Studies have shown that human psychology is predictable: when you present a man with something he's EXPECTING and WANTING to see, he's vastly more likely to accept it as reality, and if enough gullible types report the same thing, the few suspicious-types who report otherwise will be ignored and dismissed as doom-sayers. Stalin and Hitler were both engaged in hardcore exercises of optimistic self-deception prior to Barbarossa: Stalin was outraged that any of his generals would suggest Hitler WOULD attack him (since he'd personally declared, wrongly, that Hitler respected him and was afraid of his might), and Hitler was outraged that any of his generals would suggest he COULDN'T attack Stalin (since he'd already personally determined, wrongly, that he could defeat any nation, even the Soviets). Both of those decisions proved to be deadly to millions of their own citizens. One in the short term (right up until Stalingrad), and the other in the long term (every battle afterwards).
@@gastonbell108 Part of hitlers reason for thinking he would be able to win against Russia with extreme ease was that the Russians had lost nearly every single war they fought in the past 20 years with the exception of the recent battles against Poland.
I would compare it to the "Cups and balls" trick. You show them the ball periodically so they think they know where it really is, but by the time he's picking which cup the ball is under, it's actually in the operator's palm.
Sun Tzu: "All warfare is based on deception; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. " British: "When we are near, we make the enemy believe that we tried to make them believe we are near but we are far away but we are actually near them the whole time." Sun Tzu: "Damn son. Very nice!"
The last one is hilarious :D "We're gonna attack you on the left! Hear me? On the left!" "Ooh shit, better hide on the right." Even the best strategists underestimated italian self-preservation and indifference to any colonies :D
In Camilla, whereby Italians withdrew from what they thought was a target, before it as attacked reminds me of the old joke: How do you spot an Italian tank? (It has one forward gear and four reverse).
@@zekedia2223 i know its a joke but really it was the french commanders that screwed the french, not the bravery of the french. char b tanks getting sent all over the countryside, running out of fuel and then being dismantled/destroyed and abandoned before even seeing battle so the germans dont get thier hands on them when the germans were no where near them at the time, because intel said they were near.
When talking about fuel cans in the desert, you miss a chance of a rather interesting digression (how unlike you...). The fuel cans used by the Afrika Korps were greatly superior to those issued to the Eighth Army - which were prone to splitting when roughly handled. As such, fuel cans nicked from the Germans were highly prized amongst the British. This is how the term Jerry-can entered the English language.
That one lone radio operator in the qattara depression unwittingly providing such helpful code-cracking... I feel bad for having such a good giggle about that.
in the movie of the enigma code breakers, Alan Turing is reported as getting the same information from the daily weather report , the last line had the same number of digits each morning,2 words ,4 letters and 6 letters . leading to the deciphering of the code and the destruction of Coventry , saving many lives.
In the run-up to D-Day there was a particular look-out post in France which was overflown by a Spitfire or two every morning. The observer stuck to identical wording of his report every day (apart from the number of aircraft) and this enabled BP to have a head-start on the day's Enigma settings.
I guess there's something to be said for consolidating more Italian forces together so you can make them all surrender at once rather than chasing them around different countries.
But the Soviets did... constantly. Even as late as 1945 [although they had other forces in such numbers that the German encircling forces would often collapse & retreat... particularly after Operation Bagration]. One could argue that the USSR HAD the forces to annihilate a few encircling small German Kampfgruppen [say, east of Kiev in summer '41?] when barely a Regt of 88 Flak, anti-tank Abt, 2 Pz Recon Abt and several German Army Pz Gren and [mot] Infantry units [w Luftwaffe support, of course] tore into the fleeing mass of Soviet T-28s, T-60s, and Infantry, etc but the Soviet High Command just didn't have the experience/doctrine to deal with a highly successful mobile German Armed force at that point in the war. Also, many of the Soviet troops that weren't captured - after all, how could a handful of German Kampfgruppen possibly HOPE to capture 750,000 Soviet troops? - became a rather powerful, desperate armed force of partisans that bugged the Germans until the Soviets took the offensive and Stalin had all these partisans sent to Gulags post-war. C'est la vie! But the Soviets [Stalin's fault] allowed many forces to overextend in spring '42, summer '42 at Rzhev [Zhukov's fault] BUT it drew off German Panzer forces that would have been available to help 6th Army at Stalingrad, Kharkov in spring '42, Kharkov in spring '43 and too many to mention BUT the Soviets learnt that strengthening the flanks of a beakthru whilst feeding the vanguard with POL, spares and reserves was the way to siphon off German reserves into pointless counters without success. Hurra! for Mother Russia!
Awwww... poor neil. Is this modern world all too much for you? Why in the world would you reply just for a snide comment? [hint: try 'NOT READING' unrelated content in the Comments Section next time]
No, they were already in their coffins by the time the brits arrived! (No offense meant! This is really what the Italian troops themselves called most of their tanks!)
@@bernardomenezes808 yeah I am right there waiting for you guys I wish you come early in the spring so that we have tea together and let you know how Turkish tea is much better than British one even though you are most known for it
When growing up I remember hearing stories of a man how made an anti tank mine that look like camel droppings with the idea that enemy tank drivers would drive over camel droppings because the weight of the droppings would set of a mine so intact droppings no mined. They caught on to this trick so he made a mine with tank tracks going through the droppings and next with criss crossed tracks going through droppings to fool the enemy.
@Fidd88 I was about to say, "If I'd seen the Germans had caught on to the trick I'd have just started leaving real camel-droppings in places with no mines"; glad to know the French version didn't require them to do that themselves
@Fidd88 Personally I'd probably throw a dead rat into the boiler myself, to dispose of it and get a tiny bit of energy out- then again I'm 1/4th German-American so I suppose that doesn't disprove the "different racial psychology" hypothesis. Still, explosives disguised as coal like the Confederacy made a few of during the civil war seem like a more sure thing. Pretty nasty, there's a theory that after the war ended an explosion on a boat carrying freed Union POWs back to the north was caused by one; nobody knows if it was a bitter Confederate or if it just happened to still be in an old batch of coal.
I read that in WWII Australian troops also invented what the US now call 'tacticals' at Tobruk: strap an abandoned Italian light cannon to the back of a truck, then hoon into range during a German attack, pull the string, and gtfo again.
It should be noted that by the time of D-Day, the Germans had been successfully decieved enough that they never trusted anything the British did. The first two days of Normandy where thought to be a diversion or a Dieppe type attack. The British had to use a dead body off the Spanish coast found by Franco and handed over to the Germans because anything less would have screamed "british trap".
A amazing thing is that the forward scouts came within sight of the northern coast on the FIRST DAY! The allied commanders didn't follow up immediately on that, and the rest was history.
I love the differing Italian and German response to deception, when Germans spot the enemy planning to assault one location they make sure to staunchly defend it. When Italians hear their territory is being attacked by the British, flee for your lives. Of course a simplification but still from some of the stories Lindybeige tells, like 1942 21 AT guns v 100 tanks, it is not surprising the Italian behaviour.
Hey Lloyd, you might also be interested in the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, a dutch ship that escaped the Japanese disguised as a bush (well an island but still)
Wow, My stepdad's stepfather was in Indonesia on a Dutch Battleship and was captured by the Japanese, they had tried carving out huge wooden guns on the hull to make themselves look intimidating amd he was one of the operators. It did not work and they were captured and sent to prison camps where they were treated horribly.
