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Old March 13th, 2003, 04:19 PM
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whose the best british WWII commander? and why?
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Old March 13th, 2003, 06:18 PM
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General Claude Auchinleck

I don´t know about all the mentioned Generals but I do have respect for Auchinleck for stopping Rommel at El Alamein!

He may have picked wrong guys to lead his troops ( Ritchie ) but when he himself did the leading the results were quite good, I think.

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http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Qu...lalamein1.html

Rommel believed this bluff would break what was left of Ritchie's nerve. Here he made a major miscalculation, for Auchinleck had replaced his army commander, and had himself devised an effective plan of defence. This was first to block Rommel's attack and then to launch counter-attacks against weaker Italian formations, compelling the German armour to divert from it's own purposes to the task of bolstering their allies.

Applying his operational plan, Auchinleck struck time and again at Italian positions, forcing the Afrika Corps to dance to his tune. Rommel bided his time, waiting for the arrival of 260 reinforcement tanks from Tripoli, together with 164th Infantry Division that had very belatedly been made available to him from Crete.

On 9th July, Rommel occupied 'Bel Q', jubilant to find it undefended, but the next day the new 9th Australian Division routed the Italian Sabratha Division at Tell el Eisa, forcing Rommel to divert 15th Panzer north. Two days later, Auchinleck routed the Italian Trieste Division and again Rommel was forced to respond. On 14th July the New Zealanders and 5th Indian Brigade routed the Italian Brescia Division in its turn, and all Ruweisat Ridge was cleared of the enemy. The Italian Pavia Division was captive or in full flight behind Brescia Division and Rommel desperate, had to use his dwindling number of tanks to patch the line. On 17th July, he was about to launch an all-out armoured blow against 8th Army's center in a new breakthrough attempt when he learned that Trieste and Trento had been routed in their turn by the Australians on the coastal sector, and 90th Light Division had come off worse in a contest with 4th Light Armoured Brigade west of Alem el Onsol, after making a limited penetration southeast of the El Alamein defended zone.

Rommel had failed. His health was breaking down - he was suffering from a liver complaint, a duodenal ulcer and severe nasal catarrh. Even worse, he found himself militarily 'off-balance'. But to convert defeat into disaster for the Axis proved beyond Auchinleck's skill. Auchinleck had lost 13,000 casualties since 1st July. But he was expecting two new armoured divisions from the canal base - namely 8th and 10th - two new infantry divisions (44th and 51st Highlanders reconstituted after the disaster following Dunkirk) and a hundred self-propelled guns. Furthermore, he had inflicted 22,800 losses on the enemy, including 7,000 prisoners.

Auchinleck was not destined, however to reap the benefits of his achievement. On 3rd August, Winston Churchill arrived in Cairo, and five days later informed Auchinleck that he was to hand over to General Alexander, Commander in Chief of the Middle East.Churchill had never been able to forgive him for the fall of Tobruk at the beginning of his period of command.
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Old March 13th, 2003, 06:37 PM
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I would go for Alexander followed by Browning and Horroks
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Old March 13th, 2003, 06:49 PM
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I chose O'Connor because he was a good divisional commander and had he not been captured, the would have been more daring then the other British Generals.
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Old March 13th, 2003, 07:30 PM
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Personally i chose Field Marshal Viscount Slim of Burma, full title, as imho he had the best operational grasp of any of britians wartime commander. look at his advance to Rangoon in 1945. He had all the attributes which made Montgomery great but none of his downfalls.

I have to agree that O'Connor was great at the start of the war, but he was stupid to go up to XIII corps command post and get himself captured. this was something an army commander should not have done. His captured placed the british in a position where they suffered a series of reverses that was admittedly stopped by Auchinleck and then reveresed by Alexander and Montgomery. O'Connor though was never the same commander, and in Normandy didn't show the smae flair he had in the Western Desert
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Old March 13th, 2003, 08:32 PM
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I picked Auchinleck too, but almost picked Alexander.
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Old March 13th, 2003, 08:33 PM
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Interesting, so far no one has actually picked Montgomery.
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Old March 13th, 2003, 08:37 PM
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You did say BEST.
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Old March 13th, 2003, 08:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by PzJgr:
You did say BEST.
Very true i did. Even i didn't vote for him. Just thought some people would because of the amount of self piblicity the man did.
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Old March 13th, 2003, 11:37 PM
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I hesitated between Wavell and Auchinleck but I finally chose sir Archibal Wavell, who nearly annihilated the Italians in Lybia and did a tremendous job in Abyssinya and Somalia.
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