My father served as a paratrooper from 1940 (aged 18) until 1945 (aged 22), from theatres in Norway, North Africa, Russia, France, Italy (Monte Cassino), and finally in Holland. He was wounded several times. His contemporary photographs never show him, and his comrades that optimistic, as these (propaganda) films suggest. The authentic photos show self-certain, but worn-out faces. He was prisoner of war until as late as 1948 in England. Then he became an dedicated detective police officer. But as long as he lived (until 2009), everyone knew him as a charming entertainer, an engaged instructor, and an nurturing father. That generation was anything but lost.

My Grandfather was "conscripted", (expected to join the party as a teacher, policeman, postal worker, etc), into the Waffen SS as a school teacher in a remote Freisian Island. He died on the retreat in a place called Stűlweissenberg, North of Lake Balaton. Now called Székesfehérvár. The whole regiment was wiped out as they had no tank support, supply lines or communications, (he was a Panzer Grenadier). My Mother only knew of his death fifteen years later..told by a surviving member of his regiment who feined death. She lived with this for all her life and killed herself, on her own, in Normandy, many, many years later. There was one other man who survived and was badly injured. Basically, anyone who was alive was bayonetted or hanged to save rounds. My Grandfather was, I believe, 44 years old and sent to the front. With 3 months training, he stood no chance. This was in the last few months of the European War, April '44, perhaps? His name was Jansen Eggers, from the Island of Sylt. I would love to have met him. There is always another side to any story. The victors always write the history books. Any information would be gladly appreciated about my Grandfather. Thank you!

1:33 these two soldiers one of the most iconic footage in ww2

These guys are legends forever.

Heroes. The last defenders of Europa and to an extent the greatest Western civilization.

When I was working in the ER, about 15 years ago, I met a gentleman who was a member of the Fallschirmjäger. He made something like 14 combat jumps (his words), was injured on the last one and ended up recovering in Texas in a POW hospital. After the war, he went back to (West) Germany, actually worked on the German side of Kennedy's security detail during his trip to Berlin and was a German investigator for the US military police. He finally retired to my hometown, where I eventually got to meet this fascinating gentleman. Sadly, he passed away about seven years ago, and I only got to talk to him a few times. I would have loved to have sat down and listen to his life story.

0:07 thats a brand new StG 44

I can't even imagine what it must of been like to fight in WW2

Some of the best warriors the world has ever seen in World War II

Now I want a cigarette.

Not a cell phone in sight, just people living in the moment

So many still shots in books taken from this reel, interesting to see it all together.

Many of the SS troops in the film just a few months before were Luftwaffe mechanics or Kriegsmarine sailors and suddenly issued camo uniforms and their soldbuchs stamped "Waffen SS"

Первый раз увидел когда солдаты рейха были подловлены в реальной беседе, а не слащавая пропаганда. Люди как люди, обсуждают свои проблемы. Такие лица, не одна пропаганда не потделает. Спасибо

the last person that came close to saving the world

I talked to a Wehrmacht 88 gunner now living in the US...years ago..He said if the first shell missed you, and you were in the same spot...30 seconds later you better not be in the same spot....

I could watch programs like this all day 100 percent better than the crap on tv now

This bunch looks like some battle hardened, life takers.

These guys would walk a mile (or wipe out an American tank column) for a Camel.

What a tragedy war is. So many lives. Gone. Forever. I guess sometimes it is necessary to prove a point. " I am NOT at your disposal "

German troops with MP44 advancing past burning American half tracks, epic!

They were definitely the not fukn around crew.

Great footage of some of the hardest fighting men of that generation. The greatest generation as we call them here on the UK. Never again will you see soldiers fight for their cause with such tenacity. 🇬🇧🇩🇪

@AP Archive: Thank you for the exelent researched story in the discription!

where'd you get this footage I always see it in small clips but this is like the whole thing

TROPAS DE ELITE DO EXERCITO ALEMÃO. MEU RESPEITO AOS BRAVOS SOLDADOS. CUMPRIRAM AS ORDENS !

