This movie really got beat up when it came out but personally, I liked it. It was rather dodgy as far as the history goes, but I found it to be entertaining and thought that it shined a light on an interesting story in WWII.
It just occurred to me, what happened to all the African, Asian and indeginous Art, that would have Bern present in those museums the Nazis looted?........... 🧐
My uncle “Bud”, was a member of the “monuments men” I remember that he was at one of those salt mines where all that art was hidden. He later became a post master in Maine, and knew everyone, and history of their families. When he died, we lost a whole library of knowledge.
@@ReelHistory Floyd R. Wright At one time he was in an armored division, and maybe a Radio Operator. (I think) He was an enlisted member- not an officer.
Interesting note about Maj. Howie that you bring up. I'm a medic in the US Army currently attached to the 1-116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team; the same unit you briefly talk about during the St. Lo piece. Pretty cool!
As the son of a WWII veteran, who was stationed in the northern shoulder of the Bulge, I got very emotional at the Battle of the Bulge scene with Bill Murray and his family recording of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”. Thinking of my mom and dad, I couldn’t help but start crying during that scene. Hearing the lyrics to the song and knowing what the soldiers were going through with the weather and the surprise German attack. Mom knew approximately were dad was stationed but could not get specific information on his division and himself. There was no instant communication during that time period. It was about the 2nd week of January that she got a letter from the Red Cross stating that he was OK (at least he was alive). It was early February before his mail caught up to him. Even with some flaws in the movie, I thought it was an important war film. We must never forget what happened in Europe during WWII. The two scenes that I thought were the most powerful are the scene of Cate Blanchett’s character showing Matt Damon the rooms full of artwork, furniture and statues. He says to her, “What is all this?” She turns and looks at him and says, “People’s stuff.” Finally, Matt Damon looking at a barrel of gold teeth-powerful symbolism!
I know some critics or viewers may have different opinions on this movie, but it is personally one of my favorites and addresses an excellent cause that lives on to this day. Thank you for the work to make this video, I truly enjoy it.
I saw this movie when it came out in theaters with my father and older brother. I’ve loved everything ww2 since I was a child regardless of how random the subject. This movie made me appreciate art again at 11 during a time when i resented it. I just rewatched it and I can’t help but get emotional seeing the paintings be burned or when Jeffries and Clermont die.
I'm an alumni of Clarion University. We had our very own Monuments Men- "Steve Kovalyak, a Punxsutawney native and one of the 345 members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives subcommission during World War II, graduated from Clarion University in 1942 and joined the United States Army."
My husband and I are both army veterans who have been deployed and missed many holidays. I love the emotion of the Christmas scene for many reasons. First, it shows the bond that battle buddies have and for Preston it was a gesture that meant the world to Richard. Second, especially back then, the ability to hear your loved ones voice would have been something that you would do almost anything for. We lived for mail call and it would have been a shot in the arm of motivation. Third, overlapping it with the infirmary scene was important because war doesn’t stop just because it’s the holiday’s and there were many who would never make it home to celebrate with their families again. It’s one of my favorite parts of the movie. Usually, those who make those criticisms have no concept of what it’s like to be there in real life. These same criticisms were given about the Apollo 13 scene where Marilyn lost her wedding ring the morning of the launch when in fact it did happen and she felt it was an omen. The problem is people can’t handle strong emotions like that especially when it’s in tough scenarios. They would rather believe it’s fake than accept reality because it makes them face their own emotions as being a real thing.
I first learned about the Monuments Men from watching late night reruns of a show called “Combat”. The guest star of the episode was Charles Bronson as a munitions expert brought in to blow up a mountain fortress. It turned out to be a monastery full of medieval art and Bronsons character was an art student. He spent most of the episode struggling to bring himself to complete the mission and destroy the art in the process.
Thanks for this break down video. I think the films made about WW2 in more recent years tend to be stories about some of the more obscure aspects of the war, like Saving Private Ryan and The Monuments Men, rather than about the war itself. I always find it hilarious when French people say please stop talking French. They all learn English in school, but pretend they can't understand English if you're English. They're still upset about Waterloo...
I liked your breakdown of what is one of my favourite films. The film takes liberties with the historical elements, but it has a good structure and is well written, and it inspired me to research the historical Monuments Men (and Women) and the history of art after watching it, which gave me a greater appreciation of both.
