CHAPTER 32
The Saar Campaign

“The Lord came accross again”

Diary, November 8

Woke up at 0300 and it was raining like hell. I actually got nervous and got up and read Rommel’s book, “Infantry Attacks.” It was most helpful, as he described all the rains he had in September, 1914, and also the fact that, in spite of the heavy rains, the Germans got along. Went to bed and to sleep at 0345.

At 0515, the artillery preparation woke me. The rain had stopped and the stars were out. The discharge of over 400 guns sounded like the slamming of doors in an empty house – very many doors all slamming at once. All the eastern sky glowed and trembled with the flashes of guns, and I thought how the enemy must feel, knowing that at last the attack he has dreaded has come.

I also remembered that I had always demanded the impossible, “Had dared extreme occasion and never am betrayed.” How I had never taken counsel of my fears, and I thanked God for his goodness tome.

At 0745, Bradley called up to see if we were attacking. I had not told him for fear he would call off the attack, but he seemed very pleased that we were going on without any air support. Then Ike came on the line and said, “I expect a lot of you; carry the ball all the way.” I wonder if he ever made a decision to take risks when his best men advised caution. I doubt if he ever has ...

At about 1000, our fighter bombers appeared in force and attacked the known enemy command posts. The day was the brightest and best we have had in two months . . . We are doing better than we expected. Thank God.

Eddy called up after supper to say that everything was on its objective except the 35th Division, which is a little behind schedule.

It started to rain at 1700.

“The Lord came accross again” he wrote Beatrice. He observed the attack from a hill, “but we were using so much smoke to cover our bridges that the visibility was poor.” All the divisions in action were doing well, even though the ground was “a bog . . . We may have won another great battle or rather won the opening period.”

The purpose of the operation was to get to the Siegfried Line, some 60 miles away, and three infantry divisions in Eddy’s XII Corps attacked that morning, a fourth that afternoon. Two armored divisions stood poised to pass through the infantry and exploit a penetration of the enemy defenses, while other infantry divisions were ready to reinforce success. More than 1000 prisoners of war were taken.

Diary, November 9

The flooded condition of the river is very bad. It is said by the local inhabitants that this is the biggest flood in the history of the Moselle valley. Many trucks, airplanes, and one hospital platoon are in the water or marooned. I am sending the Inspector General down to find out why the officers concerned did not get their stuff on high ground. Our chief trouble in this war is the inefficiency and lack of sense of responsibility on the part of company officers.

On that day Walker’s XX Corps opened an attack on Metz that would continue for twelve bloody days of fighting.

Some 2,000 planes . . . came over and bombed the Metz forts and other targets on front . . . The roar of the bombs at the observation post was quite audible, and the ground shook.

All the bridges over the Moselle south of Nancy, except at Pont-a-Mousson are out. The Seille River has increased in width from 200 to 500 feet since “we started bridging it. When I crossed the Moselle at Pont-a-Mousson, I got stuck in the water and had to be pushed out by a truck ...

I think that all the bombers we had today were really an expression of friendship to me from Spaatz and Doolittle – personality plays a tremendous part in war.

“We are doing fine,” he told Beatrice.

We have gone forward every where, in some places more than 9,000 meters. It was pretty tight yesterday. We had only one bridge left standing, and the river was rising. The top has now passed, and we are O.K. Have three bridges.

The Moselle and Meurthe rivers were in the highest flood stage since 1919. Yet two armored divisions were across the Seille River, and an infantry division would soon be over too. The Germans seemed to be withdrawing, but there was no sign of German collapse or of movement out of Metz.

Eisenhower said he knew how much the floods were interfering with Patton’s operations. Patton was not to be discouraged. The water would go down, and he would get on with his job, “as you always have.” He wished him the best of luck and a happy birthday.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Eisenhower, November u, 1944

I am deeply appreciative of your thoughtfulness ...

You were quite right in that the waters are a nuisance and have prevented the immediate break-through I hoped for. On the other hand, they hurt the Germans worse than they do us because they cannot get away from us, and I am quite sure we are killing a large number of them.

Bradley phoned around 5 o’clock and said he wanted the 83d Division held in reserve so it could go to the First Army if needed.

