The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 38 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part38.

htm

The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon

Part 38

Sachi Sri Kantha

[12 July 2002]

The Quality of Sinhalese Military

Competition
A Peep on the Power Elites of the Sri Lankan Army
In my chosen profession, i.e. natural sciences, an unpublished
report or an unnamed source is given the same degree of credibility
as that of a lecture by Bill Clinton on the worth of monogamy.
Thus, I differ from other Pirabhakaran analysts in one criterion.
Rather than relying heavily on ‘unnamed’ and ‘confidential’
sources which are unverifiable by an independent party, I depend
strongly on scanning the published and public sources of
information for my analysis, and assess the merit and weakness of
such published material accordingly. Thus, it is opportune to
present some published information on (and by) the men who had
led the Sri Lankan army, to assess the quality of Pirabhakaran’s
Sinhalese military competition.

The Lanka Guardian of Dec.1, 1993 had a glaring pink-colored

box with black border in its cover. That box carried the caption:
‘The Tiger War: Why Aren’t We Winning? Lt.General Denis
Perera, Rear Admiral Basil Gunasekera, Air Vice-Marshal Harry
Goonetilleke talk to Mervyn de Silva.” This post-mortem was held
to analyze the Pooneryn [Poonagari] Army camp debacle. To
digest the success of Pirabhakaran’s army, I provide below a
lengthy segment of Mervyn de Silva’s questions and the responses
of General Denis Perera and Air Vice Marshal Harry Goonetilleke:
Views of Denis Perera:
[Note: The dots in between the sentences and the bold face fonts are as in the original
text.]

“First of all, ‘we must be clear in our own minds on strategy’

General Denis Perera said. What are we trying to achieve? To
me, he asked, it is obvious – destroy the military capability of

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the LTTE. Some people seem to believe that this is a law and
order problem. That’s nonsense, of course. Our navy must be
asked to close ‘the gaps’, if any at sea; our planes and
helicopters must be ‘spotters’ and between the two, the navy
and the air force, we must destroy the weapons coming in, or the
army must destroy the boats on arrival. It can also be done by
air. In this overall strategy, I would suggest a full-time maritime
commander…not just a ground commander.
Question: General, are there any other points and constructive
criticisms that you can offer…I believe there was a meeting with
former service chiefs to pick their brains…?
Lt.Gen.Perera: I’d rather put some points in the form of
questions that need to be probed. Are there overall planning
weaknesses which need to be studied and the situation
corrected? Is there a delay in sending re-inforcements? Does the
army have contingency plans? Do long defence lines lack
depth?
Question: General, you haven’t mentioned intelligence…
Answer: I was coming to that, and there too, I have a question.
Is there an intelligence failure or is there an unfortunate neglect
of the intelligence received?
Question: Is there in the army as a matter of routine, inquiries
into failures, lapses etc?
Answer: Good question. There should be. At a high level, at
that. Nothing must be glossed over or covered up. Every
institution learns from mistakes…that is part of experience.
Question: It is always said that LTTE infiltration is very good.
Answer: Yes, we have heard stories…Ogollan mona unit
ekenda? But the accent should betray the infiltrator, shouldn’t
it?
Question: General, what of the command structure?…General
Gerry Silva has been placed in charge of the North.
Answer: A full-time field commander is a good idea. But I
would have the Chief of Staff concentrate on strategy and
coordination. The work of the ground commander, the maritime
commander etc needs to be more closely linked.
Question: The heavily guarded camps have been over-run so
easily…

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Answer: They have left gaps…especially in Pooneryn which

has wide areas…There should be land-mines, trip-wire and
‘illumination’…as soon as an infiltrator trips, the light signals
the defender…these devices are available…once you have dug
in…your FDL [Note: army jargon for ‘forward defence line’]
must be strong…good use must be made of anti-personnel
mines…”
Views of Air Vice Marshal Goonetilleke
[Note: The dots in between the sentences and the bold-face fonts are as in the original
text.]

“Air Vice Marshal Goonetilleke: We now know the LTTE has

a strong army…quite small but highly motivated, well trained
and tough…after all, young women are on the frontline. Now
the Tigers are quite good at sea too. But we have a monopoly of
the skies. Why didn’t we rely on the Air Force when we have
total superiority from dawn to dusk.
Question: Precisely because we have a monopoly of the skies,
don’t you think that Palaly may be an LTTE top priority?
Suicide squads?
Air Vice Marshal Goonetilleke: Of course. They’ll use every
means possible to deny us that monopoly. But the problems go
deeper. I am worried about morale. There is too much ‘Let me
look after my life…until I can find some other work…the
feeling that they are cannon fodder MUST not spread. We must
not allow any demoralization. We need to inject new confidence
and vitality. We must have a well-knit Joint Command…reduce
extensions to a minimum…3 commanders and IGP must make
almost ALL the strategic decisions, with least interference from
non-servicemen. Arms purchases must be strictly professional.
There should be a WAR COUNCIL, a recruitment drive…a
campaign to raise morale.”

