Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "Military History Visualized" channel.

  1.  @iamapopsicle9457  If I had realized what a fool you really were, I wouldn't have wasted my time giving you a proper, detailed, answer. We live & learn, I suppose.
    3
  2.  @iroscoe  Personally, I've always favoured the Montgolfier Balloon alternative, meself.
    3
  3.  @Pikkabuu  They hadn't any suitable vessels in which to cross the Channel. At a meeting on 20 June, Raeder told Hitler that the navy hoped to have assembled 45 barges within the next two weeks.
    3
  4. Rather difficult 350 miles from the French coast.
    3
  5. Warspite was Cunningham's Flagship in the Mediterranean, but I suggest Nelson & Rodney would have been more than adequate replacements.
    3
  6. The Battle of Shingle Street is a myth. What was apparently the reason for the files being held back for a long time was the rather less palatable fact, which was that soldiers based in the area had looted the empty homes and buildings. Why would the British, had they defeated an invasion attempt, have wished to conceal it? I imagine that full details would have been plastered on the front page of every British newspaper, as well as the New York Times.
    3
  7.  @MilitaryHistoryVisualized  You have taken the words right out from under my fingers! I wonder if Mr. Jarvie could explain where 'history records such an invasion is perfectly feasible?'
    3
  8. The supposed German invasion fleet (actually barges towed by tugs or trawlers) was in the main too shallow draught to torpedo. 6 inch, 4.7 inch, 4 inch, ans 3 inch shells from the large numbers of RN warships available to engage Operation Sealion were likely to have been more than adequate.
    3
  9.  @wilburanderson2060  Do you know that Hermann Goering told Hitler that finishing off the Dunkirk pocket was 'a special job for the Luftwaffe?' Presumably you know what happened when the Luftwaffe tried?
    3
  10. In September 1940, after heavy losses in Norway & the Netherlands, the Germans only had around 4500 paratroopers left. Moreover, they also had only around 220 operational transport aircraft. What 'Special Forces?' What 'collaborators?'
    3
  11. There was more possibility of the Belgian army marching to Berlin in 1940 and ending the war. What paratroopers, which amphibious troops, which U-boats/
    3
  12. But also an understanding of how to design them, and the poor old Graf Zeppelin wasn't it, and suitable aircraft to operate from them.
    3
  13. The British were not, and never (except for a short period in WW1) have been, a major military power on land. The BEF, though the only fully mechanised army in the world at the time, was tiny, as the other reply has already explained. The difference between the Soviet Union and Britain should be obvious. If you have any serious intentions of invading an island nation protected by the largest navy in existence, you really need a significant navy of your own to have even a ghost of a chance of succeeding. Churchill wasn't 'insistent on the United States joining the war' by the way, as he had no authority to insist that the USA do anything. He was, however, quite rightly trying to secure the support of the world's greatest industrial power. Fortunately, President Roosevelt was wise enough to realise that supporting support for the only European democracy still in arms against nazi Germany was in the long term interests of the United States.
    3
  14. Joe Kennedy was encouraging FDR not to support Britain, saying that 'Democracy is finished in England. It may be here.' The anti-British Kennedy, who ironically was US Ambassador to Britain until October, 1940, spent considerable time trying to poison FDR's understanding of the situation in the UK. William J. Donovan, an Irish American soldier & diplomat, was sent by FDR to Britain to assess the true position, and came to a rather different conclusion.
    3
  15. Correct. What many people now see as a fait accompli was not so obvious at the time. Many senior German officers, von Rundstedt included, feared a repeat of the WW1 Miracle of the Marne. The German armour had not seen much actual combat, but had travelled a considerable distance on its own tracks. Von Rundstedt chose to rest his tank crews, and to give them time to service their vehicles, before embarking on the second stage of the campaign. In any case, Goering had already told Hitler that the Luftwaffe alone could destroy the Dunkirk pocket. Hitler, with his knowledge of the land around Dunkirk from WW1, believed it to be hazardous for tanks, and chose to believe Goering's promises.
    3
  16. The point people always seem to miss is that the German navy of the mid-late 1930s was not intended to challenge the RN, but the French Navy. German assumptions from the late 1920s onwards had been that the next war would be against France or France/Poland. The Deutchlands were intended the challenge French convoys. In response the French built the Strasbourgs. The German response was the Scharnhorsts, the French the Richelieus, and the Germans the Bismarcks. As part of a Franco-German naval arms race, the thinking behind the Bismarcks was reasonable.
    3
  17.  @ibs4524  You still have the problem of crossing the Channel. The Soviet fleet was in an even worse state than the German one. Moreover, Hitler always viewed the Soviet Union as his true enemy. Had he made such a deal, he would not have been Hitler.
