20 Major Mistakes the Allies Made During World War II

Just some points:

1. The invasion of the Philippines delayed invading Japan, but then, without the atom bombs being ready invading Japan would have wiped out the Japanese as a race and the allies would have had close to a million casualties. So...not a mistake.

2. HMS Prince Of Wales and HMS Repulse actually *HAD* a carrier escort. The escort did not receive aircraft in time so the mission was 'on hold' until the carrier could be ready. Remember that the British taught the Japanese everything the Japanese knew so the British vision of a night attack had promise. The seasoned crews sent by Britain were more than capable. The downside would be that twice in one war, the Royal Navy disobeyed its orders (previously with HMS Hood). Had the ships waited, they would have caught the Japanese at night, at the end of their supply line. No - they would not have liberated Singapore or staved off defeat. But they would have eaten into a large chunk of Japanese assets that General Slim (already packing his bags...) would handle.

3. Market Garden as a "plan" worked. Market Garden as an "operation" worked. Where Market Garden failed was political. The plug was being pulled on Warsaw and Holland by the Soviets. We unfortunately needed red bodies to fight the Japanese and in return for committing them, we had to allow Holland and Poland to suffer. Despite the movie's claims, XXX Corps was actually at the Arnheim "welcome center" and could hear the paratroop combat when Horrocks (Michael Caine) received his stop order. Model and the SS were already planning to surrender.

4. Dieppe was never intended as what it was said to be. Dieppe was a diversion. Nothing more. Stalin and Churchill discussed Britain opening up a second front to relieve pressure. An "invasion" of France was a ruse to draw the SS Westward. The SS were actually on their way to the rail heads when it became clear that Dieppe was a scam. Had Japan not attacked Pearl Harbor *OR* not attacked any British assets, HMS Warspite (most successful British battleship), HMS Prince Of Wales ("sank the Bismarck") and HMS Repulse would have been in the Dieppe task force. Battleship guns (15") versus German 105mm guns was a non-starter. As a result, all three were sent Eastwards due to Japanese threats and all that was left for Dieppe was destroyers and a light cruiser. And 6" guns versus heavy German arty was a losing situation. The German intel then quite rightly picked up that the British "invasion" force was not adequately serious enough and plans to move the SS West were cancelled. This pissed Stalin off and he very nearly cancelled all ties with Britain.

Excellent share sir, have a safe holiday.