Quote:
Originally Posted by Legbreaker
Shhhh! I was hoping nobody would actually check! (I neglected to) 
Even though those units left after the bulk of US forces, it was only a few thousand men and occured once the US equipment had been handed over to German units. It's also very likely that it was becoming more and more apparent no further Pact offensive would be forthcoming, at least in the next year and certainly not over winter. |
LOL...sorry mate...
To be fair, I can see why you reached that conclusion - whilst it doesn't make any definitive statements, istr Going Home does suggest that any UK evacuation isn't likely to take place until sometime in 2001. Perhaps Omega serves as a catalyst for HMG to decide to stage its own evacuation. As to why only a portion of the BAOR is brought home, perhaps there was a political dimension to it, with an agreement reached between the British and German Governments that some troops will stay, or perhaps it's as simple as there was only enough shipping / fuel available to bring home two Divisions in one lift.
At the risk of debunking my own theory, it does seem like the earlier the remainder of the BAOR pulls out the much less likely it is that XI Corps would be able to make it to Bremerhaven to join them.