Operation Infatuate: The Invasion of Walcheren Island, 1944

The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

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In November, 1944, a multinational allied force accomplished a little-remembered, but vital amphibious operation intended to secure the use of the port of Antwerp. Facing a determined and dug in enemy, ground, naval and air forces conducted an operation that historian Patrick Delaforce described as “as difficult as Operation Overlord, but in miniature.”
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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27 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 278

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

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@jwenting 10 месяцев назад

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@Johnpalmer-eq7yq 10 месяцев назад

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@Johnpalmer-eq7yq 10 месяцев назад

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@flashwashington2735 10 месяцев назад

Be careful about diluting your brand with a game that may be remembered for History Guy's decline. Because a game is not equal to history. Let alone history that deserves to be remembered. A history of war veteran's sacrifices.

@majcorbin 10 месяцев назад

7 DAVENPORT IOWA DAD JOKE of the day [Q] what are,the most mentally deranged, INSECTS,known to mankind? [A] why, the LUNAR-TICK's,of course

@mrdasboot45 10 месяцев назад

Just to give a bit more information on the battle of Walcheren , it was a 3 pronged attack. One attack from the east over the Sloe causeway, one landing from West Kapelle and one landing from the south at Vlissingen (my hometown). The landing at Uncle beach is just a short walk from my home and it is really sobering to read the names (and the ages) of the fallen on the wall next to the landing site , it is a sagrifice that should not be forgotten. By the way did you know William Golding (lord of the flies) took part in the landings in West Kapelle ,he commanded a landing craft.

@ChiefWaller 10 месяцев назад

As usual the Canadians came through. They have awesome, bad ass soldiers! Great story, I had never heard this one before.

@51WCDodge 10 месяцев назад

Having visited Walcheren, it is a large flat area. Visit Westkappele and you stand on the dike , looking down. A number of cassions from the Mullberry harbours were towed up to act as as fillers. Middleburg, is a choclate box. Sitting surrounded by canals, with a large hill , with windmills on the outskirts. Following the war the town was rebuilt as far as possible to the pre war design, however a lot of the archives had been lost. It is still a beautiful, and ironically peaceful palce.

@MrEwoud342 10 месяцев назад

Im from from Middelburg and was wondering what hill you are talking about ?😅

@51WCDodge 10 месяцев назад

@@MrEwoud342 🤣 Well you can't really say 'The hump with the windmills on' can you ? Used to stop there overnight on Sundays waiting for the Vissingen Dartford ferry. Loved the market in the square

@RetiredSailor60 10 месяцев назад

Good Monday morning History Guy and everyone watching. Have a good week. Take time to say Thank You to a veteran no matter how young or how old they may be. Our military, whether US, Canadian, French, etc deserve our gratitude for their service and sacrifice. OS1(SW/AW) USN Retired...

@baalzeebub4230 10 месяцев назад

Thanks for your service. OSSN CVN-71 1988-89 USN

@Habs2802 10 месяцев назад

My mother was a 6y girl living in Vlissingen when the liberation-attack happened. She still rememberd the flooding and the evacuation. History lives.

@joegordon5117 10 месяцев назад

Many years ago I stayed with friends near Westkapelle, and we cycled along the coast to Vlissingen (still a busy shipping route), and took the ferry over to keep cycling to the Belgian border. More than a few farmer's fields still had pock-marked pill-boxes left over from the war, gouges from bullets and other projectiles quite clear. It was hard to think this landscape of towns, farms and small villages along the coast, so peaceful and civilised, had been a quagmire for a ferocious battle.

@keessturm2804 10 месяцев назад

Thanks for this video. I live in Walcheren. The operation consisted of 2 amphibious operations. One at Flushing (Vlissingen) and the one you described at Westkapelle. The landing at Flushing was successful and far less KIA as the landing in Westkapelle.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

Yes, I focused on the landing more than the battle of the causeway. I might talk about that in a future episode.

@sva3897 10 месяцев назад

I live in the city of Antwerp. The river Schelde has a special place in our hearts and history. The sacrifices that were made at the end of WW2 to liberate our city and it's harbor from occupation deserve to be remembered.

