What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Put yourself in either the position of the axis or the allies. What do you feel was the biggest mistake made, on either side, during the course of the war? The scope of this question is intentionally broad.

My entry for the axis is the German decision to invade Russia. If they were able to focus simply on the battle of Britian it is quite possible that the war could have been won. Fighting a dual front battle made victory nearly impossible.

On the side of the allies I think the french's inability to adapt to modern warfare and inattention to Charles Degaules theories takes the cake.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

AK,

You are really going out on a limb there with that dual-front choice!

I am going to have to go with the mass gassing of the Jews. That really turned a number of people against Hitler who otherwise might have turned more of a blind eye to things.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Axis: Getting the Americans actively involved in the war by bombing Pearl Harbor.

Allies: Americans diddling around in Africa waiting for the Germans to exhaust their resources in Russia.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Respectfully, who turned against germany for the mass gassing of the jews?

The biggest mistakes were:
Germans: battle of stalingrad
Germans: Fighting 2 fronts
Japan: Failing to surrender early and causing the needless death of millions
Germans: failure to advance at Dunkirk
Japan: Failing to seize the Pearl Harbor initiative
Germans: Failing to give up the beachheads in france and launch a counter attack instead.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

El D : Is that true? While from a moral perspective, the holocost is unquestionably the worst and evilest thing that the Nazi regime did, I was under the impression that most of the details of the holocost didn't come out until after the war. Did it really have an effect on the sympathies for the war, while the war was occuring?

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

AK, Utah:

You are both correct, but I at least like to think that the underlying moral problems people had with some of Hitler's tactics had at least some impact on how things developed. Then again, you are both probably right and it really was just about protecting territories and reacting to Pearl Harbor.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

The U.S. not invading and conquering the U.K. while they had their collected forces in the European theater, thus preventing Prince Charles and that butch Spice Girl.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

one could argue that the german mistake in russia was not going there, but not commiting enough rescources. if my limited knowledge is correct, early in the war the germans were on the outskirts of moscow while stalin was holed up in the city. if zee germans had rolled on moscow with more troops etc... taken the city, and killed stalin it is entirely conceivable that russia would have fallen. if this had happened the germans would have had far more rescources with which to fight the war. if russia had fallen zee germans could have controlled the oil fields in the caucases as well as possibly drawing from russian manpower.
in short, maybe the german mistake wasn't invading russia. maybe it was not throwing more rescourses into the eastern front.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

I have heard, but am not familiar with the topic enough to comment on correctness, that the attack into Russia was neccessary due to diminished oil supplies.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

I think the Germans really screwed up by not detecting the spies operating out of Stalag 13. They had tunnels everywhere, they had a coffee pot that doubled as a radio, and they left the prison camp to execute missions whenever they liked. How is that possible?

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
You are both correct, but I at least like to think that the underlying moral problems people had with some of Hitler's tactics had at least some impact on how things developed.

[/ QUOTE ]So would I. Unfortunately, I dont think it had anything to do with the war. Heck, our partner in Russia was also a huge butcher. If I recall, didnt the U.S. turn back a boat of Jews and didnt the U.S. refuse to bomb the concentration camps when they knew it would save lives.

Also, we were brutal butchers as well. The thing I find the most disturbing about the war was the firebombing of Toyko. After watching 9/11, I cant imagine the U.S. intentionally burning 100,000 civilians in a night.

There is a great book called flyboys and post it with some topics for discussion. I will try and write a review of it next weekend.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Germans [censored] up so many times its funny.

Delaying Kursk until the Panther A was introduced is one of my favourites.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think the Germans really screwed up by not detecting the spies operating out of Stalag 13. They had tunnels everywhere, they had a coffee pot that doubled as a radio, and they left the prison camp to execute missions whenever they liked. How is that possible?

[/ QUOTE ]
That William Holden is a very crafty fellow.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Oh I allmost forgot.

Battle of Britain. Switching from bombing the RAF to bombing citys.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Biggest Allied mistake - invading Italy. I mean, come on, skinny country, lots of mountains, few north south routes, sounds like a great way in to Europe.

