Kill Patton! German Operation to Assassinate the Famous General
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- Опубліковано 23 тра 2024
- When the Germans discovered General Patton's new HQ in the French city of Nancy in November 1944, they determined to kill him using a special long-range weapon - the railway gun!
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Sources:
- 'The Shelling of Patton's Nancy HQ' by Jim Sulmeier & Jerome Leclerc, After The Battle, No. 176, 2027
- 'The Lorraine Campaign', Hugh M. Cole, United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations, Center of Military History, Washington DC, 1950
- 'Patton: A Genius for War', Carlo D'Este, (New York: Harper Collins, 1995)
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Superx308
PATTON'S PISTOLS - I mistakenly called them 'Pearl-handled' when they were 'Ivory-handled'. I hope the more pedantic of you can forgive this small error and enjoy the video without tediously pointing this out ad nauseum. Many thanks!
"i ain't no pimp" - gen patton 😂
We will always forgive you Dr. Felton. You are only human but what a human you are. I learn as Paul Harvey "the rest of the story" about WWII and other conflicts from you. Thanks again for a the moments of enjoy you give all of us here who follow your channel.
Patton to rescue of French civilians injured in shelling
Not something you hear about when talking about very high ranking military officers
Show up after the events
I pointed out what Patton himself would have told you . I hit the like button on the video . I enjoy your videos very much and watch every one . Thanks .
One of the best lines in the movie Patton
Calling the French he's trying to help "Frogs" is classic Patton. Hilarious.
True, especially since his wife had French lineage, not to mention 12% of Americans.
Well, the French are very dear to us Americans, and we do-rag on each other with a kind of glee that is reserved for family. I prefer to use the term Le Baguette since they are a people and culture that is way into food. Patton was fluent in French.
All in good fun though, Patton was agreat admirer of the French and all things French.
My grandfather was French Canadian. French was his first language. He served in France in WW2 in the American army. Apparently his Canadian accent gave him away and he got a lot of shit for this. He said, “Fucking frogs. We liberate their country and they treat me like shit.”
@@gerardodwyer5908 Yes, which means he has an F card.
“Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!!!”
I saw that in the movie. Although my favorite quote is "You job is not to die for your country. Your job is to make the Other (SOB) Die for his country."
Read Patton's quotes.
We Defeated The Wrong Enemy. "BASTARD"
Another thing that movie got wrong..... Rommel wrote a book on improved infantry tactics.
@@Manco65 Yeah, I wish they'd put more effort into being historically accurate, especially with the armor they used.
Rommel was an Infantryman. His book is Infantry Attacks.
Dr. Felton is everything the History Channel should have been.
Ha! Back around 2000 we called it the Hitler Channel cuz it was all ww2 lol
I just saw a video of Bill Maher trying to impress people because he does have a history degree, saying he watches the history channel religiously. I thought what? Bigfoot, UFO's, ancient aliens?
@@Henry_JonesYa it was 90% WWII back in the day, and we called it the Hitler Channel also, although they did some other stuff too. I remember some good revolutionary war and civil war shows. Old west too.
But it was WAY better back then. Most pointless network on TV now.
It appears that Felton has a ego to rival Patton himself! The only favorites comments that praise him and I can't help but roll my eyes🙄
The History channel has been a real disappointment since ? maybe 2010, they could have had a series on the War of 1812 visiting the different battlefields and points of interest in North America from 2012 to 2014, hopefully the CBC did some kind of documentary for the Canadian audience.
My uncle died on March 18, 1945 after crossing the Moselle. He received the Medal of Honor after his actions after crossing, posthumously. He is buried in Luxembourg along with Patton. I hope to visit next year or soon thereafter. Shared with dad, 93, a Korean veteran, another uncle serving in Pacific WWII. I am a veteran as well, shared on this Memorial Day weekend. Vote,, save democracy. Wish all good. Old Vet
I thank all your family for your service. I read your uncles MOH citation, he truly embodies what the medal stands for. It shows it’s not awarded just for taking life but for saving it as well.
@@jmage53 Thank you.
