Who was the most underrated General?

For the Americans Id say Alexander patch commander of the 7th army... he wsnt glamorous like patton but his stats as a general speak for themselves

 

I would say Stillwell, Ridgeway, Walker (36th) because he had to work under Clark, but still a 1st rate Infantryman's General.

Would anyone think Kesselring? He made Clark look like a silly brat while fighting defensive battles..

 

also admire a couple Colonels.. Colonel William Orlando Darby... THe father of the modern US army rangers... And AND YES HE was a NAZI scumbag Otto Skorzeny....Still as far as speical operations old Otto knew his stuff

 

Can you ever post without the whole 'Nazi scumbag' routine... I dont know who you trying to convince but can we drop it now? Its a little irritating...

I agree with Otto Skorzeny, though whether he was an ardent nazi is open to debate... He certainly showed the way forward in terms of special operations.

He also owned a farm just down the road from where I live.

Others who are underatted...

Slim
O'Connor
Hobart
Bayerlein
Student

 

Here are a couple in from my book.

~Ivan Chernyakhovsky

~Alexander Gorbatov

~Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin

 

Sorry Red But Otto was a Scumbag party member

 

Good old Sepp Dietrich, not the brightest, but a tough brawler, brave and loyal like a German shepherd, an inspirational leader, loved by his men who he always looked after. Always, one of my fav's, Patton could learn how to respect his soldiers from this guy!

 

William Slim for what he achieved in turning a dejected and defeated army into a force that went on to defeat the largest Japanese land army of the war in Burma.
Konstantin Rokossovsky - viewed by the many German senior officers as the best Red Army General. Always seems to be in Zhukov's shadow but for me deserves to be seen in his own light. Crucial roles at Stalingrad, Kursk and Operation Bagration - and all this after being a victim of Stalin's purges.

 

How about:

Sibert
Middelton
Walker

I wish I knew more about our other Allies. Many more out there I'm sure.

 

Alanbrooke.
Remains absent from popular perceptions of the history of WW2, yet was easily in the 'top ten' of people that forged the eventual Victory over the Axis. In any other country he'd be a major national hero but, as is our national way, we allowed this modest man to pass into relative obscurity.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

Sibert, with the 6th ID fought a terrible jungle war in New Guinea, and then The Phillipines. Sibert was KIA. I think the highest ranking General KIA.

Walker,36th and Middelton,45th always fought textbook infantry battles and were loved by their soldiers. The problem was they served under Clark.

 

One more I'd like to add, General Robert Fredrich, 1stSSF, Airborne Commander in France, and latter the 45th.

9 purple hearts, jumped with his troops after 1 practice. He almost got shot by his own sentry on Mt. Delafenisa he was that close to the front line. I personaly believe him to be the bravest of all.

 

There a good few I could name, but I'll just mention the one that came to mind first.

Richard O'Connor. In two months his 13th corps of 30,000 men had taken 130,000 Italian prisoners in North Africa. If he had of been allowed to push on he and his army could have got the entire Italian army out of North Africa in the first half of 1941.

 

For the british Id say Hugh Dowding. he was the commander of the fighter forces in the battle of britian and beofre the war he had the forsight to see the valueof radar and develop tactics for using it and this is a big reason why they brits won this victory in my mind.. hes pretty unsung

 

general robert macon of the 83rd infantry (the rag-tag circus.) if he wasn't he wouldn't have the need to 'requisition' that many vehicles.

 

Bill slim commander forgotten 14th army purely for devilsadvocates sake i would like to prove that his idea of slim as nothing special is NOT TRUE.See www.burmastar.org.uk?/slim or see other posts that support Slim as the great general in other posts on this forum.Read defeat into victory by the man himself, Slim the standardbearer by ronald lewin, Slim master of war by robert lyman OR JUST READ ANY BOOK ON THE BURMA CAMPAIGN TO FIND OUT WHY THIS MAN WHO WENT FROM PRIVATE TO FIELD MARSHAL AND WHO'S MEN CALLED UNCLE BILL WAS SUCH A GREAT GENERAL.

 

Guess what, WTID45. I've read far more books on the CBI and spoken to far more veterans of the CBI than you will ever dream of. My faculty counselor in college was Dr. Erb, who just happened to have served in the OSS in Thailand, Burma, and Indochina during WW II. I spent many an afternoon listening to stories of conditions in the CBI and who was doing what to whom during WW II. I'll say this for Colonel Slim; if he had served anywhere else than Burma, and in any other service than the moribund British Army there, he probably would have ranked among the better leaders of WW II.

But just coming back from a series of humiliating defeats, for some of which he shared responsibility, and learning how to win against the enemy who has defeated you, doesn't qualify him for greatness in my book; generals are supposed to be able to do that. Hell, if that was all it took, MacArthur would have to reckoned a great general and leader of men by someone other than himself and his sycophants.

 

Ill also toss in general james gavin of the 82nd ABN div and Terry Allen of the 1st Infantry