German Field Marshal Beaten With His Own Baton! 

I want to thank Mark Felton for greatly enhancing my understanding of WW2. I taught history for 35 years and I learn something new every week thanks to Mark. Thanks Mark.

Thank you Dr Felton for putting this episode into context of 1945 and not through our lense of 2024.

Dear Mark as an amateur historian I do love your different take on things. I like how you don't do the normal subjects usually covered by historians but go for the more unusual stories like giving a field marshal a good hiding. These stories give a more realistic take on what actually happened and are far more interesting. There is so much unknown about WW2 and when the archived secrets finally get released will expect more great revelations. Keep it up please and a big thank you.

I recall seeing a photo of a Japanese general surrendering to an Allied officer and offering him a handshake, to which the officer basically told him to "shove it." Seems that general got off lightly in comparison to Milch.

Milch: Man, I’m so lucky to have surrendered to you chaps. Mills: 😡

Dang. I never knew about the accidental bombing of those prisoner ships. How terrible.

Best WW2 channel on youtube! Thanks Dr. Felton for all your hard work!

at least Monty had a good sense of humor

Sunday with Mark Felton what a great way to enjoy Sunday.

RIP, all those victims of WW2. Thanks for the history, Dr Mark!

My now deceased father inlaw was captured by the Germans after his ship was sunk in the Atlantic by a German Commerce raider ( converted freighter )and spent 6 months in the hold with his crewmates. They were held below the main guns and most suffered hearing loss from the constant barrages. He then was transported to a Nazi concentration camp in Germany and spent 3 years in captivity enduring hellish conditions. On the day he was rescued by allied forces he and his fellow inmates overheard the Nazis saying Hitler had ordered all of them to be executed. They all ran away as the Allies approached. It was by the grace of God and the Allied soldiers that captured the prison that same day they survived what was to be their fate. He went on to live to 93. God rest his soul. 🇦🇺

No point in crying over spilled Milch.

"All expenses paid trip to Siberia" 😅

Monty did have a sense of humor! Loved the quip about "....I hear you have a thing with Field Marshals." That was a great a surprisingly funny moment.

This has to be one of the best historical documentaries that Mark Felton has produced.

Being a Cold War, Air Force Vet myself and having lived in Germany for 3 years, I have a great affection for the German people. HOWEVER…I am also the son of a WWII Navy Vet, and my wife’s dad was a WWII Army Vet. My dad was in the Pacific and my wife’s dad fought his way through N. Africa, Sicily, Italy and then was shot in Belgium and spent a year recoving in a hospital. Both lived to be in their 70’s and 80’s years of age and I heard many of their war time stories. Myself, while being stationed on a German AFB in the early 80’s, I was in an German RC airplane flying club and I got to hear German WWII stories from Luftwaffe and Bundeswehr Vets. I felt fortunate to hear all of these stories and simply listened. For that reason, they trusted me and I did not judge as the war…after all, was a long time over and had been decided. Having said all of that…the atrocities were so bad and so many millions died, not only in the concentration camps…but out in the streets for ALL to see. Remember Kristal Nacht…Crystal Night? No one can ever convince me that only a very few knew of the camps. The SS acted with inpunity, the Generals were not stupid but to save their behinds, chose to. This is why I have ZERO sympathy for the anger that was dealt to them during and after the war was over. They CHOSE their path. In my humble opinion…WWII could have been avoided. The first cause was the extreme severity of the Versaille Treaty. It made it imposslible to recover economically from WWI. When it takes a wheel barrow full of DM’s to buy a loaf of bread and people are starving, then they will vote into office anyone that can offer them a way out. This is exactly how Hitler came into power. The second way that WWII could have been avoided…was to put an early stop to Hitler’s advances in Austria & Czechoslavkia. Chamberlain came back after a meeting with Hitler…holding a worthless piece of paper and announcing, “Peace in our Time”. It wasn’t too long after that, that Poland was attack and then western Europe was then taken over quickly. The Nazis…and I emphasize Nazi’s…which is short for National Socialists, and the, “National Socialist German Workers Party”, or NSDAP, were guilty…make no mistake. Yes, many were soldiers and were forced to obey orders, but once you know of the existance of those camps, see unarmed people being shot in the street, any person would KNOW that such things are not and could never be an honorable action. A lot of the Generals and officers should have had the CRAP beat out of them and have their noses RUBBED INTO THE DIRT of those camps afterwards. Reality…is reality….wake up. USAF Vet. Cold War

My grandfather was in the British army that liberated Belsen and he said the Germans got off very lightly. Very.

