Let's make a topic about great soldiers of our respective nations. Now let's try to present some not well known names instead of the usual figures, Rommel, Patton etc.
I will start with General Theodor Tolsdorff for WW2 Germany
He went from company commander to Lieutenant General in 6 years, becoming the youngest soldier of this rank in the history of the German armies with 35.
He was best known for his personal bravery and was wounded 14 times. His greatest victory was the defensive battles of Vilna, earning him the nickname "Lion of Vilna".
He won the Knight's Cross with oak leaves, swords and brilliants for his services in the war.
Lieutenant General Sir Leslie James Morshead, KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO, ED (September 18, 1889 – September 26, 1959) was an Australian soldier with a distinguished career in both world wars. He is considered to rival John Monash for the appellation of "Australia's greatest general". He commanded the Australian troops at the Siege of Tobruk and Second Battle of El Alamein where Australian troops inflicted crushing defeats on the German Afrika Korps. During World War II, Morshead was known to his soldiers, in part affectionately, as "Ming the Merciless", after the villain in Flash Gordon comics.
Anders was in command of a cavalry brigade at the time of the outbreak of World War II. The Polish army at that time had not yet had a chance to fully modernise, having been resurrected only 20 years earlier, in 1918-19, following Polish independence from German, Austrian and Russian rule. As such, neither the army nor the Polish Cavalry was a match for German Blitzkrieg tactics, tanks and motorised infantry, and the Polish forces were forced to retreat to the east. During the fighting and retreat he was wounded a number of times. Anders was taken prisoner by Soviet forces which invaded Poland eastern part on September 10, 1939, and was jailed, initially in Lviv (then Lwów) and later in Lubyanka prison in Moscow. During his imprisonment Anders was tortured.
Shortly after the attack on the Soviet Union by Germany on June 22, 1941, Anders was released by the Soviets with the aim of forming a Polish Army to fight alongside the Red Army. Continued friction with the Soviets over politic issues as well as shortages of weapons, food and clothing led to the eventual exodus of Anders' men - known as the Anders Army - together with a sizeable contingent of Polish and Jewish civilians, along the Persian Corridor into Iran, Iraq and Palestine; where Anders formed and led the 2nd Polish Corps while agitating for release of Polish nationals still in the Soviet Union. It was during this time that large numbers of non-combat-capable Polish men and women were sent to Britain. Many stayed, and made their way in the world after the end of the war.
Anders was the commander of the 2nd Polish Corps in Italy 1943-1946, capturing Monte Cassino in the Battle of Monte Cassino.
Towards the end of July 1944 the division was transferred to Normandy, where it was to prove its worth during the 1944 invasion of Europe. Attached to First Canadian Army, Maczek's men entered combat on August 8 during Operation Totalise. The division twice suffered serious bombings by Allied aircraft yet it achieved a brilliant victory against the Wehrmacht in the battles for Mont Ormel, Hill 262 and the town of Chambois. This series of offensive and defensive operations came to be known as the Battle of Falaise, in which 14 German Wehrmacht and SS divisions were trapped in the huge Chambois pocket and subsequently destroyed. Maczek's division had the crucial role of closing the pocket at the escape route of those German divisions.
After this decisive battle, General Maczek's Division continued to spearhead the Allied drive across the battlefields of France, Belgium, Netherlands, and finally Germany. The Division's "moment of glory" came when its forces captured the German port of Wilhelmshaven and accepted the surrender of the entire garrison, which included some 200 vessels of Hitler's navy, the Kriegsmarine. General Maczek commanded the First Armoured Division until the end of hostilities in Europe, and was promoted to major-general that same year. After the capitulation of Germany he went on to command the Polish I Corps and then became the commanding officer of all the Polish forces in the United Kingdom until their demobilization in 1947.
Both those men above died in exile in Britain, such was being the loser on the winning side of the war.
