All the senior commanders Ike, Monty, and Bradley tried to keep a lid on the slapping incidents, and with the first they succeeded, but with the second a nurse who witnessed it wrote to her boyfriend who was a news reporter, and the brown stuff hit the fan.
Patton restored mobility to Normandy
No, while Patton did a wonderful job of exploiting the breakthrough, the intial breakthrough was achieved by Bradley and Collins before Patton took command of the 3rd Army.
How so exactly? As far as a preparatory bombardment, delivery of both naval and air ordnance was to be curtailed to maintain surprise. What kind of “naval artillery” bombardment would suffice? How long? Part of the ineffectual bombardment had to do with grass fires caused by the shelling obscuring the beach and causing a virtual smokescreen for the German defenders’ positions!
If you are so wrapped up in the “Patton Bashing” that you don’t wish to see anything alse, then all the proof of Bradley’s typical arrogance will fall on deaf ears…
I’m not the one “bashing” and holding one general to one standard, and praising another like a fanboi! You are!
You asked me to provide some sort of proof…I did…And now it’s somehow not good enough?
You provided nothing but an opinion. And opinion article that is somewhat revisionist and reduces what were a complex set of factors working against the Americans. One that contradicts much of what I have read on the subject.
And what was a US general’s specific complaint about anyways? They hurt his feelings? Which amphibious landing in the Pacific went so well to make anyone in the US Army, Marines, or Navy such experts? Which preparatory artillery barrage negated stiff Japanese resistance where?
Then there’s the fact that Germany had something the Japanese didn’t. The ability to counterattack using armor!
Stick up for Rommel and watch me shoot that down as well.
I could care less about Rommel, suffice to say that I think he and Patton had much in common operationally speaking…They were both generals that fed off the speed and momentum of battle, reacted to their enemies’ weaknesses faster than their adversaries could theirs, yet both often seemed to be blind to the proverbial forest through the trees…
I found Omar Bradley to be just as pigheaded and arrogant as Patton, but without a trace of tactical or strategic genius…
Then why was Bradley his commander? If Bradley was so “arrogant,” how come he actually recommended Patton to take over the II Corp?
for all of Patton’s faults, he was essentially irreplaceable and unique…his orders shorteded the war…No such claim can be made by Omar N. Bradley, and the lack of press conferences simply means he really had nothing significant to offer them in the way of news, whereas Patton was making headlines by his very actions, good bad or indifferent, all the time…
Oh brother, here we go strawman. :rolleyes: Yeah, the fact that it was largely Bradley that helped break the German resistance in France during the Battle (or Slaughter) of the Falaise Gap.
Patton was a bit of a bombastic whore for attention. I’m not saying that makes him any more or less adept. But spare me his self-promotion and his mutual, personal competition with Monty makes him any more able or singled out more actual accomplishments…
I guess you could say the vote has already been cast a long time ago as to which was the better performer…the one that got all the publicity…
Um, no. The one “got it publicly” 25-years after the fact in a cinematically great, but historically deluded, film. That’s the primary reason that Patton has become some pop culture icon anymore so than Bradley…
And it WASN’T OMAR…Tough luck…the press know a winner when they see one…and it wasn’t Bradley…
LMFAO! So the press decided who was great? What?
He who has the most press conferences, wins!
You’re taking this waaaay too personally…Do you always personally attack those in disagreement?
Why would anyone have to be an “apologist” for Bradley, a universally recognized soldier…
Do you really want me to cut and pasted Googled links? Fine. But feel free to do some extensive reading beyond Patton’s fanboi biographers largely building on a myth created in 1970…
The competition was all in Patton’s mind, Monty didn’t play silly games with mens lives for his own self promotion.
Oh please! Tell me all about it? Are you living in 1915? Massive bombardments are useless against heavily fortified infantry positions, except serving to tipping off the opposition where they can expect the attack. You’re comparing apples and oranges! Please feel free to compare the evidence that the bombardments on Gold, Juno, Sword, or Utah beach were anymore extensive! The attack was predicated on surprise and misdirection, not the pulverizing of defenses. The Allies were trying to maintain the bluff or Palais De Calais for as long as possible.