Just imagine being a turk in the trenches thinking every morning "this is it this is the day I die" just to find out that they were played like a damn fiddle
@@anthonyhayes1267 Well that's why they call it "played like a fiddle," because you can only fiddle if you're a very talented musician! Otherwise you're just playing a violin ;-)
Imagine a battle between two fanthom armies. Two small groups trying to make each other believe they are bigger army and trying to trick where the attacks are going to come.
More like threatened with an attack that would almost certainly succeed no matter how much they reinforce they do the smart thing and abandoned the position and reinforce somewhere else. Due to poor British intelligence this probably cost both nations far more soldiers than it would have if they hadn't tried to fool the Italians in the first place.
To be fair, retreating onto your supply lines was 1) a fallback plan in case of a Japanese invasion of Australia (let the crocodiles eat the buggers before they get south to the cities) , 2) successful(ish) for both the British and Germans in North Africa, twice each I think, and 3) successful _every single_ time someone invades Russia from the west, since forever.
You have to know how to play cricket to understand the British mind googlies and silly mid off are actaul cricketing terms also going for a duck butter fingers and knock the Hun for six!
@@Uocjat You see, you start "tea time" a little earlier and earlier each day until boom when the enemy attack they get a hail of withering Lee Enfields
Kind of at the opposite end but my great aunt and uncle were invited to the 100 year anniversary because his Dad and two brothers went and all three came back unscathed. Dont know if thats a record or something but on the other side of the family i think everyone who went either died or was wounded. When i went myself in the small kind of sample graveyard they have there was a grave with my exact name on it which kind of freaked me out.
Yes. I gotta admit that drip-fire rifle was ingenious. But the Soviet anti-tank dog was... er.. oh. Because it was trained to run under T-34 Soviet tanks, whenever they were let loose with a fully armed mine? they would run straight for the nearest T-34 and BOOM! Still, I'm glad they abandoned that. I think it's a horrible use of a dog.
This channel reminds me of sitting in class when it was my fave history teacher, the time just flew by and I remember when the lesson was over, nobody got out their chair at the normal mach 2 when the bell rang as the normal in all the other lessons we didn't like, we just sat there like stunned rabbits waiting for more. Great orator and so interesting topics you seem to pull out things I never even knew about. Bravo Nikolas and thankyou
At least the _retreat_ went well - unlike _french_ retreats. Even their retreats end in disaster . . . And when they finally got to win anything, they screwed it up, and in 1939, it started all over again.
Lindybiege i'm sure you would love to explore the battle of Singapore (I am not going " oh yeah Britain sucks look you lost somewhere in the past." I genuinely want to hear him cover it. He did the Maori video very well , and it featured a British defeat.)
Brits only wax poetic about defeats involving a clever subtext (Gallipoli, Dunkirk), not about defeats that were unmitigated disasters (Singapore, Hong Kong).
I think you are getting close to being a bit rude with this comment. There was no waxing poetic in this video, this was a video about some great deceptions. You're right though that the British don't wax poetic about unmitigated disasters they respect them. (ok mabye quite literally they did wax poetic with the charge of the light brigade)
@@beckysand1444 I only have respect for Lindybiege , I actually don't know much about Singapore , just that the English didn't have much fun there. Wanted to hear Lindy discuss it . He did a video on the Maori and their tactics against the British , so he does not shy away from defeats.
I love your videos so much, I'm so glad I accidentally clicked on the one about the Gate Pa. Especially being from New Zealand we often get left out of things so always appreciate the shout out.
I just want to say THANK YOU Lloyd! The effort you put into your videos makes watching them so much fun. You're a legend and make the time I spend watching you time well spent. Take care!
@@lamolambda8349 Honestly I have wondered if he's the kind of guy who would corner people at parties and talk their ear off, completely oblivious to social cues, and everyone was all "Oh dear, Lindybeige is here again, no don't make eye contact oh bother he's coming this way." Then he started these videos and it's a win-win because he gets to just talk for hours about military stuff and we all watch and listen and come back for more. Actually maybe I should throw a party and invite him and we can all listen to him speak on various subjects of his choice in 20 minute increments, with breaks for mingling and whatnot.
I always felt Wavell was badly treated by history. Overshadowed by Montgomery, and basically punished for proving Churchill wrong about Greece. If Churchill had listened to Wavell it's possible the war in North Africa would have ended in 1941, but he didn't and Wavell got shipped off to try and deal with another nightmarish situation as the scapegoat for ABDACOMs collapse.
Agreed. Well, O'Connor would have taken the Italian/Libyan capital [and all Italian holdings in North Africa] IF Churchill hadn't allowed Eden to use what little forces the British had in North Africa to 'help the Greeks'. And the Greeks were worried that if the British forces landed in Athens then the Germans would most certainly invade Greece and the Greeks weren't confident that such a small force of British could prevent them! Which they didn't! Which led to the debacle of Crete. Though, to be fair? the ever presence of Stukas, Bf109s and Bf110s made the life of ANY British and Commonwealth soldier during the day a bloody nightmare... especially after some bloody silly Brit officer decamped from the heights overlooking Maleme airfield, giving up the last advantage they had to stop the Germans from feeding the exhausted and decimated Fallschirmjager units and flying in fresh German infantry and artillery AND gave them an airfield for Luftwaffe combat sorties to attack Royal Navy support during the evac. I think Wavell's greatest fault was he could not choose a subordinate commander well. Ritchie was a bloody disaster and he was a Major General for a start [above all? he was no O'Connor]. Making a Divisional General the commander of ALL North African Allied forces was a dire mistake. While Ritchie dithered when Rommel had stretched his neck out too far and Ritchie's subordinates patted each other on the back... AFTER 2 BLOODY WEEKS! It was no surprise that the Fighting Free French had finally collapsed after intense assault from armour, infantry, pioneers, artillery and Stukas AFTER 2 weeks and one of the central 'boxes' had been utterly destroyed and suddenly the situation had gone from 'Highly optimistic' to 'Rommel's on the move again' after having him entrapped in the 'kessel' for a good part of 2 weeks! The British were desperately retreating to Benghazi and it was obvious to Wavell that he had made a mistake choosing Ritchie. So, yes, Wavell had his faults. But I think he would have done better to take over North Africa Command and make an offer to Churchill for someone to replace him as overall Middle East Commander. Wavell was as capable a desert commander as O'Connor but Middle East Command - ie, District command of such a high level... it covered Iraq, Palestine, Aden, Brit. Somali, Egypt and many other regions which were, to be fair, beyond the capabilities of just one man - was typical of British command structure at its worst. The man was, sadly, heavily overburdened so he had far less time to study for suitable candidates to take over O'Connor's role after his capture. When you lose a capable Lieut.General AND his CoS in one swoop then I guess you just pick the nearest to hand! Potential uprisings in Iraq and the Italians getting itchy fingers around Brit. Somaliland, it's an awful lot to take on.
The Greece debacle is arguably the biggest blunder of the war. So absolutely unnecessary and the consequences were so far reaching. Without Greece the North Africa theatre closes in 41 and the British are in control of all the middle East and North Africa and now Vichy France has some very tough questions to ask itself
Britain doesn't use deception tactics, it's not fair, we put all of our troops in a few long lines and then walk slowly towards the enemy, it's never gone wrong
The Italians probably assessed the situation as: Is this piece of land and stretch of coastline worth dying for? Not if we hold on to Eritrea. Remember, these are the descendants of the Roman Empire we're talking about. Strategy works in many different ways.
