Historic Photos of General George Patton

By Russ Rodgers

"To be a successful soldier you must know history. . . . What you must know is how man reacts. Weapons change but man who uses them changes not at all. To win battles you do not beat weapons—you beat the soul of man of the enemy man."
—General George S. Patton, Jr.

George S. Patton, Jr., born into an affluent California family in 1885, knew in early youth that his future lay in the military past of his ancestors. After graduating from West Point and placing 5th in the 1912 Olympics pentathlon, he became military aide to General Pershing during the Mexican Expedition, served as Tank Corps captain in World War I, and went on to lead Allied armies to stunning victories during the Second World War. Promoted to 4-star general by war's end, he was acknowledged our best general by America's vanquished enemies and acclaimed by Americans as a hero.

From his earliest days hunting and fishing in the California outback to his ironic death in an automobile accident at war's end in Germany, Historic Photos of General George Patton captures the greatest exploits of one of the nation's greatest combat generals. Patton's life in pictures blazes a trail sure to enthrall every reader, from the student of history to the history buff. Patton became and remains an American icon. The hundreds of photographs in Historic Photos of General George Patton, all of them commanding the reader to attention and many of them riveting it, help Americans more than sixty years after the end of Patton's last war to understand why.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Release date: Oct 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781618586322

Russ Rodgers

Russ Rodgers is a military historian and former adjunct professor of history. A US Army veteran with service in armor, infantry, and military intelligence, Rodgers is considered a subject matter expert on insurgency movements and early Islamic warfare. He is a sought after speaker and has lectured in such diverse venues as the Worldwide Anti-Terrorism Conference, the NATO School in Germany, and to military personnel in the United States as well as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. He is the author of The Generalship of Muhammad: Battles and Campaigns of the Prophet of Allah, and Fundamentals of Islamic Asymmetric Warfare: A Documentary Analysis of the Principles of Muhammad, as well as numerous articles and essays. In addition to his major professional publications, Rodgers has written or edited over a dozen major historical reports for the U.S. Army, along with dozens of articles on various aspects of U.S. Army history. He has also conducted staff rides for both Army and foreign military personnel at a wide range of battlefields in both the United States and Europe. He continues to pursue fieldwork, engaging in ongoing research on early German castles and fortifications.

Book preview

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF

GENERAL GEORGE PATTON

TEXT AND CAPTIONS BY RUSS RODGERS

Patton addresses officers of the 82nd Airborne Division, Oujda, Morocco, June 4, 1943, in preparation for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. It is ironic that some of Patton’s antiaircraft units would shoot down some of the planes carrying 82nd Airborne men during the invasion, causing the loss of more than 200 dead and wounded. Prior to the jump, Patton had expressed concern that both Army and Navy antiaircraft gunners were too nervous and that the jump should be canceled.

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF

GENERAL GEORGE PATTON

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Historic Photos of General George Patton

Copyright © 2007 Turner Publishing Company

All rights reserved.

This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007933763

ISBN-13: 978-1-59652-408-8

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14—0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

THE PREPARATION OF A SOLDIER (1885–1919)

BETWEEN THE WARS (1920–1941)

MISSION IDENTIFIED: THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1942–1943)

THE RISE OF AN ICON 1944–1945)

NOTES ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS

FOR FURTHER READING

An image that will endure: Patton doing one of the things he did best, delivering a fiery speech to stir up the troops prior to battle. It is indeed the best known and remembered aspect of Patton. This photograph was probably taken during the rain and sleet of mid December 1944.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Alina, wife and friend

… and to my brothers in arms, past, present, and future. May our people be always grateful.

———————

This volume, Historic Photos of General George Patton, is the result of the cooperation and efforts of many individuals and organizations. It is with great thanks that we acknowledge the valuable contribution of the following for their generous support:

The Library of Congress

Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor

Russ Rodgers Collection

PREFACE

Why another book on General George S. Patton, Jr.? Although scores of books have been written on the man who could be considered America’s greatest combat general, there are few books that provide an extensive photographic look at his life. Moreover, while some of the photographs in this volume have been published before, few have been properly researched to identify the other people within, or some of the equipment shown. Talented though Patton was, he could not have accomplished what he did without the abilities and determination of the soldiers and officers who served with him during two world wars.

Patton’s name will be indelibly imprinted on the U.S. Army’s World War II legacy, especially his leadership of the Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Patton’s career, however, was far more extensive. He cut his military teeth on combat operations during the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916, followed by service with the new Tank Corps in World War I. He continued to serve faithfully through the interwar years when promotions were virtually at a standstill, and at one point contemplated leaving the army. It was a good thing he did not. During his service in World War II, Patton demonstrated that he was by far one of the most imaginative, determined, and flamboyant generals ever to serve in a modern army. During the drive across France he wrote his son, quoting Rudyard Kipling’s poem If, that the entire art of war was to fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run (Martin Blumenson, The Patton Papers, vol. II [Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1972], p. 523). It was with good reason that the German generals feared him far more than any other Allied general.

Though a profane soldier with his men, Patton was undeniably a deeply religious man as well. His diary is filled with entries about calling on God’s help in times of distress, and thanking Him during times of success. This may appear to be contradictory to many today, but Patton seems to have experienced no tension here. The same can be said about the well-known slapping incidents during the Sicily campaign. Many are familiar with these events, largely from the movie Patton, but few know that Patton had tremendous sympathy and rapport with men wounded in combat. He himself nearly lost his life when wounded during World War I. Again, Patton saw nothing contradictory.

Often seen as blustering and threatening by the modern world, Patton was actually slow to act on impulse when it came to his officers and men. Indeed, generals like Eisenhower, Bradley, and Collins fired more of their commanders than Patton even contemplated, and when Bradley was determined to have a deserter shot, Patton tried personally to intervene, though unsuccessfully, to prevent it. He firmly believed that the physical discipline of soldiers was better than a military justice with far more serious consequences. It is now known that soldiers who served under him considered it one of the greatest honors of their lives. This has been rarely said about any other modern combat general.

Many disagree today with his methods and how he led men in battle. But one thing cannot be denied. When it was necessary to get sixty seconds from the unforgiving minute and to save the U.S. Army from impending disaster, its senior leaders invariably turned to one man, and that man was General George S. Patton, Jr.

Attending the Virginia Military Institute had become a Patton family tradition, and Patton is here seen in his official VMI portrait for 1904. He was then 18. But while VMI may have been a part of Patton lore, it was no longer the fast track