Re: Normandy
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Posted by Brad Sallows from Burnaby BC Canada on April 22, 2021 at 16:15:30:
In Reply to: Re: Normandy posted by Jules Deschenes on April 22, 2021 at 15:28:46:
You are correct; Patton (and 3rd Army) were not under Bradley until
3rd Army was activated along with Bradley's 12 Army Group. Nonetheless,
for practical purposes their relationship was commander (Bradley) and
subordinate (Patton) prior to then.
When discussing disasters, try to place Market-Garden in perspective. The
British lost a division. This pales alongside Dunkirk, mass Italian
surrenders in North Africa, the opening weeks of Barbarossa, Stalingrad,
Falaise, Bagration (destruction of Army Group Center in 1944), etc.
When you speak of "soldiers" having no use for Monty, I think you are
confusing senior officers (all of whom have egos and are substantially
opinionated, if the various military memoirs and "histories" are any
indication) with the rank and file. Too bad for their bruised
sensibilities if Monty didn't accord them all the attention and respect
they felt due. Monty was popular with his enlisted men. Many officers
found Patton equally as difficult to work with, or for, as they did Monty.
Bradley himself thought Patton's one-upmanship in Sicily with Monty to be
a wasteful exercise at the expense of Patton's troops.
Can you be more specific about the degree to which Monty screwed up ops
and needlessly cost soldiers' lives? In particular, can you show he was
worse than other senior commanders of WWII, on either side?
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