Operation Sealion

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by spidge, Dec 13, 2005.

  1. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Fixed Exxley's post, to show he was quoting Jimbo. (A change in forum software a few years back screwed up lots of quotes. I fix them when I see them).
    I remember Jimbo. He was shouty & over-excited too.
     
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  2. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Oh crikey, yes ! The Jimbo...Back in the days before sarcastic moderation and serial belittlement - He could never have dealt with that.

    The thing that fascinates me about Sealion is the fear of it then, and for some time afterwards. It matters not whether it was ever truly possible, but the population of the U.K. clearly believed it.

    "Went the day well ?"
     
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  3. smokey stover

    smokey stover Member

    Well said sir!
     
  4. smokey stover

    smokey stover Member

    You talk a good theory. But so far all ive read is opinion and nothing else, yet you challenge other members to provide facts?.... Is that what you think your theories are, facts...... Im sorry to burst your bubble. But not only are you arrogant enough to try to bully others into accepting your own misguided beliefs. They arent even logical, or make any sense. Your just quoting old propaganda books published in the 50's/60's/70's. Things have changed a lot since then. You know, people like you used to argue the world was flat. As soon asi have the time, im going to enjoy dissecting your "logic" (and i use the word in its loosest form). Everything you have failed to mention on the plus side for England shows your lack of historical knowledge. At least during the first 1-2 years of the airwar. Oh and fyi, American eagle squadrons didnt enter combat with the RAF until early to mid 1941. Looks like you have been watching too many hollywood movies......smh
     
  5. smokey stover

    smokey stover Member

    Americans seem to always forget ww2 started in '39'. As usual ya'll were a little late to the party. And lets face it, it wouldnt be the first or last time that happened.....
     
  6. smokey stover

    smokey stover Member

    Im afraid your wrong. At least where the RAF was concerned. The attitude was "let them just try and come over here, and we'll fix em!" As for the population, they were far more angry than scared. Wouldnt you be?......Most civis were glad we were on our own.... We didnt have to waste aircraft on France for a start
     
  7. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery


    The above quote is ,the typical stance of always blaming others ie "The management" for all the wrongs in the world.



    WW1 and WW2 were to prevent world domination by a particular country not protecting rich old mens property

    Not much you can do about appeasing a despot except fight.
     
  8. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I'm afraid you're wrong.
     
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  9. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    You're not 'afraid'...you're looking forward to causing arguments on the internet and apparently wish to argue semantics.

    All the evidence that I have read and picked up from talking to people who were there at the time was that, based on the little information that they were privy to during 1940 / 1941, they saw the risk of an attempted invasion by Germany as a very real one. No-one in their right mind could have wished for that to happen, so I don't feel it unreasonable to describe that risk perception as a 'fear' Government and population clearly felt the need to take precautions against an attempted invasion. Would they have done that if they had not 'feared' the possibility ?

    Perhaps 'The RAF' (Who ? Higher Command ? Individual aircrews ?) didn't 'fear' an attempted invasion. They should perhaps have feared the possibility of it not being possible to continue training enough crews or providing enough replacement aircraft - although in the light of the Air Ministry's ability to claim a disproportionate quantity of the resources allocated for the armed services right through the 1930s, perhaps this was not a real concern.

    Had the Germans got a foot ashore (and who amongst the rank and file truly knew what possibilities they had ?) and had set up the same sort of mobile flak installations that they used in France and Belgium then I'd suggest that the RAF would have been wise to 'fear' throwing more Blenheims, Battles and Hampdens at them.

    Germany was 'on a roll' and only the most gung-ho would not have 'feared' what they were going to do next.
     
  10. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    Hindsight is great when one has access to so much information not available at the time. Whether the invasion was possible or not is immaterial. What matters is what people then thought. In his published diary General Sir Alan Brooke, Commanding UK Home Forces at the time, and someone who would know what was going on, wrote
    " I considered the invasion a very real and probable threat and one for which the land forces at my disposal fell far short of what I felt was required to provide any degree of real confidence in our power to defend these shores. It should not be construed that I considered our position a helpless one in the case of an invasion. Far from it. We should certainly have a desperate struggle and the future might well have hung in the balance, but I certainly felt that given a fair share of the fortunes of war we should certainly succeed in finally defending these shores"

    Tim.
     
  11. Osborne2

    Osborne2 Well-Known Member

    I have spent several years working on the aftermath of Dunkirk using original War Office material. There is not a scintilla of doubt in my mind that the army considered the possibility of invasion as being real and imminent and the plans and instructions for the handling of Ops Dynamo Cycle and Aerial returnees were all scoped to put fighting units back on the south and east coasts as soon as possible. Lines of communication troops were put on the back burner until trained men were in place when Lof C's were formed into roadblock companies.
     
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  12. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  13. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

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