Who were the best soldier of ww2?

[Spartacus the Irish]

Oh, you mean like the exceedingly high quality Shermans?

They were exceedingly high quality. If I recall correctly, it had the best mechanical reliability rate in the war.

No, the German tanks and weapons were far superior. For example, the Panther tank (a combination of a strong gun and mobility) and the MG34/42 which was so effective and feared that soldiers had to be taught how to deal with one in a combat situation.

German tanks were not 'superior'. That is a generalisation. German tanks were usually superior in terms of 'firepower' and 'protection' in the armour triumvirate, but failed miserably in terms of 'mobility', under which also comes the repair, reliability and manouevrability which the latter German tanks completely sucked ass at. It is all well and good having a high velocity 76mm gun and armour impervious to many of your enemies' weapons, but if it has a failure rate of between 35% and 70% (figures for the G and A/D Panther respectively), what's the point?

And when a 'Spandau' opened up, you ducked. Not exactly an action which you need to educate your soldiers in. The best German weapon was her mortars.

Uh... Schlieffen Plan?

I think he is referring to the fact that the Schlieffen Plan was not carried out in the way Schlieffen himself intended, you know, due to being dead and all; due to concerns, Moltke the Younger (I think) weakened the right flank, which was the pivotal flank, in order to strengthen his centre in Alsace-Lorraine, basically depriving the flanking force of troops. Most of the what-if's of the early war revolve around the situation of Schlieffen living and thus being able to influence his plan exactly as he wished.

[conon394]

If I recall correctly, it had the best mechanical reliability rate in the war.

Which was critical given the very long logistical chain facing the US in the war... Its a reasonably useful exercise to compare just how far spare parts from Detroit had to travel to get to the Rhine and contrast that of Munich to France or even the farthest advance of Germany into Russia. Even so Germany constantly created problems for itself with excessive numbers of versions and types of vehicles of all kinds thus making it spare part situation truly onerous.

I can't quite recall but I believe Overy a nice statistic in one of his books circa 1943 comparing the number of unique vehicles and consequently types of fuel, lubricants and spare parts required by a German armored division in Russia vs any of the allies it was appalling.

[OTZ]

Which was critical given the very long logistical chain facing the US in the war... Its a reasonably useful exercise to compare just how far spare parts from Detroit had to travel to get to the Rhine and contrast that of Munich to France or even the farthest advance of Germany into Russia. Even so Germany constantly created problems for itself with excessive numbers of versions and types of vehicles of all kinds thus making it spare part situation truly onerous.

I can't quite recall but I believe Overy a nice statistic in one of his books circa 1943 comparing the number of unique vehicles and consequently types of fuel, lubricants and spare parts required by a German armored division in Russia vs any of the allies it was appalling.

More a product of desperation than the diversity in available equipment.

A lot of German AFVs were standardized/rationalized during the war - it's when the domestic stuff was in short supply that they had to improvise with captured/commandered vehicles and had some significant issues.

[conon394]

A lot of German AFVs were standardized/rationalized during the war - it's when the domestic stuff was in short supply that they had to improvise with captured/commandered vehicles and had some significant issues.

True I don't dispute, but for example the Germans never got large scale auto production up and running content with many many different vehicles none which were ever say picked as standards. I mean really given its resource issues the German failure to standardize production models was really silly. Similarly as I understand it the Volkswagen facility build in Wolfsburg was never ran at anywhere close to capacity.

[rusina]

[Lord Thesaurian]

They (the Shermans) were exceedingly high quality. If I recall correctly, it had the best mechanical reliability rate in the war.

