The D-Day Firefighters - Strangest Operation Overlord Unit
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
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The untold story of the special unit of firefighters trained to land on the D-Day beaches in 1944.
SPECIAL THANKS to Trevor A. Millar for suggesting this topic.
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.o...
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Primary Source: 'The National Fire Service Overseas Contingent & D-Day', www.nfs-afs.org.uk (for more information please visit their website).
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; nfs-afs.org.uk
Go to kamikoto.com/MARKFELTON and get an additional $50 off on any purchase with code MARKFELTON. Thanks to Kamikoto for sponsoring this video!
Japanese make very good products. Put a lot of pride in their work.👍🏻
Shadiversity did a test of the Kamikoto knives and found they are nothing special and didn't even perform as well as his Walmart gift knife
Samurai kitchen knives.
Oh, them some sharp knives. That's my sons birthday sorted.
traditional techniques... meaning low quality steel from medieval procedures
My father was in the Auxiliary Fire Service during London's Blitz. He was, otherwise, an industrial chemist working on some sort of classified 'special project' - and therefore not conscripted into the military. He always said that, despite all the honours, awards and offices he collected in later life, his wartime Leading Fireman's stripe was the award that meant most to him.
That’s beautiful.
My Mum was a nurse.
That is fiction
Was he really a firefighter back then or was it cover considering he was an industrial chemist?
@@GazB85 I can't say I ever saw any proof' - no photos, memorabilia etc but he talked a convincing talk. Most people WERE required to do two jobs - special constable, ARP etc ; almost two and a half million civilians served in British 'Civil Defence' by the end of the war. I'd like to say Dad was involved in some super-secret work (nerve gas, new explosives, torpedo propellants etc) but his job was a bit more prosaic - developing new industrial processes for rapid chemical production of fuel additives and similar.
“ so many volunteered , that only the best were taken “. Willing to put their lives on the line fighting fires in a combat zone saving people they did not know …… seems to me each volunteer was damn special .
As a former firefighter & soldier that statement does not surprise me.
In peace there is chaos
In chaos there will always be peace
At Home they are always prepared to put their lives on the line for people they don't know. This is Not what they Do, this is Who They Are. This was little different than everyday work in that it was not Home.
Sacrificing their lives for Isreal I guess
My father was a “Black Cab” Taxi driver and he joined the AFS with his cab as a fire engine. Towing a pump with ladders on the roof rack and the crew in the cab. He served from the first raids on London to the end of the V weapons. Taxi drivers were most useful as having “ The Knowledge” they knew how to arrive at the fire quickly when the roads were bombed out. Brave Men who volunteered !!! I am fortunate to have pictures and proof that these Heroes were also used in other roles as the “ Ruperts” knew of their bravery & patriotism and of course ferried the Whitehall Boys prewar 😎
May of even rescued my Nan, except for the determination of the firefighters to dig her out I'd not be here.
Now I want to KNOW MORE about the use of the Black cab taxi in WWII! All I learned in school was about the taxis in Paris during WWI. MARK FELTON, please tell us more about the Black cab in WWII!
@@kittymervine6115 This is a very unique story which needs to be explored in depth. These brave men where in constant danger every day !! Their knowledge was used in many ways and the SOE used them . Black cab drivers still show that patriotism even today as their support for veterans is well known.
The prewar use of regular Whitehall cab ranks meant they were known to many government officials who even knew them by name 😎
As a Fire Chief myself and a past President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, this was invaluable for me to learn. Thanks for covering what our brothers did on D-Day.
Hear hear.
God bless you & every other first responder
Agreed. I'm not a Chief, but I am a 5th generation firefighter and had never heard of this until now
Good on you and your lads Gary, do a brilliant job.
Putting out a fire isn't heroic
Another, often forgotten contribution was from the 796 civilian volunteers from the Observer Corps ('Royal' from 1941, in recognition of their war service across the UK, particularly during the Battle of Britain). They were posted on the invasion ships to help identify enemy aircraft & reduce 'friendly fire' incidents. They were experts at their job.
