able to withdraw.
The graphics are awesome in this video
I agree. They remind me of Ahoy's videos. And that's a great thing.
ahoy ? link ?
That's a Wombat in your photo? So is the bike in my photo, a Hodaka "Wombat", and it's parked in front of a wombat sign.
I thought too. Excellent sense of design.
...and that added to ignorance: "spitfires tangling with messerschmitts" ?
This is a great video about an overlooked part of the war. I learned something, thanks Bismark.
only the Nazis could possibly screw up so badly with something as basic as this.
@@JeanLucCaptain The same nazis who managed to get control of most of europe and completely ignore the treaty of versailes with no repercussions.
Oh and also America managed to lose 2500 people during pearl harbor,as well as the fact they had to refloat most of their battleship force...
@@jamessquires7662 that was a surprise attack, you know that right?
@@JeanLucCaptain there are endless problems to condemn the nazis for, I’ve got to say military inability is not one of them.
RIP for all fallen solders in Tunisia
(from TUNISIA)
I love the style of this video!!
Reuben Smart Exciting and very engaging
Your efforts shine yet again. A Simply fantastic video. The animations and information blend are most worthy of an Iron Cross.
or better yet a knights cross
Thank you very much, glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
Its good for what it covers but isn't the complete story :)
not bad man
Military Aviation History :) Ich finde das Video echt ganz toll !
The editing and narration in this video was an absolute treat. Keep this up Bismarck, it's truly incredible.
Great video except that it was almost completely forgotten in the video that also the Regia Aeronautica (old name for ITAF) did its own share of the air bridge and paid the relative price. At the end they were loading cargo on the SM79 bombers that had a slightly better chance of surviving due to their higher speed (and less cargo) towards the similar but fatter ans slower SM82 cargoes.
My uncle was serving in the italin af as a motorist and gunner on the SM79 bombers, and was shot down by a P38. Italian Navy had some patrol boats on duty to recover the surviving aircrew and the lucky crew (nobody died in the ditching) were pulled up after around 12 hours.
So not only Luftwaffe.
Some time before this Major Popski led a small force operating well behind German/Italian lines.
On one occasion he was near an airfeld and he noticed large numbers of Ju52 would fly in in the morning and away in the afternoon. I think he discovered they were ferrying men and supplies in from Crete and wounded out.
He passed the information on.
A few days later a large force of Beaufighters made a decisive interception.
For some reason this hardly ever gets mentioned.
Very nicely done.
My father was in JG 27
Ended up as a Pow
Arrived in the US aboard the Queen Mary first sight of America was Statue of Liberty..
Then shipped by train to Nebraska.. he had spoken to me about the supply and logistical hell that North Africa was..( tea colored water from the rust inside the tanker trucks) but until now I never really understood the backstory to it. Thank you.
Sadly with the passage of time those that can tell the stories are lost.
There was this German army POW that was taken prisoner by the Americans in Tunisia, Georg Gärtner. He was in a POW camp in the United States, escaped captivity and lived in the US for decades before finally turning himself in during the 1980s. He wrote a book about his time. Specifically when he was taken prisoner in Tunisia, he was taken to an American camp. He observed how well supplied, well equipped the American soldiers were. The most alarming thing he saw was how the American soldiers casually left their idle engines running. Burning fuel without a care in the world. Anyone familiar with the German military's plight of fuel shortage should appreciate that. Gärtner said when he saw the total absence of fuel conservation practices with the Americans, "I knew we were going to lose the war."
TheHistoryGuy has a video on this man.
this video is so good. thoroughly researched, and simulator visuals to bring it to life. you clearly put so much work into this, I love it
Really good segment. As always, thank you for sharing.
Steve
Thank you Sir! I had no idea of this action until your video. It makes me very sad that these events are not better known. Brave men died on both sides and they should be honoured and
remembered.
Being a Tunisian, I can say people might have heard of "Kasserine" but the real battles were on the coast , some bombs were dropped on the sea and the holes left are so deep that an entire ecosystem changed between the biggest islands in the Kerkennah Archipelago , strong sea currents where only the most adventurous could sail. The areal battles were brutal on the ports and the people.
