Alexander M. Patch

Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch

Alexander McCarrell "Sandy" Patch junior (born November 23, 1889 in Fort Huachuca , Arizona ; † November 21, 1945 in Fort Sam Houston , Texas ) was a Lieutenant General in the US Army who served in World War II. In the Pacific War he commanded troops of the US Army and the US Marine Corps during the invasion of Guadalcanal and then from March 1944 to June 1945 the 7th US Army in the European theater of war. Patch was promoted posthumously to general on July 19, 1954, some nine years after his death .

Life

origin

Patch was born in 1889 on the US base Fort Huachuca in the US state of Arizona as the son of the base commander there Alexander McCarrell Patch (1854-1924) and his wife Annie Brownlee Moore (1850-1915), a daughter of the MP William S. Moore born. His older brother Joseph Dorst Patch (1885-1966) also served as an officer, rose to major general in 1942 and was also known as a military writer.

Training and First World War

In 1909, at the age of 20, Alexander Patch was admitted to the US Military Academy at West Point . Patch wanted to become a cavalry officer like his father , but realized that this branch of service seemed outdated in the industrial age and was finally awarded his officer license in 1913 as a second lieutenant in the infantry .

During World War I , Patch served in the infantry and as an instructor at the U.S. Army Machine Gun School . In the fall of 1918 he came to the front with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. George C. Marshall , who was serving on the staff of General of the Armies of the United States John J. Pershing at the time, became aware of him at this time.

Second World War

As part of the expansion of the US Army before the United States entered World War II , Marshall, who was now Chief of Staff of the US Army , promoted Patch to Brigadier General on August 4, 1941 and transferred him to Fort Bragg , North Carolina , to do the Take on training of new soldiers.

When the United States entered the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the high command decided to assemble additional infantry units and send them to the Pacific. After the further conquests of the Japanese in the Philippines and in other Southeast Asian countries, the Japanese expansion was to be stopped.

On January 14, 1942, Einsatzgruppe 6814 was activated in New York Harbor and placed under the command of Brigadier General Patch. Your mission was the island of New Caledonia in the Pacific. The group reached the port of Nouméa on March 12th. Patch's mission order, who had been promoted to major general on March 10 , was to defend New Caledonia against Japanese attacks.

The 164th Infantry Regiment replaced the two regiments 132 and 182 of Einsatzgruppe 6184 on April 19 . In addition, field artillery was landed. The units then went through a reorganization. The 23rd Infantry Division , better known as the Americal Division , was established in New Caledonia on May 24th. After completing their tasks, new forces from Einsatzgruppe 6814 replaced the Americal Division , whose 164th Infantry Regiment was moved to Guadalcanal .

Major General Alexander M. Patch, Jr. watches the arrival of troops on Guadalcanal

The Solomon Islands of Guadalcanal was reached by the first units on October 13th. There the American Division intervened seriously for the first time in the fighting of the Pacific War when the Japanese attacked the positions of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 164th Regiment on October 26, in order to break through to Henderson Field . After two days, the Japanese withdrew, losing around 1,000 men. After the entire division arrived on November 12th on Guadalcanal, they took part in the offensive west of the Matanikau River. At the beginning of December she then took full control of all battle sites on the island. This replaced the 1st Marine Division .

At the headquarters of the XIV. US Corps , Generals Patch and Edmund B. Sebree , who had replaced Patch in December as commander of the American Division as he took over command of the entire Guadalcanal operation, planned a major offensive to take the still occupied territories the island.

Marshall was again impressed by Patch and ordered him to the European theater of war to take over the 7th US Army . After Operation Dragoon , the invasion of southern France from August 15, 1944, Patch led the army up the Rhone on a quick offensive . On September 9, he met with parts of George S. Patton's 3rd US Army , who came from Normandy .

Patch experienced a personal tragedy when his son, Captain Alexander M. Patch III, who served as a company commander in the 79th Infantry Division , died fighting the Germans on October 22, 1944.

End of war and death

After the war ended in May Patch retained command of the 7th US Army until June 1945. In August, he returned to the United States and took over, to August 18, Lieutenant General appointed in Presidio , California , in command of the 4th US Army . However, a short time later he was admitted to hospital with lung problems. Patch died on 21 November 1945 in a hospital in Fort Sam Houston , Texas , at a pneumonia . He is buried in the West Point Military Academy cemetery.

Honors

The Kurmärker barracks, today Patch Barracks , in Stuttgart-Vaihingen was named after him on July 4, 1952. It houses the headquarters of the US European Command . On July 19, 1954, Patch was posthumously promoted to general . In addition, on the beach of Pampelonne , one of the scenes of Operation Dragoon, a street is named after him today, the Boulevard du General Patch - including the address of the world-famous Club 55 .

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

• Army Distinguished Service Medal (x3)
• Navy Distinguished Service Medal
• Bronze star
• Grand Cross of the Belgian Order of Leopold
• Commander of the French Legion of Honor
• Croix de guerre with palm tree
• Companion of the Order of the Bath

Books

• William K. Wyant: Sandy Patch - A Biography of Lt. Gene. Alexander M. Patch, 1991, ISBN 0-275-93454-3

Web links

Commons : Alexander M. Patch  - album with pictures, videos and audio files