I’ve always been interested in history, including WW2 which is one of the reasons I’ve been so upset with TV stations like the “History Channel” as of late, for not living up to their name along with most of what we call “educational TV” today. On the bright side, you can still find plenty of educational things dealing with actual science or actual history here on the internet, so long as you know where to look. earlier today I came across this Gem on Io9. It deals with an important historical subject, that I haven’t discussed that often, mainly, what were the biggest mistakes, the allies made, that could have cost us the war.

Hindsight is 20/20, especially when it comes to second guessing the harrowing decisions that have to be made during wartime. But sometimes we have to be critical, if we hope to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. With that in mind, here are the most egregious blunders made by the Western Allies during the Second World War.

Above photo: Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

A few caveats before we get started. I’m not going to include the blunders made by the Western Powers leading up to the war, nor am I going to include the mistakes made by the Russians (who were technically part of the grand alliance). Those both deserve lists of their own.

Also, I don’t mean to pick on the Allies, here. Axis forces were equally blunderous — if not more so — than their enemies, especially after Hitler took command of the German army in December 1941. But as already noted, it’s still worthwhile to be critical of the victorious forces.

Finally, I made an effort to choose mistakes which spanned the entire war and all the war theatres. I also felt it important to draw-out both “high level” mistakes and those with more immediate, but brutal, impacts. Given the complexity of war, I’m not going to pretend for a moment that my list is definitive or complete; You, the reader, are more than welcome to be critical in the comments and add your own.

Here’s the list, ordered chronologically:

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