My uncle Thomas O'Brien was a corporal the Three Rivers Regiment. He was 20 when he was killed in his tank fighting in Italy (May 23rd). He grave stone amongst the thousands of other Canadians was actually attached to another Canadian that was killed in the same tank. They could not tell the men apart and buried them together. The sacrifices these young men made for our freedom should always be honoured.
hey 👋 this Canadian is so very proud of our Canadian soldiers and does his best to research more about our unsong heroes of WWII thank you for your service both living and those that paid the highest cost!
My uncle fought at Ortona, 49th Loyal Eddie’s in Dawn brigade. He didn’t speak much about it, in fact he he spent much of his retirement speaking to children at schools and ceremonies about the importance of remembering the losses both side experienced and the tragedy of war. I spoke with another vet from the same division at another Remembrance Day Ceremony and he spoke at length about the house to house clearing of German troops with trenching spades and pistols and I realized why he never discussed it. He did manage to remove the typewriter from the police chief of Romes office and it resides today at the Loyal Edmonton Regiments museum at the Princess Patricia Armoury. Hats off to the Canadians and all the Allies who fought with such disregard for their own safety, sometimes with some very tragic consequences, and with such bravery. (William Teleske, 49th Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Dawn Dawn Brigade)
The British high commanded used Canadians as what might be called "shock troops". Although the Canadians drew the toughest assignments and suffered the heaviest casualties, they always took their objectives! Much respect from the USA.
I appreciate this episode, because it not only tells the crews experience, but also about all the strengths the Sherman Tank had. Ruggedness, a very fast shooting main gun, lots of secondary guns, great maneuverability in narrow places, and allowed good situational awareness. The armor was not that thick, but unlike other tanks, you could easily escape it and had a good chance of surviving a hit. Survivability means experienced crews.
And sadly if you read official British history they minimize all of the Commonwealth troops contributions wonder how far Britain would have got if they hadn't had a forced Canada and other commonwealth countries to provide material and minion, after this happened with the refusal of allowing the Canadians to enter Rome, the Canadian government should have simply recalled all of their soldiers back to Canada.
Apparently there may be some misinformation going around. The Canadians were instrumental and effective in getting to and destroying the V1and V2 missiles, as well as taking the port of Antwerp which denied the Germans a critical supply line.
The Allied leadership WERE HORRIBLE!!! ALMOST ALL OF THE ALLY GENERALS WERE IDIOTS in the Italian Campaign. I had family fight the Italian Campaign. A lot of needless deaths and lost opportunities because of Allied Command. The Canadians (plus the rest of the Allied soldiers) took needless casualties, for the Sake of the British Empire. Again you want to hear the REAL truth about the Italian Campaign go to this RUclips video. Hitler's Soft Underbelly. ruclips.net/video/rj75NlnGXvc/видео.html
While the Canadian contribution to the Italian Campaign was significant and it was wrong that they were denied their victory march into Rome, this was down to GEN Mark Clark, and not the combat GIs he commanded. The US lost 114,000 good soldiers, who didn't get to parade through Rome.
You re right it was Mark Clarkes ego not the troops of the u.s.a. Patton s slapping episode had him removed he called Clarke a boob commander he was bang on.
My Grandfather is Canadian. Some did take part in the liberation of Rome. He was one of them as a member of The U.S./ Canada First Special Service Force. Not to say that I'm defending General Mark Clarke's decision in what he did but you are right Canada played a big part in throwing the Germans out of Italy. Places like Ortona were a brutal slug fest hence it being called (Little Stalingrad ). They should have been allowed to go all the way into Rome. But not just General Mark Clarke but General Montgomery,, Patton (Old Blood & Guts) and General Guy Simonds we're all considered egotistical Glory hounds wanting to be the first ones in
5 месяцев назад+3
At the end of the day I'm sure they (the Canadian army) didn't care about who took what, we Canadians aren't wired that way and like the quote at the end of the movie "Patton" "All glory is fleeting...."
Yes God Bless our Canadian cousins, but isn't it interesting how the British Empire kept the Canadians over in Europe and made the ANZACs (Aussies and Kiwis) fighting in Greece, Crete, North Africa along with a few reluctant South Africans. Mother England didn't want the Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders mixing too much did they? We were fighting for the mighty British Empire; God Save The King!
It is sad to refer to losses as (TANKS) only! there were men in them and they lost their lives, each time the commentator talks about losses in tanks, I shiver and think of the brave men inside them
It's interesting to note that my father and uncle ( his brother-in-law ), who were with the RCRs in the 1st Brigade , fought in all the intervening battles to those described here, those being mainly infantry battles.
@@castlerock58 and HURTGEN FOREST. Where were the Canadians and British at. Hurtgen has been recognized as the BLOODIEST battle in Western Europe. According to the Soviet liason, he had not seen that devastating of a fight since he was in Stalingrad.
Due to its relatively small size and high industrial output, Canada supplied other allies and had the most mechanized army per soldier of all armies in WWII
@Douglas Jones Using trucks/lorry's produced by Ford, GM and Chrysler and made with Lend Lease parts including tires/tyres, British forces were the most mechanized by 1944. The USA had the most radios.
@Douglas Jones Here are the production Numbers for "other vehicles" from Wackipedia, BE 1,475,521. USA 2,382,311. The US gave away ... I mean Lend Leased 793,011 trucks and jeeps (280,646 to BE and 10,966 to Canada) and at the end of the war US and British Empire forces numbered about the same. LL page 1 of link below With LL the BE had 1,767,133 trucks and minus LL the USA had 1,589,300. ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/LL-Ship/LL-Ship-3B.html
@Douglas JonesHe is referring to he number of vehicles available for the troops...Canada had only about 11 million people but made about 800,000 transport vehicles of various kinds during the war... Canada also gave Britain 1 billion dollars to buy Canadian made trucks.
@@nickdanger3802 Canada gave Britain 1 billion dollars during WW2 with the stipulation that the money be used to buy Canadian made trucks... it is referred to as the Billion Dollar Gift.
@@kevingoodwin5177 Canada gave Britain 2.7 Billion 1945 USD in Canadian goods and services. The Billion Dollar Gift was approved in Jan. 42, ten months after Lend Lease. Another 2 Billion was approved in 1943. Will attempt link to Canadian Encyclopedia.
My father fought at Ortona. According to him, he was shitless. When Dad and our family were posted to Germany in the 60’s, we met and became friends with a Germany family. The father fought in Ortona, and yes it turns out he could have killed my father but he did not. It was Christmas Day. He was just an ordinary person fighting for his country. So was my dad.
Peregrine McCauley.......most successful generals usually are. Besides......MacArthur was still right about victory.......and unfortunately victory is usually paid in blood.
@@peregrinemccauley7819 Well you can say that about Montgomery! He was a glory hound fullof himself! He made a lot of mustakes including his plan Market Garden in holland which was a disater! Yet he claimed it was a success! Aug!
Truman let China get away with attacking us after freeing them from Japan. Now we have to deal with a nuclear China and I fear they will win eventually.
As an american im glad this doc is giving 🇨🇦 some credit for what they did. They fought and died as we did. North America showed up and won! Minus the Mexicans who collaborated with the Germans.
The countries of the Allied forces in World War II owe an eternal debt to the Canadian soldiers for the price they paid in WW II. They played an indispensable part in the Allied victory in Europe. May the fallen rest easy.
Our Canadian brothers fought so bravely and deserved the right to enter Rome first but that publicity seeking worm Mark Clark , hated by all , deprived them of that honour. Luckily D-Day occured the following day and he faded back into insignificance again where he belonged !!
Clark's glory grab also prolonged the Italian Front for an additional 9 months. Why he was not fragged by anyone is beyond me. From what I know, the British hated being under his command, but the Americans despised him more than the Brits.
