Kevinugly
Posts: 438
Joined: 4/2/2003
From: Colchester, UK
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I'm not going to get involved in a major discussion on Patton again (please, I have a life ).
On Manstein, I'm going to 'crib' this summary of his military career from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Manstein - it reflects the problems he faced in many of the battles he commanded in, especially when considerably outnumbered on the Eastern Front and regularly hamstrung by Hitlers interference and intransigence. I'd like to go into more depth but I'm away for a few days so hopefully another can take up the cudgels
"During the Operation Fall Weiss, the German invasion of Poland, he served as chief of staff to the Army Group South under Gerd von Rundstedt. He was first to strike into Warsaw's suburbs, and when the remainder of the Polish army moved east he closed off the encirclement and was the main force in the total destruction of the encirclement. This was considered his first mark of genius.
In 1940 Manstein worked with Blumentritt and von Tresckow to develop the plan to invade France. He suggested that the tank troops should decisively attack through the wooded hills of the Ardennes, where no one would expect them, seize bridges on the Meuse River before striking eastwards, thus outflanking the Maginot Line and cutting off strong French and Allied Armies in the Belgium and Flanders from the French mainland.
OKW originally rejected the proposal, but Hitler, looking for a innovative new methods of waging war, approved of a modified version, Fall Gelb, that later became known as the Manstein Plan. Manstein was then sent back to Silesia and did not take part in the operation until the final stages when he served under Günther von Kluge. The plan was so successful that Manstein was awarded the Knight's Cross for planning it and made into a General.
In February 1941, Manstein was appointed commander of the 56th Panzer Corps. He was involved in Operation Barbarossa where he served under General Erich Hoepner. Attacking on 22nd June 1941, Manstein advanced more than 100 miles in only two days and was able to seize the important bridges at Dvinsk. The following month he captured Demyansk and Torzhok.
Manstein was appointed commander of Eleventh Army in September 1941, and was given the task of conquering the Crimea. The Red Army defended Sevastopol and this important Black Sea naval base was not taken until late June 1942. Promoted to Field Marshal on July 1, Manstein was sent to the Leningrad front. This led to a series of bitter battles where Manstein's inferior forces managed to outmaneuver superior Soviet forces, and the loss of over 60,000 men over the next few months.
In November 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, Adolf Hitler appointed Manstein the commander of the Army Group Don (Heeresgruppe Don) and ordered him to rescue the Sixth Army of Friedrich Paulus that was encircled inside the city. Placed in charge of a hastily assembled group of tired men and machines, he got his three panzer divisions to within 35 miles of the city, at this point Manstein pleaded that the 6th Army attempt a break out, but Hitler refused to issue such an order, and ordered the 6th Army to stay in the besieged city. A massive Red Army attack at another point on the line forced Manstein to divert his forces to help hard-pressed Army Group A in its retreat from the Caucasus to the Ukraine, thus avoiding the complete collapse of the entire front.
Manstein regrouped and the following year inflicted a heavy defeat on the Soviets at Krasnograd. An estimated 23,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and a further 9,000 were captured. Manstein now went on to recapture Kharkov and Belgorod with 2nd SS Panzer Corps. In recognition for this action, he received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross in March 1943. Manstein then proposed a daring action for the summer to outflank the Red Army into the Sea of Azov at Rostov, but Hitler instead chose to back the more conventional Operation Citadel aimed at crushing the Kursk salient.
During the Citadel Manstein led the southern pincer, and despite immense losses he managed to complete most of his initial goals, but due the almost complete failure of the northern pincer, as well as the Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Italy, Hitler decided to call off the offensive. Manstein protested, asserting that the victory was almost at hand. After the failure of Citadel the Soviets launched a massive counterattack on the exhausted German forces.
In September he withdrew to the west bank of the Dnieper River, while inflicting heavy casualties on the Red Army. From October to mid January of 1944, von Manstein "stabilized" the situation but in late January was forced to retreat further westwards by the Soviet offensive. In mid-February of 1944, von Manstein disobeyed Hitler's order and ordered 11th and 42nd Corps (consisting of 56,000 men in six divisions) of Army Group South (Heeresegruppe Süd) to break out from the "Korsun Pocket", which occurred on February 16/17th. Eventually, Hitler accepted this action and ordered the breakout after it already took place.
Manstein continued to argue with Hitler about overall strategy and in March 1944 he was relieved of his command. On 2 April 1944 Colonel-General (later Field Marshal) Walther Model replaced him as commander of Southern Army Group. Nevertheless Manstein received the Swords for his Knight's Cross, the highest German military honour. After his dismissal he entered an eye clinic in Breslau, recuperated near Dresden, and then retired. Although he did not take part in the attempt to kill Hitler in July 1944, he was aware of it. In late January of 1945 he collected his family from their homes in Liegnitz and evacuated them to western Germany."
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RE: Who was better: Patton or Rommel - 
). Balance please
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