If you like my work and want to support the channel, consider subscribing to my Patreon for more, exclusive content! patreon.com/GermanWWIIArchive Or buy me a Kaffee here: www.buymeacoffee.com/germanwwiiarchive Remarks: 00:38 The NSV (Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, “National Socialist People's Welfare”) was a welfare organization in Nazi Germany. Initially founded in September 1931 as a small party charity for propaganda reasons, it became a central organization for social welfare and healthcare. It offered assistance to Germans (but only those of Aryan descent) with healthcare and also childbirth. During the bombing raids on Germany, it often provided first help to the bombed cities by providing meals and temporary shelters to the bombed population. 00:42 Running maternity homes was one of the key activities of the NSV, of course, again, only for mothers and children who were deemed “Aryan”. 03:14 The NSB, full name: “Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland“(National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands), was a Dutch Nazi and Fascist party, founded on 14th December 1931. It was basically a copy of the German Nazi party, however, unlike the NSDAP, the NSB was initially not antisemitic or racist, with Blacks and Jews being allowed membership. Membership grew rapidly, from 1,000 in 1933 to around 52,000 in 1936. However, with Hitler’s success in Germany, antisemitism and pro-German voices became stronger in the NSB, leading to internal conflicts, which in return led to fewer votes. After the German invasion in 1940, the NSB became the sole legal party in the Netherlands in December 1941. Due to the harsh treatment of Dutch civilians by the Germans, the party became isolated and hated by the general population. After the German surrender in the Netherlands on May 6th, 1945, the NSB was outlawed. 03:15 Anton Adriaan Mussert (1894-1946) was one of the founders of the NSB and the party leader from 1931 to 1945. After the German invasion of the Netherlands, he was given the title of “Leader of the Dutch People” in December 1942, but had no real power, as those lay exclusively in the hands of the Germans. He was arrested in the NSB office on May 7th, 1945, sentenced to death after a two-day trial in November 1945 and executed on May 7th, 1946 by firing squad. 03:20 The Youth Storm (Nationale Jeugdstorm) was a Dutch youth organization closely associated with the NSB (although not officially a part of the party). It was formed in May 1934 and was active until the liberation of the Netherlands. It was in many ways a Dutch counterpart to the Hitler Youth. 04:13 Jozef Tiso (1887-1947) was a Catholic priest and politician, who served as President of Slovakia, a German puppet state created after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939. He studied Theology in Vienna from 1906 onwards, becoming a priest in 1911. Already in young years, he became politically interested as a Socialist and a Slovakian Nationalist. He became an MP for the Hlinka party in 1925, which advocated for an independent Slovakia, becoming vice party leader in 1930. When the Germans invaded Slovakia, they asked Tiso to declare Slovakian independence. Tiso was initially hesitant, but after German threats to otherwise give up Slovakia to Hungary, Tiso and the Slovakian parliament agreed. Tiso became President of the Slovak Republic on October 26th. During his reign, he tried his best to keep Slovakia intact, although he had to collaborate with the Germans. He also agreed for deportation of Slovakian Jews to Concentration Camps. At the end of the war, he escaped to Germany, but was captured by American troops and brought back to Slovakia, where he was tried of war crimes and other crimes, and sentenced to death and hanged on April 18th, 1947. He was buried in an anonymous grave, but exhumed and re-buried in St- Emmerams Catedhral in Nitra in 2008. Tisos role is still controversial, while some people said he did the best he could to steer Slovakia through German occupation, others said he was a willing helper of the Nazis. 06:27 Olle Tandberg (1918-1996) was a Swedish boxer. He was European amateur boxing champion between 1937 and 1939, and became European Boxing Union championship in May 1943. In total, he had 30 fights in his career, winning 23, losing 6 and 1 draw. 06:29 Karel Sys (1914-1990) was a Belgian boxer who was active between 1932 and 1954. He became heavyweight champion of Europe two times, in 1943 and 1952. Because he continued boxing under German occupation, he was accused of being a traitor and forced to leave Belgium in 1945, living in Spain and Argentinia, before being allowed back in 1950. 06:41 Tandberg won against Sys on May 30th, 1943, becoming European championship, this fight depicted here was the revanche fight on November 11th, 1943, which Sys won. 08:20 This match depicted here was a friendly between Hungary in Sweden, played in Budapest in front of 38,000 viewers on November 7th, 1943. Hungary lost 2-7 to Sweden. 09:30 The gun to the left of the flag is a 7,5cm PaK 40 AT-gun. Introduced in early 1942, it became the backbone of German AT troops, with 23,303 guns made between late 1941 and 1945. 09:34 The general saluting here is Albrecht Schubert (1886-1966), a German general during WWII. He joined the German Army as a cadet in 1904, and was already a captain when WWI started. He served in various staff positions and continued his service after WWI. In WWII, he commanded the 44th Infantry Division during the Invasion of Poland, and the XXIII. Army Corps during the Invasion of France and the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Knights Cross in September 1941. In July 1942, he became commander of Army District XI in Hanover, and in August 1943 of Army District XVII in Vienna. He served there until April 1945, when he finally retired. 