Very interesting. My old man was in British Somali Land: he was in the RADC with the KAR. For a very brief time he was the O/C his post: they had a lot of captured Italian bandages, pre-impregnated with plaster of Paris. He got his men to soak the rolls of bandage with water and then, when they'd set hard, they used them for target practice. His men won a target competition in Mogadishu as a result of this. It upset the regular infantry people quite considerably.
The ultimate deception was me mistaking this video's thumbnail (as clever as it was) for the previous Deception video, and then not realizing it for two days.
Dear Mr Lindybeige, You are without a doubt the best "true storyteller" (please forgive me for using that description, I couldn't think of one more suitable) I have ever had the privilege of listening to. Your subject matter is so interesting, and the way you tell it is enthralling. I could listen to you talk for hours. Thank you so much for your excellent work and I look forward to your next youtube video. Regards, shanebisme
I normally don't have alot of interest in military history stories (except about guns and tanks and stuff) but Lindybeige just makes stuff like this really clear and interesting to hear. Keep up the good work and greetings from The Netherlands!
These are brilliant. I imagine the guy that was expected to have list tens of thousands of men and lost none must have got at least a promotion. The thing with the 4 gallon gas tanks and fake lories seems like such a HUGE amount of fiddly effort, doing all that by hand. But then again if something wins you a battle, who cares if it took forever and was horribly inefficient. Still it bogles my mind how they moved THAT much fuel in 4 gallon increments, and that it had to be constantly moved by hand to keep it hidden
People have forgotten Wavell and Auchinleck and others because of the attention placed on Montgomery. Much of what Monty accomplished was underpinned by the actions and plans of previous commanders in the Western Desert. A very, very interesting video, thank you.
If I die before you Lloyd, I will give my fortune to you for the narration of my will. My speaking voice is terrible and my life quaint, your voice might make it seem as if I was interesting.
I’m sorry I thought people on the internet had a sense of humour. I was just playing to stereotypes, I am fully aware that the Italians were in no position to conduct a fight at that time due to a lack of resources, industry and public support for the war against a large and (comparatively) well-equipped army such as the British army that was fighting in their territory with naval superiority.
don't mind francis, we italians tend to be rather peculiar in how we're all extremely patriottic yet don't waste opportunity to claim how much it sucks to be here... it's kind alike the big bad brother complex that's actually good "no one can say how shitty of a person my little brother is except me, the big brother"(except more than brothers, it's just ourselves)
Well, they defended the most valuable area. And maybe they had noticed the troops coming from the north as well, and decided to focus the defense there, instead of in the worthless Somaliland
I wish could afford audible. I would love to support your channel in some way beyond watching and giving the thumbs up to your videos. Alas, I cannot. I love your content and I would like to extend greetings from the United States. Keep up the good work.
You can click on his affiliate links and sponsor links to ensure he keep getting sponsors as they see his audience actually listens and checks out what they were offering
I love these stories of subterfuge and deception in wartime! A lot of my favorite movies are based around these type of stories..."The Train", with Burt Lancaster, for example...
My favourite deception in the siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War. They didn't have enough barbed wire to surround the town, but the Boers couldn't see the wire through binoculars so they just set up the posts, and pretended the wire was there, weaving around or even ducking under where it was supposed to be. They also set up a lot of explosive crates round the town to deter attacks, but they only had enough dynamite to stock one of them. So they set it off, allegedly as a test, to make it look like they had explosives to burn. The bluff worked and the Boers never attacked.
Can someone source that quote for me of something like "If there's a hill with no noise, it's probably inhabited by the British"? By a Korean or Japanese commander.
yet another wonderful video! Nothing more than one guy, a camera a few photos and the most amazing war stories ever and I was hooked from start to finish! No need for flashy animations and effects if you can tell a story exeptionally well! And also still one of the best ways to talk about sponsors by including them into the topic and making an advert interesting and make sense!
It is a hard thing when you work so hard and actually achieve your goals, only to discover you had the wrong goal and had demonstrated a limited understanding of the opposition. Surrender was an art form among the Italians. I blame them, not at all. That is an edifying story.
Reminds me of the saying, something like "tactics < logistics/operations < strategy < grand strategy". Grand strategy is choosing what your goals are, strategy is choosing who and where to fight to achieve those, operations is getting the army to the fight, tactics is how you fight once you get there. The lower levels are of course vital (logistics is the most famously neglected of the four) but if your grand strategy sucks then the best strategy, logistics and tactics in the world won't help, same for if you have great tactics but terrible strategy or logistics
I'm surprised I saw no other comments complaining about calling Gallipoli a *British* military deception. Sure, they were the most numerous of the forces there and generally in command, but it was far from purely a British operation; it's importance to the Australian and New Zealand culture is hardly an unknown one, and at least some of the things mentioned as a part of it was very much a result of the ANZAC forces, like the drip rifle.
Italian Tenth Army was completed annihilated by an Aussie/Kiwi ad-hoc battlegroup that was nearly out of ammo, water and food, and yet you give praise to the elements of the 131st Centauro, who were backed by german units, for overrunning the disorganized and inexperienced americans holding Highway 13 in one of the few successes of Kasserine Pass which ultimately FAILED to meet all the critical objectives?
Meh, I give praise to no one in general, but your statement made the Centauro look like bullies, attacking the newbies... Besides if Italian High Command had not been so stubborn and rebuffed Rommel's battle plans, and had Arnim not been a meek piece of shit and given the forces of 5th Panzer Army to Rommel when he needed them, the war in North Africa might have turned out differently...
You are being very successful indeed with your channel, Lloyd. Don’t change your approach. Love listening to you. All history lovers will love how you present your content. Oh and also your humorous interjections, excellent...... I hope RUclips pays you your worth as well.
I love this guy. I like to turn the speed down to .75 or .5 and pretend we are at a bar and Lindy is hammered drunk just telling stories. I turn it down to .5 when he gets really smashed.
I love this video. You have arguably the best narration of any content maker on RUclips which means you can tell a vivid story with just words. I don't know if Jackanory is still a thing but you were born for it... As it's a long video I'd suggest taking a break between stories because while you were on fire at the start the flow of your storytelling stuttered somewhat towards the end, perhaps because you were talking for half an hour?! It would also be useful to include timestamps in the comments indicating when each story begins which would make it easier to follow when "on the go". (I sometimes listen on my work commute). Something like this: 0:10 A Stealthy Get Away 8:03 Fooled by Bertram 26:26 Dudley's Dastardly Deceptive Disaster Just a suggestion. Love your channel.
Although smaller in scale,i've seen a documentary where the british camouflaged the entire city of Alexandria in Egypt from the luftwaffe,using mirrors in the Nile..? something like that
Other countries love the dragon for its might and raw power. Some countries are fond of lion for its courage and strength. Still other countries prefer the eagle for its swift and majestic grace. But for the English goes the fox, which is why out of 183 countries, England has invaded 153 of them... and made a few out of thin freaking air. Side note: writing I got to wondering if the tales of Rennard the Fox might be medieval French propaganda against the English. Considering the sheer amount of hatred between the two countries over the past 1,000 years or so.
Reminds me of a line from the Two Ronnies & Stephen Fry in 2000 R. Corbett: "I blame the Normans. I hate they French because they beat us in 1066." SF: "I hate the French because they beat us in 1998." R. Barker: "I just hate the French. I don't need a reason."
