|
Posts:
13
From:
colorado
Registered:
7/14/08
|
|
(1 of 24)
great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 11:16 AM
|
the pilot who bombed london.
during a night operation of the german luftwaffa a pilot and his crew miscalculated the tigectory of the bomber and relaeced its bombs over london.A tragic mistace killing 9 civilins and the pilot and his crew were immediatly transferd to the infantry.And in result of the attack the allies bombed berlin and soon killing 100's of thousnads of geman civilins
--
Edited by blitzinkreig at 07/28/2008 11:46 AM
|
|
|
Posts:
1,829
From:
Melbourne, Australia.
Registered:
10/3/02
|
|
(2 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 11:42 AM
|
...and FAR more importantly, it was the day my wife was born!
John.
|
|
|
Posts:
1,615
From:
UK
Registered:
5/1/08
|
|
(3 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 11:46 AM
|
The embarrassment and indigity experienced by Japans High command after the Doolittle raid.
Directly, this was responsible for 'concentration' on the plan to bring US carriers to battle at Midway.Had 4 or 6 of Japans fleet carriers accompanied the Port Moresby invasion force, brought to battle at Coral Sea, US carrier forces 'would' have suffered heavier loss.
It was Japans major blunder.
The New Guinea conflicts which sapped effort and strength would not have occured. Air bases on New Guinea would not have been available to Allied forces and the conflict for Guadalcanal was a different proposition. With Japanese Air forces operating from Port Moresby and Buna rather than Rabaul and Lae, many more sorties were possible into the eastern Solomons.
--
DARE TO LOSE
My signature looks a little tremulous, but my resolution is firm.
--
Edited by herosrest at 07/28/2008 11:56 AM
|
|
|
Posts:
794
Registered:
6/30/08
|
|
(4 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 11:59 AM
|
|
This is an interesting one.Did any civilians actually die? I've read there were no deaths.And how many planes actually dropped their bombs? I have seen widely variant figures.Let's try and clear it up!
|
|
|
Posts:
95
From:
Missouri
Registered:
6/29/08
|
|
(5 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 12:22 PM
|
I'm not sure if these were the "greatest", but these were certainly big mistakes, when looking back at it from today.
1) Not "accidentally" taking out Mao and his Commie leadership. Either by airstrike or OSS-type assasination.
Not saying it was even possible to get close enough, I just don't know. Just thinking it would have been nice.
2) Rebuffing Ho Chi Mihn. He sought a better relationship with the US thru his OSS contacts, but was snubbed by the Truman administration. True he had been Communist indoctrinated, but he also professed great admiration for America's founders. George Washinton in particular. Fom what I've read, he was really more a nationalist than a Stalinist-type hardcore believer.
3) Pearl Harbor -- So many. On both sides. Nagumo not launching a 3rd attack wave (thank God!). Command not intuiting the meaning of disperate info pointing to the attack (i.e. Ward vs. midget sub, radar sightings. Planes wingtip to wingtip. Battleships with portholes & watertight doors wide open.
Then again it is so easy for us to "Monday Morning Quarterback" such things as these.
--
-------------------------------
Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue...
|
|
|
Posts:
1,623
From:
Utica, IL
Registered:
5/5/08
|
|
(6 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 2:10 PM
|
> the pilot who bombed london.
> during a night operation of the german luftwaffa a
> pilot and his crew miscalculated the tigectory of the
> bomber and relaeced its bombs over london.A tragic
> mistace killing 9 civilins and the pilot and his crew
> were immediatly transferd to the infantry.And in
> result of the attack the allies bombed berlin and
> soon killing 100's of thousnads of geman civilins
>
> --
> Edited by blitzinkreig at 07/28/2008 11:46 AM
Here's a dilly; the code name for the operations in New Guinea was "Fall River"; tons of supplies destined for the Pacific rotted on the wharf in Massachusetts because personnel thought it was the destination and not a code name.
--
Edited by Trackhead at 07/31/2008 2:33 PM
|
|
|
Posts:
13
From:
colorado
Registered:
7/14/08
|
|
(7 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 3:16 PM
|
|
yes 9 civilions did die in the accidental bombing of the capatol of britan
|
|
|
Posts:
1,615
From:
UK
Registered:
5/1/08
|
|
(8 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 6:04 PM
|
How do you bomb someone by accident?
--
DARE TO LOSE
My signature looks a little tremulous, but my resolution is firm.
|
|
|
Posts:
299
From:
USA
Registered:
4/26/08
|
|
(9 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 28, 2008 6:51 PM
|
They got lost, and I guess they wanted to go home so they just dropped their load.
--
The only thing that new these days is the history we have yet to discover.- Unknown
Why join the Army and sleep in the dirt and eat MREs when you can sleep in a bunk and get steak and eggs for breakfast in the Navy?
|
|
|
Posts:
325
From:
Northern California
Registered:
3/30/00
|
|
(10 of 24)
Jul 28, 2008 7:54 PM
|
That was a disaster that could and should have been avoided. Peleliu was another, as was the endless pushing of infantry into the meatgrinder of the Huertgen Forest.
