[Milsurplus] Why Germany lost the war

[Ray Fantini]

It’s true, the comparison by the numbers alone won’t wash, but my point is that it was getting a little bit much with the “Tub Thumping” of how great American technology is and how the Germans were not capable of simple things like an instruction manual. The fact of the matter remains that the E52 produced for the Luftwaffe is of superior design to anything that was produced at that time and although never produced in sufficient numbers I find it to be a valid comparison.
Perhaps the FuG 10 and Fug 17 to the RU-11 and GF series radios would be more in order?
No one can deny that the German system of production was flawed, lacked any system of standardization and suffered from external political influences. And anyone would be suspect in parsing a political system that regularly depended on slave labor in its production plants. That being said I still feel compelled to give the devil his due.

The  Messerschmitt Me-262 was delayed for years from  becoming operational by Hitler’s stupid insistence that it be a ground attack aircraft and  be capable of dive bombing, as opposed to the defensive interceptor role that it would excel in. Perhaps that’s a good thing considering the damage that would have been done to the allied strategic bombing campaign. Operation Lusty was the Army Air Forces program to collect and ship Me-262 for evaluation and comparison to the P-80 Shooting Star. The Me-262 was superior to the P-80 in acceleration, speed and climb performance.
The fact remains that at the time of its interdiction and until the end of the war it was superior to anything in the west inventory.

The V1, V2 were expensive of resources and did little to nothing to Allied manufacturing. True, but they were not considered a tactical weapon and were more along the line of a strategic weapon, a true weapon of terror and as such were successful. Operation Paperclip with its three hundred rail-car loads of V-2s parts and 126 of the principal designers, including Wernher von Braun and Walter Dornberger worked at the White Sands Missile Range resulted in the Hermes and PGM-11 Redstone ballistic missile program. The Soviet version “Operation Osoaviakhim” of operation Paperclip resulted in the R1 Scunnar (SA11) that’s an identical copy of the V2

Karl Donitz demands on daily reports and micromanaging operations at sea along with a blind allegiance to the mathematical superiority of Enigma along with most of the Chief of Staff (OKW) proved to be a decisive factor and a real example of allied mastery of technology, but all in all I feel it’s a mistake to underestimate your enemies, now or in the past.

Ray F/KA3EKH

From: Milsurplus [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Hubert Miller
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 5:03 PM
To: Milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Why Germany lost the war

Not correct to compare the E52 to the BC-312/342. The U.S. receiver was widely distributed down to the level
of the jeep. Different role.
The Axis  lacked rationality. The model was set from the top down: irrationality. The ME-262 was misused
at first envisioned by Hitler as a bomber. The V1, V2 were expensive of resources for actual little damage they
did to Allied manufacturing. But revenge was so important to them, and crazy hope that the rockets or some other
wonder, plus their magic ideology, would save them.
( The only actual number about the missile campaign  i recall at this moment is that the rocket effort took the
lives of some 25,000 slaves. At one time i knew how the math worked out in terms of slave lives per launching;
as i recall, it was 4 to 6 per rocket. ) ( But come Operation Paperclip, and all is forgiven. )

And, why would the Wehrmacht have two almost identical field radios, one with 2 volt filament tubes, the other
with 2.4 volt tubes? I don’t get it.

The Japanese, of course, were even more short of rationality. Why would a country persecute their own fighters
who escaped from enemy capture? Why in attacking a convoy, go for warships instead of the cargo vessels
with their critical supplies?
-Hue

>http://www.cdvandt.org/index.htm

One of the more useful pages I have found on German equipment, good links on the Wuerzburg radar and items like the Koln 52 receiver. I would propose that the Telefunken E52 was possibly one of the best receivers ever produced at that time. equal if not  superior to things like the BC-342/348
When you’re  looking at the examples of radios like the Torn Eb regenerative sets may not be that impressive but the German engineers and manufactures were not completely inept, ideas like using just one type of tube to cut down on operational spares and all modular construction to facilitate easy replacement of an entire assembly. They had a couple good ideas and  remember the Germans  had operational ME-262 jet fighters, the V-1  cruise missile and the V-2 ballistic missile. We may have been better at mass production and the use of interchangeable components but under the circumstances they did not do that  bad, look at the junk the Russians and the Japanese put out for example.

The Telefunken E52 receivers is one of those things I always wanted to see if not own but unlike the Torn Eb not many around!

Ray F/KA3EKH
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