“I imagine,” he wrote in his diary,

that this is one of the few times in the history of war when 1/10 of an attacking general’s command was removed after the battle had been joined. I suppose that Hodges and Middleton have been working on Brad for a week and this, added to his natural timidity, caused him to make this decision. I hope history records his moral cowardice.

I am sure that it is a terrible mistake, because by using the 83d, we could take Saarbourg easily. Without it, we will not get Saar-bourg and will have, therefore, to be always bothered by the triangle between the Moselle and Saar Rivers.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, November 12, 1944

I celebrated my birthday by getting up where the dead were still warm. Then I visited the wounded and made quite a hit when I removed my helmet in the presence of a man who had killed a German with a grenade and been wounded by the same weapon . . .

This may well be the crutial day of this battle. One division is over the river with no artillery and the bridge out. At the other end of the line Manton [Eddy] has made or almost made a break through...

I love you and wish you were here to hold my hand till the river goes down and I get some guns over.

Diary, November 12

Went to church where I heard the worst service yet. Sent for the Chief of Chaplains to have the offender removed and get a new chaplain . . .

The 90th and 10th Armored are still held up by the flood . . . The weather is awful and we are getting lots of trench foot . . .

I must get the XII Corps in column of divisions so as to give one division at least a chance to rest, sleep, and get hot food and dry out.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, November 14, 1944

It has rained every day since the first [of the month] and we are having a hell of a time with “imersion” [trench] feet, about as many as from enemy fire.

However the enemy must be suffering more, so it is a question of mutual crucifiction till he cracks.

There is a very slim chance that we may get Metz in 24 to 48 hours. I am going up there now.

Eisenhower came at noon, the 15th,

seemed well pleased and got copiously photographed standing in the mud talking to soldiers. After supper we talked till 2:30 A.M., and I believe I put over my ideas on getting decorations and promotions for the staff.

Writing later to thank Patton for his hospitality, Eisenhower said, “I know what a grand job you are all doing under difficult conditions. It was good to see it myself and find all the commanders in such good spirits.” He was sure that Patton was “on the eve of a fine victory at Metz”

Diary, November 17

Eddy’s allowance of shells for tomorrow is 9,000, so I told him to use 20,000. If we win now, we will not need shells later; if we do not use the shells now, we will not win the war.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Frederick Ayer, November 18, 1944

For the first three days it was pretty tight, as out of nine bridges, all except two were either removed by the flood or shot out by the enemy, frequently both. Now, however, the flood has abated and things are looking up. Also, the ground is dried and so we use the tanks to better effect.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to sister Nita, November 18, 1944

Today I decided to stay in . . . There is nothing that I can do at the front except bother people, as they are all doing a swell job, and I believe advancing very rapidly. One of the hardest things that I have to do to – and I presume any General has to do – is not to interfere with the next echelon of command when the show is going all right.

The other day . . . I saw so many dead Germans that it actually made me sick . . . I believe about 800. They were all neatly piled like cordwood along the side of the road waiting to be buried by our Graves Registration units.

The campaign was moving too slowly, the weather was miserable, the troops were suffering from the cold and the rain, and the commanders were becoming tired and edgy.

McBride seemed fed up with Grow, Walker was dissatisfied with Irwin – “I will visit them in the morning.”

Diary, November 19

At 0845, Eddy called to say he was having trouble with Wood and wanted to see me. He came at 0930 and stated that Wood did not drive hard yesterday and was almost insubordinate. I wrote Wood a letter which I sent him by Gaffey, telling him plainly that if things did not improve, I would have to relieve him. I hate to do this as he is one of my best friends, but war is war . . .

Walker will leave the 5th Division to clean up Metz and will attack to the east, north of Merzig. He is showing plenty of drive . . .

Called Bradley to say that while Metz has not officially surrendered, it is ours.

Wood apologized to Eddy and everything seems all right.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, November 19, 1944

We have completely surrounded Metz and are fighting in the streets. I doubt if this will be serious . . .

I think that only Attila and the Third Army have ever taken Metz by assault.

Actually the French took it in 1552. The Germans surrounded it in August 1870, and after several battles, forced the French to capitulate two months later.