Wow, what a story! ❤
Patton was doom to to die with his men! Great Story and your family (though saddened) have some respite for your Uncles Actions! Congrats and God Rest His Soul🙏
Whats your Uncles mame?
Mark is going to be surprised how important that " pearl handle " thing is to Americans. Great channel.
I'm already getting an idea - I think I may walk into the sea....
It's about the only channel I watch from beginning to end.
My history class.
Ivory handle
@@MarkFeltonProductions please don’t. You are too valuable, and it’s too dangerous with the u-boats lurking.
😂😂
My uncle served under Patton. Have a safe Memorial Day weekend. Cheers, Mark!
I’ve been a WW2 buff for seventy years and never heard this deployment of Nazis railroad guns. Now thanks to Mark Felton I do. And so well presented with those esoteric pictures.
You may be interested in looking up their other German railway guns Gustav the biggest ever, which had two railway tracks side by side specially built for it to run on and I recall was 800cm cannon! The mortar guns attached to railway bogies for transport, but that could manoeuvre when detached albeit very slowly had an 600 cm gun. I think these were given names Thor and Moser Karl. And I think they were used in the Eastern front on Sevastopol with success. The Germans used railway guns in the first world ward war also on or near the scale of the one in this video 280cm cannon and I think one was called Big Bertha. Happy hunting.
@@phillipchapman169 Yes, familiar with those monsters in Crimea but not with these in France. Thanks anyway.
@@phillipchapman169 Millimeters, not centimeters! ;)
@@phillipchapman169 The Karl mortar was a massive tracked mortar, wasn't a railway gun
Same. Not 70 years more like 25 but I never heard this either.
my dad was wounded twice in the leg during the effort to retake Metz. thank you so much for this video and the footage of house to house fighting, which is how pop was shot. he was buried with both bullets in his leg.
Orno: Did he die during the battle, or after the war?
@@StevenKeery thank you for asking! he lived, and was sent home. I still have the purple heart and telegram that they sent my grandmother. He had a good life, lived to be 81 but he always walked with a limp. They wouldn’t take the bullets out as they were too close to an artery.
@orno8906 amazing story to hear about thanks for sharing
@@orno8906 : God bless him, I'm glad he lived to a ripe old age and had time to spend with his family. I'm sure your Grandmother must have been relieved to have him back home.
My dad almost lost his lower leg in France when his army truck he was riding in back, hit a mine.
More footage of WW2 that i am seeing for the first time. Thank you, Dr Felton.
Just wait till you see Europa: The Last Battle
@@urwrstntmregot a link?
Don't think I've ever heard Patton speaking before so thank you for putting that film in. Not what I expected after hearing George C Scott. Kind of like that Finnish tape of Hitler speaking normally. Not what you expect.
Right, hearing the real Patton voice is a shock especially if you're used to George C. Scott's portrayal. The producers of the the film knew what the real Patton sounded like but correctly assumed audiences wouldn't accept an accurate rendition of Patton's voice. I'll tell you, Patton would have killed to have had a voice like Scott's!
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 It is like pretty much everyone who has ever portrayed Lincoln. His voice was much like Pattons
@@gruntforever7437 Right, Lincoln's voice was reportedly high-pitched which led to a problem for the Disney people coming up with the "Hall of Presidents" pavilion for the New York World's Fair of 1964-1965. If the Lincoln voice for their audio-animatronic robot was too high pitched viewers would have found it a turn-off. So they used the voice of character actor Royal Dano (look him up) whose voice was a bit high-pitched but not too much, and had an interesting "crackle" to it you'd expect someone of Lincoln's background would have had. Having heard it first-hand I can tell you it worked!
And I'll never forget one line of the speech that was made up of Lincoln quotes:
"If destruction be our lot it will be of our own doing. As a nation of free men we must live forever, or die by suicide."
Leave it to follywood to totally distort history in the worst ways possible.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706Royal Dano even bore a physical resemblence to Lincoln. He was an excellent character actor.
Letter home: "Tell Granpa we're over here with Patton. He likes him so."
