Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "Montgomery - Mastermind of El Alamein u0026 Market Garden Documentary" video.
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The finest army in the world from mid 1942 onwards was the British under Montgomery. From Alem el Halfa it moved right up into Denmark, through nine countries, and not once suffered a reverse taking all in its path. Over 90% of German armour in the west was destroyed by the British. Montgomery, in command of all ground forces, had to give the US armies an infantry role in Normandy as they were not equipped to engage massed German SS armour.
Montgomery stopped the Germans in every event they attacked him:
1) August 1942 - Alem el Halfa
2) October 1942 - El Alamein;
3) March 1943 - Medenine;
4) June 1944 - Normandy;
5) Sept/Oct 1944 - The Netherlands;
6) December 1944 - Battle of the Bulge;
A list of Montgomery’s victories in WW2:
a) Battle of Alam Halfa;
b) Second Battle of El Alamein;
c) Battle of El Agheila;
d) Battle of Medenine;
e) Battle of the Mareth Line;
f) Battle of Wadi Akarit;
g) Allied invasion of Sicily;
h) Operation Overlord - the largest amphibious invasion in history;
i) Market Garden - a 60 mile salient created into German territory;
j) Battle of the Bulge - while taking control of two shambolic US armies;
k) Operation Veritable;
l) Operation Plunder.
Montgomery not once had a reverse.
Not on one occasion were ground armies, British, US or others, under Monty's command pushed back into a retreat by the Germans. Monty's 8th Army advanced the fastest of any army in WW2. From El Alamein to El Agheila from the 4th to 23rd November 1942, 1,300 km in just 17 days. After fighting a major exhausting battle at El Alemein through half a million mines. This was an Incredible feat, unparalleled in WW2. With El Alamein costing just 13,500 casualties.
The US Army were a shambles in 1944/45 retreating in the Ardennes. The Americans didn't perform well at all east of Aachen, then the Hurtgen Forest defeat with 33,000 casualties and Patton's Lorraine crawl of 10 miles in three months at Metz with over 50,000 casualties, with the Lorraine campaign being a failure. Then Montgomery had to be put in command of the shambolic US First and Ninth armies, aided by the British 21st Army Group, just to get back to the start line in the Ardennes, with nearly 100,000 US casualties. Hodges, head of the US First army, fled from Spa to near Liege on the 18th, despite the Germans never getting anywhere near to Spa. Hodges did not even wait for the Germans to approach Spa. He had already fled long before the Germans were stopped. The Germans took 20,000 US POWs in the Battle of The Bulge in Dec 1944. No other allied country had that many prisoners taken in the 1944-45 timeframe.
The USA retreat at the Bulge, again, was the only allied army to be pushed back into a retreat in the 1944-45 timeframe. Montgomery was effectively in charge of the Bulge having to take control of the US First and Ninth armies. Coningham of the RAF was put in command of USAAF elements. The US Third Army constantly stalled after coming up from the south. The Ninth stayed under Monty's control until the end of the war just about. The US armies were losing men at unsustainable rates due to poor generalship.
Normandy was planned and commanded by the British, with Montgomery involved in planning, with also Montgomery leading all ground forces, which was a great success coming in ahead of schedule and with less casualties than predicted. The Royal Navy was in command of all naval forces and the RAF all air forces. The German armour in the west was wiped out by primarily the British - the US forces were impotent against massed panzers. Monty assessed the US armies (he was in charge of them) giving them a supporting infantry role, as they were just not equipped, or experienced, to fight concentrated tank v tank battles. On 3 Sept 1944 when Eisenhower took over overall allied command of ground forces everything went at a snail's pace. The fastest advance of any western army in Autumn/early 1945 was the 60 mile thrust by the British XXX Corps to the Rhine at Arnhem.
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@finallyfriday.
You will notice e) Mareth Line.....
The finest army in the world from mid 1942 onwards was the British under Montgomery. From Alem el Halfa it moved right up into Denmark, through nine countries, and not once suffered a reverse taking all in its path. Over 90% of German armour in the west was destroyed by the British. Montgomery, in command of all ground forces, had to give the US armies an infantry role in Normandy as they were not equipped to engage massed German SS armour.
Montgomery stopped the Germans in every event they attacked him:
1) August 1942 - Alem el Halfa
2) October 1942 - El Alamein;
3) March 1943 - Medenine;
4) June 1944 - Normandy;
5) Sept/Oct 1944 - The Netherlands;
6) December 1944 - Battle of the Bulge;
Montgomery’s victories in WW2:
a) Battle of Alam Halfa;
b) Second Battle of El Alamein;
c) Battle of El Agheila;
d) Battle of Medenine;
e) Battle of the Mareth Line;
f) Battle of Wadi Akarit;
g) Allied invasion of Sicily;
h) Operation Overlord - the largest amphibious invasion in history;
i) Market Garden - a 60 mile salient created into German territory;
j) Battle of the Bulge - while taking control of two shambolic US armies;
k) Operation Veritable;
l) Operation Plunder.
