Fighting In The Normandy Bocage (WW2 Documentary)
By July 1944 the Allied advance in Normandy had slowed to a crawl. To the west, the Americans had been bogged down by tenacious defenders installed in the notorious ‘Bocage’ countryside outside St-Lo. With new units coming into the line to replace those who had been in the fight since D-Day, now was the time to strike. In this video, we follow the story of the 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment as they assaulted Hill 122, the key to capturing St-Lo.
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Written References:
R. Neillands, the Battle of Normandy 1944 (2003)
S. Forty, Normandy 44 - The Battle of the Hedgerows (2020)
D. Isby, Fighting in Normandy (2020)
T. Saunders, Battle for the Bocage 1944 (2023)
Video References:
P. Woodadge, WW2TV (Bocage Fighting - accessed via • Hedgerows - the Norman... & • Normandy wasn't all Bo... )
General Sources:
US National Archives (NARA)
The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)
Image Sources:
Maps:
NARA Aerial Image Collections
Credits:
Research: Dan Hill & Shane Greer
Script & Narration: Dan Hill
Editing: Shane Greer & Linus Klassen
Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen
Image Optimization: Linus Klassen
Music & Sound Effects: Shane Greer
Your efforts keep the memory of the fallen alive . . . especially now as the world struggles to recognize the Evil still within it.
Very well said sir yours is truly the best comment that i’ve seen in a while. and in my humble opinion in MANY ways. it is sad to see the way things have become in Europe and here in the United States since the end of WWll. But I’m with you all 100% those who gave their lives for their country should without a doubt be remembered.
Exactly!
😊@@brodyberry6253
@@brodyberry6253😮k86r😮
Amen
The use of aerial photos really gives perspective and brings the videos to life, brilliant 👌🏻👌🏻
Glad you think so!
Headed over the pond this June for the 80th anniversary of D-day. My grandfather served in the 1st Division and went in on Omaha Beach. He fought through the hellish battle shown here. I was in Normandy with my grandfather for the 50th anniversary, the respect and admiration he received was heart warming. He has passed since but this year will be a generational trip with my father and my son. I hope my son will grasp what the greatest generation went through.
You have to teach them history right. Don’t shy away from the horrors of war. If you teach them right they will respect history that is for sure.
Come to Dog Green Camp we will have over 100 historic military vehicles there as a tribute to these heroes
I moved to France in Feb. Dad was in the 506th, hq2 FOX
@@hairbint88will you be at the liberty march?
Dude, that was really well done. Its easy to forget that battles between armies are fought platoon against platoon, section against section, man against man. You really captured the personalised essence of the hedgerow fighting... like that heroic sergeant who takes out the machine gun nest with a grenade, only to get killed himself not long after.. so sad.
Thank you. My grandfather was in the 35th Infantry Division & went all the way across europe until the war’s end. He never talked about the war, only all the places & countries he walked through.
My fathers brother was a 2nd Lt in 3rd (?) Armored. Trained in England for the invasion. He was killed 6/29/44 in what I believe the 1st excursion off the beach. Deployed w 15 Shermans, were ambushed in field while leaving the hedge groves. 1st person accounts tell of him “circling the wagons” when he was killed outside of his tank. Body was never recovered adding to my families angst but was awarded Distinguished Service Cross and memorialized on wall at Normandy Cemetery. I’m planning on going ASAP as my family never had chance to go. Of the 15 Shermans 5 made it back.
My great uncle fought in Normandy with 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, and he wrote in his war diary that the hedgerows were so thick that they had to blast through them with dynamite quite often to get their armor and trucks through. Even the heavy Tiger I struggled to penetrate these incredibly dense barriers, some of which were up to 5 feet thick. They made great defensive cover but were absolute Hell to attack through when counterattacks were ordered, which was frequently the case for his division in the first few weeks of the invasion.
Genuine question here. How do you feel about someone in your family being a part of the SS and Nazi party?
@@rosiesimpp I have to admit, I'm sometimes conflicted knowing that he was part of an SS division most notably the 2nd, but you have to understand that there were two kinds of Germans in the SS and Werhmacht: those who were fervent believers in National Socialism and those who were simply fighting for Germany and home. It may seem hard to believe but it is the truth that not every German, even those in SS divisions were obedient to Hitler. Yes, my great uncle was in an elite unit that swore personal allegiance to the Fuhrer, but he was NOT a Nazi. None of his family were members of the party nor was he. Obviously I was not there so I have to take his word for truth as well as other relatives, but the man I knew before he died was one that I could believe without any doubt in my mind was not a bloodthirsty killer. He did what he had to do to survive the war. I just have to look at it that way.
@@jebbroham1776 Thank you for your honesty and reply. My apologies for assuming. I have always wondered how relatives of former SS soldiers view them, so this is valuable insight :)
@@rosiesimpp No apology necessary friend, I thank you for your interest in his story.
