Welcome to History Undone with James Hanson, a channel that looks back at pivotal moments and asks 'What if?'. We'll be looking at key battles, strategic decisions and political outcomes with leading historians and current military experts and tacticians to see what might have happened differently, and more importantly, what impact those differences might have had on the world today.
The Germans could not leave the Russians alone. In order for the German plan in the Caucusas to work Stalingrad had to fall. Otherwise the flanks of the army were open and the Russians could cut them off. It would not have matter if the Germans managed to win there however. There were already talks between the Russian and the Allies prior to Hitler's invasion of Russia. In truth if he had won Stalingrad it would only delayed the enviable. Delaying the enviable would have likely resulted in the dropping of the atomic bomb on Berlin.
The Sherman Firefly wasnt just an upgunned Sherman. It made it a serious contender against any German tank. In all reality, Wittman wasn't a tactical genius. He was reckless, and arguably not very good. But he benefitted from having a vastly OP tank. Ths first time he encountered an allied tank with equal firepower, he was taken out.
The fear among WW2 crews of Shermans exploding was real, even if the Ronson myth came later. My grandad was a tank driver with the 7th Armoured. He mentioned it to me that they tended to explode and blow their turrets, and was thankful that he was never assigned to one. Likey a rumor that started from early Shermans with dry stowage.
Maybe if youre in the rear with the Generals, 4 Shermans maybe would make some kind of sense. However if youre actually fighting then it's the Tiger ever day.
Little known fact ..... One of the widest straightest (albeit only a couple of miles long) roads in Leyland Lancashire (and probably Britain) is *Centurian Way* - So named because Leyland Motors of Bus building fame built hundreds possibly thousands of the things in the adjacent factory There's a 'Roundabout Guardian' (no gate there just a roundabout) a few miles from the factory too. [Bet that must have made a few drives blink and do a double take on misty mornings]. Quite why its at that location rather than by the old factory .... No Idea ... Anyone here know the backstory to it?
Has a Tanker crew of ww2...you have to ask yourselves this question ..which Tank would you want to be in ..Tiger or sherman /T34...i know what tank i would rather be in ...despite all its faults...the Tiger or Tiger II. No contest ...
I. Think defeat in midway wouls have made the Soviets re conisder moving there divisions in the east. The Australians potentially pulling formations out of Afrika to prepare for a invasion. The USA would have received tripled calls for aide from the British Empire, new Zealand and Australia for the pacific
The Ronson thing may be a myth, but the Germans did call it the tommy cooker. Wonder why that was? The problem with these so-called experts is that every one of them has their own take on things. Just because there were lots of them (and t34's) does not make it a good tank. That is like saying that products made in China today are the best just because they produce a lot, instead of calling it junk.
America cut off 80% of oil imports to Japan before pearl harbor. Japan would have slowly returned to the stone age if no steps were taken to secure a new oil supply.
I am glad you have analysed this event with objectivity. Too many coincidences that made wander the validity of what has been said. Also the american losses the way they have been documented by the books are very vague and also being dismissive of the aircraft they lost. Alos another exaggerated event is when jim thatch shoots down tomanaga: you mean to say that as his plane was going down thacht flew by him and asked for his name?
The Russian won in Kursk because British intelligence had cracked Lorenz and Enigma and gave the Russian chapter and verse on the German battle plans...
I don't see why this would have prevented the Great Depression, but I can imagine that without the scary example of Russian Bolshevism might that great depression have resulted in socialist revolution in America ... Germany.... France or Britain?
So this "expert" spends a while explaining why the Tiger I was overrated, then in his explanation for why Wittmann was overrated, he says Wittmann was in the "massively superior" Tiger I which "stacked the odds very much in his favour. A Tiger, generally speaking, can wipe the battlefield of anything it comes across". Way to completely defeat your own prior arguments of only a few minutes prior! It seems like he set out to "bust myths" in an attempt to get some clicks, except he's not busting them at all, he's reinforcing them with his own arguments! TLDR: the Tiger I WAS the deadliest tank the US fought in Normandy, and the Sherman WAS a fiery deathtrap whenever it had to go 1 on 1 against a Tiger. Oops, I guess the conventional wisdom was right all along.
Richardson’s objections was well taken. San Diego was out of reach of the IJN, the IJN carriers did not have the range to attack San Diego and had not developed at sea refueling. Had the US pacific fleet not been forward deployed, Japan could not attack them.
D-Day fails and the Germans take tens of thousands of prisoners. Public outcry forces Britain and United States to look for a separate peace from the Soviets to recover all the prisoners. Read about about this one somewhere. Anyway, with most of the forces, including air and thousands of flak guns (now as Anti Tank) from cities since no air raids, now to be used in defence, the East front can hold out.
Its funny how the Soviet T-34s had to use suicidal tactics but the Sherman crews didnt. Every time I listen to a western speaker I just sit back and wait for the Russian myths to come out.
Easy to refer to Pearl Harbor by itself, but the bigger question is, "What if Japan never did anything to cause America to break its neutrality?" If Japan ignored Hawaii, the P.I. and other American territories, and takes the Dutch East Indies and the various British holdings, would the U.S. have intervened?
Strike four: the Tripartite Pact called for Germany to assist Japan if Japan were attacked by a non-Axis power. Japan, famously, did not join Germany in attacking the USSR.
Who made the decision to attack Pearl Harbor? And hardly a "split-second" decision. Battleships were NOT the primary target; the carriers were. Strike three.
"Tiger can knock out a sherman 1,5 km away"...LOL This "expert" has 1,5 km forgotten... A Tiger was able knock out a sherman up to 3 km!!! And 8000 Tigers? Mmmh, maybe all Tigers I and II and all Panthers... Great "Expert"...rofl
I usually dismiss clicky thumbnails, but yours is worded just right. I like Hanson's take on the effect of Dunkirk on British armor. I was an American armor soldier long ago. I am not alone in my respect for the Centurion. What a beast. I remember days at the museum at Ft Knox and seeing the cutaway of the T34. The idea of sighting through the barrel, as was done with the earliest model, made us roll our eyes in disbelief.
Here's a big What If for your consideration: What if FDR authorized CNO Admiral Stark to inform Pacific Fleet's Admiral Kimmel that the Japanese Combined Fleet had basically disappeared. "They're out there somewhere but we have no idea where." I have no doubt in my mind that the Pacific Fleet would have sailed within 36 hours, for Kimmel's fleet had trained for it.
one thing mr. parshall and i totally agree on is guadalcanal. it was the final part of the turn of the tide. but you cannot overlook the connection between doolittle, coral sea, midway, and guadalcanal. for the victory that occured during 1942 onward, they all needed to happen pretty much how it occured.
