"Executing generals for battle performance" Topic

Been reading a bit on the Winter War. During the course of the war, good ol' Uncle Joe executed some of his generals (no surprise there). Hitler of course did the same thing.
That got me wondering when was the last time other countries executed generals for poor performance on the battlefield (not counting for political reason like a Ney or Murat)?
As far as I know, I don't think the US ever has. But how about some of the other major powers? When was the last time the following executed a general for performance on a battlefield?
Great Britain
France
Austria-Hungary
Italy

Admiral Byng is a classic example for England. He was defeated and couldn't relieve the siege of Majorca. He was court martialed. And shot on his own quarterdeck by his own marines.
Voltaire commented "in this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others" (Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres)

The French knew how to rub it in. Especially Voltaire. 😄
And that's where we get the phrase, "To encourage the others."

Well, Admiral Byng was shot on his own quarter deck pour encourage les autres. I can't think of any others, we don't tend to go in for that sort of thing.

…unless you count Somerset braining Lord Wenlock at Tewkesbury…

There were a few French Generals during the Revolutionary War that were executed for this reason I believe.

In an earlier era, the Carthaginians crucified the occasional unsuccessful general.

Korvessa, can you actually name a German general executed for battlefield performance, as opposed to treason and espionage?

Stalin, I think, actually did execute for incompetence a few times in 1940-41. The US never has. Sometimes that seems a pity, and I'm sure TMP's Brits could also make a few nominations.

As regards Revolutionary France, the usual summary is 350 generals killed in action or by the revolutionary government or defected to the Allies to avoid such a fate in a two year period, but I've never seen a breakdown into the three categories.

The US came close. During the War of 1812, after Hull (?) surrendered Detroit to the British, he was tried and found guilty and sentenced to be shot. Madison took pity on him because of his age and pardoned him.

I don't recall Hitler shooting a general for poor combat performance.

Oh, that's right! Add another to the British total. I remember at least one ECW Royalist commander being executed for premature surrender of his post. As I recall after the fall of Tobruk Churchill said that if (Alexandria? Suez?) fell, not only would there be executions, he would personally organize the firing squads.

Austria was looking to try Benedek in 1866, but the Kaiser intervened. Benedek's defense in a trial might have been embarrassing to a number of people and institutions. I think generally summary execution is a little more attractive to authorities than an actual trial with a defense.

Byng's execution was definitely for political reasons.

Spanish troops lynched the General San Juan, who had been defeated by Napoleon at the Somosierra.

I think I assumed with respect to Hitler executing generals. Although I suspect thet he would have had Paulus' head if he could get to him.

Didn't von Paulus join some Quisling "Free Germany" front for Stalin? At that point I should think Hitler would have had to stand in line behind the Wehrmacht for that particular head--and at the head of the line should stand 6th Army POWs, 99% of whom died in captivity while all or almost all the captured generals survived. (My recollection is that 1% of 6th Army enlisted men survived to be released, 10% of officers and all the generals but one.)

Set aside treason, failure, or incompetence. What should happen to a general who leads his men into prison camps, and then goes off to a cushy life?

Is that last question referring to McArthur?

I would read it that way, and agree.

Well that is certainly who I thought of when I read it.
Saw a youtube video (don't know the commentator's credntials) that said McArthur was happy to obey orders when it saved his skin (like in the Philapenes) but not so much when he had a chance at glory (like in Korea).

As noted above, the vast majority of Generals were executed for political reasons, in both Germany and the USSR. In fact I can't think of any in Germany at all executed for poor performance, although the Germans shot tens of thousands of of their own troops. Many Generals were sacked however.

It is the same in the USSR, in fact the only General actually executed for poor performance I can think of was Pavlov, and he was already politically suspect. There is some suspicion he was stitched up by Zhukov.

