Blitzkrieg - American Style

Third Army's battle record began on August 1st, 1944 at 1200 hours.
That was when the Third Army was officially operational as a combat
army.

In nine months and eight days of fighting, the Third Army compiled a
great record. Not only did the Third Army astonish the world, but it's
deeds, in terms of statistics, challenged the imagination. The Third
Army gave a new meaning to fluid warfare. The Third had only one
general order from Patton; "Seek out the enemy, trap him, and destroy
him."

The Germans never knew what to expect from Patton. His methods of
operation were very different from British General Montgomery and the
more conventional American generals. Patton's Third Army tore open
the German lines of defense and trapped thousands of German soldiers.
Most of them were either killed or they surrendered.

The history of the Third Army is a story of constant attack. They
drove on in fair weather or foul, across favorable terrain or across
mud, ice, and snow.

The soldiers in the Third Army knew the value of teamwork. Aircraft
and artillery teamed with infantry and armor to a perfection that
amazed not only the enemy but other Allied Armies. The XIX Tactical
Air Command's bombing and air cover, coupled with the Artillery's
timed, precision barrages, wrecked all enemy hopes to profit by
American inexperience.

The Third Army was an army on wheels. Thousands of trucks driven by
soldiers who called themselves the Red Ball Express carried tons of
supplies to the army to keep it fighting and on the move. The Red Ball
Express also set up special convoys that carried nothing but gasoline
just to keep Patton's tanks rolling toward Germany.

One of the Third Army's greatest assets was American ingenuity.
American soldiers were creating new instruments of war on the spot to
overcome new problems encountered day after day.

Third Army had an excellent command structure. Each level of command
had a special job and each did the best job they could. The planners
who told the soldiers what to do also made every effort to help them
do it.

Of course, a war cannot be won without hard fighting and personal
courage. The Third Army had more than its share of courageous
front-line fighting men; infantry, tankers, tank destroyers,
engineers, all of them were soldiers who met every new challenge with
courage and endless endurance.

Not all soldiers were part of combat teams, though. Many important
jobs were done by administrative soldiers. It was these soldiers who
backed up the front-line soldier, making sure he had the tools he
needed to fight; food, weapons, ammunition, gasoline, and clothing. As
General Patton once said, "No matter how small your job might seem,
it's important in the vast scheme of things. Every job is important."

It was this type of teamwork which enabled each single squad to
capture and hold a piece of ground taken from the enemy.

In terms of speed of advance, in amount of ground liberated or
captured, and in terms of losses inflicted upon a powerful enemy there
was never before anything like the Third Army's lightning quick sweep
across France.

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