Far funnier than this film was the promotional appearance of Clooney, Damon, Bonneville and Murray on the Graham Norton show. It's absolutely hilarious as the 4 actors really cut loose!
Monuments Men is at least the third movie I've seen, in which someone's competence with handguns is conveyed by showing them handling a handgun like a complete amateur. Flicking the cylinder closed on a revolver, with a flip of the wrist, as evidence of expertise, would be like introducing the expert getaway driver in bank heist movie by showing him grinding gears, lurching rearward when he intends to go forward, etc. I think the MM actor shown mishandling his revolver, Bob Balaban, performed the same "I'm clueless, but you're impressed" scene in another film, too.
When my wife took the Viking Long Boat from Budapest to Amsterdam(this last August 2023) it was interesting to hear all the stories about how the Nazi destroyed everything as not to leave any evidence of them being there and how a lot of the priest hid the arts and treasures of the churches from the Nazis. Again Great video.
The Germans did not use Monte Cassino before it was destroyed by the Allied Air Force. After it was bombed to rubble, the Germans used the rubble as a defensive position. In the end it took more effort to get the Germans out of Monte Cassino because it had been bombed.
The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend were composed mostly of children, ages 17-18 though many younger than that eagerly joined as well. It is reported some soldiers were so young they were given sweets rather than tobacco. They thought in France during the D-Day offensive and after, so it is possible this kid we see here was one that had got separated from his unit.
The 1969 Burt Lancaster film "Castle Keep" is also concerned with the fate of art and historical buildings in Europe WWII. Its set in a fictional medieval castle in Belgium situated on a crucial crossroads on the way to Bastogne just before the Battle of the Bulge. Among the 8 American soldiers occupying the castle is an art historian who advocates for abandoning the castle in order to save its treasures from destruction by the advancing Germans. But the commander, played by Lancaster, isn't having any of that. This film has a mix of comedy, action and surrealism that several of my friends have not found as intriguing as I do :) P.S. The design of the castle used in the film (built of styrofoam and accidently burned down near the end of production) was inspired by Walt Disney.
You know Messr. Odaert best, but please consider showing him What About Bob?, Bill Murray’s best comedic role. Oh, now I know, you love Groundhog Day because it takes place in Pennsylvania! I was a little slow there.
In actual fact the Germans did not use Monte Cassino abbey as a fortification until after it had been destroyed. They had an agreement with the monks there that they would not station troops inside the structure although they were stationed around and beneath it. There was even some argument among the Allied officers involved as to whether bombing it would have any effect on the stalemate that had ensued when the Allies reaching the mountain upon which the abbey was sitting. In the end it was decided that the risk of the Germans using it as both a place for their artillery spotters to use and as a fortification was to dangerous to be left as it was.
The Monuments Men is one of my favorite films, and lead me into researching/learning Nazi-Art Looting for the past five years. The breakdown was fun to watch, but I wish the host was a little bit more knowledgeable and let French gentleman speak more. One example: (28:16) John Goodman, and Jean-Claud Clermont's characters are in Germany (not France) when the Hitler Youth sniper child was shooting at them. The architecture is German, the signs were written in German and this would have been in March of '45.
This was a fun review of a fun movie, this film sort of borders the surreal and comical in a way fitting. Because the function of the unit was surreal in the context of the total war. One other note, Ludwig was king of Bavaria a little more elevated than baron
I have another suggestion!? It's not really a war changing battle or nothing like that but it in my opinion is a very well done movie about a guy from my neck of the woods. Movie is called The Last Full Measure. Movie made me cry happy tears 🥲
hey jared, it's the grumpy old fart again. i also enjoyed this movie when i first saw it, especially the scene where john goodman was in basics, and got called out of live fire training, and when asked how they were treating him, he's like it;s ok, just a bunch of kids fifing blanks over your head. keep up the good work john
Great breakdown! When you mentioned George Clooney, It reminded me of the recent Catch-22 which was a series I really enjoyed and maybe worth a look! Not sure if it has much historic accuracy.