Incidentally, the US Navy bombarded Okinawa for several days before the marines went in, yet they still suffered heavy casualties.
Pre-Invasion of Okinawa
The April 1st invasion was preceded by 7 days of “softening up” artillery fire of 13,000 rounds by U.S. Navy guns and 3,095 sorties by carrier planes from Task Force 58 at the proposed landing sites at Hagushi and Chatan beaches.
Preliminary bombardment of Okinawa begins months prior to landingsPreliminary bombardment of Okinawa begins months prior to landings
Then on the morning of April 1st, navy ships rained a prelanding bombardment of 44,825 shells, 33,000 rockets and 22,500 mortar shells plus napalm attacks by carrier planes on the invasion beaches. This was the incendiary prelude to the Battle of Okinawa which Masahide Ota was to aptly and vividly describe in his book as “the typhoon of steel and bombs!”
[/i]
There was also the possibility that Heer would release the panzer divisions towards the coast - which idiot Hitler was too sleepy to do. So, how many days did you want the US and Royal Navies to bombard the coastline off Normandy? One, two, twenty days? Really?
BTW, Gen. Omar Bradley was as responsible for planning Utah beach as he was Omaha. A place where the Americans suffered less than 20 combat related deaths! After landing on the WRONG beach!
they were only DDs, yet you credit their success at reducing bunkers, even if it did need 25 shells each, who cares? Ammunition should be the least of your worries at that particular point of the operation…
I didn’t say I cared about ammunition! You miss my point. Those were pinpoint accurate hits from 5-inch-guns, accurate because during often heroic individual actions, US soldiers threw colored smoke grenades in front of the bunkers, which often remained relatively intact, but had their crews killed by concussion or crew-served weapons destroyed…
Also it was heroic because the US and Royal Navy destroyers could have easily beached themselves…
Those airstrikes missed because of the essential unsuitability of them for the role…
Really? Then why did the Germans use Stuka dive-bombers as their main artillery for the panzers outrunning the guns and infantry in France circa 1940?
and a lot of people died for that alone…and that IS to be placed fairly and sqaurely, at the feet of Omar Bradley,
A hindsight blame game from your frothing imagination! Those people were killed by a pretty good Wehrmacht division, a number of things gone wrong, and a beach that gave the attacker no cover…
Then is Patton to blame for some of his blunders? His callous indifference to his mens’ lives?
What about the infamous “Task Force Baum” incident?
[i]On March 24, 1945, shortly after completing his crossing of the Rhine, Patton ordered US XII Corps commander Major General Manton Eddy to undertake an immediate operation to liberate the OFLAG XIII-B prison camp at Hammelburg, some 80 kilometers behind enemy lines. Eddy strongly argued against the necessity and prudence of the raid, reportedly going so far as to refuse to pass the order to the US 4th Armored Division without General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s approval. Patton, having no desire to involve Eisenhower (who was already well acquainted with Patton’s headstrong tendencies and would likely have cancelled the operation), flew to the XII Corps command post at Undenheim, waited until Eddy left for dinner, and personally delivered the operation order to Brigadier General Hoge of the US 4th Armored Division. Noting that intelligence indicated a strong Wehrmacht and possible SS Panzer presence in the area (as well as its relative distance from the front line), Hoge and “Combat Command B” commander Lieutenant Colonel Creighton Abrams told Patton that no less than a full Combat Command would be required. Patton rejected this, insisting that only a limited task force be sent. He planned to use 3,000 men but ultimately used two companies with 300 men and 15 tanks to raid the Hammelburg POW camp. He also mandated that his aide-de-camp and personal friend, Major Alexander Stiller accompany the force “to gain experience.”[25]
The task force, named Task Force Baum (after its leader, Captain Abraham Baum), fought valiantly through significant resistance to liberate the camp, but was too exhausted and reduced in size from 52 hours of continuous fighting to break out of the noose of Wehrmacht reinforcements that rapidly swarmed into the area to surround them. The raid by Task Force Baum was a total failure, and only 35 of the 300 men returned; the rest were captured or killed.
