‘Old Blood and Guts’ leads invading Yanks
Patton at the front – Montgomery heads British into Syracuse
By the United Press
A brief dispatch from Allied headquarters in North Africa solved the mystery today of what happened to “Old Blood and Guts” – Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. He is in command of U.S. forces invading Sicily.
The rip-roaring general, who often goes into battle with a pair of pearl-handled six-shooters swinging from his hips, disappeared from the fighting in Tunisia on April 16 when Maj. Gen. Omar Bradley took command of U.S. forces. It is clear now that Patton was withdrawn to start training troops for the assault on Sicily.
At the same time, it was disclosed that British Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery led his forces in the capture of Syracuse.
Military men regard Patton as among the most aggressive of Allied commanders. He is an expert in armored warfare and his general instructions to subordinates are:
Go forward! Always go forward. Go forward until the last shot is fired and the last drop of gasoline is gone and then go forward on foot.
His customary battle costume is a steel helmet bearing on the front the three stars of a lieutenant general, a brown leather jacket, a pair of ordinary General Issue pants and tank boots. The buck private is his favorite soldier.
He says:
The private out there getting shot at does the most work in this war and gets damned little credit for it. A man can be ferocious as hell back home on three hot meals a day, but it takes guts to live in a foxhole in the rain eating cold canned rations.