I came across one such man - a member of a very exclusive club! Whilst on a training weekend with the ROC back in the very early 90s, amongst all of the RAF uniforms we wore - one stood-out.
He was standing near to me & had a "Seaborne" shoulder flash on each side of his uniform jacket. I wished I'd spoken to him, but as a stripling of only 19 & aware of what those flashes meant, I didn't have the confidence.
He was one of the 796, temporarily enlisted in the Royal Navy as a "Petty Officer, RN Aircraft Identifier”, for the Overlord operation.
🏆🏆🏆👍🇺🇲🙏
Thank you for sharing
As a retired Firefighter/EMS First Responder with over 27yrs service in America, I had never heard of this unit. I'm sure the current Firefighters in Ukraine can relate to what these hero's went through in WWII.
This is absolutely the best History Channel on RUclips or anywhere! Dr felton, you are the man and you have so many fans as you can see from the comments. This is a story that I have never heard of! And like many if not all of your viewers I'm a rabid World War II history buff and know a lot of stuff but not nearly as much as you obviously and this was a fantastic little tidbit! Thanks for the upload and thanks for your incredible work! And like one of your other viewers commented, somebody really should give you a medal for enlightening the world with your excellent videos with factual content.
Definitely never knew about this unit.
Thanks Mark.
Why would you, we great British are not ones to boast of our deeds..
Me too,
I ❤ 🇩🇪
@@MI-mx3rh Incredible country and so organised with no one working on Sundays or even Saturdays mostly, public events are such a pleasure to attend and so on. 👍
@@DaveSCameron
Someone (many someones) are working on that Saturday or Sunday to host that event you are enjoying attending.
It helps if you get paid 1.5 or double time of course!
(Well.....it used to.....)
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq hallo there and yes of course there is exceptions I was thinking of Fordwerke Koln and such plants, we almost had to bribe the engineer to even open our part where we were installing the new zetec drive train and let us get a Saturday morning in! Paid for the Sunday of course, Germany is a great place, or was in the 1990s
Once again, world class historian (and lady killer) Dr. Mark Felton wows us with his historical insights. No historical event, no matter how obscure, is beyond the sights of the ‘British Herodotus’.
Which ladies did he murder ?
However, see opening image of Dr Felton for incorrect spelling of the word "Productions".
@@daddyofcallie No, it’s actually intentional
Diction - the style of enunciation in speaking
Yes, Mark Felton does have a professional style of enunciation, thus ‘prodiction’
@@zewhatyouwannasay Cute
"Lady killer"? Acquitted!
One other way the NFS were involved in preparations for D-Day, was the transfer of personnel from areas in the north of the country to the South east, as there was concern that fires could be caused by german attacks, on the staging areas, full of ammunition in the run up to D-Day, my mother was transferred from manchester to Brighton to support the southern brigades in the run up to D-Day, she used to dispatch fire engines. Some NFS re-enactors, showed me a map showing the brigades that supported the southern brigades during the run up to D-Day.
That's pretty awesome that citizens also like to represent that important but often less focused on part of the latter part of the war... As an American I know about the Blitz and the NFS, but didn't really think about how important protecting allied aircraft/fuel depots/ammo depots/shipyards/barracks/naval yards/etc. would've been later in the war even from the odd rocket attack or small bombing raid! I'd love to attend one of the heritage events in Britain one day and check out everyone kitted out with period uniforms and vehicles etc., that's one great thing about the internet, atleast I've got a taste of it via RUclips otherwise I would've only known about large American displays/reenactments other than the small D-Day photo op events with British/Canadian uniforms... Just watched a gear video about the PIAT the other day, and another about the Falklands infantry gear and SAS gear 👍
Thank you very much for this information !
Brave men who volunteered to help save lives right next to combat. I always do love the little obscure stories here.
