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Patton's Third Army at War
This is the story of General George S. Patton's magnificent Third Army as it advanced across Nazi-occupied Europe and into Hitler's redoubt in the last year of World War II. As America s own answer to Blitzkrieg, Third Army s actions from the Normandy coast across France and Germany to Austria gave a new dimension to the term "fluid warfare." They only needed one general order to seek out the enemy, trap, and destroy them. This they did, relentlessly overcoming every obstacle thrown in their way.
Third Army s story is one of the teamwork, of armor, infantry, and aircraft working together with a perfection that even amazed the Germans, who had always considered themselves the masters of the mobile offensive. Though Third Army is often remembered for its tank spearheads, like the 4th Armored Division, these pages also give credit to the brave infantry divisions which butted their heads against fortresses such as Metz with ultimate success. It is also the story of a triumph of administration as thousands of trucks carried forward the supplies so vital to keep the army on the move and fighting.
When a German counteroffensive nearly burst through the U.S. lines in the Ardennes, it was Patton s Third Army that turned on its heel and immediately drove in the Bulge, ending Hitler s last great hope for success in the west. Afterward nothing could stop Third Army itself as it crossed the Rhine and overran the Reich. Much of Third Army s greatness, its driving force, its will to win, was owed to one man General George Smith Patton, Jr - and in consequence a significant section of this book has been devoted to him alone.
In these pages renowned military historian George Forty gives a vivid impression in words and pictures of what it was like to live and fight with Patton s men. Full of eyewitness accounts and a host of photographs and maps, it relates the full story of how America s most dynamic fighting formation led the Allied effort against the Nazis seemingly invincible European empire."
Third Army s story is one of the teamwork, of armor, infantry, and aircraft working together with a perfection that even amazed the Germans, who had always considered themselves the masters of the mobile offensive. Though Third Army is often remembered for its tank spearheads, like the 4th Armored Division, these pages also give credit to the brave infantry divisions which butted their heads against fortresses such as Metz with ultimate success. It is also the story of a triumph of administration as thousands of trucks carried forward the supplies so vital to keep the army on the move and fighting.
When a German counteroffensive nearly burst through the U.S. lines in the Ardennes, it was Patton s Third Army that turned on its heel and immediately drove in the Bulge, ending Hitler s last great hope for success in the west. Afterward nothing could stop Third Army itself as it crossed the Rhine and overran the Reich. Much of Third Army s greatness, its driving force, its will to win, was owed to one man General George Smith Patton, Jr - and in consequence a significant section of this book has been devoted to him alone.
In these pages renowned military historian George Forty gives a vivid impression in words and pictures of what it was like to live and fight with Patton s men. Full of eyewitness accounts and a host of photographs and maps, it relates the full story of how America s most dynamic fighting formation led the Allied effort against the Nazis seemingly invincible European empire."
- GenresHistoryMilitary History
612 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
George Forty
105 books11 followersGeorge Forty was a British Army officer who was the chief of staff at the gunnery school at the Royal Armoured Corps. He was later a director of the Tank Museum at Bovington.
Forty was a military historian and had written numerous books on military vehicles with a focus on armoured warfare.
Forty was a military historian and had written numerous books on military vehicles with a focus on armoured warfare.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 23, 2024
This isn’t a book that’s sole purpose is to measure the greatness of General Patton’s performance in World War II. The Third Army made a remarkable and crucial contribution to winning the war in Europe. This book explores in great detail how that was accomplished: the strategies, the tactics and the individual accomplishments. There is a wealth of maps, photos and drawings that help make this a treasure-trove of useful historical information.
