Haunting "then and now" WWII photos from the southern France Invasion - Time travel back to 1944
"Before and after" comparisons of World War II photos with the same locations today, depicting German soldiers and Allied paratroopers on the French Riviera in 1944, at the period of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France.
The area of Nice was occupied by German troops of Reserve Division 148. On August 15th 1944, the Allies, spearheded by paratroopers of the First Airborne Task Force, landed in southern France and liberated the region of Nice over the next weeks.
The body of the killed German soldier under the tree only was found in 2006, a video on the exhumation can be seen here: • WWII German Mass Grave...
If you are the relative of a soldier who fought in south eastern France and have any photos or documentation about the area during WWII, please contact me at jean-loup@gassend.com
Allied units involved in the invasion were:
-First Special Service Force / FSSF / 1st SSF
-517th Parachute Infantry Regiment
-509th Parachute Infantry Battalion
-551st Parachute Infantry Battalion
Crocodile Tear Productions, with the participation of Sébastien Cano and Julien Fanet.
Based on the book "Autopsy of a Battle, the Liberation of the French Riviera". Jean-Loup Gassend. Schiffer publications.
Music: "Night Vigil" and "Lost Time", Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
battlefieldarchaeology.blogsp...
researchww2.blogspot.com/
division148.blogspot.com/
This video has been modified to suit youtube community guidelines. The original version can be seen here: • "Then and now" WWII ph...
Nizza - Krieg - Südfrankreich - Frankreich
German units involved were: Reserve Division 148 - Reserve Grenadier Regiment 239 - Reserve Grenadier Regiment 8 - Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 372 - Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 164 - Reserve Jäger Bataillon 28 - Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 327 - Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 444 - Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 7 - Ost Bataillon 661 - Reserve Artillerie Regiment 8 - Division Füsillier Bataillon 148 - Kurt Hahn - Festungs-Pionier-Bataillon 14 - Krieg in Südfrankreich - Friedhof Dagneux - Volksbund - Then and now - Before and After - World war II - time travel - back to the future - after the battle - killed in action - ambush - drop zone - missing in action - KIA - MIA - casualties of war - photography - timelapse - Nice - Grasse - Cannes - Sospel - La Napoule - Villeneuve-Loubet - Levens - Col de Braus - Pont de la Manda - St Cézaire sur Siagne - Monaco - Monte Carlo - Menton - Pont du Loup - Cimetière de Caucade - Dagneux German cemetery - Draguignan US cemetery - Antibes - Cote d'Azur - Peira Cava - Wehrmacht - Fascism - chateau de la Napoule - Marvin Moles helmet - comparison - French Resistance - débarquement de Provence - Operation Dragoon - Autopsy of a Battle - The Champagne Campaign - Rhone American Cemetery - ABMC - 1944 - 1939 - 1945 - General Otto Fretter-Pico - General Robert T Frederick - Ange Grassi - Seraphin Torrin - execution - hanging - death penalty - Gestapo - FFI - FTP - FABTF - First Airborne Task Force - paratroopers - Operation Dragoon - Southern France Invasion - August 15th 1944 - Liberation - Occupation - animation - 517th PRCT - Wehrmacht - Nazi - vermist - verschollen - gefallen - Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof Dagneux - Volksbund - parents at gravesite - nostalgia - Dr. Med. Fritz Lauermann Fritz - Dr Lauermann Fritz - Dr Fritz Lauermann - Hauptmann Harald von Klewitz Lorenzberg
How ephemeral are the things we have wrought in the face of the geology of our planet. Paradoxically, these give me an appreciation of deep time. How we flash into the sunlight & are gone whilst the hills & rocks watch us flicker across the landscape. You moved me to tears this afternoon & I thank you for it.
That is very well said.
@@rd9793 Thank you, it was the best I could do to explain how I was feeling about what I was seeing. In my mind I still have the image of us flickering across the landscape as seen, if it could see, by the rocks & hills that exist on an incredibly long temporal frame of reference compared to our own.
@@Aengus42You write so beautifully. I’ve heard this before from geologists. They seem quite unconcerned by events concerning the human race viewing them as a species that will go extinct against the backdrop of a planet that still has billions of years to go.
@@nansmith8703 Thank you, you've quite made my morning. 💜☮️
@@Aengus42 😊
Words can't begin to describe this masterpiece, from the music to the photos, I've never been so enthralled by a video. I know as humans it's normal to become disconnected from the photos we see, but you've managed to bridge the gap. The transitions are phenomenal, that alone is memorizing, but the cherry on top is when you added names and the day they died. That's the human element that we forget, we forget that men, women, and children of all ages died in this conflict. It's hard to do history justice, but you've succeeded, well done simply amazing.
