The best of WW2

Site Issues 2005 Archive Room
#1

The following was lifted from a warfare magazine an is their poll, not mine:

The Best Commanders

  1. Best US Senior Level Commander

Eisenhower
MacArthur
Devers
Stillwell

  1. Best Allied Senior Level Commander

Slim
Montgomery
Blamey
Crerar
Alexander

  1. Best US Fighting General

Patton
Collins
Ridgeway
Eichelberger
Vandegrift

  1. Best Allied Fighting General

Zhukov
Browning
Freyberg
Dempsey
Konev

  1. Best Axis General

Rommel
Guderian
Manstein
Yamashita

  1. Best Naval Commander

Nimitz
Doenitz
Yamamoto
Halsey

  1. Best Air Commander

LeMay
Galland
Harris
Doolittle

The Best Weapons

  1. Best Tank

T-34
Panther
Tiger
JSII/III
Sherman

  1. Best Rifle

M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
Enfield No 4 Mk I
Mosin Nagant 91/30
Mauser K98

  1. Best Pistol

Browning Hi-Power
Enfield/Webley No 2 Mark I/mark IV
Walther P-38
Model 1911A1
Tokarev TT-33

  1. Best Machine Gun

MG-42
M1917 .30cal
Bren
MG-34
M-2 .50 cal

  1. Best SMG

PPsH 41/43
MP38/40
Suomi
M1928 Thompson

  1. Best Fighter

P-51 Mustang
Fw-190
Zero
Spitfire
Hellcat

  1. Best Bomber

B-29
He-111
Lancaster
B-17
B-24

  1. Best Fighter-Bomber

Mosquito
Stuka
Sturmovik
P-47
Typhoon

The Real War Winners

  1. Best Transportation War Winner

2.5 ton truck
C-47
Higgins Boat
Jeep
Liberty Ship

  1. Best Technological War Winner

Enigma/Ultra
Penicillin
Radar
Proximity Time Fuse
jet propulsion

The Fighting Front & Home Front Bests

  1. Best War Correspondent

Ernie Pyle
Martha Gellhorn
Edward Murrow
Robert Sherrod

  1. Best Photograph

Rosenthal’s Flag Raising on Suribachi
Capa’s D-Day Soldier on Omaha
Karsh’s “Angry Lion”
Eisenstadt’s VJ Day Times Square

  1. Best Combat Artist

Bill Mauldin
Howard Brodie
Albert Gold
Tom Lea

  1. Best Song (Popular)

I’ll Be Seeing You
Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
It’s Been a Long, Long Time
White Cliffs of Dover

  1. Best Song (Patriotic)

God Bless America
Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
Der Fuehrer’s face

  1. Best Pinup

Betty Grable
Rita Hayworth
Hedy Lamarr
Ann Sheridan

  1. Best Novel by a WWII Participant

The Naked and the Dead
From Here to Eternity
The Caine Mutiny
Cross of Iron

Theres a few dodgy ones in there in my opinion, what do you guys think?

#2

some don’t deserve mention, and many important choices are left out. Some comparisions are also meaningless.

#3

Personally wouldn’t put anything over the Spitfire, and the He111 over the Lanc is just ludicrous. I’d personally take a Panther over a T-34 too.

#4

Still think the Colt 45(1911A1) is one of the best combat pistols ever!
I agree with the M1 Garand choice. One ive fired one and its just awesome. 2 in just about any WW2 game is about the best weapon to pick if you want to stay alive.
Spitfire vs P-51 is a close call but in the article the Spitfire’s rank is just silly. I think the only reason the Sherman is on the list is coz there were so damn many of them.
Totally agree with Best Transportation War Winner
The rest of the catagories are pretty resonable.

#5

The Best Commanders

  1. Best US Senior Level Commander

Eisenhower

  1. Best Allied Senior Level Commander

Montgomery

  1. Best US Fighting General

Patton

  1. Best Allied Fighting General

Zhukov

  1. Best Axis General

Manstein

  1. Best Naval Commander

Nimitz

  1. Best Air Commander
    Harris

The Best Weapons

  1. Best Tank

Tiger

  1. Best Rifle

M1 Garand

  1. Best Pistol

Browning Hi-Power

  1. Best Machine Gun

MG-42

  1. Best SMG

PPsH 41/43

  1. Best Fighter

Fw-190

  1. Best Bomber

B-29

  1. Best Fighter-Bomber

Mosquito

The Real War Winners

  1. Best Transportation War Winner

2.5 ton truck

  1. Best Technological War Winner

Enigma/Ultra

The Fighting Front & Home Front Bests

  1. Best War Correspondent

Ernie Pyle

  1. Best Photograph

Rosenthal’s Flag Raising on Suribachi

  1. Best Combat Artist

Bill Mauldin

  1. Best Novel by a WWII Participant

Cross of Iron

Edited by Gen. Sandworm for clarity. Just took out the quotes.

#6

That a can’t-go-wrong list since it tallys several of the best of each category. But that’s OK since it is almost silly to choose one best of anything. :smiley:

#7

I have some doubts about Enfield/Webley being the best pistol
and maybe the P-51 Mustang isnt the top too, but I agree with most of the others.

#8

I would put the Mustang at the top of the fighters. A trully enabling piece of kit at just about the right time. It enabled the US to bomb in daylight without the horrendous losses. Imagine being a German fighter pilot and seeing them over Berlin for the 1st time!

I’m sure they must have realised it was all over.

#9

Your best naval commander is a bit lacking. My vote for the best naval commander goes to either Tanaka or Yamaguchi. None of them made your list.

#10

As I said, its not my list, its what was voted for in the Armchair general magazine, I thought it would be interesting though to see what you guys thought of it.

#11

The list is a bit Yankocentric- spaarating Americans from “Allies” demeans those allies.
ommissions: How come Dowding doesn’t get a mention as an air commander? Why no reference to artillery? Why no consideration of no US Allied Admirals, given the RN did fight a prolonged campaign in the Med before Pearl Harbour?

Question: Why does the Fw190 rate above the Spit despite later marks of Spit re-establishing dominance over it?

#12

I demand It’s a Long Way to Tipperary to be put up as the best song of the war (even though it was in WWI too, it’s just that good :stuck_out_tongue: )