The Somme - From Defeat To Victory - Part 6

[tendollarword]

Having to face tanks for the first time in the hell of trench combat. Poor bastards

[ThePimpycat]

I love how the german's just shoot the tank with their maxim gun lol they dont know what it is or what to do lol!

[thegoof171]

@ReeferVonKush yup, most 21 year old irishmen think they are invincible, this guy truely belived

[thegoof171]

@ReeferVonKush its not that he didn't know how to read and write, he's just really drunk.

[whitedragon1204]

lol they should of had the Germans curse before being blow up by the tank, i know i would of.

[tristbjorn]

@whitedragon1204 would have or would've

[Freddie1980]

So you lines are broke, your men are routed and getting slaughtered, you have no information so what do you do next?

2:20 - Have a glass of wine and bluff, bluff bluff like nothings wrong.

[SatoTM3]

1 tank such a difference. just imagine the world went down by some radiatctive attack and YOU and your buddies are the ones thats left. a tank like that is the biggest thing you could manage without finding nuclear bombs or using ipads.. and such a thing coming at u would freak the shit out of u too..

[Kelly14UK]

Note how they call them " bombs". I've yet to hear the word "grenade" mentioned.

[fp470]

@Kelly14UK They refer to the Mills Bomb. They were first called bombs since there was some controversy with upsetting the Grenadier Guards traditional weapon, the grenade (long since defunct but symbolic). Later they started calling them grenades, but as small unit tactics developed in the war, having 2-4 man in each platoon as a grenadier really upset the Grenadier Guards. So they kept the name bomb and called the guys 'bombadiers' so as not to cause a political row.

[spinynorman230]

Huh, I thought the tank was developed by the Germans first, oh well.

[datpakiman54]

British have shit military commanders.

but the soldiers are so loyal, they walked even when they where being machine-gunned the fuck out of of.

[fp470]

@datpakiman54 Those British Generals largely won the war by the end. Did you not get the point of this documentary. That during the mid-late stages of the Somme, that went for several months, that the British develop new tactical doctrines and reogranise themselves to fight in a superior manner.

[PesiCool]

Wow that Irishman was a fucking hero!

[TheRpm160]

go on the irish !!!!!!

[planstore]

Well done Edwards

[lothar804]

What is that machine gun the Germans were using?????

[fp470]

At 0:33 a good look at it.

I would say it is a mounted Maxim 1908 MG or a model based on it. It looke identical but is

a. Mounted on the parapet- the Germans had a policy of buidling more permanent defencsive features so they probably chucked the wheels.

b. Its been modded with a Drum rather than belt fed. This probably allows only one operater to maximise rifle strenght in action.

[craphunter]

@fp470 didnt the british copy the designs of the Maxim to create the Vickers? or was it an totally new HMG?

[fp470]

@craphunter The British Under Liscence and then with their own armouries research department produced the Vickers. They required a liscence to produce it as it used the same mechanism as the Maxim gun, invented by the American Hiram Maxim. It was in some ways superior to the Maxim design that the Germans produced in that it had new components and lighter and stronger metals. Also the cooling system was less bulky. Overall the capacity of both was identical and a largely identical mechanism.

[craphunter]

cheers didnt know that. :)

[MaxVerhaag]

probebly a vicker maxim atleast thats what i think :P

[alex471996]

Pythag you have read sun tuz's art of war as well!

[iLove2JacketXD]

Oh shit!! the Tank it Cheat!!

[pythag123]

They talk about it a lot in this, but Sun Tzu knew it in the BC's. The further away from the battle field you are, the less of a place you have giving orders.

[lolzors128]

Great Documentary, Respect to all the soldiers who fell in hell.

[fhAUFDA]

what the soldiers for britian would not go to hell they fought for what was right!!!

[MrXp3fuel]

edwards a true irishman

to brave for safety,but safety does not earn you the victoria cross

gutsy little soldier

[jmay2002]

I like how the German saw the tank and said "What the Hell is that!" We forget how advance the concept of a tank was in 1916.

[Samael16661]

@jmay2002 Well if all you knew tht could attack you were infantrymen and artillery, how would you feel about a plated metal behemoth hellbent and unstoppably trying to kill you?

