Who are you favorite generals of WWII

[StetsonHomburg]

Mine would have to be Erwin Rommel.

(Sorry If I missed any)

Edit: I stuck Karl Deonitz in ther for someone, You know who you are.)

 

[dhermann1]

How about Vandergrift and Shoup, of the USMC? And Theodore Roosevelt Jr? I have a soft spot for Lord Alanbrooke, tho his only field command of the war was during Dunkirk. And an honorable mention to McAuliffe.
This is going to be like the favorite big band threads. All sorts of interesting personal favorites are going to be crawling out of the woodwork.
And can we throw a couple of admirals in, as well? Cause I'm very impressed with Andrew Cunningham. Maybe that's another thread.
BTW, I think it's Guderian.
I voted for Ike, because I like Ike.

 

[The Good]

General Douglas MacArthur is the one that has made most of an impression on me. Interestingly, he reminds me somewhat of Julius Caesar of ancient Rome; popular with the people, but he was actually fired by the President himself during the Korean War, if my memory is correct. Coincidentally, I also happen to live not too far from a fort named after him.

 

[cco23i]

You don't have the greatest strategic bomber general EVER! Curtis LaMay!

Scott

 

[MisterCairo]

I voted Monty, for his skill and leadership and the fact my father served under his command for part of the war. I would have voted for General Harry Crerar, Canadian Army, but he was, alas, not listed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Crerar


I'll also put in Arthur "Bomber" Harris as a runner up. Cue fireworks.....

 

[too much coffee]

Brigadier General "Jumping Jim" Gavin, 82d Airborne Division.
Young, out of the box thinker and balls of solid rock!

 

[Rookie1]

Id say Ike. He had alot things to organize and keep people working together.

 

[Silver Dollar]

You forgot Jimmy Doolittle, Ira Eaker, Claire Chennault, Omar Bradley, and a few others I forget. Then there was Frank Savage. Wait a minute. Savage was fiction but he was great anyway.

 

[StetsonHomburg]

You forgot Jimmy Doolittle, Ira Eaker, Claire Chennault, Omar Bradley, and a few others I forget. Then there was Frank Savage. Wait a minute. Savage was fiction but he was great anyway.

Well I could only list 10 so I thought I'd better go with the most famous

 

[Spitfire]

Not generals - and not even on the list:
Hugh Dowding and Keith Park.

 

[Chas]

I like Dowding, Adm. Sir Max Horton, Orde Wingate, R. Admiral Charles Lockwood, Chester Nimitz. I think my favorite of the whole war was Archie Vandegrift.

I'm not a fan of Crerar, myself. The Canadian generals of WW2 were mediocre, at best.

Brigadier General "Jumping Jim" Gavin, 82d Airborne Division.
Young, out of the box thinker and balls of solid rock!

Nice choice.

My favorite butt-kicker of the war is Chesty Puller, though he didn't make General until Korea. He could chew up and spit out the best the Axis had, on an off-day. Hoo-rah!

 

[Chasseur]

My real vote would be Marshal Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. Great story and fascinating life, though tragic in the end with his son dying in Indochina right before he died of stomach cancer. As a young cavalry officer in a skirmish at the start of WWI he was impaled by a Uhlan's lance after cutting two of them down. With Marshal Leclerc, he was one of the two French commanders who did well in Indochina. Not a pleasant man to work directly under or over.

Some of the other commanders I've been fascinated over the years are Eisenhower, Marshall, Leclerc, Mannerheim, Monty, Slim, Zhukov, Manstein, Nimitz, Yamashita, and as a young lad I was a huge fan of Rommel. (yes I know there are controversies about some, like Manstein and Yamashita, but I still find them interesting historical figures).

For non-generals, always had interest in the following: Lt. Col. Jack Churchill, Col. (later General) Andre Beaufre (my favorite nuclear strategist), Col Hans von Luck, and some others I'm forgetting.

 

[Vintage lover]

It was a hard choice between Rommel or Patton. Both highly skilled, both gentleman on the battlefield. Arguably, and respectfully, neither with a modern day equal. In the end, Rommel was my choice because of his tactical brilliance, as well as the numerous stands he took against what he saw as wrong concerning his Commander's "final solution".

 

[dhermann1]

Orde Wingate, fascinating and weird character. Proof, if more was needed, that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orde_Wingate

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Not fair to have Rommel and MacArthur on the same poll. I picked MacArthur because I am a patriotic American. I find them both very fascinating men.

 

[Sgt Brown]

I will simply mention the two I have read more about than anyone else, thus showing where my interest lies. Ord Wingate and Isoroku Yamamoto.

Tom

 

[StraightEight]

I'll put a word in for Count Alfred von Schlieffen. Without him, the whole thing probably wouldn't have happened. Oh, except that would have been a good thing...

 

[Fletch]

Clarence Tinker (l) and Ken Walker (r) of the 5th Air Force. Strong peacetime advocates for air power, and two of our last flying generals. Both were lost early in WW2.

 

[Miss sofia]

Montgomery, Amadeo Guillet, the last great cavalry commander, hero, man of morals and conviction, staunch opposer of anti-semitism and a bit of a maverick! (Not a General i know, but i'm Italian and patriotic, and he died recently so i thought i would give him a mention as we don't have anyone else of note really in my opinion to bring to the table).

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

I chose Doenitz, but that's for obvious reasons.

There are others I do like:

Patton - because, despite his aggressiveness he was a very spiritual man as he believed in reincarnation and wrote the poem Through a Glass Darkly...and to me that says much more about who he really is than all the aggressiveness, rank, and awards combined.

Nimitz - of course because he willingly stood up in defense of Doenitz during the Nuremburg Trials.

MacArthur - to quote: "German submariners were first class - there has never been a better submarine force than the German." I feel he was an excellent general all round.

I also agree with the choice of Jimmy Doolittle.