Greenville, Texas -- On Thursday, October 24 historian Stephen L. Moore will present at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum in Greenville this year’s fourth quarterly presentation on World War II. The program, organized by the WWII History Roundtable, Audie Murphy Chapter, and sponsored by Mrs. Lou King, will begin at 7:00 p.m. The public is invited to hear interesting stories as told in Moore’s book, Patton’s Payback: Patton’s Rise to Glory. Copies will be available for purchase.
The book is full of events concerning George S. Patton and his command in North Africa. Some Northeast Texans were there. For example, March 28, 1943 was not a good day for Milow Clovis Hume of Cunningham, Lamar County, Texas, nor was it for his fellow soldiers on Hill 369 adjoining the El Guettar Valley of Central Tunisia, North Africa. The Americans were some 266 miles south of Tunis and Bizerte, Tunisian towns on the Mediterranean Sea. The men were far from their first landing in Casablanca. And, Patton had only been in command of American army forces for 24 days. He already was raging mad as his jeep rolled up to see what happened.
After the most recent action, Hume and all the other Company E soldiers of Colonel Edwin H. Randle’s 47th Infantry Regiment in the 9th Division were no longer there, having been captured or killed. Hume joined his Company at Ft. Bragg a year before, and was among the living, but was soon sped off to Stalag III-B, a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He would reside there for the next two years and 18 days. He then returned to rural living at home. Patton, on the other hand, remained in Africa only until mid-April, leaving General Omar Bradley in charge of pushing back the Germans into the Sea. Patton abruptly exited to help plan the invasion of Sicily. German records reveal they hardly realized he had been in charge.
However, in early March 1943, newly promoted Lieutenant General Patton arrived to replace Lloyd Fredendall of the United States II Corps. An earlier disaster at Kasserine Pass was fresh on the mind, but now Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Afrika Korps Commander, was on his way back to Germany for another assignment. Action at that point should favor the allies. Still, the Americans were stalled in the El Guettar region. It was not completely understood that Rommel was permanently gone.
Immediately Patton demanded aggressive action from General Manton Eddy’s 9th Infantry Division, no matter the cost in material, ammunition, and even lives. He ripped into Eddy and Randle. Patton wrote his wife, saying things “are going too quietly.” So, Eddy reorganized his regiments. The first objective was to gain the rough, full of sharp ridges, high-ground defended by the Italians and Germans. That included a 500-foot hill the troops thought was numbered 369. Moore dug deep into his research and in his book are included quotes from several soldier memoirs and interviews. The regiments consisted of boys from all over the United States. Comments are also included from the Axis viewpoint.
Saturday, March 27, 1943, began with a cold early morning trek by many of Eddy’s men. However, by noon it was blazing hot. The night was spent by some in foxholes thankful they still had their blankets; others were trucked into the valley. Hume later told of the next day’s scene. He barely knew Patton was giving the orders. The 9th Division had never been in action as a unit. Maps were not accurate, with some places misnamed.
Climbing the hill in front of the Second Battalion, Hume’s E Company, led by Captain Ben Humphrey, was caught in the middle of a German ambush. Surrendering began about an hour after daylight. Ten Officers and 242 enlisted men were captured. Almost all were from E Company. Moore wrote in his book, for most of the day “Randle held out hope…that many of his missing soldiers could be recovered,” but before dark the 47th had been hit hard. General Terry Allen’s Big Red One Division had not fared well, either. Hume received three bronze star medals for his effort, plus German care for 748 days.
Watching all this, in frustration Patton commented it would have been more efficient if pack-mule trains were used to climb the hills. He strafed Eddy and even a chaplain with unkind words, encouraged others, brought in friends he trusted, and demanded movement. He even felt confident his God would help the drive. As Moore points out, Patton was not highly liked, but his accomplishments were respected. By April 7 the enemy finally began a pull-back to the northern Tunisian ports.
The story of Patton in North Africa is told by Moore. He has written books ranging from Texas history, World War II, and Vietnam. A 6th generation Texan, he lives in Lantana with his wife and two daughters, and somehow cranks out books despite having a full-time job with Garrett Metal Detector Company.