Courtney [Hodges] and Charley [Simpson] are doing nothing except fight [the] weather. We beat the weather.

As things were going well yesterday, I stayed in my office. I could not but smile at how different running a battle is from the way it is told. I find that if one goes up too often, one becomes a nusance. I dont rush about the battle field sticking out of a tank the way I am painted. As it is, I get out where it is unhealthy oftener than any other general, to include division commanders.

If it only wont rain we will go places.

Diary, December 20

I wish things would move faster in this Army, because I fear that at the moment the French and the Seventh Army are stealing the show . . . The impetus of our attack is naturally slackening due to the fatigue of the men. I am trying to arrange to get at least one infantry division in each corps out of the line for a rest, but I doubt whether we can do it.

To Beatrice:

The Seventh Army and the First French Army [in Devers’ 6th Army Group] seem to have made a monkey of me this morning, but I will get going soon.

The French Army moved through the Belfort gap and the Seventh Army through the Saverne gap, took the important cities of Belfort, Mulhouse, and Strasbourg, put the 6th Army Group at the Rhine River, and surrounded a large German force at Colmar that would hold out until February.

Patton was concerned with P. Wood, who had reached the point where he could no longer bear to see his division endure further losses. “I am trying to find some nice way of easing him out.”

A German general in Metz sent word that he would not surrender but would fight to the death. “We are trying to satisfy him.”

On November 22, at 2:35 P.M., Metz was officially declared clear of enemy troops, although several forts still held out. Eisenhower sent congratulations to Patton for having restored the historic city to the French.

In a hospital nearby, Patton asked a wounded soldier whether he had heard that Metz had fallen. The soldier smiled and said yes. Patton grabbed him by the hand, smiled back, and said, “Tomorrow, son, the headlines will read, Tatton Took Metz/ which you know is a goddam lie. You and your buddies are the ones who actually took Metz.”

With Gay, Koch, an interpreter, and sentries present, Patton interviewed a Nazi major general, Anton Dunckern, a member of the SS, captured in the Metz area.

Patton: You can tell this man that naturally in my position I cannot demean myself to question him, but I can say this, that I have captured a great many German generals, and this is the first one who has been wholly untrue to everything; because he has not only been a Nazi but he is untrue to the Nazis by surrendering. If he wants to say anything he can, and I will say that unless he talks pretty well, I will turn him over to the French. They know how to make people talk.

Dunckern: . . . I received orders to go in the Metz sector and defend a certain sector there, and the reason I did not perish was that I could not reach my weapons and fight back.

Patton: . . . He is a liar!

Dunckern: There was no possibility to continue fighting. The door was opened, and they put a gun on me.

Patton: If he wanted to be a good Nazi, he could have died then and there. It would have been a pleasanter death than what he will get now.

Dunckern: . . . It was useless to do anything about it under the circumstances. (He asked permission to ask a question; it was granted.) I was fighting against American troops and captured by them, and therefore am to be considered a prisoner of war of the American forces.

Patton: He will be a prisoner of war of the French forces soon. They have a lot they want to ask him.

Dunckern: I consider myself a prisoner of war of the American forces, and I have not been captured by the French forces.

Patton: When I am dealing with vipers, I do not have to be bothered by any foolish ideas any more than he has been.

Dunckern: I consider myself a prisoner of war since I fought as a soldier and should be treated as a soldier.

Patton: You also acted as a policeman – a low type of police.

Dunckern: I acted as an officer of the police in an honorable and practical manner, and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

Patton: This is a matter of opinion – no one who is a Nazi policeman could act in an honorable manner.

Dunckern: I can only say that during every day of my life I have been honest, rightful, respectful, and humanitarian.

Patton: If this is the case, do you have anything you want to say by way of giving me information or by talking about the German people that will change my opinion?

Dunckern: No one will be able to stand up against me to testify that I did anything against the rules of humanity or human treatment.

Patton: I understand German very well, but I will not demean myself by speaking such a language. I think before I turn the General over to the French, I will send him to the Army Group who may question him or have some special investigators question him, and they can do things I can’t do.