Apart from Air Vice Marshal Goonetilleke, the Rear Admiral

Gunasekera also had mentioned in his interview to Mervyn de
Silva, “I am quite concerned about morale…the will to fight. If
there is a serious problem, it must be remedied at once.”
My 1993 Letter on Morale: rejected by the Lanka Guardian
After reading the insipid responses of Pirabhakaran’s elite
Sinhalese competition, I submitted a brief sardonic critique to the
Lanka Guardian, which Mervyn de Silva had discretely rejected
from publication. I present this rejected letter, dated Dec.11, 1993

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now. I had captioned it as ‘The Tiger War’.

“Thank you for publishing the ‘sermons’ of the three former
Service Commanders – Lt.General Denis Perera, Rear
Admiral Basil Gunasekera and Air Vice Marshal Harry
Goonetilleke, on why the Tiger War is not progressing well,
according to the expectations of the Services (LG, Dec.1).
What I gather from the printed excerpts, the chief problem
among the service personnel seems to be the lack of morale.
Two of the three ex-Service Commanders had lamented about
the morale. If only, some biotechnology or pharmaceutical
company in Japan can produce and market ‘morale-boosting
pills’ (like the ‘morning-after pills’ for unprotected sex)
which can be purchased over the counter, I will supply them
with such information. Until then, one has to manage with
what is available.
In the ‘available’ category, we should include the ‘front-line
experience’ of the former Service Commanders. Have they got
any? If so, how much percentage of success they can show?
What have they done on their part to build up morale in their
camps? And how much success they have had in this
campaign? I’m disappointed that you failed to ask these
elementary questions…”
A 2001 Update on Sri Lankan army morale
I should admit that I did not anticipate the sexploiting ingenuity of
the chicken-hearted chieftains of the Sri Lankan army, when I
wrote the sardonic letter to Mervyn de Silva about the need for a
morale-boosting pill. Many may have missed last year’s news from
the rehabilitation research front of the Sri Lankan army to instil
troop morale which captured the international headlines. Here is a
lengthy excerpt from Amal Jayasinghe’s report of March 28, 2001
to the Agence France-Presse, captioned ‘Viagra to raise Sri Lanka
troop morale’.
“A year after Sri Lankan troops bought multi-barrel rockets
and swing-wing jets to resist a massive offensive by Tamil
rebels another key ‘weapon’ is being inducted to fight a
different battle. The latest acquisition by the medical corps
has the potential to raise morale to new heights in an army
where nearly a tenth of troops have been wounded while
battling separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the North-East.
The army is experimenting with the new sexual arousal drug,

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Viagra, in the treatment of war-wounded as rehabilitation is

given top billing after President Chandrika Kumaratunga
placed the country on a ‘war footing’. ‘We have just got the
samples of Viagra’ said Dr.Sriyani Warusawitharana who
heads the rehabilitation offensive. ‘We want to start the
treatment on some married soldiers who have recovered from
their injuries’. She said the war-wounded often suffered
psychological problems, particularly due to losing limbs from
anti-personnel mines. ‘We are looking at the sexual aspects
of treatment’, she said. ‘We are getting help from a university
for this program’. Warusawitharana said the injured soldiers
initially suffer fears of rejection by society, but with the help
of professional counseling and support from colleagues most
make remarkable recoveries.
The army set up a separate directorate for rehabilitation in
1989 but the outfit got a new push when the government
announced it was placing the country on a ‘war-footing’
following the abortive rebel offensive in Jaffna in April and
May last year. Viagra, which was approved as a prescription
drug in Sri Lanka only four months ago, was introduced at
685 rupees (eight dollars) for the smaller 25 mg pill and
considered expensive by local standards. But money is no
object in this case.
The army’s rehabilitation outfit is a show-piece centre for the
other military units such as the airforce and the navy and has
provided vocational training for about 4,500 wounded
troopers. The rehab unit currently has some 9,000 troopers
registered with it and re-deployed in various branches of the
security forces. Masons, carpenters and even some of the
military drivers are soldiers who once fought in the war.
About eight percent of the Sri Lankan military is officially
listed as ‘disabled’ soldiers…
There had been several US medical teams helping the Sri
Lankan army in treating the war-wounded and the US military
has also gifted operating theatres and provided specialised
training on medical evacuation. But the down side is that the
Tigers have not been sparing soldiers wounded in battle. A
recently retired army general said Tiger rebels killed injured
soldiers because of fears they could be re-deployed back in
the army after their recovery.”

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Innovation and Ingenuity of LTTE strategy

