Another great video bub

I just subscribed to your channel.i really like your history videos which I'm jealous you got to go to Gettysburg but I well get there one day

I'm a 2ndWW fanatic aswell. My dad spent 2 years in the only concentration camp on french soil only to be liberated by US troops in Dachau Germany. So i was raised with WW2. This channel is great.

@@robholleman120 - Oh my goodness!

Severloh fired his mg42 like 8 hours straight, and it has said that the lawn lit around him as he changed the barrel again and again.. He started to shoot when the yanks still couldn't run in the water, and he was So close to the beach he could See where the shots he fired hit the water. So I think he got more than 200 kills. .. He has also stated that afterwards his actions on d-day haunted him as long as he lived, so why would he lie..(?) Probably not 1500 kills, but alot more than 200 i think.

How free are you though?

Yeah freedom lol

​@@spacecowboy1438 Pretty easy to google Nazi laws. They were very restrictive.

I live in an English port city that was heavily bombed by the Luftewaffe during WW2. Even today there are pillboxes, air raid shelters, weapons positions etc built along the eastern coast of the UK.

Im sorry but soviet did mostly the job lol... The west front was for a large part mostly very young and old soldiers, elite soldiers were on the east front fighting red army.. In june 1944 it was already the end for the germans

@@Gangstawalk1the soviets fought on a completely different side of the country lol

@@dakotareid1566 yes but they did the most difficult job and the largest part of the victory , people always put too much light on the americans

@olivier753 ur exactly right

Wow. Tragic on all sides.

Interesting. Can you explain more of his story? I'm very interested in the Foreign Units of the Wehrmacht.

@@TheHistoryUnderground I like to listen more too.i can listen for hours for what they went through

He got what he deserved.

Very distasteful. Not all Germans were nazis btw.

It's a pretty important site so I'm sure that they are aware and have plans to maintain it over time.

For the British, Canadian, Irish and ANZAC casualties there is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that repair and maintain a lot of the cemeteries mainly in Europe but in India, Singapore and other locations from WW 1 and 2. They have several interesting and poignant You tube videos.

It is so important that these sites and the fallen never get forgotten. I hope they do maintain it.

There is a scene in the movie the Big Red One , when one of soldiers says he can’t believe that they already put up a memorial of the guys that lost their lives. Then they explain to him that was from WWI .That scene always gets me.

I agree, wonder what the name in gold meant?

This story turned out much better than I was afraid it would be

That's AMAZING! Wow...

That’s the kind of story that makes your heart pump with pride my friend.

monty81567 . That is why they are called the greatest generation.

My father-in-law landed with the 29th that Omaha his two other brothers landed with the first infantry division, and the third one was in the Navy

That's why this channel exists. I'm happy for anyone who watches and enjoys it, but the original intent was to provide a resource for history teachers and students. Glad that you share the vision to keep history alive!

I'm a millennial, and I have 2 sons. I agree 100%. I am going to make sure that they understand what happened, regardless of what they learn at school.

@@TheHistoryUnderground very interesting. RIP to the American Engineers. My Uncle was a Royal Engineer 🇬🇧 and went to Normandy too. A little while later he was at Nijmegen when the Allies arrived at the bridge and were fighting to secure it. At night he took a tug boat from the power station and rescued British and American soldiers who were escaping back across the German lines from Arnhem, and needed to cross the river, with up to date information.

@@atlas_black5784 _ That is great. I hope there are other young parents out there that do the same.

Space Skipster ,,, thanks for sharing the story of your uncle. Those stories need to be told and kept alive. Had a relative that served in Egypt. Sadly not much info remains of what he went through personally.

Supposedly he fired 12.000 rounds with the MG and 400 rounds with two rifles. How many of those shots were really on target is of course impossible to know.

@@HingerlAlois He claimes in an interview that from 50 shots with the rifle he missed only about 10% cause he could see if they would hit water or flesh.

Rip to those who defended europe, not for those that attacked their own ancestral homeland.

@@fridolfmane1063 fridolf? More like Adolf

@@boltskyline2957 Diddler

You were lucky to be there...

Can't imagine what that was like for either side.

As Sherman said. "War is hell" Amazing story! Thanks for sharing. How could you not be quiet after that? Imagine waking up and seeing 5,000 ships? Imagine, having to wade in. At the 50th anniversary of D-day, the men, that were whole enough to return, looked for the scrabble near the beach. The scrabble is defined as large rocks that were driven up by the high tides and strong storms. It was their 1st line of defense after wading ashore. The scrabble was gone, washed out by another storm. But they searched and searched because it saved their lives...

Heinrich told that he had the order of his first lieutenant, at the latest when the Allied soldiers were still in water, to open the fire. Not just on the beach. The soldiers in the boats that followed, did not even want to leave the boat when they saw all the dead floating in the sea and heard the gunshots of the MG 42 Many boats were shot directly at when the hatch was opened and no soldier surrived

@@Marvel66666 I can imagine not wanting to leave the Higgins.