Montgomery not once had a reverse.
Not on one occasion were ground armies, British, US or others, under Monty's command pushed back into a retreat by the Germans. Monty's 8th Army advanced the fastest of any army in WW2. From El Alamein to El Agheila from the 4th to 23rd November 1942, 1,300 km in just 17 days. After fighting a major exhausting battle at El Alemein through half a million mines. This was an Incredible feat, unparalleled in WW2. With El Alamein costing just 13,500 casualties.
The US Army were a shambles in 1944/45 retreating in the Ardennes. The Americans didn't perform well at all east of Aachen, then the Hurtgen Forest defeat with 33,000 casualties and Patton's Lorraine crawl of 10 miles in three months at Metz with over 50,000 casualties, with the Lorraine campaign being a failure. Then Montgomery had to be put in command of the shambolic US First and Ninth armies, aided by the British 21st Army Group, just to get back to the start line in the Ardennes, with nearly 100,000 US casualties.
Hodges, head of the US First army, fled from Spa to near Liege on the 18th, despite the Germans never getting anywhere near to Spa. Hodges did not even wait for the Germans to approach Spa. He had already fled long before the Germans were stopped. The Germans took 20,000 US POWs in the Battle of The Bulge in Dec 1944. No other allied country had that many prisoners taken in the 1944-45 timeframe.
The USA retreat at the Bulge, again, was the only allied army to be pushed back into a retreat in the 1944-45 timeframe. Montgomery was effectively in charge of the Bulge having to take control of the US First and Ninth armies. Coningham of the RAF was put in command of USAAF elements. The US Third Army constantly stalled after coming up from the south. The Ninth stayed under Monty's control until the end of the war just about. The US armies were losing men at unsustainable rates due to poor generalship.
Normandy was planned and commanded by the British, with Montgomery involved in planning, with also Montgomery leading all ground forces, which was a great success coming in ahead of schedule and with less casualties than predicted. The Royal Navy was in command of all naval forces and the RAF all air forces. The German armour in the west was wiped out by primarily the British - the US forces were impotent against massed panzers.
Monty assessed the US armies (he was in charge of them) giving them a supporting infantry role, as they were just not equipped, or experienced, to fight concentrated tank v tank battles. On 3 Sept 1944 when Eisenhower took over overall allied command of ground forces everything went at a snail's pace. The fastest advance of any western army in Autumn/early 1945 was the 60 mile thrust by the British XXX Corps to the Rhine at Arnhem.
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@finallyfriday.
i) Caen was a second tier objective. Monty was in command of all armies in Normandy with it coming in ahead of schedule with less casualties than predicted.
ii) Monty took a quarter of a million Axis troops in Tunisia. Fact.
iii) Monty ran Rommel out of Africa. Fact.
iv) General Günther Blumentritt: ‘Field Marshall Montgomery was the one general who never suffered a reverse’
v) Monty had to take command ot two shambolic US armies in the German Bulge attack, saving their arses.
vi) “I find it difficult to refrain from expressing my indignation at Hodges and Ridgeway and my appreciation of Montgomery whenever I talk about St. Vith. It is my firm opinion that if it hadn't been for Montgomery, the First US Army, and especially the troops in the St. Vith salient, would have ended in a debacle that would have gone down in history.”
“I'm sure you remember how First Army HQ fled from Spa leaving food cooking on the stoves, officers' Xmas presents from home on their beds and, worst of all, top secret maps still on the walls... First Army HQ never contacted us with their new location and I had to send an officer to find them. He did and they knew nothing about us...(Montgomery) was at First Army HQ when my officer arrived. A liaison officer from Montgomery arrived at my HQ within 24 hrs. His report to Montgomery is what saved us...”
- Hasbrouck of 7th Armor - “Generals of the Bulge” by Jerry D. Morelock, page 298.
vii) You have poor comprehension skills, unable to read and understand my post.
viii) Also, the USA is the leader in Gay parades.
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@finallyfriday.
The US army was a poor army. It performed poorly in North Africa and the ETO. The US casualties in NW Europe were horrific. 85,000 at the Bulge, 50,000 in Patton's failure in Lorraine, 33,000 in the Hurtgen Forest defeat, 12,000 in Operation Queen, US para units failing to seize easy bridges in Market Garden, etc. US generals cared little over the lives of their own green men.
