As in race, so in gender,

[voluptuary_manque]

Once again the military leads the way. Not because they want to, but because they have no choice.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Another two-headed snake sighting.

Until the army is filled with amazon-horses like the gals who post at LIT, your average Miss America hasnt the upper body strength or stamina for heavy lifting and toting the gear or pulling/carrying male comrades to safety. But the CareBears love to pretend YES WE CAN!

 

[3113]

I honestly don't get it. I mean, people act like women have never, in the history of the planet, been in combat, actually doing battle out in the field. Why should anyone be amazed when a woman takes up a gun and starts shooting? Oh, and is competent at it?

 

[rgraham666]

Yep. The Soviets hadn't any great problems with women in combat.

Female snipers.

Female fighter aces.

The Night Witches.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Yep. The Soviets hadn't any great problems with women in combat.

Female snipers.

Female fighter aces.

The Night Witches.

Try a better example, Rob. The Soviets had a singularly inglorious military history. If it hadn't been for US aid, they wouldn't even have defeated the Nazis.

Maybe the Viet Cong . . .

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Because little women arent pack animals and beasts of burden. They dont have the upper body strength to carry heavy loads or physically prevail against a trained adversary. If you add the best female marathon runner to the list of male marathon runners the best female ranks about #600.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The Viet Cong? You make me laugh. The Viet Cong ceased to exist during TET 1968. The North Vietnamese pulled the fat out of the fire for Charlie.

 

[jomar]

Big surprise. They need all the boots they can get at this point, why worry who's wearing them.

 

[rgraham666]

Try a better example, Rob. The Soviets had a singularly inglorious military history. If it hadn't been for US aid, they wouldn't even have defeated the Nazis.

Maybe the Viet Cong . . .

I beg to differ on that one, VM.

The Soviets still would have won. It just would have taken them longer. And they would have stopped at the English Channel rather than Eastern Germany.

Anyway, they had no problem with using women in combat and that seems to be the point of this thread.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Big surprise. They need all the boots they can get at this point, why worry who's wearing them.

They need boots who can do the work. Putting the girls in combat is like recruiting midgets for your basketball team.

 

[Liar]

If it hadn't been for US aid, they wouldn't even have defeated the Nazis.

A bit of a double edged argument there, ain't it? Would anyone have beaten the nazis without Soviet?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

A bit of a double edged argument there, ain't it? Would anyone have beaten the nazis without Soviet?

Yes, but it would have required an A-bomb on Berlin. And Truman would have done it!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

A bit of a double edged argument there, ain't it? Would anyone have beaten the nazis without Soviet?

True.

The USSR stopped Hitler about a year before Normandy. Hitler over-reached in the USSR. Had he stopped after capturing the Soviet satellites (Ukraine, Romania, Latvia, etc.), Stalin might have sued for peace. The old USSR records reveal that it was on Stalin's mind to do it.

 

[oggbashan]

Yes, but it would have required an A-bomb on Berlin. And Truman would have done it!

Except that he didn't have any A-bombs left.

The next nuclear device, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would have taken months to produce.

Og

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Except that he didn't have any A-bombs left.

The next nuclear device, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would have taken months to produce.

Og

Remember, Europe came first. Berlin would have been hit before Japan. The U.S. only turned its full attention onto the Pacific after Germany surrendered. Then there would have only been Hiroshima but that might well have been all it took, after the devastation of the Nazi capitol.

 

[oggbashan]

Remember, Europe came first. Berlin would have been hit before Japan. The U.S. only turned its full attention onto the Pacific after Germany surrendered. Then there would have only been Hiroshima but that might well have been all it took, after the devastation of the Nazi capitol.

The "What if?s" of history are interesting.

What if the Nazi nuclear programme hadn't been sabotaged? A nuclear device on the D-Day beaches would have ended the war.

The Russians held the Nazis for years. Without their sacrifice of millions of men D-Day wouldn't have been possible, nor the invasion of Italy. The Russians lost far more troops and civilians than anyone yet they rolled back the Nazi armies.

Og

 

[voluptuary_manque]

The "What if?s" of history are interesting.

What if the Nazi nuclear programme hadn't been sabotaged? A nuclear device on the D-Day beaches would have ended the war.

The Russians held the Nazis for years. Without their sacrifice of millions of men D-Day wouldn't have been possible, nor the invasion of Italy. The Russians lost far more troops and civilians than anyone yet they rolled back the Nazi armies.

Og

Most of what I've read says that the Nazis were barking up the wrong nuclear tree. They hoped to leapfrog directly to a fusion reaction. Given the technology of the time (and ours, too, I believe) that would have been impossible. What the Norwegians sabotaged was a light water set-up. No uranium trigger seems to have been in the works.

 

[Handley_Page]

Most of what I've read says that the Nazis were barking up the wrong nuclear tree. They hoped to leapfrog directly to a fusion reaction. Given the technology of the time (and ours, too, I believe) that would have been impossible. What the Norwegians sabotaged was a light water set-up. No uranium trigger seems to have been in the works.

Forgive me, Bear, but are you referring to the Norsk Hydro plant ?.
That was Heavy Water.

And the Nazis were on the right lines, but were shunted from department to department for Funding, which caused massive delays.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Forgive me, Bear, but are you referring to the Norsk Hydro plant ?.
That was Heavy Water.

And the Nazis were on the right lines, but were shunted from department to department for Funding, which caused massive delays.

For some reason I confused the source of deuterium with a reactor type. I knew there was a good reason for me to go take a nap! In all cases, it's a good thing Hitler was madder than a hatter. Ever read Morning of the Magicians? Lordy, that was a hoot! Good thing the Nazi's were wasting time and energy on that sort of nonsense instead of seriously pursuing victory.

 

[oggbashan]

For some reason I confused the source of deuterium with a reactor type. I knew there was a good reason for me to go take a nap! In all cases, it's a good thing Hitler was madder than a hatter. Ever read Morning of the Magicians? Lordy, that was a hoot! Good thing the Nazi's were wasting time and energy on that sort of nonsense instead of seriously pursuing victory.

They also decided that their political correctness was more important than Physics.

They damaged the research and teaching of physics. They made any scientist who didn't support Nazi principles either leave or cease research.

Og

 

[voluptuary_manque]

They also decided that their political correctness was more important than Physics.

They damaged the research and teaching of physics. They made any scientist who didn't support Nazi principles either leave or cease research.

Og

Most of whom came to the U.S. heh, heh, heh . . .

 

[rgraham666]

Some went to Russia.

I saw a photo of the SAM that the Nazis were working on at the end of the war. It bore a striking resemblance to the Soviet SAM-2.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Some went to Russia.

I saw a photo of the SAM that the Nazis were working on at the end of the war. It bore a striking resemblance to the Soviet SAM-2.

Wasn't that after the war?

 

[rgraham666]

Nope. The Nazis were working on a surface to air missile. A beam rider like the SAM-2. I gather they were pretty close to getting it working. They had also almost finished a wire guided air to air missile.

Which was adapted by the Army for the first guided anti-tank missile. That was ready for service but too late to be used. Germany's factories and roads were too big a mess for it to be manufactured.

We're lucky the Nazis never got their shit together when it came to getting new weapons to the front. Like the Me262 and the Komet if they'd gotten there earlier it would have been a lot harder for us.

 

[Belegon]

The Russians get too little credit for sheer determination and survival.

Remember, when talking about General Winter for example, that both armies have to deal with it.

They bled Napoleon too....

Backwards? Behind the tech curve? Some appallingly bad decision making at times? All of the above can apply.

Tough? The Russians had/have tough in spades.