Tank losses, Battle of the Bulge

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vince Noir
Sadly I wasnt there. But I have interviewed a number of German and Allied tankers.

Were the US vets you interviewed, men you knew and were they tankers or infantry?



Quote:
Originally Posted by Vince Noir

Both agree that the Sherman, despite its faults, was an excellent tank.
.

So you base this on 2 interviews


I think you may have misread what he wrote. He meant that BOTH German and Allied tankers agreed. Not just 2 interviews.

 

Thanks for answering for me... I kinda lost the will to bother with it.

 

No problem . I think in his haste he may have misred or misunderstood your statement.

 

Absurd claim:

I presume that the lack of response is because you realise that you have no foundation for the claim that Allied tankers were inferior to their German counterparts?

 

I know there were about 800 tanks lost on each side along with about 1000 German Aircraft.

Casualty estimates as usual vary wildly but were around.........

between 60,000 and 100,000 German
between 70,000 and 104,000 US
only 1,400 UK and a few, Canadian, Belgian & French.

Around 30 divisions involved on each side (only 3 from the UK so mostly a US affair on the Allied side albeit that those 3 were timely contributors)

I have never seen a table of daily losses: I suspect you would need to check unit histories and even then precise figures are unlikely as some would have been repaired before being logged as lost, some won't and many commanders tell porkies on their returns anyway.

 

No, was like you getting a little tired of posting. Certainly Allied Tankers were not inferior to German....

 

At the fear of getting dragged into a tedious allied v's German Tank debate I suggest that the difference in doctrine and the relative tactical situation of any given tank battle in the West 44/45 were far more improtant to the result than the relative talents of the tankers themselves and the attributes of their respective vehicles which were similar enough not to be the key factor to victory or defeat.

 

.....and we should stop hijacking this thread..................