Everybody's always talking about Winters, but Welsh leading his troops into machinegunfire even before Winters took action AND going into the open field with McGrath to fire the bazooka is amazing. And to think he only received two bronze stars during the war.. that's some true bravery and leadership right there, should've been at least a Silver Star or DSC.
You are talking about awards that didn't even exist at the start of the war. It was pretty much Purple Heart and CMoH in the first years of the war. The Bronze Star was conceived as a way to make combat veterans towards the end of the war with extra 'points' so they could rotate home. The Silver star came about as a way to mark individual acts of heroism. Things that earned the Silver Star would have been considered for the CMoH decades before, but more nuanced awards allowed for 'higher' awards to become rarer.
@@fortusvictus8297 - That’s very interesting, thanks. I didn’t know the history of the Bronze Star and the relationships between the various major combat awards. Do you know of any good reference sources available to learn additional details about this subject?
@@fortusvictus8297 As far as I know both awards already existed at the beginning of the war, and even in WW I. Winters was awarded the DSC for actions on June 6th, so why couldn't Welsh get it for this?
Just to corraberate--Lt. Harry Welsh (1944) was Col. Harry Welsh, US Army Reserve (1962) when he taught American History in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I was one of his students. He was very modest and really tried to not talk about his WW2 experiences!
@@krashd Not zero, at least not good historians. Ambrose may not be quite as rigorous as we might like, but this story (Band of Brothers) would never have been told but for him.
@@krashd It's nonsense to say they have zero respect for him but most will point out that he builds a narrative around the facts. It's not a particularly uncommon way of writing history.
@@thekinginyellow1744 Of course it would not have been told, it is 50% embellishment. Easy company never liberated any concentration camps and Winters and Nixon never sat in the Eagle's Nest discussing Hitler's suicide. The 101st Airborne were and are one of the most incredible units in the US military, they did exceptional things during WW2 - I would just rather people learn about them from real history books rather than from an amateur historian who has a hardon for them. I'm a Brit and I love the miniseries, I watch it every other year, I just hate hearing Americans say "You should watch Band of Brothers if you like historical documentaries" because the series utilises poetic license as if it was going out of fashion. BoB is a war drama inspired by real events and featuring real people, but it's not accurate. Folks have written papers on the amount of factual inaccuracies in that series.
Winters was such a beast, the intelligence of a leader with the bravery of a front line grunt. He never told anyone to do something he wasnt willing to do himself.
There's another video which shows Easy company just after they landed and Lieutenant Winters getting his men together to attack the heavy guns that were pounding the beach and ships from inland. The Germans didn't know what had hit them with Easy company taking each gun one by one with such violence they were able to take all the guns in a ridiculously fast attack.
Yeah, its a point of pain now a days isnt it. The man who helped save the world was chemically castrated for something as stupid as being attracted to the same gender. What a waste. Imagine what he could have gone on to do with Soviet codes!!
@@Zues120 and other men who started the effort and made it all happen are completely forgotten. I am talking about mathematicians working with the Polish intelligence.
It changed everything. I had been studying books about World War II history written previously, and when Ultra/Enigma came out in 1974, it was like everyone took a deep breath and realized that there would be a lot to update.
@@Zues120 Considering he also laid the foundation for computers and artificial intelligence, his horrifying abuse by braindead homophobes likely set back the advancement of our entire species by at least a decade.
@@m1a1abrams3 Blithe: Guys! I'm not dead! In Band of brothers mini series, he dead after that battle. In real life, dead on 1967 while serving his duty on West Germany due to Perforated ulcer.
I can still hear all the quotes, Winters: "Get out of the trenches! Move up!" McGrath to Welsh: "You're going to get me killed lieutenant, I knew you were going to get me killed!" Nixon: "Well helllllloooooo 2nd Armored!"
I absolutely love this style of production. With all this technology today, using almost real time movements to depict what happened back then is so much more immersive that just seeing giant red arrows over a battlefirld pointing in a direction. Love, love, love, love, love this concept...
OMG I rem when playing that game at the first time, I played MOH and COD before, and after first 15 minutes I just realized, this game is not your usual FPS game lol
I remember when I watched the Band of Brothers scene where Lt. Welsh and McGrath took down the tank under heavy gunfire. At the time, I wondered if it was your usually Hollywood exaggeration, but... upon realizing it actually happened during that battle, I was left speechless, and humbled. The brass balls of these two to stand on an open field to take down a tank *that was directly firing at them* were massive. They held the line, and saved their unit. Under something as horrifying as Carentan, with casualty rates reaching 50%, I can't even fathom the courage not only these two, but the entire 101st displayed. They were great men.
You might want to actually study military history and learn that tanks are useless without large amounts of supporting infantry. The Soviets started the war with superior tanks and German mechanized forces simply overwhelmed it with combined arms. The British in north Africa regularly lost to Rommel with superior number of tanks and men, but because they weren't coordinated, they were left fighting on their own, and Rommel would mass it forces to defeat them in detail. The German learns in Poland that tank heavy armored battalions didn't work well and increased the number of infantry in each battalion. There are youtube videos on this very topic.
still don't understand why they had to expose themselves and jump out in the open to fire the bazooka. they could've just as easily done that from the cover of the woods.
Finally, somebody has figured out how to portray an action in both macro and then micro scale. Start with over-all view of the situation. As forces meet, zoom in. Putting everything into context. Well done! Speaking of scales, my only gripe is there's no scale of distance. Could you please freeze the map once in awhile and provide the scale?
The Brits made a three episode miniseries on WW1. They did montages of maps (like this video) and live actors. So imagine this video was edited into Band Of Brothers so the viewer can truly appreciate tactical movement. It was pretty good. (It totally beats the Hollywood idiotic trash where the general goes to the front lines to operate a machine gun that's in front of all the other soldiers.)
@@331SVTCobra this is what im hoping for in any war movies. incorporate macro view to appreciate the objective before going to the actual fight scenes. btw, what's the name of the mini series?
My grandfather was a member of 3rd platoon, George Company, 506th of the 101st. He was a replacement who joined the unit right before Bastogne. I have his unit scrapbook that was issued to members of the 101st after the war. It’s a wonderful piece of history.
There's no proof LTC Cole ever said that. This "citation" appears only for dramatic effect in the game Brother in Arms: Road to Hill 30. On one chapter entitled "Cole's Charge", you follows him in a roughly representation of the famous event that day. I know the phrase sounds cool but it's more likely made up. Instead, here's two excerpt from one page, of about 60 pages, from the "Cole's Charge Official After Action Reports": "Cole trotted half way across the field. Then he stopped, knelt on one knee and looked back. Fire was clipping the grass all around him and more of it was passing overhead. He saw that his men were trailing behind him..." "He kept firing his Colt .45 wildly in the general direction of the farm house and as he fired he yelled: "God damn, I don't know what I'm shooting at, but I gotta keep on." (His exact words as recalled by Cole and by several of the men who heard him and who remembered that they laughed at the spectacle.) About 5 or 6 men were killed by bullet fire..." Edit: Also worthy reading, www.historynet.com/at-the-bayonets-point and www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/cole-robert-george
There are so many heroes in the long story that is the Normandy campaign that many are overlooked. Good to see many of them eternalized with videos like this one, as well as the literature and shows such as band of brothers . Absolutely brilliant work. Much respect. What those men accomplished was nothing short of incredible.
Yay, I was looking forward to this after the Brecourt manor episode. This battle was quite confusing in Band of Brothers, i'm real glad for this episode to clear up a bit what happened
Well in BoB they only showed few moments before they enter and moments when they enter and secure Carentan and eventually the battle of bloody gulch, it really focuses on Blithe story line
If showing a battle from the perspective of one unit, it is correct for things to be confusing, as that gives the viewer some appreciation of the chaos of war, from the individual participant's point of view. Rather than the bird's eye view that a historian can take.
