6 March 1944

SUBJECT: Letter of Instruction No. 1

TO: Corps, Division, and Separate Unit Commanders.

1. GENERAL

This letter will orient you, officers of the higher echelons, in the principles of command, combat procedure, and administration which obtain in this Army, and will guide you in the conduct of your several commands.

2. COMMAND

a. Leadership

(1) Full Duty.

Each, in his appropriate sphere, will lead in person. Any commander who fails to obtain his objective, and who is not dead or severely wounded, has not done his full duty.

(2). Visits to the front.

The Commanding General or his Chief of Staff (never both at once) and one member of each of the general staff sections, the signal, medical, ordnance, engineer, and quartermaster sections should visit the front daily. To save duplication, the chief of staff will designate the sector each is to visit.

The function of these staff officers is to observe, not to meddle. In addition to their own specialty, they must observe and report anything of military importance. Remember, too, that your primary mission as a leader is to see with your own eyes and to be seen by the troops while engaged in personal reconnaissance.

b. Execution

In carrying out a mission, the promulgation of the order represents not over 10 percent of your responsibility. The remaining 90 percent consists of assuring, by means of personal supervision on the ground, by yourself and your staff, proper and vigorous execution.

c. Staff Conferences

Daily, at the earliest possible moment that the G-2 and G-3 can get their maps posted, a staff conference will be held, attended by the Commanding General, the Chief of Staff, and the heads of all general staff sections, the Surgeon, the Signal Officer, the Ordnance Officer, the Engineer Officer, and the other special staff heads when called on. Also present at this conference will be the staff officers described in paragraph 2a(2) above, who visited the front on the previous day. Any person present with a statement to make will do so briefly (n.b. if a staff inspector saw anything during his visit to the front requiring immediate action he would have reported the fact to the Chief of Staff immediately on his return). The Commanding General then gives his intentions and the Chief of Staff allocates the sectors for the day's staff inspectors.

d. Rest Periods

Staff personnel, commissioned and enlisted, who do not rest, do not last. All sections must run a duty roster and enforce compliance. The intensity of staff operations during battle is periodic. At the Army and Corps levels the busiest times are the periods from one to three hours after daylight, and from three to five hours after dark. In the lower echelons and in the administrative and supply staffs, the time of the periods is different but just as definite. When the need arises, everyone must work all the time, but these emergencies are not frequent; "unfatigued men last longer and work better at high pressure."

e. Location of Command Posts

The farther forward the Command Posts are located the less time is wasted in driving to and from the front. The ideal situation would be for the Army Command Post to be within one half hour's drive in a Command and Reconnaissance car of the Division Command Post. The driving time to the front from the Command Post of the lower units should be correspondingly shorter.

Much time and wire is saved if Command Posts of higher units are at or near one of the Command Posts of the next lower echelon.

All Command Posts of a division and higher units must have at least two echelons; the forward one -- and that is the one referred to in this paragraph (e) -- should be kept as small and mobile as possible with the minimum amount of radio traffic.

3. COMBAT PROCEDURE

a. Maps

We are too prone to believe that we acquire merit solely through the study of maps in the safe seclusion of a Command Post.

Maps are necessary in order to see the whole panorama of battle and to permit intelligent planning.

Further, and this is very important, a study of the map will indicate where critical situations exist or are apt to develop, and so indicate where the commander should be.

In the higher echelons, a layered map of the whole theater to reasonable scale, showing roads, railways, streams, and towns is more useful than a large scale map, cluttered up with ground forms and a multiplicity of non essential information.

b. Plans

Plans must be simple and flexible. Actually they only form a datum plane from which you build as necessity directs or opportunity offers. They should be made by the people who are going to execute them.

c. Reconnaissance

You can never have too much reconnaissance. Use every means available before, during, and after battle. Reports must be facts, not opinions; negative as well as positive. Do not believe intercepts blindly, crosscheck -- sometimes messages are sent out to be intercepted.

d. Orders

(1) Formal Orders

Formal orders will be preceded by letters of instruction and by personal conferences. In this way the whole purpose of the operation will be made clear, together with the mission to be accomplished by each major unit. In this way, if communication breaks down during combat, each commander can and must so act as to attain the general objective. The order itself will be short, accompanied by a sketch -- it tells WHAT to do, not HOW. It is really a memorandum and an assumption of responsibility by the issuing commander.

(2) Fragmentary orders

After the initial order, you will seldom get another formal order, but you will get many fragmentary orders in writing, or orally, by phone or personally.

Take down all oral orders and repeat them back. Have your juniors do the same to you.

Keep a diary with all orders and messages and the resulting action pasted in it in sequence.

Keep your own orders short, get them out in time, issue them personally by voice when you can. In battle it is always easier for the senior officer to go up than it is for the junior to come back for the issuance of orders.

A division should have twelve hours, and better, eighteen hours, between the physical receipt of the order at Division Headquarters and the time it is to be executed.

(3) Warning Orders

Warning orders are vital and must be issued in time. This requirement applies not only to combat units, but also to the Surgeon, the Signal Officer, the Quartermaster, the Ordnance Officer, and the Engineer Officer who must get warning orders promptly. They, too, have plans to make and units to move. If they do not function, you do not fight.

Orders, formal or otherwise, concerning units further down than the next echelon of command are highly prejudicial.

(4) Keep Troops Informed.

Use every means before and after combats to tell the troops what they are going to do and what they have done.

