Id say the soviets biggest advantage against Germany was that someone as inept as Hitler was in charge of military decisions, who thought invading Russia when the UK hadn't been defeated yet was a good idea
Also Sweden tried to invade Russia at winter during the 1700's. Frozen, hungry, with little ammo, low morale and depleted the Swedish army was defeated at Poltava in Ukraine.
It's kind of unnerving to think that the outcome of the war shifted on a knife's edge at times.
Well, Russian weather never really stopped the Mongols but the French and Germans who invaded weren't nomadic horsemen so it's not quite an apt comparison.
They were the Cossacks who expanded Russia in East and South and defeated Polish in the west.
Cossacks are one the few Nomadic People in Asia that I admire. Mongols can ... *insulting words*
Whenever someone mentions WW2 all I can think of these days is:
https://www.youtube....h?v=IiryTUCtLNA
My favorite game of the moment. Is that a coincidence ? My granddad did not go to WW2 because of ''feet'' problem. He told me stories about others people who went into hiding because they did not want to go to a war for the British. Yes Canada. Commonwealth.. Anyway.
You guy should try it out. If you get pwn by a spitfire in Iwo Jiwa. That probably me 
.
^I would love to hear more about that^
I'm not saying I want you to bug your grandpa, but...
I don't really have a close relationship to him. I could try to get back in touch, but part of me feel that ship has sailed. No bad feelings on either side though, I think.
I'm not sure about "definitely."
I mean, Germany made the same mistake Napoleon did - fight the Soviets in the winter. Obviously the desire to do so was fueled by the rapidly approaching spectre of a two-front war, but it doesn't alleviate the fact that taking Moscow when its freezing and with hardly any natural food supplies has been the death of more armies than can be easily counted. The Russians have made a past time out of scorching their settlements out of spite of invading armies, so I'm not sure even if Germany had entered into a peace treaty with the British and the US had never gotten involved in Europe that the Germans wouldn't have lost to Russia in pretty much the exact same fashion, just much slower.
Hitler was forced to order the attack later than he wanted to. If things had proceeded as planned, it's very likely the Germans would have conquered Russia.
My father was with the RCAF over seas as an aeroengine mechanic, work mostly on the Lancaster Bomber.
I had an uncle who was a prison guard in southern Alberta.
I had an uncle who was infantry and fought in Italy. Had ptsd for the rest of his life before it became a thing.
I had an uncle who was also in infantry, was a prisoner or war for a short period of time.
I had an uncle who was killed on the Dday landing, he was part of a tank crew.
I had an uncle who was a navigator on a bomber who was shot down and killed over the Mediterranean.
My mothers 1st husband was tail gunner who was killed when his plane was shot down.
The mia notifications of the death of my mothers 1st husband and brother came on consecutive days.
In short being older than many of you and born later in parental life than most, the age of my immediate relatives hit the sweet spot for WW2 as far as being participants.
Hitler was forced to order the attack later than he wanted to. If things had proceeded as planned, it's very likely the Germans would have conquered Russia.
Possibly, I suppose. But even assuming the German forces could have invaded closer to summer and gotten ahead of the US support to Russia in terms of manufacturing tanks and transport, could they have HELD Russia through its brutal winter? An occupation force needs to eat and stay warm just as much as an invading army does. And the Russians don't have a history of being kind to occupying armies.
Given the Germans had their hands full with France, I'm not sure Germant wouldn't still have been fighting a two front war, just an insurgency in Russia instead of standard conscripted army. I really don't see how Germany takes home the gold fighting Russia, full stop. It is a huge landmass that turns into a barren wasteland four months out of the year that cripples armies who aren't extremely well-equipped.
Assuming they did take Russia, it means they would have also taken the oil fields and major cities, which would have been a huge boon for Germany's war effort. Nevertheless, I think Hitler believed that if he took Russia out of the equation, the remaining Allied forces would think twice about continuing the war.
Guest_E-Ro_*
Assuming they did take Russia, it means they would have also taken the oil fields and major cities, which would have been a huge boon for Germany's war effort. Nevertheless, I think Hitler believed that if he took Russia out of the equation, the remaining Allied forces would think twice about continuing the war.
This is the thing though. If Hitler did succeed at taking Russia, how badly depleted would Germanies armed forces be? I think it would be the Germans, not the remaining allied forces thinking twice about continuing the war.
This is the thing though. If Hitler did succeed at taking Russia, how badly depleted would Germanies armed forces be? I think it would be the Germans, not the remaining allied forces thinking twice about continuing the war.
Today is the 70th year anniversary of the flag raising over Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima
A common modern misconception is that the flag raising marked the end of the battle of Iwo Jima. In fact it just marked the seizure of the mountain dominating the beaches, and the battle of Iwo Jima would drag on for another month. Of the six men pictured raising the flag, three would later be killed in action on Iwo Jima.