Siege of Tobruk - One German POW said: "I cannot understand you Australians. In Poland, France, and Belgium, once the tanks got through the soldiers took it for granted that they were beaten. But you are like demons. The tanks break through and your infantry still keep fighting." Rommel wrote of seeing "a batch of some fifty or sixty Australian prisoners ... marched off close behind us—immensely big and powerful men, who without question represented an elite formation of the British Empire, a fact that was also evident in battle."
This message has been edited by Rzeczpospolita on Apr 24, 2008 3:22 PM
George Washington
Robert E. Lee
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Nathan Bedford Forest
Douglas MacArthur
George S. Patton
Omar Bradley
Chesty Puller
Provost
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States 1924-1929
Maurice of Nassau, a landmark figure in military history, would build on the foundation and the inspiration of classical Rome to create the beginnings of modern, infantry-based military drill and discipline.
A contemporary of Sivaji, ruler of Maratha kingdom, but didnt get as much fame as he deserved. The only Indian general to give the Mughals a crushing defeat in a head-on war.
In Modern India i would say its Sam Maneckshaw, the man responsible for dividing Pakistan into two separate states.
to add insult to injury for the islamic pakistanis, he is a Jew, but more than tat, a proud Indian.
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Lachit Barphukan- The brave Ahom general that repelled the Mughal invaders and protected Assamese integrity.
Kanaklata- The brave soul, who was martyred at the age of 16, in the Indian freedom movement.
Sam Manekshaw is a Indian Parsi. The Indian Jew you are referring to is Lt.Gen.J.F.R.Jacob who was the chief of staff of Indian Army's Eastern command which was tasked with the responsibility of liberating Bangladesh.
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Preamble to Indian Constitution :
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Thanks for the correction. Wat does it matter Jew or Parsi, they still kicked Paki arse.. LOL!!!
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Lachit Barphukan- The brave Ahom general that repelled the Mughal invaders and protected Assamese integrity.
Kanaklata- The brave soul, who was martyred at the age of 16, in the Indian freedom movement.
1) Chevalier de Bayard
2) Marshal Davout (double-enveloped and annilated a Prussian army twice bigger than his corps).
3) Turenne
4) Vauban (made Northern France a virtual fortess, impregnable to invasion in 17th-18th century).
5) Montcalm (series of brillant victories over the british in North America despite being vastly outnumbered).
6) William the Conqueror (conquest of the British Isle)
7) Philip Augustus (battle of Bouvine; unification of France; weakened the power of the dukes by taking control over them; chased the Angevins/Plantagenet rivalled out of France, limiting their domain to the British Isle)
8) Moreau
9) Souham
10) Lanrezac, commander of the Fifth army that stopped the German at Marne, WW1
11) Petain, "Saviour of Verdun" but his reputation was marred in WW2. But I believe this guy is the reason why France is what it is nowadays. he took all the blame, I guess. Not his fault if some liberal idiots fvcked up bad at the start of the war.
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De Gaulle to the General Koenig, Norman hero of Bir Hakeim: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."[
This message has been edited by Eric_De_La_Legion on Apr 26, 2008 4:50 AM This message has been edited by Eric_De_La_Legion on Apr 26, 2008 4:49 AM This message has been edited by Eric_De_La_Legion on Apr 26, 2008 4:47 AM This message has been edited by Eric_De_La_Legion on Apr 26, 2008 4:46 AM
Unknown hero Georgios Salvanos the defender of the Metaxas Line in WWII
Here is a vid that shows the heroism of the troops under his command, also the German officer who accepted the surrender salutes him in a show of respect and admiration of the Greek defenders!
Zvi "Zvika" Greengold (b. 1952) was an IsraeliIDF tank commander who fought during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As a result of his actions during the war, he became a national hero in Israel, and one of only six people who fought in the war to be awarded the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest medal for heroism.[1][2] Born and raised on Kibbutz Lohamey HaGeta'ot (English: Kibbutz of the Ghetto Fighters, founded by Holocaust survivors of underground and partisan combat against the Nazis) .
