Gen. Omar Bradly was one of Patton’s harshest critics, and hardly ever had a good word for him, said of his effort…
‘‘True to his boast at Verdun, Patton, having turned his 3rd army 90 degrees attacked on Dec. 22.
His generalship during this difficult maneuver was magnificent.
One of the most brilliant performances by any commander on either side in WW2.’’
A lot of the discord comes from North Africa, where Bradly was a more effective leader and Patton seems to have never met a reported he didn’t try to talk a lot too…
I think this is reflected in the “slugging it out over the mountains” sequence in Sicily part of the film…That was actually in Africa where Bradly retrained his troops and attacked German weak points over mountains and ridges where Patton had faltered…
I think he was a better commander than you give him credit for, if only for inspiring his men, but even if he wasn’t a particularly skilled commander every army needs a few commanders who can mix bravado and luck and pull off feats more timid commanders wouldn’t even think of attempting.
patton was good and would have probably taken a few more chances than monty, however would he of been succesful. it comes over that he was big headed and may of taken a chance too many. No one has doubted that Guy Gibson had a big head and look how he ended up.
Actually, none of the units involved in the attack northwards was engaged in battle at the time, 3rd Corps was his reserve. The units in combat merely went into defensive positions at this time.
ps, I consider Patton to have been a very good general, its just that some of the claims made for him are excessive.