Thank you. My grandfather was Petty Officer on MTB 08 based in Hong Kong. Captured by the Japanese when Hong Kong fell he spent the next four years as a Japanese POW ending up in Omuri camp near Yokohama Japan. He survived and returned to the UK in 1946.
Your Grandfather has my respects since I can begin to understand his experiences due to my own Uncle George's similar experience of being captured in Singapore
@@richardturner9317 Your Grandfather has my unending respect and gratitude. He must have been a right hard bastard to have survived in those Japanese camps, they were monsters.
God Bless Your Grand Father & Family Thank Him & You for Your Service & Remembering Him Proud of You All Even My Grandfather Served in The Medical Field for the British Army Stationed in Pakistan & North India He Escaped The Deployment & His Whole Unit From Bombay Was Sunk By A Japanese Submarine on Way To Malaysia He Appealed With The General & Got Stationed In North India
That’s an hysterical take on his work! And I completely agree. If I had a library and drank whiskey, I would drink great whiskey in my library while listening to Dr. Felton and feel like all was ordered and right in the world.
I lived in Stanley in HK for a few years in 70s. We were always told the allies surrendered in 1941 without a fight in the face of enemy invasion. I had no idea such a valiant and courageous fight was put up despite lack of men and resources. Mark, you mostly pronounced the place names right, which didn’t detract from the thrill of the masterful story telling! Nicely done, sir.
Such an amazing story, I have been a ww2 junkie for over 40 yrs and had never ever heard about the Triads helping the Japanese or the British, fascinating stuff, WOW. Thank you for the wonderful content Mark, really appreciated.
As a child I remember the screaming of the next door neighbor having nightmares from his experiences of being a Japanese POW. The next day he, and his family got up, and carried on with their lives, not willing to be beaten by the past. Puts the lock down into perspective.
Please, do not insult the memory of your neighbor by minimizing the trauma he carried caused by the horrors he was forced to live by comparing him to a bunch of selfish ignoramuses crying about their bars and haircuts. Sounds like you are the latter, having difficulty complying with common sense for the good of the public at large. Sure there have been changes and adjustments to lifestyles. But sacrifices.. ? none whatsoever, it's all a matter of state of mind, if you have an enlightened mind to begin with Intelligent people don't require the company of others as they are comfortable with who they are and smart enough to occupy their mind and time on their own. As far as your neighbors... how do you know how they coped with their past - behind closed doors and out of sight and in the quite of the dark night. It's mighty ballsy of you to make a judgment of others of which you have no right to. It's clear you have no idea of the permanance of post trauma syndrome
Tommy Petraglia the comment can be read to mean the total opposite to what you took it to be. I saw your post and wondered what the hell you were talking about as I read it as critical of the current situation when compared to past sacrifices. Language can be strange and what you take away from a piece of text can be coloured by experience and expectations. BTW my late grandfather was a POW on the Burma railway and an uncle died in Singapore so I have by own bias when reading something about the war in the East
@@kylemalcomson5646 Ah yes, the awful impact of Japanese "culture" and "civilization". How dare the allies destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons.
@@tommypetraglia4688 He hasn't minimised the trauma of his neighbours. In fact by saying that it puts current sufferings into perspective he is saying his neighbours traumas were greater.
Tommy Petraglia - He used a colloquial turn of phrase from conversational English which may have caused you to miss the point of his post. It makes the lockdown completely (even ridiculously) insignificant by comparison and therefore “puts it in perspective.” The phrase does not actually mean that there is a valid comparison - quite the opposite. I think if the two of you talked about it you might actually see you are in agreement.
RUclips below the top few hundred channels has a wealth of interest. If you start with this channel, then go with the flow. I like the ace Destroyer (tactical WW2 videos), Historigraph (animated maps of key battles), and Drachinifel (Naval warfare and tech from the age of Sail until WW2). Just a selection. I have 300+ channels subbed now.
I really enjoy learning about the history of events in Hong Kong during ww2 because my family is from there. Getting to know its history really is amazing, even if it's a small snapshot in time. It's one of those battles that are mostly unknown if you are not from that area or from the countries that had troops there.
My father was there. I have pictures. My dad was the helmsman on the HMCS Prince Robert. They were part of a convoy of ships and troops, in which the Prince Robert once finished with it's escort headed south to the Phillipines, for food. Then on to Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Unbeknownst to the captain and crew, the Prince Robert was only one day sailing ahead of the Japanese fleet also heading to Pearl Harbour. The Prince Robert left one day before the invasion heading back to Esquilmalt base on Vancouver Island.
