There's so much to say about this subject. But first, I want to commend you on your work: the before and after pictures is just like the icing on the cake, but the research, the traveling, the effort you put in all this is priceless. Then, we cannot ignore how providing the context AND even the names of the soldiers, makes this so real to us. Last, but not least, are the lessons we can get. It is so sad to see how these kids got involved in a fight that was not really theirs. Also, your choice of the music is brilliant. So nostalgic to see how life goes by and we all cease to exist one way or the other. But we cannot end in such a sad note. We have the greatest hope: When the Desire of Ages will return soon to put a definitive end to all this senseless suffering: our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thank you, again, for your great work!!! ❤👍🫶👍❤
Thank you my friend. What a kind comment. The research and travel takes so long and the end result is a 10 minute video. I’m so appreciative of your feedback. Thank you
@@thehistoryexplorer There is something really moving about the superimposition of the originals to the present day. Those walls stood impassively then as they do now, and all the passion, all the pain, all the horror and all the import of those times has gone, along with all that witnessed them. But the wall still stands watching human life come and go with indifference. I had a similar experience returning to a place I hadn't seen for 40 years I was a child, it was full of ghosts, everyone I knew there was long gone including my parents, and I felt like a ghost too. The contrast between the continuity of place and the transience of life can be really stark and unnerving, and the shiver in the spine maybe just a little bittersweet. I've done a fair bit of historical sleuthing myself and visited places associated with people whose forgotten lives I have unearthed, but not a place associated with so much horror with a snapshot of their moment in my hand, I imagine it must have been quite the experience.
Beautifully said. I could watch the “before & after” videos of photos all day long. I am 63 years young here in the United States. My father was a WW2 collector & I learned so much from him;,about the war through the artifacts he would collect. With only one tv during my childhood in the late 1960’s & early to mid 70’s, I watched whatever dad was watching. I still find things about the war fascinating. Praying no one ever endures hatred like that, but yet it continues even today. Until our Lord comes back, unfortunately it exists & there is nothing one can do to change people’s attitudes & beliefs. Their feelings about other races, ethnicities, men women, old & young, hatred still being taught within families, towns, even churches, communities, & countries. Even though things are really bad right now in this country, it still is the best one anywhere on our planet. Thank-you for all the hard work that goes into videos like this on channels like yours. We must learn from the history. If we ignore it, do not learn; we will repeat it. Prayers,& blessings.
One of the most mesmerizing videos I've ever seen on YT. The linking of the narration with the before and after videos brought the battle to life. Thanks
My father was a decorated Waffen SS soldier. A Flak Gunner, in the Tenth Panzer Division Frundsberg, who saw fighting in both Russia and Normandy. Shot in the stomach, and saved by an America MD, found himself as a prisoner of war in the U.S. As a POW, drove lorries across America, particularly in the Northern states, thus whilst filling up his lorry at a gas station in Helena, Montana met my Ma, who was serving at a takeaway nearby .... The rest is history.
Very well done! As a Canadian Veteran I'm happy to see successes, but at the same time, am horrified by the realities of war. The then/now images are simply stunning. So well done!
Thank-you for doing these. I’m proud of what the Canadians were able to do all those years ago. We seem to get lost in the American and British retelling of the history, and we are loathe to brag about ourselves. My Grandfather fought as an infantryman corporal part of the Calgary Highlanders. It’s good to keep their memories alive.
I'm a US history teacher and I always remind my students that our friendly neighbors to the North were involved in both World Wars before America got involved. It ain't lost on this guy sir! They stormed Normandy and ended Hitler's reign as much as anyone.
@@rvwhitne There are plenty of us across the pond in the UK who understand and appreciate the Canadian involvement in both world wars and just how important a part of the allied effort you were . 🇨🇦 🇬🇧👊👊
Don’t ever think that the Canadian involvement in WW2 is underplayed in this country. Without the brave soldiers of the commonwealth ultimate victory would have been impossible.
I’m a Canadian whose father and uncle fought in WWII. I’ve visited France and toured the Abby where the Canadians were executed by the SS. Extremely somber experience. RIP all fallen heroes! 🙏🇨🇦
@philgoldsney5951 My sister in law's step dad served in the Canadian Army in WW2. He grew up during the Great Depression on a ranch in west central Canada. Their only protein were the turkeys they raised. He grew to hate turkey meat, smell and even the thought of turkey! His first months in the Army, he recalled, had the best chow he had ever eaten. They landed in Europe and all he got was tins of pressed turkey! R.I.P. Walter King.
Greetings from Poland Great work as always. As a kid I grew up in Breslau (today's Wroclaw) old german city which stood longer than Berlin itself during the last days of WW2. To this day you can find old bunkers and shelters facing east, from where soviet attack was expected. What I wanna say is that I know the feeling when you stand at the place where something big happened. But when one has old pictures as well to compare with, this feeling is a lot stronger. Thank You for your work.
This video is what I watch these historical channels for. The way you took apart photos that would otherwise leave everything to the imagination is nothing short of fascinating. Two simple photos of a Panther tracking through a town, when the action in them is explained then become riveting. Suddenly the boys and men are made real by your accounting, they are people with a path and a story in both long and short term, and we share this experience with them. I had to watch twice to know what I had just seen. Amazing work, thank you for this presentation.
I like the bird’s eye view break down of the battle. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what exactly is happening in a battle. This was very illuminating
These videos are a remarkable portrait of the events in Normandy 80 years ago. I think that you have done a great service by reminding us that these men (and boys) were humans trying to cope with the most stressful circumstances imaginable. I have read about the grim fight between 12 SS Hitler Jugend and the Canadian Army in Normandy, but your videos bring to life what a personal struggle it was. Well done!
I've seen these photos before and wondered about these guys. Awesome research. Thanks for telling the story of these photos. Tragic lives, brainwashed fanatics, fighting for the wrong cause and not exactly covering themselves with glory.
For anyone interested in this part of the war, specially the fight between the Canadians and the Germans in the early stages of D-day, "The reaper's harvesting summer", the 12thss-panzer division "Hitlerjugend" in Normandy, by Angelos N. Mansolas, is a must read. The close combat and often hand to hand combat between these two adversaries was brutal.