On 5 Nov 1944 Patton told Bradley he would be over the westwall in a few days,. He failed to breech the westwall in Lorraine. In the Lorraine, Patton was too cautious and hesitant failing to correctly concentrate his forces. Patton also failed to relieve Bastogne on time, being too late. The 18,000 inside just walked out.
Montgomery had to take command of two shambolic US armies in the German Bulge attack.
Antwerp was NEVER needed for the westwall battles - the US blame Antwerp for their lack of progress. Supplies were coming via Le Havre and Cherbourg. The allies were not moving anywhere fast because of Eisenhower's ridiculous broad-front strategy. So there was no need to get supplies to them from Antwerp to supply the advance quickly...... because there was NO advance because of the poor broad front strategy instigated by Eisenhower - he was a colonel only a few years previously.
All the American attack campaigns of autumn 1944 were well equipped and well supplied. They didn't fail due to Antwerp not being opened, which is their excuse for their failures. They failed due to poor American strategy and tactical decisions.
Churchill should never have allowed an American to head the ETO. A crass decision by Churchill.
Monty never suffered a reverse moving though nine countries.
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@BrianFrancisHeffron-1776
You need a history lesson....
The finest army in the world from mid 1942 onwards was the British under Montgomery. From Alem el Halfa it moved right up into Denmark, through nine countries, and not once suffered a reverse taking all in its path. Over 90% of German armour in the west was destroyed by the British. Montgomery, in command of all ground forces, had to give the US armies an infantry role in Normandy as they were not equipped to engage massed German SS armour.
Montgomery stopped the Germans in every event they attacked him:
1) August 1942 - Alem el Halfa
2) October 1942 - El Alamein;
3) March 1943 - Medenine;
4) June 1944 - Normandy;
5) Sept/Oct 1944 - The Netherlands;
6) December 1944 - Battle of the Bulge;
A list of Montgomery’s victories in WW2:
a) Battle of Alam Halfa;
b) Second Battle of El Alamein;
c) Battle of El Agheila;
d) Battle of Medenine;
e) Battle of the Mareth Line;
f) Battle of Wadi Akarit;
g) Allied invasion of Sicily;
h) Operation Overlord - the largest amphibious invasion in history;
i) Market Garden - a 60 mile salient created into German territory;
j) Battle of the Bulge - while taking control of two shambolic US armies;
k) Operation Veritable;
l) Operation Plunder.
Montgomery not once had a reverse.
Not on one occasion were ground armies, British, US or others, under Monty's command pushed back into a retreat by the Germans. Monty's 8th Army advanced the fastest of any army in WW2. From El Alamein to El Agheila from the 4th to 23rd November 1942, 1,300 km in just 17 days. After fighting a major exhausting battle at El Alemein through half a million mines. This was an Incredible feat, unparalleled in WW2. With El Alamein costing just 13,500 casualties.
The US Army were a shambles in 1944/45 retreating in the Ardennes. The Americans didn't perform well at all east of Aachen, then the Hurtgen Forest defeat with 33,000 casualties and Patton's Lorraine crawl of 10 miles in three months at Metz with over 50,000 casualties, with the Lorraine campaign being a failure. Then Montgomery had to be put in command of the shambolic US First and Ninth armies, aided by the British 21st Army Group, just to get back to the start line in the Ardennes, with nearly 100,000 US casualties.
Hodges, head of the US First army, fled from Spa to near Liege on the 18th, despite the Germans never getting anywhere near to Spa. Hodges did not even wait for the Germans to approach Spa. He had already fled long before the Germans were stopped. The Germans took 20,000 US POWs in the Battle of The Bulge in Dec 1944. No other allied country had that many prisoners taken in the 1944-45 timeframe.
The USA retreat at the Bulge, again, was the only allied army to be pushed back into a retreat in the 1944-45 timeframe. Montgomery was effectively in charge of the Bulge having to take control of the US First and Ninth armies. Coningham of the RAF was put in command of USAAF elements. The US Third Army constantly stalled after coming up from the south. The Ninth stayed under Monty's control until the end of the war just about. The US armies were losing men at unsustainable rates due to poor generalship.
Normandy was planned and commanded by the British, with Montgomery involved in planning, with also Montgomery leading all ground forces, which was a great success coming in ahead of schedule and with less casualties than predicted. The Royal Navy was in command of all naval forces and the RAF all air forces. The German armour in the west was wiped out by primarily the British - the US forces were impotent against massed panzers.
Monty assessed the US armies (he was in charge of them) giving them a supporting infantry role, as they were just not equipped, or experienced, to fight concentrated tank v tank battles. On 3 Sept 1944 when Eisenhower took over overall allied command of ground forces everything went at a snail's pace. The fastest advance of any western army in Autumn/early 1945 was the 60 mile thrust by the British XXX Corps to the Rhine at Arnhem.
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