4. ADMINISTRATION

a. Supply

(1) General

The onus of supply rests equally on the giver and the taker.

Forward units must anticipate needs and ask for supplies in time. They must stand ready to use all their means to help move supplies.

The supply services must get the things asked for to the right place at the right time. They must do more; by reconnaissance they will anticipate demands and start the supplies up before they are called for.

The DESPERATE DETERMINATION to succeed is just as vital to supply as it is to the firing line.

(2) Replacements

Replacements are spare parts, supplies. They must be asked for in time by the front line, and the need for them must be anticipated in the rear. An educated guess is just as accurate and far faster than compiled errors. During lulls, you can balance the account. Keep your combat units full. A company without riflemen is just as useless as a tank without gasoline.

(3) Hospitals

Evacuation or Field Hospitals must be kept close to the front. Visit the wounded personally.

b. Decorations

Decorations are for the purpose of raising the fighting value of troops, therefore they must be awarded promptly. Have a definite officer on your staff educated in writing citations and see that they get through.

c. Discipline

There is only one kind of discipline; PERFECT DISCIPLINE. If you do not enforce and maintain discipline you are potential murderers. You must set the example.

5. RUMORS

Reports based on information secured through reconnaissance conducted after dark should be viewed with skepticism. The same thing applies to reports from walking wounded and stragglers. These latter seek to justify themselves by painting alarming pictures.

It is risky and usually impossible to move reserves during darkness on every call for help. Units cannot be wholly destroyed in a night attack. They must stick. Launch your counter attack after daylight and subsequent to adequate reconnaissance, and see that it is coordinated.

6. CONDITION

High physical condition is vital to victory.

There are more tired corps and division commanders than there are tired corps and divisions.

Fatigue makes cowards of us all. Men in condition do not tire.

7. COURAGE

DO NOT TAKE COUNSEL OF YOUR FEARS.

G.S. Patton, Jr.

Lt. Gen., U.S. Army

Commanding

3 April 1944

SUBJECT: Letter of Instruction No. 2

TO: Corps, Division, and Separate Unit Commanders

I. GENERAL

1. This letter stresses those tactical and administrative usages which combat experience has taught myself and the officers who have served under me to consider vital.

2. You will not simply mimeograph this and call it a day. You are responsible that these usages become habitual in your command.

II. DISCIPLINE

1. There is only one sort of discipline; perfect discipline. Men cannot have good battle discipline and poor administrative discipline.

2. Discipline is based on pride in the profession of arms, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of battle or the fear of death.

3. The history of our invariably victorious armies demonstrates that we are the best soldiers in the world. This should make your men proud. This should make you proud. This should imbue your units with unconquerable self confidence and pride in demonstrated ability.

4. Discipline can only be obtained when all officers are so imbued with the sense of their awful obligation to their men and to their country that they cannot tolerate negligence. Officers who fail to correct errors or to praise excellence are valueless in peace and dangerous misfits in war.

5. Officers must assert themselves by example and by voice. They must be preeminent in courage, deportment, and dress.

6. One of the primary purposes of discipline is to produce alertness. A man who is so lethargic that he fails to salute will fall an easy victim to an enemy.

7. Combat experience has proven that ceremonies, such as formal guard mounts, formal retreat formations, and regular and supervised reveille formations are a great help and, in some cases, essential to prepare men and officers for battle, to give them that perfect discipline, that smartness of appearance, that alertness without which battles cannot be won.

8. In the Third Army, when troops are not in the actual combat zone nor engaged in tactical exercises, or range firing, etc., Corps and separate Division commanders will see:

a. That regular reveille formations be held, in attendance at which there will be a minimum of one officer per company or similar unit, and in addition thereto when practicable, a minimum of one field officer per regiment or separate battalion.

b. That it shall be customary for all organizations to hold formal retreat under arms. Attendance, in addition to the prescribed enlisted men, shall be all officers of company grade. In the case of regiments and separate battalions, a minimum of one field officer.

c. That in the case where music is available and it is practicable from a billeting standpoint, frequent regimental and battalion retreat parades and similar ceremonies will be held.

d. That unit and organizational guard shall be performed strictly in accordance with FM 26-5. When music is available, formal guard mounts will be held frequently.

e. That officers in formation wear a uniform analogous to that worn by the enlisted men, and that all officers participate in all drills and marches at all times with their organizations or units. This includes marching to and from training areas and ranges.

9. Officers are always on duty and their duty extends to every individual, junior to themselves, in the U. S. Army, not only to members of their own organization.

10. Americans, with arms in their hands, are fools as well as cowards to surrender. If they fight on, they will conquer.

11. Cases of misbehavior before the enemy will be brought before General Court Martial and tried under the 75th Article of War. It has been my experience that many Courts Martial are prone to view this most heinous offense, for which the punishment of death may be inflicted, in too lenient a manner. They should realize that the lives of troops are saved by punishment of initial offenders. Cowardice is a disease and must be checked before it becomes epidemic.

III. TACTICAL USAGES

1. General

a. Combat Principles:

(1) There is no approved solution to any tactical situation.

(2) There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is, "To so use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum of time."

(3) In battle, casualties vary directly with the time you are exposed to effective fire. Your own fire reduces the effectiveness and volume of the enemy's fire, while rapidity of attack shortens the time of exposure. A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood!

