Quote of the day III

" I´ll shoot the next man I hear say that Tobruk has been relieved. It was the Eighth Army that was relieved and it was the men from Tobruk who relieved it."

Brigadier Willison of 32 Army Tank Brigade

 

" Patton has set his tanks to run around in France like bedbugs in a Georgetown kitchen!"

Happy Henry L. Stimson in early Aug 1944

 

" The soldier gone stark mad! "

Halder, Supremo at OKW, in his diary April 1941 on Rommel

 

" No more than a thin strip with several knots tied in it!"

How Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt described the Atlantic wall...

 

"Never in history has the navy landed an army at the planned time and place. But if you land us anywhere within 50 miles of Fedela and within 1 week of D-Day. I'll go ahead and win."

Major General George Patton - November 1942 (Commenting of the North Africa Landings)

 

Nothing is so good for the morale of the troops as occasionally to see a dead general.

Field Marshal Slim

 

'Wouldn't it be a good idea,' I said, 'to put a case of rum in every fourth or fifth plane so as to make sure that when the stuff is shoved out the chaps will really search for it?' Alf Snelling looked at me in the slightly pitying way professionals look at amateurs. 'Sir,' he said, 'I have already given orders that a case of rum should be in every plane!'

-General Slim and Stilwell in conversation concerning motavational methods of encouraging troops to search for airborn supply.

 

There's no need for you to try to teach me. I've been commanding the German Army in the field for five years and during that time I've had more practical experience than any gentlemen of the General Staff could ever hope to have. I've studied Clausewitz and Moltke and read all the Schlieffen papers. I'm more in the picture then you are!

Adolf Hitler in argument with Heinz Guderian

 

"Hess or no Hess I´ll go and see the Marx brothers!"

W. Churchill in May 1941

 

" Facing up to 200 Russians eager to have a nibble at you, or even Spitfires, can be quite enjoyable....but curve in against 70 Boeing Fortresses and all your past sins flash before your eyes."

Oberstleutnant Hannes Trautloft, Kommodore at JG 54

 

" I know nothing more terrifying or demoralising than being dive-bombed - especially at sea. On land it isn´t nearly so personal. But at sea,you´re left in no doubt as to who is the target. What´s more, there´s no question of taking cover."

Anthony Heckstall-Smith Nort-Africa 1941

 

"Anyone who speaks to me of peace without victory will lose his head, no matter who he is!"

Adolf Hitler later in WW2

 

" The last thing you´ll see is seven holes!"

Finnish officer to soldiers who refused to cross the old border Sept 1941 referring to the guns of the firing squad

 

Makes one really, really want to be a "yes" man!

 

"And what do these reserves consist of? Stupid cotton pickers from Kazakhstan, Mongolian half-apes from East Siberia who will run away at the first rumble of the Stuka! I tell you Bock, we have them by the coattails! The motto is: Attack! And attack again! This time there will be no severe winter weather to save them. We will be sitting in the Caucasus and operating their oil fields long before then."

Adolf Hitler on Red Army in summer 1942 before operation Blau´s beginning.

 

Meeting King Tigers for the first time:

“Gunner: They look like Tigers, but they are not. Maybe Panthers ?,
Commander: Fire! And do not ask them about their family name.”

Intercom communication in T-34-85.

 

"It's all an enormous bluff..."

Himmler to General Guderian, late fall 1944, on the possibility of a Soviet winter offensive...

 

" Reich Germans pack your suitcases, ethnic Germans buy your coffins!"

Polish slogan from Litzmannstadt, January 1945

 

This is priceless!

Great quote, Kai

-whatever

-Lou

 

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower