Downfall of Germany: The Western Front (Full Documentary) | Animated History

this video was originally released in april of 2020. if you want to see another short documentary like this one let us know in the comments below as dawn creeps over the horizon a flotilla of landing craft are streaming towards the coast of normandy the smell of cordite and diesel hangs like a cloak over the english channel irritating the nostrils of the men huddled together in the many small boats pitching and rolling in the heavy swell in just a few short hours they will participate in the largest amphibious invasion in history for many this is just another fire fight but for a select few brave souls it will be the first time they have set foot in europe since the humiliating evacuation at dunkirk men nervously clutch their weapons in anticipation and the whole world seems to hold its breath the second battle of france is about to begin if you'd like to fight your own great battle to liberate europe then be sure to check out today's sponsor call of war a free online pvp strategy game that allows you to choose a real country and lead them to victory in the second world war engage in huge weeks long 100 player matches on both pc and mobile devices using a huge array of weapons i particularly recommend the secret tech tree which lets you unleash a variety of deadly super weapons on your enemies by clicking the link in the description below within the next 30 days you'll unlock the amazing new player pack a month of high command and 13 000 gold by may of 1944 allied supremacy in the mediterranean theater remained frustratingly elusive hopes had been high after the successful campaigns in north africa and sicily but were quickly dashed during the invasion of mainland italy which had been intended to open an easy route straight to germany's doorstep although initially termed the soft underbelly of europe by winston churchill progress had come to an abrupt halt at the heavily fortified gustav line and hitler's veteran troops were showing no signs of retreat or surrender frustrated by this lack of progress allied planners had finally gotten the green light to open their second front after years of careful deliberation the invasion of normandy codenamed overlord was finally commencing the allied units involved in the operation consisted of the american first army and the british second army under the overall command of dwight d eisenhower each army was assigned to one or more of the five normandy landing sites codenamed utah omaha gold sword and juno over 140 000 men would be involved in the initial attack which was set to hit all beaches simultaneously in the early hours of june 5th however due to poor weather conditions the invasion was launched on june 6th the commonwealth forces landing at gold juno and sword beaches were tasked with capturing kong an important rail and road hub as well as the nearby copycat airfield further west the american forces would be faced with a bloody struggle for the possession of beaches omaha and utah their objective was to isolate the kutanta peninsula which contained the vital port city of cherbourg facing every landing army were the formidable defenses of the atlantic wall which had thus far proved almost immune to allied air raids and was manned by roughly 50 000 german soldiers although a naval bombardment two hours prior to the landings had managed to crash open a few of the german bunkers a number of heavy guns remained intact and opened fire on the approaching landing craft the men aboard the landing craft could only grit their teeth as 88 millimeter shells splashed around them the allies had equipped a number of tanks with canvas skirts so they could be dropped in shallow waters ahead of the infantry but the six-foot waves rendered these modifications almost useless their transports ended up having to dash for the shore and dump precious cargo directly onto the sand with several sunk by enemy fire and underwater obstacles in the process despite all these setbacks british soldiers rushed the entrenched german positions equipped with nothing but their small arms even though mg-42s shredded whole platoons as they disembarked the germans were unable to repel the armored vehicles that had started to make it ashore it was one of these vehicles that finally silenced the deadly 88 millimeter gun that had been firing all morning between the two british sites was juno beach where the canadians would have a chance to prove they were more than just america's polite neighbor shallow reefs and minefields made landing difficult and the nearby coastal villages were heavily fortified however while sustaining heavy casualties the brave men of the canadian 3rd infantry division broke through the german defenses and secured juno by mid-afternoon having achieved their initial objective the third division linked up with british forces from gold beach and pushed inland further fracturing the disorganized german line us forces meanwhile were not having as much luck from the very moment their landings began at 6 30 things started to go wrong the amphibious tanks that were sent along with the first wave of infantry could not handle the heavy seas and only 2 out of 29 even made it to the beaches a lack of heavy armament meant the infantry could not easily advance and many were slaughtered as they attempted to cross the barren stretch of sand between the shore and the enemy bunkers omaha beach was the largest to be stormed on d-day and the poor weather conditions meant that men often waded ashore only to find themselves in the completely wrong landing zone with