She had blue eyes, blonde hair, and a little dimple in her chin just like her mother. Patton later changed his mind. [153] As a result of Operation Fortitude, the German 15th Army remained at the Pas de Calais to defend against Patton's supposed attack. Waters was graduated from Foxcroft school in Virginia. [34] Patton had a high-pitched voice and worried that this would make it impossible for him to inspire his troops. California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994 100 San Leandro, CA, 94577 Phone: (510) 352-9200. At age 24, Patton married Beatrice Banning Ayer, the daughter of Boston industrialist Frederick Ayer, on May 26, 1910, in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. Gen. George Smith Patton Jr. (1885-1945) FamilySearch He emigrated to Culpeper, Virginia, from Glasgow, in either 1769 or 1770. [12] He competed in this sport in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, and he finished in fifth placeright behind four Swedes. "Patton" and "George Patton" redirect here. She met George Patton for the first time as children. The only US soldier with tank-driving experience, Patton personally backed seven of the tanks off the train. Topics include the saber, cavalry, casualty information, denazification of Germany, and displaced persons. [85], Patton left France for New York City on March 2, 1919. His instinctive preference for offensive movement was typified by an answer Patton gave to war correspondents in a 1944 press conference. This collection contains some delayed birth records, as well. Martin Blumenson, Patton, George Smith in John Garraty, ed., Encyclopedia of American Biography (1974) p 839. [149] On January 26, 1944, Patton was formally given command of the U.S. Third Army in England, a newly formed field Army, and he was assigned to prepare its inexperienced soldiers for combat in Europe. During the September Louisiana Maneuvers, his division was part of the losing Red Army in Phase I, but in Phase II was assigned to the Blue Army. Still unconvinced, Eisenhower ordered Patton to attack the morning of December 22, using at least three divisions. [49], In 1915, Lieutenant Patton was assigned to border patrol duty with A Troop of the 8th Cavalry, based in Sierra Blanca. [230] Another controversy occurred prior to Operation Overlord when Patton spoke at a British welcoming club at Knutsford in England, and said, in part, "since it is the evident destiny of the British and Americans, and of course, the Russians, to rule the world, the better we know each other, the better job we will do." Taken to a hospital in Heidelberg, Patton was discovered to have a compression fracture and dislocation of the cervical third and fourth vertebrae, resulting in a broken neck and cervical spinal cord injury that rendered him paralyzed from the neck down. Patton then returned to Saumur to learn advanced techniques before bringing his skills to the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, where he would be both a student and a fencing instructor. Patton was dissatisfied with MacArthur's conduct, as he recognized the legitimacy of the veterans' complaints and had himself earlier refused to issue the order to employ armed force to disperse the veterans. [165] Equally important to the advance of Third Army columns in northern France was the rapid advance of the supply echelons. [194], Patton asked for a command in the Pacific Theater of Operations, begging Marshall to bring him to that war in any way possible. 1911 March 19 Patton's first child, Beatrice Ayer, was born. Developed originally by General Elwood Quesada of IX Tactical Air Command for the First Army in Operation Cobra, the technique of "armored column cover", in which close air support was directed by an air traffic controller in one of the attacking tanks, was used extensively by the Third Army. [109] Patton had a preoccupation with bravery,[8] wearing his rank insignia conspicuously in combat, and at one point during World War II, he rode atop a tank into a German-controlled village seeking to inspire courage in his men. [115][116] Patton commanded the Western Task Force, consisting of 33,000 men in 100 ships, in landings centered on Casablanca, Morocco. [182] He later wrote that the relief of Bastogne was "the most brilliant operation we have thus far performed, and it is in my opinion the outstanding achievement of the war. He was very bold and preferred large movements. He was relieved of command of the Third Army on October 7, and in a somber change of command ceremony, Patton concluded his farewell remarks, "All good things must come to an end. Then he went to Stockholm, where he reunited with other athletes from the 1912 Olympics. The Patton family resided at Lake Vineyard, built by Benjamin Wilson, on 128 acres (52ha) in present-day San Marino, California. This helped to mask the real location of the invasion in Normandy. I think I killed one man here. [13], Patton graduated number 46 out of 103 cadets at West Point on June 11, 1909,[14] and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Cavalry branch of the United States Army. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. As a child, Patton had difficulty learning to read and write, but eventually overcame this and was known in his adult life to be an avid reader. While Eisenhower and Marshall both considered Patton to be a skilled combat commander, they felt Bradley was less impulsive and less prone to making mistakes. He named Patton commander of the 2nd Armored Brigade, part of the 2nd Armored Division. When Coningham dispatched three officers to Patton's headquarters to persuade him that the British were providing ample air support, they came under German air attack mid-meeting, and part of the ceiling of Patton's office collapsed around them. [53][54] Patton modeled much of his leadership style after Pershing, who favored strong, decisive actions and commanding from the front. [83] For his actions in Cheppy, Patton received the Silver Star, which was later upgraded to the DSC, with the citation for the medal reading: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel (Armor) George Smith Patton, Jr. (ASN: 0-2605), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Tank Corps, A.E.F., near Cheppy, France, 26 September 1918. In peacetime, though, he would remain a colonel to remain eligible to command a regiment. During maneuvers the Third Army conducted in 1940, Patton served as an umpire, where he met Adna R. Chaffee Jr. and the two formulated recommendations to develop an armored force. Befriending Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Patton served as his aide at social functions on top of his regular duties as quartermaster for his troop. Hirshson said that the relationship was casual. [1] STARS Community Services 400 Estudillo Ave., Ste. This caused Eisenhower to relieve Patton from command of the Third Army. [210], Patton's final assignment was to command the U.S. 15th Army, based in Bad Nauheim. "[133] Bradley refused Patton's suggestions. Beatrice Banning Ayer boyfriend, husband list. Snippet - The Birth of Beatrice Banning Ayer - Minnegate Press [178] Eisenhower was incredulous: "Don't be fatuous, George. German commanders interviewed after the war noted he could have bypassed the city and moved north to Luxembourg where he would have been able to cut off the German Seventh Army. [130][131], Patton's conduct in this campaign met with several controversies. While recuperating from his wound, Patton was brevetted to colonel in the Tank Corps of the U.S. National Army on October 17. An attempt by Patton to seize Fort Driant just south of Metz was defeated, but by mid-November Metz had fallen to the Americans. She married Gen. George Smith Patton Jr. on 25 May 1910, in Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Patton's colorful image, hard-driving personality, and success as a commander were at times overshadowed by his controversial public statements. [6] At the age of seventeen he sought an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. During and following Patton's assignment in Hawaii, he and Eisenhower corresponded frequently. On December 16, 1944, it massed 29 divisions totaling 250,000 men at a weak point in the Allied lines, and during the early stages of the ensuing Battle of the Bulge, made significant headway towards the Meuse River during a severe winter. The landings, which took place on November 8, 1942, were opposed by Vichy French forces, but Patton's men quickly gained a beachhead and pushed through fierce resistance. [122] During this time, he reported to British General Sir Harold Alexander, commander of the 18th Army Group, and came into conflict with Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham about the lack of close air support being provided for his troops. [111] From his first days as a commander, Patton strongly emphasized the need for armored forces to stay in constant contact with opposing forces. [45] Arriving in September 1913, he taught fencing to other cavalry officers, many of whom were senior to him in rank. This is not a duplicate memorial. Patton made a final stop in Washington, D.C. before returning to Europe in July to serve in the occupation forces. This code phrase initiated a prearranged operational order with Patton's staff, mobilizing three divisionsthe 4th Armored Division, the 80th Infantry Division, and the 26th Infantry Divisionfrom the Third Army and moving them north toward Bastogne. [75] He personally led a troop of tanks through thick fog as they advanced 5 miles (8km) into German lines. I Corps in the MeuseArgonne offensive on September 26. [254] Many German field commanders were generous in their praise of Patton's leadership following the war,[c] and many of its highest commanders also held his abilities in high regard. [10], In his plebe (first) year at West Point, Patton adjusted easily to the routine. During the Allied occupation of Germany, Patton was named military governor of Bavaria, but was relieved for making aggressive statements towards the Soviet Union and trivializing denazification. [15][16], At age 24, Patton married Beatrice Banning Ayer, the daughter of Boston