My Father's life was spared by one. It was at Monte Cassino, my Father an Army Engineer Officer on the left trying to put a bridge up., He momentarily was separated from his M-1 rifle and the others but he had his .45. All of a sudden he looked up to see a Falscrimjaeger coming out of the brush with his Schmeisser at the ready. They looked at each other for a moment then the German backed the way he came,apparently deciding not to kill that day.

I never see this footage complete, awesome man

Excelente documento y así sin sonido resulta muchísimo más conmovedor es como un viaje a un pasado trágico

This German Counter Offense wiped out quite a few American Units during the Battle Of The Bulge!

The Elite of all Time

The better men didn`t win.

The use of a rifle to hold up the St. Vith sign was inventive . Danger of smoking versus a bullet made sense as well .

I talked to a living Paratrooper last week. The last survival from the third Fallschirmjägerregiment. He was in Hospitel when his Kameraden have been captured by the American forces. And all prisoners were.....

Damn that was a fine ambush on that godfucked road...

Alter, das waren Kerle...

The last knights of europe

the best Soldiers in 20th Century....

SS LEIBSTANDARTE FOR EUROPE AND ALL THE WORLD

A group of unknown German soldiers enjoying captured US cigarettes trade mark scene of that history

0:08 that sturmghewer tho

...gibt es eigentlich nicht mehr freigegebene Aufnahmen? Man sieht immer die gleich Ausschnitte, ist da nicht noch irgendwo Filmmsterial zusichten?

Young men have become men with old faces. Damn war. My father was also only 20 years old when he had to go to war. With imprisoment 8 years became lost youth.

вот это кадры, обалдеть

Trevor N. Dupuy, a noted American military analyst, US Army Colonel, and author of numerous books and articles, studied the comparative performance of the soldiers of World War II. On average, he concluded, 100 German soldiers were the equivalent of 120 American, British or French soldiers, or 200 Soviet soldiers. “On a man for man basis,” Dupuy wrote, “German ground soldiers consistently inflicted casualties at about a 50 percent higher rate than they incurred from the opposing British and American troops under all circumstances [emphasis in original]. This was true when they were attacking and when they were defending, when they had a local numerical superiority and when, as was usually the case, they were outnumbered, when they had air superiority and when they did not, when they won and when they lost.” Other respected military historians, such as Martin van Creveld and John Keegan, have made comparable assessments. Max Boot draws a similar conclusion in his detailed book, War Made New. “Man for man,” writes this influential author and military historian, “the Wehrmacht was probably the most formidable fighting force in the world until at least 1943, if not later. German soldiers were even known for showing more initiative than the soldiers of democratic France, Britain, and the United States.

St Vith , Malmedy, ces images ont été prises pendant l'offensive des Ardennes ?

"Franz, ich mache keine Witze. Das ist echter Tabak."

Ich frag mich worüber sie sich unter dem Panzer wohl unterhalten haben..

The german army was the greatest in the entire world. They always moved as 1.

The Poteau Ambush during the Battle of the Bulge. American column ambushed by Germans. These scenes reenacted after battle for German newsreels.

They look so friendly

In all of the war films I see there are no casualties? Where do they go? Are they inside the vehicles? Or buried in a ditch somewhere?

1:28 M1 carbine used. Makes sense.

Thanks for Videos

This shit is awesome, too bad it doesn't have any sound 😭

1:51 Hey, that's me!

I must have watched this film 1000 times...

I noticed something strange in this video, at minute 1:25, one of the German soldiers was walking behind the rest, then suddenly he stopped walking as if he froze and remained still like a statue while all his comrades continued to walk. What is the interpretation of this scene? Is it a malfunction of the camera used in That time or what? 🤔

I think Germany was the super power that time not russia america

1:30 that's a captured M1 carbine interesting.

When watching WW2 combat in action you have to give lots of credit to the camara Men remember they were being shot at and they just kept filming.

Wie ist der genaue Standort dieser strasse ? Ist das bekannt ?

