The Encirclement of Nancy
led by LTG Patton
WW II (1944)
Alternate Battle Name: "The Battle of Nancy"
Unit: 4th Armored Division
Patton's Third Army at War by
The story of Gen. George S. Patton's magnificent Third Army as it advanced across Nazi-occupied Europe and into Hitler's redoubt. Includes photos. As America's own answer to the 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 teamwork, of armor, infantry, and aircraft working together with a perfection that amazed even the Germans, who'd 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 vital supplies to keep the army on the move and fighting. When a German counteroffensive nearly burst through the US 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 it as it crossed the Rhine and overran the Reich. Much of Third Army's greatness, driving force, and will to win, was owed to one man--Gen. George Smith Patton Jr.--and a significant part of this book is devoted to him alone. In these pages, a renowned military historian 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, 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.
Not Just Lucky by
"In August 1944, Lt. Gen. George S. Pattons Third Army smashed through German defenses in Normandy and broke out in a rapid pursuit across France. Third Armys success was substantially due to its effectiveness at generating information advantage"--
Patton at Bay by
For General George S. Patton, Jr., the battle for Lorraine during the fall and winter of 1944 was a frustrating and grueling experience of static warfare. Plagued by supply shortages, critical interference from superiors, flooded rivers, fortified cities, and the highly-determined German army, Patton had little opportunity to wage a fast armored campaign. Rickard examines Patton's generalship during these bitter battles and suggests that Patton was unable to adapt to the new realities of the campaign, thereby failing to wage the most effective warfare possible. By the beginning of the Ardennes offensive, Patton had crippled his worthy opponent, but had suffered the highest casualties of any campaign that he conducted during the war. Until now, his better known exploits in Sicily and Normandy have overshadowed this campaign. Relying on a broad range of sources, this treatment of Patton's operational performance in Lorraine goes beyond the official history. It describes Patton's philosophy of war and explains why it essentially failed in Lorraine. Supplemented by full orders of battle, casualty and equipment losses, and excellent maps, Patton at Bay is a penetrating study of America's best fighting general.
G-2: Intelligence for Patton by
The enigmatic science of military intelligence is examined in this personal record, written by Brig.Gen. Oscar W. Koch, who served during World War II as chief of intelligence for General George S. Patton, Jr., one of the most colorful military leaders in American history. General Koch traces the growth and development of the infant science through detailed accounts of the intelligence role in some of the most celebrated battles of the war, and through his personal remembrances of Patton and his relationships with members of his intelligence staff. His story moves from the African campaign through Sicily, into France on D-Day and on to the Battle of the Bulge, pointing out how the work of the intelligence staff made the differences in the final reckoning. General Koch's book is more than a historical study, however. It is the exciting story of the operations behind the cloak and dagger illusions.
Lorraine 1944 by
Osprey's examination of the confrontation between the US Army and German forces in Lorraine during World War II (1939-1945). In the wake of the defeat in Normandy in the summer of 1944, Hitler planned to stymie the Allied advance by cutting off Patton's Third Army in the Lorraine with a great Panzer offensive. But Patton's aggressive tactics continued to thwart German plans and led to a series of violent armored battles. The battle-hardened Wehrmacht confronted the better-equipped and better-trained US Army. The Germans managed to re-establish a fragile defensive line but could not stop the US Army from establishing bridgeheads over the Moselle along Germany's western frontier.
Tank Tactics by
This work is an operational critique of the art of war as practiced by U.S. and Canadian tank commanders in France in 1944, it also traces the evolution of North American armoured doctrine. Battle performance reviews, interrogation reports, diaries and technical evaluations are all drawn upon.