Thanks! Appreciate that. Glad that it's resonating with you as well :)

Wow. Coming from someone who has been there and already appreciates the history, that really does mean a lot to me. Thank you.

My pleasure. Haven't been to the cemetery in Luxembourg yet but it's on my list.

Eileen Lois - Oh wow. That means a lot. Thank you. Glad that these videos are able to give you something to add to you dad’s story.

James Reilly Thank you so much. We lost him to cancer in 1981. I so wish I had asked him questions about the war. We have a book called Drive A To Victory by Col. Robert S. Allen, about General Patton’s Third Army. It’s all about my what my Dad did. I would have loved to read it with him!

My Dad was with Patton's 3rd Army.

Larkin I wonder if they knew each other. I always felt as if it was all so far away and now I’m seeing the spots and talking to people. Amazing.

@Larkin, my great grandfather was in pattons 3rd as well, received the bronze star after his tank was disabled and they dug in and held off Germans until reinforcements arrived.

For sure. At least a few hundred....which is crazy already.

Gosh. I cannot imagine what those guys on the Eastern front must have experienced. It would be interesting to know more of the stories. Thanks for sharing that.

@@TheHistoryUnderground Well I can tell you what he told me: It must have been in the time where the Wehrmacht was pushed back more and more by the soviet troops. My grandfather and his comrades were trying to 'liberate' a farmlike building that was held by their enemy. The commanding officer, a nasty Lieutenant divided the platoon into 4 groups which made not more than 5-6 men each group to attack the building from different directions. Lt. of course had the shortest and maybe easiest way to the center or court of the structure. My grandpa was one of the members of the most far out attack point, to which they partially had to run over uncovered/unprotected area to get to. Well, the commanded time of attack was almost reached while my grands group haven´t yet reached their attack position. But the Lt. launched the attack anyways and thereby alerted the enemy. They spotted the group of my grandpa and started attacking them from inside the structure by launching grenades with light mortars or so. My grandfather was hit by a shrapnel in his right lower leg but could still walk. While the other men of his group where ripped apart right in front of his eyes, he said with tears in his eyes. In the end, they who were left and survived met inside the court of this farm building. The Lt. was standing there and waiting and as he saw him and some others that may have suffered the same problem he said: 'Why are you still alife? You should have died there in honor to cover my attack!' My grandfather was known as a hotshot so he grabed his knife and wanted to kill his Lt. but was held back by two or three of the remaining comrades. The place was somewhere in what is now the Czech Republik. I think a few days later my grandfather deserted back home, which was in Hungaria near Budapest were his wife brought my mother to life in May 1944 having my uncle and my aunt beside her and another girl that sadely didn´t survive. After the surrender of the German Reich, the so called 'Donauschwaben' (Donau-Swabian-people), which my family belonged to, were expelled from their properties they had since the 17. century. So everything he was fighting for was gone. They were brought to Germany by train where he started a new life with all that was left - his beloved family. From that point on everything finally came to a good. He died in 1986. Thank you for reading also a part of my personal history. I was born in 1973, meanwhile father of two kids, never was in the military but still have the feeling, that there´s something sleeping inside me (as Duke Leto Atreides in 'DUNE' said to his son) - 'The sleeper must awaken!'. But I´m not sure yet if that was a good idea. I often ask myself why I´m so interested in military matters. Take care all of you and keep in mind that those old guys around you often have an interesting history. Ask them about it, as long as they are alife. Maybe there´s something to learn. Peace to all of us.

Thanks again! Really appreciate that. If you liked the movie Saving Private Ryan, you'll probably find the next one of interest.

Glad you enjoyed it! Got a lot more from Normandy and Belgium in the coming weeks. Thanks!

Thanks so much for that! That means a lot coming from a fellow WWII enthusiast. Hopefully the videos helped to fill in a few gaps for you. Be sure to subscribe if you haven't already. I try to post at least once a week.

@@TheHistoryUnderground yup, already subscribed and looking forward to more though i fully appreciate it may be tricky at the moment for you. I've already noticed a massive jump in your sub count since i subbed a few days ago, which is very well deserved. Best of luck growing the channel, I shall be sure to spread the word as and when i can :)

the rampant hamster - Yeah, it’s hard to figure out his KZfaq works. The channel has kind of exploded in the past week. I figure that if I work hard and earn it, the rest will come. My main goal is just to get as many people exposed to history as I can. Thanks!

Pamela Kern - Thanks! Really appreciate you all watching.

Curious Pavel - Thanks! I’ll take that as high praise from a fellow history lover.

Thank you so much! I enjoy sharing the content with fellow history enthusiasts.

Many thanks! Appreciate the kind words.

Thanks so much for that. Hearing that means more to me than you know.

Interesting. I had not heard of them. Glad that this video could fill in a few gaps for you. Thanks for watching.

@@TheHistoryUnderground it´s a very small and underrated Band. They have a lot of songs about the war, mostly from the view of german soldiers and they suffering and dead.

Severloh did not want to talk about numbers and once guessed 1,000 to get the interviewer off the subject. He was 20 years old for crying out loud, and you're repeatedly asking him to sensationalize the worst day of his life while he's seeking absolution. SMH.

