# Did the hedgehogs do Germany any good on D-Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237 "2019-07-18T01:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237/21 "2019-07-19T00:53:52Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > But the Allied troops stayed longer because the hedgehogs gave protective cover. > > If there had been no hedgehogs, it would have been “run like mad towards the Germans or die.” It still was like that. There was still nice, friendly and enticing open ground criss-crossed by machine guns and mortars to go through. Sitting behind hedgehogs didn’t do the Allies any good (and didn’t really provide cover from the aforementioned mortars, 88 shells, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237/22 "2019-07-19T01:11:57Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > “Mein Fuehrer! They have a BEAR! They have a _ **WAR-BEAR!** _” > “RUN! _RUN!!!_ _AIEEE!!!_” “Und vat is the bear doing ?” “He’s… he seems to be loading artillery shells, Herr Hauptmann” “Kommen Sie again ?” “Yes sir. He’s hauling artillery shells from their trucks, and then helping the loaders. Wait, he’s stopped” “Vhy ? Vhat is the bear doink now ?” “… He seems to be taking a smoke break, Herr Hauptmann. And having a beer.” “I haff heard enough. Guards, arrest this man, he hass obviously been at the supply of war meth all night.” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237/23 "2019-07-19T18:07:33Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > So all the hardware in the water killed a few hundred Allied soldiers. I think if you ran the numbers, putting all that money into tanks instead would have paid off for the Germans better. And that’s just in the Normandy area. Take all the money spent on all the beach hardware and spending it on mobile armor and such would have made things quite different. Two points: firstly, the Czech Hedgehogs used by the Germans were largely captured and repurposed (from the annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudeten, and also some from France’s Maginot Line, if memory serves). So the only expense to the Germans would have been moving them. Secondly, on D-Day the German tanks were under heavy pressure from Allied airpower. Rommel, experienced in fighting under Allied air superiority in North Africa, had wanted them stationed right at the landing sites, but von Rundstedt ranked him and wanted the more traditional German deployment in a mobile reserve behind the front. Hitler “resolved” the conflict via unsatisfactory compromise, leaving the armor not in position. A lot of it was destroyed or disabled – and practically all of it delayed – by air attack before reaching the battle area. Mobility turned out to be largely illusory under sustained air attack. tl,dr: More tanks would have been of questionable value. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237/24 "2019-07-20T02:00:08Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Two points: firstly, the Czech Hedgehogs used by the Germans were largely captured and repurposed (from the annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudeten, and also some from France’s Maginot Line, if memory serves). So the only expense to the Germans would have been moving them. As were the many Belgian Gates. Please remember, the purpose of obstacles is not to protect the “fire,” the people in the defensive line. The purpose of the fire is to protect the obstacles. The obstacles worked fine as long as there was fire to support them. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237/25 "2019-07-20T03:04:25Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Two points: firstly, the Czech Hedgehogs used by the Germans were largely captured and repurposed (from the annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudeten, and also some from France’s Maginot Line, if memory serves). So the only expense to the Germans would have been moving them. > > Secondly, on D-Day the German tanks were under heavy pressure from Allied airpower. Rommel, experienced in fighting under Allied air superiority in North Africa, had wanted them stationed right at the landing sites, but von Rundstedt ranked him and wanted the more traditional German deployment in a mobile reserve behind the front. Hitler “resolved” the conflict via unsatisfactory compromise, leaving the armor not in position. A lot of it was destroyed or disabled – and practically all of it delayed – by air attack before reaching the battle area. Mobility turned out to be largely illusory under sustained air attack. > > tl,dr: More tanks would have been of questionable value. WWII is where air superiority, both for its ability to see moving concentrated enemy forces then focus strikes seems to have really begun. I’m wondering what the Allies used though. It’s not like they had satellites, Predators for surveillance or A-10s, F-16s and C-130s for strikes so how were they able to do a good job of it? I don’t think tanks would have been much use, not without being able to challenge Allied air power. Even if they had been, look at the things, they’re simple chunks of metal bolted together. They’re like giant caltrops or rails stuck together. They’re one step up an improvised road obstacle. Worry about their efficient use is like worrying about the efficient use of sandbags. OP:[Czech hedgehog - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_hedgehog) “The hedgehog is very effective in keeping light to medium tanks and vehicles from penetrating a line of defense; it maintains its function even when tipped over by a nearby explosion. Although Czech hedgehogs may provide some scant cover for infantry, infantry forces are generally much less effective against fortified defensive positions than mechanized units.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hedgehogs-do-germany-any-good-on-d-day/837237.md?page=1)