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Britain's Greatest Foe - Thanks for the honor (Read 1653 times)
Apr 15th, 2012 at 1:45am

Webb   Offline
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George Washington named Britain's greatest ever foe

Hitler was disqualified on a technicality (never led an army in the field against Britain), leaving:

George Washington
Michael Collins
Napoleon Bonaparte
Erwin Rommel
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

I'd vote for Hitler and Napoleon.  They threatened Britain's existence.

I've never heard of Michael Collins (except the astronaut) but he sounds like little more than a terrorist.

Rommel is just Hitler's agent that is not disqualified.  Rommel and his armies being a threat to Britain is laughable.

In my readings Atatürk was a hero, something like Gandhi if Gandhi was a military badass and heavy drinker.  Much like Washington he beat the British in his own country with a ragtag army.  But it's not like he was threatening to invade.

Washington beat the British in his own country with a ragtag army too, when Britain was a superpower.  No taxation without representation!
 

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Reply #1 - Apr 15th, 2012 at 2:30am

andy190   Offline
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Quote:
Rommel and his armies being a threat to Britain is laughable.


I think that if Rommel had captured the Suez Canal* it would have been a major blow to the British war effort.

*Which he almost did.

Quote:
I'd vote for Hitler and Napoleon.  They threatened Britain's existence.


Hitler could have threated Britain's existence if he was more intelligent. He knew nothing about the battlefield, in the Great War he was a Corporal.
 

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Reply #2 - Apr 15th, 2012 at 5:11am

C   Offline
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andy190 wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 2:30am:
Hitler could have threated Britain's existence if he was more intelligent. He knew nothing about the battlefield, in the Great War he was a Corporal.


Only a Cpl? In that case he was far more qualified than most contemporary polititians and potential warmongers. Most wouldn't know a military uniform if it jumped out of a bush and tickled them with a stick of wet celery.
 
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Reply #3 - Apr 15th, 2012 at 10:50pm

andy190   Offline
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C wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 5:11am:
andy190 wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 2:30am:
Hitler could have threated Britain's existence if he was more intelligent. He knew nothing about the battlefield, in the Great War he was a Corporal.


Only a Cpl? In that case he was far more qualified than most contemporary polititians and potential warmongers. Most wouldn't know a military uniform if it jumped out of a bush and tickled them with a stick of wet celery.


Hitler may have been a Corporal & he even won the Iron Cross Twice in the Great War, but he still didn't know very much about the battlefield.

In 1944 Hitler sacked one of his best Commanders, Erich von Manstein because Hitler thought von Manstein "Gave up ground to easily".

Von Manstein pioneered elastic mobile defence. It is still used today in many militaries.

If Hitler hadn’t sacked von Manstein the war would have lasted at least an extra few months or even a year longer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Manstein
 

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Reply #4 - Apr 15th, 2012 at 11:49pm

wahubna   Offline
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1) George Washington?! Seriously?! Even though I am an American and very proud of that fact, I cannot agree with him being Britain's greatest foe. Heck the US after the Rev War posed no threat to Britain what so ever, the War of 1812 proved that. We got our butts kicked badly.

2) That said, Britain's greatest foe has got to be a tie between Napoleon and Rommel. Rommel because he scared the $hit out of so many Brits in North Africa, the man was a genius of modern warfare with huge brass balls between his legs and an iron devotion to his troopers. That is why he beat the snot out of the Brits time after time eventhough the Brits had on average at least 5x the tanks (including more powerful M3s), over 2x the aircraft, and depending how you count it over 5x the men...yet Rommel STILL beat them and beat them bad...no offense by the way  my friends across the pond...he beat the Americans bad too, and the French. Heck he terrified us all...

Now Napoleon, well that goes with out saying. The man wanted to conquer the British Isles for crying out loud! AND he was a military genius AND a darn good field commander with the resources to take advantage of it..Rommel lacked resources throughout the entire North Africa campaign and lacked them badly...So I would have to say Napoleon.

Washington was yet another rebel leader. As a military commander his greatness is marginal compared to other greats like Rommel, Manstein, Guderian (father of the Panzer corps), Patton, and Napoleon....HOWEVER, Washington as a LEADER of a blooming nation, he is unbeatable...just not so much militarily..
 

