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Originally Posted by beardo How can you think that the largest amphibous assault in history, opening up another flank, and forcing the germans to retreat again wasnt a decisive battle |
It was but the Germans were already beaten by the time it was launched. All D-Day did was to speed things up and stop Soviet domination over all of Europe. Like it or not we faced a gutted German Army in June 1944 - for the most part the best of the German forces were either already destroyed or on the Eastern Front. I know there were 'elite' Waffen SS and Panzer divisions in France but they were mainly elite in name only. Aside from an experienced NCO/Officer core they were mainly composed of men previously declared too old or unfit to fight, Luftwaffe personnel who had no planes to fly/service, Hitler Youth and troops who had very limited training. If you want to know more read this excellent article.
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com...s/default.aspx
Put it another way. Pretend that either Germany never invaded Russia or had beaten them say in 1941/42. Do you think D-Day would have been as successful? Remember 75% of the Wehrmacht was over 1000 miles to the East fighting the Soviets. If you can't answer yes to that question, and give me good reasons why, then it can't be called a decisive battle.