@@Temp0raryName well the episode was concentrated on Albert Blithe, who was scared and confused in the heat of the battle. He just did what he was told, and just like you said, he didn't have the overall perspective. I really liked that episode, one of my favourite scenes is when the battle seems so one sided, paratroopers with M1 rifles against StuGs, and the 2nd Armored Shermans arrive and relieve the cheering men
First time I have ever heard about my Dad unit 2nd Armored “Hell on Wheels”, did in the war. As a kid I always ask my dad what he did in WWII and all he said was nothing I want to remember. Thanks
A lot of brave men did great things. But the trauma they suffered the losses of friends made it too hard to speak of. My maternal grandfather never spoke about his combat on the eastern front. After seeing "Saving Private Ryan", my father made a cryptic remark about panicked Germans freezing when seeing their brothers and arms burn, and the terror everyone felt when ammunition started going off in a burning personal carrier. I remember waking up at 3:00 that morning to use the bathroom and saw him staring through a bottle of vodka, remembering horrors I dare not imagine.
I served in the 2nd AD in 1972-1975. Sadly, it is now decommissioned. There are some articles on line about the 2AD: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Armored_Division_(United_States)
My grandfather never talked about his action at Pearl Harbor, he was on the USS Pennsylvania, I can relate being a veteran of the gulf wars, bless them all.
My grandfather was involved in postwar activities getting people out past the Iron curtain. He wound up in a soviet uranium mine with some US military. They engineered an escape. He never liked to talk about that sort of thing, either.
Probably the best video presentation I’ve seen on the 101st/6th FJR battles for Carentan. Please don’t stop making WW2 videos like this. These are exceptionally good.
My great grandpa was 2/327th GIR. He died before I could talk to him about any of the experience he had in the war. He was and still is a hero of mine and the main reason why I joined the Army myself. I've been searching for literally over a decade now for any record of what he went through during WW2 but have come up mostly empty handed. Thank you because of content makers like you my grandpa's story will live forever, at least the actions of his unit.
Hah, I remember this road scene with the guys hiding in ditches, and Winters trying to get them back up from Band of Brothers... wow and the Bazooka part. I need to watch that episode again now.
@RUclips Account yeah it was amazingly well done and should really continue to stand the test of time, being a period piece with outstanding battle and makeup effects.
50% casualty rate for the 101st Airborne. I can't imagine what these men experienced, and the incredible sacrifices they made. Words can never express how grateful we are as a nation for those sacrifices.
@@orsboo4447 The 82nd Airborne also fought at Normandy, suffering similar casualty rates. They were not at the fighting in Carentan however, they were fighting around Saint Mere Eglise attempting to secure bridges over the Meredet River.
@@Conservative_EastI found the complete series, in its nice metal tin, at a movie store for like $15 a year or so back. Definitely a buy on sight, and I've watched it every year around D-Day since.
Brilliant video! Your series is one of the best Ive seen at explaining the tactical aspects of various battles of WW2. I particularly like the way you have a "satellite" view of the battle map & then zoom in to show the platoon movements in detail etc. It reminds me of a fantastic computer game called Close Combat which was one of the best tactical games released. Thanks for your great work! 👍
It's only now, after watching this, that the scene from Band of Brothers really starts to make sense. Thank you Sir, for a superb adaption of just one of the instance's that took place during the Normandy landings. 👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Ikr! Same! I also watched his Operation room of the Battle of Brecourt Manor, the taking of the 4 Kraut guns raining down on Utah. There was some conflicting facts in his video to the Series. But overall I get the whole picture of that battle too now. I hope I make sense, my English grammar is bad.
I was a Soldier for 25 years. During all the “hurry up and wait” time, I used to think back to our forefathers and wonder if I could have made it in their Army given all the luxuries we have today comparative. I seriously doubt I could have. Those dudes were hard as hell and true badasses. Battle of the Bulge, I would have just said fuck it we need fire y’all.
There's a line in 13th Warrior that I think applies here. "Luck will often save a man, if his courage holds." The men that survived this battle, and the battles before and after, did so because they didn't fall to pieces when bullets, mortars and shells started zipping over head.
I've been playing a lot of Hell Let Loose and having played on the map Carentan many times, this is the first time seeing the significance and real world battle of the location. Great video and very informative!
Play Brothers in Arms if you haven't already! Awesome depiction of "Purple Heart Lane" as seen at the beginning of this video. The developers went through great lengths to make that game as accurate as possible!
Wow, i remember playing brothers in arms road to hill 30 and doing everything from the battle of saint come du mont to carentan, was honestly one hell of a battle
In the book "Tonight We Die as Men" about the exploits of the 3rd battalion, you can read that the 3rd Btn was also hard pressed in the German counter-attack. And they scouted through the hedgerows to make sure friendly forces were still on their right flank, only to find out that there was absolutely nobody there. Because Dog company, 2nd Btn had pulled back.
I never realized just how brave Easy company was till now. I thought the Carentan battle from the series was somewhat glorified version of what happened but man was I wrong. Also it feels so surreal to know and recognize some of the names that came up here, usually when you study or read them, it's just divisions or regiments or company names that stick with you.
Indeed, you are wrong. The battle is glorified. You BoB fans aren't making any mention of the 502nd who did the heavy lifting in the Battle of Carentan, and the show makes no mention of them either.
Thank you for this video. My grandfather was part of the American assault on Carentan. He didn’t really speak about it much, at least not to me until I was around 17 yr old. That was 1998. He past away a few years ago, RIP....From what he told me it pretty much aligns with your narration of your video.
I love how this gives us the big picture concerning events portrayed in Steven Ambrose's Band of Brothers, highlighting the importance of those fights. Great Job.
I highly recommend playing the game Company of Heroes Allied campaign, excluding the first mission itself that is the D day, the following 5 missions are the build up, capture and defense of Carentan, it's not *that accurate,* build IMHO, I think it captures well the emotion, fear, and consequently joy of the Shermans arriving. And Winters man, I'm glad there's a series about him, true hero.
It is hard to image today that a airborne division could take almost 50% losses in WWII and still be fighting. The 101st was a light airborne unit compared to other infantry units and their ability to capture and hold ground in these battles was amazing.
I remember wandering around a B&N picking up a few books practically at random, one of which was D-Day by Stephen Ambrose which I ended up devouring as quickly as any Sci-fi/Fantasy book. I was probably 11 and that was 25 years ago, it's amazing to see it all visualized so clearly in these documentaries and so vividly on silver screen and video these days. Thank you!
For anyone interested in more details, Night Drop by S.L.A. Marshall is a great read on the the 82nd and 101st fighting behind the beaches, and the account of the causeway fight into Carentan is spellbinding. Your narrative provides a great birds-eye view to the details that Marshall provided. Thanks much for these excellent visuals and explanations.
@@DarkStars9 Hey! I ran into that, too, trying to replace my decades-old copy that went missing. But then I found it again on Amazon for just over $17. It's listed there now for just over $16 for the hardback. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ROJ8QG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
"...Night Drop by S.L.A. Marshall is a great read..." My father was a rifle platoon leader in G company, 502nd P.I.R, in Normandy. When I was a freshman in high school he caught me reading it, and said Slam Marshall was a liar. Slam Marshall went with what ever narrative pleased him, regardless of the truth. Colonel David Hackworth had his number too. He wrote extensively about how dishonest Marshall was in Hackworth's memoir, ABOUT FACE.
@@jeffreycollins9705 Thanks for that input, Jefferey. And thanks to your dad for his service. I know SLAM was less than truthful regarding Dick Winters and Easy Co. with the Brecourt Manor engagement which he just skipped over and minimized what those guys did. Seems the two of them didn't exactly hit it off. It's helpful to know that he needs to be read critically elsewhere as well. There does seem to be corroboration from other sources for his two causeway fight accounts - Cauquigny and Carentan.
I haven't seen that book, but an excellent account is the book "Airborne, The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company" by Ian Gardner. Shames, who later was made a platoon leader in Easy Company, was assigned to take a radio operator and keep battalion and regiment appraised of the situation along the road. He was the one that discovered that F Company was nowhere to be found, leaving Easy's flank completely undefended. After radioing in, he was called to Sinks CP to brief him about the situation. Sink sent him and his Adjutant back to the road since no one could believe that the line was completely undefended. When the Adjutant confirmed what Shames said, Sink sent in a Battalion of the 502nd, and called in anti-tank guns and air support. The F Company commander was relieved later that day because of his company leaving that line completely undefended without letting anyone know.
Brilliantly shown. Winters had the hand of God protecting him through this insane shit. Some of these stories are also simply unbelievable. So many dead, but the bravery of these men should never be forgotten... unfortunately that is happening at an alarming rate nowadays. This is a wonderful teaching tool. Thank you for doing it.