Bastogne, 1944
Pattons pistol grip was made of Ivory not pearl . He said himself that " only a pimp in a cheap whorehouse would carry a pearl handle pistol" .
And it was 'nickel' plated not chrome. If I remember right.
Correct he said a new Orleans pimp at that!
Mark has had to put a post because of people like you tediously pointing this out ad nauseum 😂
You beat me to it.
@@arostwocents Calling us "pedantic" no less. Das glaube ich nicht Doktor.
Still the BEST history channel on UA-cam. Thank you MFP!
Patton was one of a kind. To call him a colorful character is an understatement.
Who else thinks George C. Scott played Patton perfectly in the movie? Even looks like him. Many people find that movie boring cause there’s little action but I love it cause I just love seeing this guy act like Patton.
Scott's voice was more masculine than Patton's--who had a surprsingly mousey voice.
@@willyboyw.5771 Plus, Patton wasn't always gruff and stoic. He literally got nauseous seeing the concentration camps (and told Eisenhower he couldn't go in any more of the buildings without throwing up).
George C Scott's depiction of Patton is nothing more than fantasy.
Patton’s family apparently wouldn’t allow any depiction of his personal life in the movie. However, they thought that Scott had captured the man perfectly.
Scott was great. Better movie than the real man deserved, probably. Everyone walks away with a sympathetic view of that old warhorse, because they didn't want to show his racism and antisemitism. And the part about Germans being obsessed with him is dubious. The bit in the beginning about Arabs looting American dead is an invention.
“Ps I was really scared” when you’re scared and you don’t act like it that’s courage
Patton did admit that nothing scared him as much as artillery fire. "I suppose I'll never get used to it."
Any GI would have agreed. The worst part is some guy's shooting at you from miles away and you don't have the satisfaction of being able to shoot back.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Às Napoleon said " Artillery is the queen of the battlefield"
@@user-km3yu9dx9c Boney should have known, he was a cannon-cocker by trade!
Nancy makes me think of “Kelly’s Heroes”. That was the town that Big Joe and the unit were wanting to get to for some much desired r&r.
Big Joe: ...There's no booze, there's no broads, there's no action!
Captain Maitland: That's another thing - don't fool around with the women. Their husbands carry guns. And don't forget, the penalty for looting is death.
Big Joe: Loot what? There's nothing here to loot!
“Nancy, Tell me about the hotels …”
“There are three, two are defended by units of the …”
“I DON’T WANNA KNOW ABOUT DEFENDERS! Which is the most comfortable?!”
@@JRL6211 …huhuhuh…so many positive waves in the comment section, babe. 👍🏻
Time to play the theme song from "Kelly's Heroes": "Buring Bridges."
Take it easy @@d.s.archer5903 …some of these guys have sensitive feelings. 😉👍🏻
Dr. Mark, I'm a French teacher and I would like to thank you for taking time our of your 🫵🏻British day to do your best to pronounce French names and places. 🇺🇸🤝🇬🇧
“We fought the wrong enemy”
-General Patton after the fall of Berlin, and after seeing the communists Hitler was telling us about.
My father, from Philadelphia, fought under Patton in France and Belgium- anti-aircraft artillery. Battle of the Bulge and Remagen.
My grandfather served in the Third Army under Patton, he always said that if Eisenhower had cut him loose they would have driven straight to Berlin
If FDR, Truman & Eisenhower were not doing back room with commies & the bankers Europe would be in the state that it is,
google operation unthinkable.
@@johndawes9337and Patton absolutely would have carried out that operation had the CIA not killed him
@@johndawes9337 Wow that's insane. No way Britain really thought they could take on the USSR themselves after defeating Germany hahah. And so crazy for them to consider that now and not before the lend lease was happening in the USSR which helped their war economy so much .
@@MaryamofShomalLogistics say otherwise.
Sounds like a new mission for Mark. Whats left of those tunnels?
“The Luftwaffe was thin on the ground!”
😂😂😂
Thank you, I needed that!
😢😅😊
Unlike their illustrious leader😂
@@deniseroe5891 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for posting, Mark!! "It didn't hurt America to have a General so bold, that he was dangerous"!!!!
