The AUK.

Gen.Horrocks · 05-05-2008, 11:29 AM

Hello all,Do you think Gen.Aukinleck,got a raw deal from Curchill?iam Tom by the way,a newbie you might say.Tom.

Gotthard Heinrici · 05-05-2008, 06:29 PM

Hello Tom. Well I think Claude Auchinleck did get a raw deal, given that he fought the Germans to a standstill at El Alamein.

Mark Hone · 05-05-2008, 06:45 PM

Auchinleck was treated badly by Churchill considering his military achievements (see C. Barnett 'The Desert Generals). However, there were allegedly dark corners of his personal life, an aspect completely overlooked in Phillip Warner's biography of the Auk. This was supposedly the root of some officers' (e.g. Montgomery's) dislike of him. I won't go into detail here but see 'Empire and Sexuality' by Ronald Hyam.

urqh · 11-05-2008, 11:04 AM

I believe Dorman Smith one of the players if you like at that time, actually got a retraction from Churchil, before he completed his Hinge of Fate volume of the 6 ww2 classic histories, of Churchills version of events.
Dorman Smith was a fascinating man in his own right and big supporter of the Auk. His later history regarding the Irish troubles is indicitive of an old soldier who wont lay down.
As fir Auk, my own opinion and purely personal maybe not factual, is that he spent too much of his time at HQ doing his job, maybe thats not the wrong thing, but in an era of media generals, he would never be a match for the likes of Alex or Monty etc.

05-05-2008, 11:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
Gen.Horrocks Discharged Join Date: May 2008 Location: the interweb. Posts: 4	The AUK. Hello all,Do you think Gen.Aukinleck,got a raw deal from Curchill?iam Tom by the way,a newbie you might say.Tom.

05-05-2008, 06:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Gotthard Heinrici Ostfront is where its at! Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,252	Hello Tom. Well I think Claude Auchinleck did get a raw deal, given that he fought the Germans to a standstill at El Alamein. __________________ *"The Eastern front is like a house of cards. If the front is broken through at one point all the rest will collapse."* - General Heinz Guderian "With amazement and disappointment, we discovered in late October and early November that the beaten Russians seemed quite unaware that as a military force they had almost ceased to exist." - General Blumentritt "In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen me fight so hard." Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich - Commander of II SS Panzer Korps - (Commenting on the British Paratroopers at Arnhem) - September 1944 "Had Clark given more heed to Juin's views...the savage battles of Cassino would probably never have been fought and the venerable house of St Benedict would have been unscathed" Rudolf Böhmler - 1st Fallschirmjäger Division - 1944 (After the bombing of Monte Cassino)

05-05-2008, 06:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mark Hone Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bury, Lancashire, England Posts: 264	Auchinleck was treated badly by Churchill considering his military achievements (see C. Barnett 'The Desert Generals). However, there were allegedly dark corners of his personal life, an aspect completely overlooked in Phillip Warner's biography of the Auk. This was supposedly the root of some officers' (e.g. Montgomery's) dislike of him. I won't go into detail here but see 'Empire and Sexuality' by Ronald Hyam. __________________ In memory of Corporal Jack Hone (1923-2004), proud 14th Army 'Steelback'. Last edited by Mark Hone; 05-05-2008 at 06:56 PM.

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11-05-2008, 11:04 AM	#4 (permalink)
urqh Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton UK Posts: 35	I believe Dorman Smith one of the players if you like at that time, actually got a retraction from Churchil, before he completed his Hinge of Fate volume of the 6 ww2 classic histories, of Churchills version of events. Dorman Smith was a fascinating man in his own right and big supporter of the Auk. His later history regarding the Irish troubles is indicitive of an old soldier who wont lay down. As fir Auk, my own opinion and purely personal maybe not factual, is that he spent too much of his time at HQ doing his job, maybe thats not the wrong thing, but in an era of media generals, he would never be a match for the likes of Alex or Monty etc.

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