Just discovered your excellent channel and recreations. Thank you. My father was part of the division that relieved the Carentan divisions as their first official operation after landing at Omaha beach. Returned a few weeks ago from France and getting my first chance to see Normandy and Omaha and the Bocage area. This gave me chills.
I just got this weird feeling, man. I knew of this battle because I watched Band of Brothers with my dad as a kid, but I didn't *know* this battle. The more details were told, the closer and closer I got to visualizing the Band of Brothers scenes.
I could use many words to describe the videos created by THE OPERATIONS ROOM...However, especially as it relates to WW2 specific engagements/battles there are only a few words needed to describe the concise, precise, comprehensive, AND ACCURATE accounts of these world changing battles... these videoS ARE SIMPLY; THE MOST ASTOUNDING PRESENTATIONS EVER CREATED...in such a condensed format...SIMPLY AMAZING SIR...THANK YOU from an old American Patriot...
I love pulling up Google Maps and following the battles as you describe as I watch your videos! Makes everything seem even more real. Some of the best videos I’ve seen on RUclips, keep it up!
These productions are absolutely masterful. The animation of Winters moving on the machine gun comes alive in a way a movie never could. Can't wait for TOR's next production.
What I love doing is looking at these maps and then looking at maps today. At T-Junction today there is a pharmacy and a restaurant called Cafe du Stade. The first German machine gun fire basically comes out of the building in which the Cafe now sits (not sure if it is the same actual building). Incroyable. Great work Operations Room!
I like these down to single infantryman animations, puts a whole new light on engagements I`ve previously read about. Marvelous. I really think 2nd Parachute Regiments`s attack at Goose Green would suit this format. A full infantry battalion phased assault with supporting arms, many standout incidents and focus points and plenty of first hand and written accounts to draw from.
I have been in Normandy and I absolutely love that I can combine the streets I've seen and this video for an astonishingly immersive experience. Great job, again!
My Oncle Georg was a Fallschrimjager machine gunner who was captured after D-Day when his unit ran out of food and ammo and they decided to surrender. Have no idea what battles he fought in, but it could have been this one. In any event, he was interned in a POW camp in Texas, and after the war spent 2 years in forced labor in England on a farm, before returning to Germany in 1947. Today, in 2021, he's 96 and still alive.
Appreciate your mention of the role intel and code-breaking played in the defense of Carentan. I love "Band of Brothers", but sometimes winning a battle isn't as easy as looking to your flank and saying, "Hello, 2nd Armored!" Someone's gotta figure out what's going on and who needs to be where when.
This battle is the opening scene of an episode of Band of Brothers. One of my favourite movie/TV scenes ever. Winters walking around pulling them out of ditches shouting at them to push forward is epic.
It was a standard procedure. If he didn't push for the rest of the platoon to move from the ditches they would be too vulnerable to mortars and small weapons fire. The only option during a frontal assault is to push with the entirety of your forces. Winters didn't distinguish himself with god-like leadership. He basically did what the manuals said in the first place.
@@Surowykomentator so you're saying he's a standard leader following standard procedure? The bloody gulch defense was standard as well? He held the line with the company where Dog and Fox co. pulled back so that was standard to you too I guess
@@ramal5708yes. I do not see COs of F and D collecting any glory for the battle of the Bloody Gulch while they did what they were supposed to do. Winters became a product of Hollywood, but when you start reading books dedicated solely to the US Airborne you begin to notice that among people such as Lt. Turner Turnbull, Lt. John Dolan, Lt. Col Robert Cole (MOH Recipient), Lt. Waverly Wray (DSC), Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandevoort (2 DSCs) - he becomes mediocre. He was not an ideal creature or the best Airborne infantry officer in the field.
@@Surowykomentator Firstly, He had a DSC aswell. When you compare the guy to best of the best, I don't understand how you can call him mediocre. "It was a standard procedure" You could say that for what people you've given examples did aswell. Being able to get your company moving, while under gun fire themselves is superb leadership. For example, bayonet charges are standart procedure since napoleonic era. But being able to execute it properly while putting your life in danger is what earned robert cole MoH. Non of these people were god-like. They weren't superman but many like them are the reason US military succeeded in their objectives. Brecourt Manner Assault became one of the textbook assaults in West Point academy. A good leader executes textbook maneuvers excellently, a better leader creates the textbook maneuvers. He gets promoted to captain on the battlefield, he gets DSC and one of his assaults becomes textbook. Later on he becomes Batallion XO as captain, fights in battle of bastogne and gets promoted to Major. If this guy was truely mediocre, US would have won the war in 1944, not 1945. Clearly his commanders, likes of Bradley himself saw more potential in him than you did. He was recommended for MoH due to Brecourt Manner Assault. It didn't happen because Robert Cole was already awarded MoH and policies restricted MoH to one per division. Oh and for the record, Lt Col Benjamin Vandervoort was already major (s-3) when he joined invasion of sicily. I'm saying this, not to devalue Benjamin's accomplishments but to emphasize the speed at which Richard Winters rose through the ranks. He was first LT when he jumped, left europe with Major.
The unbelievable bravery and commitment of the men who fought in all the battles of WW2, there will never be another generation like this one! Truly inspiring!!!
Company of Heroes taught me well in how difficult of a fight this was on a tactical level, i cant even imagine on a real boots on the ground in the moment level.....
also maybe the stugs could have gotten a better position to fight the shermans. I am always curious how really "small" actions like blowing the first advancing stug could literally change the entire battle.
To be fair, the other companies pulled back to the next lines of hedgerows to shorten the engagement distance. Easy didn't really have as good of a secondary position so they held fast and in doing so held up the entire german push, meaning the other companies had to move back up to reestablish contact. Had easy fell back to their secondary position they would have not been in such a good fighting position, however the german lines and lines of F and D would have been MUCH closer which is what those company commanders wanted against armor. This battle is a classic example of 'outcomes determine quality' as IF E had been chewed up and overrun they would now be remembered as a stubborn unit that suffered unnecessary casualties when they should have maintained the battleline with the other companies. In combat, the only right answers are the ones that worked in retrospect.
Maj. John Stopka mentioned as Cole’s 2nd in command was my grandmother’s brother(great uncle). I’ve got his parachute, silver star, distinguished service cross, and Purple Heart in my closet. He was KIA by friendly fire at the battle of the bulge.
That's quite a mark of pride for your family. You should have it all mounted into a shadow box so they will be safe and displayed properly. I did it for my dad's stuff, as a Father's Day gift like 25 years ago and after he passed, I kept it and now I see it every day. Now the flag that covered his casket at his funeral, rests on the top of the shadow box. But my dad did not have the background of your Great-Uncle. He was quite a hero.
@@zeus6793 I appreciate the kind words. They are all safe and waiting of me to design something. It’s definitely on my to do list. Funny thing is I commented on another video about him here on RUclips and a gentleman reached out to me from England that has his jump wings he purchased from an estate sale. Most likely gave them to a child as a gift while stationed there before D-day. Said they have “Stopka” crudely etched into the back.
@@LuckyPierre69 That's amazing! Imagine after all these years, his wings will join the rest. When you say you have his parachute, do you mean the actual silk chute? Or the parachute pack?
Just a small, nit-picky correction: It should be "Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6", not "6th Fallschirmjäger-Regiment". Regiments have their numbers at the end.
MacAuliffe’s brilliant tactic of hitting a hard target from as many sides as possible is a modification of the older tactic of hitting from all pt.s of a compass.A tactic used by the Royal Navy,beforehand. Strangely,MacAuliffe’s tactic was seldom used.
Maybe I've seen Band of Brothers one too many times, but all I can think of right now is McGrath yelling at Harry Welsh, saying "You're gonna get me killed, Lieutenant! I knew it! I knew you were gonna get me killed!"
@@fadugleman This was indeed the *Greatest Generation to Have Ever Walked the Earth* !! Idc what you think, these men, actually most were mere boys in their 20's..young and brave and courageous for their actions during WW2...they did and saw things that nobody today could ever hope to grasp...these brave boys both American and British and even Canadian fought and died for their countries to stop an true evil from taking over the world!! The fact that you dont seem to grasp that concept is astounding!! Taking Carentan was a bloody and deadly attack that *HAD* to be done! We owe so much to this Generation...and I will always remember that this was indeed the *Greatest Generation to Have Ever Walked the Earth* !!! 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🇦🇺🇫🇷
@@OrbitFallenAngel It was also the generation that started fistfights with British soldiers to enforce racial segregation in British pubs... These were ordinary boys of their time forced to fight a war. Not more, but not any less either. Like any generation before them and after them, they were made up of heroes and villains all the same. We owe them a lot, but myths and idealization never do justice to the real people. The "greatest generation" talk is something done by people projecting their own desires upon them, not true gratitude.
