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Out of the Foxholes Questions
63

I’ve actually criticized this lack of proper citation (they mostly used only a single source and it wasn’t the best one in the video discussed here):

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64

Hi Indy and crew!

Can you tell us more about fighting that took place deep in the desert of Fezzan? I’m talking about First Fezzan Camapign for instance. And while we are talking about French, I would also like to ask what happened in French Somaliland during the war.

Greetings :smiley:

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65

Hi Indy and the team. I wonder what the navy war was like at the eastern front? Was it only between the Red Navy and the Kriegsmarine or did other axis navies join the war?

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66

Hi Indy and team,

Just like to ask how was the treatment of female Soviet prisoners of war during the war? Were they treated the same as their male counterparts? Thank you!

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67

Indy, who do you think were the good leaders (non-military) and the bad leaders (non-military)?

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68

Hi Indy and Time Ghost Team,

Nazi Germany might be described as an Empire of concrete. The sheer quantity of concrete that Germany laid in WW2 is mind boggling, and all this was done while under regular aerial bombardment of factories and railways. Who made Germany’s concrete, and given how bad the rail network was, how did it get where it needed to be?

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69

Here in Denmark it was bought by existing construction companies and their concrete factories. The salary was good, so manpower was never a problem. The Bills were paid by the danish national bank.

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70

I was wondering if you could describe the coast watchers, how they survived behind Japanese lines and how they helped the defense in the pacific island campaigns.

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71

Hi TimeGhost team! I have a few questions, so sorry if this is long.

Question 1. What is the thing that blows up at the end of the week by week intro video?

Question 2. As an American, I grew up believing that the US almost single handedly beat the axis forces, but being a bit older and watching a lot of WW2 documentaries, it looks more and more like the US pushed over someone that was already falling and patted ourselves on the back for it. The question I have for this is how crucial was it that the US entered the war? Did we only speed up what was already going to happen? Or did we play as important of part as we like to give ourselves credit for.

Question 3. Can you talk about the logistics of each country? Specifically the vehicles used and the favorite vehicle each country liked for transporting stuff.

Question 4. Did the German army use bush planes in operation Barbarossa for transporting supplies to the front?

72

So were the owners of the Danish companies who sold concrete to the Germans tried or fined at the Nuremberg trials for aiding Germany’s War effort?

73

Thank you for asking. They (companies) were charged by danish courts after the war but they were Acquitted by the danish Supreme Court in 1948. They Could prove that they have tried to avoid the work, but had been strongly encouraged by the danish government to please the Germans and get the cooperation policies going. The danish armed forces was only disarmed in august 1943 where also the danish Navi scuttled itselves. About a 1000 persons went to prison for working for the Germans during the war. The danish resistance targeted the companies working for the Germans with sabotage actions, often in cooperation with the local workers. The question of the danish government went to far in the cooperation with the Germans are still being discussed today. It is widely recognized as beeing the reason for the danish willingness to the deployment of troops to Jugoslavia, Kosovo, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya.

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74

@alecberland9 There is the Emlichheim-Schoonebeek oilfield that was discovered in 1944. This straddles the Dutch-German border near Emmen. The German side started producing in 1944, the Dutch kept the extent of their discovery quiet until after the war.
Fortunately for the Allies, although these oil fields were onshore mainland western Europes largest outside Rumania, the oil is very viscous and very difficult to extract using 1940s era technology.
I was involved in the redevelopment of Schoonebeek in the mid-2000s and it took underground steam injection - produced from a combined heat and power station - to extract the oil. Steam injection technology wasn’t commercially available until the 1960s.

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76

Hi Indy and the team.

As you are covering the Italian theatre of war, how about a few words about the American journalist Ernie Pyle? He covered North Africa, he covered Italy and he landed on D-Day at Omaha Beach. He was awarded a Pulitzer Price for his work in 1944.

One of his most famous column is called “The Death of Captain Waskow”, written in December 1943 in Italy. It gives the sacrifices and the terrible experiences of the soldiers a face.

His dangerous and depressing work took its toll on him, still he never went home. It may be his work and others like him which demonstrates what journalistic work and a free press should be about.

His work is still valid and, maybe more important, still widely avaiable.

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77

I’ve transcribed his articles from December 1942 on:

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78

Hi Indy & team!

It’s clear from you coverage throughout the war that the Rasputitsa is a major factor in, well, everything that occurs during it. I have the general gist of it; rains, mud, and poor mobility, but can you tell us more about it and how it impacts the war outside of troop movements? How regular is it? Where does it come from? Is the War Against Humanity/partisan war impacted by it?

Thanks so much for all you do to bring this history to life!

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79

Hello gang,

Would you guys consider a special on WW2 movies? Maybe a list of Indy’s favorite/non favorites with comments on historical accuracy and general content?

Keep up the great work you are all doing.

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80

Good evening! I was wondering if you could talk in more detail about American tank Regiments that were attached to various infantry groups. In particular, I’d like to know more about the experience of the 747th tank battalion. I have inherited some memorabilia formally owned by Sergeant Edwin Bakken, who was in Company C. What were their major engagements? Did they suffer heavy losses? Where would he have been likely to capture the large Nazi building banner that is now in my possession? What sources would one use to find out that kind of specific information?

Thanks, team!

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81

So… As a “captain”, I am of the understanding that I will get a guaranteed response to this question on out of the foxholes. I’ve been waiting and watching… When exactly can I expect this response to occur?

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82

Hello, TimeGhost Team. I have been watching you guys since 1915.

Here is my question for Indy and Spartacus: As you are approaching July, what are your thoughts and reflections about completing week-by-week broadcasts of the events of WWII and WWI for 10 years now?

Thanks for making this history insightful and extensive. I look forward to your next project.

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83

What’s been happening inside those huge areas of south China surrounded by Operation Ichi-Go in 1944? Are the armed forces within still in contact with Nationalist Chinese leadership? How organized is resistance to the Japanese? Do they get heavy resupply by air? Is there a significant communist presence? I know that’s a lot of things to ask but it’s really hard to find information about the topic. Thanks for your hard word and please feel free to pick and choose which (or any) questions to answer.