Remember that each time supplies such a food can't reach a military, it often means the same is the case for the civilian population in the area - if not even worse. While the frontlines in this war are often determined by soldiers, it is overwhelmingly being experienced by civilians. In War Against Humanity we discuss the crimes and suffering inflicted upon the human kind during the war. Which you can watch here: ruclips.net/video/EMmT0LjXPas/видео.html Rules: community.timeghost.tv/t/forum-rules-and-guidelines/5
Thanks for the reminder that I need to catch up on the last WAH. During the premier, I was thinking about the noncombatants in Stalingrad. Last thing I remembered was they were forbidden by the Soviets from leaving, which is so awful I can't really comprehend it. Going to watch WAH to see if you talk about them. I normally try and watch that the same day it airs for the algorithm.
Not to excuse the Germans but the same goes for POWs. If they can't feed their own people I'm not suprised they didn't feed the POWs. The Russian's and Chinese did the samething to their own citizens and that was during peace time.
I think it's worth noting the Battle of Skerki Bank (the fourth Italian convoy to Bizerte) was not merely freighters, but consisted of two troopships that were sunk with a loss of over 1,500 lives. Likewise a destroyer, Folgore, was sunk trying to defend the convoy
It surprises me just how quickly the war has gotten away from the Axis. In November alone, there are big loses in Africa, 6th army is surrounded and Guadalcanal/papua new guinea is slowly being lost by the Japanese. On most fronts, they have lost the initiative and or on the run. It looks like the beginning of the end for the axis
What's crazy was the axis was winning forever... Until they weren't and then the allies were winning forever. Couple of hiccups along the way but you could tell how the winds were changing
@@patwiggins6969 What happened was in all three theaters they were stretching their logistical capabilities to the breaking point. When those capabilities break everything turns quickly
@@mjbull5156 Agreed, the Axis was only going to be successful as long as their tremendous gamble kept paying off-- but you can only double down so many times in a row before the law of averages comes for you :)
Some interesting personal stories from my family that are tied to this episode: 1) My uncle's father (who sadly passed away from cancer some months ago), served as a medic of the Italian Regia Marina in North Africa. The Allies will sink the ship he was serving on and thus he'll be sent back to Italy. He'll serve until the armistice of September 8th, after which he'll desert and rejoin civilian life. 2) Because of the American bombs falling on Naples, my grandma's mother entered into labour earlier than she should have because of shock. My grandma thus was born just some days later the bombing raid Indie narrated in this episode
@@maxine2798 Indeed, I wouldn't be here if a bomb dropped some meters away from where it actually fell. But I think this applies to millions of Europeans
Still can’t believe I’ve been watching you for seven years Indie! Looking forward to at least three more years. Cheers from your old stomping grounds of Columbia, SC.
@@interestingengineering291 he’s stated that he’s not really looking to do wars before the cinema/film age. He said Korea or Vietnam is possible though
"In modern warfare" said German General Ritter Von Thoma (who was captured by British at Second Battle of Alamein) "the tactics are not the main thing. The decisive factor is the organisation of the one's resources to maintain the momentum"
Wasn't it Napoleon who said "amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics" And also sponsored the competition that led to canned foods being invented.
It's crazy how quickly we went from Rommel at El Alamein waiting for the big push, the tense situation in Stalingrad where it seemed we were literally hours from the Soviets capitulating for good (Indy is great in capturing the struggle in the fight for the city), the Japanese piling into Guadalcanal. In just a couple of weeks fortunes for the axis just did a complete U-turn which they were just never able to recover from. A massive retreat across North Africa, a seemingly unpredictable and nervous situation with the Sixth Army which had been on the brink of complete victory. I wonder what the feeling was in the Axis leadership at the time. Did they consider that defeat was now somewhat inevitable? Must have felt surreal to be a German soldier/Soviet soldier in Stalingrad watching your respective fortunes switch in a matter of days.
It kind of puts Hilters orders in context make alittle more sense than the traditional "Hitler was just a mad man" In North Africa Rommel had spent months if not a year getting as close as he got yet lost so much in a matter of weeks same goes for the disaster around Stalingrad. He and his generals couldn't believe it and I think were stunned which led to some really bad decisions being made. Though Rommel made the right call and broke off contact to save what was left of his army, Paulus would not attempt a breakout without orders to do so which would lead to the almost entire loss of his army, something the German army could never recover from.
@@MikeJones-qn1gz All three goes to the testament of what really was behind the smoke of those three ''huge and almost victorious'' situations. All hanging on a thin thread, the japanese throwing themselves at the slaughter, Rommel being held up by the Regio Esercito and his Oberkommando from the fall before finally throwing all away for good and the disaster waiting to happen at Stalingrad by the next soviet moves.
@@MikeJones-qn1gz That's the thing about arrogance, it's always a surprise when you lose. It was pure arrogance that got them into these situations. Turns out being a cartoon villain doesn't work in the real world.
@@patwiggins6969 The one thing I can think of that they could do to improve the maps is include a legend deep in one side's territory that explains what the symbols and sizes of each icon means. I have trouble keeping track of that, and have no idea what some distinctions mean. Like, for example, why are some German units white and others dark grey?
17:27 An interesting thing to note on December 1 1942 is that the *Beveridge Report* (named after economist William Beveridge) is published in the United Kingdom. This influential document would lay the foundation for the Welfare State in the UK after the war, such as the expansion of National Insurance and the creation of the National Health Service (NHS).
Was it a continuation of the realization in WWI that so much of the British population was rendered unfit for service from the conditions most of the population lived in?
@@pashvonderc381 Post war the UK nationalizes many industries and builds an extensive welfare state. Thuse the UK economy stagnates for 30 years until Thatcher provides a partial cure in the 80s. "English disease" is term coined in West Germany to describe the sorry state of the UK in the 1970s.
@@pashvonderc381 He's a hard core Libertarian. The kind that thinks that those born without wealth should work 100 hours a week for near zero pay, in conditions just this side of lethal. Or they starve.
@@mjbull5156 It's expanding and we don't know its size. It's likely a taurus. So you could move in one direction forever. But space itself isn't infinite.
Also this week, on November 28, a huge fire happens in Boston Massachusetts at a nightclub and kills over 400 people. This was one of the biggest fires in the city’s history and sparked a new wave of fire safety protocols
Japanese success in naval night fighting despite lacking radar was made possible by the low-tech solution of using Fujinon "Giant" 150mm binoculars, which are still being made, and which I have used for astronomy, and which are awesome. Basically, twin six-inch telescopes. Edit: Fuji Giants were used to discover Comet Hyakutake in 1996, one of only two naked-eye "Great Comets" of my lifetime. Hale-Bopp being the other.
Wright holds back fire, which means he shoots torpedoes too late, and has his line hold steady in speed and direction while torpedo attack is likely..and the cruisers bravely remain in line even while 2,3,4 of theur number are hit by torpedoes...
@@isilder Is maintaining the line not up to the captains? They are the idiots who should've figured that torpedoes might be on the way in the opposite direction too, right? And thus they should've at least slightly changed their speed and course...