Dunckern: I am not worried about having myself investigated. Of course, there may be some mistakes I have made, which is only human, but I am not worried about inhuman acts charged against me.

Patton: . . . I have great respect for the German soldiers; they are gallant men, but not for Nazis. Have the guards take him outside and have his picture taken and then we’ll see what we will do with him. Also tell him that those bayonets on the guards’ guns are very sharp.

Later, Patton said that this “Gestapo General” was

the most vicious looking human being I have ever seen, and who, after I got through talking to him, was unquestionably one of the worst scared. He is the first man I have ever brow-beaten, and I must admit I took real pleasure in doing it.

Patton immediately had Colonel Constantin Meyer, a Regular Army officer also captured in the Metz area, brought in. If he had bullied Dunckern, he was solicitous toward Meyer.

Patton: Tell the Colonel that this SS General I had in here stood up, but I am having him [Meyer] sit down because he is a professional soldier and I have respect for him. I have great respect for the German soldier. I have read your military books and studied your army. I know the Colonel has been a gallant soldier and has shown courage and has fought for his country and army. He is not a Party man, and has fought for Germany because it is Germany. Naturally, because of the understanding which exists between members of the military profession all over, of all armies, I can’t ask the Colonel to say anything he feels he shouldn’t say, but I would like to have his opinion of why the Germans continue – if he wishes to so state – to fight when they are so palpably outnumbered and have so many young men killed for no purpose.

Meyer: The only reason the Wehrmacht continues to fight is the hope of a possible victory, a victory based only on a specific hope [no doubt he was referring to hope for a miracle weapon that would change the course of the war].

Patton: If the German army realized, as he must, the tremendous power of the American army, particularly our materiel, tanks, and guns – would they continue to fight?

Meyer: They will continue to fight until such time as they will receive orders to lay down their weapons.

Patton: As a humanitarian, is there anything I can do to cause them to stop this unnecessary blood shedding?

Meyer: It would be very difficult for me to do anything.

Patton: I am not asking the Colonel, because naturally he is a good soldier, but is there anything that can be told to the German people so they can stop getting killed for that crazy man?

Meyer: If the German people and the German army could be shown . . . in some manner that very acceptable peace terms could be established, especially with reference to the Eastern front, I believe that some means could be found to stop the war in order to preserve life . . .

I know that both the German people and the German army know that the American forces are the best equipped, the best fit, and with inestimable possibilities for replacements of any other army in Europe.

Patton: We have found that the Volks Divisions are very poor . . .

Meyer: Yes, I know that too. It is the fear of Russia that is forcing us to use every man who can carry a weapon, for we must hold on there as we fear the consequences on the Eastern front. If . . . this would be taken care of, there is no doubt that the war would be brought to a close and the American forces would be permitted to enter Germany unhampered . . .

I very respectfully request that I may be sent to the United States rather than England.

Patton: . . . General Bradley will decide that.

There are two questions I would like to ask . . . There are three forts [at Metz] holding out. Is there any way we can persuade them to surrender without killing everyone there?

Meyer: The request can be sent to General Kittle, commandant of the fortress.

Patton: He is badly wounded and is our prisoner now . . •

There is a great deal of talk from the German radio about underground movements and fighting by civilians in Germany. Do you think that will take place? It would be very sad if that happened, because many civilians would be killed.

Meyer: . . . I do not believe there will be any partisan fighting as in Russia or France . . . The German is not qualified to carry on partisan warfare . . . and if anything like this does happen to Germany, it will be an individual person, and . . . never an organized policy of warfare.

Patton: I want this Colonel treated much differently from the other man. Tell him that his treatment is much different and he should not tell that to the other one, and also he will not be with him.

Meyer: I am very grateful that I do not have to stay with the SS officer.

Patton: I don’t blame you. Now about those forts holding out – they are not bothering us but they do require us to kill Germans and we also lose men . . . I could have destroyed it [Metz] but I did not want to.

Meyer: We were very much surprised about this . . .

Koch: Does the Colonel know anything about the mining of buildings?

Meyer: . . . I am almost positive that there has been no mining of buildings, or traps of any sort . . . There are naturally minefields along the fortification areas and also the bridges are prepared for blowing up, but so far as houses are concerned, there are no mines.

