Favourite WW2 General or Field Marshall

@wittmann:

Tell me your real favourite general, please.

I don’t have a single favourite, since there are so many WWII general officers who rate highly according to one criterion or another, so I’ll settle for someone I mentioned a couple of years ago in a different thread: Major General John S. (Shirley) Wood, of the U.S. 4th Armored Division.  He’s not well-known, but he was instrumental in the 4th Armored Division’s successful operations in France.  He supposedly had a better grasp than Patton of the technical aspects of tank warfare (notably the critical importance of trucks), and he innovated in various ways to make his forces operated more effectively.  For example, he had Air Force liaison officers ride with his front-line troops, so that they could call in air strikes on the spot without going through the usual channels.  He maintained good relations with the Air Force by having his empty supply trucks return from the front loaded with cases of liberated cognac, which they delivered to air bases, and he always made a point of giving the flyboys their due credit in his reports and public statements.

Favorite Japanese General is Minoru Sasaki.

It’s hard to list an absolute favorite among quite a few able commanders, but I’ve always admired the achievements of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland.

@wittmann:

Worsham, what did he command or do?

He commanded the Japanese defense of New Georgia, protecting the Munda air strip. His defenses gave the U.S a difficult time. In a counter attack his men got a cash of .50 machine guns and M-1 rifles and cause a great deal of problems.

Unlike many Japanese commanders he didn’t waste his men’s lives and traded a 1:1 casualties with the U.S.

@Herr:

It’s hard to list an absolute favorite among quite a few able commanders, but I’ve always admired the achievements of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland.

Why, what did he do ?

The commies basically killed themselves. They attacked during winter wich always favours the defender, and the Finnish terrain with marshes also favored the defender, and the Finnish defenders were dug into Pillboxes and Blockhouses behind rivers and lakes. The commie coloumns had trucks in front and the tanks in the rear, opposite of any rational army, and they attacked in human waves against dug in machine guns, and when they attacked across a frozen lake, the Finnish artillery would barrage the ice so the commies would all drawn. The commies were stuck to the roads so Finnish skii-troops would easily bypass them and cut them off the supply. On top of that the commie soldiers were drafted from civilians that happened to be shopping for Christmas in Leningrad, and had no military training what so ever. And best of all, the commie chain of command would go from bottom to top, so if the privats did not like the orders they just changed it and the commie leader had to obey the privats. Any moron would do well fighting that retardet Red Army.

So just what exactely did Mannerheim do that makes him the most brilliant leader of the world ?

When he joined Hitler in Barbarossa, he would halt just before Leningrad and let the commies live. Imagine a game of A&A where Leningrad live, not easy to beat Russia then. And on top � of that, Mannerheim backstabbed his former allies as soon the tide changed, and joined STalin because he was winning.

ADLERTAG what happened to you? And where is Foxy?

Nice to see you again.

@Razor:

@Herr:

It’s hard to list an absolute favorite among quite a few able commanders, but I’ve always admired the achievements of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland.

Why, what did he do ?

The commies basically killed themselves. They attacked during winter wich always favours the defender, and the Finnish terrain with marshes also favored the defender, and the Finnish defenders were dug into Pillboxes and Blockhouses behind rivers and lakes. The commie coloumns had trucks in front and the tanks in the rear, opposite of any rational army, and they attacked in human waves against dug in machine guns, and when they attacked across a frozen lake, the Finnish artillery would barrage the ice so the commies would all drawn. The commies were stuck to the roads so Finnish skii-troops would easily bypass them and cut them off the supply. On top of that the commie soldiers were drafted from civilians that happened to be shopping for Christmas in Leningrad, and had no military training what so ever. And best of all, the commie chain of command would go from bottom to top, so if the privats did not like the orders they just changed it and the commie leader had to obey the privats. Any moron would do well fighting that retardet Red Army.

So just what exactely did Mannstein do that makes him the most brilliant leader of the world ?

When he joined Hitler in Barbarossa, he would halt just before Leningrad and let the commies live. Imagine a game of A&A where Leningrad live, not easy to beat Russia then. And on top  of that, Manstein backstabbed his former allies as soon the tide changed, and joined STalin because he was winning.

are you talking about Manstein or Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland??

and who is Foxy?…I´m puzzeld :? :?

He has more than one account, like 4 of them. He is an old time member from Norway.

@ RAZOR:

Well he saved his country a lot of pain and life and headaches…Beeing part of the war in Europe ,Finnland did pretty well. Finnland was except of Lappland in good shape and stood in a certain way still neutral.
Finnland wasn´t damaged that much and had not so much to do with the holocaust and other barbarious murders.
Compared to Romania as a ex partner of the Reich or Hungary or just name it…
Finnland would not stand a chance alone against russia, so he basically did best what he could do, giving NOT out promisses of being ally to any partner, only as a joiner as long it takes in the best terms/interrests of soumi…

Interresting choice  Herr KaLeun

mr Veritas, I think the topic was about military leaders. We should be happy that the Finnish prime minister Kuusinen kept Finland out of the war etc. My point was that Mannerheim sucked as a military leader.

Most of the instincts of Mannerheim in the Winter War were correct, he was in support of conceding to the USSR’s demands, and not because of any sympathy for communism. He knew that war with Finland’s large powerful neighbour would end in tragedy and loss. While pushing for an acceptance of negotiation agreements, Mannerheim also saw the key to Finland’s defence and continuing sovereignty, even if there was a price attached. His intuition during the Winter War was invaluable, and more than any other man he was responsible for Finland’s retained independence after the war finished. The communists renewed propaganda about the “Bloody Baron” failed to stick and have effect due to the recognition of his importance to success.

source:http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=70  to underline my argument.

And about Otto Wille Kuusinen you may want to recheck your source, but as well with anybody else here I´m prepared to agree to disagree.  :-)

I have to agree with Aequitas.

Finland RETAINED it’s soveirgnty after the war was over.  No other Axis nation did.

Something to do with the fact that they NEVER declared war on America, and that they kept paying their previous war debts to England, even though they were -by technical definition- at war with them.

@wittmann:

God Bless America!
Did Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary then?
Silly if they did.
Italy(Mussolini to be precise) was the silliest for DOW with US.

what do you mean?..paying their debt?..

I read somewhere (I could be wrong) That Finland owed some financial debts to the United Kingdom.

And that despite the bad blood, and being at war with the UK, that they maintained efforts to pay those loaned throughout the war.