Comments by "Adam Bainbridge" (@AdamMGTF) on "The Drydock - Episode 088" video.

  1. Agree with this. Hartlepool is a good visit for a very relaxed atmosphere. The turninia in Newcastle is also excellent as a visit from a general point of view. Add to that beamish open air museum and the national railway museum in York and you have some amazing places to visit if your a history buff. Eden camp is dam good too.
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  2. John Brakes not sure “ain’t” is an Americanism. Could be wrong, but it’s a word i would associate with Yorkshire, long before I thought of the US. In the context “ain’t she a pretty lass” or “I ain’t goin th dance Mary and that’s that” or “ain’t that grand”
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  3. bificommander Germany would still loose. The American forces tipped them over the edge and the moral factor for the British and french (plus allies) is not to be under estimated. But the war was lost by winter 17/18 and following the failed German offensive. A/H was on its last legs and the ottomans were loosing most of their southern front. America played a decisive role in Ww2. That’s true, and thank god they did. But as a result their impact on ww1 has always seemed over played. Not that the men who came to Europe and the UK to serve weren’t American hero’s. They were. But the central Powers had lost the war by the time the Americans started to have a real impact on the western front.
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  4. I see your logic in the benefit of hoping to over run France with the 1918 offensive. But it would still have failed. A interesting thought is this. Knowing the successes at tannenberg and in the east in general. What if the west was not supposed to be the first area the Germans won? In other words. If you persuade the general staff to attack in the west with a plan to establish trench ware fare on french soil. And ASAP release divisions after the race to the sea to the east. You make sure no atrocities are committed - world option is important. You do not attack in the west. Other than small scale things to keep the enemy off balance. You win in the east. Either through Russian revolution as it happened or because it happened sooner thanks to greater defeats. You could then use the spare man power to help the ottomans push for the Suez Canal. All the while your stopping AH form ever listening to hosendorf and your making them defend only against the Italians. The whole time you do not shell Scarborough and Hartlepool. You don’t carry out zeppelin raids on cities and you don’t instigate gas warefare but make sure your own side has masks. Why all this? You approach the allies by constantly saying “we didn’t want this war. We were all dragged into it. Let’s return to status quo ante bellum along the french/lux/bel border and agree to demilitarisation In Alsase lorrain with a possible plebiscite in 10 years time (this may be more acceptable to the reichstag) The British have this situation then: The Germans have avoided aggression since defensive warefare started. BUT losses have been horrific when the British attacked. Same for the french. The Germans acted with honour and seem to manage world option in their favour or at aleaat in nutrality. They just want the war over and the uk/french people want this too. Especially as they can hardly be told the Hun are war criminals. All the while, french soil is occupied, Belgium over run and the British have to worry about loosing the Suez Canal. And the two “sick men of Europe” are holding strong and have conquered Serbia (great loss on both sides) but you use your future knowledge to get Aus to play nice in negotions. Net result. Peace without horror seen in reality. Germany and AH gain massively in the east. Poland may be created as a puppet satellite of the CP. the ottomans gain more land around the Black Sea. The British keep Suez and gain some German colonial possessions. The french get their land back, gain a buffer to the Germans and hope of peace for a decade and maybe Germany throws them a African colony. A good trade for huge tracks of the east of Europe. Italy gets sod all as usual The Austrians get a chunk of Serbia but the Serbians still have a small state and AH get parts of Russia. I’d say that’s doable with small changes to the timeline and access to the heads of state in the central powers. And it’s definitely plausible. Either way. It won’t stop a Ww2. Just change the lineup
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  5.  @sarjim4381  I hope so too. On the up side you have space we don't have here in the UK, parts of nw England, lots of Scotland and central Wales are all very much rural. The rest of the country is very urban. So we are really a pandemics dream. On the up side. We have the NHS (I wish I was still a nurse and could help. But fate is what it is). And as much as our prime minister has been sick and even in intensive care. At least he isn't trump. And we don't have the same political divisions thanks to not having a 2 party system. So politics has been oddly quiet here even the major opposition party isn't being negative towards the ruling party (which is basically the oppositions job in "normal" times lol) Keep safe my friend. My best to you and yours.
