The atomic bomb operational

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.
 
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.

I am not so sure about this, I remember reading that Americans at the time felt that the Pacific was less important than Europe.

In any case, there was still a lot of bombing done by the allies and an atomic bomb might be seen as cost/effective plus what about the post WW2 era which was a question worrying the Allied leadership. The further East they meet the Russians the better.
 
Priority for most of 1944 was still to Europe. Decision for reducing shipments ect did not become important until midyear. Until the German twin collapse in France & White Russia became apparent in August 1944 it was still thought the war would last until 1946.
 
Wouldn't an A bomb on Germany in August 1944 result in A4's carrying nerve gas landing on London?
People would hardly notice.

Slamming a supersonic missile into the ground at a 70 degree angle is no way to disperse nerve gas, nerve gas that was not yet ready to use operationally
 
Wouldn't an A bomb on Germany in August 1944 result in A4's carrying nerve gas landing on London?

It would take a long time to develop and produce a nerve gas warhead (what the Allies would not know about anyway) for tactical ballistic missile. As for V-1, at this point they're almost finished and it would take time to develop and produce a chemical warhead for it too. Granted, it's possible that Germans will use chemical weapons at this point, perhaps with some local tragedies, but they would be far more screwed by the Allied chemical weapons counterattacks as their logistics would be based on horses. UK would be quite safe. Vegetarian? No I don't think so at this point as the Allies would be on gates of Germany, it would only complicate occupation.
 
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