George S. Patton Box 2 Folder 6 Diaries Annotated transcripts Apr. - June 1918 (Diary 1918) Monday April 1 Went to Chaumont to see the dentist and had five teeth drilled for inlays. Stayed at General P's house. At supper Gen. Alvord told me I was a Lt. Colonel. Collins said that as a result of my promotion he did not approve of selection (joke). (Diary 1918) Tuesday April 2 Nothing Finished with dentist. (Diary 1918) Wednesday April 3 Nothing but some Boston civilians to see tanks. Started drilling in brush south of Bois d'Amour. Rain (Diary 1918) Thursday April 4 Decided to change schedule in order to get more men at work. Rain. (Diary 1918) Friday April 5 "C" company arrived at noon. Put Lt. Higgins in charge. A very good lot of men but poor N.C.O's. (Diary 1918) Saturday April 6 Cleaned tanks and worked on platoon manuever. Rain (Diary 1918) Sunday April 7 Had dinner with Madame De Vaux and Col. Bard Eng. (Diary 1918) Monday April 8 Col. R. Lt. Col Clapton, Capt. Viner inspected center we were just changing schedule, so there were some tie ups. We went to Martigny-les-Bains. Saw German prisoner eating swill. Found 9th Co. motor mechanics apparently lost. Coming home Col R was very complimentary. I had a bad headake. (Diary 1918) Tuesday April 9 Got telegram from Beat that Mrs. Ayer had died. (Diary 1918) Wednesday April 10 Phoned Col. Collins and asked him to get Gen P. to send B a telegram. Wrote her a letter also one to Katharine. Felt better but not well. Got letter from B about Mr. Ayers death. He often read my letter to him saying that his letter to me had decided me to enter the tanks. Last letter he got was one from B announcing my promotion to Lt. Col. He said now that George has his start he will go higher. B put my poem about him in his pocket. B's letter less sad than I had feared. (Diary 1918) Thursday April 11 Nothing (Diary 1918) Friday April 12 Friday nothing. (Diary 1918) Saturday April 13 My itch is getting worse and I am going to the hospital for a few days to get it fixed up. Capt. Viner reported for duty. (Diary 1918) Sunday April 14 Staid in bed with a wet dressing on my chest. (Diary 1918) Monday April 15 Moved to Ward 2. staid in bed. Blanchard Scott -? came to see me. (Diary 1918) Tuesday April 16 Got up at 11 A.M. and went to Bourg to have tank manuver. Maj. J. F. Hughes Morris who was to command the infantry got mad at not being met so went home. Manuver worked out fine. mil check (Diary 1918) Wednesday April 17 Put Capt. Viner in command of C. Co. and Capt Compton in command of A. (Diary 1918) Thursday April 18 Nothing (Diary 1918) Friday April 19 Had rehersal of tank manuver. Lt. Col. Maxie brought a battalion composed of students from his schools and the auto weapons school all went fine we had to let tanks start at H-2 1/2 instead of H-1 1/2 to give more time. (Diary 1918) Saturday April 20 Went to a dance at Hospital No 15 at Chaumont got home at 2 A.M. Had a very nice time. (Diary 1918) Sunday April 21 The French started going to church about 2 A.M. Called on Madame de Vaux and dined with some little girls my itch was worse. (Diary 1918) Monday April 22 Had manuver in heavy rain. Made barage of O.F. grenades fine show. I was much complimented both on the show and on Sylvia's looks. About 200 officers were present. One tank fell in a hole but we got it out before five. (Diary 1918) Wednesday May 1 Wrote out ideas on employment of tanks for Col. R. Believe them good and quite new. (Diary 1918) Friday May 3 Nothing much. (Diary 1918) Saturday May 4 G. O. 66 reduced Collins Shallenberger and Bacon to majors. I had a black border drawn around the order and sent it to him. Maj. Champlin and I drew in the changes on a blue print of the original Renault. (Diary 1918) Sunday May 5 Called on Gen. Sample and asked him to give me some huts. Called on Col. Smith to pay my respects as he is new Comdt of the Army Schools. Capt. Harrison Brown reported for duty. (Diary 1918) Saturday May 11 Inspection.In the streets tent pitching (Diary 1918) Sunday May 12 Rained all day my itch got much worse. (Diary 1918) Monday May 13 Had lecture on infantry platoon and Co. Capt. Brown got up lecture on it. (Diary 1918) Tuesday May 14 Went over problems No. 2 map. found them very good. Gave lecture