I was watching Patton with George C. Scott again the other day for about the 400th time and one of the scenes I remember the most was when Fredendall got Relieved by Patton after the disaster at Kasserine Pass in 1943…Even though the Americans were under the command of the British during Kasserine, Fredendall got relieved because of the units poor perfromance. If only Patton had gotten their sooner! -SF
While much has been written about the greatest U.S. generals of WWII, there were also some WWII U.S. generals, who should have never been given a command in the first place. The dubious distinction for being worst U.S. general in the U.S. Army during WWII would have to go to Major General Lloyd Fredendall. There’s not many historical books written about him, and it is quite understandable why.
Generals like George S. Patton Jr., General Douglas McArthur, General Omar Bradley, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower tops the lists as the greatest U.S. generals of WWII due to their superior tactics, leadership examples, superior logistical & management skills, and just plain sheer guts. These were men who were not afraid to go to the front lines, lead by example, get shot at like the rest of the troops, and eat cold rations with men in the field.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for General Lloyd Fredendall.
As a young man, Lloyd Fredendall briefly attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, but was kicked out two different times due to low test scores. (The first time that he went to West Point, he lasted only one semester.) He finally received his officer’s commission when he passed the officer’s exam with a very high score, while he was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During, and after WWI, he was rapidly promoted, even though he never led troops in actual combat, and was never near the front lines.
During the early days of WWII, he was given the top command positions, since some of his friends were in high places, and generals like General George C. Marshall, and General Leslie McNair, highly recommended him. This however, turned out to be a very big costly mistake, and he proved to be a grossly incompetent officer during combat. He rarely visited his men in the frontlines, nor did he lead by example to his men. He would also give confusing & conflicting orders during combat. (At times, his aides would find him also intoxicated on duty.)
General Lloyd Fredendall was also notorious for locating his HQ several miles from the front lines. When the U.S. & British troops landed in North Africa on November 8, 1942 during “Operation Torch”, General Lloyd Fredendall stayed behind in the command ship, the “HMS Largs”, long after the beach was secured by the Allied troops. After he finally decided to get off the command ship, he then placed his headquarters at the Grand Hotel of Oran. His troops who were living in the field laughed, when his memo letters to the troops would list “II Corps – In the Field”.
During the advance into Tunisia, he had the combat engineers build him a special HQ bunker, instead of pushing ahead & attacking the enemy troops. (He spent 3 weeks in having the special bunker built to his liking, some 70 miles behind the frontlines.) An entire anti-aircraft battalion was also assigned by him to protect the headquarters.
When General Omar Bradley saw General Lloyd Fredendall’s “extra special” headquarters in Tunisia, (That took 3 weeks to be built by combat engineers, and it was located 70 miles behind the front lines) he said that it was “an embarrassment to every American soldier”. General Eisenhower went down to see the bunker for himself, and he told General Lloyd Fredendall in no uncertain terms, that that even generals must assume personal risks in combat. When the famous General George S. Patton went to inspect his command at one time, he commented that, “I cannot see what Fredendall did to justify his existence.”
General Fredendall also ordered a bulletproof Cadillac that was similar to General Eisenhower, and he would often phoned High Command as to why he still didn’t get his Cadillac.
Some of his own men would call General Lloyd Fredendall a “coward”, and other less than flattering & unprintable names.
General Lloyd Fredendall would often ignore the standard military map grid-based location designators, and he would make up his own confusing codes. (Many of his men would get confused at the terms & special codes that he would invent on his own.) He also had a habit of ignoring the advice of his combat commanders who were in the front lines.
The last straw was when the II Corps troops under his command suffered a huge disastrous defeat due to his gross incompetence, during the battle of Battle of the Kasserine Pass in February 1943. (The U.S. troops encountered the German Wehrmacht army for the first time, and the first initial results were disastrous for the U.S. Army.)
The U.S. troops suffered heavy casualties, and were pushed back over 50 miles from their positions west of Faid Pass. (The II Corps went up against the famous German General Erwin Rommel during the Battle of the Kasserine Pass.)
U.S. troops take cover during the Battle of the Kasserine Pass
After the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, General Eisenhower went down to the II Corps headquarters and asked General Omar Bradley for a honest opinion about General Lloyd Fredendall’s performance. General Eisenhower asked him, “What do you think of the command here?” Bradley’s responded with, “It’s pretty bad. I’ve talked to all the division commanders. To a man they’ve lost confidence in Fredendall as the corps commander.”
General Eisenhower relieved Lloyd Fredendall of his duty & command of II Corps, and placed General Patton in charge of II Corps. (Who would do a 180 degrees, and change the tide of battle.)
When General Eisenhower relieved General Lloyd Fredendall of his combat command in Europe, he tried hard to avoid openly embarrassing General Fredendall, and he had him reassigned to a training command in the United States. (But General Lloyd Fredendall was never given a combat command ever again.)
After WWII, he retired into obscurity in 1946, and he passed away quietly in San Diego, California on October 4, 1963.
Read the Original Article at The Fedora Chronicles