Notes on Small Arms Weapons and equipment At 0:06, MP44 or StG 45 and a late war Kar 98 0:11 another Kar 98-not fair to denigrate it in comparison to our self-loading M1 Garand-the infantry unit (squad- platoon?) in the Wehrmacht was built around the machine gun, not rifles … 0:45 is that a British tank-No, not a tank … motorized car-armored car 0:47 now a Sturmgeschutz Stg on a PzKw 4 chassis 1:01 what is that huge star on left screen-on a jerry can? Is that a Sherman M1 tank in center screen? 1:18 is that man smoking a joint? 1:22 soldier is not Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger, but Waffen-SS. 1:23 Man to left has a Panzerschreck or a Panzerfaust? Or is that a slinged MG? FG42? Might be if these are Luftwaffe paratroopers (Fallschirmjägerin). 1:28 now the man on left has what, a MP 40? Yes, by 1:31, MP40 submachine gun. 1:33 nice view of late war Mauser Karabiner 98 with late war front band but still has machined rear sights. These are Waffen SS troops given the Adler on their left upper arms and helmet side markings. 1:52 we see the Soldat featured in so many shots of Bulge actions. 2:00 MG 34 or MG 42? 2:12 very bad air quality-hazardous to sensitive groups-OKH could have delayed the action until the next day. 2:14 captured U.S. jeep? 2:18 PzKwV in background until 2:21 when the haze obscures it? 2:39 No looks now like an abandoned U.S. APC 3:04 ff best footage ever of Stug 3:17 Skoda Czech chassis self-propelled howitzers? Chassis from late 1930s? 3:40 Cannot find Wifi; I have same issue today. 4:15 better go with GPS 4:37 Late war Kar 98 no more brass buttplates 4:47 Da kommt ein Kubelwagen! 4:50 No that is Porsche’s VW Schwimmwagen, not a Kubelwagen. 4:54 Finally some big armor; the King Tiger or PzKw VI arrives in Belgium 5:00 BMW or NSU or DKW or other brand 500 cc Motorrad? 5:13 Best shot ever of Porsche’s VW Schwimmwagen. This is a 1938 production model VW automobile with modifications to allow river use. 5:19 always one who won’t suck on the American Camel cancer sticks … 5:22 And another. 5:27 Can barely make out his head gear emblem as a Totenkopf, symbol of the Waffen-SS. 5:29 What is the man on the left screen carrying? Lower left, we see a belt-fed submachine gun or machine gun … a captured U.S. Browning Automatic Rifle? 5:51 these troops have paratrooper helmets and must be the Fallschirmjäger. 5:54 with automatic rifles-MP45 or StG 45, the world’s first assault rifles, named by AH himself-Sturm Gewehr. Had to slip the MP43 and MP44 past him to get it in production … 6:05 Schwimmwagen in left field background? 6:15 always time for bird watching! 6:18 Finally a clear shot of the VW Kubelwagen-a reinforced 1938 VW production auto … 6:29 Kubelwagen. Air-cooled motor was an advantage over the U.S. Jeep in extreme weather. 6:32 Is that the same 155 mm U.S. gun that we’ve seen so many times? Is that a sighting tube on the main barrel, even though it looks to be the same bore diameter? 6:44 Mauser Kar 98 again, with straight bolt. Gew 98? I think the Kar 98 had a turned down bolt. No, it does have the turned-down bolt. Very bad air quality. Amazing that any one survived. 7:24 U.S. Jeep on left edge. 7:31 two of them, damaged. 7:48 is that a Kubelwagen at right screen? 7:54 U.S. transport vehicle on fire. Many Jerrycans.

II have the book Battle of the Bulge then and now, it's great to see the "live" footage of the stills from the book

3:28; "Hey, watch me scare the sh#t out of Franz....!"

1:51 The German Giga-Chad is in this film! In famous photos, wearing the machine gun ammo.

This is very good well known footage from the Ardennes campaign. Good to see it in full. But these are SS troops with some Fallschirmjager, not SS Fallschirmjager as tge title would suggest.

