War Diary 1918

by George S. Patton Jr., Ranulf Compton

Here is George S. Patton Jr.’s official war diary with daily entries from September 1918 to the days leading up to the Armistice in November. He kept it while commanding the 304th Tank Brigade in World War I. Also included is the war diary of Ranulf Compton, one of his battalion tank commanders, with daily entries from mid-August to mid-October. Both diaries cover in detail tank operations at the Battle of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, providing a candid look at the successes and challenges of early tank units in combat. Compton’s diary entries are particularly intriguing because he is a lesser-known figure historically but one who played a critical role in the final days of the war. Sereno Brett, Patton’s other battalion commander, had assumed command of the brigade after Patton was wounded the last week in September. Compton, in turn, assumed command of all the brigade tanks at the front. His role as commander of the fighting tanks makes his diary entries especially important. Once Patton was medically evacuated off the battlefield, his knowledge of tank operations was strictly second-hand. But Compton was now eyewitness to several more weeks of some of the toughest fighting of the war. The contrast between Patton’s and Compton’s diary entries is also intriguing for another reason. On a personal level, Patton had a vested interest in the success of the early tank, having been an early proponent and personally involved in its development. But Compton had no such investment and therefore his daily observations, in contrast to Patton’s, contain a more unvarnished assessment of the early tank.

166 pages, Paperback

Published May 10, 2018

About the author

George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.

Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1909. In 1916–17, he participated in the unsuccessful Pancho Villa Expedition, a U.S. operation that attempted to capture the Mexican revolutionary. In World War I, he was the first officer assigned to the new United States Tank Corps and saw action in France.

In World War II, he commanded corps and armies in North Africa, Sicily, and the European Theater of Operations. In 1944, Patton assumed command of the U.S. Third Army, which under his leadership advanced farther, captured more enemy prisoners, and liberated more territory in less time than any other army in military history.

On December 9, 1945, Patton was severely injured in a road accident in Heidelberg, Germany. In the crash Patton received a severe cervical spinal cord injury. Paralyzed from the neck down, he was rushed to the military hospital in Heidelberg. Patton died of a pulmonary embolism on December 21, 1945.