@@olenickel6013 I am going to have to disagree with you on your statement. Because my Grandpa was part of that Generation. He fought in the European Theater in General Patton's 3rd Army. My Grandpa wasn't seeking anything, nor was he one to call himself a hero. That's me, his Granddaughter. I believe yes that those young men who sacrificed so much for their countries deserve to be called *Heroes* ... If you want to disagree, fine. But I'm not stupid either. There are always bad apples in every single bunch..but the main thing is that 90% of these young men were indeed good and courageous and brave young men who deserve to always be recognized for what they did so long ago...they deserve to never be forgotten about. You had a slim percentage of young men doing that, not every single young man did that. Like I said, you are entitled to your opinion. As am I. I believe that this indeed was *The Greatest Generation to Have Ever Walked The Earth* !!! 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🇦🇺🇫🇷
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you sounded so depressed why?
@@Bob-fh4ht Because raid shadow legends is known to be absolutely awful. But because they offer so much money to sponsor sometimes its best to take it
Riggy: Shiggy Liggy
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ads need to be on topic, and not for terrible products. I closed the video as soon as I saw that crap. no thanks.
There is only one channel that makes me stop everything, say “oh my God yes" and watch immediately, this is it.
joe mama 😂
Same. Was literally in the middle of another video and got a notification that he posted. Here I am
@@Jack-qk7tq Exact same thing here, brother
I literally told my boss I'd call him back so I could watch this.
My exact words after reading the title was "Oh my God yes dood!!!!
Everybody's always talking about Winters, but Welsh leading his troops into machinegunfire even before Winters took action AND going into the open field with McGrath to fire the bazooka is amazing. And to think he only received two bronze stars during the war.. that's some true bravery and leadership right there, should've been at least a Silver Star or DSC.
You are talking about awards that didn't even exist at the start of the war. It was pretty much Purple Heart and CMoH in the first years of the war. The Bronze Star was conceived as a way to make combat veterans towards the end of the war with extra 'points' so they could rotate home.
The Silver star came about as a way to mark individual acts of heroism. Things that earned the Silver Star would have been considered for the CMoH decades before, but more nuanced awards allowed for 'higher' awards to become rarer.
@@fortusvictus8297 - That’s very interesting, thanks. I didn’t know the history of the Bronze Star and the relationships between the various major combat awards.
Do you know of any good reference sources available to learn additional details about this subject?
@@fortusvictus8297 As far as I know both awards already existed at the beginning of the war, and even in WW I. Winters was awarded the DSC for actions on June 6th, so why couldn't Welsh get it for this?
@@fortusvictus8297 This was June 1944, the war in Europe would be over in less than a year
@Peter Evans "A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon". Napoleon Bonaparte.
Just to corraberate--Lt. Harry Welsh (1944) was Col. Harry Welsh, US Army Reserve (1962) when he taught American History in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I was one of his students. He was very modest and really tried to not talk about his WW2 experiences!
Doesn't surprise me, he probably saw a lot of the men in his platoon killed.
@@liamregan4975 No "probably" about it. Welsh saw many of his troopers die. He was in the thick of every major battle Easy Company fought in.
How freakin' cool, thanks for sharing...!
Where did he teach? GAR?
I bet it was awkward to have a teacher with such massive balls as that guy.
I'm stunned that the Band of Brothers version of this battle was so historically accurate, right down to Winters kicking his men in the ass.
You're putting the cart before the horse. "Band of Brothers", the book, was certainly one of the source for this video.
@@thekinginyellow1744 A book written by someone that real historians have zero respect for.
@@krashd Not zero, at least not good historians. Ambrose may not be quite as rigorous as we might like, but this story (Band of Brothers) would never have been told but for him.
@@krashd It's nonsense to say they have zero respect for him but most will point out that he builds a narrative around the facts. It's not a particularly uncommon way of writing history.
@@thekinginyellow1744 Of course it would not have been told, it is 50% embellishment. Easy company never liberated any concentration camps and Winters and Nixon never sat in the Eagle's Nest discussing Hitler's suicide.
The 101st Airborne were and are one of the most incredible units in the US military, they did exceptional things during WW2 - I would just rather people learn about them from real history books rather than from an amateur historian who has a hardon for them.
I'm a Brit and I love the miniseries, I watch it every other year, I just hate hearing Americans say "You should watch Band of Brothers if you like historical documentaries" because the series utilises poetic license as if it was going out of fashion. BoB is a war drama inspired by real events and featuring real people, but it's not accurate.
Folks have written papers on the amount of factual inaccuracies in that series.
Winters was such a beast, the intelligence of a leader with the bravery of a front line grunt. He never told anyone to do something he wasnt willing to do himself.
Band of Brothers: Drone and Maps version.
There's another video which shows Easy company just after they landed and Lieutenant Winters getting his men together to attack the heavy guns that were pounding the beach and ships from inland. The Germans didn't know what had hit them with Easy company taking each gun one by one with such violence they were able to take all the guns in a ridiculously fast attack.
It’s the best thing I didn’t know I needed.
ruclips.net/video/MatWmclTu3w/видео.html..
@@teachingclinic2378 quit spamming comments to get views.
@@randommadness1021 Winter's attack on those guns is still being taught at West Point. That attack was revolutionary.
I still can't believe how critical it was that the Enigma code was broken.
Yeah, its a point of pain now a days isnt it. The man who helped save the world was chemically castrated for something as stupid as being attracted to the same gender.
What a waste. Imagine what he could have gone on to do with Soviet codes!!
decrypting the Enigma code is theorized to shorten the war by multiple years
@@Zues120 and other men who started the effort and made it all happen are completely forgotten. I am talking about mathematicians working with the Polish intelligence.
It changed everything. I had been studying books about World War II history written previously, and when Ultra/Enigma came out in 1974, it was like everyone took a deep breath and realized that there would be a lot to update.
@@Zues120 Considering he also laid the foundation for computers and artificial intelligence, his horrifying abuse by braindead homophobes likely set back the advancement of our entire species by at least a decade.
Good old Dick Winters… a true hero, even when kicking his own men.
"Move you have no cover here"
"Fire your weapon, Blithe"
“You blind Blithe?”
“Get out my army Blithe!”
“You have a big head Blithe!”
ruclips.net/video/MatWmclTu3w/видео.html...
@@m1a1abrams3
Blithe: Guys! I'm not dead!
In Band of brothers mini series, he dead after that battle. In real life, dead on 1967 while serving his duty on West Germany due to Perforated ulcer.
@@lokisg3 Blithe: Everyone saw the history buff vid. However, not everyone saw the deleted scene of Winters saying I had a big head.
Very good depiction. That Bazooka duo had some stones. It shows how a brave individual action can make the tide turn in a desperate situation.
I can still hear all the quotes, Winters: "Get out of the trenches! Move up!" McGrath to Welsh: "You're going to get me killed lieutenant, I knew you were going to get me killed!" Nixon: "Well helllllloooooo 2nd Armored!"
“Look, Shermans!”
“About damn time.”
Lt. Welsh: Upon reaching the T section "Where the hell is everybody?!"
Luz: "I have no idea!!"
ruclips.net/video/MatWmclTu3w/видео.html...
"Pour it on em Blythe!"
@@bude one of my favourite Winters moments
You HAVE TO finish the battle of Mogadishu im hooked
Ditto dude
i agree
Frrrrrr thooo bro
Fr bro, been waiting every week since the 1st vid
@@iz3575 fac
“Today we are sponsored by *Raaaaaaid* Shadow Legends”.
After that, continues to be as ‘excited’ as possible
he has to take it, they are offering people big money
Really makes me want to buy Raaaaaaid Shadow Legends, too.
0:15 “hey guess what”
0:44 “now where have we heard this before?”
0:54 “after years and years of playing Raid”
ruclips.net/video/MatWmclTu3w/видео.html..
