Episodes

General George S. Patton and the US Army embark on the road to Germany by invading North Africa on 8 November, 1942.

The program begins with a preview of the first showdown between US and German forces at Kasserine Pass in February, 1943. Then, back at the initial landings in November, 1942, Pro-Nazi French forces put up surprisingly strong resistance on land, at sea, and in the air against Patton’s invasion forces.

After three days of intense fighting, a cease-fire is declared, and Patton triumphantly enters the port city of Casablanca. But bigger battles with the German Army loom on the horizon.
 

After the Germans deliver a stinging defeat to American forces under the command of General Lloyd Fredendall at Kasserine Pass, Eisenhower appoints Patton to take charge of the humiliated Americans.

"Old Blood and Guts" quickly whips the poorly-trained troops into shape, leading them to victory at the Battle of El Guettar. With the Axis forces in full retreat, Patton and the Allies push the enemy of the continent and declare victory in North Africa by May 1943.

As a result of his victories in North Africa, Patton is given command of the Seventh Army as the Allies prepare to invade Sicily.

Known as Operation Husky, the combined amphibious and airborne assault is the largest invasion of the war to date. Despite a surprise counter-attack by Italian tanks, Patton and his allies successfully hold the beaches and prepare to push inland.

Frustrated by the slow progress of his British allies, Patton ignores his orders to stay by their side and instead pushes on toward Palermo, capturing the Sicilian capital on 22 July.

Buoyed by their string of successes, Seventh Army prepares to assault Messina and liberate the besieged city before the British do. The victorious American soldiers enter Messina on August 17th, but instead of a hero's welcome, Patton is relieved of command for slapping two soldiers.

There's no guarantee he'll ever command troops on a battlefield again.

Patton’s victories in Sicily are soon overshadowed by the infamous 'slapping incident' involving two shell-shocked soldiers.

Instead of leading the D-Day invasion of France, Patton is assigned to command a fictitious army in England as part of a ruse to fool the Germans. The deception pays off, and the Allies land a massive armada on the beaches of Normandy on 6 June, 1944.

After weeks of stalemate, General Patton helps plan the break-out from the Normandy beachhead, code-named Operation Cobra. Preceded by a massive carpet-bombing attack by Allied bombers, American armored forces blast through the German lines. Patton is finally able to lead some of the lightning-fast armored assaults he is famous for.

On 1 August, Patton’s Third Army finally becomes operational. American armored forces tear through western France, moving faster, seizing more territory, and killing more enemies than any other army in history.

Patton is denied a complete victory at the battle of Falaise Gap when his superiors order him to stop before completely trapping an entire German Army. But soon Patton is back to racing east across France at record speed.

By 23 August, the Third Army has reached the outskirts of Paris, but Patton is denied the glory of liberating the city when the Free French Army is chosen instead to enter the city first. After crossing the Seine river, Patton's men engage in heavy street fighting in the city of Troyes and by the end of August they advance to within 60 miles of the German border..

Patton’s blitzkrieg is so successful that his army outruns its own supply lines. Despite being short on fuel and ammunition, he invades the province of Lorraine, hoping to cross into Germany before Christmas.

But delays from the fuel shortages have given the Germans time to regroup. Stubborn German defenses at the Moselle River are finally crushed, and the Third Army captures the key city of Nancy.

Then Adolph Hitler demands that his generals launch a major counterattack and a furious tank battle erupts near the town of Arracourt. Despite the inferiority of their tanks, the Americans emerge triumphant. But Patton remains stuck in Lorraine, just a few miles closer to Germany than he was at the beginning of the month

The slow but brutal slug-fest in Lorraine continues as Patton orders his men to take the heavily fortified city of Metz.

The thick forts that surround the city and the castle-like walls around Metz prove to be more than a match for American armor, and the siege goes on for weeks. Ammunition supplies run so low that Patton's men resort to using captured German shells. After commencing the largest artillery barrage in Third Army's history, the Americans finally subdue the city's defenders on 21 November.

 

As Patton’s men prepare to cross the Rhine River into Germany, other American units in Belgium are completely shattered by a German counterattack, kicking off the Battle of the Bulge.

Patton is called on to rush to the rescue. The small city of Bastogne quickly becomes the centerpiece of the campaign as American troops struggle to hold their ground. Despite the worst weather in 20 years, Patton's Third Army races northward, smashing through the German lines and relieving the beleaguered defenders of Bastogne

With the German Army again in full retreat, Patton and his men are ordered to break through the vaunted Siegfried Line and cross into Germany.

Once again, Patton steals the thunder from the British, beating them to the Rhine River on 3 March. The Third Army surges into southern Germany but a few weeks later Patton's secret mission to rescue American POWs behind enemy lines goes horribly wrong.

On 11 April, Patton and his men witness the horrors of Nazi Germans when they liberate the Buchenwald death camp. The Third Reich finally collapses on 8 May, 1945. But before the year is over Patton dies of injuries from a car accident in post-war Germany.