D-day

[mikkel]

Could we have won WWII if D-day had failed

[chunky from york]

Mikkel

Germany and her allies lost WW2 at a place called Stalingrad. After losing this battle it could not produce enough men or materials to win.

If D-Day had been a failure it would only have staved off the inevitable and the Red Army would have occupied a greater part of Europe; rather than stopping at Berlin.

[sp10122]

The war would inevitably lasted a great deal longer and another attempt at landing would have had to be made with all the massive reorganisation (and loss of life) that would entail.

We owe all of those men such a great deal. We have not known fighting for your existence as a nation, for us it is always for someone else or our nations interests but not our sheer existence and that of our families.

For those men that day it truly must have been 'The Longest Day'.

[chunky from york]

SP1022,

It is telling that the majority of troops chosen for the first wave on D-Day were inexperienced troops and the battle hardened troops were in the following waves.

It was thought that troops with battle experience would be more likely to 'sod it' and green troops to soldier on after large numbers of casualties.

[harry hackedoff]

The Second World War became a war of attrition. He who produces more, wins. If D-Day failed, the same rational for dropping nuclear weapons to preclude the occupation of the Japanese mainland, would have prevailed. There would have been a small delay while a weapon was produced, and then delivered. The result was inevitable, whatever happened on D-Day.

[Whitey]

Hitler was sandwiched number 1, he was virtually alone, we had Japan on the run, he was gambling the japs would give us a better run for our money, America wasn't being bombed, so our war factories were running strong, the UK was stratigically a great weapons platform, like a big aircraft carrier and troop staging area. On top of this American material and men could be produced faster than it could be destroyed, so what the Tiger tank could kill 10 Sherman tanks when we out numbered the German tanks 100-1, who gets there the fastest with the mostest wins, with allied air power pouring in from the UK, our combined troops, and money, and Russia beating the snot out of Hans on the other front ontop of Hitler going bankrupt they had no chance, D day was an Operation, I heard Ike had drawn up a deal for Germany if it had failed, but I think Harry is right, if it failed we'd replay ww1, and man our trenches until some scientist invented an weapon that would have broke the stale mate. As for Japan, we had them beat, Yamamoto was dead, the country bankrupt and in chaos, we nuked them sure to get an unconditional surrender, and I think also some folks just wanted to see if this new sci-fi weapon would work. If all else failed we'd used rock-n-roll to brain wash thier youth and destroy them from the inside out, but really Russia was taking heavy casualties and with that they also took their share of the Hun with them, Adolf was done either way, superior fire power in the west, fanatics in the east, old boy was done.

[spike]

Dunno whether the winning of D-Day was important or not. I voted yes. My Dad was D-Day +3. He now says if he knew then, what he knows now, he would never have got off the landing craft. He says he never fought for 'this lot' today.

He and my Mum can't even leave their home at night for fear.

[Sisyphus]

Could we have won WWII if D-day had failed

mikkel

You crafty git.

Another thread with no possible conceivable result other than speculation run rife.

Actually, at the time it happened my grandfather was sent to davy jones' locker off Newfoundland.

At the time my grandmother was wearing tights with pencilled seams at the back. But, that's OK. My mother and father were already married. So I'm here despite what happened at D-day.

Ultimately, the question is facile. Just today on UK History there was the report on D-Day landings. US Sgt John Slaughter said 'We thought we were all going to die.'

I salute the man and his fallen comrades. That they didn't all die is why we live in the society we do.

So what the 'f*ck is the point in your question?

[spike]

Tights ?

They were stockings

In the UK they drew the lines in with gravy browning

[BenChug]

Had D-Day failed I am quite sure we still would have won in the end, the Germans wouldn't have had an operational nuclear device until at least 1949 due to a miscalulation of critical mass. Hitler was in a vice red hordes in the East, and allied armys pushing up through Italy. D-Day shortened the war considerably however, as it took away large sums of man power which were still quite an effective force in Russia despite the fact the Ruskies were giving them quite a licking.

[spike]

Hitler mad many mistakes including;

a) Declaring war on the USA
b) Making the Me 262 into a fighter bomber...thus losing it, its speed
c) Not allowing Russians liberated to form their own regiments (this was due to the ridiculous theories of his latvian adviser).
d) Not invading the UK when he could have done (1940)
e)Allowing the 'Dunkirk bods' to escape

There are many reasons one could use. But the above should give some idea.

[Whitey]

We would not have won had it failed. Ike had plans drawn up to settle with Hitler should it have failed. Too bad we didn't let Germany finnish off Russia before we nailed them though. But hey wasn't the Cold War fun?

[barryc]

Once Uncle Sam entered the war the Axis had started to lose. Our American cousins are not particularly brilliant troops but they have determination and behind them they had the unbelievable might of US manufacturing. The USA was producing war material using only about 60%, or less, of it's manufacturing capability. Compare this with Britain and Germany who were 100% flat out to try to keep up with the attrition rate. With the massive reserve resource the USA had the end was inevitable win or lose in Normandy.


Barry

[Whitey]

Good thing those Japs bombed Pearl Harbor or else Hitler would have went all the way I guess?
No really I saw someplace where Ike was gambling all or nothing on D-day. The articale said he'd drawn up plans should it have failed to have an Armistice with Germany.
I really don't see how D-day could have failed though. Plus the Russsians were eating Germany's best at a rate beyond comprehension.
I think the Airborne troops also even if disorganized caused mass chaos in the Reich. If the invasion fleet met little or no naval resistence then that kind of says Germany as a Naval power was insignificant at that point. Had D-day failed the Royal Navy and the USN could have contained Germany until Russia consumed them.

[Tab]

If this or IF that happened, and so on, it could go on for ages, well it didn't, and the landings where a great success thanks to the planning and the men involved. So lets remember the brave men who made it all possible and just say thanks.