To you, what are the biggest blunders in military history?

NOTE: this contributes to all recorded battles.

For Me, it would probably be either Market Garden, Charge of the Light Brigade, The Somme, right off the top of my head. Oh, and Monte Cassino, too

The Terrible Raid on Dieppe. Where troops were sent in on the beach with inadequate fire support.
And The Battle in Hong Kong, where The Canadian troops were abandoned by the British,and were over run. My Grandfather lost his life there.
These two are arguably in the top 10 for the biggest blunders I would say.

Originally Posted by The Other Guy

To you, what are the biggest blunders in military history?

NOTE: this contributes to all recorded battles.

For Me, it would probably be either Market Garden, Charge of the Light Brigade, The Somme, right off the top of my head. Oh, and Monte Cassino, too

Why do you think these are the biggest blunders? Market Garden was an ambitious plan to shorten the war which didn't quite work. I'm not sure it would count as one of the biggest blunders of all time though. Likewise with Monte Cassino. I also heard that the popular story of the Charge of the Light Brigade was a myth and it was actually more successful than is commonly accepted.

If you want a big military blunder I would go for Operation Barbarossa as it ultimately cost Germany WW2. If that had gone differently who knows what state the world would be in today.

Another big blunder is the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Just think, had they not done this would Japan today be the dominant military power in Asia? I think so. Would the US have even joined WW2? I'm not sure they would have.

Good thinking. Japan was trying to show everyone that aircraft carriers were superior- Yet they went after battleships, instead.

Yes, the Enterprise, Yorktown, and Wasp were out on exersises, but the Japanese could have waited unti they returned and completely crippled the US offensive power.

Or, what would have been the most sucessful Idea, Just wait until Britan faell, follow up with destroying the rest of the world, an THEN attack the US.

Custer's last stand.

Wasn't that simple The Other Guy.
Japan needed oil to continue its campaigns in China. The US Navy was blocking its transport of oil from Japan's Indonesian colony which was the biggest source of oil for the Japanese.
So things got desperate. The Japanese needed to knock the American Navy out of the picture.
The blunder may have been picking a commander too careful and cautious for an attack that required boldness bordering on recklessness.

Once Again, a good point

Originally Posted by Zucchini

Custer's last stand.

I'll go with that. The Custer Fight was driven by arrogance. My second close choice would be the Fetterman Fight on Lodge Trail Ridge also driven by arrogance on the commanders part.

I have a few:
The failed British Defence at KUT in WWI.
The Americans at Corrigidor.
Anzac attacks at The Nek and Gaba Tepe.
Early British offensives in WWI,ie, the Somme and Paschendale.

Grr, my mind is blanking, but the battle late in the Civil War where the Union tunelled under the confederate line and blew it up with massive amounts of explosives only to run their regiments right into the hole the explosion created.