*Notes* “...as everyone says, that the [Soviet] divisions are so weak that this character is making a huge bluff with his so-called “divisions.” That’s what’s being said on all sides. He’s counting on his artillery. He is concentrating it. Apart from this, his divisions are so weak - just a few thousand men… We’ve had pockets with 7 divisions inside, where we took 2,000 prisoners and killed another 2,000. But where are the rest? And then it is said that he attacks with huge crowds of infantry. But if we ever made such an encirclement, there was never anything in it. But if has always been like this. It was like this already in 1941. Except for a few major attacks ,the results have been very meager in general.” - Hitler, 6 Nov 1944. [From “Hitler and his Generals” P511-512] When reading many of the books - especially those written from the German perspective - it quickly becomes evident that they are trying to downplay the mistakes made by the German generals and soldiers, and emphasise Soviet atrocities and Hitler’s meddling. They also point out how vastly outnumbered they are by “waves” of Red Army troops by pointing out how many divisions the Soviets have compared to them. The statistics don’t support such a thesis, and you can’t compare German divisions to Soviet divisions because size-wise they are not the same. Soviet divisions are much smaller than German divisions, as Hitler points out in the quote above. Unfortunately, being unable to read German or Russian, I’m limited to the German perspective (since a lot of German books have been translated into English). As you will see from the listed sources below, I have limited amounts of sources written from the Soviet-side. This is a major issue, so I will attempt to compensate where possible, but I’m acutely aware that this series will be rendered out of date as soon as some Russian-sources are made available in English, or someone who can read Russian makes a documentary on the same period. So, if and when that does happen, I encourage you to change your perspective. That said, I’m fairly confident this first episode is accurate for the most part, since we’re not talking about the unit positioning on the battlefield yet. To clarify: the German U-boats are technically just boats, not submarines, because they weren’t able to stay submerged. Only with the fitting of the new snorkel were the new generation of U-boats classed as submarines. In the video, I said the snorkel came from the Dutch, but I should have said Danish. The snorkel came from the Danish. Next week, we will look at the tragic circumstances that the Baltic States were in. If nothing else in this series, we must remember the innocent lives of those caught in the middle of this conflict. Then we will begin looking at the combat itself in episode 3. *Sources/Bibliography* Anderson, T. “The History of the Panzerwaffe. Volume 2: 1942-45.” Osprey Publishing, 2017. Battistelli, P. "Panzer Divisions 1944-45." Ospery Publishing, Kindle. Byrd, R. "Once I Had a Comrade: Karl Roth and the Combat History of the 36th Panzer Regiment 1939-45." Helion & Company, Kindle 2006. Buttar, P. "Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II." Ospery Publishing, 2013. Citino, R. “The Wehrmacht's Last Stand: The German Campaigns of 1944-1945.” University of Kansas, 2017. Dönitz, K. "Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days." Frontline Books, Kindle 2012. Glantz, D. “Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War, 1941-1943.” University Press of Kansas, 2005. Glantz, D. “When Titan’s Clashed.” University Press of Kansas, 2015. Guderian, H. “Panzer Leader.” Penguin Books, 2000. Harrison, M. "The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison." Cambridge University Press, 2000. Heiber, H. Glantz, D. “Hitler and his Generals. Military Conferences 1942-1945.” Enigma Books, 2004. Hillblad, T. "Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Volunteer in the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Nordland" on the Eastern Front." Stackpole Books, Kindle 2009. Hitler, A. "Mein Kampf." Jaico Publishing House, 2017. Hitler, A. "Zweites Buch (Secret Book): Adolf Hitler's Sequel to Mein Kampf." Jaico Publishing House, 2017. Hoppe, H. “A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism.” Kindle. Hunt, V. “Blood in the Forest: The End of the Second World War in the Courland Pocket.” Helion & Company Limited, 2017. Haupt, W. "Army Group North: The Wehrmacht in Russia 1941-1945." Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1997. Kurowski, F. "Bridgehead Kurland: The Six Epic Battles of Heeresgruppe Kurland." Fedorowicz Publishing, 2002. Lunde, H. “Hitler’s Wave-Breaker Concept: An Analysis of the German End Game in the Baltic.” Casemate Publishers, 2013. Mawdsley, E. “Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War 1941-1945.” Second Edition, Kindle, University of Oxford. Megargee, G. "Inside Hitler's High Command." University Press of Kansas, 2000. Mitcham, S. “Hitler’s Legions: German Army Order of Battle World War II.” Redwood Burn Limited, 1985. Mitcham, S. “German Order of Battle: Volume One: 1st-290th Infantry Divisions in WWII.” Stackpole Books, 2007. Mitcham, S. “German Order of Battle: Volume Two: 291st-999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII.” Stackpole Books, 2007. Mitcham, S. “German Order of Battle: Volume Three: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in WWII.” Stackpole Books, 2007. Moorhouse, R. "The Devil's Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941." Random House Group, Ebook (Google Play) 2014. Muravchik, J. “Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism.” Encounter Books, Kindle. Newman, M. “Socialism: A Very Short Introduction.” Kindle. Newton, S. “Retreat from Leningrad: Army Group North 1944/1945.” Schiffer Military History, 1995. Perrett, B. "Panzerkampfwagen IV Medium Tank 1936-45." Osprey Publishing, 2007. Raus, E. "Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941-1945." Kindle. Rees, L. "The Holocaust: A New History." Penguin Books, 2017. Snyder, T. "Blood Lands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin." Vintage, 2011. Wilbeck, C. "Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II." Aberjona Press, Kindle 2015. Wilbeck, C. "Swinging the Sledgehammer: The Combat Effectiveness of German Heavy Tank Battalions in World War II." Fort Leavenworth, PDF 2002. Zeimke, E. “From Stalingrad to Berlin: The Illustrated Edition.” Pen & Sword, Kindle 2014. Zaloga, S. "T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941-45." Osprey Publishing, 2010. Zaloga, S. "T-34-85 Medium Tank 1944-94." Osprey Publishing, Kindle 2010. Some gun penetration statistics from - www.wwiivehicles.com/ Video Links Why the Germans had the Tactical Advantage early in WW2 | Tank and Anti-Tank Warfare ukposts.info/have/v-deo/h4GToHl6aKiZmGg.html The State of Soviet Artillery on the Eve of Operation Barbarossa WW2 ukposts.info/have/v-deo/nKCje6yGbH14mpc.html Soviet "War-Winning" Tanks in 1941? The Role of Tanks on the Eastern Front WW2 ukposts.info/have/v-deo/fJt1nY-sjqKYt2w.html A full list of all my WW2 and related books can be found here docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/114GiK85MPs0v4GKm0izPj3DL2CrlJUdAantx5GQUKn8/edit?usp=sharing Thanks for watching! Bye for now!

