Good afternoon Beasts of War –

First of all, HELLO and thanks so much to everyone who showed up to the Live Stream. If we do this again, I will definitely have another computer up and running to the side that will s how me the Chat so I can respond more directly. Watching the replay now on Twitch, I’m seeing where we didn’t get to all the questions people were asking, so I will try to get to some more of them now.

@mandapii – To my knowledge no one has tried to fund a war by Kickstarter, but we do have some examples of “War by Facebook.” The 2014-15 Ukraine War saw some local militias rise up in eastern Ukraine to fright against pro-Russian separatist militias. VICE News was doing an interview with one militia commander – where he’s interviewing this paramilitary, armed to the teeth, black ski mask, nightmare fuel, borderline terrorist …

Journalist – “So what is your mission?”
Militia Leader – (the usual … paraphrasing here …) “We will free our land of these Russian dogs. We will hang their entrails from the trees. Death to the DPR and LPR, we are legion and we are coming for you in the night, etc …”
Journalist – “How many men do you have in your militia battalion?”
Militia Leader – “Well, we’re doing a lot better on recruitment since we got our Facebook page up last week …”

And yes, a catapult-launched Churchill tank sailing through the air would at least cause the Germans a nasty morale check. 😀

Thanks so much for showing up for the stream, @commodorerob – on your comment re: the IWM and 1940 BEF using a lot of gear from 1918 … I have seen people field 1918 armies using 1940 minis … and you can’t tell the difference.

@commodorerob: Absolutely agree, “Most war movies made by Hollywood are rather dodgy when it comes to facts, they are entertainment after all.” The issue for me is that they are such a powerful medium is that this becomes the new “accepted” worldview on a given topic. They literally make us dumber as a culture.

Yes, enough Star Wars. 😀 And indeed, Chain of Command was tangled in knots among the American commanders (brigade command and up) during many of these battles.

And thanks for the top on the George Cross for Malta. I had a feeling I was close but knew I wasn’t 100% right. Live TV, folks!

But honestly no, I wasn’t blaming the French for their defeat at Faid Pass – if anything I was exonerating them. Poor 1939 equipment and a lack of support from their American allies, who were badly deployed and under the command of General “Head-Up-His-Ass” II Corps commander.

@revliss – yes, let’s catapult some sharks! Not sure how they would do in the desert, but they’d be scary! 😀 And yes, the Tiger III fire 88mm Sharks. 😀 It’s live TV, folks! 😀 😀 😀

xsubedaix – indeed the books for Battlegroup are amazing.

@bobcockayne – P-38 Lightnings up to their wings in mud? Damn, that’s a fitting picture of how bad the infrastructure was for the Allied air forces in western Tunisia at the outset of the campaign, and how the Luftwaffe was able to maintain a surprisingly strong showing at least in the initial stages.

Absolutely – “Thought most Matlildas converted to flail tanks and early funnies by Tunisia I think” – I’m sure they reused them somehow, but they were definitely off the main line by Tunisia. This is why I asked John / Justin whether we were talking about Tunisia “mainstays” or general North Africa “mainstays.” For the Matilda II – “yes” earlier in the war … just not so much for later in Tunisia.

Interesting discussion, DenytheWitch and everyone, regarding the introduction of pilots from other countries into the RAF.

Thanks, @damon – augh, what a waste of a Leopard 2! 😀

@revliss – I’m embarrassed to say I had look up who the Mighty Jingle was. 😀 – The “crap”the Americans brought were the M3 ee still being used at that time, and honestly the M3 halftrack as well. “Purple Heart Boxes” as they troops called them, they really weren’t too well “armored” at all, at least compared to the aforementioned kangaroos that would be fielded later by the Canadians.

@elessar2590 – thanks for all the great comments on the tanks, the Kangaroos, the Churchills, and the Crusaders. And you and Commodorerob are right, Rommel was much better at lower levels of tactical command.

I may have mention this before, but there’s always the American Heritage (?) magazine survey taken among a apanel of 20 leading German military historians (2007 or so I think) – Name the top five German generals of WW2. A lot of Mansteins, Guderians, Kesselrings, Henricis, Balcks, Rundstedts, Models, etc . . . NOT ONE Rommel. Not one.

Not 100% sure I agree Washington was that lucky, he lost waaaay too many battles. But he was never extinguished, which I guess is pretty lucky.

Interesting points on the Besa’s three rates of fire.

Interesting point, bobcockayne about Rommel’s luck in capturing O’Connor. Never mind Patton, THERE’S a matchup that I’m sorry never happened, Rommel vs. O’Connor.

Last reply from the livestream: @revliss – I would say the longest serving equipment from WW2 could either be the Shermans that were upgraded and saw combat against Soviet-made T-55s in the Yom Kippur War as late as 1973 … or the T-34/85 which was in action in civil wars in Angola as late as the 1990s to my knowledge.