nowhere to hide these confused soldiers were forced to form ad-hoc units and simply press forwards toward the nearest source of enemy fire their greater objectives forgotten in the chaos of the moment looming over the american landing zones was la pointa a 100 foot or 30 meter tall promontory that housed a network of german bunkers and as many as six massive 155 millimeter case-mated guns while men crawled through the sand below soldiers of the second and fifth army ranger battalions conducted a valiant assault on the enemy stronghold the first rangers reached the clips at 7 10 am and began to scale them using the remaining ladders and grafton launchers enemy resistance was fierce but the rangers persevered systematically clearing the bunkers until they reached the huge casemates where the 155 millimeter guns were located [Music] only then did they discover the futility of their operation both guns were missing removed days earlier after they proved to be a magnet for allied bombing runs in total the 225 man assault force left nearly half of their number lying dead or wounded their heavy casualties as much the fault of allied intelligence as anything else at 8 30 am the first german counter-attack struck omaha now the most heavily contested of the five landing zones several more would follow throughout the day with the most successful occurring around 4 pm when the 21st panzer division the only armored unit in the range of the coastline at the time rocketed through the vulnerable corridor between juno and sword this was without any exaggeration the worst case scenario no matter how many troops the allies had landed they still lacked the firepower to deal with this new threat unfortunately for the germans this counter-attack would be foiled by various factors which the allies had been manipulating in anticipation of d-day before we continue to the action let's pull back a bit and explore a few of these ruses in april 1944 allied planes began an intense bombing campaign against german positions in france with the luftwaffe occupied in the east allied aircraft outnumbered their axis counterparts by more than thirty to one allied aviators successfully damaged coastal artillery emplacements and airfields as well as rail bridge and road networks frequently used by the wehrmacht however the allied bombing campaign was as much about misdirection as it was about destruction operation fortitude was designed to convince the germans that the allies would land in northeastern france as part of the even larger operation bodyguard fortitude involved false diplomatic communications false news stories and the manipulation of known double agents the allies even constructed an entire decoy army near dover known as the first united states army group this fictional formation was led by none other than general george i slapped the ptsd out of my soldiers patton as a result the axis wasted valuable time and resources fortifying positions near the pod clay and even as far away as the coast of norway men of the 21st panzers found themselves standing alone and unsupported as the singular armored division available during d-day german field marshal evan rommel had foreseen this possibility and had argued that all 10 panzer divisions in france be stationed as close to the coastline as possible ultimately the divisions were split up all over france but deception alone wasn't enough for the allies troops needed to be inserted behind enemy lines just prior to the landings in order to further disrupt the german response the only way to do this was via air drops despite the risk one british and two american airborne divisions were scheduled to drop on the morning of the invasion as they approached their drop zones the c-47 dakota transport planes of the american 101st and 82nd airborne divisions found themselves subject to unexpectedly heavy anti-aircraft fire thanks to this flack many paratroopers ended up scattered across normandy however enough men landed in their intended zones to prevent the arrival of german reinforcements british paratroopers were responsible for capturing two heavily defended bridges which they held against repeated attacks from german tanks and artillery one location was later renamed pegasus bridge after the shoulder emblem of the british paratroopers who captured it and held it during d-day members of the 101st and 82nd divisions also destroyed or captured several other bridges in the normandy area further delaying the german response [Music] as d-day drew to its bloody clothes thousands of allied soldiers lay dead with precious little to show for their sacrifices although they had pushed several miles inland only gold and juno beaches had linked up successfully the other beaches especially omaha were still very exposed optimistic allied planners had assumed that by now several towns would be under siege and the kutonta peninsula would be on the verge of isolation the reality was that the allies had failed to achieve any of these objectives and could not hope to hold the beaches against a determined assault the counter-attack by the 21st panzer division had been particularly devastating as it prevented forces from sword and juno beaches from linking up thwarting the allied thrust towards calm but as we mentioned before several factors foiled this assault the primary one being allied air superiority which annihilated the german armored columns forcing them back from the beaches after a week spent scrounging up men and materiel british forces attempted an armored assault on the small town of viller bokage but were driven back to make matters worse resupply