06 Maestro
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Joined: 10/12/2005
From: Nevada, USA
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There is another aspect to the OP assumption; what could have been/should have been made available to the Wermacht at earlier dates. For instance, the high velocity 50mm gun for PZ Mk III's. In late '38 PZ commanders (generals) were pushing for the 50mm tank gun. It was not chosen due to input by the QM General-the argument being that the infantry were being fully equipped with the 37mm already and there was a need to standardized ammo requirements. Hitler came up with the compromise the the new tank would be equipped with the37mm gun but the turret would be modified to be compatible with the 50mm at some later date-if needed.
The result of the above situation was that Germany entered the war with an average main tank. It could have entered the war with a very superior tank. The weapon was available, it was in production (for corps AT Bn's) and could have been utilized as those with the knowledge wanted. With one little decision going the other way, the battle for North Africa would certainly have turned out much different-there would be little discussion as to who had superior equipment. Although the different gun would not have had such a great impact during Barbarossa, it certainly would have made things much easier for German tank forces.
Another silly part of the above situation is that when the order came to re-equip the MkIII's (in mid 1940) with the 50MM gun, the wrong one was installed. You can take your pick as to the reason, a general misunderstanding instruction, Hitler bumbling his sentence, or perhaps a high level clerical error-I don't know if it was ever pinned down as to what went wrong. The bottom line is that what would have been a vastly superior tank for the first 18 months of the war was not properly armed until 2.5 years into the war. By mid '42 is was clear that the Mk III was rapidly becoming useless.
The above situations were played out in other area's as well-especially regarding aircraft-not even considering the lost possibilities of jet aircraft which Germany did in fact have an impressive lead in.
I read somewhere, perhaps true, that German manufacturing companies were controlled by designer/engineer types whereas the western Allied manufacturing CEO's were more of the production type manager. It seems that there is some truth in this. Germany had fully developed over 40 new a/c during the war-while the US created about 10 IIRC. The number and superiority of the new German designs are impressive. However, the reality is that effort was a horrible waste-one that could not be afforded. All the development took a/c plant space that could have been used for production. The time involved for a new design was also much longer than to simply improve existing types-more waste.
Germany was lacking the organization that was prevalent in the Allied nations that was required to make sound decisions as to just what to invest in. The result was an impressive amount of stuff that was not ever even put into production-some of it was foolish anyway.
Germany did have a clear superiority in some areas. However, that does not mean that all their equipment was better. The Allies developed the weapons that they knew would win the war; superior long range fighter, the proximity fuse for AA, sonar, early development of radar, excellent trucks and so on. On average, I think the western Allies would have to get the prize for superior and useful technologies.
About the US Army artillery; I am under the impression that it was the "best" during WW2. It was not that the guns were better or crews better trained. It had to do with the amount of time that artillery could be brought to bear on demand. This was not always a case of all the guns a commander could want being present, but a very good flow of information from recon, forward observers and tactical intelligence. There were several cases of planned German attacks blown to bits-before they had a chance to leave their assembly area's. Of course, during several battles the amount of ammo available was astounding-even for battle hardened veterans.
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Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.
Thomas Jefferson
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RE: The "myth" of superior German equipment? - 
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