@@patwiggins6969 No it doesn't. The Japanese developed their night doctrine YEARS before WW2. It was meant to whittle the US navy down as they were crossing the pacific. The Japanese ONLY could not fight them head-on due to the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited them to 3/5ths of the US fleet (not that their economy could've afforded more ships pre-war, btw) The Japanese were actually quite confident in their own air power. That only changed after Midway. The Guadalcanal campaign never was considered in Japanese planning, and had no influence on their night fighting capabilities. They used what they had, but they had gotten the idea, gear, and training necessary for VERY different reasons. All of this is explained in the videos by Drachinifel, which is the best naval history channel on RUclips, and without a doubt worth your time and attention :)
Delighted to hear the extensive readings from Richard Frank's book on Guadalcanal regarding the humiliation of Tassafaronga. Also, about the Chicago Pile: "It could be extremely beneficial for all mankind." "Or, we could just build Bombs with it." Have to feel for the grad student with the hatchet poised to shut down the Chicago Pile in an emergency.
He was called the scram man (cut the rope and SCRAM!). The word "scram" has been used ever since for the rapid shutting down of a nuclear reactor with the "scram switch"!
@@mjbull5156 Alot of the times, the researchers and scientists were ideology (reason) pure - and just wanted to build things - and never cared or dictated how it was used. But some DID know what they were building and why. Their thoughts was "if I don't build it, the enemy will". Werner Von Braun wanted to build space rockets, and he did ALLOW himself to be coerced and corrupted by the Nazis to use his ideas and research for his own selfish goals, and he DID know they were using slave labour to build them in WW2. (1 example I could think of). I have always believed that 1 year wartime research was equal to about 5 - 7 years peacetime research. Lack of red tape, military and political breathing down your neck and your own life on the line. However I may be wrong - and I welcome anyone to correct me if I am.
Both sides were beneficial. The weapons scared the Japanese into surrendering, saving millions of lives, and there are who knows how many nuclear power plants producing rather clean energy for homes and industry. Furthermore, it's possible that without nukes, we would have had a third world war.
Also on the 1st of December, HMAS Armidale was sunk in the Timor Sea. Not a huge ship, but as the japanese strafed the survivors, one of their crew decided to hop on the aa guns as it was sinking- VICTORIA CROSS FOR AUSTRALIA (VC)
Royal Australian Navy
The late Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ SHEEAN
For the most conspicuous gallantry and a pre-eminent act of valour in the presence of the enemy during a Japanese aerial attack on HMAS Armidale in the Timor Sea on 1 December 1942.
On 1 December 1942, during operations in the Timor Sea, HMAS Armidale came under aerial bombardment and torpedo attack from Japanese aircraft. Shortly after the commencement of the attack, Armidale was hit by a torpedo and began listing to port. One minute later the ship was hit by a second torpedo which broke the vessel's back, causing the Captain to order abandon ship.
Ordinary Seaman Sheean, one of the youngest and most junior ranked members of Armidale’s Ship's Company, made his way to the stowage position of the motor-boat and assisted in its launch. As the enemy continued to fire upon the ship and his shipmates who were already in the water, Ordinary Seaman Sheean decided to forgo his opportunity for survival by not abandoning ship and returning to his Action Station to man the aft Oerlikon gun, where he was the loader, not the gunner. Despite being wounded, he strapped himself into the gun and commenced firing at the enemy, damaging at least two enemy aircraft.
Ordinary Seaman Sheean's actions disrupted and distracted the enemy from strafing and killing his defenceless shipmates in the water. He sacrificed his life trying to save his shipmates and, despite his wounds, he continued firing the gun until the ship sank and took him to his death. His pre-eminent act of valour and most conspicuous gallantry saved Australian lives. His heroism became the standard to which the men and women of the Australian Defence Force aspire. note that this was finally awarded on 1 Dec 2020 after a lengthy campaign, so I almost didn't get to make this post
In 3 weeks I watched 170 episodes somehow in between work, kids, wife. But I did it none the less and today was my first time watching up to date! Going back to watch specials now while I wait for next week. Love the channel!
The Tassafaronga battle was a huge disappointing mess that Carleton Wright screwed up. Tanaka's force was spotted way early by Coastwatchers, giving the Allies lots of information to work off of and time to prepare for. Wright's force was vastly superior. At the start of the engagement, the USN Destroyer vanguard had outspotted the IJN force and was in prime position to surprise the Japanese with a torpedo attack. Cmdr Cole in USS Fletcher radioed Wright that he wanted to conduct the torpedo attack. Wright waited several minutes before replying to hold their attack and wait. There's other videos on this battle. Wright had the audacity to lie about the results of the battle, claiming 4 Japanese Destroyers were sunk and 2 more were damaged when in reality only 1 was sunk and the rest escaped scott free, while wrecking Wright's force. This asshole was even awarded the Navy Cross. Eventually the US Navy saw through the bull, Wright would lose his command and would never lead a force in battle ever again, and would be relegated to shore duty. Cmdr Cole's Destroyers being hamstrung by hesitant force commander and not being able to decisively deal with the Japanese at an opportune time would lead to standing orders for American DDs to immediately attack on contact with the Japanese, which would lead to eventual, better successes for US Navy Destroyers. Tassafaronga was a huge, HUGE shitshow for the American Navy. Earlier in fighting for Guadalcanal, the US Navy suffered very heavy Heavy Cruiser losses, to include HMAS Canberra. The Americans literally scraped together what Heavy Cruisers they could from around the theater and gave them to Wright to crush Tanaka's force. Wright came up with one of the worst possible results you can get. Tanaka's force was so overmatched, it's like watching a mouse kill a cat, yet that's exactly what happened at Tassafaronga. After this, Tanaka actually said to his superiors that Japan needs to evacuate Guadalcanal because the island is a pit of men, ships, aircraft that Japan cannot endure. He got relieved of command for this "defeatist" mentality. Tanaka at this point was one of the IJN's most experienced combat leaders against the Americans. IJN leadership would shitcan him to some desk job in BURMA for the rest of the war, never again leading ships and men into battle. This of course meant he survived the war, and the US Navy no longer had to deal with a savvy commander like Tanaka. Post-war assessments by the Americans heaped praise on Tanaka. He and his men did everything right considering how at a disadvantage they were against a vastly superior American force that was on the defense, ample warning, and had surprise on their side. This was one of the worst showings the US Navy would ever have in its history.
It's sad how often US commanders ignore warnings or information about the enemy and how to overcome it when it comes from other Allies. Carlton ignoring the Coastwatchers info is infuriating. He put brave sailors in more danger than he needed to. It reminds me of Omar Bradley ignoring British offers of Funnies to land with the troops at Omaha beach on D Day. Perhaps the US Army would have gotten off the beaches with less casualties if they had armour support that day.
It's amazing how years of post-war analysis produce a clearer picture than a couple of minutes in the heat of battle. If only the Americans could have put Admiral Hindsight in charge! He never gets anything wrong. And when he retires to civilian life he makes an excellent investment advisor since he knows what every stock is going to do.
I have been following this series for over a year. I continue to be fascinated by how it is so objective and of such quite high quality. Really like how independent this is and not tied to a particular countries version of history.
That phone call was a pretty good summation of my reaction to hearing how the first controlled nuclear reaction was done. Do it somewhere secluded and safe? Nah, just some basement in the middle of a large city.
