3rd army patch wwii

The wearing of this insignia was not lawful, but it had such a success with the other units of the AEF American Expeditionary Force that the general staff decided on October 19, to authorize all the units stationed in France to wear a distinctive insignia.

During the Great War, soldiers sometimes made their own insignia with pieces of colored fabric recovered from French and German uniforms. They are made on felt or woollen cloth. We can also see badges that mix the two processes 'Cut and Paste' and 'Embroider'. In fact we glue or cost on a piece of fabric the symbol then we add embroidery afterwards. In fact the military patch was embroidered on large strips of fabric usually Khaki or Olive Drab color and then cut by hand.

We speak of manufacturing type 'Flat Edge', we also use the term 'Cut Edge'. The fabric used was cotton and the thread could be cotton or nylon. It should be noted that during World War II, there were several types of manufacturers:. We can therefore find for the same unit, a multitude of different insignia, whether by the design, the materials used fabric texture, color of threads, The locally made insignia in canetille, although worn, was not authorized by the high command.

During the 50s, the fabric used was the same color as the background color of the badge which allowed to use less embroidery weft or a certain economy of thread. From to be in accordance with the new color of the uniforms, the border of the badges is made with thread of color Army Green. In the 60's, the badges are made with fabric and nylon thread.

This gives a much firmer texture to the badge compared to the badges made with cotton thread softer. 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. After Lieutenant General Courtney H.

Lo, the Third Army began roaring through the hole with their Sherman tanks. They began an attacking advance that moved in every direction on the compass; north, south, east, and west, all at the same time. There was no stopping them once they got started. They went east toward Le Mans, south and southwest through Laval, west toward Brest, and north toward St. Third Army was not a defensive army.

General Patton didn't believe in defensive tactics, he believed in attacking. He often told his soldiers, "When in doubt, attack. Like a boxer, they understood that once you got your opponent on the ropes, you had to keep at him until he went down. You couldn't let up and give him a chance to rest. The soldiers of the Third Army took the fight to the enemy. They swept over the Brittany Peninsula before the enemy knew what was happening.

Grow, forced the Germans to withdraw into the fortified ports of St. Malo, Lorient, St. Nazaire, and Brest. Threatened with a severed supply line where it narrowed to a ten mile wide strip at Avranches, the soldiers of the Third Army delivered those needed supplies despite nightly air attacks.

At the same time they repulsed a vicious German counter-attack at Mortain. Facing complete encirclement, the Germans quickly withdrew to the east. Although the Third Army had almost surrounded the German Seventh Army, they were not allowed to close a gap that existed between the towns of Argentan and Falaise.

They were told to wait and let General Bernard L. Montgomery close the gap with his British Second Army. Montgomery moved too slowly. He failed to close the gap until almost a week later. Because of this the Germans were able to continue their retreat from this pocket and they managed to save a large portion of their armor. They did, however, suffer a great loss of men and materials. This Argentan-Falaise Pocket later became a very controversial issue. Many people claimed that the Third Army could have closed the gap themselves and they could have destroyed the complete German Seventh Army.

If this had happened, the war might have been won much sooner than it was. The Germans desperately raced toward the Seine River while being chased by the Third Army's spearhead units. Fearing a second encirclement west of the Seine River, the Germans fought to save their dwindling escape routes. All during their escape, they were hit with a never ending barrage of air and artillery bombardment which took a fearful toll of their lives and material. Always on the move, the Third Army continued to advance to the south, southeast, and southwest of Paris while continuing to fight.

The enemy was under continuous attack by both the Third Army's infantry and tank forces and Brigadier General O. At this point, the enemy lost all hope of regaining the initiative. The speed of the Third Army's advance forced the Germans to break into a hap-hazard, hasty retreat. The Third Army gave the Germans no time to occupy any natural defense lines or strong-points. It just kept punching it's way toward victory. As the month of August drew near to a close, there was much evidence that the Third would have to actually slow down it's advance so that the other Allied armies could catch up with them.

