I live in a litlle village near hannut and my great grand mother told me a lot of story of the battle, for exemple the 11th may some french soldiers went in the church of the village and an officer say "well , if we have to die during this war it is gonna be here " he is one of the 6 french soldiers who died in my street ,now he is buried in the cemetary of the village .the house where my familly live for 150 years now have been damage during this battle and we can still see where the damage was
Nice video. As a Canadian living in Belgium it is very touching and sensitive to watch these videos. I am in Namen (Namur) and I visited some war zones like Dinant. I couldn't believe how peaceful and nice it is in XXI century, after all the horrors of war. Please don't forget young people !!!!!! never again.
Statement by Lieut.-Col. Robert Duncan Brown, United States Military Attaché to Belgium and Luxemburg May 1940 THE German Armies in May 1940, supported by immense Air Power, drove west into Holland, Belgium, and France, quickly conquered Holland and broke the hinge of Allied Defence at the Sedan. The Sedan break-through compelled the retreat of all Northern Allied Forces and separated the British and Belgian Forces from the French Main Forces. A French counter-attack against the German spear-head aimed at Abbeville might have re-established the situation but this counter-attack never developed. The Belgian Army fought doggedly on successive retreat positions and at last found themselves completely cut off with their backs to the sea. Their artillery had fought with extreme brilliancy, their large units were well led. However, they were cut off and they had virtually no air power or anti-aircraft artillery protection against German air might. The Belgian King's capitulation on May 28th was the only thing that King Leopold could do. Those who say otherwise didn't see the fighting and they didn't see the German Air Force. I saw both. ROBERT DUNCAN BROWN. October 31st, 1940.
I grew up in Liege and the nearby village of Dalhem where my mom’s family is from. Eben Emael, Neufchateau, Fleron-where my dad was from-Barchon, all those forts were part of my childhood. In the US since 1973 but never lost the interest for WWII and WWI and my extended family’s experiences. My mom, born in ‘22, past away in Belgium last summer. Grateful she didn’t have to witness the pandemic but missing her terribly. Lots of stories of the war!
My grandfather was stationed in Belgium during World War II, only him and one other survived from his platoon.... He was hit with shrapnel he had wounds that leaked puss even after he died they still leaked! When he returned home he got rid of all of his guns and RARELY spoke about it.. He was a very quiet man... War humbled him 🙌😢😢😢
Very good video! I am from the Cologne region in Germany. The Belgian forces fought bravely in both world wars. They bought precious time for the British and the French.
thank you for giving an accurate view on the point that the Belgian army was neutral, had 3 anti tank guns and had to fight 11/1,left to dry by BEF and looked down upon by the French, still managed to hold on such a long time.
Actually. As I belgian I can find some pride in the fact that despite only having a population of around 7 milion at the time, Belgium managed to assemble a pretty respectable army through mobilisation. 600.000 regular soldiers and 900.000 in reserve but sadly, as was the case in WW I. This army was not equipped for war.
I reckon they had a few more than three anti-tank guns now...Tanks on the other hand were not very common and most of WWI or immediately after vintage.
@@mrvk39 This is false. I don't know where you got this information from but official reports made public by the goverment stated that of the four countries that fought in the invasion of Belgium (France, Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands) over 222 thousand where killed and around 200 thousand where captured. EDIT: I believe you're looking at the total captured from the four countries combined and comparing that to the loss of the Belgian men who fought during the war. I don't know how many Belgian soldiers died during the war but try not to mix things up. Thank you.
@@baronfresco it's you who is all mixed up. Total Belgium casualties were 6,000 during the invasion. Total Belgium standing army during the invasion was 600,000. Proof here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium_in_World_War_II It's you who is mixed up - you mention French and UK casualties, when we are NOT talking about France and UK. Get you facts right first, then write something.
@@baronfresco "elgian casualties during the campaign numbered some 6,000 killed[24] and 15,850 wounded.[18][25" Sources: Keegan, John (1989). The Second World War. New York: Penguin Books. p. 96. ISBN 0-14-303573-8. "Belgium, Army". ABC-CLIO. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
@@mrvk39 Don't use Wikipedia as your source my friend. Anyone can edit this. Litteraly anyone. I can edi it right now to my liking so try to stay away from that. I was mentioning those countries to proof that what you said was false.
