I love documentaries made like this, narrated, historical footage, no talking heads repeating what the narrator just said, no contemporary investigative “reality tv” interrupting the flow, just old fashion documentary, perfect.
Couldn’t have said it better myself … Nothing more annoying than shoveling 3-5 talking heads down our throats all saying the same thing in slightly different ways lol.
Even more so the development of the cavity magnetron, which effectively miniaturised radar allowing it to be mounted on aircraft. That was a game-changer, especially in the battle for the Atlantic.
Every time I watch a WWII documentary I get blown away by the massive amount of courage and bravery of these men even on both sides. To go through what these people went through most people today couldn't even fathom it.
"It would have been faster for a German Commander to ring Bletchly to get his orders" is one of the funniest lines I've heard in a long time. Love British humour.
Seems like a number of others are like you! I'm guessing I've watched the entire series 20+ times. It's so good! And, I too have fallen asleep watching.
Im a Scot and certainly heard of RAF Edzell for sure ..Brechin is in the "Angus region " of Scotland not far from Arbroath and Dundee etc . My late Father was in the British Royal Navy and on Russian convoys with the British in war days . Awe the best bud 👍
I am 87 years old, college educated and mindful of modern history. Nevertheless, I find these epic stories of WW2 to be most informative and fascinating.Keep 'em coming. -michaelB, Detroit, MI
I lived on that base as a kid. Early seventies. My dad was a dentist there...USN I learned Guy Fawkes Night (bonfire) before I learned Halloween. I learned BBC humor and Monty Python before I learned American humor when we repatriated back to the States We had at least one bunker on that base as a leftover from World War II... People hear about the blitz in London and all that but they don't realize how much Scotland was also bombed
Some historians, such as David Holland, state that the RAF actually had more than 700 fighters as of August 1940. England was also significantly out producing Germany in fighters. Under Lord Beaverbrook, they also developed an excellent fighter repair program. Dowding was actually more worried about the number of rested and healthy pilots than about the number of RAF fighters.
And by the end of August the RAF had more available pilots than the Luftwaffe according to Bungay. It was the Luftwaffe that was losing the attrition rate in airmen, and aircraft. The RAF was stronger in September than in July. The opposite was the case for the Luftwaffe.
@boxlabsNonsense. The depots were over flowing. Britain produced 10,000 in 1940. Far more than 300 Spitfires were lost in 1940. A pittance considering 20,000 were produced during the war.
@@DannyBoy777777 The 10,000 figure sounds more like the number of combat aircraft. This included bombers and other fighters like the Boulton Paul Defiant. The reference I have has about 2,500 Hurricanes built in 1940, and about half as many Spitfires.
@boxlabs "we had lots of pilots but not enough planes." But we had enough of both to stop the Luftwaffe succeeding. The RAF prevented the Luftwaffe from defeating them in both the air and on the ground when they tried attacking the airfields, failing miserably over a sustained two week period end of August and beginning of September. The Luftwaffe lost more of their own planes than they destroyed during the attempt to destroy the airfields and no RAF sector stations were even shut down.
There is one reason why we germans did not invade Britain. We did not have the capacity to do so. We lacked the transport capacity and the naval strenght to block the channel. We could not have used "little ships" to invade Britain cause the little ships could not transport heavy equipment and therefore an invasion was an illusionary plan.
If you gained air dominance over English Channel then our navy would have been sitting ducks and an invasion would have been inevitable but thanks to RAF giving it there all and keeping air dominance over English Channel was absolutely vital.
After the invasion of the netherlands, and the amount of junkers our ancient air force managed to down before we surrendered (174 transport planes in 5 days) any para drop invasion of the UK was deemed way to risky anyway, and by boat.. yeah gl vs the british navy
A big thank you to the greatest generation, to those that survived and those that made the ultimate sacrifice for their country I thank you, the world should never forget them.
My dad, 3 of his brothers and a brother in law all signed up together, happily they all returned, all gone now, bless them, imagine what their parents must have gone through also.
@andrewh5457 thank you for sharing this, the generation was the greatest the world had ever see, and most likely never happen again, when I meet a veteran I always thank them and shake their hands as a sign of respect
I've always known about Bletchley Park's part in the cracking of the Enigma code, but never known about the brilliant, essential Polish groundwork which provided the foundation for that achievement. Fantastic, all of you.
It highlights the difference between Britain's approach in the war and Germany's. Britain received aid from Poland, with a Polish government in exile in Britain. Norway joined them. The British war effort was aided by Polish, Norwegian and Czech forces. Their good relations with former colonies (Dominions like Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and support from India who contributed large forces for the war effort as well. And entering into agreements to share all technology helped Britain and USA to leap ahead technologically during the war. German tech gets famous through wonder-weapons. But look at German guided weapons tech - a clumsy guidance system where a bombardier far behind the bomb would backseat-fly it into the target using the "Mark I eyeball." Less than a year later the US Navy deployed the first self-guided weapon - a radar guided bomb that would fly itself to the target allowing the launching aircraft to maneuver/evade after launching it. Look at the list of nations in the United Nations Alliance by the end of the war. The Allies made friends where they went. The Germans turned the world against them. (interesting example, the Americans solved some of their early logistical challenges in North Africa by shipping vehicles over in parts and training locals to assemble the vehicles for them offering higher wages than they were earning before. In contrast, you could look up the sabotage that was done by French workers on the trucks they were forced to build for the German war effort.)
My dad was involved in all this. He was a brilliant mathematician as is my son. Even today his war record is not available to us, his family. Ultra won the war in Europe and the Pacific.
No doubt Ultra was a great innovation. But what won the war for the Allies (on both fronts) was America's ability to out manufacture war materials better than anyone else on the planet.
This is very well done.I had a number of relatives who were in the military in WWII. I even had an uncle in the Marines who met his wife,an Australian female soldier during the fighting.They had each other's back for the rest of their lives.❤😢
“Australian female soldier” I would love to hear more about her and what she did. Aussies are good people and have always helped us here in the US. They are tough, resourceful, have integrity, and a true grit.
The greatest story never told is even better, or europa the last battle/battle europa. If you've got the fortitude and integrity Hellstorm is a must watch
your bravery is admirable, now the other enemy in the east wants a fight. we must all be like your people and fight on. europe will never again be conquered
@@ukdude25 and @v1e1r1g1e1 You both could start by telling us what you think (if you CAN think) the 'enemy within' is. And what 'change/s' you recommend. These unspecific but ominous-sounding insinuations are ridiculous - SAY WHAT YOU MEAN - and tell us what your 'solution' would be. Then your readers - if any - can decide how much sense you make. It's easy to sound clever without saying anything of substance.
I thought I'd create a simple "visual aid" in order to assist people learning about the history of the battle of Britain. There is much ongoing debate about the nationalities and proportions of RAF fighter pilots who took part in the battle, with occasionally a furtive aspect which attempts to portray the battle as a victory of "mostly Foreign pilots". Below is an accurate graphical representation of the proportion of pilot nationalities serving within RAF Fighter Command during the summer of 1940. Each flag is roughly equivalent to 30 pilots, The numbers after each nation are the actual number of pilots from that country, and the approximate percentage of RAF Fighter Command's establishment in the summer of 1940 that they represented. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 UK (2342) (80%) 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱 Poland (145) (5%) 🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿 New Zealand (127) (4%) 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Canada (112) (4%) (1940 flag emoji not available) 🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 Czechoslovakia (88) (3%) 🇦🇺 Australia (32) (1%) 🇧🇪 Belgium (28) (1%) 🇿🇦 S. Africa (25) (1%) (1940 flag emoji not available) 🇺🇳 Other nations (France (13), R o Ireland (10), USA (9), Rhodesia (3), Newfoundland (1), Jamaica (1), Barbados (1)) (1%) (And just to preempt any wandering idiot lefty "Identity warriors" from protesting about "The lack of credit given to the black pilots who fought in the battle of Britain"... the pilots from South Africa, Rhodesia & the Caribbean were all of white descent).
@@BingoFrogstrangler The British historic record has never attempted to airbrush the commonwealth and foreign pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command that summer out of history... but there's an increasing number of revisionist anti-Brit commenters who brazenly try to over represent the foreign contribution and downplay the overwhleming role of British born pilots..... attempting to snidily portray the situation as one where "Europe saved Britain" when the opposite is FAR closer to the truth. For further information search out the "Battle of Britain Historical Society" and the "Battle of Britain Memorial Trust" who continue to catalogue and honour the lives of ALL those who took part in the British side of the struggle in 1940.
@@BingoFrogstrangler The British historic record has never attempted to airbrush the commonwealth and foreign pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command that summer out of history... but there's an increasing number of revisionist anti-Brit commenters who brazenly try to over represent the foreign contribution and downplay the overwhleming role of British born pilots..... attempting to snidily portray the situation as one where "Europe saved Britain" when the opposite is FAR closer to the truth. That was my motivation to quickly assemble my post above. For further information search out the "Battle of Britain Historical Society" and the "Battle of Britain Memorial Trust" who continue to catalogue and honour the lives of ALL those who took part in the British side of the struggle in 1940.
