Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "War Stories" channel.

  1. Indeed. His campaign in the Lorraine, for example. 55,000 casualties. American ones, that is.
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  2. What purpose would destroyers have served? A Z class had a range of 2150 miles at 19 knots. Bismarck had a range of just over 8,000 miles at the same speed. If you send out a ship on a raiding mission, what possible use would a pair of short range escorts have been? Moreover, British submarines were never involved, and how would a destroyer or two have deterred aircraft?
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  3.  @GM-fh5jp  'Actually they found themselves master of the area.' Indeed they did. For the duration of a fleeting raid which lasted for around nine days. The purpose was to ensure that a large troop convoy out of Singapore was safe from attack. The raid itself was considered potentially dangerous by the Japanese, as even minor damage to one of the rather flimsy carriers could have resulted in disaster. The British actually lost two heavy cruisers, and a small carrier without aircraft. The 'R's were never intended to be anything more than the role they actually fulfilled, which was that of a Fleet In Being. The raid did, however, alert the British to the potential threat posed by Madagascar to their Round the Cape convoys, and resulted in Operation Ironclad.
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  4. So, over 2000 barges, 1100 motor boats 400 tugs, and almost 200 freighters were requisitioned and converted, as well as 2500 aircraft and most of their crews lost, on the strength of a bluff?
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  5. You mean the Iowas, the first of which only commissioned in February, 1943? By the time she appeared, Bismarck was a wreck on the bed of the Atlantic.
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  6. No. That is very simplistic. It is also inaccurate.
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  7.  @asmodeus0454  I doubt you could give any actual examples of the British actually 'invading, occupying, and colonizing other nations' countries by force of arms and aggressive war.' The British actually acquired their empire largely default, as a result of the activities initially begun merchants with trade goods. The phrase 'the flag followed trade' was a common, and largely accurate one. In 1800, the population of India is estimated to have been 169 million. The first census of Britain in 1801 produced a figure of around 10 million. Do you seriously believe that the British could conquer by force of arms a sub-continent with a population around 16 times greater, whilst at the same time fighting a major war against the strongest military power in Europe? History, and logic do not seem to be your strengths, old chap.
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  8.  @GhostOfArtBell0935  Perhaps you are unaware that WW2 ended in 1945. Later events, and the actions of politicians, are not directly connected.
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  9. No. The way the attack would be repelled would be by the vast number of RN warships and auxiliaries in the area sinking the pitiful tug-towed barges which were the nearest thing the Germans had to landing craft. The story of badly burned German troops is part of the 'Shingle Street' myth, which has long ago been proven false. Had the British repelled a German invasion attempt, were they really likely to have kept quiet about it?
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  10. You need to read about Patton's shambolic Lorraine campaign before saying that. The Patton of history was not the Patton of the 1970 movie.
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  11. Your caps lock seems to be faulty. The Battle of Britain was won by, overwhelmingly, British & Commonwealth pilots, supported by a small number of European ones. All these pilots flew British aircraft, and operated within a British designed Air Defence System. Next, are you going to claim that Bismarck was sunk by Piorun, or something equally silly?
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  12. Hood had battleship level armour. Prinz Eugen was not capable of engaging her with any hope of success.
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  13.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  One word reveals the reason for the obvious lack of knowledge of the poster - 'ARMOR.'
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  14. You appear to have a rather pacifiocentric view of naval warfare in WW2
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  15. Why was withdrawing 13 divisions after allied (Belgian and French) forces totalling over 100 divisions had surrendered or collapsed 'shameful?' By the time the United States was dragged in by Germany & Japan, by the way, Germany was already also at war with the Soviet Union, and any possibility of Britain being defeated had long vanished. The arrival of the US hastened Allied victory, but it certainly did not save Britain.
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  16. Sunk in three weeks, without even seeing a convoy.
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  17. The Iowas did not even exist until 1943. Nor did the North Dakotas.
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  18.  @ariancontreras4358  Indeed, but neither she nor Washington had completed working up by the time Bismarck was sunk. Moreover, in May 1941 the United States was neutral, and not on anyone's side. Moreover, the British already had the Nelsons in service, and the first of the KGVs joining the fleet. Both classes, in terms of broadsides and armour, were superior to Bismarck.
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  19.  @ariancontreras4358  Fine, but that wasn't what you said. You said 'the Iowas and America's other 16 inch Battleships were on Britain's side.' Which was, of course, incorrect.
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  20. Except in 1940 Uncle Joe was best mates with adolf.
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  21.  @iansneddon2956  Sorry. Flippancy can sometimes be one of my sins!