George Patton, Old Blood and Guts "Our blood, his guts". Thanks for the video, Dr. Felton.
That's what my dad used to say!
My grandfather was in a SAW unit from the 9th Army Air Corps during the battle for Metz and his role was as a forward observer while carrying a BAR. It’s quite possible his unit was responsible for vectoring in those P47’s to attack the guns. Unfortunately he passed away in 2017 at the age of 94 and I’ll never know. Thank you Dr. Felton for sharing this story, at least it gives me something to ponder.
I appreciate the film footage of Patton, including his meal with Eisenhower and Bradley, and his letter admitting he was really scared. Thank you Dr f for continuing to dig deep, with quality!
From across the pond in the US and to all in the US, enjoy your Memorial Day and please remember those who died for the freedoms we have. Great Memorial Day gift from Dr. Mark Felton.
The speech at the end with patton made me remember that he was in fact dyslexic but neither that or the Germans could stop him ( a topic for a possible future video )
There's a very good possibility Patton was dyslexic but at this late date there's no way to be 100% sure.
But if he was it should only increase our admiration of the man for his ability to overcome the handicap and rise as far as he did.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 exactly what I was trying to put our there..and he had allegedly had dyagraphia ( I think that's what its called ) but it basically means you have trouble reading signs...imagine how difficult it must've been in wartime Europe to read signs 🤯🤯
@SuperDiablo101 ---> Doubtful that he was dyslexic. Where did you get that from? He said he could not pronounce the names of many German cities/towns. Who can, except for a German speaker?! Finding German words/placenames difficult to pronounce does NOT make a person dyslexic.
Gen. G.S. Patton Jr. was a graduate of the U.S.A.M.A. at West Point, New York, a 4-year institution of higher learning with very high standards in the late 1800's / early 1900's. Most people could not get in, let alone graduate from West Point.
Another great video about one of WW2 most famous and infamous Generals, Thanks Dr Felton. 🤗
(1) Thank you for another great video, Professor! (2) I believe that anyone who is minimally acquainted with Patton's biography, notwithstanding all that is or can be deemed as his character flaws, is always impacted when his image and sound is displayed on TV.
I have had the blessing of meeting men who served under Parton. Every single man had nothing but nice things to say and said they would do it again.
Ironically, when I met men who served under MacArthur, they couldn't say the same thing.
This is absurd. The Germans hadn't heard of Patton. The movie didn't come out until 1970...
But in all seriousness, there are no mentions of Poltroon Patton in any contemporary German accounts or records. They really hadn't heard of him. He's simply the result of the 'Murcan press's need for a 'hero' which George - patently - wasn't.
While I am not a great fan of Patton,
he had commanded in North Africa, Sicily, and France,
so I find it hard to believe
that German knowledge of the US Army
excluded extensive knowledge of Patton.
While I agree on the "need for a hero",
surely Patton
was what we ALL are -
flawed human beings?
What jumped out to me
was Patton's number of 40,000 US dead
as a result of his NW Europe operations.
Whereas British commanders
took the greatest possible care on casualties,
perhaps Patton less so?
/
Many Americans attack Montgomery
over Market Garden,
due to the heroic failure at Arnhem,
but forget
that the advance
did greatly improve the overall position.
They also forget
the huge US casualties
in the Hurtgen Forest,
and other operations,
where care for one's own troops
was not as high as it might have been?
/
Then the Ardennes Offensive demonstrated
all that was wrong with the US Army.
Given terrain
previously used for a German attack,
and a defender's dream,
The US was caught with it's pants down,
and panic at the highest levels.
Montgomery's practiced eyes
knew at once
what was required,
and instead of acknowledging this,
it was, and is, resented.
US casualties were horrendous,
making Market Garden
a walk in the park in comparison.
British casualties are rarely mentioned.
/
There is no doubt
that Patton thrived on challenges,
and rose to the occasion in the Ardennes,
while much of the US Army fought well,
but it should never have happened.
That it happened at all,
is due to failures
at multiple levels of all commands.
