The statement scribbled on this Waco glider describes what I think of oversized airborne landings planned in haste. Operations Market and Varsity produced a lot of casualties but not much in the way of tangible gains.
Dear TTH, joys of the season to you, you made me laugh so much remembering this Rag-rolling, spongeing, emulsion, gloss, distemper, bad temper, violent temper, as a painter and decorator he had the lot. Methinks the world would have been a better place if the git had just stuck with his brushes and nix on the martial stuff. Kind regards, always, Jim.
Not sure if it's "unpopular" but I was recently struck whilst watching - BBC iPlayer - The Heroes of Telemark ...by the constant statement that "if" the Germans were first to develop the atom bomb they would "win the war" - actually I kept thinking "no they wouldn't". Even if they had - somehow - managed to drop an atom bomb on London or Moscow one atom bomb wouldn't have "won them the war" - and it's doubtful that they could have made many - as even the US had very few, at least initially. They (the Germans) might have exploded an atom bomb close to where there were lots of allied troops or allied Naval vessels in order to try to win one battle but even then the allies knew enough to know that one atom bomb, or even many atom bombs wouldn't win the Germans the war. A lot of dramatic representations seem to rest on "only" this or that winning or shortening "the war" - as if the war could be so simple - but as with so many things it's always far more complex. ---- x ---- Edit - German nuclear program during World War II - Wikipedia
Did Japan have any official polices to exterminate large numbers of civilians or were the atrocities initiated by local or area commanders and individuals? I agree they were at least on par with the Third Reich.
It is in my most humble opinion that the amphibious landings on Tarawa, Peleliu and Iwo Jima served no tactical/practical purpose other than to wreck the USMCs 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and the US Army’s 81st Infantry divisions.
Operations Jubilee wasn't guaranteed to have to ended in failure. If the landings on Blue Beach and No3 Commando attack on the battery had been successful, the outcome could easily have turned out very differently. And the last 82 years wouldn't been filled with various theories why the raid on Dieppe was launched.
The statistics speak for themselves - I am more concerned with the number of people killed than whether it was official policy (which is a term open to interpretation anyway). The barbarism inflicted on civilians and POW's by Japanese forces across Asia in the 1930's/40's statistically eclipses events in Europe. The depths of depravity beggar belief, the medical experiments, the use of biological weapons against the Chinese, the culture of cannibalism, the methods of execution - the list is endless. The way Japanese war crimes were investigated and prosecuted was farcical, and the post war administration of Japan by America led to revisionist history on a scale that would be considered criminal in Europe. This isn't a defence of the Reich, I just think Japan got off with it 'scot-free' and it pisses me off.
To the victor the spoilt spoils, and to the vanquished the aid plan. The denouement in the east was a bigger bog o' sh1te than in the west. With you all the way EU ( but with luck you'll be able to lose me on the way to the station!) Kind regards, always, Jim.
That was the chief argument for the proposal to go there and it does make sense on paper but studies shown (after the war) that the amount of aircrews saved did not offset the Marines losses taking the island. Most aircrews that ditched in the drink were picked up by submarines that had very little enemy shipping to attack.
