Hands On History - 3rd Army History

3rd Army History

"If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself." General George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945)

	Under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr., Third Army participated in eight major operations and gave new meaning to "hard charging, hard hitting, mobile warfare." Throughout Third Army's swift and tenacious drive into and through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria, its rugged soldiers inflicted far more casualties and damage to the enemy than they received while en route to victory. Third Army contributed immeasurably to the destruction of the Nazi war machine of Adolf Hitler's Germany.	3rd Army Patch


General Patton's Speech to 3rd Army, 6th Armored Division, England, May 31, 1944
Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All REAL Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxer. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in Hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality for the Saturday Evening Post don't know anything more about real battle than they do about fornicating. We have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know, my God, I actually pity those poor bastards we're going up against. My God, I do. We're not just going to shoot the bastards, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks! We're going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel! Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you'll chicken out under fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you'll all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them! Spill their blood! Shoot them in the belly! When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do. There's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything; we'll let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly, and we're not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him by the nose, and we're going to kick him in the ass! We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time, and we're going to go through him like crap through a goose. Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War Two?" You won't have to say, "Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana." All right now, you sons of bitches, you know how I feel. Oh...I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That's all.

WWII Principal Staff:

Headquarters, Third U.S. Army

Commanding General: General George S. Patton, Jr. Aide: Colonel Charles R. Codman Aide: Major Alexander C. Stiller Personal Physician: Colonel Charles B. Odom Chief of Staff: Major General Hobart R. Gay Aide: Major George F. Murnane, Jr. Interim Chief of Staff: Major General Hugh J. Gaffey, Apr. to Dec. 1944 Aide: Captain Elliott R. Taylor Aide: First Lieutenant Allison C. Wysong, Jr. Deputy Chief of Staff: Colonel Paul D. Harkins Secretary, General Staff: Lieutenant Colonel George R. Pfann G-1: Colonel Frederick S. Matthews Exec: Lieutenant Colonel William A. Horne, Jr. G-2: Colonel Oscar W. Koch Exec: Colonel Robert S. Allen G-2: Air Force Colonel H. M. Forde G-3: Bridadier General Halley G. Maddox Exec: Colonel William A. Borders G-3 Liaison: Colonel Brenton G. Wallace Exec: Lieutenant Colonel John F. Wolf G-4: Brigadier General Walter J. Muller Exec: Colonel William H. Harrison G-5: Colonel Nicholas W. Campanole Exec: Colonel Roy L. Dafferes Adjutant General: Colonel Robert S. Cummings Anti-aircraft: Colonel Frederick R. Chamberlain, Colonel T. F. Gallagher Artillery: Brigadier General Edward T. Williams Chaplain: Colonel James K. O'Neill Chemical: Colonel Edward C. Wallington Engineer: Brigadier General John F. Conklin Exec: Colonel David H. Tulley Finance: Colonel Charles B. Milliken Inspector General: Colonel Clarence C. Park Judge Advocate: Colonel Charles E. Cheever Medical: Brigadier General Thomas D. Hurley, Colonel T. J. Hartford Exec: Colonel John B. Coates, Jr. Ordnance: Colonel Thomas H. Nixon Exec: Colonel David H. Van Syckle Provost Marshal: Colonel Phillip C. Clayton, Colonel J. C. MacDonald Exec: Colonel Harold Engerud Quartermaster: Colonel Everett Busch Exec: Colonel Fenton M. Wood Signal: Colonel Elton F. Hammond Exec: Colonel Claude E. Haswell Special Services: Colonel Kenneth E. Van Buskirk Headquarters Commandant: Colonel Rufus S. Bratton Exec: Colonel Fred H. Kelly Tank Destroyer: Brigadier General H. L. Earnest Exec: Colonel L. C. Berry, Brigadier General O.P. Weyland Chief of Staff: Colonel R. Q. Browne

WWII Facts & Figures:

Reduced to cold, statistical figures, the feats of the Third Army were astonishing. The Army liberated or captured 81,522 square miles of territory. An estimated 12,000 cities, towns, and communities were liberated or captured, including 27 cities of more than 50,000 in population.

