it was a single pistol... walther ppk 7.65mm.... the one that kill Hitler...

quote from Band of Brothers final episode " he should have kill him self 3 years ago and save the trouble...."

at least, when he dies the ETO dies too.........

just my 2 cents

the decisive weapon in my opinion was the bomber, not just heavy but medium and ground attack the A-bomb couldn't have been dropped if there wasn't a B-29 to carry it then there was the day and night bombing of germany hampering their war machine plus the bomber put the end to the battleship as queen of the sea it was high altitude and torpeado bombers that sunk the japanese fleet in the pacific and it was lancaster bombers that sunk the tirpitz so for me the bomber in whatever guise they came won the war Ant.

The bombing of German factories did little to impede its military. Most of their manufacturing had been or was moved to underground bunkers. One of the most important being their ball bearing factory. Most of their airforce, later in the war, was assembled in these bunkers. Other than the destruction of Imperial Japan's navy, bombers had little effect on its army. They were dug in to underground bunkers and tunnel systems. Bombers were able to strike the mainland in operations near the end of the war. The invasion of the mainland was estimated to take the lives of 100000 Allied servicemen. The Enola Gay made short work of Japanese moral and military machines.
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The bombing of German factories did little to impede its military. Most of their manufacturing had been or was moved to underground bunkers. One of the most important being their ball bearing factory. Most of their airforce, later in the war, was assembled in these bunkers. Other than the destruction of Imperial Japan's navy, bombers had little effect on its army. They were dug in to underground bunkers and tunnel systems. Bombers were able to strike the mainland in operations near the end of the war. The invasion of the mainland was estimated to take the lives of 100000 Allied servicemen. The Enola Gay made short work of Japanese moral and military machines.
e

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i agree with your point Matt to a degree yes the germans did move their factories underground so the heavy bomber raids on their industry was not as effective, but even with these underground factories the Luftwaffe would never again retake the skies because of the manufacturing capability of the US which the germans nor the japanese could bomb, but on another note the allied fire bombing of cities like Hamburg and Dresden though questionable now really hit the Nazi moral. The same can be said for the fire bombing raids on Japan itself, which caused more deaths than Horishima or Nagasaki. also the fact that the allies had air superiority meant the german armoured units had no freedom of movement and neither did their logistical units because of being dive-bombed by rocket armed Typhoons, Tempests and Thunderbolts of the allies on the western front and the Il-2's of the Soviets on the Eastern front. the allied armoured units however could move by day or night unimpeded. but i agree the nuclear bombs did shorten the pacific conflict but they still needed a bomber to get them there lol

The nuclear bombing of japan was not really an important part of the war. The war was pretty much already over and the US wanted to test out its new bomb on living people. ...

I agree with everyone, but we need to clarify...are we talking about the most important piece of hardware, or the most important weapon? Soldiers (at least to the generals) are considered weapons...

My vote for the most important piece of non-living, non-biological equipment has to be the 500lb General Purpose bomb, the 30.06cal rifle round, and the .50cal round. Without those, we'd be throwing rocks.

Of course, the M1, CCKW, Jeep, C-47, B-17, B-24, P-51, Fletcher Class destroyer, Essex Class carrier...the list is endless really...hell, we could even say that the most important weapon of WW2 was the decoding of Ultra and Orange, or a box of rations...there's valid arguments for all of them.

Its kinda like saying what's the best beer out there? No one is going to agree as we all think _____________ is the best beer.

J

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The nuclear bombing of japan was not really an important part of the war. The war was pretty much already over and the US wanted to test out its new bomb on living people. ...

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What part of 100000 expected American casualties do you not get?

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The nuclear bombing of japan was not really an important part of the war. The war was pretty much already over and the US wanted to test out its new bomb on living people. ...

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What part of 100000 expected American casualties do you not get?

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I guess that means that 1 American soldier is worth 4 Japanese women, children, and old men, Matt?

It was a war crime, Matt. Collective punishment of a civilian population is a war crime.

I think we are getting confused about what weapon ENDED the war and which weapon DID THE MOST to end WW2. As much as I do not like what the Japanese did (Unit 731, Rape of Nanking, Battle of Lake Khasan, Battle of Khalkin Ghol, ETC) The Nuclear bombing was still a war crime.

The soviets were on the border of Manchuko and were going to free their Chinese comrades after the war sooner or later, even if the Allies were not fighting them at the time. NOTHING the Japs had at the end of the war could compare to new soviet weapons like the SKS, LA-7, and the Stalin tank. Admittedly this could have been because of pressure from the war in America, but occupying the whole of China gave them a hard time too.