An excellent video -- However -- worth mentioning the Liege forts which held out and destroyed German supply convoys and occupied many thousands of German assault forces and artillery right through to the surrender of Belgium (and beyond) Aubin-Neufchâteau - scene of one of the most concentrated artillery battles of the western front, surrendering on the 21st May after being breached and out of ammunition and having defeated 23 infantry assaults, then Tancremont -- surrendering on the 29th of May (one day after Belgium) - Battice, Pontisse, Barchon, Fleron to name just a few. Fought on with no hope of relief or victory -- gaining time for the allies to retreat and only falling after intense attacks.
Hi Michiel. Thanks for your video. Great content as always, excellent narration :) One question: may I ask where you got the vintage video footage from? I would like to work on a video myself about the Maginot Line, and the footage you've shown could be used. Thanks in advance for your feed-back! Regards, Marcel
I took the footage from an old RU-vid channel which had public domain war footage videos. Unfortunately RU-vid took it down along with several other similar channels, and I'm unable to find it anymore.
I enjoyed your brief documentary, and your wonderful collection of combat footage. You might want to consider leaving behind the music selection; there is a lot to be said for silence.
I have some pics (of pics) of some undamaged buildings today on a street in Bastogne. One is of Hitler exiting a house where he met with his generals. It was startling to be standing by a structure that also hosted Hitler.
I'm from Ypres (Belgium) and we mostly get Commonwealth tourist to visit our town and cemetery's but now and then we get some Germans to visit Ypres and whenever they do come over i always ask howlong they planning to stay this time...juist so we know what they up to ;)
As a Dutchman, I know that NL surrendered after 5 days of fighting, because Rotterdam was bombed. But the brave Belgian army resisted the attacker much longer. Were there no threats about bombing Belgian cities in order to enforce a quick surrender ?
hello mijn familie ging zoals vele Belgische burgers op de vlucht voor de moffen op 10 mei 1940; de moeders waren zeer bang voor de duitsers in de 2de W O omdat de duitsers vrouwen en meisjes hadde n verkracht in de 1ste W O. de vluchtelingen stroom was zeer groot en de duitsers dreigden om de vluchtelingen te beschieten , wat ze reeds hadden gedaan in Vroenhoven Visè en verder, maar ook de Belgische lucht afweer was soms erg efficient en schoot de luftwaffen uit de lucht, onder deze bedreiging heeft de Belgische koning toen toen de overgaven getekend
Guess who had to balls to tell hitler NO :p We refused to let him go through Belgium, takes some balls refusing a giant army :p In the end, it did not matter, he just invaded anyway lol :p
@Faravahar lol idiot, If Belgium not decided to stay neutral in 1936, France and Belgium could have been able to hold the germans with better efficiency but of course in 1936 they said they were going neutral meaning that France couldn't expand the Maginot and French troops would've been able to move to Belgium more rapidly. Same goes for the Netherlands.
@Daniel Large you have to understand one thing, belgium is splitted in 2 languages and parts.. a french speaking one and a dutch speaking one.. back in that time, the french side was the ruling side of our country as our king in that time. The dutch side were looked at by the french side as second ranked class of people because they didnt want us to speak flamish(dutch), they hated us for speaking in that way, and wanted us all to speakin french also and this rivalry was at least going on until the 60´s. We didnt had nothing to say in that particular part of time. And in Congo they speak french, and was colonized by our evil french speaking king, so actually.. we flamish(dutch)people, had nothing to do with that, that whole colonizing era of Congo, it was because of our french side of the country and their beloved wicked king of them. So plz dont blame the flamish(dutch) speaking people in belgium on one side for this shameful part of our country´s history, thankyou.
I know this is the German invasion but I came here after learning of Wade Hampton Haislip, he is my great uncle, he also led the liberation of Belgium, he was a 4 star general then, and was a good friend of Eisenhower. There is a still image of him handing over the drum to the formerly exiled Belgian government.
Cfr. Wiki.: "Haislip is responsible for introducing Dwight D. Eisenhower to Mamie Doud. Eisenhower was a second lieutenant and Haislip a first lieutenant at Fort Sam Houston at the time. At Eisenhower's funeral, he served as a pall-bearer.[2]
My father, born in 1910, was a soldier in a Pionnier (Génie) battalion. He was made POW near the Lys river when the Belgian army surrendered. He remained POW in Austria for 5 years until liberated by the US troops in May 1945. He died at the age of 85 years and was very reluctant to speak about those 5 years. He rejoined his young wife and I was born in 1946.