@If it ain't woke, Don't fix it Not really. PLENTY of people graduate from the same high schools, that some learn almost nothing from, very well educated. The Asians do especially awesome in those same schools, MUCH better on average than other races. It's literally impossible for a school to customize literally everything for every single student. The fact is, most parents don't spend nearly as much time as they should working with their kids, and don't even try to instill a love of learning.
@If it ain't woke, Don't fix it I took typing in high school ONLY because the teacher was young and pretty. She broke my heart by getting married at Christmas and I squeaked through with a D- grade. I did, however, learn to touch type and what a gift from God that was because I then went into computer programming and the typing was a tremendous benefit! So, the teacher inadvertently found a way to engage with me ...
Sir Mark Can’t wait for next episode. They take me away from what is going on in the US for a little while. Can’t thank you enough for your stories. 🇺🇸🇬🇧
I had an Uncle on one of the escaping MTB's: Fred Quixall. He escaped with the Admiral and finally got away through Burma. There is a great book Escape from Hong Kong written by Tim Luard about the escape with Admiral Chan Chak. Great series Mark: thank you.
Thank you for reigniting my passion for history with your channel. As my eyesight fades, listening to your stories certainly makes up for what is difficult to read. You have unwittingly given this fan an uplifting distraction in these dark times. I am grateful. Warm regards to you and yours from Philadelphia. Cheers.
I remember when I first watched some of your videos and assumed you were just a robot voice. Turns out you just have clear, precise and professional diction. Great video as usual Mark. Cheers for all your good work.
My father was in Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded during World War II and now that he’s passed on I very really get to hear any stories about Hong Kong other than what’s happening in the media right now it’s very interesting to hear that World War II history of the fall and surrender once again thank you
The Thumbnail of this video instantly reminds me of "McHale's Navy." Loved watching Earnest Borgnine and Tim Conway cruise around on the PT 73. One of the Best TV shows as a kid. Also Gomer Pyle and Hogan's Heroes were also Great Military type shows during my childhood. Another Awesome video Mark Felton. Thank you.
Last night I was watching Top Tens on The Military Channel, and who should appear but Dr. Mark Felton himself. Cheers for the video Dr. Felton and to the appearance on the telly. 👍
@@JoshSees it was Top Tens of Warfare, (2016), episode 4, "Vessels", (only one season). I believe. Granted, I was outside for part of the episode trying to fix a bloody car. But, Dr. Felton did grace the T.V. screen, before I had to go back outside. Now I'm gonna have to try to watch that series on "American Heroes Channel", whenever I get the chance.
I never knew the British had MTs, they had beautiful lines like the US PT boats. Dr Mark you are a fantastic narrator and a great wealth of war history. Subscribed.
Actually early US boats were of a modified British design. There was a pre war design competition of several boats. PT-9, a 70 ft. Design by H. Scott-Paine won. This was then made into the 77ft Elco boats.
OH MY GOD MARK!!!! You made another video about Hong Kong?! Im so proud right now lol. Thanks for bringing this piece of largely unknown history to life. I hope Hong Kong would make it onto your main channel one day!
In the US we don't hear as much about the British war in the Far East, relatively speaking. A few paragraphs here and there, a bunch of dusty Life Magazine history books on my dad's shelf that didn't get as much use as they should've, and, when I was growing up in the 80s, a few decent old war movies from the 60s that would play on syndication channels at night. WWII is just so vast and complex. Your channels are great. I learn more in 20 minutes here than I ever did watching awful TV shows.
wargent99 There seems to be a gap in your knowledge. Between 1931 when Japan embarked on its expansionist plans and up until the Anglo/US /Canada atomic bomb was dropped on Japan the largest defeats suffered by the Japanese were at the hands of the British at Kohima and Imphal resulting in the Japanese being completely driven out of Burma.
