Best commanders of the war.

Agreed Von Poop, and without Alanbrooke, I doubt very much if there would have been a Montgomery.

 

Well, my list is a little odd:

Pre WWII German General: Hans von Seeckt(created the 'elite' 100,000 man Reichswehr, which formed the core of the Heer)(BTW: If anyone can get their hands on a copy of 'Thoughts of a soldier' by Hans von Seeckt, I would pay for it.)


German:
(The of course's)
Field Marshal Rommel
Field Marshal von Manstein
Field Marshal von Rundstedt
Field Marshal von Bock
General Guderian

The not so seldom heard(But good commanders non the less):
Gereral der Panzertruppe Ritter von Thoma
General Eduard Dietl(Mountaineer)

USA:
George Patton
Omar Bradley
George Marshall
(Omitting Joe Stilwell)


Soviet:
Ivan Konev
Vasily Chuikov


Also: Casualties accounts vary, I've seen books state that Soviet casualties on the eastern front were as high as 13.5 million!(?) While most German casualties range from 4.5 Million to 8.5 Million(all fronts). I do not think anyone has a real accurate count.


Bill

[ 02. February 2007, 12:06 AM: Message edited by: BB45Colorado ]

 

Your are the first person I ever heard of saying Joe Stilwell was a good commander.

 

The walk out from Burma was what I was thinking of when I put Joe Stilwell on the list.

Bill

 

I'm suprised Richtoffen (spelling) is not quoted, I believe he was very competent in the way he organized his Luftflotte on the eastern front.

I also share Anzac's opinion about Montgomery (and I'm used to be thrown rocks at for this )

 

Pavel Rotmistrov

"He commanded 5th Guards Tank Army in the Battle of Kursk, and in Operation Bagration. He was removed from command following Bagration, and became deputy head of armoured troops at the General Staff. It is possible that the high losses incurred by 5th Guards Tank Army in the Battle of Minsk led to his removal from command. It is notable that he never held an active unit command again."

Pavel Rotmistrov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just read that he was removed from his position after Bagration and at least in the net not much else.So have to ask...

Was he "sacked" after Bagration, the great victory, for losing an awful lot of tanks in the process? That would show even Stalin does not accept everything even if you beat the enemy to the ground???

 

I doubt that was the main concern. His skills as a technician and organiser were needed at a higher level, simply that. Wasn't Guderian recalled from the doghouse to be appointed armoured troops inspector?

 

Yes, Guderian was recalled 1943, but he was first relieved in 1941...

 

Yes, I know that. It was the paralell I could find. In any case if Stalin would start kicking his generals out for being a bit careless with the principle of Force Conservation he wouldn't be left with very many, Zhukov would be the first to go

 

..his supporters like to think he might have done .... if he'd even been in France at the time ...convinced the Allies would come at high tide, getting himself shot up in open countryside ....so much for his judgement ...not to mention getting himself involved with 'fringe' political elements...Monty all the way the me...

 

Much as I'm a fan of Rommel, his propensity for mood swings and for becoming very discouraged when things weren't going well wouldn't have helped him in Normandy.....

 

You can place a lot of generals in the best or worse categories. Leadership is a strange animal. Some are good all the way up the command tree, others are good at a specific level. Patton was a good front leader, but was worthless away from combat. Eisenhower was so good at the politics of leadership, that he never had the chance to prove his combat abilities. I have a few favorites, but they are more obscure. I am a big fan of William Darby, and I thought Sir Thomas Blamey was what Australia needed. Doolittle was a top choice in my book.

 

As a Canadian (a little biast) I would throw in Guy Simonds. Mabye not a "top ranked" Commander, but he defenatly was a good one. A very underrated one, as any to do with the Canadians in WW2. I think Monty even said he was the best Corps leader in the allied army.

 

Dont know if I mentioned it, but Rommel would not be on my top 5 of German commanders...


ooops I just did the opposite didnt I? Sorry its the rebel in me

 

Stillwells qualification comes from his leaderrship in turning the Chinese corps sent to Burma into a effective fighting force. Chinese soldiers were generally led by corrupt political hacks & exwarlords, they were usually teenaged concripts, ill fed trained and equipped, and usually beaten by the Japanese. There were exception of course. An elite Chinese Corps of two divsions fought the Japanese to a standstill defending nanking in 1938. later maos Red Army inflicted some notable defeats on the Japanese in large scale battles.

Stillwell understood the potiential of the Chinese soldier. He managed to squeeze the equipment for his corps out of the Allied supply pool, forced the Chinese commaders to accept US advisors and to institute a proper training program. And the most impressive of all.. he persuaded the Chinese commaders to actually attack and fight the Japanese in Northern Burma. As a military leader & operational commander he proved himself those three demanding years fighting for Burma.

 

Two US Generals entirely left out are Eichelberger and Krueger commanders of the US 6th & 8th Army. If you dont know who either of those two are you are not qualified to comment on 'Best US Commander'

 

I would say, in my opinion, that the best two commanders of the war would be General Patton, Erwin Rommel, and Richard Winters.

 

Wouldnt that be 3?

 

Bah! Gimme a break I'm tired!

Yeah I meant 3!

 

Well, despite being all-too-aware that I'm not qualified to comment on 'Best US Commander' ( ), I have to admit to rating Joseph Lawton Collins ( 'Lightning Joe' ) for his battlefield command performance in NW Europe, despite his possible weakness of being too quick to fire subordinates.....