the pirabakaran phenomenon 38

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The Pirabhakaran PhenomenonPart 38

Sachi Sri Kantha[12 July 2002]

The Quality of Sinhalese MilitaryCompetition

A Peep on the Power Elites of the Sri Lankan ArmyIn my chosen profession, i.e. natural sciences, an unpublished

report or an unnamed source is given the same degree of credibilityas 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 dependstrongly 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’sSinhalese 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 DenisPerera, Rear Admiral Basil Gunasekera, Air Vice-Marshal HarryGoonetilleke talk to Mervyn de Silva.” This post-mortem was heldto analyze the Pooneryn [Poonagari] Army camp debacle. To

digest the success of Pirabhakaran’s army, I provide below alengthy segment of Mervyn de Silva’s questions and the responsesof 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 originaltext.]

“First of all, ‘we must be clear in our own minds on strategy’General Denis Perera said. What are we trying to achieve? Tome, he asked, it is obvious – destroy the military capability of

rabhakaran Phenomenon Part 38 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part38.ht

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the LTTE. Some people seem to believe that this is a law andorder problem. That’s nonsense, of course. Our navy must beasked to close ‘the gaps’, if any at sea; our planes andhelicopters must be ‘spotters’ and between the two, the navyand the air force, we must destroy the weapons coming in, or thearmy must destroy the boats on arrival. It can also be done by

air. In this overall strategy, I would suggest a full-time maritimecommander…not just a ground commander.

Question : General, are there any other points and constructivecriticisms that you can offer…I believe there was a meeting withformer 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 planningweaknesses which need to be studied and the situationcorrected? Is there a delay in sending re-inforcements? Does thearmy 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 neglectof the intelligence received?

Question : Is there in the army as a matter of routine, inquiriesinto failures, lapses etc?

Answer : Good question. There should be. At a high level, atthat. Nothing must be glossed over or covered up. Everyinstitution 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’tit?

Question : General, what of the command structure?…GeneralGerry Silva has been placed in charge of the North.

Answer : A full-time field commander is a good idea. But Iwould have the Chief of Staff concentrate on strategy andcoordination. The work of the ground commander, the maritimecommander etc needs to be more closely linked.

Question : The heavily guarded camps have been over-run soeasily…


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Answer : They have left gaps…especially in Pooneryn whichhas wide areas…There should be land-mines, trip-wire and‘illumination’…as soon as an infiltrator trips, the light signalsthe defender…these devices are available…once you have dugin…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 originaltext.]

“Air Vice Marshal Goonetilleke : We now know the LTTE hasa strong army…quite small but highly motivated, well trainedand tough…after all, young women are on the frontline. Nowthe 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 everymeans possible to deny us that monopoly. But the problems godeeper. I am worried about morale. There is too much ‘Let melook after my life…until I can find some other work…thefeeling that they are cannon fodder MUST not spread. We mustnot allow any demoralization. We need to inject new confidenceand vitality. We must have a well-knit Joint Command…reduceextensions to a minimum…3 commanders and IGP must makealmost ALL the strategic decisions, with least interference fromnon-servicemen. Arms purchases must be strictly professional.There should be a WAR COUNCIL, a recruitment drive…acampaign to raise morale.”

Apart from Air Vice Marshal Goonetilleke, the Rear AdmiralGunasekera also had mentioned in his interview to Mervyn deSilva, “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 GuardianAfter reading the insipid responses of Pirabhakaran’s eliteSinhalese competition, I submitted a brief sardonic critique to the

Lanka Guardian , which Mervyn de Silva had discretely rejectedfrom 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 HarryGoonetilleke, 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 problemamong the service personnel seems to be the lack of morale.Two of the three ex-Service Commanders had lamented aboutthe morale. If only, some biotechnology or pharmaceuticalcompany 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 themwith such information. Until then, one has to manage withwhat is available.

In the ‘available’ category, we should include the ‘front-lineexperience’ of the former Service Commanders. Have they gotany? 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 thiscampaign? I’m disappointed that you failed to ask theseelementary 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 Iwrote the sardonic letter to Mervyn de Silva about the need for amorale-boosting pill. Many may have missed last year’s news fromthe rehabilitation research front of the Sri Lankan army to instiltroop morale which captured the international headlines. Here is alengthy excerpt from Amal Jayasinghe’s report of March 28, 2001to the Agence France-Presse, captioned ‘Viagra to raise Sri Lankatroop morale’.

“A year after Sri Lankan troops bought multi-barrel rocketsand swing-wing jets to resist a massive offensive by Tamilrebels another key ‘weapon’ is being inducted to fight adifferent battle. The latest acquisition by the medical corpshas the potential to raise morale to new heights in an armywhere 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 isgiven top billing after President Chandrika Kumaratunga

placed the country on a ‘war footing’. ‘We have just got thesamples of Viagra’ said Dr.Sriyani Warusawitharana whoheads the rehabilitation offensive. ‘We want to start thetreatment on some married soldiers who have recovered from

their injuries’. She said the war-wounded often suffered psychological problems, particularly due to losing limbs fromanti-personnel mines. ‘We are looking at the sexual aspectsof treatment’, she said. ‘We are getting help from a universityfor this program’. Warusawitharana said the injured soldiersinitially suffer fears of rejection by society, but with the helpof professional counseling and support from colleagues mostmake remarkable recoveries.

The army set up a separate directorate for rehabilitation in1989 but the outfit got a new push when the governmentannounced it was placing the country on a ‘war-footing’following the abortive rebel offensive in Jaffna in April andMay last year. Viagra, which was approved as a prescriptiondrug in Sri Lanka only four months ago, was introduced at685 rupees (eight dollars) for the smaller 25 mg pill andconsidered expensive by local standards. But money is noobject in this case.

The army’s rehabilitation outfit is a show-piece centre for theother military units such as the airforce and the navy and has

provided vocational training for about 4,500 woundedtroopers. The rehab unit currently has some 9,000 troopersregistered with it and re-deployed in various branches of thesecurity forces. Masons, carpenters and even some of themilitary drivers are soldiers who once fought in the war.About eight percent of the Sri Lankan military is officiallylisted as ‘disabled’ soldiers…

There had been several US medical teams helping the SriLankan army in treating the war-wounded and the US militaryhas also gifted operating theatres and provided specialisedtraining on medical evacuation. But the down side is that theTigers have not been sparing soldiers wounded in battle. Arecently retired army general said Tiger rebels killed injuredsoldiers because of fears they could be re-deployed back inthe army after their recovery.”


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the confusion. Where there was no such confusion, thesoldiers managed to hold on.”

Here, Chandraprema seems to be oblivious to the fact that causingconfusion in the enemy camp is an age-old strategy in warfare, and

preventing such confusion among foot soldiers is an importantfunction of leadership. Chandraprema continued,

“A similar story is told about Janakapura. It was in theJanakapura 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’sand ‘b’s the rage and shame he felt when he heard about theloss of the two battle tanks. Unlike in Pooneryn the loss atJanakapura was more in terms of war material than in termsof 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 havingadhered to the basic precaution of removing vital moving

parts in armoured vehicles when they are idle. This is aroutine precaution taken in battle zones so that in case of asurprise attack, the enemy will not be able to drive away thearmoured vehicles.

General Waidyaratne, with his flair for writing endlessinstructions and ‘signals’ (as the Army calls them), hadearlier on issued a circular to all units in the battle zone thatwhen armoured vehicles are idle, vital moving parts have to

be removed as a safety precaution. Despite these writteninstructions, the troops at Janakapura had failed to take theroutine precautions. When the attack began, armoured corpsofficers had come running to get the tanks operational. But

by the time they got to the tanks LTTE cadres had beenalready in the tanks. Then these armoured corps men had lefteven their pistols and other equipment and run off in theopposite direction. After the attack, two armored corps

personnel had been rescued from the well in the camp! Littlewonder 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 hisdecision 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 fromGeneral Waidyaratne, was accurate, it tells something on thequality of combat spirit of LTTE cadres and the leadership of Pirabhakaran. And as Chandraprema informed, GeneralWaidyaratne was a Sandhurst-trained officer. General DenisPerera, cited earlier in the Lanka Guardian feature, had gloated toanother reporter Hiranthi Fernando in 1999,

“Sandhurst has trained 119 officers and produced sevenCommanders of the Sri Lanka Army. I was the first andGen.Daluwatte, the former Commander was the last.” [SundayTimes , Colombo, Oct.10, 1999]

But any sensible person in Sri Lanka knows, that not a single oneof these 119 Sandhurst-trained military officers can hold a candleto Pirabhakaran, who is a home-grown talent. Here is a recentlament from the daily ‘tom-tom beater’ for the Sinhala Buddhistchauvinism, which emphasizes this point.

