I was fortunate , as a young man , to know both a German paratrooper, and an Australian soldier who had fought each other at the Corinth Canal. The German had migrated to Australia after the war, and they had become good friends.
I know the story from my father who was 15 years old at the time.i was also very lucky to meet a british soldier who was evacuated from NAFPLIO and had pictures he had taken where you could see the Stukas attack to the harbor. I also met a man from New Zealand who was retracing his father's steps through Greece in 1941. Also family members of New Zealand troops came to the area last year honouring the ANZAC troops that fought here
When I was a young boy (in 61 now) living in an English countryside village pub, a local, Douglas Compton, who was same age a my WW2 veteran father, stated that he was in Greece. He managed to escape Crete and got to North Africa, where he was subsequently captured at Tobruk. Another local, Josef Rolff, who was a German alpine specialist from Bavaria and a paratrooper , was standing close by in the bar. (Josef had been captured at Cherbourg in '44 and sent to England, where he married a local lady and lives there until his death). Douglas said how he was defending Crete by shooting into the sky at the thousand of paratroopers, when Joe said, "You were shooting at me, you bastard." Douglas apologised and bought him a beer. That was 1971 and I'll never forget it.
@@walterweiss7124of course. A parachuter or a Fallschirmjäger were legit targets, even in the sky. I guess the German ment this as a joke. I wish we could get along as those two old fellas nowadays where even a wrong pronoun starts a war.
My grandfather was in Corinth canal that time. He was serving in the Greek army and he was on a train carrying wounded Greek soldiers mainly from the Albanian front. The train was hit by Stukas. He described to me the hell of the bombing: the train in flames still moving, wounded soldiers jumping down and crawling to find cover, dismembered bodies everywhere, the horrifying sirens of the planes and the sky raining fire. He went under a carriage and he was saved by miracle but most around him were killed. Then, wounded, walked along with other survivors the whole 80 km distance to Athens (could not go to nearby Corinth as it was already taken by the Germans). In the last kilometers had to be carried by his comrades as he could not walk anymore: he was completely exhausted, bleeding and his feet full of open wounds.
Thanks for sharing your grandfather experience during the Second World War! I absolutely enjoy reading, or listening, or as in this case watching/listening! Truly, a horrific time while being a truly spectacular time in mankind’s history on this planet..
@@Wolfsschanze99 I meant about the Greek Campaign alone, sorry for the confusion. But yes, I also know about the airborne assaults in the Low Countries and France.
Two of my great uncles were part of the team responsible for using the Bofors for blowing up the carelessly placed charges. Although Kiwi's they were of Irish extraction & we somewhat renowned for their short tempers, they managed to have a right royal fistfight with some German Paratroopers & they escaped to Crete where they were almost caught by the Germans as they had snuck into a wine cellar for some 'complimentary' samples when a German patrol arrived with the same thing in mind. The end result was a wine cellar bar brawl (This was what my Great Uncles noted it as in their diaries). As neither side wanted to fire a shot to destroy the wine it again resulted in a fistfight. My Great Uncles scarpered away with their precious 'complimentary' wine samples & a captured German Paratroop officer whom they had tried to immobilize by dropping a chair over his head & Immobilize him they did as the wicker type seat had gone over his helmet & the frame of the chair had dropped down to a point where German Paratroop Officer could not move his arms, so they perhaps somewhat naively decided that they'd take him with them. According to their diaries, once back at their camp they all got suitably lubricated (Including their captured German). They were mentioned in despatches. They were eventually evacuated to Egypt & fought in North Africa & Italy. Both of these rascals survived the war & managed to keep in touch with their former prisoner after the war.
That's a story worth telling. "Don't shoot, think about the wine !" Funny, how the Germans thought the same and you end up with bar brawl where nobody gets seriously hurt. I like these little escapades way more than the bloody mess that the war was. Thanks for sharing.
He was in the Queens Own 4th Hussars along with my father and 550 others. My father managed to get back to Egypt along with about 125 others, the rest were taken prisoner, killed, wounded or drowned on the ships moving the soldiers from Greece to Crete and then on to Cairo. It was the regiment's first engagement. The Germans found taking Crete more difficult.
@Guy Incognito Or the paratroopers trying to keep them to increase their own combat potential. Paratrooper lack major weapons and there was the possibility of german troops taking longer then expected to reach them, leaving them cut off from supply. Explosives come in very handy if you have nothing else really to properly defend yourself. Or if they themselfs have to blow the bridge to before they might lose it.
That wasn't fallschirmjägers. It was the engineers who did that. They probably wanted to save the explosives for later use. But yes, they shouldn't have placed them all in a single pile.
They were the Enemy but what Brave Lads they were all the same and true pioneers of air mobility thankyou Dr Felton for another albeit brief glimpse back in time!
Must not forget the size of the bols of the cameraman, that goes first, taking his time setting up the camera, make some coffe, then wait for the actual paras to land, but I guess it was more civilized those days.
When the pilot cut back the throttles I got excited....I used to skydive and the pilot cutting back the engine was the signal to begin the exit. I haven't jumped in years but still get excited. Excellent "superman exits" by the Fallschirmjagers.
So after watching this channel for a while, I *just* now found out that Mark has a doctorate, has had 22 books, 2 of which are going to be movies, and is overall well-known. Frankly I'm honored that he has so much RU-vid content that I can watch willy-nilly 😁
Like someone else mentioned: So well done on the incredibly realistic (looks like true contemporary footage) montage that compliments the story so well. Thanks again, Mark.
