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Started By
Message
86 years ago today: "We have been defeated..."
Posted on 5/15/26 at 8:54 pm
Posted on 5/15/26 at 8:54 pm
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If tweet fails to load, click here. Ever wondered how it happened so fast? Watch World War Two's "10 Days to Sedan." In this documentary miniseries, you will discover just how France was so decisively beaten so quickly:
10 Days to Sedan - Day One
7
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:01 pm to RollTide1987
I want to try the Churchill challenge
Sounds like a good time
quote:
7.30 — Wake up, remain in bed, eat breakfast, read newspapers, work, glass of whiskey and soda.
11:00 — Out of bed, stroll around garden supervising estate, whiskey and soda.
13:00 — Multi-course lunch, imperial pint of Champagne.
15:30 — Work from study, glass of cognac.
17:00 — Hour and a half nap/siesta, a habit acquired during his time in Cuba.
18:30 — Wake up, bath, dress for dinner.
20:00 — Lengthly dinner with guests, imperial pint of Champagne.
00:00 — Work in study, more cognac.
01:00–03:00 — Bedtime.
Sounds like a good time
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:04 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
"We have been defeated..."
Churchill's response
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:21 pm to TheArrogantCorndog
The nap really helps I’m sure. More like a power black out though.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:21 pm to TheArrogantCorndog
quote:
17:00 — Hour and a half nap/siesta, a habit acquired during his time in Cuba.
His naps were legendary. My favorite line from him was “there can be no half measures. You must undress completely and get under the covers”.
In the excellent movie Darkest Hour they highlight this when King George asked him for a weekly meeting and he replies “I’m normally napping at that time”.
The king replies “is that allowed in your post”.
Churchill replies “I don’t know if it’s allowed but it is necessary”.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:36 pm to RollTide1987
I always thought it was kind of concerning that Churchill found out about Pearl Harbor while listening to the BBC evening news. Things got better after that, however.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:39 pm to TheArrogantCorndog
quote:
supervising estate
I’m going to start telling my wife this when I go putter around outside
Posted on 5/15/26 at 9:48 pm to RollTide1987
Would you expect anything else from the French? They wave the white flag as a greeting when the Germans come to visit…..
Posted on 5/15/26 at 10:39 pm to RollTide1987
Consider that the Germans were riding on meth from at the start of their campaign. Supplied by their own beloved fatherland. The French depended too much on barriers. War is always dynamic, moving, and changing.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 10:46 pm to RollTide1987
Well we know the French are basically cowards so no surprise.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 10:47 pm to Chrome
quote:
The French depended too much on barriers.
This is something of a myth. The Maginot Line was never meant to stop the Germans outright, merely to slow them down. It was meant to be the first phase in a multi-part plan to draw the Germans into the open fields of Belgium and defeat them there, with the assistance of the British, in a protracted war of attrition.
The Maginot Line actually succeeded in its narrow goal of forcing the Germans to divert north into Belgium. However, where things went wrong was in the execution at the upper echelons of command. The French actually had multiple opportunities to either stall or break-up the German armored thrust through the Ardennes and across the Meuse River. They failed to take advantage of those opportunities due to poor command and control and just piss poor generalship (I'm looking at you Charles Huntziger). When the French actually did battle in the field against the Germans the French fighting man actually performed admirably. However, they were continually put into unwinnable positions by their leadership.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 10:56 pm to RollTide1987
And that was the day, despite over a millennia of French military prowess, they became known as surrender monkeys
Posted on 5/15/26 at 11:03 pm to TheArrogantCorndog
quote:Indeed, I'd love to pick his brain.
Sounds like a good time
That routine reminded me of Hunter S Thompson's. It might have been a little embellished but it sounds like a hell of a day.
3:00 p.m. rise
3:05 Chivas Regal with the morning papers, Dunhills
3:45 cocaine 3:50 another glass of Chivas, Dunhill
4:05 first cup of coffee, Dunhill
4:15 cocaine
4:16 orange juice, Dunhill
4:30 cocaine
4:54 cocaine
5:05 cocaine
5:11 coffee, Dunhills
5:30 more ice in the Chivas
5:45 cocaine, etc., etc.
6:00 grass to take the edge off the day
7:05 Woody Creek Tavern for lunch-Heineken, two margaritas, coleslaw, a taco salad, a double order of fried onion rings, carrot cake, ice cream, a bean fritter, Dunhills, another Heineken, cocaine, and for the ride home, a snow cone (a glass of shredded ice over which is poured three or four jiggers of Chivas)
9:00 starts snorting cocaine seriously
10:00 drops acid
11:00 Chartreuse, cocaine, grass
11:30 cocaine, etc, etc.
