As a German native speaker i'm always thoroughly impressed by Mr. Feltons pronunciation of these old German names. It's small details like these, that make this channel so perfect and well deserving of the recognition it's getting. Next to the massive amount of information that is so well presented that is.
@@spacewater7 As a bi-lingual speaker myself (English and German), I too am very impressed with Dr. Felton's impeccable German pronunciation. It comes as a surprise, considering that 99% of Englishmen (Americans, Australians, etc.) sound terrible when trying to pronounce German - even those native English speakers who've been studying German for years. I also have to give props to Aaaargle (the native German) for commending Dr. Felton, and for refraining from the tired, worn out standard defeatist line, "the victors write the history", which is obviously nonsense. Aaaargl seems like a stand-up guy, as opposed to a pimple on me arse called spacewater7. Clearly the number 7 indicates the age at which your maturity and mental development came to a screetching halt. Are those the only two German words you know?
I remember when some people objected because there was "too much WW2 stuff on History Channel". Are you happy now?! Thanks for Dr Felton and his awesome videos, the light shines on!
Thank you Mr. Felton for always making a point of mentioning the Canadian forces involvement in the allied assaults during the invasion and beyond, and for making the distinction between Canadian and British forces. Too many historians have often failed to do so in the past; your recognition is greatly appreciated.
Proud of the fact I "discovered" Dr Felton when he had posted half a dozen clips on this channel. I thought "There's something going on here". "He knows his stuff". Understatement of the century. Incredibly rare footage . French Hotchkiss self propelled guns if my knowledge serves me. As many suggest you do need your own series Dr Felton. Incredible attention to detail. They dont give those doctorates out "willy nilly' :)
Agree with you all the way up to the showing of Otto Carius at 8:44. He was not in the West til 1945.. But Beckers homemade Hotchkiss Assault Guns were a nice touch..
Yes. It's remarkable just how much dross there is on 'YT' re-WWII and it is rare to find anything recent that has much historical depth. So many enthusiastic (American) contributions to WWII history suffer from a real lack of historical knowledge, specialist insight or breadth of perspective.
I don't know why anyone would want to give up the freedom of their own independent media outlet in favour of network or cable television--but otherwise, agreed!
Wow, a British assassination attempt, which actually succeeded, and achieved the desired effects. Turned out to be one of the most critical operations of the war, and it's virtually unknown to boot. Thanks for bringing us this content!
I can't believe how consistent the upload rate and more importantly the high quality of the videos have all been since I first started watching what seems like many years ago. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos Mr Felton
I have to say I absolutely love this Channel. Discovered it a couple of months ago and it's one of the best WW2 history channels out there imo. Keep up the great work Mark!
Me: Heh, another unknown allied "masterplan" to win the war, lets see how it failed. Mark Felton: 17 staffmembers killed, it postponed german plans for 3 weeks, saving the troops on the beaches. Me: Wait, what?
I have a keen interest in WW2 and thought I at least knew all of the main facts. Mark Felton does an unbelievable job of bringing important facts to the surface in a very entertaining fashion
@@marcwebb687 Same, since childhood for me and yet i still see some videos of Mark's with subjects i've NEVER heard of lol hella subbed since 300k-350k
Yes, a very effective mission I never heard of. Thank God allies could read the German code. " Remember if there's lightning outside don't go out to look at it, " said Mom.
Whilst all this was going on my dads regiment the 24th Lancers were fighting German counter attacks over Point 103 on their map, and heavily engaged at Tilly sur Seulles which changed hands over 20 times. Sometimes German tanks got in amongst their Shermans, but each time they were fought off, inflicting heavy losses of German armour. My father's war ended two weeks later, but he survived though seriously injured, unlike three of his crew who are still in Normandy.
I never get disappointed. Not recycled history. Concise, thorough, interesting and relevant. I would've traded a couple of my university profs for dr. Mark anyday. I love how he doesn't leave out the Canadians, whilst American historians either ignore them or refer to them as British
Enigma code breaking was an important but generally ignored part of the war; much like reading an adversary's cards, it contributed a great deal to the allies' war effort.
Mark Felton has a perfect record with me: I've never heard of anything he covers and I've been reading WWII books and watching documentaries since I was a kid in the 50's. Goes to show how much more there is when you get down to the fine-grain details of war, which is made up of thousands of stories.
@@kevinmiele5289 I've heard about the deaths of German pows in Europe due to lack of nutrition, but my understanding is that it happened because of a mistake. Are you suggesting it was done purposefully?
I don't think it is this attack specifily. Like he described in the intro. These kind of attacks where rare not unusual. The depiction of Model in a bridge to far always seemed to me like charcter assination. Sure the guy was an nazi and an terrible person. But not an idot. Why depict him like that in the movie .
@@scheikundeiscool4086 Not a Nazi. Not a Party member. Hitler loyalist as per his officer's creed. Condemned the Nazis after listening to Goebbels ranting on the radio shortly before he (Model) shot himself. Said, 'Can you believe I've spent X years serving these bastards?'
@@VictoryOrValhalla14 Dude, drop the kool-aid you're drinking right now! It seems to be shrinking both your brain & your manhood. Germany wasn't at war in '33 with anyone, physically or socially. Not yet. And in '33 the Republic was so weak that the Salvation Army could have kicked their ass.
@@cgross82 Hitler boasted to Mannerheim that 'we had no idea' how many divisions the Soviets had when they invaded the USSR. The Soviets had a spy in German High Command. Big difference. Predictable outcome.
The French Resistance were in on this attack. They had observed German movements & gave the signal that officers had arrived. Germans were far too casual behind the lines.
Ironically All those officers wouldve been safer probably near the front line. Really shows how old doctrines cannot conform with the present, most of those officers probably still had the mindset of WW1 doctrines where the war is 2 dimensional(There is the front line and there is a rear line) instead of the 3 dimensional current one where the front line can be anywhere, due to enhanced capabilities to air power.