(4) Battles are won by fighting the enemy. Fear is induced by inflicting death and wounds on him. Death and wounds are produced by fire. Fire from the rear is more deadly and three times more effective than fire from the front, but to get fire behind the enemy, you must hold him by frontal fire and move rapidly around his flank. Frontal attacks against prepared positions should be avoided if possible.

(5) "Catch the enemy by the nose with fire and kick him in the pants with fire emplaced through movement."

(6) Hit hard soon, that is with two battalions up in a regiment; or two divisions up in a corps, or two corps up in an army; the idea being to develop your maximum force at once before the enemy can develop his.

(7) You can never be too strong. Get every man and every gun you can secure, provided it does not unduly delay your attack. The German is the champion digger.

(8) The larger the force and the more violence you use in an attack, whether it be men, tanks, or ammunition, the smaller will be your proportional losses.

(9) Never yield ground. It is cheaper to hold what you have than to retake what you have lost. Never move troops to the rear for a rest or to reform at night, and in the daytime only where absolutely necessary. Such moves may produce a panic.

(10) Our mortars and our artillery are superb weapons when they are firing. When silent, they are junk. See that they fire!

b. Tactical Rules in Particular Subjects:

(1) Use roads to march on; fields to fight on. In France we will find roads mined or demolished in many places, certainly when we approach the enemy. When that happens, get off the roads and keep moving. But when the roads are available for use, you save time and effort by staying on them until shot off.

(2) Troops should not deploy into line until forced to do so by enemy fire.

(3) When you are advancing in broken country against possible tank attacks and using the leap frog method described in my Sicilian Notes, be sure to keep the anti-tank guns well up.

(4) In mountain country secure the heights. This is best done by daylight reconnaissance followed by night attack of a platoon reinforced at dawn twilight.

(5) In forcing a pass secure the heights first. There are always trails leading to the rear of hills. Remember that inviting avenues of approach are invariably defended, and an advance by such lanes, without securing the heights covering them, is suicidal.

(6) The effect of mines is largely mental. Not over 10 percent of our casualties come from then. When they are encountered they must be passed through or around. There are not enough mines in the world to cover the whole country. It is cheaper to make a detour than to search; however, the engineers should start clearing the straight road while the advance elements continue via the detour. See that all types of troops have mine detectors and know how to use them. You MUST, repeat, MUST get through!

(7) Never permit a unit to dig in until the final objective is reached, then dig, wire, and mine.

(8) Slit trenches in artillery will be placed within ten yards of guns. They will not be placed under trees as these induce air bursts. Camouflage nets must be rigged so that when they catch fire they can immediately be pulled off.

(9) Take plenty of time to set up an attack. It takes at least two hours to prepare an infantry battalion to execute a properly coordinated attack. Shoving them in too soon produces useless losses.

(10) In battle, small forces (platoons, companies, and even battalions) can do one of three things; go forward, halt, or run. If they halt or run, they will be an even easier target. Therefore, they must go forward. When caught under fire, particularly of artillery, advance out of it; never retreat from it. Artillery very seldom shortens it's range.

(11) Security detachments must get out further, and must stay out at night. One radio car well off the road, but where it can see the road, or where a member of the crew can observe the road from close quarters, can send information which will be vital.

(12) We are too slow in putting out minefields and in wiring in positions for all around defense. More training should be devoted to mine laying and mine removal.

(13) A battalion of 4.2 chemical mortars, when available, should be attached to an infantry division. An infantry regiment in combat should have a 4.2 chemical company attached.

c. General Training

(1) More emphasis will be placed on the hardening of men and officers. All soldiers and officers should be able to run a mile with combat pack in ten minutes and march 8 miles in two hours. When soldiers are in actual contact with the enemy, it is almost impossible to maintain physical condition, but if the physical condition is right before they gain contact, it will not fall off sufficiently during contact to be detrimental.

(2) Much time is wasted in mounting and dismounting mortars and machine guns. Standing gun drill will be practiced so that the operation will be automatic and can be accomplished in the dark. The ladder method of ranging with mortars is recommended.

(3) Our ability to fight at night, as opposed to moving into position at night for a dawn attack, is pitiably bad. We must learn to execute the attack in the dark.

(4) Sharpen axes, pickaxes, and shovels now and keep them sharp.

(5) Battles are fought by platoons and squads. Place emphasis on small unit combat instruction so that it is conducted with the same precision as close order drill. A good solution applied with vigor NOW is better than a perfect solution ten minutes later.

(6) In instruction from the squad to the regiment, sand tables should be used, and the officer or non-com being instructed should give the actual orders he will give in combat. Sand tables need not be complicated. A piece of ground in the lee of a building is just as good and much simpler.

(7) Officers and men must know their equipment. They must train with the equipment they intend to use in battle. Equipment must be in the best operational condition when taken to the Theater of Operations.

d. Guides for Officers

(1) Officers must possess self confidence and the confidence of their men. Two of the best ways of producing this is meticulously conducted close order drill, conducted by officers, and platoon marches of 48 to 60 hours during which the platoon is wholly on it's own.

(2) In the first actions, new troops must receive aggressive leadership by all grades, including general officers who must be seen in the front line during action.

(3) The Adjutant General or Secretary to the General Staff must keep for the immediate information of the Commanding General a list showing casualties, materiel losses, prisoners of war, captured materiel, and replacements of both men and materiel received. Two lists are necessary. The first one based on rumor; the second one corrected by data. The first one will be found surprisingly close to the second one.

