Patton's Ghost Corps: Cracking the Siegfried Line

by Nathan N. Prefer and Nathan N. Prefer

Book Overview

In December 1944, Gen. George Patton turned Third Army north, taking two of his army's three corps and all of his armor to strike the massive Nazi attack through the Ardennes that became known as the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891416463
• ISBN13: 9780891416463
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: Presidio Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Patton's Ghost Corps

Got what I asked for, and saved some dough. Bought the book as a gift.

Excellent book on lesser known victories

When the German Army launched its counteroffensive against the Allies in the Battle of the Bulge, Lieutenant General George S. Patton turned two of his three corps north to pierce the attack, leaving one corps, the XX, to hold an area previously held by three. But the XX Corps didn't defend, it attacked. Despite harsh weather, depleted strength and stiff German resistance, the XX Corps achieved remarkable success in the lesser known battles of the Saar-Mosell Triangle and the Saar Campaign. The story of the XX Corps in these campaigns is really the story of the 94th Infantry Division which attacked and fought off counterattacks by veteran German units until, assisted by the 10th Armored Division, they captured Trier, a key city to Germany's defenses. Nathan N. Prefer's Patton's Ghost Corps does an excellent job of following the action of these forgotten battles. Using archive records, interviews and other unpublished sources, Prefer fleshes out the less glamorous work of the Third Army and the German forces. In the process, he gives a clear picture of what the fight into Germany was like for the American infantryman. The XX Corps, commanded by Major General Walton Walker, earned the name 'Ghost Corps' because it moved so fast and so often, the Germans couldn't keep track of it. The 94th Division under Major General Harry J. Maloy, did Walker's bidding as it kept pressure on the German's opposing them. The book is at its best describing platoon-level action. Prefer paints well the scenes of wounded soldiers lying in an inch of freezing water on the floors of captured bunkers; men who actually feel lucky they are not in the trenches where the chances of death are greater. American infantrymen battle tanks with bazookas and set up machine gun posts on the only dominating feature on the landscape: giant piles of horse manure. The action see-saws back and fourth as each side generates temporary momentum before being forced back to their starting positions. After three months of frustrating battle the 10th Armored Division joins the XX Corps and exploits the hard work of the 94th Division. Here is where the book takes off. As the 10th rolls forward, the Germans, already weak from their bloody slugfest with the 94th, simply crumble. From February 21 to March 24, the two divisions smashed the German lines, crossed the Saar, took the strategically important town of Trier and established the XX Corps firmly on the Rhine River. The capture of Trier became famous in Patton folklore. On March 2, General Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered Patton to bypass Trier, believing only four divisions could capture the city. Patton sent a message to Eisenhower stating "Have taken Trier with two divisions. What do you want me to do? Give it back?" Patton's Ghost Corps is an excellent story of a forgotten front in the ground war of Europe. It can be enjoyed by both the serious researcher or anyone interested in the