A BRITON RATES AMERICA'S HIGH COMMAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP68-00046R000200010017-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 19, 2014
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: March 1, 1957
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @50-Yr 2014/03/19: CIA-RDP68-00046R000200010017-9
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WTORT
A BRITON RATES AMERICA'SiHIGH COMMANL
Who was the best of America's top
generals in World War II?
The question will probably never
be decided, but a British answer
comes from London in the book,
"The Turn of the Tide," an edited
version of the opinions of Lord
Alanbrooke.
As Chief of the Imperial General
Staff from 1941 to 1946, Lord
Alanbrooke, then known as Sir
Alan F. Brooke, met
many of the top U.S.
commanders, studied the
work of all of them.
From the vantage point
of a man who helped map
the Allies' global strategy
throughout the war, Gen-
eral Brooke had this to
say about Gen. Douglas
MacArthur: "From ev-
erything I saw of him, I
put him down as the
greatest general of the
last war."
When it came to evaluating the
military merits of his U. S. "oppo-
site number," Gem George C.
Marshall, Chief of Staff of the
U. S. Army, General Brooke was
more reserved.
"The more I see of him, the more
I like him," General Brooke wrote
after an early meeting.
Later he summed uf): "There
was a great charm and dignity
about Marshall which could not
fail to appeal to one; a big man
and a very great gentleman who
inspired trust but did not im-
press me with the ability of his
brain."
General Dwight D. Eisenhower,
the Briton's praise ?.Cvas tepid at best;
a fact some commentators explain
by pointing out that General
Brooke had been promised com-
mand of the Allied forces in Eu-
rope, the post finally given to
Eisenhower.
General Brooke said of the man
who supplanted him: "He learnt a
lot during the war, but strategy,
tactics and command
were never his strong
points. . . .
"Where he shone was
in his ability to handle
Allied forces, to treat
them all with strict im-
partiality and to get the
very best oyt of an inter-
Allied force.
". . . He was uncom-
monly well.drved by his
Chief of if, [Gen.]
Bedell Smith, who had
far more flair for military
matters than his master."
Lord Alanbrooke is said to have
kept his diary as a safety valve,
and British critics point out that,
working closely with Sir Winston
Churchill, he probably needed one.
The General wrote of Sir Winston:
"He is quite the most difficult man
to work with that I have ever struck,
but I would not have missed the
chance of working with him for
anything on earth."
Now 73 and retired, Lord Alan-
brooke, who comes of a titled Irish
family, was known for reticence.
Publication of his private thoughts
may alter that view.
ALANB
EISENHOWER
ROOKE
?Photos: B.I.S., U.P.. Defense Dept.
MacARTHUR MARSHALL
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/19: CIA-RDP68-00046R000200010017-9