Week 287 – Iwo Jima! – WW2 – February 24, 1945



This week the Battle of Iwo Jima begins and American forces raise the Stars and Stripes on Mount Suribachi. Elsewhere, the Allies fight the stiff Japanese defences in Manila. The Red Army continues fighting through East Prussia and Pomerania as Stalin plans the next stage of the advance on the Reich. There are Allied advances in Western Europe and Italy too.

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Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Ian Sowden
Written by: Indy Neidell
Research by: Indy Neidell
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Artwork and color grading by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński

Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Daniel Weiss
Norman Stewart – https://oldtimesincolor.blogspot.com/
Klimbim https://klimbim2020.wordpress.com/
Jaris Almazani (Artistic Man), https://instagram.com/artistic.man?igshid=k4l2ushhbwk5

Source literature list: https://bit.ly/SourcesWW2

Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters – https://www.screenocean.com

Image sources:
IWM SE 3163, IND 3595, SE 3251
mil.ru
Bundesarchiv

Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
Joe Wandrini – Dragon King
Dream Cave – Blood in Water
Philip Ayers – The Unexplored
Dream Cave – The Beast
Edward Karl Hanson – Spellbound
Hakan Eriksson – Epic Adventure Theme 4
Fabiel Tell – Weapon of Choice
Jon Bjork – Shrouded in Conspiracy
Johan Hynynen – Dark Beginning
Joe Wandrini – To War!
Alec Slayne – Conspiracy Inc.
Phoenix Tail – At the Front

0:01 Intro
0:54 Recap
1:16 Iwo Jima Begins
6:32 The war in the Philippines
7:56 The Battle of Manila
11:12 Fighting in Burma
12:14 Operation Grenade
13:46 Operation Encore
14:38 Soviet plans for new offensives
21:28 Moscow Commission Meets

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

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42 thoughts on “Week 287 – Iwo Jima! – WW2 – February 24, 1945”

  1. “By some unmistakable point — the autumn of 1942 at the latest — they should have understood that they'd been wrong and that their prospects for long-term victory were inexorably zeroing out. They still had the economic and military strength to sustain their armies in the field indefinitely, no matter how grim the strategic situation became, but by any rational calculation of the odds, they should have begun hinting through backwater diplomatic channels that they were willing to negotiate a cease-fire. Neither Germany nor Japan ever did so. Not until the last days of the war did either government even begin to consider the possibility of a negotiated settlement — not until they had absolutely nothing left to negotiate with….So while their colleagues fell into daydreams of imminent victory, the few remaining rational men of the Axis bureaucracy grew just as convinced that surrender to the Allies on any terms was tantamount to suicide. As far as they were concerned, every additional day the war lasted — no matter how pointless, no matter how phantasmal the hope of victory, no matter how desperate and horrible the conditions on the battlefield — was another day of judgment successfully deferred.

    This is the dreadful logic that comes to control a lot of wars. (The American Civil War is another example.) The losers prolong their agony as much as possible, because they're convinced the alternative is worse. Meanwhile the winners, who might earlier have accepted a compromise peace, become so maddened by the refusal of their enemies to stop fighting that they see no reason to settle for anything less than absolute victory. In this sense the later course of World War II was typical: it kept on escalating, no matter what the strategic situation was, and it grew progressively more violent and uncontrollable long after the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The difference was that no other war had ever had such deep reserves of violence to draw upon.

    …the Allies at last acknowledged that, despite the decisive battles of the previous summer, the Axis was never going to surrender. That was when the Allies changed their strategy. They set out to make an Axis surrender irrelevant. From that winter into the next spring the civilians of Germany and Japan were helpless before a new Allied campaign of systematic aerial bombardment.”

    [from “Losing the War” by Lee Sandlin]

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  2. Hello, will we get a video on the ongoing pocket battle? It'd be interesting to talk about them, currently reading J-C mermet special aero journal number on the 26, it has an article centered around the color schemes, the variants, the units operating it and help debunk the idea of hitler delaying it since messerschmitt already had schnellbomber variants in store before presenting the plane to hitler

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  3. Losing Chernyakhovsky and Vatutin to enemy combat in the last few months are pretty significant loses. The Soviets certainly have a massive pool of capable high level officers by now, but those are pretty devastating.

