Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

How accurate is the movie Patton

84 bytes removed, 16:40, 15 June 2017
no edit summary
==Patton in Sicily==
The film does accurately relate the leading role played by Patton in the liberation of Sicily. His daring use of Armor was crucial in the defeat of the Nazis on the island. The movie does show Patton being motivated by the desire to do better than General Montgomery, the victor at El Alamein. There was a great personal rivalry between the two men who were both driven and wildly ambitious and in many ways alike. The rivalry between Montgomery and Patton was a feature of the Sicilian campaign and was perhaps a factor in why it ended so quickly and with a decisive Allied victory. In fact, the rivalry was not as intense as the motion picture suggests and the two men worked together when needed for the good of the Allied cause<ref>D’Este, p. 119</ref>. The movie shows Patton after visiting the wounded seeing a shell-shocked soldier. The G.I. was unable to continue fighting and had been sent behind the lines for treatment. Patton is outraged when he sees the soldier who does not have any physical wounds and is assumed by him to be a malingerer and he verbally and physically assaults him. When this was seen by a reporter it was widely publicized in America and elsewhere <ref>Lovelace, Alexander G. "The Image of a General: The Wartime Relationship between General George S. Patton Jr. and the American Media", Journalism History, 40 (no. 2 (Summer 2014)), pp. 108–120</ref>. This incident did lead to Patton being ordered to stand down and he was not given a front-line posting for almost a year. However, what the movie failed to show was that Patton slapped two different soldiers who he accused of being cowards. The scene where Patton apologizes to the soldier was accurate. The movie accurately reflects Patton’s reaction to his disgrace in Sicily. The order to remove him from the battlefield provoked a personal crisis for Patton.
[[File: Pattonphoto.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Patton in 1944]]

Navigation menu