(4) Note the time of your requests for, and time of arrival of, all artillery and air support missions called for. If support fails to arrive, so note.

(5) There is a universal failure to repeat oral orders back. This failure is certain to result in grave errors.

(6) Messages and orders must use concise, military verbiage.

(7) Push wire communications to the limit. A wire phone is worth three radios for both speed and security.

(8) Battalion and company commanders fail to use runners and "walki-talki" radios. They frequently fail to have runners with or near them.

(9) Military Police at road junctions must have a map or diagram showing the points to which various roads lead and the units to be found on them.

(10) Don't place large radio sets near CP's if the CP's are to be in position more than six hours. If radios must be used for longer periods, put them well away, scatter them, and use remote control.

e. Prisoners

(1) German prisoners over 40 talk more easily than the younger ones. They must be examined, separately, and not returned to the cages where the young ones are. Prisoners other than Germans usually talk freely and inaccurately. They, too, should be examined out of the hearing of, and later separated from, the young Nazi's.

f. Needless Firing

(1) The needless firing of artillery will be checked by the senior artillery officer.

g. Needless Requirements

(1) There is a tendency for the chain of command to overload junior officers with excessive requirements in the way of training and reports. You will alleviate this burden by eliminating non essential demands.

2. infantry

a. Infantry must move in order to close with the enemy. It must shoot in order to move. When physical targets are not visible, the fire of all infantry weapons must search the area probably occupied by the enemy. Use marching fire. It reduces the accuracy of his fire and increases our confidence. Shoot short. Ricochets make nastier sounds and wounds. To halt under fire is folly. To halt under fire and not fire back is suicide. Move forward out of fire. Officers must set the example.

b. The heavy weapons set the pace. In the battalion the heavy weapons company paces the battalion. In the regiment the cannon company paces the regiment, but it is the function of the rifles and light machine guns to see that the heavy weapons have a chance to move. In other words, the rifles and machine guns move the heavy weapons in to do the killing.

c. Mortars use great quantities of ammunition. The 81mm will fire 800 rounds and a 60mm 500 rounds in 24 hours. To provide this ammunition, transport of all kinds must be utilized, and infantry riflemen in the vicinity of the mortars should each carry one round which they can dump at a pre-designated spot on going into the fire fight. When not on the move, all mortars, machine guns, and anti-tank guns of the infantry must be emplaced to fire.

d. Anti-tank guns should be placed where they cannot see or be seen beyond their lethal anti-tank range unless they are being used in the role of light artillery.

e. Few men are killed by the bayonet; many are scared of it. Bayonets should be fixed when the fire fight starts. Bayonets must be sharpened by the individual soldier. The German hates the bayonet and is inferior to our men with it. Our men should know this.

f. The M-1 rifle is the most deadly rifle in the world. If you cannot see the enemy, you can at least shoot at the place where he is apt to be.

g. Flat trajectory fire against machine guns must be delivered near and parallel to the axis of enemy fire. This pins him down until the grenadiers with bomb and bayonet can kill him from behind.

h. Fire distribution is practically non-existent in our army, with the result that those portions of the enemy who are visible receive all the fire, while those portions who are not visible, fire on our men with perfect impunity. This defect will be corrected.

i. The infantry battalion is the smallest unit which can be sent on a separate mission. When so used, it always is desirable to reinforce it with artillery, anti-tank guns, AA guns, and if possible, tanks and engineers.

j. Armored infantry should not attack mounted, it should use it's vehicles to deploy mounted and also to assemble from deployed formation.

k. Night attacks mean attacks during darkness or by moonlight. On moonless nights the attack should start two and a half hours before dawn twilight; on moonlight nights with the moon. Night attacks must be preceded by careful day reconnaissance and ample warning. Limited objectives must be sought and must be easily recognizable in the dark. Attack formation is in column or line of columns. Distances and intervals are reduced. Depth is necessary.

l. Supporting fires must be arranged first to attack the enemy after our infantry has been discovered, and second to destroy counter attacks at dawn. Assaulting columns are preceded by a security detachment, which in turn is preceded by a patrol. The security detachment and patrol are absorbed when contact is made. In addition to the assaulting columns, a reserve should be available for exploitation after daylight. Countersign and challenge and identification marks on helmet or sleeve are necessary. Land marks and compass bearings to objective are necessary. Offensive grenades should be used. When discovered, open rapid fire and make as much noise as possible, while rushing in to use the bayonet.

m. The defense will consist of mutually supporting small groups arranged in depth and completely wired in. Mines will be placed.

n. All infantry officers must be able to observe and direct artillery fire.

3. Artillery

a. 65 to 75 percent of all artillery targets are provided by forward observers. The same percentage of tactical information originates with these observers, but much of the information of both characters the observers get, comes from the infantry. Therefore the forward observer must be in intimate association with the infantry. He must be under the control of the artillery liaison officer with the battalion. Artillery officers with infantry do not return to their batteries at night.

b. As soon as a position is captured, the forward observer must report through the liaison officer which of the possible channels of hostile counter attack he is in a position to cover with observed fire. This information must go to the infantry battalion commander.

c. Observers must be able to operate both by day and night. Use any calibre of gun at any time to hit any target of opportunity. For this reason forward observers for large calibers must be up.

d. Artillery observers on their own initiative will bring fire on enemy weapons firing on our infantry. Infantry officers are equally responsible to call for such fire.

e. Machine guns giving local protection to artillery must be sufficiently far out to prevent small arms fire from bothering the battery.

f. Construct dummy batteries. In choosing sites for them, avoid places where fire directed at them will adversely effect other arms.

g. Tank attacks can be stopped by artillery concentrations of white phosphorus and high explosives.

h. Artillery will be emplaced as far forward as possible and will move forward at every opportunity.