And you have expressed so well what I could not! Thank you!
Hopes and dreams ..lost to ravages of war...what could have been will never be known of these people..touching and makes one pensive and sad...because of madmen and greed...
And more war is still coming....its inevitable....human nature...more will be lost
Это говорит о том чьто люди должны быть внимательнее и осмотрительнее....ну и плюс наверно причина ещё в ослаблении христианства в начяле 20века. Тоесть моральные устои сходили на нет...хотя христианская религия мало чьто смогла зделать и в россии и сша,оказалась слаба...
Вспомнить туже обсолютно безчеловечьную вьетнамскую войну и многие другие..
Там где массы не имеют своей власти ими управляют,хотя это тоже не панацея....впринцыпе и сша можно при большом желании превратить в четвертый рейх главное чьтоб идеи хорошо продвигались и были заразительны , почьти как религия - то чего нет ,но то во чьто многие верят.
Уровень образования,тоже не панацея,немцы многие весьма образованы были...
I served 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and 2 combat tours in Vietnam as a Infantry machine gunner. I often wonder about some of the places we fought like the jungles and rice paddies. I wonder if they have changed in the 50 plus years it's been since that time. Tom Boyte GySgt. USMC, retired Vietnam 1965-66/1970-71 Bronze Star, Purple Heart
You should go over there and visit. Many VN veterans have been doing so.
Thank you for what you did for us...US! Go back if you can if you feel that pull to go. If you have unanswered questions, being there might quicken your soul enough to find some answers.
Thank you for your service🇺🇸
Что ты там делал? Или такие мысли тебе в голову не приходили? Твоей стране кто-то угрожал?
All those young lives never reaching their potential because of a bunch of poxy politicians. I'm ex British army so as one old sweat to another keep your head down and your powder dry🤜🤛.
As a United States Navy veteran, how could I not subscribe to this amazing channel ? Thanks so much for your efforts.....beautifully done with taste without the bias.
Thank you very much for your service.
Американцы тоже оккупанты
WW2 veterans must be turning in their graves from what is happening now, and by that I don't mean the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.
These are incredible. I can't imagine how much work it took to locate and set up each shot.
When I used to look a old black and white photos, they never felt real. But in this video, these photos feel more real then the a the pictures I take my self. It’s almost like you get transported back in time!
These are just photos from a book,😂
I agree.
Ghosts of the past.🙏🏽 Served from ‘73…2011….Vietnam through Afghanistan/Iraq wars. I hurt and pray daily for all my brothers lost too early. War Sucks.🤬 RIP to ALL🙏🏽🕊️
You have a one-of-a-kind Channel, Croc. You cover and create videos about topics many of us history nerds think about but either cant make ourselves or can't find online. This channel is truly a gem.
Not sure how I found your channel but damn glad I did. You are doing great work for the veterans, men who died and their families but also the general public.
The "General public" have no clue unfortunately!
It's true we are shadows passing through this world, it makes you think of our own lives that are passing also.
Nous ne sommes que de passage.
Feels like I am seeing ghosts. Maybe people who have the gift see images like this in reality.
Incredible insight of WWII. Heartbreaking images. Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful. Thank you for all the hard work that went into this video.
Sorry for the reupload, this video has also had to be remade in order to to comply with youtube community guidelines. The original version is still online here: studio.kzhead.infoEiR9QRlyzrM/edit
The hell with KZhead and their ever changing guidelines... Keep up the good work! 👍
@@stephanedorion992 Yes, they tell you your video is safe and there are no issues, and all of a sudden when it manages to take off and gets a million views, they decide it is not safe for the comminity after all and cut its wings off.
@@CrocodileTear This video is priceless. (The TOS on "youscrew" is severely immature, arbitrary, and bullies those with so much to offer. It caters to sheltered ignorance.) This particular video makes me think I must be cutting onions, but Im not.
absolutely preposterous.
Mate well done. I have stood in 3 of these spots not knowing the history of those who stood there before me. I am literally blown away by this . Well done on having this effect on a total stranger
What were the three spots? Colline du Chateau, Negresco and Promenade des Anglais
Evocative,haunting and quite brilliant. Well done Uncle John.
Utterly amazing. Save for any young kids that might have been in any of the pictures, all have passed on by now. Almost 80 years ago. Many things seem to be the same with the buildings and I admire the ''then and now'' comparison. The research and location scouting alone is a massive effort. Thank you for presenting this. Addendum: I just read your ''bibliography'' after locating it. Wow, you really did your homework on this!!
