My Dad celebrated his 21st birthday at Arras as a stretcher bearer in the 150 Field Ambulance 50th Division. I’m looking at his photo on the piano, in his new uniform after Dunkerque. Conscripted for 6 months , North Africa, Salerno , Anzio, the Gothic Line, Trieste.

Please, never apologise for going on too long. Go on longer. Wonderful stories wonderfully told. Thank you.

Had this been delivered in a lecture hall, I think this presentation would have ended with a standing ovation! Thank you sir. Thank you Bovington. Thank you supporters of Bovington.

The Matilda 2 was a good tank. My old Army Reserve unit 1/15 RNSWL (that served as the 1st Australian Armoured Regt. In WW2) has restored one they used in the islands to our north. It is agian fully mobile.

This kind of content and videos are the reason KZfaq exist. Absolute fantastic History lesson, for free.

Thank you for pointing out the bravery of the common french soldier. Their spirit and bravery is often overlooked and the french forces are being ridiculed and get a bad rep. Thanks again for this very informative lecture. Greetings from a germany

My Wife’s family are German, I remember talking to her Great Grandfather he was taken POW in July 44 he says the German POWs could not understand the absence of horses, he was stunned that he was facing truly mechanised opposition, from that moment he knew the war was lost..

I'm glad you mentioned that the failure of the French didn't lie with bravery of their soldiers or the equipment they had, but with how they were poorly led from on high.

What isn't ever talked about is the preformance of the French army after Dunkirk- there were a series of defensive hedgehogs that gave the Germans a very difficult time.

Better than just about every documentary ever shown on the History Channel....

Wittering and waffling is not something DW does. This was a real treat.

I realize this is a strange response to essentially a history lecture, but...wow! Outstanding!

This gentleman should be teaching at sandhurst .he makes the talk come alive , learnt more in an hour , as in the last 10 years . Nice one ☝️

The great British soldier to emerge after Arras was General Alan Brooke, whose corps was too exposed to the north and was about to be outgunned and crushed. Alan Brooke coordinated a do-or-die British fighting retreat to Dunkirk -- and was therefore also responsible for saving the British Army. Later, Brooke was known as Sir Alanbrooke. Also, later in the war, Brooke became CIGS. That is, British "Chief of the Imperial General Staff" under Churchill in the decisive years of WW2. Tireless Alanbrooke was a great allied general.

As usual Mr Willey is bloody marvellous to listen to is a poetry In motion. Never tire of listening to his stories on tanks and the stories behind some of the people who lived in these vehicles for years.

I see he has two books on Half-Tracks. I think that makes it a full track.

Fabulously entertaining lecture : totally engrossing. In the spirit of A.J.P Taylor, a simple piece-to-camera. More Please !!!

Superb delivery. Thank you Sir. Many good years to Bovington tank museum.

Very interesting, I hope you don’t stop these talks after Covid-19 passes

Hearing the extemporaneous summary of the French Army leadership dysfunction is more chilling than any account I've read in print

Thank you, David Willey, for an amazing talk. My grandfather fought at Arras in the Great War with the East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) in the 18th Division in 1917. I didn't understand the significance of this tank battle, and the 24 hour halt. I agree with what you say, without the Army, recovered from the beaches of Dunkirk, Churchill may have had to sue for peace.

I think these history lectures from The Tank Museum are great! I really hope these become the norm after lockdown has ended.

I've never sat through a 1hr 20 minute lecture and been alert!! Amazing!

Hi. In my humble opinion those "quarantine talks" are way better than ordinary "stand in the front of the tank" tanks. They explain lots of interesting things in creative way. Seems like all limitations only helped You. And listening to mr director taking his thougts about hats, courage etc. is lovely. He should do more of that cos he is great in that role. Great, lovely job gentleman, my respects.

In English language media, the battles of Hannut, Stonne and Montcornet always get overlooked. Would love a serious look at those.

What an excellent, detailed dive into an event we typically hear little detail of. Especially in the U.S. The event of the Greatest army on the planet being leveled in days time is a pretty big deal that deserves more explanation than, " The French were just cowards." Thank you

Never apologise for 'waffling on for too long'. One man's waffle is another man's fascinating lesson. Thank you for your insight.

Thank you for the content, I've found that as the quality of TV documentaries has declined the quality of online content has skyrocketed. Keep up the good work!

I'm getting a Lindybeige vibe to the video, no jarring jump cuts, just an enthralling story.... Brilliant.

80 percent of the French forces brought back at great effort to the UK from Dunkirk did not 'fight on' at all. They requested a boat back home and sat out the rest of the war in occupied France. It was a huge waste of time and lives shipping most them out of Dunkirk. Arras kept Britain in the war and gave democracy some hope for eventual survival in WW2. Great vid 👍

Having been a soldier, even if only in the middle east, I rarely find a reason to fault any soldiers. I do, however, find many faults in the command and military intelligence structures of most of the military's failures of any country.

This is really very good. Thank you very much. Please define some more battles like Arras when time allows. David Willey's perspective, as a museum curator who has seen many of the fighting vehicles described in person, is quite valuable. I found this very informative.

