Best British general of World War 2

Who was the best British General of World War 2

  • Alexander, Harold

    Votes: 5 4.1%

  • Brooke, Alan

    Votes: 17 13.8%

  • Montgomery, Bernard L.

    Votes: 19 15.4%

  • O'Connor, Richard

    Votes: 8 6.5%

  • Slim, William

    Votes: 68 55.3%

  • Wavell, Archibald

    Votes: 5 4.1%

  • Other (who?)

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Total voters
    123

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This question has been asked previously on this board, most notably here in a poll where William Slim narrowly won over Montgomery. But that was eight years ago. A new debate is warrented I say.

After a breif discussion with Jim Smitty in another thread I thought we might have a debate regarding this matter.

So what makes a good general the best?

I usually look for certain qualities, offensive and defensive capabilites, logistics, how the general handles a retreat and how he handles the rank and file.
 
Gunner's_Quadrant

Gunner's_Quadrant

You forgot to include the Auk (Field Marshall Sir Claude Auchinleck). I always felt he got the shaft from Churchill. He never wrote an autobiography or authorized a biography to present his side of the story. In his defense, he was successful at both the operational and theater level. He was placed in a lose-lose situation in the Mid East in which he was given too many responsibilities and not enough resources to be successful.
I feel one of his highest compliments came from Montgomery, "In the 5th Corps I first served under Auchinleck... I cannot recall that we ever agreed on anything."
Bill Slim had many favorable comments regarding the Auk.
 

Cryhavoc101

Donor
The Auc turned 2 critical lost battles around - both times after having to drop down from theatre to Army command

So should be in the list

Richard O'Connor - a very capable commander - but unfortunately his moment in the sun was curtailed and he spent 2 years as a POW and missed much of the critical moments

Uncle Bill Slim turned a defeated rabble into a highly effective jungle force - commanding the 14th Army in the longest retreat in the British Armies History and then its longest advance.

A contender certainly and a popular leader who managed to leverage his relatively austere resources to ensure victory over the Japanese in Burma - my favorite commander of all forces in WW2

But for me the best British General is Monty

Surely the commander of Overlord must get the prize - he constantly commanded the Wallied armies in the most important and most technically complex operations they had ever conducted and led them to a decisive victory in Normandy and then crossed the Rhine in force where it mattered.

The problem is that Monty is a obnoxious unlovable man (although his men seemed to love him) - many of those he sacked for being 'useless' told anyone who would listen that he was a shit - Bungay has suggested that he was possibly borderline autistic (although we have no way to be sure) - also against him was his inability to admit where he had made mistakes particularly in later life (even though he brilliantly corrected most of them) - none of this detracts from the fact that he was a very effective commander IMO the best the Wallies had.
 

jlckansas

Slim gets my vote for the best, but Alan Brooke has to be my runner up. He had the thankless job of keeping Churchill under control and was not able to really show what he was capable of achieving.
 

Zheng He

jlckansas said:
Slim gets my vote for the best, but Alan Brooke has to be my runner up. He had the thankless job of keeping Churchill under control and was not able to really show what he was capable of achieving.
Click to expand...

Fair argument for Brooke, people make a similar one for why Marshall was the best US general of the war.
 

Zheng He

Cryhavoc101 said:
The Auc turned 2 critical lost battles around - both times after having to drop down from theatre to Army command

So should be in the list

Richard O'Connor - a very capable commander - but unfortunately his moment in the sun was curtailed and he spent 2 years as a POW and missed much of the critical moments

Uncle Bill Slim turned a defeated rabble into a highly effective jungle force - commanding the 14th Army in the longest retreat in the British Armies History and then its longest advance.

A contender certainly and a popular leader who managed to leverage his relatively austere resources to ensure victory over the Japanese in Burma - my favorite commander of all forces in WW2

But for me the best British General is Monty

Surely the commander of Overlord must get the prize - he constantly commanded the Wallied armies in the most important and most technically complex operations they had ever conducted and led them to a decisive victory in Normandy and then crossed the Rhine in force where it mattered.

The problem is that Monty is a obnoxious unlovable man (although his men seemed to love him) - many of those he sacked for being 'useless' told anyone who would listen that he was a shit - Bungay has suggested that he was possibly borderline autistic (although we have no way to be sure) - also against him was his inability to admit where he had made mistakes particularly in later life (even though he brilliantly corrected most of them) - none of this detracts from the fact that he was a very effective commander IMO the best the Wallies had.
Click to expand...

I will admit that part of the reason I chose Slim is that from everything I can tell he was also a first class human being. Kind of like Chester Nimitz in that regard.
 
Gunner's_Quadrant

Gunner's_Quadrant

Of the names on the list, I would vote for Slim. What he accomplished was outstanding and as said he was a decent human being and did his best to take care of his troops.
As I said, I just feel that Auk gets overlooked. If either he or Wavell had the resources that Monty had they would be rated much better.
 

general

I voted for Slim - for similar reasons for others here, I agree with those mentioning the Auk, Wavell and Brooke as well.
Monty was certainly talented, as Rommel apparently once replied to a comment from his son, "Yes, but you must remember that he has never lost a battle."
Years ago, I read Monty's book. This was before Ultra had been released, so of course he couldn't say how ho knew what he knew, but what struck even then was how by his account, he was never surprised, everything was foreseen. Even as a teen, I thought that surely it would show him as even better to admit faults, but then react successfully.
That said, I had a lecturer at uni who had served in the 9th Division in the 2nd AIF - you never said anything negative about Monty in his hearing!
 
Driftless

Driftless

Donor
jlckansas said:
Slim gets my vote for the best, but Alan Brooke has to be my runner up. He had the thankless job of keeping Churchill under control and was not able to really show what he was capable of achieving.
Click to expand...

Yes for Slim. Brooke in a close second, though it's comparing apples and oranges as far as their situations went. Both men had to pull the proverbial rabbit-of-the-hat time and time again.
 

Tallil2long

Without decisive manpower and material superiority, Monty would just be another failed shit, IMHO. The most overrated general of WW2, except for MacArthur. And even he showed he could win with a great enough superiority of troops and material...
 

BobTheBarbarian

Tallil2long said:
Without decisive manpower and material superiority, Monty would just be another failed shit, IMHO. The most overrated general of WW2, except for MacArthur. And even he showed he could win with a great enough superiority of troops and material...
Click to expand...

I object. MacArthur was a good general with a big ego, unlike Monty, who was a mediocre general with an equally large ego.
 

pdf27

Brooke really is the odd man out in that list - he made by far the biggest contribution to victory on that list, but is the only one not judged by his achievements in combat (limited to a few weeks in France in 1940 where he did very well, and an outstanding WW1 record). I would also say he is the only man on that list who simply could not have been replaced by anybody else.
 
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