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  6. We say no to pay to win north south divide for you. I live a 5 min drive from Hartlepool. The idea of visiting Portsmouth would need me to budget more than ‘normal’ people spend on a week in Spain on a beach. I priced up 2 nights in London and 2 in Portsmouth with another day aside to visit bovingdon and inc fuel and not inc food/drink I came to £400 and that’s not including entrance fees. Just travel and hotels really and even then it’s basic travel lodge stuff. Won’t stop be doing it. But compared to the museum at Hartlepool I can see a southerner not wanting to waste the time and money to go to a museum which doesn’t really compare to Belfast/victory
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  7.  @bificommander7472  you have a very good point about not invading Belgium. From a future point of view it does make sense. But I would think the benefits of deviating the land of your enemy over your own is important. Remember if your fighting a defensive war, as in the historical time line, then retreat is needed and it'd be nice to have lots of foreign soil to lay waste too rather than letting such withdrawal get closer and closer to the rhienland Also From the histories I've read. Everything in Germany was about the shifflin (sorry for spelling I'm tired and cba to look it up) plan. It was so much more than a "we invade and aim to do this". It was train movement planned on a national. Even continental scale. Ironically of course such plans in all countries meant that when the plans were activated they all grew on themselves and couldn't be stopped Given it was a plan that had been hammered into the German general staff for over 20 years. I cant see how you could alter it. Literally every detail had a plan and a time table. Plus. Germany really wanted Belgium or more precisely its coast. So it makes sense from their point of view to go for it and hope they may manage to negotiate something benafical (maybe even a garrison like the French had in the sarrland after 1919. Addition to that. I cant personally see Britain not going to war even without a invasion into Belgium. Yes we and the Germans were on good terms (way more so than pop history would have anyone believe). Up to the outbrske of war But Belgium was an excuse. The empire didn't care much about neutrality really. Look at Greece later in the war. Britain wanted what she always wanted. A Europe that was balanced. German hegemony in the west and a central powers from the Atlantic to the baltic to the black sea. That wasn't acceptable So to me Britain is going to get involved. That's my line of thinking But I like your idea as well. It's a gamble But if the British stay out the war then the central powers win. To me that's a given based on all fore knowlage. So yeh your idea would have a lot of merit. I do enjoy these debates!
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  8. Alex Koponen they were used as scouts and even commerce raiders. In fact one German zeppelin captured a British trading ship that was a sail powered wooden vessel! Showing the spread of tech at the time.
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  9. Hope your staying safe SR. Seems we have it ok in GB compared to the USA
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  10.  @sarjim4381  I know it seems that way. But you may be shocked. I wouldn't write what I'm about to write on the Web normally. But I know your like me and love your history and your details. Details first. History as an * at the end (which I think you'll like).... I live in a very very small town (by England's standards) with a population of 35,000, this shares a border of only a dual carriageway (4 Lane Road with 70mph limit) with another town with a population of 85, 000 and across the river from that town is a large town with a population of 138,500. Now bare in mind that I have walked from one town center to the other. Many times. This isn't a large area. And lots of other towns are considered separate but may as well not be. The area is spread out into patches only due to geography and how the industrial revolution shaped the area. I live in the far north east of England. It takes me 6 times longer to drive to London than it takes a londoner to drive to France(including the cross Channel ferry!). North of me are several much larger towns and 2 cities before you get to the Scottish Borders. East is the sea. West is another City and the Lake District which is a huge area of tiny villages and mostly mountains and lakes. Bare in mind, the North is massively the most rural area and most sparsely populated of England. The Midlands is another world in comparison (I trained to be a nurse at university in the Midlands and lived there some years). And the South isnt just another world. Its a different solor system. The "North South divide" is a fact here. UK may seem to have low population density. But the reality is. Almost everyone lives in close proximity In England. The numbers from Wales and Scotland and NI change that a lot as do the lake district. But its a case of (as Churchill said), lies, dam lies and statistics... As the overall numbers don't tell the true picture. The towns I mentioned. The second largest has a large hospital with 20+ deaths when I last heard a few days ago. The largest town well over 50 several days ago. That doesn't include deaths in the community. It's probably much higher now but I haven't checked or asked my mother (who's a senior nurse in the middle towns hospital). I should worry as I'm massively immune suppressed for reasons. But I mainly just wish I could put my nursing training to good use. But sadly I'd just be a liability. Horrid feeling for one who knows history and feels as though I should be as willing to help the nation as my grandad did in 39-45. I went majorly off topic. My point is. I hope America locks down massively. I know about temporarily losing freedom for safety etc (Franklin?) but in this case. It's in everyone's interest. If the USA as a superpower in more debt than any nation ever. Collapses socially and or financially. Then I worry that everyone in the world can look forward to the 1920s depression as "the good old days". And although I know trump is popular over there. The rest of the world thinks he is a joke and would sooner follow homer Simpson. So it's not like the world would unite like we did with Roosevelt and Churchill. I think a socialist is more likely to support Mussolini than Europeans are to support anything trump ever prattles on about. Again my friend. Keep safe and keep distant. It was a joke here at first. But in the last few days it's a little scary. I have a friend who has it (a nurse and former colleague). She is in her early 50s. Is otherwise incredibly fit and healthy with no pre existing health issues. And she is at home and horribly unwell. Thankfully not hospitalised but as unwell as you can be and be at home. It's all very real when you know someone with it. *The towns btw are Billingham, Stockton and Middlesbrough which are just south of Hartlepool which is where I work and one of the places bombarded by the high seas fleet. As I'm sure you know. The other place famous in this case is Scarborough. A place I often visit on motorbike or in my modified car with friends as the roads there are amazing.
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