Biggest Axis mistake - Screwing the pooch from the word go on Barbarossa (one massive drive towards Moscow > Hitler's gay ass three pronged attack), believing the hype about the pas de calais invasion, and not allowing the counter attack on D Day because Hitler had to be consulted about all Panzer movements.

All of these were big, but I offer the following as the biggest Axis mistake in WW2 - poor code and cypher security.

The Allies had masses of information about german plans, deployments etc (not just Enigma, I think Magic was almost as important on the Japanese front).

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Japan: Failing to seize the Pearl Harbor initiative
Germans: Failing to give up the beachheads in france and launch a counter attack instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

Japan actually did not fail to seize the Pearl Harbor initiative. Going into the Pearl Harbor invasion, Japan knew with a successful strike, that they would be able to control the Pacific for 6 full months, with uncertainty looming thereafter. As a matter of fact, Japan did control the Pacific, for almost exactly six months, taking over almost all of Asia, and building a huge perimeter defense. It was their demolition at Midway (where I don't believe they should have even engaged battle in), which lead to their demise.

The Germans made numerous mistakes as well. Engaging in battle with Russians, although it can be viewed as a mistake now, was inevitable. The clash of ideology between Totalitarian Hitler and Communist Stalin was enough to cause that altercation. Furthermore, the German population held a deep resentment towards Russians, as evidenced by their gruesome battle and treatment of POWs.

The Germans largest mistakes were: 1)their inability to deal with the Allied powers codebreaking abilities (Great Britains was called Ultra I believe, I forget the name of the U.S. codebreakers) and radar capabilities, 2) getting duped by the Allies on D-Day, and 3)committing the majority of their defense on the Western front instead of the East.

1) Codebreaking and radar: the German U-boats were a HUGE threat in the Atlantic Ocean and they could have curtailed the unparalled amount of U.S. production of war supplies being exported to Britain, but the U-Boats were basically snuffed out. Codebreaking also allowed the Allied sources to be prepared for German counterattacks. For instance, Eisenhower caught hold of Hitler's surprize attack in the Battle of Normandy via Ultra, and without getting into specifics, was able to drive the Germans all the way back to the Siegfried Line without a major battle for France.

2) There were two highly likely landing spots for the Allied Forces on D-Day: Normandy and Pas-de-Calais. The Allied created a deception plan, called Operation Fortitude, and it implemented a fictitious army, the First US Army Group (FUSAG) which would land in Pas-de-Calais. They even made the commander of this fictitous plan General Patton. Of course, they leaked this fictitious plan. By January 1944, there was confirmation via Ultra that the Germans had bought into this plan. Rommel believed that the Allies were still going to land in Normandy, but Hitler overrode his objections and placed half of his army in Pas-de-Calais. Therefore, when the Allied forces landed in Normandy, it was only half defended, and by the time Hitler had risen to order the other half of the army to reach Normandy, the Allied forces had gained the beachhead.

3) Finally, Hitler believed that if he was able to crush the American and Brittish forces in the West, that Stalin would crumble in the East and offer Russian surrender. As a result, Hitler moved the majority of his troops to the West and left his Eastern territory severely under defensed. The battle on the Eastern Front was way more intense than that on the West. While the Allied forces did not hate the German forces, the same could not be said for between the Russians and Germans. So while the Western front was more of a civil war (as civil as war can get I suppose) the Eastern front was a slaughterhouse. Almost no P.O.W.'s survived. The Eastern territory was crushed. And Russia would become a national powerhouse threat for the next 30+ years as a result.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Yeah, basically what Penguin said, I was too busy typing to see that he had already posted it =)

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also, we were brutal butchers as well. The thing I find the most disturbing about the war was the firebombing of Toyko. After watching 9/11, I cant imagine the U.S. intentionally burning 100,000 civilians in a night.