efforts were hampered by storms that prevented the deployment of artificial harbors two weeks later british reinforcements launched operation epsom with the aim of finally capturing kong which was now being defended by a full eight panzer divisions including two battalions of deadly tiger tanks thanks to this massive concentration of german armor the british were repulsed on june 30th after achieving only modest gains these repeated failures caused tension at allied headquarters especially surrounding bernard montgomery who conceived of epsom this wouldn't be his last blunder on the western front at this point the germans were also suffering from their own supply shortages with the war in the east taking priority above all else many of the 60 or so divisions of army group b stationed in northern france were severely under strength and lacked heavy equipment any attempts to mask the panzers into a decisive force were foiled by allied bombardment and sabotaged by the french resistance meant that german communications were unreliable at best the americans in particular benefited from this situation and spent the rest of the month besieging the port city of cherbourg capturing it on june 29th unfortunately the german garrison had sabotaged the port and filled the harbor with mines rendering it unusable until late august meaning that the allies still didn't have a functioning port to bring in adequate reinforcements and supplies over in the east the canadians finally captured the copycat airfield on july 9th however the british were unable to capitalize on this success and spent most of july banging their heads against the defenses of call to no avail while progress was slow on the eastern side of normandy over in the west the americans began to work their way west taking the solo heights just a day after the desert fox's unlucky brush with a fighter plane though the combat was brutal the americans ultimately prevailed and their success set the stage for the final breakout from normandy operation cobra on july 25th allied air support began performing danger close missions against fortified german positions outside cherbourg although highly controversial the results spoke for themselves and the german left flank swiftly began to withdraw the ensuing allied advance was slow due to the american forces having to push through fields sewed with a bountiful crop of german landmines just waiting for the tread of an allied boot by this point in the invasion hedgerow warfare was becoming a fact of life normandy was covered by thick dense hedges that served mostly to divide up sections of farmland often over 5 meters or 16 feet tall they provided excellent cover for german infantry disrupting lines of fire and turning simple fields into miniature fortresses that had to be cleared out one by one at great cost to the attackers but despite the nightmare that was the french countryside the americans pushed south and reached avonsh by july 30th with allied forces moving into brittany the germans still defending call were in danger of encirclement but before they could retreat the infamous july plot occurred this plot was an attempt by several top-ranking german officers to assassinate hitler and sue for peace with the allies evan rommel had supposedly sympathized with some of the plotters and his involvement was revealed when it collapsed on july 20th as a result he was forced to take his own life deeply mistrustful of his remaining generals hitler took charge of the situation in normandy himself and demanded an immediate counter-attack by this time the american spearhead was being led by the newly arrived third army george patton now in charge of real soldiers captured britney in the first week of august at this time the germans were busy putting together a heavy assault force consisting of two regular and two ss panzer divisions these were intended to cut a suave through u.s forces behind the spearhead splitting up the leading elements and allowing the third reich to achieve a good old-fashioned encirclement had the vermost successfully hidden this force they might have actually pulled it off but few axis plans stayed secret in 1944 when the panzers attacked on august 7th they were met with a devastating ambush by allied anti-tank units seizing the opportunity to meet up with patton's forces montgomery's forces in normandy began a new offensive to the west of kong in just a few short days the tables had turned and the forces initially meant to encircle the allies now found themselves the victim of an identical maneuver despite his best efforts to throw the allies back into the channel hitler slowly began to accept the situation in france and finally approved of a retreat as the allied forces converged it became clear that the only chance for the survival of the two german armies in normandy was an escape through phallaes held by a single polish armored division outnumbered the polish fought valiantly and although they failed to stop the full german retreat they successfully contained nearly 50 000 german prisoners and forced the germans to abandon most of their heavy equipment this was a decisive moment there was no longer any question of allied superiority in northern france normandy had fallen and the road to paris lay open but before we discuss paris let's not let operation overlord completely overshadow another massive battle that was brewing on the western front the invasion of southern france also known as operation dragoon [Music] this had originally been meant to coincide with overlord and both were topics of discussion during the terran conference of 1943 