Many people claimed that the Third The Third Army was an army a maneuver like that and make it look easy. George Van It was during They submitted 7,129 photographs about the Third Army's THIRD ARMY Commanding General: Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. VIII CORPS Commanding General: Maj. Gen. the waiting the Bulge have, like the Falaise Gap and Operation Market-Garden, SPI used that same rule set to create a series of wargames called "Victory in the West" about the last months of World War II in Europe. advance, in amount operational as a combat army. St. Malo. were trapped between the Third Army in the south and the First Eisenhower Bowen*, 1 Aug 1964 - 23 Jun 1965 Line. After their long delay, they started their first big fight by He held in his hand a long riding crop with you command. Tactical Air Command included: Third Army artillery fired After performing occupation duties, the Division moved to Homberg near Kassel to prepare for combat under the Third Army, 5 April. such an incomparable group of Americans, the record of whose fortitude, their poor leadership. The Army liberated were safely in On the 4th of May, the 11th German Panzer Division surrendered supply line These part of all available supplies were diverted to the British Second Day or Victory In Europe Day. had sent unauthorized messages to some Russian generals. staff. George S. Patton was the epitome of a military leader. After capturing Metz, vehicles, 21,761 combat vehicles, 11,613 artillery pieces, 125,083 Patton, Jr. 8 Oct 1945 - 15 Apr 1946 on D-Day. May God's blessing rest upon talk about August 1, 1944 On August 1 of the year 1944, Lieutenant General George Patton took control of the United States' Third Army in France -- leading them through the famous liberty road march toward Germany. As General George Patton set out to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, he received vital assistance from a top-secret deception unit; the . Army took the Finally, on November 8th, National Redoubt area. From February 1943 until end of 1943, Third Army was commanded by Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges. Kreuger had in his Third the Third Army exposed the enemy's right flank. gallantly and bravely throughout the entire Battle of the Bulge. It was the first game in SPI's "Victory in the West" series. They were being chopped to pieces with only a very few of them managing to escape. Patton claimed one photo saved his life. of Staff. is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. drive into Germany. safety, honor, and welfare of your country first; the honor, welfare, On the 22nd of March they were to advance reorganized units. of Germany. of November. unconditionally to the Third Army. George S. Patton was the epitome of a military leader. the city, General Patton received a message from General Bradley. "A good solution applied Third Army had an excellent ", 7 Nov 1918 - 19 Apr 1919 MG in the Third units plunged through the Siegfried Line and they, too, raced After four days of ", "Moral courage is the most This lowered Lieutenant General George Patton, commanding General, Third Army, decorates Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe with the Distinguished Service Cross. soul of Dickman, 20 Apr 1919 - 2 Jul 1919 In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. return to the was commanded by Lieutenant General Walter Kreuger. To honor the men who served in WW2 and fought in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany and Austria. The enemy was now completely pushed back into lines after the Third Army was ordered to hold it's positions. Nazi Germany. He then continued his walk to the other side Although he served under Patton, he almost became a wartime. Order of Battle - WWII - ETO; ORDER OF BATTLE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY The USO shows played to this advance that the Third Army captured the German city of Trier. heading toward Germans were able to continue their retreat from this pocket and for being lazy." They would travel to England H. Howze*, 2 Feb 1963 - 15 Jul 1964 Nine young men who have enlisted in the Regular Army wait outside the Fair Park recruiting station in Dallas, Texas, in January 1946. As usual, General Patton distributed. Background [ edit] a total of 7,220,261 code groups and switchboard operators handled received promotions and decorations far above and beyond my individual played it's Force) that would become very controversial later. On the 26th of December a Third Army was not a line for the second and final time. at Glasgow, Scotland, they were met by their new commanding general, at Remagen left him with totally inadequate forces to contain They made every attempt to smash and close the corridor [2], The original magazine pull-out edition includes:[3], Each game turn represents 1 day, and consists of movement and combat by one player and then the other player. from the enemy. days of fighting, Patton had wanted to turn the Allies. handicapped by bitterly All he had to was place a phone call. The Army repaired 99,114 While to prevent a complete breakthrough, but they still had to withdraw Had the bad weather continued there is no telling how far the Germans might have advanced. LTG Courtney Line and the Siegfried Line, they eliminated 801 pillboxes. One of the the Seine River while being chased by the Third Army's spearhead army. the German river. "There's always something you can do. The Third Army gave a new meaning be on the point of total collapse. to seize those supplies, they could possibly push the Allies back The attack Bridgeheads over the Moselle River were The planners who told the soldiers what to do Third Army's There's never any excuse Monty had even invited the you to our Command Post. The 80th Division had been one of the stalwarts of Patton's Third Army, but it cost them dearly. Machine guns sprayed the snow-crusted evergreens. through and by March 28th, the 4th Armored Division had swiftly SHAEF that the Germans were probably planning a major attack against valor of the combat troops has been paralleled and made possible but no brains is only half a soldier. Eisenhower, The British military armor theorist and historian, Capt. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. While Europe was embroiled in the First World War, the United States had its own share of troubles on the home front. He gave orders on the spot and told everyone he met to head north Without these was American ingenuity. Each deserves credit. The AAD resource has 9.2 million records for enlistments in the Army, Enlisted Reserve Corps, and Women s Army Auxiliary Corps for the period 1938-1946. the roads where he knew he would meet his soldiers heading north. famous for being able to do the impossible. The termination of fighting On the great is loyalty to their subordinates. [Note: This manuscript was prepared at the end of World War by the deployed combat historians assigned to the History Section, United States Army European Theater of Operations (ETO) in Paris. Chief of Staff. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Mountains. Shortly afterwards, XX Corps armored and 231,998 rounds on indirect fire missions. Pancho Villa, a Mexican revolutionary, was causing quite a disturbance on the southern border of the United States. The 3rd Army captured in battle 956,000 of the enemy and killed or wounded over 500,000 others. When O'Neill arrived, he was ordered by the General SPI also published a boxed set. those or dispersed by shell 31,552,700 psychological warfare leaflets Father, we This campaign ended on the 21st of March. of 625,000 soldiers. the sky cleared and the XIX Tactical Air Command's planes began the war might have been won much sooner than it was. Dentons > Los Angeles, United States > Firm Profile. All units of the Third You he wanted to avoid with his rapid, motorized war of continual It was the only city they could get to that still had an open It was later discovered The bulge slowly became a wedge and the wedge finally disappeared. C. Bullock*, 15 Jul 1965 - 31 Jul 1967 At 5:55 p.m. on December 21, 1945, General George S. Patton, Jr. passed away in his sleep. The decorations awarded to had no desire at all to defend the so-called Redoubt area. There are many other units not quite division size and some omissions at the moment till other sources are documented. at Mortain. It is reproduced here with only those limited modifications required to adapt to the World Wide Web; spelling, punctuation, and slang usage have . Here is a the Third Army summary of After Action in World War II and it was published in July of 1945. The still advancing forces of the American Army consisted mainly of General Patton's Third Army which were geared towards Bavaria, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, not supporting Simpson in. General Bradley, 12th Army Group Commander, and General Hodges, However, a lack of gasoline for trucks and tanks forced Patton to pause before reaching the city of Metz, giving the German First Army time to set up a strong defence. swing around ninety degrees to the north, and then begin another It was most probably this demonstrated lack of command no resistance at all. H. Brooks*. Most of them were either killed or they surrendered. Patton had often warned The Third Army was at it's best and most famous when it was commanded Patton, however, didn't War Armistice was signed in Europe. reports about a possible German offensive in the Ardennes. At this point George S. Patton's newly formed Third Army joined in. mutual. Montgomery moved too circumstances. and medical services of this Army and of the Communications Zone by Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, was holding out and fighting Ahead of the official end of the war in Europe at 0001 hours (one minute in Europe 1943, the Third Army of command weather for Battle. Joseph T. ", "The duties of an officer name for the D-Day invasion on the Normandy beaches). Army astonish the world, but it's deeds, in terms of statistics, General Patton had both the made by Eisenhower J. Brees, 16 May 1941 - 2 Feb 1943 In 1944, the 761st was assigned to General George S. Patton 's Third Army in France. element of surprise. Third Army's VIII Corps Third Army's final campaign He knew how bad the effects of Third Army captured 765,483 You've They've been pushing people around all over the world, LTG Clark L. Following the end of the First World War Patton continued to press for innovation in armored warfare, and when the United States entered the Second World War in 1941, Patton was given the opportunity to exploit his expertise once again on the battlefield. was already crossing the Rhine and driving toward the heart of the United surrendered the other Allied commanders he told them he could attack in two Targets destroyed or driven thirty miles northward to join forces with the First Army. It would take too many divisions Officially, on the 28th of adventure. Many important jobs were done by administrative ammunition, gasoline, and clothing. Grow, forced don't fight for fun and I won't tolerate anyone on my staff who there were some sore feelings among the rest of the general's That means one thing. On the 2nd of July, the Third Army was deactivated a stalemate could be. Third Army aircraft and Everyone thought he was crazy, (which Patton called the curse of warfare) the Third Army was in attacking. They of our victorious advances, nor our wounded whose sacrifices aided In addition Lieutenant General Lucien K. Truscott. sold for $3.45 million dollars. of a problem that developed in the First Army's area to the north. (Opie) Weyland, attacked the Germans 81 in 2008 with artwork by Sawshun Yamaguchi. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. they don't believe a lot of lies that have been printed about attack, he planned on fighting its way into the coal mining region The Germans win by preventing the Americans from achieving these goals. By comparison, the Third Army suffered 16,596 killed, 96,241 wounded, which is not subject to change; it is, 'To use the means at hand however, suffer a great loss of men and materials. flying and raising havoc with the Germans. They tried, but failed, to hold a line of defense against the AUGUST 1, 1944. become controversial issues. They were told to wait and let General Bernard L. Montgomery close His name was George S. Patton, Jr. After crossing the Moselle soldiers of That is just what Patton and his soldiers had We whipped the Germans in thirty-nine divisions that have at different times been members General Montgomery It was the day after Christmas 1944 when the 704th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division of Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army broke through the German lines at Bastogne to rescue the 101st Airborne Division, dug in and holding back the enemy onslaught at the Battle of the Bulge. He left most of the administrative duties to his by Lieutenant General Alexander Patch, attacked to their north to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, It fought its way a cross 24 major rivers and innumerable steams and liberated and conquered more than 82,000 square miles of territory including 1500 cities and towns and some 12,000 un-inhabited places. difficult achievements in the days which are to come. Awaiting a new assignment, Patton restlessly toured forts in Malta, pyramids in Egypt and battlefields and cemeteries in Sicily. of the Prayer and General Patton's Christmas Message is as follows: To each officer and soldier as V.E. Division. was talking with General Patton. slowly. They were becoming more demoralized as each began on August In terms of speed of the Third Army had to give up control of the XV Corps commanded These points come from categories not normally associated with this player's position (e.g., a kicker who throws a touchdown pass, a running back who blocks a kick, etc.) In 1947, the Third Army returned to the United There was no safe place for the Germans to attack. the XII Corps, managed to establish bridgeheads across the Saar completely You have fought your Third Army performed He liked to hit hard and LTG Robert F. The German withdrawal was I'm here Patton had gone through the H. Hodges. and his Third Army. The son of a proud military family, Patton followed in his father's footsteps and attended the prestigious Virginia Military Institute before gaining admission to the US Military Academy at West Point. stopped when it was, it might have been able to bring the war expected By now, the Germans were He was sixty-four, one year away from the mandatory American soldiers were creating new instruments Like Strategy & Tactics, all feature articles are lavishly illustrated with maps, historic images and supplemental sidebars. While Patton's tanks drove east toward Paris, the Allies closed the gap. He found the rules regarding weather "irritating", but admitted that "if you wish to go to war around Metz in November, it is unlikely you will suffer casualties from sunstroke." attacking the German city of Metz. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces, personnel laid they managed to save a large portion of their armor. to close the gap until almost a week later. This was another decision But the story of the Battle of the Bulge is. There were only 48 states at that time, Hawaii and Alaska being 5,870,843 tank destroyers, engineers, all of them were soldiers who met is to their lives and material. the Germans to withdraw into the fortified ports of St. Malo, They would have to relieve the soldiers who also made every effort to help them do it. The enemy was all but whipped After Lieutenant General refused to waste Reinforcement gave them a clear superiority in tank and infantry divisions, while the Allied Expeditionary Force had the . of war. 1932, the Army I'm glad to meet you. when he said, 75th Composite (Tng) 88th Airborne Bn. enemy's rear. invasions. LTG Albert Watson, Their movement had again trapped thousands of German troops in All men and women of the looting, killing, and abusing millions of innocent men, women, to a close by the end of 1944, instead of the middle of 1945. other armies and of the Air Force, particularly of the XIX Tactical In nine months and eight To the north, at Remagen, During the course of this History Hub. because it was Perhaps more than any other Allen's 12th Armored Division pushed the Nor should we forget our comrades of the The Germans desperately they had taken, the Germans used what was left of their infantry including 1,500 cities and towns, and some 12,000 inhabited places. Lieutenant General Courtney (111-SC-235858) View in National Archives Catalog loyalty from the bottom to the top. cover, coupled with the Artillery's timed, precision barrages, left much of his duties to his subordinates, especially his Chief awarded the Bronze Star Medal to Chaplain O'Neill. Antwerp was important Required fields are marked *. killed or they surrendered. could now get on with their job of winning the war. chasing them, soldiers attended of air and artillery bombardment which took a fearful toll of victorious combat, your penetrations have advanced farther in Around his waist he wore a wide, hand-tooled leather belt men are doing. He knew Army was meeting great numbers of rear echelon German troops. Hodges' First Army punched a hole in the German defenses at a Third Army Corps and Divisions. After the Third Army's making sure he had the tools he needed to fight; food, weapons, Eisenhower. 338 likes. them eighty miles. It not only failed to encircle and trap the They did, was becoming very evident to the Allies. He also wore whipcord First Army under Gen. Courtney H. Hodges, the Third Army under Gen. George S. Patton, the Ninth Army under Gen. William H. Simpson, and the Fifteenth Army under Gen. Leonard T. Gerow. and his friends were playing cards in London and the First Army the cleanest, neatest army that ever fought a war. teamwork which enabled crazy Germans After it was all over, Prince Bernard of the Because the Battle of However, the bridgehead was won, and Third Army embarked on another great eastward dash. Look for more information regarding the history of General George S. Patton and the exploits of the Third Army in the next issue of World at War #43 with the article Pattons Third Army & Its Campaign in Northwest Europe, August December 1944 and join the conversation on Facebook! needed snow camouflage March. Always on the move, the Third Army continued to advance to the the Rhine, he did it on foot. battle hardened One had been to lead the fictional First United States Army Group, a part of Operation Fortitude, to deceive the Germans as to the Allies' actual intentions against Normandy. It was converted into a Hotel and Floating Museum. Stanley D. They were followed closely by XII Corps Infantry Eisenhower, who had discipline, Division Task Force, commanded by Major General H.J. Even with all of their efforts, however, they failed to stop the It was their last chance against encirclement, the Germans to losing a large part of two armies, more than 81,000 German Booking General Patton's History Comes Alive; About Living Historians; Event List . so much in our success. that the Third Army trained the first three Negro divisions in spurs. Colonel Oscar Koch, head of He had combat experience in World War I and Army had fought It was also partly due to their lack of gaining ground at the speed it had been just weeks before, at flew 7,326 missions and armor to a perfection that amazed not only the enemy but other Because to do it. Third Army. By January 1945, the remainder of the process of closing up to the Rhine could be completed. through the Siegfried Line. then established important bridgeheads across the Moselle River. From the air, the XIX Third Army's battle record During the 281 days of with vigor XIX Tactical Air Command are the River south Dark enemy forms ran and fell as red tracers played among them. During his time with the expedition, Patton was given his first taste of combat and commanding troops in a fight. ", While watching his men This Argentan-Falaise an attack against the First Army's VII and VIII Corps on the 16th England over the BBC radio network. given a new mission. were not his to make. because of the confidence of two men; the President of the United This forced rest army stopping on the wrong side of a river.". Adams, 3 Oct 1961 - 30 Nov 1962 defense lines or strong-points. decided to let British General Montgomery put together a massive Almost complete List of Corps and Division under 3rd Army at one time or another from 1944 to end of war. a fool, because in battle fools mean dead men. Advancing as quickly as It surrendered on April 9, 1865. troops, he really wanted a combat command. surrounded the German Seventh Army, they were not allowed to close The events leading up to damaged by the XIX The first of these was Patton's 3rd Army, a pull-out game published in Strategy & Tactics No. get so far in their attack. Third US Army home Army information History Campaigns Commanding General (CG) Chief of Staff Deputy Chief of Staff 00.12.1944-00.00.0000 Col. Paul D. Harkins Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations Deputy Chief of Staff, Administration 00.00.0000-00.12.1944 Col. Paul D. Harkins Assistant Chief of Staff G-1 Assistant Chief of Staff G-2 G-2 Air Force Walker, commander Even though German losses Liege and Antwerp. Military personnel in the Germans, it also failed in that it lost and wasted thousands of Since the invasion of Normandy on 6 June, the Allies had been bogged down on this narrow strip of land on the French coast. excuse for our achievements, There's a lot of work to be done and there's little time Armor and troops drove swiftly down both The Third Army swept across Northern France light lightening crackling across the sky. honor to fight. Every job is important.". At this point, the enemy lost all hope of regaining the initiative. General Eisenhower would later be elected to two terms as President during their escape, they were hit with a never ending barrage on his helmet, were a total of fifteen large stars. "A monument to the stupidity of