Thanks Lindy. Super interesting and I think one of your very best videos. I can't believe you can talk for so long without a cut and manage to get so much awesome info across with hardy a misses beat.
Lindybeige!!!! Do you know anything of what may have been called Zed Force from ww2? Thanks my friend hope to hear any knowledge from you. Keep up the good work
50 Sikhs, 30 Gurkas, 25 Australians & 10 New Zealanders start a brawl in a bar (someone made a comment about someone's mother. Baa, Baa) ... Took 500 Scotch MPs to calm them down & then they couldn't believe the NZ's won! Next day the same 115 Commonwealth Soldiers go on a forced march to capture a town garrisoned by 2000 Eye-talian soldiers. The Lieutenant in charge of the MPs says "Och aye. I pity those poor Eye-talians, they don't know what they're about to get."
I suppose hiding a spoof, inside a joke, inside a tank dressed as a truck like that is how we ended up with Monty Python. Did any British forces forget what they were supposed to be that day? Because the confusion must have been utterly crazy.
The Tank-Lorry disguise is the military equivalent of one kid standing on other's shoulder and covering up with an overcoat.
Studies have shown that human psychology is predictable: when you present a man with something he's EXPECTING and WANTING to see, he's vastly more likely to accept it as reality, and if enough gullible types report the same thing, the few suspicious-types who report otherwise will be ignored and dismissed as doom-sayers.
Stalin and Hitler were both engaged in hardcore exercises of optimistic self-deception prior to Barbarossa: Stalin was outraged that any of his generals would suggest Hitler WOULD attack him (since he'd personally declared, wrongly, that Hitler respected him and was afraid of his might), and Hitler was outraged that any of his generals would suggest he COULDN'T attack Stalin (since he'd already personally determined, wrongly, that he could defeat any nation, even the Soviets).
Both of those decisions proved to be deadly to millions of their own citizens. One in the short term (right up until Stalingrad), and the other in the long term (every battle afterwards).
@@gastonbell108 Part of hitlers reason for thinking he would be able to win against Russia with extreme ease was that the Russians had lost nearly every single war they fought in the past 20 years with the exception of the recent battles against Poland.
No its not
@@dc3189 no u
I would compare it to the "Cups and balls" trick. You show them the ball periodically so they think they know where it really is, but by the time he's picking which cup the ball is under, it's actually in the operator's palm.
The Sergeant-Major growled at the young soldier: "I didn’t see you at camouflage training this morning." Soldier: "Thank you very much, sir."
@@jwhine shush it's a joke
@@jwhine in Britain you would
@@jwhine Yeah in the British Army you would be a WO if you are a Seargent Major and would therefore be addressed as "Sir".
Why do you never see Batman hiding in a tree? Because he's so good at it.
@@jwhine did someone get you a funny bone for Christmas?
Sun Tzu: "All warfare is based on deception; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. "
British: "When we are near, we make the enemy believe that we tried to make them believe we are near but we are far away but we are actually near them the whole time."
Sun Tzu: "Damn son. Very nice!"
here have a like
:3 Thanks
Have another one good job :)
Have another one good job :)
Thanks for making my head spin.
The last one is hilarious :D
"We're gonna attack you on the left! Hear me? On the left!"
"Ooh shit, better hide on the right."
Even the best strategists underestimated italian self-preservation and indifference to any colonies :D
In Camilla, whereby Italians withdrew from what they thought was a target, before it as attacked reminds me of the old joke: How do you spot an Italian tank? (It has one forward gear and four reverse).
I heard the same about the french lol
The one forward gear is there just in case the enemy attack from behind
@@zekedia2223 i know its a joke but really it was the french commanders that screwed the french, not the bravery of the french. char b tanks getting sent all over the countryside, running out of fuel and then being dismantled/destroyed and abandoned before even seeing battle so the germans dont get thier hands on them when the germans were no where near them at the time, because intel said they were near.
Axis Powers Hetalia is true.
When talking about fuel cans in the desert, you miss a chance of a rather interesting digression (how unlike you...). The fuel cans used by the Afrika Korps were greatly superior to those issued to the Eighth Army - which were prone to splitting when roughly handled. As such, fuel cans nicked from the Germans were highly prized amongst the British. This is how the term Jerry-can entered the English language.
TIL. Cheers lomax343.
Lindy has never needed much of an excuse for a digression. That would have been far from his flimsiest.
Yes, the flimsies performed very badly in the desert. At times there was a much as 30% losses due to leakage.
...Huh, neat.
@ yeoldebiggetee - OK, it's a fair cop. You suckered me.
They’re actually called Battle Bamboozles
h*ck *
No swearing please.
No they're called Fatal Follies
The Big British Battle Bamboozles, presented by your bearded buddy Blloyd
hedders no hecking swearing? What the heck is this? A hecking Christian minecraft server?
Why are you mislabelling Scufflterfuges?
Only lindybeige can make galipoli into a tale of British military triumph
Adrien Fraser "The Bren gun is objectively better than the Spandau!"
Well actually he stated it didn't went well. The evacuation was indeed really successful. Crisis management at its best.
Adrien Fraser he said the campaign was a cock up but the retr...tactical repositioning was a success...
When you are in a no win situation, successfully living to fight another day is definitely a military triumph.
Breaking contact is often difficult at best.
‘A plan so cunning, you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel’.
another cunning plan Baldrick ?
A truly cunning plan my Lord
That one lone radio operator in the qattara depression unwittingly providing such helpful code-cracking... I feel bad for having such a good giggle about that.
in the movie of the enigma code breakers, Alan Turing is reported as getting the same information from the daily weather report , the last line had the same number of digits each morning,2 words ,4 letters and 6 letters . leading to the deciphering of the code and the destruction of Coventry , saving many lives.
Nothing to report
In the run-up to D-Day there was a particular look-out post in France which was overflown by a Spitfire or two every morning. The observer stuck to identical wording of his report every day (apart from the number of aircraft) and this enabled BP to have a head-start on the day's Enigma settings.
English general: "I have a cunning plan!" and it was actually cunning!
Of course, his name wasn't Baldrick.
@@andrewharper1609 George ...Seriously ?!
@@krixpop perhaps Captain Darling had some smarts under his cap
Makes sense. The British invented oral.
@@orangepekoe5243 sussy boy.
I guess there's something to be said for consolidating more Italian forces together so you can make them all surrender at once rather than chasing them around different countries.
Germans would have loved for the russians to over commit in one small area and become encircled for example.
But the Soviets did... constantly. Even as late as 1945 [although they had other forces in such numbers that the German encircling forces would often collapse & retreat... particularly after Operation Bagration].
One could argue that the USSR HAD the forces to annihilate a few encircling small German Kampfgruppen [say, east of Kiev in summer '41?] when barely a Regt of 88 Flak, anti-tank Abt, 2 Pz Recon Abt and several German Army Pz Gren and [mot] Infantry units [w Luftwaffe support, of course] tore into the fleeing mass of Soviet T-28s, T-60s, and Infantry, etc but the Soviet High Command just didn't have the experience/doctrine to deal with a highly successful mobile German Armed force at that point in the war.
Also, many of the Soviet troops that weren't captured - after all, how could a handful of German Kampfgruppen possibly HOPE to capture 750,000 Soviet troops? - became a rather powerful, desperate armed force of partisans that bugged the Germans until the Soviets took the offensive and Stalin had all these partisans sent to Gulags post-war. C'est la vie!