Martin,
I don't have my references in front of me, but I know Stalin executed some generals who escaped the Notti battles.
From th eever reliable Wikipedia:
Stavka (military high command) ordered a report on the incident and the 9th Army war council blamed the decision to bring transport vehicles near the frontline, as this tied the 44th Division to defend their supply columns.[1] The 9th Army war council pin-pointed the blame on the commander of the 146th Infantry Regiment, Pyotr V. Iyevlev and his staff, for the defeat. Stavka decided, however, that Alexei Vinogradov, his chief of staff Colonel Volkov and the chief of the political department Pakhomov were responsible and to be executed.[7]

Alexei Vinogradov and the two staff members were executed by a firing squad in front of the surviving 44th Division members in Vazhenvaara on 11 January 1940.[8] He was rehabilitated by a decision of the Leningrad Military District on 17 November 1990.[1]

Deucey, Korvessa, I was thinking of von Paulus, and of Townshend who surrendered at Kut in 1916. I'm sure there were others.

McArthur I'd acquit. He was a notably brave WWI officer. They called him "Dugout Doug" because he was in the dugouts of the trench lines and not back in the chateaux. And, bluntly, at his level he knew too much to be taken alive. Think code-breaking. He'd at least have known about MAGIC, and quite probably about ULTRA. (We also pulled out all the intercept and decryption teams from Corregidor, and there was a back-up plan to kill them if a sub didn't arrive in time.) FDR had little use for McArthur, and the nasty suspicion occurs that while he could hardly order the general to commit suicide, Roosevelt wouldn't have lost any sleep over the PTs being sunk with McArthur on board.

LOL do we count Russian's falling from high places?

Only if we count Berthier, dapters. Or Yamamoto. (I checked: no one on R-101 was of flag rank.)

Robert P: a little bit of misremembering there, Colonel Richard Fielding was sentenced to death for surrendering Reading too easily (when he said he would hold it for week). He was reprieved at the last-minute following pleas by Prince Charles and Prince Rupert. He was stripped of his command, but not his rank, and went on to fight for the Royalists as Master of the Ordnance at Cheriton under Hopton and Forth.

His role in the surrender of Reading is not clear cut. Governor of Reading (the rather repugnant character Arthur Aston) avoiding any blame as he was miraculously struck dumb so couldn't 'surrender' and thereby avoided any blame. Karma caught up with Aston, and he was beaten to death with his own wooden leg in Ireland some years later.

When governor, Aston had a bodyguard which wasn't really protecting him, more protecting residents of Reading as he would regularly try to start arguments with them.

My apologies to the thread and my thanks to Keep. Too long since I worked the ECW. Do I remember correctly that he was newly married with a wife in Reading, and fear of the city being sacked was felt to have been a factor?

"Karma caught up with Aston, and he was beaten to death with his own wooden leg in Ireland some years later."

In Ireland, begorrah!
😄
That's a fantastic anecdote.

So do you count Japanese Generals or Chinese Generals who committed suicide?

Yes, apologies we've gone a little off topic. I don't know about Fielding being married, sorry.At the court martial much was made of him repeatedly giving a woman a pass to leave the city, who in his defence Fielding claimed was a spy.

Fielding didn't really put up much of a defence of Reading, but he does seem to have been the fall guy. Aston very coincidentally getting 'injured' and becoming dumbstruck (as soon as Reading had surrendered he miraculously got better); Fielding covertly leaving Reading to meet the King to inform him of his intention to surrender (to which Charles agreed).

John – Aston lost his leg in a riding accident, he had been showing off in front of some ladies. Fast forward to 1649 he was governor of Drogheda, there was a rumour circulating that he hid gold coins in his wooden leg.

My favourite ECW commander anecdote concerns Sir John Meldrum. At the siege of Scarborough he took a tumble and fell 200 feet off the cliff. He was saved due to his cloak acting as a parachute. Alas Lady Luck deserted him after that, as he was shot a few days later in the 'cods'. He would eventually die of his wounds.

I'm considering executing some of my 25mm generals who seem unlucky. Battlefield courts-martial followed by beheading with an Exacto knife.

Piper
I tried to execute a die once by smashing it woth a hammer.
Did it in front of other dice as an example.
Of course, my aim was slightly off and it just caused the die to bounce up and smack me one on the hand.

I put my offending die in a tuna can half-filled with charcoal lighting fluid, out on the back deck, and immolated it. The charred, half-melted die is on the shelf with the other dice as a standing warning not to betray me in a tournament. So far it seems to have worked…

OOh. I like that