[bsmith13]

Aircrafty, you puzzle me sometimes. While I agree that history should not be studied in a vacuum, I also feel that certain aspects of WWII can be studied without examine the macro-effects and intentions. In this case, I believe that we can safely examine the effects of the Battle of Britain in the west without talking about the Clash of Titans on the Eastern Front.

Yes, Hitler had assigned low priority to the conquering of England and did not consider the English his "natural enemies", at least prior to their refusal to make peace with him following the invasion of Poland. However, when you point out that the invasion of England was a sideshow compared to the invasion of Russia, you overlook a few things. First, following the blitzkrieg of Belgium, Holland and France, german armed forces were NOT marshalling for the immediate invasion of the Soviet Union. Second, Hitler was not (contrary to his own beliefs) a military genius. He was apparently incapable of making a geopolitical decision without factoring in what he considered to be personal insults. So when Britain did not sue for peace, he decided to invade (and this against the advice of his senior Navy staff as well as some army generals.)

So, Sea Lion was on. Germany was in a one-front war against Britain in the summer of 1940. In spite of how much we speculate, we shall never know if Sea Lion would have succeeded. Whether accurately or inaccurately, Hitler and Goering set the destruction of the RAF as a precondition to the invasion. Then, just when they were about to succeed in making 11 Group withdraw further inland, Hitler decreed that London should be bombed, allowing the RAF airfields to be rebuilt and 11 Group to continue to intercept the Luftwaffe raids from forward airstrips. 12 Group also became a factor. The RAF wasn't destroyed. Sea Lion was off. Whether Germany could have successfully invaded or not, Hitler didn't even try because a precondition for the invasion that he had set for himself was not achieved.

By failing (by whatever means; force or diplomacy) to eliminate Britain as an enemy, Hitler allowed himself to be sucked into a 2 (or even 3, if you count North Africa and Italy)-front war.

[jim]

We do indeed, I refer you to British naval loses in the eastern med. also does Malta convoys ring any bells? How would you like to sail in the channel 5 minutes flying time from 6 major Luftwaffe bases and without fighter cover. Trust me Mo I have done much research into this and there is no doubt that if the RAF had failed it would have been hello Mr Hitler............The point about drawing the fighters back was certainly true. However we must remember that although the bases had taken a beating so had the Luftwaffe and a stalemate was in the offing. The first plan was that fighters would still stay in the southern sector but would have to return north at the end of the days ops. The embattled fields could be quickly repaired and ammo and fuel kept nearby. The problem was repair and servicing would have been seriously affected.

Originally Posted by MoMo

I think that we need to assess the Luftwaffe's capability to attack ships, as well as airfields and aircraft on the attack.


MoMo

[jim]

Bsmith Very true, the main concern the generals had was how to get the Panzers safely across the channel. Reading between the lines I got the opinion the Army was not convinced at all that the RAF could be beaten as easily as Goering said, and they were correct.

[Captain Eddie]

[SKUNKY]

I'm headed for the snack bar, Cappy. Can I get ya a Coke or anything?...Let me know if I miss anything.

(Sorry for the interruption, boys....carry on)

[MoMo]

Dear Starman,

Skunky made a joke about me saying that if Hitler had won the B.O.B. then, among other things, we would have had to drive on the right! Skunky's joke was :

Driving on the right?....

How gauche!....

. In French "gauche" means " Left" literally. Figuratively it means |" How extreme!". Clever double play/pun from Skunky.

I replied in the same style by saying :

In English this means : " No, my dear Skunky, to the right! Down with the Leftists!

Gauche = Left; Gauchist = Left-Wing; Gauchists = Left _Wingers

Hope this clears up the muddy joke!

MoMo

[MoMo]

Dear Skunky,

Where is this swearing to which you refer?

MoMo, I'm afraid I must refer you to paragraph 3 of the forum rules....

3. Swearing is strictly forbidden, this also includes substituting the letters with “***”. Offending posts will be deleted and the Member warned. This also includes swearing in Personal Titles and Signatures.

The only substitute I have posted since the rules came out and we all had to sign in blood was one in my " Last King of Scotland" review, and that was because I was quoting what the character had actually uttered. In this case I substituted the word," **** ", for asterisks and posted it as " **** ".

I think Skunky speak with forked tongue.

MoMo

[MoMo]

Dear Jim,

Where on earth ( England ) were the Germans going to land? They had nowhere on the South Coast. It just wasn't possible.

The Thames Estuary was their nearest hope and that was just about as far as their fighters could reach. There they would have been plastered by the R.N. Also, 12 Group would have pounced on them.

The Channel would have been out of the picture for the Germans. The R.N. would not have been exposed there.

MoMo

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by MoMo

In French "gauche" means " Left" literally. Figuratively it means |" How extreme!". Clever double play/pun from Skunky.
I replied in the same style by saying :In English this means : " No, my dear Skunky, to the right! Down with the Leftists!
Gauche = Left; Gauchist = Left-Wing; Gauchists = Left _Wingers
MoMo

Thanks for clarifications of the words.
JP

[SKUNKY]

I was jes yankin' yer kilt, MoMo... ..(checkin' out the 'ol underwear rumor)...