Dimitri’s Reviews > The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II > Status Update
Dimitri
is on page 240 of 816
Operation Crusader (7.41) looked promising to save Tobruk. Motorised/Air build-up against the Afrikakorps had reached parity, Russia ensured it wouldn't deteriorate and secondary theaters like Syria&East Africa were calm. But Wavell&Auchinleck were "chateau" generals who learned tank vs. tank warfare against a weak Italy. Commanding a combined arms operation from the front against Rommel's 88mm was something else.
— Sep 25, 2018 01:42PM
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Dimitri’s Previous Updates
Dimitri
is on page 251 of 816
"All battles seem like chaos to the participants but crusader falls into the Oscar category" the Empire forces were pushed back to the Egypt frontier wire but Cairo knew it had won: Rommel shrank back to Tobruk, greatly weakened, then to Tripolitania, holding off pursuit with small rearguard counters. The British owed their victory to Rommel's mistakes, the weight of their material and superior logistics.
— Jan 13, 2020 05:33AM
Dimitri
is on page 250 of 816
The plan for Operation Crusader: draw out Rommel with our own armor as bait, link ourinfantry up with Tobruk & encircle him. Parity of numbers & long supply lines dictated a dangerous parity. "Like penning a savage bull in a hencoop" (A.Moorehead) there was the risk of a piecemeal defeat through defence on interior lines, a German specialty.
— Jan 13, 2020 05:31AM
Dimitri
is on page 158 of 816
The pushback against Italy, while successful, left Greece exhausted when German reinforcements entered the arena. They staged their own Dunkirk, evacuating approx 50.000 out of 56.000 effectives. Crete suddenly looked very attractive to London to protect Ploesti ...or Suez?
— Sep 12, 2018 09:53PM
Dimitri
is on page 123 of 816
Once the elderly Mathilda II Scorpions, like early "Howard's Funnies" had sweeped the minefields for Compass, the pursuit into Cyrenaica could begin to unlock the coast as an invasion platform: narrow so easy to defend, anchored upon sea routes with naval support. The attack at Bardia (3.1.41) was reminiscent of a dusty Somme.
— Sep 10, 2018 09:30AM
Dimitri
is on page 121 of 816
Things were looking up as 1941 dawned. Operation Compass against Sidi Barrani coincided with victory over Italian forces at Eritrea, Abyssinia & Greece. the Lend-Lease proposal made it through Congress. But the Axis acquired the aligeance of Hungary and Romania, while the Luftwaffe started clouding the desert skies.
— Sep 08, 2018 02:52AM
Dimitri
is on page 110 of 816
The British were in a Catch-22: do well against Italy & Germany intervenes sooner. Logistics were the constant linchpin of desert warfare, with always too many trucks nibbled out of service by sand. RAF superiority hopped forward over improvised airfields w/ the Hurricane as Jack-of-all-trades. You'll see no sexy spitfires in the MTO sideshow, only obsolete material outclassed in the ETO given a 2nd life.
— Jun 28, 2018 02:54AM
Dimitri
is on page 110 of 816
The necessity for a morale-stiffening German corset required for Italian units meant there was no mobile reserve for Rommel to counter the Alamain breakthrough.
The 1917-style infantry had performed adequate enough in Abyssinia, Spain and the French Alps to not learn lessons brutal enough to wake up its complacent HQ.
— Jun 28, 2018 02:50AM
The 1917-style infantry had performed adequate enough in Abyssinia, Spain and the French Alps to not learn lessons brutal enough to wake up its complacent HQ.
Dimitri
is on page 103 of 816
These personality quotes are apt & awesome to memorize!
- Hitler was an opportunist out of opportunities.
- Mussolini suffered from strategy attention deficit disorder.
- the history of Britain as Churchill interpreted it was a declaration of faith in ultimate victory; he had been ordained by providence to deliver it.
— Jun 28, 2018 02:47AM
- Hitler was an opportunist out of opportunities.
- Mussolini suffered from strategy attention deficit disorder.
- the history of Britain as Churchill interpreted it was a declaration of faith in ultimate victory; he had been ordained by providence to deliver it.
Dimitri
is starting
Was for the British the M.T. a crisis of opportunity? PERSONALLY I don't think it was better than another Western Front. A list of ports shows how much the fall of France had hurt the freedom of the Royal Navy in the region to protect or amphibious operations or logistics:
Oran, Algiers, Dakar, Marseilles, Philippeville ...
— Jun 28, 2018 02:31AM
Oran, Algiers, Dakar, Marseilles, Philippeville ...
Dimitri
is reading
The M.T. is showcased as a theatre where Hitler had no geostrategic interests but rather was reluctantly dragged into by his allies, whose military contribution was far from equal to their appetite for colonial gains at the expense of France.
— Jun 28, 2018 02:27AM