And then Churchill kicked the Poles out of the country, lied about the Russian massacre of Polish citizen in the Katrina forest and gave Poland to Russia
The Nazis gave up on operation Sealion because they lost air superiority in the Battle of britain, and without the means to contain the Royal navy in the channel they could never conceive of invading Britain.
This is truly one of my all time favorite TV series indeed on WW2 along with The World At War series and all the various others, I used to watch them all endlessly back in my much younger years indeed!👌😉👍.
This the great, the colour in so well done. I hate the fact that the two men who did the most to win the Battle of Britain, Sir Hugh Dowding and Keith Park were stabbed in the back by Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Douglas Bader. Their "Big Wing" tactics were grossly over exaggerated both men lied to get Dowding and Park fired and succeeded. The Big Wing when used in 1941 resulted in the greatest loss of RAF fighter pilots in the whole war.
Mallory was a confident moron with power, that's always a disaster. Beggars belief people like that are tolerated when the countries future is at stake.
@@briansanderson480 It seems like that but 303 Polish Squadron were combat experienced at a time when most RAF pilots were green. The RAF soon caught up.
@@jamesbarbour8400 I read about the whole episode some years ago. Bader lied when he came home in 1945 trying to say he and Leigh-Mallory never plotted, but its on record that they did. Bader fell victim to the Big Wing in1941, that tactic killed 4 RAF pilots to each German.
History and the preservation of these historical events cannot be underestimated for their value for future conflicts ! As it’s always been , history repeats itself !
I read William L Shirer's autobiography. Volume 2 covered his years as a radio correspondent for CBS in Berlin. The Germans in 1940 toured the foreign press around the channel ports to show how many barges they had prepared for Operation Sealion. Shirer, who was familiar with the area from his many years in France, wondered why what should have been a trip of minutes by car took hours. The he realized the barges from port to port had the same registration numbers. In his broadcast about what he saw, he compared the barges to certain American baseball players, a reference the German censors completely missed, but American audiences realized the players in question had kept the same uniform numbers when traded from team to team. The Germans had no where near enough transport for 20 divisions.
'The Germans had no where near enough transport for 20 divisions.' The assault wave was to consist of nine divisions and a seriously under strength parachute division. Walter Ansel, who had access to Kriegsmarine records at the end of the war, determined that the Germans had requisitioned 180 transport ship (largely small coasting vessels), just over 2,100 converted barges, 400 tugs/trawlers, and 1,200 motor boats, The first wave was to consist of around 850 barges, towed in pairs by the tugs/trawlers and the transports, would carry the leading elements of each division. The Germans had enough vessels to carry out their alloted tasks. What they did not have, of course, was any means of protecting this ramshackle flotilla from the 70 RN cruisers and destroyers which were based some five hours steaming from Dover, supported by around 500 or so smaller warships.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 And I would add that with 21 infantry divisions and 2 armored divisions of the British Army (all fully equipped) that's over 400,000 troops defending Britain against a force that wouldn't be much (if any) over 100,000 men.
@@iansneddon2956 Churchill apparently was even willing to go as far as to use chemical weapons on the beach landings, that's the kind of measures he would have took if it meant stopping a German invasion.
Don’t listen to insult because the UK had bombs landing on industry, homes and shipyards during the war as being IN the war zone is completely different to just being involved! Women replaced the men who were fighting and seen dangers that today’s workers have never seen
"1930's appeasement", Sept. 3, 1939 when Poland fought alone, the Phoney War 1939-40, Dunkirk June 1940 ??? Or after when they got back to the UK and didn't have to stand, fight, stop and defeat the German Army anymore? Russia did that
@@davidshoup3856 people seem to forget the jewish bolsheviks in russia were the aggressor in the east and the jewish crimes against german civilians in territory given to the polish in the versailles treaty
It's weird how some people think that the citizens of England past were somehow different to us today 🤔 This is not the case, we are exactly the same as our grandparents generation and they would behave exactly as we do now in our environment.
Germany did not have the ability to invade Britain. In September 1940, their operational surface fleet was one heavy cruiser, three light cruisers and five or six destroyers. They had no landing craft.
My dad was intelligence officer on the Loftenen Raid. He later lived in the mountains in Norway with the resistance and learned to speak Norwegian. He was on of the 20 officers sent from Afghanistan to England because of a shortage of officers with war experience. They knew all the dirty tricks from the Afghans. One of their first operations in Norway involved an ambush of 60 Germans on bicycles. They killed all of them.
yet it sounds like something from the History channel (which some jokingly called it the WW2 channel because of just how much content about WW2 was aired in the 90's)
I'm not surprised my friend we love history and weapons and want everyone to know American history and this scares people who don't want to know American history and right and wrong
Often forgotten is at that time the U.K. had a huge navy. Hitlers generals knew that any attempt to cross the channel the ships in Scapa flow would move into the channel and under cover of the Air Force would decimate the German troops in there barges. Also at that time the U.K. standing army saved from Dunkirk would have dispatched any airborne troops ,together with a population who hated the Nazis. So it’s easy to see why operation sea lion was cancelled .
There is another operation going on these days and seems to be a bit slower, but its working. Nostradamus wrote about it, The invasion of Europe from the south.
@@arnepietruszewski9255 The Germans had assembled 2,400 barges for the invasion 860 from Germany, 1200 from the Netherlands and Belgium and 350 from France . 800 were powered .The plan was to tow all the barges by tugs to the U.K. shore the powered ones would then make there way ashore the unpowered ones would be towed ashore by the tugs.
@@arnepietruszewski9255 The Germans had assembled 2,400 barges for the invasion 860 from Germany, 1200 from the Netherlands and Belgium and 350 from France . 800 were powered .The plan was to tow all the barges by tugs to the U.K. shore the powered ones would then make there way ashore the unpowered ones would be towed ashore by the tugs.
@@Busybee-tt1qu What could possibly have gone wrong with any of that? I'm sure the RAF and the Royal Navy would have been completely fair and sporting by letting them get across without interference on a nice sunny day with no nasty waves to make them a bit seasick.
They had air dominance over Southern England until the decision was made to switch bombing priorities to the London area. In fact prior to that fateful order the RAF was less than a week from total collapse in the South and even Churchill remarked that the accidental bombing of Berlin was a Godsend to their survival because it drew Hitler's rage away from their already crippled air bases and gave them the breathing room the RAF needed.
It's from a series, world at war (in colour HD) or something, it's at the start of the video - Well renowned series has been around a while now totally worth a watch
There is one aircraft not mentioned in this documentary that was crucial to the winning of the air war with Germany. It is the De Haviland Mosquito (DH98). It was an aircraft made out of wood was very fast and could be used as either a fighter or as a bomber. They were used mainly for night fighting when equipped with radar, which the British had, it would also fly out ahead of several bombing missions and as the Germans got airborne they would ambush them and destroy many of the fighters. So you could say the British had discovered stealth technology when this plane was built because the Germans had radar shortly after taking over France, with the DH98 being made from wood and some plastics it had a smaller than normal radar signature and it was ignored.
It's not mentioned because you are wrong with respect to the question of what stopped Hitler's invasion plans. The Mosquito did play a part later in the war but that was after the end of 1941 when the Americans were on board and the threat of invasion had subsided. Also the Mosquito was not designed as a fighter. It was a stealth bomber against specific targets. Fighter capability was later added, but it was not designed as a dog fight plane relying on speed not manoeuvrabiluty or armour. So your mention of the Mosquito with regard to the topic in question is entirely wrong.
I think they ignored the mosquitos cause they were not the most dangerous targets in the sky. Why should you attack some small squadrons of mosquitos if you can attack a 1000 bomber swarm? The mosquitos did not have the carry capacity of B-17 or B-24 or the heavy british bombers which makes it a less viable target also it was fast sometimes even as fast as a fighter. Dont get me wrong, the Mosquito was the best twin engine plane of WW2 but it was not decisive in any way. The Mosquito was somewhat of a special operations plane used for special tasks like shooting down fighters that were returning to base or bomb special targets that could only be attacked by fast low flying planes. If they had used it like an heavy bomber we would look different at it.