It's okay they have emergency stop in use....which is a control rod tied into a rope, which one guy with an axe is going to drop into the reactor. Yep, that's what I call safe!
The episode about Reunion Island reminded me of the small Vichy France governed islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. For a while, they were islands of Nazi territory inside North America.
Seems like a good time to bring this up. It's not just the nuclear weapons themselves that are dangerous. The Manhattan Project had many mines, bases and labs involved, and they all produced enormous amounts of garbage. Sometimes there was extra stuff in the garbage. I heard about an old landfill site that is having a fire, and there could be a connection to the disposal of "hot" material there during the war.
That picture of an American dive bomber with the rudder missing at 5:15. - Did anyone notice? It’s brilliant. Indy Neidell does a lovely bit of Peter Sellers at 18:41. 😁
A small note about the fighting at Guadalcanal (may have spelled that wrong), from another youtuber (Drachnifil, though again my spelling may be off) and his coverage of tasafaronga: Americans didn't really consider the possibility that the japanese had better torpedoes than they did. It was a mix of arrogance as it wasn't like an Asian country could have better technology than the United States, of all nations, and it was also based on how terrible American torpedoes were in comparison. As such, they often labeled the cause of damage done by torpedoes as "Unexpected close quarters artillery" since to them, that made more sense. And on top of this, it should be noted that the US Admiral refused to take evasive maneuvers and sailed in a straight line, based on the idea that the US torpedoes on his destroyer line were out of range. He would have been correct...in World War 1, when US torpedoes were very short range. However he even failed to realize that his own destroyer force was ready to throw their torpedoes at the Japanese. As such, his actions led to a total failure of command. Drach always cites his sources in his videos if you want to fact check him: he does good coverage of Naval combat and technology from ironclad eras to WW2.
@@vksasdgaming9472 Yeah, but at this point the US still hadn't fixed their Mark 14 torpedoes and they were well known to perform poorly before the US even entered the war.
This is an awesome channel!! Thx so much for these nicely stylized, accurate, honest, not one-sided, and near perfect videos. One day I hope you are big enough to be in pop culture regularly. When that happens, a comedy sketch will feature extensive use of the city name, Veliki Luchy and neck ties. Awesome job team!! Keep it up.
My dad- 9th air force. B-26 pilot. He helped to sink many of those ships. He described it as- like shooting fish in a barrel. Learned how to skip bomb With 5oo pound bombs, 2 at a time!
10:40 If i am not mistaken these mountain troops are the same that landed in Narvik during the invasion of Norway, and held it against the allies. And then were wasted in the attack on Murmansk and the Murmansk railway.
_Steady comrades! Wait 'till they get close! товарищи! (Comrades!) For the Soviet Union, and for your glorious Motherland... Get ready!_ - Lieutenant Leonov This week on December 2 1942, the second mission of the 2005 video game *Call of Duty 2* , the *Demolition level* under *Private Vasili Ivanovich Koslov* begins at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. You will start out in the back room of a clothing store, and will need to push and clear out the enemies in the building before crossing over the next building across. With the help of fellow comrades, you must then withstand a German smokescreen counterattack before making a charge to the German HQ to plant charges in order to blow up the building. This level is noteworthy for the somewhat rare appearance of female Soviet soldiers.
@@МихаилЧерников-п2т Nah that would be the level in COD1 where you get no weapon and a handful of bullets and get dumped into Stalingrad (however historically inaccurate it is)
because of your coverage i was convinced to go on a holiday to the island of malta we’ve visited valletta twice now and been to some musea and it is awesome!
What a nightmare. A nightmare to be in Stalingrad when under attack by the Germans. And what a nightmare to be a German stuck and isolated in Stalingrad.
"We are on hunger rations and waiting for the rescue that the Fuehrer promised. I sent letters home but there is no reply."- Wilhelm Hoffman, December 3, 1942.
A fun fact the letters the germans sent home but received no reply is bc the top command saw the contents of the letter and deemed it too depressing for the nazi regime and destroyed the letters once they arrived plus they had a movie where they claimed the sixth army had all died for the heroic struggle to secure the city for the furher and had to destroy any trace of the sixth army troops being alive
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it before now but there’s a great book of diary entries around the battle of Stalingrad. It’s called Voices from Stalingrad by Jonathan Bastable.
Hi All, The weather today in Volgograd was 33 degrees F. and rainy, not terrible. I have compared North Dakota's weather to Volgograd's before, it was -13 degrees F. in Bottineau today. Thanks for your time, take care.
Sweet, looking forward to Reunion island content! Fights for Vichy's colonial empire, especially strategically important spots like Reunion are so underrated!
Seems like our phone friend in the US is excited. I have grand parents in Chicago, it's not relevant to the quality of the phone call but I figured I'd mention that. The phone call this week was expressive, bombastic and fantastic 👌
WW2 really was a war of two halves. First few years, nearly everything went the Axis way, even when it shouldn't have. October/November 1942 onwards, it was almost all Allies. They had finally stabilized the fronts, rebuilt & trained their armed forces, and secured their production & supply lines.
Yes, I agree with a comment below. You'll also need to do a mini-series of videos on the Manhattan Project. Can get the initial parts rolling as you go through the months of 1943 and 1944, then with the final parts in 1945 up to droppings, and then the aftermath. It'll get ugly after the bombings.
This is going to sound weird, but... I like the pastels but sort of wish there was even more colour? Imagine this tie with some red or orange in there... 3/5
I'm starving for more Time Ghost. Keep it up guys. Question: I know how important the Battle of the Atlantic was throughout the war and getting the info at the start of every month is really good, but please dont forget the valiant American Silent Service submarines in their shipping war against Japan. The US sank almost 4 million tons of Japanese shipping in the Battle of the Pacific. You guys need to talk about that. Im pretty sure you guys will.
The US submarine campaign in the Pacific was in fact the most successful submarine campaign in all of human history. US submarines were already doing a number on Japanese merchant shipping during this stage in the war, and that was while they were still saddled with terrible torpedoes. By war's end Japan's merchant fleet had been reduced to only 12% of it's prewar size, and the largest contributor to those shipping losses was US submarines, effectively incapacitating the Japanese economy. Fully one third of all Japanese warships lost during the war were also lost to US submarines, despite those submarines accounting for only a tiny fraction of all US Navy ships.
Nikita Khrushchev credited SPAM (the tinned meat from US) as being the single most important factor in winning the war. In WWI it was the lack of food and logistics that doomed the Russians. Here in WWII logistical failings are also the German achilles heel - in Russia, in North Africa, in the Atlantic etc. Soldiers win firefights, Generals win battles but Logistics win wars.
The footage of the Bristol Beaufort making a torpedo attack on German shipping is in my opinion the best combat footage out there showing anti-shipping operations if I remember correctly the rest of the video includes one of the bofors being shot down and almost all of the other ones taking damage. Flying a twin engine aircraft low slow and level at heavy automatic weapons is a courageous task to say the least. I just built a model of the Beaufort that was shot down attacking the German warship gneisenau managing the store single hit however the aircraft was shot down by return fire and the pilot was awarded the Victoria Cross for Valour
Look up Mark Felton and listen to the audio book The Bridge Busters. RAF bomber pilots went in one at a time. Less than 500 feet at less than 175 mph to blow up an aquaduct with delayed fused naval mines in pre WW2 built twin engine bombers. Precursors to the Dam Buster 619 squadron.