What bibliography?
Beautifully matched and rendered photographs. A sombre and sorrowful reminder of what war takes away from families. So many young lives wasted. And the brutality of public executions speaks volumes about what war does to humanity. Bringing out the worst in people.
Yes such a waste because of one man in Germany.
@@itsonlyme9938 To think it was just about "one man in Germany" is ignorant. Many different things brought about World War 2. Even if Hitler and the Nazis didn't come to power (someone else would have) the "Treaty of Versailles" all but guaranteed WW2 would happen. You cant impose that kind of punishment on a country while calling it "reparations" and expect people to put up with it.
@@moappleseider1699 Yes but, wouldn't you have to agree, if you are even a little sentient, that hitler brought his own unique and disgusting contributions? Where another person might have opted for any one of the zillion other options?
@@mollkatless lol Buddy you can get upset all you want but everything I said was accurate. I never excused anything Hitler did. I simply stated the fact that another world war, with Germany at the heart of it, was almost impossible to avoid after what was done to them. Questioning me on whether or not I am "even a little sentient" only shows your own insecurity and lack of intelligence.
Excellent job overlaying the photos. Very well done! Thanks.
It often amazes me how many little details remain the same. The photo of the German officers in a room with windows behind them was intriguing, the open wooden shutters around the windows hadn't changed one tiny bit since then, it looked like they hadn't even been moved a mm in all those years. Little details like that make it easier to transport yourself back to that time, it's a peculiar feeling to consider that some things are just still exactly as they were. I often think about that when I'm in a historical location, what hasn't changed at all, the bricks that someone else touched so long ago, the woodwork that's been polished for a century by people who have no idea how many people have done that before them.
true
Appreciate the amount of work that went into this, thanks for sharing.
Just…. Amazing. Thank you so much. The parents standing over the graves.. just heart breaking 😢❤
Love this channel! Seeing the old photos line up is amazing! Great job!
What a moving display and excellent job of merging past and present images. Brings it all home. Musical accompaniment is perfect. Thanks for an outstanding reminder of whence we have come.
Спасибо за работу, смотрели и восхищались. Мира нам всем! Всему миру мир!
чем блять тут восхищаться? нацистско-путинской оккупцией? убийствами?
Einfach nur traurig!😢. Danke für das ergreifende Video! Friede auf Erden für alle Menschen!
Well said. Thank you.
I absolutely love these before and after. Those who were there in 1944 had no idea of what would become of those places all those years later. Its great to see how in some cases very little has changed. Thank you
Wonderful. An emotional roller coaster ride. Thank you for a wonderful video.
It's very moving to me to see that some of the buildings from that era, survived. What they must have witnessed. God rest those poor departed souls.
The absolute best video of this type on you tube! Incredible!
The greatness of the photos is really great. Keep storing 80 + years WWii memories, that too in very good condition is really great. I am going through all the albums and traveled back to WWii period. Thanks for sharing.
Very well done (as we have come to expect)!
One of the best videos I ever saw. Thanks.
Thank you for all the memoriam pic love the way you centered them in the exact location .to have a better view of the happening
This vid was unbelievably good, the last 40 seconds or so very sad. Thank You for your efforts.
Very cool! Thanks for putting this together!
a superb posting, excellent content.
Truly fascinating. Thanks for posting.
Amazing piece of editing and production. Music was well chosen to. Superb posting showing terrible times….. Much gratitude to the brave allies who liberated Europe and may the dead Rest in Peace.
Incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
THANK YOU for this vid; these scenes; it’s made history come to life: the haunting music that’s somber/sad/respectful; the interplay of past photos superimposed upon current photos make the horror of war/deaths realistic; those graves…AGAIN, THANK YOU for sharing….
What a fantastic video, the work and editing is superior, many thanks to you--
What a great channel ... thank you for this
Just awesome. Could watch over and over. Thank you
Really touching.
The ones that didn't come home still walk those streets, they just can't be seen by the living.
Shut up
Why the fuk would you say some stupid shit like tha5
Thanks for this wonderful work❤
Those are great images. Really brings history alive.
Wow , the overlays mirror exactly, very atmospheric ,the best presented ive seen. Well done.
Amazing. So very well done. Haunting indeed. Thank you. Beautiful work.
So well done and incredibly moving. I love your channel and all the research you're doing and sharing!
The "now and then" WW2 video's are fascinating to me. And this is likely the best one I've seen . Extremely well done. Thank you
Thanks, and help spread the good word.
Great video!
thank you so much for this.
Beautifully done video. The vibe i get from this video is that their ghosts are still there. May we know true peace in our lifetime.