[chroniclerofthe70s]

@jmay2002 The tank concept goes all the way back to roman warfare. The french tank was a modern steel version of the tank and not very effectively utilized in WWI.

[cleareyes1984]

Yea, but England sucks at soccer so it doesn't really matter. 1966 was a long time ago. Plus English people are emotionally repressed and have bad teeth. The weather also sucks.

[Nightlight1234567]

Untrue! germans where very frightened by tanks and retreated when faced with them.

[Andiish08]

maybe they were frightened and laughed at it at the same time...

..but they did have their own tanks did`nt they?

[ZemplinTemplar]

Not at all. Germans only deployed tanks of their own production a few months before the end of the war (google Kampfwagen A7V). All previous tanks they had were just stolen French tanks (google Renault FT-17 tank).

[Simonsuper1]

Historically, the tanks were laughed at by the germans, because they broke down or stopped all the time. Almost a year went on before they started being dangerous

[killamanz]

LoL I fucking love irish people and thats coming from an englishman.

[Nemskii]

I wish the Central powers had won. Europe would have been a much better place.

[fp470]

Are you insane?!

1. Germany commited horrible atrocities in Eastern Europe (no I am not talking about ww2 for those quick to judge) and Belgium.

2. Germany wanted to control the econmy of Europe and criple Belgium and gain concessions from most of Europe.

3. Germany would have been able to build a fleet and challenge British hegemony and arise as a world power endangering the US.

4. The end of democracy across Europe (Geman Democaracy was a very weak and had been toned down alot)

[fp470]

Also

5. The indepenance of the Serbian people was one of the reasons for the war being kicked of (but didnt cause the war) and this would have been crushed.

6. Many millions of serbs, slavs, croats, magyars, arabs, syrians, Belgians and Frenchman would have to endure foreign rulership.

[Nemskii]

1. So did the allies.

2. Which is nothing bad for us Bulgarians, being part of the Central powers.

3. How does this relate to the question you're trying to discuss with me?

4. Is that a bad thing? I just love it how everyone considers democracy as a measurement of good or bad.

5. Serbia is one of Bulgaria's bloodiest enemies so occupation suits us well, just like a German dominated Europe.

[fp470]

4. Democracy not always a measure of good and bad, but the proliferation of miltary dictatorship which had evolved out of Prussian royalists militarism is not good.

5. Its a pretty modern point that its good for peoples to have selfdetermination.

6. The false states you mention were part of trying to get it right. Whilst the illusion did quickly wear of you had an opportunity for similar peoples to form a country rule themselve rather than the Austraians & Magyars in Vienna

[Nemskii]

6. Similar to the Germans, Bulgarians and Hungarians who were left in numerous artificial states after the war (Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Greater Romania and others). The Bulgarian population of todays Macedonia was imposed on terror and serbisation resulting the todays fake Macedonia state, same goes for Transylvania(Hungarians) and Poland(Germans).

[fp470]

The western Entent powers didnt commit atrocities whilst the Russians did, but Germany and Austro-Hungaria were looking for massive racial realingments. You cant justify it

2. Dont think of it as a German dominated EU throwing bones to its allies think of a European Colonial power with Germany at the centre-not pleasant for anyone else except maybe the Austraians.

3. Germany's expansionism through a fleet would have caused many more years of conflict on a global scale.

[fp470]

Lastly your not that important as Bulgarians, your an alliance of conveniance against the Greeks and the Ottoman Empire not that thrilled about being on teh same side. It only would have been a matter of time before the Germans and Austro-Hungarians to loose interest in you and possibly let Ottomans reassert their hold on the region or amalgamated Bulgaria into the Austro-Hugarian empire. In the game of Empire little countries are friends one minute prey the next

[Nemskii]

The game of Empire continued to be played long after WW1. Neither Greece, nor Belgium were incorporated anywhere, this is laughable. Amalgamation in A-H was impossible due to the fact that the whole empire was fracturing even before the war. With Central power victors it would collapse again and most likely Hungary and Croatia would be restored in their real borders while Austria goes to Germany where it belongs. Sofia-Budapest-Zagreb-Berlin would be an ideal bulwark for the communist plague.