I've been studying the MFAA and the work of the Monuments Men for the past three years. This film is definitely not historically accurate, but it's a breezy and fun retelling of what the Monuments Men did. I'll be re-enacting the MFAA at D-Day Conneaut this year, and probably going to have to point out a lot of inaccuracies to the public and fellow re-enactors. Look me up if you're attending and I'll give you a quick and dirty rundown of N*zi plunder!
@@wyattkelly I'll be there with the Furious Fourth, as well, and I will most definitely stay back at camp with Jared during the amphibious landings. I've done enough of those in my life, and don't miss bobbing in the waters.
@Reel History-About the Ghent Altar piece (sorry if my spelling is off) there are conflicting rumors I have heard that there are still panels missing even though it looks like they got them all in the last mine. Do you have any knowledge if thats true or not?
Actually there were German kids fighting in France in the Hitlerjugend SS Division the overall age there was way younger as in other German formations but i guess you guys are referring to the last ditch Volkssturm and Hitlerjugend later in the war.
The 12.SS-Panzer-Division 'Hitler Jugend' was raised in 1943, based on the idea of recruiting from the Hitler Youth movement and starting with boys born in 1926, so the first intake was 17 years of age. Officers were transferred from 1.SS-Panzer-Division, and the 12.SS joined them in forming I.SS-Panzerkorps. They fought around Caen against the British and Canadians, inland from the D-Day beaches, and in subsequent operations in Normandy. In July and August the original SS training battalion 'Germania', based in Arnhem in the Netherlands, had changed its designation to SS-Panzergrenadier-Ausbildungs-und-Ersatz-Bataillon 12, to train replacements for the 'Hitler Jugend' Division and still had a few HJ recruits under training in September at the time of the Allied Airborne operation Market Garden. By this time the training battalion had already changed its designation again from '12' to '16', as it was expecting the arrival of 1,600 new recruits from Germany to be trained for the 16.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 'Reichsführer-SS'. I think you're right that any boys under 17 fighting in the army, SS, or militia units like the Volkssturm, would most likely only be encountered in Germany itself in 1945, as the manpower shortages became absolutely desperate. There's a scene in the 1969 film The Bridge At Remagen in which the very young son of the hotel owner in the German town of Remagen ignored the white flags that had been put out by civilians and killed an American soldier with a machine-pistol from an upper floor in the hotel. I think incidents like that were not untypical.
Love this movie, I even bought and read the book its based on, and I love Reel History .... but I would humbly suggest if this gentleman comes back to perhaps use subtitles? His accent is so strong I couldn't make out a lot of what he was saying unfortunately.
I agree with self-important speeches comment. Anything since 2016 that Damon or Clooney are behind has a subtle political message in it (they can't just make a movie anymore). Fortunately, neither of them are huge box office draws any longer.
German troops did not occupy and fortify Monte Casino until after it was bombed... Americans could have left it alone and bypassed it but choose not to. after the bombardment germans occupied it and a three month long battle occured in the now ruins of what was once Monty Casino...
thank you! i totally get that just wasnt sure if youtube shut it down again due to the copyright from hbo i remember last time they gave yoy issues! thanks for always replying and answering questions! always eagerly awaiting the next video!!!
As a fellow Polish architect and architecture historian, I am used to archival research and meticulous details, so gotta sayy- I love your content, very thorough and deep. Much respect! But , sorry to say, your French guest was terrible, I barely grasped what he was saying....
The John Wayne bit is stupid. Prior to Stagecoach (1939) the Duke was a "B" movie leading man who's film received virtually no International distribution whatsoever & during the Second World War his Hollywood propaganda films were not shown in occupied France. Wayne did not become an American movie & cultural icon until the post-war years. The script writers for this film were dumb as grass.
@@ReelHistory Do some net searches eg "Résistancialisme" or "French Resistance myth" what there was, was basically confined to Spanish and Jewish people and it was small.
We were not suggesting small meant inconsequential. Case in point, read "Eisenhower's Guerrillas: The Jedburghs, the Maquis, and the Liberation of France."
@ReelHistory he was a politician writing. It was small, very small. The big problem to many French people is that Vichy France was a legit government, and if you were no Jewish, it was okay. As a result, almost all French resistance was confined for much of the war, as I stated to non French people and political extremists.
