Help wanted WW2!
Sep 15th 2007, 12:41 am
#62
Bloody Yank
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: USA! USA!
Posts: 4,186
Re: Help wanted WW2!
The Stalinist Soviets were utterly ruthless and had zero respect for human life. At times, half of their troops were sent to the lines unarmed, with the expectation that they'd eventually acquire a weapon from a dead comrade on the battlefield.
They lost millions in large part because they regarded humans as meat for the killing machine. If they actually cared about people, they probably would have had a lot fewer casualties. Even the Germany regular army (not the SS) was often more humane than they.
Sep 15th 2007, 12:45 am
#63
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,717
Re: Help wanted WW2!
Its hard to have respect for human life when you have fought your way back through your own villages; viewing the effects of the atrocities carried out in the name of war by the force you are now repelling.
Who said war was pleasant. Don't make me start about the Japanese
Who said war was pleasant. Don't make me start about the Japanese
I am the first to admit that the Soviets played a decisive role in the European war (as you will see if you read back on this very thread), but exactly how is this a point of pride?
The Stalinist Soviets were utterly ruthless and had zero respect for human life. At times, half of their troops were sent to the lines unarmed, with the expectation that they'd eventually acquire a weapon from a dead comrade on the battlefield.
They lost millions in large part because they regarded humans as meat for the killing machine. If they actually cared about people, they probably would have had a lot fewer casualties. Even the Germany regular army (not the SS) was often more humane than they.
The Stalinist Soviets were utterly ruthless and had zero respect for human life. At times, half of their troops were sent to the lines unarmed, with the expectation that they'd eventually acquire a weapon from a dead comrade on the battlefield.
They lost millions in large part because they regarded humans as meat for the killing machine. If they actually cared about people, they probably would have had a lot fewer casualties. Even the Germany regular army (not the SS) was often more humane than they.
Sep 15th 2007, 12:48 am
#64
Bloody Yank
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: USA! USA!
Posts: 4,186
Re: Help wanted WW2!
Don't defend the bastard. He was as bad as Hitler, and on a par with Pol Pot. There is nothing noble whatsoever about how they treated their own people.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:01 am
#65
Ivegotta Member
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 900
Sep 15th 2007, 1:06 am
#66
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Avon Lake, OH
Posts: 5,270
Re: Help wanted WW2!
perhaps you're thinking of the Eagle squadrons - they were several whole RAF squadrons made up of American pilots, but the first of those didn't become operational until six months after the Battle of Britain.
Edit: wikipedia seems to suggest that the figure of seven includes those who lied about their nationality:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Bri...s_contribution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Fiske
Edit: wikipedia seems to suggest that the figure of seven includes those who lied about their nationality:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Bri...s_contribution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Fiske
I do know a little about Billy Fiske, I think the movie coming out is about him. He is only one of the Americans who took part in the Battle of Britain but gets the most press because he was an Olympic gold medalist and the first American to die in world war 2. Unfortunately I imagine that those points are going to be the most emphazised things and it will paint a picture that is quite far from the truth.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:15 am
#69
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,717
Re: Help wanted WW2!
Yeah, we British have no atrocities in our past.
After the war, we were good to our word to all the other countries that helped us out - good ole Great Britain the last bastion of decency
After the war, we were good to our word to all the other countries that helped us out - good ole Great Britain the last bastion of decency
Perhaps you're not familiar with the pogroms? Depending upon the source, it is known that Stalin killed anywhere between 2 and 20 million people before the war even began.
Don't defend the bastard. He was as bad as Hitler, and on a par with Pol Pot. There is nothing noble whatsoever about how they treated their own people.
Don't defend the bastard. He was as bad as Hitler, and on a par with Pol Pot. There is nothing noble whatsoever about how they treated their own people.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:15 am
#70
A lion in your lap
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Sparta NJ
Posts: 7,605
Re: Help wanted WW2!
the wikipedia entry says he was the first American pilot to die in world war 2 - without doing exhaustive (or indeed any) research I suspect he wasn't the first American fullstop: I think there might have been others before him. For example, I think it's possible that some American merchant seamen went down on ships sunk by U-boats earlier in the war.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:17 am
#71
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
Sep 15th 2007, 1:22 am
#72
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Avon Lake, OH
Posts: 5,270
Re: Help wanted WW2!
the wikipedia entry says he was the first American pilot to die in world war 2 - without doing exhaustive (or indeed any) research I suspect he wasn't the first American fullstop: I think there might have been others before him. For example, I think it's possible that some American merchant seamen went down on ships sunk by U-boats earlier in the war.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:24 am
#73
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
Re: Help wanted WW2!
As a daughter of a WWII vet ,IF that were said to me with no provocation on my part, I'd probably deck the commentator.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:29 am
#74
Not dead yet
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: In a world of my own where I know everyone
Posts: 15,042
Re: Help wanted WW2!
I'm not surprised that they haven't heard of it, but be that as it may, I'd say that it's debatable that the Battle of Britain affected the actual outcome of the war, i.e. the Germans losing.
If you believe that the Germans could have been defeated solely by the Soviets (as I do), then no, I'd say that the Battle of Britain was certainly a turning point for the western Allies, but for the Germans, the outcome was the same, it was just a question who would have defeated them, and how long it would have taken. (Surely, the war would have lasted a lot longer without either the Soviets or the Americans participating.)
In my mind, the definitive turning points in Europe were El Alamein, Stalingrad and Normandy. The Allied bombing campaign wasn't a turning point per se, but it caused the Germans enough destruction and diverted resources to affect their ability to carry on.
If you believe that the Germans could have been defeated solely by the Soviets (as I do), then no, I'd say that the Battle of Britain was certainly a turning point for the western Allies, but for the Germans, the outcome was the same, it was just a question who would have defeated them, and how long it would have taken. (Surely, the war would have lasted a lot longer without either the Soviets or the Americans participating.)
In my mind, the definitive turning points in Europe were El Alamein, Stalingrad and Normandy. The Allied bombing campaign wasn't a turning point per se, but it caused the Germans enough destruction and diverted resources to affect their ability to carry on.
Sep 15th 2007, 1:45 am
#75
Last orders please...
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Way down deep in the middle of the Jungle..
Posts: 6,154
Re: Help wanted WW2!
or you could say,
just remember where you all came from, your decendants from all the religous nuts (puritans, the military arm of the cathlic church) that were kicked out of England...
just remember where you all came from, your decendants from all the religous nuts (puritans, the military arm of the cathlic church) that were kicked out of England...