At the start of the war Greengold, then a lieutenant, was unattached to any unit as he was enrolled in a course for company commanders,[4] and was actually at home on his kibbutz.[5] He volunteered for service at Nafekh and initially helped with the wounded as no tanks were available. Once Centurion tanks became available, he managed to commandeer one with the help of reserve crews.[4]
His tank fought sometimes alone and sometimes in conjunction with other tanks, with Greengold having to change tanks "half a dozen times"[4] as tanks were knocked out. Greengold managed to commandeer stray tanks at times to form a makeshift "task force". During the following battle he identified his tank(s) to command as "Koah Zvika" (English: Zvika Force) to fool the Syrians into thinking they were fighting a tank unit instead of at times his solitary tank. Part of his tactics included holding up a Syrian tank unit by firing and rapidly changing position to allow the Syrians to think they themselves were facing an Israeli tank unit instead of a single tank. Greengold managed to continue fighting the Syrians even though he was wounded and burned during the 20 hours of the action he took part in.[4]
Zvika force
At noon on Yom Kippur, Saturday October 6, Zvika Gringold was at home on Kibbutz Lohamei Hagettaot. At 14.00 hours, Air Force planes began passing overhead. He rushed to a radio to hear that war had broken out, put on his uniform and went out to hitch a lift. At his unit base, "There was no-one to give orders. We opened a half-track radio set, and I suggested I retake command of my old company."
Zvika's suggestion was approved by radio. He raced up to the forward post at Nafah crossroads on the Golan: there was no way to reach the forward line, where a few tanks were still fighting. Four damaged tanks stood near the camp gate; armourers tried to repair them. Two hours passed.
Zvika radioed the bridge commander to report that he had a "force" ready for battle and received the code name "Zvika's Force". Close to 21.00 hours, the entire southern Golan tank force heard the radio report that "Zvika's Force" was going into action. One crewman later said: "It was very encouraging; a sign that reinforcements had arrived. We were convinced "Zvika's Force" was coming to our rescue." He had no idea that Zvika had only two damaged tanks - nor did the Brigadier.
Zvika: "The situation wasn't clear. We thought our tanks had blocked the Syrians and, that overnight, they would mop up the area - and the war would be over tomorrow. From what I heard over the brigade radio, and from my own assessment, the task didn't seem too difficult."
But on the Hushniye axis there were some hundreds of Syrian tanks, which had crossed between the front line positions and poured on with nothing to stop them. Zvika's two tanks moved in line abreast, slowly, carefully. After an hour, Zvika spotted his first Syrian tank, near the crossroads.
"I fired and he burst into flames. There was a terrific flash so I backed away fast. Then I found the radio wasn't working. I moved to the other tank and changed places with its commander. I told him, 'Watch me and do as I do, if possible'. Within a short time, a second Syrian arrived and we set him ablaze. I saw others, then noticed that the tank alongside me had vanished. I was alone, and surrounded from the front and to the right. I fired in both directions, destroying a number, moving backwards all the time. They began a search with lights. I destroyed a few more. The brigadier asked over the radio how many tanks I had. I told him: 'My situation isn't good and I can't tell you how many.'
The brigade radio reports were desperate everywhere; lack of fuel and ammunition. "A feeling of helplessness overtook everyone," Zvika says, "including the commander, because he had no reserve forces".
Close to midnight, Zvika noticed that a few tanks from another brigade had arrived to help. They were still an insignificant force, but they decided to advance along the Petroleum Road in two parallel columns, covering each other.
"We tried to advance, but our first tank was set ablaze immediately by a bazooka. The road was blocked by tanks with searchlights. All night long, armored brigades crossed the line with lights full on. We decided to send up a tank to help its damaged comrade. I moved up to give cover from the flank. Suddenly all three of us were ablaze. My gunner was injured; I felt the shock and the searing flame and pulled myself out. I was lying flat on the ground, but realized that the tank could explode; I went back to another of our tanks and then noticed I'd been wounded in my upper arms and on the left side of my face. I climbed into the tank and asked its commander to turn around.
