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00:00August the 25th, 1944. Paris was liberated.
00:30That same day to the east, Romania changed sides, and with her defection went Hitler's
00:38only natural oil supply. Bulgaria had already quit the Axis, and Finland, too, began negotiating
00:45with the Russians for an armistice. General de Gaulle, the free French leader, enters his
00:55capital. The capital, four years before, he had left a comparatively unknown soldier.
01:02Now he was being greeted as the very soul of France. For Parisians, the dark years of German
01:14occupation were over. Could it be long before the rest of Europe was freed, too?
01:25Yeah, yeah.
01:33Yeah.
01:37Yeah.
01:46Yeah!
02:18August the 15th, 1944, Operation Anvil, the Allied invasion of Southern France.
02:48With the breakout from the Normandy beachhead underway to the north, Anvil was meant to begin the pincer movement on Hitler's Germany from all sides.
02:57The pincer movement that was to squeeze the Third Reich dry.
03:01We leapt into the sand near Saint-Tropez and I thought, this is it, they're going to open up any minute.
03:09And suddenly out through the mists on our particular stretch of the beach, there came a Frenchman.
03:14And he carried a tray of champagne glasses.
03:17And we all stopped.
03:19I mean, quite clear, this is utterly unexpected.
03:21And he smiled and turned to me and said,
03:23Welcome, but if I venture a little criticism, you are somewhat late.
03:30And from there on, it was known to the troops as the Champagne Campaign.
03:33Everywhere, during those mad, joyful weeks of August 1944, the Germans were being driven back towards the borders of their own country.
03:46Those Frenchmen who had collaborated with the hated Bosch became ever more desperate.
03:59Those Frenchmen who had consorted with their conquerors were now singled out for special treatment.
04:29Thousands upon thousands of sullen, bewildered Germans were taken prisoner.
04:51Sometimes whole divisions at a time.
04:53Approximately 20,000 German troops are surrendered by their commander, Major General Eric Elster.
05:01General Elster hands over his pistol as a token of surrender.
05:08General Elster commanded the Biarritz area from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Bay of Biscay.
05:23To many in the Allied camp, the war seemed as good as over.
05:31Indeed, there was talk of being back home for Christmas.
05:34But the top brass didn't always see eye to eye on just how the final victory was to be won.
05:40Montgomery argued that the Germans had had a very heavy defeat in Normandy.
05:46They'd lost approximately 500,000 troops, 43 divisions had been smashed, and 2,000 tanks.
05:57This was the moment to really hit them.
06:00And what he advocated was a strong drive up the coastal plain,
06:05with the right on the Ardennes and the left probably almost on the coastline,
06:10day and night, never letting up, never giving them time to recover.
06:16And, of course, he would be in command of this.
06:20We'd go right through, bounce the crossing of the Rhine,
06:22come round behind the Royal Cuttmall,
06:24and the war would be over in 1944.
06:26That's what he thought.
06:28Eisenhower said, no, I don't like this.
06:31It's a pencil-like thrust.
06:32You're not touching a lot of the troops which are in France.
06:35I proposed to advance on a broad front, right up to the Rhine,
06:41and then to a crossing of the Rhine, and finish the war there.
06:45But that was perhaps safer.
06:48But it meant that the war couldn't be finished in 1944.
06:52I think the British were very slow to realise
06:57that the main effort for war in Europe lay with the Americans.
07:01I think the British press was probably slow as well.
07:06I think people forgot that the great weight of divisions
07:12and supplies and so on were American.
07:17After we broke out from the bridgehead,
07:20supply for a very long time had to come over the beaches
07:23or be carried by air.
07:26Army groups found often that they couldn't do what they wanted to do
07:29from lack of supplies, particularly petrol.
07:47Each tank used a gallon of petrol a mile.
07:50The trucks carrying the stuff stretched back 250 miles
07:56to the Normandy beaches.
07:59Such had been the speed of the Allied breakout
08:02that pockets of German troops had been left behind,
08:05and so the road convoys had often to run a gauntlet
08:07of enemy sniping along the way.
08:14The lorry drivers had nicknamed the area
08:16between Paris and the front line,
08:18Injun country.
08:19The hardest fighting of all was along the coast.
08:37Every port had been garrisoned by Hitler
08:39with orders to fight to the proverbial last round.
08:42The Havre, Dieppe, Boulogne, Calais, Dunkirk
08:47had all to be assaulted in turn
08:50by separate set-piece battle.
08:56Hitler knew supply would be the Allies' main headache,
08:59hence his determination to hang on to the channel ports
09:01as long as possible,
09:03and when finally yielded,
09:04to see they were destroyed utterly.