[fp470]

Had the central powers won Balkan nationalist efforts would have been crushed. Also had Austria-Hungary won would they really be fracturing? If they had been able to crush most resistance, even if it did build to an insurgency they still over time would have resumed their policy of Balkans expansion. Also think about it had the Ottomans held onto their empire over arabs and world's oil suppy they would have resurged very powerfully economically and be able to eye the Balkans again also.

[cleareyes1984]

War is gay. End of story.

[fp470]

Actually its often necessary and whilst unfortunate none of us would lead the current lives we lead without it! It is as much a part of humanity as learning, public culture and love

[cleareyes1984]

Its neccessary to protect empires and advance the agenda of powerfull people at the expense of the vast majority of people.

War has never advanced freedom. Freedom has grown gradually because freer society outproduce less free societies, so no actually, war is very gay indeed.

[fp470]

Its necessary to protect our homes sometimes too?

If not for the Great War there would have been alot less Freedom for many peoples. Countries were born from nations who could only dream of freedom for centuries. Belgium's freedom and the welbeing of her people were won by WW1. Also how does the price of Jeans Europe or the US who can outproduce poor countries make say Mexicans any freer from economic slavery? Your argument is all over the shop and lacks historical bases.

[cleareyes1984]

Yes, but that is rarely the case.

In WWI the allies were just as imperialistic as the central powers. Ireland was ruled by GB and Poland, Finland, Ukraina, LIthuania, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Georgia, and Armenia was ruled by Russia. Also don't forget the oversees empire that France and GB had.

There were no good guys in WWI. It was crapfest of severed limbs and destroyed lives.

Like feudalism, Communism fell by being unable to compete with capitalism, not by war. War is gay.

[fp470]

Also? What about your own revolution to secure your own govenance, life liberty and pursuit of hapiness?

[cleareyes1984]

True, but that was a revolt and a revolution against an oversees power, which is the rare exception. Most of the time war is about conquest.

For the same reason the US had no right to be in Vietnam, the most homoerotic of all failed crapfest imperialistic conquests.

War will never change. Its old men fighting and young me dying.

[fp470]

Now that we can agre that war can be for good.I stress can.

Humans seek their own interest, which isnt necessarily bad. Countries seek their own good and it is only in the pursuit of the good that we occasionally have a double effect. What is good for one is bad for another.

In the Great War there was a struggle between imperialist powers. But ultimately it was just two systems seeking their own good.

Thus war is very human. And humanity isnt pretty. Each war should be looked at

[fp470]

...on its own merits. However ultimately humans are well human. We want war as much as we want anything else.

Its only been since WW2 that the cult of freedom, apathy and cycnicism about our own humanity has occured. However as the US's power slips and other countries get back to a strong position. I think armed conflicnt will re-emerge in the environment of anarchy that is slowly re-establishing.

Ultimately war isnt gay, its just very human. Like germ theory it can be good and/or bad

[cleareyes1984]

I would agree with everything you say. I would also add I don't really care much for the human race. The masses LOVE to 'win' and identify with something more powerfull than themselves because ultimately we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees. They HATE to think. War is the combination of team sports and the Coloseum.

Hence why I would never serve in any war. I would either flee the country, desert, or murder my commanding officer while he slept if I could get away with it.

[fp470]

Fair enough. I like your cynicism. I hope you are in a job that requires intellect. If only my government was half as cynical as you it wouldnt be as messed up. I hope there are more out there like you :)

[cleareyes1984]

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many jobs, even well paying ones, that require intellect. With increased globalization and division of labor, jobs are becoming more specified while involving more mulitasking.

Governments are cynical, but for their own interest. Why is the Australian government any different from any other government?

[fp470]

The phrase 'gulliable twats' would be a massive understatement.

1. We think China is friendly

2. We are commiting to carbon trading at levels beyond our means to pay

3. We think we are important to world community because the US says good on you!

4. We are ridiculously PC

5. I need not go on:) Those are the topics of this week alone. Not to mention other stupid things we always take at face value, like the UN.

[cleareyes1984]

Australia is PC? Really? How so? I thought the US was the master emperor of political correctness. Here, every issue and incident regarding blacks has to be looked primarily through a racial lense, no matter how tangential the race issue may be. Of course most white people refuse in public to admit this for fear of being labeled a racist, and their concerns are well founded.

I have been called a racist for asking a black guy to move his illegally parked car that was blocking me in. Its wack.