@@andywalsh8761 Well, let´s not exaggerate this "heroism" of the Canadians. Considering the facts of Germans beeing outnumbered, no air support, bad supplies and, most of the german units being not well trained in this phase of the war, the achievement of the Canadians and the allied military on the battlefield in general is far of beeing outstanding.
😂Great videos and love reading WWII history. Born on 5/14/45, an American, I used to talk with my father about The War. My father and his brothers were Army members during fighting throughout Europe. My Uncle Donald was shot down in Nov. '44 and is buried in Belgium. To this day I remember my grandmother crying whenever he son was spoken of, and was a Goldstar mother as it was called then
I truly enjoy your informative and heartbreaking videos. The music is heartfelt, and the then and now photos are priceless. I joined your patreon membership as one of the 13. I am so proud of the British, Canadian and American and all Ali soldiers that faced evil straight on. Unfortunately, these days in the States, many of our young men don’t possess the same type of devotion to Country and sacrifice for the greater good of people. Thank you for remembering and honoring our fallen heroes. Your accent to an American is beautiful and calming. God bless you always!
The men on the other side were the same age, my dad was 18 when he jumped at Arnhem and he had a mate with him there who was 15 when he joined up. When the lad owned up to his real age after the war the powers to be made him stay in and go to Palestine with the rest of their unit.
thanks for showing and telling us the faces and names of this fierce engagement. much closer than the usual places, times and the push and pull of the history book. keep up the excellent work
Great job!!, footage is awesome, I don't know how you guys find this stuff, been watching WW2 history My whole life, you guys have something different, good luck!!
Rob, your videos get better and better this one is breathtaking. I can’t stop watching it to think this actually happened is mind-boggling matched with the photos. Thank you very very much.👏
Admiro tu trabajo. Enhorabuena por este video. Cada fotografía, cada lugar que nos muestras es "una puerta de acceso al pasado", a los hechos que ocurrieron y a las personas que allí estuvieron. Muchas gracias por mostrarnos la historia de esta forma. Ver tus videos es apasionante. Gracias desde España.
Great coverage of dreadful fighting and horror of war. To find and explain the soldiers and events as they unfold in diagrams and actual locations brings the events as if it was yesterday. Many thanks and keep up the great coverage.
Thank you for this superb video, you have not only done your photo and historic research exceedingly well, but you have also matched up photos with today's locations better than most that I have seen on RUclips. The photo of Otto Funk is shown in many places. Georges Bernage and Frederick Jeanne's book Three Days in Hell shows the photo of Funk with a caption that basically says that he was tired, exhausted and shocked from seeing so many comrades die. However, Ive done my research, too and a couple of years ago learned that Funk and the others were witnessing Panther 326 be cleaned of the half remains of the commander and I believe that what Funk and the others were seeing was more deliberate and time consuming than being on the battlefield seeing bad things for a brief moment. So while I agree with everyone else about them being physically and mentally worn out and dealing with what they had already seen, in the photo of Funk, he is truly seeing something extremely repulsive at that moment. The Commander of 326 Eismann (spelling) is shown in a film clip of Panthers rushing to Normandy but I don't have a reference for you. That clip notes that he would be killed by being shot in half in his cupola a number of days later. Lastly, Klaus Schuh, in the photo taken in the alley, looks more like a man of 30 rather than an 18 year old. That happened to hundreds of thousands of veterans. Not only did they have to become a man at 18, they also looked much older. I am also in agreement that these young soldiers who should have been in the German Boy Scouts, but that was turned into the Hitler Youth, were indeed given a throughout indoctrination into NAZI ideology and from what I have read it was often impossible to denazify them after the war. One video I have seen was taken at a tank museum and several aging German vets were interviewed and to a man they agreed that Hitler was right and that the world should appreciate him for getting rid of so many Jews. Totally unrepentant, just able to get along in a world where Germany lost. Not all in the SS wanted to be there, many were drafted in. One, Otto Blasé, joined the Luftwaffe and wanted to be a pilot. He was even an officer. But the SS had lost so many officers that hundreds of officers from the Luftwaffe were sent to the SS in Russia. Blasé was now a tank commander in Michael Whittmann's company of Tigers. In Normandy, the day that Whittmann was killed he held a conference before the battle. Photos were taken. Otto Blasé is worn looking and wearing a great coat and is distracted. Whittmann noticed that and after the conference he spoke to Blasé and saw that he was sick and apparently had a fever. He ordered Blasé to go to the hospital immediately and not to return until he was well. During the battle in which Whittmann died, I think 5 other Tigers were destroyed, including the one Blasé was the commander of. Blasé was last seen during the war abandoning Tiger B #332 which the Americans captured and sent back to America where it now rests at Fort Benning Georgia. I had correspondence with Wolfgang Schneider in 2004 trying to figure out what happened to him, but none of the SS ever saw him again. I did some exhaustive research trying to find him. I cannot prove this but I believe this is what happened. He somehow made it to the United States in the early 50s and showed up at a Lutheran Church in the state of Wisconsin where he taught Sunday School. Later, he went to a Lutheran seminary and graduated and then returned to Germany and became a pastor at a church until his death in the early 2000s. Just wanted to point out that not all SS wanted to be SS or beloved their theology/ideology. Well, great video!
I've loved every aspect of the ww2.ive said since I was a teenager,till now I'm 58.you learn something new everyday about the battles that occured.an amazing video I've just watched.well done.triggers my curiosity evenore
WOW! Fantastic photo comparisons in this one! I often wonder just how much you have to walk around these places with a picture in your hand looking for the small details that are still evident. I became fascinated by the magazine Then And Now from the 70's when i was a kid and remember how the author always talked about just how hard it was to find the exact locations that pictures were taken and that was only 30 years past the events! Thanks for all the hard work you put into these videos. It is much appreciated from the States where i cant easily get to the places you show.
I had a friend that served in the 12th SS who was an anti tank gunner and survived all three battles, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and Hungary. He was 16 or 17 when he applied for the SS. In Normandy a recon detail was put together by the 12 SS and they ambushed the Regiment De La Chaudiere and caused a lot of casualties. The soldiers of that Regiment fell upon the wounded Germans and tortured them to death. The Officers of the Regiment had to draw their Webleys and point it at their own men to stop the carnage. The next day Panzer Meyer saw the carnage and told his men "well if that is how they want to play this game, we can do the same. " So they started killing Canadian prisoners out of revenge. This can be found in the book "Caen"
SO GLAD I found this channel!!! Very impressive & informative!!! You sure did alot of research. Well done on all your content mate. Gary from Australia 🇦🇺
Great video. Calm and measured presentation. Its somehow remarkable to me that people live right there, where history was made. But i suppose you can say that of every inch of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany...
