WW II Historical Thread, Discussion, Pics, Videos

[Miragedriver]

US 3AD soldiers, Cpl. James L. Gregory and T/5 Omer G. Taylor of 'C' Company, 1st Battalion, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Division seek shelter behind a M-4 Sherman tank while under German Artillery bombardment at Geich, near Düren, Germany, on the 11th of December 1944.


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[Miragedriver]

German submarine U-45 (Type VIIB U-boat) conducting speed trials in 1938.

On the morning of the 14th of October 1939, U-45 attacked the unescorted convoy KJF-3 about 230 miles southwest of Fastnet and reported the sinking of three big steamers. In fact two ships, Lochavon and Bretagne (total of 19,313 tons) were sunk and the British steam merchant Karamea was missed, because a torpedo detonated prematurely.

U-45 was depth-charged and sunk later the same day (14th of October) by the I-class destroyers, HMS Inglefield, HMS Ivanhoe and HMS Intrepid at position 50°58′N 12°57′W., southwest of Ireland. Kapitänleutnant Alexander Gelhaar and all of the 37 crew members went down with the submarine.

The three British destroyers were all lost at sea during the war.
HMS Ivanhoe struck a mine in September 1940.
HMS Intrepid was sunk by a German Junkers 88 in September 1943.
HMS Inglefield was sunk by a Henschel Hs 293 glider bomb in February 1944.


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[Miragedriver]

The Break-out of the Demyansk Pocket.

A German Panzer III tank (probably of the 3rd SS Division 'Totenkopf') and troops in winter camouflage in the Demyansk Pocket, Russia, 21st of March 1942.

The Demyansk Pocket was the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk (Demjansk), south of Leningrad, during World War II on the Eastern Front. The pocket existed mainly from 8 February-21 April 1942.
On the 21st of March 1942, German forces under the command of Generalleutnant Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach attempted to leave through the "Ramushevo corridor". Over the next several weeks, this corridor was widened. A battle group was able to break out of the siege on the 21st of April, but the fighting had taken a heavy toll. Out of the approximately 100,000 men trapped, there were 3,335 lost and over 10,000 wounded. However, their strong resistance had tied up numerous Soviet units at a critical moment, units that could have been used elsewhere.
Fighting in the area continued until 28 February 1943. The Soviets did not liberate Demyansk until 1 March 1943, with the retreat of the German troops.

(Source - Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1972-042-42)


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[Miragedriver]

Some colorized pictures of destroyed or captured German equipment in Tunisia during the North Africa campaign:

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[Miragedriver]

U.S. M24 in Italy (1944)

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[Miragedriver]

A British 6th Airborne Division sniper on patrol in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, wearing a snow camouflage suit and armed with a Scoped Lee Enfield Rifle, 14th January 1945.

With the Allies at a standstill and forced to bide their time, the Germans prepared a large scale counter-offensive, later known as the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ in December 1944. The 6th Airborne Division recovering in England after Normandy was suddenly moved to the Ardennes forest area between Belgium and France to help repel the unexpected German counter-attack.

The 6th Airborne Division was put in the line between Dinant and Namur under command of the British 30th Corps to assist in the forthcoming Allied counter-offensive, and was ordered to advance against the tip of the German salient.

The 5th Parachute Brigade tasked 13 Para (Lancs) to attack the village of Bure as part of this advance and breakthrough to Grupant, assisted by Sherman tanks from the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry.

Severe casualties resulted from the break-in to the village, which began on 3rd January 1945. Bitter fighting raged for three days with little sleep conducted in atrocious winter conditions. German infantry and tank attacks were repeatedly beaten back until with reinforcements from C Company 2nd Ox and Bucks and additional tanks from the 23rd Hussars, the whole village was taken on 6 January 1945. 13 Para suffered heavy casualties, the Ox and Bucks also lost nearly two dozen men whilst 16 Sherman tanks were destroyed.



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[delft]

A sobering thought for folks...by these statistics, I am sure there were people thinking that the carrier was obsolete in 1942. But was we know, it wasn't then...and it isn't now.