I absolutely love this style of production. With all this technology today, using almost real time movements to depict what happened back then is so much more immersive that just seeing giant red arrows over a battlefirld pointing in a direction.
Love, love, love, love, love this concept...
It’s crazy to me that I learned half of these events relatively accurately thanks to Brothers in Arms: Road to hill 30
OMG I rem when playing that game at the first time, I played MOH and COD before, and after first 15 minutes I just realized, this game is not your usual FPS game lol
What a game that was. Have you checked out Hell Let Loose? It’s excellent.
I was just thinking this as I was watching.
Ah, I see you are a Squad Leader of culture as well!
@@da_pawz pretty hardcore game too
I remember when I watched the Band of Brothers scene where Lt. Welsh and McGrath took down the tank under heavy gunfire. At the time, I wondered if it was your usually Hollywood exaggeration, but... upon realizing it actually happened during that battle, I was left speechless, and humbled. The brass balls of these two to stand on an open field to take down a tank *that was directly firing at them* were massive. They held the line, and saved their unit.
Under something as horrifying as Carentan, with casualty rates reaching 50%, I can't even fathom the courage not only these two, but the entire 101st displayed. They were great men.
And they stabilized the line.
You might want to actually study military history and learn that tanks are useless without large amounts of supporting infantry. The Soviets started the war with superior tanks and German mechanized forces simply overwhelmed it with combined arms. The British in north Africa regularly lost to Rommel with superior number of tanks and men, but because they weren't coordinated, they were left fighting on their own, and Rommel would mass it forces to defeat them in detail. The German learns in Poland that tank heavy armored battalions didn't work well and increased the number of infantry in each battalion. There are youtube videos on this very topic.
Seems like this is why gun trucks were impented
still don't understand why they had to expose themselves and jump out in the open to fire the bazooka. they could've just as easily done that from the cover of the woods.
@@oldfrend if you visit the battle area you will realise there are no woods.
Sunken lanes and hedgerows but no woods.
guess what todays sponsor is raid shadow legends" Hands down the most unenthusiastic ad read ever. I LOVE IT
When the ad sounds like somebody dying inside.
it was excruciating but in a good way
Dripping in sarcastic, detached contempt. "My many, many years of playing raid shadow legends"; earned my like right there
@@lordmanshaft1112 my favorite was "what else would you want to be doing"
Take the money and run!:-) 🖖
Finally, somebody has figured out how to portray an action in both macro and then micro scale. Start with over-all view of the situation. As forces meet, zoom in. Putting everything into context. Well done! Speaking of scales, my only gripe is there's no scale of distance. Could you please freeze the map once in awhile and provide the scale?
The Brits made a three episode miniseries on WW1. They did montages of maps (like this video) and live actors. So imagine this video was edited into Band Of Brothers so the viewer can truly appreciate tactical movement. It was pretty good.
(It totally beats the Hollywood idiotic trash where the general goes to the front lines to operate a machine gun that's in front of all the other soldiers.)
@@331SVTCobra this is what im hoping for in any war movies. incorporate macro view to appreciate the objective before going to the actual fight scenes. btw, what's the name of the mini series?
@@pretzelhunt He specified "The Hollywood trash where so and so" didn't he? Are you blind or is this stupidity a hobby?
@331SVTCobra seriously, what is the name of the series?! How can you not give the name!
@@331SVTCobra naaaaaaaaaaaame?
this is one of my favorites !
Oh hey Cappy, interesting to see you here
My grandfather was a member of 3rd platoon, George Company, 506th of the 101st. He was a replacement who joined the unit right before Bastogne. I have his unit scrapbook that was issued to members of the 101st after the war. It’s a wonderful piece of history.
“Dog and Fox are pulling back”…”Who gave that order, god dammit”
"Who gave that order god damnit!"
Stugs: Allow us to introduce ourselves.
"Ho-ley SHIT, there goes our left flank!"
@@maxschaeffner9005 “Skip, more Ammo..go”
That would be Capt Mulvey, who was immediately relieved of command.
That interaction never happened.
When a calm, collected and polite officer starts shouting and kicking his men, you know you better effing move up.
When you need to make your soldiers more afraid of you than an MG42.
Eisenhower: We will now storm the Normandy beaches. But before we do it, I'd like to acknowledge today's sponsor Raid Shadow Legends.
Someone has profit from war
Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #34: War is good for business
@@amatthias1986 too real
@@amatthias1986 pentagon
Someone's gotta pay for all that war material
LTC Cole:"Behind these smoke, if you see something move shoot it, if it screams in German, shoot it again" this was during his bayonet charge
People who played the Brothers in Arms games remember how tense it was before the charge through the smoke
There's no proof LTC Cole ever said that. This "citation" appears only for dramatic effect in the game Brother in Arms: Road to Hill 30. On one chapter entitled "Cole's Charge", you follows him in a roughly representation of the famous event that day. I know the phrase sounds cool but it's more likely made up.
Instead, here's two excerpt from one page, of about 60 pages, from the "Cole's Charge Official After Action Reports":
"Cole trotted half way across the field. Then he stopped, knelt on one knee and looked back. Fire was clipping the grass all around him and more of it was passing overhead. He saw that his men were trailing behind him..."
"He kept firing his Colt .45 wildly in the general direction of the farm house and as he fired he yelled: "God damn, I don't know what I'm shooting at, but I gotta keep on." (His exact words as recalled by Cole and by several of the men who heard him and who remembered that they laughed at the spectacle.) About 5 or 6 men were killed by bullet fire..."
Edit: Also worthy reading, www.historynet.com/at-the-bayonets-point and www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/cole-robert-george
@@rommelmoreira2116 Thank you
There are so many heroes in the long story that is the Normandy campaign that many are overlooked. Good to see many of them eternalized with videos like this one, as well as the literature and shows such as band of brothers . Absolutely brilliant work. Much respect. What those men accomplished was nothing short of incredible.
I'm very proud of my former unit, the 2nd Armored Division. Of course, I served in 1972 to 1975, but I'm still proud of them!
I served with 2/325th 82d ABN Infantry in the mid 1980s. What an honor we had to serve with such storied and decorated units.
Yay, I was looking forward to this after the Brecourt manor episode. This battle was quite confusing in Band of Brothers, i'm real glad for this episode to clear up a bit what happened
Yea! Definitely
Well in BoB they only showed few moments before they enter and moments when they enter and secure Carentan and eventually the battle of bloody gulch, it really focuses on Blithe story line
Yeh i was imagining a Southerly advance from the beaches per say as seen on TV , but this shows they did a North Easterly advance !
If showing a battle from the perspective of one unit, it is correct for things to be confusing, as that gives the viewer some appreciation of the chaos of war, from the individual participant's point of view. Rather than the bird's eye view that a historian can take.
@@Temp0raryName well the episode was concentrated on Albert Blithe, who was scared and confused in the heat of the battle. He just did what he was told, and just like you said, he didn't have the overall perspective.
I really liked that episode, one of my favourite scenes is when the battle seems so one sided, paratroopers with M1 rifles against StuGs, and the 2nd Armored Shermans arrive and relieve the cheering men
First time I have ever heard about my Dad unit 2nd Armored “Hell on Wheels”, did in the war. As a kid I always ask my dad what he did in WWII and all he said was nothing I want to remember. Thanks
A lot of brave men did great things. But the trauma they suffered the losses of friends made it too hard to speak of.
My maternal grandfather never spoke about his combat on the eastern front. After seeing "Saving Private Ryan", my father made a cryptic remark about panicked Germans freezing when seeing their brothers and arms burn, and the terror everyone felt when ammunition started going off in a burning personal carrier. I remember waking up at 3:00 that morning to use the bathroom and saw him staring through a bottle of vodka, remembering horrors I dare not imagine.
I served in the 2nd AD in 1972-1975. Sadly, it is now decommissioned. There are some articles on line about the 2AD: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Armored_Division_(United_States)
Never ask a combat veteran what they did. But if they do talk about it....listen!
My grandfather never talked about his action at Pearl Harbor, he was on the USS Pennsylvania, I can relate being a veteran of the gulf wars, bless them all.
My grandfather was involved in postwar activities getting people out past the Iron curtain. He wound up in a soviet uranium mine with some US military. They engineered an escape. He never liked to talk about that sort of thing, either.
