Mr. McPhee wrong about Gen. Patton

In a letter to the Village News, Archie McPhee of Fallbrook was lavish in his praise of General Patton (WWII). I have no argument with the premise that Gen. Patton was a good general – though I’m not sure I agree with the assertion that he was the best ever!

Where I find specific disagreement with Mr. McPhee, however, was in his glowing accolade that “General Patton ran General Rommel and the Axis forces out of Africa.” I’m sure that General Patton himself would join me in correcting this erroneous assumption. In actual fact, General Bernard Montgomery, and the British Eighth Army, must be given this honor, hands down! Has Mr. McPhee forgotten the Battle of El Alemein and the defeat of the cream of the German and Italian armies?

From that date (23 October 1942) the tide turned in Africa and the Axis forces began their long retreat to Tunisia and their eventual capture. General Patton (in Tunisia) was never more than a tactical corps commander – subject to the orders of his superiors, Gen. Eisenhower and Field Marshal Alexander.

It’s bad enough that the British 14th Army in Burma was completely ignored by Hollywood when they made a movie showing Errol Flynn single-handedly defeating the whole Japanese army in that theatre. Now Mr. McPhee would like to do the same to the real victors in Africa.

We Brits, Aussies, New Zealanders, et cetera of the British Desert Army had one comment for people like Mr. McPhee: “Get your bloody knees brown!”

Robert F. Green