industrialist Frederick Ayer, on May 26, 1910, in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. She shaped the man, fortified the soldier, and created the legend "[244] As Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy told Eisenhower: "Lincoln's remark after they got after Grant comes to mind when I think of Patton'I can't spare this man, he fights'. [33] In late 1911, Patton was transferred to Fort Myer, Virginia, where many of the Army's senior leaders were stationed. Eisenhower called a meeting of all senior Allied commanders on the Western Front at a headquarters near Verdun on the morning of December 19 to plan strategy and a response to the German assault. [197], Patton was appointed as military governor of Bavaria, where he led the Third Army in denazification efforts. "[181], By February, the Germans were in full retreat. So I went back and made some Americans hiding in the trenches dig a passage. George Smith Patton Jr. was born on November 11, 1885,[1][2] in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel, California, to George Smith Patton Sr. and his wife, Ruth Wilson, the daughter of Benjamin Davis Wilson, the second Mayor of Los Angeles. [224] Historian Hugh Cole notes that Patton was the first to integrate black and white soldiers into the same rifle companies. [93] In August 1923, Patton saved several children from drowning when they fell off a yacht during a boating trip off Salem, Massachusetts. Beatrice Banning Ayer dating history - Who's Dated Who? [76], Patton's brigade was then moved to support U.S. Still, 40,000 German and 70,000 Italian troops escaped to Italy with 10,000 vehicles. 1913-1915 Instructor in weapons, United States Cavalry School, Fort Riley, Kans. Associated Press, "Patton Fails To Get Task in Orient". Patton, Beatrice Banning Ayer, 1886-1953. He pushed them hard, and sought to reward them well for their accomplishments. Bio by John R. Bacak. Patton believed he had former lives as a soldier and took pride in mystical ties with his ancestors. "[228] He also suggested facetiously that his Third Army could "drive the British back into the sea for another Dunkirk. He exercised unique leadership by his ability to obtain the utmostsome would say more than the maximumresponse from American combat troops. In the interwar period, Patton became a central figure in the development of the army's armored warfare doctrine, serving in numerous staff positions throughout the country. [102], Patton had a personal schooner named When and If. All non-medical visitors except Patton's wife Beatrice, who had flown from the U.S., were forbidden. "I had never heard," he wrote to his wife Bea, "that we fought to de-Nazify Germany - live and learn. George Patton Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements Overview Plans and . "[254] Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring said that, Patton had developed tank warfare into an art, and understood how to handle tanks brilliantly in the field. Notwithstanding Eisenhower's estimation of Patton's abilities as a strategic planner, his overall view of Patton's military value in achieving Allied victory in Europe is revealed in his refusal to even consider sending Patton home after the slapping incidents of 1943, after which he privately remarked, "Patton is indispensable to the war effortone of the guarantors of our victory. He took big risks and won big successes. [236] Privately he wrote of black soldiers: Individually they were good soldiers, but I expressed my belief at the time, and have never found the necessity of changing it, that a colored soldier cannot think fast enough to fight in armor.[237]. These began in North Africa when some reporters worried that he was becoming too close to former Vichy officials with Axis sympathies. Name Components. She married Major General James Willoughby Totten on 6 July 1940, in Hamilton, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. [69] On the way back to Paris, he visited the Renault factory to observe French tanks being manufactured. Beatrice Banning Ayer Patton Birth 12 Jan 1886 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA Death 30 Sep 1953 (aged 67) Hamilton, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA Burial Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial Hamm, Canton de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg Plot Beatrice had many talents. [158][159], Patton's strategy with his army favored speed and aggressive offensive action, though his forces saw less opposition than did the other three Allied field armies in the initial weeks of its advance. [79] Patton commanded the battle from a shell hole for another hour before being evacuated. [25] The first Patton in America was Robert Patton, born in Ayr, Scotland. It was fired at about 50m[160ft] so made a hole about the size of a [silver] dollar where it came out."