I think this has not yet been mentioned.IMHO(of course) our knowledge of WWII is deformed by a lot of myths,that still are whirling .Why not a thread on those (countless!) myths ?
I have already some exemples
1)The German army that attacked in may 1940 was qualitatively and quantitatively stronger than the allies
2)Due to the intervention of the stupid Hitler,the BEF could escape at Dunkirk(you will notice that the stupid Hitle always is appearing in these myths as an excuse to explain the German defeat)
3)Dunkirk was a turning point
4) Due to the intervention of the stupid Hitler(while the Germans were winning the BoB),the German chances were wasted(see point 2)
5)If the Germans had more UBoats,they would win the Battle of the Atlantic)
6)Due to the intervention of the stupid Hitler,Rommel could not advance to the oilwells of Mosul
7)Point 6 was a turning point
8)Due to the intervention of the stupid Hitler (I know,it is becoming boring),the Germans lost the chance to defeat the SU in 1941
9)8 is a turning point
10)And this is contradicting point 8 :due to the sudden(of course,it was very improbable that it would snow in december)appearance of the Russian winter,the Germans could not capture Moscow .

Originally Posted by lljadw

I think this has not yet been mentioned.IMHO(of course) our knowledge of WWII is deformed by a lot of myths, that still are whirling .Why not a thread on those (countless!) myths ?

So what are you saying? Did these myths happen or did not happen? And if they are myths, what do you think did happen?

Well,myths do not happen,but a lot of people think they did happen ,because they saw it on the movie
one (classic exemple) :the myth of Dunkirk :a lot of people still are convinced that the Germans could encircle the BEF,but that they were prevented by the stupid Hitler .(always usefull,the stuoid Hitler as an excuse for German failures)

Explanations :
1) till today,there not has been any proof that the Germans could encircle Dunkirk
2)The initial haltorder had as origin :the HK of von Rundstedt
3)Not the BEF (some 400000 men )could be encircled at Dunkirk,but less than the half (some 195000 men)
4)There is no proof that,if these men were captured,Britain would give up.
5)Dunkirk (operation Dynamo) was not an only British operation:it was impossible without the help of the French
6)Most men were rescued in the harbour(not on the beaches) and by warships (not by the civilian armada)
7)the French were not left behind by the British :some 140000 (including Poles and Czechs) were also rescued
8)Without the sacrifice of the (mainly French) rearguard,Dynamo was impossible .
9)Even if Dynamo failed,Sealion was impossible .