Not only kept the Canadians out of Rome but allowed half the German army to retreat through Rome. This cost many lives as they moved north from Rome later.
Canadians should have kept going....they broke every line and were told to stop...That's B--L Sh-T...Main thig Is where ever Canadian Soldiers are fighting , you need not worry...A1 Soldiers...
One of several problems the Canadians had in the Battle of Ordona was that the western allies had not developed urban doctrine and so it had to be developed on the run which ultimately included mouseholing and sector clesring. Dad was in the Calgary Tanks joining after Ortona and before Liri Valley. One of the comments he made was the stench of rotting bodies left in ruble of the town of Cassino as they went past it.
Thanx Uploader !. Worth a watch . Thank goodness for the cunuks , we could not won that war w/ out them . Monty did not have a clue . I like what Paton said " Stop me at Moscow "
This would be the same Patton who was to bring about such heavy American casualties in the Lorraine Campaign in 1944, would it? Montgomery was methodical, working on the 'Steel not Blood' principle. Patton, in effect a wealthy aristocrat, didn't give a damn about the hoi polloi in his army. I suggest you read Bradley's opinion of Georgie.
@@tracytavares1365 I lived in the city of tavares, here in Florida's lake county. Anyways, wondered if there is a relation here. As for George "Georgie" Patton. He was many things and a diplomat, with words, was not one in his wheelhouse. But now: Omar "butter don't melt" Bradley is starting the slow, or fast, who knows now, spin down the toilet. Historians lower than a certain age, and those older more militant ones whom are engaged in a life long battle against war (started by 1960s collage students, but all though history, higher learning has its focal point in the "Collage" age, well, age. In regards to war, +/-) Expect a man, respected by Patton and Eisenhower, to be the focal point of scandal and dare I say it? I shall! Everyone in any war fighting theater knew the orders came from above and there was not a whole lot he could do, while he wanted to side with those under Those orders. Which was a complete lie that everyone knew was a bold face lie. But, it was one of his ways, and a way to have deniability, that he used in concert with other tools in his box. I guess. I don't know anything anymore in this day and age. So buy Bonds! And Throw those bastargis out! Whoever or whatever that apply... /Yes, to long, didn't read....
@Tracy Tavares I'm not going to say that Monty was the greatest but he was the mastermind behind the Allied destruction of the Africa Korps which was the turning point in WW2 , yes I do now about Stalingrad but I'm talking about Africa and securing the Suez supply route .
@@distantthunder12ck55 I understood that but that doesn't make it right. As an American I thank the Canadians for standing bye the U.S. and being truly loyal allies.
@@demarcusfaulkner7411 It was more standing by Britain. Canada declared war on Germany on the 10th of September 1939, more than 2 years before the U.S. entered the war. They were there all the way from the beginning to end, same as in WW1. So as a Brit, as you call us - I can certainly commend and echo your sentiments about those Canadians.
Canadians whining ! U think no one else had it tough. Britt loses staggering at the monistary what about anzio? Clark's mistake was he could have cut Germans off and kept them from escaping instead he took rome for the Americans. U don't hear the whole story everyone had high loses. Italy was the toughest fighting .more than France it's were the war was won. If not for American fighting man allies would have lost in Italy Clark was big reason we won .best we had behind Patton.
There were still German troops retreating north when the Canadians arrived on the outskirts of Rome and for almost 9 hours Canadians watched Germans coming from the south and pass through Rome to their new defensive lines. When the Canadians arrived historians discovered later that the Germans only had about half a brigades worth of communications soldiers and about half a brigades worth of security type soldiers in Rome.If Clarke had of told them to just roll on into Rome it would of trapped 10's of thousands of German troops south of Rome with no way north. That would of been about half the German army in the whole of Italy. That's what happens when politics get in the way of military decisions. Both the British and Americans wanted to be the ones who liberated Rome , Clarke won that race.
The Germans did not defend Rome. Field Marshall Kesselring, who was an Italy fan, let the allies know, that Rome would be an open city. In 1943 Rome was bombed by the Allies, there was extensive damage done and many civilians killed. Kesselring knew the allies would destroy the city with bombs and artillery before moving infantry in.
lol untested Canadians, we were in it from the start actually...for years ( 1.5 ) before the yanks ..even our closest allies and neighbours are clueless about Canadas military achievements
Not to worry my friends There are millions of us in the states who love and appreciate all who are living and dead who kept us free. I don't believe without all of us that victory in the west would've been possible. I've always said without Great Britain....it's doubtful we would have got a toe hold in Europe. In fact....we marvel here in America how the Royal Air Force kicked the Luftwaffe's ass in the Battle of Britain. Yeah you got bloodied in that affair but you still kicked their asses. Churchill was right......"never in the course of human history has so much been owed by so many to so few". Amen brothers and sisters. God truly blessed us.
That was a tough one. Italy was originally Axis, then switched allegiances once they were invaded. The Italian people were still very much divided at that point as far as loyalties were concerned,
Canada always has tough fighters and their contribution and sacrifices in WW2 should never be forgotten. And Mark Clark was an ahole, this from an American.
My dad was in the Royal Navy on Destroyers in the Atlantic and Russian Convoys. He never had much time for the American navy but the Canadian navy he thought extremely highly of or as he would say 'Damb fine fighters. Thank God they were on our side'.
My uncle Bill graduated from the famed "Radio College" in Ontario and was loaned out on Norwegian tankers for most of the war. He ran aviation fuel into Trieste, ran the north Atlantic, and passed recently. He sent all his Canadian bonds/pay home to grandma as he thought he'd not survive the war.
Low velocity guns are howitzers. The 75mm gun was not a low velocity gun. It might be called a medium velocity gun in terms of comparison to German tank guns of 1943 but it could still kill comparable medium tanks and Stugs. It was by no means a dominant anti-tank gun but it was a dual purpose gun and as such was HIGHLY successful in 1942-44. However, the Germans kept building heavier and heavier vehicles so higher velocity guns were needed, but in some ways the 75mm forced the Germans to make tanks that had thick heavy armor and this created limitations that restricted German overall effectiveness. One thing the 75mm could do well was fire fast and this is shown in the video.
" , but in some ways the 75mm forced the Germans to make tanks that had thick heavy armor " I think it was the T-34 that made Germany rethink their tank designs . .
I have a text book in my home, where they claim a quote from Field Marshall Montgomery, He said he sent Canadian 1 Corp with the British Army to Sicily and Italy. He said in this quote that he watched them train and knew they were good. He also said that he was sure that they will prove themselves as a good asset to the British Army in Southern Europe.
@@Shamacanada I know that well, I just mention what quote O have from Monty, just to state why he sent them to Italy with the 8th Army. Canadian 2 Corp even in Europe served under the British where as 1 Corp served under Canadian Command. I also watched a documentary of Juno on RUclips and an Historian stated that The Canadians were equiped quite differently than the British. He said that they were given Juno Beach as their main objective was to stop the counter attack by the Germans. In fact he said their standing orders on the papers issued to them on D-Day was to counter and to effectively stop any counter attack by the Germans.
I don't know what everyone is talking about but the sherman also had some pretty good frontal armor, it was immune to some Panzer 3 and 4 variants like the T-34 angled armor but slightly better
>>> "Central Italy - no fight was more ferocious here than the one that took place in the 2ndWW" ...ooh, boy! ...you'd be surprised how many ARMIES lay down there ...in ASHES... Sometimes entire nations. The ones from the 2nd World war were just the ones that had the biggest destructive potential in their WEAPONRY, but as far as that..."ferociousness" goes...I wouldn't even know where to begin with! Entire tribes, coalitions of tribes, powerful city-states, entire CULTURES are buried there - SLAUGHTERED, just like the Romans SLAUGHTERED the Etruscans that - SIMPLY! - stood in their way, and - today - we know so little about them, that we don't even know where they came from or how did they really speak and most of what we know comes from their TOMBS.
