Challenge: Make D-Day Fail.

Usertron, the V-1 was an area saturation weapon, not an Exocet, since it had a very primitive inertial navigation system. However, if you gave the V-1 some kind of radio-transmitted terminal guidance command (i.e. dive this minute) then a surveillance aircraft could have improved the accuracy. For air-to-ship, look at Fritz-X, etc.

The point I was trying to make (amid teasing those US citizens who still regard D-Day as an all-American affair) was that the Reich had technical resources that could have caused massive devastation of the landing forces. Not equipping the troops with chemical protective gear was a gamble that paid off, but a gamble that could have been disastrous.

The V-1 was so impressive (cheap, good range, good payload) that the USA wanted to build 75,000 (JB-2 Loon) and use them to bombard Japan ahead of an invasion of Honshu. Without the A-bomb, the JB-2 might have terrified Japan.
 
However, if you gave the V-1 some kind of radio-transmitted terminal guidance command (i.e. dive this minute) then a surveillance aircraft could have improved the accuracy.


Surveillance aircraft which can somehow loiter over over British ports, the Channel, or landing beaches long enough to direct volleys of V-1s? When the Luftwaffe was having significant trouble flying any surveillance aircraft over those targets? Sure, whatever.

For air-to-ship, look at Fritz-X, etc.

Which the Allies can already jam.

The point I was trying to make (amid teasing those US citizens who still regard D-Day as an all-American affair) was that the Reich had technical resources that could have caused massive devastation of the landing forces.

The point we're trying to make, amid dealing with those people who still believe that a majority of US citizens still believe D-Day was an all-American affair, is that the Reich did have technical resources and still failed to effect the landing forces one whit.

So, either the Germans were incredibly stupid and were not interested in looking for technical advantages or you're grossly underestimating the many constraints the Germans faced in designing, producing, and deploying technical counters to potential Allied landings. Want to guess which of those two options I think is correct?

Not equipping the troops with chemical protective gear was a gamble that paid off, but a gamble that could have been disastrous.

As has been pointed out in this thread and many others regarding chemical warfare in the ETO, any German chemical attack means anthrax rains down on German cities and the Germans know that.

The V-1 was so impressive (cheap, good range, good payload) that the USA wanted to build 75,000 (JB-2 Loon) and use them to bombard Japan ahead of an invasion of Honshu. Without the A-bomb, the JB-2 might have terrified Japan.

The US also wanted to bomb Japan with bats carrying incendiaries. A proposal is very far away from a plan, a plan is equally far away from production, and production is just as far away from actual use.


Bill
 
We expect snowfall, accumulations of 1 inch to 60 ft

The Allies would not have landed if they even suspected there would be several days after the landings that would ground the airforces. By about D+5 there was too many men and too much material ashore for the invasion to fail.

Weather was the only real threat to the invasion.
Unfortunately, the North Atlantic (which includes the English Channel) has one of the most unpredictable weather patterns on Earth. In the Indian Ocean you could get a two week forecast with an 80% probability of accuracy. But in the North Atlantic? If you want 100% accuracy 24 hrs is all you can hope for, especially with 1940's meteorology. D-Day was guaranteed, but the experts told Ike the weather would begin to close down again shortly afterwards. They just didn't know by how much. Ike decided (and Monty agreed) to go ahead. It was the right choice, thankfully.
 
I'll throw out a crazy idea, one that would have seemed totally ASB until a few years ago. Is the Normandy coastline vulnerable to tsunamis? If so, we have a big, big quake along the proper Atlantic faultline, with the tsunamis hitting the invasion beaches at a really bad time.

I'll say there was a chance that the Germans could have defeated the invasion attempt, if for no other reason than that success could not be 100% guarenteed.
 
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