Sometimes, it is worth waiting for the secrets to spill from
adversary’s camp to judge the capabilities of innovation and
military ingenuity shown by Pirabhakaran’s army. Some details on
the Pooneryn and Janakapura debacles faced by the Sri Lankan
army have been reported by the Island newspaper’s analyst
C.A.Chandraprema early this year. I present below a lengthy
excerpt from his eulogy to Major General Cecil Waidyaratne, who
died on Dec.18, 2001. Though Pirabhakaran is not mentioned,
how his skill in making a mince-meat of Waidyaratne’s touted
army is nonetheless glaring. To quote Chandraprema,
“General Waidyaratne was able to handle the JVP’s second
insurrection very successfully. He later became Commander
of the Sri Lankan Army. But he resigned in 1992 over the
Pooneryn and Janakapura attacks. Those were the two worst
attacks ever faced by the Sri Lankan Army while the UNP
was in power. The military debacles which became such a
conspicuous feature of PA rule actually started when the
UNP was in power during the tenure of Cecil Waidyaratne as
Army Commander. A lackadaisical attitude appeared to
permeate the Army during the last years of UNP rule.
There was no reason for the fall of Janakapura and Pooneryn
except sheer negligence. At Pooneryn, around 600 soldiers
lost their lives but a small group within the camp held on
doggedly until reinforcements arrived. The Pooneryn camp
was never overrun completely. The question arises is: If a
small group could hold on so easily why couldn’t the whole
camp hold on?
This was a case of sheer negligence. The forward defense
lines at Pooneryn had not been inspected and reconstituted to
suit the manpower availability in the camp. There had been a
refugee camp within the forward defense lines and LTTE
cadres had been living incognito among the refugees. Later it
was found that the attackers had in their possession, Army
rations that had been given to the wretched refugees! Access
from the sea into the area of the camp had not been properly
guarded. By the time the attack had started, there had been
around 400 LTTE cadres who had infiltrated the forward
defense lines through the refugee camp and via the sea. If
these aspects had been looked after, Pooneryn would never
have fallen. Many soldiers died in Pooneryn only because of

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the confusion. Where there was no such confusion, the

soldiers managed to hold on.”

Here, Chandraprema seems to be oblivious to the fact that causing

confusion in the enemy camp is an age-old strategy in warfare, and
preventing such confusion among foot soldiers is an important
function of leadership. Chandraprema continued,
“A similar story is told about Janakapura. It was in the
Janakapura attack that two battle tanks fell into the hands of
the LTTE for the first time. Being an Armoured Corps officer
General Waidyaratne has eloquently told me with many ‘f’s
and ‘b’s the rage and shame he felt when he heard about the
loss of the two battle tanks. Unlike in Pooneryn the loss at
Janakapura was more in terms of war material than in terms
of lives. The LTTE is said to have been able to carry off over
50 million rupees worth of war equipment including the two
battle tanks from Janakapura. Here too the loss of the two
battle tanks was due to the men on the spot not having
adhered to the basic precaution of removing vital moving
parts in armoured vehicles when they are idle. This is a
routine precaution taken in battle zones so that in case of a
surprise attack, the enemy will not be able to drive away the
armoured vehicles.
General Waidyaratne, with his flair for writing endless
instructions and ‘signals’ (as the Army calls them), had
earlier on issued a circular to all units in the battle zone that
when armoured vehicles are idle, vital moving parts have to
be removed as a safety precaution. Despite these written
instructions, the troops at Janakapura had failed to take the
routine precautions. When the attack began, armoured corps
officers had come running to get the tanks operational. But
by the time they got to the tanks LTTE cadres had been
already in the tanks. Then these armoured corps men had left
even their pistols and other equipment and run off in the
opposite direction. After the attack, two armored corps
personnel had been rescued from the well in the camp! Little
wonder that Cecil Waidyaratne was literally beside himself
with rage and shame. This episode of the two battle tanks
broke his spirit like nothing else did. This clinched his
decision to resign from the Army…” [The Island newspaper,
Colombo, Feb.6, 2002]

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If what was described by Chandraprema, as heard directly from

General Waidyaratne, was accurate, it tells something on the
quality of combat spirit of LTTE cadres and the leadership of
Pirabhakaran. And as Chandraprema informed, General
Waidyaratne was a Sandhurst-trained officer. General Denis
Perera, cited earlier in the Lanka Guardian feature, had gloated to
another reporter Hiranthi Fernando in 1999,
“Sandhurst has trained 119 officers and produced seven
Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army. I was the first and
Gen.Daluwatte, the former Commander was the last.” [Sunday
Times, Colombo, Oct.10, 1999]

But any sensible person in Sri Lanka knows, that not a single one
of these 119 Sandhurst-trained military officers can hold a candle
to Pirabhakaran, who is a home-grown talent. Here is a recent
lament from the daily ‘tom-tom beater’ for the Sinhala Buddhist
chauvinism, which emphasizes this point.
“…This country has had many such blundering generals, who
would have been court martialled in any other country, being
appointed to the top most positions – and in some cases even
placed in charge of joint operations. This is not all! Such
generals have even been sent to countries of their choice as
ambassadors after their retirement following repeated
extensions. (Lest it should be misunderstood, no mention is
here made to General Janaka Perera, the present Sri Lankan
High Commissioner to Australia, who had done the military
proud)…” [Editorial in the newspaper Island, Colombo, July 8, 2002]

Whether General Janaka Perera’s deeds in the battle field are that
exemplary is open to debate. However the editorialist Gamini
Weerakoon tries to make a hero of General Janaka Perera, the fact
that he couldn’t stand the heat of the battle ground in Sri Lanka
for long suggests that he might have feared for his life and
personally preferred the greener pastures in Australia.

