Steve has done an incredible job in reexamning the Pointe du Hoc gun emplacements. I prefer the term reexamine to revision because in my mind revision means changing something to fit a particular point of view versus reexamine which is looking at something with fresh eyes.
Engaging, informative and thought provoking are adjectives that come to mind after watching this superb presentation. It's another one I must watch again to make sure I capture all the details. I knew that the Allied planners had good intelligence, but never knew that it was so detailed as Steve has discovered. Amazing work.
Révision is good. History is not a pristine moment set in time. There is always a perspective that will allow us to see/understand the past with fresh eyes. Really great presentation.
Sorry I wasn't able to watch this one live! Wow Steve has done some really incredible research to weave all the parts together, both from the Allied side and the German side. By far the best explanation of Point du Hoc, the Ranger mission, and the preparations prior to the landings. Outstanding program-outstanding content-outstanding presentation. Thanks Paul for bringing another top notch historian to WW2TV!!!
Paul, thank you for all the great programmes on the Normandy campaign. We are visiting in September and the information gathered from these great programmes will be put to good use.
US Rangers were trained and created by the Commandos in 1942 Achnacarry Scotland. The 1st and 29th Rangers were born. Lord Louis Mountbatten first discussed the possibility of raising an American Commando-type unit and suggested the name "Rangers". These took their new Commando skills to back to Tenassee to train the 2nd and 5th US Rangers in 1943. These took part in D day etc. There were also 8 British one advisor Lt Colonel Trevor Thomas with Rangers at the Pointe Du Hoc and 3 SWANS which no one talks about.
I’ve just watched this after catching up on Michaels latest input. The information is fantastic and will help me deliver a much better input at Vierville in the future. Thank you Woody and Michael. I’m off to follow Michael on other platforms. 👍❤
I saw this area in 2009. The bomb craters were very impressive. They were huge, deep, wide & many. My question has always been why didn't anyone relay to the allies the guns were not there?
good evening, at 1h01minute 12 seconde, sorry, you indicated the placement of the cannons in the wrong place the precise place is located near the apple tree field on a path that we see on the right edge of the photo
Big guns removed to rear lanes before 6644. Troops left manning were mainly Russian conscripts enforced to Wermacht, manning mg positions. PdH was a non threat.
Absolutely phenomenal presentation. Mr. Zaloga is one of the best. His facts are well researched, he doesn't fake what he doesn't know, and is an engagingly confident presenter. Can't wait for Part. 2. 😉
Sometimes it's great to move away from the grand strategy and to get right down in amongst the weeds of one particular action. Really enjoyed the granularity in this part 1. Many thanks Steven and WW2TV. Hope your other (equally excellent) vid is re-instated by the silly RU-vid algorithm soon!
That was a very a informative presentation by Steven Zaloga, I really enjoyed all the battery technical information, I can’t wait for part 2. Thank you both, another book to buy 👍
I really, really hope that Duchez and his family didn't get too much hassle 'cos he was a "collaborator" putting up wallpaper for the occupying forces. Hero!
Backing up the idea construction on the site was happening right up to DDay, I have a photo somewhere, taken there ten years ago, of what looks like a sandbag wall but on closer looking is actually a pile of bags of cement that over the years and rain have turned into “concrete sandbags” As Steve said, Pointe du Hoc was a construction site in progress.
That was one informative presentation. Steven Zaloga is always thorough and authoritative. I am always impressed at the ease with which he cites his sources just reflective of his mastery of the subject matter.
As a child,I saw Fort Louisbourg. There was a shortage of fresh water,and sand used in the mortar had salt water in it. In the muzzle loader black powder days,firing the guns caused parts of the crenellations to self destruct. The Germans using sand from the beach in the days of modern high explosives would have been true desperation.
The US Army also used the French 155 MM GPF GUN as a towed artillery piece with modern tires as well as the M12 self propelled gun on a M3 tank chassis before the modern Long Tom 155mm gun was adopted
Fantastic episode from Steven as usual. In depth detail and research. Thank you. Learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Looking forward to Part 2
Stevens book is a must for every WWII history buff and pro . I'm still waiting for Niels book to be released which will be an excellent book to make the whole picture much clearer from the military logistic and deployment point of view.
Just started Reading Smashing Hitlers Guns, So far a great read with plenty of detail which i like. are their any other books out there with detail like this on how the Wn's were taken?
