Thread: A shot for the record books

Yes, there is no real debating who carried the can in WWII in the fight against Nazi Germany and bought the rest of the Allies time to get their act together for a second front. It was Russia. America too played it's part prior to actually entering the war in supplying war material to the Allies. In all it worked out rather miraculously in the end.

Having been a Naval Reservist, I'll add that the longest battle in WWII was the Battle of the Atlantic fought from day one to the very last day of the war. Without that vital lifeline being maintained, tenuously at times, the outcome may also have been very different for the Allies. My hat is off to the naval sailors and merchant seamen of both sides for the bravery and stamina they displayed throughout that long battle.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Yes, there is no real debating who carried the can in WWII in the fight against Nazi Germany and bought the rest of the Allies time to get their act together for a second front. It was Russia. America too played it's part prior to actually entering the war in supplying war material to the Allies. In all it worked out rather miraculously in the end.

Having been a Naval Reservist, I'll add that the longest battle in WWII was the Battle of the Atlantic fought from day one to the very last day of the war. Without that vital lifeline being maintained, tenuously at times, the outcome may also have been very different for the Allies. My hat is off to the naval sailors and merchant seamen of both sides for the bravery and stamina they displayed throughout that long battle.

Bob

Absolutely, hard to believe that at the end of the Second World War, Canada had the 4th largest Navy in the world, and out of Halifax and other Eastern ports, the Murmansk run by merchant seaman literally kept the UK alive and thriving during the war.

In my 4th year thesis, one of the most interesting parts was prior to America entering the war, and their pact of neutrality, that no motorized military equipment could be transported across the border or "donated" to the war effort.

So, with the co-operation of thousands of American farmers, the US Army and Air Force would just happen to leave thousands of trucks, airplanes, and other military supplies where US farmers would tow them up to the border, to be met by Canadian farmers, who would then tow the equipment to the Canadian side, load it on to railways, and off to the Eastern ports for transport to Europe.

The incredible supply of equipment to the war effort, in the late 1930's and early 1940's, kept Britain and Europe alive....

Incredible feat of logistics, and all well within the US commitment to neutrality..... :-)

Yes, and no the Murmansk and Archangel runs helped keep Russia in the war with a stream of western supplies. Those runs had some of the nastiest weather conditions of any convoy route on top of having to run the gauntlet of U Boats, land based German aircraft and surface ships which included heavy units of the German navy. One of our serving Reserve CPOs had been on that run and a crusty, in the good way, old gent he was.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Yes, and no the Murmansk and Archangel runs helped keep Russia in the war with a stream of western supplies. Those runs had some of the nastiest weather conditions of any convoy route on top of having to run the gauntlet of U Boats, land based German aircraft and surface ships which included heavy units of the German navy. One of our serving Reserve CPOs had been on that run and a crusty, in the good way, old gent he was.

Bob

That's right, to keep Russia in the war and well supplied as well, and of course, one of the reasons they were so successful, is thanks to the crews being well supplied with quality Sheffield steel straight razors, to keep them looking and feeling like gold....I figure it was a major factor in the Allied Victory!!

Hats off to the bravery of those Canadian Merchant Marines for making those runs.

Here are a couple of links from The American Rifleman about the Canadian sniper team. It's no secret to anyone that we Americans love our guns. These articles come from folks who really know what they are talking about.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art..._campaign=0617

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art..._campaign=0617

Originally Posted by Pete123

Hats off to the bravery of those Canadian Merchant Marines for making those runs.

Here are a couple of links from The American Rifleman about the Canadian sniper team. It's no secret to anyone that we Americans love our guns. These articles come from folks who really know what they are talking about.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art..._campaign=0617

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art..._campaign=0617

Thanks for the links.

There were Merchant Seamen from all over the world, not just Canada, in the convoys. It takes a special kind of bravery to sit on a virtually defenseless target and to do that repeatedly even after surviving torpedoing's.

Bob