Books,Films & Documentaries

[Frankie]

I was unaware of this epic battle until your post. Thank you for posting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Eben-Emael

[General Sandman]

I once watched a docu on TV about those operations.

I think I remember they brought like 80 kg armor piercing mines (liner) to infiltrade at the gun turrets.
A couple of years ago I visited a bunker system at the former Maginot Line - Schoenenbourg - so I have a certain imagination about the task to conquer such an underground city.

[Frankie]

Midway (2019)

What I loved about the movie is that it made me THINK about:-

(1) The code breakers and their crucial contribution to the battle. The leading cryptographer, Joseph Rochefort, was accurately portrayed wearing a bathrobe and slippers. His life is worthy of a biopic of its own. If the lives of your countrymen depended on the accuracy of your deciphered text, would you sleep? The geeks and musicians employed at Hawaii’s Navy Intelligence Unit gave Nimitz the intelligence he needed to ambush the Kido Butai.
(2) The interior scenes and the tube firing procedure of the submarine USS Nautilus were engaging. Why was there a tail end Charlie cruiser steaming full speed to join up with the Kido Butai? It was busy hunting the Nautilus. McClusky’s bravery and hunch of going northwards to search for the Kido Butai, knowing full well that his Dauntlesses would not have enough fuel to return to the carrier, paid off when he saw the cruiser that pointed the way to the Japanese fleet.
(3) Doolittle raiders jumping into oblivion from their B-25B Mitchell bombers gave me the chills. Have you ever jumped out of a airplane in darkness, not knowing if you were over enemy or friendly territory?
(4) The Dauntless dive bombing scenes gave me a sense of the courage needed to maintain a dive in the face of murderous AAA and flak.
(5) The slaughter of VT-8 Squadron’s obsolete Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers, which paved the way for the dive bombers to deliver the killer blows at the right moment.
(6) The 1,400 Hawaii deckhands who patched the USS Yorktown in 72 hours to battle-ready shape, so that Nimitz could get every available resource to throw against the enemy.
(7) The real life people portrayed in the movie made me search online for more information on the Battle.

IMHO, here's the BEST Youtube video on the subject. Narrated by Craig L. Symonds, the author of the book titled "The Battle of Midway".

If you have to spend twenty minutes learning about the Battle of Midway, and you have time to watch only one Youtube video, this is the video to watch.

Cheers
Frankie Kam