[/ QUOTE ]
It becomes a lot easier when you understand the nature of Japanese industry at that time. Unlike in America and Europe where manufacturing was concentrated in large factories and industrial areas Japanese industry was highly dispersed throughout all the various neighborhoods of a city. Many Japanese had small machine shops and manufacturing in their homes or next to their homes. Thus it was impossible to distinguish between industrial and residential areas and the concept of a military target became blurred. Also if you kill the civilians they can't be manufacturing weapons - a sad but obvious conclusion that was drawn early in the Second World War by both sides.

Does that make us brutal butchers? I don't think so, despite Halsey's urging to "kill Japs, kill Japs, kill Japs". Remember this was a regime that not only started a war with us in 1941 but lauched a bloody and brutal invasion of China in 1931. This included the horrors of "The Rape of Nanking". They were the butchers and regardless of how horrible it was the savagery of our retribution was warranted and necessary.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Invading Poland.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Japan: Failing to seize the Pearl Harbor initiative
Germans: Failing to give up the beachheads in france and launch a counter attack instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

Japan actually did not fail to seize the Pearl Harbor initiative. Going into the Pearl Harbor invasion, Japan knew with a successful strike, that they would be able to control the Pacific for 6 full months, with uncertainty looming thereafter. As a matter of fact, Japan did control the Pacific, for almost exactly six months, taking over almost all of Asia, and building a huge perimeter defense. It was their demolition at Midway (where I don't believe they should have even engaged battle in), which lead to their demise.

The Germans made numerous mistakes as well. Engaging in battle with Russians, although it can be viewed as a mistake now, was inevitable. The clash of ideology between Totalitarian Hitler and Communist Stalin was enough to cause that altercation. Furthermore, the German population held a deep resentment towards Russians, as evidenced by their gruesome battle and treatment of POWs.

The Germans largest mistakes were: 1)their inability to deal with the Allied powers codebreaking abilities (Great Britains was called Ultra I believe, I forget the name of the U.S. codebreakers) and radar capabilities, 2) getting duped by the Allies on D-Day, and 3)committing the majority of their defense on the Western front instead of the East.

1) Codebreaking and radar: the German U-boats were a HUGE threat in the Atlantic Ocean and they could have curtailed the unparalled amount of U.S. production of war supplies being exported to Britain, but the U-Boats were basically snuffed out. Codebreaking also allowed the Allied sources to be prepared for German counterattacks. For instance, Eisenhower caught hold of Hitler's surprize attack in the Battle of Normandy via Ultra, and without getting into specifics, was able to drive the Germans all the way back to the Siegfried Line without a major battle for France.

2) There were two highly likely landing spots for the Allied Forces on D-Day: Normandy and Pas-de-Calais. The Allied created a deception plan, called Operation Fortitude, and it implemented a fictitious army, the First US Army Group (FUSAG) which would land in Pas-de-Calais. They even made the commander of this fictitous plan General Patton. Of course, they leaked this fictitious plan. By January 1944, there was confirmation via Ultra that the Germans had bought into this plan. Rommel believed that the Allies were still going to land in Normandy, but Hitler overrode his objections and placed half of his army in Pas-de-Calais. Therefore, when the Allied forces landed in Normandy, it was only half defended, and by the time Hitler had risen to order the other half of the army to reach Normandy, the Allied forces had gained the beachhead.

3) Finally, Hitler believed that if he was able to crush the American and Brittish forces in the West, that Stalin would crumble in the East and offer Russian surrender. As a result, Hitler moved the majority of his troops to the West and left his Eastern territory severely under defensed. The battle on the Eastern Front was way more intense than that on the West. While the Allied forces did not hate the German forces, the same could not be said for between the Russians and Germans. So while the Western front was more of a civil war (as civil as war can get I suppose) the Eastern front was a slaughterhouse. Almost no P.O.W.'s survived. The Eastern territory was crushed. And Russia would become a national powerhouse threat for the next 30+ years as a result.