“…This country has had many such blundering generals, whowould have been court martialled in any other country, beingappointed to the top most positions – and in some cases even

placed in charge of joint operations. This is not all! Suchgenerals have even been sent to countries of their choice asambassadors after their retirement following repeated

extensions. (Lest it should be misunderstood, no mention ishere made to General Janaka Perera, the present Sri LankanHigh 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 thatexemplary is open to debate. However the editorialist GaminiWeerakoon tries to make a hero of General Janaka Perera, the factthat he couldn’t stand the heat of the battle ground in Sri Lankafor 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 andgreed for wealth through corruption among the military elites.Excerpts:

“…A number of serving and retired army, navy and air forcechiefs are lobbying hard to be appointed the next Chief of


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Defence Staff. The position became vacant with theappointment of the last Chief of Defence Staff, GeneralRohan de S.Daluwatte, as Sri Lanka Ambassador to Brazil….

[Air Marshal Jayalath] Weerakoddy’s scandal spotlights thedisgraceful conduct of many of the past and present servicecommanders and senior officers, who bend and break rules

and regulations, as well as the country’s laws, in what canonly be described as an orgy of power and greed for wealththrough corruption, forsaking the lives of all those aroundthem.

One former army commander actually spent millions of rupees of army funds in constructing a Hindu kovil to fulfil avow he had made. [ Note by Sri Kantha : Who knows whether this guy could have vowed for the safety of his life to a Hindudeity!] Another navy commander did the same with navyfunds to build a Buddhist temple. Another army commander has a palatial mansion in the south Indian city where hisguru, Sai Baba, resides, just so the service commander canvisit him from time to time.

The Defence Ministry is ultimately to blame for not keeping acontrol over the conduct of officers in the forces. Yet theseofficers are not youngsters. They are those in their forties andfifties, who should know better about responsibility. It is

these same armed forces chiefs who have spent untoldmillions on themselves, buying bullet-proof vehicles andfleets of luxury cars and escort vehicles at the expense of the

public. Yet, here we find a serving air force chief at the wheelof a car, without any escort, driving a young lady air forceofficer through the streets of Colombo at high speed at 4:15am!…” [The Island newspaper, Colombo, July 7, 2002]

It is not difficult to guess what Air Force Commander Air MarshalJayalath Weerakoddy was upto with a young lady air force officer at the wheel of a car without any escort. At the time of hisunfortunate mishap, he might have been a volunteer participant of the Sri Lankan army’s program of Viagra route to moraleenhancement.

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 500years. During this same period, Tamils – having lost the crown(civil) power, combat power and commercial power – have lingered

on to the 20 th century with only the cerebral power.

The Who’s Who in Military History: from 1453 to the Present Day

[3rd

edition, 1996; Routledge, London], authored by John Keeganand Andrew Wheatcroft is an authoritative reference source which

provide pen sketches of great military minds who shaped thecourse of war and thus influenced the past 500 years of globalhistory. I have an affinity for this book, since it tells the story in

brief biographical sketches about how combat power came toinfluence the past 500 years of global history, and why not a single

Tamil name appears in it. Warfare has been practiced since thedawn of humankind in all cultures, but a paradigm shift occurred550 years ago, when bullets and guns were introduced. In the

preface of its second edition (1987), Keegan and Wheatcroft hadnoted aptly,

“However stout the heart that beats beneath the braid, it is brain and nervous system that count when armies clash. Thegreat panjandrums of the parade ground are frequently foundto lack both when armies take the field.”

