About point 1. It is true that the French DID have better tanks than the Germans, and they still lost. But the french DID deal significant damage to the attacking Germans, though much of it was unrecorded. Its kinda late for me to dig out the text on it, I'll try to get it to u tmr.Originally posted by |-|05|:The allies planted info that cause the Germans to think the invasion would come from the south...via the med with a staging point somewhere in italy. On the northern shores,most of the defences was centered around calsis.Which is the closest point to England and also a port which Hitler believed was needed.
Many tanks were lost from the retreat mainly due to the fact that they could not be supplied with sufficient fuel.
Rommel was but 1 of many generals who took part in the invasion of france. While he did good, many other generals did just as well if not better. Also it helped that the french only had some 3 division in that area. Infantry divisions at that. To stand up againest a corp of germans.(if i remember the numbers correctly)They also did not really have the ability to defend againest tanks. It is however interesting to note that quility and quantity wise, the french had the advantage.
The british forces in Africa was totally horribly commanded.And while they had better troops their tank force wasnt that good. I believe the mK4's and tigers were better then the matilda's and cruiser tanks.
Alright now to address Shotgun's points.
number 1 is quite wrong.As i've mentioned above, the French had better and more tanks during the invasion.But they still lost. Mainly due to leadership and the fact that the french did not have a general plan or even much of a general staff. Heh dumb frenchies didnt learn from the humiliation that was the Franco-Prussian war.
Points 2 and 3 are valid and true.
Point 4.....well the Germans did have armour. Infact they had 2 SS divisions in that area. They were the legendary 1st SS LAH and the 2 SS HJ and the 9th SS(wiking i believe). Also in the area was the guys of the crack 7th FJ(paras),the 17 SS panzergrendier,Panzer-Lehr division and elements of 6 army armoured divs(2,21,116 and 11)
Of which the 1st SS and 2nd SS and the 17th SS were deployed near normany. In fact the recon and advance guard of the 17th SS did take part in the fighting.
The problem was that that of command structure. The SS divisions were NOT under the army command thus placing them in direct contorl of Rommel. They were under command of Hitler himself. So all orders for them had to go through him. And he wasnt awake to issue them.
So yep. During the intial stage the Germans just couldnt get the armour our. And the allies were surprised also.
yep hah at least someone understands. People sometimes under write the French too much. The French still had some 70% of their country and quite abit of their armed forces still around and stationed in the south. Just that they could not get their act together neither did they have much of a plan.Originally posted by Shotgun:About point 1. It is true that the French DID have better tanks than the Germans, and they still lost. But the french DID deal significant damage to the attacking Germans, though much of it was unrecorded. Its kinda late for me to dig out the text on it, I'll try to get it to u tmr.
The problem with the French was that their gov panicked and capitulated early. They thought that without the British they were done for. The prevented ground commanders from mounting counter-attacks after their forces had successfully repelled the Germans as they thought it was a German trap. Trap or not, the Germans paid a hefty price.
If the British hadn't left, and the French hadn't panicked, they would have held off the German "blitzkrieg." The blitzkrieg was made fiercesome by both axis and allied propanganda. For the Germans, it was a morale booster for their people and troops. For the allies, a convenient excuse for losing hold of Europe.
At the start of the war, Italy in africa was superior but the attack on egypt led to the capture of hundreds of tanks and 160,000 soldiersOriginally posted by |-|05|:The allies planted info that cause the Germans to think the invasion would come from the south...via the med with a staging point somewhere in italy. On the northern shores,most of the defences was centered around calsis.Which is the closest point to England and also a port which Hitler believed was needed.
Many tanks were lost from the retreat mainly due to the fact that they could not be supplied with sufficient fuel.
Rommel was but 1 of many generals who took part in the invasion of france. While he did good, many other generals did just as well if not better. Also it helped that the french only had some 3 division in that area. Infantry divisions at that. To stand up againest a corp of germans.(if i remember the numbers correctly)They also did not really have the ability to defend againest tanks. It is however interesting to note that quility and quantity wise, the french had the advantage.
