Greatest WWII Military Commanders: Updated

[starling]

i know of a mr franz goering,who is a member of the german cross country ski team.he is a very large man,who excells in the skating technique.i do not know if he is a relative of herman though.yours,starling.p.s.i hope you like my new avatar,my grandad is on the left.alas,i know not what regt he was with.a wonderful man,he liked holland,belgium and germany,but died 2 months after i broke my neck.

 

[Njaco]

I think I've read that after Richtohfen died and Goering took over, he failed to fly again and really wasn't well liked by his subordinates.


Starling, broke your neck?! Are you ok? If you have a bigger pic of your grand-dad you might want to post and see if anybody can recognize what unit he was with.

 

[starling]

yes,njaco,i severed the c-5,c-6 and c-7 vertibrae,and am paralised.i have the use in 1 finger,but i type with a garden peg.there are numbers on the back of my grandads pictures.he was a bofors gunner,and the numbers were simply...27....163..776...i believe.i have checked wiki and the others,but alas no joy.i thought they were regts or batteries.yours,starling.

 

[Kruska]

Some info regarding Goering:

Franz Goering is not related with Hermann Goering.

HG became commodore of JG I in July 1918 after the previous commander Wilhelm Reinhard was killed during a test flight.
After the war till 1922 Goering was working as a civil aviator in Denmark and Sweden.

1922 Leader of the SA
1923 During Hitler's Munich revolution attempt Goering was shot and as an ironic part of history, he fled into the house of a Jew named Robert Ballin, who later he spared from the Holocaust. Due to this wound he started to take morphine and stayed addicted until his death.
1928 HG was elected to a NSDAP parliamentarian and promoted by AH to general of the SA and was the Mastermind in regards to dispose of the previous German government.

1933 HG was appointed Minister and Interior Minister for the Prussian police; this position enabled the NAZI's to replace almost all police ranks with former SA members, ensuring the election in 1933 of the NSDAP.
He then founded the GESTAPO the RSHA and instituted the first KZ camps. As such he became 2nd most powerful NAZI next to AH.
1933 HG was promoted from Captain to General of the infantry and to Minister for aviation.
1934 HG became Minister for Forestry and Hunting and Minister for Environment.

1935 HG was re designated to General of the Luftwaffe and supreme commander of the Luftwaffe.
1936 HG was promoted to 4 star General and Chief executive for the 4 year plan – as such he was the Industrial Development Minister before Speer.
1938 after the Blomberg-Fritsch incident he hoped to become the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, however AH took over this position, and AH promoted HG to Field marshal, as such HG held the highest military rank in Hitler Germany at that time.
1938 HG was the "Brain" behind the Jew expulsion program" and one of the leading heads in preparation for the Holocaust in 1941.

In summary; due to his enormous amount of functions and political inflictions he wasn't able to fulfill even one task properly (besides the Hunting department) whose laws apply until today. He failed miserably in the Industrial development Ministry – since Germany's industry was not war programmed/instructed till 1943 at all.

The buildup of the Luftwaffe was conducted by others such as Wever (pursued 4 mot bombers) Stumpff, Jeschonnek, Udet and Kesselring. HG was very opposed to all planning's towards war by AH and almost screwed up the occupation of Czechoslovakia – after that AH isolated HG in regards to foreign policy.

HG made a total blunder out of the BoB and carries most of the fault's that caused the Stalingrad fiasco. HG had no influence or anything to do with the development of tactical or strategically setup of the Luftwaffe, he presided over the respective department bodies.

IMO, HG was the most precious contribution the allies could have wished for.

Regards
Kruska

 

[Kruska]

yes,njaco,i severed the c-5,c-6 and c-7 vertibrae,and am paralised.i have the use in 1 finger,but i type with a garden peg.there are numbers on the back of my grandads pictures.he was a bofors gunner,and the numbers were simply...27....163..776...i believe.i have checked wiki and the others,but alas no joy.i thought they were regts or batteries.yours,starling.

Hello starling,

That doesn't sound good at all. But I can see that you are able and have mastered to cope with this situation, my due respect to you and anyone else in this situation.

Try to upload your avatar onto the forum; there are a lot of very able people on here that might be able to recognize certain patches or markings which as such could help to identify your grandfathers unit.

Regards
Kruska

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Göring had one relative in the USAAF. Werner G. Göring was the son of Göring's younger Brother Karl and was a Captian and pilot of B-17 bombers. Werner flew 48 combat missions over Germany.

By the way Göring's daughter is still alive today and still lives in Munich, Germany.

 

[Njaco]

I believe there was also Peter Goering, a nephew, who was killed on a sub during 1943. I think I posted that last month or so.

I always thought Goering took over JG 1 from Richtohfen and wasn't promoted Feldmarschall until 19 July 1940.

Starling, sorry to hear of your trials but it sounds and looks like you're fighting and overcoming. Thumbs-up to you!

 

[Kruska]

Göring had one relative in the USAAF. Werner G. Göring was the son of Göring's younger Brother Karl and was a Captian and pilot of B-17 bombers. Werner flew 48 combat missions over Germany.
By the way Göring's daughter is still alive today and still lives in Munich, Germany.