    3
  18. How would they have done that?
    3
  19.  @joshlower1  How does being landlocked or not relate to the range of German aircraft? Moreover, 'proper long range bombers' without fighter escort are merely large targets for defending fighters such as the RAF's Hurricanes & Spitfires, as was historically demonstrated when bombers from Norway attempted to attack the North East of England in daylight. 'hypothetical' or not, idiocy is idiocy.
    3
  20.  @cybereus836  Who is being 'aggressive?' You referred to the book; I merely stated a whole series of facts which suggest that the view contained in it is questionable. I don't recall asking you to debate anything.
    3
  21.  @sebclot9478  The British weren't in South Africa. In 1941, they had substantial forces in NORTH Africa. Moreover, historically, the Italian Navy struggled to maintain supply levels to the smallish axis forces in North Africa, because of the inconvenient presence of the RN & RAF in the Mediterranean, combined with the serious lack of port facilities in the region. The Suez Canal was of little importance in the first half of WW2, largely because British convoys went round the Cape. Supplies for 8th Army were landed at the southern end of the canal and moved by rail. The Canal itself was used almost entirely by warships sailing to join or to leave the Mediterranean Fleet, although often these used the Mediterranean via Gibraltar, as did Malta supply convoys. As the Italian navy was, historically, seriously hamstrung by lack of fuel, and rarely, in the case of the heavy ships, risked action, your Gibraltar option is not credible. Moreover, Franco was never in a position to join the Axis, as Spain relied on US food aid to stave off mass starvation, and FDR had already made el Caudillo well aware that the day Spain did join the Axis was the day this aid stopped. Furthermore, have you actually considered the logistics problems facing a German force passing through Spain even to get to Gibraltar? Bismarck was sunk, by the way, in May, 1941, so is irrelevant to the issue, even if one warship built to a semi-obsolete design could make any meaningful contribution to anything. Build more U-Boats? I assume that, as these are being built, presumably in the pre-war period, you expect the British to sit back, say 'I wonder why the Germans are building U-Boats?' and not expand their own escort production programme? Sorry, what you propose is far from 'easy.' It is fantasy based on a lack of knowledge.
    3
  22. Especially when your own navy, after Norway, would almost fit in a large bathtub.
    3
  23. There wasn't really much of a Kreigsmarine left after the Norwegian campaign, where RN submarines had achieved considerable success. Gneisenau was torpedoed on 20 June by HMS Clyde, and under repair until November. On her way back to Germany, one of her escorts, the torpedo boat Luchs, was sunk by HMS Swordfish. Deutchland was torpedoed by HMS Spearfish on 11 April, 1940, and under repair until April, 1941. Karlsruhe was sunk by HMS Truant on 9 April, 1940. Before Norway, Leipzig had been damaged by HMS Salmon in December, 1939, and was never fully repaired, and Nurnberg was damaged at the same time, although repaired by August, 1940. Add to that further losses: Graf Spee, Konigsberg, Blucher, ten destroyers sunk at Narvik, and a further two bombed and sunk by (German) aircraft, and the German naval cupboard was alarmingly bare. One thing, though. Don't try sending submarines into the Channel. The Germans sent three in late 1939, and they are still there.
    2
  24. Send the infantry in dinghies across the Channel in September? Wouldn't it have saved time just to shoot them before they embarked? The Germans did commandeer large numbers of barges, together with tugs & trawlers to tow them across. They had virtually nothing with which to provide even a token escort. The Royal Navy had around 70 light cruisers and destroyers in the area, and large numbers of smaller warships in support. Good luck!
    2
  25. One word also describes your comment ; 'Rubbish.' Matilda II was, not for nothing, called 'The Queen of the Desert.' The two pounder was the equal, at least, of any German tank gun or anti-tank gun in service at the time, and the armour was vastly superior. The effect of a handful of Matilda IIs on Rommel at Arras was salutary, and it was crucial to the Western Desert Force's crushing victory of Operation Compass.
    2
  26. The whole purpose of the Home Fleet was to seek out and destroy enemy warships in the North Sea, the Arctic, and the Atlantic.
    2
  27. Taken care of the UK how?
    2
  28. Not really. Airfields were generally grass strips, and were easily repaired. There were also a number of relief strips. Moreover, that wouldn't address the Navy problem.
    2
  29. Yes, the idea of the Pals Battalions was to persuade men to volunteer with their friends from the same towns. Unfortunately, the men from the same area who were intended to fight together also died together in large numbers. Towns like Preston, Chorley, and Accrington, from my county, were especially badly hit.
    2
  30.  @ianwhitchurch864  The reason the tanks were stopped on the line of the Aa canal, by von Rundstedt, by the way, not by Hitler, was to have them serviced before commencing the second phase of their offensive. What everyone seems to assume was inevitable was not seen as such by the German High Command at the time.
