War As I Knew It

New York, N.Y.: Pyramid Books, 1970. Second printing [stated]. Mass market paperback. Good. 368 pages. Annotated by Coonel Paul D. Harkins. Footnotes. Includes Introduction by Douglas Southall Freeman, Acknowledgments, Dedication, Acknowledgments, and 12 black and white maps, as well as chapters on Open Letters from Africa and Sicily; Operation "Overlord'; and Retrospect, as well as Appendixes on Headquarters, Composition of II Corps; Headquarters, I Amored Corps and Seventh Army, Operation "Husky"; Letters of Instruction; Composition of an Army; Roster of Principal Staff Officers, Headquarters, Third U.S. Army; Corps that Served with Third Army, 1 August 1944 to 9 May 1945; and Divisions that Served with Third Army, 1 August 1944 to 9 May 1945. In these fascinating and memorable memoirs, General Patton speaks out with frankness and intense personal feeling about World War II, the art of war, and the soldier's life as he saw it. This book is a fascinating self-portrait of an American professional soldier. General George S. Patton, JR., kept a full diary from July, 1942, until Dec. 5, 1945, four days before his fatal accident. The spirit of the diary is that of a commander who believed that a continuous bold ofensive wuld end the war before the snow fell on the Ardennes in the winter of 1944-45. Every obstacle to such an offensive had to be overcome; every leader who opposed it must be challenged to show why the drive would not succeed; silence or dissent appeared in Patton's eyes as overcaution or concession to Allies. Paul Donal Harkins (May 15, 1904 - August 21, 1984) served during World War II as deputy chief of staff for operations in George S. Patton Jr.'s commands. George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 - December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean theater of World War II, and the United States Army Central in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Born in 1885, Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He studied fencing and designed the M1913 Cavalry Saber, more commonly known as the "Patton Saber", and competed in modern pentathlon in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Patton first saw combat during 1916's Pancho Villa Expedition, America's first military action using motor vehicles. He saw action in World War I as part of the new United States Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces: he commanded the U.S. tank school in France, then led tanks into combat and was wounded near the end of the war. In the interwar period, Patton became a central figure in the development of the army's armored warfare doctrine, serving in numerous staff positions throughout the country. At the American entry into World War II, he commanded the 2nd Armored Division. Patton led U.S. troops into the Mediterranean theater with an invasion of Casablanca during Operation Torch in 1942, and soon established himself as an effective commander by rapidly rehabilitating the demoralized II Corps. He commanded the U.S. Seventh Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily, where he was the first Allied commander to reach Messina. He then was assigned a key role in Operation Fortitude, the Allies' military deception campaign for Operation Overlord. At the start of the Western Allied invasion of France, Patton was given command of the Third Army, which conducted a highly successful rapid armored drive across France. Under his decisive leadership, the Third Army took the lead in relieving beleaguered American troops at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, after which his forces drove deep into Nazi Germany by the end of the war. His philosophy of leading from the front, and his ability to inspire troops with attention-getting, vulgarity-ridden speeches, such as his famous address to the Third Army, was met favorably by his troops. His emphasis on rapid and aggressive offensive action nonetheless proved effective, and he was regarded highly by his opponents in the German High Command. An award-winning biographical film released in 1970, Patton, helped popularize his image.