I find this interesting to me, if you ahve an opinion please share it, I think that would be good for all us folks,
Praise be JT
the germans were the best trained,and had the best technology,and the best doctrine (blitzkrieg),they lost because they were fightng with half world,not because of their troops.
german generals were the best,Erwin Rommel,Heinz Guderian,etc.
my point is for german army.
Do you mean best national army or best individual army?
For national army it would probably be between the huge man and material power of the Red Army and the amazing efficiency of the Wehrmacht.
In terms of individual or theatre armies one would have to consider either Slim’s Burma army or the Afrika Corps.
What about Patton, or Douglas MacArthur in the Paficic
What about Patton, or Douglas MacArthur in the Paficic[/quote]
they were exelent generals
I wasn’t really thinking about generals, more the armies themselves, for example Zhukov was probably a great general but there’s nothing special about his army apart from it’s size.
A clearer example might be drawn from the Napoleonics, Wellington’s Peninsular army was a great army, despite being relatively small and isolated from the main events of the period, there is something aboy it’s performance that makes it great. Conversely, Napoleon’s Grande Armee proved to be nothing special despite it’s size and brilliant commander.
Perhaps a great army is one where commander and soldiers come together to produce a superior whole with a “personality” of it’s own, the Afrika Corps under Rommel seems a perfect example. Patton on the other hand is more about his own personality rather than that of his army.
Theatre Army: Slim’s 14th Army in Burma - they won. Rommel’s Afrika Korps are a very close second - they lost. Third would be Mongtomery’s Eight Army, although the earlier successes of Wavell are often overlooked.
National Army: Very difficult to say.
The US Army has a very strong claim because of the massive expansion and modernisation from 175,000 men in 1939 (less that the UK Armed Forces nowadays) to the total of 10million overall employed (by the US Army alone) in World War 2.
Likewise, the Russian Army has a strong claim because of the scale of their recovery from near-defeat and their crucial and unmatched role in ultimate victory.
I do not believe the German Army rates very highly because of the appalling command structure and the convoluted supply chain, but most of all because of the diabolical political meddling of Hitler and the spinelessness of Keitel and Jodl.
As a Brit, I could be biased and favour the British Army and Commonwealth forces, which fought alone until 1942 and which fought until the last days of the war. The British Army saw the war through with grim determination, particularly in the dark years of 1940 and 1941.
However, I would suggest a compromise answer and would state that the Allied Expeditionary Force was the finest (multi)national army of WW2. The credit goes primarily to Eisenhower but also belongs partly to Churchill and Field Marshal Alanbrooke.
General Slim remarked once on the fighting qualities of soldiers from different nationalities. He said that soldiers throughout the world were broadly similar although they had some minor characteristic differences. He claimed that the British soldier was largely “average” and the difference was that he could give a fractional amount of extra endurance (Slim said 5 minutes by way of example than other nationalities, and the key was anticipating the circumstances when this would prove decisive. He was probably thinking of the battle of Kohima in 1944.
Likewise, other nationalities of the period would have differences. Perhaps the German Army had a greater motivation and acceptance of casualties based upon the national fervour at the time? The Russian soldier has been said to accept the brutality of circumstances, the brutality of the enemy but most significantly the brutality of their own commanders. I wouldn’t like to make claims on behalf of other nations but the British claim by Slim rings true.
I think the quality in question has throughout time been known as “Good British Spunk”.
do you get points if you get 5 in a line. 
No, but you get ten if you get a necklace on a LBFMPBR !
The German Army was probably the best up to kampfgruppe level (and there were some good divisions) but above that level it all went to pieces.
Taken as a whole the laurels have to go to the Red Army. It could simply not be beaten, though it could off course be pushed back. Its ability to put fresh men into line after horrendous defeats marks it out.
The British Army of the time was nothing special: cautious and unimaginative though certainly competant it still managed to take heavy casualties in the operations that went badly wrong. Only forces such as the Chindits and long range desert group etc. really stand out. When did we ever triumph against the odds (except maybe Dunkirk and that was more the RN)
The same could be said for the Americans.
Feel free to come back at me!
Battle of Britain, Kohima, 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regt in North Africa (can’t remember the Battle name, read that they held of the best part of a German armoured div with a few 6pdr anti tank guns and rifles/brens)
That’s off the top of my head, we were maybe not the best Army of the war (although we were the only one to start the war in September 1939 and fight right through to the surrender of Japan in August 1945), but we certainly had a few “backs to the wall” victories, as are traditional for the British Army, along with letting the enemy win the first few battles to lull them into a false sense of security, a tradition sadly ruined by the Americans, who have no understanding of this tradition and just bomb everything to hell before the war gets started.
Bah, pesky Americans, taking our chances for glorious last stands from us! Oh well I dare say the great George W will end up picking a fight he cant win and us plucky Brits can go in there to clear it up :shock: . Personally I am quite looking forward to fighting seeing the British fight through the Kyhber pass (once again) in a few years time, where air power and Armoured divisions wont mean as much as they do in broad sandy deserts etc.
I have been watching “Carry on up the Kyhber” and taking notes on how such an action should be performed, so far I have reasoned that a gramaphone playing Lewis Gun and Sid James’ laugh will be conducive to Victory as well as a company of bare-buttocked scotsmen. :lol:
There are so many different criteria. Perhaps a list might look like this:
Best overall army at formation level - German army (battlegroup).
Best individual army at formation level - British 14th Army.
Most advanced (and/or) improved army - US Army.
Best army overall (in terms of successes) - Red Army.
:?: :?: :?:
all of them for the germans :twisted: ,except the last,they lost :roll:
It’s a valid point - for the “best army of WW2” you really have to specify a date. The best army of 1939 will not be the same as the best army of 1945.
It’s a valid point - for the “best army of WW2” you really have to specify a date. The best army of 1939 will not be the same as the best army of 1945.[/quote]
yes,sorry.
[quote=“BDL”]
Battle of Britain, Kohima, 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regt in North Africa (can’t remember the Battle name, read that they held of the best part of a German armoured div with a few 6pdr anti tank guns and rifles/brens)
After this battle 44 Division was disbanded and 131 Brigade became the Lorried Infantry Brigade of 7 Armoured Division (The Desert Rats). Occupying first Tobruk and later Benghazi, they entered Tripoli on 23rd January
An enemy counter-attack at Medenine on 7th March 1943 was repelled at a cost to the Germans of 27 tanks which were knocked out by 6 pounder guns. After hard fighting at Enfidaville the Brigade was the first infantry unit into Tunis thereby cutting the Axis armies into two. The whole campaign had been a magnificent achievement. 169 Brigade travelled via Bombay to Iraq where they spent the winter of 1942/43 at Kirkuk. Ordered to join the 8th Army the Brigade made the historic approach of 3,313 miles to Enfidaville in 31 days and was in action the following morning after arrival.
You may be confusing actions, 131 Brigade was all Queen’s Regt.
[quote="“2nd of foot”"]
:oops: No idea where I got Hampshires from then, they must have done something at some point. I’ll try and dig the book out that I read it in and see what they did to make me remember them.