Questions tagged [ww2-european-theater]
For questions relating to World War 2 in Europe, waged primarily between France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and their allied nations between 1939 and 1945.
105 questions
2
votes
3
answers
381
views
Did any German generals question the wisdom of Störfang (June 1942 attack on Sevastopol), right before Case Blue?
Currently reading Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941-44 by Forczyk which is now looking at the attack on Sevastopol in June 1942: Störfang, led by Manstein.
This is an odd battle by German ...
- 7,684
1
vote
0
answers
104
views
Clarification on WW 2 US Army Discharge Papers (General Orders)
I am attempting to do some research on my paternal grandfather whom served in WW2. He was honorably discharged in AUG 46 and I have a copy of that paperwork. I know he served as a part of the 26th ...
- 111
14
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How do I locate information on a B-17 shot down over Poland?
A friend's father was a nose gunner in a B-17 during WWII. In 1945, he was shot down near Poznan, Poland, survived the crash and was captured by the Soviets. My friend provided the following ...
- 141
0
votes
3
answers
419
views
Did France send people from other countries to fight first during WWII?
I am from Poland. This past weekend, I talked with my mother-in-law, who was born in 1935 in France. In 1939, right before World War II broke out, she and her family went back to Poland. I was shocked ...
- 239
8
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Would the USSR have invaded Poland in WW2 if the Germans had not crossed into previously-agreed Soviet sphere of influence?
On Quora, I read the following opinion by user Ahmad:
During the war against Poland however, the Germans crossed over into the region that had been granted to the Soviet Union as part of the Molotov–...
- 32.7k
2
votes
1
answer
564
views
What nationality are the soldiers in these WW2 pictures?
These pictures were taken in the immediate post-war, 1945 or 1946 I guess, somewhere in central Europe (Austria, Czech Republic or Poland). I have blurred the faces because the pictures come from a ...
1
vote
5
answers
766
views
Did Nazi propaganda really claim that England imposed the war on Germany?
There's a photo circulating online (examples 1,2) allegedly of a congress of the National Socialist Party of Germany (i.e. a Nazi congress) that took place at the Sportpalast in Berlin in late 1942 or ...
- 601
4
votes
2
answers
970
views
How did Admiral King survive his early mistakes in World War II?
In all fairness, Admiral Ernest J. King made important contributions to World War II as the U.S. naval Commander in Chief, most notably in the Pacific theater.
He had a number of major weaknesses, ...
- 104k
4
votes
2
answers
531
views
Who of the British military had access to the ULTRA messages of the Enigma in September 1944?
Access to the decrypted messages of the German Enigma, called ULTRA, was very limited. Everyone working for Bletchley Park (BP) or in contact with BP had to sign a life-long secrecy act with stiff ...
user61079
4
votes
1
answer
437
views
What is this Tiger tank wingman UGV?
Schneider, Tiger Battalion 507: "For some time it was expected that in action every Tiger commander would ‘pull the strings’ of two midget panzers loaded with explosives. The idea was eventually ...
- 2,700
4
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How did Germany survive on the Eastern Front of WW2 for so long?
By the time that 1942 began, Soviet reinforcements had arrived in the Moscow sector, and the Soviets outnumbered the Germans by nearly 2 to 1 in frontline strength, the majority of them decently ...
- 79
1
vote
1
answer
330
views
Who destroyed the leading brigade of the 6th Guards Tank corps?
From Tony Le Tissier, Slaughter at Halbe:
With Koniev’s exhortations urging it on, 3rd Guards Tank Army succeeded in covering sixty kilometres on 20 April [1945], taking Baruth during the course of ...
- 2,700
2
votes
2
answers
576
views
Which specific equipment did Italian submarines lack for Atlantic?
I read the book Kretschmer, in which the author Lawrence Patterson quoted one of Dönitz's report concerning the collaboration with the Italian submarine service. One element given for the bad ...
- 7,392
18
votes
1
answer
6k
views
What German torpedo problem was discovered in 1942?
I am reading a book about Otto Kretschmer, and the author speaks about a problem of German torpedoes.
The only thing said in the book is:
Torpedoes needed to be ventilated during some time because ...
- 7,392
-3
votes
2
answers
432
views
Why did Hitler split army group south for the 1942 summer offensive?
The German plan for the summer of 1942 was to drain the Soviet Union dry of oil and foreign aid, with the three main objectives of Leningrad, Murmansk, and the Caucasus.
The plan to capture the ...
- 7
-1
votes
1
answer
371
views
Why Didn't Hitler order an immediate attack on Moscow in August 1941? [closed]
In July 1941, the Soviets had begun their first organized resistance against the German invasion, after the initial German attack threw the Soviet forces into a shambles. They attempted to block the ...
