Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "The Front" channel.

peter michalski 'At least Patton was one they feared (Nazi's).' Do you have a source for that? In point of fact, very few German commanders had even heard of him, and the shambles of his Lorraine campaign hardly suggests that they feared him.
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@garymathison8361 You surely must accept Montgomery's greatest sin, in the eyes of many of these people. He was born in the wrong country.
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Absolutely. Army Group Steiner, consisting of about 25 men hiding behind a shed, could have changed the course of history!
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Exactly why? Care to list his failures or his defeats.
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Auchinleck, when C-in-C Middle East, offered him 100 or so light tanks which were surplus to 8th Army's requirements, but the offer was not taken up.
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Have none of you heard of Captain Gilbert Roberts and his anti U-Boat Tactical Training School based at Western Approaches Headquarters in Liverpool? Shame on you!
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@alexanderd8740 That doesn't really have any relevance, as the attacking aircraft were unable to land back aboard, but were intended to ditch in the sea.
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@marcusfranconium3392 Don't let the British police discover that you have been watching 'It Ain't 'Half Hot, Mum.' They will be round to 'check your thinking' before you can say 'Diversity is Our Strength.'
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4.5s, actually.
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@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Bill Slim was a Lieutenant General in command of BurCorps in August, 1942. Dick O'Connor had been captured and was in a PoW camp in Italy, Pip Roberts was a Brigadier, only being promoted to Major General in December, 1942. The Auk (my personal hero, by the way - I even met Lt-Colonel C. J. Auchinleck in 1978, just after leaving University. He was visiting him in Marrakesh and the Field Marshal was kind enough to autograph a biography in late June, 1978, and send it to me) was out of favour at the time, although restored to active duty as C-in-C India in June, 1943. Bill Slim was later to write :- ' It was a good day for us when he [Auchinleck] took command of India, our main base, recruiting area and training ground. The Fourteenth Army, from its birth to its final victory, owed much to his unselfish support and never-failing understanding. Without him and what he and the Army of India did for us we could not have existed, let alone conquered.' I wouldn't take much notice of Big Woody's ravings, if I were you. His obsession about Montgomery verges almost on hysteria.
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@bigwoody4704 'Have someone read it to you - it's in English.' I didn't say it wasn't in English. I merely pointed out that it didn't make much sense. The fact that you are incapable of understanding that hardly surprises me.
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@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- I assume you have just received this from the Woody person? 'TIK probably blocking it - I'm not the only one to notice anything condeming that runs opposite of his "narrative" getting edited.' As I commented earlier 'Hysteria.'
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@bigwoody4704 'Many said Monty was a disaster replacing Brooke when he stepped down.' Who were these 'many.'
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How shameful. A general who builds up a superiority in men, equipment, supplies, and intelligence before embarking on an offensive. Your opinion counts for nothing.
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@aauwhatitdo1582 Really? Why would I possibly want to know your career, if it led to you holding such an asinine opinion?
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@aauwhatitdo1582 Apart, arguably, from Market Garden, which 'numerous disasters' can be attributed to Montgomery?
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There wasn't a 'race' to Messina, except in the 1970 comedy movie. 12,000 Hitler Jugend? You mean the eight SS panzer divisions and three independent SS Tiger battalions which the British and Canadians pinned down around Caen, preventing them from either attacking the beachheads or moving west against the Americans? Market Garden was certainly a failure, but not on the scale of Patton's Lorraine campaign, or the Hurtgen Forest disaster, masterminded by Bradley & Hodges.
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Too many flaws. Chariots and X craft were much better options.
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@wisconsinfarmer4742 Moreover, the cancelled strike against Pearl's repair facilities and massive fuel stores could have had a crippling effect on US Navy Pacific operations for many months.
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@ochomunna270 Really? Churchill became War Minister in late May, 1940. He was a politician, not a time traveller. At the time of Gallipoli, he was First Lord, and his job was, in conjunction with the First Sea Lord, John Fisher, to devise means by which the Royal Navy could make the greatest possible contribution to the war effort. Once the authorisation had been given (by Herbert Asquith, not by Churchill) the planning and execution of the operation was undertaken by the military. Certainly Churchill was the chosen scapegoat, as Asquith protected his own back, but David Lloyd George knew the truth and brought Churchill back into government almost immediately after succeeding Asquith. The commanders in France in 1940 were in post well before Churchill became Prime Minister, which, as I assume you didn't know. was 10 May, 1940, which was, ironically, the same day as the German Blitzkreig was launched. In fact, his comment on Dunkirk was 'wars are not won by evacuations.' Do you consider Wavell or Auchinleck to have been 'awful' commanders. assuming that you have even heard of them? Before you accuse others of lying, perhaps you might find out a few facts. There are heavy paper things called books. Perhaps you might obtain one or two and try to read them?