Thanks Dr. Felton!

Hate when that happens.

Spot on as always boss 👊, much appreciated 🙏

The Brigadier was actually at the point that he was prepared to kill Milch, but stopped the bottle with his forearm.

In the words of Sergeant Major Williams, "Oh dear, what a shame, never mind."

Happy Father's Day to all those young men who never lived long enough to become one.

Mills Roberts was robbed by poor quality Baton construction…

That's was grandfather who was one of the very first into BELSON, he was assigned with the Royal Enniskillen's in 1944 after serving in the Irish Hussars, he was one of the original Dessert Rats and a tank commander (In Africa from1936 -1944). My grandfather Harry Melson was sent home personally by General Montgomery after learning he had been in Africa since 1936, posted originally as cavalry. My grandad once back in the UK was retrained in Norfolk in the role of taking over of local and social administrations, interrogations and investigations for the post D-Day progress into liberated territory. This was his role, this bought him as one of the very first soldiers into Bergan Belson. My mother told me this story, my uncle too, my grandfather could never talk about it, except once to his children. I can only imagine the horrors he witnessed. To this day i recall so many war stories with my grandad, just that one story, he buried it. So pleased this channel exists to tell these historic stories and how over 80 years later, we can be reminded of what once happened.

Well done Dr Felton your material should be used to teach our young people in school as mankind should never forget the what happened during the war.

Milch was lucky he didn't get taken and dumped in the Russian line's.

My father was part of the occupation forces of Germany after WW2 and was stationed near the Bergan Belson concentration camp. There was quite a bit of friction between the local population and my fathers' unit to the point that they weren't allowed to go into town alone but in groups. The reason behind the friction was the concentration camp and the locals' refusal to accept responsibility for the camp. The bodies were gone from the camp, but the camp still remained. His entire unit was marched through the camp on their first day that they were stationed there to show them why they were there. They were horrified by the stories and sights they saw. Anybody that asked my father about the things he saw and heard on that day would instantly see the anger he felt about the camp and its' conditions. My father died in 2014, he would have enjoyed the exploits of Mills-Roberts immensely.

Hans Landa: you will be shot for this! Lt. Aldo Raine: Nahh I don’t think so, more like chewed out, I’ve been chewed out before

Splendid video as always. Many thanks Dr Felton!

Thanks Mark. Like that person said. You are the best WWII history channel ❤

I knew the New Zealand pilots were pretty handy in the Tempest but I didn't know they took out a field marshal. Thanks again Dr Mark Felton

Thank you Dr.Felton from a young German guy learning about his ancestors history from not an englishman but from another human.❤️

Whoa, wait a minute, what’s this about Neustadt, and locals helping to round up camp survivors who had survived their transports being sunk nearby? I think that incident deserves a deep dive on its own!

I think this is one of your best videos, Mark. I have watched them for long time. Thank you !

My dad who passed last year 1st April at the age of 97 was one of the liberating British soldiers at Belsen, although he was Irish from Cork. The stories he told me of Belsen and of keeping those poor souls in the camp to stop widespread disease getting out. It troubled him all his life.

Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, Military Donkey - Literally spat Pepsi on my monitor screen at that, and I'm not even mad about it. Never stop being you, Mark.

The story I heard was that the Field Marshal just slipped and fell.

Thanks for another banger of a video. I heard the story in the early 70s as a kid,my uncle Paul had been a refugee who managed to get out of Paris ahead of the invasion. He was really good about making sure that the children in the family understood what the war had been like.

The only war history channel on RU-vid worth watching... Mark Felton Productions is so far better than anything offered, hands down.

I’ve been a huge WW2 history buff my entire life (since 5). I love how you nearly always bring an event to life that I never knew about! Thank-you Dr. Felton.

🎖️🏆🤗🙏 Thank you for sharing this

Another fantastic piece about an interaction that I was previously unaware of. Well done, as always, Mark.