I was wondering if you ever would be interested in hearing my family's ww2 story on the Norwegian side. Theres my grandmother and my granduncle almost getting wiped out in a bombing raid trying to hit a U-boat bunker and ended up hitting off target and flattening my grandmas school(Holen skole in laksevaag Bergen) There is also resistance /NORIC 1 skulduggery if that might be interesting:P We owe a LOT to this generation.
This movie really got beat up when it came out but personally, I liked it. It was rather dodgy as far as the history goes, but I found it to be entertaining and thought that it shined a light on an interesting story in WWII.
Couldn't have said it better myself
It just occurred to me, what happened to all the African, Asian and indeginous Art, that would have Bern present in those museums the Nazis looted?........... 🧐
My uncle “Bud”, was a member of the “monuments men”
I remember that he was at one of those salt mines where all that art was hidden.
He later became a post master in Maine, and knew everyone, and history of their families.
When he died, we lost a whole library of knowledge.
What was his full name?
@@ReelHistory
Floyd R. Wright
At one time he was in an armored division, and maybe a Radio Operator.
(I think) He was an enlisted member- not an officer.
@@ReelHistory
He was in the 8th Armor Division at the start of the war.
Floyd R. Wright
Interesting note about Maj. Howie that you bring up. I'm a medic in the US Army currently attached to the 1-116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team; the same unit you briefly talk about during the St. Lo piece. Pretty cool!
As the son of a WWII veteran, who was stationed in the northern shoulder of the Bulge, I got very emotional at the Battle of the Bulge scene with Bill Murray and his family recording of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”.
Thinking of my mom and dad, I couldn’t help but start crying during that scene. Hearing the lyrics to the song and knowing what the soldiers were going through with the weather and the surprise German attack. Mom knew approximately were dad was stationed but could not get specific information on his division and himself. There was no instant communication during that time period. It was about the 2nd week of January that she got a letter from the Red Cross stating that he was OK (at least he was alive). It was early February before his mail caught up to him.
Even with some flaws in the movie, I thought it was an important war film. We must never forget what happened in Europe during WWII. The two scenes that I thought were the most powerful are the scene of Cate Blanchett’s character showing Matt Damon the rooms full of artwork, furniture and statues. He says to her, “What is all this?” She turns and looks at him and says, “People’s stuff.”
Finally, Matt Damon looking at a barrel of gold teeth-powerful symbolism!
I know some critics or viewers may have different opinions on this movie, but it is personally one of my favorites and addresses an excellent cause that lives on to this day. Thank you for the work to make this video, I truly enjoy it.
It is a guilty pleasure!
Awesome review gents. Theo, what a great legacy with your great grandfather serving in the Resistance...a true hero.
I saw this movie when it came out in theaters with my father and older brother. I’ve loved everything ww2 since I was a child regardless of how random the subject. This movie made me appreciate art again at 11 during a time when i resented it. I just rewatched it and I can’t help but get emotional seeing the paintings be burned or when Jeffries and Clermont die.
I'm an alumni of Clarion University. We had our very own Monuments Men- "Steve Kovalyak, a Punxsutawney native and one of the 345 members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives subcommission during World War II, graduated from Clarion University in 1942 and joined the United States Army."
My husband and I are both army veterans who have been deployed and missed many holidays. I love the emotion of the Christmas scene for many reasons. First, it shows the bond that battle buddies have and for Preston it was a gesture that meant the world to Richard. Second, especially back then, the ability to hear your loved ones voice would have been something that you would do almost anything for. We lived for mail call and it would have been a shot in the arm of motivation. Third, overlapping it with the infirmary scene was important because war doesn’t stop just because it’s the holiday’s and there were many who would never make it home to celebrate with their families again. It’s one of my favorite parts of the movie. Usually, those who make those criticisms have no concept of what it’s like to be there in real life.
These same criticisms were given about the Apollo 13 scene where Marilyn lost her wedding ring the morning of the launch when in fact it did happen and she felt it was an omen.
The problem is people can’t handle strong emotions like that especially when it’s in tough scenarios. They would rather believe it’s fake than accept reality because it makes them face their own emotions as being a real thing.
I first learned about the Monuments Men from watching late night reruns of a show called “Combat”. The guest star of the episode was Charles Bronson as a munitions expert brought in to blow up a mountain fortress. It turned out to be a monastery full of medieval art and Bronsons character was an art student. He spent most of the episode struggling to bring himself to complete the mission and destroy the art in the process.
