Britain's war debt to US Paid (WWII)

Dub13

I stumbled across an article about this the other day and I was shocked that Britain was still paying the US off for WWII.I was aware the UK got a 'loan' which was called Lend-Lease from the US in the late 40s,but I always assumed this was paid of years ago.As they say assumption is the mother of all fcuk ups.

Some good reading on this subject can be found,

Here from The Sunday Times

And some background on Lend-Lease

Here

You only realize the size of the operation when you see a list of the equipment the US passed on,this is what was shipped to the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease program from the beginning of it until 30 September 1945.

Aircraft 14,795 -B25's, A20's, P39's, P63's, C47's, for the most part

Tanks 7,056- Granted most of these Tanks were M3 Grants of little practicality, but were in Frontline use by US/UK as well at that time. They did also recieve the M4A2,76mm(w) in some numbers.

Jeeps 51,503
Trucks 375,883
Motorcycles 35,170
Tractors 8,071
Guns 8,218
Machine guns 131,633
Explosives 345,735 tons
Building equipment valued $10,910,000
Railroad freight cars 11,155
Locomotives 1,981
Cargo ships 90
Submarine hunters 105
Torpedo boats 197
Ship engines 7,784
Food supplies 4,478,000 tons
Machines and equipment $1,078,965,000
Non-ferrous metals 802,000 tons
Petroleum products 2,670,000 tons
Chemicals 842,000 tons
Cotton 106,893,000 tons
Leather 49,860 tons
Tires 3,786,000
Army boots 15,417,000 pairs

Hagar

Doesn't Germany still owe Ireland compensation for the accidental bombings during WWII ?

delta_bravo

Hagar wrote:

Doesn't Germany still owe Ireland compensation for the accidental bombings during WWII ?

As far as i know Germany gave Ireland the compensation during the war

Manic Moran

It was the trucks, jeeps and radios that the Soviets appreciated most. That said, if you look at the numbers, you will see that the British sent a hell of a lot to the Soviets as well: 4,000 tanks, for example. Plus other things like Hurricane fighters.

To put it in perspective, however, whilst the Russians did get 7,000 American tanks (1,386 M3 Lees, 2,007 Sherman 75s and 2,095 Sherman 76s, 1,676 M3 Stuarts, contrary to the figure listed above, and a few other assorted odds and ends), the British received 17,000 Shermans alone, a full 34% of all M4 production. That's before you count the M3s (Grants, Lees and Stuarts) that they also received a hell of a lot of. And, say, the fifty four-stacker destroyers which were damned useful in the early U-Boat war.

To put -those- numbers in perspective, the British Army today has less than 400 tanks, the entire US Army owns 8,800, of which only about half are in use.

NTM

cushtac

I believe the German government paid the compensation sometime in the 1960's.

Maskhadov

why didnt the USA not give the UK the money for free ? was it because americans hate England ever since they were kicked out of Englands all those centuries ago ? I understand the US gives lots of free military aid to countries all around the world, and they are nowhere near a world war.

the_syco

Maskhadov wrote:

why didnt the USA not give the UK the money for free ? was it because americans hate England ever since they were kicked out of Englands all those centuries ago ? I understand the US gives lots of free military aid to countries all around the world, and they are nowhere near a world war.

The stuff costs money. The countries the US gives arms to are usually enemies of their enemies, so it helps the US, or having the country in America's back pocket is seen as been helpfull.

Manic Moran

Maskhadov wrote:

why didnt the USA not give the UK the money for free ?

Politics, mainly. There was a very strong Isolationist movement in the US at the time, which believed that as long as nobody attacked the US, the other countries could do what they wanted, the US would not be affected or get involved. FDR was not of the same opinion, but could not blatantly just flood arms to one side gratis: It would be a blatant declaration of non-non-alignment which would have been domestically unacceptable. By creating lend-lease, it gives the impression of it being a simple business transaction albeit one with a lot of dollar signs attached to it. After the US entered the war, they just kept the lend-lease going: It was simpler than reconfiguring the system, and frankly, the US war machine needed the money anyway: I refer you to the drives for the buying of bonds and collections for metal pots, pans, anything to keep the finances good.

NTM

Dub13

On a side note,the US war machine must be some massive beast when its in full flow.Its only when you realize how much they sent to their allies and also kept the US forces ticking over in war time.As the old saying goes if the US ever need to prop up there economy the best thing to do is start a war.

Has anybody ever come across a figure for what the US built during WWII...?

soldering iron

I read some where that as part of lend-lease the front amour plating on the t-34 tank was american steel, as the russian steel was far too weak to with stand the 88.

Manic Moran

soldering iron wrote:

I read some where that as part of lend-lease the front amour plating on the t-34 tank was american steel, as the russian steel was far too weak to with stand the 88.

Until the Pershings and IS-3s started showing up, all steel was far too weak to stand the 88. I would be very curious to know the source of that statement. My understanding was that the Soviet and American steels produced were indeed of different properties, but that the Soviet steel was actually tougher. The problem was that it was also more brittle, and if penetrated once, the 'cracking' effect covered the entire plate, whereas any weakening of the armour was fairly localised around an American tank's impact site.

NTM

therecklessone

Its worth noting that the UK has never cleared its WW1 loans to the US, in 1934 they owed a total of $4.4bn which adjusted for inflation and the growth of GDP is now worth a staggering £225bn.

:eek:

Dub13

therecklessone wrote:

Its worth noting that the UK has never cleared its WW1 loans to the US, in 1934 they owed a total of $4.4bn which adjusted for inflation and the growth of GDP is now worth a staggering £225bn.

No wounder why they have a 'special relationship'.:)