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Morrell in OTL
Topic Started: Jun 9 2008, 01:01 PM (298 Views)
Morrell
Serf
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So how would Irving Morrell's being present in OTL have changed things, do you think? Without General Custer in WWI, he probably wouldn't have gotten such a name for himself as a tank commander, but he may have followed Patton's path once the 20s and 30s rolled around. Maybe Morrell in charge the 12th Army Group instead of Bradley? Does this mean quicker end to the European war, and in conjunction with Patton possibly conflict with the Soviets? Influences on tank design? Anything that might have changed.
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LoneHawkBoy
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Jarl of East Anglia
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Not sure actually, since there was no mention of Rommel in TL-191 considering his skill and flair he likely would have caught some attention in the US General Staff it seems like he was butterflied out and replaced with Morrell.

That said, kind of hard to predict, I know there's some AH arguments that have been made that if Patton didn't do the whole slapping incident he would have commanded the 12th AG and brought a much swifter end to the war thanks to his willingness to take risk as opposed to Bradley's caution. Without the heavy use of tanks by the AEF in WWI Morrell might gain fame as a capable infantry officer but might never go into tanks preventing him from becoming who he was in TL-191.
Axe-time, sword-time shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time, ere the world falls;

Volupso, Lines 43-44
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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Oh I don't know. We had so many wunderkinds who actually existed that I don't think you could say with any certainty that adding one more would lead to too dramatic a change.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Makkabee
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If Morrell were around OTL he'd probably get himself killed leading a battallion-sized attack when he's supposed to be behind the lines doing a general's job. If he gets stationed in the Phillipines he'll probably be remembered as a hero who went down swinging rather than facing capture and the Bataan Death March. In other theaters and later phases of the war the press will dutifully call him a hero but most professionals will dismiss him as a wild-assed undisiciplined idiot.

If he actually absorbs the lesson that generals can't afford to pretend to be captains he might accomplish something, though as SJ points out we had so many talented officers that one more's not likely to make a huge difference -- this is especially true if he gets posted to the Pacific theater where more talent might lead to the slightly faster capture of Japanese-held islands with slightly lower casualties, but wouldn't really affect the outcome of the war -- the naval and air arms were the ones that really settled things in the Pacific even if the ground-pounders paid most of the butcher's bill.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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The other thing is, in the (rather wearisome at this point) 191 he was just an ordinary schlub when GWI started and managed to climb up and up as the war went on. Plop him down in OTL and the US is involved for one year, not three (barring the near-impossibility of something this one man does in a war of attrition leading to the war going on longer, in which case he'd be the fool who delayed and even jeopardized the Entente victory as it got close). That's less time to make a splash, and if he hasn't distinguished himself by the Armistice he certainly won't have the standing to demonstrate his genius (?) in the interwar years.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Donut Revolutionary
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Baron
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Maybe though he would make a name for himself fighting in the spanish civil war with the Republican side? A losing cause but he could demonstrate his brilliance and if he survived might end up as a Major during WW2 fighting in the pacific.
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LoneHawkBoy
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Jarl of East Anglia
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Donut Revolutionary
Jun 9 2008, 11:55 PM
Maybe though he would make a name for himself fighting in the spanish civil war with the Republican side? A losing cause but he could demonstrate his brilliance and if he survived might end up as a Major during WW2 fighting in the pacific.

Morrel doesn't strike me as the type to do something like that, doesn't seem sufficiently idealistic or romantic to resign a commission in the Army to fight in a losing cause.
Axe-time, sword-time shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time, ere the world falls;

Volupso, Lines 43-44
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Makkabee
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There were a few junior officers, like Patton, who actually managed to make a reputation for themselves in WWI. As for the rest, with so few US war heroes from 1918 still in service in 1941, it's going to be the ordinary schlubs who get stars on their shoulders and a chance to prove they're something more. Quite a few of them did so.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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That was geared more toward the question of what impact Morrell would have on 1924, not 1942. Sorry, should have labelled it as such, shouldn't I have.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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LoneHawkBoy
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Makkabee
Jun 10 2008, 08:17 AM
There were a few junior officers, like Patton, who actually managed to make a reputation for themselves in WWI. As for the rest, with so few US war heroes from 1918 still in service in 1941, it's going to be the ordinary schlubs who get stars on their shoulders and a chance to prove they're something more. Quite a few of them did so.

Next opportunity any capable officer after WWI had in the Army to distinguish themselves would have been in the Louisiana War Games in 1940, I know that's where Patton made a name for himself in terms of his style of armored warfare.
Axe-time, sword-time shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time, ere the world falls;

Volupso, Lines 43-44
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