"Armagedon: The Battle For Germany 1944-45" By Max hastings ( MacMillan Priced at £25.00).

MH looks at the battle for Germany giving a "warts and all" view of the defeat of Germany and the conduct of the Allied Forces.

Some of the disclosures don't make for good reading if you think that " War Crimes" never took place unless perptrated by the Axis or the Russians.

I will buy a copy and will certainly learn a thing ot two from it , but on the other hand some other forum users will have to accept that " War Crime" was not a "one way street" and may have to accept that the Axis forces don't come out with clean hands either.

War at its best is a brutal experience and many of the men cursed to be part of it often behave in a manner which later makes them feel less than at ease with themselves .

Abridged extracts published in this weeks "Daily Mail".

A review in last week's Speccie. By WF Deedes no less.

Why, after putting the German army to rout in August 1944, did it take Anglo-American forces until May 1945 to secure victory?

I've often pondered that as well.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/bookreview.php?table=old&section=back&issue=2004-10-16&id=2507

Quite a bit of the blame can be put on Montgomery, the self-serving, egotistical gloryhogger.

Didn't want to fight in the Scheldt mud, didn't want to share a Rhine crossing with the Americans, so he decided on the cockamamie Market-Garden plan, which went ahead even AFTER they'd discovered there were German elite armoured units reforming in the Arnhem area.

Eisenhower also deserves some of the blame for not keeping Montgomery in check.

The result of all this was that a force consisting largely of Canadians had to fight through mud, only getting the needed resources after some time, to open the port of Antwerp.

Good points indeed. I may return later to the matter of Eisenhower and Montgomery which actually has some interesting geopolitical ramifications.

In the meantime, however, your comments concerning the struggle for the Schedlt estuary, and by extension, the strategic port of Antwerp merit some amplification.

As you correctly note the hard slog under terrible conditions to secure the south and north banks of the Westerschelde was accomplished largely by the extremely fine Canadian forces of I Corps and II Corps, with support from the 52nd (Lowland) Division.

However the Germans still occupied the formidable obstacle of Walcheren Island at the mouth of the estuary. The reduction of this garrison, and therefore the opening of the Scheldt, was largely a British operation, executed by 4 Group, Royal Marine Commando, with support from the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. It should be noted that 4 Group also comprised Norwegian, Dutch, Belgian, and French commando detachments. All in all a classic allied operation in which all elements played a crucial part.

Monty was certaintly resentful of the Americans and was not easy to get on with.
Eisenhower had an impossible job to do and he put up with a lot , more for political reasons than anything.
I think if he had his way Montgomery would have been sacked in Normandy.
Even Churchill was thinking that way.
Hastings book does seem to fill a neglected chapter in history in a neutral manner without serving any political agenda.