attended by all three allied leaders churchill stalin and roosevelt stalin had been enthusiastic about these plans while churchill fervently believed that allied resources would be put to better use invading the balkans to link up with soviet forces and prevent a communist monopoly in eastern europe ultimately the discussion was settled when franklin d roosevelt agreed with stalin that the time had come for a cross-channel operation overlord was subsequently greenlit but dragoon would be shelved for the time being due to logistical concerns however the plan was revisited after storms destroyed the artificial harbor at omaha beach which combined with the sabotage of cherbourg created a massive backlog in allied shipping as a result the capture of such ports as marseille and toulon suddenly became the clearest solution to the logistical crisis in the north although churchill remained vehemently opposed to the idea general charles dugal threw his support behind it this operation would require a large-scale amphibious invasion involving over a half a million men and would later be reinforced by the free french by contrast german forces occupying southern france consisted of just 11 divisions under army group g the three beaches chosen for the initial landings were designated alpha delta and camel before the invasion began the southern branch of the french resistance began a large-scale campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare unlike the scattered opposition it had been during the early stages of the occupation the resistance in 1944 was now operating as a paramilitary force officially recognized as the french forces of the interior or ffi with the help from allied commandos the ffi blew up bridges cut power lines jammed communications and attacked isolated german units three french commandos were also tasked with silencing the artillery perched atop the daunting 107 meter or 350 foot high cliffs on the mainland known as operation romeo this raid involved 800 men the attack was a major success with the commandos killing or capturing about a thousand enemy soldiers while sustaining only a few dozen casualties themselves this was all merely a prelude to the landings themselves which took place on august 15th [Music] german soldiers were jolted from their bunks by the sudden scream of air raid sirens as they scrambled for their gear the first bombs began to drop shaking the ground and shattering their hardened concrete bunkers there was no escape thousands of bombers clogged the skies their pilots relishing in the near-complete air superiority possessed by the allies a full-scale naval bombardment followed with artillery shells up to 14 inches in diameter raining down on the stunned germans although the barrage eased as the transports neared their landing zones few defenders were willing to take advantage of the reprieve alpha and delta beaches fell with minimal resistance but camel beach held out stubbornly it was the most heavily defended beach and throughout repeated shelling and bombing one section remained defiant successfully resisting allied landings until it could be flanked by troops from other zones many hard lessons had been learned after the 10 000 casualties on d-day and ultimately the allies would pay a toll of only 700 dead or wounded for their passage across the mediterranean despite this initial success the invasion had only just begun on the morning after the landings four german battalions staged a two-pronged counter-attack although there was fierce fighting the offensive was doomed by low morale bad communication and a chronic shortage of heavy equipment the scattered remnants of the german forces were eventually forced to retreat leaving the allies free to pour ashore [Music] commanders now accepted that their positions were unsalvageable after consultation with the fuhrer a withdrawal order was given for army group g but all defensible locations within french territory were to remain manned and resist as long as possible this uncharacteristic retreat caught the allies by surprise in response the ad hoc task force butler was thrown together and doggedly pursued army group g hundreds of miles inland in an ironic twist of faith allied armor now sped ahead of the main advance just as the panzers had during the invasion of france less than five years prior back in the north a similar event was taking place as german field marshal walter model orchestrated the withdrawal of army group b model had already proved himself a skilled defensive strategist on the eastern front and his rear guard actions in france would enable some 240 000 soldiers to escape into belgium thanks to this most of army group g withdrew in good order resuming in southern france the allies continued to advance and besiege the few fortified pockets of access resistance left in the region on august 18th they surrounded the headquarters of the german 62nd port after days of constant harassment by the french forces of the interior the exhausted german soldiers surrendered but not before a single breakout attempt meanwhile french forces assaulted marseille and toulon held by just two german divisions as the french were besieging the cities in the south the allied forces in the north were faced with a dilemma paris was just over the horizon but it was still held by a german garrison as allied forces inched their way towards the city the french people rose up in a large-scale uprising on the 19th at first german military governor dietrich van coltez attempted to quell the unrest and keep the city open for resisting german forces though he accomplished the