The Truth.... As We Know It

The_Chieftain:   When you have a strategically untenable position. Sicily was one of the few occasions where the German High Command did something right, and did not issue a "Defend to the last man" order. Sicily was an island. Close to Italy, yes, but an island. How easy would it have been to keep German forces there supplied indefinitely? As soon as they realised that the Allies were not going to be pushed from the beach (and it was a close-run thing) Sicily became, for the Axis, a delay-and-attrit operation. The invasion was the morning of the 10th, the Italian Commando Supremo within a day or so quickly objected to the German sending of new units. The most dangerous German unit, the Herman Goring division was sent from the American front to deal with the British as the most dangerous opponent. OKW agreed that the allied main effort was Montgomery's force. By the 13th, Kesselring, the German CO had also concluded that the island was untenable, but fighting for time and attrition was worth it. Jodl, at OKW, soon agreed that Sicily could not be held.   [quote]but the fact is it was Sicily was Montys baby and he is the one that got bottled up Pattons move simply made the German defense untenable [/quote]   This is incorrect. The entire successful landing made the Axis defense untenable. On the night of the 17th, Axis forces actively disengaged from Seventh Army, they were not forced back by combat. Indeed, it took over two days before the Americans started to follow, much to the surprise of the Germans who had expected a pursuit.   [quote]also note that monty was not the first pick for the 8th army William Gott was[/quote]   Which has what to do with the price of tea, exactly? The argument here is not over personalities, it's over forces and positioning. Gott was considered to be a competent commander. Monty was considered to be a competent commander. Patton was considered to be a competent commander. Assuming that the enemy has a CO which has a vague idea what he's doing is probably a safe bet, the question is whose forces are the most dangerous.   [quote]the Germans did respect him as a good army commander in that ... a major part of the disinformation plan for operation fortitude relied on, the positioning of his army, it was a major part of the deception strategy[/quote]   Fortitude cannot be taken as an indicator of what the Germans thought of Patton as a commander. Just because the Allies felt that the Germans had a fear of Patton doesn't mean that the Germans agreed. Secondly, as I mentioned above, Fortitude's proposed forces could have been commanded by any competent general, the Germans still had to respect the threat indicated by British Fourth Army  and FUSAG.   The question of the post-war quotes by Germans about Montgomery was directly addressed by Yeide. He found nothing written [i]at the time[/i] to indicate any overarching awe or respect for the man. They respected him, yes, but not as the Second Messiah of warfare.