    2
  31. The problem was that, if Hitler did that, then he wouldn't have been Hitler. The two single consistent themes of the nazi party throughout were Eastward expansion and the destruction of the Soviet Union.
    2
  32. By which time the Anglo-French would have completely outbuilt the Germans in military equipment, and the German economy would have collapsed anyway.
    2
  33.  @stephenarbon2227  Oh land, yes. However, in September,1940, there were no German troops in North Africa, Malta was still secure, and the Soviet Union was neutral. If you seriously want to invade the island country with the largest navy on the planet, starting off without a navy of your own is really not recommended.
    2
  34.  @simonstock4448  Halifax was no longer an individual of any significance after the successes of Dynamo & Aerial. Chamberlain, still leader of the Conservative Party, was, even by late May, supporting Churchill, leaving Halifax more or less isolated. In December, 1940, Churchill effectively removed him from active British politics by sending him to the United States as Ambassador.
    2
  35. planning had nothing to do with it. How were the Luftwaffe going to provide air support in mid-Atlantic?
    2
  36. Perhaps your father was not aware of the existence of the Royal Navy?
    2
  37.  @naamadossantossilva4736  Maths didn't help Haguro, when confronted by an RN destroyer flotilla in 1945.
    2
  38.  @philiphumphrey1548  After the hits from Prince of Wales, it is by no means certain that Bismarck had the speed to pursue her. Moreover, the two British ships had been identified as Hood and King George V or Renown. If Renown, then for all Lutjens knew, they might well be supported by other British units just over the horizon. The two counties were in no danger, as they had the speed to avoid action. St Nazaire was a sensible choice, as the Normandie dry dock was the only one on the French coast capable of taking a ship of Bismarck's size. Tirpitz was actually only declared operation in early 1942.
    2
  39. It is always entertaining reading the posts of the 'would haves,' by which I mean the Sealion enthusiasts who sagely tell anyone who will listen what the mighty Luftwaffe 'would have' done to the Royal Navy had it had the unmitigated gall to try to attack the barge trains as they wallowed down Channel at little more than walking pace. Firstly, have these people absolutely no idea of the size of the Royal Navy of 1939-40, and have they, similarly, no idea of how badly that same Luftwaffe performed at Dunkirk?
    2
  40. I don't recall reading of much American involvement in 1940 & 1941. The Germans didn't actually attempt an invasion in 1940, did they?
    2
  41. If so, it failed.
    2
  42. Funny that. I thought exactly the same.
    2
  43. In 1941? I rather think not.
    2
  44. The whereabouts of the Home Fleet had no effect on the convoy system, as the heavy ships of the fleet were not used on convoy escort duties in the Atlantic.
    2
  45.  @HSMiyamoto  No. Cruisers were not used as convoy escorts in the Atlantic. They were used as close cover for some Arctic convoys, which is what Sheffield & Jamaica were doing for JW51B, but, apart from accompanying fast troop convoys, cruisers did not form part of Atlantic escort groups. The destroyers used with Arctic convoys were generally more modern fleet types, whereas Atlantic convoys generally had older destroyers, corvettes, sloops, frigates, and ex-American coastguard cutters with them. None of these were fleet vessels.
    2
  46.  @HSMiyamoto  The historical evidence supports precisely what I have stated. Do a search for 'Mid Ocean Escort Force.' The information on this is accurate, and it tells you the composition of the Escort Groups B1 - B7 (British) C1 - C4 ( Canadian) and A1 (American). The vessels comprising each group are listed. Read them, and then tell me which are cruisers. Certainly, cruisers carried depth charges (although they tended to ditch them in the face of impending surface action) and asdic, but they were too valuable to use as convoy escorts, just as fleet carriers were not risked on Atlantic convoy escort duties.
    2
  47. So, you propose towing large numbers of converted Rhine barges up the East Coast of the UK, right past the main British destroyer base at The Nore, a second major cruiser & destroyer base at Hull, and the main Home Fleet base at Rosyth? Good luck!
    2
  48. If the Germans couldn't manage to get their army across the 23 miles of English Channel, how, without a surface fleet, without transports, without any hope of re-supply, were they going to get to Ireland?
    2
  49.  @LittleMacscorner  How do you land your 'single Panzer Division' when you don't have anything capable of transporting tanks, after Norway you have virtually no navy, and the British have some seventy cruisers and destroyers within five hours of Dover? Paratroop support? The Germans had, at best, around a half division of paratroopers available after their casualties in the Low Countries, although this really didn't matter as, after heavy losses in the same campaigns, the Luftwaffe (at least, according to their own archives) had only 226 operational transport aircraft available in late August, 1940. You make some intriguing points. Unfortunately none of them take into account the realities of 1940.
    2
  50. In 1940, the US was still neutral. Moreover, when there were over 100 RN destroyers in Home Waters, carriers were really not needed.
    2