The World at War Forum

Deja Vu?

feeds@yuku.com (Ken Rose) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:03:41 PST

It strikes me a little odd to be hearing names like Benghazi, Agedabia, Tobruk, and Tripoli in the news lately. More so when there is talk of fighting in these places.

Hopefully, the situation can be resolved soon.

At least when the Axis and Allies fought there, they weren't aiming at civilians.

Spiegel: Germany Closes Book on World War I With Final Reparations Payment

feeds@yuku.com (schudak) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:05:38 PST

http://www.spiegel.de/int...ny/0,1518,720156,00.html

Well, about time :-)

Now lets see what is still open from WW2.

Blitz anniversary

feeds@yuku.com (Ken Rose) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:52:08 PST

Today is the 70th anniversary of the first raid on London which started the Blitz. It was the first of 57 consecutive nights of raids.

This summer when I was visiting my mother-in-law I looked over a book which was reprint of one published just after the war. It detailed the events of the Battle of Britain which occurred in Sussex and included several maps marking the locations of every bomb which fell in the county. It also contained reports from various towns which were bombed.

Most memorable was an account of one man who had convinced his wife to step out into the garden in order to prove that they were quite safe, only to find an unexploded bomb!

German africa expedition in 1938??

feeds@yuku.com (schudak) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:53:56 PST

I just found an article about two 17 year old boys going missing in 38 on a tour to Villach. They
allegedly went on a holiday trip to Villach and disappeared there, leaving only their HJ-uniforms.
No word of their whereabouts ever reached their families, though they suspect that they could
be part of an Africa expedition, either a secret official or a private inofficial. Both boys had
interest in the colonial history, had learned Suaheli and notes indicate that they travelled on to
Italy. Officials from the SA told the family not to worry, everything would be cleared up soon -
later on they told them to keep the fate secret, and then knew nothing about it.

http://einestages.spiegel...ndenen_hitlerjungen.html

Has anybody of you any knowledge of Germans showing up anywhere in Africa from 38 onwards
(before...

operation sealion

feeds@yuku.com (Pete Peru) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:40:51 PST

What chance did the German seaborne invasion of Britain have?
I would say around 0% chance of success.
Let's say things panned out alternatively in 1940 and the RAF was beaten back from SE England. Not descisively defeated, but beaten back - this because Dowding would not have permitted his fighter force to be completely wasted.
Now all the Germans have to do is transport around 200, 000 man and their euipment across the channel and lans them soemwhere on the UK mainland.
Even had the leftwaffe achieved local superiority, their chance of getting ashore in any numbers as a cohesive force are almost null, given the fact that an mostly intact Royal Navy is waiting for them.
The Kriegsmarine was not adequate for the job of protecting the invasion force.
The army are not being shipped across in specially designed landing vessels - far from it.
I envisage a series of extremely vicious engagements in the channel. A lot of RN vessels would have been destryed, but just...

Leopold III

feeds@yuku.com (OzmundeI) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:55:36 PST

Well as further proof of the Belgian World Domination Conspiracy I offer Leopold III former King of Belgium. He puts all of Belgiums eggs in one military basket, Eben Emal fortress built in the 1930's. Forgetting that the Liege forts were cracked open in under 48 hours once the Germans had unlimbered thier 42 cm Guns ( the real Big Berthas named for Krupps daughter ). Once the big guns were assemebled and sighted in they cracked open the Liege forts in under two days, what made the Leopold and the Belgian High Command think that Krupp could not make a gun big enough to do the same thing agian. As it turned out the Germans used Falscham Jaegers and Sappers wielding shapped charges and flame throwers to crack open Eben Emal in under a few hours. 1936 Leopold III declares complete nuetrality and refused to allow even military observers from France into Belgium. May 1940 Leopold III surrenders with out first informing his allies ! Leaving a gap in the allied lines facing the...

Photoseries

feeds@yuku.com (schudak) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:55:49 PST

http://einestages.spiegel.../l0/F.html#featuredEntry

This is the start address of 30 photos made by an unknown German air observer - mainly from the plane (Fo189) and the unit.
They are still looking for the actual unit and names. All in German, alas.

Gen. Alfred Jodl

feeds@yuku.com (OzmundeI) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:29:58 PST

I was watching another interesting program series "Hitler's Managers" discussing those men who made it possible for Hitler to be able to function as a head of state and to wage war. Krupp, Jodl, Messerschmitt, and Speer were all covered in an episode divoted to each man.

Jodl, is one that really leaves me in a quandry. Was he responcible, at least death penalty level responcible for manor in which Hitler waged war on the Eastern Front. For that matter was he guilty for just doing his job very efficiently in the Polish campaign and the Norwegian Campaign and the French Campaign ? Should he have resigned and faced imprissionment ? Did he know about the mass murders committed on Eastern Front ?

I am of two minds on this issue.

1) He is guilty, as any other accomplice in any other crime.

2) He was doing his job, unable to see the direction into which it was going untill too late.Once he was committed to the...

The World At War

feeds@yuku.com (OzmundeI) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:32:50 PST

The Military Channel is re-running the series "The World at War". It was one of the first use interviews with actuall participants giving great insight into the war and the thinking behind many of the decissions made in the war. I am enjoying it imencely. Fridays late night for those who wish to indulge.

