The Worst Battlefield of WWII

[Njaco]

I just read an excerpt that the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea was the worst battlefield that was fought - especially for the Anzacs. It got me thinking: What was the roughest/ toughest battlefield fought during WWII?

This is multiple choice and please give your reason!

 

[rochie]

am reading Citizen soldiers by S.Ambrose and the Hurgten forest sounded pretty rough.

close planted tree's, not being able to stand up straight, deep snow, freezing cold, dark, misty and only able to advance straight into enemy fire plus it seemed a sensless objective to take without taking other objectives in the area !

 

[michaelmaltby]

I voted Stalingrad because it was bloody and close - like many of the other choices - but, more significantly, because it was a 'turn-around' battle. The Germans entered triumphantly in the summer of 1942 and exited in 'chains' to Siberia in January, 1943.

MM

 

[rochie]

could also add Peleliu.

baking hot, solid coral so no fox holes, jagged terrain with an entrenched and fanatical enemy !

 

[Njaco]

except that it won't let me edit the polll!!!!

Need to correct the spelling on Forest and add Bastogne along with your suggestion. WTF!!!!

 

[Juha]

Kokoda Trail, Peleliu, New Georgia in Pacific
The wilderness North of Lake Lagoda in the winter 39-40, much colder with much more snow and darkness than in Hürtgen Forest, very heavy losses to encircled Soviet formations.
Väliasema fighting in late Feb 40 in Karelia Isthmus, fighting in hastly constructed positions with extremely limited A/T weaponry against enemy with a couple thousands tanks and very powerful artillery.
Fighting on the islands in the Bay of Viipuri/Vyborg in March 40 and in July 44

Juha

 

[Thorlifter]

Voted for Iwo Jima and Stalingrad. Would also vote for Peleliu if possible. I could also suggest Okinawa or maybe because they were very similar it should be listed as Iwo Jima/Okinawa.

All those I listed, plus some above that I didn't vote for, were fought step by step and every inch of gained ground was precious and bloody.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I voted for Stalingrad because of the combination of terrain, weather and brutal fighting by both sides.

Now having said that, I think all battlefields are "worse" in there own way, and you cant place one above the other. I am sure that most who have spent time in a combat zone will zone will agree.

 

[rochie]

I voted for Stalingrad because of the combination of terrain, weather and brutal fighting by both sides.

Now having said that, I think all battlefields are "worse" in there own way, and you cant place one above the other. I am sure that most who have spent time in a combat zone will zone will agree.

well said Chris

 

[oldcrowcv63]

Iwo Jima for me. Stalingrad a close second. You could add Stuttgart to the Schweinfurt/Regensburg run. IN many ways the same kind of beating but aggravated with an overlay of Charge of the Light Brigade stupidity.

 

[Njaco]

"Worst" might be mis-used by me. I believe that I was looking for the roughest / toughest. I agree with Adler that any battlefield is difficult but some were pure hell. I was just curious what everyone thought.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I too no offense to your use of the word "worse". It was just my opinion on the topic, nothing else.

 

[Njaco]

No worries. You just made me realize I may have used the wrong terminology.

Its all good!

 

[renrich]

Miyitkina (SP?) in Burma.

 

[Bernhart]

aluetians bad time all around

 

[Oreo]

I would say Attu, agreeing with Bernhart. Not to detract from the others, of course. Pelelieu was pretty bad. So were Stalingrad, Okinawa, Iwo, Ardennes, Kursk-- I'm just glad I wasn't at any of them at the time.

 

[drgondog]

Stalingrad - hands down. Sheer body count, brutal winter conditions, starvation, POW count after surrender.

Okinawa was worse than Iwo Jima.

Was Kokoda trail even close to Guadalcanal? Both were grim jungle campaigns...

Schweinfurt and Ploesti cost a lot of aircraft - Berlin a lot more - and had at two missions, each of which, which exceeded October 14, 1943 Black Thursday. The March 6 and April 29 Berlin missions cost the US more (each) arcraft and crews than any other single day of combat operations - ever.