Hi Indy Amother interesting week. So world war two getting interesting after dull two years.. Finally allied able to punch axis.. Can't wait for upcoming episode.. Thanks..
Late 42: several major operations, and an apparent turning of the tide - guadalcanal and new Guinea; stalingrad and rzhev and Caucasus; el alamein and magreb Indy: we here insist on doing a special episode about the titanic struggle for reunion! 🤭😆
Holding Guadalcanal was important for the Japanese because it stopped the Allies from penetrating their outer defenses. The trade-off for them was sinking a few American cruisers versus having their whole defensive line collapse.
I do not think Tanaka had many good choices there. The drum system for supplying the soldiers on Guadalcanal was already a half baked, desperate measure, that did not work all that well when they did not run into a USN force.
@@mjbull5156 Right, Japan is already committing the cardinal sin of reinforcing failure. The issue on Guadalcanal had already been decided and continuing to contest the matter was only causing losses Japan could ill afford. Japan wasn't going to take the airfield at this point, particularly with a weakened army ashore that needed supplies effectively smuggled in to keep them from starving. The Battle of Henderson field should have decided the matter.
4:58 - Lunch. I wonder what they were eating. Not very obvious, except for the bread rolls on the side dishes. SPOILER Postwar, photographers took photos of the accused at Nuremberg during their lunch break. Their food seemed to be bean stew or soup, black bread and crackers.
Unit key smallest to largest. I - Company II - Battalion III - Regiment X - Brigade XX - Division XXX - Corps XXXX - Field Army XXXXX - Army Command/Front/Army Group For British units - "Blue" numbers means they are Tank/Armor units, "White" numbers means they are Infantry(or Support) units. For German units - "Dark grey" boxes are Tank/Armor units, "White" boxes are Infantry(or Support) units. For Soviet units - "Dark red" numbers means they are Tank/Mechanized units, "Yellow" numbers are Infantry(or Support) units.
Admiral Carleton Wright was not one of the US Navy's shining stars. In recognition of his command brilliance at Tassafaronga he was awarded the Navy Cross and "promoted" to a desk job. In 1944 he further demonstrated his command acumen by court marshaling 50 black sailors who refused to load dangerous munitions after over 300 other black sailors (gee, it's not just the Army that sends the black guys in as cannon fodder) were killed in the munitions explosions at Port Chicago.
I do wonder if this being the third-best month for the Axis for sinking allied shipping is due in part to the sheer volume of materiel being moved around.
Remember that each time supplies such a food can't reach a military, it often means the same is the case for the civilian population in the area - if not even worse. While the frontlines in this war are often determined by soldiers, it is overwhelmingly being experienced by civilians. In War Against Humanity we discuss the crimes and suffering inflicted upon the human kind during the war. Which you can watch here: ruclips.net/video/EMmT0LjXPas/видео.html
Rules: community.timeghost.tv/t/forum-rules-and-guidelines/5
Thanks for the reminder that I need to catch up on the last WAH. During the premier, I was thinking about the noncombatants in Stalingrad. Last thing I remembered was they were forbidden by the Soviets from leaving, which is so awful I can't really comprehend it. Going to watch WAH to see if you talk about them. I normally try and watch that the same day it airs for the algorithm.
Because of its importance in the final days of the war, hoping you cover more of the developments from the Manhatten Project in future episodes.
Not to excuse the Germans but the same goes for POWs. If they can't feed their own people I'm not suprised they didn't feed the POWs. The Russian's and Chinese did the samething to their own citizens and that was during peace time.
I think it's worth noting the Battle of Skerki Bank (the fourth Italian convoy to Bizerte) was not merely freighters, but consisted of two troopships that were sunk with a loss of over 1,500 lives. Likewise a destroyer, Folgore, was sunk trying to defend the convoy
@@readhistory2023 There is no excuse. There was deliberate starvation en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_Plan
It surprises me just how quickly the war has gotten away from the Axis. In November alone, there are big loses in Africa, 6th army is surrounded and Guadalcanal/papua new guinea is slowly being lost by the Japanese.
On most fronts, they have lost the initiative and or on the run. It looks like the beginning of the end for the axis
What's crazy was the axis was winning forever... Until they weren't and then the allies were winning forever. Couple of hiccups along the way but you could tell how the winds were changing
@@patwiggins6969 What happened was in all three theaters they were stretching their logistical capabilities to the breaking point. When those capabilities break everything turns quickly
@@mjbull5156 Agreed, the Axis was only going to be successful as long as their tremendous gamble kept paying off-- but you can only double down so many times in a row before the law of averages comes for you :)
End of beginning, to be honest. True beginning of an end will have to wait for Marianas, D-day and Bagration... and this is almost 2 years off...
@@ewok40k That's the end of the end, bro
Some interesting personal stories from my family that are tied to this episode:
1) My uncle's father (who sadly passed away from cancer some months ago), served as a medic of the Italian Regia Marina in North Africa. The Allies will sink the ship he was serving on and thus he'll be sent back to Italy. He'll serve until the armistice of September 8th, after which he'll desert and rejoin civilian life.
2) Because of the American bombs falling on Naples, my grandma's mother entered into labour earlier than she should have because of shock. My grandma thus was born just some days later the bombing raid Indie narrated in this episode
T BFF thank goodness they survived and you’re here today!
@@maxine2798 Indeed, I wouldn't be here if a bomb dropped some meters away from where it actually fell. But I think this applies to millions of Europeans
@Luca ventinove, I am so sorry for your loss. May he Rest In Peace.
I'm glad he managed to have a happy and long civilian life. May he rest in piece. Thanks for sharing that with us.
@@treybryant7863 thanks
Still can’t believe I’ve been watching you for seven years Indie! Looking forward to at least three more years. Cheers from your old stomping grounds of Columbia, SC.
Then we can move on to the Napoleonic wars or the 100years war, a decade per month
I have fond memories of those off-base bars on Two Notch Road... ok, maybe not so fond. I'm sure other parts of Columbia are nice though.
@@interestingengineering291 he’s stated that he’s not really looking to do wars before the cinema/film age. He said Korea or Vietnam is possible though
Wow you just made me realize ive been watching since the end of 2015/1915. 6 years of greatness.
Now this guy knows how to party
"In modern warfare" said German General Ritter Von Thoma (who was captured by British at Second Battle of Alamein) "the tactics are not the main thing. The decisive factor is the organisation of the one's resources to maintain the momentum"
Wasn't it Napoleon who said "amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics"
And also sponsored the competition that led to canned foods being invented.
@crassgop I think it is more like they were still forgetting the lessons of WWI.
@@nevilleneville6518 yes to both!!
It's crazy how quickly we went from Rommel at El Alamein waiting for the big push, the tense situation in Stalingrad where it seemed we were literally hours from the Soviets capitulating for good (Indy is great in capturing the struggle in the fight for the city), the Japanese piling into Guadalcanal.
In just a couple of weeks fortunes for the axis just did a complete U-turn which they were just never able to recover from. A massive retreat across North Africa, a seemingly unpredictable and nervous situation with the Sixth Army which had been on the brink of complete victory.