Great story about WWII, I had no idea. It makes sense using firemen to reduce the amount of supplies destroyed by fire.
but what bravery to combat fires at weapon storage areas? Or fuel depots?
I´m a firefighter, before of this i was a soldier. This is a very interesting story and history at same time! Great, Thx!!!
I can't stress enough how A. These topics are utterly fascinating and B. How your intro theme brings back waves of wonderful nostalgia harkening back to watching the Old History Channel with my grandfather.
That is a very interesting and informative presentation, Mark. I wonder, did the 4th Column qualify for any awards for their field service? Were there any WIA/KIA/PoW? It takes a special kind of bloke to go into a war zone unarmed and carry out their civilian fireman roles. Similarly, I understand a lot of civilian nurses and doctors went over as well, I'd love to hear more about them too.
Another interesting fact about D day and the fire brigade, the ladders used by the US rangers to climb the cliffs were supplied by the London Fire Brigade.
I love hearing about obscure stuff like this, thanks Dr. Felton.
Interesting insight into a forgotten part of the war.
My grandfather was an auxiliary fireman during the Blitz, before serving in the regular infantry, though he was using standard British equipment. It must have been problematic syncing up with French and German equipment or did they just pump straight from natural water sources?
I never thought about this subject but it makes perfect sense now. In my former regiment, the 70th RSC, a company was part of our battalion that was purely a Firefighter Co. That all makes sense!
As always you managed to enlighten me on a very interesting and much needed group of civilian firefightersto be deployed during the invasion of France. Also my condolences on the passing of Queen Elizabeth, will you be doing a video on her contributions to the war effort as an army mechanic? The royal family is a topic that most Americans do not keep up on.
He already did one a short while back. Worth watching
PSA about the Kamikoto knives. Theyre not actually made in Japan theyre made in Yanjiang, China with Japanese steel. The kamikoto company is also owned by a company in Hong Kong. Not saying theyre bad knives, but if youre looking for knives made in Japan their marketing is deceptive.
There's a very good video debunking them on some sword fighting channel? So was disappointed that such a guy known for his research had failed to do same with sponsors!!
Like firefighting isn't dangerous enough during peace time, hey let's send them into battle. Actually a good idea , but is it really the best idea? I'd say have them close at hand but only use after the fighting itself has stopped. However naval units have their own firefighters that of course, have to be on ship and this in the thick of it while fighting flames. I have a lot of respect for firefighters and I sure as heck am glad that they can run into something that most run away from.
A very courageous unit. It rather brings to mind one of the quotes from the soldier played by Sean Connery in 'The Longest Day': "There's a lot of strange characters on this beach if you ask me, Flannagan."
Love these overlooked stories, cheers
There is a small re-enactment group here in the UK that covers this unit Mark .. one question I would have is would the hose couplings match European fittings on hydrants ? I know that during the Blitz period some UK towns had different couplings to others which prevented mutual help being effective.
I very much doubt if the (by then) standardised UK fittings would have been compatible with those in France or Germany, themselves almost certainly a variety. But adaptors were relatively easy to design and provide, as was done in the UK before standardisation.
We don’t even have a standard in my county now in the US. We carry all three: County, City/Borough and Stortz. New developments are just installing hydrants with just Stortz on them thank God.
Hi. I would imagine all the water mains would have been destroyed by shelling so water pumped from ponds etc would have been used,
@@tufty7663 well I had noted the towed pumps behind the pump ladder but that I suspect would have limited the effectiveness of the crew in fighting fires unless they had access to ponds , rivers or such like .
My Grandfather was a fireman in Middlesbrough during WWII. He would have been too old to volunteer for the overseas units in 1944 but I bet he would have volunteered if he was able to.
Though these men were civilians, I wonder if they received some kind of ribbon or medal to wear on their firefighting uniforms designating that they served in a combat zone?
Military honors might not be applicable, but the UK and US government had given some medals to civilians during the war for their efforts, I believe.
@@Robbini0 think at least campaign/service ribbons would be in order.
