Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "War Academy" channel.

  1.  @johngaffney2605  The two American planners, Brereton and Williams rejected drops south of the Wilhelmina Canal that would prevent the capture of the bridges at Zon, Best and Eindhoven by the 101st. Only one bridge, at Grave, was planned and executed using Airborne tactics of surprise, speed and aggression - land as close to the objectives as possible and attack the bridge simultaneously from both ends. The 101st took 3 to 4 hours to move 3 to 4 kms to the Zon bridge. If they moved swiftly they would have seized the Zon bridge. Like the 82nd to their north, the 101st dawdled.
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  2.  @terrysmith9362  wrote: "John Burns I was shocked to see he is ex US military. All my life there has been such mutual respect so to see such a Brit hater actually served in the US forces goes against the grain of the ethos..." He has some sort of mental disorder for sure. He has followed a few of us around on the web for the best part of 10 years. The same each time.
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  3.  @bigwoody4704  BZZZZZZT! Wrong answer. Rambo, the name of the bridge the US 101st failed to seize in Operation Market Garden., was..... 🎊🎈🍾 Zon bridge 🎊🎈🍾 Zero points Rambo. Zero. Better luck next time.
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  4.  @pfarden5836  Montgomery had to take command of two shambolic US armies in the German Bulge attack, the First and the Ninth. Montgomery's 21st Army Group was the prime thrust over the Rhine in 1945.
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  5.  @pfarden5836  You have comprehension problems. Again for you...... "The Battle of the Generals" by General Blumenson makes it clear that Bradley, not Montgomery, ordered Patton to stop at Falaise; 1) Bradley, on his own initiative, ordered Patton to stop on August 12 (page. 206-207); 2) Bradley's post-war effort to blame this on Montgomery was "dishonest and anti-British" (page. 211); 3) Despite Bradley stating he ordered it. Patton was running off to Paris, but Bradley failed to stop him from making a long hook encirclement of the Germans towards Dreux at the Sein (page. 223); 4) This was in clear contradiction to Montgomery's suggestion that he do so (page. 218). In Bradley's memoir A Soldier's Story he says on page 377, "Monty had never prohibited and I never proposed that U.S. forces close the gap from Argentan to Falaise." He gives a number of reasons for not pushing north from Argentan, but Monty forbidding it is not one of them. In A General's Life Bradley writes, "Montgomery had no part in the decision; it was mine and mine alone. Some writers have suggested that I appealed to Monty to move the boundary north to Falaise and he refused, but, of course, that is not true... I was determined to hold Patton at Argentan and had no cause to ask Monty to shift the boundary." Nigel Hamilton, Monty's official biographer, states in The War Years that the decision was Bradley's. "Dempsey's diary record of his meeting with Monty and Bradley proves there was certainly no plot to deny Patton glory, since Dempsey specifically recorded: `So long as the Northward move of Third Army meets little opposition, the two leading Corps will disregard inter-Army boundaries'" (page. 788). There are plenty of secondary sources that pin the blame on Bradley: a) Russell Weigley, Eisenhower's Lieutenants" page. 216: "Bradley, having set the stage by urging Eisenhower and Montgomery to grasp the opportunity of a short envelopment at Falaise-Argentan, failed to persist in completing his own design. He abandoned the short envelopment before its potential was achieved, and meanwhile he had delayed the long envelopment at the Seine." b) Peter Mansoor, The GI Offensive in Europe page. 171: "Bradley was slow to concentrate sufficient force to close the Falaise Gap from the south when he had the opportunity to do so." c) Robin Neillands, The Battle of Normandy 1944 page. 358: "Bradley's memoirs and the British Official History make it abundantly clear this decision was Bradley's." There are many more sources where these came from. Carlo D'Este states on page 444, "When Dempsey met Bradley and Montgomery there was apparently no restraint placed on further northward movement by XV Corps... the fact that the Third Army did not move north of Argentan appears to have been Bradley's choice rather than a prohibition by Montgomery." On page 448 he writes, "The assertion that Montgomery made no effort to close the gap is without foundation." D'Este also dismisses the view of Strafford on page 451. No reasonable reading of D'Este on Falaise could possibly support blaming Montgomery. The US Official History, the British Official History, BRADLEY HIMSELF (twice!) and a multitude of secondary sources say Monty did not order Patton to halt. Neither Bradley himself, nor Montgomery, nor the senior British Army commander, nor the British or American official historians think Montgomery ordered Bradley to stop. THERE WAS NO HALT ORDER by Monty.
