Patton looked at Ike as a bureaucrat and not a soldier.
"That's a shame Monty, I shaved extra close in hopes that you would"
LOL!
Some of Patton's thoughts about Ike, from "The Unknown Patton" by Charles M. Province
Ike said to me in departing, "Every time I get a new star, I get attacked." And I said, "And every time you get attacked, I pull you out."
Eisenhower is either unwilling or unable to command Montgomery.
Ike asked me to dinner. Butcher, a British aide-de-camp, a WAAC Captain, and Kay Summersby were also present. Ike was very nasty and show-offish. He always is when Kay is present. He criticized General Lee for his flamboyance, but he would give a million to possess it himself.
Ike said to me, "You are fundamentally honest on the larger issues, but are too fanatical in your friendships." It is a good thing for him that someone is.
I wish to God that Ike would leave and take Smith with him. They cramp my style. It is better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven.
So far in my dealings with him, he has never once mentioned in a complimentary way any action that I or any other officer have performed. I do not believe that it is intentional, but just carelessness; however, it is poor leadership. He had on his new five star insignia. It is a very pretty insignia.
I was more amused than surprised when Eisenhower failed to make any remark about my Bastogne operation. In fact, he made no reference whatsoever to the great successes of the Third Army.
Ike was quite apologetic about the 'four star' business, but has, however, good reasons. That is, you must maintain the hierarchy of command or else relieve them, and he had no reason for relieving them. At the moment I am having so much fun fighting that I don't care what my rank is.
This so called 're-deployment' is really a vote catching program. Ike's people were here to explain the unexplainable.
Later, when we were going well and could have easily taken Berlin, Churchill asked Ike to do it and Ike replied that it was Churchill's fault that the line had been established where it was. I believe this was a great mistake on his part because had we taken the country to the Moldau River and Berlin we would have saved a great deal of agricultural Germany and prevented what I believe historians will consider a horrid crime and a great loss of prestige in letting the Russians take the two leading capitals of Europe.
If Ike, etc. don't like what I do, they can relieve me. Then I will resign, not retire, and I can tell the world a few truths which will be worth saying.
Ike has an unfortunate habit of underrating all Americans who come under him and overrating all British and all Americans who have served elsewhere.
I wish to God that Ike were more of a soldier, and less of a politician.
We suffer very much from lack of command. No one is running the show.
Ike has no conception of physical command. He has never exercised it.
Of course, I was originally selected for 'Torch' through the direct action of Ike and therefore I owe him a good deal. On the other hand, I have paid my way ever since.
His is the style of an office seeker rather than that of a soldier.
Neither Ike nor Brad has the stuff. Ike is bound hand and foot by the British and does not know it. Poor fool. We actually have no supreme commander. No one can take hold and say that this shall be done and that shall be done. It is very unfortunate and I see no solution to the situation.
I told him that if I were reduced to Colonel, I demanded the right to command one of the assault regiments; that this was not a favor, but a right.
Ike replied, "Don't I know it, but what can I do?" That is a hell of a remark for a 'supreme commander'.
Monty does what he pleases and Ike says, "Yes, Sir!"
Ike was very pontifical and quoted Clauswitz to us, who have commanded larger forces than Clauswitz ever heard of.
Ike kept talking about the future 'Great Battle of Germany' while we assured him that the Germans have nothing left to fight with and if we push on now, there will not be a 'Great Battle of Germany'.
Ike is all for caution since he has never been to the front and has no feel for actual fighting.
At 0800 hours, we heard on the radio that Ike had said that 'Monty' was the greatest living soldier and that he is now a 'Field Marshall'.
I wish that Ike were more of a gambler, but he is certainly a lion compared to Montgomery. And Bradley is better than Ike as far is nerve is concerned.
Ike is not well and is very querulous and keeps saying how hard it is to be so high and never to have heard a hostile shot. He could correct that situation very easily if he wanted to. I also think that he is timid.
Ike and Clark were in conference as to what to do. Neither of them had been to the front, so they showed great lack of decision. They have no knowledge of men or war. Too damned slick, especially Clark.
I am flying to see Ike. He and Clark certainly need to know the facts of life. They send some of the most foolish instructions that I have ever read.
Ike was fine, except that he spoke of lunch as 'tiffin', of gasoline as 'petrol', and of anti-aircraft as 'flack'. I truly fear that London has conquered Abilene.
Ike is not as rugged mentally as I had thought. He vacillates and is not realistic.
Ike is getting megalomania.
It is noticeable that most of the American officers here are pro British, even Ike. I am not, repeat, not pro British.
I spent the night at Ike's. Lieutenant Kay Summersby came to supper. Ike and I talked until 0129 hours. He is beginning to see the light but is too full of himself. I was quite frank with him about the British and he took it.
Ike walked the floor for some time, orating, and then he asked me to mention how hard he worked, what great risks he had taken, and how well he had handled the British, in my next letter to General Marshall.
Ike needs a few loyal and unselfish men around him, even if he is too weak a character to be worthy of us. But if I do my duty I will be paid in the end.
It is always depressing to me to see how completely Ike is under the influence of the British. He even prefers steel tracks to rubber tracks on tanks because 'Monty' does.
We are in the clutches of the 'masterminds' here with the inevitable result that we are changing our plans more often than we are changing our underwear. I have been consulted no more than I was when we landed in Sicily.
Ike and I dined alone and we have a very pleasant time. He is drinking too much but is terribly lonely. I really feel sorry for him. I think that in his heart he knows that he is really not commanding anything.
Ike told me that he had not yet decided which of us three, Hodges, Bradley, or I, should command the Army Group. Bradley will!
Ike is getting foolish and bothering about things such as who is to be head nurse; far below his dignity.