"I was again alone with one tank. I saw the Syrian tank columns with supply and ammunition trucks. Today, I know that it was a whole armored division."
From time to time, Lt. Zvika's sole tank on the Petroleum Road would sally out, fire, hit a Syrian tank, set it ablaze and dash back in again. At 03.00 hours: it stopped firing rather than wear down the remaining forces, waiting until morning for additional tanks or Air Force support.
At dawn, Zvika was joined by a company of tanks. He deployed the force against possible attack by Syrian aircraft and armor and asked the brigadier to send 'somebody more serious' to command. The brigadier promised to come personally. While they were still talking, the Syrian artillery opened fire on "Zvika's Force", immediately followed by a tank charge.
"A battle began at a range of 1,500 yards - armour against armour. They had a whole armoured division, but didn't know how to fight," Zvika remembers. "During the day, it went very well, considering there were only 16 of us. Towards noon the situation was definitely improving. "
But this was a Syrian trap: while their armour was battling "Zvika's Force", another force was bypassing to assault Nafah cross-roads and the nearby command post. Zvika was ordered to withdraw to Nafah, where there were no tanks to meet the Syrians. As the Syrian tanks reached the camp fences, Zvika and Shai in two tanks got into the camp to try and stop them. But when Zvika's driver saw soldiers fleeing before the Syrians, he went into shock and raced out of the camp on a half-track. Zvika was driverless in a damaged, unusable tank.
Nafah "The brigade commander has been overturned." Zvika's shout pierces through the tumult, gesticulating with his hands. Over the radio, he asks, "I don't see enough of a force to stand up to the scores of Syrian tanks. What should I do?"
Command H.: "Zvika has three tanks without ammunition. The Syrian tanks are advancing along the ridges above the Oil Route - which is completely open. We have nothing with which to stop them."
An IDF Centurion tank, or roughly one-half of Zvika Force.
It seemed that the crossroads on the approach to Bnot Yaakov Bridge would fall into Syrian hands, but help appeared in the form of a tank unit fighting from the north. The information officer realized they could establish a second defence line at Aliqua. He set up the tank force and a 120mm. battery on the road the Syrians would be forced to use because of their own mine-fields elsewhere… It was a suicide move, in a final effort to block the Syrian stream to the bridge.
Nafah Shmulik adds a wounded tank commander from a nearby base to Zvika's force; Zvika's gunner keeps making good hits; two more reservist tanks are rounded up and positioned. Then Syrian ground-to-air missiles shatter two Israeli airforce Skyhawks, while the bazooka ammunition runs out on terra firma. As Zvika begins taking on ammunition, he spots another wave of Syrian tanks advancing towards Nafah. The brigade's three officers begin moving along the camp fencing and firing at the Oil Route, the ridges, in every direction, creating a pincer which catches the Syrians in a crossfire.
Command H. doesn't understand what's happening at Nafah; when the command jeep sets out to see, they are informed, "There's no one in the camp except a single tank fighting like mad along the fences."
Nafah Zvika has been directing the fighting in the camp as if his force were bent on suicide. Treads grinding and churning, his tank seeks out firing positions. Then he hears over the radio, "Aliqua's being attacked!" and leaves to aid his mother base. At the Nafah intersection, he comes upon scores of burning Israeli and Syrian vehicles, but off to the side are three abandoned IDF tanks - in working order. he strikes the steel plate of the tank with his fist.
AIiqua At Aliqua Zvika discovers it was a false alarm and asks what's being done; he studies the makeshift defence line. Suddenly, he removes his helmet and climbs down from the tank. "I can't take it any more," he groans.
After the war, Zvika explained: "I still had strength. What broke me up was the sight of those three abandoned tanks. I got out of the tank feeling that the Israeli Army had reached the end of its road and the Golan wouldn't stand fast. I felt defeated and broken... the helplessness of inadequate force and inability to assist our weak points. One thing that stayed with me after this war was the feeling of being alone - not in a room, but in a war - with one tank."
