The “just sit and wait for the Phony War to end in April 1940” option is a bit perplexing as an answer to “You are the German High Command! What is your next Combat Movement?” because it seems to imply that the Phony War was operating on a fixed timetable, and that this timetable was in someone else’s hands. The lack of action on land on the Western Front is certainly due in part to inaction by France and Britain (whose strategy was basically to sit around for a couple of years to built up their strength for a showdown, while simultaneously hoping that the Nazi regime would be overthrown by a coup), but it was also very much a deliberate choice by Germany. The Wehrmacht needed to analyze the Polish Campaign, fix the tactical and operational elements that hadn’t worked as well as expected, plan the upcoming campaign against France and the Low Countries, rest and replenish its forces, give them more training, provide them with additional equipment, and redeploy them to the west. Doing this properly took time, but Germany could afford to take the time to do the job right because of the lack of Anglo-French pressure on the western front. ( In other words, by sitting on their collective hindquarters France and Britain surrendered the strategic initiative to Germany, which gave the Wehrmacht the luxury of attacking at the time and place of its own choosing.) Moreover, the time period during which these activities took place were the fall of 1939 and the winter of 1939-1940, which was conveniently timed because this meant that the Wehrmacht wouldn’t have to fight in the fall (manageable, but rainy and muddy) or in the winter (far less harsh in the West than in Russia, but still potentially nasty as veterans of the Battle of the Bulge will recall). The late spring / early summer period chosen for the offensive in the West was much more congenial for military operations.
Old photos of WW2
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Just wanted to start a thread where members could share pictures from the Second World War.
I have some from my Grandfather.
He served with the Canadian Army in the European Campaign after D-Day
Here is his Army portrait
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And his Unit
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And my personal favorite
On top of a captured V2 missile!
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Wow, great pics! Thanks for sharing.
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German POWs 1
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German POWs 2
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easy w/ your statements.
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Relax,
I’m sure his grandpa is cool, and has some Killer stories.
I’m proud of Canadians who serve and who’ve served. I want to hear about their victories and triumphs. If his grandfather saw action - which I am sure he did, he must have had to fight in combat. So if he fought in Combat, chances are he killed a few people - and that’s how it works. There is absolutely NO SHAME in this.
Mr Rogers had 72 confirmed kills in Vietnam… Many unconfirmed.
All tanker aces, snipers, ship captains, and pilots are compared on a “kills” basis. It is a point of PRIDE in doing your job, and being good at it, and being able to show that and recieve recognition as a HERO for your country for doing these deeds. I encourage FMG to talk about it openly.
Maybe he put 100 Nazi officers in their graves, who knows, until FMG says ;) - that would be a worthy accomplishment to be proud of!
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He did see a lot of action. Here are some pictures he took during battles to prove it.
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Not sure what city this…was… before it was destroyed.
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If you look at the first German POW up close he’s smiling for the photo op. Probably tryed his best to befriend as many Allies as he could so he didn’t get shot!
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If you look at the first German POW up close he’s smiling for the photo op. Probably tryed his best to befriend as many Allies as he could so he didn’t get shot!
My grandfather told me, that of all the people he encountered during WW2 it was the Germans that he liked best.
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@ABWorsham:
If you look at the first German POW up close he’s smiling for the photo op. Probably tryed his best to befriend as many Allies as he could so he didn’t get shot!
My grandfather told me, that of all the people he encountered during WW2 it was the Germans that he liked best.
It reminds me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan where they decided to let that German solider go because he was pleading for his life and being friendly etc. Then the bastard found another troop division and killed one of the Americans… I’m sure things like that happend…
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It reminds me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan where they decided to let that German solider go because he was pleading for his life and being friendly etc. Then the bastard found another troop division and killed one of the Americans… I’m sure things like that happend…
I would have done this exact thing. All’s fair in love and war man.
If it was Vietnam however, I would take no prisoners.
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It reminds me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan where they decided to let that German solider go because he was pleading for his life and being friendly etc. Then the bastard found another troop division and killed one of the Americans… I’m sure things like that happend…
I would have done this exact thing. All’s fair in love and war man.
If it was Vietnam however, I would take no prisoners.
why is that?
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hey fmg what army did he serve? cuz it seems like te pow shots are canadian soldier and the first battle looks like americans.
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This is a picture of my great grandfather in his World War One uniform, Capt. Archie Worsham of Camp Hospital 112.
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why is that?
Because Communists like politicians - don’t deserve to live.
And I should make it clear…
Then the bastard found another troop division and killed one of the Americans…
that this would have been my course of action.
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Thanks for sharing your picture. Does anyone else have some to share?
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My Dad, Clifton W. Harwell, was in WW2. He will be 87 next month and still works every day at his job! He runs his own small business, Harwell Printing Company and has done so since 1956. He was an enemy artillery spotter using the “sound and flash” system to call in counter-battery fire against the Germans in the European Theatre of Operations. His unit was the –-(temporarily forgotten the #) FOB, standing for Field Observation Batallion in the 15th Corps, assigned the Patton’s 3rd Army. He is a big (read BIG) Patton fan and saw the General on three different occasions. He saw a lot and has at least a hundred fascinating “war stories”.
Years ago, my Dad he agreed to go see “Saving Private Ryan” with me,…and to tell the truth after the movie was over I could see he was dealing with some 'memories" of his service. He started talking them out and then wrote one down as an article in the country newspaper he edits and prints. He received a lot of good feedback from his readership and was encouraged by them to write some more articles. As he did so he not only ended up with a book’s worth of memories but it really helped him to deal with these experiences and get past them.
I am obviously very proud of my Dad and his service. I have several dozen pics of him in the Army that I’ve had digitized and put on a CD. I would be very happy to share some or all of them with everyone in this forum if you can explain to me how to do it..
By the way, we started playing Axis & Allies back in the 1980’s and about 8-9 months ago started playing the A&A 1940-Global version with a huge map, 48" x 108" professionally enlarged for us. I ask you,…how cool is it to play Axis & Allies with a real life WW2 vet? Tall Paul
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