Ike has never been subjected to air attack or any other form of possible death. However, he is such a straw man that his future is secure. The British will never let him go.
At no time did Ike wish us luck and say that he was back of us. He is a fool.
Ike said, "You are a great leader, but a poor planner." I replied that except for 'Torch' which I had planned and which was a high success, I have never been given a chance to plan.
Ike arrived. We had a scout car and a Guard of Honor for him. The Guard of Honor was from his old battalion of the 15th Infantry, the only unit he ever commanded.
Ike is now wearing suede shoes, 'a la' British.
When I took Ike to my room to show him the situation, he was not much interested, but he began to compare the sparsity of my reports with the almost hourly news bulletins of the 8th Army under Montgomery.
Ike called up late and said that, "My American boss will visit you in the morning." I asked, "When did Mamie arrive"? Man cannot serve two masters.
I think that if you treat a skunk nicely, he will not piss on you -- as often.
Lieutenant General Cocran, the son of a bitch, called our troops cowards. Ike says that since they were serving in his Corps that it was O.K. I told him that had I so spoken of the British under me, my head would come off. He agreed, but does nothing to Cocran.
It is noteworthy that had I done what Cunningham did, I would have been relieved of duty. Ike told me later that he could not punish Cunningham because he was a New Zealander and political reasons forbade it. Unfortunately, I am neither a Democrat nor Republican. Just a soldier.
I am fed up with being treated like a moron by the British. There is no national honor nor prestige left us the Americans. Ike must go. He is a typical case of a beggar on horseback; 'could not stand the prosperity'.
One can only conclude that where the Eighth Army is in trouble, we are to expend our lives gladly; but when the Eighth Army is going well, we are to halt so as not to take any glory. It is an inspiring method of making war and shows rare quality in our leadership. And Ike falls for it! Oh, for a Pershing!
Ike talked in glittering generalities and then said as nearly as I can remember, "George, you are my oldest friend, but if you or anyone else criticizes the British, by God, I will reduce him to his permanent grade and send him home."
Ike made the sensational statement that while hostilities were in progress, the one important thing was order and discipline, but that now that hostilities were over the important thing was to stay in with 'world opinion'. Apparently whether it was right or wrong.
Eisenhower was also quite anxious for me to run for congress. I presume in the belief that I might help him.
Ike is bitten by the Presidential Bug and he is YELLOW.
Apparently Ike has to a high degree the 'Messiah Complex' for which he can't be blamed since everybody bootlicks him except me.
Eisenhower was more excited than I have ever seen him, and I believe that this can be traced to the fact that he is very much worried about the delay in getting appointed as Chief of Staff at home. He fears that if he stays here, he will lose some of his prestige.
Prince Bernhard of Holland decorated a number of SHAEF officers, including Lieutenant Kay Summersby. She was in a high state of nerves as a result of hearing that General Eisenhower would not be returning.
How can anyone expect any backbone in a man who is already running for President.
I feel that as an American it will ill become me to discredit Ike yet. That is, until I shall prove even more conclusively that he lacks moral fortitude. This lack has been evident to me since the first landing in Africa, but now that he has been bitten by the Presidential Bee, it is becoming even more pronounced.
On Field Marshall Montgomery
Take this five gallon gasoline can to Montgomery with this message; "Although I am sadly short of gasoline myself, I know of your admiration for our equipment and supplies and I can spare you this five gallons. It will be more than enough to take you as far as you probably will advance in the next two days."
We roll across France in less time than it takes Monty to say 're-group' and here we sit stuck in the mud of Lorraine.
We never had to re-group, which seemed to the chief form of amusement of the British Armies.
Montgomery had the nerve to get someone in the United States to suggest that General Eisenhower was 'over worked' and needed a Deputy Ground Force Commander for all of the troops in Europe and that he, Monty, was 'God's gift to war' in this respect.
Monty is trying to steal the show with the help of Eisenhower. He may do so, but to date we have captured three times as many enemy as our cousins have.
I have a feeling, probably unfounded, that neither Monty nor Bradley are too anxious for me to have a command. If they knew what little respect I have for the fighting ability of either of them, they would be even less anxious for me to show them up.
Mr. McCloy asked me what I thought of Monty. I said at first that I preferred not to answer and then when pressed, I said that I thought Monty was too cautious and would not take calculated risks.
During Montgomery's lecture, it was interesting to note that I was the only American Commander of the four American Commanders involved in the plan to be mentioned by name. The other three he mentioned by number of the Army.
I fear that after we land in France, we will be boxed into a beachhead, due to timidity and lack of drive, which is latent in Montgomery.
Bradley says he will put me in as soon as he can. He could do it now with much benefit to himself, if he had any backbone. Of course, Monty does not want me as he fears that I will steal the show, which I will.
Montgomery went to great lengths to explain why the British had done nothing.
To hell with Monty. I must get so involved that they can't stop me. I told Bradley not to call me until after dark on the 19th.
The 'Field Marshall' thing made us sick, that is Bradley and me.
Monty is a tired little fart. War requires the taking of risks and he won't take them.
Eisenhower is either unwilling or unable to command Montgomery.
This is another case of giving up a going attack in order to start one which has no promise of success except for the exaltation of Monty, who has never won a battle since he left Africa and only El Alamein their. I won Mareth for him.
I can out fight that little fart, Monty, anytime.
We never met any opposition because the bigger and better Germans fight Monty. He says so. Also, he advertises so damn much that they know where he is. I fool them.
Yesterday, the Field Marshall ordered SHAEF to have the Third Army go on the defensive, stand in place, and prepare to guard his right flank. The Field Marshall then announced the he will, after regrouping, make what he describes as a lightning thrust at the heart of Germany. "They will be off their guard," he said, "and I shall pop out at them like an angry rabbit."
