“Apparently I should have been a statesman.”
AS THE SENIOR AMERICAN COMMANDER in French Morocco, Patton became involved in political and diplomatic problems. The issues were interesting, and the situation in the country was potentially explosive. But he pined for battle.
There was little chance of combat – unless the Spanish launched an invasion out of Spanish Morocco, or the Axis landed in French Morocco. Patton had to be ready to parry these military threats.
He also had to be prepared to meet the danger of internal disturbance, a revolt by an Arab faction against the Sultan or a Moroccan uprising against the French. In this case, he saw his role as a stabilizer. He tried to uphold the authority of the French and the traditional Franco-Arab relationship, because maintenance of the status quo and continuation of civil order in Morocco left his military forces free for military action.
Although Patton enjoyed the official receptions and luncheons and ceremonies, and although he performed his duties with zest, he would have preferred to be elsewhere. Basically he resented the circumstances that compelled him to fulfill a non-combat role.
Gruenther and Doolittle flew in from Algiers and told Patton that Darlan now headed the “civil side,” Giraud the military, and Nogues remained the governor of Morocco. “The first and last are crooks” was Patton’s first reaction, and “Nogues is right now trying to stir up trouble.”
Nogues was the most important official with whom Patton had to deal, and it was hard to figure him out. He
gave the general impression that he is most anxious to cooperate [with us] in every way possible. General Nogues agreed in principle to all proposals made in my name; in fact, he agreed too readily. I am convinced that he is a man who agrees readily but may not always carry out his agreements.
Nevertheless, Nogues was ready to commit French forces to oppose a Spanish invasion of French Morocco and to use French personnel in antiaircraft defenses, to protect Casablanca against German air attacks.
According to Nogues, the country “was completely calm except for a stirring of the Jewish population.” Nogues said that “the Jews in Morocco are of the lowest order . . . They expected to take over the country . . . and are now agitating against French authorities” – actually against the Pètainist anti-Jewish laws still in force. But Nogues stated “that they were being controlled without difficulty,” and that the French “would guarantee calm in the country.”
Nogues had arrested and put into prison Major General R. M. Bethouard of the French Army and several other officers who had tried “to insure that our forces would be received in a friendly manner.” The French held that Bethouard “and his adherents” had disobeyed orders and had to be punished. Patton felt that these men were “our friends” and had to be protected. He suggested that “any trial or similar action . . . be indefinitely deferred in order to permit existing animosities to cool.” When Wilbur, at Patton’s suggestion, recommended that Be-thouard’s trial be postponed and eventually forgotten, Nogues seemed to assent.
Eisenhower sent a letter to Nogues through Patton to define the Franco-American relationship. It was worded in fairly strong terms, but it instructed Nogues to report to Eisenhower if Patton, as Patton remarked, “failed to play ball. Probably a political move, but a mistake. As I see it, an American [here and now] can do no wrong.”
But he was glad to know that Eisenhower approved Patton’s policy toward the French who, he believed, feared above all that they might “lose face with the Arabs.”
“While I am convinced that Nogues is a crook,” Patton informed Eisenhower, “I believe that I can handle him” As evidence for his feeling, the French were guarding all the road and railway bridges from Casablanca to the Algerian border as he had requested.
More to his liking were the military matters he occasionally discussed with Eisenhower through correspondence. For example, the Western Task Force had “achieved the impossible.” Had the normal offshore conditions prevailed during the invasion, “the fifty per cent chances you and I figured out in London would have been over-optimistic.” He was forced to believe that his “proverbial luck or more probably the direct intervention of the Lord was responsible.”
He was sorry he was unable to communicate during the landings, but “I cannot control interstellar space, and our radio simply would not work. The only person who lost by it was myself, since” – he was making a joke – “the press was probably unable to recount my heroic deeds.”
