soc.history.war.world-war-ii

William Black wrote:
> "Hal Hanig" wrote in message
> news:WbVFj.2580$gx.321@newsfe07.lga...
>> William Black wrote:
>>> "Hal Hanig" wrote in message
>>> news:f5LFj.4$OW5.0@newsfe02.lga...
>>>
>>>> As you may have noticed, Americans come in a wide variety of sizes,
>>>> shapes
>>>> and sounds. Thinking back to those days and, from the perspective of
>>>> someone already in uniform at the time rather than a history student,
>>>> most
>>>> Americans (at least those that I came into contact with) thought Monty
>>>> was (1) a pompous sawed-off runt with a monumental and unwarranted ego,
>>>> (2) an unfailing pain in the ass to get along with, (3) a flag officer
>>>> with little vision or spirit of adventure and (4) excessively cautious
>>>> in
>>>> his approach to missions or operations he'd undertake with less than an
>>>> overwhelming surplus of whatever was needed to achieve success. And
>>>> when
>>>> he ran into such situations, he more or less regularly sloughed them
>>>> off
>>>> on others to deal with rather than risk besmirching his name and
>>>> reputation with the possibility of failure.
>>>
>>>
>>> How many of these people had either actually met him or were of
>>> sufficient
>>> rank and ability to question his ability?
>>
>> If that's the game we're going to be playing, let's then discount every
>> favorable word we ever heard about him from anyone other than his
>> superiors. The problem there would probably be that, if you listened to
>> what Monty himself might have to say on that subject, he undoubtedly had
>> no peers or betters, so one would be stuck with taking him at his word
>> there being no others to consider.
>>
>> Anyway, to answer your question, I already stated at the outset that
>> these
>> were people I came in contact with who voiced their opinions and I
>> neither
>> got their pedigrees nor did I record the conversations. You can discard
>> their opinions if you wish for whatever reason you may wish, but that
>> doesn't change those opinions.
>>
>
> No, but it affects their validity.

No, it doesn't because I never claimed them to be anything other than their
opinions. If you have some reason for doubting me, stop beating around the
bush and spell it out. Until then, their opinion are valid because I've
reported them as accurately as I can.....they're only invalid if I've
reported them wrong, and I know that I haven't done that. I'm not saying
that those opinions are accurate, merely that I've reported them accurately.

To sum up, I never claimed that what we thought of Monty was necessarily
right, but I do claim that what we thought of him was accurately reported to
you regardless of whether or not you agreed with it......that's the way we
felt at the time.
>
> Montgomery was certainly difficult to get on with but the people who he
> worked for, and who worked directly for him, seem to have had a
> reasonably
> high opinion of him.
>
> The view of him held by a sergeant in the US Army of the day of the are of
> little interest to anyone.

Well, aren't you the clever one......sergeant indeed! If you think that
your comment will denigrate the effect of what was said, I'll have you know
that the United States Army and the rest of its military arms functioned
quite effectively during WWII thank you primarily due to the quality of its
sergeants and other non-commissioned officers. Without their understanding
and efforts, our officers could have accomplished nothing and, having been
one, I can attest to that from personal knowledge and experience.

Furthermore, I don't much appreciate you reducing this to a UK vs. US
situation.....we were talking about one individual who was British and the
subject was raised by a fellow Brit. If it offended you that I, an
American, had something to say on the subject, perhaps it should have been
raised in some forum other than the Internet where access is available to
everyone with a computer. If that's the case, then your complaint should be
directed to the compatriot who raised the issue and you can spare me the
snide digs. It doesn't make you look more than just petty and doesn't do a
positive thing for the generally good relations our respective nations have
enjoyed since WWII.

So, thank you for your input, Colonel Blimp. Regards to Her Majesty from
one of her irreverant colonists once removed.