14:20 the balls of those 2 guys to just reload a bazooka in front of a tank is unbelievable
look for the Band of Brothers tv show version, it's spot on
"Your'e gonna get me killed Lt." say's Pvt. Mcgrath.
@@josevicentejrmeneses8552 "Bitch! Son of a bitch!" yells Welsh as he struggles to slide the rocket in the rear entrance of the bazooka
Probably the best video presentation I’ve seen on the 101st/6th FJR battles for Carentan. Please don’t stop making WW2 videos like this. These are exceptionally good.
My great grandpa was 2/327th GIR. He died before I could talk to him about any of the experience he had in the war. He was and still is a hero of mine and the main reason why I joined the Army myself. I've been searching for literally over a decade now for any record of what he went through during WW2 but have come up mostly empty handed. Thank you because of content makers like you my grandpa's story will live forever, at least the actions of his unit.
Hah, I remember this road scene with the guys hiding in ditches, and Winters trying to get them back up from Band of Brothers... wow and the Bazooka part. I need to watch that episode again now.
@RUclips Account yeah it was amazingly well done and should really continue to stand the test of time, being a period piece with outstanding battle and makeup effects.
Welsh and that private are true bada55es. Absolute balls of steel.
50% casualty rate for the 101st Airborne.
I can't imagine what these men experienced, and the incredible sacrifices they made.
Words can never express how grateful we are as a nation for those sacrifices.
Yes, just look at us now. I'm so greatful
Yes the 101 and 82d airborne are true heroes even today to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
@@pvccannon1966 Was the 82nd in this?
@@orsboo4447 The 82nd Airborne also fought at Normandy, suffering similar casualty rates. They were not at the fighting in Carentan however, they were fighting around Saint Mere Eglise attempting to secure bridges over the Meredet River.
Edit: as a world for their sacrifices
I'm re-watching Band of Brothers right now, what a perfect coincidence
Can you watch that online somewhere, or do you have the discs? I've been wanting to watch it again too
@@urwrstntmre HBOMAX has it, have fun watching!
ruclips.net/video/MatWmclTu3w/видео.html...
@@urwrstntmre You can watch or download it from renowned torrent sites.
@@Conservative_EastI found the complete series, in its nice metal tin, at a movie store for like $15 a year or so back. Definitely a buy on sight, and I've watched it every year around D-Day since.
I absolutely love the visuals here! It reminds me of Close Combat; A Bridge Too Far, one of the best tactical sim I ever played.
Brilliant video! Your series is one of the best Ive seen at explaining the tactical aspects of various battles of WW2. I particularly like the way you have a "satellite" view of the battle map & then zoom in to show the platoon movements in detail etc. It reminds me of a fantastic computer game called Close Combat which was one of the best tactical games released. Thanks for your great work! 👍
It's only now, after watching this, that the scene from Band of Brothers really starts to make sense.
Thank you Sir, for a superb adaption of just one of the instance's that took place during the Normandy landings. 👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Agreed. It's as if he should do a series that explains every firefight from Band of Brothers.
Well the battle lasted for about a day. In BoB it seemed only to last maybe a couple of hours at most. But yea I agree
Ikr! Same! I also watched his Operation room of the Battle of Brecourt Manor, the taking of the 4 Kraut guns raining down on Utah. There was some conflicting facts in his video to the Series. But overall I get the whole picture of that battle too now. I hope I make sense, my English grammar is bad.
I remember playing Brothers in Arms and just realized now how accurate the events of the game were to the actions of the 506th.
Younger me: "I just started playing this awesome WW2 game." My friends: "Oh yeah! I'm playing Call of Duty, too!" Younger me: "Don't even talk to me."
yeap, when he was talking through the video i was like "yup, that's how i remember it"
Because they take inspiration from real report when they design the game.
I just wish they would finally make the 4th game.
I member too, man.
I dont know how many times I've played or watched the battle of Carentan in media but I'm not passing up a chance to go back there again!
I was a Soldier for 25 years. During all the “hurry up and wait” time, I used to think back to our forefathers and wonder if I could have made it in their Army given all the luxuries we have today comparative. I seriously doubt I could have. Those dudes were hard as hell and true badasses. Battle of the Bulge, I would have just said fuck it we need fire y’all.
There's a line in 13th Warrior that I think applies here. "Luck will often save a man, if his courage holds."
The men that survived this battle, and the battles before and after, did so because they didn't fall to pieces when bullets, mortars and shells started zipping over head.
I've been playing a lot of Hell Let Loose and having played on the map Carentan many times, this is the first time seeing the significance and real world battle of the location. Great video and very informative!
I can never get into a match
Play Brothers in Arms if you haven't already! Awesome depiction of "Purple Heart Lane" as seen at the beginning of this video. The developers went through great lengths to make that game as accurate as possible!
Actually that game is about the whole first half of this video.
Coles Charge through the smoke is giving me real memories of doing that in the Brothers in Arms games about 15 years ago! How time flies
"We wait for the smoke to build. If it scream shoot it, If it screams in German shoot it again"
Absoluty! What an amazing game that was
It still is. Somewhat outdated, but I still play it from time to time. The historical accuracy of that game is still crazy, though!
Shame they never finished the series. The teaser at the end of Hell's Highway made me sure they would do a Battle of The Bulge game.
@@hairydave82 Not surprised though. Compared to the first two games, Hell's Highway was a disappointment. But it is a damn shame either way.
I don't blame you for taking the Raid sponsorship, they're paying big money. Plus, the ad was pretty funny.
ruclips.net/user/shortsBmc9NFfhx74?feature=share
Assaulting Carentan, Marching on the Jedi Temple, there's nothing the 501st haven't done 😆❤️
Anakin but he's massacring Hitler Younglings
Uh, ever hear of Mount Doom?
You see the Rose Bowl Parade video of the 501 marching in the parade with Vader leading? It's classic
Lmao
I’d love to see one of these for the “Island” raid Winters led towards the end of Market Garden.
Or taking eindhoven. Something not in the series but multiple companies of 506th took it and it doesn’t get spoken about much
Wow, i remember playing brothers in arms road to hill 30 and doing everything from the battle of saint come du mont to carentan, was honestly one hell of a battle
In the book "Tonight We Die as Men" about the exploits of the 3rd battalion, you can read that the 3rd Btn was also hard pressed in the German counter-attack. And they scouted through the hedgerows to make sure friendly forces were still on their right flank, only to find out that there was absolutely nobody there. Because Dog company, 2nd Btn had pulled back.
Awesome to finally see a bird's eye view of that "holy shit there goes our left flank" moment from Band of Brothers! Amazing video once again! 🙌
effin F company
I never realized just how brave Easy company was till now. I thought the Carentan battle from the series was somewhat glorified version of what happened but man was I wrong. Also it feels so surreal to know and recognize some of the names that came up here, usually when you study or read them, it's just divisions or regiments or company names that stick with you.
Indeed, you are wrong. The battle is glorified. You BoB fans aren't making any mention of the 502nd who did the heavy lifting in the Battle of Carentan, and the show makes no mention of them either.
Thank you for this video. My grandfather was part of the American assault on Carentan. He didn’t really speak about it much, at least not to me until I was around 17 yr old. That was 1998. He past away a few years ago, RIP....From what he told me it pretty much aligns with your narration of your video.
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood both for PS2 did a great job recreating this Battle.
Both are amazing games.
I love how this gives us the big picture concerning events portrayed in Steven Ambrose's Band of Brothers, highlighting the importance of those fights. Great Job.
I highly recommend playing the game Company of Heroes Allied campaign, excluding the first mission itself that is the D day, the following 5 missions are the build up, capture and defense of Carentan, it's not *that accurate,* build IMHO, I think it captures well the emotion, fear, and consequently joy of the Shermans arriving.
And Winters man, I'm glad there's a series about him, true hero.
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is all about this. 502 PIR, to be specific.
@@Themaxwithnoname I'm downloading it right now to play it again for the 5th or 6th time.
My dude. That defense mission always gets my heart beating!
@@Mikelikesboobies You got it, There are defende missions, and there is Carentan defense, IMHO is the best in the whole world of gaming.
The Operations Room videos always make me feel nostalgic on playing with small plastic soldier armies and strategizing as a kid
It is hard to image today that a airborne division could take almost 50% losses in WWII and still be fighting. The 101st was a light airborne unit compared to other infantry units and their ability to capture and hold ground in these battles was amazing.