I wonder what the feeling was in the Axis leadership at the time. Did they consider that defeat was now somewhat inevitable? Must have felt surreal to be a German soldier/Soviet soldier in Stalingrad watching your respective fortunes switch in a matter of days.
It kind of puts Hilters orders in context make alittle more sense than the traditional "Hitler was just a mad man" In North Africa Rommel had spent months if not a year getting as close as he got yet lost so much in a matter of weeks same goes for the disaster around Stalingrad. He and his generals couldn't believe it and I think were stunned which led to some really bad decisions being made. Though Rommel made the right call and broke off contact to save what was left of his army, Paulus would not attempt a breakout without orders to do so which would lead to the almost entire loss of his army, something the German army could never recover from.
@@MikeJones-qn1gz All three goes to the testament of what really was behind the smoke of those three ''huge and almost victorious'' situations.
All hanging on a thin thread, the japanese throwing themselves at the slaughter, Rommel being held up by the Regio Esercito and his Oberkommando from the fall before finally throwing all away for good and the disaster waiting to happen at Stalingrad by the next soviet moves.
@@MikeJones-qn1gz
That's the thing about arrogance, it's always a surprise when you lose.
It was pure arrogance that got them into these situations.
Turns out being a cartoon villain doesn't work in the real world.
Highly recommend the Cuban Missile Crisis and Suez Crisis series. Long, detailed episodes and definitely a different style from regular episodes.
Also the postwar Indonesia series is really good
@@garethsmith3036 That series was *really* good, I found mysef more enthralled than I thought I would when it was announced
That's what got me into this channel in the first place. Been a great ride since!
Indy's outfit and how it deteriorates is the best part of the missile crisis series.
I really appreciate the map animations here. Sometimes it was difficult to track what divisions were doing what and why, but this was nice and clear
I read the book about Kursk and other things. These maps and animations make it much easier to follow
@@patwiggins6969 The one thing I can think of that they could do to improve the maps is include a legend deep in one side's territory that explains what the symbols and sizes of each icon means. I have trouble keeping track of that, and have no idea what some distinctions mean. Like, for example, why are some German units white and others dark grey?
@@rashkavar dark = panzer units white = infantry and so forth
Eastory makes the maps.
17:27 An interesting thing to note on December 1 1942 is that the *Beveridge Report* (named after economist William Beveridge) is published in the United Kingdom. This influential document would lay the foundation for the Welfare State in the UK after the war, such as the expansion of National Insurance and the creation of the National Health Service (NHS).
Was it a continuation of the realization in WWI that so much of the British population was rendered unfit for service from the conditions most of the population lived in?
This is the start of the English disease and 30 years of economic stagnation.
@@Erik-ko6lh elaborate……
@@pashvonderc381 Post war the UK nationalizes many industries and builds an extensive welfare state. Thuse the UK economy stagnates for 30 years until Thatcher provides a partial cure in the 80s. "English disease" is term coined in West Germany to describe the sorry state of the UK in the 1970s.
@@pashvonderc381 He's a hard core Libertarian. The kind that thinks that those born without wealth should work 100 hours a week for near zero pay, in conditions just this side of lethal. Or they starve.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and the number of people who feel smart because they can quote Albert Einstein."
"Don't believe every quote you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
The universe is not infinite.
@@mjbull5156 It's expanding and we don't know its size. It's likely a taurus. So you could move in one direction forever. But space itself isn't infinite.
@@mjbull5156 you just proved the quote
Seems a bit better than quoting an orange idiot. "Being well read, is an advantage over those who arent."
- Sam Howard, 1950.
Also this week, on November 28, a huge fire happens in Boston Massachusetts at a nightclub and kills over 400 people. This was one of the biggest fires in the city’s history and sparked a new wave of fire safety protocols
Japanese success in naval night fighting despite lacking radar was made possible by the low-tech solution of using Fujinon "Giant" 150mm binoculars, which are still being made, and which I have used for astronomy, and which are awesome. Basically, twin six-inch telescopes.
Edit: Fuji Giants were used to discover Comet Hyakutake in 1996, one of only two naked-eye "Great Comets" of my lifetime. Hale-Bopp being the other.
It shows the fear of the Japanese, or maybe respect, to us naval air power
Wright holds back fire, which means he shoots torpedoes too late, and has his line hold steady in speed and direction while torpedo attack is likely..and the cruisers bravely remain in line even while 2,3,4 of theur number are hit by torpedoes...
@@isilder
Is maintaining the line not up to the captains?
They are the idiots who should've figured that torpedoes might be on the way in the opposite direction too, right? And thus they should've at least slightly changed their speed and course...
@@patwiggins6969
No it doesn't.
The Japanese developed their night doctrine YEARS before WW2.
It was meant to whittle the US navy down as they were crossing the pacific.
The Japanese ONLY could not fight them head-on due to the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited them to 3/5ths of the US fleet (not that their economy could've afforded more ships pre-war, btw)
The Japanese were actually quite confident in their own air power.
That only changed after Midway.
The Guadalcanal campaign never was considered in Japanese planning, and had no influence on their night fighting capabilities.
They used what they had, but they had gotten the idea, gear, and training necessary for VERY different reasons.
All of this is explained in the videos by Drachinifel, which is the best naval history channel on RUclips, and without a doubt worth your time and attention :)
@@MrNicoJac point taken
Delighted to hear the extensive readings from Richard Frank's book on Guadalcanal regarding the humiliation of Tassafaronga.
Also, about the Chicago Pile: "It could be extremely beneficial for all mankind."
"Or, we could just build Bombs with it."
Have to feel for the grad student with the hatchet poised to shut down the Chicago Pile in an emergency.
He was called the scram man (cut the rope and SCRAM!). The word "scram" has been used ever since for the rapid shutting down of a nuclear reactor with the "scram switch"!
Technology is a set of tools. The benefit or harm comes from how one chooses to use the tools, whether it be a nuclear pile or an axe.
@@mjbull5156 Alot of the times, the researchers and scientists were ideology (reason) pure - and just wanted to build things - and never cared or dictated how it was used. But some DID know what they were building and why. Their thoughts was "if I don't build it, the enemy will".
Werner Von Braun wanted to build space rockets, and he did ALLOW himself to be coerced and corrupted by the Nazis to use his ideas and research for his own selfish goals, and he DID know they were using slave labour to build them in WW2. (1 example I could think of).
I have always believed that 1 year wartime research was equal to about 5 - 7 years peacetime research. Lack of red tape, military and political breathing down your neck and your own life on the line.
However I may be wrong - and I welcome anyone to correct me if I am.
Both sides were beneficial. The weapons scared the Japanese into surrendering, saving millions of lives, and there are who knows how many nuclear power plants producing rather clean energy for homes and industry. Furthermore, it's possible that without nukes, we would have had a third world war.
Also on the 1st of December, HMAS Armidale was sunk in the Timor Sea. Not a huge ship, but as the japanese strafed the survivors, one of their crew decided to hop on the aa guns as it was sinking-
VICTORIA CROSS FOR AUSTRALIA (VC)
Royal Australian Navy
The late Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ SHEEAN
For the most conspicuous gallantry and a pre-eminent act of valour in the presence of the enemy during a Japanese aerial attack on HMAS Armidale in the Timor Sea on 1 December 1942.
