What we've got here?

[Niquie]

You know Limey, I know this sounds rather strange, but what I wouldn't have given to have been a fly on the wall in ONE of those war rooms with Bradley, Eisenhower, Patton -- ANY of them.

War strategy of the European Theatre in WW II just astounds me.

[limey_defence]

Bradly, Monti, Eisenhower, Guderian, Manstein, Rommel, Patton, Von Paulus.

It would have been a very interesting experience to hear their discussions. I have Heinz Guderians account of the war, and his pre-war tactical thoughts. Which are both very good books.

There was some heavy thinking involved.

[Niquie]

Originally posted by limey_defence

There was some heavy thinking involved.

And just think....No GPS!

[limey_defence]

I never knew you were into this stuff, Niquie. I thought it was all politics. Well, I am shocked. I completely misread you, but I do have crappy judgement.

You should read Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian. It's an almost day by day account of his actions during the war, mostly on the Eastern Front, as the commander of the 2nd Panzer army. All tactical information, no politics.

[Niquie]

Sounds fascinating. I love this stuff. The logistics of it...the amount of "accurate guess work" involved. It seems so many of my favorite movies are WW II (European Theatre) movies.

Oh, I know...Hollywood, Hollywood. But the basic bones of truth are in those stories and I am just enthralled by it. All of it.

And I do think Truman was right to can McArthur.

[Niquie]

And Rommel was a bloody genius.

[limey_defence]

There's plenty of logistics, and guess work with Guderian in the book. And he even admits his mistakes. It was written in 1957, but it could have been written at the exact time.

I think a lot of the Western Allies operational were sound. There being a few tactical errors on the battlefield. Then the huge mistake of Operation Market Garden. Although, the British 1st Airborne did achieve their objective and were very brave to hold on for 9 days against the 9th SS Panzer Division.