Who was the most brilliant general of the war?

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It wasn't just generals on the mainland who were ignored, in fairness. The massive and varied naval support without which MacArthur's success would not have been possible often goes ignored as well. Macarthur was nothing if not a great self-publicist.

 

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The thread question is almost impossible to answer, but to me Heinz Guderian stands out because of his ideas how to develop the Panzer tactics..

 

[Montemurro]

Originally posted by Top Cat
It wasn't just generals on the mainland who were ignored, in fairness. The massive and varied naval support without which MacArthur's success would not have been possible often goes ignored as well. Macarthur was nothing if not a great self-publicist.

Yes, although the American navy used "the more you use, the less you lose" tactic in the later stages of the war, they did quite well at Midway and their destruction of Japanese merchant shipping was also rather succesfull.

Agrees totally on MacArthur, I've heard that he wanted to use nuclear weapons in the Korean War

 

[TBB]

IMHO is that George C. Marshall, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as THE best general in the war. His admistrative ability makes hime the greatest ever in WWII. The following are the reasons:

1. Who appointed Ike over a lot of other qualified, decorated, and out ranking generals?

Marshall did

2. Who appointed Nimitiz to command after PH?

Marshall did

3. Who conivinced Ike to return Patton to his command after the solder slapping incident?

Marshall did

4. Who made the outline for the midway plan?

Marshall did

5. Who empowered Ike to act as he saw fit during such crisis as the Battle of the Bulge?

Marshall did

6. Who was able to organize an under mobilized country to defeat the 2 most powerful nations other than the USSR?

Marshall did

These reasons alone are enough to put him in the spot of Best General. However if you need more I'll provide more but I'm kinda lazy and will provide more upon request.

 

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Originally posted by Frodon
Koniev was indeed good, but I would say that Vassilevsky and Rokossovsky were even better. But it's not easy to argue with Zhukov's track record...

Pretty much agree with your german leaders, but if I had to pick a british one, I'd prefer Slim...

Yes, I remember Slim. He was top notch. I have a book on his actions in India, Kohima and Imphal specifically. I loved how he pulled back and let the defenses dissolve to lure the Japenese in for the kill. Slim and Scoones performances were admirable.