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Originally Posted by Strongbow Quote: |
Originally Posted by Doppleganger Quote: |
Originally Posted by Charge_7 No arguement there. I was just making sure you clarified that he he. 
Noticed we're flying the same flags now. We ought agree more.  | 
Take a look at the article I linked if you haven't already. It deals with the claims and counter-claims about the quality of both the US and German forces in the Western European theatre in WW2. It's a long read but a very well researched and balanced document.
One telling statement is:
"Nonsensical as well, and for the same reasons, are Mansoor's comments about the "cream of the Wehrmacht" and the "average German infantry division." Anyone who has read the present work carefully will realize that the U.S. army did not encounter either the "cream of the Wehrmacht " or the "average German infantry division" in Western Europe in 1944-1945. Both the "cream" of the German army and its "average" divisions were buried in Russia, where the Red Army had been hard at work grinding them up for three years before a single American soldier set foot on European soil. It is, nevertheless, true that the Western Allies encountered formidable resistance from many German formations, which fought well and bravely almost to the end. " | I really enjoy reading your posts Sir! You have an excellent understanding of the German forces. Thanks for the great article.
The Western Allies were very fortunate to not have face the full weight of the German forces of 41/42 calibre in 1944.
Godofthunder, we have a lot to thank the Russians for. Sure, Lend Lease was a big help to them.
I read somewhere that Monty's force at Al Alamein faced an enemy force of only about 10% German. They had also cracked the enemy codes so Monty always new what the enemy plans were.
In Italy, Kesselring and his German divisions were good but the Allies had overwhelming firepower. They still had great difficulting in overcoming the Germans. That why they called it "Tough old Gut".
Charge-7, we didn't beat them that easily. |
Cheers
For me there's a little too much bias towards the Western Front and how D-Day won the war etc etc. Nothing could be further from the truth and it's important to see things for what they were. The US and UK Armies faced a gutted Wehrmacht that had little or no mobility, very poor combat replacements, very little air support or cover and wholly inadequate logistics. The Allied Armies did their job but on the face of it, should have probably done it a little better given the state of the enemy that they faced, a shadow of the army that marched into the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941.