That night, the information officer finally gets through to command HQ and asks for instructions for the following day. Silence.
"What?" he hears… "You're still alive?"
Taken aback, but recalling the last wishes of his late brigade commander, he replies slowly, "Yes, we're still alive" and replaces the receiver.
Lt. Zvika collapsed after 30 hours of combat. His superiors estimate that Zvika destroyed 60 Syrian tanks single-handedly, although he only claims 20. "There are men, alive and dead, who did wonderful things we don't even know about", he explains. "The men on the line did exceptional things and I pale by comparison."
Zvika was awarded Israel’s highest medal for heroism. (Only 6 men were awarded this medal in this fiercely intense war, which was only second to the 1948 war in which 12 men were awarded).
How is that funny? France has more heroic commanders from just the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period than maybe any other nation! I didn't even mention Lanne, Soult, McDonald, Murat, Angereau, DeGrasse, Villars, Garros, Duke of Conde. Nevermind the legendary heroes like Napoleon, Jeanne D'Arc, Tourville, Dumouriez, De Gaulle. We've fought and won more wars and battle than any other nation on Earth. France has been at war nonstop for a thousand years! We are right now at war in Afghanistan. We've even occupied and ruled your country as a puppet nation may times since Clovis founded France by setting his capital in Paris.
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De Gaulle to the General Koenig, Norman hero of Bir Hakeim: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."[
This message has been edited by Eric_De_La_Legion on Apr 27, 2008 4:50 AM
We say great soldier, and it means exactly that, not an officer...
There are many worth noting, but this soldier just recently and posthumously received his Medal of Honor..
Master Sergeant Woodrow Wilson Keeble (May 16, 1917 - January 28, 1982) was a U.S. Army National Guard veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. He was a full-blooded member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, a Sioux Native American tribe.
Korean War
"Keeble, described as a gentle giant by his friends, was a ferocious warrior in battle, as evidenced by his heroic actions over the next six days. Official records confirm Keeble was initially wounded on October 15, and then again on October 17, 18 and 20 - for which he received only one Purple Heart. For his bravery on the 18th, he was awarded a Silver Star. His heroism on the 20th made Keeble a legend - and 57 years later resulted in his posthumous Medal of Honor.
George Company was in its sixth day of round-the-clock fighting. They were facing deeply entrenched Chinese soldiers on Hill 675-770, the last major Chinese stronghold between the UN forces and Kumsong. Keeble had thus far suffered two rifle wounds to his left arm, a grenade to his face that almost removed his nose and a badly twisted knee; on the 19th, doctors reportedly removed 83 pieces of festering shrapnel Keeble had sustained from a concussion grenade the previous day. On the 20th, Medic Dale Selby told Keeble he should stay back because of his wounds, but Keeble refused to let his men go up the mountain without him. That day, Master Sergeant Keeble single-handedly destroyed three enemy machine-gun bunkers and killed an additional seven enemy soldiers in nearby trenches."
********************************************* PAX ... AMERICANUS ... INFINITUM
أحلامي هي الكوابيس الخاص بك
Nothing is impossible for the German soldier. Historical justice, however, obliges me to say that of the opponents that have taken up arms against us, MOST PARTICULARLY THE GREEK SOLDIERS, HAVE FOUGHT WITH THE GREATEST BRAVERY AND CONTEMPT OF DEATH. They only capitulated when further resistance became impossible and therefore useless.
First of all, I don't want to dispute that all the names you've listed were great soldiers. They were.
How is that funny?
It was funny because all had the decency to name one or a few and then you show up give 11 examples and state that there're simply too many! Apparantly you fail to see the humor in that.
We've fought and won more wars and battle than any other nation on Earth.
I didn't know that. Can you provide a source?
France has been at war nonstop for a thousand years!
Not quite.
We are right now at war in Afghanistan.
You cannot really call that a war, can you? It's more a crisismanagement operation. In which, to be honest, France isn't really doing that much compared to some others.
