Wikipedia

Anonymous contributor 1707

Joined 7 October 2020

Contributor.Main contributions to WWII military history and stuff relating to that like interwar conflicts leading up to WWII. I also have created numerous articles listing historical military equipment of countries some of which are also not about World War II. Note that my edit history below is not definitive and only lists significant edits to keep a better record of them. Minor edits I have done such as add links to pages like in battles do links to military equipment lists used by both sides or minor text changes as well as adding citations are not put down on this list(too much and not relevant).

I have put images from wiki commons on these articles:

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Articles I have applied infoboxes to:

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Creating articles based on translated material

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This is making articles based off translated sources(not English). The translation is done using Google Translate.

Invasion of Poland undocumented battles project:

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This project seeks to fill in gaps on the invasion of Poland campaign box where battles in the campaign box do not have corresponding articles in Wikipedia. I have used Polish sources to make the articles translated with Google translate.

While doing this project I came into difficulties finding Polish internet sources on the 1939 battle of wegrow because when Battle of wegrow is searched up all sources refer to the 1863 Battle of Węgrów due to its historical importance to Poland far outweighing the battle that took place in the same location in 1939 which was just a battle in the same place in the next century. So because of this I cannot create an article for the 1939 battle wegrow to fill in that gap in the Polish campaign box. If you are reading this and happen to have book sources about the battle or could get them and have the spare time to write the battle up on Wikipedia(if you have an account or you could sign up for one) without breaching any sort of copyright in the process and citing everything to your sources I would much appreciate you finishing off my work.I am doing this project as I am aware the articles will last a long time and be there for people to enjoy(if your in to that sort of thing) and learn from and they will help contribute to Wikipedia's cover of the Invasion of Poland which was a major campaign of the Second World War and so deserves a lot of attention being part of the World's greatest conflict. So if you have the time it would make a difference if you could put the 1939 battle of wegrow on Wikipedia just click on the red link on the battle in the invasion of Poland Campaignbox which is on the article on the subject and you can get started.

A list of articles that I have created for this project

.Battle of Częstochowa (1939)

Authored articles in chronological order(first to most recently created) :

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My work on expanding the List of British military equipment of World War II article( In chronological order of completion for each project which is ordered by first to last start time) :

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Significant users contributors in helping me expand the list:

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Graeme Leggett

Royal Navy in World War II project:

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List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft in World War II

List of Classes of British ships of World War II

List of Royal Navy and other British naval forces military equipment of World War II

Mark XVII contact naval mine

Mark VII depth charge

List of significant user contributors to this project(other than me) : Graeme Leggett

Landmines Project:

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Added anti-tank mines mk 2 to 5 to List of World War II weapons of the United Kingdom.

Changed anti-tank mine names of those listed above to be more specific and accurate.

Created and added to mine list:

Mine articles created and added to mine list:

List of significant user contributors to this project(other than me) :

Graeme Leggett

RAF equipment of World War II project:

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Bayonets project

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Creating lists for military equipment of countries during World War II

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Military equipment of Scandinavia in World War II project:

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I have noted no specific lists of weapons or military equipment in World War II are available for the countries of Scandinavia are available and all of them except Sweden took part in WWII. I intend to do lists of Military equipment for all Scandinavian countries in World War II including Sweden(for the sake of seeing what they had at the time to defend themselves with if they were invaded).Later discovered Sweden already has WWII military equipment list so will not do Sweden.

Military equipment of neutral Western European countries in World War II project:

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I want to do lists of what equipment neutral Western European neutral countries had in World War II. Doing these lists as it is interesting to see what weapons these countries were able to employ if they got involved in the second world war.The lists will be done in geographic order by starting with the most western European country Portugal and then working my way east to cover all neutral countries of Western Europe during the second world war.

Military equipment of Balkans countries in World War II project:

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Lists of military equipment for countries in the Balkans that fought in World War II. As Romania and Bulgaria are already done that just leaves Yugoslavia and Greece which are the countries this project will aim to provide WWII equipment lists for.

Creating lists of military equipment for combatants in interwar conflicts

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Military equipment of the Spanish civil war

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This project will create lists of equipment for all sides in the Spanish civil war including the Nationalists, Republicans, Condor Legion and Corpo Truppe Volontarie and Aviazione Legionara. I believe Soviet units were in Spain but integrated into Republican Spain and so do not warrant a seperate list.Also I will not do a list of Republican aircraft as this already exists on Wikipedia and will incorporate it into my military equipment list article. A list of Condor Legion equipment will not be done as I have realised that the Condor legions aircraft is listed on its article and there were no full sized ground combat units in the Legion. Ground troops mainly trained Spanish nationalist to use German equipment. I have also found that the aircraft of the Aviazione Legionaria is also listed at the bottom of its article and so will not do a list on that.

