I3BrigPvSk
The Viking
Hans-Ulrich von Luck and Kurt Meyer (Panzer Meyer) perhaps?
Germany had many fine commanders throughout WW2:
Eberbach
Hausser
Hoepner
Hube
Student
Schweppenburg
Steiner
to name a few...
Both Kesselring and Vietinghoff did an impressive job at holding up the Allied advance in Italy (yes I know it is a defenders paradise) with very limited resources.
Hans-Jürgen von Arnim who performed well under Guderian and took over the remnants of Panzer Armee Afrika holding off both the British and American forces for almost 6 months with almost no resources.
Then you have the likes of U-Boat commanders Otto Kretschmer and Wolfgang Luth who between them sank 500,000 tons of allied shipping
You also have Erich Hartmann and Erich Barkhorn who are the only men to have scored 300+ kills (and will probably remain so forever) and went on to help rebuild the Luftwaffe of today.
However I think an honourable mention for best name and role to suit would have to go to...
General of Mountain Troops (General der Gebirgstruppe) August Winter.
What about the General that with very few available tanks opened a corridor so the Northern Army Group could evacuate from the trap in Estonia, when the Soviets encircled them. Help me out here, guys. I do not remember his name. Perhaps someone here has mention him already
I am assuming you mean Army Group Courland (Heeresgruppe Kurland) and yes they did a great job as did the Kriegsmarine in keeping them supplied.
The commanders of Heeresgruppe Kurland were:
- Ferdinand Schoerner
- Lothar Rendulic
- Heinrich von Vietinghoff
- Carl Hilpert
YES!! Thank you (this forum is better than google) What do you guys think about Joachim Peiper?
What we think about him is somewhat irrelevant as this isn't a poll there are no right or wrong answers.
Peipers problem is that he will always be tied to the Malmedy Massacre and he and his men had a brutal reputation from the Russian front but it was a brutal campaign and despite histories attempt to turn the Allies into choir boys the reality is that they committed acts that would have seen them on trial had they lost as well.
So if you are prepared to look beyond the known you would have to rate Joachim Peiper as a talented leader after all by age 29 he was already a full Colonel with the Knights Cross and swords so clearly he knew what he was doing on a battlefield.
Some good replies. I still feel Guderian is up there, despite his diminished and tarnished reputation over the past few years. It is arguable whether commanders like Manstein, Balck, Hoth et all would have had the same appreciation of armoured warfare without Guderian being around. His political allegiance and relationship with Hitler undoubtedly helped him, but Guderian was still pivotal in the development of the panzerwaffe, without being the all-seeing father that his memoirs suggest he was.
Why those 2 commanders in particular Monty?I think Guderian was incredibly lucky that the likes of Rommel and von Kluge did not survive the war as I am sure they would have refuted much of his work.
Well there's no doubt Guderian had a massive ego. It's pretty much a requirement for any senior commander. There's also little doubt that Guderian inflated himself in various parts of his memoirs and left out incidents that probably wouldn't show him in the best light. I think that can be said about most memiors to a greater or lesser degree. It's right to revise Guderian's standing but at the same time don't be tempted to flip in the opposite direction. It's interesting that you attribute the phrase 'rose coloured glasses' to him when most would argue that it's Rommel who has enjoyed an inflated reputation. Hardly anyone outside military circles has even heard of Guderian but there does seem to be an element of hero worship amongst some. I have to admit I was guilty of this for a while. I still hold him in high regard but much more tempered with objectivity now.That being said I think he was an able commander who's ego has diminished his achievements, I think he deserves to be in list but perhaps it is time people stopped looking at him through rose coloured glasses.
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