So good I had to listen to it twice. It's fascinating how different the American perspective of D-Day is from the British and Canadian. I learnt a lot. This side of the Atlantic we have the same history but with our own emphasis. As do the Canadians. It’s often forgotten in American tellings of D-Day that there were two British beaches (Sword and Gold) and a Canadian beach (Juno). They never get featured in blockbuster Hollywood movies. Not since the days of black and white film anyway. For example, go ask a Canadian about the Normandy Massacres. In my experience, it’s a big deal for them but almost never mentioned elsewhere.
Rick, you are bang on target about logistics. The construction of the Liberty Ships is a largely ignored yet historic achievement. I’d like to mention another extraordinary engineering accomplishment without which the Normandy landings would have run out of fuel, food, and ammo almost immediately: the Mulberry Harbours. They were two portable floating artificial harbours (one at Omaha, the other at Gold) which allowed large cargo vessels to unload at the beachhead. It was months before French and Belgian ports that could handle these ships were captured and repaired. The remains of the Gold Mulberry can still be seen today. I’ve even clambered onto one of its caissons.
Unfortunately, the portion of the German army that wasn't “a figment of the past” did turn up, just not at the American beaches. Rommel had positioned some of the very best units in the army ready to counter-attack the expected invasion. The British and Canadian beachheads fought off five heavily equipped veteran Panzer divisions. Panzer IVs tanks of the 21st Panzer Division (one of the famed Afrika Korps units) broke through to Sword Beach on D-Day but were promptly driven off when the heavy guns of every battleship and cruiser within sight opened fire on them. Naval artillery support is another of the unsung yet critical factors in the success of the invasion.
Further west, Panther tanks of the fanatical 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend got within sight of the Canadian Juno Beach. The 12th SS committed numerous atrocities in and around Caen (these were the Normandy Massacres) before being fought off by Canadian infantry.
Later in the Normandy Campaign, during Operation Cobra, US forces also had to fight their share well-equipped, highly-trained SS divisions. It led eventually to their near destruction when US, British, Canadian, and Polish armoured divisions trapped them at the Falaise pocket. The Poles, like the Brits, turn up to every fight.
Rick, since you’re a military history buff, here’s a few D-Day and Normandy Camapaign anecdotes you may or may not know.
The Hitler fan-boys’ favourite panzer ace, Michael Wittmann, was killed when his seven-strong Tiger tank company launched an attack south of Caen. Five of the Tigers were taken out by British- and Canadian-crewed Sherman M4 tanks. The much maligned US-built M4 gets none of the fawning praise that’s heaped on the Tiger, but was by far the most effective tank on the Western Front (on either side).
The world's first operational flight of a jet bomber—the Arado Ar 234—was a photo reconnaissance mission over the Normandy bridgehead. The photographs stunned German High Command who had not been aware of the Mulberry harbours and had not appreciated the scale of the logistical support being delivered to the beaches. They had thought that as long as they held deep-water ports like Cherbourg the Allied effort would dwindle. The photographs are publicly available online.
There is a movie called ‘Yanks’ which features a scene in which local English civilians and soldiers join in on the side of Black American soldiers being threatened by their supposed White comrades. Directed by John Schlesinger, it stars Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, and Vanessa Redgrave. In real life, there were indeed numerous occasions where locals fought segregationist US soldiers, especially MPs.
HMS Belfast, the cruiser that Ike considered making his offshore HQ, is now moored on the River Thames by the Tower of London. It's well worth a visit if you're ever there.
Finally, since you mentioned some of the surprising nationalities conscripted into the Wehrmacht by 1944, I have to add Yang Kyoungjong to the list. He was a Korean who unwillingly fought in the Japanese, Russian, and German armies. It all began when he was sentenced to serve in Manchuria as punishment for his opposition to the Japanese occupation of Korea. He was captured by the Soviets and put in a prison camp. In 1942, he was ‘volunteered’ to join the Red Army. It was either that or be worked to death. The Germans took him prisoner him at the Third Battle of Kharrkiv (how topical) and, because Yang Kyoungjong was not actually Russian, they put him in an ex-POW battalion. It was stationed in Festung Europa fortifications in Normandy where the 101st Airborne captured him. There is an excellent (although part-fictional) South Korean film ‘My Way’ based on his life. It’s a blast.
I wept. I’ll listen to this book, but I’m not built for this. Do you remember Gem from Star Trek “The Empath”? The struggle is real. In 2010, we visited the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. I could barely stand up. “Woo” is energy. Its just science we don’t have words for. Yet.