Ooopsy, you 'all volunteer Canucks' weren't supposed to fight your way up though the Liri valley and punch through at least two German lines of crack German troops ordered not to retreat and be within 26 miles of Rome before Patton, so you better hold up for a couple of days and park along the road to let wee Georgie get there and take the credit .
@hugbug67 My father was at Salerno as part of 5th Army. He used to say that, whilst most British officers disliked Mark Clark, most American ones detested him. By the way, he wouldn't have had much a problem in getting to Rome ahead of Montgomery. Montgomery was in Britain at the time, about to start the Normandy landings.
@@davecopp9356 Cheers. They fought so that we didn't have to have mass immigration and multiculturalism. Unfortunately, their defeat meant the destruction of our societies. The small hats now completely rule over us. I live in Australia and Whitey is stuffed!
@@henrykaye888 I agree with everything you said. In Europe it is the same. In Germany are people in prison at this very moment, (for example a more than 90 year old women, U rsu la Have rbeck) because they questioned the official history version written by you know whom. It is a disgrace what is happening. Have you seen the documentary: The gre atest sto ry ne ver to ld by Den nis Wi se? Highly recommend it. Greetings to Australia.
Back in the 1980.s an olde English tommie told me that he was in a unit that was an armoured unit that had fought to the outskirts of Rome. They were in the suburbs when ordered yo stop. While they were waiting for new orders the yanks sailed past and got all the accolades as the conquers of Rome. Now I have Confirmation of what he claimed was the case.
Ahh the greed of America, they pulled out the Canadians before liberating Rome.. im glad they made this video for the Canadians that served and played major roles in the war. Im so proud of these guys.
Nice video but "War Stories" uses a lot of repeated scenes, summaries of the previous segments, which doubles the duration of a production that would otherwise last less than 20 minutes. Many of the "superlative" words they used are repeated over and over. Charts of the action would be nice and so would upgraded CGIs. Ciao, L (Veteran).
It is amazing how the British loved the M4 in North Africa. Monte said that it was a great tank against the panther M4. Why do they now claim that it was under power??? The Sherman was able to kill anything up to the Panther mark 4. When it was designed the Germans were using the mark 2 and mark 3. Everybody has an excuse when they don't know how to use a tool.
I had an ancestor who worked in the early Canadian government my ancestors fled to Canada to avoid the revolutionary war my ancestry if you go back far enough is 5 percent British 5 percent Irish 50 percent German a bit of French and a crap ton of Scandinavian countries
Canada doesn't get near enough credit in either WWI or WWII for their contribution to winning both WARS! Canada in both wars were THE TIP OF THE SPEAR! They fought the toughest battles and were the GO TOO army to win the impossible battles!! LOL the U.S.A. joined both wars after the REAL tough fighting was already done!
"LOL the U.S.A. joined both wars after the REAL tough fighting was already done!"---I'm not American, but this statement is 100% completely false, untrue, and a slap in the face to the service personnel from the USA who served and especially those who died fighting in both wars. It took the combined efforts of ALL of the Allies to achieve victory over Germany, Italy, and Japan in World War II. Belittling the contributions of ANY of the Allies is shameful and disrespectful.
@@d.r.4453 Sorry pal you are living in your own world! It's 100% accurate and the U.S does it ALL the time!! It gets other nations to fight their battles. How the Ukraine war coming along??
My dad was a tank commander of an M4 Sherman through Italy with the New Zealand 20th Armored Regiment! He had a Sherman that was powered by the mighty Ford GAA, 18 Litre V8, which was the most Powerful engine that Powered the Sherman, 550 hp. New Zealand paid cash to the USA as we had lots of reserves. It is funny because the US remains one of the only countries in the Asia Pacific region where we don't have a Free Trade Agreement thanks to Donald Dump!
@@robmiller1964 That's wonderful! I was curious as to the agreement because both Trump and Clinton said that they would withdraw from the TPP agreement (at the time). In fact, I think Bernie Sanders was against TPP as well. So thank all of us :) lol
Churchill The House should, I think, take formal cognisance of the liberation of Rome by the Allied Armies under the Command of General Alexander, with General Clark of the United States Service and General Oliver Leese in command of the Fifth and Eighth Armies respectively. Hansard LIBERATION OF ROME: LANDINGS IN FRANCE HC Deb 06 June 1944 on line
@@JayM409 well not all italy had surrender in 43, i'm from the north of italy so try to figure that out. And well if he was still fighting was because was north italian and the american bombs were still falling on top of his head till 45. The north italian cities got wrecked by bombs from all the 43 to the 45. Lot of pilots kept flying to stop the bombers not really because they were fascist, more to save civilians and children from allied bombers. Wellington, Stirling, B24, B17, B26 which italian civilians called "Pippo" bombed my town in the north east of italy till the war was over in 45. And i can ensure you that not all the people living there at that time were fascist. My grandfather kept fighting to spare civilians from allied bombers, he has always told me that like many others. He was an AAA battery personel. Most of the time in the air raid only the slow people or really young were the victims, because they were unable to reach the anti-air bunker quick enought.
German weapons and machinery were hopelessly over-engineered. If they made a weapon that required 55 moving parts, the Americans could build the same thing with 6.
This is a fine example of Canadians doing the work and Americans taking the credit for winning the war. I even find German war stories more interesting than American
Knowing nothing about ballistics or how tanks/ guns/explosives work: in the beginning when they give the stats of the two tanks, they both have 75 mm guns. And yet the Canadians' was low velocity and the Germans' was high velocity. So I guess my questions are: how and why? Lol
I loved watching these growing up but now when I watch it makes me mad how they trashed the Sherman’s armor yes it was 51mm thick but it was sloped! Which made it significantly better
Even at 43 or 47 degrees slope with 51mm of armor against a high velocity 75mm round its still a iron coffin poor boys having to sit in and hope they wouldn't get hit i feel for those boys even those who would get back into another after surviving an escape. True soldiers
It was the germans that had supior Armor and guns on their tanks High Velocity 75 MM gun vs short 75 mm on a Sherman tank which didn't have the punch and it was under armored as well .. It wasn't till almost at the end of the war that they came out with the M-26 Pershing tank with 90 MM cannon and The Canadians and Britsh started to put in a 20 pounder cannon in the Sherman and it was called Sherman / Firefly .
@@Xenamare1 the Americans also had a High velocity 76 mm gun that could even punch through the panthers armor and it was the 17lb gun on the firefly not 20
Sacrifices made and make us still, woven into the fabric of who we are and one to another... just taken for granted. This is how we lose ourselves to vulnerability.
The truly great, being just human like the rest of us, sometimes make truly big mistakes. I admire and rspect the history of the US military but I'm painfully awware of their very human mistakes, gigantic blunders and errrors with costly human casualties and yes, sometimes disgraceful actions. Not all of that dark side but much of it is due to following political pressure, as the law dictates the military bends to the idiots called politicians, who have a knack of making conflict and war much worse and at a higher human cost, friend and foe, than what the military itself would do to make it as fast and brief as possible. Political convenience and "compassion" is infinitely worse than any bloody military action. Not letting the Canadians go first into Rome and not publicly recognizing their amazing sacrifice was wrong and totally disgraceful. As America has done to be called great, we must learn from such dark mistakes and not repeat them. We must also remember how the present Canadian government and activists have totally betrayed the exemplary lives and immense courage of these brave WWII Canadian soldiers. Thanks be to God, that that spirit lives on in brave Canadians like Jordan Peterson who fight against the Anti-Culture Marxist Barbarian Armies, who know use Perception Manipulation and Media Propaganda and Compulsive Guilt Gaslighting against true freedom. Honor those brave Canadians!! Fight we must!!
