tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post844427263565436820..comments2024-03-28T08:07:03.254-07:00Comments on Chant du Départ: Myth Busting (or Obalanie Mitów, for Our Polish Chanters)OldAFSargehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-80543137670427886822019-03-21T04:54:42.588-07:002019-03-21T04:54:42.588-07:00I already am, they're pretty good!I already am, they're pretty good!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-58325038560339664982019-03-21T03:16:47.529-07:002019-03-21T03:16:47.529-07:00If you like heavy metal and historical battles you...If you like heavy metal and historical battles you'll love Sabaton.1997 TJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09786618692023810270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-76058724441800656462019-03-20T08:38:58.290-07:002019-03-20T08:38:58.290-07:00The Germans suffered 157,621 total casualties (27,...The Germans suffered 157,621 total casualties (27,074 dead) in the Battle of France in 1940. They also lost 1,236 aircraft and an estimated 795–822 tanks.<br /><br />The French and British combined lost 360,000 dead or wounded, 1,900,000 captured, 2,233 aircraft lost, 1,749 French tanks destroyed and 689 British tanks lost. Of course, the captured included the bulk of the French armed forces when their government surrendered.<br /><br />The Poles are one of our best allies these days.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-70403232002215723212019-03-20T08:31:47.055-07:002019-03-20T08:31:47.055-07:00Took a long time, but you guys didn't give up....Took a long time, but you guys didn't give up.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-39665323550314398162019-03-20T08:31:13.172-07:002019-03-20T08:31:13.172-07:00Good move, Scott.Good move, Scott.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-33939538979295562092019-03-20T08:30:38.163-07:002019-03-20T08:30:38.163-07:00That's a (pardon the expression) boatload of t...That's a (pardon the expression) boatload of trucks. (Actually several boatloads.)OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-53136387029104436292019-03-20T03:02:35.020-07:002019-03-20T03:02:35.020-07:00Good post. Despite their inferior numbers, they d...Good post. Despite their inferior numbers, they didn't waver a bit, and the casualties on both sides are indicative of that. I'm curious to know how many casualties did the French inflict and suffer when they were invaded. By the way, the Poles were a welcome part of our coalition during the post-911 Long War. I escorted a bunch of them around Ft. Bragg when I was running exercises at CENTCOM. Tunahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04930237104692982421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-63396779577962640102019-03-20T00:08:49.234-07:002019-03-20T00:08:49.234-07:00I once bought a 1/72 Spitfire, to make a Seafire o...I once bought a 1/72 Spitfire, to make a Seafire out of it. But when I saw the decal sheet, and realized it was a Polish Spit, I decided to find another Spit to convert. The Polish Squadrons are too honored!SCOTTtheBADGERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12859188068159799373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-35909592476680111552019-03-20T00:06:47.346-07:002019-03-20T00:06:47.346-07:00A half million "Studers", as the Russian...A half million "Studers", as the Russians called the Studebaker version of the 2 1/2 ton truck we gave them under lend lease certainly helped a bit. I love " Studer ", if I ever get a Studebaker pickup, I shall name it that!SCOTTtheBADGERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12859188068159799373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-1753339664383177292019-03-19T18:47:21.394-07:002019-03-19T18:47:21.394-07:00tell me about it... think about persistence to get...tell me about it... think about persistence to get our state back...<br />Paweł Kasperekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636249014878876718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-28010014361253269252019-03-19T16:33:58.339-07:002019-03-19T16:33:58.339-07:00There just ain't no "quit" in the Po...There just ain't no "quit" in the Polish soul.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-65630623374836170102019-03-19T16:33:04.842-07:002019-03-19T16:33:04.842-07:00Yes, indeed. 303 Squadron has been written of befo...Yes, indeed. 303 Squadron has been written of before, <a href="https://oldafsarge.blogspot.com/2017/09/repeat-please.html" rel="nofollow"><b>here</b></a> for one. Valiant lads those Poles. Read up on the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Poles fought hard in that one, and of course many others.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-1607945005042438042019-03-19T16:27:16.494-07:002019-03-19T16:27:16.494-07:00Screwed up second link. https://en.wikipedia.org...Screwed up second link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_contribution_to_World_War_IISoCal Pir8https://www.blogger.com/profile/05317335777417066610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-9377744108474292452019-03-19T16:26:14.676-07:002019-03-19T16:26:14.676-07:00The Poles played a big part in the Battle of Brita...The Poles played a big part in the Battle of Britain, the air war over Europe and had ground forces in a lot of the major ground engagements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._303_Squadron_RAF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._303_Squadron_RAFSoCal Pir8https://www.blogger.com/profile/05317335777417066610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-25785528157295570192019-03-19T11:48:37.248-07:002019-03-19T11:48:37.248-07:00We in the West cannot deny that the USSR did the b...We in the West cannot deny that the USSR did the bulk of the heavy lifting on the ground in the war against Fascism. However, it has also been documented that without aid from the West the Soviets might have negotiated a separate peace with Hitler. Detroit motorized the Red Army more than most people know.<br /><br />But yes, the Russians suffered greatly, more from Stalin than from Hitler, but oh did they suffer!