The Yanks were learning to fight, in the mind of the Brits, and the supply cutoff from the Brit and other free subs in Malta (some Polish and free French subs), along with Montgomery, finally pushed Rommel out of North Africa. Once the southern fork of the Russian invasion was stopped at Stalingrad (which was already happening but would take a few more months to finish), the die was cast in terms of oil for Germany.
And the French, who had learned much in recent years on the tactics and techniques of surrender, almost immediately surrendered to the Americans.
WE will have to disagree on that. That is a pet peeve. I will see if I can search for an old post on this issue
Can't find via search. But I feel strongly the French get a very bad rap. I typed out a long discourse on it one time, not inclined to again. Jump off of Ernest May's Strange Victory. I did just order this book
Well, I was being tongue in cheek. The French did surrender to the Germans while they had fight left in them, but it would have been a tough sell to keep fighting under the circumstances they faced at the time. And, of course, they did surrender to the Americans early during TORCH, but that was precisely what the operation was designed to make them do.
I just think the French military efforts get a bad rap generally. It was kind of a freakish series of events, and ones that could happen to other nations and similar circumstances. The Maginot Line debacle is very similar to what happened to the Israelis in 1973 with the Bar Lev line. So many facts to dispel the image of them as incompetent and cowardly. But that's a debate for another day. I did spend a lot of time one time typing it all out, but it appears to have been memory holed
OT- I have an 85 yr old AA client who was a member of the 7th SFG in Vietnam where he was wounded and later was a Captain that worked with the group that captured and killed Che. He retired as a Major in the 70's. Absolutely fascinating man.
The french get an overly bad rap imo as well. It's an interesting comparable to today however. A numerically and technically superior western alliance that is too bogged down in its own issues and shell shocked from recent conflicts to adequately and quickly assess an authoritarian threat. Meanwhile, the lunatic authoritarian accurately predicts the western indecisiveness and pounces. Quick action in 1940 most certainly would have led to a different outcome. 2022?
