Saturday, April 5, 2008
Bocage
Battle of Metz Presentation 4/2
Eisenhower Presentation 3/31
Photographers 3/31 Presentation
Operation Overlord
Anzio/Monte Cassino 3/26 Presentations
Friday, April 4, 2008
Marketgarden
The presentations this week were good. I didnt know all that stuff about the photographers or pictures that we see about the war. To know that some of them were censored is amazing. It makes you wonder if out government still doesnt try to do that and we just dont see it. The battles that we heard about all seemed to face the same problems we've been hearing over and over again. Its good to hear though that the US forces learned from their mistakes in these battles.
Robert Capa
Metz and Market Garden
It's also hard to understand the reasoning behind giving the most dificult air drops to inexperienced British troops. When learning about some of these Allied decisions it is hard to grasp the lack of common sense that sometimes plagued the tactical decisions. I thought learning about the German weapon The 88 was really interesting this week. I specifically remember watching the Market Garden episode of Band of Brothers not too long ago and wondering what exactly that weapon was. There is a intense scene that takes place in a snow covered woodland area where allied troops are trying to retreat as 88 shells are exploding above their heads splitting huge trees in two.
Presentations and such
metz and lecture
The Battle for Antwerp versus the fall of the Nazi power was very frustraiting to hear about. I can understand wanting to take the gamble and try to end the Nazi regime, but for this to work out everything had to go perfectly. Montgomery shouldn't have been in charge of the operation; he represents the main failure of the Allied forces, not cooperating/communicating. In his desire for power and importance he did not take Antwerp and the surrounding areas like he was supposed to, which led to further failure to Allied troops. Without a way to get supplies, how did he expect to win against the well supplied Nazi's in Germany?
Presentations
The battle of Metz I thought showed that the Allies had a lot to improve in their intelligence gathering and they failed to learn lessons from the Germans about not attacking fortified defenses. In addition, it showed their failure to train for possible follow on missions after the initial invasion of Europe. However, I wonder if Metz would have been such a blood bath if the Allies supply chain would have been working properly and Patton do not have to stop for supplies before the attack.
Lecture
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Presentations on Eisenhower, Photographers, and the Battle of Metz
The presentation on Eisenhower reinforced his leadership role by listing the many battles (and operations) that he oversaw during his command. There is no doubt in my mind, or probably anyone else’s for that matter, that because of Eisenhower’s successes in WWII and the popularity that he gained, he was a sure winner for the Presidency. By being appointed as commander of SHAEF, he was not only a leader of the American troops, but was also a leader of soldiers from many different countries as he led them in the invasion of
The presentation on the WWII photographers was very interesting. When you think of war, it seems that the battles, the commanders, and the number of killed and wounded are much of what you hear and read. The Signal Corps are usually not written in as part of this action. I liked the detailed information shared such as the 352,000 negatives printed, the 9,100,000 feet of motion picture film shot, and the 35mm
The Battle of Metz, also known as the “forgotten battle,” is another one of those battles I was unfamiliar with until the presentation. It was interesting to hear such facts as the Allies did not have the armor or heavy weapons to fight but they kept going. The men were rotated from the front lines to behind the lines in order to rest and go back into battle. Even though it is not one of the better-known battles, it, too, as many of the other battles, resulted in heavy losses for the Allies. The use of white phosphorous to burn out the troops that did not surrender seems inhumane; however, war is inhumane.
Market Garden
Presentations
I have never even heard of the Battle of Metz. Since it was heavily fortified by the Germans, I would've assumed that it would be given more credit in history. I guess that since it wasn't a key part of the German defense it was overlooked.
Since it was important to not give one country the ability to claim the defeat of Germany, I didn't really understand why Eisenhower sided with Montgomery in Operation Market Garden. It seemed like Montgomery was all about using the British to defeat the Germans with the other Allies just backing them up. Without the other countries, England could not have been able to defeat the Germans. They just didn't have enough man power so I thought this move was a little risky on their part.
Hedgerows and presentations
The photography presentation was very interesting. It is interesting to see how far the profession has come since WW II. I didn't realize that there were photographers with the troops on Normandy. I also thought it was interesting to see how the pictures were used by the media.
I don't understand why we had no actual information on Metz before we tried to enter the city. It sounds like it was very well defended and protected from invasions. The battle cost us a lot of lives without us gaining anything. I agree that the city should have been bypassed.
Hedgerows
the Bulge, Company Commander, and Metz
The epilogue to Company Commander, though very brief, was one of my favorites parts of the whole book.
It was good to hear some fine information about a campaign that rarely gets attention and fit well with issue of the slowed allied advance covered in lecture- it seems questionable actions such as Metz occur more often then we realize
Presentations
Photography-This was a great presentation. The images really speak volumes about what the troops were going through. Is there still anything like the signal corp to the point where soldiers in battle will take their own pictures or video, or is this now solely done by journalists? I think a lot is lost when it is a reporter's video from miles away rather than a soldier's video while in the middle of combat.
Metz-As everyone else has said I knew nothing of this battle until the presentation. Although there have been several battles and probably several more to come in class that I know nothing about. I did enjoy hearing about a battle that didn't go according to plan, and really was seen as a blunder by the Allies. I think the Allies victory means even more when you hear about such crushing defeats as these.
White Phosphorus
The politics of Battle
Metz
Eisenhower and Photographers
Photography during WWII was a massive endeavor, as the presentation pointed out. Almost ridiculous amounts of film was shot, and many, many photographs. It is not surprising that WWII is one of the most-studied events of the twentieth century, it is certainly one of the most well-documented. I found it fascinating the bravery of many of the photographers of both the Army Signal Corps, and the civillians who went along as well. A good presentation on a fascinating, but usually overlooked, subject.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Battle of Metz
American training
Battle of Metz
Eisenhower
Another point of interest was how he had to ballance the action on the Western Front between Monty and Patton. He showed reasonable leadership by permitting Monty to take the main action on this front opposed to Patton at times. An example being the Market Garden Campaign in which military resources were allocated to Monty's forces opposed to Bradely and Patton in the South.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
presentations
In regards to the presentation on the photographers of World War II I found it very interesting how they put thier lives on the lines to take pictures. The fact that some of them were standing on the front line just for pictures, that is crazy. I do find it sad, however that only eight of these pictures survived. In retrospect, it might have made him more famous, but it still sucks. Anyway good on your presentation. I found it very thoughtful, and I liked how you did something different.
photographers and Eisenhower
Eisenhower seems to have a great career. His participation in Normandy, the Italian campaign, and Operation Overlord seems to have really helped the Allies. I found it interesting that Eisenhower was never in battle during his military career.