Congratulations to Mr. Prewitt. It should be noted, however, that France’s highest order of merit is called the Legion of Honour (Légion d’honneur), not the Legion of Armour, and also that France doesn’t actually have knighthoods in the same sense as Britain does. “Chevalier” (knight) is indeed one of the Legion of Honour’s five levels, and the name is a holdover from the days when France still had an aristocracy, but the French nobility system went out the window with the French Revolution. I once saw a series of amusing cartoons depicting what life in France would be like today if the Bourbon monarchy hadn’t fallen, and one of them showed an irate air traveler standing at the ticket counter of “Royal Air France” and telling the ticket agent “But I’m a baron and I have a confirmed reservation!” The agent replies, “I’m sorry, sir, but the Duke of So-and-so has precedence over you, so we gave him your seat.” In fairness, the same sort of thing actually happens in real-life republican France. A few years ago, there was scandal involving one of the major D-Day anniversaries (I think it was the 50th one), when the French government contacted various hotels in Normany and appropriated some of their existing reservations so that various French officials could have rooms for the event. Some of those rooms, however, had been reserved by foreign veterans of the D-Day invasion. When the story broke on the front page of French newspapers (under such headlines as “Our Liberators Insulted!”), public opinion was outraged and the French government beat a hasty retreat. The prevailing editorial opinion over this affair was: Do this to our own citizens if you want, but don’t do this to the heroes who ended the occupation of France.
Favorite Defensive Line of WWII
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I’ve always found defensive postions great subjects to study. What’s your favorite defensive Line of WW2?
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El Alemein. It was one of the turning points of world war 2
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I chose the West Wall because the stories both my grandfathers had to say about encounting it.
One was fired upon by 88’s delivering food to his men.
The other had to knock out bunkers with grenades.
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@ABWorsham:
I chose the West Wall because the stories both my grandfathers had to say about encounting it.
One was fired upon by 88’s delivering food to his men.
The other had to knock out bunkers with grenades.
Did they mostly go through the wall or bypass it(via Holland/Belgium)?
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@ABWorsham:
I chose the West Wall because the stories both my grandfathers had to say about encounting it.
One was fired upon by 88’s delivering food to his men.
The other had to knock out bunkers with grenades.
Did they mostly go through the wall or bypass it(via Holland/Belgium)?
One got stalled on the Westwall as part of the 2nd Inf, then got into the thick of the Bulge blacking the Germans at Elsenborn.
My other grandfather wasn’t very open about his service. He did tell a story of his unit attacking bunkers from the rear with grenades near the border of Germany.
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Seafortress Krim/Sevastopol is one of my favorites…
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I voted other.
My favorite line was:
“Nuts!”
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@Raunchy:
I voted other.
My favorite line was:
“Nuts!”
That’s not quite what he said, lol. 1940’s censorship and all.
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@ABWorsham:
@ABWorsham:
I chose the West Wall because the stories both my grandfathers had to say about encounting it.
One was fired upon by 88’s delivering food to his men.
The other had to knock out bunkers with grenades.
Did they mostly go through the wall or bypass it(via Holland/Belgium)?
One got stalled on the Westwall as part of the 2nd Inf, then got into the thick of the Bulge blacking the Germans at Elsenborn.
My other grandfather wasn’t very open about his service. He did tell a story of his unit attacking bunkers from the rear with grenades near the border of Germany.
I meant the allied troops in general
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hey AB what Line do you mean by Gothic?..maybe I just know it under a diffrent name…
They must have been refreshed or relocated to use their 88’s on Foodcarriers, normally the Russians used such methods to sink the moral of the Germans (especially in Winter times)…@ABWorsham:
I chose the West Wall because the stories both my grandfathers had to say about encounting it.
One was fired upon by 88’s delivering food to his men.
The other had to knock out bunkers with grenades.
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@aequitas:
hey AB what Line do you mean by Gothic?..maybe I just know it under a diffrent name…
After the Gustav line in Italy, they faced the Gothic Line.
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@aequitas:
hey AB what Line do you mean by Gothic?..maybe I just know it under a diffrent name…
After the Gustav line in Italy, they faced the Gothic Line.
the “Green-line” or Gneisenau-line…I heard of the Gothic-line but the Gneisenau-line was more inprinted in my memories…Thanks Calvinhobbesliker
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@aequitas:
@aequitas:
hey AB what Line do you mean by Gothic?..maybe I just know it under a diffrent name…
After the Gustav line in Italy, they faced the Gothic Line.
the “Green-line” or Gneisenau-line…I heard of the Gothic-line but the Gneisenau-line was more inprinted in my memories…Thanks Calvinhobbesliker
Sorry, it was the last major line. I just saw there were multiple lines in italy.
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Maginot Line.
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The Abucay Line is missing from this poll.
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The kursk line, it was the line that broke the german army and effectivly ended any chance the germans had at winning the war. It (probably) inflicted more damage to the german army than the entire african campaign, probbably more than the entire liberation of france
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Two of my favourites are the Maginot Line and the Atlantic Wall. The ironic thing is that both of them failed spectacularly in their intended mission of preventing a large enemy force from invading France. The Rhine River could be added to the list, especially in connection with two famous bridges over the Rhine: the one at Arnhem (which the Allied ground forces failed to reach during Operation Market-Garden) and the one at Remagen (which the Allies were able to seize and cross – much to their surprise, since the Germans had blown every other bridge over the Rhine).
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Gustav. Has to be Italy.
I have been to Monte Cassino and have read much about the defensive battles(even as a child). Love Heidrich’s 1st Para. -
My grandfather fought in the Philippines, but I still have to give it to Kursk.
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I gotta say the Panther-Wotan line, since I´m fascinated by the eastern front.
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