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I've been a regular visitor to Switzerland for many years, until Covid-19 got in the way, that is.
Indeed, my son lives there, and is now a Swiss citizen.
Being a fan of Mark Felton's video stories, and Switzerland, this story of his on Youtube really caught my eye. It seems the neutral Swiss were, at times, engaged in aerial warfare with both the Allies, and the Germans. Hmm..I'd never heard that one before...
In turn, the Americans bombed Zürich and other Swiss cities. These raids were said to be 'accidental'. On one occasion, a raid directed at a south German city 'missed the target' by 250km (in broad daylight ) and bombed (Swiss) Schaffhausen instead. More on such 'accidental' raids can be found here: https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Bombing ... rld_War_II
As someone pointed out, it's lucky the Americans didn't mistake Zürich for Nagasaki.
I know so-called 'precision bombing' wasn't all it claimed to be, but 250km!!?? We can speculate, of course, that this 'navigational error' might have been prompted, 'unconsciously', by the fact that the Swiss were supplying the Germans with ball bearings, and other war materiél. Or, maybe it's because they were jealous of Lindt and Sprungli chocolate. (If you've ever eaten a Hershey bar, you'll know exactly why )
Anyway, do watch the vid- it's something of an eye-opener.

Hi Roy, I heard about this a year or two ago.
Sorry, can't remember where, but it was highly speculated that the ball bearing connection wasn't such a coincidence.

Son of a gun-ner wrote:Hi Roy, I heard about this a year or two ago.
Sorry, can't remember where, but it was highly speculated that the ball bearing connection wasn't such a coincidence.

Yeh, and Mick’s an expert on balls lol


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midlife306 wrote:

Son of a gun-ner wrote:Hi Roy, I heard about this a year or two ago.
Sorry, can't remember where, but it was highly speculated that the ball bearing connection wasn't such a coincidence.

Yeh, and Mick’s an expert on balls lol

Rolling, or talking? Only joshing, of course...
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Like the Swedes, the Swiss had to do business with the Germans and the Allies. Armed neutrality is a way of life in Switzerland- and it has, even now, some formidable defences. It has thousands of bunkers even now- many of them disguised. Things haven't changed much either, in modern times. Many significant blocks of flats, houses, and admin buildings have their own nuclear shelters, despite the end of the so-called 'Cold War'.

Now, I could do with a shed like that- a sort of Tobler-home

Here's another disguised bunker. Had they invaded, the Germans would have had some very unpleasant surprises:

I seem to recall reading about Switzerland many years ago. Many people assumed that Hitler never invaded the country as it was neutral. Apparently this was not the case. The real reason was that it is an entirely mountainous country, and the entire population was not only armed, but knew every mountain trail. It would have been a 1940's version of Afghanistan, and more trouble than it was worth.

also the swiss have mined all of the bridges and tunnels to make life even harder.

given that early war efforts by the RAF had the germans trying to work out the strategy because they were so inaccurate its not a shock

I've been in some of the Swiss fortifications, many of which have been maintained until a few years ago. It would have been a nightmare for the Wehrmacht. They're definitely worth a visit.
Here's an article from the New York times on the WW2 vintage bunkers.
https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/25/worl ... nazis.html

Even in modern times, it's interesting to speculate what would be involved in a clash between the (much depleted- it has to be said) German armed forces, and those of the Swiss.

Any military history/tank enthusiast considering a visit to Switzerland should try out the three main locations listed here:
https://www.festungsmuseum.ch/englisch/
The Museum at Full (the place, not the opposite of empty ), has a fantastic collection of tanks (including several Centurions), and is currently bringing a King Tiger back to working condition.
I've posted some of these details before, but they're worth repeating. One of these days, it might be okay to travel (safely) again...at least beyond one's garden gates. Hope springs eternal.
http://www.koenigstiger.ch/english/index.html