I felt bad for that TC who had to command his gunner to fire a german machine gun that was position inside a church near the alter, he had no choice despite his belief and devout, and he doing this during Xmas day, it better than losing your infantry for that one German machine gunner. After all, it war.
The Germans had to cancel Operation Citadel to transfer 1/5th of the Eastern Front to meet the Allied Invasion, hastening the end all the much quicker. Had their been NO Allied threat, the Eastern Front may have gone on a LOT longer!!!
Standard practice for American generals.I note the Yanks don't talk too much about the American F--k up at Anzio,seems the General in charge there lost his back bone so decided to just sit where he was instead of following explicit orders to move off the beaches quickly so as to be able to quickly cut off the German retreat.
It is presented that the Canadians were held back at Rome. No. The Americans got there first. In order to let the Canadians go first, they would have had to hold back the Americans. I am not trying to belittle the Canadian efforts, they are self evident. But those Americans did some fighting, too.
The greatest tank battles of history documentaries are pretty bad. I thought from the title that this video was going to be about the Italian Ariete division that fought against the Germans in Rome.
The German para’where,with all respect for the allied boys, no match for the American or Canadians and whenever the 2 sides met the Allies ended up with the bloody nose Superior fire power and limitless resources of men and materiel usually did the trick in the end for the Anglo Americans Be it Cassino Ortona or Carentan I consider them the best fighting unit of the war (wrong side aside)
The m4 Sherman was a good tank for late 1942 standards and it was good against panzer 4 g or h there were tiger tanks but not that many in 1944 with the appearance of the panther tanks in large numbers the m4 started to become outdated and underguned
There is a reason why Tank destroyers like Hellcats and M10 Wolverines and M36 Jacksons and the M26 Pershings equipped with 90mm guns existed those were made to kill Panthers and Tigers though some Shermans were up gunned to give a fighting chance like the Easy eight variants which had High velocity 76mm guns for the americans meanwhile the Brits made the Firefly variant which is equipped with a 17 pounder gun a 76-77mm-ish anti tank gun
My uncle Thomas O'Brien was a corporal the Three Rivers Regiment. He was 20 when he was killed in his tank fighting in Italy (May 23rd). He grave stone amongst the thousands of other Canadians was actually attached to another Canadian that was killed in the same tank. They could not tell the men apart and buried them together. The sacrifices these young men made for our freedom should always be honoured.
Lest we forget
Tell that to the pos g...
Where?
Lest we forget. ADSUM.
hey 👋 this Canadian is so very proud of our Canadian soldiers and does his best to research more about our unsong heroes of WWII
thank you for your service both living and those that paid the highest cost!
Thanks from another Canuck
My uncle fought at Ortona, 49th Loyal Eddie’s in Dawn brigade. He didn’t speak much about it, in fact he he spent much of his retirement speaking to children at schools and ceremonies about the importance of remembering the losses both side experienced and the tragedy of war. I spoke with another vet from the same division at another Remembrance Day Ceremony and he spoke at length about the house to house clearing of German troops with trenching spades and pistols and I realized why he never discussed it. He did manage to remove the typewriter from the police chief of Romes office and it resides today at the Loyal Edmonton Regiments museum at the Princess Patricia Armoury. Hats off to the Canadians and all the Allies who fought with such disregard for their own safety, sometimes with some very tragic consequences, and with such bravery. (William Teleske, 49th Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Dawn Dawn Brigade)
My grandfather did too. Fighting West novas regiment
The British high commanded used Canadians as what might be called "shock troops". Although the Canadians drew the toughest assignments and suffered the heaviest casualties, they always took their objectives! Much respect from the USA.
we prefer to call them “cannon fodder”
I prefer to call them soldiers
I appreciate this episode, because it not only tells the crews experience, but also about all the strengths the Sherman Tank had. Ruggedness, a very fast shooting main gun, lots of secondary guns, great maneuverability in narrow places, and allowed good situational awareness. The armor was not that thick, but unlike other tanks, you could easily escape it and had a good chance of surviving a hit. Survivability means experienced crews.
And sadly if you read official British history they minimize all of the Commonwealth troops contributions wonder how far Britain would have got if they hadn't had a forced Canada and other commonwealth countries to provide material and minion, after this happened with the refusal of allowing the Canadians to enter Rome, the Canadian government should have simply recalled all of their soldiers back to Canada.
@@shinymilk0268 history calls them the best trained, most capable soldiers of WW2.
Great to finally hear the Canadian story. They were good soldiers, damn good soldiers, and great leaders too.
Apparently there may be some misinformation going around. The Canadians were instrumental and effective in getting to and destroying the V1and V2 missiles, as well as taking the port of Antwerp which denied the Germans a critical supply line.
I'm Scots they learnt how to be good soldiers from us
The Allied leadership WERE HORRIBLE!!! ALMOST ALL OF THE ALLY GENERALS WERE IDIOTS in the Italian Campaign. I had family fight the Italian Campaign. A lot of needless deaths and lost opportunities because of Allied Command. The Canadians (plus the rest of the Allied soldiers) took needless casualties, for the Sake of the British Empire.
Again you want to hear the REAL truth about the Italian Campaign go to this RUclips video. Hitler's Soft Underbelly.
ruclips.net/video/rj75NlnGXvc/видео.html
@@keithmuir5077 An awful lot of Canadian soldiers were of Scottish decent.
@@larsonfraud4156
US veteran. Never had anything but respect for Canadian forces.
As a proud Canadian who served in the 80s I have nothing but respect for our American brothers and sisters ❤
Massive respect to the Canadian troops!!
While the Canadian contribution to the Italian Campaign was significant and it was wrong that they were denied their victory march into Rome, this was down to GEN Mark Clark, and not the combat GIs he commanded. The US lost 114,000 good soldiers, who didn't get to parade through Rome.
You re right it was Mark Clarkes ego not the troops of the u.s.a. Patton s slapping episode had him removed he called Clarke a boob commander he was bang on.
My Grandfather is Canadian. Some did take part in the liberation of Rome. He was one of them as a member of The U.S./ Canada First Special Service Force. Not to say that I'm defending General Mark Clarke's decision in what he did but you are right Canada played a big part in throwing the Germans out of Italy. Places like Ortona were a brutal slug fest hence it being called (Little Stalingrad ). They should have been allowed to go all the way into Rome. But not just General Mark Clarke but General Montgomery,, Patton (Old Blood & Guts) and General Guy Simonds we're all considered egotistical Glory hounds wanting to be the first ones in
At the end of the day I'm sure they (the Canadian army) didn't care about who took what, we Canadians aren't wired that way and like the quote at the end of the movie "Patton" "All glory is fleeting...."
What did Churchill say? "Give me British officers, American technology, and Canadian soldiers, and I will conquer the world!"
Most allied technology was just as good as American.
@@pake000Most allied technology was from America
Think the Brits developed most of the radar and sonar as well as broke the enigma code😊
Very proud of our 🇨🇦Canadian🇨🇦 sacrifices, thank you.
AMEN! GOD BLESS ALL THOSE BRAVE CANADIAN MEN!!
Yes God Bless our Canadian cousins, but isn't it interesting how the British Empire kept the Canadians over in Europe and made the ANZACs (Aussies and Kiwis) fighting in Greece, Crete, North Africa along with a few reluctant South Africans. Mother England didn't want the Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders mixing too much did they? We were fighting for the mighty British Empire; God Save The King!