Like the chap stated it did come later, but the brilliance of the thing, stopping a Göring speech on live radio and the Goebbels speech too. Göring said of it: In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked
As an American and a US Army veteran, I have always admired the people of the British Empire and in particular the people of England that had no Surrender in them during WW2 and fought on against the Nazis even though their situation looked hopeless.🤥😳
it seems to me that the English or generally the British have the curious and unfortunate habit of transforming their defeats, their disasters into victories and of blaming other countries for their incompetence by treating their armies as cowards who surrender when they hear a gunshot. Operation Dynamo was prepared in the greatest secrecy from May 15, 1940. The British King George VI, known as the Stutterer, Prime Minister Churchill, Admiral Ramsay and General Gord did not at any time warn the French military and political authorities. It was a stab in the back of the French, Belgian and Dutch, according to the English King George VI, known as the Stutterer: As far as I am concerned, I am happy that we no longer have allies towards whom we should be kind. This idiot of a king forgot that thousands of French soldiers died because of the cowardice of the British during an interview. stormy in July 1944 between the British Minister Churchill and General De Gaulles, head of the resistance and of Free France. Churchill said: if we have to choose between the open sea and France, the United Kingdom will always choose the open sea! General De Gaulles' response: But you British have already chosen the open sea in 1802 against the armies at La Coruña! but also in May and June 1940 On the German side, General Georg von Küchler commands the XVIIIth Army of the Wehrmacht, fully engaged against the Dunkirk pocket. In his war diary, this high-ranking officer salutes the valiant resistance of the French troops. " " Despite our overwhelming numerical and material superiority, the French troops counterattack in several places. I cannot understand how such valiant soldiers, fighting in various places one against ten (sometimes even one against thirty), manage to still find enough strength to launch an assault: it is simply astonishing! I find in the French soldiers of Dunkirk the same ardor as that of the poilus of Verdun in 1916. For several days hundreds of bombers and cannons have been pounding the French defenses. However, it is always the same thing, our infantry and our tanks cannot break through, despite some ephemeral local successes. The French command has very skillfully installed its troops and artillery. I fear that Dunkirk will be a failure for us: almost the entire British expeditionary force will escape us, because a few thousand very brave French soldiers block our access to the sea. It is appalling, but that is how it is. " " Dunkirk proves to me that the French soldier is one of the best in the world. The French artillery, so feared in 14-18, once again demonstrates its formidable efficiency. Our losses are terrifying: many battalions have lost 60% of their personnel, sometimes even more! " "By resisting for ten days our forces, clearly superior in numbers and means, the French army accomplished, at Dunkirk, a superb feat that should be saluted. It saved Great Britain from defeat, by allowing its professional army to reach the English coast. "
Growing up in England I was immensely grateful that all my grandparents had somehow survived the war, I was one of a handful at school who got to grow up in a family that wasn’t shattered by the nazis. One grandfather fought with the expeditionary force and then in north Africa, the other manned a flak cannon in London then took part in the dday invasion, my grandmothers both worked in munitions factories throughout the war. They have all long since passed but had I grown up without their love and guidance I would be a much different person. I will always be proud to be British in spite of whatever current circumstances because of their bravery, sacrifice and indomitable spirit. No other nation could have withstood alone against such wanton, well organized hatred for so long. It nearly destroyed us and left us too weak militarily and without the will to stand against our allies at yalta but all must recognize that such spirit will inevitably rise to the fore once again.
While the British army WAS short on Equipment, the Weremacht was COMPLETELY unsuited to a channel crossing. On top to that the Royal Navy was a superpower, AND the RAF was well prepared with it's fleet of Hurricanes and the newer spitfires, AND it's vastly superior command and control system, and of course the RADAR chain home system. The chances of Germany even launching an invasion were slim and there was no real chance of success. The allies were well aware of Germany's lack of amphibious equipment, and if Germany were to attempt a crossing Britain had the forces in its navy and airforce to stop any attempt.
Only temporarily short of equipment. By August 1940 the British Army troops in UK were fully equipped. 21 infantry divisions. 2 armored divisions. A third armored division training up. Surplus tanks and artillery were being sent to Egypt to bolster the defense of the vital Suez canal. So over 400,000 troops of the British Army ready to meet an invasion of their homeland. Germany couldn't reasonably hope to get more than a quarter of this number across the Channel.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- I have read it was 67 destroyers stationed around the UK for the Home Fleet. It would take time to get this force in the Channel but after that Germany could not resupply or reinforce its vastly outnumbered invasion force.
Couldn’t agree more. D Day took 2 years planning, Sealion was approximately 12 weeks from inception to abandonment. Churchill knew very early that invasion risk was minimal but having the threat out there was very useful at a difficult military and political time.
@@iansneddon2956 There were a considerable number of ships, even including heavy units, stationed within a hour of two of the Channel, there were also ships actually stationed in Channel ports. The RN patrolled the Chanel every night during the period of the invasion threat.
The colorization is amazing but some poor choice guesses were made. Neither the British nor German single-engine fighter aircraft used a green-on-green camouflage during the Battle of Britain and it was rare to see a red spinner on those aircraft. Reichsmarschall Göring's uniform was often a distinctive pale blue.
I was once tootling about the A5 - as you do - exploring for photography - & end up on a smaller road with what at first glance looked like a standard WW2 memorial stone - with writing on it. It was just sat there by a gate to a very small field - about as innocuous as it gets! I thought that I should at least take the trouble to stop & read it. Turns out - it was the Birth of Radar Memorial!! In that very field, they set up the first tower - to demonstrate the concept - as it needed a direct line of sight to the second tower, in Daventry. It was just awesome to think what the goings-on on that field represented & were - so many moons ago.
The German army in 1940 could absolutely not land “on the beach”. They had no landing craft. Only the Americans and Japanese were equipped for amphibious landing. The German army would have had to disembark at the various ports in southern England. Oddly enough, the British had a pretty good idea where these ports were located, so knew where to concentrate their defence. In fact, just a few scuttled ships would have been an effective deterrent. Oh, and there was never a possibility that the RAF could have been eliminated in the Battle of Britain. Air Chief Marshal Dowding was very well aware that the RAF had to be preserved in the event of an invasion attempt and he was very careful to avoid over committing his resources to the air battle with the Luftwaffe. The Nazis would never have been able to ensure air superiority to protect an seaborne invasion fleet.
That is not quite true as I believe that the German Navy did have landing craft in 1940, and I expect that for an important operation like Sealion they would have made sure that both of them were available.
Please provide us with the details of the luftwaffe air assaults on Canberra, Ottawa, Delhi and Wellington? Or how the Wehrmacht stood poised to launch its invasion of the Indian sub continent or Canada? Or how the Kriegsmarine attempted to strangle the British Empire out of the war by enforcing a u-boat blockade of Australia and New Zealand? Oh news just coming in...... NONE OF THOSE THINGS HAPPENED because the ONLY nation facing ALL of those threats between July 1940 and April 1941 was Great Britain ALONE.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 'Britain stood alone' refers to the time before the US joined the war. It wasn't true because we had the backing of all the Commonwealth countries that also declared war on Germany. Germany didn't try to invade or bomb the USA either, so there goes your theory.
@@Poliss95Don’t think you understand fully the concept of being along when the commonwealth was thousands of miles away! The US did not enter the war at that point and were not fully giving materials until the end of the Battle of Britain.
So many heroes, most of whom we'll never hear of. In a real way we owe them our continued freedom - let's not squander it. They deserve a better legacy than that.
This series is very well done but The World at War is the definitive WWII series in my opinion. WWII in Colour borrows heavily from it on multiple levels.
@@willydawg99 about 75% of fighter command pilots in 1940 were British or empire. The next largest contingent was polish. Then french. There were no more than a handful of American volunteers.
Even if they had achieved that they wouldn't invade. They would've gotten massacred and lost the war and they knew it. They hoped to coax the British government into negotiations by striking fear into the population
@@christopherhogg8364 well they were fighting over there? As germans ran through them all. Would kind of make sense they would have more numbers wouldn't it? Lmfao. They couldnt do it on their own though could they? That small "group" of volunteers is why England don't speak German right now.
There are 3 main reasons the Germans lost the Battle for British Air: the efficiency of Spitfires airplanes, the Radar system, and the Native land allowing their pilots return to duty unlike German pilot who got caught once catapuliting over the British land
The answer for why Germany didn’t invade is D-Day. You only have to look at the resources the Allies needed for that action to understand Germany had zero chance to invade at any point during the war.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Britain was only a satellite of the US by the end of 1940. Britain destroyed itself and its empire by siding with Communism in 1939.
Complete naval inferiority presented a "bit of a challenge" (in the style of British understatement). Germany: We'll send our forces over on un-seaworthy riverboats and barges with relatively no defense and assume a few mines we scatter around and our 800 or so bombers escorted by 600 or so fighters will frighten the Royal Navy away. RAF: We're still here. We have several hundred fighters ready to go and could make it a thousand if we send up our reserves. We're not going to just sit back and watch. Royal Navy: They call it the ENGLISH Channel. Rule Britania, Britania Rule the Waves. Britons Never Never Never Shall Be Slaves. Fight! Fight! Fight! (would pity the officers and crew of the last destroyers to get to the Channel who would have had nothing left to attack and would have to hang their heads when asked "How many German boats did you sink?")
@@iansneddon2956 Earl St. Vincent's statement to the House of Lords in 1801, 'I do not say, my Lords, that they will not come. I only say, they will not come by sea,' still held good in 1940. Or, as the remarkably named C-in-C at the Nore, Sir Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Earle-Drax, remarked, rather less elegantly 'To defeat the invasion force, we need gunfire and plenty of it.' The fact that the Royal Navy Pink List from 16 September, 1940, shows some seventy destroyers and light cruisers within five hours steaming of the Straits of Dover suggests that his wish might well have been granted.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 I recall the Admiralty said they could not guarantee that the Germans would not be able to land forces in the South of England. Due to the hours needed to assemble in strength. But they would ensure that whatever landed would not be reinforced or resupplied. For gunfire, it would be everything from the 8 inch, 6 inch and 4.7 inch main guns down to an abundance of 2 pounder pom-poms. But with the potential for a, in some context, significant force landed and fighting the British Army, I think the biggest battle would be after the smoke cleared and the Royal Navy and British Army argue about who the monument should be dedicated to (with the RAF wanting to weigh in too).