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  6. ​ @pfarden5836  Monty was fast: Monty's 8th Army advanced the fastest of any army in WW2. From El Alamein to El Agheila from the 4th to 23rd November 1942, 1,300 km in just 17 days. After fighting a major exhausting battle at El Alemein through half a million mines. This was an Incredible feat, unparalleled in WW2. With El Alamein costing just 13,500 casualties. Fastest advance of any western army in Autumn/early 1945 was the 60 mile thrust by the British XXX Corps to the Rhine at Arnhem.
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  7.  @pfarden5836  The British and Canadians faced the full brunt of German forces in Normandy. The British destroyed 90% of German armour in the west. US forces in Normandy hardly met any German armour. Patton, a part of Monty's right flank, broke out, as planned by Monty, in Operation Cobra, into lightly contested ground to swing around and meet up with his left flank, the British & Canadians. While Patton had it easy the British were facing the brunt of the Germans. Monty was ground forces commander in Normandy. Now you know. ;)
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  8.  @pfarden5836  Market Garden was a success. Monty said it was a 90% success: ♦ It kept Antwerp out of German artillery range. ♦ It split German armies in two, largely isolating their 15th army on the Dutch Coast. ♦ The largest road bridge in Europe was in allied hands on the German border. ♦ It created a 60 mile buffer between Antwerp and German forces. Antwerp was the only port taken intact. This buffer proved itself in the German Bulge attack right through US lines. The German went through a forest rather than the direct route, which would have been through the Market Garden salient. ♦ It created a staging point to move into Germany at Nijmegen, which was used. ♦ It eliminated V rocket launching sites aimed at London. ♦ It isolated the German 15th army in Holland. ♦ They reached the Rhine. ♦ The salient was fleshed out to the Meuse. ♦ The Germans never retook one mm of ground taken. ♦ It captured the important Philips radio factory at Eindhoven. To flesh out the salient the US 7th Armor was sent into Overloon. They were so bad they were extracted with British forces sent in to take the town. The Germans never thought Market Garden was a failure. It punched a 60 mile salient right into their lines in a few days, right on their border. They saw it as a staging area to jump into Germany - which it was. In late '44/early '45, the longest allied advance was the 60 mile Market Garden advance. The only operation to fully achieve its goals in that time period was Monty's clearing of the Scheldt. 'It is interesting to consider how far we failed in this operation. It should be remembered that the Arnhem bridgehead was only a part of the whole. We had gained a great deal in spite of this local set-back. The Nijmegen bridge was ours, and it proved of immense value later on. And the brilliant advance by XXX Corps led the way to the liberation of a large part of Holland, not to speak of providing a stepping stone to the successful battles of the Rhineland.' - OPERATION VICTORY by MAJOR-GENERAL DEGUINGAND, 1947, page 419.
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  9.  @bigwoody4704  Rambo, a quiz. Which US general gave the halt order at Falaise? 20 points for the correct answer.
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  10.  @jerryg53125  The US was a liability at times. All ego.
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  11.  @bigwoody4704  BZZZZT! Wrong answer. Rambo the name of the US general who gave the halt order at Falaise, was.... 🎈🍾🎊 General Bradley 🎈🍾🎊 Zero points Rambo. Zero. Better luck next time.
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  12.  @michaelbowes9894  You have been sucked in by US post war propaganda. Ports were important not cities. The aim in the early days of Normandy was to create a lodgement area, not faff about taking second tier objective cities consuming valuable resources.
