This is the second part of the General George Patton article.
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World War II - General George Patton
During the buildup of the American Army prior to its entry into World War II, Patton established the Desert Training Center in Indio, California. He also commanded one of the two wargaming armies in the Louisiana Maneuvers of 1941. Fort Benning, Georgia is well known for General George Patton's presence.
North African campaign
In 1942, Major General George Patton commanded the 1st U.S. Armored Corps of the U.S. Army, which landed on the coast of Morocco in Operation Torch. Following the defeat of the U.S. Army by the German Afrika Korps at the Battle of Kasserine Pass in 1943, Patton was made lieutenant general and placed in command of II Corps. Although tough in his training, he was generally considered fair and very well-liked by his troops. The discipline paid off, however, as by March, the counteroffensive was pushing the Germans east while British troops commanded by Gen. Bernard Montgomery in Egypt were simultaneously pushing the Germans west, effectively squeezing the Germans out of North Africa.
Italian campaign - General George Patton
As a result of his accomplishments in North Africa, Patton was given command of the Seventh Army in preparation for the 1943 invasion of Sicily. Patton was charged with liberating the western half of the island, while Gen. Montgomery's 8th British Army was to liberate the east.
Never one to allow his rival Montgomery to get the glory, Patton quickly pushed through western Sicily, liberating Palermo and then swiftly driving on east to Messina ahead of Montgomery.
General George Patton's bloodthirsty speeches resulted in controversy when it was claimed one inspired the Biscari Massacre in which American troops killed seventy-three Prisoners of War. Patton's career nearly ended in August of 1943. While visiting hospitals and commending wounded soldiers, he slapped and verbally abused Pvts. Paul G. Bennet and Charles H. Kuhl, who he thought were exhibiting cowardly behavior. The soldiers were suffering from various forms of battle fatigue or shell-shock, and had no visible wounds (though one was subsequently found to have dysentery). Because of this action, General George Patton was kept out of public view for some time and secretly ordered to apologize to the soldiers. When news of Patton's acts was made public, there were calls from some that Patton should either resign or be fired from his position. Patton also was relieved of command of the Seventh Army prior to its operations in Italy.
However, while General George Patton was temporarily relieved of his duty, the Germans continued to fear him more than any other Allied general. Patton's prolonged stay in Sicily was interpreted by the Germans to be indicative of an upcoming invasion of southern France and later, a stay in Cairo was interpreted as an upcoming invasion through the Balkans. The fear of General George Patton helped to tie up many German troops and would be an important factor in the months to come.
Normandy - General George Patton
In the period leading to the Normandy invasion, General George Patton gave public talks as commander of the (fictional) First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG), which was supposedly intending to invade France by way of Calais. This was part of a sophisticated Allied campaign of military deception, Operation Fortitude.
Following the Normandy invasion, General George Patton was placed in command of the US Third Army, which was on the extreme right (west) of the Allied land forces. He led this army during Operation Cobra, the breakout from earlier slow fighting in the Norman system of planting hedgerows, besieged Cherbourg, and then moved south and east, assisting in trapping several hundred thousand German soldiers in the Chambois pocket, near Falaise. Patton used Germany's own blitzkrieg tactics against them, covering 600 miles in just two weeks. General George Patton's forces freed the bulk of northern France, but was controversially ordered by Eisenhower to halt at the outskirts of Paris, in order to give French Marshal Philippe de Hauteclocque ("Leclerc") the honor of entering the city.
Lorraine - General George Patton
Patton's offensive, however, came to a screeching halt on September 1, 1944 as the army simply ran out of gasoline on the Meuse river just outside of Metz, France. The time needed to resupply was just enough to give the Germans the time they needed to further fortify the fortress of Metz. In October and November, the Third Army was mired in a near-stalemate with the Germans, inflicting heavy casualties on one another. By November 23, however, Metz had finally fallen to the Americans, the first time the city had fallen since the Franco-Prussian War.
Ardennes offensive - General George Patton
By late 1944, the German army made a last-ditch offensive across the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northeastern France. The Ardennes Offensive (better known as the Battle of the Bulge), was the final offensive of the German army in World War II. On December 16, 1944, the German army threw 29 divisions (totalling some 250,000 men) at a weak point in the Allied lines and made massive headway towards the Meuse river during one of the worst winters in Europe in years.
General George Patton abruptly turned the Third Army north (a considerable tactical and logistical achievement), disengaging from the front line to relieve the surrounded and besieged 101st Airborne Division trapped in Bastogne. By February, the Germans were once again in full retreat and Patton moved into the Saar Basin of Germany. Patton was planning to take Prague, Czechoslovakia, when the forward movement of American forces was halted. Nevertheless, his troops liberated Pilsen and most of West Bohemia.
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