The unidentified ‘Defence Correspondent’ of the Island

newspaper has spilled more beans about the ‘orgy of power and
greed for wealth through corruption among the military elites.
Excerpts:
“…A number of serving and retired army, navy and air force
chiefs are lobbying hard to be appointed the next Chief of

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Defence Staff. The position became vacant with the

appointment of the last Chief of Defence Staff, General
Rohan de S.Daluwatte, as Sri Lanka Ambassador to Brazil….
[Air Marshal Jayalath] Weerakoddy’s scandal spotlights the
disgraceful conduct of many of the past and present service
commanders and senior officers, who bend and break rules
and regulations, as well as the country’s laws, in what can
only be described as an orgy of power and greed for wealth
through corruption, forsaking the lives of all those around
them.
One former army commander actually spent millions of
rupees of army funds in constructing a Hindu kovil to fulfil a
vow he had made. [Note by Sri Kantha: Who knows whether
this guy could have vowed for the safety of his life to a Hindu
deity!] Another navy commander did the same with navy
funds to build a Buddhist temple. Another army commander
has a palatial mansion in the south Indian city where his
guru, Sai Baba, resides, just so the service commander can
visit him from time to time.
The Defence Ministry is ultimately to blame for not keeping a
control over the conduct of officers in the forces. Yet these
officers are not youngsters. They are those in their forties and
fifties, who should know better about responsibility. It is
these same armed forces chiefs who have spent untold
millions on themselves, buying bullet-proof vehicles and
fleets of luxury cars and escort vehicles at the expense of the
public. Yet, here we find a serving air force chief at the wheel
of a car, without any escort, driving a young lady air force
officer through the streets of Colombo at high speed at 4:15
am!…” [The Island newspaper, Colombo, July 7, 2002]

It is not difficult to guess what Air Force Commander Air Marshal

Jayalath Weerakoddy was upto with a young lady air force officer
at the wheel of a car without any escort. At the time of his
unfortunate mishap, he might have been a volunteer participant of
the Sri Lankan army’s program of Viagra route to morale
enhancement.

A scan on the ‘recent’ great military minds:

the national check-list

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In the previous chapter [see, Pirabhakaran Phenomenon – part 37]

I tried to impress on the readers about the dominance of combat
power by the European nations and the USA during the past 500
years. During this same period, Tamils – having lost the crown
(civil) power, combat power and commercial power – have lingered
on to the 20th century with only the cerebral power.

The Who’s Who in Military History: from 1453 to the Present Day
rd
[3 edition, 1996; Routledge, London], authored by John Keegan
and Andrew Wheatcroft is an authoritative reference source which
provide pen sketches of great military minds who shaped the
course of war and thus influenced the past 500 years of global
history. I have an affinity for this book, since it tells the story in
brief biographical sketches about how combat power came to
influence the past 500 years of global history, and why not a single
Tamil name appears in it. Warfare has been practiced since the
dawn of humankind in all cultures, but a paradigm shift occurred
550 years ago, when bullets and guns were introduced. In the
preface of its second edition (1987), Keegan and Wheatcroft had
noted aptly,
“However stout the heart that beats beneath the braid, it is
brain and nervous system that count when armies clash. The
great panjandrums of the parade ground are frequently found
to lack both when armies take the field.”

Among the 700 great military men who have received coverage in
this source book, the lives of 270 (38 percent of the total) had
crossed or commenced in the first half of the 20th century. Two of
the youngest in this list of 270 were born in the 1930s:
Gen.Norman Schwarzkopf (born 1934) and Gen.Colin Powell
(born 1937). All others, with the exception of Vo Nguyen Giap
(born 1910), Gen.William Westmoreland (born 1914) and Marcel
Bigeard (born 1916) have already died. Those born after 1937 have
not received mention - probably for reason of proximity bias.

I venture to predict, that if all objective criteria are considered for

inclusion, among those born in the second half of the twentieth
century, Pirabhakaran has a good chance of being included in a
future edition of this source book, for his record in military
endeavors. At the same time, I also predict that not a single one of
Pirabhakaran’s past and present adversaries in the Sri Lankan army

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have a chance of being considered for inclusion in such a source

book. This is because, as Keegan and Wheatcroft had stated in
their preface, “The really significant warriors form a separate and
inner group, whose reputations were made not by the bureaucratic
processes that elevate workaday soldiers up the ladder of
promotion but by lightning inspirations of mind and flashing
strokes of action.”

To perform a statistical analysis of these 270 great military minds,

I unscrambled the A-Z format of entries into respective
nationalities. Granting an allowance for recorder bias, since the
compilers were British, it revealed a historical reality: the
dominance of combat power by the European nations and the
USA. 258 of the ‘recent’ great military minds, who made this list
of 270 came from Britain (57), Germany (53), France (40), USA
(33), pre-Lenin Russia (18) and Soviet Union (11), Japan (12),
Italy (6), South Africa (5), Austria (4), China (4), Belgium (3),
Poland (3), Spain (3), Ireland (2), Turkey (2) and Yugoslavia (2).
A miscellaneous dozen, consisting one individual from a nation,
originated from Prussia of the 19th century, Switzerland, Hungary,
Finland, Serbia, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Vietnam, and
Cuba-Argentina.

Why I care for this list?

I state the following four reasons why I care for this list.

First is to counter the duplicitious propaganda of (a) the Sri

Lankan and Indian governments, and (b) the terrorism analysts like
Bruce Hoffman and Rohan Gunaratna, that Pirabhakaran is a
‘terrorist’ and not a military leader. If Pirabhakaran is a ‘terrorist’,
by the same yardstick - the men who are listed below are also
terrorists. Some of them did receive this terrorist label while they
were engaged in leading their armies. The game of shifting goal
posts in assessing who is a ‘terrorist’ and who is a military leader,
by the arbiters and Poo Bahs of global media deserves a
condemnation. That every military undertaking is based on a
certain degree of terror is a given. Thus, smearing one party with
the label of ‘terrorists’, and adoring the other party’s deeds as
‘national service’ and ‘patriotic valor’ is nothing but fraud and
self-serving sycophancy.

Secondly, to expose the academic deception and deficiency of

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partisan journalists and defence analysts in Colombo and Chennai

who had found a niche in the local journals to analyze the
strategies of LTTE campaigns without even bothering to study the
details of global military history of past 150 years. I should
specifically name some members of this tribe: Iqbal Athas, C.A.
Chandraprema and Dayan Jayatilleka (in Colombo) as well as
N.Ram, V.Suryanarayan, V.S.Sambandan and T.S.Subramanian
(in Chennai).

Thirdly, to place Pirabhakaran’s record in military achievements in

proper perspectives with that of some of his illustrious
predecessors from Asia such as Mao, Subhas Chandra Bose and
Giap – the three who had received recognition in this list for
establishing an army. The professional worth of Pirabhakaran can
also be evaluated by studying the professional mediocrity (and
incompetence) of his adversaries in Sri Lanka and India from an
independent third source. I would add that even Pakistan’s
Generals have to be considered as Pirabhakaran’s adversaries
because beginning from Gen.Zia ul Haq in the early 1980s, they
have given material and moral support to Pirabhakaran’s Sri
Lankan adversaries.

Fourthly, to educate the Tamils who are still ignorant of the value
of combat power in the 20th century about the names of leaders
who by their contributions to combat power raised the stature of
their nations.

According to Keegan and Wheatcroft, four categories of men have

received recognition in their source book. These being, (1) great
commanders – land, sea and air, whose leadership won the most
famous victories of the modern age; (2) those who, if not great
commanders in the field, laid the ground for the victory of others;
(3) military thinkers; and (4) great military technocrats. I have
indicated 50 of the popularly known heroes and those who became
icons in politics and other endeavors of nation building in italics.
Providing a list of names (even though these names are reputed!)
like a telephone directory does not help the readers, if some
observations are not made from such a list. Thus, my candid
observations follow the list. Now to the names of 270 military
masterminds, whose lives crossed or commenced in the first half of
the 20th century (1901-1950).
Britain (57)

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Alexander, Harold 1891-1969: General and Allied Commander

in Chief
Allenby, Edmund 1861-1936: Field Marshal
Auchinleck, Sir Claude 1884-1981: Field Marshal
Baden-Powell, Robert 1857-1941: Hero of Mafeking and
Founder of Boy Scouts.
Beatty, David 1871-1936: Admiral
Beresford, Charles 1846-1919: Admiral
Brooke, Alan 1883-1963: Field Marshal
Buller, Sir Redvers 1839-1908: General
Byng, Julian 1862-1935: Field Marshal
Cambridge, George 1819-1904: Field Marshal
Chelmsford, Frederic 1827-1905: General
Cherwell, Lord 1886-1957: Scientific adviser to Winston
Churchill
Coningham, Sir Arthur 1895-1948: Air Marshal
Cradock, Sir Christopher 1862-1914: Admiral
Cunningham, Andrew 1883-1963: Admiral
Dill, Sir John 1881-1944: Field Marshal
Dowding, Hugh 1882-1970: Air Marshal
Fisher, John Arbuthnot 1841-1920: Admiral
French, John 1852-1925: Field Marshal
Fuller, John 1878-1964: General, Military writer and thinker
Gort, John 1886-1946: Field Marshal
Gough, Sir Hubert 1870-1963: General and Mutineer
Haig, Douglas 1861-1928: Field Marshal & Commander in
Chief (1915-18) in France
Haldane, Richard Burton 1856-1928: Military reformer
Hamilton, Sir Ian 1853-1947: General
Harris, Sir Arthur (Bomber) 1892-1984: Air Marshal
Ironside, Edmund 1880-1959: Field Marshal
Jellicoe, John 1859-1935: Admiral
Keyes, Roger 1872-1945: Admiral
Kitchener, Horatio 1850-1916: Field Marshal
Lawrence, Thomas Edward 1888-1935: Adventurer
Leigh-Mallory, Sir Trafford 1892-1944: Air Marshal

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Liddell Hart, Sir Basil 1895-1970: Military theorist, historian

& biographer
McCreery, Sir Richard 1898-1967: General
Mannock, Edward 1887-1918: Figher Ace
Methuen, Paul Sandford 1845-1932: Field Marshal
Montgomery, Bernard Law 1887-1976: Field Marshal
Mountbatten, Louis 1900-1979: Naval Officer
O’Connor, Sir Richard 1889-1981: General
Percival, Arthur 1887-1966: General
Plumer, Herbert 1857-1932: Field Marshal
Portal, Charles 1893-1971: Air Marshal
Ramsay, Sir Bertram 1883-1945: Admiral
Rawlinson, Henry 1864-1925: General
Roberts, Frederick 1832-1913: Field Marshal
Robertson, Sir William 1860-1933: Field Marshal
Slim, William 1891-1970: Field Marshal
Somerville, Sir James 1882-1949: Admiral
Sturdee, Sir Frederick 1859-1925: Admiral
Tedder, Arthur 1890-1967: Air Marshal
Tovey, John 1885-1971: Admiral
Townshend, Sir Charles 1861-1924: General
Trenchard, Hugh 1873-1956: Airman
Wavell, Archibald 1883-1950: Field Marshal
Wilson, Sir Henry 1864-1922: Field Marshal
Wingate, Orde 1903-1944: General
Wolseley, Garnet 1833-1913: Field Marshal
Germany (53)
Balck, Hermann 1893-1950: General
Blomberg, Werner von 1878-1943: Field Marshal
Bock, Feodor von 1880-1945: Field Marshal
Boelcke, Oswald 1891-1916: Fighter Ace
Brauchitsch, Walter von 1881-1948: Field Marshal
Braun, Wernher von 1912-1977: Designer of mlitary rocket
mssiles
Canaris, Wilhelm 1888-1945: Admiral & Chief of Intelligence
Donitz, Karl 1891-1980: Admiral & Head of State

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Falkenhayn, Erich von 1861-1922: General

Fritsch, Werner 1880-1939: General
Goltz, Colmar 1843-1916: Field Marshal & mlitary writer
Groener, Wilhelm 1867-1939: General
Guderian, Heinz 1888-1953: General & theorist of tank warfare
Halder, Franz 1884-1971: General & Chief of Staff
Hindenburg, Paul Ludwig 1847-1934: Field Marshal &
President
Hipper, Franz 1863-1932: Admiral
Hitler, Adolf 1889-1945: Dictator & war leader
Hoepner, Erich 1886-1944: Panzer General
Hoffman, Max 1869-1927: General
Jodl, Alfred 1890-1946: General
Keitel, Wilhelm 1892-1946: Field Marshal
Kesselring, Albert 1885-1960: Field Marshal
Kleist, Paul 1881-1954: Field Marshal
Kluck, Alexander von 1846-1934: General
Kluge, Gunther von 1882-1944: Field Marshal
Leeb, Wilhelm 1876-1956: Field Marshal
Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul 1870-1964: General & colonial guerrilla
leader
Liman von Sanders, Otto 1855-1929: General
List, Wilhelm 1880-1971: Field Marshal
Lossberg, Fritz von 1868-1943: General
Ludendorff, Erich 1865-1937: General
Mackensen, August von 1849-1944: Field Marshal
Manstein, Erich von 1887-1973: Field Marshal
Model, Walther 1891-1945: Field Marshal
Paulus, Friedrich 1890-1957: Field Marshal
Raeder, Erich 1876-1960: Admiral
Reichenau, Walter von 1884-1942: Field Marshal
Richthofen, Manfred 1892-1918: Fighter Ace
Rommel, Erwin 1891-1944: Field Marshal
Rundstedt, Karl 1875-1953: Field Marshal
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria 1869-1955: Soldier
Scheer, Reinhard 1863-1929: Admiral

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Schlieffen, Alfred 1833-1913: Field Marshal

Schorner, Ferdinand 1892-1973: Field Marshal
Seeckt, Hans von 1866-1936: General
Spee, Maximilien 1861-1914: Admiral
Student, Kurt 1890-1978: General
Tirpitz, Alfred 1849-1930: Admiral
Udet, Ernst 1896-1941: Fighter Ace
Waldersee, Alfred 1832-1904: Field Marshal
Weichs, Maximilian 1881-1954: Field Marshal
Witzleben, Erwin 1881-1944: Field Marshal
Zeitzler, Kurt 1895-1963: General
France (40)
Anthoine, Francois Paul 1860-1944: General
Berthelot, Henri Mathias 1861-1931: Staff Officer
Bigeard, Marcel 1916- : General
Castelnau, Noel 1851-1944: General
Castries, Christian 1902-1991: General & Defender of Dien
Bien Phu
Darlan, Jean 1881-1942: Admiral & Politician
De Gaulle, Charles 1890-1970: General & Head of State
Dreyfus, Alfred 1859-1935: Officer & central figure of the
Dreyfus affair
Fayolle, Marie Emile 1852-1928: Marshal
Foch, Ferdinand 1851-1929: Marshal
Fonck, Rene Paul 1894-1953: Fighter Ace
Franchet D’Esperey, Louis 1856-1942: Marshal
Gallieni, Joseph 1849-1916: General
Gamelin, Maurice 1872-1958: General
Georges, Joseph 1875-1951: General
Giraud, Henri 1879-1949: General
Gouraud, Henri 1867-1946: General
Guillaumat, Marie 1863-1940: General
Guynemer, Georges 1894-1917: Fighter Ace
Jaures, Jean-Leon 1859-1914: Socialist
Joffre, Joseph 1852-1931: Marshal
Juin, Alphonse Pierre 1888-1967: Marshal

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Koenig, Marie 1898-1970: General

Langle de Cary, Fernand 1849-1927: General
Lanrezac, Charles 1852-1925: General
Lattre de Tassigny, Jean 1889-1952: Marshal
Leclerc, Philippe 1902-1947: Marshal
Lyautey, Louis 1854-1934: Marshal
Maginot, Andre 1877-1932: Minister of War
Mangin, Charles 1866-1925: General
Marchand, Jean 1863-1934: General & Explorer
Maunoury, Michel 1847-1923: Marshal
Navarre, Henri 1898-1993: General
Negrier, Francois 1839-1913: General
Nivelle, Robert 1856-1924: General
Nungesser, Charles 1892-1927: Fighter Ace
Pau, Paul Marie 1848-1932: General
Petain, Henri 1856-1951: Marshal
Sarrail, Maurice 1856-1929: General
Weygand, Maxime 1867-1965: General
America (33)
Arnold, Henry Harley (Hap) 1886-1950: Airforce Commander
Bradley, Omar 1893-1981: General
Buckner, Simon Bolivar 1823-1914:Confederate General
Chennault, Claire 1898-1953: Airman
Clark, Mark 1896-1984: General
Dewey, George 1837-1917: Admiral
Doolittle, James 1896-1993: Airman
Eichelberger, Robert 1886-1961: General
Eisenhower, David Dwight 1890-1969: General & US
President
Grierson, Benjamin 1826-1911: Union General
Halsey, William 1882-1959: Admiral
Hodges, Courtney Hicks 1887-1966: General
Joseph, Chief [Indian] 1831-1904: Indian war leader
King, Ernest 1878-1956: Admiral
Longstreet, James 1821-1904: Confederate General
MacArthur, Douglas 1880-1964: General

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Mahan, Alfred 1840-1914: Admiral, naval historian & theorist

Marshall, George 1880-1959: General
Miles, Nelson 1839-1925: General
Mitchell, William 1879-1936: Airman
Mitscher, Marc 1887-1947: Admiral
Nimitz, Chester 1885-1966: Admiral
Patch, Alexander 1889-1945: General
Patton, George 1885-1945: General & tank commander
Pershing, John 1860-1948: General
Powell, Colin 1937- : General & Commander of Joint Chief of
Staff
Rickenbacker, Edward 1890-1973: Fighter Ace
Root, Elihu 1845-1937: Military reformer
Schwarzkopf, Norman 1934- : General
Spaatz, Carl 1891-1974: Airman
Spruance, Raymond 1886-1969: Admiral
Stilwell, Joseph 1883-1946: General
Westmoreland, William 1914- : General & Commander in
Vietnam
Russia of pre-Lenin period (18)
Alekseev, Mikhal 1857-1918: General
Brusilov, Alexei 1853-1926: General
Denikin, Anton 1872-1947: White General
Dragomirov, Mikhail 1830-1905: General & military theorist
Frunze, Mikhail 1885-1925: General
Gorshkov, Sergei 1910-1988: Admiral
Gourko, Ossip 1828-1901: General
Kolchak, Alexander 1875-1920: Admiral & White leader
Kornilov, Lavrenti 1870-1918: General
Kuropatkin, Alexei 1848-1925: General
Makaraov, Stepan 1848-1904: Admiral
Nicholas Nicholaievich 1856-1929: General
Rennenkampf, Paul 1853-1918: General
Rozhdestvenski, Zinovy 1848-1909: Admiral
Samsonov, Alexander 1859-1914: General
Stossel, Anatoli 1848-1915: General

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Trotsky, Lev Davidovich 1879-1940: Revolutionary & military

leader
Wrangel, Petr 1878-1928: White General
Soviet Union (11)
Blyukher, Vasilii 1889-1938: Marshal
Budenny, Semen 1883-1973: Marshal
Konev, Ivan 1897-1973: Marshal
Rokossovski, Konstantin 1896-1968: Marshal
Shaposhnikov, Boris 1882-1945: Marshal
Timoshenko, Semen 1895-1970: Marshal
Tukhachevsky, Mikhail 1893-1937: Marshal
Vasilevsky, Aleksander 1895-1977: Marshal
Voroshilov, Kliment 1881-1969: Marshal
Yeremenko, Andrei 1893-1970: Marshal
Zhukov, Georgyi 1895-1974: Marshal
Japan (12)
Kuribayashi, Tadamichi 1885-1945: General
Kuroki, Baron Jamemoto 1844-1923: General
Nagumo, Chuichi 1886-1944: Admiral
Nogi, Maresuke 1849-1912: General
Oku, Yasukata 1846-1930: Field Marshal
Oyama, Iwao 1843-1916: Field Marshal
Terauchi, Count Seiki 1879-1946: General
Togo, Heihachiro 1849-1934: Admiral
Tojo, Hideki 1884-1948: General & Politician
Yamagata, Aritomo 1838-1922: General & creator of modern
Japanese army
Yamamoto, Isoroku 1884-1943: Admiral
Yamashita, Tomoyuki 1888-1946: General
Italy (6)
Badoglio, Pietro 1871-1956: Field Marshal & prime minister
Baratieri, Oreste 1841-1901: General
Cadona, Count Luigi 1850-1928: General
Diaz,Armando 1861-1928: Field Marshal
Douchet, Giulio 1869-1930: Airman
Graziani, Rodolfo 1882-1955: Field Marshal

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South Africa (5)

Botha, Louis 1862-1919: General & statesman
Cronje, Piet 1835-1911: Boer General
de la Rey, Jacobus 1847-1914: General
De Wet, Christiaan 1854-1922: General
Kruger, Stephanus 1825-1904: Boer statesman & war leader
Austria (4)
Boroevic von Bojna, Svetozar 1856-1920: General
Conrad, von Hotzendorf, Franz 1852-1925: Field Marshal
Joseph-Ferdinand, Archduke 1872-1942: General
Straussenberg, Artur 1857-1935: General
China (4)
Chiang Kai-shek 1887-1975: General & (Taiwan) head of state
Chu Teh 1886-1976: Marshal
Lin Piao 1908-1971: Marshal
Mao Tse Tung 1893-1976: Guerrilla leader, military theorist &
statesman
Belgium (3)
Albert I 1875-1934: King & war leader
Brialmont, Henry Alexis 1821-1903: Military engineer
Leman, Gerard 1851-1920: General
Poland (3)
Anders, Wladyslaw 1892-1970: General & leader of army in
exile
Bloch, Ivan 1836-1902: war theorist
Pilsudski, Joseph 1867-1935: Marshal & head of modern
Poland.
Spain (3)
Franco, Franciso 1892-1975: General & head of state
Mola, Emilio 1887-1937: General
Primo de Rivera, Juan 1870-1930: General & dictator
Ireland (2)
Collins, Michael 1890-1922: Revolutionary
De Valera, Eamon 1882-1975: Revolutionary & statesman
Turkey (2)
Enver Pasha 1881-1922: Revolutionary & General
Kemal Ataturk, Mustafa 1881-1938: Statesman

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Yugoslavia (2)
Mihailovic, Draza 1893-1946: Guerrilla leader
Tito, Josip Broz 1892-1980: Guerrilla leader & head of state
Other 12
Abd el Krim Mahommed ibn 1882-1963: Moroccan chieftain
Bishop, William 1894-1956: Canadian Fighter Ace
Bose, Subhas Chandra 1897-1945: Indian freedom fighter
Dayan, Moshe 1915-1981: Israeli General
Durant, Jean Henri 1828-1910: Swiss humanitarian & founder
of Red Cross
Freyburg, Bernard 1889-1963: New Zealand soldier
Georgey, Artur 1818-1912: Hungarian General
Giap, Vo Nguyen 1910- :Vietnamese General
Guevara, Ernesto Che 1928-1967: Cuban (Argentina-born)
Guerrilla leader
Mannerheim, Carl 1867-1951: Finnish Field Marshal &
Statesman
Putnik, Radomir 1847-1917: Serbian Commander in Chief
Verdy du Vernois, Julius 1832-1910: Prussian General

My Candid Observations on the List

The list of recent great military masterminds, assembled from
Keegan and Wheatcroft’s source book allow me to make the
following candid observations.

First, other than Subhas Chandra Bose (who was Pirabhakaran’s

role model) and Vo Nguyen Giap, no other names from South and
Southeast Asia received mention. Thus the ‘paper Generals and
Marshals’ of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka
and Indonesia are nothing more than professional imbeciles and
impostors. Names like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia ul Haq,
Musharraf, Ne Win, Kotelawala and Suharto do not appear in this
list. Even the battle field record of few Indian Generals (like
K.M.Cariappa, K.S.Thimayya, Sam Manekshaw and K.
Sundarrajan alias Sundarji) who saw military action were of
mediocre quality, despite the puff pieces written in the Indian
press, to have them included in this list of great military heroes.
Pirabhakaran’s adversary during LTTE’s campaign against the
Indian army was none other than Sundarji.

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Secondly, Japan has produced 12 recent great military

masterminds. That is how it rose to the rank of a global contender
(the first Asian nation in recent history) between 1890 and 1945.
However, after its defeat in the 2nd World War, its combat power
has been reduced to zero. Now, even majority of the Japan’s
university professors who were born in the 1940s do not know the
names of their great military heroes. Being a resident in Japan, I
can see how Japan’s rank in the global politics have weakened due
to its loss of combat power. It is now just seen as a vassal state of
the USA. Thus, it will never be granted entry into the UN Security
Council. Of the four types of powers (cerebral, civil, commercial
and combat) I have presented as needed for the vitality of a nation,
Japan is a good current example to show how the loss of combat
power saps the strength of a nation.

Thirdly, nation’s boundaries are impermanent. The military heroes

of Soviet Union listed above, if they happen to return to their land
in a time-travel mode, will be shocked to learn that the nation for
which they sacrificed their blood and tears has disappeared from
the geographical maps. The same is true for Marshal Josef Tito of
the Yugoslavia or Verdy du Vernois of Prussia.

Fourthly, it is foolish to expect the status quo of a nation’s

political system to remain constant. None of the military minds of
imperial Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Japan listed
above could have predicted that the executive system they labored
to preserve had evaporated within decades of their departure.
[Continued.]

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