The most important battle of WW2

[plan_D]

I would say, more of German (mainly Hitlers) mistakes. The Russian Army was at its limits in 1943. Had the German Generals been allowed to have freedom of thought and action, then the Red Army would have been crushed.

On top of that, the Red Army wouldn't have even been able to move as a mobile force without the 500,000 trucks sent as Lend-Lease from the West.

[Gemhorse]

With the size of Russia, the Germans already exceeded their ability to resupply their frontline;- they'd never have got much further than they did, and isn't it historically fascinating that these types like Napolean and Hitler seem doomed to repeat failures.... Both Germany and Russia ended up throwing young n' old into the fray... makes y'wonder about a Power far bigger than all this 'earthly' stuff, the way things turned out...
- Personally, the BoB was I believe, the more important, as by August 1940, Britain faced Germany's 2,600 aircraft with 52 Fighter Sqn.'s with 660 aircraft and 1,300 pilots.....At a cost of 510 fighter pilots killed, winning the BoB was decisive to the outcome of the War......

[lesofprimus]

I dont think the BoB would have been won if the German (Hitlers) plan of attack had stayed with the bombing and attacking of airfields...

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but we would have won it allot earlier if we had the mossie.............

[lesofprimus]

I dont believe that... Alot earlier would have meant alot more Mossies burning on the ground from German attacks....

Round what time did the Germans change their strategy from airfield bombings and start bombing London and the cities???

[plan_D]

The German halt on the Eastern Front was not due to Russian over-whelming superiority in numbers, nor was it do with the stretched supply line. It was due to Hitler and his hate of giving up an inch of land, even if it doomed him in the long run.

The Red Army was, factually, running to the end of its limits. And the German supplies were sufficient, it is foolish to say the Germans could not have gone on. The more they went the more supply they captured. The Germans had not exceeded their frontline supply, so they could have moved on.

The Germans were NEVER planning to move further than the Urals, so victory was certainly in their grasp in 1941.

[NightHawk]

actually it was the russian winter thet stop the german army. hitler thought thet the russian campaing will only last for 2 months so he orderd his generlas to NOT pack winter clotheing.supplys and so on.



and if BOB was lost to the germans. the allied invation of normandy would have never hapend. so BOB was more impotent from stalingrad.

[plan_D]

Again, the cliche of Russian Winter stopping the German Army. The German Army was stopped in 1941 by the Russian Winter but not defeated. What defeated the Germans in 1941, on the gates of Moscow, were Hitlers orders to hold all ground. This did not allow the German forces to pull back to defensible positions which is why they were pushed away from Moscow.
Although, the Wehrmacht was slowing before the Russian winter set in. The poor conditions of Russias' roads made advance slow, but it was made even slower with the autumn rains which turned the 'roads' into mudbaths.


It also was not the order of Hitler to not have them equipped with winter clothing. It was the order of the Ordnance Department. In fact, Hitler was very annoyed when he found out his men were ill-equipped for winter war.
The majority of German soldiers were equipped by 1942. And those not ususally used Russian clothing.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

I dont believe that... Alot earlier would have meant alot more Mossies burning on the ground from German attacks....

Round what time did the Germans change their strategy from airfield bombings and start bombing London and the cities???

i was saying it would be over quicker because mossies would be out destroying the luftwaffe fighters on the ground on their side of the channel..............

[lesofprimus]

Lanc, while ur statement is true, if the were deployed earlier, the reverse is also true... If the Mossie was around earlier, alot more of them would have been destroyed on the ground, during the initial phase of the BoB...

[NightHawk]

well why didnt the germans use "dora" to bomb the british.
80cmK (E) Railroad Cannon "Dora" (Heavy Gustav)
Over All Length : 42.97m
Width : 7m
Hight : 11.6m
Weight : 1,350t
Caliber : 800mm
Barrel Length : 32.48m
Barrel Weight : 400t
Max EL Angle of Fire : +53 Degrees
Bullet Weight :
7.1t (Armor-capped Projectille)
4.8t (High-exprosive Projectille)
1.8 - 2.0t (Propellant)
Bullet Speed :
720m/sec (Armor-capped Projectille)
820m/sec (High-exprosive Projectille)
Range : 28 - 47 Km

[plan_D]

They used plenty of rail guns and heavy artillery installations to bombard Britain during the war. They were all only silenced in 1944 after the Allied Invasion.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

trouble was getting them accurate, they had a long way to travel and so there was a long time in which they could be effected by wind ect, and even if you do hit, it will only cause limited damage, and also, i don't know what it was like for the german guns, but we had two rather large guns called "winnie" and "pooh", they could lob a shell into france but it was because they were so powerfull the barrels had to be changed after every 50 shots, we decided it wasn't worth the effort and so stopped using them, i only heard this on a TV show ages ago so that's all i know about them, i'd be glad for any extra information anyone can find..............

[plan_D]

Actually we didn't stop using 'Winnie' and 'Pooh' in fact we built more modern guns to counter the German artillery fire from across the channel.

[NightHawk]

like little billy ?