Really enjoyed the talk on Arras, the whole retreat to Dunkirk including the Arras battle is very humbling when you consider the BEF’s resources and equipment, very brave lads indeed.

Very surprised at the quality of the presentations from the Tank Museum. Mr Willey has a voice that is easy to listen to, his knowledge of the subject matter is impressive and his diction makes things clear and precise. Thank you Sir for some very entertaining lectures.

David Wiley is the best of museum curators, his knowledge and interpretation of military history and its vehicles is nothing less than outstanding.

When talking about the political situation regarding the Munich Agreement i.e., Sudetenland annexation, I never heard anyone bring up the fact that in addition to Germany, both Poland and Hungary participated in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, a fact that deeply impacted relationship between Poland and Great Britain and France, which could have played a part in Hitler's thinking that they would not declare war on Germany over Poland. "In his postwar memoirs, Winston Churchill compared Germany and Poland to vultures landing on the dying carcass of Czechoslovakia and lamented that "over a question so minor as Teschen, they [the Poles] sundered themselves from all those friends in France, Britain and the United States who had lifted them once again to a national, coherent life, and whom they were soon to need so sorely. ... It is a mystery and tragedy of European history that a people capable of every heroic virtue ... as individuals, should repeatedly show such inveterate faults in almost every aspect of their governmental life."

This lecture has cleared up so many things l have wondered about since l was a young boy. Thank You Sir. Extremely well done. Greets from Canada 🇨🇦

One of the best yet David. Hugely interesting and informative. A perspective on Arras and its effects on the war I haven't seen before. Thank you

You never waffle on, all your associates just keep edutaining us, I always love everything I ever watch.

I loved the video , so much. Definitely not boring. I really loved all the fine details . THANK YOU SO MUCH , SIR .

These talks are a perfect complement to the equally superb videos of The History Guy. Very different in style, but both unmissable.

A lot of preparation went into that. Well done appreciated

Nice and informative video! Would really like to see some more of these videos

Yet more utterly brilliant output from The Museum. Thank you Mr Willey!!

Thank you very much, very interesting. You are absolutely right, smaller initiatives in hopeless situations, can turn out imperative for the outcome by giving others new possibilities to act. 40 years ago, attending officers battle training here in Norway - we were drilled over and over again - never to stop fighting, always take initiative. This is a stunning example how important that is.

Another great video. Now in addition to a review of early and late WWII Tanks I am hoping for a video similar to this on all the major land battles eventually.

David impressed that you have " A crisis of brilliance" on your bookshelf, one of my favourite books on modern British art and the artists.

I’ve always wondered why they got away with the long thin line of penetration. This video explains just about everything. Thank you.

'The Blitzkreig Myth' is very good at covering a lot of topics about WWII taken as 'truths' now. The fact Germany and Japan made it as much a fight as they did is really amazing. Multiple economic analysis also point to the same thing.

Thank you David for this detailed and revealing breakdown of the various elements that have been blurred out of focus over time. Very well done and most enjoyable.

I could listen to David speak about anything for any length of time. Great talk!

I like how the title makes it seem like the video is just about the Battle of Arras but then you get nearly an hour of early-war history extra as well.

Very good talk. The first part about Germany's progression into a fighting force happening in stages that were dictated by it's economy was very revealing. No "grand plan" from the outset as you say. Helped me get a better perspective of their pre-war preparations. As I learn more of these details I am continually amazed that they got as far as they did with what they had.

Amazing content once again from the Tank Museum and David Willey in particular. It makes me wonder who would actually click dislike on this!

There is no better KZfaq channel. Absolutely top job, the quality of the material delivered is staggering.

Thank you, I really this and honestly found it one of the most interesting and informative videos I've seen on military history. I hope many more people put the time into watching it in its entirety.

Awesome material. I thought the Tank Museum was all about tank chats but I really really enjoyed this great piece of history. Please keep doing these !

The CharB had one man in the turret. That one man had to aquire the target, then fire the gun, then reload the gun before starting the process all over again basically from scratch. The Panzer III had one man in the turret for EACH of those tasks. Having a bigger gun and more armor means little if you can't use them effectively...

This is the third time that I have watched this and it gets better with each viewing. A great story brilliantly told. I could watch you waffle all day!

History not to be forgotten. Stay safe and sound Sir.

That background shelf makes me realize my collection of military books is sadly lacking ... like French strategic leadership in 1940.

Most interesting about a battle a little less well known. It seems the RTR served it's motto well. Thank you for these stimulating lectures.

Wow! Such an interesting perspective on the powerful outcome this minor skirmish at Arras potentially had on the entire war. I've never heard it described/narrated in quite this way and it has given me a new perspective on these final days in France before the surrender. Thank you for your hard work in producing this video!

Another brilliant talk. Detailed but still coherent and entertaining. I very much admire anyone who can speak for more than an hour and keep the story going in such an entertaining way. I hope these will continue beyond these strange Covid days.