4. Armor

a. The primary mission of armored units is the attacking of infantry and artillery. The enemy's rear is the happy hunting ground for armor, use every means to get it there.

b. The tactical and technical training of our armored units is correct. Added emphasis should be put on tank crew training with a view to hitting the enemy first.

c. Against counter attacks, the offensive use of armor striking the flank is decisive. Hence, a deep penetration by infantry, whose rear is protected by armor, is feasible and safe.

d. There is no such thing as "tank country" in a restrictive sense. Some types of country are better than others, but tanks have and can operate anywhere.

e. The integrity of armored divisions should be preserved through the use of GHQ tank battalions for special close supporting missions with infantry. On such missions the tanks should advance by bounds from cover to cover in rear of the infantry. They will only be exposed when the situation demands their intervention. In such cases they will attack in close association with the infantry.

5. Reconnaissance

a. Reconnaissance, particularly on the part of the infantry must be stressed, especially at night. It is necessary to secure information every night through the capture of prisoners and the observation of hostile actions. Good men must lead these patrols. Mechanized observation units should not be employed for security except in cases of dire emergency.

b. Junior officers of reconnaissance units must be very inquisitive. Their reports must be accurate and factual. Negative information is as important as positive information. Information must be transmitted in the clear by radio and at once. The location of the unit giving the information should, where possible, be in a modified code. The enemy should be located by a magnetic azimuth and range from the point of observation. All members of a reconnaissance unit should know what they are trying to do. The results of all reconnaissance obtained in front of one division must be transmitted to adjacent units.

c. Reconnaissance must not lose contact. At night, when not in contact, listening posts should be at least six miles in front of our lines. Day reconnaissance must be pushed until contact is made. The use of light tanks in night reconnaissance usually induces the enemy to fire and display his position.

IV. Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Tanks

1. Anti-Aircraft

a. At least one, preferably self propelled, AA weapon should be attached to each company or battery of artillery, infantry, or tanks. There should be two at headquarters from the division up. The 155 and larger guns should have at least the AA mounts per battery. Owing to our air superiority, AA should never open fire until attacked. AA is also good for anti-tank.

2. Anti-Tank

a. Towed anti-tank guns should be well to the front and located to cover likely avenues of enemy tank approach. They must be emplaced so that they cannot see or be seen beyond their lethal anti-tank range. Self propelled anti-tank weapons should be held in reserve to intervene against enemy armored attacks. They should locate routes to and firing positions from probable sites of future activities. All anti-tank guns should be trained to fire as artillery and be provided with a large proportion of high explosive shells.

V. MAINTENANCE

1. Weapons will be kept in perfect order.

2. Preventive maintenance will be enforced. Particular attention should be given to tire pressure, lubrication, battery voltage, and water in radiators. Vehicles will be serviced and made operational before their crews rest. Vehicles will be marked in accordance with paragraph 6-14, AR 850-5.

VI. CARE OF MEN

1. Officers are responsible not only for the conduct of their men in battle, but also for their health and contentment when not fighting. An officer must be the last man to take shelter from fire, and the first to move forward. Similarly, he must be the last man to look after his own comfort at the close of a march. He must see that his men are cared for. The officer must constantly interest himself in the rations of the men. He should know his men so well that any sign of sickness or nervous strain will be apparent to him, and he can take such action as may be necessary.

2. He must look after his men's feet, see that they have properly fitting shoes in good condition, and that their socks fit; loose or tight socks make sore feet. He must anticipate change of weather and see that proper clothing and footgear is asked for and obtained.

3. Field and evacuation hospitals must be kept as close to the front as enemy fire permits. The shorter a haul of the wounded man to the hospital the better his chances for recovery.

4. Hospitals should be placed in the open and clearly marked. Do not permit liaison planes or groups of vehicles to park near them. Such action gives the enemy an excuse for attacking.

5. The successful soldier wins his battles cheaply so far as his own casualties are concerned, but he must remember that violent attacks, although costly at the time, save lives in the end. He must remember that replacements need special attention and he must see that they get acclimatized to their new units as quickly and harmoniously as possible

G.S. Patton, Jr.

Lt. Gen., U.S. Army

Commanding

20 MAY 1944

SUBJECT: Letter of Instruction No. 3

TO: All Corps and Division Commanders

I. USE OF ARMORED DIVISIONS

1. The tactics prescribed for the use of armored divisions are correct, but owing to a lack of understanding of the word "Blitz", certain things are over emphasized, and other very much more important things do not receive sufficient emphasis.

2. To begin with, haste and speed are not synonymous. By this I mean that hasty attacks do not produce speedy successes or speedy advances because hasty attacks are not coordinated attacks. "Haste makes waste".

3. In an armored division, as in an infantry division, attacks must be coordinated; and the infantry, and the tanks, and the guns must work as a unit. Wherever possible, it is desirable that the guns operate under divisional control, and with their forward observers in tanks, immediately take under fire enemy anti-tank guns, and either reduce them or blind them with smoke or white phosphorus. Success depends upon the coordinated use of the guns and the tanks, with the guns paying particular attention to hostile artillery, and above all to anti-tank guns and observation posts.

