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Post by Swampy on Oct 27, 2018 11:19:09 GMT -5
I just finished the book, and, while it drags at times with personal anecdotes, as opposed to detailing the battles, it's a good refresher with good updates on the research done on the the greatest war in history.
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Post by Sir John on Oct 27, 2018 11:45:55 GMT -5
I always thought that WW2 started in Dec 1941?
SJ
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Post by Swampy on Oct 27, 2018 15:15:11 GMT -5
I always thought that WW2 started in Dec 1941? SJ That's when we began winning; before then, it was mainly downhill. |
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Post by Sir John on Oct 27, 2018 16:55:13 GMT -5
As always, Churchill said it best,
"Thank God".
He knew the civilised world could not be beaten from that day on.
SJ
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Post by Swampy on Oct 27, 2018 17:33:39 GMT -5
I can still remember what he wrote in his history of the war - he had only the greatest joy. So they had won after all - Hitler's fate was sealed, Mussolini's fate was sealed, as for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder. All that was remained was to focus that overwhelming power.
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Post by Sir John on Oct 27, 2018 20:01:18 GMT -5
I thought it was because we had lent Britain the 9th!
SJ
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Post by Swampy on Nov 6, 2018 18:58:42 GMT -5
I thought it was because we had lent Britain the 9th! That too, though there was no lending of divisions, unlike Lend-Lease. Having finished the book, I would reiterate what many historians have said about the Eastern Front - when the Germans invaded, they were initially greeted with joy by the population. So what the Germans should have done was to make it a crusade against Bolshevism, calling on all Europeans - including Churchill - to join in. And their aim would be to advance straight on Moscow, ignoring side theatres like Leningrad and the Ukraine. The war may still have been unwinnable, but the Germans would have had a chance of a negotiated peace. |
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Post by Sir John on Nov 6, 2018 21:25:08 GMT -5
Actually there was a big debate and cable correspondence about the 9th remaining in Nth Africa.
Our PM JohnCurtin wanted them home with the 7th to face the peace loving japanese. He was clsoe to insisting until FDR offered an extra US Army division for New Guinea
SJ
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Post by Swampy on Nov 6, 2018 23:12:09 GMT -5
Actually there was a big debate and cable correspondence about the 9th remaining in Nth Africa. Our PM JohnCurtin wanted them home with the 7th to face the peace loving japanese. He was clsoe to insisting until FDR offered an extra US Army division for New Guinea SJ The question is if Churchill was prepared to sacrifice Australia to protect the oil in the Middle East. He claimed, in his history of the war, that it was the other way around, but the evidence seems to suggest otherwise. |
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Post by Sir John on Nov 7, 2018 0:44:34 GMT -5
I agree, it caused a sensation when it was reported that Churchill said something like,
"Australia can fall, and we will take it back after we beat Germany".
SJ
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