(5/6) The Greatest Raid of All World War II

[RobertRuhi]

@5.00 minutes; 120 men (half of them wounded) vs 5000. Let us remember them!

Thomas Frank Durrant VC was a posthumous English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded. His award of the Victoria Cross was unique in that it is the only award given to a soldier in a naval action and it was on the recommendation of the enemy commander.

[jlastre]

My understanding is that Sgt. Thomas Durrant VC is the only soldier to receive the VC for a naval action and only recipient recommended by the enemy.

[MrSoakitincider]

real men



[MinisterAilingTongue]

The Germans were really impressed by the Commandos bravery. That's probably the most surprising thing I learned from this documentary.

[hogalog]

@MinisterAilingTongue the germans had a lot of respect for the british full stop during the war. the only british fighting men who they treated inhumanely were the "terror fliege" - the boys from bomber command. who if they were shot down and bailed out, could expect to be thrown into the nearest burning building or hanged from the nearest convenient tree.

[SvenTviking]

The strange thing thing was that before the war, Mickey Burn had been a Fascist, had met Hitler, and was gay!

[skidgud80]

How could this POSSIBLY be a greater raid than Eben Emael??? "Greatest Raid of WWII" my arse.

[ingerlander]

@skidgud80 Without going into any detail as to why Eben Emael wasn't even close in comparison with this venture, let me just say this: We were fighting Germans, you were fighting Belgians. I rest my case.

[Talbot6832]

@skidgud80 You are a member of a defeated nation, your people have no right to say anything about this war or the one before it for at least another 500 years. End of, now fuck off.

[dannyrm100]

@Talbot6832 What has skidgud80 said to U to rate such a negative comment from U?

He/she is another person on this hostile planet with us(including U) & has a right to make his opinions known by posting them in a public-forum. Lighten-up man,...are you assuming that this person is German,...?...500 years? I dont get it? That hatred, will eat U alive.- The pronoun ',..your people...' is Name-Calling'

b

luggage

[petethebastard]

...thumb-print reckoning, it's a 400-500Km trek, through enemy held territory!

[eddykaneval]

id love to hear how the 5 made it to spain, i bet thats one hell of a tale

[petethebastard]

Akin to B20, (but not captured?)...

Fucking HARD, Smart and lucky bastards!

PtB

[Wollemand]

anyone know that gun 06:05

[redisbig]

Browning BAR the Germans got them from the Polish army and i believe they converted them to first 8mm Mauser! its a rare bit of footage

[Wollemand]

Thanks

I thought it looked strange-- :-)

Wondering why the Germans didnt copy it,

I found out it was wery heavy: aprox 8-9 kg while the german counterpart MG 34 weighed aprox 12,1 kg

Guess they thought the Mg 34 was better--

[redisbig]

Nah Hitler didn't like squad type auto's he was a WW1 man so his idea was rifle and MG i did read some were he didn't even like sub machine guns and the only reason they got the STG44 was because they made it behind his back

[TheRawke]

Bullshit, the LMG is just superior to the BAR. Even the US-Paras prefered the .30cal MGs in their squads instead of using the BAR (even though there was an increased use in Operation Market Garden because all the automatic firepower they could get was needed). Hitler was a corporal in WW2, spending most of the time as a runner. He reportedly never participated in an assault. Also, he was a huge Blitzkriegfan, mobility was just what he wanted - that, and a lot of unuseful terror weapons.

[Lachausis]

@redisbig Yeah, I heard that too. Hitler's many blunders basically saved Western Europe from falling into Soviet hands. Lucky bastards.

[petethebastard]

LMG (now) = box-fed. The MG34 was what we now call a GPMG = belt-fed. LMG's don't have the sustained fire of the GPMG/HMG [MG34 or 42, or the Vickers.

The Germans were big on MG fire at a lower command level.

I'd rather a 12kg weapon, to be more verstaile, than a 9kg weapon that couldn't do a job.

Also... B.A.R. is 1man. MG34/42 were crew served. Not the same gig.

PtB

[petethebastard]

...but! I carried my machineguns in the turret of an APC. Fuck carrying 'em, or the ammo! [Big smiles BIG Smiles!]

PtB

[Wollemand]

:-) Know what you mean..

[petethebastard]

MG#$ was definately better.

[TheRawke]

The standard German infnatry tactics in WW2 concentrated on the MGs in the squads. Instead of a section giving covering fire, the MGs would cover the whole squad and surpress the enemy while the riflemen were used as flank protection and/or for assaults. Considering the heavy weight of the BAR and the low ammo capacity AND the fact that the Wehrmacht already had the MP40 as rapid fire support for assault, the BAR was just not handy enough to be worth copying.

[stuartthegrant]

What guys they will live in history forever.

[redriot74]

I agree wholeheartedly with you these guys were formidable, MAY THEY REST IN PEACE!THEY ARE REAL HEROES.

[gurugurukuma]

@stuartthegrant they are immortal