George S. Patton
George Patton commanded the fastest-moving American armies of the Second World War and was removed from command twice for what he said. Born in 1885 into a wealthy Californian family with a long military tradition, he was probably dyslexic and could not read until he was eleven, took five years to get through West Point, and competed in the modern pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics, finishing fifth. He designed a cavalry sabre that bears his name and was the first officer assigned to the American tank corps in 1917, which he built from nothing and led on foot at Meuse-Argonne, where he was shot. He spent the interwar years arguing for armour in a service that had disbanded it. He took Casablanca in 1942, restored the Second Corps after its defeat at Kasserine, and raced Montgomery to Messina in Sicily in 1943. He was then removed from command for slapping two hospitalised soldiers suffering from combat fatigue, calling them cowards in front of the wards, and was made to apologise publicly. The Allies used him as a decoy afterwards — nominally commanding a fictitious army group in Kent, because German intelligence would not believe an invasion could be mounted without him. He was given the Third Army in August 1944 and drove it across France faster than the supply columns could follow, and turned it ninety degrees in three days to relieve Bastogne. He was removed again in 1945 for remarks comparing denazification to American party politics. He died after a road accident in December 1945.
- Lived: 1885 CE – 1945 CE
- Nationality: American
- Roles: general, armoured_commander