@@watching99134 Just after the war, the Resistance in France and elsewhere were heroes and got medals: but with the cold war, America preferred to trust the old collaborators and pressed to have the communists pushed out of government. So the likes of Mitterand and Maurice Papon rose to the top.
I love that I still regularly learn about things from the channel. Incredibly interesting and I’m surprised I’d never even heard a hint of this. It really is a great time to be a history aficionado.
@@JohnSmith-qv6hp I am wondering if these are there full names. Some German names could take up several lines in an average hardback book. In fact Germany passed a law several years ago restricting the length of a persons name for official documents.
Yes, the names of some nobleman in Germany are very long. This is the name of the German Defence minister from 2009 to 2011: Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
In the British army in the 1980s I had a Sergeant of German origin whose name tape on his jumper went around from his left chest to damn near his armpit.
Jeez! Can you imagine being on the receiving end of that amount of ordinance piled onto a target that small? Amazing that even an ant survived let alone human beings!
Living through mortar barrages and the ammo dump at FOB falcon was good enough for me. Firefights are one thing, artillery is some scary shit. Thankfully no bombs
I agree that it is a lot, but they were also very inaccurate, hence the brutal amount. They wanted to make sure SOME of it would hit home - their calculations were correct.
Imagine the thought processes going through their minds when they realised that they were the target of those planes. "Ah, let's look at those planes" "Interesting, they're changing direction" "They seem to be heading our way" "**** they ARE heading heading our way and firing rockets" "Holy **......."
Sidenote: General Geyr von Schweppenburg was one of the former Wehrmacht Generals (along with Rommels Chief of Staff Hans Speidel and others) who worked as a military advisor during the creation of the German Bundeswehr in 1955.
@@stanleydavidge8859 Actually there is evidence to suggest that Von Schweppenburg was the German resistance's secret envoy to Britain during the Munich crisis of 1938. Apparently he met with Peter Ustinov's father at their home in London to discuss Britain's response to Hitler's demands - if Britain held firm and threatened war then the generals like Ludwig Beck were prepared to mount a coup in order to prevent another world war. The British government were unsure if this was a ruse and didn't want to be seen to be meddling in the internal politics of a major European nation. The opportunity was lost. Btw, if you want to know who was responsible for the "Clean Wehrmacht" myth then that would be Franz Halder and the generals employed by the American Army's Historical Research division.
Hey mark cool fact, I was watching your video on tiger 131 and was surprised to see you had been to the museum at bovington to see it and also had a video on it when I realised it was the same tank my dad had worked on while employed there years ago. My dad helped fit the turret and complete a few other small tasks on tiger 131 in the early 2000’s when he worked at bovington tank base as a civilian mechanic for the army. He worked there for a few years before I was born and as I was growing up before my family moved to Australia. I’ve even got photos of me as a kid at the base Workshop sitting in the tracked recovery vehicle my dad drove most days while working at bovi at the time ahaha! Though he worked mainly on 80’s-90’s and newer tanks and armoured vehicles but also occasionally helped the guys doing restoration work and other maintenance on older tanks like tiger 131 when needed.
The amount of work you do to these videos are very respectful and admirable considering not a lot of people do this sort of thing on YT, you have my respect and your channel should be an archive and should be protected.
As a retired US Army officer and ardent consumer of WWII history, I am surprised I had never before heard of this raid. Given the order of battle on both sides, this raid was of exceptional strategic consequence. Thanks so much Mark for sharing this pivotal (yet little known) moment in history.
@@5heffPaul "Erased"? That's utter nonsense. As a graduate of a US Army senior service college, I can assure you that the efforts of all Allies are taught with equal importance.
Channels such as Dr. Felton's are one of the main reason I haven't owned a TV for the past 5 years, and have no plans on doing so again. Real History presented in a pleasant manner and proper information and pronunciation. I get what I thought the history and Military channels were promising, but not delivering.
As always, Mr. Felton, your flawless research and commentary are matchless, this particular story being no exception. Even your commitment to minute detail is praiseworthy. Thank you so much for presenting history as it actually took place, I sincerely enjoy your every effort. 🏆💯
Awesome video! I grew up listening to my grandfather’s WW2 stories and watching these black & white history shows at his house. It never gets old!! Nice work as always.
I don't know that I have ever commented on a youtube video but I simply have to here. I am a huuuuuge WW2 history student and when you have watched as many documentaries as I do I thought I had all the footage that was out there. I am not sure where you get this footage Mark but bravo! I have literally been going from one video to another. Thank you for keeping this absolutely pivot epoch in history alive for us all.
It's also the first youtube channel I have supported financially but I will certainly continue to with this one. I can't imagine all the hard work that goes into these.
Another great story and film clips that I have never heard of, even vaguely. I must admit that watching other 'history' channels about WWII I will make a comment that for the truth and great stories, Mark Felton's channel is the one to watch........:) That picture of Bletchley Park brought back memories of being in the RAF and picked for remustering course to transfer from being a Telegraphist to joining the 'Y Scheme' for a few months, back in 1970 I think..and then posted to RAF Digby Lincolnshire to actually do the job for the next few years before being demobbed in Dec 1975. So joining up in Sept 1961 at 15 years (Boy Entrant - now scrapped) to Dec 1975 (nearly 30yrs and a bit wiser) kept me out of mischief (maybe) for a good few years. One of the machines I learnt to use was a Spectrum Analyzer, commonly known as a Rectum Paralyzer...(RAF humour)....for matching speech to identify a real person. To me it was just a beautiful old house and mostly the Post Office training centre, and had (at that time) no clue as to its real history which I found out about much later. Sorry, forgive me reminiscing....I get carried away sometimes....:)
I've never heard of this raid, and am amazed that it isn't more widely known given its significance at the time. Thanks for expanding my knowledge of the Second World War, and well done to the 20 Minuters of the RAF.
I know its said often on here, but I have studied WW2 since I was 12 years old. I went to university and studied history. And yet, almost everyday Mark Felton teaches us new and fascinating stories about WW2. Its nothing short of amazing!