09:50 Croatian Legion refers to a few different units under German command. What is commonly referred to as Croation Legion is the 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment, a unit that, while technically not part of the Wehrmacht, was under Wehrmacht command and fought as part of the 100th Jäger Division. It was raised in July 1941 and destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad; the last 800 men of the division surrendered to the Soviets in January 1943. However, more Croatian units were raised afterwards, in mid-1943, three new units made up of Croation soldiers were raised: the 369th, 373rd and 392nd Croatian Infantry Division. These soldiers probably belong to one of these three units. 10:41 These are soldiers of the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (LVF). The LVF was created in July 1941 and made up of French volunteers. Officially known as the 638th Infantry Regiment, it was part of the 7th Infantry Division and took part during the Battle of Moscow in November and December 1941, but suffered heavy losses. Afterwards, it was mainly used for anti-partisan fighting, but on June 25th, 1943, the unit fought at the Bobr River in Belarus together with Waffen-SS units and managed to repel a superior Soviet force, one of its most famous fights. In July 1944 the unit was disbanded, and 1,200 members of the unit, together with other French volunteers and militia, were transferred to the Waffen-SS Brigade “Charlemagne”. 11:00 This is the flag of the LVF, a French triciolore with the name of the regiment and LVF. 11:09 When the Germans occupied Italy and disarmed the Italian Army after Italy signed the armistice with the Allies, a little over 1 million soldiers were disarmed. Out of these, 197,000 decided to continue fighting alongside the German troops- but only 94,000 did so right away, most of them fascist Blackshirts. The others only did so to escape German labor camps. Around 600 to 650,000 Italian soldiers were used as forced laborers in German work camps, were around 37 to 50,000 died under harsh circumstances. Additionally, around 25,000 Italian soldiers died during fighting with German troops. 11:29 This unit insignia, of the 89th Legion “Etrusca” is that of a Fascist Blackshirt militia. The Blackshirt militia called its units “Legions”, as a reference to the legions of the Roman Empire, but I was not able to find out more about this specific legion. 11:50 Most Italian units were not send to the frontlines, as the Germans distrusted them, but rather used for anti-partisan or policing missions behind the frontlines. 12:30 The Beskid are a series of mountains in the Caparthians, in the border region of modern day Czech, Poland and Slovakia.
I’m always fascinated by the civilian stuff going on. It’s easy to forget when reading history of the war that millions of people tried to lead ordinary lives.
As usual, these Descheg Newsreels contain a lot of non-combat footage. In case you're only here for the combat footage, this starts at 13:03 for the Battle of Leros, at 15:33 for the Eastern Front and at 18:01 for the defense against Allied bombers.
Remarks, Part II: 13:07 This is referring to the Battle of Leros between September 26th and November 16th, 1943. After Italy signed the armistice, the British were keen on securing the Greek islands, which was seen as important by Churchill. However, the Germans were quickly able to secure most of these Islands with reinforcements brought in from the Greek mainland. However, the British 234th Infantry Brigade was able to secure a number of Islands, including Leros. Together with Italian troops, they prepared for a German attack. In September 1943, the Italian forces numbered 8,400 soldiers and sailors, and around 3,500 British soldiers. They were supported by British and South African Air Force units, around 144 fighters and 116 bombers. The Germans started their attack on Leros in late September, with continuous heavy bombing of the Islands, destroying Allied defenses, AA-gun positions and coastal batteries, and sinking a number of British and Italian ships. The Germans had a massive air superiority, and were able to overwhelm and destroy the Allied AA-defenses. On November 12th, the Germans landed Infantry on the beaches and dropped paratroopers over Leros, and were quickly able to secure the island, thanks for the bad communication among the defenders and the German air superiority. The Allies surrender on November 16th. The Italians lost 250 men; 5,350 became POWs, the British lost 600 men and 3,200 POWs. Additionally, around 115 British aircraft were lost and a number of ships, including one Italian and three British destroyers. German casualties were around 500 killed and 900 wounded. The Battle of Leros, and the entire Dodocanese campaign in late 1943 are seldomly remembered nowadays and are not many people are aware of them. 13:14 These planes are Arado Ar-196, the standard observation floatplane of the German Navy during WWII. Built as a successor for the Heinkel He 50, the Arado Ar 196 was built from October 1938 onwards, and was the standard on-board plane for the German Navy during the war, and also the last floatplane build for combat purposes in Europe. 