Canadian Military History Volume 4 Issue 1 Article 18 1995 The Battle of the Generals: The Untold Story of the Falaise Pocket by Martin Blumenson [Review] Paul Dickson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh Part of the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Dickson, Paul "The Battle of the Generals: The Untold Story of the Falaise Pocket by Martin Blumenson [Review]." Canadian Military History 4, 1 (1995) This Feature is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canadian Military History by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dickson: <em>Battle of the Generals</em> [Review] candid and, at times, caustic. similar types ... men who had leader and his joie de vivre as a Tact has not always been his proven themselves in battle such man. strong suit with the inevitable as Louis Rend Drapeau with his The photos in this book result that advancement was two well deserved DCMs or Harry excellently illustrate the closeness slow. If there are a few words Pope or Guy de Merlis, men who that existed between Charly and that might best describe Forbes had little or no use for the his comrades-in-arms. But the they would be "thoroughly "niceties" aptly called chicken book's saving grace is its candour. dependable" or "natural leader." shit. But the most significant Whether Charly is reflecting upon The reader is given early mark of the man as leader is the conscription, the criminality of glimpses of these qualities from way he is seen by those he leads. the Dieppe raid, battle the author's childhood days in the Charly Forbes very simply was exhaustion, the death of a platoon Gaspe. There begins a venerated by his men. His total sergeant, the devoted Maisie tumultuous and adventurous life concern in the field was their padre, Marchand, the that shows no signs of slowing welfare and this he demonstrated incompetence of some officers, down except for the occasional from the very beginning of his the Yank bug-out on 355 or his pause to cope with tragedy or to soldier's life to the point where own shortcomings ... what the catch much-needed breath before promotion, family and everything reader comes away with is a resuming a sometimes else became secondary. lasting impression of having met hyperactive pace. The result is a Charly's marital difficulties an extraordinary man. book that bristles with action, are diplomatically handled and The book ends with indignation, Rabelaisian humour, nowhere does he indulge in anecdotes ranging from the comic warmth, contempt ... all marks of recrimination. There is also to the tragic and the last notes are a man at once blessed and regret at his not having managed a humble tribute to his comrades, damned with perhaps an such matters with more tact but especially the junior officers with overabundance of talent and the call to duty and the need to whom he served. As I close, one energy. serve played an inordinate role in word keeps buzzing insistently in How many men are honest his life. The price he paid was my head: compassion. It is this enough to admit that theirs has high. The strongest element in the quality that permeates Charly been a life plagued by alcoholism? book remains Forbes' total and Forbes' life-compassion for those Charly is candid enough in this accurate recall of the fierceness who have had to put up with the regard and the mark of the man and confusion of battle whether arrogance, stupidity and is that he was able, despite this it was in Normandy, at Walcheren incompetence too frequently the problem, to accomplish the many or in those hectic four days in companions of power. things he did. But he is honest Korea in November 1951. Here is A translation of this re-edited enough to hint at how much more a very close approximation to the book would be a very good thing. could have been done without the descriptions of combat and its bottle and the reader is made to effects as depicted by Mowat in Gil Drolet feel that a large part of his And No Birds Sang. In some problem is pride. This pride ways, Forbes outdoes Mowat for * * * * * coupled with fierce independence he avoids inventiveness of any made enemies for Charly which kind for effect ... the price Mowat probably accounts for his having admits he pays for being a writer. The Battle of the ended his active military career From the shaky start as a as a major. His one-time nemesis, cadet at RMC when he first Generals Jacques Dextraze, cared enough displayed his independence by for him to try to get Forbes to stop refusing to sing "God Save the Martin Blumenson. The Battle of drinking. He pointed out the vast King" while insistently repeating the Generals: The Untold Story potential of the man but the the words of "0 Canada" as his of the Falaise Pocket - The touchy relationship between the national anthem in the company Campaign that Should have won two is worth the read in itself and of another recalcitrant, Philippe World War II. New York: William Forbes is honest enough to Rousseau (later killed with his Morrow and Company, 1993. swallow his pride and admit the brother in the 1st Canadian pp.288. $29.95. considerable leadership qualities Parachute Battalion) through to of the man many of us called "Kid the day he is declared redundant artin Blumenson writes that 28." by a budget conscious Mthe Allies' failure to close the It would be safe to say that government, Forbes has been his "Falaise pocket" was the result of for every enemy Charly made in own man and hundreds have three basic conditions of the the service, there were many shaken their heads in amazement Allied campaign: the undue more friends. Naturally they were and admiration at his skills as a weight of the invasion plan, the 124 Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1995 1 Canadian Military History, Vol. 4 [1995], Iss. 1, Art. 18 tensions within the coalition, speculates that an Eisenhower­ battles the Germans had and the less than adequate Montgomery-Patton combination sustained greater losses and not abilities of the leaders at the top. would have been more successful; crumbled; they were still fighting (p.23) Ignoring for the moment his own quotes from Patton's while the Russians pounded the that the proximity of large correspondence make one bunkers in Berlin. Clearly, on the numbers of trigger-happy wonder whether as an equal he Allied side there was waffling at Germans may have had an would only have been as the top with regards to objectives impact on the course of the obnoxious to these men's faces as and poor decisions (Bradley's battle and the decisions taken by he was in his diary. order to Patton not to go on to the high command, let me Written from the US Falaise and beyond to meet the quickly summarize Blumenson's perspective, the Canadians are, of Canadians) but clearly they were argument. Over a third of the course, given short shrift, also wary of German book is devoted to context: although they can not escape the counterattacks. The central point outlining the major personalities "everyone was to blame" tone of seems that with the fog of war, no involved, the Allied coalition from the book. Worse, he uses the one was sure whether the the top down (including lengthy unsubstantiated view that Germans were still in the pocket; discussions on Roosevelt and "residual tensions between" as a result they wavered on Churchill), the struggle for Crerar and Simonds" (p.183) whether to slam the door shut or dominance within the alliance, influenced the Canadian military focus on the Seine or both. the German defences and fortunes during this period. Blumenson's account smacks far strategic plans as well as a Although it fits nicely with his too much of hindsight. Similarly, summary of the course of war theme, it isn't true. Neither is his the problem with examining the from 1939. This, he believes, is grasp of the Canadian part in the failures of the Allies and the necessary pretext for a series battle complete. He implies, for proposing better solutions is that of errors that culminated in the example, that it was after the it presumes the Germans would campaign that. according to the pause on the morning of 8th, and have gone along with the altemate title, should have "won the war." "to get the endeavour (Totalize) plans proposed, stopped trying to His points follow in started again" that Simonds fight their way out and given up. succession. The emphasis on ordered a second bombardment Nevertheless, the book is a good moving into Germany as rapidly and the two inexperienced read and summarizes a lot of as possible instead of destroying armoured divisions forward. material, painting deft portraits the German forces in Normandy (p.185) of the Allied commanders; its and the continued dispatch of Does any of this story sound story isn't untold but Blumenson formations to liberate Brittany vaguely familiar? It should; this tells it better than some. are two examples used to is hardly an untold story. illustrate the Allies' dependence Blumenson has himself written Paul Dickson on their preconceived plans and two direct accounts of the battle University of Guelph that no one at the top firmly ("General Bradley's Decision at grasped the reigns.