Alexander Patch
Alexander Patch | |
---|---|
Navy Distinguished Service Medal Bronze Star |
With an invasion of Japan still an apparent likelihood, Patch returned to the U.S. in August 1945 to take charge of the Fourth Army headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He died three months later in November at age 55,[3][4] his health having been ravaged during his time in the Pacific early in the war. "Sandy" Patch and Lucian Truscott were the only two U.S. Army officers on active service during World War II to command a division, corps, and field army.
He was posthumously promoted in July 1954 to four-star general from his rank at death of lieutenant general.
Early life and military career
Born at
Of German, Scottish, and Irish descent, Patch attended Lehigh University for a year, then received an appointment to West Point in 1909. His eldest brother Joseph Dorst Patch, commonly known as "Dorst", also enlisted in the army the same year. Originally interested in joining the cavalry, but realizing that it was becoming obsolete, he chose the Infantry Branch of the United States Army and was commissioned in 1913 on 12 June that year, ranked 75th in a graduating class of 93. Some of his classmates that became general officers were William R. Schmidt, Henry B. Lewis, Henry B. Cheadle, Paul Newgarden, Charles H. Corlett, Robert L. Spragins, Douglass T. Greene, Willis D. Crittenberger, William A. McCullogh, Robert M. Perkins, Carlos Brewer, Henry Balding Lewis, Geoffrey Keyes, Louis A. Craig, Lunsford E. Oliver, Richard U. Nicholas, Francis K. Newcomer.[5]
Upon being commissioned, Patch's first assignment was with the 18th Infantry Regiment, then based in Texas City, Texas. He later saw action in the Pancho Villa Expedition into Mexico in 1916, and was later promoted to first lieutenant. In November that year he married Julia A. Littell, the daughter of an army general, whom Patch had met while he was a cadet at West Point.[5]
In June 1917, two months after the American entry into World War I, Patch was promoted to the rank of captain and was, along with his brother Dorst, sent overseas with his regiment, which became part of the 1st Division, to join the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front where he remained until November. He then attended the British Army's Machine Gun School in England and commanded the 3rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 1st Division until April 1918, when he then went on to direct the U.S. Army's Machine Gun School until October. Towards the end of 1918, returning to the 18th Infantry, he fought in the Second Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse–Argonne offensive, the largest battle in the history of the United States Army. His leadership came to the attention of Colonel George C. Marshall, then a member of General John J. Pershing's staff. The war came to an end on November 11, 1918, at 11:00 am, by which time Patch was a lieutenant colonel, having been promoted to the rank a month before, and major the previous January. In February 1919, he reverted to the rank of captain and was a staff officer at AEF Headquarters.[5]
Between the wars
After briefly serving on occupation duties, Patch returned to the United States in May 1919 and, as a professional soldier, chose to remain in the army during what would later be known as the
This was followed by service with the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment from 1929–31 at Fort Washington, Maryland. He then entered the U.S. Army War College in 1931 and graduated the following year. Promoted again to lieutenant colonel, he was later a member of the Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia, from 1936–39, where he helped to develop the army's transformation from the old square division, with four infantry regiments, into the triangular division, with three.[7]
In November 1940 he was promoted to
World War II
Pacific Theater
Patch was promoted to
The Americal Division first saw action in the
The Oregon Maneuver
In the wake of Guadalcanal's conquest, the state of Patch's health, battered by his bout of pneumonia, tropical dysentery and malaria, forced George Marshall to recall him back to the U.S. There, after recovering from his illness, he took command in May 1943 of the
Mediterranean and European Theaters
In March 1944, after handing over command of IV Corps to Major General Willis D. Crittenberger, a fellow 1913 West Point classmate, Patch took over command of the Seventh Army from Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, who was then also commanding the Fifth Army during the fighting on the Italian Front. Under the leadership of George S. Patton, the Seventh Army had been the first American field army to be deployed in Europe during the war, having landed in Sicily as part of the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky) in July 1943 capturing Messina on August 17 and bringing the Allied campaign to an end.[10] It was then reduced from a maximum strength of some six divisions and supporting units to a skeleton headquarters with relatively little to do, with Clark taking over from Patton in January 1944.[10]
Under Patch's command, the Seventh Army was now intended to participate in an upcoming amphibious operation in southern France, codenamed Operation Dragoon. For this operation the Seventh Army was composed of several veteran formations pulled out of the fighting in Italy. These were Major General Lucian Truscott's U.S. VI Corps and General Alphonse Juin's French Expeditionary Corps (CEF), along with numerous airborne units in support.[10]
Under Patch, the Seventh Army invaded southern France in Operation Dragoon on 15 August 1944. Patch–promoted to the
I came to regard him as a man of outstanding integrity, a courageous and competent leader, and an unselfish comrade-in-arms.
