Who Was The Worst German General Of WWII?

[KG_Panzerschreck]

Who was the worst German general of WWII? Select from the list above or give us one of your own. Give us your reasons for picking who you did. And BTW, Hitler is NOT and option so dont even go there.

[KG_ThorsHammer]

I will definately have to go with Von Paulus.
His strategy in Stalingrad was unimaginative and wasteful, bleeding his army dry. When they were surrounded, instead of defying Hitler and saving his men when the relief force was so close, he doomed them.

[KG_Panzerschreck]

You forgot to vote Thor, lol.

[KG_ThorsHammer]

lol, didnt even see the list

[KG_Soldier]

Goering convinced Hitler to let the luftwaffe finish off the British and French at Dunkirk. He also switched tactics in the Batle of Britian from one of attacking airfields to bombing London. Both huge mistakes that would catch up to Germany later.

[KG_AGCent]

Agreed with *gasp* Mark. The formation of luftwaffe ground forces dissipated desperately needed manpower for the Landsers.

[KG_Swampfox]

Keitel, Nobody listed had more influence with hitler then him, He was inept, self serving, and did his sevice and his country a huge dissevice......

Schorner would be right up there also, flying drumsheads court marshalls are no way to lead men in difficult times. His personal conduct as a officer was criminal at best.

[KG_Cloghaun]

I voted for Goering.

1. He lost the Battle of Britain for Germany.
2. Failure to invest in a long term pilot training program resulted in the
catastrophes of 1944, from the Normandy landings being uncontested to every German division operating without air cover on the western front.
3.The failure to develop a long range bomber.
4.The failure to protect Rommel's resupply across the Med. in 42-43'.
5. Rob's point on the folly of the Luftwaffe field divisions.
6. Mark's point on Dunkirk.

[KG_Panzerschreck]

I voted for Goering.

1. He lost the Battle of Britain for Germany.
2. Failure to invest in a long term pilot training program resulted in the
catastrophes of 1944, from the Normandy landings being uncontested to every German division operating without air cover on the western front.
3.The failure to develop a long range bomber.
4.The failure to protect Rommel's resupply across the Med. in 42-43'.
5. Rob's point on the folly of the Luftwaffe field divisions.
6. Mark's point on Dunkirk.

You could also add to the list failing to have the ME-262 ready in '43. Which could of been done. Letting Hitler insist on Making it into a fighter-bomber and wasting valuable time there. Wasting all that time, money and effort on all those silly projects like "Natter" & "Volksjager" when everything could of been put to better use pumping out more and better versions of the FW-190 and the ME-109. Or you could of taken it one step further and say that the ME-109 should of been shelved altogether at the end of '41 early '42 and the FW-190 should of recieved all the production lines.

[KG_Jag]

The question was who was the worst general (or field marshall). While others may have been even more self-serving, bigger brown nosers [I love the pun], and/or in some ways more loathsome, Goering was the worst commander for all reasons already stated. He could however do a good job in a bi-plane, if the cockpit was sufficiently large.

[KG_Panzerschreck]

The question was who was the worst general (or field marshall). While others may have been even more self-serving, bigger brown nosers [I love the pun], and/or in some ways more loathsome, Goering was the worst commander for all reasons already stated. He could however do a good job in a bi-plane, if the cockpit was sufficiently large.

Quite true Bill. No one could ever doubt his bravery. Didnt he have like 28 kills?

You know, ive read a lot of personal stories written by German soldiers. Everyone i read said how they used to make fun of him for being a fat lackey of Hitler, or some other such name, but the ones where they accually got to meet him and talk to him in a relaxed manner, they would agree that he just wanted to talk and be "one of the boys", and they accually ended up liking him or feeling sorry for him, although they couldnt figure out why they felt that way. I always took those comments to mean that old Goering missed the commeraderie and closeness that the frontline boys had and he longed for it very much.

[KG_Swampfox]

You could also add to the list failing to have the ME-262 ready in '43. Which could of been done. Letting Hitler insist on Making it into a fighter-bomber and wasting valuable time there. Wasting all that time, money and effort on all those silly projects like "Natter" & "Volksjager" when everything could of been put to better use pumping out more and better versions of the FW-190 and the ME-109. Or you could of taken it one step further and say that the ME-109 should of been shelved altogether at the end of '41 early '42 and the FW-190 should of recieved all the production lines.

The HE 162 Volksjager was not a bad aircraft. It did get off to a rocky start with structural failures due to glue failures in the wooden built up wings. Had the production continued long enough, all of these difficulties would eventually have been resolved. The aircraft suffered from lateral instability, which by reducing the dihedral of the wings would have fixed, however the quick fix was to turn down the wingtips. It was easy to build, fast, not to difficult to fly. It was one of the first aircraft fitted with an ejection seat. On the down side, it had low endurance, and its armament was a poor match for its light airframe. With rockets on the wings, and 2 internal MGs for defence it would have been better. Had its devlopment started in 42, it may have had quite a different history than to be hurried into production during the final desperate months.

Reference: http://www.vectorsite.net/avhe162.html

[KG_Panzerschreck]

I cant say that i dont agree with you but the luftwaffe would of been better served putting out more poven fighters than wasting time, effort, money and dare i say pilots on projects like the above mentioned ones. Thats the point i was trying to make. :beerglass

[2054172]

He was given command of the troops to the north on the eastern front. Though it was almost to late anyway to win much, he never visited the front and commanded from a rail car.

[Full Monty]

Schorner would be right up there also, flying drumsheads court marshalls are no way to lead men in difficult times. His personal conduct as a officer was criminal at best.

If you get the opportunity to read 'Hitler's Commanders' by James Lucas there's a chapter on Schorner that gives a different perspective.

Anyway, my choice is Busch - commander of Army Group Centre as the Red Army launched 'Bagration'.

[Full Monty]

Incidentally, I think Goering gets a bad rap, especially over the Battle of Britain. Had the intel provided to him in 1940 been closer to reality then the whole campaign would have run very differently. As it was the Luftwaffe never stood a proverbial 'bats chance in hell' of attaining air superiority over Southern England.