MR.FELTON,How do you continue to school us history buffs about unknown operations in all theatres of WW2?I am constantly impressed by your videos.I know you will keep up the great work,because that my friend is what you do!
Hello, I am a huge fan of your documentaries. You made a Video series called The Japanese "Invasion" Of America. You did part 1 followed by part 2, but never did part 3. You may have forgotten about part 3 because I know you work very hard on your videos. Part 3 was going to be about japanese air raids using the submarine-based floatplane bombers. Thanks Mark, keep up the great work!
Time for more untold stories from the murky depths of WW2 brought to life by the best wartime channel on RUclips or the Internet. Over to you Mr Felton....
Playing devils advocate for a minute. Isn’t it true to say that keeping the Panzers in a position to respond to an invasion in the Pas de Calais (most likely); Normandy (likely); or Aquitaine (least likely) did keep it away from the worst possible bombardment and did allow for the greatest flexibility of response. If the panzers had been committed to Pas de Calais, then the response to Normandy would have been even later. If the paneers had been split between the two (or three), the strength of the response would have weak enough for the allies to hit them piecemeal. Where did Rommel want the panzers - as I understand he did think the most likely place for the invasion was the Pas? I suppose the only right decision is the one we can take with the benefit of 100% hindsight. Dr. Felton to decide?
@@martincox7354 It's difficult to imagine that the panzer divisions would have taken more casualties riding out the initial bombardment in the relative vicinity of the beaches, especially as they could have been dug in to a degree, than they took during the march to get to Normandy from positions further back. It's my understanding that the march to the front was a fairly brutal affair for the panzers due to allied air power and that the threat of allied air attack was one of the reasons Rommel wanted them near the beaches to begin with. His experiences in N. Africa had taught him about allied air power, he knew the allies had already established near air supremacy over Normandy long before the invasion happened and that all the allies needed to do was pull the trigger on it to make daylight road movement nearly impossible. I recall reading an anecdote once. A German solider stationed in Normandy before the invasion commented that he could always spot the N. Africa veterans because when they stood together in groups they never directly faced one another. Instead, they'd each face a different quadrant of the sky and were constantly scanning for aircraft. They'd been under intensive air attack before and it had taken it's toll on them. I understand the reasoning behind holding the panzer divisions further back, I understand the value of flexibility and get that the German high command was trying to create the possibility of a massive, panzer heavy counter attack. But, it seems to me that they didn't take the threat of allied air power nearly as seriously as they should have. The information on how deadly it could be was there, from top to bottom among the veteran soldiers who'd fought in the west before. They should have known that they'd be unable to move troops around quickly enough to give value to a rearward deployment and that the flexibility they were trying to gain was illusory. I just can't help but think that Rommel was right, and the panzers should have been nearer to the beaches, even if that meant they'd have fewer in any given area than they would have liked.
@@sextuspompeius1266 well sup - if the German High Command were so dumb then how come it took the entire world more than 5 years to defeat it - unless of course the so called "Allies" were actually dumber than the Germans - which was the case.....
@@silentotto5099 Indeed, there were legit arguments for and against both strategies. Regarding allied air superiority there was the story of one American general who complained that the allied air forces weren't doing enough, so a senior USAAF officer took him up in a spotter plane. Behind the allied lines it was like a giant military camp - troops, tanks, trucks, supply dumps, convoys, as far as the eye could see. The German side of the lines was completely devoid of life - not a tank or truck could be seen, not a single thing moved. The army general retracted his complaint.
@@MrDaiseymay there is much more to the enigma code-breaking story than can be included in a movie, that much should be quite obvious to most I would hope.
Great stuff Mark. Yet another unearthed diamond from you, beautifully cut and delivered . Can I recommend for those interested in WW2 history the British Army Documenteries Battles for the Rhineland Op Veritable parts 1, 2 and 3.
Mark - have you considered putting together a full length series on WWII? You know, like a DVD box set tracing the full history of the conflict. Bloody hell, I wouldn't be able to get my wallet out fast enough for that. I have a couple of your books (Last Nazis and Guarding Hitler) and they are fantastic, you're right up there with the best military writers. Based on how excellent your youtube videos are, if you were to put a full doco together I bet it would be next level good. It 's a big undertaking, I know, I don't ask lightly. But the world needs guys like you. Your work is absolutely exemplary. You're the best military historian on youtube by far, I have no doubt one of the big production houses would fall over themselves to get you on board. Keep up the great work. I, like may others it seems, am greatly appreciative and can't get enough. Even though I'm quite widely read regarding WWII (admittedly mostly aviation related) I'm in awe of how much new information you provide in each video. Thank you for all you do. It's kept me enthralled for many an evening.
My uncle Geoffrey Keyes led the raid on Rommel's headquarters. He died there and was buried with full military honours. At 24 years old he was the youngest Lt. Col in the British Army at the time.
Dr. Felton, I am running out of superlatives to describe your videos. THIS is outstanding! Not only had I never heard of any of this before but I had never known of the strategic importance of this operation. The German army losing three weeks before launching a planned armored counter offensive against the Allies in Normandy just four days after the landings was pivotal for the Allies and deadly for the Germans. To me this operation is second only to the successful deception operation that made Hitler think Patton was going to land in Calais on D-Day even after the landings in Normandy had commenced. Bravo, Mark Felton and thank you once again!!!
This is such a great channel. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about WW2, but I’m continuously amazed at the number of things this channel brings to light that I’ve never read about.
As a former Military Intel operations guy with pretty good exposure to signals intel in tactical and strategic theaters I am always astounded by both the German and Japanese military's refusal to consider that their ciphers were compromised after so many perfectly executed missions or campaigns over a number of years (this video, Isoroku Yamamoto's assassination come immediately to mind). Is this the innate flaw of hubris in cultures and their militaries who view themselves as superior over their adversaries or is it just a symptom of totalitarian societies and their cultures and militaries that suppress independent thinking and analysis that goes against the grain. Love these videos Dr Felton.
The british were just good at sacrificing. They would let them "have" some "victories" so to speak. They wouldn't aave every ship, kntercept every mission etc... however they would do major things like this.