Excellent video and commentary . I toured that area of Normandy in 2017 concentrating on the Canadian advance and seeing the places in those historic photos was surreal.
Excellent video, thanks for doing it. One of my mom’s brothers was in the First Hussars, he was KIA (with no known grave) against 12 SS in the Battle of Le Mesnil-Patry on 11 June. Less than two weeks earlier, one of her other brothers in 3 Field Regt RCA had been KIA in Italy.
Thanks. So many families on both sides had to endure loss of loved ones, terrible. You’ve done an amazing job with the “then and now” pics, and with the various backstories. The Battle of Le Mesnil-Patry is worth looking into.
A very interesting video. Twenty years ago I interviewed a number of Canadian veterans on behalf of a UK author who was at the time writing two Second World War books. One of these veterans had landed on D-Day and went almost to the end of the war before badly wounded. I wished I'd had more time to speak with him about his experiences in Normandy but the subject of the book I was interviewing him for was post-Normandy until the beginning of 1945 and so that is what I focussed on. His story was quite remarkable, but, while my other veteran interviews found their way into the books, the author didn't use this one. I finally got around to writing it up on Linkedin a couple of years ago. He was a fascinating fellow and would have tangled with the 12th SS Panzer Division in Normandy.
This was so different and refreshing telling the story behind the events and the photo’s..Many of the photos I’ve seen before..But now,thanks to this excellent video I know these photos better.. First time here and liked and sub..All the best and keep up the great work
I have a Grandson of 21 and could not help but compare him to those young men having to witness some of the tragic events they did! Losing their friends and having to kill at that age must have been horrendous! It shows the power of the indoctrination they must have gone through! Thank you for posting this reminder of what our Greatest Generations went through!!
Wow, I just want to say thank you. I'm a new subscriber and I'm going to binge watch most of your videos. I stumbled on your channel because I was interested about the story of the dead German soldier on the stairs of Cherbourg. I just visited Normandy recently for the second time, I visited a lot of iconic sights, but videos like yours, being so well documented with historical images, maps and anecdotes are so much more interesting. Cheers from Switzerland.
By coincidence I had been wanting to cover the later battles between 12th SS and 3 Cdn Div (during Charnwood) on my own channel and finally managed to put it up just this morning. And of course now that it is done, the algorithm is finally showing me your excellent work. Very effective use of then and now which I admire. It can't be stated enough just how poorly the 12th SS performed in the opening battles of the beachhead, and most histories fail to emphasize that the Canadians *knew* they would be called on to defeat the German armoured counter-attacks, which is why they were beefed up with self-propelled artillery. Marc Milner's book STOPPING THE PANZERS discusses this in detail, and he seems to have found interpretations of the Canadian operations in Normandy that have eluded other historians.
The 12th weren't even at the opening battles of the beachhead lol. They didn't arrive to the scene until a couple of days later and were fighting around Caen. And so you're saying the Canadian's prime mission was to hang around and wait for the Germans to counter attack? Well that is false. They, just as all other allied units, were meant to push forward and through the German defenses, and they were meant to secure Caen within 3 days at first, and when they failed, it was pushed to 2 weeks, which also failed.
@@HandGrenadeDivision Oh so Milner is the single authority on the subject? Never mind, then, the Allied battle maps and the fact Eisenhower himself said that Monty failed to take Caen within the expected time lol.
I come from a long line of veterans my father and uncle both WWII VET'S myself I am a Desert Storm veteran. I appreciate your videos. Thank you for your time putting this together.
You are most welcome brother. My father is a Desert Storm vet (op Granby) and I am still serving myself. I love when veterans and serving personnel find this channel 👍
WW2 vets dwindling down fast now. My father was a ww2 vet born in 1924. I was born in the mid late 50s and remember when the vets were still young men.
Me, three! Dad born 1924; Battle of the Bulge veteran. I was born 1953. My Dad suffered terribly from “battle fatigue”, as they called it then, for at least 10 yrs; overcame it, but NEVER forgot his fallen brothers.💔❤️🩹❤️ #MyHERO
If there was such a thing as ghosts, those places you show so superbly would be filled with souls from all sides looking with disbelief and sadness at the world today and the lessons not learnt.. Just subscribed and looking forward to following your excellent work
Brilliant clip of the battle for Caen, it seems the truth about how fierce the battles around Caen is only just being told, How slow Montgomery was to take the city is all you hear, it seems only now the stories of how many divisions were being sucked into the city to defend it that it was never going to be taken in a few days but turned into a brutal war of attrition. This video has got to be one of the best I’ve seen, outstanding work 👍
I'm from Asia but I've been interested in the Normandy campaign since childhood, because of books and movies. I've been to Normandy many times, and am now beginning to take a deep interest in the Canadian experience there. Thanks for your work on this part of the Normandy campaign. I am new to your channel and will certainly continue to follow you. Well done!
very good video, it brings history to life, there's something about Normandy even today in modern times, the history feels still alive, please keep up the good work 🪖☕️🥐
This is great. This is how we want to review the wars. High def video and photos with names and stories attached to the very location. Would be interesting to see all the way back to civil war. Time traveling!
Viewing these old film reels, it's so humbling to see these soldiers of both sides being robbed of their young lives. Some of the German & allied infantry facial expressions make them look a lot older than they actually are, the horror & lived experiences from all involved, you can see the toll etched on the faces. And it's no surprise really is it!
Great video, I visited the spot back in July and with the photos it really gives you the feeling of that driveway and road. I wish I’d had this video with me as it would have bought it to life. Great work. John
Thanks for sharing some history. Too often the 12th SS is glorified even though they failed to push the Canadians back into the sea as they were ordered to do. It is my understanding that only a few thousand out of the 20,000 Hitler Youth made it out of Normandy alive. The real glory goes to people like one of my neighbors who volunteered to fight fascism. He served with the Queens Own Rifles of Canada and landed on D Day and fought across Europe. He never spoke of his ordeals but had multiple medals and wounds. A true hero!!!