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-698710111510291902019-03-19T11:36:37.241-07:002019-03-19T11:36:37.241-07:00hardly being sympathethic to Stalin, I cannot let ...hardly being sympathethic to Stalin, I cannot let be understated Soviet effort in the war.<br />basically, between start of Barbarossa and the D-day, they were killing Germans in larger numbers than any other allied war effort, and even after the D-day they kept doing their fair share<br />German KIA casualties by theatre according to Field Army (Feldheer) stats<br />Poland 1939 16,343<br />Norway 1940 4,975<br />West until D-day 1939-44 66,266 (French were underestimated!)<br />West after D-day 1944 54,754 (until november)<br />Africa 1940-43 12,808 <br />Balkans 1941-44 24,267<br />Italy 1943-44 47,873<br />home front (air bombardment and so on) 64,055<br />Russia 1,419,728 !!!!Paweł Kasperekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636249014878876718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-66025076309475061252019-03-19T11:06:35.842-07:002019-03-19T11:06:35.842-07:00Absolutely, the Poles were absolutely critical to ...Absolutely, the Poles were absolutely critical to breaking Enigma Near the end of that story at the link is this:<br /><br /><i>"We want to present a more complete picture of the past. It’s important to do justice to the people involved but to underline and underscore the strong cooperation between Britain and Poland when it came to Enigma."<br /><br />Polish pilots had the highest kill rates in the Battle of Britain, Polish troops fought in the North African, Italian and Normandy campaigns, and were involved in the Battle for Berlin.<br /><br />Despite their efforts, a British desire to appease Stalin meant that Polish forces, still under the command of Poland's independent government in exile, were banned from taking part in official V-E Day celebrations.</i><br /><br />Yup, gotta keep Stalin happy. Stupid bastards.<br /><br />Great comment, Paweł!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-2155756388735571402019-03-19T10:46:42.473-07:002019-03-19T10:46:42.473-07:00the biggestg gift of Poles to allied cause...
Enig...the biggestg gift of Poles to allied cause...<br />Enigma<br />https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/polish-codebreakers-cracked-enigma-before-alan-turing/<br />without our foundation work Ultra would have hard time even taking off<br />Paweł Kasperekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636249014878876718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-79204411338615010792019-03-19T10:01:07.888-07:002019-03-19T10:01:07.888-07:00I cannot disagree with a single word. Well said, b...I cannot disagree with a single word. Well said, <i>brawo</i>!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-63031176807150291422019-03-19T09:59:31.638-07:002019-03-19T09:59:31.638-07:00I grock that.I grock that.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-3894383510633913592019-03-19T09:35:26.413-07:002019-03-19T09:35:26.413-07:00The Poles have always been a premier fighting forc...The Poles have always been a premier fighting force. Unfortunately, our government and our media has portrayed them for a long time as less than brilliant people. I remember all the Pollack jokes growing up. Not cool, but we were mean to everyone, so...<br /><br />But then, when growing up, started finding out about how absolutely kick-ass cool the Poles were. Which made me angry at teachers who denigrated them, which meant I did not do well in those classes (do not ever ever try to buck the socialist propaganda machine, it will mangle you... Instead, destroy it outright with the blinding light of truth, taped to a baseball bat....)<br /><br />And not one of my 'teachers' told us about the Soviets shafting Poland for their own reasons. Bastiges, bastiges all. <br /><br />I still maintain that we should have supported England and what French forces actually wanted to fight ON OUR SIDE, and should have left Russia to hang by themselves. They would have done as much damage to Germany, while correspondingly taking many much more damage in return, and probably would not have been able to make a play for Manchuria and Japan in the last weeks of the war. But then again, I am a firm believer that the enemy of my enemy is just the enemy of my enemy.<br /><br />Go Poland. Let the Winged Hussars ride again! (And, yes, I really like the way they are currently handling certain political issues, which I won't go into right now. But unlike Germany the Polish Leopards are capable and actually run!)(And so do their planes, their infantry rifles shoot, and the few ships they have actually work...)Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-66176131113504928402019-03-19T09:27:18.322-07:002019-03-19T09:27:18.322-07:00Or their army badge - Quarterly, argent and gules,...Or their army badge - Quarterly, argent and gules, a bordure counterchanged. Translated, a square with 4 squares in it, top right white, top left red, bottom right red, bottom left white, and then you take 1/4 of the outside and make it the other color. Look it up. Trust me. I'm a heraulde... Not Harald, who had a blue tooth and died. Not Harold, who got an arrow in the eye...Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-61681380669346836162019-03-19T09:23:30.373-07:002019-03-19T09:23:30.373-07:00Ah yes. I get why Blogger is particular about imag...Ah yes. I get why Blogger is particular about images in the comments, Lord knows what chaos would ensue...<br /><br />I like the Polish flag comment though,OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-65437153438662229462019-03-19T09:17:55.306-07:002019-03-19T09:17:55.306-07:00It was an image of the Polish flag... didn't ...It was an image of the Polish flag... didn't translate well.(not necessarily your) Uncle Skiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02705753220273516841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-33706916956682193892019-03-19T08:55:38.214-07:002019-03-19T08:55:38.214-07:00??OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.com