So unusual to see clean, shiny German forces with matching boots and helmets. Usually they are so worn out and grim. Understandable at this point of the war, of course.
Your intro would look better if you used burlap sand bags on the wall, maybe some small logs, and some old boards on the ground. Make it look like a trench or foxhole bottom. It's okay the way it is, but landscaping blocks don't give you the sense of world war like old sand bags and boards would. Keep the helmet and spend casings. It would also work if If you could find a brick building being demolished, go while they are on lunch and get the footage.
Although the British military establishment has never publicly acknowledged the King Leopold III and his army, by their prolonged resistance saved the BEF, the world famous military expert Liddell Hart saw no reason for such reticence. In 1960 delivering a lecture to students and faculty at King College. Liddell Hart bluntly declared “ The British army at Dunkirk was saved from destruction by King Leopold III of the Belgians. Captain Liddell Hart said that Sir Arthur Bryant’s claim that the saving of the BEF was mainly due to Lord Alanbrooke did not stand up to examination. Hart went on to say, “ the unfortunate Belgian Army absorbed the weight of the German frontal attack from the north. By the time the Belgian front had turned the BEF had slipped out of reach and were nearing Dunkirk. Liddell Hart went further to say, “ if King Leopold III had left Belgium on May 25th as his ministers and Churchill had urged him to do so. The Belgian army would have surrendered immediately, instead of fighting on until the early morning of May 28th. IF SO, THE BRITISH WOULD HAVE HAD VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF ESCAPING ENCIRCLEMENT, SO THAT IT COULD VERY REASONABLY BE CLAIMED THAT THEY WERE SAVED BY KING LEOPOLD III, WHO THEN WAS VIOLENTLY ABUSED BY BRITON AND FRANCE “
Thank you. You have confirmed what my grandparents and my dad commented on how the Belgians gave the rest of the world the time needed to ready themselves to fight.
Ik ben van Turnhout,je doet dat fantastisch.Mag ik vragen waar je alle informatie vond van de namen, divisies enz.Ik zou dit ook graag leren als amateur historicus
The AceDestroyer Dear Ace. Im an American, ex-resident of E Flanders with a near life long interest in WWII. Your dedication and value added videos about importamt Campaigns many of which have been ignored, is appreciated by many. You mentioned that you are Flemish, that explains the fine polyglot pronunciation and language skills. Kudos, Dank u wel, en tot ziens !
Nice topic. Yet in a brief summery the neutrality problem that plagued the Dutch, Belgians, Luxemburgers and French is missed. Having to defend all around the Belgians didn't want to close the 50 km gap between the Dutch Peel Raam line and their northen defense line along the Albert Canal. This hingend on fort Eben Emanuel. Thus the Dutch indefensible province Limburg a mere 5 km wide at points along the Maas with the high slopes on the German side and the river nigh the Belgian border, Belgium didn't want to fortify the gap. Hence a Dutch general Reynders was in part due to his insistence to defend the Peel Raam line and invest in that defence (with hind sight correct) even though leaving a gap. General Winkelman plannend to withdraw all troops immddiately. Alas due to both Eben Emanuel and the Peel line near Mill via a ruse breaching via an armoured train and the German paras succeeding in what Monty failed in 1944 to catch all the bridges over the Rhine to Rotterdam, Mansteins plan as a change to the leaked plans succeded brilliantly. The panzers were explicitly orderd to lure Gamelan as far North into Belgium as possible. Gamelans "Breda" option did exactly as the Germans hoped. Being cut via Luxemburg the Ardennes bypassing the Maginot. A total chambles of generalship on part of all allies due to politics. The soldiers payed the price. The best the Belgian and Dutch armies were capable of was holding pre prepared lines. Had Reynders plan been followed then the chances of preventing a breakthrough might have just worked.
Fantastic work ace destroyer, ill be watching these videos many many times for personal study, keep them coming! With Belgium it was created to be a buffer state between france germany and England, and its future looks bleak in the way that alot of experts claim Belgium will split up into two separate nations wallonia and Flanders, i cant see that actually happening but who knows some say its neighbor to the north the Netherlands will be permanently submerged in water come 50 years.
Thank you very, very much!! It truly means a lot to me! I myself am from Belgium and we'll see what the next elections will bring. There is indeed a possibility of a split. The 'right' in Flanders under N-VA is holding his ground whilst the 'left' in Wallonia under the PTB is gaining votes. But yeah, we'll see what it brings.