@wargent99 Who told you that? The tentacles of the Japanese Empire and its occupying forces stretched way beyond the Pacific theatre. To Britain it was about defending India, to the Chinese it was about the Burma Road and other routes being kept open for its supplies and to the people of Burma it was the main battle front for driving the Japanese out of its country. It was the largest defeat inflicted upon the Japanese up until the allied atomic bombs brought them to their knees. The narrow front in the Pacific which was of US and Australian focus was about liberating a range of small insignificant occupied islands in preparation for an eventual invasion of Japan by US, British and its Empire and Commonwealth forces that would have been deployed after a successful outcome from the European theatres. The problem with the Hollywood movie machine is that by elevating the battles in the Pacific beyond their scale and importance tends to encourage some Americans to take a very insular view on their contribution to defeating the Japanese.
@wargent99 No one has laid claim that the defeat of the Japanese in Burma was significant to winning the war. The significance it did have was in turning back Japan's expansionist aims spreading into India and in providing the Japanese with its biggest campaign defeat thus far coming as it did pretty close to the final capitulation in 1945. No one has trashed the American campaigns in the Pacific other than putting some perspective on its achievements. The victory over the Japanese came about because of the allies having two atomic bombs dropping on two of Its cities rendering the need for an invasion unnecessary . The finality of the Japanese surrender was decided on that action alone and the American island hopping campaign was but on the periphery of all that.
@wargent99 Strange that you have forgotten the Australians and the fact that they got the FIRST VICTORY OVER THE JAPANESE ON LAND NOT THE US OR CHINESE OR RUSSIANS. This was the battle of Milne Bay look it up in 1942. No thanks to the US General MacArthur though, they nearly lost it thanks to him and his continual interfering into the battle. Then he complained that it wasn't a total victory when he stopped the Aussies and allowed the Japanese to retreat. There are a number of good books out now written by Aussie authors that explain this better, maybe its something Mark should look into.
Dr. Felton, I would love to learn more about the Indian Army's involvement in WWII You've done a great job covering the history of Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia, USA, Japan, Canada and China in WWII and I would love to learn more about the involvement of other nations - particularly India Thanks again - keep up the great work 👍👍
THANK YOU to all of my History Heroes who have continued to bring us educational, entertaining and interesting snippets of History on RUclips during this history-making year of 2020. Each week you have provided a very welcome distraction from the ordeals the world has been going through this year. Keep up the good work !!
What a fascinating set of stories. The combat, and intrigue, and the drama of it! Think of all the crappy “remakes” and “reboots” that come out of Hollywood while there are untold stories like these to be translated into film. It’s shameful really.
Excellent presentation Mark. The way which 2nd line generals set up static defensive lines without having any ability to assess and reform seemed common in the SE Asian theatre. On the Jitra Gurun line in Malaysia the errors constantly made destroyed the ability of a numerically superior army to defend and take the offensive. In Hong Kong the 'Gin Drinkers Line' seems akin to this way of thinking with only a platoon holding an imperative position without strong support against two regiments of Japanese forces. Indians who think of Indian Army units in the allied armies are mistaken. They often fought with great heroism taking the hard option rather than the easy surrender in the face of the enemy.
As per usual excellent audio documentary, concise, clear & bloody exciting stuff & the right toned voice to boot!! I want more of this type of kool stuff!!
It would be amazing if you were to narrate a docco on WW2 for TV. Just listening to your voice makes you think..."This guy knows what he's talking about". I would watch it. More than once I would think. Getting together with TIK and doing a series would be AWESOME too.
I think that one of those insect class gunboats found itself trapped deep inside China. It was eventually trashed and abandoned by its crew. But curiously, it was found by a small unit of British commandos who had been despatched from Burma to aid Chinese forces. There was an interesting escape from the Dutch East Indies by some British airmen on a Dutch aircraft to Australia. I recall that they used a sixpence for a screwdriver during the repair process.
Thank you for covering this great story! My cousin was Lt. Kennedy, Commander of MTB 09. He wrote a book about his experiences titled Hong Kong Full Circle, 1939-1945. Probably quite hard to find as only 500 copies were ever printed. Perhaps you'll cover the part of the exodus in episode 2 where he threw an impromptu Robbie Burns party in the middle of nowhere China!
One of those that escaped Hong Kong at this time was Chinese American pilot Arthur Tien Chin of Portland, Oregon. He was recovering from burns suffered when his fighter aircraft caught fire during a dog fight. Chin had 8.5 aerial victories against the Japanese. He was one of less than a dozen American and Canadian Chinese pilots that flew for the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. Before the Germans supported the Japanese he received advanced fighter training in Germany. The burns stopped his fighter career but he returned with CAMCO flying C46’s over the hump. After the war he returned home to become a postal carrier with a Post Office now named after him.
