- Thread starter
-
- #41
Kevin J
Banned
Stop being picky.
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
No they didnt 4,792 Ju52 were produced between 1933 and 1951
No they didnt 4900 were built between 1939 and 1952.
The most the Germans and Soviets would have had in service at any one time during the war would have been measured in the low hundreds.
Water can be made out at night. Its visible. Low level daylight raids were made but they were suicidal.
The most the Germans and Soviets would have had in service at any one time during the war would have been measured in the low hundreds.
Never giving in. Fighting to the end.
to further the last post, Russia had a really crappy rail network, at least as far as number of rail lines per unit of land mass. The Road network was pretty dismal and may not even deserve the title road network (at least during WW II) Russian infrastructure was such that they made wide use of hydrofoils and air cushion river ferries in the 1960s and 70s to make use of the rivers when they were not frozen. With vast distances and often not a lot between major cities air travel/transport made more sense than in some other countries.
Just looking at USSR production. Il-4 and Li-2 built in equal numbers. We retreated in Belgium, Malaya and Burma. You need 5 tons of supplies for every 2000 troops.
From The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Logistics
For the US in 1942 "Once overseas, each man required about 45 pounds (20 kg) of supplies per day. ."
After receiving better info I must raise that number to 350. I just regard the Malayan campaign as a fiasco and the Singapore surrender as a disaster, so I'm looking for a way around this. My idea is 350 bomber transports supporting our glorious Imperial armies.
Except of course in the Burma Campaign later in the war where transport aircraft were used to supply infiltrated and cut off units. Looking at the Malayan rail network in WW2. It should have been sufficient.If you are wondering if the British could have prevented the Malaya/Singapore debacle, they could indeed have done so, the main obstacles were some disastrous miscalculations and the lack of political will.
Air Transport however is not your answer.
By the time airdropping supplies becomes useful, you've already royally screwed up.
No government could foresee or would plan in advance for their forces to be isolated and need airborne supply.
In Malaya the problem was infiltration by the Japanese through the jungle behind our forces.
The lack of transports was a lack of foresight.
but skip bombers to attack the landing ships and cannon armed aircraft to attack the landing craft and to harass those already landed. Skip bombing was a technique tested in 1923.
This was more of a result of untrained, inexperienced and poorly equipped units, rather than lack of airborne supply capabilities.
The Far East was considered 4th priority, below the UK, Western Desert and aid to the Soviets.
Even if the British had a couple hundred transports to deploy overseas, they'd be sent to Egypt or the Med before the Far East.
Skip bombing is likely not effective with inexperienced pilots.
Torpedo bombers would be far more effective and useful
YesOperation Sea Lion has been wargames, but has anyone wargamed a plausible workable British defence of Malaya?
Granted they were not exactly high speed but able to nose into a river bank doesn't call for much infrastructure.
Economic viability may have had little to do with it. Few western city subway systems or commuter rail trains are economically viable without government subsidies. The problem for many western governments is that the alternatives are either more expensive ( more roads, bridges and tunnels) or politically troublesome. HIgher commuter ticket prices and the pricing of some workers out of the job market.
For the Russians it might have been more rail lines and trains or commuter buses on new roads or ?????
Most transport in many countries is subsidized to a greater or lesser extent. In the US the large trucks don't really pay for the wear and tear on the highways they cause despite the road/fuel tax. The Airlines don't pay for the gov air traffic control system and they rent space at the airports which were built with government subsidies.
Lets not forget the DC-3/LI-2 was the first airliner that could operate at a profit without a government subsidy.
Okay and what was done? What were the results?
But none of the airfields in Malaya were night-capable (a few in Singapore were used for night ops but only in extremis).
Yes SEAC was severely under equipped for fighters. IIRC it was estimated that 500 were needed. .
Among the very first air actions of the Pacific War was the RAAF Hudson's from Khota Baru against the Japanese invasion fleet, so they must have been capable of nighht flying?
500 modern aircraft, not 500 fighters
Given that just Malaya was the size of England, I'll stick with my 500 fighters..