Yet despite their best efforts and losing over 4000 aircraft they were unable to do so and German reserves arrived. If not for Bagration the breakout would have been impossible despite the heavy damage to the French rail infrastructure.
Sure.
Operation Starvation was not planned on being completed until 1946. Operation Downfall was slated before that. US public will to keep fighting by the end of 1944 was collapsing.
Sure, but I don't think the Wallies have the stomach to wait until early 1945 for a breakout given the casualty rates that would ensue and how much of their airpower would be attritted down trying to maintain their positions. The carpet bombing plan was a desperation move to crack the front because of how poorly the campaign was going.
It wasn't about choice of making more or less but rather resources to actually make more. They'd have been throttled until 1946 due to having to build up capacity to make more. The ones used for the original test and on Japan were effectively hand built. From the memo I found about production capabilities they'd only be able to make bombs 2/3rds the power of the original three until November 1945 at the rate of no more than 3 per month. So they become pointless to use in Europe given the existing bomber fleets could do more damage with existing capabilities.
No. The wz.38 155mm cannon was a domestic Polish design. Or an attempt at one ...
Even IOTL the Luftwaffe was still active even in May 1945. Like in Ukraine today if you don't give battle except when you can survive then you can stay alive for when it counts.
But the divisions survived. The bombing hurt, but didn't destroy the divisions. Ultimately it took major ground action to break out.
Not when they're needed for Japan and the IJA.
Gotcha. Got a link to the design? I can't find much.
Probably.
Indeed. AFAIK on the eastern front they had enough 'observation' battalions to do the job.
Actually sounds quite a bit like the 15cm K18 the Germans made:
1.On East Front,when they bombed soviets used even Ju87 during day till they have fuel and bombs.Against Allies,they failed.
Good to see you back. Agree with the above to a point. Ammo supply is very important, but having the right weapons is crucial too. You can have all the ammo in the world, but if all you have are 81mm mortars you will get wrecked by an opponent with 105mm howitzers.
Eh, that's very contextual. A big part of the supply problem during the NWE campaign was the port capacity problem and inland supply. Allied bombing had severely damaged the rail network of NWE Europe and the Germans still held most of the ports or have prevented them being used for the majority of the remainder of the war, so getting supplies to the front was very difficult. Not only that, but shipping things out of US ports was often difficult and in the case of tanks even though there existed enough getting through the logistical train turned out to be impossible due to maxed out capacity.
Comparison out of context. How many more tubes did the Germans have to feed? See the difference in the number of divisions and intensity of combat they were actually involved in as well as how much the US army spend on their air force.
Given the economy was zero sum what would they have give up? How much could they have gotten through the rotten logistical situation in NWE?
Again see the supply situation and think about what they'd have to give up. Remember they also a manpower crisis in 1944 and had plenty of artillery relative to their ground forces, more GHQ units IIRC than Germany with an army a fraction of the size of the German one. How much more artillery did the US really even need?
Division of labor. The Reds were really only good at having a massive army capable of soaking up the casualties and locking the bulk of the Axis armies down, while the US could invest heavily in their air force and wear down German resources that way. Looks like their strategy worked out heavily in their favor.
Not really accurate. The only time before 1942 in the west that the Ju87 couldn't function during the day was during the Battle of Britain since they had to fly a distance before getting to the target against the best integrated air defense system in the world at that point. The Bf110 also failed then, but was still useful most other places. Also remember the Ju87 was used successfully in late 1942/early 1943 in Tunisia and North Africa as well.
So if we are saying the Allies are stuck on 3 of the beaches they took IOTL and remain in an Anzio type situation for 6-8 months with Normandy casualty rates I do wonder if they will simply withdraw after trying to land somewhere else to break the deadlock, because politically staying stuck with lots of casualties is electoral suicide in 1944.
Even as late as January 1944 40% of Americans polled said they'd be willing to deal with the German army if they overthrew Hitler. That was despite winning and propaganda saying they needed to go all the way. If propaganda changed and supported a peace deal enough people would shift to support peace; hell look at how much influence the media has these days over public opinion. That said I think you're right in the sense that the public wouldn't deal with Hitler, but they would support a coup government or one that had the Nazis leave positions of power even voluntarily for the army to take over.
FDR did that, not the American public. Different president different foreign policy.
Not disputing that.
In time it would probably be possible given that they were sourcing components they couldn't make at home abroad. But in 1939 there was no way to make it.
In 1944-45 sure. The reason the USAAF was that dominating was sheer size they just swamped their enemies with in conjunction with their rather powerful allies.
Not literally on 3 beaches, just that 3 beaches succeed on D-day and the push inland is constrained by that initial starting position. 20km sounds reasonable for the limit of advance, but as James Holland wrote about the campaign that constrained perimeter prevents the Allies from developing their strength or effectively rotating units and imposes a pretty nasty attritional situation on the air forces due to having to only based in England and fly across for every sortie. It could be maintained, but only at a high cost, one that could well be prohibitive if they cannot break out reasonably quickly (3-4 months). Personally though I think they'd still try to launch Dragoon to break the deadlock, so everything would hinge on if that works if the Soviets are in a worse position and the eastern front is stable.