It is true the 12th SS were very badly beaten and were not treated kindly after word of their War Crimes spread. The Wehrmacht were treated with respect but not the murderers of the SS.
-- How were they (bad guys) supposed to prevail against overwhelming allied airpower and even heavy naval gunfire, In addition to the inexhaustible Canadian manpower, armour and artillery barrages? Their politics and world view were detestable and they were stuck up, homicidal snobs, that's obvious, but they inflicted serious losses and did push allied and Canadian and Brits back numerous times and were at the time considered formidable troops by those that confronted them. Also note, just to be fair, that over 1/3 lower ranks were conscripts and many were foreign born but understood German (Sudeten and Alsatian and Galician etc. Over half were tranferals from the downsizing Luftwaffe and Navy... And we're not stoked to be placed into ground fighting units, let alone waffen ss. P.S. Allied commandos, rangers and paratroopers also routinely killed captured enemy troops. That stuff started back during Sicily and by both sides. Canadians did great, they faced serious opponents. Post war, Kurt Meyer provisioned Canadian occupation units with beer from a brewery and distributor he worked for during second half of the 1950s and early 60s. Classic battles...
@thehistoryexplorer I've been following your work for awhile and aside from the obvious dedicated, hard work you've put in to match people with names and pix with places I must share my amazement with how many places are now much the same as they were then other than being fixed up where required. You would NEVER see that in the US. All of those broken buildings would be gone and an apartment in its place. Or a shopping mall, something new and trendy. The older I get, the more I see my country as the money grubbing, selfish nation that has traveled sooo far from what the founders intended.
There's so much to say about this subject. But first, I want to commend you on your work: the before and after pictures is just like the icing on the cake, but the research, the traveling, the effort you put in all this is priceless. Then, we cannot ignore how providing the context AND even the names of the soldiers, makes this so real to us. Last, but not least, are the lessons we can get. It is so sad to see how these kids got involved in a fight that was not really theirs. Also, your choice of the music is brilliant. So nostalgic to see how life goes by and we all cease to exist one way or the other. But we cannot end in such a sad note. We have the greatest hope: When the Desire of Ages will return soon to put a definitive end to all this senseless suffering: our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Thank you, again, for your great work!!! ❤👍🫶👍❤
Thank you my friend. What a kind comment. The research and travel takes so long and the end result is a 10 minute video. I’m so appreciative of your feedback. Thank you
Thank you for so much truth in your comment!😊
@@thehistoryexplorer There is something really moving about the superimposition of the originals to the present day. Those walls stood impassively then as they do now, and all the passion, all the pain, all the horror and all the import of those times has gone, along with all that witnessed them. But the wall still stands watching human life come and go with indifference. I had a similar experience returning to a place I hadn't seen for 40 years I was a child, it was full of ghosts, everyone I knew there was long gone including my parents, and I felt like a ghost too. The contrast between the continuity of place and the transience of life can be really stark and unnerving, and the shiver in the spine maybe just a little bittersweet. I've done a fair bit of historical sleuthing myself and visited places associated with people whose forgotten lives I have unearthed, but not a place associated with so much horror with a snapshot of their moment in my hand, I imagine it must have been quite the experience.
Beautifully said. I could watch the “before & after” videos of photos all day long. I am 63 years young here in the United States. My father was a WW2 collector & I learned so much from him;,about the war through the artifacts he would collect. With only one tv during my childhood in the late 1960’s & early to mid 70’s, I watched whatever dad was watching. I still find things about the war fascinating. Praying no one ever endures hatred like that, but yet it continues even today. Until our Lord comes back, unfortunately it exists & there is nothing one can do to change people’s attitudes & beliefs. Their feelings about other races, ethnicities, men women, old & young, hatred still being taught within families, towns, even churches, communities, & countries. Even though things are really bad right now in this country, it still is the best one anywhere on our planet. Thank-you for all the hard work that goes into videos like this on channels like yours. We must learn from the history. If we ignore it, do not learn; we will repeat it. Prayers,& blessings.
@@nana-x9 Well said.
One of the most mesmerizing videos I've ever seen on YT. The linking of the narration with the before and after videos brought the battle to life. Thanks
My father was a decorated Waffen SS soldier. A Flak Gunner, in the Tenth Panzer Division Frundsberg, who saw fighting in both Russia and Normandy. Shot in the stomach, and saved by an America MD, found himself as a prisoner of war in the U.S. As a POW, drove lorries across America, particularly in the Northern states, thus whilst filling up his lorry at a gas station in Helena, Montana met my Ma, who was serving at a takeaway nearby .... The rest is history.
Wow! What a story!
Thanks for sharing
@@thehistoryexplorer brother your work is 2nd to none
Very well done! As a Canadian Veteran I'm happy to see successes, but at the same time, am horrified by the realities of war. The then/now images are simply stunning. So well done!
there are no winners in war, as they say
As a fellow Canadian, thank you for your service 🇨🇦
The winner of the wars are usually the following generations, however, many don’t realize it!❤
Your unbiased style, combined with your humanity is truly unique...
So unbiased he uses the tag line “how evil was defeated”
Embarrassing
Thank-you for doing these. I’m proud of what the Canadians were able to do all those years ago. We seem to get lost in the American and British retelling of the history, and we are loathe to brag about ourselves. My Grandfather fought as an infantryman corporal part of the Calgary Highlanders. It’s good to keep their memories alive.
I'm a US history teacher and I always remind my students that our friendly neighbors to the North were involved in both World Wars before America got involved. It ain't lost on this guy sir! They stormed Normandy and ended Hitler's reign as much as anyone.
Iam Dutch, my country was liberated mainly by Canadians. We didn’t forget, we owe those men so much!
@@rvwhitne There are plenty of us across the pond in the UK who understand and appreciate the Canadian involvement in both world wars and just how important a part of the allied effort you were . 🇨🇦 🇬🇧👊👊
Don’t ever think that the Canadian involvement in WW2 is underplayed in this country. Without the brave soldiers of the commonwealth ultimate victory would have been impossible.
Excellent content, it was quite a shock to see those young men receiving medals. Made me think of my sons, and how war uses so many young people.