/
War is full of surprises,
and the Germans were masters of war,
achieving complete surprise.
To do this,
given allied air superiority,
access to German ciphers,
and the largest intelligence-gathering apparatus
up to that time,
is the measure of that achievement.
/
My father served under general Patton and he liked him . But I wonder if my father would enjoy watching Dr. Felton's videos as much as I do. He didn't really talk too much about his time in the army during world war II until later on in life. Although he's passed over a decade ago.
That seems to have been a common thing throughout the forces on most sides. My father was in the British Army Royal Corp of Signals in WWII and he was at Monte Casino. He really would only give out very very scant details about that and other aspects of the battles he was involved in. Sometimes it was just the funny stuff, like going fishing with German potatomasher hand grenades. He never would open up about anything grim.
As always, a real banger! Thank you so much doctor Felton! Much love from detroit usa!
I love these behind the scenes stories. Even I didn't know about this attempt, and I taught Middle school History for 35 years!! Nice job!
Dr.Felton amazes again!
Thanks Dr. Felton!
One of Patton's famous quotes was how fixed fortifications were a testament to man's stupidity. Yet Metz's 19th Century fixed fortifications held him up for 2 months.
Thank you Mark for another wonderful episode
A reminder to those referencing the wonderful movie Patton in their comments. It's a Hollywood movie, not a documentary.
sadly so many people are Hollywood historians.
also, his IVORY handled pistol has two notches in it, representing two of Poncho Villa's banditos Patton had personally dispatched in a gunfight
As usual, you are teaching me something I did not know. Thank you!
1:06 "Ivory! Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would have pearl handed pistols" - George C. Scott the other George who played George.
Great work as always, also quite a funny coincidence that I just came home from visiting relatives in Nancy and then stumble upon this video.
I appreciate you shedding some light on an episode of my native city's history.
Your presentations are always appreciated with your eye focused on accuracy and details. Many thanks.
>try to kill Patton with a train
>gets killed by a car while waiting for a train instead
Austrians would say - that is for not pronouncing Austrian cities correctly 😁 Greetings from an Austrian in Austria.
friendly fire was on
@yesyesyesyes1600 fancy bavaria
Gonna say it. The little flourish with the harp at the beginning of the newsreel footage is somehow funny to me.
Another rare war story. Thank you once again Dr. Felton.
Hello from North Carolina. My Dad, Julian S. Bissette was a WW2 veteran who served in General Patton's 64th armored tank division as a combat medic!
Hi Dr. Felton, have you thought about doing a story on the relationship of Patton with the French People ? Of the history I have studied, General Patton had a special and unique relationship with the French more so than any other American Military Leader or Leader of State. I don’t know if it was the simple fact of his ability to speak the language or the fact that he had lived with the people for an extended period of time. I think it would be something interesting to explore. Thank you very much and God Bless you and your family !!!
GERMAN HIGH COMMAND: "Patton is in Nancy."
UNKNOWN STAFF OFFICER: "We're gonna need a bigger gun."
🪖😂
Fascinating as usual. Thanks Mark.
a great documentary , thanks Dr Felton
MARK - If there’s one bright spot in the pendanticism, it’s that you know your subscribers are paying attention. 😊
Recently rewatched the masterpiece film "Patton" and man what a performance by George C Scott.
If there was ever an Oscar more deserved for a lead role than that, it's hard to think of one. Definition of "born to play that role"
Masterpiece.
And yet, the man turned it down because "the art of performance cannot be compared to another performance." A complicated man and master of his craft, you can see why he nailed the role of General Patton.
Anything with George C Scott I watch his scene. A sad shame he should have played as the captain of the Titanic in James Cameron's version then Bernad Hill.
@@RoyJNg He did play Captain Smith in the Titanic mini series (1996) that came out right before James Cameron's Titanic.
Wow Dr. Felton another amazing story I had no knowledge of. Anytime I see a new video from you I feel like I did as a child on Christmas morning. You know that feeling of I have to see whats in the box.
Superb narration. Thank you Mark.
