mavwreck1975

The US had the best battle rifle, service pistol, and best fighter plane (P-51 Mustang). But the Germans had better tanks, artillery and of course an assault rifle before anyone knew what an assault rifle was. Its pretty much a toss up until it comes to THE BOMB! We built it, they didn't.

mavwreck1975

Wait! France had weapons? What did they use them for?

pheasantfanatic

I think that the Germans probably had better weapons at the beginning of the war, but the U.S really kicked in and put out some good weapons and planes on the battlefield later in the war.

(Especially the A-bomb)

pheasantfanatic

mavwreck1975-The US had the best battle rifle, service pistol, and best fighter plane (P-51 Mustang). But the Germans had better tanks, artillery and of course an assault rifle before anyone knew what an assault rifle was. Its pretty much a toss up until it comes to THE BOMB! We built it, they didn't.





I agree with mavwreck1975. I didn't see his post until after I posted mine.

Red Lion

True, very true!!!!!

pheasantfanatic

Yep, France made some BIG blunders at the beginning of the war!!!!

Aught Six

The U.S. had the best weaponry, and superior military-industrial capacity. The Germans, while technically brilliant, tended to over-engineer everything they made. This resulted in too many systems that could break in the field, and not enough replacement parts and equipment.

The MG42 was a great machine gun, but it didn't win the war. Millions carrying the first issue semi-auto rifle (and a darned good one at that) made the difference on the ground. The Me 262 was a fascinating aircraft, but thousands flying in B-17's, B-24's, B-25's, and B-29's won the war in the air. It goes on and on. The German weapons look great on paper, but didn't amount to much in the field, especially after we became involved.

America prevailed for many reasons, and our weaponry is one of them.

Briman

Only because we had more of them to spare. The Germans, man for man, were better and more effective soldiers than found in any Ally nation. We were lucky that the bulk of the experienced battle hardened soldiers that the Germans had were swallowed up by winter and vast numbers ofSoviet cannon fodder.

The P-51 was about equal to the Focke-Wulf 190s, and far inferior to the Me-262s
Another common misconception. The Russian T-34 tanks were not only superior to anything the Germans fielded, but the Russians were able to produce lots of them thanks to the US sending them huge numbers of cargo transports full of steel.

Germany was way ahead of the the rest of the world in equipment, tactics, and training at the beginning of the war, but they didn't have the resources to sustain or even maintain the advantages.

Another fun area where Germans were way ahead of their time- camoflage.
They used a camoflage pattern called 'flectar' which consists of small dots in a color scheme. 50 years later, the US military in conjuction with the Canadian Military use supercomputers and untold millions of dollars to design camoflage patterns optimized for different environments (MARPAT). Yup, you guessed it, it looks almost exactly like German Flectar.

saladin

now there's a typically myopic american viewpoint. pound for pound, the best soldiers of the 20th century were (and maybe still are) our Australian infantry. ever since the Anzac (Australian and New zealand Army Corp)forces hit the beaches at Gallipolion this dayin 1915 we have fought well above our weight division, and almost always with distinction. The Gallipoli campaign, Poziere's, Fromelle,Paeschendaele, Menin Road, Bullecourt, mont st quentin -during the first war, australians became the "go-to" men for accomplishing the near impossible ( the canadians were also magnificent in WW1).
likewise in WW2, where the Australian 6th division (again volunteers) gave the SS divisions a bloody nose in the ill-fated greek campaign(and drew the praise of the previously untouchable german elite), or throughout the African campaign where we clung on to tobruk when all was lost (and had rommel lamenting if only he had some australians on his side), then played vital roles in cracking the german kernal at 1st and 2nd El Alamein. then cross to the pacific where australians inflicted the 1st japanese land defeats at Milne Bay and kokoda (aided greatly by the americans hammering the japanese in the Battle of the Coral Sea, of course), then the bitter fighting on the north coast of New Guinnea.
in korea, the 3rd RAR (royal australian regiment) saved the situation at Kapyong ( it has been said that the whole campaign rested on the actions of 4 members of 3RAR 'B' company who held a defensive postion against multiple waves of chinese assault) and won an American Pesidential Citation.
i won't comment on Australiansoldiers opinions of American troops during vietnam -i don't wish to cause offence- but suffice tosay that your nations heart was not in it, and this became reflected in your troops.
sorry about the history lesson, but since today is a public holiday (Anzac Day) to commemorate those who gave the ultimate gift to serve this country, i had to put our viewpoint across. the american boys were not the best. they are behind us, and probably the German SS lads, in the "best" awards.

what you guys did have, though, were large amounts of good quality manpower and a heavy industry capacity that dwarfed all other nations.

best weapons?russia's T34 tank was the decisive tank of the war, although the german Tiger was the most feared (but too complicated and costly to produce in large numbers).the P-51 mustang was a great aircraft and would be top for long range work. the spitfire get's my vote as the best pure "fighter" of the war though. the Me262 was going to be a cracking invention, but fortunately hitler demanded it be used for bombing - it could have caused havoc amongst the allied bombing fleets. the mg42 was a great outfit. the british Lee-enfield bolt action could achieve semi-auto like rates of fire. the russian ppsh was brilliant for close quarter street fighting. the stuka was a terrifying pyschological weapon early, although it became a sitting duck when enemy fighters got on the job.the russian IL2 sturmovich proved almost indestructible.russia's katyusha rockets (Stalins organ) mixed terror with destructive effect.and of couse the american atomic bomb. the war effectively wasterminally decided on july 16, 1945 in New Mexico.

SwampCollie

My favorite Irish pub band does a great rendition of "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda."

After hearing it early one night and not being drunk enough to forget to research it (and asking they guys what Gallipoli was anyway) I read up on it, and it was one nasty nasty fight.

And yes, myopic is the right word saladin, typically in a American schools (save higher education classes directed at world history of the 20th century), if it isn't American, or somehow related to us, they tend to just omit that part. Learning history from a song in a bar, singingly along loyaly with the rest of my drunkard buddies is no way to learn history...but its certainly more fun.