In his biography,
I think, it states that he asked his staff officers what the allied casualties would be in the impending battle of El Alamein. They just looked at him, and he said he predicted 13,000, which turned out to be close.
I have always thought that one reason they gave medals to generals was that they knew their plans would kill or maim many of their own.
His antics in NW Europe don't feature much here as 2NZ Div were no longer under his command there. (Of course our antipodean view of Brit generals in WWI is that they didn't give a damn about their own or dominion troops.)
After the debacles of WW1, NZ govt decreed that kiwi troops would never come under direct British command, nor under British Medical support. In fact it has happened only twice since I think: the LRDG, and our deployment to Bosnia in mid 1990's. The NZ commander always has a direct link back to the govt at home.
No doubt the other Dominions do similar too.
Rob
|