Patton had a guard of honor for Eddy and Walker that morning to celebrate the captures of Nancy and Metz. “Actually the band played three ruffles and three flourishes” – signifying that they were lieutenant generals. “I hope this is prophetic, as I am sure corps commanders should have three stars.”

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, November 23, 1944

I too hope we can have fun together again hunting and sailing, but I guess I will be hard to live with. I have been a sort of demi god too long . . .

We are continuing the attack on the Saar River line tomorrow. The weather is frightful.

Giraud called and remarked that in his opinion Patton was the “Liberator of France.” Patton was glad that someone thought so – that is, someone besides himself.

Ammunition supplies were low, but Patton was determined to use what he needed until he ran out. Then he would have the troops dig in. Until then, they would go forward.

Patton felt that he was too far behind the front to visit the troops as often as he wished, and he grumbled that “the distances are terrible, and it is dark by 5:15.” He wanted to move his command post forward, but there was no place except St. Avoid, and he had no telephone wire laid to that point. Perhaps too, some intuitive feeling warned him against going to St. Avoid.

Traveling in his private railroad car to Thionville, he decided, would give him time enough to go by jeep to the divisions; he could return home after dark by rail.

At a press conference on November 24, he had little to say.

Question: Is the German capable of many counter-offensives?

Patton: Not in my opinion.

Question: What about the SS General captured?

Patton: Oh, he is a hotshot, that bastard. He is the lowest type animal I have ever seen. I had a lot of fun with him.

Question: Would the decisive battles be fought this side of the Rhine?

Patton: In my opinion they will be fought there. The Germans will get some people, but not all.

Question: Will we have to fight all the way to Berlin?

Patton: We will have to start but we won’t fight all the way . . .

Question: What was the reason for the attack on November 8?

Patton: I jumped off then because I felt that we could cross the river and I felt sure the Germans felt we couldn’t, and my guess was right.

It was hardly a scintillating performance. Patton was, no doubt, disappointed that he had secured no breakthrough. The Germans were resisting well, the country was difficult for dramatic sweeps, and the weather continued to be abominable.

In his diary:

Evidently Devers talked Eisenhower out of letting me have the XV Corps. It is a very stupid decision . . . Well, it can’t be helped, but I hate it, and from a military standpoint it is stupid.

I called Bradley and protested but got nowhere. His thesis is that all four American Armies should consist of 12 divisions. This is absurd. An Army should be the size necessary to accomplish its task in the theater of operations where it is committed. The First and Ninth Armies are on narrow fronts and need fewer divisions than the Third Army, which is on a wide front.

Furthermore, the First Army is making a terrible mistake in leaving the VIII Corps static, as it is highly probable that the Germans are building up east of them.

Of all the many remarkably prophetic statements made by Patton, none was more astute than this one. As he expected, the VIII Corps would be struck by the Germans in their Ardennes counteroffensive launched in December.

The only way to think about these things is to remember that “what can’t be cured must be endured.” Bradley is without inspiration and all for equality [among the Armies] – he may also be jealous.

Bradley came with the final arrangements for a new boundary between the Third and Seventh Armies. The VI Corps in the Seventh Army was to move along the Rhine.

We will see how this comes out. I personally believe the VI Corps should have crossed the Rhine, but it was stopped by Eisenhower the day he visited Devers.

I called up Haislip to congratulate him on his breakthrough, and he said I was the only person who had commended him – neither his Army commander [Patch] nor his Army Group commander [Devers] had said a word about it.

Averell Harriman, Ambassador to Russia, came to visit.

The ground was as bad is it could be – practically all the meadows looked like lakes.

Harriman told me that Stalin had praised the Third Army in the highest terms . . . He said to Harriman in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Red Army, “The Red Army could not have conceived and certainly could not have executed the advance of the Third Army across France”

Harriman says that Stalin is a strong, ruthless revolutionist and therefore a very potential threat to future world conditions. He says that discipline in the Red Army is the most rigid and ruthless he has ever seen, and that the officer caste is a new nobility. This is a strange result of communism.

I think he had a very pleasant time.