Don't know if anyone here could help me, but I am searching for footage of the Belgian army during the 18 days campaign... or maybe even before. So far I've had no luck finding any good footage aside from the video of 'Sabaton History' about the Chasseurs Ardennais which shows some small fragments of Belgian artillerists.
I also had tough luck finding Belgian footage. Apart from a few a pictures there's not much out there on the Internet. Perhaps you can contact the Belgian Military Museum in Brussels, I know that they have a great collection of pictures, but I'm not sure about actual moving images though.
from this it is evident how massive technical superiority had Germans at this stage, and its hard to imagine what would happen if not the British presence..
My father served in the US Army during WW2 from the Normandy Invasion until the end of the war. He spoke very highly of the people of Belgium. He said some factory workers or miners let the soldiers take their place to us public showers, and during the winter he said they would give their bedsheets to the soldiers and sew them on their uniforms as camouflage in the snow for free. In France he said the people would do the same thing but charged money or food to do it... I thank the Belgium people for the kindness and generosity they showed my father, and other US troops during such a dark period in World history.
Ypres is pronounced "Yeeps", just an FYI :-) Better graphics/illustrations of the points you are referring to on the maps would make a big improvement. Enjoy your channel, keep it up.
Actually Ieper in dutch is pronounced as Eepurr. I know about the maps, I believe I have improved though with the latest videos. I do however need to add a little scale of comparison on the maps so it is easier to interpret. Thanks for the kind words! I truly appreciate it!
Heb onlangs twee videos gemaakt in verband met de Belgische krijgsgeschiedenis (Bodange en de ACG-1 pantserwagen). Dit is een van mijn eerste videos en wist nog niet goed hoe of wat.
Pardon my ignorance but is Belgium still considered neutral? It doesn't seem to have helped in either world war. If anything it seems like being neutral really hurt Belgium. If they had joined the allies a much better defense could have been organized
I kind of feel the same way. By 'hiding' behind the neutrality, Belgium really didn't get along in their preparations for a proper defense. If they had joined the allies sooner, Belgium could have gotten up to date with the Anglo-French Dyle plan and an even better defensive line could have been established without all the confusion and bad communication. On the other hand I believe Belgium was afraid that if they had joined the Allies, Germany would immediately attack it. In World War One, Germany sent a telegram to Belgium which asked Belgium that if Germany attacked, Belgium would give full cooperation and let the German armies march through the country. King of the Belgians, Albert I simply said no and Germany was left to either break Belgian neutrality and attack it or rearrange all offensive plans which meant attack the French full on (through Mulhouse/Mulhausen?)
it's Simple , No one expected that the German Army to go to all out War and invade through Belgium, just as much the French were Heavily dependent on the Maginot Line .. But to say that they were Ill prepared that's actually Nonsense, since, Britain And France Declared war on Germany when the German Troops Crossed to The Rhineland which was Occupied by French Troops before they Retreated .
Your all missing the fact that France and Britain did nothing when the Rhineland was Recouped! Had the powerful French army acted to push the Nazi's out of the demilitarized Rhineland zone. Belgium had lost their buffer state. The British and the French were content to fight on BELGIAN SOIL . Neutrality was forced on Belgium in an effort to remain itself.
BELGIUM had no territorial ambitions whatsoever. Nor did they have anything to do with the origin of the European conflict, either directly or indirectly. But if Belgium were to become involved in it, her territory would be turned into a battleground; and because her area is so small, that would mean total destruction, whatever might be the outcome of the war. Your all Monday quarterbacks and not fully understanding the fear that paralyzed decisions of political leaders of the day. To blame Belgium is very shortsighted , look at France and Britain, they had the power to mitigate an invasion. A scapegoat was needed to deflect the blame for failing to act against the Nazi's reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936.
There was a rumour that France had aerial reconnaissance of the roads from Germany to Belgium being log jammed with Wehrmacht. Photos showed huge military build up before the invasion.Yet the allied countries did very little to stop it. Maybe a myth or maybe they had nothing to use to stop them, but the French had a huge army yet chose to sit tight and do nothing. 🤔.
Albania also neutral, when italians threatened invasion, the king surrendered saving at least 1/4 the population. Italy considered oil and other mineral rich albania a region of italy and started colonising while makeing albanians migrate to americas.
