Comments by "TheThirdMan" (@thethirdman225) on "Sea Lion: Why not just invade the UK in 1940?" video.

"The other thing left out is Britain's internal communications - Britain has the densest network of railways in the world" Which they were quite prepared to blow up if necessary. Good point about the terrain though. One thing that invariably gets left out is the whole thing about people in boats. First of all, for this to succeed, it had to be done in good weather. Not just acceptable weather but quite calm conditions. Most of the German barges were river boats with low freeboard and no built in floatation. One wave or wash from another vessel would have sent these things to the bottom very quickly. The second thing is that to invade through the West Country would have been all but impossible. It is by far the longest and most exposed of all the proposed point. Troops would have had to be in their craft days before embarking and this leads to all sorts of hygiene and sanitation problems. This was certainly the experience of the Allied fleet that went to Normandy in 1944. People got sick in the harbours on the south coast before they even departed. They were probably better once they were underway because there would have been less bobbing up and down. But to be stuck for days on basic rations, without easy access to a proper latrine and surrounded by people vomiting into their helmets is a much more serious problem than people realise. I've been sailor for over 30 years, in case anyone was wondering... :)
44
Mostly drowned Germans. The barges had low freeboard and all that was needed was one RN destroyer to steam through the invasion fleet and those boats would have gone straight to the bottom.
4
FrogChip One of Bernhard’s videos shows that the Germans were defeated by the Red Army, not the Russian winter.
2
Glad you mentioned the Tante Ju. Given the losses suffered in the (successful) invasion of Crete, against a relatively small and poorly armed force, the results over the British homeland would have been disastrous. Even with fighter escort, it should be noted that after Crete the Fallschurmjaegern were never used this way again.
1
@alganhar1 All good points. The tide in the Channel is pretty severe, simply because of the shallow water and the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The days when it’s calm enough to even consider these operations are few and far between. But to be able to run at between 1.5 and 3 knots for up to 48 hours - and some would have had to do that - requires a window of opportunity which is almost non-existent. And it’s especially important when framed by the tide factor you mention.
1
@allisterforest1842 ...in a surprise attack. Yes, the Soviets blinded themselves into believing that German surveys of Soviet territory were just WWI related. Yes the generals were too passive and didn't resist and Stalin had them shot. The Luftwaffe was able to exploit all that and take out critical airfields and destroy aircraft which enabled them to achieve air superiority - an in some areas, even air supremacy - early on. That meant the army could proceed largely unmolested across relatively easy terrain. All that made it much easier for the Luftwaffe so I think that the attack on the Soviet Union was a lot easier and made easier by Soviet (in)action. This actually hides the fact that the Luftwaffe really did suffer some pretty serious losses in the Battle of Britain.
1