My first WWII enthusiast trip (traveling from the US) if that's the way to say it was to Normandy in 2009. Another gentlemen on my tour group was a child in England before the invasion he remembered the decoy inflatables (I assume Patton's faux army). Still I learned more today than the whole week including my guided tour that took me to the guns and beaches. What a fantastic program, with CV19 on the wane its time to see more of this sort of thing. Simply wonderful.
very enjoyable,normally this history stuff is just over views so interesting to have access to more detailed information and its picture it creates to your understanding of events
Well I learned more than a few things and Steve was able to confirm details that have been hazy, for example the reason for the lack of Schwere Drehbettung 32 mounts was interesting. There were also a couple of photos I had not seen before and I had not realised that on some maps WNs 73, 71 and 72 at Vierville sur Mer were classed as a Stp.
@@WW2TV yeah... interesting, but hardly a revelation- I was thinking that there must be a ground-breaking statement coming up in part two? Interesting that Stephen quoted PdH being the allies number one target resulting in the heaviest pre-invasion bombardment - I always thought that was Longues - will have to dig out the after action report for Flashlamp when I get the chance. I may be wrong but so could Stephen (he did publish that post D-day the allies assessed that Omaha had the highest defensive weapons density - as we know, that is incorrect, the reports concluded Sword to have such). Sorry if it sounds like I'm nit picking, but as I'm sure youll agree, it's best to clarify and correct.
As for the Stp status at Omaha. As early as 1943, the 'Omaha' defences had been broken down in to 3 Stp (Vierville, St Laurent and Colleville) [source Chazette, page 5], this was before the expansion of the WNs in the area so it is unclear as to whether or not the Germans retained this catergory after such (its a shame that the map on page 113 of Chazette's Omaha book is not dated). Its clear that much of Stephen's research and claims are based on Chazette's Atlantikwall - Omaha Beach book (you must have it Paul, if so and you havent read it for a while I'd thoroughly recommend giving it a reread). A few years ago I spent a couple of rainy Normandy winter months vainly attempting to translate Chazette's books - its such a shame that there has never been a full translation as it really is incredible work, I'm sure, just like with Zetterling, there will be detractors, but I reckon it has to be the best we have (so far).
No mention of the tunnels? Snipers? I guess I’ll stick to older books about the subject. Still I’m gratified that these historians are dedicated to task of keeping the memory of those men and their deeds in focus
Well, there was no mention of tunnels because there were none finished at Pointe du Hoc. Trenches yes, but no tunnels. As a Normandy historian of 20 years myself, I can assure you that Steve absolutely knows this subject and if you have books stating there were tunnels they are incorrect. Indeed there are now Lidar and GPR scans of the site proving this. Now it is true the Germans planned to connect some of the positions by tunnel, but like lots of other work on the Atlantic Wall it never happened. As for snipers, like 88s and Tigers, it is one of the most overused words in Normandy writing. Among the Artillery defenders at PdH there would have been zero snipers. That's not to say there wasn't return fire from single riflemen, but not snipers as we understand the term. One of the best things about Steve Zaloga's book is that it DOESN'T repeat mistakes and false narratives from earlier works. Pointe du Hoc is a fascinating battle but lots of myths endure that with 78 years of historiography need addressing.
@@WW2TV if you are ever looking for content do a segment on Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay,One of the finest officers the allies had damn shame he died in a plane crash in Jan.'45.Called out of retirement and should have been the 1st Sea lord but he took his assignments w/o complaint and fufilled his tasks brilliantly - he(and 100 others beneath him) were the brains behind D-Day landings. Read his memoirs. Could also do a segment on Richard O'Connor - the original Desert Fox.
As an Australian I am very thankful for what the Russians did so D-day could happen. Because without the Russians D-DAY would never of happened.. the Russians were taking the full brunt of the Germans on the Eastern Front.. I do believe that the Eastern Front was the turning point in WW2 and this proven because the Russians made it to Berlin Germany first and won WW2 and I'm very thankful for that .. Yeah the Allies UK and America also played a big part but without the Russians I don't think we would of beaten the Germans.. the Germans just had the best battle tactics of the war it was even that good America still use them today !! The German military and Military equipment most of be n very impressive because America after WW2 stole it and used it for themselves ( operation paperclip ) the Germans after the war even put the first Americans on the moon .. Another interesting fact the biggest land battles ever on earth was on the eastern Front. The biggest tanks battles ever on earth was on the eastern Front, the biggest air battles on earth was on the eastern Front.. them Russians sure proved they were a Super Power ..
The russians wouldn't have made it with out western aide,the 427000 trucks sent,Boots,Locomotives to move supplies.Russian industry set up less than a decade earlier was crude and rudimentary compared to the west.Zhukov and Kruschev both stated that and without the food they would not have made it
