Most of the troops who used it during WW-2 didn't particularly like the pistol nor the 45 cartridge. Almost all felt the Browning in 9mm was the better pistol. The army did too.
So, you've spoken to most of the troops who used it during WW-2 and got their opinions?
Or, you read somewhere someone said that?
I've only personally known a couple dozen WWII vets and NONE of them disliked the 1911A1 or the .45 cartridge. A few were ambivalent, and the rest were either positive or enthusiastic. "It saved my ass" and "I wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for that gun" were fairly common feelings.
I'm sure there were a number of guys who didn't LIKE the 1911A1, but I think saying "most of the troops" is a baseless inflation of a vocal minority.
A LOT of the troops preferred the M1 carbine to the M1 Garand. Why? Because it weighed about half as much and held about twice as much ammo. The Hi Power was held to be the better pistol, primarily because it held more shots. (and they were good guns too..)
Always remember that the desires and priorities of the military and the police are not always the same as the civilian shooter. Some things overlap, others do not. Don't forget that until the later 1960s handgun ammo basically came in only two flavors, FMJ in semi auto pistol rounds and lead bullets for revolver rounds.
If you care to look, you can find decades of articles espousing how the lead bullet .38 Special was superior to the FMJ 9mm Luger round. "Modern hollowpoints" didn't show up on the market until the late 60s and early 70s, and were notoriously inconsistent. It took nearly another couple decades for them to get a reputation for consistent performance.
People looked at a design made to shoot 230gr FMJ ammo and found fault with it when many didn't gobble up every other bullet, (particularly hollowpoints) without a bobble. They can be modified to run JHPs quite well, and today, they are made to, but the original design, wasn't.
Yeah, parts is parts, so they should all work just perfect, right? Well, that's a yes and no thing. Yes, when all the parts are GI spec, and you're making a GI spec gun. But when there are no govt inspectors, when the designs are "tweeked" and "improved" in different ways, by literally dozens of makers, each with their own idea of what is best, then yes, you get stuff that doesn't maintain the quality of earlier years.
No, the 1911A1 doesn't measure up to more modern designs in some ways, so what? If you want something else, get it. More modern designs have had over half a century or considerably longer of watching what the 1911 does and doesn't do well, so I'd think they damn well OUGHT to be better performing. Oddly enough, in several ways, they aren't.
Yes, I'm a 1911 fan, and yes, I detest GLocks. That's me. I'm sure "fanboy" attitudes have played a part in my opinion. I also don't like Chevys. or Coconut flavor, or a lot of other things.
Not going to tell you that you're wrong if you like them, please do me the same favor.