4. The decision of whether the assault should be led by the infantry or the armored vehicles depends on circumstances. When operation against known anti-tank guns or against extensive anti-tank mine fields, or where it is necessary to force a river crossing or a defile, the infantry must lead and the tanks follow as and when the situation is cleared.

5. When operating against small minefields or minefields composed of boot or other "S" type mines, or against normal infantry and artillery resistance, the tanks should lead. However, it is necessary to remember that the association between tanks and infantry in the case of armored divisions operating as such is not as intimate as that which I prescribed in "Tactical Use of Separate Tank Battalions". Still, cases will arise where tanks must act in close support with their armored infantry. Normally, the armored infantry and artillery is used either to make a hole or to open a door to permit the tank battalions to move forward. As soon as this occurs, the armored infantry and artillery must immediately follow them. All this is adequately covered in existing regulations.

6. When tanks are advancing, they must use their guns for what is known as reconnaissance by fire; that is, they must shoot at any terrestrial objective behind which an anti-tank gun might be concealed and take these targets under fire at a range greater than that at which an anti-tank gun is effective; in other words, at a range greater than 2,000 yards. They should fire at these targets with high explosive or with white phosphorus, because if the enemy receives such fire, he will consider himself discovered and reply at a range so great as to render him ineffective.

7. When tanks are passing or approaching hedges or walls, they should comb them with machine guns so as to remove the danger from close defense anti-tank grenades and sticky bombs.

8. When tanks use smoke or white phosphorus against infantry, tanks, or anti-tank guns, they should continue to fire into the smoke with high explosive or with machine guns if they are within range in order to prevent enemy movement.

9. Armored divisions should remember that many difficult open spaces can be passed with impunity if sufficient smoke is placed on the enemy guns and observation posts by the artillery of the division or through cooperation with the air force.

10. The quickest way to get to heaven is to advance across open ground swept by effective enemy anti-tank fire.

11. The use of indirect fire by tanks is exceptional and is to be deprecated except under circumstances where tanks cannot be used in their proper role and are simply acting as artillery.

12. Tanks should never enter villages, and under those exceptional circumstances where such an entry is demanded, they should take the place from the rear. In passing villages they should move around them at a range in excess of the effective range of the anti-tank guns which are apt to be concealed in the villages. Personally, I have seldom seen a tank struck on the front silhouette by an anti-tank gun because the Germans generally put their anti-tank guns on reverse slopes or in places where they can get flanking fire. This being known, we should act accordingly and not rush in where angels fear to tread.

13. Tanks should remember that anti-tank guns are not armored and are therefore susceptible to effective results from high explosive and white phosphorus. If, therefore, they are unable to get their artillery up to remove the anti-tank guns, they should engage these guns with high explosive at a range in excess of 2,500 yards and from defilade, or if they have good observation, by indirect fire methods, because under these circumstances the high explosive will get the guns, and the guns will not have lethal effect against the tanks.

14. When tanks are taken under surprise fire by anti-tank guns or by other tanks, they should immediately fire several rounds of white phosphorus short of the target and then maneuver to get a telling shot when the smoke clears, or when the enemy emerges from it.

15. In tank versus tank duels, the first round should be armor piercing. If this fails, the second round must be white phosphorus and short so as to give our tank a chance to maneuver, because by keeping it's gun laid on the smoke, it has a better chance of getting in the second telling shot than has the enemy, who when he emerges from the smoke does not know the location of our vehicle.

16. Many tanks are lost through the failure of the crews or the platoon leader to make foot reconnaissance. People get vehicle bound and never dismount. Before exposing a valuable tank and the lives of it's crew to the danger of destruction by crossing an unreconnoitered skyline or on emerging from cover, a foot reconnaissance with glasses should be made. Here again we have the question of haste and speed. It may seem a waste of time to take a look, but it is certain death to get on the front slope within effective range of undiscovered anti-tank guns or lurking enemy tanks.

17. It is of the utmost importance that tank crews, particularly the commander and the gunner, be trained to get a hit with the first shot against surprise targets such as anti-tank guns or enemy tanks. This shot must be correct both for range and azimuth. Exercises to produce this can be carried out in the tank park. All that is necessary is to have a number of targets which appear successively at different ranges and in different directions. The instructor must know the range to the target so he can check the range setting on the gun. He checks the azimuth by looking through the sight. It is very important that this be practiced.

18. When light tanks are engaging heavier tanks, they must attack by a section, or preferably a platoon. If they will do this, and so operate as to close the ranges to less than 400 yards, they are invariably victorious and at small loss. This close range can be obtained either by feigned retreat and ambush or by effective use of the ground.

19. In using armored infantry we should remember that it is nothing but a form of Cavalry; that is, it uses it's vehicles to deploy and to ploy mounted, thus saving time and avoiding fatigue. It does not use it's vehicles, except very rarely, for mounted charges. This function is reserved to the tanks. Further, since armored infantry is always operating with it's tank elements, it does not have to hold out an infantry reserve because tanks are available, either to exploit the success of the armored infantry or to cover mistakes. Armored infantry should make a violent attack using all it's men and weapons.

20. Reconnaissance in front of an armored division is of vital importance because no arm is more susceptible to terrain than is an armored unit.

21. Obviously, due to the rapidity of motion of armored divisions, information must get back more rapidly and must be obtained at greater distances to the front than is the case with slower moving units. It is more important to get the information back fast than to get it back secretly; therefore, use clear, with a limited code for name only when this is possible.

