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Like the Huertgen forest.It was a fixation of the high command and led to the
mauling of several division's.Basically for nothing

ORIGINAL: dereck

ORIGINAL: barkorn45

As for Macarthur,don't get me started,his treatment of his successor on Bataan post war is disgacefull
for one thing.

I always thought it was wrong that Short and Kimmel were courtmartialed and MacArthur wasn't when he got his aircraft destroyed on the ground - and he had 12 hours notice. Instead he got a Medal of Honor and a high command probably partly because Roosevelt wanted him as far away from Washington as possible.

What Ronald Spector said in Eagle Against the Sun, pgs xiv-xv is so right in my opinion: "he was unsuited by temperament, character, and judgement for the positions of high command which he occupied throughout the war."

He basically went missing for 12 hrs.there were rumours that he had a nervous breakdown.

ORIGINAL: barkorn45

ORIGINAL: dereck

ORIGINAL: barkorn45

As for Macarthur,don't get me started,his treatment of his successor on Bataan post war is disgacefull
for one thing.

I always thought it was wrong that Short and Kimmel were courtmartialed and MacArthur wasn't when he got his aircraft destroyed on the ground - and he had 12 hours notice. Instead he got a Medal of Honor and a high command probably partly because Roosevelt wanted him as far away from Washington as possible.

What Ronald Spector said in Eagle Against the Sun, pgs xiv-xv is so right in my opinion: "he was unsuited by temperament, character, and judgement for the positions of high command which he occupied throughout the war."

He basically went missing for 12 hrs.there were rumours that he had a nervous breakdown.

From what I've read abouthim he probably spent those 12 hours trying to figure out who to blame. He always tried (and it appears successfully) to pass the blame for his errors in judgement to subordinates, Allies or Washington.

It worked until he finally irked Truman one time too many.

I think Patton can be compared to general Lee, in that they both would become convinced that one more attack would break the enemy. I believe that Lee slaughtered as many men as Grant, but Grant has been labeled "the butcher" for his losses. As I understand it, Patton suffered from a kind of dementia brought on by a series of severe brain injuries he'd suffered over the years. He possessed a genius for mobile warfare, yet he could become fixed on a particular battle and throw units in that might have been better used in maneuver.

Patton and Montgomery cared deeply for their soldiers. Monty kept their well being at the forefront of his thinking. However, he also believed in using the maximum amount of violence against the enemy, when it was possible to do so. Ike and Bradley looked at the campaign as a large battle of attrition. I think the American counteroffensive in the Ardennes proved it. A great opportunity for encirclement was lost there.

-- I would add that Patton and Monty led troops into battle in WWI, and both were gravely wounded. I think those experiences gave them a perspective that Eisenhower and Bradley lacked.