OK fellow History buffs

[parabrave]

Out of these three documentaries which is the best:

1. Victory at Sea
2. The world at War
3. Vietnam the ten thousand day war.

All are great shows,very well written and researched. But for me it's Victory at Sea hands down. The production of the show with the music and videos is just the best.

[Liverpooldawg]

No contest: World at War.

[parabrave]

WAW is very good. Great interviews and videos, But the music gives VAS an edge. Growing up in the 60's and early 70's these were the only shows my dad would watch with me.

[Bully13]

I like them all. I'm especially hooked on the Atlantic because so few know that story and how important it was. The military kept it secret and the media cooperated with the military to not create panic among the population. There were U.S. ships being sunk right off our shores by German U-Boats. Over 2,000 of our civilian sub mariners died crossing the Atlantic and I forget the # of tons of supplies that sank to the bottom. I always wished they would give the number of ships though instead of tons of material. We forget how important England's capture of that German U-Boat and getting that messaging machine and figuring out Germany's enigma code. England also did a great job with radar tech that helped them win the Battle of Britain before we joined the war effort. Those British pilots in the Battle of Britain had balls of steele. I love the way Britain and the U.S. cooperated putting that Rolls Royce engine in our Mustang. That Mustang to me, was the most beautiful plane ever designed. England's Spitfire is a good looking plane too. The most courageous of all the military folk to me were those who flew in the bomber planes over France and Germany. Those guys were the most likely to die from a % standpoint that all other military personnel in the War. Did y'all know our fighter pilots were hopped up on meth tablets? (mostly those in the South Pacific)

[Liverpooldawg]

The line up of people interviewed for WaW is simply astounding. That's why it is hands down the best.

[Liverpooldawg]

I like them all. I'm especially hooked on the Atlantic because so few know that story and how important it was. The military kept it secret and the media cooperated with the military to not create panic among the population. There were U.S. ships being sunk right off our shores by German U-Boats. Over 2,000 of our civilian sub mariners died crossing the Atlantic and I forget the # of tons of supplies that sank to the bottom. I always wished they would give the number of ships though instead of tons of material. We forget how important England's capture of that German U-Boat and getting that messaging machine and figuring out Germany's enigma code. England also did a great job with radar tech that helped them win the Battle of Britain before we joined the war effort. Those British pilots in the Battle of Britain had balls of steele. I love the way Britain and the U.S. cooperated putting that Rolls Royce engine in our Mustang. That Mustang to me, was the most beautiful plane ever designed. England's Spitfire is a good looking plane too. The most courageous of all the military folk to me were those who flew in the bomber planes over France and Germany. Those guys were the most likely to die from a % standpoint that all other military personnel in the War. Did y'all know our fighter pilots were hopped up on meth tablets? (mostly those in the South Pacific)

Actually the Poles had more to do with breaking Enigma than anything. Look it up.

[Bully13]

Actually the Poles had more to do with breaking Enigma than anything. Look it up.

I DO remember something about the Poles having a play in that Liver. I had forgotten about that. thanks , I WILL look that up.

[Bully13]

Actually the Poles had more to do with breaking Enigma than anything. Look it up.

Hey Liver, here's what I found. But what I'm trying to unravel is the significance of Great Britain when they captured the German U-Boat and got the machine from it. Trying to figure out how all this tied in.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/polish-codebreakers-cracked-enigma-before-alan-turing/

[Bully13]

The line up of people interviewed for WaW is simply astounding. That's why it is hands down the best.

Nothing is better than those interviews. They are hands down some of the most authentic and informative. That's why I scoff at those who think Hitler escaped to South America instead of offing himself in the bunker. Those interviews from those who were in the bunker at the time Hitler blew his brains out convinces me that he did indeed die in Berlin. All those interviews of those soldiers talking giving their stories about storming the beaches of Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, All the love they got from the French citizens as they marched on, The lack of trust between us and the Ruskies once we finally met in Berlin, and the Holy Hell our Army soldiers and Marines went thru in the South Pacific. I do love Macarthur but I think he was too gun hoe and cared more about his own personal glory than the lives of the soldiers. I think we could have skipped a few of those islands along the way to Okinawa and Manila didn't really help us too much at the time. After Midway, we had pretty much sewn up the air and water in the South Pacific. All we needed was an airbase close enough that would allow bombing on Japan. Why not just go straight to Okinawa? We had enough command of the sea and air that we could have easily blockaded those other islands. Just let them hang out and starve as far as I would have been concerned.