former it was clear that his time was up when the free french second armored division arrived five days later hitler then ordered koltitz to raise the city instead he surrendered it to the allies soon after general charles dugal led a massive three-day long parade throughout the city the provisional government of france was finally back on home soil and french military affairs would now be run directly from the capital within another month almost all of france would be liberated with german resistance contained to just a few tiny pockets along the coastline however the german reich was far from capitulation field marshal modal's efforts had paid off and hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened german troops now patiently awaited the next major advance at the ziegfried line this vast defensive work would be the equal of the atlantic wall with some sections resisting the allies right up to the collapse of the nazi regime in 1945 in the middle of hertkin forest a panzer grenadier crouches behind cover as a convoy of american tanks rumbles down the nearby road while he waits the soldier entertains himself with thoughts of the slaughter a mighty tiger tank could have unleashed against these vulnerable shermans but the p-47s swarming overhead have kept the tigers at bay as the enemy convoy reaches the crossroads he worries that his plan may be foiled but the armored column chooses the left route and the ambush begins as he surveys the carnage the soldier feels a sharp thrill of exaltation he has just proven that though wounded and limping the german wolf still has its teeth in early september 1944 the allied advance into western europe had reached a critical phase although france had been liberated many obstacles still littered the path to ultimate victory the logistical issues that had plagued the campaign since d-day were still frustrating allied quartermasters leaving four divisions dangerously undersupplied and ill-equipped to continue their rapid advance into nazi-occupied territory the german army meanwhile had been able to retreat swiftly and unbroken and was now busy fortifying key strategic locations in preparation for its final stand the main problem faced by the invading force was the lack of intact infrastructure while tremendously successful at the time the bombing campaigns over france now manifested themselves in the form of broken railways burnt out supply depots and roads cratered beyond use supply sent via the mediterranean theater would not be available until the two army groups in france finally converged on the 12th forcing logistics officers to improvise with systems like the famous red ball express this was a truck convoy that at its peak utilized nearly 6 000 vehicles many of which were commandeered from divisions newly arrived in france but this was merely a stop-gap measure and it was clear that new shorter supply routes back to britain had to be opened in an effort to address this critical issue the 21st army group consisting mostly of british and canadian soldiers was tasked with the liberation of the netherlands starting with the enormous port facilities of antwerp built on the banks of the scout etuary the city was poorly defended and seemed like the next logical target but when the british rolled in on the 4th of september they discovered almost the entire german 15th army digging in on an island located right at the mouth of the river as it turned out adolf hitler was well aware of antwerp's strategic value and had declared it and other port cities feshtom or fortresses that were to resist until the last man with the push to open the northern ports stalled by staunch resistance and worsening weather conditions endangering the makeshift harbors still packed to capacity in normandy allied high command was faced with a serious dilemma general eisenhower believed that maintaining momentum across the widest front possible was worth the risk of supply shortages he reasoned that while his enemies were still able to concentrate forces in key locations their ability to defend against an assault across the entire front line had been severely compromised due to a lack of manpower bernard montgomery on the other hand was convinced that this approach would doom the campaign and insisted on scraping together what resources they had and making a concentrated thrust towards berlin itself after much deliberation montgomery finally convinced an extremely reluctant eisenhower to divert men and resources away from the push on antwerp and instead launched the infamous operation market garden which saw over 34 000 airborne troops dropped over the netherlands making it the largest airborne assault of the whole war on september 17th men of the 101st 82nd and 1st airborne divisions departed on transport planes from england headed straight into nazi-occupied territory their objective was to secure a number of key bridges and strategic waypoints behind enemy lines once these targets had been captured the british would try forward an armored spearhead linking up with all three divisions theoretically putting them within striking distance of the roar valley germany's industrial heartland unfortunately for the attackers hitler had recently recalled garrett van roonstedt from retirement and appointed him as commander-in-chief of the western front replacing valtter modal this appointment was supported by mortal himself who recognized the value of having the reich's most experienced senior officer overseeing his activities with roonstead organizing the war in the west on a strategic level modal was free to employ his talents on the front