Omar Bradley was one of the key American generals on Sicily,
Patton’s corps commander and occasional sounding board. Sicily was a critical
battle for him in many ways; it set the stage for him to command in northern
Europe.
Having written a biography of Omar Bradley*, I think I’ll
defer to the book for a fuller account of his time there, even though I wish I
had been able to devote more space and time in the book to the campaign. However,
I have two observations about Bradley and Sicily that are pretty subjective,
and are probably passed over because of everything else that happened in his
career.
I think Bradley learned a great deal on Sicily. He was always
regarded as a great tactician in the army before the invasion, but I think the
geography and the Americans’ subordinate role prevented him from really
strutting his stuff as a corps commander. Most people don’t realize that he was
very much in Patton’s mold when it came to bold attacks with plenty of movement
– something that, if you think about who he’d been working with in Africa
(Patton) makes a lot of sense. Patton’s dash around the backside of the island
notwithstanding, Sicily wasn’t particularly conducive to that kind of warfare.
But in commanding his divisions under fire and in a much
more intensive atmosphere even than Africa, I think Bradley realized that he
was actually a pretty good general. He was able to spot several tactical errors
that Patton made, and pointed them out to them. The results weren’t
particularly encouraging – Patton on Sicily wasn’t given to listening to
anyone, not even Bradley – but I think that Bradley realized he needn’t be in
the older man’s shadow. And the same could said, in spades, about his
relationship with Montgomery. Without those realizations, he never could have
commanded in northern Europe.
I also think – and this admittedly is even more speculative –
that the combat he saw on Sicily made him much more compassionate toward his
rank and file soldiers. After Africa, his critique was that Americans didn’t
want to kill enough – he wanted, rightly, for them to be vicious in closing
with the enemy. In contrast, we see a much more compassionate side of him after
Sicily. It’s after Sicily that most of the stories about his kindness toward
the troops – giving men coats, etc. – come from. Admittedly, this may just be a
coincidence. But I think the accumulation of the war had its effect – not that
he was softened exactly, but to the extent that there was a philosophical side
of the general, it dates after this campaign.
Very, very subjective, I know.
* Actually, the only one so far. Bradley deserves more.
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