The first few days of Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway, cost the Kriegsmarine‘s surface fleet dearly. While the invasion and occupation was successful the German Navy would be hampered for the remainder of the war.
As the battle for France is still raging but looks like a ringing victory for Nazi Germany, and the encircled troops in Dunkirk have been evacuated, will Great Britain remain in the war? If so will British forces remain in continental Europe? In fact will Great Britain even be able to remain an independent nation, or also fall to the Nazis?
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory
Colorisations by Joram Appel, Spartacus Olsson and Norman Stewart.
Sources:
IWM: H 1622, H 1686, HU 1150, COL 294, H 1631, H 1700, HU 41240
The Royal Court Photo Archives
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two 3 days ago
Insecurity reigns in Europe now that the Germans have managed to take the Netherlands, Belgium and force a large part of the British army out of mainland Europe. Is this it? Not much seems to stand in the way of a total German victory, and that raises questions in France and Britain. Many of you already know this, but it’d be a waste if not everyone does, so I’d like to point you all to our second YouTube Channel called ‘TimeGhost History’. We’re currently making a Between Two Wars series about the interwar years, which gives a lot of context and background to the things we tell on this channel. You can check that out right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLfMmOriSyPbd5JhHpnj4Ng
Comments Off on Will Britain Remain?! – WW2 – 041 – June 8 1940
While the massive invasion of the Benelux countries and France was going down last week, things were also developing on the fronts in Norway and China. But this week, the German beast is let loose. After breaking through its cage at Sedan last week, nothing seems strong enough to block its way to the English Channel. And if one thing becomes clear, it is that the Allied command structure and the way they communicate is one big smoking mess…
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory
Colorisations by Joram Appel, Spartacus Olsson and Norman Stewart.
Sources:
FDR Presidential Library & Museum
National Portrait Gallery
IWM: H 9218, F 4484, F 4613, F 4578, F 4743б (F 4339
MUSÉE DES ETOILES
Nationaal Archief
Sound effect: LittleRobotSoundFactory
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
Comments Off on The Allied Clusterf**k in France – WW2 – 039 – May 25 1940
As the Allied troops in central Norway are evacuated and the Norwegian troops there surrender to the Germans, the Allied position around Narvik is still quite strong. With the addition of roughly 5000 Polish soldiers, the French, British and Norwegian force will prove to be a formidable foe for the Germans up North. This week however, the war drastically changes as not three but four Neutral countries are invaded. The Phoney War is ultimately over.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Ben Ollerenshaw and Wieke Kapteijns
Map animations: Eastory
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
The Phoney War is over. This is the week that many have been anxiously waiting for (how did they know something big was going to happen). We have some great episodes coming up, which are like this one only as great as they are because of the amazing effort that our team puts in creating them. As is very apparent in this episode, Eastory’s maps take these videos to the next level. Every week we’re stunned by his level of detail and the amazing value that is added by these maps. As the war enters a new phase, so do we. Next week will see the first of our roadtrip to France specials going live as well as the longest weekly episode we have written up until now.
Cheers,
Joram
Comments Off on Hitler Strikes in the West – WW2 – 037 – May 11 1940
Allied plans to take Trondheim in Norway to allow for larger reinforcements and even bigger aerial support to come in are disbanded as the troops approaching Trondheim are pulled back from Norway. While the Allied efforts in Norway lose force there, the Allied forces in Western Europe are prepared for a German invasion through the Benelux countries. The Japanese too are determined to continue their campaign in China, and send thousands more young men into the battlefields.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory
Colorisations by Norman Stewart and Julius Jääskeläinen https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
Some photos depicting Norway are from the Jonatan Myhre Barlien’s photo collection.
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
The situation in Norway looks grim for the Allied forces, and the Norwegians are steadily losing faith in the Allied capability to turn things around. And even though all is still quiet on the Western Front, the Allies have a plan ready to counter a German invasion of France and the Benelux countries. This episode is, again, very heavily filled with top notch maps and animations. These are all made by Eastory, who has a YouTube channel on his own as well! Check out and subscribe to his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCElybFZ60Hk1NSjgCf7I2sg
Cheers,
Joram
Comments Off on Retreat in the North, Preparations in the West – WW2 – 036 – May 4 1940
The invasion and subsequent Battle of Norway has only just begun when the British decide to pull back. Poor planning and misfortune after misfortune harms the British campaign, which becomes very apparent this week while the fighting continues. Almost everywhere, except for in the far north, the Allied troops pull back under heavy German pressure.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory
This week, the Phoney War seems to come to an end when Germany invades Denmark and Norway. The Allies seek confrontation with Germany in the hope to at least deny them full access to the Swedish iron mines. Nevertheless, the Germans are prepared and have been planning this for weeks. It looks like it will cost a lot to put a stop to it.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two 1 hour ago
Hey all! The Phoney war is over, and although we have learned in the last months that it wasn’t as uneventful as is generally believed, the war really takes off here. While this is going live, we are in France to film future events, which I won’t spoil in this video. If you don’t mind too much, do check out our road trip vlogs (the many specials we shot here will have to be edited and will be published over the spring). We have seen very interesting things and we will challenge many misconceptions and myths about the upcoming events of World War Two. Thank you all for your ongoing support!
Cheers,
Joram
Comments Off on The Invasion of Norway and Denmark – WW2 – 033 – April 13 1940
The Winter War is over. The Allies tried to stall the Finns for as long as possible to justify their invasion of Norway, but the Finns have had it and don’t trust the British and French to come to their aid. This week, the Finns sign a peace agreement with the Soviet in Moscow.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory
Photos of the Winter War are mostly from the Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive (SA-Kuva).
The Sinking of HMS Glorious, on June 8 1940, was one of the worst British naval disasters of the Second World War. Over 1500 losing their lives as two German battleships sunk three British ships. In this video, we will recount the events and the heroism of Glorious’ two escorts (HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta), before looking at the post-war controversy over whether the disaster was ‘covered up’ by the Admiralty.
1. Unlike the Battle of the River Plate from my last video, we do not know the precise movements of the ships, particularly the British ones, during the battle. The movements in this video should thus be taken as purely illustrative.
2. As you might be able to tell there is still a pretty intense debate over the reasons for Glorious’ sinking, particularly over what knowledge the officers on board Devonshire had or didn’t have about Glorious’ trouble. In particular there is testimony from one midshipman that the ship’s captain and Admiral Cunningham (who was on board) knew what was happening and took no action. It is only his word, so many of the historians I have read do not seem to have bought much into it, but it appears in this documentary from 1997: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yAahSUiXt4
Comments Off on The Sinking of HMS Glorious: An Avoidable Tragedy?
