Movie Theater For you Armor Guys... I know there are a few of you!

[sirhrmechanic]

Note that "Pusher" from Sergeant York is the lead character.

Pure, straight-up propaganda film designed to fire up young Americans and counter the 'Isolationist' movement. Great fun and check out the old hardware!

Note that the term "Jeep" had not been coined. They were "Blitz buggies" and must have made Fritz Todt go crazy in the head... as he was still procuring horses by the millions!

On the subject of that... about 12 million Americans deployed overseas (16 million served during WW2.)

Beginning in 1940, US Industry provided them with:

About 750,000 jeeps
Another million trucks (From Scout car to halftrack to 6x6)
100,000 motorcycles.
85,000 tanks.

America produced roughly 1 motorized vehicle for every 8 people in uniform. That does not include airplanes and ships or staff cars/civilian vehicles converted to military use. BTW. (This also includes lend lease vehicles for UK and Russia... But does NOT include Canadian and UK and Soviet production... which was substantial.)



Germany's motor vehicle from 1933 on was...

49,000 tanks of all types (from light 1930's tanks to "Elefant" tanks
27,000 light armored vehicles
87,000 halftracks
350K trucks.
100,000 motorcycles

By the end of 1942, much of this 'stock' had been exhausted and was hard to replace as bombing ramped up and many skilled industrial workers were sent to the Russian Front.

After 1942 they produced only 17,000 "Up to date" tanks. Which were 'mostly' no match for Soviet tanks. Their production of "Tier 1" tanks (Panther/tiger/etc.) was a paltry 9,000. And most of them were so complex that they were often battlefield ineffective.

What they did have was...
2.75 million horses and a million railcars... tied to tracks.

"Meet Ford and General Motors, Indeed!"

Anyone who wants a fascinating read on WW2... Richard Overy's economic examination of WW2 called 'Why the Allies Won." Not only looked at production but morale, training, nutrition, petroleum, technology, the difference between "Free" and Conscript Troops (and labor)... fascinating book! There is a UK series called "War Factories" free on YouTube that plays off some of those themes. The get a lot of minutae wrong... but overall the series is outstanding!

Sirhr

 

[Lightning8]

All those complicated logistics was "pre -internet" - that is a lot of stubby pencil and typewriter work.

 

[roostercogburn98]

Is armor still a branch? I thought they rolled them over into the cheerleading squad

 

[Longshot231]

My Father was an artilleryman during WWII. During the Battle of the Bulge, his battalion was surrounded for two days. During that two days, he said that nobody got any sleep.

The gun barrels were leveled out horizontal in anticipation of an armored attack. From several hundred yards away, a German scout vehicle and tank bumbled out of tree line.

In those days there were four guns per battery instead of six today. In quick succession, all four guns fired on the vehicles. My Father didn't tell me what happened to the scout vehicle as they were all concerned about the bite that the tiger could inflict.

He said the first round was a mobility kill. The second round hit between the chassis and the turret. The turret was completely blown off and flipped over on its top.

I know from that story that I never wanted to be in armor. At least I could sometimes hide being infantry. It's difficult to hide a tank when everyone wants to destroy you.

 

[DocRDS]

In 6 months of 1943 the US produced more shipping tonnage than Japan.

From 1937 to 1945.

The 'Allies' didn't win WW2.
US GDP won WW2.

But but but Soviet....
Built tanks with US steel, run on US oil

Germany couldn't invade England due to lack of landing craft.

We transported 3 field armies 2000 miles and dropped 200k in a single day in france

 

[sirhrmechanic]

In 6 months of 1943 the US produced more shipping tonnage than Japan.

From 1937 to 1945.

The 'Allies' didn't win WW2.
US GDP won WW2.

But but but Soviet....
Built tanks with US steel, run on US oil

Germany couldn't invade England due to lack of landing craft.

We transported 3 field armies 2000 miles and dropped 200k in a single day in france

Actually, Soviets had a few things in abundance... steel and oil were two of them. Manpower was another. And a willingness to expend that manpower without remorse was another.

Soviets could not have bounced back without US Aid for sure. But trucks were more important than steel and armor. And planes. And rations. American Farmers won WW2 as well! And did it with most of their kids in uniform... and with 'suburban' moms providing an ocean of fruits and vegetables in Victory Gardens. The Victory Garden program was unbelieveably important to the war effort. And the 'kids' of American WW2 were still planting them into the '80's! PBS even had a flagship gardening show called "Victory Garden" that carried on the tradition into the 1990's! So the US had plenty of cereals and meat to export... and large scale 'truck farms' could go to canned and dehydrated rations, not just domestic grocery stores.

But once the USSR got its Urals factories running (after moving them all East in an incredible feat of logistics) they did pretty good on production. And they had lots of oil... it was the caucuses Oil that Hitler desperately wanted when he moved South towards Stalingrad. He didn't get it. For an amazing book, read Daniel Yergin's The Prize. Also a worthy Series from the 1980's... from PBS. Free on YouTube. Play it while on a flight or roadtrip... it's like a thriller, but is a documentary.



That said... for all the USSR claims of 'genius.' The T34 was a Christie design (from America) that the USA rejected. Most of their aircraft design came from the West. They completely copied the B29 that they 'interned' rivet for Rivet and it became, I think, the Bear-D. Their industrial espionage program was utterly massive... the Manhattan Project penetration was just a tiny bit of what they were stealing.

Don't get Communism wrong on one front. Because they don't give one damn about a 'happy' population, when they mobilize, they can do it at a level that is very difficult for a Democracy/Republic to emulate. Hey, you need a giant installation built? Yank 200,000 people out of... whatever (or arrest them and make them prisoners) and give them shovels. 200,000 people with shovels and 500 calories a day won't last long... but they will get a lot of work done for short $. (FYI, of the more than 500,000 German prisoners that the Soviets took in WW2, fewer than 5,000 came back to Germany after serving their 10 year+ punitive hard labor sentences. They built a lot of shit for the Russians. Like all the Dachas outside Moscow. Why do you think that the birch forests look like a Little slice of Bavaria?

Anyhoo... no question that the U.S. industry made the USSR victory come faster. But once aroused, they were not going to lose. With or without us. They lost 20 - 30 million and were perfectly willing to expend that many more again if they had to. But they wouldn't have had to. After 1943, Germany was finished in the East. If Overlord had not happened, Stalin would have pushed the Germans into the English Channel. But it might have taken until 1947... And cost a lot more Soviets. Stalin didn't give a shit.

One of the reasons Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to a 'Germany First' strategy is that Churchill knew that once on the March, Stalin would not stop in Berlin, he would have taken every inch of Europe. While the Japanese could easily be isolated, starved and swatted like a fly after Germany was defeated and Stalin contained.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[duke308]

USA
USA
USA