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TIL 1010

So Many Germans......At The Emirates !

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Crazy scenes both inside and outside the stadium earlier - Arsenal currently losing 1-0 too. This could get really (even more) ugly if there are any contentious goals/decisions during the game.

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I guess it''s my age but my recollections of ticketless fans turning up at grounds is not to be admired, nor is the disregard for stadium segregation.

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Well it was some 80 years ago since the Germans last tried to bring 20,000 of their citizens here in one go, so you have to admire their determination !!!!

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[quote user="vos"]Well it was some 80 years ago since the Germans last tried to bring 20,000 of their citizens here in one go, so you have to admire their determination !!!![/quote]

Which history book did you read that in? The only invasions in WW2 were in the other direction!

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Well Dylan the Battle of Britain was a prelude to the Germans bringing substantial armed forces to the UK. As I said they tried - but failed.

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[quote user="vos"]Well Dylan the Battle of Britain was a prelude to the Germans bringing substantial armed forces to the UK. As I said they tried - but failed.[/quote]An urban myth, surprised that it still gets dragged out

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There was an operational plan of invasion,with air superiority being one of the first important hurdles. This failed,leading to any future succes impossible.

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No there was an half ar sed attempt as a bluff but the air supriority stuff is another myth. That summer (1940) German troops were being transferred to the east, not being prepared in invade Britain.Towing troop in open river barges at around 4mph would have been absolute suicide. The Royal Navy would have sunk every single one, as there would have been virtually no German naval protection. German air cover would have had to fly so high to avoid anti aircraft fire from naval craft as to make their contribution neligible.Even left totally unmolested many would have sunk due to being swamped. There was not the means to keep a large enough force resupplied either.Have a read up on what the German top brass thought. Impossible is the usual thought.A good start is this documentray which shows the German side - which is rather different to what is usually put out this sidehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux-J8B8fURka key point is at 33.25 - 35.00 mins which explains it allhowever, the whole 48mins is well worth a watch

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It''s one of those situations where every respected historian has a diffrenet opinion, but with mostly good information to back up their opinion, making it very hard for the enthusiast to come up with a definitive answer.Was it always a bluff to scare Britain into submission?Did it turn into a bluff once it turned out the RAF weren''t defeated?Was Russia always the main aim?Would it have happened at a later date?etc. etc. etc.

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No, Pretty much every historian is in agreement over this. However most folk just accept the story as put out.At a conference in July 1940 Hitler stated that there would be no invasion. Goebbels (diaries in August) went further and noted that it was nothing more than a bluff. The army commander who would have been responsible, Von Runstedt, stated that an invason would have been impossible. That summer (1940) the Germans moved over half the troops (and much else) to the Easter border. The idea of cramming men into boats that were similar to a Norfolk Wherry then being towed at 4mph across the choppy channel whilst having destroyers, torpedo boats, capital ships all able to blow them out of the water at will is absurd.Htler wanted Britain to keep it''s empire in check whilst he invaded Russia (shades of 14-18) who strikes first wins. There was also the need for oil in Rumania. My thought is however had that been successful then Britain may well have been next. But it never, never was the intention in 1940 - and air superiority (Battle of Britain) was not a factor either.Ech side will emphasis it''s part. The US rarely mentions Britain, Canada etc when talking about Normandy (1944). Dunkirk nevers mentions the Franch heroic defence of Lille for four days that allowed the BEF to escape.

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