on approved solution. (Diary 1918) Wednesday May 15 Lecture by French officer on infantry. Gen Sample and a lot of milk toast Y.M.C.A. women came to see the tanks. Tried passing trenches at speed with good results. (Diary 1918) Saturday May 18 Inspection Nothing. (Diary 1918) Sunday May 19 Lt. Col. John A. Crane dead. Shell Col. R came down and talked a lot but said nothing it was very tiresome. He told me I could go to French Front Tuesday. (Diary 1918) Monday May 20 Got ready to go. Wrote letter to B. which I gave to Viner to forward in case I am killed. (Diary 1918) Tuesday May 21 Col R came down and said we could not go because things were not arranged with the 3d Bureau. I went home early and sat in the sun to cure my itch. Gave a party to the mess had a bottle of Champagne. Andrews put eggs in a bottle very amusing. (Diary 1918) Wednesday May 22 Left Langres at 10:30 with Lt. Murphy whom I put in the hospital. Saw Col. R. Had dinner with Collins Gen. McAndrew Col Davis. They leave the house to day I told them to cancel my lease. Left Chaumont at 5:45 Reached Paris at 10 P.M. Took Metro to Place de Opera. Walked to Meurice. Had a bath. An alarm was given but I went to sleep before any things happened. Party, Lt Col. Patton, Lt. Will Robinson, T.C. Brown, W. H. Williams, Nelms & Morrison. *Place de l'Opera (Diary 1918) Friday May 24 Saw a manuver with 4 tanks and a Bn. Inft. Not over 500 men of 34 Regt. Men small and young Bn. Commanded by a Capt. Cosley?. Lts. noted that when lines halted men did not simulate fire. Was told that they never fire and in last attack that they took 600 M of trenches with out firing a shot. Tanks were slow in getting up and moved accross front in a long oblique. Aeroplanes raded last night dropped six bombs around town but did not hit any thing. Holes 4 ft deep and 7 or 8 feet accross. Heard a Barage start at 2 A.M. Called on Corps commander Did not speak a word of English all day but talked incessantly. Saw loading manuver. (Diary 1918) Monday May 27 Maj. Le F and I went through St. Martin to Menevillers and then north till we crossed the RR here we left the car and went east in a ravine passing a battery of 155 well hidden under nets. But they had not hidden their road so were sure to be known. All the ammunitions were [inside] in wide holes so all would not blow up. We located some good No 2 positions for tanks there were a lot of fresh shell holes but none came while we were there. We then went NW along the R.R. in search of more positions but found none. Saw 2 Bat. of 75 action W of Mery. Also saw some Bosch planes being shot at. At dinner heard Bosch were attacking Paris with gun just heard of new battle at Reimc. (Diary 1918) Wednesday May 29 Nothing. Got up at 8 A.M. and walked around town and saw a hole where a bomb had fallen and not gone off. In P.M. Robinson and I walked about 2 miles towards the lines but saw nothing of interest. When we came back they told us Soissone had been taken. Only 4 Div were holding the line when the Bosch attacked. 2 of the 5 British Army and 2 Third French Div. The F. were completely fooled as they had looked for an attack near Arras. The French are Blue and say that they cannot attack until the U.S. gets 30 div over. They say that the British will not attack again. May 30 18 Darling Beat: I just finished writing you a most amusing letter but as it is long and funny I shall defer mailing it until I get to an Army Post office as I don't know whether these written through the French P.O. will ever reach you. The Aviens came again last night but I was asleep and did not hear them. They blew up some people in the next town and some houses. [*houses? yes*] There is very little news left to tell I am simply writing this to let you know I am all right. I love you George (Diary 1918) Saturday June 1 Left Leglantiers for Clermont at 3 P.M. got there in an hour having passed large numbers of Trucks on the road over 500. I pad my respects on the commandant of Super Groupment Let. Col. Shedville. Got to Paris about 6:30 saw lots of refugees on the road. Went to the theater. (Diary 1918) Sunday June 2 Called on Miss Stilwell and had a fairly lazy day. (Diary 1918) Monday June 3 Got my uniform tried on. And saw Gen. P. at the same shop. Bought some pipes for which I paid too much money. (Diary 1918) Friday June 7 Went to Chaumont to see Col R about getting Maj. Davis sent to Paris. (Diary 1918) Saturday June 8 Col. Babcock visited Center. Had manuver of Tanks in advance guard. (Diary 1918) Sunday June 9 Nothing. Maj. L. K. Davis went to Paris to arrange some business for me. Gen. Wheeler Chief of Ord. came to see me and was much pleased and promised help. (Diary 1918) Wednesday June 12 Nothing. Appointed Capt. Compton in charge of instruction. Traded Atlas for new Denis 3 to truck. [*? yes*] Arranged for myself Viner Brett [Butt] & Gibbs to take G. S. course. [*Brett?