Heroism and Devotion to Duty
At about 07:00 on September 19 Capt William Dwight, liaison officer for the 37th Tk Bn, was returning to his battalion area near Lezey from combat command headquarters, which was in the vicinity of Arracourt. It was very foggy, limiting visibility to about 50 yards. As he approached Lezey from the southwest he heard firing ahead. As he continued he heard tanks moving, and soon saw them looming up ahead of him through the fog. They were German tanks! He called into his battalion and found that it was under attack by the panzer unit which he had been following through the fog. Being armed with nothing larger than a pistol, he returned to combat command headquarters, where a platoon of tank destroyers was made available to send to the assistance of the 37th. Capt Dwight started on the return journey to his battalion, leading his four tank destroyers. Near Bezange he ran head on into another panzer column and lost one tank destroyer in the ensuing firefight. He secured a position on high ground west of Bezange as the fog began to lift and engaged the enemy in a fight that lasted for nearly two hours, during which nine enemy tanks were destroyed while Capt Dwight lost two more destroyers. In spite of being reduced to one tank destroyer and a few dismounted crewmen, Captain Dwight held his position, first against the enemy tank attack and later against an attack by enemy infantry, until the situation cleared enough to permit a limited objective attack by the 37th to extricate his small force from its exposed position. This was an example of the tenacious devotion to duty of all personnel that brought the battle of that day to a successful conclusion."
And irony:
"The capture of the German officer was a story in itself. In the ordnance company was a warrant officer, of whose name there seems to be no record. Up until this night he had not fired a shot in anger. To say that he did so now would be to embroider the truth, but he did make a valiant effort. Asleep in his slit trench under his pup tent he was awakened by the sound of firing. He lay still, gripping his carbine. Then someone stumbled over his tent rope and, peering out, he saw a tall booted figure silhouetted against the light of the gunfire. Knowing there were no shiny boots to be found on Americans, he stealthily raised his carbine and pulled the trigger: only the click of a misfire resulted. Hearing the click the German spun round and wrested the carbine from the astonished warrant officer’s hands. But he was a resourceful lad and, tackling the German about the ankles, brought him down with a thud, causing the German to lose his monocle. The German refused to surrender formally without proper assistance, and called for his adjutant and aide who appeared out of the darkness, clicked their heels, saluted smartly and handed over their weapons in surrender. The request of the German that a light be brought so that he might search for his monocle was refused."
Not a hagiography, we are given enough background to understand how the man conceived of life and his role in it. Instead, we get a very important historical document replete with original sources. Very impressive, even if the sentence structure isn’t as polished as we have come to expect from other WW II historians.
Heroism and Devotion to Duty
At about 07:00 on September 19 Capt William Dwight, liaison officer for the 37th Tk Bn, was returning to his battalion area near Lezey from combat command headquarters, which was in the vicinity of Arracourt. It was very foggy, limiting visibility to about 50 yards. As he approached Lezey from the southwest he heard firing ahead. As he continued he heard tanks moving, and soon saw them looming up ahead of him through the fog. They were German tanks! He called into his battalion and found that it was under attack by the panzer unit which he had been following through the fog. Being armed with nothing larger than a pistol, he returned to combat command headquarters, where a platoon of tank destroyers was made available to send to the assistance of the 37th. Capt Dwight started on the return journey to his battalion, leading his four tank destroyers. Near Bezange he ran head on into another panzer column and lost one tank destroyer in the ensuing firefight. He secured a position on high ground west of Bezange as the fog began to lift and engaged the enemy in a fight that lasted for nearly two hours, during which nine enemy tanks were destroyed while Capt Dwight lost two more destroyers. In spite of being reduced to one tank destroyer and a few dismounted crewmen, Captain Dwight held his position, first against the enemy tank attack and later against an attack by enemy infantry, until the situation cleared enough to permit a limited objective attack by the 37th to extricate his small force from its exposed position. This was an example of the tenacious devotion to duty of all personnel that brought the battle of that day to a successful conclusion."
And irony:
"The capture of the German officer was a story in itself. In the ordnance company was a warrant officer, of whose name there seems to be no record. Up until this night he had not fired a shot in anger. To say that he did so now would be to embroider the truth, but he did make a valiant effort. Asleep in his slit trench under his pup tent he was awakened by the sound of firing. He lay still, gripping his carbine. Then someone stumbled over his tent rope and, peering out, he saw a tall booted figure silhouetted against the light of the gunfire. Knowing there were no shiny boots to be found on Americans, he stealthily raised his carbine and pulled the trigger: only the click of a misfire resulted. Hearing the click the German spun round and wrested the carbine from the astonished warrant officer’s hands. But he was a resourceful lad and, tackling the German about the ankles, brought him down with a thud, causing the German to lose his monocle. The German refused to surrender formally without proper assistance, and called for his adjutant and aide who appeared out of the darkness, clicked their heels, saluted smartly and handed over their weapons in surrender. The request of the German that a light be brought so that he might search for his monocle was refused."
