while tanks and infantry are the spear tip, the trucks and transports are the shaft
some of the greatest war winning weapons are often unarmed
tanks are just metal bunkers without fuel, spare parts, and ammo to go in them after all
post the logistical tools that enable victory
while that is true, they are also fucking boring
any logistics thread would be incomplete without the the jeep
probably one of the most effective tools of the entire war, since it replaced mules and horses in pretty much every role
the germans actually thought that every GI had his own jeep from the sheer amount produced
If you want to go even further down the chain, that truck would be sitting uselessly in the States if it weren't for Liberty ships.
supposedly a liberty ship only needed to make 1 atlantic crossing to pay itself off
the average liberty ship would make about 3 crossings
that's some serious economic might
does this count?
ww1 Belgian dog cart for maxim gun.
desperate times call for desperate measures
although, it looks like it cant really handle ruff terrain
Not to mention it gave way to the greatest civilian brand of vehicles.
The ultimate ATF work day.
If you’re so desperate you’re relying on dogistics, you might as well just surrender now.
you dont need to surrender when you have perfectly good dogs around
This was my grandfather's ride in WWII. He was in a maintenance company that kept all the other wheeled vehicles rolling.
>ruff terrain
FFFUUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FUCK
How are Wehrmacht horses so unknown in the mainstream? Their logistics was pretty much completely reliant on them.
there is a general misconception that since the germans used tanks and mechanized infantry as the spear head of their assault, then it follows that their entire army must be mechanized like that
in reality, as you accurately point out, the germans had more horses than trucks
this would be their achilles heel, since their supply lines could never keep pace with their advances
American artillery would dab all over german artillery because they had more shells, more mobility, and more gun tubes all thanks to the M5 high speed tractor , jeep, and 2 1/2 ton truck
The only reason Germans had so many horses for logistics is because they were chronically short on fuel and couldn’t spare any for both logistics and mechanized infantry
germans in general had underestimated the importance of logistics in general
their distribution and allocation was a beauracratic nightmare, compounded by their habit of pressing french tanks and trucks into service, creating a Byzantine maze where getting spare parts was nearly impossible
truck replacment was at 1% compared to a loss of 2%, which necessitated yet more horses as the war dragged on
They also had no trucks.
Canada alone outproduced Germany in trucks. The difference between what the western Allies could field and what Germany could was insane.
Wanted to point out Based Nixon handled logistics during the Second World War
history.navy.mil
Reminder the Germans Opel Blitz truck used the same stovebolt six as the Chevrolet/GM offerings of the 1930s.
This is the rarest of ADF B Veh pepes. I doubt you will even recognise it.
>Germans, in general, cannot into strategy and can only deal with the tactical and operational levels of war.
Ftfy
Another rare ADF B Veh pepe, the new Heavy Wrecker actually doing something.
((they)) still patrol Australian military bases to enforce the terms of defeat
>dabs on your entire war effort
Heh nothing personal kraut.
Wo ist die Luftwaffe?
in 1944?
dead
germany was chronically short of aluminium and had labor intensive production methods
Was being ironic.
Prior to the invasion of Normandy, the allies dropped a lot of propaganda leaflets, On one side was that photo (the Willow Run B-24 line which stretches over a mile) and on the other side was the question: "Wo ist die Luftwaffe?"
I'm ballparking about 150-200 planes in that pic
They could also build one in ten hours.
Ten.
All modular and only assembled at the port.
All the logistics generals were the ones who said Barbarossa wouldn't work
Best all-terrain truck of WW2 coming through.
Except those vehicles were fucking horrible, and unsafe. Just like modern day humvees.
jeeps were very high quality light trucks, there was no question they were vastly superior to pack animals and were reliable, dependable, and all terrain
unsafe is a relative term
they were much more safe than horses, since the vehicle is much more rugged than a horse and will not be killed by stray shell splinters
it would be stopped by automatic fire, but all trucks are vulnerable to automatic fire, only the universal carrier is proof against small arms, but its also much slower and has less range
given its purpose as a light-truck with a 1/4 ton capacity and all-terrain capability
it truly had no equal in its day, and can be called a war-winning weapon
They had enough planes (they made over 30,000 Bf-109s), what they were desperately short of was aviation fuel. Barely enough fuel to sortie, nearly none to train new pilots - compared to USAF trainees who racked up at least 500 flight hours safe from roving enemy interdictors in the Midwest and Canadian prairies before being sent to a combat squadron.
USAAF*, sorry.
if we go into air power
then there is no competition with the skytrain
it has an excellent balance of reliability, performance, and cost
True but pack animals are more insanely useful for rough terrain like mountains, so I guess they will see action for some time.
