It´s my understanding that all those abandoned AFV should be counted in the
category of operational losses because they couldn´t be recovered and therefore were ultimately lost for the german war effort.
Yes, that
is the understanding.
However, there seems to be some kind of notion to make
operational losses into
combat losses.
No. Its an open forum anyone can post how they like. I make no claim of ownership
Cool, we are now in the territory of contrarianism just for the sake of contrarianism.
Its a common term in German accounts. Used all the time. The fact that you are upset when it is used back is very revealing.
Bla, bla, bla.
As I said, do keep dealing in strawmen instead of evidence, it suits me.
I fail to see how my many clarifications have not yet registered.
There was enough fuel in Normandy to keep front line units mobile.
This would be done by denying fuel to rear-area activity. Thus whilst there were fuel shortages there was never a complete lack of any fuel.
The distribution system was destroyed. It did not break down because of a German resupply miscalculation. It broke down because the Allies smashed the means to deliver all the fuel available. Thus it was a direct act of the Allies that reduced the amount of fuel.The fact that some people whine about this being a form of cheating that denies them their mythical One-on-one fight between a Sherman and a Tiger in an open field is no concern of mine. Those same Tigers that 'ran out of fuel as they bolted back to Germany had the option to turn around and have their 'fair fight' but they decided it was better to run for the Rhine rather than fight.
Another strawman, and you can adress me directly. No need to be afraid.
Yes, there was enough fuel, except for HJ, 17th SS and according to german high command, just for some examples.
Ample? One incident where a Division spearhead outran its supply trucks and had to wait until they caught up. It also mentions US Unit running out of fuel but I see no one is claiming the US was 'short of petrol'. Indeed during the panic-stricken German retreat many Allied Units outran their fuel and had to halt. Entire Allied Divisions were stripped of all their wheeled transport and fuel allocation to keep the foward Allied Divisions in the race east.
"The Allied invasion of 6 June 1944 found the individual companies of the “Hitlerjugend” Panther battalion billeted to villages around Le Neuborg, France and the battalion staff company in the town itself.26 On being ordered to the invasion front, the fastest way the leadership of the 12th ss Panzer Regiment could get its Panthers there was by driving them. The sixty-six tanks of this unit covered a distance of 140 kilometres to reach the Normandy combat zone, travelling from 6 to 8 June 1944
under incessant air attack. "
The outrunning happened only in your head.
Refer to the previous for more.
This is amusing. For decades the apologists for the German defeat have been denying 'Air Power' had any real effect on the ground battle. Yet now when it suits suddenly air power is 'decisive'.
Yes, and now one contrarian on an agenda is claiming the exact opposite of what a document he owns is claiming.
Strange how these things happen.