DougM
Donor
How in August of 44 is Germany the biggest threat to the US? By that point we had troops in Italy and France the Russians were advancing on Germany. The Luftwaffe was relatively toothless as far as offensive goes. As we know Ultimately Germany will try one final push at the bulge but as far as things look in lat summer it appears pretty inevitable that Germany will fall and talk was it may end by the New Year. We know this did not happen but in August of 44 they didn’t know any of this. They just New that the Airforce was romping all over and could bomb the snot out of anything they liked. And that on the three fronts in Europe Germany was falling back.
But in the Pacific things were not going well. The invasion of various islands were getting harder and the death tolls were increasing on both sides. The Philippine islands had yet to be liberated and the Japanese Navy was still launching the occasional attack.
So things were (relatively) going a lot better in Europe the in the Pacific.
So why would the bombs go first to Germany? I think it is much more likely the first bombs get used in the Pacific in an effort to cut the carnage of having to invade every island.
I do think that after/during the Bulge that you may see a change but in general by August of 44 Germany’s defeat was inevitable and the casualties were not as obvious. A constant stream of casualties that while relatively small on a daily basis but larg when taken in total is not as obviously an issues as the huge totals we raked up invading various islands.
So as much as everyone likes to put forward Germany as the number one target I don’t see it in August of 44. And odds on most in the US probably didn’t either. Japan was the country that started the way (for the US) and was giving the US the most problems. Add in that in Europe the English Russian and French were all supporting the US as they were actively fighting huge chunks of the German Army the US Army was having an easier time of it but in the Pacific the English and Australia and such while helping were no where close to doing as much as the allies were in Europe. So the US was carrying the majority of the war effort and casualties in the Pacific but not in Europe.
I think that the modern perception of the war is a bit Euro centric when compared to what was the opinion of the US at the time. Most likely this is because more books and articles and shows are created by England vs US/companies. And England understandably puts more importance and emphasis on Europe. So we sit her 75+ years latter and have a bit of a distorted view. A similar situation to the ACW when so much about it was written by southerners and thus tends to result in the Noble Southern General vs the ugly drunk northern butcher.
But in the Pacific things were not going well. The invasion of various islands were getting harder and the death tolls were increasing on both sides. The Philippine islands had yet to be liberated and the Japanese Navy was still launching the occasional attack.
So things were (relatively) going a lot better in Europe the in the Pacific.
So why would the bombs go first to Germany? I think it is much more likely the first bombs get used in the Pacific in an effort to cut the carnage of having to invade every island.
I do think that after/during the Bulge that you may see a change but in general by August of 44 Germany’s defeat was inevitable and the casualties were not as obvious. A constant stream of casualties that while relatively small on a daily basis but larg when taken in total is not as obviously an issues as the huge totals we raked up invading various islands.
So as much as everyone likes to put forward Germany as the number one target I don’t see it in August of 44. And odds on most in the US probably didn’t either. Japan was the country that started the way (for the US) and was giving the US the most problems. Add in that in Europe the English Russian and French were all supporting the US as they were actively fighting huge chunks of the German Army the US Army was having an easier time of it but in the Pacific the English and Australia and such while helping were no where close to doing as much as the allies were in Europe. So the US was carrying the majority of the war effort and casualties in the Pacific but not in Europe.
I think that the modern perception of the war is a bit Euro centric when compared to what was the opinion of the US at the time. Most likely this is because more books and articles and shows are created by England vs US/companies. And England understandably puts more importance and emphasis on Europe. So we sit her 75+ years latter and have a bit of a distorted view. A similar situation to the ACW when so much about it was written by southerners and thus tends to result in the Noble Southern General vs the ugly drunk northern butcher.