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Monday, March 5, 2012

Where are the panzer Ones that Won the east, the west, the north, the south ?

Curious, is it not , all those thinly veiled paeans by present-day Allied authors written to the Nazi Panzer Corps that are illustrated on their covers by Panzer Tiger and Panther tanks.

I mean those are the tanks the Nazis produced when they were losing all the battles.

Why not show the images of the blitzkreig-era tanks that Germany actually used to conquer Poland, France, the Balkans and Norway in a blink of an eye ?

You know, all those dinky looking Panzers I and IIs.

The 5 tonne Panzer I was a little heavier than George Foreman (but not as tall) and packed almost as hard a punch - two light machine guns.

Steel plating about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick was its only armour - yes it could stop a bullet, if it was travelling in from a great distance, but not as well as today's infantryman's body armour.

Holy smoking wacky-tobacky, Batman !

One begins to see how these awkward FACTS would spoil the LEGEND  - but let us by all means continue to 'print the legend' .

Truth is, if the September 1939 photographs weren't labelled and national markings are not visible, you'd have a heck of a time telling the difference between the nominally fully-mechanized German panzer column and a column of the nominally horse-oriented Polish Cavalry.

About 1/3 of the total Nazi tank corps was lost during the brief victorious Polish campaign - about 1/2 of those permanently.

At any one time 1/2 of all of Germany's tanks were out of action during the Polish campaign - sometimes due to Polish anti-tanks guns or rifles , but mostly due to mechanical problems - this despite a campaign conducted over a very short time period, over very short distances, and in excellent weather....things don't get much more cushy in peacetime 'war games' .

But the myth that the Allied media (supposedly *Allies of the Poles by the way) touted at least as much as the Nazi media, right from the start of WWII , was of mechanized columns of 20th century  German Panzers inevitably crushing the hapless 19th century Polish Horse Cavalry.

Modernist Man had a Legend ("GERMAN TANKS MAUL POLISH HORSES") already formed in his rationalistic mind and he wasn't going to be bothered by mere facts.

My job is to take Modernist Man (or his son and grandson) by the scruff of his neck and rub his nose into the unpleasant facts until he squeals....

* With Allies like that, what Pole needs enemies ?

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