German Newsweek No. 682- 29 Sep. 1943 [Full HD] (German Raid on Spitzbergen, Combat Footage Italy)

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Remarks:

00:44 Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was the dictator of Spain after the victory of Nationalist troops in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). He was fascist and pro-axis during WWII, but Spain officially remained neutral, although it had good relationships especially with Germany until 1944, when it was clear that Germany was going to lose the war. The fact that Spain officially remained neutral in WWII meant that Franco could continue ruling, he would do so until his death in 1975.

00:47 The Spanish Naval Academy was established in 1717 in Cadiz in southwest Spain but was moved in 1943 to its current location in Marin in northwest Spain, close to the border with Portugal.

00:56 The Spanish Navy was rather weak during WWII, consisting of only one heavy cruiser, three light cruisers and 17 destroyers and various smaller ships.

01:18 This is most likely the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, a four masted sailing training ship, commissioned in 1928. It is still used for training nowadays, and it’s the sailing vessel with the longest traveled journey worldwide, at over 2 million nautical miles (3,7 million km).

01:26 Caudillo is a Spanish title which roughly translate to “Captain” or “Army leader”, and was the title used by Franco during his rule as dictator.

01:38 Serbia is one of the most important country for tobacco production in Europe, which became important as Germany couldn’t import any tobacco from the Americas during the war, so practically all tobacco came from within Europe.

02:27 The Panzergrenadier-Division Feldherrenhalle was a unit of the Wehrmacht during WWII. Created in June 1943 in southern France, many of its members were former SA members. The name Feldherrenhalle refers to a building in Munich which was the scene of the failed coup of the Nazis in 1923, a topic crucial to Nazi ideology. The division took part in the disarmament of Italian troops in September 1943, before arriving on the Eastern Front in December of that year. It was destroyed during the Soviet Operation Bagration in July 1944, raised again in September and send to Hungary, where it was destroyed again during the Siege of Budapest in February 1945, and then raised again, before capitulating in May 1945 in Czech.

02:47 This is not Wilhelm Keitel, the chief of OKW, but rather his relatively unknown younger brother, Bodewin Keitel (1888-1953). Like his older brother, he also joined the Army at a young age, becoming a cadet in February 1909. He served in WWI, initially as a platoon leader, later company and battalion commander. He continued his service as company and battalion leader after the war, before being promoted to chief of staff of the IX. Army Corps in October 1934; from February 1938 to October 1942, he was chief of the Army Personnel Office. From October 1942 to February 1943, he was on leave due to health reasons, before becoming commander of Army District XX, which only encompassed Danzig and the surrounding areas. He was placed in reserve in December 1944 and taken prisoner by American forces in early May 1945, but was released in April 1947 due to his Parkinson. His health deteriorated, and he died in July 1953. Unlike his older brother Wilhelm, Bodewin Keitel never played an important role in WWII and is thus relatively unknown.

02:54 Wilhelm Schepmann (1894-1970) was the last Chief of Staff of the SA. Initially a teacher, he served in WWI on both the Western and Eastern Front; he joined the NSDAP in 1925 and helped built up the SA in the Ruhr area. He became a member of parliament in November 1933, and after the Night of the Long Nives, her was appointed chief of the SA in Saxony. After the Chief of Staff of the SA, Viktor Lutze, died in a car crash in May 1943, Max Jüttner (1888-1963) became acting Chief of Staff. Schepmann took over as acting Chief of Staff in August 1943, and was officially appointed in November 1943; he held that position until the end of the war. After the end of the war, he took a false name and worked in a hospital, he was discovered in April 1949, sentenced by a German court to nine months prison, but the sentence was dropped after he appealed it.

03:19 Otto Skorzeny (1908-1975) was an infamous Austrian-born German SS officer, who participated in a number of special operations during WWII, the most famous probably being the removal of Hungarian regent Horthy from power in 1944, the rescue of Mussolini in the Gran Sasso raid in 1943 and Operation Greif, a part of the Ardennes offensive where German soldiers infiltrated allied lines wearing American uniforms. These commando operations gained him the nickname “The most dangerous men in Europe”. He was charged by an American military court in August 1947 for wearing Allied uniforms, but the charges were dropped when a British SOE agent testified that Allied troops did the same. He then escaped from prison in July 1948 and worked as a military advisor for Egypt in 1953, there are also rumors that he allegedly worked for the Israeli secret agency Mossad. He died in July 1975 in Spain of lung cancer.

03:37 Skorzeny was portrayed as the rescuer of Mussolini, but actually the raid was largely planned and carried by paratroopers under the command of Major Harald Mors (1910-2011), but the Nazi propaganda portrayed Skorzeny and the SS as the heroes of the story.

03:46 Erich von Manstein (1887-1973) was a German Field Marshal during WWII, and one of the more famous German generals. Born in an officers family, he joined the Army as an officer cadet in 1906; he fought as part of the 2. Guards Reserve Regiment on the Western and Eastern Front, he was severely wounded in November 1914 and spent six months in hospital, he returned in July 1915 and became a staff officer, he served in various staff positions until the end of the war. He continued serving between the wars, again as staff officer in various leadership positions. From September 1929 he was a member of the German General Staff, working on strategical plans. In July 1935 he became chief of the operational section of the General Staff, where he developed the concept of assault guns. During WWII, he initially served as Chief of Staff of Army Group South during the invasion of Poland, before largely creating the German plan for the invasion of France, the idea of cutting off the Allied troops in Belgium. Manstein was given command of the XXXVIII. Army Corps in January 1940, and took part with that in the invasion of France. He was awarded with the Knights Cross in July 1940. He was then given command over the LVI Army Corps (motorized), with which he took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union, before being appointed commander of the 11th Army, after the previous commander, Eugen von Schobert (1883-1941), died. Von Manstein became famous for capturing Crimea in 1942, especially for the hard fighting in capturing Sevastopol, he was promoted to Field Marshal in July 1942. He became commander of the newly created Army Group Don in November, with which he undertook the failed attempt to relief German troops in Stalingrad, nevertheless it was his actions that prevent a collapse of the entire German front in that region. He later commanded German troops in the Battle of Kursk, and continued commanding Army Group South during the defensive fighting in 1943/44. Von Manstein repeatedly moved back his troops to avoid encirclement, including saving the 1st Tank Army from the Kaments-Podolsky pocket in March/April 1944. While this is generally regarded as one of his most brilliant achievements and a perfect example of saving tank units from an encirclement, his repeated actions of withdrawing troops against Hitlers order let to his dismissal in late March 1944. He was arrested by British troops in August 1945 and was a witness at the Nuremberg trial and was tried as a war criminal by the British in 1949, despite protests by the British public. He was sentenced in December 1949 to 18 years imprisonment for allowing the deportation of Jews, handing over of prisoners/ Soviet commissioners to the SD, and tolerate the execution of POWs. He was released in 1952 on health grounds. Manstein unofficially helped with the creation of the post-war West German army, it was for example his idea to set brigades as the base unit, instead of regiments. He was buried with military honors after his death in 1973.

21:12 the 88mm recoil lmao

En octubre de 1943 la División Azul fue retirada del frente. En absoluto Franco era influenciable ya. Todo posible acuerdo murió a principios de 1941, tras el fracaso de Hendaya en octubre de 1940.

They are shortening the front right to Berlin!