We've even occupied and ruled your country as a puppet nation may times since Clovis founded France by setting his capital in Paris.
The only time in which the Netherlands as a country (be careful to speak of nations before 19th century nationalism was "invented") was ruled by France was between 1795-1813. Actually it brought us quite some good changes, but twenty years was enough.
//"Yoad What about Moshe Dayan? I think he was a brilliant military planner."//
He was a great strategist, but like Sharon, he was cursed with a huge ego. Many of his actions derived from an attempt to receive personal acknoledgement, and he failed the nation in the hour it needed him most, 1973. At first, when things looked really bleak, he spoke of surrender, and the destruction of Israel, when he should have been raising the moral of the troops and people. The one person that calmed Dayan down, took responsibility and calmly directed the war to its victorious ending, was David Elazar ("Dado"), then chief of staff. He was crucified and used as a scapegoat after the war, and died shortly after from heart failor. Here's a small bit about him, its an interesting read:
"In this, the most perilous period in Israel's history, the effort to avoid national disaster hinged in good measure on the steady nerves of one man. Given the gloom all around him, given the debacle on the battlefield and the abrupt collapse of the military doctrine on which Israel had rested its security, given too the appalling prospect of national annihilation that was suddenly perceived, David Elazar merits a niche in history's pantheon of military leadership just by virtue of not losing his head.
He was hardly without sin. He had accepted and propagated a doctrine that left the IDF unprepared for this war, a doctrine resting on scorn for the enemy. He bore responsibility as chief of staff for deferring to AMAN (IDF intellegence) and not seeking partial mobilization in the days before the war. He advocated a static defence on the canal in all circumstances, against basic military sense, and it was he who appointed Gonen as head of Southern Command. Nor would he be without occasional error in the conduct of the war itself, allthough the great bulk of his decisions would prove sound. But in the cruel testing, with basic concepts giving way and strong men about him faltering, he was the stable hand on the tiller. Examination of the protocols of his meetings shows his steadiness, and even good humor, with which he directed operations, allthough there were moments when he too was close to despair. Around his firm presence a calm space emerged where issues could be objectively analyzed and sensible decisions made. In the circumstances, it was not a forgone conclusion that Israel's center would hold, but it did hold and David Elazar was the center. "He was a rock", Golda Meir would later say. It would be him, rather than Dayan, that she would primarily rely for the difficult decisions that had to be made.
Elazar's coolness in crisis had been noted in 1948, when, as a junior officer in the Palmach strike force, he took part in the battle of San Simon Monastery in Jerusalem against hundreds of Arab militiamen. In the battle, which lasted sixteen hours, Elazar moved from breach to breach to drive off attackers. "He had a special tone of voice during the battle," recounted an officer who was there, "quiet-like, as if he were singing, as if he were having a friendly chat or explaining something. I didnt know him before, but I remember saying to myself then: "What a character that one is.'"
Towards the end of the battle, he was among only 20 of the 120 Palmach fighters still on their feet - 40 dead and 60 wounded. A decision was made for the walking wounded and able-bodied to retreat when night fell. Instead of leaving the remaining wounded for the mercies of the Arabs, it was decided to bring the structure down on them by blowing it up. Elazar and two other officers were to remain behind and detonate the explosives. Before that happend, the Arabs pulled back.
The Harrowing battle helped shape all who survived it. Several where now senior officers serving under Elazar - among them Raful Eitan, commanding a division on the Golan; Uri Ben-Ari, now assistent to Gonen (head of southern command); and Ben Porat, leading a mechanized brigade on the Golan. Elazar was still blessed with a calm temperament, and his upbeat assessments would provide encouragement and guidance to the embattled front commanders and to the cabinet with which he met allmost every day. Unlike Dayan, who served up the cruel truth cold, Elazar warmed it to digestibility with an innate optimism. Things, after all, had looked much worse at San Simon and they had come through".
