The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (131 page)

Down metalled roads and farm lanes
: Liebling,
Mollie & Other War Pieces
, 232; Pogue,
Pogue’s War
, 193 (
scolding dawdlers
); Belfield and Essame,
The Battle for Normandy
, 228 (
grayed their hair
); Lee Miller, “The Siege of St. Malo,” in
Reporting World War II
, vol. 2, 233 (“
Cartier clips
”).

On they marched, south, east, and west
: diary, CBH, July 17, 1944, MHI (
copper urns
); Lankford, ed.,
OSS Against the Reich
, 152 (
perfume
); AAR, “Battle of Mortain,” n.d., NARA RG 165, 330 (Inf), 120-0.3, 42 (
crude swastikas
); Pogue,
Pogue’s War
, 199, 209, 134 (“
My wife doesn’t understand me
”); “Combat Diary of Edward McCosh Elliott, 1944,” n.d., 2nd Bn, Glasgow Highlanders, IWM, 99/61/1, VI-18 (
tricolor nosegays
); Joseph R. Darnall, “Powdered Eggs and Purple Hearts,” ts, 1946, MHUC, Group 1, MHI, box 24, 190 (“
I speeg Engless
”); Neal Beaver, 3rd Bn, 508th PIR, ts, n.d., MMD (
jugs of calvados
); Rottman,
FUBAR: American Soldier Slang of World War II
, 55.

German tourist posters still hung
: Lee Miller, “The Siege of St. Malo,” in
Reporting World War II
, vol. 2, 233; Cawthon, “Pursuit: Normandy, 1944,”
American Heritage
(Feb. 1978): 80
+
(
Milwaukee German
); Watney,
The Enemy Within
, 186 (“
A German
”); Keegan,
Six Armies in Normandy
, 259 (“
No matter how many orders are issued
”).

In hasty bivouacs the surging columns
: Perry Wolff, “Why We Fight,” panel, International Conference on WWII, NWWIIM, Apr. 10, 2008; McManus,
The Deadly Brotherhood
, 254 (“
a little piece of metal
”); Beevor,
D-Day
, 390 (“
We buried him darkly
”).

SHAEF planners in late July estimated
: ALH, vol. 2, 114–17;
PP
, 524 (“
roaring comet
”); Allen,
Lucky Forward
, 26 (“
gamecock with brains
”).

The first glimpse of Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.
: Codman,
Drive
, 159 (“
Could anything be more magnificent?
”); D’Este,
Patton: A Genius for War
, 630, 636–37 (“
goddamned bastards
”).

At noon on Tuesday, August 1
: Allen,
Lucky Forward
, 71–72 (“
win or die
”);
PP
, 491 (“
very happy
”).

“
There are apparently two types
”:
PP
, 464.

“
Patton has broken out again
”: msgs, GCM to DDE, W. B. Smith to GCM, DDE to GCM, etc., Apr. 26–May 3, 1944, NARA RG 165, E 422, WD, OPD, history unit, box 4; affidavits, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 12, folder 1.

Narrowly pardoned, Patton spent the spring
: corr, Everett S. Hughes to wife, May 12, 1944, LOC MS Div, Hughes papers, box II:3, folder 1 (
guns and saddles
); diary, CBH, July 2, 1944, MHI, box 4 (
offered Eisenhower $1,000
); White,
Conquerors’ Road
, 34 (“
neurotic and bloodthirsty
”); Patton,
The Pattons
, 109 (
tattoo parlor)
; GSP to Beatrice, July 3, 1944, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 12 (“
Can’t stand the times between wars
”).

He also reflected deeply on generalship
: Essame,
Patton: A Study in Command
, 122–24; Collins,
Lightning Joe
, 248–49 (“
I’m in the doghouse
”); Blumenson, “Bradley-Patton: World War II’s ‘Odd Couple,’”
Army
(Dec. 1985): 56
+
(“
I didn’t ask for you
”); Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 356 (“
judicious, reasonable
”); speech, GSP, n.d., George Smith Patton Papers, HIA, folder 1 (“
raise up on their hind legs
”).

“
I had to keep repeating to myself
”:
PP
, 499; Koch and Hays,
G-2: Intelligence for Patton
, 61 (“
I’m going to Berlin
”).

