Re: "Dolle Dinsdag" et al
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Posted by Robert Thompson (Broker - AB(ret'd)) from Toronto ON Canada on April 23, 2021 at 21:12:03:
In Reply to: Re: "Dolle Dinsdag" posted by Jules Deschenes on April 23, 2021 at 18:33:12:
Fascinating topics folks - love reading (most) of the posts. You all tend to have such varied and intersting views - it's interesting to watch the debates get rolling after a bit.
My one comment to the previous posts is that, like most historians, i usually look the event - and frequently forget to check what else was happening that might influence that event.
A great example is D-Day - we're all aware of the critical timing surrounding the sailing of the invasion fleet - Eisenhower's gamble that 'Stormy' was correct - the weather would break.
The met guy was bang on the money and history was made. if you were to critique that decision from a purely military view, (as some mil history courses like to do) the result is that the
decision to invade should have been aborted. Politics reared its ugly head (as usual!) and forced some unpleasant choices on the Overlord planners.
Some of the best military histories i've read weren't about the tactical decisions per se - but about the outside factors that influenced various commanders at various times. We've all seen
it, throughout this past decade in particular. The only reason the politicians got away with disbanding the Airborne, as an example - was because the rest of the country believed they wouldn't be
needed again. Now that the idiots who inhabit Ottawa have decided they may want to contribute ground forces to Kosovo - they're suddenly disovering their political decisions actually do have strategic and tactical
repercussions.
I'm most interested in reading your thoughts on this!Cheers!
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