@@jebbroham1776Thanks from me also for your great uncle's story and your interesting opinion on the matter. I would like to urge you to reconsider the validity of the motive to be a soldier in Germany during this time. A German soldier, no matter his motive, was an effective tool of the that dictator (whose name I can't mention here). If a German man wanted to make the greatest impact for the safety of his family, neighborhood, and livelyhood, the worst he could do is kill innocent British & US soldiers and cause enough resistance to attract artillery and bombs against their resistance. Not to mention the war would be deadlier the longer they were set on killing according to their orders. There were better alternatives for a German man to truly make a good difference. Few were brave enough to do them. Firstly, one would've had to value human life over the vain honor of their corrupted nation. Secondly, they would've had to make action to save life: flee in the night, overthrow the relatively few radical party members, surrender to Americans, help others escape, sabotage and be unproductive. As an American, this is why I remember the human right to bear arms: so that when the time comes, I may protect life from those who seek to take it.
Wow! Your commentary was like listening to an audiobook by Middlebrook or Beevor. A well-researched and scholarly documentary, with graphic footage added, brillianly illustrates the Bocage in all its deadly glory, where sudden death lay in wait amongst the undergrowth !!
wow, thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it!
Yes very good job, keep it up. @@BattleGuideVT
Absolutely terrific. From the explanation of the tactics to the psychology of fighting in this area, I learned more about the Bocage in the 19 minutes of this excellent video than in countless other full length WWII documentaries.. Many thanks. Superior production, as usual.
My grandfather was a combat engineer who fought in Normandy. He described the hedgerows as pure hell.
I was with the 35th ID when I was in the Guard. Proud to have worn that patch.
I was an MC in the U.S. Navy. A cameraman. When I wasn’t deployed I was back in Naples, Italy. Lots of brass to film there. It’s funny watching footage of Generals and Admirals from so long ago that I can clearly see are staged. It’s the nature of the business. The footage at 0:55 … that’s not staged. 99 percent of higher ups looking at maps are staged. Like “alright camera dude, you got your shot, get out of here.” But that footage, that’s real. You can tell from Eisenhowers intensity. Also how often do you ever ever see footage of Ike wearing glasses?
Good catch.
My uncle was wounded in the fighting around St. Lo. He was a corporal in the 29th Infantry Division at the time, assigned to the 116th Infantry Regiment, comprised mainly of men from communities in southern Virginia.
My grandfather was with the 29th ID / 116th IR / 2nd Battalion / H Company on D-Day and fought in Normandy. He was from Knoxville, TN.
I just finished reading "Other Clay". It follows the 116th. Author was in H Company. You both should look for it if you haven't read it. Good book. Great men.
The Blue and Grays....great unit.
As always great content and I love the way you tell these stories. Having 4 uncles on my fathers side fighting in Europe during WWII. I was so fortunate to have uncles like that to teach me how to hunt, fish and even farm growing up.
Great narration and good video. My father landed at Omaha about one week after D Day, walked across the beach and formed up with other members of the 333st Combat Unit and went a short distance inland to fight. He did not know what Bocage might be, but they learned quick. Dad did not like to talk about combat, but did relay to me once his sense of wonder as the Lieutenant ordered to move the company to a certain location ordered Dad and one other private to walk across the middle of the small meadow and toward the rocks on the other side. Ordered them to walk right thru the middle and waste no time. As the rest of the company followed a few minutes later, my 18 year-old father remarked it seemed like a slow way to make progress. His older companion said something like, "this way the company finds out if there are any snipers over here and don't lose more than one or two guys". Then two more privates were selected for the next field. They found out about machine guns and snipers the 'hard way'. They were securing paths for the infantry columns to follow. Dad enjoyed much more telling stories about liberating wine cellars Thanks again.
Brave lads. The only saving grace is that it made it difficult for enemy tanks to attack. Air cover seems conspicuous by its absence. God bless them, they didn't have it easy, especially for novice troops.
To have green troops accomplish so much is indicative of the fact that there has Never been anything quite like the American citizen soldier.
@@philgiglio7922 : Whilst very patriotic of you, I'm afraid your comment is a fallacy. There is a long history of militia forces in the UK and other Commonwealth Countries. I am sure similar situations pertain in other European Countries too.
My family lost a member fighting in the hedgerows. My Great uncle Private Frank Phillips. I still honor him on Memorial day with flags and flowers.
Oh, so brutal for those young American men. Sympathies for any of the descendants. Looks like the same 30 cal Browning machine guns we were still using here in Canada during the 60's converted to 7.62 Nato rounds. Barrels would get hot so you often needed a spare. In the early 60's some of our officers and NCO's were early survivers of WW2 as some had got in as young as 15. Thoughts go out one Art Boon who recently passed...a machine gunner atop a Sherman.