Mine would’ve only been called the “beer drinkers line”. I can’t handle Gin. I like making jokes but the situation those troops and the people of Hong Kong were in wasn’t funny at all and i’m not making light of that. Huge respect for the Allied troops and people. I think at times people forget about the fact the Chinese were or Allies as well. Both sides of the political divide even.
My friend (now aged 94) escaped in one of if these from Singapore with her mother. Her elder brother and dad went into POW camps and had a terrible time. She was lucky.
I cannot imagine the omnipresent fear & notion of impending terror that very likely awaited the citizens of a soon to be overran island nation etc. during this most deadly & violent era in our human history. To fathom having to experience that today, is unfathomable! Hats off to every single soldier of every single nation, and every single individual who had a hand in defeating that evil! No matter how big or how small.
Kind of heartbreaking to hear about the one force surrendering to the Japanese at the end there-purely because we know what torturous future awaited them in Japanese captivity.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you. My grandfather was Petty Officer on MTB 08 based in Hong Kong. Captured by the Japanese when Hong Kong fell he spent the next four years as a Japanese POW ending up in Omuri camp near Yokohama Japan. He survived and returned to the UK in 1946.
Thanks for your grandfather's service in Hong Kong, salute
Your Grandfather has my respects since I can begin to understand his experiences due to my own Uncle George's similar experience of being captured in Singapore
@@richardturner9317 Your Grandfather has my unending respect and gratitude. He must have been a right hard bastard to have survived in those Japanese camps, they were monsters.
God Bless him.
God Bless Your Grand Father & Family Thank Him & You for Your Service & Remembering Him Proud of You All Even My Grandfather Served in The Medical Field for the British Army Stationed in Pakistan & North India He Escaped The Deployment & His Whole Unit From Bombay Was Sunk By A Japanese Submarine on Way To Malaysia He Appealed With The General & Got Stationed In North India
Listening to Mark Felton’s war stories paradoxically brings order and structure, much like a great whisky in a library.
The man's a legend, I'm not aware of a posting of his i've missed. Thanks Mark.
Very well put sir ..........cheers🥂🥂🥂
Indeed.
That’s an hysterical take on his work! And I completely agree. If I had a library and drank whiskey, I would drink great whiskey in my library while listening to Dr. Felton and feel like all was ordered and right in the world.
Very well said.
As a proud Hong Konger, thank you Dr. Felton for bringing this forgotten part of history to light
I lived in Stanley in HK for a few years in 70s. We were always told the allies surrendered in 1941 without a fight in the face of enemy invasion. I had no idea such a valiant and courageous fight was put up despite lack of men and resources. Mark, you mostly pronounced the place names right, which didn’t detract from the thrill of the masterful story telling! Nicely done, sir.
Such an amazing story, I have been a ww2 junkie for over 40 yrs and had never ever heard about the Triads helping the Japanese or the British, fascinating stuff, WOW. Thank you for the wonderful content Mark, really appreciated.
Mark Feltons voice and knowledge is always the best way to relax after a long day of work
The Fall of Hong Kong kind of gets forgotten with events at Wake Island, Bataan, Singapore and Pearl Harbor. They deserve to be Recognized.
The date of 08/12/41 means also over shadowed by Pearl Harbor
@@archstanton6102 I said that already.
@@WALTERBROADDUS Sorry, for some reason my brain read the 1st three and ignored PH in your comment
The great mariana island battle never got recognition
@@norms3913 Actually those battles are well documented.
As a child I remember the screaming of the next door neighbor having nightmares from his experiences of being a Japanese POW.
The next day he, and his family got up, and carried on with their lives, not willing to be beaten by the past.
Puts the lock down into perspective.
Please, do not insult the memory of your neighbor by minimizing the trauma he carried caused by the horrors he was forced to live by comparing him to a bunch of selfish ignoramuses crying about their bars and haircuts.
Sounds like you are the latter, having difficulty complying with common sense for the good of the public at large.
Sure there have been changes and adjustments to lifestyles. But sacrifices.. ? none whatsoever, it's all a matter of state of mind, if you have an enlightened mind to begin with
Intelligent people don't require the company of others as they are comfortable with who they are and smart enough to occupy their mind and time on their own.