Among the 700 great military men who have received coverage inthis source book, the lives of 270 (38 percent of the total) had

crossed or commenced in the first half of the 20 th 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 MarcelBigeard (born 1916) have already died. Those born after 1937 havenot 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 twentiethcentury , Pirabhakaran has a good chance of being included in afuture edition of this source book, for his record in militaryendeavors. 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 intheir preface, “The really significant warriors form a separate andinner 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 respectivenationalities. Granting an allowance for recorder bias, since thecompilers were British, it revealed a historical reality: thedominance of combat power by the European nations and theUSA. 258 of the ‘recent’ great military minds, who made this listof 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 19 th century, Switzerland, Hungary,Finland, Serbia, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Vietnam, andCuba-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 SriLankan and Indian governments, and (b) the terrorism analysts likeBruce 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 alsoterrorists. Some of them did receive this terrorist label while theywere 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 acondemnation. That every military undertaking is based on acertain degree of terror is a given. Thus, smearing one party withthe label of ‘terrorists’, and adoring the other party’s deeds as‘national service’ and ‘patriotic valor’ is nothing but fraud andself-serving sycophancy.

Secondly , to expose the academic deception and deficiency of


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partisan journalists and defence analysts in Colombo and Chennaiwho had found a niche in the local journals to analyze thestrategies of LTTE campaigns without even bothering to study thedetails of global military history of past 150 years. I shouldspecifically 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 andGiap – the three who had received recognition in this list for establishing an army. The professional worth of Pirabhakaran canalso be evaluated by studying the professional mediocrity (andincompetence) of his adversaries in Sri Lanka and India from anindependent third source. I would add that even Pakistan’sGenerals have to be considered as Pirabhakaran’s adversaries

because beginning from Gen.Zia ul Haq in the early 1980s, theyhave given material and moral support to Pirabhakaran’s SriLankan adversaries.

Fourthly , to educate the Tamils who are still ignorant of the value

of combat power in the 20 th century about the names of leaderswho by their contributions to combat power raised the stature of their nations.

According to Keegan and Wheatcroft, four categories of men havereceived recognition in their source book. These being, (1) greatcommanders – land, sea and air, whose leadership won the mostfamous victories of the modern age; (2) those who, if not greatcommanders in the field, laid the ground for the victory of others;(3) military thinkers; and (4) great military technocrats. I haveindicated 50 of the popularly known heroes and those who becameicons 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 someobservations are not made from such a list. Thus, my candidobservations follow the list. Now to the names of 270 militarymasterminds, whose lives crossed or commenced in the first half of

the 20 th century (1901-1950).

Britain (57)


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Alexander, Harold 1891-1969: General and Allied Commander in Chief Allenby, Edmund 1861-1936: Field MarshalAuchinleck, Sir Claude 1884-1981: Field Marshal

Baden-Powell, Robert 1857-1941 : Hero of Mafeking andFounder of Boy Scouts.Beatty, David 1871-1936: AdmiralBeresford, Charles 1846-1919: AdmiralBrooke, Alan 1883-1963: Field MarshalBuller, Sir Redvers 1839-1908: GeneralByng, Julian 1862-1935: Field MarshalCambridge, George 1819-1904: Field MarshalChelmsford, Frederic 1827-1905: General

Cherwell, Lord 1886-1957: Scientific adviser to WinstonChurchillConingham, Sir Arthur 1895-1948: Air MarshalCradock, Sir Christopher 1862-1914: AdmiralCunningham, Andrew 1883-1963: AdmiralDill, Sir John 1881-1944: Field MarshalDowding, Hugh 1882-1970: Air MarshalFisher, John Arbuthnot 1841-1920: Admiral

French, John 1852-1925: Field MarshalFuller, John 1878-1964: General, Military writer and thinker Gort, John 1886-1946: Field MarshalGough, Sir Hubert 1870-1963: General and Mutineer Haig, Douglas 1861-1928: Field Marshal & Commander inChief (1915-18) in FranceHaldane, Richard Burton 1856-1928: Military reformer Hamilton, Sir Ian 1853-1947: General