lines as a direct result of their collaboration axis forces were almost perfectly positioned to turn operation market garden into a disaster for their unsuspecting foes from the moment allied boots hit the ground resistance was heavy while some paratroopers captured their targets with minimal difficulty others blundered straight into the two ss panzer divisions that had been stationed in the area to rest and recuperate and when british armor advanced it came under heavy fire from opposing artillery and then became bogged down in a protracted struggle for the town of nijmegen bad weather conditions in england also prevented many of the reinforcement drops leaving the paratroopers outnumbered and under-equipped model was even able to obtain a plan of the operation from a crashed allied glider giving him critical insight into the enemy's order of battle [Music] with enemy reinforcements pouring into the area montgomery was forced to concede that his plan had failed market garden would go down in history as having been mismanaged on almost every level the bad news didn't stop there however with resources diverted to the operation all pressure had been taken off of the german 15th army which was now fully prepared for any assault on the 2nd of october that attack came when 135 000 brave souls from the first canadian army finally began their brutal and protracted battle for the control of the scout conditions were nightmarish in addition to dealing with terrible weather high winds and the hellish obstacle course of canals ditches and dikes the canadians also had to contend with minefields and booby traps planted by the defenders progress was extremely slow but sheer desperation pushed the canadians onwards through the perilous mud and freezing waters of the scout while the fight for control of antwerp was ongoing montgomery's 21st army group was also trying to shore up the small salient created during operation market garden which resulted in an 18-day struggle centered on the village of oberlone they also undertook operation pheasant on the 20th of october which aimed to liberate further areas of the netherlands from elements of the 15th army further south u.s forces had spent most of september advancing to the siegfried line also known as the west wall this enormous defensive network consisted of nearly 22 000 bunkers and stretched from the netherlands all the way to the border of switzerland initially seen as little more than a folly designed to keep german construction companies busy during the economic boom of the late 1930s the west wall had seen heavy upgrades since the first landings in normandy tens of thousands of forced laborers had been put to work expanding existing defenses digging trenches tunnels and anti-tank ditches on october 2nd it would be tested by more than 100 000 american troops at the city of achen one of the most heavily defended on the siegfried line as u.s forces approached the nazi officials in charge of the city fled only to be unceremoniously seized as deserters and shipped off to the eastern front as privates in an act of desperation the general in charge of achen's defense gert van send a letter of capitulation to the americans this was promptly intercepted and handed straight to hitler needless to say garrett was also arrested and replaced despite these developments the americans besieged achen on the 2nd of october and quickly became bogged down in some of the bloodiest urban action of the entire offensive during the 19-day battle a hundred thousand men trudged grimly through the narrow maze-like streets of achen enduring constant ambushes from the 13 000 defenders bolstered by the thousands of volksderm or people's storm militia american soldiers quickly came to regard the sprawling ruined city as a malevolent entity in its own right and were reluctant to venture into the unexplored areas for fear of being slaughtered by hidden pillboxes or picked off by snipers when sherman tanks rolled into the streets ahead of the infantry they were repeatedly knocked out by german anti-tank guns all the while axis forces outside of the city launched repeated counter-attacks throwing themselves at the enemy with the unwavering determination of men defending their homeland as demoralizing as achin was for the allies it was arguably overshadowed by the unfolding disaster that was the fighting at perkin forest beginning weeks before the attack on achen this three-month-long battle was an attempt by the americans to breach the west wall south of the city in order to deny german reinforcements and take control of several water reservoirs which the enemy could potentially use to flood the region the initial advance went well with u.s soldiers traversing 6 miles or 9.6 kilometers of the west wall without difficulty then as the forest canopy closed in around them the nightmare began first came the minefields then acres of barbed wire then the camouflaged bunkers and artillery emplacements the dense tree line rendered allied air superiority meaningless and any tanks that rumbled into the forest were easy prey for even the lone infantrymen armed with panzerfausts meanwhile walter model was closely supervising defenses in the area deftly parrying each enemy thrust and launching localized counter-attacks whenever the opportunity arose south of achen general patton's third army had spent most of november trying and failing to capture mess in addition to a chronic lack of fuel and ammunition patton's men had to contend with a large river separating them from the city itself but even as the autumn rain poured down and enemy artillery thundered