James and Al take a break from walking the ground in a Normandy field. Admin checks done, they do what all soldiers do when given half a chance… brew up!
Tea has always been a vital part of British soldiering. James and Al demonstrate their own field craft skills and discuss what it would have been like for WW2 soldiers in the field.
After a morning looking at 6th Airborne drops on D-Day, James and Al ruminate on the bigger allied airborne picture, touching on the American element (the 501st and 101st Parachute Infantry Regiments dropped on the western drop zones) and the ground they’ll be walking in upcoming episodes.
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In Walking the Ground, historian James Holland and writer and comedian Al Murray follow in the footsteps of World War 2 soldiers and commanders, unearthing fascinating insights and stories along the way. Exclusively on Youtube. Subscribe now: https://www.youtube.com/@WW2WalkingTheGround?sub_confirmation=1″.
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Luftwaffe engineers box😊
Blimey. All these comments and nobody picked up he was trying to set light the whole box of hexi. Dying laughing. Great episode!
Every second of this series has been great but watching you try to light that hexi was painful!
Break the hexi up but light it with not directly the lighter, the cardboard box (that the hexi comes in) is covered in wax. Tear a strip off, light that and use that to light your hexi.
This is a really good addition it would be good to see more of you guys having a brew to sum things up
You see, had you been smokers as in the 1940’s you would have carried lighter fluid. As a smoker in 2024 you would carry a wind cheater. If you where brewing up for real, you would get a big roll, cover it in lighter fluid. Dug a small pit, put the bog roll in the pit, cover it in twigs and stuff and light the bog roll. Instant fire and brew up. Just saying. 😇
What a joyful combination
That’s why a Zippo lighter was always carried
I hope you've got a licence for that Hexi if you're in the UK…
Ah, a nice hot sweet milky tea and a hexi TV… now that's soldiering!
in the ratio pack the biscuits were known as AB biscuits which meant alternate to bread, but everyone knew them as anal blockers
We are launching in t minus 60 secSOMEONE SAID TEA
Starting the Hexi block was painful to watch.
Hmm, The Captain could recite the ingredients in his ration pack😂❤❤
you are two wendy's blouses ! lol my 6 year old daughter could do a better job with a hexi block
It's been 25 years since I was an army cadet and still that hexi block moment was painful to watch! 😂
Wind proof matches for next time, chaps!
Wind proof matches for next time, chaps!
Should call this 2 civviies with hexi and a squaddie with a jet boil 😂
Please turn off the split audio between left and right
What a comedy moment 🤣 😂you two trying to make tea 🍵 🎉🎉
Comedy Gold Blend. Follow Al and James next week when they attempt to cook toast.
Apart from very cold winters, it was also very windy. Well done fellas, first time for everything.
That bit in a previous episode where you said ‘no one would mistake us for officers’, err, I think the first 5 minutes of this vid proves otherwise.
Typically inept Rupert behaviour.
Father in law Harry Pollitt landed with the Pioneer Corps D-Day plus one at Courseulles on Juno beach. He said he never got his feet wet stepping from the landing craft. The first thing they did was get into the dunes and brew up.
I was watching this and i was struck by the similarity of Last of the Summer wine Foggie always wore an army jacket and your wearing an old army Jacket The other guy looks like Compo and only needs the wellies It is so funny May be Last Of the Battlefield guides should be the title
Lucky that wasn't the UK , it's now a criminal offence in the UK to hold Hexamine! I'm guessing one that many ex-soldiers are guilty of. 😀https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-targeting-bomb-making-materials-come-into-force
😂😂 fantastic bet it was worth waiting for
It was usual when lighting a hexy burner was to partially bury the frame so the wind didn't affect it, ps lighting was better using the all weather matches….An ExXIX
Break the Hexi block – a sharper, broken corner will light more easily. More surface area also burns faster & you'll save fuel if you don't need a whole block to boil your water.
… and don't put the big mess tin on upside down, i'll just get dirty on the inside.
….the random bit of spare yn is for a metal mug.
I love how Al does a quick prayer before getting on the chair. As men of a certain physique we often do.
You’d want to be in their company, so long as they make their own brews and the comms guy kept away from them, we’ve got at least a fortnight here 😂
Jet burner all the way
How many books.phds and doctorates do these two have ? But never heard of waterproof matches that come in every ration pack ? Lol I carry a pack on all my walking camping trips .
Was the British assault ration pack only given to the d day troops and then used compo after they had gained a foot hold in France? I know the guys over at living history do an amazing reproduction of the assault rations
Need to take you to survival school Banger. Loved the episode.
Ah, the old comedy deckchair routine… Love it… but some of those angles were not your best, Al.
Great bit of ration pack chat too…
You chaps have to stop being so interesting and entertaining as I am meant to be doing other things and your videos are infectious watching!! 😆
Well that explains why XXX corps took so long to get to Arnhem, each tea break takes 3 hours to get a brew made 😂
James is my absolute hero, he has lived his life working for a passion and turned it into a career, the places he has visited, the people he must have met I am sure give him a lifetime of memories, but his passion and child like enthusiasm for the subject come through so much in this series, balanced by the wonderful perspective offered by Al, the two work so well together the presentation of the information given and how the soldiers had the challenges in the areas they visit are unique. The subject matter you speak about always comes down to the individual soldier and in the way this is undertaken the respect for what they were trying to achieve comes through, there are so many individual stories every one of them a hero. I literally sit on the edge of my chair waiting for new content to come out, I hope you are getting the genuine views unlike some independent history presenters are experiencing with significant decrease in numbers. We must always tell their story, I hope one day I get the opportunity to meet James and thank him for telling their story, I definately need to go and find his book on the Sherwood Rangers and Stanley Christopherson. 🥰
I didn’t think I’d be happy seeing a couple of Brits ‘brew up’, as in the tank phrase!
This is epically funny.
When i was a boy and struggling to light the fire my dad would say that he could light a fire with one match, green wood, in the pouring rain. He landed at Juno.
Hahaha! Watching you trying to light Hexi tablets in a field environment just made me laugh and gave me flash backs to my time serving… the pain with them is real and universal…. Throw in the issued matches we’d get in ration packs, often ended where you’d simply give up and eat cold.
Brewing Up, except not the Billy Bragg version.
….oh good lord. Plus the fact that Hexi is now a prohibited substance which carries a custodial sentence for possession of any quantity!! Brilliant. 😊
after every fire mission we used to do, the immediate action was to get straight to the BV and get a brew on without fail! somethings never change
As children we would laugh at our dad because he drank copious cups of tea and never refused one when offered, he also loved corned beef and peach slices with condensed milk for puddings It was only later after reading many books about british soldiers during the war that i realised why he loved this type of food fayre
Bit if a giggle. These 2 so clearly live in a fantasy of how they would function, how they would run the show in glory, and even the tea making is a farce. It's the Dads, I could have been there, fantasy, that has the kids rolling their eyes, behind them. Lol.
I can smell that hexi smell on the other side of the world.