After the news of the operation became public, it was revealed that Patton’s motivation for ordering the operation against apparent common sense and the strident objections of his officers was most probably personal: he had been informed on February 9th by General Eisenhower that his son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John K. Waters, captured in North Africa in 1943, was being held at Hammelburg. Until this information came out, Patton had always insisted he had no knowledge of the location of Waters. Upon further review, Patton’s explanation for insisting that Stiller go along also didn’t hold water; as a decorated World War I officer, Stiller had already seen significantly more combat than most of the men in Task Force Baum, and (most importantly) as a personal friend of Patton’s family, he had met Waters and would be able to identify him. Furthermore, Patton had always insisted that the operation to liberate the camp at Hammelburg was motivated by a deep concern for the welfare and safety of captured US servicemen, yet in an ironic twist, after Stiller was captured, Patton refused to try to liberate the camp where he and other survivors were being held, even though it was much closer to the 3rd Army line of advance than Hammelburg had been, and contained nearly twice as many troops. Patton’s superior, General Omar Bradley, later famously characterized the raid as “a wild goose-chase that ended in a tragedy.”[25][/i]
…the planner of the fire plan, and man on the spot thats supposed to accept responsibility when things like this happen. You won’t find arrogant Omar admitting to much of anything in the way of mistakes, which is entirely typical of that General Officer, as demonstrated by his attitude to Maj. Gen. Charles Corlett.
Eh, a the “fire plan” is one historians opinion, and is not recognized as the sole factor of the problems at Omaha Beach by anyone but him. It’s just another revisionist who clearly does not consider the entire situation and just nitpicks, or cherrypicks, seemingly in an effort seeking one single reason for the setbacks in the morning. Yet, he does not mention Omar Bradley in the article more than once curiously…
I think youv’e just got it into your head that Omar was a better soldier, based on the fact of his lack of press conferences, and his “un-Patton-like” personality.
Quite the opposite, you’ve got it in your mind that somehow Patton’s style made him the greatest general ever! He certainly had talent and was good at exploiting tactical opportunities, but he had limitations and much of his mythic “genius” has been exaggerated largely due to the film…
Put yourself in Eisenhower’s shoes…If Patton was such a disaster, then why was he kept on?
Please point out my text where I ever referred to Patton as a “disaster!”
Stop the silly strawman arguments…
Patton was kept on because he had a certain tactical brilliance. But he was also capped as the Third Army commander. He never could have done Ike’s job. I’m not sure he would have done as well in Bradley’s position…
[i]…On August 21, 1944 Haislip’s XV Corps crossed the Seine at Mantes while Walker’s XX Corps and Cook’s XII crossed the Seine just south of Paris. Cook however, was suffering from high blood pressure and was relieved of command, and replaced by Manton Eddy. Tactically, Bradley felt that the liberation of Paris was a waste of manpower. The fleeing German army was of greater concern. The French Police however, staged an uprising in Paris, thus forcing Bradley to send Gerow’s V Corps and Leclerc’s French 2nd Armored Division to accept surrender.
Montgomery’s plan called Operation MARKET-GARDEN was soon underway. The broad plan called for a drop and/or a glider landing of three and a half divisions in and around Arnhem. Immediately, Bradley rejected the idea and filed a formal protest to Ike. Tactically, Bradley felt that the single thrust to Berlin would build a gap between the Allied forces, thus leaving them vulnerable. Moreover, Bradley felt that the paratrooper landing was risky at best. Ike failed to see the validity in Bradley’s argument and Operation MARKET-GARDEN proceeded on September 17, 1944. In all the British lost 7,500 out of 10,000 paratroopers.