Third Army captured 765,483 prisoners of war. 515,205 of the enemy surrendered during the last week of the war to make a total of 1,280,688 POW's processed.

The enemy lost an estimated 1,280,688 captured, 144,500 killed, and 386,200 wounded, adding up to 1,811,388. By comparison, the Third Army suffered 16,596 killed, 96,241 wounded, and 26,809 missing in action for a total of 139,646 casualties.

Third Army aircraft and artillery dropped or dispersed by shell 31,552,700 psychological warfare leaflets to enemy troops.

XIX Tactical Air Command completed 1,767 tactical reconnaissance missions and 77 photo reconnaissance missions which resulted in 3,205,670 aerial photographic prints being distributed.

XIX Tactical Air Command flew 7,326 missions and 74,447 sorties during the 281 days of fighting.

Third Army's air support dropped 17,486 tons of bombs, 3,205 napalm tanks, and launched 4,599 rockets.

The Air Command destroyed 1,640 enemy planes and only lost 582 of it's own from all causes.

Targets destroyed or damaged by the XIX Tactical Air Command included:

Tanks and armored cars 3,833
Motor vehicles 38,541
Locomotives 4,337
Railroad lines cut 2,585
Marshaling yards 974
Towns and villages 816
Factories 3,664
Supply dumps 220
Military installations 1,730
Gun installations 2,809
Highway and R.R. bridges 285
Miscellaneous naval vessels 654
Miscellaneous targets 3,010

Third Army artillery fired 5,870,843 rounds of ammunition during the fighting.

Tank destroyers with the Third Army knocked out 648 enemy tanks and 211 self-propelled guns. At the Maginot Line and the Siegfried Line, they eliminated 801 pillboxes. The fired a total of 101,178 rounds of ammunition on direct fire missions and 231,998 rounds on indirect fire missions.

Within the Army area, 2,186,792 tons of supplies were transported a total of 141,081,336 miles by trucks in the transportation pool. A total of 2,092 miles of railway track was reconstructed and placed into operation.

The Army repaired 99,114 general purpose vehicles, 21,761 combat vehicles, 11,613 artillery pieces, 125,084 small arms, and 32,740 instruments.

Third Army engineers constructed 2,498 bridges with a total footage of 255,520 feet, almost 48 and one half miles of bridging. They built or maintained an average of 2,240 miles of road.

Third Army's nine chemical mortar companies expended 349,097 rounds of 4.2 inch mortars, including 189,095 rounds of high explosive and 160,002 rounds of white phosphorous. Chemical warfare supplies included 32,454 gallons of flame thrower fuel and 335,944 grenades.

Third Army Signal Corps personnel laid 3,747 miles of telephone wire. The Third Army message center handled a total of 7,220,261 code groups and switchboard operators handled an average of 13,968 telephone calls daily.

Military personnel in the Third Army were paid a total of $240,539,569 from the 1st of August, 1944, until the 30th of April, 1945.

The forward echelon of the Third Army (code named Lucky Forward by General Patton) traveled 1,225 miles while making 19 complete moves during combat.

The decorations awarded to soldiers of the Third Army were:

Medal of Honor: 19
Distinguished Service Medal: 44
Distinguished Service Cross: 291
Legion of Merit: 159
Silver Star: 4,990
Soldier's Medal: 247
Bronze Star: 29,090

Normal promotions numbered 6,464; battlefield promotions totaled 1,817; and combat appointments totaled 848.

The correspondents of the Third Army and soldier correspondents wrote 30,326 stories totaling 7,010,963 words. They submitted 7,129 photographs about the Third Army's combat fighting.

A total of 11,230,000 soldiers attended motion picture shows at the Third Army. The USO shows played to 650,000 soldiers, and the soldier talent shows played to a total of 625,000 soldiers.

Perhaps more than any other group of soldiers in the European Theater, the soldiers of the Third Army deserved the praise of the Supreme Allied Commander when he said, "Working and fighting together in a single indestructible partnership, you have achieved perfection in unification of air, ground, and naval power that will stand as a model in our time."