Thank those people who served God bless them
vernon dowie was my grandpa.we always went out to eat on birthdays.his voice brings back memories...rip
Most over looked but excellent fighting men thanks canada you will never be forgotten at least I will not
❤🇺🇲❤ I appreciate the Canadians🇨🇦
It is sad to refer to losses as (TANKS) only! there were men in them and they lost their lives, each time the commentator talks about losses in tanks, I shiver and think of the brave men inside them
4 in a Sherman and 5 in a Firefly?
🙏
Cause not everyone in the tanks died so you can't say numbers of people killed based on tanks taken out.
The tanks were counted as tanks. The men inside the tanks were in the "casualties" number
4:05 - Sherman
7:39 - Panzer MK IV
19:46 - Sherman Part II
26:54 - Panzerfaust
32:11 - Pantherturm
37:51 - Panther Medium Tank
Thank you
It's interesting to note that my father and uncle ( his brother-in-law ), who were with the RCRs in the 1st Brigade , fought in all the intervening battles to those described here, those being mainly infantry battles.
0:24 That older mans recreation of events was historically accurate, exciting and precise as the show itself :D
Canadians bypassed Rome in order to prevent damage to history but we BYPASSED it first
The real people who put in the work never get the glory .
Typical Yanks to come breezing in and claim the victory!
@@Fallopia5150
They had their share of tough fights like on Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge.
@@castlerock58 and HURTGEN FOREST. Where were the Canadians and British at. Hurtgen has been recognized as the BLOODIEST battle in Western Europe. According to the Soviet liason, he had not seen that devastating of a fight since he was in Stalingrad.
@@robertsettle2590
It was also an unneeded and incredibly stupid decision to, instead of bypassing it, attacking it.
All those dead, for nothing.
@@youraveragescotsman7119 Tell us about all of Britains' major land victory's before November 1942.
Due to its relatively small size and high industrial output, Canada supplied other allies and had the most mechanized army per soldier of all armies in WWII
@Douglas Jones Using trucks/lorry's produced by Ford, GM and Chrysler and made with Lend Lease parts including tires/tyres, British forces were the most mechanized by 1944.
The USA had the most radios.
@Douglas Jones Here are the production Numbers for "other vehicles" from Wackipedia, BE 1,475,521. USA 2,382,311. The US gave away ... I mean Lend Leased 793,011 trucks and jeeps (280,646 to BE and 10,966 to Canada) and at the end of the war US and British Empire forces numbered about the same. LL page 1 of link below
With LL the BE had 1,767,133 trucks and minus LL the USA had 1,589,300.
ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/LL-Ship/LL-Ship-3B.html
@Douglas JonesHe is referring to he number of vehicles available for the troops...Canada had only about 11 million people but made about 800,000 transport vehicles of various kinds during the war... Canada also gave Britain 1 billion dollars to buy Canadian made trucks.
@@nickdanger3802 Canada gave Britain 1 billion dollars during WW2 with the stipulation that the money be used to buy Canadian made trucks... it is referred to as the Billion Dollar Gift.
@@kevingoodwin5177 Canada gave Britain 2.7 Billion 1945 USD in Canadian goods and services. The Billion Dollar Gift was approved in Jan. 42, ten months after Lend Lease. Another 2 Billion was approved in 1943. Will attempt link to Canadian Encyclopedia.
Gotta love Canadian understatement.
My father was wounded in Ortona and evacuated back to Canada, many of the men he served with never came home.
My father fought at Ortona. According to him, he was shitless. When Dad and our family were posted to Germany in the 60’s, we met and became friends with a Germany family. The father fought in Ortona, and yes it turns out he could have killed my father but he did not. It was Christmas Day. He was just an ordinary person fighting for his country. So was my dad.
Wars have ways of turning enemies into fast friends.
That's the soldiers truth. The only difference between you and your enemy is 99% of the time, just a uniform
Salutations to the western Allies. Back to Back World War Champs. Like MacArthur said......"there's no substitute for victory".
Macarthur was a vain , self glorious arse hole , who wasted tens of thousands of good troops on his quest for fame and stardom .
Peregrine McCauley.......most successful generals usually are. Besides......MacArthur was still right about victory.......and unfortunately victory is usually paid in blood.
@@peregrinemccauley7819 Well you can say that about Montgomery! He was a glory hound fullof himself! He made a lot of mustakes including his plan Market Garden in holland which was a disater! Yet he claimed it was a success! Aug!
Truman let China get away with attacking us after freeing them from Japan. Now we have to deal with a nuclear China and I fear they will win eventually.
As an american im glad this doc is giving 🇨🇦 some credit for what they did. They fought and died as we did. North America showed up and won! Minus the Mexicans who collaborated with the Germans.
Wrong war. The Mexicans were with the Allies in the second one. Declared war on Germany in 1942 and sent their air force to fight the Japanese.
The countries of the Allied forces in World War II owe an eternal debt to the Canadian soldiers for the price they paid in WW II. They played an indispensable part in the Allied victory in Europe. May the fallen rest easy.
Our Canadian brothers fought so bravely and deserved the right to enter Rome first but that publicity seeking worm Mark Clark , hated by all , deprived them of that honour.
Luckily D-Day occured the following day and he faded back into insignificance again where he belonged !!
Clark's glory grab also prolonged the Italian Front for an additional 9 months.
Why he was not fragged by anyone is beyond me. From what I know, the British hated being under his command, but the Americans despised him more than the Brits.
Whose brothers?
Not only kept the Canadians out of Rome but allowed half the German army to retreat through Rome. This cost many lives as they moved north from Rome later.
I never really knew much on the canadian side of things until recently and trust me pound 4 pound the best tough as he'll, respect from England
The German paratroopers were Luftwaffe, not Heer. Herman Goering was weird that way.
Canadians should have kept going....they broke every line and were told to stop...That's B--L Sh-T...Main thig Is where ever Canadian Soldiers are fighting , you need not worry...A1 Soldiers...
Cant fool a Canadian farm boy with a phony haystack.
One of several problems the Canadians had in the Battle of Ordona was that the western allies had not developed urban doctrine and so it had to be developed on the run which ultimately included mouseholing and sector clesring. Dad was in the Calgary Tanks joining after Ortona and before Liri Valley. One of the comments he made was the stench of rotting bodies left in ruble of the town of Cassino as they went past it.
Thanx Uploader !. Worth a watch . Thank goodness for the cunuks , we could not won that war w/ out them . Monty did not have a clue . I like what Paton said " Stop me at Moscow "
This would be the same Patton who was to bring about such heavy American casualties in the Lorraine Campaign in 1944, would it? Montgomery was methodical, working on the 'Steel not Blood' principle. Patton, in effect a wealthy aristocrat, didn't give a damn about the hoi polloi in his army. I suggest you read Bradley's opinion of Georgie.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 YEP !
@@tracytavares1365 I lived in the city of tavares, here in Florida's lake county. Anyways, wondered if there is a relation here.
As for George "Georgie" Patton. He was many things and a diplomat, with words, was not one in his wheelhouse. But now: Omar "butter don't melt" Bradley is starting the slow, or fast, who
knows now, spin down the toilet. Historians lower than a certain age, and those older more militant ones whom are engaged in a life long battle against war (started by 1960s collage students, but all though history, higher learning has its focal point in the "Collage" age, well, age. In regards to war, +/-)
Expect a man, respected by Patton and Eisenhower, to be the focal point of scandal and dare I say it? I shall! Everyone in any war fighting theater knew the orders came from above and there was not a whole lot he could do, while he wanted to side with those under Those orders.
Which was a complete lie that everyone knew was a bold face lie. But, it was one of his ways, and a way to have deniability, that he used in concert with other tools in his box. I guess. I don't know anything anymore in this day and age. So buy Bonds! And Throw those bastargis out!
