Any German deliberate errors?

[Mario]

When the war was going to end, in 1944-45, I suppose many German
generals probably had in mind that Germany was going to be
defeated.

Are there documented or suspected cases of German generals (or
other high level officers) that deliberately made errors (i.e.
not an open treason), to shorten the war and spare further
damage to Germany?


--
H

[Michael Emrys]

On 3/28/13 10:00 AM, Mario wrote:
> Are there documented or suspected cases of German generals (or other
> high level officers) that deliberately made errors (i.e. not an open
> treason), to shorten the war and spare further damage to Germany?

Canaris and Abwehr? If that was deliberate, it started somewhat early.
Speer claims to have disobeyed Hitler's order to engage in a scorched
earth policy of destroying factories and infrastructure (at least that
which had escaped Allied bombing) in order that Germany would at least
have something to start from in post war rebuilding.

Michael

[Shawn Wilson]

Well, many actions were taken to mitigate the damage, yes. But that
was mostly a case of not fighting as hard as possible on the West and
doing WHATEVER was necessary to stop/slow the Russians on the East.
Also getting families in the eastern parts to move west before the
Russians got there. And in some cases deliberately violating orders
and mredeploying so as to surrender to the US/UK rather than USSR, but
that was only possible when the fronts were relatively close together.

But... There wasn't anything that could have been done in the west
anyway. The US/UK meatgrinder was in full operation by then, and the
Germans had shot ther last bolt. Some Germans surrendered at the
first opportunity, some fought on with fanatical zeal, ineffectually.

[Don Phillipson]

"Mario" <ack...@ack.ack> wrote in message
news:51547437$0$37118$4faf...@reader1.news.tin.it...

This question is odd, failing to reckon that "errors" is used
here in a mathematical but non-military sense. The first lesson
officers learn at staff college (command school) is that "No
plan survives first contact with the enemy," i.e. although our
side always seeks victory, and plans and prepares for victory,
this is not something that can be calculated or confidently predicted.
Answering the OP's question would require some agreed rule
how to differentiate between random "errors" leading to defeat
and planned "errors" leading to defeat, retreat, etc.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[mtfe...@netmapsonscape.net]

Not sure if this qualifies, but there was a general in Northern Italy who
prematurely surrendered his troops and freed allied PoWs once he decided
the war was lost, thus saving both German and Allies lives. Though he
was sentenced to death in the Nuremberg trials, this was commuted to 10
years, in part because of that.

Mike