re: How well regarded was General Patton before the movie "Patton"?

The German View of Patton

HistoryNet

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The movie (one of my favorite, by the way) - attempted to make him look bad (recall that was during the Vietnam War

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Patton died in Germany in 1945, a quarter century before Vietnam

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The real Patton had a higher pitched, nasally oice. However, it is difficult to imagine a more compelling portrayal of a real life figure - so the casting of Scott was an A+.

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I remember the first time I heard Patton's real voice. I was shocked at how he sounded almost Mickey Mouse like. Still, I think George C. Scott, other than the voice, was dead on target in his portrayal of Patton.

As for how he was regarded in his time, there was no middle ground on him. Either you loved him or you hated him, all depending on your personal point of view. But one thing is for sure, more than any other Allied general, the Germans both feared and respected him.

A good example of how highly the Germans regarded Patton can be seen in just how fooled they were by the pre-invasion ruse the Allies played on the Germans to make them think the invasion would be against Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy. The Allies set up a totally fictional " 1st Army Group" in Kent, right across the channel from the Pas-de-Calais. There were fields of inflatable tanks, trucks, etc. They even set up two fictional armies with corps, and divisions under them complete with plenty of radio traffic to make it look like this 1st Army Group was real. But the main thing that convinced the Germans that the invasion would come in the Pas-de-Calais from the 1st Army Group was the fact that the Allies made sure it was widely known that the commander of 1st AG was none other than Patton himself. The fact the Allies put what the Germans considered their best general in command of the "1st Army Group" played a significant, perhaps the main, role in leading the Germans to be fooled over the real plans for Operation Overlord. In fact when the real invasion came and hit Normandy, the Germans were convinced it was a distraction and for weeks held significant reserves back awaiting what they thought would be Patton's real invasion in the Pas-de-Calais.

Read a book. Learn something. Patton: A Genius for War by Carlo D'Este.

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I dk man, I get the whole tough general refusing to suffer cowards thing...
But he slapped 2 soldiers suffering mental trauma and probably PTSD and threw them out of the hospital, that wasn't a good idea

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Good idea? Probably not.

Worth losing your best general and thus potentially hundreds, maybe thousands more men, and maybe even the war over? Definitely not.

here is the transcript and some other notes to the "Patton Speech". A little different than what is portrayed in the movie

patton speech


Heres him speaking (bonus Reagan is the narrator) LINK