Theo's grandad looks like a badass. I thank him for his service and i thabk yall for this video!
Thanks for this break down video. I think the films made about WW2 in more recent years tend to be stories about some of the more obscure aspects of the war, like Saving Private Ryan and The Monuments Men, rather than about the war itself. I always find it hilarious when French people say please stop talking French. They all learn English in school, but pretend they can't understand English if you're English. They're still upset about Waterloo...
Was looking forward to this! Thanks gents!
Neuschwanstein is in Bavaria, and Ludwig was the King of Bavaria. Loved this movie and your guest is correct, we need to hear the reasons...
Loved this movie. A lot of people slept on it. Thanks for the break down.
You're welcome! it's a guilty pleasure of ours
I liked your breakdown of what is one of my favourite films. The film takes liberties with the historical elements, but it has a good structure and is well written, and it inspired me to research the historical Monuments Men (and Women) and the history of art after watching it, which gave me a greater appreciation of both.
We always say that if a film inspires research on a topic then it was a success.
Far funnier than this film was the promotional appearance of Clooney, Damon, Bonneville and Murray on the Graham Norton show. It's absolutely hilarious as the 4 actors really cut loose!
Monuments Men is at least the third movie I've seen, in which someone's competence with handguns is conveyed by showing them handling a handgun like a complete amateur. Flicking the cylinder closed on a revolver, with a flip of the wrist, as evidence of expertise, would be like introducing the expert getaway driver in bank heist movie by showing him grinding gears, lurching rearward when he intends to go forward, etc. I think the MM actor shown mishandling his revolver, Bob Balaban, performed the same "I'm clueless, but you're impressed" scene in another film, too.
When my wife took the Viking Long Boat from Budapest to Amsterdam(this last August 2023) it was interesting to hear all the stories about how the Nazi destroyed everything as not to leave any evidence of them being there and how a lot of the priest hid the arts and treasures of the churches from the Nazis. Again Great video.
Another excellent video, Jared. Have you ever visited or participated in any event at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, Indiana?
Not yet!
27:18 I used to live near Des Moines, Iowa and passed the sign on Interstate 80 for Winterset frequently.
The Germans did not use Monte Cassino before it was destroyed by the Allied Air Force. After it was bombed to rubble, the Germans used the rubble as a defensive position. In the end it took more effort to get the Germans out of Monte Cassino because it had been bombed.
The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend were composed mostly of children, ages 17-18 though many younger than that eagerly joined as well. It is reported some soldiers were so young they were given sweets rather than tobacco. They thought in France during the D-Day offensive and after, so it is possible this kid we see here was one that had got separated from his unit.
The 1969 Burt Lancaster film "Castle Keep" is also concerned with the fate of art and historical buildings in Europe WWII. Its set in a fictional medieval castle in Belgium situated on a crucial crossroads on the way to Bastogne just before the Battle of the Bulge. Among the 8 American soldiers occupying the castle is an art historian who advocates for abandoning the castle in order to save its treasures from destruction by the advancing Germans. But the commander, played by Lancaster, isn't having any of that. This film has a mix of comedy, action and surrealism that several of my friends have not found as intriguing as I do :)
P.S. The design of the castle used in the film (built of styrofoam and accidently burned down near the end of production) was inspired by Walt Disney.
One question. You did Flags of our Fathers already some time ago. will there be a vid about Letters of Iwo Jima in the near Future?
Absolutely!
@@ReelHistory thanks looking forward to it.
You know Messr. Odaert best, but please consider showing him What About Bob?, Bill Murray’s best comedic role. Oh, now I know, you love Groundhog Day because it takes place in Pennsylvania! I was a little slow there.
I missed this one! Catching up....
32:30 Crayon art!!! Oh jack, your marine sensibilities kill me LOL!!!
I aim to please😁
That classic sound
Love the cameo from chuck. Yes I’m a subscriber
Thanks again, Heath😁
In actual fact the Germans did not use Monte Cassino abbey as a fortification until after it had been destroyed. They had an agreement with the monks there that they would not station troops inside the structure although they were stationed around and beneath it. There was even some argument among the Allied officers involved as to whether bombing it would have any effect on the stalemate that had ensued when the Allies reaching the mountain upon which the abbey was sitting. In the end it was decided that the risk of the Germans using it as both a place for their artillery spotters to use and as a fortification was to dangerous to be left as it was.
