WW2 Choice of Theater Operations?

Need more movies about Pacific Theater

Fighting the Japanese sucked! At least the Germans would surrender when all was lost. Not those crazy japs! I'm currently reading a very good book called "Flags of our fathers". It describes in great detail the horror of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, The Philipines and Okinawa. Not only would these guys get all liquored up on Saki and go on bonzai attacks, but they would rather blow themselves up than surrender. Then there was jungle fighting and malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever dysentery and more. What a drag! I know this is all common knowledge but it just sounds very unpleasant. If I had the choice I would pick the Italian theater and my weapons of choice would be a Thompson submachine gun and a 1911A1. Possible other choice would be the BAR. The Thompson spits out alot of lead but the BAR is bad-ass.

Northwestern Europe all the way. Not fun by any means, but a quick 10 months from Normandy to Germany surrender.

The Pacific islands and northern Italian mountains were pure hell on earth. The Japanese knew how to turn a volcanic island into the ultimate killing ground and the Germans know how to defend ridge after bloody ridge to the max.

Definitely Europe, and someone pass me a scope and a springfield..

Not so sure I would want to go to Italy. From literature I've recently read ("There's a War to be Won" - History of the US Army in WWI-WWII), it sounds like Italy was one of the worst-run campaigns of the war. Aside from the first time through the Philippians anyways.

I haven't actually read Flags of our Fathers yet, but I have read Flyboys, by the same author. He really takes his time laying out the backdrop of Imperial Japan throughout the last five hundred years or so... incredibly interesting, and pretty sick, if you ask me. I would recommend the book highly to any WWII buff, although he does somewhat skimp on battle descriptions in a frustrating way.

My choice would be First Army, under Bradley. That man could general! However, whatever Army I was assigned to, my primary concern would be to stay AS FAR AWAY as was possibly from Monty. It is my opinion that Monty is directly responsible for a great number of the hardships faced by the Allies in the ETO.

As to fighting the Japanese, *shudder*. The only Pacific assignment I could stomach (if I could hack it) would be as a member of one of the elite Engineer Battalions attached to the US Army and Marines. Those men did the impossible.



-mike

That is Admiral Yamamoto, I believe.

Consider that the only WWII vets that didn't give Viet Nam vets the cold shoulder after seeing news footage were the Pacific Theater vets.
Plus the fact that I am of Chinese ancestry makes Europe an easy choise.
The .30-06 was used in the Pacific. Cooper used a 1903 Springfield in Guadacanal. The Garand was used too.
It isn't the heat - you will find winter without enough food and clothing to be a good way to lose body parts - it would be the pure hell of fighting an enemy that was more fanatical, man for man, than anywhere else.
Fortunately as an American the Russian theater would be largely excluded. Northern Italy would be a risk, but other than that it seems to be better.

Yeah, Anzio was a real nice walk on the beach.

I dunno, if in this wonderful parallel universe I got a choice, I guess I'd want to be on a B-29 out of Guam (not the CBI, good lord no). Whole lot easier than humping it in the infantry, and I adore the Superfort. No way would I hack it as a grunt. If I had no other choice, northern Europe would be where it's at. Better climate, somewhat shorter supply lines.

Be fun to play with a Thompson too.

My ideal specific position would be as a point-defense asset specifically assigned to provide personal overwatch for either MacArthur or Patton. Face-time with Mac* would be invaluable for researching my Masters thesis. (I DO get to come back afterward, right?)

*Derived from how various generals handled troops in unscheduled contact. A soldier from one glider or para unit wanted to know wh his unit wasn't getting any publicity in the war effort. Ike woulda had him arrested, but Mac basically told him, "I'm planning something special and want you guys to be a surprise to the Japanese. Trust me, you're going to 'get some' soon." This is a paraphrase, not a quote, based on data in either Manchester's American Caesar or Perret's Old Soldiers Never Die.

Monty was a glory-hound retard. He planned Market Garden in the interests of more cooperation between the Allies. And that is why it was jacked up. But I won't get into that.

What would I want to be? I wouldsay an Army Ranger, but they were misused as light infantry when they should have been played in their role as commandos, trained as they were by the British predecessor to the SAS. I'd be dead as hell, esp if I went into Italy.

So I would say the Army's 101st Airborne, so I would know that the man fighting next to me in my foxhole is the best. Better training, equipment and espirit de corps.

