What was the One Thing that won WWII?

[Lightning Guy]

It couldn't have been the Lancaster than won the war for the simple reason that the Lanc had ZERO impact on the Pacific. You could argue that it won the war in Europe. You would be wrong, but you could argue it.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

sorry LG, it was a joke carrying on from Plan_D's post............

 

[Dan]

i honestly think that what won the war for the allies was sheer numbers
i mean think about it: there were about 35,000 shermans produced in world war 2 alone (i think) and there were only about (i think Agian) 1300 German tigers built and aside from fire power the sherman was better than the tiger with many things like turret rotation time (which could mean the difference between life and death)

 

[plan_D]

Mind while I laugh for the next half a hour while someone tries to state that the Sherman was even mildly better than the Tiger.

Three most important things on a battlefield tank. Manuverability, firepower and armour. 2 to 1 advantage on Tiger.

The things the Sherman holds over the Tiger are, reliability, ease of build, speed and turret rotation speed. That's good, saving lots of lives while having to get within 75 yards of the Tigers rear to destroy it. Meanwhile a Tiger can blow you to pieces (literally) from 3km away.

 

[Dan]

well i guess i didn't know about the range thing but what the heck

 

[Lightning Guy]

But the numbers thing is crucial. The Tiger was the better tank 1 on 1, but 5 on 1, or 10 on 1, that's where the Sherman came through. And the point about Allied production capacity was well made.

 

[GermansRGeniuses]

The thing about the Tiger's slow turret speed is easily resolved. Rotate the tank, not the turret. That eliminates one problem as the Tiger rotated faster than any tank of the war if my facts are correct.

Also, what is practically "sniping" compared to what other tanks had to do is a great advantage. Seeing as how the other tanks MOST LIKELY, not certainly, doesn't know where you are, you can rotate the turret or the tank with less haste, as well as less noise.


Winner: Tiger.

 

[plan_D]

Your facts are correct GrG. The Tigers size was 1:1 (Length:Width) it could rotate the whole body very quickly, which also brought it's frontal armour to bear.
The Tiger had the optics for up to 5km which gave it good sniping ability, especially in the hedgerows. A Tiger had to truly be swamped to be destroyed, even on a 5 : 1 battle against the Tiger, the Tiger would most likely come out on top. In 1944 the kill ratio was 3:1 in the Tigers favour against the Sherman.

Tigers were reported to hold off whole columns. I have read that one managed to destroy 18 Shermans and 13 trucks during the Normandy campaign, in one day. There were such things as Panzer Aces.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

have you heard the story of Micheal Wittmann?? of not i suggest you try and find it, from what i've heard there's nothing he couln't do with a tiger....................

 

[MichaelHenley]

I'd say the B-17- apart from the Liberator, it was the most produced plane during WWII. Also, it was able to take a huge ton of flak...

 

[MichaelHenley]

I'd say the B-17- apart from the Liberator, it was the most produced plane during WWII. Also, it was able to take a huge ton of flak...

 

[Schrage Muzik]

To think that any one thing won the war is ignorant.

No one plane, gun, tank, ship, riveter, prime minister, president, G.I., Tommy, or Kilt-wearing highlander could have won the war alone. The Lancs could not have won the war alone, nor could our massive industrial capacity. Many hundreds of factors all came together simultaneously and built upon each other to attain victory.

 

[toffi]

I would say, that the man who have won the war in Europe was Adolf Hitler himself. Why? When he had opened second front in Russia, he made the biggest mistake. It was the first nail to his coffin.

 

[plan_D]

Great, another one. I hope realise that Germany could have beaten Russia if Britain and America weren't supplying them. Weren't holding 350,000 people in Africa. Counter-Attacked in the Balkans in May 1941 when Barbarossa was supposed to happen. Blockaded the North Sea.

Also, even with that, if the OKW and OKH weren't drunk on victory they could have been a bit wiser in 1941 and pulled off a descisive victory.

 

[Andrew]

The Tiger had the optics for up to 5km which gave it good sniping ability, especially in the hedgerows. A Tiger had to truly be swamped to be destroyed, even on a 5 : 1 battle against the Tiger, the Tiger would most likely come out on top. In 1944 the kill ratio was 3:1 in the Tigers favour against the Sherman.

Don't forget the Sherman Firefly, which was fitted with the British 17Pdr Anti-Tank Gun, the 17Pdr was capable of penetrating 137mm of Armour at 2,000M range, and was able to Kill any Tiger Tank within Range. in fact when the Germans realised how good the Firefly was, they were singled out to be destroyed first.

 

[plan_D]

You'll find although the 17 pdr cannon on the Firefly states a 137mm penertration at 2km, it was actually much lower in true combat tests. The Germans didn't really need to struggle to pick the Firefly out in the group. The smoke generated by the 17 pdr was enough to give the German tank crews an indication which one was the Firefly, on top of reducing the rate of fire on the Firefly itself.

It was a much better tank than the original Sherman, of course. But the Tiger and Panther were both superior tanks. Luckily by that time we had A34 Comets coming into service.

 

[Sagaris]

I think one of the most decisive matters in winning the war was the cracking of the Enigma code.

 

[NightHawk]

Something different.

What was the One Thing that won WWII? It could be a Battle, a Plane, an Invention etc...

I would say Radar 8)

Hot Space

well technolagy got us far. but il say the lives of the people there died on the battlefields. and personaly im very greatful for thet.

 

[cheddar cheese]

Touching words and an interesting viewpoint

 

[lesofprimus]

The Atomic Bomb won the War in the Pacific...

Could we have dropped a couple on Nazi Germany if the Battle of the Bulge went differently???

Hmmmmmm....