Sweden during ww2 what do you think?

[dazed]

Seen a few threads on this forum in which sweden and its actions during ww2 was discussed. I´m very interested in reading what you guys( brits, yanks aussies, etc) think and what you know about sweden during ww2. Many swedes are far from proud of sweden´s actions during the war. And its a very controversial subject still today in sweden.
Cheers

[Owen]

Pity Sweden didn't throw their lot in with the Finns in 1939 and given the Soviets an even bigger kicking.I know several thousand volunteers went to aid the Finns and died side by side with them.Perhaps if it had been "offical" the map of Europe may have been different.
Then the Finns may not have needed to ask Adolf for help.

I would have preferred Sweden be neutral. As a supplier of Hitler's war machine, I always thought she was fair game for a good bombing.

[dazed]

The finns fight against usssr in 1939 was very heroic. And many swedes feel guilty that we did not help them out more. With hindsight the swedish goverment probably made a correct decision. Sweden did not have a strong enough army,airforce and navy to make reel difference and still keep the guard up agaist Germany. I think the finnish writer/ diplomat probably was right when he wrote that Finland could not expect help from sweden against usssr when it wasn´t ready to back up Sweden against Germany. Jimbotsome, what do you mean when you say that sweden was a supplier of Hitler´s war machine? Are You referring to the iron ore?
Thanks both of you for your point of wiews!

[Gotthard Heinrici]

I think thats what Jimbo is referring to. Sweden was a major producer of iron ore and indeed Germany invaded Denmark and Norway specifically to secure it.

Originally Posted by dazed

The finns fight against usssr in 1939 was very heroic. And many swedes feel guilty that we did not help them out more. With hindsight the swedish goverment probably made a correct decision. Sweden did not have a strong enough army,airforce and navy to make reel difference and still keep the guard up agaist Germany. I think the finnish writer/ diplomat probably was right when he wrote that Finland could not expect help from sweden against usssr when it wasn´t ready to back up Sweden against Germany. Jimbotsome, what do you mean when you say that sweden was a supplier of Hitler´s war machine? Are You referring to the iron ore?
Thanks both of you for your point of wiews!

Yes, without iron the war machine was impossible.

But not all swedes were on the wrong side. For instance Raoul Wallenberg helped a least 20,000 Jews escape from the Nazi occupied Hungary, so you folks have your WWII heroes too. Of course our "ally" Russia had him arrested and either put to death or helped him die in a Russian gulag in Jan 1945. Got to love those wacky allies!

I am still waiting for someone to tell me a single redeeming thing that Russia did to help their "allies" other than a relatively meaningless tie up of German troops. Remember, abusing US/British POWs and downed pilots and even stealing their watches, doesn't count for a "good" thing they did, nor does intentionally shooting down US aircraft in the Pacific count either. Raping all the women in Berlin does not help the allies either so you’ll can’t use that. Come on folks, they were our “allies”, surely someone can think of something redeeming they did. It was a 4 year war folks, there has to be something!

[Exxley]

Originally Posted by jimbotosome

I am still waiting for someone to tell me a single redeeming thing that Russia did to help their "allies" other than a relatively meaningless tie up of German troops.

Usual idiot ranting from our usual uneducated troll. 3 millions German Soldiers killed in the East, 80 % of all German military losses during WW2. Enough said, does Jimbo know anything about WW2 ? Also note that he seems to have some reading problems since, well, its kinda obvious the topic wasnt about the Soviet Union.

[Gotthard Heinrici]

A Meaningless Tie up of German Troops???? You are genuinely trying just to stir things up. There is no way any serious student of WWII could make that statement. The European War was won and lost in the East. It took the Allies nearly a year to progress across France and into Germany and that was with nearly 180 German divisions fighting in the East.

No amount of P-47’s, P-51’s, B-17’s, B-24’s or other Allies aircraft would change that.

The sole reason for the Alliance was the defeat of Nazi Germany, nothing more. I agree that they weren’t as helpful to the other allies in terms of providing support and help to downed pilots but they certainly helped on the battlefield. In fact, c’mon Jimbo and prove to me how their contribution on the battlefield was not helpful to the Western Allies. Take off your blinkers about Russia and for once objectively state how the Russians did not help the Allied Cause. And while we’re at it, when you charge that the Russians were on a par with Nazism explain please why the Americans let the Russians take half of Eastern Europe even whilst Churchill correctly foresaw what was happening and his warnings fell on deaf ears because Roosevelt felt he could deal with “Uncle Joe”.

[von Poop]

Originally Posted by jimbotosome

a relatively meaningless tie up of German troops..............It was a 4 year war folks, there has to be something!

??????? and DDay was of course a family outing to the beaches, and a couple of people were hurt at the camps, kursk was a minor scuffle, i'm told at Stalingrad as many as two men were actually killed, and at Iwo Jima once some men had a big argument, crockery was broken! and of course the most effective air raids were the ones crewed by pixies..???????
Just thought i'd try and think like 'Jimbo'.
(Four year war for some mate, Nearer six for others..)
Eastern Front??? Meaningless tie up???
Which war is the man referring to exactly???
I do hope he's just winding people up........

[Max (UK)]

Originally Posted by Von Poop

I do hope he's just winding people up........

Either that or he can't stand the FACT that the Russians did more to defeat Germany than the Americans.