22. Armor must disabuse it's mind of the rumored efficiency of German anti-tank weapons. This statement sounds peculiar in view of what I have already said, but it is nevertheless true.

23. Whenever German anti-tank guns have gotten our tanks, it has almost always been our own fault. In spite of years of instruction, tanks will go up obvious tank lanes such as cart tracks, open river bottoms, small roads or paths, or along hedges; all of which any intelligent anti-tank gunner will have arranged to cover. Furthermore, tanks will insist, as I have already said, in crossing skylines or emerging from cover without looking, in spite of the fact that it is well known that German anti-tank guns are generally on reverse slopes or in positions to fire at right angles to the axis of advance. Again, due to maneuver experience, tanks seek visual cover afforded by bushes, failing to remember that these do not stop bullets. The only cover behind which a tank has any security is that afforded by earth defilade.

24. The German anti-tank gunner is a good shot. We are better shots. He is unprotected. We are behind inches of steel. If we will use our heads and our American ingenuity and initiative, we have nothing to fear from German anti-tank guns.

25. Armored battles against infantry and anti-tanks are short and violent. They take great strength of mind and both physical and moral courage because of this violence and the speed with which they are terminated. When once launched, tanks must close at their best speed just the same as infantry, and also just the same as infantry, they must fire while closing. The true objective of armor is enemy infantry and artillery, and above all his supply installations and command centers

26. Every effort must be made to attack the flank, or preferably the rear, of the enemy. In executing such an attack, we must use all the means at our command to prevent the enemy from stopping these turning movements. Whenever such a movement meets enemy opposition, it must detach a portion of it's force to contain the opposition and immediately begin a second and still wider envelopment because, if we are successful in getting one company of tanks alone, or supported by armored infantry and guns, in the enemy's rear, we have won the operation. Light tanks are valuable for the final envelopment in such a movement because they have great speed and endurance, and adequate firepower against the type of resistance they will find in the enemy's rear.

27. In considering operations in which tank and infantry divisions are used in conjunction, we should remember that so long as the infantry attack, be it a penetration or a flank operation, is followed by armor, an enemy counter attack against the infantry flank is not particularly dangerous, because the armored division is the most ideal weapon for counter attacking such a counter attack. Both Corps and Division Commanders must constantly keep in mind such a use of armored divisions.

28 In the unlikely event that we are, at some point of our operations, in a defensive position, armored divisions should be placed to counter attack enemy assaults. These counter attacks should be rehearsed and the lines of approach carefully reconnoitered so that when the enemy appears, he will be violently and ruthlessly destroyed. The use of armored divisions for passive defense is not desirable.

29. Owing to the length of an armored division when marching on one road, it is highly desirable that the division move forward to battle on as many roads as are available. This gives flexibility without sacrificing depth.

To summarize:

We must take great and calculated risks in the use of armor, but we must not dive off the deep end without first determining whether the swimming pool is full of water.

You must never halt because some other unit is stuck. If you push on, you will release the pressure on the adjacent unit, and it will accompany you.

Troops are never defeated by casualties but by lack of resolution -- of guts. Battles are won by a few brave men who refuse to fear and who push on. It should be our ambition to be members of this heroic group.

More casualties occur among those who halt or go to the rear than among those who advance and advance firing.

Finally, all of us must have a desperate desire and determination to close with the enemy and to destroy him.

II. USE OF THE BAZOOKA

1. The purpose of the Bazooka is not to hunt tanks offensively, but to be used as the last resort in keeping tanks from over running infantry. Since the Bazooka is unarmored, and always discloses it's position when fired, it must get a hit on the first shot. To insure this, the range should be held to around thirty yards. When thus used, the Bazooka will hit and penetrate any tank that I have yet seen and will probably stop it. If used at longer ranges, it will probably miss and it's operators will then become targets for the tank's machine guns.

III. COMMON TACTICAL FAULTS

1. It is nearly always a mistake to occupy obvious cover. This is particularly true in sparsely wooded country, because the woods are clearly marked on the maps in enemy possession and will almost invariable be subjects of concentration.

2. The machine guns provided for close-in protection of command posts and artillery units are for the purpose of preventing enemy small arms fire from being brought on the installation to be protected. Therefore, these machine guns must be placed so far from the object they are protecting that they will take the enemy under their fire before he is within range of the points defended. All types of soldiers must know how to fight as infantry and must so fight when necessity arises.

3. The foolish practice of advancing by rushes over ground which is completely defiladed from enemy fire will be stopped. It exhausts the men to no purpose.

4. When the fire fight starts, bayonets should be fixed. They encourage our soldiers and discourage the enemy.

5. When a platoon or any other commander moves to the front to reconnoiter during a fire fight, he must not move to the rear to disseminate the information he has acquired, but rather, the unit must come up to him. The sight of officers moving to the rear has a disturbing effect on troops and serves no useful purpose.

6. The utilization of dummy guns to draw enemy fire is very important both in the case of our artillery and in the case of our anti-tank guns. In placing these dummy guns care must be taken not to put them where fire directed on them by the enemy will interfere with the movement of our troops. See that they are used.

