Re: Another WW II Relic or two
Now I need to add my two plug nickels since two of my favorite things, airplanes and history, are being discussed.
The what ifs of Germany's aviation developments have been bandied about for years. What if Germany had fielded the 262 in 1943 instead of 44? What if Germany had fully produced an intercontinental bomber capable of hitting US industrial targets? What if Germany had perfected the V2 guidance system leading to accurate destruction of British targets?
Problem is that many of these projects and proposals were nothing more than fanciful doodles. Those that did see daylight, such as the 262, were introduced as soon as practical. But even if Germany had accelerated development and had actually altered the air war, the eventual outcome would have been the same. Germany lost the war through ground combat and no aviation achievements of sci-fi proportions would have changed that.
Previous posts on the importance of the Eastern front are correct. Germany was doomed the moment Hitler rolled into the Soviet Union. Just as Japan was doomed the moment Pearl Harbor was attacked.
And while on the subject of production, Germany was merely outproduced by Britain, the Soviet Union, the US and a host of other countries. Japan by comparison was overwhelmed, crushed, and buried by the discrepancy in production.
As the saying goes; a good general studies tactics, a great general studies logistics.