Harris, Sir Arthur (Bomber) 1892-1984 : Air MarshalIronside, Edmund 1880-1959: Field MarshalJellicoe, John 1859-1935: AdmiralKeyes, Roger 1872-1945: AdmiralKitchener, Horatio 1850-1916: Field MarshalLawrence, 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: GeneralMannock, Edward 1887-1918: Figher AceMethuen, Paul Sandford 1845-1932: Field MarshalMontgomery, Bernard Law 1887-1976 : Field MarshalMountbatten, Louis 1900-1979 : Naval Officer O’Connor, Sir Richard 1889-1981: GeneralPercival, Arthur 1887-1966: GeneralPlumer, Herbert 1857-1932: Field MarshalPortal, Charles 1893-1971: Air MarshalRamsay, Sir Bertram 1883-1945: AdmiralRawlinson, Henry 1864-1925: General

Roberts, Frederick 1832-1913: Field MarshalRobertson, Sir William 1860-1933: Field MarshalSlim, William 1891-1970: Field MarshalSomerville, Sir James 1882-1949: AdmiralSturdee, Sir Frederick 1859-1925: AdmiralTedder, Arthur 1890-1967: Air MarshalTovey, John 1885-1971: AdmiralTownshend, Sir Charles 1861-1924: GeneralTrenchard, Hugh 1873-1956: AirmanWavell, Archibald 1883-1950: Field MarshalWilson, Sir Henry 1864-1922: Field MarshalWingate, Orde 1903-1944: GeneralWolseley, Garnet 1833-1913: Field Marshal

Germany (53)Balck, Hermann 1893-1950: GeneralBlomberg, Werner von 1878-1943: Field MarshalBock, Feodor von 1880-1945: Field MarshalBoelcke, Oswald 1891-1916: Fighter AceBrauchitsch, Walter von 1881-1948: Field MarshalBraun, Wernher von 1912-1977: Designer of mlitary rocketmssilesCanaris, Wilhelm 1888-1945: Admiral & Chief of IntelligenceDonitz, Karl 1891-1980: Admiral & Head of State


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Falkenhayn, Erich von 1861-1922: GeneralFritsch, Werner 1880-1939: GeneralGoltz, Colmar 1843-1916: Field Marshal & mlitary writer Groener, Wilhelm 1867-1939: GeneralGuderian, Heinz 1888-1953: General & theorist of tank warfare

Halder, Franz 1884-1971: General & Chief of Staff Hindenburg, Paul Ludwig 1847-1934 : Field Marshal &PresidentHipper, Franz 1863-1932: Admiral

Hitler, Adolf 1889-1945 : Dictator & war leader Hoepner, Erich 1886-1944: Panzer GeneralHoffman, Max 1869-1927: GeneralJodl, Alfred 1890-1946: General

Keitel, Wilhelm 1892-1946: Field MarshalKesselring, Albert 1885-1960: Field MarshalKleist, Paul 1881-1954: Field MarshalKluck, Alexander von 1846-1934: GeneralKluge, Gunther von 1882-1944: Field MarshalLeeb, Wilhelm 1876-1956: Field MarshalLettow-Vorbeck, Paul 1870-1964: General & colonial guerrillaleader

Liman von Sanders, Otto 1855-1929: GeneralList, Wilhelm 1880-1971: Field MarshalLossberg, Fritz von 1868-1943: GeneralLudendorff, Erich 1865-1937: GeneralMackensen, August von 1849-1944: Field MarshalManstein, Erich von 1887-1973: Field MarshalModel, Walther 1891-1945: Field Marshal

Paulus, Friedrich 1890-1957 : Field MarshalRaeder, Erich 1876-1960: AdmiralReichenau, Walter von 1884-1942: Field MarshalRichthofen, Manfred 1892-1918: Fighter Ace

Rommel, Erwin 1891-1944 : Field MarshalRundstedt, Karl 1875-1953: Field MarshalRupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria 1869-1955: Soldier Scheer, Reinhard 1863-1929: Admiral


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Schlieffen, Alfred 1833-1913: Field MarshalSchorner, Ferdinand 1892-1973: Field MarshalSeeckt, Hans von 1866-1936 : GeneralSpee, Maximilien 1861-1914: AdmiralStudent, Kurt 1890-1978: General