The last time I was this early the 6th Army still had supplies.

And this video has been deemed advertiser unfriendly, and is currently listed as "Limited or no adds". Given the fact I've chosen to put the Swastika in the video, I'm not going to argue it because there's no way it'll get accepted.

Semi obscure Eastern front WWII battles may be my very favorite thing on all u-tube.

The only issue I have with this episode is that I will have to wait two weeks for the next one. Keep up the great work, it’s time to become a patreon now. 👍

It still staggers me how the Soviets somehow managed to build +20,000 tanks during 1943. One of the great industrial achievements in human history all the while being under huge economic and social pressure. Great video by the way.

Now I have something to watch while lining up for bread. Great work TIK!

Baltic states in WW2 was one of the worst cases in history of being between a rock and hard place.

I just had your channel recommended by a fellow history teacher. I am surprised that I hadn't seen your great content before! You have just gained a very happy new subscriber!

Dear Mr. TIK, since I had missed the chance to tell you this while Crusader was going I will now do it. I love your series and your job is amazing. The fact that someone is capable of describing a battle down to battalion level is something I respect and admire deeply and wish all the luck to keep this channel going. And as for the Courland BATTLESTORM series, I'm looking forward to it, aside for some notes in documentaries, books, and Wikipedia listing dates I haven't seen much of this front, I can't wait to see what new knowledge you will bring to the table. Best wishes and a nice day from Colombia.