They would have received the Defence Medal for service over a certain time period in the UK only, and I imagine the 1939-45 Star and France & Germany Star for their service in Europe.
@@MarkFeltonProductions I was going to ask the same question, wondering if they at least recieved the France Germany Star, defence medal and Commonwealth WW2 medal. Thankyou for clarifying Dr Felton. 😊
As silly as this idea sounds, it actually makes sense to an extent. However I believe that their impact would have been minimal considering the small number of them deployed.
They probably would have drawn from personnel on the beaches to support any firefighting efforts if the flames got out of control.
Always assuming the water supply had not been destroyed in the bombing. I cannot imagine gas and water mains remaining intact.
When you're fighting a war every single tiny thing matters and can mean the difference between success and capitulation. Their job was vital, they were not Red Adair and his team but their effort must be acknowledged. Dr Felton is right to educate us about these guys.
@@dp-sr1fd The Dennis company of Guilford produced small portable water pumps (they are shown attached to the back of the Fire Tenders 3:40) , so every pond, lake and river was capable of use as a water source.
Many towns had Emergency Water supply tanks too in case of the loss of mains water. The Swiss still keep that capability in place to this day in many locations.
Post war the Green Goddess fire engines were designed to allow for long distance water pump relaying, on the lessons learnt in WW2.
@@dp-sr1fd that is how I looked at. Water would have been short supply. RAF airfield crash fire crews were sent to Normandy to man the airfields that were being built in the advance.
Dr. Felton needs to be protected at all costs. He is the Ton Brady/Michael Jordan of History.
THANK YOU FOR REMEMBERING THE FORGOTTEN MENS AND WOMENS OF THE WAR ON BOTH SIDES . WITHOUT THEM OUR ARMIES WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN VICTORIOUS.BOTH MY WIFE AND MY FAMILY FOUGHT IN THE WAR OR SUPPORTED THE WAR EFFORTS. SORRY FOR ENGLANG LOSS OF YOUR QUEEN,GREAT LADY SHE WAS. GOD BLESS
OKAY…
Very kind words. ☺️
This is up my alley
I imagine firefighting is an important part of Navy training. There’s many cases where a ship fire was catastrophic
In the US Navy firefighting is an integral part of every of sailor's training and I imagine it would be for most navies.
You're absolutely right, a shipboard fire can be devastating.
In "the Longest Day "(1962) actor Bourvil plays the resistance man wearing a French fire helmet.
Firefighters, like Medical workers are beyond heroes as it is. Then be ones on D-Day.
This is also could be interpreted as the soldiers with flamethrowers 🔥👀
Firefighters are the real deal. No matter your opinion of other public "servants" there is a reason there's no song called "Fuck the fire department."
Mark Felton is the DJ Khaled of unknown WW2 History…..ANOTHER ONE ☝️
Mark Felton you always pop up when I'm watching your old videos it's like you're telling me here's another video lol you are the best!!
These videos never cease to entertain and educate me on these unusual facts of ww2. Reminds me a bit of the US Navy See Bees. Their main job was to build structures and airfields but they knew how to fight as well.
At least they didn’t get conscripted on a special rescue mission ordered by FDR to save the last surviving brother in a stranger’s family.
At least Ryan earned it in the end.
It was Gen. George C Marshall not FDR.
@@thevictoryoverhimself7298 Historic fiction nonetheless. And an excellent movie.
Artillery officer: "FIRE!"
Firemen: "Where?"
When buying knifes ignore claims of sharpness and “craft” buy knifes based off steel and HRC. Kamikoto use 420J2 steel which is cheap, easy to sharpen and a very low hardness.
Their Ganjo knife series is made from SLD which is an ok steel with reasonable hardness.
Where does Dr Felton find all of these interesting war stories? They seem to never end. Keep up the excellent work!
Are there any more Queen Elizabeth's War service stories?
