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Because the Russians had the biggest impact on the war, 80% of casualties were on the Eastern front. On the d day landings 70% of the troops were British or British commonwealth, 95% of the naval power was Royal Navy and 100% of the air support was RAF. This is not to take anything away from the US contribution, just a matter of perspective.
The British didn't do much in WWII except for minor things like cracking the Enigma code, virtually stopping the Kreigsmarine and containing the U-boat threat, destroying much of the Luftwaffe, and defeating the Germans in North Africa.
Because the Russians had the biggest impact on the war, 80% of casualties were on the Eastern front. On the d day landings 70% of the troops were British or British commonwealth, 95% of the naval power was Royal Navy and 100% of the air support was RAF. This is not to take anything away from the US contribution, just a matter of perspective.
Ah the US and Britian put just about the same amount of troops in the D-day invasion. Yes the Brits have more if you include the Canadian troops in. They put most of the Navy ships into it but not 95% as most of the US navy was in the Pacific. There was 7 battleships with 3 of them from the US and out of 80 Destroyers 34 were American and 4 others were from other allied nations. 42 were British. They supplied most of the cruisers 17 and the US gave 3 cruisers. I know the Brits supplied most of the mine sweepers and corvetts but you can see from the warships it was nowhere near 95% British. And where in the world do you come up with 100% British air power ??? I do know by September the US had over 8000 planes in England and northern France and the British had about 6000. The US had the 8th and 9th air forces in England so how you can say they had no air force help in D-day is beyond me. By May of 45 the US had about 15000 combat planes in the European theater. Not to mention another 21000 combat aircraft in the Pacific. You do know the allied D-day comander was American because they all knew the US would put the most men and material in the theater before the end of the war. Other figures I have seen say the allies had 4.5 million in the European theater and just over 3 million were American. Out of them there was 2 million front line combat troops with 1.5 million of them American. The other 2.5 million troops were service troops and air force troops.
Myself I would never want to knock the British for the great courage they had and all the fighting they did before the US even got in the war. I think the US and British is about the greatest alliance ever. Many Americans still feel like England is where they came from. But you also cant knock what great feets the US did once they got in the war.
I have seen this particularly in the past 10-15 years or so, Brits who claim that it wasnt the US that helped them defeat Germany, but in fact it was Canada, or themselves or some combination of other countries other than America that help save them from the Nazis.
I know around the world associating with America is not "cool" anymore, but why deny something that ultimately did happen just because you dont like the country?
I think most Brits acknowledge the US contribution before and after they entered the war. What we might object to is using phrases like "bail out" and "if it weren't for us you'd be speaking German" both of which are nonsense. And to the poster that claimed that US pilots fought in the BoB, the total number was about seven. If any non-British/Commonwealth country can claim anything in the BoB it's the Polish.
I don't care what the Brits say. Without US they would of gotten stomped. It would of just taken a bit more time but make no bones the German war machine would of whooped them. Without our war ego fort of supplies and food and ammo and ranks and planes and parts and guns and everything else that was needed to fight a war they would of lost. You think New Zealand or Australia would of has the resources to send equipment from the bottom of the world? Hardly.
Nobody likes to say they would of lost or they lost. They would of held out a bit more. Hitters big mistake was to try and fight two war fronts and the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor. If they would of waited On the Pearl Harbor attack, kicked the snot out of GB then hit the Russians front and back the rest of the Asiatic countries would of folded pretty quick.
At that point I firmly believe we could be fighting on our soil.
This is Bollox the Germans did not have the capability to invade Britain and that's the crux of it - of course the war would have ran differently without the US but Britain would NOT have been invaded without the US entering the war. Britain's are sick of the 'would be speaking German' cr#p because its not true - and now somebody has even posted that it was because of Americans Britain won the battle of Britain!! Im sure next you will be claiming that the Spitfire was an American plane? Or maybe you will be telling us that its thanks to the Americans that Napoleon was defeated? Or perhaps it is thanks to the Americans that Nelson won Trafalger?? Maybe it wasn't 300 heroic Spartans holding off the Persians it must have been Americans surely!
The British didn't do much in WWII except for minor things like cracking the Enigma code, virtually stopping the Kreigsmarine and containing the U-boat threat, destroying much of the Luftwaffe, and defeating the Germans in North Africa.
You should put a on the end of that. Most people (ie Americans) won't get the sarcasm.
Who cares about the Battle of Britain? It was the battle of the North Atlantic that saved England's buns. The Merchant Marine gets little or no credit and got no benefits from risking life and limb to keep England sustained. The MM casualty rate was enormous per capita.
You might also credit Japan with helping the British cause by picking a fight with America and pulling us into the war in full commitment.
To show you how grateful the British were for a victory, they dumped Winston Churchill onto the street shortly thereafter.
P.S. please forgive our President for not showing up at PM Thatchers funeral. Most of us are embarrassed beyond measure. You stood side by side with us through the cold war and in no small part thanks to her and therefore, it was disgraceful that our sitting president was not there to pay our proper respects. Forgive our president for he knows not what he does....ever. Shameful shameful shameful. We can only hope the British citizenry forgives us over time. One of the biggest US diplomatic blunders to date.
God save the Queen....and us.
Many in the country mourned Thatcher, while the other half were literally dancing in the streets after she died. Talk about shameful.
Who cares about the Battle of Britain? It was the battle of the North Atlantic that saved England's buns. The Merchant Marine gets little or no credit and got no benefits from risking life and limb to keep England sustained. The MM casualty rate was enormous per capita.
If not for the Royal Navy and Air Force containing the u-boat threat to a point short of the breaking point, and then slowly rolling back that threat after mid-1941, the Merchant Marine would not have gotten thru at all.
Well over 90% of American Merchant Marine deaths in World War II occurred from 1942 on, long after Britain was 'saved' (regardless of who saved the UK). Of the 8000+ American Merchant Marine fatalities during the war, only 243 of them occurred before Pearl Harbor - and that's a global total, including deaths in the Pacific and south Atlantic that had nothing to do with 'saving' Britain.
Tugging for sympathy by touting their fatality rate is irrelevant to the discussion of how the UK survived World War II, as well as being a rather shallow rhetorical technique.
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You might also credit Japan with helping the British cause by picking a fight with America and pulling us into the war in full commitment.
You might - if you weren't aware that by December 1941 whatever existential threat the United Kingdom might have faced was long gone. After suffering shipping losses of 200k+/month thru mid-1941, by the end of the year those numbers had dwindled to less than 60k tons/month. Also, by that point the Germans had thrown most of what they had to the east in their bid for a quick victory, and the Soviets had denied them that gamble. The initiative lost, it was just a matter of the USSR ultimately gathering its reserves and rolling the Germans back. Pearl Harbor certainly made things easier for Britain, but they were long since saved at that point.
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To show you how grateful the British were for a victory, they dumped Winston Churchill onto the street shortly thereafter.
However, it is extremely foolish to think that a nation is somehow obligated to decided that a highly capable wartime leader someone deserves to be that nation's choice to lead following the war.
Your insufferable post is precisely the sort of Ugly American-ism that gives the rest of us a bad name.
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on the end of that. Most people (ie Americans) won't get the sarcasm.