…[/i]
…
Bradley used the advantage gained in March 1945—after Eisenhower authorized a difficult but successful Allied offensive (Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade) in February 1945—to break the German defenses and cross the Rhine into the industrial heartland of the Ruhr. Aggressive pursuit of the disintegrating German troops by Bradley’s forces resulted in the capture of a bridge across the River Rhine at Remagen. Bradley and his subordinates quickly exploited the crossing, forming the southern arm of an enormous pincer movement encircling the German forces in the Ruhr from the north and south. Over 300,000 prisoners were taken. American forces then met up with the Soviet forces near the River Elbe in mid-April. By V-E Day, the 12th Army Group was a force of four armies (1st, 3rd, 9th, and 15th) that numbered over 1.3 million men.
…Generals like Omar Bradley could have removed
Patton if they actually thought his record was less than secure…they could not find much to attack Patton for, really, and had to rely on bullshit slapping incidents to make press over Georgie’s “unsuitability”…
Um, part of the reason Patton was removed for command was not just the slapping incident, (incidentally, the soldier wasn’t a “coward” with just PTSD, he also had malaria - when Patton learned this, he was magnanimous to his credit).
Many have speculated that Patton himself had PTSD, and was possibly bi-polar. Certainly not crippling afflictions for even a general, but they certainly affected his judgment. Part of Patton’s removal was his whipping his troops blood lust up with his speeches that some think led to executions of German and Italian POW soldiers and other warcrimes…
They didn’t all cry “Let George do it” for nothing…Patton restored mobility to Normandy, and like Grant, his actions “got this thing over and done with as quickly as possible” in the best American tradition…and as for uniforms in the Third Army, it’s like a musician that plays better in his suit…men fight better when they are clean, well fed and with dry feet…
He didn’t restore mobility to Normandy! The hedgerow fighting was in fact, as pointed out, broken by Bradley, and not the typical fighting that Patton was adept at as that was an essentially and engineers’ and infantry battle. Also, it was a sergeant that invented “hedge-choppers,” or the teeth welded to the front of tanks, that were able to break the stalemate in conjunction with other techniques such as using explosives to blast ingress points into the hedges allowing US infantry to flank German defenses of the approaches.
Omar Bradley…responsible for not much in the way of innovation, just another commander who was there, like Miles Dempsey…they all envied Georgie for his genius, and people like Bradley and their apologists are not, now, going to take the credit for it either, just as they tried to do sixty plus years ago…
Um, what “innovation” did Patton lead too? He wrote almost nothing regarding military strategy…
Again, you use the term “apologist” in regards to Bradley, which is foolish as it is insulting…
Apologists make excuses for the Hitlers, not generally honorably if imperfect men like Omar Bradley, fanboi.
Your turn to provide a little in the way of proof, Captain Nick…and don’t get “fresh” with me!..(he he!)
What proof would you like?
Here’s some blurbs on the Falaise Gap:
While Allied troops made slow progress in Normandy through most of June and July, the US 12th Army Group under General Omar Bradley started to make rapid progress at the beginning of August, thanks to the success of Operation Cobra. By August 4 the German front facing the 12th Army Group had largely collapsed. A small but fierce German counter-offensive (Operation Lüttich) was launched on August 7 at Mortain. This was a last-ditch attempt at halting the Allied breakthrough by cutting off General George Patton’s Third Army. With the aid of air support and advance warning thanks to ULTRA, the Germans had been repelled by the evening, and Bradley had retaken Mortain.[2]
The Germans’ Mortain counterattack was an unwise move because it shifted the weight of their forces westward at the very time when they needed to retreat eastward. In the process the Germans had been weakened, and Allied commanders Bradley and Bernard Montgomery moved to exploit the situation with a plan to encircle the Germans.