in the distance patton furiously whipped his men onwards when one of his subordinates begged him for a delay the fiery patent simply replied attack or name your replacement sadly however the siege of mess would drag on for another two months giving german forces in the south ample time to retreat to new defensive lines allied progress on the western front had all but come to a halt their swift advance was just a fond memory with fortress cities now presenting obstacles that could only be taken by prolonged sieges casualties were mounting and even veteran divisions were starting to waver in the face of such determined resistance there was no doubt that germany would be defeated but some commanders in the west were now wondering whether their victory was worth the price that they were paying from the german perspective roonstead and mortal were also aware that the war would end in defeat but they reasoned that by holding the west wall they could persuade the british and americans to sue for peace letting the reich concentrate its remaining forces on the soviets in the east unfortunately for the axis this tentative stalemate was about to be broken in the most spectacular fashion possible as fall began to end and winter began to close its icy grip on europe the exhausted canadian force that had spent almost a month and a half struggling for control of the scout finally broke the back of enemy resistance on november 8th although the minefields would not be cleared for another three weeks the invading forces finally had access to a deep water port in the north sea supply convoys would soon be streaming in delivering tons of vitally needed war materiel directly to the front lines but even as allied headquarters began to relax the cornered german wolf prepared itself for one last defiant snap at its hunters on the 16th of december allied soldiers stationed in the ardennes region awoke to the thunderous sound of an artillery barrage at least 1500 enemy guns were firing simultaneously their bombardment rolling up and down an 80 mile or 130 kilometer wide section of the front as soon as the fire stopped the ground troops surged forward the allies had stationed some 80 thousand men in the ardennes and it soon became clear that they were completely outnumbered division after division poured into the region spearheaded by one of the largest armored columns ever seen on the western front this relentless assault the last true example of the german blitzkrieg in the second world war was aimed directly at antwerp and the exhausted men of the british 21st army group if successful it would trap several hundred thousand troops behind its lines and end their enemies hopes of resupply via the north sea in addition to a massive conventional assault infiltration efforts by german commandos caused considerable chaos and paranoia in the enemy ranks in one famous incident american general omar bradley was arrested by a u.s military policeman after being asked to identify the capital of illinois he correctly answered springfield the policeman however thought it was chicago evidently having slept through his high school geography lessons although shattered by the initial onslaught allied forces in the ardennes quickly rallied forming isolated pockets of resistance that fought with incredible ferocity the panzer divisions had also begun the charge with less than half the fuel reserves needed to reach antwerp despite capturing nearly 50 000 extra gallons of fuel a day into the offensive many tanks were soon lying abandoned on the roadside never having fired a shot in the assault to make matters worse for the wehrmacht their enemies began destroying bridges and emptying fuel depots as they retreated leaving nothing of value behind by the 24th the german salient had reached the moose river creating a bulge in the allied lines roughly 45 miles or 72 kilometers deep but if hitler was looking for a christmas miracle his hopes were dashed when ax's forces were bottlenecked at the only bridges across the moose and the weather turned against them thus far the attackers had operated under heavy fog high winds and snow storms helping to conceal their movements but on the 23rd the clouds suddenly lifted and were swiftly replaced by swarms of fighters and bombers allied cargo planes also began dropping vital supplies to isolated pockets although the weather allowed allied planners to take to the skies once more on the 23rd they also allowed the luftwaffe to enter the fray operation borden plata or base plate was its last major operation of the war launched in an effort to the invaders air power in the lowlands the assault seemed remarkably successful at first with hundreds of planes destroyed on the ground but while the allies had the industrial capacity to replace these aircraft almost immediately the luftwaffe had no reserves left as german historian werner gerbig wrote borden plata dealt the luftwaffe a mortal blow and sealed its fate what happened from then on was no more than a dying flicker a dying flicker is an apt description of the reich's operations as a whole from this point on on the 26th forces under general patton's command thundered into the ardennes from the south smashing through enemy lines and ending any german hopes of reaching antwerp finally the last axis offensive in the west operation nordvind began on the very last day of the year 1944. as the ground froze solid axis forces threw themselves forward in one last desperate attempt to rest victory from defeat the line bent but did not break and hitler finally authorized a retreat on the 7th of january fighting in the