@michaelmanning5379 10 месяцев назад

If the effort and resources spent on Market Garden had, instead, been focused on clearing the Scheldt Estuary, I expect that the war really would have been shortened . . . as opposed to the Hail Mary seizure of a Rhine bridge. Hindsight may be 20:20 but logistical supply wins out over daring-do. Monty appeared to understand this in every previous battle.

@danstotland6386 10 месяцев назад

Montgomery was a selfish, ingrate and pompous clown, who cared only about himself.

@michael5265 10 месяцев назад

From the war of the Spanish succession to WW1 the Scheldt estuary had always held the key to Antwerp. Strange that nobody thought of that, all they thought of was the glory of first to enter Germany and cross the Rhine.

@none941 10 месяцев назад

Montgomery only saw and wanted the glory of capturing Antwerp. Completing the job with the hard job of securing the Scheldt was characteristically not his concern.

@romad357 10 месяцев назад

@@none941 Monty only cared about Monty. Eisenhower should have fired him.

@RebeccaCampbell1969 10 месяцев назад

@@romad357Ike was corrupt as well, not as much... it was political to keep “Monty” and gave his army notoriety

@isidroramos1073 10 месяцев назад

The are was of vital importance long before that. Spain controlled Antwerp from 1585 on, while the Dutch Republic controlled the Scheldt estuary and tried to keep the city blockaded in war and peace, which made for 200 interesting years.

@patbaker399 10 месяцев назад

Also the British were getting suffeceint supplies from the Normandy ports. The Americans were not.

@martijnb5887 10 месяцев назад

My grandparents and aunt and uncle lived in Middelburg, the main city in the centre of Walcheren. As young boy a regular walked from one to the other, a few hundred meters through a living neighbourhood and a park. On this short walk we encountered three of four bunkers. The density of fortifications on Walcheren is incredible.

@TrickiVicBB71 10 месяцев назад

Great video. I think Indy Neidell will hopefully cover this operation on Saturday in the weekly-by-weekly episode

@martinsto8190 10 месяцев назад

there doesn't need to be a wwII movie on d-day (the longest day: can not be bested) but the invasion of corsica or walcheren would have a amazing international aspect for a film, when those who participated came from a basket of nations.

@Rhubba 10 месяцев назад

There is a movie about Walcheren. It's a Dutch movie called "The Forgotten Battle". It's alright, not amazing but I'll give it a 7/10.

@culvern 10 месяцев назад

@@Rhubba AND it's on Netflix Featured!!!

@hughbarton5743 10 месяцев назад

As always, a fascinating glimpse of forgotten history. Thank you!! PS: nice cat!!!!!

@bobelliott2748 10 месяцев назад

My father fought there with the Canadian Army. He (obviously) survived but didn't like to talk about it.

@ghowell13 10 месяцев назад

I have well more moreover than a passing knowledge of the European Theater of Conflict (or I thought I did). The older I get, the more I realize the less I know about the Second Word War. As for the commentor above lamenting the perceived cheap shot taken at dear old Monty, rest assured, he did as much to earn his reputation for gloryhounding as Patton did. Operation Market Garden was a disaster. He refused to listen to anyones council on the matter, and that's well documented. Both of them had their shortcomings, as well as their strengths. And the world remembers them both with all the honor they deserve and maybe a tinge of rosiness from the glasses we all seem to wear when looking back.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

The differing opinions of Montgomery and Patton across the pond are interesting. I think that both were brilliant in their way and flawed in their way. In this case, although you can’t solely blame him, I don’t think that Montgomery can avoid fair criticism for not destroying the 15th Army, when he could, as it was his sector of responsibility. It was certainly a blunder, or at least misjudgment, with a price paid in blood.

@ghowell13 10 месяцев назад

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I can't disagree with you on any of your arguments you present. My grandfather served under Patton. He had a very neutral opinion of him, as he did Montgomery. He felt both were men. Men that faced incredible decisions. Some they made, some made for them. Men that sometimes believed what was said about them, or that they felt about themselves, for good or ill. But at the end of the day, were men. But men that deserved the utmost respect, always. He didn't speak much of his time in the 100th Infantry Division, but when he did, he was always proud of the men he served with, and under. God bless The Sons Of Bitchè, and all the rest ❤️

@nickjung7394 10 месяцев назад

You really should do a little more research about Montgomery's role in Market Garden, particularly the actions of Gavin and Brereton's disastrous air plan. Model, of course, had a set of the allied battle plans that had been removed from the body of a US officer so he knew exactly where to deploy his forces.

