Posted on 07/19/2017 6:53:21 AM PDT by naturalman1975
What we really needed was dedicated close air support, like Douglas MacArthur used in Luzon.
Some SBDs with Forward Air Controllers guiding them would have annihilated the German defenses above Omaha beach and saved a lot of our lives.
I had a friend (now deceased) who was in a 16 plane formation which attacked a German position on D-Day.
He said the anti-aircraft fire was extremely accurate. Of 16 B-26s which went in, only 9 came out. He said he lost an engine. He was returning to England with the one engine when a Spitfire came alongside. It stayed with him until he landed.
Whilst it is true that Britain tends to glorify its great military disasters more than it does its victories (charge of the Light Brigade, Dunkirk, the Glorious Glosters etc) you are being overly harsh on the Brits.
The British were no dumber when they first came up against the Germans in WWII than any other nation, the French, the Russians and even the Americans (Kesserine Pass) all got their asses handed to them on a plate when they first encountered the tactics of the Germans.
The point is whether the generals learned from their mistakes, and despite the caricature of British generals as all being stuck up know-nothings the fact is that they were quick learners and generally tended to win the wars they get involved in, even if they did stuff up at the start.
I doubt more French supported the allies; they wanted neutrality - and killed the American troops landing in French North Africa to prove it. Occasionally an American historian slips up and admits the Americans “invaded” France...
The French in 1940 seemed to indicate a preference for Hitler to Stalin, who had armed the communists in neighboring Spain’s civil war (where they killed 8,000 priests, hundreds of nuns, and a dozen bishops). Catholic Europeans watched the Western Allies ignore the communist atrocities in Spain, and then watched Hitler and Mussolini step in to stop the communists...
Because of Stalin’s carelessness and incompetency, a lot more Soviet citizens died than should have. The Russians won in spite of Stalin.
“Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation.”
Do you think any Allied soldiers that died in WWII did so to see the “Christian civilization” destroyed by godless atheists as we have today? The only remnants of Christianity in Europe today are in the eastern parts either occupied by or allied with the Axis; those countries are in the news today because they won’t take in Mohammedan murderers.
You may be right about my harshness about Dunkirk. I should look further into that development.
But even though Monty was a hero in North Africa, he was a disaster in Europe with his instance on his way, like the pitiful Market Garden (more head up the a$$). By war’s end, Ike could not stand the guy. Thank God for the Americans and Patton who out-blitzkrieged the Krauts.
Is that you, barack?
The Air Force strongly opposed precision CAS back then and apparently still does but pinpoint delivery of 500 pound bombs really can't be beat for reducing even the strongest enemy positions.
General MacArthur got around the Army Air Force by using Marine Corps SBDs with Marine FACS controlling them and wiped Japanese defenses off the map as they were encountered.
It is true that German antiaircraft fires were ferocious but they could have been dealt with using a sort of "Wild Weasel" tactic using P-47s or P-51s to cream the FLAK positions and the SBDS/A-36s to accurately bomb those bunkers and trenchlines overlooking Omaha.
Could have saved a lot of lives. It's a shame that the USAAF couldn't have done that. It's an Air Force cultural thing that needs to be restructured: groundpounders have families too.
You've never been to Austria - and probably can't find it on a map, can you?
I weep for our education system.
Ah, you got the sarcasm, unlike another doooofuss on this thread. Good catch!
You've never been to Austria - and probably can't find it on a map, can you?
I weep for our education system.
Here's your sign!
Doooofuss caught in the web of sarcasm!
Rip Van Chainmail been asleep for the last ten years when Dear Leader said virtually the same things. WAKE UP Chainmail! Or did YOU believe those similar comments when O made them?
"I weep for our FR University Community, where some responders have to be taught current events, less than ten years old.
Chainmail probly thinks corpsman pronounced this way: (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=obama+mispronounces+corpsman&&view=detail&mid=3199FECD35C2F111DABF3199FECD35C2F111DABF&FORM=VRDGAR)
Hear are some OOPS bad edumication, Here are some other "O" pronouncements for your edumecation:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=obama+says+austrians+speak+austrian&&view=detail&mid=23D09ABA395EFC46735423D09ABA395EFC467354&FORM=VRDGAR
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=obama+talks+about+breathalizer&&view=detail&mid=3512F292F4BD21F1E3633512F292F4BD21F1E363&FORM=VRDGAR
This next one is priceless
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=obama+talks+about+57+states&&view=detail&mid=CE2B402AE37BCEAEB3A6CE2B402AE37BCEAEB3A6&FORM=VRDGAR
Good to know that you aren’t stupid.
Did a great job of simulating it, though.
Don’t remind me about Obama: 8 years was punishment enough.
You are correct. The French and British rear guards are what saved the day. Without their sacrifices, the German infantry would have been in the British troops on the beaches.
The jury is still out on you!
Chamberlain almost picked Halifax to replace him. In fact Churchill was the only who wasn’t prepared to sue for peace.
My deceased Father-in-law saw combat in Europe, and my Father saw combat in the Pacific.
My maternal grandfather saw combat in France, WWI. The other grandfather registered for the WWI draft but was 36 yrs. old then, and was not called.
The Grandfather who served in WWI registered again, for WWII but was not called. He was 46.
I served in the conscripted forces during Vietnam, but not there.
My niece served in the air Force, in turkey, Afghanistan, etc.
Compared to the that past, very few families today have connections to the military.
I hope it continues to work out. All of my ancestors came to North America in wooden ships. That required a big commitment.
Contrast that with the millions we allow in, that despise us but just want our good lives, or want to ill us or cheat us.
Only to you, little guy, only to you.
Hey, good news.....OJ is getting paroled. Now you can have sex again.
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