12:00 midnight, Hunter S. Thompson is ready to write
12:05-6:00 a.m. Chartreuse, cocaine, grass, Chivas, coffee, Heineken, clove cigarettes, grapefruit, Dunhills, orange juice, gin, continuous pornographic movies.
6:00 the hot tub-champagne, Dove Bars, fettuccine Alfredo
8:00 Halcyon
8:20 sleep
Posted on 5/15/26 at 11:11 pm to fr33manator
quote:
And that was the day, despite over a millennia of French military prowess, they became known as surrender monkeys
Yeah, they went on a losing streak after that and haven't really recovered their reputation. However, the Free French fought exceptionally well alongside us in World War II. You really can't blame them for what happened though. France was completely broken by the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed. An entire generation of France's best were cut down in their prime and there wasn't really anyone there to replace them.
The British were never truly the same after World War I either and their reward for helping us win World War II was the dismantling of their empire and a reduction from great power status.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 11:12 pm to Sofaking2
quote:
Well we know the French are basically cowards so no surprise.
The French weren't cowards, they fought very bravely, especially at Dunkirk so the British EX. Force could escape.
Frances defeat was they were antiquated in their beliefs and relied on the Maujineaux (spell) line as their whole defense.
Once broken it was nothing but French countryside.
In reality, the Germans just went around it.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 11:19 pm to NorthstarinLA
quote:
Would you expect anything else from the French? They wave the white flag as a greeting when the Germans come to visit…..
In the context of the time, the fact France folded in only a few weeks was an absolute shock to virtually everyone, including the Germans. You have to remember in 1940 they were barely 20 years past WWI where France endured millions of casualties in brutal trench warfare for four years and, thanks to help from the British and Americans, had come out victorious.
Also, even though the Battle of France was short, it was far from a walkover for the Germans. The Wehrmacht suffered approximately 150K casualties and lost almost 40% of the panzers committed to battle. The Luftwaffe lost just shy of 1,500 aircraft and, more importantly, a little over 1,100 pilots, a little over 25% of forces committed to battle. All that in just six weeks.
For context, the daily casualties rates for both the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe during the Battle of France would not be matched until late 1943 on the Eastern Front. So, while the Battle of France in 1940 didn’t last long, the French Army did make the Germans pay dearly for their victory.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 11:26 pm to NorthstarinLA
quote:
Would you expect anything else from the French? They wave the white flag as a greeting when the Germans come to visit…..
Why is the Champs de Lysee lined with trees?
Because the Germans like to march in the shade.
Posted on 5/15/26 at 11:35 pm to WWII Collector
quote:
Frances defeat was they were antiquated in their beliefs and relied on the Maujineaux (spell) line as their whole defense.
Once broken it was nothing but French countryside.
In reality, the Germans just went around it.
The French knew all too well the Germans would not try to come through the Maginot Line. They’d planned for the Germans to repeat WWI and come through Belgium. And when the Germans moved into both Belgium and Holland, the French & British thought they were ready with their “Dyle Plan.”
This plan called for French & British forces to advance into the Low Countries as soon as the Germans invaded. The thought was to fight this war there instead of in Northern France that had been obliterated between 1914-1918. What they didn’t count on was the Germans pushing armored columns through the Ardenne Forest. And on top of that, they further didn’t expect the Germans to turn toward the channel coast instead of turning for Paris. Basically what ended up happening was all the “Dyle Plan” achieved was to push the entirety of France’s best Army Group and the BEF into a noose for the Germans to hang them by….
So, the French defeat wasn’t due to their reliance of the Maginot Line, really it was the Dyle Plan. By pushing their forces into the Low Countries, the French and British played right into the Germans hands.
This post was edited on 5/15/26 at 11:37 pm
Posted on 5/16/26 at 2:47 am to Chrome
quote:
War is always dynamic, moving, and changing.
Tell that to the entire generation of young British soldiers who died fighting in the trenches in France and Belgium during the war to end all wars.
Posted on 5/16/26 at 2:50 am to Lou Loomis
quote:
Tell that to the entire generation of young British soldiers who died fighting in the trenches in France and Belgium during the war to end all wars.
Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, you had one of the longest and most dynamic fronts in the history of warfare that still saw men fall in their millions.
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