*] (Diary 1918) Thursday June 13 Shipped a Tank in two trucks to NEVERS to have it lengthened and fixed to cary three men. Col. Rockenbach came down and told me that probably one Bn would be put in the fight in August. I fear we will have no such luck. But hope for the best. (Diary 1918) Friday June 14 Had maneuver of a night march "A" Co. 326 Bn Capt Compton. Marched 10 K in 2h55m. very satisfactory reconnaissance work was most satisfactory and road was not once lost. Maj. Davis got back and reported successful termination to his trip. (Diary 1918) Saturday June 15 Nothing (Diary 1918) Monday June 17 The 15 new tanks arrived at 3:30 and we put up the ramp and got them all off by 4:28 and had the ramp down and were able to move the train. Maj. Laughton Mr. & Mrs. Johnson came by and got Mrs. Ayer. Started G. S. [*Gen. Staff*] College. (Diary 1918) Tuesday June 18 Nothing (Diary 1918) Wednesday June 19 First Company Tank Drill. Very poor. (Diary 1918) Sunday June 23 Rode horseback to Chaumont. Had dinner with Gen. at his new house. Very pretty ride along canal. (From folder marked MY PERSONAL PAPERS ON TANKS, ALL WRITTEN BY ME) (June 2, 1918) Speaking Notes. 1. The amount of nerve required by a Captain even though camouflaged -- 2. To begin the Tank was and still is -- 3. Its advent was made necessary -- 4. The Tank then in order to fulfill its purpose of correcting the defects in the artillery preparation. Had--1-2-3-4-- 5. Cambrai begun on Nov. 20 1917 -- 6. Hence it may be well to briefly trace now the above -- 7. The British thought of the tank 8. Under this assumption it was felt that -- 9. To Carry out this notion of attack the tanks were arranged in one echelon of two waves. (Diagram No. I) 10. The above somewhat complex formation was destines to be employed -- 11. Diagram No. II and III. 12. When the first trenches were cleared to the width -- 13. It is at once apparent -- 14. When the American TMC was first formed just after -- 15. Diagram IV. 16. The function of the third platoon. 17. Our infantry, you will observe -- 18. But even at Cambrai -- 19. While the officers of this Center -- (Speaking notes-2) 20. Tank T.H. And most important of all the dwindling man power of the enemy--Conserve lives--preserve land. 21. The defense in depth accomplished this-- 22. In the intermediate area between there two lines-- 23. This was accomplished. 24. To meet this form of defense-- 25. How could these faults have been corrected-- 26. I propose instead the following method of their employ- ment-- 27. Diagram V and VI 28. But in order to make these actions of the tank useful. 29. Here it may be permissible to point a defect I have occasionally noted. 30. This resulted in the acquisition of many decorations-- 31. As soon as a hostile opposition of any sort is discovered-- 32. By using this method of exploitation-- 33. Operating in the method above described-- 34."Riding the enemy to death"--. 35. This is accomplished by pressing forward on as a broad a front as--. 36. How can tanks facilitate this advance ?-- 37. There is another phase of combat which may be rightly treated-- 38. Finally we shall close with a hasty consideration-- 39. Now I shall take advantage of my position to respect- fully pre pound a question to you. Is the creeping Barrage worth while. (Speaking notes - 3) 40. Next do you give enough thought to transient targets. 41. Do Tanks get as much support as they deserve. 42. Having thus sinned the unpardonable sin of speaking of the tactics of another arm with which I am only acquainted by the business end. I shall close Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.