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  13.  @terrysmith9362  They clearly get their history from Hollywood and bad tabloid writers (not historians).
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  14. No intelligence was ignored. Intelligence was accurate. No armour in Arnhem.
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  15.  @bernardtimmer6723  Google RAF reconnaissance Arnhem. Look at the document. No armour in the Arnhem area on jump day. Do not take notice of Hollywood films. All armour came in from Germany during the two day time window gifted to the Germans when two US para units failed to seize their bridges. Dutch restistance was infiltrated, so ignored. SS armoured units had only infantry and some soft skinned vehicles. Monty requested the operation was cancelled as it was under-resourced. Eisenhower insisted it go ahead. Monty agreed when V rockets were fired at London from Holland. V rocket sites were overrun.
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  16. They lost because they took on the three largest economies in the world. A very silly thing to do.
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  17.  @pvught390  You do not know? Guess.
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  18.  @pvught390  I know. If you know anything about WW2 you will know. Read Wages of Destruction - The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy. That will put you right.
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  19.  @Marcfj  We do not need a detailed breakdown.
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  20. The vid quotes an un-named German officer. Who was he?
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  21. Operation Market Garden was planned by two Americans, not Monty. Eisenhower insisted it go ahead even after Monty asked to stop the operation.
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  22. In 1943 it was decided by allied politicians that the bomb would not be dropped on Germany.
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  23.  @bigwoody4704  Rambo, a quiz. Name the Supreme commander who was phaffing about on French golf course, not running the war? 20 points for the correct answer.
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  24.  @bigwoody4704  BZZZZZZZT! Wrong answer. Rambo, the name the Supreme commander who was phaffing about on a French golf course, not running the war, was... 🍾🎈🎊 Eisenhower 🍾🎈🎊 Zero points Rambo. Zero. Better luck next time.
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  25.  @bigwoody4704  Rambo, a quiz. Name the British general who had to take command of two shambolic US armies in the German Bulge attack? 20 points for the correct answer.
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  26. XXX Corp ran up that road to Arnhem on the Rhine reaching the southern side of Arnhem bridge. They would have reached the Rhine on d-day plus 1 late evening if the two US para units do not fail to seize easy bridges.
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  27. Not in million years.
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  28. Iwo Jima was non-strategic. Because the US could build a long range bomber correctly, they took the island to form an emergency landing strip for B29s in trouble. Most B29s lost were not to enemy action. So all that blood because the aircraft industry screwed up.
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  29. He did go for Moscow. In December 1941 the Soviets counter-attacked with a battering ram. From then onwards the Germans were going nowhere.
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  30.  @xornxenophon3652  Soviets pulled out off the south allowing Germans to advance.
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  31.  @xornxenophon3652  The Soviet oil fields were destroyed. If, on the remote chance the German ever managed to get into the Middle East, the British were waiting.
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  32.  @xornxenophon3652  The Soviets destroyed all oil wells. Soviets were vetting oil from the British refinery at Aberdan in Iran. Throughout 1942 British Commonwealth troops were fighting, or seriously expecting to be attacked, in: ♦ French North Africa; ♦ Libya; ♦ Egypt; ♦ Cyprus; ♦ Syria: where an airborne assault was expected, with preparations to reinforce Turkey if they were attacked; ♦ Madagascar: fighting the Vichy French to prevent them from inviting the Japanese in as they had done in Indochina; ♦ Iraq; ♦ Iran: the British & Soviets invaded Iran in August 1941. Those spread-out covering troops were more in combined numbers than were facing Japan and Rommel in North Africa.
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  33. @Charles Robinson Patton was bogged down in Lorraine suffering 50,000 casualties. He was going nowhere. In fact, he failed to reach the German Westwall.
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  34.  @bigwoody4704  Rambo, a quiz. Name the British general who had to take command of two shambolic US armies in the German Bulge attack? 20 points for the correct answer
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  35.  @bigwoody4704  BZZZZZZT! Wrong answer. Rambo, the name the British general who had to take command of two shambolic US armies in the German Bulge attack, was..... 🎊🎈🍾 General Montgomery 🎊🎈🍾 Zero points Rambo. Zero. Better luck next time.
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  36. You laud US forces. Despite what you wrote, US armies performed poorly in WW2. Their loss rate was horrendous for little gain.
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  37. Silly comment.
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  38. “Patton finally began receiving adequate supplies on September 4, after a week’s excruciating pause” - Harry Yeide "Eisenhower. He had now heard from both his Army Group commanders — or Commanders-in-Chief as they were currently called — and reached the conclusion that they were both right; that it was possible to achieve everything, even with lengthening supply lines and without Antwerp. In thinking this Ike was wrong." - Neillands, Robin. The Battle for the Rhine 1944 “ It was commonly believed at Third Army H.Q. that Montgomery's advance through Belgium was largely maintained by supplies diverted from Patton. (See Butcher, op. cit., p. 667.) This is not true. The amount delivered by the ' air-lift ' was sufficient to maintain only one division. No road transport was diverted to aid Montgomery until September16th. On the other hand, three British transport companies, lent to the Americans on August 6th " for eight days," were not returned until September 4th.' “ - CHESTER WILMOT THE STRUGGLE FOR EUROPE. 1954 P 589 "Despite objections raised to Montgomery's plan of an assault on a 40 division front, it was more sensible than Eisenhower's insistence on the entire front being in motion at all times, for no better reason than he could not abide the thought that the two American army groups would not participate as entities in the anticipated victory. Not only did Eisenhower fail to heed Montgomery's suggestions, but also he never seemed to understand the possible benefits. He was evidently unable to understand that to supply 40 divisions attacking on one front would have been an easier task than to supply first one army and then the other as each in turn went over to the offensive. It was this concentration of effort which Eisenhower failed to understand and to implement" - Eisenhower at the Art of Warfare by DJ Haycock, page 182. Land supplies were not taken from Patton and given to Monty. It is a complete myth to claim otherwise. Monty didn't even have a full army for his attack at Market Garden, just a Corps and supporting elements, with much flow in from England. Market Garden was not a very large ground operation. It was limited in size. The American attack into the Hurtgen Forest started when Market Garden was going on. The US advance on the Hurtgen Forest by First US Army 9th Infantry Division began on 14th September, 3 days before Market Garden began, and was continuing to try and advance into the Hurtgen even when Market Garden began 3 days later, but it was halted by the Germans however. This was soon followed up by a larger advance by US First Army towards Aachen at the start of October. Market Garden didn't make a notable dent in allied supplies seeing as the US was able to put on a LARGER ground attack right afterwards. According to Bradley in his own book there was parity of supplies between the three allied armies, Second British, First and Third US by mid September 1944 and according to the official US Army History as cited in Hugh Cole's book, The Lorraine Campaign page 52..."by 10th September the period of critical (gasoline) shortage had ended". This was a whole week before Market Garden took place. The gasoline drought was the end of August/beginning of September. It was over by the time of Market Garden.
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  39. @Neal Ramsey On 5 November 1944. Patton said to Bradley that he would be over the Westwall in a few days. He failed, and suffered 55,000 casualties. And Patton was going to power his way to Berlin was he? Not with those tanks he had with 75mm guns. The German Bulge attack showed the massive difference between German and US armour.
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  40.  @wyattmann8157  Who was he?