But the Soviets [Stalin's fault] allowed many forces to overextend in spring '42, summer '42 at Rzhev [Zhukov's fault] BUT it drew off German Panzer forces that would have been available to help 6th Army at Stalingrad, Kharkov in spring '42, Kharkov in spring '43 and too many to mention BUT the Soviets learnt that strengthening the flanks of a beakthru whilst feeding the vanguard with POL, spares and reserves was the way to siphon off German reserves into pointless counters without success.
Hurra! for Mother Russia!
Jack of Shadows - wow - a whole essay on a totally unrelated subject. 🙄
Awwww... poor neil. Is this modern world all too much for you? Why in the world would you reply just for a snide comment?
[hint: try 'NOT READING' unrelated content in the Comments Section next time]
Jack of Shadows - DO try to shush now, nap time.
outnumbered 15:1 by italians isnt really outnumbered, is it?
No, they were already in their coffins by the time the brits arrived!
(No offense meant! This is really what the Italian troops themselves called most of their tanks!)
in a pasta eating contest, it is
Not in Eritrea!
It is being outnumbered, yes.
I find what you are implying rather offensive, by the way.
And I find your lack of humour deeply offensive.
Legend has it the Turks are still waiting for the attack. "Aaaany minute now"
@Michael Martin I know I’m a year late but that was golden. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@JasperJ1nks and the Turks are still waiting!
@@bernardomenezes808 yeah I am right there waiting for you guys
I wish you come early in the spring so that we have tea together and let you know how Turkish tea is much better than British one even though you are most known for it
@@appleslover I'm not British. I am braazilian
@@bernardomenezes808 🤣
When growing up I remember hearing stories of a man how made an anti tank mine that look like camel droppings with the idea that enemy tank drivers would drive over camel droppings because the weight of the droppings would set of a mine so intact droppings no mined. They caught on to this trick so he made a mine with tank tracks going through the droppings and next with criss crossed tracks going through droppings to fool the enemy.
@Fidd88 I was about to say, "If I'd seen the Germans had caught on to the trick I'd have just started leaving real camel-droppings in places with no mines"; glad to know the French version didn't require them to do that themselves
@Fidd88 Personally I'd probably throw a dead rat into the boiler myself, to dispose of it and get a tiny bit of energy out- then again I'm 1/4th German-American so I suppose that doesn't disprove the "different racial psychology" hypothesis.
Still, explosives disguised as coal like the Confederacy made a few of during the civil war seem like a more sure thing. Pretty nasty, there's a theory that after the war ended an explosion on a boat carrying freed Union POWs back to the north was caused by one; nobody knows if it was a bitter Confederate or if it just happened to still be in an old batch of coal.
The Germans are very good at making precision boxes unfortunately they don't think outside of the box
The delayed firing rifle (drip gun) was invented by Lance Corporal Scurry and Private Lawrence of the 7th Battalion Australian Imperial Forces 👍
I read that in WWII Australian troops also invented what the US now call 'tacticals' at Tobruk: strap an abandoned Italian light cannon to the back of a truck, then hoon into range during a German attack, pull the string, and gtfo again.
@@williamchamberlain2263 - "Hoonism", for the win!
Private Lawrence then went on to become Corporal Lawrence, these days he's better known as the "The Old Man" or simply 106
Bullshit. The Lee Enfield .303 bolt-action rifle was a highly efficient weapon.
@@garethbeare7319 what does your comment have to do with any of the comments here?
Operation Overlord is DEFINITELY happening at PAS DE CALAIS. Not Normandy, PAS DE CALAIS
Slam Ham they'd be foolish to go the long way!
OF COURSE! Send the Pz Divisions to ze Pas de Calais!! Zis vill be zer 2nd Dieppe!
Why would they come to England and some going to the other parts, we're being led into disaster by incompetent morons.
Not just the Pas De Calais, but also Norway, And Greece.
It should be noted that by the time of D-Day, the Germans had been successfully decieved enough that they never trusted anything the British did. The first two days of Normandy where thought to be a diversion or a Dieppe type attack. The British had to use a dead body off the Spanish coast found by Franco and handed over to the Germans because anything less would have screamed "british trap".
If the Entente commanders had been as inventive upon landing as they were upon leaving, Gallipoli may have turned out differently for them.
A amazing thing is that the forward scouts came within sight of the northern coast on the FIRST DAY! The allied commanders didn't follow up immediately on that, and the rest was history.
I love the differing Italian and German response to deception, when Germans spot the enemy planning to assault one location they make sure to staunchly defend it. When Italians hear their territory is being attacked by the British, flee for your lives. Of course a simplification but still from some of the stories Lindybeige tells, like 1942 21 AT guns v 100 tanks, it is not surprising the Italian behaviour.
The British: What the hell are you Italians doing here?
The italians: I should ask you the same question.
listening to this guy is a joy. it's like having a conversation with your prefessor, best friend, and your hobby enthusiast all at once.
Hey Lloyd, you might also be interested in the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, a dutch ship that escaped the Japanese disguised as a bush (well an island but still)
Wow
Wow, My stepdad's stepfather was in Indonesia on a Dutch Battleship and was captured by the Japanese, they had tried carving out huge wooden guns on the hull to make themselves look intimidating amd he was one of the operators. It did not work and they were captured and sent to prison camps where they were treated horribly.
This might end up on Indy Neidell’s WW2 week by week, it’s the kind of detail he likes :)
Flying Dutchman as Island by Japanese. Honest minitrisation
YRUThinkn #@#
That second deception was absolutely unbelievably marvelous
Just imagine being a turk in the trenches thinking every morning "this is it this is the day I die" just to find out that they were played like a damn fiddle
Well, as the infamous retort goes, "Fiddles are actually difficult to play. I played you like the cheap kazoo that you are."
@@anthonyhayes1267 Well that's why they call it "played like a fiddle," because you can only fiddle if you're a very talented musician! Otherwise you're just playing a violin ;-)
i'd say there was some sort of embarrassment followed by some feelings of relief
Aha sana sıhıyeci çantası - battlefield 1 with bad voice acting
Whenever you feel sad in life remember someone somewhere had dysentery and frostbite at the same time
Yea, life can always be worse.
And were getting shot at and shelled, too!
As a Brian, I wholeheartedly approve of this name usage.
Well done, gentleman
Well done.
I am Brian!
I'm Brian, no! I'M Brian, I'M Brian. I'm Brian, ...... er.. I mean Sparticus
WELEASE BWIAN!
I am Brian! And my wife is also Brian!
You're not the messiah. You're just a very naughty boy.
Imagine a battle between two fanthom armies. Two small groups trying to make each other believe they are bigger army and trying to trick where the attacks are going to come.
Now *that* sounds like fun! :-D
Which group has the Bren gun?
That would be the lucky ones . . .
Amitabha Kusari
Both sides would try to convince the other side that they have them.
MrDUneven: AND neither side have bren guns?
Classic mistake to assume the Italians threaten with an attack would reinforce and defend the position and not just run away
Seriously though, that's quite offensive
More like threatened with an attack that would almost certainly succeed no matter how much they reinforce they do the smart thing and abandoned the position and reinforce somewhere else. Due to poor British intelligence this probably cost both nations far more soldiers than it would have if they hadn't tried to fool the Italians in the first place.
To be fair, retreating onto your supply lines was 1) a fallback plan in case of a Japanese invasion of Australia (let the crocodiles eat the buggers before they get south to the cities) , 2) successful(ish) for both the British and Germans in North Africa, twice each I think, and 3) successful _every single_ time someone invades Russia from the west, since forever.
