Feldgrau.net

Rich wrote:Killed, wounded and missing, i.e., total battle casualties.

Ack.

Rich -- good data (as usual). Just a quick question -- are those numbers KIA or KIA + WIA?

Cheers,

A few random thoughts in this vein: 1. Taking prisoners in opposed attacks is always problematical. What if one gruppe in one trench have had enough and decide to throw up their hands but the bulk of the position is still fighting? Practically speaking, such men usually cower in the bottom of their ...

...Goering wanted to imitate the Waffen SS, trying to create a Luftwaffe ground force... Actually, that's an interesting point. Whilst the wisdom of forming a separate army in the form of the Waffen-SS versus the realtive utility of diverting the resources it took to do that from the Heer can be de...

Gentlemen, Many interesting comments all around, but if I could -- the thread has veered a bit from my original question. Was it tough to close the gap? Obviously, and many posters have given various reasons for why that was so. But my question wasn't why did it take so long to push south and south-...

... an american unit observed German artillery from across a river contiue to fire against the Russians... They did nothing to stop this... That's a good example of the sort of story that has to be treated with extreme caution. The implication, I suppose, is that a US unit had it within their power...

Sid, Sid, Sid, Sid, Sid. Has so much "big picture" military history now been written that we have been reduced to the point of plotting the movements of tanks of named individuals? ... Are we becoming over obsessed at the expense of substantive military history? What "substantive"...

If it really was four Shermans against 8 tigers the Americans would have been slaughtered. I would bet that there was allied artillery involved and probably a few more tanks. As michael kenny pointed out, no Americans at all -- British and Canadians. More specifically, it was about three squadrons ...

Gentlemen, All of the above are correct. I can atest, from my own personal work in archival material, that -- as Reb noted -- "spandau" was a loose term in widespread unofficial use (at least by Brit and CW troops) for any German machine gun, ie MG 34/42. Now, that term -- while demonstrab...

UK Lightgunner, Upon reflection, I think I should qualify "nearish to Brighton." I'm a Canadian, so when I say "near" I mean within 150km or so (which as a percentage of the breadth of my country, is probably less than 5 or 10 km would be in the UK). But anyway, I think the place...

In a related vein, back in the '90s I visited another village expropriated as a military training area -- but this one was on the coast, I can't remember the name. At least part of the village had been made into a sort of museum of daily life circa 1940 when it was evacuated. As I said, this was on ...

I suspect a trap is being laid! Not specifically, although I confess to some scepticism about Salzburg's claim: It is now generally accepted that Wittmann's Tiger was destroyed by a rocket fired from the air, probably from an RAF Typhoon. As one can tell from the link to my website in my signature ...

Sid, There were good (or at least what could reasonably be seen at the time as credible) reasons for not attempting to close the gap sooner. One of those was the belief that artillery and air power would suffice. Another was, as Sid alluded, German resistance. As Bradley himself put it -- "Bett...

It is now generally accepted that Wittmann's Tiger was destroyed by a rocket fired from the air, probably from an RAF Typhoon. The rocket penetrated the rear engine deck causing an explosion which killed the crew instantly. Generally accepted by whom, precisely? Could you cite some of those account...

One of the prime considerations here was to avoid casualties by friendly fire. Well yes, that is indeed what Bradley wrote in his memoirs. But I rather agree with Max Hastings comments about that claim -- that it "scarcely merits serious examination." ( Overlord , 1984, p 314) Converging ...