What Was George Patton's Contribution

In 1944, the United States war effort in Europe was just starting to pick up. Even though the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just three years prior, the growing power of the Third Reich could not be ignored. During this time, France was already occupied by Nazi Germany and Hitler's war machine was on the path of conquering all of Eurasia. In an attempt to combat this immense threat, the U.S. formulated a plan to engage the German forces through an invasion of Normandy. This bloody offensive would be remembered in infamy as D-Day. Shortly before this violent clash of U.S. and German forces, the inexperienced men of the United States Third Army was given an encouraging and inspiring speech by the four star general George S. Patton.

George Patton was a senior officer and commander of the U.S. Seventh Army during World War II. One of the pioneers in tank warfare, Patton became best known as the most effective general of World War II. Patton led American forces to significant victories on the fronts of North Africa, Sicily, and Europe. Before the European invasion, Patton, along with a major build-up of Allied forces was covertly preparing for the first assaults on German occupied Normandy, France. General Patton’s speech to the Third Army was given on June 5, 1944, in the United Kingdom on the eve of the Allied invasion of Europe (National Endowment for the Humanities, n.a.). This famous speech was given to the soldiers under his command. The speech was delivered as a motivational device by Patton in order to inspire and solidify his men for upcoming challenges.

Dwightshowed his skill of organizing the movement of large numbers of troops. Hewas then promoted several times in the next few years.Then in 1941Eisenhower was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Third Army (Hargrove49). Then shortly after the promotion to "Chief of Staff", Ike was againpromoted to the position of Brigadier General (Hargrove 50). Soon he wasput in charge of the Allied forces in Europe (Hargrove 52). He nowcontrolled the armies of the United States, Britain, and Canada (Hargrove7). Eisenhower and other Allied Generals planned the invasion of Normandy (Hargrove 12). Eisenhower would lead the 6,483 sea vessels,about 800,000 men, and 12,000 aircraft across the English Channel toNormandy France (Benson 12). Eisenhower had hoped that the Germanswould fear an invasion at the close French city of Calais ("The Beachesof..." 9). There were to be five beaches invaided with the code names;Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword, and Juno ("The beaches of..." 28). In the endDwight D. Eisenhower led the Allies to victory on June 6,1944. IfEisenhower had made a wrong choice, Hitler would have continued to rainV-1 & V-2 rockets on London (Benson 7). Eisenhower had nowsuccessfully completed the most important invasion in history wiping out allmost 100% of German units. Luckily Allied forces only suffered 76% casualties (Barry 30). Dwight Eisenhower was one of the

Military general for the United States army, George S. Patton in his speech, “Speech to the Third Army” motivates troops to be prepared to fight for D-Day. According to the National D-day Memorial website, America was fighting Nazi-Germany in World War II, on this day America and on D-day theother allied countries were going to invade Germany with over 150,000 men. Patton was the Army Ggeneral whothat grew up in a military based family, and he was known to be brutal and strict and sometimes even overbearing. This made him a well respected and feared man. The purpose of his D-day speech was to instill masculinity and pride in his soldiers and, to create unity with the troops so they can fight alongside each other. It was extremely

On the 6th of June 1944, Operation Overlord began to free France from the Nazi German army. The invasion and liberation of France from Nazi Germany was a pivotal battle in the Second World War. This stems primarily from the extensive use of the Field Artillery throughout the battle. Many of the tactics and equipment used during the largest amphibious assault in history, are directly related to the current American artillery arsenal and how the United States uses that weaponry on the battlefield today.

