Ironside to command the BEF instead of Gort: better choice?

Sorry all,

I am starting to read up on the early generals.

Ironside did not want to be CIGS as he felt his temper was in the way.

He thought he was going to be the commander in France.

Apparantly, he was a great organiser.

Now what if Ironside instead of Gort?

Ivan
 

Hoist40

Banned
Was Ironside a good enough organizer to get the British 1st Armored Division into the BEF before the Germans attacked? Without the 1st Armored Division the British only had around 20 or so Matilda II tanks with 2 pounder guns and all the rest of its tanks only had machine guns.

Though in the end they would still have lost they could have at least given the Germans a scare or two. If he is just going to have the same troops and follow the same plan then I don’t see much difference.
 
Rule of Cool dictates that as Ironside was a much more badass surname than Gort/Vereker: He must have been able to do a better job.
 
Ironside is another difficult person to pin down, I think.

The british ranks were populated with some interesting personalities, but how well did they do in the early years?

Ivan
 
well the plan is the French plan no matter what and thats the fundamental failing. Changing the BEF commander is not going to make a difference. Both Gort and Ironside in the end reacted the same to the developing situation, arguably had Ironside been on the ground for longer we would have despaired of the French sooner.
 
arguably had Ironside been on the ground for longer we would have despaired of the French sooner.
There could be some butterflies from that though.

If Ironside does lose all faith in the French earlier then he may push for advanced planning for an evacuation. That should lead to more troops and equipment getting transported back to Britain, hopefully blunting the invasion panic somewhat as there will be modern equipment in the country so no need to churn out large piles of obsolete kit.
 
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