🙏🏼

Oh wow. That's pretty amazing. Thanks for the kind words.

Sorry for responding 8 months later, but wow. I thank him for his service. Is he still alive?

@@simonsaura8138 He passed away in 2010 he was 92 never missed a wink of sleep he also captured Warner von Braun at the power station in Germany they sat by the campsite fire and had beers and Warner said we go to the moon he stood up and got all excited and said we go to the moon my dad said to him Sit down you’re not going anywhere little did he know Warner von Braun was telling the truth

respect to your old man from s,wales u.k

Yeah, I agree with all of that. My point wasn’t to try and call him out or anything. As I mentioned in the video, I don’t think he was an outright liar, but I do think that he inflicted fewer casualties than he thinks. The numbers he quoted would account for most of the casualties for the entire beach. He did a lot of damage though. That is for sure.

The thing is, he wasn't the only German gunner on that segment of the beach. On Omaha beach in it's entirety there were 2,000 US casualties. That includes killed, wounded missing etc. So start with that figure as a cap. If Heinrich was responsible for ALL the casualties on Omaha Beach he might have hit the 2,000 mark. Omaha Beach was a good probably 6 miles wide with 8 sectors and like 13 German defensive positions covering the entirety. So yeah, one machine gunner probably did a lot of damage. But there was artillery pieces, mortars, 88s in the rear, mines, drownings from jumping over the side of landing craft loaded with gear. At best Heinrich is exaggerating or embellishing. Probably by a significant number. But that doesn't deminish the horror of a German machine gunner mowing down maybe a hundred or more Americans.

GodOfWar221 They said the same thing when they were throwing the bodies in the ovens was just following orders sad but true

I also recall Heinrich Severloh stating at how much more personal it became for him when he was using his Mauser after he ran out of MG42 ammunition. It's one thing to be spraying machine gun fire, like many other gunners, and seeing many soldiers fall in the melee, but it's a different thing entirely to see the person at the end of your gunsight fall immediately after you pull the trigger.

@@TheHistoryUnderground Agreed.

Thanks 🙏🏼

It definitely gives some perspective.

What's more important is the we should try and think back to this when looking at the Republican Party and the Trump administration's display of fascism. People don't remember history well enough to realize how dangerous they are.

Thanks! Seeing where he was firing from is actually pretty horrifying.

Appreciate that! Pretty excited for some of the upcoming videos that are lined up.

Thanks! Appreciate it!

Glad you enjoyed it. Thought that it was an interesting story. And one that a lot of people just take a face value.

Stefan Zweigle - I agree. It’s unfortunate that he was given that nickname. He was doing what he was trained to do and what what anyone would have done in his place.

There is a documentary of Silva and Severloh meeting at Omaha beach in the1980s or 1990s.

@@TheHistoryUnderground - exactely. I am sure he has brought a lot of tears and sadness to lots of families. But I have seen the documentary about him and Silva. Hein Severloh cried himself when he arrived at Omaha beach, again. Quiet interesting you say "he has done what anyone would have done in his place". Here in Germany any former Wehrmacht soldier is just seen as a Nazi supporting the Nazi party. Just good our former Enemies are seeing the things more clearly. Crazy irony, isn`t it?

@@maxcravero5663 Oh yes, I have seen this documentary, as well as I have read the book about WN 62. Both are well done.

@@moviebrat1 send the link

Glad you like them!

Coming soon! Thanks!

Thanks! Got another one coming tomorrow. If you liked the movie Saving Private Ryan, it might be of interest.

@@TheHistoryUnderground definitely will... that is one of my favs. Look forward to it, thank you JD.

Amazing place.

John Kelsey - Thanks 👊🏻

Thanks! Appreciate that. I love putting them together.

Glad you enjoyed it. Hope that it helps people to remember.

Thank you! Cheers!

Thanks! Will do!

You got that right! Kind of a shame that a big ol' dang trailer is right in front of it.

Makes me wonder what that property might go for?

Hmmm.....interesting. Thanks.

Steve Zaloga points out how unlikely his story is. He wasn't even an MG gunner. Look up his talk called The Devils Garden.

Adam Mann - Interesting. Will do.

Yeah, the placement almost seemed spiteful in a way. Thanks for the kind words!

Interesting! That’s a part of the D-Day operation that I need to educate myself more about. Thanks!

@@TheHistoryUnderground You do great works. I was suppose to be there last May with my son, a trip long planned but cancelled because of the pandemic. They almost beached themselves because it was all hands on deck and they were expendable. Keep on, keeping on...

Pretty damn good shooting if you ask me...

Welcome! Glad that you enjoyed it.

Awesome! Thank you.

First off, thanks. I really appreciate the kind words. In one of the later videos, I do make a visit to Juno.

@@TheHistoryUnderground awesome! your welcome :D you present things very well and are clear and understandable , no wind sounds which is awesome, can't wait for the Juno video, i have checked out your other videos, very good work my dude!