84RFK
Active member
Hi 42RM
if infantrymen alone win wars, why did Britain have to abandon Norway after destroying most of the German navy? why did a half million allied troops with naval artillery to back them up and supply them not hold a piece of land between Pas de Calais and Dunkirk that was not well suited for the few German tin tanks? why did a few paratroopers defeat a large allied army in Crete with naval artillery to support them? why did 130,000 infantrymen surrender to a much smaller Jap force in Singapore? was it not because the enemy plane sank the ships, blew up the fortified defenses, etc,?
Was it not the planes that allowed the battleships to shell Normandy (Texas blasted a Panzer division with its 14" cannon) and who destroyed many tanks and all the trains, trucks, etc, carrying reinforcements and supplies to the coast?
The combined French, British, Canadian, Polish, Belgian, etc, armies in France were formidable and their tanks superior, yet the planes blasted a path for Guderian.
I know that the allied troops did not stand a chance in Dieppe in the face or air superiority and fortified positions, and intact lines to move reinforcements and supplies, because the allied ships supporting and supplying them would have been promptly sunk and the Gemrnas could have rushed a lot of troops, etc, to the area.
I believe we have been through this before, but since it obviously haven't stuck yet...
The British (along with the French and Polish allies) had to abandon Norway in order to concentrate their focus on the German invasion of France.
Fact is that when the British and allied forces withdrew from Norway, the city of Narvik had already been captured by Polish, French and Norwegian troops, the Norwegian 6. division had the German forces cornered on Bjørnefjell, and the commanding German general Dietl later admitted that it was a matter of just a few days before he either had to surrender or evacuate his troops over the border and into Swedish internment.
This was acomplished despite German air superiority.
Just look at Eben Emael and what the Germans did there.