Uncorrect unity names

[Brancaleone]

There's some error about italian unity names. The correct name of the general is "Gariboldi" (not "Garibaldi", the XIX century leader!). And the cruiser was "Caio Duilio" (not "Ciao Duilio", that means "bye bye, Dulio!". A very inauspicious name, it isn't?). If you build an italian carrier, name her "Aquila": this was the name of the first carrier of the italian Navy, destroyed by bombing when building.

[dgaad]

I think all the Italian ships should have a name that starts with Ciao.

[JayJay_H]

If you build an italian carrier, name her "Aquila": this was the name of the first carrier of the italian Navy, destroyed by bombing when building.

Yeah, and the first german carrier should be named "Graf Zeppelin"! (So far i know, that project never got finished)

[EB.]

Fully agreed--spelling should be corrected. I am disgusted by the all-too-common mistakes in spelling in wargames, especially concerning Soviet officers and cities. What really kills me is when they use German spellings for Russian names. What a shame. You would think that they would check their work or have somebody with language skills check it for them.

[dgaad]

Its hard to keep track of the latest version of the spelling of Russian towns, since they changed so often, and usually with the current political wind.

Tsarytsin---->Stalingrad---->Volgograd

St.Petersburg---->Leningrad---->St.Petersburg

Yousovka---->Donetsk---->Stalino---->Donetsk

etc. And thats just in the last 90 years.

[Archibald]

You missed out Petrograd.

The second German carrier was to be called Peter Strasser. It might surprise some of you to see how far the jerries got with building Graf Zeppelin: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/germany/carriers/grafzeppelin/pictures.html

[Brancaleone]

Originally posted by Archibald:

You missed out Petrograd.

The second German carrier was to be called Peter Strasser. It might surprise some of you to see how far the jerries got with building Graf Zeppelin: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/germany/carriers/grafzeppelin/pictures.html[ /QUOTE]

... and this is the italian carrier "Aquila":

http://utenti.lycos.it/aereofan/sal3/aquila2.html

[RicKhan]

I wish i could change the names of leaders in HQ's.

Wanted to see Konstantin Rokossovski, as a Soviet General to choose from.

The best Soviet General next to Zhukov during WW2, IMHO.

maybe his name is to long to fit in that little box.

Oh well...

For now i just add his name to a Tank unit.

[I/O Error]

Excuse my ignorance here: I know what happened to the Aquila, but what DID happen to the Graf Zeppelin? Just bombed into submission, never quite completed, captured by ground forces in the docks, or what?

[EB.]

Rokossovsky--a great military leader.

In the period of de-Stalinization, Khrushchev asked Rokossovsky to join in the anti-Stalin crusade and gave him a list of things to make public statements about--all of which concerned Stalin's so-called "mistakes" in the war. Rokossovsky took a long look at the list and told Khrushchev, "I cannot do this, because these are all lies. Why would you want to say such lies about Stalin?" Khrushchev told him that it was necessary to consolidate the new regime and that it would be very beneficial for Rokossovsky in terms of money and position to join along with Khrushchev's anti-Stalin campaign. However, Rokossovsky strongly refused and told Khrushchev "Poshol na khuy! Tovarishch Stalin--sankt!" (literally: "F### off! Comrade Stalin is a saint to me!") For sticking to his principles, Rokossovsky was punished by Khrushchev.

Similar story applies to Zhukov. However, Zhukov at first took Khrushchev's offer and joined in the attack upon Stalin, spouting off what he knew himself to be lies against Stalin. After a while (specifically after Khrushchev betrayed and demoted Zhukov), Zhukov changed his line and began yet again to defend Stalin's role as war leader, saying that nobody else could have done so well as Stalin. Khrushchev after his ouster was very strongly against Zhukov for turning back to Stalin.

Anyway, Rokossovsky is a saint to me.