@ronalddevine9587 10 месяцев назад

As always, most informative. Nice to see the kitty again 😊

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

Whether he is included is entirely up to him…

@ronalddevine9587 10 месяцев назад

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Typical kitty cat! We have two, brother and sister. Very loved and loveable.

@harcovanhees394 10 месяцев назад

There is a very good war movie about this battle that I can recommend: The Forgotten Battle ! Very realistic

@Guitfiddlejase 10 месяцев назад

Learn something new about The War every day

@-jeff- 10 месяцев назад

It is a battle worthy of remembering for its failures and successes.

@Chiller11 10 месяцев назад

Many believe the Scheldt Estuary should have been secured instead of Operation Market/Garden. In September of 1944 the area was relatively lightly defended and its capture would have opened the port of Antwerp and improved the Allies logistical capabilities months earlier.

@Charles-k9g5y 10 месяцев назад

The Scheldt was heavily defended.

@John-pn4rt 10 месяцев назад

The allied commanders (principally British) were told repeatedly that capturing Antwerp was pointless unless you controlled both sides of the Scheldt estuary and as happened many times in the war they didn't listen.

@kenoliver8913 10 месяцев назад

But they never dreamt that they would capture Antwerp with the port still intact, so had no plans ready to exploit it. The opportunity to improvise and take the estuary on the march only existed for a day or two, which means it would have required the corps commander to disobey his standing orders and advance north rather than west. Browning - that corps commander - later wrote "A Napoleon or a Caesar would instantly have grasped the importance of the Scheldt as soon as Antwerp fell. But unfortunately XV Corps only had Browning."

@markshrimpton3138 10 месяцев назад

For part of the 1980s I lived and worked in Zeeland, of which Walcheren is a constituent part. I knew a fair number of people who’d been alive at the time. Tragically more Dutch were killed in that operation than during the whole of the war before that point. I did pull a wry smile at the description of West Kapelle as a “city”, when even today the village hasn’t a population much above two and a half thousand inhabitants I think.

@NaomiClareNL 10 месяцев назад

Westkapelle actually got city rights in 1223 but was left out of the States of Zeeland when that political body was formed in the late 15th century. It was known as a smalstad, literally small city. It had no more political influence than the surrounding countryside.

@budje 10 месяцев назад

Being from Walcheren I found this very informative, thanks! We here have surely not forgotten this, there are still German bunkers everywhere

@sandwich5344 10 месяцев назад

The tank at... uh, domburg? I forgot where they placed that ol Sherman, or the Vrijheidsmuseum As a little kid i always went with gramps to maintain these old bunkers "de stichting" had been maintaining all this time. Its certainly a part of my childhood to learn about the local WWII history of our little (no longer) island :) Groetjes uut Vlissingen en Goes!

@budje 10 месяцев назад

@@sandwich5344 the Sherman is at Westkapelle, and was restored/replaced a few years back (I don't know which one, but it looks a lot better now then in the seventies when I was a kid) I'm messaging from Vlissingen (born in Middelburg) 👍

@sandwich5344 10 месяцев назад

@@budje a quick google revealed West-Kapelle indeed, whoopsie my bad I was born in Vlissingen but now i spend my time in and around Bergen op Zoom... Blame it on fokker haha I want to revisit the the dijk again, it's been a decent time since i've last been there too

@stabbrzmcgee825 10 месяцев назад

should be pronounced valkeran (roughly) though, right? That is how Indy over on WWII said it this morning. I wouldn't have known otherwise, of course. I would have said it like Mr HG in this video if asked before this morning.

@janhengst4648 10 месяцев назад

@@stabbrzmcgee825 Pronounciation is more or less as spelled. A proper w, and the ch as in Loch Ness. Valkeran is how a German speaker would say it.

