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Subject: Greatest Battles of World War II
Mercenary2k    4/21/2004 9:23:41 PM
The 10 Greatest Land Battles of World War II. Air and Naval Battles are not included.

Honorable Mentions:
Battle of El Alamein (North Africa, 1942), Battle of Anzio (Italy, 1944), Battle of Huntgen Forest (France, 1944), Battle of Okinawa (Japan, 1945), Battle of Manila (Philippines, 1944), Battle of Sedan (France, 1940), Battle of Burma (Burma, 1944)

1.) Battle of Kursk ? July 5, 1943 to July 13, 1943 ? Germany launches its 3rd Summer Offensive against the Russians and its last. The largest Tank Battle ever fought in History. German aim to capture 66 Soviet Divisions fails as the Battle becomes a battle of attrition. Germany accepts a tactical draw and withdraws. Germany lost 100,000 killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 250,000 killed and 600,000 wounded and the destruction of 50% of their tanks.

2.) Battle of Prussia ? June 22, 1944 to August 16, 1944 ? Soviet Union launches the greatest offensive in human history. Its aim is to destroy 100 German Divisions guarding Prussia and Poland. Hitler does not give the order for the Massive German Army Center to withdraw and the Army is totally destroyed. Germany lost 800,000 killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 1,300,000 killed and wounded. This was the greatest disaster to befall on the German Army in World War II.

3.) Battle of Stalingrad ? August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943 ?The Bloodiest battle ever fought in history and the greatest urban battle ever fought. The biggest defeat on the German Army since the war began. Germany lost 300,000 killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 1,200,000 killed.

4.) Battle of Vistula ? January 12, 1944 to March 30, 1945 ? The Soviets launch the Biggest offensive of World War II even bigger than their Summer offensive 6 months ago. The German Army guarding the Vistula River is totally destroyed and a massive German army retreats to the final defenses around Berlin. Germany lost 500,000 killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 600,000 killed and wounded.

5.) Battle of Berlin ? April 16, 1945 to May 7, 1945 ? The 2nd most fierce urban warfare battle. Germany lost 200,000 killed and over 200,000 civilians killed and Soviet Union lost 600,000 men killed and wounded.

6.) Battle of Normandy ? June 6, 1944 to July 24, 1944 ? The Invasion of Western Europe by the Allied forces. Germany lost 216,000 men killed/wounded/captured and Allies lost 209,000 killed/wounded/captured.

7.) Battle of Moscow ? November 17, 1941 to January 28, 1942 ? The German attack to capture the city fails due to Soviet counter offensives and severe winter storms which paralyzes the German Army. Germany lost 200,000 men killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 700,000 killed/wounded/captured.

8.) Battle of Ardennes ? December 16, 1944 to January 28, 1945 ? The last great German offensive in World War II. Germany lost 100,000 killed and USA lost 81,000 killed/wounded/captured and 1,400 British losses.

9.) Battle of Kirovograd ? January 5, 1944 to January 17, 1945 ? The Soviet Winter offensive after the Battle of Kursk the previous summer. The German defeat in this battle caused the Soviets to re-take the Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. Germany lost 100,000 killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 400,000 killed and wounded.

10.) Battle of Seelow Heights ? April 10, 1945 to April 15, 1945 ? The last German defense before Berlin. Germany lost 80,000 killed/wounded/captured and Soviet Union lost 200,000 killed and wounded.

 
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mike_golf    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II   4/21/2004 9:32:58 PM
Wow, what about the Pacific? I don't have the stats handy, but: Battle of Leyte Gulf, biggest naval battle in history and the last time a traditional battleship gun battle was fought Iwo Jima Guadalcanal Bataan Midway Coral Sea Okinawa Does those not count or something?
 
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gf0012-aust    Greatest Battles of World War II   4/21/2004 9:41:04 PM
The Russians might have won the battles, but theres an argument that the Germans were the better soldiers, they lost less men in the one on one fighting. The Russians had more men, more reserves to fall back on. So the bloodletting had less effect in an "attritive sense" Notice the german battles against the allies where the one to one loss favoured the allies.
 