The Boys of Iwo Jima
(From the book: Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter")by Michael T. Powers
Each year my video production company is hired to go to Washington, D.C. with the eighth grade class from Clinton, Wisconsin where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave men raising the American flag at the top of Mount Surabachi on the Island of Iwo Jima, Japan during WW II. Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "What's your name and where are you guys from?
I told him that my name was Michael Powers and that we were from Clinton, Wisconsin.
"Hey, I'm a Cheesehead, too! Come gather around Cheeseheads, and I will tell you a story."
James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, D.C. to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good-night to his dad, who had previously passed away, but whose image is part of the statue. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C. but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night. When all had gathered around he reverently began to speak. Here are his words from that night:
"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called Flags of Our Fathers which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me. Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game, a game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of twenty-one, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out; I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen years old.
(He pointed to the statue)
You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken, and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph. A photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection, because he was scared. He was eighteen years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.
The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already twenty-four. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, "Let's go kill the enemy" or "Let's die for our country." He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, "You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers."
The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, "You're a hero." He told reporters, "How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only twenty-seven of us walked off alive?"
So you take your class at school. 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only twenty-seven of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of thirty-two, ten years after this picture was taken.
The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky, a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, "Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epson salts. Those cows crapped all night."
Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of nineteen. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, "No, I'm sorry sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back."
My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually he was sitting right there at the table eating his Campbell's soup, but we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press. You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died, and when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.
When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, "I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. DID NOT come back."
So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."
Suddenly the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero in his own eyes, but a hero nonetheless.
Michael T. Powers
Never forget the partisans either.
I'll contribute rather than just read, for once..
My Grandfather, despite being a horrible old fucker, fought for a number of years in the Burmese jungle as part of an early special forces unit named the Chindits. There are a great many tales of heroism and horror from all sides during WW2, we all know that. Hearing my Grandfather tell me that one of his jobs, as a sergeant major, was to execute wounded comrades who couldn't march (so that they wouldn't be captured, whether they wanted to be executed or not) has always stayed with me.
Which is why I never judged him for not being the nicest guy in the world. Toughest, maybe, but not the nicest.
I'll contribute rather than just read, for once..
My Grandfather, despite being a horrible old fucker, fought for a number of years in the Burmese jungle as part of an early special forces unit named the Chindits. There are a great many tales of heroism and horror from all sides during WW2, we all know that. Hearing my Grandfather tell me that one of his jobs, as a sergeant major, was to execute wounded comrades who couldn't march (so that they wouldn't be captured, whether they wanted to be executed or not) has always stayed with me.
Which is why I never judged him for not being the nicest guy in the world. Toughest, maybe, but not the nicest.
Davey,
Could your grandfather have been referring to this incident? The author of that book, John Masters, served with the Gurkhas and later the Chindits. 111 Brigade was attached to the Chindits' 3rd Indian Infantry Division.
Today is the 70th year anniversary of the flag raising over Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima
A common modern misconception is that the flag raising marked the end of the battle of Iwo Jima. In fact it just marked the seizure of the mountain dominating the beaches, and the battle of Iwo Jima would drag on for another month. Of the six men pictured raising the flag, three would later be killed in action on Iwo Jima.
What a pity. They had just conquered a hill of rubble!
Davey,
Could your grandfather have been referring to this incident? The author of that book, John Masters, served with the Gurkhas and later the Chindits. 111 Brigade was attached to the Chindits' 3rd Indian Infantry Division.
Possibly, but he talked more about what happened when they were two weeks into the jungle. Behind enemy lines without any way of being extracted with the only supplies being what they could carry and the airdrops that the Japanese didn't intercept.
In that enviornment, if man broke his ankle or was bitten by a snake and couldn't march, then the Officer would hand his pistol to the Sergeant Major and tell him to "do his duty" as the rest of the men marched away. It certainly wasn't a one-off, it was part of his job.
Horrifying, really - these were young guys in their teens and twenties.
**Edit** just to be clear, it was horrifying for all concerned, not just one side or the other. If that was what happened with their own injured soldiers, I am pretty damn sure that they didn't take any prisoners amongst wounded Japanese soldiers either.
My ancestors were either being bombed by the British in Thailand or being bombed by the Germans in UK. MY ancestors were killing each other.
My ancestors were either being bombed by the British in Thailand or being bombed by the Germans in UK. MY ancestors were killing each other.
same here, my maternal grandfather was a RAF pilot bombing the town where my paternal grandmother lived while her future husband was in Dachau, and as a added bonus my maternal grandmother was with the Hitler Youth
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