Depends. Despite having the devil's luck Hitler very nearly got killed in the OTL attempt; in an ATL especially with the US willing to cut a deal the extra support for the coup could make it work in an ATL. IOTL a big thing hindering the coup from working was the Allied refusal to even try to negotiate a deal to remove Hitler; the OTL coupists were a minority of potential army officers who would have been willing to kill Hitler to end the war. A different war situation would probably delay an assassination attempt until the US election was over so they could see if they would have a new president to try and cut a deal with; given the Republican OSS officers were trying to negotiate with the coupists to remove Hitler a Republican president might be willing to listen to them to end the war and keep the Soviets out of Central Europe; Churchill was worried about that too and would be trying to work with Dewey to see if they could change the unconditional surrender policy if Hitler was couped.
WW2's outcome says otherwise. Hell Japan couldn't win in China due to the sheer numbers they faced.
Are you talking about in Normandy? I'm not disputing that the Wallied bench was deeper, but trying to rotate them out of a narrow bridgehead is pretty tough; for the Germans rotating them out is much easier especially if the bridgehead is contained in a narrow strip, again see Anzio.
The SS only really rose to their dominating position after the failed coup and purge; prior they could have been dealt with even if it would mean a short civil war. Most Germans wanted the war to end via negotation.
I've seen that disputed; Hitler's popularity fell off a cliff after Stalingrad and the increasing number of defeats. What Germans really were irritated by was the coup attempt that failed. Had it succeeded and the media been controlled the average person wouldn't have done anything. After all the only people who could have, fighting age men, were mostly in the army and the Ersatzheer was firmly on the side of the coupists, while those at the front had no idea what was going on or ability to change anything.
Disagree for the reasons above.
AFAIK by 1945 unless in an area of total air control (extremely rare) they weren't used during the day, just as night bombers.
Theoretically, but the problem is getting those units into action. Constraining port and territory held would be a major obstacle to deploying and rotating units. Couple that with the storm that smashed the Mulberry harbors and things get tough.
Less than half of those were worth a damn or had sufficient equipment. Most of the ones over the 12th SS in numbering had insufficient manpower or equipment in 1944. It was really only 1-12 that were decently equipped and even then that was highly contextual with some not really being notable like the 4th SS division, which was intended as a police/security unit.
It failed IOTL. Hitler lived and was able to broadcast quickly after the attempt before the coupists got their plot rolling. In that case due to wanting to avoid a civil war most civilians just waited to see what the outcome would be. The reality is most people in a period of conflict don't want to get involved even if they support one side or the other since they aren't fighters. By 1944 the average German was either female, a child, or old, so had zero ability to decide the coup one way or the other. The younger men with guns were the ones who decided and most had no idea what was going on until it was already over.
AFAIK by 1945 unless in an area of total air control (extremely rare) they weren't used during the day, just as night bombers.
As to the Schliesen:
It hit a British air dropped naval mine but didn't sink.
The Lutzow was hit by bombs, but not sunk:
Both sides were scuttled by crew at the end of the war.
Theoretically, but the problem is getting those units into action. Constraining port and territory held would be a major obstacle to deploying and rotating units. Couple that with the storm that smashed the Mulberry harbors and things get tough.
The Storm of 19-20 June, 1944
The weather was always an unknown factor. Storms in the English Channel have always been violent, with the wind whipping the waves in the confined area between Normandy and England. The great storm of June 19-20 succeeded in doing what the Germans had not been able to do - destroy the greatwww.history.navy.mil
If some of the beaches fail then the constrained logistics situation caused by the storms would severely undercut the sustainability of the bridgehead. Which brings us to my point here: it didn't take much change to bring about significant alterations to major campaigns, which could have massive strategic consequences. That said Overlord being trapped at the beaches still helps tie down German forces and allows for Dragoon to be carried out in Southern France, which might break the deadlock in the Allies' favor.
Less than half of those were worth a damn or had sufficient equipment. Most of the ones over the 12th SS in numbering had insufficient manpower or equipment in 1944. It was really only 1-12 that were decently equipped and even then that was highly contextual with some not really being notable like the 4th SS division, which was intended as a police/security unit.
Also remember many of them were foreign units which would not fight in a civil war if push came to shove. Also remember at their very peak the SS had about 800,000 men (not in July 1944 and mostly at the fornt), while the replacement army alone (not at the front) had over 1 million men.
It failed IOTL. Hitler lived and was able to broadcast quickly after the attempt before the coupists got their plot rolling. In that case due to wanting to avoid a civil war most civilians just waited to see what the outcome would be. The reality is most people in a period of conflict don't want to get involved even if they support one side or the other since they aren't fighters. By 1944 the average German was either female, a child, or old, so had zero ability to decide the coup one way or the other. The younger men with guns were the ones who decided and most had no idea what was going on until it was already over.
Sure, the Russian navy before their subs got out performed pretty dismally in naval combat, but were highly useful for providing fire support for Leningrad and moving units about. Really the German and Soviet navies' both were probably more useful for supplements to ground combat than for fighting the navy of the other side.
Indians weren't used in France and the Polish units only came in later. The latter could be filtered in eventually, but the US and Brits/Canadians used their best for the initial assault and those units, those that survive, would be stuck holding the perimeter for a while while getting more divisions in would be tough, especially after the storm.
Eh, not really. The regular army fought for Germany despite for that oath and by 1944 the SS were conscripted too, which is how Gunter Grass ended up in an SS panzer division at 16.
Because Hitler lived and they ultimately chose to side with him since otherwise it would result in a nasty civil war. I'm talking about an ATL where Hitler is killed so the motivation to fight for guys like Himmler wouldn't be there for the average German; by 1944 only Hitler was still popular among the Nazi leaders.