That little detail of having the landing zones slowly growing and pushing the red away while you give the intro is so cool you have no idea.
I remember wandering around a B&N picking up a few books practically at random, one of which was D-Day by Stephen Ambrose which I ended up devouring as quickly as any Sci-fi/Fantasy book. I was probably 11 and that was 25 years ago, it's amazing to see it all visualized so clearly in these documentaries and so vividly on silver screen and video these days. Thank you!
I have a copy of that book and it is on my list. I am getting ready to start David Kenyon Webster’s book.
For anyone interested in more details, Night Drop by S.L.A. Marshall is a great read on the the 82nd and 101st fighting behind the beaches, and the account of the causeway fight into Carentan is spellbinding. Your narrative provides a great birds-eye view to the details that Marshall provided. Thanks much for these excellent visuals and explanations.
I looked it up and its only $225 used on Amazon :)
@@DarkStars9 Hey! I ran into that, too, trying to replace my decades-old copy that went missing. But then I found it again on Amazon for just over $17. It's listed there now for just over $16 for the hardback. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ROJ8QG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
"...Night Drop by S.L.A. Marshall is a great read..."
My father was a rifle platoon leader in G company, 502nd P.I.R, in Normandy. When I was a freshman in high school he caught me reading it, and said Slam Marshall was a liar. Slam Marshall went with what ever narrative pleased him, regardless of the truth.
Colonel David Hackworth had his number too. He wrote extensively about how dishonest Marshall was in Hackworth's memoir, ABOUT FACE.
@@jeffreycollins9705 Thanks for that input, Jefferey. And thanks to your dad for his service. I know SLAM was less than truthful regarding Dick Winters and Easy Co. with the Brecourt Manor engagement which he just skipped over and minimized what those guys did. Seems the two of them didn't exactly hit it off. It's helpful to know that he needs to be read critically elsewhere as well. There does seem to be corroboration from other sources for his two causeway fight accounts - Cauquigny and Carentan.
I haven't seen that book, but an excellent account is the book "Airborne, The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company" by Ian Gardner. Shames, who later was made a platoon leader in Easy Company, was assigned to take a radio operator and keep battalion and regiment appraised of the situation along the road. He was the one that discovered that F Company was nowhere to be found, leaving Easy's flank completely undefended. After radioing in, he was called to Sinks CP to brief him about the situation. Sink sent him and his Adjutant back to the road since no one could believe that the line was completely undefended. When the Adjutant confirmed what Shames said, Sink sent in a Battalion of the 502nd, and called in anti-tank guns and air support. The F Company commander was relieved later that day because of his company leaving that line completely undefended without letting anyone know.
Suddenly paratroopers come out of the bush - this must have been something very common in Normandy in June 1944.
WE ARE SURROUNDED !!!
We are paratroopers, we are supposed to be surrounded
Hanz, why are the hedgerows speaking American?
@@miming3679 Hanz eat z armpit.
You know what they say, one paratrooper in the hand is worth two in the bush.
@@miming3679 Hanz, notz again stop speaking to za bushes
Brilliantly shown. Winters had the hand of God protecting him through this insane shit. Some of these stories are also simply unbelievable. So many dead, but the bravery of these men should never be forgotten... unfortunately that is happening at an alarming rate nowadays.
This is a wonderful teaching tool. Thank you for doing it.
This belief must also dictate that "the hand of god" directed the Nazi War Machine to this spot also.
Just discovered your excellent channel and recreations. Thank you. My father was part of the division that relieved the Carentan divisions as their first official operation after landing at Omaha beach. Returned a few weeks ago from France and getting my first chance to see Normandy and Omaha and the Bocage area. This gave me chills.
I just got this weird feeling, man. I knew of this battle because I watched Band of Brothers with my dad as a kid, but I didn't *know* this battle. The more details were told, the closer and closer I got to visualizing the Band of Brothers scenes.
I could use many words to describe the videos created by THE OPERATIONS ROOM...However, especially as it relates to WW2 specific engagements/battles there are only a few words needed to describe the concise, precise, comprehensive, AND ACCURATE accounts of these world changing battles... these videoS ARE SIMPLY;
THE MOST ASTOUNDING PRESENTATIONS EVER CREATED...in such a condensed format...SIMPLY AMAZING SIR...THANK YOU from an old American Patriot...
Band of Brothers TV series really got me interested in this battle
It’s very cool seeing the overall picture surrounding the depicted battle like this, on an animated battle map.
I love pulling up Google Maps and following the battles as you describe as I watch your videos! Makes everything seem even more real. Some of the best videos I’ve seen on RUclips, keep it up!
Honestly, I am genuinely impressed by the details and effort put into these videos. Bravo man, this content is amazing.
You videos are the most compelling narration about these battles.
These productions are absolutely masterful. The animation of Winters moving on the machine gun comes alive in a way a movie never could. Can't wait for TOR's next production.
"We're going to take the town of Carentan!"
"That sounds like fun......."
No smoking and no playing grab fanny
Remember boys, give me three days and three night of hard fighting and you'll be relieved
@@warpatato and remember boys, flies spread disease so keep yours closed
fuk that, im joining Kelly's Heros. I'd rather get paid $bank$
@@warpatato"Give me three days and nights of hard fighting, and you'll be relieved and sent back to England."
"Where did everybody go!?"
"I HAVE NO IDEA!!!"
What I love doing is looking at these maps and then looking at maps today. At T-Junction today there is a pharmacy and a restaurant called Cafe du Stade. The first German machine gun fire basically comes out of the building in which the Cafe now sits (not sure if it is the same actual building). Incroyable. Great work Operations Room!
I like these down to single infantryman animations, puts a whole new light on engagements I`ve previously read about. Marvelous. I really think 2nd Parachute Regiments`s attack at Goose Green would suit this format. A full infantry battalion phased assault with supporting arms, many standout incidents and focus points and plenty of first hand and written accounts to draw from.
I have been in Normandy and I absolutely love that I can combine the streets I've seen and this video for an astonishingly immersive experience. Great job, again!
"Fire your weapon, Blithe" 13:40
Then he gets sniped in the neck
@Dick Izzinya yea Ik lol I was talking about the show
It’s amazing to me that Winters and Welsh both survived this battle, much less the war.
@@brad4266 Welsh is the MVP in Episode 3, if you didn't count the Easy Company CO, heck the entire Carentan battle in real life as well
"OH YOU BEAUTIFUL BABIES YOU! Wait how are they coming from our left?"
My Oncle Georg was a Fallschrimjager machine gunner who was captured after D-Day when his unit ran out of food and ammo and they decided to surrender. Have no idea what battles he fought in, but it could have been this one. In any event, he was interned in a POW camp in Texas, and after the war spent 2 years in forced labor in England on a farm, before returning to Germany in 1947. Today, in 2021, he's 96 and still alive.
Ask him then! If he is clear enough and willing - may not have much time left (and sorry if it's already too late)
Appreciate your mention of the role intel and code-breaking played in the defense of Carentan. I love "Band of Brothers", but sometimes winning a battle isn't as easy as looking to your flank and saying, "Hello, 2nd Armored!" Someone's gotta figure out what's going on and who needs to be where when.
For those that don’t know, Lt. Col. Robert Cole won the Medal of Honor for that action. He was the one that was awarded it over Winters.
Finally, someone who isn't just talking about Band of Butt buddies.
1:36 If you hate RAID shadow legends ads as much as I do!
This battle is the opening scene of an episode of Band of Brothers. One of my favourite movie/TV scenes ever. Winters walking around pulling them out of ditches shouting at them to push forward is epic.
I just got back from The Path of Easy Company battle tour, we went here, it was very interesting
Extremely well illustrated. Right down to Winters franticly trying to get his men to go on the offense.
oh my god this channel has improved so much animation-wise, I can really feel the intense fighting happening
9:47 This is superb leadership by Dick Winters
It was a standard procedure. If he didn't push for the rest of the platoon to move from the ditches they would be too vulnerable to mortars and small weapons fire. The only option during a frontal assault is to push with the entirety of your forces. Winters didn't distinguish himself with god-like leadership. He basically did what the manuals said in the first place.
