soc.history.war.world-war-ii

"Robert Sveinson" wrote in message
news:bFBHj.63708$y05.15548@newsfe22.lga...
> "L2008" wrote in
> message news:fsig5d$5ei$1@aioe.org...
>> "Louis C" wrote in message
>> news:085c7e97-5891-4678-9998-0b9fe25d5c60@s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>> A lot of British officers thought that US troops were no
>>> good,
>>
>> That is disingenuous. They may have perceived them as "green", which they
>> were initially.
>
> Absolutely they were green. Sadly neither the American soldiers
> nor officers could then nor can now accept that fact.
> If in doubt just watch their movie or television dramas
> The movie about the US Navy capture of the German submarine
> there by allowing Bltchley Park to "once again"
> read the German Enigma signals.
> This movie has been cited to me to prove that very point.
>
> Or the weekly series 12 O'clock High!

To my surprise I found that an American lady I met did WW2 history and law
and university. She told me to watch that film with Clark Gable in it - made
about 1948. She never knew Liverpool was the centre of the Battle of the
Atlantic.

> After the Dieppe Raid in which 6000 Canadians and British soldiers along
> with 50 US soldiers the newspaper headlines in the USA read
> Americans land in Europe!

Well they did. :)

War time propaganda had its place. The British were told that all that
stood between the Germans coming over was a small number of upper class
Oxbridge graduate flying Spitfires. If they failed we were doomed. This
promoted the backs to the wall mentality to unify the population. The
reality was very different as the RN was the largest obstacle by far and the
army re-equipped, dug in with heavy armour and waiting. The problem was
they never rescinded the propaganda after the war and Hollywood got hold of
the myths and in the minds of millions that was how it was.