The allies never lost sight of the fact, in order to liberate Europe, they would have to attack the very countries and the people they were trying to liberate. While a small effort, this action at least shows they indeed thought of the consequence of D-Day on the general public... and tried to find a way to help them.
Oh, if only there was a historian who could regale us with tales of the obscure and little known bits of history that no one else does!
A voice from the heavens -
"I bestow upon thee... Mark Felton!"
Hello Dr Felton..
Can you make a video about German speaking soldiers on allied service.. !! For example, Jews in allied service who spoke German.
Hey Mark how are you hope your having a good day. Love your content big fan please keep it up.
Minus the commercials
As a firefighter , l appreciated this, l remember when l was in lraq , a group of us who were stateside firefighter/emt ...
Help train locals as best we could. I am surprised the firefighters were not accorded the same status as medics.
I can see where a unit like that would come in pretty handy
No not the Kamikoto. These are cheap ass mass produced knives from China
Some world military should create a metal to award you for your phenomenal history teaching episodes. You're quite talented and knowledgeable and your content is ALWAYS highly desirable.
You should make him one!!
He was inducted into The Royal Society of Historians.
2:45 - NOPE! It's "huge SWATHS (swoths) of settlements," not "swathes" (sweyths), which means "wrappings."
I am sure that the Army engineers could have been trained to put out fires and give them few fire pumps to take along. Defensive fire fighting isn't complicated science.
Given the equipment they can. I expect they did just that. However that wasn’t their primary duty. So more often that not they were preoccupied and not firefighting.
then ad company of fire fighters .... it just don't make any sense to force civilian firefighters to the battlefield.
"Defensive fire fighting isn't complicated science"
That must be why they are degree courses on the subject and Professional Institutions in almost every country.
Fire fighting in the us army has been the responsibility of the corps of engineers since 1941
Seems like Dr. Felton is never short of amazing historical facts from WW2! Great channel, great presentations, great historian!
Thanks for bringing to light something nearly forgotten by time.
What a wonderful story. Thank you for not overlooking the relatively small contingent of units that were pivotal for victory during the war. One can only remember what is known, so thank you for adding to our knowledge and understanding, and now, memories, of the war
Once again Dr Felton with a piece off overlooked WW2 history. Thanks again Dr Felton. God Save The King
Quite remarkable comment, are you an heir if Dr Mark or just a sycophant? 🤩 😂
at 6:00 "The question is why? The reason is actually simple and eminently logical, to put out fires." The deadpan captain obvious moment is hysterical.
There used to be an American parachute inserted airborne firefighting team for jumping with paratroopers. I believe their objective was to control fires at captured airports.
The stuff you don’t know you don’t know.! Mark, you keep pumping out these unremittingly fascinating vignettes - thank you so much!
"Commander there are some American fire fighters!". "Hans get se Flammenwerfer!"
I've neither heard of or even considered this important role before so thank you for enlightening us.
Hmm, I've never heard about this before now. Interesting. I wish someone would do a full length documentary about the London Fire Brigade during the war. As a retired fireman of 39 years, I would find that very intriguing.
0:02 Mark Felton "Prodictions" - yes, I noticed a minor type-o, carry on.
I did this very thing in Iraq.
We were referred to as "Combat Firefighters".
At 1:27 mark whom is that British Soldier, over the year I’ve seen him a lot at D-day footage.
Yet another gem of history from Dr. Felton that I had no idea even existed until now.
Dr. Felton, have you considered an episode covering the fascinating German/British emergency rescue buoys that were situated in the English Channel and elsewhere? These buoys resembled regular buoys but had emergency cabins submerged under the water that were loaded with beds, dry clothes, rations, and even chocolate, cigarettes and brandy, for downed airmen. They could swim to them, take shelter and signal for help. A fascinating topic, at least to me. I’m sure you could do a hell of a report about them. I know that the body of one still exists at a Scottish maritime museum/.
Once you hear the into music you know it's going to be a banger of a video
Now this is an interesting video. Thank Mark Felton!