The initial plan was to cut off the Germans by sending the First Canadian Army, under Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, south through Falaise[2]to meet elements of the American Third Army, which was attacking northwards to Argentan. Realising that the Germans might escape, Montgomery later modified the plan to close the gap between Trun and Chambois 11 miles (18 km) further to the east.
More on Gen. Omar Bradley, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But mostly it was good because he was good, and it was ugly because war is ugly…
From: http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2timeline/bradley3.html
[i]…
Operation OVERLORD was originally scheduled to take place in May, but would be eventually postponed until June 6, 1944. The US First Army was assigned three corps, which consisted of the V Corps commanded by Leonard Gerow, the VII Corps commanded by “Lightning Joe” Collins, and the XIX Corps under command of Charles Corlett. Early on the morning of June 6, 1944 Bradley was at his headquarters, aboard the USS Augusta that escorted 21 convoys for Utah and Omaha beaches. His battle plans remained the same despite learning that the German 352nd Infantry Division was moved in the area. At 0630 Allied troops began to land along the coast of France. Utah beach was quickly secured with only 200 killed, while Omaha beach remained both unsecured and bloody.
The situation on Omaha beach was something straight out of a horror movie. The German regiment in this area was reinforced by the 352nd and put up a nearly impenetrable defense. American soldiers were being massacred at the Pointe du Hoc, and Bradley briefly considered evacuating the American troops. Suddenly, Gerow’s voice rang out over the radio, “Troops formerly pinned down on beaches… advancing up heights behind the beaches.” (8) It seems that it was the U.S. Navy destroyers firing at German strongholds that served as the catalyst for the American advancement. By evening the V Corps had around 35,000 soldiers at a cost of roughly 2,500 men. Finally on June 9, Bradley was able to move his headquarters ashore and begin the long journey to Germany.
The first attempts to breakout of Normandy were feeble at best. Bradley soon developed a plan called Operation COBRA that called for one corps to encircle the Axis powers at Caen. The plan began on July 25 with 1887 bombers dropping bombs on both American and German positions. The VII Corps under Collins broke through German lines in a 35-mile advance and took St. Lo. The Third Army, under the command of George Patton, took full credit for the capture of St. Lo. After the success of Bradley’s plan, Courtney Hodges assumed command of First Army, and Bradley assumed command of the 12th Army Group-a group that consisted of 21 divisions and over 900,000 men. In fact, at the end of the war Bradley’s 12th Army Group was the largest ever commanded by an American general. Bradley’s next obstacle would be the Falaise Gap. With the help of ULTRA, Bradley gained valuable information concerning a possible German attack at Mortain. He quickly reinforced the VII Corps with four additional divisions at Mortain. The four divisions ultimately stopped the German attack. Bradley, however, ordered Patton to halt his closure of the Falaise bottleneck, thus leaving the neck open for hundreds of thousands of Germans to escape. Nonetheless, the battle signaled the end of the fighting in Normandy.[/i]
No, I agree he didn’t play games with his mens’ lives (for the most part, neither did Patton), but he certainly was a self-promoter…
No crime in that 
Depends what the cost of doing so is. In Montgomery’s case the cost was serious damage to relations between the British and the (dominant) US ground forces. This many have prolonged the war, particularly if it contributed to the failure to clear the approaches to Antwerp and trap those German forces virtually encircled west of the Scheldt.
I agree. Omar Bradley also hired a press corp entourage when he felt himself falling behind in the press-race. 
Gen. Patton wasn’t exactly a diplomat either either, often making off-the-cuff statements many British commanders found offensive and unfairly demeaning…
True enough. Two differences though:
Patton had far less need to be diplomatic - the consequences of his failing to be so were far less severe.
While Monty upset the Americans a number of times, I’m unaware of it having any practical effect on the campaign.
