George S. Patton
George S. Patton (1885-1945). US general. After graduating from West Point in 1909, Patton saw active service in Mexico and in World War I. Between the wars he became one of the US army’s leading advocates of the tank and the armoured car. In 1943 he led Allied ground forces in the invasion of Tunisia and then commanded the US 7th Army in the capture of Sardinia. Patton’s aggressive character led him into trouble later that year, when he publicly struck a soldier whom he suspected of malingering. The soldier was suffering from severe shell shock. After a few months during which he received no further postings, Patton was put in command of the US 3rd Army after the Normandy landings. Although he often antagonized colleagues with his reckless style, Patton made remarkable progress through France and Germany in 1944-45. He died as a result of a car crash only a few weeks after the end of the war. His life is the subject of the film Patton: Lust for Glory (1970), starring George C. Scott.