The Germans got lucky to say nothing of the fact that they sneak attack neutral Nations. Also the French were still trying to fight World War 1 in a sentence static defenses Etc. I think the morale the French people were also low. The Germans got real lucky.
Il ne faudrait pas oublier que ce sont des unités françaises de chars de combat qui ont rencontré les allemands à Hannut. De même qu'il ne faut pas passer sous silence le fait que ce fut une victoire française!
G'day again, Um, consider this to be "strange & wonderful request time"... You're in Belgium, yeah (?), and European Countries are relatively small, and close together, yes (?)...; well, such being the case, how hard would it be for you to pop accross to Amsterdam on Saturday Morning, and surprise my daughter by asking her if she's the Warbles' Daughter and is she having fun in Europe? Amsterdam will mark the furthest point of her perigrination before turning back for Home, and if you were to decide to take your Camera to the Anne Frank Museum for the 11 AM Tour...; then you could surprise her greatly (with the power of the YT Community), as well as get yourself the material for a Video about the Museum..., though my daughter probably won't want to appear in your Video... (she's camera-shy... the Vid I posted recently "X-Rated Helmet !" was the first time she's agreed to a Video for years...). The thought occurred to me as soon as I saw this upload..., and finally I couldn't resist Think of it as a funny idea which I couldn't resist sharing...(!) ; you don't have to pick up on it if it involves any difficulty at all whatsoever, but if you're not otherwise occuppied and if it'd be easy, then it's a possibility...(?). Have a good one, ;-p Ciao !
I'm sorry to disappoint you but, it would be rather hard for me as I'm to young to drive a car myself and as Amsterdam is some 250 km away from where I live I can't ask my parents to bring me as that's to far. Sorry!
+The AceDestroyer Ah, cool banannas ! No worries, I was thinking in terms of maybe 50 Km by Bus/Train or something...; never mind. It would've been an interesting trick to have pulled-off though, sending you in as a " One-Man Flash-Mob" to surprise her, when she's at the far end of the Earth... (tee hee !). Have a good one, ;-p Ciao !
+WarblesOnALot Post Scriptum... I just figured this all out, about an hour after I posted the comment asking you if you could surprise my wandering daughter in Amsterdam, for the fun of it, she texted me to ask me to make a Voicecall for her to the people who she booked the "Amsterdam Return Transfers" service confirming that she will be there & still will need collecting from the Railway Station...(!). So, apparently, by ESP or something (?!), here in Oz I had such a burning hunch that it would be a good idea if I organised for someone to meet my daughter in Amsterdam tomorrow..., that though you were the only faint possibility I could imagine - I sent you the comment an hour before my Phone told me who in Holland I was supposed to organise, to go & meet my daughter...! Real Life is lots weirder than Fiction, apparently... Take it easy, I reckon it's a funny curiosity. Havd a good one, ;-p Ciao !
If Belgium didn'tdecided to stay neutral in 1936, France and Belgium could have been able to hold the germans with better efficiency but of course in 1936 they said they were going neutral meaning that France couldn't expand the Maginot. And if they weren't neutral and on the Allies side since the beggining, French/British troops would've been able to move to Belgium more rapidly thus taking important defensive positions. Same goes for the Netherlands. "-ask the belgians how well neutrality defended them in 1914"
Our elders fought bravely and fierce for our fatherland and we most certainly weren't cowards or traitors we where abandond by the allies in the end we stood alone against the german army and yet we still fought until there was no ground beneath our feet left to fight on
The Allies did not abandon you. It's true they could have kept fighting for another day or half or two then they would have got taken prisoner. The Allies made the correct decision to rescue as many men as they could from being wiped out once they were surrounded. Most of those men that escaped later fought in the invasion to retake Belgium and on top of that many people from builds and also did escape to the British Isles and continue to fight. Nobody's taking anything away from the Belgian Soldier.
@@mathieuvigne7336 i never denied that fact the truth to the matter is that at the end all ally troops where pulled out off belgium and left our country to fight it's last battle alone
@@ponchopower The Allied forces retreat with the Belgian forces, they did not let them alone. The Belgian army kept the fighting in France, at Dunkirk, where it kept the Germans with the French so the Brits could retreat to continue the war.
