The “just sit and wait for the Phony War to end in April 1940” option is a bit perplexing as an answer to “You are the German High Command! What is your next Combat Movement?” because it seems to imply that the Phony War was operating on a fixed timetable, and that this timetable was in someone else’s hands. The lack of action on land on the Western Front is certainly due in part to inaction by France and Britain (whose strategy was basically to sit around for a couple of years to built up their strength for a showdown, while simultaneously hoping that the Nazi regime would be overthrown by a coup), but it was also very much a deliberate choice by Germany. The Wehrmacht needed to analyze the Polish Campaign, fix the tactical and operational elements that hadn’t worked as well as expected, plan the upcoming campaign against France and the Low Countries, rest and replenish its forces, give them more training, provide them with additional equipment, and redeploy them to the west. Doing this properly took time, but Germany could afford to take the time to do the job right because of the lack of Anglo-French pressure on the western front. ( In other words, by sitting on their collective hindquarters France and Britain surrendered the strategic initiative to Germany, which gave the Wehrmacht the luxury of attacking at the time and place of its own choosing.) Moreover, the time period during which these activities took place were the fall of 1939 and the winter of 1939-1940, which was conveniently timed because this meant that the Wehrmacht wouldn’t have to fight in the fall (manageable, but rainy and muddy) or in the winter (far less harsh in the West than in Russia, but still potentially nasty as veterans of the Battle of the Bulge will recall). The late spring / early summer period chosen for the offensive in the West was much more congenial for military operations.
Favorite WW2 Fighter Plane
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i chose the yak and the spitfire because the yak made a difference and history in russia until the yak russian airforce was crap the yaks at least were the spitfires in the eastern front!
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i chose the yak and the spitfire because the yak made a difference and history in russia until the yak russian airforce was crap the yaks at least were the spitfires in the eastern front!
It’s good to see some Soviet support. The Yak often gets over looked in World War Two discussion along with the Red Air force.
Ivan N. Kozhedub was the highest credited allied ace with 62 victories. Following is Pokryshkin, Alexander Ivanovich, the Soviet’s most famous ace with 59 kills.
Erich Hartmann, in his book The Blond Knight of Germany praises the skills of the Red Air Forces’ Guard Regiments. He refers to these skilled pilots as Stalin’s Hawks.
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Thankyou i just chose the yak because it was a good plane and so was the spit don’t kid me wrong germany had pro fighters and peeps in them but well (they had no plane strategy)
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No love for the Italians?
Here is some
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But love for the YAK?
And so little love for the ZERO, HELLCAT and Thunderbolt???
And no P 39 love :-o
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p:
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Wow cool pics. :-)
LT
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Pro picks man and i agree italian fighters!@!
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P 38 for his look and for his great purpose.
But i have to admit. The choice is realy hard.
My choice on the pacific front: Vought F4U Corsair and The zero.
Western front: Hawker Typhoon and FW 190.
Eastern Front: Yak 1Alan.
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long live the glorious yak YAK YAK ________________________________________________________________________________________________YAk
Moo hahaha!
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I’m surprised the Me-109 has not found any love in the survey.
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I thought of a few more special planes!!!1
No love for the japanese no Zero or Betty …… they were the best plane in the pacific until 1943 ahmmmmmmmmm
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I’m surprised the Me-109 has not found any love in the survey.
At 57% of all German fighter production and according to some sorces, the most produced fighter aircraft in history at 33,984 units and in service with the Fins, the Swiss, as well as others and used even after the war by Romainia well into the 1950’s. The Czech copy the S-199 even saw service with the Israeli AF. A generally good all around, well designed, fighter.
But yes no love in the poll, perhaps its such a common WW2 Workhorse that it has no sex appeal, simple with no spice. Kind of like the Sherman Tank or the Liberty Ship…just a solid hardworking weapon.
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lol i was playing a game i was canada had a max of food and bam…. i had 40 churchills and creamed everyone the shermans wer fast but nto as good as the smoking hot shermans
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NICE post AB. I’m back at the front as per your request.
I voted for the Fock Wulf 190 and the Corsair. The Fock Wulf a-4 and a-5 are my all time favorite fighters of the war. I love the beauty of it and love the bravery of the men that flew that plane up against insurmountable odds in the ending years.
The Corsair does not get enough credit. While the Hellcat has the highest kill ratio for the US, (19-1; I believe) it was a short range fighter. The Corsair had to do all the long range dirty work. I’ve talked at length to Corsair pilots and the love they have for that plane is unbelievable. GREAT range, amazing manueverability and an excellent engine. They didn’t even complain about carried landings being difficult. One guy’s corsair went down after he completed his sorties. Another pilot had to bailed out of it. He actually cried and mourned the loss of his former plane for a year.
The last pilot I spoke with talked about him and his wing man were offered flight instructor postions taking them out of combat during the heat of the Pacific air war. They were both already aces and turned down the promotion. He said they loved flying that plane and wanted to keep “getting their feet wet in the thick of it.”
Unfortunately most 190 aces were killed in '44 to '45 mainly because the thunderbolts & P-51’s were everywhere and superior technologically.
The 190 had a cramped cockpit. The Corsairs was beautiful. The later versions actually had a friggin ash trey in them. Now that’s style! Love the way the wheels retract.
OMG. I could go on and on. Much love to Erich Hartmann however who flew the 190. Highest scoring combat ace in history. EVEN with an outdated plane he managed to take out a few Mustangs.
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I personally love the Corsair
And of course respect must go to the Me-262 -
I have always liked the look of the Me-109, so sleek looking and powerful. 8-)
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@Krupp:
I have always liked the look of the Me-109, so sleek looking and powerful. 8-)
I KNOW!!! :-) I LOVE that plane. It’s actually one of my favorite fighters of all time. The 109 e-4 trop. That plane is aweseome!. Seeing footage of those things dive and fly in formation is amazing. Those pilots (in the beginning) were some of the best trained and combat experienced pilots in the world due to their experience in the Spanish Civil War and The Battle of Britain.
I’m suprised that the ME-262 has so many votes! Granted, it was the peak of technology, it had a lot of technical problems. There isn’t a single pilot that would fly that thing these days. I think there’s no flyable ones right now but they’re in the process of remaking one that is safer to fly than the originals.
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The 109 e-4 trop is certainly a beautiful plane, I could only imagine having a squadron of those coming towards me… :-o
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@Krupp:
The 109 e-4 trop is certainly a beautiful plane, I could only imagine having a squadron of those coming towards me… :-o
I know man! Think of being in a B-17f and getting jumped by like 200 hundred of them with no fighter escort. All the way to your target and most of the way back. Those pilots would come at you head on (12 o’clock high) “GREAT movie btw” and sometimes the pilot would be killed or the 109 damaged and they’d just ram right into you. I heard a personal account from another B-17 crew member that saw one crash head on into the Fortress and the spinning engine and propeller came ripping out the tail gunners section still flying for a couple hundred yards.
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