I don't want to hi-jack the thread, since we are talking about... No, wait. We are discussing all the mistakes and Malta is a very big one, for sure. So... it couldn't have been a Crete. The terrain was not as bad and there were not as many troops nor a defence as organised as in Crete.
En garde Friedrich! Your interpretation is wrong in the point that Hilter NEVER wanted to take Malta. Maybe he would have given his ok if Rommel had not insisted on immediate thrust. But Rommel had urged often to take Malta. Hitler refused as he was always hostile to this enterprise. Rommel changed his mind at the wrong time. I agree it was their BOTH mistake, but you can't free Hitler from his attitude. This would have required a Hitler urging to take Malta and a dull Rommel contradicting. No, no! [ 22. October 2003, 01:29 PM: Message edited by: KnightMove ]
Ahhh, [AndyW rubbing his hands]: CONFLICT ! What makes you think that Malta's terrain is in any way more fitting than Crete? You can't even land gliders there. You have to be careful to not miss the exact jumping point or you might ditch & drown in the Med Sea. There are at best three small locations (certainly defended up to the teeth) where you can land from ashore. Landing there (and Wehrmacht and Italians weren't really experts in amphibious landings,if you ask me) would have made OMAHA look like a cakewalk. So Paradrop is the only possibility to invade until you have a harbour or a secure beach strip. On little more than a bigger stone cliff defended to the teeth with MG and AA hidden in stone caves (no chance for the AF to knock them out). So what is so much better on this terrain compared to Crete? That the paras have only a smaller possible place to land (if not ditching) where you have a 100% certainty of enemies waiting exactely for you and your Ju-52s showing up? I say: Bloodbath.
Hi, Hitler's biggest mistakes? 1) Assuming that Britain and France's reluctance to go to war was cowardice. 2) Not having an invasion plan for Britain until AFTER dunkirk. 3)Sending those feckless "saboteurs" to the US in 1942. Regards, Gordon
I agree here, good point. I would add that Hitler's misjudgment in underestimating the American potential for war and similarly overestimating that of his Japanese allies.
yes, the fact that he thought he could overlook the superiority of the RAF and American Air Force was a crucial mistake on his part. just think how he would have done things differently if he foresaw the PIR operations on D-day and operations as big as Market Garden.
First of all, welcome aboard, Gordon! Hope you enjoy yourself here! 1) Good point. 2) Very good point, but there are two factors; complete lack of logistic capability and the fact that that stupid island is uninvadeable!
yes, Heißen Sie willkommen zum Forum, Gordon! I'm going to have to study dundirk. I keep hearing people mention it and I feel stupid as to not knowing what their talking about.
Herr General, Many thanks for the welcome! Ike-sorry, should have said the fall of France, but British people tend to assume Dunkirk WAS the end of the campaign! Regards, Gordon
Knight, I meant to post this earlier. Your point about the US navy attacking U-Boats: weren't they ordered NOT
sorry-blasted technology! As I was trying to say, weren't they ordered NOT to attack U-Boats until after one sank the USS Kearney in US territorial waters? Regards, Gordon
Actually that is the main reason why the Panzers were not used to crush the pocket. The battle was all but OVER!
sorry-blasted technology! As I was trying to say, weren't they ordered NOT to attack U-Boats until after one sank the USS Kearney in US territorial waters? Regards, Gordon </font>[/QUOTE]The US ships did not fire, but sometimes hassle U-boats and tell the English their position.
If I may be simplistic, the biggest mistake AH made was invading the USSR, period. All right, as KnightMove said elesewhere he was stopped one hour's drive away from Moscow, but the hard fact is 3.5 years later the Russians weren't stopping at the tram terminal one hour away from the Reichstag. Maybe if he started Op. Barbarossa one our earlier he would have pulled it through, then but even that should be an effort for one front only, certainly not a multiplicity of open fronts. Of course the UK was rather dormant at the time (even considering the Molotov-Ribbentropp in the bomb shelter, M. asking "If the war is going on so well why are we in this shelter" or words to that effect), but anyway the occupation of such a large european area and the need to keep an anti-invasion force on the Atlantic wall was a large drain on available resources. AH should have made peace with the UK, certainly not declare war on the US, and not invade the USSR. My 2 kopeks
The Uk was rather dormant at the time?! Wasn't there a little fracas in Africa with the Afrika Korps and the Italian army at the same time? Regards, Gordon
