George S Patton....
George S Patton –
The most feared, respected, and controversial General of World War 2.
Nick named Old Blood and Guts.
The last thing a German soldier wanted to hear was he was going against Pattons troops. That was a sure sign defeat was coming.
Most Generals took over a town and wanted to dig in and protect what they gained. General Patton didn’t believe in that. He believed you took over a town and you went right on to the next town. Then the next town after that. Continue advancing all the time. That philosophy was very successful, but also a logistical nightmare.
An advancing army needs lots of supplies. Troops need food. Tanks need gas. Guns need bullets. When Patton began his advance (after D Day) keeping his troops supplied was a monumental effort. All of the railroads in France were destroyed by allied bombing. That left everything to be delivered by truck.
All the supplies arrived on the Normandy beaches. The further Patton’s 3rd army advanced the harder it was to keep his troops supplied. So they set up the Red Ball Express. This was a convoy of thousands of trucks traveling night and day (from the Normandy coast) to Patton’s advancing 3rd army.
They closed the road to all civilian traffic and lined the route with red balls. The red balls let trucks know they were going the right way. The trucks traveled bumper to bumper for miles. At night they didn’t use lights for fear of being attacked. Trucks traveling through unfamiliar towns (at night) carried significant risk. If one truck took a wrong turn it might drive off a cliff. The next 10 trucks might follow. When the 11th truck figured out the mistake it would correct and the convoy would continue on. There was no time to waste because Patton was not a patient man.
Patton did not invade Normandy on D-Day. He was simply used as a decoy. Just the threat of Patton coming up on the beach was a frightening prospect for the Nazi’s.
But the speeches Patton gave to the troops prior to the D-Day invasion are the stuff of legend.
The most feared, respected, and controversial General of World War 2.
Nick named Old Blood and Guts.
The last thing a German soldier wanted to hear was he was going against Pattons troops. That was a sure sign defeat was coming.
Most Generals took over a town and wanted to dig in and protect what they gained. General Patton didn’t believe in that. He believed you took over a town and you went right on to the next town. Then the next town after that. Continue advancing all the time. That philosophy was very successful, but also a logistical nightmare.
An advancing army needs lots of supplies. Troops need food. Tanks need gas. Guns need bullets. When Patton began his advance (after D Day) keeping his troops supplied was a monumental effort. All of the railroads in France were destroyed by allied bombing. That left everything to be delivered by truck.
All the supplies arrived on the Normandy beaches. The further Patton’s 3rd army advanced the harder it was to keep his troops supplied. So they set up the Red Ball Express. This was a convoy of thousands of trucks traveling night and day (from the Normandy coast) to Patton’s advancing 3rd army.
They closed the road to all civilian traffic and lined the route with red balls. The red balls let trucks know they were going the right way. The trucks traveled bumper to bumper for miles. At night they didn’t use lights for fear of being attacked. Trucks traveling through unfamiliar towns (at night) carried significant risk. If one truck took a wrong turn it might drive off a cliff. The next 10 trucks might follow. When the 11th truck figured out the mistake it would correct and the convoy would continue on. There was no time to waste because Patton was not a patient man.
Patton did not invade Normandy on D-Day. He was simply used as a decoy. Just the threat of Patton coming up on the beach was a frightening prospect for the Nazi’s.
But the speeches Patton gave to the troops prior to the D-Day invasion are the stuff of legend.
posted by res17 at
June 06, 2014
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