Britain didn't have the man power to launch an Invasion force on its own. While Britain provided the majority of ships on D day, the U.S had allot more Soldiers
We had a duty to fight, and we did lose everything, at the end we were bankrupt: the USA took over and at the end its GDP had increased enormously. Make of that what you may !
It was badly handled by the British commander who couldn't put his arrogance aside for a minute. Instead he sent a lower officer who ended up offending the French commander. The French were ready to sail to the French Caribbean Islands.
Mark, when I look at and I am forced to listen to all the “fuds” give their opinions on Ukraine it makes myself think like you. What was the point again?
13:00 Grandfather participated on the radar and infrastructure attacks with I./StG 77 at Thorney Island. Late fighter cover in and not enough fighter cover outbound meant it was a run for their lives back across the channel in slow Stukas. His pilot out of their last attack dive , dove low again and went very low over the channel and survived with the help of a Stuka defensive technique known as steep curves.
The Germans needed to gain more than control of the air to launch an invasion. They also needed naval superiority which they did not have. They only had 10+ destroyers having lost ten at Narvick. Without them they had nothing to defend the landing barges with, especially at night. Also the barges he wanted to use came from the Rhine and apart from a lot of them not having a reverse German industry needed those barges to function. The window for the Germans was extremely narrow.
The thing was that the British home fleet was way up in Northern Scotland Scapa Flow. It would take days for them to arrive. By that time most of the German troops would have landed. The British home fleet would have been able to block resupply.
@@mrbaab5932 The Navy was well informed of Germany's amphibious abilities, and would have been able to have a fleet in place in ample time to respond to any invasion attempt. It would take weeks to assemble an invasion force and the concentrated army would be an easy target to locate, although it would be costly to assault
Also read up on the seaborne part of the German invasion of Crete. Royal Navy destroyers got in amongst the barges and it was a disaster. The airborne part of the Crete operation that did succeed was however so costly that the Germans never tried it again. Attacking Britain where there were more forces available to resist would have been even more costly.
@@mrbaab5932 Anti-Invasion patrols that consisted of 60+ Destroyers and Cruisers were stationed 6 hours away, while the Home Fleet would reach the Channel within a day if they went full speed (which they absolutely would). Germany can't fight that, nor land enough forces before resupply gets cut off and the Germans start taking shells from the beaches and the seas.
I love documentaries made like this, narrated, historical footage, no talking heads repeating what the narrator just said, no contemporary investigative “reality tv” interrupting the flow, just old fashion documentary, perfect.
This is a whole series on history channel it's called WW2 in color
the maps make it fun and easier to follow along and understand
Couldn’t have said it better myself …
Nothing more annoying than shoveling 3-5 talking heads down our throats all saying the same thing in slightly different ways lol.
I agree very enlightening 👍
😊😊😊😊😊😊
The invention of radar was truly a remarkable invention.
Even more so the development of the cavity magnetron, which effectively miniaturised radar allowing it to be mounted on aircraft. That was a game-changer, especially in the battle for the Atlantic.
The Germans also had radar, but it was not as good as ours, and we kept a step ahead of them throughot the war..
Indeed
You can't beat the British for their sheer grit, intelligence and fortitude!
@@maryclynch9356 The French,Scottish,Germans,Alpines, Balkaners by far and objectively beat the British in all three of these things.
Every time I watch a WWII documentary I get blown away by the massive amount of courage and bravery of these men even on both sides. To go through what these people went through most people today couldn't even fathom it.
The urgency to be free is insurmountable.
Don't be hasty. We may soon find out.
@@VincentPope-hy3qb It wouldn’t be the same.
People then couldn't fathom it either. They had no choice to live through and do the best they could
"It would have been faster for a German Commander to ring Bletchly to get his orders" is one of the funniest lines I've heard in a long time. Love British humour.
Right?😂😂😂
Crossed over lines like in Blackadder?
Oyyyyyy its a tiddlywinker innnit???? U-S-A….U-S-A!!!!!! #revolutionarywarchamps
@@snasty5are you ok lol
how are you enjoying the current state of britian now? having fun over there
London Heathrow:
Border Control Officer asks: "Occupation?"
German tourist answers: "No, just visiting."
👍🏻
Got it on 2nd take. 😅😅
Well played, dear boy.
Bwhahahahaha
Lol. Germany and Britain went to war. Now they're friends and 🇯🇲 who was an allied for Britain can't enter Britain without a visa.
Give credit to Frank Sanazi the creator of that joke.
This series is one of the best for WW2, I watch it at least twice a year. I fall asleep to these 😂😂 am i insane? Maybe
You're not the only one. I tuck myself into bed many nights re-watching many myself. They are magnificent! 👍
It's like my grandad reading me a story
I fall asleep every night to each episode
@@kulio1214 same
Seems like a number of others are like you! I'm guessing I've watched the entire series 20+ times. It's so good! And, I too have fallen asleep watching.
this is my favorite series, I
love the intro.
Yes. This intro is like a lullaby
When I was in the US Navy I was stationed at RAF Edzell. I lived in Brechin on a street named after Watson-Watt.
Im a Scot and certainly heard of RAF Edzell for sure ..Brechin is in the "Angus region " of Scotland
not far from Arbroath and Dundee etc . My late Father was in the British Royal Navy and on Russian convoys with the British in war days . Awe the best bud 👍
Interesting 👍
I am 87 years old, college educated and mindful of modern history. Nevertheless, I find these epic stories of WW2 to be most informative and fascinating.Keep 'em coming. -michaelB, Detroit, MI
Watson What?
I lived on that base as a kid. Early seventies. My dad was a dentist there...USN
I learned Guy Fawkes Night (bonfire) before I learned Halloween.
I learned BBC humor and Monty Python before I learned American humor when we repatriated back to the States
We had at least one bunker on that base as a leftover from World War II... People hear about the blitz in London and all that but they don't realize how much Scotland was also bombed
We’ve let these men down who fought for this country the state it’s in today.
Ironically they fought for exactly this , the right for people to live how they want .
@@unnamedchannel1237 I dont want to be censored by youtube and all other media
You got that right. We are going down.
That's a fact!
The state of the country is exactly what they fought for, albeit unknowingly.
I also love these docs, they show the actual footage . Much respect to all of the brave men who filmed these dangerous times.
And women: Leni Riefenstahl, Martha Gellhorn and others
@@eustab.anas-mann9510 men, cry
@@darkxsolutionz3909 and women, seethe and cope
Some historians, such as David Holland, state that the RAF actually had more than 700 fighters as of August 1940. England was also significantly out producing Germany in fighters. Under Lord Beaverbrook, they also developed an excellent fighter repair program. Dowding was actually more worried about the number of rested and healthy pilots than about the number of RAF fighters.
And by the end of August the RAF had more available pilots than the Luftwaffe according to Bungay. It was the Luftwaffe that was losing the attrition rate in airmen, and aircraft. The RAF was stronger in September than in July. The opposite was the case for the Luftwaffe.
@boxlabsNonsense. The depots were over flowing. Britain produced 10,000 in 1940. Far more than 300 Spitfires were lost in 1940. A pittance considering 20,000 were produced during the war.
@@lyndoncmp5751According to serving records this is the case. To be specific, the British had more fighter pilots than the Germans by that time.
@@DannyBoy777777 The 10,000 figure sounds more like the number of combat aircraft. This included bombers and other fighters like the Boulton Paul Defiant. The reference I have has about 2,500 Hurricanes built in 1940, and about half as many Spitfires.
@boxlabs
"we had lots of pilots but not enough planes."
But we had enough of both to stop the Luftwaffe succeeding. The RAF prevented the Luftwaffe from defeating them in both the air and on the ground when they tried attacking the airfields, failing miserably over a sustained two week period end of August and beginning of September. The Luftwaffe lost more of their own planes than they destroyed during the attempt to destroy the airfields and no RAF sector stations were even shut down.
There is one reason why we germans did not invade Britain. We did not have the capacity to do so. We lacked the transport capacity and the naval strenght to block the channel. We could not have used "little ships" to invade Britain cause the little ships could not transport heavy equipment and therefore an invasion was an illusionary plan.
If you gained air dominance over English Channel then our navy would have been sitting ducks and an invasion would have been inevitable but thanks to RAF giving it there all and keeping air dominance over English Channel was absolutely vital.
Also, as my mother pointed out, the documentary Hogan's Heroes demonstrated how stupid we were.
@@aa1415 I second that.