@@mathieuvigne7336 oh hell I think you're missing a little bit of something here in there. If we're going to have the tree then let's have the unabridged version! Belgium and France and Holland and Denmark and Norway were all occupied in fact it was the Allies which would include all those countries because they did have resistance groups but primarily the British and mostly the Americans that liberated your country we were the Arsenal Freedom we came over there landed at Normandy and that's why the countries of Europe were free. In any case I can say this in appreciate it very much. Just like this stuff of NATO where the United States pays nine-tenths of stuff if you feel that way then kiss are red white and blue ass dissolve Nae don't defend yourself.
The only advantage they had was armor, compared to German tanks they were much slower, didn't have radio equipment so had to communicate with flags or not at all, most had 1 man turrets, so the commander was way overworked, having to direct the driver, detect enemies, load, aim, fire, and communicate with other tanks all by himself. They did have bigger guns, but they were old, and didn't penetrate much armor, although the German tanks had light armor so they usually sufficed. In the end, allot of French tanks were destroyed by infantry, aircraft, and 88 mm guns.
@@Page-Hendryx Ia Drang ok but not ARVNs last stand around Saigon , the performance of 18th ARVN Div at the battle at Xuan Loc was not well documented, it was a perfect example that ARVN Soldiers could fight! and hold off and delaying the progress/attack of a superior NVA Force for several days. C`mon, the 18th Div. and the men who died there deserves it, americans and others always blamed the ARVNs for its bad Leadership/combatperformance and fightin spirit but they could fight when well lead. And ,YT is full and overloaden with WW2 Docus, Podcasts, indepthsights about weapons, tactics ect.
Leave it to the Brits to act like Brits . The abandon their ally and then get pissed when their ally cant continue to defend themselves . Is this an example of British "class" ?
Well although I am no little Englander as I recall Britain went to war to protect Belguim in 1914 and it cost them 1 million dead. They didn't have to, they could have stayed neutral or sided with the German's even. Instead they honoured their treaty to protect Belguim and paid the heaviest price in blood in their entire history. So yeah, Brits acting like Brits, ungrateful or what!
The United Kingdom fought on till the end of the war. It hosted all the European governments in exile, suffered extensive bombing of its cities, heavy losses of it's merchant navy & Royal Navy & ultimately was about 25% of the total western front forces that helped liberate Europe in 1944-45. Of course we could have sued for peace in summer 1940 & left Europe to the Nazi, Soviet & Italian regimes. Then their wouldn't have been an EU centred on Brussels but a United States of Europe centred on Berlin. 450,000 British citizens died in WW2, they could almost all have lived if the war stopped in 1940. Britain paid a heavy price for both its own freedom & Europe's, that's an example of British class.
@@rarevhsuploads4995 I don't think anyone downsizes what Britain has done in the war. Point that has been made is that Belgium, although its impossible position has done a valiant job as well. With the allies when possible and continuing when left alone by retreating French and British troops and thus servering as a their shield when they where retreating. It does feel rather injust when Belgium get's treated as none existant or unreliable. Also a note on the 25% troops of Britain that helped liberating Europe. Don't forget that amongst those troops all allied nations fought, Belgians, French, Poles, Dutch, Danes, etc. Most major British actions have to some extent a 'foreign' part in it. So yes, Britain was a European lifesaver but let's not act like they fought the entire World War alone. It was the alliance that won, and a lot of countries played a greater of smaller part according to their possibilities.
@@paulfletcher2029 If you do not agree with adult history then go back to "History with crayons" . Read a book by someone you do NOT actually agree with every now and then . Avoids the echo chambers like the one you are stuck in .
The Franco-Belgian Military Accord of 1920 - was a defense pact signed between France and Belgium . But in 1936 as Belgium cancelled it and returned to a policy of neutrality . As not to antagonize Germany , Belgium would no longer co operate with the French military to plan a defense . The result was that the Belgian's shot themselves and the French in the foot . .
The AceDestroyer but that's the thing. It was hard to operate! A panzer 3 would run circles around it. Trying to command and manage that turret and point the big gun in the right direction soaks up time.
Les Chasseurs Ardenaiis were ace soldiers, not only Walloons. The stopped the Germans for a few days. (. I knew a Flemish padre who was a member of the Chasseurs Ardennais).Which allowed the French and English armed forces to enter Belgium. Which is just what the German high command wanted: :splitting the allied forces., encircling Belgians, French an English troops. Which allowed them to conquer France. The Belgian king was an anti-democratic nimrod. Went to have tea with Hitler.