I really enjoyed that. The graphics were brilliant and made the understanding of the action very clear to someone who has never had to put their life on the line like those brave boys.
Better than the crap on telly. This actually explains the operation and the contact. Normal telly crap glosses over the fighting only says the won and then continues with something else. This goes into detail. Draws you in as if you are there.
You should do something similar to this on the Battle of Caen
good idea.
Both were taken well behind schedule but usually it's only Caen not taken on schedule that gets criticised.
An extraordinarily well-done production, using aerial imaging from past and present to tell an important story better than any I've seen. Congratulations! You've forced me to subscribe.
Another cracking video. You guys provide great content in such a dignified and respectful way.
Wow. This is the first installment I have watched on your channel. I don't think I could have landed on a better introduction. It was excellent in every way: the writing, the narration, the French pronunciation were great, great, great. I'm going to watch another episode RIGHT NOW. Thank you.
Excellent. Thanks for such a good overview. Those lads really had a baptism of fire.
Glad you enjoyed it
Visited the region last year,very well done doco!
Once again a great video with an amazing story telling. Thanks to the map and the aerial photo it seems we are advancing with the men… One question: where do you find such old aerial photos ? I’m looking for quite a time to find photo of the Cambrai- Le Cateau (France,59400) route from the first part of XXth century to understand what happen to 12 Frenchs soldiers in may 1940 at the small hamlet of Igniel
Nicely done! Thanks.
My dad 29th Inf 175 reg 3rd bn HQ co. was seriously wounded on the 13th outside St. Lo. His ticket home.
By far the best channel for a look at WW2: Nice one.
Thanks a lot for the great content.
The way you present the intensity of what the men went through. It was truly a frightening time and to the one's who died so we can free and live the way do. I'm sure if the men saw what the world has become. We are close to another world war and people don't realise it. All these wars around are so close to making the conflict spreading. The politicians should do the fighting won't be many wars then
Great video my man, very very cool, thanks ❤
Brilliant ta!...the massive planning effort to get the lads onto those beaches seemed to stop at the beaches and not on what's next.
Excellent video!
Thank you for another very good and informative video. I throughly enjoyed it because I’ve heard different stories about Normandy. But never about these events and i think it was very immersive because of all the research details you put into it. So thank you again also just as a suggestion if you haven’t done a piece on Dresden yet. I think that would be interesting to learn more about. Because so far all i know about is that the German city of Dresden was bombed by the Ally’s. But I don’t know the details, like what happened before what lead up to it. Or what happens afterwards that kind of thing. Anyway just a suggestion.
One of the best documentaries I have seen in some time. Thank you I want to add, the cockney accent is spot on.
This is an incredible channel.
First time I have seen this, thanks.
Brilliant video.
Many congratulations on a well-researched story. We have a few areas very much the same as the Bocage here just on the other side of the channel. Perfect defensive and nightmare offensive countryside. If I may, I would like to suggest that you also include the enemy’s fight - units, tactics, stories etc so that we get a feeling of how each side was “playing” this out. I don’t know what information there is to enable that to happen. I was born not long after WW2 ended. I see now how i grew up amongst the results of the war. Large areas of bombed destruction, food rationing which was followed by food shortages, real poverty (although we were better off than many). We didn’t know it but so different for my grandchildren now.
great video
Why does this channel not have millions of subs yet? Kids these days man... they dont get what our fathers and grandfathers went through.
So well presented. Well done. Sub'd.
A good doco as has been said great with the maps thanks
Man, these vids are great! Have you guys thought about doing a piece on the German Fallschirmjager? Lots of neat battles and tactics used by the "Green Devils".
Thanks!
Excellent
great effort.
My Father landed on D-day, what was left of his unit was put into Patton's 3rd Army. He collected a purple hart 44 days past D-day in the hedge rows. He came back to the states with grim stories about Sherman Tanks climbing a hedge row, exposing their under-armored bottoms to a German 88 no one knew about.
Well done. Very interesting!
Many thanks!
My Dad was a Troop Cdr with the 113th Cav Grp (Mech) “Red Horse” which supported the 29th and 35th Divs in this action around St. Lo and generally the XIX Corp throughout the European theater until the lash up with the Russians at Torgau on the Elbe 25 April 1945. This first action out of Omaha Beach turned the boys of his unit into men, it didn’t get easier from there.
Really good video
Yet another great video 🫡
Appreciate that
My father served in the 903rd Heavy Ordinance Battalionand was one of the guys that welded the metal teeth on the front of Sherman tanks so they could bust through the hedgerows. These Sherman tanks were nick named Rhino tanks.