09:06One-third of Montgomery's forces were engaged
09:19in clearing the Germans from the channel ports,
09:22while the rest pushed on into Belgium.
09:24My really big moment was when we crossed the frontier,
09:35because, you see,
09:37I had commanded the rearguard
09:39during the withdrawal to Dunkirk.
09:42I was then a battalion commander,
09:44and I'd been doing flankguard and rearguard
09:47to the 3rd Division commander
09:49by a certain fuel marshal, Montgomery,
09:51who was then a general.
09:53And I was very ashamed of myself.
09:56We'd advanced up to the chairs of the Belgian people,
10:00and now a few days later,
10:02back we were going through these ashen-faced crowds,
10:06terribly despondent.
10:07They knew they were going to be occupied again
10:09by the Germans.
10:10And I kept on saying,
10:12don't worry, we'll come back.
10:15And as we crossed the frontier,
10:17we had come back.
10:18And a young man,
10:21I suppose he saw the red around my hat, you know,
10:24and he ran across to my tank.
10:29There were tears pouring down his face.
10:32And he held out his hand like this,
10:34and he said,
10:35I knew you'd come back.
10:36I knew you'd come back.
10:37I knew you'd come back.
10:48Now, a friend of mine in Brussels told me
10:53that he heard the sound of tanks,
10:55but they were quite used to that.
10:57And he looked out of the window,
10:59and he said to himself,
11:00those are rather different.
11:01They don't seem to be German.
11:03Then he opened the window and lent out,
11:05and somebody waved to him.
11:07And he said,
11:08they're British.
11:10And he tore down into the street,
11:12and so did everybody else in Brussels.
11:15There has never been such a scene.
11:18It was when we liberated us,
11:19never.
11:20And some of the really tough old 30-core veterans
11:24still blush to think of the things that happened.
11:26So far, so good.
11:51Now we come to the mistakes.
11:53We were ordered to halt.
11:54The reason was that we were outrunning our supply.
11:59Now, this was wrong,
12:01because we had 100 kilometers worth of petrol
12:04with our vehicles,
12:07and another 100 kilometers
12:08within about 24 hours' reach.
12:11And they should, in my opinion,
12:13have taken a chance,
12:14because that day that we were altered,
12:17the only thing between us and the Rhine
12:21was one division of very old gentlemen.
12:26We call them the stomach divisions,
12:27because they were sort of my age,
12:30and they all had things wrong with their tummies.
12:32They'd been guarding the coast of Holland.
12:35They'd never seen a shot fired in anger,
12:37and they'd been delighted to move peacefully
12:39into our prisoner of war camps
12:40without having to indulge in this horrid war.
12:43That was the sort of mentality.
12:45Plus one Dutch SS battalion.
12:47Nothing.
12:48We could have brushed straight through them,
12:50gone on,
12:51bounced the crossings of the Rhine,
12:53and cut all the Germans in Holland off
12:56from the Ruhr,
12:57and then got round behind the Ruhr.
13:00Unquestionably.
13:01It was a very, to my mind,
13:02a very bad mistake.
13:03We should have taken a risk.
13:05When we were allowed to advance,
13:07which was the 7th of September,
13:09we made 10 miles in four days.
13:14We had previously done 250 miles in seven days.
13:19We were no longer pursuing.
13:21We were now fighting again.
13:23Then, on the 11th of September,
13:34I got my orders for Arnim.
13:36The three main waterways of the Rhine Delta
13:39lay between the Allied spearheads in Germany proper.
13:42The Mars, the Waal, and the Nader Rhein.
13:47Montgomery's plan was to lay an airborne carpet
13:50across these waterways,
13:52capture the bridges,
13:53and rush a mobile force
13:55round the left flank of the Siegfried Line
13:57to cut off the Ruhr,
13:58and so end German resistance
14:00before Christmas 1944.
14:23Let's see, guys.
14:33I've got it.
14:57There's enough to run.
14:58I've got it.
15:03Many people will tell you
15:27that the plan was wrong,
15:31there were too many objectives,
15:32all the parachutists were not landed
15:35in proper places and so on.
15:37The weather, of course,
15:38was not good and interrupted.
15:41But I think that if more attention
15:43had been paid
15:44to what you might call
15:45the enemy's dispositions,
15:47then I think the plan
15:48would have been all right.
15:49The airborne troops
16:13who landed at Arnhem
16:14suddenly
16:15found themselves up against
16:17some German armoured units
16:19that were refitting there.