It certainly does. You don’t see old people who have lived their lives fighting
I’m a Canadian whose father and uncle fought in WWII. I’ve visited France and toured the Abby where the Canadians were executed by the SS. Extremely somber experience. RIP all fallen heroes! 🙏🇨🇦
I’ve made a video on Abbey Ardennes, looking at the background to the events and explaining what happened. You might find that one interesting too
@@thehistoryexplorerla guerra saca lo mejor y lo peor de sus participates.
@philgoldsney5951 My sister in law's step dad served in the Canadian Army in WW2. He grew up during the Great Depression on a ranch in west central Canada. Their only protein were the turkeys they raised. He grew to hate turkey meat, smell and even the thought of turkey! His first months in the Army, he recalled, had the best chow he had ever eaten. They landed in Europe and all he got was tins of pressed turkey! R.I.P. Walter King.
Greetings from Poland
Great work as always.
As a kid I grew up in Breslau (today's Wroclaw) old german city which stood longer than Berlin itself during the last days of WW2.
To this day you can find old bunkers and shelters facing east, from where soviet attack was expected.
What I wanna say is that I know the feeling when you stand at the place where something big happened. But when one has old pictures as well to compare with, this feeling is a lot stronger.
Thank You for your work.
You are most welcome my friend
Check the ones at :15 the vegetation on the wall and the background tree are identical in both. There been faked.!
The Poles played a huge role in Normandy, often fighting side-by-side with the Canadians. They're sadly often overlooked.
This video is what I watch these historical channels for. The way you took apart photos that would otherwise leave everything to the imagination is nothing short of fascinating. Two simple photos of a Panther tracking through a town, when the action in them is explained then become riveting. Suddenly the boys and men are made real by your accounting, they are people with a path and a story in both long and short term, and we share this experience with them. I had to watch twice to know what I had just seen. Amazing work, thank you for this presentation.
That comment really means the world to me. Thank you my friend 👍
I like the bird’s eye view break down of the battle. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what exactly is happening in a battle. This was very illuminating
These videos are a remarkable portrait of the events in Normandy 80 years ago. I think that you have done a great service by reminding us that these men (and boys) were humans trying to cope with the most stressful circumstances imaginable. I have read about the grim fight between 12 SS Hitler Jugend and the Canadian Army in Normandy, but your videos bring to life what a personal struggle it was. Well done!
I've seen these photos before and wondered about these guys. Awesome research. Thanks for telling the story of these photos. Tragic lives, brainwashed fanatics, fighting for the wrong cause and not exactly covering themselves with glory.
For anyone interested in this part of the war, specially the fight between the Canadians and the Germans in the early stages of D-day,
"The reaper's harvesting summer", the 12thss-panzer division "Hitlerjugend" in Normandy, by Angelos N. Mansolas, is a must read.
The close combat and often hand to hand combat between these two adversaries was brutal.
I don’t think the true contribution and heroism of the Canadian troops is properly understood or recognised.
@@andywalsh8761 Well, let´s not exaggerate this "heroism" of the Canadians. Considering the facts of Germans beeing outnumbered, no air support, bad supplies and, most of the german units being not well trained in this phase of the war, the achievement of the Canadians and the allied military on the battlefield in general is far of beeing outstanding.
Excellent video. The story behind the photos really gives meaning to the faces. Thank you.
😂Great videos and love reading WWII history. Born on 5/14/45, an American, I used to talk with my father about The War. My father and his brothers were Army members during fighting throughout Europe. My Uncle Donald was shot down in Nov. '44 and is buried in Belgium. To this day I remember my grandmother crying whenever he son was spoken of, and was a Goldstar mother as it was called then
Thank you for sharing. These stories are heartbreaking aren’t they
Fascinating and really thought provoking in the way you keep re-showing the original photos
I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback
Extremely well done. The photo technology, the names, bios and stories, really, next-level. Kudos from Berlin!
You are most welcome!
Thank you for such a well researched and presented video.
Your videos, I think are the best of all those produced on D Day.
I truly enjoy your informative and heartbreaking videos. The music is heartfelt, and the then and now photos are priceless. I joined your patreon membership as one of the 13. I am so proud of the British, Canadian and American and all Ali soldiers that faced evil straight on. Unfortunately, these days in the States, many of our young men don’t possess the same type of devotion to Country and sacrifice for the greater good of people. Thank you for remembering and honoring our fallen heroes. Your accent to an American is beautiful and calming. God bless you always!
Thank you so much my friend. I really appreciate your support…I’m also glad you like my accent as I’ve received some stick for it! Ha!
The men on the other side were the same age, my dad was 18 when he jumped at Arnhem and he had a mate with him there who was 15 when he joined up. When the lad owned up to his real age after the war the powers to be made him stay in and go to Palestine with the rest of their unit.
My dad was born in 1914 and was 27 when he left for europe.
@@williambryan1103 if he was that late he must have been American
@@nickmail7604 yes!
My father in law was the same age. Just a few months difference. My dad went from european theater to the pacific theater.
@@williambryan1103 funny people Americans, can't spell theatre properly and whenever there is a world war they turn up 3 years late
.... incredibly well done! Thank you for all your hard work in telling this story to the world!
Thank you for telling the story as it really was. Your research must have taken a lot of time. The matching of the photos is amazing.
Another insightful video sharing a piece of history. Your work is outstanding. The then and now photos are very well done.
Glad you enjoyed it!
thanks for showing and telling us the faces and names of this fierce engagement. much closer than the usual places, times and the push and pull of the history book. keep up the excellent work
Appreciate it! Thank you
Great video from a WW2 obsessed viewer. Thanks
Thank you for all your hard work putting these videos together!
Great job!!, footage is awesome, I don't know how you guys find this stuff, been watching WW2 history My whole life, you guys have something different, good luck!!
Thank you my friend
Great work and background my friend. Excellent. Your stories come to life. From Texas.
Thank you very much buddy. Much appreciated
Rob, your videos get better and better this one is breathtaking. I can’t stop watching it to think this actually happened is mind-boggling matched with the photos. Thank you very very much.👏
You are most welcome my friend. Really appreciate the feedback!
The Kamerad with the MG42 had have the 18 Birthday when Photo was taken....
Canadians know "why 45 were executed"..... The young SS-Men dont do it "'without reason by the way'".....
