I saw an interview with a German Field Marshall who was in prison in England at the time. He was asked who the best allied general was and he replied, “Montgomery and Patton were the best”.
Montgomery has been accused of much the same thing.
I also read where Eisenhower commented that General Simpson, never made a mistake during the entire war as far as he knew.
Then the Germans were just as susceptible to the relentless self-promotion of those two as everyone else. The more I read about both of them, the less impressed I am.
Maybe because he actually faced those two. Bill Slim fought against the Japanese in World War II. Slim was a genuine military genuius, Montgomery I would rate as ‘competent’. He wasn’t a complete fool, but his arrogance sometimes led him to make foolish mistakes.
Orde Wingate was also a military genius, if somewhat lower down the pecking order and slightly prone to madness and eccentricity.
Patton was good at a tactical level.
He was never up to par in formulating the logistics war, which was why Bradley superceded him, and why he was not considered in the same league as MacArthur and Eisenhower.
I haven’t studied the British command enough to know who all their big guns were.
Patton was good at a tactical level.
He was never up to par in formulating the logistics war, which was why Bradley superceded him, and why he was not considered in the same league as MacArthur and Eisenhower.
I haven’t studied the British command enough to know who all their big guns were.