- 11
15
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Why weren’t the Dutch and Belgian borders fortified with wire, trenches, mines, etc., as it became clear Germany would invade during WW2?
Following standard military doctrine, a full mobilization of the opponent nation is the clearest indication of hostile intentions, short of an actual declaration of war.
Considering that massive, ...
- 518
4
votes
1
answer
430
views
What were the capabilities of U-boats during the battle of the Atlantic?
I'm learning about the capabilities of German u-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic and their improvements during the war, in the most general sense.
I researched three types of U-boat, the VIIA, ...
- 647
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is Bulgaria the only country in modern history to have gained territory after being on the losing side of a war?
According to the sources I could find, Bulgaria was given a piece of land called 'Southern Dobruja' at the end of WW2 even though they officially were part of the Axis powers from 1941 up until 1944, ...
- 518
1
vote
4
answers
602
views
Did Hitler have any plans in regards to the troops he had stationed in Norway throughout the war?
Throughout WW2 Germany had 400,000 troops stationed in Norway essentially doing occupation duty and fighting of partisans after Norway's surrender.
Now as the war started to turn against the Germans ...
- 169
6
votes
1
answer
583
views
How effective was the (Western) Allies bombing campaign over Germany in drawing down the Eastern Front Luftwaffe?
The strategic air campaign over Germany by 8th US Air Force and "Bomber Harris" for the RAF has elicited decidedly mixed opinions. Depending on who you listen to it was a noble effort or it ...
- 7,684
-4
votes
2
answers
261
views
Why Italy during the interwar years and ww2 didn't devote adequate resources to develop weapons against armored fight vehicles (AFVs) including tanks? [closed]
Germany, Britain, France, the USSR and the USA had their own lines of design of AFVs and tanks. Italy, while industrially capable to some degree behind those four nations, had obsolete vehicles for ...
- 153
3
votes
1
answer
871
views
What WW2 German badge is this?
My uncle fought in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. After he past I found this badge, but don’t know what its for or where it’s from. Can anyone help me figure it out?
- 31
7
votes
1
answer
470
views
Is there a WW2 European bomb damage atlas?
For London there is a comprehensive and accessible (and readily available) atlas of damage done during the Second World War by German aerial bombing.
Are there similar atlases available for Europe, ...
- 1,026
1
vote
1
answer
529
views
How did the "weather conditions" for an invasion at Pas de Calais compare to those of Normandy?
During World War II, Normandy was chosen as the northern France invasion site over the Pas de Calais.
This was in spite of the fact that "weather" made a landing at Normandy a very iffy ...
- 104k
-2
votes
1
answer
558
views
Why couldn't the Allies clear out D-Day gun emplacements before landing troops? [closed]
It's common knowledge that the D-Day assaults on the beaches were a horrific "meat grinder" due to Allied troops having to face the suicidal conditions of charging gun emplacements on high ground ...
- 2,337
7
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Was the Volga really Russia's last line of defense before the Urals?
That was a claim made by General Vasily Chuikov in "The Battle For Stalingrad." He even went so far as to postulate a German column heading for Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan), toward the Chinese border. That ...
- 104k
11
votes
2
answers
647
views
Why did Fall Blau start at Voronezh instead of further south?
The main objectives of Fall Blau, the German 1942 summer offensive, were the Volga River, to cut off Soviet oil supplies from further south, and the Caucasus oil fields themselves, for German use.
...
- 104k
4
votes
1
answer
364
views
How many naval mines were cleared for D-Day?
I was interested to read in this question about the clearing of naval mines for D-Day in 1944. There are estimates of the frequency of the mines on the beach -- history.com says there were "4 million ...
user18968
-4
votes
2
answers
254
views
Was there a plan from the USSR to invade Germany before Barbarossa? [closed]
Were there any intentions from the USSR to invade Germany before Operation Barbarossa? Did the USSR intelligence services know that Hitler had intentions to invade them?
- 207
10
votes
1
answer
760
views
How did U-boats enter and exit the submarine pens at Brest?
I was reading about the Brest submarine pen/bunker complex and looking at pictures of it. I was even able to locate a set of blueprints of the base here. But because of the poor quality of the image ...
- 6,667
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Did the Germans consider an amphibious landing for Fall Blau?
In the operation Fall Blau (Case Blue) the German Wehrmacht advanced towards the Don river, and then sent Army Group A into the Caucasus region to take the oil fields in the region.
They managed to ...
- 1,747
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What was the strategic importance of Moscow to the Soviet Union in Dec 1941?
