Liddell-Hart

Why was Anglo American tank design so far behind that of Germany and Russia? I've read a few military history books and none have ever explained why Britain and America never came up with a main battle tank to touch the T34, Panther, Tiger or even the later PzKwIV's.

But surely the plan for Italy was to cut of the German forces?, and Clarke decided to ignore orders and go for the glory of liberating Rome instead. On Market Garden, I'm not clear what difference Patton commanding would've made to the weather and the completely unplanned for presence of an SS Panzer corps?, which surely are the major reasons for the failure to seize the Arnhem bridge, I'd be interested to read why you think he would have made a difference.

It's unlikely that much time could have been knocked off the length of the war, although it is conceivable that either the Anglo Americans or the Russians could have brought it to an end in late '44 or early '45 A successful Market Garden would almost certainly have ended the war a few months earlier, as it would have given a route to Germany and more specifically the Ruhr that bypassed the Siegfried Line. The Russians almost certainly could and would have beaten Germany earlier had they only realised the state they were in at the time, instead an unfounded fear that a bloody nose was just round the corner led them to be almost over cautious as they swept through Germany. Although in fairness there is a school of thought that had Guderian got his way and the hapless Himmler not been put in charge of Army Group Vistula, the Germans might have managed to hold up the Russian advance long enough to reinforce the front.