Patch's Seventh Army distinguished itself in difficult winter conditions during the Vosges Mountains campaign, clearing strong and entrenched German forces from the west bank of the Rhine and stopping a German counteroffensive,
Patch stayed in command of the Seventh Army through the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, leading the Seventh Army in Operation Undertone through the Siegfried Line, over the Rhine, and then the Western Allied invasion of Germany into southern Germany. By war's end forward elements sprawled as far afield as Austria[13] and northern Italy.[14][15]
In the spring of 1945, the Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, offered Patch a B-25 Mitchell and pilot for his personal use. Patch turned down the offer because he wished to remain in touch with his subordinate commanders during fast-moving operations and preferred a smaller plane that could land on unimproved fields and pastures. Patch narrowly escaped injury or death on 18 April 1945, while flying from Kitzingen to Öhringen in Germany during the Battle of Nuremberg. His Stinson L-5 Sentinel liaison aircraft Sea Level was intercepted by a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, but the pilot, Technical Sergeant Robert Stretton, maneuvered the L-5 so skillfully that it escaped and landed safely at Öhringen. Stretton later received the Distinguished Flying Cross for the flight.[16]
In August 1945, Patch returned to the United States to take command of the Fourth Army headquartered at the Fort Sam Houston, Texas, but was hospitalized with lung problems in November and died a week later.[3][4][17]
Personal life
On November 20, 1915, he married Julia Adrianne Littell (1893–1988), daughter of Brigadier General Isaac William Littell.[18][5] They had two children. Patch suffered a personal tragedy when their 24-year-old son, Captain Alexander M. Patch III, was killed in action on October 22, 1944 while leading C Company of the 315th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Infantry Division in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Captain Patch was a posthumous recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and Purple Heart. He is interred in the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial, Lorraine, France.[19]
Patch died of
Legacy
Kurmärker Kaserne, in
Patch was promoted posthumously to full
Major Commands
- Task Force 6814 - November 1941 to 24 May 1942
- Americal Division - 24 May 1942 to 1 January 1943
- XIV Corps - January 1943 to April 1943
- IV Corps - May 1943 to 2 March 1944
- Seventh United States Army - 2 March 1944 to August 1945
- Fourth United States Army - August 1945 to 21 November 1945
Awards and decorations
Ribbon bar with the list of General Alexander M. Patch's decorations:
1st Row | Army Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters | Navy Distinguished Service Medal | Bronze Star Medal | Mexican Border Service Medal |
---|---|---|---|---|
2nd Row | World War I Victory Medal with three battle stars | American Defense Service Medal | American Campaign Medal | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ two service stars
|
3rd Row | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal w/ three service stars
|
World War II Victory Medal
|
Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) | Commander of the Légion d'honneur (France )
|
4th Row | Croix de Guerre with palm (France) | Order of Leopold II, Grand Cross (Belgium) | Croix de Guerre with palm (Belgium) | Order of Abdon Calderón (Ecuador) |
Dates of rank
Insignia | Rank | Component | Date |
---|---|---|---|
No insignia | Cadet | United States Military Academy | March 1, 1909 |
No insignia in 1913 | Second lieutenant | Regular Army | June 12, 1913 |
First lieutenant | Regular Army | July 1, 1916 | |
Captain | Regular Army | May 15, 1917 | |
Major | National Army |
January 5, 1918 | |
Lieutenant colonel | National Army | October 31, 1918 | |
Captain | Regular Army | March 15, 1920 | |
Major | Regular Army | July 1, 1920 | |
Lieutenant colonel | Regular Army | August 1, 1935 | |
Colonel | Army of the United States | June 26, 1941 | |
Brigadier general | Army of the United States | August 4, 1941 | |
Major general | Army of the United States | March 10, 1942 | |
Colonel | Regular Army | July 1, 1942 | |
Lieutenant general | Army of the United States | August 7, 1944 | |
General | Posthumous | July 19, 1954 |
- Source:[20]
References
- ^ English 2009, p. 163.
- ^ a b "United States Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Last rites for Gen. Patch to be held at West Point". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. November 22, 1945. p. 1.
- ^ a b c "Gen. Patch succumbs to pneumonia". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. November 22, 1945. p. 5.
- ^ a b c d e f English 2009, p. 166.
- ^ English 2009, p. 166−167.
- ^ a b c English 2009, p. 167.
- ^ English 2009, p. 167−168.
- ^ English 2009, p. 168.
- ^ a b c English 2009, p. 169.
- ^ English 2009, p. 175−178.
- ^ English 2009, p. 179−187.
- ^ Grotjean, David, Technician Five 2 1/2 ton truck driver Oral History interview at the Library of Congress
- ^ Wallace, Linnel, Lt. Col., Commanding Officer, Summary History of the 289th Engineer Combat Battalion – WW II, 1990, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, PA
- ^ English 2009, p. 203.
- ^ Weirather, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b English 2009, p. 204.
- ^ "Patch-Littell". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. November 21, 1915. p. 4 of Part 7. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ English 2009, p. 182.
- ^ Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army, 1945. pg. 723.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-8117-0501-1.
- English, John A. (2011). Surrender Invites Death: Fighting the Waffen SS in Normandy. Mechanicsburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books. OCLC 782899143.
- Pfannes, Charles; Victor Salamone. The Great Commanders of World War II. Vol. III: The Americans.
- Weirather, Larry. "Saving General Patch". Aviation History, May 2012, pp. 18–19.
- Taaffe, Stephen R. (2013). Marshall and His Generals: U.S. Army Commanders in World War II. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. OCLC 840162019.
- Wyant, William K. (1991). Sandy Patch: A Biography of Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-93454-3.
External links
- "Alexander M. Patch 1913". Memorials. West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016.
- Lost Victory – Strasbourg, November 1944
- Generals of World War II
- United States Army Officers 1939–1945