[fp470]

Well we have Aboriginies and they are a protected species. Also other minorities have that many rights and judges on a constant look out for them its frustrating.

We also have to say he/she, or eliminate gender from public notices and manuals.

And dont worry mate, say what I say. I am not a racist, I am a realist. Call a spade a spade...whoops you cant say that in public either, they changed the saying officially to shovel :) Note: spade isnt even in the Australian slang terms as a black

[cleareyes1984]

Wow, that sounds just like the US. Do you have 'hate crime' legislation? I know you have sexual harassment laws.

Contrary to liberal dogma, I don't believe you can treat people equally and differently at the same time. People can be protected under statutes that apply to everyone.

Case in point: sexual harassment. Inappropriate sexual displays in the workplace would be covered much better by some modified workplace obsenity law. I don't think you can say that someone with pornography on

[fp470]

Not really have hate legislation, some stuf like it but only in cases of violence.

Also my question you should pose to such feminist types:

Do you want to be Equal? Yes.

Then would you feel happy sharing a public toilet with men?

No. But...

No but nothing, either be equal or be happy with fair equal treatment

You should find this will piss them off quicktime, but you will enjoy watching them lip flap till they just storm off in a typical women way....

[fp470]

When I get accused of being sexist or racist I just reply. Well at least I am not an oxygen theif...usually takes a few mins for it to click

[zabithezabi]

lol @ tank

[waffenss088]

Very educational....

[AAWXXDD]

So pvt. Frederick Edwards couldn't read or write? Just a throwaway slur on the Irish, a more literate people than the English, and who helped to save Britain's ass in 2 World Wars.

[koddswollop]

are you thick of course the irish would be expected to save britains ass as it is part of it you nob, same as the english and scottish saved britains ass.

[kingsman565]

Well done Fred. : )

[POOPERMCPOOPS]

why is it that every WW1 or WWII video I see theres comments about european people and americans fighting? Cant we all just be happy we didnt have to go through that?! Nice documentary though

[smoky90210]

There will always be wars Pooper.

[firefab3]

yep thats right

[Alex787]

we got them in the end eh

[Mattwr01]

now, that said, in defense of my country I suppose, anyone from Europe feeling self-rightous about himself concerning Americans and our current wars should remember that the most violent places in the world, Africa and the middle east, were conquered, colonized and divided up by the nations of Europe, especially the British Empire, more so than the US, and yet those same nations do little to nothing to intervene in the bloodshed that plagues the peoples of those places right now

[Squire19lUK]

do little i think you will find the british are in peace keeping duties all over those blood thirsty countrys another thing the british improved the lives of the people which it ruled over most of them countries were ruled by evil warlords who didnt care bout the poor part of thier country the british at least fed the population and introduced them to better technologies to imrpove thier lives its only when we left that they went back to thier old habbits but i do know what you meanbouttheothers

[peoplecan1965]

fuck em.

[Mattwr01]

you know... arguing over who was more important in a war fought nearly 100 years ago is down right silly. None of the nations involved in the conflict behave much like they did back then and rightly so as it was a completely different era and different set of circumnstances. Attacking an entire nation of your own allies over a war fought before any you were born isn't going to prove anything except that you need to get a life

[firefab3]

you americans piss me off. in every video about a british success in the war there is always an ignorent fat american who says "well you never would of done this without our help" or "we gave u supplies" ect listen here, in ww1 english and french fought all americans did was trade metal so americans stfu its us brits dying out there you were all safe at home eating your self fat so well done to britian and france for the somme victory america can suck my balls.

[klined]

it's true the french and british did most of the fighting, but it's also true the war was at a stalemate until the us got fully involved in the war.

call it whatever you want, that' still the reality.

The us should have stayed out of it

[SOLIDROBB]

bull.. the british/french completly left poland alone for a month agaisnt Germany/Russia

and france fell within days

[adiosarethebest]

Who saved your Ass in world war 2 against the krauts?

[firefab3]

russia and poland saved britians ass in ww2 against the krauts you fking asshole , america liberarted europe dip shit , Poland helped out in the battle of britian and russia defeated the germans in the east where all america did was join in the last years of the war to liberate france you complete twat , you did not help us one bit. uneducated fool

[SOLIDROBB]

true dat... but Im o fan of russia... if they didnt attack Poland.. Poland could of fought of germany

[dreameroftheday]

Poland saved Britain? Are you stoned? Polish contribution to the Battle of Britain was non-significant.