But those were tactical mistakes. The two biggest strategic blunders of the war:
1) Japan's decision to launch a sneak attack on America's Hawaian Bases. If they had left American forces alone, isolationist sentiment would probably have prevented America's entry into the war. Their attack on French Indo-China in July 1941 annoyed a lot of Americans, but that was the extent of public reaction. The prevailing atitude was that it was not our fight. Japanese invasions of British & Dutch possessions (Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, etc.) would probably not have had much more effect on the American public.
2) Hitler's decicion to declare war on America a few days after Pearl Harbor. He already had his hands full. The Tripartite Alliance required him to go to war with America, but he broke just about every treaty he ever had up to that point, why not continue the trend? FDR knew he probably could not coax congress into ever declaring war on Germany, given the circumstances.
--
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more"
-Willliam Shakespeare, Henry V
--
Edited by slatgrillefrank at 07/28/2008 7:58 PM
|
|
|
Posts:
19,150
Registered:
1/13/03
|
|
(11 of 24)
Jul 31, 2008 3:04 PM
|
|
Ex. Tiger was the code word for the practice landings in England on 4/28/44 in preparation for the Normandy invasion. The ships packed with troops were attacked in the early morning hours while they were getting ready for the practice anphibious landings. Fast German surface ships armed with torpedoes sunk at least one Allied ship and damaged one or two more killing about 800 Soldiers and Sailors. Shore batteries were either ordered not to fire on the German boats or they were too confused to distinguish between ours and theirs. There was no air cover and only one Brit escort ship.
|
|
|
Posts:
4,126
Registered:
10/23/00
|
|
(12 of 24)
Where is Whitehall? Iwo Jima
Jul 31, 2008 6:42 PM
|
is his favorite mistake - his point being that it was not necessary, and certainly not nearly as important as it is portrayed.
don't know why he hasn't posted that.
t
|
|
|
Posts:
4,126
Registered:
10/23/00
|
|
(13 of 24)
Re: great blunders of world war 2
Jul 31, 2008 6:57 PM
|
Not huge, but the ones that get my goat as being unnecessary diversions from war-winning efforts:
* Aleutians - ignore them! Let Japanese freeze on those barren rocks. Leave some planes to patrol, and a screening force of ships. If they reinforce such "success" then consider an operation to contain or expel them, but holding some barren rocks 1000+ miles from anything of importance is hardly reason to react as we did.
* Pelieu - we thought it was no longer necessary, but alas didn't MAKE a decision to not act... and in fact it wasn't necessary.
* Flying the Himalayas to try and supply China. It was stupid and wasteful to expend so much effort to ship material 1/2 around world, port it to airfields and then fly over the Himalayas. Flying in a few specialists and men to conduct training, to support a small tactical air force, and other similar small tasks is one thing - trying to build, arm, equip the Chinese army in this manner was dumb.
* Huertgen Forest - unnecessary. And where were the generals who ordered this continued fight? Not at the front!
For Brits:
* Dieppe - perhaps, at least the way it was planned out
* Antwerp/Scheldt - not clearing the Scheldt was a gross mistake of the first order.
* Dodecanese, 1943 - the attempt to seize the dodecanese islands when Italy surrendered was fanciful and ill-thought out.
For Japanese:
* Almost everything they did
For Soviets:
* Trusting Hitler sums it up, though very broadly.
For Italy:
* Joining the war at all. completely unnecessary and unwise.
* stupidly invading Greece in late fall. If they were going to make such a huge move, it should have been in late spring, and should have been in concert with naval invasion of Crete (from Italy/Rhodes), to isolate Greece from support.
* Joining the war on a lark - instead of recalling their merchant fleet, they declared war and lost a large percentage of it, as they were caught unawares in foriegn ports or at sea, and could never get back home.
|
|
|
Posts:
19,150
Registered:
1/13/03
|
|
(14 of 24)
Re: Where is Whitehall? Iwo Jima
Jul 31, 2008 8:39 PM
|
|
I guess I made my point then. No need to beat it up. Tiger was pretty bad and it wasn't even a combat mission.
|
|
|
Posts:
125
From:
Eastern NC
Registered:
9/10/99
|
|
(15 of 24)
Helping China...a mistake???
Jul 31, 2008 8:45 PM
|
> * Flying the Himalayas to try and supply China. It
> It was stupid and wasteful to expend so much effort
> to ship material 1/2 around world, port it to
> airfields and then fly over the Himalayas. Flying in
> a few specialists and men to conduct training, to
> support a small tactical air force, and other similar
> small tasks is one thing - trying to build, arm,
> equip the Chinese army in this manner was dumb.
The alternative??? Let China rot and surrender to Japan? Then the Imperial forces could turn everything they had on India and redoubling their efforts to stay on/renew the offensive against the USN in the Pacific Ocean and associated islands.
--
"I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." --- Ian Fleming
|
|
|
|
|
