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Hey Laz,

Sorry buddy but as an aviator who comes from a long line of aviators I have to take exception. The B-24 was a death trap, ask anyone still alive who flew her. Most crews always tried (unsuccessfully though) to transfer to B-17 squadrons after a few missions in the 24. Most of the vets I've talked to say the 17 was more likely to bring you home than a 24 if you got raked over the coals on a mission. The B-17 was by far the most superior heavy bomber of the war until the 29 came along.

I think what you were trying to say(?) was the krauts had us beat hands down in technology in a lot of areas. No argument from me there. They truly were engineering wizards. I suppose everyone can argue til we're blue in the face about the outcome of WWII had Hitler been a more prudent leader, but there is no doubt we just outproduced and outmanned them into submission. Had he paced Germany's timetable and listened to his people, military and civilian, those wonder weapons might have been our demise.

Eagle

Had he paced Germany's timetable and listened to his people, military and civilian, those wonder weapons might have been our demise.

Scary. Had he held back for a few years instead of trying to take everything at once. The V-2, the Komet rocket plane, the ME-262. If I remember right he also had 4-engine bombers on the drawing board, as did the Japanese. Industrial might, sheer numbers, sure didn't hurt us, did it?

I think what you were trying to say(?) was the krauts had us beat hands down in technology in a lot of areas. No argument from me there. They truly were engineering wizards.

There's an outdoor museum of battle trophies -- artillery & armor -- at the Army's Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois which I visited a few years ago.

The Russian-made pieces captured from Iraq in the gulf looked like scrap iron -- all rusty, poor fit & finish, ugh. There was one American made gun (vintage 50's or 60's) that had been sold to the Iranians under the Shah, captured by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war, and then captured again by the Americans in the gulf. It looked far better than the Russian pieces, but still a bit shabby.

The German materiel captured in WW2 looked like it had been built by Mercedes-Benz (as some of it probably was), and absolutely looked like it could be given a shot of oil and some repairs of (obvious) battle damage ... and sent right back into combat. Actually, the Germans' awesome craftsmanship was part of their problem; they couldn't make those beautiful implements fast enough to replace their losses.