Most Pointless Battle

**Kraxis** · 03-31-2006, 11:00

Originally Posted by screwtype

Actually, I think it was more like 300,000 troops rescued at Dunkirk, IIRC.

Hitler's thoughts... As well as those of the commadners of Dynamo. That it ended up being that many surprised everyone.

If Germany had captured and treated the BEF nicely, then promissed to send them home at once, I think a peace treaty would be more likely.
With no army left there would be few options, also a proper defeat that didn't involve humiliation would likely generate a sigh but hardly more. If anything the Brits have throughout war always considered honour to be very important (honourable defeats are celebrated like victories and such).

In any case Hitler didn't hold back his infantry. So it wasn't as if he believed in the 'live and let be' of the situation. He just didn't want to waste his tanks, in what should have been a foregone conclusion anyway.

**screwtype** · 03-31-2006, 12:14

edit......

**Trajanus** · 04-06-2006, 07:56

What about Paschaendale?

It was pretty pointless based on the fact that they didn't learn from the mistake of the Somme.

**doc_bean** · 04-06-2006, 18:03

The entire Falklands war

The entire struggle for independence of Eritrea

**Kraxis** · 04-06-2006, 22:50

Originally Posted by doc_bean

The entire struggle for independence of Eritrea

Are we back at the 'all battles are pointless'? Elaborate...

**rotorgun** · 04-09-2006, 19:03

On the tactical/operational level, I have always thought that the battle of Mortain, fought by the Germans in 1944 in Normandy to be particularly useless. It failed to obtain any of it's objectives, severly weakened an already depleted 7th Army, and made it possible for the allies to cut them off and destroy them in the Falaise gap. What a monumental waste of a fine army that had fought so heroically to prevent the allied breakout. A much better use of the, still intact, 7th would have been to fall back in stages behind the Seine River. I still can't believe it when I read about the appalling losses that Hitler inflicted upon his soldiers for no gain at all.

**Kraxis** · 04-09-2006, 20:54

Ok useless isn't always pointless...

The counteroffensive at Mortain had a point, and a good one. It was meant to cut off the Allied formation that had broken out. Had it succeeded then the Allies would have been in trouble. So it was more a failure than a pointless battle.

**doc_bean** · 04-21-2006, 21:46

Originally Posted by Kraxis

Are we back at the 'all battles are pointless'? Elaborate...

Sorry, I had forgotten about this thread.

War, and its battles can have a point, they are fought for the benefit of those involved. I honestly can't see the benefit of owning the Falklands, besides 'honour', perhaps.

The fight for independence of Eritrea was pretty dumb because the Eritreans were more busy fighting eachother than the Ethiopians, and really, segregating from one of the poorest countries in the world to become an even poorer country ? Doesn't sound like that good a deal to me...

**King Kurt** · 04-26-2006, 11:36

Revisiting this thread I am reminded of Monte Cassino from WW2. Here, the Allies as part of their slog up the Italian Peninsula, slugged it out with a handfull of German defenders - mainly paratroopers from memory. Massive amounts of munitions were dropped on the monastry and the town and monastry were severly damaged. You could argue that the whole Italian campaign was a waste, but why the allies didn't use their air/naval superioity to outflank resistance by landing behind them, I never know.
I visted Monte Cassino about 15 years ago and was really moved - how could such a beautiful place be the centre of a terrible battle and how on earth did the allies even think of attacking it - the monastry is perched upon a sheer mountain - almost impossible to approach, let alone attack. From memory it finally fell when the sledgehammer tactics were replaced by stealth and good quality infantry infiltrated the german lines. I would recommend anybody to go there - it is truely a moving place.