Channel Islands Part 4 - Organization Todt - Der Westwall - Battery Mirus - Occupied Guernsey скачать в хорошем качестве

Channel Islands Part 4 - Organization Todt - Der Westwall - Battery Mirus - Occupied Guernsey

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL www.Patreon.com/Military1945 The Channel Islands, for a place that didn’t have a lot going on, they sure had a lot going on. The course of the war evolved and not until the arrival of the so called “men with the black collars”, did Hitler’s intentions became clear. We’ll take a look at private footage of the occupation soldiers training during this new Sitzkrieg. Then see those who were involved in the construction of massive fortifications and take a look at what was built and where. Finally the I’ll show more footage from that fantastic material you just saw so stick around, it’s worth the wait. If you like this kind of primary source material please remember to subscribe to the channel. You won’t sorry. As the Battle of Britain dragged on into the late summer of 1940 Hitler had realized that Göring’s promise to bring Britain to the negotiating table by force with his beloved Luftwaffe was hollow. And without air superiority the intended invasion of Britain, Operation Sea Lion, would also not be possible. On September 17. the operation was postponed indefinitely. Hitler had already turned his attention to the East. For the occupation troops this was a time of training and preparing for whatever was to come. In this private footage taken by soldiers on the Island of Guernsey in early 1941 there seems to be a complete lack of military discipline. This could have something to do with the tendency for people to ham it up when being filmed but even the officers seem easygoing. Let me know if you read this differently. As the preparation for and then invasion of Russia was in full swing, representatives of the Organization Todt, the men with the black collars, arrived to Guernsey. Dr. Todt and his organization had been responsible first for the building of the German Autobahn and then the Westwall which protected Germany’s western border as their troops marched into Poland. This footage is from the 1939 Film, Der Westwall that has a run time of 44 min. The projects that quickly began on the islands were monumentally large. Not all laborers were forced, as is frequently described, some volunteered. But even those that were forced did receive a wage. From these laborers many came from occupied countries with the majority from Vichy France. In 1942 there was a new large influx of captured Soviet soldiers who were forced to work under the harshest of conditions and they didn’t receive a wage. Here is a photograph of two Soviet slave laborers from 1942 To understand the scale of the construction, under direct orders of Hitler, approximately 10% of all concrete that was used in the building of the Atlantic Wall was used in the Channel Islands. In the Mirus battery alone, on the south of the island, 45,000 m3 was used. Did Hitler pour such resources into the only occupied part of Britain hoping to provoke them into attacking and thus fight the coming defensive battle on his own terms? Let me know what you think in the comment section. Replacements for ever mounting losses in the East first began being transferred from units on occupational duty individual basis. Then complete divisions that had suffered catastrophic losses in the East were switched for complete units on occupation duty in the West. On paper the number of units remained basically constant however the actual fighting strength was significantly reduced. Along with the most effective fighting men, the most modern equipment and vehicles was sent to fight in the East. This left the garrison troops often short of ammunition and forced to make do with whatever was on hand. This private footage shows German tankers training with captured French tanks in 1941. Here is some footage of German soldiers training on defensive fortifications. At this point I’d like to give special thanks to the German Occupation Museum on Guernsey. If you ever have the chance to go visit I can certainly recommend it. Thanks for watching.