16:21And it just happened
16:22to be there at the time.
16:23Among the first officers
16:40who were landed
16:42among the parachutists,
16:43the Germans found
16:44a complete copy
16:46of our plan.
16:48And this was whisked off
16:49to the German commander
16:51on the spot.
16:53And of course,
16:53from then on,
16:54he had all the information
16:55of what we were trying to do.
17:19It's anyone's guess
17:24whether having got
17:26the bridgehead
17:26over the Rhine
17:27at that time of the year
17:29with the bad weather setting in,
17:31whether we'd have been able
17:32to maintain that
17:33for several months
17:35during the winter.
17:36As one knew from experience
17:38how magnificent
17:39the Germans were
17:40in retrieving
17:41critical situations.
17:43The battle went on
17:48for three or four days
17:50and we couldn't really
17:52make any progress.
17:54Eventually, Montgomery
17:56decided that
17:57he couldn't go on
17:59and that the
18:02operations would be called off
18:04and get as many people
18:05back across the Rhine
18:07as possible,
18:07which he did.
18:08We lost quite a lot.
18:10But I think one's got to be
18:11quite honest and say
18:12that it failed
18:14in its object.
18:16It achieved partial success
18:18and I always hate
18:20using that expression
18:21of glorious failures.
18:23I wouldn't call it that,
18:24but it was a failure
18:26up to a point.
18:28The failure at Arnhem
18:29meant the war
18:31would now definitely
18:32not be over
18:33by Christmas 1944.
18:37It meant, too,
18:38that the initiative
18:39for the moment
18:40had been lost
18:41by the Western Allies.
18:44But on the Eastern Front
18:45it was a vastly
18:46different story.
18:49There,
18:49the Red Army
18:50was advancing everywhere.
18:51In the center,
18:52a hundred thousand Germans
18:53had been surrounded
18:54at Minsk.
18:55In the north,
18:56Finland had been
18:57knocked out of the war,
18:59Estonia recaptured,
19:00Latvia and Lithuania
19:01cleared of German troops,
19:03and the borders
19:04of East Prussia
19:05reached.
19:06In the south,
19:08the Ukraine
19:09had been freed,
19:11Romania had capitulated,
19:13Bulgaria had been
19:14overrun,
19:15Greece cut off,
19:17and a link-up
19:18affected with
19:19Tito's partisans
19:20in Yugoslavia.
19:22It was a story
19:23of gigantic triumph,
19:24of overwhelming success
19:26everywhere in the East,
19:29save in one
19:30near-forgotten city
19:31where the war
19:32had first begun
19:33five years before,
19:35Poland's capital,
19:36Warsaw.
19:37By July 1944,
19:41the Red Army
19:41occupied the eastern
19:42half of Poland,
19:44that half allocated
19:45to them in the
19:46Hitler-Stalin Pact
19:47of August 1939.
19:50The exiled
19:51Polish government
19:51in London
19:52was anxious
19:52to assert itself
19:54before the Russians
19:55overran the rest
19:56of their country,
19:56otherwise,
19:57in their eyes,
19:58it would merely be
19:59an exchange of occupiers
20:01rather than
20:01true liberation.
20:03As the Red Army
20:04approached Warsaw,
20:06the German
20:07garrison
20:07seemed ready
20:08to leave.
20:23On July 29th,
20:25a Russian broadcast
20:25talked of Warsaw's
20:27impending liberation
20:28and urged
20:29the workers
20:29of the resistance
20:30to rise
20:31against the
20:31retreating Germans.
20:33On August 1st,
20:34the Polish
20:35underground army
20:36inside Warsaw
20:37did rise,
20:38though they did not
20:39all support
20:40the London government.
20:42However,
20:42the aim of those
20:43who did
20:43was to fly in
20:45the government
20:45in exile
20:46once they controlled
20:46the city
20:47and set up
20:48a legitimate regime
20:49before the Russians
20:50arrived.
20:52But the uprising
20:53coincided
20:54with the Russian
20:55offensive running
20:56out of steam,
20:57a coincidence
20:58that nevertheless
20:59suited Stalin's book.
21:00Stalin was very suspicious
21:03of the underground,
21:05but it was utterly cruel
21:06that he wouldn't even
21:07try to get supplies in.
21:09He refused to let
21:10our airplanes fly
21:11and try to drop supplies
21:13for several weeks.
21:14And that was a shock
21:15to all of us,
21:16and I think it played a role
21:17in all of our minds
21:19as to the heartlessness
21:20of the Russians.