Not a hagiography, we are given enough background to understand how the man conceived of life and his role in it. Instead, we get a very important historical document replete with original sources. Very impressive, even if the sentence structure isn’t as polished as we have come to expect from other WW II historians.
February 5, 2025
Just finished a book that was given to me several years ago by a friend. The issue of page number variance was present again as the number of pages in the update were over 600, while the actual book I was reading had 215. Go figure. Anyway, an excellent account of Patton's famed 3rd Army and it's part in the European Theater of WW II. Like most things in my life, I get consumed by interests, and those interests wax and wane at various times for unknown reasons. Lately, it's WW II. I guess it's serendipitous that today is the anniversary of our USMC landing on Iwo Jima, of which my dad was part. This book on Patton, loaded with great photographs, gave a detailed account of Patton's historic "end run" through France and Germany, including the rescue of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne. I tried to match up what I read with the film Patton with George C. Scott. It made what I was reading easier to visualize. While I was in that area in 2023, I saw the mile markers that were placed to mark the route Patton and his army took. That would be a great trip to follow that path.
Anyway, good book, unvarnished, told the good and the bad about one of history's truly significant figures.
Anyway, good book, unvarnished, told the good and the bad about one of history's truly significant figures.
May 14, 2019
Detail of Third Army Operations
This book is the consummate guide to the tactical operations of Patton’s Third Army in Europe in World War ii. It is replete with maps, orders of battle, tables of organization for every unit that ever served under Third Army and a host of photographs depicting the challenges and horrors of war. There are a number of personal memoirs recounting various battles that lend some humanity to the grim facts and statistics. It also dispels some popular myths about Patton, the man and the general, This is not a book for everyone but if one wishes to immerse themselves in the nuts and bolts of how, where and why Third Army was so successful, this is the book for them.
John E Nevola - Author of The Last Jump and The Final Flag
U.S. Army Veteran – SP/5
Military Writer's Society of America
This book is the consummate guide to the tactical operations of Patton’s Third Army in Europe in World War ii. It is replete with maps, orders of battle, tables of organization for every unit that ever served under Third Army and a host of photographs depicting the challenges and horrors of war. There are a number of personal memoirs recounting various battles that lend some humanity to the grim facts and statistics. It also dispels some popular myths about Patton, the man and the general, This is not a book for everyone but if one wishes to immerse themselves in the nuts and bolts of how, where and why Third Army was so successful, this is the book for them.
John E Nevola - Author of The Last Jump and The Final Flag
U.S. Army Veteran – SP/5
Military Writer's Society of America
June 16, 2024
General Patton Leading the Third Army
Another telling of General Patton's war in Europe, from the point of view of the front line, fighting units of the Third Army. Also, the author, not an American, describes the way that the soldiers of the Third Army fought. The aggressive, offensive, can-do spirit of the Third Army and its Commander is shines through in every description of attack and skirmish and most spectacurarly in the desparate and deadly drive to Bastogne.
It is hard to fathom, after all these decades, the lack of the appropriate recognition of Patton and his Third Army's historically unique WW2 achievement, by the United States Army in particular and the United States military establishment in general.
Another telling of General Patton's war in Europe, from the point of view of the front line, fighting units of the Third Army. Also, the author, not an American, describes the way that the soldiers of the Third Army fought. The aggressive, offensive, can-do spirit of the Third Army and its Commander is shines through in every description of attack and skirmish and most spectacurarly in the desparate and deadly drive to Bastogne.
It is hard to fathom, after all these decades, the lack of the appropriate recognition of Patton and his Third Army's historically unique WW2 achievement, by the United States Army in particular and the United States military establishment in general.
February 5, 2024
A detailed description of the heroics of Patton's own. My father served in this Army yet talked little about the war like many others.
December 21, 2024
Very interesting book on the 3rd Army - much less about Patton but more about the 3rd Army itself and what it accomplished- something I think Patton would have appreciated
March 22, 2016
Although I'm not really big on eyewitness accounts, the ones in this book about 3rd Army were very good and enjoyable. I think I expected more about his strategic and tactical thinking.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews