h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Project Title:
A-number of Project Title Page: A######
Description of Project: The aim of this project is simple, compile a set of entries that cover the important battles during World War Two. I can already think of at least five possibilities, but there are so many more. I've already written a possible entry for Stalingrad, and I can easily do another oneProposed
Completion Date: Early 2006

sounds good

Pelilua (pell-la-lou)

WWII Pacific Theatre

I liek the idea of this

I believe a more sentient position should be first addressed in this dialogue. Every battle from the skirmish over a small hamlet's one carriage crossing to the little unknown island battle off the coast of Italy was "important"; also history mostly denotes those battle won by the victor, leaving lost ones unmentioned in history books and lastly we should reckon with the many battles in the air and on the high seas and below. Now to come up with a list of battles having a turning effect or some dramatic tactic to the war's outcome is something we might consider.

There's abook recently published titled, "Brotherhood of Arms" or to that effect. It's late and I care not to go search my library now. Anyway, my father is named 158 times throughout the book. He and a few remaining leathernecks from the First Marine Division-K Company also assisted the author in writng about the battle on Pelileu.

Gaudalcanal (ga-waddle-can-Al) ....sorry about the poor spelling.

I agree we should define 'key battles' as those battles that can be considered as a turning point or have a highly visable effect on the war, ie battles that gave the victor a clear strategic advantage.
At the moment I think it best to stick clear of whole campaigns, as they could end up to time consuming. So the Alantic campaign and the air war over germany would be out.

So in my opinion, a possible list would be (sorry spelling ):

The Battle for France 1940;
The Battle of Britain;
The Battle of El Alamein;
The Battle of Stalingrad;
The Battle of Kursk;
The Normandy Invasion;
The Battle for the Bulge;
The Fall of Berlin;
Pearl Harbour;
The Fall of Singapour;
The Battle of Midway;
The Battle of Guadana Canal;
The Battle of Leyta Gulf;
The Battle of Iwa Jima.

What do people think?

Malta ?

Malta did influence the north african campaign, distrupting Rommel's supplies, and it should definitley be mentioned in any El Alamien article. But I don't think it warrants a whole article.

Considering the factor a whole is the sum of all its parts, to omit individual encounters, skirmishes or dogfights, would lessen the overall engagement and its outcome. For example- to get from point A to point C, point B must first have been eliminated or cleared. Point B might have been shelled from sea, bombed from above or set upon by small firefight before any major battle initiated. However,to investigate, in depth, these 'lesser' engagements would be next to writing ones thesus or with the intent on winning a Pulitzer. I prefer Porsches myself. So I agree. Let us mention and with a short synopsis only the major, turning point battles.

Besides the library or internet, a great sauce- one can of tomato paste, diced mushrooms, garlic and oni... (saute'd)...my spelling is notrocious as well. A great source to discover information is at your local film rental center in the older movie section. GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOOO! and John Wayne. I'm really serious about this suggestion. Both the American and British film makers in that period of time produced amazing films.

Sorry for my delay of reply. The homefront can be a battleground as well.

Thank you and have a great day. DH46

I think one key battle you may have missed off your list is the Battle of the Atlantic. If the allies had lost this battle Britain would have fallen due to lack of supplies.

Forgot to say, if you want a hand researching or writing any of these entries, i'm more than happy to help

hmmm, the alantic is a tricky one on whether to include it or not. Due to its length (spanning all the years of the war), the number of times the tide against side, and the size of the area involved, I would rather consider it as a seperate campaign and not an actual battle.

That is not to say it didn't have a decisive battle. Infact there was a 'turning-point' battle in 1943 surrounding to important convoys (I can't remember their names off the top of my head). The results of this battle showned that the allies had superiour tactics and weapons, because even though the convoys suffered loses, nine U-boats were sunk and from that point on the U-boats sunk as many ships per month.

Maybe we should include this, something for you Pongo?

Is this one still alive?

I hate to complicate this already compliacted issue but...

Pearl harbour has been included, quite rightly I think, in this list, in spite of the fact that it was a defeat for the allies. The inclusion is, I presume, because is brought the Americans into the second world war. On this basis, then, other battles that were significant in terms of the development of the timeline, if you like, of the war, should, perhaps, be considered. I know that sentence used a lot of Commas. Sorry. None in these three. Anyway, (back!) I might suggest the invasion of Poland on this basis, since it was the British guarantee of Poland that finally persuaded Chamberlain to declare war on Germany.

Bourne's list also raises the question: are you talking about the war in Europe (hard enough by itself) or the war in Japan as well?
14 battles is a long list- could it be trimmed?

It's worth remembering that a project need only consist of five entries. You can always come back to the same subject and do a second project, rather than become bogged down with doing it all at once.

Excellent idea but what about the battle for Italy as it broke up the axis. I agree however with Jimster post 15 about the 5 main headings possibly geographic or chronological and slot the battles as and when the research is completed without diminishing the project in any way.
Any want this is one I want to read.
Bobstafford

I think if you only broke it into 5 then you won't be able to go into much detail. I've done two entries, one on Stalingrad and another on El Alamien, and I could have gone into to much more detail but it would have turned into a novel! Now imagine trying to do entry on the whole Eastern campaign or the Pacific campaign, it wouldn't be worth it!

I think if everyone just takes a battle or campaign that they like and know something about, we can easily just put them together into something useful.

Two entries written, both became Edited Entries:
A12990387 - The Battle of El Alamein (November - December 1942)
A9292791 - The Battle of Stalingrad

<BB<