Adolf Hitler's main goal was always to conquer Russia Britain was just a distraction, it was too expensive
After the invasion of the netherlands, and the amount of junkers our ancient air force managed to down before we surrendered (174 transport planes in 5 days) any para drop invasion of the UK was deemed way to risky anyway, and by boat.. yeah gl vs the british navy
A big thank you to the greatest generation, to those that survived and those that made the ultimate sacrifice for their country I thank you, the world should never forget them.
My dad, 3 of his brothers and a brother in law all signed up together, happily they all returned, all gone now, bless them, imagine what their parents must have gone through also.
@andrewh5457 thank you for sharing this, the generation was the greatest the world had ever see, and most likely never happen again, when I meet a veteran I always thank them and shake their hands as a sign of respect
They are ant ready forgotton by about 98% of the population
Love, love, love these straightforwards videos. One voice. No interruptions.
This is an absolutely excellent documentary. The narration, the footage, everything. Thank you.
I've always known about Bletchley Park's part in the cracking of the Enigma code, but never known about the brilliant, essential Polish groundwork which provided the foundation for that achievement. Fantastic, all of you.
It highlights the difference between Britain's approach in the war and Germany's. Britain received aid from Poland, with a Polish government in exile in Britain. Norway joined them. The British war effort was aided by Polish, Norwegian and Czech forces. Their good relations with former colonies (Dominions like Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and support from India who contributed large forces for the war effort as well.
And entering into agreements to share all technology helped Britain and USA to leap ahead technologically during the war.
German tech gets famous through wonder-weapons. But look at German guided weapons tech - a clumsy guidance system where a bombardier far behind the bomb would backseat-fly it into the target using the "Mark I eyeball." Less than a year later the US Navy deployed the first self-guided weapon - a radar guided bomb that would fly itself to the target allowing the launching aircraft to maneuver/evade after launching it.
Look at the list of nations in the United Nations Alliance by the end of the war. The Allies made friends where they went. The Germans turned the world against them.
(interesting example, the Americans solved some of their early logistical challenges in North Africa by shipping vehicles over in parts and training locals to assemble the vehicles for them offering higher wages than they were earning before. In contrast, you could look up the sabotage that was done by French workers on the trucks they were forced to build for the German war effort.)
@@iansneddon2956 Interesting points to think about when considering a certain person's threat to leave NATO.
@@BadgersjHe's not the only one.
@@iansneddon2956 - South Africa also contributed troops to the war effort as it was a British colony in those days till 1961.
It's well worth a visit if you can get there.
This has been my go-to wwii documentary for years
Check hellstorm or europa the last battle
Be kind , re-wind
My dad was involved in all this. He was a brilliant mathematician as is my son. Even today his war record is not available to us, his family. Ultra won the war in Europe and the Pacific.
Yeah stop lying 🤥
No doubt Ultra was a great innovation. But what won the war for the Allies (on both fronts) was America's ability to out manufacture war materials better than anyone else on the planet.
@@MangoTroubles-007You base your response on nothing but your own ignorance and tendency towards rudeness.
😂😂😂
@@ianworley8169oh my, ewwwww
It wasnt only the South East it was all over the UK there are still 5 pill boxes within walking distance of my home in Sunderland
This is very well done.I had a number of relatives who were in the military in WWII. I even had an uncle in the Marines who met his wife,an Australian female soldier during the fighting.They had each other's back for the rest of their lives.❤😢
“Australian female soldier” I would love to hear more about her and what she did. Aussies are good people and have always helped us here in the US. They are tough, resourceful, have integrity, and a true grit.
Some of the best you find on the internet. You really feel living in the that time.
This has made me want to go watch the film battle of britain
Fantastic movie they don’t make them like that anymore
Still a great film enjoy the aircraft in the film no CGI then they were loaned by air forces and museums etc
The greatest story never told is even better, or europa the last battle/battle europa. If you've got the fortitude and integrity Hellstorm is a must watch
In my late 90s I remember it well. The Blitz the rationing and we never gave a thought of surrender .
We fought the wrong enemy twice.
your bravery is admirable, now the other enemy in the east wants a fight. we must all be like your people and fight on. europe will never again be conquered
@@chozer1 The USSR was the only enemy in 1939-45.
Islam Has conquered Europe they're finished@@chozer1
@@MarkHarrison733 Don't talk such nonsense.
The British have always had a gift for resisting the enemy without.
Sadly, they never see the enemy within.
You mean its own political establishment now fully infiltrated & corrupted by corporate globalism?
somethings gotta change
The British were the awful people who went around looting, pillaging and destroying the rest of the world. Who's this enemy within that you speak of?
@@ukdude25 and @v1e1r1g1e1 You both could start by telling us what you think (if you CAN think) the 'enemy within' is. And what 'change/s' you recommend. These unspecific but ominous-sounding insinuations are ridiculous - SAY WHAT YOU MEAN - and tell us what your 'solution' would be. Then your readers - if any - can decide how much sense you make. It's easy to sound clever without saying anything of substance.
A gift called the english channel
Polish,NewZealand,Australian and South African pilots also answered the call and fought for England in the battle of Britain
I thought I'd create a simple "visual aid" in order to assist people learning about the history of the battle of Britain. There is much ongoing debate about the nationalities and proportions of RAF fighter pilots who took part in the battle, with occasionally a furtive aspect which attempts to portray the battle as a victory of "mostly Foreign pilots". Below is an accurate graphical representation of the proportion of pilot nationalities serving within RAF Fighter Command during the summer of 1940.
Each flag is roughly equivalent to 30 pilots, The numbers after each nation are the actual number of pilots from that country, and the approximate percentage of RAF Fighter Command's establishment in the summer of 1940 that they represented.
🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 UK (2342) (80%)
🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱 Poland (145) (5%)
🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿 New Zealand (127) (4%)
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Canada (112) (4%) (1940 flag emoji not available)
🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 Czechoslovakia (88) (3%)
🇦🇺 Australia (32) (1%)
🇧🇪 Belgium (28) (1%)
🇿🇦 S. Africa (25) (1%) (1940 flag emoji not available)
🇺🇳 Other nations (France (13), R o Ireland (10), USA (9), Rhodesia (3), Newfoundland (1), Jamaica (1), Barbados (1)) (1%)
(And just to preempt any wandering idiot lefty "Identity warriors" from protesting about "The lack of credit given to the black pilots who fought in the battle of Britain"... the pilots from South Africa, Rhodesia & the Caribbean were all of white descent).
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684Brilliant,thank you for putting the record straight.
@@BingoFrogstrangler The British historic record has never attempted to airbrush the commonwealth and foreign pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command that summer out of history... but there's an increasing number of revisionist anti-Brit commenters who brazenly try to over represent the foreign contribution and downplay the overwhleming role of British born pilots..... attempting to snidily portray the situation as one where "Europe saved Britain" when the opposite is FAR closer to the truth.
For further information search out the "Battle of Britain Historical Society" and the "Battle of Britain Memorial Trust" who continue to catalogue and honour the lives of ALL those who took part in the British side of the struggle in 1940.
@@BingoFrogstrangler The British historic record has never attempted to airbrush the commonwealth and foreign pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command that summer out of history... but there's an increasing number of revisionist anti-Brit commenters who brazenly try to over represent the foreign contribution and downplay the overwhleming role of British born pilots..... attempting to snidily portray the situation as one where "Europe saved Britain" when the opposite is FAR closer to the truth. That was my motivation to quickly assemble my post above.
For further information search out the "Battle of Britain Historical Society" and the "Battle of Britain Memorial Trust" who continue to catalogue and honour the lives of ALL those who took part in the British side of the struggle in 1940.
And then Churchill kicked the Poles out of the country, lied about the Russian massacre of Polish citizen in the Katrina forest and gave Poland to Russia
The Nazis gave up on operation Sealion because they lost air superiority in the Battle of britain, and without the means to contain the Royal navy in the channel they could never conceive of invading Britain.
This is truly one of my all time favorite TV series indeed on WW2 along with The World At War series and all the various others, I used to watch them all endlessly back in my much younger years indeed!👌😉👍.
This the great, the colour in so well done. I hate the fact that the two men who did the most to win the Battle of Britain, Sir Hugh Dowding and Keith Park were stabbed in the back by Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Douglas Bader. Their "Big Wing" tactics were grossly over exaggerated both men lied to get Dowding and Park fired and succeeded. The Big Wing when used in 1941 resulted in the greatest loss of RAF fighter pilots in the whole war.
Mallory was a confident moron with power, that's always a disaster. Beggars belief people like that are tolerated when the countries future is at stake.
I thought the Poles won the battle of Britain on there own
@@briansanderson480 It seems like that but 303 Polish Squadron were combat experienced at a time when most RAF pilots were green. The RAF soon caught up.
That's interesting - did not know that.
@@jamesbarbour8400 I read about the whole episode some years ago. Bader lied when he came home in 1945 trying to say he and Leigh-Mallory never plotted, but its on record that they did. Bader fell victim to the Big Wing in1941, that tactic killed 4 RAF pilots to each German.
History and the preservation of these historical events cannot be underestimated for their value for future conflicts !