Thank you, Dr Felton for another amazing video! I don’t know how you do it, but please keep doing these videos. Now I’m wondering what your doctoral dissertation (as we say here in the States) was on?
Interesting that one operation could have such an effect on the ongoing events. It goes to prove that it was the cumulative effects of many doing their job and not just the efforts of one group or section of the allies.
The final scene of the 1962 film "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" features the RAF bombing a French Chateau occupied by SS Panzer Division staff resulting in the destruction of the command. Always wondered if the movie's climactic scene was inspired by the 1944 La Caine raid?
Thanks for another great video. I remember years ago, back in the 90's, reading WWII History magazine, they said prior to the D-Day landings, Hitler was convinced to change his standing order, the units were holding their position till given orders to move. Since they believed that Normandy was a diversion The change in orders was that the all units were to counterattack at first sight of Allied Airborne units. The order was given to an officer to issue to the commanders. However, the officer went to a brothel first and never had a chance to issue the order. I hope it is true, for it is quite funny.
I feel i must have seen every tv production about WW2 even the obscure ones but have never heard this story covered, how is this not a more famous story from the war?! thanks mark!
The picture of the "Destroyed Staff Car" is a Citroen Traction Avante". I've read that the German seized these cars for their officers. This might be a in treating idea for a episode.
Both history channel and to a lesser degree, discovery (channel ) have flushed themselves down the loo vis a vis real history topics , so Mark has taken it upon himself to educate the masses - a pity he doesn't have his own cable T.V channel
Shwepenburg’s name was quite a mouthful! Terrific video I had not heard of this engagement but what a grand effort by the RAF! Time on target strikes like that just don’t happen most times.
As a German native speaker i'm always thoroughly impressed by Mr. Feltons pronunciation of these old German names.
It's small details like these, that make this channel so perfect and well deserving of the recognition it's getting.
Next to the massive amount of information that is so well presented that is.
Ja Verlierer!
@@spacewater7 As a bi-lingual speaker myself (English and German), I too am very impressed with Dr. Felton's impeccable German pronunciation. It comes as a surprise, considering that 99% of Englishmen (Americans, Australians, etc.) sound terrible when trying to pronounce German - even those native English speakers who've been studying German for years. I also have to give props to Aaaargle (the native German) for commending Dr. Felton, and for refraining from the tired, worn out standard defeatist line, "the victors write the history", which is obviously nonsense. Aaaargl seems like a stand-up guy, as opposed to a pimple on me arse called spacewater7. Clearly the number 7 indicates the age at which your maturity and mental development came to a screetching halt. Are those the only two German words you know?
@@spacewater7 stfu
Vielleicht spricht er deutsch ? Ja er ist sehr gut. Ich spreche französich , englisch und deutsch ein Wenig. Grüss aus Kanada.
@@vincentlefebvre9255 nein, er ist Brite. In Großbritannien lernt man kein Deutsch, Die wenigsten können das dort.
I remember when some people objected because there was "too much WW2 stuff on History Channel". Are you happy now?! Thanks for Dr Felton and his awesome videos, the light shines on!
Or as it was called, "The Hitler Channel".
@@1pcfred All Hitler, all the time. How many times have we seen that film of Hitler inspecting the line of kids defending Berlin?
@@davidgoldberg8238 there's only so much media available.
Yeah now it's Ancient Aliens with that weird looking guy who looks like Londo from Babylon 5
The history Channel ww2 stuff is junk. I made the mistake of buying one of their DVDs
I thought I knew enough about WWII to be dangerous, but every time I watch one of your videos I learn something new. Thank you.
Someone give this man a tv show
He'd have to make it a reality show like Forgotten Weapons to get on History channel now... lol
@@g1mmedatdome284 I like those
FUZE ANTATIC no
RUclips is already a major TV outlet. Just give him an assistant, I believe Mark will be quiet happy.
G1MMEDATDOME he have to make Hitler in to a lizard while Churchill as an alien
Thank you Mr. Felton for always making a point of mentioning the Canadian forces involvement in the allied assaults during the invasion and beyond, and for making the distinction between Canadian and British forces. Too many historians have often failed to do so in the past; your recognition is greatly appreciated.
Proud of the fact I "discovered" Dr Felton when he had posted half a dozen clips on this channel. I thought "There's something going on here". "He knows his stuff". Understatement of the century. Incredibly rare footage . French Hotchkiss self propelled guns if my knowledge serves me. As many suggest you do need your own series Dr Felton. Incredible attention to detail. They dont give those doctorates out "willy nilly' :)
Agreed, it feels like we've been on the ride with him, watching his channel grow and the quality of video get better
Agree with you all the way up to the showing of Otto Carius at 8:44. He was not in the West til 1945.. But Beckers homemade Hotchkiss Assault Guns were a nice touch..
Yes. It's remarkable just how much dross there is on 'YT' re-WWII and it is rare to find anything recent that has much historical depth. So many enthusiastic (American) contributions to WWII history suffer from a real lack of historical knowledge, specialist insight or breadth of perspective.
@Celtic Resistance lol you got me wrong, I love me some Mark Felton...
I don't know why anyone would want to give up the freedom of their own independent media outlet in favour of network or cable television--but otherwise, agreed!
Wow, a British assassination attempt, which actually succeeded, and achieved the desired effects. Turned out to be one of the most critical operations of the war, and it's virtually unknown to boot. Thanks for bringing us this content!
I’m surprised he didn’t mention happy many civilians were killed?
You are a knob Louis
I can't believe how consistent the upload rate and more importantly the high quality of the videos have all been since I first started watching what seems like many years ago. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos Mr Felton
Yup Dr Felton is a Master.
The film footage and commentary are second to none, Mark's detail in naming the Germans and in depth knowledge is amazing
I have to say I absolutely love this Channel. Discovered it a couple of months ago and it's one of the best WW2 history channels out there imo. Keep up the great work Mark!
Me: Heh, another unknown allied "masterplan" to win the war, lets see how it failed.
