Taylor Downing’s “The Army That Never Was” is a well-written book about how the British used deception to defeat Hitler’s army. By creating a fake army and then releasing information about it to double agents, Generals Eisenhower, Patton, and Montgomery were able to pull a series of fast ones on Hitler and his boys. I found this story interesting, and it kept me reading. Maybe it is because I remember so much about WWII from newspaper accounts and Pathe newsreels. The facts seemed to be revealing. I was only six years old at the time and could barely read anything beyond Dick and Jane primers, but somehow I began following the war through the pictures posted in our daily newspaper the Sun Times.
Back in the day, many of us got our information by going to the Saturday Matinees and saw episodes of battles shown in the newsreels. The featured Western films did little to inform us of the wars. They did, however, show us many shooting matches between the good guys and the bad guys of the open range. Compared to today’s you tube videos of battle the nineteen forties newsreel’s were tame. They were, however, effective in communicating messages about war. When I began reading this book, it triggered flashbacks of my childhood memories.
A new piece of history that I learned was that Eisenhower had to fire Patton several times during the war. Evidently, Patton had issues with soldiers who he thought did not fight. While visiting injured troops in hospitals he encountered soldiers who were not physically injured and wound up slapping them and accused them of being cowards. Another time he exhibited his hatred for jews while fighting against the Nazis who were slaughtering jews. Eisenhower regretted disciplining him, but had to do so. The commander also regarded Patton as one of the best generals in the army. After firing him the first time, Eisenhower put Patton in charge of the army that never was and Patton performed admirably.
Filed under: Book Review | Tagged: Eisenhower, Patton, World War II |
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