Tirpitz, Alfred 1849-1930: AdmiralUdet, Ernst 1896-1941: Fighter AceWaldersee, Alfred 1832-1904: Field MarshalWeichs, Maximilian 1881-1954: Field MarshalWitzleben, Erwin 1881-1944: Field MarshalZeitzler, Kurt 1895-1963: General

France (40)Anthoine, Francois Paul 1860-1944: General

Berthelot, Henri Mathias 1861-1931: Staff Officer Bigeard, Marcel 1916- : GeneralCastelnau, Noel 1851-1944: GeneralCastries, Christian 1902-1991 : General & Defender of DienBien PhuDarlan, 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: MarshalFoch, Ferdinand 1851-1929: MarshalFonck, Rene Paul 1894-1953: Fighter AceFranchet D’Esperey, Louis 1856-1942: MarshalGallieni, Joseph 1849-1916: GeneralGamelin, Maurice 1872-1958: GeneralGeorges, Joseph 1875-1951: GeneralGiraud, Henri 1879-1949: GeneralGouraud, Henri 1867-1946: GeneralGuillaumat, Marie 1863-1940: GeneralGuynemer, Georges 1894-1917: Fighter AceJaures, Jean-Leon 1859-1914: SocialistJoffre, Joseph 1852-1931: MarshalJuin, Alphonse Pierre 1888-1967: Marshal


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Koenig, Marie 1898-1970: GeneralLangle de Cary, Fernand 1849-1927: GeneralLanrezac, Charles 1852-1925: GeneralLattre de Tassigny, Jean 1889-1952: MarshalLeclerc, Philippe 1902-1947: Marshal

Lyautey, Louis 1854-1934: MarshalMaginot, Andre 1877-1932: Minister of War Mangin, Charles 1866-1925: GeneralMarchand, 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 AcePau, Paul Marie 1848-1932: General

Petain, Henri 1856-1951 : MarshalSarrail, Maurice 1856-1929: GeneralWeygand, 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 GeneralChennault, Claire 1898-1953: AirmanClark, Mark 1896-1984: GeneralDewey, George 1837-1917: AdmiralDoolittle, James 1896-1993: AirmanEichelberger, Robert 1886-1961: General

Eisenhower, David Dwight 1890-1969 : General & USPresidentGrierson, Benjamin 1826-1911: Union General

Halsey, William 1882-1959 : AdmiralHodges, Courtney Hicks 1887-1966: GeneralJoseph, Chief [Indian] 1831-1904: Indian war leader King, Ernest 1878-1956: AdmiralLongstreet, James 1821-1904: Confederate GeneralMacArthur, Douglas 1880-1964 : General


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Mahan, Alfred 1840-1914: Admiral, naval historian & theoristMarshall, George 1880-1959 : GeneralMiles, Nelson 1839-1925: GeneralMitchell, William 1879-1936: AirmanMitscher, Marc 1887-1947: Admiral

Nimitz, Chester 1885-1966 : AdmiralPatch, 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- : GeneralSpaatz, Carl 1891-1974: AirmanSpruance, Raymond 1886-1969: AdmiralStilwell, Joseph 1883-1946: GeneralWestmoreland, William 1914- : General & Commander inVietnam

Russia of pre-Lenin period (18)Alekseev, Mikhal 1857-1918: General

Brusilov, Alexei 1853-1926: GeneralDenikin, Anton 1872-1947: White GeneralDragomirov, Mikhail 1830-1905: General & military theoristFrunze, Mikhail 1885-1925: GeneralGorshkov, Sergei 1910-1988: AdmiralGourko, Ossip 1828-1901: GeneralKolchak, Alexander 1875-1920: Admiral & White leader Kornilov, Lavrenti 1870-1918: General

Kuropatkin, Alexei 1848-1925 : GeneralMakaraov, Stepan 1848-1904: Admiral

Nicholas Nicholaievich 1856-1929: GeneralRennenkampf, Paul 1853-1918: GeneralRozhdestvenski, Zinovy 1848-1909: AdmiralSamsonov, Alexander 1859-1914: GeneralStossel, Anatoli 1848-1915: General


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Trotsky, Lev Davidovich 1879-1940 : Revolutionary & militaryleader Wrangel, Petr 1878-1928: White General

