Wait till someone mentions The History Channel Have the History Channel got infantry then?? Ok, as Za has nominated them I'm with him!! "Best of" threads are exactly like "What ifs" in that arguments get started over conjecture and cause untold damage. Best avoided! Now, where's my "Monty v Patton" book??? :p
Perhaps useless is the wrong word, perhaps pointless would be a better word. Pointless does sound better. The criteria required to ascertain "the best" is endless and ultimately leans more towards favoured or even preferred.
Possibly pointless, though it has thrown up some interesting opinions. ALL servicemen believe that their particular regiment, battalion, Division is the best. That's patently obvious just by reading Sapper's post. My Ftaher thought that the 51st HD were the best, Black watch thought they were the best in the Division but my Father said the Camerons KNEW that the Camerons were the best. After all is said and done every Section, Platoon, Company, Battalion Regiment and Division has some very brave men, brave men, every day men and some not so brave men, regardless of any nationality. Thats a bit like the Para's v the Marines arguement <Can open/worms running>
Thats a bit like the Para's v the Marines arguement <Can open/worms running> Were they commanded by Monty, Rommel or Patton???
I would say that the best infantry in ww2 was the elite SS units. They were the most highly trained and the most skilled in combat.
Probably second I would say the good old American paratrooper because what they did in the battle of the bulge, their bravery in Holland against impossible odds and the final push into Germany and over the Rhine river.
Echoing a certain number of posts above I would say that the best infantry in ww2 was the elite Slovakian Army One Armed Grave Digger units. They were the most highly trained and the most skilled in Grave Digging with one arm only.
I hear that Coventry is lovely this time of year, Adam. Have you thought about seeing if anyone would like to go there?
Coming into this late again and I realise they are non-European, and they have been mentioned before, but the USMC and the Island-Hopping Campaign in the Pacific have to be mentioned in any WW2 "Best Of" argument.
In a topic started by Drew last week (where my comments seemed to of "Killed " the topic) one of my teachers at school who was a Guardsman in WW2 said they hated fighting the Hitler Youth and the Waffen SS. My thought at the time was because he thought they were a tough bunch.
It is still the primary div in the British army, its last commander, General Mike Jackson, Old stone face! now CIC British Forces. . Slight correction Brian, The 'Primary' Div in the British Army today is One Div and has been for a while now. As for the question....I don't think it can be answered really but I am still reading the thread at the time of typing this Seems I already posted on this...Feel free to delete During the Cold War, when NATO played wargames, the defending forces were "Blue" and the aggressors were "Red." However, the Soviet Union complained about that, so NATO changed their aggressors to "Orange" and their nation to "Fantasia." A British officer observed that it was perfectly all right to practice vicious ways to kill people, but wrong to call them names that might upset them. I think this was mentioned before.....Red is still the enemy I believe the term originates from the use of the colour blue to denote friendly forces on military maps. Did this SAS/SBS exchange result in any casualties, as I can't find much about it? One from the Falklands that I do know about (a mate of mine was involved in it!!!) was between two company's of III Para during the days running up to the assault on Mt.Longdon (several casualties). There have been several incidents since '82 (one of which I was very nearly involved in in Northern Ireland) but they try to keep them out of the news (unless it's the US forces who perpetrated it!!!). "Blue on Blue" is also a term now used by the British police force to denote the same. B. The chap that was killed was a Sergeant from New Zealand called Kiwi. The sad thing was the SAS and SBS were running their Ops in the same room next to each other on HMS Fearless. The SAS thought they were Argentinians and ambushed them. The SAS Troop Commander was never seen again - suspected RTU.
This really is a useless thread as it's simply not possible to say WHAT best is let alone WHO is best But it makes interesting discussion. I do disagree with you though, certain outfits do have a higher quality of soldiers than others, more battle hardened, better equiptment etc etc. Instead of who was the best, perhaps who was "one of" the greatest.
I hate these "Best ....." threads almost as much as " What If's." Amen Owen! So many variables and so subjective. The best offensively? defensively? overall? At which point in time? Consistently good? Adaptable? The best rating on the allied infantry formations is probably the consensus opinion from the German troops they faced.