Special Sub-Topic: Unfamiliar Commanders Authored by: dwyert Sub-topic of: World War II

I was commander of the Vichy forces in North Africa at the time of the Allied landings in November 1942, which I enthusiastically supported, I then went on to command French forces in Italy, and became Chief of Staff following France's liberation.

Alphonse Juin. Juin was later made a Marshal of France by de Gaulle.

I was the commander of the U.S.S Hornet in 1942 when it launched the Doolittle bombers, and then raced back to participate in the Battle of Midway. This battle proved to be the turning point in the war in the Pacific.

Marc Mitscher. Mitscher also commanded forces at Guadalcanal, the Philippine Sea, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

It was for me that the plan for the invasion of France was named in 1940. In 1943 my reputation was made, when I almost pulled off the relief of Stalingrad, and then I pulled off the recapture of Kharkov.

Erich von Manstein. Manstein was regarded by many as the greatest German field commander of the war, and when he was finally removed by Hitler his removal certainly aided Russia rather than Germany.

I was in command of the United States Pacific Fleet when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor, and was removed from command almost immediately afterwards.

Husband Kimmel. Kimmel was held to blame for not being prepared for an attack, and immediatley removed from command and put in for retirement.

I commanded the 62nd Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, and went on to accept the surrender of the city of Berlin.

Vasily Chuikov. Chuikov was later made a Marshal of the Soviet Union and commanded all Soviet forces in Germany following the war.

I was Inspector General of Fighters in the Luftwaffe, and at the age of 30 became the youngest General in the German Armed Forces.

Adolf Galland. Galland managed to inspire the men that he commanded by personally shooting down 104 aircraft. He was also one of the few officers in the Luftwaffe who had the courage to stand up to Goering.

Though I was in the German Air Force, it was as commander of ground forces in Italy that I really made my mark. I slowed down the Allied advance so successfully that eventually I was promoted to command German forces in Western Europe.

Albrecht Kesselring. 'Smiling Al' ran a brilliant defensive campaign with very little in the way of supplies and support to slow down the Allied forces in Italy.

I started the war as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, after which I commanded all British Expeditionary Forces in France in 1940. Though I was responsible for withdrawing the Army so that it could be saved at Dunkirk, it was determined that I should move aside, and I held secondary posts for the remainder of the war.

John Gort.

I was Commander in Chief of the German Army at the outbreak of the war, but after the Army's failure to capture Moskow in 1941 I was dismissed and Hitler took over personal command of the Army.

Walter von Brauchitsch.

I commanded the U.S. Tenth Army in the last operation of the war in the Pacific, the capture of Okinawa. I was killed shortly before the island was secured by a piece of shrapnel that hit me in the heart.

Buckner & Simon Buckner.