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Post by Sir John on May 10, 2013 17:37:17 GMT -5
...and if he had NOT bombed, what would Germany's war production have been?
Speer knew the cost to Germany of waging the air war.
SJ
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2013 8:06:43 GMT -5
"The horrors of the war are still very present in the collective mind of the Germans. That is why we don’t accept war as a political tool anymore and always see the hardship of the civilians trapped on the battle-field too."
This will change as the following generations die out. How it will change no one knows but you can bet it probably won't be for the better. It seems it never is regardless of the country and situation.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2013 12:54:57 GMT -5
Yes it is about time for Germany to crank up for the 4th Reich or is the 5th I've forgot .
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Post by Swampy on May 11, 2013 13:30:57 GMT -5
I don't see that happening. The world has changed in many ways.
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Post by mcnoch on May 11, 2013 13:32:40 GMT -5
I guess, the UK, France, NL, Poland and other would have a dissenting opinion on that.
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Post by Sir John on May 11, 2013 15:17:42 GMT -5
Not saying about Germany, but I predict many changes in governments around the world in the next decade or so.
We have seen some of it in recent years, and as each new government fails and is thrown out we could well see forms of dictatorship come to the fore.
Political and social upheaval will abound.
JMO
SJ
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Post by Sir John on May 11, 2013 23:52:31 GMT -5
blogs.warwick.ac.uk/markharrison/entry/the_dam_busters/"The indirect effects of Allied bombing also helped to bring that moment nearer. Allied bombing weakened the German ground forces because it distracted German air power away from the Eastern Front (against the Red Army) and France (against the 1944 Allied landings). Defending against air attack was very costly for Germany. At the peak of war mobilization, one third of German war production took the form of night fighters, anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, and radar." (To that I would add the firefighters, the ammunition factories, and repairs to infrastructure) SJ
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Post by Swampy on May 11, 2013 23:57:55 GMT -5
I read that 40% of the Luftwaffe was lost fighting the Allied air campaign.
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Post by Sir John on May 12, 2013 0:47:09 GMT -5
As an aside, the 8th Air Force heavy bombers expended 12,000+ rounds of .50 calibre ammo for every Luftwaffe plane shot down.
......and I will bet a large number of those 6000+ planes were claimed 5 times over by various gunners in the B17s etc, all truly believing he shot it down.
SJ
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2013 19:27:53 GMT -5
The Germans always have a flare for words the battle for Berlin was called the Hexen Kessel .
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 16:11:29 GMT -5
The 8th Air Force at times shot each other down in the excitement .
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Post by Sir John on May 13, 2013 17:59:49 GMT -5
Years ago I made that suggestion to an old 8th vet, and he got most upset. I also said that his Norden Bomb Sight was near to useless with 1000 B17s spread all over the sky, all aiming at a factory 500 yards in width.
Real good over an AZ practice range, but not much good at 20,000' with 50% cloud.
SJ
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 19:33:58 GMT -5
Norden bomb sight was so secret that the bombardier was required to commit suicide if captured the Germans were amused as they were the ones who developed most of the thing years earlier .
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Post by Sir John on May 13, 2013 19:35:54 GMT -5
I think they had one in their possession quite early in the air war.
SJ
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 19:38:02 GMT -5
Yes they knew more about it than the Americans did .
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