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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 3:30 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:30 pm
I was eating dinner the other night with my friend and his grandfather, who is a WWII vet and was a part of the Omaha invasion on D-Day, and we got to discussing his experience and how terrifying it was to get off the boat and have the Germans firing at you immediately. My friend’s granddad also told us about how many men were killed in the first wave and how if you were the onnthe first line to get off the boat, you were almost guaranteed to die.
Anyway, this really got me thinking, which do y’all think would be worse: having to go over the top during a battle in WWI, or being in the first wave on D-Day? Honestly, I think you would have died either way, but I would think going over the top might be safer because the enemy would not be firing from a bluff, which is a higher vantage point, like they were at D-Day.
Anyway, this really got me thinking, which do y’all think would be worse: having to go over the top during a battle in WWI, or being in the first wave on D-Day? Honestly, I think you would have died either way, but I would think going over the top might be safer because the enemy would not be firing from a bluff, which is a higher vantage point, like they were at D-Day.
31
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:32 pm to lsudave1
I would have pretty much done anything in WW2 over just being in WWI 
WW1 was truly hell on earth
WW1 was truly hell on earth
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:32 pm to lsudave1
WWI.
The weaponry was way more advance by the time WWII came around.
The weaponry was way more advance by the time WWII came around.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:33 pm to lsudave1
WWI. One company of the 116th infantry regiment was combat ineffective after 15 minutes on Omaha with 90% casualties.
Some of those landing craft had 75 rounds a second bouncing off them on the way in
Some of those landing craft had 75 rounds a second bouncing off them on the way in
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 3:34 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:34 pm to lsudave1
quote:
having to go over the top during a battle in WWI
I can not figured out what this means.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:34 pm to lsudave1
Neither. I won't fight the rich mans war.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:34 pm to lsudave1
I did pretty well in both via CoD and Medal of Honor, so I honestly like my chances.
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 3:35 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:35 pm to lsudave1
First wave on D-Day. I always wanted to met tom hanks.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:35 pm to geauxtigers87
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
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:35 pm to anewguy
OK this is referring to jumping out of a trench and running in the open towards the enemy
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:36 pm to lsudave1
First wave D-Day, no question. At least I know what I'm up against and it's pure evil. If I die there, I'd die with pride. Over the top in WWI doesn't provide this and you were trapped in the trenches for far longer and would be more miserable. You could be lying in the mud for days slowly dying. It's an absolute no brainer. I can't think of one advantage WWI trenches provide over D-Day.
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 6:59 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:37 pm to anewguy
quote:
I can not figured out what this means.
if means you were one of the guys living in the trenches on the front line and would try to advance your position by going "over the top" of the trench and run towards your enemy to get to another position to dig another trench
it was basically suicide and if you turned around and ran back, your officer would shoot you
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:37 pm to lsudave1
Going Over The Top Survival Rate
^ 17.5%, and not all Army personnel went over the top
^ 39% KIA From this unit (that actually went over the top). I imagine some were better and some worse.
Basically when including wounded in action there there was a very small chance you would make it back from over the top in one piece, ~ 10%, and a pretty good chance you wouldn’t make it back at all.
I’ll take D-Day
quote:
If you were in the British Army the average fatality rate was 17.5% on the first day of the Somme and 35% chance of being wounded.
^ 17.5%, and not all Army personnel went over the top
quote:
17.5% may not seem that bad - but the survivors would do it every day. One source I read suggested that a battalion would be on the offensive for 5 - 10 days - which is more than enough to give you a zero statistical chance of surviving
But that assumes that every days was as bad. These are the worst figures and by the end of the war with the concept of infiltration and storm troopers together with tank warfare and improved artillery planning and control techniques changed this significantly.
^ 39% KIA From this unit (that actually went over the top). I imagine some were better and some worse.
Basically when including wounded in action there there was a very small chance you would make it back from over the top in one piece, ~ 10%, and a pretty good chance you wouldn’t make it back at all.
I’ll take D-Day
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 8:37 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:39 pm to lsudave1
quote:
Allied casualties on June 6 have been estimated at 10,000 killed, wounded, and missing in action: 6,603 Americans, 2,700 British, and 946 Canadians.
LINK
vs.
Estimated that 27,000 French soldiers were killed on August 22, 1914.
quote:
n The World Crisis, Winston Churchill used figures from French parliamentary records of 1920 to give French casualties from 5 August to 5 September 1914 of 329,000 killed, wounded and missing, German casualties from August to November of 677,440 men and British casualties in August and September of 29,598 men.[41] By the end of August, the French Army had suffered 75,000 dead, of whom 27,000 were killed on 22 August.
Wiki
Plus you had much better medical care in WW2. I think you would be safer there.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:41 pm to TigerDeacon
Let's not even talk about the use of poison gas in WWI that everyone agreed that was so horrible they didn't use it in battle in WWII.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:41 pm to lsudave1
If I recall correctly, my grandfather told me my great-grandfather was one of only 30-something original members of his square division to survive. So anything but WWI.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:41 pm to JetsetNuggs
quote:
The weaponry was way more advance by the time WWII came around.
That's not necessarily a positive. If you're hit with shards of a shell and stuck in the mud in No Man's Land for a few days slowly dying, you'd be wishing they had more effective weaponry to kill you.
This post was edited on 5/23/18 at 3:44 pm
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:42 pm to TigerDeacon
This is about the first wave of D-day not overall though
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:42 pm to lsudave1
D-Day....if it’s Utah Beach.
Posted on 5/23/18 at 3:43 pm to lsudave1
I'd say D-Day just because I wouldn't have had to be in such misery prior to facing fire
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