I recently found your channel and man I enjoy your good work. Thanks a lot from Germany👍🏻
You are very welcome! I wish the videos reached more people 👍
I absolutely love your work. Keep the videos coming bud!
Thank you buddy. Appreciate it 👍
Nice videos you produce. I thoroughly enjoy the in-depth analysis and pictures. Keep up the good work.
Thank you very much! Much appreciated
Your photography is simply amazing. The stories you have shared is so breathtaking. Thank you
Many thanks
Absolutely brilliant. Very well researched. 👏
Thank you
07/12/24: Superbly well-thought-out and narrated. Thank you.
Thank you
Admiro tu trabajo. Enhorabuena por este video. Cada fotografía, cada lugar que nos muestras es "una puerta de acceso al pasado", a los hechos que ocurrieron y a las personas que allí estuvieron. Muchas gracias por mostrarnos la historia de esta forma. Ver tus videos es apasionante. Gracias desde España.
Thank you my friend!
Fantastic photos thank you very much
Great coverage of dreadful fighting and horror of war. To find and explain the soldiers and events as they unfold in diagrams and actual locations brings the events as if it was yesterday. Many thanks and keep up the great coverage.
I really appreciate that, thank you
Your channel is my favorite on RUclips! "The Pacific" is the perfect background music. New sub here so trying to catch up on the older vids. Tysm!
Thank you! I hope you’ll watch more of the longer videos!
Thank you for this superb video, you have not only done your photo and historic research exceedingly well, but you have also matched up photos with today's locations better than most that I have seen on RUclips. The photo of Otto Funk is shown in many places. Georges Bernage and Frederick Jeanne's book Three Days in Hell shows the photo of Funk with a caption that basically says that he was tired, exhausted and shocked from seeing so many comrades die. However, Ive done my research, too and a couple of years ago learned that Funk and the others were witnessing Panther 326 be cleaned of the half remains of the commander and I believe that what Funk and the others were seeing was more deliberate and time consuming than being on the battlefield seeing bad things for a brief moment. So while I agree with everyone else about them being physically and mentally worn out and dealing with what they had already seen, in the photo of Funk, he is truly seeing something extremely repulsive at that moment.
The Commander of 326 Eismann (spelling) is shown in a film clip of Panthers rushing to Normandy but I don't have a reference for you. That clip notes that he would be killed by being shot in half in his cupola a number of days later. Lastly, Klaus Schuh, in the photo taken in the alley, looks more like a man of 30 rather than an 18 year old. That happened to hundreds of thousands of veterans. Not only did they have to become a man at 18, they also looked much older.
I am also in agreement that these young soldiers who should have been in the German Boy Scouts, but that was turned into the Hitler Youth, were indeed given a throughout indoctrination into NAZI ideology and from what I have read it was often impossible to denazify them after the war. One video I have seen was taken at a tank museum and several aging German vets were interviewed and to a man they agreed that Hitler was right and that the world should appreciate him for getting rid of so many Jews. Totally unrepentant, just able to get along in a world where Germany lost. Not all in the SS wanted to be there, many were drafted in. One, Otto Blasé, joined the Luftwaffe and wanted to be a pilot. He was even an officer. But the SS had lost so many officers that hundreds of officers from the Luftwaffe were sent to the SS in Russia. Blasé was now a tank commander in Michael Whittmann's company of Tigers. In Normandy, the day that Whittmann was killed he held a conference before the battle. Photos were taken. Otto Blasé is worn looking and wearing a great coat and is distracted. Whittmann noticed that and after the conference he spoke to Blasé and saw that he was sick and apparently had a fever. He ordered Blasé to go to the hospital immediately and not to return until he was well. During the battle in which Whittmann died, I think 5 other Tigers were destroyed, including the one Blasé was the commander of. Blasé was last seen during the war abandoning Tiger B #332 which the Americans captured and sent back to America where it now rests at Fort Benning Georgia. I had correspondence with Wolfgang Schneider in 2004 trying to figure out what happened to him, but none of the SS ever saw him again. I did some exhaustive research trying to find him. I cannot prove this but I believe this is what happened. He somehow made it to the United States in the early 50s and showed up at a Lutheran Church in the state of Wisconsin where he taught Sunday School. Later, he went to a Lutheran seminary and graduated and then returned to Germany and became a pastor at a church until his death in the early 2000s. Just wanted to point out that not all SS wanted to be SS or beloved their theology/ideology.
Well, great video!
thank you very much. Great comment with lots of insightful anecdotes
I've loved every aspect of the ww2.ive said since I was a teenager,till now I'm 58.you learn something new everyday about the battles that occured.an amazing video I've just watched.well done.triggers my curiosity evenore
That is awesome! So glad you enjoyed it and say new information
Presentation is excellent but very tragic and hope no more such insane wars. Feel sad for the brave soldiers and common citizens. 😢
It is a sad story isn’t it. I hope it shows the brutality of war
@thehistoryexplorer it is very sad, but unfortunately, we humans don't realize and keep destroying.
WOW! Fantastic photo comparisons in this one! I often wonder just how much you have to walk around these places with a picture in your hand looking for the small details that are still evident. I became fascinated by the magazine Then And Now from the 70's when i was a kid and remember how the author always talked about just how hard it was to find the exact locations that pictures were taken and that was only 30 years past the events! Thanks for all the hard work you put into these videos. It is much appreciated from the States where i cant easily get to the places you show.
It is my honour to be able to share these stories
Very well researched. Lots of answers to questions I’ve had for a long time, well done indeed
thanks, appreciate it a lot
Your work is amazing, thank you.
Thank you!
Thank you for the reality of war and the youth that fought for ideals of old men.
People often do not realise that war pulled these mere kids into conflict
The ideas were not those of old men. They were most definitely of vibrant, youthful men. Old men want to live in peace. Young, ambitious men want war.
do you really think anything has changed?
They were not fighting for the ideals of old men. In fact, it was the old men of Germany who did not want or support this war!
History coming to life before my eyes. Haunting compilation of then and now. Extremely well done.
