Actually the answers are surprisingly clear based on interrogations of the German commanders.
The Germans had little respect for Eisenhower, Bradley and Hodges who moved methodically like infantry and had little sense of tactics or strategy. The Germans were unanimous that Eisenhower actually could have ended the war in 1944 because the German armies were shattered at the end of the Normandy battles and the Falaise pocket. The retreat across France was a complete collapse, yet Eisenhower did not understand what it meant and wanted to simply move in a broad even advance.
Instead of worrying about liberating French towns, both Patton and Montgomery were right that they had to push at all costs for the Rhine crossings. Both were egomaniacs, but correct. If Ike had stripped some of his armies and kept his two spearheads pushing forward to the Rhine, half the Germans would have been encircled and the rest would have pulled back into Germany. And there were no defensive lines or positions east of the Rhine. It is also rarely discussed, but one of the main reasons there were fuel shortages in France in September 1944, was due to the French who were stealing huge amounts of supplies and Ike simply looked the other way. 40% of gasoline supplies landed in September never made it to the troops. Theft was so bad, Patton used some of his infantry to guard supply convoys. The “red Ball Express” truck convoys were in fact units that were not allowed to stop and had armed escorts. To a very real extent, the French expected the Allies to take care of them. Ike never addressed the pilfering that was choking his armies.
They respected Montgomery as a defensive general, but not offensive. Patton was in fact widely respected as the only major American commander who understood large scale armored warfare. General Marshall agreed with that assessment and it was his direct orders that prevented Ike from firing Patton. There were others they respected, but generally they thought American commanders lacked skill and military knowledge. Interestingly, I saw one report that asked those commanders about past American generals. A majority of the Germans apparently thought Grant was a better General than Lee. Most indicated Lee lost huge numbers of men in every battle but never seemed to land a decisive blow that actually changed the course of the war whereas Grant had several that did directly change the war.
Writer: James Barends
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Fought World War II for 29 years after the war had ended.
On December 1944, Japanese Soldier Hiroo Onoda received orders to serve as an intelligence officer and spy on the enemy’s island of Lubang in the Philippines. He successfully survived until American forces took over his territory. There he fled the scene and went deep into the Philippine jungle with his few remaining companions.
Leaflets were dropped on him and newspapers published accounts of his situation. Recordings from his family were broadcasted to tell him they loved him, but Onoda disregarded them all as enemy propaganda.
The surviving Japanese soldiers lived in the jungle and seized anything edible they found in the area, leading to deadly conflicts with locals. Eventually, those who had been with Onoda either left or perished, leaving him entirely alone with his companion Kinshichi Kozuka until Kozuka was killed in 1972.
But as long as Onoda wouldn’t receive a direct order from a superior, nothing could be done to convince him the war was over.
So, in 1974, after a Japanese explorer named Norio Suzuki tracked Onoda down and found his commander, Major Taniguchi traveled to the island with a specific task — to read him his official discharge orders and tell him the mission is over!
Onoda emerged from the jungle wearing his battle-worn uniform, having long since lost all notion that he might be going back into battle. He performed a salute and handed over his sword.
It was 1945 when the world’s great wars came to an end. Hiroo Onoda needed his former commander to conclude his own conflict twenty-nine years later in 1974