I love your content. I am going to university next year to study history and I'm older than the average student but I have always dreamed of going to uni. I look for videos about the home front of all countries but haven't found many
You deserve to be on TV doing hour long episodes, The narrative/pacing/quality of your work beats most of the stuff I've watched on tv throughout the years. No biases no propaganda, you get right to it and tell the story like a true teacher should. Thank you Mark
I have come across Dr Felton numerous times... quite pleasantly I may add... while watching the tube. Mostly on the Military Channel and History. Such a knowledgeable and we'll spoken man. "Honey... come in the room my Dear. Thus is the gent from RU-vid I was telling you about... Mark Felton!"
If Mark was hired by a network, they would wreck his productions, editing them for political correctness, requiring him to do programs on things they judge to be good for their financial bottom line. He is great as he is and reaching millions.
Thank you so much, these documentary film are great, when l was young l borrowed money to go to cinema in my town to watch such films and now almost is free l watch it anytime l want.
This is amazing stuff, Mark. I consider myself a WWII buff, but I've learned a lot from you and your detailed and informative features of 'little-known' aspects of the war. Best to you!
Being a fan of Mark Felton and his channel, when I watch some sub standard WWII videos on other channels, for fun, I comment that they should watch Mark Felton's channel for much better, truthful videos to see how a proper video should be done with commentary....:)
You probably won't see this Mark, but could you do some videos on the Rhodesian bush conflict? Your wonderful style of narration paired with the thrilling tales of the Rhodesian military would make for some top tier content
Thank you Mark Felton for your documentations! Just an anectdote: The father of one of my co workers had been a car mechanic in the Luftwaffe back then. He had been quickly trained to jump out of a plane with a parachute. Carrying a box with British distributor rotors for the British military vehicles. When left back these military cars where disabled by british drivers putting off the distributor rotors. This mans job was to to replace the rotors of the disabled cars on exactly that raid you cover with your docu. Thought that might be of interest.
I appreciate the strictly fact based documentaries of Mr. Felton. No political correctness speech, no biased perspectives. Just facts, always edited comprehensivly.
My grandfather fought in corinth against the germans and later fought in kalamata . He was a machine gunner and he described the bombing of the stukas as hell on earth. Thanks for the video Mark
Awesome video as always!! Happy holidays to you and your family. Btw I was curious if you’ve ever done a video on the Courland Pocket (1944-1945)? I couldn’t find one on your channel but I think it’s a really interesting topic to cover that doesn’t really get mentioned too much.
What a battle! Thank you for covering much lesser known actions of both sides! We look forward to everything you consistently work on and put out! Cheers Mark!
Kia Ora Mark. Do you think a video about the actions of the Maori Battalion at Cassino might be possible at some point? This was one of the most brutal battles my nation has ever been involved in and as I understand it, cemented grim respect between the Maori and Green Devils. Thank you for the fantastic work you produce.
To any history buffs who might be passing the area of Corinth, during your possible stay in Greece. On the connecting road between the national freeway and the road towards the town of Loutraki, there are several machine gun bunkers still standing to this day on the southern and northern sides of the Corinth canal. It is unclear if these bunkers were built by the Greeks, English or Germans (most probably the latter). I visited these bunkers and they bear remarkable pencil inscriptions and graffiti from soldiers of the Greek Army's famous 3rd Mountain Brigade 'Rimini' dating from 1945 to 1947. This brigade was formed by pro-royalist Free Greek forces in Egypt in 1944, and in the same year they fought valiantly and defeated the 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment in the Battle of Rimini in Northern Italy, hence the name. Apparently the unit was stationed there after the end of the war to protect the vital bridges against attacks by communist guerrillas during the Greek Civil War. The bunkers are completely abandoned however, but I just wanted to point out their historical significance to anyone nerdy enough to visit them.
I can't help think of Jason and the Argonauts and those sword-fighting skeletons when I see the Corinth Canal. Bet they'd've put up a fight against the Fallschirmjaeger.
I still can't understand how that movie managed to get such natural movements on those skeletons. I mean, with current CGI it's probably easy. But back then? I just can't understand how they did it.
@@Psychol-Snooper We are the only country in Europe that celebrated their entry in WWII after the historical " NO" from Ioannis Metaxas and the war against Italy!
@@panzerivausfg4062 Well you gave Mussolini a hell of a black eye! Not as good as the one the Italians gave him... that was more of a full body black eye.
Former paratroop veteran 82nd airbone. Unlike the German paratroopers, we exited the plane by a swift jump out the door. These troopers exited the plane as if they were sky diving, Balls.
Mark, I am so happy that you reached a million subscribers. Your research and storytelling is absolutely phenomenal and I am glad to have discovered your channel. You are my go to history channel for over a year now. Just WOW.
Mr. Felton, any chance you could do a video on Poland's fighting bear 🐻 named Wojtek. "The bear that went to war." I am not sure how accurate the documentary is.
Great video, I hadn’t heard about this battle before. It would be nice to see more of the Fallschirmjager’s exploits, like Fort Eben Emael if you haven’t already done that one.
Can you make a video about the pathfinders that were dropped hours before to light the way for the paratroopers during D-Day? P.S. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR BIG BRAIN MARK!
As a New Zealander reading about the Greek and Crete campaigns is fairly depressing. The lack of air cover didn’t help either. Reading Roald Dahl’s first hand description of 5 Hurricanes vs a sky black with Messerschmitts is chilling too. A stuff up pretty much from start to end. So many mistakes to learn from.