Amazingly, despite shattered communications and huge losses, the Germans had not collapsed. They remained to be good soldiers and hard fighting professionals. Because of this, a large part of all available supplies were diverted to the British Second Army. This included supplies that should have gone to the Third Army. Eisenhower's decision created a shortage of gasoline and other necessary supplies that were badly needed by the Third Army to keep up its fast-paced advance.

Without these supplies the Third Army was forced to slow down and finally to halt its rapid advance. Many people thought, and still think, that if the Third Army had not been stopped when it was, it might have been able to bring the war to a close by the end of , instead of the middle of One thing was for certain; General Montgomery's plan was a failure. It not only failed to encircle and trap the Germans, it also failed in that it lost and wasted thousands of tons of supplies that could have been used by other armies especially the Third Army to continue their successful attacks.

Because none of the plans were accomplished, it was also a waste of many soldier's lives. Lastly, it caused unnecessary destruction in the Netherlands. After it was all over, Prince Bernard of the Netherlands said, "My country can never again afford the luxury of another Montgomery success.

Since the Germans opposing General Patton's soldiers were not stupid, they were took full advantage of the opportunity given to them by Eisenhower's orders to stop the Third Army. Without the Third Army chasing them, destroying their equipment, and killing them, German soldiers now had enough time to reinforce their battle lines with hastily reorganized units. The reorganization included non-battle tested, untrained troops who had never before performed non-combatant duties.

The Germans dug in and entrenched themselves in a frantic effort to stabilize their front lines. One counter attack followed another as the Germans sought to gain valuable time to strengthen the favorable terrain with fortifications. Even with all of their efforts, however, they failed to stop the Third Army from forcing the line of the Moselle River.

Helped by the greatest possible use of artillery, Third Army units pushed across the Meurthe River and then established important bridgeheads across the Moselle River. Progress was slow and costly because of the shortage of supplies, but at least it was positive. Even though the Third Army wasn't gaining ground at the speed it had been just weeks before, at least they weren't losing ground.

Some terrible and vicious battles were fought along the Moselle River as the Third Army battled to break through the outer defenses of the city of Metz. Even though German losses in personnel and materiel were high they did manage to firm up their front lines after the Third Army was ordered to hold it's positions. During this period there was not only a shortage of gasoline, but also a shortage of ammunition.

As usual, the Third Army refused to waste their time by doing nothing. As General Patton often told them, "There's always something you can do. There's never any excuse for being lazy.

Although the Third Army was expected to do nothing but patrol their lines during Operation Market-Garden, they always patrolled aggressively.

This was one of General Patton's terms for a lot of small attacks. This aggressive patrolling kept the soldiers sharp and kept the Third Army moving forward.

Third Army continued to build up supplies, ammunition, and much needed winter clothing. This forced rest period and buildup continued through October and the first week of November. Finally, on November 8th, the waiting was over.

The Third Army once again had been given a green light from Eisenhower. That is just what Patton and his soldiers had been waiting for.

Patton had gone through the ordeal of a trench war in World War One. He knew how bad the effects of a stalemate could be. It was exactly that type of trench warfare he wanted to avoid with his rapid, motorized war of continual advance. Major General Walton H. Both of these generals knew how important it is to surprise the enemy so they started battles during weather so bad the Germans didn't think it was possible to attack.

As usual, because of their boldness, the Third Army achieved a tactical surprise. They were becoming famous for being able to do the impossible. During these attacks, heavy rains left the terrain muddy and the rivers at a record flood level. These conditions called for more than average performance by the bridge building engineers. The wet and cold weather caused a trenchfoot epidemic among Third Army troops, but a program of individual foot care was ordered personally by General Patton.

This lowered the casualty rate and broke the epidemic. The severe weather helped the Germans to prevent a complete breakthrough, but they still had to withdraw into Germany and take defensive positions behind the Siegfried Line. In spite of fanatic German resistance, Metz was captured for the first time since A. The Third Army entered the city on November 18th after it was completely encircled. After capturing Metz, General Patton ordered a powerful drive into the Siegfried Line, which he called, "A monument to the stupidity of mankind.

The Third Army was forced to give up this attack because of a problem that developed in the First Army's area to the north. Von Rundstedt's forces hit quickly and gained the element of surprise. Because of this, his soldiers were making excellent progress. They feared that the Germans might be able to use this massive offensive to go to the north and west to capture the cities of Liege and Antwerp. Liege was extremely important because the Allies had large supply dumps there.

If the Germans managed to seize those supplies, they could possibly push the Allies back to the coastline, causing them to lose all the ground they had gained. Antwerp was important because it was a port city. If captured, the Germans could use it to bring in badly needed supplies.

At a special meeting of all the highest ranking generals in the American, British, and Canadian armies, it was decided that the toughest job would go to General Patton and his Third Army. They would have to relieve the soldiers who had been surrounded by the Germans at the Belgian city of Bastogne. After the meeting, Eisenhower, who had just been promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army, was talking with General Patton.

He remarked, "George, every time I get promoted I get attacked. Taylor, was holding out and fighting off the fierce attempts by the Germans to overrun Bastogne. The Third Army had to stop a full scale attack they had started to the east, pull back the entire army, swing around ninety degrees to the north, and then begin another full scale attack on the southern flank of the German forces.

Nothing like that had ever been done in the history of warfare. Everyone thought it was impossible except General Patton. He knew his men could do the impossible. It only took three days for the Third army to perform that massive maneuver. Today, military historians readily admit that only Patton's Third Army could have accomplished a maneuver like that and make it look easy. Patton always demanded more from his soldiers than other commanders did and they never let him down.

One of the reasons the Third Army performed so well is because they expected the German attack. His report was ignored. They refused to believe the Germans could collect the mass of weapons, men, and material to launch a large attack. It was a classic case of under-estimating the enemy. At Colonel Koch's suggestion, General Patton gave the order for his staff to design two separate plans in the event of a German attack.

When Patton attended the meeting with the other Allied commanders he told them he could attack in two days with at least two divisions. Everyone thought he was crazy, but he told them that he had already set plans in motion before he left his headquarters. All he had to was place a phone call. When it was finally decided that he should attack as soon as possible, he phoned his headquarters and said, "Nickel. The General never returned to his headquarters. Instead, he and his driver, Sergeant Mims, began traveling along the roads where he knew he would meet his soldiers heading north.

He gave orders on the spot and told everyone he met to head north and kill Germans. Sergeant Mims once said to Patton, "General, the army is wasting a lot of money on your staff officers.

You and I can run the whole war from your jeep. While watching his men heading toward the Germans surrounding Bastogne, he said, "No other army in the world could do this. No other soldiers could do what these men are doing. By God, I'm proud of them. Gaffey, made contact with the soldiers at Bastogne. By this time, urgently needed snow camouflage for both troops and vehicles was being quickly supplied.

Because of the problem of tanks slipping on the icy terrain, supply troops had installed special cleats on the treads of the tanks, much like the cleats on athlete's shoes. The Germans threw everything they had into the attack against Bastogne. It was their last chance against the Allies. They made every attempt to smash and close the corridor the 4th Armored Division had opened to Bastogne. When failure was certain they began to withdraw their armor behind the Siegfried line for the second and final time.

Badly hurt by the beating they had taken, the Germans used what was left of their infantry to screen their movements. Although they were handicapped by bitterly cold weather, ice, and snow, the Third Army continued it's pressure on the south flank of the enemy penetration. By the end of December, the enemy had succeeded in saving what armor had not been destroyed.

The bulge slowly became a wedge and the wedge finally disappeared. Finally, another bulge appeared except this time it was on the German side of the front lines. Officially, on the 28th of January, the Battle of the Bulge was over and Von Rundstedt's Ardennes Offensive as the Germans called it had lost all of the ground that it had originally won.