I could watch that a thousand times and then watch it a thousand more.. Awesome concept. Intriguing.. Thought provoking.. Sad..
This is really brilliant, thank you.
Thank you!!
Beautifully done. The music was also well chosen
Great job!! Always enjoy seeing how much or little things change
Very moving video! Thank you!
Seriously underrated channel.
Powerful.... Awesome Video ✌
Superbe travail, merci beaucoup !
This is just amazing!! What work👏
Very well done !! Thank you
I love photo comparisons like this!
Estupendo trabalho! Magnífico! Incrível! As 2 últimas fotos é de fazer chorar. Você faz um trabalho fantástico. Obrigado ❤
I've never seen any of these "Then and Now" images. Superbly done.!
So well done. Very touching, and so beautiful.
Ghosts traveling through time. 🌹
fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
You just let us speechless with your beautiful channel.
Brilliant video 👏👏👏
This was beautifully done. Thank you to those folks who researched the pictures and where they were taken. I'm sure that was hard figuring out where all these were taken and seeing if those locations are still able to be seen today.
My goodness, what an amazing piece of art this is! You’ve done an incredible thing here! 🙏😔🌹❤️
This is one of the coolest things i've seen on KZhead.
Even colorized pictures and videos do not do justice to seeing a modern-taken photograph, it's incredible the contrast of seeing the exact same spot in color and in the blink of an eye to know that it was still there in the past. I can only imagine those titanic photos we have and if we were able to grasp in reality how it really was, literally it's like like traveling through time. Incredible work here.. Kudos!
great job! thank you
Hauntingly inspiring video. Excellent work. We walk by these locations and wonder no more. Your artistic style for this material is moving. Simply moving. It brings me to tears, which I guess, is woven into your channel name.
Nice work guy
However you matched old and new pictures in every dimension, it is outstanding!
Outstanding video
That was very touching toward the last half especially when the parents were shown at their son's grave and being elderly I estimate he'd been gone for at least 20-30 years and still in mourning. This was my first time seeing actual personal info about the ongoing war within those left behind. What a tragedy as I think of my Dad's Mom who had nervous breakdown's over her two sons that served in the ETO and my mom's brother who fought against the Russians counter offensive in Latvia who never returned home. Sometimes tragedies become cause and effect when my mom and dad married in Augsburg, Germany during the time my Dad and many others got transferred out and into POW duty. In the film the Narrator mentioned German women getting married and shipping overseas wow that could be a good thing for the husband who's wife stays home because the Americans took issue with it in Germany and America, but the husband had lots of fun with a wife who feels safer at home.
I suppose many British women who’s husbands were serving overseas were never short of stockings and bubble gum when the Yanks arrived.
Amazing photos and how well they are overlayed. Its crazy how life is and looking back at everything what a waste to have to live through things like that.
Excellent work.
Thanks for the amazing film 👍
Holy shit this is amazing. Just subscribed.
Excellent work
Thank you. The most mesmorising 8 minutes of my life.
Very well done !
Amazing. Well done.
Amazing video,im addicted to world war 2 stuff at the minute ,both my grandparents served in the war and told me many stories when i was a kid but can barely remember them now ,i wish i was more interested back then
Thank you..
Great video. I spent 20 years on Kwajalein Atoll and constantly found bullets, shell fragments and occasional fuse parts. Many UXO still found there.
Amazing work & deeply moving. We pass places all of the time & never think of the history they have seen.
WOW! Even after more than eighty years, the shapes and outlines of the mountains had hardly changed !
Woow great comparison. But why only 537 views only on this video.
Because it was posted a few hours ago, and the initial version with one million views was censored (non monetizable or 18+ means you video is dead) by youtube. So feel free to share it.
@@CrocodileTear Sure will 😊
@@CrocodileTear A viewer must've flagged it. Censorship is criminal. How did you find out how to remove what made it "offensive"? Ive dealt with them for 16 years, and they are always vague about condemning my videos. They took down an instrumental piece of music I posted, that had no lyrics or visuals. Only music. Labeled as "Glorifying Violence". Makes me .. nope not going to say it.
@@DVincentW I dont know what the issue was and can only guess. I removed the most gory photo and replaced it by a softer version of the same photo... What surprises me is that my videos are monetized, so they are losing a certain amount of money by censoring them.... You could also expect that when you make a video with hundreds of thousands of views, they could at least tell you what the issue is before killing it.
i absolutely love the idea of combining old and new photos of recognisable places. I live in the Falklands and I've been tinkering with the idea of comparing scenes from the conflict to now.
Amazing!
Wonderful video and sound put together …