[RicKhan]

EB, i think you will appreciate this short/long article. One of my main reasons for considering Rokossovsky, a superior military general was his concern for the common foot soldier, which he started out as in WWI. He deserves special mention in any WWII game with leaders. IMHO

KONSTANTIN ROKOSSOVSKY by Lyubov Tsarevskaya On June 24, 1945, the Red Square in Moscow was jam-packed with troops preparing to march down the country's main venue in celebration of the great Allied Victory over Nazism. The moment the giant clock high up the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower chimed ten, Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, who commanded the Victory Parade, spurred his jet-black horse and galloped on to report to Marshal Georgy Zhukov whose snow-white stallion had just passed through the Spasskiye Gate. Rokossovsky considered the one-in-a-lifetime chance to command a Victory Parade a sign of profound appreciation of his long service to his country. This program is about the life and work of one of the greatest military commanders Russia ever had? Konstantin Rokossovsky was born on December 8, 1896. His father was a Polish railroadman and his mother was Russian. When Konstantin was still a teenager, his father died in a railway accident, leaving the family high and dry. Mother died shortly after and Konstantin had to leave school and look for a job. After trying his hand doing all kinds of manual jobs, he eventually landed one with a tombstone company. When World War One erupted in 1914, Rokossovsky volunteered to the frontlines started out as an enlisted man and them moving up through the ranks to become a petty officer. He fought well, was wounded twice and awarded the St.George Orders for valor of 4th, 3rd and 2nd class. His successful military career was briefly cut short by the 1917 revolution, but the Bolsheviks who took power shortly after, needed professional military men and thousands of low rank officers formerly serving in the Imperial army were now joining the Red Army. It was there that Konstantin Rokossovsky's military shone the brightest. Still a young man, he already had a whole division under his hand and was fast moving up through the ranks. During Stalin's purge of the military in the mid-1930s, Rokossovsky's very successful career was cut short again. He spent two and a half years in the GULAG on a trumped-up charge, and all that time he kept insisting he was innocent. Just like so many other jailed Red Army commanders, he was released on orders from the then Soviet leader Josef Stalin in March 1940 when the Second World War was already raging in Europe. But momentum had already been lost. Who knows, maybe Hitler's invasion of June 22, 1941, would have been little less surprising if Konstantin Rokossovsky had then been working at the General Military Staff? His strategic talent didn't take long showing itself, though. Encircled and heavily outnumbered by the advancing Nazis, he managed to break through, crushed the enemy and, unaware of the overall situation at the front, sent a message to his superiors asking for a permission to move on and take Warsaw. He was ordered to fall back, though, and, even though they never gave awards for retreats, Rokossovsky was decorated for getting his army corps out with minimum losses. The Nazi Generals were quick to appreciate his strategic talent and feared him. Here is just one example of that German respect for the much-talented Soviet commander. In 1941 the Red Army was trying unsuccessfully to claw back a small town in Belorussia. Rokossovsky was ordered to move in and help. He sent out an open radio message saying he was coming clearly wishing it to be intercepted by the Germans. And intercept they did abandoning the town without a fight! Rokossovsky's role in routing the Nazis in the great Battle of Stalingrad is equally hard to exaggerate. In a textbook operation, he encircled the more than 300,000-strong German army commanded by Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus. It was to Rokossovsky that the vanquished Nazi commander surrendered his gun. The victory in Stalingrad made him famous all over the world. Other major battles ensued, including the Battle of the Kursk Bulge, but the operation to liberate Belorussia in 1944 became the most brilliant battle he ever fought. In Moscow Josef Stalin and his top commanders were discussing the details of the Belorussian operation. Rokossovsky suggested the Red Army stage a two-pronged attack. "Why scatter our forces? What about striking hard in one place instead?" Stalin said, and, apparently decided, concluded in a no-nonsense voice: "That's exactly what we are going to do." Rokossovsky dug his heels. "A two-pronged attack is a better thing to do? First, we engage the main forces on the right wing and, secondly, we severely restrict the enemy's freedom of movement. And, thirdly, even a single successful strike will put the enemy in a serious predicament?" Annoyed by Roikossovsky's abstinence, Stalin asked him to leave the room and think about the original proposal. Rokossovsky walked out, gave the whole idea another thought and, getting back, kept defending his own plan. Incensed, Stalin told him to leave and think again. Minutes later, Rokossovsky walked in and stuck to his guns again. Arguing with Stalin was no joke and only a handful of daredevils had the guts to stand up to the all-powerful dictator. Rokossovsky had and Stalin eventually agreed with him. What happened next proved amply proved Rokossovsky's point. Hundreds of thousands of crack Nazi troops were encircled and destroyed, and the Belorussian operation is still studied in military academies around the world. The operation was codenamed Bagration after the outstanding Russian commander of the same name who died fighting Napoleon's invasion in 1812. The operation was also named so because Stalin affectionately called Rokossovsky "my Bagration." Stalin fully appreciated the brilliant success of the whole operation promoting Rokossovsky to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union? Konstantin Rokossovsky belonged to that very rare breed of commanders who are equally good in retreat and in advance. Profoundly educated and cultured and a great organizer too, he was loved and respected by all. He was also very handsome, elegant and proportionally-built. "A beautiful man who fought beautifully," Marshal Georgy Zhukov once said of him. Marshal Rokossovsky ended the war in Vismar, Germany, where on May 3, 1945, his troops met with the advance units of the 2nd British Army. Field Marshal Montgomery bestowed upon him the Order of the Bath which only added to the impressive collection of decorations awarded him throughout his long and successful career. Still, Rokossovsky's biggest award was the one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to command the Victory Parade on the Red Square on June 24, 1945, presided over by Marshal Georgy Zhukov with the Commander-in-Chief Josef Stalin looking on from the Lenin Mausoleum. "Comrade Marshal, the troops of the Red Army and the Moscow garrison are ready for the Victory Parade!" Rokossovsky's voice reverberated through the sprawling square. He handed Zhukov the report and the two Marshals rode, side by side, somber-looking and resplendent in their flashy uniforms, with their white and black horses trampling the vanquished Nazi banners, right into Eternity?