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@billy4072 Oh. You had one of theirs as well?
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Odd that this suggestion first appeared in a novel many years after the war.
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@jason5065 I did a while ago. It is a myth.
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The Beaufighter saw extensive service during the war with the RAF (59 squadrons), Fleet Air Arm (15 squadrons), RAAF (seven squadrons), Royal Canadian Air Force (four squadrons), United States Army Air Forces (four squadrons), Royal New Zealand Air Force (two squadrons), South African Air Force (two squadrons) and Polskie Siły Powietrzne (Free Polish Air Force; one squadron)
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The official term applied at the time, I believe, was 'large light cruiser'.
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But wasn't that the weapon, rather than the bomber?
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Don't be silly. Most German commanders had no idea who he was. You are confusing the Patton of history with the George C. Scott of the movie.
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The British supplied the RAN with four new 'N' class destroyers in 1940-1.
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@norbertwerner6926 You aren't aware of Prince of Wales' secondary battery of 16 x 5.25 inch guns, eight on each side, then? Or of how weakly armoured Prinz Eugen was? Or of how close Eugen would need to approach to have much chance of hitting? 'Would haves' don't actually count. Certainly, Eugen almost sank a light cruiser by ramming in the Baltic. A German one, by the way! By the way, the US weren't hunting down any German oilers in the Atlantic in May or June, 1941, and operations by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau after 'Berlin' were conspicuous by their absence.
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@norbertwerner6926 None of Prince of Wales' 5.25s were put out of action, in point of fact. Indeed, the mechanical problems of her 14 inch guns were quickly rectified. Perhaps you should look up the term 'almost' in my earlier post? Moreover, my reference was to Eugen's 'achievements' in the Baltic. Didn't you realize that? The German supply ships in the Atlantic were rounded up because the British had broken naval Enigma after HMS Bulldog captured a machine and code book from U110 on 9 May, 1941. US forces landed in Iceland in July, 1941, well after the supply ships had been dealt with. Surely you knew that?
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Those who rate Patton as a great commander should read the US Army's own post-war analysis of his shambolic campaign in the Lorraine.
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I don't recall reading that the US 'intervened' in 1940, when the Germans might have had their chance. Moreover, I don't recall reading that the US actually 'intervened' at all. Weren't they attacked by the Japanese, after which the Germans declared war on them, or are the books all wrong?
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'Despised by their own troops.' Really? Odd then that 8th Army reunions were held annually until 2002, don't you think? Montgomery was guest of honour, of course, until his health deteriorated and he was no longer able to attend. I can't comment about MacArthur, but where Montgomery is concerned you are wide of the mark.
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The Blackburn Roc first flew in December 1938, Until mid 1939, Fleet Air Arm aircraft were ordered by the Royal Navy's mortal enemy, the British Air Ministry, Put simply, the AM spent most of their budget on bombers (as devoted Douhetists, they believed that ther bomber would always get through), some on fighters, a little on Coastal Command, and the change found in Trenchard's pocket after a night out at his club on the Fleet Air Arm. Thankfully, the Inskip Award gave control of the FAA back to ther Navy, but in September, 1939, there were 232 frontline aircraft, many of which were actually obsolete.
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@alecblunden8615 I don't recall saying that it was. I simply gave a brief account of how the British Air Ministry effectively crippled the Fleet Air Arm between the wars, saddling it with total dogs like the Roc, when the RNAS until April 1918 had been the world leader in naval aviation.
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@alecblunden8615 Fair enough, although I cannot see how you feel that I supported the narrator's suggestion that the Roc was an RAF aircraft.
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When you were typing this idiocy, I hope you didn't drool over the lap top, as saliva might cause electrical problems.
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What was this 'Market Time' operation in February, 1945, which apparently was a 'total disaster?'
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@billsanders5067 If you base your opinions on movies, and especially one as historically flawed as 'A Bridge Too Far,' then I fear that explains a lot. Did you know that an American officer portrayed by the heroic Robert Redford in it, named Julian Cook, actually wrote to Cornelius Ryan's widow complaining about the way he was depicted. The 'stopping for tea' scene was a total perversion of what actually happened. Have you even heard of Lewis Brereton, commander of the Allied First Airborne Army? You know, ther general who altered the airborne part of the plan (i.e., Market) resulting in it being much less effective than the original ( Operation Linnet) would have been. You would be surprised exactly how much research I have done on Market Garden. Certainly, I could spend hours explaining where the movie parted company with the facts. I don't need to be thanked. I am an historian. Writing articles on such subjects is what I do.
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