7. There is a great lack of understanding about the use of the 57mm anti-tank guns against tanks. These guns have a lethal range against tanks of approximately a thousand yards. Therefore, they must be emplaced in positions where they cannot see the enemy or be seen by him at ranges in excess of a thousand yards; Otherwise, they will be destroyed by shell fire before they become effective. The proper place for 57mm anti-tank guns is on reverse slopes or in positions where they can take the enemy under fire when he crosses the skyline or emerges from cover. When the 57mm is used as accompanying artillery, and it should be so used unless enemy tanks are around, it follows the methods of the cannon company.

8. Tank destroyer units must be emplaced sufficiently forward to prevent enemy tanks from over running the infantry. There is a prevalent and erroneous idea, particularly in the case of self propelled tank destroyer units, that they should be held in reserve far to the rear. In such a position they will be impotent to get to the front in time to stop a tank attack before it has penetrated the infantry lines.

9. We are very prone to underestimate the time necessary for a coordinated attack, and we are also prone to get our infantry under fire before arrangements for coordination have been made. Prior to the infantry attack, the only people exposed to hostile fire are the scouts, and their sole mission is to find out where the enemy is so that the coordinated attack can be intelligently prepared.

10. There is a ridiculous and wide spread fear among all our troops that they will run out of ammunition, particularly small arms ammunition. In my experience this has never happened. Troops should remember that if they save ammunition, which they could have effectively expended against the enemy, for some unforeseen contingency, they will also save the lives of a number of enemy who will participate in the contingency.

11. The necessity for using all weapons to their maximum fire capacity during our attacks cannot be too strongly impressed on the soldiers. Any gun that is not firing is not doing it's job. In the assault where marching fire is used by the infantry, every gun, machine gun, and mortar must fire. Actual experiments have shown that using a relatively intense marching fire in an advance of over a thousand yards, that less than 35 rounds per rifle are actually expended. This is lower than would have been the case if we would have attempted to advance by rushes and taken three or four times as long reaching the enemy.

12. At the close of a fight it is very desirable that our own dead be removed from view as rapidly as possible. After this has been accomplished, the enemy dead should be removed with the same reverence we accord our own and given a proper burial.

13. There is a regrettable tendency on the part of company officers and non commissioned officers to accompany the firing line as if they were members of a well trained chorus, simply keeping position. This attitude of mind, and the actions resulting from it, is impossible in battle. Officers and non commissioned officers are there for the purpose of seeing that all the weapons of their respective little commands are functioning. They cannot see this by simply accompanying the movement; they must direct it.

14. In this letter, as in those preceding it, I am not laying down inflexible rules. I am simply giving you my ideas. I must and do trust to your military experience, courage, and loyalty to make these ideas tangible. There are many ways of fighting, all of which are good if they are successful.

15. We are now entering the final stage of a great war, of a great victory! This victory can only be attained by the maximum use of all weapons, both physical and spiritual. It is the duty of all commanders to see that their men are fully aware of the many vile deeds perpetrated upon civilization by the Germans, and that they attack with the utmost determination, ferocity, and hate. I am sure that every man will do his duty, and I am therefore sure that victory is simply a question of when we find the enemy.

G.S. Patton, Jr.

Lt. Gen., U. S. Army

Commanding

25 September 1944

SUBJECT: Letter of instruction No. 4

TO: Corps Commanders and the Commanding General XIX Tactical Air Command

1. The acute supply situation confronting us has caused the Supreme Commander to direct that until further orders, the Third Army, with it's supporting troops, and those elements of the Ninth Army placed in the line, will assume the defensive.

2. It is evident that the successful accomplishment of this mission will require particular concentration upon two points;

a. First, this change in attitude on our part must be completely concealed from the enemy, who, should he learn of it, would certainly move troops from our front to oppose other Allied Armies.

b. Second, we must be in possession of a suitable line of departure so that we can move rapidly when the Supreme Commander directs us to resume the offensive.

3. In order to carry out the requirements of Paragraph 2a, above, we will not dig in, wire, or mine; but will utilize a thin outpost zone backed at suitable places by powerful mobile reserves. We will further insure that all possible avenues of tank attack are registered in by all our batteries -- Division, Corps, and Army, -- whose guns can bear. Under the supervision of the Army Artillery Officer these zones of concentration will be numbered from north to south and recorded on a uniform map to be distributed to the units concerned, so that fire may instantly be opened in any zone. Further, a copy of this map will be placed in the possession of the Commanding General XIX Tactical Air Command so that he may coordinate the concentration of planes upon any critical area in the most expeditious manner. Counter attacks by our mobile reserves should be planned and executed to secure a double envelopment of the hostile effort with the purpose of not only defeating it, but destroying it.

4. To insure our possessing a suitable line of departure for the future offensive, we shall secure the dotted line shown on the attached overlay by means of limited operations in consonance with our reduced scale of supply. To provide the necessary means for such limited operations, the utmost parsimony will be used in the expenditure of gasoline and ammunition consistent with the economy of the lives of our troops.

5. Whenever circumstances admit, troops not in the immediate presence of the enemy will be billeted. As soon as the troops so billeted have rested and have been equipped, they will be given constant practice in offensive tactics.

6. The defensive instructions contained in this letter will not be circulated below the grade of General Officer.

7. In closing, I desire to again compliment all of you on the magnificent dash and skill which you have shown in the operation to date. We only await the signal to resume our career of conquest.

G.S. Patton, Jr.

Lt. Gen., U.S. Army

Commanding

DISTRIBUTION:

CG Twelfth Army Group

CG XII Corps

CG XV Corps

CG XX Corps