Patton vs. Bradley
George Patton was Munchausen: bold, self-possessed, and a little demented. His strategy was to push forward boldly, quickly, without always paying adequate attention to supply lines and coordinated strategies. Sometimes his approach clearly cost lives unnecessarily, but he was also enormously successful on the battlefield.
Omar Bradley, on the other hand, gave a good deal of weight to the idea of minimizing casualties. He knew the war was won– it was won the minute American factories kicked into the production of war materials on a grand scale– and he didn’t always think it was necessary or desirable to race to the finish. Bradley cared about his men. He was also a fairly rational, logical strategist. He didn’t like waste.
You might think Patton’s approach was better– didn’t he win the war? Patton, also like Munchausen, tried very hard to project an image of himself that was much larger than reality. He also appropriated supplies, especially fuel, that was intended to serve the needs of other divisions besides his. He also had the benefit of superb intelligence– the allies had cracked the Enigma machine and Patton knew what the Germans were planning at every stage of his advance.
Most of all, as noted, Patton had the huge benefit of massive supplies and support, through the industrial might and economic capacity of the entire United States, Canada, and Britain.
The Germans were said to have been frightened of Patton– but they probably should have been more frightened of Bradley, whose patient good sense kept Patton’s recklessness in check. Patton might have been lulled into an improvident move, a reckless gesture. Not Bradley.
In fact, Goering is said to have known the war was over when he became aware of the massive productive capacity of the United States.
More Bradley than Patton.
Patton, incidentally, liked the deficient Sherman tank. It was only after repeated demonstrations of how inferior it was to the Panzers and Tigers that he began to request the Pershing instead. Even though the Pershing had the same engine as the Sherman. it was bigger and had better armor, and could take on a Tiger.
“When we land against the enemy, don’t forget to hit him and hit him hard. When we meet the enemy we will kill him. We will show him no mercy. He has killed thousands of your comrades and he must die. If your company officers in leading your men against the enemy find him shooting at you and when you get within two hundred yards of him he wishes to surrender – oh no! That bastard will die! You will kill him. Stick him between the third and fourth ribs. You will tell your men that. They must have the killer instinct. Tell them to stick him. Stick him in the liver. We will get the name of killers and killers are immortal. When word reaches him that he is being faced by a killer battalion he will fight less. We must build up that name as killers.” – George Patton
I do admire this about Patton: no bs about what he wants soldiers to do. They are not there to rescue their brothers, feed the orphans, or rebuild a nation: they are there to kill.