Brian

Possible German Atom bomb

feeds@yuku.com (OzmundeI) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:30:50 PST

On the History Channel there was a very interesting program " Mission for Mussolini", it was an interview with an Italian news man who was sent in 1944 to Germany for Mussolini to investigate the claims Hitler made reguarding " wonder " weapons. In the interview the gentle claims to have witnessed a German test of an Atom bomb in the Baltic Sea! He claims that there was a second SS bomb program not run by Hisenburg but by a rival of his that was successful in detonating a nueclear devise. The program was fascinating and I was wondering if any of you guys had run across any other source for this claim.

Brian

The Point when Hitler lost the War

feeds@yuku.com (OzmundeI) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:22:13 PST

Many believe that Stalingrad was the point where Hitler lost the war. I personnally believe that is was the year before. In the orgional Case Blue, Hitler had Moscow as the end of the campaign. In August and Sept of 1941 Hitler redirected the bulk of his armor away from Moscow south to the Ukraine in a bid to capture resources. Here was the fatal mistake which cost Hitler the war. The redirection of the main effort of the thrust from Moscow to the Ukraine allowed Stalin to build up the defences of Moscow and raise new troops along with drawing forces away from Asia back to Eurpean Russia. The Panzer forces were exhausted by the constant marching and then counter marching from front to front ! The Panzer forces lost more equipment in the fall of 1941 to wear and tear than to enemy action. The Red army was given the gift of breathing space, rare and at times a very deadly mistake. Zhukov just had to waite out the Germans in the early winter of 1941 for them to wear themselves out...

Poking Putin in the Eye

feeds@yuku.com (Kevin Baird) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:26:40 PST

You have to hand it to the Poles. Even after Putin's somewhat conciliatory "everyone was to blame" for facilitating Nazi aggression speech on the 70th anniversary of the commencement of hostilities (lame but still definitely a leap forward), the Poles still keep Russia on the hook. You can't really blame them though; three previous partitions each with Russia as a major participant, then a fourth, followed by a litany of bad memories including the deportations, the Katyn family of crimes, Warsaw bleeding while Rokossovskii (the vendu) halts on the Vistula, and then decades of oppressive occupation.It'll surely take a more frank apology to finally set things straight.

Hmmmmm! Too Good To Check?

feeds@yuku.com (Kevin Baird) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:45:35 PST

Vienna 1909: A young Adolf Hitler playing a game of chess with the middle aged Russian Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov?

http://www.telegraph.co.u...ng-chess-with-Lenin.html

enlistments vs draft

feeds@yuku.com (AJV2) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:29:34 PST

Anyone know what percentage of US enlisted men were enlistees during WWII as opposed to what percentage were draftees? Any idea where to look? Also how does that compare with other military forces in the war?
AJ

70th anniversary

feeds@yuku.com (schudak) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:24:45 PST

I know that many westerners still think of September 3rd as beginning of the world war, but lets remember that the war started with the German invasion of Poland today, 70 years ago.

According to new research it was a bomb attack upon a Polish town that started the actual slaughter, even before the attack upon the Westerplate, where the official remembrance is today led by the heads of state of Poland and Germany.

August 19, 1942

feeds@yuku.com (Ken Rose) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:00:01 PST

Today is the anniversary of OPERATION JUBILEE: the attack on Dieppe.

Still debated about in Canada, it was a necessary operation to learn about how to land troops on a hostile shore.

RIP Karl Malden

feeds@yuku.com (AJV2) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:42:33 PST

Just saw that the actor Karl Malden died today at 97. He was a World War II vet and was famous (among other roles) for playing Omar Bradley in the movie Patton. He won an academy award opposite Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire.
RIP
AJ

Holocaust denier shoots up Holocaust Museum

feeds@yuku.com (AJV2) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:35:39 PST

Check the major news services (MSNBC's website has a major story). There's quite a bit of info on a Holocaust denier exchanging shots with guards at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. One of the guards died. FYI
AJV

65th anniversary

feeds@yuku.com (Ken Rose) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:01:01 PST

I missed the anniversary of D-Day yesterday.

Today, however, marks the anniversary of the first encounter between the 12th SS and the 3rd Canadian division at Buron.

The Canadians were expanding their beachhead - the largest of all the assault division beachheads when the 12th SS mauled 9th CIB (Canadian Infantry Brigade). The North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the Sherbrooke Fusileers were almost destroyed, but the attack was halted. The SS troops, officers and enlisted men, killed many prisoners, which caused the Canadians to have a bitter attitude towards the SS in general and 12th SS in particular.

Hitler and Nazi Era Photographs

feeds@yuku.com (Kevin Baird) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:48:37 PST

The following are links to never before published images of Hitler and the Nazi era by German photographer Hugo Jaeger. Taken between 1938 and the earlier years of the War, mostly in colour, and now published by LIFE, they're a fascinating addition to the historical record.

http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/27022/adolf-hitler-up-close
http://www.life.com/image/50654484/in-gallery/26982/adolf-hitler-among-the-crowds
http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/26992/hitlers-humble-beginnings
http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/27012/adolf-hitlers-private-world

Kevin

P.S

You may have to "cut and paste".