Great show today! There's little I can add except I found it VERY interesting the Germans used a large (for lack of a better term) cartridge case as a breech seal in those 28cm / 11 inch railway guns. An efficient way of solving the problem.
Just to add a bit, MAYBE the long-range shelling of Nancy was an attempt to get Patton, maybe it wasn't. I suspect it was more an attempt to disrupt all the command and control located in Nancy rather than an attempt to get one man in particular. Killing Patton would have been an extreme example of good luck on the German's part.
Quite a fascinating man George Patton. He's an American folk hero just like George Washington, Davy Crockett, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and so many others I could name. He worked hard for and deserves his fame.
Do not forget to mention "General von Steuben" under George Washington... and Admiral Chester Nimitz who spoke fluent German... 😂
@@stubi1103 Certainly, so many to choose from!
"We defeated the wrong enemy"
Mark, thank you for another excellent report.
Excellent !!!!
You are the best of the best...ty Mark Felton
Thank you Mark.🏴🇬🇧
Dr.. Felton, can you please do a piece on the tragedy at Slapton Sands, England, where 749 Allied soldiers died while rehearsing for D-Day? The causes were friendly fire and attack from German E-boats off the coast of Devon.
Thank you❤
Already have years ago
War is hell. Many soldiers have died because their commanders were too cautious and hesitated too long out of concern for their men.
Thank you Mark for all your thorough work.
WOW Mark once again another top shelf production ,some amazing film of the guns here ,Thank you.
Patton the film is worth a watch.
My father-in-law was in the Third. He said every man in the Army knew it was a hit.
They were afraid he would do the right thing, which they did not want, as they had a different money-making forever war programme.
Fabulous Mark, really interesting history I'd not known. Many thanks for your amazing efforts.
1:20 "Old Blood & Guts"...the general the Germans feared the most, but some of his troops thought that it was rather a case of "Our blood...his guts"
My father is currently the youngest still-surviving American POW of ww-2. He was hand-picked for Task Force Baum, a mission deep inside enemy lines to liberate a prison camp just before the war ended. Most were captured or killed, mission failed. It was later learned that Patton's son-in-law "just happened" to be at the camp. :( Patton was an absolute monster who wasted his troops in large numbers. He was brought up on charges c. 1943; Eisenhower wanted to "sack" Patton but they let it go with a reprimand. Death came to Patton as a friend. He would have been prosecuted for what he did, possibly even at Nuremburg as a war criminal responsible for the "Biscari Massacre".
Task Force Baum was the worst thing Patton ever did, in my opinion. Pretty hard to forgive. Impossible to justify.
@@BruceK10032 My father (still with us) was there. He and another guy got separated from the group. The other guy tried to swim across a small canal and disappeared in the current, which was much stronger than it looked apparently. My future-father was alone, first thing you MUST DO is get rid of all weapons and ammo. If you didn't do that, the German snipers had a field day. Task Force Baum is the most obvious of Patton's excesses but certainly not the worst by any means. Patton was a monster, would not be surprised if his demise was a "hit" because his prosecution as a war criminal (would have probably happened 5 or even 10 years AFTER the war) would have been painful to all the families and the nation. He delighted in dead soldiers, more the better.
Zero chance Patton would have been court martialed after the war.
You're obviously not a Patton fan. Who do you think is the biggest prick - Patton or MacArthur? I know, not an easy one. My favourite US president is Truman, because he had the balls to sack MacArthur. Oh, he was also penniless when he left the White House.
Generals on the winning side don’t get prosecuted for “war crimes.”
Very intriguing. I always look forward to your work and videos. Many thanks for posting Mark!!
Thank you for this post.
Thank You Dr. Felton.
Every time Eisenhower cut Patton's supplies he extended the war 🤦♂️
Eisenhower extended the war with the Broadfront strategy.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Eisenhower believed the best way to defeat Nazi Germany was a broadfront strategy that essentially 'gobbled up' the nation, leaving no possibility for German flank counterattacks. Imagine a virus slowly enveloping the entire organism. Eisenhower could not predict from where or towards what any German counterattack might form. Therefore, preventing it by overwhelming territory prevented that, forcing the remaining German military forces backwards, taking more casualties and becoming restricted in movement. It was a slow, bloody grind, however, that was controversial in its own.
