[Jim P.]

Calling the LW mediorce seems a bit naive. Undermanned and overwhelmed is probably a better description. Once the Soviet Union and U.S. entered the war, the end result, barring any huge bonehead moves on the part of the Allies, was a foregone conclusion. Germany (and Japan) did not have the manpower, resources or industrial capacity to match the Allies. The only question was how long would it take. As the previous poster said, there are a lot of dead airman who would have considered the LW 'remarkably efficient'. I'm sure that there are 10s of thousands of Allied infantrymen, tankers, etc. who would concur.