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  4. It's hard trying to see this battle only in the light of tactics and numbers, I saw its reenactment in Band of Brothers and it was BRUTAL, the soldiers fighting there really had to keep their hearts on their hand

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  5. Could you make a video about the Senussi order that was in Libya during World War II and if you could start the explanation a little before the war until the independence of Libya, in addition explain what the position of the Senussi order is towards the Jews?

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  6. Another great episode, wonder what the next week will bring! Oh, and many have mentioned it in the comments already, but if you haven't, considering checking out Clint Eastwood's film, Letters from Iwo Jima. It follows the preparations and the battle of Iwo Jima purely from the Japanese perspective. It is also a generally good movie, good acting, picture, soundtrack, etc.

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  7. As this war exits its final winter, both sides will engaged in their final battles for spring 1945. In the Mediterranean-European Theater of Operations, on the Western Front, Allied forces are facing harsh resistance not only against the Germans but as well as the terrain. They shall continue until the reach the Rhine River and by spring, they will no doubt push into Germany. In Italy, after months of very little action, the Allies are prepping themselves for their spring offensive into the Po Valley. On the Eastern Front, after fierce fighting in Hungary, the Soviets must fight yet again, this time against heavy German counterattacks. But once spring commences, the Soviets will undoubtedly push in Austria. While directly North, the Soviets will clear out their flanks and set the stage for their final attack against Germany, Berlin. In the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations, the Allies are reinvigorating their attacks. In Burma, the British are facing dogged Japanese resistance but they shall cross the mighty Irrawaddy and push deep into Burma by spring. In the Philippines, the Americans are slowly but surely clearing out the Japanese from Manila. And by spring, they will expand their operations to all of the occupied Filipino islands the Japanese still hold. On Iwo Jima, the Americans will have to fight inch by inch to clear out the determine Japanese foes. And by spring, the Japanese will be on their last stand on the small volcanic island. And lastly, it was forgotten and often overshadow, but the Chinese will and shall launch their awaited spring attack. All is set by all of the major warring powers. To their final battles in the spring of 1945. Godspeed.

    Video of Iwo Jima: https://youtu.be/g9rMTlJNcIQ?si=Ia9KD3I87bE9qWfo
    Video of the Rhineland Campaign: https://youtu.be/vdaKwnkXttc?si=BGpGLbc59w6DZyr_

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  8. My father was "heavily engaged" with the 11th Airborne Division, attacking up from the South, through the Japanese Genko Line and into the Southern portions of Manila, It was a terrible slog, and the Japanese even dropped paratroopers on the US paratroopers around Tagaytay Ridge (it didn't go well for the attackers) It was the men of the 11th who rescued the internees in Los Banos. (Yet you didn't mention that 'Band of Brothers' at all. Disappointing,)

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  9. I discovered the Great War in high school, entered this war in grade 12, and I'll be starting a master's degree when it comes to an end in a few months. Hats off to Indy, Spartacus, Astrid, and the whole Timeghost team for teling the story of WWII in such depth and with so much dedication – no one has made the scale of modern war as evident as you guys have. I look forward to seeing what you have planned for the end of WWII, and for the Korean War!

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  10. I have a picture of my dads history teacher who was a veteran of the battle of Iwo Jima. Co. 1 3rd Bn. 9th Marines, February 1945 Guam his company is pictured with probably two hundred men. Maybe 150 im not sure can't count them all with the quality of the picture. Then there is a photo on the bottom of the picture. 14 men remain and Kermit Davis (my dad's history teacher) is one of those standing. He was a very good and wise man. He was not afraid to talk about his experiences to help teach the younger generations of what he went through. His wisdom made a big impact on my life that's for sure.

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  11. The fight at the Paco Railroad Station at Manila was so heavy that two Americans is awarded the Medal of Honor just to capture the building, with one being awarded posthumously.

    That building still exists today and I actually pass by it last week and got goosebumps just thinking what transpired there in 1945.

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