Damn your production values have greatly improved, great stuff

This series has me so excited!!! Great first episode TIK, I'm holding my breath in anticipation for the next installment. Keep up the wonderful work :)

This looks so good. Another chunk of WW2 history that no-one else really covers - and in filthy detail.

Thank you for making such an epic work about my country. My grandfather was born in Soviet Ukraine, liberated Poland, was wounded. However, his war did not and at 9th of May, 1945... he was brought to Latvia to fight national partisans until early 50’s. More than 6 years of fighting. This war and these regimes were so devastating for our people. Turnig brother against brother, people who wanted their country to be fre against those forced to fight...

I know you're not a tank guy, but for Soviet tank killers the 122mm gun is on the ISU-122 not SU-100. The ISUs (122 & 152) are based on the IS-2 chassis, whilst the SUs (76, 85 & 100) are based on the T-70 (SU-76) or T-34 chassis

Yeha, another battle series, so happy as they are always interesting, well researched and provide info that's new and hard to find elsewhere. I really enjoy your videos and just want to thank you for putting in the hard work and sharing it with us, looking forward to watching the rest.

Informative video, thank you. I can see the effort put into this and the graphics. Looking forward to more.

I live in the country where this pocket happened, yet, never in history we covered more regarding it besides “it was there, some of the Latvian troops were transported to Berlin”. Quite excited to see what you will teach about my own countries history. Subscribed

Wow, that was a long "prequel" to the Courland pocket, but I liked the analyses indeed! It is true that the different sizes of the two enemy batallions and divisions are hardly mentioned and thus misleading when omitted, thanks for making this point very clear!

Yes! Here it is! Thank you so much Tik your the best! I can wait for this video to end bc I wish it never would but I always look forward to your videos and they are the first thing I look at after leaving school as it brightens my Monday

awesome video man ! It's like you read my mind! I was looking for videos about the courland pocket only last week and now this pops up in my recommended list :) Brilliant!

The fact you work so hard to get the true facts about the Eastern Front out there is quite astounding. It's honestly disgraceful that your channel isn't bigger, providing fact with sources and proof unlike some other channels out there, only working off of pure speculation. Until you came along, I believed the myth that the Soviets simply charged men into the enemy line until they broke as their main military strategy, believing that the scene at Enemy At The Gates was a reality all across the front. Now, I have combined your opinion with my own, growing my own historical knowledge more with you than with any of the other echochamber 'anti-revisionist' channels. So thank you for that, with all my heart, and for your tremendous hard work. As soon as I can, I will contribute to your Patreon, and I urge anyone else reading this to do so too if you aren't already. Thank you for your service to the historical community, TIK. I look forward to your future videos.

The area of Courland (Courland Pocket) in western Latvia is 10,535 sq. miles. This is roughly the size of the state of Vermont.

Excellent work! Thanks for bringing this all together for us in a coherent narrative. Looking forward to the next installment . Graphisc are really helpful. Again sincere thanks!

Love your videos TIK, they always provide so much information, I can´t even desribe how grateful I am.

Well since we are talking about Baltics allow me to recall my favorite Stalin anecdote. When Bagramyan forces reached Baltics he wanted to show off so he filled bottle with water from the sea and send his adjutant to Moscow on the plane to present this bottle to Stalin. But by the time the plane reached Moscow Bargramyan's forces were pushed back. Adjutant, not knowing this all proud presented Stalin with this bottle. Stalin took it, skeptically looked it over and gave it back to adjutant saying "Tell comrade Bargramyan to empty it where he filled it" Edit: grammatics

Best History documentaries on UKposts. Seriously.

So - An English speaking history youtube chanal who actually have done it's homework when talking about Baltic countrys in ww2 ? I am bloody imprest TIK ! Thumbs up for good work .

