Quote:
Originally Posted by Doktorwzzerd
OK good points, no doubt the RN would take very heavy losses, but I still think they would have had the power to impede the landings and keep the Germans from adequately supplying their beachheads. All of your points about the RNs vulnerability to aerial attack are true, however also don't forget how immensely difficult amphibious landings are, both tactically and logistically.
Let's compare D-Day to a hypothetical Sea-Lion. The Germans had no air superiority, no surface navy and a much longer coastline to defend in 1944. Also in 1944 the allies possessed naval, manpower and logistical resources that the Germans contemplating Sea-Lion could never hope to match, and Overlord was still, in the words of Ike "the damned closest run thing you ever saw".
The Wehrmacht attempting Sea-Lion would have a much more limited range of potential landing sites, making it easier for the British to concentrate their defense. Sea-Lion would both lack a surface fleet of its own and it would be harassed by the largest navy in Europe. Also the Wehrmacht had absolutely no experience with amphibious landings, whereas the Allies by 1944 had considerable experience gained from Dieppe, Sicily, Italy, Norway, North Africa and the Pacific theater.
Could Sea-Lion have worked in the event that the RAF was neutralized? Maybe, but I think the odds are heavily against it. My guess is that it would have looked less like D-Day and more like Dieppe or Gallipoli.
|
That's true. Hitler did have really crappy landing craft (as Tentacle19 mentioned) Although you don't need much in the way of transport if you can make the landing unopposed. Keep in mind that during the beginning of the Battle of Britain the British Army was short on manpower and had little armor. If the panzers could have gotten ashore early in the battle they'd probably have rolled right over England. If they couldn't get off the beach then it'd be more like Gallipoli like you said. In the end it's all just speculation. Although if Hitler had done the following:
1. Attack the British Army at Dunkirk, rather than forcing his generals to hold back.
2. Built proper landing craft
3. Concentrated solely on destroying the RAF on the ground & in the air.
...then it's probable that Britain would have fallen. But he didn't do any of that ('cause he was a frikkin moron), so this is all just speculation.