The best WWII general?

[Papewaio]

Erwin Rommel. A tactical genius, he was undersupplied, under equipped, and had few reinforcements. Yet he managed to hold off the British in North Africa for an amazing amout of time, and even beat them in the beginning...

If we are talking about generals then we should be picking apart their strategy more then their tactics.

Rommel lost North Africa for the same reason that the Italians did. He ran out of supplies running back and forth across the desert. Add to that the amount of captured troops that was not insignificant and that he was quite foxy in not being their to lead them in the end.

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My countrymens bias is for Bernard Freyberg and I choose him not for his victories but for his defeat on Crete. Where with a force that was lacking in heavy weapons, radios and a sorely dented command structure after the loss of Greece he managed to do some serious damage to the elite German paratroopers. In fact the damage done was so extreme that despite winning Crete with the largest airdrop to that point in history the Germans never tried that style of attack again. For some reason the New Zealanders and the German Paratroopers went head to head in a few battles.

As to the worst General in history (despite still being venerated by the command staff in Australia) is the sycophant General Thomas Blamey... read this article about the Kokoda Track Campaign and what he said to the troops at the end of it.

[Haudegen]

I´ve heard of that General Freyberg, but I am not very impressed of him. As far as I know the heavy losses on Crete occurred because the Germans underestimated the number of Allied troops on the island. I don´t think we can blame Freyberg for this. However the men under his command fought very bravely.

But he can be blamed for the senseless destruction of the Monte Cassino abbey.

http://www.silvasplendid.com/abbazia_Montecassino_2.htm

[English assassin]

If we are talking about generals then we should be picking apart their strategy more then their tactics

A sensible point in which case Rommel should be rapidly demoted. He absolutely should have pulled back to the Egyptian border after being stopped at First El Alamein. Give Monty the problem of the supply line accross the desert, and a wider battlefield would have played more to Rommel's strengths than Monties. Torch would still have done for him but he could probably have retired from the western desert undefeated.

If war is the continuation of politics by other means then my vote goes to Mannerheim after all. Not for the Winter war. That was well conducted no doubt but ultimately IMHO turned more on the fighting qualities of the Finnish soldier, and, after all, the Soviets did eventually get what they wanted. Instead he gets my vote for the continued survival of Finland as a country outside the USSR/Warsaw pact. How many other countries went to war against Stalin and acheived that (none).

[Tribesman]

Since EA has mentioned Slim , how about Wingate ?
Outstanding tactics and strategy , unorthadox and unconventional , but inspired and effective .

[KrooK]

Talking about Zhukov - have you heard about Seelow battle.
Stupid, unnecessary loses. Anyway if Konev lost more soldiers than Zhukov - it doesn't mean Zhukov was great. Remember that we should compare it with other generals, not only with Russians. We must remember that Russian commanders into WW2 often got big advantage in humans and equipment.
So I don't think Zhukov was superb general - hi simply was well general.

[Pindar]

von Manstein

[orangat]

No one has yet mentioned operation Mars which was a costly and spectacular failure for the Russians under Zhukov despite the advantage in materiel and manpower. Some historians think the failure was covered up to protect the reputation of Zhukov to build him up as a hero.

[Pannonian]

If war is the continuation of politics by other means then my vote goes to Mannerheim after all. Not for the Winter war. That was well conducted no doubt but ultimately IMHO turned more on the fighting qualities of the Finnish soldier, and, after all, the Soviets did eventually get what they wanted. Instead he gets my vote for the continued survival of Finland as a country outside the USSR/Warsaw pact. How many other countries went to war against Stalin and acheived that (none).

The Soviets only occupied European territory where it would protect them against any future invasions from the west. Hence the band of countries neighbouring Germany acting as a buffer. Greece had Communists who were eager for Stalin's support, but it was a strategically unimportant area so Stalin left them to be mopped up by the British.

[Papewaio]

But he can be blamed for the senseless destruction of the Monte Cassino abbey.

http://www.silvasplendid.com/abbazia_Montecassino_2.htm

I did say I selected him for his Defeat not his Victories.

Mind you as always I will lay the blame on those who setup their battle line across the Monte Cassino abbey and who then occupied it once it was rubble.

BTW it has been sacked and rebuilt about half a dozen times in its history. Being a heavily fortified structure on top of a hill kind of makes it a strategic location and hence prone to being taken over.

I dont know about the best during WWII but my fav. would have to Rommel. He did great in Invasion of France and in N Africa

Considering the Tunisia Campaign ended with the General *cough, cough* absent and 275,000 or more of his troops as POWs it wasn't really such a great time in North Africa.

[Franconicus]

My countrymens bias is for Bernard Freyberg and I choose him not for his victories but for his defeat on Crete. Where with a force that was lacking in heavy weapons, radios and a sorely dented command structure after the loss of Greece he managed to do some serious damage to the elite German paratroopers. In fact the damage done was so extreme that despite winning Crete with the largest airdrop to that point in history the Germans never tried that style of attack again. For some reason the New Zealanders and the German Paratroopers went head to head in a few battles.

Pape,

I have a book called "Military blunders" and the defence of Crete is an example for bad troops.

I can read it if you like!