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  41. Logistics was the major issue but Antwerp wasn’t the only option. If Eisenhower had let Monty go for a Rhine crossing in late August/early September - Operation Comet - with the intent of making the inland sea in Holland they could have got Rotterdam and even Amsterdam instead. Antwerp was an awkward port, being 80km inland with a warren of tidal inlets, islands and estuaries covering the approaches. Many an army came to grief in that part of the world - a British one was destroyed there in 1809. If Monty was all for bypassing the problems of Antwerp and gaining Rotterdam it wouldn't have been the worst judgement, it was very sound. The Germans were still reeling, the paras were on standby with fuel in the tanks. Rotterdam was possible. Stopping to open up Antwerp was always going to take considerable time. Eisenhower, felt it was better to concentrate on Antwerp as the supply head before pressing on - operation Market Garden was that plan. And then the endless operations from Hurtgen Forest to Walcheren. Antwerp would not be fully open to allied shipping until early January 1945. The first ships entered in October 1944, but the majority of supplies would come from Normandy until November. That was three months from Antwerp's capture. Twice the time it took to break out of Normandy. By that time the French railway service had been largely rebuilt with stores coming in from Normandy and LeHavre, for Bradley’s 12th Army Group, and Marseilles, for Devers’ 6th Army Group. The supplies could be shifted faster. Monty was for pushing on in early September,, Eisenhower was cautious. Eisenhower's caution allowed the Germans breathing space to reinforce gifting them an opportunity to consolidate then strike back. Pushing Monty into Holland and then going for caution was sound - you get Rotterdam and possibly Antwerp .
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  42.  @highcountrydelatite  That is one rather odd view.
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  43.  @highcountrydelatite  Australia never had enough manpower to make a difference. Only 7 million population in 1945 - London has twice as many right now. It had virtually no industry of any volume. Their soldiers at times were appalling - look at the 8th Division in Singapore.
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  44.  @highcountrydelatite  I like facts, wonderful things.
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  45.  @highcountrydelatite  Good.
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  46. Montgomery was going to beat them no matter what they did.
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  47.  @michaelkenny8540  Caen was unimportant, a 2nd tier target. Ports were important not cities. On the 11th hour Monty moved the US 82nd's jump from the Caen sector to near Cherbourg. Ports are important.
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  48. "the US Army pushed back the German army in 1918 and ended WWI" They did? New to me.
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  49.  @sdssds1086  Britain and France guaranteed the borders of Poland and Romania pre 1939. It was clear Romania could not be trusted.
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  50. ​ @Mircea076  Britain was contained? Right after the successful retreat at Dunkirk, up until early 1941, the British had: • Destroyed the German surface fleet. • Neutralised most of the French fleet by sinking or starving it of fuel. • Disabled a major part of the Italian fleet. • Freely moving around the Mediterranean. • Starving Germany of food and resources with the effective Royal Navy blockade. • Beat the Luftwaffe over Dunkirk.• Beat the Luftwaffe in the misnomer the Battle of Britain as Britain was never threatened. • Occupied Iceland. • Decimated the Italian army in North Africa. • Were about to take all the southern Mediterranean coast. • Germany was being bombed from the air with raids of over 100 bombers - 150 over Nuremberg - using the new navigational device, Gee. • A massive air bombing fleet was being assembled. • A matter of weeks after the US entered WW2 the RAF launched a 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne. • The RAF shot down over 700 German fighters over Continental Europe in 1941. • Launched Commando raids on occupied Europe. After the small BEF (only 9% of all allied forces in France) left France in June 1940, the British went on the rampage. So much so Franco told Hitler the British may win with him not joining in with Germany, fearing British occupation of Spanish territory. The Turkish ambassador stated Britain will win as it has a pool of men in its empire to create an army of 45 million (later an army of 2.6 million moved into Burma). In 1941 the British: • Suppressed an uprising in Iraq; • Beat the Vichy French in Syria; • Secured Iran and the oil by invading;• Drove the Italians out of East Africa. • Controlled the Med coast from Turkey to Libya; • Controlled Malta on the doorstep of Italy; • Controlled both entrances to the Mediterranean; • Controlled and freely sailing in the eastern Mediterranean; The British determined where the battlefields with the Axis were going to be. After France 1940 Germany never had a significant campaign victory over the British Commonwealth ever again in WW2. The Germans FAILED: • To win the Battle of Britain in 1940; • To win the Battle of the Atlantic in 1940/41; • To control the eastern Atlantic; • To control the Mediterranean in 1940/41; • To control North Africa and the Middle East in 1940/41. The British Commonwealth stopped the Nazis/Axis achieving all this well before the USA joined WW2 or even sent Lend Lease.
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