Military equipment of the Second Italo Ethiopian war

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This project aims to create lists of equipment for both Italy and Ethiopia in the Second Italo Ethiopian war. This project will shed some light on what military equipment Ethiopia possessed during the early 20th century which is a topic not frequently covered. I have created a list of weapons of Ethiopia army and will not create a list of Ethiopia aircraft as this can already be found on the article about the modern day Ethiopian airforce.

Creating lists of military equipment of countries during the Cold War

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United Kingdom

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United States

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Lists detailing this already exist see List of Korean War weapons and Weapons of the Vietnam War

France

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Germany

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Italy

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Spain

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Creating lists of all military equipment ever used by countries

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United Kingdom

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United States

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I was only able to do weapons and military equipment as aircraft and ships had already been done

Australia

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France

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Germany

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Italy

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Canada

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My opinion of the best military equipment of World War II.

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This is my choice on the best military equipment of World War II. This list will not be biased and will be based on performance and production. This list will only deal with standard issue service equipment of the major combatants as other weapons would be irrelevant due to their lack of presence on the battlefield. This list does not indicate what I prefer just what seems to me to best with the data I have.

Best service rifle

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M1 Garand-The M1 Garand was chosen for its high rate of fire being a semi auto rifle. I believe rate of fire is more important than reliability due to most World War II Rifles being at least adequately reliable and more than accuracy as this would not usually matter as long as it was decent as soldiers in World War II would not often shoot at long range. The Lee Enfield No 4 gets an honourable mention for being second in rate of fire to the Garand despite it being a bolt action as well as the M1 Carbine who has a higher rate of fire but was disquafilied as it was meant for second line troops and not actual combat soldiers.

Best service sidearm

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Walther P38-For its futuristic features that kept it with minor modifications and a change of designation in German army service till 2004.

Best service machine gun

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MG 42- Again this design was chosen for its futuristic features having a high rate of fire which made it the best machine gun at most of its intended roles included as a light and medium machine gun as a universal machine gun. This is still in modified form in German army service today as the MG 3

Best service submachine gun

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PPSh-41- For its high rate of fire and ability to use a high capacity drum magazine as well as its ease of production. The Thompson submachine gun gets an honourable mention for its widespread use during World War II by the allies and its high rate of fire.

Best service infantry anti-tank weapon

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Bazooka- Chosen because of its range and high penetration HEAT warhead. Panzerschreck which was similar was disqualified for being a copy.

Best service field artillery piece

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76 mm ZiS-3- Chosen due to its long range and high rate of fire.The high rate of fire makes up for its small calibre.

Best service heavy artillery piece

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M114 155 mm howitzer-based on rate of fire and muzzle velocity. BL 5.5-inch medium gun gets an honourable mention for having performance close to this gun.

Best service anti-tank gun

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Ordnance QF 17-pounder-Chosen for excellent penetration for its calibre and wide availability with 2000 being deployed in Sherman Fireflies alone. An Honourable mention goes to the highest penetrating anti-tank gun of World War II the 12.8 cm Pak 44 and the second most the 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3). These were not selected as they were produced in low numbers and entered service late in the war making them not general anti tank equipment.

Best service light anti-aircraft gun

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3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37-Based on high rate of fire with a good calibre. As the gun is meant to tackle low flying aircraft rate of fire is more important over range. Honourable mention goes to 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) Which was similar and produced in similar numbers.

Best service heavy anti-aircraft gun

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90 mm gun M1/M2/M3-Chosen due to long vertical range and high rate of fire.

Best tank

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M4 Sherman- Chosen mainly due to it being cheap and easy to produce and it having decent armour and armament. While I originally put T-34 here upon doing some further research I realised I had placed too much emphasise on production over quality.The T-34 was actually lower quality than the Sherman which would make the Sherman the superior tank. By higher quality I mean the Sherman was on average more reliable and more ergonomic. This makes the Sherman superior as it matches the T-34 for ease of production and firepower as well as protection so the other categories do not matter and so quality is the deciding factor that makes the Sherman better. Honourable mention goes to the Panther the best performing tank in World War II for having good armour, good mobility and a great gun in a turret while being only slightly more expensive than a Panzer III to make. Not chosen as high quality made it too expensive and time consuming to produce. More tanks is always better than higher quality as a large amount of okay tanks provides more firepower and durability than a small amount of great ones. Although a tank being produced to poor quality will significantly decrease the advantage that comes with numbers. This is because some of those tanks may have defective armour that does not work properly or sights that mean the gunner cannot aim properly or reliability issues. This will lead to the tank having a large decrease in effectiveness due to it not operating properly that will significantly negate a numerical advantage. A significant number of T-34s had production defects due to a lack of materials, expertise and rushed production. This will have significantly lowered the combat effectiveness of groups of T-34s as a whole with some of them likely to have these defects. Shermans on the other hand did not have these defects and that would make a group of Shermans better than a group of T-34s.While this seems unfair the tanks are very close in most of the basic aspects and so looking at overall quality and ergonomics is the only way to decide which is best.