As far as your neighbors... how do you know how they coped with their past - behind closed doors and out of sight and in the quite of the dark night.
It's mighty ballsy of you to make a judgment of others of which you have no right to.
It's clear you have no idea of the permanance of post trauma syndrome
Tommy Petraglia the comment can be read to mean the total opposite to what you took it to be. I saw your post and wondered what the hell you were talking about as I read it as critical of the current situation when compared to past sacrifices. Language can be strange and what you take away from a piece of text can be coloured by experience and expectations. BTW my late grandfather was a POW on the Burma railway and an uncle died in Singapore so I have by own bias when reading something about the war in the East
@@kylemalcomson5646 Ah yes, the awful impact of Japanese "culture" and "civilization". How dare the allies destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons.
@@tommypetraglia4688 He hasn't minimised the trauma of his neighbours. In fact by saying that it puts current sufferings into perspective he is saying his neighbours traumas were greater.
Tommy Petraglia - He used a colloquial turn of phrase from conversational English which may have caused you to miss the point of his post. It makes the lockdown completely (even ridiculously) insignificant by comparison and therefore “puts it in perspective.” The phrase does not actually mean that there is a valid comparison - quite the opposite. I think if the two of you talked about it you might actually see you are in agreement.
Mark Felton could read a laundry list and have you sitting on the end of your seat. Well done Mr Felton!
This is what the history channel used to be and should be, before they went down the road of reality TV
RUclips below the top few hundred channels has a wealth of interest. If you start with this channel, then go with the flow. I like the ace Destroyer (tactical WW2 videos), Historigraph (animated maps of key battles), and Drachinifel (Naval warfare and tech from the age of Sail until WW2). Just a selection. I have 300+ channels subbed now.
I really enjoy learning about the history of events in Hong Kong during ww2 because my family is from there. Getting to know its history really is amazing, even if it's a small snapshot in time. It's one of those battles that are mostly unknown if you are not from that area or from the countries that had troops there.
My father was there. I have pictures.
My dad was the helmsman on the HMCS Prince Robert. They were part of a convoy of ships and troops, in which the Prince Robert once finished with it's escort headed south to the Phillipines, for food. Then on to Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Unbeknownst to the captain and crew, the Prince Robert was only one day sailing ahead of the Japanese fleet also heading to Pearl Harbour. The Prince Robert left one day before the invasion heading back to Esquilmalt base on Vancouver Island.
The history you never really hear about, but love to hear. Brilliant as always
"Acting Petty Officer" commanding a boat doing a crap-ton of damage to an invading force should be the headline of this segment.
When history called he answered the phone!
They knew their duty all right.
I lerned more from mark than my entire high school history class
Agreed.
Who's fault was that?
Lerned????
@If it ain't woke, Don't fix it
Not really.
PLENTY of people graduate from the same high schools, that some learn almost nothing from, very well educated.
The Asians do especially awesome in those same schools, MUCH better on average than other races.
It's literally impossible for a school to customize literally everything for every single student.
The fact is, most parents don't spend nearly as much time as they should working with their kids, and don't even try to instill a love of learning.
@If it ain't woke, Don't fix it I took typing in high school ONLY because the teacher was young and pretty. She broke my heart by getting married at Christmas and I squeaked through with a D- grade.
I did, however, learn to touch type and what a gift from God that was because I then went into computer programming and the typing was a tremendous benefit!
So, the teacher inadvertently found a way to engage with me ...
Just back from school, feels great to listen to Mark’s voice!
Future leader hopefully 👍🏻
Sir Mark
Can’t wait for next episode. They take me away from what is going on in the US for a little while. Can’t thank you enough for your stories. 🇺🇸🇬🇧
I had an Uncle on one of the escaping MTB's: Fred Quixall. He escaped with the Admiral and finally got away through Burma. There is a great book Escape from Hong Kong written by Tim Luard about the escape with Admiral Chan Chak. Great series Mark: thank you.
Hong Kong defense went surprisingly well considering the terrain and what little troops they had.
Thank you for reigniting my passion for history with your channel. As my eyesight fades, listening to your stories certainly makes up for what is difficult to read. You have unwittingly given this fan an uplifting distraction in these dark times. I am grateful. Warm regards to you and yours from Philadelphia. Cheers.
I remember when I first watched some of your videos and assumed you were just a robot voice. Turns out you just have clear, precise and professional diction.