21:22We had a very strong
21:27underground organization
21:28with the civilian government
21:30and all the military
21:32commands,
21:35and that was organized
21:37during the four years
21:38of the German occupation,
21:41and it just surfaced
21:42and took its functions.
21:43The postal service,
21:46which was run by scouts,
21:48was the only means
21:49of communications
21:50between the various
21:51districts of Warsaw,
21:52which were completely
21:53cut off by enemy fire.
21:56The scouts,
21:57to get from one district
21:58to another,
21:59had sometimes
22:00to go through sewers
22:01and or under the enemy fire.
22:10At the very beginning
22:12of the uprising,
22:12we had ammunition
22:13for only, I think,
22:1410 or 12 days,
22:16and then we had to rely
22:18on the ammunition
22:20taken from the Germans,
22:22or there were factories
22:24of ammunition
22:25and arms in Warsaw
22:27going on,
22:28and they were producing
22:29their own ammunition.
22:42There is something
22:47in Polish national character,
22:48you know,
22:48which is optimistic,
22:49and we do not give up
22:51so easily.
22:51I would have given,
22:52you know,
22:52half of my life
22:53for the privilege
22:54of participating
22:55in Warsaw in Selection,
22:56you know.
22:57There was a tremendous
22:58intensification,
22:59you know,
23:00of moral life,
23:02intellectual life,
23:03emotional life,
23:04you know,
23:05the best sides
23:07of people
23:08coming to the foreground.
23:09We had lots of recitals
23:26throughout Warsaw's
23:27insurrection.
23:27There were people
23:37who took
23:39single-handed actions
23:41against the tanks,
23:43the people
23:43who threw themselves
23:45at enemy machine guns,
23:48and things like that.
23:48There was plenty
23:49of individual heroism.
23:52The London Poles
23:53almost pulled it off,
23:55for by the end
23:55of the first week
23:56they controlled
23:57most of the city,
23:58and the RAF
23:59was set to fly in
24:00the Polish government
24:01in exile.
24:02But then,
24:03Hitler,
24:04realizing Stalin
24:05was going to do nothing,
24:07ordered the SS
24:07to crush the uprising,
24:09which they proceeded
24:09to do with great relish
24:11and with great ruthlessness.
24:26The bombing was very bad
24:35without interruption,
24:36practically,
24:37not only bombing it,
24:39we had artillery also.
24:41We would cover all that
24:42with newspapers.
24:43This was the first thing
24:44always, you see,
24:45before the funeral,
24:46you see,
24:48in order not to spoil
24:49the morale.
24:50During the last days
24:58of the uprising
24:59where only one district
25:01was left unoccupied
25:02by the Germans,
25:03there were three to four
25:04or perhaps five thousand people,
25:06there were sometimes
25:0730 or 40 people
25:08sleeping in one room.
25:10Now,
25:10the Germans were bombarding
25:12us with their dive bombers.
25:14We had less and less food,
25:29you know.
25:30We had some starches,
25:32we didn't have bread,
25:33we had spaghetti,
25:34things of that sort.
25:35And at the end,
25:36you know,
25:37we would kill horses,
25:39you see,
25:39and eat horse meat,
25:40you know.
25:41And dogs were eaten also,
25:44the London Poles
25:51became ever more frantic
25:52in their hopelessness
25:53and blamed the British
25:55for their plight.
25:56But the RAF
25:57couldn't fly in
25:59much supplies
25:59as long as Stalin
26:01refused to let them
26:02refuel in Soviet-held territory.
26:04By the time
26:05he'd been persuaded
26:06to relent,
26:07so little was left
26:08of Warsaw
26:09that the supplies dropped
26:11fell more often
26:12than not
26:12into German hands.
26:14We were terribly
26:16disappointed.
26:17The whole world
26:18forgot about us.
26:20I feel that Poland
26:21was betrayed
26:22by allies,
26:23you see.
26:25Towards the end,
26:25we felt that there was
26:27absolutely no hope
26:27for us.
26:28We won't get any help
26:30from the Russians.
26:31The Germans were
26:32set on
26:33absolutely annihilating us.
26:35and therefore
26:37I didn't bother
26:39to duck
26:40when I was going
26:42under the fire.
26:44I think like that.
26:45I just had the feeling
26:47that I should die
26:48sooner or later,
26:48sooner,
26:49better.
26:54The Germans
26:55even brought up
26:55their biggest siege guns,
26:57the dreaded giant mortar
26:58nicknamed Thorn,
27:00each of whose shells
27:01weighed more than
27:02two tons.