On 1 December 1942, during operations in the Timor Sea, HMAS Armidale came under aerial bombardment and torpedo attack from Japanese aircraft. Shortly after the commencement of the attack, Armidale was hit by a torpedo and began listing to port. One minute later the ship was hit by a second torpedo which broke the vessel's back, causing the Captain to order abandon ship.
Ordinary Seaman Sheean, one of the youngest and most junior ranked members of Armidale’s Ship's Company, made his way to the stowage position of the motor-boat and assisted in its launch. As the enemy continued to fire upon the ship and his shipmates who were already in the water, Ordinary Seaman Sheean decided to forgo his opportunity for survival by not abandoning ship and returning to his Action Station to man the aft Oerlikon gun, where he was the loader, not the gunner. Despite being wounded, he strapped himself into the gun and commenced firing at the enemy, damaging at least two enemy aircraft.
Ordinary Seaman Sheean's actions disrupted and distracted the enemy from strafing and killing his defenceless shipmates in the water. He sacrificed his life trying to save his shipmates and, despite his wounds, he continued firing the gun until the ship sank and took him to his death. His pre-eminent act of valour and most conspicuous gallantry saved Australian lives. His heroism became the standard to which the men and women of the Australian Defence Force aspire.
note that this was finally awarded on 1 Dec 2020 after a lengthy campaign, so I almost didn't get to make this post
Wow what a story
A real hero
In 3 weeks I watched 170 episodes somehow in between work, kids, wife. But I did it none the less and today was my first time watching up to date! Going back to watch specials now while I wait for next week. Love the channel!
Thank you for your support!!
It’s ok. Luftwaffe will supply Paulus’ 6 army and then Steiner will counter-attack.
And Wenck with 12th army will come!
@@Ruosteinenknight and we’ll all have PlayStations by Christmas.
Apparently, Fermi told the students assisting him, as they were about let the pile do it's thing, "...if anything goes wrong, run".
The Tassafaronga battle was a huge disappointing mess that Carleton Wright screwed up. Tanaka's force was spotted way early by Coastwatchers, giving the Allies lots of information to work off of and time to prepare for. Wright's force was vastly superior.
At the start of the engagement, the USN Destroyer vanguard had outspotted the IJN force and was in prime position to surprise the Japanese with a torpedo attack. Cmdr Cole in USS Fletcher radioed Wright that he wanted to conduct the torpedo attack. Wright waited several minutes before replying to hold their attack and wait.
There's other videos on this battle. Wright had the audacity to lie about the results of the battle, claiming 4 Japanese Destroyers were sunk and 2 more were damaged when in reality only 1 was sunk and the rest escaped scott free, while wrecking Wright's force. This asshole was even awarded the Navy Cross.
Eventually the US Navy saw through the bull, Wright would lose his command and would never lead a force in battle ever again, and would be relegated to shore duty.
Cmdr Cole's Destroyers being hamstrung by hesitant force commander and not being able to decisively deal with the Japanese at an opportune time would lead to standing orders for American DDs to immediately attack on contact with the Japanese, which would lead to eventual, better successes for US Navy Destroyers.
Tassafaronga was a huge, HUGE shitshow for the American Navy. Earlier in fighting for Guadalcanal, the US Navy suffered very heavy Heavy Cruiser losses, to include HMAS Canberra. The Americans literally scraped together what Heavy Cruisers they could from around the theater and gave them to Wright to crush Tanaka's force. Wright came up with one of the worst possible results you can get. Tanaka's force was so overmatched, it's like watching a mouse kill a cat, yet that's exactly what happened at Tassafaronga.
After this, Tanaka actually said to his superiors that Japan needs to evacuate Guadalcanal because the island is a pit of men, ships, aircraft that Japan cannot endure. He got relieved of command for this "defeatist" mentality. Tanaka at this point was one of the IJN's most experienced combat leaders against the Americans. IJN leadership would shitcan him to some desk job in BURMA for the rest of the war, never again leading ships and men into battle. This of course meant he survived the war, and the US Navy no longer had to deal with a savvy commander like Tanaka.
Post-war assessments by the Americans heaped praise on Tanaka. He and his men did everything right considering how at a disadvantage they were against a vastly superior American force that was on the defense, ample warning, and had surprise on their side. This was one of the worst showings the US Navy would ever have in its history.
My Dad served on the Minneapolis but luckily he joined the ship after it's repair and refit at Mare Island in the summer of 43.
It's sad how often US commanders ignore warnings or information about the enemy and how to overcome it when it comes from other Allies. Carlton ignoring the Coastwatchers info is infuriating. He put brave sailors in more danger than he needed to.
It reminds me of Omar Bradley ignoring British offers of Funnies to land with the troops at Omaha beach on D Day. Perhaps the US Army would have gotten off the beaches with less casualties if they had armour support that day.
And that dear readers… is the rest of the story. Well done!
It's amazing how years of post-war analysis produce a clearer picture than a couple of minutes in the heat of battle. If only the Americans could have put Admiral Hindsight in charge! He never gets anything wrong. And when he retires to civilian life he makes an excellent investment advisor since he knows what every stock is going to do.
Wow!!
3:42 Tanaka: "I'm going to end this man's whole career"
and it was Tanaka's career that was ruined for winning. Drach did a video in the battle.
@@nicholasmiller3872 So it was a battle neither Admiral won. One lost badly tactically, the other failed in his primary mission.
In a stunning break with IJN doctrine, Tanaka's greatest achievement was that he didn't report to have sunk any US aircraft carriers.
Danke!
I have been following this series for over a year. I continue to be fascinated by how it is so objective and of such quite high quality. Really like how independent this is and not tied to a particular countries version of history.
The level of detail on a week-to-week basis is INSANE.
Thank you! We're glad you guys think so!
That phone call was a pretty good summation of my reaction to hearing how the first controlled nuclear reaction was done. Do it somewhere secluded and safe? Nah, just some basement in the middle of a large city.
Under the college's football stadium stands!
It's okay they have emergency stop in use....which is a control rod tied into a rope, which one guy with an axe is going to drop into the reactor. Yep, that's what I call safe!
@@Ruosteinenknight There was no risk of runaway reaction. It was safe enough.
Just push a bunch of radioactive material into a pile.
Tanaka is like the guy who killed 4 of the enemy team but failed to secure baron hahaha.
I think this is one of the greatest channels on RUclips! Thank you so much.
Both quotes about entering the nuclear age are so well delivered! I watched them over and over.
The episode about Reunion Island reminded me of the small Vichy France governed islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. For a while, they were islands of Nazi territory inside North America.
Bragging rights only though. I'm sure if Germany tried to actually station troops there they wouldn't stay French for long.
Anything put in the overseas territories would be bombed to hell by the Allies and impossible to supply though
Thanks
Indy deserves his own history channel show, to being us back to real history.
Seems like a good time to bring this up. It's not just the nuclear weapons themselves that are dangerous. The Manhattan Project had many mines, bases and labs involved, and they all produced enormous amounts of garbage. Sometimes there was extra stuff in the garbage. I heard about an old landfill site that is having a fire, and there could be a connection to the disposal of "hot" material there during the war.