Another brilliant video Mark thanks for that 👍

My late wife's family fled Russia through Germany in 1947. They applied for US immigration but were told there was a 10 year ban on immigration from Europe at that time. So they immigrated to Sao Poulo, Brazil. They settled in a Ukrainian neighborhood. Next to that Ukrainian neighborhood was a German neighborhood. It was filled with former German officers and their families. I can only guess how many of them escaped the wrath of enraged allied man and the world. To this day, any caucasion South Americans in Brazil or Argentina most likely keep secrets about their grandfather's grotesque and obscene misdeeds during WW2.

Milch was indeed lucky not to surrender to the Red Army.

I never am disappointed by your mini docs Dr. Felton. Regards this British Brigadier I say I fully understand your actions.

Normally, I find the abuse of prisoners to be abhorrent. But, try as I might, I just can't work up any outrage over this. I suppose I'll just have to live with my failing.

My great uncle, Reg, was one of the British soldiers who liberated Belsen and was responsible for burying the dead. He came back from the war with a stutter which had started at Belsen and which never left him. He also picked up a copy of Mein Kampf there, which must have been abandoned by an SS guard. After the war, when my grandmother was learning German, he gave it to her and my grandmother still has it.

I can't blame the old commando for going off on that POS. My father was with Patton when they liberated Buchenwald. He was just out of HS an 18 year old medic. I can't imagine what he saw and what he had to treat medically. My dad and I never got along,my mom said he changed completely from the boy she knew. He never spoke about the war. I wish I had the maturity and knowledge of this when he was still with us,things may have been different.

Things certainly soured for Milch

I remember reading about those two ships being sunk and the horrible death toll of prisoners. The same thing happened in the Pacific when a ship carrying British and American POWs was sunk. In both cases the ships carried no identification such as a red cross so that the attackers didn't know their cargo and assumed they were carrying troops and war material. I had two uncles who liberated POW camps, one in the Philippines and one in Germany and both said that the treatment of the internees was horrendous and beyond describable. The Allies took far better care of their enemies then they deserved!

These obscure tidbits of history are why I’m subscribed and keep watching. Thanks once again Doctor Felton!

Dr. Felton always comes up with stuff that I hadn’t heard of before. Excellent as always.

Dr. Felton, you never cease to educate me.

What a title, keep doing what your doing! Is this part of a series about the end of field martials/high-ranking commanders?

The Channel 4 documentary about the bugged senior officers in British captivity at Trent Park puts paid to the lie that they didn't know.

Thank you Dr. Felton for this feel good story! Always a treat. Thanks for sharing!

JD. I’ve followed your channel for some time now and it’s left a deep impression on me. I think it’s a combination of your presentation, the content, the historic context and the sheer emotion of thinking about what these guys went through for the freedom of the world. Long may you and your channel continue.

Under the circumstances, Milch got off light.

“Sold to a collector in Florida” Of course it was, it had to be either Texas or Florida.

His memoirs The Rise & Fall of the Luftwaffe (1973) is a great read and gives a good insight into the political machinations that led to the Me-262 being fortuitously delayed for another 2 years and Milch being asked to save the Stalingrad airlift from complete failure.

Someone just accused your comrades of committing mass-murder. How do you respond? a: "Oh my god, that's horrible!" b: "I don't believe you, no way something like that could happen." c: "Well they weren't people anyway."

Many years ago, I read Peter Ustinov's autobiography (called "Dear Me" possibly?). In it, he wrote about reviewing many hours of film taken by army film units after world war 2. None of them were labeled, so they could be very surprising. In one of them, a German field marshal surrendered by handing over his ceremonial baton. The officer he surrendered to hefted it and felt the weight of it, then struck the field marshal over the head with it, knocking the man unconscious. I had thought that this recent video would be about that incident, but it doesn't seem to be. If it was, the incident was filmed.

If they kept beating him, would he turn into Butter?

Milch: 'Why are you so worried about Bergen-Belsen and the murdered prisoners at Neustadt? They are not humans!' No wonder Brigadier Roberts lost his temper and Montgomery was understanding!

Even WW2 Historians learn about WW2 History from Mark Felton. Thank you, Sir.