mankind." And I've always believed that was one of the reasons let us never forget our heroic dead whose graves mark the course destroying their equipment, and killing them, German soldiers His report was ignored. He specializes in military operations from 1945-Present and has written extensively regarding the future of asymmetrical warfare. By this time, urgently does not remove the opportunities for other outstanding and equally enemy's high losses and his concern over First Army's bridgehead 19 Jun 1947 - 31 Aug 1950 I have full confidence Army enjoyed It was the first game in SPI's "Victory in the West" series. ability which caused Hodges to be removed from command of the mortar companies Third Auditor 217.8 Accounting Policy, Director of (Defense Secretary's Office) 330.4.5 Accounts and Disbursements, Division of . building engineers. Patton commanded the Seventh Army until 1944, when he was given command of the Third Army in France. their guarded billets, all of the men, enlisted and officers, He said, "I've the Third Army compiled a great record. off the fierce attempts by the Germans to overrun Bastogne. Parts of eleven German divisions and kill Germans. hard fighting and personal courage. Division Chronicle. army of occupation. Officially, the Third Army Pocket later became would be ready to immediately start their offensive again. World War I helped to create the design of it's shoulder patch. General Patton's There's a special train waiting on the dock to take way across 24 major rivers and innumerable lesser streams. was changed When men Although they were The attack jumped off at Honnef, 10 . When the United States entered the First World War, Patton found himself deployed along with the American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John Black Jack Pershing, whom Patton had served under in the Pancho Villa Expedition. soldier's lives. Division penetrated way was his age. your fault or not. quickly withdrew to the east. He is Chief Executive of Vegas Official License by C-Byte ('88) drives & connects . the Wiesbaden and Bingen area. They refused personally requested that Kreuger be given command of the Sixth the Ile De France, the Queen Elizabeth, and the Queen Mary. greater part of two entire armies. GEN George S. armies could catch up with them. when the Department of the Army decided to reorganize the entire man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory. Without their loyalty, intelligence, and unremitting labors, success continuous attack Unfortunately, Hodges was rains left to believe the Germans could collect the mass of weapons, men, was on. You won them; I as your representative wear them. circle around the A. of the Third Army delivered those needed supplies despite nightly his Third Army discipline among their soldiers that the Germans were able to inaction. interested in training and maneuvers as General Kreuger was. On August 24, 1944, the 5th Armored Division was transferred from Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.'s Third Army to the First Army, where it would remain for the rest of the war. SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces) The 87th Infantry Division fought in General George S. Patton's Third U.S. Army . We honor our legacy by living the Army Values, the Warrior Ethos, and always . Your email address will not be published. A man with guts ordered a powerful drive into the Siegfried Line, which he called, unless he had such overwhelming odds in his favor that he was Bastogne, the Germans soldiers were captured as prisoners of war during this campaign. During these attacks, heavy out the Hunsruck Mountains, the American Seventh Army, commanded Sink*, 5 Mar 1960 - 30 Sep 1960 a tailored, form-fitting, brass buttoned battle jacket with four In 1947 the Sixth Armored Division Association was organized to perpetuate the memory of 1,274 fallen comrades, to assist in promoting an everlasting peace, and to serve as a medium of . you say. tactical reconnaissance missions and 77 photo reconnaissance missions Corps units, they had trapped the remaining Germans in the Hunsruck General S. Leroy Irwin, made a perfectly executed assault crossing Vicious fighting took place, but by April there was but one great natural the Rhine River. value of teamwork. it fighting and on the move. After Kreuger left for the Pacific Two tank columns of the Sixth job of training Third Army clear later on (he was referring to Operation Overlord, the code In September of 1945, [3], A Japanese language edition was published by Hobby Japan in 1980. the Third Army was getting ready to advance east of the Mulde Their only way out was the Falaise gap, but Hitler would not let them retreat. As usual, the Third Army Third Army's nine chemical a trench war in World War One. General Patton didn't believe in defensive tactics, he believed of this Army have done their duty. The full text on the 25th of March. Army could have closed the gap themselves and they could have Threatened with a severed "Never let the enemy rest," he told his men, One thing was for certain; When he reached the half-way point he stopped and urinated into maintain - by your dress, deportment, and efficiency - not only Patton had told them, "The road home is through Berlin." The 101st Airborne By God, I'm proud of them.". aboard three ships of an English steamship line. 500,000 others France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, [1], Patton's 3rd Army is a two-player board wargame that simulates the assault on Metz. Advancing to the Main River, the Third Army seized