First he was going to Brest
: Waddell,
United States Army Logistics
, 46;
IFG
, 297;
LSA
, vol. 2, 467–74 (
failed to dampen the ardor
).

But the collapse of the German left wing
: Ganz, “Questionable Objective: The Brittany Ports, 1944,”
JMH
(Jan. 1995): 77
+
;
BP
, 370 (
£5
and “
Take Brest
”); GSP to Robert Howe Fletcher, Apr. 25, 1945, LOC MS Div, box 13 (“
sixth sense
”); Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 189 (
ten thousand Krauts
).

Third Army’s other spearhead, the 4th Armored Division
:
BP
, 357–59; Ganz, “Patton’s Relief of General Wood,”
JMH
(July 1989): 257
+
(
because he had tutored his classmates
); Carr, “The American Rommel,”
MHQ
(summer 1992): 77
+
(
rose gardener
); Raines,
Eyes of Artillery
, 213 (
Piper Cub
).

“
We’re winning this war
”: Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 188;
BP
, 361–65 (“
Dear George
”); D’Este,
Patton: A Genius for War
, 631 (
Proposing to reach Chartres
); Hirshson,
General Patton: A Soldier’s Life
, 508–9 (
bloody siege at Lorient
).

“
the main business lies to the east
”:
BP
, 431–32; Ganz, “Questionable Objective: The Brittany Ports, 1944,”
JMH
(Jan. 1995): 77
+
.

The Brittany campaign soon proved bootless
:
BP
, 340 (“
last cartridge
”); Blumenson,
The Battle of the Generals
, 164 (
siege of St.-Malo
); Mitcham,
Retreat to the Reich
, 214 (
seventy-five strongpoints
); “Combat Engineering,” CE, report No. 10, Dec. 1945, NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #547, 47–53 (
walls up to twenty-five feet thick
); OH, ONB, June 7, 1956, CBM, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 (
garrison was too dangerous
); diary, GSP, Sept. 9, 1944, LOC MS Div, box 3, folder 5 (“
We must take Brest
”).

The war ended with not a single cargo or troopship
: Balkoski,
From Beachhead to Brittany
, 331; memo, “Fighting in Cities,” Ninth Army, Oct. 26, 1944, NARA RG 498, G-3 Observers’ Rpt, box 9 (
half a million American shells
); Ganz, “Patton’s Relief of General Wood,”
JMH
(July 1989): 257
+
(“
colossally stupid
”); M-516, Aug. 4, 1944, and M-517, Aug. 6, 1944, National Archives of Canada, RG 24, vol. 1054 2, file 215A21.016(9) (“
We have unloosed the shackles
”).

Montgomery’s plan was a simple, handsome thing
: BLM, “Task of First Canadian Army,” Aug. 4, 1944, National Archives of Canada, RG 24, vol. 1054 2, file 215A21.016(9);
BP
, 435, 449–52 (
struggling ten miles toward Vire
);
VW
, vol. 1, 386, 408.

“
a queer script of its own
”: Catton,
A Stillness at Appomattox
, 149.

Such a place was Mortain
:
The Green Guide to Normandy
, 309; Beevor,
D-Day
, 401 (
children wearing tags
).

The last German occupier in Mortain
:
BP
, 466n; Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 51 (
civilians tossed flowers
);
SLC
, 102.

Of keen interest was stony, steep Montjoie
: author visit, signage, May 29, 2009; Weiss,
Fire Mission
, 5, 25, 35, 75–76.

“
a unique opportunity, which will never return
”: James Hodgson, “Thrust-Counterthrust: The Battle of France,” March 1955, NARA RG 319, R-series, R-58, 80;
TSC
, 203 (“
he should keep his eyes riveted
”).

“
such an attack if not immediately successful
”: Rosengarten, “With Ultra from Omaha Beach to Weimar, Germany,”
Military Affairs
(Oct. 1978): 127
+
; Hans Eberbach, “Panzer Group Eberbach and the Falaise Encirclement,” Feb. 1946, FMS, #A-922, MHI, 9–10;
BP
, 442; order of battle, Gilmore, ed.,
U.S. Army Atlas of the European Theater in World War II
, 52 (
a dozen divisions in four corps
); Mitcham,
Retreat to the Reich
, 120–21 (“
recklessly to the sea
”).