Hehe well you really could say that about all American products - back when we actually made our own stuff, that is

[Chukada1]

i can't see why "anymore" should be there but what ever. but marines still saw the japs as below human, as animals even (or a closer word 'savage') as they often failed to surrender in a 'proper' war, and often times killed themselves and behaved cruelly to the allied captured. maybe the respect you're talking about came from US pilots, and most likely more than a few people had grudging respect for the jap enemy on the ground. but in treatment of the japanese corpses (which were made famous) by the actions of the few who had a personal hatred for the japanese, that i couldn't see respect being that widespread either. in fact with all the bigotry in and off the battlefield (propaganda was intense, playing off Japanese stereotypes in posters and there 'savage' charging tactics in the few movies that were made during the war, with of course the japs losing because of their 'savage' ways) the average US soldier may not have a high opinion of the enemy at all.

Sorry, but E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E was racist in the 30's and 40's.

Its not like the Japanese were innocent.

[hellheaven1987]

Sorry, but E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E was racist in the 30's and 40's.

Its not like the Japanese were innocent.

I don't know my grandfathers are racists.

[Chukada1]

I don't know my grandfathers are racists.

Now you know.

[hellheaven1987]

Now you know.

Na, being a Chinese there was no time to be racist back that time.

[Armfelt]

Sorry, but E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E was racist in the 30's and 40's.

Its not like the Japanese were innocent.

Concerning the subject; one of the greatest speeches in cinematic history.

[OTZ]

True I don't dispute, but for example the Germans never got large scale auto production up and running content with many many different vehicles none which were ever say picked as standards. I mean really given its resource issues the German failure to standardize production models was really silly. Similarly as I understand it the Volkswagen facility build in Wolfsburg was never ran at anywhere close to capacity.

Yep, absolutely - that's something I didn't address with my post. German production was overall quite pathetic during the war. It's often a wonder they managed as well as they did considering their inability to produce anything in significant numbers (relatively speaking of course). I don't know if capacity is the issue, or if it's the selection process in regards to standardization - you could make an argument that the Pz IV was the standard for the Germans, but they never really sold themselves on the tenets of mass mobilization of industry. Too many pet projects with dead ends.

[Luxchamp]

Well you could say that about practically all of the German tanks. They revolved more so around quality rather than quantity and therefore it was nigh on impossible to get them back in working condition on the field.

especially starting 1943 - a retreating army has a hard time recovering damaged vehicles (shot-up tracks were a major nuisance) compared to an advancing army.

[Dave Strider]

This is my thesis:

French: No, they got wiped out quickly
British: They held their own
Russian: meh. They took alot of losses, but their numbers saw them through
German: Earl;y war yes, later on, less and less powerful
Japanese: Same as German
US: N00bs at start but did the opposite thing as Germans and Japs, as the war progressed they got better

[Chukada1]

This is my thesis:

French: No, they got wiped out quickly
British: They held their own
Russian: meh. They took alot of losses, but their numbers saw them through
German: Earl;y war yes, later on, less and less powerful
Japanese: Same as German
US: N00bs at start but did the opposite thing as Germans and Japs, as the war progressed they got better

I would be most afraid of the Russian soldiers if I was having to fight, especially the veterens of 1944-45.

[tonymurphy1888]

I would be most afraid of the Russian soldiers if I was having to fight, especially the veterens of 1944-45.

A soldiers only as good as his equipment and his commanding officer Russians unfortunatly had bad equipment and bad officers

[Getwulf]

The Americans were by far the best soldiers of WW2, followed by the Australians and the Canadians although I'm not sure who should be second and third in this order.

[Azog 150]

How did you reach that conclusion?

Originally Posted by Chukada1
I would be most afraid of the Russian soldiers if I was having to fight, especially the veterens of 1944-45.

Either the Russians or the Japanese. You could expect little mercy from either.

[Farnan]

If I was going to surrender I'd surrender to an American, Canadian, Brazilian or Australian.

That being said I don't think you can take an entire nation and say they had the best soldiers.

[Heathen Hammer]

A soldiers only as good as his equipment and his commanding officer Russians unfortunatly had bad equipment and bad officers

Russians had good equipment - T34s, IL2, "Katjusha" - most of their equipment was even better than German, but Germans had better commanders.