Favourite WW2 German General

mozzi190 SG

It has to be either Rommel or Guderain for me

The latter for his exploit commanding the 7 Panzer Division during the invasion of France and for his drive to Benghazi in 1941 during the African campaign. He helped create the legendary fighting exploits of the Afrika Korps and was considered the most competent German commander at the early part of World War 2. However, he probably did not do as well after the surrender of the Afrika Korps. His command of Army Group E and B in Greece/ Italy was forgettable. His tenuere as Army Group B commander saw him as commander of the Alantic coast and he probably did not perform as well due to conflicts with his superior, Von Runstedt, on the best way to defend the Palais and Normany beach head from an Allied invasion. Although no fault of his when the Allied made deep penetration into the beach head within days, he would have partial responsiblity for the debacle. He also predicted wrongly the site of the Allied invasion and placed large amount of armour and troops within the Calais Sector. Rommel was also considered a wilful commander by the German High Command due to the fact that the 7th Panzer broke off radio contact with it's higher HQ during the drive to the coast and Rommel had acted on his own direction instead of those from the Korps HQ.The legend of Rommel would probably attribute to his flair, leadership and chivalry towards foes. His flair and leadership made him a legend among the troops of the Korps and when he was forced to leave Africa when all was lost , his departure was not announced due to fear of a drop in moral in the Korps. He also cut his own men water ration in order to feed British POWs with enough water. However, what made this man legend was his supposed involvement in the plot to assissinate Adolf Hitler and dying under the orders of Hitler.

The former was probably the most brilliant commander of tank units in the entire German Officer Corps during the second world war. Guderian can also be considered the creator of the combined arms and Blitzkreg doctrine. His work Achtung Panzer is basically one of the finest military doctrine book ever written. In commend of the XIX Corps in France, he was the commander that made the vital breakthrough at the Meuse that split the Allied forces into two (The Sickle Cut). Later in Russia,commanding Panzergruppe 2, he made the drive towards Kiev and bag 600 000 Soviet POWs when Hitler diverted attack from Moscow. However, this was probably his large great achievements during the War. As well as a brilliant war commander, he stood up to Hitler and openly showed his contempt for him and was duly relieve of his command in Russia. Guderian was later made the Inspector of Panzer Troops and the Chief of the General Staff where in that post, he had many heated arguments with Hitler and was once again relieved in 1945.

There are other colourful german generals and field marshal during World War 2. Some like Von Manstein,Hoth,Dietrich,Henrici,Von Mantauffel,Hube,von Rundstedt,Model and Von Weichs. Pick your choice and say why u think he's yr favourite.

fudgester SG

If I could choose an Admiral instead, I would choose Karl Donitz.

He was the mastermind behind the wolfpack system of attacking shipping. From what I read, in WWI he was a young lieutenant stationed in a U-boat. At the end of WWI while the Allies remanded all the U-boat commanders, he dreamt up the wolfpack system - and implemented it as an admiral in WWII.

Master -_- SG

Erich Raeder Cool

mozzi190 SG

Donitz was probably the advocator of submarine warfare in the kreigzmarine before and during the War. However, at the point in time before he bacame naval chief, his superior,Raeder doctrine was to built up a conventional naval fleet. Submarines were never the piority before he became chief. However, when he became the chief of the navy, all traditional naval ships building were stopped and U-Boats were given the piority. Donitz nearly broke the Alantic shipping line with his wolf-pack tatics but it was the radar that saved the day for the British.

fudgester SG

Yeah... Raeder and Donitz were at odds over this. Raeder demanded the building of capital ships, while Donitz demanded the building of U-boats. Raeder at first won, and large amounts of resources were poured into the construction of warships.

It was only later on when the U-boats proved their worth in commerce raiding that Donitz finally got the resources that he wanted. I see him having more foresight in acknowledging that the way to defeat the Brits was to starve them out by submarine blockade. Certainly he learnt those lessons as a WWI U-boat lieutenant, and the experience of Germany being starved out by naval blockade in that war.

Ironically, Raeder himself admitted that his own idea of building capital ships was flawed, considering the vast numerical and qualitative superiority of the British Royal Navy over the German Kriegsmarine.

Marco_Simone SG

Donitz was a good tactician but a poor strategist.

tankfanatic SG

none fav general from any SS division...

mmm in fact none of the german ww2 general are my favorite.

but i do admire some of their tank commander..especially Obersturmführer Michael Wittman.

wonderamazement SG

This already sounds nice... Laughing

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Heinz Guderian. He wrote the manual on Blitzreig tactics and much of Germany's successes was due to his tactics. He commanded the XIX Army Corps in Poland and France, and the 2nd Panzer Army in Barbarossa.

