"Germans in Normandy" Topic

"This German Propaganda newsreel appears to be from early August 1944. In the west, the Allies are still being held at bay in Normandy. In the east, the newsreel shows footage of the Warsaw Uprising.

In the newsreel, you will see the Germans keeping a wary eye on the sky at all time as they set a trap for the Allied Fighter bombers which they call "JaBos." They pull a vehicle on a rope through a street while anti-aircraft guns are hidden in the nearby trees. According to the newsreel, they have succeeded in shooting down an Allied fighter, but the events do not have to be linked of course"

YouTube link

Amicalement
Armand

There is a brief image of a gun firing from inside a building around 4:10. It looks like a single 20mm AA with no shield. Can anyone confirm what the gun is?

youtu.be/ed-NJvpxBvg?t=250

flak 30. the sight gives it away and then the triangular bracket under the barrel.

Thanks pat,

I wasn't 100% sure if it was a flak 30. Just not used to seeing one from that angle.

I know it was man portable but it must have been an effort to get one inside a building like that. I hope there weren't narrow stairs involved!

it looks like it rather than the 38 which skipped that triangular bracket. the video doesnt show the back of the room which could have been at ground level but i agree more than two guys to lift it. the ejected round cage is missing too which should be on the right and the shield is off as well so it does look a bit odd.

Have you seen some of the German infantry faces…?
They looks completely frightened…
Another interesting point is how difficult was the Bocage for the Allied…

Amicalement
Armand

There is an interesting sequence from 4:23 to 4:33 …

We see some German soldiers preparing a Panzerfaust (looks like an -60 to me, but could be a -100). Then we see them moving through urban terrain, then we see a soldier, in deep shadow, fire a -faust in a relatively enclosed space, then we see all kinds of bad things happen, almost immediately, to the space the soldier was in when he fired.

I'm trying to judge whether I am seeing his position collapse around him because he made the mistake of firing a recoilless launcher in an enclosed space, or whether I am seeing his position collapse around him because he receives instant return fire.

The gap in time between the backblast (which clearly shocks his position as it hits the wall just a few feet behind him) and his front wall falling in is only about 1/2 second. But it looks like the front wall falls in due to an impact or concussion from the front.

So I see 3 possibilities:
1) The backblast in the enclosed space somehow rebounded forward and then backwards again. I judge this as least likely.

2) When he fired he struck an object that was VERY close, or the projectile self-detonated in air just an instant after firing, resulting in a concussive back-blast and maybe even a large fragment from the -faust projectile striking and demolishing his own position. I judge this as more likely.

3) He received return fire, taking a direct hit (to the wall) by some low-level HE, or a near-miss (off view in front of the wall) by some higher level HE projectile, within just a fraction of a second after firing his own Panzerfaust. I judge this as most likely. My eyes tell me this is what I see, but my reasoning objects. The timing seems so unlikely to me … there is no way the return fire could be a reaction to his shot, it arrives too quickly. So it must have been a shot taken almost simultaneously with his own shot.

What do you guys think? Did I miss a critical clue? Admittedly I have not listened to and translated the narrative, which may provide some indication …

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Germans in Normandy? Nah, pure propaganda. Why would a German want to be in Normandy?

Nah, pure propaganda. Why would a German want to be in Normandy?

I am pleased to have access to the historical materials, but wow, it sure hurts my brain when I see some of the comments that these types of videos on youtube often attract …

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

I think you are right mark1 I think the guy gets smoked by return fire!

Agree!.

Amicalement
Armand

Sorry. Didn't mean to hurt anyone's brain.

Oops! Sorry, Donlowry, I did not mean that to read as a critique of your comment! :/

Far from it. I read your comment as a bit of satire/sarcasm. It got me thinking about how people respond to these kinds of videos.

There was one comment after the video that, in particular, kind of set me off:

Wenn die Amis die 8,8 gesehen haben mussten erstmal die Pampas gewechselt werden.

My original attempt to understand this comment lead me to:

If the Americans saw the 88, first they needed to change their diapers.

It's that kind of comment that hurts my brain.

Yes, I know, it was probably not a good translation. My command of German idioms is limited.

Now having looked at it again and again, I know suspect that the poster meant something more like:

When (sic) the Americans first met the 88, no-man's-land (empty land) was changed.

A far more reasonable sentiment, but I have little more confidence in my second translation than in the first.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Mark: like you say, it does look like the German position collapsed, but that cannot be it… isn't this a Nazi propaganda newsreel? Why would they include "bloopers" of their own troops in it? I guess what they were actually showing was something else, and they just edited it poorly.

I like your first translation better.

Mark: like you say, it does look like the German position collapsed, but that cannot be it… isn't this a Nazi propaganda newsreel? Why would they include "bloopers" of their own troops in it? I guess what they were actually showing was something else, and they just edited it poorly.

Perhaps it is the German version of "You've Been Framed"! Some lucky Landser got 250 marks for sending it in.