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks, this reminded of why i love history...especially the art of war.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

The first major German mistake was not finishing off the allies at Dunkirk. They allowed 300,000 men to get away. They followed this up with the Battle of Britain failure which put the war on two fronts. If they would have routed the allies at Dunkirk, they could have settled with Britain and focused on the rest of mainland Europe and Russia.

Their invasion of Russia was not a bad tactical move if they had first avoided a two/three front war and secondly had not committed atrocities against civilians. Many Russians and Eastern Europeans were gladly willing to fight the Soviets, but after experiencing the German atrocities (such as burning of villages in Belarus and murdering their inhabitants) they joined the Soviets. Very stupid "Arian superiorty" and they got what they deserved.

On a side note, most people don't know that many of the "Germans" defending the beaches on D-Day were actually Russians who had joined the German Army!

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Biggest longterm mistake was the usage of atomic bomb. Someday down the line they will be used again and do a lot more damage than the ones during WWII it just set a precedent that will be carried out in the next century or two.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Biggest longterm mistake was the usage of atomic bomb. Someday down the line they will be used again and do a lot more damage than the ones during WWII it just set a precedent that will be carried out in the next century or two.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't agree with this. Thankfully the United States were the first country to use the atomic bomb, and not Germany (they needed about 5 or 6 more years before they would have caught up to the United States in this department) or the Soviet Union. The Germans would have been much closer to completing their atomic bomb if they had been more resourceful with their collective knowledge. Instead of pooling up their scientists together, there were about 13 different groups of scientists who were racing against each other in an attempt to appease the Fuhrer first.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Also, we were brutal butchers as well. The thing I find the most disturbing about the war was the firebombing of Toyko. After watching 9/11, I cant imagine the U.S. intentionally burning 100,000 civilians in a night.

[/ QUOTE ]
It becomes a lot easier when you understand the nature of Japanese industry at that time. Unlike in America and Europe where manufacturing was concentrated in large factories and industrial areas Japanese industry was highly dispersed throughout all the various neighborhoods of a city. Many Japanese had small machine shops and manufacturing in their homes or next to their homes. Thus it was impossible to distinguish between industrial and residential areas and the concept of a military target became blurred. Also if you kill the civilians they can't be manufacturing weapons - a sad but obvious conclusion that was drawn early in the Second World War by both sides.

Does that make us brutal butchers? I don't think so, despite Halsey's urging to "kill Japs, kill Japs, kill Japs". Remember this was a regime that not only started a war with us in 1941 but lauched a bloody and brutal invasion of China in 1931. This included the horrors of "The Rape of Nanking". They were the butchers and regardless of how horrible it was the savagery of our retribution was warranted and necessary.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I permanently lost a Dutch friend on the "brutal butchers" issue. He thought I was a horrendous barbarian because I said that I didn't really see any enormous difference between the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the firebombing of Tokyo (and the bombing by conventional means of other civilian population centers such as London and Dresden). While the atomic bomb did leave radioactive residue which did cause long-term illness and birth defects, both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have successfully been repopulated. Frankly I thought that he never really grasped the scale of the bombing of Tokyo. And there were reasons for all of these things, whether or not the decisions taken then look justifiable now in hindsight. Had the Japanese never taken it upon themselves to attack Pearl Harbor, none of the Japanese cioties would ever have been touched.

There were just a whole host of mistakes, perhaps starting with the humiliation of Germany (at least from the German point of view) by the victors of WWI. And then the huge and ghastly mistake the German populace made, giving the slightest credence to that psychotic little twerp. I look at the films of Hitler orating, and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would take that obviously demented jerk seriously. (I guess you had to be there....) And then there was appeasing Hitler when he stuck his hand out for the Sudetenland. Mistakes large and small--on a lesser scale Operation MArket Garden and the bombing of Montecassino and the internment of the American Japanese.

It might be better to make a list of the things that weren't mistakes. Radar, for example.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I permanently lost a Dutch friend on the "brutal butchers" issue. He thought I was a horrendous barbarian because I said that I didn't really see any enormous difference between the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the firebombing of Tokyo (and the bombing by conventional means of other civilian population centers such as London and Dresden). While the atomic bomb did leave radioactive residue which did cause long-term illness and birth defects, both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have successfully been repopulated. Frankly I thought that he never really grasped the scale of the bombing of Tokyo.

