Editor in Chief Bill | 21 Mar 2017 7:56 p.m. PST |
I've read previously that one of the American advantages, going into WWII, was that such a large number of Americans already knew how to drive and were familiar with operating and repairing vehicles. This was recently brought home to me when reviewing the draft records of one of my relatives, where his pre-war skills were listed as "Unskilled transportation occupations" – quite apparently, it was barely worth noting! |
Dwindling Gravitas | 21 Mar 2017 10:21 p.m. PST |
Have a hot toddy with lemon & honey. Go to bed. Stop posting… :-) |
Griefbringer | 22 Mar 2017 2:24 a.m. PST |
draft records of one of my relatives, where his pre-war skills were listed as "Unskilled transportation occupations" Do you have more detailed information about what those occupations actually were. |
uglyfatbloke | 22 Mar 2017 2:24 a.m. PST |
I'd say that was an advantage; a pretty minor one, but an advantage all the same. |
Griefbringer | 22 Mar 2017 2:49 a.m. PST |
I'd say that was an advantage; a pretty minor one, but an advantage all the same. Considering the expansion that US military went during WWII, everything that reduced training needs was useful. Of course, to really benefit from such a pool of (potential) drivers, one would also need the capacity to manufacture large numbers of motor vehicles, and the capacity to transport them overseas and keep them supplied with fuel and spare parts. |
Editor in Chief Bill | 22 Mar 2017 2:52 a.m. PST |
Do you have more detailed information about what those occupations actually were. No, that's all it says. |
4th Cuirassier | 22 Mar 2017 3:06 a.m. PST |
There is also an inverse version of this advantage. I have heard that one reason for the paucity of decent photos of Japan's warships in WW2 is that compared to other nations, almost nobody in Japan owned a camera. So you simply did not get individuals photographing stuff, at sea or anywhere much else. |
Andy ONeill | 22 Mar 2017 4:26 a.m. PST |
Are such claims even true though? link I think the ability to mass produce tanks and trucks was significant. I'm less sure on the numbers of drivers and very doubtful on numbers of mechanics. At least when comparing to Western Europe. Everyone had cars, buses, lorries, machinery plus people who drove and maintained them. I've read confident claims that baseball meant US infantry were better than anyone else at throwing grenades. Oddly enough, these seem to be written by American authors. Nobody else plays ball games or throws sticks? The hitler youth trained throwing dummy grenades, BTW. |
Who asked this joker | 22 Mar 2017 6:04 a.m. PST |
I've read confident claims that baseball meant US infantry were better than anyone else at throwing grenades. This is almost certainly not true. Throwing a grenade "properly" is different than throwing a baseball. You tend to lob a grenade. You tend to throw a baseball just as hard as you can…on a line. Back to the OP. I'd heard that Americans had a high instance of amateur mechanics who practiced for a hobby while most of the rest of the world thought it a profession and so only mechanics were mechanics. So anytime there was a battle, you could tell who came through the field. American tankers would trip any "totaled" tank clean of usable parts while other nations would leave it to the recovery crews. Of course, most tanks had a designated "engineer" so YMMV. |
Griefbringer | 22 Mar 2017 6:15 a.m. PST |
Regarding baseball, in the interwar period a local derivative of it was very popular in the Finnish military, as well as in the Finnish volunteer defense organisation, since it was considered to help in learning skills useful for a soldier. In the 30's it became popular in schools and eventually also in civilian sport clubs. I don't think that the Finnish military anymore gives any particular emphasis to this game, though it is still popular sport in schools and certain sport clubs. |
miniMo | 22 Mar 2017 8:04 a.m. PST |
The US tried to develop a grenade that was the same size and weight as a baseball, but it was too lightweight to be effective. link And stick grenades throw farther, an advantage in a hand-grenade fight. More importantly, did we have more troops who could hotwire a car? I recall that "borrowing" a Jeep was the most common reason for GI's to get busted down a rank! |
skippy0001 | 22 Mar 2017 8:07 a.m. PST |
German recon reported that we put 10,000 vehicles through a intersection in France in a ridiculous short time(24 hours?72hours?)-old S&T article. Not to mention we only put 3 men to a jeep-more men? just get another jeep. No official drivers. We have a more motoring culture because of the Model T. |