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mike_golf    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II - Pacific   4/21/2004 9:43:11 PM
I must have missed that sentence. But I don't think just the number of men who died qualifies something as a "great battle". It seems you are classifying them as great based purely on how many men were involved and how many died?
 
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mike_golf    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II - Pacific   4/21/2004 10:10:26 PM
Sorry, I have to disagree with you. Pearl Harbor and Midway, regardless of the number of men involved, have to rank high in terms of material, intensity and significance to the course of the war, as does Gaudalcanal for that matter. I'd say four (or was it five) aircraft carriers sunk in one day, actually in just a few hours, has to rank as being as intense, significant and as much material as Kursk. Breaking the back of the Japanese fleet is as significant as breaking the cream of the Wehrmacht. Preventing the Japanese from establishing airfields in the Solomon Islands that would interdict shipping routes to Australia is as significant as preventing the Wehrmacht from taking Stalingrad and holding the key to the Caucasus. The battles in the Pacific involved less men but were no less intense and significant than the ones in Europe.
 
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beersheba    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II   4/22/2004 12:44:48 AM
Mercenary2k said the major land engagements in the pacific only started in 1945 or so. So what was it that the Australians were doing beating the Japs back along the Kokoda Trail in 1942 in some of the worst fighting conditions of the war?
 
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gf0012-aust    Kokoda Trail - Mercenary2k    4/22/2004 1:20:49 AM
The first defeats inflicted on the Japanese troops were by Australians at Kokoda, they were starting to be turned around, it removed the perception that they were super soldiers.
 
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AlbanyRifles    Tunisia   4/22/2004 8:24:42 AM
Mercenary2K The Germans lost more in Tunisia than they did in Stalingrad. It was a major battle because it kicked the Germans off of the continent of Africa and it allowed the US Army to make mistakes and learn from them in a fairly benign environment. This lead to its success later in the war. Also, I would look at the Battle of Kohima-Imphal..turned back the Japanese invasion of India. You also have to look at the Phillipines in 1942. Those were some pretty large battles which resulted in a Japanese victory.
 
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fullamongo    Significance   4/22/2004 8:34:46 AM
No battle is 'great.' They're pretty horrible. I think a more suitable word would be significant. The most important battles are the turning points of the war. In no particular order: Battle of Britian Stalingrad El Alamian Midway Kursk D-Day German invasion of poland which started the whole war.
 
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jastayme3    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II   4/27/2004 1:36:23 PM
Actually WWII didn't have that many "battles" in the traditional sense-a few score-thosand get together and fight for a few days than one sid runs. Stalingrad for instance was a campaign involveing a continuous series of engagements. El Alamein though was certainly a "battle"
 
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clarkey188    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II   5/13/2004 11:34:50 AM
How about the British raid on Toranto this took the Italian fleet out of the Mediterranean for the rest of the war. I would say that was a small battle that had major strategic outcome.
 
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Lightning Rod    RE:Significance   5/13/2004 4:39:47 PM
Had Monty lost El Alamian I think that might make it to the most embarrassing defeats topic.
 
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jastayme3    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II   5/14/2004 10:59:26 PM
Indeed Taranto decided the balence in the Med for a long time it also had a tactical outcome-it was the basis for the plan for Pearl Harbor of course that could also said to be strategic Pear Harbor, in an ironic way, decided the war
 
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duck    RE:Greatest Battles of World War II   5/16/2004 3:27:03 PM
europe and north africa: 1.stalingrad 2.kursk 3.normandy 4.moscow 5.berlin 6.bulge 7.battle of britain 8.el-alamein 9.operation bagration 10.battle of france(1940) pacific and asia: 1.leyte 2.midway 3.coral sea 4.kohima/imphal 4.okinawa 5.marianas
 
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morrie    RE:Tunisia   5/18/2004 1:03:00 AM
I agree that Tunisia was of great significance, but it was perhaps a campaign rather than a battle. What are we defining as a battle? Eg perhaps one relatively defined locations makes a battle, eg Alamein, Stalingrad, etc., rather than a moving adnace and retreat which is perhaps more a campaign. But that aside, Tunisia was very significant as it showed that even the best Nazi generals and armies could be totally defeated given time.
 
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