Sadly, after the war, as chief of staff, he was one of the main victims of the Agranat comission:
"General Elazar left the army deeply grieved that the Agranat Commission had put the onus of failure upon him while sparing Dayan. He felt that the commission had failed to give proper weight to the critical stabilizing role he had played during the war. It was an assessment that was widely shared. A general who had worked alongside him in the Pit (IDF underground headquarters) would compare his performance to that of a cruise missile which maintains a fixed altitude relative to the ground no matter how uneven the terrain below. This was no mean feat given the gusts of gloom emanating from Dayan and others, the need to prop up the front commanders in the opening days, and the amount of time he had to spend briefing and keeping up the moral of the political leaders. All this besides fighting a two-front war and dealing with the complex and initially calamitous situation on the battlefields. But as chief of staff he bore responsibility for failing to recognize the distortions in Israel's military posture before the war. There was a price to be paid for what happened on Yom Kippur and he was inevitably part of that price even though he had been the firms linchpin that held high command together at a time of awesome stress.
Elazar left with the admiration of his peers and of Mrs. Meir and was appointed head of Israel's national shipping line, Zim. Foreign minister Eban planned to offer him a top ambassadorial post before he himself was dropped from the cabinet. But the war and his dismissal bore heavily upon Elazar. His biographer, Hanoch Bartov, records that shortly after the cease fire, while still chief of staff, Elazar entered the room in army headquarters where his secretaries worked in order to look for a document. A transistor radio was playing a poignant song sweeping the countrym, "Would That It Were," which alluded to the pain of the war. It was the first time Elazar had heard it and he stood transfixed. When it was over he strode swiftly back to his office without taking the document. His chief secretary hurried after him. Opening the door, she saw the man whom Mrs.Meir and others had termed "a rock" sitting at his desk, holding his head and sobbing. She closed the door without his having seen her. Two years after the war, he died of a heart attack at age 51."
After the war, the burden on him and the guilt for his part for the IDF's unprepardeness in the first stages of the war, and the high number of casualties sat like a dead weight on him. He became a broken man afterwords. He started having health problems since, and his friends and family claim he died of a broken heart.
Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.
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""Maniots, known for their martial qualities, were the first to join the Greek liberation movement. The society called the Filiki Eteria ("Company of Friends") sent their representatives Perrevos and Chrisospathis to organize the Maniots. On March 17, 1821, 12,000 Maniots gathered in the church of Taxiarchs (Archangels) of Areopoli and declared war against the Ottoman Empire. The flag of the revolution was white with a blue cross in the center. On top of the flag there was a sign, "Victory or death". The Maniots were responsible for writing "Victory" and not "Freedom" on their banner since Mani was always free. On the bottom of the flag lied an ancient inscription, "With the shield or on the shield."
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Too bad he died, we need more people like him, and less Netanyahu's and Olmert's. He was a true man of principle and ideology, not led by ego and self-promotion like many of his peers. Allso, he helped keep up a strict moral code in the IDF with reguards to POW's and enemy combatants.
MM Alam is known for his actions during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 when he was posted at Sargodha. During this war he was involved in various dogfights. He is officially credited with downing five Hunters of the Indian Air Force in air-to-air combats, 3 of them in less than a minute, as follows:
September 6, 1965, One Hawker Hunter: Squadron Leader Ajit Kumar Rawlley, No 7 Squadron, Killed in action, near Tarn Taran.
September 7, 1965, Three Hawker Hunters (in one mission): Squadron Leader Onkar Nath Kacker, No 27 Sqn, POW, Squadron Leader Suresh B Bhagwat and Flying Officer Jagdev Singh Brar, No 7 Squadron, KIA, near Sangla Hill.
September 16, 1965, One Hawker Hunter: Flying Officer Farokh Dara Bunsha, No 7 Squadron, KIA, near Amritsar.
Helmut von Moltke(the Elder)
Erich von Manstein
Carl von Clausewitz--this one as a solder,reformer and military philosopher...
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Also.....Hans von Seeckt...........................
