Western powers in WWIII, 1945?

A POD that frequently comes up is a US/UK vs USSR war in 1945 over control of Europe. Normally the focus is on the US and USSR, with a bit on Britian, but if WWIII did break out in 1945, what could be expected of the rest of Western Europe?

Would France be in any position to rebuild their army, or contribute much? How about the low countries? Would the US and Britian be willing to use what is left of the German army, and if so what could they contribute? Could Italians be used in the war? How likely would Spain and Portugual be to join the Western allies?
 
A POD that frequently comes up is a US/UK vs USSR war in 1945 over control of Europe. Normally the focus is on the US and USSR, with a bit on Britian, but if WWIII did break out in 1945, what could be expected of the rest of Western Europe?

Would France be in any position to rebuild their army, or contribute much? How about the low countries? Would the US and Britian be willing to use what is left of the German army, and if so what could they contribute? Could Italians be used in the war? How likely would Spain and Portugual be to join the Western allies?
I think peersonally that you would have to base a 1945 army purely on what was available after the surrender of Germany.

US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, India and Free French. Throw in Finland maybe. Would there be three fronts ... Western Europe, Middle East and Far East?
 
France has had quite a sizeable army fighting its way up the Italian peninsular for a couple of years - that would certainly be in the forefront.

Germans would be more complicated. In extreme circumstances I could see them offering ex-Heer officers and conscripts a choice to serve to get out of the camps. Arming them is probably not too hard, but feeding them might be!

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Ordinarily I avoid this WWIII subject, but since the question is specific & limited, and actually is aimed at reality...

A POD that frequently comes up is a US/UK vs USSR war in 1945 over control of Europe. Normally the focus is on the US and USSR, with a bit on Britian, but if WWIII did break out in 1945, what could be expected of the rest of Western Europe?

Would France be in any position to rebuild their army, or contribute much? How about the low countries? Would the US and Britian be willing to use what is left of the German army, and if so what could they contribute? Could Italians be used in the war? How likely would Spain and Portugual be to join the Western allies?

France had eight or ten, depending on how they are counted, divisions with the latest US equipment and extensive combat experience. Another 8-10 were organized in France, but ill equipped. Those had a decent cadre of combat experienced and trained leaders. In theory the French could have organized at least thirty divisions with experienced/trained cadre. Equipping the balance from US depots would have required many months, so for the first months a dozen divisions would have been the limit for first class units.

Italy had a number of 'divisions' organized, but only a couple equipped and trained with US/Italian equipment. Actual strength was low for all.

Belgium and Netherlands each had some infantry battalions, & IIRC there was a mechanized brigade of Belgian soldiers.

Poland had one Armored Division in Germany and two infantry divisions in Italy. There probablly were other similar Polish formations among the western Allied forces but I cant recall details.

Brazil had two divisions in Italy. One just arriving IIRC

Denmark had several light infantry or military police battalions, organized and trained in Sweden, which landed in Demark on announcement of the German surrender.
 
Poland had one Armored Division in Germany and two infantry divisions in Italy. There probablly were other similar Polish formations among the western Allied forces but I cant recall details.

I think that whilst the actual Polish Divisions seem few in number they did have a sizeable force working within other parent divisions ... in total by July 1945 the ranks of the Polish contingent had swelled from 195,000 ground troops to just short of 230,000. Enough to man approx. 11-12 divisions. In addition they operated 27 warships including 2 Cruisers, 9 Destroyers and 5 Subs + numerous smaller craft. Then there were the Polish RAF squadrons 4 bomber squadrons and 8 fighter squadrons plus flights attached to other units.
 
Spain and Portugal are certain to join(how much they'll actually contribute is another question entirely). Aside from the fact their raison d'etre was opposition to communism, their's also the need to atone for their fascist ties.

France and Italy would be consumed by communist/leftist uprisings if they entered the war, obviously they wouldn't be contributing much to the war effort until those were put down.
 
Very unlikely that this will happen; the political will to start a third world war so soon after the second simply didn't exist. Any politician proposing it would be committing political suicide. Operation Unthinkable was thrown out almost as soon as it was thought up.
 
Belgium and Netherlands each had some infantry battalions, & IIRC there was a mechanized brigade of Belgian soldiers.

21st Army Group had a Belgian brigade plus the the Belgians raised various engineer and transport units to support them in late 1944 -45, and possibly further units being trained - according to wiki 3 infantry divisions.
 
Very unlikely that this will happen; the political will to start a third world war so soon after the second simply didn't exist. Any politician proposing it would be committing political suicide. Operation Unthinkable was thrown out almost as soon as it was thought up.


Well presumeably the Soviets invade first, forcing the Western Allies hand?
 
You know the famie of '46-'47? That's going to be much worse. Also, Soviet production is optimised for tanks, rather than a really balanced force, so I expect they'll be unbeatable for a few weeks, until their trucks start to break down. Also, the allies have jets, heavy bombers and A-bombs (a handful at least).
 
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Well, you could just have Stalin's agents in the US target the A-bomb arming teams. Sine we all know he's got supremely loyal suicide assassins ready to go at a moments notice in America's most heavily guarded military base.


Or is that ASB territory? :confused::D:eek:
 
Well, you could just have Stalin's agents in the US target the A-bomb arming teams. Sine we all know he's got supremely loyal suicide assassins ready to go at a moments notice in America's most heavily guarded military base.

Pretty sure those didn't exist. His spies were just that; spies. Not people crazy or stupid enough to launch suicide attacks.
 
Well that's the A-bombs out, now just to cripple the whole of the allies' armed forces...

Also, the famine, and the lack of industry for logistics.
 
The Red Army was also completely done fighting. The soldiers were utterly exhausted, and to them the war was finished. Soldiers and officers rushed to get on trains and go home as soon as they were dismissed. The widespread expectation was that the end of the war would lead to peace, widespread reform, more freedom for the people, etc. Launching a new war would break the back of the Soviet soldiers and lead to widespread dissent. Most formations would have limited combat utility.
 
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