Still, by the time of the Sicily campaign and planning for Overlord there were not enough officers capable of leading a field army effectively. That's why Ike saved Patton's bacon in Sicily by giving him a reprimand to head off having him ordered home. And Ike surely needed commanders. Hodges has always struck me as a mediocrity. Ike knew he would need a commander who could take the initiative and gain ground in the Normandy Breakout and he surely got that in Patton.
Marshall had also known he would need Patton and had waived his mandatory retirement, and let him more or less write the book on US armored warfare. In a way, Patton’s getting relieved prior to the invasion of Italy was a godsend to him. The terrain of Italy made the combat brutal and slow, and led to Churchill’s making one of his famous (or infamous) remarks about allied forces there.
Bradley had never got to combat in the first world war, though he sought it. He had a great head for logistics, and imho was more like a grocer than a general. He was competent, but only just. His most important quality was getting along with Ike and staying clear of as much risk as possible. In the movie “Patton” I thought Karl Malden for Bradley was particularly apropos casting, given his holier-than-thou approach to other characters KM had played.
diary entry:
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/wc-trans215.html
NYT obit:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1111.html