“Our means of studying war have increased as much as have our tools for waging it, but it is an open question whether this increase in means has not perhaps obscured or obliterated one essential detail, namely, the necessity for personal leadership.”

Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr (1885 to 1945), speaking as a Major in 1931.

George Patton, in full George Smith Patton, Jr., was a US Army officer who was an outstanding practitioner of mobile tank warfare in the European and Mediterranean theatres during World War II. His strict discipline, toughness, and self-sacrifice elicited exceptional pride within his ranks, and the general was colourfully referred to as “Old Blood-and-Guts” by his men. However, his brash actions and mercurial temper led to numerous controversies during his career.