As it’s always been , history repeats itself !
I read William L Shirer's autobiography. Volume 2 covered his years as a radio correspondent for CBS in Berlin. The Germans in 1940 toured the foreign press around the channel ports to show how many barges they had prepared for Operation Sealion. Shirer, who was familiar with the area from his many years in France, wondered why what should have been a trip of minutes by car took hours. The he realized the barges from port to port had the same registration numbers. In his broadcast about what he saw, he compared the barges to certain American baseball players, a reference the German censors completely missed, but American audiences realized the players in question had kept the same uniform numbers when traded from team to team. The Germans had no where near enough transport for 20 divisions.
'The Germans had no where near enough transport for 20 divisions.' The assault wave was to consist of nine divisions and a seriously under strength parachute division.
Walter Ansel, who had access to Kriegsmarine records at the end of the war, determined that the Germans had requisitioned 180 transport ship (largely small coasting vessels), just over 2,100 converted barges, 400 tugs/trawlers, and 1,200 motor boats, The first wave was to consist of around 850 barges, towed in pairs by the tugs/trawlers and the transports, would carry the leading elements of each division.
The Germans had enough vessels to carry out their alloted tasks. What they did not have, of course, was any means of protecting this ramshackle flotilla from the 70 RN cruisers and destroyers which were based some five hours steaming from Dover, supported by around 500 or so smaller warships.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 And I would add that with 21 infantry divisions and 2 armored divisions of the British Army (all fully equipped) that's over 400,000 troops defending Britain against a force that wouldn't be much (if any) over 100,000 men.
@@iansneddon2956 Churchill apparently was even willing to go as far as to use chemical weapons on the beach landings, that's the kind of measures he would have took if it meant stopping a German invasion.
Well observed and a skilled way of divulging 🫡
Almost all the barges came from Germanys inland waterways they could never have made it safely across the channel
Thank you War Stories. ALWAYS looking forward to your new episodes with eager anticipation!
Bot
Britain had women working in their factories. British & US production of war technologies was unbeatable.
I don't know, the Soviet War Machine and it's production was just on a completely different scale to both...
@@BW-vp3yk More so than the British, buy not the U.S
You mean us production of war technology. Such a shame the one thing you were known for (your navy) is basically non existent now LMAO
@@eddie-v7c everything is pointless in the face of nukes. Congrats you have a big military and have yet to win a war since ww2, very impressive USA.
Don’t listen to insult because the UK had bombs landing on industry, homes and shipyards during the war as being IN the war zone is completely different to just being involved! Women replaced the men who were fighting and seen dangers that today’s workers have never seen
When the British were brave, resourceful, and resolute.
And blinded by false media lies to fight the wrong enemy
"1930's appeasement", Sept. 3, 1939 when Poland fought alone, the Phoney War 1939-40, Dunkirk June 1940 ??? Or after when they got back to the UK and didn't have to stand, fight, stop and defeat the German Army anymore? Russia did that
@@davidshoup3856 people seem to forget the jewish bolsheviks in russia were the aggressor in the east and the jewish crimes against german civilians in territory given to the polish in the versailles treaty
get a grip
It's weird how some people think that the citizens of England past were somehow different to us today 🤔
This is not the case, we are exactly the same as our grandparents generation and they would behave exactly as we do now in our environment.
Please stop blurring the images that display the human casualties of war. I don’t mind tapping ‘OK’ to proceed. It’s not a bother at all.
This series has been uploaded 10 other times at least on other channel’s uncensored
It's because ads wont be shown and it will not reach as many people. The video would get way less views thanks to youtubes policies
I guess there waiting for us to witness it again before long and we will 😢😢😢
Why do you want to see that? It says a lot about you tbh
@matt.willoughby it's human history. Stop censoring it.
My Grandads both fought,im very proud of all the men and women who served and assisted. 🇬🇧 God bless them. Enjoyed the video.
I bet they would be sick at the state of England today
@@johnsmith-mq4eq They definitely would. 😤
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Typical hyperbole.
@@storyann not a shred of hyperbole in that statement
@@storyannexplain??
@@storyannI f**king DARE YOU to tell me how.
Love listening to these while I try to sleep
Utterly superb, engaging, factual, and inyeresting piece with original footage. Perfect!
" There was never any question of Britain cracking ". This makes me immensely proud to be a Briton. ❤
Excellent documentary. Thank you for keeping alive an historic moment of the modern history.
Germany did not have the ability to invade Britain. In September 1940, their operational surface fleet was one heavy cruiser, three light cruisers and five or six destroyers. They had no landing craft.
Apparently they had two prototype landing craft, which presumably would have been rather full.
Much impressed by the quality of this documentary. Thanks for sharing!
My dad was intelligence officer on the Loftenen Raid. He later lived in the mountains in Norway with the resistance and learned to speak Norwegian. He was on of the 20 officers sent from Afghanistan to England because of a shortage of officers with war experience. They knew all the dirty tricks from the Afghans. One of their first operations in Norway involved an ambush of 60 Germans on bicycles. They killed all of them.
Interesting stuff!
Good bless your father.
I remember when this series was on Netflix. Glad to see it's on RUclips! Gonna rewatch for the 3rd time now
yet it sounds like something from the History channel (which some jokingly called it the WW2 channel because of just how much content about WW2 was aired in the 90's)
WW2 in colour is still my absolute favourite WW2 documentary
Outstanding video
Bot
Not even close my friend and friends take care of friends
Your friends are a strange lot , others call them collaborators or those who look the other way meekly allowing tyranny to happen
I'm not surprised my friend we love history and weapons and want everyone to know American history and this scares people who don't want to know American history and right and wrong
If you don't know history you will repeat history
Often forgotten is at that time the U.K. had a huge navy. Hitlers generals knew that any attempt to cross the channel the ships in Scapa flow would move into the channel and under cover of the Air Force would decimate the German troops in there barges. Also at that time the U.K. standing army saved from Dunkirk would have dispatched any airborne troops ,together with a population who hated the Nazis. So it’s easy to see why operation sea lion was cancelled .
There is another operation going on these days and seems to be a bit slower, but its working. Nostradamus wrote about it, The invasion of Europe from the south.
Which barges? The ones germany did not have?
@@arnepietruszewski9255 The Germans had assembled 2,400 barges for the invasion 860 from Germany, 1200 from the Netherlands and Belgium and 350 from France . 800 were powered .The plan was to tow all the barges by tugs to the U.K. shore the powered ones would then make there way ashore the unpowered ones would be towed ashore by the tugs.
@@arnepietruszewski9255 The Germans had assembled 2,400 barges for the invasion 860 from Germany, 1200 from the Netherlands and Belgium and 350 from France . 800 were powered .The plan was to tow all the barges by tugs to the U.K. shore the powered ones would then make there way ashore the unpowered ones would be towed ashore by the tugs.
@@Busybee-tt1qu What could possibly have gone wrong with any of that?
I'm sure the RAF and the Royal Navy would have been completely fair and sporting by letting them get across without interference on a nice sunny day with no nasty waves to make them a bit seasick.
Very interesting video. Loved it
bro watched a 52 minute video in 3 minutes
the presentation this documentary….. such a perfect way of making a video. don’t even have to look at his channel, it’s an instant sub. 🙏❤️
Two reasons: No air dominance and no sea dominance over the invasion area.
They had air dominance over Southern England until the decision was made to switch bombing priorities to the London area. In fact prior to that fateful order the RAF was less than a week from total collapse in the South and even Churchill remarked that the accidental bombing of Berlin was a Godsend to their survival because it drew Hitler's rage away from their already crippled air bases and gave them the breathing room the RAF needed.
@@jebbroham1776 WRONG! They NEVER had even air superiority over South England. They ALWAYS lost more pilots than the British did. LMAO
@@Marcus-p5i5s WRONG, the RAF in September 1940 was on it’s last gasp when Goering switched targets to London and other major cities.
Plus transportation, Hugh number of very large ships
@@philliphall5198 Yes, they completely lacked landing craft of all types
Excellent Vid. Thanks for the upload.
It's from a series, world at war (in colour HD) or something, it's at the start of the video - Well renowned series has been around a while now totally worth a watch
@@LewisDM
Yeah, it’s been around a while. I heard you can find it in the fictional category on any website. Such as Netflix.
How the heck are you able to drop so many awesome vids in such a short amount of time
Well this video is well from the documentary ww2 in colour so he's just narrating over it
There is one aircraft not mentioned in this documentary that was crucial to the winning of the air war with Germany. It is the De Haviland Mosquito (DH98). It was an aircraft made out of wood was very fast and could be used as either a fighter or as a bomber. They were used mainly for night fighting when equipped with radar, which the British had, it would also fly out ahead of several bombing missions and as the Germans got airborne they would ambush them and destroy many of the fighters. So you could say the British had discovered stealth technology when this plane was built because the Germans had radar shortly after taking over France, with the DH98 being made from wood and some plastics it had a smaller than normal radar signature and it was ignored.
It's not mentioned because you are wrong with respect to the question of what stopped Hitler's invasion plans.