Great video as usual Mark. Cheers for all your good work.
My father was in Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded during World War II and now that he’s passed on I very really get to hear any stories about Hong Kong other than what’s happening in the media right now it’s very interesting to hear that World War II history of the fall and surrender once again thank you
The Thumbnail of this video instantly reminds me of "McHale's Navy." Loved watching Earnest Borgnine and Tim Conway cruise around on the PT 73. One of the Best TV shows as a kid. Also Gomer Pyle and Hogan's Heroes were also Great Military type shows during my childhood. Another Awesome video Mark Felton. Thank you.
Listening to this before going to sleep
Thanks Marc, your a international treasure
I love eating lunch in my office with Mark Felton. Thanks Mr. Felton!
I really enjoy leaving my work center for lunch, sitting down to eat, and listening to these stories!
I am physically unable to think of any event in WWII that _hasn't_ been covered by Mr. Felton.
Op orator. RAAF and RAF operating in nw Russia
New Guinea specifically US Marines action including killing the Emperor's nephew.
Got a feeling he's got a lot more to come....... Love my bed time stories!
Z Special Unit's raids on Singapore
He'll do his damnedest to cover them all, I'm sure of that!
Again and again Dr Felton's War Stories illustrate the almost unimaginable complexity the Second World War.
War stories with Mark Felton? Now I know what’ll accompany my breakfast tomorrow.
Last night I was watching Top Tens on The Military Channel, and who should appear but Dr. Mark Felton himself. Cheers for the video Dr. Felton and to the appearance on the telly. 👍
Any link to that episode? Or season and episode info?
@@JoshSees it was Top Tens of Warfare, (2016), episode 4, "Vessels", (only one season). I believe. Granted, I was outside for part of the episode trying to fix a bloody car. But, Dr. Felton did grace the T.V. screen, before I had to go back outside. Now I'm gonna have to try to watch that series on "American Heroes Channel", whenever I get the chance.
Thanks 👍
@@JoshSees no problem Buddy.
@@JoshSees I believe that Dr. Felton is actually in every episode of Top Tens of Warfare. Just so you know.
I never knew the British had MTs, they had beautiful lines like the US PT boats. Dr Mark you are a fantastic narrator and a great wealth of war history. Subscribed.
Actually early US boats were of a modified British design. There was a pre war design competition of several boats. PT-9, a 70 ft. Design by H. Scott-Paine won. This was then made into the 77ft Elco boats.
The U.S. lend-leased PT's 49-58 to the U.K. and became BPT's, British Patrol Torpedo boats. These were 77-foot Elco boats.
OH MY GOD MARK!!!! You made another video about Hong Kong?! Im so proud right now lol. Thanks for bringing this piece of largely unknown history to life. I hope Hong Kong would make it onto your main channel one day!
Excellent storytelling and will have to wait for part two. Thanks heaps.
Best of War historian Mark
In the US we don't hear as much about the British war in the Far East, relatively speaking. A few paragraphs here and there, a bunch of dusty Life Magazine history books on my dad's shelf that didn't get as much use as they should've, and, when I was growing up in the 80s, a few decent old war movies from the 60s that would play on syndication channels at night. WWII is just so vast and complex. Your channels are great. I learn more in 20 minutes here than I ever did watching awful TV shows.
@wargent99 A Tennis court and Metal Flat tops aside.... politics!
wargent99 There seems to be a gap in your knowledge. Between 1931 when Japan embarked on its expansionist plans and up until the Anglo/US /Canada atomic bomb was dropped on Japan the largest defeats suffered by the Japanese were at the hands of the British at Kohima and Imphal resulting in the Japanese being completely driven out of Burma.
@wargent99 Who told you that? The tentacles of the Japanese Empire and its occupying forces stretched way beyond the Pacific theatre. To Britain it was about defending India, to the Chinese it was about the Burma Road and other routes being kept open for its supplies and to the people of Burma it was the main battle front for driving the Japanese out of its country. It was the largest defeat inflicted upon the Japanese up until the allied atomic bombs brought them to their knees. The narrow front in the Pacific which was of US and Australian focus was about liberating a range of small insignificant occupied islands in preparation for an eventual invasion of Japan by US, British and its Empire and Commonwealth forces that would have been deployed after a successful outcome from the European theatres. The problem with the Hollywood movie machine is that by elevating the battles in the Pacific beyond their scale and importance tends to encourage some Americans to take a very insular view on their contribution to defeating the Japanese.