The Navy had left some landing boats on the shore, and Patton was having them repaired and floated, for they were too valuable to waste. He had also had the amphibious tractors put “in shape and am holding them,” for they might come in handy in Spanish Morocco.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to all subordinate commanders, November 15, 1942
The following memorandum will be read to all troops:
I fully appreciate the danger and hardships you have been through and the lack of conveniences and clothing which you face. On the other hand, you, each one of you, is a representative of a great and victorious army. To be respected, you must inspire respect. Stand up, keep your clothes buttoned, and your chin straps fastened. Salute your officers and the French officers, now our allies. Keep your weapons clean and with you. Your deeds have proven that you are fine soldiers. Look the part.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to all commanding officers, November 15, 1942
It is my firm conviction that the great success attending the hazardous operations carried out on sea and on land by the Western Task Force could only have been possible through the intervention of Divine Providence manifested in many ways. Therefore, I should be pleased if, in so far as circumstances and conditions permit, our grateful thanks be expressed today in appropriate religious services.
“Please accept,” he wrote Clark, “my sincere congratulations on your promotion and also on the magnificent work you have been doing in connection with this operation.”
“We really had a splendid fight,” he wrote Handy, “and the men . . . outdid themselves.”
He thanked Hewitt “for the magnificent and wholehearted way in which you conducted us safely through a submarine infested ocean and landed us at exactly the proper place and time on a hostile shore.” He hoped that if there were to be additional landings, “we may be so fortunate as to do so under your guidance.”
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Devers, 18 November 1942
I feel that what you have done for the Armored Force has been magnificently justified by the performances of that force. So far as I am personally concerned, the operations of this task force went exactly as planned with a minimum of loss and a maximum of success ...
At Port Lyautey one of the self-propelled 105’s moved up to 200 yards of a stone fort and blew holes in the wall, which permitted the infantry to enter and storm the fort with hand grenades. This incident will show you that the fighting was of a first class nature.
It also showed Patton’s alertness to Devers’ interest in artillery.
His visit to Nogues’ Residency and especially to the Sultan’s Palace on November 16 delighted him. The colors, sounds, and trappings were enchanting, and he wrote long descriptions in his diary and letters.
He and Keyes drove from Casablanca, “a city which combines Hollywood and the Bible,” to Rabat. At the edge of town was an escort provided by Harmon, several scout cars and tanks, to take Patton to Nogues’ home. Patton felt “it would just rub it in on the French” – later he said, “such a force would appear boastful on my part” – so he dismissed the escort.
The Residency was a beautiful marble structure built by Marshal Lyautey. Nogues had two guards of honor waiting, both very impressive,
a squadron of Spahis and a company of Goumiers, with two sets of field music, including a brass umbrella with bells around the edge, much tooting and saluting.
Patton
inspected both guards and complimented the French officers commanding them on their appearance, which was truly soldierly in the 1914 meaning of the word. It was rather pathetic to think that one of the light tanks in the escort could easily have destroyed all of the splendid creatures standing at salute.
Nogues and Patton, together with Keyes, then rode to the Sultan’s Palace, “a tremendous three story building of Moorish design, which you enter through a gate just wide enough to permit the passing of an auto.”
There was a guard of about 400 Nubians wearing
red fezzes, red bolero jackets, red bloomers, white spats, red Moroccan leather equipment. The officers, white men, wore French model uniforms of red cloth. The green flag of the prophet, made of velvet with arabic letters in the middle and gold fringe, with the lance banded in gold, was held by a huge Negro with a white turban. They had a band with horns, drums, cymbals, and the brass umbrella.
As Patton “entered an inner court full of white robed men in biblical dress,” he felt he was back in the Old Testament.
The Grand Vizier, “in white, with enormous gold-filled teeth, met us and we went up three flights of stairs to see the Sultan.”
The throne room was
long and narrow with magnificent red rugs. On the left in stocking feet were the pashas, on the right a line of Louis XV chairs. One bowed from the hips on entering, again in the middle of the room, and again at the dais. The Sultan, a handsome, frail young man, rose and shook hands. We sat down, and he made a little speech of welcome.
The Sultan, talking in Arabic, although he has a perfect command of French, told the Grand Vizier to tell me in French, how glad he was to see me. I then talked to him through two interpreters, expressing contentment that his people and the French and ourselves were again reunited, and assured him that our one desire was to unite with his people and the French in making common head against the enemy.
The Sultan said he hoped the American soldiers would show proper respect for Mohammedan institutions. I told him that such an order had been issued in forceful language prior to our departure from the United States and was going to be enforced. I further stated that since in all armies, including the American Army, there might be some foolish persons, I hoped that he would report to me any incidents of sacrilege, which some individual soldier might commit . . . I finished by complimenting him on the beauty of his country, the discipline of his citizens, and the splendid looking cities.
Patton later thought that he had laid down the law to the Sultan “with due respect.” His speech “pleased the French and Keyes thought it was good.”
Nogues, Patton, and Keyes then proceeded to the Residency,
where we were entertained by Madame Nogues and her niece and treated to a most sumptuous lunch in the best of taste. General Nogues impressed on me that at no time during the German occupation had any German occupied his house or sat at his table.
Later that afternoon, a “deputation from General Glark arrived with a letter for the Sultan from the President. It was patently not apropos” – it did not, in his opinion, mention the French in strong enough terms – “so I took the liberty of holding it. I will see Ike at Gib tomorrow [and explain].”
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, November 17, 1942
I certainly wish you could have been along yesterday . . . It was the most colorful thing I have ever seen and would be worth a million in Hollywood . . . What I saw inside the palace and what Marco Polo saw did not differ except that the guards had rifles in the court but inside, the twelve apostles had long curved simaters in red leather scabbords which stuck out like tales when they moved.
I am flying . . . to see Ike. He and Clark certainly need to know the facts of life. They send some of the most foolish instructions I have ever read ...
My French is pretty good. We have a black out so go to bed early and get up in the dark. The food is not bad ...
I miss you and love you.
Diary, November 17
Flew to Gib in one hour 15 minutes 2 seconds – very low, about 150 feet over water. We had four P-40’s for escort...
Ike lives in a cave in the middle of the rock – in great clanger.
His chief of staff, G-2, and G-4 are British, and so are many of his words. I was disappointed in him. He talked of trivial things.
We wasted a lot of time at lunch with the governor of the Rocfc, an old fart in shorts with skinny red legs.
Ike backed me up about letter to Sultan . . .
He was nice but not enthusiastic over our war [the landings near Casablanca] – I must see to it that I make much of my generals.
He asked me if Clark was a Jew. I said at least one quarter, probably one half...
On the way back, the Spanish at Tangier shot at my left escort plane and possibly at me, but their aim was bad.
“Ike was fine,” he wrote Beatrice, “except that he spoke of lunch as ‘tiffin/ of gasoline as ‘petrol/ and of antiaircraft as ‘flack/ I truly fear that London has conquered Abilene.”
On that day Kenneth Anderson’s forces, mostly British but accompanied by several American units, having moved eastward almost 500 miles from the Algiers area into Tunisia, ran into Axis elements about 45 miles short of Bizerte. Italian and German troops had been shipped in the thousands into the country by air and by sea, and they opposed Anderson’s advance. Although he would continue to drive eastward and would get to within 15 miles of Tunis at the end of the month, his attempt to overrun at least the northern portion of Tunisia would fail.
By this time, it was more than clear that the British had won a great victory at El Alamein in October. Driving Rommel out of Egypt, the British pushed him into Libya, trying to trap him and destroy his Italo-German army. Rommel withdrew slowly and skillfully, maintaining the integrity of his organization, holding up the British pursuit at a series of defensive lines, refusing to panic or give up.
Letter, Beatrice to GSP, Jr., November 18, 1942
I spent the weekend at West Point and between trains I bought a paper and went to the station restaurant . . . I ordered the supper and opened the paper, saw your name on the front page and was still reading it when I had to run for the train. I never knew who ate my oyster stew...
Yesterday the Secretary called me up . . . He is a wonderful friend and never misses a chance to do you honor. The same with Gen. McNair. I saw him yesterday and if I should tell you some of the things he said, it would burn the paper ...
I have told all the inquirers that I know you are too busy to write (Mrs. C. is quite boastful of her love letters and everyone in Wash, knows when she gets one) but all the same I am looking forward to your letters, even though I know you wont say half as much as I read in the papers.
On November 18, Patton flew to Rabat, then accompanied Nogues to the levee of the Sultan on the fifteenth annniversary of his accession to the throne. They were escorted from the Residency to the Palace by a squadron of cavalry “on white Arab stallions. Men had white capes, blue hoods, white turbans, and red blouses with black frogs.” Inside the Palace, the Crown Prince was present, “a boy of perhaps 14.”
Nogues read a long, prepared speech that lasted about ten minutes. “Then the Grand Vizier read a copy of it in Arabic to the Sultan” – even though the Sultan was a graduate of Oxford and spoke French and English fluently. “The Grand Vizier hunted around in his comona and produced the Sultan’s speech and handed it to the Sultan who read it in Arabic, then the G.V. read a French translation.
“While this was going on, it occurred to me that the U.S. was getting scooped.” He “felt that the U.S. should be heard.
“So when Nogues sat down, I stepped into the middle of the floor without asking any one’s permission.” He “made a very respectful but pointed speech which was well received by both the Arabs and French.”
He said, as best he could later recall,
Your Majesty, as a humble representative of the Great President whom I had the honor of representing as the commander of a huge military force in Moracco, I wish to present the compliments of the U.S. . . . and to assure you that so long as Your Majesty’s country in cooperation with the French government of Morroco continues with us and facilitates our efforts, we are sure with the help of God to achieve certain victory against our common enemy the Natzi. I feel that this accord is certain because one of Your Majesties great predecessors established friendship with our great President General Washington when he gave the beautiful building which houses the American mission in Tangier to General Washington as a token of friendship and respect. It is also fitting to remind Your Majesty that the friendship of America and France dates from the same period.
How careful he was not to undercut the French.
“I might have done better with more time,” he later wrote Beatrice,
but what I said had a profound effect and both the French and the Arabs were pleased.
In fact, the Sultan said that . . . my being present and having spoken would have a profound effect on the entire Moslem world.
Apparently I should have been a statesman.
In any case, it is certain that every one in Morocco is playing ball to the limit of their capacity. It may be well to let Harry [Stimson] and George [Marshall] hear about this.
Flying to Lyautey, Patton saw Truscott and Semmes and went over the scene of their fighting. He was pleased to meet S. W. Sprindis, a platoon leader who, with 40 men, had held a lighthouse against 1000 French troops.
Patton said to him, “Lieutenant, what is your rank?”
He replied, “Second Lieutenant, sir.”
Patton said, “You are a liar, sir, you are now a First Lieutenant.”
President Roosevelt seemed to repudiate Eisenhower’s deal with Dar-lan, and the news had a bad effect in French Morocco. Patton told Nogues “it was only a trial baloon and not to worry.”
Informing Eisenhower that “the French were most cordial and helpful,” he continued:
As I see it, the French position in Morocco rests almost entirely on the mythical supremacy of France, which at the present time is represented to the Arab mind by Darlan as a direct emissary from the Marshall [Pétain]. Anything which is said in the United States to destroy this mythical French authority could have and probably will have a very adverse effect on the Arab.
I am convinced that the Sultan . . . is wholly for us, but he has not the authority or the means of controlling the Arabian tribes whereas the French prestige, nebulous as it may seem to us, can and will maintain order.
I am fully in accord with you as to the necessity of dealing with Darlan if for no other reason than to retain this prestige.
The Western Task Force had fired less ammunition than anticipated, had taken fewer losses than figured, and, therefore, supplies of ammunition and gasoline were more than satisfactory. On the other hand, the harbor of Casablanca was crowded and presented an attractive target for German bombardment. Could he have some additional aircraft, preferably night fighters equipped with radar?
The initial landing waves in future amphibious operations, he thought, ought to dispense with gas masks, extra ammunition, and even packs. “Our men were too heavily loaded . . . [and] should have only rifles and 100 rounds of ammunition.”
Owing to the dearth of commodities in Morocco, the Arabs have no interest in money . . . We have secured 24 hours work out of the tugboats by giving them a hundred pounds of coffee and a hundred pounds of sugar apiece . . . One or two ships loaded with sugar, tea, coffee, cotton goods, and perhaps some shoes [should be] sent here at your earliest convenience ...
Unless I am badly mistaken, I can handle the French and Arabs and assure you [of their] complete cooperation.
He was just about to send his long report when he received word that Eisenhower was on his way to Casablanca. “Keyes and I just got to the airport in time” to meet and welcome him. He was interested in what was happening in Morocco, but had no definite plan for the future employment of Patton’s force because the situation in Spain was still uncertain.
He said he had today recommended Fredendall and me for three stars. This looks as if Clark, who has never commanded a battalion, will get the Fifth Army. However, the Lord has helped me a lot and I think He will let me fulfill my destiny.
As Fifth Army commander, Clark would probably become Patton’s direct superior, for the Fifth Army would no doubt take control of Fre-dendall’s II Corps as well as Patton’s I Armored Corps.
Patton was pleased that Eisenhower had recommended him for promotion to lieutenant general, but hardly elated. Eisenhower and Clark had their third stars. Devers had his. Besides, before leaving Washington,Patton had been told – informally and unofficially, it? was true – that the Fifth Army would probably be activated in North Africa and that he had a good chance of being appointed to command it.
It seemed to Patton that his third star, as well as command of an Army, was long overdue. He was sure that he had had the most difficult assignment in the invasion, he had met the greatest resistance, he had had the biggest success. Where was the recognition, the reward for achievement?
And how was he going to have another chance for glory if he remained in Morocco? The fighting was in Tunisia.
Letter, Summerall to GSP, Jr., November 20, 1942
You have long been a determining force in the army and now you are a leading figure in America’s greatest venture. Your leadership, daring, skill, and speed and your compelling influence over tens of thousands of men are only a preliminary to far greater achievements that lie before you. I only hope and pray that your life and health may be spared to fulfill what I am sure is a great destiny for the good of the world as well as of our country. I would not have you do other than lead and share the dangers and hardships of your men, yet I must believe that fate has too much use for you to allow any evil to befall you. Your magnetic presence and irresistible resolution will always inspire your men to do what you want them to do but what they would not do without you.
If in any way, I have been an influence in shaping your convictions of duty and creating your standards of training and combat, it is the richest reward for all my labors. To feel that in you, I am in some measure sharing the conflict, fills me with gratitude. I shall follow you eagerly and shall rejoice . . . over your triumphs and rewards which must inevitably be yours.
Diary, November 20
Read press report intercepts [of newspaper stories]. Apparently the Western Task Force was not in the war. I feel a little hurt.
Diary, November 21
Admiral Hewitt made vice admiral [three stars]...
He reported French concern over
possible trouble between Jews and Arabs. I listened with interest and assured them that since the Sultan has been handling such questions for some thousands of years, I was going to leave it up to him. I consider it the height of inexpediency to get mixed up in politics. As a matter of fact, the Jews are not discriminated against and get on very well...
I have found that my knowledge of French, limited though it is, has been of inestimable value to me. First, in checking up on interpreters, and second, because I can, when I wish, talk to people quietly and without the intervention of an interpreter.
Diary, November 22
We have been here two weeks today. In a way it seems years or again only minutes.
Keyes and I went to mass this morning. I at least had reason to take a little time off to thank God. There were quite a lot of widows, made by us, in the church. They cried a good deal but did not glare at us. It seems strange to hear the Lord referred to as “Le Bon Dieu lui-mem.”
... I inspected camps, the docks, and the airfield. Gave air officers hell for not saluting. Men fairly clean and in good spirits.
“Frequently,” he wrote Somervell,
when we are going anywhere we complain about the Services of Supply, and then when we have arrived, we fail to thank them. I hope by this note to confute both practices.
He flew to Oran in the nose of a B-25 and found Fredendall
very gloomy. He fears that he and I will hold the bag while our troops in small bunches are shipped to the British. I fear that the British have again pulled our leg.
Patton was referring to Eisenhower’s attempt to help Kenneth Anderson in Tunisia all he could. To that end, he was shipping units, as many as he could without jeopardizing security in Algeria and French Morocco, from Fredendall’s and Patton’s commands to Anderson’s. What concerned Patton and Fredendall was that they would be stripped of most of their troops, who would go under British command, while the American commanders were left holding insignificant numbers of soldiers and insignificant jobs.
