Favorite D-day Division

@Lancasterlaw1175

I think your hypothesis is broadly correct.

But I think on a technical and logistical level (not sure about political), it seems to me that it was perfectly possible for the French to mobilize and brings the guns to the front much earlier, before September. This would’ve allowed them to begin attacking almost immediately and shatter the German lines. In retrospect, the French should be at fault for not mobilizing (and preventing the Poles from doing so).

The vast majority of Army Group C divisions were undersized (or even just command headquarters), while only about half of the French ones were deficient in some way (Nafziger’s book also lists the condition of French divisions in September-October 193o).

I got the book online here:

https://www.amazon.com/French-Order-Battle-World-1939-1945/dp/1585450189

The Italian ones are new to me, only because they were never discussed.  However there are plenty of records of the ones in action during the Phillipines and South Pacific Campaigns (JFK, etc.) which gave them plenty of heroic press.

@CWO:

A question: if the Allies had concentrated their efforts and resources on conquering the southern part of Europe, and had not invaded France, isn’t it possible that the Russians would have driven westward through Germany in 1945 and would have kept going through France (which Germany would still be occupying in this scenario) until they got to the English Channel?  In other words, doesn’t a scenario in which the Anglo-Americans end up controlling the southern and eastern parts of Europe create a situation in which the Soviets end up controlling the northern and western parts of Europe, with France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and possibly Norway being switched from Nazi occupation to Soviet occupation?

You’ve raised a very good question.

In the scenario I outlined, one possible Allied objective would have been to reach the Baltic before the Red Army arrived. Had this been achieved, all of Europe west of this Anglo-American line would presumably have been protected from the Red terror. Whether that was achievable goal is difficult to say.

Here’s what I want:

A Japanese battleship that can launch German V2 rockets loaded with American A-bombs.  After annihilating the enemy cities with my atomic rockets I will sail in and land my British soldiers equipped with Russian T34-85s to finish the extermination.

Morning Aequitas.
I should read more about Cherkassy(thought it was 2 ss).The 5th SS would have been my choice of Division for the Eastern Front. It had a fearless reputation and contained the 3rd highest number of Knights’ Cross winners after the 2nd and 1st.

Here is a story of a mine discovered on the beach in New Zealand from the WWI German Raider Wolf.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Old-mine-discovered-on-West-Coast-beach/tabid/209/articleID/85131/Default.aspx

I like them all actually…each theater of war had its own atmosphere…

The Eastern Front:  Genocide on a grand scale…the greatest tank battles of the war (KURSK, KHARKOV)  and Operation Barbarossa…the ultimate attack plan…and of course Stalingrad…the ultimate turning point of the war

The Western Front: From the greatest evacuation in history (Dunkirk) to the greatest invasion in history (Normandy) to the greatest gamble in history (Bulge)…nothing like fighting on the Western Front

The North African Front:  Nothing like watching a Desert Fox claim victory wherever he went…ultimate battles such as Tobruk, Kasserine Pass, and El Alamein…and how British General Montgomery finally showed his brilliance…

The Mediterranean Front:  The drive under Europe’s soft underbelly…Sicilly, Salerno, Anzio…the great Italian Campaign and the word PATTON becomes a household name…

The Battle of the Atlantic:  U-boats, BISMARCK, SCHARNHORST, Convoy PQ-17, Operation Torch…need i say more?

The Pacific Theater:  Pearl Harbor, Midway, the Solomons, Leyte, to name a few basically the greatest naval war in history…

The China-Burma-India Theater:  The Burma road must stay open…the Flying Tigers and China’s plight against the Japanese…the most intense fighting in the Pacific War

I know u only wanted a favorite,but where to choose…

BTW…LETS GIVE OUR THANKS TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO FOUGHT AND GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THESE THEATERS OF WAR…FOR WITHOUT THEM…WE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO CHOOSE OUR FAVORITES

It was built, Panzer Leader.

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