[/ QUOTE ]
It depends on hows the comparisons are drawn. As you correctly state there are a large number of people who do not recognize how destructive the Tokyo bombing was and that in fact it killed more people and did significantly more damage than either atomic bomb. Truly a vision of hell, as was Dresden. So in that sense you are absolutely correct.

However, seen in another sense there are significant differences between the use of conventional incendiary weaponry and atomic bombs. The firebombing of Tokyo, as horrible as it was, had its counterpart in Dresden and to a lesser extent London and Coventry and simply reflected the ultimate usage of already known and accepted tactics and technologies. Even today with fuel-air bombs and napalm and such an attack couldn't be much more effective or get much worse than the attack on Tokyo because cities are no longer built as tinderboxes. Conversely, the initial use of atomic weaponry ushered in a new age where not only cities but entire countries and civilizations could be destroyed, perhaps even ending human life on all Earth as we know it. There was certainly a political element in its use, not only to scare the Japanese into surrendering but also to frighten the Soviets since we recognized they were going to be the next enemy despite the wartime alliance. By being the first to use it, maintaining the technological lead and actively seeking to limit the proliferation of atomic powers through the Cold War their use was prevented - admittedly at very great cost, but successfully.

Regardless of how horrible it all was I think it's a good thing the bombs were used when they were. I believe the natural human revulsion from seeing the suffering of the victims and the shock of how powerful this new weapon could be actually knocked some sense into people. If the bomb hadn't been dropped then I have absolutely no doubt that at some point later in history atomic bombs would have been used and for much less justifiable purposes.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

The allies not invading and whiping Russia off the face of the map after the fall of Berlin like Patton wanted to.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

OS : You make a very interesting point in your last paragraph. It is contentious, to say the least, but I sense there may be a great deal of validity to it. To add on to it, the early nuclear bombs were as most people know, to later nuclear bombs as silly putty is to napalm. The massive killing power in a single h-bomb we have today dwarfs the (already impressive) damage one of the older bombs can acheive. All the nuclear tests in the world will never give a true sense of horror that these bombs can unleash.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
OS : You make a very interesting point in your last paragraph. It is contentious, to say the least, but I sense there may be a great deal of validity to it. To add on to it, the early nuclear bombs were as most people know, to later nuclear bombs as silly putty is to napalm. The massive killing power in a single h-bomb we have today dwarfs the (already impressive) damage one of the older bombs can acheive. All the nuclear tests in the world will never give a true sense of horror that these bombs can unleash.

[/ QUOTE ]

To add to what OS and Ak said, I think that people today equate the atom bombs that ended WWII so to speak with the hydrogen bombs of today. As devastating as the two atom bombs dropped on Japan were, both cities are up and functioning and have been for quite some time. That would not be the case if hydrogen bombs were unleashed in some future nuclear war (may it never happen).

"the early nuclear bombs were as most people know, to later nuclear bombs as silly putty is to napalm. The massive killing power in a single h-bomb we have today dwarfs the (already impressive) damage one of the older bombs can acheive." This is true, of course, except possibly for the "as most people know" part. I suspect (on no evidence save anecdotal) most people don't know and conflate the two types of bombs.

The question, of course, that lingers to the present--would the Japanese government have surrendered expeditiously on the basis of the bombing of Tokyo--or did the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forestall the need for an invasion of Japan? If the latter would Hiroshima have been enough, or was Nagasaki necessary? I have the impression that everyone thinks that an invasion of Japan with possible house-to-house fighting throughout the archipelago would have been its own breed of horror. And there is no doubt that part of Truman's agenda was giving Stalin something to think about.

The bottom line is think long and hard about attacking other countries lest previously unimaginable catastrophes ensue. Attacking Pearl Harbor was simply a huge mistake for Imperial Japan, and one the Japanese have been disinclined to repeat these last 60 years.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
The allies not invading and whiping Russia off the face of the map after the fall of Berlin like Patton wanted to.