@wiznaemethistime7095 2 месяца назад

thanks for this - my granda was in the 52nd lowland ( mountain ) regiment - this is a welcomed info for me

@philwoodfordjjj8928 10 месяцев назад

My father served with combined operations in landing craft, and was at Walcheren His landing craft hit an underwater obstruction, on a falling tide capsizing he scrambled ashore. The vessle lay on its side and at low tide the Canadian went out on the mud to recover the weapons it carried.

@grumpyboomer61 10 месяцев назад

Considering that by this point in the war, fighting on the Eastern Front had provided ample evidence of just how quickly the Germans could recover from a serious beating and dig in to form a defense, this sort of oversight borders on the absurd.

@somebloke3869 10 месяцев назад

Hindsight. I doubt much intelligence from the Eastern Front was available to the Allies.

@ramirosauce8764 10 месяцев назад

The Allies grossly underestimated the more than tenacious fight the German soldiers would put up, considering the war's end was just 5 months away, they were short of manpower, munitions, rations, winter clothing, etc....Yet they fought like devils to the very end when they ran out of shells and supplies. Respect for the brave.

@louisavondart9178 10 месяцев назад

It's just typical of Montgomery's mismanagement.

@dgris7944 9 месяцев назад

The Calgary Highlanders, my grandfather's unit, were part of the Canadian forces there. It was rare that my grandfather would talk about the war so I don't have any 2nd hand accounts, however a few years ago I watched a Dutch movie about the Walcheren liberation. It's aptly titled "The Forgotten Battle" (Dutch title "De Slag om de Schelde"), and I highly recommend it for WWII history buffs.

@thomascornell7562 10 месяцев назад

I've noticed that when something really deadly had to be done British high command seems to have sent in the Canadians...... with them on the northern border, I'm glad they're friends

@Del_S 10 месяцев назад

The Geneva Convention was based on three sources: Things Canada had done, things we feared Canada would do, and everyone else.

@jethro1963 10 месяцев назад

When THG is talking about Harry Crerar, the General reviewing the troops is Guy Simonds, a Canadian who was born in Britain (came to Canada at age eight) and was one of the few "colonials" who was a favourite of Monty. Arguably Canada's best General, he also had a brother who was a test pilot who was killed in 1937 and a sister who died in a V1 attack in England in 1944.

@jethro1963 10 месяцев назад

Because of pre war planning and later rapid expansion, Canada would have several Generals under the age of 40 during the war. Simonds who headed the Scheldt operation was 41, Bruce Matthews was 35 during the Scheldt operation. Post Scheldt heading to Germany Dan Spry was 31. Bert Hoffmeister, who may have eclipsed Simonds as Canada's best fighting General, commanded the 5th Armored Division at 37 and incredibly Robert Moncel was the youngest general officer in the Canadian Army when promoted to Brigadier on 27 August 1944, at the age of 27. He was the commanding officer of the 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade until the end of the war in 1945.

@BA-gn3qb 10 месяцев назад

Monte was supposed to take Caen on D-Day, or shortly after. Took Antwerp without the estuary. Then Market Garden. 🤨

@kenoliver8913 10 месяцев назад

Market Garden is a fair cop, but he had good excuses for the other two. The whole purpose of attacking Caen was to draw the panzer divisions onto himself to enable the big American flanking attack on the left - it succeeded fully in that. Whether the city fell was secondary. As for the Scheldt, no-one dreamed that Browning could capture it with the port intact so no one had planned for its exploitation. Possibly a Patton would have ignored his previous orders, risking defeat by if there were intact formations ahead, but Browning did not (he learned the wrong lesson from Market Garden) and by the time word got back to SHAEF and SHAEF could estimate there were no such intact formations it was too late.

@nickjung7394 10 месяцев назад

@@kenoliver8913Tedder, who had never commanded land forces in action was busy undermining everything Montgomery was trying to do. He even supported Brereton's disastrous air plan (over which Montgomery had no control) for Market Garden!

@semigoth299 10 месяцев назад

Just think that my dad could have been a part of that he didn’t talk much about the war, and General Sherman said it best war is hell

@donalddodson7365 10 месяцев назад

Thank you for highlighting this little known action. My brother's father-in-law served in the Canadian Army, but don't know which unit(s). He only spoke of the food: his family had survived the Great Depression by raising and eating turkeys. He grew to hate the taste. The food in training was great. Food on the ship was ok, never turkey. But once they got to Europe, all they had were tins of canned turkey. He said he lost all the weight he gained in training. Like many in his generation, he never spoke about the killing. He always sent me great care packages when I served in the US Army in Vietnam, including real Cuban cigars!