The Mosquito did play a part later in the war but that was after the end of 1941 when the Americans were on board and the threat of invasion had subsided.
Also the Mosquito was not designed as a fighter. It was a stealth bomber against specific targets. Fighter capability was later added, but it was not designed as a dog fight plane relying on speed not manoeuvrabiluty or armour.
So your mention of the Mosquito with regard to the topic in question is entirely wrong.
I think they ignored the mosquitos cause they were not the most dangerous targets in the sky. Why should you attack some small squadrons of mosquitos if you can attack a 1000 bomber swarm? The mosquitos did not have the carry capacity of B-17 or B-24 or the heavy british bombers which makes it a less viable target also it was fast sometimes even as fast as a fighter. Dont get me wrong, the Mosquito was the best twin engine plane of WW2 but it was not decisive in any way. The Mosquito was somewhat of a special operations plane used for special tasks like shooting down fighters that were returning to base or bomb special targets that could only be attacked by fast low flying planes. If they had used it like an heavy bomber we would look different at it.
Like the chap stated it did come later, but the brilliance of the thing, stopping a Göring speech on live radio and the Goebbels speech too. Göring said of it:
In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked
@@wobblybobengland That is the genius of it, plus the fact it could not be seen on radar either.
Thank you "War Stories" 👍😊 .... ❤Excellent narration and coordinated colorized film. ❤
As an American and a US Army veteran, I have always admired the people of the British Empire and in particular the people of England that had no Surrender in them during WW2 and fought on against the Nazis even though their situation looked hopeless.🤥😳
The US and the British Empire were on the wrong side in both world wars.
it seems to me that the English or generally the British have the curious and unfortunate habit of transforming their defeats, their disasters into victories and of blaming other countries for their incompetence by treating their armies as cowards who surrender when they hear a gunshot. Operation Dynamo was prepared in the greatest secrecy from May 15, 1940. The British King George VI, known as the Stutterer, Prime Minister Churchill, Admiral Ramsay and General Gord did not at any time warn the French military and political authorities. It was a stab in the back of the French, Belgian and Dutch, according to the English King George VI, known as the Stutterer: As far as I am concerned, I am happy that we no longer have allies towards whom we should be kind. This idiot of a king forgot that thousands of French soldiers died because of the cowardice of the British during an interview. stormy in July 1944 between the British Minister Churchill and General De Gaulles, head of the resistance and of Free France. Churchill said: if we have to choose between the open sea and France, the United Kingdom will always choose the open sea! General De Gaulles' response: But you British have already chosen the open sea in 1802 against the armies at La Coruña! but also in May and June 1940
On the German side, General Georg von Küchler commands the XVIIIth Army of the Wehrmacht, fully engaged against the Dunkirk pocket. In his war diary, this high-ranking officer salutes the valiant resistance of the French troops. "
" Despite our overwhelming numerical and material superiority, the French troops counterattack in several places. I cannot understand how such valiant soldiers, fighting in various places one against ten (sometimes even one against thirty), manage to still find enough strength to launch an assault: it is simply astonishing! I find in the French soldiers of Dunkirk the same ardor as that of the poilus of Verdun in 1916. For several days hundreds of bombers and cannons have been pounding the French defenses. However, it is always the same thing, our infantry and our tanks cannot break through, despite some ephemeral local successes. The French command has very skillfully installed its troops and artillery. I fear that Dunkirk will be a failure for us: almost the entire British expeditionary force will escape us, because a few thousand very brave French soldiers block our access to the sea. It is appalling, but that is how it is. "
" Dunkirk proves to me that the French soldier is one of the best in the world. The French artillery, so feared in 14-18, once again demonstrates its formidable efficiency. Our losses are terrifying: many battalions have lost 60% of their personnel, sometimes even more! "
"By resisting for ten days our forces, clearly superior in numbers and means, the French army accomplished, at Dunkirk, a superb feat that should be saluted. It saved Great Britain from defeat, by allowing its professional army to reach the English coast. "
It was informative and wonderful historical coverage video about that matter.
Growing up in England I was immensely grateful that all my grandparents had somehow survived the war, I was one of a handful at school who got to grow up in a family that wasn’t shattered by the nazis. One grandfather fought with the expeditionary force and then in north Africa, the other manned a flak cannon in London then took part in the dday invasion, my grandmothers both worked in munitions factories throughout the war. They have all long since passed but had I grown up without their love and guidance I would be a much different person. I will always be proud to be British in spite of whatever current circumstances because of their bravery, sacrifice and indomitable spirit. No other nation could have withstood alone against such wanton, well organized hatred for so long. It nearly destroyed us and left us too weak militarily and without the will to stand against our allies at yalta but all must recognize that such spirit will inevitably rise to the fore once again.
Britain was never alone.
@@MarkHarrison733 Oh look! The one sentence troll is here again.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 The entire world was at war with Germany from 24 March 1933 onwards.
Hope you have passed on those great genes,they were all so brave,
@@dovetonsturdee7033 We fought the wrong enemy twice.
My Great Grandfather personally took out at least ten Luftwaffe Aircraft, He always was a Terrible Mechanic.
A well resolved documentary of the standard we used to get. Reminded me of the World-At-War series from the 70s.
Short answer: no fleet .
Long answer: no fleet whatsoever.
While the British army WAS short on Equipment, the Weremacht was COMPLETELY unsuited to a channel crossing.
On top to that the Royal Navy was a superpower, AND the RAF was well prepared with it's fleet of Hurricanes and the newer spitfires, AND it's vastly superior command and control system, and of course the RADAR chain home system.
The chances of Germany even launching an invasion were slim and there was no real chance of success.
The allies were well aware of Germany's lack of amphibious equipment, and if Germany were to attempt a crossing Britain had the forces in its navy and airforce to stop any attempt.
Yeah the Royal Navy alone had around 75 destroyers off the coast of kent, the Germans would be screwed if they tried it.
Only temporarily short of equipment.
By August 1940 the British Army troops in UK were fully equipped. 21 infantry divisions. 2 armored divisions. A third armored division training up. Surplus tanks and artillery were being sent to Egypt to bolster the defense of the vital Suez canal.
So over 400,000 troops of the British Army ready to meet an invasion of their homeland. Germany couldn't reasonably hope to get more than a quarter of this number across the Channel.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- I have read it was 67 destroyers stationed around the UK for the Home Fleet. It would take time to get this force in the Channel but after that Germany could not resupply or reinforce its vastly outnumbered invasion force.
Couldn’t agree more. D Day took 2 years planning, Sealion was approximately 12 weeks from inception to abandonment. Churchill knew very early that invasion risk was minimal but having the threat out there was very useful at a difficult military and political time.
@@iansneddon2956 There were a considerable number of ships, even including heavy units, stationed within a hour of two of the Channel, there were also ships actually stationed in Channel ports. The RN patrolled the Chanel every night during the period of the invasion threat.
The colorization is perfect
The colorization is amazing but some poor choice guesses were made. Neither the British nor German single-engine fighter aircraft used a green-on-green camouflage during the Battle of Britain and it was rare to see a red spinner on those aircraft. Reichsmarschall Göring's uniform was often a distinctive pale blue.
I was once tootling about the A5 - as you do - exploring for photography - & end up on a smaller road with what at first glance looked like a standard WW2 memorial stone - with writing on it.
It was just sat there by a gate to a very small field - about as innocuous as it gets!
I thought that I should at least take the trouble to stop & read it.
Turns out - it was the Birth of Radar Memorial!!
In that very field, they set up the first tower - to demonstrate the concept - as it needed a direct line of sight to the second tower, in Daventry.
It was just awesome to think what the goings-on on that field represented & were - so many moons ago.
This deserves way more views!
The German army in 1940 could absolutely not land “on the beach”. They had no landing craft. Only the Americans and Japanese were equipped for amphibious landing. The German army would have had to disembark at the various ports in southern England. Oddly enough, the British had a pretty good idea where these ports were located, so knew where to concentrate their defence. In fact, just a few scuttled ships would have been an effective deterrent.
Oh, and there was never a possibility that the RAF could have been eliminated in the Battle of Britain. Air Chief Marshal Dowding was very well aware that the RAF had to be preserved in the event of an invasion attempt and he was very careful to avoid over committing his resources to the air battle with the Luftwaffe. The Nazis would never have been able to ensure air superiority to protect an seaborne invasion fleet.
That is not quite true as I believe that the German Navy did have landing craft in 1940, and I expect that for an important operation like Sealion they would have made sure that both of them were available.
A very enjoyable watch. Thank you.
This is a great documentary, wish I found this channel sooner.
They were never alone. The Commonwealth says Hi!
Apart from one Canadian division and two Australian & New Zealand brigades, no it didn't in 1940.
Please provide us with the details of the luftwaffe air assaults on Canberra, Ottawa, Delhi and Wellington? Or how the Wehrmacht stood poised to launch its invasion of the Indian sub continent or Canada? Or how the Kriegsmarine attempted to strangle the British Empire out of the war by enforcing a u-boat blockade of Australia and New Zealand?