That picture of an American dive bomber with the rudder missing at 5:15. - Did anyone notice? It’s brilliant.
Indy Neidell does a lovely bit of Peter Sellers at 18:41. 😁
A small note about the fighting at Guadalcanal (may have spelled that wrong), from another youtuber (Drachnifil, though again my spelling may be off) and his coverage of tasafaronga:
Americans didn't really consider the possibility that the japanese had better torpedoes than they did. It was a mix of arrogance as it wasn't like an Asian country could have better technology than the United States, of all nations, and it was also based on how terrible American torpedoes were in comparison. As such, they often labeled the cause of damage done by torpedoes as "Unexpected close quarters artillery" since to them, that made more sense. And on top of this, it should be noted that the US Admiral refused to take evasive maneuvers and sailed in a straight line, based on the idea that the US torpedoes on his destroyer line were out of range. He would have been correct...in World War 1, when US torpedoes were very short range. However he even failed to realize that his own destroyer force was ready to throw their torpedoes at the Japanese. As such, his actions led to a total failure of command.
Drach always cites his sources in his videos if you want to fact check him: he does good coverage of Naval combat and technology from ironclad eras to WW2.
There is slight justification to underestimating Japanese torpedoes: US capacity of development and research was so much better than Japanese.
@@vksasdgaming9472 Yeah, but at this point the US still hadn't fixed their Mark 14 torpedoes and they were well known to perform poorly before the US even entered the war.
You're on the Internet where it takes about as long to check your spelling as it takes to apologize for not checking.
OUTSTANDING JOB INDY.
"go out there, Bob, and take Buna" (nice) "or don't come back alive" (gee thanks pal) is something like what I would think of this situation.
This is an awesome channel!! Thx so much for these nicely stylized, accurate, honest, not one-sided, and near perfect videos.
One day I hope you are big enough to be in pop culture regularly. When that happens, a comedy sketch will feature extensive use of the city name, Veliki Luchy and neck ties. Awesome job team!! Keep it up.
Thanks @Lee Hodge !
Successfully watched the entire video and playlist...3 very enjoyable months.
You folks Rock!
Spies & Ties is awesome.
It is fascinating how we could slowly see the writing on the wall and then the axis seems to collapse in the matter of weeks.
My dad- 9th air force. B-26 pilot. He helped to sink many of those ships. He described it as- like shooting fish in a barrel. Learned how to skip bomb With 5oo pound bombs, 2 at a time!
Thank you for covering Reunion Island ! That was cool !
What a excellent series of history programs. Absolute top quality efforts and hard work. Thank you very much. RS Canada
4:17 wow just wow. I have never seen that picture before that is bonkers. How does that even stay afloat!
10:40 If i am not mistaken these mountain troops are the same that landed in Narvik during the invasion of Norway, and held it against the allies. And then were wasted in the attack on Murmansk and the Murmansk railway.
Thank you for this great coverage of this war, i really enjoyed to watch it.
_Steady comrades! Wait 'till they get close! товарищи! (Comrades!) For the Soviet Union, and for your glorious Motherland... Get ready!_ - Lieutenant Leonov
This week on December 2 1942, the second mission of the 2005 video game *Call of Duty 2* , the *Demolition level* under *Private Vasili Ivanovich Koslov* begins at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. You will start out in the back room of a clothing store, and will need to push and clear out the enemies in the building before crossing over the next building across. With the help of fellow comrades, you must then withstand a German smokescreen counterattack before making a charge to the German HQ to plant charges in order to blow up the building. This level is noteworthy for the somewhat rare appearance of female Soviet soldiers.
The first game I ever played on the Xbox 360 as well as my first fps. Brings back so many memories.
Ah, the nostalgia. Before there were female soldiers with prosthetic arms everywhere
*Building goes boomm...
Lieutenant Leonov : "That's how you negotiate with facist...!"
Best mission ever
@@МихаилЧерников-п2т Nah that would be the level in COD1 where you get no weapon and a handful of bullets and get dumped into Stalingrad (however historically inaccurate it is)
because of your coverage i was convinced to go on a holiday to the island of malta
we’ve visited valletta twice now and been to some musea and it is awesome!
What a nightmare. A nightmare to be in Stalingrad when under attack by the Germans. And what a nightmare to be a German stuck and isolated in Stalingrad.
"We are on hunger rations and waiting for the rescue that the Fuehrer promised. I sent letters home but there is no reply."- Wilhelm Hoffman, December 3, 1942.
Was he a soldier?
@@Zen-sx5io yes a soldier in the 6th army
@@alexamerling79 quoted from the World At War tv series or from the book Voices From Stalingrad?
A fun fact the letters the germans sent home but received no reply is bc the top command saw the contents of the letter and deemed it too depressing for the nazi regime and destroyed the letters once they arrived plus they had a movie where they claimed the sixth army had all died for the heroic struggle to secure the city for the furher and had to destroy any trace of the sixth army troops being alive
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it before now but there’s a great book of diary entries around the battle of Stalingrad. It’s called Voices from Stalingrad by Jonathan Bastable.
It is a fantastic day when I see another weekly episode of the greatest documentary ever created
Hi All, The weather today in Volgograd was 33 degrees F. and rainy, not terrible.
I have compared North Dakota's weather to Volgograd's before, it was -13 degrees F. in Bottineau today. Thanks for your time, take care.
That Patton poster is awesome!
Excellent work by your team and an excellent presentation as well! Can't wait for Reunion Island.
I must admit, Indy's tie is very classy today
Thanks for bringing us another great installment too cheap to meter! :)
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
Interesting how it seen in context it realy starts to go dwonhill on all fronts at the same time. That is one benefit of this week by week formate.
Tassassfaronga: sailing in straight line at constant speed in presence of enemy destroyers is historical.
WOWS captains: see?
JuSt DoDgE!
Sweet, looking forward to Reunion island content! Fights for Vichy's colonial empire, especially strategically important spots like Reunion are so underrated!
Eichelberger had to personally take over because his immediate subordinates kept getting shot when standing within 100 metres of the enemy lines.
Seems like our phone friend in the US is excited. I have grand parents in Chicago, it's not relevant to the quality of the phone call but I figured I'd mention that.
The phone call this week was expressive, bombastic and fantastic 👌
WW2 really was a war of two halves. First few years, nearly everything went the Axis way, even when it shouldn't have. October/November 1942 onwards, it was almost all Allies. They had finally stabilized the fronts, rebuilt & trained their armed forces, and secured their production & supply lines.
Yes, I agree with a comment below. You'll also need to do a mini-series of videos on the Manhattan Project. Can get the initial parts rolling as you go through the months of 1943 and 1944, then with the final parts in 1945 up to droppings, and then the aftermath. It'll get ugly after the bombings.
This is going to sound weird, but... I like the pastels but sort of wish there was even more colour? Imagine this tie with some red or orange in there... 3/5
I'm starving for more Time Ghost. Keep it up guys. Question: I know how important the Battle of the Atlantic was throughout the war and getting the info at the start of every month is really good, but please dont forget the valiant American Silent Service submarines in their shipping war against Japan. The US sank almost 4 million tons of Japanese shipping in the Battle of the Pacific. You guys need to talk about that. Im pretty sure you guys will.
