" 'Divide and Conquer'. Let this be an example of how not to organize a chain of command." General der Infanterie Blumentritt, Chief of Staff to OB West during the invasion of Normandy.
Yes. This would have been a much more profound observation had it been uttered *before* D-Day. Divided command is never a good idea in war.
Actually, Blumentritt made the remark when he had to write a report on "the German army situation before, during and after D-day" for the American War Department just after the war. He wrote it in hindsight, but was perfectly aware at the time he was in function that his chain of command was unworkable.
"First came japs and pushed us to the jungle. Then came marines and pushed japs to the jungle. Then came seabees and no more jungle!" - Unknown native from Bougainville
There is this (probably apocryphal) story from Bougainville, where the mud was apparently infamous for its depth: A newly arrived soldier on Bougainville notices another soldier up to his neck in mud. "That's got to be the deepest mud I've ever seen," says the newcomer. "It's deeper than you think," replies the other. "I'm standing on top of a Seabee and his bulldozer!"
I don't remember the exact quote or who said it at the moment,but I'm surprised no one mention the British at Arnhem 'refusing' to take the Germans prisoner.Was it Johnny Frost or one of his subordinates?
never in the history of mankind have so many commanded so few. said by some american on d-day wen all the people that he found were officers.
"Here come the last fifty Spitfires." Attributed to unknown German airman over South East England, August 1940.
Have you seen my gun (spike milligan after his artillery gun went the edge of a cliff and onto a convoy)
I'm glad all those Germans speak English otherwise we had to translate all those quotes...... "...now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds..." J. Robert Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavad-Gita The exact quote from the Bhagavad-Gita is: If the radiance of a thousand suns Were to burst at once into the sky That would be like the splendor of the Mighty one ... I am become Death, The shatterer of Worlds.
"We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or we shall be crushed." -Josef Stalin to those opposing the pace of his industrial program, February 1931.
Not a WW2 but still a good one: '' If you ran out of ammunition use beyonettes'' Kemal Pasha at Gallipoli
"I fooled Hitler!" Stalin (dancing) , Aug. 23th, 1939. "And what now?" Hitler to Ribbentrop, Sept. 3rd, 1939.
Dunno if these have been mentioned already: It is better to die on your fee than to live on your knees. - Emiliano Zapata Same kinda: Better to die for something than to live for nothing. - George S. Patton This is good: Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaghter. - Winston Churchill
"Whatever happens, we will always remain good friends!" I.V. Stalin to German Ambassador von Schulemburg, (embracing him, having just signed a non aggression pact with Japan) - (March? 1941)
