The Invention That Won World War II

[Sherman A1]

Thousands of flat-bottomed boats plowed through rough seas under cold gray skies. The smell of diesel fumes and vomit was overwhelming as the small vessels lurched toward the beaches. Waves slapped hard against the plywood hulls while bullets pinged off the flat steel bows.

Frightened men in uniform hunkered down beneath the gunwales to avoid the continuous enemy fire. Suddenly, they heard the sound of the keels grinding against sand and stone. Heavy iron ramps dropped into the surf and the men surged forward into the cold water toward an uncertain fate.

It was 6:28 a.m. on June 6, 1944, and the first LCVPs – Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel – had just come ashore on Utah Beach at Normandy. D-Day and the Allied invasion of Europe had commenced.

Less than four months earlier, the patent was issued for those very boats. Andrew Jackson Higgins had filed his idea with the U.S. Patent Office on December 8, 1941 – the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Now these 36-foot LCVPs – also known as Higgins boats – were being manufactured in the thousands to help American soldiers, marines and seamen attack the enemy through amphibious assaults.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/invention-won-world-war-ii-180972327/?

[TomSlick]

1. I visited the WW-II Museum in New Orleans years ago.

There was a Higgins boat on display. The docent standing by the boat and answering questions rode one to Normandy on D-Day.

It was mind blowing.

[Hoyt]

2. My dad said he was talked into joining the Coast Guard right after Pearl Harbor because

the recruiters told him the CG would be one of the first to invade because they piloted many of the landing craft. He didn't end up doing that, which was probably good because he was pretty blind.

I remember one of the first models I got as a kid was one of those land craft, an important part of the war effort.

Interesting article. Thanks.

[Girard442]

3. The most influential weapons of WWII were pretty unglamorous, like the Jeep and the C-47 (DC-3).

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Yeah, radar gets way too much credit. nt

[Doc_Technical]

5. Adding to the list;

The M-1 Garand rifle
The M-4 Sherman tank
The LST ship (Landing Ship Tank)
The anti-aircraft proximity fuse
walkie talkie hand held radio

[Sam1]

6. T-34

You forgot the Soviet T-34 tank.

Here is a clip from the movie "Cross of Iron":

Showing it in action.

The vast majority of the German Army was committed to the eastern front. So the Red Army should also be added to the list.

[Mendocino]

7. My father was an ensign

later Lt(jg) on LST 938.