@wargent99 No one has laid claim that the defeat of the Japanese in Burma was significant to winning the war. The significance it did have was in turning back Japan's expansionist aims spreading into India and in providing the Japanese with its biggest campaign defeat thus far coming as it did pretty close to the final capitulation in 1945. No one has trashed the American campaigns in the Pacific other than putting some perspective on its achievements. The victory over the Japanese came about because of the allies having two atomic bombs dropping on two of Its cities rendering the need for an invasion unnecessary . The finality of the Japanese surrender was decided on that action alone and the American island hopping campaign was but on the periphery of all that.
@wargent99 Strange that you have forgotten the Australians and the fact that they got the FIRST VICTORY OVER THE JAPANESE ON LAND NOT THE US OR CHINESE OR RUSSIANS. This was the battle of Milne Bay look it up in 1942. No thanks to the US General MacArthur though, they nearly lost it thanks to him and his continual interfering into the battle. Then he complained that it wasn't a total victory when he stopped the Aussies and allowed the Japanese to retreat. There are a number of good books out now written by Aussie authors that explain this better, maybe its something Mark should look into.
greeting from Hong Kong
Great work! I'm sharing it to RN ex-servicemen groups from HK
The battle for texel, the Georgian uprising might be worth a video like this.
Never is there a moment when I won’t listen and pay attention to a Dr. Mark Felton production. 🤘🏼
Mark this is great! Thank you so much!
Another top notch work Dr Felton.
Dr. Felton, I would love to learn more about the Indian Army's involvement in WWII
You've done a great job covering the history of Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia, USA, Japan, Canada and China in WWII and I would love to learn more about the involvement of other nations - particularly India
Thanks again - keep up the great work 👍👍
India's contribution was magnificent, but relied primarily on the land forces. Perhaps not the most relevant topic for a naval commentator.
This would be an excellent subject for many videos.
Hi Mark! Thank you for another super video!
What valor!!!! Japanese disgraced themselves forever there by their atrocities.
Harsh but fair.
Japanese: honor
Also Japanese: Do disgraceful thing
yes, they claim false honor.
Thanks for these audio only uploads. I can drive to work and listen this way
This is not a Historian, no no no. This is THE HISTORIAN!
Yeah you'd be so right there for absolute sure!!! Mark Felton is "THE HISTORIAN" No body does it better!!!
THANK YOU to all of my History Heroes who have continued to bring us educational, entertaining and interesting snippets of History on RUclips during this history-making year of 2020. Each week you have provided a very welcome distraction from the ordeals the world has been going through this year. Keep up the good work !!
War is hell , war stories with Mark Felton is heaven!
Love these stories. Listen to them over lunch. Thank you!
Time for my overdose of mark felton ... happy days 😁😁😁
Sadly Chan Chak would die during the final weeks in the chinese civil war
An amazing little known war story! Waiting with great anticipation for part 2!!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍
Listening to this is the best way to spend my break. Thanks for the, as always, excellent video.
Motor torpedo boat escape from boredom with this exciting and informative Mark Felton video!!!
Mark you are the man in terms of History these days. Thank you
They made those boats do some much beyond their designed function great story as always mr Felton
I'm going to have to listen to this post after work tomorrow and I hate not having time for these excellent stories.
Thanks Mark
What a fascinating set of stories. The combat, and intrigue, and the drama of it! Think of all the crappy “remakes” and “reboots” that come out of Hollywood while there are untold stories like these to be translated into film. It’s shameful really.
Thank you for telling of their bravery in that moment. Even with more troops, HK would have fallen since they were in Japan's back yard.
Would love to see the PT boats used in the Philippines in 1941 and 42
Excellent presentation Mark. The way which 2nd line generals set up static defensive lines without having any ability to assess and reform seemed common in the SE Asian theatre. On the Jitra Gurun line in Malaysia the errors constantly made destroyed the ability of a numerically superior army to defend and take the offensive. In Hong Kong the 'Gin Drinkers Line' seems akin to this way of thinking with only a platoon holding an imperative position without strong support against two regiments of Japanese forces. Indians who think of Indian Army units in the allied armies are mistaken. They often fought with great heroism taking the hard option rather than the easy surrender in the face of the enemy.