Another excellent myth-busting video, did not know a lot of this stuff Thank you

That is a lecture that should be compulsury in high school - not to mention officer training. It is so much more competent than the education I recieved 40-50 years ago. You might have ranted, but never mind that: There should be a place for discussion and maybe an essay after that - where the ability of the pupil and student might be able to show their ability to comprehend. I very much appreciate the opportunity taken by the Tank Museum to add perspective (now the collection is not available).When reopened this should be a lecture running in a projection room. Another idea: David Fletcher is quite knowledgeable: Let him make a compendium of say: 1) Why airborne and amphibious tanks do not work: Let him extrude the square root of his intimate knowledge of the mechanical disasters. 2) Why the halftrack has had its time and the consequences for the present day of the 8 X 8 vehicle. Much of what Fletcher says in his - by the way points - are really what everybody in the trade knows, but others don't. I'm here refering to issues such as length to with ratios of the tank tracks. The main difficulty with amphibious tanks is not water speed or weight; but that the damned thing cannot climp out of the water. There is a lot of relevant expertise in the Tank Museum, that would be a great preparation for a visit to the tank museum.

The quality from this channel is outstanding

First post I've seen from the Tank Museum that wasn't a Chat. So many things I never knew. Enlightening!

Truly a great account of an historic and vital action. I’ve enjoyed many of your and others tank videos but this is another step up. As said before, don’t apologise for going too long. You can go on far longer. Well done

One thing that isn’t mentioned - The German Panzer & mobile forces has much better communications than those opposing them. That allowed the Germans to respond much more quickly to the developing situation than their opponents could.

Excellent presentation, well done ! My father landed on the beaches on D Day + 1 and then fought all the way through to Berlin. The fighting in the Ardennes was the most difficult period for him, when during a very cold winter they were pinned down for a long time.

Really enjoying these long format presentations, while I have plenty of spare time to watch them

I'd like to echo the request to keep making these longer talks available to the KZfaq audience. This was exceptionally informative. I don't mind if these are delayed by 6 months or so from when first presented to the volunteers and members of the Museum

Brilliant talk! Thank you. Learned a lot that I never knew before and entertaining too!

What a great explanation of what went on before the retreat from Dunkirk

To me it is waffles and cream, I have a cup of tea maybe two and enjoy the detail. Wonderful, informative and terrific all at once. Thank you

That was brilliant. I always learn something in these accounts.

To really understand how poor the French high command was in 1940 read Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore...the French armies general discipline was also questioned

What a great presentation! I am so impressed, as I am with all of David Willey's presentations, at his depth of knowledge, and great delivery of material in an interesting and understandable way. Superb.

Geez I could listen to David Willey talk about war for 3 days straight ! Keep the great videos coming guys, even presentations like this after the COVID pandemic, please. Much love from France !

David, I've really enjoyed these more informal videos, I hope they become a permanent feature of the channel.

I could listen to mr. Willey for hours...

David was on a roll, could not stop if he tried!🇬🇧🤘

Bless you all at Tank Museum for bringing us these storys and all that knowledge around the world.

Absolutely brilliant presentation, Sir, that just wasn't long enough After many decades, you have answered my questions regarding the Dunkirk evacuation. Thank you.

You beauty. Good long talk. Greetings from Australia.

Mr. David Willey, Your knowledge is wonderful and I love your videos. One thing though you may not want the Health and Safety people to see that bookshelf. Thank you for the wonderful presentation.

If you ever manage to be just 1% as eloquent and enthralling a story teller as David Willey, you're gonna be just fine.

Love this longer form content.

Long, but very interesting, as usual. This man tells as if he has witnessed everything. I will watch this in stages.

This is exactly the type of lecture every first year military history undergraduate should receive....stats vs BS...reality vs propaganda. Excellent

Wonderful synopsis & insight of the early battles and their effect on the outcome of later results of the European campaign of WWII.

Outstanding Video! Thank you!

An hour and 20 minutes well spent. Bought the T-shirt

Utterly brilliant analysis. Small things can have such broad-reaching results

You sir, are an online historian god up there equal to TIK, Mark Felton, Military History Visualized, etc,... forever will be remembered as the modern beacon of truth. You sir, have changed the world with this. Simply brilliant! Excellent work, don't be afraid of the time as each second of your lectures are gold. Thank you!

That was a very interesting and informative video, more like this please.

"The Blitzkrieg Legend" a truly outstanding work. The description of the battle of Stonne was very enlightening. I just finished B. H. Liddell Hart's book "The German Generals Talk" which filled in some the blanks about how the generals reacted to the decisions made by Corporal Hitler. The friction and distrust of the generals and Hitler is probably what saved the world. If they had worked in prefect harmony and cooperation the world would look entirely different today.

My brother and I have been researching this battle for our family history as a family member fell in the fallout NE of Arras shortly thereafter. Amazed to find it the subject of a feature length presentation, many personal thanks David and Bovington.

Very well made lecture, thank you very much. You put together different, very interesting perspectives and I learned a liitle bit more of May 1940. Will visit Hill 111 NW of Wiley in October, that´s for sure...