Minor American front. Rape during the occupation of Germany - Wikipedia Through the Eyes of His Enemies, Fighting Patton: George S. Patton Jr. $30.00, Of the allied world War II generals, George Patton may be considered the most German. He had carefully studied the early Blitzkrieg campaigns against Poland and France and shared the conviction of the Wehrmacht commanders that that a war of movement short, sharp, and furious was the way to avoid a repetition of the endless slaughter of World War I. Battle of the Bulge: How American Grit Halted Hitler's Last-Ditch Frankemolle himself landed on Omaha Beach shortly after the initial invasion waves to deliver ammunition to the advancing troops. In the last year of the war, great efforts were made within the U.S. Army to improve the ratio of teeth to tail; to divert high-quality manpower towards the infantry; to improve the level of infantry training and leadership. This Never-Before-Seen WWII Document Offers An Inside Account Of An Elite Nazi Combat Unit's Collapse. Basil Liddell Hart wrote a paper in which he reflected upon the vast Allied superiority of forces in northwest Europe in 1944, and the reluctance of postwar military critics in Britain and America to draw appropriate conclusions about Allied performance: There has been too much self-congratulation and too little objective investigation, he said. From the movie Patton and from the biography on which it is partly based, Ladislas Faragos Patton: Ordeal and Triumph, one is left with the impression that the German High Command spent most of its waking hours fretting about Patton and his whereabouts. Your gift helps advance ideas that promote a free society. Read the original document with much more detail below. The map includes the front-line along the Elbe from which U.S. troops withdrew in July 1945. The common soldier began to think. It may be argued that, after 1945, in seeking to learn the lessons of the World War II, the American Army made the mistake of reversing the order of these factors. According to postal censorship, most letters from German POWs were kudosfor the good treatment they were receiving. But here are the highlights of a jarringly intimate glimpse into the enemy camp during World War II. Yeide quotes Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the Prussian General Staff and the man responsible for Germanys victory in the 187071Franco Prussian war, who, when compared with Napoleon and Frederick the Great by a flatterer, declined the honor, for I have never conducted a retreat, the trickiest of all military maneuvers. May 16, 2020 Through the Eyes of His Enemies. The Austrian castle where Nazis lost to German-US force American troops advance on a German machine gun position in the Ardennes region of Belgium. 1. In Normandy, the Germans were again defending. You have also been the bravest of our enemies and in fact the only ones who have attacked us seriously in this years battles. This led to a major defeat for the Germans, with 400,000 soldiers trapped in the Falaise pocket, and the capture of Paris on 25 August. . The officer had this to say: It dawned on us that this opponent that had come to the beach of Normandy was of somewhat different form. Unfortunately, Nazi war criminals could be quite effective on the battlefield. Critically, Neitzel's research underscored that for most German soldiers the Second World War was in the main a continuation of the First World War: bigger, probably more brutal, but in the end the same war for the same reason, which was defence of the Homeland against foreign aggression. Unfortunately, as a result of the slapping incidents in Sicily, the less gifted officer was calling the shots. . Many units do not acquire this attitude until long after their entry into combat, and some never acquire it. The inescapable truth is that Hitler's Wehrmacht was the outstanding fighting force of World War II, one of the greatest in history. Hardcover, 336 pages. This view was most starkly presented by John Ellis in Brute Force, a comprehensive assessment of the Allied effort in World War II against Germany and Japan, which, in passing, reduces Patton to some sort of a glorified traffic cop. This he did by sending out his staff officers to the front line units. Gen. George S. Patton wrote: "It is an unfortunate and, to me, tragic fact that in our attempts to prevent war, we have taught our people to belittle the heroic qualities of the soldier." 63. A century after the guns fell silent along the Western Front, the work they did there remains of incalculable importance to the age we inhabit and the people we are. Hitler's robots could never match the imagination and initiative of Allied soldiers on the battlefield. What did the German soldiers think of the American soldiers? In the face of shattered communications, tremendous losses, constant retreating, and practically no air support, the enemy still maintained overall control of his tactical situation. In 1950, the great British military writer Capt. But the officers and General are boasting scoundrelsin our house 10 men and 2 officers are quartered. John Frankemolle was guarding a . Du sollst nur Deutsche lieben? Like Ellis, Yeide emphasizes that in no way does this detract from the men who sacrificed life and limb in the Allied cause. The Americans would complain about the food, which was indeed bad all the time. . How Ordinary Germans Did It | Christopher R. Browning GIs in Germany: First Impressions of the Former Third Reich Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949, Many of our young girls have gone wrong Martha Strodter is engaged to an A-----. But thank God that they can at once recognize the difference between a 'decent' and a 'common girl.'". America's Navy and Air Forces have seldom -- and certainly not in World War II -- found difficulty in attracting officers of high quality. In 1919, the United States compiled a report on German attitudes towards American troops and their behavior during the war and subsequent occupation. There was a contrast between the attitude and behavior of most young Britons and Americans on the battlefield against those of their German counterparts, and this was not exclusively the product of the enemy's political fanaticism. At this stage of the war, Hitler was busy promoting committed Nazi officers in the belief that they would put up a more stubborn defense. Yet to the very end -- considering the mass of the army rather than only such justly celebrated divisions as the 1st, 4th, 9th and Airborne -- American infantry fieldcraft, tactical skill and above all leadership left much to be desired. Copyright 2022 Inquisitive Flow | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. World War II was a conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during 1939-45. Did George Washington Have a British Accent? Thus Blumenson stresses his uncanny ability to be in the right spot at the right time, and his instinctive feel for when something was up, perhaps best illustrated in the days leading up to the final German offensive. But, ever wondered what Germans soldiers opinions about this brutal war would be like? The Americans possessed a far higher proportion of officers to men: yet many more of those officers were employed in rear areas rather than with fighting formations. Copyright 1949-2023 American Heritage Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. The Germans considered the island undefendable and their Italian allies useless: Facing superior numbers, German forces still managed to put up a successful defensive battle, allowing them to get 60,000men plus heavy weapons across to the mainland, thanks to relatively weak delaying forces. On meddling generals, he noted, The tactics belong to battalion commanders. Allied war crimes during World War II - Wikipedia Interviewing war veterans, in marked contrast to Europeans who generally acknowledge respect for their officers, American private soldiers lavish regard upon good NCOs, but seldom reveal much for their unit commanders. A report on the tactical lessons of the Normandy campaign by the U.S. First Army declared: "It is essential that infantry in training be imbued with a bold, aggressive attitude. Thus many of the commanders Patton was to meet in France had participated in Mansteins retaking of Kharkov, a brilliant move designed to straighten out the German line, and in the subsequent Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history, which resulted in irreplaceable German losses of materiel. They were bad prisoners since they wont talk or work. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. German propagandists were well aware of widespread racism in the United States and in the US Army, as shown by this Nazi leaflet aimed at Black soldiers. But interestingly enough, on the main point that the Germans were the more effective soldiers, Patton would almost certainly agree (himself excluded, of course). The hunger-winter of 1947, thousands protest against the disastrous food situation (March 31, 1947). "The Americans can very well serve as an example for our own troops whose behavior as they passed through here was none too good. Your troops, not even one, have spoken a single disagreeable word to anyone, and when we offered them wood for cooking and heating purposes they accepted with what seemed to be a certain shyness., Statement of the Mayor of Kaschenbaum, which was occuped by American troops, Children have constantly talked of the Americans arrival, and pictured them as a band of wild Indians, however, when they troops arrived, we were astonished at their behavior and pleasant attitude toward our people., "The American troops show much more consideration for the private rights of the inhabitants of the village than did the German troops. However, he spent most of his service in Europe as a gunner aboard a supply ship. An hour later a second and more effective air attack left the French road strewn with destroyed vehicles and equipment. This had been our first experience with the 'Jabos' (Fighter bombers).". "Something happened that left us in a daze," the officer wrote. However, that notion changed with their arrival. Stay up to date with what you want to know. The document, titled Candid Comment on The American Soldier of 1917-1918 and Kindred Topics by The Germans, included comments from soldiers, priests, women, village notables, politicians and statesmen. . Thus when Patton was under a cloud for having slapped two shell-shocked soldiers in Sicily, the army sent him on the a well-publicized tour around the Mediterranean to Corsica, Malta, and Cairo: The idea was to mask the fact that the Seventh Army was being transferred from Sicily to England, but there are no indications that German intelligence attached any great significance to these visits. . Frankemolle believes he may have one of the last copies of that forgotten document, which his family agreed to share with Business Insider. . They are very different works. One dogface or one tommy was worth three wooden-headed krauts. Often he would go and have a look-see himself. O n a crisp, clear morning 100 years ago, thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas . According to one of the German soldiers, there were only a few American soldiers but their fight was ruthless. American commanders came home from Europe believing they had proved that overwhelming air and firepower could not merely be a critical supplement to, but an effective substitute for, dedicated infantry fighting. St. Martin's Press.