Comments by "Stephen47 22" (@Stephen-bq4nq) on "German Paratrooper Assault - Corinth Canal 1941" video.

@justacrow9847 only two divisions plus an armoured brigade with no air support was sent to Greece. The Germans had 10 divisions in Greece plus 800 aircraft it was a suicide mission from day 1 There was a lot of soldiers lost on greece because they simply couldn't get them off.
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@justacrow9847 these 11900 casualties are you claiming them for the whole greek campaign or just Corinath canal because the allies wouldn't have lost that many men at Corinath
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@montezumasrache4090 The 2nd New Zealand division was considered elite by rommel and he confirmed this in writings to his wife which I have in a book
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@montezumasrache4090 funny at Sidi Rezegh the 2nd New Zealand division took the ground and slaughtered the Bersaglieri so that's all that needs to be said
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@montezumasrache4090 The New Zealand and Australian infantrys performance in North Africa speaks for its self how many times they were mentioned in Memoirs is irrelevant
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@haroldgodwinson832 I'm a New Zealander and your claim that we were poorly trained and equipped is pure garbage. Our equipment was the same as British forces had and our training was very good. Our infantry excelled in night fighting and close quarter battle and we're highly regarded by the German forces and I have plenty of quotes from Germans to prove it. Mark Clark hated all British forces and he was nothing anyway he was the prima dona who went to rome to get his photo taken and let thousands of Germans escape.
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@justacrow9847 They surrendered because there was no way out of Greece the ships couldn't get them off and they had no resupply of ammunition or equipment and no air support.
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@montezumasrache4090 Rommel wrote to his wife two days after the Minqair Qaim breakout and commented " unfortunately the New Zealanders under Freyberg had escaped. This division with which we had already become acquainted back in 1941-42 was among the elite of the British Army, and I should have been much happier if it had been safely tucked away in our Prison camps instead of still facing us."
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@montezumasrache4090 Rommel wrote prior to El Alamein that " the British would first have to try for a break through. we have no doubts about the suitability of the British Army for this task,for it's entire training had been based on the lessons learnt in the battles of materials in the first world war. In this form of action the full value of the excellent Australian and New Zealand infantry would be realized and the british artillery would have its effect."
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@justacrow9847 Australian losses in greece were 320 killed 494 wounded and 2030 POW. New Zealand 291 killed 599 wounded and 1614 POW. British 146 killed 87 wounded 6480 POW. German losses were stated as 1160 killed 3755 wounded and 365 missing
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@haroldgodwinson832 The allied forces on Crete were not all infantry units either and some of them had no weapons at all. Another thing to take into account is the allied units were spread all over the Island in Brigade sized groups that couldn't support each other. The Germans were able to land a whole division after the airfield at Maleme was captured then link up with the surviving paratroopers and advance down the island as one big force with superiority in machine guns,mortars, airpower, ammunition supplies and radio communications. They were able to use these advantages to grind the defenders down as soon as they engaged the Germans they would immediately get hit with heavy mortar, artillery or air power and we had no ability to respond. 10th brigade by the 24th of may had 72 mortar rounds for the whole brigade. None of the rifle companies on Crete had radios we had units having to run messages which rendered a lot of the commanders blind to what what happening
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@montezumasrache4090 a report from IX panzer corps after the Casino fighting. " The New Zealand soldier is physically fit and strong. He is well trained and formidable in close range fighting and steadier than the Englishman. He does not shrink from hand to hand fighting. In many cases strong points had to be wiped out to the last man as they refused to surrender."
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@montezumasrache4090 no I gave you word for word accounts from Erwin Rommel and IX panzer corps so I'm not giving you my opinion I'm giving you the opinion of Germans who were there.
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@haroldgodwinson832 It's not true that our commanders didn't understand how important the air field was a whole brigade was given the job of defending the airfield. We had 4 battalions plus engineer units fighting as infantry and 3 of the 4 professional infantry battalions were positioned to defend the airfield the 22nd directly on it and the 21st and 23rd were positioned just behind hill 107 ready to move up in support. The New Zealand command was told there was going to be a seaborne landing and it was going to be 10,000 strong and the best landing beaches were indentified as stretching from the beaches at Maleme down to Platanias and that is why the brigade was so strung out with the engineer units covering the beaches as well as the 28th Maori. The engineer units were told to be ready to move up to support the forces at the airfield. It's a fallacy that the New Zealand commanders didn't understand the importance of the airfield and the proof is not only in the fact we had 3 of the 4 infantry battalions assigned to airfield defence but also in the orders given to 5th brigade which I will provide here word for word. 5th brigade operation instruction no 4. A. 5 inf brigade will maintain a defensive line running east and west from Platanias to Tavronitis river with special regard to the defence of Maleme aerodrome. B. In the event of the enemy making an airborne or seaborne attack on any part of the area,to counter attack and destroy him immediately. C. The whole essence of the bde's work is a spirited defence. The fallacy that Freyberg didn't understand how important the airfield was has been created by predominantly british historians and it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The soldiers fought well at Malame and the ground was held the failure came about when the 22 battalion commander walked off the vital ground and the commanders from the 21st and 23 rd battalions did nothing to correct the mistake. They then contacted the Brigade commander Hargest who agreed with the decision to hold the line and not counter attack. All 4 men failed to carry out their orders and that caused the loss of the airfield and to make matters worse Hargest even when he knew the 22nd battalion was talking about abandoning hill 107 contacted Freyberg and told him everything was quite satisfactory living Freyberg completely in the dark about the disaster that was unfolding he didn't find out till the morning when it was daylight and the german planes wes back in the air rendering a counter attack at that point out of the question. New Zealand soldiers on Crete weren't inadequately trained and any analysis of their engagements with the Germans show this our infantry heavily out gunned were engaging the Germans in close quarter battle with bayonets and coming out on top numerous times. Crete was lost by senior leadership failures.
