Is it true that the Americans helped us (The British) out in the second world war?

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Kennpark	What the hell do they teach in British schools nowadays?? Has History been taken off the curriculum due to it not being politically correct??? Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Lukeedwyn M	The US support and its involvement were a great contribution to the winning of the war. The US supplied weaponry and materials by the Lend-Lease Act even before in actually became unilaterally involved in Jan 1942. Without the US, the war would have most probably gone on for many years than it did. The shear industrial might and man power of the US therefore played a huge part in winning the war. However, the main defining battles in the war were either fought partly with, or without the US involvement. The Nazi German war machine failed to grip control of Russia and its huge oil and coal fields, partly through prolonged cold weather and the extra Siberian Troops moved in the help a besieged Stalingrad. Germans in the other and still contentious part of the world, The Middle East, failed to control this region and it resources because of failed tank battles between the German General Rommel and the British General Montgomery. Forgotten are the African, Indian, Burmese, Egyptian contributions in this, a battle of supply lines, the battle for North Africa. The Germans were also prevented for completing their Hydrogen Bomb building, by the Norwegian Alpine corps blowing of the Vemork in 1943. This could be seen as the most defining and important action during the war, as the German ability to drop Atomic bombs first would have ensured allied loss. The scientists involved in this, and so the technology was later divided between US and Russian military both creating future Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then the Superpowers Space programs. Lastly, the German Navy failed to control the Air and Sea of the Atlantic. The US and British Navy were together massive in preventing this, but the Royal Air Force were the pioneers in securing allied superiority in the air. Without a secure resource line, that was broken by allied (that is US, British, Egyptian, Australian, New Zealand, African, Indian, French etc. and later Italian) the German war machine ran out of steam. I have simplified this somewhat. It is important to realise there were many failures during the war made by the allies, that also pushed it in favour of the Germans. Also, none of the battles mentioned here fall in any true lineage, so can not be placed in any true order of importance. Therefore, for one country to claim total responsibility for the credit of winning the war is arrogant and very ignorant. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Iain G	The Americans certainly helped win the Second World War. It might have been over quicker but the bugle was blown in 1939 and they didn't hear it until 1941 ! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

magdaloo	yes, thanks to the Lend-Lease Act of the US in which Britain borrowed vital war materials including warships, planes, food and any other stuff which helped Britain resist the Nazis. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

guns155mm	I don't know. We supplied weapons, armor, planes,food, and thousands of troops. When Hitler invaded, many men went to fly with the Brits, and we produced tons of equipment for you along with financial support until our involvement in 1942. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

KARL V	Hell yes we helped out you British whiners. Long before Japan ever bombed Pearl Harbor, the US was sending aid buy way of weapons, ammo, food, and any other supplies the UK asked for. We aloud our fighter pilots to fly in the Eagles Squadrons which were American fighter pilots flying for the royal air force. before japan attacked, a covert supply ship named the Lusitania which was a regular passenger ship was sunk and a lot of innocent civilians were killed. Pres. Roosevelt then decided it was time to get more involved in the aiding of the once great UK. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

LadyMoonlight!!	They were our allies. However They joined in 1941 and only because the Japs bombed the hell out of Pearl Harbour so their reasons were intrinsically self-interested. They did not "save our azzes" from the Nazis or any such rot (as some Americans love to claim), they fought as part of a team. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

DOOM	Yes. It's what allies do. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Cimon	Yes as Lady Bug says" why should we get involved if we don't have to?" Dear lady every thinking American in Government new that if England fell in the summer of 1940,USA would have been the next target with secondary targets Egypt middle East;Naturally the British wouldn't surrender and the Germans wouldn't be stupid to attack colonies(India for example) and USA with full involvement in the Pacific later in 41 could ill efford a two front war...Germany could and did but you could't even have 1/3 of Germany's order of battle... So you should have tried to prevent that happening by helping unconditionally,not take advantage of the British.... As for the British speaking German...only a naive person could ever say that;England didn't fall in 1940 and Germany lost its chance...it wouldn't have had another one again. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

LadyBug	For all of those of you who appear to be putting down the US: We might have been acting in our own selfish interest, but why should we fight in a war if we did not have to? Please remember--if it hadn't been for the good of US of A you Brits would undoubtedly be speaking German right now instead of the Queen's English. Besides, we had already had to fight you people twice in order to gain our independence--never noticed you'all helping us any. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

idaboss	i think they waited to see who was getting the upper hand. its unfortunate they didn't back adolf as he was, despite some minor failings, a man who would have had a european union well before now Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

