How many theaters were there in WW2

[mike_the_wino]

Mrs Wino and I have a disagreement over how many theaters of war in ww2. How many theaters are 'recognized? I say Western front, Eastern front, Pacific and Africa. She says European and Pacific only (Africa counts as European). This all started over a claim in L. Ron Hubbard's wiki article claiming that he 'served in all five theaters'. Yes, that is BS claim. But it was the basis for the # of theaters discussion. So I beseech the wisdom of the hive.

Mrs. Wino has disallowed use of wiki so links to 'serious' sources only.

Thanks all.

[Runyan99]

First, it is a strange argument to have with a wife.

Second, you should assume anything coming out of the mouth of L Ron Hubbard is bull****.

Third, you and your wife are both wrong. There are three theatres. East, West, and Pacific. Africa counts as West.

[Michael Emrys]

Depends on how you are defining theaters. If you go by what the Allies themselves defined as a theater there were three in the Pacific alone: Pacific, South Pacific, and Southwest Pacific. After the conquest of Bougainville, the South Pacific theater was shut down and its forces distributed between the Pacific and Southwest Pacific.

Then there was the China-Burma-India theater.

There was a Middle East theater which after August 1942 included everything between the Suez Canal and India.

There was the Mediterranean Theater which from November 1942 on included North Africa (which briefly was its own theater from September to November until it was folded into the MTO), Italy, Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, and for a while the south of France.

There was of course the ETO.

The Atlantic was for all practical purposes a theater of operations having its own joint US-UK-Canadian command. Until the middle of 1943 this was the most critical theater for the Western Allies.

Finally, there was the vast Eastern Front.

So that's nine right there. Obviously the extent of these theaters was fluid. Some, like the Western Front in 1940, shrank while others grew. As noted above, the Middle East Command was split in September 1942 (actually the orders were given in August, but these things take time) into two parts to simplify administrative matters, a move that most agree should have taken place over a year earlier.

Michael

[Affentitten]

You could go by something like campaign medals too. So the Brits themselves recognise Africa as being distinct from Italy, plus add Burma, Atlantic and Pacific onto the Western Europe medals.

Even the Americans distinguish between North Africa TO (oiginally under Eisenhower) and then Mediterranean TO under Wilson and then Alexander.

[Magpie_Oz]

Von Clausewitz defines the term as one that:

"Denotes properly such a portion of the space over which war prevails as has its boundaries protected, and thus possesses a kind of independence. "

So that means that Theatres are non-contiguous, or put simply a theatre of war is surrounded by areas that war is not taking place, kinda.

So by that definition it is going to change year by year but in general you might say :

Eastern Europe and Western Europe (either side of Germany), North Africa (Morocco to Egypt), Middle East (Egypt to Persia), Africa (various fights in French territories and Madagascar), Mediterranean (Greece, Italy etc) , China, "South" Pacific or just Pacific (because of American Command : Hawaii to PNG and Phillipines), South East Asia (because of British Command: Borneo to India)

separate Naval theatre for The Atlantic

Air war Theatres being determined by their bases?

Questions

1. you were wiki'ing L.Ron Hubbard because ........ ??????? !!!!!!!

2. How do I get my wife interested in such debates? (She only wants me for my body atm)

[Michael Emrys]

2. How do I get my wife interested in such debates? (She only wants me for my body atm)

Is she planning on selling it to science?

Michael

[Magpie_Oz]

Is she planning on selling it to science

Are you wanting to put in an offer Mick ?

[mike_the_wino]

Second, you should assume anything coming out of the mouth of L Ron Hubbard is bull****.

Too true. And this version of 'facts' was put out by the Church of Scientology, so you know they 'polished up' events even more.

As to how we got on to the subject of L. Ron in the first place, we were watching a show called 'Off Limits'. Basically the host breaks into cool, old buildings and talks about their historic significance. This episode featured the hospital LRH was stationed at during WW2 but they were a bit fuzzy if he was staff or a patient. Either way, the implication was that he developed his epic mid-f*ck theories here, during the war, while experimenting with wounded soldiers traumatized by war. Nice. I hope he is nice and toasty in the 9th layer.

[Affentitten]

Serving in X theatres is kind of a meaningless claim anyway. The implication is that you were somehow involved in firece and courageous stuff all over the world.

My great uncle qualified for the Africa Star because he arrived in Tunisia 2 days before the campaign medal cut-off date. He spent the next couple of months playing football and doing gun drills before eventually heading off to earn his Italian Star and a fatal encounter with a Nebelwerfer.

[Stalins Organ]

Mt Hubbard's military record make for some pretty sorry reading -

"lacking in essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation"

"found "unsatisfactory for any assignment""

http://www.lermanet.com/L_Ron_Hubbard/

and check here for false claims - http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies1204.htm (search for his name - it's about 1/2 way down)