Damn Tik. The stuff you put out is so high quality, Both in research and execution. Thank you for educating me!

Yeryomenko: They look thirsty! Bagramyan: Well give them something to drink! *Revs up IS-2* TO THE CLIFFS!

"Who is to blame for this?" Halder again?

Yesss a video on this battle! Always been so interested in this. Keep it up TIK

This promises to be another excellent series. Thanks for keeping on doing this mate. I know very little about this theatre of the eastern front. Hopething that the video will be a good jumping off point into the subject matter.

I will enjoy this so much! Good to see you working on the Baltic States topic. I plan to make a feature length film about Latvia. And of course they had to demonetise this. it has happened to about half my videos. It can only be part of the recent youtube apocalypse 0.2 or 0.3 or 2019, whatever you want to call it.

I’ve got a weird feeling that you channel is about to explode. I hope it does, you fully deserve all the success.

Thank you TIK! It's just monday but I can already name this one "UKposts's Video of the week" . Great choice of subject! A quite unexplored campaign here on youtube. Already you have given me a new perspective on the situation 1944. I only wish my university could provide such superb lectures...

Great video TIK, I have not studied a lot about the Courland Pocket. Found this bit of history on the eastern front very interesting. thanks for the time invested, maps and graphics helped a ton and I love them.

I thought the Snorkel was a Dutch design, not Danish. Can you confirm which it is?

Now THIS is the reason I subscribed.

Good stuff TIK, I always enjoy your videos.. 🤙🏻

I will stay away from youtube for a while because waiting for the entire documentary kills me! you always do a fantastic job to say the least.

Respect for calling Kursk properly [Koorsk]! And Bagration too. You definitely have a Russian adviser, don't you? What the source of the claim that 50% of trucks were lend-lease? The biggest number I heard of is 30-35% in the spring of 1945.

Awesome video as always excited for part 2

Off to a good start, always nice to watch these Battlestorm series

Often, people that study the Wehrmacht dont realize the impact of losing a veteran commander, it was not simply emotional, it also reduced life expectancy of soldiers as they would normally be replaced by a less experienced officer...

TIK , sorry but your figures for operational panzers in Heersgruppe Mitte(Army Group Centre ) in June 1944 are off. Heeresgruppe Mitte did not have 2511 operational Panzers, perhaps this may have been the total number of operational panzers for the entire Ost front. According to Glantz's work, When Titans Clashed, German tank strength for the whole Eastern Front was 2608 tanks at the start of June 1944 [Source: When Titans Clashed p.215]. In fact, Heersgruppe Mitte had 118 panzers and 452 assault guns. Source Germany and the Second World War Volume VIII p.528. Another source states that Heeresgruppe Mitte had 111 Tanks (No Panthers), 382 Assault guns and 100-120 Tank destroyers (Nashorns and Marders) [Source: R. Forczyk ,Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1943-45 p.226]. Thanks

You and WW2 channel would make one hell of a show - amazing series

Excellent video, very in depth, informative and put together. Well done!

Was Courland held at the insistence of Donitz , who needed the gulf of Rega to train U-Boat crews?..Very well done...excellent video.

Sure the soviets were capable of destroying the pocket. The question is if it would´ve been worth it

NOW about this video, it promises to lead to yet another highly detailed and thoughtful production, keep up the good work.

Hi TIK. Thanks for your video. Looking forward for the next episode.

That's why in HOI4 if I ever see the enemy massing tanks on a specific section of the front to prepare to encircle me I don't premptively counter that by moving my own armoured divisions there I counter it by using 2-6 special forces with tank destroyers/anti-tank weapons depending on the situation.

Haaaaaaa yes ! The return of the "But is this REALLY the case" monday

Really well done video! Can’t wait for the next part

Great beginning to what I hope to be a great series!! I was caught within in a minute!

29:50 Germans were recording tank losses in a very strange way. Destroyed tanks were often marked not as lost but as awaiting repairs, because it was expected that the land they were lost will be recaptured in the near future and thus tanks lost there would be repaired and put back into action. Of course that almost never happened which is why at the end of each month when those tanks were often just marked as destroyed by their own crews to avoid capture which is also misleading. Anyway great video TIK!

When I read video title I thought it was HOI4 video :D

Great video TIK, and best wishes for all your future works mate.

US Lend Lease trucks were very important from 1943 on to increase Soviet mobility. US tanks, on the other hand, were considered toys. Very Well Done Series!

I thought that Latvian riflemen photo was from the Czarist Russian army during the first war?

When you have to deliver packages but want to watch TIK instead

superb work indeed, exceedingly informative and in depth, my sincere salutations good sir!

Excellent series, if I wanted to find information about the battles of ww2 in this much detail I would need a book.

Arm chair quarter back here, just saying that there is from the Soviet point of view, no point is wasting resources to destroy an army that has been trapped and cut off from relief and supplies, if you do not need to do so. As for the German point of view, we have to ask, did they read their own play book from the start of the war? I am thinking no.......... Your Graphs do not show that even as the German Army was getting larger mid war that because we know they were experiencing heavy casualties throughout the war (which even if we discount those who were wounded and returned to the lines) would mean that the % of experience men was going down along with the experienced officers to lead them.

_Half the trucks in Red Army were provided by Lend Lease_ Soviets had plenty of own trucks to begin with. While most of trucks produced during WW2 did came from LL, at beginning of war Soviets had sizable fleet of them already. This was one of the main reasons why they did not produce that much during war. This part simply attempts to inflate fairly minuscule importance of LL to SU. Simple fact that LL accounted to about 5-7% of soviet production and half of it came in 44, tells everything one need to know about it importance.

TIK great work. Thank you I enjoy your series, and yes, the detail are incredible.

History Channels everywhere on UKposts, and most of them are producing awesome content like this. I Love it :)

14:49 fixing this problem is easy you take officers slider and bump it to max and dont do research for a while. Yes that hoi3 reference because I am a mega nerd

Looks like a perfect german pow camp to me, since they are incapable to lunch a serious offensive and holding it offers no advantage what so ever. If I am a soviet commander, I will just ride on to Berlin and deal with Courland Pocket later, saves my soldiers from unnecessary losses maybe. Nice work and take care of your health, @TIK.

Awesome you did a video about this! In highschool we had to read a book about Jan Montyn a Dutch artist who had also served in the Kriegsmarine and, through the sinking of his ship, was pressed into combat duty. He fought in the courland pocket and managed to escape by ship if I recall right and fought a retreating fight from there on. Some of his work, though abstract, can remind one of what he has seen. Still, one passage in his book always stuck with me, how he described going into an abandoned bakery with his comrades and began backing pancakes while goofing around all the while refugees outside were getting strafed by planes. He even stated in that passage how surreal it all seemed. I think the book is in English as well ''A lamb to the slaughter''

interesting informative and well explained on the hole a very good video thank you for the effort keep up the good work :)

You state (Glanz German Army Eastern Front Manpower) that the German army was increasing in size up to mid 1943. That may be correct for the Eastern Front but that does not mean that the German army in its totality was increasing in actual manpower. The replacements came from units occupying Western Europe. In Southern Europe the Germans had a heavy deficit in people because they had surrendered 275.000 (3x Stalingrad) able fighting men (with their equipment) in Tunisia. I noticed that you don't mention the very effective Nebelwerfer units. These grew rapidly in size from about 2000 in 1938 to 130000 men in the later stages of the war.

Damn the picture at 11:40.... That poor horse is starving, look at that thin neck... Comical how you can look upon human corpses and often it just fades to "Statistics" with pangs of pity every once in a while, but the animals always hits deep.

Quality work; deserves respect; also impressive research. Cheers!

Hey Tik love your output it’s truly excellent. Just wondering though, what happened to the Stalingrad battlestorm? Thanks again for all your work. Might become a patron whenever I get around to sorting my finances 😏

I have realised a small error in the video. During the map at 3:55 and seconds after (and maybe in the future maps) the city and region of Antioch (or Hatay in Turkish) has not been added inside the Turkey's borders. The region populace had voted to join Turkey in 1939 and the French adminstration agreed to their demands.