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Reply #5 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 12:24am

andy190   Offline
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Quote:
2) That said, Britain's greatest foe has got to be a tie between Napoleon and Rommel. Rommel because he scared the $hit out of so many Brits in North Africa, the man was a genius of modern warfare with huge brass balls between his legs and an iron devotion to his troopers. That is why he beat the snot out of the Brits time after time eventhough the Brits had on average at least 5x the tanks (including more powerful M3s), over 2x the aircraft, and depending how you count it over 5x the men...yet Rommel STILL beat them and beat them bad...no offense by the way  my friends across the pond...he beat the Americans bad too, and the French. Heck he terrified us all...


It's not the number of tanks or troops or planes it's the quality.

British Tanks were either Well Armoured & Slow or Fast & Badly Armoured. The only thing the two types of tanks had in common were they were badly armed with weak guns. That is until the Churchill Arrived.

Also another reason that the Brits didn’t bet Rommel was bad leadership till Montgomery came along. But saying that the Brits did make Rommel retreat to Tobruk a few times. 

One of Rommel’s tactics was if he was getting beaten in a battle he would withdraw & trap the Brits as they ran after him.

Rommel started to lose when he was faced by a worthy adversary, Montgomery

BTW The M3s didn’t arrive in numbers till the Second Battle of El Alamein.

Quote:
Washington was yet another rebel leader. As a military commander his greatness is marginal compared to other greats like Rommel, Manstein, Guderian (father of the Panzer corps), Patton, and Napoleon....HOWEVER, Washington as a LEADER of a blooming nation, he is unbeatable...just not so much militarily..


I think you missed out a few greats in that list.

Montgomery, de Gaulle & Alexander.

If I could put some Air Force men in there I would put Air Chief Marshal Dowding & Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park*, the saviours of Britain in those dark days.

*A New Zealander. Wink

It's amazing to think that a Kiwi helped save Britain less than 100 years after the Maoris stopped fighting the English.
 

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Reply #6 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 1:17am

Webb   Offline
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I tend to agree that while, militarily, Washington was little more than a rabble rouser to the Empire the same comparison could be made to Ho Chi Minh and the US.

The North Vietnamese never had a chance of defeating the US militarily in Vietnam, let alone launching an assault on American soil.  But America was defeated by a rabble rouser peasant with huge repercussions in American military policy - if and when America ever learns not to fight pointless wars halfway across the world.

The American victory over Britain destroyed a colonial policy that had worked perfectly for 200 years.  While it didn't affect Britain's existence its economic effect was devastating.

See: Was the American Revolution inevitable
 

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Reply #7 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 8:33am

wahubna   Offline
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andy190 wrote on Apr 16th, 2012 at 12:24am:
Quote:
2) That said, Britain's greatest foe has got to be a tie between Napoleon and Rommel. Rommel because he scared the $hit out of so many Brits in North Africa, the man was a genius of modern warfare with huge brass balls between his legs and an iron devotion to his troopers. That is why he beat the snot out of the Brits time after time eventhough the Brits had on average at least 5x the tanks (including more powerful M3s), over 2x the aircraft, and depending how you count it over 5x the men...yet Rommel STILL beat them and beat them bad...no offense by the way  my friends across the pond...he beat the Americans bad too, and the French. Heck he terrified us all...


It's not the number of tanks or troops or planes it's the quality.

British Tanks were either Well Armoured & Slow or Fast & Badly Armoured. The only thing the two types of tanks had in common were they were badly armed with weak guns. That is until the Churchill Arrived.

Also another reason that the Brits didn’t bet Rommel was bad leadership till Montgomery came along. But saying that the Brits did make Rommel retreat to Tobruk a few times. 

One of Rommel’s tactics was if he was getting beaten in a battle he would withdraw & trap the Brits as they ran after him.

Rommel started to lose when he was faced by a worthy adversary, Montgomery

BTW The M3s didn’t arrive in numbers till the Second Battle of El Alamein.

Quote:
Washington was yet another rebel leader. As a military commander his greatness is marginal compared to other greats like Rommel, Manstein, Guderian (father of the Panzer corps), Patton, and Napoleon....HOWEVER, Washington as a LEADER of a blooming nation, he is unbeatable...just not so much militarily..


I think you missed out a few greats in that list.

Montgomery, de Gaulle & Alexander.

If I could put some Air Force men in there I would put Air Chief Marshal Dowding & Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park*, the saviours of Britain in those dark days.

*A New Zealander. Wink

It's amazing to think that a Kiwi helped save Britain less than 100 years after the Maoris stopped fighting the English.