Swirling fog lifted and descended
: AAR, “Battle of Mortain,” n.d., NARA RG 165, 330 (Inf), 120-0.3, 4–5; Baily and Karamales, “The 823rd at Mortain,”
Armor
(Jan.–Feb. 1992): 12
+
(
26,000 Germans
);
BP
, 461 (
120 tanks
); Lefèvre,
Panzers in Normandy Then and Now
, 62 (
imperial cavalry
); Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 57 (
firing by earshot
); “Armored Reconnaissance in the ETO,” n.d., NARA RG 337, AGF OR #157 (“
all-gone feeling
”); Robert J. Kenney, “Somewhere in France,” ts, 1978, 1st Bn, 117th Inf, a.p. (
Wounded men mewed
).

But almost nothing went right in the German attack
: Isby, ed.,
Fighting the Breakout
, 128–29 (
not one reached the front
);
BP
, 464–65 (
three of six enemy spearheads
); war diary, Seventh Army, Aug. 6, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427, ML, #2201 (“
uninspired and negative
”).

The German weight fell heaviest on St.-Barthélemy
: Baily and Karamales, “The 823rd at Mortain,”
Armor
(Jan.–Feb. 1992): 12
+
; Reynolds,
Steel Inferno
, 216–17 (
let the panzers roll through
); McManus,
The Americans at Normandy
, 381–82 (
delayed six hours
); Baedeker,
Northern France
, 180 (
Abbaye Blanche
); author visit, signage, May 29, 2009 (
sixty-six men with bazookas
); OH, 120th Inf, Aug. 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 96; AAR, “Battle of Mortain,” n.d., NARA RG 165, 330 (Inf), 120-0.3, 13–14 (
More than sixty enemy vehicles
).

“
First really large concentration
”:
VC
, 233; Featherston,
Saving the Breakout
, 133–35; Saunders,
Royal Air Force, 1939–1945
, vol. 3, 132;
BP
, 464–65.

“
Hundreds of German troops began spilling
”: Featherston,
Saving the Breakout
, 133–35. Pilots claimed four times more vehicle kills than could be confirmed by later ground investigation. Copp, ed.,
Montgomery’s Scientists
, 175.

sorties mistakenly hit American revetments
: OH, 120th Inf, Aug. 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 96; OH, Brig. Gen. James M. Lewis, 30th ID, Aug. 25, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 96 (
raked the two roads leading west
);
VW
, vol. 1, 414 (“
well-nigh unendurable
”).

“
exceptionally poor start
”: war diary, Seventh Army, Aug. 6, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427, ML, #2201.

two traitorous French guides
: Reardon,
Victory at Mortain
, 99; OH, 120th Inf, Aug. 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 96 (
hospital larder
);
BP
, 487 (“
Looks like hell
”).

Lieutenant Weiss, with his field glasses
: Weiss,
Fire Mission
, 53, 68–69, 82, 105; Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 69–74; Alosi,
War Birds
, 68 (“
No birds were singing
”).

Nor were the Germans advancing
: Reardon,
Victory at Mortain
, 117, 143; Baily and Karamales, “The 823rd at Mortain,”
Armor
(Jan.–Feb. 1992): 12
+
(
fewer than six thousand infantrymen
);
VW
, vol. 1, 416 (“
If only the Germans will go on attacking
”).

“
Bruised them badly
”: McManus,
The Americans at Normandy
, 399–400.

“
We have to risk everything
”: Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 66.

“
thorn in the flesh
”:
BP
, 488–90.

Hitler on August 9 again demanded
: Hans Eberbach, “Panzer Group Eberbach and the Falaise Encirclement,” Feb. 1946, FMS, #A-922, MHI, 9–12 (“
very unpleasant
”); Rudolph Freiherr von Gersdorff, “Avranches Counterattack, Seventh Army,” n.d., FMS, #A-921, 27-31; OH, 120th Inf, Aug. 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 96 (“
don’t surrender
”); Ralph A. Kerley, “Operations of the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry at Mortain,” 1949, IS, 14.