St Lo was a June 15th target but the US 1st Army didn't take it until 5 weeks later, yet all we ever hear about is the British and Canadians not taking Caen on schedule. The British and Canadians were slowed by panzer divisions. The Americans were slowed by...... bushes. 😉
What you're not taking into account is these "bushes" were 5 meters high and over a meter thick. With well entrenched defenders having to be picked off one at a time. 30,000 Americans troops were killed or missing in Normandy, the deadliest campaign in US History
@@AB-mw8oz Im being facetious (hence the winking emoticon) and turning around the jibe about the British/Canadians being too slow moving on Caen, which is the common mantra from Americans, even getting an airing in Saving Private Ryan. The British/Canadians were slow taking Caen because of the panzer divisions. The Americans were slow taking St Lo because of the bushy terrain. If it's ok to mock the British/Canadians then it's ok to mock the Americans. Both objectives were taken a month over schedule.
I just did this mission as Americans in men of war assault squad 2
For purposes of infantry tactics, hedgerows divided the bocage into a series of fields which acted as boxes. Most of us have seen buildings set up as practice areas for close quarters combat. Now, imagine trying to make progress across Brittany by having to potentially enter 20 CQC boxes per mile with little clue what is inside each one. Or, what lies on the other side of each hedge. Ingress and egress from these boxes left squads open to crossfire from Wehrmacht platoons who were more familiar with the terrain. The Allied troops who assaulted Normandy had training to get off the beaches, but none dealing with the bocage. This ignorance would prove deadly, with 73,000 deaths out of 230,000 casualties during the Battle of Normandy (June 6-August 31).
Bro. Your f$cking good. 😅 Awesome channel.
Isn’t this the division from Kelly’s Heros?
"Oh man, you guys are crazy. Look, when we were in the Bocage country we were assaulted by them Tigers. You know what I mean by assaulted? Well I mean ASSAULTED!!!" Even though in reality the Americans didn't face Tigers there. Panthers were there however.
The battle of Caen was the deciding factor. The British and Canadians were fighting all of the elite heavy SS Panzer divisions around Caen and beyond. 600 Panzers and All Tiger units in France. 7 Infantry divisions and 3 Heavy Tank Battalions were sent to the British sector. The US faced 150 Panzers. Say no more
May we please have something on wartime trains and railways that is not related to operation Barbarossa or the holocaust simply because more well known, a video on railway logistics and how it played a role in both world wars
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t tanks have a phone on the back of the tank that would put you in contact with the crew through their intercom, so you wouldn’t have to bang on the hatch to talk to the crew.
In some cases yes... our research for this documentary was primary source - so basically the guy who was there said there were no effective means of communication with the armour. Maybe in other sectors it was a different story.
My uncle was killed in Normandy, on Sunday, July 23rd 1944.
Montgomery with British, Canadian and other forces moved slowly, using numerous small (tidying battles) thereby sucking in more and more German forces as he was on a more direct line to Paris and the Germans saw him as the greatest threat as he moved North of Caen. This meant that a lot of pressure was taken off Bradley/ Patton who could then move faster than Monty.
The Brits and Canadians were fighting all of the elite heavy SS Panzer divisions around Caen and beyond. 8 elite Panzer SS Panzer divisions, 3 Heavy Tank Battalions, and 7 Waffen-SS Infantry Divisions were sent to the British sector alone.
My dad didnt talk much, but i remember the few times…… those damn hedgegroves….. CURRAHEE
Hell where were all the aircraft? They owned the skies at Normandy ! They could have blew all kind of holes in the hedges!
We owned the skys. Were were the P-51 mustangs strafing those machine gun positions
I was looking for Clint Eastwood and telly savalas ..didnt see them 😅😅
This looks a bit like WW1 with mass attacks wand heavy losses against a well set enemy.
But did LT Spier shoot 20 prisoners after giving them a cigarette? That's all that matters.
Maj. Dick Winters on Ronald "Sparky" Speirs kzhead.info/sun/ipGPZrN5q5moaZs/bejne.html
Where were the aircraft, i.e Fighter bombers ?
ps. I am am 13 Bravo b10. Tip of oth spear 1980 to 84
Vayjan 7
what is it like to be a person who is I'll informed.
?
My father fought in the hedgerows with the 29th division. Unfortunately a Frenchman jumped through a hedgerow and my father killed him. After this he never carried a gun after he got home. He was wounded at St Lo (my mother sent him comic books for Christmas and he was in a fox hole reading one and was shot in the hand, A German platoon in St Lo demanded my father (2Lt, heavy weapons company). They were made up of Polish conscripts. My fathers unit was the Baltimore National Guard (175th Rgt) made up of Polish Americans. All discussion was in Polish. Though saying "unpublishable) didn't take long.
Not much recounting of events from the German perspective Pity
Just a thought...I live in the area of south Devon,uk, Slapton area evacuation and practice beach landings......this area is full of small fields and hedges just like Normandy which they would have practiced on. difficult to say the least. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Tiger
Excellent video!
Thanks!
Excellent