GunnyC	The United States did nelp the British in many ways prior to ntering the war in late 1941 through Leand-Lease allowing Americans to join the British and Canadian forces to fight and "selling war goods" to them and not to the Germans. The political climate in America after WW1 was an isolationalist climate after the failure of the Leagua of Nations which was primarily the fault of the British for not helping the Americans control the French revenge factor against the Germans. I would also pint out that Chamberlain's policy of appeasement and "peace at any price" also contributed heavily to World War Two. Roosevelt and much of the U.S. government knew war was both inevietable and necessary against Hitler but if they had moved and declared war they would have never gotten through Congress and been booted out of office the next election. The attack on Pearl Harbor gave the American people a reson to fight but they did not have one to fight the Germans and did not declare war on the germans. It was almost two weeks later when Hitler kept his treaty with the Japanese and declared war of the U.S. When that happend the U.S. made a decision to place its primary interest n the Europea front because Roosevelt understood the importance of defeating Hitler and that was a very risky decision because the majority of Americns saw the Japanese as the primary threat. This lead to the retaking of North Africa, Anzio landings and Normandy landings and the eventual defeat of the Germans. Was Germany already in a slide down hill-Yes but that had very little to do with the British. Britian did not have the manpower or materials to force a landing and invasion of Europe proper especially after the war in the Pacific started because of manpower requiements there. The British could defend but offensively they were not in a situation to do much in Europe. In the long run the Germans would have been defeated in Europe if America had not entered the war but it would have been because of the Russian land forces. If that had happend do you see the France, Belguim Denmark, Holland and other occupied countries being returned to the "proper leadership' or would they have gone the way of Poland and the eastern European countries? I think the U.S. assistance and later entry into the war sped up the defeat of Hitler and kept the entire continent from being Russian controlled. The war in the Pacific and defeat of Japan was primarily a U.S. show but the accomplishments of the British forces in India and te Australians and New Zealanders in the southern Pacific areas New Guiena and so forth should not be forgotten. In short if the Americans had not helped the British the Russians would have won World War Two and Britian would have been an isolated island staring at the Russians on the French coast at the end; would that have been that much better? Stalin and Hitler were peas in a pod when it came to conquest, militayr actions and treatment of people and both looked for domination. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

tom_p1980	Yes they came in in the War's dying years. The main reason they were involved came about because of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour. Prior to that they were happy to see millions die fighting the Axis of Evil. Now they like to think that they were the heroes and that they "saved yur asses", when in reality it was financial reasons only why they stepped in. They watched their natural Allies take a hammering while they stood back and watched. But am I glad they helped, yes, just as I am glad we had many Allies during that awful time. Don't forget there was just more than the British and the US on the Allies side, many other countries' valiant actions and roles during WW2 seem to be swept under the carpet and forgotten about. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

bob m	You do not know? God help us if you have the vote. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

rosie p	you know, I think you may be right, I think the best thing to do is everybody take care of them selves, be totally alone, no more trading -selling anything, solitary states, there are so many things from both sides that we will never know. so, to save face, stop the bickering and finger pointing, ya'll ;live your way, and we'll stay here and live ours. sounds good to me. and just for the record, the couple of you mental midgets that mentioned pearl harbor, your right, we didnt enter till we were bombed, and I guess one day ya'll just decided to start fighting germany?...no, wait, they attacked you first, see how it works? Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

justagrandma	Perhaps its best to ask your grandparents. It seems a lot of you don't like Americans now, but back then, while they didn't officially join the fray, a surprising number of American men and women went in on their own to fight for Britain. When they did come in, they brought fresh troops and material to a very battered country. The spent tons of dollars to help the British people recover, and rebuild. I'm sorry to see so many of you have forgotten what you didn't want to learn, but I'm getting used to the fact that they nation I once thought was the one place where I really wanted to go has become a nation of whiners who sulk about what they once were and will never be again. You guys were brave back then, now you'd just complain that the US wasn't doing enough. Its sad. The repayment of the war debt was completed in 2006. 61 years after it was incurred and the British thought it would be good if we had forgiven that debt. Despite their appreciation of it when they signed for it. If we had wished only to go to war in the Pacific theater we could have stopped there. We did go into the European theater and is it really so surprising that we didn't jump into yet another European conflict so soon after the first? And one more thing...you ought to check into the sympathies of your own government at the outbreak of WWll, Mountbatten the Windsors were fond of the Nazis, and appeasement was the operative word for the the Brits when Poland was overrun. Your own hands aren't clean when it comes to self interest either and you were a lot closer to the action back then. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

rz1971	This is one of those questions that makes me laugh. If the US hadn't helped out in WW2 this question would instead be asking why the US did not help out the Allies in WW2. Truth is Britain didn't win the war, the Soviet Union didn't win the war, the USA didn't win the war, it took ALL three to win the war. Churchill desperately wanted the US to enter the war. It wouldn't surprise me to learn the British government knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor but said nothing about it (how's that for an ally). Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

wiemercats	Yes. Even with the Isolationist attitude here because of the memory of WW1, Roosevelt , under the Lend Lease Act sent arms, munitions, ships, and vehicles in vast quantities to aid Briton, before we were openly attacked by the Japanese. After Pearl Harbor, we sent 1000,s of soldiers to Briton to prepare for the DDay invasion. As well as even more planes, tanks, and food. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

misterblue2m	I can't believe the stupidity of this question...and even worse..the uneducated responses. Put down your iPods, people...read a history book...or newspaper accounts..or best..talk to some of your relatives that were alive then. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