The US submarine campaign in the Pacific was in fact the most successful submarine campaign in all of human history. US submarines were already doing a number on Japanese merchant shipping during this stage in the war, and that was while they were still saddled with terrible torpedoes.
By war's end Japan's merchant fleet had been reduced to only 12% of it's prewar size, and the largest contributor to those shipping losses was US submarines, effectively incapacitating the Japanese economy. Fully one third of all Japanese warships lost during the war were also lost to US submarines, despite those submarines accounting for only a tiny fraction of all US Navy ships.
How can your war plan neglect feeding your troops? It's mind-boggling.!
As usual, great editing.
An Italian army north of Stalingrad?? Wow, I had no idea they ever got so adventurous...
Darlan: I am assuming the responsibilities of the French government.
De Gaulle: Say WHAT?!?
De Gaulle: "Someone explain to this idiot who's in charge here. Make it snappy. Just a couple of bullet points."
"Don't come to Algiers tomorrow"
Rest of allies: why are they so...extra?
Nikita Khrushchev credited SPAM (the tinned meat from US) as being the single most important factor in winning the war. In WWI it was the lack of food and logistics that doomed the Russians. Here in WWII logistical failings are also the German achilles heel - in Russia, in North Africa, in the Atlantic etc. Soldiers win firefights, Generals win battles but Logistics win wars.
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” Robert Oppenheimer
Indy, you sound congested. Get well, and thank you for these episodes, even in illness . Y'all are doing a great job! 👍👍
Tassafaronga was an absolute and utter failure by Carleton Wright. One year into the war and he should've known to watch out for the Long Lances.
just like world of warships - if the japanese ship is facing away from you, they're launching torps
At night and with unclear enemy positions that is easier said than done
You should compare this performance with Merrill's during the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. The difference is like night and day.
Oh, man, the Rhzev meat grinder is just revving up. Such a forgotten part of this war...
This Stalingrad really is dragging on maybe they can flip a coin for it
The footage of the Bristol Beaufort making a torpedo attack on German shipping is in my opinion the best combat footage out there showing anti-shipping operations if I remember correctly the rest of the video includes one of the bofors being shot down and almost all of the other ones taking damage. Flying a twin engine aircraft low slow and level at heavy automatic weapons is a courageous task to say the least. I just built a model of the Beaufort that was shot down attacking the German warship gneisenau managing the store single hit however the aircraft was shot down by return fire and the pilot was awarded the Victoria Cross for Valour
Look up Mark Felton and listen to the audio book The Bridge Busters.
RAF bomber pilots went in one at a time.
Less than 500 feet at less than 175 mph to blow up an aquaduct with delayed fused naval mines in pre WW2 built twin engine bombers.
Precursors to the Dam Buster 619 squadron.
This Show is getting Bigger and better and I love it !!
Hands down one of the top 5 best Indie intros in this entire series.
Thanks for watching, Patrick
@@WorldWarTwo I've been watching y'all since the first months of the great War in 14. By far, y'all are my favorite history Channel!!
Glad to hear this, it means a lot to us!
Drachinifel has been covering the sea battles in the Solomons of late.
I actually enjoyed the highlights from individual battles. Awesome series!
The opening phone calls are hilarious.
Give this man an Oscar for his nuclear smile (and for his straight Reunion face).
Hi Indy
Amother interesting week.
So world war two getting interesting after dull two years.. Finally allied able to punch axis..
Can't wait for upcoming episode..
Thanks..
I'd like to think Ian was on the other line, updating Indy on the current situation in a foxhole as guns roar all around him
Late 42: several major operations, and an apparent turning of the tide - guadalcanal and new Guinea; stalingrad and rzhev and Caucasus; el alamein and magreb
Indy: we here insist on doing a special episode about the titanic struggle for reunion! 🤭😆
Everytime I see one of your episodes I think: And it has not really got going yet.
You guys do amazing work
So glad you broke the rule for Reunion
Intercepted by 4 cruisers and kicks their ass but gets reprimanded. Would the IJN have preferred they got the drums off but were all sunk?
Apparently yes. Supplying the troops on Guadalcanal was much more important than winning a small naval battle.
Holding Guadalcanal was important for the Japanese because it stopped the Allies from penetrating their outer defenses. The trade-off for them was sinking a few American cruisers versus having their whole defensive line collapse.
I do not think Tanaka had many good choices there. The drum system for supplying the soldiers on Guadalcanal was already a half baked, desperate measure, that did not work all that well when they did not run into a USN force.
@@mjbull5156 Right, Japan is already committing the cardinal sin of reinforcing failure. The issue on Guadalcanal had already been decided and continuing to contest the matter was only causing losses Japan could ill afford.
Japan wasn't going to take the airfield at this point, particularly with a weakened army ashore that needed supplies effectively smuggled in to keep them from starving. The Battle of Henderson field should have decided the matter.
I think we're going to need a manhattan project series.
Radioactivity gets discovered, scientists manage to split atoms and tame the energy. Americans drop nukes on Japan for funsies.
6:08 What is Bruce Willis doing in 1942..?
great as usual & Im a decendent of the writer of the beveridge report
Thanks @Zak Beveridge! You must be very proud of your ancestor's work
That why you have to get the railways built ASAP
Didn't one of those cruisers make it out by sailing backwards after losing it's bow or was that an other battle?
new orleans got a stumpy bow fitted and sailed home
I think a couple of other US warships had a similar experience later in the war as well.
4:58 - Lunch. I wonder what they were eating. Not very obvious, except for the bread rolls on the side dishes.
SPOILER
Postwar, photographers took photos of the accused at Nuremberg during their lunch break. Their food seemed to be bean stew or soup, black bread and crackers.
12:35 Hey! I found Waldo :D
Is there an information chart about the units figures on the animated map ? i would like to know them better. Thanks great work of the channel !
Unit key smallest to largest.
I - Company
II - Battalion
III - Regiment
X - Brigade
XX - Division
XXX - Corps
XXXX - Field Army
XXXXX - Army Command/Front/Army Group
For British units - "Blue" numbers means they are Tank/Armor units, "White" numbers means they are Infantry(or Support) units.
For German units - "Dark grey" boxes are Tank/Armor units, "White" boxes are Infantry(or Support) units.
For Soviet units - "Dark red" numbers means they are Tank/Mechanized units, "Yellow" numbers are Infantry(or Support) units.
Nuclear energy really saved humanity ...I hope some special about all nuclear energy with some focus on its importance to modern world ..
Admiral Carleton Wright was not one of the US Navy's shining stars. In recognition of his command brilliance at Tassafaronga he was awarded the Navy Cross and "promoted" to a desk job. In 1944 he further demonstrated his command acumen by court marshaling 50 black sailors who refused to load dangerous munitions after over 300 other black sailors (gee, it's not just the Army that sends the black guys in as cannon fodder) were killed in the munitions explosions at Port Chicago.
@3:18 Indy say that Northampton is torpoed at 10:48 PM but the subtitle @3:17 say it was at 2348 (11:48 pm).
That intro could cure cancer XD
Marvellous!
I do wonder if this being the third-best month for the Axis for sinking allied shipping is due in part to the sheer volume of materiel being moved around.