Mark Felton: 17 staffmembers killed, it postponed german plans for 3 weeks, saving the troops on the beaches.
Me: Wait, what?
I have a keen interest in WW2 and thought I at least knew all of the main facts. Mark Felton does an unbelievable job of bringing important facts to the surface in a very entertaining fashion
Very very nice
@@marcwebb687 Same, since childhood for me and yet i still see some videos of Mark's with subjects i've NEVER heard of lol
hella subbed since 300k-350k
Yes, a very effective mission I never heard of. Thank God allies could read the German code. " Remember if there's lightning outside don't go out to look at it, " said Mom.
Lol
Wow brilliant, another Mark Felton video. He really brings these events alive.
Words cannot express our appreciation for the effort you put into these videos. PLEASE someone give this man a wider broadcasting.
RUclips might provide him with a broader platform than he would enjoy on cable, but that doesn't necessarily translate into more money.
Once a pro,money is but part of the process not the objective
Whilst all this was going on my dads regiment the 24th Lancers were fighting German counter attacks over Point 103 on their map, and heavily engaged at Tilly sur Seulles which changed hands over 20 times. Sometimes German tanks got in amongst their Shermans, but each time they were fought off, inflicting heavy losses of German armour. My father's war ended two weeks later, but he survived though seriously injured, unlike three of his crew who are still in Normandy.
I never get disappointed. Not recycled history. Concise, thorough, interesting and relevant. I would've traded a couple of my university profs for dr. Mark anyday. I love how he doesn't leave out the Canadians, whilst American historians either ignore them or refer to them as British
Unbelievable that I never heard of such an important mission.
did you hear about eisenhower's death camps for pows?
Yeah unbelievable...
Enigma code breaking was an important but generally ignored part of the war; much like reading an adversary's cards, it contributed a great deal to the allies' war effort.
Mark Felton has a perfect record with me: I've never heard of anything he covers and I've been reading WWII books and watching documentaries since I was a kid in the 50's. Goes to show how much more there is when you get down to the fine-grain details of war, which is made up of thousands of stories.
@@kevinmiele5289 I've heard about the deaths of German pows in Europe due to lack of nutrition, but my understanding is that it happened because of a mistake. Are you suggesting it was done purposefully?
Guess this is why Walter Model thought Operation Market Garden was after him specifically
I don't think it is this attack specifily. Like he described in the intro. These kind of attacks where rare not unusual. The depiction of Model in a bridge to far always seemed to me like charcter assination. Sure the guy was an nazi and an terrible person. But not an idot. Why depict him like that in the movie .
@@scheikundeiscool4086 Not a Nazi. Not a Party member. Hitler loyalist as per his officer's creed. Condemned the Nazis after listening to Goebbels ranting on the radio shortly before he (Model) shot himself. Said, 'Can you believe I've spent X years serving these bastards?'
@@VictoryOrValhalla14 Had a bit to much of DAS INTERNETZ lately?
@@VictoryOrValhalla14 Dude, drop the kool-aid you're drinking right now! It seems to be shrinking both your brain & your manhood. Germany wasn't at war in '33 with anyone, physically or socially. Not yet. And in '33 the Republic was so weak that the Salvation Army could have kicked their ass.
@@johnrichmond.4783 Yet, he was a criminal,
One attack causes a three week delay for the axis to organise a attack, just shows how important Bletchley park was.
Intelligence is only really useful if your enemy has none. Against the Germans, it was pivotal at times.
Indeed!
Really?
@@christopherthrawn1333 Yes.Read military history and this will quickly become apparent.Really.
@@cgross82 Hitler boasted to Mannerheim that 'we had no idea' how many divisions the Soviets had when they invaded the USSR. The Soviets had a spy in German High Command. Big difference. Predictable outcome.
The French Resistance were in on this attack. They had observed German movements & gave the signal that officers had arrived. Germans were far too casual behind the lines.
Ironically All those officers wouldve been safer probably near the front line.
Really shows how old doctrines cannot conform with the present, most of those officers probably still had the mindset of WW1 doctrines where the war is 2 dimensional(There is the front line and there is a rear line) instead of the 3 dimensional current one where the front line can be anywhere, due to enhanced capabilities to air power.
@John Lorenzo sounds like an enjoyable day :)
@@MrDaiseymay At the same time remember that early on most of the French Resistance were communists; you'll never hear that from Western sources.
@@watching99134 Just after the war, the Resistance in France and elsewhere were heroes and got medals: but with the cold war, America preferred to trust the old collaborators and pressed to have the communists pushed out of government. So the likes of Mitterand and Maurice Papon rose to the top.
VIVA LA FRANCE
I love that I still regularly learn about things from the channel.
Incredibly interesting and I’m surprised I’d never even heard a hint of this. It really is a great time to be a history aficionado.
Are we just going to not talk about these incredible Prussian names of those German officers?
@@JohnSmith-qv6hp I am wondering if these are there full names. Some German names could take up several lines in an average hardback book. In fact Germany passed a law several years ago restricting the length of a persons name for official documents.
Yes, the names of some nobleman in Germany are very long. This is the name of the German Defence minister from 2009 to 2011:
Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
@@horstschlemmer2042 Had to google it: he's a baron!
In the British army in the 1980s I had a Sergeant of German origin whose name tape on his jumper went around from his left chest to damn near his armpit.
@@horstschlemmer2042 Or just known as "Maria" :)
Jeez! Can you imagine being on the receiving end of that amount of ordinance piled onto a target that small? Amazing that even an ant survived let alone human beings!
Living through mortar barrages and the ammo dump at FOB falcon was good enough for me. Firefights are one thing, artillery is some scary shit. Thankfully no bombs
The receiver would not like war anymore and would retire
I agree that it is a lot, but they were also very inaccurate, hence the brutal amount. They wanted to make sure SOME of it would hit home - their calculations were correct.
Absolutely, 61 bombers, wow. They must have really, really wanted those guys dead
Imagine the thought processes going through their minds when they realised that they were the target of those planes.
