Patton led U.S. troops into the Mediterranean theater with an invasion of Casablanca during Operation Torch in 1942, and soon established himself as an effective commander by rapidly rehabilitating the demoralized II Corps.

Under his decisive leadership, the Third Army took the lead in relieving beleaguered American troops at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, after which his forces drove deep into Nazi Germany by the end of the war.

Each man did his best and took what fortune sent them like a true soldier, and at the end we all felt more like good friends and comrades than rivals in a severe competition, yet this spirit of friendship in no manner detracted from the zeal with which all strove for success.

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.

Fearing this assignment would dead-end his career, Patton travelled to Washington, D.C., during 11 days of leave and convinced influential friends to arrange a reassignment for him to the 8th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, anticipating that instability in Mexico might boil over into a full-scale civil war.

A force of ten soldiers and two civilian guides, under Patton's command, with the 6th Infantry in three Dodge touring cars surprised three of Villa's men during a foraging expedition, killing Julio Cárdenas and two of his guards.

[69] After the United States entered World War I, in April 1917, and Pershing was named commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front, Patton requested to join his staff.

[70] Taken as Pershing's personal aide, Patton oversaw the training of American troops in Paris until September, then moved to Chaumont and was assigned as a post adjutant, commanding the headquarters company overseeing the base.

[73] At the conclusion of his tour on 1 December, Patton went to Albert, 30 miles (48 km) from Cambrai, to be briefed on the results of this attack by the chief of staff of the British Tank Corps, Colonel J. F. C.

[81] While outside the village of Essey he had his first chance meeting with Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, then commanding a brigade of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division, who, at just thirty-eight, was already one of the most highly decorated officers in the AEF, and with whom Patton would serve later in his career.

In the employment of Tank Corps troops in combat he displayed high military attainments, zeal, and marked adaptability in a form of warfare comparatively new to the American Army.

These thoughts resonated with Secretary of War Dwight Davis, but the limited military budget and prevalence of already-established Infantry and Cavalry branches meant the U.S. would not develop its armored corps much until 1940.

[114] Following the German Army's invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939, the U.S. military entered a period of mobilization, and Colonel Patton sought to build up the power of U.S. armored forces.

"[138] Patton's training was effective, and on 17 March, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division took Gafsa participating in the indecisive Battle of El Guettar, and pushing a German and Italian armored force back twice.

In the meantime, on 5 April, he removed Major General Orlando Ward, commanding the 1st Armored Division, after its lackluster performance at Maknassy against numerically inferior German forces.

[161][162] The views of the general public remained mixed on the matter,[163] and eventually Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson stated that Patton must be retained as a commander because of the need for his "aggressive, winning leadership in the bitter battles which are to come before final victory.

FUSAG was in reality an intricately constructed fictitious army of decoys, props, and fake radio signal traffic based around Dover to mislead German reconnaissance planes and to make Axis leaders believe that a large force was massing there.

[174] So strong was their conviction that this was the main landing area that the German army held its position there even after the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, believing it to be a diversionary force.

Patton expected that the theater commander would keep fuel and supplies flowing to support his advance, but Eisenhower favored a "broad front" approach to the ground-war effort, believing that a single thrust would have to drop off flank protection, and would quickly lose its punch.

On 16 December 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.

Eisenhower called a meeting of all senior Allied commanders on the Western Front at a headquarters near Verdun on the morning of 19 December to plan strategy and a response to the German assault.

[206] On 21 December, Patton met with Bradley to review the impending advance, starting the meeting by remarking, "Brad, this time the Kraut's stuck his head in the meat grinder, and I've got hold of the handle.

[213] On 26 March 1945, Patton sent Task Force Baum, consisting of 314 men, 16 tanks, and assorted other vehicles, 50 miles (80 km) behind German lines to liberate the prisoner of war camp OFLAG XIII-B, near Hammelburg.

Carlo D'Este wrote that "it seems virtually inevitable ... that Patton experienced some type of brain damage from too many head injuries" from a lifetime of numerous auto- and horse-related accidents, especially one suffered while playing polo in 1936.

[224] D'Este agrees that Patton's "behavior suggests that in both 1936 [in Hawaii] and 1944–45, the presence of the young and attractive Jean was a means of assuaging the anxieties of a middle-aged man troubled over his virility and a fear of aging.

"[234] According to Anthony Cave Brown in Bodyguard of Lies, "Patton was relieved of command of the 3rd Army by Eisenhower just after the end of the war for stating publicly that America had been fighting the wrong enemy—Germany instead of Russia.

All non-medical visitors were forbidden except his wife Beatrice, who had flown from the U.S. Patton had been told that he had no chance to ever again ride a horse or resume normal life, and he commented, "This is a hell of a way to die."

He personified the offensive spirit, the ruthless drive, and the will for victory in battle ... As the outstanding exponent of combat effectiveness, particularly with respect to the employment of armored forces—that is, the combined use of tanks, motorized infantry, and self-propelled artillery, closely supported by tactical aircraft—Patton brought the blitzkrieg concept to perfection.

[120] Patton had a preoccupation with bravery,[10] 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.

General Henri Giraud was incredulous when he heard of Patton's dismissal by Eisenhower in late 1945 and invited him to Paris to be decorated by French President Charles de Gaulle at a state banquet.