Robin

I recall my grandfather, who served in both wars, mentioning that as far as Canadians went, there were few who would underestimate a German soldier, but the reason for so doing might surprise all of you who are trying to find an empirical/doctrinaire/material basis for evaluation... The 'better soldier in the field' wasn't one who followed orders nor followed a particular philosophy, but rather was able to improvise quickly and reliably, in all situations. The Germans, by dint perhaps of their training methods and experience (and shortages of equipment) improvised extremely well, in just about all circumstances that he could recall. A frequent point of sightseeing of German defence works after liberation in Italy and in France, was how they had managed to create something with very little inherently at hand. This, sad to say, was contrasted sharply with HIS view of US forces. He felt that having so much material means at their disposal, rendered American troops somewhat 'soft'. To the Canadian army, "capturing that hill" meant devising somewhat of a set of stunts/schemes, working together, to capture a hill. From what he told us (long ago)..."taking that hill" to the US army meant 'blow the crap out of it'. This not offered as proof, merely anecdotal evidence that perhaps the German Army might be considered as somewhat more of a crafty foe in the field for precisely the reason that: -regardless of the philosophy of their 'nation state' and politics, they found themselves embroiled in a conflict that had them face a variety of enemies with different means and resources, on no less than three fronts simultaneously, and managed to fight for 'parity' for a long time, and this in the face of great air superiority.... I think the thought experiment of "what would happen if all things were equal" is obtuse. Offered herein is the simple question: "what other army of the time would have lasted as long and fostered as much success?" Quality of workmanship and militarism have long been "characteristics" of the German people. Deny that and you're an idiot, plain and simple. I don't see them as 'supermen'. In fact, the slavish devotion to class and societal hierarchy in Germany in some respects is why WW2 occurred. Nothing superior about that. Really, I think we'd have done well to poll veterans of ww2, not armchair philosophers and technicians. My .02