"Ah, let's look at those planes"
"Interesting, they're changing direction"
"They seem to be heading our way"
"**** they ARE heading heading our way and firing rockets"
"Holy **......."
Sidenote: General Geyr von Schweppenburg was one of the former Wehrmacht Generals (along with Rommels Chief of Staff Hans Speidel and others) who worked as a military advisor during the creation of the German Bundeswehr in 1955.
erich von Manstein as well, the one responsible for the planning on the attack on france via Belgium to circumvent the Maginot line
@@stanleydavidge8859 Many iare responsible for the Clean Wehrmacht myth, including former adversaries
Sure , Nazi's are obiquitous and omnipresent :) You ever,never can imagine , how dare we love germans and Nazi's !
@@stanleydavidge8859 Actually there is evidence to suggest that Von Schweppenburg was the German resistance's secret envoy to Britain during the Munich crisis of 1938. Apparently he met with Peter Ustinov's father at their home in London to discuss Britain's response to Hitler's demands - if Britain held firm and threatened war then the generals like Ludwig Beck were prepared to mount a coup in order to prevent another world war. The British government were unsure if this was a ruse and didn't want to be seen to be meddling in the internal politics of a major European nation. The opportunity was lost.
Btw, if you want to know who was responsible for the "Clean Wehrmacht" myth then that would be Franz Halder and the generals employed by the American Army's Historical Research division.
@@stanleydavidge8859 well both generals where "clean" so the blame is not to them
I don't even care what the topic is. I see "Mark Felton Productions", and I click.
I love stumbling into older episodes like these, especially when they are things I'd never heard of before.
Hey mark cool fact, I was watching your video on tiger 131 and was surprised to see you had been to the museum at bovington to see it and also had a video on it when I realised it was the same tank my dad had worked on while employed there years ago. My dad helped fit the turret and complete a few other small tasks on tiger 131 in the early 2000’s when he worked at bovington tank base as a civilian mechanic for the army. He worked there for a few years before I was born and as I was growing up before my family moved to Australia. I’ve even got photos of me as a kid at the base Workshop sitting in the tracked recovery vehicle my dad drove most days while working at bovi at the time ahaha! Though he worked mainly on 80’s-90’s and newer tanks and armoured vehicles but also occasionally helped the guys doing restoration work and other maintenance on older tanks like tiger 131 when needed.
The amount of work you do to these videos are very respectful and admirable considering not a lot of people do this sort of thing on YT, you have my respect and your channel should be an archive and should be protected.
The Heat Death of the Universe will occur before Mark Felton runs out of D-Day stories to tell us.
Isn't the universe expanding and cooling though? Is this that rebound theory?
@@nw932 Heat Death means the death of heat itself, not dying from it. Yes, that means cooling. Not a single force remain to produce heat.
He'll just publish a video about the secret campaign to halt the heat death of the universe.
He'll just fabricate more and more.
@@roxrolldog Are you suggesting his stories are false?
As a retired US Army officer and ardent consumer of WWII history, I am surprised I had never before heard of this raid.
Given the order of battle on both sides, this raid was of exceptional strategic consequence. Thanks so much Mark for sharing this pivotal (yet little known) moment in history.
@@5heffPaul "Erased"? That's utter nonsense. As a graduate of a US Army senior service college, I can assure you that the efforts of all Allies are taught with equal importance.
I did not know this story either. I subsequently saw it in Rick Atkinson’s book, “Guns at Last Light”
Channels such as Dr. Felton's are one of the main reason I haven't owned a TV for the past 5 years, and have no plans on doing so again. Real History presented in a pleasant manner and proper information and pronunciation. I get what I thought the history and Military channels were promising, but not delivering.
I would be nice if the History Channel U.S. had programs that was above the 3rd grade level.
Thanks Mark another outstanding video.
One forgets most of us have also grown since and appreciate more now.
As always, Mr. Felton, your flawless research and commentary are matchless, this particular story being no exception. Even your commitment to minute detail is praiseworthy. Thank you so much for presenting history as it actually took place, I sincerely enjoy your every effort. 🏆💯
Awesome video! I grew up listening to my grandfather’s WW2 stories and watching these black & white history shows at his house. It never gets old!! Nice work as always.
I don't know that I have ever commented on a youtube video but I simply have to here. I am a huuuuuge WW2 history student and when you have watched as many documentaries as I do I thought I had all the footage that was out there. I am not sure where you get this footage Mark but bravo! I have literally been going from one video to another. Thank you for keeping this absolutely pivot epoch in history alive for us all.
It's also the first youtube channel I have supported financially but I will certainly continue to with this one. I can't imagine all the hard work that goes into these.
I’ve read, heard and watched a lot about WW2 and I’ve never heard this story before. Marvelous research Mark. Thank you.
Another great story and film clips that I have never heard of, even vaguely.
I must admit that watching other 'history' channels about WWII I will make a comment that for the truth and great stories, Mark Felton's channel is the one to watch........:)
That picture of Bletchley Park brought back memories of being in the RAF and picked for remustering course to transfer from being a Telegraphist to joining the 'Y Scheme' for a few months, back in 1970 I think..and then posted to RAF Digby Lincolnshire to actually do the job for the next few years before being demobbed in Dec 1975. So joining up in Sept 1961 at 15 years (Boy Entrant - now scrapped) to Dec 1975 (nearly 30yrs and a bit wiser) kept me out of mischief (maybe) for a good few years.
One of the machines I learnt to use was a Spectrum Analyzer, commonly known as a Rectum Paralyzer...(RAF humour)....for matching speech to identify a real person.
To me it was just a beautiful old house and mostly the Post Office training centre, and had (at that time) no clue as to its real history which I found out about much later.
Sorry, forgive me reminiscing....I get carried away sometimes....:)
I've never heard of this raid, and am amazed that it isn't more widely known given its significance at the time. Thanks for expanding my knowledge of the Second World War, and well done to the 20 Minuters of the RAF.
Once again another beautifully narrated episode of the battles of D-day ! Thank You Mark!
