German Opinions from WWII

Started by bayonetbrant, April 14, 2015, 04:12:07 PM

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bayonetbrant

April 14, 2015, 04:12:07 PM
This was posted from a discussion w/ a German WWII veteran about the allied forces he faced.
http://www.quora.com/What-did-the-German-soldiers-of-WWII-think-of-British-US-Canadian-and-Soviet-soldiers

Quote[/I have had the benefit of having a frank, open, and long conversation with a survivor of the 276th Volksgrenadier Division.  During this conversation, I asked him what his comrades thought of various adversaries and allies.  To limit it to the above:

Russians:  Propaganda depicted them as subhumans, not worthy of any degree of respect.  Experience showed them as capable soldiers.  He did note that because of the cruelty inflicted on the Russian people by large portions of the German military (In particular, the SS) the Russians were returning the favor as they entered Europe.  When I asked if they were feared, all he would respond with is that he was glad he was able to surrender to the Americans instead.

English:  Competent, professional, but a bit slow.  British forces tended to only attack with absolutely overwhelming force, and while he respected their individual skill, he held British commanders as overly cautious.

Americans:  "Enthusiastic amateurs with a disposition to aggression I'd never seen in any other nation's sons."  If there was something he noticed different between Americans and the other European Allies, it was how they reacted to an attack.  The other allies would immediately return fire and edge their way to a more favorable position.  Americans would immediately return fire, bring a punishing rain of artillery or air power on top of whatever they were fighting, and move to counterattack as soon as the rain of death ended.  While he did not believe that an American infantryman or tanker was particularly skilled compared to British or German counterparts, they more than compensated for it with sheer, unadulterated, unapologetic combat aggression.

Which, by the way, I'm totally willing to believe.quote]
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Martok

#1
April 14, 2015, 06:03:02 PM
Heh.  Yeah, that's about what I'd expect. 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

GDS_Starfury

#2
April 14, 2015, 10:31:33 PM
We do know how to fuck shit up.  Now hold my beer and watch this...
Toonces - Don't ask me, I just close my eyes and take it.

Gus - I use sweatpants with flannel shorts to soak up my crotch sweat.

Banzai Cat - There is no "partial credit" in grammar. Like anal sex. It's either in, or it's not.

Mirth - We learned long ago that they key isn't to outrun Star, it's to outrun Gus.

Martok - I don't know if it's possible to have an "anti-boner"...but I now have one.

Gus - Celery is vile and has no reason to exist. Like underwear on Star.

GDS_Starfury

#3
April 14, 2015, 10:34:00 PM
In all seriousness, the U.S. military still has that aggressive attitude along with an excellent level of training and skill.
Toonces - Don't ask me, I just close my eyes and take it.

Gus - I use sweatpants with flannel shorts to soak up my crotch sweat.

Banzai Cat - There is no "partial credit" in grammar. Like anal sex. It's either in, or it's not.

Mirth - We learned long ago that they key isn't to outrun Star, it's to outrun Gus.

Martok - I don't know if it's possible to have an "anti-boner"...but I now have one.

Gus - Celery is vile and has no reason to exist. Like underwear on Star.

besilarius

#4
April 15, 2015, 06:18:36 AM
I worry about these very late in life reminisces.  Memory does fade or gets confused.  Also, with the History Channel, television, and movies, how much could be influence from these?
Would feel better if this were shared much closer to the events.
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been playing with two queens all along".  Terry Pratchett.

During filming of Airplane, Leslie Nielsen used a whoopee cushion to keep the cast off-balance. Hays said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro"

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"With your eyes closed?"
"That helped."  Lauren Bacall

Master Chiefs are sneaky, dastardly, and snarky miscreants who thrive on the tears of Ensigns and belly dancers.   Admiral Gerry Bogan.

Centurion40

#5
April 15, 2015, 07:08:29 AM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on April 14, 2015, 10:31:33 PM
We do know how to fuck shit up.  Now hold my beer and watch this...

O0
Any time is a good time for pie.

Jack Nastyface

#6
April 15, 2015, 07:06:38 PM
FWIW...I think the saying from WWI was:
The French fight for Honor
The Germans fight for Country
The British fight for Duty
The Canadians fight for souvenirs.
Now, the problem is, how to divide five Afghans from three mules and have two Englishmen left over.
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