Soviet Union (11)Blyukher, Vasilii 1889-1938: MarshalBudenny, Semen 1883-1973: MarshalKonev, Ivan 1897-1973: MarshalRokossovski, Konstantin 1896-1968: MarshalShaposhnikov, Boris 1882-1945: MarshalTimoshenko, Semen 1895-1970: MarshalTukhachevsky, Mikhail 1893-1937: MarshalVasilevsky, Aleksander 1895-1977: MarshalVoroshilov, Kliment 1881-1969: Marshal

Yeremenko, Andrei 1893-1970: Marshal Zhukov, Georgyi 1895-1974 : Marshal

Japan (12)Kuribayashi, Tadamichi 1885-1945: GeneralKuroki, Baron Jamemoto 1844-1923: General

Nagumo, Chuichi 1886-1944: Admiral Nogi, Maresuke 1849-1912 : GeneralOku, Yasukata 1846-1930: Field Marshal

Oyama, Iwao 1843-1916: Field MarshalTerauchi, Count Seiki 1879-1946: GeneralTogo, Heihachiro 1849-1934: AdmiralTojo, Hideki 1884-1948 : General & PoliticianYamagata, Aritomo 1838-1922: General & creator of modernJapanese armyYamamoto, Isoroku 1884-1943 : AdmiralYamashita, Tomoyuki 1888-1946 : General

Italy (6)Badoglio, Pietro 1871-1956: Field Marshal & prime minister Baratieri, Oreste 1841-1901: GeneralCadona, Count Luigi 1850-1928: GeneralDiaz,Armando 1861-1928: Field MarshalDouchet, Giulio 1869-1930: AirmanGraziani, Rodolfo 1882-1955: Field Marshal


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South Africa (5)Botha, Louis 1862-1919: General & statesmanCronje, Piet 1835-1911: Boer Generalde la Rey, Jacobus 1847-1914: GeneralDe Wet, Christiaan 1854-1922: General

Kruger, Stephanus 1825-1904: Boer statesman & war leader Austria (4)

Boroevic von Bojna, Svetozar 1856-1920: GeneralConrad, von Hotzendorf, Franz 1852-1925: Field Marshal

Joseph-Ferdinand, Archduke 1872-1942 : GeneralStraussenberg, 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 : MarshalMao 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 inexileBloch, Ivan 1836-1902: war theoristPilsudski, Joseph 1867-1935: Marshal & head of modernPoland.

Spain (3) Franco, Franciso 1892-1975 : General & head of stateMola, Emilio 1887-1937: GeneralPrimo de Rivera, Juan 1870-1930: General & dictator

Ireland (2)Collins, Michael 1890-1922: Revolutionary

De Valera, Eamon 1882-1975 : Revolutionary & statesmanTurkey (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 12Abd el Krim Mahommed ibn 1882-1963: Moroccan chieftainBishop, 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 CrossFreyburg, Bernard 1889-1963: New Zealand soldier Georgey, Artur 1818-1912: Hungarian GeneralGiap, Vo Nguyen 1910- :Vietnamese GeneralGuevara, Ernesto Che 1928-1967 : Cuban (Argentina-born)Guerrilla leader Mannerheim, Carl 1867-1951: Finnish Field Marshal &StatesmanPutnik, 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 fromKeegan and Wheatcroft’s source book allow me to make thefollowing candid observations.

First, other than Subhas Chandra Bose (who was Pirabhakaran’srole model) and Vo Nguyen Giap, no other names from South andSoutheast Asia received mention. Thus the ‘paper Generals andMarshals’ of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lankaand 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 thislist. Even the battle field record of few Indian Generals (likeK.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 theIndian army was none other than Sundarji.


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Secondly, Japan has produced 12 recent great militarymasterminds. 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 2 nd 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 thenames of their great military heroes. Being a resident in Japan, Ican see how Japan’s rank in the global politics have weakened dueto 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 SecurityCouncil. Of the four types of powers (cerebral, civil, commercialand 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 heroesof Soviet Union listed above, if they happen to return to their landin a time-travel mode, will be shocked to learn that the nation for which they sacrificed their blood and tears has disappeared fromthe 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 listedabove could have predicted that the executive system they laboredto preserve had evaporated within decades of their departure.[Continued .]


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