Diary, November 29

The shortage of replacements for the Third Army is this day 9,000, and none in sight. I cannot see why Eisenhower could be caught short on both men and ammunition, because after all, these are the two elements with which wars are fought. I will have to withdraw 5% of the headquarters personnel of the Army and make infantrymen out of them.

A few days later he noted:

It will certainly be necessary to take another 5% of the headquarters units and also to cannibalize the divisions [taking men from the rear units] to provide riflemen [replacements].

Hughes sent Patton a letter from a friend who wrote:

Tell Georgie that all the [stock] market needs to send it into a peace panic is to learn that he is on the rampage again. The Dow-Jones average slipped three points when he started storming Metz. Patton for President clubs will be forming soon. Really, the slapping incident has helped glamourize him. However, I suggest that next time he should pick on a general. Why don’t you be the victim?

“If the suggestion has any merit in your opinion,” Hughes said, “please call on me. I will go as far as to let you boot me if you think it would do any good, for I am still pro Patton.”

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Hughes, November 30, 1944

I am like Sherman – I would not run if nominated, nor serve if elected. As you know, at the close of the war, I intend to remove my insignia and wrist-watch, but will continue to wear my short coat so that everyone can kiss my ass.

In a more serious vein . . . how the hell we can fight a war without men and ammunition I don’t know!

Ex-Governor Herbert Lehman of New York, Administrator of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, came to dinner and spent the night. Patton thought him “quite a man.”

Major General Paul R. Hawley, Chief Surgeon, ETOUSA, wrote to tell Patton that his command directive on trench foot was the best that Hawley had seen and he applauded Patton for his “vigorous action.”

Patton had issued a memorandum to his corps and division commanders, saying:

If the prevention of trench foot were impossible, I would not mention it, but prevention is perfectly practicable and is a function of command . . .

If company officers and non-commissioned officers did their full duty’ there would be no trench foot. The onus of their failure rests on you . . .

We are going to have weather conditions from now on until the end of the war which will be conducive to trench foot. To win the war we must conquer trench foot. You have conquered every other obstacle – I am sure you can conquer this.

Both XII Corps and XX Corps reached the Saar River around the beginning of December, and Patton sent the 90th and 95th Divisions across even though it was flooded. His troops would hit toward the strongest part of the Siegfried Line “because a straight line is the shortest distance between points and also it is so strong that it is probably not too well defended . . . All I can do is pray to beat Hell. The attack will go on.

” He was going up in the morning in case they needed “a little more emphasis”

To Beatrice:

It has been a long time since I saw you but the imprint of your lips on a recent letter looked pretty attractive . . . I love and miss you but this is no place for you.

To a friend on December 1:

We are pulling off the biggest gamble I have yet indulged in, but being a good gambler I am sure it will win . . . As is usual with my efforts, the Lord seems to be on my side, for the sun has come out for the first time in a week, and we will probably get fighter-bombers out this afternoon.

To his daughter Ruth Ellen Totten:

We are attacking the Siegfried Line. I know that there are many generals with my reputation who would not have dared to do it because . . . “They are more afraid of losing a battle than anxious to win one.” . . . I do not believe that any of these lines are impregnable . . . If we get through, we will materially shorten the war – there is no if about getting through; I am sure we will!

But this was nothing more than the old Patton flash, the Patton spirit; he was really not so sure.

“It was finally necessary to ask for P. Wood’s relief, as he is entirely too nervous to remain in command at the present time.”

He wrote Beatrice:

I got P sent home on a 60 day detached service. He is nearly nuts due to nerves and inability to sleep. I hope I can get him a job in the States. He is too hard to handle.

Diary, December 3

Wood came to say goodbye . . . I doubt that he was really sorry to go . . .

Damn the weather; it is starting to rain.

He sent Gaffey to take command of the 4th Armored Division in place of Wood.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Surles, December 3, 1944

We are having one hell of a war, and the lack of ammunition and replacements is getting more and more serious. I don’t know what the young manhood of America is doing, but they are certainly not appearing over here.

At the present moment, this Army is 11,000 men short and with very little apparent prospect of getting some replacements.