region continued for another three weeks the allied advance was slow due to the abnormally harsh winter of 1944 montgomery was also reluctant to commit british forces to the counter-attack allowing roonstead to organize an effective retreat though at the cost of almost an entire mechanized force the human cost of the battle of the bulge was staggering exact figures are disputed but had a minimum 63 000 axis and 89 000 allied soldiers were killed captured or wounded during the frigid struggle for the ardennes region by now the walls were truly closing in in the east the vast soviet war machine ground steadily onwards with more than two million men marching closer to berlin by the day with the luftwaffe now a shadow of its former self german cities were subject to constant air raids the americans striking during the day and the british bombing at night on february 3rd a devastating air raid was conducted on berlin deploying more than 1600 aircraft to obliterate large sections of the city in a single night dresden would also be all but wiped off the map in a series of four air raids that took place between the 13th and the 15th with no fear of further enemy offensives the allies could now afford to advance methodically clearing out the last pockets of enemy resistance on the east bank of the great rhine river while many sections of the siegfried line still held the static nature of the defenses meant that once a breakthrough was achieved the attackers could simply bypass any remaining fortifications and continue their advance unopposed on the 7th of march a u.s armored division sped ahead of the main advance and captured the ludendorff bridge which the germans were already attempting to demolish after driving away the saboteurs the americans defended the bridge against a series of increasingly desperate counter-attacks although it would finally collapse after weeks of bombardment by artillery five divisions were able to cross the rhine and push deeper into germany the diversion also allowed engineers to set up other temporary bridges across the river practically undisturbed in all the unexpected seizure of ludendorff bridge accelerated the allied advance by three weeks or more as for the men who had defended germany so successfully just months before garrett von runstad would be dismissed from command in early march walter model architect of so many of the reich's defensive victories fell out of hitler's favor after the battle of the bulge and had much of his command autonomy revoked denied anything but to hold position mortal could only watch helplessly as enemy forces began crossing the rhine from the north and south finally entering the rohr valley and completely encircling his forces on the 1st of april seeing his position as hopeless and not wanting to violate his military honor by surrendering mortal quietly ordered his remaining troops to disband then committed suicide with german defenses collapsing everywhere it was only a matter of time before capitulation occurred in the end western allied forces did not even make a concerted push towards berlin which was certain to end up in soviet hands instead they continued to focus on eisenhower's broad front strategy pushing outwards in all directions to isolate and contain the last pockets of dedicated nazi resistance in fact the main limiting factor to their advance was now the vast hordes of prisoners they were having to support every day with more than 300 000 taken during the collapse of the roar pocket alone organized german resistance rapidly broke down and by now their manpower reserves were virtually non-existent in the last few days of the third reich more old men women and young boys were defending the fatherland than there were professional soldiers on april 30th with berlin completely surrounded by an endless horde of soviet soldiers adolf hitler finally chose to end his life many other senior nazi officers would follow suit leaving grand admiral carl donates now in command to order a german surrender given the fractured nature of their forces at this point some isolated units continued to resist for days after the official surrender refusing to believe their country had fallen in spite of the overwhelming war machine the nazi party had mobilized both in terms of materiel and men hitler's thousand-year reich died at just 12 years old more brutal combat awaited in the pacific but in europe the war had come to an end the surrender was officially signed on may 8. although the european theater was at a close there still remained work to be done large swaths of europe needed to be reconstructed and the millions who had been displaced required immediate attention above all else the national socialist ideology had to be eradicated from the defeated german nation in order to prime america's next new ally revitalizing europe would take decades and ultimately set the stage for the coming conflict between the two rising global superpowers the united states and the soviet union [Music] thanks again to our sponsor call of war enjoy rewriting history in this free online pvp strategy game today by signing up using our link in the description using our link within 30 days also grants 13 000 gold and one month of premium subscription for free so don't delay [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 650,671

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Id: wN1q9QktEf0

Length: 49min 2sec (2942 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 27 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Spare_Quarter]

germany never fell, they relocated to the moon.. lol . watch "iron sky"