George S. Patton: War As I Knew It

[sparkchaser]

Patton died in December of 1945 so he never got around to writing his autobiography. Instead, what we have is the next best thing - a collection of excerpts from his diary, open letters written during the Africa Campaign, and notes. Few will deny that Patton was not only a great leader but one of the most successful Generals that have ever lived, and this book gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of his mind. Almost every quote attributed to Patton has come from this book.

The reading is easy if you're not concerned about what unit was deployed where and who was in command of what division. If these things interest you, you'd be advised to have a notebook and map handy as the text becomes bogged down with those details:

At that time I figured that I was to have the VIII Corps (First Army) with the 101st Airborne (commanded by Major General M.D. Taylor), the 28th infantry Division and part of the 9th Armored Division; the III Corps with the 26th and 80th Infantry Divisions and 4th Armored Division; the XII Corps with the 5th and 4th Infantry Divisions and 10th Armored Divisions; and the XX Corps with the 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions and 6th Armored Division. The 87th Infantry Division and the infantry regiment of the 42d Division, which we also had at that time, would go to the Seventh Army.

I admit when I started reading this book that I tried to keep track of everything but I then remembered I wasn't reading this for a report or a class on WWII; I was reading it to learn about the mind of the man so I stopped keeping track of the very technical details.


Patton also had what today would be considered some very un-PC things to say about the Arabs in North Africa.

Notes on the Arab
Casablanca
June 9, 1943

It took me a long time to realize how much a student of medieval history can gain from observing the Arabs...

The Arab influence on Spain and Latin America is again emphasized as summer weather approaches. There is a regular epidemic of sombreros made of particolored straw, exactly like those we know at home, except that, since they are worn superimposed on the turban, they are much larger...

Another similarity between the Arab and the Mexican is the utter callousness with which they treat animals. Neither an Arab nor a Mexican would think of unpacking an animal during a prolonged halt. If the beast is chafed raw, the Arab does not even bother to treat the wound with lard, which is the invariable panacea with the Mexican. He just lets it bleed and trusts to Allah. Because a horse is dead lame is no reason for not working him.

All the animals are head-shy and many are blind as a result of the cheerful custom of beating them on the head with stick.

The method of castrating sheep and cattle is unspeakably cruel. I think that the reason that the horse and donkeys are not altered is due to their architecture, which forbids the employment of the Arab method.

One cannot but ponder the question: What if the Arabs had been Christians? To me it seems certain that the fatalistic teachings of Mohammed and the utter degradation of women is the outstanding cause for the arrested development of the Arab. He is exactly as he was around the year 700, while we have kept on developing. Here, I think, is a text for some eloquent sermon on the virtues of Christianity.

There are a few humorous moments in the book, most regarding his bulldog Willie:

The morning of July 31, we moved our Command Post to a point north of the Granville-St. Sever-Lendelin road. It was here that Willie contracted a violent love affair with a French lady dog...

Having completed these instructions, we moved the Army Command Post to Brou, fifteen miles northwest of Chateau-dun. It was in these woods that Willie was attacked by a large number of ferocious hornets. It took the Commanding General, the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, several soldiers, and about 5 gallons of gasoline to burn out the hornets. Willie was very sorry for himself, and we put soda and water on his wounds.

I give it