I seem to be the only one beating my wings against the cage of inaction. The others simply say how much better off we are than the people at home. I dont want to be better off – I want to be Top Dog and only battle can give me that.
Bea sent me a lot of stars but I fear that I shall have no occasion to put them on. On the other hand, from time to time the thought comes to me that I have a mission, and that so long as I do my full duty nothing can stop me. But the waiting is hard. Perhaps I am being made perfect through suffering, for I do suffer when I cannot move...
I am pretty low today. Wrote a Thanksgiving order in my best style.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to the troops of Western Task Force, November 25, 1942
The first Thanks giving Day was conceived as an occasion of rendering thanks to an ever merciful God for his divine help in aiding a band of people to cross a great ocean and successfully establish themselves on a distant and unknown shore, and for his further aid in providing them with food and shelter in their new home.
We, who have also crossed that same ocean in the face of man-made dangers, far greater than the perils which nature imposed upon our ancestors, should on this Thanksgiving Day again thank a merciful God for his manifest assistance in bringing us safely to shore, in providing us with ample food and supplies, and in placing us in the midst of a smiling land whose people are again united with us in the battle for human freedom.
It is with this thought in mind that in consonance with the Proclamation of the President . . . this Thursday . . . be dedicated as a day of praise and thanksgiving.
Diary, November 26
We moved to Villa Mas. It is the most ostentatiously magnificent house I have ever seen. My suite had five rooms, but I kept only the bedroom and bath.
Went to Thanksgiving dinner with American Consul and ate too much.
Diary, November 27
Was quite sick all day with stomachache, but had to go to a large dinner . . . I sat next to the Pasha [of Marrakech], whose French being almost as bad as mine, understood me very well. He is 68, has 20 wives, and is supposed to sleep with each one at least once a week. He is very thin.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, November 2j, 1942
I have the most awful blues all day. Nothing seems to be happening and I just sit. I suppose it is because I want to go on [with the war] and having nothing to go on with. Also I heard that Clark got a M.H. [Medal of Honor] for riding on a sub-marine. I don’t believe it but still it is not plesant...
Fredendall seems perfectly happy to just sit but I think I will go mad if we don’t get some more battles ...
At this moment I am safer than I was at home so don’t worry about me.
Diary, November 28
I stayed in the house until three and took some pills of a very colorful sort. ..
Nogues and his staff called at 4:00 P.M. and talked for one and one half hours, saying nothing. I replied in kind. I should have been a diplomat.
The fact was, he was completely uninterested in political problems. The status of the Jews, economic measures, fiscal policy, and other like matters left him cold. The only thing he wanted to do was fight – that was where the glory and the excitement were. To keep his troops out of political and civilian involvement, to keep them ready for military action, he exerted his considerable charm and social grace to preserve calm and order and the status quo in the country. It had its pleasant moments, but, on the whole, he thought he had more important things to do.
Diary, November 30
Clark called me . . . and asked me to fly to Algiers . . . I hope it means fighting. I hate this organizing, and Keyes can do it better than I can. I am a fighter.
At Algiers on December 1, Patton found that “Ike is sick, has a cold, but is low too – lacks decision.” He had supper with “the sacred family” – “Ike, Clark, and Davis, the Adjutant General.”
At 9:30, Eisenhower had a phone call from Gibraltar, relaying a message from Washington or London, and he said, “Well, Wayne, you get the Fifth Army.”
“The Fifth Army was authorized and Clark was to command it.”
“I had expected this but it was a shock.”
He was numb.
I sat on for half an hour and left. It means that I simply have a corps. “The best laid plans of mice and men.” I felt so awful that I could not sleep for a while, but I shall pass them yet . . .
I am sorry for Geoff [Keyes] and the rest who came along with me in the opinion that I would get an Army. But c’est la guerre.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, December 2, 1942
There is a nice fight going on near Tunis and the 1st Armored Division was in the show yesterday helping pull out some British who were in trouble. John [Waters] was probably in the show . . .
I may get a chance to fly east in the morning and visit . . . and get shot at a little. Some times I think that a nice clean death . . . would be the easiest way out.
Don’t worry because if any thing happens I will be dead and you will have been notified long before you get this.