Quote of the day III

" ANother few seconds please, Mr Executioner!"

De Gaulle declared that the time gained by the Munich Agreement (1938) resembled the poor Comtesse du Barry´s famous last words beneath the guillotine.

 

" A war of movement belongs to the past.Everything speaks against offensive actions.If an opponent tries to attack our front line, he will quickly get a bloody nose. Tanks are useless, it goes without saying."

In 1938, General Chavineau, one of the most respected teachers at the Ecole de Guerre

Pétain also wrote the preface to the General Chauvineau´s book. It was unusually long, 17 pages.There was a suspicion that Pétain contributed to the book more than merely his preface....

 

"You are remembered for the rules you break. "

Douglas MacArthur

 

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog"

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

“Lady Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea.
Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it!"

Churchill

FT

 

One of my all time favorite quotes.

 

" When we have almost achieved a day and age without mysticism, he,Himmler, starts it all over again!"

Hitler´s comment to Speer...

 

He knew him good enough to say this! And if you have seen Himmler´s Ordensburg, you will believe it.

 

"We become strong, I feel, when we have no friends upon whom to lean, or to look to for moral guidance."

Mussolini

 

In Potsdam Churchill introduced Cherwell to Stalin: " The man who had been advising him about a balanced use of our resources for the war effort, drawing his attention to shortfalls, and generally keeping his eye on the whole scene of government, to inform him if anything was amiss;in fact he acted as a kind of Gestapo for him."

Stalin, who showing a sharp wit and knowledge of the recent British election campaign , replied immediately: " I thought it was only Mr Attlee who had a Gestapo!".

 

" The British are good at paying taxes, but detest drill. The French do not mind drill, but avoid taxes. Both nations can still fight, if they are convinced there is no other way of surviving;but in such a case France would have a small surplus and Britain a small army."

Winston Churchill 1937

 

I thought Vince Lombardi said that.

In keeping with the spirit of the thread.....

"uh-oh" The unknown German soldier that first caught sight of the Allied invasion fleet off the coast of Normandy, a few seconds before the bombardment commenced.

 

" I fear he thinks he is a great soldier and he was determined to show it the very moment he took over command at 1200 hrs on July 23. He made his first mistake at 1205 hrs;and his second after the lunch."

Monty on General Harry Crerar in 1944 ( The Generals by Jack Granatstein )

 

" The German Sepherd dog probably played the most important role in Hitler´s life: it was more important than even his closest associates."

Albert Speer post-war

 

"If I thought of Himmler as a stork in a lillypond then Bormann seemed to me like a pig in a potato field."

Walter Schellenberg

 

Four things won the Second World War, the bazooka, the Jeep, the atom bomb, and the C-47 Gooney Bird"
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

"I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war. "

Georges Clemenceau

 

When the Americans were searching for a site to make a cemetary in Margraten, the found a stretch of land that was suitted excellent for the cause. The member of the townhall who was present at this occasion, protested by saying the land was on of the best for the local agriculture and farmers. The American officer of the Graves Registration Unit responded by saying:

"Listen Joe, even the best soil ain't good enough for our boys".

 

Like the bird we can't fly. We can't see, and we are rapidly becoming extinct.
- Anonymous New Zealander January 1944 Monte Cassino

(The Kiwis lost 50% during the Snake Head's Ridge attack.
British light aircraft dropped rations by hand to soldiers trapped on Hang Man's Hill.)

 

As far as the British are concerned, there ... is a congenital inability to think in terms of large-scale manuevers with an Army Group or even an army.
General Juin, 27 April 1944