27:06It was a hopeless battle now
27:08that had been going on
27:10for ten long weeks
27:11and had already
27:13caused the lives
27:13of more than
27:14two hundred thousand
27:15Poles.
27:16The time had come
27:18to call a halt.
27:19Surprisingly,
27:39the Germans
27:39allowed the Poles
27:40to surrender honorably
27:41and treated them
27:42not as partisans
27:43fit for immediate
27:44execution,
27:45but as enlisted
27:46combatants
27:47due the rights
27:48of prisoners of war
27:49under the Geneva Convention.
27:51Clearly,
27:52some of the German generals
27:53already had their eyes
27:55on possible war crimes
27:56trials after the war.
27:58Once the remaining citizens
28:23had been driven
28:23from the city,
28:25Warsaw was systematically
28:26raised to the ground.
28:28Hitler was determined,
28:30Hitler was determined,
28:32it should never rise again.
28:34Hitler was determined,
28:39it should never rise again.
28:43Hitler was determined,
28:57it should never rise again.
28:59thus ended,
29:18one of the war's
29:19most tragic episodes.
29:21Despite the bombing
29:45and despite the privations,
29:46the morale of the Germans
29:47the morale of the German people
29:48that autumn of 1944
29:50was surprisingly high.
29:52They responded well
29:53to every propaganda call
29:54Hitler made.
29:56This one
29:56was for collecting
29:57winter clothing
29:58for the Eastern Front.
30:06Hitler reduced the call-up age
30:08that autumn
30:09to 16 and a half
30:10and raked in the war.
30:11And raked in those
30:12who had so far escaped it
30:13on grounds of essential work.
30:16Some 700,000 new recruits
30:18were raised,
30:19partly for the Volkssturm,
30:21sort of home guard,
30:22and partly to replace
30:23his terrible losses
30:24in both East and West.
30:27But he also had in mind
30:29a more daring use
30:30for his new recruits.
30:31Ever since his defeat
30:34in Normandy,
30:35Hitler had been planning
30:36a major counter-attack,
30:38hoping not just
30:39to halt the Allies
30:39before they reached the Rhine,
30:41but rather to turn them back
30:42so decisively
30:43that they would want
30:44to sue for peace,
30:46a peace that would give him
30:47a breathing space
30:48in which to stem
30:48the Russian advance
30:49before it got too close
30:51to Berlin.
30:54Such was his fantasy.
30:56To that end, too,
30:59he had been conserving
31:00his panzers,
31:02re-equipping them
31:02after their mauling
31:03in Normandy.
31:05But where to strike?
31:09That autumn of 1944,
31:12the Allies in the West
31:13had closed up
31:14to the German border
31:14along a thousand-mile front
31:16and had even penetrated
31:17the Siegfried Line
31:18in one or two places.
31:20But supplies still
31:21remained a problem,
31:23for Antwerp
31:23was not yet open.
31:24To the north of Antwerp
31:26lay the bulk
31:27of the British forces.
31:29If, by a daring blow,
31:30Hitler could capture Antwerp
31:32and reach the sea,
31:33he would not only
31:34eliminate the Allies'
31:35main supply port,
31:36he would also have
31:37split the Allies in two,
31:39and the British
31:40might once again
31:41have to contemplate
31:41a Dunkirk.
31:44Eisenhower,
31:45in manning his
31:46thousand-mile front,
31:47had had to spread
31:48his forces thinly
31:48in places.
31:50One such place
31:50was just 125 miles
31:53from Antwerp.
31:53the Ardennes,
31:55of 1940 magical,
31:57mystical memory
31:58for Hitler.
31:59If only history
32:00could repeat itself
32:02for him.
32:03In war,
32:09one must remember
32:10that you can't
32:12be strong
32:12everywhere.
32:1412th Army Group,
32:15Bradley's Army Group,
32:17were given
32:17certain tasks,
32:19and therefore
32:20he had to decide
32:21whether he was going
32:23to be strong
32:23and whether he was
32:23going to be weak.
32:25And he assessed
32:26the situation
32:27and decided
32:28he'd send out
32:29on the Ardennes sector.
32:42We were told
32:44by some of the men
32:45who were
32:46in the houses
32:47that we
32:48took over
32:49that it was
32:51a very quiet sector.
32:53Nothing happened.
32:54Once in a while
32:55a patrol was sent out.
32:57They would hear
32:58sometimes
32:59the crackling
33:00of a gun
33:01in the distance
33:01and,
33:02well,
33:03there was
33:04nothing to it.
33:05I was
33:18not exactly
33:21green,
33:23but there weren't
33:24too many
33:24in our particular unit
33:26that had had much
33:27in the way
33:28of any combat experience.
33:35on the 24th of October
33:45I was ordered
33:46to come to Hitler
33:47with headquarters
33:49in East Prussia.
33:52And he developed
33:53me and the
33:54General Krapes,
33:56the chief
33:57of the Army Group
33:58in the center
33:59who accompanied me
34:01that we would get
34:03end of November
34:04or beginning
34:06of December
34:07strong reinforcements.
34:10He named
34:1120 infantry divisions,
34:1410 armored divisions
34:16and a lot of
34:17other special troops
34:19and he promised
34:21it would be supported
34:23by the Air Force
34:24with about
34:253,000 planes.
34:29But we were
34:31totally surprised.
34:33He explained
34:34that the objectives
34:37Antwerp and Brussels
34:39were something
34:40of a risk
34:40and might seem
34:43beyond the capacity
34:44of the forces
34:45available
34:46and their conditions.
34:49Nevertheless,
34:50he had decided
34:51to stake
34:52everything
34:53on one card
34:54because Germany
34:55needed
34:56a breathing space.
34:59A defense struggle,
35:00he said,
35:01could only
35:02postpone the decision
35:03and not change
35:04the general
35:05situation for Germany.
35:13For his attack
35:15in the Ardennes,
35:15Hitler,
35:16unknown to the Allies,
35:17had assembled
35:17more than half a million troops.
35:20Opposing them
35:21were just 80,000
35:22ill-equipped,
35:23inexperienced Americans.
35:24It seemed like
35:26May 1940
35:27all over again.
35:34The morale
35:35of the German
35:36attacking forces
35:37was high
35:39and this compensated,
35:41in my opinion,
35:43for a comparative
35:44weakness
35:45in weapon
35:46and in manpower.
35:47we saw
35:49this build-up
35:49of forces,
35:51tanks
35:51in a great number,
35:54more tanks
35:54than we had seen
35:56in the last
35:56two years.
35:59We even saw
35:59aircraft
36:00and then
36:02we saw
36:03that the preparation
36:04were
36:04well-kept
36:06in secrecy.
36:09Nill day,
36:10zero day,
36:11December the 16th,
36:12arrived.
36:17The barrage
36:40lasted an hour
36:41and gave the Allies
36:42a taste of what
36:43they had themselves
36:43meted out of casino
36:44some months
36:45and at El Alamein
36:47some years before.
36:53The last great attack
36:55of the Germans
36:55in the West
36:56had begun.
36:57Hitler's most
36:58desperate gamble
36:59was on.
37:06As a simple soldier,
37:08everything is on the road
37:09and you think
37:10these are more
37:11division
37:12than they are.
37:13Therefore,
37:14we have the feeling
37:15that this build-up
37:17of force
37:18might enable us
37:20to reach the final goal
37:22which was Antwerp.
37:25The weather was foggy.
37:27The American
37:28and British
37:29air superiority
37:31didn't matter
37:33in that type
37:34of weather
37:35and therefore
37:36we believed
37:37that we would be successful.
37:38surprise was total.
37:51It was the beginning
37:52of a day
37:52of monumental confusion
37:54for the Allies,
37:54the worst they experienced
37:55in the whole European war.
37:57even as the first
38:07Wehrmacht waves
38:08were overrunning
38:09the American positions
38:10along the Ardennes,
38:12talk at Allied headquarters
38:14back at Versailles
38:15was focused more
38:16on the news
38:16of band leader
38:17Glenn Miller's death
38:18than of the possibility
38:19of the biggest German offensive
38:21in the West
38:21since 1940.
38:22It was the day
38:25Eisenhower
38:26was promoted
38:26five-star general
38:27and the day
38:29Field Marshal Montgomery
38:30happened to apply
38:31for leave
38:32to go home
38:32to England
38:33for Christmas.
38:35Ike was in fact
38:36attending his chauffeur's
38:37wedding that morning
38:38while Monty
38:39was playing golf.
38:41As the day wore on
38:42the resemblances
38:44to May 1940
38:45grew.
38:46The overwhelming
38:47German might,
38:48their relentless speed,
38:50above all
38:50the chaos
38:51in the Allied rear
38:52as bewildered
38:53untried troops
38:54dashed for safety
38:55clogging the roads
38:56and preventing reinforcements
38:58reaching the front.
39:00A rumour was spread
39:02that the Americans
39:03would hand over
39:05part of the prisoners
39:06of war
39:06to the Russians
39:07and that helped
39:09to build up morale
39:11and the will
39:12to fight.