@jwv6985 10 месяцев назад

I pray to the almighty God that we will never have to endure something like this again. God bless these men. 😢

@kfandrey9 10 месяцев назад

It is so little remembered because it was lead by the First Canadian Army, not Patton's Third American Army

@fatboyrowing 10 месяцев назад

An American here (son of a U.S. Navy WW2 veteran)… we very much appreciate the substantial contributions of Canadians during WW2.

@fergusmallon1337 10 месяцев назад

I am Canadian and 2 of my unclesfought through Holland. We are very proud of our achievement. I also know that what we did is greatly respected by all those that know or hear about it. It's just that we Canadians , as a whole have a bit ot an inferiority complex and also a much smaller voice than our friends to the south. But it is too bad that our achievement is rather overlooked@@fatboyrowing

@abidingdude13 10 месяцев назад

We're not the country that denies others' contributions. Americans have to remember Patton because otherwise the British historians who dominate every conversation on military history would run free with their narrative that the US did nothing during the war, and in fact hindered the Brits' ability to win the war completely on their own. And why shouldn't we celebrate our own heroes, as your countries celebrate theirs?

@nickjung7394 10 месяцев назад

@@abidingdude13I think you are being a little unkind towards the British. Don't forget that the British Empire joined the war in September 1939, the US joined only after Hitler declared war on the US and the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1941. They were in the war far longer than the US!

@Lightning613 10 месяцев назад

@@abidingdude13Sounds like “Monty’s” fan club would have changed history ? ? ? ? ? and don’t forget, this entire battle HAD to occur because good-‘ole Montgomery was off trying to enshroud himself with glory rather than taking care of the ‘business at hand’ as a stable leader would have.

@marvwatkins7029 10 месяцев назад

Lance knows that a lot of his fans are military buffs. Take that Mark Felton!

@oweng7987 10 месяцев назад

My Grandad was there. Great to hear more about this.

@romanbrough 10 месяцев назад

I read about this in War of the Landing Craft. It stated that the coastal guns concentrated on the LCGuns, and that because of this the troop carrying boats were able to reach the shore.

@BruceK10032 9 месяцев назад

Great job! There's a lot here that I did not know.

@MakeMeThinkAgain 10 месяцев назад

My favorite detail of this operation was the involvement of the British 52nd Infantry Division... which had been in training since 1940 for mountain warfare. That too is representative of WW2.

@chasc301 10 месяцев назад

My Grandfather Fred served with the 52nd Lowland Division. He took part in this battle and was in a Buffalo tracked amphibious craft. Trained for mountain warfare in Scotland for years then his unit converted to airborne glider troops and finally they fought as amphibious troops. He rarely spoke of it and was a gracious, hardworking family man who played the piano and was a talented ballroom dancer. A great man. I miss him still.

@marcleader5179 10 месяцев назад

As always like your stuff, well done.

@fredderf3207 10 месяцев назад

I was just noticing the 'Flying Ace' mug, (goblet, stein?) from the movie, '12 O'Clock High' on the shelf behind you! Pretty cool!

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

A gift from a viewer

@Paladin1873 10 месяцев назад

The World War Two channel covered this critical action a few days ago, but you have gone into much greater detail.

@elcastorgrande 10 месяцев назад

The British tried landing on Walcheren in 1796. It was also a failure. The Dutch remember; there are memorials to fallen Allied troops.

@kenoliver8913 10 месяцев назад

The British also tried invading through Flushing (on Walcheren) in both the 16th and 17th Centuries, failing each time. So give Montgomery credit - he was the first to do it successfully.

@mattgeorge90 10 месяцев назад

Thank you for sharing! ❤

@DawnOfTheDead991 10 месяцев назад

Monty as usual screwed up the supplies by not clearing the channels to Antwerp until late fall

@1aapmens 10 месяцев назад

It's much fought over ground. Brits landing in 1809 with 39.000 men losing 4000 in a campaign so futile and disastrous that it doesn't even have an Osprey book. Middelburg's centre was burned by German artillery bombardment in may 1940. It only got a bit wet in 1944

@janhengst4648 10 месяцев назад

There is now general consensus there was no German bombardement, more likely French covering their retreat.