The british forces in Africa was totally horribly commanded.And while they had better troops their tank force wasnt that good. I believe the mK4's and tigers were better then the matilda's and cruiser tanks.
Alright now to address Shotgun's points.
number 1 is quite wrong.As i've mentioned above, the French had better and more tanks during the invasion.But they still lost. Mainly due to leadership and the fact that the french did not have a general plan or even much of a general staff. Heh dumb frenchies didnt learn from the humiliation that was the Franco-Prussian war.
Points 2 and 3 are valid and true.
Point 4.....well the Germans did have armour. Infact they had 2 SS divisions in that area. They were the legendary 1st SS LAH and the 2 SS HJ and the 9th SS(wiking i believe). Also in the area was the guys of the crack 7th FJ(paras),the 17 SS panzergrendier,Panzer-Lehr division and elements of 6 army armoured divs(2,21,116 and 11)
Of which the 1st SS and 2nd SS and the 17th SS were deployed near normany. In fact the recon and advance guard of the 17th SS did take part in the fighting.
The problem was that that of command structure. The SS divisions were NOT under the army command thus placing them in direct contorl of Rommel. They were under command of Hitler himself. So all orders for them had to go through him. And he wasnt awake to issue them.
So yep. During the intial stage the Germans just couldnt get the armour our. And the allies were surprised also.
Dude, big guns destroys armyOriginally posted by Obersturmfuhrer:There is something wrong with that final comment for point #5. What's the big deal with capital ships? Dun you know that they are a liability nowadays? Keep the battleships in your dreams.
Did you know the shots that were used to shoot at americans were actually fired by the french? It was the vichy french era aka puppet govt of france because paris was taken and the fight was lost thus marshall petain took over govt while de gaulle fought in alegriaOriginally posted by Shotgun:About point 1. It is true that the French DID have better tanks than the Germans, and they still lost. But the french DID deal significant damage to the attacking Germans, though much of it was unrecorded. Its kinda late for me to dig out the text on it, I'll try to get it to u tmr.
The problem with the French was that their gov panicked and capitulated early. They thought that without the British they were done for. The prevented ground commanders from mounting counter-attacks after their forces had successfully repelled the Germans as they thought it was a German trap. Trap or not, the Germans paid a hefty price.
If the British hadn't left, and the French hadn't panicked, they would have held off the German "blitzkrieg." The blitzkrieg was made fiercesome by both axis and allied propanganda. For the Germans, it was a morale booster for their people and troops. For the allies, a convenient excuse for losing hold of Europe.
The italians were badly lead,averagly equipped and badly motivated. That's why they lost.Originally posted by Agenda:At the start of the war, Italy in africa was superior but the attack on egypt led to the capture of hundreds of tanks and 160,000 soldiers
Panzer lehr was later on virtually destroyed by allied bombings in a attempt to attack st periers
During the start of the war, Germans had better weapons in the KAR98 but their tanks although lightly armoured.. They moved too quickly such that many souma tanks were captured
Later on, Not much weapons were made except the K43 to counter the M1 garand.. A series of tanks were made but they proved useless against the bazooka and especially the piat
Hitler was indeed in control but the main guys were hausser and kluge, rommel was later forced to commit suicide after he was suspected of the attempted seize of power in the supreme command
Still it does not equate to being better. Big guns need big ship sizes, requiring more manpower and assets to safeguard. The Tirpitz was virtually useless given the High Command's morbid fear of losing it and lowering troop morale after the sinking of the Bismark. She tied down a sizeable portion of manpower and resources even by just sitting in port before the British finally sank her.Originally posted by Agenda:Dude, big guns destroys army
