- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Would you rather have gone “over the top” in WWI or been on the first wave on D-Day?
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:43 pm to Salmon
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:43 pm to Salmon
quote:
for the WWI guys, remember that if you were going "over the top", that means you were on the front line, which means you were probably doing this multiple times and the causalities during WWI were absolutely astronomical, not to mention the conditions in which you were living for months at a time
^This.
The hell that was trench warfare thankfully has not been repeated since. But if there ever was a close taste of what it was like to be a part of “going over the top” since the Great War, landing on the beaches of Normandy would be it.
I’d also include landing at Tarawa, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima. In fact, due to the make up and doctrine of the Japanese Army, I’d argue the inland campaigns of WWII were not that dissimilar to the trench warfare of WWI.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:44 pm to WavinWilly
U.S. casualty figures for WWI
LINK
More died from non-combat deaths than combat.
quote:
For the combined Army, Navy and Marine forces of 4.7 million (Army of 4.1 million and a Navy of 600,000), the U.S. Department of Defense official figures for the period from 1 April 1917 to 31 December 1918 stand at 116,516 deaths.[3] This includes 479 soldiers and 675 members of the Navy and the Marine Corps lost at sea.[4] The U.S. Coast Guard lost an additional 192 men.[5] Fully two-thirds of all American deaths occurred in the last three months of the war - September, October, and November 1918 - due to the influenza pandemic of 1918 and the AEF's greatest battle, the Meuse-Argonne (26 September 1918 – 11 November 1918). The United States was also unique in that - due largely to the epidemic - almost half of the losses occurred in training camps in the homeland rather than on the battlefields of Europe. The United States consequently lost more soldiers and sailors to disease than in combat, with 53,402 battle deaths and 63,114 non-combat deaths.[6]
LINK
More died from non-combat deaths than combat.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:44 pm to lsudave1
the first waves of d-day were about 98% casualties. reluctantly ww1
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:45 pm to Lsuchs
Very easy. I would take D-day any time. Trench war fair along with the first auto weapons and chemical war fair was a bitch. No one knew of those things at the time and tactics didn't change for them.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:45 pm to lsudave1
Clearly, Normandy:
Three of the five Normandy beaches were relatively easy, so that alone gave you a 60% chance of not getting into a shite show.
WWI tactics developed slowly so allied artillery prep remained almost useless, there was no surprise and the lethality of the machine guns were largely ignored by the offensive planners.
No WWI attack by the allies had much success till late in the war.
Three of the five Normandy beaches were relatively easy, so that alone gave you a 60% chance of not getting into a shite show.
WWI tactics developed slowly so allied artillery prep remained almost useless, there was no surprise and the lethality of the machine guns were largely ignored by the offensive planners.
No WWI attack by the allies had much success till late in the war.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:45 pm to geauxtigers87
quote:
This is about the first wave of D-day not overall though
????
If we are only talking about the first wave, then those casualty figures would be lower.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:46 pm to lsudave1
I couldn't make up my mind at first. After the other posters pointed out that to go over the top means I'd have to be on the front lines of WW1 for an extended period of time... I'm out.
I'll take my chances on the beach
I'll take my chances on the beach
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:47 pm to lsudave1
Omaha beach first wave over going into no man’s land first.
1. Beach is shorter than no man’s land
2. No mud
3. Battleship fire support
1. Beach is shorter than no man’s land
2. No mud
3. Battleship fire support
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:50 pm to Winston Cup
quote:
the first waves of d-day were about 98% casualties
About half that
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:52 pm to TigerDeacon
quote:
Estimated that 27,000 French soldiers were killed on August 22, 1914
And let’s not forget on the FIRST DAY of the Battle of the Somme, the British suffered 57,000 casualties, including jsut shy of 20,000 killed. And that battle raged from July 1 to Nov. 1. By the time it was over almost half a million British soldiers would become causalties. The French (who were losing about a half million at Verdin AT THE SAME TIME) lost 200,000 on the Somme as well. The Germans lost about a half a million on the Somme while also losing almost 400,000 at Verdun.
And this was 1916. The war was already two years in with almost another two years to go.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:53 pm to lsudave1
WW2 an D Day and it wouldn't be close. In WWI if you went over the top it was pretty much a death sentence. Read about the BEF in WWI and how they went over the top at the Somme, 35,000 men died in about 2-3 hours...and that was just the British. think about that for a minute. At Omaha, 42,000 men went ashore and about 4500 died most in the first wave to be sure, but in WWI, 10,000 people died in a single hour and it kept that way for another 2 hours, I'm not sure hell would be that brutal
On D Day you had a fighting chance even in the first wave and if you were lucky enough to be in the first wave of Americans( VII Corps) that went ashore at Utah Beach you got to walk ashore.
On D Day you had a fighting chance even in the first wave and if you were lucky enough to be in the first wave of Americans( VII Corps) that went ashore at Utah Beach you got to walk ashore.
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 3:55 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:54 pm to TigerDeacon
OK, let's compare the first day Battle of the Somme vs Normandy Landings.
Allied Casualties for the Normandy Landings: 10,000
British Casualties in the first day (ONE DAY) at the Battle of the Somme: 57,470
It's an absolute no brainer. Anyone who wouldn't pick D-Day just doesn't know World War I.
Allied Casualties for the Normandy Landings: 10,000
British Casualties in the first day (ONE DAY) at the Battle of the Somme: 57,470
It's an absolute no brainer. Anyone who wouldn't pick D-Day just doesn't know World War I.
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 3:55 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:55 pm to Darth_Vader
WWI was crazy. Americans generally ignore it because we were not a major contributor to it. The sheer scope of death on the frontlines was staggering.
Another note on the discussion, going over the top in WWI would mean facing frontline troops where in WW2, the German Army was being bled dry in the Eastern Front.
The real question is whether you would rather go over the top in WWI or face a banzai charge in WW2.
Another note on the discussion, going over the top in WWI would mean facing frontline troops where in WW2, the German Army was being bled dry in the Eastern Front.
The real question is whether you would rather go over the top in WWI or face a banzai charge in WW2.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:56 pm to lsudave1
Both are terrible options but if I'm going "over the top" in WW1, it means I've already spent days, weeks, or months engaged in WW1 trench warfare. For that reason I'd choose D Day.
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 3:58 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:56 pm to lsudave1
D Day. One of the weaker, if not weakest, part of the Atlantic Wall, the best Nazi soldiers were on the eastern front by this point, and they had very little ammo. If I could make it 2 hours, survival would almost be guaranteed.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:57 pm to OMLandshark
quote:
It's an absolute no brainer. Anyone who wouldn't pick D-Day just doesn't know World War I.
yep
to try and put what WWI was like for the frontline soldier, go out in your back yard and dig a hole, and then live in that hole for months
and I mean live in it, you don't fricking ever get out of it for anything
AND then add the fact that at any moment, you could get shelled to death
It's impossible to imagine
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:59 pm to Salmon
quote:
and then live in that hole for months
Without modern medicine
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:59 pm to Salmon
quote:
to try and put what WWI was like for the frontline soldier, go out in your back yard and dig a hole, and then live in that hole for months
That's not quite true. The soldiers were rotated out of front line positions weekly.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 4:00 pm to OMLandshark
Here’s a glimpse of life in the trenches of WWI
Posted on 5/23/18 at 4:06 pm to Darth_Vader
I feel like yall aren't grasping the question.
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News