What have the Yanks ever done for us?

man1

johnnyskeleton wrote:

What have the Americans done for civilization in general? Good movies, breast implants, the internet, transatlantic flight, skyscrapers, bourbon, playboy magazine, fender stratocasters, microwaves, etc...

The only good things that came out of america were frank sinatra, the sopranos, the simpsons, the whooper burger and thats about it.

csk

man1 wrote:

How???

I would think they were talking about the substantial amount of money raised in America for the Governement that more than likely went towards the war effort.

Fratton Fred

dave2pvd wrote:

And if it wasn't for US resources (industry) propping up England, would England not have been overrun by the Nazi machine? I'll bet that there was a time when Hitler believed that England, as the last Western Front superpower in the war at the time was an easy target and ripe for the picking.

If I recall corectly, the Americans did not give any support to Britain until after the Battle of Britain. Once the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe, the Germans turned their attention elsewhere for the time being. OK, if Hitler had another go, then it may have been different but initially the Yanks were no help at all.

mossym

Fratton Fred wrote:

If I recall corectly, the Americans did not give any support to Britain until after the Battle of Britain. Once the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe, the Germans turned their attention elsewhere for the time being. OK, if Hitler had another go, then it may have been different but initially the Yanks were no help at all.

i think the americans were "unoficially" giving support to the english before that, was the lease scheme in operation before the battle of britian? i'd need to go back and check my books for that

mossym

Fratton Fred wrote:

which was why Roosevelt persauded the Russians to join in the war against Japan, in return for territory and ports in the far east.

there was little persuasion needed there, if i remember correctly, hadn't they been fighting already over oil fields in south eastern russia?

Fratton Fred

mossym wrote:

i think the americans were "unoficially" giving support to the english before that, was the lease scheme in operation before the battle of britian? i'd need to go back and check my books for that

it was about the same time. Lease for land I think it was calld. It was only ships though and they only really got used in the Atlantic.

dave2pvd

Fratton Fred wrote:

If I recall corectly, the Americans did not give any support to Britain until after the Battle of Britain.

Kind of. The US did not 'enter the war' until after Pearl Harbour in '41, which was after the Battle of Britain. In other words they didn't declare war until that point.

The Lend-Lease Program started almost a year (?) before Pearl Harbour. Even before that, US warships were being provided to Britain. Not sure if they were ever paid for in any way; probably were.

So early on, the Americans were in the war one way or another.

It might be popular to denounce America right now. In fact, there's no 'might' involved! But it is surely incorrect to devalue the US contribution to the Allied victory to the extent that some of you have? Comments like "The russians won it for europe" are just ill-informed and foolish.

And who was it that suggested bourbon was a worthy offering to civilization as we know it? Come on, comments like that from the land of proper whiskey.

Fratton Fred

dave2pvd wrote:

Kind of. The US did not 'enter the war' until after Pearl Harbour in '41, which was after the Battle of Britain. In other words they didn't declare war until that point.

The Lend-Lease Program started almost a year (?) before Pearl Harbour. Even before that, US warships were being provided to Britain. Not sure if they were ever paid for in any way; probably were.

So early on, the Americans were in the war one way or another.

It might be popular to denounce America right now. In fact, there's no 'might' involved! But it is surely incorrect to devalue the US contribution to the Allied victory to the extent that some of you have? Comments like "The russians won it for europe" are just ill-informed and foolish.

And who was it that suggested bourbon was a worthy offering to civilization as we know it? Come on, comments like that from the land of proper whiskey.

you're Scottish

destroyers for bases happened in 1940
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyers_for_Bases_Agreement

Capt'n Midnight

mossym wrote:

i think the americans were "unoficially" giving support to the english before that, was the lease scheme in operation before the battle of britian? i'd need to go back and check my books for that

look at how they shafted sterling just after the war - gave the UK a loan that was only paid off a few months ago and then forced them to leave the gold standard , sterling value dropped 40% leaving the UK in the lurch till marshal aid arrived.

our currency was linked to sterling so we got shafted too

mossym

Fratton Fred wrote:

you're Scottish

destroyers for bases happened in 1940
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyers_for_Bases_Agreement

so given that, me thinks they were helping out before the battle of britain

spooiirt!!

You can ( rightfully) bash Bush and the Iraq war, but the US saved europe.

Germany was going to lose ww2 and the Soviet armies would have taken Germany, and German occupied Italy, France, Holland Etc.
Thankfully D-Day and the invasion of Italy prevented that. And D-Day would never have happened without the US.

So basically all of Europe would have had to live in Stalins wonderful socialist paradise.

mossym

also, lets not forget, Stalin was threatening to make peace with the germans if the allies didn't launch a second front against the germans. Even the fact that it was left until 1944 was a major arguement between stalin, roosevelt and churchhill. so, no americans, no russian fightback, germany retain western europe. no second front for hitler, who would then have been able to launch his full might on britain, who wouldn't have stood alone for ever. where do you think the germans would have come next?

Fratton Fred

mossym wrote:

so given that, me thinks they were helping out before the battle of britain

The Battle of Britain was between july and October 1940, the destroyers for land agreement wasn't signed until September 1940.

They helped with the Battle of the Atlantic, but not Britain.

mossym

Fratton Fred wrote:

The Battle of Britain was between july and October 1940, the destroyers for land agreement wasn't signed until September 1940.

They helped with the Battle of the Atlantic, but not Britain.

ah yes..pardon me..