Generals Flashcards
Sir Alan Brooke
The Chief of Army during WW2 Sir Alan Brooke was a highly competent organiser and thorough professional. He had a very different temperament than Churchill, he was conscience to deploy British troops carefully to avoid heavy casualties as it was a lot harder to replace these men. He became annoyed with Churchill ‘thinking aloud’ and constant coming up with vastly different military ideas. In his wartime diaries he expressed frustration after long and tedious meetings with Churchill which were littered with political interference, this is supported by many other senior officers in their memoirs. When it came to the major military decisions, there were fewer disagreements between Churchill and Brooke. In his bold decision to send much of the Army to the Middle East and the Suez was backed by many in the senior command as the feel of the need to protect the empire was huge, especially the route to India through the Canal which had come under threat from Italian forces. They all saw it as the role of the Navy and the RAF to protect the homeland.
Sir Archibald Wavell
The rapid victories in North Africa gave justification for the sending of supplies and a focus of that particular front. Churchill gave little credit to Sir Archibald Wavell, whom he personally disliked. Churchill took forces away from him to fight with Greece and establish a new Balkan front after an Italian invasion in 1940, this expedition failed when the Germans intervened and the forces retreated back to Crete where they were forced out again, the early successes in North Africa were thrown away and the new Afrika Korps headed by Rommel were threatening Wavell who didn’t have the resources to meet this new army in North Africa.
Auchinleck and Montgomery
Wavell’s successor Sir Claude Auchinleck wasn’t prepared for a premature attack on the Germans and to Churchill annoyance insisted on delaying until he was fully prepared, despite an effective defence against Germany’s attacks and making thorough preparations for a counter attack he was too sacked by Churchill for his delays and not being sufficiently daring and aggressive.
His replacement Sir Bernard Montgomery won over Churchill with his self confidence but insisted on very thorough preparations involving and accumulating more than twice the men of which Rommel had before attacking at El Alamein in 1942. Much of this credit should have gone to Auchinleck because of his efficient preparations he made despite not leading the attack. However, Churchill disliked him and favoured ‘Monty’. Montgomery was very slow in following up his victory at El Alamein which had allowed the Germans to retreat to Tunisia, but Churchill continued to Favour him.
The war during 1943-44
After the long and protracted struggle throughout Tunisia, the British sent more expeditions and a joint invasion with the USA of Italy through Sicily and then Southern Italy in 1943, this led to a long and slow campaign of progress right through Italy and distracted the Allies from the main offensive against the German armies and invading Germany. It held down more allied troops than it did Germans and gave the main task of invading Germany to the Soviets. Sir Harold Alexander favoured a slowly advancing progress through Italy, but Churchill instead of firing him favoured him for his gentlemanly and unruffled style of leadership.
Despite the insistence of the Soviets to open up a new front in France, the high command of Britain didn’t favour this, and Alan Brooke instead thought this would prolong the war other than shortening it, also leading to heavy casualties. Despite these protests Churchill couldn’t delay the invasion indefinitely and it was planned for the Summer of 1944.
Brooke wasn’t put on charge and Churchill had little sympathy for his leading commander. The supreme commander of the Normandy landings was designated as General Eisenhower, the meticulous planning under General Morgan was given very little credit by Churchill who instead had favoured operations that had captured his imagination such as the deception in showing the Germans where they were going to land (making the Germans think they were going to land in Calais). When it
came to the landings itself, the British received relatively less resistance compared to their American counterparts, despite this they struggled to capture the key port of Caen. After the invasion they were locked in a dogged and continuous advance against a more flexible and experienced German force.
One exception to this cautious offensive was ‘Monty’s’ brainchild, ‘operation market garden’ was the ambitious paratrooper landings at the strategically important bridges at: Nijmegen, Eindhoven and Arnhem, this was supposed to lead to an invasion of the Ruhr, this plan went ahead despite US doubts. Very similar to the Gallipoli landings in 1915 this was an over ambitious plan which failed disastrously.
Overall the British had occupied a minor German force in North Africa while the Germans were being battered by the massive forces of the Soviets, the war in Northern Africa was characterised by the PMs obvious loss of confidence in his major commanders, dominated by his belief that a campaign through Italy could somehow achieve victory without knocking out the German Army in the west and his outlook influence the reckless adventure of the war in Arnhem. He did however provide constant energy and determination, forcing his generals to examine their practise, their attitude and their plans and backing new and imaginative ideas e.g operations Fortitude and Ironside to deceive the Nazis about where D Day was meant to happen.
