Who from WW2 you would have liked to have met.

World War II General WWII Discussion
#1

Firstly, to the Moderators: If this thread or similar has been done before, feel free to quash it or shift it to off-topic or similar.

Secondly, my reasoning for the thread is somewhat akin to the “Six Degrees of Separation” theory, which in my case at least, has a validity to it.

Thirdly, I felt it would be both interesting and entertaining to see whom, among Forum members has either met directly or met people who have met and known World War 2 personnel both famous and lesser-known.

So, without further ado, my list:
Would have liked to have met, (Apologies to
those still living):

Hanna Reitsch, Wolfgang

Späte, Adolf Galland, Hans Olejnik, Otto

Skorzeny, Gerhard Barkhorn, Walter

Nowotny, Werner Von Braun, Ernst Heinkel,

Claude Dornier, Willy Messerschmitt, Kurt

Tank, Alexander Lippisch, Edgar Schmued,

R.J. Mitchel, George Sommerfeild, Jeffrey

Quill, Jack Northrop, Martin Caidin, Frank

Whittle, Pabst Von Ohain, Helmutt Walter, Peter Cremer,

Ferdinand Porsche, Georgiy Zhukov, Frank

Camper, William Pickering, Douglas Bader, Al

Deere, Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfeild, Robin

Olds, Jenna Yeager, Burt Rutan, Dick Rutan,

Richard Bach, Ray Hanna, Mark Hanna.

(Yes, Mark Hanna was Not WW2, but I wasn’t going to omit him, for sentimental reasons, Frank Camper, Jeanna Yeager, the Rutan brothers and Scott Crossfield, William Pickering, likewise.)

Please do not make this an exercise in “name dropping”: the thought behind this thread is an academically serious one, drawn from the perspective that a lifetime onwards, there is a certain legitimacy on those of us who have met or known various personalities to preserve their memories, because as they age and die, we remaining are the living memory of those experiences the WW2 personnel leave to be carried forwards to future generations.

Note, the list I have placed does not mention those I have met in my lifetime, that is perhaps a topic for another thread, subject to Moderator approval.

Regards, Uyraell.

#2

Hahaha, my namesake, for one, De Gaulle, Monty, and Rommel. Probably more, but I can’t think of them right now.

#3

Patton,Monty,rommel,Macarthur,Dietrich

#4

General “Ol’ Blood and Guts” George S. Patton, General “Desert Fox” Rommel, be interesting to meet Stalin, Churchill seems to be a jolly fellow to meet, Eisenhower, General MacArthur…really those are the main ones, and for one, even if he is not the most famous WW2 character, John C. Garand.

#5

Erwin Rommel, Micheal Wittmann, Hans Ruddel, Otto Carius, Paul Hauser, Heinz Guderian, Ewald Von Kleist, Stalin, Hitler, Patton, Mark Clark and Walter Model.

#6

Hmm, Monsieur de Gaulle, Non, Merci, pas lui pour mon choix.
The others, ja, certainly :smiley:

Regards, Uyraell.

#7

Hi, there !! :slight_smile:

Hmmm, interesting thread… well, Isoroku Yamamoto is maybe my #1, the
guy’s only weakness was luck, then certainly also Erwin Rommel, Joe Foss,
Lilya Litvak… and many more…

Bye.
Bruno.

#8

Anne Frank?
I love to read about it but meet them in person?
Not sure…
Maybe Joachim Peiper because he spoke French and to ask him if he was really responsible for the massacres at Malmedy and Boves.
Also maybe Henri Fenet from the Charlemagne division.
Felix Steiner seems to be a highly respected commander…so why not?
I really don’t know.
Certainly not the various head of governement during the war.

#9

Pourquoi pas?

#10

I would have liked to have met Hitler, cause then I could have killed the bastard.

#11

For a vast variety of reasons.
The man was appallingly arrogant, as bad as Hitler, in that department.
Tactically, he’s a Russian, which is to say: keep throwing troops at it and it will eventually be overcome. The problem is, De Gaulle was marvellously adept at throwing other peoples’ troops into battles, and very few of his own.
Lest it be forgot: at one point dear old Winston was seriously contemplating having De Gaulle assassinated, simply because De Gaulle was becoming more trouble than he was worth. The last time Winston seriously contemplated De Gaulle’s death is allegedly 3rd June 1944, De Gaulle had very nearly given orders to French troops, which had they been obeyed, would have had the effect of delaying Overlord till September 1944.
Post war, he did more damage to Europe than Hitler ever could have, and in basic individually shat on each and every nation that had spent the lives and blood of its’ youth to liberate France.
For these, and many more reasons, De Gaulle is one I would never wish to meet.

Regards, Uyraell.

#12

Good choices.
Regarding Peiper, the way I understand it is that some of his men and NCO’s were ex-Dirlwanger Brigade. Imho, that may have had somewhat to do with Malmedy, for all that the connection remains unpublicised.
Almost anyone from Charlemagne or Wiking… … …I Agree there.

Regards, Uyraell.

#13

I like your choices as listed.
Litviak is still relatively unknown in the west, though her achievements were great ones.
Rommel would be a must, for all that he doesn’t appear in my list.
I was afraid my list would grow too long, therefore left many names off.

Regards, Uyraell.

#14

for me i would have to say Jimmy Doolittle - doolittle’s raid is maybe one of the most underestimated events in the war - yes it did little “damage” but it boosted morale when americans desperately needed something anything positive to hear - he was an amazing pilot and his will to fly earlier than expected (about 600 miles i think) when spotted by a jap boat was nothing short of heroic as he knew they would have to ditch and make it out on their own, a suicide mission for some, and for others a terrible experience im sure. the war was filled with courageous men who risked their lives every day from all countries axis or allies but even among them i think doolittle was a man i would have liked to have had dinner with. - my second choice would be patton because of his mind - i think a conversation with the man who believed he had fought and died a few times would have some interesting stories to tell (even if they were complete BS) and his no excuses attitude made the 3rd army one of the world’s most feared and respected troops who under patton’s leadership believed they could do anything america asked of them. plus id be curious to hear his views on tank warfare and especially the uniforms he used to design - im sure it would be fun to look at some sketches :slight_smile:

#15

I like the way you’re thinking.

I was thinking along the same lines, but with different victims in Japan.

#16

Are you kidding?

I’d of left him alive and killed his last remaining non-yes-man generals like Manstein.

Adolf was worth about 30 Allied divisions with his incompetence alone!

#17

Herman is right.
If too kill Hitler in 1939 , Germany couldn’t even capture the …Poland.
Before the Mainstain even might to realize his talants.

#18

But this assumes that knocking off Hitler would get rid of the Nazis.

I don’t think it would, not least because Hitler and his mates had so successfully created the Nazi Party and its ideology, which would survive the death of any of them.

It might even be that knocking off Hitler before 1939 would only have cemented and increased the power and place of the Nazis in Germany.

Still, knocking Hitler off early probably had to better than knocking him off a lot later.

#19

Make it 1923 during the Beer putsch.:smiley:

#20

Exactly.
The History of Nacis in GErmany is the History of Adolf Hitler’s life.
He was creator, developer and main manager of nacism.And if the GErman military staff was enough bold to eliminate the Hitler themself, the Nacism would have died, right after killing of main architect.
But they couldn’t.
Beevor wrote that power of Hitler ,at leat 6 known attempt to kill the Hitler befor 20 jul 1944, non of them successful.
His power was magical.
So if mr Herman would be so kind to help Germans say in 1937-39, the ww2 can not be started.