Mark Feldman is one of the best commentators on RU-vid

Just got your book "The Coolie Generals." Ripping read so far. The funny thing is I keep hearing your writing in your voice. (not a bad thing, but kinda funny)

After a bit of research I found out why Monty didn't discipline Mills-Roberts: He had a cousin at Horse Guards, and friends at Court.

I read the title and "british commandos" in the description and immediately knew an Irishman was responsible! 🤣🤣🤣

Another great story. Thanks Mark Felton

WOW! After learning as much as I could about All Things WWII for Decades now, I’ve Never Heard that story- And, It was Absolutely Brilliant! Just another reminder of why I Love this channel So Much!! So THANK YOU DR FELTON!

"Your report impressed the Führer. He has appointed you commander of Berlin's defenses." "I'd rather be shot than have this honor..." - General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling, Downfall

Thank you Mark, for posting another fascinating story. I can certainly understand the outrage Brigadier Mills-Roberts felt, after witnessing those terrible crimes, then encountering this Field Marshal who demonstrated a hateful smug attitude!

Milch was really lucky “Mills Bomb” didn’t beat him with Milch’s ornate baton. Diamonds are pretty hard and sharp-edged, you know. 😊

I have read much on the Luftwaffe and its leaders. Never come across this story! Another brilliant video, thank you Dr. Felton.

Yet another brilliant video! Thank you, Dr. Felton!

Not only Milch was a criminal, he will always be remembered as a traitor to the Jewish community and Israel who completely embraced the Nazi ideology. Otherwise Robert's angry was completely justified 100% from what he saw at the death camps. I recently attended my friend's grandfather funeral who fought at Normandy, and one of the few who liberated one of the death camps. He said his grandfather was completely scared for life and whenever he saw someone who was Jewish, he would just cried saying he could have done more. Anyways Mark thank you so much, always wanted to find more information about Milch getting a head beating.

Very interesting story here. I had never heard of such an event happening. I learn so many details here. You are a scholar among scholars doctor Felton.

My uncle Harry was one of the troops who liberated Belsen. I know nothing more than what I found out in books and newsreels, as he and his generation never talked about their experiences.

Thank you Mark ! 👍Your video added to my Father's Day !

A fascinating story, well told. As a avid reader of all WW2 books I had no knowledge of Milchs surrender. Such Nazi arrogance was avenged in true British style! Love Montys response!

"Jewishness" does, in fact, pass down the matrilineal route.

Over 6000 prisoners killed by the Allies on a ship. That’s something you don’t get to hear very often.

Thank you Dr. Felton. In the face of current anti-semitism, this story is welcome to my ears.

monty overlooked the incident

Well Eric Milch sure had a bad day . First he gets beaten up by British officer , then he gets robbed at gun point by British soldiers . And finally he gets put into a POW Camp … Well I have newer heard that story before . So this is the first time I learned something from Mark Felton . That you so much mister Felton …

The Ian Dury solution. My grandfather, who was at Anzio, and who's father was a journalist, took a jeep on his own initiative and went to see Belson for himself shortly after its liberation. He never forget what he saw.

“The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.” -Proverbs <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1086">18:6</a>

Another detailed story from mark….fantastic,gripping and and always interesting.

Completely brilliant composition, stunning. We all love history, but regardless of content, it is such a pleasure to learn how a video should be conveyed and constructed. I am here for the history, and we are all a fan of your constant ability to reveal events that we have never heard of. It is however, almost distracting to simultaneously realize how much thought and care goes into the structure, and they just keep getting better.

Hand rubbing intensifies

The Russians would have treated him a little bit differently…

"On first sighting the enemy, I naturally gave the order to advance. That's my style, sir." - Brigadier Derek Mills-Roberts, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC

Thanks Dr Mark for another Fantastic Video. Thanks for all Your Hard work in putting these Videos together.

Thanks again for your work. Awsome channel , a broadcast in its own right.

😊🎉your channel is like time machine Dr. Felton. Kudos.

Given that British Commandos were subject to Hitler's Commando Order (Kommandobefel) this Milch fellow should consider himself very lucky indeed.

Thank you so much for this channel Dr. Felton