As per usual excellent audio documentary, concise, clear & bloody exciting stuff & the right toned voice to boot!! I want more of this type of kool stuff!!
Excellent presentation of historical facts!
Great content as always, thank you.
Can't wait for episode 2!!!!
It would be amazing if you were to narrate a docco on WW2 for TV. Just listening to your voice makes you think..."This guy knows what he's talking about". I would watch it. More than once I would think. Getting together with TIK and doing a series would be AWESOME too.
Looking forward to the rest of the story thanks for sharing
staying tuned, doctor!
Auto thumbs up for any of Marks videos before they start
yeees 22 more min of pure joy! that intro tune gets my hyped
Awesome Job Mark,love your channel,researched very well.......
Whoa! A cliffhanger! Love this channel!!
I think that one of those insect class gunboats found itself trapped deep inside China. It was eventually trashed and abandoned by its crew. But curiously, it was found by a small unit of British commandos who had been despatched from Burma to aid Chinese forces.
There was an interesting escape from the Dutch East Indies by some British airmen on a Dutch aircraft to Australia. I recall that they used a sixpence for a screwdriver during the repair process.
Excellent very well done as usual.
John
Thanks Mark, another great video.
Best thing on U TUBE OUTSTANDING.
Thank you for this series, Mark. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest. I'm a grandson of Leslie Gurd of MTB09.
Thank you for covering this great story! My cousin was Lt. Kennedy, Commander of MTB 09. He wrote a book about his experiences titled Hong Kong Full Circle, 1939-1945. Probably quite hard to find as only 500 copies were ever printed. Perhaps you'll cover the part of the exodus in episode 2 where he threw an impromptu Robbie Burns party in the middle of nowhere China!
No relation to John F. Kennedy who commanded PT 109, an 80-foot Elco. Kennedy would, of course, became the 43rd President of the United States.
❤️❤️❤️We all love Mark Felton❤️❤️❤️
What a cliff hanger! Thank you.
One of those that escaped Hong Kong at this time was Chinese American pilot Arthur Tien Chin of Portland, Oregon. He was recovering from burns suffered when his fighter aircraft caught fire during a dog fight. Chin had 8.5 aerial victories against the Japanese. He was one of less than a dozen American and Canadian Chinese pilots that flew for the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. Before the Germans supported the Japanese he received advanced fighter training in Germany. The burns stopped his fighter career but he returned with CAMCO flying C46’s over the hump. After the war he returned home to become a postal carrier with a Post Office now named after him.
Mark, you should see about getting a motion picture deal for this story. Riveting!
Mine would’ve only been called the “beer drinkers line”. I can’t handle Gin.
I like making jokes but the situation those troops and the people of Hong Kong were in wasn’t funny at all and i’m not making light of that. Huge respect for the Allied troops and people. I think at times people forget about the fact the Chinese were or Allies as well. Both sides of the political divide even.
Whisky Line for me
Gin is the purest of all distilled liquors and the least harmful to your organs
I simply can’t get enough!
My friend (now aged 94) escaped in one of if these from Singapore with her mother. Her elder brother and dad went into POW camps and had a terrible time. She was lucky.
As a war thunder naval PT/MTB farmer I approve this message
I've now watched so much of Mark's content I'm waiting for my MacBook to play the intro music when I turn it on!
I cannot imagine the omnipresent fear & notion of impending terror that very likely awaited the citizens of a soon to be overran island nation etc. during this most deadly & violent era in our human history.
To fathom having to experience that today, is unfathomable!
Hats off to every single soldier of every single nation, and every single individual who had a hand in defeating that evil!
No matter how big or how small.
Triads and SOE working together would make a great movie.
Nothing better than a new War Stories with Mark Felton after a day of work and dealing with wankers.
Plenty of those here in the comments talking about "PT boats", unfortunately...
Love the new intro
Ahh Mark and Crown Royal neat.
Epic, as usual. Thank you
we missed you Mark
loved this one . Well done
Its great to get this kind of detail
Nice start with mark.. Now we know a face by the legend
And he's a handsome guy too. More Dr. Felton!
Fantastic video. Very ironic that 80 years on the same thing is happening in Hong Kong, albeit from the tyrannical authority.
Hurry up and do the next one, Mark!
Kind of heartbreaking to hear about the one force surrendering to the Japanese at the end there-purely because we know what torturous future awaited them in Japanese captivity.