Were the Germans really that good?

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

<<<I have to agree, I wish I could remeber where I read it but its account of German commander telling how he and his crew destroyed Sherman after Sherman in France and how he had to eventually surrender his position, the interviewer ask why he would surrender after such success he said thats easy I ran out of anti-tank rounds before the Allies ran out of tanks... >>>

Does Ernst Bake ring a bell? I read a couple of books some time ago called Panzer Aces I and II and I think this was Bake near the Ruhr Pocket right before it's collapse. Key word is I think.

Reading those books plus Infantry Aces and many others like most of us have, the Germans were that good.

The SS front line troops were among the best in all history IMO for what they accomplished on the battle field against incredible odds the latter half of the war. And yes there was a difference between the front line SS and the scum at the concentration camps.

BoB was lost because of the luck of a string of events. The accidental bombing of London led to the raid on Berlin which angered Hitler enough to change the focus away from Fighter Command at the time it was on the verge of collapse and the lack of foresight to develope a larger bomber and longer range single seat fighter. A lesson not lost on the allies later on with the introduction of the P51.

The British determination to not give up should account for something.

The only thing I can consider the Russians genius' was being able to amass a million men at a small part of the front for numerical superiority. The odds grew daily in their favor and it still took them years to get to Germany. And the Germans were just simply running out of manpower over the years. That's why they had the young teens, old men and convalescent bns popping up.

Hitler's refusal to save men to fight another day like at Stalingrad and other places was another factor. Hube or Hausser or somebody, can't remember, refused to let the SS suffer that same order near Kharkov, disobeyed it, rescued them and shorlty later came back in the area starting the operation at around 50% and salvaging a victory out of it.

In the end it is an arguement that will never end because of so many people with their own opinions. That's what keeps it interesting for so long.