Logistics ?
MontyB
All-Blacks Supporter
I am not convinced the Germans allowed the Allies to escape at all I think that is more an excuse for failing to stop them escaping than anything else.
As for what they would do with 350,000 prisoners I would point out that they captured far more than that in Russia and when France surrendered they effectively received 1,900,000 prisoners, add to that the soldiers of Belgium, Holland, Poland and you will discover 350,000 is a drop in the bucket.
As for what they would do with 350,000 prisoners I would point out that they captured far more than that in Russia and when France surrendered they effectively received 1,900,000 prisoners, add to that the soldiers of Belgium, Holland, Poland and you will discover 350,000 is a drop in the bucket.
Germany likely handled more POW's (and did a shame full job of it) than any country in the history of warfare. German took > 5 million Soviet POW's of which (3.3 to 3.9) didn't survive Nazi captivity. The Germans took > than 2 million allied POW's who generally "but not always" received better treatment. As Monty mentioned Germany took POW's from most small and medium sized countries in Europe.
Don't forget that the troops at Dunkirk were severely harassed by the Luftwaffe as were the rescue ships.
Yes Hitler was slightly anglophilic early on (this was indicated in Mein Kampf), but he changed his opinion as the struggle continued. He grew quite hateful towards England in time. This is why he started bombing London's civilians rather than continue to bomb military objectives. Later he developed the V-weapons initially for the sole purpose of killing English civilians.
I don't beleive that Hitler was that surprised by the early success's, but the skeptical German general staff was which is how Hitler gained their confidence.
I don't beleive that Hitler was that surprised by the early success's, but the skeptical German general staff was which is how Hitler gained their confidence.
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Hitler mentioned more then once that the British were not Germany's natural enemy. However, Neville Chamberlain quite understandably didn't want another war as almost a whole generation of men were wiped out during WW1. In many towns and villages in Britain in 1918 the only males were the very young or the elderly.
But Chamberlains appesement policy did not work as history shows, I suspect Hitler regarded him as an easy push over. Hitler only began bombing London after the RAF bombed Berlin, which was in retaliation to a German bomber got lost and dumped his bomb load on London by mistake.
Everything changed when Churchill came to power. For years Churchill had been warning that Germany was on the rise and was branded a war monger. RJ Mitchell the designer of the Spitfire was in Germany recovering from an illness overheard various comments from military men and realised that war was imminent. He rushed back to Supermarine to carry on work on his Spitfire design.
You will agree that the V-weapons were designed as a method to get back at England. V for vengeance "at Britain"
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Yes it was JOC, even more so when the V2 was put into service. The V1 could be shot down either by triple A or fighter aircraft, the V2 once in flight was unstoppable.
British TV presenter Raymond Baxter a RAF fighter pilot during WW2 with his wingman came across a V2 site as a V2 was being launched, his wingman opened fire, Baxter said "Thank God he missed otherwise both of us would have been blown to pieces."
The V2 was also directed against Antwerp later on in the war.
brinktk
Active member
If you're flying a prop driven aircraft and shooting at a V2 at less than 500 meters, a 2000LB explosive war head certainly is enough to do damage...Think of an air burst daisy cutter...that's the equivalent.
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Not only would the war head explode, so would the fuel load which was almost four tons of ethanol, which was extremely volatile. It would have done a lot of damage. Have you never seen German newsreel of a V2 crashing after lift off?
The V2 was a harassment and little more , it flew at 1000 miles an hour and could not be shot down like the V1 which flew at 400-450 mph , by the time the V2 arrived over England it was out of fuel where it fell nobody knows it just dropped , the V2 was not a guided missal . Considering the allies dropped 1.6 million tons of bombs over Europe the V2 was a drop in the bucket .
Are you kidding one killed my great grandfather and took out a portion of a city block with him in London.
The V2 was responsible for > 9000 civilian deaths. The guidance wasn't that bad considering the era in which they were designed and the fact that they were the 1st guided missile ever designed, accuracy increased as the war continued". Hitler wanted enough accuracy to hit London and such and they did a darn good job of that. They weren't accurate enough to hit a specific target which proved out to be the case when they used them in an attempt to take out the bridge at Remagen Germany. In flight they traveled at ~ 3600/MPH
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Obviously you have never been on the recieving end of a V2, if you had you wouldn't consider it to be a "drop in a bucket"
Kesse81
Banned
Thanks for the language lesson, but I speak fluent German.
Now, don´t trust everything it says on Wikipedia.
Versuchsmuster-1 is the correct initial German term for the V-1. The operational version was codenamed Flakzielgerät 76 (FZG-76)"Anti-Aircraft target device 76 " later renamed Fieseler Fi 103.
The official name for the V-2 was Fernrakete A4 (A4 = Aggregat 4)
Vergeltungswaffen / Wunderwaffe are names made up by the German Propaganda Ministry.
You can see that, if you one day visit Penemünde in Germany.
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These are neo-nazi propaganda figures .
An official German report (from 22 march 1945) is talking of 18000 dead and 35000 missing;missing are not dead .