 

[pbfoot]

not in the same league as Staligrad but certainly amongst the toughest on the Western Front was the Battle of the Scheldt and the Breskins pocket the 3rd Canadian Div ((Water Rats) had more amphibious assaults against defended positions then any other Allied unit including USMC in WW2 as most of the Netherlands had been flooded leavimg only the roads above the water in the effort to open Antwerp up for shipping

 

[mikewint]

My worst is not on your list. I offer the following:
1. OKINAWA More than 100,000 Japanese soldiers and 12,000 American soldiers died in Okinawa. This isn't including those wounded, which for the U.S. forces amounted to 36,000 soldiers. Tragically, some estimate that Okinawan civilians made up 150,000 of the dead left in the battle's wake.
2. D-DAY The whole invasion spanned several months and lasted until the end of August. Casualties were high on both sides: Estimates peg German casualties at a staggering 320,000 (30,000 dead, 80,000 wounded and the rest missing) and Allied casualties at about 230,000 (more than 45,000 dead).
3. BATTLE OF THE BULGE Some have called this battle the bloodiest for Americans, as 19,000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives and more than 70,000 were wounded or went missing. For comparison, of the 12,000 British casualties, 200 were killed. The Germans likewise suffered heavily with about 100,000 casualties.
4. STALINGRAD Stalingrad was a decisive battle that changed the tone of the war in favor of the Allies. And although the Soviets won, they also suffered more casualties than their enemies in the process. Axis forces had about 800,000 casualties, compared to more than 1 million on the Soviet side. In addition, about 40,000 civilians died in the conflict.
5. BATTLE/SIEGE OF LENINGRAD As you might expect from a battle that lasted longer than some wars have, the number of deaths was astronomical. Most horrific is that more than 1 million civilians lost their lives as a result of the conflict. This number made up about one-third of the local population at the time. Some fell victim to warfare directly, others from disease, freezing to death or starvation -- Nazi forces blockaded the city to prevent the people from receiving supplies. The Soviet army lost more than 1 million lives as well, not including more than 2 million sick or injured. The number of German casualties is disputed, but approximates 216,000.
6. INVASION OF POLAND On Sept. 1, 1939, the Germans attacked Poland from the west, and the Polish forces retreated directly into the hands of the Russians, who were waiting to attack from behind. Caught in the crossfire of this secret pact between their neighbors and awaiting aid from France and the United Kingdom that never came, 65,000 soldiers from Poland's 950,000-strong military force were killed, more than 133,000 were wounded and the rest were considered captured. Fifty-nine thousand soldiers from the USSR and Germany were killed or wounded.

7. OPERATION BAGRATION In mid-August 1944, the Soviets reached the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, just as the Polish resistance had itself risen up against the Nazis. All told, Operation Bagration took 350,000 German and 765,000 Soviet troops.
8. IWO JIMA Though the number of troops killed on Iwo Jima doesn't rival some of World War II's other battles, the battle is notable for the percentage of troops killed. On Iwo Jima, Japanese troops fought to the death -- of the nearly 22,000 Japanese troops who started the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner. The rest were killed. With 26,000 U.S. troops killed or injured, the Battle of Iwo Jima is the only clash of World War II in which U.S. casualties outnumbered Japanese casualties.
9. BATTLE OF BERLIN The Battle officially ended on May 2, 1945. However, the fear of surrendering to the Soviets was so strong that the Germans continued fighting in hopes of breaking through the Soviet siege in order to surrender to Western forces instead of the USSR. The cost to the Soviets was more than 70,000 men (many believe that number could have been fewer had Russian generals not been so eager to capture Berlin before the United States). Nearly 250,000 Germans died.
10. BATTLE OF SINGAPORE Aided by air supremacy, the Japanese exploited holes in the defense to infiltrate the island and in exactly a week -- Feb. 8 to Feb. 15, 1942 -- had taken it. Five thousand British and Australian troops were killed or wounded, but the real toll on Allied troops were the 80,000 who went to Japanese prison camps, the vast majority of whom would never make it home. In addition, after the battle, the Japanese massacred ethnic Chinese males (Japanese and Chinese dispute numbers, probably 50,000 to 100,000) on the island.
Finally, in my opinion, THE BATTLE OF MOSCOW has to rank as the bloodiest battle of WWII. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow. Moscow was one of the primary military and political objectives for Axis forces in their invasion of the Soviet Union. As always German and Russian figures differ but range from: German 248,000 to 400,000 and Russian 650,000 to 1,280,000

 

[Juha]

As small hells on the earth Kholm/Cholm and Velikiye Luki

Juha