I know its said often on here, but I have studied WW2 since I was 12 years old. I went to university and studied history. And yet, almost everyday Mark Felton teaches us new and fascinating stories about WW2. Its nothing short of amazing!
Dr Felton, I could listen to you for hours. This is most compelling and distracting from less important things.
These seem to drop late nights in Canada when I have quality spirits at my side, perfect for another bite-sized chunk of lesser discussed war history.
MR.FELTON,How do you continue to school us history buffs about unknown operations in all theatres of WW2?I am constantly impressed by your videos.I know you will keep up the great work,because that my friend is what you do!
The usual incomparably excellent content from Mr. Felton, and yet another reason to love the powerful Hawker Typhoon : )
Good historian and educator,
Mr Mark Felton. Thank YOU!!
the history channel doesnt even deserve to be on the air. mark we need a whole separate video on Operation Flipper
Hello, I am a huge fan of your documentaries. You made a Video series called The Japanese "Invasion" Of America. You did part 1 followed by part 2, but never did part 3. You may have forgotten about part 3 because I know you work very hard on your videos. Part 3 was going to be about japanese air raids using the submarine-based floatplane bombers. Thanks Mark, keep up the great work!
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten.
@@MarkFeltonProductions Good!
Mark Felton Productions 1 day ago wtf
@@MarkFeltonProductions Hey Mark: Please tell us about the tanker Ohio in Operation Pedestal.
How did you comment a day ahead?
This research and historical analysis is one of my favorites 🤔 thank you for sharing 👍
You have some of the best presentations I've seen. I'm addicted!
Great history from Mark Felton as usually 👍
that beginning tune always gets me so hyped for another epic Mark Felton Production
Air Raid Warning
Doesn't mean: "Hey, let's go outside to see."
I was thinking the same thing... air raid siren sounds, "Hey guys, let's go out and see what's attacking us!"
Heck, I'd have carried on eating given the limitations of food on offer! Oink!
Great piece of military history. I can hardly wait for the next one.
Time for more untold stories from the murky depths of WW2 brought to life by the best wartime channel on RUclips or the Internet. Over to you Mr Felton....
All of Mark Felton's short documentaries are well-researched, produced, and presented.
Your channel, commentary and production are simply wonderful, thank you Dr Mark Felton.
Rommel: So I will push them back once they get ashor-
Higher Ranks: *No.*
Summarizes really anybody's military career in Nazi Germany who had a brain
Playing devils advocate for a minute. Isn’t it true to say that keeping the Panzers in a position to respond to an invasion in the Pas de Calais (most likely); Normandy (likely); or Aquitaine (least likely) did keep it away from the worst possible bombardment and did allow for the greatest flexibility of response. If the panzers had been committed to Pas de Calais, then the response to Normandy would have been even later. If the paneers had been split between the two (or three), the strength of the response would have weak enough for the allies to hit them piecemeal. Where did Rommel want the panzers - as I understand he did think the most likely place for the invasion was the Pas? I suppose the only right decision is the one we can take with the benefit of 100% hindsight. Dr. Felton to decide?
@@martincox7354 It's difficult to imagine that the panzer divisions would have taken more casualties riding out the initial bombardment in the relative vicinity of the beaches, especially as they could have been dug in to a degree, than they took during the march to get to Normandy from positions further back. It's my understanding that the march to the front was a fairly brutal affair for the panzers due to allied air power and that the threat of allied air attack was one of the reasons Rommel wanted them near the beaches to begin with. His experiences in N. Africa had taught him about allied air power, he knew the allies had already established near air supremacy over Normandy long before the invasion happened and that all the allies needed to do was pull the trigger on it to make daylight road movement nearly impossible.
I recall reading an anecdote once. A German solider stationed in Normandy before the invasion commented that he could always spot the N. Africa veterans because when they stood together in groups they never directly faced one another. Instead, they'd each face a different quadrant of the sky and were constantly scanning for aircraft. They'd been under intensive air attack before and it had taken it's toll on them.
I understand the reasoning behind holding the panzer divisions further back, I understand the value of flexibility and get that the German high command was trying to create the possibility of a massive, panzer heavy counter attack. But, it seems to me that they didn't take the threat of allied air power nearly as seriously as they should have. The information on how deadly it could be was there, from top to bottom among the veteran soldiers who'd fought in the west before. They should have known that they'd be unable to move troops around quickly enough to give value to a rearward deployment and that the flexibility they were trying to gain was illusory.
I just can't help but think that Rommel was right, and the panzers should have been nearer to the beaches, even if that meant they'd have fewer in any given area than they would have liked.
@@sextuspompeius1266 well sup - if the German High Command were so dumb then how come it took the entire world more than 5 years to defeat it - unless of course the so called "Allies" were actually dumber than the Germans - which was the case.....
@@silentotto5099 Indeed, there were legit arguments for and against both strategies. Regarding allied air superiority there was the story of one American general who complained that the allied air forces weren't doing enough, so a senior USAAF officer took him up in a spotter plane. Behind the allied lines it was like a giant military camp - troops, tanks, trucks, supply dumps, convoys, as far as the eye could see. The German side of the lines was completely devoid of life - not a tank or truck could be seen, not a single thing moved. The army general retracted his complaint.
09:35 thank you Mr. Alan Turing. Much respect
@@MrDaiseymay there is much more to the enigma code-breaking story than can be included in a movie, that much should be quite obvious to most I would hope.
Great stuff Mark. Yet another unearthed diamond from you, beautifully cut and delivered .
Can I recommend for those interested in WW2 history the British Army Documenteries Battles for the Rhineland Op Veritable parts 1, 2 and 3.
Mark - have you considered putting together a full length series on WWII? You know, like a DVD box set tracing the full history of the conflict. Bloody hell, I wouldn't be able to get my wallet out fast enough for that. I have a couple of your books (Last Nazis and Guarding Hitler) and they are fantastic, you're right up there with the best military writers. Based on how excellent your youtube videos are, if you were to put a full doco together I bet it would be next level good. It 's a big undertaking, I know, I don't ask lightly. But the world needs guys like you. Your work is absolutely exemplary. You're the best military historian on youtube by far, I have no doubt one of the big production houses would fall over themselves to get you on board.