Great vid, Tik. Minor, minor error - the german 16th and 18th armies should be shown with the XXXX (army) symbol, not the XXX (corps) symbol.

This channel is by far the most sincere and accurate in regards to the eastern front as I have followed on UKposts. I'll add that I'm not easily impressed. I thank you for your skill, effort and historical accuracy!

Thx alot TIK for more historie :D. You have without doubt upheld my moral during my bachelor project

Red Army's corps level be like: *Riley Reid's face* _Oh put it back in!_

Didn't the Soviets bring their units up to strength before offensives? I know that in inactive areas of the front they sometimes didn't even supply the units with food, never mind replace their losses, so this would tend to lower the average manpower of the Soviet Army as a whole, but I thought they stocked up their units before offensives with both replacements and ammunition. LATER NOTE: Ah yes----Courland was an inactive front. Never mind!

What a brilliant introduction to the issue!

Top-notch quality content as usual!

25:09 What does "high caliber gun" mean? I doubt it means the 75mm Pak 40 by 1944 German standards. And i guess it would refer to guns like the Pak 43 (88mm, equivalent to the gun of the Tiger II ) and Pak 44 (128mm, equivalent to the gun of the Jagdtiger). 31:45 guns like the KwK/Pak 43 of the Tiger II were mounted on other vehicles, too. Jagdpanther , Ferdinand, Nashorn.... 30:58 and that's not a 88mm flak, that's a 12,8cm flak 40, the point is still valid... On the other hand a flak gun is huuuuge compared to a proper AT gun and harder to hide.... 32:30 where did you get these armor values from???? A Stug III Ausf.G has 80mm in the front, 30mm at the sides A Panther has a 100mm thick turret front. A Tiger II has a 185mm thick turret front 60mm of armor for the Tiger I is only partially correct. The lower sides directly behind the suspension are really only 60mm thick, but everything above is 80mm. Even in Stellungskrieg you need to counterattack, therefore bring tanks. Or are we just watching the enemy unfold his plan without even interfering? What is the biggest problem of an AT gun in the Wehrmacht? How to move it fast. Preferably not by horse. A tank or a spg may not be costefficient, but if it can move around fast , plug holes in the frontline and help where needed the most at the time it is needed the most, then it is worth its weight in gold.

The Byzantines were able to hold out a pocket against innumerable belligerent forces for hundreds and hundreds of years... ...but only of course only with complete naval control & resupply.

What an excellent refresher training course for an old history enthusiast (me). Many tks indeed

Gotta love donitz. Like that comic relief character who is always going "well at least it's not this bad" and then the roof collapses

1st

I refuse to believe that the TIK who makes these videos is the same who makes liberal economic propaganda videos. How is it possible?

Great video super well researched I enjoyed it!

This documentary has exceeded all my expectations.

As Latvian I am really hyped for this. Since not many know about Courland Pocket (or Courland Fortress as we call it here) and its importance I think this will bring some more knowledge to mainstream audience.

Very impressed with the video. 1 It is full of facts that no documentaries or lectures ever have 2 It takes no sides in presentation of facts. For a lover of history these videos are a dream come true.

Great Intro TIK ! Good job on your videos !

One of the interesting things I have come to realize from some of these videos from you and other channels is that decisions that may not make sense to us, they make sense to the people that make them. the people making the decision may not have the information we have (which I think is different then 20-20 vision looking at the result of said decision). I think to truly analyze the decisions of people in the past, we must look at what they know, what resources they have, and what their goals are. from that, we can learn from their mistakes and come to conclusions about the people making them.

This just made my day

Glad you're back to the mostly ignored, mysterious, epic and complex Eastern Front - Army Group Nord is often the least examined.

Excellent work mate!

Oh.... And.... After looking at your other videos here, I HAD to Subscribe!! 😉