BRILLIANT SOLDIER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26034, 24 December 1945, Page 7

BRILLIANT SOLDIER

GENERAL PATTON DEAD MASTER OF TANK WARFARE HE'IDELBERG, Dec. 21. General Patton died peacefully at 5.50 p.m. The medical officers issued the following bulletin shortly after his death:—“ Pulmonary complication resulting from an accumulation of secretions in the lungs is embarrassing General Patton’s respiration. Paralysis resulting from the spinal cord injury has made it difficult to get rid ot secretions. The heart is embarrassed as the result of the pulmonary congestion.” General George Smith Patton was far and away the most spectacular of all the Allied generals in World vVar 11, but his ability as a leader in the field more than measured up to his showmanship. Popularly known as “ Two-Gun ” Patton because of his habit of carrying two pearl-handled revolvers, General Patton was a harddriving commander who repeatedly demanded the impossible of his men. Invariably he achieved the impossible because his men had faith in him and because he never spared himself ana was always in the forefront of battle. General Patton, who was 6G, first had attention drawn to him when he figured prominently in the fighting around Casablanca in November, 1942, and subsequently fought through the North African' campaign. Subsequently he organised new forces for the invasion of Sicily, during which he commanded* the American Seventh Army. He did not take any part in the Italian campaign. Undesirable Publicity , In November, 1943, General Patton earned undesirable publicity when it was disclosed that he had twice struck an enlisted man suffering from-shell-shock in an evacuation hospital. As this event occurred in August, 1943, in Sicily, it is probably the reason for General Patton’s temporary eclipse during the Italian fighting. He was severely reprimanded by General Eisenhower, and Patton made a full apology to the victim and to all his Seventh Army troops as well. There was subsequently agitation to have him removed, but General Eisenhower defended his retention in a post of responsibility, on the grounds that he was a loyal and valuable leader, and the Commander-in-Chiefs judgment was later shown to be sound. When the Allied forces invaded France General Patton was in command of the American Third Army.

Little was heard of this group until the American break-through at Marigny, when it suddenly captured the headlines because of its sensational drive across France to the Saar. Patton’s Third Army surged forward at tremendous pace, often gaining 100 miles a day. Had he not over-reached his §upply lines his electrifying advance against wholly disorganised resistance woyld probably have earned him into Germany. He always maintained that himself. As it was he was brought to a halt before the Maginot Line, and the enforced delay gave the Germans time to recover and for some weeks Patton was heavily engaged. He was beginning to make headway when Rundstedt broke through the Allied lines in Belgium in December, 1944, and the whole scene was temporarily changed. Patton was instructed to drive north and attack Rundstedt’s southern flank, which he did to such effect that he was instrumental in relieving American forces trapped at Bastogne, and the relief of Bastogne marked the real turning point in the crisis. I Thrust Into Germany When the big thrust against Germany was got under way Patton and the commander of the late American Seventh Army, General Patch, smashed through the Saar Palatinate, raking in 100,000 prisoners, and made unspectacular and unopposed crossings of the Rhine. Once into Germany Patton repeated his running wild methods and thrust forward into Bavaria with unexpected and incredible ease. He subsequently was in charge of the American occupation activities in Bavaria, but was removed when his method of administration, which permitted the use of Nazi supporters in important positions, roused criticism. He was then placed -in charge of the Fifteenth Army Group, which post he held until his death.’ It was while on duty in connection with this post that he was injured, when his car was struck by an army lorry. After days on a sick bed he was beginning to show of recovery when the pulmonary complications set in which affected his heart. General Patton was always an army man. He graduated from West Point in 1909 and began his career as an army lieutenant in 1913. He was aide-de-camp to General Pershing in Mexico in 1916-17, and was in England in 1917. An expert on mechanised warfare he was made a tank brigade commander in July, 1940. Soon after Pearl Harbour he was made corps commander in charge of both the First and Second Armoured Divisions, and organised a desert training centre at Indio, California. He was commanding general of the Western Task Force during the American operations in Africa, in November, 1942.