Lifelong Democrat, I certainly had other designations, vermin not being one of them. Now vermin. These Republicans destroy and they cannot be controlled.
"Funny Money Flynn" has some nerve. 'Funny money' must be carefully handled. If not "Funny Money Flynn" is a Fearful Flynn, flying, fast (ly) across the Atlantic.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this Podcast. As you stated, eventually we all become students of WWII and just how much this country and the world owes the Greatest Generation. In the battle we are going through now, yes its a battle, I wish that our current generations could have even the slightest idea of what the Greatest Gen gave to us and sacrificed for us. For what was given to us and the world, do not let us forsake their gift of freedom to the world.
Probably a few good ads in there.......far be it from me to suggest to you how to make ads:)
My father landed on Omaha Beach on June 12, 1944, six days after D-Day. He was part of the replacement and additional troops. He became part of the 29th Division 116th Regiment that landed on D-Day and suffered the worst losses of the five Normandy beach landings. Looking forward to another story of The Greatest Generation.
I second the remarks about the quality of Graff’s research. My British male family members all served in WWII. My great uncle was with the Special Operations Executive, and was parachuted into occupied France. He was right outside Paris and had to bike in every day pretending to be an Argentinian orange salesman in order to report on the Boche. In his spare time he trained the Maquis in terrorist tactics. His plane was blown up as he was leaving India en route to the Burma theatre. Nobody in my family tried to get a deferral for bone spurs.
I salute the troops from the Normandy beaches. The horror of that day is unimaginable, but they kept going. Thanks to them the tide turned on Hitler. I hope that fire burns in the hearts of the people of this country despite the attempts by some to stamp it out.
My great aunt Muriel Aileen Kragh, an Army Nurse, was with the landing at Normandy. She helped set up field hospitals for the wounded men. She then followed the Army until they reached safety.
So good I had to listen to it twice. It's fascinating how different the American perspective of D-Day is from the British and Canadian. I learnt a lot. This side of the Atlantic we have the same history but with our own emphasis. As do the Canadians. It’s often forgotten in American tellings of D-Day that there were two British beaches (Sword and Gold) and a Canadian beach (Juno). They never get featured in blockbuster Hollywood movies. Not since the days of black and white film anyway. For example, go ask a Canadian about the Normandy Massacres. In my experience, it’s a big deal for them but almost never mentioned elsewhere.
Rick, you are bang on target about logistics. The construction of the Liberty Ships is a largely ignored yet historic achievement. I’d like to mention another extraordinary engineering accomplishment without which the Normandy landings would have run out of fuel, food, and ammo almost immediately: the Mulberry Harbours. They were two portable floating artificial harbours (one at Omaha, the other at Gold) which allowed large cargo vessels to unload at the beachhead. It was months before French and Belgian ports that could handle these ships were captured and repaired. The remains of the Gold Mulberry can still be seen today. I’ve even clambered onto one of its caissons.
Unfortunately, the portion of the German army that wasn't “a figment of the past” did turn up, just not at the American beaches. Rommel had positioned some of the very best units in the army ready to counter-attack the expected invasion. The British and Canadian beachheads fought off five heavily equipped veteran Panzer divisions. Panzer IVs tanks of the 21st Panzer Division (one of the famed Afrika Korps units) broke through to Sword Beach on D-Day but were promptly driven off when the heavy guns of every battleship and cruiser within sight opened fire on them. Naval artillery support is another of the unsung yet critical factors in the success of the invasion.
Further west, Panther tanks of the fanatical 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend got within sight of the Canadian Juno Beach. The 12th SS committed numerous atrocities in and around Caen (these were the Normandy Massacres) before being fought off by Canadian infantry.
Later in the Normandy Campaign, during Operation Cobra, US forces also had to fight their share well-equipped, highly-trained SS divisions. It led eventually to their near destruction when US, British, Canadian, and Polish armoured divisions trapped them at the Falaise pocket. The Poles, like the Brits, turn up to every fight.
Rick, since you’re a military history buff, here’s a few D-Day and Normandy Camapaign anecdotes you may or may not know.
The Hitler fan-boys’ favourite panzer ace, Michael Wittmann, was killed when his seven-strong Tiger tank company launched an attack south of Caen. Five of the Tigers were taken out by British- and Canadian-crewed Sherman M4 tanks. The much maligned US-built M4 gets none of the fawning praise that’s heaped on the Tiger, but was by far the most effective tank on the Western Front (on either side).
