Thread: Worst decision in WW2

Operation Barbarossa. Germany lost the war because of the invasion of Russia. There was just no way that they could win. Operation Autumn Mist was also a pretty stupid idea.

Also, some Canadian decisions during the Normandy campaign were pretty shitty as well. There were many instances when the Canadians could've dealt a mortal blow to the Germans, but because they did not advance aggressively enough they gave the Germans more time to set up defences. According to Kurt Meyer, commander of 12. SS Division "Hitlerjugend", several times the Canadians could've taken Caen and other strategic points with ease if they had advanced faster and didn't use their tanks in the infantry support role.

There was one thing that I've learned while in service. Hindsight is always 20/20. You have to see these decisions within context, even stupid context. We/they should have known better BUT they did not.

Hong Kong is a prime example. British military thinking at the time was that wars would be actions on the roads. Control the roads and you control the action. It simply did not occur to anyone that whole corps can travel off road that fast.

One cannot view Juno Beach without understanding the Dieppe experience.

And of course, there was Montgomery who really is a legend in his own mind. The man, in his mind, never lost a battle.

Originally Posted by leibstandarte10

Also, some Canadian decisions during the Normandy campaign were pretty shitty as well. There were many instances when the Canadians could've dealt a mortal blow to the Germans, but because they did not advance aggressively enough they gave the Germans more time to set up defences. According to Kurt Meyer, commander of 12. SS Division "Hitlerjugend", several times the Canadians could've taken Caen and other strategic points with ease if they had advanced faster and didn't use their tanks in the infantry support role .

(emphasis mine)

A flaw tht plagued all Allied armies until the very end of the war. You simply can't expect commanders to completely throw out their doctrine and fight in ways they haven't trained or even thought about on a whim.

Originally Posted by Officer of Engineers

And of course, there was Montgomery who really is a legend in his own mind. The man, in his mind, never lost a battle.

Very true sir. They say he was a man of patience, or was it that he did'nt know what to do?...Op Market Garden is one of his classical blunders - he ended up loosing the British 1st Airbone Division, 2000 odd men survived out of 12,000.

Accroding to his biography, he didn't think Market-Garden was a disaster. Never mind the fact he did not held ground, he pulverized the Germans. The man would not accept he has been defeated.

I think Italy surpassed that. It was the only time where the Allies abandonned their strategic objectives.

We couldn't win the war through Italy and had to shift our orientation both physically and psychologically to another AO. So did the Germans but they had an easier time with interior LOCs.

MG is to me a big blunder in more ways than one. It made the following Schelt action much harder. MG allowed the Germans time to fortify the Schelt. MG, however, made the Battle of the Schelt that much more important, the 1st port in Allied hands.

In essence, we told the Germans where to get ready and gave them the time to get ready.

Which all begs the question, how the hell did Monty think MG was a success? His biography only states that he pulverized the German formations in front of him.

Did'nt he say it was a 90% success?

Originally Posted by sparten

Did'nt he say it was a 90% success?

He was the only one.

Okay back to WW2 blunders, the Arakhan offensives in Burma.
Made Market Garden seem smart.

And the defence of Singapore, Churchill kept sending people over, even when it was clear that the defence was hopeless. Sentenced 130,000 men to Japanese hospitality.