The father of my roommate in college had the unique experience in WWII of serving or being dragged along with four different armies. First as a draftee with his native Italian forces in North Africa, then after his unit was more or less obliterated by the British he was picked up by the Germans and was with them for a few months. Then captured by the British and eventually giving over to the Americans to work as an interpreter for the Sicily invasion. Be eventually ended up in Middletown, Ohio where his son Julius, my dorm roommate, was born. I asked him in his opinion who were the best soldiers. Without hesitation he said the Germans. He saw a few Germans hold off platoons of Americans or Brits and work like machines. It took overwhelming firepower to overcome them. How times have changed.
“Without hesitation he said the Germans. He saw a few Germans hold off platoons of Americans or Brits and work like machines.”
That’s always the kraut excuse when they get their ass kicked. The French stopped em and held them in WWI. The Russians beat them like a drum. The US army went from Normandy to deep into Germany in less than a year.
And still it’s always, “the German soldier is the ultimate soldier, only defeated by human waves and firepower”. The fact is that they were outfought from the level of General down to NCO and PFC.