ORIGINAL FOOTAGE! Ultimate Then & Now Compilation | Cherbourg | Normandy WW2 

Hello buddy. Thank you for checking out the channel. I have plans for lots of British and Canadian content, you can see some I’ve done already. I’m a serving British army officer so definitely keen to cover more events towards Caen. I will also visit the Netherlands later this year and I have plans to get to Singapore 👍

@@thehistoryexplorer thank you

@@thehistoryexplorerI have just watched your trailer WW2 Normandy October 2023 and commented but please can you tell me what the song is you’re playing. It’s beautiful and heart breaking at the same time

@@theresaryan2280it’s called Sgt Mackenzie

@@thehistoryexplorer thank you so much

Thanks for sharing, I bet he had some stories to tell!

Having known my dad too was in France then I can understand how you feel.

You are most welcome my friend. What a beautiful place you live

Well said my friend. Great comment

Well said my friend

Thank you Godfrey and we’ll said. I’m surprised RU-vid did not censor it actually

Glad you enjoyed it!

Well said. Regardless of side or beliefs they are someone’s son, brother, father etc

@@thehistoryexplorer They are someone's son , that's what I was thinking looking at the face of this young man laying down bidding farewell to his youth, his dreams and wishes🙍

@@sarahwithanh.4368 you’re absolutely right. It’s a very sad and powerful picture showing the consequences of war

Yes ,you are right😢

It was kill or be killed as we know. It always touches me lots as a mother of adult sons. My son has a nice framed photo (it was in the frame) of a handsome young german guy and he has a slight look of trepidation. We think he probably died in the snow. Not sure how my son thinks that but my son is a history major. He would've known somehow. We were sad there's no name on it.

Wow! Barely days after this footage was shot

Thank you very much. It was my pleasure

So very well written and so very true.

@@MrAuldphartThank you sir 🙂

Thank buddy. Hope you enjoyed it

actually, they do know in France, Luxembourg, Belgium - they learn about it at school, often singing anthems of either the US or allied countries - depending on who liberated. The streets have Allied names, the memorials are everywhere. Maybe you. meant US children?

@@nzfreeskiThat’s wonderful to hear . A lot of US children are not told much about WW 2. Those classes in high school are electives , not required . It’s a shame . Those of us who had fathers and uncles in the US army or marines they didn’t talk about it much . My father would watch the history channel but never a WW2 movie . He was in the occupied forces but I had uncles in the marines . We were never to ask them about it . They kept those memories, the good and the bad .

Thank you very much! Really appreciate your feedback

Sehr schön gesagt! Wir können nur hoffen, daß die Menschheit nie wieder solche furchtbare Kriege wie im 1. und 2. WK führt.

I think many young men must have felt that way.....as in either I am dead, dead or alive, dead.

Thank you

Brilliant. I wish I had been able to engage with more veterans and those who experienced war in their doorstep

@@thehistoryexplorer We had limited info back then - just books. The backseat of my Opel was like a book shelf. The locals wanted my books but they were hard to come by and I always felt bad when I declined to give/sell my tomes to them.

Thank you very much!

ru-vid.com/group/PLYe0nvKOCf_bZGae_W4EGXZpEWTFw3qKY

Amazing story, thank you for sharing. You must be very proud of his legacy. I hope you enjoyed this video too, I have hundreds more on the way

How wonderful you have his letters. I wish I had my dad's letters to my mom....they weren't even mentioned to me.

Wow! What a war

@@thehistoryexplorer Thank you for helping to keep these stories alive.

Because they were ideological condition, to server there leader, prob ss

@@antoniostamndley8272 It did not need to be a SS to fight to death beyond your duty

The stories that would of went around about POW camps and rumours of what happens. Especially if was SS as they knew what they did to captured people. Different world then and mind sets.

And just think so many high-ranking Nazi officers hightail to Argentina not fighting to the death not even getting dirty​@@kaa13

@@antoniostamndley8272wrong. There was a HUGE difference between the SS and the Wehrmacht - the Wehrmacht were ordinary soldiers just doing their job.

Couldn't agree more! Some parts of Normandy haven’t changed at all

You are most welcome! I appreciate your support 👍

Outstanding isn’t it. Hard the believe

I know exactly what you mean! First time I went to Normandy I felt like I’d been there before…probably because of all the pictures I’d seen. Magical place

@@thehistoryexplorer Me too. When I was in the military stationed in Germany, I went on several tour bus trips with WWII American veterans and we traveled from Germany to France through Belgium and visited several battle sites and cemeteries. Walking through Verdun, and Normandy area, it all felt like I’ve been there before. Few years before I was even in the military, I’ve had dreams of being a soldier getting into the back seat of an open top Mercedes with a young lady. It felt so real that after I woke up, I was confused who I was and where I was for few minutes. Strange indeed.

Wow thank you for sharing! So glad you enjoy the videos

So glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for the comment

Thank you!

It’s why I love then and now comparisons. So powerful

Hopefully not too repetitive?