[219970]

The Soviet Union would have defeated Germany with or without the Allies support - in fact, by 1942 (years before significant allied involvement in Europe) the Germans were losing the war. The USSR massively weakened Germany by the time D-day happened. That said, in the Far East, US involvement was far more critical. And US financial support was key for Britain 1940-41 when Britain stood alone. Britain would not have lost without the US, but wouldn't have won the war either.

[koddswollop]

i beleive hitler would have defeated the soviet union with something to spare despite the conditions if it was the only nation he was at war with, same with the u.s

[peoplecan1965]

The Royal Air Force, and the commonwealth pilots.

[Fallen616]

maxwell, damn you, damn you all to hell, you blew it up, damnnnnn youuuuu.

[troyalldis]

"quiet now eh" I hope edward got killed. A slow lingering kind.

[troyalldis]

I hate the brits, "every German should be exterminated." I hate the arrogant brits.

[peoplecan1965]

your such a twat hahahah..

[troyalldis]

And your british. Sorry, couldn't think of anything worse to say. *snicker, snicker,snicker*

[mlosmlos]

brits rule!german sucks!You lost two world war!ha-ha!

P.S.I am not british

[AmericanPride202]

You do realize that the Germans kicked ass in both World Wars. WW1 against Britain France and Russia and WW2 against Britain, Russia, french resistence. Both times Germany could have won, if only America hadn't came in to ruin their fun ;)

[ektatherm]

Where did you Americans attack Germany from in WW2 ? The German ARMY was indeed formidable during the Second World War,however I don't recall the Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine kicking our "asses"

[AmericanPride202]

America and Britain attacked Germany from the west in France and the south in North Africa then Italy. Without America, Great Britain could have been knocked out of Africa and there could have been an invasion of Britain if Hitler hadn't attacked Russia. I'm not tryin to say that we kicked Germany's ass, theres was ass kickin on both sides, but without America in the war, Germany definitely could have beaten Russia and won.

[ektatherm]

America and Britain(and Commonwealth) attacked Germany from BRITAIN-because we were still holding out.By 1944,the Battle of Britain was a distant ,but vitally important victory;the Battle of the Atlantic was pretty much won. El Alamein in 1942 was won by British/Commonwealth troops-Rommel was retreating fast.Yes,lend-lease was vital,and American troops equally so,but we do get a bit fed up with the attitude ,from some Americans,that we had done bugger all until you saved our "asses"

[AmericanPride202]

Well, your right. Great Britain did some kick ass work during WW2. We also get fed up with attitude from some Europeans that America didn't do shit in either if the world wars (believe it or not some do believe that), so I'm sorry if i offended you. However, I do believe that if Germany hadn't attacked Russia, Great Britain would have been overwhelmed.

[ektatherm]

People from all countries come on here and talk shit.They feel that the best way of sticking up for their own countries , is to denigrate the efforts of others.I'm not offended by your comments-they are opinions to be agreed with or argued against. They're not mindless and abusive,unlike some.

[AmericanPride202]

Yea, i hate people who come on here and just start bashing and insulting other countries just to make theirs look better... on the internet XD lame.

The reason Germany wasen't capable of attacking Britain in 1940 was because they were gathering a lot of men and material for their push into Russia in 1941. Britain did beat the German airforce pretty bad though and your also right about the Navy thing, but the Navy can only do so much when attacked from sea and air.

[gert83]

What you say is nothing more than ill informed garbage. Even if the Germans had won the Battle of Britain, they would not have been able to invade Britain - in post WWII war games the British navy came down from Scapa flow and made mince out of their landing barges in the channel and the home guard conducting a guerilla campaign resulting in 90,000 German dead in 1 week.

As for WWI - the German army was beaten by the time the yanks arrived - the arrival of the yanks just convinced them of it.

[AmericanPride202]

I do believe that the German airforce "if it won" would be able to if not take out the British Navy threat, then neutralize it. Then the landing boats would come. The Nazi's were scum, but not stupid

[gert83]

Well they actually wargamed it post war with the same generals in charge on both sides, and the Germans suffered 90,000 killed in week 1. The Germans had great weapons and well trained, motivated troops, but the British had a better navy and a well trained geurilla force (based on WWI vets) in the home guard.d

[AmericanPride202]

Good point. I guess Hitler should have focused on a better Navy.

