Gen. Mark Clark

[Unteroffizier_Tyler]

I was wondering what people think of the American General Mark Clark. Personally i think that he wasnt very good but im not asking myself because that would be weird but yeah so there it is.

[Maxime_Penen]

Brief answer? He's overrated imho, just like Montgomery But that's another discussion

[Unteroffizier_Tyler]

yeah i think monty was overrated too...but like you said thats a different discussion.

[Andy H]

Not as good as Bradley or the overrated Patton, but a competent field commander.

Andy H

[pdhinkle]

Naturally when you read their Bios. they are Great men. Ike chooose his Biographer, who has now past on. !
Mark Clark was the average General. He commanded the US 5th Army against Kesselting a much better commander. Clark explains all his problems to cover his own errors. In Italy he had 12 different type of Infantry rifles. aand Ammo was a problem, for him but not others. !
Of course he was one of the men who went ashore in Africa in a canoe to bargain woth the French/

[Barkhorn]

My grandfather served under Clark's command in 5th Army, because the Brazilian Expeditionary Force was under 5th army command in Italy, and told me, 2 months before his dead, that Genelar Mark Clark was a good commander. Ok, not so good as brazilian General Mascarenha de Morais, who commanded the FEB in Italy, but not so bad as the italian officers...

[Mauser K98k]

Mark Clark was a brave and capable officer, but he was up against the impossible task of dislodging Kesselring's defensive forces at Cassino. I think he needlessly sacrificed lives in ordering repeated frontal assaults that he had to know were futile.

He was also a Prima Donna of first magnitude. I think his biggest blunder was racing into Rome to get personal glory and his face in Life Magazine instead of cutting off the retreating German forces, which allowed Kesselring to go on to establish the Gothic line north of Rome. This effectively kept the Allied forces in Italy bottled up until the end of the war.

I know that during the war, he was lionized in the US as a hero, but as time goes on and his actions examined in a more critical light, his stature has fallen.

[genstab]

Mark Clark was a brave and capable officer, but he was up against the impossible task of dislodging Kesselring's defensive forces at Cassino. I think he needlessly sacrificed lives in ordering repeated frontal assaults that he had to know were futile.

He was also a Prima Donna of first magnitude. I think his biggest blunder was racing into Rome to get personal glory and his face in Life Magazine instead of cutting off the retreating German forces, which allowed Kesselring to go on to establish the Gothic line north of Rome. This effectively kept the Allied forces in Italy bottled up until the end of the war.

I know that during the war, he was lionized in the US as a hero, but as time goes on and his actions examined in a more critical light, his stature has fallen.

Genstab: Bravo! My sentiments exactly. The plain fact is that Clark disobeyed Alexander's orders and captured Rome when he had the chance to destroy a German Army and shorten the war in Italy. It sure wasn't an example of Allied cooperation but he got away with it.

[ourbill]

General Clark was the first General in history to take Rome from the south, not on his own may I add!

Two days after the capture of Rome the D-Day landing started, what better than a big victory for the morale of the troops in France. Today Rome tomorrow Paris.

[Galahad]

General Clark WASN'T the first general in history to take Rome from the south. Sulla preceded him, and so did Belisarius.