How much did Britain really win WW2?

[Noisy noise annoys]

some american friends told me they had no idea it was the soviets who invaded Berlin.

the nazis hard-on for Russia was their ultimate undoing (Op. Barbarossa).

the americans dropping the fatmans in Japan was another biggie.

those two emerged as the big don't-mess-with-us superpowers of the post-war era.

thankfully the losers like Germany & Japan recovered with significant economic & cultural booms in the decades after the war.


...England won one World Cup.

Adolf pulling back from invading the UK (operation sealion) and turning his attention to the eastern front undoubtedly turned the whole war. We were there for the taking and things would be very different had he not bailed.

As for Britain winning the war, it was effectively 1/3rd of the world v Germany, they did well to even hang on in the end.

 

[Old Blue 2]

Adolf pulling back from invading the UK (operation sealion) and turning his attention to the eastern front undoubtedly turned the whole war. We were there for the taking and things would be very different had he not bailed.

As for Britain winning the war, it was effectively 1/3rd of the world v Germany, they did well to even hang on in the end.

There was no chance of an invasion in 1940, when one considers that the invasion fleet was converted barges going at around 1-2 mph in the uncertain waters of the Channel. Consider what was required in June 1944 just to get an inital toe-hold on mainland Europe...

 

[Noisy noise annoys]

There was no chance of an invasion in 1940, when one considers that the invasion fleet was converted barges going at around 1-2 mph in the uncertain waters of the Channel. Consider what was required in June 1944 just to get an inital toe-hold on mainland Europe...

Good point. The invasion was no where near any sort of action however, he was in France and looking our way. They could have layed (laid?)siege in theory, we were going no where.

 

[degsy]

I hear it used often about “we won the war” but how significant was Britain in defeating rather than resisting the Nazis during WW2?

There’s no doubt the island resisted gallantly and were a part of the drive in storming France and pushing to Berlin but was Britain as significant as Russia in winning the war? Or even as effective as the Johnny-come-lately US in turning the tide of the war. Was it Hitler’s own folly in opening up a second front more decisive in ending the war than Britain’s toil?

It should be a great source of pride to anyone who took part in the war that they overcame an oppressive far right government of course.

All of the above.
With the addition of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour dragging the US into 'a pacific war' - but not 'the european war'.
But, coupled with Churchill's instant declaration of war against Japan this allowed Roosevelt reciprocate, over rule the Isolationist doves as 'pearl harbour milk' had already been spilt.

Unknowningly for the Germans, Pearl Harbour changed the whole dynamic of the war.
Britian, although not invaded - the Channel was both a plus and a minus - it and the Battle of Britain prevented Invasion.
But at the cost of Isolation.
Without the US Industrial might there would be no Invasion and Hitler may have eventually...at a heavy cost...rolled up Russia.
War on 1 front = possible 'victory'
War on 2 fronts = probable, eventual, defeat.

Edit; I read somewhere that dollar for Reichmarks the Germans spent as much on the V1, V2 and a few other dead end projects as the US spent on the atom bomb

 

[peteblue]

Absolutely pal. They fought the far right so authoritarian tyranny wouldn’t oppress us all.

God bless Winston Churchill …..

 

[Rob17896]

I hear it used often about “we won the war” but how significant was Britain in defeating rather than resisting the Nazis during WW2?

There’s no doubt the island resisted gallantly and were a part of the drive in storming France and pushing to Berlin but was Britain as significant as Russia in winning the war? Or even as effective as the Johnny-come-lately US in turning the tide of the war. Was it Hitler’s own folly in opening up a second front more decisive in ending the war than Britain’s toil?

It should be a great source of pride to anyone who took part in the war that they overcame an oppressive far right government of course.

It was the Allies very much including Russia. Germany won the peace though. UK thought the 1945 title win meant it would always be a big club. It is mediocre at best. Ring any bells?

 

[degsy]

It was a combination of Britain and its Empire/Commonwealth, the U.S.A. and the U. S. S. R., as well as many other countries, which defeated the Axis powers.

Libraries have been filled with books arguing that the contribution of this country or that country was most important and I doubt if we'll ever see agreement on the subject.

One thing is pretty clear though - Britain lost the peace. The War cost the country far, far more (in financial terms) that it could possibly afford and to an extent we're still paying the price now, and will continue to do so for years, probably generations.

And we didn't come out of WW1 in too good a shape to start with.

 

[Diogenes the Cynic]

History is written by the victors.

I believe Captain Tom led us to victory before completing 100 victory laps of the battlefield.

 

[Rita_Poon]

'cats eyes' Cunningham.

 

[JimmyJeffers]

History is written by the victors.

I believe Captain Tom led us to victory before completing 100 victory laps of the battlefield.

I read an interesting article that said for D-day they just unleashed Captain Tom and he went full savage.
Won the bloody war by himself.

 

[Diogenes the Cynic]

I read an interesting article that said for D-day they just unleashed Captain Tom and he went full savage.
Won the bloody war by himself.

It's typical of the man.

I've heard samples of his DNA were introduced to the general population in the booster vaccines so he can lead every one of us from the inside.

 

[Bedfordblue]

Any excuse
Bismark

Tirpitz (Bismarks bigger brother)

Navy caught up with a stricken Bismark after it had it's rudder damaged by torpedo delivered by Swordfish biplane.
Tirpitz met it's end in the fjord it was hidden* in where the RAF dropped 8 ton tallboy bombs on it. Trivia fact, salvaged plates from Tirpitz are used to cover holes on the autobahns of Germany.
Yamato (Japanese) was 50%(ish) bigger again that Tirpitz. But the age of the battleship was over. Impressive pieces of kit.

Isn’t the WW2 battleship (wreck) steel super valuable because it doesn’t have the contaminated isotopes that all steel since the first atomic bomb test have?

 

[Bedfordblue]

Radar, Collossus and cracking enigma by us made as big if not a bigger contribution to the win than the yank or the orcs did.

 

[DavidH]

I don't think Quint from Jaws gets enough credit when we talk about winning the war. Poor fella had a Japanese submarine slam two torpedoes into the side of his ship when they were coming back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. Just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Sharks started eating them maybe 6 an hour, ripping them to pieces. He'll never put on a lifejacket again.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Isn’t the WW2 battleship (wreck) steel super valuable because it doesn’t have the contaminated isotopes that all steel since the first atomic bomb test have?

Yeah apparently salvaged steel from the Scapa Flow scuttled fleet.