What if German generals were switched with their Allied counterparts?

What if Axis generals were switched with their Allied counterparts?

For example, take the case of Erwin Rommel. Would he be still as effective as an Allied general? Or Patton if he was a German general?

Personally, I'd think many of the gifted German generals or leaders would've gotten better if they were Allied commanders. Except for Goring.

Monty or Ike would've shriveled up if they were on the German side. However, I get the feeling that Macarthur would still perform the same, whether he's on the Allied or Axis side. Patton would, too. These two are good on promoting themselves at (I hate saying this) the expense of others. With the very chaotic and cross purposes dealings in the German heirarchy, these two would've thrived.

What do you guys think?

 

This is s dificult question becasue it is the army that makes the general, yes they have personal attributes but it was Germany that made German generals what they were, and likewise with other nation. McArthur would never have gotten anywhere in Germany unless he got in bed with the Nazis. I can not comment anyfurther on this.

 

I agree. The training and conditioning of the German Army was different than that of the American Army. I would say that the Americans would do better with German men and equipment than German Generals with American men and equipment. With the exception of the Air Force and Navy. I think that the German Generals would have been disappointed with the American tanks. Now, they would love the logistics part of it. Now Imagine Patton in charge of an SS Pz Armee. But he sure would raise hell everytime he ran out of gas. "my men can eat their belts if they have to but I gotta have gas".

 

LOL Santa can help with that Patton.

 

Not to mention that a number of German officers such as Guderian went officer school in Russia

 

All the good ones, you mean

 

Good ones? Impossible!! Russia couldnt possibly breed nearly as good an officer as the US or Great Britain!

 

Then i guess Zhukov was a cabbage, in reality Zhukov was in my humble opinion was one of the best Generals in WW2, indeed if not the best General either Axis or Allied, many of the best generals served in the Soviet Army, they learned by hard fought battles and they copied and bettered the Germans, essentiall fighting the German at their own game, but i have always stated the one main factor of the eventual destruction of the German Army was the direct interference by Hitler right down to Battalion level, this did not occur on the Allies side of things, although Roosevelt/Truman were commanders in chiefs of the US Army they did not interfere what the commander in Europe had planned they just basically rubber stamped operations, same with Churchill, and Stalin as well.

So i say if the roles were reversed the same outcome arises, Zhukov and his ilk would face consistant interference by Hitler, and never knowing where they stood in regards to battle tatics.

 

All Saints in Heaven!

Roddoss, will you kindly explain to us the reason for latest bouts of rationality?

I'm even inclined to give you positive reputation!

 

What if German generals were switched with their Allied counterparts?

Mrs Rommel would get a hell of a surprise when her new husband Monty came home from the desert?

 

LOL ! "Darling, why the hell growing a mustache !"

I agree with you, by the end of the war, they achieved some large scale combined arms mobile operations that even the Germans would have deemed impossible.

Dear Za,

I'm afraid you are the number 1 suspect for hacking Rodoss' account

 

By God, I cant believe my ears! Who are you and what have you done to Roddoss?!?!

The Dnieper Crossing is a perfect example, as even Manstein was astonished at the speed and proficiency at which it was accomplished and later himself wrote about this in his memoirs......

 

Shit, how did you find out so fast!

 

She would fly in to a anic:then after a couple of drinks :lol: and finally after drinking the whole bottle.

 

Uh you mean that they went to the base/proving grounds that had been set up for combined armor testing? Pretty sure it wasn't a "school". But I could be wrong, it happens all the time.

 

To Za, i call it as i see it, i still maintain that if Hitler had an hands off approach and allowed his Generals to conduct the war as they saw fit in regards to dictates of what is happening on the battlefield and allowed them the flexibiltiy to decide for themselves and not to run to Papa Hitler for every decision down to Battalion level, they could have defeated the Soviets.

And to the rest, i am still the same, but your comments made my day thanx.

 

And I will be stubborn and state that Hitler only told his commanders as to what he wanted accomplished, NOT how to accomplish it, was left to his commanders.

 

Oh come on, mate, everyone knew that Hitler interfered in everything that occured on the battlefield, but you make an interesting point, i agree wholeheartedly that he did tell his generals on what he wanted accomplished no doubt about that, and did just about everything to hinder in carrying out what he wanted accomplished.

 

I have to agree with this one. Hitler did have the tendency to micromanage things to the point that nothing almost moved without his authorization. Case in point was Overlord. The German staff had to wait for Hitler to wake up.

 

We are now starting to go of topic a little bit, but I just cant resist!

It is easy to point a finger at the man in charge and sometimes Hitler may very well deserve it. However, the German commanders themselves suffered from imperfection just as the rest of us mortals. In many cases when the Germans were beaten was due to not Hitler interfering but simply due to the Germans being outsmarted, outmaneovered or simply got a very nasty surprise which they were not prepared for.

Kursk is an example. Hitler said where he wanted the attack to take place, but gave his General Staff considerable control over the planning of the battle. The General Staff had absolutely no idea the kind of forces the Red Army had secretly amassed for the counter attack nor the sophistication of their defenses.

Operatioin Bagration would be even a better example of how the General Staff was deceived as to where the attack would take place which resulted in the complete destruction of Amy group centre.