There are some questionable accounts regarding the air war in 1939-1940. In a rough break down of aircraft type, French Curtis 75A fighters downed 33 german fighters and lost 3 of their own. MS406s, downed 31 luftwaffe, while losing 6, Bloch 152 equipped units downed 156 Luftwaffe planes while losing 59, and Dewoitine 520 units shot down 175 Luftwaffe aircraft, while losing 44.Originally posted by Agenda:Did you know the shots that were used to shoot at americans were actually fired by the french? It was the vichy french era aka puppet govt of france because paris was taken and the fight was lost thus marshall petain took over govt while de gaulle fought in alegria
even if the british stayed, they would have lost because the DM of UK asked for the RAF back to UK as they lost too many already, by the start of BOB they only had 650 planes against the luftwaffe's 2,500
british troops in dunkirk were pulled back without equipments due to the lack of ships, for some reason no attacks were made here
had the british stayed on, germany would have take UK easily cause the defenders would be old men and kids
so pulling back from france was actually the turning point of the war, had they not pulled back.. american marines wouldn't be able to land anywhere in france
And blitzkreig allowed motorized division to roll into france quickly, which can seen with the mass amount of frenchies surrendering and their mode of communications were outdated not forgetting their weapons obsolete.. Furthur more, the germans avoided the heavily fortified franco-german borders
Actually the Allieds did not capture ANY major harbour intact, most of the coastal towns were declared "festungs" and hold out until the end of the war
1# Only defensible sector was Normandy, No other places to defend well as Hitler believed a back-up plan is a excuse to retreat
Singapore's case: We get attack we all hide in fort canning or sentosa?
The German panzerdivisions acted as firebrigades and stopped many Russian breaktroughs that could have transformed the retreat into a rout.
2# While retreating from the Ostfront, Many tanks were lost while the 500,000 strong 7th Army or something was wiped out or captured
Singapore's case: We have 350 tanks, Wouldn't that be a hindrance while retreating?
Ehh what ??
3# Singapore is too small and all fronts must be protected or the enemy will roll into singapore like how Erwin Rommel rolled into the Ardennes with minimum loss and captured of dozens of French Battalions.
Singapore's case: If all fronts protected, Like what Rommel noticed in North Africa, The fronts of British were too sparsely occupied. Thus singapore too many fronts also die, Too little also die.
To quickly ??? The Russians ended up i captivity
4# Ostfront, Germans rolled into Russia too quickly such that 100,000 of Russians were behind their lines and their lines were thin and wide
Singapore's case: What if people attack from the south? Those sentosa cannons aren't gonna do freak
the importance of capital ships ended in the forties
5# Germans had a strong airforce in the Luftwaffe while their submarines sunk too many british ships
Singapore's case: How many capital ships do we have?
Rommel lead ONE Panzerdiv, and the strategy was not new, it was used in Poland the year before.
6# Germany took over France and Belgium too quickly was because, Their motorized division led by Erwin Rommel adopted a new strategy which the world never seen before which led to whole French battalions surrendering even before a single shot was fired
Singapore's case: Follow what is taught by Australia, British and US officers, Note, They definitely have counters to those tactics
One big reason behind Rommels success was that the Allieds moved troops to Grece and Kreta
7# Erwin Rommel destroyed the British lines when he landed in Africa with only a quarter of his Afrika Corps, He acted accordingly and defied clear orders not to attacked by the Supreme Command
Singapore's case: Disobey order = Die
heres the post of a thinker.Originally posted by sand king:Thats why we have allies. lol
Yes, it is well recirded that at the beginning of Blitzkreig, the French had better tanks than the Germans, who had mostly Panzers mark 1 & 2's. These are fast but lightly armed and lightly armoured. But Hitler used them as part of a infantry/armour strike force supported by airstrikes. So the quality of the tanks itself was secondary. The combined air/land tactics and the willpower was what really won.Originally posted by Shotgun:Now here comes the best part. More than 338000 men of the BEF, and 139000 French troops evacuated at dunkirk. The British, left behind 2400 guns, 63000 vehicles. Add those vehicles and AT guns to the already French Armored force, and not forgetting the Belgians. Don't you think the they actually STOOD a chance if they had stayed and fought decisively?