. We do let some banter go on for a bit, but when any one of us tells you to settle down, just do it.]
Indeed. Let's get back to the topic.
I think I showed a lot of restraint with him...
lol, I just finished typing a detailed rebuttal, and now's he's on vacation.
Thank the lord...the cavalry has arrived....youve been sorely missed FB
Cheers Parsifal.
Yes, this thread is right in my wheelhouse.
(looking to hit for six.
)
Guys some reat stuff there about Australian Canadian and others achievements.
1 In WWII it is impossible to separate the UK from the rest of the commonwealth. .
Mustang in fact there was no "Canadian Citizenship" before 1946 - we were all "British Subjects"
The question is how much historical production would have to fall if american raw materials , machinery and technology were not available through LL . Britain would be unable to continue.
Guess he didn't know that you could easily turn the commonwealth into a self sustained autarchic block...in the middle of a war...a war going very badly for Britain
In fact the Commonwealth
was a "self sustained autarchic block".
War going very badly for Britain? Not exactly.
Badly for France? Yes (And the Czechs, Poles, Dutch, Greeks etc.)
In fact the was was going very well for Germany
on land in the ETO.
The war was actually going quite well for Britain
in the rest of the world.
Let's take a look at the situation on Jun 30, 1941.
At this point, there is almost nothing supplied under "Lend Lease", the British are still receiving the ships aircraft paid for prior to LL.
Despite being defeated on the European continent in France, Norway Greece, the rest of the war is not "going badly" for the British.
1.) The only territory lost by Britain are the Channel islands.
2.) They have repulsed the German LW in the BoB.
3.)
War at Sea:
Of the KM's 3 capital ships, none are available. (Tirpitz is still in trials)
Bismarck is sunk, Gneisenau had been badly damaged by RAF bombs a torprdo attack, and is out for the rest of 1941. Scharnhorst is having repair work done, and will be knocked out of action by RAF bombs when she comes back into service. (24 July 1941). Of the rest of surface fleet, about half are sunk or out of action.
The Italians have suffered some solid losses at Taranto Matapan, and are down to about half strength (available)
In addition, the RM is has a critical fuel shortage
Oil Fuel Shortage
On the other side, the RN has lost 2 of 17 battleships, and 9 of 81 RN/RAN cruisers launched 1940 or earlier have been sunk, so about 12% of RN strength in battleships cruisers has been lost.
4.)
Desert War
The British inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italians in "Compass", capturing or destroying 400 tanks, 1,300 guns, 1,250 aircraft and taking 115,000 prisoners, for the loss of 500 killed and 15 RAF aircraft destroyed.
With the arrival of the AfricaKorps the British have been pushed back to the Egyptian/Libyan border, although the Australians still occupy Tobruk (Libya).
Operation Compass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5.)
East Africa War
Despite an earlier defeat in British Somaliland, with the defeat of the Italians in the Battle of Keren (27 Mar 1941), the sinking or withdrawl of the Italian Red Sea Flotilla, and the surrender of the Duke of Aosta (18 May 1941), the British have eliminated the Axis threat in East Africa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Campaign_(World_War_II)
6.)
Middle East
Following a pro-Axis revolution in Mesopotamia (Iraq) in thee spring of '41 and the deployment of a Luftwaffe group to the Levant, by July 1941 a combined Commonwealth force (Australian, British Indian) has put down the revolt and ejected the Vichy the Germans from Syria Lebanon.
7.) After the surrender of France, about half of the French empire has defected fromVichy control to the Allies.
8.)
Barbarossa:
The Axis has gone to war with the USSR, swinging the Soviet war machine into action, and cutting off Germaany's oil mineral imports from the USSR.
9.)
Battle of the Atlantic:
There is a common misconseption that Britain was on the brink of starvation in 1941 due to the U-boat offensive, and was only saved by the US Lend Lease providing hundreds of Liberty ships.
In fact the Patrick Henry, first of the Liberty ships, was only launched in 27 Sept 1941, and put into service on 30 Dec 1941.
By mid 1941 the US is only producing about 50,000 tons of shipping/month, while the UK Commonwealth is building about 130,000 per month.
So how was the RN doing in the U-boat war?
Of the 32 long range U-boats (type I, VII IX) in service by Dec 1939, 20 (or 62.5%) were sunk within the first year of the war.
The British started the war with 17,784,000 tons of shipping. (ships of 1,600 tons or more)
30 Sept 1940 that rises to 21,373,000 with the addition of Dutch Norweigian fleets
30 June 1941 the total has fallen to 20,478,000 with U-boat other losses.
However early in the war the RN made ASW a priority, and ordered some 320 additional ASW ships in 1939-1940.
(175 Flower class, 20 Black Swans, 84 Hunt class Escort DDs, 40 more ASW trawlers)
By June 1941 most of the new escort ships are in service, and the RN starts to turn the corner on the U-boat war.
In the 3rd quarter of 1941 the British merchant shipping has
increased +74,000 tons to 20,552,000 tons.
In the 4th quarter of the year the British shipping tonnage has
increased again +141,000 tons, to 20,693,000 tons.
War going "very badly"?
Not really....