James Holland

He is the guy who is dictating the overall strategy on the Western Front by this point, and he's doing it very directly. And He wants to be methodical. And from his point of view, because of the huge burden of going into Japan, he wants to preserve as much manpower as possible. So Britain and America have always had this principle of steal not our flesh as much as you possibly can.

So you're limiting the number of casualties and number of people in the coal face as you Absolutely keeping that to the bare minimum by the use of mechanization, industrialization, new innovation and technology and all the rest of it to do a lot of the hard yards for you. So they want to be methodical. They don't want to kind of wastelize unnecessarily.

So you're limiting the number of casualties and number of people in the coal face as you Absolutely keeping that to the bare minimum by the use of mechanization, industrialization, new innovation and technology and all the rest of it to do a lot of the hard yards for you. So they want to be methodical. They don't want to kind of wastelize unnecessarily.

So you're limiting the number of casualties and number of people in the coal face as you Absolutely keeping that to the bare minimum by the use of mechanization, industrialization, new innovation and technology and all the rest of it to do a lot of the hard yards for you. So they want to be methodical. They don't want to kind of wastelize unnecessarily.

And so little pockets like getting over the bridge at Remagen and stuff is actually kind of slightly unsettling the apple cart. Mm-hmm. The main effort is going to be in the north in the sphere of 21st Army Group, to which the US 9th Army, under Bill Simpson, who's brilliant, by the way, is attached. And this is Operation Plunder. And then there's going to be an airborne drop with the 17th.

And so little pockets like getting over the bridge at Remagen and stuff is actually kind of slightly unsettling the apple cart. Mm-hmm. The main effort is going to be in the north in the sphere of 21st Army Group, to which the US 9th Army, under Bill Simpson, who's brilliant, by the way, is attached. And this is Operation Plunder. And then there's going to be an airborne drop with the 17th.

And so little pockets like getting over the bridge at Remagen and stuff is actually kind of slightly unsettling the apple cart. Mm-hmm. The main effort is going to be in the north in the sphere of 21st Army Group, to which the US 9th Army, under Bill Simpson, who's brilliant, by the way, is attached. And this is Operation Plunder. And then there's going to be an airborne drop with the 17th.

Where's Patton at this point? So Patton is in 3rd Army. So he is getting ready to cross as well. And he's been preparing this since the previous October. Yeah. So the way he tells the story is that his guys just bounce around with no fuss while Monty had this kind of, you know, big preamble and amassed all this. I mean, you know, that is just total nonsense because the genius of Patton

Where's Patton at this point? So Patton is in 3rd Army. So he is getting ready to cross as well. And he's been preparing this since the previous October. Yeah. So the way he tells the story is that his guys just bounce around with no fuss while Monty had this kind of, you know, big preamble and amassed all this. I mean, you know, that is just total nonsense because the genius of Patton

Where's Patton at this point? So Patton is in 3rd Army. So he is getting ready to cross as well. And he's been preparing this since the previous October. Yeah. So the way he tells the story is that his guys just bounce around with no fuss while Monty had this kind of, you know, big preamble and amassed all this. I mean, you know, that is just total nonsense because the genius of Patton

Yes, he was a great tactical commander, i.e., you know, he was a fighting spearhead kind of, you know, gung-ho kind of guy. But I think his real genius was in his operational skill. And what I mean by that is how you organize your troops, how you plan, how you prepare. He had bridging teams and bridging experts and engineers all lined up to cross the Rhine since previous October.

Yes, he was a great tactical commander, i.e., you know, he was a fighting spearhead kind of, you know, gung-ho kind of guy. But I think his real genius was in his operational skill. And what I mean by that is how you organize your troops, how you plan, how you prepare. He had bridging teams and bridging experts and engineers all lined up to cross the Rhine since previous October.

Yes, he was a great tactical commander, i.e., you know, he was a fighting spearhead kind of, you know, gung-ho kind of guy. But I think his real genius was in his operational skill. And what I mean by that is how you organize your troops, how you plan, how you prepare. He had bridging teams and bridging experts and engineers all lined up to cross the Rhine since previous October.

Well, he trained in tank work with Eisenhower. Right, exactly. So he's further to the south and they get across kind of the day before Operation Plunder. So they get across on the 22nd.

Well, he trained in tank work with Eisenhower. Right, exactly. So he's further to the south and they get across kind of the day before Operation Plunder. So they get across on the 22nd.

Well, he trained in tank work with Eisenhower. Right, exactly. So he's further to the south and they get across kind of the day before Operation Plunder. So they get across on the 22nd.

So it's the third week of March, basically. Okay. And they're all across. And then following that, so you have Remargan on, I think it's, if I remember right, it's the 7th of March. Then you've got Operation Plunder, 23rd of March. You've got Patton getting across on the 22nd of March. Then further to the south, you've got 6th Army Group, which is US 7th Army and the French 1st Army.

So it's the third week of March, basically. Okay. And they're all across. And then following that, so you have Remargan on, I think it's, if I remember right, it's the 7th of March. Then you've got Operation Plunder, 23rd of March. You've got Patton getting across on the 22nd of March. Then further to the south, you've got 6th Army Group, which is US 7th Army and the French 1st Army.

So it's the third week of March, basically. Okay. And they're all across. And then following that, so you have Remargan on, I think it's, if I remember right, it's the 7th of March. Then you've got Operation Plunder, 23rd of March. You've got Patton getting across on the 22nd of March. Then further to the south, you've got 6th Army Group, which is US 7th Army and the French 1st Army.

They're getting across again in the kind of last week of March as well. And it's important not to forget the 6th Army Group because 7th Army, US 7th Army and the French 1st Army, they do really, really well, but they're kind of Because everyone's obsessed with Patton, they kind of tend to get cut out of the story and the narrative.