[I/O Error]

That was a good read RickKhan, but I assume it was from a non-English site? (Merely curious, there are lots of punctuation errors) Anyway, thanks for sharing that.

[dgaad]

I agree with the assessment of Rokossovsky as a military leader. Its important to note that this officer was nearly annihilated in the Purge, as so many of his compatriots actually were murdered on equally baseless charges.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Crimes of Stalin, I urge you to read, as a start, the speech given to the 20th Party Congress which outlines in great detail the nature of Stalin's crimes against humanity, which can be found here.

20th Party Congress

[dgaad]

*

[ October 24, 2002, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: dgaad ]

[Archibald]

Originally posted by I/O Error:

Excuse my ignorance here: I know what happened to the Aquila, but what DID happen to the Graf Zeppelin? Just bombed into submission, never quite completed, captured by ground forces in the docks, or what?

Never completed and without ehgines, the Graf Zeppelin ended the war scuttled in Stettin harbour. She was refloated by the Russians and loaded with war booty before being towed away to Russia. She survived till 1949 as a floating target.

Her sister ship Peter Strasser never made it off the slipway before being cancelled and broken up. http://members.tripod.com/EFaust/grafzepp.htm gives an interesting potted history.

[Archibald]

Originally posted by RicKhan:

I wish i could change the names of leaders in HQ's.

Wanted to see Konstantin Rokossovski, as a Soviet General to choose from.

The best Soviet General next to Zhukov during WW2, IMHO.

maybe his name is to long to fit in that little box.

Oh well...

For now i just add his name to a Tank unit.

Couldn't agree with you more RicKhan. If you think Konstantin Rokossovski is too long, you should try typing in Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth. IMHO the finest air commander in the British Empire if not the world! http://www.biggles.nl/en/ gives more information. Never mind at least I can name one of my RAF air fleets "666 Squadron" in his honour.