Various Mark Made Easy

Force mark

[Music] winston churchill became british prime minister in may 1940 the same day germany began the invasion of western europe from the outset he was a very different prime minister from his predecessors a man who understood the imagery of propaganda very well and who liked to be seen at the front sometimes a little too close to the action churchill often appears in wartime photographs and film in various military uniforms the first prime minister to do this was it an affectation no churchill had a right to wear those uniforms in britain there exists a system of honorary officer ranks usually colonels or regiments given out as honours to retired senior officers or prominent personages churchill had been a combat soldier for large parts of his life joining the army in 1895 and seeing action in india the sudan and in the second boer war in the latter campaign as a war correspondent captured by the burs and escaped and later when he resigned from his cabinet post of first lord of the admiralty in world war one following the disastrous gallipoli campaign in turkey when he spent six months in the trenches on the western front as a battalion commander he continued to remain an officer in the army reserve until 1924. as prime minister he also retained his honorary military ranks being an honorary air commodore in the royal air force and an honorary colonel in various british army units including the queen's own oxfordshire huzzahs the royal artillery the fourth queen's own huzzahs the royal scots fusiliers and the royal sussex regiment it's no secret that churchill the flamboyant showman liked uniforms and medals and he had plenty of both so that's why churchill wore offers his uniforms during his many visits to military units during the war he was the first prime minister also since the duke of wellington to have killed men in battle it's no surprise then that churchill much to the annoyance of his staff often wanted to visit the troops right up on the front lines from the height of the battle of britain he was seen in the fighter control rooms observing the aerial fights in north africa he visited the troops in egypt during rommel's push towards the suez canal for d-day churchill demanded to be able to go in with the first wave of british troops a reckless idea that was quickly vetoed by king george vi who himself had wanted also to be present but was prevented for obvious reasons general dwight d eisenhower the supreme allied commander had to squash churchill's d-day dreams as too risky and reckless but winnie did manage to get ashore at normandy on the 12th of june 1944 a week after the invasion had begun when there was still very heavy fighting going on to expand the beachhead so why did churchill do such things it was according to contemporaries and his biographers because he wanted to have input on the events to help solve problems on the ground by talking to the military commanders in person these visits also fulfill churchill's romantic conception of a war leader at the scene of action and it is fair to say that his visible inspirational presence dressed in his variety of military uniforms was held in genuine affection by officers and men alike but it was inevitable that the churchill moth would one day fly too close to the flame the british prime minister was nearly killed by the germans in march 1945 from one of the most famous operations of the war the crossing of the river rhine the action began on the 24th of march 1945 when churchill visited field marshal suburn at montgomery's headquarters at fenlow in the netherlands to witness british and u.s forces of the 21st army group crossing the rhine in an enormous operation codename varsity this was the airborne component of the invasion to assist the ground troops by seizing footholds on the german side of the rhine in the paratroop planes the men are waiting for the jump [Music] here too an innovation the men will go out both sides of the plane at once and so land in tremendous force in just half the time it formally took the river crossings codenamed plunder had already begun the night before in total 1.2 million allied troops crossed between the 23rd and the 27th of march piercing hitler's last defense line in the west with u.s forces also bouncing the rhine further south in the u.s 12th army group sector where american troops had actually beaten monte by one day getting across the river on the 22nd of march on the 25th of march churchill visited the headquarters of the allied supreme commander general eisenhower with monty in tow during their conversation eisenhower told churchill of a house 10 miles away on the west bank of the rhine that had been sandbagged by american troops the house offering an excellent vantage point to observe the german side of the river this area not yet having been fully occupied by allied forces eisenhower proposed a visit and churchill leapt at the opportunity they piled into staff cars and drove to the large house the town of budoek sitting on the house's balcony churchill scanned the far bank 400 yards away with his binoculars he could see flat meadows and officers reported that no german troops appeared to be an evidence in the distance churchill could see raf planes pounding german positions eisenhower had to leave on other business and shortly afterwards churchill noticed an american landing craft mooring below the house he turned to monty and said why didn't they cross over the river for a look monty agreed and churchill's party filed down and boarded the boat apart from the british prime minister and field marshal montgomery there was general william simpson the us ninth army commander plus general sir alan brook chief of the imperial general staff with them was churchill's aid commander tommy thompson and his batman and only six armed american soldiers the launch soon reached the far bank and churchill scrambled out dressed in one of his many honorary colonel's uniforms and cigar clamped between his teeth he followed a path up the gravel bank previously marked by british infantry who had only recently landed there then scaled a high dike for a good view fighting was taking place a mile or so away but after a discussion with the american generals the decision was taken to try and get closer to the action however the captain of the landing craft warned that half a mile away towards basil where fighting was ongoing german mines protected the river it was too dangerous for the prime minister to go by water crossing back over to the west bank of the rhine churchill and his party decided to drive up to basil at basil they came upon the large railway bridge previously blown up by the germans the cars were concealed and then churchill and some of his party clambered up the ruined west side of the bridge to observe the fighting on the other side churchill noted incoming german artillery in four shell salvos that were falling on british positions about a mile away but it appears that the movement on the bridge was spotted by the germans for suddenly the guns changed targets and began shelling the bridge the churchill was standing on the first salvo nearly got him four shells landed in the river only a hundred yards or so from where churchill and his party were on the bridge detonating in the water throwing up great clouds of spray churchill was enjoying every second and only with great difficulty could his staff persuade him to clamber back down from the bridge a second salvo fell behind churchill landing close to where the party's cars were concealed the decision was taken to leave at once and in between the barrages churchill monte simpson and brooke were led to the cars which left the area at some speed it was the closest churchill managed to get to death or injury in world war ii and he wrote about it gleefully in his memoirs however churchill was not deterred by this setback and still determined to get over the rhine on the 26th of march the british second army group commander lieutenant general simals dempsey drove the prime minister in a jeep over a new pontoon bridge that had been erected by british engineers at zantan as churchill's little convoy drove off the bridge they passed a large collection of rather bedraggled german prisoners who had just been captured the looks of astonishment on their faces as they saw churchill drive slowly past and well be imagined churchill returned back across the rhine later that day aboard a tracked water buffalo amphibious vehicle marking churchill's last foray into an active battlefield in world war ii thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also visit my audiobook channel war stories with mark felton you can also help to support both of my channels at paypal and patreon details in the description box below