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it 👍
I had a friend that served in the 12th SS who was an anti tank gunner and survived all three battles, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and Hungary. He was 16 or 17 when he applied for the SS. In Normandy a recon detail was put together by the 12 SS and they ambushed the Regiment De La Chaudiere and caused a lot of casualties. The soldiers of that Regiment fell upon the wounded Germans and tortured them to death. The Officers of the Regiment had to draw their Webleys and point it at their own men to stop the carnage. The next day Panzer Meyer saw the carnage and told his men "well if that is how they want to play this game, we can do the same. " So they started killing Canadian prisoners out of revenge. This can be found in the book "Caen"
Maybe the nazis shouldn't have started it with assassinating 45 canadian pow's. Then the SS did the same thing later to more canadians.
Very sad
SO GLAD I found this channel!!! Very impressive & informative!!! You sure did alot of research. Well done on all your content mate.
Gary from Australia 🇦🇺
Welcome aboard! Thanks for the feedback Gary and I hope you enjoy the channel 👍
Excellent video! I love the detailed info on the individuals.
Great video. Calm and measured presentation. Its somehow remarkable to me that people live right there, where history was made. But i suppose you can say that of every inch of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany...
Thank you very much! Sadly most of Normandy saw events like this
Excellent video and commentary . I toured that area of Normandy in 2017 concentrating on the Canadian advance and seeing the places in those historic photos was surreal.
It’s a beautiful part of Normandy that saw untold horror for a short time
Excellent video, thanks for doing it. One of my mom’s brothers was in the First Hussars, he was KIA (with no known grave) against 12 SS in the Battle of Le Mesnil-Patry on 11 June. Less than two weeks earlier, one of her other brothers in 3 Field Regt RCA had been KIA in Italy.
That’s terrible. So sorry to hear it
Thanks. So many families on both sides had to endure loss of loved ones, terrible.
You’ve done an amazing job with the “then and now” pics, and with the various backstories.
The Battle of Le Mesnil-Patry is worth looking into.
Thank you for his service. I am sorry for your loss. God bless your family. May he rip ❤
So much sacrifice for freedom.
A very interesting video. Twenty years ago I interviewed a number of Canadian veterans on behalf of a UK author who was at the time writing two Second World War books. One of these veterans had landed on D-Day and went almost to the end of the war before badly wounded. I wished I'd had more time to speak with him about his experiences in Normandy but the subject of the book I was interviewing him for was post-Normandy until the beginning of 1945 and so that is what I focussed on. His story was quite remarkable, but, while my other veteran interviews found their way into the books, the author didn't use this one. I finally got around to writing it up on Linkedin a couple of years ago. He was a fascinating fellow and would have tangled with the 12th SS Panzer Division in Normandy.
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting
Excellent presentation! I always wondered what happened to the men in the pictures. Definitely keep it up!
Thank you! Will do!
This was so different and refreshing telling the story behind the events and the photo’s..Many of the photos I’ve seen before..But now,thanks to this excellent video I know these photos better..
First time here and liked and sub..All the best and keep up the great work
Hi buddy, fantastic footage. Can you believe it just kids' unreal but ferocious fighters. Thank you for sharing. cheers Gary 🇬🇧
Thanks Gary, appreciate the feedback my friend
thank you for bringing history time back to life and to the present day
You are very welcome!
I have a Grandson of 21 and could not help but compare him to those young men having to witness some of the tragic events they did! Losing their friends and having to kill at that age must have been horrendous! It shows the power of the indoctrination they must have gone through! Thank you for posting this reminder of what our Greatest Generations went through!!
Terrible thought isn’t it? Just boys really
This has to the best presentation of this subject and location on youtube.
Thank you! Much appreciated
excellent video of then and now . really puts the photos into context.
Wow, I just want to say thank you. I'm a new subscriber and I'm going to binge watch most of your videos. I stumbled on your channel because I was interested about the story of the dead German soldier on the stairs of Cherbourg. I just visited Normandy recently for the second time, I visited a lot of iconic sights, but videos like yours, being so well documented with historical images, maps and anecdotes are so much more interesting. Cheers from Switzerland.
Thank you my friend! I hope I don’t let you down, my older stuff isn’t the best but I hope you can see I’ve improved along the way
This is quality historical content. Love watching these.
Thanks brother
By coincidence I had been wanting to cover the later battles between 12th SS and 3 Cdn Div (during Charnwood) on my own channel and finally managed to put it up just this morning. And of course now that it is done, the algorithm is finally showing me your excellent work. Very effective use of then and now which I admire. It can't be stated enough just how poorly the 12th SS performed in the opening battles of the beachhead, and most histories fail to emphasize that the Canadians *knew* they would be called on to defeat the German armoured counter-attacks, which is why they were beefed up with self-propelled artillery. Marc Milner's book STOPPING THE PANZERS discusses this in detail, and he seems to have found interpretations of the Canadian operations in Normandy that have eluded other historians.
The 12th weren't even at the opening battles of the beachhead lol. They didn't arrive to the scene until a couple of days later and were fighting around Caen. And so you're saying the Canadian's prime mission was to hang around and wait for the Germans to counter attack? Well that is false. They, just as all other allied units, were meant to push forward and through the German defenses, and they were meant to secure Caen within 3 days at first, and when they failed, it was pushed to 2 weeks, which also failed.
@@gh87716 Charitably, you don't know what you're talking about. Read Milner and get back to us.
@@HandGrenadeDivision Oh so Milner is the single authority on the subject? Never mind, then, the Allied battle maps and the fact Eisenhower himself said that Monty failed to take Caen within the expected time lol.
a simply outstanding video → one of the very best i’ve seen…
So glad you think so. That means a lot
Thank you for this excellent education. May we never forget.
You are most welcome
I come from a long line of veterans my father and uncle both WWII VET'S myself I am a Desert Storm veteran. I appreciate your videos. Thank you for your time putting this together.
You are most welcome brother. My father is a Desert Storm vet (op Granby) and I am still serving myself. I love when veterans and serving personnel find this channel 👍
WW2 vets dwindling down fast now. My father was a ww2 vet born in 1924. I was born in the mid late 50s and remember when the vets were still young men.