[BrunswickDawg]

I like them all. I'm especially hooked on the Atlantic because so few know that story and how important it was. The military kept it secret and the media cooperated with the military to not create panic among the population. There were U.S. ships being sunk right off our shores by German U-Boats. Over 2,000 of our civilian sub mariners died crossing the Atlantic and I forget the # of tons of supplies that sank to the bottom. I always wished they would give the number of ships though instead of tons of material. We forget how important England's capture of that German U-Boat and getting that messaging machine and figuring out Germany's enigma code. England also did a great job with radar tech that helped them win the Battle of Britain before we joined the war effort. Those British pilots in the Battle of Britain had balls of steele. I love the way Britain and the U.S. cooperated putting that Rolls Royce engine in our Mustang. That Mustang to me, was the most beautiful plane ever designed. England's Spitfire is a good looking plane too. The most courageous of all the military folk to me were those who flew in the bomber planes over France and Germany. Those guys were the most likely to die from a % standpoint that all other military personnel in the War. Did y'all know our fighter pilots were hopped up on meth tablets? (mostly those in the South Pacific)

As a good illustration of that - 2 oil tankers were torpedoed here off the coast outside the Brunswick harbor channel. U-123 got them in April of ‘42. Lots of stories locally of Germans sneaking ashore here and also of a couple sympathetic shrimper families who helped resupply them.

But, to stick to your point - WAW.

[Liverpooldawg]

As a good illustration of that - 2 oil tankers were torpedoed here off the coast outside the Brunswick harbor channel. U-123 got them in April of ‘42. Lots of stories locally of Germans sneaking ashore here and also of a couple sympathetic shrimper families who helped resupply them.

But, to stick to your point - WAW.

We used to vacation most years at Gulf Shores when I was a kid. I can Remember seeing old tales in their phone book (it had a local history section) about ships being torpedoed off the mouth of Mobile Bay. That actually happened I think. It also said that a U-boat was sunk there and one German sailor who washed up had tickets from a theatre in New Orleans in his pocket, not so sure about that one.

If you ever get the chance to go to Prairie MS go take a look. There isn't much left of it now but just to the east of the old town once stood what I think was the largest single employer ever in Mississippi, the Gulf Ordninace Plant. It was built and run by Procter & Gamble during WWII. They ran busses all over NE MS, NW Al, and Extreme south central TN to pick up employees, the majority of whom were women. It only operated for a little over two years and produced something like 40% of all artillery shells we used during the war. There are still a few buildings standing. Nearly everything you see out there now was part of it. When I was a kid there was a lot more. Take a look in google earth sometime. You can see a lot more traces from those sat views. There is also a website out there somewhere about it. It really drives home what a tremendous national effort WWII took.

[Bully13]

No doubt Liver. And yes, there were 2 incidents I recall watching The Atlantic where either one or two incidents did in fact happen in the Gulf near New Orleans. Last summer me and my family paid Galveston a visit and I had no idea these particular things existed. We wen and checked them out.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM35A7_Fort_Crockett_Battery_Hoskins_Galveston_TX

Most people using the swimming pool at Galveston’s San Luis Hotel probably don’t realize that they float atop a secret WW II bunker. Hoskins Battery was one of four batteries fortifying Fort Crockett in Galveston, Texas. Originally, it consisted of two 12-inch guns mounted in the open on barbette carriages, with protected magazines between the guns.

In 1942 when the menace of German submarines entering the Gulf of Mexico became apparent, it was realized the open guns of Battery Hoskins were very vulnerable to both air and sea bombardment. It was decided that a concrete casemate (often referred to as a "bunker") be built over the gun emplacements to increase their protection and the Army Corps of Engineers began by casemating Battery Hoskins to withstand an attack of 5,000-pound naval shells.

The work was done in complete secrecy and was finished in 1943. Below is an aerial photograph showing the exposed guns of Battery Hoskins in 1930 (left) and another photograph taken in 1952(right), showing the covered Battery Hoskins bunker.

(ME)-- on the far western end of the island(right where the island ends) we hopped out to hang out. there was some type of metal thing on the ground that could fire shells into the gulf. It was still there. There was a nice guy that lived there and told us about it.

[Liverpooldawg]

http://brentcoleman.tripod.com/index-gulfordnance.html

http://andspeakingofwhich.blogspot.com/2012/06/gulf-ordnance-plant.html?m=1

I had my numbers off but it was still an enormous plant to only be used for two or so years. It appears not to be the biggest ever employer in MS, but I bet it's in the top 5. I know Ingles shipyard was bigger at one point. It was also 25% if shells, not 40%. Again, still an enormous number.