People do not realize that 92% of all casualties occur in the infantry rifle companies, and that when the infantry division has lost 4,000 men, it has practically no riflemen left. Therefore, with 11,000 odd short in an Army consisting of three armored and six infantry divisions, we are closely approaching a 40% shortage in each rifle company.

This is very serious. I do not know that there is anything you can do about it, but I do know that I can’t talk to anyone else on the subject, so I am shooting off my head to you.

A visit to the XV Corps and Seventh Army convinced him that their supply replacement situation was much better than his own and, generally, than in the 12 th Army Group. The main reason was Marseilles, through which a steady stream of supply items and replacement soldiers flowed. The 12 th Army Group, as well as the 21 Army Group, had no comparable port. But this was about to be remedied. The Canadians cleared the Germans from the banks of the Schelde in hard-fought operations ending November 8, and Allied naval units swept the waters of the estuary during the following three weeks. On November 28, Antwerp was opened to shipping, and the supply situation for Montgomery’s and Bradley’s Army Groups would soon improve.

Letter, Marshall to GSP, Jr., December 1944

Since landing in France your Army has written a great page in history of which the American people will always be very proud. Your recent advances despite most adverse conditions and the bitter fighting of the enemy have given us all great encouragement.

Thanks . . . for the photographs . . . Send me another lot taken east of the Rhine.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Handy, December 5,

I believe that the enemy has nearly reached his breaking point. As a matter of fact, we are stretched pretty thin ourselves . . .

It will be a great help if the Ordnance Department would put another co-axial machine gun – preferably a .50[caliber] but at least a .30 – in all tanks. I have talked to [Levin] Campbell [Chief of Ordnance] about this, but as usual with the Ordnance they are making too many studies. I believe that if you would tell him to do it and be goddam, something might happen.

P. Wood got so nervously exhausted that General Eisenhower sent him home on a 60 day DS [detached service]. I know that you are one of P’s greatest friends, and he is my best friend. It is my considered opinion that due to P’s inability to sleep, he should, if possible, be retained in the U.S. in his present rank.

Unquestionably, in a rapid moving advance, he is the greatest division commander I have ever seen, but when things get sticky he is inclined to worry too much, which keeps him from sleeping and runs him down, and makes it difficult to control his operations.

However, if it is a question of having him reduced, I will take him back even if I have to personally command him.

The few remaining forts around Metz were surrendering because of “lack of salt, lack of water, and lack of guts” The Germans were holding out to prevent Patton from advancing, but he was using the region as a rest area and giving new units practice in firing with captured German artillery pieces using captured German artillery shells.

Diary, December 6

[Fourteen] Congressmen came . . . Congresswoman Luce made a very unfavorable impression on me and, I think, on everyone else. The whole crowd seemed to be below average and was looking for trouble. We had them in for lunch, gave them nothing to drink, and only fed them issue food [what the soldiers ate], as they were the type who would go home and say we ate too well.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, December 7, 1944

There is always a chance – to day it seems strong – that the fear of they may again stop me . . .

Regrouping is the curse of war and a great boon to the enemy.

Diary, December 7

Devers . . . promised complete cooperation, and so far seems to have given it. I am not sure that, as the lesser of two evils, it might not be better to be in his army group; he interferes less and is not as timid as Bradley. It would perhaps be a mercy if the latter were gathered [into heaven] – a fine man, but not great.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, December 9, 1944

It is still raining. The Saar usually 50 feet wide is now 300, but that wont stop us.

Willie and I have two green leather chairs in my room where we sit of evenings. When he snores too much I give him a nose drop.

Patton had by then levied 5000 men from Army and corps headquarters and from other noncombat jobs and had sent them to a training center at Metz to turn them into riflemen replacements. He thought that “additional economies will have to be made.” And he wondered why Eisenhower refused to order the Com Z to give up 10 percent of its “vast army” for training and infantry replacements. “For some reason, he is reluctant to issue such an order.”

To Stimson:

I hope that in the final settlement of the war, you insist that the Germans retain Lorraine, because I can imagine no greater burden than to be the owner of this nasty country where it rains every day and where the whole wealth of the people consists in assorted manure piles . . .

P.S. Of course the remarks about Lorraine were intended for a joke. I label it because some of my jokes are not always appreciated.

