The allies could of ended the U-boat war much earlier.

[Coyote88]

Originally Posted by reallydedpoet

Good luck trying to correct this on the WWW

Regrettably common in undergraduate papers, too. "Could have" contracts to "could've," misheard as "could of." It means someone hasn't been reading enough!

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

I don't know why the Brits didn't let the SOE or the SAS have a crack at taking down the factory? If they couldn't do it I know one person who could, a British citizen turned German spy, turned double agent codename: Agent Zigzaz (german codename Fritz or Fritzen).

[A Very Super Market]

It is a factory in the Ruhr valley, most important region in all of Germany for industrial production, and the most important factory in that region. Moreover, it isn't anywhere near the coast, so the SAS would have to be air-dropped, in years when escorts were far and few in between, and at quite a risk of being shot down, or at least alerting the entire garrison of a city against at best, 100 men.

[goggles]

as others have stated all the allied bombers did was drive the germans underground and force them to become more effcient with the materials they had

that being said...

allied bombers did indeed strangle germany the destruction of synthetic fuel facilities was a death blow to german military efforts the luftwaffe didnt have enough fuel to protect the factories, the heer had no fuel to shunt thier king tigers around and the u boats had no fuel to go on patrol

another nail in the coffin was the destruction of germanys railway infastructure it was being bombed faster than it could be repaired and rail was the primary means of transporting raw materials to the factorys causing crippling shortages

another valid point is the fact that germany did not moblize its women for the factories when the men left for war leaving them desprately short of skilled workers(the germans often sent engineers and scientists to the front rather put them to work in design and constuction) which lead to ever incresing dependance on slave labor and with an increasing number of workers being made homeless by bombing raids fewer and fewer showed up for work

the end result of fewer and less skilled workers greatly exagerated existing design flaws in late war designs the main reason late war tanks were so unreliable was partly due to sabotage by unwilling slave larborers and poor workmanship(cigarette butts jammed in oil galleys, teeth deliberately chipped off gears)

had germany taken the british or american approach to mass war production the war would have certainly dragged on longer and german victory would ahve been a possiblity

[A Very Super Market]

Oh... you kid, good sir.

A German victory after 1940 was impossible. Perhaps if Germany managed to invade Britain, it may have been within grasp, but not after Moscow. It would hardly have mattered if their industrial output was better, since the weight of three gigantic nations and their combined output would outmatch it completely.

[goggles]

i would be so bold as to say german victory was still a possiblity until later 1941

if it werent for the bumbling of a certian austrian corporal

a few critical mistakes...

halting guderians panzers at dunkerque when they should have thrown an all out land,air and naval assault at the stranded britsh expeditionary force

resorting to terror bombing london instead of concentrating on RAF installations just when they bombings were starting to make headway they should have pounded the RAF into ashs whilst it ws still on the ground

total lack of commitment to the north african campaign(argueably the biggest missed oportunity of the war) the british were critically weak here Hitler should have listened to Rommel and Raeder's urgings to gain full control of the medditerranen and force the british to abandon gibralter. if rommel(a brillant leader if therre ever was) was given the forces he required he could have easily rolled over british egypt, gained control of the suez and drove on into iraq and turkey thus threatening the oil fields of the caucus without so much as a declaration of war against russia.

Rommel really was that good and the British really were that weak in north africa such a campaign could have easily been undertaken had Hitler listened and given his full support instead of pursueing a foolish self destructive war of attrition against russia

[A Very Super Market]

I don't see how the German navy could have forced the British from gibraltar, seeing as how they would have to get through either Scapa or the channel to get there. The Italians obviously couldn't toss them out either.

Dunkirk was before Moscow, and even if they had destroyed the RAF, there would still be significant doubt on Sealion's success.

Also, the British certainly weren't "weak" in North Africa. If anything, it was lacklustre command that saw their defeats, but there eventually will be a point when Rommel would have lost too many units, as well as having an extended supply line for replacements.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Originally Posted by A Very Super Market

It is a factory in the Ruhr valley, most important region in all of Germany for industrial production, and the most important factory in that region. Moreover, it isn't anywhere near the coast, so the SAS would have to be air-dropped, in years when escorts were far and few in between, and at quite a risk of being shot down, or at least alerting the entire garrison of a city against at best, 100 men.

Well the SAS wouldn't have to be parachuted into enemy territory, they could have been sent in by boat to the Dutch or Danish coast dressed in civilan clothes or German uniforms and make their way to the target zone as seperate units and then infultrate the local populis or garrison. Then after some time infultrate the target, sent charges, and exfultrate and then make their way to the coast to be picked up. Yeah I do realize it sound far fetched but who knows it could have worked, not a bad idea for a book though .

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by Kptlt. Hellmut Neuerburg

Well the SAS wouldn't have to be parachuted into enemy territory, they could have been sent in by boat to the Dutch or Danish coast dressed in civilan clothes or German uniforms and make their way to the target zone as seperate units and then infultrate the local populis or garrison. Then after some time infultrate the target, sent charges, and exfultrate and then make their way to the coast to be picked up. Yeah I do realize it sound far fetched but who knows it could have worked, not a bad idea for a book though .

Ah, romantic military fiction!

There are a few slight problems with the idea.

The SAS wasn't formed until late 1941, and they were a unit organised in North Africa for operation in North Africa. Originally, air drop was their method of deployment, and it did not work very well. Later they switched to primarily vehicle-based approaches. They eventually operated in Sicily, Italy and Northwest Europe, but always at the operational, not strategic level.

They did have a few German speakers in the unit, but not enough of the men were fluent for them to pass in a major cross-country trip like what would be required to attack the factory in question.

The quantity of explosives necessary to destroy the factory would require vehicle transport, and there was no way the SAS could have got a vehicle into Germany, or the explosives without a vechicle, before late 1944.

The only practical way to destroy the factory would be the same as was used for other strategic targets: bombing by aircraft. And has been pointed out, to do that, they would have to know where the factory was, and would have to have known that production was concentrated at the one location.