Weapon? M1 Carbine or Thompson SMG. M1 Carbines were sought after by every infantryman that could get his hands on one. They were light, were still accurate, and used a 15-shot magazine instead of an 8 round stripper clip like the garand. The Thompson was an an awesome close combat firearm. Of course, I would buy a 1911A1 with my first paycheck out of basic, like all the guys in the 101st did, if they weren't already supplied one.

A note on the BAR: I would want one if I were an infantryman, or at least want my battle buddy to have one. Statisticians hate the Browning Automatic Rifle, for their own reasons. But they haven't been in combat. Infantrymen in WW2 LOVED the BAR and grabbed it whenever they could. That should tell you something. They considered it a 20-shot Garand. I love it.

Well, I'm a Seabee so I'd probably end up in the South Pacific. A few of us ended up blowing up obstacle on Omaha Beach.

one of the elite Engineer Battalions attached to the US Army and Marines. Those men did the impossible.

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You might discover that you are thinking of the US Navy Seabees

i'd say India.

Army, Europe, BAR (or if allowed by higher a captured MG42).

Could I take London, and arm myself with good whiskey to make it easier to conquer British ladies?

Well, I've never been in any war, or been shot at intentionally that I know of, but ever since I was a kid, my hero's were fighter pilots. I might not have known who Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were, but I knew who Robert Johnson, and Richard Bong were.

Europe, and what else. A P-51D.

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/air_power/ap9.htm

A 1650+ HP Rolls Royce Merlin engine, and six Browning .50's.

Being a Jarhead, I would rather be in any unit commanded by Col. Puller during WW2. That would mean Guadalcanal and Peleliu. 2 hell holes, but under Puller, it would be OK. Give me a BAR.

Let's not forget that a whole bunch of those boys fighting in Italy had been in North Africa previously.

Any theatre, any service? I will take U.S.Marines, Flight Instructor, Pensacola, FL. I suppose I could deal with U.S. Army Air Corps maintenance in the UK. WW2 was not a comic book, or a movie, no theatre was good.

That said, I have served on the deck of an Aircraft Carrier in the Pacific and Indian oceans on three separate occasions, and it doesn't stop being hotter than hell. So if I had to choose a combat theatre, I would say that Europe would be semi-preferable to the humid hell-hole that is the Pacific.

As far as the P-38 pilots who shot down Yamamoto's plane, I have Rex Barber's autograph. As far as choosing a WWII theater, it's a bit of a silly question. Still, I'll play along. Personally, I'd fare much better in Europe/Italy than in the heat and humidity of the Asian theater. I used to (sadly a long story, don't ask) own a M1-A1 Thompson (class III), and feel its still the equal of any MP5 in existence.

My father flew 31 missions as a waist gunner/toggalier aboard a B-17G in 1944-45, flying with the 15th Air Force from Foggia, Italy. In his later years, Dad finally related some of his experiences. I feel his was probably a better experience than the infantry grunts slogging through the jungles of Southeast Asia, or those fighting their way through Italy and western Europe. Still, Dad saw his share of planes next to his own simply explode, of be shot down violently, with the loss of all aboard.

As a middle aged man now myself, the thing I'd like to pass along to younger THR posters is this: My father, and nearly all veterans of WWII and the Korean Conflict, rarely spoke of their experiences. As was common of nearly all veterans of his time, my own father, even with the prodding of three curious sons, didn't truly speak of his experiences until the three of us were grown men ourselves. These men were truly of The Greatest Generation. They made the world safe for the American Republic to prosper, and to win the following Cold war.

Hey no fair picking pilots, he stated "grunts" in the first post.





















Thunderbolt baby!

I was just watching on the history channel the ambush of general Yamamoto with P38 lightnings.

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But He started off with pilots.

WW2

The CB's. The saying in the Pacific theater was "Don't slug a CB,he might be your Grandfather. The average age of these guys was in the late 30's to early 50's,and many of them carried guns while driving a dozer.

A very good book, though it's fiction, about the Pacific is James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific. It won the Pulitzer Prize in about 1948, and is still a good read today. It's not mostly about the fighting, but about what happens on a thousand little islands preparing and waiting for the big push.

Michener served in the Navy in the Pacific in WWII and was already a grown man and published writer, so he was already taking notes and writing while he was out there. The musical "South Pacific" is based on Michener's book, but leaves out most of the good stories in favor of romance.

Michener included a lot of stories about the Seabees, and was a big fan of them.

Anyone interested in the Pacific campaign needs to make time to visit the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas, the childhood home of Admiral Nimitz. It was redone a few years ago and is one of the best war museums I've ever been in.