Best fighter

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Focke-Wulf Fw 190- Chosen based on heavy armament and its sucessful use in multiple roles in different variants such as high altitude fighter and fighter bomber. Honourable mentions go to the Spitfire mk IX which had the potential to match a FW 190 in armament with 4 20mm Hispano cannons being possible for the aircraft and performance. Not chosen as FW 190 also had a fighter bomber capability the Spitfire mk IX lacked which had to be filled by another aircraft the Hawker Typhoon. The fighter fulfilling both air superiority and ground strike roles would have made it better as it would have simplified production and logistics for the user only focusing on one type. While some Spitfires were fitted with bombs this was usually only one small bomb making them ineffective as a ground attack aircraft with that role going to the Hawker family of aircraft The Hurricane, Typhoon and Tempest. The FW 190 on the other hand had an F variant for ground attack meant to to replace the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

Focke-Wulf Fw 190- Chosen based on heavy armament and its sucessful use in multiple roles in different variants such as high altitude fighter and fighter bomber. Honourable mentions go to the Spitfire mk IX which had the potential to match a FW 190 in armament with 4 20mm Hispano cannons being possible for the aircraft and performance. Not chosen as FW 190 also had a fighter bomber capability the Spitfire mk IX lacked which had to be filled by another aircraft the Hawker Typhoon. The fighter fulfilling both air superiority and ground strike roles would have made it better as it would have simplified production and logistics for the user only focusing on one type. While some Spitfires were fitted with bombs this was usually only one small bomb making them ineffective as a ground attack aircraft with that role going to the Hawker family of aircraft The Hurricane, Typhoon and Tempest. The FW 190 on the other hand had an F variant for ground attack replace the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. It had a wide array of arms avaliable to it as well as the formidable firepower already present on the FW190 making it a good ground attack aircraft.

Best bomber

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Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress- Chosen based on its excellent defensive armament that covers all angles of attack and its survivability.

Best destroyer

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Fletcher-class destroyer-Chosen due to main calibre guns having a high elavation for attacking aircraft as well as heavy anti-aircraft armament that got continually upgraded on later built ships as the war progressed. Also chosen because of a large number of depth charge throwers that gave a good anti-submarine capability. Honourable mention goes to Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer the best destroyer of World War II overall due to having most of its armament which had a high 80 degrees elevation to attack aircraft at the front which would have allowed to to more easily fire at enemy ships. This was not chosen as it was fielded in less than half of the numbers of the Fletcher Class and late in the war leading to only a small amount of the ships seeing significant service and so were not generally available and so making them not eligible for this list.

Best light crusier

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Cleveland-class cruiser-Chosen due to fairly thick widely distributed armour as well as range and excellent anti-aircraft armament(lots of bofors guns), a large complement and wide availability during World War II.

Best heavy crusier

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Northampton-class cruiser-Chosen due to excellent anti-aircraft armament, high crew complement and wide availability. Honourable mention goes to the Deutschland-class cruiser nicknamed Pocket Battleships by the British which includes the famous German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee due to the class having unusually enormous calibre main guns the 28 cm SK C/28 naval gun. These guns were nearly 100mm greater in calibre than the 200mm main guns used on most World War II heavy crusiers. This class was not chosen as it had significantly less anti-aircraft capabilities compared to the Northhampton Class for mainly relying on 2cm Flak guns(except Admiral Graf Spee which was scuttled before any could be installed) and only 3 were made only 2 of which saw significant service in World War II(Graf Spee sunk at the beginning in 1939).

Best battleship

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Iowa-class battleship- Commonly said to be one of the best battleship classes of all time. I would say it is the best battleship class of World War II as it had the best speed and anti-aircraft armament. I would also call it the best battleship class of all time due to its sheer firepower and long service after Workd War II. Honourable mention goes to King George V-class battleship (1939) for being second which is rather unmentioned in comparison to the Bismarck-class battleship and Yamato-class battleship. While the King George V Class has signfiiciantly smaller guns the Yamato Class and significantly less armour than both the Yamato and Bismarck Class it is arguably better as a World War II battleship as its anti-aircraft capabilities are only outmatched by US battleship classes. In comparison the Yamato and Bismarck Classes had weak anti-aircraft armament by reliance on 20mm calibre guns which had a short range and small projectile for an anti-aircraft gun.

Best aircraft carrier

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Essex-class aircraft carrier-Chosen due to a high aircraft capacity, excellent anti-aircraft capabilities, large crew complement and wide availability as 24 of the class being built making it the most produced capital ship of World War II.

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