The enemy was now completely pushed back into German territory. The soldiers of the First Army had fought gallantly and bravely throughout the entire Battle of the Bulge. Although they were to be commended for their courage and fighting ability, the truth is that they would have lost the battle without the help of the Third Army. Without their quick and decisive maneuver and attack, the Battle of the Bulge would have been a massive disaster for the Allies.

It was also partly due to their lack of discipline among their soldiers that the Germans were able to get so far in their attack. Yet, General Patton, whose Third Army was mostly responsible for saving they day, was never even thanked by Eisenhower. Patton, however, didn't have time to worry about such small things. He was getting ready for another drive into Germany. It was during this advance that the Third Army captured the German city of Trier. There's a funny story about the capture of Trier that shows the differences between General Patton and General Bradley and their ability to judge a military situation.

After the battle was already won and the Third Army had taken the city, General Patton received a message from General Bradley. The message said, "Bypass Trier. It would take too many divisions to capture it. By this time, Germany's manpower problem was becoming very evident to the Allies. All units of the Third Army was meeting great numbers of rear echelon German troops. Among these were many Volkssturm German militia troops. After their defeat at Bastogne, the Germans were now totally incapable of stopping the Third Army in it's sweep across the Rhine River.

Parts of eleven German divisions were trapped between the Third Army in the south and the First Army in the north. They were being chopped to pieces with only a very few of them managing to escape. The enemy was all but whipped and they knew it. They were becoming more demoralized as each day passed.

By driving quickly to the Rhine River, the Third Army exposed the enemy's right flank. This created the opportunity for Patton's men to reopen a devastating war of movement for the first time since the fighting they had done in France. This was Patton's favorite kind of war. He liked to hit hard and fast. He never stopped to regroup his forces the way General Montgomery did with his British 2nd Army. There was no safe place for the Germans and there was no place for them to hide.

By now, the Germans were panic-stricken. They tried, but failed, to hold a line of defense against the Third Army's unstoppable armor west of Mainz and Mannheim. Third Army's 4th Armored Division penetrated deeply into Germany territory and into the Seventh Army's zone of operations. Major General W. Allen's 12th Armored Division pushed the enemy eastward toward the Rhine.

The German withdrawal was completely disorganized and confused. It was quickly becoming a complete rout. The enemy was making a mad dash for the city of Speyer. It was the only city they could get to that still had an open crossing to the Rhine River. During this period, the enemy lost the greater part of two entire armies.

They were chopped to pieces by the powerful armor rushing on him from three different directions. Opie Weyland, attacked the Germans relentlessly with their P and P fighter-bombers. On the ground, they were pursued closely by Third Army infantry. In addition to losing a large part of two armies, more than 81, German soldiers were captured as prisoners of war during this campaign.

To the north, at Remagen, General Montgomery was planning a major assault. Montgomery never believed in attacking unless he had such overwhelming odds in his favor that he was assured of victory simply by the weight of his attack.

His massive preparations for crossing the Rhine River included landing craft, air support, artillery, and large numbers of troops. All of the materials, supplies, and manpower he planned on using was almost equal to that used by the Allies during their landings in Normandy on D-Day. Montgomery's crossing of the Rhine was supposed to be a spectacular invasion of Germany. It was meant to be an earth-shaking event that would be broadcast throughout England over the BBC radio network.

Churchill, to be present at the crossing. Meanwhile, very quietly, and without any great fanfare or massive preparations, Patton's Third Army was already crossing the Rhine and driving toward the heart of Nazi Germany.

Patton's men were just following his basic order to, "Kill the enemy before they kill you. Third Army quickly moved two bridgeheads over the Rhine River within five days. Patton had often warned his men that, "Many battles have been lost because of an army stopping on the wrong side of a river. Leroy Irwin, made a perfectly executed assault crossing of the Rhine early on the morning of March 23rd. They had received no artillery or air support and the Germans offered little or no resistance at all.