Outbreak of WWII

[AllanL]

70 years today since the outbreak of WWII.

Just think we only have to wait two years and three months for the 70th anniversary of America joining in. :roll:

[nigelb]

70 years today since the outbreak of WWII.

Just think we only have to wait two years and three months for the 70th anniversary of America joining in. :roll:

Yes, but the Colonists claim that they saved Britiain, even though The Battle of Britain was over by the time America joined the war effort and Britain and the Commonwealth stood alone for two years and three months. Too bad they (we I suppose, since I live here) couldn't have been as cautious when it came to the war in Iraq. Ok, off my soapbox (for now.)

Nigel²

[sketchy74]

LOL!

From another Brit in the US, I did like that last post!

Myself, SkippyBing, and Nazca Steve from this forum were visiting the Palm Springs Air Museum last weekend, there was a mid 20's couple walking around and we heard the Guy say to his Wife / Girlfriend :

"I never knew there was a war in Europe, I thought it was only in the Pacific"

:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

Needless to say we were left feeling unimpressed by the US Education system especially as our young Daughters who were born here race towards School age!!

Sketchy

[DispatchDragon]

Sketchy

Don't feel bad -- We have an ex Guardsman working in the Ops Office here in Vegas (really nice gent anyone who served
in the land campaign of the South Atlantic War games will remember a place called Tumbledown -- Mick was on top if it for
a long time apparently -- he says if anyone else was there the troops callsign was four two bravo....) Anyway he and I
were discussing the above -- and someone said "the British fought the Argentinians?" I thought this person was joking
until I realised he would have been getting born about the time that was going on.


Leif :brick:

[FlyTexas]

Yes, but the Colonists claim that they saved Britiain, even though The Battle of Britain was over by the time America joined the war effort and Britain and the Commonwealth stood alone for two years and three months. Too bad they (we I suppose, since I live here) couldn't have been as cautious when it came to the war in Iraq. Ok, off my soapbox (for now.)

Nigel²

Well said, Nigel. For most Americans the war (for them anyway) began at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Those misguided souls need a good history lesson on how and when the war really began. As for Iraq...(shudder)...ok, I'm from Texas...in Texas if we have a fight with another "person" we don't ask others to join us in the fight...we fight our fight ourselves. That's what Bush should have done. IMHO he had no reason whatsoever asking anyone else to join in the fight. :@

Brian

[airboatr]

you guys can sure go on about this stuff. - what happened back then.....
and when we came into the war... in truth we were supplying the brits with much before
we accually sent troops , or does that not count.?

I don;t think it fair for anyone to say, "If it wasn't for the Americans the Brits would be speaking German" (as a national language)
but ... would anyone care to turn back the clocks and see what would have happened if we had not got involved?

it's a simple case of damned if we do damned if we don't ,, so like I duck I'll let it roll down my back,

but, - it does sound like you have a case of the sore looser..
when. oh :roll: when will that ax cease to be ground

not wanting to shoot arrows , ... I'm just saying.

[Fodda]

How about saying "Our British and Commonwealth forces saved US arses in WW2"?

There is a convincing case... We fought almost alone from the word go (give or take a week or so) for two years. It would have been easy for us to capitulate or strike a deal with the Nazis and leave the German war machine free reign in the East, and a fair bit of Middle East oil to force the Soviets away from western Russia.

Then after Pearl Harbor the US wouldn't have had a huge aircraft carrier and troop base just off the coast of France (the UK that is ;-) ).

German U-Boats would have had fun with any excursion the US made towards fighting Nazi Germany in Europe from the US east coast.

And all the time Werner von Braun and other Nazi boffins would have been perfecting intercontinental ballistic missiles and the Amerika Bomber without the hassle of RAF and Soviet interference close at hand. Not to mention the Nazi atom bomb...

So you see, we really did save US asses through 1939, 40 and 41 (we are well known for funding donkey sanctuaries).



Just remember that... If it weren't for us Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Indians etc etc... The US would have likely been speaking a mix of German and Japanese.

Just a thought... :o :o ;-)

[Nigel H-J]

I've just dug me a shelter!!

Nigel.

[forthbridge]

you guys can sure go on about this stuff. - what happened back then.....
and when we came into the war... in truth we were supplying the brits with much before
we accually sent troops , or does that not count.?

but, - it does sound like you have a case of the sore looser..
when. oh :roll: when will that ax cease to be ground

not wanting to shoot arrows , ... I'm just saying.

Fair point, and Winston himself did day something along the lines of 'had a great sleep' when the US pitched in......... but.........

to be honest I think it's more the case that people are (rightly) bemused (at least) with the apparent 'ignorance' of so many Americans as to the course of the war before they were involved (amongst aother things) - not to mention the not uncommon bending of history in movies!

Now, without a doubt, we got massive help from the US in terms of lend lease and in many other areas before December 7..... but at the same time, we payed a rather heavy price in basically giving away technology in quite a few fields - (or getting it ripped off) and not to mention, all the debt was still repayable (and was/is) - and let's be honest, compared to much of Europe after the war, Britain suddenly lagged behind, much as a cost of fighting the war, and did not get the same investement in rebuilding as other countries, and in some cases (through HM Govts shortsightedness) wasted money in some cases....

But all the above is not meant to slate all Americans, it's just from a different perspective. Both sides made major sacrifices, and the fact is early in the war Britain had a choice to make, and things may have been totally different bar a little discussion, which at the end of the day, left Britain alone, standing up for the one word that America seems very quick to use: Freedom.

[DispatchDragon]

I believe the discussion was not about who did what and when and where but more about the state of education and history, which was why I made what appeared to some to be an off topic remark about another war -- I understand Sketchy and Steve being appalled by the statment made about "I thought we were only in the Pacific" and I was adding to this -- that the lack of knowledge of what has happened and IS happening in the world by the so called "information generation" is what appalls me. If you ask most people under 30 about ANYTHING these days - their first response is "wait while I Google that". Take their internet away and they are in a word clueless. I didnt Google or Wiki things - I learnt by being 1/. Educated by people who lived world war 2
2/. Living in a countryside still littered with little things , like airraid shelters, pillbox's, tank traps and the occasional unexploded 1000kg German bomb.


sorry I'll take my soap box and go quietly

Leif