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  22.  @EQOAnostalgia  Surely you are not still angry after all this time, herr obergruppenfuhrer?
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  23. The Bismarcks were part of the Franco-German between the wars naval race, which arose from the initial belief that post WW1 Germany's next war would be with France, or France and Poland. They were a response to the French Richelieu design.
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  24. Stuff of Myth, because there was no such confrontation.
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  25. How do you reason that?
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  26. How many South African or Rhodesian troops were based in Britain at the time of the Battle of Britain?
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  27. Not yes, but history books in 20 years time may well say that he was.
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  28. Without supporting warships, how long do you expect these carriers to survive, especially with the kind of unsuitable aircraft the Germans intended to use on them? Moreover, carriers did not play anything like the role in the naval war against Germany and Italy that they did against Japan.
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  29. No. The biggest mistake was not topping up Bismarck's fuel tanks before she left Bergen. A totally amateurish decision.
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  30. 'he thought the stories about the Germans having a super ship must be true.' However, any such stories were greatly exaggerated.
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  31. Patton never encountered Rommel on the battlefield.
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  32. But both are facts, not propaganda. 1). HMS Hood was an important member of the RN Battlefleet. 2). Bismarck was potentally a threat to the convoy system. Which is propaganda?
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  33.  @Scepticalasfuk  I don't need to guess. However, this is not entirely correct. Both 52nd Lowland Division and 3rd Division were also fully equipped, and had been intended to form the vanguard of the 'Reconstituted BEF.' Indeed, 52 Lowland began to land in Cherbourg on 7 June.
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  34.  @TheDatabaseDude  Certainly, the RCN played a major role in the Battle of the Atlantic, but that is entirely irrelevant to 1940 and the Battle of Britain period. The first U boat sunk by a RCN warship was U501, by HMCS Chambly & HMCS Moosejaw, on 10 September, 1941. I think you have missed the point.
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  35.  @stanyeaman4824  Perhaps but the other Dominions also responded in a similar manner.
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  36. So, requisitioning 2000+ barges and converting them, also commandeering 400+ tugs, 200+ freighters, and 1100+ motor boats, was simply a game, was it? Not to mention losing 2,500 aircraft and most of their experienced crews?
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  37.  @rosesprog1722  The British did not want to be alone. They wanted the support of the Commonwealth and Empire, as well as that of France in Europe. Eventually they received it, but not as early as 1940, when, apart from one Canadian Division, and three Australian & New Zealand Brigades, the ground defence of Britain was in British hands. In fact, by September, 32.5 of 34.5 divisions had been raised in Britain.
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  38.  @rosesprog1722  Of 2927 pilots creditted with participating in the Battlre of Britain, 146 were Polish.
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  39.  @mattcosgrove8254  Certainly the US was vital to the eventual victory, but perhaps you are not being entirely honest. The US did not so much 'show up to bail out Europe' but was reluctantly dragged in when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war and began sinking shipping in large amounts off the US East Coast.
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  40.  @karenblackadder1183  I suspect it is not so much a case of not understanding, more a case of simply refusing to understand.
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  41. The first Eagle Squadron, No. 71 Squadron, was formed in September 1940 as part of the RAF's expansion during the Battle of Britain, but only became operational for defensive duties from 5 February 1941.
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  42. Actually, Kennedy gave Roosevelt such a jaundiced view of Britain that FDR sent his own man, William Donovan, to find out the facts. Which he duly did.
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  43.  @barracuda7018  Sorry, but it is a simple fact, not a comparison., When HMS Warrior commissioned, she created a sensation among the navies of the world only matched by the appearance of HMS Dreadnought.
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  44.  @Uncle65788  The first victory by an allied army over an axis one was actually Beda Fomm.
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  45.  @SagesVerse1  ' There's an entire book about it, go read it if you want.' I probably have. Perhaps you might tell me what it is called? By the way, don't simply believe everything you see in videos.
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  46.  @SagesVerse1  Oh good. Were the invasions of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Belgium intended to demonstrate the seriousness of these 'Peace Offers?'
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  47. 'Petrol?'
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  48.  @jamesgreen9503  I know what petrol/gasoline is. I also knoe the the Yamato class, just like every other WW 2 battleship, did not use it.
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  49. Isn't that what war is about? Out resourcing your enemy?
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  50. Don't you mean 'selling' them anmmunition, in terms of 1940? It was rather difficult to hold anyone's hand when there was an ocean 2,000 wide, guarded by the Royal Navy, in between, I suggest.
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