@patrickwentz8413 10 месяцев назад

I see your cat was in search of higher ground during the flooding of Walcheren. Smart Kitty.

@phodough7201 10 месяцев назад

it's not forgotten in Canada at all, but it's not our thing to thump our chests.

@notahotshot 10 месяцев назад

It's an interesting thing, bragging about being humble.

@BingoFrogstrangler 10 месяцев назад

Now that is funny,”we don’t brag”

@shooter963 10 месяцев назад

Montgomery was devastatingly over-rated. He deserved none of the confidence the Allies placed in him.

@montieluckett7036 10 месяцев назад

He Didn't deserve the confidence He has in himself.

@01Bouwhuis 10 месяцев назад

@@montieluckett7036as a tactical commander he does, strategic not really.

@kenoliver8913 10 месяцев назад

@@01Bouwhuis Definitely the wrong way around - much better at strategy than tactics. He understood his main duty was to avoid a repeat of France 1940 as so long as he did that the allies must eventually win by weight of numbers. Only when there was no chance of STRATEGIC disaster would he take tactical risks (and he knew it was a risk) like Market Garden. That he was a conceited gloryhound - just like Patton - is beside the point (one of his subordinates described him as "an efficient little shit"). He was undeniably a fine organiser of set piece battles - "amateurs talk tactis, professionals talk logistics" could have been his motto.

@theblackhand6485 10 месяцев назад

Ironically the eyland of Walcheren was flooded again due a huge storm back in 1953. Aid came from all over the world to help the citizens of Zeeland* * (-New Zealand is named after this Dutch Province!).

@janhengst4648 10 месяцев назад

Actually, most of the island remained dry in '53, only the area east of the canal was flooded.

@edwinsalau150 10 месяцев назад

Well put.

@kenlodge3399 10 месяцев назад

Excellent. WTG, a Big Fat WTG! Fascinating slash wanna hear more. Great stuff. Best yet! Great history, great great history. Your finest work. Such a little known fracas with such vital importance. That it was so badly handled is probably why hear so little about it, but was or had to be one of the most important battles of the war. Having the port of Antwerp was paramount, yet have never heard or have heard very little about the struggle to help the allies.

@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt 10 месяцев назад

thanks

@sblack48 3 месяца назад

If you look at this map and then go to google earth you will see it looks completely different now due to massive land reclamation since the war.

@Curmudgeon2 10 месяцев назад

Montgomery was all about the headlines. Ike had to finally give him a DIRECT ORDER to open the way to the sea and thus open the port. The brave Canadians paid the price for Monty's delinquency...and the Royal Navy should have provided several heavy units for continuous shore bombardment. I cannot help but wonder if it had been all British units dying on that island if Monty was have been so loved...

@adventussaxonum448 9 месяцев назад

Plenty of British troops died on Walcheren, if that satisfies you. All of my dad's NCOs, when he joined the Royal Marines Commandos in 1946, had fought there.

@Curmudgeon2 9 месяцев назад

@@adventussaxonum448 Lot of British and Commonwealth troops died. RN did not do nearly enough...it would have helped a lot. When I say RN, am talking about the Admirals, not the sailors. Heavy guns would have been very useful. Canadians primarily tasked with taking it, that does not mean there were not non Canadians there also. Frankly with this and Dieppe, cannot help but wonder if Monty did not like the Canadians.

@KevinJRogers 10 месяцев назад

Great episode, THG. One of your best. Cute little pookie-head you got there, too. #Meow

@BasicDrumming 10 месяцев назад

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

@danieltaylor5231 10 месяцев назад

I wonder, does TheHitoryGuy play War Thunder for fun or for the classified leaks?

@Ronaldl2350 10 месяцев назад

History cat!

@patrickturner2788 10 месяцев назад

"The forgotten battle" is a movie about it on Netflix.

@gardnep 10 месяцев назад

Australia learnt the hard way about trusting others in Singapore 1942?? when the British surrendered all their army to the Japanese. As a consequence they never give away command to another country, even the US. I hope Canada has that strategy, lives are too precious to throw away for political gain. Great video of an underreported battle. Thanks.