39:187,000 Americans
39:19surrendered in one go,
39:21the biggest mass surrender
39:22of American arms
39:23in the European campaign.
39:32German newsreel cameramen
39:34had a field day.
39:36The fog was lifting
39:56a little bit
39:57in the area
39:58where we were
39:59but by about
40:0212 o'clock
40:03we found
40:04that we couldn't
40:05go any further
40:06that it was just
40:08a question
40:08of surrendering.
40:13The lieutenant
40:14went down
40:15and made arrangements
40:16with the German
40:17officer
40:18in charge
40:19and came back up
40:21and told us
40:22that we had
40:22one hour
40:23to dismantle
40:25and destroy
40:28our weapons
40:29or dig holes
40:31and bury
40:32whatever we wanted
40:33to bury
40:33and be ready
40:34to come off
40:36that hill
40:36within one hour.
40:43The first
40:43American prisoners
40:46didn't know
40:46what was going on.
40:48They came to us
40:48they were asking
40:49for bread
40:50and we had bread
40:50enough
40:51so we gave
40:51them bread
40:52and they gave
40:52us chocolate.
40:53Chocolate.
41:22after two
41:42or three days
41:43we already saw
41:44that the resistance
41:46of the American
41:47troop was
41:48stronger
41:49than we had
41:50believed.
41:52The reason
41:57they had been
41:58able to break
41:58through in the
41:59first place
41:59was that
42:00we could get
42:01no fighter
42:01bomber support.
42:03The weather
42:03was sitting
42:04right on the
42:04treetops
42:05and we couldn't
42:07pick up any
42:08of their moving
42:08troops
42:09from the air.
42:11But on
42:12Christmas Eve
42:13the clouds
42:14lifted
42:15and thereafter
42:19the fighter
42:19bombers came
42:20in and
42:21they simply
42:22destroyed
42:23the German
42:23armor.
42:40Manteufel's
42:41panzers
42:41had run out
42:42of petrol
42:42still some
42:44seventy miles
42:44short of Antwerp.
42:47Motionless
42:47they were
42:48sitting ducks
42:49for the
42:49Allied
42:50planes.
42:57It was a
42:58great slaughter
42:58the American
42:59divisional
43:00commander
43:00wrote in
43:01his report.
43:03For Hitler
43:03it was more
43:04than the
43:05beginning
43:05of the
43:05end.
43:06The
43:11failure of
43:11this
43:11offensive
43:11affected
43:12the
43:13morale
43:13and
43:14therefore
43:14the
43:14behavior
43:15of the
43:15soldiers
43:15and
43:16the
43:17civilians
43:18alike
43:19and thus
43:20we have
43:20contributed
43:21to speeding
43:23the end
43:23of the
43:24war.
43:26With the
43:26German
43:27offensive
43:27definitely
43:28halted
43:28the
43:29Americans
43:29from the
43:30south
43:30and the
43:30British
43:30from the
43:31north
43:31pressed
43:32down
43:32on the
43:32bulge
43:33that had
43:33been
43:33formed
43:33within
43:34the
43:34Arden
43:34front
43:35the
43:35bulge
43:36that
43:36gave
43:36this
43:36particular
43:37battle
43:37its
43:37popular
43:38name.
43:41They met
43:41in mid
43:42January
43:421945
43:43by which
43:45time
43:45the
43:46German
43:46army
43:46was
43:46in
43:47total
43:47disarray
43:47for the
43:48Russian
43:49winter
43:49offensive
43:49had
43:50begun
43:50four
43:50days
43:50before.
43:52Now
43:52Hitler's
43:53gamble
43:53in
43:53the
43:53west
43:54was
43:54seen
43:54to
43:55be
43:55supreme
43:56folly
43:56for
43:57to
43:58do
43:58it
43:58he
43:59had
43:59denuded
43:59his
43:59defenses
44:00in
44:00the
44:00east.
44:04With
44:11its
44:11carefully
44:11hoarded
44:11reserves
44:12of fuel
44:13and
44:13equipment
44:13and of
44:14course
44:14of
44:14men
44:14too
44:15gone
44:15the
44:17German
44:17war
44:17machine
44:17began
44:18to
44:18disintegrate.
