Why German Rear Units Were Baffled How U.S. Airborne Found Each Other In Dark Scattered Miles Apart

Comments · 37

• RE

  @reecom9884 · 3 months ago (edited)

  The US soldiers grew up watching cowboy and Indian movies where the Indians used bird sounds to locate each other. Kids made whistles and special sounds as they played what they saw in the movies and heard on the radio shows. Neighborhood kids would choose a team leader, and the leader would pick players to play on their side and rotate the leaders picking. Playing sandlot baseball, street hockey, basketball and football they played both defense and offense and made up their own plays and signals. The Germans were facing US soldiers who grew up as kids working together without an officer telling them what to do in a crisis.

  4

• RO

  @ronaldteseneer565 · 4 months ago

  My uncle was in the 82nd on D-Day. He told me that at dawn, he and the men he was with were outside a German officer's club and the officers were still partying. They were all stinking drunk. I guess the subordinates were playing while the senior officers were away.

  2

• MI

  @mitchellsmith4690 · 4 months ago

  As a proud American Paratrooper....ummmmm....nearly 40 years ago.....we were given an acronym..."LGOPs".   Little groups of paratroopers.  The idea is that in a scattered drop, link up with who you find (a stick will land close to each other, even if the sticks are scattered),  find enemies, and kill some...spread confusion, fear and uncertainty.  Make it work for you.

  3

• SH

  @sharonwhiteley6510 · 3 months ago

  Don't forget the Germans were still convinced that Normandy was a ruse to pull troops from the Pas de Calais (Patton's fake  First Army).

  1

• JA

  @JaeDaDjeli · 2 months ago

  Im not sure about during WW11 but modern U.S. Army emphasizes rotating command in IET. A random private would be given command (sometimes in the middle of an exercise). It got us comfortable constantly &nbsp;following orders from new people. And got us (more) comfortable leading our peers. <br><br>That&apos;s how basic is supposed to be at least. Everyone has different experiences

• MC

  @McShaun880 · 3 months ago (edited)

  I wish you would’ve mentioned why all of those German officers were out of town and unprepared for the invasion. Why no reinforcements had come from Calais. Because of the double agent the English had that convinced the Germans the real attack was weeks away and that the Normandy attack was just a diversion. German codename Aleric. British codename Garbo.

  1

• LE

  @lewismooney3941 · 3 months ago

  I’ve studied this for years. I can’t imagine what would have happened if it actually went to plan. I honestly don’t know if it would have been better or worse. I can’t know if the chaos helped or hurt. Either way the world is better for it.

• CH

  @CharlesFair · 4 months ago

  Why are the unit patches scratched out? Those are some famous pictures and they are not like that in those<br>pictures.

  5

• HU

  @hushpuppi3 · 4 months ago

  My grandpa fought in the battle of the bulge in some capacity but I never heard anything about it. He passed away of old age about 10 years ago.

  1

• BE

  @bernardconeghen · 4 months ago

  SGT york said it right its not something to be proud of but had to be done and a lot of boys be not coming home

  2

• LE

  @LeoVitt-t2s · 4 months ago

  There were officers who jumped with them.

• DA

  @DaysofElijah317 · 4 months ago

  God hand had been on the invasion of Normandy and against the Germans.