@@Surowykomentator so you're saying he's a standard leader following standard procedure? The bloody gulch defense was standard as well? He held the line with the company where Dog and Fox co. pulled back so that was standard to you too I guess
@@ramal5708yes. I do not see COs of F and D collecting any glory for the battle of the Bloody Gulch while they did what they were supposed to do. Winters became a product of Hollywood, but when you start reading books dedicated solely to the US Airborne you begin to notice that among people such as Lt. Turner Turnbull, Lt. John Dolan, Lt. Col Robert Cole (MOH Recipient), Lt. Waverly Wray (DSC), Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandevoort (2 DSCs) - he becomes mediocre. He was not an ideal creature or the best Airborne infantry officer in the field.
@@Surowykomentator Firstly, He had a DSC aswell. When you compare the guy to best of the best, I don't understand how you can call him mediocre.
"It was a standard procedure" You could say that for what people you've given examples did aswell. Being able to get your company moving, while under gun fire themselves is superb leadership. For example, bayonet charges are standart procedure since napoleonic era. But being able to execute it properly while putting your life in danger is what earned robert cole MoH. Non of these people were god-like. They weren't superman but many like them are the reason US military succeeded in their objectives. Brecourt Manner Assault became one of the textbook assaults in West Point academy. A good leader executes textbook maneuvers excellently, a better leader creates the textbook maneuvers.
He gets promoted to captain on the battlefield, he gets DSC and one of his assaults becomes textbook. Later on he becomes Batallion XO as captain, fights in battle of bastogne and gets promoted to Major. If this guy was truely mediocre, US would have won the war in 1944, not 1945. Clearly his commanders, likes of Bradley himself saw more potential in him than you did. He was recommended for MoH due to Brecourt Manner Assault. It didn't happen because Robert Cole was already awarded MoH and policies restricted MoH to one per division.
Oh and for the record, Lt Col Benjamin Vandervoort was already major (s-3) when he joined invasion of sicily. I'm saying this, not to devalue Benjamin's accomplishments but to emphasize the speed at which Richard Winters rose through the ranks. He was first LT when he jumped, left europe with Major.
@@Userext47 oh don't mind the armchair general who never fought a day in his miserable life
The unbelievable bravery and commitment of the men who fought in all the battles of WW2, there will never be another generation like this one! Truly inspiring!!!
Company of Heroes taught me well in how difficult of a fight this was on a tactical level, i cant even imagine on a real boots on the ground in the moment level.....
Staying in Carentan now. We are reviewing your video to help explore the area. Thanks again!
Next - The battle of the bulge - The attack on foy - I'd love to see that one.
Same here.
*Spiers has entered the chat 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@robmckay5700 **clang clang* Speir's Balls have entered the chat
pause pause
Lt Speirs has entered the chat
Also operation market garden
I wonder if Easy had not stand fast, the line would have collapsed and the way opened. Truely outstanding that they held
also maybe the stugs could have gotten a better position to fight the shermans. I am always curious how really "small" actions like blowing the first advancing stug could literally change the entire battle.
To be fair, the other companies pulled back to the next lines of hedgerows to shorten the engagement distance. Easy didn't really have as good of a secondary position so they held fast and in doing so held up the entire german push, meaning the other companies had to move back up to reestablish contact.
Had easy fell back to their secondary position they would have not been in such a good fighting position, however the german lines and lines of F and D would have been MUCH closer which is what those company commanders wanted against armor.
This battle is a classic example of 'outcomes determine quality' as IF E had been chewed up and overrun they would now be remembered as a stubborn unit that suffered unnecessary casualties when they should have maintained the battleline with the other companies. In combat, the only right answers are the ones that worked in retrospect.
@@fortusvictus8297 interesting. I did not know that.
Amazing.
And question, I hate to pressure you but will Black Hawk Down part 2 continue?
I've been waiting for episode 2 too 😩
June 12th, exactly 80 years ago today. It's amazing to learn what men just as old as me were doing on this day.
Maj. John Stopka mentioned as Cole’s 2nd in command was my grandmother’s brother(great uncle). I’ve got his parachute, silver star, distinguished service cross, and Purple Heart in my closet. He was KIA by friendly fire at the battle of the bulge.
That's quite a mark of pride for your family. You should have it all mounted into a shadow box so they will be safe and displayed properly. I did it for my dad's stuff, as a Father's Day gift like 25 years ago and after he passed, I kept it and now I see it every day. Now the flag that covered his casket at his funeral, rests on the top of the shadow box. But my dad did not have the background of your Great-Uncle. He was quite a hero.
@@zeus6793 I appreciate the kind words. They are all safe and waiting of me to design something. It’s definitely on my to do list. Funny thing is I commented on another video about him here on RUclips and a gentleman reached out to me from England that has his jump wings he purchased from an estate sale. Most likely gave them to a child as a gift while stationed there before D-day. Said they have “Stopka” crudely etched into the back.
@@LuckyPierre69 That's amazing! Imagine after all these years, his wings will join the rest. When you say you have his parachute, do you mean the actual silk chute? Or the parachute pack?
@@zeus6793 the actual silk chute
@@LuckyPierre69 Wow, thats fantastic. What a cool thing to have. It must be huge!
When I heard the name air borne 101 E company and Winter, then I realized "oh wait, this is Band of Brothers".
That smooth transition to Google maps was sick!
Please use more of this, its great to have a better understanding of the size of roads and buildings.
It's probably not Google Maps, it's OpenStreetMap data not credited
Just a small, nit-picky correction:
It should be "Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6", not "6th Fallschirmjäger-Regiment".
Regiments have their numbers at the end.
MacAuliffe’s brilliant tactic of hitting a hard target from as many sides as possible is a modification of the older tactic of hitting from all pt.s of a compass.A tactic used by the Royal Navy,beforehand.
Strangely,MacAuliffe’s tactic was seldom used.
Maybe I've seen Band of Brothers one too many times, but all I can think of right now is McGrath yelling at Harry Welsh, saying "You're gonna get me killed, Lieutenant! I knew it! I knew you were gonna get me killed!"
I can feel the dude dying inside while promoting Raid Shadow Legend.
Take the money and run man!
Lmao
How was he dying inside when he literally says "after years of playing raid".
@@stephenbradley3153 there's a thing called lying, and advertisers get people to do it often
Can’t believe Winters didn’t get shot standing up while kicking his men into battle
this is the guy who ran ahead at the crossroads and emptied his clip into an SS division. I don't think he cared
I don’t always buy the “greatest Generation” talk but Winters was truly one of America’s finest
@@fadugleman This was indeed the *Greatest Generation to Have Ever Walked the Earth* !!
Idc what you think, these men, actually most were mere boys in their 20's..young and brave and courageous for their actions during WW2...they did and saw things that nobody today could ever hope to grasp...these brave boys both American and British and even Canadian fought and died for their countries to stop an true evil from taking over the world!!
The fact that you dont seem to grasp that concept is astounding!!
Taking Carentan was a bloody and deadly attack that *HAD* to be done!
We owe so much to this Generation...and I will always remember that this was indeed the *Greatest Generation to Have Ever Walked the Earth* !!! 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🇦🇺🇫🇷
@@OrbitFallenAngel It was also the generation that started fistfights with British soldiers to enforce racial segregation in British pubs...
These were ordinary boys of their time forced to fight a war. Not more, but not any less either. Like any generation before them and after them, they were made up of heroes and villains all the same. We owe them a lot, but myths and idealization never do justice to the real people. The "greatest generation" talk is something done by people projecting their own desires upon them, not true gratitude.
@@olenickel6013 I am going to have to disagree with you on your statement.
Because my Grandpa was part of that Generation. He fought in the European Theater in General Patton's 3rd Army. My Grandpa wasn't seeking anything, nor was he one to call himself a hero. That's me, his Granddaughter. I believe yes that those young men who sacrificed so much for their countries deserve to be called *Heroes* ...
If you want to disagree, fine. But I'm not stupid either. There are always bad apples in every single bunch..but the main thing is that 90% of these young men were indeed good and courageous and brave young men who deserve to always be recognized for what they did so long ago...they deserve to never be forgotten about.
You had a slim percentage of young men doing that, not every single young man did that.
Like I said, you are entitled to your opinion. As am I.
I believe that this indeed was *The Greatest Generation to Have Ever Walked The Earth* !!! 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🇦🇺🇫🇷
My favorite bit:
"Easy company was now *alone* "
Absolutely iconic!
Easy company wasn't the best.
During this whole thing, I was playing "Band of Brothers" in my head.