Didn’t John Eisenhower graduate West Point on June 6, 1944? If I’m recalling that correctly, that anecdote is suspect. Patton’s exploitation of Operation Cobra began on August 1st. If that event happened (and it’s possible) it would have probably happened in early-to-mid-July.
Most of Patton’s 3rd Army troops would have been packing their gear to move over the Channel — probably not out on field maneuvers.
I take your larger point about Patton being interested in tactical detail. He invented a tanker’s uniform, cavalry sword, etc. He commented favorably on the M-1 Garand Rifle too, suggesting his opinions were being solicited by the Washington Brass. He is partly responsible (to blame?) for the M4 Sherman being chosen for mass production.
I was reading “An Army at Dawn”. Patton didn’t take a lot of interest in Adm. Hewitt’s preparations for the Torch Landings. He didn’t make that mistake twice. Patton’s use of several amphibious hooks during the Sicilian campaign kept the German defenders backpedaling.
> Most of Patton’s 3rd Army troops would have been packing their gear to move over the Channel — probably not out on field maneuvers.
:’) I’ll see if I can find the real details (as opposed to my sometimes-hazy memory).
The Germans were great at tactical retreat and using terrain to their advantage. Also, they got the point about the relative useful/uselessness of fixed fortifications prior to WWI. Patton was probably lucky to be relieved from 7th command after the slapping incident, because the “soft underbelly” idea from Churchill, invading Italy, was a really stupid idea, and at best, Patton might have gotten somewhat quicker — but still costly — results. I recall a propaganda poster the Germans had printed in English, and plastered around surreptitiously in Allied-held areas of Italy; it showed a big hill, anthropomorphized, picking up US servicemen and tossing them into its mouth. D-Day’s final go-ahead didn’t get done (I think I read this in Bradley’s “A Soldier’s Story”) until Stalin humiliated Churchill and ridiculed the Italian campaign, insisting the real second front be opened ASAP.