Talk:Möhne Reservoir

Latest comment: 11 years ago by Sca in topic "Destroyed"


Untitled edit

This needs to be merged with Möhnesee as they are both about the same thing.--Cancun771 (talk) 19:16, 3 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

- No there's no need to merge. Möhnesee refers to the municipal district, not to the Reservoir from which it's name comes. -- — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.194.60.18 (talk) 14:52, 28 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Significant Impact of attack? edit

I'm not sure if it is justified to call the industrial damage a "significant impact" (despite the number of destroyed structures), when (as already mentioned) the industrial production level was back 4 months later and the whole dam was completely repaired 5 months later. Of course it is discussible, that the efforts necessary for this result, were drawing resources from other (probably) decisive places.... But the effect of the attack itself must have been estimated so low by the British, that another attack wasn't attempted throughout the rest of the war.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.70.45.52 (talk) 13:48, 22 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

"Destroyed" edit

Technically, in English, destroyed is an absolute term; thus. From Webster's online:

Definition of DESTROY
transitive verb
1 - to ruin the structure, organic existence, or condition of <destroyed the files>; also : to ruin as if by tearing to shreds <their reputation was destroyed>
2 a - to put out of existence : kill <destroy an injured horse>
b - neutralize <the moon destroys the light of the stars>
c - annihilate, vanquish <armies had been crippled but not destroyed — W. L. Shirer
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/destroyed

Note the quote from William Shirer, a prominent journalist of the era and sometime historian of the war.

It's part of the erosion of our language that nowadays destroyed often is employed in casual use when what is meant is "damaged." In this case the appropriate phrase to describe the effect of the — in my view malicious — "bouncing bomb" attack on the Möhne Dam would be heavily damaged, as the attack made a large break in the dam that was subsequently repaired. However, I decided on "breached" as a more specific term to describe the damage.

Sca (talk) 16:14, 2 April 2013 (UTC)Reply