The Monuments Men is one of my favorite films, and lead me into researching/learning Nazi-Art Looting for the past five years. The breakdown was fun to watch, but I wish the host was a little bit more knowledgeable and let French gentleman speak more. One example: (28:16) John Goodman, and Jean-Claud Clermont's characters are in Germany (not France) when the Hitler Youth sniper child was shooting at them. The architecture is German, the signs were written in German and this would have been in March of '45.
I think the critics were too harsh on this movie as well. I actually watched it in theatres with my Mum when it came out.
This was a fun review of a fun movie, this film sort of borders the surreal and comical in a way fitting. Because the function of the unit was surreal in the context of the total war.
One other note, Ludwig was king of Bavaria a little more elevated than baron
I have another suggestion!? It's not really a war changing battle or nothing like that but it in my opinion is a very well done movie about a guy from my neck of the woods. Movie is called The Last Full Measure. Movie made me cry happy tears 🥲
Jared has seen that one. Thanks for the suggestion.
hey jared, it's the grumpy old fart again. i also enjoyed this movie when i first saw it, especially the scene where john goodman was in basics, and got called out of live fire training, and when asked how they were treating him, he's like it;s ok, just a bunch of kids fifing blanks over your head. keep up the good work john
Great breakdown! When you mentioned George Clooney, It reminded me of the recent Catch-22 which was a series I really enjoyed and maybe worth a look! Not sure if it has much historic accuracy.
We love that series.
I've been studying the MFAA and the work of the Monuments Men for the past three years. This film is definitely not historically accurate, but it's a breezy and fun retelling of what the Monuments Men did. I'll be re-enacting the MFAA at D-Day Conneaut this year, and probably going to have to point out a lot of inaccuracies to the public and fellow re-enactors. Look me up if you're attending and I'll give you a quick and dirty rundown of N*zi plunder!
See you there!
@@ReelHistory I'll be somewhere with the 1st Army!
@@wyattkelly Andy here, I'll will be with the Furious Fourth and Jared will a book booth set up
@@wyattkelly I'll be there with the Furious Fourth, as well, and I will most definitely stay back at camp with Jared during the amphibious landings. I've done enough of those in my life, and don't miss bobbing in the waters.
I almost died laughing during Chuck's cameo
The problem with Bill Murray’s acting is that all of his roles are him playing Bill Murray.
Vive La France….they had great courage and perseverance in fighting the Nazis .
Ugh, you really took one for the team sitting that close to a Frenchman. ❤️
Careful, He does know how to shoot
@Reel History-About the Ghent Altar piece (sorry if my spelling is off) there are conflicting rumors I have heard that there are still panels missing even though it looks like they got them all in the last mine. Do you have any knowledge if thats true or not?
Wow. That's news to us.
Hey Jared, what are your thoughts about doing episodes about When Trumpets Fade and A Midnight Clear?
Jared's brother, who is fairly well-versed on the Hurtgen, will eventually join us for When Trumpets Fade.
I loved Ghent
would the hedgehogs have still been on the beach like that? I would assume the engineers would've gotten rid of them by this point
The Siege of Jadotville!
That one is definitely on our list!
Actually there were German kids fighting in France in the Hitlerjugend SS Division the overall age there was way younger as in other German formations but i guess you guys are referring to the last ditch Volkssturm and Hitlerjugend later in the war.
The 12.SS-Panzer-Division 'Hitler Jugend' was raised in 1943, based on the idea of recruiting from the Hitler Youth movement and starting with boys born in 1926, so the first intake was 17 years of age. Officers were transferred from 1.SS-Panzer-Division, and the 12.SS joined them in forming I.SS-Panzerkorps. They fought around Caen against the British and Canadians, inland from the D-Day beaches, and in subsequent operations in Normandy.
In July and August the original SS training battalion 'Germania', based in Arnhem in the Netherlands, had changed its designation to SS-Panzergrenadier-Ausbildungs-und-Ersatz-Bataillon 12, to train replacements for the 'Hitler Jugend' Division and still had a few HJ recruits under training in September at the time of the Allied Airborne operation Market Garden. By this time the training battalion had already changed its designation again from '12' to '16', as it was expecting the arrival of 1,600 new recruits from Germany to be trained for the 16.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 'Reichsführer-SS'.
