Best commanders of the war.

I am personally a huge fan of both Katukov and Guderian. It's hard to say which one I like more I would probably be leaning towards Katukov.

 

Started Glanz´ book "Zhukov´s greatest defeat" a while ago.

Just wondered that according to Glanz already in July 1942 Zhukov had an offensive with Western Front´s left wing north of Briansk which had little effect to turn the German attention towards the Army Group Center.

Then in August 1942 Konev´s 30th and 29th Armies Northeast of Rhzev and to the south 31st and 20th armies attacked. On 6th Aug the 6th and 8th tank Corps joined battle and also the 2nd Guards cavarly Corps. There was amajor tank battle lasting three days....The operation petered out after 23rd August....

Sounds like another massive offensive really. Must admit I did not know of these.

 

The more I read on the Rhzev operation the more I think of it as Zitadelle with sides changed...

 

Rommel

He'd have held Normandy on D-Day if he'd been given the Panzer Army he'd requested and not just a couple of divisions of tanks...

 

As this was created during my absence from the forums here is my list:

Manstein
Guderian
Rommel
Von Runstedt
Chuikov
Patton
Monty to an extent

Same old names, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Miller are u the type of guy who roots for the bad guy in the movie??

And is there a reason why you picked those commanders and in that order?

 

Ha,no I usually don't root for the bad guys. But it just so happens that a lot of the best commanders of WWII happened to be German. The names on that list were in no particular order either.

 

Ha,no I usually don't root for the bad guys. But it just so happens that a lot of the best commanders of WWII happened to be German. The names on that list were in no particular order either. </font>[/QUOTE]Thanks for the response I agree, a lot of the best commanders happen to be German

 

I doubt it. Lots of Panzers were thrown into action right from the start at both Sicily and Salerno in Italy and at both amphibious assaults they were stopped dead by a combination of tenatious defense by the Allies on the ground and devastating naval gunfire. Normandy would have been (and was to the degree 21st Panzer got into action immediately) no different.

 

The best commander of WWII was they guy who kept you alive, kept you unwounded, kept you moving forward, kept you fed, kept you winning, and brought you home.

Who fits that bill?

 

I have to agree. I think a lot of the best generals in the war were the Germans. Its a lot harder to attack then it is to defend, and given the odds the Germans were faced with numerous times, along with 'modern' technology, it wasnt just tenacious fighters that saw them conquer europe and North Africa.

I like Millers list, except for Monty. Sure, he might have been good at saving lives, but thats because he didnt move anywhere!

 

It is amazing that the Germans had so many top commanders at the one time.

Any military having half that many would have thought themselves fortunate.

Ever since Moltke took over a very good General staff in the 1860's Germany had been top class.

AS for Monty.......
Monty was a good Commander, essentially because he understood what his men were capable of, took care of them, wrote plans that took full use of all allied advantages and negated as many German ones as they could, and got through his campaigns without major reverses. If he wasn't a Rommel, that's because he didn't need to be to win, and Clark showed that having good cards in your hand didn't prevent horrendous mistakes.

 

How about this list, in no particular order:

Zhukov
Vasilevsky
Rotmistrov
Kravchenko
Rotmistrov
Pliev
Rokossovsky
Govorov
Chuikov

I'm not adding more for fear of boring you

 

You ignore the fact that for all his pazaz, Patton was an ass. Great leader without a doubt, great commander? I am not so sure. A good commander would never have shot himself in the foot so often with idiotic behaviour. More to the point, he expressed his desire to 'carry on to Moscow.' Keeping in mind that there was only one army in Europe capable of continuing to fight and that was the RKKA, Patton's idea was nuts.

How about some of the lower level commanders? O'Connor for one, 'Mad Jack' Churchill for another.

 

I am going to agree with Za, as much as I respect many German commanders and consider them to be on the top list above Patton and Monty, Manstein,Guderian and Von Runstedt just to name few. I simply cannot ignore the achievements that the soviet commanders have accomplished under nearly impossible circumstances. Not to mention defeating the best of what the German leadership had to offer...

I would pick Zhukov over any and all commanders of the war.

Second would be a little more difficult.... probably Manstein or Rokossovsky

 

I'll admit that there were some good Russian Generals, but very very few can be better then the mentioned Germans. The Russians had millions upon millions of soldiers and tanks that they threw at the Germans. There were supplied by the US. The Russian Wave Attacks wasnt a 'smart' way of attacking. If you had a huge ratio of troops etc vs. a small ratio of troops, in the vast expanses of Russia, you'd probably win too.

 

Actually the number of dead German and Russian troops on the Eastern are not too far apart..

German casualties are slightly above 10 million..
Soviet casualties vary from 9 to 11 million..

Also take into consideration that the first 3 million soviet troops were captured or killed within the first 9 months of the war, almost caught completely by surprise........Which is usually the case when one side is caught by surprise ( huge losses ).

Also wave attacks were more common in the beginning of the war rather then the end...As desperation set in..

 

Oh and correct me on Soviet casualties please if I am mistaken.


thanks

 

Greetings to everyone!I think i 'll agree with ANZAC about Manstein,but i 'd put Rommel 2nd and Guderian 3rd.For the Allies,Patton was the best then Eisenhower and 3rd Monty and then Bradley!

 

As Alanbrooke's not been mentioned I feel I must add him.
One of the finest and most effective military men of the entire war.
Enormous personal effect on the whole strategic course and a damned fine record on the ground in europe prior to Dunkirk & before rising to CIGS.
Tamer of Churchill and leading light in the 'Germany first' strategy and one of the few people on earth who could look Stalin in the eye and keep up with his Vodka consumption.
Cheers,
Adam.