Hello D.I.A.G.,

I find it very surprising that the USAAF allowed/trusted "him" to be engaged in missions against or over Germany.

BTW how are AH nephews doing in the USA?

Regards
Kruska

 

[starling]

i will try to upload my avatar,as recomended.i also will try to upload the ones where my grandad is sitting in the cocpit of a late model me-109 with his dog,those are a bit fuzzy.i looked at the pictures in a magnifying glass,and it looks like an old scrapyard,bits and pieces,twisted metal and allsorts.yours,starling.

 

[starling]

sorry guys,i uploaded those pictures.they should be around now.yours,starling.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Hello D.I.A.G.,

I find it very surprising that the USAAF allowed/trusted "him" to be engaged in missions against or over Germany.

BTW how are AH nephews doing in the USA?

Regards
Kruska

Apparantly the copilot had orders to shoot him if he tried to defect with a plane.

 

[Njaco]

Starling, found this site that gives a pretty good account of NA battles in the last months.

Tunisia

 

[parsifal]

Parsifal, sounds like a flyboyism!

I dont even has a crayon. Maybe I meant to say fashionable street walker

 

[Njaco]

 

[Freebird]

Parsifal, sounds like a flyboyism!

I dont even has a crayon. Maybe I meant to say fashionable street walker

Speaking of "Flyboyisms" thank goodness I was finally able to upload my new siggy, otherwise I was likely to get something different than I wanted.....

 

[Freebird]

In summary; due to his enormous amount of functions and political inflictions Goering wasn't able to fulfill even one task properly (besides the Hunting department) whose laws apply until today. He failed miserably in the Industrial development Ministry – since Germany's industry was not war programmed/instructed till 1943 at all.

The buildup of the Luftwaffe was conducted by others such as Wever (pursued 4 mot bombers) Stumpff, Jeschonnek, Udet and Kesselring. HG was very opposed to all planning's towards war by AH and almost screwed up the occupation of Czechoslovakia – after that AH isolated HG in regards to foreign policy.

HG made a total blunder out of the BoB and carries most of the fault's that caused the Stalingrad fiasco. HG had no influence or anything to do with the development of tactical or strategically setup of the Luftwaffe, he presided over the respective department bodies.

IMO, HG was the most precious contribution the allies could have wished for.

Regards
Kruska

So I guess what you are saying is that the Luftwaffe succeeded in 39' - 42' in spite of Goerings blunders?

Perhaps you are right....

 

[Njaco]

Thats what I thought, too....on both posts!

 

[starling]

so who was in command of the british 1 army,american 2 corps and french units before alexander was given control of them.yours,starling.

 

[parsifal]

In overall command was Eisenhower with the title, Allied Forces Commander. his second in charge was Vice Admiral Cunningham, who was also the Naval forces commander

The actual landings consisted of three parts, a Western TF, aimed at Casablanca and Rabat, a Center TF,aimed at Oran and an Eastern TF aimed at Algiers.


The plan was for a a three-pronged amphibious landing to seize the key ports and airfields at Casablanca (and Rabat), Oran and Algiers. Successful completion of these operations was to be followed by an advance eastwards into Tunisia.

The Western Task Force (aimed at Casablanca and Rabat) comprised American units, with Major General George Patton in command and Rear Admiral Henry K. Hewitt heading the naval operations. This Western Task Force consisted of elements from U.S. 2nd Armored Division, the U.S. 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions—35,000 troops in all. They were transported directly from the United States.

The Center Task Force, aimed at Oran, included the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, and the 1st Armored Division—18,500 troops. They sailed from Britain and were commanded by Major-General Lloyd Fredendall, the naval forces being commanded by Commodore Thomas Troubridge.

The Eastern Task force, aimed at Algiers, was commanded by Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson (who later commanded 1st Army) and consisted of two brigades from British 78th and the US 34th Infantry Divisions and two British Commando units - 20,000 troops. During the period of the amphibious landings the force was to be commanded by U.S. Major-General Charles W. Ryder, commander of 34th Division, because it was felt that a U.S.-led invasion would be more acceptable to the French defenders than a one led by the British. Naval forces were commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Harold Burrough.

Aerial operations were split into two, east of Cape Tenez in Algeria, with British aircraft under Air Marshal Sir William Welsh and west of Cape Tenez, all American aircraft under Major General Jimmy Doolittle, under the direct command of General Patton.

There were no French regular units in the attack, however french resistance units captured the HQ of the French XIX Corps. The field commander of the Vichy units was gen Juin, and the Officer in charge of the colonies was Adm Darlan.

General Giraud was the nominal commander of the Free french forces, but in relaity De Gaulle excercised real control (though the Ameericans had not yet realized that). Giraud took no real part in the battle until after Darlans assassinatioon on the 13 november 1942.

 

[starling]

so you would agree,before alexander and the 8th army ambled up,eisenhouer was ground forces commander in tunisia.yours,starling. .