Ike did a very good job ensuring it didn’t
This many have prolonged the war, particularly if it contributed to the failure to clear the approaches to Antwerp and trap those German forces virtually encircled west of the Scheldt
While the failure to realise the importance of clearing the approaches to Antwerp was an error by Monty, it should be noted that its importance was missed by Ike as well, so I don’t know how any possible Anglo-American discord has any bearing on it 
Nicko…
16 inch shells do quite well against a target you can actually SEE…Iwo positions were not above ground…and Okinawa bombardment fell on empty space in a deliberate Japanese pullback.
Murray’s point is that SOMETHING different COULD have been done…very easily. And here we have a fire plan for the principle beach in the most important operation mounted in this or any other war and the advisor with the most experience at targets much more difficult to crack than these positions is fobbed off as having nothing to contribute from the “bush league”?
I would say thats criminal negligence, pompocity and arrogance all rolled into one.
Patton is no pop culture hero, but he was given a fair bit of publicity during the conflict, with his senior Omar Bradley getting not a lot, and who exactly had the upper hand in terms of conveying their own role?..Patton was not around anymore to blow his own trumpet as Omar was fond of doing…and his lack of an autobiography classifies him as a humble man by definition, which he really was not. But I think it is significant that others have told the Patton tale for him…
Patton’s methods are still held up as examples…Omar Bradley can make no such claim.
Sixteen-inch guns generally are fired at targets that cannot be seen and were used for area bombardment, not against point targets on land. In any case, the beach was shrouded by fog, then smoke from grass fires, which is why the destroyers came in. And tactical aircraft can’t see their targets? Really?
Iwo positions were not above ground…and Okinawa bombardment fell on empty space in a deliberate Japanese pullback.
The Japanese never pulled back on Okinawa as much as they were never sure where the actual American landings would take place.
But the island was peppered with bombs and shells for days, even weeks, before the landings…
You act as though Omaha were a defeat. But the US suffered what, two thousand casualties? and still routed the Germans by nightfall…Hardly a bloodbath by WWII standards…
Murray’s point is that SOMETHING different COULD have been done…very easily. And here we have a fire plan for the principle beach in the most important operation mounted in this or any other war and the advisor with the most experience at targets much more difficult to crack than these positions is fobbed off as having nothing to contribute from the “bush league”?
Oh course Murray knows “something could have done,” with the benefit of “hindsight!”
I would say thats criminal negligence, pompocity and arrogance all rolled into one.
I’d say you’re way overstating it! Even assuming Bradley should have planned a better arty barrage, how are mistakes “criminal negligence?” Then you’d be trying every general, certainly the main ones!
Then is Patton a criminally negligent for pissing away 300 of his men in order to save his son-in-law?
Patton is no pop culture hero, but he was given a fair bit of publicity during the conflict, with his senior Omar Bradley getting not a lot, and who exactly had the upper hand in terms of conveying their own role?..Patton was not around anymore to blow his own trumpet as Omar was fond of doing…and his lack of an autobiography classifies him as a humble man by definition, which he really was not. But I think it is significant that others have told the Patton tale for him…
Patton’s methods are still held up as examples…Omar Bradley can make no such claim.
Patton had publicity, but so did Bradley and Ike? And anyways, how would you know what the press coverage was like? Where you there?
And if Bradley had died, then others would have told his tale for him. He was in “Patton” as well, played by Karl Malden…
Which of Patton’s “methods” are still in use, incidentally?
Shameful episode
He only got away with it, because FDR died just after the Combat Command was wiped out, making it easier for Bradley and Ike to keep the incident out of the news.
I thought this was a comparison between Patton and Rommel, not Patton and Bradley…
ONLY so many casualties?
Starting to sound like the type of commander you accuse Patton of being…callous.