Very well done. Had never heard of Operation Flax and its easy to see why. Always love learning something new like this.
The whole episode gets overlooked and I must say that I had never read of it being called Operation Flax. Part of the problem is that it came just prior to the Victory in Tunisia and then the Invasion of Sicily. The focus of the war moved on.
Thanks for putting this up! WW2 was a huge conflict. There are many events like this that need to be brought to light.
This is an amazing video, thank you for this!
Outstanding work. Thank you!
I actually never knew that last bit about Mussolini promoting the last Italian commander and ordering him not to waste the lives of his men.
An act of decency.
Brilliant commentary. Thank you.
Excellent video. Clear, concise and informative about an event I was ignorant of until now.
Appreciate the effort put into this!
Outstanding. I was completely unaware of these events. Thank you for filling that gap in my knowledge base.
One of your best videos yet. Love the visuals and quotations.
Thanks for producing such an interesting and well created video, it raised my awareness to a part of WW2 I had heard little about.
Amazing quality in this video, cant imagine how much work it must've took, well done!
I remember reading an account of a British fighter pilot opening up a Gigant with his guns. He threw up in his cockpit as he watched scores of troops fall out of the disintegrating wreckage.
I really enjoyed the art style in this. A+ on all scores, another top drawer effort!
Very informative with the stats and details which are usually bypassed in the general history. Great work.
Fantastic work Bismarck! Bravo!
Really impressive production value. Well done!
These videos are awesome and very ilustrative, thank you.
Excellent video. Thanks.
As always, great job, and especially good narrative.
your animations in this video are just beyond amazing! really really good job!
Fabulous dissection of the engagements. Very informative.
Really good stuff, again. Look forward to more.
Good research, great presentation of the graphics and I like the ending air battle scenes - WELL DONE!!!!
as always, prime content. this makes me very pleased
Nice! I love this new animation style!
This was excellent. Your reports get better and better.
Wow, this is a really great video! The moving infographic style of representation was at some points so flashy I needed to rewind to not miss what you where actually saying. I guess a lot of time goes into making these but the result is simply stunning. Keep up the good work Bismarck!
Thanks for the feedback, will slow things down a bit.
I do not think it needs slowing down really. I have ADD so I get easily distracted :) And all the other comments about the graphics (and there are a lot of them) are nothing but praise.
Fantastically informative, great video.
Love the video, great job!!
An excellent video. Thankyou.
I never knew about this. Awesome video!
Love the new graphics
Thank you very, very much for making these literate and interesting videos.
Excellent! Keep up the good work
A thoroughly researched, very detailed summary; analysis is excellent. This report is a tour de force, Bismarck - very well done!!
Great presentation, Thank you. Subscribed.
I really enjoy your videos. Thanks!
Awesome episode 🌴
Well done ! Thanks !
Excellent work.
Mein guter Herr, this was one fantastic video ! I'm blown away by it's brilliance :D
May I ask you to create a similar video about the Swiss Air Force's battles against the Luftwaffe in 1940 ? (if you can spare the time in the next few month or years)
Switzerland ostensibly was neutral, so where did you learn about these battles?
Thank you.... my dad was a trainee transport pilot ( Dakotas ) in North Africa at this time. He was horrified by what happened to evacuation attempt. He was 20.... really disliked Germans ( after being bombed out of his home in 1940 ) but disgusted by the triumphalism of some of the fighter aircrews.
It feels very strange and sad to find "the full story" 60 years after he told me about it.
@@Squarehead2008Absolutely, this is revisionist history to me.
But what if the German soldier surrendered?
Probably not revisionist. There is only me and my 60 year old memory left to make this particular call and going by what else he had to say about his time in the RAF I reckon he was probably telling ti like it was. He was also distressed by some tankers sad stories of murdering surrendering enemy when there were no supporting infantry to make sure they didn't pick up their weapons after the tanks had pushed on...... but couldn't think what else could have been done. He actually thought he had just been lucky to get to be a medevac pilot and never have to confront the possibility of killing someone directly.