Whoever or whatever that apply...
/Yes, to long, didn't read....
@Tracy Tavares I'm not going to say that Monty was the greatest but he was the mastermind behind the Allied destruction of the Africa Korps which was the turning point in WW2 , yes I do now about Stalingrad but I'm talking about Africa and securing the Suez supply route .
That's crazy the Canadians should have been there when they took Rome.
Political expediency by the Americans.
@@distantthunder12ck55 I understood that but that doesn't make it right. As an American I thank the Canadians for standing bye the U.S. and being truly loyal allies.
@@demarcusfaulkner7411 It was more standing by Britain. Canada declared war on Germany on the 10th of September 1939, more than 2 years before the U.S. entered the war. They were there all the way from the beginning to end, same as in WW1. So as a Brit, as you call us - I can certainly commend and echo your sentiments about those Canadians.
@@distantthunder12ck55 well you just taught me something. Thanks for the lesson.
Canadians whining ! U think no one else had it tough. Britt loses staggering at the monistary what about anzio? Clark's mistake was he could have cut Germans off and kept them from escaping instead he took rome for the Americans. U don't hear the whole story everyone had high loses. Italy was the toughest fighting .more than France it's were the war was won. If not for American fighting man allies would have lost in Italy Clark was big reason we won .best we had behind Patton.
Wow Ripped off!! welp I know now who the real heroes are The Maple Leaf much respect Canada Xx
Damn, fighting in the Basilica of San Tommaso Apostolo on Christmas Morning, that Cathedral holds the relics (body) of Thomas the Apostle.
Damn fascist don`t take a holiday.
proud Ontario, I love you. bring freedom to all over the wrold.
The canadians who served in WW2 were absolute badasses.
Well done. I hope there is more.
There were still German troops retreating north when the Canadians arrived on the outskirts of Rome and for almost 9 hours Canadians watched Germans coming from the south and pass through Rome to their new defensive lines. When the Canadians arrived historians discovered later that the Germans only had about half a brigades worth of communications soldiers and about half a brigades worth of security type soldiers in Rome.If Clarke had of told them to just roll on into Rome it would of trapped 10's of thousands of German troops south of Rome with no way north. That would of been about half the German army in the whole of Italy.
That's what happens when politics get in the way of military decisions. Both the British and Americans wanted to be the ones who liberated Rome , Clarke won that race.
The Germans did not defend Rome. Field
Marshall Kesselring, who was an Italy fan, let the allies know, that Rome would be an open city. In 1943 Rome was bombed by the Allies, there was extensive damage done and many civilians killed. Kesselring knew the allies
would destroy the city with bombs and artillery before moving infantry in.
Hindsight is always 20/20
When the enemy has a hand-held antitank weapon more potent than your friggin’ tank at killing tanks...
Fortunately they only had a range of 30 meters at that time.
German Ron would punch threw a tiger tank too very effective that's why tanks been infantry support
Thats why tanks need infantry support German rpg very effective
But you need a dedicated or suicidal soldier as they are only effective within 50 yards.
❤❤AGREED!!! MASSIVE RESPECT FOR THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!❤
lol untested Canadians, we were in it from the start actually...for years ( 1.5 ) before the yanks ..even our closest allies and neighbours are clueless about Canadas military achievements
kyoat Bites 4 years? It was a year and a half. Well, so are you
Yes Canada was under the Crown. You were in it. However Americans joined the English. The Americans were flying aircraft during the blitz!
Where you getting 4 years? Do you even know which World War this is?
Poles too. The RAF needed all the help they could get
Not to worry my friends There are millions of us in the states who love and appreciate all who are living and dead who kept us free. I don't believe without all of us that victory in the west would've been possible. I've always said without Great Britain....it's doubtful we would have got a toe hold in Europe. In fact....we marvel here in America how the Royal Air Force kicked the Luftwaffe's ass in the Battle of Britain. Yeah you got bloodied in that affair but you still kicked their asses. Churchill was right......"never in the course of human history has so much been owed by so many to so few". Amen brothers and sisters.
God truly blessed us.
Became sad to know that Brave Canadians didn't gain popularity and not seen as heroes by Italians.
consider you heroes after bombing our cities, you are drunk, we lost the war and we are occupied by foreign troops, we have nothing to thank
We got Holland for that. They love us there.
Actually there's monument for the Canadians in italy you can see it in the other video that focuses on the Gothic line campaign and the Po valley
@@justineallandevelos6491 thats what i am saying ,, they didnt got respect as much they deserved...
That was a tough one. Italy was originally Axis, then switched allegiances once they were invaded. The Italian people were still very much divided at that point as far as loyalties were concerned,
Canada always has tough fighters and their contribution and sacrifices in WW2 should never be forgotten. And Mark Clark was an ahole, this from an American.
My dad was in the Royal Navy on Destroyers in the Atlantic and Russian Convoys. He never had much time for the American navy but the Canadian navy he thought extremely highly of or as he would say 'Damb fine fighters. Thank God they were on our side'.
My uncle Bill graduated from the famed "Radio College" in Ontario and was loaned out on Norwegian tankers for most of the war. He ran aviation fuel into Trieste, ran the north Atlantic, and passed recently. He sent all his Canadian bonds/pay home to grandma as he thought he'd not survive the war.
The Canadians were the best tankers probably because in a Hockey fight they know that in order to give a punch you have take one first.
In a hockey fight one should drag the opponents shirt over its head. Swing away as they are helpless
@@Rambonii easier to say tht than it is to do tht to a grown man
@@Rambonii never could get them Panzers to put on a shirt....smart alec tanks!
Think the Germans were the best, but severely outnumbered
@@toddduffy1658 for sure!! 👌
Low velocity guns are howitzers. The 75mm gun was not a low velocity gun. It might be called a medium velocity gun in terms of comparison to German tank guns of 1943 but it could still kill comparable medium tanks and Stugs. It was by no means a dominant anti-tank gun but it was a dual purpose gun and as such was HIGHLY successful in 1942-44. However, the Germans kept building heavier and heavier vehicles so higher velocity guns were needed, but in some ways the 75mm forced the Germans to make tanks that had thick heavy armor and this created limitations that restricted German overall effectiveness. One thing the 75mm could do well was fire fast and this is shown in the video.
" , but in some ways the 75mm forced the Germans to make tanks that had thick heavy armor "
I think it was the T-34 that made Germany rethink their tank designs .
.
Very good, thanks.
These video are great but need more maps.
S
And cowbell...
I have a text book in my home, where they claim a quote from Field Marshall Montgomery, He said he sent Canadian 1 Corp with the British Army to Sicily and Italy. He said in this quote that he watched them train and knew they were good. He also said that he was sure that they will prove themselves as a good asset to the British Army in Southern Europe.
Canadians already proved that in WW1. They really had no use for Monty.
The Canucks thought Monty was useless.
@@Shamacanada I know that well, I just mention what quote O have from Monty, just to state why he sent them to Italy with the 8th Army. Canadian 2 Corp even in Europe served under the British where as 1 Corp served under Canadian Command. I also watched a documentary of Juno on RUclips and an Historian stated that The Canadians were equiped quite differently than the British. He said that they were given Juno Beach as their main objective was to stop the counter attack by the Germans. In fact he said their standing orders on the papers issued to them on D-Day was to counter and to effectively stop any counter attack by the Germans.