That's what always happens when you force a utility vehicle into a combat role, the jeep was a mobility vehicle first, that's why it had no armor, they weren't built to fight, same thing with the early Humvees
Well, I don't know about that. Germany imported trucks by the thousands from USA at the start of the war, especially Fords as Henry Ford was quite the support of fascism. Once this supply was turned off Germany had Spain import them instead for a while, and Spain sold them on to Germany.
germans used any means possible to get trucks, but it was never enough
they were scrounging antique trucks in france just to keep up nominal strength
and lack of spare parts was eroding their total truck strength due to the haphazard nature of their supply train
it certainly didnt help that they often slowed down truck production to make room for more tanks
If German logistics were so horrible how come they could sustain an offensive through the Ardennes and cripple France in 6 weeks?
Because Frence didnt hold for 7 weeks
the german traffic jam in the ardennes was going so hilariously poorly that if the french had invaded germany that second, WW2 would have ended much earlier and with French celebrations
the french were just incredibly determined to let the germans win and took every opportunity to help them
and even in that compaign the German supply lines were actually stretched thin and were highly vulnerable
they were just successfully able to keep french exhausted enough from snapping the head off their attack
russia was a whole new ball game that shattered their logistics
the much wider expanse of Russia meant the front line was always only barely within their ability to advance along it, russian scorched earth prevented rail cars from being used
taking moscow, in hindsight, was completely out of the question as their supplies were already stretched to breaking point
So basically if the French had been more mobile and quick to react they would have thoroughly trashed Germany? Damn, truly a great height to fall from.
Horses and trucks are overrated
Does the guy in the back knee himself in the face?
To be fair, it wasn't like as if they had a choice, they simply didn't have the industry. Having a tank with no spares is better than having no tank at all.
TFW I will never own a CJ2A
Yes and no
Keep in mind the suspension on a GPW.MB is not too far removed from other vehicles of its day. Also, a lot of soldiers didn't know how to drive, so the Army trained them to drive the Army way, which kept them alive.
The replacement M38s didn't have issues because older vets remember the MB/GPWs and know how to handle them
Then we get to the M151 series, it has a redesigned suspension that makes it *harder* to handle at speeds
>Be Boomer
>Grow up watching "Rat Patrol"
>believe WWII jeeps can do all that stuff
>In the military
>Hurr Durr watch me imitate Rat Patrol
>rolls it and kills themselves
The M151s were considered too dangerous to sell to civilians, which is why they were sawn in have before sale (and then bulldozed when they figured out civilians were welding them together)
As an aside, "Rat Patrol" was a lot like "The Dukes of Hazzard" insofar as needing a ton of jeeps because those stunts destroyed them
why did you post an empty landscape?
Without these guys I would have run out of middle eastern energy drinks
The single best metaphor I've ever heard for describing an army comes from "A World Undone." An army is a long snake, and that head of that snake is the part that does all the killing, because that is where the fangs are. In an army, the "head" is made up of infantry, artillery, etc. But then the snake also has a body which supports the head. This represents the logistics and support chain which the army needs to sustain itself. If the body is destroyed, or if the head ever becomes separated from the body, then it will quickly perish.
The most lopsided victories occur when a general is able to maneuver his force in such a way that the dangerous head of his snake collides with the vulnerable body of the enemy.
sometimes, this could be a liability and you were better off with no tank
if you have no spares, and your tank breaks down before reaching the enemy
you may be forced to abandon the tank, and the enemy may scrap or recover your abandoned vehicle
in that case, you would have been better of with no tank at all and the metal would have been used to make AT guns instead
for the allies, who had an abundance of tank towers and tractors, a break down was no big deal
they could drag it back to safety
for the germans, it was a nightmare as they had very few
made worse by the fact a panther needed 2 towing tractors at a time when towing vehicles were scarce
that man should be named jack, because he can replace one while lifting a truck
that is a very good analogy
bikes are legit underrated technology. japs used them very effectively during their initial invasions.
dude i love the rat patrol. im gonna rip my dvds real quick and watch it! thanks user!
Its a fun show, but no Jeeps couldn't handle those jumps any more than the Duke Boys' General Lee could.
Lots of interesting stuff in there
imcdb.org
I would not be surprised if that Mercedes W31 was the same one in Hogan's Heroes
>surplus liberty ships saw civilian service into the 90's
is that the universal carriers retarded cousin?
She's cute.
>desperate
It was a traditional way to carry small weights (milkmen for example), and is in my opinion much better than having to carry it yourself. Who wouldn't want two nice dogs in his unit anyway?