On this day during W.W. 2

The Allies didn’t have “a” plan to wage the Battle of the Atlantic, and neither did the Germans.  The Battle of the Atlantic was a complex battle of attrition on a gigantic scale which lasted all the way from September 1939 to May 1945, and it was characterized by constant changes of plans and tactics and weaponry on both sides as it progressed, with each side trying to overcome every new enemy development with a suitable counter-development.  The campaign see-sawed several times, with one side or the other gaining the advantage at various points; some methods of waging the campaign became ineffectual as time progressed, but were highly effective in earlier stages and therefore were entirely correct to use at those points.

Thanks Marc. As always an informed and informative response.

@CWO:

@Gargantua:

This was an awesome read - Thanks Marc.

Glad you liked it.  The story reminded me a bit of a 1942 British film I have on DVD: “Went the Day Well?”, a movie about Nazi paratroopers in British uniforms who infiltrate an unsuspecting village in England (with the help of a local traitor) for a secret mission, then put it under military occupation when their cover is blown.  It’s astonishingly frank and uncompromising in depicting the way war inflicts brutalities on innocent civilians and on the way these civilians respond with equal brutality to defend themselves.  The scene that always sticks in my mind is the one in which a sweet little old lady talks pleasantly to a German soldier until he’s lulled into carelessness, then throws a jarful of pepper into his eyes and kills him with a meat cleaver while he’s writing in agony.

It’s a great firm isn’t it Marc … and still very “fresh” fit its age.

@CWO:

Here’s a set of D-Day photographs with a cool feature: if you use your mouse to grab the dividing line that runs down the centre of each shot, you can sweep it back and forth to compare the scene as it was at the time with a shot of the same location today.

http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/before-after/d-day/index.html

These are cool photos Mark. thanks for sharing. :-)

@General:

Don’t lose your interest for we also are getting fewer and will go the way of the veterans. Gaming carries on remembering those that sacrificed to allow us to be here today at this moment.

Yes and I think that, as more and more WWII veterans pass on, it’s important for those of us with an interest in WWII to sustain that interest on behalf of the people who actually lived through the conflict.  Their departures will inevitably lead to the sad day when first-hand experience of WWII will no longer be within the living memory of anyone around us – but there are no limits to the duration of second-hand interest in WWII, which will go on for as long as anyone cares to study the subject and to recognize its enormous importance in the course of world history.

Truly an anniversary worthy of being celebrated with a bang.

Didn’t the 101st and 82nd do so well on D-Day considering the bad drops they experienced?
Sterling job getting their jobs done on that first day.
A lot of men grew up that night and day and the experience they gained was so necessary in the months to come.

The Germans, what can you say? Allied air power and naval bombardments  negated any coordinated counterattack above the regimental level. They held on, but opportunities to exploit the initial weaknesses were lost as time passed.

A great day and hats off to any who were present.
I am sure nightime on the 6th brought relief to many a tired soldier.

Here is the series discussed above

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TU1dQK-j-4