@RealSaintB 10 месяцев назад

Don't let the name fool you. West Capella is actually to the North of Acapella.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

Lol

@ruairidhmackenzie3 10 месяцев назад

Almost nothing is said about the part played by 52 Scottish Division, a mountain warfare trained division who were relatively new to combat - not being on Normandy etc.

@louisavondart9178 10 месяцев назад

The docks at Antwerpen were captured intact. But not by the British. It was the Belgian resistance and dockworkers who prevented the Germans from doing any damage. Then Montgomery arrived, took all the credit and proceeded to mess things up. As usual. I give his statue in Brussels the middle finger every time I drive past it.

@yoinkhaha 10 месяцев назад

Unbelievable. Great episode.

@KillroyWasHere86 10 месяцев назад

Do a video on Operation Halyard. The rescue of 500 downed airman in Yugoslavia.

@gerhardris 10 месяцев назад

THG you arre a great story teller. Which makes important history come alive. Indeed, Market Garden and the Schelde estuary are the most poignant evidence that Monty on the chesplyer part of good generalship fell far short of what at that level was needed. Monty was way too arrogant. Only focussing how he could shine. Even before DDay Monty should have grasped that this would be a logistic nightmare. Key were the ports with Antwerp the biggest prize. The allies needed more harbours if they wanted both Patton in the south as the Canadian, Brits and US forces to both attack. Opening up Antwerp was the best solution. Thaks to the Belgian resistence the Brits bypassed a blocking force. Monty had he studied the map knowing that outflanking any retreating army would be more inland. And, that remenats of the fleeing German forces would most probably hug the coast. Following that they would end up in a bottle neck against the Scheldt. Monty admitted never to have known the need to open up both sides of the estuary. Nor did Monty nor Ike know about the fact that the Zuider sea was no longer a sea but a lake due to the Afsluit dijk. Neiter did Ike. Monty got his priorities wrong. 1 open up antwerp thus the Schelde both sides. Had Monty not been so breathtackingly arrogant. he should have asked Dutch engineers and miliary. 0:25

@raymondvia3786 10 месяцев назад

Monty would have been kicked out of South Korea if he clashed with MacArthur in 1950 at Chosin Reservoir. Its too bad Monty never ate own ego. Patton was egotistical but led from the front not loke Monty or MacArthur. It would've been interesting if Patton and Monty got sent to Korea: (if he hadn't been killed in the auto accident in December 1945) and he was allowed to pursue the North Korean Army like he did the Germans. Just a thought.

@adamfloyd-k4x 10 месяцев назад

I would love to see a video about the US island hoping campaign, but about the islands that were "bypassed". What happened to the Japanese soldiers that were left behind.

@kenoliver8913 10 месяцев назад

They were left to starve. And many did.

@theboyisnotright6312 10 месяцев назад

If the soldiers were lucky they were on an island that could grow some crops. Ànd the Japanese submarine force was/had to be used as supply ships for many islands. Thus even by bypassing an island the Allies could pin down more forces. But yes many garrisons starved. The US idea that Japanese troops could live and fight on a handful of rice a day really wasn't the soldier's idea.

@geordiedog1749 10 месяцев назад

Great video.

@surferdess494 10 месяцев назад

have to say...your maps are a lot better than the ones in the book i read. ))) Graham&Thomas

@Ice_Karma 10 месяцев назад

Awww, kitty! 😻

@HM2SGT 10 месяцев назад

17:57 *_Kitty!_* 😻🫶

@Orxenhorf 10 месяцев назад

More cleaning up after one of Montgomery's "brilliant" plans.

@shanemossmoss 10 месяцев назад

It's amazing Yanks cannot cannot bring themselves to second guess their generals. Don't forget the Belgian resistance played a big roll in the taking of Antwerp

@saltyroe3179 10 месяцев назад

Dad went up the Scheld with the 1st allied convoy and said the allied troops were still fighting to take the Islands

@boondocker7964 10 месяцев назад

CAT-MAN!! Is that a "Tuxedo Cat"?

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

It is- his name is Poky.