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@montezumasrache4090 Rommel didn't need to revise his opinion of our soldiers he faced them in battle and knew what they were capable of. I also provided a report from IX panzer corps in Italy and can also provide an assessment from General Kesselring. I'm not being selective about anything these are the German generals who faced our division.
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@haroldgodwinson832 The orders given to 5th brigade clearly show that Creforce headquarters led by Freyberg knew the importance of the airfield and as I stated earlier the 3 battalion commanders and the Brigade commander failed to carry those orders out. That wasn't the fault of Freyberg or the soldiers in the field doing the fighting. On may 16 we received an intelligence report that the sea borne contingent was 10,000 strong and we had also received reports earlier there was going to be a seaborne contingent. It influenced the positioning of the troops because they were told the best beaches to land were from Maleme airfield to Platanias they couldn't box the airfield with troops they had to defend the airfield and the beaches and it left them a battalion short which meant the western side of the airfield was undefended. The divisional commander Puttick recognized the threat but there wasn't a spare battalion to put there. They looked at moving first Greek regiment from Kastilli but there was no transport and no tools for them to dig in with and Kastilli needed to be defended anyway so they had to make the best of what they had. Churchill did not tell Freyberg there wasn't going to be a seaborne landing and our commanders were nervous about it because the Germans had air supremecy and it showed in the battle for Crete the power planes had against ships the Royal Navy suffered severe damage. Our commanders on Crete had no idea what kind of seaborne landing the German could carry out they relied on the information they were given you are looking back with the benefit of hindsight. New Zealand has never shyed away from our role in the loss of Crete it was obvious orders weren't carried about by 5th Brigades senior leadership it has never been disputed and careers were ended because of it. The whole idea of defending Crete in the first place was Insanity because the garrison could only receive 20% of the daily tonnage of supplies needed even if the battle had been won the allies would never have been able to stay on the island it would have to have been abandoned the whole Greece campaign was a waste of time and you can thank Winston Churchill for that
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@haroldgodwinson832 A defended shoreline what a joke our soldiers were spread thin with no tanks and minimal artillery,mortar support and the Germans had compete air supremecy. The seaborne landing did come in but it was only 2000 or so men it was going to land on the night if the 21st may through to morning of 22 may. This was the night we were doing the counter attack to the airfield the Germans had 1800 men around the airfield well armed with mortars and automatic weapons and had been resupplied with ammunition. We were attacking with two battalions with minimal artillery and no tank support it was just rifles and bayonets our infantry were getting the better of the fight in the dark but by the time they reached the airfield it was daylight and they got pinned down by machine gun,mortar and airpower.
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@haroldgodwinson832 you continue to cherry pick what I say to try and support your argument and it won't work. I have never denied we lost Crete I said that in repeated posts and the 4 men responsible were the battalion commanders from the 21,22,23 and the 5th brigade commander Hargest who failed to carry out their orders. It's portrayed that the whole New Zealand leadership didn't understand the importance of the airfield and this narrative has been pushed by british historians and it's a lie. The directive from Creforce head quarters led by Freyberg to 5th brigade proves this and so does the fact that 3 of the 4 professional infantry battalion were assigned to the defense. You said that the New Zealand soldiers lacked training and any analysis of our infantry on Crete proves this to be wrong. Not one company in 5th Brigades area was overrun in the first 24 hours they all held their postions and prevailed and 22nd battalion withstood having 3000 bombs dropped on them then proceeded to stop an attack by the equivalent of just over two full strength para battalions. All the infantry in the brigade conducted themselves in a very professional manner and the Germans were slaughtered and they have admitted they only got through because we didn't counter attack in the first 24 hours. You look at other actions throughout the battle our soldiers excelled in the night fighting and close quarter battle so it's bullshit to say they were inadequately trained. The failings were with the senior leadership in ,5th brigade who didn't do what they were told they carry that responsibility it doesn't fall on the rank and file who performed well. You take your orders in war you don't just go around doing what you want if the infantry are told to do some thing they do it. And as for showing true grit our soldiers showed real grit at Galatas and 42 street when they were prepared to confront the Germans up close and personal with bayonets.
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@haroldgodwinson832 yeah better organized and led they also had radio communications to provide superior situational awareness enabling to control their troop movements better and direct their mortar, artillery and airpower and on top of that they had more modern combat experience. A lot of our commanders were world war one era their experience was barbed wire and trenches which wasn't applicable to a high speed airborne battle. Then you had brigadier Hargest who was in the division because he pulled strings with the Prime minister Peter Fraser. The army and medical board didn't want to approve him but they had no choice and a heavy price was paid for it so Peter Fraser carries a lot of responsibility as well but history up to this point has pretty much let him off the hook.
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@haroldgodwinson832 The New Zealand soldier fought very well and very hard in world war two and the division was respected by the Germans as a tough opponent. That respect was earned through our soldiers efforts not our politicians. I do agree with what you say about politicians they never own anything that happens
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