We would have cut off all ties with them. The next one would have been a declaration of war.

Fair enough wittman, did not realize it was such a drive!  I suppose English highways are not as high speed as those in the US or Germany?  Agreed with a small child, anything over a couple hours is rough…

Thank you Marc.
I only wish we had been told which unit he had fought with and where it was found.

Thank you BjCard. I had a look at that book review.
I am in limbo at the moment book wise(often happens and I hate it). Am unsure of I wang to read WW2 of Civil War.
I think I was up for the 1864 Eastern campaigns, but when I saw few were reading my latest posts I lost interest and did not pick up a book.
Can’t get excited about a subject at the moment.
Loving HerrKaleun’s Dutch 1940 posts.

@wittmann:

Worsham: I noticed it was today in 1920 that Polish troops under General Rydz-Smigly held a victory parade up the main road in Kiev, celebrating their 7th May capture of the city.
Their tenure of Kiev only lasted a few weeks.

After studying this conflict, you can get a better understanding of the Soviet willingness to divide Poland with Germany.

Thank you Pacific War.
I do see your “draw” argument, but feel “to the death” is more fitting!
Hope you get to play again soon.

The way I see it:
-two additional German trained Italian Infantry Divisions would be of no use because fully equuipped and trained they have been comming to late to make an excessive change.

the addition of another Panzer Division would be one of the best solutions but only FULLY equipped and along with two Pantergrenadier Reg.

the addition of a Panzer- Grenadier-Division to the theater would be of no good use without a few Panzer Regiments.

the addition of a company of new Tiger tanks and an anti tank Marder company would be a good add- on but require Panzer Grenadier Regs as well.

-200,000 additional anti personal mines would be good if you consider to keep what you got and def thinking about a Defensive Strategy.

-none of these options are enough to beat back the 8th Army <- The 8th Army was good but not to strong to beat the Germans. I think if the DAK would have had more then the rare Supply shipped over the Med. Sea, then the Brit. 8th would have had a hard time to beat back the Germans.

Under the line: Tanks and Grennys are the optimal choice of mine and I can see Rommel doing a good job with it!

Brad Meltzer’s show Decoded on the History Channel had an episode devoted to this topic. Its a good episode, if any of you get a chance watch it.

Maybe the website I got the French DOW on was wrong, or just listed the allied ones - since many times they reciprocate a dow even though they don’t need too…

Anyway, Germany was perfectly happy sitting there and doing nothing before Russia decided to stick it’s big fat nose in things, then France and England decided to fight Germany (DOW or not, they did cut off transport and trade with them, so in effect, they did declare on Germany even if it wasn’t on paper)

It’s clear that the side that supported the rebellion against the law abiding, peace loving states of Germany and Austria-Hungary are the aggressors, Germany and Austria-Hungary just defending themselves from unwarranted and unwanted attack. :P

And Belgiums a country?  Sheesh, I thought it was a truck stop on route to Paris!  Next you’ll be telling me Rhode Island is a state in the United States of America and not a gas station with delusions of grandeur!

LOL, guess I should check to see if somebody else had posted this!  Nice work, going to have to get up a bit earlier me thinks!

It is amazing how much resources Hitler put into the defense of the British owned Channel Islands. He demanded between 10 to 25% of all Atlantic Wall material get dedicated to these Islands.

Lucky for us, Hitler was really dumb and was a terrible commander. He crippled his air force, threw away an army (6th), wasted his Kriegsmarine,he made Normandy an allied victory.
I believe that Germany would have won if they had been a competent military mind as head of state, or even if Hitler just didn’t interfere in military decision.

Hehe - good point Miami
No one had mentioned the Italians in this thread yet

Thank you.
It is great reading about local people and knowing they are in your community, having done things we really respect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiten

Oh… wait. Nevermind.

I found the interview enjoyable, while my wife rolled her eyes at me at my thought of a good YouTube video.

Clyde, I agree with you, a German WWI victory prevents a lot further bloodshed.

Had Germany won in 1916, how long does the Kaiser remain in power? and the Czars? We can write of Austria-Hungry Empire, that Empire wasn’t a crumbling house, it was a tremite mound of ruins.

Here’s a weapon which could more properly be described as “low-profile” rather than underrated: the proximity-fused anti-aircraft artillery shell.  Proximity fuses were essentially miniature radar sets, built small enough to fit in a shell and tough enough to withstand the tremendous kick of being fired from a gun.  They were quite a technical achievement and they increased the chance that a shell would bring down an airplane even if it didn’t hit it directly.  The Americans kept the proximity fuse very hush-hush; if I recall correctly, it was restricted to being used at sea, where unexploded shells couldn’t be recovered by the enemy and studied for their secrets.

Another effective weapon whose details were kept secret from the American public was the shaped-charge warhead.  I own a laminated WWII magazine advertisement page which tells Americans about a revolutionary new anti-armour weapon called the bazooka; it makes the point that GIs are finding it very effective against German tanks, but it adds that the exact details of how it works and what it looks like can’t be revealed.  As it happens, the Germans knew all about the Munroe Effect (discovered as far back as the 19th century) and had their own shaped-charge anti-tank weapon: the Panzerfaust.  An amusing example of the public on your side being kept in the dark more than the military people on the enemy side.

Is he making a big deal about him,  Razor?

@wittmann:

Thank you Hoffmann. Is ridiculous to think those men are 90 and that Colonel Cole can still get in a B25(or even want to!).

I know, really. It was awesome to see him climb into the plane and fly again. Wonder if he ever thought he’d be back in the same aircraft 70 years later?

Thank you for looking into that, Worsham.
I am aware Rommel was often short of good German tanks, that is why I made my comment.

Great article.  THANKS!