KKE	Yes they did, they joined in 1941 Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

conranger1	another homework question by someone to idle to use a search engine but expects us to do his work for him!!! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

da_zoo_keeper	You don't speak German do you? So I guess they did! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

DANIEL B	Cant you see people write these questions to get Brits and yanks to have a good go at each other... just ignore these questions and they will go away, Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Tammy	Yes they helped us, but only after Pearl Harbour was bombed. Britain was standing alone because the French capitulated as soon as the Germans got to Paris. The Americans (although they would have us believe they won the war for us) then mobilized their army, navy etc. to help in the fight. Before they came in to fight they did provide aid in the form of loans etc but at a cost! However, I must point out that an awful lot of their men came here (before Pearl Harbour was bombed) to enlist in our forces, as did Canadians and Poles. Hope this helps. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Lenny	Yes it is true. If the Japanese hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour, it's likely Hitler would have won. They came in towards the end and helped with resources ie money and machinery and manpower. Also, Eisenhower was a great military leader. The British held off the Nazis in 1940 with the Battle of Britain, but the only reason they weren't able to invade was because the Hitler chose to attack Russia instead which was a big mistake. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

doughnut	The United States aided UK before Pearl Harbor through the Lend Lease program, additionally, we helped the USSR through the same program and that helped the Soviets hang on and eventually they crippled the Nazi's. Also, in the European theater we provided tons or armor to Montgomeries forces that helped him stop Rommel short of pushing the British out of Egypt. During Operation Torch the U.S. took the lead, had they not the Vichy French may have attacked the British (which was a real concern for the Allies) as they landed (the French were still sore about the British destroying French warships in order to prevent them from being used by the Germans). The U.S. provided so much material and manpower to the U.K. that it is insulting to say they didn't help. Additionally, the U.S. stopped the spread of the Japanese in the Pacific thus preventing the British from being forced out of that area. After the war the Marshall plan helped rebuild Europe, had they not done so then the Soviet Union would have had free reign in Europe and the U.K. might have had a Soviet satellite staring at them from across the channel. Other then that the U.S. didn't help the U.K. And besides, I thought that in 1938 Nelville Chamberlain said '"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time." Looks to me you thought you had Hitler under control. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Esmerelda	Wow, what a variety of answers and from here to Mars and back in validity. All I know is my grandfather, who at the time was a 34-year-old husband and father of 3 little kids got drafted by President Roosevelt into the army and wound up in Belgium in the fall of 1944. Most of the guys in his company didn't live past Christmas that year. He came home unable to walk through a metal detector without setting it off and with one less eye. That's not counting the months of nightmares, the years of separation from his family and the hardships they went through on reduced means. My daddy sang on the radio in Pennsylvania as a child to sell war bonds and both my parents and their siblings, aunts and uncles endured rationing of almost everything to further the war effort. Did that help you all in the United Kingdom? How "selfish" was that? Maybe you should be asking the old-timers in Britain how they felt about the Americans entering WWII. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

203	The contribution of the USA in the winning of WW2 in Europe for the allies should not be underestimated. Nor should that of the Russians but that's not for this question. Yes, it was out of self interest though, the USA had declined previous requests from Britain for assistance but the fact remains the contribution made was significant. Despite the valiant and noble perspective applied by government propaganda films (yes we did that too) and some of our historians etc, Britain was on it's knees! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

John L	definately, besides sending troops the supplied us with armaments,money,powdered egg(ugh!)and spam and quite a lot of the poor sods never made it home,so we should be very grateful Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Bluidsalor	This might not be the popular answer but.... Americans kept the British from starving during the blitz. Hundreds of American civilian merchant marines lost their lives running the German blockades providing raw necessities to the UK. Many Americans volunteered (through the Canadian army) to help fight and fly against the German's before America "officially" enter the war in '41. After America's official entrance, they manage to bail out the badly battered "Africa corpse" in the deserts of N. Africa. Not to mention that American support of its air power on the Main Island all but stopped unrestricted bombing of the countryside by the Germans. Yes... I am a Yank, and Yes I served with many British in many Campaigns from Bosnia to Afghanistan. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Capt.Sensible	It's true the Americans helped themselves to our birds whilst we fought them on the beaches. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No