Anyhow by June, 1942, five of the United States' first eight carriers had been sunk in the Pacific War:

The first eight, their commissioning date and disposition are as follows:

CV-1, USS Langley, 1922, Sunk Feb 27, 1942 south of Cilicap, Java
CV-2, USS Lexington, 1927, Sunk May 8, 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea
CV-3 USS Saratoga, 1927, Decommissioned 1946, Nuclear SINKEX 1946
CV-4, USS Ranger, 1934, Decommissioned 1946, Scrapped 1947
CV-5, USS Yorktown, 1937, Sunk June 7, 1942 in the Battle of Midway
CV-6, USS Enterprise, 1938, Decommissioned 1947, Scrapped 1960
CV-7, USS Wasp, 1940, Sunk September 15, 1942 in the Guadalcanal Campaign
CV-8, USS Hornet, 1941, Sunk Oct 27, 1942 in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

The US Navy lost five carriers in the Pacific from February 1942 through October 1942. As I say...sobering.

By comparison, in that same general time frame, from May 1942 through August 1942, the Japanese lost six carriers:

IJS Shoho, Sunk May 6, 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea
IJS Soryu, Sunk June 4, 1942 in the Battle of Midway
IJS Akagi, Sunk June 5, 1942 in the Battle of Midway
IJS Hiryu, Sunk June 5, 1942 in the Battle of Midway
IJS Kaga, Sunk June 5, 1942 in the Battle of Midway
IJS Ryujo, Sunk August 24, 1942, in the Battle of the Eastern Solomon Islands

The Japanese would go on to lose another 14 carriers in the war, for a total of 20 sunk. The US would not lose another major carrier, but they would lose another six escort and jeep carriers to the Japanese, three by Kamikaze (one during the battle of Leyte Gulf), one by submarine, and two more during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, one by dive bomber and one by naval gunfire. Altogether, the US loss eleven carriers.

And this was just in the Pacific between the US and Japanese. A total of 31 aircraft carriers sunk in the Pacific between the US and Japan.

The US also lost one escort carrier to the Germans (sub).

Britain lost eight carriers during the war, one in the Pacific to Japan, and seven to the Germans.

Italy also had two incomplete carriers destroyed during the war.

So...in World War II, over the space of six years, a total of 42 aircraft carriers were destroyed. This seems hard to imagine now...but it was a fierce war.

Just a question, Jeff. After those five carriers were sunk the US surely had more than three carriers left. Do you have graphic of the number of fleet carriers against time through WWII?

 

[Miragedriver]

Jeff,

Was it superior American carrier design or tactics (probably both) that reduced the American carrier loss so significantly after October 1942?

 

[Dizasta1]

Some colorized pictures of destroyed or captured German equipment in Tunisia during the North Africa campaign:

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The Germans sure did have pretty advance military hardware for their time (1930s/1940s). In fact, they were pioneers of the first jet-fighters, radio-link battle-tanks, submarine warfare and etc. But for all their advancements in military tech, in the end, they were overwhelmed "militarily", by superior numbers of the Soviets and the faster rate of manufacture by both the Americans and the Soviets.

World War II, sort of vindicates the fact that quality over quantity, doesn't always guarantee a win. This of course, purely an assessment on the military aspect of the second world war.

It is a pity, that a great nation, such as the Germans, was lead by ruthless tyrant and dictator. As I always wondered what it could have been, if Germany had made those advancements in military technology and had not gone to war against everyone. That if this were the case, then what would have become of other powers such as France or Britain. And how the relationship between America and Germany been, had both these two countries continued to remain peaceful?

The second world war was a tragedy for every nation involved, including the Germans. For all the innocent lives lost. What could Europe have been today, had there been no World War II. And in the same breath, what would have China been, had it not been under occupation of another country.

I hope, that all involved, would have learnt lessons from their past and would endeavor toward a better future.

 

[wtlh]

As I always wondered what it could have been, if Germany had made those advancements in military technology and had not gone to war against everyone. That if this were the case, then what would have become of other powers such as France or Britain. And how the relationship between America and Germany been, had both these two countries continued to remain peaceful?

Well, you just have to look at the situation before WW1...

Germany, a newly established superpower in the rise, Britain and France both in relative decline. German ambitions grew and wanted the same pies Britain and France were having, and the other two basically said "no". And hence hostilities grew that led eventually to WW1.

The fact is that Germany at late 1930s was economically very weak. If Hitler had not started the war, their economy would have probably crashed badly anyway, and Germany would not have become any stronger for quite a long time. All of the advanced stuff probably won't exist due to the lack of demand and necessity.