I don't know what everyone is talking about but the sherman also had some pretty good frontal armor, it was immune to some Panzer 3 and 4 variants like the T-34 angled armor but slightly better
>>> "Central Italy - no fight was more ferocious here than the one that took place in the 2ndWW" ...ooh, boy! ...you'd be surprised how many ARMIES lay down there ...in ASHES... Sometimes entire nations. The ones from the 2nd World war were just the ones that had the biggest destructive potential in their WEAPONRY, but as far as that..."ferociousness" goes...I wouldn't even know where to begin with! Entire tribes, coalitions of tribes, powerful city-states, entire CULTURES are buried there - SLAUGHTERED, just like the Romans SLAUGHTERED the Etruscans that - SIMPLY! - stood in their way, and - today - we know so little about them, that we don't even know where they came from or how did they really speak and most of what we know comes from their TOMBS.
Ooopsy, you 'all volunteer Canucks' weren't supposed to fight your way up though the Liri valley and punch through at least two German lines of crack German troops ordered not to retreat and be within 26 miles of Rome before Patton, so you better hold up for a couple of days and park along the road to let wee Georgie get there and take the credit .
my grandfather commanded c squad, i wish he was still alive to ask him about that
the Canadians drove through Rome the night before the Americans "took" it lol
@hugbug67 My father was at Salerno as part of 5th Army. He used to say that, whilst most British officers disliked Mark Clark, most American ones detested him.
By the way, he wouldn't have had much a problem in getting to Rome ahead of Montgomery. Montgomery was in Britain at the time, about to start the Normandy landings.
yeah kind of messed up they took the credit
Patton was never in Italy.
The Yanks didn't let the Canadians into Rome because they would have gotten all the girls.
Exactly
Lo.. if you're a real man you wouldn't need permission. Take the backseat
The yanks wanted all the glory. Same situation in France!
Absolutely, we Also knew that you Canadian would also think any long haired or hairy italian men, were also woman..., soo THANKS!!!😂😂😂
To all german soldiers of WW2: Thank you for your service. You gave it all with honor and loyalty till the bitter end. RIP.
Well said. Great comment.
@@henrykaye888 Thanks. Take care.
@@davecopp9356 Cheers. They fought so that we didn't have to have mass immigration and multiculturalism. Unfortunately, their defeat meant the destruction of our societies. The small hats now completely rule over us. I live in Australia and Whitey is stuffed!
@@henrykaye888 I agree with everything you said. In Europe it is the same. In Germany are people in prison at this very moment, (for example a more than 90 year old women, U rsu la Have rbeck) because they questioned the official history version written by you know whom. It is a disgrace what is happening.
Have you seen the documentary: The gre atest sto ry ne ver to ld by Den nis Wi se? Highly recommend it. Greetings to Australia.
@@davecopp9356 That was meant to be B Ruhe not B Tube.
I've been studying WW2 since 1979 and this is the first I've heard of the "Pantherturm" or "Panzerturm"....
There is so many things about Ww.2 there will never be a war like that again. I hope not 🙏
I'm pretty shocked you didn't not no about that.. Studying the war since 1979 🤔.
** WHAT A NICE ! * SNUB !!!!!!!!
Lucky for the allies the Roman Legions were long gone.
Hannibal took them out at Cannae, regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and one of the worst defeats in Roman history.
But in the end the Romans were victorious against Carthage in Punic War,Hannibal wins the battle but Rome won the War.
@@m.g.540 The Romans took one look at Hannibal's elephants and said WTF?
Back in the 1980.s an olde English tommie told me that he was in a unit that was an armoured unit that had fought to the outskirts of Rome. They were in the suburbs when ordered yo stop. While they were waiting for new orders the yanks sailed past and got all the accolades as the conquers of Rome. Now I have Confirmation of what he claimed was the case.
Ahh the greed of America, they pulled out the Canadians before liberating Rome.. im glad they made this video for the Canadians that served and played major roles in the war. Im so proud of these guys.
Nice video but "War Stories" uses a lot of repeated scenes, summaries of the previous segments, which doubles the duration of a production that would otherwise last less than 20 minutes. Many of the "superlative" words they used are repeated over and over. Charts of the action would be nice and so would upgraded CGIs. Ciao, L (Veteran).
This was original done by ether the history channel or the military channel on the tv. So “war stories” didn’t make these
It is amazing how the British loved the M4 in North Africa. Monte said that it was a great tank against the panther M4. Why do they now claim that it was under power??? The Sherman was able to kill anything up to the Panther mark 4. When it was designed the Germans were using the mark 2 and mark 3. Everybody has an excuse when they don't know how to use a tool.
The early Shermans had a 75mm. gun vs. the Germans 88 with longer range. Only later did Shermans get the Firefly version with a 105mm. gun.
The only time when the Sherman's short 75mm cannon barrel was an asset vs a liability was in towns with narrow streets like ortona
"I say no, it wasn't worth the cost." What a horrible line to end on... what is the alternative?
Love us Canadians!! Grandfather and father were Essex Scottish!
I had an ancestor who worked in the early Canadian government my ancestors fled to Canada to avoid the revolutionary war my ancestry if you go back far enough is 5 percent British 5 percent Irish 50 percent German a bit of French and a crap ton of Scandinavian countries
Every Canadian documentary its always about how they did everything and got no credit.
Middle child syndrome to the nth degree.
@@richardm3023 its not a candian doc. it is part of the history of ww2 you dorks.
That’s the best part
@@brandmotivo haha ...you actually know nothing in reality
@@brandmotivo
You are about as stunned as a person could get.
I almost feel sorry for you.
* AS A GUNNER ? YOU NEVER AIM AT AN ENEMIES STRONGEST POINTS ? YOU AIM FOR ITS WEAKEST AREAS ? DONT YOU ???????!!!!!!!!!
2 Battalions against a division.
Canada doesn't get near enough credit in either WWI or WWII for their contribution to winning both WARS! Canada in both wars were THE TIP OF THE SPEAR! They fought the toughest battles and were the GO TOO army to win the impossible battles!! LOL the U.S.A. joined both wars after the REAL tough fighting was already done!
"LOL the U.S.A. joined both wars after the REAL tough fighting was already done!"---I'm not American, but this statement is 100% completely false, untrue, and a slap in the face to the service personnel from the USA who served and especially those who died fighting in both wars. It took the combined efforts of ALL of the Allies to achieve victory over Germany, Italy, and Japan in World War II. Belittling the contributions of ANY of the Allies is shameful and disrespectful.
@@d.r.4453 Sorry pal you are living in your own world! It's 100% accurate and the U.S does it ALL the time!! It gets other nations to fight their battles. How the Ukraine war coming along??
My dad was a tank commander of an M4 Sherman through Italy with the New Zealand 20th Armored Regiment! He had a Sherman that was powered by the mighty Ford GAA, 18 Litre V8, which was the most Powerful engine that Powered the Sherman, 550 hp.
New Zealand paid cash to the USA as we had lots of reserves. It is funny because the US remains one of the only countries in the Asia Pacific region where we don't have a Free Trade Agreement thanks to Donald Dump!
Are you referring to the TPP that he pulled us out of?
@@DerekFoulk Yes that is correct Derek. However I still love the USA and have a number of relatives living over there!
@@robmiller1964 That's wonderful! I was curious as to the agreement because both Trump and Clinton said that they would withdraw from the TPP agreement (at the time). In fact, I think Bernie Sanders was against TPP as well. So thank all of us :) lol
Source for "New Zealand paid cash to the USA"
@@DerekFoulk Yes the early TPP, that Donald Dump pulled out of
I have been to Ortona
I also like how German tank when destroyed have a tremendous explosion and fire ball.
While the Sherman just sparkles when hit.
I think it's mostly the design where the ammo is being stored if i remember the german tanks had their munitions stored next to the gunner
Churchill The House should, I think, take formal cognisance of the liberation of Rome by the Allied Armies under the Command of General Alexander, with General Clark of the United States Service and General Oliver Leese in command of the Fifth and Eighth Armies respectively.