*Intro music plays
My brain: time to go school
Glad to hear that someone thought of the poor French citizens in this way. War produces way too much collateral damage.
Jesus, Mark...how much digging around in the attics of history do you have to do to find incredible stories like this? I honestly thought I knew a lot about WWII before I stumbled across your channel, but you always have a new surprise for me!
Were the Dutch part of the landings on D-Day?
Another great but obscure bit of WWII history. Thank you, Dr Felton.
An bit of WWII firefighting history: in the US all of the companies that produced fire trucks and fire engines were converted for the war effort.
Except one : Seagrave, they built fire apparatus for the US and some were shipped to Britain to replace equipment damaged during the Blitz.
OUTSTANDING INFORMATIVE VIDEO SIR !!! Cheers !!!
Brilliant and unique insights into the hidden facets of WW2 and the women and men that put their lives in the line of peril for yours and my freedom today.
It says much about the calibre of the men. Despite having worked tirelessly at home, rising their lives at times, so many were prepared to go to France. Respect of the highest order in my opinion.
The D-Day Firefighters wouldn't run out of water to drink. 🤣
Thanks Professor Felton for sharing this story about this unit and giving them their due. I never heard of this unit and their contribution in helping end that terrible war. They were heroes in their own right, well done.
Can’t wait for part 2 of Martin Bormann series 🔥
Working on it
Whats the original intro song? Or did you make it yourself?
Redemption's Last Chance Elijah Robert 1:36
The amount of thought put into D-Day is astonishing. Is it true that the allies did not have many plans in place for after the landings?
Love these videos on very niche aspects of the war that you'll never learn about in school due to time constraints.
One would have to spend a lifetime at school of course, there's more than enough in books for us to learn from.. 🇫🇷🇬🇧🇺🇸📚
Hey Mark I just checking out your sponsor I see it's a play on words of Kamikaze to kamikoto LoL I love it!
Am I the only one who would have been surprised to find out a bunch of men were "camp followers"? Not that there is anything wrong with that.
You best believe I clicked on this video when I saw it, even though I had no idea what it was. Another great show Dr.
Honestly, just thinking that the D-Day was so organized they even planned to send firefighters, makes me think the D-Day wasn't the landing of an army, it was the landing of an entire mobile State.
The intro song never gets old!
Oh c'mon Mark, Kamikoto are scam Made in China knives... Thought someone that knows history would at least do some research on it before accepting their money.
Did anyone see the text Professor mark put production as prodiction
Blast!!!!
Excellent video 📹
The firemen 🚒 do an important job.
After D Day, the fire 🔥 men were needed in London because of the V threat.
You don't need to have a weapon to fight a war.
And thus true heroes of such that has never been credited to the goal of helping the war
My grandad was a fire fighter in such of this and said. We were attacked by the Germans and we opened our hoses and splattered them back into the ditches where the came from.
Untill the army gathered them up as prisoners of war.
And hence they were shipped back to England for processing. And one of them married into my family how ironic. Untill he died in England in 1993 he still at the time hated or dispiced English folk even tho married to my nan.
I guess so he could stay safe in Britain Untill he died
Hey I also wanted to say that every time I play your videos on the TV my two 3-year-old twins come running to hear your intro song what is the song I tried doing a Google search for it and it keeps coming back to hip hop songs where they sampled it but what's the original
Redemption's Last Chance - Elijah Robert 1:36 ruclips.net/video/1YAA0HqYWqo/видео.html
Redemption's Last Chance Elijah Robert 1:36
Thanks for the info unfortunately they're 3 years old and they want to hear a whole song like that 14 seconds that Mark uses they're not going to be into the rest of the song they're going to be bummed...
Mark. Thanks for providing my Saturday Night Entertainment!
First half of my 13 hour Russo-Japanese War Documentary is now up - please check it out! 🙏
The Germans had similar units, called Feuerschutz-Polizeiregiment.
I would imagine that had they been captured by Germans, they would've been useful to them too, thus not treated poorly.