Way off topic, but it has do to with the French

Phil J wrote in
:

On Feb 25, 1:41*pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Tina wrote in news:80235b82-304b-468a-9d04-
:

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its
terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels
in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate." The rise was
precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag
factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

Bull****. They did make an attempt and they did ask for help, which
was no
t
forthcoming, from the Brits, who made a halfhearted effort, and from
the US, who sold them some equipment. Not to say there weren't some
who welcomed the Germans....

And it turns out they were right about Iraq... Of course, my magic
eight ball had a better chance of getting it right that that twit in
the white house..

Bertie

The French take a lot of heat about their surrender in World War II.
It wasn't exactly their finest hour, but they certainly weren't the
only country to surrender to the Germans. The Germans embarrassed
everybody at the start of that war. They could even have clobbered
the English army at Dunkirk if Hitler hadn't held back his generals,
and they certainly could have invaded and occupied England at any time
in the first few years of the war. Churchill was so concerned about
it that he ordered the English army to prepare to use poison gas to
defend England's beaches in the event of a German invasion.

What some Americans may not realize is that the Germans embarrassed
the U.S. as well. German submarines absolutely devastated our
shipping off the east coast of the United States in the early years of
the war. If you want to read an excellent book about the Battle of
the Atlantic, I recommend Black May by Michael Gannon.

As unprepared as American was at that time, if the U.S. had been part
of Europe, Germany could have rolled over us as well. Germany's use
of advanced technology and advanced tactics put them ahead of every
other country on the planet at that time.

Absolutely. The current anti french campaign ( for want of a better
word) is complete and utter BS.

Bertie

As unprepared as American was at that time, if the U.S. had been part
of Europe, Germany could have rolled over us as well. Germany's use
of advanced technology and advanced tactics put them ahead of every
other country on the planet at that time.

I don't think anyone makes fun of the French for surrendering to Hitler's
blitzkrieg. The Wehrmacht rolled over everything in its path, until Hitler
decided that they should winter in the Soviet Union. Bad move for them,
good for us.

No, what makes the French the butt of so many jokes was their collaboration
with the Nazis after the surrender. The Vichy government was an
abomination.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Feb 28, 1:16*pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
As unprepared as American was at that time, if the U.S. had been part
of Europe, Germany could have rolled over us as well. *Germany's use
of advanced technology and advanced tactics put them ahead of every
other country on the planet at that time.

I don't think anyone makes fun of the French for surrendering to Hitler's
blitzkrieg. *The Wehrmacht rolled over everything in its path, until Hitler
decided that they should winter in the Soviet Union. * Bad move for them,
good for us.

No, what makes the French the butt of so many jokes was their collaboration
with the Nazis after the surrender. * The Vichy government was an
abomination.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Yeah, the collaboration is part of it. But I think the French had an
extra-embarrassing surrender because they had invested so much in
their "impregnable" Maginot line. When the Germans simply went around
it, it really made the French look like fools.

Phil

"Phil J" wrote in message
...

Yeah, the collaboration is part of it. But I think the French had an
extra-embarrassing surrender because they had invested so much in
their "impregnable" Maginot line. When the Germans simply went around
it, it really made the French look like fools.


Why does that make the French look like fools? If the Germans had gone
THROUGH their "impregnable" Maginot line the French would surely have looked
like fools, but forcing the Germans to circumvent the line was one of the
reasons for building it. The French expected the Maginot Line to be
bypassed and had therefore massed the majority of their army on the Belgian
border. The Germans rolled over those troops rather easily. The few
Maginot fortifications which were actually attacked by the Germans held up
rather well.

Phil J wrote in
:

On Feb 28, 1:16*pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
As unprepared as American was at that time, if the U.S. had been
part of Europe, Germany could have rolled over us as well.
*Germany's use of advanced technology and advanced tactics put them
ahead of every other country on the planet at that time.

I don't think anyone makes fun of the French for surrendering to
Hitler's blitzkrieg. *The Wehrmacht rolled over everything in its
path, until Hit
ler
decided that they should winter in the Soviet Union. * Bad move for
them
,
good for us.

No, what makes the French the butt of so many jokes was their
collaboratio
n
with the Nazis after the surrender. * The Vichy government was an
abomination.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Yeah, the collaboration is part of it. But I think the French had an
extra-embarrassing surrender because they had invested so much in
their "impregnable" Maginot line. When the Germans simply went around
it, it really made the French look like fools.

People who live in glass houses.

Bertie

On 28 Feb, 19:16, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
As unprepared as American was at that time, if the U.S. had been part
of Europe, Germany could have rolled over us as well. *Germany's use
of advanced technology and advanced tactics put them ahead of every
other country on the planet at that time.

I don't think anyone makes fun of the French for surrendering to Hitler's
blitzkrieg. *The Wehrmacht rolled over everything in its path, until Hitler
decided that they should winter in the Soviet Union. * Bad move for them,
good for us.

No, what makes the French the butt of so many jokes was their collaboration
with the Nazis after the surrender. * The Vichy government was an
abomination.


You're an idiot, Jay.


Bertie

Jay Honeck schrieb:

No, what makes the French the butt of so many jokes was their
collaboration with the Nazis after the surrender. The Vichy government
was an abomination.

Of course it never dawned upon you that the governement was not "the
French"? Ever heard of something like the Résistence?

Of course it never dawned upon you that the governement was not "the
French"? Ever heard of something like the Résistence?

Sure.

So?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
news:tMDxj.1303$TT4.589@attbi_s22:



I don't think

Obviously

Bertie

Phil J wrote:
Germany's use
of advanced technology and advanced tactics put them ahead of every
other country on the planet at that time.

Only part of that is true. At the start of the war German tanks were
generally regarded as inferior to their contemporaries. It was generally
superior tactics and training that won their battles. In fact at the outset
of the invasion of Russia, the Russian T-34 was superior in pretty much
every way to anything the Germans had. (I wasted part of my youth playing
board wargames such as Avalon Hill's "PanzerBlitz" and learned a bit about
the equipment and tactics of the era.)

Refs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_...n_World_War_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerblitz