I just read a book called ARMAGEDDON all about the last year of WWII when Germany itself was under siege from both sides. It both picks fault and praises all the sides and main men involved. It told a story of how Patton launched an unofficial raid to rescue his son in law who was a POW. A lot of American soldiers died in this raid. It also tells, of course that Patton was idolised by his men and was probably the best and most daring of the Allied commanders. Montgomery, who is a British hero, is pilloried as a pompous idiot but was revered by his men. The Germans were the best fighting troops, even at the end, and the Russians were the worst, there was just so many of them and they were so ferocious. The war in the East between Germany and Russia was an ideological battle to the death. Good book ,well worth a look, by a chap called MAX HASTINGS.