Summary of Patton's Prayer by Alex Kershaw ( Keynote reads )

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In December 1944, General George Patton faced a stalemate in Berlin due to heavy rain and cloudy skies. To survive, he sought a miracle in the weather. A devout Christian, Patton asked his head chaplain for a prayer for the weather, which was distributed to his 250,000 men. The prayer was recited during driving, fighting, and even during the Battle of the Bulge, where 200,000 German troops overwhelmed American lines in Belgium's Ardennes Forest. Patton needed to pray for victory and peace before it was too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Keynote reads
• Release date: Jun 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224710690

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Introduction

The Western Front

November 1944

landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, and bitter fighting through July, the Allies had broken out of Normandy, then liberated Paris on August 25. They had also landed in southern France that August and pushed up the Rhône Valley toward the Third Reich. By the early fall, it was widely believed that the war in Europe would be over by Christmas.

Then the weather changed. Cold rain dampened spirits. Mud clogged tank tracks. The Germans regrouped and put up a spirited defense, notably at Aachen, the first German city the Allies tried to liberate. Supply lines were overstretched, gasoline shortages became acute, and there was a woeful, deeply concerning lack of fresh troops.

As winter set in, along a broad front stretching from Holland to Italy, the Allies stalled. The failure to cross the Rhine in Holland that September was both demoralizing and costly, because it had stripped valuable resources from General George Patton’s Third Army and others.

The mood darkened. Berlin would not be taken by Christmas. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler was hatching a daring plan for a massive counterattack, hoping to catch the Allies off guard, inflict a humiliating defeat, and change the entire outcome of the war.

PART ONE

Stuck in the Mud

Metz, France

November 25, 1944

George S. Patton, the most controversial American general of World War II, was in a grim mood on Armistice Day, November 11, 1944. He had spent his thirty-third birthday in France, at the very end of the war to end all wars. Patton had earned the Distinguished Service Cross and a Purple Heart while leading the US 1st Provisional Tank Brigade as a lieutenant colonel. He wanted his troops to see him, but not too frequently lest he became a nuisance.

The current Lorraine campaign had been his least successful, bringing heartache and frustration. The Germans themselves would later criticize his tactics, arguing that attacking forts in Lorraine and the city of Metz had been too costly. Patton cursed the weather, believing it explained all of his problems. If it only won't rain, we will go places.

Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower had expected Patton to carry the ball all the way and push through Lorraine to Germany. Patton had hoped to declare victory by his birthday, but that had not happened. There had been a desultory party and his staff presented him with field expedient Armored Diesels, cocktails usually containing bourbon or rye but now spiked with any liquor that could be found.

Lieutenant Colonel Albin F. Irzyk, one of Patton's most able tank officers, recalled how Patton's 4th Armored Division had finally gotten bogged down after thundering across France. Irzyk recalled that Patton ran out of gasoline, which he believed had been taken from him.

Patton's men had fought hard in retreat against the Germans, despite being tired and poorly equipped. The weather was appalling, and some commanders were doing nothing but fighting the weather. Patton's Third Army had managed to capture four thousand enemy soldiers, the last holdouts in the city of Metz. Patton later visited a wounded soldier in a hospital and asked if he had