Keep up the great work. I, like may others it seems, am greatly appreciative and can't get enough. Even though I'm quite widely read regarding WWII (admittedly mostly aviation related) I'm in awe of how much new information you provide in each video. Thank you for all you do. It's kept me enthralled for many an evening.
Best military history channel on RUclips. I always learn something new! Thanks Mark.
My uncle Geoffrey Keyes led the raid on Rommel's headquarters. He died there and was buried with full military honours. At 24 years old he was the youngest Lt. Col in the British Army at the time.
May he rest in peace.
Thank you for this bit of history. So strategically important, yet so little known.
Firmly convinced that Mark wakes up and brushes his teeth to that theme song of his...
Good one...
Not a bad way to begin the day. I might do it too!
Dr. Felton, I am running out of superlatives to describe your videos. THIS is outstanding! Not only had I never heard of any of this before but I had never known of the strategic importance of this operation. The German army losing three weeks before launching a planned armored counter offensive against the Allies in Normandy just four days after the landings was pivotal for the Allies and deadly for the Germans.
To me this operation is second only to the successful deception operation that made Hitler think Patton was going to land in Calais on D-Day even after the landings in Normandy had commenced. Bravo, Mark Felton and thank you once again!!!
This is such a great channel. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about WW2, but I’m continuously amazed at the number of things this channel brings to light that I’ve never read about.
As a former Military Intel operations guy with pretty good exposure to signals intel in tactical and strategic theaters I am always astounded by both the German and Japanese military's refusal to consider that their ciphers were compromised after so many perfectly executed missions or campaigns over a number of years (this video, Isoroku Yamamoto's assassination come immediately to mind). Is this the innate flaw of hubris in cultures and their militaries who view themselves as superior over their adversaries or is it just a symptom of totalitarian societies and their cultures and militaries that suppress independent thinking and analysis that goes against the grain. Love these videos Dr Felton.
The british were just good at sacrificing.
They would let them "have" some "victories" so to speak. They wouldn't aave every ship, kntercept every mission etc... however they would do major things like this.
Thank you Dr Felton 🙂
Thank you, Dr Felton for another amazing video! I don’t know how you do it, but please keep doing these videos. Now I’m wondering what your doctoral dissertation (as we say here in the States) was on?
Yet another forensic investigation of key moments in key campaigns. Thanks Mark; fascinating and brilliantly researched.
Professor Felton never ceases to amaze & educate me.
I’m convinced that by the time I watch all of Mark Felton’s videos, I will be fluent in German.
You realize he does talk English - right ?
Interesting that one operation could have such an effect on the ongoing events.
It goes to prove that it was the cumulative effects of many doing their job and not just the efforts of one group or section of the allies.
Thank you Mark, keep up the great work!
Thank you for making these people human Mark.
You do a great job of presenting but not necessarily judging.
History speaks for itself.
As a student of history, thank you ever so much Dr Felton for all of your contributions to the field.
How's it going Mark... Hope your safe and doing well. Keep coming more...
This intro music will stuck with Mark Felton's opening for me now
My Great uncle flew Typhoons in the 2nd Tactical. Dang, seems that kept him busy!!
Mark Felton’s work is always of an exceptional standard - on-point, well researched with excellent commentary.
Thank you for giving these views presenting impacting events that are not well known.
If you hear that intro tune, you know you’re up for a great quality ww2 video 👌
I sing along with that intro far too many times for my wife to bear!
This is the REAL History Channel !
What about real housewives?....😂
Only Doc Mark can pronounce all this long and complex German names like a native speaker!👍
Every time I watch one of your videos , I learn something new . Thanks Mark .
Thank you Dr Felton for mentioning the British and Canadians. Many Americans forget they were in the war too.
The final scene of the 1962 film "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" features the RAF bombing a French Chateau occupied by SS Panzer Division staff resulting
in the destruction of the command. Always wondered if the movie's climactic scene was inspired by the 1944 La Caine raid?
Thanks for another great video.
I remember years ago, back in the 90's, reading WWII History magazine, they said prior to the D-Day landings, Hitler was convinced to change his standing order, the units were holding their position till given orders to move. Since they believed that Normandy was a diversion
The change in orders was that the all units were to counterattack at first sight of Allied Airborne units. The order was given to an officer to issue to the commanders. However, the officer went to a brothel first and never had a chance to issue the order. I hope it is true, for it is quite funny.
"Who's got mein Panzers? "
"General der Panzertruppe Leo, Geyr von Schweppenburg"
"That's easy for YOU to say!"
exactly..... Leo Reichsfreiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg. (first name, noble title, noble family)
Lucky he wasn't French.
I feel i must have seen every tv production about WW2 even the obscure ones but have never heard this story covered, how is this not a more famous story from the war?! thanks mark!
This is the best history channel on RUclips. I have learned a lot watching your videos.
It was sort of an aerial version of the movie "The Dirty Dozen."
Fascinating, as always.
I like to amaze my friends with "my" knowledge of WWII trivia. I have a little secret.
Another home run from Dr. Felton! Thank you.
Best channel ever
Been livin in dis channel for a month now
The picture of the "Destroyed Staff Car" is a Citroen Traction Avante". I've read that the German seized these cars for their officers.
This might be a in treating idea for a episode.
Interesting
Both history channel and to a lesser degree, discovery (channel ) have flushed themselves down the loo vis a vis real history topics , so Mark has taken it upon himself to educate the masses - a pity he doesn't have his own cable T.V channel
That made me chuckle.
8:44 tank ace Otto carius.
I have a signed book tigers in the mud from him
What a man
I was wondering if anyone else had recognised him.
Wow, again, something I've never heard before and in detail second to none. Once again, nobody tells history like Mark Felton!
Shwepenburg’s name was quite a mouthful! Terrific video I had not heard of this engagement but what a grand effort by the RAF! Time on target strikes like that just don’t happen most times.