Rommel is good for tactics, but as a strategist, well, we know what happened to him in Africa.

fudgester SG

Rommel was both feared and respect by his enemies. Honestly, I think that he had a pretty good chance of winning in Africa and capturing the Suez had he have the resources and supplies that he so desperately needed. Unfortunately Hitler was way too preoccupied with invading Russia to give Rommel what he needed.

I remember reading a pretty good article about what Hitler might have done to help Rommel. It seems that they should have invaded Malta instead of Crete, considering that the Brits were using Malta as an unsinkable aircraft carrier to intercept and sink supplies that were destined for Rommel.

FiReDuKe SG

He who almost singlehandedly stopped the Brits' 7th Armored?He's gd;while the SS had a not undeserved reputation for atrocities,I can't help but admire men like Wittman who was a professional true and true....

mozzi190 SG

To Hitler, the North African front was no more than a side show to the Easter front. The main reason why North African was given any piority was that Hitler wanted to tie down as many British and Commonwealth troops in Africa as possible. There was never any plans or ambition on the part of the Germans to drive down to the Suez Canal.

However, i do read from some non-offical sources that the Germans actually planned to drive down to the Suez to link up with the Eastern Front Armies in Central Asia before making a concentrated drive down to India and linking up with the Japanese in Burma. However, the German operation plan to stop the invasion of the Soviet Union at the AA point makes it virtually impossible for such a plan to exist. THe Germans might be ambitious but they are also aware that the occupation of the entire Soviet Union is almost impossible.

grandeur SG

Heinz Guderian, Hasso von Manteuffel, Erwin Rommel, Von Runstedt, Wernher von Braun, Donitz, Erich von Manstein and etc.

mozzi190 SG

Von Braun was a rocket scientist.....never a military man..FYI

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Well, there is the General Patton factor, who was incidentally possibly the best American General who was out there on the field too.

It was still technically possible for Rommel to win even with the resources he had, but he got out maneuvered.

But yeah, the N. African theatre wasn't too important, whereas the Soviets were getting 75% of the Wehrmarcht.

mozzi190 SG

If Hitler was still give Rommmel what he wanted in terms of troops and armour and that the Krigesmarine and the Luftwaffe had provided the Afrika Korps with more support, the end in Africa might have been very different

Rommel was only outfoxed in Africa because of a lack of support from the German High Command in Berlin not because he was outmaneuvered by the Allies.

grandeur SG

He began as an Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) and was promoted three times by Himmler, the last time in June 1943 to SS-Sturmbannführer (Wehrmacht Major). Although not to general but was given military rank Very Happy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun

mozzi190 SG

Yes...and he was an SS officer that saw no action at all..he was only promoted because of his contribution to rocket science develop in Germany..he was never promoted on the basis of any military action on his part...to add to it...the promotion and the rank that he got from Henrich Himmler were almost honorary in nature..history would have recongised von braun more as a rocket scientist than as a solider or a military man...

ray243 SG

Fritz Klingenberg

Notable acts,

Klingenberg's direction of artillery during a battle was unique and impressive. Once, during the French campaign, he even called deadly 88mm fire down on his own position to rout an enemy counterattack. That action allowed the entire German column to press forward, taking advantage of confusion among the French. During another engagement, he called Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers down on his position to stop the enemy from retreating, which resulted in the capture of 55 prisoners.

Klingenberg also gained a reputation as a first-class scrounger. Whatever his men needed -- ammunition, food, water, etc. -- he managed to furnish. Klingenberg even held a school for scroungers, teaching men to steal essentials for survival.

The most awesome act is he was stuck behind enemy lines doing intelligent gathering, taking ONLY one sergeant and five privates, he managed to get into the city center and managed to capture the ENTIRE damn city with any loss.

Firing artillery on his own position, ran across 100m with no cover and under fire, and managed to kill 3 man in the machine gun post.

He had balls of steel.

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

mozzi190 SG

One of the Waffen-SS legendary officer...his most famous act was the capture of Belgrade that is mentioned above...The Balkan invasion probably made his name during the war....Truly one of the most professional soldier the Waffen SS has ever produced from it's Junkerschule in Bad Tolz..

Fritz Kligenberg is truly one of the most outstanding officer on the German side considering his age and his bravery...

Anyone interested in him should probably go read about Max Wunsche and Wihelm Mohnke