@boondocker7964 10 месяцев назад

Al-right!😁@@TheHistoryGuyChannel

@pablopeter3564 10 месяцев назад

GREAT VIDEO of this historical event wha hasn't got the attention it deserves. By the way, I like people who likes animals, you have a great cat.

@Vic-ok2pp 10 месяцев назад

Don't need game ads before the history.

@wkiesman7780 10 месяцев назад

Canadians were not invited to celebration for the opening of Antwerp.

@StevieGPT 10 месяцев назад

Was listening as I commonly do without watching the video and I look up and what do I see...... Big Kitty. Kitty needs his/her own video.

@michellejean11 10 месяцев назад

Every Historian has their favorite worst terrain, toughest battle. I the the battle for New Guinea was in terrain as harsh as any others with some of the Pacific Islands being as bad or close. Not to disrespect the Canadians that Monty used like a blank check. Monty like MacArthur never lived up to their awesome reputations or egos.

@francesconicoletti2547 10 месяцев назад

Given that Market Garden failed because the allies ran into regrouping and reinforcing German troops when the planners had only expected broken fleeing troops is it really a realistic counter factual to have an earlier attack on the Scheldt run into disorganised troops ? Especially since most of of the fighting you describe is against costal defence fortifications. Their troops would be expecting and trained for exactly what they did . They are not broken troops from Normandy suddenly discovering big guns on the beach.

@timwatson3879 10 месяцев назад

...what is the difference between a "Game" and a "Simulator" - as realistic as your War Thunder is - is it still a game?

@jp-um2fr 10 месяцев назад

It's so easy to be wise after the event. At the time, you consider your options with the data available. Monty was NOT Mountbatten, he was a careful, welcome to advise general, unlike so many (Patton?).

@fearthehoneybadger 10 месяцев назад

A lot of allied casualties for an engagement that was ultimately unnecessary.

@raymondrogers9580 10 месяцев назад

Yo it was the Canadians who Wooton the day with their fethers

@merlinwizard1000 10 месяцев назад

39th, 6 November 2023

@robert25archer25 10 месяцев назад

What does this even mean?

@jaytowne8016 10 месяцев назад

I like your cat!

@martianndraper3648 10 месяцев назад

What a nice kitty! What’s its name?

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

His name is Pocky.

@bullhornzz 10 месяцев назад

Always a fan of THG episodes. Not a fan of the war thunder insert. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 месяцев назад

The History Cats still need to be fed! Sponsorships allow the channel to continue operating with the support of our writer and business manager. If you would prefer to see all THG episodes without advertisements, please consider joining as a sponsor at Patreon or here on RU-vid as a member. One of the perks is insert-free videos!

@carpecanem611 10 месяцев назад

No one likes ads. What I do like is having free, first class content like this about lesser known historical events. I watch many RU-vid channels and unfortunately cannot financially support them all. If these ads keep these channels alive, 😊. It's great to see the Canadians get the recognition they deserve.

@constipatedinsincity4424 10 месяцев назад

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

@CindymeCindy 10 месяцев назад

🧡🧡🧡

@marvwatkins7029 10 месяцев назад

Besides having a rotten personality, Monte was overrated. Market Garden confirmed it.

@jamesbodnarchuk3322 10 месяцев назад

Nice kitty❤

@artnickel1664 10 месяцев назад

Montgomery was the only ego in the Allied forces in WWII that was larger than Patton. But Patton could be excused because of his military genius.

@edwinchapple7224 10 месяцев назад

Your funny!

@jkilby27able 10 месяцев назад

👍👍👍👍👍

@iansinclair521 10 месяцев назад

Operation Market Garden is a classic example of what can go wrong when a general's ego o9verwhelms his brain.

@edwinchapple7224 10 месяцев назад

Which one do you mean specifically, Brereton or Ridgeway?

@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands 10 месяцев назад

PLEASE DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!! the island is called: wal-ch (as in lo CH ness), eren (as in urn) Wal - CH- eh - r'n. How hard can it be, don't you folks have Wikipedia??? Ger at least the NAMES right. DO NOT INSULT PEOPLE BY LAZILY BUTCHERING THEIR LANGUAGE! You folks from Lonshen en Wagingtongsh should know better..