@@riccardogennari8046 how is it offensive? Its a joke about a thing that happened.
@@rlanger3108 Because it's just portraying it as "running away" for being cowards when the decision actually made sense strategically
I love how the Brits played these mind games. Well done.
You have to know how to play cricket to understand the British mind googlies and silly mid off are actaul cricketing terms also going for a duck butter fingers and knock the Hun for six!
#4: Pretending to take tea time but actually doing something more sinister
they'd have to employ foreign units for that as no true Englishman would neglect tea time, even in the name of trickery
@@Uocjat You see, you start "tea time" a little earlier and earlier each day until boom when the enemy attack they get a hail of withering Lee Enfields
Pretending to take tea time but actually taking tea time with sinister intent
My great grandfather was wounded 4 different times at the battle of Gallipoli alone, unfortunately showing how horrendous the situation was.
And weirdly/unfortunately my great uncle was killed in the diversion attempt for El Alamein.
Damian Reloaded And that is how the Prussian royal line of incest was ended.
I'm sure there was plenty of incest afterwards too. That's a thing among the blondes. XD
Kind of at the opposite end but my great aunt and uncle were invited to the 100 year anniversary because his Dad and two brothers went and all three came back unscathed. Dont know if thats a record or something but on the other side of the family i think everyone who went either died or was wounded. When i went myself in the small kind of sample graveyard they have there was a grave with my exact name on it which kind of freaked me out.
Not ready to get into it yet?
Lindybeige uploads = Good day
True
Gloid for me evening now i can have Sweet dreams of Lindy talking about gallipoli :]
bluewaffle 45 omg same
Easy, maybe a bloody good hour.
The drip-fire rifle is one of my favorite wartime deceptions
Second only to the exploding rat.
Yes. I gotta admit that drip-fire rifle was ingenious.
But the Soviet anti-tank dog was...
er..
oh. Because it was trained to run under T-34 Soviet tanks, whenever they were let loose with a fully armed mine? they would run straight for the nearest T-34 and BOOM!
Still, I'm glad they abandoned that. I think it's a horrible use of a dog.
Jack of Shadows right and because of this tactic, more dogs were shot, just out of precaution
Mine is Operation Mincemeat.
not to be used in Siberia ...
This channel reminds me of sitting in class when it was my fave history teacher, the time just flew by and I remember when the lesson was over, nobody got out their chair at the normal mach 2 when the bell rang as the normal in all the other lessons we didn't like, we just sat there like stunned rabbits waiting for more. Great orator and so interesting topics you seem to pull out things I never even knew about. Bravo Nikolas and thankyou
The Gallipoli evacuation actually took my breath away. Damn.
Found this on the ground. This yours?
Ironic that the one thing that went well with Gallipoli was the retreat
very french ^^
At least the _retreat_ went well - unlike _french_ retreats. Even their retreats end in disaster . . . And when they finally got to win anything, they screwed it up, and in 1939, it started all over again.
not irony
Jay Williams nothing in Gallipoli went well for the allies, or anyone really. Something finally being successful is unexpected and therefore ironic
And isn't it ironic, don't you think?
It's like bra-a-ains in a government flock
It's the good advise that they never took
And isn't it ironic?
Lindybiege i'm sure you would love to explore the battle of Singapore
(I am not going " oh yeah Britain sucks look you lost somewhere in the past." I genuinely want to hear him cover it. He did the Maori video very well , and it featured a British defeat.)
The very first thing this video was about was the British defeat at Gallipoli.
@BitGamit And the battlesof Austerlitz and Freidland, great fun times for the British
Brits only wax poetic about defeats involving a clever subtext (Gallipoli, Dunkirk), not about defeats that were unmitigated disasters (Singapore, Hong Kong).
I think you are getting close to being a bit rude with this comment. There was no waxing poetic in this video, this was a video about some great deceptions. You're right though that the British don't wax poetic about unmitigated disasters they respect them. (ok mabye quite literally they did wax poetic with the charge of the light brigade)
@@beckysand1444 I only have respect for Lindybiege , I actually don't know much about Singapore , just that the English didn't have much fun there. Wanted to hear Lindy discuss it . He did a video on the Maori and their tactics against the British , so he does not shy away from defeats.
I love your videos so much, I'm so glad I accidentally clicked on the one about the Gate Pa.
Especially being from New Zealand we often get left out of things so always appreciate the shout out.
The "Nothing to report" bit made me chuckle because such messages would be the key to Enigma.
I know first hand the importance and great advantage of having the high ground.
But General Anakin Skywalker would have attacked anyway.
I just want to say THANK YOU Lloyd! The effort you put into your videos makes watching them so much fun.
You're a legend and make the time I spend watching you time well spent.
Take care!
It’s over ANZAC! I have the HIGHGROUND
don't underestimate my (gtfo) powers
István Sipos Don’t try it!
26 minutes, ten seconds in and NOW we arrive at the inspiration for the video. This is why we love you Beige, never stop your content!
Australia did the Drip Rifle. We saved many Lives and got out safely
0:26
Did someone say....
*HIGH GROUND?*
GENERAL KENOBI, you're a bold one
Lindy have you ever thought of starting a podcast?
wtf do you think this is?
Tristin Roberts a video
How would he hear himself talk all of the time if he had a guest
@@lamolambda8349 Honestly I have wondered if he's the kind of guy who would corner people at parties and talk their ear off, completely oblivious to social cues, and everyone was all "Oh dear, Lindybeige is here again, no don't make eye contact oh bother he's coming this way."
Then he started these videos and it's a win-win because he gets to just talk for hours about military stuff and we all watch and listen and come back for more. Actually maybe I should throw a party and invite him and we can all listen to him speak on various subjects of his choice in 20 minute increments, with breaks for mingling and whatnot.
I always felt Wavell was badly treated by history. Overshadowed by Montgomery, and basically punished for proving Churchill wrong about Greece.
If Churchill had listened to Wavell it's possible the war in North Africa would have ended in 1941, but he didn't and Wavell got shipped off to try and deal with another nightmarish situation as the scapegoat for ABDACOMs collapse.
Agreed. Well, O'Connor would have taken the Italian/Libyan capital [and all Italian holdings in North Africa] IF Churchill hadn't allowed Eden to use what little forces the British had in North Africa to 'help the Greeks'. And the Greeks were worried that if the British forces landed in Athens then the Germans would most certainly invade Greece and the Greeks weren't confident that such a small force of British could prevent them!
Which they didn't! Which led to the debacle of Crete. Though, to be fair? the ever presence of Stukas, Bf109s and Bf110s made the life of ANY British and Commonwealth soldier during the day a bloody nightmare... especially after some bloody silly Brit officer decamped from the heights overlooking Maleme airfield, giving up the last advantage they had to stop the Germans from feeding the exhausted and decimated Fallschirmjager units and flying in fresh German infantry and artillery AND gave them an airfield for Luftwaffe combat sorties to attack Royal Navy support during the evac.
I think Wavell's greatest fault was he could not choose a subordinate commander well. Ritchie was a bloody disaster and he was a Major General for a start [above all? he was no O'Connor]. Making a Divisional General the commander of ALL North African Allied forces was a dire mistake.