And just for the record, the losses on Omaha have never been officially stated, but “2,000 or so” isn’t even close to the mark…try “7,000 or so”, or about one in every four men that hit the beach that day, with much rounding of figures…
The point about Omaha is that if the Germans had allocated their reseerves to Omaha instead of in the Gold/Juno/Sword direction, you would have been looking at a major disaster on that beach, with the crucial link-up of the landing beaches delayed indefinately…we are looking at the operation being scotched on the first day of it’s existence…
And Omar Bradley is principally to blame for that state of affairs…he’s lucky for him and the rest of “Overlord” participants that it didn’t turn a whole lot worse…fortunes of war in his favour and all of that…
Anyone giving Omar Bradley a God-like image should remember this…
And, Okinawa WAS a deliberate pull back…they evacuated the entire Northern sector of the island, in an effort to concentrate resources and lure the U.S. infantry onto “Shuri Line” positions that had been zeroed and pre-registered with an assortment of artillery that rivaled Verdun…Naha was the headquarters for the Army Artillery school after all…
The better effectiveness of naval artillery of all kinds for shore bombardment in an amphibious lamding is well known and noted, except by know-nothings like Bradley…
And further, I’m pretty sure that Karl Malden wasn’t playing Omar Bradley…Patton couldn’t stand him…
ONLY so many casualties?
Starting to sound like the type of commander you accuse Patton of being…callous.
And just for the record, the losses on Omaha have never been officially stated, but “2,000 or so” isn’t even close to the mark…try “7,000 or so”, or about one in every four men that hit the beach that day, with much rounding of figures…
Um, from where are you pulling this figure from? Every source I’ve ever seen stated between 2000-3000 “casualties,” that is not even battle deaths necessarily…
Wiki says 3000 “casualty and losses.”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach
And how am I being “callous?” The US bore far less of a brunt for deaths and wounds than did others such as the Soviet Union. Obviously, with six beaches, at least one was going to have difficulty, and in the end, it was Bradley’s planning, in conjunction from others such as Monty, Patton, Ike, etc., that led to the breakout and the hammering that the German forces took in France - ultimately SAVING thousands more!
The point about Omaha is that if the Germans had allocated their reseerves to Omaha instead of in the Gold/Juno/Sword direction,
Who says they didn’t? The 352d was destroyed in intense fighting, and primarily by the US 29th & 1st IDs in the hedgerows as their reserves fell back…What source do you have says otherwise?
you would have been looking at a major disaster on that beach, with the crucial link-up of the landing beaches delayed indefinately…we are looking at the operation being scotched on the first day of it’s existence…
Why necessarily? The 352d wasn’t particularly mobile. They were well trained and organized, but they lacked motorization and themselves were pinned down by airborne drops - even if they never came in contact with anyone from the 101st or 82d, they still were hearing about them and were forced to guard against drops. I have no idea if they did actually make contact or not though. Secondly, there was no set German plan to counterattack the beaches, they were primarily coastal defense, and there was little training on bum-rushing the beach. In fact, there is a possibility that even the two regiments defending the beach could have attacked and swept up the shattered first waves themselves! But they didn’t, because they weren’t trained too, and no one had any sort of plan for it. Their communications were largely disrupted, and there was little coherent response from anything German on D-Day, which means the Allied plans that Omar Bradley is at least partially responsible for achieved the exact goals that prevented Omaha from being dirven back into the sea…
And Omar Bradley is principally to blame for that state of affairs…he’s lucky for him and the rest of “Overlord” participants that it didn’t turn a whole lot worse…fortunes of war in his favour and all of that…
Anyone giving Omar Bradley a God-like image should remember this…
.
But I’m not giving him a “God-like image!” I just said I would prefer him to command over Patton, and apparently Gen. Eisenhower agreed to me since Omar was promoted over Patton despite being his adviser-subordinate in Africa!
You’re the one blustering over Patton as if he was walking on water of the Channel Coast to France himself!
Both were aware that they were fighting a modern mechanized war. Enter Patton in north africa he consistantly beat Rommel on the battlefield. And whipped on Albert Kesselring in Italy (which was a much better field commander than Rommel). And Rommel and Von Rundstedt lost Normady to the allies. One must rate a commander by his victories not his defeats…
The Atlantic Wall and the Seigfried Line were “Mounuments to the stupidity of man”
George S.Patton
Cavalry Gunner