530 were made until August 1944, and used on all fronts. Ar 196 were also used by Romania (28 planes) and Bulgaria (12 planes). The Ar 196 had a 960hp BMW radial engine, and was lightly armed with three offensive and one defensive MG, and could carry two 50 kilo bombs. 14:25 These planes are Ju-88, a multirole aircraft used by the Wehrmacht during WWII. Initially designed as a fast bomber that could outrun enemy planes, the Ju-88 was only lightly armed and had only light defensive armament, but had a maximum speed of 470kmh, making it a very fast bomber when it was introduced in 1939. However, as the war progressed, enemy fighters became faster and could easily catch up with the Ju-88, it thus became somewhat obsolete in the course of the war. It was still built in large numbers, 14,882 until 1945, and used in a variety of roles, such as tactical bomber, torpedo bomber, night fighter or ground attack plane. 14:58 These planes are Ju-52 transporters. The Ju-52 was originally introduced in March 1932 as a civilian passenger and transport plane, where it proved to be comfortable and reliable. During WWII, the Ju-52 was used by the German Air Force as their main transport plane, both for men and supplies, and was also used by paratroopers. However, its slow top speed of only 290kmh and its weak structure meant that many were shot down by enemy planes and AA-guns, it was generally outdated. During WWII, around 3,300 Ju-52 were built and delivered to the German Air Force until mid-1944. 15:13 During the Battle of Leros, the Germans dropped around 600 paratroopers from the Brandenburger special forces and the 2nd Paratrooper Regiment. 15:39 This is a StuG III Ausf. G tank destroyer. 16:02 Since German propaganda cameramen were often filming close to or at the frontlines, many of them would die during filming. 16:50 This is a Soviet heavy Maxim PM1910 machine gun. It was introduced in 1910 in the Russian Empire, and is a Russian license-built Maxim gun. Despite numerous attempts, the Russians and the Soviets were never able to replace it with a more modern gun, and so the Maxim M1910 was built until 1945; over 600,000 guns were made. 16:58 The tank on the right is a Soviet T-34/76 medium tank. 17:28 These vehicles are Panzerwerfer (armored launcher), a German armored multiple rocket launcher. It consisted of a Maultier (Sd. Kfz. 4/1, an armored half-track) with a 10-tube 15cm rocket launcher on top, and an MG-42 for close combat defense. Around 300 of these vehicles were built between April 1943 and March 1944. The advantage of this vehicle, compared to normal rocket artillery, was that it could quickly change positions after firing. This was crucial, as rocket artillery created so much smoke when firing that the enemy could easily detect their positions, and they only had a maxim firing range of 6900 meters, placing them well within the firing range on enemy artillery. However, the small numbers of the Panzerwerfer meant that they didn’t influence combat much. 18:02 This flag shows the unit insignia of the 9th Squadron of JG 54, part of the 3rd Group. They were stationed from March 1943 in Northern Germany, and took part in the defense against Allied bombers until December 1944. 18:06 This is a Fw-190 fighter plane. 18:20 These are most likely 20mm cartridges for the MG151, a 20mm autocannon that was used in the Bf-109 and Fw-190. 18:38 This is a Bf-109 fighter plane. 19:28 The American bombers shown in this scene are B-17 heavy bombers, the most commonly used type for American bombing raids against Germany.
Amazing footage that of the invasion of Kos and Leros. Incredible how many expensive resources they managed to gather for that Operation at that point in the war. I read a book about it that claimed it was the last strategic German victory of the war, helped in part by the stubborness of Churchill and his obsession with that part of the southern theater. They remained in German hands till the end IIRC.
The Sailplane SG-38 at 4:39 was (almost) jokingly called "head splitter" (Schädelspalter) in german because that might happen if you didn't wear a helmet during a crash and hit your head on the stay rope in front of you. Nethertheless it remained a popular sailplane until the 50s as it was easy to build at home
Mainly because no one has any real reason to celebrate it. The Americans called the entire idea stupid and refused to provide any troops to capture Islands in the Dodocanese; they said it was more important to focus on Italy. The British failed miserably, and no one wants to remember their own lost battles. But even for the victorious Germans, this was more of a minor thing, the more important thing in late 1943 was that they managed to disarm the Italian Army, rescue Mussolini, set up an Italian puppet goverment and prevented the Allies from quickly advancing into Northern Italy. This was all more important and more emphasised in German propaganda than some Greek islands, which ultimatley played little significance for the rest of the war. Oh, and it was still a minor campaing. The British only provided one infantry brigade (234th Infantry Brigade), but even on the German side, there were only around 10,000 men involved.
The concept of rocket artillery itself was already known for hundreds of years, and many nations developed modern multiple rocket launchers before or during WWII. However, the Soviets were the first to put these rocket launchers on vehicles; and the Germans more or less copied the general concept with the Panzerwerfer and other vehicles equipped with rockets.
![Descheg Monthly Newsreel No. 21- November 1943 [Full HD]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
