SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the if-it's-silly-but-it-works,-it's-not-silly dept.
Here's a story of the interestingly designed tanks that helped the Allies win on the D-day beaches of Dieppe. Tanks designed by an unconventional thinker (but who wants to think conventionally?). This is the story of 'Hobart's Funnies'. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160603-the-strange-tanks-that-helped-win-d-day
On 19 August 1942, Allied armies put their plan for an invasion of Occupied Europe to the ultimate test – by landing troops on the beaches and trying to capture a French port [Dieppe].
The landings were a disaster.
In less than 10 hours, more than 60% of the 6,000 British, Canadian and American troops who landed on the beach were either killed, wounded or captured. All of of the 28 tanks which came ashore alongside them – essential if the troops were going to be able break through the German strongpoints – were knocked out. Many were stranded, unable to move on the loose shingle, and picked off by anti-tank guns.
The failure of the Dieppe landings provided many lessons. Trying to capture a heavily defended port was likely to fail, commanders realised. Troops would have to land on sandy beaches, and their tanks would have to be able to make their way across these beaches and punch holes through the seawalls or other concrete obstacles the Germans had built up.
One man, it turned out, had a solution. And two years later, his fleet of highly specialised – and often bizarre-looking tanks – would be one of the major reasons why the D-Day landings were a success.
My personal favourite: the Sherman DD swimming tank. Or as the Americans discovered, the Sherman submarine.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2016, @01:43AM
Malmedy massacre (84 dead):
Allegedly, the SS troopers suddenly opened fire on the prisoners. ... Accounts of the killing vary
"Allegedly" being the operative word and "Accounts of the killing vary".
Le Paradis massacre (97 dead):
led them across the road to a wall, and machine-gunned them. Ninety-seven British troops died. Two survived, with injuries, and hid until they were captured by German forces several days later.
Prisoners' stories will say they were "massacred and blah blah", but anyone with some critical thinking skills with dismiss this story as hoax (two survived magically with injuries and were captured so they could give evidence in court after the war, years later). Those limeys had to have been criminals who did not deserve to be sent to POW camps. The code of conduct was very strict for the German troops. There was no code of conduct for the British, Americans, French terrorists, Russian Bolsheviks and their Jewish masters.
Regardless, many SS officers were appalled by the massacre; some reportedly challenged Knöchlein to a duel
Do you have reading skills? Did you see that no one approved of the summary trial?
Wormhoudt massacre (80 dead):
Several British prisoners were able to escape ... After a couple of days, Fahey and several others were found by regular German Army medics and taken to hospital. Their wounds were treated before they were sent to prisoner of war camps in occupied Europe.
Which means it was not carried out according to any set plan. Who sends survivors of a massacre to a hospital and then to a POW camp? This shows the story is entirely made up.
it was specifically soldiers of the 2nd Battalion under the command of then Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Mohnke
[...]
Mohnke strongly denied the accusations against him, telling historian Thomas Fischer, "I issued no orders not to take English prisoners or to execute prisoners.
In 1988, after a campaign by British MP Jeff Rooker, the case was reopened but a German prosecutor came to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
So you see, there is no evidence any of the above happened as the victors like to tell. It was made up and show trials were conducted for the media.
And a total of 84+97+80 = 261 is not a huge number for an entire war, you know. I am sure quite a few Germans were murdered by the Americans, British, French terrorists ... and don't forget the Russians. There is a video clip of one incident where dozens of German youth were gunned down by Americans after they surrendered.
Should I start linking to the systematic massacre and destruction of German cities and towns by the Allies both during and after the war?