Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-21
Patton
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NCOnllnueQ from FlrSt PaSe.)
privilege of an officer, and he wa
constantly at the front.
His doctrine was expressed pith.
fly: I'VE shall attack and attack un.
til we are exhausted, and then W.
shall attack again"
He carried out this doctrine with
spectacular success in Europe, Wher
his Bird Army was born after the
invasion. He led the Bird across the
Seine, the Loire, the Moselle, the
Saar, the Rhine, the Danube anc
a score of lesser rivers His mer
stormed the Siegfried Line at will
took Metz, CoblenZ, Trier, Frank
furt and countless other cities
They alone liberated or conquered
10000 square miles of territory
They fought in France. Belgium
Luxembourg, Germany, Czechoslo-
vakia and Austria. They captured
more than 10000 Nazi soldiers and
killed or wounded at least a halt
million others.
Missed Being Casualty.
Gen Patton himself narrowly
missed being casualty on a num-
Der of occasions. Once, when a
huge railway gun was being employ
ed by the Germans, a TOO pound
shell landed within eight feet of him
1t was dud.
On another occasion a German
1l-inch shell landed 30 yards from
a house in which he had taken
shelter. The windows of the house
were knocked out and a guard was
injured, but Gen. Patton was I'M
scathed.
Once his little command plane
was nicked by the bullets of a Ger
man craft, but he escaped then, too
The Patton legend was built on
incidents like these:
The Sd Army was about to cross
the icy Sure River in Germany, into
hail of enemy gunfire. Gen. Pat
ton himself, ignoring the enemy
bullets, leaped into the stream ahead
of his men and swan across.
Once during the North African
campaign he ordered a visiting
major general to get to the top of
the hill so you can get shot at a
bit"
His own tank in the African cam
paign had yellow striped turret
with two metal flags in front-one
the corps insignia. the other his
major generals two stars. Gen.
Patton would sit in the turret, head
and shoulders protruding, scanning
operations and splitting out dust and
expletives. On his head was a shock
helmet-not Gil, but one of his own
design.
Often Wore French Sword.
Gen. Patton's pomp made him the
awe of native populations. Besides
the pearl-handled pistols, he often
wore a leather-encased. needle
PORTED sword He was CARRIED in
fancy-cut riding breeches and put
tees much of the time. and wore a
shiny helmet.
Known as lover of Sartorial ele-
gance himself, even in the field. he
was the bane of those who were
careless in such matters. Infantry
men who knew him as 'Old Blood
and Cuts" THE Green Hornet, -
Gorgeous George" or just plain
George" were well aware of the
sharpness of his tongue. Said one
of them, just fresh from the sound
of Gen. Patton's high-pitched voice:
Man, you haven't lived until
you've been cussed by Old Blood
and Cuts"
Once in the heat of battle young
lieutenant was informed there was
message for him from Gen. Pat
ton and, pleased, the officer asked
what it was The courier replied:
The general said for you to put
your leggings on"
Gen. Patton cussed out enlisted
man and officer alike But his soft
side showed often. Once, informed
of the death of an aide at the front,
he broke into tears, mumbling: I'm
acting like an old fool"
But in his attempts to inspire a
man to feats of bravery-or to bully
him into it-he might lay him out
for minutes at time in fierce and
often oratorical invective. Then,
soft-voiced, he would add a few
words of encouragement and pat
the man on the back.
< In Frequent Difficulties.
A sparkling success in war, Gen.
Patton was constantly getting in
difficulties because of his thunder
GUS announcements or his quick
temper.
Even home on leave, he exercised
his facility for getting into hot
water. His remarks to a Sunday
school class that there always would
be wars drew bitter criticism.
1t was this facet of his personality
which caused censorship to forbid
publication of his statements from
the time of the drive across France
until We day After We day he
made a statement and promptly got
into trouble over it. o.,
He was removed from command
of his beloved Sd Army and the
Eastern Military District in Ger
many after this outbreak of Sep
TENDER %, 1945, in which he
expressed impotence with the
denazification program. He was
quoted as comparing this Nazi
thing" to the Democratic and Re-
publican fights back home"
The wrath at home was prompt.
In its wake Gen. Eisenhower or
dered Gen. Patton to report per-
sonally on his administration and
explain the statement. Subsequently
Gen. Patton, on October 2, was
relieved of his Sd Army command
and took over the 18th, a paper
army whose duty was to prepare
reports on lessons learned during
the war and recommendation for
the future.
Talk He Might Retire.
Patiently the new job irked the
swashbuckling Patton, and there
was talk that he would retire from