Fly on the Wall

To hear and see all, but not to have been observed!

What war operations room?
When?
Where?
Why?
(How, we already know about the fly).

Lets here your thoughts, and lets give everybody 6(six) total choices per Allied and Axis powers; if you wish throw in a neutral. This ought to be interesting!

 

Fighter Command's, during the Battle of Britain. Especially during the day Churchill was there and informed that the RAF had no further reserves to hurl against the German bomber formations.

 

German and Soviet on the first day of the Soviet offensive outside Moscow, winter 1941.

 

Yeah, and probably a SHEAF meeting. I like the idea about the meeting during the BoB, James. It would have been one of my choices.

Allied: Hitler's Wolfsschanze headquarters on December 12th 1944 when he ran the details of the Ardennes offensive by all responsible officers. And of course the meeting in Japan where the Attack plan for Pearl Harbor was layed out.

 

Hey, now that's what I was looking for. Great post everybody!

 

Thanks, Roel. That moment has always been one of my favorites from the entire war, just for sheer drama. And I like your idea about the Ardennes briefing. I have read Charles B. MacDonald's account of it, and it was likely much more entertaining live.

 

I would have loved to have been there when Wallis Barnes first suggested the idea of a 5 ton bomb that bounced (the upkeep bomb for the dambuster raid) and see the reaction.

 

I can imagine there was a few requests for a straight-suit.

 

Out of comical interest, yes. As a German spy I would rather be a fly on the wall in the briefing room of the operation followed by succesful tests with the bouncing bomb.

 

The operations center at CINCPAC in Hawaii during the Midway campaign. I'd love to see Nimitz in action.

 

The Yalta Conference

 

To see just what got promised to whom?

 

Yes.

If you dont attack in Kamchatka (spelling but you get the picture), I will not attack Alaska! Honest! :lol:

 

Now with the art of being the fly down pat if you had just one thing you could change during WW II what would it be?

Careful, if you wish for world peace it can be granted by simply removing every human being form the face of the earth (Ok, so I am a Twighlight Zone fan).

 

"You are about to enter a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind..." :lol:

Good question. I'd change the entire Battle of the Hurtgen Forst, so that it never happened. Thousands of American casualties for nothing! :angry:

 

The Dieppe Raid; in Force.
1). Definitely HE rounds for the tanks.
2). Better air cover during the hour before and during the landings.
3). Better recon of the areas defences.
4). Heavier, or more, substantial warship support.
5). Had the entire command under Canadian control. Why? Because there were many British officers that still thought of Canada as a colony; even after WWI, and that was dangerous then as it is today.

With this said the raid would still have been brief but there would have been much fewer casualties and the Allied troops would have been successfully removed from all three beaches, not just two.

Understanding that there was much more to the failure of that battle but it is only a summary of what I would have changed.

 

Barnes Wallis

Close...

...a good book to read on this and the Tallboy and Grandslam is Paul Brickhill's 'The Dambusters'

According to the book, prior to the Dams Project being given the go ahead Wallis did a survey on the use of 'BIG BOMBS' and posted it to seventy different people much to the horror of the Spooks.

 

Re: Barnes Wallis

Spooks worry about job security too! :roll:

 

Wolfschanze (spelling?) during the last years of the war

 

I think when in there I would get a little scared of Hitler, with his unstable temper and madman's aspirations...