To Cook:

The fight we are now having is less spectacular than the fight across France, but it is a damn sight harder . . . However, I believe we are breaking through – at least we are doing our damdest.

To Beatrice:

I have never seen or imagined such a hell hole of a country. There is about four inches of liquid mud over every thing and it rains all the time, not hard but steadily.

He wrote a letter of instructions on how to conduct attacks of envelopment, techniques “applicable to all combats against Germans except in fortified positions such as the Siegfried’Line” Already he was looking forward to his operations beyond the West Wall. “To repeat,” he said at the end,

There is no purpose in capturing these manure-filled, water logged villages. The purpose of our operations is to kill or capture the German personnel and vehicles . . . so that they cannot retreat and repeat their opposition. Straight frontal attacks against villages are prohibited unless after careful study there is no other possible solution.

Diary, December u

I had the Army Chaplain direct all chaplains to pray for dry weather. I will publish this prayer with a Christmas greeting on the back of it to all members of the command.

He decided to move his command post to St. Avoid, but not before the 19th, again an intuitive feeling preventing him from starting at once. Third Army Letter, Relations with the German People, December 12, 1944

The friendship and cooperation of the French people wiH be replaced in Germany by universal hostility, which will require that we regard all Germans, soldiers and civilians, men, women, and even children, as active enemies. It is expected that we shall encounter sniping, guerrilla warfare, sabotage, and treachery. Everyone must be warned of these probabilities and prepared to take all possible protective measures . . .

Fraternizing or friendly association with any German is absolutely forbidden and will be punished. Any pretense of friendship must be viewed with the utmost suspicion. Individuals claiming to have escaped from German prisoner of war camps or to be non-German members of the German Army or forced laborers will be considered as enemies until cleared by careful investigation.

On December 13, the last fort of isolated Metz capitulated.

Diary, December 14

Into Saarlautern where the fighting is still going on. Nearly all the houses I inspected . . . are really forts. It was supposed to be dangerous to cross the bridge [into town], but we had only one shot hit near us . . . Walker wished to go across the bridge with me, but I decided it was not necessary to risk both an Army and a corps commander . . .

The rifle strength [in the infantry battalions] is very low, poor devils, but they are killing large numbers of Germans . . .

Drove to Luxembourg to see Bradley. Apparently Monty, with the assistance of the Prime Minister, will get the Ninth Army. Monty is bitterly opposed to the operations of both Patch and myself. He still wants all available forces massed on the north and wants to command them. He told Ike and Brad that when he commanded the war, it was a success, but since he has been relieved of the Supreme [Ground] Command, it has become a stalemate. I do not see how they stand such conversation. Montgomery still maintains that the Rhine can only be crossed at one place, namely, at Cologne, and that this must be done under one Army Group commander.

My attack will still go on with its present short means, but if it fails to break through . . . I will have to go on the defensive until more troops arrive, and pending their arrival, I will probably lose several divisions [to other Armies], It is certainly up to me to make a breakthrough, and I feel that, God helping, it will come about.

It has certainly rained less since my prayer . . .

Had Eddy come in and spend the nights of the 13th and 14th, as he is tired and nervous and should relax.

Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, December 15, 1944

This is one of the days when every one but me has lost faith. I still have to push them over but it does not seem to bother me.

There was no rain on December 15, but the weather remained overcast and damp. On the following morning, concealed by a heavy fog, the Germans launched their Ardennes counteroffensive, a massive attack against the VIII Corps of the First Army, and quickly pushed a salient or a bulge into the American lines.

Although Patton’s Third Army would continue for several more days their operations in the Saar, the German offensive brought to an end the long, dismal period of grim and relentless warfare.

Patton’s November operations, which continued into December, won substantial gains and inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans. But he failed to penetrate the West Wall. The Third Army had advanced methodically about 35 or 40 miles through one defended town after another. Now in mid-December the troops were up against the German border guarded by the string of pillboxes and dragon’s teeth that marked the Siegfried Line or West Wall.

When the Germans struck in the Ardennes and opened a dramatic turn of events, they gave Patton his greatest opportunity for professional and personal achievement.