With the permission of the powers that be,an incomplete list 1) in may 1940,the German army was qualitatively and quantitatively superior to Britain and France 2)The French were running and did not fight 3)The war in Western Europe was a piece of cake for the Germans 4)Dunkirk was an 'only British' operation 5) The French were abandoned at Dunkirk by the British 6)Because of the "stupid Hitler",the BEF could escape at Dunkirk (you will notice that the stupid Hitler always will appear as an excuse for German defeats) 7)The whole BEF escaped at Dunkirk 8)Everyone escaped at the beaches and due to the countless civilian ships 9)Dunkirk was a turning point:if the BEF was captured,Britain would give up (you will notice that the turning points will appear continuously) Of course,every one is free to add other myths
Let me say that in every myth, there is at least a kernel of truth, sometimes more than a kernel. Take point one Yes in raw numbers the two sides were nearly equal in numbers of tanks, planes, guns and men, but Germany had a homogenous armed force with one combat doctrine compared to the Allies (4 of them) who had differing goals and training and doctrine on how to fight a war. So they were equal yet they were not in truth. They were clearly superior qualitively even if some allied tanks or planes were better than Germany's, but Germany's combat units worked more efficiently, command and staff planning was also better, close cooperation with air-ground formations.
I am not denying this,but a)the German superiority was used as an excuse for the allied defeat,and also to hide the allied blunders . b) the 2 sides were not nearly equal in numbers of tanks,guns and men :there was an quantitative allied superiority .
We must not forget that Great Britain was a naval empire. So we must calculate the fleet also, the navy. If Germany was superior in the land forces and in air forces (this is also something we have to discuss about-RAF or Luftwaffe?) then it seems that the navy make the diference. Not only because the British navy make the German invasion impossible but also because the navy kept the sea roads between England and colonies and USA open and at the same time blocked the Germans from Norway to the Netherlands.
Pretty weak old son. Lets take last item...Dunkirk defeat Britain gives up....Not even on the menu. Giving up that is...A seperate peace is one thing....giving up was never counteranced by any one of any persuasion in Britain...Even if BEF were not to return. Even Halifax's oft perceived peace feelers were never seen or intended as giving up.
1. The Germans in one aspect were qualitatively far superior to both British and French forces: That is in doctrine. The French doctrine was horrible. The British one was better but still had alot of serious flaws that weren't fully worked out for almost two more years. 2. In some cases this did happen particularly with poorer quality reserve units.
I would agree, although I think you should probably qualify that as army doctrine, the British naval doctrine was sound, and better able to deal with events. The Admiraly had anticipated the U-boat war, and began a massive expansion of ASW assets even before war began.
I forgot a myth very popular in Poland a)B+F betrayed Poland in september 1939 b)if B+F had attacked Germany on the western border,WWII was over,because Germany was without forces . the truth is for a) Britain had declared that it would help Poland with all what was available ,as B had nothing,it could not help Poland France also had promised that it would help Poland with all what was available (the notorious:le gros de mes forces),well,the French attacked in the Saar with was available(of course,this was not much) for b)when the French were attacking,the Germans were as strong as the French .There also is the fact that when the Saar offensive started,the situation in Poland was hopeless .