While Ritchie dithered when Rommel had stretched his neck out too far and Ritchie's subordinates patted each other on the back... AFTER 2 BLOODY WEEKS! It was no surprise that the Fighting Free French had finally collapsed after intense assault from armour, infantry, pioneers, artillery and Stukas AFTER 2 weeks and one of the central 'boxes' had been utterly destroyed and suddenly the situation had gone from 'Highly optimistic' to 'Rommel's on the move again' after having him entrapped in the 'kessel' for a good part of 2 weeks!
The British were desperately retreating to Benghazi and it was obvious to Wavell that he had made a mistake choosing Ritchie.
So, yes, Wavell had his faults. But I think he would have done better to take over North Africa Command and make an offer to Churchill for someone to replace him as overall Middle East Commander. Wavell was as capable a desert commander as O'Connor but Middle East Command - ie, District command of such a high level... it covered Iraq, Palestine, Aden, Brit. Somali, Egypt and many other regions which were, to be fair, beyond the capabilities of just one man - was typical of British command structure at its worst.
The man was, sadly, heavily overburdened so he had far less time to study for suitable candidates to take over O'Connor's role after his capture. When you lose a capable Lieut.General AND his CoS in one swoop then I guess you just pick the nearest to hand! Potential uprisings in Iraq and the Italians getting itchy fingers around Brit. Somaliland, it's an awful lot to take on.
The Greece debacle is arguably the biggest blunder of the war. So absolutely unnecessary and the consequences were so far reaching. Without Greece the North Africa theatre closes in 41 and the British are in control of all the middle East and North Africa and now Vichy France has some very tough questions to ask itself
I think anyone from any side can agree that winston was a Farce
Britain doesn't use deception tactics, it's not fair, we put all of our troops in a few long lines and then walk slowly towards the enemy, it's never gone wrong
No! Never! And we always stop at tea-time! (To let the enemy catch their breath, you know... YEEEEEEESSS!!!)
They'll never expect us to do what we did the last 18 times
Yanks?
Haig. Greatest Scotsman ever.
Only the Italians would see that the enemy wanted a target and then just leave it.
jinxmaster1 I bet they were half french
The Italians probably assessed the situation as: Is this piece of land and stretch of coastline worth dying for? Not if we hold on to Eritrea. Remember, these are the descendants of the Roman Empire we're talking about. Strategy works in many different ways.
@@johanrunfeldt7174 but they lost lol
@@johanrunfeldt7174 they aren’t the Romans lol
@@MrJinxmaster1 Petty details of the world.
Walk slowly towards the enemy. As we have done it a thousend times before, they wont expect us to do it again..
I always love Lindy's thumbnails
Very interesting. My old man was in British Somali Land: he was in the RADC with the KAR. For a very brief time he was the O/C his post: they had a lot of captured Italian bandages, pre-impregnated with plaster of Paris. He got his men to soak the rolls of bandage with water and then, when they'd set hard, they used them for target practice. His men won a target competition in Mogadishu as a result of this. It upset the regular infantry people quite considerably.
The ultimate deception was me mistaking this video's thumbnail (as clever as it was) for the previous Deception video, and then not realizing it for two days.
Dear Mr Lindybeige,
You are without a doubt the best "true storyteller" (please forgive me for using that description, I couldn't think of one more suitable) I have ever had the privilege of listening to. Your subject matter is so interesting, and the way you tell it is enthralling. I could listen to you talk for hours. Thank you so much for your excellent work and I look forward to your next youtube video.
Regards,
shanebisme
I normally don't have alot of interest in military history stories (except about guns and tanks and stuff) but Lindybeige just makes stuff like this really clear and interesting to hear. Keep up the good work and greetings from The Netherlands!
This will be a long toilet break.
Jordan Searl Lindy Beige is a slow acting but effective laxative.
Why? O
...listen carefuly to the "rip" if you get up from the seat........^^
These are brilliant. I imagine the guy that was expected to have list tens of thousands of men and lost none must have got at least a promotion.
The thing with the 4 gallon gas tanks and fake lories seems like such a HUGE amount of fiddly effort, doing all that by hand. But then again if something wins you a battle, who cares if it took forever and was horribly inefficient. Still it bogles my mind how they moved THAT much fuel in 4 gallon increments, and that it had to be constantly moved by hand to keep it hidden
I believe they would've had a rope of some kind crossing through the handles of ~5 gas cans to make them easier to move.
My personal favorite deception was Operation Mincemeat. The story was dramatized in a book and then a movie called "The Man who Never Was".
Another fantastic and informative video. And I'm always amazed at the way you describe these complex episodes without a single cut.
People have forgotten Wavell and Auchinleck and others because of the attention placed on Montgomery. Much of what Monty accomplished was underpinned by the actions and plans of previous commanders in the Western Desert. A very, very interesting video, thank you.
Yep, everyone forgets it was Auchinlek who was in charge when the Afrika Korps was halted at Alamein.
"If you fly over a bit of Europe in a plane..." Honestly I found that rather funny.
The last time I was this early
I've never been this early. You were deceived.
Or, were we? No one expects the Spanish Inquisistisizion . . . Inconsistance . . . Inquisiction . . . *aaaaaarg* [google translate] inquisition!
bamboozled again
Top Ten Anime Twists
I liked it
*laughs menacingly* You Bafoon, you fell for my trap!
If I die before you Lloyd, I will give my fortune to you for the narration of my will. My speaking voice is terrible and my life quaint, your voice might make it seem as if I was interesting.
Reverse reverse psychology....
“You played yourself”
Deceit within deceit can be deceitfully deceptive . . .
Thomas Raahauge this comment deserves far more attention and likes than it has recieved.
Tyler: Thank you - my twin came up with it back in the x-files days :)
Ah, Italians being Italian. “Seems the British are going to attack British Somalia, let’s run away to Eritrea”
"Italians being italian"... offensive and unnecessary, other than false.
I’m sorry I thought people on the internet had a sense of humour. I was just playing to stereotypes, I am fully aware that the Italians were in no position to conduct a fight at that time due to a lack of resources, industry and public support for the war against a large and (comparatively) well-equipped army such as the British army that was fighting in their territory with naval superiority.
I do not think that I would complain if someone commented in jest that British officers were stuck up and cowardly.
don't mind francis, we italians tend to be rather peculiar in how we're all extremely patriottic yet don't waste opportunity to claim how much it sucks to be here... it's kind alike the big bad brother complex that's actually good "no one can say how shitty of a person my little brother is except me, the big brother"(except more than brothers, it's just ourselves)
Well, they defended the most valuable area. And maybe they had noticed the troops coming from the north as well, and decided to focus the defense there, instead of in the worthless Somaliland
I wish could afford audible. I would love to support your channel in some way beyond watching and giving the thumbs up to your videos. Alas, I cannot. I love your content and I would like to extend greetings from the United States. Keep up the good work.
You can click on his affiliate links and sponsor links to ensure he keep getting sponsors as they see his audience actually listens and checks out what they were offering
I love these stories of subterfuge and deception in wartime! A lot of my favorite movies are based around these type of stories..."The Train", with Burt Lancaster, for example...
What an incredible presentation!! Thank you so very much.
1:08 When the snow was melting, the feet start to rot.
Rotting feet was a common issue in trenches.
Trench foot
I'm not actually in this thing, you just make it so enjoyable that I can't help but getting into it.
Having said that, now I'll be reading 'A' Game.
Took me a while to confirm that this wasn't just a re-up of last week's video. Excellent.