I think you're right that any boys under 17 fighting in the army, SS, or militia units like the Volkssturm, would most likely only be encountered in Germany itself in 1945, as the manpower shortages became absolutely desperate. There's a scene in the 1969 film The Bridge At Remagen in which the very young son of the hotel owner in the German town of Remagen ignored the white flags that had been put out by civilians and killed an American soldier with a machine-pistol from an upper floor in the hotel. I think incidents like that were not untypical.
@@davemac1197, as is often the case, thanks for answering that question for us!
@@davemac1197 The full restored version of "The Big Red One" also features a scene with a Hitler Youth sniper in Germany.
@@johnard611 - I wasn't aware of the restoration, so thanks for posting.
introduce him to "Stripes"
Love this movie, I even bought and read the book its based on, and I love Reel History .... but I would humbly suggest if this gentleman comes back to perhaps use subtitles? His accent is so strong I couldn't make out a lot of what he was saying unfortunately.
I actually started putting subtitles in but then realized that the auto generated youtube subtitles worked just fine for him.
@@ReelHistory Ahh, thank you, yes that makes sense :)
Woo hoo another Reel history video
I agree with self-important speeches comment. Anything since 2016 that Damon or Clooney are behind has a subtle political message in it (they can't just make a movie anymore). Fortunately, neither of them are huge box office draws any longer.
German troops did not occupy and fortify Monte Casino until after it was bombed... Americans could have left it alone and bypassed it but choose not to. after the bombardment germans occupied it and a three month long battle occured in the now ruins of what was once Monty Casino...
British and Polish troops assaulted Monte Casino. You should really know that.I.D.
Best Bill Murray film is Lost In Translation (2003), and if you haven't visited Japan I think it's an eye opener to that experience as well.
Most boring film ever made in Japan.
@@robertgiles9124 - I know it's not exactly Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla...
Typhoon
George Washington
Dude, get some eye protection on that dude when shooting
no more john adams? ):
Oh we have 2 more episodes filmed, it's going to be completed. Working around everyone's schedules gets complicated when everyone has full time jobs.
thank you! i totally get that just wasnt sure if youtube shut it down again due to the copyright from hbo i remember last time they gave yoy issues! thanks for always replying and answering questions! always eagerly awaiting the next video!!!
As a fellow Polish architect and architecture historian, I am used to archival research and meticulous details, so gotta sayy- I love your content, very thorough and deep. Much respect!
But , sorry to say, your French guest was terrible, I barely grasped what he was saying....
Turn on the subtitles, they work quite well with his thick accent.
The John Wayne bit is stupid. Prior to Stagecoach (1939) the Duke was a "B" movie leading man who's film received virtually no International distribution whatsoever & during the Second World War his Hollywood propaganda films were not shown in occupied France. Wayne did not become an American movie & cultural icon until the post-war years. The script writers for this film were dumb as grass.
I had to stop; there was no great french resistance in ww2, the reel history needs fact checking.
Huh?
@@ReelHistory Do some net searches eg "Résistancialisme" or "French Resistance myth" what there was, was basically confined to Spanish and Jewish people and it was small.
We were not suggesting small meant inconsequential. Case in point, read "Eisenhower's Guerrillas: The Jedburghs, the Maquis, and the Liberation of France."
@ReelHistory he was a politician writing. It was small, very small. The big problem to many French people is that Vichy France was a legit government, and if you were no Jewish, it was okay. As a result, almost all French resistance was confined for much of the war, as I stated to non French people and political extremists.
I love me some crayon art and the culinary aspects of various crayons,imma sub to you right now Jack
Just wait til you see his next episode!
Many thanks to you, Ulysses. Semper Fi
@@SemperFiGuy Semper Fi Brother!
I was wondering if you ever would be interested in hearing my family's ww2 story on the Norwegian side.
Theres my grandmother and my granduncle almost getting wiped out in a bombing raid trying to hit a U-boat bunker and ended up hitting off target and flattening my grandmas school(Holen skole in laksevaag Bergen)
There is also resistance /NORIC 1 skulduggery if that might be interesting:P
We owe a LOT to this generation.