What battle do u think was the biggest turning point in the War?

The invasion of Normandy has to have been the turning point of the war. By taking the bridghead it allowed access into all of northern France.

Its kind of difficult to say. Some say it was Stalingrad, some say it was Kursk, some say it was Moscow. I think it was Stalingrad. Those operations were much bigger than D-Day.

Stalingrad was a very decisive victory for the Russians but I still think that after the allies took the beaches in Normandy, it opened up all of France and sent the Germans running.

In a way I do agree with you but, you have to remember that the majority of the Axis Forces were employed on the Eastern Front.

The Western Front did have some excellent German formations there such as the 2nd Waffen SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" and the fanatical 12th Waffen SS Div "Hitler Jugend"

I know we didnt have it easier in the west but, we has a little less to deal with than on the Eastern Front.

Definately D-Day, was no picnic, then neither was the capture of Caan and Antwerp, nor the escape from the Falise Pocket, was for the Germans.

D-Day would have been a much tougher nut to crack had we had to deal with all the Luftwaffe air units that were sent to the Eastern Front and the other formations including most of the Waffen SS, the Grossdeutschland Div, the Brandenburgers, the Fallschirmjager Divisions, and the Gebirgsjager units.

Had those been in France, D-Day would have been a disaster--another Dunkirk?

Hopefully this doesnt make me sound as a know-it-all, I certainly "aint".

I'm certainly no genius when it comes to World War 2, and it wasn't until recently when I "got really into it." I've been researching quite a bit and I have to say you know "your stuff."

Well I suppose but, I got much of my knowledge from years of reading books, watching documentaries and getting to know the real WW2 vets from both sides of the battlelines.

If you are newly into WW2, you will never run out of things to find out, and will be amazed at what you will learn.

Try writing a few vets, to hear their sides of the story, you will not regret it. WW2 is almost a full-time thing for me as I do enjoy all that I learn about it.

This forum is a great start for someone to learn more on it. I certainly have learned many things just being on this forum. People like you can teach people like me. I definately am not a know-it-all but, I am fortunate to know dozens of the actual participants from the war.

I know many German combat vets that served in the Waffen SS the Heer the Luftwaffe, and the Kriegsmarine.

I am an honorary member of U 181, the French Forign Legions all German Battalion, the 101st Airborne Division, and the last member inducted into the Kriegsmarine since 1945.

Explainations for the German terms I used are:

Heer means Army.
Luftwaffe means Air Force.
Kriegsmarine means Navy
Waffen SS means Armed SS which is completely different than from the Allgemeine SS which means General SS--the SS Police Force or Political Police.

All of the first 4 branches mentioned all fall under the designation of The Wehrmacht, which means Armed Forces.

Sooner or later you will inadvertantly teach me something or several things I do not know about WW2. I have learned many things on this forum about the war that I would not have known had I not been on this forum to learn it.

Keep up the asking of questions and your reading, thats how you learn....

Biggest turning point of the war:
Battle for Moscow, winter of '41

This was supposed to have been the culmination of operation Barbarossa and spelled the end of the line for the USSR.
True, it has been written that the fall of Moscow would have meant niether the end of the Russian war effort nor the failure of Russian morale, but so much of the war between Germany and Russia was permiated by symbolism and ideology that the fall of the Russian capitol would have to have been as severe a blow as the successful defense was a boost to Russian morale...
For the Germans, failing in even this ill-defined objective had to have been crushing.
Regardless of holding on by the narrowest of margins thru to the spring of '42, and launching an offensive almost as spectacular that same year, the failure to capture the Russain capitol must have been the definitive event of the campaign...

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Novus Ordo Seclorum

This would have been interesting to say the least to see what would have happened if the Germans had captured Moscow. I wonder if this would have been the straw that broke the camels back for the Soviet high Command? If that had happened, I wonder if they indeed would have tried to dispose stalin....

I would have to say Stalingrad because from that point on, the Germans were on the defensive. Citadel and Wacht im Rhine both were offensives that could never succeed. DDay would be the second battle because if the Germans had pushed them back to the sea, it would buy them another year or two. Stalingrad is still the turning point. DDay was the coup de grace


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"They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."

I agree with you 100%...

people call the turning point in the pacific to be The battle of Midway.
That was a stunning victory however...at the end of the battle the Japanese were still a very capable force...they still had several fleet carriers and several escort carriers. a couple were being built..Japan had the 2 largest battleships ever built... and Japans Cruisers and destroyers were still something not to fool around with.
Not until we decisively ejected Japan from The Solomon islands in 1943 thus completing our first offensive against Japan was the idea secured that this war would be won. After Japan couldn't effectively defeat us in the many carrier/warship battles or land battles with troops that took place we knew that we would only be getting stronger and as we got stronger the enemy only weaker.
Once it was a fact that we could defeat Japan at sea, in the air, and on land was total victory finally assumed for the US.

I believe that D-day was the biggest turning point. Either that or Stalingard.

Actually now that I think of it, Stalingrad was more influencial in the outcome of the war then D-day. If the Germans had taken the Russian city of Stalingrad, they could have taked the rest of Russia. That would have changed the war for the worse. Stalingrad was the last large city in Russia that had a chance of being defended.

Stalingrad and the great tank battles at Kursk.

Stalingrad and the great tank battles at Kursk.

me two