Here are two examples that reflect the mindset of the war pushers:
During the Polish campaign Hitler called general Kurt Student (General Inspector of German airborne forces) and demanded to know why paratroop units have not been engaged (at that time Germany had parachute units and infantry, which was being dropped on gliders)
General Student gave this answer: "Paratroopers are far too valuable to be used in this type of a war. I will use them only in those missions, where regular army cannot be employed."
And yet they ended up wasting plenty of paratroopers on Crete island in May 1941. German losses amounted to 2000 men, paratroopers and glider infantry!
And even though Britain had sustained a military defeat on Crete, English newspapers have been printing articles with sarcastic overtones - what is the point of capturing an island in a sea, which you do not control? Pretty much the only way to supply it is by air, which would tie up plenty of valuable resources, which could have been used elsewhere.
By the same token Hitler got involved in North Africa, having to supply his troops over a sea, which he did not control. Only about 15 percent of ships were making it through.
In his mind he was probably trying to complicate the Allied operations in the Mediterranean theater. But it did not amount to much, since the decisive factor in that theater of operations was the willingness of Italians to fight.
And, as one can read in books, during US invasion of Sicily ALL Duce soldiers and officers have fled as the US armada was approaching. The examples of personal bravery and self-sacrifice have been plentiful on all sides.
During the Crete campaign, a German military surgeon was operating the wounded, even though he himself had been wounded and had to be supported. But still, no amount of personal sacrifice can correct the ineptitude at the top.
And here is an example from the British side, an offensive, which was a losing proposition even before it started:
In October 1917 Fieldmarshal Douglas Earl of Haig, started an offensive in Flanders. He had a series of earlier local successes which had apparently resulted in his detachment from reality. Somehow he forgot to take into account such a simple fact that Flanders are a dried-up marshland; after the artillery barrage destroyed the system of dikes and levees, it became flooded. Tanks could not go, but they sent the soldiers anyway to wade in knee-high mud. The offensive failed, losses were very high.
In my opinions, all those war-pushers should be locked up and given plenty of toy guns and toy soldiers to play with, this way there would be much fewer widows and orphans.
