Here’s my reasoning on how losing heavy water hurt the nazis: Few people at the time knew that all heavy water is good for is controlling nuclear reactions. It’s not needed when designing weapons. But in destroying their facilities, we kept them from discovering they didn’t need it. They therefore wasted time and resources doing unnecessary experimentation. And by destroying them, we made them appear to be far more important than they really were. (I don’t know if that’s actually why it was done; I’m giving my reasons for doing it.)
I’m not sure that the Allies knew that heavy water was a dead end at the time the ferry was ordered sunk. Your hypothesis that destroying the heavy water made the Nazi’s give it more importance than it deserved could well be correct. I suspect, however, that it was done simply to thwart any Nazi exploration of nuclear energy.
Alright I’ll give you some quarter. Still…slave labor isn’t skilled labor. How many Jews built jet engines? Concentration camps forced slaves to moved rocks around and dig their own graves.
“I also suggest you consider how much oil the Germans obtained from Rumania.”
Rumania wasn’t taken. Rumania was a German ally…albeit a reluctant one.
“a country that did not cave in from air power, but surrendered when armies besieged its major cities.”
We need to separate the Pacific and European theatres here. You never answered my question concerning Japan and air power. Since you haven’t I’ll consider that topic abandoned by you. Now in Europe, Armies were important to succeed in taking the enemy and although they played a much larger role in this hemisphere I have no doubt any general would trade his flame throwers, paratroopers, and/or SS for some air cover. Any side that advanced in Europe at any time had AIR SUPERIORITY. That isn’t some strange coincidence. The Battle of the Bulge was a bit of a success for Germany. Yet Germany had no air power. The reason it went alright was the weather was overcast the entire campaign, when it cleared up the German’s ran.
“but air power has not won a major war…I cite Vietnam”
Whole different country, whole different time, If you’ll check back I said, “planes won it in WW II”. Let’s stay on topic.
“Yugoslavia liberated itself from the Germans with only a minimum of support from the Allies.”
Now your getting picky. How did the liberation of Yugoslavia contribute to the ‘war effort’? And you’re also entering the realm of guerilla warfare, a powerful weapon to be sure, but again, when was it used to win WW II.
We’ll have to agree to disagree about Normandy.
Occam, do some reading. Slave laborers were imported by the millions to work in German factories and even to serve as domestics in German households. If you don’t see how using forced slavery to aid production helps an industrialized war effort, then you are too ignorant to be debating this topic.
I did not respond to your question about Japan, because Nazi Germany has been the main topic of discussion. Air power was determinant in naval battles, true; however, when it came time to kick the Japanese out of Tarawa, the Phillipines, Burma, the Malaysian, et al, it was tanks and the good, old-fashioned grunts who did the dirty work. Planes do not take land, infantry and armored divisons do.
The Pacific islands you mentioned were taken by infantry forces so the U.S. could use them as bases for bombing runs on Japan. The Air Force did not take them; the grunts did.
Also, a major factor in the victory over Japan was the performance of the U.S. Navy, especially the unheralded submarine branch. Millions of Japanese soldiers were stranded in mainland Asia because Dai Nippon lacked the ships to haul the troops to Japan and other theatres.
Air power did not win World War II; it certainly helped, but it was the ground troops who won the war.
Air power does not win wars. Postulate a situation in 1943 or 4 where the allies had a huge air force and no army. How do these allies force Hitler off the land he is occupying? It can help, but without an army to take and hold land or to retake land, your side cannot win. There is an old joke among (former) Soviet Generals. 2 soviet Generals meet in Paris after WWIII. One says to the other " so, who won the air war?". Your bio says you are a student. Great! If you are a college student, I suggest you goto the history dept and ask which professor specializes in military history, then discuss this with him or her. If you are not in college yet, call a college. I have wanted to discuss this issue before, seeing how I got my degree in military history, but I am currently painting my basement and my entire reference library is boxed up. I don’t like to get in discussions of this kind without references.