Finkeren Posted May 7, 2015 Posted May 7, 2015 Nothing much to see here, just an interesting observation: War History Online just compiled another ridiculous list. This time it was a list of the most costly battles of WW2 in terms of lives lost. Needless to say, it might just as well have been a list of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front, because numbers 1 - 9 all take place on the Eastern Front with only the Battle of France sneaking into the list as number 10. http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/top-10-bloodiest-battlefields-of-wwii.html Kinda gives you a sense of the scope of that conflict and how small everything else was in comparison.
707shap_Srbin Posted May 7, 2015 Posted May 7, 2015 Two meatgrinders missed: Battle of Voronezh and Battle of Rzhev.
Finkeren Posted May 7, 2015 Author Posted May 7, 2015 The Rzhev theatre is usually split into many smaller battles, so that might be justifiable, but yeah Voronezh would actually just force France down to number 11.
Finkeren Posted May 7, 2015 Author Posted May 7, 2015 Where's D-day? Just kidding. Master No D-day. Though they did include the largest landing of troops across water in history: The offensive on the Lower Dniepr in 1943. It was not strictly an amphibian operation, because it look place over a river (though in places that river is so broad you can't see from shore to shore) I'm not really sure the millions of Red Army soldiers clinging to their makeshift rafts appreciated the difference. 1
707shap_Srbin Posted May 7, 2015 Posted May 7, 2015 We stepped on Rzhev on cadaveric fields. Around Rzhev there were many "valleys of death" and "groves of death." Do not go there it is difficult to imagine that such a stinking mess in the summer sun, covered with worms consisting of thousands of human bodies. Summer heat, no wind, and ahead - that this "valley of death". It is easily visible and sweep the Germans. No escape or circumvent it there is no way round it laid the phone cord - he interrupted, and in whatever was necessary to quickly connect. Crawling over the bodies, and they were piled in three layers, swollen, teeming with worms, emitting a sickening sweet smell of decomposition of human bodies. This stench still hangs over the "valley." Explosive of shell pushes you under the corpses, it shakes the ground, the bodies dumped on you, showering worms, in the face of a fountain noxious stench. But after shell splinters flew over, you jump up, shake and again - forward. P.A. Mikhin, "We die to win."
Rjel Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 Where's D-day? Just kidding. Master Your anti-American rhetoric gets old.
Finkeren Posted May 23, 2015 Author Posted May 23, 2015 Your anti-American rhetoric gets old. Where was the anti-American rhetoric in that? MM was merely refering to the fact, that D-day was rather small scale compared to practically anything on the Eastern Front. And since when was D-day an exclusively American afair? 2
Mastermariner Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 Nothing much to see here, just an interesting observation: War History Online just compiled another ridiculous list. This time it was a list of the most costly battles of WW2 in terms of lives lost. Needless to say, it might just as well have been a list of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front, because numbers 1 - 9 all take place on the Eastern Front with only the Battle of France sneaking into the list as number 10. http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/top-10-bloodiest-battlefields-of-wwii.html Kinda gives you a sense of the scope of that conflict and how small everything else was in comparison. Thanks for posting. Interesting that most of this is completely unknown to us westerners. I grew up in the 50-60s as a WW2 buff kid reading everything I could find of WW2 and building Airfix plastic models of the aircrafts, I had them ALL! And still I was over middle age when reality finally dawned upon me that I only had less than half the history of this conflict. Why was that? Someone was deliberately holding back on facts or presenting them slightly askew? They called it the cold war. It was a revelation when Oleg Maddox finally presented his "IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles" and the name was not far from reality but "Hidden Battles" would have been better. IMHO! Master
Rjel Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 Where was the anti-American rhetoric in that? MM was merely refering to the fact, that D-day was rather small scale compared to practically anything on the Eastern Front. And since when was D-day an exclusively American afair? I've never said it was. In fact, please find a single post I've made on this forum or any other you care to search, as I've used Rjel as my forum name for almost 20 years, that has ever implied the U.S. won WWII single handed. My reference to MM was based on most of his posts that tend to denigrate any contribution America made in WWII. Those you can look up yourself as there are many examples on this forum.
Lusekofte Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 If you have been around for 20 years in different forums, you should know that your about to walk into a closed tread scenario. I am sure it is not US alone that are targeted and stigmatized in a D Day joke like that. If I remember correctly there was more nations involved in that operation, But it is worth mentioning that at the same time US launched a similar and equal big landing force in the pacific. And that is impressive
Feathered_IV Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 Does the fire bombing of Japanese cities count as a battle?
II/JG17_HerrMurf Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 Yes, when you pursue total war you suffer the consequences of total war. Germany suffered a similar fate in their execution of total war as well. Let's not attempt to gloss over 6 million Chinese deaths, 6 million Jews or 20 million Russian lives lost in this conflict shall we? 60 million died in this war, brought about by three primary aggressors and their allies. Many millions more suffered. We can look at this conflict today through rose colored glasses about what is right or wrong in war but hardly a soul complained about how the allies prosecuted policy and took it to the enemy, as it was happening. I don't second guess the troops or the commanders from the comforts of my armchair and I'm not sure anyone else should either. In short, You reap what you sow.
Bearcat Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 Does the fire bombing of Japanese cities count as a battle? You need to stop it. Now. If we want to talk about horrific wartime decisions there is enough to go around for everyone....
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