Okay, I have to warn you right now, I really do not like ol Monty....he got a lot of soldiers killed with his unnecessary frontal assaults. He beat Rommel because Rommel ran out of literally everything. At the Battle of El Alamaein Rommel had less than 100 operational tanks against at least 400 British tanks plus many hundreds more in reserve. In short, Rommel had every disadvantage except skill. Monty was also a major drama queen so for me, he ranks as one of the most over-applauded people in history. His tactics were more or less mass a HUGE amount of weapons and men at the line, then march straight at the enemy until they ran out of bullets...which is exactly what happened all through North Africa.
 

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Reply #8 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 9:45am

ftldave   Offline
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Webb wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 1:45am:
George Washington named Britain's greatest ever foe

In my readings Atatürk was a hero, something like Gandhi if Gandhi was a military badass and heavy drinker.  Much like Washington he beat the British in his own country with a ragtag army.  But it's not like he was threatening to invade.


You have not read much history if you consider Atatürk a hero. Ask any Armenian about the horrors they suffered when Atatürk ignored the Treaty of Sèvres and invaded the lands allocated to what was left of the Armenian people after the Turkish genocidal attacks and purges. My wife's great-grandmother buried all but one of her children when the Atatürk-led military forces marched Armenians into the Syrian desert. Then she, too, died, from starvation and exposure, while Turkish troops gave no mercy or quarter. To this day Turkey denies there was genocide against the Armenians, and Turkish kangaroo courts did little after WWI to met justice. Armenian hit squads hunted down the most ruthless Turkish killers and put paid to their evil. Atatürk might be considered admirable only because he and his military compatriots put the "white Turks" into power, promoted a secular state, and forced his country more towards Western culture. In the meantime, the "black Turks" do everything they can to bring Moslem rule. The present Turkish president comes from the black Turk faction. The U.S. war in Iraq has swung the black Turks into a powerful political position. Atatürk must be rolling in hell, or at least pitching in his grave. A hero he was not.
 

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Reply #9 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 3:00pm

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If you don't know who Michael Collins is then might I suggest a little Irish history? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_%28Irish_leader%29 Wink
 

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Reply #10 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 3:23pm

C   Offline
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andy190 wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 10:50pm:
C wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 5:11am:
andy190 wrote on Apr 15th, 2012 at 2:30am:
Hitler could have threated Britain's existence if he was more intelligent. He knew nothing about the battlefield, in the Great War he was a Corporal.


Only a Cpl? In that case he was far more qualified than most contemporary polititians and potential warmongers. Most wouldn't know a military uniform if it jumped out of a bush and tickled them with a stick of wet celery.


Hitler may have been a Corporal & he even won the Iron Cross Twice in the Great War, but he still didn't know very much about the battlefield.


I know. My post was tongue in cheek! Wink
 
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Reply #11 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 8:38pm

Webb   Offline
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ozzy72 wrote on Apr 16th, 2012 at 3:00pm:
If you don't know who Michael Collins is then might I suggest a little Irish history? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_%28Irish_leader%29 Wink

The only thing I knew about English-Irish relations was that they don't seem to like each other much.  After reading that I'm completely confused.
 

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Reply #12 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 8:59pm

andy190   Offline
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Quote:
I've never heard of Michael Collins (except the astronaut) but he sounds like little more than a terrorist.


Is that what you call people fighting for the freedom of their own country? Terrorists?

So basically you’re calling the French Resistance Terrorists & even your own George Washington.
 

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Reply #13 - Apr 16th, 2012 at 9:36pm

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One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
 

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Reply #14 - Apr 17th, 2012 at 12:49pm

C   Offline
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Webb wrote on Apr 16th, 2012 at 8:38pm:
ozzy72 wrote on Apr 16th, 2012 at 3:00pm:
If you don't know who Michael Collins is then might I suggest a little Irish history? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_%28Irish_leader%29 Wink

The only thing I knew about English-Irish relations was that they don't seem to like each other much.  After reading that I'm completely confused.


I think most people are quite sensible these days. As ever there are those who use religion and historical hatred to impart thuggery, violence and murder. Thankfully the past years of the IRA driving into British cities with truckbombs and the like are long behind us.
 
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Reply #15 - May 7th, 2012 at 3:05pm

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What about the Romans and William the Conqueror.?

They actually succeeded.
 
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