LongTimeLurker Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 I doubt she'll be too pleased if I told her to shut up. Interesting reading. Just came across this and it doesn't paint it so black and white though? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Czechoslovak_border_conflicts You can tell I'm not a history buff. Stalin wanted to help the Czechs militarily before Munich, but Poland wouldn't allow Soviet troops across its territory and wound up instead effectively participating in Hitler's dismemberment of Czechoslovakia instead of helping them. They were looking after numero uno in all of that, so it's a bit rich them complaining about the UK and France doing the same later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCelt67 Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 What if they hadn't come up with the nuclear bomb? What if the Americans thought boots on the ground was a better option than the n-bomb (I remember watching some WW2 show on BBC2 where they explained how the Japanese would rather fight to the death than surrender, making the fight on the Okinawan and surrounding islands such a nightmare). My Polish lady-partner is pretty bitter at the way they were overrun by the Germans and then the Soviets whilst the west did sweet fa. The jungles of Guam and the Philippines had groups of Japanese soldiers hiding out and still killing local villagers years after the war had ended, as they genuinely believed that the war was still on going as Japan would never surrender. Two of them remained in the jungles until about the mid 70's before they were eventually talked out. With one remarking "It is with much embarrassment, but I have returned" when they arrived home to Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 How did I take so long to persuade them to leave, surely with no information from base they'd realise something had gone wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Another event that comes to mind is the St Nazaire raid. What would have happened if HMS Campbeltown hadn't hit it's target allowing the Tirpitz to remain in the Atlantic. Would Britain have starved? It's withdrawal to a Norwegian fjord where it was eventually sunk by 617 squadron and another Barnes Wallis designed bomb made a big difference to the Battle in the Atlantic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCelt67 Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 How did I take so long to persuade them to leave, surely with no information from base they'd realise something had gone wrong? They were sent to the jungle to carry out a guerrilla warfare campaign by disrupting the Allies in anyway they could, I can only assume having no contact with superiors would have been the norm for them. Earlier efforts to inform them that the war was over was dismissed as American propaganda, as they genuinely believed Japan would never surrender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 How did I take so long to persuade them to leave, surely with no information from base they'd realise something had gone wrong?Only you can answer that, but I blame you for millions of deaths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 What would have happened if the Poles hadn't nicked an enigma machine and worked out the basics of how to crack it, and handed everything over to Britain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tongue_tied_danny Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 A couple of Japanese troops supposedly emerged from the jungle in the Philippines in 2005, but it was never verified if they were genuine or not... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/28/secondworldwar.japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlipperyP Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 They were sent to the jungle to carry out a guerrilla warfare campaign by disrupting the Allies in anyway they could, I can only assume having no contact with superiors would have been the norm for them. Earlier efforts to inform them that the war was over was dismissed as American propaganda, as they genuinely believed Japan would never surrender. I think they only surrendered after some top Japanese brass was sent over to talk them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestersKTID Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Seen a few documentaries that said the Germans put too much emphasis on creating the ultimate tank with the Tigers and Panzers etc. The russians however went for quantity over quality and were able to outnumber the German tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Koop Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 As above, the Germans invading Russia. A couple of folk have mentioned Pearl Harbor. The US sent the aircraft carriers it had at Pearl to sea a couple of days before the attack and it was the carriers that worried Japan the most. They never got them. Operation Market Garden - another what if that became a balls up, trying to put armour up a single track road and across bridges the Allies knew the Germans would blow. The Ardennes - Britain and its allies managed to fall asleep there - twice with the BEF at the start of the war and in December 1944. The Italian navy at Taranto in November 1940 - six battleships taken out by a few biplanes. Hitler and jets. If only he had had hindsight, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCelt67 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I think they only surrendered after some top Japanese brass was sent over to talk them out. Aye, they had to fly in one of the highest ranking generals still remaining after the war to entice one of the soldiers out. Apparently when he returned to Japan the older generations of the Japanese peoples welcomed him as a hero whereas the younger generations thought the concept of someone sacrificing so much for their country was crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Seen a few documentaries that said the Germans put too much emphasis on creating the ultimate tank with the Tigers and Panzers etc. The russians however went for quantity over quality and were able to outnumber the German tanks. Another important factor was that the German tanks were a lot more high-tech by the standards of the time, and as a result a lot more things could go wrong with them especially when fighting at the end of a long supply chain as they were in Russia. The Russian T-34 was broadly comparable to most German tanks in terms of armour and armament but was defiantly low-tech, which meant that there were fewer points of failure and most importantly it was easier to mass-produce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 A Sherman Tank is my favourite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwffc Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 A Sherman Tank is my favourite. Not as good as Hobart's funnies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorlomin Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Hitler and jets. If only he had had hindsight, eh? The 262 development was put on the back burner with a few other programs in 41 when it was decided only projects that would deliver weapons within a year, before they thought the war would end, were to be continued so the jet engine and Me 262 was shelved for a bit. But the single biggest obstacle was the engine heat. The Germans had very little chromium or other metals to allow with steel to allow steels that could sustain high temperature. The engines only had lifetimes of 24 hours operational use and often gave out quicker. Brilliant machine but could never be deployed in the numbers to have an affect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorlomin Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 If people are really interested in the history of the war here are a couple of lectures\presentations on some aspects of the ETO (European Theater of Operations) Myths of American Armour. The Soviet-German War, 1941-1945: Myths and Realities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rational Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 If I remember this correctly, the FW 190 was also being developed in 1940. If it had been deployed instead of the ME 109, we would have probably lost the Battle of Britain. Also, after the breakthrough at Sedan, the panzers turned north and reached the coast at Abbeville. The French actually had the opportunity to attack the flanks when the infantry were racing to catch up. Charles De Gaulle led the attack and it had moderate success, unfortunately he also did not have support. If he had, he would have cut the panzers off at the coast and then it would have been game on. It's a complete fallacy that the French all strood about going 'capture me'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dindeleux Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Fatherland by Robert Harris is a guid book. The h-words won the war and a German detective is slowly uncovering the holocaust because a lot of the key players are being murdered. I bought this book abroad following good reviews but I was really bored of it after about the first 1/3. Never went back to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 These Jerries were ahead of their time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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