Rommel,Guderian,Wittmann,Heinrici,Otto Carius......
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As the saying goues.....Victory has a thousand Fathers,but a defeat has one Orphan.....
I just tought its worth mentioning...............
This message has been edited by Veles25 on Jun 1, 2008 5:46 AM This message has been edited by Veles25 on Jun 1, 2008 5:45 AM This message has been edited by Veles25 on Jun 1, 2008 5:33 AM
During the Greco-Italian war of 1940-41 when a formation of Cant Z-1007 bis bombers tried to bomb again Thessalonica. Six PZLs of 22 Sq. , supported by A/A fire, engaged the enemy.
F/Lt Marinos Mitralexes, after unsuccessfully expending all his ammunition against an Italian bomber, he rammed it sawing off its rudder with his propeller¢s blades. The bomber crashed to the ground out of control, while Mitralexes successfully crash-landed his own aircraft and took in custody the parachuted crew of 5 until reinforcements arrived to the scene.
Mitralexes was decorated with the Golden Order for Valour and later on with the Flying Cross, War Cross, Golden Cross of St. George¢s Order with Swords and the Phoenix Order with Swords .
Nino Bixio (2 October 1821 - December 16, 1873) was an Italian soldier, who fought for the Italian unification.
Born in Genoa, while still a boy Bixio was compelled by his parents to embrace a maritime career. After numerous adventures he returned to Italy in 1846, joined the Giovine Italia, and, on 4 November 1847, made himself conspicuous at Genoa by seizing the bridle of Charles Albert's horse and crying, "Pass the Ticino, Sire, and we are all with you."
He fought through the campaign of 1848, became captain under Giuseppe Garibaldi at Rome in 1849, taking prisoners an entire French battalion, and gaining the gold medal for military valour. In 1859 he commanded a Hunters of the Alps battalion, fought in the Battle of Varese, and gained the Military Cross of Savoy.
Joining the Marsala expedition in 1860, he turned the day in favor of Garibaldi at Calatafimi, was wounded at Palermo, but recovered in time to besiege Reggio in Calabria (21 August 1860), and, though again wounded, took part in the Battle of the Volturno, where his leg was broken.
Elected deputy in 1861, he endeavoured to reconcile Cavour and Garibaldi. In 1866, at the head of the seventh division, he covered the Italian retreat from the Battle of Custoza, ignoring the Austrian summons to surrender. Appointed senator in February 1870, he was in the following September given command of a division during the movement against Rome, took Civitavecchia, and on 20 September 1870, he participated in the general attack upon Rome. On 16 December 1873, he died of cholera at Aceh Bay in Sumatra en route for Batavia (modern day Jakarta), where he was slated to take command of a commercial expedition.
Enrico Cosenz (January 12, 1820 - August 7, 1898), was an Italian soldier born at Gaeta.
As captain of artillery in the Neapolitan army, he took part in the expedition sent by Ferdinand II against the Austrians in 1848; but after the coup d'etat at Naples, he followed General Guglielmo Pepe in disobeying Ferdinand's order for the withdrawal of the troops, and proceeded to Venice to aid in defending that city. As commandant of the fort of Marghera, Cosenz displayed distinguished valour, and after the fall of the fort assumed the defence of the Piazzale, where he was twice wounded.
Upon the fall of Venice he fled to Corfu and in France. In 1859, in the wake of the Second Independence War, Cosenz went to Piedmont, where he assumed the command of a Hunters of the Alps regiment, fighting in the Battle of Varese.
He entered in the Sardinian army, only to exit in order to partecipate to the I Mille expedition. In fact, in 1860 he conducted the third Garibaldian expedition to Sicily, defeated two Neapolitan brigades at Piale (August 23), and marched victoriously upon Naples, where he was appointed minister of war, and took part in organizing the plebiscite. During the war of 1866 his division saw but little active service.
After the war he repeatedly declined the portfolio of war. In 1881, however, he became chief of the general staff, and held that position until a short time before his death at Rome, aged 86.
