词条 | Patton, George Smith |
释义 | Patton, George Smith United States general born November 11, 1885, San Gabriel, California, U.S. died December 21, 1945, Heidelberg, Germany ![]() ![]() The apogee of his career came with the dramatic sweep of his Third Army across northern France in the summer of 1944 in a campaign marked by great initiative, ruthless drive, and disregard of classic military rules. Prior to the Normandy Invasion, he was publicly placed in command of the First U.S. Army Group, a fictitious army whose supposed marshaling in eastern England helped to deceive German commanders into thinking that the invasion would take place in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. Patton's armoured units were not operational until August 1, almost two months after D-Day, but by the end of the month they had captured Mayenne, Laval, Le Mans, Reims, and Châlons. They did not stop until they hurtled against the strong German defenses at Nancy and Metz in November. In December his forces played a strategic role in defending Bastogne in the massive Battle of the Bulge (Bulge, Battle of the). By the end of January 1945, Patton's forces had reached the German frontier; on March 1 they took Trier, and in the next 10 days they cleared the entire region north of the Moselle River, trapping thousands of Germans. They then joined the Seventh Army in sweeping the Saar and the Palatinate, where they took 100,000 prisoners. ![]() The controversial general died in a Heidelberg hospital after an automobile accident near Mannheim. His memoirs, War as I Knew It, appeared posthumously in 1947. A film biography directed by Franklin Schaffner (Schaffner, Franklin), Patton (1970), won seven Academy Awards. Additional Reading Martin Blumenson, The Patton Papers, 2 vol. (1972–74; vol. 2 reissued as The Patton Papers, 1940–1945, 1996), combines and arranges Patton's papers with informative narrative. Biographies of Patton include Ladislas Farago, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph (1963, reissued 1977), and The Last Days of Patton (1981); Martin Blumenson, Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885–1945 (1985), a popular account; Robert H. Patton, The Pattons: A Personal History of an American Family (1994), written by his grandson; and Carlo D'Este, Patton: A Genius for War (1995). Charles M. Province, Patton's Third Army: A Daily Combat Diary (1992), covers his World War II battles. |
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