This VE Day thing.

[Mudface]

There are some nice pics here- https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/may/08/uk-marks-75th-anniversary-of-ve-day-in-pictures

 

And this, the fucking weirdos-

 

[Scooby Dudek]

11 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Polish women are Premier League. Up there with Italian, Colombian, Albanian and Ukranian for me. 

 

Is she on Facebook? 

Fortunately she is not on Facebook.

[Bjornebye]

Just now, Scooby Dudek said:

Fortunately she is not on Facebook.

So you think. 

[Red Shift]

On 07/05/2020 at 15:38, Bjornebye said:

Thanks America. 

 

Team effort I think, but I’ll acknowledge the huge contribution from Uncle Sam, yes.

[Red Shift]

On 07/05/2020 at 21:14, Captain Turdseye said:

I’m not into all the patriotic nonsense and this year is really the first year that I’ve known or noticed any kind of ‘build up’ to it.  I usually see that it’s VE Day on the day itself and think “oh, right” and then get on with my life. I think that I’ve noticed it more in the news/on here this year and that’s mainly because of the lockdown and by extension the fact that I’m homeschooling the kids and there’s been little bits of work about it. 
 

Just been sent today’s topic/activity for Turdsette. Write a VE Day diary entry as someone from 1945 including a massive list of words including Hitler, blitz, ration, Churchill, ‘the front’, blackout and King George VI. The list goes on. How’s she meant to do that when all she’s ever heard about the war is a comedic five minute summary we saw once on the Horrible Histories show?

 

Am I supposed to teach her all about the war in Europe this morning so she can complete this writing activity in the afternoon? PISS OFF. 
 

“Today darling, we’re going to sit down and watch all 26 episodes of the epic 1973 series, ‘The World at War’ and then you can get on with your writing. You’re gonna love it!”

Apparently the Russians never approved of ‘The World At War’ and so produced their own TV series called ‘The Unknown War’. Just as epic too. Narrated by Burt Lancaster

 

 

[Frank Dacey]

4 hours ago, Dougie Do'ins said:

I'm sure there's a film centered around the Dresden bombings. Seem to remember it being quite good.

Slaughterhouse 5?

 

I seem to recall reading abut Dresden that it was a combination of consecutive RAF night raids and American daytime raids that made it so damaging. That, and the fire storm. The justification given at the time was to show the Russians we were playing our full part in the war.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

3 hours ago, Nelly-Torres said:

This is apparently from a village VE day party. 

 

Just checking, are we allowed to call these people dickheads and suggest that they might be getting VE Day a bit wrong? 

Hmm.

 

I always thought I'd be happier to see a pictureof someone with a Tommy gun standing behind Thatcher.

[Anubis]

The replies to this tweet from the doffers. Sad cunts.

 

 

 

[M_B]

Well I appreciate your view Section_31. Always enjoy a war porn chat.

 

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Don't really get your point here. I never said the British had never launched a carrier attack before, I said we'd basically taught the Japanese how to do it and they pursued it (rightly) as the future of Naval warfare, while we didn't. This resulted in the Yanks and Japanese fighting it out in the pacific with carrier groups, torpedo and dive bombers, while we remained wedded to battleships with big guns all named after the King's family, pursuing  tactics that had been around since Nelson's day and getting our arse handed to us by the Japanese accordingly. 

You implied that the Royal Navy failed to adopt tactics we 'gave' the Japanese. That is not correct. We had plenty of carrier groups, one of which sank the Bismark. But we didn't have carrier groups in the Pacific. Both the British and Americans quickly realized the significance of carriers.

 

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Things improved as time wore on but the fact remains we were putting effort and resources into creating units designed to go behind the lines and 'disrupt' a superior foe. Semantics aside, that's the definition of guerilla tactics.

Agreed that we adopted guerilla warfare. My point is that the British defeated Rommel at El Alamein, Tobruk and in the North African theatre using normal warfare.

 

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Our tanks were pretty shit,

The Churchill wasn't a bad tank at all and in fact remained in service into the 50's. But I agree we lacked numbers and a larger gun, which is why they bought Shermans and the Firefly from the States.

 

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Our small arms were decent at best. Most of the quality gear was American, German and some Soviet. 

Well the important bit is that they were decent, but yes I will give you this one. The Germans had a superlative mmg, the Soviets had a fantastic smg and the americans had a great semi automatic rifle and a range of support weapons. That being said, British platoons gave as good as they got on the battlefield - the Lee Enfield was arguably better than the Mauser and the Sterling was absolutely lethal in close quarters. They were certainly outmatched by the Stug 44, but it was too late and in too little numbers to make a difference.

 

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Bear in mind, what were Britain's finest hours in the War? The ones which are most celebrated?

Battle of Britain

Battle of the Atlantic and entirely destroying the German navy.

El Alamein, Tobruk and victory in North Africa

Italy

Bomber command destroying the ruhr

Normandy

Market Garden (Overall the Operation was a success)

Defeating the counter attack at the Battle of the Bulge.

The Intelligence War.

 

There was certainly far more victory than defeat. You are right about the Far East although the Brits put up a fight in Burma, but that's largely because focus and assets were entirely on the Med and the UK.

 

 

I think ultimately we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't share your perception of Britain's operations during WW2.

[Chairman Meow]

On 07/05/2020 at 21:33, Rico1304 said:

 

I bet she does, the fucking slag. 

[General Dryness]

4 hours ago, Chairman Meow said:

I bet she does, the fucking slag. 

Yeah, as if them matelots weren't getting their tops and fingers. 

[Pureblood]

 

[johnsusername]

On 09/05/2020 at 18:22, Frank Dacey said:

Slaughterhouse 5?

 

I seem to recall reading abut Dresden that it was a combination of consecutive RAF night raids and American daytime raids that made it so damaging. That, and the fire storm. The justification given at the time was to show the Russians we were playing our full part in the war.

There are horrendous eye witness accounts of Dresden.

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/spad1.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/eyewitness-the-bombing-of-dresden-14-february-1945/amp/

 

"I spent all the daylight hours which followed in the town searching for my fiance. I looked for him amongst the dead, because hardly any living beings were to be seen anywhere. What I saw is so horrific that I shall hardly be able to describe it. Dead, dead, dead everywhere. Some completely black like charcoal. Others completely untouched, lying as if they were asleep. Women in aprons, women with children sitting in the trams as if they had just nodded off. Many women, many young girls, many small children, soldiers who were only identifiable as such by the metal buckles on their belts, almost all of them naked. Some clinging to each other in groups as if they were clawing at each other.

 

"From some of the debris poked arms, heads, legs, shattered skulls. The static water tanks were filled up to the top with dead human beings, with large pieces of masonry lying on top of that again. Most people looked as if they had been inflated, with large yellow and brown stains on their bodies. People whose clothes were still glowing. . . I think I was incapable of absorbing the meaning of this cruelty any more, for there were also so many little babies, terribly mutilated; and all the people lying so close together that it looked as if someone had put them down there, street by street, deliberately."

 

 

[Dougie Do'ins]

On 09/05/2020 at 18:22, Frank Dacey said:

Slaughterhouse 5?

 

I seem to recall reading abut Dresden that it was a combination of consecutive RAF night raids and American daytime raids that made it so damaging. That, and the fire storm. The justification given at the time was to show the Russians we were playing our full part in the war.

No wasn't that.

 

Maybe I'm getting confused with the 2006 film Dresden or maybe it was a documentary.