Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "War Stories"
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Actually, stood alone against a heavily militarised country which had successfully defeated Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Germany was, by the way, actively supported by Italy, and supplied with raw materials by the USSR.
A shame that there don't appear to be any schools in South Africa any more, sonny.
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Oh, and I forgot to add.
Ironic, really. El Guettar was a spoiling action undertaken by von Arnim, over two weeks after Rommel had departed Tunisia. The Panzer Division used, 10th Panzer, only arrived in Tunisia in December, 1942, and, apart from a 4 day period, was never commanded by Rommel, but was part of von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army, as I wrote earlier.
Rommel no more 'planned' this action than John Paul Jones did the Battle of Midway, despite what the ludicrous movie, and many less well informed, people, might claim.
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'The Germans had no where near enough transport for 20 divisions.' The assault wave was to consist of nine divisions and a seriously under strength parachute division.
Walter Ansel, who had access to Kriegsmarine records at the end of the war, determined that the Germans had requisitioned 180 transport ship (largely small coasting vessels), just over 2,100 converted barges, 400 tugs/trawlers, and 1,200 motor boats, The first wave was to consist of around 850 barges, towed in pairs by the tugs/trawlers and the transports, would carry the leading elements of each division.
The Germans had enough vessels to carry out their alloted tasks. What they did not have, of course, was any means of protecting this ramshackle flotilla from the 70 RN cruisers and destroyers which were based some five hours steaming from Dover, supported by around 500 or so smaller warships.
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'When exactly did they stand alone again?' For, at least, the whole of 1940. To give an example or two, of 34.5 operational divisions in Britain in September, 1940, 32.5 were British. The only Commonwealth forces in Britain at the time were one Canadian division and two Australian & Canadian brigades.
The Royal Navy, other than seven Royal Canadian destroyers, was entirely British.
Of 2927 pilots in the Battle of Britain, 2353 were British. The others, both Commonwealth & Foreign, flew British aircraft, under British orders.
The United States did not commence their Lend-Lease Programme until March, 1941. Prior to that, any supplies Britain acquired from the US were bought & paid for.
THe Commonwealth and Empire played an increasingly large role in WW2, but not as early as 1940. In the (unlikely) event of an attempted invasion, distant voices in support of Britain from the Dominions and the Empire would have had no practical help in repelling it.
There are many books dealing with the events of 1940. You might buy one, perhaps?
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@dwight4626 Who protected the Convoy System? The Royal & Royal Canadian Navies. Who planned every assault landing in the war against Germany, except Dragoon of course? Yhe Royal Navy. Who provided the bulk of the forces for these operations, from Torch onwards? The British & Commonwealth armies.
As an example, D-Day. On June 6, two thirds of the troops who landed on the beaches were British & Canadian, 3261 of 4127 landing craft were British manned, 892 of 1213 warships were RN/RCN, two thirds of the allied aircraft were RAF. The mine clearance operations were almost entirely RN/RCN, the U-boats sent to attack shipping off Normandy were defeated and largely destroyed by British & Canadian Escort & Support Groups, and the operational commanders of the three forces, air, sea, & land, were all British.
In short, you shouldn't believe everything that you see in movies. Although your apparent belief that only the Americans fought the Japanese does rather reveal the depth of your actual knowledge, I suggest.
No, Britain could not have liberated Western Europe alone. Neither of course could the United States. However, this obvious fact has precisely no relevance to your comment, which, if you recall, was :-
'If it wasn't for the Yanks. we'd all be speaking German.'
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@r0bbrn140 But didn't you read the title of the video?:
'When Britain Stood Alone: The Complete Story Of The Battle Of Britain'
The Battle of Britain took place in 1940. Had anyone claimed that Britain stood alone in, for example, 1942, I would have been among the first to correct them. However, in terms of 1940, the title is correct.
Indeed, there were foreign or Commonwealth pilots in the Battle of Britain. 2927 pilots flew with Fighter Command during the batle, of which 2353 were British, and 299 were foreign, by which I mean non-Commonwealth or Empire.
In terms of ground forces, of 34.5 divisions available to Britain on home soil in September, 1940, all except two were British.
Not that this matters, of course, because Britain's real defence against invasion in 1940, was the Royal Navy, which, apart from a tiny number of French, Polish, & Canadian destroyers, was entirely British.
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@whispofwords2590 Actually, the Afrika Korps (15 & 21 Panzer Divisions, 90 Light Div., and 164 Inf. Div.) at the time of El Guettar were part of the Italian 1st Army, under General Messe, which was defeated at Mareth & routed at Wadi Akarit by 8th Army.
The German force at El Guettar was 10th Panzer, which only arrived in Tunisia in December, 1942, and was part of von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army. It was transferred to Rommel's command on 19 February, and took part in the Battle of Kasserine. By no stretch of the imagination, even the most fevered, could it be considered to have been 'trained by Rommel' and it was only commanded by him for four days.
Aren't facts a nuisance?
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