History Forum / War History / World War II / June 2007

Midway....and the American success, was it Lucky?
I know the Americans broke the Japanese Naval Code so you could say it
was't luck, but like in every battle luck does play a part.
So was the victory lucky? the catching of the Japanese plans on the

Does anyone know if Hitler ever considered sending Rommel to a command on the Russian
Front after the Desert Fox left Africa for the last time? If if Rommel did go East to face
someone like Zhukov, who would've commanded in Northern France in his place?

According to John Costello, when the IJN attacked Pearl Harbor they left
perhaps the most important target of all,  the naval oil fields, untouched.
It makes sense that if you can't fuel your ships at Pearl Harbor, it's
usefulness as a naval base is greatly diminished. So why did ...

How was Hitler's attitude towards the Japanese- in particular the IJA's
treatment of white civilian prisoners, particularly women folk?

While doing some searching on the web, I came across this:
"...the strategic-bombing program that had devastated Germany's
industrial complexes was ineffective in Japan where two-thirds of
industry was dispersed in homes and small factories employing less

Consider this.
If the Germans hand by some reason (discounting balkan campaign or it
happened earlier) invaded Russia two/three months earlier, so the
there was more time before the Russian Winter set in, and when the

In Michael Burleigh's excellent book "The Third Reich" he states that
intelligence concerning
the forthcoming Kursk offensive (Operation Citadel) was passed from BP to
Moscow.

I read that the re-unification of West Germany (from its constituent
American, English, and French zones) was a violation of the Yalta
agreement, particularly the conclusions of the Committee on the
Dismemberment of Germany.  Did Yalta specifically state that Germany

I've only seen a very short clip of the Omaha beach invasion where 3
or 4 soldiers are running on beach and suddenly one falls(shot) to the
ground. I would like to know if the Germans captured any footage of
the beach invasion itself. I've noticed that the Germans had recorded

I am looking for information on the 46 medical battalion of the 4th armored
division. My father never said much, and with his passing I'd like to learn
more of his life in the war..

I was watching an older video tonight that showed what life was like
for a bomber crew. They mentioned that they were going to bomb an
engine factory in the suburbs of Tokyo, so they had to set their bombs
to go off 1/4 of a second after it would hit the ground.

<jussi.jalonen@faf.mil.fi> wrote in message news:

On Jun 21, 11:43 am, "Andrew Clark" <acl...@nospamstarcott.freeserve.co.uk>
wrote:

Every so often I hear a vaiation of the statement:  ..and the Bismarck
AA couldn't track the Swordfish because they flew so slow.
This statement feels apocryphal to me.  Where did this claim originate?
What sources support or disute it?

I've been playing Call of Duty so now I want to read the best books
about infantry fighting in World War II. I want personal accounts by
the men who fought there. Anyone have some great recommendations?