Fifth video in the series looking at the Commonwealth forces involved in Operation Overlord.
D+26, Final day of Operation EPSOM
Timestamps
00:00 Intro, friendly forces and ground
02:33 Mission analysis and planning
05:05 The Battle
13:26 Outcome, actual events and lessons
18:49 Outro
History has not been kind to the British soldier in Normandy. The accomplishments of the Commonwealth fighting man has been overshadowed in the post war years either due to their quiet humility, or humble nature. Most simply wanted to return to civilian life and maybe with their undeniable victory they felt no need to boast or explain their actions.
Coming up to the 80th anniversary I wanted to take a look at the challenges they faced using the commonwealth module for combat mission Normandy.
I bought this expansion a few years back and completed the campaign, but despite the beautiful and detailed effort put into their creation couldn't shake the intimidating scale of the standalone scenarios.
Indeed the historically accurate maps show the size of the Overlord undertaking, with 21st Army group being the largest and most complex organisation the British have ever placed into the field in living memory.
Am I particularly good at the game - No
Am I historian - No, I've seen a few films, read a few books and could name the codenames for the beaches but my actual knowledge of the campaign is minimal
But I hope to use that and see how I can learn and mature over the course of the battle, because its worth reminding ourselves that the victory in Normandy was by no means a foregone conclusion
and I hope my contribution, even in a small way, can go some way to correcting the unfair understanding of the quiet competence of these courageous men