The raid on the POW Camp at Hammelburg by Task Force Baum was ill conceived, insufficiently supported, and implemented for purely personal reasons. (to rescue his son-in-law John Waters) But he got pretty bogged down in Metz too. Urban fighting didn’t suit his cavalry man’s style.
I have three different books about Patton including his diary.
Metz was a tough nut to crack. If I remember, it was surrounded by forts. Patton in his usual style kept attacking but the attacks were repelled. He finally did capture it tho.
Urban fighting didn’t suit his cavalry man’s style.
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The battle of “Metz” was not really urban fighting. The city of Metz had been a Citadel for hundreds and hundreds of years. It was a FORTIFIED CITY, but the surrounding countryside was also full of Forts (Verdun, for example)which held out, many connected by underground tunnels and massive armaments originally built by the French. Metz was captured by the Prussians in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and ceded to Prussia in the Frankfort Treaty. It came back to the possession of France following WW I and was immediately seized and declared German by Hitler in 1940. Following WW II, it finally came back to France as it remains today. I know the city well and the surrounding countryside and forts, many in number. It was considered impregnable, yet eventually fell to Patton’s troops. It was a three month battle, from September to December, but comprised of many skirmishes and scattered confrontations as well as an all out assault. Casualties were high on both sides.