If Hitler was so smart, why did he fight the Battle of Britain in England instead of Germany?

[taterguy]

Attempting to destroy the RAF by flying missions over England negated the numerical advantages that the Luftwaffe had in August 1940.

The Brits could use radar to deploy their planes as efficiently as possible. And since they didn't have to fly as far they could fly more missions in one day.

Also, the Brits AA on the ground took out a lot of German planes.

Lastly, when a German plane was shot down over England, the pilot was out for the war: Either killed or sent to a POW camp.

It would have been much easier to destroy the RAF by fighting over Germany.


Don't give me that 'They had to fight over England because that's where the British planes were' shit.

We're talking about the British military in 1940: They excelled at sending their forces on hopelessly dangerous missions where disaster was inevitable.

They sortied Task Force Z with no air cover: Goodbye Pacific Fleet.

They wiped out all their airborne troops with Operation Market Garden, just because some dumbass didn't realize that most of Holland is underwater, which is not a conducive environment to launch a tank offensive.


Seems to me that World War II would have had a much different outcome if the Germans had listened to expert advice from yours truly.

What say you?

[GCP]

1. Attacking the USSR proves he was dumb

So that probably answers your question.

[taterguy]

4. The Germans would have been fine against the USSR if they had taken out the RAF

They didn't start losing battles in Russia until the USAAF and RAF screwed up their logistics by bombing their factories, which wouldn't have happened if Hitler had followed my advice on the most expeditious way to destroy the RAF.

BTW, conquering the Soviet Union was the whole reason for the war. Everything else was just a means to an end.

[freshwest]

25. "...if Hitler had followed my advice on the most expeditious way to destroy the RAF.."

Are you a time traveler? Just kidding! I want to hear more, because my ideas on this subject are weird, based on the Bush family history.

:hi:

[A Simple Game]

12. Germany needed Russias oil.

It always seems to be about the oil, doesn't it?

[rug]

2. When Churchill bombed Berlin, Hitler moved his target from airfields to cities.

The plan was to suppress the RAF to allow a German invasion with air superiority.

Churchill calculated that bombing Berlin would enrage Hitler and he'd shift from military targets to urban populations.

[MicaelS]

3. The Luftwaffe nearly smashed the RAF

They were concentrating their attacks on RAF airfields, and had the RAF on the ropes. The only thing that saved the RAF was Hitler's anger and stupidity. A handful of RAF bombers bombed Berlin. This enraged Hitler so much he ordered the Luftwaffe to start bombing British cities, and this took the pressure off the RAF, and allowed them to reorganize and regroup.

And to me, it's always been doubtful that Germany would have enough sealift to mount a proper invasion. Get some troops ashore, yes. But keep them there, keep them supplied, no. I think they would have been forced to pull their own Dunkirk.

[taterguy]

5. They didn't need sealift. They could have just built a Chunnel a few decades early

I just don't understand why I'm not consulted more often on military matters.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. who said Hitler was smart?

He was a duimbass.

[taterguy]

7. He was relatively smart except for his flawed attempt to take out the RAF

Went from corporal to damn-near ruling the entire world.

With no help from rich parents.

[Paladin]

9. That RAF Thing Just Ruins It All For You, Does It? (n/t)

[taterguy]

11. Yes

n/t

[UTUSN]

8. Plus if he was so smart, why did he attack Pearl Harbor when he knew the US would get in?!1 n/t

[taterguy]

10. To retaliate for the US sinking the Bismark

You don't think the Brits pulled that off on their own do you?

[UTUSN]

14. But that was just evening the score for remembering the Maine, all's forgotten!1 n/t

[WinkyDink]

13. No GPS.

[taterguy]

24. No one had a GPS in 1940

But they could look at a fucking map

[kentauros]

15. "Because Hitler never played Risk as a kid."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpcxfsjIIbM

[taterguy]

17. Amusing but that clip has nothing to do with the Battle of Britain

:eyes:

[kentauros]

20. I don't care.

Russia and Hitler were mentioned, so there it is.

:eyes: :eyes:

[david13]

16. No, no. If he was so smart, why did he turn east against Russia?

When he had advised against such a thing in his book?
Ergo ...
dc

[taterguy]

18. Why did the Olympic swimmer jump in the pool?

That's what Olympic swimmers do.

And as was stated up-thread: The Russia thing would have worked out if he had won the BOB using my advice.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[david13]

19. The RAF and all of Britain was against the ropes. They were within

inches of being defeated, being totally spent and vulnerable. But the Germans stopped short of victory. Stopped short of finishing the task at hand, and decided to open the war on two fronts at the same time.
Total idiocy. If they hadn't done that we would be speaking German today. Or Japanese.
dc

[taterguy]

23. The Germans lost the BOB nine months before they invaded the USSR

Besides, there was actually a third front: They were diverting resources to North Africa to save Mussolini's ass.

[david13]

26. They didn't lose the battle of Britain. They just didn't realize how

close to collapse Britain was, and they stopped. If they would not have stopped Britain would have fallen.
Just like Poland, et alii.
The idea is, finish one battle before you begin another. How hard was it for them to conquer France?
dc

[TK421]

21. simple...Hitler was a fucking idiot n/t

[El Supremo]

22. He believed Fatso Goering.

That was where he was stupid.

[era veteran]

27. Goering's Luftwaffe not built for the mission.

Was for close ground support which it excelled at. Not so much for tactical bombing. Germany's strategic vision was not smart. WW2 was won by Detroit and Liberty ships. If you had advised Germany would you go to the 4 corner after France or would you play it safe and do it right after Spain? Alles klar? Sehr gut.

[taterguy]

28. Nice try

Tactical bombing is the same thing as close ground support.

Strategic bombing is what the Luftwaffe wasn't good at.

Besides, the impact of strategic bombing is overrated. That was a myth created by the powers that be to justify large defense contracts after the war.

The air war was won because of our pre-war investment in education. Our numerous public universities let us set up the Civilian Pilot training program that put thousands of qualified pilots in the air. The Axis never ran out of planes, but they did run out of decent pilots.

Lastly, WW2 was won when Dauntless dive-bombers sank the Japanese fleet at Midway. Those planes were built in Tulsa, not Detroit.

[era veteran]

29. Should have explained more clearly.

They used the Luftwaffe in so many different ways in The Battle of Britain you could never call it a strategic mission. I agree that strategic bombing was overrated. The Germans were able to keep on manufacturing shit until the end. If you take it to Midway, with the Navy Airmen catching the Japanese refueling and rearming with no CAP overhead you could take that to the fact the breaking of the Japanese Code put our Carriers in position to win. So, we are agreed that the breaking of their code as well as Liberty ships and Detroit won the war. Well I guess we leave out The Red Army, Italy's failed invasion of Greece (which like North Africa bled the Nazis of resources), or Hitler going against his Generals advice, Heinz Guderian in particular, for the invasion of Mother Russia, or then his obsession with Stalingrad, or his great embrace of Blitzkrieg for offensive purposes but his trench warfare style in retrograde operations when fluidity of movement is just as important, or it could of been at Kursk..... Anyway... Where in the fuck is Glenn Miller??

[provis99]

30. tactical bombing is not the same as close air support.

Tactical bombing strikes targets behind the immediate battlefront, usually in interdiction missions, and was carried out by aircraft like the HE-111. Close air support was direct battlefield bombing, carried out by the infamous Stuka. I know this because I rule at Hearts of Iron III.

[RedCloud]

31. I heard space aliens helped him. So we kicked ass on Klingons and didn't even know it.