Quote:
Originally Posted by themistocles khan
This day being the 70th anniversary of D-Day, who do you rank as the best commanders of WWII and why?
We've already had this discussion. In fact, it is (barely) still on page one of the list of threads in this forum.
My response to the question in that thread still stands.
Ofc, that thread got derailed for a while by our resident troll.
The main problem with your question is you are asking us to compare apples and oranges and grapes and pineapples. The commanders you listed had vastly different roles. Another is that it is difficult to compare commanders in similar roles but very different circumstances.
A more meaningful comparison might be to rank the American Corps and Army commanders who served in NW Europe against each other.
For a bit more controversy, rank the Allied Army and Army group commanders serving in NW Europe against each other. Here's a list:
12th Army Group
Bradley
First Army,
Bradley, Hodges
V Corps
Gerow, Huebner
VII Corps
Collins
XIX Corps
Corlett,
McLain
Third Army
Patton
III Corps
Millikin, Van Fleet
VIII Corps
Middleton
XV Corps
Haislip
XII Corps
Eddy
XX Corps
Walker
Ninth Army
Simpson
XIII Corps
Gillem
XVI Corps
Anderson
21st Army Group
Montgomery
Second Army
Dempsey
I Corps
Crocker
VIII Corps
O'Connor, Barker
XII Corps
Ritchie
XXX Corps
Bucknall, Horrocks
First Canadian Army
Crerar
I Cdn Corps
Foulkes
II Cdn Corps
Simmonds
I'll suggest a partial ranking, (alphabetical order when more than one of a class):
Best Army Group Commander:
Montgomery
Best Army Commanders:
Bradley, Dempsey
Best Corps Commanders:
Collins, Horrocks, Middleton, Simmonds
Other OK Corps Commanders:
Crocker, Foulkes, O'Conner, Ritchie, Walker
Good and Bad points:
Gerow
Worst Corps Commanders:
Bucknall, Millikin