[82]. Edit your search or learn more Public Member Photos & Scanned Documents Pictures Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. [114], Under Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, Patton was assigned to help plan the Allied invasion of French North Africa as part of Operation Torch in the summer of 1942. Patton was ordered to keep a low profile to deceive the Germans into thinking that he was in Dover throughout early 1944, when he was actually training the Third Army. Patton's chief of staff, Major General Hobart Gay, invited him on a December 9, 1945 pheasant hunting trip near Speyer to lift his spirits. [76], Patton was a staunch fatalist,[224] and he believed in reincarnation. Later he rallied a force of disorganized infantry and led it forward, behind the tanks, under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire until he was wounded. [140], Patton's niece Jean Gordon spent some time together with him in London in 1944, and in Bavaria in 1945. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. Patton, who had been told he had no chance to ever again ride a horse or resume normal life, at one point commented, "This is a hell of a way to die." [187] Patton later boasted he had urinated into the river as he crossed. Ellen Barrows Banning Ayer (1853-1918) BIBLIOGRAPHY. He responded with: Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. [179], Patton left the conference room, phoned his command, and uttered two words: "Play ball." This is my biggest battle. The Third Army simultaneously attacked west into Brittany, south, east toward the Seine, and north, assisting in trapping several hundred thousand German soldiers in the Falaise Pocket between Falaise and Argentan. She unsheathed one of the swords and chased "Saber George" around the room, cursing with expletives that should have made her warrior husband proud. She covered the country during WWII raising money during bond drives. While he was at VMI, Senator Thomas R. Bard nominated him for West Point. Lgendes hawaiiennes. (1932 edition) | Open Library It is no exaggeration to say that Patton's name struck terror at the hearts of the enemy. Think of the waste." [214] The 1986 film The Last Days of Patton tells the story of his last few months. She enjoyed the life of privilege & attended prestigious finishing schools. [243], Historian Carlo D'Este insisted that Bradley disliked Patton both personally and professionally,[246][247] but Bradley's biographer Jim DeFelice noted that the evidence indicates otherwise. Lgendes hawaiiennes by Beatrice Banning Ayer Patton, 1932, Socit d'dition "Les Belles lettres" edition, in French / franais Alameda County. "[145], Patton did not command a force in combat for 11 months. Patton's maternal grandfather was Benjamin Davis Wilson, a merchant who had been the second Mayor of Los Angeles. I did not form any high opinion of him, nor had I any reason to alter this view at any later date. "[196] Unhappy with his position and depressed by his belief that he would never fight in another war, Patton's behavior and statements became increasingly erratic. . University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1984. [3][225], Patton developed an ability to deliver charismatic speeches. When Alexander sent a transmission on July 19 limiting Patton's attack on Messina, his chief of staff, Brigadier General Hobart R. Gay, claimed the message was "lost in transmission" until Messina had fallen. [24] Patton believed in reincarnation, stating that he had fought in previous battles and wars before his time, additionally, his ancestry was very important to him, forming a central part of his personal identity. [170], The halt of the Third Army during the month of September was enough to allow the Germans to strengthen the fortress of Metz. Amen. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunnybrook100/1116573449/, Patton met Beatrice Banning Ayer, the daughter of Boston industrialist Frederick Ayer. Moments later the 1938 Cadillac limousine they were riding in collided with an American army truck at low speed. 19. Patton and his wife, Beatrice Banning Ayer, in Old West costumes, for a party, where he displays a pistol in his belt, and in costumes for another party, where they dress as a knight and his lady on horseback. This has led . [84], In addition, he was also awarded the Purple Heart for his combat wounds after the decoration was created in 1932. [121] With orders to take the battered and demoralized formation into action in 10 days' time, Patton immediately introduced sweeping changes, ordering all soldiers to wear clean, pressed and complete uniforms, establishing rigorous schedules, and requiring strict adherence to military protocol. On June 7, he arrived in Bedford, Massachusetts, for extended leave with his family, and was greeted by thousands of spectators. A dashing, courageous, wild, and unbalanced leader, good for operations requiring thrust and push, but at a loss in any operation requiring skill and judgment. Historical Society Dedicated to the Life, Career, and Achievements of General George S. Patton, Jr. George S. Patton Papers: Diaries, 19101945, Newspaper clippings about George S. Patton, Five Famous Locals Who Were Veterans: Gen. George S. 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