He was one of the best Divisional commanders (As was English Generals Harding & Roberts), but foundered when commanding anything larger. In the Desert, his opponents were tactically and operationially ham-fisted and inflexible as i have pointed out. He also wasn't very good at logistics and spent his time roaming around the front instead of where his staff could reach him. He achieved most of his victories in the Desert by acting inside the Brits decision loop. His recklessness almost cost him everything a number of times.

Read David Irving's excellant book "The Desert Fox." Rommel built cardboad tanks to fool British spotters, moved at night and during sandstorms to gain tactical surprise, and many other interesting innovations. American war college officers studied Rommels tactics years after WWII.

No one studies Monty, unfortunately. Except for 1) the failed MarketGarden operation, that got 10,000 allied paratroopers killed or captured and 2) his bickering with the Ike and the allied high command, which is a thesis in how NOT to be part of a successful team.

"When the battle was joined, Hannibal stood with the weak centre and held them to a controlled retreat. This gave the Carthaginian cavalry time to drive the Roman cavalry off on both flanks and attack the Roman centre in the back, causing it to halt its forward charge. At the same time the veteran Carthaginian infantry flanked and boxed them in on the sides, creating an encirclement of the Roman infantry in an early example of the pincer movement. The trapped Romans were hemmed in and almost completely slaughtered. Polybius claims that 50,000-60,000 Romans died—including Lucius Aemilius Paullus, one of the two consul commanders, as well as the two consuls for the preceding year—10,000 were captured, and 16,000 escaped (among them the future Scipio Africanus Major). For their part the Carthaginians lost 16,700 men, the Celts and Iberians accounting for about 5,000 of these. Hannibal's victory at the Battle of Cannae is often viewed as the classical example of a smaller army thoroughly defeating a larger opponent, purely through the use of superior tactics on open terrain."

Market Garden was a bold but very rewarding opportunity if pulled off. Put it this way if it was a Yank Operation and successful you would be lapping it up for days. The only failure with the plan was the XXX corps late arrival to relieve the Para's.

The Airborne here, particluarly the 2nd Battalion would go into history, holding on to a handful of buildings for four days. No more than 600-700 men holding back elements of an entire SS Panzer Division, denying them the vital span and almost succeeding in accomplishing the task set for an entire division!

Tactical study of the British capture of Bardia - A Successful Infantry-Tank Attack:

A) The British capture of Bardia was part of the Libyan campaign against Rommel's Afrika Corps from November 1941 to January 1942. The British defeated a numerically superior Axis force in a strongly fortified position with a combined infantry and tank force.

Several coordinated factors contributed to the successful conclusion of a difficult tactical operation:

1. Troops that were carefully and thoroughly rehearsed with engineer troops and tank units;

2. A heavy proportion of available artillery that fired thoroughly coordinated barrages;

3. The use of smoke in Phase 1 of the attack, and the choice of a night attack in Phase 2;

4. The excellently organized and conducted recovery service of the 1st Army Tank Brigade; and

5. The bold decisions of the Division Commander, quickly transmitted to the troops by a smoothly functioning communications system.

B) The Battle of the Omars

Marked the beginning of the British drive into Cyrenaica against Rommel's Afrika Corps. The offensive began November 1941 and terminated at El Agheila in January 1942

The British success is impressive when the relative strengths of the two forces are considered. Two thousand British infantry men, supported by tanks and artillery, attacked and captured positions which were fortified by extensive mine fields and entrenchments, supported by strong antitank artillery, and garrisoned by an enemy double the size of the attacking force*.

*"These British soldiers are some of the bravest men I have ever seen, for they passed through gaps in the mine fields after tanks had been knocked out and took the positions with the bayonet -- this in the face of severe machine-gun and rifle fire." American Observer.

Englishman Nevil Maskelyne

Maskelyne's crowning achievement came in 1942 with his involvement in Operation Bertram, prior to the battle of El Alamein, which turned the tide against the Germans in north Africa. The German forces under the legendary Erwin Rommel knew that a British counter-attack was coming; the task was to mislead them as to where and when it would take place. The Magic Gang rapidly became the nucleus of a small industry devoted to, in Maskelyne's words, 'the mass production of tricks, swindles and devices'.

The attack was to take place near the coast, at the northern end of the German line. Accordingly, at the north of the line 1,000 tanks were camouflaged as lorries, while 30 miles south 2,000 fake tanks were assembled, complete with explosive special effects. To support the illusion, a fake railway line was built; there were even fake radio broadcasts and sound effects to mimic the noise of construction.

Crucially, a fake water pipeline was built to supply the simulated armies. Its progress could easily be tracked from the air by German planes: the trick was to convince the Germans that it would not be ready, and therefore that no attack could begin, until November.

=)

Napoleon was also a clever statesman, realizing that France had several government branches, he sent the approvles for War in Alexanderia to the statesmen to deliberate over(which he understood would take to long) while he went to fight. he also manipulated the system several other times.

Napoleon also displayed great skill and tactics in destroying the Austian, and Prussian Armies.