Hansard LIBERATION OF ROME: LANDINGS IN FRANCE HC Deb 06 June 1944 on line
More tank simulator... Yay.
For 2010 it’s actually pretty good animation
My italian grandfather as always blamed himself to not been able to kill not even a single canadian or aussie in those times :D lol
That's because we are badass😁
@@sunnydelight34 Ofc ;)
Italy had surrendered by this time. If your Grandfather was still fighting he must have been a Fascist.
@@JayM409 well not all italy had surrender in 43, i'm from the north of italy so try to figure that out. And well if he was still fighting was because was north italian and the american bombs were still falling on top of his head till 45. The north italian cities got wrecked by bombs from all the 43 to the 45. Lot of pilots kept flying to stop the bombers not really because they were fascist, more to save civilians and children from allied bombers. Wellington, Stirling, B24, B17, B26 which italian civilians called "Pippo" bombed my town in the north east of italy till the war was over in 45. And i can ensure you that not all the people living there at that time were fascist. My grandfather kept fighting to spare civilians from allied bombers, he has always told me that like many others. He was an AAA battery personel. Most of the time in the air raid only the slow people or really young were the victims, because they were unable to reach the anti-air bunker quick enought.
@@donlucazz - I did figure it out. See above.
'' first thing I had to do on Christmas's morning ''..
Tanks look like giant war animals. Easy to forget there is grown men inside
Remember Alexander The Great ? He used Elephants as his Tanks . LOL ! They were HIS war beasts .
The Germans had the best tanks of the war...the reason they lost is because they were so massively outnumbered
Thousands of deer on a lion ... finally lion dies of overeating
The Germans still have the best tanks why do you think Canada uses them
German weapons and machinery were hopelessly over-engineered. If they made a weapon that required 55 moving parts, the Americans could build the same thing with 6.
My Dad was a Canadian vet ,im afraid i don't know much about what he did .I do know he saw Holland and Paris
This is a fine example of Canadians doing the work and Americans taking the credit for winning the war.
I even find German war stories more interesting than American
Knowing nothing about ballistics or how tanks/
guns/explosives work: in the beginning when they give the stats of the two tanks, they both have 75 mm guns. And yet the Canadians' was low velocity and the Germans' was high velocity. So I guess my questions are: how and why? Lol
I loved watching these growing up but now when I watch it makes me mad how they trashed the Sherman’s armor yes it was 51mm thick but it was sloped! Which made it significantly better
Even at 43 or 47 degrees slope with 51mm of armor against a high velocity 75mm round its still a iron coffin poor boys having to sit in and hope they wouldn't get hit i feel for those boys even those who would get back into another after surviving an escape. True soldiers
@@SuperJay23 I wholeheartedly agree with you there
It was the germans that had supior Armor and guns on their tanks High Velocity 75 MM gun vs short 75 mm on a Sherman tank which didn't have the punch and it was under armored as well .. It wasn't till almost at the end of the war that they came out with the M-26 Pershing tank with 90 MM cannon and The Canadians and Britsh started to put in a 20 pounder cannon in the Sherman and it was called Sherman / Firefly .
@@Xenamare1 the Americans also had a High velocity 76 mm gun that could even punch through the panthers armor and it was the 17lb gun on the firefly not 20
@@Xenamare1 also the Sherman’s armor overall was better than Panzer 4s due to sloping so the armor wasn’t completely better
Sacrifices made and make us still, woven into the fabric of who we are and one to another... just taken for granted. This is how we lose ourselves to vulnerability.
Of course the British need rescue.
Can you upload the series Dogfights please ?
The truly great, being just human like the rest of us, sometimes make truly big mistakes. I admire and rspect the history of the US military but I'm painfully awware of their very human mistakes, gigantic blunders and errrors with costly human casualties and yes, sometimes disgraceful actions. Not all of that dark side but much of it is due to following political pressure, as the law dictates the military bends to the idiots called politicians, who have a knack of making conflict and war much worse and at a higher human cost, friend and foe, than what the military itself would do to make it as fast and brief as possible. Political convenience and "compassion" is infinitely worse than any bloody military action.
Not letting the Canadians go first into Rome and not publicly recognizing their amazing sacrifice was wrong and totally disgraceful.
As America has done to be called great, we must learn from such dark mistakes and not repeat them. We must also remember how the present Canadian government and activists have totally betrayed the exemplary lives and immense courage of these brave WWII Canadian soldiers. Thanks be to God, that that spirit lives on in brave Canadians like Jordan Peterson who fight against the Anti-Culture Marxist Barbarian Armies, who know use Perception Manipulation and Media Propaganda and Compulsive Guilt Gaslighting against true freedom. Honor those brave Canadians!! Fight we must!!
I felt bad for that TC who had to command his gunner to fire a german machine gun that was position inside a church near the alter, he had no choice despite his belief and devout, and he doing this during Xmas day, it better than losing your infantry for that one German machine gunner. After all, it war.
14:40...Prelude Ortona.
The Germans had to cancel Operation Citadel to transfer 1/5th of the Eastern Front to meet the Allied Invasion, hastening the end all the much quicker. Had their been NO Allied threat, the Eastern Front may have gone on a LOT longer!!!
Where was the air power. In these films they seem to be nowhere in sight.
Yalk about being Stabbed in the back ! Gen. Mark Clark What a Glory Hound ! Getting the Canadians to pull back so the Americans can get the glory ! >_
Standard practice for American generals.I note the Yanks don't talk too much about the American F--k up at Anzio,seems the General in charge there lost his back bone so decided to just sit where he was instead of following explicit orders to move off the beaches quickly so as to be able to quickly cut off the German retreat.
Not really the case for Rome.
It is presented that the Canadians were held back at Rome. No. The Americans got there first. In order to let the Canadians go first, they would have had to hold back the Americans. I am not trying to belittle the Canadian efforts, they are self evident. But those Americans did some fighting, too.
Tell me you know nothing about the Italian front without telling me…
@@marcoyoung5162 My Masters Degree would disagree with you.
Oh man, is your tank analysis seriously flawed.
The greatest tank battles of history documentaries are pretty bad. I thought from the title that this video was going to be about the Italian Ariete division that fought against the Germans in Rome.
@@wifi_soldier5076 @War Stories, fire whoever does your research and hire us. We'll do a bloody far better job at it.
Me seeing a tank encyclopedia comment here is like seeing a cousin at a wedding for a person you didn’t know he knew.
The German para’where,with all respect for the allied boys, no match for the American or Canadians and whenever the 2 sides met the Allies ended up with the bloody nose
Superior fire power and limitless resources of men and materiel usually did the trick in the end for the Anglo Americans
Be it Cassino Ortona or Carentan
I consider them the best fighting unit of the war (wrong side aside)
omg.this map is on world of tank
And Churchill was telling this the soft underbelly of Europe. Luckily there was Anzio…
1:40 Brazilian tank!?
Most likly they fought under american supervision there were alot troops from brazil
Man if we could only set aside the video game stuff we could have more of the facts and interviews
The m4 Sherman was a good tank for late 1942 standards and it was good against panzer 4 g or h there were tiger tanks but not that many in 1944 with the appearance of the panther tanks in large numbers the m4 started to become outdated and underguned
There is a reason why Tank destroyers like Hellcats and M10 Wolverines and M36 Jacksons and the M26 Pershings equipped with 90mm guns existed those were made to kill Panthers and Tigers though some Shermans were up gunned to give a fighting chance like the Easy eight variants which had High velocity 76mm guns for the americans meanwhile the Brits made the Firefly variant which is equipped with a 17 pounder gun a 76-77mm-ish anti tank gun