@@thehistoryexplorer No. Just right. It was always a crib of mine that you don’t get to see it more than once!👍

Thank you my friend. Much appreciated

Wow thanks for sharing. Brilliant info. What’s your link to the Texas?

@@thehistoryexplorer I have lived in the area of the battleship, Texas my entire life. I have donated to her many many times financially. Had an uncle that served on her during World War II, and was on her at Cherbourg. he passed about 20 years ago. I have a RU-vid channel where I cover several military subjects. However, I specialize in videos on the battleship Texas. She is currently in the process of having repair work done to the tune of $60 million and I have heard estimates as high as 72 million more than her original cost of 5.7 million. That was in 1912, lol. She just came out of dry dock where she had approximately 80% of her outer hull replaced. She is currently floating better than she has in decades. Right now she is sitting back in the water and her wooden deck is being removed, the steel underneath the wooden deck will be repaired and then a new wooden deck replaced. Also all but two of her deck guns, with the exception of the 14 inch turret, have been removed, and for about two years now have been undergoing restoration. When they are replaced back on the ship, they will be in fully operational condition with the exception of a missing firing. One of her smaller 3 inch guns will remain fully functional with a firing pin so that it can be fired from time to time. Once all repairs are done, she is being moved to a new location in Galveston, Texas, where she is expected to get a much higher visitation rate. If you look up gulf copper shipyard in Galveston, Texas, on Google Earth, you will see her floating at dock F.

Correction I see the satellite photo on Google Earth is old. In that photo she is still in the floating dry dock. However, in reality she has been re-floated and moved over to dock number F, which is the longest dock at the shipyard.

@@AJeepADroneAndAnOldManthat’s great. I know about your channel and have che Jed it out. Keep up the great work. I love these old battleships

@@thehistoryexplorer thanks brother, I look forward to your future work

If walls could talk hey!

@@thehistoryexplorer Seriously, those buildings and walls have been standing throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, all the way to present time!

Beautiful France. I love it

Glad you enjoyed it!

My pleasure!

You’re most welcome mate. So happy you enjoyed the video

It is my pleasure

My pleasure!

Glad you like them! Thank you for the feedback

You are most welcome my friend, and thank you for the kind feedback. Means a lot 👍

@@thehistoryexplorer it’s amazing work

So sorry to hear that. We always forget the pain of those who survived too

Fantastic isn’t it

@@thehistoryexplorer absolutely!

I always say that too

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I’d love to get inside the fortress, never been up there myself

It’s a really good point. People assume the battle for Normandy was a ‘near run thing’ but in reality the Germans were completely overwhelmed, the allies had air superiority and they could regenerate combat power. I’m starting to think the Germans did way better than expected given their situation

So glad to hear it! Thank you for the kind feedback and I hope you’ll enjoy the channel, I have hundreds of videos coming

Thank you my friend 👍

Much appreciated buddy

Thank you my friend. It really means a lot to know people are enjoying these videos

Thanks Shane! Appreciate it. Wish I hadn’t taken that gap in posts though. 6.8CTR and only minimal impressions 🤦‍♂️

@@thehistoryexplorer great content though so will pick up again soon. I got demonitized and had to appeal to get back in. That really flatlined my stats.

@@MilHistRL oh bugger! There’s been a lot of that recently. Flagged as ‘re-used content’ when it isn’t. YT AI just isn’t up to the volume and nuance required

@@thehistoryexplorer that's exactly what it said! I didn't realise I wasn't the only one!

Many thanks! So glad people are enjoying this one

I would love to! Thank you very much

Thank you for the subscription and the very kind comment! I hope you’ll enjoy the videos I have coming up. There are hundreds planned 👍

Glad you like them!

Glad you enjoyed it

Thank you! Cheers!

There are no winners in war, that’s for sure

You're welcome!

You are most welcome

Very well said. Certainly makes you think

Wow thank you very much indeed! Much appreciated

Welcome aboard! I hope you’ll stay for the ride. I have hundreds more videos to come

I hope you enjoyed it

Thank you!

Thank you so much. Appreciate it

You’re welcome buddy

Thank you so much for the kind feedback. I hope you have a fantastic trip!

Thanks!!

Two medals of honour?!

I really appreciate that! Thank you

Thanks for the sub! Appreciate the feedback 👍

A man after my own heart. I love then and now stuff. Nothing quite connects you to the location and events. I’m also convinced there is some sort of energy left behind!

Thank you very much! Appreciate it

Glad you liked it!

Glad you like them! Thanks for the feedback

Thanks a lot!

That’s the plan! Thank you so much.

I’m so glad you like it! Many more videos like this on the way

@@thehistoryexplorer I have watched all your contents And I'm blown away from how much dedication you have put in to it and honestly the thought and money to achieve such I can appreciate your effort

Thank you very much! I hope you enjoyed the video buddy

You are most welcome

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated

So glad you enjoyed it

Yes I know! I’ve tried to find their identities but unfortunately they may be lost to time