[TurkuBentu]

Now it is a big debate over whether the harshness of the Versailles treaty imposed upon a weakened and humiliated people inevitably led to some kind of extreme ideology such as Nazism, or whether a conditional peace would simply have allowed the German Military Dictatorship to regroup for a second war. BTW the Kaiser Slacht failed mainly due to poor German logistics and the efforts of depleted British Empire and French divisions to halt them, most notably at Amiens.

[ektatherm]

The English Channel would have been a death trap for U-Boats.The Luftwaffe was not the Imperial Japanese Navy-their record against British ships larger than a destroyer was unimpressive.The Army didn't have the equipment necessary to invade.

[gert83]

"Ass kicking"...the very phrase shows how you just have no idea.

1M men on all sides becae casualties at the Somme - oh, and another thing, those "cheese eating surrender monkeys" the French suffered 1.4 million killed in WWI. Stick to the X-Box son.

[ektatherm]

I think that "kicking ass"was far from uppermost in my Grandfather's mind as a 16 yr old on the Iron Duke at Jutland:or my Great -Uncle lying in a ditch on the Somme, surrounded by poppies,with a bullet in one of his lungs.

[ektatherm]

Fortunately,my Grandfather lived into his late 80s and my Great-Uncle well into his 90s-they were lucky!

[gert83]

Go to Thiepoval, Verdun or Paschendaele before you spout your stupid, badly informed bile. Get a lesson in real pointless and ruthless fighing. The yanks suffered 500,000 dead in WWI and II, the Brits 1.7 million.

You wanna know why people think the yanks are triumphalist, boastful cretins?

[AmericanPride202]

Ok, the only thing you proved was that the British fought longer than America in WW1.  What I'm saying is that Germany could have won if America hadn't given valuable supplies throughout the war and fresh troops that rose morale for the british and french troops near the end.

[gert83]

Well the fact we managed to isolate the Germans while receiving supplies from the USA obviously had a major bearing on the outcome.

These WWI battles were horrific, wasteful, brutal affairs, only matched by the Eastern front in WWII. The Americans didn't fight at Verdun, Somme or Passchendaele -if they had you wouldn't be speaking about "kicking ass".

[gert83]

The German army was beaten by the time of significant US troop deployment, but the British army and especially the French were exhausted. The arrival of US troops convinced the German leaders of the fact they were beaten, but here is no way after the 100 day offensive (fought almost entirely by the anglo-french) that the Germans could stay in it.

[cnochain]

Read about the battle of Amien 8-11 August 1918.

[AmericanPride202]

Right, but if there were no US troops, the last German offensive could have pushed the french troops and british troops over the edge to the point where they just couldn't handle it anymore. US troops, how ever small of a group there was right when we joined in, raised morale for the allied side and, like you said, pushed the Germans to the point where they didn't think they could not fight anymore.

[TurkuBentu]

They undoubtedly helped, but Germany wanted peace after the failure of the Kaiser Slacht - their people were starving and beginning to succumb to Spanish flu, their army was in mutiny and there was a real danger of a Russian style revolution. Without the Americans they probably could have negotiated a conditional surrender which left their army and military dictatorship intact.

[ChuDanny]

I love WW1

[BenTheGamer]

thanks for uploading these vids :)

[Ericthefilo]

haha the shock of seeing a tank, probably no more horrifying than facing a wall of machine guns during a charge anyway.

[Qander1336]

Yeah, BBC really rock sometimes. Best WW1 documentary I've seen!

[Zagato86Trueno]

Fritz wouldn't cooperate with the tank. Oops.

[radgirl2004222]

i love this video a lot

[stperkin]

Its amazing what technological and tactial advances were made (on both sides) in such a short period of time. Thanks for posting this awsome BBC documentary!

[Cutufoolcut]

Fantastic production values!

[McWiggles411]

nice vid 5 star

[radgirl2004222]

cool as video i really liked it

[radgirl2004222]

i really like Fredrick Edwards rox!!! because my great grandparents were irish