44:34I
44:47would
44:48say
45:02that
45:02Hitler's
45:03attack
45:04in
45:05the
45:05bulge
45:05brought
45:06the
45:06war
45:06to
45:07an
45:07end
45:07perhaps
45:07six
45:08months
45:08earlier
45:09than
45:09it
45:09would
45:09otherwise
45:10have
45:11ended
45:11because
45:12the
45:12Germans
45:12could
45:13have
45:13fallen
45:13back
45:13to
45:14the
45:14Rhine
45:14which
45:15was
45:15a
45:15real
45:15obstacle
45:16but
45:17they
45:17had
45:17nothing
45:18with
45:18which
45:18to
45:18hold
45:19the
45:19Rhine
45:19because
45:20essentially
45:20the
45:21German
45:21army
45:21the
45:22reserves
45:22of
45:23the
45:23German
45:23army
45:23the
45:24mobile
45:24troops
45:24and
45:25the
45:25reserves
45:25of the
45:25German
45:26army
45:26were
45:26destroyed
45:27in
45:27the
45:27battle
45:27of the
45:32only
45:33one
45:34desire
45:34to
45:35end
45:36the
45:36war
45:36but
45:38he
45:39was
45:39willing
45:40to
45:41fight
45:42on
45:42to
45:42cover
45:43the
45:44rear
45:44of
45:45the
45:45eastern
45:45front
45:46January
45:49the
45:4920th
45:501945
45:51Zhukov's
45:52tanks
45:52entered
45:53Germany
45:53proper
45:54for the
45:54first
45:54time
45:55a mere
45:56hundred
45:56miles
45:56from
45:57Berlin
45:57the
45:58occasion
45:59being
45:59celebrated
45:59by a
46:00particularly
46:00savage
46:01sacking
46:01of
46:01every
46:02village
46:02inside
46:02soon
46:18thousands
46:19upon
46:19thousands
46:20of
46:20German
46:20civilians
46:21took
46:21to
46:21the
46:21roads
46:22westwards
46:22away
46:23from
46:23the
46:23dreaded
46:24Russians
46:24producing
46:25scenes
46:26reminiscent
46:26of
46:26those
46:27long
46:27lines
46:27of
46:27French
46:28and
46:28Belgian
46:28refugees
46:29five
46:29years
46:30before
46:30as the
46:50Allied bombing
46:51intensified
46:51more and
46:52more German
46:52cities
46:53were reduced
46:53to rubble
46:54and
46:55Mein Kampf
46:55Hitler
46:56had written
46:57even if
46:58we cannot
46:58conquer
46:59we shall
47:00drag the
47:00world
47:00into
47:01destruction
47:01with
47:02us
47:02all during
47:17march
47:17the
47:18Russian
47:18the Russian
47:18guns
47:19could
47:19be
47:19heard
47:20in
47:20Berlin
47:50to me and they said, do you want the town of Cleve taking out? By taking out, they meant
47:55the whole of the heavy bombers putting onto Cleve. Now I knew that Cleve was a fine old
48:02historical German town. Anne of Cleve, one of Henry VIII's wives came from there. I knew
48:10that there were a lot of civilians in Cleve, men, women and children. If I said no, they
48:16would live. If I said yes, they would die. Terrible decision you've got to take. But everything
48:23depended on getting a high piece of ground at Nutterton. The German reserves would have
48:30to come through Cleve and we would have to reach the Siegfried line and get them. And
48:36your own lives, your own troops must come first. So I said, yes, I did want it taken out. But
48:42when all those bombers went over the night just before zero to take out Cleve, I felt a murderer.
48:51and after the war I had an awful lot of nightmares. It was always Cleve.
48:58One after another, the cities west of the Rhine were cleared of German troops.
49:05Bond, Koblenz, Mainz, and of course, Cologne.
49:12.
49:19.
49:24One after another, the cities west of the Rhine were cleared of German troops.
49:27Bond, Koblenz, Mainz, and of course, Cologne.
49:34.
49:40.
49:46.
49:50.
49:52.
50:17.
50:19.
50:36.
50:37.
50:38.
50:39.
50:40.
50:41.
50:42.
50:43.
50:44.
50:54.
50:57.
50:58.
50:59.
51:00.
51:01.
51:02.
51:03.
51:04.
51:05.
51:06.
51:07.
51:29.
51:30.
51:31.
51:32.
51:33.
51:34.
51:35.
51:36.
51:37.
51:59.
52:00.
52:01THE END
52:31THE END
53:01THE END
53:06At 9 o'clock in the evening, I remember waiting, sitting in a command person.
53:15Then the news came through that the Black Watch were over the Rhine.
53:20Rather historic, in a way, they were over the Rhine.
53:23THE END
53:28THE END
53:33THE END
53:38THE END
53:43THE END
53:45THE END
53:47THE END
53:52THE END
53:54THE END
53:55THE END
53:57THE END
54:00THE END
54:30THE END
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