The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - “Sichelschnitt”: May 1940 - Aug. 16th, 2005

World War II Magazine | November 2003 | Ronald E. Powaski

[SAMWolf]

Hitler also launched an offensive around Lake Balaton to relief Budepest in 1945, while the troops could have been used to defend the approcahes to Berlin.

He also diverted troops to the Caucasus before securing Stalingrad, dooming both offensives to failure.

Then there was his whole "no withdrawal orders" during the entire war that cost hundreds of thousands of troops to be lost. Pouring troops into Tunisia after not supporting Rommel earlier wasn't exactly a good idea.

[colorado tanker]

I read somewhere the last few years British intelligence considered whether to commission a risky operation to try to assassinate Hitler and one of the considerations was that Hitler was making such bad decisions he was shaving years off the war.

[SAMWolf]

Anybody have other examples?

JFK withdrawing air and naval support from the Bay of Pigs invasion as Cuban rebels hit the beaches comes to mind.

[Samwise]

My personal advice is to soak it for everything you can. Let folks wait on you hand and foot.

[Iris7]

"JFK withdrawing air and naval support from the Bay of Pigs invasion as Cuban rebels hit the beaches comes to mind."

Perhaps I judge too harshly (Oh, me?? Never!!) but JFK's actions appear not well meaning stupidity but instead something much darker. The death of Penkovsky and the Thors out of Turkey, and post-Soviet reports of a very, very highly placed mole in the US Government at that time. (His name was never used in communications or in KGB records, only an identifying codeword. The name was so secret that even those who knew it cannot be determined.) (For you folks not familiar with tradecraft.)

James Jesus Angleton (head of CIA counter intelligence) was convinced, partly from the Golitsyn information, that very high level Soviet moles existed within the US Government. I think Angleton got pretty close to some of them. He was forced out of the CIA by the Carter people.

[Iris7]

I think your examples are good.

The Lake Balaton business used up the Reich's last really effective and mobile units. Perhaps some readers are not familiar with it.

From Wikipedia, "The Lake Balaton Offensive (codenamed Operation Frühlingserwachen, "Spring Awakening"), was the last major offensive action by the Germans during World War II. Launched in great secrecy on March 6, 1945, the attack took place in Hungary around the Lake Balaton area, and involved mostly units withdrawn from the failed Ardennes Offensive (December 1944 - January 1945.)

Despite the extremely muddy terrain conditions, the offensive, spearheaded by Sepp Dietrich's 6.SS-Panzerarmee, took the Soviets by surprise and made an impressive advance for such a late stage in the war. However, once the Soviets became aware of the presence of elite SS units (Hitler's personal unit, the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler took part in the operation) they counterattacked in strength on March 16. But the operation had already been in serious trouble since March 14, with Joseph Goebbels admitting in his diary that failure was likely; three days later, the Germans were back at their original positions. Hopelessly outnumbered and with few armored vehicles remaining (Dietrich sardonically remarked, "6th Panzer Army is well named - we have just six tanks left") the surviving German forces withdrew into Austria in order to defend Vienna.

The operation was a failure, despite early gains, and was a perfect example of Hitler's increasingly erroneous military decisions towards the end of the war. It was aimed at raising the siege of Budapest and defending the Nagykanizsa oilfields (Germany's last source of oil.) Hitler's senior commanders had felt that these elite troops and sizeable amounts of equipment and supplies could have been put to better use elsewhere, particularly on German territory on the Eastern front, and they pleaded with him to "throw everything into the East". However, Hitler insisted on his grand plan to somehow destroy the whole of the Russian Southern/Ukrainian Front."

To much cocaine, morphine, and methamphetine in old Adolf's diet. Adolf had a way with women, too. Of the four women in his life two committed suicide, and one was committed to an asylum, as I recall. Padded wall asylum. The fourth, Eva, Adolf shot.

[Colonial Warrior]

[Iris7]

"Fall Gelb" was a stunning success at the time, for sure.

The French and British could not coordinate their forces. I read somewhere that Gamelin's headquarters had one radio installation with forty operators. For an overall command, 500 would be more like it. The radio station was a couple miles down the road, too. I guess Gamelin did not like getting bogged down in details.

Speaking of Erich von Manstein, my deceased mother-in-law looked enough like him to have been his cousin. Imagine a feminine and attractive von Manstein nose. Hard, huh!!!!!

By Stalingrad von Manstein's head was really swollen. Lots of good reports on this. Sometimes people forget that in order to pull a rabbit out of a hat there has to be a rabbit in the hat to begin with.

[Valin]

Why Hitler issued that order, when the panzers were closer to Dunkirk than almost all of the French and British troops, is one of the great puzzles of World War II. The rationale behind his decision apparently originated with General Kluge, the commander of the Fourth Army. On May 23, Kluge suggested to Rundstedt that the tanks should "halt and close up," a move that also would allow the Luftwaffe time to move its bases closer to the panzers' area of operation.

Evening all.

I was always under the impression that it was Goring who talked Hitler into stopping the advance on dunkirk, so that his Luftwaffe could finish the job. And of course he would get the glory.

[Valin]

Speaking of Erich von Manstein, my deceased mother-in-law looked enough like him to have been his cousin.


WARNING! DISTRUBING IMAGE ALERT WARNING!

[Iris7]

While my mother-in-law was alive I was careful not to bring up my opinion about von Mansteins's nose. I talked the business over with my wife, showed her the pictures, exclaimed over the resemblance.

My wife thought that sharing my enthusiasm about von Manstein's nose with her mother would have to be done with great tact, or not at all.

Hmm. "Great tact." Hmm. I figured it out!! She meant I should keep my opinion to myself!!! How strange.

I mean, everybody knows that "great tact" is my middle name!! I am a born diplomat! People don't like what I say they get the chain saw!!!!!!! Like Teddy Roosevelt put it, "Speak softly and carry a big Husqvarna!!!!!!!!"

Uh, humor, attempt at, one each.

[snippy_about_it]

Hiya Darksheare.

Amazing that the F-15 and the F-16 aren't near stall speed keeping formation with the P-51 and the P-38.

I wonder what the wind is like up there with those big planes by the small ones?

[snippy_about_it]

Hey you two. I briefly saw a thread on FR today that said the ratings for "Over There" were dropping badly and it may be cancelled.

[snippy_about_it]

"Give us your gallbladder!"

LOL.

[snippy_about_it]

Is life treating you well?

Sometimes it goes so fast I can't tell!

[Darksheare]

*chuckle*

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks for the book suggestion.

[Darksheare]

Rather bumpy I would assume.
The wingtip vortex coming off the jets have got to make the P-38 at least bounce some.

[snippy_about_it]

"'You've Got Male!'"

LOL.

[snippy_about_it]

but JFK's actions appear not well meaning stupidity but instead something much darker.

I agree. Something dark in that administration, and the next one, too with LBJ.