I'd agree that butchering a bunch of troop-laden transports is a dirty job, but one which had to be done.
I can see why your father, who seems to have had some empathy with the JU52s and their passengers because a transport pilot on the other side, would abhor their triumphalism and apparent mocking blood-lust.
Possibly, some experienced fighter pilots on our side may have also felt disgust for them, even if expressing it cautiously..that they behaved, or chattered, like a bunch of crazed seagulls with a shoal of beached fish.
anyway, the Germans at Arnhem effectively did the same to our paratroop transports in at least one case, even if doing it with AAA instead of fighters..
Like revenge for this, and like revenge for Crete, where the JU52s and occupants had gotten messed up pretty bad previously.
mmm..when you really cannot take prisoners, when there is no physical avenue to hold them or direct them even, exactly what does one do with them..
Look at the mistake the Yank SEALs made sparing that young Afghan that blundered into them when they were stalking a village containing Taliban leaders..look at the cost of that error.
What a beautiful design! The colour palette is very pleasant to my eye.
Now, back to watching the video!
Mate, that video was top notch.
Excellent and detailed analysis.
Great video, subscribed right away :)
Amazing video!
Your videos Get betterer and betterer.
Fantastiche.
Make it simple and clear, great work sir.
There could be a really cool movie about this. Great video!
My grandfather was a pilot for the British over there and he told me there wasn’t any Americans when the British won the Africa’s campaign
We thank him for his service
'smashing into the cold grave of the sea' .......vaguely poetic and given germanic accented urgency. More sir more!!
I watched the video now 2 times. I always gives me a gowling feeling on my spine!
Remembering that my greant pa flew with a Me 323 to africa
Very good presentation, and the duel screen English and german text was a good format.
Over all, good job!
I subscribed and will be watching your channel.
Awesome graphics.
That’s quite nice video yoput together, lots of facts and great Graphics!!!
Really liked they style of they video! Nice work keep it up!!!
Excellent video my friend excellent!
those were some great edits
Great Video Produktion !!!
Great WarThunder footage Bismarck!
Your vids are truly the best ... just when i think history cant get better to learn about or that i learned it all you prove me wrong lol
Really good video, should get two thumbs up
Great job 👍
I really like the stylized animations. Striking and clear.
The casualty and loss rates of air crew from all sides and services of the war, was and still is, alarming and terrifying to consider.
Having lived it could only have been exponentially more so.
Thanks for your content. It is of extremely high quality, as is your research.
Particularly your presentation of information gathered from German war archival documentation, is outstanding.
Excellent use of our beloved IL2 Junkers 52 ! very good job! thank you!
A most excellent summary.
Oh wow, your graphical work in this video is gorgeous!
I'd suggest you check out the channel Ahoy for several hours of the same style of graphical goodness.
Great visual aesthetic and narration :^)
New band name - "Rommel and the Italians"
The prisoners of the African Stalingrad survived.
I think most of the German's were white. I am afraid the German's did not treat their non-white POW very well.
I remeber one of the prisoners escaped from their prison camp in some us desert and escaped his life their as a POW and lived a secret new life as an american.
Desmond Able
Source?
Yes, the Soviets should have treated the Axis POWs better despite how the Axis treated them, but the Soviets were starving themselves, so keeping the moral high ground was the very low on their priorities list.
they shot them...
An excellent piece I pride myself on Military History , but this was news to me.
To be called an Ace after shooting down poorly armed , slow flying transport aircraft has got to be a downer.
Why ? .
Good video, very interesting.
Excellent presentation! Just read the section in Guy Gibson's Enemy Coast Ahead where he recounts 106 Sqn activities bombing Italian ports from England, in support of the Tunisian campaign.
GREAT VIDEO !!!! SUPER GRAPHICS !!!! SUPERB NARRATION !!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
This is really excellent
Nice video editing, I really like it. It looks like you took inspiration from Ahoy.