My favourite deception in the siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War. They didn't have enough barbed wire to surround the town, but the Boers couldn't see the wire through binoculars so they just set up the posts, and pretended the wire was there, weaving around or even ducking under where it was supposed to be. They also set up a lot of explosive crates round the town to deter attacks, but they only had enough dynamite to stock one of them. So they set it off, allegedly as a test, to make it look like they had explosives to burn. The bluff worked and the Boers never attacked.
I never was a big history fan, but you always talk about stuff in a very engaging way, so good job :)
Is this video one of those deceptions?
deception inception
decepception
Swole Astronomer
*Decept'nt
Swole Astronomer
Argh! So savage and devastating! I submit to your will. Just don't subject me to chogon, please!
Of course not........or is it?!
6:10 I do find the Drip Rifle quite amusing, and also quite crafty.
No way a rifle can have drip-
WHAT?
This guy is as nutty as a fruitcake and I just love it. This boy KNOWS his history.
Can someone source that quote for me of something like "If there's a hill with no noise, it's probably inhabited by the British"? By a Korean or Japanese commander.
Do it yourself.
yet another wonderful video! Nothing more than one guy, a camera a few photos and the most amazing war stories ever and I was hooked from start to finish! No need for flashy animations and effects if you can tell a story exeptionally well! And also still one of the best ways to talk about sponsors by including them into the topic and making an advert interesting and make sense!
It is a hard thing when you work so hard and actually achieve your goals, only to discover you had the wrong goal and had demonstrated a limited understanding of the opposition. Surrender was an art form among the Italians. I blame them, not at all.
That is an edifying story.
Reminds me of the saying, something like "tactics < logistics/operations < strategy < grand strategy". Grand strategy is choosing what your goals are, strategy is choosing who and where to fight to achieve those, operations is getting the army to the fight, tactics is how you fight once you get there.
The lower levels are of course vital (logistics is the most famously neglected of the four) but if your grand strategy sucks then the best strategy, logistics and tactics in the world won't help, same for if you have great tactics but terrible strategy or logistics
I'm surprised I saw no other comments complaining about calling Gallipoli a *British* military deception. Sure, they were the most numerous of the forces there and generally in command, but it was far from purely a British operation; it's importance to the Australian and New Zealand culture is hardly an unknown one, and at least some of the things mentioned as a part of it was very much a result of the ANZAC forces, like the drip rifle.
2 years late, but yeah, they don’t call it ANZAC cove for nothing.
British underestimated the Germans in France and overestimated the Italians in Africa.
Italian Tenth Army was completed annihilated by an Aussie/Kiwi ad-hoc battlegroup that was nearly out of ammo, water and food, and yet you give praise to the elements of the 131st Centauro, who were backed by german units, for overrunning the disorganized and inexperienced americans holding Highway 13 in one of the few successes of Kasserine Pass which ultimately FAILED to meet all the critical objectives?
Meh, I give praise to no one in general, but your statement made the Centauro look like bullies, attacking the newbies... Besides if Italian High Command had not been so stubborn and rebuffed Rommel's battle plans, and had Arnim not been a meek piece of shit and given the forces of 5th Panzer Army to Rommel when he needed them, the war in North Africa might have turned out differently...
Dont forget the 132nd Ariete Armored Division, they fought to the last holding the line and managed to stop the British 7th Armor in its tracks....
@John Smith The only thing you won in this war was humiliation.
John Smith actually a lot of the Italian soldiers were brand new had barely any training and crap equipment
You are being very successful indeed with your channel, Lloyd. Don’t change your approach. Love listening to you. All history lovers will love how you present your content. Oh and also your humorous interjections, excellent...... I hope RUclips pays you your worth as well.
These are awesome history lessons. Keep it up and keep going to that 1M subscriber mark!
I love this guy. I like to turn the speed down to .75 or .5 and pretend we are at a bar and Lindy is hammered drunk just telling stories. I turn it down to .5 when he gets really smashed.
Thanks for that. I'm on a bit of a solo expedition at the moment and I'm missing late night whisky conversations. Problem solved.
“So he’s got 100,000 men sitting on a beach doing nothing”. Sounds like the set up to a joke.
This was my introduction to The Mad Professor - quite a performance, to say nothing of the information conveyed - all new to me. Well done.
You are definitely one of (if not THE) most entertaining "Historical RUclipsr" I have seen, so keep up the good work.
I love this video. You have arguably the best narration of any content maker on RUclips which means you can tell a vivid story with just words. I don't know if Jackanory is still a thing but you were born for it...
As it's a long video I'd suggest taking a break between stories because while you were on fire at the start the flow of your storytelling stuttered somewhat towards the end, perhaps because you were talking for half an hour?!
It would also be useful to include timestamps in the comments indicating when each story begins which would make it easier to follow when "on the go". (I sometimes listen on my work commute).
Something like this:
0:10 A Stealthy Get Away
8:03 Fooled by Bertram
26:26 Dudley's Dastardly Deceptive Disaster
Just a suggestion.
Love your channel.
Although smaller in scale,i've seen a documentary where the british camouflaged the entire city of Alexandria in Egypt from the luftwaffe,using mirrors in the Nile..? something like that
Deception plan within a deception plan.
That's some real decepception.
Other countries love the dragon for its might and raw power. Some countries are fond of lion for its courage and strength. Still other countries prefer the eagle for its swift and majestic grace. But for the English goes the fox, which is why out of 183 countries, England has invaded 153 of them... and made a few out of thin freaking air.
Side note: writing I got to wondering if the tales of Rennard the Fox might be medieval French propaganda against the English. Considering the sheer amount of hatred between the two countries over the past 1,000 years or so.
Reminds me of a line from the Two Ronnies & Stephen Fry in 2000
R. Corbett: "I blame the Normans. I hate they French because they beat us in 1066."
SF: "I hate the French because they beat us in 1998."
R. Barker: "I just hate the French. I don't need a reason."
Thanks Lindy. Super interesting and I think one of your very best videos. I can't believe you can talk for so long without a cut and manage to get so much awesome info across with hardy a misses beat.
Lindybeige!!!! Do you know anything of what may have been called Zed Force from ww2? Thanks my friend hope to hear any knowledge from you. Keep up the good work
Haven't watched the entire video. let me guess the italians surrendered.
close enough :)
They ran away!
No no no, seniore! The Italians made a 'Strategic retreat'.
Very clever. Si?
And then surrendered in Eritrea anyway
Well, they don't have anything to fight the killer rabbit of England, what option did they have?
"Hm...Can't be done, you say? Hold my tea. There's a lad. I'll get this sorted, no messing."
Italian empire: you’re outnumbered!
Commonwealth: you’re outmatched!
50 Sikhs, 30 Gurkas, 25 Australians & 10 New Zealanders start a brawl in a bar (someone made a comment about someone's mother. Baa, Baa) ...
Took 500 Scotch MPs to calm them down & then they couldn't believe the NZ's won!
Next day the same 115 Commonwealth Soldiers go on a forced march to capture a town garrisoned by 2000 Eye-talian soldiers.
The Lieutenant in charge of the MPs says "Och aye. I pity those poor Eye-talians, they don't know what they're about to get."
I'd never heard that "Nothing to report" story, so cool!!
Listening to an excellent teacher like you is a true gift. Thank you Sir!
I suppose hiding a spoof, inside a joke, inside a tank dressed as a truck like that is how we ended up with Monty Python.
Did any British forces forget what they were supposed to be that day? Because the confusion must have been utterly crazy.
(Insert relevant and funny Monty Python quote here!)