The world's first operational flight of a jet bomber—the Arado Ar 234—was a photo reconnaissance mission over the Normandy bridgehead. The photographs stunned German High Command who had not been aware of the Mulberry harbours and had not appreciated the scale of the logistical support being delivered to the beaches. They had thought that as long as they held deep-water ports like Cherbourg the Allied effort would dwindle. The photographs are publicly available online.
There is a movie called ‘Yanks’ which features a scene in which local English civilians and soldiers join in on the side of Black American soldiers being threatened by their supposed White comrades. Directed by John Schlesinger, it stars Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, and Vanessa Redgrave. In real life, there were indeed numerous occasions where locals fought segregationist US soldiers, especially MPs.
HMS Belfast, the cruiser that Ike considered making his offshore HQ, is now moored on the River Thames by the Tower of London. It's well worth a visit if you're ever there.
Finally, since you mentioned some of the surprising nationalities conscripted into the Wehrmacht by 1944, I have to add Yang Kyoungjong to the list. He was a Korean who unwillingly fought in the Japanese, Russian, and German armies. It all began when he was sentenced to serve in Manchuria as punishment for his opposition to the Japanese occupation of Korea. He was captured by the Soviets and put in a prison camp. In 1942, he was ‘volunteered’ to join the Red Army. It was either that or be worked to death. The Germans took him prisoner him at the Third Battle of Kharrkiv (how topical) and, because Yang Kyoungjong was not actually Russian, they put him in an ex-POW battalion. It was stationed in Festung Europa fortifications in Normandy where the 101st Airborne captured him. There is an excellent (although part-fictional) South Korean film ‘My Way’ based on his life. It’s a blast.
I wept. I’ll listen to this book, but I’m not built for this. Do you remember Gem from Star Trek “The Empath”? The struggle is real. In 2010, we visited the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. I could barely stand up. “Woo” is energy. Its just science we don’t have words for. Yet.
I know what I will be giving Dad!
and what I will download for myself.
Yeah, Republicans have proved themselves vermin.
They have been and always will be vermin, especially those MAGA Republicans.
Lifelong Democrat, I certainly had other designations, vermin not being one of them. Now vermin. These Republicans destroy and they cannot be controlled.
25k each month in legal fees?
"Funny Money Flynn" has some nerve. 'Funny money' must be carefully handled. If not "Funny Money Flynn" is a Fearful Flynn, flying, fast (ly) across the Atlantic.
sick of them(so hypocritical).
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this Podcast. As you stated, eventually we all become students of WWII and just how much this country and the world owes the Greatest Generation. In the battle we are going through now, yes its a battle, I wish that our current generations could have even the slightest idea of what the Greatest Gen gave to us and sacrificed for us. For what was given to us and the world, do not let us forsake their gift of freedom to the world.
Probably a few good ads in there.......far be it from me to suggest to you how to make ads:)
Thank you again for this. Tremendous.
My father landed on Omaha Beach on June 12, 1944, six days after D-Day. He was part of the replacement and additional troops. He became part of the 29th Division 116th Regiment that landed on D-Day and suffered the worst losses of the five Normandy beach landings. Looking forward to another story of The Greatest Generation.
🙏🇺🇸✨🗽💫
I second the remarks about the quality of Graff’s research. My British male family members all served in WWII. My great uncle was with the Special Operations Executive, and was parachuted into occupied France. He was right outside Paris and had to bike in every day pretending to be an Argentinian orange salesman in order to report on the Boche. In his spare time he trained the Maquis in terrorist tactics. His plane was blown up as he was leaving India en route to the Burma theatre. Nobody in my family tried to get a deferral for bone spurs.
I salute the troops from the Normandy beaches. The horror of that day is unimaginable, but they kept going. Thanks to them the tide turned on Hitler. I hope that fire burns in the hearts of the people of this country despite the attempts by some to stamp it out.
For anyone scrolling the comments: IMO, Garrett Graff is one of the best podcasters out there today. Each of his series have been incredible.
My great aunt Muriel Aileen Kragh, an Army Nurse, was with the landing at Normandy. She helped set up field hospitals for the wounded men. She then followed the Army until they reached safety.
I should correct my comment. Aunt Muriel was not “with” the landing at Normandy. She was merely an Army Nurse waiting to do her duty.
Bravissima!