That the Allies won the war in just a few months put paid to the controversy over whether a broadfront strategy was the best or whether the rapier thrust advocated by Field Marshal Montgomery would have been faster.
Certainly Montgomery had had his chance with Operation Market Garden. Had Market Garden worked, the advantages for the Allies would have been immense. The Allied Army Groups would swing north and down through the heart of Nazi Germany, possibly ending the war before Christmas 1944. But so much bad luck, ill fortune, bad timing, loss of a crucial bridge and the slow slog of the British 30th Army (basically a tank and motorized army) made it seem the Fates intended the war drag on longer until the end of April when Adolf Hitler took his own life and the final unconditional surrender of May 8, 1945.
But Eisenhower had to be half politician and half military. He had the tough job to keep the allied commanders together, and communicate the war results to the American president and people. I think he did a hell of a job! ❤
The goal of quickly liberating France from occupation required a broad front. When Eisenhower did allow Montgomery the resources for Market-Garden, it didn’t go well. We can speculate those resources going to Patton would have militarily been a better choice. However this was a coalition war. Eisenhower was chosen precisely because he could manage a coalition. However War is politics by other means. Eisenhower was politically adapt.
@@Idahoguy10157 I doubt they would have been a better choice considering the gains that would have been made seizing the Industrial heart of Germany in the North. The South was mostly irrelevant.
The Broad Front failed with Market Garden, it continued to fail with clearing of the Scheldt Estuary, 6th Army Group proved its failure in the slow process to secure the Alsace region, it went on failing as the 3rd US Army banged it's head against the fortress of Metz for three months, and it was still failing as 1st US Army fought a WW1 style pointless battle of attrition in the Hurtgen Forest when the Ardennes Offensive was launched.
Mark, pretty sure they feared Zhukov much more than they did Patton
Mark left off the word “American.” He was the only American general the Germans feared.
@@PaulMcElligott they never heard of him till Metz and that was a clusterphook
Thank you for including the extensive Patton quote between 10:04 and 11:07 in this feature. It helps humanize a man who, for many, remains something of a caricature.
Interesting video, thanks for bringing us this work you do.
Patton had a bit of a high pitched voice.
How awesome is this video!? Pretty F'n awesome.
Great and informative video. Thank you.
Dr Mark Felton, I think we all prefer these in-depth posts, as you did in early UA-cam days! a great post concerning Patton, his comments on the Guns.
As Patton is quoted as saying when asked about his "pearl handled" revolvers: "A pimp carries a pearl handled pistol, these are IVORY!"
Check out Patton's modified jeep at 00:48. Armor? Horns?
Yeah, I noticed that too. First and only time I've seen that one.
Had sirens on all his vehicles
Dr Felton has done it again. What an interesting story.
it is a good Friday when Dr. Felton has a upload for us! :)
Pearl handled pistols I taught they were ivory [timestamp 1:04]?
0:00 nothing like that theme song ❤
Your work never fails to impress me
Good mornig.... like watching this stuff in the morning while drinking my coffee
Me too.
Fascinating....Thanx mark
Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Audacious General is a book written by bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard about the final year of World War II and the death of General George Patton, specifically whether it was an accident or an assassination. The book is the follow-up to Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, and Killing Jesus and was published in September 2014 through Henry Holt and Company.
Great book!
Yes, we give Patton all due credit for what he was, but what would have happened if 67% of the German armies were not on the Eastern Front fighting the GD Russians.
Greetings from Quincy, Massachusetts! Thanks, Mark…. Reminds me of recent local events. In 2009, I managed to get to Hamilton, Massachusetts, to Patton Park, where his command tank sat and is probably still there. Another bucket list crossout.
Good documentary as always mark
"They are ivory, only a new orleans pimp would have pearl handles"
I smell Montgomery!
At 12:17 I noticed Kaiserslautern on the map. I was stationed at Kleber Kaserne from 1977-1978.
Thank you for another excellent video!