[/ QUOTE ]

that would have been a very hard task to acomplish [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The allies not invading and whiping Russia off the face of the map after the fall of Berlin like Patton wanted to.

[/ QUOTE ]

that would have been a very hard task to acomplish [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

not this again! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

sorry ):

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Japan: Failing to surrender early and causing the needless death of millions


[/ QUOTE ]

Japan tried to surrender both before the first bomb and before the second, America ignored them because they needed to test their new weaponery.

My choices:

Axis: Involving America
Allies: Not using the united spirit of the world to form a powerful UN to keep world affairs solidly in check.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Japan tried to surrender both before the first bomb and before the second, America ignored them because they needed to test their new weaponery.


[/ QUOTE ]

Do you have a source for this ridiculous statement? I'm pretty sure the US made it clear from the getgo that only unconditional surrender would be accepted and the feelers the Japanese sent out prior to/after Hiroshima had conditions that were unacceptable.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

I think the only condtion which US and Japan had the big dissagreement on was whether or not emperor would remain, In the end he still remained.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Japan tried to surrender both before the first bomb and before the second, America ignored them because they needed to test their new weaponery.


[/ QUOTE ]

Do you have a source for this ridiculous statement? I'm pretty sure the US made it clear from the getgo that only unconditional surrender would be accepted and the feelers the Japanese sent out prior to/after Hiroshima had conditions that were unacceptable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just what I recall from taking high school history, I think the first surrender didn't meet America's demands but the one after Hiroshima was unconditional and American still dropped the second bomb. I'll check wikipedia.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay", piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped a nuclear weapon named "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, destroying the city. After the destruction of Hiroshima, the United States again called upon Japan to surrender. No response was made, and accordingly on August 9, the B-29 "BOCKS CAR", piloted by Major Charles Sweeney, dropped a second atomic bomb named "Fat Man" on Nagasaki.


Wikipedia says I'm wrong, I give in despite wiki being occasionally unreliable. Still it's a disguisting thing that they would kill millions and then only give Japan 3 days to surrender, within 3 days Japan probably didn't know what had hit them yet.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Japan, and plenty of other countries in WWII, did lots of things that were far more "disgusting" than not giving someone enough time to surrender. Also the death toll from Hiroshima was like 140,000, not "millions."

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

As I understand the history that I have read Japan did put out feelers for some time before the actual surrender but it was only after the second bomb was dropped that the Japanese dropped their attempts for a negotiated conditional surrender rather than the unconditional surrender the Allies were demanding.

For those who would like to read more about the subject there are two that I would recommend that seem to have opposite views on the necessity of using the A-bomb. "Downfall: The End of the Impreial Japanese Empire" by Richard B. Frank takes the position that the Japanese were obstinate to the very end and that use of the atomic bomb was warranted under the circumstances. I thought it was very well written and had a lot of compelling evidence for his opinion. There is another book that takes the opposite position, that it was not necessary. The book is titled "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb" by Gar Alperovitz. Unfortunately I only made it about a quarter of the way through the book but what I saw was well written and seemed to be fair and even-handed in its treatment, even asking sone of the same tough questions found in the Franks book. I'll admit my tendency is to hew more to the Franks opinion but I think it would be valuable to go back and complete reading the Alperovitz book to get another educated viewpoint.

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Question for all...your the pilot of the plane that is going to drop an Abomb on a civilian city during WW2...do you do it?

When I think about it I honestly don't know if I would follow orders and get on the plane or refuse and be court martialed.
Of course did the pilots even know the sheer power of what they were dropping?

Re: What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?
 

Hi Andrew:

I slightly disagree. My candidate would be Germany declaring war on the United States the day after Pearl Harbor. This meant that the US would immediately start supplying Russia which would give it a chance to survive. If that didn't happen, Germany might have won on both fronts.

best wishes,
Mason