What a Boss in the First Scene

The war was already lost at this point yet these men still found the humanity to crack smiles knowing they probably wouldn't be living much longer. The ones that did live would have ended up in one of Eisenhower's death camps dying slowly from starvation and exposure.

Thank you...all

The very opening scene shows two soldiers, one highly decorated, iron cross and close combat clasp carrying a rifle, the second carrying a stg 44. This soldier is also pictured crouched pumping his fist. He was killed two days later by artillery fire. A second scens shows three men crouched under a M8 Greyhound talking and smoking, the officer Untersturmfuhrer Stieve was killed in January 1945. It shows tiger 222 with passengers enjoying captured cigarettes, tank commander Unterscharfuhrer Kurt Siowa with earphones, one covering a ear for radio traffic, the other ear free to listen to local sounds, you won,t see that on any Americian movie. This was great clear footage, they were very tired, cold, hungry and probably wet.

LSMFT.Lucky Strike mean fine tobacco. German troops enjoying American cigarettes!

What unit is this? Put their names, info and footage into the blockchain forever. May the liars never erase them. They earned their spot in history.

Thanks for not adding some stupid music to this. Very interesting footage. Some of which you seldom see.

Did he leave his rifle hanging on the ‘Malmedy’ sign after he fixed it?

I love the stg 44 design it was perfect the Soviet corrupted the design

the best modern army ever

Holyshit they took out so many US Army tanks jeeps and trucks!

Minute 1:32 was für ein Kämpfer was für ein Gesicht er wusste dass er bald sterben wird den wollte ich nicht als Gegner haben! Respekt

My grandfather moved to poland from portugal in 1938, he was in western poland when the invasion began and was taken back to germany as a POW, he joined the waffen SS and was deployed to auschwitz in february of 1941, he was there until the soviets invaded and had to flee to iran, he then lived in the kurdistan region of iraq for many years and unfortunately passed away in northern iraq in 1975. all the same, I respect the man and the life he lived. I do believe the SS was one of the greatest military groups in the world

The German army was very handsome I have to say.

Thank you for sharing this. Poor soldiers. Duty to the end.

Wie konnten wir nur den Krieg verlieren mit solchen guten Soldaten

I realy love these ww2 videos the only thing that ruins it are the comments. The comments about weapons and about the family members that fought in ww2 are nice but there are always these coments that says "germany was better, the red army destroyed germany, german army is trash, german/red army is shit, all germans/soviest are bad etc" cant u just accept that they were forced to fight in the war and that not all of them had the same oppinion like the politicians.

Wonder what they were talking about during the smoke break under the greyhound.

They're enjoying American cigarettes, which would have been sheer luxury compared to the end-war Wehrmacht cigarettes they would have been lucky to be issued. This was a huge deal even if they didn't do the damage. They would likely all be prisoners or dead within a few months from now.

0:40 this is a rather unusual gun that looks like a long-barreled US 105mm. Can you give more information on it ? Thank you.

Forgive me mein fuhrer for I wasn't there to help your Germany

Судя по кадрам сигарки трофейные очень вкусные были

Elite troops

Sembraron el terror y la destrucción, en Europa. Pero el valor demostrado en general en combate, les condujo a la gloria en ese aspecto. Lucharon por su Patria, aunque no compartamos muchas de sus doctrinas.

Fine made ! Rare footage !

I would like this more with Sound.

There are some Fine American Cigarettes over there Waffen SS Guys: Here we come

That guy at :22? He saw a semi go by, and was trying to get him to honk his horn.

Excellent presentation thanks, but the Malmedy sign eh

1:52 IS THAT HANS????

Bonjour a tous du Canada At this moment of the war we can see all the fog it's impossible for allied to give air support the German with her equipement and quality of her Army had the advantage but when the bad weather stop and the sky is clear the advantage turn for the allied + German are out of gas

The real malboro men!

Couple interesting shots of American 105mm howitzers with long barrels.