Other than causing the liberation of France and the establishment of a new battlefront, the invasion also relieved the Soviet Union’s pressure. Before the Invasion, Germany had over two million troops fighting against the Red Army in the Eastern Front, and many of Soviet’s cities were captured. The Russians fought desperately to protect their cities. However, after the invasion, with the launch of a new major battlefront in the West, Hitler had to transport many of his forces to the West in order to defend his own country. Without as many troops to fight against, the Soviet army was able to push through Czechoslovakia, Poland and eventually penetrate into Germany; the Soviet Union’s progress greatly sped up the endof the war. (Naval History and Heritage- D-Day, the Normandy Invasion, 6 - 25 June 1944)

The post D-Day Allied assault that swept through France was halted by Hitler’s unexpected counter-attack through the Ardennes, resulting in a confrontation named the Battle of the Bulge.

troops in the invasion of Normandy. Under his direction, the 100,000 troops were the main

Although US troops assumed mainly a support role in this action, the battle came to be known as the beginning of the end for Germany. 85,000 US troops participated, with 12,000 casualties, gaining the praise of not only their own officers, but the French and British commanders as well. "During this time a single regiment of the 3rd Division rewrote one of the most luminous pages in our military history, it prevented the crossing at certain points on its front, while on either flank the Germans who had gained a footing pressed

After the invasion of mainland Europe by allied forces in the summer of 1944, the German Army was on the defensive. The army was fighting two enemies and losing on both fronts. On their Eastern front, were the Russians who had been advancing and battling the Germans, to a stalemate and on their Western front (History Net, 2015), were the rest of the allies including America, the Free French Forces, as well as Soldiers and allies from many occupied countries (Kotz, 2007). The above mentioned forces, in December 1944 were maintining a momentum that had brought them to liberate many European countries, and forcing the Germans to do

Although he helped American troops in North Africa, Eisenhower’s biggest feat was the invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe, better known as D-Day. As the Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces in World War II at the time, Eisenhower gave permission for a massive invasion called Operation Overlord. He only had a window of four days to launch the attack, but jumped at the opportunity (Koves). The 40 mile stretch of the beaches of Normandy, France was divided into five sections: Juno, Sword, Omaha, Gold, and Utah (Operation Overlord Animated Map). Late at night on June 6th, 1944, aerial troops secured both the eastern and western parts of the beach. In the morning, seaborne soldiers began to attack the coast (Operation Overlord Animated Map). By June 27th, the Germans had wrecked their ports, assuming this would slow down the Allies. Their attempt failed, and finally, on August 25th, the French army successfully liberated Paris (BBC News).

Hitler’s Watch on the Rheine offensive depended on his three armies, the Fifth Panzer Army in the north, the Sixth Panzer Army in the center and the 7th Army in the south. The German War Machine included 400,000 troops, 1,400 tanks, 2,600 artillery pieces and 1,000 aircraft in comparison to the thin American line consisting of four American Infantry Divisions and one Armored Division totally 83,000 men and 400 tanks (Farrell 37). Despite an overwhelming Wehrmacht (German Army) and their extensive knowledge of terrain and an elaborate plan to infiltrate Allied lines through the use of espionage,

The Germans brought in planes and tried to take over a yard that supplied the Allied Forces. At that point, the Germans advanced over 60 miles and they were completely out of fuel. The troops were forced to keep fighting without their vehicles. That winter was tremendously cold, and many soldiers got frostbite and trench foot. The Allied Forces and Germans fought intensely during this period because both sides had much to lose. The Germans knew that they must either keep fighting or retreat. On December 26, 1944, U.S General George Patton's troop defeated the Germans. They caught the Germans unaware and insured the allies’

The Battle of Normandy was a turning point in World War II. Canada, America, and Great Britain arrived at the beaches of Normandy and their main objective was to push the Nazi’s out of France. The Invasion at Normandy by the Allied Powers winning this battle lead to the liberation of France and Western Europe. Most importantly Hitler was being attacked from both the eastern and western front, and caused him to lose power. If the Allied Powers did not succeed On D-Day, Hitler would’ve taken over all of Europe. In a document written by General Dwight Eisenhower he persuades the allied powers to invade Normandy. Dwight Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890. Eisenhower became the 34th president of the United States. He served as the

Operation Market Garden was one of the largest airborne battles in history. With over 41,000 airborne troops from the nations of the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Canada, And the Netherlands. In September 1944, to keep the momentum going towards Germany from Normandy. Field Marshal Montgomery of the United Kingdom armed forces convinced Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower to go northward towards Arnhem. Operation Market Garden was comprised of two parts.