Me tooooo
My dad born in the 1920s and me mid 50s
Me, three! Dad born 1924; Battle of the Bulge veteran. I was born 1953. My Dad suffered terribly from “battle fatigue”, as they called it then, for at least 10 yrs; overcame it, but NEVER forgot his fallen brothers.💔❤️🩹❤️ #MyHERO
If there was such a thing as ghosts, those places you show so superbly would be filled with souls from all sides looking with disbelief and sadness at the world today and the lessons not learnt.. Just subscribed and looking forward to following your excellent work
Brilliant clip of the battle for Caen, it seems the truth about how fierce the battles around Caen is only just being told, How slow Montgomery was to take the city is all you hear, it seems only now the stories of how many divisions were being sucked into the city to defend it that it was never going to be taken in a few days but turned into a brutal war of attrition. This video has got to be one of the best I’ve seen, outstanding work 👍
Loved this video and “Then and Now pics!”
Brilliant video , thankyou !
Great presentation, kept me tight on my chair, pondering the tragedy of war.
I hope you'll enjoy my other videos too
Those before and after photos were rather chilling. Keep up the good work! 👍
Thanks, will do!
What a great insight to explain the faces behind the your videos. Great job rob look forward to watching more of your videos.👍👍
Thank you very much! Appreciate it 👍
Your work is simply amazing. I was totally captivated. Please do more videos like this.
Thank you! Will do! Check out my video on Omaha beach 👍
The best RUclips video I've ever seen.
Thank you. Great presentation 👍
Glad you enjoyed it my friend, as always your support it very appreciated
@@thehistoryexplorer You're welcome. Hope deployment was engaging. No pun intended.
Great video - really enjoyed this one. Love the photo overlays onto the footage too 👍
Thanks Rob!
I'm from Asia but I've been interested in the Normandy campaign since childhood, because of books and movies. I've been to Normandy many times, and am now beginning to take a deep interest in the Canadian experience there. Thanks for your work on this part of the Normandy campaign. I am new to your channel and will certainly continue to follow you. Well done!
Thank you my friend! Welcome aboard
very good video, it brings history to life, there's something about Normandy even today in modern times, the history feels still alive, please keep up the good work 🪖☕️🥐
I intend to! thank you
Another amazing video. Also, I love the ZeroFoxtrot shirt!
Ha! Yes it is indeed. Thank you
This is great. This is how we want to review the wars. High def video and photos with names and stories attached to the very location. Would be interesting to see all the way back to civil war. Time traveling!
Thank you buddy! Really appreciate the feedback. I’d love to go to the US and cover the Civil War!
Viewing these old film reels, it's so humbling to see these soldiers of both sides being robbed of their young lives. Some of the German & allied infantry facial expressions make them look a lot older than they actually are, the horror & lived experiences from all involved, you can see the toll etched on the faces. And it's no surprise really is it!
Well said, thanks for the comment
Great video, I visited the spot back in July and with the photos it really gives you the feeling of that driveway and road. I wish I’d had this video with me as it would have bought it to life. Great work. John
Thank you very much for the kind feedback John
Amazing presentation, Well done and thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for your hard work and research!
👍
Thanks for sharing some history. Too often the 12th SS is glorified even though they failed to push the Canadians back into the sea as they were ordered to do. It is my understanding that only a few thousand out of the 20,000 Hitler Youth made it out of Normandy alive.
The real glory goes to people like one of my neighbors who volunteered to fight fascism. He served with the Queens Own Rifles of Canada and landed on D Day and fought across Europe. He never spoke of his ordeals but had multiple medals and wounds. A true hero!!!
He must have seen some terrible things. I hope I got the balance right in this video
@@thehistoryexplorer....keep up with the great work that you do....E..
It is true the 12th SS were very badly beaten and were not treated kindly after word of their War Crimes spread. The Wehrmacht were treated with respect but not the murderers of the SS.
--
How were they (bad guys) supposed to prevail against overwhelming allied airpower and even heavy naval gunfire, In addition to the inexhaustible Canadian manpower, armour and artillery barrages?
Their politics and world view were detestable and they were stuck up, homicidal snobs, that's obvious, but they inflicted serious losses and did push allied and Canadian and Brits back numerous times and were at the time considered formidable troops by those that confronted them.
Also note, just to be fair, that over 1/3 lower ranks were conscripts and many were foreign born but understood German (Sudeten and Alsatian and Galician etc.
Over half were tranferals from the downsizing Luftwaffe and Navy... And we're not stoked to be placed into ground fighting units, let alone waffen ss.
P.S.
Allied commandos, rangers and paratroopers also routinely killed captured enemy troops.
That stuff started back during Sicily and by both sides.
Canadians did great, they faced serious opponents.
Post war, Kurt Meyer provisioned Canadian occupation units with beer from a brewery and distributor he worked for during second half of the 1950s and early 60s.
Classic battles...
Over 12,000 survived the Normandy battle.
There casualties in Normandy were approximately 8500.
Excellent, very well produced.
Thanks
Great video with great narration. It’s impressive you were able to identify the soldiers in the photograph.
Glad you enjoyed it and I hope you’ll watch my other videos too. Many more on the way
incredible video.
Appreciate you 👍
Man this week and I just found a gold treasure of a channel! Can’t wait to get back to Germany!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the videos, I’m still pretty new as a channel
I am awed that you got all the German photos for this before and after as well. Your work is stellar. Not only a subscriber, but becoming a supporter.
Your post made my day buddy. It’s been a tough one! Appreciate the support
I've followed you for a while Rob and I'm not surprised at all by this video. If you're new to History Explorer go check out his older videos!
Thank you! That means a lot to me 👍 🙏
@thehistoryexplorer I've been following your work for awhile and aside from the obvious dedicated, hard work you've put in to match people with names and pix with places I must share my amazement with how many places are now much the same as they were then other than being fixed up where required. You would NEVER see that in the US. All of those broken buildings would be gone and an apartment in its place. Or a shopping mall, something new and trendy. The older I get, the more I see my country as the money grubbing, selfish nation that has traveled sooo far from what the founders intended.
@@magicklady82 couldn’t agree with you more!
@@thehistoryexplorer German boys who fight for Germany must be "brainwashed". Aha. Why?
These are brilliant and very informative videos, I strongly recommend them. Thank you.🇬🇧
The photo overlays are amazing. Thank you!
I really enjoyed your content and the way you put it together thank you very very much much
Glad you enjoyed it!
Unbelievably well done episodes
Thank you! I really enjoyed this one
Really appreciate the research and details revealed in this video.
That’s great, glad you liked the video
Thank you for this excellent video.