Posted on 09/19/2019 9:50:52 AM PDT by Rummyfan
“But Monty was jealous of Patton’s headlines, and wanted a big splash.”
So very true.
If Monty had cleared the approaches to Antwerp it would have been a HUGE headline for him. But Montgomery wanted to eat up miles like Patton was doing. Problem was Monty didn’t have Pattons drive and imagination.
For some reason Ike and Montgomery both thought that opening more French ports was the answer. Unfortunately Ike was unable to say no to Monty.
It was rumored that Monty was holding Ike’s affair with his British driver over his head. Others thought it was his go along to get along way of doing things.
Churchill was a pain in the butt. He was a force though, and driven to advance British interests and prestige, no matter who paid the price.
By the end of the war, the tired Brits were no longer the major world power, and Churchill was frustrated his attempts to finesse the post WWII world.
I saw a short interview of Von Rundstedt. It was on film and not of high quality.
One thing which I have remembered tho was when asked who were the best allied generals, he answered immediately, Montgomery and Patton.
from wiki:
“Before D-Day, to disrupt German logistics efforts, the Allies spent considerable effort in bombing the French rail network, although aware this would also affect their own operations in the event of a breakout. The plan of Overlord had foreseen this, and it called for the exploitation of the ports in Brittany to move the supply points forward as the armies moved.
By August, supply sources for the armies were still limited to the original invasion beaches, the nearby deep water port of Cherbourg at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula, and some minor ports in Normandy. Although over-the-beach supply operations outperformed expectations, September saw deteriorating weather and rising seas, and the end of their usefulness was clearly in sight. Additional deepwater ports were therefore required; Cherbourg was useful, but it was far from the front. The Brittany ports, still occupied by stiff German resistance, were equally unsuitable as they were situated along the western coast of France and were overcome by the rapid Allied advance toward the east.
On 4 September, Montgomery’s troops captured the massive port of Antwerp virtually intact, but the Scheldt Estuary leading to it was still under German control. Some argued that the capture of Le Havre and Antwerp made the original plan of clearing French ports further south unnecessary. Antwerp could have been opened sooner by the Canadian Army if Montgomery had given priority to clearing the approaches, but Eisenhower and Montgomery persisted with the original plans to capture many of the French ports.
The failure to open the harbours in Antwerp has been called “one of the greatest tactical mistakes of the war”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden
I still find it amazing that the bulk of The Netherlands was still in German hands at the end of the war.
I am not a fan of Eisenhower but I like one quote of his.
Speaking of General Simpson, he said he didn’t think he made a mistake during the whole war.
I suppose that’s because the main drive into Germany was to the south with the armies of Hodges and Patton and Patch. Montgomery to the north was stalled but the Germans across from him weren’t going to move anywhere with him on their front.
I guess the Allies figured that sealed off and unsupplied was good enough if taking that ground wasn't needed to defeat Germany.
I mean, as best as I can recall from my reading, there were still a lot of islands in the Pacific "under the control" of the Japanese at the time of their surrender as well. Island-hopping left many island garrisons cut off and rotting on the vine ...
The tragedy is that the Germans starved a lot of the Dutch people intentionally during the brutal winter of 1945.
I think they did some studies that showed the average height of a Dutch person decreased by several inches due to that famine.
Well not to minimize that, but the Dutch are the tallest people of Europe, which surprised me.
I thought it was Croats or Serbs, they tend to be very tall as well.
That’s the same thought I had, those German troops pinned to the Netherlands were analogous the Japanese left behind by island hopping in the Pacific.
Reminds me of the scene from the Meaning of Life.
Yes, Monty’s failure to clear the Scheldt had long term complications for the push east. Even Churchill privately castigated Montgomery for that failure.
The French rail system had to be bombed to deny it’s use to the Germans, leaving the ports more important than ever.
For whatever reason Monty seemed to be able to talk Ike into whatever Monty wanted.
On hearing that a captured German General was “invited” to dinner by Montgomery Churchill was noted as saying he felt bad for the German “as I have also suffered a dinner with Montgomery where the sole focus of conversation was...Montgomery!”
One observer stated that Montgomery had the snootiness of the worst European aristocrat, an ego larger than Pattons, the prickly personality of de Gaulle and the inability to understand why no one liked him.
"Hell, I know I'm a prima donna — I admit it! What I can't stand about Monty is he won't admit it." - Patton
Between Monty, Patton and DeGaulle, I don’t know how Ike didn’t wind up going nuts.
Churchill said that of all his crosses to bear the worst was the Cross Of Lorraine. DeGaulle actually was a good general.
Churchill visited the troops in North Africa. While their he and Montgomery drove up to a mess. Churchill went and ate with the men while Montgomery stayed in the jeep and ate a sandwich.
He mentioned that different generals had different styles. He didn’t care because Montgomery was a winner.
I regularly find myself misusing there and their despite knowing perfectly well the proper usage.
“Hell, I know I’m a prima donna — I admit it! What I can’t stand about Monty is he won’t admit it.” - Patton
“General, the men aren’t sure when you’re acting and when you’re not.”
“It isn’t important for them to know. Its only important for ME to know.”
Patton could also make fun of himself.
He had been wounded in WW1. A round had entered his leg, traveled up and came out his buttock, taking a fist sized chunk of his buttock with it.
He would often refer to himself as a “half assed General.” If anyone asked why he would drop his trousers and show them.
Can you imagine Ike, Bradley or Monty doing that?
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