Oh news just coming in...... NONE OF THOSE THINGS HAPPENED because the ONLY nation facing ALL of those threats between July 1940 and April 1941 was Great Britain ALONE.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Greece was at war in 1940.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 'Britain stood alone' refers to the time before the US joined the war. It wasn't true because we had the backing of all the Commonwealth countries that also declared war on Germany. Germany didn't try to invade or bomb the USA either, so there goes your theory.
@@Poliss95Don’t think you understand fully the concept of being along when the commonwealth was thousands of miles away! The US did not enter the war at that point and were not fully giving materials until the end of the Battle of Britain.
Extremely well done documentary! I enjoyed it very much!
So many heroes, most of whom we'll never hear of. In a real way we owe them our continued freedom - let's not squander it. They deserve a better legacy than that.
This series is very well done but The World at War is the definitive WWII series in my opinion. WWII in Colour borrows heavily from it on multiple levels.
I prefer "Europa the last battle" Much more factual.
0:36 she was broken. Poor woman
Our mistake was fighting the Germans. We lost everything after WW2.
Would you have recommended captulation instead?
That's why the Americans stayed out of the war, they were bleeding the uk dry.
Everyone who reads this, we don't know each other and probably never will but I wish you all the best in life and all the luck in the world
Old documentary but one of the best.
They didn't invade because they never achieved air superiority. Thanks to our brave airmen.
American airmen.. yea
@@willydawg99 about 75% of fighter command pilots in 1940 were British or empire. The next largest contingent was polish. Then french. There were no more than a handful of American volunteers.
Even if they had achieved that they wouldn't invade. They would've gotten massacred and lost the war and they knew it. They hoped to coax the British government into negotiations by striking fear into the population
@@christopherhogg8364 well they were fighting over there? As germans ran through them all. Would kind of make sense they would have more numbers wouldn't it? Lmfao. They couldnt do it on their own though could they? That small "group" of volunteers is why England don't speak German right now.
@@willydawg99You skip your Geography lessons?You couldn't even defend Pearl Harbour. The Japs flew in right under your noses. 🤦
Thank Mr Felton!
There are 3 main reasons the Germans lost the Battle for British Air: the efficiency of Spitfires airplanes, the Radar system, and the Native land allowing their pilots return to duty unlike German pilot who got caught once catapuliting over the British land
One of best documentaries i have seen in long time
I like to see this type of documentaries with good background explanation
The answer for why Germany didn’t invade is D-Day. You only have to look at the resources the Allies needed for that action to understand Germany had zero chance to invade at any point during the war.
American industrial strength was and still is, mindblowing
Still is? How do you figure that?
@@seane6616it is, and america re-industrialize under Biden
Most "American" cars are made in Mexico now.
america's industrial power has been stripped and given to other countries, if trump gets in power he will bring some of it back
As a Brit I’m forever grateful to our American brothers and sisters 🤝
Educate yourself more and you'll discover that Britain saved itself INSPITE of the US as much as it did BECAUSE of the US.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Britain was only a satellite of the US by the end of 1940.
Britain destroyed itself and its empire by siding with Communism in 1939.
So am I. In particular I am grateful for the food America provided to keep us alive.
@@paultaylor9498 Beat me to it Paul. Well said.
@@bloggsie45 Britain could just steal food from its colonies, hence the Bengal Famine.
What a brilliantly well done documentary. Thanks.
Germany lost the air war over Britain and you can not do a amphibious landing without complete air superiority .
Complete naval inferiority presented a "bit of a challenge" (in the style of British understatement).
Germany: We'll send our forces over on un-seaworthy riverboats and barges with relatively no defense and assume a few mines we scatter around and our 800 or so bombers escorted by 600 or so fighters will frighten the Royal Navy away.
RAF: We're still here. We have several hundred fighters ready to go and could make it a thousand if we send up our reserves. We're not going to just sit back and watch.
Royal Navy: They call it the ENGLISH Channel. Rule Britania, Britania Rule the Waves. Britons Never Never Never Shall Be Slaves. Fight! Fight! Fight!
(would pity the officers and crew of the last destroyers to get to the Channel who would have had nothing left to attack and would have to hang their heads when asked "How many German boats did you sink?")
@@iansneddon2956 Earl St. Vincent's statement to the House of Lords in 1801, 'I do not say, my Lords, that they will not come. I only say, they will not come by sea,' still held good in 1940.
Or, as the remarkably named C-in-C at the Nore, Sir Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Earle-Drax, remarked, rather less elegantly 'To defeat the invasion force, we need gunfire and plenty of it.'
The fact that the Royal Navy Pink List from 16 September, 1940, shows some seventy destroyers and light cruisers within five hours steaming of the Straits of Dover suggests that his wish might well have been granted.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 I recall the Admiralty said they could not guarantee that the Germans would not be able to land forces in the South of England. Due to the hours needed to assemble in strength. But they would ensure that whatever landed would not be reinforced or resupplied.
For gunfire, it would be everything from the 8 inch, 6 inch and 4.7 inch main guns down to an abundance of 2 pounder pom-poms.
But with the potential for a, in some context, significant force landed and fighting the British Army, I think the biggest battle would be after the smoke cleared and the Royal Navy and British Army argue about who the monument should be dedicated to (with the RAF wanting to weigh in too).
Britain didn't have the man power to launch an Invasion force on its own. While Britain provided the majority of ships on D day, the U.S had allot more Soldiers
@@JamalBrown-k1x Actually, for every two US soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy, there were three British & Canadians.
this is on military channel weekly
We had a duty to fight, and we did lose everything, at the end we were bankrupt: the USA took over and at the end its GDP had increased enormously. Make of that what you may !
Germany never wanted to go to war with the UK.
No it would have much preferred to have been left alone while it conquered the rest of Europe.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 No they had zero interest in Britain, there wan't any reason to conquer Britain
Churchills speech still makes me shiver today .... Be the best 🇬🇧
If you see this, please send positive vibes my way. I’ve been struggling with health issues for years and could use your prayers.
👍
The Germans thought they were the playground bully, then they got cracked in the jaw.
"Judea declares war on Germany" Daily Express 1933. Germany wasn't a bully they were acting defensively.
True @@seansmith445
They died for the state Britain is today. Shameful, they died for nothing.
I agree
As a 🇬🇧
We have to fight
Simply put : The Royal Navy and the RAF !
Captain of the French ship needed that graph of f&$@ around and find out. He miscalculated how much find out he was going to get.
It was badly handled by the British commander who couldn't put his arrogance aside for a minute. Instead he sent a lower officer who ended up offending the French commander. The French were ready to sail to the French Caribbean Islands.
Wow! Cool, informative video! 😎
You have to think how much luck and good providence involved in WW2. The English Channel has saved us many times.
We were on the wrong side.
Mark, when I look at and I am forced to listen to all the “fuds” give their opinions on Ukraine it makes myself think like you. What was the point again?
@@hughbarr8408 At least Ukraine joined the Axis.
Not now. They sail in boats with the help of our generous government
It just didnt feel reich
Hahahaha
13:00 Grandfather participated on the radar and infrastructure attacks with I./StG 77 at Thorney Island.
Late fighter cover in and not enough fighter cover outbound meant it was a run for their lives back across the channel in slow Stukas.
His pilot out of their last attack dive , dove low again and went very low over the channel and survived with the help of a Stuka defensive technique known as steep curves.
The Germans needed to gain more than control of the air to launch an invasion. They also needed naval superiority which they did not have. They only had 10+ destroyers having lost ten at Narvick. Without them they had nothing to defend the landing barges with, especially at night. Also the barges he wanted to use came from the Rhine and apart from a lot of them not having a reverse German industry needed those barges to function. The window
for the Germans was extremely narrow.
The thing was that the British home fleet was way up in Northern Scotland Scapa Flow. It would take days for them to arrive. By that time most of the German troops would have landed. The British home fleet would have been able to block resupply.
@@mrbaab5932 The Navy was well informed of Germany's amphibious abilities, and would have been able to have a fleet in place in ample time to respond to any invasion attempt. It would take weeks to assemble an invasion force and the concentrated army would be an easy target to locate, although it would be costly to assault
Home fleet would of thrown themselves into a German invasion. The destroyer captains tended to be little cooked
Also read up on the seaborne part of the German invasion of Crete. Royal Navy destroyers got in amongst the barges and it was a disaster. The airborne part of the Crete operation that did succeed was however so costly that the Germans never tried it again. Attacking Britain where there were more forces available to resist would have been even more costly.
@@mrbaab5932
Anti-Invasion patrols that consisted of 60+ Destroyers and Cruisers were stationed 6 hours away, while the Home Fleet would reach the Channel within a day if they went full speed (which they absolutely would). Germany can't fight that, nor land enough forces before resupply gets cut off and the Germans start taking shells from the beaches and the seas.
friday night, 12 AM, great bed time story to listen to!
anybody else?
@18::50 That "No reserves" quote is repeated re France in 1940 and here in the Battle of Britain. Word for word.