Okay, so this one's probably only of relevance to Kiwis and Aussies as this series has just finished here...

Recently the History Channel showed the last of it's series titled 'The Greatest Battles of WW2' - all selected by popular vote from any viewers who could be bothered logging on to the History Channel website and selecting six of the 'best' from the available list.

The countdown finished tonight with the Battle of Britain being listed as the GBOWW2 - previously, we'd had (six thru two) El Alamein, Atlantic, Kursk, Normandy and Stalingrad.

The final list shows a clear leaning towards Northern Hemisphere battles.

There were many Pacific theatre options available (from memory Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Okinawa), yet interestingly none made the final cut - given the importance of the Battle of Guadalcanal in turning back the Japanese move south, I'd have thought maybe Kiwis and Aussies might have voted this more highly, especially as there are many who fondly remember the 'friendly Invasion' here in NZ.

Personally, I think the whole was an exercise in subjectivity anyhow - but I'd agree with the list as it stands.

As to why we (Kiwis and Aussies) voted for overwhelmingly Europe-centred battles, that's a toughie - maybe those who voted just really really dig Panzers..?

acav out

The fight in New Guinea was a very long drawn out affair and also helped to keep Australia as a usable base for the length of the war.

Also the Battles in Burma were certainly useful in keeping large amounts of Japanese men and material tied up.

A good deal of times when the “Greatest” of World War II are mentioned the Pacific is forgotten. Had the battles if Coral Sea or Midway gone the other way what would have been the long term damages to the Allied war effort.

I totally agree with Stalingrad and Kursk being in the top 6. The Battle of Britain and The Battle of the Atlantic were also very important in the outcome of the war. Greatest lists are certainly very objective and never totally agreed upon.

The way the series was set up as a viewer popular vote certainly made for a subjective result. Also, given that the HC had offered a limited number of choices - inevitably based on which particular documenaries they had on hand - this certainly influenced the outcome.

I think the brief was which battles Most Influenced the outcome of WW2 so the ones listed make a great deal of sense in a European context.

No doubt there was also a certain bias in that - in this case - Kiwis and Aussies (at least the subset of those who watch the HC and then the further subset of those interested enough in the subject matter to seek out the website and actually cast votes...) still tend to view the war against the Nazis as the main part of the war.

I'm not suggesting that any of us in this part of the world disregard the Pacific War - ask the people of Darwin about that!
And there was certainly a very real sense at the time that the Japanese could reach New Zealand - certainly there were at least two Japanese submarines (and one German) in NZ waters during the war, a floatplane launched from a Japanese submarine overflew both Auckland and Wellington and mines were laid in our waters.

I'm not offering any answers, just some speculation.
Perhaps there's a feeling today that the Pacific War was somehow less important than the war against the Nazis - after all, we are constantly reminded of the evils of that regime, yet somehow the Japanese are let off the historical hook, despite the barbarous nature of some of their acts.
It may be a failing of education or awareness or even some form of misplaced 'political correctness' (if I can use that debased expression) that plaecs the defeat of the Nazis higher than the defeat of the Japanese.

Certainly if New Guinea had made the list, I think it may have rated a place, or maybe not since the selection was based on battles which influenced the outcome of the war..
But - like the Burma campaign - I don't think many people today realise the extent of those particular struggles.

Interesting though...

cheers
acav out

Sorry mate but I would have put Stalingrad at the top as to the turning of the War to an end.
Just my 2 cents which is worth around .000001 cent at todays market.