According Rodric Braithwaite the British Ambassador to Russia in 2005
"Four-fifths of the fighting in Europe took place on the Eastern Front, and that is where the Germans suffered 90% of their ...
user27618
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Were armed merchantmen effective against submarines?
The armed merchantman Jervis Bay was no match for the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer in a ship to ship duel. Nevertheless, the merchantman put up a brave fight lasting over an hour, allowing ...
- 104k
5
votes
1
answer
393
views
Did the Germans "mix up" Army Groups A and B during Fall Blau?
Fall Blau was the 1942 campaign conducted by Germany's Army Group South. This was subdivided during the campaign into Army Groups A and B.
I was surprise to read that Army Group A was sent to the ...
- 104k
16
votes
1
answer
957
views
Did the USA have a plan to defeat Germany without Britain?
If Britain had surrendered during World War II (eg. during the May 1940 crisis), what was the American plan for defeating Germany? Without the British Islands as a staging area, an amphibious assault ...
- 8,737
26
votes
5
answers
11k
views
How did the Axis intend to hold the Caucasus?
We all know how the Axis offensive in 1942 led to the "turning point" battle of Stalingrad and the eventual defeat of the Third Reich, and that this offensive had been launched in order to capture and ...
- 1,326
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How strongly defended was Baku in 1942?
Baku was the single largest source of oil in the Soviet Union in World War II. The Germans captured Maikop and seemed on the verge of capturing Grozny. But Baku was much larger than either of the ...
- 104k
6
votes
3
answers
657
views
Did the Germans attempt the easier or harder of two possible objectives in the Caucasus?
During the summer and fall of 1942, German Army Group A advanced into the Caucasus pursuant to Fall Blau. This consisted of two armies, the First Panzer Army and the Seventeenth Army.
The advanced ...
- 104k
3
votes
1
answer
247
views
How long might the campaigning season in the Caucasus have lasted for the Germans?
The Caucasus Mountains included some of the most southerly points in the former Soviet Union, but also some of the highest altitude points. The book, "Marching Orders" referred to "ice and snow" for ...
- 104k
23
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How did the Allies achieve air superiority on Sicily?
The Allies had freed all of Africa by the start of 1943. Afterwards, they landed in Sicily with a huge air force and fleet. How did they manage to land with the opposition of the Luftwaffe and Regia ...
- 7,392
25
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why did the USSR stop in the Winter War against Finland in 1940?
To me, this is one of the biggest history mysteries. By the end of February 1940, the USSR breached the Mannerheim line, and the Finnish troops were exhausted and short of ammunition. I have little ...
- 481
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Did the British really bail out the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge?
Just read this article on the Battle of Kasserine Pass
America's Most Humiliating Defeat
The author made the following statement regarding British help during the battle:
As at the Battle of the ...
- 617
2
votes
2
answers
535
views
Did Army Group Center have easier going up to Smolensk than between Smolensk and Moscow?
To try to get an answer to this question, I would like to explore its factual bases, including, but not limited to the following:
1) How did the road/railroad communication network west of Smolensk ...
- 104k
0
votes
1
answer
228
views
Is it true that Austrians who refused to help SS in catching Soviet POWs would not face any negative consequences?
According to the Viennese government, civilians who refused to assist the SS in catching Soviet prisoners of war (during the Mühlviertler Hasenjagd) did not face any negative consequences (my emphasis)...
user23839
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How did the British keep Enigma 'snatches' secret?
During WW2 the British (and allies) occasionally managed to capture an Enigma machine and/or code books from a sinking sub or weather-ship.
How did they keep the capture secret?
The crews must have ...
- 2,155
12
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Did a German plane really land in Moscow in May 1941?
I just read this small Wikipedia page about a 1941 Purge of the Red Army. There is something rather shocking:
In May, a German Junkers Ju 52 landed in Moscow, undetected by the ADF beforehand, ...
- 17.3k
87
votes
9
answers
33k
views
Did Russian winter seriously contribute to German defeat on the Eastern Front in WWII?
When people discuss the causes of Hitler's defeat in Russia, one topic is frequently mentioned: climate. People claim that winter contributed significantly to the problems of German army on the ...
user23839
61
votes
6
answers
25k
views
Why didn't Wehrmacht soldiers refuse to kill civilians?
Why didn't Wehrmacht Soldiers refuse to execute civilians (and Kids) when it was clear that they did nothing wrong?
I know that they were probably told they're partisans or Jews or something along ...
- 771
1
vote
0
answers
121
views
Operation Biting — composition of the German naval patrol
Before the British paratroopers were rescued during Operation Biting in 1942, it was reported that a German naval patrol was operating nearby, which delayed the rescue of the paratroopers by the Royal ...
- 254